I love the nap time serenade that I get privileged to hear during ever nap.  After we found out that we were pregnant my sister and brother in law were so kind to share some of their parent hood experiences with. Their first child is only one year older then Alexa.  They told us about all of the gadgets that they loved and used.  The one thing that has helped me the very very most is a sleep book that gave us.  It totally changed my life.  NO JOKE.  I took this sleep method to heart and read the entire book before she was born.  I had the book by my side many days reading, trying to make sure I was staying on track.  It was hard and a little bit time consuming in the beginning but boy did it pay off!!

At age 26 months she still sleeps around 10-11 hours at night. She takes one nap during the day it is usually 2-3 hours.  Maybe this is normal I have no idea. I just know that I feel so blessed and happy with the way that she sleeps.

This brings me back to the scerenade.  We have our routine, that I might add is very important.  Once I initiate the first step, she pretty much takes over and knows what to expect or corrects us if we get the order wrong.  For nap time we read stories and sing a few songs, pretty simple.  I lay her in bed awake.  She is able to have some toys with her in bed and she will usually play with them singing her most recent favorite song.  Right now it is Mary Had a Little lamb, she is still trying to figure out all the versus and what order they go in. She practices, and practices....so cute. Her last favorite song before Mary Had a Little Lamb was "I'm so Glad When Daddy Comes Home" also very cute.

Today was no different.  I laid her down for her nap and sure enough she started to sing her May had a little lamb song, she was also coaxing her friend mini mouse ( a small stuffed toy) to,
"sing with me mini!"  I could not resist holding my phone up to the small crack in her bedroom door to record her sweet voice.  I don't want these days to slip away. They are so hard yet so rewarding.  The sleep book that we used is called Healthy Sleep Habits, Healthy Child, totally worth it.

We just got back from girls camp this afternoon! It was a great girls camp. The spirit was so strong and the girls were amazing.  I remember last year when I went I had a specific question in mind, a concern that was bothering me.  I remember praying the thinking it over in my head.  As I look back on last year, I cannot remember what it was that I was concerned or worried about.   But I do remember the sweet feelings that I felt last year and all my concerns were eventually resolved.

This year again I have had things on my mind and questions that I need answered.  I went with an open heart and was so excited to be with the girls.  For the first time ever, aside from sharing it online.  I shared our infertility story with the girls.  I had been debating about sharing it.  They knew that we had to do IVF to get pregnant but nobody knew the reasons why.  I was very nervous to share but I just felt like I needed to.  And still I don't know if I was supposed to share for them or if it was for me.

I have been trying to be more open and honest lately.  Trying to work on getting my feelings out and I believe that sharing this part of our story has helped.

My prayers and my concerns are still there but I know that the answers will come.

wow!

It has been so long since I wrote here.  I have been so focused on Hawthorne and Main.  Things over there are going great, I am growing every day and it is exciting.

I have felt bad about letting this side go however.  I figured that if I don't have time to upload picture I can at least hop over and tell a few stories about what has been going on in our lives.

If nothing else so that I can put it in a book like I did a few years ago....

I would like to go back and update from the past year but I might as well just start from here and move forward.

Miss A just had her 2nd birthday.....

I cannot believe that she is 2 already. It seems like a lifetime ago that I was pregnant but at the same time I feel like she was just born.

She has got so much personality. She is starting to realize that she has a say in things.... that she can actually say no.....

She got a tea set for her birthday and she LOVES it...... I had no idea the would like it that much....

We have tea parties all day long.... :)

She is still sucking her thumb.... I haven't tried to get rid of it yet.... She only sucks it when she has her "blankie" luckily.....

She has really started to love coloring..... After she insisted on coloring all over the walls, floor, and furniture I had to confiscate all of them and she is only allowed to color supervised.  She still will find a random crayon around and color on the walls....

The most recent coloring fest happened to a wall I had just finished painting.....White....

We have not really tried potty truing yet.... I am starting to feel that she might be ready.... I am however not ready..... I am ready to be done with diapers but not the training part....

She is talking so much right now.....It is pretty crazy sometimes the things that she says...

Aaron was changing her the other day and she took his hands and started to look at them with intrigue, studying everything about them..... in a loud clear voice she said "dad you hands look like pancakes and raisins.....!" haha

I swear the day she turned 2 she started to have a temper....... She has been starting to throw fits by throwing herself on the floor.   Luckily she has not done this ever outside of our house.  I pray that it won't happen.   Luckily I am the type of mom to just walk away and let her have her fit..... still I would be dying inside.

People have always said the first kid is the hardest.... I had no idea what they were talking about until the past couple of months......She has realized that having a play mate is wwwwaaayyyyyy more fun than playing alone......

Who is her only play mate option but me...... It has been hard the past few months to get any work done at all during the day...... But we have been having some good times together.

I signed her up for this fun gymnastics class.  Kids ages 1-2 can't really gymnastics but it is such a fun glass with high beams, marshmallow pit, bars and a trampoline.  She loves it and it seriously has given her more confidence. Even after going to class 4 times she has shown great improvement in her listening skills and following directions..... super fun.....

My father in law decided to move in with us in January.  It has been a little bit of an adjustment.  He is a pretty easy going guy so that makes it good.    The weather is starting to warm up outside.  I am hoping that we can get though this summer ok.... We still have our swamp cooler in the house.  I was hoping to get it replaced by now but it seems we will have to keep it for a little bit longer.....fingers crossed.....

10 Months

Ok this post is going up way late cuz she is already 11 months old!!! But..... last month I was able to get a few shots of her her.  It is getting harder and harder to take photos of her by myself.  She is a mover and a shaker.  

One of her favorite things to do is pull off all of the books from her book shelf..... over and over and over.

This is the face I get when I say " I'm going to tickle you, I'm going to tickle you...." as she crawls away.  

She is starting to get a liking for books.  The first book that I introduced her too (from grandma) that she really started to like was called Baby Loves fall.  Now when ever she wants to read a book she says "bebe, bebe"  We read this book oh about 50 times before she was ready to move on to a different book.

Her new favorite book is called "Where is my Shoe" a girl about a girl who asks all of the animals if they took her shoe. 

She still likes her thumb. Luckily she only sucks it when she has her blankie, and she only gets her blankie at bedtime.  Unless she sneaks into her room and grabs it out of her crib which is what she did on this occasion.

One year old in less than a month- CRAZY

I need some help figuring out how to tame that hair.

Kitchen Remodel

Just posted over at Hawthorne and Main, head over there to see lots of before and after pictures from  our kitchen remodel!!