Mesmerized by the mobile

Now that Zoey is in her own room I can actually have all these baby things around and use them. I have the changing table set up, the rocking chair is getting used and now her mobile is attached to the crib again. The music box has been used by Isla this whole time but for now I'll let Zoey have it. She loves talking to it!

I'm starting to look forward to checking on Isla before I go to bed

She is always in a different spot! Tonight she stripped naked and put her pillow at the foot of her bed. I guess whatever works right? but she will get cold eventually!

Squeaky clean

Zoey is really loving bathtime lately. I just put her in with big sisters and they like to help wash her. I snapped these the other day. Pretty sure I have something similar of the other girls too... I should find them and compare :)

My sleeping beauties

As Zoey is about to turn 4 months old I realize she is hitting a lot of the same milestones Maja did at her age. Thank goodness for this blog and now more then ever I wish I had blog regularly with Isla :(.
Lately she has been sleeping a ton including going down for the night around 5pm. The other day she took a 3 hr nap in the after noon, stayed awake for about 45 minutes and went down again for what I thought was another nap except she wouldn't wake up! I put her down around 5pm and finally I had to go in and get her at midnight because I really needed her to nurse already!
Another day before that she went from 7:15 to 3:15 and I was so surprised that in the morning I seriously wondered whether I just slept through her being awake or sleepwalked into her room and fed her.
She is also doing great at falling asleep on her own. Recently she had an episode of 25 minutes getting angry at me and I couldn't figure out what her problem was. i knew she was tired and I was trying really hard to get her to fall asleep but nothing was working. I finally put her down and walked away and lo and behold she stopped, put her thumb in her mouth and dozed of. I guess she was just really tired of me and my lame attempts. Strangely enough I wrote a similar story about Maja way back when!!

Isla on the other hand finally moved into Maja's room and I'm finding her in all kind of hilarious places when I check on them at night. Also, it's super cute to hear them giggle and talk at bedtime (sometimes they fight and argue!) I started out by going in and making them get back in bed but lately I've come to the realization that part of a great childhood while room sharing with a sibling is just that... being silly when you're supposed to be sleeping so I've been letting them get away with it and as long as nobody is screaming in pain, using naughty words/voices or coming out of the room I'm good.
She has also been napping really early lately... she actually asks to go to bed around 10:30am and sleeps for about 3 hrs everyday! that makes for a nice and early bedtime at night too even if they still get up around 6:30-7am

Maja is 3.5 now and because Isla is in her room and naps there, I decided that she can stop taking naps now. I will occasionally put her in her bed after isla falls asleep if she is having a particularly crabby day but normally I just let her stay up and play or watch a movie on the Nook

They sure do like to ham it up for me

They work for free these days :). They used to require a piece of candy in exchange for their time but I think they are really starting to like getting their picture taken. They always tell me to go get the camera and photograph whatever it is that they are doing or wearing (yes, wearing!!)

I'm su bummed I took this with my phone :(. I wish it had been my big camera cause this would have been awesome to print. Oh well...

Here they are testing out their new outfits I bought for our family pictures next week. I think they all came together really nicely and I love how you can totally see their personalities here... crazy Isla, cheesy Maja and cool Zoey, lol

Majaisms

"When I'm bigger I can have the tall princess dress and Daddy can be the prince. And I can have eyebryes and earrings" - Maja (not sure what eyebryes are, lol)


Maja: "Wanna play fight Isla?"
Mommy: "Nooo!"
Maja: "Oh maaan" mumbles under her breath "but I want to fight things"


She cracks me up! 

Future hairdresser?

Maja has been into doing her own hair lately... maybe she is onto the next big fashion statement? I hope not :)

Ballerina

We signed Maja up for ballet and boy does she enjoy it! They do a few minutes of tap in the beginning and it's adorable when she calls her tapping shoes "clapping shoes". Isla wants a pair so badly and she found a pair of dark mary janes so she puts them on and goes on the tile and stomps her feet all happy. It works for her :)

Anyhoo... Maja is really into her class. She is pretty good at falling directions and I hope this turns into a long term thing... something she makes me think she was made for this:

Zoey's first white dress

And it's that time again... we need to start thinking about getting Zoey baptized so I tried on the gown that we made out of my wedding dress and both Maja and Isla wore as well. She is the same age as Maja when she wore it but her head is definitely bigger... the bonnet barely fits!

She looks adorable, doesn't she? (cell phone pictures)

Backyard fun

I always wanted a nice swingset for the kids. When we bought the Green Bay house, there was a really crappy, totally unsafe play structure in the back which we promptly ripped out. Maja was young so we decided to wait. Then we moved here and by the time we got settled in the house Costco sold out of these awesome sets so as soon as a friend told me they were back in stock this year we run out and bought it (just for future reference, Jeff also got a new TV that day... a little bribe to convince him since he wasn't so fond of the idea plus pre payment for the labor, lol)
Grandma drove all the way from Oregon to help and the girls couldn't be happier! I love that I can let them out there and there is plenty to do and I can still keep an eye out on them while being inside with napping Zoey or making dinner or anything else.

These photos were taken before the slide went up

Zoey @ 3 months old

She is starting to really tug and pull on her toys and recently we've tried out the Bumbo and her activity center. She is not quite loving them yet but getting there. For now she perfectly happy being help by mommy or daddy and just watching big sisters play.

She is definitely the poopiest of all my babies and is determined to ruin every single outfit she owns. I have made through two other kids and only a handful of poop stained clothes... Zoey is is pretty blowout friendly!

She started out sleeping in her crib in her own room. So far so good but her hands get really cold. She doesn't seem to mind but I feel so bad when she wakes up to eat and they are freezing :(

She is finally staying awake and more social a little longer at a time. Still only about 45 mins

Happy Valentine's Day!

Houston we have a thumbsucker

I'm one of those parents who pushes the paci in hopes of avoiding thumbsucking but clearly Zoey has her mind set already... I think it's super cute and I'm half tempted to not discourage it

(and I just noticed... there is the peace sign again)

My little model

As much as I complained about her hating the camera in the past, I can now rave about the opposite. She is such a ham and I don't even have to use bribery :).

She poses herself and here all I said was "what can you do with your hands?" and she gave me this

and here I just asked her not to smile (she likes to cheese it up with fakes smiles) and she "hugged" herself on her own account

History repeats

I used to (and still sometimes do) find Maja asleep on the floor in her room all the time.

Lately I've been finding Isla asleep on her rocking chair. She is too cute for words

I think Zoey looks like me

Out of all 3 girls her face looks most like mine at that age

Just some random phone cuteness

I do take a lot of phone pictures these days. I may or may not be addicted to Instagram too. You be the judge :)

I have been baking a lot and this is their favorite part

Such a strong girl

What Target with three girls looks like. I normally buy them a bag of popcorn to keep them occupied

Love that they have the same expression. I do think Zoey looks more like Maja then Isla

I can't get enough of her

Happy birthday Daddy!

Going through any type of special occasion is so fun these days. We went shopping for Daddy's presents and Maja insisted Daddy needed a teddy bear so of course she got him one. And a coffee mug and fondue set :). They picked out their own cards and couldn't wait to sing Happy Birthday!

Fun little comparison

All these were taken at exactly 2 months. Interesting seeing all their differences. I was convinced Zoey looked a lot like Maja but after looking at this, I'm not that sure anymore

Giving the crib a go

We tried rooming the older girls one night so I could test out the crib and Zoey did pretty good although I still brought her in with us when I went do bed since she wakes up to eat a few times still so it's easier for me. And Isla was too much of a pain in Maja's room so we probably won't use it for nights anytime soon but she does nap there every now and then and she LOVES her mobile!

Snow days

Once a year it snows. The city gets covered and literally looses control. Roads don't get plowed. Everything closes and you'd think it's just about the end of the world.

For us it just means lots of fun :).

We woke up to this one day and the girls were super excited

On the way to being completely independent

I dream of the day where all my kids can get themselves out of bed, make breakfast and entertain themselves until I get up. Sleeping in every once in a while would be nice :)

I'm one kid closer to that today!

Maja usually gets up, stands in my doorway and whispers "Mom.... Mom... Moooooom, can I please go downstairs?". I love that she asks permission (doubt Isla ever will, lol) but as soon as I say yes, she'll go down and play for a while until Isla and I wake up. At least I have until Isla wakes up and Zoey is usually last.

Well I noticed Maja has been sneaking whatever she can while she is playing downstairs. Pretzels, cookies and water. She sets it all up nice on a plate and sits at her tabla and eats it. That's awesome so I've been leaving things around for her so it's easier.

I think it's adorable, especially when she chooses her snak herself. This is what I found in the corner of the playroom one day

Zoey adores her Daddy

Her face lights up when she sees him

Sometimes you just have to let them express themselves

I try to keep it limited to while we are home as much as I can lol

2 month snuck up on me!

I wish she could stay tiny for longer. I don't feel like I have enough time to just enjoy her but I try as much as I can to just relax and look at her. We babywear a lot! she loves it and it gives us more cuddle time.

She has not had her two months check up yet but she has gotten huge! I can't believe I have a whole bin of small clothes to put away already :(.

At two months she:
- "talks" a lot
- belly laughs
- she can hold her head pretty well when I pull on her arms into a sitting position
- she started to grab and pull on the toys hanging from her mat
- no more swaddling. She likes to move around and sleep with her arms up just like her sisters
- yes, the peace sign seems to be her thing :)

Parenting Isla

Parenting Isla is a whole different ballgame. I like to refer to her as "the boy we never had" mainly because she is as rowdy, stubborn, loud, messy, independent and defiant as I would expect a boy to be. Granted if we had a boy he could very likely be the exact opposite of that but given she is her Daddy's carbon copy I can't help but see a mini toddler Jeff when I look at her.

She is all about the "I do it" and being a stinker a lot. We get a lot of the "what are you going to do about it" attitude even though she isn't being malicious... just challenging and testing her boundaries. And she taunts her sister a lot!

What's interesting is that she is a completely different child when is spending alone time with mom and dad so her behavior is definitely driven by the attention she does or not get. She is such a sweetheart then!

These days I've put a child lock thingy on her door so she can't come out of her room at night and wonder around the house. She doesn't mind it. In the morning when she is done sleeping she will stand by the door and call Maja to come open the door for her :).
Lately she has even began to turn her light on and reading her books or quietly playing after I put her to bed. Doesn't bother me as long as she goes to bed when she is done which she does.

We have tried to put her in Maja's room (since she is still using the room Zoey should be in) but each time we tried she made it more of a hassle then anything else so we will wait a few more months. Zoey will stay with us for a little while longer anyway.

But as much as she exhausts me and makes me want to rethink our non-spanking policy on regular basis, I love the heck out of her

Christmas recap

Christmas came and went and this was the year Maja was really into it. Isla kind of went along with whatever Maja did though.

We kept it fairly low key in terms of spending this year. Their one big gift was the dress up storage Jeff built and I filled with clearance costumes I bought right after Halloween. It's been a huge hit.
We also introduced the girls to Legos and made a cover for their little table to they can build on it whenever they want. They sure do love it!