It's Christmastime

It seems like time is flying as Christmas approaches. Since we'll be out of town this coming weekend, we decided to start a little tradition of going to see the Fantasy of Lights this past weekend. Fantasy of Lights is the largest public display of lights in the state (I had been before, but didn't know this fact!). There are many many displays set up and you drive slowly through the park to see them all. You can even take a carriage ride through if you'd like, but we opted to stay in the van this year since Lydia is still a bit young. Addie REALLY enjoyed the lights and commented that they were "beautiful" over and over. Here are a couple of our favorites:

Addie admiring the pretty lights

Lydia has been smiling a LOT lately when she's awake...I caught tons of pictures of her last night and chose this one to share. I think both girls look so cute in their Christmas jammies :)

Addie is definitely feeling better and hopefully over her cold completely now (knock on wood). She's been eating much better and her "spunk" is back. We've had a few issues with sleep habits, but we are getting through it.

I am excited for next week when Chris will be off work and I will be able to finish up some last minute sewing projects for Christmas and Addie's birthday. It will be so nice to have him home to share some special family time together for the holidays. Merry Christmas to all!

Updates

It's been crazy nuts around here so I haven't had much time to take pictures or post. Just wanted to catch everyone up to speed a bit before it gets even busier...*crying baby, hold on*...okay, ah.

Lydia has a new friend who entered the world yesterday, Jenna Susan Schimmell (my best friend Melissa's 3rd child). Lydia and I went to meet her at the hospital this morning and she is such a sweetie. I am so excited that our girls will grow up together :) While at the hospital, I decided to take Lydia to the lactation office to be weighed. I knew she was a chunker, but didn't realize she weighed 12 whopping pounds already! I guess she is getting plenty to eat :) She's definitely grown out of lots of clothes and never even got to wear several of Addie's cutest outfits, oh well.

Addie is entering yet another "fun" phase of being almost 2 and that is not wanting to go to bed. She comes out of her room and rounds the corner and says in the cutest little voice, "Hi!" like we're just meeting her for the first time. It's hard to be mad at her, but after a long day of dealing with 2 kiddos, it's completely frustrating. We are trying to be consistent in our discipline and I think I finally discovered what might work today at naptime when she didn't want to stay in bed. Wish us luck there!

We are gearing up for the holidays and I think Christmas shopping is 1 or 2 presents away from being finished so I'm thrilled about that. We are all looking forward to watching Addie open her gifts this year and turning right around and celebrating her 2nd birthday 2 days later. I am already giggling at the thought of what next Christmas will bring with a 1 year old and a 3 year old...oh what fun! Our family lit the advent candle at church last Sunday, which was really special for us. Addie "helped" daddy light the candle while I read and Lydia sat with pastor Lynn (who just adores babies) right behind us. Here is a picture from the day, it's also our Christmas card, so sorry to ruin it for everyone but I couldn't resist putting it on here!

We are attending my cousin's wedding in Missouri next weekend and are getting excited about our first road trip as a family of 4. Hopefully it will go well...just might take us 10 hours to get there, rather than 6. I'm sure I'll have more pictures and updates after we get back so I might just be MIA in blog world until then. Enjoy this beautiful Christmas season!

Big Girl

I failed to mention this in the last post and it's special enough to be on it's own so here we go....Addie is potty trained! I was not even going to touch this subject with a ten foot pole right after Lydia was born, but Addie managed to do this on her own without any prompting from us.

She's been dry all day for about 10 days now (probably more, I have lost count). She loves wearing her "princess panties," and is even starting to work on pulling them up and down on her own. She gets a sticker every time she stays dry and goes on the potty and I thought it might be fun to collect them on a little chart on the back of the bathroom door...she had other ideas and decided it would be more fun to "collect" them on her belly each day. So at the end of the day, we end up with lots of stickers on her belly or the inside of her shirt :)

I am so proud of her, I could spit! She is officially our big girl now! (I'm singing the "I'm a big kid now" song in my head...is that from a pull-ups commercial or what?) WAY TO GO ADDIE!

Thanksgiving, etc.

Just realizing it's been a while since I've posted and I better get some recent pictures on here for everyone! I hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving...we sure did! The girls wore their turkey shirts that I finished up on Wednesday night along with their beautiful "hair turkeys" (as Addie called them) made by my friend Brandy at faithworksboutique.com. We enjoyed the day hanging out with family and eating delicious food. Addie actually made it the whole day without napping and ended up going to bed a little early and sleeping ALL THE WAY through the night.

Our littlest turkey

Things have been going pretty well for the most part, other than Addie continuing to keep this nasty cold. I don't think it's developed into an ear infection because she doesn't have a high fever, but it's hard to tell since she doesn't complain about anything. She looks and sounds miserable, but just continues to tell me she's okay. Her eating has picked up a bit in the past few days (incase I didn't mention earlier, she hasn't eaten well since Lydia was born). Lydia is doing great! She sleeps so well for us at night and must be gaining lots of weight because she is looking extremely chunky these days!

We put up our Christmas decorations last Saturday and then ventured out to get a real Christmas tree on Sunday (the nastiest weather day of the weekend!). We dropped Lydia by for my mom to watch so Addie and Chris and I could pick out a tree in the bitter cold and rain. This is the first year for a real tree and Chris was absolutely thrilled that I gave the "go ahead" this year. I'm not sure why I haven't wanted one in years past, just too much trouble I guess. Addie was mesmerized by the whole experience, but decided she loved her tree when we got it home. She even wanted to hug it! I have to say she's done fairly well not bothering it, although the bottom limbs are a bit bare at certain times of the day when she feels the need to "undecorate" for me.

Addie and her new best friend, Mr. Snowman

That's about it for now. We're getting into the Christmas spirit and remembering why we celebrate this glorious holiday....Happy Birthday Jesus!

Thank You Mommy!

I know how awesome it makes me feel to hear those three little words come out of Addie's mouth when I do something as simple as helping her blow her nose..."Thank You Mommy!"...so I thought I'd take the opportunity to say a big THANK YOU to my Mommy for a change!

I could not have made it through the last 3 weeks without the help of my mama. She stayed with Addie when we were at the hospital (not to mention all the times she watched her when I had doctor and therapy appointments before I had Lydia), and she has been available to watch Addie or Lydia (not yet both at the same time!) when I've needed her to. I have always been a mama's girl and love spending time with my mom and it means so much to me to have my two girls share that time with her as well. Even though our outings are a bit more stressful now with 2 kiddos in tow, we (mom and I, maybe I'm just speaking for myself here) are never afraid of an adventure.



So, THANK YOU MOMMY for all you do for us...we love you!

"Gamma" and her girls

3 Week Check Up

Lydia had a doctor's appointment this morning to check her weight and see how she's doing in general. I was extremely pleased to find out that she weighs 9 lbs. 4 oz. which means she has gained 13 ounces in a week, wowsa! Despite all of our issues we've had with nursing, she is definitely getting what she needs (which of course makes a mama feel much better!).

Luckily, our doctor had some time to take a look at Addie while we were there and she is "trying" to work on an ear infection, but our hope is that this little cold will go away without it coming to that. She was such a trooper and was SOOOOOO good for the doctor as he checked her out. Anyone who has taken a 12 mo.-24 mo. old to the doctor can probably vouch for me that it's not always pleasant (screaming and crying out of fear of the doc!). Addie was so brave and even got her flu shot...and she didn't even cry!

Here is where I must brag on Addie a bit more. Yesterday she kept her diaper dry all day, letting me know when she had to potty and I was SO proud of her. I figured that since we'd be out and about today, she wouldn't be as successful, but I was wrong. She went potty at the doctor's office for my mom and then when we were at the mall later on, she let me know she had to go and sure enough, her diaper was dry and she went! We haven't really been pushing the potty training issue lately with a new baby in the house, so she is totally doing this on her own! I am guessing she will be our self-teaching daughter since she pretty much handles things on her own...she also weaned herself from nursing with no issues, so we're hoping the potty training will just come as she's ready as well.

Sweet Sisters :)

The Newest Junebug Model

A few weeks ago when we still didn't know the gender of "bubsis," I was doing some thinking about my motivation for making itty bitty baby clothes for Junebug Creations (boy or girl). I thought if we had a boy, I would be more motivated to start a little boys' line of clothes. I didn't really think of what I would do if we had a girl, other than get really excited to make matching or coordinating clothes for my girls :) Before now, I had never made anything smaller than size 6-12 months because I started making Addie's clothes when she was around 9 months old.

When we were still in the hospital two weeks ago, I was trying to rest while Lydia was sleeping, but couldn't help the brainstorming process of what I would make for her first. The idea of a onesie dress came to me in the middle of the night and I'm so excited to present Lydia's very first Junebug "creation." Of course this one will not fit her for long, the onesie is a newborn size and was a bit snug to begin with. I can't wait to make her Christmas dresses and other little outfits to match the ones I've made for Addie already.