10 Months

10 months old!



Highlights:
6.5 teeth
crawls
eats kitty food
still not sleeping through the night
pulls herself up to standing
holds her own bottle (FINALLY, but only when laying down)
love playing with Madeleine
says dadadada
eats anything...currently loves black beans and egg whites...not together though

Out of Mads' Mouth

In reference to her bum...
'I have to buy a new bum because this bum is cracked.'

'Eggs make my bum stink.'

I told Madeleine that Santa was bringing Grandma and Grandpa out here to visit, after they arrived, she went outside and sat on the porch. When I asked her what she was doing, she said 'Waiting for Santa to come.'

As a revisit to my bathroom post, Madeleine has washed her hands in the toilet...great.

Busted

Are they sisters?

Both at 5 months...one a bit (or a lot) bigger than the other!

Mads

Stella

il gabinetto

Madeleine refused to go potty one night before bed, so, when she finally decided to do so, it was in the trash. Of course we put her in the corner, but ohh, it was so hard not to laugh! At least she'll be prepared when we're stuck in the woods without the proper facilities.

When we're out she looks for the 'dress' so she knows which door to use; I find this happens quite often when she's bored...at Target, the restaurants, church, etc...

Now when I have to use the bathroom I refer to it as the 'potty'. Thanks Mads!

Sorry about the potty post.

Thanksgiving Weekend

Our Holiday weekend was off to an early start this year thanks to Mark's new job. Every year while we worked at Enterprise (in the rental branches), the Wednesday before Thanksgiving was insane. Always overbooked on Mini Vans, not enough SUV's and just plain rude customers. I have been enjoying the 'non' stress of this day not for a few years, but this was Mark's first...and, with his new job, he's out a 12 noon the day before holidays...and off the next day as well. So, needless to say, we had a great LONG weekend!

Thanksgiving this year was held at our place. There were probably 15 or so people here; it's nice having a place large enough for everyone to sit in the kitchen now. We made the turkey and mashed sweet potatoes while everyone else brought a dish(es) to pass. I even ventured into making my own pumpkin pie...from baking the pumpkin to pureeing it and baking it; it turned out really well! After dinner Timberly, Peter and I walked with the kids (5) down to the park to run around.

Friday night Mark and I went to dinner with Wade and his GF, Aga, in from San Jose, and walked around Temple Square to see the opening night of the Christmas lights.

Saturday night we watched Frosty the Snowman and had the fire going. Saturday also (while I was sleeping) brought Stella's first visit to the ER. All weekend she has been having problems sleeping, eating, and just being sad in general. Mark got up with her around 11 Saturday night and she was still feverish so he drove her down to Primary Childrens Hospital. Apparently she has cold sores in the back of her throat...poor girl. I guess the doctor also warned Mark that she'll be one to keep an eye on as she becomes older because of her easy going personality:-) Despite her being sick, she's up to 18lbs and crawling all over the place

9 Months

Stella turned nine months on Friday...stats to come later this week. She'll eat everything we eat, some favorites include black beans, pears, pasta, apples, sweet potatoes and chicken. When she's crying Madeleine likes to make her smile by singing 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star', and she's pretty darn good at it! She took the move very well and is now sleeping for about 6 hours straight. Stella's just about crawling, she can go a couple of inches but then gives up; with that being said, she can move anywhere she needs to go by scooting on her butt or rolling around... at least she can now sit up from the laying down position.

Fresh Fruit/Veggies

Since June, we have been participating in a food co-op called Bountiful Baskets. For $15/week we recieve 2 laundry baskets, one of fruit and one of vegetables. I can not remember the last time we've had to purchase produce at the store.

We are definitely expanding our comfort zone with food which we'd never buy; Fennel, which we made African Chicken Stew, Persimmon, Oroblanco, and Pomegranates which made a wonderful fruit salad. In addition to the new (to us) items, we receive apples, strawberries, blackberries, bananas, grapes, 5 lb bag of potatoes, sweet potatoes, celery, broccoli, avocados, cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce, tomatoes, squash, zucchini, etc... The great thing is that the produce changes every week.

We LOVE it!

Another 'Out of Mads'' Mouth

Backseat driver, at its finest.
'Red light stop. Green light go. Yellow light FAST.'

Thanks Madeleine!

Dreams

I think Madeleine is beginning to remember her dreams; the other day she woke up and said she 'Madeleine went to the zoo last night'. Another day, she said 'Madeleine went to the airport with Grandma and Grandpa, and saw airplanes!' So fun that she remembers them now!

Out of Mads' mouth:
'Mommy, I'm a bad bad wolf. I'm going to blow down your house'...as she continues to blow air at me.

Stella-8 Months

Stella turned 8 months on Tuesday, October 18th. To celebrate, we brought her in for a flu shot!

Weight: not sure, but the week before during her ear ache appointment, she was 15lbs.

Highlights:
- Reaches out to us when she's about to be picked up
- Likes bananas (not today though)
- Still has 2 teeth
- Turns 360 degrees on stomach with arms and legs...no interest in crawling yet. (why would she though when Madeleine gives, err throws, everything she'd ever need at her.)
- Pulls hair...everyone's...including her own. Madeleine hits her when this happens. Madeleine then is sent to her room.

Madeleine's 3

Happy Birthday, Mads!

After she opened the Littlest Pet Shop from Grandma and PaPa, she had no interest in her other gifts...guess I'll save them for Christmas!

Madeleine said she wanted 'rainbow cupcakes' for her birthday...that's just what we made!

We just had a low key birthday at the house...then on Monday we went to Chuck E Cheese with Uncle Pete and Mads' friend Lyndi...they loved every minute of it. All of us commented on how much smaller it seems now that we're old.

Madeleine now weighs in at 26lbs, she's in the 10th percentile...up from 6th; and is in the 25th for height. She can easily wear both 2T/3T clothes, but the 2T are too short and the 3T aren't tight enough, even with the elastic thingy inside of the jeans.

As for her development, the doctor was impressed with what she knows in terms of ABC's, numbers, songs (can sing all of Old McDonald/Twinkle Twinkle Little Star/Jesus Loves Me), and her proper use of the word 'too'. It's crazy to see just how far she's come in the past year. During her 2yr appointment, Mad's would talk, but it was more on her own terms. The doctor said if she didn't start putting more than three words together at a time by January (2011) we may need to see a speech therapist...I guess she just wanted to do it when she was ready because she is NEVER quiet.

Recent conversations:
(As Stella was crying in her room)
"Baby, STOP CRYING." Goes and turns off the monitor..."There, baby done crying now."
I wish it were that easy, Madeleine!

"Mommy, smell the grass."
'Oh, what is that, Mads?"
'Poop'
'Poop?'
"Yeah, that's ant poop."

Arts and Crafts

This is the craftiest thing I have every done with the girls...I'm pretty lame:)

Daddy and his girls

I don't know what my kids ate for dinner, but clearly it wasn't cleaned up.

Mads like to rock her baby doll when I try to put Stella down.

Staycation

We enjoyed dinner at Red Rock with Peter.

Mark and his girls waiting for the train.

An eagle at the zoo's bird show.

We stayed in SLC Friday night, thanks to a free night I had. Friday night we went to dinner with Peter then road on TRAX; that was probably the highlight of Mads' weekend. The girls probably slept 6 hours (total.combined). I learned that Madeline can sign Twinkle Twinkle Little Star/ABC's/123 Over.and Over.and Over. Stella didn't feel like sleeping so Mark and her drove around down and slept in the car. Ahhh... The next morning we had breakfast at the hotel (also included in the free night), made a quick trip to the zoo, then over to the new house. Despite the lack of sleep, it was still a lot of fun!

A Day at the {dino} Zoo

Museum of Ancient Life (worlds largest dinosaur exhibit)

Peter and Mads digging for fossils!

Macie called in sick...so I had to call in. We made the most of it!

Oktoberfest

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Perfect fall day at Snowbird!

Performer

Madeleine's butterfly balloon...she was very sad when it died.

7 {seven} Months

7 months!

Stella's highlights:
- Sitting on her own ...she is much happier now!
- Now sleeps on her stomach (out of pure desperation of her mom)
- not a fan of purees, but i am doing my own form of Baby Lead Weaning
- eats Cheerios
- laughs at her daddy...a lot
- still doesn't sleep through the night



Stella seems to be 'lazier' than what Madeleine was at this age. She knows how to hold her own bottle...but doesn't. She also likes it when we give her the Cheerios as opposed to feeding herself.

2 Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed

I went into Madeleine's room the other night and this is what I found...

Madeleine

Mads thinks she's a lot older than what she actually is. We've been telling her that in October she'll turn 3...now she thinks Baby (II) is 2 1/2 and Mads' 3.

-When she wants to eat something, ie chocolate or fruit snacks, she'll bring one for me, too. I guess that makes it OK for her to eat something as long as she's sharing?
-While riding her bike today - 'Mommy, I NEED help.'
-'Madeleine play with Lyndi tomorrow...I sleep 1st'
-She hates commercials
-Mark shows her a picture of our new house...then she turns on my phone, goes to the 'photos' section, finds a different picture of the house and says 'look Dadda, Madeleine's house, too.'
-When she knows she's not allowed to do something, she'll look at me and say something in a very high pitched voice 'Madeleine eat cookie?' or 'Madeleine push Baby?' or 'Madeleine watch a D?'

Highlight of the day...she can ride her Trike by herself!
I went looking for her outside and she comes out of the garage peddling by herself! YEAH!!

'I get my good looks from my MOM'

For those who know Mark...you'll know why this is funny.

A few things I've noticed recently

-Stella won't sleep unless she's held...ugh
-Madeleine can go from crying, to laughing, to crying in 5 seconds
-If my 'out of office' says I'll be gone through Monday, please don't leave me a message on Thursday and two on Friday
-I have a very chunky child (who's rolls I need to make a conscious effort to clean) and an extremely skinny child (with a beer belly)
-2T clothing goes from 28-31 lbs...my 3 year old should still be wearing 1T
-Stella hates baby food but LoVeS adult food...bread...green/red peppers...crackers
-My husband might be 'randomly' profiled on his 9/11 flight

Girls Weekend

...not the Girls Weekend I would have had 4 years ago...

Mark took Stella home to St. Louis this weekend so it was just Madeleine and I. Sounds like Stella did really well on the flight; the flight attendants moved Mark around so Stella could have her own seat and she slept the whole way. Mark's dad is recovering from open heart; I'm really glad he went home so Zeyda and Marty could see Stella...hopefully it brightened their days;-)

Madeleine and I enjoyed a 'mommy and me' weekend.

SadieSkye...as Madeleine calls the two girls... (Kalani and Timberlee's girls) came over and played Friday night for Macie's b-day.
Saturday we went 'treasure hunting' with Grandma at garage sales...starting at 6:30am! When we returned home, Madeleine took a 4 -FOUR- hour nap (I was secretly in heaven!). Enterprise was having a company party at the Bees baseball game...that's ALL I heard about ALL.DAY.LONG. Baseball game. Madeleine go to a baseball game. Momma Madeleine Uncle Pete go to baseball game. ALL.DAY.LONG. Anyways, Peter and Scott went with us and we had a blast!

Baseball Game!

Sunday we cleaned, ran errands, completed 5 loads of laundry and played at McDonald's. Fun weekend for sure! Not sure why I wasn't able to get anything done with just one kid...

My view from McDonald's...not bad;)

6 Month Stats

Weight~14 lbs 12oz - 27%
Height~25 1/2 in - 50%
Head~41.5 - 26%

Mark held Stella down during the shots so I could take a picture...BAD MOM!

Mads was 13 lbs 4 oz...Stella's clearly winning in the weight category!

6 months

Stella turned 6 months on Thursday the 18th! I don't have her stats yet, but we're heading to the doc's on Tuesday...


Highlights:
- big laughs
- splashes in the pool and makes herself laugh
- 'screams' at Madeleine when she steals her toys
- eats solids...currently any orange veggie is her favorite
- isn't liking her crib this week (will only sleep when someone holds her...)
- two teeth poked through on the bottom
- chews on everything...currently enjoys her fingers
- blue elephant rattle is her fave toy right now

Madeleine told us, half way through dinner, that we forgot to pray. She then proceeded to say it all by herself!

Summer is almost over...school starts next week for everyone...crazy! I say this every year, but summer sure does go by fast! We're making the most of it, especially this week. Hung out in Grandma and Papa's pool, went to Wal-Mart (Mads' current favorite store), went to the zoo, hung out with Uncle Pete and went swimming at Scera Pool. Little Stella is a trooper and loves (almost) every moment of it!


Stella has a tooth poking through on her bottom but she doesn't seem too bothered by it...just eating her hands a ton.


I taught Madeleine our names this past week (Mark/Betsy) for safety reasons. She LoVeS calling us by our names now...for example: Momma Momma Mommy BETSY BETSY BETSY


We've been living with Pops and Lani for about 1 1/2 months so far...man, do they have big hearts! Our new house now has the foundation poured...next up, the framing!




Please pray for Mark's dad (Zeyda) as he goes in for open heart surgery tomorrow. While you're at it, please pray for this little family...I've never met them but their story touched my heart, especially since Stella is only a month younger. Little Ruby Jane was diagnosed with liver failure when she was three months old and went Home over the weekend...