:: chatty girl : skating : sister love ::

It was so fun when Lillian started 'chatting' or her baby babble.. one of my favorite things!  Her faces are the best.

 It didn't take her long to love the infamous Sophie.

 totally normal!  Iz got so excited about wearing her swimsuit, that she just walked out back in it and was ready to go play with her neighbors.

 We went to our neighbors birthday party at the skating rink for Izzy girl's first skating experience.. she seemed to love it!  I hadn't been skating in years, but it all came back to me once I got on the rink {I used to love skating parties}!

 Iz was so cute, dancing out there with dad.. it's hard to tell from this picture, but she was moving her arms up and down with the music.

 Isabelle just giving Lillian some love...

 talking to her and trying to hold her..

I had a friend ask me to embroider some towels as a gift for someone and I thought the towels were fun so thought I would share!

Lillian at 2 months!

Yummy smoothie that started our day, which consisted of frozen mixed berries {strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries}, frozen cherries {about 5.. our new addition- did you know they are good for your joints?! Total bonus for runners! And other aging bones of course :)}, small frozen banana, 1 kiwi, handful of washed spinach, 1/2 scoop vanilla Juice Plus+ powder {or protein powder of your choice} + about 16 oz of water.. blend.. drink.. ahhh.

I was so anxious to go to the doc and see your stats.. here they are!

Height: 24 inches 96%

Weight: 15 lbs 8 oz >97% {off the charts}

Head Circumference: 40 cm 80%

 ~you are so big, little girl, wearing size 2 diapers

~wearing 6 month and some 3-6 month clothing but not for long.. moved to some 6-9 month onesies shortly after these pics were taken.. pretty sure that's the last time you wore that onesie {hence how tight the button is being pulled in the diaper region}

~you are eating about 5oz of milk

~you slept from 8:30-5 which was amazing and had some other good 5-6 hour stretches during the night
~you have started to make little smiles.. too bad we didn't get one in any of these pics!

~you hold your head up really well and are very strong

~you love baths and the water

~you are such a huggable, squeezable babe and I love all your rolls!
~you like to lay on the play mat and look at everything above you

~you still take most of your naps in the bouncer or swing, but soon to be in your crib!

~your naps started to vary in length, but usually about 3 hours still {miss those days! {as I write this 2 months later}}

~love that sleepy face

and you holding your hands together.

~at your doc appointment!

~another good snooze pic.. back when you took a bink.. and fell asleep like that!

~I have been calling you doodle bug, love bug, chunky {in a lovable way}, Lillian {imagine that}, Lil, my little.

I feel like there should be so much more, but to be honest, a 2 month old still sleeps a lot and there isn't much action.. I will say we love you so much and are so thankful to have you as a part of our family.  We can't wait to watch you grow and change and see how much you will look like your big sister Isabelle.. we are also very excited for you two to be best friends as you grow up!

Izzy girl at 28 months + the big girl bed!!

I don't even know if people say months after they turn 2, but oh well!  

Okay, I this is awesome, I was laughing out loud when I was reading them:  'top 10 ways you know your little babe is transitioned into a toddler', they are all so true, it's unbelievable!  Felicity Huffman was on ellen and talking about her blog so I had to check it out, she has recipes {she made a delicious sounding cocktail on the show called 'the coco snowball', I guess it's technically a "winter" drink, but I would still have one now!}, parenting advice + all sorts of stuff- highly recommend!

On to my little/big girl...

Look at you Izzy girl, you are so big!  The last time you tried to ride that tricycle, you couldn't reach the pedals and now you run circles around the place!  I almost teared when I saw you come around the corner on it all by yourself!  You just amaze me every day with how 'big' you are, I forget that I have a 2 year old because you are so chatty and smart, it's like I'm dealing with a 4-5 yr old almost.. well, until you have one of your little fits about taking a nap or not getting something you want, then there is my 2 yr old ;)!  What is going on with you..

~wearing size 2T, some 3T, but still some 24 month pants, the shirts are getting a bit short

~size 7 shoe

~you pick out all your clothes, from your undies to your socks and get dressed on your own.. you put your pants on by yourself and try to do your shirts, but need a little assistance with them

~you had your first haircut, started wearing big girl underwear and sleep in a big girl bed.. so many big milestones!

~you sleep from about 8 to 7:30-8 and take a nap from around 1/1:30-3/4.. just depends on the day.

~you go to the potty by yourself now which is huge, you walk in the bathroom, hoist yourself up on the toilet {without your potty, you seem to think you are already too big for that already}, wipe and get off and flush, then walk out.. it's pretty awesome for mom and dad!

~you love to play with kids, babies/dolls, strollers, grocery carts (especially at Trader Joe's and the new Dillon's, "I want to push my own cart"), be outside (all the time!), play doh, puzzles (you can put pieces together on your own, which amazes me every time), coloring, going to the gym, dancing, gymnastics, helping mom or dad make a 'juice', help cook, see/watch everything

~some of your favorite movies are "Ice Age", "Madagascar" {you love the 'rezbra', Marty}, "Buzz and Woody" {what  you call "Toy Story"} and you still like to watch Elmo, and are newly into the Bert and Ernie section.

~you have a love for princesses! You have princess shoes and a book that has all of the princess, which you can name and put them where they go on their outline all by yourself (I was just mouth open watching you do it without my help, you even told me when I was wrong!)

~you have been eating so well and will eat pretty much everything dad and I eat, which I love.. I mean, you eat quinoa w/veggies, rice, veggie pizza, black beans, hummus, carrots, energy balls, yogurt, and of course other things that are more 'kid foods'.. fruit snacks {you say, 'snoot snacks' and I love it}, mac+cheese, pb+j, cheese quesadilla, applesauce, cottage cheese, animal crackers, O's, all dried fruits just like your mom :), suckers, 'nummies', which includes m&m's and other little pieces of candy that we don't have often and are more of a treat.. I could go on, but you get the idea.

~you love to get your own water from the fridge and drink out of 'big girl cups'.. you also love juice, but little secret, I put half water in all of them.. just so it's not as concentrated and you don't get addicted to that super sugary taste ;).

~you say, "I love you so much" and give the best + biggest squeezes before bed now, I love it.. we also have our kiss and a nose kiss, love those too.

~you still love to read books and have memorized exactly what is on the pages of a lot of your books, so you end up reading to us a lot of the time.. no more of you on my lap, with me reading to you, you have to sit next to me {tear} and be in charge of the books.

~you still have some of the same nicknames: love bug, booger, Izzy girl {so cute when you say it}, turkey, monkey.. and you can say your full name, you say, "I'm Isabelle Jeffrey Wilson" {which is also very cute the way you say it}

~you are so anxious to go to school, you say it often.. you even asked me the other day where your high school was.. I was kind of surprised you even knew about high school!

I know there is so much more that you are up to, but I'm sure that I've written about it in single posts and don't want to totally bore anyone with more words {there are already a lot!}.. so I'm going to end with, you are an amazing little girl, you surprise me every day with something new you are doing or saying, you are such a goof ball and make us laugh all the time.  You are one of my favorite people to have a conversation with and I think that's pretty cool.  I am so excited to watch you and Lillian grow up together, you already are a great big sister + helper.  Love you so much!!

Big girl bed!!  We had been talking to Isabelle for awhile about her big girl bed and she eventually got excited and ready to sleep in her bed.. she got to help get her sheets and pick out her comforter (not in this picture, we didn't have it yet).  She talks about and tells everyone how she sleeps in a big girl bed now- pretty cute.  We had a friend give us the idea of putting swim noodles under the fitted sheet instead of buying the railing to help her from falling out, seems to work!  AND, she doesn't get out of bed in the morning (hallelujah!), she calls for us, "mom, I'm up, mommy!".. we told her that's what she should do, but I think her bed is a little high for her so she's afraid to get out on her own, not that she is that well behaved ;).  I definitely got sad looking at her new bed in her room, just another chapter closed and a new one open.. goes too fast.  I guess that's why you have more!

It's so weird to turn on the camera and see this now.. I almost can't even see her when I used to just see her whole body laying in her crib.. we need to find a new spot for the camera.  She is still getting used to having a pillow because she pushes it out of the way and sleeps flat a lot of the time... that would be hard to get used to.

Look at that little scrunched face.. love.

more scrunched sleep faces :).. on Aunt Betsy.

Hello!

Jacob brought the swing out of storage and I'm so glad, she loves it {and we have another spot to put her}!

'The Thinker'

This just made me smile because Lillian seems to be thinking just like Mickey.

:: 2 wk doc appt + first bath ::

Poor thing, I had just gotten her to sleep and then we had to take her out and strip her down to be weighed and measured, so then I had to feed her again while waiting for the doc.. look at that face (not mine, please.. so terrible!).

Got her asleep again and then this.. it's a never ending cycle!

Our little girl checked out great, she is just big!  She had grown an inch (22.3", 96%) and gained almost 2 lbs! (10 lb 8 oz, 97%) and head circumference was 37.3cm, 75%.  Our doctor said it was pretty amazing that she was past her birth weight by that much at 17 days on strictly breast milk.. guess I still have heavy cream in there {sorry if that's TMI}!

Izzy girl got to play at Gigi's while we were at the doc.. she was in heaven!  Have you ever seen so many Barbies and accessories?!  Oh and her little tutu.. reminded me of Ace Ventura!

 

I love how she nuzzles, she is such a snuggle bug!

Those lips, that mouth.. so reminds me of when Isabelle was a baby! 

 Lillian's cord stub fell off a couple days before our doctor appointment but it still seemed kind of open and yucky so I wanted to wait to get the 'all clear' from the doc.. so glad we did because I couldn't wait to get her all cleaned up!  I had given her sponge baths, but just not the same!  They get so yucky under their neck and in all those rolls! Ha!  I bet you all have a great picture in your mind ;)!

Luckily she loves the water!

Isabelle wanted to help.. she actually wanted to get in the sink with sister, hence the no clothes on.

I feel like she's like, "what? quit taking pictures of me, I'm taking a bath!".

I was trying to get a picture of how soft and fluffy her hair was, but I just couldn't capture it.. thought I would share my efforts anyway.

:: adventures of potty training ::

We did a 3 day crash course on potty training that we got passed to us from our friends {I have it electronically so let me know if you would like it and I will pass it on!} and I would do it again in a heart beat with our next child.. you basically stay home for 3 days, get rid of all diapers and only wear a shirt and undies, give lots of praise and positive feedback when they potty in the toilet {we used the small doughnut type seat on the actual toilet instead of the little potty, I just figured I'd rather just have it go in the right place the first time rather than clean it out of something else.. and it has been nice when we've been other places without her potty, she's used to sitting on the toilet} and say, "make sure you tell mommy or daddy if you have to potty" over and over again!  I think we said it like 5 million times in those first 2 days.. I will say the first day was terrible, I didn't think I was going to make it, but it was worth it {thanks for telling me it would be Kel!}.. she made it through the night on the 3rd night {awesome!} and has been dry waking up from her naps!  We have had a few accidents when she wakes up in the morning, but it's almost like I don't get there in time, because her bed will be dry, but her pants are wet.. poor thing just couldn't quite hold it long enough.. I'm hoping her bladder gets a little bigger or those muscles get stronger and she will be able to make it that extra little bit in the morning.. but like I said, that's not every morning so we already have improvement!

This was day 2, it was like Iz just woke up and 'had it', I mean, we knew there would still be accidents, but she went potty {and pooped, which was so exciting for her!} in the toilet all morning and did so good!  She said she wanted a cinnamon roll for breakfast so after she had such a good morning, daddy brought home a cinnamon roll as a special treat/reward.. she was so happy, running around the kitchen with it!

More food that is just pretty, I mean check out the color of those lentils!  I found a red lentil soup recipe in my 'Parents' magazine and Jacob said he would eat it and I happened to have red lentils, so I was excited to make it for dinner!  I also loved that you just tossed it all into the crock pot {especially while potty training, didn't take much time}, so simple!  It turns out Jacob is not a fan of one of the herbs, he thinks it might have been the oregano, but I thought it was really good!

so delicious with a corn bread muffin on the side!

Lemony Lentil Soup{recipe from Parents.com}

Ingredients

• 3 carrots, chopped (1 1/2 cups)

• 1 onion, chopped (1/2 cup)

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

• dash crushed red pepper (optional)

• Nonstick cooking spray

• 2 cups dried red lentils (12 ounces), rinsed

• 4 1/2 cups vegetable both

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano {I didn't have fresh and didn't want to go to the store so I just used dried}

• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary {same on the rosemary, used dried}

• 1 teaspoon finely shredded lemon peel

• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

• Freshly ground black pepper to taste

1. Place the carrots, onion, garlic, and crushed red pepper, if desired, in a medium microwave-safe bowl. Add 2 tablespoons water and cover bowl with waxed paper. Microwave on 100% power for 4 minutes.
2. Coat the inside of a 4-quart slow cooker with cooking spray. Add the onion mixture, lentils, broth, and salt to cooker; stir to combine. Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 5 1/2 hours.
3. Stir in the oregano, rosemary, lemon peel, lemon juice, and pepper to taste.

We hung out in the kitchen a lot, colored, looked at magazines {I wish I could type how Isabelle says magazine because it's so cute, but I can't even sound it out to spell it}, did our nails and hair {she wanted a head band and pony like mommies}.

Dad taught her how to do push ups, so here she is in her undies practicing!!

The full frontal shot of the belly at 37 wks- just looks huge to me!  hello ball!
Oh, something funny Isabelle has been saying to me.. "your belly is SO big!".. thanks Iz ;)!  Thought that was an appropriate quote for this pic..

 

I had my 37 week appt. Monday morning, I left the house at 6:30, so it was an early morning and I was so tired!  Luckily I was trying to finish listening to a book on tape, so that helped me stay awake and focused! The sky was so pretty as the sun was coming up!  I didn't have the doc check my cervix because I knew we would be there that next weekend, so we didn't really get a progress update, but her heart beat was in the 150's and my belly was still measuring on target for our due date.  I went from that appointment to another appointment with a hematologist {blood specialist/doctor} for my iron count {and apparently my B12 was a little low}.. anyway, that explains why I have been so tired!  The deal: I'm not absorbing iron very well for some reason so he increased my dosage {take 3-4 now instead of 2} and try to take it without food or anything else that will inhibit the iron from absorbing {which apparently is a lot of things that I was eating + drinking when I took it}.. so hopefully those things will help it to absorb and I will get my iron count back up and not be so tired!

Here's to 30 and 27 weeks pregs!!

We woke up in Lawrence to a super cold and rainy day {of course}, but we did have breakfast at one of my favorite spots, had veggie biscuits + gravy and a delicious chai latte.  Jacob surprised me with a facial at my favorite spa and it was wonderful, I didn't want to get off the table!  It had been too long!  We had dinner at Freestate and it was delicious.. Isabelle kept saying, "Happy Birthday Mommy" and it was the cutest thing I think I have ever heard her say, she just says it so cute!  Oh and then finished the night with apple pie ice cream from Syla's and Maddies :)!  The best ice cream ever!!

 I realized when we got back to the house that we were way behind on belly pics, so here I am/was at almost 27 weeks.. lookin' good.

 and bad picture set-up, dark shirt with dark background, but you can kind of tell how far my belly is sticking out.

We had our doctor appt. in the morning and baby girl was 2 lbs 4 oz and her heartbeat was about 158.. we had another sonogram to make sure the placenta had moved and it is totally out of the way and up her back, which was good news.. sad we don't get to see her again on sono, but for a good reason.  According to Babycenter.com, our babe is a little bigger than they say at this time.. it said she was almost 2 lbs, like a head of cauliflower and about 14.5 inches long.  She moves around a lot, not just at night before bed, but all throughout the day.

Here are the last pics of our little one...

her little face looking right at you.

little nose and mouth

Side profile of her head- these two are so similar, but I still wanted to put both :).

It has been kind of fun having sonograms every appointment... I will miss seeing her!