February 2019

February may be a shorter month, but man, did we do a lot, and we celebrated hard : )

What a fun month, filled with all things Valentines, love related, and all the pink and red!

FEBRUARY HIGHLIGHTS: 

-Isabella has always been obsessed with Isaiah, and she loves to make him laugh! Aubrey in this last month has really started to pay more attention to him as well, which has been cute to see her talking to him, and also trying to get him to laugh.

-We look forward to "family picnics" on Saturday mornings, which basically is an excuse for Mama and Daddy to drink coffee in bed, while Isabella and Aubrey eat some breakfast and watch tablet. Some mornings we watch a cooking or beach home finding show together, but other days you watch your cartoons while Mama and Daddy watch something a little more interesting to them : )

-We had some really nice spring-like weather this month (and then there was the ENTIRE 9 days of non-stop rain!!). We enjoyed going out to let the chickens run around. They are always fun to watch. 

-The girls did a ballet class at the park district on Tuesday mornings this month and loved it! They have a theme each month, and then the "recital" at the last session of the month. This month they did "You've Got a Friend in Me" from Toy Story which was super cute!

-We love park days! And parks with a pond to feed ducks are even better!

-While the chickens are pretty low maintenance, when it gets below freezing that gives us some early morning chores. Thankfully I have a buddy who doesn't love to sleep in, and is always wanting to be on the go!

-Mama and Daddy had a date night where we got to run a Valentines 5K which was super fun. After burning all those calories, we went to a local brewery and got a great dinner!

-Mama got to help throw the Valentines Day party for Isabella's class. We had yummy GF Banana Chocolate chip muffins, made a cute catepillar heart craft, and just had fun trading valentines. 

-Valentine's Day itself was fun. We had a yummy dinner of heart shaped pancakces, and got to open a present (soft my little ponies)!

-In the 14 days leading up to Valentine's day, the "Valentine's Fairy" put a heart on the girl's bedroom door that had one of their great qualities on it. They LOVED getting up every morning (or sometimes after nap time) to see what their new heart said. 

-We went to a Frozen themed party at one of the libraries near by and had a blast. There was Pin the Nose on Olaf, built your own snowman, a sing along, and then they showed the entire movie (which we watched about 30 minutes of, and then went out to lunch!).

-Lots of snuggles in the month of love : )

-Almost daily, Mama and Daddy say how grateful we are for the two of you, and how close in age, you both are! We never would have planned it that way, but it is truly an answered prayer! We love how close you are, how much you love playing with each other, and just how affectionate you are. This was on the way to church, and you wanted to hold hands while you sang a song. So sweet!

-During the school winter break, we decided to all take time off and have a stay cation. Unfortunately, mama got pretty sick with a bad cold which put a damper on some of the plans, but we still were able to relax and have family time throughout the week. One day we went bowling which was a blast. Both girls loved it, and amazingly, Isaiah slept through it in his carseat!!  We then went out for pizza afterwards. 

-Mama and her best friend get told frequently they look alike, or could be sisters. We have no idea why : )

Yes, we both showed up to church wearing retty much the exact same outfit, right down to the scarf and earrings!!

-And then there was the day that DL and Isabella showed up at school in the same dress. So cute!

-The girls had their first ballet "recital" which is a term used VERY lightly! It's a park district class, and basically on the last ballet session of the month, they show parents what they worked on all month. This month they did "You've Got a Friend in Me." It was super cute. I'm not sure any of the kids (mine included!) are destined to be professional dancers, but it was fun to watch, and the girls LOVED it!

-We had a play date with the Hart kids which was fun. We love having friends who have kids the same age as ours!

-The girls had a fire safety day at school which they loved. They got to touch and sit in a big fire truck, and learn about safety in a fun way. 

*Whew, what a month! It was a short, jam packed, super fun one! Looking forward to the months to come!*

Isaiah Jae 8 Months!

You know the times when life just flies right on by and you think you've done something, but nope, it just flew right by you!? Yup, that's what's going on over here. How this dude is 8 months is beyond me! And I was convinced I had most of his 8 month post prepped, but indeed, nope. Not even a template started. Oy vey!

Happy 8 Months Isaiah Jae!

8 Month Highlights:

-You are one easy going baby! You are so easy to take places, you can sleep pretty much anywhere, and you just go with the flow. We've gone to the mall a couple times after church for lunch and let sisters ride the carousel, and you just sit in the stroller and take it all in.

-You absolutely love your playmat and jumpy! You will play on them for quite awhile, and if Isabella or Aubs comes to entertain you, you will be on there for even longer!

-We had some nice weather this month, and spent time outside on the swing set, in the pasture watching the chickens, and going to a park. You love swinging!!

-You are one happy baby! You still have your serious moments, but we can usually get you laugh easily now. 

-You love your big sisters, and love watching them. Sometimes they can be a bit (or a lot overwhelming to you!) but most times you just giggle and laugh when they are all up in your business. 

-You've done so great with taking bottles from Mimi while Mama works, and breastfeeding on the days Mama is home. You are now wanting to hold your own bottle with Mimi. 

Sleeping: Overall I cannot complain in this department (you are the best sleeper we've had!), but you have definitely taken a bit of a regression this month during night time sleep. That being said, you've gotten more into a groove with naps, so there's a plus.

Bedtime is around 5 or 5:30 most nights, and we wake you to eat around 8:30 or 9 pm. Twice I've decided to just see what you would do without waking you, and you wake yourself around 9 or 9:30, so you still aren't ready to give up that dream feed just yet. You then wake up around 5:30 am, eat, and go back to sleep til 7 or 8 am (just depends on the day!).

You nap twice, usually for about 2-3 hours total. Sometimes it's a short 30 minute morning nap, and then longer 2 hour afternoon nap, or sometimes divided evenly. No two days are exactly the same. 

So yes, in short, you sleep a lot, to the tune of about 15-16 hours a day.

Eating: You breastfeed 5-6 times per day, taking both sides at every feed, and finishing in about 6-10 minutes. You have gotten quite distracted lately and pull off about 15 times before the let down which is super fun for Mama.

Food on the other hand is slow going. You pretty much make a puke face with every single thing we've given you, with the exception to apple sauce now. After about 8 tries, you will take some bites of it, occasionally enough to finish an entire 3 oz squeezie over the course of the day. Things we've tried: yogurt, scrambled eggs, cheese, avacado, butternut squash, peas, carrots, oatmeal, and just different things here and there from our plate. You definitely don't like things with texture, and only want things in finely pureed form. 

Isaiah Loves:
-Jumperoo

-Circle activity center

-Elephant paci (but you don't put the paci in your mouth), and elephant lovee

-Soft color blocks

-Music, singing, "dancing" on our laps

-"Flying" in the air

-Piano playmat

Isaiah Hates:

 -Being on his tummy

-Being tired or hungry (but pretty much that's the only time he cries these days)

8 Month Stats:

Height: 26 in (approx 2nd percentile)

Weight: 15 lbs (1st percentile)

*Wearing 3 month pants, and 3-6 or some 6 month onesies and shirts. 

*Still in size 1 diapers which fit well (trying to use the ones we got before he was born!!)

No teeth yet.

Isaiah's Firsts this Month:

-You are sitting for slightly longer periods of time, but still not long enough to play or do anything, you mostly just throw yourself back
-Still not rolling back to front, but hate your tummy enough to promptly roll from tummy to back

This Month in Pictures:

This was Mama's kermit the frog sweatshirt when she was a baby!!!