Monday, September 16, 2013

Emily: 22, 23, 24 months

I can't believe it has taken me so long to get this post done.  Those are a lot of months to put together!  Oh well, it is what it is.  I'll just be noting here everything she can do at the end of month 24.  During these three months, Emily really turned from tiny toddler into little girl.  She is just amazing, precious, and pretty much perfect...as well as a perfect terror when she wants to be!  I love how strong-willed she is, but it can be a challenge!  The fact that she is so sweet, smart, and funny 95% of the time makes up for the 5% when she is being a toot!  Looking at the last monthly post I did, I really see how much she has changed during these three months.  Her speech has absolutely blown up.  She still mispronounces some words (upisdown for upside down, knock knock for nap mat, nank you boats for thank you notes) but her speech is very clear.  The child can carry on adult conversations in complete sentences, which probably makes me expect a little too much from her.  Sometimes I would forget she wasn't even two yet and wanted her to be acting more mature than she was.  I've really been trying to watch that and be more patient with her.  I know every parent thinks their child is smart, but really, she is!  We haven't worked on much with her, but she just picks everything up so easily.  She knows all of her colors, can count 1-10, can do one-to-one correspondence up to 10 (can touch each item as she counts them, not just memorize how to say the numbers in order,) can sing tons and tons of songs (Jesus Loves Me, Twinkle Twinkle, Old MacDonald, Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, How Much is that Doggie in the Window, Itsy Bitsy Spider, The B-I-B-L-E, Head and Shoulders, and many more.)  She runs everywhere and has recently begun skipping and hopping quite a bit as well.  She LOVES going to church "to read the Bible."  Her favorite books are her Bible, Brown Bear Brown Bear, Panda Bear Panda Bear, and the Very Hungry Caterpillar.  She can recite the last three and often reads them to us.  She loves playing with her toys and her water table.  Her favorite show is Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, which I give credit to for much of what she has learned recently.  It's a GREAT show.  Emily went to Mother's Day Out/Pre-school this summer and it was great for her.  She has become even more independent and has lost most of her separation anxiety.  She has finally started eating meat this summer and loves it!  Her favorite is chicken.  She has recently learned how to drink from a regular cup, but still regularly spills it when she gets too excited.  Emily moved to her big girl bed on July 4th and did great with it from the start.  On August 9th, she welcomed her little sister to the world with open arms and she never missed a beat.  It is amazing how big she has become!  We love this girl with all of our heart!


Emily,
You are the most precious little girl there is.  You are always excited about everything and keep us smiling all the time.  Your zest for life is contagious!  You are so far beyond anything I could have ever imagined when I pictured having a child.  I love you forever!

Taking a nap in the doggie bed.

Peetz on my finger!  Hahaha!

Hold you, Daddy!

Little Miss Loves to Swim

Cute as a button in her flamingo dress

Ride the horsie!

Helping Daddy with the yardwork

Bathing Beauty

Speed Racer at Fuddruckers

Showing off her new LaLaLoopsy doll

1...2...3...Blastoff!

So excited about her new big girl bed!


Riding the Grapevine Vintage Railroad

Looking at the crabs at the Children's Aquarium at Fair Park

Petting a sheep at the Fritz Park Petting Farm

Trying out the potty

Hiding Place

Splashing around at the Parr Park Splash Pad

Trying on Mommy's shoes and socks

Happy all the time!

Our little Babushka

Blue Bubble Gum ice cream at Marble Slab

Smart as a button!  Pulled out all of the letter As from her letter magnets

Best Big Sister EVER!!!
Emily's 2nd Birthday is the perfect day for first time piggie tails!

Celebrating the big day at Chick-a-lay!

Monday, September 9, 2013

Ashlynn One Month

Happy One Month to our sweet baby girl!  It seems like just yesterday we were bringing your baby sister home and now here you are!  It is amazing how the Lord has blessed us.  You are just the sweetest baby.  You came into the world crying something fierce and I thought that might be an omen of things to come.  Not so!  You have been just precious and sweet and easy.  I never worried that I wouldn't love you as much as your sister.  Although I didn't know how it would happen, I knew that I would.  And love you I do!  You are amazing and my heart has expanded to twice the size it was before you arrived.  We love you more than life!

One month stats
8 lbs (10th percentile)
22.5 inches (91st percentile)

What a month it has been!  Ashlynn is truly an easy baby.  She eats, she sleeps, and she oozes precious all over the place.  We were so blessed to have Mimi with us for the first week and Grandma and Grandpa Takala with us for the two weeks after that.  Things with Ashlynn have been wonderful.  Emily adores her and there hasn't been even a hint of jealousy.  Ashlynn rarely cries unless she is hungry or tired.  When she does though, watch out!  She has one volume: LOUD!  The only little issue we have had this month is that Ashlynn is a lazy eater, so she hasn't been gaining weight as quickly as we would like.  The problem is compounded by the fact that the nurse in the delivery room did not do a good job weighing and measuring her.  When she was born, we were told she was 8 lbs 5 oz and 19 inches.  The next day, she was 7 lbs 6 oz and 21 inches.  Clearly babies don't lose a pound and grow two inches in a day.  So, we really don't know what her proper birth weight was.  The doctor wasn't concerned with her slow weight gain, but I was!  We're going in for regular weight checks and working on nursing more and keeping her awake.  She'll be fine, she just certainly isn't a chunky one!  This month Ashlynn went to church for the first time, as well as shopping and out to eat.  She also attended her first birthday party- her sister's!  These past few days Ashlynn has become very fussy as you will see in her official one month picture.  She wasn't feeling the photo shoot and the one you see above is actually one of the best ones we got!  Hopefully it isn't colic, but only time will tell.  We're adjusting to life with two babies, but thanks to all the help we've had this month, it hasn't been bad.  It certainly isn't easy, but it's not as hard as I thought it might be.  Overall, it's been a great month with our new little love!

I forgot to put the bunny in her picture when we first brought her home, but we are starting it with month one.  I can't wait to see how she grows this first year!  Here are a few more pictures of our first month together:


Riding home from the hospital

We're home!

About to go in the house
I love my rock and play!
First pediatrician appointment

Getting checked out

First chiropractic adjustment with Dr. Kisha

This is fun!

Visiting Mawmaw

Meeting Aunt Kimmy

First sponge bath

Warm and toasty

After her bath with Mimi and Mommy

Grandma T and Ashlynn

Not loving the bath thing

After bath with Mommy

with Grandpa T

Sisters

sweet girl

just chillin'

Not feeling the photoshoot

Sunday, September 1, 2013

Emily's Backyardigans Beach Bash


Emily has been a BIG fan of the Backyardigans for the past year or so with one of her favorite episodes being "Surf's Up."  With an August birthday, we couldn't think of a better way to beat the heat than with a "Babas" beach themed birthday party!

The fireplace decor...just waiting to be filled with gifts.

The AMAZING cake!  Thank you, Ellen Nevil!

The sign-in table.  I always choose a book that goes with the theme of the party for the guests to sign.  Each guest was also supposed to take a lei to wear for the party.

Pablo and the welcome sign.

Every beach party needs a pink flamingo, right?  Since pink flamingos live at the beach and all...

The front of the house

Party favors!  Each guest got a beach pail with their name and filled with fun toys and snacks like bubbles, beach balls, pinwheels, goldfish, fruit snacks, etc.

The food table.  We served mini sandwiches, chips, veggies, and fruit.  I would NEVER be able to pull these fun parties off without tons of help from my mom!

The guests have begun arriving!

Emily with Evan and Brighton.  I'm sure there must be a picture like this of me and Evan's daddy from around when we were the same age as these two.

David and Edie...pretty much Emily's cousins.

Oh how I love this girl!

Blowing out the candles!

Umbrella ice cream

Enjoying her cake and ice cream

Opening gifts.  She only opened a few before she went outside to play.  We opened the rest after the guests were gone and she took a nap.

Fun in the sun!

Water tables to keep the little ones cool

Fun pennant bunting on the fence as well as lei trim on the pool deck

More fun!

The birthday girl and her daddy taking a dip

Pooltime fun

Our family

Emmy with her new tricycle from Daddy and Mommy

Papa helping Emmy ride her trike
It's safe to say that Emily had a GREAT time at her second birthday party!  We are so blessed to be the parents of this precious, amazing, smart, and beautiful girl!  The Lord gave us the most amazing gift when you were born, baby girl!  We love you more than the world!