dreaded 11 months

Oh no, the date marked on my calendar of 11 months with a sad face has come and gone (10 days ago actually).  I have NO idea where time is going, all I do know is that my brain has been extra foggy lately.  Most likely due to the fact that Abby is now 11 months, I'm planning her party, Mike and I are going away in less than a week for a whole week and there are about 1,000 things to get done on top of daily life. WOW! Let me say that this past month has been somewhat busy but most of all sick. Your sister has just bene sick. Flu bug, cough, more cough, fever, more cough.. thumb x-rays lol.  Girl has been a mess! You on the other hand have not been sick - you have been perfectly healthy.  Praise the Lord!

Lets see..
Abigail Hope
You laugh when I laugh.  You cry when babies cry.  You play with everything Mackenzie plays with. You have nursery dislike still (totally!), you love mommy and daddy.  You are totally fine with babysitters coming here and even new people!

Your favorite toys are blocks, the tea party silverware, window clings and toys with noise.  You love to chace balls around and throw them! You are now crawling on your knees and super fast.  You cruise around everything now and can get up and down on your own (no more getting stuck standing). You also just now can go from crawling to sitting up which is nice for playing and getting around too! You even went up about 2 stairs but you don't do that much.

Your in 12 months clothing and need to be in 12-18 month (even though there are 9 month clothes still in your dresser).  I find I am doing everything slower with you.. slower to pack things away, slower to get you going to the "next thing".  Seems I still think of you as a baby baby especially when I see what your sister was doing at this age and remember what she did next month! It seems so crazy to be almost done with bottles, get a big girl car seat, have you "identify" your body parts.... WHAT! You say a few words but its still hard to make out if you understand or not.  You say uh oh when something falls and wave bye (after the person is gone) when say diiiiiieee.  I think its your bye for now lol!

You love to be outside and often get mad when we come back in or shut the door.  You express yourself in tantrums already when you disapprove of something yikes! You totally know when we are being serious and telling you NO from something that is dangerous (mostly just the first place still and outlets).

Your schedule did not change at all with day light savings which is a good thing!  You are up between 5:30-6 still and eat a 7oz bottle, you take a nap at 9 and 1:30 and then go to bed between 6-7.  You sleep great for naps and I am realizing you will be an 11 hour at night baby which is totally fine.  Especially when you start to extend your awake time so you can be awake for longer than 3-4 hours :)

You have started to not want your bottles as much so I think transitioning to a sippy cup will be pretty easy.  You had more allergy testing done this month too and its looking like peanut, egg and milk are your big 3.  You had an in office test for milk and after about 1/2 an ounce you got some hives.  So we have an epipen and all these new formalities and instructions to follow closely.  Well probably just add some good calcium food to your diet and go to just water after your formula runs out!  That or we will try some coconut or almond milk.  Well see!  I am trying not to make this a bigger deal than it is ;)

Your month in pictures!

Your best friend even if you don't know that yet lol

Went to feed the ducks with Aunt Barb!

You love the wagon :)

Eating an apple with all your teeth - 6 now!!

Hmmm playing

All day.

Little did you know after this you'd have your first allergy tests on your back and a blood draw... no no no fun at all!!!

10.13 picking your first pumpkin!

Standing again!

Lainey & Abby time

Sisters <3

We tried... wayyyyyy too sunny!  

Your sister wore that same shirt and jacket 2 years ago for her first halloween <3

We had Papa's surprise birthday party!  Your Aunt, Uncle and all your cousins came in!  This is Jacqueline.  She's 3 weeks younger than you :)

Off to a halloween party..

Our bunny <3

More tests.. this time for Milk since borderline... yup hives and no milk for you! for now.. 

You two are hilarious.. 

After trick or treating and all you wanted was the candy in your mouth!

For your first halloween we had Nana, Grandma and Grandpa over!  We went out in the wagon to a few homes and you really liked being outside all nice and warm in  your fuzzy bunny outfit.  mackenzie is still sick so she's just NOT having it :) 

Love you girl.  Cant wait to see you grow this next month... I treasure each day with you and as you know you'll always be my baby <3 <3 

Mackenzie 2.5 years old!

Here's what the big 2 year old has been up to! (these are my random notes from month to month which clearly I was a bit busy and she did not get too many updates!!)

25m-- This month she liked to sit at counter to eat on the stool. Makes breakfast and lunch a lot easier for me! Abby is now in high hair so we can all be together.  This is when she began to really liked Sophia the first! 

26m-- she's really into cars book for nap and bedtime (finds Lightning McQueen and Doc), however she found the movie boring and was pretty done after 10 minutes! She loves her library book rubies rainbow, she still likes toy story & frozen movies the best! Tv-- Sophia the 1st (princess pia), she's totally into playing tea party still, playing with the potty!

27m-- lots of firsts this month- we had the Ivanhoe 4th of July party where she rode a pony, went on a mini Ferris wheel, swing ride for the first time, and saw fire works on July 3! Since she has been into the potty if she said she was going to go I'd bring her to potty - she went poop on the potty 2x,  potty trained in 2 days and was going 100% and now isn't at all! We think she was pushed too much so she's back in pull ups and we will try when she's interested again (right now it's a bit negative to her). She likes the phrase 'me do it or my do it and no I can't'. She also tells the house "don't worry house we'll be back" and then blows a kiss. Her favorite toy is wooden blocks to build trains or houses. Her favorite snack pretzels and humus.

28m --  You are so outgoing!  You walk up to kids anywhere we go and introduce yourself and want to play with them -- even when they are 10!  You love going to the park still and say "the other one" meaning not the one in our neighborhood lol You love to color and it keeps you entertained a bit more then normal.  You love to paint and I tend to say maybe tomorrow whoops! You are being more picky when eating so I am just not pushing it too much! This month she has shown us how independent she wants to be -- literally everything has to be done by her. Climbing into the car, turning on her light, helping get dressed, picking out her pants... makes the day a bit more challenging for mama but its OK. She still goes to bed at 7:30pm and sleeps till 6:30-7 with a good 1-3pm nap :) She liked to read library books at bed but this month switched to the rhyme Bible (which is amazing but she wants to flip every page ahhh and that takes a bit long). This month we went to the Chicago Botanic Gardens & the Dells.  You LOVED the slides and said one more time over and over again! You were so brave and did the semi big ones all by yourself.

Today you turned 2 and a half!  Wow! Its amazing to watch you grow, learn and just change so much.  Today you slept in till 7:15 (lately you are having a harder time with nap and bedtime - just crying over and over for another kiss *we give you a couple but then you have to figure it out*).  You were actually up in the middle of the night too which to us was SUPER weird. Its been literally a year since you have been AWAKE and not settled yourself in the middle of the night. Today for breakfast you had a waffle with peanut butter and syrup.We made a painting for fall, colored Sofia coloring pages and hung out together :) You napped well and we played with blocks after nap and a game of chase with Abby! Your sentences are full and understandable (for the most part!). You talk and repeat everything we say so we have to be fairly careful now :)
You like to be in charge of Abby which we are learning is only mom and dads job ;)

I asked you some of these and it was pretty funny to hear you have no idea what to say!

Nicknames: Kenzie, silly bug, Kenzie Joy

Weight: Somewhere around 30 pounds 

Height: 37 inches
Favorite color: When asked you said ummm Pink
Favorite animal: umm... giraffs
Book: Right now at bedtime we read pretty much a different book every night.  We have been doing themed weeks and changing books out frequently from the library.  You do go back to the Bible, Daddy Hugs, 'Parts' a bit.. 

TV show: When asked you said... ummm Larry Boy!  Its a Veggie Tales and Larry Boy is a Super hero lol You watch Sofia the First or Doc McStuffins the most.
Movie: You don't watch many now but id have to say Veggies has made a come back!
Song: You like Wheels on the Bus, ABC, Jesus Loves Me -- you also like to clarify music as mommy's or daddy's based on the sound hah!

Food: Waffles, peanut butter, fruit is still a hit! You are liking M&M's more (you get a special treat one time a day)
Drink: Milk and water, you had orange juice for the first time and liked it although I'm not sure your belly did!
Breakfast food: Waffles for sure! Homemade -which only happen when Daddy is home on weekends :)
Snack: She likes to ask for special treats after nap (chocolate lol) but day to day it is cheddar bunny crackers
Outfit: You don't show too much preference or fight us on this still hooray! You will say you like certain shirts when they are put on :)
Game: "Chase You" which means we run around the house and chase her.. and also get very tired!Now this involves pretending to be animals.
Toy: Blocks... build build build!
Best Friend: Daddy & Mommy & Abby! You LOVE seeing people out and about.  You still say hi to everyone!  You really enjoy when Baby Lainey Belle comes over <3
Thing to do: Pretend play (you are a princess or Doc a lot), blocks, PAINTING, coloring, playing with the tea party toys/food/kitchen, stickers
Your "skills":  You sing full songs, know your abcs, know your middle name, drink out of a cup well, can color better (in the lines), you learned how to pedal!!
Favorite things to do outside: You love to ride your bike (tricycle)!  You still enjoy the park but mostly just like to ride your bike around or go in the wagon
Favorite holiday: She gets excited for peoples birthdays, I'm sure Christmas will be a hit soon too!
What does she take to bed with her at night?: She has about 10 stuffed animals in her bed - pink teddy, baby, snowman, elephant, zebra, bear, valentines dog (puppy), olaf, another bear... sleeps with a pillow and blanket
Where is your favorite place to go?: Grocery Store, library, friends houses!
Favorite Restaurant: Doesn't really have one... enjoys any time out though ;) 

Love you Mackenzie Joy! <3

Mackenzie 27 (2.25 years!)

Here's what the big 2 year old has been up to! (these are my random notes from month to month which clearly I was a bit busy and she did not get too many updates!!)

25m-- This month she liked to sit at counter to eat on the stool. Makes breakfast and lunch a lot easier for me! Abby is now in high hair so we can all be together.  This is when she began to really liked Sophia the first! 

26m-- she's really into cars book for nap and bedtime (finds Lightning McQueen and Doc), however she found the movie boring and was pretty done after 10 minutes! She loves her library book rubies rainbow, she still likes toy story & frozen movies the best! Tv-- Sophia the 1st (princess pia), she's totally into playing tea party still, playing with the potty!

27m-- lots of firsts this month- we had the Ivanhoe 4th of July party where she rode a pony, went on a mini Ferris wheel, swing ride for the first time, and saw fire works on July 3! Since she has been into the potty if she said she was going to go I'd bring her to potty - she went poop on the potty 2x,  potty trained in 2 days and was going 100% and now isn't at all! We think she was pushed too much so she's back in pull ups and we will try when she's interested again (right now it's a bit negative to her). She likes the phrase 'me do it or my do it and no I can't'. She also tells the house "don't worry house we'll be back" and then blows a kiss. Her favorite toy is wooden blocks to build trains or houses. Her favorite snack pretzels and humus.

28m --  You are so outgoing!  You walk up to kids anywhere we go and introduce yourself and want to play with them -- even when they are 10!  You love going to the park still and say "the other one" meaning not the one in our neighborhood lol You love to color and it keeps you entertained a bit more then normal.  You love to paint and I tend to say maybe tomorrow whoops! You are being more picky when eating so I am just not pushing it too much! This month she has shown us how independent she wants to be -- literally everything has to be done by her. Climbing into the car, turning on her light, helping get dressed, picking out her pants... makes the day a bit more challenging for mama but its OK. She still goes to bed at 7:30pm and sleeps till 6:30-7 with a good 1-3pm nap :) She liked to read library books at bed but this month switched to the rhyme Bible (which is amazing but she wants to flip every page ahhh and that takes a bit long). This month we went to the Chicago Botanic Gardens & the Dells.  You LOVED the slides and said one more time over and over again! You were so brave and did the semi big ones all by yourself.

Today you turned 2 and a half!  Wow! Its amazing to watch you grow, learn and just change so much.  Today you slept in till 7:15 (lately you are having a harder time with nap and bedtime - just crying over and over for another kiss *we give you a couple but then you have to figure it out*).  You were actually up in the middle of the night too which to us was SUPER weird. Its been literally a year since you have been AWAKE and not settled yourself in the middle of the night. Today for breakfast you had a waffle with peanut butter and syrup.We made a painting for fall, colored Sofia coloring pages and hung out together :) You napped well and we played with blocks after nap and a game of chase with Abby! Your sentences are full and understandable (for the most part!). You talk and repeat everything we say so we have to be fairly careful now :)
You like to be in charge of Abby which we are learning is only mom and dads job ;)

I asked you some of these and it was pretty funny to hear you have no idea what to say!

Nicknames: Kenzie, silly bug, Kenzie Joy

Weight: Somewhere around 30 pounds 

Height: 37 inches
Favorite color: When asked you said ummm Pink
Favorite animal: umm... giraffs
Book: Right now at bedtime we read pretty much a different book every night.  We have been doing themed weeks and changing books out frequently from the library.  You do go back to the Bible, Daddy Hugs, 'Parts' a bit.. 

TV show: When asked you said... ummm Larry Boy!  Its a Veggie Tales and Larry Boy is a Super hero lol You watch Sofia the First or Doc McStuffins the most.
Movie: You don't watch many now but id have to say Veggies has made a come back!
Song: You like Wheels on the Bus, ABC, Jesus Loves Me -- you also like to clarify music as mommy's or daddy's based on the sound hah!

Food: Waffles, peanut butter, fruit is still a hit! You are liking M&M's more (you get a special treat one time a day)
Drink: Milk and water, you had orange juice for the first time and liked it although I'm not sure your belly did!
Breakfast food: Waffles for sure! Homemade -which only happen when Daddy is home on weekends :)
Snack: She likes to ask for special treats after nap (chocolate lol) but day to day it is cheddar bunny crackers
Outfit: You don't show too much preference or fight us on this still hooray! You will say you like certain shirts when they are put on :)
Game: "Chase You" which means we run around the house and chase her.. and also get very tired!Now this involves pretending to be animals.
Toy: Blocks... build build build!
Best Friend: Daddy & Mommy & Abby! You LOVE seeing people out and about.  You still say hi to everyone!  You really enjoy when Baby Lainey Belle comes over <3
Thing to do: Pretend play (you are a princess or Doc a lot), blocks, PAINTING, coloring, playing with the tea party toys/food/kitchen, stickers
Your "skills":  You sing full songs, know your abcs, know your middle name, drink out of a cup well, can color better (in the lines), you learned how to pedal!!
Favorite things to do outside: You love to ride your bike (tricycle)!  You still enjoy the park but mostly just like to ride your bike around or go in the wagon
Favorite holiday: She gets excited for peoples birthdays, I'm sure Christmas will be a hit soon too!
What does she take to bed with her at night?: She has about 10 stuffed animals in her bed - pink teddy, baby, snowman, elephant, zebra, bear, valentines dog (puppy), olaf, another bear... sleeps with a pillow and blanket
Where is your favorite place to go?: Grocery Store, library, friends houses!
Favorite Restaurant: Doesn't really have one... enjoys any time out though ;) 

Love you Mackenzie Joy! <3

The Big 10

Its 5:15 and I hear you moving/kicking the side of your crib.. and by 5:30 your talking away but I hear the sounds of frustration creeping in.  I can't blame you since you were sleeping for the night by 5:50 - yikes! I have a habit of not getting you/feeding you a bottle until 6 but today is an exception!  I can't ask you to go more than 12 hours without eating so by 5:40 I am there to rescue you :)

You have been sleeping better lately and we have a good routine but these past days have been harder with teeth (#5 came through today!) and a cold (from your sister who is already over it but yours is lingering..)

Ten {short} 'long' months have come and gone!  You are so different than that tiny newborn I swear you were yesterday.  You grew so much this month.  You are babbling a bunch more (mostly dada) and all you want to do is stand all day!  You like to stand on the window sill and look out at whats happening in the neighborhood (they started to build the house behind us and you like the trucks/dirt).  You like when I hold your hands and you just bounce and stand.  You are exploring the house on your own a lot more too!  You really like plugs and we have had to reallllly start to say no.  You like the air vents and checking out the floor boards.  I think you realized you can crawl to were you want to go but often get tired of belly crawling to and fro then complain lol 

You like your sisters toys the best and most always want to join her in building blocks (which she is building "castles" and "kingdoms" that she doesn't want knocked down) so you both are learning to share.  We are determining the best time for sharing the blocks vs letting her build and you play separate.  You like her doctor toys too.  You also are beginning to like the table to stand next to and you love any type of ball we have!  You will spot it across the room and go get it quickly and then proceed to follow it throughout the house as you try and grab it.  You dislike very much to be in any type of "bouncer" and just want to explore.  

You are a very good eater!  You are eating just straight finger foods.  Trying to get you to eat a variety but so far we can't do any dairy / you slightly broke out with peanut butter and you threw up eggs. SO we will have to see what happens but I want to think you'll grow out of it.  Going to have to follow up with the Dr soon to see what we need to do.  You have four bottles a day 6, 11, 3, 6 and still go down between 6-6:30 at night.  Naps are 9 & 1 mostly and still trying to figure out the best amount of time so you'll actually sleep longer at night :) 

This month you got a bump on your chin & ate a bandaid that was on it (a small one).  You were fine and it came right out the next day!  You took a spill down some stairs too ;( that was scary and so not fun!  Thank God you are fine and nothing was wrong (a small red spot on  your cheek that didn't even bruise). Praise God that you didn't get more hurt and I am thankful for Gods & friends comfort during that time! 

Here are some pictures this month! I swear you have gained a pound of two and are taller than 9 months.  I may try and measure you myself to see :) 

A day in the park with Nana & Papa

Stealing toys already Abigail... 

Girl likes food.

Thursdays have turned into barb & grandma days!! This meant M and I got to do gymboree and now a music class ;) Thankful!

Abby did not love this. hah!

Church together a lot this month.. thankful for the nursery & the online app!

Why so serious?!

Happy Baby <3

So, you rolled over from sitting and bumped your chin. It was bleeding a bit and not stopping after I tried to put pressure on it (which you hated) and then a bandaid worked!  Later you were eating dinner... it was all gone but you were chewing/kinda coughing and we realized you ate the bandaid! YIKES! Not sure how that stayed in your mouth and that you did not immediately spit it out.  Dr said to just keep an eye out for it which we did and saw it a few days later ;) Figured this would be a story I would want to remember when your older.

Water play with some gelatin fish :)

Teepee fun!

Blankets nice and cozy :) 

So big ! Loving to stand and not quite cruising yet!

<3 you!