Sally Jean is 18 months

Oh Sally Jean,

You are one of the most independent little girls I have ever come in contact with.  You can be so happy and content, but it one teeny, tiny thing does not go your way, you throw yourself on the ground, kicking and throwing a fit.  You, my dear, are quite exhausting.  You are always making me wonder what we are getting ourselves into.

This month has been busy for you.  You are running full speed ahead.  You are clumsy and always getting hurt.  You are not one for sharing toys and don't want Ava near any of the things you have in hand.  You pretty much don't want Ava touching you unless you have given her permission and she wants to play with you so bad!

You are very cautious to try new things or things you are uncertain about.  You aren't one to take too ,many chances, but you will try new things hesitantly.  You like to snack on veggie chips and crackers and will sometimes eat your dinner.  You eat about 2 breakfast bars each morning and, sometimes, you will finish Ava's breakfast.  You are not one to branch out for breakfast foods.  You are pretty content with the breakfast bars and expect that each morning.

You still love to play peek-a-boo and giggle loudly (and snort) at my reactions.  You love to sing Jesus Loves Me, God our Father, and If You are Happy and You Know It.  You love to dance to happy and watch movies in the car.  Harris Teeter is your favorite store because you get a cookie if you are well behaved (although that is dicey).  You also love to go to parks, church, and Mimi and PopPops house.

I do not think you are going to take to your new baby sister or brother well.  You pretty much cling to me during the day and I have noticed when I am holding another baby, you drape yourself over my knees to pick you up.  Between you and your sister, my lap can become a fighting place.  It should make for a very interesting transition.

We are trying to figure out when we want to transition you over to your sisters room.  I want to get it over as soon as possible, but I am completely dreading this change.  I just don't know how it is going to go.  Let's face it: Mommy is selfish when it comes to making sure I get some down time.  I've let you two not take naps a couple of times recently and Mommy isn't the same Mommy by 7:00 as she normally would be.

Even though you are a spitfire and completely tiring, I just love who God has made you to be.  He was very creative when He made you and, boy, does He have a sense of humor.  We love you so much.  May God place His fingerprints all over your heart.

What's up with Ava? june/july

Ava is getting to be such a big girl and she says and does things now that make it so hard to see my little  baby girl. 

The other day we were both drawing a flower.  She immediately realized that my flower and her flower did not look the same.  She said that she couldn't draw one and that it made her so sad.  It was at this moment I got vision of previous students who were relentless perfectionists and how hard it was to get them to try new things and to be proud of their work.  I am wondering if dealing with this with Ava is in my near future. 

We were also watching a documentary on Netflix about how other kids in other countries get to school and there was this one family who had 3 boys, one with Cerebral Palsy.  They push and pull their brother in this ramshackle wheelchair to school and back everyday.  It takes them an hour and a half to get to school.  She was watching it and said, "awww, that is so nice."

Ava is generally kind to other kids except her sister (when it comes to sharing toys with her) and there are so many things I see in her that are going to shine the light of Jesus. 

This pregnancy has been super yucky and I guess Ava can see on my face when I am not feeling good.  She is quick to give me a hug, check my forehead to see if I feel ok and cuddle with me. It is super sweet and comforting. 

She LOVES babies and I hope the sentiments will be the same for this next baby.  She was excited to hear the heartbeat.

She tries to whistle by placing 2 fingers in her mouth and making her imitation of a whistle. It's cute. 

She loves to search for flags, bridges and big buildings while in car.  She loves to sing Happy Birthday (Durthday) to people, especially if there is cake involved. 

She is OBSESSED with Disney World and asks multiple times per day to go.  Adorable and pitiful all at the same time! 

She obviously hears these words a lot because she will always say, "maybe later we can go to Disney World."  :)  Not surprisingly, we are trying to figure out a way we can take her again before baby comes. 

Ava brings so much joy to our hearts.  Her compassion for other people and animals tells me that God gave her a very tender heart and spirit.  I am excited to see what that will mean for her. 

Sally Jean 16-17 months

Oh Sally,

You are a stinker.  Seriously.  So emotional.  You can be happy one second and then mad as a hornet the next second. And once you are mad, there is no calming you down or consoling you.   You are strong willed, determined and Miss Independent.  I love those qualities about you, but right now they are super hard to get through.  I have a hard time breaking through that strong will of yours, but this mama is going to have to toughen up and do it. 

You love to be treated like a big girl.  You like to walk and hold our hands, you like to go off on your own and explore, you like to do what Ava is doing, you like to tease her by taking her fuzzy and lamby and saying "mine", when you know good and well those are hers.

You are very good at getting things mommy asks you to grab.  You can get your diaper when you need one, get your milk cup off the table, hand Ava her cup, etc.  And, surprisingly, you are compliant much of the time, when I ask you to hand me something. 

You take good naps and go to bed very easily for us.  You typically sleep from 2-5 and 8:30-7:30 every night.  You still want your pacy, Boo puppy and fuzzy when you sleep.  When we get you in the morning, you will toss your pacy in the crib because we try to only use it for sleeping time. 
You are my side sleeper.  Whenever I check in on you at night before I go to bed, you are usually sleeping on your side with your arms around your boo and fuzzy.  I wish I could get a good picture of you, but I would need the flash, and you are also my light sleeper.  So I don't mess with you!

You are wearing 18-24 month clothing and size 2-3 shoes.  Shoes are a conundrum because you have fat feet.  You usually pull your shoes off in the car and we have to put them on again.  You don't like wearing your headbands for too long, either.

You are getting lots and lots of teeth right now.  You are handling it well.  I haven't noticed it affect your mood.  Let's be real-you are a moody individual as it is, so it's hard to tell the difference.  You get your moodiness from your mother.  One thing we have noticed about you is that if something doesn't go the way you think it should, you get very frustrated.  You get that from your father. 

You like to talk.  You say "its water", tinkerbell (binkerbell), pacy, hi mommy, hi daddy, mine, no, hold you (atchoo), phone, I did it, I see you, amen, big, and some others.  You love Brown Bear, Brown Bear. 

You aren't really into much food these days and I will attribute that to your teething.  But you do enjoy your breakfast bar or two in the morning and your milk.  There are  few other foods I can offer you that you will always accept and that is cheese, oranges, crackers, and pretzels.  You will also drink water more easily than your sister. 

Sally, there are so many things that God is going to use you for and I can't wait to see it!  I just hope I don't mess you up beforehand.  One thing I have learned from being your mommy is that parenting is a humbling experience. 

Baby 3 weeks

How far along? 6 weeks and  0 days.

How far to go? forever...238 days to go

Due Date: February 6, 2016, but I will have to have a csection so I am thinking this baby will be born at the end of January.


Baby? Developing eyes, nose, ears start this week.  Baby is about the size of a pea.


Maternity Clothes: Well I am already overweight since gaining a lot of weight after Sally was born.  I wear a lot of Yoga pants, tank tops, and tshirts.  I pretty much feel like I look so unkempt most of the time.  

Stretch Marks: Not anything new...yet.

Pregnancy Symptoms i DO NOT FEEL GOOD.  Ever.  Nothing sits well with my stomach, nothing sounds all that wonderful to eat.  I can't believe I forgot this miserable feeling.  I am also unexplainably exhausted.  Like Unreal exhausted!

Sleeping:  I still sleep well, and I can still sleep on my stomach so that helps.  I also sleep a lot.  Usually when the girls go down for their naps, I sleep the entire 3 hours.     

Best feeling this week:  Knowing that each day is closer and closer to reaching the 3rd trimester, where, hopefully, I can get rid of the constant sick feeling.  


Movement: Baby is the size of a pea, so really?

Cravings/Aversions: ice cream, cheerios, popsicles.  

Belly Button: In


What I miss:  Having more energy and feeling good.

What am I looking forward to: Hearing the baby's heartbeat! 

Disney World part 3

It's been like 3 weeks since Disney and it is still so vivid in my mind and I want to go back so, so, so bad!!!  

Our last day at Disney was spent all day at Magic Kingdom (except for when we took a nap break).  We had some fast passes that morning, but based on Ava's indifference to the rides, we decided not to worry about them unless she was persistent on going on them.  We did venture our way to Dumbo and a few other rides, but we also had them dressed in their bathing suits and decided it would be a great day to let them run and play in the little splash park across from Dumbo.  They had a blast and got super soaked!  It was such a joy to just sit and watch them run around, giggles and all, and just have such a low-key fun time. 

We ate lunch at the hotel and that was pure torture.  Ava was horrible and I took her to the room to eat to preserve everyone elses sanity (except mine, of course). 

We then took a nap and then headed back to Magic Kingdom.  We shopped, ate dinner at Tony's and watched the Electrical Parade (twice!) and the fireworks and Ava kept shouting "More!!!!"  We rode the carousel a few times that day and just enjoyed our last moments at the most magical place on earth. 

I think if I learned anything at Disney on this particular trip is that with kids, it is best to just go with the flow and relax.  Let them take the lead and try not to have to be in so much control.  This was the first time I have gone to Disney and not made it my mission to ride everything at least twice, and honestly, it was a blast.  I cannot wait to take them back there.  Ava is already asking...

I don't think the kind lady who offered to take this picture has ever taken a picture with an iPhone before.

Sally Jean 15 months

Sally,
         I was interested in going back over your first 14 months of life blogs because I wanted to remember you as you were little.  You have changed so much within the past 2 months.  Some of it is great and there are some parts that are a little harder to deal with....

Like your stink eye you give perfectly sweet people and you will continue to glare at them with this look that is hard to describe.

Or, how someone will politely ask you something and you look at them all sweet and then say the meanest sounding no.

Or, how about, last night when we were at your cousin, Maddie's, dance recital and we had to leave early because you were so contrary and cantankerous.  I  was pretty frustrated with you, as I am sure was my mom and sister, who were checking on us as we waited out in the lobby, and the poor dance moms who were desperately trying to watch their little girls dance.  You were even horrible in the lobby and we just had to up and leave.  I hope this behavior can be transferred to the 3, maybe 4, teeth you are growing, but still...

Even with all of this, I still love you.  You are one determined little thing.  I was reading back in your monthly blogs and there was one where I said I had you pegged as the little princess in the family....HA!  I was soooo wrong.  You are a brute.  You will walk, bull doze over anyone in your way.  You have the upper hand when it comes to your sister.

You are in favor of: food and lots of it, naptime, bath time, swinging, playing outside, music, pacifier, and Winston.

You highly dislike: sitting in your carseat, getting diaper changed, getting dressed, being contained, being told no, being manhandled, not getting your way.

Oh Sally, I know that these strong personality traits are ones God has given to you, but I hope that we, as your parents, get God's wisdom and training on how to channel it.  I want nothing more than for you to use those traits for God's glory.  I just hope we don't get in the way of that.  We do love you. SO. MUCH.  Your spunkiness is fun, your meltdowns are tiring, but , you have been and will always be such a great addition to our family and I can't imagine a day without you here.

Love you forever and always!
Mommy