Six Months Old

Maya is six months old.  SIX MONTHS!  Time has flown by and I cannot believe she is already half of a year old.  In addition to this, Kate is six months in to being a big sister, Brian and I are six months in to being parents of two, and we are all six months in to being a family of four.

What a better way to commemorate this half birthday than a little check-in on all of us!

Maya
In honor of our birthday girl, we'll start with her first!

We had Maya's six month appointment today and learned that she weighs 15 lbs. 12 oz. (40th percentile) and is 25 1/4" tall (20th percentile).  She's a petite little one but that doesn't stop her from getting around.  Maya is mobile.  Yes, people, you read that right.  She's not crawling, yet, but she does this combination army crawl/inchworm/roll type of thing that gets her where she needs to go...and quickly.  In the next few weeks, girlfriend is going to have crawling down pat and that is SCARY!  I'm not sure if she's trying to keep up with her big sister or what but Kate started crawling around 9 months, so seeing Maya this mobile at 6 months is really shocking to me.

In addition to being so mobile, Maya has also attempted waving on command.  I think I've seen her do it a handful of times, and as a very proud Mommy of this wonderful little girl, I'm going to consider all of these times successes!  She also totally knows her name.  Every time she hears it, she looks adoringly at whoever called it!

Maya is successfully reaching for me when she wants me and reaches for me when I go to pick her up.  She is very much a Mama's girl right now, like, starts fussing when I get up to leave her sight and don't have her in tow or throws a full on screaming crying out of nowhere if I completely leave her sight for a moment, like, grabbing something from the kitchen.  I know these phases are fleeting, so I continue to soak each and every one of them up.  And, to be honest, it melts my heart a teensy bit every time she wants me.  #mamamakesitbetter  #fornow

Maya is a vocal little one but gets really high pitch loud when she's hungry or tired.  She is SO a creature of habit and loves her a schedule.  As a matter of fact, she kind of made her own schedule.  She wakes around 8-8:30 am most days.  Then takes a morning nap around 10 am for 45 min to an hour.  Then takes a 2-3 hour afternoon nap starting around 1:30 pm.  I typically start baths for Kate and Maya after dinner, shortly after 6 pm these short winter evenings, and after bath Maya wants to be fed and go to bed.  No doddling after bath for this one.  She wants to snuggle with her purple blanket, get nice and cozy, fill her tummy, and enter slumberland.  I mean, I strategically take Maya out of the bath last if Kate does bathe with Maya because once Maya is out she is ready for bed.

Over the last couple of months she has starting waking up more in the night - 2-3 times - but, again, I'm soaking up all the phases, even the middle of the night ones.  I know they won't last.

Maya tried rice cereal for the first time yesterday and sweet potatoes are next on the list.  I'm interested to see how she likes them for it seems she's been pining for food for months!  And she has two teeth now, so it won't be long before we add cheerios and other finger foods into the mix too!

She continues to be the world's easiest, happiest, and sweetest baby.  I am still amazed at how much she smiles, how easy going she is and how adorable she is.  I mean, other than me leaving her line of sight and being ready for bed immediately after bath, I rarely hear Maya cry.  Even when she wakes up, a lot of times she still just lays there in bed and looks around and cuddles with her blanket!

At six months old, Maya continues to amaze me.  She is so smart and down to earth and such a complete and total joy.  She is the perfect addition to our family!

Kate
Kate continues to amaze me as well.  She is the cutest big sis and still gets the biggest and best smiles from Maya without any prompting.  It's almost as if Maya saves those smiles for Kate only and lets them shine when they are together.  Kate continues to snuggle, cuddle, kiss, and wrestle Maya at all times, however, with Maya's recent turn of mobility, we have seen and heard a bit of, "I don't want her to touch my [fill in the blank]..." or, "She can't play with [fill in the blank]...".  We're working on this but it is but a minor bump in the grand scheme of things.

Kate is still so sweet to Maya and will fetch her lovies, toys, teethers from the freezer, etc. and will literally tell you what Maya wants/needs when she wants/needs it.  And most times I believe her.  It's like a sister telepathy these two have and I'm not going to mess with the forces.  I'm just going to go with them!

I am super proud of my big girl for being such an impressive big sister and role model and I look forward to seeing her grow and shine in her new role.

Mommy
I am six months in to being a Mommy of two and it's becoming harder and harder to remember what life was like with just one child.  I've continued to incorporate both girls into our daily activities, unless one or the other is napping, and everything is working out pretty well.  I'm adjusting to life at home with these two lovely ladies (and our crazy dog) and thanking my lucky stars for living such a blessed life.  I mean, these two little girls are all mine and I get to be their Mama.  What did I do to deserve this?  I don't know but I am extremely grateful for it.

Now, don't get me wrong, there are times that I am so curious as to what my blood pressure is, but then I will get one child satisfied with whatever she needs and move on to the next and am able to take a deep breath.  For the most part, my day is full of joy with these two and I absolutely cannot wait for warmer days and more sunshine so we can get outside more!

Daddy
Brian is six months into being a Daddy of two and I think he really enjoys it!  He gets to conversate and play with his oldest daughter (when she lets him) and snuggle and coo at his youngest daughter (when she lets him).  I asked him the other day how he thought he'd handle getting two girls ready in the morning before work and he got this distant, fearful look in his eye and said, "I have no clue...", so I'm thinking he's enjoying me staying at home too!

These girls are his pride and joy and he continues to be amazed at how intelligent, beautiful, and amazing they both are.  I know it because he tells me and I can see they way he looks at them.

So, a very, merry half birthday to you, Maya!  We can hardly believe you are six months old already!  We love you to the moon and back, Little Bear!

Wait, what?  You mean I can't put this booklet in my
mouth?  Annnnndddd why'd you give it to me?

World's happiest baby.  Seriously.

Tearing into the paper just like her big sis did
and sitting like a pro!

Seeing her destruction!

Big sis is fully supportive of said destruction!

My attempts to get both girls to smile in one picture:

First attempt: one smiling; one looking the other way...

Second attempt: one now distracted; one smiling...

Third attempt: both looking; one semi-smiling.
I chalked this one up to a success.

Heart Art

I found a cute tutorial online on how to make little heart suncatchers and I thought these would be fun to make for Kate and Maya's Grands for Valentine's Day.  I was wrong.  #youwinsome  #youlosesome

I found working with string and glue maddening.  And having to fit it to a pretty design is even more maddening.  You see, there's this perfectionist in me...and, well, that pretty much sums it up.

While I completed our annoying glue/string task, I was silently cursing to myself under my breath.  Note to self, projects that are going to take more than one day need to be seriously thought about...

These little guys turned out pretty and actually really cool but the frustration involved was not my cup of tea.  Add the fact that Kate wasn't nearly as interested as I had initially thought she would be and it was even more frustrating.  If we do make these again, I think we'll outline the design with glue and then lay the string down instead of soaking it in glue.  I'm not sure if this will work the same or not but it sounds easier than trying to manipulate a little string when your hands are sticky with glue.

The premise of this project involved printing the designs and
taping them on your table then taping a piece of wax paper on top
of them.

Then soaking a precut string in glue, squeezing
off the excess glue...

...And positioning the gluey string to your taped
template.

You then add a string for hanging later on.
This part was maddening too.  There was glue and
it was sticky and very challenging trying to make
it all look pretty.

You let this set up dry overnight and then you fill
in your areas with glue and color them with
watercolor paint.

This was the extent of Kate's interest.
[Cue steam coming from my ears now.]

You see, I don't push projects.  If Kate's not interested in doing something crafty, I don't force her to do it.  I don't want her to grow up loathing these types of things, but the fact that I had spent so much freaking time getting these strings set up and she only wanted to color two little tiny bits of one heart was challenging.  I ended up sitting down and putting the glue on, and asking Kate what color she wanted, and then I colored the rest in.

I only completed the two hearts.  If Kate wasn't interested, I didn't want to waste to much more of my own time.

We let these guys dry overnight again and then peeled them off of
the wax paper.  This project gets a 50%.  That's failing.

But they did turn out pretty against the window...and if Kate was
more interested and wanted to finish the other two hearts, I think
we would have used these for Valentines.

But she wasn't, and because her Valentines's to her Grands are going to be from her and not from me, we hung these two (three) hearts up in her playroom and called it a day.

Back to the Valentine drawing board...

Quiet January

I have found that the last quarter of the year always tends to be jammed packed with things to do.  We've just spent so much time outside for the summer so the wind down for fall involves fall activities, football, enjoying those last days of warm sunshine, and then gearing up for winter.  We also kick-off the holidays around this time with Kate's birthday and Halloween at the end of October, Thanksgiving, Christmas activities throughout the entire month of December, and then Christmas and New Years.

There's a ton going on.  (That is evident by the list of blog posts I have noted for October, November and December that I still need to complete.)  But when January comes around, it's a like a breath of [cold] fresh air.  No big holidays, no big events, not a million things to do, just a chance to breathe and regroup after such a hectic, albeit fun, time of year.

I really enjoy this quiet time.  We can go and do as we please, and recently, with the cold weather, we've chosen to not do a whole lot but spend time at home.

Busting out the beans again.

Maya LOVES this sensory exploration!

And we love making messes in our living room!

We've been working on crawling.  Seriously.  How is this possible?

And gumming our peg puzzle.

And having some daily sister shenanigans.

These two.  My heart.

We've been cooking and enjoying time in the kitchen.

If I can get one of us dressed for the day I consider
that a win right now.  Today was Maya's turn.

We've been chasing Jack around the kitchen with a
broom...  #helovesthis  #not

And we've been peeking through the slats of our crib again!

It amazes me that Maya knows to push the little bumper down to
see.  I even caught her doing this on the left side of her crib where
the gray chair is because she found me sitting there once when she
woke up.  We've got another smart cookie on our hands!

It's been a quiet January but an awesome one too.

Sleepover Success

Well, folks, it was a successful sleepover last night!  Kate said that she had fun and Mimi and Papaw said that they had a blast and that Kate was hilarious!  When I asked Kate what her favorite part of last night was she said, "staying up later".  I suppose that's what sleepovers are all about.

Having a picnic dinner!

Smiley little love!

Doing the "elevator" with Papaw!

I met Kate, Mary, and Tom at Costco to pick-up a few things, namely, my daughter, and when she saw me she ran up to me and gave me a big, BIG hug which totes made me smile!  I love her.

The stop in Costco was quick and Maya even got to ride in the cart with Kate for the very first time!  Of course they were so cute that I couldn't resist snapping some photos!

Cart Cuties!

She looks way too big for my liking.

But she's got the whole cart thing down like a pro!

I'm really glad that Kate got some one-on-one attention from her Grands last night.  And I think Maya missed her Big Sis this morning.  Mommy just doesn't compare these days.  Maya was all smiles with Kate for the rest of the afternoon and bath time!  I even heard Kate say to Maya, "I love you to pieces".  Melt my heart.

This sisterly bond is incredible.

Impromptu Sleepover

I had a hair appointment today at 6 pm just 10 minutes or so from my in-laws, Mary and Tom.  So, while I went and got my hair did, Kate and Maya hung out with their Mimi and Papaw for an hour or so.

Upon my return, and the summary of all the fun that was had, it was decided that an impromptu sleepover and Mimi and Papaw's was in order.  This was coming from my three year old.  Three years old and you already want to sleep elsewhere?!

Over the last couple of weeks, I have noticed Kate exhibiting SO MUCH independency.  So much so that I am semi-evaluating how I am parenting because I don't want her growing up feeling the heavy weight of responsibility for her whole life.  A balance - yes.  A workload, especially at this age - no.

She's been dressing herself in the mornings, without me prompting.  This includes picking out clothes and/or dressing herself in the clothes that I've picked out for her.  And she's puts everything on perfectly each time.  I'm good with this.  I think this is a great trait for a three year old.

She randomly busts out into song when Maya gets a teensy bit fussy.  Twinkle, Twinkle followed by The ABC Song are her go tos.  I think this is really cute but I'm not sure where/how it started.  Perhaps from me singing to Maya.  What I don't want from this is for Kate to feel an obligation to stop the fussiness when Maya gets a little fussy.  That is for me to do.  I'm ok with the help, and Maya is still all about Kate, so she usually quiets down quite rapidly, but I don't want Kate feeling like that is her responsibility.

She also has started reminding me about things that I've forgotten in the past couple of weeks.  A prime example is I left my purse at home when we went to run an errand real quick, so the next time we were going to run errands, Kate said, "Mommy, don't forget your purse."  Thank you, darling girl, but who is the parent here again?!  I certainly appreciated the reminder, but, again, I don't want Kate feeling like MY responsibilities are hers as well.  She is way too young to have these kinds of things on the mind.

And these are just a few of the many examples I've experienced with her recently.

Am I over thinking this stuff?

The fact that she wanted to have an impromptu sleepover tonight threw me off a little bit.  It's just another reminder that my little girl is rapidly becoming my big girl, and as many times as I asked her if that was what she wanted, just to be sure, she was 100% sure that it was.  I think I was asking just to make sure I was sure...

So I let her.  She's sleeping at her Mimi and Papaw's right now.  All by herself.  And I'm not going to lie.  I kind of miss her being here.  Even though she'd just be sleeping here if she were.

With my little big girl well on her way removing the "little" from that description, I've decided to soak up my time with my little little girl since we've got some real one on one time together until Big Sis returns.  We'll get most of that one on one time tomorrow morning, so until then, I will leave you with a few photos of our life lately that were too cute not to include.

#thesearethedays

Morning pj snuggles!  These are the best!

Cutting string to hang our borax crystals -
our science project since we've been learning
about snow.

Maybe she doesn't want to grow up afterall...

Our Borax crystals.  These are so cool and so easy to make.

More morning snuggles...

...this time in Kate's bed.

Sisters.

After a year of Kate sleeping with her bed
pulled out into a King size, we pushed the extra
bed part back in and put the extra mattress behind
her bed.  She loves it but told me this morning that she
fell out of bed last night.  I miss the king size.

My happiest baby!  Maya LOVES bath time!  And she is the
absolute cutest!  I can't believe she is already sitting up so well
and sporting TWO teeth!  #stopit  #stopitnowisay

When I went to get Maya after her nap, this is how I found her in her room.
She was silent, just listening and peeking through her crib at the door,
waiting patiently for me to come in.  I love how her little hand is
pulling the bumper down so she can see!  How does she know to do that?!

Mommy & Me selfie - one on one with my
littlest lady.  #andmynewdo

Welcome Mommyhood: Mom of Two Edition

When I was nearly three months in to being a Mom to new baby Kate, I wrote my Welcome Mommyhood post.  And at my first official Mother's Day, I kind of continued it.

Now that I'm nearly six months into being a Mom of two, I thought it would only be fitting to write another Welcome Mommyhood post since you enter a new level of Mommyhood once you have your second child.  Yes, I've determined that.  It's the platinum status.

On Having My Hands Full
I became ambidextrous when I had Kate because I was holding her with my right arm and hence living with my left.  Now that I have Kate AND Maya, and a lot of times they are both in my arms for a "challenge" and/or the carseat too, I have become really, REALLY good at doing things with my legs...like opening doors.  It's really quite impressive.  I'm not sure what that is called.

On People Telling Me I Have My Hands Full
No shit, Sherlock(s).  Would you like to assist by getting the door, perhaps?  I can't tell you how many people have said this to me.  As if I didn't know my hands were full.  But, you know what, I wouldn't have it any other way.  And that's what I say when someone says that to me.

On Nasal Aspirators
I was not a fan of these little contraptions with Kate.  I distinctly remember her pediatrician showing me how to use it on Kate and she made it look so easy.  I think I tried it once and resorted to the ol' suck 'em out yourself method...which barely worked, if I recall.  With baby number two, not only am I not afraid of the nasal aspirator, but I can also use it like a pro.  Seriously.  I'll get the mucus pulled right out of your nose if you just lay right on the changing table...or the floor...or anywhere flat for that matter.

On Confidence
There's something about being a second-time parent that gives you an aura of confidence.  I saw it firsthand in Brian while we were at the hospital with Maya and I felt it then myself too.  It's like you've done this before and you know what to do and you've got this.  Plus, after living with a toddler, I'm finding newborns are a piece of cake.  This Mommy and Daddy confidence is amazing.

On Time Management
Before I had one child, I thought I was pretty good with time management.  I quickly learned that that was not the case.  I have no FREAKING clue what I did before I had Kate.  I think I sat on the couch and watched TV my entire life.  (#hopefullynot)  But then I had my first child and I thought I became a pro at time management.  (#ithoughtwrongagain)  And when baby number two came around, I realized that I have no idea what time management is all about nor do I know how to control it.  #igiveup  #officially  #timewins

On Efficiency
Shopping with one child is challenging.  Shopping with two is damn near impossible, so I've become real efficient at my grocery shopping.  I have lists, I game plan my grocery store route in my head prior to going in, I park near cart drop-offs, I bring snacks, and sanitizer, and make up grocery store games.  I've also learned to shop with two carts - kids and carseat in one, me in the middle, and pulling groceries in another.

On Sleep (Or Lack There Of)
My whole life I have always been the sort of person that enjoyed and perhaps needed sleep.  As a babe, I enjoyed going to bed.  As a teenager, I would sneak off while family was over and go to bed.  When I was pregnant with Kate, I was worried about my "spoiled" sleep habits and how I would adjust.  Nowadays, with two babes, a husband, and a dog, I rarely sleep.  And if I do, it's very light.  Hello from the other side bags under my eyes. #ohivecomesofar  #wheresthemakeup

On Cleanliness
This commercial - it's true.  You wash and sanitize and wash again the toys and binks that fall to the floor with your first child.  With your second, a quick rinse will do...  I can't imagine what happens to the children beyond two...  Oh, wait.  They are probably the ones eating the sand, right?!

I'm sure I will think of more to add to this list.  And when I do, I'll either add it or start a new list.  After all, that's one thing I'm pretty good at these days...making 'to-do' lists.

Hello, platinum status.

First Snow

With the exceptionally mild winter we've had so far, we had not seen any snow yet.  That was, at least, until today!

We got about an inch this morning and as per usual for the first snow of the year we were all very giddy just to see the white coating!

After some Sunday morning snuggles, and Maya's first go at the bean bin, Kate and I got some snow gear on and headed outside for a walk around the block in the falling snow.  Maya was napping during our little excursion but we took her out to the backyard so she could see the white stuff first hand before she fell asleep!

The snow fell fast and furious and the winds whipped around us and then it was over.  That was it.  There's snow in the forecast two more times over the next week so I foresee some sledding in our future.  I have loved having a mild winter, but there's something really special about snow.  It just makes winter WINTER.

And I can't tell you how many times I heard about Elsa and Periwinkle today.  There was one point where Kate put on her Elsa dress and snow boots on and headed outside to walk in the snow "like Elsa does".  I kind of think Kate's been waiting for snow to reenact this moment since she saw the movie, but once she felt the wind chill temperatures she was convinced to come inside.  The cold may not bother Elsa but it bothers us.  We do not like to be chilly.

Sunday snuggles in cupcake pajamas!  Hard to beat!

As if legos and all the other small choke-inducing
toys weren't enough, we decided to add a bin
of tasty beans.
#whatwerewethinking

Maya loved them!

And surprisingly didn't try to eat them so much.

She just loved diving in and feeling them in
her little fingers and flinging them on the carpet!

Trying to grab the spoon!

Kate shows Maya how to really make a mess!  #imintrouble

Gearing up for our snowy adventure!

Just lettin' it snow on us!

How sweet it this?!

Love!

Snowy selfie!

It's SNOWING!

Kate and I ended up taking another walk later in the afternoon to the library where we rented Aladdin and Cinderella.  These are two Disney princess movies she hasn't seen yet.  So we got cozy on the couch, put Aladdin on, had a little picnic dinner and hunkered down for a snowy evening!

It was a happy snow day!