Olivia: 4 Months

***Here are the pics from over 3 months ago!  :) 


Olivia, 

Another month has gone by! Your sweet little personality is starting to come out more and more. You continue to be a very content baby, you just go along with the flow. You smile every time someone looks at you and you love to talk! You've really gotten into your brother this month. You follow him with your eyes as he moves around or you turn your head to follow all of the commotion he is making. This just warns my heart. I love seeing the two of you together and know it is going to be so much fun watching you guys interact over the months to come. 

You continue to grow and develop right on track. Although you turned over for the first time a couple of months ago, we were finally able to witness a couple of weeks ago. You smile and laugh and are very alert. You like reaching for toys, holding your hands and feet, reading books, and for someone to look at or talk to you. 

Here is an update on some of your other milestones this month:

You are still sleeping well for your age. Most nights you wake once and several you sleep through the night - a full 12 hours. On the rare occasion you wake twice to nurse. You go to bed now around 7:00-7:30 which is great for all of us! 

Your naps have changed a ton this month. We have basically gone from four to only two most days and even had a few days with just one - you are way too young for that!! We need to practice our naps this next month. :) 

Nursing hasn't changed much this month. You probably nurse about 5-6 times a day depending on what time you wake up and if you take a long nap or not. We've decided to hold off on solids a while as you just don't seen ready at all at this point. 

Things are going much better with the bottle. You've pretty much taken one a day over this last month. 

You finally rolled tummy to back, of course we haven't seen it happen. You only do it when we turn our heads or when you are in your crib. You still roll back to tummy much more frequently. 

You love to sit up or to be held standing at all times. Your head control is excellent at this point. You sit in your bumbo seat for short periods of time and can reach for toys placed in front of you. 

You are so vocal! You let out happy shrieks all the time and talk back and forth with us a lot. You really love hearing your own voice and it's so cute! Jackson always  thinks you're crying though and gets a little concerned. 

You've found your feet and will hold on to them and watch them for several minutes. 

You love putting your tiny fists in your mouth and are starting to bring other objects to your mouth like bibs, blankets, lovies, and some small toys. 

You started sucking your thumb and it's so stinking cute! You mostly do it to put yourself to sleep. It's nice that you have a method of self soothing, but I'm sure it will be hard to break you down the road. 

You have let out a few little laughs but mostly still just let out big shrieks when being tickled or something is amusing. 

We had your check up and you continue to be very tall. You measured 25.75 inches which is in the 93% for height. You only gained a pound the past two months and weighed 13lbs 4oz. Your weight was only 28% on the growth chart. You are a tall skinny little girl! Your pediatrician says that you are very active and that is most likely the reason for the drop in weight. You still wear size 2 diapers and are wearing mostly 6 months in clothing. 

Livi, adding you to our family has been easier than we would've imagined. There have been some challenges and will be more to come, but your easy going personality just balances out with our busy schedules and Jackson's high energy. We love seeing your pretty little smiling face each morning! We are sad that time is passing so quickly already; however, we also look forward to watching your personality grow, hearing more of your voice, seeing more or that smile, and watching you learn to play and interact with others. We have entered a fun stage for sure! We love you little princess!!

This is when she first started sucking her thumb!

Sweet girl :)

I can't resist a sleeping picture! 

He always wants to sit by his sissy!

Another thumb picture. 

Little play time in the bumbo

Love her expression here! 

Happy four months pretty girl! 

Jackson Turns 2!

J man turned two today! I cannot believe it....it still seems like he just entered the world. I vividly remember all of his birthday and our stressful stay in the hospital. Life was a whirlwind for a while, still is, and I don't think it's going to slow down anytime soon. If you had asked me two years ago what I thought Jackson would be like, what his likes are, his dislikes, his personality, etc I wouldn't have ever been able to imagine the little boy that he is. This guy is so full of life! He is truly all boy - he's a truck loving, sports playing, energetic little fella that goes and goes all day long. He is quite the talker and has started singing too. He is so much fun to interact with and we just love watching him grow and learn. Here  is a current update on him:

Jackson is no longer a baby, but a little kid. Tear...that means we have a periodical tantrum, a picky eater from time to time, a child who loves the word "no," and a strong-willed, independent little person. He is also a funny, happy, energetic, shy, tender-hearted, and loving little a guy. He always checks on mommy to make sure I'm okay. He tells all of us that he loves us. He uses his manners and is quick to say bless you to anyone that sneezes. He is rarely mean, and if he does something that is mean it seems to be unintentional. Hopefully we do not start a phase of pushing, hitting, biting or toy stealing - but if we do, we will deal with it when the time comes. Jackson is also very routine. He loves the schedule that he has down and if we are running behind on one task, he requests it. He continues to be a great sleeper at night and is always ready for his nap. And by a huge surprise (insert sarcasm), Jackson remains at the top of the charts in height and his weight is also moving back up on the growth chart. He is as tall as an average three year old!

I've said it a hundred times and I don't think it will change anytime soon, Jackson is ALL BOY! He is on the go all of the time, constantly running around the house, jumping across a room, climbing on the furniture - you name it, he does it. He is also OBSESSED with all vehicles, particularly construction trucks. He can sit and play with trucks all day and points out every truck we see when in the car. He has started playing with a bit more imagination and it is so much fun! He also loves any type of ball or sport and just running around outside. We do miss our boy being a little baby, but this stage is so much fun!

Jacks had a busy last few months with the arrival of his sister. We rejoined stroller strides, continue to attend gymboree classes, and he went to swim lessons during the summer. We've had a lot of company since Olivia was born and traveled a couple of times. I'd love to say that life is slowing down, but the little man is now starting preschool. He will go every Tuesday and Thursday for four hours. We are also trying to get into soccer lessons and maybe even take another round of swim lessons. We just love that this little boy loves being active and that he just goes with the flow!

Jackson sure loves playing in his new backyard! 

Swinging at the playground. 

Lunch date with mommy and daddy. 

Our little fishy took swim lessons this summer and does great in the water! 

This smile...

...and this one! haha this was after I took him to get his first hair cut not by grandma. He did great but that was the best smile I could get! 

And he looks like this most mornings when he wakes up. Crazy hair don't care! 

We just cant get enough of this handsome little man! 

Jackson, we love you to the moon and back. You bring so much joy to our lives. Even though you've just been with us for two years, we don't even remember what life was like without you! I love your energy and how much you truly enjoy waking up and making the most of each day. I try to learn from you and do the same. May that never change about you. We are excited to continue watching you grow - we look forward to seeing how your personality changes/progresses throughout the years. Just know that you will always be our little boy and we love you forever!

Olivia: 3 Months Old

Our sweet baby girl turned three months last week! I'm a few days behind in writing her post. Things have been a little busy around here with Jackson's birthday, a trip to TN, Abbey's shower, and now getting Jacks ready to start preschool. Life sure is busy, but we love it!

Back to Livi - Sweet girl, I can't believe another month has gone by! We thought time went by quickly with Jackson, but it most definitely goes by even quicker the second time around. You continue to grow and change daily! You are awake a lot more now and happy almost all of the time. We just love seeing your smiling face and love that you are starting to interact more. You are a very good natured baby. You seem like you are going to be easy going and happy. Your personality definitely makes adding a second baby to the family much easier than we anticipated. And we sure are glad that you are part of our little family!

Here is an update on month three:

• Sleeping - you continue to be a great little sleeper and have slept several 11-12 hours nights. You most consistanly go about 8-9 hours before waking and then go back to sleep for a little while. We transitioned you to your crib right after you turned 2 months too and the transition went very well. You didn't skip a beat!
• Napping - most days you still take a great nap in the morning with two shorter naps in the afternoon and early evening. Sometimes we still have a fourth short nap, but really fight that. I think you are just trying to move up your bedtime and get more of a routine going. I'm excited for that!
• Eating - you're still a good eater although you are nursing for longer periods of time. You seem to over eat and spit up quite a bit. You are also starting to do a little bit better with the bottle. Some days you will take it fine and others fight it. We will keep practicing though! You are currently nursing about 5-6 times a day, depending on how early you wake up. 
• You are starting to get a lot more playful and can hold an object when placed in your hand for a while and have started grabbing at toys that are in front of you. You particularly enjoy the toy strapped to your car seat. You bat at it with your hands and kick at it with your feet! 
• You play with your hands a ton. 
• Right around 2.5 months (8/12) you rolled from back to front twice in your crib - it was the strangest thing! I was shocked to see you on your tummy since you've never tried rolling before and you still have not rolled from tummy to back. 
• You tend to roll on your side to sleep most nights and still work at rolling when in your crib but have not mastered it again.  
• Your head control improved drastically this month! You can hold your head high during tummy time and really enjoy being held out where you can look around. 
• You prefer standing when someone is holding you or to be looking out. If we hold you against us you like to hold your head up and look over our shoulders. 
• You are extremely vocal and let out lots of high pitched shrieks/squeals. You are also close to laughing! 
• You smile at yourself in the mirror a lot.
• Although I don't know your exact height and weight, you continue to be a growing girl! You are in mostly in 3-6 and 6 months clothes. You have a few things in 6-9 that you can wear for length! We recently switched you to size 2 diapers. You are getting so long and skinny! 

Sweet girl, we just love you so much! You are so laid-back and fit great into your craziness. Thankfully, it doesn't seem to bother you. :) This month has been the most fun and I know that over the next few weeks and month you are going to be changing even faster. We look forward to seeing more of your personality develop and can't wait to see you and Jackson interacting more. Love you little princess!

Look at that head held high! 

I just love how she smiles with all of her face! Such a happy little girl. 

Celebrating sweet Livi with some friends. 

These two hold my heart in their tiny little hands. 

That smile again...

She started sucking her thumb this month and it is so stinking cute! 

"I hold you sissy?" Jacks is turning into the best big brother! 

She got in the pool for the first time in TN! We have more pics somewhere, I will try to post later. 

Happy three months baby girl!!! 

Jackson's First Day of Preschool

Jackson started preschool last Thursday! He is attending school at Huntersville United Methodist Church and will be going two days a week from 9:15-1:00. We went to the open house last Tuesday to meet the teachers and drop off our supplies. After being there for all of three minutes Jacks was asking to go home! This was a little surprising because he had been talking about school for the two weeks prior and the last time I dropped off paper work at the church, he cried when we left saying "I want to go to school!" I think he got a bit overwhelmed with all of the kids and parents in the room (plus he wanted to go to the playground!).

Unfortunately, I cannot report that Thursday went any better. I dropped him off at 9:15 and he cried for me when I left. When I came back two hours later to pick him up, the director was holding him and he was crying again. I felt just awful! The report that I got was that he had fun playing on the playground and participated in an art project but cried on and off in between. He also got really upset when the moms started coming in to pick up their kids. There were still several kids there, but I will make sure to be early from now on so that he doesn't get so upset. I really do think that he will enjoy school once he gets used to it. He continues to talk about going to school and wants to carry a backpack and ride a bus! :) I think that is a good sign.

Here are a few pictures from the first day:

His teachers passed out these gold fish at the open house that said "you are o"fish"ally in preschool!"

They also included this sweet little "magic confetti" poem and confetti in their folders. It is a poem about the night before preschool and tells the kids to sprinkle the confetti by their bed to get a good night's rest. Jackson loved this and still makes us read the poem before nap and bed every day! We also read "The Nigh Before Preschool" but the pictures are on our real camera. 

Our sweet little preschooler! 

Carrying his bag in front of the school.

His friend Emma is in his class. We celebrated the first day by taking the kiddos to Brixx for lunch. 

This is what a big boy does when he is worn out from his first day of school - kicks back on the couch with Cars on the ipad and Lightning McQueen slippers on his feet! 

And the sweet little artwork from his first day....this is so true! 

I will post any better pictures that might be on the real camera once we get those uploaded. I will also post an update soon on how school is going! 

Dump Trucks & Donuts: Jackson's 2nd Birthday

Jackson turned two today. For the last 6+ months he has been obsessed with trucks and other forms of transportation, so when I started planning his birthday it was a no brainer to have some sort of construction truck party.  After browsing Pinterest and coming up with ideas I found a super cute invitation on etsy for a "Dump Trucks and Donuts" party. Well, what better way to celebrate turning two than with dump trucks and donuts? The more I thought about it, a breakfast partied seemed like an awesome idea. The food was fun and having the party early worked out great for nap time. His invitation and decor are pictured below.

Our menu included the following:
Dump truck tires (donuts)
Wrecking balls (donut holes)
Boulders (sausage balls)
Land for sale (breakfast casserole)
Stoplights (fruit kabobs of strawberries, pineapple, and green grapes)
Concrete mix (yogurt) with toppings of pebbles and gravel (blueberries and granola)

We served coffee, water, and juice at our fueling station. :)

The kiddos mostly ran around and played outside, but I had set up a couple activities in our still empty dining room for them. These included a road to drive toy trucks on, coloring pages of various construction vehicles, and stickers. We had a cone toss game for outside and had planned on digging in the sandbox but of course it stormed overnight. A couple of kids enjoyed the indoor activities - I guess most two year olds still don't like sitting still! Ha

Here is the birthday boy with the first donut of the day...we got him a special sprinkle one to blow a candle out in before the party (last year we did a candle in pancakes).

Dining room set up for the kiddos. 

These cute little trucks were the party favors. I reused my frame that I made last year for his party and hung pictures of Jackson from the past year. 

Again, I reused this wreath that has been used at a couple parties already. Just added the road signs and little trucks. 

The spread! I just loved all the little road signs that I got with his party package. I bought the invitation (pictured below), road signs, truck signs, and cupcake toppers from this etsy store. 

The fueling station! 

Mommy and daddy with our big boy! 

I made this birthday banner for Mikes party last year and reused it for Jacks. 

This road was just a table runner purchased from hobby lobby. I had planned to make my own road until I found this! 

Peyton playing and coloring in a truck! 

Emma driving a car! 

Boys doing what boys do best, running around wild! 

Some of our parent party guests. 

Blowing out his dump truck candle on his cupcake. Jacks seemed to enjoy when everyone was singing to him. 

Eating a cupcake with Emma, his little girlfriend. 

These three were so cute...they kept singing the birthday song over and over, changing the name each time. 

Elliott, Emma's big brother. 

Family picture! 

Gabby showing me her construction hat! 

I bought the hats on amazon and the stickers here. I was able to add each child's name to the sticker and put on the hats. I thought the stickers were so cute and they came in four different construction trucks. 

Jackson had been looking forward to his party all week and he definitely had a fun time. He ate way too many donuts and was exhausted well before naptime. His nap was also very short, but hey you only turn two once! When he woke up we played with new toys until that became too overwhelming and then he watched truck videos. We joined some friends for Mexican food - "quesadeedas" are Jackson's favorite! He also had another cupcake (sure will be hard getting him to eat healthy tomorrow!). We then played some more before bed time. Overall, I think it was a perfect day celebrating our sweet boy. A big thanks to all of those that came and made his day so special!

If you made it all the way to the bottom, I apologize for this extremely long post! Thanks for reading!