Pretty Pretty

Evie is doing really well. She has started eating much much better and consistently takes a full bottle. For the most part she sleeps through the night--she wakes up anywhere between 4 and 6, except on Saturday Baby Girl slept until 730!!! We have been venturing to church semi-frequently and sit with her in the balcony. I am hoping to put her in the nursery around 3 months, until then we just hope and pray she sleeps quietly in the balcony. She has grown to love her paci more and really needs it to settle into sleep. Swaddling is a requirement because she is so strong and squirmy. She cannot sleep with her little arms flailing. Evie is also a huge stretcher and often stretches of 5 or 6 minutes after a nap--she throws her head back, arches her back, and stretchers her arms above her head. Poor thing actually punched herself in the face during one of her stretching fests. It is really very cute, I need to get it on camera--David never did anything like it. Also, she is still super animated and smiles for absolutely no reason quite often--I guess it is the girl in her. :)

(new post below)

As good as it gets....

When David asks me why I don't have any framed pictures to show for his second year of life--I will remind him of how camera friendly he was at this sweet tender age :).

Smiley Faced Girl

I know--lots of posts at one time (two more below)! Usually, once I get on a roll, I have to keep going for fear I will not make time for it later. Let's be honest, it is going to take a TON of posting to even come to close to equal updates for Evie as we did for David. Poor second children :).

This girl is FULL of smiles. I have never seen anything like it. David was definitely a more stoic baby and smiled consistently at a much older age. This sweet girl just smiles and smiles and smiles. I absolutely love it and look forward to getting to know her personality and how it differs from David. Hopefully she can help bring her older brother out of his little shell.

(two new posts below)

Love this Boy

We are having so much fun watching this little guy become a boy. He is full of all kinds of conversation and basically gives us a running commentary of his every move. We have joked he has taken up tweeting and is a trendy hipster for his age. He loves to narrate life as it unfolds: Ohh, I fall down. I get up. I did it! Push chair over here, this way. Put cup right here. I jump, I run, Day-Day loves Mommy, Day-Day put cup in sink, etc. It is amazing to me the kind of information his brain is able to absorb and understand. Yesterday he asked me if I was Daddy's wife. Today he wanted to leave Evie at home because he was afraid he was going to have to take her to Nanny's house with him. He also refuses to bring toys to playgroup and says no bring truck, no share. Leave Mommy's house. He is definitely up front about his issues with sharing. He will be starting school in August and I think it is going to be REALLY good for him. He has grown more shy by the day and now refuses to speak to anyone who does not consider his "people." Usually if I ask him to say hello to someone who stops by, he responds with "I Shy." I was an extremely shy child until about 1st grade, so I am not surprised this. I just hope that school will help him feel comfortable in his own skin away from family. Oh, and the pictures above are some of the fun things he has been doing around here. He loves to show Evie his books and "read" to her. However, I cannot leave them unsupervised. After reading this story he tried to sit on her. :) Lastly, he LOVES to rough house with his Daddy and lately has been learning how to line up on the line for football. He loves to say "Down, Hut!!" and run. I know Grant is itching for Spring so they can get back to playing outside after work.

(New Evie post below)

8 Weeks With Evie

This baby girl is PRECIOUS!! I cannot get over how smiley and expressive she is. It is almost as if she is trying to laugh already and engage with people. She is really very strong as her brother was and has rolled over once by accident. Shockingly, David was 6 days old when he did the very same thing--I think Evie's was around 2 weeks. I like to say it's the athletic part of their Daddy coming out in them--little gymnasts!! We are still having some eating issues and I look forward to her two month appointment so we can try and figure out how to help her. She has always been such a good sleeper and is capable of 5 and 6 hour stretches at night. However, she recently has been refusing the quantity she would need to sleep through the night and picked her 230 feeding up again. I was SO proud of her last night--she took 5 ounces at 10 and slept until 4. Evie often takes her morning naps on the run with us, but takes a good 2+ hour nap in the afternoon which I am very thankful for. She has such a sweet disposition, but is very clear about having a clean diaper. The girl likes a dry hiney! I am having so much fun cuddling with her throughout the day and cannot believe she has been here for nearly 2 months. It is bittersweet for sure--too fast!!

Mr. Crazy Pants

Life with a two year old is absolutely hilarious. He is EVERYWHERE and I really have no pictures to show for his existence that are anwhere close to frameable--as you can see. Boys are the cutest!

(new post below about Evie Marelle)

Little Miss Evie

It is amazing how different siblings can be. Evie isn't able to do anything other than eat, sleep, cry, and poop--but she is doing it all in a different way than her brother.

This child is a little lady. She cannot stand a dirty diaper. In contrast, her brother could live in a dirty diaper for days--and never complained about it as a baby either. Girls really are dainty!

David preferred to sleep on his stomach and Evie sleeps REALLY well on her back.

She does not have a strong suck reflex and doesn't have a real need for a pacifier unless she is hungry or fussy in the car seat. On the other hand, David treats his pacifier as a fifth appendage and could not live without it as a newborn.

Evie is not a good eater and could really go without a bottle if I did not encourage her to continue on. David used to GULP down his entire bottle, then scream after it was empty. She could care less about milk and rarely finishes a bottle.

At this age, David hated the car and Evie absolutely loves it.

She is in the 10% for height and at this age, David was in the 90%.

David screamed throughout bath time and diaper changes and this little lady is all about some pampering. She LOVES to have her hair washed and her diaper changed. This makes for a happy Momma considering we probably change her diaper 10 times a day.

I am also a happy Momma because Evie has slept through the night three nights in a row now. I am not sure how permanent this will be---but as of now she has dropped her 230 feeding and is going 11 to 6. It is MUCH easier to be a good Momma for a busy 2 year old when I have some real sleep under my belt. Overall, I am starting to feel like we have turned the corner on chaos and are enjoying this new normal as I hoped we would. Today was our second Sunday in church and it was so nice to be back in fellowship and be ministered to after being away for so long. In addition, I have cut down the time it takes to get all 3 of us ready and out of the house to 45 minutes when we are in a pinch. It is a miracle and many days I sit in the driveway and have no recollection of how I got there. :) The Lord has given me the strength and patience I need for each day. Praise Him! Oh and we LOVE Evie!!!!

Slilly Boy

I LOVE the way this two year old child talks. I seriously dread the day he learns to pronounce things correctly--though I am sure it loses it's cuteness appeal after 6 years of age when they get sent to speech therapy. I wanted to record a few things for my memory--because I have somehow lost the ability to remember anything. Am I alone in this? I used to always make fun of my Mom when she could not recall simple things OR even things like our first words and such. In the words of my sister--I have now become my Mom. My brain has actually lost the ability to retain information. Not sure if it is sleep deprivation or what--maybe it's all the hormones from being pregnant twice over the course of 3 years.

Anyways---here are a few words I love to hear David say. Many days, I will just ask him to say them so I can enjoy his cuteness.

Slilly=Silly

Grum=Drum

Kips=Chips

Kippys=Chappys

Our new favorite game is to repeat David's words as he says them. As we have done this, we realize he actually thinks he is saying it the correct way (which makes it even more cute!). Here is how the conversation usually goes.

David: I love slilly boots.

Mommy: You love your slilly boots?

David: No, Mommy. Slilly boots.

Mommy: Oh, slilly boots?

David: NO. SLILLY boots!

Mommy: Oh, Silly boots?

David: Yes.

Mommy: Yes, what? What do we say to Mommies?

David: Mam.

This same banter went on with the words grum, kips, and kippys. I love his little brain!

Brother Sister

David around 8 weeks

Evie at 6 weeks

Some people have told us Evie reminds them so much of David. In my eyes, she looks like a completely different baby with a few similarities--though there are times she reminds me of him. I looked back at David's pictures to see how similar they really are at this stage. Weirdly enough, I think Evie looks SO much like David when she is crying--I guess it's because her eyes are closed and though you cannot tell in this picture--their eyes are very different when open. So far, she seems to be darker complected than him--but you just never know for sure because babies change so much over the first 6 months. I am excited to see how Evie will grow and change. She is the sweetest baby and makes my job as Mama extremely manageable. We are coming up on the 7 week mark and I can hardly believe it. I feel like she has been here all along, but then I also don't feel like I really know anything about her outside of her sleeping, eating, and pooping patterns, ha! So far, she is VERY smiley and I am loving seeing her little face light up throughout the day. Today is my birthday and I can think of nothing more I could want--the gift of staying home with these little babies is such a privilege and I hope to never take it for granted.

One Month with Evie

This past week has been really wonderful. I feel like I am turning the corner and starting to get a good groove with all the new demands that have come with having two children. I no longer dread trying to leave the house and that feeling of overstimulation has slowly subsided. We have been so blessed by this baby girl's temperament. She is so very content and mellow baby. I have been blown away at her ability to self soothe--she never requires any help to fall asleep (except a swaddle) unless she has a gas bubble she needs to get up. She loves to sleep and has slowly started clustering her naps into two big chunks. I am not setting a schedule just yet, still trying to get to know her and enjoy our time together while David is down in the afternoon. Evie is just like her brother in that she is very strong--she rolled over yesterday by accident and does great with tummy time. The most fun thing so far has been the many many smiles she has been showing us. She is much more expressive than David was and I am excited to see her little personality come out. David is really enjoying her and despite some two year old meltdowns, is still doing well.