A-Bug's Christmas Program

I have been feeling so old. On Sunday night, A-Bug was in her first ever Children's Christmas program. The first of many. Unfortunately, the 2 minute video is too big to share on the blog, and all the still shots are on my hubby's iPhone (I'll try and fix that soon.) But she did adorably, if not fabuously :) She got a little "stage struck" when she walked out and saw all the lights and people, and didn't exactly sing like she normally does, but she did clap with her usual level of exuberance. She does love to clap. The adorableness was exacerbated by the bells they all had hanging on their arms. It was just too cute. If you're friends with me on Facebook, you should be able to view the video by clicking here.

After the program, the church had a Christmas Cookie Fellowship for everyone - nothing like adding sugar to the adrenaline rush all the kids already have lol. Here are some shots from that. A-bug loves being around people, and she was truly in her element here.

A and her friend, Baby B

Aria and her "Aunt" Kara

Family shot :)

Me and my baby girl <3

A with our pastor's wife - Joyce Hands

Playing ring-a-round-the-rosie :)

K sporting one of the leftover mustaches from the play lol

K and my sweet friend, Katie.

  

K at 2 months

My little boy eats like a monster. Or a horse. Or a teenager. However you want to put it, this kid eats a ton. And he's growing a ton. You may remember that he only weighted 6 lbs. 8 oz. at birth. After he was born, I was in a bit of a panic, because I was afraid I didn't have enough newborn sized clothes. As small as he was, I thought he would be in them for a couple months at least, and I didn't have enough for that. Boy, was I ever wrong. Before he was 1 month, they were starting to get snug. Now, just after 2 months, he's entirely in 3 and 3-6 month sized clothing. The boy's a beast. I never thought that after A had stayed so small that we would have such a chunker in our family, but we do. And he has taken full possession of that role. Here are a couple shots from his 2 month pictures. You can see the insane size difference when you compare them to his 1 month shots, in which he is still very much in a newborn onesie. In these 2 month pictures, he's squeezed into a 3 monther, and that adorable hat is pretty tight.

Practicing for Christmas

I can't believe it, but my baby girl is old enough to be in this year's children's Christmas program. Yesterday, when I picked her up from her class after church, her teacher let me know what they would be singing and asked me to practice with her a few times. Since they're only 2, remembering 3 songs and a "Bible verse" is a lot to expect from them if they're only practicing once a week. So yesterday on the way home, J and I tried to go over the "Bible verse" section of the program with A by having her repeat it over and over again. This is how it went.

J: A, can you say "John 3:16"?
A: John 16!
J: Good! Now say, "God"...
A: God...
J: Loved...
A: Jesus!
J: Well, I guess that's theologically correct...

Then, later last night, when I was practicing with her again, trying to get the right ending to her verse section, it went something like this...

Me: A, can you say, "God"?
A: God...
Me: Loved...
A: Counting things!
Me: Hmmm.... not quite. Let's try again. "God"...
A: God...

Me: Loved...

A: Tacos!
Me: Oh boy... I better video tape this Christmas program.

Finally, at dinner, I was singing through the "B-I-B-L-E" with her, attempting to get her to sing along. The whole time, she just looked at me like she had never heard the song. I was thinking while singing, "I thought they had already taught them these songs...?" When I reached the end of the song, however, A threw her hands up in the air and shouted "BIBLE!" right on cue. For some reason, I feel like I'm getting played with this whole "practice with your toddler" scheme...

Today... She is my toddler.

Today, my toddler helped me sort all the laundry. She also tried to throw away all her baby brother's clothes.

Today, my toddler helped make her own peanut butter and jelly sandwich. She also tried to dump her juice all over my family room rug.

Today, my toddler kissed her baby brother on the head while he was crying. She also tried to suffocate him with a blanket.

Today, my toddler told me, "I lub you so much mommy. And bubbles, too." She also told me to "cut it out" when I asked her to get off my bed.

Today, my toddler cleaned up her blocks all by herself. She also pulled down the stockings off of the mantle and almost broke her head open.

Today, my toddler learned which was her right and left hands and feet. She also had a complete meltdown over the fact that I wouldn't let her have candy for breakfast.

Today, my toddler changed out of her pj's all by herself. She also hid said pj's somewhere in her room, and I have yet to find them.

Today, my toddler is an angel. She is also the spawn of Satan. But that's all in a day in the life of a toddler and their parent.

They're so precious when they're asleep.

One Month... Already?!

Today, my baby boy is 1 month old. Already. Crazy talk. This past month, I have been reminded of what extreme sleep deprivation is all about, how much newborn spit up and how much money I will be saving by nursing this baby instead of using formula. I've also learned for the first time what it's like to really cuddle with a baby... A-bug was never really into that. I've learned that Gripe Water really does work for some kids, just not A. I have come to appreciate nap time on a much higher level than ever before. I have gained a whole other skill level when it comes to multi-tasking. I have eaten more leftovers than food prepared that day (and thank you VERY MUCH to everyone who was a part of bring food to my fridge.)

I have also learned that it is indeed possible to love your second child as much as your first, and that your heart doesn't run out of room. I have watched some of the most adorable moments happen between A and K, and I'll always treasure those nightly kisses she gives him. I have been reminded of how wonderful a feeling it is to watch your new baby carefully studying your face and cooing at you. And there's never so much cuteness as when a newborn yawns and stretches out that teeny-tiny neck, scrunches up his little wrinkly face and momentarily turns himself into ET :) 

Here is some of the adorable-ness that's gone on in our household in the past month :)

Getting kisses from his big sister :)

All dressed up for his first trip to Grandma and Papa's :)

4 generations! Plus Uncle Mike :) 

Chilling outside during the October Indian Summer

I'll never get over those dimples

Sacked out in his Flannel Hoody - just like daddy :)

Piled up in all the blankets :)

I just love this little face :)

Such big eyes :)

A-bug's Favorite Bedtime Books

If you have followed this blog any length of time, you will know that since birth, Aria has loved books. She loves the pictures, she loves being read to, she likes reading to her Elmo and Abbie dolls, and she loves making up stories to go with the pictures in her books. Some of the best memories I have are of listening to Aria over the monitor reading to herself and her animals. I can tell what books she's reading now by the words she says, and I love it. 

Getting A calmed down for bedtime is sometimes easier said than done, and reading these books helps calm her down and signals to her that bedtime is near. She gets quieter and sometimes we even get some snuggles for a few minutes while we're reading to her. Then, right before bed, J takes her to her room, turns on her sound machine and sings "Jesus Loves Me" to her... now she'll sing with him, which is just too sweet.

How do you signal to your kids that it's time for bed? Do you have a routine that you do nightly? 

Here are some of her favorite " bedtime bookies" and the words she knows from them. 

She actually can say "I love you to and to" and knows almost all the words just by seeing the page. It's a favorite of hers, and I love reading it to her.

She calls this one "much love you!" and usually makes up a story about the rabbits dancing and jumping and always throws something in there about the moon at the end, right on cue with the most famous line "I love you to the moon...and back."

I read her this one just about every night and many times right before nap time. She knows most of the key words like "mouse," "cow over moon," "hush" etc. As I read it to her, I get quieter and quieter, which is kind of a signal to her that bed is coming.

She adores this book about all the different things that everyone loves. And the rhymes always end, "Elmo loves you!" and she'll finish it with me. And she always gives Elmo a kiss at the end of the book, just like he asks for :)

I think the reason she loves this book so much is because it has the word "cookie" in it so many times :) She knows "mouse" and "nap" and at the end she always says "share with friend."

This one's self-explanatory. We have a lot of ABC style books, but this one is her favorite with all the flaps and the different animals. She always sings the alphabet song when she gets to the end, too, which is adorable :)

Big-Girl-Bed Time?

Since we are about to add another baby to our family, and we didn't want to buy a second crib for obvious reasons, we have decided that around the time we move will be when we transition Aria over to her "big girl bed." But I'm freaking out a little bit. If you have read our blog at all, you know that she loves to move around, and is not at all a fan of remaining in one place, specifically for sleeping. We have decided to move her into a daybed, since they already have 3 raised sides, and we can simply add a protective rail to keep her from falling out of bed in the middle of the night, but I'm not so naive to think that it will stop her from climbing out whenever she wants. 

When did you move your child to a "big kid bed?" Did they start in a toddler-sized bed or go straight to a twin bed? How did you teach them to stay in bed at night? I'm at a bit of a loss, and I have a feeling I'll have plenty of other things to deal with when I'm 8 months pregnant than just keeping my toddler in her bed at night. 

Could this really have been a year and a half ago?
Even then, she was wanting OUT! 

In all her cuteness

It's been a while since I posted any videos, so I thought I'd post them all at once. Most of these have been put on Facebook, but sometimes those aren't as clear or take a long time to load. If you're one who likes to keep up with Aria's goings on, hopefully it'll be easier having them all on one page :)

Aria playing her "dooder," as grandma taught her to call it. She loves making music, just like the rest of the family :)

Aria rocking out and singing with Uncle Zak

Josh has now taught Aria to play one of his favorite games, Fruit Ninja. The phrases she keeps saying are "Oh, Watermelon!" and Oh, Bomb!" 

That's what she said

Aria's really starting to say a lot of funny things right now in her efforts to become more communicative with human-kind. Of course, as her mom, I think everything she says is adorable, but some of them I really didn't want to forget, so I'm writing them down now.

She's starting her counting and ABC's, but can't really get them in the right order. Counting normally goes like "2, 9, 3, 9, 9!" and her ABC's always end with D.

Her favorite foods right now are fruits, especially "boo-berries" and "matter-melon" although "ta-ta's" are a close second.... don't know what a ta-ta is? That's ok - it took us a couple of weeks. It's a strawberry, and no, we have no idea why she calls them that.

Learning to eat with a spoon
all by herself

She now very clearly says "tank you" and - my favorite - "bwess you," but only says "welcome" if you remind her. She'll say "pwees" all day long if it gets her food, which it usually does. You just can't resist those big eyes and adorable little mouth as she points at your food and says, "mommy, pwees?" It's too cute.

She still loves Elmo, although she's starting to learn the rest of the Sesame Street muppets and is falling in love with every single one of them. Current favorites are Burt and Ernie and Abbie, the fairy, although Cookie Monster held a special place in her heart for a long time. I think it's because they shared a common interest.
She now also loves cartoons with "mong-eeeees" (monkeys) in them, specifically Curious George.
She's going through another "bookie" phase where she wants to read a couple books every time she goes down or wakes up from a nap. I don't at all mind this, but one can only read "Go, Dog, Go" so many times.

Swimming all by herself on
family vacation.

Her new favorite summertime pastime is swimming, hands down. She gets incredibly excited whenever you start talking about "the cool" or pulling out towels and bathing suits. She's actually quite good at it, and is completely fearless in the water.

She still doesn't have a huge interest in dolls, but her love of shoes far and above makes up for it. It dosn't matter if they're infant sized booties, Uncle Zak's work shoes or anything in between, she wants to wear them and walk around the house. Her shoes, though? Well, she'll take those off first chance she gets...

I can't believe my baby girl is going to be 2 in less than a month. It's crazy how time flies. 

The Redesign Into the Big Girl Room

Since we're (hopefully) getting ready to move, I've been looking at all sorts of ideas for Aria's room. While I love her current room, it's just really not "her." It's sweet and soft and soothing, and if you've been reading here for any amount of time, you understand that Aria's just not "soft and soothing." So I've been looking on Pinterest to get ideas for her new room (another good reason I give when I've spent hours on there!) I would really like to do bright, fun colors, and since she's still quite girly, I'm thinking hot pink with teal and lime green would fit her perfectly. I've recently found a theme that I've fallen in love with. 

Source

I'm hoping that I will be "artistic" enough to pull it off lol. The only thing I would change here is switch out the yellow for the lime green. I haven't decided what I want to do with her furniture yet, since it's currently painted the same pastel colors as her walls. She'll also inhabit my old daybed once the baby comes. (I can't believe she's almost old enough for a "big girl bed!") You can see the original blogpost for this GORGEOUS bedroom by clicking here. This woman's eye for design is fantastic.

When did your kids get their "big kid rooms?" Did they, or their unique little personality help design the room, or did you plan it yourself? How often have your kids changed their bedrooms? I remember my middle brother had the same one all the way through, but the baby brother changed his ALL the time - maybe that has to do with personalities? 

Elmo's in the house!

Sometimes I forget how fast my baby girl is growing up, and just imagine her being a toddling, sputtering baby forever. And even though I get sad thinking about how fast time is flying, there are so many cute and fun things that happen as a toddler grows up. Aria hit one of those milestones this week, and fell in love with Elmo.

Now, I'm not normally a believer in love at first sight, but A-bug has proved my thoughts on this subject incorrect. From the first time she saw the commercial on TV advertising Sesame Street on Broadway coming to Detroit, she fell in love with "Melmo!!" It didn't help the cause when we turned on Sesame Street the first time and watched "Elmo's World." There were so many big alligator tears when it was over, she was almost inconsolable.

Yesterday, to remedy the problem of only being able to see "Melmo" once a day, Mimi decided to take Aria to Walmart to get her her very own Elmo. From the time they walked in the store, and Aria was told that they were going to find "Melmo," she was looking around and saying every 30 seconds, "Melmo? Melmo?" When she finally spotted him on the shelf, I think the entire store became aware of her absolute love of Elmo. She hasn't let go of her new little friend since, taking him to naptime, bedtime, mealtime and any other time you can imagine. She won't let anyone else hold him, and forget about putting him away for a few minutes - it's just not going to happen.

Is there a toy that your little one has gotten incredibly attached to? Maybe another Sesame Street character or maybe Barney? Mine growing up was my Cabbage Patch doll that I still have and Aria still plays with. There's just something about that first love that never goes away ;) 

Aria carrying around 2 of her favorite things -
her new Elmo and her sippy cup :)

"Thank you, Mimi for the Elmo!"
(check out that amazing post-nap hair!)

Pretty Pretty Princess

A while ago, I mentioned that Aria's mothering instincts had started to kick in, and we could see that when she rocks, pats and kisses her "babies." She'll lay them in her cradle and sing to them and it's really quite adorable. Now, we're starting to see some of her "inner girliness" come out. While she still actually chews on her teething rings occasionally, now they are mostly being used as bracelets and tiaras - at least, I think that's what she's doing when she puts them on her head. :) She'll walk around the house holding one of the bigger ones on her head with her hand (which makes for some very off-balanced walking) and holding her other arm up in the air to keep her "bracelets" on. It's really too cute. She will also grab her comb and start attempting to comb her own hair, which usually just ends up with her hitting herself in the head. Now I just can't wait to get a tu-tu on her!

Aria with her "princess hat" (for lack of a better term) and
carrying around one of her beanie cats :)

Room Rearrange

Just last week, Aria moved from her baby dresser to her "big girl dresser." The only difference (besides size) is the baby dresser has a built in changing table on top, and Aria has out grown it. It is a wonderful dresser that was given to us by friends who are now missionaries in Africa, and I will most certainly pull it out again when we have another baby, but for right now, Aria needed more space.


However, due to the size difference in the two dressers, this switch also required for us to rearrange her room. The old room arrangement really was for the infant stage; the furniture groupings were designed to make feed, changing and bedding easier and didn't give her much room to play. The new layout is much more conductive to playing and running around. It has grown into a toddler's room.

I can't believe how fast all this is happening. I can still remember like yesterday the feeling of bringing her home from the hospital, trying desperately to rock her to sleep after hours of crying, (thank you, acid reflux for those memories) and cheering over her first intentional smile. I can't believe we're in the toddler stage now.

She's really growing into a little girl now, which is what inspired the room revamp. She needed more space to play, and the living room just could not contain all her toys any more. Now, she has three distinct play areas in her room for books and reading, (her favorite) dollies and noisemakers (there are very few toys in our house that don't fall into one of these three categories!) By the end of the day, all 3 kinds of toys are inevitably in one heaping pile in the middle of the room, but the fact that they all have a place to go makes me feel more organized, if nothing else.

Next thing I know, we'll be moving her out of her crib, and into her "big girl bed." but until then, I will enjoy tucking her into bed in her baby crib... enjoying each day as it comes.

Reminiscing

Fall, for me, is a time to think back to the past few months and reminisce on things past. I'm not sure if it's the cooler temperatures, the beautiful, yet temporary, leaves or the impulse to be outside as much as possible before another Michigan winter hits that makes me so reflective, but it pushes me to capture as many of these moments as possible, before I forget them, and they're gone forever (probably the same impulse that had me pick up the blogging again, as a matter of fact.)

Aria is at the most amazing age right now - finding something interesting in every little - usually insignificant - thing. The scrap of paper on the ground, the cardboard box my order of Thirty-one came in yesterday, the piece of tape she can't shake off her finger; all these things just entertain her to no end. She's also enjoying the freedom to toddle around now on her own, and is at the point in walking where she doesn't fall nearly as much. She loves on her "babies" and rocks them, gives them kisses and pats them before laying them down for a nap. She has some sort of imaginary world with her finger puppets, and is always having the most in depth conversation with them. But of all these absolutely adorable new developments, my favorite is when she calls for me or Josh ("Ma!" or "Da!") and gives us a big hug and kiss. So precious.

These are the days that make those first few very long months all worth it. My baby girl is growing up.

What do you do to hang on to the memories and experiences of your children growing up? Do you blog as well? Or scrapbook? Maybe you journal? Please share your ideas!

Oh, be careful little mouth what you say.

At 15 months now (wow, how time flies!) Aria is at the age where she LOVES to imitate sounds she hears us make. She says things like "Cookie, mama, da, grrr, baby, buhbye and hi!" and other noises which sound like words, but I can't confirm for sure if she knows exactly what she's saying (a prime example of this is when Josh and my in-laws swear she said "go away!" to Josh after he'd been tickling her.)

She frequently imitates our vocal inflections, which can be hilarious. Her favorite comes up when we're reading her "barnyard friends" book, and we got to the rooster, who says "Cock-a-Doodle-Doo!" She just smile and tries so hard to say it.

She also is imitating our actions now; when she gets ahold of my phone, she holds it between her shoulder and ear, like I do when my hands are busy, and chats away. She'll also hold the remote up and push buttons, as if she's changing the channel (which she actually does on occasion.) She loves banging on the keyboard - both the computer and piano. She also has been trying desperately hard to drink out of a "big people" cup, but hasn't figured out yet that she has to tip it up to actually get something in her mouth.

Josh and I are now really having to take into consideration what we say now, because what comes out of our mouths will shortly be coming out of hers...

For the Love of Reading

I have to say, one of the things that delights my heart the most with Aria is her love of reading. I pray all the time that it will continue, and that it's not just the page-turning she's into (even though it sometimes feels like that's the whole pull for her.) At night, Josh usually reads some Dr. Seuss with her, I read her favorite books to her throughout the day, and she reads to her babies and us. She gets incredibly animated at times, and other times she simply flips through the pages. My favorite is when she comes across those books with a mirror at the end; she leans over and kisses herself and/or waves. It's very cute, although I don't think I'm going to foster the type of behavior that causes her to kiss herself in the mirror. All in good time, though.

Summer Family Fun

This summer, we got to take full advantage of hanging out with our baby. Since she was more mobile than last year (for rather obvious reasons) we were able to go on picnics and to playgrounds to have a good time as a family. While in June Aria wasn't digging the swings quite so much, by August, she didn't ever want to leave them. She's still not sold on slides yet, especially not by herself. 

Swimming with Uncle Zak

Getting dried off with Mimi

Drinking out of daddy's water thermos

Playing Catch-up

Oh dearest Aria....

It's been months since I've blogged. It started out as just one week, but then so many things happened I just got overwhelmed and kept putting it off and putting it off until... well, now it's been months. Since the last Time I blogged, you have learned to walk, you have gotten 7 new teeth, you have started talking and laughing, you respond to things we tell you to say or do and you eat just about everything we do now. So much time has passed, and there's so much to say. Where do I begin?

You're now almost 15 months old. I can't believe how fast this time has gone with you. You have developed the funniest of personalities and demonstrate that adorable sense of humor on an hourly basis. You giggle now when tickled (something I NEVER thought you'd do) and have that sassy "you can't make me!" look when we tell you to stop doing something. You can be quite the little booger!

Since you're down to only 1 (much too short!) nap a day, we spend a LOT of time together. You still love your books - something I hope you carry with you through life. You love to read to yourself, out loud to us and for us to read to you. You just LOVE turning pages! You also love your dollies. You've really developed that "nurturing instinct" already by "patting, kissing and rocking your babies" on command. You line them all up and kiss their heads. I just love it.

You also just love playing the piano. I recently moved around all the furniture, which enabled us to pull daddy's nice electric piano out of the closet and into the living room. You love sitting up on the bench all by yourself and banging away! You've also discovered how to start up rhythms and music on your own, and watching you "dance, dance!" on the bench while playing is just something I adore. I'm so glad to have caught it on camera a couple times!

I will try to be a better "journaler" for you on this blog, because there's so much I want to make sure I never forget about these months as they go by. They go by so fast.

Learning new things!

While on vacation this past week, it seemed as if Aria was learning new things at leaps and bounds! She now understands what we are trying to tell her, which is HUGE (although, she still likes to ignore us and pretend, even though we can tell she actually understands.) This week, she started raising her arms up when we asked "how big is Aria" as if to say "THIS BIG!!" It made for a lot of laughs and outrageous cuteness. She now claps when we say "patty-cake," yay!!" or "clap!" which is super cute - sometimes she misses and just looks at her hands like "what do you think you're doing?!"

Aria also broke her second tooth early last week, and her toothy grin is just too adorable. She's crawling on all fours a lot more now and climbing up stairs at astounding speeds. She's standing up much easier, and I know it's just a matter of time before she takes off running!

Toothless No More :)

As us this afternoon, we can't call Aria by her nickname "toothless" any more, because it simply isn't true :) I discovered Aria's first tooth today and noticed that a second isn't far behind! :) Now we just got to keep our fingers out of her mouth lest her razor sharp newly-discovered weapons draw blood lol...

Obviously, I can't capture a picture of her first tiny tooth at this point, but the first smile I see where you can see her tooth will be posted on here post haste :)