March Photo Challenge Week 3

How has the third week of March already come and gone? Here are the pictures from this week:

March 12: daily routine
Our daily routine usually includes waking up, having breakfast while watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, heading to the gym or a play date of some sort, and then making the requisite stop at Chick Fil A for a kids meal and a #1, or at the very least, a large Coke for mommy :) ! Lila doesn't like to give up the iPad these days, and she's actually learning a ton about her letters, numbers, shapes, and words on the various apps. I didn't feel like fighting with her today and let her eat her Chick Fil A while playing on the iPad...plus, she always eats more when she's distracted (as do we all!). 

March 13: a sign
I was an Alpha Gam at Auburn University, and our mascot was a squirrel. I thought it was a little weird when I was going through rush, but you grow to love the cute little squirrels quickly!  In League City, there is this sign for a garage-type bar called The Nut House that always reminds me of my college days. Because we were the squirrels, we used that cheesy saying more times than I can even remember! Therefore, I thought that sign that I drive past almost every day would be perfect for this challenge day!

March 14: clouds
I'm such a meteorology nerd and even contemplated majoring in Atmospheric Sciences in college.  I almost wish I did somedays, but I learned a lot (and still remember quite a bit) in the elective meteorology classes that I took in high school and college. The clouds today are such a pretty mixture of cirrus and cumulus clouds. Cirrus clouds usually predict that a front is coming our way, and it is supposed to be cloudy tomorrow and rainy the next, but the cumulus clouds are fair weather clouds, which show up on perfect, sunny days like today!

March 15: something you bought
I rarely have time to go shopping anymore, but now that the girls are both in school, I had a little time last week. This is one of the shirts that I bought while shopping at Anthropologie :)

March 16: sunglasses
My girls wanted to borrow my Jersey Shore sunglasses for a photo op today...can't say that I blame them!

March 17: color
GREEN! Happy St. Patty's Day! Thank you to my wonderful mother-in-law for making these adorable dresses for the girls!!

March 18: a corner of your home
The dining room is one of my favorite rooms in the house...mainly because it rarely gets dirty! Here's a little corner of my home!

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Josh had to go into work this morning for a few hours, so we're dressed in our green and going to play with friends at the gym while we wait for daddy to get home! I hope everyone has a great, green St. Patty's Day today! I will be spending it at the mall...alone, once Josh gets home, so I KNOW that I'm going to have a great day :)

Chuck E. Cheese

Yesterday, Lila, Alli, and I met our friends Adrienne and Cecilia at Chuck E. Cheese for some much needed out-of-the-house fun! Our girls are around the same age and were both going stir crazy being in the house due to Spring Break and the rainy weather that we've had the past few days.  Chuck E. Cheese was a nice break and a great chance to visit and catch up while the girls played and ran around. Lila's favorite thing by far was putting the tokens in the machines, and I think Cecilia had the most fun on the interactive car ride. It was nice to get there early before the crowds, and we even had enough time to grab lunch at Cafe Express before the girls had to get back for nap time. We had a great day, and now that the weather is finally nice again, I hope that we can take advantage of the park and our backyard play things!

Eight Months Old! *March 13, 2012*

Wow, eight months old! I cannot even believe how eight months have gone by so quickly!  Lila was this age when we got pregnant with Alli, and that seems so long ago. Alli is still such a little baby, and I'm not sure what we were thinking when we decided to start trying for another one so soon haha (although we didn't think that it would happen quite so fast). But, I'm SO glad we did! Lila has grown even more attached to her little sister over the past few months, and even cries to sleep with her most days and/or nights. Alli is such a little blessing, and we love watching her grow stronger and more mobile everyday! 

Here's what you're up to:

*you still weigh 15.6 pounds and are about 25 inches tall...still a tiny little peanut!

*you are getting really fast at your little army crawl and love to follow our voices into the kitchen or living room when you are playing in the playroom.  You play really well on your own most of the time, but also love to be cuddled and to play around mommy and daddy or sister.

*you push up on all fours and rock back and forth all day long. You are trying to figure it out and will be crawling even faster in no time! (which scares me a little!)

*you are starting to pull up on things. Right now, you are only pulling up on things that aren't very tall like Lila's toddler potty.

*you are pretty content playing with anything and everything, but your favorite toys, by far, are your raspberry vibrating teether and empty plastic water bottles.

*still sleeping awesome! Bedtime is at 8pm, and I will lay you down awake. I stopped swaddling you, and you didn't seem to notice a difference. You get yourself to sleep after playing with the toys that are in your crib for however long you want to.

*Naptimes are going well also. You take about 1.5 per day. Your morning nap lasts between 30 minutes to an hour and starts around 10:30/11am. Your second naps lasts anywhere from 1.5-3 hours and starts at 2pm. I lay you down in your bed awake, and you may or may not play before falling asleep depending on how tired you are.

*you are getting SO difficult to change now. The second we put you on the changing table, you instantly try to roll over and are so strong that you can roll out of our hands most of the time. You love to scratch on the wall when we're changing you too.

*your teeth still have yet to pop through. I can tell that they bother you, and I hope that they show up sooner rather than later!

*you are only getting formula now, and you drink between 3-4 6 ounce bottles per day. It's a struggle to get you to drink enough liquid some days as you would much rather have solid food!

*you eat between 1-2 stage 2 jars of baby food per feeding (8am, 12/1pm, 6pm).

*still wearing size 2 diapers, but they're starting to get a little snug. Once these run out, I think we'll move you to 3's.

*wearing mainly 6 month clothes, but you can fit into 9 month bubbles. You have officially grown out of the 3 and 3-6 month sleepers and are exclusively in 6 month sleepers (although the fleece ones are still a little too long for you).

*you still adore your big sister and grin from ear to ear when she shows you any attention (which she loves to do).

*you are so ticklish and laugh hysterically when you are tickled under your chin, on the inside of your legs, or under your arms.

*The /m/ and /b/ sound are your favorite sounds to make. I love it that you say "mama" but not "dada" yet since all Lila said for a good year was "dada" :) You have also started saying your r's.

*you love your tubby time in the big girl bathtub with Lila. You splash water all over the place, and Lila thinks its hilarious and copies you.

*Right when you turned 7 months old, we flew to Atlanta to visit with family. You did great on the airplane and had a great time playing with your sister while waiting for our flight.

*this past month you celebrated your first Valentine's day.  You also went to pick strawberries for the first time. Last week you had your picture made in the bluebonnet patch across the street from your neighborhood with your sister. You had fun pulling on the stems.

Moody Gardens Aquarium

The weather this weekend was so rainy and gross, so we decided to head to the aquarium for some indoor fun.  Lila loves to look at all of the fish, sharks, and penguins and didn't stop saying "fish" all day. The last time we were at the Moody Gardens aquarium, Lila was only 11 months old. She had so much fun this trip and was able to really enjoy herself and see all of the exhibits. Alli enjoyed looking at the fish from her stroller, and it was surprisingly not crowded when we went, so Alli could get right up to the glass to see really well.  Compared to the Georgia Aquarium, where we went last month, Moody Gardens is really small, but it is still a great aquarium. I love it when Josh is home, and when we are able to do such fun things together as a family of four!

Bluebonnets!

 sweet girls playing together in the bluebonnets

The bluebonnets are back!!! These are the most gorgeous flowers, and they bloom right across the street from our neighborhood. They only bloom for about a month, so we had to take advantage of the cloudy day (for good lighting) before the rain was scheduled to come and headed to the field to take pictures of the girls with these pretty flowers! Lila had just as much fun in the bluebonnets this year as she did last year (blog post), and Alli had a fun time playing with some stems too.  They had a lot of fun being silly together sitting in the bluebonnet patch, and it made for some adorable pictures!  Lila, of course, pitched a fit when it was time to go because she was having so much fun and kept saying "bye bye flowers" on the 2-second drive back home. I'll, hopefully, get a chance to take them back sometime again before the bluebonnets wither away.

March 8, 2012 

Sweet girl last year in the bluebonnet patch

March Photo Challenge Week 2

Here are my photos for week 2 of the challenge. So, I said originally that most of my pictures wouldn't be of my children...but looks like a told a fib! What can I say, they are some of my best subjects! I'm also finding myself breaking the "one" picture rule. Sometimes these challenges are best fulfilled with a couple photos!

March 5: Makes you smile
How could this not make you smile?!? I just love how much my girls love each other! All I can hope is that their love only gets stronger :)

March 6: 5 pm
Lila usually wakes up from her nap at 5pm, so this is what I come into find most days. She is so silly! (please ignore her mis-matched pants...I had to put pants under her dress so that she would keep her diaper on during nap time!)

March 7: What you wore
I had a terribly hard time with this one. I couldn't figure out how I wanted to interpret this category. I really wished I still had my high school cheerleading uniform or a former prom dress to photograph, but I don't.  I got so many complements on the hospital gown that I wore when I had Alli, so this is what I decided to use for this challenge day. I brought my own gown when I delivered Alli because the gowns they give you are HUGE, ugly, and horribly uncomfortable.  Mine was adorable, pink with white polka dots, and even had my monogram!! I LOVED it, and plan to wear it with every baby we have (okay we'll probably only have one more, but I'll wear it again then!).  The brand is dearjohnnies, and I bought mine on etsy, but they sell them in any high-end maternity store. 

close up of the monogram

March 8: Window
Window? That's the only instructions? All of the windows in my house are pretty basic and boring, so I decided to go to a church that I know has beautiful stained glass windows for this challenge (taken from my iPhone).

March 9: Blue
Okay so I know I'm breaking the rules by posting two pictures for this one, but it was necessary to show just how blue the sky was!!

 The one above is of just the sky.  The sun in the corner makes the sky look a little whiter than it really did, so I had to take a picture with a tree in it to show just how blue the sky was. I literally haven't seen a cloud in two days! Gorgeous!

March 10: Shoes
What girl doesn't have a ton of shoes in her closet? I take my obsession with shoes a little to the extreme, but they are honestly my favorite accessory! The t-shirt rack, hiding behind the dresses and my boots, houses all of my closed-toe shoes that I rarely get to wear here in Texas. (I had to post more than one picture on this day too...oops)

 My absolute favorite pair of shoes in all the world! They go with everything and are reasonably comfortable for their height! 

March 11: From a distance

We went to the aquarium at Moody Gardens on this rainy weekend and had a great time! It's been over a year since we've visited this particular aquarium, and Lila enjoyed it even more this trip. This is what the aquarium looks like from a distance...pretty neat!