Where did the weekend go???

The following picture is something we're overly excited about....Amelia not only continues to sleep through the night, but she also takes two naps each day...all in her crib! The best part though, is that we can lay her down drowsy, she watches us walk out of the room and puts herself to sleep. No more tears!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The change in Amelia's sleeping habits have changed so dramatically it's almost like a different girl. Whatever prompted this change, it doesn't matter to me, because I'll take it!

We were so busy this weekend it's almost laughable. Time sure does fly when we're busy! We had a chance to visit with friends and family, do a bit of shopping, Graham enjoyed being able to go swimming at a local indoor pool, multiple trips to the neighborhood park, and a trip to the zoo followed by dinner at McDonald's. We really don't go to McDonald's very often, but Graham knew exactly where we were when we pulled into the parking lot. He let out a very enthusiastic 'Yahoo!!!' that left both Jeff and I laughing. On many occasions this weekend, both Graham and Amelia had Jeff and I cracking up...yes, two kids is twice the work (who am I kidding, it's a TON more work), but it's also twice the fun. We're finally feeling like we're adjusting to our new normal and have a pretty good handle on living as a happy family of four. It's amazing what a few good nights sleep can do!

Amelia getting caught up on ESPN with her Daddy

Amelia enjoys her first spaghetti meal

Daddy and Amelia enjoying the fish at the zoo

Graham and Amelia hanging out in their big stroller at the zoo

Amelia making her 'squishy' face

Since Amelia has been home for a month now, we have to meet with our social worker later this week for our first post-placement visit. We have to give her a family picture and this is what we came up with. The lighting is a bit off, but trying to get two small children to smile at the same time is quite challenging!

Three Cheers for Amelia!!!

Amelia deserves three BIG, GIANT, ENORMOUS cheers! Why, you ask? Well, not only did she sleep through the entire night last night ( actually the past three nights and I've had to wake her up at 7:00) and she also took not one, but two naps in her crib today!!! If you can't sense my excitement, just know that I felt like doing cartwheels around the house this afternoon. I'm not convinced we're in the clear yet as far as her sleeping issues, but great progress is definitely being made!

While I have high hopes the lack of sleep in this house will soon be a thing of the past, Amelia has decided that she's not sure about Jeff. She refuses to take food from him and throws a fit if he's holding her while she can still see me. I'm sure this is just a phase, but it does make for some pretty tense moments. Shortly after Graham came home, and Jeff returned to work, Graham also went through such a stage. Thankfully, it was short lived, and he realized just how great his Daddy is. Hopefully Amelia and her Daddy will be able to spend some quality time together this weekend so she can soon come to the same realization that Graham did. I have to wonder if Amelia questions if Jeff will return each day when he leaves for work in the morning. I wish I could get into the mind of a 10 month old baby who's world was recently turned upside down...

Both Graham and Amelia are also finally on the road to being healthy again. This rotten cold they're both fighting off just didn't want to leave which means that today was the 4th day in a row that we've all been stuck in the house. I'm really, really, really hoping that they'll be well enough for us to rejoin civilization tomorrow. It's been a long week for all of us and we've got a busy weekend coming up so waking up healthy on Friday will be perfect timing!

Amelia has discovered the play kitchen..."Graham's play kitchen", he really wasn't thrilled about this. Speaking of Graham, I have no clue why he's putting socks on his fire truck in the background!

Graham shows Amelia how it's done! I wish I could explain the crown on Graham's head. He's recently decided he needs to wear it almost all the time...perhaps he's trying to impose his authority over his toy kingdom?

A future musician?

Graham and Amelia

The past few days have been spent quietly at home because unfortunately I've got two sick kids. Graham came down with a cold on Friday and by the time he woke up on Saturday morning, he was miserable. His little sidekick, Amelia, quickly followed suit and woke up miserable herself on Sunday. Yesterday was so horrible for her that I was once again on the phone with the pediatrician this morning. I had an appointment for her this afternoon, but was luckily able to cancel it as she appears to have started on the road to recovery. I've got my fingers crossed that tomorrow morning I will be awakened by two happy, healthy kids!

Because we've been stuck at home, Graham and Amelia have spent more time playing side by side than usual. As a result of this, I feel like I've earned a new title. I am no longer just Mom, I am now the Referee Mama! If I got even a dollar for every time I had to step in and ask Graham to stop taking toys from Amelia or vice-versa, I would be rich! My favorite line that I've had to use countless times over the past few days though, is something I never in my wildest dreams imagined myself ever saying..."Graham, get off of your sister! No, Amelia is NOT your pony!" At the time it was anything but funny, but now when I think back to that interaction, I have to laugh thinking about Amelia's confused face as Graham, complete with cowboy sound effects, tried to take a ride. And no, I don't have any pictures of the pony ride...there is no time to grab my camera when a 30 pound toddler is trying to ride on his baby sister! :)

Amelia trying to give Graham a hug

Graham really isn't trying to hurt her, he's trying to hug her

Amelia on Monday in the midst of her very miserable day

10 Months Old

Today, Miss Amelia turns 10 months old! We haven't even known her for a month yet, but already the changes in her are amazing! She's much more confident in her crawling, she pulls up on EVERYTHING, and she's even trying to stand up unassisted! I can only imagine what the next month will bring for her! Here is a short list of her likes and dislikes at 10 months old:


Likes:
-Food. Any food is great according to her. Any time of day, any place. If offered to her, she'll eat it!
-Watching Annie
-Gerber Puffs-the bigger the pile the better
-Big Brother Graham
-Fisher Price Little People
-Giving extremely slobbery kisses (watch out though, she likes to take the occasional bite of a nose!)
-Shopping with Mommy while riding in the stroller (WOO HOO!!!)
-Pink Plaid Bunny in her crib
-Laughing at Graham
-Smiling almost all of the time!
-Giving hugs
-Snuggling

Dislikes
-Annie licking her
-Sleep
-Having her face washed
-Sleep
-Graham splashing her in the bathtub
-Sleep
-Graham taking toys away from her
-Did I mention sleep???

I'm having a really difficult time coming up with a list of things that Amelia doesn't like. So far, she is displaying such an easy-going laid back nature. Other than her serious sleep issues, she's really slipped right in and acts like she's been part of our family forever!

Happy 10 Months Miss Amelia-we love you lots!

Three weeks home...

It's hard to believe that exactly three weeks ago, we spent our first night at home as a family of four! Amelia continues to delight us with her playful and sweet nature. She LOVES to cuddle and give wet slobbery kisses. I think one of Amelia's favorite things about being home is her big brother Graham. If she had her choice, I think she'd spend her entire day grafted to his side. She watches him constantly and laughs at almost everything he does. Graham enjoys his constant audience but is still working through the fact that he has to share his Mommy and Daddy.

Amelia eats like a champ and has recently decided that even green vegetables are ok! After having the experience of an extremely picky eater under my belt, I can truly say it's a treat to have a child who eats without a battle! Basically, other than the ever present sleep issues, we feel so lucky to have such an easy going, happy little girl. As you can tell by her giant grin in the majority of her photographs, she spends her days smiling! Here are a few pictures from the past few days...

This is one of Amelia's favorite things...her textured baby animal book.

Notice the puff on her chin...she spent quite a while looking for her missing treat and I didn't have the heart tell her it was stuck on her face. It just looked too cute!

Check out her drool! Amelia is in the midst of some serious teething (she already has 8 teeth!) and she drools like no other baby I've ever met!

I'm not really sure what was going on here, but they sat like this for several minutes enjoying each others company.

It's been so much fun to watch these two interact!

I did it!

This may not sound like a big deal to many, but today I conquered the mall with two kids and a double stroller and I did it all alone! This morning was challenging to say the least, so when Amelia woke up from her morning nap, or shall I call it sleep interrupted by waking every 20 minutes, I decided we had to get out of the house.

Graham was in need of a haircut so we headed to the mall. The most challenging part of our excursion was getting both kids out of the house and safely into their car seats. Amelia clearly has to be carried, and Graham insisted he be carried, so I must have looked like quite the sight as I carried two squirmy kids and a diaper bag into the driveway to load them up. The kids did amazingly well at the mall. In fact, it was the most restful part of the entire day! Graham somehow made his sucker from his haircut last over an hour so he didn't make a noise while I wandered around and Amelia appears to actually enjoy shopping so I wasn't too worried about how she would do. Now that I've taken on and conquered the mall outnumbered by toddlers, perhaps the zoo is next!

Driving her car this morning

Graham and Amelia cruising around in the limousine stroller

Amelia thought the cheese on her tray was hysterical...she really couldn't stop laughing for some reason

We Survived!

After having Jeff home from work for the past three weeks, today was his first day back in the office. I was admittedly nervous about how the day would go-how many times Graham would take a toy from Amelia, how many times Amelia would wake up from her naps, etc. Other than being exhausted from the lack of sleep (Amelia still doesn't like to sleep at night), I thought it went pretty well. I tried to be organized and tried to think three steps ahead of Graham and we were all alive when Jeff walked through the door this evening. I realized that our days are going to look pretty much like they did pre-Amelia, only I need to allow at least twice as much time to accomplish any single task. By the end of the day, both Graham and Amelia were a bit squirly so I was extremely thankful for Kelly, who dropped a delicious dinner off for us this evening!

The only time that Graham become frustrated with Amelia today was actually cause for me to laugh to myself. Amelia babbles constantly-mamamama, babababa, or dadadadadada. At breakfast this morning 'dadadada' was Amelia's preferred sound. Each time she did this, Graham looked at her, and explained 'Dada Jeff at work'. Graham really believed that she was calling for her Daddy and he wanted to let her know where he was. This went on for some time before Graham gave her the dirtiest look, raised his voice a bit and said it for the last time all day 'Dada Jeff at work!'. It was almost as if he grew so impatient at the fact that he was repeating himself so many times! As a side note, we have no idea why Graham refers to his Daddy as 'Dada Jeff' but each time Graham's speaks to him or about him, it's 'Dada Jeff'.

These two giggled like crazy while I got breakfast ready. I absolutely loved listening to their laughter from the kitchen.

Another cute picture of our happy Amelia