Ava's 3!!

(You know I'm grimmacing as I start this post...Ava was 3 years old last month! Darn it!)

Where did my toddler go? My little wobbly-walker? My 4 front-toothed, babbling, drooling, squealing sweet baby girl? Shoot - I blinked and her babyhood is gone! Instead of dwelling on how sad that makes me right now, I'll focus on the now...on the hilarious, witty, sassy, and energetic preschooler that Ava has become!

She is an amazing big sister to Stella, and cares so much for her little stuffed animals. They go everywhere with her. Her favorite thing to play is "doctor" to her animals. Dr. Dad & Dr. Mom, Stella is usually Nurse, and Ava plays the voice of the animals. It's entertaining to say the least! :) Her imagination is taking flight these days! She's always talking about Swiper and how he's being mean to her animals...so usually I have to stop what I'm doing and have a talk with "Swiper" and tell him to be kind to Ava's animals. LOL!

We had a minnie mouse birthday party for her. It was pretty low key with just grandparents and us... and Ava's best friend Eli, of course. :) She loves that boy...and they play so wonderful together.

Enjoy some pictures...

Ava and I made this shirt for her birthday party. She wouldn't hold still enough to put her other handprint on there, but at least I got one. The front just says "Happy Birthday to ME!"

Ahh yes...there's the sassy side of her.

My momma made the cake. Talented woman. :)

Ava's favorite present. She named her pony, "Socks" just like the one she rode at the zoo.

A bike!! She can't quite figure out how to pedal...but maybe by spring.

Tired girl. Fell asleep on the floor that night. 3rd birthday parties are exhausting. :)

On the actual day of her birthday, we took Eli with us to the Dora and Diego exhibit at Cosi. (Notice she's carrying Georgia the pony with her...told you her animals go everywhere with us!)

Cutie Pies.

3 months, 3 weeks, 3 days!

October 29th marked Stella's 3 months 3 weeks and 3 days milestone! For a little background on this family tradition, check out Ava's post. Funny to see the similarities and differences between the three of us baby girls. Such a sweet tradition...that dress feels like an antique.

Mommy (Feb 1985)

Ava (Feb 2009)

Stella (Oct 2011)

3 Months!

Aaaand, Stella was 3 months old on October 5th... it is now October 30th. Finding it harder and harder to squeeze in blog time! Ok so, a lot has happened in Stella's life since she turned 3 months. I started back to work (that's all I'm saying about it...it sucks...I want to be home more...thankfully I'll be part time beginning Nov. 6th!) so she's had to deal with life without her mommy around all day everyday. The nursing/ pumping has been the most interesting part of this transition. She and I are both a little lost sometimes! I forget that I need to pump and she forgets that she needs to eat from a bottle. ;-) At this point though, it's all getting a little easier.Oh, and we have a new babysitter. She comes to our house, which is a total blessing. Not having to wake my kids and drag them out in the freezing cold this winter is going to be beautiful! Stella is handling the new sitter just fine. So happy for that!

Stella is the sweeetest, most docile little thing I've ever met. Not at all the firecracker she used to be! She's like a different baby!! I thank God for her everyday. I can't even put into words how happy she makes us. She has the most heart warming smiles and the cutest giggle. She's so calm and always taking in the world around her. LOVES to watch her sissy. She discovered her hands and has not let go of those puppies since! She has even gotten chapped & red fingers from sucking on them alllll day long. I can't wait til she finds that thumb! Am I the only mother on the planet who encourages thumb sucking? I think its a great soother... this girl still will not take a pacifier... unless its me. :) She loves her legs massaged with lotion...gives us smiles and giggles every night after her bath... kinda like she's a little slap happy after her long day. :) I thought after her 2 month shots that she was going to hate her legs touched forever because those shots were literally traumatizing to her...but she seems to be over that now.

She does lots of sleeping still. Just catnaps during the day...1/2 hour to 40 minute naps all day and goes to bed between 6-7pm. Still sleeping pretty good at night...she occasionally gets up twice a night, but for the most part just once. She likes to be wrapped up in her baby straight jacket still :) also known as the swaddle wrap.

While my Ava was a bit of a chunky monkey as a baby, Stella is a long & thin little string bean! Ava stayed in the 90-95th percentile (and still is at 3 years old) while Stella is right around the 50th. And just for my future reference, she wears mostly 3 month clothes...some 3-6 month clothes and size 2 diapers.

Stella Jolie is precious. We love her insanely and are so blessed that she's healthy and happy and a part of our family. God is good. :)

Adventures in Preschool

I wish I was 3 again... lol. Preschool is so fun with Ava! I love watching her learn and retain things from day to day. Just an example of her curious mind... the other morning during our "school board" time, I was telling her about the season fall and how the leaves turn from green to pretty colors like orange, yellow, and red and then they fall off the trees and we can rake them up in piles and jump in the leaves. I told her how the weather gets chilly and we have to start wearing our jackets, etc. Anyways, she really got into listening about this "fall" business and the next morning during school board she said, "mom will you talk about fog again to me?" At first I wondered what she was talking about, and then she shook her body and said, "you know, when it gets chiiiiillllly!" haha. What a punkin... she actually listened to me... just goes to show we should talk to our children about e-v-e-r-ything!

I started searching for a preschool for Ava over the summer, but no place was sticking out to me. I wanted her to start socializing in a group setting and start learning to listen to adults other than Eric & me. Most were either too expensive, during odd hours (for Stella's nap schedule), too far away, and the list goes on. Just nothing that was catching my eye. Plus, I was lacking the ambition to send my girl away for preschool... soon enough she will be in real school and the corruption begins! lol. Unless I homeschool her...which is becoming a strong possibility with all the nonsense in schools nowadays... levy's failing, bullying, guns & knives, music & sports removed...blah blah blah. I still wanted to do something with her, though. Her little mind is taking in so much right now and I wanted to take advantage of that. Anyway, I got online, did some searching, and am now dedicated to homeschooling my preschooler! :) If you want to call it that. It really just feels like playing with my toddler, and that's pretty much exactly what it is! I made a "school board" that we focus a little bit of time on in the morning after breakfast. On it, I post a letter of the week, number of the week, sight word of the week (which really has become the sight word of the month...lol), and some other things. I fill in the rest of our morning with development stuff...arts and crafts, fine motor, gross motor, dramatic play, storytime, science exploration, and math - just any combination of these things. We have fun with it and enjoy every second! :-)

This was taken when we first started preschool. The ocean was the theme this week. Ava liked making the blue dolphin and carries it around everywhere - still! I think its missing a googly eye though now. :) That blank spot under the weather header is now where we stick her memory verse. I couldnt decide how I wanted to put it on here, but now I just print it and sticky-tack it to the board.The dry erase board below the blank spot on the left is now Ava's Sticker Chart. She gets a sticker everyday - either under the happy face column or the sad face column. The stickers are for behavior (no yelling or being disrespectful, no hitting, using manners, listening, etc) and not for school performance. No way would I judge her learning - she gets an A for effort everyday! :-) But when she sprouts the devil horns I remind her that she doesn't want to get a sad face sticker... usually works! I mean, who wants a sad face sticker? :) I was thinking about starting a sticker chart that reinforces positive behavior - when she uses manners or is extraordinarily kind, she can give her chart a sticker. She thrives on stickers... thank God for stickers. :)

A "How many fish in the ocean?" game to go with the ocean theme.

Our alphabet tree! Ava takes pleasure in putting up a new letter at the end of each week.

I loved this activity. She actually picked out the different picture on her own every time. I was proud. :)

Shaving cream time!!

She was a little apprehensive to get messy to begin with... once I demonstrated how fun it was, she dove right in. "Look mommy, we have marshmallow fingers!!" :)

Stringing mini ziti noodles on pipe cleaners to make our bracelets. Telling you... preschool is a blast ;)

Our cool bracelets

Fall sensory bin. Ava really got into this one. She could see and feel those leaves up close and personal :)

Dancing Princess!!

We put Ava into a dance academy last month. Oh. my. goodness. is it cute! Just trying to find activities to keep the little girl busy. Preferably, activities with other children her age to start working on those essential social skills for preschoolers. This particular class had no other little girls in it!! We got there the first night and we'd been talking up this dance class to her and saying, "you get to go dance with other little girls!" so she was so excited to go meet some friends and come to find out, it's just her in the class! She was bummed. She walked in the studio and said, "heeyyyy. where's all my frenz at!?" We do have the option of switching classes, but this particular time really works for our schedule, so we'll see what happens. Last week there was actually another little girl in there with her, so she was happy. :) It's so fun to watch her! She's not the best listener yet, and she kind goes off and does her own thing sometimes... lol... but she gets better at following directions every week. They do a recital in the spring that I can't wait to watch. Its going to be so adorable!

Uh-oh...she spotted me!

Her first day she refused to take off her light up skechers and put the ballet slippers on. lol!!

Being bashful on her first day. :)

First dance class = a success!!

Meeeeeep! My girl in a tutu!! So stinkin cute!!!

Doing her stretches. Did you notice that I can *almost* get her crazy hair back into a ponytail!? I've never cut her hair, by the way... it's just taking forever to grow! It gets thicker and curlier, but not longer. So funny.

Okay, look at this pair. They walked out of last week's class calling each other "best friends". I love it. :)

2 Months Big !!

Stella Jolie...how sweet you've become my baby girl. Gaahh, I just love her! As time continues to pass before my eyes, I need to get a 2 month update posted before my baby turns 3 months! I love reading my posts from Ava's baby days, so I've got to stay on top of Stella's baby days... considering I can't find time to write in their baby books very often either.


So, at 2 months, my sweet baby is adjusting to life more everyday. It seemed like there for the first 6 weeks or so she thought life outside the womb was the most miserable thing ever! She is a mommy's girl bigger than I've ever seen. She loves her own home and her daily routine. When anyone holds her, especially when I hand her off to someone, she loses it! As sad as it is to see her so upset, it is so sweet to gobbled her back up in my arms and make her feel safe again. The mother-baby bond is precious beyond words. I'll just say that when things get out of whack, she feels it! We stopped supplementing with bottles quite awhile ago and she has been strictly breastfed since. So now she really dislikes taking a bottle and it's a struggle to get her to eat from anyone but me... even when I'm giving her a bottle. Once I go back to work, she'll quickly get used to bottles I guess. Or, she'll live up to my nightmares lately and completely refuse to eat from anyone other than me and our sitter will have to bring her to me at work every 3 hours so I can nurse her!! Why do I dream these things? lol. ;)

Stella is the smiliest baby ever. I love laying her down, sitting next to her and listening to her coo and talk my ear off. Faithfully, every single morning I walk into her room and she greets me with sleepy eyes and the biggest open-mouthed smiles I've ever seen! It's like she wants to laugh everytime she sees me! And I can't blame her... I've got some seriously funny looking hair when I get up in the morning.  Just ask Eric... he calls me "chicken head". ;) She loves to be bundled up in her swaddle wrap at night. It's like a straight jacket for babies with the velcro on the side. haha. It makes her feel secure and safe and that's all that matters, I guess.

Stella loooves her big sis. She will stare at Ava so intensely. She follows her around the room with her eyes and will lay under the jungle gym forever with Ava by her side. So cute. Ava's baby talk is hilarious. "Can you gimme some smiles pretty girl?" she'll say as she squeezes Stella's cheeks (usually a little too roughly) and Stella shoots her as much of a smile as she can through smooshed cheeks. These two. I am one blessed mother. So blessed.

Stella is a rock star sleeper. She's been going to sleep around 6:00-6:30pm and usually wakes up sometime between 3-4:30 for a snack and gets up for the day around 7-7:30am. I would've never dreamed of putting my baby to sleep before 8:00, but back when she had really bad fussiness in the evenings (and she still gets a little fussy in the evening...but certainly not like it was!), she just seemed totally done with the day and overstimulated. Putting her to bed this early really helped...and she sleeps great...so why not? The only thing that stinks is that I won't get to see her at all on the days I work since I don't get home until around 8pm. Her daytime sleep is so erratic though. Naps last about 30 minutes in her crib. I can get a little longer out of her in the swing. I wanted to start napping her in the crib only, but that gets ridiculous. She's only awake about 1 & 1/2 hours before needing a nap and if her nap only lasts 30 minutes in the crib she usually wakes up cranky anyway. Soooo, that's a battle I'll fight later. Right now, she loves her swing, sleeps great in it, so we'll do what works. :) Afterall... she is only 2 months old, geez.

And just for my reference, Stella's been wearing 0-3 month clothes and size 1 diapers. She was 10 lbs 13 oz and 23 & 1/2 inches long at her 2 month pediatrician appointment. She falls in the 50th percentile for both weight and length. My Ava at two months weighed 12 lb 8 oz at 2 months (95th %ile)!! Funny how different they are. Also, Stella totally DISLIKES poor Dr. Brown. Screams bloody murder when she simply looks at him. And when he starts talking? Forget about it...haha. So all those, "How are things going?" questions from the pediatrician are pretty much shouted over a screaming baby! We'll have to start communicating by writing notes back and forth at our next visit...lol ;o) Don't. even. speak. Dr. Brown. lol :)

Okay... time for pics :)

My punkin.

She's finding those fingers. Hope she gets ahold of that thumb someday...she won't take a pacifier, but she wants to suck all the time! ...Actually, when mommy tricks her, she will take the binky...just gotta warm it under some hot water for a minute! Hey, it soothes her for a couple minutes at least! ;)

Tummy time! She can't stand it...but we spend a little time here each day. She actually tolerates being on her tummy on my chest longer, so we do that a lot. Tellin' ya...if it means being in her mommy's arms...she's happy.

She likes to try to roll over to get out of "exercise" time.

All smiles. Bless. her. baby. heart. xoxo

(Note to Stella: I'd like you to take your time growing over the next year...or several years...just stay sweet and loving and chubby and drooly and cuddly forever, actually. Please. Love, Your Mommy)

And this is why my heart nearly explodes with love everyday. I have so much love for these girls. Even with the chaos that comes with having two little ones, I stop and thank the Lord everyday for these two healthy, beautiful children of mine (I mean "ours"...sorry daddy...they're your munchkins, too ;)

So yes, the vacuum works wonders in soothing my baby girl. Sometimes we just gotta throw her in the sling and turn on the Dyson! Asleep in seconds. :) .... til I turn it off... lol.

Just Us Lately :)

Ahhh, maternity leave, how I love thee... ;o) Although exhausting, these last couple weeks have been wonderful. Our little Stella is blossoming... as much as a 7 week old can really blossom. ;) She's happier, a fantastic eater, cuter by the second, sleeping like a rock star, and just so sweet. She gets more used to her sister's less-than-gentle hand shakes, head pats, and hugs everyday. Ava's not totally used to the fact that she's not the star of attention anymore, but she's handling it like a big girl. As big girl as I can expect from an almost 3 year old, at least. :) Right now, Stella-bell loves her nightly baths, loves her legs massaged, loves her swaddler blanket, and loves to nurse. Pretty sure her favorite time of the day is bedtime because she gets all these things! :) We start her bedtime routine around 7:15pm and she's in her crib and out cold by 7:48pm every night. Not kidding... it's so weird, I'm literally walking down the stairs at 7:48 almost every evening, lol! Back in the early days, it would take sometimes hours (!) of rocking and ssh'ing to get her to fall asleep before bed. Who am I kidding... I don't think she had a bedtime! More like nights full of scattered naps. Glad that's over! Anyway, I knew I couldn't keep up with the lengthy bedtime routine now with 2 little ones to get ready for bed. So, every few nights I would lay her down after less and less rocking each time. So by now, after her bath, massage, and swaddling, I nurse her and she dozes off. After a burp, I put her in her crib and she falls asleep... sometimes with a couple minutes of fussing, but usually she's just out. Of course, I spend the entire 20 minutes of nursing just staring at her cute little self... her cheeks are getting a little chub to them, and her fluffy hair sways in the air while we rock. I try to burn these moments into my memory... never ever forget this moment right here, Liz!!! How I love motherhood... :)

That's all for now... onto some pics!

Dad and his girls...

She means business ;o)

She's starting to enjoy her jungle gym. I remember Ava loved this thing... actually she still tries to enjoy it... silly girl.

Checkin' out her daddy.

^ Stella at 6 weeks in the tub ^

^Ava at 6 weeks in the tub^

I just thought it was interesting to see them compared at the same age... naked! :o)

Riding a pony at the zoo. This pony's name is "Awesome". When we asked Ava later what the pony's name was that she rode at the zoo she said, "my pony's name was "Cool"!" HA!

Helping mama make bread. Glad to be back in the kitchen! Not having to soothe a wailing baby all evening makes this a little easier. ;) Now she likes to sit in her bouncer and watch the dinner-making! :)

Because Stella does not sleep well on the go (which means lots of crying on the go!), we end up staying home all day most of the time. So, to entertain miss Ava, we spend our time painting (lots of painting! :), coloring, playing with My Little Ponies, reading, playing Memory and other little learning games, decorating the driveway with sidewalk chalk, watching movies, and building skyscrapers and bird houses with blocks. Why birdhouses? I have no idea... it was Ava's idea. :)

And here's the girl who shares my heart with the other lil peanut in this house. :)