Finding Joy in dirty diapers!

Yes, you read right, finding joy in dirty diapers is what we are doing at our house today! This week both our girls have been sick along with hubby. (he started it) But we still love him! There was a moment earlier this week that I just thought I was going to snap back at my grouchy and a little more demanding but, sick daughter. (Aren't we all just a little grouchy when not feeling well?)
I said a quick prayer, "Lord help me find the joy in mothering today!" Boy, I think I will pray that prayer everyday because it has really helped! I found myself singing joyfully "Give thanks with a grateful heart" to my little baby as I changed her diaper and she happily smiled at me.(I have to treasure this before she can ask me to stop singing because "my voice sounds terrible" like her sister does.
One night, in the middle of the night after my oldest woke screaming several times because of her fever and not feeling well, and then when all is quiet again....... baby girl wakes up, I was tired but found that joy again to be the nurturing mom I remember my mother being to me when I was sick.
My children still need to see that kind mom with the smiling face, and a heart full of empathy even in the middle of the night! My girls can't help being sick nor can my baby help the size God made her tiny tummy or the way breast milk is digested so quickly that she gets hungry and needs to eat in the middle of the night. That will be one of my questions for him when I see him one day but until then, I will find joy in this short season of life and treasure all those smiles and coos I get all too myself and don't have to share at 2am!

8 weeks pic

I am delayed in keeping up with my blog and postings, I guess that is the good thing about being sick, I have some time to catch up on organizing my pics! Here is Amelia at eight weeks.

We love those chubby legs!

There's a smile! They aren't hard to come by she is constantly looking at us and smiling! She's a very happy and easy going baby for which we feel extremely blessed and so thankful for that!

Here's our "little fashion plate" This particular Sunday morning I had two choices for her to wear to church and believe me this was not one of them. It was cold and rainy out and she wanted to pick out this sundress along with sandals. I was less than thrilled about this but remember someone telling me to just pick my battles and as much as I wanted to pick this battle, hubby said to just let it go, so off we went to church! When we got outside Amanda said, "I'm cold!" I told her that is why we don't wear sundresses on a Fall rainy day. We had her brown monkey jacket in the car, at least it matched the polka dots? I was a little surprised since she usually comes in my room dressed and matching, usually appropriate for the season so why this day such a fit? I guess she just wants to create her own style and this was definitely interesting!


Amelia 8 week report

I can't believe my baby has been here for 2 months except in the middle of the night, it seems like we have been doing this for months! We have really been blessed with a great little sleeper. Amelia only wakes up once around 2:30 and doesn't even cry she just makes her little pre-cry noise it is like "come and get me quick because I am going to break out in that loud cry if you don't." She doesn't have a cry that works it way up to a loud cry it is just the loud cry period when she cries. However, we are blessed with that too because with the exception of a bad allergic reaction to one of her 2 month shots, she hasn't had a long crying spell. She has even stopped crying when we change her diaper and smiles at us, so no complaining on our end. Amelia is truly a blessing and we are thrilled to be her parents and we know it is only going to get better!

Amelia picture update

I have been told I haven't posted any recent Amelia pics so here you go! Six weeks old pic!

Seven week pic! What a little pork chop!

Amelia makes the cutest expressions. This is her "why are you still taking pictures don't you have enough all ready today face"

This is her, "I want to smile but big sis is too much fun to watch face"

Just throw a blanket on me and I am happy to fall asleep anywhere.

Face to face smiles with daddy.

This is the "watching big sis"face.

In the morning Amanda came into our room and I let her watch some TV because I wasn't ready to get up yet. She asked to hold her sis and her sis fell asleep on her. So sweet!

There's that smile! She started smiling early on:) Honestly, it was around the 2-3 week mark, real smiles! Amanda smiled for the first time at four weeks. I think it must be the DHA! We didn't know to take it with Amanda but took it with Amelia so maybe that is why she smiled earlier. (we like to tell ourselves this since it was a big pill to swallow every day)

Amelia really learned to smile from this big no cavities girl! She keeps asking me if I am proud of my "no cavity girl" ha

This was taken when Amelia was 5 weeks old and we went to COW club and bible study for the first time. Amanda was so excited to start back up and Amelia was an angel during class.

It is really hard to get a pic of just Amelia sometimes because big sis loves to jump in. Sometimes, this annoys me but I don't say anything because I don't want to hurt Amanda's feelings or make her feel like I don't want her pic too. This one is one of my favorites:)

Can't get enough of this smiley girl!

I love the expression Amelia makes when watching her bubbles and fish in her bouncy seat. She watches and gets really focused on those bubbles. I don't believe the doctors when they say babies only see 12 inches in front of them at this age because Amelia appears to see much further. (and I am not a first time mom talking this time so the doctors must be wrong)

Pretty in yellow!

Big sis making faces at little sis!

Amanda continues to love soccer class and I love this pic because if you will notice she is the only one doing what the coach said to do! It's my bragging mommy photo. Every mom needs a few of these to pull out when they face those teen years and need a reminder that their sweet teen did listen at one time in their life to someone!

I can't believe she is getting sooooo big soooo fast. Everyone says it that doesn't see her everyday and I say it and I am with her 24/7.

Fall

October is one of our favorite months of the year!

We love the Fall! Ok, I love the Fall. Amanda has informed me that she likes the Spring because she doesn't like the wind in the Fall. (ha ah) Even though she doesn't like the Fall, it isn't going to stop me from teaching her about it. This week we talked about how the leaves change colors, and made leaf wreaths. She was very meticulous about her wreath and putting the glue on "just so!" We hung it on one of our doors so we can all enjoy it!

I was sharing with Amanda how fun it is to rake up leaves and then jump in them and how I did this for hours as a little girl. I loved playing in the leaves and one time made a really cool house with them. Unfortunately, we do not have a lot of trees that shed leaves so we won't have enough to jump in but I told her maybe Mamaw and Papaw will. Maybe I can rake up some leaves somewhere and put them in trash bags and bring them over to our house to play. (not sure daddy will approve that fun idea though) I think he likes not having to rake up leaves in our yard.

Amanda cleaned the windows with Windex for me and kept asking, "are there anymore windows I can clean?" There will be next week but this week we are having our house painted on the outside so I told her that can be next week's project. I don't know where this new fondness came to clean windows and dust but I have been loving it the past few days:) After she cleaned the windows she decorated them all by herself. When she realized she couldn't reach the top, she went and got her Princess stool out of the bathroom so she could reach to clean and decorate.
(yes, she is still in her PJ's and wore them all day) I am trying to teach her that it is fun to stay in your PJ's on a cold and rainy day! So fun!

Fun at the dentist?

Amanda had her first trip to a pediatric dentist. She had gone to my dentist once but the experience didn't meet my expectations:(
It just wasn't a good fit for us and the hygienist there, so we decided to look for a pediatric dentist that knew how to work with children to create a positive dental experience. I figure she will have to go at least 2 times a year for the rest of her life so I want to make the visits as pleasant as possible. (I had a horrible experience as a child having blood drawn and it still affects me today every time I have blood taken so I can be a little picky about her Drs, I will admit to that.)
We had to book the appointment back in July but it was worth the wait plus, I saw this as a good sign.

Waiting in the waiting room with all those toys and books and the girl didn't want to play or read, she just wanted to wait. I think she was nervous but wouldn't admit it because she was strangely quiet.

When it was her turn to go back........we were introduced to the prize machine.....if she was a good girl and let the dentist check her teeth then she would earn a token to purchase a treat at the end of the visit.

I really liked this special touch. The children that have appointments that day get their name put up on this fun board. Amanda spotted her name right away and it made her feel special.

The hygienist was FABULOUS with Amanda and that thrilled me since that is why we found a new dentist for Amanda to go to. I didn't like the way the hygienist treated her at the last dental office but to be fair they didn't specialize in pediatrics like this new office does.

Amanda was a total delight during the visit and very obedient for them. They commented that they wished all their patients would be so good! I was so relieved since I just knew she would have a ton of cavities and had already prepared my lecture on tooth brushing for the ride home, but my fears were quickly squashed along with the lecture.

They gave her a pair of sunglasses to wear since she would be under the light! She loved this.

They showed her how the chair moved up and down and she thought that was fun. They let her pick everything out: some stickers, a new toothbrush, pick the flavor of dental floss to take home, gave her a cool timer to put on the mirror to show how long to brush, and let her pick the flavor of the toothpaste she wanted from a list of at least 10. I had no idea there were so many flavors.

Loving the chair ride!

Here is the dentist actually working on her which I loved since my dentist makes a 2 second appearance and the hygienist does all the work. It was a welcomed change! The dentist was so personable, and talked to us about her family, etc. very sweet. You could tell she adores kids and the staff did as well.

We learned a lot at the dentist from why children shouldn't eat a lot of raisins if at all, to only drinking apple juice once in a while but only with a meal. We only buy apple juice once a month when we have bible club friends over and Amanda doesn't like raisins so no harm done and no cavities! We loved this dentist and had a marvelous experience and can only thank my mommy friends, Renee, Kathryne, and Janet for their excellent recommendations!

She loved getting the token and picked out a prize. I said, "Oh you picked out a little monkey!" The receptionist kindly informed me no, it was a NINJA! I guess I would know the difference between a monkey and a NINJA if I had boys! Although, I guess this little girl likes them too so that shoots that theory now doesn't it.

Oh, and as we were leaving Amanda commented that she was "starving" nice and loud. I told the receptionist I didn't feed her breakfast because I was afraid if they did impressions or something she would throw up. I remember this all too well from my dental assistant working days and couldn't stand those "gaggers" and didn't want my little girl to be one. The receptionist kindly brought us our choice of applesauce or pudding for Amanda to eat in the office or to take home! I really cannot say enough about this place! They want to see Ameila in four months but will not charge us until she is 1 1/2. I didn't take Amanda to the dentist for the first time until she was 2 1/2 because the doctor told me I didn't need to! Thank God for this wonderful dentist and crew!

Amelia's first month

Just the way Amelia and Amanda look at each other I can tell they are going to have a close sibling relationship. Amanda has already said she plans to be in Amelia's wedding and Amelia can come to hers. ha

Sweet sisters!

Sleeping.......which she does a lot of........she loves to sleep in her swing which is great at dinner time

but she really likes to sleep in her sister's bed which she hopes to have as her own one day! Oh, and she already is eyeing (literally) her sister's Cinderella glass slipper lamp. She looks at it and smiles. (seriously)

Off to her 2 week doctor appointment.......she was 9 pounds even! She gained her birthday weight back and then some:) The kid eats all the time so it wasn't a shock to us!!

Napping in big sister's bed..................

Big sis was a wonderful helper at little sister's doctor appointment

While Amelia slept......we played restaurant and Amanda was the best waitress I have ever had. She prayed for my food, cut it up, and sat with me.........

We had several friends come to visit us this month and enjoyed each and every visit. When one of my friend's came over, Amanda asked to put on a puppet show for her.

Sweet sis pic

Big sis teaching little sis to watch T.V.

Chubby cheeks

Playtime on the mat

Second trip to Chick-filet, but first trip to this particular one. Amelia has now been to three different Chick-filet's and hasn't been out much.....um.....

She loved it so much that she slept the whole time while we ate and then while big sis played at the play area.

It is amazing how these little feet go from this

to this in just a matter of almost 4 short years

Amanda is really into her "homework" and her "writing table" she loves to draw and this is the first time I knew what she drew before I asked.

The teacher in me was thrilled since this is right on developmentally to make representational drawings. On a test I use to administer, the children are asked to draw a person and at this age if they have added 10 body parts it is considered to be outstanding! So I think I will ask her to do that next.

So precious! One of my favorite pics of my girls

Another favorite sister pic

We really enjoyed this from m & p

Our first walk

Keeping up this little mommy is fun

Little sis taking a nap

First bath in the tub. It was a family affair!

She loves those princess sheets!

She is in there! You just have to look close.

The princess after her bath.

She loved her bath! She just looked at us really relaxed but didn't smile. So different from her sister who screamed up until she was 6 months during bath time.

All ready to go out with big sis and mommy.

The big helper at the doctor's.

Amelia started smiling at 2 weeks and now we see smiles more and more throughout each day/night. She just beams non-stop at 10pm and 2 am :) I smile back and ooh and ahh with her so she gets even more stimulated and doesn't go right back to sleep like she would if I just didn't interact with her. But these mommy and me moments are so special to me that I don't mind not getting sleep. They grow up so fast and this time of sleep deprivation is so short-lived so I figure why not just enjoy those smiles even if they are at 2 am.

She loves her daddy.

Beautiful flowers sent to celebrate Amelia!

Loving that pink playmat time.

Amanda states it best, "she poops, eats, and sleeps."

She hates sleeping on her back and is constantly rolling onto her side........she sleeps better that way. We continue to put her on her back though.









She loves only this paci right now, so thank God we have three of them.

Little watermelon girl!

She started doing this in the hospital so cute! Our girls sure are different from each other....Amanda rarely took a paci, church and in the car sometimes but only until she started eating the nipple one day in the car at 15 months.

Trying to nurse when big sister was holding her really freaked big sissy out

This princess likes pink almost as much as big sister princess








What a wonderful first month! We really feel blessed to have another little girl to love and to cherish. I am constantly praying that I can see her grow up to be a mommy and babysit my little grandbabies. They grow up so fast!