My Newest Project...

After seeing quiet books on Pinterest I decided to attempt this project for my girls. A quiet book is a felt or fabric activity book for children that teaches them how to work buttons, snaps, zippers, velcro, etc (you can click on the button at the top of this post to see other quiet books) . It is a great activity to keep kids busy and quiet while in the car, restaurants, waiting rooms & church. There are numerous scenes that can be made and tailored toward your child's personality. A lot of time and effort goes into making a quiet book so I don't know how long it will actually take me to complete but I have started ;)

Page 1: Paint Pallet-
the color splotches velcro on and off and the paint brush can be used for imaginary painting and then stored in the pocket

My girls LOVE art!

Printable template can be found here.

The pages will all be sewn onto felt or fleece sheets (I haven't decided yet) to add durability and bound with 3 rings like a book with a fabric cover. I just hope this is a project I can finish :)

Emma is 16 Months!

Our precious Emma is 16 months old already! 

I can't believe how big she is getting!! She is running around everywhere chasing after her older sister :) Emma still eats GREAT and has started drinking milk finally. She is cutting ALL four K9 teeth at once...which hasn't been fun. Once all her teeth are in I plan to get rid of the paci for good (she still uses it for sleep at home). We went to the park this weekend and Emma loved to go down the slide HEAD FIRST!

Tonight Emma said "cheese" for the camera for the 1st time!

...And Emma was BUSTED sneaking some sour gummy worms while Reese was helping me clean her room!

Scarlett is 1 Month Old!

Has it really been a month already?!
Scarlett has been doing great and growing so fast! She is barely squeezing into the newborn sizes now and we are about to upgrade to size 1 diapers. She is approximately 9 pounds (per our home scale). She still eats every 2 hours. We do one bottle of expressed milk a day so that she is able to bottle feed once I start clinicals in March.

Someone was up ALL night!

The girls absolutely LOVE her and are ALWAYS kissing and loving on her :) Reese told her yesterday when she was crying "It's ok Scarlett, I'm right here."
I love those moments!!

Scarlett's Newborn Photo Shoot

Enjoy Scarlett's Newborn Photo @ 6 Days Old

Our Little Zebra

We are busy planning Reese's 3rd birthday party and I love how her invites turned out!

Stationery card

View the entire collection of cards.

Purple Zebra Pinata

Reese has chosen a "Purple Zebra" theme for her 3rd birthday and we are having a lot of fun planning for it! I wanted a pinata for the kids this year since it will be outside and Cody jokingly said that I "could make one". At first I laughed but then go curious if I really could.... and I did!

Reese modeling the pinata structure

Applying the crepe paper fringe

Zebra stripes complete

and drum roll please....

A Purple Zebra Pinata

Instructions here although I used crepe streamer instead of crepe paper sheets since it's all I could find.

Scarlett's 2 Week Check Up

Scarlett had a check up at 17 days old and boy is she gaining weight! 

She has increased her weight from 23% at 3 days old to 56%!

Weight: 8# 10oz (56%)

Length: 21.25in* (79%)

Head Circumference: 36.8cm (66%)

*There is some discrepancy in length between the hospital and the pediatrician

She loves sleeping on her tummy (with supervision of course)

Emma is 15 Months

Emma turned 15 months on 12/30/11!

Weight: 22 pounds (38%)

Length: 31.25 inches (75%)

Head Circumference: 48.5cm ("High"...nice way of saying 99-100%)

 She still LOVES to eat, dance, do art & play with play doh :) She is walking everywhere and even sometimes trying to run! I can tell her vocabulary is about to take off because she is starting to try and repeat words. She can say "dada", "momma", "all done", "more", "dog", "yay", "that" (as in what's that?) and "gentile". She is trying to say "please" as she signs it and is also trying to say "thank you". She understands A LOT of what we tell her which I am impressed with. Emma loves to sleep and will walk to her bed when she's tired. We will soon be transitioning her crib to a toddler bed. 

Emma is truly the joy of our lives! She is always happy, full of smiles, and keeps us laughing every day!

Scarlett's 1st Week

I can't believe Scarlett is over a week old already! She has been a great baby and the girls absolutely LOVE her :) Here is what we have been up to for the past week...

1 Day Old:

2 Days Old:

Checking out her new room

3 Days Old:

1st Pediatrician Visit

She was down to 6#13oz (almost a pound) so we had to supplement twice

1st Neighborhood Walk

1st Bath at Home

4 Days Old (Uncle Jason came to visit):

5 Days Old:

6 Days Old (Newborn Photo Shoot Sneak Peek):

We went back to the pediatrician for a weight check and she was up to 7# 8oz (an 11oz gain in just 3 days) so the pediatrician was thrilled.

7 Days Old:

 Reese's quotes for the week "I have TWO sisters!" and "Thank you Mommy for baby Scarlett!" (my heart melted when she said that). Emma is now saying "gentle" as she's learning how to touch her new little sister.

We are all adjusting great and blessed to be a family of 5!