Look Who's Two!!

Dear Will,
I can't believe it. You are two years old; officially a "toddler". Wow. Those 24 months went by fast! It really does seem like it was yesterday when I was holding you for the first time in the NICU. And now, you are a rough & tumble big brother. You are the sweetest boy alive, and I'm so lucky that God chose me to be your mama. We have had such a fun time celebrating your birthday this past weekend--it all started with a party at school on Wednesday, a visit from GJ & a trip to the zoo on your actual birthday, and it ended with a visit from MiMi & your party. What a fun birthday weekend!!

Birthday Party at school

Yummy cookies!!

Drink that milk!

Will & his favorite teacher, Miss Naiomi

Playing on the playground

Rockin' the birthday crown

Ready for some zoo adventures with GJ!

Enjoying the day with GJ

Looking at the monkies

Caroline rocked the Bijorn

Penguins!

Elephants!

Watching the safari animals

Giraffes & Zebras!

We had so much fun with GJ!

Me & my babes

Feeding the giraffes!!

The zoo wore her out

We ended the day with a visit to Dad's restaurant!

"Happy Birthday to You!"

He did a great job blowing out the candles!

Fun times with dad!

Yum.

And what birthday is complete without presents?!

We ended the special weekend with a visit from MiMi!

Art Supplies!! :)

And a sneek peak from the pictures of your Birthday Party--more to come soon!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, WILL!! WE LOVE YOU!!  :)

My 4 month old

I can't believe my precious girl is four months old. Before I know it, she'll be sitting up on her own & it will be time to plan her first birthday party. But before I get too ahead of myself, I want to slow down and remember who she is at four months old...

I feel like we've finally gotten a glimpse of her personality lately. She is quick to smile and seems to be more social than Will was at this age. Here's what she is up to:

-She takes 2-3 naps everyday; each one lasting 1.5-2 hours. She goes to bed between 6:30-7:30, and I'm still waking her up for a twilight feed before I go to bed (usually between 9:30-10:30). I've tried to drop this last feeding, but she isn't ready yet. Maybe in the next few weeks.

-She was sleeping through the night; waking between 7:00-8:00am. However, the last 3 nights she has woken up starving around 3am. Once I feed her she immediately goes right back to sleep. I know it's pretty common to have sleep disturbances in the 4th month--let's just hope it passes quickly.

-She nurses 5-6 times a day; and takes a bottle like a champ at Mother's Day Out. I think she usually takes about 4oz, but it's hard to really know with nursing.

-She wears 3-6 month onesies and pajamas. She's still in 0-3 month pants--I'm afraid she's got her mama's short legs. :)

-She weighed 15.2 pounds at her 4 month check-up last week, and the doctor said that she is doing great.

-She's not quite rolling, but getting close to roll from her back to her tummy. She HATES "tummy time", so I'm not sure if she'll ever roll from her tummy to her back. :)

-She's starting to love sitting in her Bumbo and still loves her swing, mobil, and bouncy seats.

-The girl loves to talk! She coos more than any other baby I've known. As long as there is someone in her eyesight, she will be happy to play & talk to herself for 20-30 min.

-Will loves his baby "C-C" and is constantly giving her hugs, kisses, and wanting to hold her. He is also doing a great job being my helper and fetching things I need (diapers), or picking things up (burp cloths).

-She really is a joyful baby. After getting through the first few colicky months, it's such a relief to see how happy she is. She loves to be held and loves to snuggle. More than anything, she loves to be around her big brother & watch him play. He absolutely adores her, and it's fun to see her start to love him too.

Baby girl--we love you so much and can't imagine our little family without you. You bring us so much joy, and we are continually falling more & more in love with you.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Big Boy Bed

Last Saturday was a big night at the Emmons' house. Will slept in his big boy bed for the first time. And he was a rockstar.

Let me start by saying that Will is an excellent sleeper. Ever since he was an infant, the boy has loved his sleep. And, he has always loved his crib. He climbed out of his crib for the first time the week Caroline was born (how's that for timing!), but he hasn't done it since. Everyone says to wait until they are consistently getting out of the crib, but since he loves it so much, I don't think he would ever crawl out again. The crib that he slept in was on it's last leg. It was falling apart. So much so, that when he was awake and bouncing around it would bang together and make this horrible noise. It was driving me crazy. So that is why we tried the big boy bed. I was done with that crib. But, on the day that we decided to do it, I got cold feet. I got really anxious that he wasn't going to sleep well, that he would continually get out of bed, that he would be upset with the change.....etc. We have also just gotten Caroline on a consistent sleeping schedule (hooray!!), so the thought of going back to sleepless nights was horrible. Good thing I have a loving husband who is the definition of steady. He said, "let's just give it a try and if it doesn't work, we'll go back to the crib and give him more time". Genius! I shouldn't have worried, though. Will did great. Better than great. He did awesome. He was a little upset at first, but put himself to sleep after only a few minutes, slept through the night, and waited for me to get him in the morning before he got off the bed. Rockstar. Naps have been a little more challenging, but he's getting the hang of it. I still can't believe that my baby boy is in a giant bed. And he's turning two next week. Crazy. I couldn't be more proud of the little man that he is.  :)

The big boy bed in all it's glory

Reading books before bedtime

Someone is excited!!

Yay!!!

Goodnight!

The next morning

So proud!!

Be My Valentine

Let's be honest, Valentines Day is a little bit of a circus. There are flowers, hearts, and candy everywhere you turn. Matt and I don't go crazy over this holiday, but it is nice to have a day to intentionally love on one another. We actually celebrated a day early on the 13th because on the 14th Matt left the house at 4:30am (yikes!) for work, had a meeting after work, and served at church until about 9:30pm. Talk about a long day. So...we celebrated early. Matt brought home chocolate covered strawberries that he made for me at the restaurant--I brought him chocolate covered strawberries that I bought at a store (great minds think alike!)--Matt and Will made me yummy cookies--Matt made a wonderful dinner (it backfired a little with the steaks, but everything else was delicious)--and we spent the night cuddling on the couch. It was simple and wonderful. A perfect night with the love of my life.

On the actual holiday, I was off work so I spent the day lovin' on my babies and we went to a party with our new little playgroup. I have to say, now that Will is a little older we had a blast making a card for daddy and opening all of the sweet valentines from GJ/Popa, MiMi, and Auntie 'Nette. Caroline is sweet as ever, and Will finds joy in absolutely everything. They are my precious Valentines.

Will made me a Valentine's card at Mothers Day Out. He was so proud of it, that he never actually "gave" it to me and walked around with it ALL day long.  :)

My precious Valentine. She looked adorable in her holiday outfit.

This is what happens when you say "CHEESE!!"  :)

Valentines Day party with our play group

Making a valentine for Daddy

Having fun on the trampoline!!

Look who loves the Bumbo!

When did he get so big?

Playing with friends--this is Will's new thing. He boxes out anyone who gets too close with his hip. Matt just says that he's practicing his basketball moves to play with the Bears. :)  p.s. Look at those curls!!

My loves.

Hope you had a fun Valentines Day!!