Lexi is one!!

Holy cow where has the time gone?? I swear she was just born yesterday! A little about Lexi at one year old: 

She has been walking for about 3 weeks.

She signs the words: more, signing time, milk, and baby. 

She loves to play with her baby doll. This is so strange to me because, Sydney hated baby dolls and still does. It is cute to see Lexi rock her baby and carry it around. 

Lexi can say: mama, daddy, hi, hi daddy, sarah, kitty, baby, grandpa(ba pa) all done, no, bye, she can make a bark sound,

Lexi LOVES music. She will listen hard and find music everywhere she goes and then she seriously rocks out to it. She loves to hold my phone while the music is playing and cries really hard if I take it away! It is so fun to see her dance every where she goes.

She likes cows milk, but still prefers to nurse. 

She loves pretzels and natural Cheetos and any fresh fruit, especially strawberries and peaches.

She has 8 teeth and uses then well!(ouch!)

I have struggled with Lexi to find her a comfort object like a blanket or a binky, but she doesn't want anything to do with them. Lexi loves to touch and pinch skin. Skin is very calming for her and constantly falls asleep pinching my neck or arm or pinching her own ear.

She loves it when her brother plays with her. He will tackle her and play rough with her. Lexi just giggles and laughs until he gets to rough then she yells at him.

She loves iPods and phones and wii remotes and gets mad when you take them away.

She is pretty social like Sydney was as a baby, and loves to go places and see different things. In fact if she is having a bad day, all it takes is a trip to the store, and she is happy again.

She does not like to sleep alone at night and still wakes up two or three times to nurse. 

She is pretty determined and knows what she likes and doesn't like. 

She gets into EVERYTHING!!! Cupboards, book shelves, toilet paper, toilet water, diaper cream, and her brother and sisters toys!  

 I don't know what I would do with out this spunky happy little ray of sunshine in our family! I love you so much Lexi!!!

This is the only happy smile I got this morning. Lexi had a tummy bug and didn't feel good. Sad way to spend your first birthday!

Her new baby she got for her birthday!

Lexi 4 Weeks old

 Ack......my baby is one month old!! Where did these last weeks go? They went in a blur of sleepless nights, diaper changes, and lots and lots of cuddling!!

 She is such a joy to have in our family! We all love her so much!

 Lexi always wakes up for the day at about 5 a.m. and is pretty awake on and off until about 8:30. Then she takes a good 2 hour nap. Wakes up to eat and takes a good long long nap in the afternoon. Then Lexi gets fussy at around 6 p.m. until about 8 p.m. then goes to sleep until about 12:30 in the morning. She then wakes up to eat again at 3:30 and then up at 5 a.m.

She still only likes me to hold her and pretty much fusses if anyone else holds her....even her dad.

 She loves baths and getting lotion rubbed on her(both of her siblings hated lotion rubbed on them) but she doesn't really like being naked for very long.

 Lexi hates being put down, and cries and cries until I pick her up again. Even if I put her down sound asleep she will wake up and scream within 5 minutes of being down by herself. I tried to do a little photo shoot with her this morning but she ended up crying for most of it, because she was not being held. I love holding and cuddling with my little princess, but sometimes mommy's need to go potty and take a shower and make dinner with out a screaming baby in the background.

This is probably her favorite spot to be, nestled on my chest listening to my heart beat. Oh how I love my little Lexi girl!!

Welcome Lexi Ann Baker

Lexi Ann was born September 6th and 9:18 p.m. She was born with lots of dark hair and she weighed in at 6 pounds and 7 ounces. She is my smallest baby even though she stayed in me longer then her siblings did. She was born at 38 weeks and 4 days.

 These first two pictures were of the morning after her birth.. I will post more pictures of her birthday when I write a post on it. I love  the morning light on her face in the pictures. She is just so sweet and brand new.

 Brock loved his little sister right from the beginning. I was very surprised at how much he loves her, because he is such a mama's boy and I thought for sure that he would throw some major tantrums about the new baby. The very first time he got to hold Lexi he was in love, and very protective of her. She fell asleep while he was holding her the first time and he started yelling at everyone that talked to be quiet because baby Lexi was sleeping. He even yelled at the nurse who came in to talk to me, and kept telling her to be quiet. We all were laughing it was so funny!

Brock loves to hold Lexi and sing her songs. He is always rubbing her head and kissing her. If she cries, he is quick to tell me what she wants, either her blanket, mommy's milk, a song, or her binky. It is so cute how much he loves her, and I am so happy that he is transitioning well with the new addition to our family.

Sydney loves baby Lexi too, but she is not nearly as maternal with her as Brock is. She likes to come up and kiss her or nuzzle her head, but she doesn't want to hold her very much. She does like to help me when I need something like a new diaper or a drink of water, and will sing to Lexi or sit next to me while I nurse her. I think Sydney will show more interest in Lexi when she is older and can play with her more.

 Going home! I stayed in the hospital for about 24 hours, and couldn't wait to go home and be in my own bed. I hate the hospital beds! Lexi looks so small in her car seat!

 This is after Lexi's first sponge bath. She did pretty good during it, and loved having her hair washed!

 So far Lexi is a pretty good baby. She has a fussy period most every day where she cries and nurses a lot. She has acid reflux and I think that is the cause of her crying and discomfort. So far she responds well to essential oils on her tummy to help with her reflux. She loves loves loves her mommy, and cries for pretty much anyone else who holds her. She doesn't even like Grandma Banks very much which is surprising because all the babies love Grandma. Lexi cries if she is put down, so my arms have gotten very tired from holding her so much. Not that I mind, I love holding my sweet little baby. She like the moby wrap and I put her in it once or twice a day to give my arms a break and so that I can get somethings done around the house. I have loved every minute of having this sweet little spirit come to our family and already can't imagine our family with out her!

I will work on the birthday pictures so that I can get a post up soon about Lexi's birth story. Hopefully I can be a better blogger. sense my last post on this blog was the one telling everyone that I was pregnant.

Things I have been making.....

I have been feeling pretty crafty lately. Probably its because of the new house and all the extra space I have to decorate with. I have been wanting to create and make stuff. So I got a used sewing machine. I am not a sewer and never have been. I thought a good starter project would be to make some throw pillows. I found some fabric and went crazy!!!
I didn't really use a pattern. I just got a bunch of pillows from D.I. and measured them and then started sewing. Some of them are a little bit special but for the most part I really like how much they brighten up the room!

I really had fun making the fabric flowers. I ended up hand sewing them, but even that was fun too! I think that my next sewing project will be a matching blanket. I love snuggling under blankets at night when I am watching T.V. or reading a book. Just need to find the fabric and pattern that I want to do.

I had some extra fabric left over from the pillows, so I recovered this lamp shade with it. I don't really love how it turned out but it was fun to make. I think I will probably end up replacing it with a different lamp shade but for now it's okay.
I spent a lot of time over Christmas refinishing this old dresser. We wanted a place to put our movies and DVD player that wouldn't be out on display for the kids to play with. Sense we moved into our house we didn't need this dresser anymore because our closet is huge so I thought it would be fun to refinish this and use it for our movies and DVD player.
It was a huge project but a had fun doing it. I really lived how it turned out! I am kicking myself for not taking a before and after picture.


One of my next project will be this window. I think that I will mostly just sand it and maybe put a glaze on it. The paint on it is super thick so I wont be able to sand it by hand. I've Just got to find some time to borrow my mom's sander so I can get it the way that I want it.


This is the other thing that I have been working hard at making! Our family of four is growing by one in September! I have been super tired and super sick. I honestly have not had such a hard first trimester before. I am 11 weeks now and finally starting to feel a tiny bit better. It's a good thing because I don't know how much longer I could have lived off of toast and sierra mist!


I know that this is my third pregnancy, but my tummy got big fast!! I was a little bit surprised at how fast this little one poked out. In this picture I am about 8 weeks, but I look like I am about 4 months! Sigh, gaining weight is my least favorite part of pregnancy!

I got to go in on Friday and get a super quick ultrasound of the baby. It was very wiggly and I was so relieved to see it's tiny little body moving inside of me.

We are so excited for this new little one to join our family. Sydney is sure it is a little girl. She wants her to have purple hair and she wants us to name her spirit. Brock is having a little harder time grasping the concept. He will sometimes comment about the baby in my tummy but I don't think he understands it just yet. Boy will this baby rock his little world!!!

Stuffed Animal Horror House

Okay so my daughter loves pipe cleaners. She loves making things with pipe cleaners. Giant spiders webs, animal tails, huge long chains. She loves to use pipe cleaners to decorate with, she makes them into jewelry for me and for her stuffed animals. I thought I had seen it all....that is until I walked in and saw this:



and this:
and this:

And this:

Poor Jeremy Giraffe!

And this:
Sydney and her cousin Eden were pretending that all the stuffed animals were at a party. What kind of party hangs all of it's guest up by there necks? I certainly have never heard of such a party and I personally hope that I never get invited to one!!

I am thinking that the party was for this special stuffed leopard. See the hood on his head? It was obviously a surprise party for him.

Yep...... defiantly a surprise party. Don't you think that Sweetie looks very surprised? She looks that way to me!


I don't know if I should be worried about the mass hanging of all the stuffed animals, or if I should be proud of my daughters crazy imagination. I think that I am more worried than proud though........

Potty Training

Look who has been potty training!!! Brock has been doing such a good job going potty in the big boy potty. If took him a few weeks of treats and stickers but Brock is finally fully potty trained. He is even waking up dry in the mornings!! I love this little boy! Even though he totally gives me a run for my money, I love being his Mom!!

Sydney's 5th Birthday

I can't believe that my little girl just turned 5. She seems to little to be a big five year old!

Sydney wanted a pinkish-purpleish bike for her birthday. Thankfully I found one that perfectly fit. Complete with streamers, a bag, and a horn and the name "Misty" painted on the side. She LOVES her new misty bike. It is a little bit big for her so she has a hard time stopping as she is riding but she is doing very good with it!
She also got a horse calendar, and a watch....both things she really really wanted!

A birthday would not be complete with out a stufffed animal of some sort. Sydney loves stuffed animals and when I saw this purple unicorn I knew she would love it! Sydney's Aunt Sarah also sent her a little puppy house that had 5 stuffed puppies in them. These fast became some of her favorite toys and they get played with everyday!



She also had a small friend party. She loved having her friends over and doing crafts with them. This balloon decorating kit was by far the most popular craft. It was less than 4 dollars at Walmart and the kids loved it!

Sydney got spoiled by her friends too!


Sydney was determined to have fondant on her birthday cake(I blame cake boss). I am sure that she wanted some big elaborate cake like she has seen on Cake Boss but there was no way that was going to happen. I found a recipe for marshmallow fondant and it actually turned out pretty easy to make! We made an ice cream cone cake and Sydney loved it. (please no funny comments about the cake. I am in no way a fancy cake maker!)
For her birthday dinner we went to Red Robin. The last time we went to Red Robin was for my birthday and my sisters told the waiter that it was my birthday and they came out and sang to me. Well as we were eating Sydney leaned over to me and said,"Mom, I want the red robin cheerleaders to come over and sing to me." It took me a minute to figure out that she wanted the waiters to come out and sing happy birthday to her. I told our waiter that it was Sydney's birthday and she wanted the cheerleaders to sing to her. He laughed and came back five minutes later with about 10 waiters and waitresses and a huge ice cream sundae. Sydney was so excited! I wish I had brought my camera to dinner to capture her face at the moment, it was priceless!

We came home and ate the fondant cake, and then went to bed. It was a fun fun day!!

Sydney loves going out and riding her bike and is getting better at it every day!

A few things about Sydney at 5 years old:
Favorite food:Grapefruit
Favorite treat: Dark Chocolate
Favorite movie: Spirit
Favorite color: Purple
Favorite animal: Horses
Favorite toy: All my Dogs
Favorite book: Piggy and Gerald books
Favorite song: You'll be in my Heart(from Tarzan)
Favorite fruit: Pears
Favorite Veggie: Broccoli with cheese sauce
Favorite Restaurant: Subway and McDonald's
Favorite holiday: Christmas and Fall.
Best Friend: Bria
Favorite thing to do? Playing hungry hungry hippos
Favorite thing about being 5? Making my bed and cleaning up
What she wants to be when she grows up? Mommies big girl girl friend.

Sydney does not want to be a mommy when she grows up. She wants to grow up and be my big girl girlfriend. When I asked her what she means she said. We will always be together. We can share the same clothes, and sleep in the same bed. We can go do fun things together and we will never be apart. She even goes around calling me "girlfriend" instead of "mom" most of the time. It is super cute. I hope she always wants to be my girlfriend!!!

Christmas(finally)

We had a great Christmas! We were completely spoiled this year!
Sydney got a Plasma Bike and a stuffed animal tree from Santa. A little back ground about the stuffed animal tree. At around Thanksgiving when all the leaves were finally falling off of the trees. Sydney made the comment that she thought it would be so cool if there were stuffed animal trees. Then when fall came, all the animals would fall of the trees and the children could go pick the stuffed animal that they wanted. She then asked me if we could go get a stuffed animal tree seed and plant it in the back yard. I told her we would have to talk to Grandma about it because she is a great gardener and maybe she could figure out how to make a stuffed animal tree. To make a long story short, Grandma talked to Santa Clause about making Sydney a stuffed animal tree and Santa thought it was a great idea. Santa and Grandma worked together to make Sydney this beautiful pink stuffed animal tree.

Santa brought Brock a blue plasma bike and some play food.
Brock loves his bike!! This is his first time seeing it.



Even Grandpa got to have a turn riding on the Plasma bikes!

Santa brought Brock this cookie set and an ice cream set. Brock loves them!!! He sleeps with the chocolate cookie with green frosting and the chocolate ice cream. He is so funny about his play food.( I wish he was obsessed with real food as much as he is with his play food!)

Grandma is reading Sydney a letter from Santa. Santa wrote her a letter about her stuffed animal tree and how Grandma helped him make it for her. I love the excitement in Sydney's face. She was so excited!!


The first animal off of her tree.
All the animals off of her tree. She is one spoiled girl. She got ten animal on her stuffed animal tree and she loves them all. She sleeps with all of them every night and plays with them nonstop!

Then we took a break and went to made breakfast and went to church. I loved having Christmas on Sunday, it brought the perfect spirit into the day!

After church we opened up the rest of the presents. They got some art supplies and stamps.


A game to play on family night.

More stamps

Brock got some more play food from Grandma and Grandpa.

Crayons and paper

I don't think I have ever been so spoiled for Christmas before. I got my sisters old guitar. I am loving learning to play it! A new blender from my Mom. Seth totally surprised me with a kindle too! I was super spoiled!(sorry about my tired face....santa was up late on Christmas Eve)

We had a great Christmas! I hope that all of you did too!!!