Anna Elizabeth is 5 months old

Anna Baby!  You are now 5 months old.    You are 14 lbs 8 oz and in the 53%tile for weight.  You are in the 90%tile for height.   You wear a size 3-4 diaper and 6-9 month clothes.  You are long, so most of your footed sleepers are a size 9 months.  You can still wear a 3 month dress, but I cannot close the button at your neck. 

You drink 6 ounce bottles every 4 hours or so.  In the evening, you stack your feedings and will drink 2 bottles about 2  hours apart. 

 

 You fall asleep for the night between 7:30 and 8pm.  I hear from you around 3:30am.  I have been working on getting you back to sleep when you wake up in the night. Sometimes, you go back to sleep just fine.  Other nights, you are hungry.  If that is the case, I give you 4 ounces of milk.  You then go back to sleep and wake up between 6-6:30 am.  Many mornings, you stir around 5:30am, but if I put you on my chest, you snuggle right in and sleep until 7am.  I love it and I don't mind a bit.  This teeny tiny body of yours is such a fleeting moment in time.....I love that you fit right across my chest and place your head in the nook of my elbow and drift off.  I relish holding you my sweet baby girl!

I think it's official to say your eyes are BLUE!

 Your skin is very fair and I have noticed some eczema on your forehead, along your brow line and on the left side of your face.  It doesn't appear all the time, but when I notice you starting to itch, I get out the cream.  Adeline had eczema as a baby, but she outgrew it.  I am hoping you will as well. 

Your hair is a mystery.  Some days it looks blonde, and other days it looks brown or even strawberry blonde.  Who knows!  You do not have any teeth yet.  This kinda surprises me because William got a tooth at 4 months old and Adeline had her first tooth at 3 months old.  You chew on EVERYTHING in sight, so I have a feeling you are on your way to showing me your pearly whites.

You are still a screamer.  It's the same sound you made the second you were born!  I think God gave you the scream so you could be heard above the noise of your brother and sister.  You are better about your carseat and take a nap when the car is moving.  You LOVE LOVE LOVE to ride facing forward in the body carrier.  In fact, you prefer this more than being held on my hip.  You can see everything around you and you kick your feet the second I lock you on my body.  You could spend all day in that thing and in fact, when we went out in the snow, you had the best seat in the house for watching William and Adeline on the sled.  

Anna, you love to be in the action at all times.  You don't like to lay on the floor on your back anymore.  You want to be on your tummy pushing up to see or better yet, you want to sit up.  If I put the boppy behind you, you can sit up for awhile.  You tend to fall over when you reach for a toy or see your feet.

That's another milestone - seeing your feet.  I remember the moment you realized you have feet.  It was so funny to watch your eyes fixate on your toes.  You looked at your feet like, "hey, what is this?  what do we have here?"  You reached out for your toes and fell over on your side!  Then I put you on your back and showed you your feet.  You liked that because you could grab your toes without falling.  In the mornings after I take you out of your sleep sack, you stretch your legs and grab your toes.  It's pretty cute to watch!



You like to grab objects now and stick them in your mouth.  You like to shake rattles and play with any toys that are loose on the floor.  You have some teething beads and a little teething brush that you like a lot too.  Maybe some teeth are trying to poke through......



We also got out a few new toys for you too.  We borrowed a jumperoo from Jack, but so far you are not a fan.  I think you need to be a little taller to understand how to use the jumperoo.  We can get about 5 minutes out of it before you are done.  One toy you do love is the exersaucer.  I think this one is a winner because you can sit upright and your back is supported.  You can see everyone around you and you sit in there and play with all the musical toys.  It's also a great spot for you to sit and watch William and Adeline run around.  I can't wait until summer when I can fill the bottom with water and you can splash on the driveway.




You love to open your mouth and give kisses to us on our cheeks.  When you see your bottle, you freak out and kiss me all over the face or kick your legs while screaming.  It's funny.



William and Adeline love you to pieces.  Adeline asks to hold you often and I always let her.  She finds your pacifier and tries to jam it in your mouth because she thinks you need it all the time like her baby dolls.  In the mornings, she will get right in your face and in a high pitched voice, she'll say, "Anna baby!  goo goo babbbbyyyyyyyy!" She's heard us talk to you and now she likes to visit with you in the same way.  It's very, very sweet and you smile at her in pure delight.

William is so proud of you Anna. He loves you from the top of your head to the tips of your toes.  He holds you and plays with you without me even asking him to entertain you.  He cannot wait for you to go to school with him and he asks how many years it will be before you go to Holland Hall.  You are VERY lucky to have William as your brother.  I hope one day you will understand how protective he is of his sisters. 



Anna, you are one happy little baby.  You love to be held, you light up with joy when you see your Dada, and I am forever thankful for you.  I look at you every day and just wonder HOW I got so lucky that God gave me YOU!  He knew I needed you and I cherish all the baby days......they go so quick but in my eyes, you will always be my Anna BABY!

XOXO

SNOW DAY 2013!

SNOW DAY!  SNOW DAY! SNOW DAY!

Wednesday morning, we woke up to a light shower of snow.  I wasn't sure it was anything to sing about because it didn't look like it was going to stick.  Adeline is now at the age where she understands the concept of "snow" so she got a real kick out of watching it fall from the sky. 

 

William was totally pumped about it too.  He wanted desperately to go outside and play before school, but there was nothing on the ground at that point.  So, he got ready for school and headed off with Dada.  Dada said he asked a million questions about the snow on the way to school and was so anxious for the snow to still be around after school so he could play. You could feel the thrill of excitement in his voice.

It only took a few hours for 2-3 inches to accumulate on the ground.  As soon as Anna fell asleep for a morning snooze, I snatched up Adeline and we got dressed for our snow day!  Adeline was hilarious.  She TOTALLY understood what we were doing.  She said, "I need boots, hat, burrr!  Let's make a snowman Mama!"  I got out the bin of snow gear (I am always prepared for snow since our days in VA taught me to have the stuff whether we need it or not!) and found a random assortment of snow clothes for Adeline to wear.  Everything fit just fine except for the gloves.  Those are such a bug anyway, but I knew she had to cover her hands.  Afterall, she had a grand plan to build a snowman!

We headed outside with her Dora umbrella and she stomped around the yard holding it over her head.  I think she could feel the snow coming down and wanted to be prepared for "rain."  Once she was out and about, Adeline threw Dora off to the side and away she went frolicking in the white stuff.  Oh my goodness, she had the absolute best time of her life.  It was simply adorable to watch her.  I LOVED LOVED LOVED my snow day with Adeline. 

She said, "Mama, I make a snowman.  I help you Mama."  I started rolling a snowball and she watched me closely.  Then she ran over to me in that big ol' snowsuit that made her look like a marshmellow....and I couldn't help but want to eat her up!  She put her hands on the snowball and grunted like she was trying to push the snowball and pick it up.  I told her, "Mama will pick it up but you can help me roll it and make the body really big!"  Adeline replied, "OK!  Let's do it!" and we rolled and rolled and rolled.  I carried the ball of snow to the front yard and asked her where we should put our snowman.  Adeline pointed to a spot in the yard, "right here Mama!  My snowman right here!"  We repeated our conversation while making the second ball of snow for our snowman.  Once we had him stacked up, Adeline said, "Ok Mama, I help you! Eyes!"  I gave her two pine cones and she put them in the snowman for eyes.  I put a stick in the snow for his nose, but Adeline quickly took it out and marched over to a tree.  "Mama, I do it!  Help!" So I gave her another stick and she marched right over to the snowman and stuck it in the same hole where I put my original stick nose.  I cracked up.   That kiddo is smart and knows what she wants!

We ran inside to find a hat and a scarf for the snowman.  Adeline was running through the house in her wet boots shouting, "Hat!  where are you? Hat!  I find you!!!"  I showed her where the hats were in the closet and she picked out a navy blue one.  Again, she marched right over to the snowman and put the hat on his head.  "All finished Mama!"  I clapped and clapped and told her how pretty the snowman was.  Then I asked her to stand by him so I could take her picture and man, SHE WOULD NOT STAND BY HIM TO SAVE HER LIFE! It was as if the snowman was real.  So, I told her we'd have a cookie inside after the photo.  She is a little unsure of the whole thing but wanted that cookie really bad!





After the picture, Adeline said, "All done Mama.  Let's go to front door now."  And in we went.  She was happy and satisfied with her morning in the snow.

I held my breath when I told William we made a snowman.  I thought he might be sad he missed it.  But instead, he said, "oh Adeline!  Great job!  It's so cute!" On the way home from school, He asked me a million times if he could go outside when we got home.  I told him of course we'd all go back out because we have a sled and needed to put it to good use.  William was thrilled.  He raced inside and changed into his snowsuit in lightening speed.  I got the girls suited up and the four of us headed outside for round 2 of our snow day. 

William loved the sled.  There was not enough snow on the ground for great sledding, but what 6 year old really needs to know that detail.  He thought he'd hit the jackpot.  I mean, this little kid was beyond delighted that his front yard hill was a great race way for the sled. He probably went down that little hill 50 times. William would load up Adeline and tell her to hang on and then he'd push his hands on the ground to get the sled going.  Then it would go down the hill in about 5 seconds......he beamed every single time!  William and Adeline played tag and ran around the yard throwing snow on each other.  They belly laughed, they made snow angels, and they worked a little more on the snowman. 

I LOVED watching the whole event.  I absolutely cannot get enough of being with my kids.  They are SO much fun and truely enjoy each other.  I love that they embrace me and want to be with me as much as I love being with them. They welcome me wholeheartedly into their childhood and I soak up every single second.  Snow day is in the memory books for sure.  I will never forget the way Adeline looked waddling out in the snow and falling down in it.  She worked and worked at getting up and just kept falling and falling every time.  Her snowsuit was big and awkward, but oh my goodness, it was so cute too   Anna's blue eyes sparkled against the white backdrop and her checks were as red as apples.  I won't forget how much FUN William had being out in that little bit of snow.  It might as well have been 20 feet of snow in his world.  He had the best time.  And I won't forget my kids riding down the hill in our front yard - their shreks of delight and belly laughs so deep your gut hurts.

The icing on the cake for me was not just watching my little ones have a great time, but also the fact that we are HOME.  It's OUR YARD and OUR HOUSE where we made these memories.  I have waited a long, long time for this and my cup runith over!  I know someday when they are grown and gone, I will find myself suiting up and heading outside to sit on our porch alone, and I will hear the sounds of their tiny voices on our first snow day together.  Time is precious and melts so fast.

Bike rides and weekend fun

Last Saturday we had another glorious day here in Tulsa.  So we took full advantage and spent almost our entire day outdoors.  The kids played with chalk and the outdoor toys (stroller, scooter, wagon, etc) before gearing up for our family outing to the bike trails.

We LOVE the trail right by our house. It's just great!  There are always people walking, running, biking and skate boarding on the trail so I feel really safe even when I don't have Dan with me.  We get on the path a block from our house.  To the left, you can take the trail to Riverside and head along the water to various parks and such.  To the right, you head north towards downtown, but we always stop at a park and let the kids play.

Saturday, William wanted to practice his bike.  So he rode his bike, Adeline rode with Dan on "her bike," and I pushed Anna in the stroller.  We were quite the group!

Happy Valentine's Day

We might be a little late for this one, but I finally got pictures off my camera!

Happy Valentine's Day from the Barron trio!