52:30 Your First Christmas

I Want to Remember

Your First Christmas

I want to remember your first Christmas. You looked beautiful. You are at a stage where you just take in everything around you and you create this sense of peace amongst the chaos of the holidays. This Christmas, we feel so incredible blessed to have such a beautiful, healthy and happy family. 

God is Good. All the Time. 

All the Time. God is Good.

52:28 7 Months Old

52:26 Traveling with You

I Want to Remember

Traveling with You

I want to remember going to Wisconsin. Gracie and Grandpa Badger just moved to a new house in Wisconsin, so we took a trip out to go visit them for the weekend. You were such a trooper on the trip! It was about 5 1/2 hours and you slept the majority of the time! Once you were there, you got lots of snuggles from Grandpa and Gracie! Grandpa dressed you up in Badger gear and sent a picture to Grandpa Husker. Needless to say, he wasn't too impressed. But we officially have great names for these Grandpas! Trips like this are so special to us Amelia. Thank you for making the journey so memorable! 

Going to South Dakota

I want to Remember going to South Dakota with you. We've been doing a lot of traveling lately due to the holidays! This weekend you got a lot of quality time with your cousin Sonny! You aren't ever around other babies, so you just watch him crawl around you in amazement.
Something you were also amazed by this weekend, was your first real encounter with Bella. Bella is the best dog with kids. She just lays while they pull tug and lay on her. You loved petting her this weekend and clearly, she loved it too! 

52:25 Sitting Up on Your Own

I want to Remember

Sitting Up on Your Own

I want to remember you sitting up on your own. You have been working on this skill for a few weeks now, rocking, swaying and toppling back. But this week was the first week that you weren't a weeble wobble! You sit up so well and then you smile so big. I can tell you are so proud of yourself. And we are so proud of you too baby girl. 

If your happy and you know it....

Millie faces are the best. She is so observant and literally watches everything we do and just takes in everything around her. So typically, her face is pretty serious. But now, to show that she is excited about something, she flaps her arms and beams this HUGE smile. It has got to be one of the cutest things ever! It's as if she just wants to fly over to us and share in the excitement! And if we don't pay attention to her right away, she flaps her arms and squawks real loud. 

Oh yes, our house is officially booming with talking toddlers and babbling babies!

52:24 6 Months Old

I want to Remember 

My Little Turkey 

52:23 You as Amelia Earhart

I want to Remember 

 You as Amelia Earhart

I want to remember dressing you up as Amelia Earhart. Anniston wanted to be a pirate fairy (naturally) and I had a hard time thinking of how you could be a pirate. And then, it dawned on me. You are my Amelia and you could dress up as a pilot, Amelia Earhart! I used my finest procrastinating skills and sewed up your jacket and painted your plane together THEE day before and taped it up the day of. You were hilarious as we went around trick or treating. It was a cold night but we bundled blankets in your engine and you seemed....well...serious. As any great pilot is. You always have such a serious look about you. I swear you are the most chill baby ever and when you laugh at us, I swear you are just giggling at how ridiculous we all are. We know that you will soar to do big things in this world. And we cannot wait to watch you fly.  

 Trick or Treat? 

Okay, I am saying it now. I am hosting a Halloween Party next year. Before kids, Nickolas and I always used to throw bomb Halloween Parties. Then when we had Anniston, I kept saying it would be too much. But now, after two years of small trick or treating, mall walking and bundling up. I am over that. That is too much work with little ones. It's always too cold out and the mall has really long lines of tootsie rolls. Next year, we won't throw our typical Halloween party. But we will throw a kiddy Halloween Bash with witches walks, costume contests, and fun games. Our neighborhood is FULL of kids, so it's a perfect set up and I think it'll be so fun for the neighborhood! I am already creating ideas in my head! It will be spooktacular!

And if not, at least it will be warmer!

52:22 Spending Time with Family

I Want to Remember

Spending Time with Family

I want to Remember spending time with family. Living in a different town than family can be tough. Really tough. And what makes it even harder is when you live in a different town than your family AND having kids. Having nieces, nephews, and even sister-in-laws that are changing every month and we are not there to see their personality change, their hair get cut, how they really look with 4 teeth missing and how they look when they first start crawling. Having family live all over has always been hard on us, but I guess that is what makes those family get togethers so precious. This weekend we got a lot of Nick's family together for a "pre-thanksgiving" in Spencer, Iowa. We were LONG overdue! We had family from Tennessee, Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin. It was awesome seeing everyone, but it went by too quickly. It always does. But here are a few pictures of our quick weekend. We stopped to visit Valerie and Grandma Harriet even got out of her "home" for a short bit to be with us. 

And we are all very thankful for little moments like that. 

52:21 Picking out Pumpkins

I Want to Remember

Picking Out Pumpkins

I want to remember picking out pumpkins. To say I am obsessed with fall would be an understatement! We have had such a perfect fall so far. Going on lots of walks, playing outside, setting up decorations, picking out pumpkins & carving them. You've grown up so much this month that it's literally making me sad. I am trying to enjoy all these little moments that I have with you at this size, because if I learned anything from Anniston, I've learned that time really does go too fast. So for now, we will dress you up in matching outfits & enjoy our little walks outside.

52:20 5 Months Old

I Want to Remember 

My Little Pumpkin

52:19 Finding your Toes

I Want to Remember

Finding Your Toes

I want to remember you finding your toes. You literally giggled out loud the first time you put them in your mouth. And now, you can't control yourself. They are your favorite toy & your constantly trying to find them. Anniston will even lay beside you now and try to help you grab at your toes whenever you let them slip. Watching the two of you grow closer makes my heart fill with love from head to toe! 

52:18 The way you Sleep (or don't sleep)

52:16 Four Months Old

I Want to Remember

My Little Huskers

52:15 Your First Week of Daycare

I Want to Remember 

Your First Week of Daycare
I want to remember your first week of daycare. I can't actually believe I am saying that! But you did amazing. You slept like a champ, drank full bottles every 3 hours and you even giggled a lot for Carol on day one. You are such a blessing and sweet baby - Carol says so too! I know you are in such safe hands with her and having Anniston there to watch over you too, somehow calms my heart a little more. I wish I could be home with you longer, but since I cannot, I am so blessed to have you in Carol's caring hands. 

So Much for Sleeping
I know I talk about sleep a lot. But man, has it been seriously lacking! Now that I am back at work, I think Amelia is missing me - at least that is what I have to tell myself anyways. She is no longer sleeping through the night. She is waking multiple times to eat, to coo, and to play. I swear she is more alert at 2:00am than she is a 4:00pm when I get home from work. Her big eyes just stare up at me like she is ready for a new day and ready for play.  I am tempted to just swaddled her again for one night of full sleep, but I don't think she would like that very much. So for now, I am just hoping that it is short lived and I am just reminding myself to enjoy every extra minute I can with this little one.

52:14 Going to the Zoo

I Want to Remember

Going to the Zoo

I want to remember going to the zoo. We went on the perfect day! We met your Auntie Jennifer, Mykah, Madi and Tobin. You were so happy and kept giving us smiles all day. You love laying in your stroller and looking up at the fun pattern. We even let you play in the splashpad for a little bit. Watching you take in the World is such an amazing experience. You seem in awe of it all. And I, am simply in awe of you Amelia Grace. 

52:13 Sleeping Without a Swaddle

I Want to Remember

Sleeping Without a Swaddle

I want to remember having you sleep without being swaddled. I am certain that this week was more an accomplishment for me, than it was you! See, I have this love/hate relationships with swaddle sacks. They work well. Way too well. They had both my babies sleeping through the night by 3 weeks. But, they are a hard habit to break down the road. And any mother that has done that transition knows what I am talking about. But lately, you've been seeming to fight the swaddle in the middle of the night. I would hear you rustling in your crib and look at you to see that you managed to have your little fist escape from the swaddle sack. So I thought I would see how you did without that little restraint. And, to my happy surprise, you slept just as well! I will admit, I had you sleeping in a swaddle transition called a Zippadee-Zip, so your hands still can't scratch your face. So technically, you're not fully free. But you seem very peaceful and content with your arms up at night.  Thank you Millie Grace. Thank you for being my carefree, easy-going girl. 

No Sleep for this Momma

So, like I stated before, Millie is sleeping through the night. Me on the other hand, not so much! My days are so busy, that I really never have time to sit down and just...think. Therefore, when I get in bed at night. I just lay there and think of EVERYTHING. 

I think about how I have to go back to work soon. 

I think about meals I need to make for the week. 

I think about when I should work out. 

I think about how I am never working out.

I think about my future students.  

I think about Anniston going to school. 

I think about how messy my house is.

I think about when I should clean the house. 

I think about projects I want to make. 

I think about triple checking to make sure the doors are locked. 

I think about transitioning Anniston to her big girl bed. 

I think about waking up to pump so I have more milk. 

I think about crap. 

Lots and lots of unnecessary crap. 

It's not normal.

Or maybe it is.  

Maybe this is part of being a mom. Worrying, thinking, planning and organizing all of the time. 

So much for beauty sleep....

52:12 Three Months Old

I Want to Remember

Check Out Anniston's Project 52:12 by Clicking Here
Anniston went on her first flight that week!

52:11 Discovering Your Hands

I Want to Remember

Discovering Your Hands

I want to remember you discovering your hands. You are such a happy baby and are easily soothed by being held, a song, a paci and now your hands. Your hands are your greatest toy and mommy's new life saver. Whenever you start to stir or seem restless, I simply touch your hands together and it's like you're discovering them again for the first time. You suck on them, try to find your thumb, and just rub them together. We are working on having you grab at toys. Anniston loves playing this game with you. But now, when you grab ahold of a toy to explore it, she doesn't understand why you won't share it back with her! So while you continue to discover your hands, Anniston is discovering that she needs to have some patience with you while you learn to share. 

Discovering Patience

To any two year old, patience is a foreign word. We have taught it to her and she even uses the phrase correctly. And she often tells Amelia to be patient. But a toddler actually practicing patience is a whole other expectation. Unfortunately for Anniston, I am expecting her to be patient a lot now. 

"Anniston I am feeding Amelia. Can you be patient."

"Anniston I am trying to get supper ready. Can you be patient?"

"Anniston I have to change Amelia's diaper. Can you be patient?"

"Anniston I have to get Amelia to sleep first. Can you be patient?" 

So it happened. The other day, while I was nursing Amelia, Anniston asked if she could go "play bubbles," I kept asking her to be patient while I finished. Then, she scowled at me, threw her entire body on the ground and yelled. 

"No! I don't wanna be patient!"

I wouldn't want to be patient anymore either. For the past two years, Anniston hasn't really had to practice being patient, because she was really our only focus. Don't get me wrong. She still gets lots of snuggles, lots of stories, lots of play time and lots of songs be sung. But now, she is expected to wait for things to be handed to her. She has to share our time. She has to wait for her food. She has to wait to go play outside. Practicing patience is a wonderful skill. I know that. But it just really isn't easy at all to practice patience. Especially when you just turned two. 

52:10 Matching Babies

I want to Remember

Matching Babies
I want to remember dressing you up together. There is something nostalgic about putting you in the same clothes that your big sister wore just a short time prior. As a little girl I remember dressing up with Auntie Angela in our matching Easter dresses and hats and proudly parading around because I looked like my big sister. I hope that you enjoy matching with your big sister as much as I do. I might enjoy it a bit too much! Anniston always giggles and comments when you're in the same clothes. When she saw you wearing your lil sis shirt she said "Mom Melia has ABCs and I have ABCs." She's so smart and it's scary how much she is taking in already! 
As for now, I will enjoy these simple little things. Because I know you won't be crazy about the idea of matching forever. But for now, it's absolutely adorable. And deep down, I think you both love it as much as I do! 

Living Life with Two Babes

Well...yes. Life is busy. It is beautiful, and tiresome and blessed. But also just busy. I am fortunate that my babies sleep when it's time to sleep at night. But during the day, it really is nonstop movement, energy and activities. 
I look back now, and I remember watching other people stroll around with their double strollers at the malls or parks and thought how overwhelming that seems. Well, now I am THAT mom. I am constantly trying to go to toddler activities during the day - park, library, pools, play dates, story time, gymnastics, etc. - to keep Anniston entertained. Yet at the same time I am always watching the clock to make sure that we don't cross over into Amelia's feeding time, Anniston's nap time, or lunch breaks. And also making sure the car is equipped with all the necessities - diapers, extra outfits, strollers, ergos carriers, my purse and snacks.  Seriously, mom's deserve A LOT of credit! We are constantly planning, organizing and on the go. Since when was I old enough to care for two babies!? Since when did I know how to take care of two babies at the same time? 

But...We are surviving. Thankfully. We are busy. But we are surviving. 

52:9 Amelia's Baptism

I Want to Remember 

Your Baptism 
You were baptized this weekend. It was a beautiful day and you were such an angel the entire weekend. We had a lot of family come up to show how much they love you. We felt so blessed because Father Tim was able to baptize you and he married your daddy and I almost 4 years ago today. I feel so comforted knowing that you are not only being loved by our hands, but by the hands of your loving family and God. 
God is Good. All the Time. 
All the Time. God is Good. 

Check Out Anniston's Project 52:9 by Clicking Here