Things I Don't Want to Forget about Abigail

Abigail is the BEST helper! She hands me clothes when I'm folding the laundry and moves them from the washer to the dryer (and presses the buttons, of course!) She helps rinse out the bottles at the sink. When I vacuum she takes the brush attachment and walks around with it, brushing different areas of the floor. She likes to help pour ingredients when I'm cooking or baking. When I'm refilling her juice cup or snack dish, she says, "I hold the top." She is the sweetest thing! Of course the jobs take a bit longer when she's "helping", but I love the bonding time with her, and I'd never discourage her from being helpful.

She loves her Grandma and Grandpa SO much! She always wants to go to their house. When I tell her I'm on the phone with Grandma, she says, "Abby's Grandma?!"

When she thinks she's done something wrong, she immediately says, "I sorry- I so, so sorry." It melts my heart.

She's DONE with the paci! And it was so, so easy. For the longest time she only used it in her bed. Then we started getting lax- letting her have it to keep her quiet in stores/restaurants, for "quiet time" in her room. And I started to notice she was asking for it more and more. One morning I decided we'd try stopping. All day I told her that the paci was becoming bad for her teeth. She seemed very concerned about that, lol. She even threw one of them away! I was skeptical, but at bedtime she didn't even ask for it. I thought for sure she'd wake up wanting it during the night (like she has so many times when it would fall out of her bed.) But she slept all night :) I thought for sure it would be a never ending battle with her- she's so adamant and strong-willed. Fingers crossed that we're done with the paci forever! Side note- Annie doesn't care for the paci at all!

She repeats after me. When I say, "I love you, pretty girl!" She says, "I love you pretty mom!" I make a big deal about it and give her hugs and kisses and she just thinks it's the funniest thing! It takes us awhile to say goodnight to each other. As I'm walking out her door I say, "Goodnight my sweet girl!" She says, "Good night my sweet mom!" and I run back to her bed for tickles. We do this 2-3 more times and we have too much fun.

She sounds so sweet when she sings the songs from Frozen; "For the First Time" and "Let it Go." I love, love, love her sweet voice!

I love watching her interact with Annie. She gives her fist bumps, talks to her, and is SO entertained by her! The are going to be best buds for sure.

She thinks it's funny to attack me with kisses. She laughs so hard when I wipe them off my face, lol.


One morning I woke up to the girls sitting in front of the window watching the snow fall. It was all Audrey's doing- she pulled the chair over, got Abby to sit with her, gathered their drinks and blanket. There are definitely times when I'm overwhelmed with their bickering...but this was one of those times I felt so grateful that they have each other.

Anne Elizabeth is 3 months old!

She is smiling all the time now! I love when I catch her looking at me, a serious look on her face, and then when I smile at her she gives me the biggest smile back! She's also cooing ("talking") and when she's REALLY excited she squeals, lol. She's being adorable like it's her job!


I turned 3 months old on Christmas Day!

Big sisters at 3 months:


Audrey


This picture of Audrey looks crazy similar to Annie!


Look at Abby's crazy hair!!!

She has a pretty consistent schedule. Swaddled and bottled between 7-8, Dad feeds her again before he goes to bed (10-11) and she sleeps in her crib until about 2:30 am. I feed her and she goes right back to sleep. For awhile I dreaded the 2am feed because I could NOT get back to sleep afterwards. It was awful because by the time I did start to drift off, she'd awake again around 4-ish to eat. Now she sleeps in her bouncer next to the couch. She will go until 6am and for some reason I fall back to sleep more quickly. I don't mind the 2 am feed at all- but I'll be glad when she starts skipping it- I'd love to sleep all night in my bed :)

After her 6 am feed, we go back to sleep until 7-8. I pump and she stays awake to greet everyone. By the time I'm done, she's ready for a nice long morning nap in her swing. The rest of the day is like that- eat, awake/play, sleep in the swing, repeat. I'm too chicken to have her nap in her crib. I love watching her nap- she'll clasp her hands together or they'll lay right in her lap. She has the cutest little face and she looks so calm and peaceful.

She's doing the normal baby stuff- bearing weight on her legs, opening and closing her hands, bringing her hands to her mouth. She watches us and follows moving objects. She smiles (HEART MELTS!!) and coos (SWEETNESS!!)

I'm pumping 4x a day; first thing in the morning, during the day (around 1-2 pm), before bed at 7:00, and then when I get up to feed Annie at 2 am. I make plenty of milk for her (she's eating between 4-5 ounces) and I'm still freezing a little bit here and there. I'm down to about 125 lbs. My clothes are starting to hang on me (especially my pants!) I really should start exercising to tone everything up, but I'm too lazy, lol. Maybe in the Spring when it gets warmer! Maybe...

This month she had her first cold (with a cough!) She had her first ER visit and later saw a doctor about her hands and feet turning blue (all is good!) She sat with Santa and got to visit with her Great Grandparents from Texas. She got to meet more family on Christmas Day :)

Pics from the past month:


I worried my parents with my freaky blue hands and feet! But my heart is perfect and I'll totally grow out of it!


Super cute in my hospital gown!


Mom can't resist this pout!


I love to mile and talk to my Dad. He's my nighttime buddy!


Mom loves to watch me sleep


My big sisters love to bring me toys!


I love Mr. Sun, just like my sisters did!


Mom adores my rosy red cheeks!

I can't wait to see what this next month brings! I can't say that time has flown by. Her being 3 months old feels just right. Time isn't necessarily flying by, but it's not dragging either. I love being home with the girls, knowing that I have plenty of time to enjoy them :)

Audrey is FIVE!

Five years old. I just cannot believe it.



Everything about her is precious. She's a living dream.

She's the early riser in our house (Annie and I don't count!) If she were a Disney princess, animals would be at her window helping her to get ready as she sang. I swear, she's the happiest morning person ever. Seeing her bright happy smile first thing is like Christmas morning. She starts out my day RIGHT.

She's considerate. When she needs something from me she always prefaces it by saying "When you're done with ___, will you ____?" She understand that I'm a busy momma! I hope she knows that I'm NEVER too busy for her. I live for her!

I want to put her in a bubble. She's constantly running, skipping, jumping...bumping into things and people! She's just so excitable!! I admire her enthusiasm.

She has the cheeriest disposition. She truly is happy 99% of the time. And when she does get upset, she's over it just as quickly. No moping around for Miss Audrey Cate! I admire her ability to brush things off and move on with life. I accidentally spilled popcorn all over her when we were at the movie theater. She said, "It's ok, Mom! Everyone makes mistakes!!" HAHA :)

She's creative. You can give her 3 objects and she'll build something or make a game or use them in some crazy way. She's like a little MacGyver! She loves to build, create, draw, and play dress up.

She continues to be outgoing, friendly, and full of expression. She's a joy to talk to or just sit back and watch. She's full of energy and enthusiasm. Life would be so dull without our little sunshine girl!

I thank my lucky stars every day that we were blessed with her. She's meant for greatness. We love her more than words could ever say!



Annual slideshow:

Mortifying Mother Moment

First public meltdown in almost 5 years...not bad, I guess!

After we went to the pancake breakfast at my school, I took Audrey and Abigail to the mall for a birthday party. My MIL kept Annie for me (thank goodness!) Originally I was going to take all 3...WTF was I thinking?

We got to the food court and right away Miss Abigail decides she wants to run around. Fine, I get it- she's two and loves to explore. So I decided to walk around with her (instead of forcing her to sit still) while we waited for the festivities to begin. She was fine as she ate her cupcake, but again- she just couldn't wait around while the rest of the party just kind of hung out. I totally understood (I was frustrated, but I understood!) She just wanted to dance around the VERY busy mall and when I'd try to wrangle her back she'd fall on the floor. Ugh. If I'd had to feed or hold Annie, there's just no way I would've been able to handle the situation.

So, we get to Build a Bear and for the most part she's fine. I stay with her while Audrey participates in the party. She wanders around, plays on the computers, dances around to the sound machine thing. The party ends and of course she wants to go on the rides that are located RIGHT in front of the store (who decided to put those there?? Bastards!) But hey, I am completely cool with letting her and Audrey hang out on the rides for a few minutes, even though I was DYYYYING to get out of there.

This is where it gets bad...Abigail had a total meltdown when it was time to leave. I have never seen her act that way before! Throwing herself on the ground, screaming, crying, refusing to be picked up. Oh my goodness! I was actually more angry than I was embarrassed. Because really, what's a trip to the mall in December without a screaming toddler somewhere? Too bad it was MY screaming toddler. I almost had to laugh, especially when I see Audrey walking behind us, looking totally exasperated. Actually, now that I think about it- this is HER fault! If she'd gone through the Terrible Twos, I would've been expecting this. But nooo, she was a freaking angel child! Damn it, she spoiled us :(

So we're walking through the mall, stopping frequently to put her down because she's so damn heavy when she's throwing a fit. I'm trying to get her to calm down by telling her to breathe and just TALK to me. But it starts all over again when we decide to keep walking. We get to the exit (what seems like 3 months later) and of course it's freezing rain outside. Perfect. Luckily she decided to take some kind of pity on me and walked. Once we got into the van I laid into her. I was very specific with her..."You do NOT lay on the floor! You COME WITH ME when it's time to go!" I was very careful not to say she was a bad girl. So I'll say it here...she was a bad, bad girl! BADBADBADBAD!!!! I had her say she was sorry and we just hugged as we both calmed down. I don't know if I handled the situation correctly...when we're at home and she gets upset, we do the breathe/talk thing but if that doesn't work I let her work out her mood on her own. She gets no further attention and we don't offer her a thousand options to keep her happy. But I just could not let her work it out in the crowded mall. I couldn't get us out of there fast enough.

Again, I was so grateful that my MIL kept Annie. I didn't bring the double stroller, so there's no way I could've gotten Abby out of there. I should've left Abby with Grandma instead! But I don't like to leave her out of fun things :( Lesson learned- I cannot do it all by myself. Trying to do too much will backfire. All was fine by the time we picked up Annie and got home. I look at her sweet face, hear her adorable little voice and all is good again. Sigh...is she 5 yet?!



I'd love to hear other public meltdown stories and how you handled them. I need to feel better about this!

Holiday pics

No matter how busy we are, no matter how long my to-do list is, I will ALWAYS find time to stop and capture these beauties on camera!


"5 years old!"


I especially love this one of Abigail. I think she looks so old! Plus, I love her little smirk :)




Santa, baby :)

These were so fun (and easy!) to do. It started with me just wanting to get some good up-close face pics of the girls for Grandparent gifts. I took Audrey's first. She, always having helpful suggestions and ideas, asked if she could wear the Santa hat. They came out so great that I knew I had to give it a try with Abigail and Anne. I was so worried about Abby- she's the typical 2 year old who won't sit still for pictures. But WOW. She loved having her picture taken (and it REALLY helped that my camera has the burst function!) I think I may have to do this every year!