Happy Birthday

This past Thursday, November 26 (Thanksgiving Day) would have been Briana's 3rd Birthday. I remember her birth-day like it was yesterday. It's hard to describe, but it was the loudest silence I've ever heard. Holding her was still like holding a miracle...seeing her for the first time - in awe that we actually created something so precious, beautiful and perfect...but then facing the reality that we didn't get to keep her, take her home, cuddle with her or watch her grow. It was so hard (and still is sometimes). My life has been fully changed by this little girl.

I can only imagine what it would be like with her here. Let's see...three years old... I'm seeing blond pig tails - possibly curly like her Daddy's. I think she would giggle a lot and would be a "girly girl" - loving dolls and dresses. Sassy? Quite possibly... I've heard 3s are worse than 2s - so we would be about to enter an interesting year :) She would have had a butterfly birthday party and would be hoping for Santa to bring her another doll for Christmas. She would have loved the butterfly birthday cake I would have attempted to make for her, but she would have only eaten the frosting...the pink and purple frosting. When putting her picture montage together I would have included pictures of milestones such as potty training and moving to a big girl bed. We would also include the fun times of swimming in the kiddie pool this summer, riding on her "bike" with a bike helmet on, helping mommy clean with her vacuum and bake in kitchen, wearing my high heels and feeding her "babies", visiting Grandma and Grandpa and going for gator rides and spending time with Grandma and Papa at "the lake" in the summer. This winter she would get really excited to ride around the yard on the snowmobile but then when it would actually come down to putting the helmet on she would decide she didn't want to do it. She would however be equally excited to go sledding down the hill and that would be a great time!

Although I only held her in my arms for a little while - I will hold her in my heart forever.

We miss you Briana Mae and know you had one great "angel day" in Heaven. I Love You! Happy 3rd Birthday!

Dr Appts

Today(ok - Wednesday - Mommy is a bit behind again) we went to the dr for our well baby checks. Alayna had her 9 mo and I had my big 2 yr appt. Crazy that now I only have to see them once a year. So - what were our stats? Well, Alayna is 17lbs 4oz and 27 inches tall - which puts her in the 25th percentile in both. I am 23 lbs 4oz and 33.5 inches tall. I made it back ON THE CHARTS for weight - at 5th percentile and 25th percentile for height. YAY for making it back on the charts. We'll see though what the other dr says. Last time we checked in with them they said I still wasn't where I needed to be.

17 lbs 4 oz - yeah!

See my muscles! They are HUGE! :)

Everything checked out good for both of us. We have some exciting things to look forward to over this next year. I will be potty training, learning my colors (right now everything is green), learning to draw actual "things" instead of just scribble and start dressing myself. Wow - all that sounds fun! Alayna on the other hand has a lot going on too. She will be working her way toward eating solid foods with the rest of us and getting rid of all the purred stuff, drinking from a sippy cup (which she likes to play with and try now), pulling up and walking along things like furniture and even possibly walking. Wow - if she does that she will ALWAYS be in my stuff.

9 Months

(I did have help getting up here)

Yes it is true...yesterday I turned 9 Months old! We were on our way to church and Mommy looked at the clock and said to Daddy...9 months ago - we had our baby for 4 minutes already (it was 9:17). Mommy can't believe I've already been here with them longer than it took for me to grow in her belly! It's hard to believe I guess - but I'm liking all the new things I've been learning lately.
Some fun facts about me:

- My clothing size follows my age pretty well. I'm doing 6-9 and 6-12 (depending on the store)

- Diapers - I am wearing a size 3. I could still be in a size 2, but last time Mommy bought them at the store, she wasn't sure how long I would be in them - so she thought it was better to error on the big side. That means Grant and I are wearing the same size! Don't worry. I'm not as big as he is...size 3 diaper just has a really big weight range.

- I'm still eating seconds baby food along with bananas and toast

- I do very well at picking up cheerios, puffs, toast, etc and eating them off my tray

- I LOVE puffs - I usually pick them up by the handfuls!

- I will drink from bottles now and am working on quitting nursing (or my Mommy thinks we are anyway - last time it didn't work too well). When I wake up in the morning (early) I nurse, then get a bottle in the morning, and just yesterday started getting a bottle in the afternoon and then nurse again before bed. The last time Mommy took away the afternoon feeding I started waking up at midnight to eat. I'll try to do better this time (last night I did)

- (Knock on Wood) I have been sleeping pretty well - going to bed between 7 & 7:30 and waking up about 5 something to eat in the morning and going back to sleep again until b/w 7 & 8.

- I am a good crawler now. Not too fast, but very good.

- Teeth. I have two bottom teeth from 6 mos old and two weeks ago or so got my first top tooth. Last week I started breaking through with 2 more top teeth (one of which has for surely popped through as of today) and Mommy and Daddy THINK they can see two more bulges starting on the bottom. So - 3 in with 4&5 currently breaking through and 6&7 getting ready. Man...one more and I will have as many as Grant (minus the molars)

- I'm starting to get into my brothers things. I can't help myself. He just got some new things for his birthday and tends to leave them out right in front of me. Of course I am going to want to play with those fun things when I see all the great things he can do with them.

- I say all my consonant sounds now I think...ba, pa, da (not sure about la though). I even repeat mommy sometimes when she is playing with me.

- I love playing in the bath tub and don't even mind when the water from washing my hair runs down my face. I am a trooper!

- I've really become quite attached to my Mommy. I don't like it when she walks out of the room...even if I'm with Daddy. I am usually fine at the nursery and things like that, but when I'm tired or hungry or sad about something - I like it if Mommy is really close by. Sometimes that makes Daddy feel sad - sorry Daddy. I think it makes Mommy feel sad too - but I can't help it.
- I typically go to bed quite easily. I might cry for 5-10 secs, but then off to sleep I go

- I usually (if we are at home) take a morning nap and afternoon. The length of time varies for each of them still.

- I have also become more attached to my nuk. I don't suck my thumb as much as I did at first, but since I started drinking more from a bottle - I've more easily taken a nuk. Mommy's not sure it was smart to get me hooked on that thing at 8 mos old, but it is helping me through my teething - so she is ok with it.

- I have not started pulling up on furniture yet, but I do pull up to my knees in my crib

I SEE YOU :) Next time - you will see more of me b/c I will be standing!

I finally get to "bounce" like my brother and cousins do with Daddy

She caught me readin' her magazines. See - it's not just Grant's things I like :)

I think that is it. You're up-to-date on me. Thanks for checkin' in on me :) I love you all!

New Vocabulary

Grant's new 2 year old vocabulary:

- MINE

- Don't Want To

- NOOOO Layna (because Alayna can now crawl and get into all of his new toys - see pic)

- Don't Like It (Great - now not only will he not eat his food, he's going to tell me he doesn't like it!)

- Play Awhile? (when he's supposed to be going to bed)

Ahhh yes...it will be interesting...wonderfully interesting :)

ABCs

Grant doing his version of the ABCs...he does a bit better when he's not preoccupied by blocks.

Great Weather

Today was such great weather for November! It was so nice outside - so we spent a lot of time out there. First we went to the zoo with some friends. We saw lions, tigers, baby tigers, Happy the Hippo, monkeys, a baby orangutan that was swinging and playing like crazy, some camels, etc...your typical day at the zoo. When we got home it was so nice that mommy fed Alayna outside so I could get a few last things accomplished before the snow flies. Here's what we did:

Daddy has been really busy, so I thought I would finish this little bit of yard work for him.

Then I practiced my soccer...

Played one last round of golf...

And took a jog...

All that while Alayna ate her lunch on the front porch with Mommy. (I ate mine at the zoo.)

Then we took this picture. It took a lot of effort from mommy just to get both of us to look at the same time without Alayna falling off the steps - so she apologizes Alayna is not looking a bit happier :)

Happy FALL!

Crawling

Alayna wanted to give Grant a really special present for his birthday - so she decided she would crawl that day! So fun to watch her officially crawl for the first time. We caught a little bit of her skill on video later that night.

I don't think Grant is going to like her "present" too much. He is already realizing she can now get into all of his toys A LOT more easily! :) It's time for me to get one of those striped referee shirts I guess :)

Just hangin' with Daddy!

Happy 2nd Birthday Grant!

November 4th I turned 2!!! It is fun being 2! If you ask me how old I am - I usually get it right :) What have we done so far for my birthday? Well - Tuesday I had a birthday party with some of my playgroup buddies. I had a combined party with Isabelle because her birthday is just 2 days before mine. Since it was just Halloween, me made it a costume party so we could see everyone's costumes. It was A LOT of fun. Thanks Isabelle for sharing the day with me and to all my friends who came and made it a great time!

Isn't Isabelle beautiful?

I dressed up as a puppy for my party

How many mommies does it take to get a "group" picture of 16 kids 4 & under?

One and a half kids short on this pic...but as close as we could get :)

Wednesday when I woke up, Mommy and Daddy took me to my red chair in the living room. My birthday party balloon was in my chair and there were 2 presents there. How exciting! I wish I had presents by my chair every day! I like opening presents now - I totally get how to do it!

Wednesday morning Mommy had Coffeebreak (Bible study) so I went to Little Lambs. We made an ark (Noah's) and I got to put animal stickers on it - 2 of each. I love stickers and know the Noah story from one of my books. That was a fun morning. After the ark story I got to play with my friends who were there. Then we had lunch and nap time and then after dinner we went to play at The Big Backyard. It is an indoor playground in New Berlin. We've been there a few times, but never at night before. They are only open one Wed night a month and apparently not a lot of people know about that because we were the ONLY people there. It was great! I could go on whatever I wanted without Mommy and Daddy having to worry about any other kids. It was REALLY Fun!

Look at all these bikes!

Hmmmm...which one should I pick?

Alayna gave me a great present for my birthday. She officially learned to CRAWL!!!

OK Mommy - I'll catch you...come on down

Mmmmm

Thanks Big Backyard

On Saturday the rest of my family came to celebrate! It was so much fun! I had a Puppy party theme...balloons, plates, napkins...even my CAKE! Mommy made it! Who knew?!?! I got lots of nice things...a puppy (run by batteries - not real), tool set, train, trucks, hockey stick (Daddy was pumped)...THANK YOU EVERYONE!

I blew out both candles myself!

My 2 yr old check up isn't until the 18th. This way Alayna and I can go at the same time (her 9 mo and my 2 yr).

What are some other "things about me" now that I'm 2?

- for the most part I wear mostly 18mo pants and 18-24 mo shirts (hopefully 2T by the end of winter)

- I am back to sleeping better at night again. Could it have been nightmares or night terrors?

- I have all 8 front teeth finally and all 4 -2yr molars have broken through. The dentist told Mommy and Daddy to save their money - there is already crowding going on in there with just my baby teeth.

- I LOVE Stickers right now

- Other favorites - books, apples, Elmo/Barney/Animal DVDs, "lips" (aka - chapstick), playing outside, Daddy's tools, mowing lawn, puppies (well - I talk big, but I'm actually scared of them up close - hehe), I like to wear hats and still love bath/shower time.

#3 is coming...

Well - it's on it's way - Alayna's THIRD tooth! As of yesterday I could see little white and I think break-through happened. Her first two teeth were the bottom front teeth. #3 is up on top - not the middle teeth, but the next one back.

It has been really tough to see in at Alayna's teeth lately...she's keeping those lips tight on me...but yesterday I think I tickled her enough for her to let me sneak a peek :) I think I could see at least 2 more that will be coming through soon as well. Poor girl! Ouch!

THANKFULLY - she has been having much better nights with these teeth than her first two (knock on wood). We try to stay up on her Tylenol and Oragel. She's been sucking on a nuk a lot more as well. She may actually be preferring that over her thumb now. Not sure if that is good or not - but - whatever - she is 8 months old and it seems to be helping her a lot with her teeth.

Speaking of sleeping. I don't want to jinx things, but she has been doing much better over the last week & a half. I added the afternoon nursing back in, but decided I would no longer nurse her in the middle of the night. It seemed she was "smart" and "saving up" to eat when I would nurse her and only taking bare minimums from the bottles offered to her. She has started going to bed b/w 7 and 8 and sleeping until b/w 5 and 6. If she does wake up at night and won't go back to sleep we offer her water - but that's it. Yay Alayna!

What else is new here? Well - today is Grant's last day of being 1. It's going way to fast little buddy! We LOVE YOU!