This birthday was a big one for me, so we got to do more celebrating than usual, which was really fun!
My birthday was last Thursday, and my mom took the day off work, so she could spend it with me and the kids. I was so looking forward to spending the whole day with her, and I kept thinking how I hope when Elisabeth turns thirty, she'll want to spend the whole day with me :). We just hung out at my mom's house for most of the day. We did a little shopping, but mostly just stayed home and relaxed. My mom helped with the kids, so I could catch up on some TV that I can only watch at her house. It was a fun day. That night when Matt and Barry got off work, we had dinner. I requested chicken enchiladas and Los Cabos queso. Yum!
My mom also spoiled me with a delicious cake. It was such a great day.
We came home that night, and I watched this moment and realized that my thirties will be fantastic with these loves in my life.
Friday night, Matt planned a date night to celebrate my birthday. We ate dinner at Bonefish, and then went to the new Warren theater that recently opened. I had been hinting (a lot) about wanting to go. It was a fun experience. The heated and reclining seats were awesome!
We saw American Sniper. It's not really my kind of movie, but I had heard good things about it. It was a great movie. I'm glad we saw it.
Matt had gotten an incentive at work for some extra work he had done recently, so he received a free night's stay at the Mayo hotel in Tulsa, and he save it to use for my birthday. It was such a treat to spend the night in a fancy hotel. It was the nicest hotel either of us had stayed in.
It was huge, more like an apartment, than a hotel room.
I got the best night's sleep I've had in a very long time. I woke up so rested and refreshed, and I felt so spoiled.
We had a lazy morning, and then Matt took me out to breakfast for the last part of our date.
Saturday night we invited some friends (and my parents) over for Hideaway pizza and cake to celebrate. The boys helped Matt make a birthday cake for me.
We ate and visited and played board games. It was a fun night to end the weekend of celebrating. I'm looking forward to all the fun this next decade will bring!
When I was a teenager, I always thought that my twenties would be the best decade of my life. I dreamed about them and looked forward to that season of life. I always wanted to be a wife and a mother, and I assumed and hoped it would happen in my twenties. And I knew college would be so fun- the best years of your life, some say. I just knew that the years between 2005 and 2015 would contain so many huge milestones in my life. And you know what, they did. It seemed we were celebrating something major yearly during most of my twenties, and so many of those dreams came true. As I'm about to close the book on my twenties, I have to say that they were fabulous. I will always look back on this decade fondly. So many wonderful things happened.
A few months after I turned twenty, Matt asked me to be his wife...
And eleven months after that day, we said I do. Looking back now, it was such a HUGE commitment that I made as a 21 year old. I don't think I realized the enormous responsibility to fulfill that covenant then. I grew as a wife in my twenties.
Our honeymoon will always rank as one of the best weeks of my life.
A lot of years in my twenties were devoted to education. I finished up my undergraduate degree in my twenties, got accepted and graduated with my master's, became an LMFT and supported Matt as he finished his undergraduate and graduate degrees.
That investment in our education in those early years set us up for careers and a move to Broken Arrow in 2008.
We bought two houses and sold one in my twenties. More big decisions and big responsibilities.
We added this cutie to our family a few months after we moved.
We traveled in my twenties. We've made vacationing a priority in our budget and in our family, and I'm so thankful. It's benefited our marriage and our family and created some of the best memories.
In my twenties, Matt and I made three big announcements...
Followed a few months later by three more big announcements...
Followed a few months after that by three of the best moments of my entire life! I never really considered that three of the best days of my life would occur in a hospital, but these precious moments changed me forever.
They brought with them a fierce love and deep joy I never could have imagined along with a responsibility that daily humbles me.
My twenties were full and blessed and incredible.
Back when I was a teenager longing for the excitement my twenties would bring, I don't think I ever thought past it. If that decade would be the best of my life, what would happen after it was over?
Here I stand, saying goodbye to my twenties. But you know what. I'm certain life is not over now, and I know the fun doesn't end on my thirtieth birthday. Looking back now, my twenties were years of beginnings: The beginnings of a marriage, the beginnings of a career, the beginnings of motherhood, the beginnings of raising a family. When I turn thirty, those beginnings don't end, they continue. I still get to love Matt and strive to be a better wife. I get to love and train and enjoy my babies and watch them grow and learn. My education is waiting to be dusted off and used professionally again when my babies get a little older. We're still going to travel and vacation and make new memories (and we're probably better at it now). My thirties will be a decade of continuing all the wonderful beginnings of my twenties, and I can't wait to experience and live these precious years ahead.
We had a fun Valentine's Day! We had a rough week with sickness (four doctor's appointments in one week for our family) but everyone was on the mend by Valentine's Day and we were able to have some fun.
Earlier in the week we made Valentine cookies for Nathan to take to school for a little party. He worked hard on the cookies and his Valentines, and then he got sick and couldn't go to school on Wednesday. He has the sweetest heart and was so concerned that his friends wouldn't get their cookies or their Valentines, so we dropped them off at his class on our way to the doctor that day.
After the boys went to bed on Friday, I wrapped their presents and decorated a little.
I try and make Valentine's Day special for them and to show how much I love them, but I like it pretty simple too. They got a few fun things- Paw Patrol themed and some candy.
Nathan has been looking forward to having heart pancakes all month. He talked about them all the time. My grandparents had come up earlier in the week to rescue us when everyone was sick (and my parents were out of town), so they were able to eat Valentine's breakfast with us too.
Elisabeth didn't get any pancakes this year, bur she got to eat fruit (pears) for the first time! She wasn't a huge fan, unfortunately. She just wanted her oatmeal.
Nathan and Daddy played Nathan's new game that morning after we said goodbye to Granny and Grandaddy.
We spent the morning playing and went out to lunch as a family at one of the kids' favorite restaurants (Whataburger).
I guess I have to share my Valentine from now on :)
After lunch, we dropped the kids off at my parents' house, and I got to celebrate with my forever Valentine for the rest of the day.
The weather was beautiful, so we went for a walk at a local nature trail. It was so nice to walk and visit by ourselves. The last time we went for a walk by ourselves was the day Elisabeth was born (when we were trying to get my body to go into labor).
We were still recovering from the sleep deprivation of sick kids (and sick parents) from the week before, so after our walk we came home and fell asleep to Netflix.
We stayed home to celebrate that evening and made dinner together, watched a movie and ate ice cream. It was a special night celebrating our love and having a break from the kiddos.
I'm so grateful to have so many Valentines to celebrate with!
Samuel, You are 23 months old! It's your last month as a one year old! I say it every month, but you are at such a fun age. You do and say everything in such an adorable way. I just can't get enough of you, Sweet Boy!
You've refused to sit in your high chair for the last several weeks. You sit in a booster seat now. I asked you one morning why you didn't want to sit in your high chair, and you replied, "Big Boy!" You certainly are getting so big. Now that you're not in your high chair, you get up and down while you eat. You'll hop down, run wash your hands and then come back and eat some more. I can't tell if you just like to have clean hands or like playing in the water :).
You are such an independent little guy. It seems all I hear these days are, "No, Mommy. Do it." I also, hear, "Reach it, Mommy, reach it!" often too. You insist on climbing into you car seat by yourself, getting dressed and undressed by yourself, putting your shoes on by yourself, turning lights on, and washing your hands by yourself.
One of your new favorite things to do is climb in bins and buckets, and yell, "I'm stuck, I'm stuck." Have I mentioned that everything you do these days is adorable? :).
You have a pair of pajamas that have a robot on them and little robots on the feet. You wear them and run around the house talking like a robot, saying "Bee boo, bee boo."
You are starting to talk in three-four word sentences and can talk pretty clearly at times. The other day, I told you it was naptime, and you said, "No naptime. Play!"
You are still a great eater. Your favorite foods are grapes, strawberries, yogurt, macaroni and cheese, and fruit snacks of course.
You (and Nathan) are obsessed with "Paw Patrol" right now. It's your favorite show, and you love all the pups. Rubble is your favorite. Your brother also has been watching "Jake and the Neverland Pirates" a lot lately. So by association, you watch it too.
You are still sleeping great at night. You usually sleep from 8:30 until 7:00 or 7:30 and take a two hour afternoon nap.
You insist on doing everything your brother does. If he's walking instead of riding in the stroller, you have to do the same. If he climbs the ladder at the park, you follow him. You want to wear the same clothes he does. Even when he pulls his pants down to go potty, you pull yours down too :). You adore him. At church last week, I told you it was time to go to your class, and you said, "No, Nathan class." I brought Nathan with me when I picked you up, and you ran right to him, grinning, yelling "Nathan! Nathan!"
You absolutely love being outside. When the weather has been warm, we've been spending as much time outside as we can, but you usually cry when we make you come in.
You woke up crying in the middle of the night last week, and you were inconsolable. It broke my heart that I couldn't soothe or comfort you. I feel like I have magic Mommy powers and can almost always calm your tears easily, but that night you cried and cried. After the trip to the doctor the next morning, we found out you had an ear infection. I just hate it when you don't feel good. We did get an updated weight while we were there and you weigh right at 30 lbs.
Your favorite toys are blocks and legos, your play kitchen, puzzles, and you still love to color and draw on your magna doodle. Nathan got some Paw Patrol toys for Christmas and you play with those a lot too.
We are all getting so excited to celebrate your birthday next month. You are certainly worth celebrating! We love you so much!
Whew! Baby Girl! We made it through your first six months of life! There were certainly plenty of crazy moments in our family, but we survived. I don't know how many fears jumped in my head when I first learned about you joining our family, and while some of them have proved true (three kiddos loaded and unloaded out of the car with winter coats on and a double stroller to cross a parking lot actually IS an ordeal), I'm proud of how all five of us have adjusted to this new normal, and I'm so very grateful for the smiles and coos, cuddles and snuggles, and laughs and raspberries these last six months have brought. You are a joy to all of us.
You've sort of always been a mommy's girl since you were tiny, but it's really come out in the last month or so. You want me ALL the time. You make your daddy sad sometimes when he can't comfort or rock you to sleep, because you prefer me. And the church nursery has called me the last three weeks to come rescue you because you get so sad when I leave that they can't console you. The first time, they said you had been crying constantly for 10-15 minutes when they came to find me. I took you from them, and you just grinned and laughed at them like you were so proud of yourself for figuring out a way to get what you wanted (your mommy). I think it's sweet that you are so fond of me, but it would be nice for you to let someone else take care of you every now and then.
We started you on solids this month and you are doing pretty well. So far, you've tried rice cereal, green beans, squash, peas and carrots. Rice cereal is definitely your favorite, but you don't seem to mind your veggies (except green beans).
You hated green beans. The first time I gave them to you, you didn't make too big of a deal out of it, but you did act like you didn't like them.
But the second time I tried, you screamed and flailed your arms and were very
dramatic about it. Any time I touched the spoon to your mouth you would
scream (even when I tried rice cereal). You wouldn't even taste it, you
would just cry. I thought about giving them to you again, just so I
could video your reaction, but I decided to not be mean to you. We'll
try them again in a month or so and see if you've changed your mind.
I've just been giving you solids once a day (at your 7:00pm feeding), but we're going to add breakfast soon. As soon as I put you in the bumbo you start smacking your lips looking for your food.
You're on a pretty consistent feeding schedule these days. Although sometimes we adapt to changes, most days look like this:
7:00am- nurse
10:00am- nurse and 2oz bottle
1:00pm- nurse and 3oz bottle
4:00pm- nurse and 3 oz bottle
7:00pm- nurse and rice cereal/veggie
10:00pm- nurse and 4-6oz bottle
You're napping schedule is a little more consistent these days too. You take a morning nap around 8:30-9:00am. Honestly, most days this is a car nap, because we're usually leaving the house around the time for Bible study, to take Nathan to school or other outings. If we're home you'll sleep 45min-1hour during that nap. Then you can usually stay awake or take a short cat nap (20 minutes or so) around 11:00 or so. A lot of days that's also a car nap. After I feed you at 1:00, I usually almost immediately put you down for a nap (at the same time Samuel goes down), and you've been sleeping for about 2 hours during that nap which is so awesome! You'll take another 30-45 minute nap sometime around dinner time usually. And then I put you down around 8:30 for the night (waking you up at 10:00 for a late night feeding).
You've been sleeping much better at night, but it's a little inconsistent. There have been several nights this past month that you have slept all night until 6-7am. However, there have also been nights where you're up every three hours. I can't count on you sleeping all night, but I know it's possible now, so that's a big improvement! You've outgrown the Rock and Play. You're big enough to squirm around enough and fall out of it, so we don't use it too often. You nap in your crib in your room during the day, and at night you sleep in the pack and play which is in the dining room. I'm just not ready to climb the stairs at night when you wake up.
You really love your brothers, and they are so very sweet with you. The other day, I laid you down upstairs on a blanket. Samuel saw me, and he immediately ran into your room and grabbed your bucket of toys and brought them ALL to you. He can be rough with you at times, but it's all in love :). And Nathan is one of your very favorite people. You light up anytime he's around, and he can ALWAYS make you laugh!
You've started to really enjoy playing in your bouncer. You reach for the toys and jump around. Sometimes you get upset if we take you out of it. Your brothers love to play with you while you're in it too!
You started sitting up unsupported this month, and you are so much happier now that you can. I usually still stick the boppy behind you, because you can be a little unsteady at times. But your favorite way to play with your toys is sitting up. You've never enjoyed lying on your back (I think because you couldn't see everything going on around you), so now that you can sit up, you'll play by yourself for longer periods of time.
You love to play peek a boo. It can always get you to laugh.You are usually always happy as long as Mommy is close by and someone is paying attention to you. You do not like to be left alone.
You're wearing 3-6 month and 6 month clothes and a size 2 diaper, and you kick off almost any shoe I try and get you to wear :). We go for your six month well check next weeks, and I'll update your stats then.
You've rolled over one time from your back to your tummy, but I haven't seen it again. Your daddy says you're not rolling over because you hate being on your tummy. And it's true, you much prefer sitting up to lying down on your tummy or your back. When you're on your tummy, you can use your arms to pivot around, but you're not showing any signs of scooting or crawling anytime soon.
Oh I just love having a daughter and getting to love on you and take care of you everyday. You are such a special gift to me. I'm so looking forward to your next six months and all the fun it will bring!
