Liana Brielle is 7

Wow, I do not know how we got to 7 years old!? It just happened. And Liana is still a delightful little girl. For some pictures and little tid-bits from her 7th year...scroll on...

-:- This has been the year of losing teeth. She started slightly before her 6th birthday and they've been falling out in quick succession ever since. It took a while for her top front teeth to grow back, but they've finally sprouted. They make her look so much older somehow...

-:- This year she learned how to ride a bike without training wheels. You can hardly call it learning though because we took the training wheels off and she had it within 5 minutes time...guess it was overdue!

-:- She danced in her first ballet in the month of December. She was a mouse in the Nutcracker ballet and she was perfect! (Said like a true mom)

-:- She is a great babysitter to her little sisters and a huge helper around the house. It still amazes me that she can do things like make toast, make sandwiches, switch the laundry and start the dryer, fold and put away her own laundry, get the mail, vacuum....seriously...when did she get old enough to participate so much???

-:- But the #1 reason we love Liana is not because of what she can do, but for who she IS. We are so, so grateful to know this kind, empathetic, rational and gregarious person. She loves making new friends. She loves adventures and reading good books. She loves activity in general. She loves arts & crafts. She loves horses. She loves being grown up, but that I still call her "baby" on a regular basis.

Happy Birthday Baby!

Juliet Turns 1

On July 2nd, Juliet Alethea turned 1 year old. Wow! It's been quite a year. I think the most significant thing for me is looking back at the pictures from a year ago on facebook or our google photo app and remembering that week-long hospital stay with our little surprise peanut. It was a bit of a wild entry into this world, but somehow I remember it fondly. Juliet is totally worth all of the upheaval her birth caused a year ago. Times 10!

I do not have any official stats for Juliet yet because her checkup isn't until next week, but I am guessing she is around 13 lbs. I know. She was actually seen by a pediatric endocrinologist in May just to make sure we weren't missing something growth-wise, but the plan for now is still to let her "catch up" on her own over the next couple of years. Her slow growth rate isn't causing her any harm and developmentally she is still on track. Here are some of her milestones from the past 3 months & things we love about Juliet:

-:- She pulls herself up to standing

-:- She stands on her own without holding onto anything...I am convinced she could walk if she tried, but she just drops to a crawl when she is ready to move. Any day now...

 -:- Waves hello and good bye

-:- Says "Mama" (finally!) and "Liana" (or something very close to it)

-:- Shakes her head when we say "no"

-:- Dances and sticks out her tongue

-:- Feeds herself and drinks from a sippy cup (the straw-type only...weird...I know)

-:- Finally sprouted her first tooth!

-:- She still thinks her sisters are the best and the funniest

-:- Her smiles are the best thing in the world and she has a LOT of them

-:- When the gate is open in the living room she crawls as fast as she can for the opening. She can MOVE.

-:- She thinks hiccups and sneezes are hysterical.

-:- She is only nursing a couple of times a day now. It's a bit sad...as this may be my last baby.

-:- She now LOVES water and baths!!! Something changed when we went on vacation and she now screams when we take her OUT of the water. Phew! She was in danger of being my only child that was NOT a complete fish.

-:- She likes to share her food with anyone who will let her feed them herself.

And some pictures from her 1st birthday party...a simple family affair, but full to the brim with love and celebration for the girl who lived.<3 p="">

After birthday weekend crash...

We love you sweet Juliet! So thankful to have known you for a full year. Here's to many, many more to come!!!

Sadie Turned 4...A While Ago!

Somehow I completely spaced and forgot to write a little post about Sadie on her 4th birthday. We decided to go away for the weekend of her birthday which is part of the reason I forgot.

So here we go...

On the day of Sadie's birthday we actually decided to tour Washington D.C. as part of Liana's American History study for the year. But we made sure to hit up the Dinosaur exhibit at the Natural Museum of History first so that Sadie could see her favorite thing on her b-day.

We celebrated Sadie's 4th birthday at the National Zoo on the following day. Both sides of our family came out to join in on the fun! Sadie loved all of the animals, the donuts Mimi brought for a treat and especially the "mingos"...what I can only hope she will forever call a flamingo.<3 br="">

               (Birthday breakfast!)

Sadie is still hilarious, adventurous, bright, energetic, daring, sarcastic and kind (when she remembers to notice other people...haha!). We are so thankful for the 4 beautiful years we have had with her and hope for many, many more. And can anyone who knows Sadie just give me a nice big pat on the back for keeping her alive for 4 years AND retaining all of her limbs/organs...it's a miracle people. Simply a miracle.

We love you sweet Sadie girl! 

Juliet - 9 Months

Here she is in all of her 9 month cuteness...

Isn't she the cutest?!

She has been rapidly developing new skills over the last week or 2. She can now clap, crawl, say something that sounds a lot like "Hi", sort of wave (it's more of hand-raise, but done at appropriate "bye bye" times) and both nod and shake her head....mostly just to be silly or imitate people.

She has her 9 month check-up next week so I don't know her growth stats yet, but I am guessing she's 11lbs ?oz. And I have no idea how tall she is.

She JUST grew into size 2 diapers and 6 month clothing (woot!)....so some growth has definitely happened in the last 3 months.

She is mostly happy, loud when she wants attention, goofy often & angry when she is tired or hungry...but who isn't?

She loves...
music
her sisters
the cat
eating
outside
tickles

She hates...
baths (still! Like full-on panic attack, shaking and everything...I've tried so many variations of a bath and always the same reaction....)
not eating
bottles
having her nose/face wiped

It goes without saying, but we love our sweet Jules or "Ju Ju" as the rest of the family calls her. Happy 9 months little mouse!

Juliet - 6 months

Juliet was half a year old on January 2nd. I have been holding off writing this post in order to wait for her 6 month check-up that was this past Friday. She weighed in at a mere 9lbs, 12oz. She is still growing, but oh so slowly. Her doctor remains uncocerned as long as her growth curve does not drastically drop off between now and 2 years. We remain hopeful that she will begin to catch up somewhere between now and then.

Otherwise, Juliet is a perfectly formed, happy, pleasant little girl. She just learned to sit up by herself in the last week or so. I still put the boppy behind her in case of tumbles, but she holds herself up for quite a while. This makes her extremely pleased with herself too!

She rolls over both ways and we hardly put her down before she is rolling away from us. This is particularly difficult during diaper changing times, but pretty cute otherwise.

She loves rattle toys, anything that crinkles and chewing on fingers (hers or someone else's....she has no finger prejudice).

We started her on baby food this past week. So far she loves sweet potatoes, squash & carrots, but has not been a fan of ANY fruit that I have tried. Go figure! She also likes the dissolvable puffs and I often mix baby oatmeal into her veggies to try to help bulk this tiny girl up. If I get the consistency just right she doesn't mind. Too sticky and I get gags and raspberry-blowing food everywhere...

Juliet loves to "talk". She chatters away and mostly when her sisters are interacting with her. She imitates some sounds that we make. The girls are convinced she is saying 'Dada' already. I don't think it's the real thing yet, but if she is that makes me 0 for 3 in the 'saying Mama first' department. Liana AND Sadie's first words were 'Dada'.

Juliet gets very giggly around bedtime. Her laugh is different than I remember the other 2 girls being. It's so bubbly and we just love to hear it. Often family contests ensue to see who can make her laugh the most.

We are so grateful for our Juliet. Happy 6 months sweet girl!