Harper Grace: 1 Year 10 Months

Harper is nearing her second birthday! I try not to wish away the time, but I do hope that she calms down some when she turns two. She has given us a run for our money (and a lot of new gray hairs!) this past year. Here's what she's been up to:

• She is ornery! No better  way to put it. She does exactly the opposite of what you tell her. She dumps her entire plate on the floor. She sticks her hands in her diaper. She dumps all the toys on the floor. She pulls Riley's hair. She is just plain ornery!
• She moved up to a size 5 shoe. She is still clumsy I'm them as they are still a bit too big. 
• She is now hiding to do her business. We brought the froggy potty up from the basement, and she has gone in it once! She's earning gummy bears for each time she actually goes. Riley is her biggest cheerleader because she knows she gets one too. 
• For the first time ever in my history of being a parent I cleaned up human poop on the carpet. Brett was getting the girls ready for their bath and Harper was running around naked. Next thing we know brett is pulling her from under her bed where she had just pooped! Yuck!
• She knows most of her colors now. 
• She loves to sing. Her favorites are twinkle twinkle little star and the wheels on the bus. 
• She has begun screaming at the top of her lungs when she doesn't get what she wants. 
• She continues to be very physical with everything she does. 
• She is not the nicest to her brother. Just the other day I caught her laying with all her weight on Cole while he was in his carseat. She also hugs his head from behind and pulls on his feet as I hold him. But for some reason he smiles every time he sees her. 
• She is talking a bunch. She sometimes uses the sounds a word makes instead of the actual word. Like she will repeat the noise Cole made or say "shhh" for sleep. 
• She has been climbing into Riley's bed just about every night. Some nights Riley will come get Brett to put her back in her own bed, but most nights they end up sleeping that way. 

Spring Break 2013

We had an interesting spring break, to say the least. We started the week off by heading up to Minneapolis to meet up with the Coppola's and Donnenwerth's for some Nickelodeon Universe and Water park of America. We decided to head up a day early to make a weekend out of our stay. We had plans to head to the aquarium and then swim at our hotel before calling it a night. Unfortunately, there was something going on at the mall and most of the entrances were blocked off so we decided to just head to the hotel. After making our way to the wrong Holiday Inn we finally made it to our hotel and Brett took the girls swimming. We then drove around looking for something to eat and landed at Applebee's. We went back to the hotel to settle down for the night. Harper decided she was too excited to sleep and I eventually pushed her up and down the hallway in the stroller until she fell asleep...at 10:15. The next day we met up with the Donnenwerth's and Coppola's for lunch at the Rainforest Cafe. Then we headed into Nickelodeon Universe to ride some rides. The dads took the kids around while the moms snuck away to do a little shopping. We then made our way back to the hotel and water park. We had such a great time at the water park. The big kids were able to run around and go down the small slides on their own, while Brett followed Harper around to the kiddie slides and little fountains. We ordered pizza from the water park and the kids had fun running around. It was a great reminder that it had been way too long since our families had been able to spend time together. After pizza we changed out of our suits and headed to the Coppola's room for a drink before putting the kids to bed. The next morning we woke up to a blizzard warning and decided that we would stay for another night to avoid a scary drive home. After a couple hours at the water park we said goodbye to the Donnenwerth's and headed to the room for naps. We decided to head to the aquarium for the afternoon since we missed it on Saturday. The aquarium was really neat and is definitely a must see if you head up to the Mall of America. We spent a couple more hours at the water park and then headed back to the room to get some sleep before heading back home on Tuesday.

Wednesday Kennedy came to spend the day with us since she was on spring break too. The girls had a great time playing and watching movies. We really enjoyed having Kennedy with us and hope to have her come back soon. We originally planned to have Kennedy and Addison come over Wednesday through Friday, but Thursday morning Harper woke up at 4:00 am. I brought her into my room since Brett was out of town for the night and she was burning up. Half an hour later she sat up and puked all over herself and the sheets. Riley heard the commotion and all three of us were wide awake at 4:30. Thursday proved to be a long day. Poor Harper threw up four more times, had a temperature of 102.7, and hardly moved from the couch. Brett wasn't due to be home until 8:30 so Grandma Kathy took Riley out for a couple hours. Brett finally made it home and spent the night in the living room with Harper. Friday Brett made an impromptu visit to Dr. Fred's office with Riley who said her heart hurt and when we felt her heart it was racing. Thankfully Dr. Fred didn't find anything wrong, but we now have an appointment with a cardiologist to get some tests run. Saturday was spent resting and getting caught up on sleep.

We ended our Spring Break with a Riley and Mommy date to the Shriner's Circus. In true Riley fashion her favorite part of the circus was her blow up pony toy that she got. It was fun to have a little break from routine, but we are all a little happy to be back to normal!

Harper's New Bedtime Routine

For the last week Harper has had some new requests as we tuck her into bed.  It might be the sweetest thing ever.  Here's how it goes:

H: "Mommy, wreek" as she points to her cheek and makes a kissing noise.
M: I kiss her cheek.
H: "more wreek" as she points to here other cheek.
M: kisses cheek.
Repeat the process as she points to her tummy and say "me", her forehead, and her mouth.

I make her do it a couple times because the sound of her say cheek is the cutest thing! I keep reminding myself of this sweetness as she dumps our all of the oatmeal, draws on the floor with crayon, draws on her face with marker, and dumps put all the pieces to every game we own!

Cole Carlson: Three Months Old

Mr. Cole is three months old. Here's what he's up to:

• He is growing so fast. Some of his 0-3 month old clothes are too small. Those that still fit are almost too short. 3 month aeems to fit him perfectly. He is wearing a size 1 diaper. 
• He has terrible cradle cap. It seems to go away and then returns within a couple days. He also has the best mullet. He may have his first haircut at four months old. 
• He is starting to pick up somewhat of a routine. Durin the day he sleeps on the way to drop Riley off at school. He then wakes up around 10 to eat and play. Then he sleeps on the way to get Riley and usually sleeps for 2-3 hours. Since we get home around lunch time he usually snoozes in his carseat for this nap. The last couple nights he's been going to bed around 8:30 and sleeping until 5:30 or 6:00 am. I am going to work on transitioning him to his crib for naps next week. 
• He is eating 3 1/2 oz bottles of breast milk every three hours, or so. 
• He is such a happy little guy! He smiles most of the day. He loves to watch the tv and his sisters. 
• He doesn't enjoy tummy time. He sits in his bumbo chair occasionally, but he still has a bobble head. 
• He prefers his bouncy chair to the swing now. 
• Nicknames: Cole man, little buddy, Cole baby, baby brother. 
• He has found his hands. He is always sucking on them. He's also drooling nonstop. 
• He loves to snuggle into the hood of his hoodie when in the carseat. 

Harper Grace: 1 Year 9 Months

Miss Harper is another month older. Since the dust has settled around here I've really noticed a lot of growth in Harper. She sure is a smart little thing!  Here's what she's been up to:

• She weighs a whopping 22 pounds. She's moving up to size 24 months as I write this. She is just about ready to move up to a size 5 shoe. 
• She is wearing a size 4 diaper. She will let us know when she needs changed, but really shows no interest in potty training. We are hoping that will change over the next three months. 
• She is a crazy woman!  That is really the best way to explain her personality. She wants to be in the middle of everything and doesn't want to miss a thing. She loves to run around and yell whenever she can. 
• She is starting to talk a bunch. She is now speaking in three word sentences. Every day she is saying a new word. 
• She loves to follow her sister around and do everything that she does. She loves her baby brother...sometimes a little too much. She thinks that she needs to shove his paci in his mouth anytime she can see it and give him a million hugs and kisses a day. 
• She is still a hair puller. As fast as she is with it we see it coming every time. 
• She loves to sing and dance around. 
• She loves hats and shoes. 
• She gets frustrated easily and is quick to throw a fit. 
• She loves Elmo, babies, her new slide, and anything that she can take out and put back in a box. 
• She has 12 teeth. Her finger sucking seems to be doing a number on them. 
• She gives the best hugs around the neck and sometimes needs to be pried off!

Valentine's Day 2013

Brett and I decided to forego gifts for each other and just focus on making the holiday special for the kids. We got them each a little valentine gift and had a fancy dinner. It was great and we will definitely keep the tradition going.

Riley's valentine for her school friends. 

The girls' Valentines. Cole scored some new clothes.

Riley decorating the table

Riley Nicole: 4 1/2 Years Old

Riley is now half way to 5. I can't even believe how much our lives have have changed since little Riley joined our family. I feel like when Riley turns five she will no longer seem so little and that makes me a little sad. I'm very excited to experience what this age brings, but a little sad that this time has arrived already. Here is what she's up to at 4 1/2:

• She is wearing size 4 and 5 clothes. Toddler clothes are officially too short for her. She is in a size 9 shoe and just about ready to move up a size. 
• Her hair is so long now. It probably should be trimmed because she hates for it to be brushed, but it is so pretty. 
• She has become more picky with what she eats. She thinks that she needs to snack all day. She would prefer to eat a bowl of chips and cherry tomatoes instead of lunch. She loves raspberries, strawberries, most veggies, yogurt, chicken (really anything other than red meat), salad, Mac and cheese, ravioli, and lunchables. 
• She gets frustrated very easily and copes by giving up. We have had a lot of conversations about not giving up and doing her best. 
• She is very sassy these days and is constantly talking back and saying no. She has been spending a lot of time in time out. Along with her sass comes a lot of whining as well. 
• She is no longer crying at school, but she is still reluctant to go. She always comes home happy. 
• She thinks she is Harper's mom. She is always telling her what to do, and what not to do. 
• She hates that Harper copies everything that she does. 
• She always seems to add an extra "ed" to past tense words.
• She loves singing and makes up her own silly songs that make no sense. 
• She loves movies and becomes so engrossed in them if we don't limit the amount that she watches. She loves to pretend that she is one of the characters. 
• She is only taking about two naps a week. 
• She is a daddy's girl and sometimes treats mommy like chopped liver. I just remind myself that I'm still the one she wants when she gets hurt. 
• She is signed up for softball this summer. She is super excited to be on a team and actually play games. Daddy and I are excited too!
• We have decided that she will complete one more year of preschool before going on to kindergarten. With all of the recent crying at drop off and just my intuition we decided that she would benefit from another year of development before moving on. She will be attending Westview Preschool on Waukee. We toured the school and think it will be great for her. She will attend four afternoons a week and the class is designed for kids that aren't quite ready to transition to kindergarten. I think she will thank is later on in life.