Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Big Girl Bed Round 2

Savannah transitioned from sleeping in a crib to sleeping on a mattress on the floor in her room SO smoothly that I was nervous we wouldn't be so lucky going through it with Hailey.  Savannah took about 45 minutes of telling her to "get back in bed" before she finally fell asleep the first night, about 10 minutes the second night, and then she had it down!  Easy!  Well, I finally decided to just do it tonight with Hailey since she is now the same age Savi was.  We moved the mattress into her room so I wouldn't back out and then at nap time she was so excited to sleep in her big girl bed, that I gave in.  I'm not sure what I was thinking, because I had always planning on starting with night time- it's just easier in the dark when they're nice and tired.  Well I was shocked when Hailey talked in bed for about 10 minutes and then fell right to sleep without getting out of bed once!  I couldn't believe it!  And I just put her down for bed and it was even easier!  She laid right down, snuggled up, I tucked her in like a big girl, gave her a kiss, said "goodnight", and she said "goodnight!" and then fell right to sleep!  I guess sleeping in a pack-n-play until you're 10 months old helps you learn to fall asleep under less than perfect circumstances.  I know there will be a day when she realizes that she can actually climb right of bed, but I'm happy it wasn't today.  Today I'm feeling pretty proud of my little 21 month old!!

It's a Girl!

Not big news to most of you, I know, but I figured I should officially post that we are having another girl!  We found out at 16 weeks at a place called "Vision of Life".  After a 30 minute ultrasound in a large comfy room with Cole, the girls, my mom, and my sister we walked out knowing that our third little girl was on her way!  What a great experience.  I would recommend it to anyone.  And I could not be more excited about the thought of life with three daughters!  Oh the precious memories and dramatic tears that lie ahead!  Though I walked out with lots of photos and a whole DVD of images of our sweet little girl, I have no scanner to get them on the blog for you to see.  I guess we'll all just have to wait a few more months to see what she looks like!

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

We're Pregnant!

So I know I'm a little late in posting this, but I've been terrible with this blog.  I just wanted to make an official blog announcement that we are expecting baby #3 around February 21, 2012!  We are thrilled and the girls are getting more and more excited as my tummy gets bigger and bigger! 

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Our Savi Girl

 It's been a while since I've blogged.  I figured I would post a few pictures of the Sav as a start.  I'm not giving up on this blog though it's getting harder and harder to find the time to post anything.  Sav is hilarious.  She keeps us laughing with the things she says.  She's an awesome little swimmer and can jump off the diving board and swim to the ladder with no swimmies or tubes!  She loves to dance to her princess songs and keeps her closet set up as a baby doll nursery.  She knows exactly where everything is supposed to be and cannot leave it if it's messy.  She loves her cousins and being outside.  She's a big help in the kitchen and hates bedtime.  We love this little girl and are so blessed and priviledged to be her parents!!

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Hailey at 15 months

 Hailey is a sweet, snuggly, STRONG WILLED, love-bug!  She holds her own against her big sister and never has a problem letting everyone know exactly what she wants!  She can say, "Daddy", "Mama", "please", "juice", "GaGa", "PaPa", "ball", "baby", "Kru", "Lyla", and has started attempted words when we tell her to say something and is getting pretty good at it!
Hailey just started walking!  She has taken her time and is very cautious.  She went from taking one step and then diving into my arms to walking across the back yard, just like that!  No in between!  She still walks very slowly and carefully, but she can walk any distance!  She loves to climb, especially stairs, so we've had to be very attentive to this little one.  She makes GREAT silly faces and loves to wrestle with her sister!  She is always the first to hear the garage door go up when her daddy comes home and always stops what she's doing and yells "Daddy!!"  Her favorite thing is being outdoors, especially swinging in her swing.  She is quite a girl!!

Savannah at 3 years and 1 month

 Savannah is the most fun little girl!  She talks up a storm and says the funniest things!  She can say the whole pledge of alligance like a pro and is learning John 3:16.  She is a huge help around the house and loves to take care of her sister, bringing her snacks from the pantry and drinks from the fridge.  She likes to do everything on her own and is quite good at taking care of herself!  She fills our home with joy!
A few quick stories to make you smile...
*Savannah asked me the other night if we could read the Dr. Seuss book "There's a Wocket in My Pocket", but she called it "There's Somebody in My Pants".  She was close!  And she sure made me laugh!
*We are preparing for a yard sale this weekend and have been gathering toys and stuffed animals to "give to other kids" (to encourage her to let go of some stuff) in a big box.  Savannah came to me dragging the box of stuffed animals yesterday and said, "I want to give Hailey to the other kids!"  She really does love her sister, I promise!

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Sisters






Monday, April 11, 2011

The Actual Birthday

We had a day packed full of fun for Savannah's birthday.  She woke up and got to go to breakfast with GaGa and Papa all by herself.  She was so excited!  I didn't get a picture of her with them, but here she is dressed in her "sunshine" outfit that she picked out for the day.  She's reaching for her postcard from her Aunt Kiki and Uncle Brenty.
 After breakfast GaGa and PaPa took her to buy the new movie Tangled and then dropped her off at home just in time for her MiMi and PaPa to arrive with Addie from Lexington.  This made her day so special to get to see all of the people she loves! 
 Mimi and Papa took us all to Giggle Bugs (Savi's favorite) for playtime with Addie, pizza, cake and presents!  Daddy even got to stop by for lunch!
 Addie was so much fun and her cousin Hailey just adores her!!



 After a short nap in the car, Savannah and I met Joelle, Lyla, Pressley, and Jessica at Panera for her favorite dinner... mac and cheese!  We had a nice dinner and then took the girls to pick out their favorite nail polish color at Ulta where they even got mini makeovers (eyeshadow and lipgloss).    Then we headed home for a nail painting party while we watched Tangled.  Sheila and Eliza even joined us for the fun!!




What a fun day!  But let's take our time growing up!  These past 3 years have gone by WAY too fast!!!

Savannah is 3!!!

We had a small birthday party with the Kruithof bunch before my parents headed to Isreal.  Here are some pictures.
 We started out night at a pizza place with friends and family.  It was a small group, but lots of fun... very casual.  Then we headed back to our house for cupcakes and presents.
 Our cupcakes from Iced.  Last year's cake didn't turn out too well, so I went for easy and delicious this year!  They were awesome!

 Our birthday girl!  3 candles!!


 Savi got a new robe from GaGa and PaPa.  So sweet and soft!  She loves it!
 Joelle and Dave got her the FurReal walking dog.  She SCREAMED when she opened it!  Awesome reaction!!

 I'm not sure what she's so excited about in the picture below, but I thought it was too cute not to share.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Blessed

I have gone back and forth about whether to post about this or not, but decided that it is a big part of our lives and that we are not alone in facing this, so here's our story...
We found out at the beginning of the new year that we were pregnant with our third. We were shocked, since we didn't easily get pregnant with the other two and we had planned to wait another 6 months or so before getting pregnant again, but we were still thrilled! I was put on progestrone with my other two pregnancies, but decided that this time around we would go without since a test at the OB showed my progestrone levels were normal. At the end of Hailey's first birthday party we let her announce (though a t-shirt) that she was going to be a big sister. I waited until the end of the party because "just in case" something did go wrong with this pregnancy the party wouldn't be marked with saddness.
I finally had my first appointment at 9 weeks 2 days (with the other two I had an appointment at 7 weeks, so this was a long wait!). Everything looked great until she turned on the ultra sound machine. She started measuring right away and I searched for a heartbeat. After maybe 10 seconds, I asked her, have you seen a heartbeat yet? She said, "no, why? do you have a reason to worry?" and I told her that I didn't but I always worry at this point. Well, she looked, and after a few seconds said, "I'm not seeing a hearbeat". Even though it was something I knew was always a possibility, I was still shocked, as was Cole. She did an internal ultrasound to make sure and saw the same thing. We were broken hearted, of course. But the Dr. was AMAZING and so was the ultrasound tech. We have been blessed through all of this in so many ways. God truly is the Great Comforter! His comfort began right there in that room with those two women! They comforted us with all of the love and patience that any stranger could.
We went that afternoon to have a D & C done. Another blessing... one of Cole's best friends, who is an OB, was working at the hospital that day and was able to come and sit with Cole while I was back having the procedure done. His professional opinion and friendship was exactly what we needed at that point. I haven't had any pain physically and have been able to go on without any major issues. We also live near family, so we've all been in good hands. We have had a peace through most of this. The hardest part was seeing that little body on the screen. It was formed perfectly and was measuring 9 weeks, 1 day. So the heart had probably stopped beating right before our appointment- maybe days, maybe just a few hours. It was hard to accept that the heartbeat wasn't just being overlooked since everything else was exactly as it should have been. But coming home to two smiling little faces made me so much more aware of how blessed we are! God is so good!!! I realized that I could be facing the same thing without having two healthy girls at home, and I know so many do.
I've gone through feeling some guilt over not just taking the progestrone anyways and guilt over the little things like that deli sandwich I ate or not being thankful enough for this surprise pregnancy, but I know that none of those things had the power to take this little life. There is so much comfort in knowing who's hands it is all in!
So now we wait and see what God's plans are. We would love a third, but are so extremely blessed to be given the gift of parenting Savannah and Hailey! At the end of the day, we stand so undeservingly blessed!!! Our cup runneth over! Praise God for His goodness!!!

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Hailey is ONE!!



It's hard to believe our little baby is already a year old. I know everyone says it, but it's true, time really does fly by! Hailey has 6 teeth (she didn't get her first until she was 10 months and then got the rest in about a week!). She is crawling (she took her time, but she's got it!) and cruising, but still not attempting to walk. Yesterday I saw her stand for about 3 seconds before slowly lowering herself to the ground. She is a very cautious baby and that is just fine with her very cautious mommy!


We had a birthday party for her with our family and close friends which filled our house with girls (and a few boys) running and giggling! I made little shirts for Hailey and Savannah but Savi had her's off as soon as her cousins walked in the door and the dress up clothes came out! Oh well!








This is some of the chaos of the day, but it was great to have everyone together to celebrate out girl!





Hailey was done partying by the time the cake came out, and when I put her in her chair she cried! But once that cake was in front of her that's all she saw! She tasted and then put her face right in it. She was a happy girl... until I took the cake away.

































Saturday, February 5, 2011

Ice Skating With Daddy




Savannah had an opportunity to give ice skating a try, and jumped right on it! She couldn't wait to get out there on the ice. She had a blast with her daddy and is still talking about it 2 months later!


Friday, February 4, 2011

Christmas 2010


I was horrible about taking good Christmas photos this year! It was a crazy Christmas, but such a good one! We moved into our house about 10 days before and ended up getting a tree for $15 since it was one of 10 left on the lot. That little penguin Hailey is reaching for was one of her very favorite Christmas decorations. I love how she spotted it and did what she had to do to reach it. So sweet!




We were at home Christmas morning and then jumped in the car to be with Cole's family for Christmas afternoon and evening. It's so great being this close to everyone!








Savannah pulled the Christmas stocking off of the mantel and the stocking holder got her right above the lip. We didn't end up getting stitches, but maybe we should have. She is still sporting a red scar. It'll be our little reminder of Christmas 2010!