When did my babies grow up?

This week I sent Lily to her first day of preschool. She rode the bus. She is making new friends. I love that she is getting to experience all of these things, but at the same time I realize that she isn't my little baby anymore. While Lily and the little girl I babysit are at preschool in the afternoons Arthur and the boy I babysit usually nap so it is just Evie and I hanging out. It is so much fun to be able to spend some one on one time with her and see how much she has grown up too! AJ went to the doctor for his 4 month check up this week too and is going to start solid foods. Even though last night he kept waking up to each every couple of hours like a newborn (which is why we are starting solids) he definitely isn't one and is growing up quickly too. He is rolling around, giving everyone huge smiles, and loves playing with his toys.

My big girls got bunk beds!

First day of preschool

First day of preschool

Evie being Evie :)

Showing off her back pack.

So excited for her first day :)

My girls :)

Arthur "talking" to his owl friends

Lily playing with some of Sean's old legos

4 months!

Smiles for Daddy :)

Big boy!

So many smiles!

30 Year Old Sweatsuit

Arthur definitely looks like his daddy! I found some old pictures of Sean and am amazed at how much they look alike since I think he also looks like Lily but she was a little version of me as a baby. 

Sean's mom has been visiting this week and she brought a sweatsuit that Sean wore as a newborn. It was great to be able to put him in the 30 year old hand-me-down and do a little photo shoot to compare.

Sean on the left, AJ on the right

Life as a family of 5

We have been adjusting to our new life as a family of five and overall I feel it is going pretty well. Since Sean has been so busy with school and work the last few months it has been great having him around to help out the last couple weeks.  He was able to take about two weeks off work to help out at home and so he could prep for finals that are this week and next. I have loved having him around for bedtime for the girls which is always a stressful time for me, especially now because AJ almost always wants to eat during that time too.

Evie is doing great with her baby brother. A lot of time when he cries she goes running to him asking "What's wrong AJ?" She also will try to give him his pacifier and makes sure he is covered up. Ever since he was born I would ask her everyday if she wanted to hold him and she always shook her head no. The other day she asked to hold him! She was so sweet and gentle.

Lily is also doing great with AJ, but is having a bit of a hard time with all of the changes and has been having a poor attitude with Sean and me as well as being a bit too rough with her sister. I am pretty sure she is just trying to get more attention since it is now split between the three kids.  Sean took her to a review session at school with him the other day and I guess she did great. Evie did great home with me as well so we are going to work hard on giving them special dates with either of us so they get special attention.

AJ is doing awesome and is the most laid back baby ever which is great with his two crazy sisters! He sleeps through all their playing a screaming. He is doing great at night too. He usually only gets up two times to eat. He had his first pediatrician appointment last week and the doctor says he is doing great. He was very impressed in his weight gain since he was discharged from the hospital especially since he has been exclusively breastfed.
Here are his stats:
Weight: 7.66Lbs (34th percentile)
Height: 20in (46th percentile)
Head Circumference: 14.17in (43rd percentile)

We had a great Easter. The girls had a fun time coloring Easter eggs and of course they loved getting to dress up in their fancy dresses. I realized the day after Easter that we didn't get a family picture with all of us dressed up so I think I am going to get all of us in our fancy clothes again in a few days.

Here are some pictures from the past few days.

Caught a rare moment where they were getting a long this week. There was a scary part of the movie they were watching and they starting hugging and Lily was reassuring Evie that everything would be okay. So sweet!

Lily asks to hold Arthur several times a day. During this moment she was explaining Dora the Explorer.

Evie sleeping on Papa after a fun day playing at the playground with Nana.

The girls were playing very loudly and when I looked a AJ I noticed he was covering his ears while sleeping. I guess that is one way to deal with his sisters!

Evie turned on the overhead light and AJ immediately covered his eyes. (Now we just need one of him covering his mouth!)

Looking at their Easter baskets.

Easter egg hunt at Nana and Papa's house.

Arthur got to meet his 99 year old great grandma for the first time on Easter. As long as he was sleeping she was wanting to hold him, so she held him for most of the day!

The girls in their Easter dresses!

My wonderful kids!

Lily got a soccer net! She had a lot of fun playing outside in her pjs :)

Playing outside in pjs one morning!

Coloring eggs!

Being silly!

Pretty eyes! She had so much fun coloring eggs. (She fell on the driveway a few days before this and somehow scratched right below her nose and busted her lip but avoided scratching up the rest of her face or nose!)

Silly face!

I guess the girls have decided that AJ is okay because they shared their beloved puppies with him!

The New Look of Our Family

I am going to get back in the world of blogging and keeping everyone up to date with what is going on in our little family.  I will start off with saying that a lot has changed since last August including the size of our family!!

On Friday we welcomed Arthur Jenson, "AJ", into the world! He is doing wonderfully well and his sister adore him.  Well, Lily adores him and Evie is getting used to this whole idea of not being the center of attention.  He was born at 12:32pm on April 11th, 2014. Height: 20.5in. Weight: 7lbs 12.5oz.  He was an angel in the hospital and my biggest complaint was that it was hard to keep him awake to feed. Last night was our first night home and he decided that all he wanted to do was eat or be right next to me instead of sleep. We will have to figure out some sort of compromise soon.

Besides being promoted to big sisters of their awesome little brother the girls have had a lot going on. 

Lily decided a few weeks ago that she wanted her hair cut, and she wanted a lot cut. I drug my feet in getting it done just to make sure it was in fact something she wanted to do and not a decision she was going to regret the following day. After many weeks of her talking about it we finally did it. We decided to cut enough off so she could donate it. She was very excited that her hair was going to help make a wig for other little kids that didn't have hair because they were sick. Even after the haircut she talked about how it will grow long again and she can cut it to help even more kids! I couldn't be more proud!

Evie is a little spitfire. She is constantly on the go trying to keep up with her big sister. She is definitely a two year old though and has very big ideas on exactly how her world should be ran. She loves playing dress up and pretending to be a puppy, but she is also our little technology girl that would be content sitting in front of the tv or with a tablet playing games all day if we let her.

Sean is busy trying to be Superman! He has been going to school full time at OSU while working full time for the past year. It has definitely been rough on all of us and we are super excited that he isn't taking classes this summer so he will be around with us more. 

 

I have just been trying to take things day by day staying home with our girls (and now son!) and enjoying my time with them while they are this little. I am excited the weather is starting to warm up so we will be able to start playing outside again because being stuck inside this past winter was hard. I am still selling Thirty-One Gifts and love owning my own business and setting my own schedule. Just a couple weeks ago I actually earned a promotion so I am super excited about that. I am seeing the possibilities this company has to offer and I can't wait to explore them all!

Updated pictures from my phone

I know I don't update this nearly as often as I should. I know I always say I am going to try harder. Sometimes I do. Most of the time this blog is the very last thing on my to do list so it rarely gets touched. I know that for many this is the only updates you get on our little family. I know it is important for you. So instead of trying harder, I am just going to remember how important it is to you and how important you are to us. I am not going to promise to post more because I can't do that, but I will try to cram as much info into this post as possible.
First, there have been some big changes for Sean and I. Last spring Sean started a new job and started going back to school. He did great Spring semester and made the Dean's List! We are all so proud of him. He took this summer off from classes and we enjoyed a lot of family time. Classes start on Wednesday this week so he is going to be very busy again for the fall.
I quit my job the beginning of July and am now staying home with the kids. I am still selling Thirty-One and am loving the opportunity it gives to supplement our family income yet is still very flexible so I can be with the kids.
The girls continue to amaze me everyday. Lily is so smart and it is awesome to be able to hold conversations with her. She is a little sponge for information. Right now she is loving learning about letters and numbers. Evie is growing up way too quickly. She is convinced she can do everything her big sister does and will try her hardest until she succeeds. I am hoping this continues as we are going to start potty training soon. Both girls have wonderful imaginations and love pretend play. They are starting to get to the ages where they can play together. It is great to see them playing together in their play kitchen inside or playhouse outside and be doing things together instead of just playing next to each other.
Here are a few puctures from this summer. Sorry they are not the best quality since they are from my phone.

Long Time

Wow, it has been a long time since I posted last.  Things have been pretty crazy here.

First off around Christmas time we went to visit family in California.  It was great to spend the holidays with everyone out there, but traveling with two little ones is definitely not a vacation.  While we were out there Sean got word that he was accept back to Ohio State University so as soon as we got home he started classes.  He also started a new job the end of February so he has been running around like crazy doing both work and school full time. 

The girls and I are adjusting to not having him around as much.  It has been difficult with a lot of "I miss Daddy"'s, but over all better than I expected.  We have been able to Skype or talk on the phone with him almost every night before the girls go to bed so that definitely helps.  

Lily is such a little diva.  She LOVES clothes, but only the ones that she picks out to wear.  She does not like anything I try to put on her even it was her "favorite" yesterday.  This past weekend her and I were in a wedding.  I was kinda worried that she either wouldn't want to wear what she was supposed to or wouldn't want to walk down the isle, but she did great with both!  She is constantly talking and loves all things arts and crafts.  She really can't wait till it warms up so we can draw on the driveway with chalk again.  

Evie is really starting to show her personality.  She is a little trouble maker and gets a little mischevious grin whenever she knows she is doing something she shouldn't, like taking a toy her sister is playing with.  She also loves to cuddle and give kisses.  She has started talking a lot and loves "helping" with all the household chores.  She is finally starting to get teeth and it seems like they are all trying to come in at the same time.  In the past 3 weeks she has gotten 5 and has at least 3 more that will probably be breaking through her gums this weekend.  Needless to say, she has been a little grouchy!

Today was Evie's 15 month well visit.  She is wearing clothes that Lily wore when she was around 22 months old so I was surprised to hear her numbers and compare them to Lily's 15 month stats.

I am going to do Lily's in blue and Evie's in red

Weight: 18.5 lbs. (2%tile)  19.06 lbs. (3%tile)

Height: 30.25in. (42%tile)  30 in. (32%tile)

Head Circumference: 17.5 in. (13%tile)  17.75 in. (25%tile)

Here are some pictures from the past few months.  Sorry some are not all that great, they are from my phone because sometimes it is more readily available.

Santa came to the hotel in California!

A barbie!!

A toothbrush!

Evie knew what to do with her toothbrush

Bottle break at Gran's house for Christmas

A bath with glow sticks! The light was on for this picture, but otherwise we had the lights off and played with the glow sticks. Lily asks almost every bath time to make it glow again.

Evie loves giving everyone this look, not sure what it is all about, but it is typically followed by a huge smile.

Evie and Lily in their chairs for their birthdays

Birthday cupcakes! Yes Lily specifically asked for a plate and a fork for her's!

Getting ready to open Birthday gifts

Playing in the snow

Stomping

Pretty Girl

Having a blast

Evie at the wedding

Lily (and me) walking nicely down the isle after the ceremony

Blowing bubbles at Mr. and Mrs. Bauchmire!

Blowing more bubbles while waiting for the reception to start.

Lily and the other little girls dancing with Nicole

Family portrait after a long day of partying

Painting!

Lily drew her family (it is hard to see, but there is an Evie on the right side, the marker just didn't show up all that well)

Lily, Nana, Papa, and I went to see the musical "Peter Pan"

Lil's silly face.