Richly Blessed

Sadie {13.5 Months}

2018-07-07T08:38:00.000-07:00

Well, I meant to do a 12 month update for Sadie, but her birthday party post came first and I'm just now getting around to doing her monthly update!

Time has absolutely flown by {as usual} and I can't believe that Sadie is almost 14 months old! So much has changed in just a few weeks!!

- Sadie is wearing almost all 12-18 month and 18 month clothes. Only a few of her things that are size 12 month still fit. She's wearing a size 4 diaper.

- I thought it might never happen, but Sadie finally has a tooth! We first noticed it on June 8th. I thought for sure once she got a tooth, she'd get a whole bunch at one time, but that has not been the case. We just noticed today that another one is just starting to come through on the top, so now she just has one lonely tooth on the bottom and one on the top! 😂 And she hardly ever lets us get a peek at them!

- She is using a straw cup like a champ! Once again, I thought this would never happen. She hated every sippy cup I gave her and would play with the straw if I gave her a straw cup. But finally, one day it clicked and she's been doing great ever since.

- We took our time transitioning her completely off of her bottles. I had some formula left, so we mixed formula {with room temperature water} and whole milk for a few weeks to get her used to the taste of the milk and drinking it cold. We started skipping her 3pm bottle a couple of weeks after her birthday. Then we started skipping her 11am bottle and just giving her milk with lunch. Once she started drinking a decent amount of milk with dinner, we started skipping her bedtime bottle and she still slept just fine! Then a little over a week ago, she started to seem like she didn't care about her morning bottle at all, so we eliminated that one as well. It was an easy transition and a very stress-free way to cut out her bottles!

- Sadie is a great eater most of the time! Around 11.5 months or so, she ate almost anything we put in front of her, but she's become a little pickier the last few weeks. She does get HANGRY! She will be totally fine one minute, then completely ticked off the next if she's hungry. This can make dinner prep a little stressful. 😆Emery is quick to offer her puffs or yogurt melts {and help herself to some, too!}. 😂 Speaking of puffs and yogurt melts, Sadie absolutely loves them--especially yogurt melts. Our kitchen table has a little storage area underneath it where we keep them, and she will go get them and bring them to me. 💕Some of her other favorites are cheese, ANY fruit {especially watermelon, strawberries, and grapes}, crackers, pasta, rice, and yogurt. As of about a week ago, we are able to put a plate on her high chair tray and she'll eat off of that instead of tossing it! 😂

- She also loves sweets! The funniest thing happened yesterday and I want to make sure I never forget it! Sadie was sitting on my lap on the couch and Emery was sitting next to us. Emery had just gotten a brownie and was so sweet to let Sadie have the first bite. Then she put the brownie back on the napkin. Sadie sat straight up, reached out with lightning speed, grabbed the brownie and took a big bite! It was so funny and we all just died laughing!

- Sleep has gotten a little more unpredictable for her, but it's definitely nothing to complain about! I feel like we're in that in between stage where some days she needs two naps and some days she just needs one. She's started taking a little longer to go to sleep for her morning nap, or if she takes a good morning nap, she takes a long time to go to sleep for her afternoon nap. I'm sure we'll probably be in this in between phase for a while. She sleeps great at night most of the time, typically going right to sleep and sleeping until 6:30-6:45. Even though she's started waking up earlier, she's happy to stay in her crib for a little while. She's also started to like sleeping with two of her pacis. She puts one in her mouth and snuggles the other one. 💕Sometimes if she won't go to sleep at night, we'll go up to check on her and it will be because she dropped one of them.

- Sadie jabbers all the time, but we don't have many new words except "cracker" which happened about a week ago. My sister and niece were over one afternoon and we had crackers out for the girls. We randomly asked Sadie if she could say it and she did! It was so cute and she was so proud of herself! We've tried to get her to say lots of other words, but she's stubborn. It's still mostly just "mama, dada, uh-oh, hi, and cracker". Her favorite is still "uh-oh". I always know when she drops her paci in the car because I hear a little "uh-oh". 💕

- She makes the cutest little fishy face!

- The biggest milestone from the last several weeks is that Sadie is walking!! She took a couple of steps on her actual birthday, then a few more several days later, and has just been doing a little more walking every day! I'd say she probably walks about half the time now. She gets so excited! We will ask her to walk to one of us and as she gets closer, she smiles and squeals! She also kind of lunges at us when she's close enough instead of taking another couple of steps. 😂She really loves walking to Emery and Emery loves it most of the time, too...just not when Sadie grabs a handful of her arm to hold on to.

- We nicknamed her "Hurricane Sadie" a few months ago and she continues to live up to it. We got her an Anywhere Chair for her birthday and she has used it only as a way to climb up onto the couch. 😂 When she was first learning to walk, she'd also sit on the chair and then take a step or two before diving the rest of the way to me. We really can't ever take our eyes off of her because she will be up on couch in no time and she hasn't figured out how to get down yet. We had to get the pack and play back out for her to play in if I need to have her be contained for a little bit while I cook dinner or something! We never had to do anything like that for Emery! Sadie gets into so much more than Emery!!

- She loves glasses {smiles so big when I have my sunglasses on, then she tries to yank them off my face}, the DustBuster, riding in the Cozy Coupe and honking the horn, putting the fish in her toy fish bowl, reading flap books, playing with her shape sorter, opening packages of wipes and pulling them out, and bouncing on her elephant bouncer.

- She has such pretty strawberry blonde, curly hair. 😍 And it's quite an accomplishment if I can get her to leave a bow in it.

- Sadie is a mama's girl! She's usually fine with other people holding her if she knows them and can still see me, but if she's tired, she really only wants me to hold her. She doesn't like it at all if she sees me leave the room!

- Emery is still just the sweetest big sister and loves Sadie so much. She does get frustrated when Sadie messes up something she's making or playing with {which happens often!} and sometimes she complains that Sadie's crying is hurting her ears. 😂 She also does not usually enjoy it when Sadie grabs her to pull up or climbs on her, but overall she's really sweet to her. When she's not complaining that Sadie's crying is hurting her ears, she's quick to sing a song to her so she'll calm down. She also plays peek-a-boo with her to keep her occupied when we're at the grocery store waiting in line to checkout. She gives her lots of hugs and kisses, pushes her around in the Cozy Coupe, and shares her loveys which is the ultimate sign of love from Emery. That girl loves her loveys! 💕

Here are a few more of my favorite pictures from the last couple of months!

Sadie loves playing peek-a-boo in the teepee! She will crawl in, wait for me to say "Where's Sadie?" then she'll crawl out with the biggest smile! Then she'll crawl right back in!

She loves swinging!

Precious little profile!

First time at Chuck E. Cheese and she *loved* the little rides!

Happy girl!

We went to a trampoline park and she was all about it! She crawled all over the place! And those socks! 😂

Watching fireworks with Poppa. 💖

Sadie's Pink Lemonade First Birthday Party!

2018-06-06T12:22:00.000-07:00

Oh my heart... Our sweet little Sadie girl is ONE! Her first year absolutely flew by and we are just so thankful for the happy little sweetheart that she is!

This is crazy, but I picked the theme for her party while I was still pregnant with her! I saw pictures of pink lemonade birthday parties floating around Pinterest while planning Emery's parties and I always thought it was so cute. Then I saw some really cute pink and yellow things on clearance at Hobby Lobby and Home Goods last year a few weeks before Sadie was born and I was sold. I absolutely loved this theme and the happy, sunshine-y colors just fit her personality so well!

I just adore this "1" party hat! Emery wore one just like it at her first birthday party, too. Sadie kept yanking it off, but she kept it on for the most important moments. 😊Someone local made her sweet shirt for her, I ordered her tutu on Etsy, and I made the garland in her pictures. I used this for her high chair, too.

I found this invitation on Etsy and just absolutely loved it!

The sweet people at my favorite ballon shop on Etsy sent us a huge box with a ton of fun balloons to use for the party! Sadie loved looking at all of them, and Emery was so excited about the adorable lemon balloons! I just adore these confetti balloons! They are so fun and you can choose the confetti colors to match your party perfectly! The light pink, hot pink, and yellow confetti looked so cute with all of the other party decorations!

The Etsy shop that generously provided all of the balloons for Sadie's party is offering all of my readers a coupon code for 10% off a purchase of $10 or more. The code is BLESSED10 and it is valid through January 31, 2020. Yay! I promise you will love these balloons!! Click here to visit their shop.

{You can click on any of the pictures to see them larger.}

We decided to get ambitious with the balloon garland {we used something called "balloon decorating strip"} and I'm in love with how it turned out. We did this a few nights before the party and it still looked great on party day. We even left it up for a few more days after the party.

We had a slideshow going during the party with pictures from Sadie's first year. 😭💕

I just love the addition of the confetti balloons in the garland. I think it adds such a fun touch!

Confetti balloons

These lemon balloons were just so cute and fun!

Some more fun shots of the balloons!

We loved the balloon garland so much, we did another one in the dining room! 😂

I always love setting up the dessert table for my girls' birthday parties! Sadie's turned out so cute! I just used some yellow wrapping paper that I cut in half for the table runner.

I found both this little crate and the pink lemonade sign at Hobby Lobby. The pink lemonade sign was one of the very first things I bought when I was pregnant with her. The lemons that I bought for decorating were the biggest, most juicy lemons! We've been making all kinds of lemon things since her party! 😂

The same friend from church who has made other cakes for Emery's birthdays made this adorable smash cake for Sadie.

The picture frames are the same ones from the Dollar Tree that I've used for all the girls' parties. Daniel just spray paints them every time we need a different color!

Here's a close up of her stats poster. Such sweet memories on this poster. 💕

Click here to view this listing in my Etsy shop!

We had pink and yellow Starburst, sugar cookies, and chocolate cupcakes.

I found the lemon cookie cutter on Etsy. It was made with a 3D printer! They have all kinds of really unique cookie cutters.

I saw this cupcake decorating idea on Pinterest. The sweet people at the balloon shop sent me the straws that were just perfect for this!

We put up Sadie's monthly pictures in the kitchen. It's crazy to see how much they grow and in just one year.

Simple flowers on the kitchen table with wrapping paper as the table runner. I found these lemon placemats at Hobby Lobby the week of the party and thought they were just perfect!

We did more balloons and flowers in the dining room.

Once it was party time, Sadie was just all over the place, as usual!

Kind of blurry because they're always on the move, but this is probably the best picture we got of the girls together! Emery was *so* excited about Sadie's pink lemonade party and talked about it for weeks. She would say, "I'm so excited to come to Sadie's pink lemonade party!" and she would tell Sadie all about it, too.

Sadie with her cousin Vanna! 💕

Nana, Jayma, and Sadie...

Yes, this is the best we could do for a picture with Nana and Poppa! 😂 Two wiggly girls!

Love this one of Aunt Allie, Uncle DJ, Vanna, and the girls!

Jayma, Marah, and the girls...such sweet smiles!

Uncle Steve, Aunt Char, Zach, Jayma, Marah, Cole, Emery, and Sadie.

And about the time we were ready for a picture with Mommy and Daddy, Sadie and Emery were pretty much done with pictures and this was the best we got! 😜

After we got done with all the pictures, it was time for dinner! Sadie was ready...she *loves* to eat!

It was even nice enough to sit outside! Emery was *loving* sitting outside with all of her big cousins!

After Sadie was done eating, she made the rounds visiting everyone. Love this one of her and Poppa.

Hanging out with Daddy... 💕

...but she never stays still for long!

Then it was time for cake! I think she was wondering why everyone was staring at her. 😂

I got her lemonade necklace here.

Quick family pic before she digs in!

Except she didn't really dig in. She was pretty dainty! I really was surprised...with as much as she loves to eat, I thought she was going to destroy her smash cake! 😂

Just not sure what to think...

She really seemed to like the fondant lemons!

After she had had enough of the cake, Nana gave her some ice cream! She definitely loved that!

Then it was time to open presents! Emery was very eager to help with this!

Sadie was pretty into it, too!

She got a new Wubbanub paci from Aunt Allie, Uncle DJ, and Vanna.

Instant new friend... 💕

She was ready to get into that turtle! 😂

As if her first birthday wasn't exciting enough, she also decided to take a couple of steps! She's not walking yet, but she takes a few steps pretty much every day. I'm sure it won't be long!

We're so thankful for our happy, healthy girl and our precious family that celebrated her with us!

Sadie {11 Months}

2018-04-20T07:59:00.000-07:00

We're here at 11 months, way too fast like I knew it would happen. Sadie girl is such a little sweetheart and I just can't believe she's almost one. She's so much fun, and I love watching her grow and learn new things, but of course, it's so bittersweet. I'm in full party planning mode over here and while I hate that she'll be one, I'm excited to celebrate her with a sweet pink lemonade first birthday party!

We didn't do much better on weekly pictures this month. We only took this one on Easter Sunday, but it sure is cute. 💕

45 Weeks

- Sadie can still fit into a few 6-12 month things, but she's mostly wearing 12 month or 12-18 month clothes. We've even gotten out some 18 month PJs! I feel like she's growing like crazy! She's still wearing a size 3 diaper.

- Sadie *still* has no teeth! I can't believe it! We were kind of holding off on giving her much table food since she didn't have any teeth, but we've pretty much moved on from that and are giving her tiny bites of pretty much whatever we're eating now. I just didn't want her to be way behind on her eating and still be eating only purees until she has teeth because who knows how long that will be! 😂She's been doing great and loves turkey, cheese, cottage cheese, spaghetti, yogurt, rice, strawberries, grapes, blueberries, applesauce, kiwi, puffs, and yogurt melts. She'll eat {some} green beans, peas, corn, asparagus, zucchini etc..., but she doesn't really pick those up on her own like she will the other things. Strawberries seem to be her favorite and she will open her mouth *SO* big for them. It's hilarious! We are still doing some veggie purees because she will eat them way better in puree form!

- She is still taking a bottle four times a day and usually drinks the full 8 ounces, although she's started leaving a few ounces a little more often the last week or so. I give her a sippy cup with water at her meals and she hasn't gotten the hang of it yet. It seems like she wants it, but usually she just ends up putting it in her mouth and blowing raspberries so water goes everywhere. 😂💦

- Sadie is still sleeping great! Typically, she goes down for both naps without a single fuss and will sleep 1.5-2 hours. She goes to bed around 7:00-7:30 and will go right to sleep. Her wake up time is still pretty inconsistent. She'll wake up anywhere between 6:30-8:15, but it's more often that she's awake by 7:00-7:15. She gets so excited when we go in her room in the mornings. She'll smile so big, crinkle her nose, and almost close her eyes. It's so cute and sweet! Emery absolutely loves it when I let her go up to Sadie's room first. Sadie will be standing up in her crib and Emery will make the elephant ball popper play music while she does a silly dance in front of Sadie. They both love it and it's precious. Emery also loves loading Sadie's crib with *all* of her loveys.

- She's still jabbering a lot! Lots of mama, dada, lala, and nana! She also says a lot of "mama" when she's in her high chair and we've wondered if it means "more". She's added "hi" {sometimes "hi-eee" and other times "haaa"} this month and it's so cute because she usually waves when she says it. She waves with her whole arm {sometimes both!}! She almost always says "hi" and waves when Daniel gets home from work. Talk about precious!

- The nickname "Hurricane Sadie" has completely stuck and she really lives up to it. Her favorite thing is unloading every single toy out of the cabinet in our living room and spreading them out everywhere. We often have her "coralled" in the living room with our ottoman blocking her off, but when we let her crawl around the rest of the house, she unloads everything she can get her hands on. But, she's so darn cute, we don't mind that much. 😉

- Sadie has become such a paci girl! She's usually fine without it unless she's tired, but if she sees one, she goes after it. She has three Wubbanubs {Owlette, Mousey, and Hallie} and if they're all in the living room where she's playing, she keeps switching them. Sometimes she'll have one in her mouth and one in her hand, then she'll notice the one in her hand and put it in her mouth. She'll do it over and over. So funny!

- She's become quite the little copycat. Her favorite person to imitate is Emery, of course. Emery does a silly laugh that Sadie can copy almost exactly. I've also done a fish face at her and she tries to do it back! It is *so* cute! She clicks her tongue a lot still, too.

- She absolutely *loves* swinging! She gets excited when we go outside and I think she would sit in her swing perfectly content for a couple of hours. I also got in the trampoline with her last week and she liked sitting and bouncing in my lap. Emery also asked to hold her while I bounced them and they both loved that. 💕

- Sadie loves playing peekaboo and the "Peekaboo Song" on Super Simple Learning. I use it all the time to get her to be still while I'm changing her diaper or getting her dressed. It also makes her instantly happy if she's starting to get fussy.

- She loves to play with Emery's hairbrush, so much so that we got her a hairbrush of her own for her Easter basket! She actually was needing one--the little hospital comb and brush wasn't really working well for her anymore since she has so much hair {with the cutest little curls}. The hairbrush has been our go-to lately to give her while we do diaper changes since she *has* to have something to play with!

- If you have glasses on, watch out! She will yank them off so fast! She is always trying to take Poppa's glasses off, and if I have my sunglasses on when I get her out of her car seat, she is locked in on them until I get her out and she instantly tries to grab them! 😂

- If we want her to play with something, all we have to do is start putting it away. She'll come right over and immediately start getting out whatever we just put away.

- One of the sweetest things she's started doing is giving hugs and kisses. She doesn't always do it, but sometimes when we ask for a hug she'll lay her head on our shoulder. If we ask her to give us a kiss, she'll pretty much just lick our cheek, but it's pretty sweet, too.

Emery is FOUR! {Tea Party Birthday}

2018-04-12T12:59:00.003-07:00

Click here to read about Emery's pink and gold first birthday party!

Click here to read about Emery's Elmo second birthday party!

Click here to read about Emery's Sweet Shoppe third birthday party!

A few weeks ago, we celebrated our sweet Emery turning FOUR {what?!} with a fun little tea party.

Emery absolutely loves having tea parties at home and especially at Nana's house. In fact, Nana was the one who started doing tea parties with Emery and she's been hooked ever since. 💕

Everything fell into place pretty easily! I found some adorable party supplies from Oriental Trading and went from there with the rest of the party decor and colors. I bought the tea party dress for Emery last summer and it just happened to be the same colors I was using for the party! I love it when things work out like that! 😀

Once I had the party supplies ordered and the colors picked out, I was ready to design her invitation. I love how this one turned out. I think it's my favorite one yet!

This invitation design is available in my Etsy shop! Click here if you're interested!
Click here for a matching thank you card!

Once again this year, the sweet people at this Etsy shop sent us a huge box with a tons of fun balloons to use for the party! Emery *loves * balloons so much! They were definitely a highlight for her, as always! I just adore these confetti balloons! They are so fun and you can choose the confetti colors to match your party perfectly! The light purple, pale pink, and green confetti looked so cute with all of the other party decorations!

The Etsy shop that generously provided all of the balloons for Emery's party is offering all of my readers a coupon code for 10% off a purchase of $10 or more. The code is BLESSED10 and it is valid through January 31, 2020. Yay! I promise you will love these balloons!! Click here to visit their shop.

{You can click on any of the pictures to see them larger.}

They also sent us some giant number balloons. We used one inside and then put one on the mailbox. Emery always loves these and always talks about what number it will be for her next birthday!

I just *love* how these confetti balloons look!

The balloon shop also included these pretty pearlized balloons in our party colors and this really cool "ballon decorating strip" that we used to do a balloon garland on the dining room buffet. This was our first time using it, so I'm excited to try some new stuff with it for Sadie's birthday {which is coming up way too fast!}.

"Tea Time" DIY printable banner is available in my Etsy shop.

We also used the balloon decorating strip to make a garland for the mantle. We added a banner, some balloons on the floor, wrapping paper to cover the fireplace, and some photo props and had this cute little picture spot!

We ended up doing two parties this year. Emery wanted to have some of her sweet friends from church and school come over so we did a cute little girly tea party on Saturday and then had all of our family come over on Sunday.

For the party on Saturday with the little girls, we had peanut butter sandwiches cut in the shape of teacups and hearts, cheese cubes, crackers, pretzels, and fruit cups.

I used party candy cups that I found at Hobby Lobby to put the fruit in and then put them all in my cupcake tower. It worked perfectly!

For desserts, we had chocolate cake, teapot sugar cookies, mini vanilla rosette cupcakes, M&M's {we picked through Easter ones and kept all the pink, purple, and green!}, and white chocolate rosette mints.

We had pink lemonade punch to drink and all of the girls got to pick a teacup for the party and to take home. I made little name cards to attach to each teacup. I also used my chalk art method to make the lettering on the drink dispenser cute. It's crazy the things I end up doing at 11:30 p.m. the night before the party! 😂

When the all the girls got there, they spent some time coloring a teapot coloring page and doing tea party stickers.

For a full-size version of this coloring page, click on the image, then right-click and save.

After they colored, they had some snacks, and then it was time to make tea party hats! It was kind of a whirlwind and I don't have any pictures of the girls actually making the hats, but it was super easy. I bought white Easter hats and lots of pink and purple fake flowers at the Dollar Tree. I got some pretty pink and purple ribbon from Hobby Lobby for the girls to wrap around their hat and then they got to pick some flowers to add. {The adults hot glued the flowers. Also, a quick note for the flowers...they tend to fall apart when you cut them off the stem, so I had to hot glue most of them back together ahead of time so they didn't fall apart once they were on the girls' hats.}

A couple of the girls decided to add a flower right on top! 😂 After the hats were finished, it was time for cake and presents!

We wanted to get a picture of all the girls, but it was no easy task! Emery was making this face in pretty much all of the group pictures!! Must have been those glasses! 😆

Then we got to do another party on Sunday with our family! We had a few more of these confetti balloons filled to put with the dessert table.

Emery wanted a purple cake for Sunday and we used the same cake topper. One of my friends at church is so talented and made this teapot cake topper to match the party plates I ordered!

The cake was chocolate, so I made vanilla rosette cupcakes for the cupcake tower.

And we had more teapot cookies and white chocolate rosette mints.

The sweet people at this shop also sent us some of these number balloons that you inflate with air and hang on a string. Emery had fun playing with these for several days after the party!

Emery was so excited for everyone to get there! She pretends that people are coming over for parties all the time! 😂

Nana and a very happy Sadie!

Nana, Poppa, and the girls!

Aunt Allie, Uncle DJ, Vanna, and the girls!

Sadie was obsessed with my necklace!

Uncle Steve, Aunt Char, Marah, Cole, and the girls! Emery got new PJs for her birthday and wanted to change into them. She *loves* wearing PJs!

We had Zaxby's chicken fingers, mac and cheese {Emery's favorite!}, green beans, and fruit for dinner and then it was time open presents!

She got some scented nail polish from Uncle Steve and Aunt Char. They also got her the movie Spirit which was Marah's favorite when she was little! Emery has loved watching it!

Nana and Poppa got her a "paflingo" {I hope she never learns how to say it right! 😂} lovey and she thought it was so funny how she could hang it on her arm!

Aunt Allie, Uncle DJ, and Vanna got her a Pinkalicious book with a whole bunch of stories in it. She loves watching the new Pinkalicious show on PBS and was so excited. Her favorite story right now is called "Tu-Tu-Riffic".

After presents, it was time for cake. Emery put her candles in all by herself.

I love this picture!

This is one of my favorites!

After cake, we had some fun with the photo props. There's that face again... 😂

She put glasses on the flamingo!

It was such a fun weekend of parties! We're so thankful for sweet friends and precious family that celebrated with us!

On Tuesday, Emery got to take a special treat to school to celebrate her birthday. She picked chocolate cupcakes with purple frosting and sprinkles. Her sweet teacher sent me this picture and I love it so much, except that she looks really grown up.

Wednesday was her actual birthday and Daniel took the day off so we could all spend the day together. We had her favorite breakfast...pancakes and orange juice!

We had saved a couple of presents to give her so she could open them on her actual birthday.

She loves this little cupcake set and has had several tea parties with it already!

Sadie liked all the paper and bows!

We told Emery she could pick whatever she wanted for dinner and she shocked us when she said, "Baziki's!" We haven't been to Taziki's in several months, so we're not sure where that came from. We were sure she was going to pick "Don Peppa" so she could have cheese dip. But we went to Taziki's and she loved it. Sadie loved the chicken, rice, and pita, too!

We gave Emery her big birthday gift a couple of weeks late because we had several weeks of cold, rainy days. Sadie has pretty much taken over the pink swing and since that's about all she can do outside since she can't walk yet, we thought Emery needed a big girl swing since she still *loves* to swing, too. Let me tell you, she absolutely *loves* this swing and is asking all the time to go out and swing on her "big girl swing"! It was definitely a great birthday gift that I know she'll play with for a long time!

I think Sadie likes that they can swing together! 💕

I didn't do a stats poster for Emery this year like I've done for her other birthdays, so I wanted to include some of that kind of stuff in this blog post...just sweet little things about her right now that I don't want to forget.

Emery loves...

listening to songs on Spotify, especially Lauren Daigle songs and songs from Moana, Trolls, and Frozen
going to dance class
having treats...she's always asking for treats!!
her big girl bed and all her loveys
baking treats with Mommy
playing with Sadie and helping feed her and give her baths
playing dress up
having parties {pool parties, birthday parties, tea parties, any kind of party!}
looking at pictures and videos on Mommy's phone
going to Lowe's and Home Depot with Daddy
bouncing on her bouncy ball
playing outside on the trampoline and her big girl swing

Favorite songs...

How Far I'll Go {Moana}
Let It Go
Happy
Trust in You {Lauren Daigle}

Favorite books...

Ten Little Teddies
Pinkalicious

Favorite foods...

cheese quesadillas, mac and cheese, grilled cheese, cheese dip and chips, cheesy tacos...anything cheese!
pancakes and waffles {with whipped cream!}
anything sweet!

We had such a fun birthday week for our sweet Emery! And now it's time for me to get busy getting ready for Sadie's FIRST birthday! 😥

Sadie {10 Months}

2018-03-27T18:17:00.000-07:00

And here we are at 10 months old already! We've started affectionately referring to her as "Hurricane Sadie" this last month. She is *everywhere* and into *everything*! But she couldn't be sweeter! 💕

Just a hint of that crinkly nose smile we love so much!

We didn't take any weekly pictures of her this month! 😔I think it's because getting her dressed is like a full body workout. Quite the challenge! I want to do better for next month.

- She's wearing 6-12 month and some 12 month clothes. We can still squeeze her into some 9 month pajamas, but she's mostly in 12 month ones. She's still in a size 3 diaper.

- Sadie is eating so well. She's eating food three times a day. We're still doing mostly purees since she still has *zero* teeth {what?!}! We will give her little bites of whatever we're eating, too. We ate at Taziki's for Emery's birthday and Sadie *loved* the chicken, rice, and pita! Some of her favorites seem to be apples, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, and mangoes. It seems like she'll eat anything as long as it's mixed with one of those.

- She is still taking a bottle four times a day and usually drinks the full 8 ounces.

- Sleep is going great! Her schedule is becoming more and more consistent which is nice! She wakes up between 7:00-7:30, takes her first nap around 9:00-9:30 {usually 1.5-2 hours}, takes her second nap around 1:00-1:30 and will usually sleep until 3:00-3:30. Then she takes her last bottle around 6:30 and is usually in bed by 7:00. She usually handles changes in her schedule pretty well, too. We can sometimes push a nap or bedtime a little later if we need to and she does okay. One Sunday, she completely skipped her first nap {and was still happy!}, but then she made up for it that afternoon by taking a 4 hour nap!

- Sadie is jabbering away all the time! Lots of mama, dada, baba, yaya, lala, and she added nana! I don't know how much she associates mama and dada with us, but it sure is sweet to hear her say it! She smiles big when we talk back to her!

- She absolutely loves her pacis and we use them as a way to get her to come back to us. If she's going somewhere I don't want her to, I'll show her her paci and she'll come crawling right back to it.

- Sadie can dance, wave {very energetically with both arms!}, and cruise all over the place if she's holding on to something. She will pull up on anything and everything which means we really can't take our eyes off of her! She's even stood without support for a few seconds a couple of times. We finally had to put a gate at the bottom of the stairs because she wouldn't stay away!

- If the dishwasher is open, she makes a beeline for it! I was right there beside her unloading it, and before I knew it, she was standing on the door!!

- Her hair is getting so long and is getting little curls in the back and on the sides. It's precious.

- She clicks her tongue! She used to do it back to me all the time, but now she really only does it back to Emery. Emery loves that!

- Sadie can't enough bouncing. She loves bouncing on her sit-to-stand elephant and it's just the cutest. She also loves bouncing on our laps. If we stop, she starts kicking her legs until we start again. 😂

We couldn't be more thankful for our sweet Sadie. I'm hoping these next couple of months will just crawl by so we can enjoy every last second of her being a baby!

Sadie {9 Months)

2018-02-27T19:53:00.004-08:00

Our little Sadie is 9 months old! It just seems so darn close to that first birthday that I'm totally not ready for. So much has happened this month with Sadie! She's growing up way too fast.

We have gotten really behind on our weekly pictures of Sadie and this is the only one we have from this month.

38 Weeks - Our little valentine 💗

- We had her 9 month checkup on 2/20 and she has grown a lot! She was 21 pounds 14.5 ounces (90th percentile), 30.75 inches long (95th percentile), and her head circumference was 17.25 inches (50th percentile). She's already almost as big as Emery was on her first birthday!

- She's wearing 6-12 month and some 12 month clothes. Her 9 month pajamas are almost too small, so she's been wearing mostly 12 month ones. She's still in a size 3 diaper.

- Sadie *loves* to eat! We're doing food 2-3 times a day now and she's doing great! She's tried carrots, peas, turkey, cheese, fresh green beans, yogurt melts, watermelon, strawberry, apple cinnamon oatmeal, banana peanut butter oatmeal, and probably a few other things that I can't remember. She didn't like the carrots and peas on their own at all, but would eat them once we mixed another fruit or butternut squash with it. She gets excited when she sees us with her bowl and spoon and if she's really liking something, we really can't feed her fast enough! Her mouth goes open so fast and she leans toward the spoon! The only thing she doesn't like about eating is when we clean her face afterwards. *Hates* it!

- She is still taking a bottle four times a day and usually drinks the full 8 ounces. We have a hungry girl! 😂

- Still no teeth! What in the world?

- Sadie is usually a great sleeper! We have started to cut out the third cat nap completely even if she doesn't take a good afternoon nap because we found that if she took a third nap, it took her forever to go to sleep at bedtime. So she usually goes to bed around 6:45-7:15 and will sleep until 6:30-7:00. She will occasionally sleep later (sometimes even until 8:00), but she's been waking up around 6:45 most mornings lately. Her naps are usually 1.5-2 hours with a short one every now and then, but she's become a pretty consistent good little napper. 😊

- She became an official crawler on January 30th! She kind of half crawled for a few days before, but she really figured it out that day. She's been unstoppable ever since. She's everywhere, into everything, and pulling up on anything she can! She's even taken a few steps while holding onto furniture. She absolutely loves standing with my help and leaning back and forth toward me. I've gotten a few laughs doing that, and she doesn't laugh easily!

Not completely confident yet...

And a couple of days later, she had no fear!

I love how it looks like she's peeking inside! {She was actually just licking the oven door. 😂}

- Now that she's crawling, it seems like she goes for everything that we don't want her to have. A few of her favorites are cords, nightlights, the pantry, and our Apple TV remote. We can give her our other remote, but she doesn't care about it! She only wants the Apple TV one! One afternoon I left her in the living room for a minute with cartoon songs on YouTube and when I came back she had the Apple TV remote and Jimmy Kimmel was on Hulu! 😂We don't even watch Jimmy Kimmel so I don't know how she did that!

- If something or someone is in her way, she will just climb or crawl right over it to get where she wants to go!

- Sadie started to babble a *lot* this month! It started with a lot of "bababa", but we got "mama" on 2/19 and "dada" on 2/23!! She also says a lot of the "g" and "y" sounds and "lalala". I can't wait for "uh oh"! I think that one is so cute!

- Sadie loves to play with things that aren't toys, but she really does play with all of her toys, too. Sometimes we'll block off the living room and she's very content crawling around in there playing with her toys and exploring what's in the cabinet. She still really loves her sit-to-stand walker and loves to pull up on it.

- She also loves to watch Super Simple Songs on YouTube, just like Emery did. Thankfully, Emery still likes to watch them, too. 😊 Sadie really seems to like Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star {it was always one of Emery's favorites, too} and will smile when it comes on, but she really seems to like all of them. Skidamarink is also a favorite! We've definitely been using the songs to help on those nights when she wakes up early from her afternoon nap and we're trying to make it to bedtime. She likes to be in the swing with her paci and watch them. 💕

Emery likes to make sure she's nice and cozy...

- I already mentioned that Sadie doesn't laugh that often {she is super smiley, though}, but she will laugh like crazy at Emery! And that's wonderful, because Emery loves to make her laugh!

- Sadie loves being outside and gets excited when we walk out on the deck. She kicks her little legs like crazy--it's so cute! There's really not much for her to do outside yet, but she absolutely loves swinging!

- Emery is still just a precious big sister most of the time. She almost always wants to help give Sadie a bath or put her to bed. She loves to help feed her and wants to share treats with her {we've told her we can't do that quite yet 😊}. The other day we made cookies and when I gave Emery one she immediately started to break off a tiny piece because she wanted Sadie to have some. So sweet! It has opened a whole new world with Sadie crawling, though. She can get into more things and mess up stuff that Emery's playing with, so we've definitely had some impatient moments for sure! But I'm thankful that most of our moments are pretty sweet! Sadie adores Emery, that's for sure. She lights up in the morning when she first sees Emery. It's so precious!

She always wants to see what Emery is doing. 💕

Sadie {8 Months}

2018-01-27T13:03:00.001-08:00

Oh my heart! How can it be 8 months?! We are in such a FUN stage right now with Sadie! I wish I could freeze time. She is just so happy and interactive!

And she's always trying to go somewhere... 😂

32 Weeks

34 Weeks - Dark picture, but I just love this face!

Such a little cutie pie! 💕

- We won't go to the doctor again until her 9 month checkup. She's definitely done some growing this month. She has the cutest chubby little thighs!

- She's wearing mostly 6-12 month now. I'm about to get out some 12 month pajamas for her because the 9 month ones probably won't last much longer. She's still in a size 3 diaper.

- For her bottles, she's still eating about 8 ounces every 4 hours. Every now and then, she won't finish her bottle, but she usually does. She has to have something in her hands while she eats, otherwise she gets super squirmy!

- She took her time in the solid food department, but it is official that Sadie loves food! She gets so excited when she sees us with the bowl and spoon and is eating like a champ. She's tried lots of new foods this month--mango, green beans, zucchini, yogurt {LOVES it!}, blueberries, peanut butter, prunes, peaches, spinach, and puffs. She's liked pretty much everything, but she preferred the green beans and zucchini when they were mixed with other things. We mixed the green beans with butternut squash and the zucchini with banana and she liked them much better then!

- She's still doing great with her bedtime sleep. Naps are still hit or miss--she'll do a short one sometimes, but we can usually count on at least one long nap every day. Her schedule is pretty much the same as last month. Most days she takes two naps, but sometimes three depending on what time she wakes up in the morning and how long her naps are.

- Still no teeth!

- I've been trying to get her to say some words, but nothing yet. I mainly just say "mama, dada, and Emery" to her. She always smiles, but she hasn't really started babbling yet.

- I thought for sure she'd be crawling really well by now, but she's still mostly scooting and rolling everywhere. She's done a few little crawls, but not much at all yet. I'm pretty sure by next month, she'll be crawling everywhere!

- She is trying to pull up on things! She can't pull herself up on her feet, but she can get up on her knees. She's also learned how to sit herself back up from being on her tummy.

Standing up with a little help from Mommy...

She get so proud of herself!

- Sadie is pretty content most of the time! She likes to sit on the floor with a basket of toys and just play. One of her favorite things to do is pull a basket over and take everything out! Then she usually puts a toy in each hand and claps them together.

- She loves the sit-to-stand walker she got for Christmas {especially the little door that says "peek-a-boo!"}

- She thinks it's hilarious when we do the monkey and elephant sounds! She also loves the song "Skidamarink"! Sadie is usually playing on the floor in Emery's room when I'm getting Emery ready for her nap. Emery almost always picks "Skidamarink" as one of her songs because she knows Sadie loves it. As soon as we start singing it, Sadie gets the cutest smile and claps! 💕

- Sadie can pretty much get wherever she wants to go and she loves to go over to the vent in the living room and the fireplace...of course, two places we don't want her to go! 😂 She also goes for anything of Emery's. She's super curious and wants to see everything!

- She absolutely LOVES screens {uh-oh, right?}. If the monitor screen is on, she will do anything to get it in her hands. She does the same for my phone! She likes to watch TV, too. If Emery is watching a show, she'll usually watch it, too, and she really likes watching Super Simple Songs on YouTube {just like Emery!}. If she gets fussy, I can put her in the swing with her paci, turn on Super Simple Songs and she's a happy baby. Emery still likes to watch those songs, too!

- She still doesn't laugh that often, but there are a few things that will always get her to laugh. Daddy and Emery are both really good at getting her to laugh! She loves it when I lift her in the air over and over again, too.

- There are a few things she doesn't love. One of those is getting dressed! It is so hard getting her dressed. She tries to flip all over the place on her changing pad. Sometimes I just put her on the floor to get her dressed because it's a lot easier. When I'm changing her diaper, I always have to get her a toy to hold, otherwise she'll roll over! She also doesn't love being by herself. Some mornings I'll put her in her exersaucer while I go to Emery's room to get her up. She'll play for a few minutes by herself, but she starts fussing if we're gone too long. As soon as we come back out, she's happy again!

- Emery is still the sweetest big sister. It is so cute to see them actually be able to play together a little bit now. She loves to help feed her, give her a bath, and she calls her all the names we call her {Sadie Girl, cutie pie, sweetie pie...} along with a few of her own {Sadie Googy?}. She always makes sure Sadie has plenty of toys around her and that her paci is close by. She doesn't love when Sadie tries to get into her things, but she's definitely becoming more tolerant.

Sadie {7 Months}

2017-12-28T09:21:00.002-08:00

Here we are at 7 months already! Our smiley little Sadie is still pretty smiley, but I feel like she's going to be getting her first tooth any day because she's been showing her fussy side a little more often here lately.

27 Weeks

We didn't take pictures for 28 weeks...oops. :(

29 Weeks

30 Weeks

Clapping all the time!!

- We went to the doctor last week for Sadie's second dose of the flu shot, but they didn't weigh and measure her, so I'm not sure how much she's grown. I don't feel like she's grown a ton this last month. I always gauge it by her footie pajamas, and some 6 month ones are still fitting her. When I took her to get her shot, she didn't even cry! She just made a little noise and then put her paci in her mouth! She's an angel baby!

- She's wearing 6 month, 6-9 month, and some 6-12 month clothes. Some of her 6 month pajamas actually still fit, and she is wearing some of her 9 month ones. We did move her up to a size 3 diaper.

- She's eating 8 ounces every 4 hours. We took her off of her Zantac and she's been doing just fine without it!

- We took a little break from oatmeal and then tried her with avocado and sweet potato. She just didn't seem interested at all. She wouldn't open her mouth and any food we managed to get in her mouth would get pushed right back out. There was plenty of gagging, too. Her doctor said to wait until 7 months, so we took another couple of weeks off. A few days before she was 7 months old, I had a ripe banana, so we decided to give it to her. She opened her mouth for the first bite and ate it all! There's been no turning back now. She's liked everything else we've given her {butternut squash, pears, apples} and is the cutest little eater now! I guess she was just taking her time!

- Sadie's still sleeping pretty well most of the time. Her naps the last couple of weeks have not been great, but I'm wondering if it has to do with her teething? We can still usually count on at least one good nap every day. She has continued to sleep really well at night! Her schedule is pretty much exactly the same as last month.

- She did hit some big milestones this month. She can sit up all by herself {sometimes she still topples over after a little while}!

- She can scoot, roll, and army crawl wherever she wants to go! She even gets up on all fours and will move back and forth like she's trying to crawl. I don't think it will be too much longer before she's officially crawling! It won't really be too much of an adjustment because she's already all over the place! She'll just be a little faster!

- She also started clapping this month {on 12/13}! We hadn't really been practicing with her, but she started doing it one afternoon and she hasn't stopped. She claps all the time! When we go in her room to get her in the morning or after naps, she claps! She'll do it any time we ask her to or if she gets excited or happy about something. It's just so sweet and cute!

- She still isn't a big giggler, but she always laughs when we clean her hands and feet during her bath! She also loves it when we lift her in the air!

- Sadie is always looking around and wants to know what's going on, so things like changing her diaper and feeding her have started to get difficult. As soon as we put her on her changing table, she tries to roll over and grab anything she can reach. We've started to give her a diaper or tube of lotion to play with so she'll be still. She also has to hold her paci while she's taking her bottle or else she gets too wiggly. If anyone is talking or making noise, she tries to roll over and see what's going on. I remember Emery was exactly the same way!

- She loves my phone and the baby monitor! If the screens are on, she will do anything to get them!

- Sadie really likes to play with almost all of her toys. As long as she has some toys within reach, she's pretty happy. She loves to scoot her way over to a basket and pull it over so she can pull everything out. She also loves to get to Emery's things, especially Emery's build-a-bear named Sprinkles. Emery is usually pretty good about giving Sadie toys and sharing her things with her, but she doesn't love sharing Sprinkles. She will, but sometimes it takes a little convincing.

My sweet Christmas girls!

Sadie {6 Months}

2017-11-28T11:10:00.001-08:00

Our precious Sadie is half a year old! Time has seriously flown by and I know we're going to be celebrating her first birthday before I know it! Sadie has been such a sweet, happy baby and I've kind of been waiting for the day when it all just stops, but she is still just the sweetest, happiest little ray of sunshine! We love her so much!

22 Weeks

23 Weeks

24 Weeks

25 Weeks

26 Weeks/6 Months {and starting to get a little better at sitting up!}

- We went to the doctor last week for her 6 month checkup and are so thankful that she is a healthy, growing girl! She weighed 17 pounds, 15 ounces (75th percentile) and was 27.5 inches long (95th percentile). Her head circumference was 16.75 inches (50th percentile).

- She's wearing 6 month, 6-9 month, and some 6-12 month clothes. Her 6 month pajamas will not last much longer and some of her 9 month ones fit. She's still wearing a size two diaper.

- Her hair is really growing and it's still reddish/strawberry blonde!

- She is still a great eater! She's eating 7 ounces every 3-4 hours. She goes 4 hours between feedings almost all the time now.

- Speaking of eating...we gave her oatmeal for the first time the day before she was 6 months old and it was hilarious. She did not like it one bit. She made terrible faces and gagged! We gave it to her for four days with pretty much the same reaction every time. Her doctor said we could take a break from the oatmeal and give her some other foods, so we're going to try that this week.

- After her doctor's appointment last week, we reduced her Zantac to one time a day. After some time with just one dose a day, we'll try going without it. We'll see how it goes!

- She's a great sleeper most of the time! She was napping with one arm still in the swaddle, but I started leaving both arms out a few days before she was 6 months old and she's done great with it! Now that she's completely unswaddled all the time, we put her in a regular sleep sack for naps and bedtime.

- On a typical day, Sadie will wake up between 7:00-7:30, stay awake for two hours, take a nap that's usually 1.5-2 hours long, eat, stay awake for two hours, take another 1.5-2 hour nap, eat, stay awake for two hours, take a short catnap, play, eat, and then bedtime around 7:00-7:30. The timing of everything varies every day depending on when she wakes up, but the order stays the same. We've even had a couple of days where she'll sleep until 8:30 and then we'll skip that third nap. And then there are some days that she wakes up at 6:00 and we definitely have the third nap! It just all depends. But she's usually pretty happy no matter what, so I'm thankful for that!

- She loves her feet and grabs them to play with them a lot! She even likes to chew on her toes! I also noticed that she stares at her right hand a lot. She'll put it up in the air, look at it, and spin it around and around.

- We have reached the stage where everything goes in her mouth. She reaches for anything within grabbing distance {including our faces!}. When she reaches for something, it's like she's trying to give it a big hug. And then she puts whatever it is in her mouth!

- She's not crawling at all yet, but she can scoot and roll all over the place to get things she wants! She moves all over her crib at night!

- She loves to play in the exersaucer and the blocks on the green alligator are her favorite. I'll put them all in front of her and then she plays with them until they're all flipped back over on the side and we'll do it all over again!

- She is making lots of sounds {no mama or dada yet!} and one of them sounds just like Chewbacca! She does it all the time!

- There are days when I think she's for sure teething and then other days when I don't think so at all. She drools a lot and blows bubbles with her mouth, but no teeth yet!

- Her favorite sound is the crinkly sound. She has a crinkly book and there are some crinkly toys on her kick and play piano and exersaucer and she loves them! The Minnie Mouse crinkly book is definitely her favorite! {And I love this crinkly nose smile!}

- She is laughing a little more often, but still not even close to how much Emery laughed at this age. It's weird, because she's so happy, but she just doesn't laugh that often! Daddy and Emery are the best at making her laugh, and Emery *loves* that!

- We have this book called "Mommy and Me" and it has a little fuzzy elephant in it. She loves that elephant and grabs it the whole time I'm reading! And when we make the elephant sound, it gets her to smile every time. We took some pictures for our Christmas card the other day and I made that elephant sound so much that I made myself laugh at how ridiculous we all looked!

- She gives kisses!! It seems crazy, but she really does! I noticed it a few weeks ago that she seemed to be leaning toward my face and she's kept doing it! She gave Vanna lots of kisses the other day at Thanksgiving. It it the sweetest, cutest thing!

- Sadie went back to the nursery a few weeks ago and has been doing great!

- We had some fall fun with a trip to the pumpkin patch and Halloween!

- Sadie *adores* Emery {the feeling is mutual!} and is always watching her when she's around. I never really thought it would happen this early, but they sort of play together a little bit. Emery loves to give her toys and make her laugh. She'll sit by the exersaucer when Sadie is in it and play with her or dance in front of the swing when Sadie is swinging.

Emery also loves to go up to Sadie's room by herself {this makes her feel super grown up!} right after Sadie wakes up to give her her paci and talk to her while I make her bottle...and she also usually loads up Sadie's crib with all of her toys. It is just so cute! She's such a great helper, too. She never hesitates to go upstairs for us to get a bib, burp cloth, diaper, etc... Just this morning I was changing Sadie's diaper downstairs and I said that Sadie had just a little diaper rash. Without me even asking, Emery said, "Oh! I'll go get the diaper cream!" It was just precious. 💕 Seems so small, but I never want to forget that sweet moment. I love these girls so much!

My sweet little pumpkins!

Getting ready to go to the Christmas parade!

Sadie {5 Months}

2017-10-26T11:10:00.000-07:00

FIVE months! Sadie is almost halfway through her first year. It's so bittersweet. She is such a good baby, so sweet and happy almost all the time!

18 Weeks

19 Weeks

20 Weeks

21 Weeks

- We haven't been to the doctor since her 4 month checkup, so I'm not sure where she is for her height and weight. She's growing like a weed, though!

- She's wearing mostly 6 month clothes, but some 3-6 month things still fit. All of her pajamas are 6 month and some are even 9 month. She's wearing a size two diaper.

- She's a great eater! She's eating 7 ounces every 3-4 hours. She goes 4 hours between feedings a little more often now. She tries to hold her bottle herself, but usually just ends up taking it right out of her mouth.

- She's still taking Zantac. Her doctor said we might try going without it at 6 months so I'm sure we'll talk about that at her next appointment.

- Sadie is doing great with bedtime and naps, too! She was sleeping with one arm out of her swaddle last month, but she's sleeping in a sleep sack with both arms out now and is doing great! She almost always rolls over and sleeps on her side or on her tummy. She's still sleeping with one arm tucked in a swaddle for her naps, but we'll start leaving both arms out for her naps soon. I want her to get really accustomed to it at bedtime so it will hopefully be an easy transition for naps. She's napping really well now, so I don't want to mess that up!

- She did have a little sleep regression around 4.5 months where she would wake up several times a night and was napping terribly. Thankfully, it only lasted a few days and she's back to consistently sleeping well most of the time!

- On a normal day, Sadie usually wakes up around 7:00-7:30, she'll eat and stay awake for close to two hours, then take a nap that will last about 1.5-2 hours. Then she'll eat again, stay awake for about two hours, and take another 1.5-2 hour nap. Then she eats, stays awake 1.5-2 hours, and will take a short 30-45 minute nap. Then she's awake for another hour or so before taking her last bottle and going to bed around 7:00-7:30. She still has some short naps sometimes during the day, but we can usually count on at least one good, long nap every day.

- Sadie loves bath time and kicks the entire time she's in her little tub! 💦

- She has found her feet and *loves* playing with them and putting them in her mouth! It's so cute! She also kicks one of her legs up when she's in the car seat or the swing. She'll just be sitting there with one leg sticking straight up! 😂

- She still likes her swing and is pretty content there, but she doesn't nap in her swing anymore. If Emery is watching something on TV, Sadie will lay in her swing and watch, too.

- Any time we lay her on the floor to play, she almost immediately rolls over to her tummy. She loves toys that light up and play music and she still loves her crinkly Minnie Mouse book. She also still likes to play in her kick and play piano, but she doesn't stay on her back for very long.

- Sadie loves her paci, but really only has to have it if she's getting sleepy. It definitely soothes her if she's even a little bit fussy. We always give it to her when we lay her down, but usually she goes to sleep without it. As of a few weeks ago, she can get it in her mouth by herself sometimes. I remember being so excited when Emery learned how to do that!

- She tries to click her tongue and loves it when I do it to her. She always tries to do it back and it's the cutest thing ever! She sticks her tongue out and makes smacking noises.

- She's blowing bubbles with her mouth pretty much all the time and can be pretty slobbery. I don't know if that means a tooth might be on the way?

- She hugs my arm when I'm changing her diaper and stares at my ring the whole time. Anytime it catches her eye, she stares at it!

- We tried her in the nursery at church a few weeks ago and she was not a fan. It was in the late afternoon and she hadn't napped well that day, so it could have been that she was just tired. She wouldn't sleep or eat and I had to go get her. It was so sad. She really is so happy all the time as long as she's with people she knows really well. We're going to try her in the nursery again this week and hopefully it will go better!

- Sadie loves being in the Baby Bjorn which makes being out and about easier. We used it when I took the girls to the McWane Center and she even took a nap in it. We also used it at the pumpkin patch and she was as happy as she could be! She loves to be close to Mommy and Daddy.

- She still hardly ever giggles!!! For being such a happy baby, we just can't believe we haven't gotten any really good laughs yet. We've gotten a few little giggles, but they are few and far between! She really is so happy and absolutely loves it when someone talks to her. Really all you have to do is look at her and she gives the biggest smiles! Even right after she got her last shots, she stopped crying when I picked her up and then gave the nurse the biggest smile! I'm extra thankful for all of her sweet smiles since we're not getting many laughs yet! 💕

- Emery is still such a sweet big sister. She doesn't love it when Sadie gets a hold of her hair or kicks her while she's kicking her little legs, but she's pretty patient most of the time. She loves to talk to her and make her smile, and is quick to want to help give her a bath or give her her paci or a toy. If Sadie is upset in the car, Emery will try to sing to her or say "shhh shhh shhh" gently to get her to calm down. {And sometimes she'll tell me, "Mommy! Sadie won't calm down! She's crying over and over and over again!" in a frustrated voice. 😂} This morning before school, I heard Emery talking to Sadie in her swing so I peeked out to listen and heard her say, "It's okay, Sadie. I'll be back soon. You be a big girl for Mommy while I'm gone, okay?" It was such a sweet little moment. 😢💕

Sadie {4 Months}

2017-09-28T10:53:00.002-07:00

Oh, my heart! Our sweet little Sadie is 4 months old! She is so precious, and even happier...if that's possible!

14 Weeks

15 Weeks

16 Weeks

17 Weeks/4 Months

- We had a doctor's appointment on September 19th and Sadie weighs 15 pounds, 11.5 ounces (75th percentile). She's 27 inches long (almost off the charts!) and her head circumference is 15.75 inches.

- She is wearing mostly 3-6 month clothes and a few 3 month things still fit. We're going to have to move up to 6 month pajamas any day since she's getting so long. She's still in size one diapers, but we'll move up to size two as soon as we run out of size ones.

- She is eating 6 ounces every 3-4 hours. She is still on Zantac and it has definitely helped her so much!

- It looks like we're going to have a little red-headed baby! We noticed that it had a reddish tint to it a lot when we were out in the sun, but I feel like it looks red almost all the time now. My mom has strawberry blonde hair, so that's probably where she gets it!

This was on baby dedication Sunday.

- Sadie has hit some major milestones this month. She rolled over from her tummy to her back on September 10th and then rolled from her back to her tummy on September 17th! I didn't think she was close to doing either one! We were completely shocked both times. The happy part is that Daniel and I both got to see it together. Emery gets such a kick out of it every time Sadie rolls around. Her doctor said she's probably a month or two ahead on her gross motor skills and that we might have an early walker. I'm really hoping she's wrong! 😳 Even though she can roll both ways now, she doesn't really do it that often.

- Since she can roll now, we've had to start transitioning her out of being swaddled at night. We're just leaving one arm out for now which is what we did with Emery. The first few nights were rough, but she's doing great now. I tried leaving one arm out for her naps, too, but that did *not* go well so we're going to wait on that. I figured it's safe for her to be swaddled for naps because I can watch her the whole time on the monitor.

- She is still doing great with her sleep and doing better with her naps most of the time! She started taking longer naps this month which has been so helpful because it makes her even happier! She still wakes up after about 45 minutes for most of her naps, but usually she'll go back to sleep. She takes most of her naps in her crib now. It makes me a little sad because it means she's growing up. She always sleeps with her head to the side, so we don't have to worry about her getting a flat spot on the back of her head! 😂

- She used to be content to just lay propped up in the boppy, but now that's she's more mobile, she's always pulling her neck up like she's doing baby crunches!

- Every single time we feed her, we lay her in the boppy {she seems more comfortable than if we hold her} and she panics and cries until we put the bottle in her mouth. Then she immediately makes this sound that's like a high pitched sigh of relief. 😂 I try to get her bottle in her mouth as fast as I can before she starts crying, but I'm usually not fast enough!

- Sadie has definitely discovered her hands and has them in her mouth a lot of the time. She was even sucking her thumb one morning when I went in her room to get her. She grabs at toys and looks at them and is really good at pulling her paci out of her mouth.

- She loves her kick and play piano, Sophie the giraffe, her crinkly Minnie Mouse book, Baby Einstein take along tunes, and playing pat-a-cake. She will not give us any real giggles yet, but she is quite possible the smiliest baby I've ever seen and gives us lots of happy squeals! 💕

- We dedicated Sadie at church on September 10th which was a special day for all of us. She did so well during the dedication and smiled at our pastor the whole time he prayed for her. My heart can barely handle all of the hopes and dreams I have for her and Emery.

- Emery is still doing so well being a big sister to Sadie. She gets so excited every time Sadie smiles at her and celebrates when Sadie rolls over. It's precious! She also takes care of her loveys like we take care of Sadie. She will feed them with a bottle, swaddle them up, bounce them to comfort them, sing them songs, and lay them down for naps. Emery loves to help put Sadie to bed or down for a nap. She always wants to read her the book, You Are My Cupcake, and makes up her own words to it. She puts "honey little" in front of all the things in the book {you're my honey little gumdrop, my honey little peanut, my honey little cutie pie}. It is so hilarious...and adorable!

Teacher Questionnaire {Free Printable!}

2017-09-08T14:13:00.000-07:00

Emery just started preschool this week! Having her in school has me thinking back to my years as a teacher and I'm so excited to be on this side now! Parents can make or break a school year and I always said I would be a great parent to teachers once I had a child in school! 😂

One of the things the PTO always did at the school I taught at was have all the teachers fill out a questionnaire with our favorite things. They would send it home with all the parents of students in our class and the parents could use it as a guide when they wanted to send us something.

I loved this idea and knew that I would do something like it once Emery started school. I'm going to send this to her teachers so I know all their favorites when I'm buying gifts for them. It will also be nice to know their favorite candy or Starbucks drink when I want to just brighten a random morning! 😊

Click on the picture to view a larger version, then right click to download and save!

Emery Goes to School! {2017}

2017-09-05T18:57:00.000-07:00

My baby girl started preschool today! We registered her in January and it felt like her first day was so far away, but here it is already! We've been talking about it a lot the last several weeks and she was so excited! We went to meet her teachers last week and she woke up that morning saying, "Mommy! Daddy! I'm ready to go to school and meet my teacher!"

Her teacher had lots of toys out and she loved getting to play for a little bit!

Emery and her teachers, Mrs. Valerie and Mrs. Sarah! They are both so sweet!

So proud of her backpack! I can't stand how big she looks here!

After we met her teachers, we got to go check out all of the special classrooms she'll visit during the week. She's very excited about the computers and tablets!

The music room was super fun!

We spent the next few days getting ready for her school party! I saw a post on Instagram from my favorite balloon shop of an adorable apple balloon. I ordered the apple balloon and they sent me a whole bunch of extra goodies! They are the sweetest! They also offer my readers a special discount! You can use the code BLESSED10 to get 10% off any order of $10 or more! This code is good until December 31, 2017. :)

They sent me some of my favorite confetti balloons! I love these!

They also sent me some red, green, and yellow balloons to match the confetti balloons. Emery loved all of the balloons!

The party hats were a last minute addition. Emery mentioned that we were all going to have party hats and I added them to my Walmart pickup order! I love Walmart pickup! I also made her a first day of school poster. This poster is available in my Etsy shop! {I also have a pink and gold version.} When we asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up like Mommy and Daddy, she really thought about it and said "Minnie Mouse" very seriously! 😂

I just love that happy apple! Emery loved it, too! I had it inflated a few weeks before the party so she would start to look forward to it!

The banner was the first thing I put up. I found some that I liked on Etsy and put one together on my own. I'm excited to hang this up every year!

The apple string lights above the banner are from the Target dollar spot.

I also found these cute little ceramic decorations in the Target dollar spot and they were the perfect thing to bring the mantle all together!

I loved how the table turned out! I got a lot of ideas on Pinterest, of course! The table runner is from Target, and the placemats are just scrapbook paper from Hobby Lobby! I wasn't even looking for the chalkboard easels, but saw them on Jane.com and knew they would be perfect! Emery loved those and is still playing with them!

She was so excited for her party when she woke up from her nap!

And even more excited when Uncle DJ, Aunt Allie, and Vanna got here!

We had breakfast foods for our dinner. Emery made sure we all had party hats during dinner! Everyone was a very good sport! 😂 {I had no idea how big of a hit those party hats would be...we're still wearing them and having "parties"!}

We made apple cupcakes and apple cookies for dessert!

Mommy and Daddy with our sweet girl!

Precious cousins!

We spent yesterday playing at home and getting everything ready for school. We let Emery pick dinner and she picked "Don Peppa", of course! We went to Panera to get a cookie for a treat and we got cookies for her teachers, too. As a former teacher, I know cookies on the first day of school are a necessity! 😂

This morning came too quickly, but Emery woke up excited to go to school! She picked Honey Nut O's for breakfast {she calls them Honey No-doze 😂} and wanted to sit in the dining room so we could have a party at breakfast! Party hat and all!

We got dressed, brushed teeth, and took some special first day pictures! She was singing the Daniel Tiger morning routine song this morning. 💕 I adore how these pictures turned out! I was acting like a complete fool to get these smiles! My girl looks so grown up! 😢

Click here to check out this poster in my Etsy shop.

She was so excited!

This poster is available in my Etsy shop, too!

I just love this smile!

Happy with Daddy!

Little girl with a huge backpack!

So silly!

And a little bit of sass!

We got to school a little early and hung out in the parking lot for a few minutes. Emery was a little more serious, but still excited! She needed some lipstick! 😂

We said a prayer together {she prayed for Mommy, Daddy, Sadie, her teachers, and her school}, took a quick picture with Sadie, and headed in to school!

She gave us hugs and kisses, sat right down in her spot with her teachers and was totally fine! I had to say her name a few times to get her attention and we blew her a kiss. She blew a kiss back to us and we were off. As soon as we walked out the door, I started crying! I'm sad that she's growing up but also so proud of her for doing so well! I'm so thankful she handled going to school so well!

Daniel and I headed to Starbucks and then back home where I cried again because it was too quiet! I did have this precious face to look at, though. 💕

After a few hours, it was time to go pick her up! It was so cute watching her walk out to the car with one of the teachers. She was happy and said she had a fun day! We asked her if she wanted to go get a treat and she picked ice cream at Dairy Queen.

We asked her lots of questions, one of which was if she used her manners. She said, "I didn't use my manners." 😳 I'm really hoping that answer was just for shock value and that she did, in fact, use her manners! She was an exhausted girl and went right to sleep when we got home!

I'm so thankful she had such a good first day of school!

Sadie {3 Months}

2017-08-27T13:59:00.004-07:00

Here we are again! Another month has passed and Sadie has grown and changed so much! She is such a happy baby girl!

3 Months/13 Weeks

9 Weeks

10 Weeks - I can't believe the difference between the 9 week and 10 week pictures! She changed so much!

11 Weeks

12 Weeks

- We had a doctor's appointment on August 24th and Sadie was up to 14 pounds, 12.5 ounces!

- She is wearing 0-3 month, 3 month, and a few 3-6 month clothes. All of her jammies are 3 month and she'll probably be in 6 month ones soon since she's on the tall side. Emery was the same way with PJs, always a size ahead. She's wearing size one diapers and will probably move up to size two before too long.

- A couple of days after she was 2 months, she started getting really fussy and squirmy for feedings and spitting up a lot more often. We thought maybe she was ready for a level 2 nipple, but that didn't help. Thankfully, we had a doctor's appointment two days later and found out she probably had acid reflux. The doctor prescribed Zantac and a different formula and she is so much better now!

- We moved her up to 5 ounces on July 22nd and up to 6 ounces on August 5th. This is around the time she started sleeping through the night more often which is why I think she started eating more during the day. She eats about every 3 hours, and just recently has started to go 4 hours between feedings every now and then, not consistently yet, though.

Her little hands are almost always in fists when she eats!

Emery is quick to help! She loves to help feed Sadie!

- We moved Sadie to her room on July 28th and she slept from 8pm-3am that night! That was the first time she didn't wake up to eat around 10:00. She hasn't woken up for that 10:00 feeding since we moved her to her room. She has continued to do so well in her room! She slept from 8pm-6:15am on July 31st, then from 8pm-7am on August 8th! She has slept from 8pm until 6-7:30am every night since then. Every now and then she'll wake up in the middle of the night for her paci, but we haven't had to feed her in the middle of the night for the last few weeks. Those first couple of months of her not sleeping through the night seemed long, but I also can't believe that we're already back to the schedule of Daniel and I having our evenings to ourselves. She was always so content, though, that we didn't mind her hanging out with us while we watched TV in the evenings. 💕

- Sadie has started to be on a relatively predictable schedule which is nice because I love a routine! She wakes up between 6:30-7:30 and is usually very smiley and happy! 💕 She eats, stays awake for a little over an hour and will take a nap anywhere from 45 minutes-2 hours {a shorter nap is more common}. She'll eat around 10:00-10:30, stay awake for about an hour and a half and take another pretty short nap, maybe 45 minutes to an hour. On a perfect day, I'll feed her around 12:30 and put her in her swing for another nap around 1:00. She's usually pretty tired by this time because most days she's only taken two short naps. This is also the same time Emery takes her nap, so when it works out, both girls will nap at the same time. Sadie will usually sleep until 3:30-4:00, eat again, stay up for about an hour and a half, then go to sleep for a 30-45 minute nap. We feed her her last bottle around 7:00, do her nighttime routine {diaper change, lotion, jammies, songs, rock, sound machine, lay her down with her paci}, and she's usually asleep by 8:00.

Happy baby after sleeping for 11 hours straight!

I love these morning smiles!

She takes a long nap in her swing almost every afternoon! So glad she finally started liking her swing!

- She really is a dream baby and really only gets fussy if she's hungry or tired!

- We got her a kick and play piano a few weeks ago and she loves it! She kicks like crazy and loves to look up at the mirror and toys. She's even started to grab at some of the toys. Emery loves the kick and play, too! 😂

- She has become the smiliest little thing! It is so easy to get her to smile and we all just love it! She's even started to do those smiles where she opens her mouth as wide as she can. So, so cute!

- Sadie has also started talking a lot! They are the sweetest little baby noises! She absolutely loves it when people talk to her, and she talks back a lot now. It's precious!

- She seemed to have a blocked tear duct a few weeks ago. Her eye was always watery and sometimes a little crusty in the mornings. I asked her doctor and she told me to massage the inner corner of her eye a few times a day and it seemed to work itself out.

- Bath time has become a little more messy...especially when Emery is involved. 😂 I still bathe her in her tub at the kitchen sink and she kicks so much that it gets water everywhere! She likes her baths, though! And Emery *loves* to help give Sadie a bath!

- She has started putting her hands in her mouth more and more. I'm hoping that doesn't mean she's going to be teething soon!

- She is doing great at tummy time! She doesn't last too long, but she can get her head up really high now! She doesn't roll over from her tummy to her back yet, which is just fine with me! I'm not ready for any of those milestones yet!

- Sadie looks just like her big sister. I went back and ready Emery's three month post and so many of the pictures look exactly like Sadie!

- She is still a big fan of her pacifier! She doesn't have it all the time, but it definitely helps soothe her to sleep or keep her happy while she waits for her bottle!

- She scoots! Emery would scoot all the way down to the end of her crib when she was this age, but Sadie scoots and rotates herself around! Usually she rotates 45 degrees, but last night she turned herself all the way around and her head was at the opposite end of the crib. Sometimes it wakes her up because she bumps her head or her feet on her crib while she's scooting.

- She likes to look at the TV! Sometimes when Emery is watching Mickey Mouse or Daniel Tiger, Sadie will watch it, too! She also seems to like Fox News. 😀

- She is still our little snuggle bug and I love to hold her for naps whenever I can! She also still loves to be swaddled!

- Emery is still an amazing big sister and gets so excited when Sadie looks at her, smiles, or talks! She loves to help with anything and everything and it is so sweet to see.

Reading to Sadie...

- She has also started playing with her baby Stella more often and it is so cute to watch her treat Stella like we treat Sadie. Watching Emery with Stella makes us feel like we're pretty good parents! 😂

Burping baby Stella

She put down Stella for a nap...usually she swaddles her, too! 😂

We are so incredibly grateful for these precious girls!

Welcome to the world, Sadie Hope!

2017-08-06T12:59:00.003-07:00

Our precious Sadie Hope was born on Friday, May 19th, 2017 at 7:24 a.m. She weighed 7 pounds, 14 ounces, was 20.5 inches long, and absolutely perfect.

When I think about the day she was born and the days in the hospital following her birth, there's nothing but sweet memories, joy, and happiness. It was so wonderful!

We scheduled my c-section in early April and it was so nice knowing when she'd arrive. We picked the 19th because it was a Friday and Memorial Day was a week and a half away so it would give Daniel more time off work. We also had Emery on a Friday and it was nice to not go through Daniel's vacation days while we were in the hospital.

Look at what we were doing last year on May 19th! We were on the top of a mountain in Hawaii! This year was definitely better! 💕

My c-section was scheduled for 7:15 a.m. and we had to be at the hospital by 4:30 a.m.! We took these pictures around 3:45 a.m. before we left for the hospital.

At the hospital!

They got me all hooked up to the monitors and started my IV. Getting my IV was no easy task. Apparently my veins like to turn, so it took her a couple of tries. My nurse's name was Francis and she was so, so sweet! *Way* better than the nurse I had when I had Emery. I was feeling pretty good for the first hour or so that we were in there.

Then I started feeling really nervous and emotional. They had just given me lots of medicine in my IV and I just didn't feel good at all. I remember the same thing happening when I was getting ready to have Emery. I just got so nervous about the actual c-section and recovery and I just wanted to get it over with. I told Francis I was feeling anxious and she said they would give me some medicine with my epidural.

I don't remember what time it was, but the anesthesiologist {Dr. Nag-I had him with Emery, too!} came in to give me my epidural. He was such a nice man! Every single person who took care of us this time was just so wonderful. My doctor came in to check on me around the same time I was getting my epidural. Dr. Nag gave me some medicine to help me relax and let me just say, whatever he gave me was *amazing*! I felt better almost instantly and was able to talk and laugh again. It was some really good stuff! 👌😂 I was so glad I had it because it made me able to actually enjoy the whole experience! Dr. Nag came in again later to give me the second dose of my epidural and I was completely numb.

Then it was time to go in the OR! They took me first and I remember being so concerned that they wouldn't bring Daniel in the OR in time. I kept asking about him and they reassured me he'd be in there. 💕 As they were getting me ready in the OR, I got really cold and light-headed because my blood pressure was getting really low. It happened a few times. I would just tell one of the nurses what was going on and they'd give me some medicine. It was crazy how fast those medicines would work!

Daniel made it into the OR and we were ready to go! What a surreal moment!

It happens so fast! Look at that precious baby hand!

They cleaned her up a little bit and she was crying so much! I don't remember Emery crying quite that much and I kept asking if Sadie was okay. They said she was and then they brought her to me so I could hold her for a little bit. I remember all I could really say was, "Oh my goodness!" while I cried. It really is an indescribable moment.

They cleaned her up some more, swaddled her, and then Daniel got to hold her. I love this picture.

After they finished doing everything they needed to do with Sadie, we headed to the recovery room which was the same room where I got ready for the c-section. I was feeling great and way more aware than I did after Emery's c-section, although I can't remember as many details now as I'd like. I was so glad I got to finally hold her again.

She had her first bottle and drank it like a pro. So sweet! {Terrible picture of Mommy, but the first bottle has to be documented!}

Lots of snuggles! Her little face! 😍

Then it was time for Emery to come meet her baby sister. I thought I would be an absolute teary mess, but I wasn't! I think I was trying really hard to be normal for Emery, and I was able to keep it together. She was in the waiting room with my family so Daniel went to get her. She had picked out a sweet pink bunny blanket lovey for Sadie the week before, so she brought that when she met her.

My big girl... 💕

She was a little unsure at first since Sadie was still crying quite a bit.

Meeting Sadie for the first time...she just didn't know what to think.

But after a minute, Mommy and Sadie both got sweet kisses.

This melts my heart!

After Emery had been in the recovery room for a little while, Daniel took her back out to the waiting room to get my parents and my sister. Having my family there to see Sadie for the first time was just such a sweet and special moment. They spent a little time with us in the recovery room and then headed back to the waiting room with Emery because my nurses were ready to transition us to a regular room.

Once we got in our regular room, Sadie got her first bath!

All clean!!

I love this! So snuggly!

Daddy holding a sweet, clean, snuggly baby. 💕

After we were all settled, everyone came back to our room for snuggles with Sadie! Emery was all about Sadie and always wanted to be close to her, but she was *so* serious the whole time!

We finally got a smile!

Sadie was getting hungry again and Emery wanted to help!

Just so sweet... 💕

Nana finally got to get her hands on her eleventh grandbaby.

More kisses for Sadie!

Aunt Allie's turn!

Emery was always right there!

And finally Poppa got to hold Sadie.

Emery also changed Baby Stella's diaper while she was there. 😂

Vanna had school that day, but Uncle DJ checked her out around lunchtime so they could come to the hospital. I love how Vanna had on all pink! 💗

Sadie meets Uncle DJ for the first time!

I honestly don't remember much about the rest of that day after everyone left. I'm pretty sure we napped on and off since we had such an early start to the day. Sadie did great on her first night! She woke up maybe every 2 hours, sometimes 3, she'd eat and then go right back to sleep!

The next morning, we took some pictures of her with her first onesie sticker and with her precious hat and blanket. She looks so different already!

Nana, Poppa, and Emery came back for a visit on Saturday. Emery *loves* any kind of stuffed animal, so she was so excited to see Sadie using her owl Wubbanub. She was obsessed with that owl for a few weeks before Sadie was born.

Checking out her big sister!

Emery was much more comfortable on Saturday!!

Aunt Allie, Uncle DJ, and Vanna came to visit again on Saturday, too!

Everyone had eaten lunch at the hospital on Friday, and Emery kept asking to go back to the "restaurant" for a snack, so Uncle DJ, Aunt Allie, and Vanna took her down to the cafeteria. Nana and Poppa had given her a little owl purse and Emery came back to the room with an orange juice in her owl purse. 😂

Precious girl was worn out from all her visitors. She was showing us already how laid back she was going to be.

Until we tried to take her picture in this adorable onesie a friend made for her. She seriously hardly ever cried at all other than this!

She just really liked being snuggled up!

Some of our sweet friends from church came to visit us that night and brought us Taziki's for dinner so we could get a little break from hospital food. It was so fun introducing our precious baby girl to our friends.

That night got a little bit stressful because Sadie's temperature wasn't as high as it needed to be. They were checking it every 30 minutes, turning up the temperature in our room, and having me do skin to skin with her hoping it would come up and stay up. They also warm blankets on top of both of us. My temperature certainly came up! I was so hot! They gave her this little thermal hat to wear, too.

Sadie's temperature came up a little bit so they started checking it every hour. It went down again so she had to go on the warmer in our room for an hour or so. After that, it seemed to regulate but I think I slept with her on me most of that night.

At some point during the second day, they did the heel prick to test for jaundice and found her numbers were slightly elevated. We were nervous about this because Emery had jaundice and had to be under the bilirubin lights for two days while we were in the hospital with her. So on Sunday, we put Sadie by the window in our room for a little bit since sunlight is supposed to help with jaundice. She seemed to really like it. 💗

Sweet little foot!

Looks like we're going to have another paci girl! Emery *loved* her pacis!

Our sweet girl slept *so* much! I know newborns sleep a ton, but she slept so much that I actually asked if it was normal!

My parents and Emery came to visit again on Sunday, but we didn't take any pictures that time.

Our Sunday school teacher also came to visit us on Sunday afternoon and brought us a dozen Dunkin' Donuts! 🍩

Daddy and his baby girl. She just looks so incredibly tiny.

The hospital photographers came to take Sadie's pictures on Sunday, too.

We wanted to order something for dinner on Sunday night and one of my sweet nurses told us that Steak Out delivered to the hospital. I had never had Steak Out before, but Daniel was craving a steak and said it was really good so we ordered from there. So crazy to have steak delivered! They got there so fast and it was really good! We had steak, a baked potato, salad, and rolls for our last night there.

Sunday night went much smoother than the night before. She would wake up every 2-3 hours to eat and then go right back to sleep, sometimes in her little bed, or sometimes on one of us. I woke up from several naps like this while we were in the hospital... 💕

Either Sunday night or Monday morning, Sadie got her bilirubin levels checked again and they had gone up a little bit, but they said they weren't high enough for her to be on the lights. We were so relieved! They just told us to go to the pediatrician in two days to get her rechecked.

Since before Sadie was born, we had planned to go home on Monday. Monday came around and we were waiting and waiting for my doctor to come and check on me so we could get discharged. We did a lot of this while we waited...

She didn't come until almost 2:00. She had assumed we were going to stay another night. She gave us the choice, but I was feeling great and we were ready to get home, so she went ahead and discharged us.

Time to get dressed in her coming home outfit!

I remember that I could not stop crying when I was getting Emery dressed to go home! It was still emotional with Sadie, but I was able to keep it together this time!

Such a tiny little thing!

Of course, we had to have a headband!

Our sweet, beautiful girl was ready to go home!

First time in the car seat! I can't believe how tiny she looks! She's already *so* much bigger!

She had to ride with the pink lovey that Emery picked out...which is pretty much the same size as Sadie!

Ready to go!! So snuggly!

Leaving our home away from home for the last few days.

All settled and ready to go for her first car ride!

We headed to drop off my prescriptions and then went to Chick-fil-A to get frosted strawberry lemonades while they filled the prescriptions. The entire time we were in the hospital, we were both craving fruity drinks!!

Then Sadie got to see her home for the first time!

First bottle at home...

And then our other precious girl came home! My parents brought her home that evening and they said that it seemed like Emery didn't quite believe them that Sadie was going to be home, too. 😂💕 She was excited and wanted to hold her right away!

We are so thankful for such wonderful memories and two happy, healthy, precious girls!

{Source}

Sadie {2 Months}

2017-07-24T18:32:00.001-07:00

It feels like I just did Sadie's one month post, and now here I am working on her two month post! Time is flying by!!

5 weeks - She wasn't feeling the pictures this week, so the paci was a must!

6 weeks - A smile!

7 weeks

8 weeks

- At her two month check-up, Sadie weighed 12 pounds, 13 ounces {75th percentile} and was 24 inches long {95th percentile}. Her head circumference was 15.5 inches {50-55th percentile}. She's wonderfully healthy! 💕

- She got one shot and one oral vaccination at her first announcement. I *hate* shots!! She was definitely startled at the shot and cried for just a second, then she took her paci and was okay. She did seem extra sleepy all day, though.

- She can still wear a few newborn outfits and sleepers, but most of her clothes are now 0-3 month or 3 month. We are still using newborn diapers {only because I bought too many of those and we're trying to use them up} during the day, but we put size one diapers on her at night.

- She definitely keeps us guessing with her sleep schedule. The night before she was six weeks old {June 29th}, she slept from about 10:00-5:15 {this is the same night Emery slept through the night for the first time!} and we were so excited! BUT, it turns out she was just messing with us. She's done that maybe 5-6 times {once till 6:15} and has woken up once or twice every other night. We are so ready for her to sleep through the night consistently! It seems like she can only go 4-5 hours before waking up again to eat, but then she'll only eat maybe 2 ounces before falling back to sleep. Sometimes after that she'll only sleep another 2 hours before waking up again. She definitely has us confused, that's for sure. I am thankful that she usually goes right back to sleep, though. After reading Emery's two month post, I'm wondering if we need to try feeding her more before bedtime.

- Sadie eats 4 ounces about every 3 hours. Sometimes she'll only make it two hours between feedings, and other times she'll wait four hours.

- She took her first nap in her crib on June 22nd and did great! I had to go in and give her her paci a couple of times, but then she fell asleep for about 20 minutes. I gave her her paci and turned her sound machine on and she fell asleep for over an hour before I had to wake her up to eat. She's taken a few more naps in her bed since then. Some have been good and some have been not so good.

- Speaking of naps, Sadie was a terrible napper at the beginning of this month, but has started to get a lot better. She would sleep for 15-30 minutes and would not go back to sleep unless we were holding her. The last week or so, she's been eating, staying awake for an hour and 15 minutes to an hour and a half, then sleeping for an hour and a half or more. She'll usually wake up about halfway through, but has been going back to sleep more often once I give her her paci {sometimes I have to do this a few times}. Rubbing her head also makes her very sleepy and will sometimes help her go back to sleep. She has also taken some great naps in her car seat!

- She's very good at going to sleep on her own {usually after we give her her paci a few times}, which we're very thankful for! We love to hold her while she sleeps, but can't always do that, so it's nice that she'll go to sleep by herself once we lay her down.

- Sadie still loves to be swaddled and is not nearly as good at getting her arms out as Emery was!

- She also loves her paci even more this month, I think, but she's happy without it unless she's getting really sleepy. It does help her go to sleep, but she usually doesn't wake up if it comes out of her mouth.

- Bath time is much easier now, too. Last month, she screamed through most of her baths, but she likes them better now and will kick her little feet in the water. I think Emery likes Sadie's baths even more, though. She loves to help and wants to give Sadie a bath multiple times a day! She'll say, "I think we need to take Sadie a bath." 😂

- One of my notes that I wrote down this month was that she didn't like her swing, but she's definitely changed her tune on that. She seems to love it now, and will almost always go to sleep and take a great nap if she's tired!

- If we're home, she always sleeps with a sound machine on. She seems to like the ocean setting. Emery is always trying to change it to songs and will tell me, "Sadie likes the music better." 😂

- Sadie loves to look at the ceiling fan, just like her sister!

- She got baby acne around 5 weeks which is right around the time Emery got it! It has cleared up for the most part, but her face is still a little bumpy to the touch. You can't tell she has it by looking at her, though.

- Sadie loves to be talked to and will move her mouth like she's trying to talk back. Sometimes she'll smile and make the sweetest little sounds. Speaking of smiles, we're getting a lot more of them these days which is just precious. She does this cute little nose crinkle sometimes, too. We love it! 😍

- She really is such a good baby. She had a few fussy days this month where she just wanted to be held all the time, but for the most part, she's very happy and content and usually only cries when she's hungry or getting tired. We're so thankful for such a sweet little baby.

- As for Emery, we still could not ask for her to be a sweeter big sister. While she did act out toward us a little bit when we first got home, she has never shown one sign of jealousy toward Sadie. She couldn't love her more and we're so thankful! She loves to give Sadie her paci {even when she doesn't want it, but she's getting better about that}, help feed her and burp her {she'll say, "Is there a little burp-y in there?"}, help give her a bath, and pick out her PJs or her clothes for the day. She'll talk to her in the sweetest {and *very* high-pitched} voice and gets so excited when Sadie smiles at her. It is just so sweet. Sometimes if Sadie is hungry and I'm getting her bottle, I'll ask Emery to talk to her and Sadie will calm right down. I'm praying they always love each other!

Sadie {1 Month}

2017-06-27T13:15:00.002-07:00

Our sweet Sadie girl is one month old! I'm tearing up as I type that {no surprise there...I'm such a cry baby!}. This first month with Sadie has just flown by! I did these updates for Emery and I love being able to go back and read about all the little details each month. There are so many sweet little memories that I probably would have forgotten, and it's fun to compare how the girls are similar and different! So, I'm going to try to stay on top of these updates for Sadie, too!

One Week

Two Weeks - This sleeper looks so funny when she's all stretched out! 😂

Three Weeks

Four Weeks - Starting to smile! 💕

Sadie was born on Friday, May 19th at 7:24 a.m. and it didn't take us long to find out we had been blessed with a sweet, sweet baby. {I'm planning to do a whole post about the day she was born!}

Here's what our sweet Sadie is like at one month old:

- At her two week {almost three week} check up, she weighed 8 pounds and 10 ounces and was 22 inches long. Her head circumference was 14.5 inches. She was in the 95th percentile for height (she'll be tall just like Emery) and she was in the 50th percentile for weight.

- She's wearing newborn diapers and all newborn clothes, but I'm sure we'll be switching to size 1 diapers and some 3 month clothes pretty soon.

- She doesn't usually mind diaper changes unless she's hungry!

- Speaking of eating, Sadie is a great eater and has been since the day she was born! When we brought her home from the hospital on May 22nd, she was eating about 1.5 ounces every three hours and now she's eating about 3.5 ounces every 3 hours! She almost always finishes every bottle!

- She's been a great sleeper so far, too. When Sadie was a little less than a week old, I actually asked our doctor if it was normal for her to sleep *so* much! I know it's normal for a newborn to sleep a lot, but Sadie was rarely awake! She sleeps great at night, too, for the most part. Starting at about one week old, she would wake up about once a night, usually between 2:00-3:00 and then again around 6:00-7:00. We thought it was too good to be true, but for the most part, she's been pretty consistent!

- Right now, she's sleeping in the pack and play in our room and doing great with that. She's kind of a noisy sleeper, so we're not sure how long it will last. She is a grunter! 😂 She usually naps in the Boppy, on one of us, in her swing, and sometimes in her pack and play. I love this stage where you don't really have to worry about sleep/nap training!

- She is our little snuggle bug. She goes to sleep on us so easily and is so snuggly, we just love to hold her for her naps.

- She gets the hiccups all the time, just like Emery! The gripe water we used with Emery works for Sadie, too, and it's so cute watching her lick her lips!

- While Emery was hooked to her paci from the start, it took a little longer for Sadie to start taking it consistently. She's really starting to like it now, though. It definitely helps her go to sleep!

- Sadie is not a fan of riding in the car if she's awake...she pretty much has to have her paci or she's crying. If she's tired, though, she usually goes right to sleep.

- She *loves* being swaddled and it has calmed her down since the day she was born. Usually if she's fussy, we can put her in a tight swaddle and she'll calm right down and go to sleep. She sometimes gets her arms out, but not nearly as often as Emery did.

- When she's trying to get her bottle or paci, she shakes her head back and forth frantically. It's hilarious! Then when she finally gets it, she gets a really intense look on her face if she's eating and a really peaceful look on her face if it's her paci.

- Sadie is strong! She can already hold her head up for a few seconds at a time. When we have her up on our shoulder, she bobs her head around trying to look all over the place.

- She hated her first couple of baths, but is starting to like them more. She's happy for about the first half and then she screams for the rest. Then she usually cries until I get her in her pajamas.

- Sadie does really well when we're out and about! We've gone to the grocery store, the library, church, and out to eat and she always does really well! This was from her first Sunday at church. 💖

- We can't believe how much Sadie and Emery look alike! These pictures from Emery's one month post look just like Sadie!

- Emery could not be a sweeter big sister. We are so thankful! She always wants to know where Sadie is and if she is asleep or awake. She shares her loveys with her and likes to give her her paci when she cries. She lays her head on Sadie's head to give her "hugs" and kisses the top of her head. She also talks in a high-pitched sweet voice to her and will say "She's so cute!" Sadie already loves Emery and pays attention when she's in front of her.

38 Weeks

2017-05-14T14:16:00.000-07:00

How Far Along: 38 weeks and 1 day

Size of Baby: According to The Bump, the baby is about 19.6 inches long and weighs about 6.8 pounds. Sounds a lot like birth weight!! 😳

Gender: It's a girl!! Her name is Sadie Hope!

Maternity Clothes: Yep, I've worn that coral shirt in the picture above the last 3 out of 4 Sundays. I'm ready for some new clothes!

Wedding Rings On/Off: On, still noticing some swelling in my hands.

Stretch Marks: Definitely some new ones on my hips, and a few small ones around my belly button, which I was really hoping wouldn't happen. It's almost like I can actually feel my skin stretching. My belly is kind of itchy and it just feels like it's pulling. I'm also a little paranoid. It can't get that much worse in the time I have left, though.

Sleep: I'm still sleeping remarkably well! I wake up kind of early, but I'm sleeping through the night most nights!

Cravings/Aversions: Still nothing super specific...just enjoying all the foods I can in the time I have left!

Symptoms: Nothing really new, just more of the same. More slow, more uncomfortable, more achy. 😉 A little heartburn still, a little swelling, and my ears have been plugging a little more often again.

Movement: Lots and lots of kicking and stretching going on! She really seems to like to put her feet (I think?) up into my ribs on my right side. I can't wait to see those little feet!

Mood: I'm basically feeling every possible feeling that can be felt, which is pretty typical for me. I'm so excited to meet Sadie and see Emery and my family with her, but I'm nervous about adjusting to a new normal. I'm praying that we all make a smooth transition.

What I Miss: Definitely the same as last week--Being comfortable, having energy, and moving around like a normal person!

Looking Forward To: We're going to try and fit in a lot of fun things this week. We have an early doctor's appointment tomorrow, so we're all going to go out for donuts first. Emery and I are going to go get mommy/daughter mani/pedis one day, and I've still got to do my big Trader Joe's trip! Most of all, we're looking forward to meeting Sadie!

Best Moment This Week: We've been getting out more baby things this week and one of them was the Pack & Play. Emery was so excited to see it all set up {she calls it the "packing play"} and immediately got some of her loveys to put in there. She got her pillow from her bed and a blanket and put Curious George to bed. She sang "O How I Love Jesus" to him {she calls it "O"}, asked "You want 'O' one more time, George?" just like we ask her, turned the lights off, and told him to have a good night's sleep. She also put Ellie right beside him. It was too sweet. We're praying she's like that with Sadie!

We also had a sweet Mother's Day today. I love this sweet picture! 💕

36 Weeks

2017-05-02T19:07:00.002-07:00

We're having our living room painted this week, so those are paint samples behind me!

How Far Along: 36 weeks and 3 days

Size of Baby: According to The Bump, the baby is about 18.7 inches long and weighs about 5.8 pounds. I had my doctor's appointment yesterday and my belly measured right at 36 weeks, even though I feel *huge*!

Gender: It's a girl!! Her name is Sadie Hope!

Maternity Clothes: Yep, and pretty tired of them! At home when I'm in pj's, my t-shirts don't even go all the way over my belly anymore! 😂

Wedding Rings On/Off: On, but they are a little more snug. I haven't had any major swelling, but definitely some.

Stretch Marks: I think I might have some new ones on my hips. Not surprised...I feel like my hips have gotten so, so wide.

Sleep: I've been sleeping well again with the exception of one night this weekend. I woke up at 3:30, couldn't go back to sleep, so I came out to the living room and worked on my computer until it was time to get ready for church. Other than that, I've been sleeping very well. So thankful for that!

Cravings/Aversions: I'm still really loving the Minute Maid Berry Punch!! I also saw a commercial for Captain D's {what?!} and really wanted it, but it was too late at night. I can't really think of anything else that I've been craving. I'm just trying to eat as much as possible while I don't have to think about it or feel guilty about it! 😂

Symptoms: Very, very slow moving and uncomfortable. I'm starting to have more back achiness and the mild heartburn has returned. I have very little energy and just really don't want to move much or do much at all. Where is my nesting energy?! I'm also getting some swelling in my feet, ankles, and legs. It's not nearly as bad as the swelling I had with Emery, though! My ears have gotten so much better! They used to be plugged every single day for several hours. They still plug almost every day, but it's not as bad and it doesn't last very long. I was worried that symptom was never going to go away.

Movement: *All* of the time! And she loves to be up in my ribs which is such a weird feeling! She is getting so strong. It feels like she loves to stretch out! 💕

Mood: We still have a ton of things going on at home {painting, building a deck, redoing our back yard} so I have been getting a little overwhelmed and stressed about all of that. I've also been getting really sentimental lately about doing things with Emery and how different things are going to be in just a few weeks. I know it will all be good, and I'm very thankful, I just get very sentimental and emotional when the season of our life changes.

What I Miss: Being comfortable, having energy, and moving around like a normal person!

Looking Forward To: A bunch of random things... I've been looking over a bunch of blog posts that list out the best things at Trader Joe's and I think Emery and I are going to do a big trip in the next few days. They have a bunch of freezer meals that are supposed to be really good and I think they will come in really handy when Sadie gets here. I'm also going to get a mani/pedi before Sadie is born, so that will be really nice. We're having the main level of our house painted in the next couple of days and I can't wait for it to be done and get everything put back in to place! Emery also has her last Kindermusik class this week {which I'm pretty emotional about-we started when she was 18 months old!}. There will be a little end of the year party and I know she's going to love that! That girl is all about a party!

Best Moment This Week: I can't remember where we had gone, but Emery and I were driving home one afternoon and out of nowhere she said, "I love being with my mommy". Umm, my heart absolutely melted. We've also been getting out more of the baby gear like the car seat and it's been fun talking to her about when she was a baby.

Emery Turns THREE! {Sweet Shoppe Party}

2017-04-30T03:48:00.002-07:00

Click here to read about Emery's pink and gold first birthday party!
Click here to read about Emery's Elmo second birthday party!

Oh my goodness. HOW can I be writing about my baby's third birthday?!? It just doesn't seem possible. 😭

I had a little bit of a hard time coming up with the theme this year. I like doing character parties because there are so many fun ideas for those, but Emery really isn't into one specific character right now. She goes through phases with Daniel Tiger, Mickey, and Veggie Tales. After some thinking and searching on Pinterest, I had the idea of doing a party centered around sweets. One thing Emery is consistent with is her love of any sweet treat! 🍨🍩🍪🍫🍬🍭 I thought about doing a baking party, but I felt like she was a little too young for that, so I settled on "Emery's Sweet Shoppe"! It ended up being a really fun theme to do...and she loved it!

I found some clip art on Etsy I liked which gave me the color scheme and she already had a dress that was perfect for her invitation! Thankfully, we had a nice day in February where we were able to get a sweet picture for her invitation.

It's hard to get a "real" smile from her these days. When we tell her to smile, she usually closes her eyes and makes a crazy face. I think I was either tickling Daniel or he was doing a crazy Scooby Doo voice when we got this sweet smile. 😂💗

I always dread starting the invitation because I feel like it takes me forever to come up with something I'm happy with, but this one came together pretty quickly! I love all the colors!

This invitation design is available in my Etsy shop! Click here if you're interested!
Click here for a matching thank you card!

Once again this year, the sweet people at this Etsy shop sent us a big box with a *ton* of fun balloons to use for the party! Emery *loves * balloons so much! They were definitely a highlight for her! I just adore these confetti balloons! They are so fun and you can choose your confetti colors to match your party perfectly!

The Etsy shop that generously provided all of the balloons for Emery's party is offering all of my readers a coupon code for 10% off a purchase of $10 or more. The code is BLESSED10 and it is valid through January 31, 2020. Yay! I promise you will love these balloons!! Click here to visit their shop.

{You can click on any of the pictures to see them larger.}

They also sent us the big "3" balloons and the adorable candy themed "Happy Birthday" balloons! Even though the party was over a month ago, these balloons are still floating and Emery is still playing with them!

Along with all of those fun balloons, they also sent us a bunch of small balloons and large swirl balloons that all matched the colors we were using. We wrapped these in cellophane and hung them around the kitchen and dining room to look like wrapped candies! I *loved* these!!!

Here's a close up of the larger ones. They gave the kitchen such a fun touch!

This is the best picture I have of the whole kitchen where you can see more of the large candies hanging from the ceiling. They were super cute!

The table decorations were pretty simple for the kitchen table. Just a tablecloth, a cute candy themed box {from Hobby Lobby}, a sign that matched the rest of the decor, and some fun confetti that matched the balloons from this shop.

We hung the little candies in the dining room, too.

I pretty much did the same thing for the dining room table as I did for the kitchen. Just a tablecloth, some cute boxes and signs, some vases from the Dollar Tree filled with jelly beans, and this polka dot paper runner {Target Dollar Spot!} which just happened to match perfectly!

One of my favorite parts of Emery's party every year is setting up the dessert table. I loved how fun and colorful it turned out this year! It was definitely her favorite part!!

Considering the theme this year, we had quite a selection on the dessert table!! We had chocolate cupcakes and sugar cookies...

LOTS of candy... Gummy worms, gummy bears, Starburst, Pixy Stix, fruity Tootsie Rolls, Easter M&M's, Starburst jelly beans, and Skittles! Emery was in heaven! 😂 I got the colored buckets at Hobby Lobby and Target, the clear candy bowls and colored scoops are from Party City, and the glass heart dish is from the Dollar Tree.

I wasn't originally planning to do an actual birthday cake since we were having cupcakes, cookies, and tons of candy, but Emery started talking about her party and said she wanted a pink birthday cake with sprinkles. So Nana made her one! She loved it, of course! It was so funny when it was time blow out the candle because she still doesn't know how to blow bubbles or candles. She just goes, "fffff"! We also had some Easter colored marshmallows on this side of the table {blue candy bowl from Party City} and I made some colored mints with some white chocolate mint candy melts from Hobby Lobby. The marshmallows might have actually been Emery's favorite candy out of them all! She ate a *lot* of marshmallows!

Everyone made little bags of candy to take home with those mini polka dot paper bags {from Hobby Lobby}.

I also made a stats poster this year with all of Emery's current favorite things! It's so fun {and a little bittersweet} to look back on these every year!

This custom stats poster is available in my Etsy shop. Click here if you're interested!

For the menu, we did ham and cheese sliders, cheesy Ro-Tel bacon cups, mac and cheese bites, veggies and dip, chips and dip, and fruit cups. You can't see it very well in this picture and we didn't get a close up, but I loved how the silverware turned out. I wrapped the silverware in a napkin and then put a candy bracelet around it! They're in the back on the left side of this picture. I saw the idea on Pinterest and it turned out super cute!

We just did punch and water for drinks. I made water bottle labels that matched the rest of the decor. We made this punch recipe and it was really good!

And now for some picture of our precious birthday girl!! This is probably my favorite one of her from the whole party! She was *so* excited!

We got pictures with all the party guests early so we didn't get busy and forget. Emery *adores* all of her family members and talks about them all the time. 💕

With her sweet cousin Vanna who she loves so much! And she's totally holding onto a marshmallow here... 😂

Nana and Poppa with the birthday girl!

Uncle DJ, Aunt Allie, and Vanna!

Uncle Steve, Aunt Chari, Zach, Marah, and Cole! We missed Jayma!

And finally one with Mommy and Daddy!

After pictures, it was finally time to eat! Emery was so excited that she barely ate anything...except maybe some jelly beans from the table centerpieces. 😉

Then we opened presents! She was definitely ready for this! Silly girl!

Love this one! And I can't believe she's 3!

She got some new dress up outfits from Mommy and Daddy along with a few other things...

A doctor's kit, doctor coat, and Daniel Tiger book about going to the doctor {which she can now pretty much recite} from Aunt Allie, Uncle DJ, and Vanna. Emery even wore that doctor coat to her check-up later that week! 😂 Her doctor was very impressed when she knew what an otoscope was!

A beautiful jewelry box from Nana and Poppa that had one of my childhood necklaces in it. She wanted to put it on right away. She also got some clothes, books, and an art easel from Nana and Poppa which she loves!

And a Minnie Mouse microwave that talks and lights up from Uncle Steve and Aunt Char! She loved hearing Minnie talk!

After she opened all of her presents, we took her outside for her big present from Mommy and Daddy...a trampoline! It was cold on her birthday, so we had to get bundled up first. It was totally a labor of love on Daniel's part putting this thing together! But the look on her face was worth it! She loves it!

We went back inside to sing to our birthday girl and have cake and ice cream and we didn't take any pictures of that! 😔

She had so much fun at her party and seeing her so happy and excited is just the best! 💕

34 Weeks

2017-04-18T17:28:00.000-07:00

How Far Along: 34 weeks and 3 days

Size of Baby: According to The Bump, the baby is about 17.7 inches long and weighs about 4.7 pounds. I can definitely tell she's running out of room in there!

Gender: It's a girl!! Her name is Sadie Hope!

Maternity Clothes: Yes, and getting less and less comfortable.

Wedding Rings On/Off: On, but I still feel a little swelling every now and then.

Stretch Marks: Maybe a couple on my tummy. I'm not sure how my skin is going to possibly stretch any more without getting stretch marks! I feel so big!

Sleep: Well, I was sleeping pretty well most nights, but these last two nights were terrible. I just tossed and turned, could not get comfortable, and could not get to sleep for more than an hour at a time. It sure does make the nights feel long when it's like that!

Cravings/Aversions: I heard a commercial on the radio that mentioned lemon pie and I turned it up because I was like, "I need that lemon pie!" But it ended up being an ice cream commercial. My mom made me a whole lemon pie, though, and it was *so* good!!

Symptoms: I don't think I've had any new symptoms...just more of the same. And the general discomfort has just gotten worse. Laying down is pretty much the only comfortable position. Sitting makes me feel too crunched up. I'm also getting more and more tired every day. My ears have actually gotten a little bit better. I had to start taking some amoxicillin because of a bug bite I got, and Daniel thinks that it's helped my ears. They still plug almost every day, but not as often and it doesn't last as long. It has been *so* nice!!

Movement: Sadie is still moving all the time and she's getting stronger! You can see my belly jump sometimes when she kicks!

Mood: I'm getting more and more excited to meet Sadie and see Emery with her. I'm still pretty nervous to have a newborn again, though! It feels like it's been such a long time and I don't remember everything!

What I Miss: Being comfortable and having energy!

Looking Forward To: I am really looking forward to getting back on a somewhat normal routine. Our house got hit by a tree about a month ago during a storm and we've been so busy trying to take care of everything involved with that. The last several weekends and pretty much every evening are consumed with house projects, which has been stressing me out because there's so much other stuff to do.

Best Moment This Week: Several things that I've ordered have come in this last week! My favorite is this name cutout for above Sadie's crib. I can't wait to hang it!!

We also got the pictures back from our photographer from our last session! These are a few of our favorites!

32 Weeks

2017-04-04T12:22:00.000-07:00

How Far Along: 32 weeks and 3 days

Size of Baby: According to The Bump, the baby is about 16.7 inches long and weighs about 3.8 pounds. It's crazy that those measurements are getting closer and closer to newborn size!

Gender: It's a girl!! Her name is Sadie Hope! We finally decided!

Maternity Clothes: Yes, and my selection is quite small now that the weather is warm. I didn't want to buy a bunch of things for spring and summer, so I have hardly anything to wear. I actually started wearing some of Daniel's athletic shorts at home because all of my pajama pants are flannel. 🙈

Wedding Rings On/Off: On, but I definitely feel them getting a little snug. My hands don't look swollen, but I can feel it a little bit.

Stretch Marks: I feel like I've seen a couple on my tummy, but I'm not quite sure. I could be overanalyzing. 😂

Sleep: Hit or miss. Some nights I have a hard time going to sleep, other mornings I wake up super early and can't go back to sleep...until about the time it's time to get up for the day. Super frustrating!

Cravings/Aversions: Okay, so I've been craving yummy drinks! I love a good Coke (and will have my one serving each day a few times a week), but I've been wanting something that's not Coke or water lately. I got some Minute Maid Berry Punch this week and it is so, so good! I haven't had it for years, but I used to love it when I was in junior high and high school. I'm also still excited for a steak!

Symptoms: Pretty much more of the same, plugged ears (oooohhhh, the plugged ears!!!! 😣), shortness of breath, generally uncomfortable, pain when I'm walking. By far, the most annoying is the plugged ears because it happens every single day and it's been going on since November. I did find out just two days ago that if I lay completely flat, they'll usually unplug for a little while. My feet and legs get a little swollen if I'm on them a lot, but nothing compared to the swelling I had with Emery.

Movement: Lots and lots of moving! Emery loves to "feel" her move, too. Of course, Sadie never moves when Emery is feeling my stomach, but I'll twitch a little and Emery thinks it's the coolest thing! She's even started saying things like, "Good morning, Sadie" and "She loves me". She snuggled her head on my tummy this morning and gave it a kiss. It was the sweetest. 💕

Mood: I'm feeling all of the feelings. The countdown is officially on and it feels like we have no time left. There's so much to do, but I'm also so tired and really don't even know where to begin on everything that has to be done. I know it will all get done, and we really do have all of the essentials for when Sadie gets here, but there are a lot of little details to get worked out, too. I also can't hardly even stand to think about how grown up Emery is going to seem once Sadie gets here.

What I Miss: Clothes that fit and getting up and down easily!

Looking Forward To: We had pictures taken last weekend and I can't wait to get them back. It was for Emery's 3-year session, but we did some family pictures and maternity pictures, too. Our photographer showed us a few on her camera as she was taking them and they looked super sweet.

Best Moment This Week: We had another doctor's appointment yesterday and we took Emery this time so she could hear Sadie's heartbeat. For some reason, she really likes to go to the doctor. She hasn't had to get a shot since she decided she liked the doctor, so I don't know if she'll stop liking it the next time shots are involved, but for now, she was all about the check up. She weighed and measured Ellie, Daniel, and me. She was thrilled when my doctor listened to her heart with her stethoscope! She climbed up on that exam table so fast! It was too funny!

30 Weeks

2017-03-21T06:28:00.000-07:00

We took this on the day of Emery's birthday party!

How Far Along: 30 weeks and 3 days, It feels kind of crazy to be in the 30s!

Size of Baby: According to The Bump, the baby is about 15.7 inches long and weighs about 2.9 pounds. She's going to grow about half an inch and half a pound every week from here on out.

Gender: It's a girl!! Her name is Sadie and we're still leaning towards "Hope" for her middle name. We honestly haven't talked about her middle name much at all in the last couple of weeks! It's been super busy around here!

Maternity Clothes: YES! And pajama pants and t-shirts when I'm at home! I had to order some spring/summer things because it's getting warm here and all of my maternity clothes are fall and winter. I have to say, I prefer fall and winter maternity clothes...more coverage, please! I know I'll probably be wearing mostly maternity clothes most of the summer as well, since my due date is at the end of May.

Wedding Rings On/Off: On, but I do feel like I've had a little swelling...nothing major in my hands.

Stretch Marks: Maybe a couple of small ones around my belly button. I'm afraid more stretch marks are inevitable. I still have a lot of growing to do!

Sleep: It's been pretty good again. I think I wake up when I move, but I go right back to sleep.

Cravings/Aversions: Still nothing super specific...I'm just enjoying eating in general. Sweets are a favorite, but that's pretty normal for me! :)

Symptoms: Thankfully, that crazy week-long headache is gone!! I'm still dealing with plugged ears daily, mild heartburn every now and then, and shortness of breath. I always feel out of breath, even if I'm just laying down!! I'm just generally uncomfortable now, too. I feel like I've got a major waddle and getting up and down is just the opposite of graceful! I've also had a little bit of swelling in my feet and legs. I had a *lot* of swelling with Emery...my feet were *so* swollen, so I'm really hoping it doesn't get that bad again!

Movement: She moves a *lot*!! We can see her from the outside a lot now, too, which is fun to watch!

Mood: I'm feeling good! I am starting to think more and more about how things will be different when Sadie gets here, so I'm trying to really soak in my time with Emery!

What I Miss: Moving around easily!!

Looking Forward To: I'm excited to get more done on the nursery. We've been focused on Emery's birthday the last couple of weeks, so we haven't done much at all in Sadie's room. I'm working on finding some nursery letters on Etsy so we can put her name above her crib. It would be a lot easier if I wasn't so indecisive {and picky!}!

Best Moment This Week: We had a doctor's appointment yesterday, and hearing that sweet heartbeat is always a precious moment! Everything looked good, except Sadie and I had a major growth spurt in the last two weeks. Two weeks ago, I was measuring 28 weeks, and this week I was measuring 32 weeks. I also gained 6 pounds in 2 weeks. Wow. I honestly expected it, though. I feel like I've grown so much in the last couple of weeks. Another great moment was Emery's birthday party! It went so well and she had so much fun!! Daniel took the two days after her party off and we did so many fun things to celebrate! She's a little confused, though, because it seems like she's had several birthdays. She asked us, "Am I four yet?" :) She also *loves* the trampoline! Watching her jump on it the first time was so precious. She kept saying, "I love my trampoline! It's so much fun!" You pretty much can't ask for more than that! :)

One of my favorite pictures from her party!!

28 Weeks

2017-03-05T13:36:00.001-08:00

What is a yellow turnip??

A milkshake? Quite appropriate considering how many of them I've had lately! :)

How Far Along: 28 weeks, THIRD TRIMESTER!!

Size of Baby: According to The Bump, the baby is about 14.8 inches long and weighs about 2.2 pounds.

Gender: It's a girl!! Her name is Sadie and we're still leaning towards "Hope" for her middle name.

Maternity Clothes: Yes, most everything! Although both the shirts in the pictures above aren't maternity, but I bought them specifically because they'd work while I was pregnant. It will be nice to get to wear them again next fall/winter!

Wedding Rings On/Off: On, but I do feel like I've had a little swelling.

Stretch Marks: I feel like I maybe spotted a couple around my belly button. I'm hoping I was wrong!

Sleep: Very hit or miss right now. I woke up the other night at 3:30 and could *not* fall back to sleep. I also wake up several times a night because I'm getting a little less comfortable.

Cravings/Aversions: Nothing really specific. I'm still just really enjoying everything! I've had lots of frappuccinos from Starbucks!

Symptoms: Everything is pretty much the same since last time, but I've added a pretty much constant headache. It started last Sunday and I've had it every day since. I've tried Tylenol and caffeine which doesn't really do anything. I finally tried Sudafed PE yesterday and that is the only thing that helps even a little bit! Hoping it goes away for good very soon because I don't like taking much medicine.

Movement: Still lots and lots of kicks and wiggles, and they're getting stronger!

Mood: I'm feeling pretty good and happy, but I do get overwhelmed a little bit when I think of everything that has to be done and how much life is going to change in just a few short months.

What I Miss: Moving around easily and no headaches!

Looking Forward To: Emery's birthday! Even though it's so bittersweet that she'll be 3 (!!), she is so excited about her birthday and it makes it so much fun! We have lots of fun plans for the next several days and we are so excited to give her her big birthday present...a trampoline! She is going to love it so much!

She has no idea what it is yet, but loved dancing around inside the big circle!

Helping put some screws in...

Best Moment This Week: My parents came over last weekend and helped us get Sadie's room ready and paint the playroom! We got so much done thanks to all their help!! I am loving how Sadie's room is turning out so far. The paint color and the chandelier is just perfect. We also went shopping the next day and got a rocking chair for her room, which just so happens to also be a recliner. That will be *so* nice!

The new color in the play room!

26 Weeks

2017-02-21T11:31:00.000-08:00

How Far Along: 26 weeks and 3 days

Size of Baby: According to The Bump, the baby is about 14 inches long and weighs about 1.7 pounds.

Gender: It's a girl!! Her name is Sadie and we're leaning towards "Hope" for her middle name.

Maternity Clothes: Definitely! I ordered a few springy things this past week since our weather is warming up. I'm ready for a little more variety! And flip flops!! Boots are becoming *very* challenging to get on!

Wedding Rings On/Off: On

Stretch Marks: No new ones yet. I'm loving the Mama Bee Belly Butter by Burt's Bees. I'll probably keep using it even after she's born. It makes my skin so soft!

Sleep: I'm still sleeping pretty well! I might wake up a few times a night when I move, but I usually go right back to sleep. I'm thankful for that!

Cravings/Aversions: I really can't think of anything specific that I've been craving (other than maybe a steak). I'm just *really* enjoying *all* the foods!! I'm living it up these last few months of guilt-free eating!

Symptoms: I'm still *very* uncomfortable. I'm having lots of lower back pain and ligament pain. I'm feeling like a lumbering elephant as I explained it to Daniel. I'm on the floor playing with Emery a lot, so getting up and down off the floor is anything but graceful. Still dealing with the super annoying plugged ears and I've started to get mild heartburn a few times a day. I know it could all be a lot worse, though, so I'm definitely not complaining!

Movement: She moves all the time! I love it!

Mood: I'm feeling a little more steady with my emotions lately, so that's really nice. I hate feeling overly emotional!

What I Miss: I'm really ready for a big steak from Ruth's Chris! We already have plans to go for our anniversary in June!

Looking Forward To: Painting the nursery! We're planning to get that done this week!

Best Moment This Week: My mom, Emery, and I went to pick out a paint color this week and did a little shopping, too. We picked a really, really light lavender and put a little on the wall and I think we're going to love it! We also found a few things for the nursery at Home Goods so that was fun! One of them was a lavender blanket which Emery snuggled with the rest of the day! She loves snuggling with anything cozy!