Three Weeks

What an amazing three weeks!  What a flash they've been!  With the combination of sleep deprivation, an energetic almost-three-year-old, Christmas, and a brand new baby.. we've had an exciting three weeks!

It's been amazing to watch our family grow from a family of three to our Family of Four!  Olivia has taken the roll of Big Sister with such pride and compassion.  Any peep out of Baby Brother and she is the first to say, "Oh - we need to check on him!" "Is he ok?"  She has been so interested in him - "Are his eyes open?" and wants to help do ABSOLUTELY everything.  We hear "I wanna help!" multiple times an hour!  Thankfully, she is a gentle helper and takes instruction well as she offers assistance!

 One of my new favorite pics of Big Sister... she is wearing her Uncle Jack's old Patagonia fleece!  When I 'borrowed' this, I couldn't imagine the day she'd fit into it!  AHHH she's getting SO big!

 Big Sister and Baby Bro meet for the first time...

 Our Christmas picture.. not dressy or one I'd send on a card, but I love it.  I love that Olivia is looking at Ethan..

 First big boy tub bath...

 She loves 'holding hands' with her brother..

A few things I want to remember ....

Things Olivia has been saying lately:
- As Justin arrives home from work - "So, how you been doin, Daddy?!"
- When asked just about any question, her response often begins, "Hmmm, how about..."
- When she is asked to do something that she is trying to postpone, she says, "Not quite, yet! Almost!"
- She randomly will wake up after sleeping 12 hours straight and say "Oh, I'm tired, I didn't sleep too well"
- After watching Justin come rub the top of my shoulder for about 10 seconds as I was cooking (or as I call it, Slaving Away in the Kitchen), she said her shoulders were sore too.  We laughed as Justin asked her if it felt better, as he rubbed her shoulders and in a very VERY grunty moaning voice, she said "Oh no, my back is still sore, need a little more, Daddy"  HA HA.. I guess just maybe she listens to my every word!  (Note to self = be careful what I say!)
- When someone arrives to the house, she will proudly introduce her baby brother.. "Look!! My baby brother"  As she holds out her arms and displays him.. (think Vanna White on Wheel of Fortune) Sometimes it ends with "Ta Da"

She loves:
- to take big girl bubble baths in Mommy's big tub.
- to use Daddy as her personal jungle gym and play a bit more rough that what I've been physically capable of doing the past few months.
- helping do anything I'm doing: dusting, laundry, cooking, changing diapers, etc
- finger painting, coloring, legos, riding her bike, baths

Ethan is still quite little to have much of an update!  But, he is such a great baby boy!  He rarely makes a peep - we've only heard him cry a handful of times in three weeks and I think the longest streak was about two minutes.  He eats well!  Loves his baths!  Turns his head toward his big sister's voice!  He nurses every three hours beginning at 7am all day (I wake him up most the time to eat...) and has been sleeping as well as can be expected at nighttime!  The past three nights has only needed to eat once in between his 10pm and 7am meals!  It is nice to get a 3 hour stretch of sleep in at a time for this momma.. looking forward to sleeping all night again :)  We like our sleep around here!  He is a growing boy... Already outgrown the newborn diapers and clothes.  (Too bad I had literally just purchased 3 new size newborn outfits and then 2 days later realized he was ready for size 0-3 months!)

As I grow into my new roll as Mommy of two.. I remind myself to truly be present each moment.. take each teaching opportunity in stride.. keep in mind that my big growing girl is not yet three years old although she is so mature and intelligent.. count my blessings for two healthy beautiful babies.. and capture the thoughts of looking ahead and rather find the treasure in each day..

One day, my babies won't be babies and I doubt missing sleep will be on my mind...

Forth Family of FOUR!

Here are a few of the pictures from our first photo shoot as the Forth Family of FOUR :)

Thankful

Every night, Olivia has a similar bedtime routine.  Upstairs, brush teeth, bath time, put on "jammers", brush hair, read a book, and a few minutes of rocking time with Mommy or Daddy while we say a bedtime prayer.

The bedtime prayer is simple and sweet.  It usually consists of "Thank You, God for keeping us safe today and for your care of the people in our lives.  Mommy, Daddy, etc etc." where several family members are named and occasionally a few friends on our minds or those we've seen that day.  I've gotten into the habit of praying specifically for Olivia and baby brother afterward and for extra special concerns in our hearts.  A few times when I've forgotten or been too tired myself, Olivia has asked, "Mommy, pray for Yaya now?"  And once, she said, "Mommy, more Jesus, please."  I have come to honestly feel like this, although is simply a part of her routine, really has become something that nourishes my baby girl internally.  I've also noticed a big change in her bad dreams and fears on the nights we've talked and said a little prayer for her.

Tonight (mostly out of curiosity for what she'd say), I asked her to say the bedtime prayer and it was the sweetest thing.  She said, "Dear God, thank you for Mommy, Daddy, baby brother Ethan, Nonna, Grandad, Max, Audrey, Jeffrey, Pistol, Jacky, Grandma Shelly, Papa Mike, Grandma, Papa, Casey, Anthony, Connor, Tara and Jesus Thank you, Amen"  I was impressed she didn't leave out a single 'first relative' and even named the doggies! Then, (knowing that Daddy went out tonight for a guys night but having no idea where he went) she said "and keep Daddy safe at... hmm.. Walmart and Target and church... and for Mommy... and for Nonna's house with pizza.. and the flashlight time outside with Grandad.. Amen"

A few weeks ago, when Daddy was traveling in Europe, we said special prayers to keep him safe... which must've been triggered when he left tonight.. although, he rarely goes to Walmart and Target :)  And since he was out, we had a pizza night at Nonna and Grandad's house.  Which she was very thankful for :)

What a sweet memory for this Momma..

No matter what your personal beliefs are, I wanted to share this and hope it touches you in some way during this season of giving thanks!

My "Super Beast"

A few weeks ago, we re-joined Little Gym Class!  Olivia was thrilled to be going back to her weekly "Beasts" class - the age group where Mommy participates with child.  Last week, our beloved teacher, Ms. Tammy thought that we should try to move up to "Super Beast" level - the age group where Mommy sits outside the gym and watches!  YAY!!

Today was our first "Super Beast" class and O did a fantastic job listening to Ms. Tammy and observing other big kids at following instruction and taking turns!

A few of the pics have pretty good reflection - but, hey! I wasn't allowed in!

 Singing the intro song!

 Going one by one to the balance beam and walking over bean bags!

 My Super Beast turned to make sure I was watching a few times and with a quick wave was back on track!

 She probably was most challenged as Ms. Tammy had all the kids sit on the wall and wait to be called by name to come get the hula hoops!

The line is something to get used to! She did such a good job!

I may or may not have had a few (SMALL!) tears watching her first Super Beast class!

My girl is growing up!

Big Girl Room Remodel

Once we began trying to determine how to decorate Baby Bro's Room, I knew I needed to kick it in gear and complete Big Girl's Room!  I love how it all came together at the same time she moved to her Big Girl Bed!  (The talks about sharing the crib with Brother weren't going over well!)  And the new decor made her feel like a true BIG GIRL!

The room all began with the bedspread (an early bday gift from Nonna!) that is folded at the foot of the bed.. from there I knew we wanted to incorporate several bright colors to add a bit more "girl" to her soft blue walls (which we painted upon moving into the house.)

 I found the paper lanterns online (at a fraction of the price I've seen in stores) and we love them!  She had seen lanterns in the movie, "Tangled" and talks about her lanterns quite a lot :)

The fabric circles on the wall were a Pinterest project.. and we made it a full family affair to go to Hobby Lobby and find colorful fabric that pulled colors from the bedspread.  Very simple to make!

The perfect, final touch was the hanging fabric butterfly (on sale at PBK!)

It's special to me that the bedroom furniture (minus the bookcase purchased in Shanghai) was mine growing up!  So rather than purchase a kid-sized bed, the little queen princess gets to enjoy lots of wiggle room!  

Video - 2 years old!

Wanted to share a video I created .... Dec 2011 - June 2012

File was too big to send to my sister.. so thought everyone might enjoy :)

This girl...

she makes Mommy's heart so happy....