Brielle's Development [15 Months]

It's amazing to me to watch kids grow in the first couple of years- they grow and change so quickly!

When Brielle turned one, she wasn't walking and was only standing for short periods of time. In the last three months, she's learned to stand easily and she walks all the time now. She has been walking for over a month now, but she's been walking consistently (without crawling) for a little less than a month. She's even able to do a speed walk now, although she still falls over things a lot.

As for words, it is so fun to watch her learn new ones! Sophie knew quite a few more words at this age, and so it can be frustrating for both Brielle and for me to figure out what she wants. Her current words are: mama (and mom), dada, more, ball, bubbles, and hi.

Likes: playing outside, blanky, paci, food, water, bubbles, slides, singing, being held, swinging

Dislikes: diaper changes, having her hands held, animals (she actually has a love-hate relationship with them)

Sophie's 3rd Birthday Party!

My friend Rachel and I have daughters who are just one month apart and who have known each other since they were babies. We thought it would be fun to celebrate their parties together since they have all the same friends anyways. It was fun because this is the first year where they really have friends that they recognize as friends.

Here are the birthday girls: Daisy and Sophie

And here are the birthday girls when they were babies:

 We chose a rainbow theme and split responsibilities. Everything turned out so cute!

I made cake pops with rainbow colored cake inside (I still have not learned how to perfect these things, but at least they taste good):

Rachel made the beautiful rainbow cake:

I made rainbow jello:

Rachel brought Rainbow candy:

We had rainbow cups with rainbow colored drinks:

The kids all gathered around to wait for their delicious goodies:

We told everyone to come dressed in their favorite color of the rainbow. Jason and Judah were most festive by wearing ALL red:

The girls blew out the candles together:

And opened gifts:

If you're looking for a fun and easy theme, go with rainbow!

BabyMill3 [30 Weeks]

I really can't believe I'm 30 weeks already. In 10 or less weeks (most likely), I will be meeting this little girl.

Sickness: I have heartburn occasionally, but I have learned a few helpful tricks this pregnancy (essential oils as well as lifting my arms over my head for a few minutes to help "straighten out" my stomach) that have helped.

Movement: This little girls moves a lot. I can tell she's getting bigger as she kicks harder and stretches out. 

Weight Gain: I'm up 16 pounds now. I definitely am outgrowing my normal clothes, although I've still been making as much of it work as I can ;) I'm planning to pull out my maternity jeans this week.

Other Complaints: I have had quite a bit of cramping this pregnancy- more than my other two- it happens when I'm lying in bed, and I always have to stand up to stretch out the cramping. I also am no longer able to sleep on my belly (which came much later with this pregnancy than with Brielle's, so I won't complain). It's become a little more uncomfortable to sleep as well.

[26 Weeks]

[30 Weeks]

Sophie at THREE

Three. It's hard to remember what life was like before Sophie was part of this earth.

I think it's safe to say that she has changed a lot in three years.

New Things:

-Puts coat on by herself

-CAN part-way dress herself

-Learned days of the week and also correctly uses time words like tomorrow, yesterday, and last week

-Knows some letters of the alphabet

-Being meaner to Brielle (yay, sibling relationships!)

-Setting dishes at table and putting hers in the sink afterwards

Interview:

Who is your best friend? Ivy!

What do you like to do in class?  Play with legos and play with somebody else with legos

What do you like to do at your house? Play a game with my grandma

What is your favorite food? Minne Mouse (being silly) .... CHOCOLATE!

What is your favorite song? ABCDs and Row Row Your Boat and Bubblin’

What’s your favorite thing to do outside? Play on my bike

Funny/Sweet Things She Said:

- “When I am big, I will still be your Sophie and you will still be my mommy.”

- (After Ben got his hair cut) “Daddy, where did your soft and cuddly hair go?”

- (After our friend Aaron told Sophie she should say, “Ok, Mommy” when I tell her things) Sophie stares at him blankly and asks, “Why are you still here?" Another time when he was talking to her, she asked, "When are you going to go back to your house?”

- (After I asked Sophie if she wanted salad) “No Mommy. That food is not good for little Sophies. That food is yucky for little Sophies.”

- Grandma Lori (while reading a story to Sophie about being good): “Are you a good girl, Sophie?” Sophie: “No. I’m not nice to Brielle.”

-After giving a piece of her cake to Brielle: “Mommy, sometimes I’m nice to Brielle. And sometimes I’m not.”

-(Talking to Jason, who has dreadlocks) “Your hair is like hotdogs.”

-Me: “Their names are Josh and Patrick.” Sophie: “Oh.” (Points at Patrick) “ Is that one Ketchup?”

BabyMill3 [24 Weeks]

It's exciting to reach this point in pregnancy... especially after our scare at 14 weeks! 24 weeks is considered "viability" week in pregnancy, so while of course we hope our baby stays put for many more weeks, it's comforting to know that my baby can live in the world safely at this point.

[Checking out BabyMill 3 and discovering we're having another girl!]

Sickness: I've felt good and no longer gag over Brielle's diaper which is a relief. I do have heartburn, as usual, but it hasn't been too awful yet.

Gender: We now know that this baby is a GIRL! I never felt very strongly either way, but I was leaning a little more toward girl when we had the ultrasound. We are excited about having three little girls and aren't disappointed in the least about not having a boy, which we consider a blessing since some people very honestly struggle with gender disappointment.

Movement: This baby is a mover and a kicker. I feel her lots! It's reassuring but also sometimes so weird to feel so much movement inside of you. I can see her kick from the outside now too

Weight Gain: I'm up 9 pounds now. Still wearing my regular clothes but I sometimes wear maternity shirts because I can :)

Other Discomforts: I never can complain about too much. I have had calf cramping quite a bit lately, but otherwise, I feel good.

[22 Weeks]

[Sophie loves doing this picture with me now]

BabyMill3 [18 Weeks]

I've been doing a poor job of blogging about my pregnancy with BabyMill3. To be fair, I had planned to do a blog post the night before I had the threatened miscarriage, and for whatever reason, it didn't happen. Then with the scare, I still felt like I was walking on pins and needles for a little while. I'm feeling comfortable and normal in my pregnancy again, so I think it's time to do an update!

Sickness: My sickness with this baby was so weird. I didn't feel sick AT ALL for so long. I thought it was great, but it was weird too since I have been sick with both girls. At first it convinced me that this one must be a boy, but then I read online that if you're breastfeeding, sometimes it takes away the morning sickness. And that must have been it because as soon as Brielle stopped breastfeeding, I started feeling more morning sickness (still not bad - and thankfully by then I was 11 weeks along, so I didn't have much of the first trimester left). I also could.not.handle gross smells. I couldn't change Brielle's diapers without gagging and throwing up. Thankfully, I am feeling mostly better now and am changing Brielle's diapers again! I've had a little bit of heartburn, but nothing too serious yet.

Movement: I didn't feel Sophie until 21 weeks and felt Brielle at 16 weeks. I felt this baby's first kick when I was in the E.R. and the lady was pushing hard on my stomach to do an ultrasound. At that point, I was 13 weeks. Around 15 weeks, I started to regularly feel the baby move. It sure is reassuring!

Weight Gain: I've gained 4.5 pounds (I lost some weight when I had all the bleeding). Basically, I think I'm growing the same as the other girls. I'm still in my regular clothes thus far. 

(7 weeks)

(10 weeks)

(14 weeks)

(18 weeks)