Baby girl, you are seven months old! You are growing up and changing a little every single day!
You got your two bottom teeth right after you turned six months old
(2/12), and are chewing and biting on everything. I'm guessing you'll
have more popping through soon.
The weather has been crazy this month, but we did have one warm, dry day where we played outside. You got to swing for the first time, and you thought it was one of the best things in the world. You smiled and laughed the whole time. We're so ready for Spring and more outside fun!
You take a morning, afternoon, and evening cat nap everyday. You go down
in the morning around 8:30-9:00 and sleep for about an hour. You
usually sleep from 1:00ish to 3:00ish in the afternoon and take a quick
20-30minute nap sometime in the evening around dinner time. You are
napping in your crib, but you are still sleeping downstairs at night. I
don't think we're too far from moving you upstairs. You've been sleeping
well at night. You routinely wake up around 12:30am and again between
4:00 and 5:00am, but you just have been fussing for a couple of minutes
and falling back to sleep on your own. You go down around 8:00 at night
and wake up around 7:00 each morning.
You're not interested in being rocked to sleep these days. You'll cry and fight us if we try and rock you most of the time, but you're great at falling asleep once we put you in your crib. I'm glad that you are able to fall asleep on your own, but I miss rocking you and the sweet snuggles. In our crazy family, a lot of times it's the only real one on one time I get with you during the day, so I savor the times when you'll give in and let me rock you.
You are still a Mommy's girl, but your Daddy is certainly growing on you. You're happy with him unless it's nap time. You've been babbling all the time, and saying "Da da" all the time. The other night I was telling you to say "momma." You looked at me, then turned and looked at Matt and said, "da da."
You are sitting up like a pro. I put away the boppy and the bumbo because you don't need them anymore. You'll sometimes tolerate lying on your tummy or your back, but only if someone is right next to you playing. Otherwise you scream and scream like it's the end of the world. When you're on your tummy, you'll push up on your arms and we've caught you trying to move your legs at the same time to scoot, but no real movement. I have seen you scoot on your bottom while you're sitting up though. It's so funny how important it is to you to be able to sit and see everything instead of lying down.
You are mainly wearing 6 month and a few 6-9 month clothes. Your 3-6 month things are getting a little too snug (and short) to wear. You're wearing a size 2 diaper, but you're probably ready to move up to a size 3. You've definitely filled out since starting solids.Your cute little legs have some adorable rolls and dimples.
You absolutely love attention! You always light up and grin and laugh if
anyone looks at you and talks to you. You are such a social little
thing. It's the worst thing for you to be left alone for any amount of
time. You turn into a little Drama Queen when you don't get your way.
You nurse/take a bottle 4-5 times a day and get solids at breakfast and dinner. Your typical feeding schedule looks like this:
7:00- nurse
7:45- breakfast (oatmeal and fruit)
11:00- nurse/bottle
1:00 nurse/bottle- then down for a nap
4:30 nurse
5:30- dinner (rice cereal and vegetable)
8:00- nurse/bottle and bedtime
You
are doing fine on solids, but you're not super crazy about food, and
you are definitely hungrier in the evenings than at breakfast. You're
not really interested in solids at breakfast and eat much better in the
evening. You like your food thick. I make your cereal and oatmeal really
thick and it's your favorite food right now. You also really like peas
which I think is because they have a thicker texture. You'll eat other
fruits and vegetables but don't seem to particularly like anything else.
You just tolerate it.
We started giving you puffs and you like them (so do your
brothers). You're working on your motor skills to be able to feed
yourself. You'll grab a handful and then open your hand to make sure you
got some, and then they fall out, and you have to try again. It's a
funny process watching you try and feed yourself. You much prefer if we
help you out :).
You love to play peek a boo, look at books and chew on your toys (and your brother's toys), and you love to jump in your jumper and to jump on my lap when I'm holding you. You also crack up when your brothers sing songs and dance around. They love you and you adore them.
Your jumper is in our office, so a lot of times we let you play in it, while one of us is working on the computer. You will fuss unless we are watching you though. You always have to have an audience.
You are such a happy girl. You smile and laugh all the time. It's such a joy to watch you grow and see your sweet (and feisty) personality develop.
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!
