9 months (late to post!!)

Alyssa, you are growing so fast! I can't believe how fast these last 9 months have flown by. Even with lack of sleep and keeping up with you and Emma :)

You are 100% crawling, and fast! You would prefer not to be held (unless you're tired of course). You like to be on the go, and you are the opposite of your sister because you could care less where I am. You play very nicely by yourself, but you're also a bit of a tornado!

I should start counting the number of times per day I have to fish something out of your mouth that shouldn't be there.

You are pulling up to standing, but still very wobbly and you fall quite often.

Your now have 3 teeth, two bottom and your top right. You use those teeth to eat lots of table food! You love cheese, lunch meat, chicken, puffs, blueberries, apples, and pancakes.

At your 9 month checkup (where you barely cried for your shot this time, THANK YOU!), you weighed in at almost 20lbs and 31 inches! So you've grown 10 inches and more than doubled your weight since birth!!

You wave bye bye (backwards, but it counts), and clap. You make a lot of noise still, you are a girl who knows what she wants! But most of your noise is still DA DA DA!

Day 1

I am listening to the advice of a coworker and decided to switch from clean to paleo. Hoping this helps with getting more weight off!
Here is a snapshot of my day, plus I had a peach!

8 months!

Alyssa you are 8 months old now! You are doing a super slow, very concentrated crawl! You also put everything in your mouth...

Nothing can be left within reach, and with your long arms this is a hilarious challenge. You have knocked my drink off the table, pulled your food onto your tray and other funny things (mostly funny to Emma!) 

You are able to sit yourself up now from laying down, I usually find you sitting up in your crib in the morning. 

You are just starting to feed yourself some finger foods, gerber puffs, scrambled eggs and we even had some chikfila! Mommy even gave you a taste of sweet tea, you were one happy baby!! 

You are starting to wave bye bye, but not consistently. You can babble things like BABA, MAMA, DADA...but you're mostly just making noise.

...speaking of noise, everyone everywhere comments on how loud of a baby you are. Your voice is something else!  I wouldn't change a thing, because I think its the sweetest noise I know!

 You are your mommas snuggle bug! I cried the other night because I got home too late and you were already asleep. But don't worry sweet girl, I got to snuggle you for that middle of the night feeding you refuse to let go :)

We love you sissy!

Cleaning, Cute and Quinoa!

We had a productive day today! Two little girls from church came over to help entertain the girls so I could actually get some things done. They were such a big help, and I was surprised how well they did with having Alyssa and Emma! I pray my girls are half as sweet as those two!! I was able to mop all the floors, steam clean the couches, paint the side door, 4 loads of laundry, dust/windex EVERYTHING, scrub the bathrooms, vaccuum the carpets, wipe every inch of the kitchen and clean the baseboards! WHOA, no wonder I'm exhausted :)

For dinner I made a cheesy quiona, an alternative to macNcheese! It was delicous and made a ton, I'm sure some of it will end up getting thrown out. http://pinterest.com/pin/15973773648858714/

And Alyssa is doing so much better at eating solids, she ate so good tonight...

so what if she just spit it all up all over me.

7 months

Alyssa, You're 7 months old already...

I'm never going to get over how happy you are and how big that sweet smile is.

You squeal, scream, all the time and its the loudest cutest thing.

You're talking, well you're making noise :)

mamamama, dadada, nomnom

I am pretty sure you're trying to say Emma, this morning it was crystal clear "EmMA"

You're so close to crawling, but have found other ways to get around for now.

You roll to your back, scoot across the floor and then roll over to your belly...very determined!

You have two bottom teeth! But you're still not big on food...maybe some oatmeal with a dash of some baby food mixed in but you really show no interest in food. Other than your bottle, you do love that. You're taking 4-6 ounces every 3-4 hours.

And no, you're STILL NOT sleeping through the night!!!!

You are sitting up unsupported very well, unless something behind you catches your attention...

so still quite wobbly!

You already have a bubbly personality and are such a people person.

New faces and new scenery always gets you squealing!

You're napping 3 times/day, and are usually so easy to entertain. Unlike your sister ever was.

You love to bounce, play in the walker, sit in the highchair and watch me cook, take walks and just roll all over the den floor.

I'm so lucky to be your momma!

Another pinterest find...

Black bean and corn salad, OMG yummy! New summer staple

I love pinterest...

I love organizing all the fun ideas I find online and seeing what other things people find! My two favorites are recipes and things to do with my girls!
This week we did no mess finger painting and a delicious bean pie!

Progress...

Update on the shrinking hemangioma!

The Big Sister

She is so kind and caring...I'm so glad I have two little girls! Currently she is dancing around the living room with her princess tambourine and singing a song she made up (which is a combination of lyrics she remembers from a bunch of different songs!)

Cabin fever

We've we're stuck inside the house Sunday-Tuesday because the girls have been sick. Being stuck inside is torture, no one sleeps as good and Emma's behavior takes a turn for the worse!!
But Emma is entering the Barbie phase and it's the most adorable thing listening to her "pretend play"!! We made homemade slime, whichever princess thought was just too messy and told me that play-doh was better! She is such a sneaky little girl, I caught her trying to eat it and asked her to stop as she said "just don't look and you won't know I am eating it" she says the funniest stuff!! We painted, played board games, built forts, played dress up...I tried so hard to keep her entertained!
So happy that we got to enjoy being outside and playing with friends yesterday, even if it was proceeded bu yet another sleepless night. I am also happy that Alyssa slept through the night last night and I'm hopeful for my sanity :)

My 26th birthday!

I turned 26 on Friday, I know I'm still in the young category but approaching 30 is scary and my 20's are FLYING by! (getting married, graduating nursing school, starting a career, having two kids....guess I've been busy!)
Thursday I had dinner at plaza with my parents, Emma knew it was a birthday dinner and was so confused that we didn't pull up to the bounce house!! Lol
Friday I spent the day with the kids, playing outside and then had a yummy chilis dinner to-go before heading into work for 4 hours. My sweet and thoughtful friend Michelle brought me beautiful flowers.
Saturday we had our favorite babysitter come over and spent the day in Williamsburg. We toured the winery first, this was so fun! Then we went shopping at the outlets and merchant square before having an early dinner at trellis. We were worn out when we got home but thankfully so were our girls! Michelle, again brought me a cake...an Adrian cake!! We ate a big piece that night. She is trying to make sure that I know she's a better friend than me lol I love her!
Sunday the girls were both not feeling the greatest so I stayed home with them, when Harry got home I went to get a pedicure and had lunch with Tiffany at bakers crust, then came here to have more cake and wine on the sun porch listening to the rain. Tiffany gave me the cutest travel cup and a Starbucks card, she is always so thoughtful. Tiffany is always sending thank you cards and little notes, the sweetest friend you could ask for!
I feel overwhelmed when I think about how amazing my husband, friends and family are. I often think about how sweet my handful of friends are, and how much fun they add to my life! I hope they all know how much they mean to me!

6 months old and Propranolol

Alyssa you're 6 months old!!

You're back to waking up during the night, but only once for a quick 6oz bottle and then back down until early morning.

You love pulling Emmas hair, and she lets you because she loves your giggle!
You really know how to get around, if you see something you will roll and roll until you can reach it. You can scoot on your back to get to a toy and are getting closer to figuring out how to crawl....I am not ready for a mobile baby so take you're time on that one!!
You're starting to make sounds, not just noise "mamamama, dadada, bababa, gagaga"
You're wearing size 3 diapers, and 6-9 month clothes (but quickly moving to 9-12). We aren't wearing shoes right now because you've discovered your feet and aren't happy if there is more than a sock!
Tiff and Carl let us borrow Hunters old jumper, and that is one of your favorite places to be, you still love the swing and take some of your naps there (but are getting better at napping in the crib!)...you're most favorite places to hang out are on the floor so you can wiggle and roll!

 We took you to see Dr Williams yesterday, she specializes in vascular birth marks. You were pretty good for the appointment! She measured and took pictures and decided your periorbital hemangioma was one that would require treatment and because of its placement wouldn't go away all on its own, it could potentially cause vision problems or disfigurment/sagging skin around your right eye. She decided to start you on Propranolol 2ml BID and possibly follow up with laser treatment if needed. This medication is usually used to treat hypertension, its a beta blocker. Before we started this you had your first EKG, normal sinus rhythm. And then we gave the first dose in the office with lots of blood pressure checks. The potential for hypotension is there, but as long as you take it with your feedings we shouldn't have problems. The dose is so low that Dr Williams doesn't see any adverse affects, but we will still be careful.You did great, but didn't like the nasty taste so we diluted it in your bottle (thankfully you were hungry!) Mommy was hoping we'd get the "keep watching and waiting, it will fade on its own", but I am glad that we are taking this path and hopefully this won't affect you in the long term. But I know I'm raising strong girls and no birth mark is going to hold you back! I love you so much and was up checking on you all night, you are the sweetest little thing and I would trade sleep for seeing your cute face any night :)

and an edited picture, of what we are hopeful for this time next year....