Happy New Year!!!

My resolution is to get back in the saddle for this blog... going to attempt one blog a day and maybe even one photo a day for the "365 Project"

I will not fail, I will not fail, I will not fail... maybe if I say it enough times it will stick?

2010 has been a fun year and hoping 2011 is even better. We are starting fresh in a new State (WA) and hopefully in January we get into our new house!

Happy New Year! be safe tonight!

This is it!

Tomorrow morning we move back to Washington State.

My Mom will drive with us to Sioux City, SD to pick up Jeff's car and then she will drive it back to Green Bay while the girls and I continue to WA on our own.

I've got the car fully packed, plenty of snacks and toys. I'm hoping the girls handle it well.

Can't wait to get the traveling part to be over with and we will miss all of our friends so much :(

A few cute pictures

Hand, foot & mouth disease

Both girls have it :(

Isla doesn't seem to be bothered but Maja has been complaining about pain in her mouth and on her feet. Hopefully the sores go away soon :(

Happy 10 months Isla!

1. She has pretty much mastered waking by now. Here's a quick video from a couple of weeks ago but she has since got so much better... she actually chooses to walk over crawling most of the time.

2. She is still a pretty tough kid. She can handle falls and bumps as if nothing happened. It's so funny to see how different the girls are... Maja cries when she 'thinks" she got hurt... Isla gets over things in seconds


3. The other day she when she woke up for one of her night nursing sessions, she cuddled right into me as I walked her over to my bed and said "Ma-ma". Likely a fluke but such an awesome moment.

4. She eats everything we eat at this point and does pretty well. I would actually say she doesn't know much about what to do with food on a spoon since she was never really fed with one. We also know she is not allergic to peanuts thanks to a handfull or peanut butter sandwich Maja so graciously shared with her when I wasn't looking

5. Still not great in the sleeping department... pretty bad actually. She wakes up quite a few times per night although I shouldn't complain because she does nap well. I'm seeing progress in putting herself to sleep... she managed it a few times. I'm still no really doing anything about sleep issues. With a big move just around the corner, everything will change and it's not worth my energy so we just get as much sleep as we can and call it a day even if it means she sleeps in my bed most of the time.

6. She will stand up to Maja if need be and win

7. Little monkey climbs on just about anything she can

8. She loves books and you can usually find her with one just sitting on the floor looking at the pictures. She isn't fond of being read to though.

9. She knows Maja gets the good snacks and will not rest until she gets a hold of her snack cup

10. She wave now :)

Nursing gymnastics

This is what Isla normally does when she breastfeeds

Little model in training

It's nice to have a child who will please her camera obsessed Mommy :). How do you like my new prop?

Maja @2 years old

I haven't done this about Maja yet so here it goes

* she loves to point out flies AKA mosquitos and have Babcia hunt them down. She has an amazing talent for spotting them out sitting on the walls

* lately I've been leaving her gate opened at night so she can come out in the morning instead of calling for me. She never wakes me up and just goes into Isla's room to play. Sometimes she gets just a tad creepy and comes into my room, takes things of my nightstand which I later find in random places.

* she has started working on her ABCs and can get up to D but will continue babbling in tune until the song is over :)

* she talks so much and I can understand almost everything she tries to say

* we've hit the naughty stage big time. She started hitting when she is told she can't do something, she takes things away from Isla and challenges me every time she can

* her bedtime routine has seen some changes too. Now I have to kiss each of her feet and leave the light on (dimmed)

Isla walking

She puts the baby in there herself and loves pushing the stroller around (sorry about the crappy cell phone pic)

Mickey in da house

A couple of weeks ago I started letting Maja watch some TV once a day. We browsed through different shows and as soon as Micky Mouse' clubhouse came on, she started dancing and singing to it. She LOVES it! and it's nice to have sometime to get the kitchen cleaned up or PJ's ready since she usually watches in the evening while taking her bottle before bedtime.


I have a video on my phone... I'll see if I can dig it out

Babies, babies and more babies

Remember our little Baby Boom playgroup?


Well, we had our last get together this months before Isla moves away and I took some pictures. All 8 babies made it and surprisingly we managed to snap a few without anyone falling over, crying or trying to crawl away

and then I took a fun shot of the Moms :)

And she is off...

Isla took 4 steps today!!!! unfortunately I couldn't catch it on video.

What's funny about it is that I had "just" spent about 30 mins trying to follow her with a camera in hand because I knew she was ready and I was trying to coax her with toys and snacks... she didn't fall for any of it! so I gave up, put away the camera and sat on the floor with her.
She was being all cute giggling at me, chewing on a toy and holding on to her bouncer and all of the sudden she let go and stood there on her own for a few seconds (which she has done before) and started waking towards me!!! took 4 whole steps before she thought she was close enough to me and just reached out and fell!!!

9.5 months!!!! crazy, isn't it?

and after that, I spent another 30 minutes trying to get her to repeat it for the camera but she had no interest at all. Watch, she will be like Maja who first roll from back to belly at 4 months and then didn't do it again for another 5 months.

All I know is her walking makes my life easier. She wants to be everywhere Maja goes and sometimes the floors of those places are just so gross and there's no way I want to let her crawl on them so this is going to be so much nicer. Now, if I could only find all of the small soft sole shoes we'd be golden... I think they are all packed away in storage and it will be a pain to find them in there :(

Isla @ 9 months

* we had her check up today and she is 21lbs and 12 oz and I forgot her height but I'll be back to update. Maja is only 25 lbs right now... Isla is def. going to catch up soon

* tooth #5 is in and #6 is peeking through

* she loves to dance... and wiggles her booty every time any kind of music plays. Sometimes she even throws in an "aaaaah" sound

* the other she tried dressing herself. I laid out clothes for them to wear and she grabbed her outfit and started trying to get her head through it

* she is still mostly breastfeeding. We do table foods every now and then when Maja and I happen to eat something that would for work for her but solids aren't my priority so some days she doesn't have any. She does great when she gets them though and we are way past the pureed stuff... she loves Mac/cheese shells, green beans, peas and this morning she really enjoyed banana chunks sprinkled with Rice Crispies cereal.

* she weaned herself from the paci in the last couple of weeks which kind of put her putting herself to sleep progress back to square one since now she wants to breast

* she is going through a fabulous (NOT) stage of "I hate being in my carseat/stroller/any-other-contraption-that-ties-me-down"... here's hoping she gets over it in time for our 2000 mile roadtrip to WA next month

* she is such a busy-body that I've had to switch her highchairs... she pretty much would dive out of the one we had (excuse the quality of the phone picture taken of facebook link)

Yumm!

Isla being a little monkey

She climbs everywhere and recently Maja's red chair has been her favorite jungle gym

And just a funny one

Playing with her gifts

Maja got tons of goodies for her bday and she is really excited about everything. I haven't gone through all the photos yet but here are a few from a couple of days ago

The tea set is definitely a favorite

Lining up her animals

So not happy with Isla stealing them

Isla milti-tasking... she always has a toy in her mouth, even when she crawls

Happy 2nd Birthday Maja!!!

It's been a really fun day. Maja started out by opening some of her presents and then we went out to get balloons and for a special milkshake treat at Sonics.
After nap it was time for her Little Gym party which was a huge hit... lots of little friends, yummy cake and more balloons :)

I haven't downloaded the pics yet but they will be up here soon.

Happy birthday my sweet, funny, smart, kind little girl! Mommy and Daddy love you lots!

Countdown to 2!

Can you believe it??? seems like yesterday this was happening:

I have been trying to get some nice pictured of her but it's always a challenge. She doesn't like to sit still, much less when I take the camera out. I did find that she will do quite a bit for some Raisinettes and here are some of those results:

Her 2 year outfit should be coming in the mail tomorrow so hopefully I'll get a few shots then

Look who's crawling!

Isla @7 months

She is the happiest, most content baby ever... seriously... she only ever gets upset when she is ready for a nap and then you know it's an easy fix. She is tough too... Maja can get pretty annoying at times and Isla just lets it slide.

I think I'm creating a little monster sleep wise though... she LOVES sleeping in our bed. And I don't blame her... the alternative is a tiny pack'n'play. Who would want that over a super comfy king size bed??? See, we only have two AC window units upstairs, one for Maja and one for us so poor Isla had to move back into our room because hers gets way too hot in this weather.

She is "this" close to crawling. She will get on all fours and move her hands but hasn't quite figured out how to move her knees.

Let's get this thing going again

What's new??

Maja has been talking up a storm: "more",  "cool", "all right" and of course "no" is still ranking pretty high. She has gotten really good at "Babcia" (Polish for Grandma)

She likes to pretend she talks on the phone. It's hilarious... she picks up anything that kind of looks like a phone even if it's just by shape and goes around the house saying "Hello?", "ok" over and over again as if she was talking to her best friend already :). And then of course Isla and I have to have a turn too.

She got her first time out at the sitter's the other day. She can be a stinker sometimes.

Well, this is it!

Jeff moved to WA last week which turned out to be a "bumpy" ride after a suicidal deer decided to run in front of him on the highway. He has a rental car until the insurance company figures out everything. We think the car is totaled :(

Me and the girls are just hanging out trying to keep this house as picked up as possible in case we have anyone coming to take a look. Man, it's hard work making sure everything is in tip top shape with two little ones... they are messy creatures!!

Let's hope the house sells soon and we can get this over with!

Here are a few recent photos of the munchkins

Maja @22 months

Can't forget about big sister :)

* She is going so much better speech wise and tries to repeat everything. She even started talking in her own language which is great because she used not make a peep other then some random noises. Now she has full on conversations with Isla and the little one giggles back at her so it makes me wonder if she understands Maja's gibberish

* everything ends with "Mom"... "Yes Mom", "No Mom", "Night, night Mom". It's too cute!

* she has had her very first taste of candy at the Memorial Day parade and we also let her have apple juice... she wasn't impressed with either :)

* she has a great eye for matching things. If she brings us one of something and you ask her to get "the other one", she will always bring the matching pair.

* speaking of eyes... she could put an eagle to shame when spotting a mail truck... the girls LOVES mail trucks and believe me... you will never miss one when Maja is around you. She actually recognizes the USPS logo because she will point that out too

* lately every time I say Isla is going to take a nap, Maja insists on taking one too. I LOVE it!! she will lay down and more often then not falls asleep which means at least two naps a day again :). If she doesn't fall asleep, she will just lay there singing to herself for a long time before she decides she is all done

* when she can't sleep, she will "camp out" at her door (she still has a gate there). She moves her pillow, blankie, bunny, baby and music box and lay down on the floor. I have found her asleep like that numerous times and every morning she does it too and reads books before she calls out for me

* she really enjoys doing everything herself

* still a great eater and prefers home cooked meals over anything else

* "No"... we hear that a lot

* she is obsessed with a duck that lives in our neighbor's pool. She must say "hi" to him every morning and checks on him regularly throughout the day.

* recently I painted her toenails for the first time and she really likes her "pretty toes"

* she loves being outside and playing with water at her water table and just about anywhere else other then her pool... she doesn't really want to get in her pool. Oh, and she will drink out of a hose :)

* jumping on the couch is one of her favorite pass times

* she has a pretty good ear for music... she can hum quite a few songs in tune

* her animal sounds are finally recognizable

Isla at 6 months

I love this age!!!

* she is very interested in eating and has been sitting in the high chair at the table. She eats peas, carrots, pears and sweet potatoes and we give her little tastes of other random things too. Here she is going to town on a bitter biscuit (is that what they are called?)

* she can drink out of a sippy cup!!

* tooth #2 and tooth #3 have made their appearance so she now has the two bottom ones and the top left one (her left)

* I think she is developing Maja's pinching habit... the last few nights she has done that to me while falling asleep

* she can now sit in the tub unsupported so that makes things easier for me and much more entertaining for her. She loves to splash and scoot around the tub

* still is a chunky monkey! I love her rolls and chubby cheeks

Early summer

These last few days have been hot... really hot! The our-house-is-a-sauna kind of hot. You bet we will choose a house with AC next time around!
We were able to put in our window units but since we only have two for the upstairs, Isla moved back in with Mommy and Daddy so she doesn't have to sleep in the oven that her room turns into. It's actually much easier for me since she still gets up a few times at night and I can just nurse her on the bed which is much more comfortable then stumbling around the house to get to her crib and sit in the chair. We do have to be more careful about her sleeping on our bed now though because twice already I've found her half way off it. She rolls everywhere and moves pillows out of her way!

This year Maja is much more fond of water outside and she loves the sprinkler and her water table. We've also been doing a lot of bubble chasing although as you can see.... Isla is not impressed by them:

Monkey girl

Maja loves climbing and swinging. The dishwasher and freezer are her favorite spots right now :)

Eating like a big girl

Isla has been sitting at the table with us lately and I've been giving her some veggies here and there. She LOVES sweet potatoes and is pretty fond of peas and carrots too.

We also tried the sippy cup today and she knew how to work it!

And big sis is doing pretty well with forks these days

Naked baby times

Sisterly love

They love each other so much!