Cuddlebug is 2 months!

Her smirk.

Starting to talk.

Laughing. Too cute!

It is hard to believe this little angel has been here for two months already! Smiles are plentiful and big, as is the beginnings of laughter. Kayden has been such a joyful addition to our family. What is there not to love when you walk in to get her in the morning and she smiles at you with her tongue sticking out and then begins to talk to you?! Last night, Kelly and I talked to her for a good 15 minutes before she got tired of the conversation. It is appearing as though she will be a talker much like big sister - a trait they didn't get from their daddy.

Highlights of the past month:
* LOVES to be swaddled. We bought the "miracle blanket" for her. It isn't so much a miracle, but I am a horrible swaddler and this blanket makes it super easy. She takes all her naps in it (or in the moby wrap) and sleeps all night in it. She is sleeping 8 hours in a row (amazing!) so I'm not changing anything!!

* Continues to be an angel at Little Gym, playdates, and shopping. Everyone always comments about how she's sleeping. I keep telling them that she loves the wrap. Of course she loves it. She is snuggled next to her mom for frequent kisses and protected from big sister!

* She has started talking. I can honestly say I don't remember this phase with Keeley. Kayden will coo and gurgle with you like she's really having a conversation. If you sing to her, she sings back. Sometimes, she'll pause and look very seriously at you while taking a deep breath. It is almost as if she is working up to launch into a long speech. I'm loving every minute of it (even when those minutes are at 5:30 am).

* Still in love with big sister. This is beyond all explanation to me as Keeley isn't exactly gentle and is very interested in pointing (read: poking) body parts and helping place (read: shoving) her pacifier in her mouth. Despite all that, Kayden smiles at Keeley and follows her with her eyes as Keeley entertains us all.

I'm just in love with her. Her stats from the doctor:
weight: 12 lb 15 oz (90%)
length: 23 1/2 inches (85%)

The appointment was SO sad. I hate the shots so much. Kayden was a trooper though and did great. Dr. Frank said Kayden looked just perfect. We agree!

Diapers, diapers, diapers everywhere

Keeley has become quite the handful with diaper changes. She no longer wants to escape (a problem we had for a while). She wants to do it. She sits up, wipes, wants to put the diaper on....etc. When I took Kayden to her two month appointment, Keeley practiced her skills on her babies with Oma.

Look at her concentration here.
Maybe a few more than the puppy needed...
Keeley's turn!

All Smiles

Not that I'm biased or anything, but I have the cutest kids ever. Kayden was being quite the ham for her Oma when she came up last night. I only wish she'd been as smiley when we'd gone to get her announcement pictures made...

Here she is before the walk. Keeley insisted she wear a hat. Kayden doesn't seem to mind.

High Fashion

At Old Navy last weekend we stocked up on super clearance items for the girls. Because we had both of them with us while we were shopping, it was more of a "grab and go" shopping spree. When we got home, I dumped all the clothes on the floor to sort and decide if we were really going to keep everything. Keeley, of course, decided to help. She took off her top and carefully picked out another one to put on. Then she put her original shirt back on - and two more. Then she moved on to bottoms. She added a pair of shorts and a skirt to her ensemble.

After all the fashion planning, she decided to give her puppy a ride.

Then she decided to ride with her puppy. It was quite a site to watch her try to straddle this little car in a straight skirt.

And then the sunglasses and red car came out. Again, you should be impressed that she climbed in the car in a straight skirt!

Highlights from last week

I'm falling behind on the posting! My little ones are keeping me exceptionally busy from 6:30 in the morning until 8:30 at night. By 8:30, I'm just too tired to write. Sorry to anyone that keeps checking only to see that I haven't updated. This is a bit long to catch up on the happenings at our house.

My grandparents came to meet Kayden last week and we enjoyed two full days with them. Unfortunately, I didn't snap as many pictures as I should have. Here is Kayden's first meeting with her Grosspapa. She really, really loved him. Almost instantly she would calm down when he was holding her. He even got her to nap in her crib - a major accomplishment! She sleeps great there at night but not so much during the day...
Here is Keeley teaching her Grossmama how the straps of the carseat get tucked in before the baby gets inside. She is preparing to put her duck in. Grossmama got to help Keeley put her duck and baby in and out of the car seat and pink chair many, many times over the course of the two days. Keeley is in just her diaper because that is all we could convince her to wear after skinny dipping in Mom's pool. Actually, I'm not sure if she was truly skinny dipping. She was wearing a hat and sunglasses - but that is it!
Sweet Kayden. Totally worn out from all the activity. She fell asleep eating when I got home. I moved her to the bassinet in her boppy so as not to disturb her.

This is Friday at Little Gym. Do you notice the baby? Baby goes EVERYWHERE with Keeley. In fact, I let her play in the shower Monday after being outside and baby had to go in there too. Good thing my mother-in-law planned well and bought a machine washable one!
Keeley was watching me take off my oh so sad toe nail polish on Saturday. It was really, really sad. The last time I had them polished was at a pedicure when I was 38 weeks pregnant. Kayden is 8 weeks old (8 weeks old!!! I can't believe that she's been here that long!). Eight weeks is too long to neglect your toes! Anyway, Keeley was fascinated. I asked if she wanted me to paint her toes and she said yes. She even sat still for me to do both feet. If you've seen her in action, you know that is a big deal!

Keeley found my nursing wrap and put it on so she could feed her baby. Baby is under there of course. She is strapped on like usual. Keeley even naps with the baby strapped on. Now that is true attachment parenting!
On Monday we had to take Kayden to the doctor. Keeley is, like most kids, obsessed with Mom's sunglasses. Our wonderful nurse saw Keeley opening my sunglasses in a not so gentle manner (the same way she did when the first pair broke...) and offered her these sunglasses. Keeley actually handed mine back to me. I suppose my boring brown ones simply don't compete with these pink flowered ones!

Sweetest Cuddlebug

Big sister may steal the show a bit at this point so I wanted to make sure to post some pictures and updates on Kayden. She is doing amazingly well. Sleep is still a priority to her and she spends the majority of the day sleeping. Here is a picture of her while I was working out. She passed out in the swing while home with Daddy.

At first the daytime sleeping worried me because I was afraid she'd be up all night, but she has been sleeping 6-8 hours in a row at night. I certainly couldn't ask for better than that!!

This is her nightly bath. Kelly and I enjoy getting to spend some quality time with her once Keeley has gone down. She really seems to enjoy her baths and gives us lots of smiles, coos, and wide eyed stares.

It doesn't show up great in this picture, but she has the CUTEST tufts of hair when she wakes up or finishes nursing. We love them.

Here she is with big smiles for Daddy and the pink chair toys. She is so sweet.

There is a peace and stillness about Kayden that Keeley never had. Big sister takes the the world full steam ahead. Some might even say with reckless abandon. She was that way from day one. It will be interesting to see how Kayden is once she starts moving. I have a feeling she will be a much more vicarious learner than Keeley! Of course, she will get plenty of opportunities to learn from the crazy antics of big sis.

Just like Mom...and Dad

I spend most of my time wearing Kayden. It is the easiest thing to do with two kiddos. Kayden is safe this way from Keeley and I still have both hands free to play with Keeley and pick her up. Keeley wanted to do this as well yesterday after her nap.
Is she not the cutest ever?! She wanted to "wear" her new baby doll like I wear Kayden.


Eating a snack with her baby. Look how sweet she is with her arm wrapped around the doll.

After this, we cleaned fruit and read books with her baby still strapped on. Then, I went to nurse Kayden and this is what happened.She is naked from the fruit washing. I'm quite certain that she got as clean as the fruit. She brought me a nursing pad and said "help". So I helped her unwrap it and stick it on. She and the baby walked around like that for a while!

Sunday, we had gone to Mom's to swim and let Keeley burn off some of her afternoon energy. Once Kelly was outside, she insisted on sitting on the side and kicking her feet - just like Dad.

True Love

Today at lunch I asked Keeley if the cracker she was chewing was good. She quickly opened her mouth and handed me some partially chewed food. What more could a mom ask for?!

6 weeks!

Kayden is six weeks old today! She is so very sweet. Apparently, Kelly and I just have loud children. Keeley cried a lot and Kayden grunts ALL the time! Last night, we kicked her out of our room and all three of us slept better! She has been enjoying lots of time in the moby wrap. When she isn't in her wrap, she is in her pink bouncy chair or on the floor watching Keeley. Keeley loves to dance for her, give her kisses, and lay down next to her. There has only been one incident that involved a toddler's shoe and an infant's face! Here are some pictures of my sweet baby.

Look at her chins! She likes to eat.

Sweet face - even with the baby acne.

First smile captured. She's been smiling for a long time though.

Toddler Antics

Everyone from friends to family to the lactation consultant at the hospital told me that I should make sure I nursed Kayden some place safe for Keeley to play. A couple of people suggested that I have a "busy box" of toys for her that she only played with when Kayden was eating. One of my friends even made me said busy box.

My "safe" location has changed in the six short weeks since Kayden joined our family. We were in my bedroom - until Keeley learned to move the step stool around and started climbing on the bed while I was nursing. Then we were in the living room - until Keeley learned to pull the kitchen chairs out and climb on them by herself.

Today I thought we would nurse in Kayden's room with the door closed. The first time we tried this, Keeley pulled Kayden's swing down on top of her and cried. The second time we tried, Keeley became obsessed with the monitor in Kayden's room. In the short 10 minutes that I fed Kayden, Keeley managed to unplug it and then, with much concentration, plug it back in. Somehow I feel that my toddler shouldn't be playing near the electrical outlets while I try to feed her sister!

I'm not sure what our next "safe" space will be!

"da"

Keeley has learned to point. I know, she's a little late. For a long time, she's been holding her hand toward things and saying "ooh ooh ooh" when she wanted it. I guess we said "you want that" a lot. So, with the newly acquired skill of pointing, we also get "da" for "that". She says it 50 million times a day. I swear that both her pointer fingers are permanently extended. She says "da" as she points at whatever it is she sees. If you don't respond quickly enough, it turns into "ooh ooh ooh" and then to foot stomping and crying.

Here she is pointing at something behind me.


Here she is pointing at something in the water.

The endless pointing and "da" wears everyone out - even little Kayden.

2 under 2

Am I tired? Absolutely. I am beyond completely exhausted. Is it hard to have two babies at home? A lot of the time, yes. Do I miss having time with just Kelly? Yes. Would I have done it any other way? Absolutely not.

We wanted our girls close together and that is what we got. We knew that we'd be in for a rough couple of sleepless years. We were okay with that. Some one told me today that I seem to have a great attitude and that there is a light at the end of the tunnel (her kids are close together too). Truthfully, I don't feel like I'm in a tunnel. To say I live in a tunnel would be to imply that I was trying to escape. Escaping my life is the last possible thing on my mind!

Day by day, I realize that we are getting close to things being "easier". I, by no means, wish to imply that parenting ever gets easier. However, I realize life is bound to be easier when we get more sleep. Each day that passes, Kayden gets closer to sleeping through the night. I'll get my precious sleep back. But at what cost? My littlest baby will be one day closer to going to school, college...

I try very hard to remember each day that it doesn't matter if we all sleep too little, cry too much, and spill too many things. All that really matters is that we have another day together as a family. When the goal for the day is to make it through and appreciate that you have each other, it really helps put life in perspective and re-frames your expectations for the day.

While I may miss things like uninterrupted sleep and late night movies, I certainly don't miss my life before Keeley and Kayden. They have blessed our lives and my experience of living beyond measure. Watching them grow, loving them, watching them love each other...those are the priceless gems of parenthood.

How can sleep seem that important when you have these blessings to enjoy every day?!

Worn out! Still napping after Mom woke up.

Snuggles with Dad.

Two pairs of sunglasses - inside the house.

No pictures please.