3 Months

Our little Ally girl is 3 months old now, and we're seeing more and more of her big personality. She has become very good at letting us know exactly what her likes and dislikes are by giving us big ear to ear grins or screaming bloody murder. She loves to be held and likes to stand up, but hates lying down or being left alone for even a few seconds. It makes me think back fondly of when Sophia was a baby and would lie happily on a blanket for 20-30 minutes at a time. Ally is definitely a different baby! She still gets colicky most evenings, but it seems like we're having more good nights, so hopefully it continues to improve (quickly!)
We moved her to the crib a couple weeks ago and the transition went well. She usually sleeps 8-9 hours, wakes to eat, then sleeps another 1-2 hours. I don't think it gets much better than that! She is also still taking a bottle without a problem, so hopefully she remains to be different from her sister in that respect!

When I was pregnant, I predicted that we'd have a blonde girl with dimples and big brown eyes. I think I was right on all accounts except for the eye color. Although eye color can still change up to 6 months of age, I think it's safe to say we're going to have another blue eyed kiddo. I guess we have some strong recessive genes!Ally's hair has decided that the party is over and now lies nicely to the side. As it is growing, it seems to be coming in lighter and lighter. We're also seeing some hints of a dimple on the left side.

Sophia still loves Allyson to peices and likes to try and play with her. Ally puts up with Sophia's games and antics pretty well, but I have a feeling with Allyson's strong personality, there will be at least a few battles of the will in the future.

Pumpkin Patch

Now that the weather has finally cooled off and it's starting to feel like Fall, we decided to make our annual trip to the pumpkin patch near our neighborhood. I pulled an "Aunt Christy" and put the girls in coordinated Halloween outfits. I thought they looked adorable, but instantly Sophia pointed out that spiders don't have hair, so it was silly for a spider to wear a hair bow!

Ally wasn't a big fan of the cutouts, but Sophia made a great wicked witch!

Sophia zipped up the huge hay pyramid all by herself. She didn't even look back!

She was really proud of herself, and of course, we were proud too.

We let Sophia lead the way through the hay maze, and she did better than Will and I would have done on our own!

Unfortunately the corn maze got blown down during the big storm we had earlier in the week. We've never been able to make it out without cheating, so we'll be left to wonder if this was the year we would have conquered it!

Before we left, we each picked out a pumpkin. Sophia chose a white pumpkin, and I thought it'd be perfect for her to paint rather than carve. As soon as we got home, she ran for the paints.

And here's the finished product:

It was such a great day spent together as a family that I think we'll have to go at least once more before Halloween.

2 Months

"Look at that hair!" We hear comments like that about Ally's hair almost as much as we hear comments about Sophia's eyes. None of her hair has fallen out yet, and no one can decide what color it is exactly. I've tried barrets and headbands, but nothing can quite contain her wild mane. Once the weather cools off, I may have to resort to hats!

Ally is our little peanut, weighing in at 10 lbs 0.4 oz (25th %) and 21.75 inches (5%) . She sleeps 5-7 hours at night, wakes to eat, and falls back asleep until 5am. If I bring her into my bed, she falls right back to sleep until 7:30 or so. I had a feeling that since Sophia was early to bed and early to rise, Ally would be the opposite, and sadly I was right. They were both that way even in the womb, so I don't expect it to change anytime soon. That means I'm up until 11pm with Ally and get woken up every hour starting at about 4:00am. *yawn*

We used to worry that Sophia didn't smile much when she was an infant, but we definitely aren't concerned about that with Ally. She loves to give big toothless grins while cooing and laughing. Unfortunately, between 6pm and 8pm every night, her smiles turn to screams, which makes it difficult to cook dinner and get Sophia to bed. I'm hoping it's a phase she outgrows soon.







Sophia is still totally smitten with her little sister and is thrilled when she can elicit a smile or coo from "Bamy Assyn." The two of them have already found a game that they both seem to enjoy which involves Sophia piling clothes, blankets, etc on Ally. The girls have also "played" together in Sophia's homemade pirate ship and under the sheets in our bed, but Ally wasn't quite sure what to think about these games.

I love this newborn stage, and although I won't miss the sleep deprivation, I'm definitely going to miss having a snuggly little baby who can't scream "No!"

The Lighter Side of the Terrible Two's

My 2 year old drives me freakin crazy on a daily basis, but she also makes me laugh more then ever. Here are 2 examples of the latter:

Bad Hair Day

Yesterday was a baaad hair day for our girls. I'm not sure exactly what Sophia did in her sleep, but this is what she looked like when she woke up:

Reminds me of the old mullet description: business in the front, party in the back!

And Allyson's thick hair has a tendency to stick straight up, so this is what she looked like:

Will always wanted a fauxhawk, so now he can live vicariously through his daughter!

1 Month

Where has the time gone?? I can't believe lil Ally Elle is already a month old! On our home scale she weighs 8.6 pounds, and so far, she hasn't lost any of that long mop of hair. She's starting to look more and more like her big sister (and Daddy) with biiiig eyes. And yes, they're still blue, but they're a dark steely blue, so they could still change.

Allyson is definitely starting to develop a personality. She is a total mama's girl and snuggle bug, which I love, although it's hard to get much done with her constantly in my arms. She's been sleeping 4-5 hour stretches at night since we brought her home from the hospital and my fingers are crossed that she continues to be such a great sleeper. She's started smiling this week, but we usually have to make complete fools of ourselves to get grin out of her. She's let out few coos as well, which is sooo cute!

Sophia is still totally enthralled with "Bamy Assyn," which thrills me, but it's been hard to teach her how to contain her excitement and be gentle. She always wants to hug Allyson, but it looks more like she's trying to smother the poor thing! When Allyson cries, she tries to soothe her by saying "It's OK bamy gull," or if she's crying because of a diaper change or bath, she'll say "Mommy, Bamy Assyn says no."

I'm hoping time will slow down a little so I can make sure to enjoy every moment of having this tiny little blessing to love on, but I have a feeling it's only going to by faster and faster.

Our Little Angel

We decided to start Sophia in preschool this year, and after alot of research, we found a great program at a nearby Lutheran church. Sophia is one of 7 kids in the "Angels" class. We met the teacher and saw the classroom last week, and as usual, Sophia was glued to my leg. After a few minutes, she discovered the play kitchen, and then the computer, and then the puzzles, and at that point I had to drag her out of the classroom! So by the time the first day of school finally arrived, Sophia was very excited, which is pretty obvious from the pictures we snapped.

And here's a short video of us in the car picking her up.

The teacher said that Sophie did great and even said a few words. I was nervous about her having a potty training accident because she's definitely regressed since Ally arrived, but she made it through the first day dry. And after dropping her off, I successfully made it back to the car before I let the tears fall, so it turned out to be a wonderful first day of school!