Four Months Old

Hannah Bear,

You are four months old...

...and look at how you've grown over the last few months!  We can't believe the transformation that's happening before our very eyes.  The proof is in those chubby chipmunk cheeks and those thunder thighs we love so much:)

You are wearing six month clothing and a size three diaper.  I'm not sure how much you weigh, but we'll find out in a couple of weeks when we go in for your next well-baby visit.

You continue to be our sweet, happy girl.  You save the biggest smiles for your daddy, which I happen to think is the most adorable thing I've ever seen.  When he comes home from work, you wiggle and squirm until he comes to say hello to you.  You like to lift up your little tootsies so he can tickle them right then and there.

You are a ticklish little girl, especially under your arms and on your sides, and usually we can get a full belly laugh from you if we get those spots just right.

{Does this tutu make my butt look big?!}

You are a great sleeper and still nap several times a day.  You're doing much better about taking naps in your crib, which is wonderful.  Lately, you've been going to bed at about 8:30 and then you wake up at 4:30.  The past two nights, I've gone in and given you back your pacifier, and you've slept for about another hour before you're ready to eat.

You are still a voracious eater.  You still nurse twice a day, and then we take turns giving you formula and breastmilk from a bottle.  At lunchtime, you have rice cereal in your bottle, and at bedtime, we add oatmeal cereal, which you love.

In the past few days, you've finally unlocked the secret to sucking your thumb (you know...just your thumb), but you aren't doing it consistently just yet.

You're still working on your roll.  You can go almost all the way from back to tummy on both sides, but you just can't seem to get past those chubby little arms of yours.

My, how you love your big brother, Jack.  I would say he gets the second biggest smiles from you.  You love when he snuggles you in the morning and when we pick him up at school.  I think it makes your day when he plays with you or asks to hold you.

{Look at those tiny little toes and those rolls on her legs.  To.  Die.  For.}

You love to grasp anything within reach, but especially things that are soft and cuddly.  You seem to be getting slightly attached to sleeping with Baby Skinny, which makes your mama smile.  I think Jack thinks it's precious, too.

You make a million funny faces a day.

You are so generous with your smiles.  As soon as someone pays you any attention, your eyes light up and your grin goes from chipmunk cheek to chipmunk cheek.

Sweet Girl,

There are not enough words to say just how much you're loved and adored.  You have changed all of our lives for the better, and we are so thankful to have you.

xoxoxo 

P.S.  Thank you for obliging me and wearing headbands and tutus as frequently as I request it, even if they aren't your favorite.  One day, you may change your mind:)

Silent Sunday

{It seems that Miss Hannah started to slip while propped up on some pillows on our bed and her wonderful big brother hustled over to keep her from toppling head-first.  He really is the best...}

Saturday Snuggles

"Can I hold her, Mama?"

"Mama, Can you take our picture?"

Why, of course you can, my little man.  And yes, I will take your picture:)

Happy Thanksgiving...

...from our family to yours.

My

heart

is

grateful.

What a wonderful birthday I had!

Happy Birthday, Rypie!

Today I am thankful for my sister and the relationship that we have.  I am thankful that she is healthy and happy and here for my little lovelies.

Ryan, You have come a long way in the last three years, and we couldn't be happier to celebrate your birthday with you tomorrow.  We hope you had a great day!  We love you lots:)

A Week's Worth of Thanks - Day 6

Today we had a group birthday luncheon at work, and I had a fabulous chocolate mousse cake that was to die for.  Definitely thankful for that:)  But in all seriousness...

I'm thankful for my job.  I know I complain a lot about having to adjust to my back-to-work schedule, but I'm thankful I have a job, a job where I get to work with teachers and their students that are learning to read and write.  I love working in schools, and I'm lucky that I get to go into so many classrooms and learn from so many people every day.

And speaking of work...I'm also thankful for the Kimmee-time I get to have on a much more frequent basis.  Kimmee and I have known each other now for eight years and in that time, we've each gotten married and had babies and our friendship has grown stronger every year.  We taught together for five years, with only our students' bathroom between her classroom and mine, and in that time, she helped me to become a better teacher.  One of the things I missed the most about my current job was that I no longer got to work with Kimmee, but at the end of last school year, she was hired as one of our new team members.  Then I was on maternity leave and didn't get the chance to actually work with her again until a few weeks ago.  In the time that I've been back to work, she's helped me to do my job more efficiently and effectively because that's what Kimmee does.  She comes in and she sees my sheer craziness and my organizational systems, and she makes it all make more sense.  It's funny to me that she's the new one on the team, and yet she's teaching me better ways to accomplish a job I've been doing for three years.  I'm not sure what that says about me, but I know that it says she's amazing.  And not just at work.  Kimmee's an amazing listener, and she'd do anything for you.   I'd be lost without her, and I'm so thankful for her friendship.

A Week's Worth of Thanks - Day 5

Today I'm thankful for Mommy blogs - mine and the mommies' blogs that I read.  I've learned a lot from other moms around the country...people I don't even know.  They've taught me how to take better pictures and that when you suction out a baby's nose, you actually have to close baby's other nostril for it to work.  They've taught me about discipline - how to teach children it's not okay to lie and what the options *could be* if someone decides they don't want to eat what I've made for dinner (peanut butter and jelly).  I say 'could be' because I haven't yet taken this step.  Jack doesn't really love peanut butter and jelly either, so I haven't decided if that's a good thing or just mean.

Mommy blogs taught me all about Etsy.  And, oh how I love Etsy!  You just wait until you see the outfits my sweet babies will be wearing on Thanksgiving:)

They taught me what color baby's dirty diapers should be if she's breastfeeding well.  I had no idea that was even a thing.

They've given me ideas of schedules for families with two little ones - although, I have to admit, I still haven't found one I can stick to.

They've given me loads of inspiration for throwing kids' parties.  And while I haven't taken on their decorating skills to the fullest extent, I'd say it's gotten better.  They really know how to throw a first birthday party in the south, that's for sure.

They've taught me to cherish every small moment.  To love the chaos.  To soak up the tantrums and the whining.  Because you never know what could happen and what if there weren't someone to whine about wanting more juice?

Mostly they've taught me that our daily life with two small children (and all the little surprises that come with it) is completely normal.  And sometimes all you need is a little validation:)


The reason I'm thankful for my own mommy blog is that I feel like it will be an amazing thing for Brad and I to look back at these yearly accounts of our life at this time.  It will be a wonderful thing to be able to show Jack and Hannah how much they were adored and how much fun we had during a time they most likely won't remember.  I love having this outlet to write and I love that I have lots of people who read it - even if they don't comment very often;)  And even if nobody else read it but us, I'd still do it.  I love it that much, and I hope that one day my babies will too.

A Week's Worth of Thanks - Day 4

Today I am thankful for quiet moments at home with my family.  I love Sundays.  They are usually lazy days for our family.  We go to church and to the grocery store, but then we come home and we play and eat and nap.  Then we play and eat some more, and I just love it.  

I'm also thankful that Jack and Hannah have one another.  Jack was so sweet to Hannah all day today, and it was just the cutest thing.  He wanted to snuggle and give her kisses first thing this morning, and all day he was just looking out for her.  At dinner, while trying to get him to eat a tiny piece of broccoli, I made up a song from Hannah for Jack, sung to the tune of "Mary Had a Little Lamb."  It goes like this:

     I want to play with Big Brother Jack

     Big Brother Jack, Big Brother Jack

     I want to play with Big Brother Jack

     So he can make me smile

and her face just lit up in this huge grin, and he was laughing.  Adorable.  Then tonight before bed, Jack wanted to watch an animal show, but not just with Daddy.  He insisted that he "needed his Hannah Bear," and this his "sister had to watch the animal show for five minutes, Mama."  Who can argue with that?  Certainly not me.

I'm thankful for all those little moments that just go by way too fast.  And that I have a camera to capture them forever.

A Week's Worth of Thanks - Day 3

Today I'm thankful for good friends, clean bedrooms, online shopping, and videos on demand.

To celebrate my birthday a little early, Hannah and I had lunch with my friend Julie and her sweet baby, Kate.  Kate is exactly three weeks younger than Hannah, and Julie and I can't wait until our girls can play together.  Today they just kind of looked on at one another and listened to one another squeal and cry during lunch.  We enjoyed great salads and cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory, and Julie got me the most beautiful infinity scarf from The Loft (and I'd be lying if I didn't say I was thankful for ALL of those things!).

When I got home, we cleaned the kids' bedrooms and changed their bedding and because I'm a dork, I absolutely love the feeling of clean bedrooms and new sheets.

Thanks to online shopping, I'm almost done with my Christmas shopping, and I feel like I just started.

And as to video on demand...let's just say that someone is very excited to see The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 1.  That person shall remain nameless.  In order to do so, said person must first catch up by watching The Twilight Saga: Eclipse.  Thankyou, thankyou, thankyou, video on demand.

A Week's Worth of Thanks - Day 2

Tonight I'm thankful for my husband, who for the last two nights, has allowed me to fall asleep with our little man before 9:30.  I'm still suffering from sheer exhaustion and from having to go back to work, and when I tucked Baby Jack into bed, not only did he fall asleep, but so did I.  Dead asleep.  Like, Brad's had to wake me up and make me switch beds asleep.

And not only that, but Brad's also cleaned up the entire house while I've slept the early evening away.  I wake up with our baby girl at about 4:30 every morning, and the past two mornings I've found the toys put away, the dishes washed, laundry in the machine, and lights out.

Simply amazing.

A Week of Thanks

In honor of the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, I've decided to post a week's worth of thanks.  Hope you enjoy:)

Tonight, I'm thankful that one year ago today, I took a pregnancy test and it came back positive.

Our Peanut was on her way, and at that moment, I was the only one who knew it.  Now I can't believe that she's about to be four months old.  Amazing how the time flies...

I'm oh-so-thankful for our baby girl and her big brother, that precious boy who makes me smile every day.

Surprise!

It wasn't the smoothest night at our house. Even though Jack was spending time at Grammy's house, Mommy didn't get to relax much because Hannah Bear was pretty fussy.  She wanted to be held, she wanted to eat, and she wanted to sleep, but she wasn't doing any of those things very happily.  It seemed like I was changing a wet diaper every 10 minutes, and then once I got her dry and dressed again, she'd spit up.  I took a deep breath, left Miss Hannah to play on a blanket on the floor, and went upstairs to get another sleeper to change her into.

I was nearly at my wit's end when I came back downstairs to find this:

Yes, my little baby girl had rolled herself over!

Obviously, I yelled for Brad and went running for the camera.  And then proceeded to take a zillion shots of this very momentous milestone.

Because that face?  How could you not?

Sort of put my evening into perspective, I'd say.  So Miss Hannah - thank you for giving me such a great present:)  You put Mama in a better mood in an instant! 

Especially when you gave it another go...

 

Good girl!

And thank you:)  Do you think you could roll again tomorrow night so that Jack can watch you?  I know he'd just love to see it!

Mr. and Mrs. Young

One month ago today, my baby sister married the man of her dreams.

Ryan and John, this is for you.  Enjoy!  Oh, and you may want to grab a tissue before hitting play:)

Happy One Month Anniversary!

Silent Sunday

{I'm sorry, but this just makes me laugh at my own attempt to get a cute sibling shot}

My Sleepy Son and Skinny Bear

Thursday evening, when Jack asked for Skinny Bear and we couldn't find him anywhere in the house, we assumed we'd forgotten him at school for the night.  After swimming class, Jack and Hannah Bear both fell asleep in the car on the way home.  When we got home, we got the kiddos quickly ready for bed, and they were both asleep at around 8:30 - a record here in our house!

When I went in Jack's room to tuck him in, he looked up at me with the saddest, little face and told me he wanted Skinny Bear.  When I tried to explain that we left him at school and we'd get him in the morning, he asked if I could go to school and get him.  If school had been open then, I would've gone in a heartbeat.  The sad face was breaking my heart, and he was so sleepy...  We gave him Back-up Skinny, listened to him explain how Back-up Skinny's tail would not do, and then kissed him goodnight.

Before I went to bed, when I was arranging my pillows, I found Skinny Bear hiding under our covers.  I took him immediately to Jack's room like I'd just won Mother of the Year, and quickly snuggled him under Jack's arm.

In the morning when I went in to wake Jack up, Skinny Bear was wrapped around my little boy.  And Back-up Skinny?  He'd been cast-off to the floor.  Even in Jack's unconscious state, he could tell the difference between the real Skinny Bear and Back-Up Skinny Bear.

When Jack sat up and gave me hugs, he told me that his arm was hurting.  I assumed it had fallen asleep, so I tried to give him a little arm massage.  That's when he remembered that his other arm was hurting too:)

When we got downstairs, Skinny Bear in tow, Jack told me, "I think Skinny Bear wants a waffle."

I had no idea that Skinny Bear liked waffles as much as my Baby Jack!  Such a smart little boy...keeps us on our toes:)

Happy Birthday, Grampy!

We love you so much, and we hope you have fun picking out some new goodies for your motorcycle.  Your birthday party was so much fun!