Happy 2nd B-day to our Princess

 

Dear Kayla,

How can it be that our, sweet, beautiful little girl is two years old already?!  You are such a sweet, nurturing, sensitive girl. 

Right now you are really into pretend cooking.  You also love to help me cook in the kitchen and by cook I mean taste everything.  You love purses and will turn anything with a strap into a purse (baskets, buckets, bags).  You enjoy playing outside and in the basement (bay-ment). 

You stay very busy tending to all your babies all day long.  You push them around in the stroller, carry them in the baby carrier (sometimes with a blanket over it like we do for Levi,) you put them night-night, they spend time in Levi's jumperoo, and you feed them.  I love watching you play house with your babies.  You are such a little mama at heart.  Whenever we tell you we are going to church you always respond with "babies."  That is because you love playing with babies in the nursery.  When I drop you off your teacher always asks, "Do you want to get a baby Kayla?"  And it doesn't matter which teacher it is, because they all know you love your babies.  One day when I picked you up from the nursery the teacher commented on your amazing ability to care for babies. 

You are such a kind sister.  You are always looking out for Joshua (Josh-Josh) making sure he gets what he needs, taking his snacks to him before you eat yours, bringing him his water bottle when you find it on the floor.  You also love to talk to Levi and you get such a kick out of it when he coos back to you.  When he spits up you say, "Uh-oh" and then go get me a burp rag. You like to give Levi loves and share toys with him.  Your heart is so big.

We are working on learning colors right now,  Most things are white (ite) to you.  You also love the number 2. 

You are bold, brave and outgoing.  You say hi to everyone who walks by and you definitely do not shy away from playing with the big kids.

You are the perfect mix of sugar and spice and we love you to pieces!!!

I pray that you would walk close to God all the days of your life and trust in Him always. 

All my Love,

Mommy

Well Baby stats:
Height- 33 inches (25%)
Weight- 24 lbs (40%)
Head- 18 1/8 (65%)

Pictures from her 2 year check up.

Waiting for her shot.  She was saying, "No shot.  No thank you."  Amazingly neither her or Levi cried  one bit when they go their shots.  The nurse said I have brave kids.

 

You love stiring...

 

...and pouring.

Playing with our homemade balance scale.

Playing with babies in the church nursery.  

Initiating some sibling love.

My fashionista.

 

She would rather wear her craft/activity.

She also likes trains.

Joshua's Writing

Joshua has recently taken a huge interest in spelling and sounding out words.  The other day I gave him a white board and after we practiced writing his name he just started writing letters.  I was so impressed. 

 

I did the S and he did the rest.

 

He likes to write a long string of letters and then ask me what it spells. 

I am so impressed at how neat and straight his letters are.

 

He is also really into mazes.  Here is one of many that he

created for me to complete with my finger.

 

 

We wrote Daddy a note.

A Girl Can Never Have too Many Shoes

Over the weekend I got out some shoes for Kayla that have been handed down to us to see what fits her now.  This girl had a blast trying on all the different shoes.  At first she got upset when I took the shoes off but quickly caught on that we were putting on and taking off a bunch of deferent shoes and thought it was so.much.fun!  When I put a new pair on her she would say, "pretty!" 

After we settled on a pair to wear that day she went down stairs and proudly showed Daddy her news shoes.  It was so adorable. 

For a while she was all about the boots.  It didn't matter that it was 75 degrees outside, she waned to wear her new to her boots. 

The day after we tried on all the different shoes she seriously wore 3 different pairs of shoes in one day.  She spent all morning and early afternoon in sandals.  Then after nap she wanted to wear her boots when we went to pick up Aunt Sydney. After dinner she insisted on wearing a different pair of sandals when we went outside to play. 

She is all girl and it is so much fun! 

I love my little fashionista.

 

Levi's First Taste of Baby Food

Levi has been more than interested in what we have been eating recently.  When we are eating he watches the fork so intently.  He follows our fork with his eyes from our plate, into our mouth and then back down to the plate again.  Anytime I bring any utensil or food to his mouth he always opens his mouth as he reaches for it.  So we decided it was time to give him some baby food.  We started with avocado then a few days later we did sweet potatoes.  He did pretty well with the avocado but was much more excited when he tried sweet potatoes.  Overall he seems to like the experience of eating.

 

So excited for his first taste of real food.

 

Not sure what to think just yet. 

 

Okay, he thinks he likes it.  

And the big siblings cheered when he finished his

breakfast.  They were so proud of him. 

I can hardly believe it's that time again where my freezer will be stocked with homemade baby food again.  These babies grow up fast!

Levi at 5 Motnhs Old

 

Levi is 5 months old and is getting so big.  It is all happening too fast.

 

Here is his 5 month update...

 

*I hope he marries a girl who knows how to do a mean swaddle because this boy sure does love to be swaddled.  We have tried swaddling him with one arm out and he does okay but I think he sleeps better with both arms in. 

 

* He is still laughing and talking so much everyday and it is the best sound.  Most times all you have to do is look at him and he will give you the biggest smile ever!

 

*He wears the same size nighttime diaper as his big sis does. 

 

*Sleep...well lets just say it could be better but it could also be worse so I will try not to complain too much knowing that this too shall pass.  He goes down for the night at 6:30pm (if we try to keep him up any later he just falls apart) and is up around 7am for the day.  He gets up about every 3-4 hours still.  Daniel use to be able to get him back to sleep by rocking him or giving him the paci but now he will only go back if I nurse him.  I am starting to believe that there is something to that 4 months sleep regression I have read about.  

 

*Levi got his first real cold this past month.  So nice of those siblings to share with him.  He had a raspy voice for a good week, maybe more.  It was the most pitiful sound hearing him cry. 

 

* He has started sitting in his high chair during our mealtimes.  The kids both love it.  At first the kids would both want him to sit by them.  I had to switch him back and fourth so they both had a turn.  Now his permanent spot is next to Kayla. 

 

When he isn't in his chair during mealtime Kayla will tell us, "Baby, chair."

as she points to the high chair.  Then we ask, "Do you want baby to sit in his chair?" She nods yes with a smile.

 

  

 

My 3 babies!

 

My high school best friend and Maid of Honor meets Levi for the first time.   

I sure am blessed with these three.

 

kisses from big sister. 

Saturday morning snuggles with my boys while our princess gets her beauty sleep.  

We are in the process of transitioning him out of his Rock and Play Sleeper into his crib.  When he sleeps in his crib he rolls to his side with his arm sticking out. 

Selfie with Mom.

 

Like most babies he loves sucking on his fingers and hands.

 

He has recently started sucking his thumb and the cuteness factor is through the roof. Here's to hoping  this new found love of his thumb will lead to some better sleep for everyone!

 

Holding it in place.  

 

We can't get enough of this sweet smile!

Febuary 2015

Update on the kiddos

Kayla:
Here are a few fun things that Kayla is doing right now that I want to always remember...

*When we tell her something she often replies with an innocent, high pitched "OOOHHH!"

*She says "okay" in the sweetest way.  My favorite is when we repeat her request back to her and she says, "okay" as if she is saying, "well, since you asked."

*After she gets done crying she likes to tell us, "I cying."  She had a pretty nasty cold on a day we were suppose to go to MOPs.  So Papa came and stayed with her wile I went with Joshua and Levi.  She so sad about it.  Later that night when Daniel asked her about Papa coming over to play with her she told him, "I cying. 'Mama'" 

Joshua:
*Joshua continues to love learning and impresses us daily with his vocabulary, creativity, memory, problem solving skills and the way he thinks things through. 

*He has recently gotten into dinosaurs.  He often wakes me up in the mornings by coming into my room roaring like a t-rex which is his favorite dino.

*He is in the very early stages of spelling CVC words. 

* He is really into rough and tumble play these days.  He loves wrestling and playing dinosaurs.  Although I think playing dinosaurs is just another word for wrestling.  Daniel is constantly impressed with his new moves.

And now for some pictures...

Miss Kayla Girl just enjoying a snack in Levi's chair.

 

Our Valentine's Day Celebration.  I love Valentine's Day (all holidays really) and kids make it that much more fun.  We celebrated all day with decorations, heart shape pancakes, heart shaped pizza for dinner, heart shaped yogurt dots for dessert, eating and dirking with special heart plates and cups. and of course chocolate.

 

We've had some unseasonably warm weather this month.  We always do our very best to take advantage of it because you never know when the snow will come. 

 

                                           

                                                                Blowing bubbles

 

                           

 

                           

                                                         Climbing on a dirt hill.

 

 Since both kids are so fascinated by bridges we went and played on one that is close by our house.

 

 

Watching the cars go under.

 

Running to the other side to see the come come out.

 

  

Here is that snow I was talking about.

 

                                             

                             

And when that snow comes we get creative around

here in order to burn off some energy.

 

Taste testing our homemade peanut butter.

                                                     

Kayla has officially entered toddlerhood.  She wants to do everything herself.  She tells us, "ME!"  She spends a very long time in the mornings trying to get herself dressed and refuses any sort of help.  Once I put her in the stroller and she promptly got right out just to turn right back around and climb in HERSELF!

 

Playing "guitar" like his cousins Noah and Giovanni.  

 

And speaking of Noah, he is Joshua shipping him his b-day package. 

He was so proud of his strength.  He asked me to take

a picture so we could show Daddy.

As I was drawing myself a bath I stepped out of the bathroom

 to get something and a sweet little boy snuck in and gave me some toys to play with.

  

We celebrated Omah and Uncle Andrew's b-day at our house with brunch.  

                           

Juice time with Omah. 

Silly Kayla girl, this pack and play is for your dolly.  

Kayla loves anything that can double as a purse.  Here she is at a restaurant with 2 "purses."

I love catching these 2 playing so sweetly together.   

When they wont stay in timeout.  Disclaimer: He wasn't really in timeout. 

We were just goofing around. And by that smile on his

face you can see just how much fun he was having.