Big Girl Sadie

Sadie is steadily growing up. It's crazy. I feel like she grew up so fast before I even realized it was happening. It seemed like between 0 and 20 months with Ella, it was slow and almost leisurely (although I wouldn't have said that at the time...hindsight is 20/20). I realized last night that I was already 8 weeks pregnant with Sadie when Ella was 20 months old. We haven't really even thought about having our third child yet, but back when she was born we wanted to time it the same. I guess time just snuck by without us even noticing.

Sadie started preschool last Wednesday. She did amazing. She cried for just a moment, then went to her teacher (Miss Kim, who was also Ella's first teacher) and then stopped crying. I took Ella to her classroom and by the time I walked back by Sadie's room, she was intently playing with a Mr. Potato Head. I thought Friday was going to be brutal now that she knew just how long she would be a school that day. Nope. She didn't even cry a little bit. She stuck out her bottom lip, but never cried. Today, Josh said that she put on her backpack and held Ella's hand as they walked to class and she went right in. It's amazing. I am so thankful that this has been such a smooth transition. And so far, she hasn't come home with any awful illnesses. Maybe being at PCCare her entire life has built up some immunities.

And in other big girl news, last Wednesday after Sadie's first day of school we put her on the trundle bed in Ella's room and she has done marvelously at sleeping in a big girl bed. We can hear Ella and her giggling and talking to each other as they fall asleep. She gets up a few times every night, but she'll walk into my room saying "Mommy" and I'll walk her right back to her bed and she goes back to sleep. I haven't had to stay up with her at all. And the best part??? Josh and I FINALLY have our own room back! We don't have to go downstairs in the middle of the night to use the restroom and we can brush our teeth in our own bathroom at night instead of in the guest bathroom. We can take showers in our own shower without waking up the baby...the list goes on and on. It's awesome.

So maybe we'll enjoy this new found freedom before we start thinking baby number three. Although 30 is steadily creeping up on me.........

Wal-Mart can really wear a girl out!

Ella, Sadie, and I always do our grocery shopping for the week on Tuesdays. But it's been getting a little bit harder lately because Sadie sleeps from 10AM - 12PM, Ella sleeps from 12PM-2 or 3PM, and then Sadie sleeps again from 3PM - 5PM. So, if I'm not up and ready to go with the girls by 8AM, then we have a hard time fitting it in because with two kids, bathroom breaks, Ella picking out cereal, it takes us every bit of two hours before we're out of there.

Sadie's been in a growth spurt the past week or so because she's been eating like crazy and sleeping like crazy. So yesterday we went around lunchtime and she just couldn't make it through the shopping trip. She looked so sweet sleeping in the basket for about 45 minutes :)

9 Months & 3 Years Old

My kids are awesome.

Ella, you are the silliest, funniest, and most beautiful girl I have ever known. It is not hard for you to put a smile on my face. You're 3. Here are somethings about you that I don't want to forget and that you might like to know about yourself one day:



*You call your forehead your headboard and I absolutely cannot correct you :)

*You are right in the middle of a growth spurt. You're like a bottomless pit!

*One of your favorite things to do is go to the movies. We went and saw Gnomeo and Juliet for valentine's day this year. You loved the movie. I didn't like it much, but there's no one else who I'd rather sit through a boring movie with than you. (you did great with the 3d glasses too!)

*You've been potty trained for almost a year. Awesome!

*Your favorite musicians: Taylor Swift, Zac Brown, Owl City, Skillet, Shinedown, and Baby Einstein

*We dance. A lot.

*You LOVE to make up songs. The other day you were making up a song in the kitchen while I was cooking and it went a little something like this "I love my little sis so much and I love my mom too" in the cutest little sing, song voice.

*You LOVE your little sister.

*Sometimes you look at me and tell me just how much you love me and it isn't something that you think about ahead of time to say, it's like it just spills out. Those moments are incredible to me.

*You also think Dad is terrible at combing hair and only mom does it without hurting you. (I still accidentally pull your hair sometimes and Dad's actually not that bad) And you finally will let me put ponies in your hair! Although some mornings you still tell me that you want crazy hair. :)

Sadie,

You are changing so fast! It wasn't that long ago that you were sleeping the days away in your swing. I am so blessed to be your mom and watch you learn and grow more every single day. Here's what you're up to now:

*Helloooooo separation anxiety!!

*Anything you can spot that looks sturdy, you make a bee-line for to pull up on it

*You can say dada, mama, baba, hi, ella (eh-da), and all sorts of other noises

*You will eat anything. Tomatoes, lettuce, squash, guacamole, cake, chicken, i could go on and on

*Mommy is your favorite person and you make me feel so special.

*We're working on the sippy cup, but you refuse to hold it yourself.

*You finally started sleeping all night, but you're an early riser. You go to bed at 7PM sharp and you're usually up between 5 and 6, ready for the day. You also take two naps a day and they're around 2 hours a piece.

*You put on make-up with me every morning when we get ready for work. You love chewing on my mascara and concealer tubes. Sometimes you get a hold of the eyeliner and by the time I notice that you have it, you've got it all over your face :)

*You love to have shouting matches with my hairdryer.

*It is impossible to change your diaper. Sometimes it feels like I'm putting wrestling moves on you.

*You love to shake your head "no" at me and it's so cute. I think you learned the words Ella and no first because that's probably what you hear the most. :)

*You just got your 3rd and 4th tooth yesterday!

*You got the flu and after that you got your first stomach virus a few weeks ago. It broke my heart.


*You also just got to try out the baby swing at Mimi and Grandad's house for the first time. You loved it.

the little things

I love it when both girls' naptimes happen at the same time. That means that I either 1) get to rock Sadie while she dreams away in my arms or 2) I get to lay down in Ella's bed and take a nap with her. It's those moments when it is quiet, there's no crying, and just a quiet peace covers the entire house. These are the moments when I get to just sit (or sleep) and experience the beautiful moments happening in my life. My children are amazing and wonderful and bring me more happiness than I could ever imagine. And it just keeps getting better.

And check out Ella's new glasses. Doesn't she look cute?

Life at Three Months

Three months have gone by since I welcomed my sweet, sweet Sadie into the world. That day was phenomenal. So here are some things happening:

Sadie doesn't like to fall asleep. We bounce, rock, sway most of the day away. I'll put her in bed and 20 minutes later we're right back at it. It ususally takes me a few tries before she's finally asleep.
Ella is my easy sleeper. I put her in bed and she will sing to herself or lie there quietly until she's asleep. That was a long hard road when she was a baby, but i see now it was worth all the tears (mine AND hers).

Sadie is nursing (mostly. i have a milk supply problem so i'm supplementing 2-4 oz a day)
Ella is becoming a much less picky eater (due to mom and dad laying down the law at the table. it's hard work, but it is good for her)

Sadie is finally getting her voice. She talks and tries to laugh, but still hasn't quite got that part figured out. It comes out more like a cough.
Ella is fantastically smart. She can count to 20 (sometimes), count to 7 in Spanish, knows some sign language, prays for our meals, and loves referring to people by their nicknames. She calls me Paigerator most of the time and she LOVES her Grandazzle. :)

Sadie loves Baby Einstein. I can already tell that she loves music. She loves when I sing to her. She also loves being at church on Sundays. The music soothes her so much. (I think it's Laurie who soothes her. Connection, maybe?)
Ella loves baby Einstein. We spend many car rides singing Baa Baa Black Sheep, Twinkle Twinkle, Row Your Boat, Mary Had A Little Lamb, ABC's, Taylor Swift, The Zac Brown Band...pretty much anything we can think to sing. Josh just bought her a CD player for her room and she has the Taylor Swift CD that she can turn on and listen to it when she's getting ready for bed or waking up in the morning.

Sadie used to be a snugglebug. She has now decided she would rather have her own space.
Ella was never a snugglebug. I do get LOTS of hugs and kisses these days, though.

Sadie is FULL of smiles and she is absolutely a joy. We have some pretty difficult days sometimes, but she's an incredible addition to our family. I can't put into words how much I love that little girl.
Ella is also FULL of smiles. She even cooperates and smiles for the camera now! And she'll let me put her hair in a ponytail (sometimes). I can't believe she used to be a 3 month old. I don't remember when she grew up. I know one day I'm going to wake up and she's going to be 13. I don't want to think about it. She fills my heart with joy.

Sadie was a swing-baby. She would sit/sleep in her swing for 4 hours stretches. I called the swing my baby-sitter. But she's starting to move beyond the swing. She loves her bouncy seat right now. But mostly, she loves to be talked to and held. She will talk, laugh, and smile at you all day long if you have the time.
Ella loves play-dough, dancing, coloring, painting, dancing, reading, swimming, and dancing. Oh, and did I mention dancing??? We "get funky" in the car all the time. She asks me to find a funky song and we dance our little hearts out. I think the cars passing us think we have lost our minds. Or at least that I have. They probably don't see that I'm entertaining a 2-year old. More like she's entertaining me.

Life is great. I keep thinking something terrible has to be around the corner because there's no way I can get away with life being this good for too much longer. Josh is my rock. When I have bad days (yesterday) he swoops in and makes everything better. He started back to school yesterday. He's gone on Mon, Tues, Weds until 11 PM. It's difficult trying to figure out how to do this without his help. I'm not used to being outnumbered! Ella is so stinking easy these days. Sadie, however, is a muuuuuch different story. I'm sure I'll get a routine figured out sooner or later.

sisters

I felt so sorry for ella when I found out I was having another girl. I never had a sister. I never had to share my clothes, my friends, my room, my bathroom. I never really had to share anything. Having three older brothers, well they didn't care about having anything that was mine. So I felt sorry for her to have to share with her sister. It sounds miserable to me. Well, I don't feel sorry for her anymore:



Playing under the blanket together
Ella was explaining the cartoon to Sadie

My beautiful girls

Ella asks me all the time if Sadie can sleep in her bed yet

The first few days - Ella had no trouble welcoming her into the family

I love that they have each other and love each other so much already in these short three months. 

Sadie Emalyn Park

Sadie was born on May 20, 2010 at 2:49 in the afternoon. She weighed 9 pounds 10 ounces and was 21 1/2 inches long. She *insisted* on showing her big sister up in the size department! All in all, it was a very easy labor and delivery. Aside from some epidural mishaps, it eventually started working after a LOT of pokes and everything was breezy from there. Laurie came and took pictures during the labor and delivery process. I was a little apprehensive about how the day would play out. When I had Ella, the only other non-medical person in the room with me was Josh. Those of you who are Moms know that labor and delivery are not a mother's finest moments. Things can get intense...and downright gross. Josh vowed to love me for better or worse almost six years ago, so he had to love me no matter what happened in the delivery room. Having Laurie there for the pictures was amazing. She was so awesome about making sure that I wasn't uncomfortable with her being in there and my Mom also was able to stay in the room. Getting the hear the very first sounds of a new baby's life is truly amazing. Laurie took some incredible pictures that I would have missed had she not been in there. I never realized that the baby gets it's hair washed and those are probably my favorite pictures. I missed a lot of those first moments with Ella because even though the baby is here, Mom's job isn't done. So I got to see what I missed through her pictures of Sadie. The two most incredible moments of my life were bringing my two daughters into this world. I am really looking forward to doing it a third time, just not anytime soon. Because I REALLY don't miss being pregnant.



I'm going to share some of my favorite pictures from Sadie's journey into this world. And don't worry, I won't share the gross ones. :)

This one is funny to me: