Pinterest Worthy Wall Collage?

A few weeks ago my mom took the older kids so I had 3 days without Marissa and Dylan.  I took full advantage of my time with just Leila. We did lots of cuddling, napping and we happened to be pretty productive, too! My main goal was to get Leila's birth announcements ordered and create a wall collage of all 3 of my babies. I am pretty happy with how it turned out. I have an iris for Marissa and a rose for Leila. All that is missing is a porcelain shoe for Leila with her birth information on it. I happen to think this is pinterest worthy, so I'm adding it to my pins in hopes of inspiring someone else to get those baby photos off of your hard drive and onto a wall in your house!

Marissa is 3!

How has it been three years since I gave birth to the most beautiful little girl in the world?  She is such a sweet, caring, one of a kind sweet heart. Love her to pieces!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Marissa. We love you!!

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

My beautiful baby girl.  She is going to do big things!

Big Girl Bed

On January 9th we transitioned Marissa's crib into a toddler bed.  The transition was surprisingly smooth.  She wasn't trying to climb out of her crib but we thought she might be ready for a big girl bed.  I know some parents make a big reveal with a new bed and really play up the "big kid" thing, but Marissa actually helped Daddy unscrew her crib and put the safety rail up.  Once the bed was together she immediately jumped right in and tried it out for size.

Doesn't she look thrilled?

Giving Teddy some kisses

Of course she had to jump on the bed to test it out. 

::Sniff, sniff:: She looks so grown up. :(

All tucked in and ready for her first night in her new bed.

She only got up a few times the first night.  She is used to sleeping on a mat at daycare, so she had an idea of what to do.  The next morning she did come out of her room a little earlier than when she normally wakes up.  Luckily, I was already awake and heard her come out.  We decided to put a child safety knob on the inside of her door so that she can't wander about the house while we are sleeping.  While we've done a pretty good job at baby proofing the house, I still don't feel comfortable with her roaming around without us knowing.  

She is also waking at least once in the night to go potty, so I think she is getting close to being ready for underwear at bedtime.  She is growing up so fast.  My little girl is not so little anymore. 

Kiss the Pretty Girl

Every night Danny and I try to put Marissa to bed together (as long as Danny isn't traveling).  We have a little routine; one gives a bath, one dresses her, the other brushes teeth, etc. etc. Once she is all set and ready for bed, we let her "kiss the pretty girl" in the mirror on her wall.  She gets so excited to kiss the pretty girl.  Sure, we may be making her a little conceited, or maybe we are making her into a confident, beautiful little girl.  Time will tell...but that's besides the point.  She loves kissing the pretty girl.  She puckers up her little lips and smooches the pretty girl in the mirror.  Then she gives me and Daddy each a kiss.  We lie her in her bed, and put two blankets on her, tell her sweet dreams and I love you's before turning out the lights.  One day I will miss these moments.  I will miss her innocence and girly, toddler laughter.  I will miss tucking her in and wishing her sweet dreams.  

Dylan's night time routine still consists of me nursing him and then putting him to bed while Danny keeps Marissa occupied and somewhat quiet.  I can't wait to see what kind of routine he comes up with and what kind of memories we make.

I guess sometimes you never outgrow those rituals from growing up.  Danny tucks me in every night and gives me a good night kiss.  Ever since we started dating and still to this day, he tucks me in.  It's something I look forward to each night and I can't sleep until it's done.  He's so good to me.

Christmas Photo Shoot

I attempted to get some pictures of the kids dressed up in their Christmas outfits.  It was mostly a fail but I did get a few that were Christmas card worthy. Well, they were Christmas card worthy for us...maybe not for others.  These two, along with a family photo were on our Christmas cards this year.

This was as close to a smile as we were going to get that day.

Dylan usually hams it up for the camera, but I guess he was feeling all serious in his man suit. 

And this is what a typical photo shoot at our house looks like...

Marissa looked so pretty in her dress.  She kept saying she was a Princess. 

Toddlers walking in the camera view...

They kept fighting over the chair, so I tried putting them in it together. Fail!

Mr. Lashes. He looked so handsome in his suit.

Attempting a photo shoot with Danny helping is hard enough so I'm not sure why I decided to try it by myself.  Oh wait, that's what two cups of coffee before lunch will do to me.  I get all hyped up and have these elaborate photo shoots in my head of gorgeous photos, kids that cooperate and the perfect Christmas card of our family.  Then I realize I haven't eaten, I start to get shaky, sweaty, feeling sick to my stomach and throw in the towel.  Live and learn.

"Where's My Teddy?"

We had a situation the other day.

Teddy went missing.

There were lots of tears.

It was traumatic for all involved.

For anyone that doesn't know "Teddy" he is Marissa's pink teddy bear lovey.  He has made appearances in our family Christmas cards, he is a requirement for bed time and he makes the world a better place.

Saturday night he went missing.  I knew he was at home during nap time and we left the house that day to go to the parade around 3:00.   So we lost Teddy in about an hour span of Marissa waking up from her nap and us leaving the house.  I knew that Teddy didn't come with us because Marissa was asking for him in the car on the way to town.  We arrived back home past bedtime and we couldn't find him...anywhere.

So we tried to put her to bed without Teddy.

Never.again.

She cried, and not just little I want my Teddy cries.  They were big, sad, I need my Teddy tears.  Heart.breaking.  Danny ran over to his parent's house to get a replacement teddy that they have at their house.  He's not pink, he has arms that Teddy doesn't have, but he has a rattle in his head.  I thought for sure, if I keep the lights off, she would fall for it.  I walked in her room, gave him a little shake and her cries stopped.  "My Teddddy!" she exclaimed.  She grabbed him from me, stuck her thumb in her mouth and put teddy up to her face like she always does.  Yes!  It worked, I thought to myself.  Then, she quickly pulled him away and as clear as day said "Not my Teddy!"

Listen folks...you can't out smart a 2 year old and her lovey.

So at 10:00 PM Marissa got out of bed and we searched for Teddy some more.  With no luck.  I was finally able to get her to go to sleep after many tears and asking "Where's my Teddy?"

After she dozed off, I got on ebay to look for a new Teddy.  This Teddy that was once bought from Target for $7.99 new was being sold for $30+ on ebay.  Can you believe that people are actually buying baby lovey's knowing that one day a desperate mom will need a replacement in a pinch?  Well, that's my theory, at least.

Fortunately, I was able to find a like new but used replacement for much, much less!  And an August Mom friend has been so kind to also send another Teddy replacement.  We will never, ever run into this debacle again.

I woke up Sunday morning a bit sad that Marissa's beloved Teddy that she has had since birth was gone.  I was bound and determined to find him.  I searched and searched and finally I found him behind a box of cloth diapers in Dylan's closet.  I'm not even sure how she got him in there, but alas, Teddy was found and all was right in the world.  She was so happy to be reunited with him and kept thanking me for finding her Teddy.

See, there still are happy endings in the world!  This is the life of being a mom and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Army Crawl

I can't believe that Dylan is almost 9 months old.  He has become quite the army crawler and he is quick!  Marissa had a book on the floor yesterday and he scooted right over to it before she could even think to take it away from him.

Did you know that your second child grows faster than your first child?

It's a fact.

I look back on pictures of Marissa at 9 months old and it seems like it was just yesterday.  How is Dylan already cruising to 9 months?  I know that in 15 years I am going to look back on these days and they will feel like a blink of an eye.

Marissa has lost most of her "baby" look.  She's turning into a little girl.  A little girl that adores her daddy, a little girl with spunk and a little fire in her blood.  She can go from sweet to a raging lunatic in .5 seconds flat. She's at an age where words are not always her first choice of communication; kicking and screaming are often a first reaction when something isn't going her way.  But she's beautiful, inside and out.  She's our little girl that stole our hearts and made us into a family.

As Dylan approaches 9 months he is letting more and more of his little personality shine through.  I remember the early weeks with him when he would grunt and moan while falling asleep.  He wouldn't cry a lot, but the grunting soon became a normal noise for our house.  At first it drove me crazy, I couldn't sleep with all the grunting but soon enough it became a normalcy just like the click clack of the dogs pacing the halls.  Dylan is one of the happiest babies I've ever seen.  When he smiles, it goes all the way to his eyes.  I love seeing that gummy, toothless smile.  He is such a joy and I love waking up to see him smiling and clapping to see me.  The grunting still hasn't stopped, now instead of grunting himself to sleep he plays a game with Danny where they grunt at each other.  They are just like two old grumpy men!  He's a momma's boy and if he wants something he will let you know it.

I'm truly blessed to have not one, but two beautiful, healthy children.

 

Marissa's Minnie Mouse Party

We had such a great time at Marissa's 2nd birthday party, despite the rain and cramming a ton of people in our little house.  We had lots of yummy food and Marissa was so spoiled by her friends and family.

One and Two year comparison

DIY Decorations

Favor bags.  The babies (under 1) got a Mickey or Minnie bib and a board book.  The older kids (over 1) got a Mickey coloring book, crayons, a board book and gold fish. :)

Cupcakes I made.  They got a little dried out, so I need to figure out how to prevent that in the future.  They were only out for a few hours during the party but I was definitely disappointed that they got dry.  At least they looked pretty, right!?

Danny's kegerator decoration

I made an "adult" Minnie Mouse Cocktail.  It was super delicious!  I had actually pinned a recipe similar to this on Pinterest and made some modifications:

1 Large bottle of Pinot Grigio

1 Frozen Pink Lemonade Can

3.5 cups Sprite

Serve with an ice cube with a raspberry frozen inside

I had planned for these centerpieces to go on the tables outside but since it rained I just put them around the drink station and the pass through where all the food was kept.

Miss Minnie!

Marissa (2 years) and Dylan (8 months)

I never knew there were so many Minnie Mouse toys, I hope she doesn't outgrow Minnie anytime soon!

Singing Happy Birthday!