...happy 3 months, Mae!

today Maelie turned 3 months old. it is hard to believe that that crazy day was just 3 months ago. my body is back to normal (what is normal after 2 kids in 3 years anyway?) and she is the picture of perfect health. Maelie had quite a busy day...much busier than a usual day for her. she started out at Carla's house because Adam had an interview today!! YAY!! (it lasted 2 hours...thats gotta be something, right?) then Adam picked her up and brought her home. then Megan and Lula came to visit. the 3 girls are an interesting bunch right now, with Haven being the big girl, Lula just figuring out crawling, and Mae just hanging out on the boppy on the floor. it will be interesting when Megan starts watching all 3 of them! better her than me!! :o)

so in honor of Maelie's milestone, here are a few of the things that she can do:

grab on to a rattle

play with the boppy gym

smile a lot!!

coo

sleep for hours on end

drink from 9 oz avent bottles with #2 nipples

(almost) sit up in a bumbo seat

generally be cute (but that has occured since day one)

overall a spectacular child! i adore her already! i love that she needs attention. with Haven, i could put her in a swing all day and just let her go. but Mae needs us. i kinda like that! (and sometimes i kinda don't, but this is a positive blog!)

so happy 3 months, Maelie Kate. you are a perfect baby and we love you!

...this blog thing was supposed to help!

so an entire week has gone by and alas...no blogging! there were several days where i really meant to add something, but CapFed apparently doesn't want me blogging on the clock. oh websense...you really are quite a pain. i can read my blog, i just can't add to it.
Haven turned another month older yesterday. what a kid she is at 38 months. there are so many things that i love about her. she can do so many things by herself. she can dress and undress herself, put most of her shoes on (let's not discuss whether they are on the right feet!), go to the bathroom (and flush and wash hands too!), give herself a bath (although usually mom still does it), feed herself, get a drink of water from the fridge, help mom and dad with the baby, etc. she is getting really good at telling stories...so far she is just re-telling stories she has heard, but i know she will start telling her own any day now. saturday night, she kept trying to tell me a story Adam had told her the night before. it involved her as a baby, crawling out of the bassinett and running away with Frank. she steered and Frank pushed the pedals with his paws. (she does a funny little action for Frank pushing the pedals!) it was a super crazy story and i was really trying to follow, but had to ask Adam to clarify when he got home.
one thing i am not enjoying about being this age is the tantrums. i used to have the most perfect 2 year old. then she turned 3. she knows that whining is the absolute worst thing anyone could ever subject me to, so she is sure to do this multiple times throughout the day. the other thing that i find annoying about this age is that she is really trying to push Adam and i around. if i am pushing the stroller, she will suddenly start to complain and whine about how she wants daddy. and if we switch, then usually a few minutes later, she will whine that she wants mommy to push. i know that a lot of it comes from us giving into stupid little things like that just to avoid a meltdown, but i also know that every time we give in, she wins a little victory. i know i sound like the world's strictest parent when i say that, but she could possibly be a child that needs strong boundries. she has quickly figured out the softie parent and i am not afraid to say that it is not me.
Mae is getting bigger every day! (and if you looked at those thighs, you would believe it!!) tonight i was lounging on the couch with her on my tummy on her tummy and she picked her head up sooo high and smiled for several minutes straight! she even talked to me for a bit. i like happy Mae! i stopped at Megan's on the way home from work today and borrowed her bumbo seat. i think Mae will be ready for it in another week or two. she has incredible head control for her age, but she needs just a touch more before i am ready to let her sit by herself.
this week, i need to finish the felt food project. i am tired of seeing them sit on the living room table...they need to be played with!! i also want to start a soft block project for Mae and possibly find a pinafore pattern for both of the girls. i can't believe that i have been so motivated to be crafty lately. i didn't think i would have any time at all. what i really need to get busy with is scrapbooking....maybe i just need to get this sewing thing out of my system and then i can get on scrapping. now there is something i could really do at work!!

...a talking rock!

i didn't get to spend a whole lot of time with the girls today. i worked a full day, so Adam was on baby duty. however, he had a pretty full day! he took the girls to belton to his mom's, drove their 4runner over to 80th & antioch to pick up a daybed we bought for Haven on craigslist, drove back to our house to drop off the bed, then back to belton to get the girls, then back home. when i got home, Haven's old bed was in pieces in the hallway and the new bed was ready to be put together! what a guy!! all while taking care of a crazy 3 year old and paying lots and lots of attention to a sweet little baby. Haven was pretty funny when i got home...she hid under a blanket and was saying "i'm a rock...a talking rock!" i would love to know how her brain works.

the bed is huge in her room! but maybe i am just used to her low bed with no headboard. this bed is at normal height, so its like another step up for her. i finished the busy book for my neice's bday tonight, so i didn't get much of a chance to hang out with the girls after the bed business. i miss them lots on the days that i work a full 9 hours. maybe when Adam gets his job figured out, i can move towards my original plan of only working 6 hours on thursdays and fridays. that would be really nice! i feel like i am already home a lot more, just with working 30 hours. but it would be nice to have that extra time in the morning since i get off work so late. Mae is looking so big already! i told Adam tonight that i wish her feet would get a little bigger so she could wear some of the thousands of pairs of shoes that are waiting for her!

...beans, beans, and more beans!

my mom is here today, which is pretty nice. it gives me a break from solo parenting. although i only solo parent for 3 days a week, saturdays and mondays are pretty rough. adam works a 6am-10pm shift, so i am it for the entire day. it normally isn't so bad, but since Mae has joined us, i have found it harder due to middle of the night feedings and such. so my mom came to hang out. that means i have 4 dogs in the back yard! 3 1/2 of them are Bostons...my niece Anna's dog is 1/2 Boston and he goes everywhere they go...just like my mom's Boston Lily. so my dogs will be worn out tonight! and so will Haven. she and Anna always play super hard. so far today, they have played with the Dr. kit, played dolls, both run around with the little broom (why do kids find brooms fun??), played in the backyard, had lunch, played with the puppet theater, fought over a hat....you get the idea! Mae is loving being held with no complaints from the holder. Grandma latched onto her right after she walked in the door and hasn't really let go since! Mae has been a happy girl today, smiling and cooing at Grandma. while in the backyard, Grandma

noticed that we needed to pick some of our green beans. so pick we did. i haven't done that in quite a while. and we got a lot!! the whole point of Grandma coming was for me to have time to be crafty, so i need to go do that. plus, i think i hear 2 girls jumping a bed!

...those birds are friends!

i am starting this because i have fallen really far behind on Haven's baby book and have yet to start Maelie's. i am the youngest of 3 girls and it is funny (and a little sad) to see physically how my mom just got shorter and shorter on time as more kids were added to the family. just in the area of home movies, there are something like 35 of Colette, 8 of Stacy, and 1/2 of a reel from me....which was basically me lying on the floor while one of the sisters butted their way in front of the camera or danced around the living room! so, being the tortured youngest child that i am, i want my girls to have complete and thorough records of their existance. and since i am seriously lagging behind in the "producing something tangible" department, so begins my blog.

currently, Haven is 3 and Maelie is 10 1/2 weeks old. Haven is into saying really funny things - also another reason for this blog! Maelie is just starting to introduce her little self to us and i know i am going to love her personality...whatever it turns out to be! she has started smiling in the last couple of weeks and loves to be held. that is totally my fault...i prayed to Jesus to give me a baby who would love to be held...but i forgot to mention that i didn't mean 24-7! but that is who she is and it is my job to plesantly accomodate her.

yesterday was July 4th and we had a pretty good day. Adam worked a double shift, so i was on solo baby duty. i am working on some felt projects and had to restock some felt and floss, so we went to JoAnn's. Haven was very pleasant during the whole thing...saying hi to old co-workers and being generally good-natured. so i rewarded with a trip to MickyD's. as we are in the drive through, waiting to order, i noticed 2 birds getting a little...um...fresh with each other. apparently, Haven noticed too, because she said "those birds are friends! they like each other!" to which i replied, "um...yes...they are friendly!" she got a dinosaur from the new Ice Age movie in her happy meal...his thing is you push on his little arms and his mouth opens and closes. so i am driving over to visit Adam at work, and she says (in a mean dinosaur sort of voice) "i want my chicky nugget!!" i look back at her and she has opened the dinosaurs mouth and shoved a chicky nugget in there and was making the dino "chew"! added bonus - i got a happy meal too, so she has 2 dinosaurs! on the trip home, she was making the dinos dance and do syncronized jumping jacks. i have a very uniqe child!

Maelie, meanwhile, slept through the entire thing. she was a really good sleeper yesterday. i didnt partake in the whole fireworks thing because she was having grouchy time and needed to be held. so she has yet to experience that. on the way home from Fred & Carla's, Maelie cried for at least 1/2 of the trip. at one point, i turned on the overhead light in my car and asked Haven if Maelie was ok. Haven looks over and says "no, she's crying". thanks Captain Obvious!! but seriously, Haven has been a really big help to me. I can always ask her to hand me something, or even go get something out of Mae's room, and she always obeys. (just in this area...the obeying thing in general is definately a work in process!!)