*She turned 3 in August, I just finally was able to finish it now - fail*

Oh my sweet E,
You are 3 years old. I can't even fathom this. I feel like I had you yesterday and now you are this tiny little person with this big personality with your own opinions. I am so thankful I get to be your mother and watch you grow.

This year has been a big year for you. You have changed so much physically, emotionally, and intellectually. You talk and can express yourself so well. People are amazed at how well you speak for your age. You are really funny and say some of the funniest things. I wish I could remember half the stuff you say ( I will do better this next year) but you make us laugh constantly. One of my favorites was when we were coming home from church one wee, and we asked you what you learned in church that morning. You said "God wants to talk with us" and then we asked what Bible story you were told.  And you said "It was, It was....."Impossible! Impossible! For plain yellow pumpkin to become a golden carriage!" Oh my goodness...we started cracking up! For what's its worth, the story was Jesus feeding the 5000 so in a way it was impossible, but God made it possible. Hehe.

You have so much energy. You wake up between 6 - 6:30 every day ready to start the day. You are definitely more of a morning person than me. You still take a nap for about 2 hours in the afternoon, and go to bed at 7 (but fall asleep after 8). You were potty trained in February. You had it down within about 5 days. Although you still don't want to poop in the potty (you prefer to do it in your diaper despite every bribe that I can think of), I know it will come in time. You also are going to sleep by yourself!! In May, we started checking on you about every 15 minutes instead of us lying in there with you until you fell asleep and you did so well with it!!!! We were so proud of you!

You became a big sister this year and what a WONDERFUL big sister you are! You are such a nurturer to your little brother. You love to hold him and take care of him. If he gets upset, you will run to him and check on him and sing him songs.  You are SO good with him. I love watching you with him, and I can't wait to see your relationship blossom. It is so precious. I pray that you will always love your brother and that you will always have a close relationship with him.

Some of your favorite things:
You love cars. You have a huge lunch box full of little hot wheel cars that you will carry around and play with.
You love stuffed animals. Love them. We have had to limit you to two stuffed animals in your bed each night otherwise you would pile them all in your bed and you would have no room to sleep. Some times you will change stuffed animals every night, and sometimes the same two will stick around for a week or 2.
You love baby dolls. You love to take care of them. So precious!
You had your first full year of dance and you loved it! You were so precious in your recital. You were so beautiful and so precious.
You love to play outside. We have a swing set, a sand box, and you have like to ride your scooter and tricycle.
You love to read. We read books a lot. We go to the library to pick out new books all the time. You can even "read" some of the books that we read on repeat =)
You love to color, draw, paint, and play with play doh.
Your favorite shows are Mickey Mouse and Doc McStuffins. You saw Cinderella for the first time and loved it. You love the Rodger and Hammerstein musical version too!
Your favorite foods would probably be chicken nuggets, potato soup, bananas, avocados, tomatoes, and your fake cheese. (You still have a dairy allergy so we find alternatives for it)

You are so smart sweet girl. You can count up to about 18 and then one to one for something up to 11. You know about 8-9 letters. Your vocabulary is through the roof. You pick up on things so quickly and can remember things that happened months plus remember things that I have said and repeat them back to me. You are so very strong willed and determined. Some days that means we butt heads but I know this will get you far in life. You are so very passionate, caring, and nurturing.

Most of all, my sweet E, I am so you glad are my daughter. I look forward to this next year to see how you will grow. My prayers for you are that you will know how deeply loved you are by your mom and dad but most importantly by your heavenly Father. I pray that He will lead your life and that you will take your passionate spirit to serve Him. I love you my sweet girl.

It's a double up post again. Mom fail. Especially considering he turns 7 months tomorrow. (At least the pics are on time) *I've had this written for awhile but I just haven't had time to download the pics from my camera on to my computer* Guess what my new year resolution is this year?!

Dear J,
You are 5 months old! You are so much fun and such a joy! We love you so much!

You wake up around 6:45 and 7 each morning and still wake up twice a night to feed. Your nap schedule is still the same: 1-2 small naps in the morning, a long nap while E rests, and then sometimes a small nap before dinner. You only nap in the Boba (my carrier) during the day except during the long nap when you just lie on my chest. We have tried putting you in your bed and you will immediately wake up. You eat 2 1/2-3 hours during the day from mommy. Your reflux is getting better but you still like to be held a majority of the night. You will sleep maybe 1-2 hours in your bed in our room.

You love to laugh! You think E is still so funny,  and you love to laugh at the silly things she does, and she happily obliges! You also love to happy scream. It's how you talk right now and we all think it is so cute and funny. You are pushing way up on those arms in tummy time,  and you are rolling everywhere!! I can put you on a blanket in the middle of the living room, and you will be across the room before I know it. You are so very curious about the things around you and use your new rolling status to go exploring. You are holding things well in your hands, and shaking rattles or other toys. You will sit with support against back and will tolerate sitting in the bebo seat for about 5 minutes. You can sit with just your hands supporting you for a few seconds before you topple over.

You are tolerating your car seat a lot better and only have major scream out tantrums every so often. You still love your lion toy and love a little key plastic set that you chew on a lot. You visited your first pumpkin patch  and visited my alma mater this month.

Your biggest change this month was getting your Doc Band. I noticed that your head shape was off about a week after you were born, and at 2 months I took you to cranial technologies. They took pictures and recommended a Doc Band to help correct your head shape, but we had to wait until you turned 4 months.  You have had it on for about 2 weeks and you are starting to get used to it! I hope you don't have to wear it for long.


You wear 3-6 month with some 6 months thrown in there sometimes. You wear size 2 diapers or cloth diapers. No official weight or height this month but I bet you are around 16 pounds.

We love you sweet boy. You are such a blessing!


Love,
Mommy and Daddy


Dear J,

Happy HALF BIRTHDAY sweet boy!! I can't believe you have been here a half a year already. Time is flying.


You still wake up around the same time of 6:45-7. You still wake up two times a night to feed usually between 1-2 and then at 5. You  will nap maybe once in the morning for 30-45 minutes and then one long nap in the afternoon while E's napping and then sometimes a short nap around 4:30or 5 for about 30 minutes. You will only sleep in the boba or if I'm holding you during the day. You also sleep in your pack and play in our room for only about an 1-2 hours a night. The rest of the night me or your daddy holds you on the couch in the living room. Oh sweet boy - you just need contact with one of us to sleep. One day I hope that you will sleep in your bed a lot more but for now we get our sleep together. =) You are eating about every 3 hours during the day. You are starting to reach and grab things out of mommy's hands when I'm trying to drink or eat. You are probably ready for foods but it is taking me a little longer to be ready!

You are a charmer!  You will talk and smile at almost anybody. You are pretty go with the flow and have only gotten upset a couple of times when I hand you off to people that you don't know well. Stranger danger is starting to appear but it's not full blown just yet. You still think your sister is the funniest person ever! It is so precious and sweet to see you guys together. You are trying to get up on your hands and knees. You stick your head on the floor and then push your knees up and stick your bottom up in the air and then fling forward! You roll everywhere and are pretty mobile with just that. The day you turned 6 months (November 27) you decided that you could sit all by yourself without hand support and play and not fall over for several minutes. Before that day, you would sit for a few seconds and then be done because rolling was way more important.  You grab things and hold things well with your hands. You love to play patty cake with mommy while I do the motions. Your favorite toys are still your lion that you like to chew on, a chew toy with lots of rubber and wooden parts to it, and you like the Baby Einstein piano/activity toy.

You are tolerating your Doc Band well but you had to be out of it for two weeks because of a bug bite that turned into staph. You kind of think you are indestructible with that helmet on though and during your hour off time each day you always end up bumping your head on something and you get so upset because your helmet wasn't there to protect you! You had your first Halloween and your first Thanksgiving this month. We enjoyed celebrating them with you. We didn't dress you up for Halloween this year because I like you to pick out your own. I can't wait to see what you decide to pick out next year! You also are now sitting up in your high chair at the table with us. I think you like being able to see us all while we eat together. You will play with toys and talk to us while you are up there. I'm sure you will be eating food up there soon!

You wear 6 month clothing and size 2 diapers or cloth diapers. You were weighed in early November and were 16 pounds 5 ounces. I'm sure you have added to that by now.

We love you our little charmer!

Love,
Mommy and Daddy

We have had a busy first half of the month full of Christmas activities. I can't believe the month is halfway over already. We love Christmas around here! Here's what we have been up to:

1) I know a lot of people do Elf on the Shelf (which is great and I have nothing against it) but I just didn't want to do that and put more focus on Santa. I saw this idea on Pinterest and thought it was perfect. The three wise men travel around our house each night following the star that leads them to Jesus, and then E finds them in the morning. She has had fun looking for them each morning.





2) We saw Frosty the Snowman at Casa Mañana last Friday with our MOPS group. It was super fun and E enjoyed it. J even enjoyed and was flapping his arms and happy screaming with some of the music numbers!





3) Our HOA does a Breakfast with Santa for our neighborhood each year and I was able to get tickets this year! E was excited about seeing him, but then didn't want to sit on his lap once we were able to visit with him. She did tell him what she wanted for Christmas - an umbrella!!







4) One of the towns close by us has a Christmas parade each year. Last year we went and decided we wanted to make it a tradition. E was so excited for the lights and the parade and was jumping up and down waiting for it to come down the road. J enjoyed it too =)









5) E's friend threw a Christmas cookie party last Sunday. They did a little craft and decorated Christmas cookies. It was a good time for everyone.







6) On Monday, we went to ICE at the Gaylord. I really wanted to go this year because the theme was Christmas Around the World. I do love traveling so I was excited to see what they did. E loved it but I think her favorite part was the ice slide. J enjoyed being snuggled in the parka with me, and I'm sure next year he will be chasing E in his own little parka.










P.S. If you go to this, go during the week around 4 - there is no line and we could take our time.

7) Another town near us was having Storytime at the Station this week and I took E because she loves fire trucks. She had a great time with one of her friends.






8) E made a gingerbread house with her daddy. She has been talking about doing this for weeks and they finally did it on Thursday. There may have been some frosting and candy eating during the making of the house, but I'll never tell.






9) And then.....sickness hit our house. I had it earlier in the week but just pushed through it and thought it was no biggie. E started throwing up Friday afternoon, and then J joined her today. It is so sad to watch your little love bugs be sick. Praying they feel better soon.

We had Thanksgiving at our house last week. Jason's mom, sister, brother and his family all came into town for the festivities. It was great to see all the family! It was a busy couple of days with everyone here but I loved it. I know that E loved hanging out with her cousins.

Ok this is the day before Thanksgiving but I could't pass up this cute little photo op!






The actual Thanksgiving day I didn't get many pictures because I was busy cooking. Jason cooked the turkey and I cooked all the sides. I love to cook. It brings me great joy to cook for people and try new recipes. Now the clean up - someone else can do that - ha! I  even forgot to get a picture of my kids together in their cute Thanksgiving outfits so I plan on putting them in the outfits at a later date just to take a pic =).




Aunt Minette and E coloring on the tablecloth at dinner that night. I found this tablecloth at Target for $3 and you could color on it!! Score! I must find one of these for Christmas. It was so fun.


We watched Charlie Brown Thanksgiving together as a family together that night. I love Charlie Brown HOWEVER I didn't realize that they use the word stupid A LOT in the show so that will be the last time we watch that together for a long time. (We are having some discipline issues with that word - just keeping it real)



On Friday, Jason's grandmother, who had also come into town, came to see her great grandkids. His aunt also came as well. J was in his Doc Band today because his bite that became infected on his head was FINALLY healed after two weeks. Hopefully we are almost done with it!