THE young FAMILY

Hayes is 3 months old today! (13 weeks yesterday). I know I keep saying this, but wow this one has flown by. I cannot believe we are where we are. She is consistently sleeping from 7-7, taking a long morning nap, about a 45 minute midday nap, a long afternoon nap and then a 20 minute cat nap in the hour before bed. She is so predictable these days and it is really nice. She still eats 5 times a day: 7, 10, 1, 4 and 7. The thumb sucking has improved the sleeping immensely. She is cooing ALL the time...she does not seem to accept the role as the quiet, whatever goes 2nd child. She demands attention when she wants it and will make it known. We call her the 0-60 baby. She is either way chill, happy and just hanging out or she is just flat out mad! It cracks me up. She is totally a mama's girl which is so different to me. Carrie was NEVER like that and still seems to be a daddy's girl, but Hayes, not so much. She is happiest when mama is near and so we are trying to get her more used to other people since I cannot be with her every waking second. The gassy baby tummy seems to have passed for the most part which is great...that could get her really worked up. She still rolls from tummy to back some, but has never gone the other way. I finally got her to giggle yesterday and it was the most adorable, hilarious thing. I am in her face nonstop now trying to get her to laugh whenever I can. She is working on sitting in her bumbo which she is doing pretty well with. I just cannot believe how much of a baby she is becoming and how much less of a newborn! It really is just so fun to watch and no less exciting or wonderful than it was with Carrie. I am eating up every minute I can. Here are a couple of pictures.

Holding her head up so well!

Sisters. Anything I do with Hayes, Carrie wants to do too. Naturally.

Happy goofball in her bumbo.

And since it has been forever since I have blogged, I thought I would throw in some things about C while I'm at it. What is C doing? A better question is what is she not doing. She is nonstop. A full on 2 year old...the good, the bad and the ugly. Some days I just laugh all the time and enjoy every minute and other days I think how will I be able to get through more than 1 2 year old!? She is so smart...talks like a person, knows tons of songs, how to count, all shapes and colors etc. She is really into puzzles and can sit down and do floor puzzles by herself now! It's really amazing. Things that challenge her are the best things for her right now because she gets bored really easily! She is not super at playing by herself since she had me to herself for 2 years so I hear a lot of "Mama, come heeeere!" She tests me daily to see if I am going to be a softy...I am not and I think every day she sees that more and more and gets a little better about listening and not doing what she is not supposed to. We obviously have a LONG way to go...she is 2! She looks me in the face while she does something I told her not to, she has trouble sharing and throws a push in every now and then when playing with other kids. But overall, she is a really great kid and tons of fun. She has a very good and pure heart and constantly tells me "mama, I love you SO much" and "you are my best girl!" (obviously she has heard those a few times) So even when I think I have nagged her nonstop for a day, I can see she still loves and respects me at the end of it all which is nice. She is getting to be such a sweet big sister. I think it was a hard transition for her to share mom, but I think she is really starting to see that her and Hayes will be friends and play mates before too long and she has been making me so proud with how she is doing with her. She keeps me on my toes and at the end of the day when the girls are both in bed, I crash. I am wiped out. But I am grateful. I remind myself to be patient and grateful about 100 times a day because I know I am so so blessed. Here are a couple pictures.

Dressing up has to be her favorite activity right now. She has a Snow White, Cinderella, Dora and princess costume and we are constantly changing from one to the other. Here she was this morning dressed as Dora, backpack and all!

She even has started caring about what she wears on a daily basis. She will say "no pants!" or "I want to wear the pink dress!" She is not into coats, so we got her a vest as a compromise because it has been such a mild winter...here she is all sporty spice in her new get up.

So after 3 months and now 2 girls sleeping through the night right across the hall from each other, I feel like our life is settling into it's new normal. Carrie is back at Mother's Day Out and 3 mornings a week now; Monday, Tuesday, Thursday. Tuesday morning I have a family friend babysit Hayes for a few hours and Thursday morning my mom keeps Hayes and this gives me some much needed time for myself and to get a few things done. Getting to sit down and do a blog these days is even a treat! But I want to say, because it is on my heart, that if you have kids or if you don't, being a parents is the best gift in the world, but it is also very challenging. I find it comforting and refreshing to talk to other moms who say "ya know what, this is hard and exhausting! but I wouldn't have it any other way!" That is how I feel. If you are a parent and think it is a walk in the park, never tell another parent that ;). But when I read Carrie books in bed at night before tucking her in or when I rock Hayes to sleep or hold her when she smiles at me, I know one day I am going to look back and miss this. So I am trying to soak it all up and appreciate it and enjoy it before it flies by.