Isabel is 3! Eva is 18 months! Long post!

I'm so far behind. So, so far behind. Girls...when you read this later in life just please know that while my interest in blogging dwindled, my love for you did not! Ha!

Anyway!
On April 21st Isabel turned 3 years old! Seems unreal! We had a birthday party with about 12 kids at the Monkey House and she had a blast and I cleaned up nothing! I honestly kind of missed decorating for her party even though that normally stresses me out a little bit. We did have a theme and that was monkeys of course, so her cupcakes had Curious George on them and her little tank top had a monkey on front and the rest was handled by the MH people to whom we paid the big bucks! Lol.

She had her 3 year checkup and here are her stats:

Weight: 28.3 lbs (25%)
Height: 37 inches (50%)

She wears a 3t on top and in some bottoms, but honest to goodness she is comfortably wearing all of her 18-24 month shorts from last summer. Size 7 shoe. My teeny little girl. Lately though her appetite has really picked up and she wants to eat all day long.

Her likes: playing outside, jumping on the trampoline, watching Daniel Tiger, Dora, The Hive, and Leapfrog Movies, coloring and painting, anything involving water (baths, swimming, making mud)

She talks nonstop. When she wakes up in the morning, she starts talking about random things in her room and "what are we doing next?" before she's even really awake. She says the funniest things and half the time I'm wondering where she heard them. She is outgoing and wild around family members and shy and a little cranky around strangers. Ha. Age 3 has been hilarious and also challenging thus far. The girl can straight up throw a fit when she feels like it's necessary and that is often. Once she gets hung up on the idea that she wants to do something she has a VERY hard time letting that go, regardless of the consequences.

She is a big Momma's girl right now. She wants to be with me and know where I am when I'm not with her. She likes to sit in my lap or take naps with me when we're able to pull that off around little sister's schedule. She loves her sister and playing with her just so long as Eva doesn't touch anything that she wants. We're working on it. ;)

She is such a funny, happy (for the most part), smart little girl and a constant joy to our lives.

Here are a few of her "3 year" pictures.

On May 14th, Eva turned 18 months old!

Her stats:
Weight: 24.2 lbs (35%)
Height: 32 inches (75%)
Wears size 18 months in pretty much everything and a size 5.5-6 shoe. Size 4 diaper.

Her hair is so blonde and curly and she still has those pretty blue eyes that people like to comment about. 

Likes: dancing, being outside, jumping on the trampoline, climbing everything, just generally making messes as fast as Momma can clean them up!

My wild child. Nuff said. I used to say this about Isabel....and then her sister came along. Neither of my girls are just calm and laid back little kids, but Eva takes the cake for being a wild woman! She is just on the go allll of the time. She hates to be confined in any way and we've all but given up on feeding her in a high chair except for maybe once a day.  The rest involves her eating on the run, IF she will take out time to eat at all. And you can FORGET a stroller. She is like a 3 year old trapped in a 1 year old's body. She can climb and jump and do things that she shouldn't be able to do yet. Her coordination is unreal. She was running by 10 months old and she hasn't slowed down yet. And if that wasn't enough she talks like a 3 year old too. She says 4-5 word sentences and knows what they mean. At her checkup her doctor asked if she could say about 20 words and I just had to laugh. Uh...try like 60 words (or more). I'm so impressed by how advanced she is, but it makes me sad too because she should've been a BABY longer! Poor Momma.

 She has the cutest little personality. So very ornery. She even has that ornery look about her face, like you know she is looking for trouble. She pushes limits and all we can do is push back.
She loves to dance and has got some pretty sweet moves, haha! We laugh so hard at her just dancing and spinning around and the facial expressions that go with those things.

She is also my little cuddler. She loves hugs and kisses and will give them to anyone! She does the open mouth slimy kiss which I happen to love, but it's not for everyone. ;) She will say "wuv you Momma" and it's so cute. But...I have to be honest, she is a Daddy's girl for now. 10x a day she says "Where Daddy go?" and I'm trying to explain to her that because I did the birthing, she has to like me the best. So far she's not convinced.

She has been so much fun and is growing up WAY too fast. We are so thankful God blessed us with our 2 sweet girls.

Oh the weather outside is frightful? Delightful? Both?

I'm not one to really complain about the weather, at least not where a lot of people know about it, because I've never really understood the point. What good does it do? It sure doesn't change anything. Honestly, I was never a Winter person until probably the last few years when the hot flashes started ;) and I still think Summer is my very favorite season but with the amount of snow that we've been getting this season I can't help but be in awe of how just gorgeous it is. It's one of those moments where I have to wonder how someone could not believe that there is a God? Who created all of this people?!?!?!

Anyway, with that being said, I am ready for some sunny days. My reason is allll of the cabin fever! We've had a few days where the road hasn't been safe and then a few other days where it was just too wet and cold for me to drag my babies out in it (especially when they already have colds) and we have had just about enough of the inside of this house!!! JT has worked some extra hours this week on top of the enormous amount of hours that he already works, so it's been me and 2 little girls who already don't feel great, STUCK IN THIS HOUSE since Saturday. 5 days now. We're ready to get on outta here for a bit!!! What little bit of sanity that I have left is in danger of leaving me forever!!!

Anyway--some pictures! :)

Going off the grid...

For starters, there isn't a whole lot of correlation with this blog and any other form of Internet that I was/am using, but just in case you're one of the few who sees it all and noticed, I went off the grid. On Jan 1st, I shut down my facebook account and my other blog and I didn't do the thing where you warn people...I just did it. Haha

There were a number of reasons of course but the one that is the most important is just that I get so consumed with all of that jazz that I am missing real moments of my life and my kids' lives. It's almost embarrassing to admit that. Why shut down? Why not just limit time spent on there? Good question! Because I am a weak little addict, that's why! Go big or go home!

I may eventually re-open my blog. Actually it's not "closed", I just have it set to where only I can view it for now. And I won't say that my facebook is a permanent thing, because I honestly don't know. For now, I don't miss it. And that's the truth!

So I'd like to start using this one again and not only for updates about my kiddos, but about the rest of my family and things going on in our lives as well. We'll see how it goes. I do have Instagram if you are someone I should be following and am not aware of it :), holla! I promise to blow up your feed with pictures of my kiddos, but not to spend nearly as much time stalking you as I did on FB. Promise! ;)

Stay warm!
Ashley

13 months and 32 months!!

Just an update on my girls. I haven't posted about Isabel in a while and holy moly there is so much I could say...

My big 2.5 year old. She has changed so much! She's a talker and says the funniest things. Today just out of the blue she told me that her Pop was bringing her M&M's for Christmas. Everything she says is followed with Mama or Daddy. She tacks our names on to everything! She never sits still, EXCEPT to watch Daniel Tiger. That girl LOVES her some Daniel Tiger right now and Momma can pretty much recite every word from every episode. She also loves Lalaloopsy and Santa hooked her up pretty well in that area too.

She got a big girl bed this week. As in a full size bed and she looks so tiny in that thing, but she loves it.

Stats: 28 lbs.  Not sure on height but lately she looks so long and lanky. Wears a size 2t, (easing into a size 3t for length although they are HUGE in the waist) size 7 shoe. Potty trained by day and size 4 diaper by night!

She loves to watch tv (we're about to start cutting that back down a bit), playing outside, taking baths, pretending, building "castles" with blocks, coloring, reading. She got a giant Mr. Potato Head that is filled with several little potato heads and she loves playing with those too. She loves to go shopping with me and say things like "Oh Momma that is SO cute!" about things like bras and paper towels. Haha! :) She also loves going to storytime at the library and going to Mothers Day Out once a week, even though she has been crying when I drop her off the past few times, the ladies tell me she is over it really quick and is always happy and playing when I pick her up. She always yells "Bye Grandmas!" when we leave. :)

Food: Barely eats. Haha. I know she is a toddler and this is just what some toddlers do, but some days I wonder how the kid keeps up her energy. She will drink and drink and drink the milk though. And juice when I let her have that. Foods that she does like are: grilled cheese, cheese of any kind, peanut butter, fruit snacks, crackers, green beans, tomatoes, cottage cheese, grapes, hot dogs, pasta, mac n cheese, pancakes, raisins, fig newtons, marshmallows, chocolate of any kind, or basically anything with loads of sugar in it. (just like her Momma)

Dislikes: hand dryers in public restrooms,  the vaccuum cleaner, for her sister to touch her toys

She has been in a clingy phase the past month or so and just wants her Momma allll the time. If a stranger DARE tells her she is cute she will straight flip out on them. Gotta love the Terrible Twos! 

She knows how to recognize all of her letters, say her ABC's, spell her name (by saying it), count to 20, sing many songs. She has learned a nighttime prayer that is the most adorable thing ever to hear. 

She is sweet and will tell us that she loves us, or that we are "so cute", or pretty. At night I tell her to sleep good and I'll see her in the morning and she'll say "you sleep good too Momma".

She loves her baby sister just so long as she gets to be the boss.

I hate to jinx it, but I think after 8 short months of working at it, bless our hearts, she is about 99% potty trained! Like I mentioned above, she still sleeps in diapers.

All in all, we have a beautiful, rambunctious, healthy, strong-willed little girl and I'm just shocked at how fast she learns things and how smart she is.

And for this girl:

She is now and probably will always be my little wild child. I think it's funny how I used to think that Isabel was just high energy and in to everything (and she was), but this little girl came along and blew that title out of the water. Such a hot little mess! She started walking the day after she turned 10 months old and about 3 days later was RUNNING and has been ever since. Not joking. My Mom talks about how she never just toddled around like a baby learning to walk, she just didn't walk and then BAM she ran. Like Forrest Gump. ;)

She talks all of the time. Can repeat just about any word you say. She is seriously more like an 18 month old than a 13 month old when it comes to her speech and her coordination. Not to be confused with being graceful...she almost always has a bruise or a scrape on her head, somewhere.

Every time I leave her in the nursery at church, or at MDO, or even if I just have her in a public place somebody WILL comment about how active she is. I have to thank her though, she is the reason that I have not gained any weight through the holidays even though I've been eating for 12! She keeps me busy! My cardio plan!

Stats: Weighs between 21 and 22 lbs. Wears a size 12 months in most things but we've bought 18 months in some tops (for length). Size 4 in most shoes, but we have a couple of 5's. Size 3 diaper. She has a really long waist and short little legs. She is starting to slim up and it makes me sad that my chubby baby is turning into a big girl!

She has such a comical personality. She makes the funniest little faces and noises and loves for people to say Hi to her or talk to her in public.

Words she can say without being prompted: Hi, Bye, Momma, Dada, Sissy, Puppy, Baby, Uh oh, Ouch, Wow, Night Night, Bite, Pappaw, Cheese (for the camera)...I'm sure there are more. But like I mentioned above she will repeat ANY word, big or small.

She loves food and being outside! Those are her 2 favorite things. Some of her favorite foods are squeeze applesauces, peanut butter crackers, peas, carrots, green beans, bananas, pancakes, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce (just found this out over the holidays), bread, hot dogs, cheese puffs. 

She thinks big sister is hilarous! Loves to give hugs and kisses! Loves to make ginormous messes!!!

I could have never known how perfect of an addition you would be to our family Eva Jasmine. You keep us laughing and on our toes all of the time! I feel like you're growing up too fast and it doesn't seem to be slowing down at all. 

We love both of our girls so much and are thankful for them!!!

 

12 months!

Eva you are 1 year old today!!!!

*You weigh 20.12 lbs (40%) and are 30 inches long (75%). You wear size 12 months clothes and size 4 shoe. Size 3 diaper.

*You still have blonde curly hair and big, gorgeous blue eyes. I think they're here to stay! You have really started to slim up here lately. I think it's because you literally NEVER sit still. I think you even move around in your sleep. You've weighed 21 lbs for a few months now, but you're taller.

*You take one bottle at night and I think we'll try to cut that out over the next few weeks. Everything else is sippy and table food. You won't even eat baby food unless it's meat sticks or squeeze style. You prefer to eat with your hands! You love veggies--carrots and peas especially. We've learned this past week that you also like cupcakes! :)

*You sleep well most nights. You will wake up occasionally and usually go back to sleep as soon as I locate your paci. You still take a mid-morning nap and an afternoon nap. You go to bed between 8:00-8:30 at night and wake up around 7-7:30 most mornings. The time change didn't seem to affect you, even though it did your sister!

*You have learned to RUN. It's the cutest thing ever. You are a fast little girl for someone who's only been walking for 2 months! You have also learned to clap and you've added to your dance moves! You've actually been dancing for a few months but I don't think I mentioned it. You are also climbing up everything--into sister's bed, up on the fireplace, in and out of the bathtub! WILD WOMAN!

*You say Mama, Dada, Bath, Pop, Pappaw, Bye Bye, Hi!, Yay!, NoNo, and tonight you repeated me and said "cupcake". Occasionally you'll repeat a random word and then we can never get you to repeat it again, ever. lol

What an exceptionally fast year this has been! Unbelievable! Birthday Party this weekend! Love you baby girl!!!!

11 months!

Eva Jasmine! Here is your 11 month update. Nevermind that you will be a year old next week. There have been technology problems that kept me from updating, but those are fixed! Yay! Anyway, on Oct 14th you turned 11 months old!

*You weigh 21 lbs. 29 inches long. Size 3 diaper and size 4 shoe. You are still wearing mostly 12 months in clothes, but have a few 18 month shirts just depending on the brand. You are so long waisted.

*You say Mama, Dada, Bye Bye (and wave), Hi, No no and occasionally you will just surprise us and repeat some off the wall word that we say. And then refuse to ever do it again. haha!

*Walking is a thing of the past, now you basically run everywhere. High rate of speed at all times and you can climb anything. When I pick you up from Mothers Day Out or the nursery at church I always have someone telling me that I must stay really busy and that you are climbing and all over the place. Yeah....I know. ;)

*We stopped giving you formula right at 11 months. You just prefer cow milk and weren't taking much of a formula bottle anyway. You take a bottle in the morning and a bottle before bed, but the rest of the day is a sippy and table food. The only baby food items you eat are meat sticks and squeeze pouches of applesauce, etc. You love to eat mixed veggies, anything out of a squeeze pouch, puffs, cheese puffs, bananas, cheerios, the Gerber raviolis, basically anything you can feed yourself. You basically refuse to eat from a spoon. We'll eventually have to work on that.

*You are sleeping much better. Most nights you go down about 8:30 p.m. and wake up around 7:30 a.m. Once or twice a week you will lose your paci around 2 a.m. and I will come find it for you and you go back to sleep. You usually take a mid-morning nap and an afternoon nap, although occasionally you will take one big one in the middle of the day.

*You currently have 5 teeth. 3 on top, 2 on the bottom. You have really blonde, curly hair and big, gorgeous blue eyes. So many people stop me in public to comment on how beautiful those eyes are! You are always smiling and have such a comical personality. You are also dramatic sister! You can throw a fit like a 2 year old!

*You love bathtime, being outside, and your big sister. You are always laughing at her and you love to play in her room. The 2 of you can destroy a bedroom in record time!!! Big sister loves you too! Sometimes....too much. :-/

You will be 1 in just a few short days. I cannot believe it! This year has flown by so fast and it makes me sad that my tiny baby is a toddler! We love you so much. You have the cutest little personality and I can't wait to watch you grow up, but hope that you take a loooonnnngggggg time to do so.

10 months!!!

 

Eva you are 10 months old! (as of 9/14/13)

*You weigh somewhere between 19-20 lbs. Wear 9 month and 12 month clothing. Size 3 shoe. (that you will not leave on your feet)

*You have 4 teeth!

*You have cut way back on bottles. Getting you to sit still for any of them is a task. You are too busy!!!! You take maybe 4 a day at around 7 oz. You are eating mostly table food, with the exception of  pureed meats. You love Mum Mums, puffs, cheddar puffs, and squeeze veggie/fruits for snacks. You also love when sister sneaks you bites of pop tarts too! You have started having a sippy cup of  regular milk a day and have tolerated it just fine.

*You're still not really on a schedule with your sleeping other than you go to bed every night at 8:30 p.m. Some nights you wake up 3-4 times! Some nights we don't hear a peep. You take 2 naps on most days, one mid morning and one in the evening. And then some days I just get one nap out of you. Most mornings you wake up around 7-7:30, but just about the time I get used to that you start waking up at 6:00! Like I said...no schedule!!!

*I told everyone that I expected you to be walking by the time you turned 10 months. You turned 10 months on Saturday and then started walking the very next day!!! You showed me!!! ;) Crawling is still your preferred method if you're in a hurry, but you will crawl for a bit and then stand up and take several steps and then go back to crawling. You're still making up your mind about which way you want to travel through life! :)

*You say Mama, Dada, bye bye, and duck! If I say no no, you will say bah bah every single time. I guess that's how you're hearing it. You "shake it out" meaning if Isabel says, "Shake it out, Eva!" you will shake your head back and forth real fast. It's pretty cute. You love bath time and being outside just as long as no one is holding you or making you ride in the stroller. You want DOWN sister!!!! You think big sister is hilarious and just laugh at everything that she does.

We love you big girl!!!! 2 more months until your big day!!!