I vow to help you love life, to always hold you with tenderness and to have the patience that love demands, to speak when words are needed and to share the silence when they are not and to live within the warmth of your heart and always call it home.

Saturday, May 30, 2020

Norah June: 5 Years Old



I don't know why, but 5 years old seems like a big milestone to us.  She's the person who made us parents.  She's the kiddo that we try everything first one or experience the "firsts" with.  She was my ride or die that first year and NOW she's F I V E.





This year was big for Norah, in that she started school!  She started Pre-K and was so ready for it.  She loved her teachers, friends and aftercare so much.  It was a big let down for to not go back after Spring Break, but she's young enough too that she still enjoyed all this home time with her sisters and parents.  She learned so much this year.  She worked on cutting with scissors, can count/write 1-20 and knows her alphabet and how to draw each letter.  She's sounding words out all the time.  She loves science based activities (frogs, bees, human body lessons) and can draw stick figures too.  She just amazes me.



Norah loves her family.  Her best friend is by far her Daddy and Scarlett.  She's obsessed with her little sister too.  She's the best big sister to Hazel.  She is gentle with her, always asks to hold her, will fetch things she needs and loves to talk to her to make her smile/laugh.  I can't wait to see how their relationship develops.  She's Scarlett's best friend for sure.  These two are thick as thieves, they entertain each other, rough house, fight, laugh and play together all day every day.  She loves hanging out with her two cousins, Elise and Lena.  She loves spending time at her grandparent's house with them and slumber parties at Aunt B's house!











Norah is sweet, out-going, loyal, funny and such an intelligent girl.  She has a few favorite things that I want to highlight.  She loves exploring new places.  We've done such a great job of raising our girls in museums, gardens, festivals and markets.  She loves the Philbrook Museum, Children's Museum, Botanical Gardens, First Friday festivals and hiking.  Be prepared with this one if you ask what she wants to do on a Saturday.  She'll list two museums, then a coffee shop with a muffin she loves then the aquarium!  She loves playing outside, riding her scooter and swimming at our neighborhood pool!


Philbrook Museum

Gathering Place

Pride Parade



If you ask her what she's saving her money for she'll say "I'm saving up to go to Paris to see the tower!  I have hundreds of monies in my bank."

She has a steel trap for a memory.  She still talks about the "spider with the babies on her back, HUGE!"  November 2017 while house hunting.  "Mama, remember our neighbor Robert, where is he?"  Moved Feb 2019. "Mama, do you remember Bubba?  He was a good dog, but he ate trash!" 

Hobbies she loves:  She loves taking pictures with her camera, or our phones, or anything really.  She's also a collector.  She loves keeping "her special things" in a drawer in her room away from Scarlett like pretty rocks, old ticket stubs, McDonalds toys and little snow globes.  She'll be a memory keeper like her Mama for sure.  She loves board games (CandyLand, ConnectFour).  She loves waking up at 6am to sneak in the garage to watch Mama and Daddy work out.  Baking, especially on rainy or snowy days.  "Mama, how about we play in the snow, then makes cookies with a fire?  I don't know, it's up to you."  Sly one Norah.






7am WOD Time



Things she dislikes: Mama's singing.  Our cats.  Rest time AKA nap time.  Shoes.  Not being able to ride in the stroller for our walks. 



She picked this completely out herself.  Why does she look 18 here?


When asked about the virus, "We can't be around other peoples and we have to wash our hands all the time (eye roll). 


First birthday flowers!

Last night as a 4 year old!











She's my easiest kid right now.  She's funny, inquisitive, so smart, funny and still rocks the same laugh from infanthood.  I just love her.  She's still my exact carbon copy down to that cute gap in her front teeth.  We can't wait to see what she learns this year in Kindergarten!








Tuesday, May 5, 2020

Hazel Faye: 5 Months





Weight/Length: Estimated 15 lbs

Diaper: Size 2

Clothing: 3-6 Months

Eating: Breastfeeding 6-8 times a day

Sleeping: 1-2 naps a day, waking 1-3 times up at night

This girl has been so much fun this month!  We feel like her little personality is really starting to shine through and develop.

This month we kept inside quite a bit because of quarantine, celebrated her FIRST Easter and celebrated Dad's birthday, so not too crazy of a month!


HBD Dad!



We didn't do much for Easter, sadly no family or brunch but the kids got to hunt for eggs and we even managed to get a family picture!  I love this big family of ours.











This month the biggest challenge was that damn ol' sleep regression at 4 months!  It hit our house HARD.  She didn't sleep well for about 2-3 weeks, and it JUST now back to her old routine (if it holds).  We were so spoiled with our first two in that once the started sleeping through the night around 6 weeks they stayed that way.  No regressions, no bouts of not sleeping.  We have been so fortunate with sleepers.  Hazel started waking up 2-3 times a night for that 2-3 week stretch.  Ugh, but thankfully we're back to sleeping through.  Whew, it was rough!  She's still rooming with the parents, but really I'm not complaining.  I'm not ready yet to never have a baby in our room again.  She can stay a little while longer.  She takes 1-3 naps a day with usually a good 2-3 hour one in the middle of the day.  She can nap in our swing but she naps best in her bassinet.






This month she hit some amazing new milestones!  One night during a pre-bedtime diaper change I got her to giggle!  Ugh I just love baby giggles.  It's funny how once they nail down a laugh, it stays that way throughout childhood.  Norah and Scarlett still laugh like they did as babies!  She also started grabbing her feet!  She's not fully into it yet, but she's reached them a time or two.  She's pushing her chest off the ground during tummy time too.  She's mastered rolling onto her tummy but not onto her back yet.  She just gets tired and frustrated and cries until we help her roll to her back.  She also started intentionally grabbing toys and bringing them to her mouth to chew!  Just so many new things she's trying this month.










She's still breastfeeding like a champ.  She nurses just one side at a time for about 10-15 minutes.  She eats about 6-8 times a day and definitely still cluster feeds in the evenings when she's really sleepy.  Next month we start solids!  I'm excited to see how she'll react and like them.  She's sucked on an apple slice and carrot stick here and there and seems to love it.  Kit even caught her holding her own bottle last week. UGH.







Her big sisters are still obsessed.  Five months and Norah still asks to hold her every morning when i bring her out. I just love it.  Scarlett has become way more interactive with her too.  Scarlett will lay down next to her to talk or show her toys.  She loves to tickle and talk to her.  The big girls are entertaining her more and more and it's magical to watch. 












I'm looking forward to traveling with all three, trips to see new things, camping, hiking and just a stupid thing like all of us sitting at breakfast at Dilly Diner together.  There's so much Miss Hazel hasn't seen/explored so we can't wait to introduce her to our normal activities and adventures.


Here are my favorite pictures of our Hazel from this month, enjoy!











Doesn't mind our walks







She loves attacking my arm during diaper changes!


Not a huge fan of the carriers but she tolerates them.

Trying the seat out!




BELLY


Always sucking on those two fingers!

First time strawberry picking!


FaceTiming family!





Hazel Faye I can't imagine a world without you in it.  We love you and are just so obsessed with you!