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.

one of the best days

is my husband's birthday. that was the day that the good Lord put my best friend on this planet. it's almost more important that MY birthday :) I seriously found the perfect person for me when we started dating seven years ago. shortly after we got married, we were sitting on the couch watching TV together and we were holding hands (yes, that was back when we held hands for no reason and it was even inconvenient to do so) and i felt his fingers twitching on the backs of my hands. i asked him what he was doing and he reluctantly told me that he was typing out the words from the show we were watching. you may think that's a crazy OCD habit, but the funny thing is that I've been doing that very same thing since i was a freshman in high school and took a typing class. i mean, how weird is it that two people meet, get married, and then realize that they have the same really weird habit?! it obviously means that we were meant to be :) obviously. or that we didn't spend NEARLY enough time together before our "i do's".



my life has been so much better because of you, joshy. i love you with all of my heart and your birthday is one of my all-time favorite days.



HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

five years and counting...

Then: May 29,2004. We were in Gatlinburg, TN for the weekend when Josh proposed. We were married exactly 8 weeks later.

Now: July 24, 2009

This past friday was our five year anniversary! Thinking back, we've been through so many different stages of life in just five short years. It's hard to believe that it's actually been that long. That could possibly be due to the fact that for a year of it he was in iraq. It's also hard to believe that within our first year of our marriage, he headed off to war for the second time. I remember going through it and it was tough, but looking back it's just amazing what God gives you when you are faced with less than "ideal" circumstances. I truly believe that God works in you most throughout the hard times. Maybe in order to have the wonderful marriage that I'm so blessed to have now, we had to really go through the ringer. I am so grateful for that year in so many ways. And I am grateful that God gave me the patience and the willingness to accept what he was doing in our lives so that three and a half years later i can honestly say it was a wonderful year for us! You don't realize just how much your love your husband until you have to miss your husband :) There were a few bad things that I got out of that year (i never was afraid of death until i worried for his life daily) but I know God will release me from those fears one day when I decide I'm ready to be released.

But on to the fun part about our anniversary date: we stayed in a completely overpriced hotel that wasn't worth the money and ate at the most amazing restaurant! Who doesn't love a little fondue?! Even though the hotel was a little disappointing, it was still an amazing evening with my best friend. And we slept late...9 a.m.! We also learned a lesson: just because you can afford the hotel room, it doesn't mean you can afford to stay at the hotel. After valet, room service, breakfast, and all of the other little things were added to our bill, we definitely decided that next time we'll just come home! :)

Our waitress took a picture of us over our delicious dinner. We had milk chocolate swirled with crunchy peanut butter as the "sauce". Then on the tray in front of us there were strawberries, rice crispy treats, cheesecake, pound cake, graham cracker covered marshmallows, oreo covered marshmallows, and brownies that we dipped into the chocolate. It was amazing. They also gave us complimentary anniversary toasts of champagne. Ahhmazing!

There was also a fountain outside of our hotel, so of course I made Josh stop traffic so that we could go sit in front of it for a self-portrait :)