The Magic of Mornings

9.9.2014

I feel like there is something so special about morning time. The light is gorgeous in our apartment {one of my favorite things about being on the second floor}, everyone is happy to be awake and to see each other {usually}, and I just re-fall in love with my family and the wonderful role of "mother" that I get to take on for another day. It's a great way to start the day!

On this morning in particular Irelyn slept in so I got to cuddle with Holland for a little while and then we ate breakfast together. When Irelyn woke up Holland was so excited to be the first one to hear her. She rushed into their room to attempt to get Irelyn out, rushed back to me to announce that baby sister was awake, and then raced me back to the room and by the time I got there both girls were giggling and just so happy to see each other. Also, Race was home for a few minutes when the girls first woke up and they were so happy to see him and hang out with him for a few minutes. I felt truly blessed.

And a random side note (lest you all think every morning is magical):
The next morning was not wonderful and beautiful. Irelyn was up a lot during the night so I was exhausted and grumpy, Race was not able to be home helping out, Holland woke up really crabby and fought me about everything and threw a BUNCH of tantrums, all before 8 AM, and it might have even been cloudy outside just to top it all off. Haha. Often pictures, videos, blog posts, Instagram, etc. can make life look so perfect {and honestly this morning felt like a little piece of Heaven} but know that I have crazy mornings/days/moments too. I'm just not usually taking pictures when I'm feeling crabby {and the light is gloomy}! Haha. 

 

Dear Irelyn: Month Five

Dear Irelyn, 

You just turned five months old yesterday and I am already getting your five month post up! Shocking, I know! :] This is just such a fun age and I want to remember all of it! 

This month you have started to learn lots of new things. You had a couple of grumpy weeks and Mimo {Grandma Olmstead} said that she remembers her babies would get grumpy just before they learned something new. That turned out to be just the case of you! You were grumpy just before you learned how to grab your toes and then you were grumpy just before you learned how to sit up! You are not totally sitting up on your own yet but you can go for quite a while before you fall over. I just make sure you are always surrounded by pillows so you don't bonk your head. You decided to try this whole sitting up thing yesterday {on your five month birthday!} and then today you pretty much have it down for up to about twenty minutes at a time. We are all super impressed with your skills! You have rolled over a few times from your stomach to your back and just once from your back to your stomach {and I didn't even see it happening!!} but you are not all that interested in rolling over and you really aren't a fan of tummy time. We're not too concerned about it though since your big sister didn't roll over regularly until after she learned how to crawl! It has been so fun watching you learn these new things and you are definitely a happier baby once you add these tricks to your book! 

This month you went to the doctor for the first time. Haha. I didn't take Holland until she was three months old and then we barely got you in before your fifth month! Clearly, we're really good at going to the doctor. Hopefully from here on out we'll keep you on track though! You did great with the doctor and with getting shots. You fell asleep within about two minutes of nursing afterwards and even slept while I transferred you to your carseat for the drive home. It was shocking and such a relief! At the doctor we found out you weight 17 lbs. 3 oz. {85th percentile} and 24.5 inches {24th percentile}. I think you are going to be like Holland and just go down in the weight percentile from here on out though. We will see though! We sure are enjoying your chunkiness!!

Some other notables: 

-You have started doing this cooing/screaming sound and it is the funniest, cutest thing ever. It cracks your dad and I up every single time! 

-You still blow little spit bubbles all the time. 

-You are super good at holding onto your toys so you can chew on them. 

-You've decided you have no need for a binky anymore. Mostly I'm sure this is a nice thing {no weaning you from it later on} but I do miss it sometimes! 

-I figured out that I had been wearing our Ergo carrier wrong {I needed to move the back strap up} and ever since then you {and I} are so much more comfortable and happy in the Ergo. I have started using it a lot more and we are big fans! I used it at church yesterday and you even fell asleep in it {only for a few minutes though because then sacrament meeting got out and it was loud--sad!}!

-I have started putting you down for naps without nursing and the first couple of times you weren't a fan but you've been doing great the past few days! I am attempting to get you on a little bit of a better schedule and since we started doing naps without nursing you have started sleeping longer in the night. I'm not sure if they're related but they happened around the same time. It works for me! 

You are such a sweet, beautiful little girl and we love glimpsing more of your personality as you learn to do new things. We are so happy to have you in our family! 

Love, 

Mom, Dad, & Holland

Falling over

Sitting skills! 

The cutest chunky profile. 

Gorgeous blue eyes. 

More sitting and some spitting of course!

Goodness I just love this little girl of mine! I am the luckiest!

Sunday Family Photos 08.17.2014

These are from the first Sunday in our new ward {We moved about a month ago--I don't think I've written about that yet}.

We are loving our new apartment and the ward we moved into. Holland hasn't cried once going to nursery {!!/Knock on wood} and we are already making some new friends! We haven't always been super great at being involved in some of our previous wards and are trying to make a better effort this time around. We haven't missed a Sunday yet so that's a good start!

I really like trying to match everyone on Sundays and today I felt like it worked out particularly well so of course we had to take pictures! Holland was not in the mood at first but as soon as she knew she could show off her new cupcake toys {thanks Aunt Tyne!} she was fine.

I sure do love this family of mine!

Self-Timer Fails I Love.

I don't know how people use the self-timers on their cameras. Maybe it would help if I had a remote or something but just figuring out how to focus the camera and stuff completely eludes me. Despite that, I have ended up with quite a few "messed up" self-timer shots that I am in love with simply because they are of Holland and I. So, you all get to see a few of those today! As well as some mirror pics of the two of us!

I am so glad that even blurry images can capture just how much love I have for my sweet Holland girl. We sure do have a lot of fun together!

Happy Wednesday! And holy heck can you believe it's May?!

P.S. If anyone has some awesome self time tips and tricks I would LOVE to hear them!

{These photos were all taken the same day as my "A Day in the Life" post.}

A Day in the Life

On April 23rd I decided to pull out our fancy camera and take pictures of everything we did throughout the day. We don't lead a super exciting life but it was fun to see what we do all day. Although I didn't get every feeding, diaper change, nap, etc. on camera so it's not perfect but it does capture the essence of what we do. Mostly I hang out with Holland while she explores our house and makes messes. And then I clean up her messes, try to make healthy, yummy food, and try to get stuff done while she naps. Or I don't bother trying to get anything done and just nap when she naps.

Anyway, I took about a million pictures throughout the day so I've been attempting to narrow it down but I've been pretty unsuccessful so this post is a bit picture heavy. But hey, less reading and more pictures of my darling baby girl, that's not really a loss for anyone! 

7:30am Wake up, make bed

7:45am Holland is awake {and mad--she does not wake up happy, she's not a morning person} 

 7:45am Holland lunges for her breakfast every morning when I get her out of bed. It cracks me up!

8:00am Breakfast time for Holland.

8:15am My breakfast time/Holland's Kitchen Playtime

9:00am Play/Explore Time, Get H Dressed 

9:30am Naptime for H, Work, Work out, Shower, etc. time for me.

{This first picture is from my phone because I was not
 going to risk waking her up by using the loud camera}

11:00am Lunch {Leftovers}

 11:00am Race is home from his birthday massage and heading to work. Holland is up from her nap.

 11:30am-2:00pm More exploring and playing for H, Dishes for me

2:00pm Second nap for H, Nap for me as well. 3:30pm H wakes up. 

 4:00pm Walk time! 

4:30 Explore the park

5:30 Dinner Prep {Chicken fajitas} and a grumpy babe hanging on my legs.

6:30 Trip to the grocery store. {No pictures}

7:30 Dinner time! 

7:30-9:30 Play with Mom and Dad, bath time, & lots of eating {not pictured} for H. 

You guys, my day-to-day life is not all that exciting but I absolutely love it. I love Race and Holland and I am so grateful for all that Race does so that I can stay at home with my sweet babe. Being a mom is so much harder than I ever could have imagined but it is also so much more rewarding than I could have known. 

I hope you all have a Happy Thursday!