Thursday, February 28, 2013

Abi and Betty

Abi and Betty Edmonds were born one week apart.  Anna and I were born about 2 months apart.  Anna and I have grown up together threw Elementary, Middle and High School.  We were Gamma Phis at the UW together and have remained close.  We feel pretty darn lucky that our little girls will get to grow up together being so close in age.  Hooray for little girls!

This picture was at the end of the night and Anna and I didn't think we were in the picture...but I had to document.

Valentines' Day

We had a day filled with heart shaped pancakes and heart shaped sandwiches.  Kyle cooked a yummy dinner and we had a fun family night.  It's such a cliche holiday, but I love the excuse to make good food and tell the people you care about that you love them.

Pinterest oh Pinterest

Pinterest has been my friend...or enemy this winter.  We have enjoyed a lot of new dinner recipes as a family, but also have enjoyed a lot of new desserts.  This doesn't help with the shedding of "baby" weight.  I mean, who wouldn't want to try salted caramel chocolate cookies.  They did not disappoint.  Even for my non-chocolate loving husband.

Sunday, February 24, 2013

J-E-L-L-O

After taking pictures, we broke out the chocolate pudding.  Chocolate mixed with my kids never is a clean process and always brings out the sillies.

Valentines

Thanks to Pinterest, we planned for the kids' Valentines a little early.  I had Andy look at a couple of different options, and he chose the sucker/picture Valentine.  I took advantage of having my camera out and caught some brother/sister love.

Final Product:

The week before Valentines Day

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Abigail at 3 months

Again, I have been shown how quickly and what a blur the first few months of a child's life are.  It is hard to believe that Abi is 3 months old.  I want to stop time and hold on to these little and big moments - not only with Abi but also with Andy and Katie.  It seems as though the more Abi grows, the older Andy and Katie appear.  I am feeling blessed for each of these precious little beings.  Each day is crazy, but I cherish the time I get to spend one on one, as a group, and as a family.  Some moments, I want to (and sometimes do) want to scream at the top of my lungs.  Other moments I love cuddling with all three in bed.  I also have realized the power and importance of some alone time and date nights in the midst of it all.

Andy has grown a ton these past few months.  His little humor is taking its own course and he loves just tagging along with Kyle or me.  I was organizing the kitchen and doing dishes and he was THRILLED to watch me and claimed himself as the "organizer helper."  He asked to help me organize the next day.  I may have created a monster!  

Katie seems so grown up these days.  She and Andy are buddies and play well together for at least a little while.  She also is good at letting us know her limits.  All of the sudden, she'll walk up to me and say, "I want mommy time."  It's as if she's had enough of me caring for Abi  and she just needs some love.  It melts my heart each time.  

Abi has gotten into a pretty good routine.  She has fallen off her weight curve, which means we have to get her weighed more frequently, but she seems to be at the minimum growth needed for her to be healthy.  Otherwise she's thriving, happy, and looks healthy.  As Katie always says, "she's tiny, tiny, tiny."  At 3 months, she's right at 9 pounds.  She is discovering her hands and puts them in her mouth a lot.  She also is discovering her toes.  She has a lot of little expressions, but mostly loves to give us big smiles.  Sometimes when we talk to her, she turns her head to the side as if she's embarrassed.  It's my favorite little expression of hers right now.  

Abi's schedule these days:  At about 8 pm, I feed her and have Abi time while Andy puts Katie and Andy to bed (super dad!).  I feed her again at around 10pm and put her down (still in our closet).  Abi wakes up usually around 8:30, so sometimes I have to get her up early.  I pump in the morning, feed Abi, and then we're off to the races with preschool and activities.  Then Abi usually sleeps in the car seat or if we're home in the vibrating chair.  Then Abi eats around 11:30, 2:30, 5:00 and then 8pm.  She enjoys her afternoon nap and loves the swing.  Keep it up baby girl!

Monday, February 11, 2013

Picture Day

Hard to believe how quickly this little girl is growing up.  This was taken on her preschool picture day.  She was very excited for picture day...until she had to get her picture taken.  I figured it would be better for me not to be present - otherwise she would cling to me.  After two attempts, my dear friend Dawn got Katie to pose for the camera guy.  I am very curious how they are going to turn out.  She looked so excited in the picture below, you would never have guessed she threw a fit once she got in front of the official camera.


Baking

We have been doing a lot of baking as part of our afternoon activity during the dreary winter months.  Thanks to Pinterest, I have a lot of new recipes to try out.  Every time I use the blender, mixer, or cuisinart, the kids make me count to three and they both look like the picture below.  It cracks me up, so I had to document.  It's not even that loud : )


Draw Draw

This is Katie's style of coloring.  Throw all of the pens/crayons/paper on the floor and get to work.


Katie in her element

As Andy and Katie get older, it becomes more apparent the inherent differences between boys and girls or just the difference between my two older kids.  Most notably lately, Katie loves to sing, dance and to "draw draw."  I don't know if I've ever caught Andy singing to himself, but Katie will sing songs often, even if she doesn't know all the words.  She picks up on songs quickly and likes for me to sing with her.  Andy, on the other hand, not so politely tells me to STOP when I start singing to him.  He's not a fan.  Katie asks for her "colors" and Andy is entertained only briefly by crayons and pens.  It's fun to watch them develop into their own little beings.

After we got Katie's haircut, I just let her wonder around U-village.  I had my camera (that I couldn't use to take pictures of her haircut because she was hysterical), so I just sat back and watched her.  She spent a good 15 minutes watching a petal flow down the water feature...and then would repeat.  It reminded me how important it is to just stop and "be" in the middle of a chaotic time in our lives.