10 months and mommy #2

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10 months and i can finally gather a few pieces of hair to put in a pony tail ;)


wearing a bathing suit top, mismatched bottoms (around her neck) and some high heels. someone's ready to hit the town ;)

it's friday!

and here was the first conversation of our day

z: did nola sleep through last night?

a: i think so, i didn't hear anything.

z: hmm, i hope that's a good thing.

a: well, why don't you peek in her room and check?

z: nah, i can never be quiet enough. have a good day, love.

happy to report that she was fine, the pillow contraption that zane made in her crib to help her breathe must have worked. and maybe the benedryl ;) either way, she had a great night's sleep and is back to playing and smiling this morning.

just in time for 10 months!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! holy.cow.

speaking of 10 months, i think it's safe to say that it's taken us just about this long to really settle into a groove of having 2 little ones. it's been a long road, but worth every step and setback. this morning, the girls woke up around the same time and mema brought avery into nola's room. nola lit up when she saw avery and avery begged to be put in nola's crib with her. these moments are coming more frequently and it's such a blessing to sit back and watch.

more to come later with tales of midnight crib sheet changes, new signs, avery's story reading, excitement for vacation, anxiety about vacation and the horrors of shopping for a bathing suit post 2 pregnancies ;)

it's almost friday!

kind of. a little bit. hey, it's close enough for me.

we've got a sick little baby in the house and aside from feeling helpless that we can't snap our fingers and make her feel better instantly, it's SO HARD to take care of a sick baby when there's also a toddler that needs/wants/deserves attention/food/snuggles/fun. and when you were up half the night with the sick one.

(i do have to say though, i'm so glad this is happening now and not next week when we're away!)

i forgot what i was going to even post about, which is okay b/c nola is having a hard time falling asleep and i don't have the time to write anyway ;)

hopefully i'll get back to post in less time than it took to get this one up.

*update: after nola's second 2+hour nap of the day, we took her outside and zane went for a walk with the girls and dogs. i met them as they were coming down the street and it looked like nola had been crying hard for some time. her poor face was red, puffy, and splotchy. so, we're thinking allergies. gave her a half a dose of benedryl and so far so good!

i could make a killing off my medicine cabinet.

towards the end of my pregnancy with nola, i was so excited to be done with doctors and medicine for a while. i had come to the conclusion that this would be a year to focus on myself without the worry of an unborn child. and then i went to the dentist and we all know how that turned out. then i went to the oral surgeon. and that time didn't go much smoother. and without going into detail, right now i'm fighting 2 infections, am allergic to one of the medicines i was given and hoping the new one doesn't make me throw up.

and to top all this off, because my body and mind aren't tired enough, i cannot for the life of me figure out nola and avery's sleeping stuff. they're up at 5:30 or 6 am just about everyday. nola has slept for 20 minutes today. avery's finally stopped screaming for 30 minutes at night when we put her down. nola's waking up pretty consistently at night, after having a good couple months where she slept soundly through....

all of these things combined result in me trying to look up airline information and typing "boston airport" in yahoo. i've lived here all my life and can't remember the name of the airport? i need a nap.

at least when i'm not napping, i can look at these little faces.



because they aren't sleeping either ;) (especially with prune all over her face :))

catch-up

we had a fantastic easter weekend!!

friday-

went to the park on a perfect spring day. avery played on the swings, went down all the slides, enjoyed the sunshine, and ended the day with pizza and a movie.

saturday-

went to a local church that was having a block party. bouncy houses, face painting, cookie making, hot dogs, and really really nice people.
got accepted into my grad program!!!!
dyed easter eggs
had a cookout with lots of meat and cold drinks on another perfect spring day!
hung out with our neighbors without the kids! a nice treat :)

sunday-

had a blast with avery searching for treats that the easter bunny left.
painted/stained our porch table and got lots of sun.
cooked off and on all morning for an awesome early ham dinner.

for a full album of the weekend, here you go

no bunny's gonna take a picture of me

avery was begging to sweep the porch this morning. it was tough handing over the broom, but i got over it quickly. and she had a blast!


and then i tried to get a picture of the girls in their matching "no bunny's cuter" t-shirts and nola had a small breakdown. and then napped for 2 hours.

nothing's safe!

i had to document what the house looked like tonight after the girls were down.
with two mobile kids, toys and treasures get tossed, carried and kicked everywhere. at times it makes me smile, at other times i want to grab a huge trash bag :)
i think we're in desperate need of more bins, buckets, and boxes for all their stuff...

because it's monday...

...and i needed an excuse to download this pictures.

but now, since i'm 8,000 steps behind in just about everything to do with this house, i'm off.

*cue the angels*

the sun is back. and better than ever. and nola loves it.


correction-nola, avery, and mama love it. at the park.


correction-dada loves it and it wears avery out quickly ;)


good times.

it's us!

avery loves playing with our camera. usually the pictures are of the floor. or her shirt. or the
strap of the camera.
but today she got it right! she turned it on, aimed and clicked!

since one of us is usually holding someone or feeding someone or rocking someone, it's rare that we get a picture of the two of us.
thank you, avery, for showing us we exist, and that we like being together. :)

(big ps,
we had another horrendous rainstorm and spent last night calling plumbers to come bail us out of our 4-5 inch water covered basement. zane opted out of attempting the many closed roads and detours to get to work today. instead, we cleaned. played with the girls. listened carefully to make sure the pump was working. moved mema's stuff here where it (and she!) will remain until she heads back to kc sometime this summer. craziness! and good times :))

we are family

oh, so so so much to say. it's 8:11 and hopefully we just heard the last frantic scream from avery in her crib. nola is definitely transitioning down to 1 nap and it's not pretty. there's rain outside right now and it doesn't look like it's going to stop until wednesday. there's 3 loads of clean laundry sitting on our bedroom floor that was done last week.

but! in spite of all that dreariness and exhaustion, we had wonderful company for a long weekend and now the house feels empty and quiet (minus avery's screaming) without jackie, mike and mema here.

with 2 little ones, it was hard to get out all together, but hopefully the downtime was restful! avery warmed up quicker than ever and had a lot of "firsts" to go along with her first house guests. first time building a tower of blocks to the ceiling. first time playing hide and go seek. first time going 2 days without a bath (that's probably not true, but it's been a while since we've skipped that many ;)). first chance to show off her knowledge of the turtles, penguins and sting rays at the aquarium. first time making and eating monkey bread with mema.



and, of course, nola got to show everyone how she recently discovered how to go high speed when crawling. and how she can sit in her big girl eating chair now. and how she likes to make this new face. all the time.


so, in a nutshell, we had a great time having them here though and can't wait to make the trek out to arizona so they can show us their turf! avery asked about "jack and mike" a few times today and i can tell she misses them! we do too, thanks for coming out!!

(ps, i wish i had more pictures of our guests, but mike is a photographer and we left the camera work up to him :))

peek-a-BOO!

nola's latest trick. the girls have an absolute blast doing this back and forth during dinner. hearing their little giggles is wonderful!!

we have family coming into town momentarily, so i'm not even going to pretend like i'll be posting anytime soon. if i do get to though, it'll be a nice little treat :)

9 months and a week :)

late with nola's 9 month post! oh well!

we thought avery was an easy baby. and she was. but nola? she brings "easy" and "happy" to new levels. she's been so content to sit and watch everyone. to squeal at the most random times. to eat just about anything you put in front of her and open wide so that she doesn't get too messy. to sleep without a pacifier or stuffed animal or blankie. she's still a happy, happy soul, but she's realizing that there are things out in the world and she wants them.

it's a REALLY good thing she just figured out how to crawl forward on saturday! for a while she's been scooting on her bottom, or inching backwards on her belly, or circling around to get whatever was in arms reach. but she was starting to get frustrated at the things just beyond...and now she's on the go!

*favorite foods: turkey, toast, pancakes, gerber 3rd foods, homemade baby peas, cheerios...she's finally really getting the hang of chewing things, so we'll be adding much more to her menu :)

*favorite distraction: avery. avery running. avery screaming. avery eating. avery. :)

*favorite (and only) sign: "more"

*favorite party trick: "SO big!!"

*favorite pastime: dancing. wiggling. grooving to music.

*favorite sleeping position: on her back with her left hand tucked under her back



for the 9 months of nola's pregnancy, it was a time to come to terms with the fact that we were actually having another baby. for the first 9 months of nola's life, it's been a time to fall head over heels in love and not be able to imagine her not being part of our family. (though it took us FAR less time than 9 months ;))

happy 9 months, little bear! we adore you. even avery when she yells "nolya! not! no!!" when she realizes you can crawl after her toys now ;)

'oh what a beautiful morning!'

a few years ago, we were in new orleans. it was a perfectly sunny and warm start to the day. we walked out of our hotel and a little black lady on a bike passed by us singing in the highest pitched voice "oh, what a beautiful morning! oh, what a beautiful day! good morning!" it was such a sweet (and humorous-i wasn't kidding when i said the highest pitched) moment. and i've relived it numerous times over the last 2 days.

after a whopper of a rainstorm, we have been blessed with sunny skies and warm temperatures! and, as it usually happens after daylight savings, i was reminded of what it feels like to be happy and carefree again! we've treated ourselves to lunches on the deck, afternoons in the front yard pushing nola in the stroller, a walk around a pond and a sandwich dinner on a bench. sunshine, cool breeze, rosy cheeks, fresh air! it's so easy (for me, it seems) to get lost in the blah-ness of winter, in the feeling of needing to hunker down and pile on the layers, in the comfort of the living room. but now we've broken free and it's beautiful!!

for the last 2 summers we've had high expectations about all the exciting things that were coming. and the last 2 summers have let us down a bit, due to finances, or recoveries, or stress with moving or bringing a newborn home. but this summer? this is ours. to go to the beach with a toddler and a...toddler (?!). to go to the zoo and have both girls excited and engaged. to go to the park and have both girls able to play and enjoy! to just stay at home and enjoy the backyard with sandboxes and sprinklers and cookouts. to go to the free concerts in town and let avery run and let nola crawl/walk/run/whatever she needs to do. to work on the front yard and get it in good shape. to know that we're settled in our routines and family life enough to branch out and let things go.

like a diamond in our sky :)