Hungry Baby

The past week or so Grace has started waking up 2-3 times a night again. I have been beating my head against a wall trying to figure out what her deal is and finally decided that it either had to be teeth (she chews and drools on EVERYTHING) or she was ready to start big girl food. Last night we decided to give oatmeal cereal a go, figuring it wouldn't hurt anything. Cayden and Laura both weren't too impressed with it and had a hard time figuring out how to swallow it. I assumed the same thing would happen with Grace. I was even frustrated because I accidentally mixed up way more than I intended trying to get the right consistency.

Grace gave us a weird look for the first few bites, but was quickly grabbing the spoon and my hand trying to get it to her mouth faster than I was moving. She also did a really good job swallowing the oatmeal cereal. She wasn't 100% mess free, but I've never seen a baby so good at swallowing solid food like she did the first go around. Grace downed everything I mixed up and definitely ate way more than she was wearing. Afterwards she seemed so content and happy. Apparently she was ready for big girl food. Surprise, surprise.

Did it solve the sleeping problem? Well, Grace actually woke up about 1am and fussed on and off for a bit. But since she wasn't crying I figured I'd let her figure it out for a bit. After about 30 minutes of off and on fussing she was sound asleep and slept until I got her up in the morning. I don't know if it was a fluke or not, but you can bet we'll be eating oatmeal cereal before bed from now on.

Facial expression after the first few bites.

Trying to figure out how to swallow - it didn't take too long! Sadly I don't have any excited pictures or pictures of her grabbing at the spoon/me.

Life Update

We've had a lot of fun this past month. I have been trying to spend more time actually playing with the kids and have found that the more I do that the more I actually enjoy it. It's still hard though. It's so easy to tell them to go play with each other while I get some cleaning done or prep dinner so that during naps I get 'me time'. But I've found that by spending more quality time with them and doing those other things while they are napping (or even involving them in it despite how much longer it takes and bigger mess it makes) we are all a little bit happier and there isn't as much yelling going on. Don't get me wrong, I still need and love 'me time'. But just a little more attention is going a long way with these kids of mine.

Here are some of the things we've been up to lately. I've been trying to do a better job at taking pictures to document what we do everyday even though it doesn't seem all that exciting.

Cute kids playing Legos. Sometimes they play and share really well with each other. Other times it's a total flop.

Duplo creations. This has been one of our favorite activities lately. Grace enjoys it too, though she just sucks on the blocks. I'm not as creative as Chad when it comes to building things, but we did make a house with a slide and a rainbow boat that the kids thought was pretty neat.

Playing (and sharing!) with blocks at Grandma and Grandpa's house. 

 And we're back to playing by ourselves because Laura kept knocking down Cayden's towers. She thought it was fun...

Sometimes during naps I decide to snuggle this little girl rather than put her in her crib. She won't stay tiny forever and I love every chance I get to do nothing but hold and love on her.

Bubble beard! Bubbles are also a current favorite. Grace squirms and gasps every time one pops on or near her face. Laura likes to "help" blow the bubbles which actually consists of her literally putting the bubble wand/mix in her mouth and blowing. So gross. Cayden just runs around like a crazy person trying to pop every single bubble.

We finally got the movie Frozen the other week. I'm not kidding when I say that we have watched the movie nearly every day. Literally. The kids love it. I thought these pictures were so cute.

Laura absolutely loves the song 'Let It  Go' and sings what few words she knows every time it comes on.

This picture is actually a few months old, but I found it on my phone a few days ago and died laughing. I have no idea why Grace was so upset. At least she is cute when she cries.

Auntie Rachelle gave the kids the book The Pout Pout Fish for Christmas. Cayden has part of the book memorized, but thinks he is reading it. Here are his mad "reading skills" in all their glory.

We had a BOGO coupon for Jamba Juice so we took the kids there to celebrate Chad's good grades. We got two big smoothies with the purpose of sharing, but Laura claimed one as her own. I think she literally downed 3/4 of that thing.

Grace has quite the tongue. I dare say it's the longest tongue on a baby I've ever seen in my life. And it is always hanging out of her mouth or licking something. She got her hands on this comb and went to town like she was licking a popcicle.

Laura was helping with dinner last Sunday and as I was washing up some of the dishes she decided to eat the mashed potatoes. They were apparently quite good because we had to hide them from her to stop her from eating them.

Cannibal

We are raising a cannibal. I'm not sure why, but lately this little girl's toes are always in her mouth.

Love this cute little face!

Rawr! Give me my toes!

More toe action. Goodness this girl is flexible.

 Love, love, love this little girl!

Maybe if I fed her more she wouldn't feel the need to constantly eat her feet. Hmm...

On Her Way

We are unofficially potty training Laura right now. Basically if she wants to go we let her. No pushing it yet. We're waiting to officially start once we get back from Colorado in a few weeks. The other day Laura completely filled in her potty chart so she got her prize of choice - a play place!

Pointing out her stickers.

So excited she gets to go to a play place!

At the play place!

We are so proud of Laura! I hope that she'll be as easy as Cayden was to potty train. She's quite a bit younger than Cayden was when he started, but she seems ready. I absolutely hate potty training, but at least I will only have one kid in diapers when it's over. :)

How To Eat An In-N-Out Burger

Laura's Way:

Study your burger very carefully.

Open mouth as wide as possible.

And take a bite big enough to fill your entire mouth. Chew. (Please note how full her cheek is!)

 

Laura's Alternate Way:

 

 Manhandle your burger.

Smile and show off the food in your mouth.

Cayden's Way:

Dainty bite and index finger up! (How I wish it was his pinkie instead.)

The Dress

For Laura's birthday my mom made her the cutest dress! It actually matches the purse I made for Laura for her first birthday (purely accidental). Since my mom doesn't live near us we had to take some pictures for her of Laura in her dress when she wore it to church last Sunday.

Being a little camera shy.

Warming up. I love that the beads she is wearing are just as long as the dress!

Cute girl.

Best. Picture. Ever.

A Perfect Day

Laura had quite the special day on her birthday. She got to do lots of fun things and was spoiled like crazy. Laura woke up to a curtain of streamers hanging from her bedroom door. She thought it was the neatest thing to walk through over and over. For breakfast she had pancakes and strawberries - some of her favorite foods!

 

 Birthday babe in front of her streamers. I had to get a picture of her looking so cute because I knew the hair and clean clothes wouldn't last long.

After getting ready for the day the kids went with Chad and Grandpa Higgins to build birdhouses. When we asked Laura what she wanted to do for her birthday she responded with "play" which meant eating lunch and playing at a play place. Not bowling. Not going to a movie. Lunch and a play place. Oh joy. So, after building birdhouses we took the kids to lunch and let them run around for about an hour.

Later in the afternoon we took the kids to the park because it has been ridiculously nice lately! The kids got lots of energy out and loved being outside after being cooped up inside a lot this winter. While at the park, we had a huge breakthrough with Laura! In the past, each time we go to the park Laura refuses to get on the swings. We have often tried having her sit on either my lap or Chad's and swing with us, but this ends up in crying and screaming. I have no idea where her fear of swinging came from and we had pretty much given up trying to get her to swing. However, on this day Laura apparently felt fearless. Chad said she hopped right up on the swing and loved it! It didn't scare her at all and Chad even said that Laura didn't want to get off and let other kids have a turn. 

Big grins on the swing!

Cute kiddos.

For dinner that night we had pizza and bread sticks (another favorite of Laura's) and then we celebrated by opening presents and eating cake and ice cream. Here it comes, the overload of pictures. Sorry! But not really. :)

Birthday girl with her loot! This girl is spoiled!

Trying and almost getting two fingers up.

There was a lot of present unwrapping. Laura was a pro and knew exactly what to do. I don't really think she paid much attention to what was inside each gift until after everything had been opened.

Checking out the present tower.

Using her strong muscles to lift the tower.

Cake time! I was pretty proud of myself with how the cake turned out. I made a polka dot cake and covered it with sixlets (one of Laura's favorite candies). There were only a few things that ended up not being exactly how I wanted it. The polka dot colors didn't turn out quite like I wanted. I wanted the colors to match the sixlets and they didn't. The cake wasn't quite done and so the center was a little gooey. Also, the next time I make it, I'll be sure to add white food coloring to both the cake mix and the frosting to make the contrast between the polka dots and the cake/frosting even more distinct. Overall, the cake was adorable and tasted really good.

So excited that everyone is singing to her! I love that she clapped at the end of the song.

Getting ready to blow the candles out...

And their out! Laura had to have some help with the candles because she kept leaning in way too close. She actually singed her eyebrow a little bit because she got too close to the flame.

Digging in. Told you she loves sixlets!

This is why we keep Brian around. He's on the entertainment committee for all family gatherings. :)