His house is historic and the room where we ate used to be the Lehi mayor's office! My grandpa is an artist and has a great eye for details and balance. He has been working on a lot of renovations with my Uncle Steve—and the house looks amazing!!
Thursday, November 26
Happy Thanksgiving!
It was our year to do Thanksgiving with the Bennett side—and it turned out my dad's family was throwing a huge family celebration, so we spent the holiday with most of my extended Bennett family clan! My grandpa Bennett had been really looking forward to hosting Thanksgiving dinner in his home this year.
His house is historic and the room where we ate used to be the Lehi mayor's office! My grandpa is an artist and has a great eye for details and balance. He has been working on a lot of renovations with my Uncle Steve—and the house looks amazing!!
My parents and Kyle came down from Idaho, and Brandon came to dinner too. I think my grandpa really enjoyed having the house full with everyone again. Five of his eight kids were able to come as well as 15 of the grandkids plus his two great-grandkids! It's been awhile since I've seen some of my cousins who were able to come, so it was fun to see everyone!
His house is historic and the room where we ate used to be the Lehi mayor's office! My grandpa is an artist and has a great eye for details and balance. He has been working on a lot of renovations with my Uncle Steve—and the house looks amazing!!
Saturday, October 31
Halloween
For Halloween this year, A really really wanted to be "a brave knight!" And since E is young enough that we can still make her have a costume to match her brother's, we figured it was only fitting to have a ferocious dragon that the brave knight could slay! They both looked so cute!
We had a fun little Halloween party at Grandma Shaughnessy's the week before; then the night before, we went MBASA's {the MBA Spouse Association} Halloween party and Trunk or Treat. The kids thought it was so awesome to get candy just for wearing a costume! These two make holidays magical.
We had a fun little Halloween party at Grandma Shaughnessy's the week before; then the night before, we went MBASA's {the MBA Spouse Association} Halloween party and Trunk or Treat. The kids thought it was so awesome to get candy just for wearing a costume! These two make holidays magical.
Saturday, October 10
E at 15 Months
It's pretty much official that this little doll is not a baby anymore! Our life has been so busy with selling our home and moving to a new city... and I feel like I blinked and suddenly she is so grown up, intelligent, and spunky as ever.
Her stats are:
She also has her daddy completely wrapped around her little finger. The other day, he came home and she started crying so he would cuddle and adore her. I was cracking up and pointing out that she was completely faking it but he didn't believe me and felt so sorry for her sad little cry... until she tried it again a little bit later and he could see how well she was switching the sadness on and off like a switch! I'm nervous how well she'll be able to play these games on him when she's 16! But the way they adore each other is so cute.
She is very creative and it's fun to watch her play. She loves to draw and color and create. We have toy blocks that she and A play really well together. They love to dump out the entire bucket and play building towers and patterns for a long time. She is very curious and determined, which makes her surprisingly good at building and figuring out how things work.
She also loves to play with stuffed animals and dolls. She is so nurturing and loves to hold and snuggle the toys like a baby... but drives us crazy when she holds her baby dolls because they "cry" {which means she screeches "wah wah wah!" at the top of her lungs until we stroke the baby's head and say "it's okay baby, don't cry!" which makes her giggle every single time!}
Last week, she found one of her old binks—which she hasn't used since she was only a couple months old—and pretended it was a bottle to feed her toys. She was holding it to their mouths and saying "mmmm!" She has such a big heart and loves to take care of everyone.
Her big brother loves to be the recipient of her kind heart by inventing games such as suddenly falling down and telling her that she needs to come save him, so she drops what she's doing and runs over to help him back up. And he does it over and over; and she helps him up again and again. I love seeing their friendship developing and how much they adore each other. Don't get me wrong, they still fight like crazy and I spend {what feels like} the majority of my day refereeing their battles! But they both constantly refer to each other as their "best friend" and would do anything to help or protect one another. I'm so grateful they have each other and recognize what a great opportunity it is to have a best friend/sibling friendship!
She is beginning to show more interest in talking, but usually only says "dad," "mom," and "ayn-en" plus a variety of animal noises such as "moo," "baa," and "meow" {plus when we ask her what dogs say, she makes a panting noise instead of barking!}
Her level of comprehension is really advancing too. She understands things we ask her to do, even if they are somewhat complicated and involve a couple separate steps of instruction.
Similar to her brother at this age, she really likes music! But while he liked pretending to play instruments and conduct, she loves to sing and dance. They both love the show "Little Einsteins" but she is much more active and excitedly follows all the directions {such as singing along or clapping or jumping to the music} and it's really fun to watch her interact with the characters in the show!
She loves bathtime and if anyone so much as mentions the word "bath," she instantly tries to remove all of her clothes and run to the bathroom immediately.
She loves books! When we moved to the new house, we put our old bookshelf in their room to stack toys on and filled the bottom shelves with the kid's books. Now she loves to run to her room, grab a book, run to the front room where she plops down and reads the book, then jumps up and gets a new one. Over and over again.
Playing outside is so much fun for her now that she's very stable on her feet. She loves slides and climbing on everything at the park; she gets bored in the swings and never likes to do it for more than a minute or two unless A is the one pushing her.
She is a good sleeper and has adjusted to sharing a room with A better than I anticipated. She knows when she is tired and likes to sing herself to sleep, especially at nap time.
She loves discovering her body parts and points to everyone's nose, eyes, mouth, ears, head, hair, tummy, fingers, hands, toes, feet, legs, and arms. She especially likes to do this when she wakes up too early in the morning and I'm trying to rock her back to sleep... but instead she wants to poke my face and tell me all about things like my "eeeeyyyyeee" and "nooooose!"
If anyone has food or something she wants, she says "pitttty peeeessseee" {pretty please!} over and over again until we share. And it's so cute that it's hard to ever tell her no!
She loves to help in the kitchen and seems to constantly be underfoot when I'm trying to make meals. She knows which cupboards have her favorite things to play with and she loves to help get things out of the fridge any time it opens! She loves milk but has been really easy to transition away from a bottle to a sippy cup. She also has never really cared for a bink or anything like that; she does sleep with her blankey every night and wants to carry it around with her—but I think it's to copy A {who is extremely attached to his blanket!} more than an actual need to have it with her.
She is great at eating anything we serve for meals and is not picky at all. I can't even think of a single food she doesn't like. She is very aware of her appetite—she pulls out her chair at the table when she wants to eat! And as soon as she's had enough food, she very adamantly refuses any more bites!
This girl has been such a blessing to our family. I feel like she really completes us. Her dad is smitten with her, her big brother adores her, and I absolutely love to be around her. She is happy, silly, and so much fun to be with!
- Weight: 24.0 lbs.
- Height: 31 inches
- Diaper Size: Still wearing the Size 3's.
- Clothing Size: Fits best in 12 Months outfits but wears 18 Months also.
- Likes: Singing and dancing to music, talking, exploring, doing anything with her big brother/best friend.
- Dislikes: Being tired, when she can't do what she wants.
She also has her daddy completely wrapped around her little finger. The other day, he came home and she started crying so he would cuddle and adore her. I was cracking up and pointing out that she was completely faking it but he didn't believe me and felt so sorry for her sad little cry... until she tried it again a little bit later and he could see how well she was switching the sadness on and off like a switch! I'm nervous how well she'll be able to play these games on him when she's 16! But the way they adore each other is so cute.
She is very creative and it's fun to watch her play. She loves to draw and color and create. We have toy blocks that she and A play really well together. They love to dump out the entire bucket and play building towers and patterns for a long time. She is very curious and determined, which makes her surprisingly good at building and figuring out how things work.
She also loves to play with stuffed animals and dolls. She is so nurturing and loves to hold and snuggle the toys like a baby... but drives us crazy when she holds her baby dolls because they "cry" {which means she screeches "wah wah wah!" at the top of her lungs until we stroke the baby's head and say "it's okay baby, don't cry!" which makes her giggle every single time!}
Last week, she found one of her old binks—which she hasn't used since she was only a couple months old—and pretended it was a bottle to feed her toys. She was holding it to their mouths and saying "mmmm!" She has such a big heart and loves to take care of everyone.
Her big brother loves to be the recipient of her kind heart by inventing games such as suddenly falling down and telling her that she needs to come save him, so she drops what she's doing and runs over to help him back up. And he does it over and over; and she helps him up again and again. I love seeing their friendship developing and how much they adore each other. Don't get me wrong, they still fight like crazy and I spend {what feels like} the majority of my day refereeing their battles! But they both constantly refer to each other as their "best friend" and would do anything to help or protect one another. I'm so grateful they have each other and recognize what a great opportunity it is to have a best friend/sibling friendship!
She is beginning to show more interest in talking, but usually only says "dad," "mom," and "ayn-en" plus a variety of animal noises such as "moo," "baa," and "meow" {plus when we ask her what dogs say, she makes a panting noise instead of barking!}
Her level of comprehension is really advancing too. She understands things we ask her to do, even if they are somewhat complicated and involve a couple separate steps of instruction.
Similar to her brother at this age, she really likes music! But while he liked pretending to play instruments and conduct, she loves to sing and dance. They both love the show "Little Einsteins" but she is much more active and excitedly follows all the directions {such as singing along or clapping or jumping to the music} and it's really fun to watch her interact with the characters in the show!
She loves bathtime and if anyone so much as mentions the word "bath," she instantly tries to remove all of her clothes and run to the bathroom immediately.
She loves books! When we moved to the new house, we put our old bookshelf in their room to stack toys on and filled the bottom shelves with the kid's books. Now she loves to run to her room, grab a book, run to the front room where she plops down and reads the book, then jumps up and gets a new one. Over and over again.
She is a good sleeper and has adjusted to sharing a room with A better than I anticipated. She knows when she is tired and likes to sing herself to sleep, especially at nap time.
She loves discovering her body parts and points to everyone's nose, eyes, mouth, ears, head, hair, tummy, fingers, hands, toes, feet, legs, and arms. She especially likes to do this when she wakes up too early in the morning and I'm trying to rock her back to sleep... but instead she wants to poke my face and tell me all about things like my "eeeeyyyyeee" and "nooooose!"
If anyone has food or something she wants, she says "pitttty peeeessseee" {pretty please!} over and over again until we share. And it's so cute that it's hard to ever tell her no!
She loves to help in the kitchen and seems to constantly be underfoot when I'm trying to make meals. She knows which cupboards have her favorite things to play with and she loves to help get things out of the fridge any time it opens! She loves milk but has been really easy to transition away from a bottle to a sippy cup. She also has never really cared for a bink or anything like that; she does sleep with her blankey every night and wants to carry it around with her—but I think it's to copy A {who is extremely attached to his blanket!} more than an actual need to have it with her.
She is great at eating anything we serve for meals and is not picky at all. I can't even think of a single food she doesn't like. She is very aware of her appetite—she pulls out her chair at the table when she wants to eat! And as soon as she's had enough food, she very adamantly refuses any more bites!
This girl has been such a blessing to our family. I feel like she really completes us. Her dad is smitten with her, her big brother adores her, and I absolutely love to be around her. She is happy, silly, and so much fun to be with!
Tuesday, August 4
Little Miracles in Life
Our house has been on the market for 43 days. We decided selling it would be our best way to finance the next chapter in our lives. When we first contacted our realtor, she told us how hot the market is right now and that she was selling practically everything within a month of the listing date. We excitedly listed our house, watched that "For Sale" sign go up in our front yard, cleaned like crazy for showing after showing, and waited for the offer we were hopeful would come. After a month, we were still desperately waiting and decided to drop the price. This brought even fewer showings and, obviously, no offers.
With M starting school in just over two weeks, we have been stressing over our plans and the lack of progress. We've been praying our little hearts out and decided to fast on Sunday that we could figure out our housing situation. Shortly after starting our fast, our Provo friends called to tell us they just found out our ideal apartment—not just the complex but the exact unit, the apartment directly above our friends—was coming available. All day Sunday, we deliberated if we should try to get the apartment even though we still have our house too. Having both a mortgage and a rent payment while surviving on student loans seemed terrifying!
Finally, we decided to jump in with both feet and apply for the apartment. We are officially first in line for it and they are processing the application. This was the same day M had already been planning on turning his two-week notice that he will be leaving his job. Needless to say, our tensions were running pretty high!
An hour after applying for the apartment, our realtor called to ask if we could do a showing that evening. I don't believe in coincidences so it seemed rather amazing that the day after fasting our apartment was hopefully lined up as well as a showing. I got the house ready while trying desperately to not get my hopes up since there was a good chance it would be yet another "thanks but no thanks" experience. We were getting ready for bed when the text came through that they liked the house and were considering an offer; and a couple hours later we got the official offer. It is such a good offer we won't even be negotiating and even the closing date fits perfectly with our apartment.
Within 24 hours of our fast, everything for our housing is falling into place.
It is amazing to me this is all suddenly working out. It probably isn't that important in the grand scheme of eternal things, but because it is important to us and we are important to Him then these little things work out so that we can have happiness and feel His love for us. My heart is so full of peace and gratitude today!
(This cute little apartment is where we will call home for the next two years. I'm so grateful for the miracles that are making this possible!!)
Friday, July 10
Happy 1st Birthday E!!!
I can't believe this little sweetheart is ONE! Time has flown by way too quickly. It seems crazy that it has already been a year that we were holding our precious baby girl for the first time!
This lucky little doll got to spread the parties out over an entire week to celebrate!
We celebrated together with our little family on her actual birthday. Her day was themed Pretty Purple Polkadots. I made some decorations and we had polka-dotted cupcakes as well as her very own cake.
She loved that she had her own cake... but hardly ate anything and just enjoyed making a mess with all that frosting!
The next day, we had a family party with all of M's people. It was so fun for E to have her cousins to play with and celebrate her day. I felt guilty that we didn't have a huge friend party for her like we did for A... but whenever I thought about who to invite, I realized her very best friend is her big brother and her two other favorite friends are her cousins. So having a family party was exactly what she would enjoy! {Of course, her BFF assumed that meant he got to help her open every single present... even though it was things like fingernail polish and jeweled sunglasses!}
The kids had a blast playing together! It especially makes me happy seeing how E has such a great and adoring relationship with her big brother.
Unfortunately, my paternal grandma passed away a few days before E's first birthday. My family was able to come celebrate with E a few days after her birthday due to funeral arrangements—but we were happy to have them whenever they could! It was especially fun because my dad's birthday is only a few days after E's... which means we celebrated their days together with him on his actual birthday! He loves being a grandpa and it's fun to watch him with my kids so it seemed like a perfect way to have the parties!
I know this little girl helped to heal her grandpa's heart at least a little bit after just losing his mom. She is a sweetheart and has been such a great part of our family. I love this little lady so much and hope she had the greatest birthday a one-year-old could ever ask for!
We celebrated together with our little family on her actual birthday. Her day was themed Pretty Purple Polkadots. I made some decorations and we had polka-dotted cupcakes as well as her very own cake.
She loved that she had her own cake... but hardly ate anything and just enjoyed making a mess with all that frosting!
The next day, we had a family party with all of M's people. It was so fun for E to have her cousins to play with and celebrate her day. I felt guilty that we didn't have a huge friend party for her like we did for A... but whenever I thought about who to invite, I realized her very best friend is her big brother and her two other favorite friends are her cousins. So having a family party was exactly what she would enjoy! {Of course, her BFF assumed that meant he got to help her open every single present... even though it was things like fingernail polish and jeweled sunglasses!}
Baby E at 12 Months
I can't believe she is already an entire year old! She makes us smile so much all the time. She is spunky and naughty but also adorable, sweet, and absolutely perfect.
Lately, she loves organizing toys. She pulls everything out of containers {And cupboards. And mom's purse. And anything else she can find!} and then picks it all back up and puts it back where she found it. Over and over again. She can be a little tornado of destruction but it's really cute to watch her try to help clean things up.
She loves reading books. Her favorite place to go is the basket of kids books; she pulls a bunch out and sits on the floor flipping through pages. She likes to sit on our laps and read together for as long as we'll hand her books. She is so curious any time she sees a book—even if its something boring like one of our old textbooks!
She likes to cuddle more lately. When she's tired, she likes to snuggle together in the rocking chair with her blanket to fall asleep. I love having the time to cuddle with her because I feel like I missed a lot of the rocking and snuggling stage while she was colicky.
This sweet little doll has become such a happy kid. The past year has flown by and I am simply amazed to think back over the ups and downs we've gone through over the year only to see how perfect, sweet, and fun she has turned out to be. She is learning so much and her personality has truly blossomed. I know I've said it a million times before, but I feel so lucky to be her mom!
Her current stats:
- Weight: 23.3 lbs.
- Height: 30 inches
- Diaper Size: Still wearing the Size 3's.
- Clothing Size: She wears 9-12 Months outfits.
- Likes: Eating, dancing by trying to jump up and down like crazy, mimicking tons of things we do, using her voice to talk/sing/yell/whatever, giving lots of kisses.
- Dislikes: When anyone tells her no.
This determined little lady is walking!! The week before her birthday, she set her own little record of six steps. Then at her birthday party, she was making cute wobbly steps across half the room. For the past month, she has seemed nervous about taking steps on her own. But apparently having a birthday helped her decide she was ready because she is motivated and trying to walk every chance she can.
She loves experimenting with her voice and sings/chants/yells all the time. It's so cute... until it gets really loud and screechy! She and A escalate by feeding off of each other's volume levels.
Her vocabulary includes "Dad-dad," "Mom-mom," and "Nen-nen," as well as "Uh-oh," "Hi," "Buh" {blanket}, "Babba" {bottle}, "Meh" {milk}, and "Moh" {more}. On top of her verbal efforts toward communication, she is very good at pointing toward what she wants and making noises to indicate what she wants.
We ask her if she wants something and, if not, she shakes her head "no." So she obviously understands the word, but when she's being naughty and we tell her "no," she hates it! As a master of the art of tantrums, being told to stop or not do something causes her to throw a beautiful tantrum complete with flopping on the floor while screaming. It's hilarious, adorable, and annoying all at the same time!
She has started mimicking things that the rest of us do. She especially loves copying A with both his actions and his sounds. It's amazing to watch how perceptive she is and the things she attempts to imitate.
Lately, she loves organizing toys. She pulls everything out of containers {And cupboards. And mom's purse. And anything else she can find!} and then picks it all back up and puts it back where she found it. Over and over again. She can be a little tornado of destruction but it's really cute to watch her try to help clean things up.
She loves reading books. Her favorite place to go is the basket of kids books; she pulls a bunch out and sits on the floor flipping through pages. She likes to sit on our laps and read together for as long as we'll hand her books. She is so curious any time she sees a book—even if its something boring like one of our old textbooks!
This sweet little doll has become such a happy kid. The past year has flown by and I am simply amazed to think back over the ups and downs we've gone through over the year only to see how perfect, sweet, and fun she has turned out to be. She is learning so much and her personality has truly blossomed. I know I've said it a million times before, but I feel so lucky to be her mom!
Monday, June 22
House for Sale
We have so many changes coming up for our family in the next few years! At the beginning of this year, M started studying for the GMAT and preparing his applications for grad school. After tons of thinking, talking, praying, a few tears, some more talking, and some more praying, we've decided that the best choice for M's career path is to return to school full-time to get an MBA.
He did well on the GMAT and was accepted to BYU for the fall! Because the program is pretty intense, M is actually not supposed to work for at least the first year so that he can focus on studying and acquiring an internship. As we started weighing out the options of how to best make this happen, we realized that the equity we had in our home could go a long way in financing our next two years. So we contacted our realtor... and our house is officially on the market!
While we are so sad at the thought of leaving our first home, I am extremely grateful to have this option so that I can continue to be a full-time mom for my kids. It's something I've always felt strongly about and I'm so glad that I have a husband who supports me {as well as some obvious divine intervention to help us make it happen!} I feel like this house has been a huge blessing for us from start to finish. Not only is it in a fantastic neighborhood where we've been able to make some dear life-long friends, we were also blessed to get the house at a fantastic price that has allowed us to make a substantial amount from its potential sale. We've made so many great memories in this house and I'm grateful for all that it has been for our little family.
He did well on the GMAT and was accepted to BYU for the fall! Because the program is pretty intense, M is actually not supposed to work for at least the first year so that he can focus on studying and acquiring an internship. As we started weighing out the options of how to best make this happen, we realized that the equity we had in our home could go a long way in financing our next two years. So we contacted our realtor... and our house is officially on the market!
While we are so sad at the thought of leaving our first home, I am extremely grateful to have this option so that I can continue to be a full-time mom for my kids. It's something I've always felt strongly about and I'm so glad that I have a husband who supports me {as well as some obvious divine intervention to help us make it happen!} I feel like this house has been a huge blessing for us from start to finish. Not only is it in a fantastic neighborhood where we've been able to make some dear life-long friends, we were also blessed to get the house at a fantastic price that has allowed us to make a substantial amount from its potential sale. We've made so many great memories in this house and I'm grateful for all that it has been for our little family.
Friday, April 10
Baby E at 9 Months
It's official: this cute babe has been in the world longer than she was in my tummy. She's growing up too quickly!
Her current stats:
Her smile is so cute and flashes her two cute teeth. But lately, that smile has her tongue peeking out. Speaking of smiles... she absolutely loves when someone smiles at her and she flashes a huge, flirtatious smile to anyone that acknowledges her. And then she tries to play peek-a-boo to continue getting more and bigger smiles from everyone. It's hilarious.
She also loves playing with her cousin, Avery {who is actually MY cousin's little girl, so I don't really know what relationship that is for the babies... so I just call them cousins because it's easier!}. I'm so grateful she has a little girlfriend she can grow up and be lifetime friends because I truly believe that cousins make the best of friends.
Of all the people she likes to spend time with, her very favorite friend is her big brother. She thinks he is absolutely amazing because he is so grown up. E watches all the things A can do and tries to keep up. It's adorable to watch the two of them chase, climb, and tumble together.
Her current stats:
- Weight: 20.3 lbs.
- Height: 29 inches
- Diaper Size: Size 3 still fits her adorably chunky thighs and belly.
- Clothing Size: She's officially moved up to needing 6-9 Months.
- Likes: Standing, crawl-racing, playing with dad, watching big kids {she thinks she's the same age as her big brother!}, wrestling and playing.
- Dislikes: Having to sleep any time she'd rather be playing.
This little doll is getting to be so much fun. She is my little sweetheart and I feel so lucky that I get to spend every day with her {thank you M for working so hard and making it possible!!!}. She is learning so many new things and amazes me every single day. Plus, I think she is insanely cute.
She loves to talk! She is back to saying "mom-mom-mom," but it is usually either when she wants more food or when she is sad and wants to snuggle. Her favorite words are still "dad-dad-dad" and "nen-nen" and she says them when she is excited about things or sees either of the boys.
Her hair is finally getting so long that it hangs over her ears. It's adorable and looks so girly with headbands. It's already thick and holds hairclip bows well too. Basically she just always looks cute!
She is suddenly getting very attached to her blankets and brings them out of her crib lately. She needs it to fall asleep because she buries her face into it and falls asleep on her tummy. She has also gotten really snuggly with me, which I absolutely love. At bedtime, she nestles her head into my neck and holds on tight. Although I think it has more to do with not wanting to be put into her bed, I tell myself its because she loves me. And I love her so very much.
We have been able to spend time with cousins lately and I just love watching how much she loves interacting with other kids. She and her cousin, Miles, are only a few months apart and enjoy a lot of the same toys and games together.
Of all the people she likes to spend time with, her very favorite friend is her big brother. She thinks he is absolutely amazing because he is so grown up. E watches all the things A can do and tries to keep up. It's adorable to watch the two of them chase, climb, and tumble together.
She loves being involved in everything. She is underfoot any time I attempt any chores but it's sweet that she wants to always see and do everything the rest of us are doing.
She is standing up and trying to walk all the time. She is so smart! She claps, dances, points, waves, gives horribly slobbery kisses.
She amazes me every day and I'm so grateful for such a healthy, happy, smart, and wonderful baby.
Tuesday, March 10
Baby E at 8 Months
Umm how is she already 8 months old?! I swear it's been maybe two months since she was born. Time is flying by too quickly!
- Weight: 19.5 lbs.
- Height: 28 inches
- Diaper Size: She recently moved up to Size 3.
- Clothing Size: She's still in 3-6 Months clothes but almost too tall for most of them.
- Likes: Eating, talking, crawling everywhere, climbing up everything, pretending she's two years older than she really is.
- Dislikes: Having her nose wiped, being expected to lay still during a diaper change.
She thinks she's a two-year-old stuck in a baby's body. She wants to be eating real foods just like the rest of the family. She has been so good at chewing even before getting her two bottom teeth. Now, she thinks she's practically unstoppable... until she chokes! She's given us a couple scares but just keeps trying. Her determination to be a big kid is admirable!
Luckily for her, mom and dad like sharing their food {and yes, you guessed it, big brother does not always like sharing his!} so she has been able to try quite the variety of food. She officially loves french fries and chocolate like her mommy and pizza like her dad! She has tried tomatoes, which are A's favorite food, but she definitely doesn't like them as much as she likes other fruits and veggies.
She is becoming so talkative and loves jabbering away—particularly when she's tired and is trying to fall asleep. She also loves trying to copy A when he's talking... and he enjoys copying her in return but much louder, which tends to escalate to a lot of yelling in only a matter of seconds! Although she used to say "mom-mom-mom" {not in association with me, but just the sounds}, she seems to have abandoned that for her new favorite word, "dad-dad-dad." As long as she doesn't start to say "dad" anytime I ask her to say "mom," I'll be okay with it. She has her daddy wrapped around her little finger so it does seem fitting that she loves to talk about him too.
Although we call her our princess, she is a tough, adventurous little baby. She is climbing up on everything, has figured out how to go up stairs {and yes, may or may not have fallen down a couple of steps once or twice}, constantly stands and tries to walk along furniture and toys. Our house is 10x more baby-proofed than it ever was been before and that is still barely stopping her from her explorations.
She absolutely loves her big brother and wants to be with him constantly—which I'm sure motivates her willingness to climb, run, and chase anywhere he goes. They are adorable when they are playing together {and they definitely have plenty of moments when they act more like archenemies, as you can see in one of the pictures below...} Although there is tons of energy, playing, wrestling, fighting, screaming, and giggling, I feel so lucky to be their mom and love watching them learn how to be friends.
Because she was was so uncomfortable while colicky and then became mobile so quickly, I feel like she has never been a snuggly baby. Now that she's completely figured out how to get around and go anywhere she wants, she likes to come to us and climb on our laps to be held. I love getting to interact with her in my arms all the time now!
She always wants to be everywhere that we are. She and A are cute little friends but they tend to already fight a lot because she is able to get almost anywhere that he is and wants to play with whatever he has. She also likes following me into the kitchen when I'm trying to cook and clean. She likes to pull herself up on the cupboards and thinks she's a fabulous helper with the dishes!
A reason for seeming so big now is that she has upgraded into a big kid carseat. And she loves it!! She is so content now that she can see the same things A is looking at and just stares out the window at everything while we drive.
She has also become Queen of the Shopping Cart now that she doesn't have her carrier carseat anymore. A is not too thrilled about having to walk everywhere but luckily we do the majority of our shopping at Costco where the carts are gigantic and have two seats! They get along surprisingly well sitting side by side... probably because they always tend to behave better in public than they do at home!
She absolutely loves going on walks and does her gasp/screech giggle almost non-stop along the way. She and A also love swinging together in our backyard. They are content to swing forever just giggling and squealing. It is so cute and a relaxing break to just sit together outside. Even though it's been a mild winter, I'm so excited for warmer weather to come!
Speaking of the weather, we have only gotten a couple big storms with enough snow to stick to the ground. One was just about a week ago and now that E is crawling, she was absolutely fascinated by all the cold white fluff on the pokey green stuff. At first I couldn't tell if she hated it, but once she saw A doing it then she wanted to play too because she loves everything her big brother loves!
Her hair is a lot lighter than A's and we are still holding out hope that she might be a blonde. It has all grown in the same length and is so cute and fluffy right after a bath.
Because she was was so uncomfortable while colicky and then became mobile so quickly, I feel like she has never been a snuggly baby. Now that she's completely figured out how to get around and go anywhere she wants, she likes to come to us and climb on our laps to be held. I love getting to interact with her in my arms all the time now!
A reason for seeming so big now is that she has upgraded into a big kid carseat. And she loves it!! She is so content now that she can see the same things A is looking at and just stares out the window at everything while we drive.
She has also become Queen of the Shopping Cart now that she doesn't have her carrier carseat anymore. A is not too thrilled about having to walk everywhere but luckily we do the majority of our shopping at Costco where the carts are gigantic and have two seats! They get along surprisingly well sitting side by side... probably because they always tend to behave better in public than they do at home!
Her hair is a lot lighter than A's and we are still holding out hope that she might be a blonde. It has all grown in the same length and is so cute and fluffy right after a bath.
She is such a fun, spunky baby. I am so grateful she is part of our family and makes us laugh every day. I have no idea what we did to be lucky enough to deserve this cute little girl!
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