Andrew: 6 months old

Half a year. Wow. Each time one of my babes hits six months it blows my mind and I cannot believe it. Half a year means you're basically one and that is not okay!

At the start of this month you began rolling onto your side.

I love watching you as you figure out how your hands work. It's like they're going crazy opening and closing as you feel new textures and manipulate your toys. The flip side of this is how you yank your paci out during nap time but haven't figured out how to get it back in your mouth. Usually we keep your hands busy with Kanga so you leave your paci alone.

Your favorite person is you. Like, seriously. Some of your biggest smiles are elicited when you find your reflection in the mirror. It's obvious that you, just like the rest of us, recognize how cute you are!

Andrew: 5 months old

Um, I'm not sure how you manage it but somehow you got even cuter this month. Did you know that Dad is totally wrapped around your little finger? He adores you. He tells me how he forgets how cute you are and falls in love all over again each time he comes home from work. Daddy changes all of your diapers when he's home and he's even been known to feed you nasty green beans so I don't have to!

Our biggest focus this month was your weight. The doctor recommended a 5 month weight check to ensure you don't continue to drop on the growth charts. I spent a lot of time pumping, taking fenurgreek, and adding solids to your diet. Three weeks into our increased efforts you had only gained 6 oz! I had a mini freakout. After consulting with your Aunt Stephanie and scouring the internet I decided the best thing for you was to add a nightly bottle of formula. In one week you gained another 5 oz which put you at 13 lbs 6 oz.

Thankfully, you are healthy and happy. I love your enormous smiles and the way you kick your legs with excitement. You still don't love tummy time but you're improving. Sometimes your arm gets stuck and you can't roll which makes you incredibly grumpy. You're SO close to hitting my favorite stage-- legs straight up in the air! I've noticed you beginning to lift your legs as high as they go and then they drop back down. Pretty soon those bad boys will stick right up the moment I lay you down. I can hardly wait! 

You despise sitting in the bumbo unless someone is feeding you. If we take even the shortest of breaks you begin to fuss and try to buck out of the chair. Alternately, you quite enjoy sitting up when we balance you between our legs. You try to reach and grab for toys which makes you topple over. You only last a few seconds trying to sit unsupported.

Feeding you solids has gone well. You eat baby oatmeal mixed with milk every afternoon. Each evening we give you a fruit or veggie to try. Since we wait a few days between new foods you've only tried a few: peas, avocado, sweet potatoes, banana, carrot, apples, and your least favorite of all... green beans! Adding solids has helped you nap better. You began to wake up happy and you finally dropped that 4th nap for good this month (Your current schedule is listed beneath the pictures)! And I'm proud to say that you're our best in-arms sleeper. You don't make it easy on us because you like it quiet when we hold you, but you actually take decent naps at church. We probably seem antisocial because when we hold you we try our best to avoid eye contact and conversations. The things we do for you, Andrew!

We've started to lay you on a blanket because you've mastered grabbing toys on your play mat. Having no toys overhead has encouraged you to look around and reach across mid-line to grab toys. It's cute to watch you crane your neck up and over as far as you can. It doesn't seem like you'll roll soon, but you're making baby steps (haha) toward getting there. 

By the end of the month you became a distracted nurser. You can tell where sounds are coming from now! You're constantly turning your head to find Vince & Kate because you can hear them when you should be eating. I can't even watch a nightly show when I nurse you because you try to watch the TV too. Good thing flirting with you is way more fun than watching When Calls the Heart or This Is Us.

Your typical schedule is as follows:

8 :00: Wake up, nurse, kick around on the play mat
9:30: Nap
11:30: Wake around 11 but play happily in bed til I get you to nurse at 11:30. Play on blanket, read books.
1:00: Nap-- This is your worst nap. I frequently have to give you a paci x3 around 2:00.
3:00: Nurse, baby oatmeal mixed w/milk, play outside, go for walk, chill in swing.
4:30/5:00: Nap -- we want you to sleep at 4:30 but your wake time seems to be increasing so you take a while to fall asleep
6:00: Nurse, veggie/fruit mixed w/cereal. Family time, reading, bath, snuggles.
7:30: Nurse again, supplement with 2-4 oz bottle of formula (started at 4 mo 3 wks)
7:45/8:00: Bedtime!
11:00: Dream feed

When you sleep you love to have your kangaroo to nuzzle. You're addicted to pacifiers for sleep and we definitely baby you compared to your older siblings when it comes to Baby Wise/CIO. 

4 Months Old

Andrew William, you are just the cutest little thing. Whenever I catch your eye you give me the biggest, gummy grins. Your hands are constantly finding their way to your mouth so those smiles only last a short while before you start sucking on your fingers.

I cannot brag enough about how well you sleep at night. You go to bed around 8, dream feed at 11 and then sleep til 8 am. If you happen to wake in the middle of the night you put yourself back to sleep. I couldn't be prouder! But let's have a chat about your naps... what's going on!? You used to sleep 1.5 to 2 hours during nap time. Now days you're king of the 45 minute nap club. Instead of 3 naps you frequently need 4 to make up for the short naps.  Not cool, Little Guy. If I had to guess why you've become a short napper I'd point to a growth spurt or the fact that we stopped swaddling you. At least you fall asleep without any help. For now we need to keep working on extending those naps.

You really are my little guy. At 4 months old you weigh a whopping 12 lbs 11 oz and are just shy of 2 feet tall (1' 11.5" to be precise). That has you in the 4th percentile for weight and 2nd percentile for height! That almost has me hoping that your crap naps are because you're cluster feeding and preparing to grow.

You spend most of your time grabbing toys dangling from the play mat or chilling in my left arm. Your neck is strong enough that we even let Vince pick you up for a few brief moments. Whenever you cry, which is rare, your siblings come running to make you happy with a song or a pacifier.

I feel so happy when I see you. When I scoop you up I have to remind myself not to squeeze too hard. It stresses me out when you don't nap but I secretly love cuddling you to sleep. Your squawking cracks me up and your cooing melts my heart. You bring so much joy to our family.

Potty Training the Little Miss

There is one thing every parent dreads: Potty Training. It seems like a beautiful thing. You think that life will be wonderful without diapers. But then you realize the insane amount of time, energy and effort that comes before you get to that blissful state. Forevermore, I will be reminding (they'll think I'm pestering) my children to go to the bathroom.

Regardless of the commitment, there comes a time when you just need to bite the bullet and say "bye bye" to diapers. It happened for Kate this weekend. It was spurred by seeing her cousin using the bathroom. Kate kept taking off her diaper and talking about the bathroom. My mom swears by training kids at the magical age of 2 years and 3 months. I was going to wait but I knew I couldn't handle 3 months of fighting to keep her diaper on. Plus, Kate is all about being big like her older brother.

My experience with Kate has been the complete opposite of my experience potty training Vince though. He was so excited to earn candy and never fought me when I told him to go potty. Kate, on the other hand, is a stubborn and independent little lady. She is always demanding to "do it yourself". That's her way of saying she doesn't want me to help her. She screams if I put her on the potty instead of letting her use the stool and she hates to go when we tell her to.

Going into our potty training weekend, we knew that Kate totally had the know-how. She has been going potty before bath time for at least 6 months now. In the weeks prior to pulling the trigger we began making routines like "when we wake up in the morning we go potty". This weekend just happened to be when we said sayonara to the diaps and hola to the big girl undies.

Overall, things have been great. It's all time consuming and completely exhausting, but it's going well. She had 4 accidents on day one (two pee, two poop), 1 accident on day two (poop, ugh!), and 1 accident on day three (pee). Not too shabby if you ask me. We watch her like a hawk, remind her every 20-30 minutes to go, reward her for being dry, reward her for going potty, and cheer like crazy every time we have success.

This upcoming week Vince has swim lessons so we'll test out how we do with outings. Wish me luck, I'm going to need it!

Five Years of Love

When couples post their sappy anniversary photos it usually includes the husband talking about how he married up. In 2011 I may have thought that Paul had gotten himself a pretty good catch, but five years into our marriage I see that it was me who married up.

Paul is the most selfless person I know. He wakes up at 5:30 am every day so he can come home from work by 4 pm to rescue me from the humans I call my children. Even with waking up at a ridiculous hour, he's still the one who checks on the crying kids at night because he knows how much I love my sleep. I do my best to make dinner but he never complains when he comes home from a long day at work to find that there's nothing on the table. Paul never says no when I ask for favor, whether it be building a fence or changing a newborn diaper. We don't fight because he is so loving and kind. He doesn't take offense and he is quick to forgive, even when he's in the right. When I grow up I want to be like him. He is my best friend and I can't imagine life without him.

I love you, Paul Martin. I am the luckiest lady alive and I can't wait to keep writing our love story together.

The First Four Years

4 years

3 college degrees

2 kids and

1 house later...

I still couldn't ask for a better marriage.

Saying Goobye

Throughout high school my Spring Break was spent visiting family in Provo, going to General Conference in SLC, and wandering around BYU campus dreaming of my college days. In 2008, I graduated and began living the dreams I had been imagining since I was 13. Now days, thinking of my freshman year in Chipman Hall brings back a palpable nostalgia; the kind you can feel, and smell, and makes your brain feel funny because for a brief moment you're back in that time and place.

It's 2015 now. Nearly seven years since the Fall I ventured out to permanently live in Provo. Not just a week long visit, but a new life to explore and discover myself in a different setting. Flash forward and I have a nursing degree, a husband, two kids, and am on the verge of owning my first home. Those seven years are packed with countless memories and people who have touched my life. I've grown attached to the mountains and little slices of Provo that hold my dearest memories; falling in love, laughing with roommates until you can't breathe, acing a final, overcoming trials, getting engaged, becoming a mother... 

Paul and I had been itching to leave Provo after we graduated, but as we had children we realized that it's probably the best place in the world to have a young family. We were surrounded by good people, family, nature, attractions, Temples, and shopping galore.  As the job hunt continued we realized there weren't any viable options for us in Utah. It was saddening. My heart ached to think of leaving my sister, Ruth. Then to make things worse, Paul's parents moved to Provo too. Could it get any harder to leave?

We prayed. Both together and apart. And we both knew that moving to Grand Rapids was the right path for our family.

In preparation for our move, we spent all of our time (when we weren't packing & cleaning or working on a thesis) to say goodbye. At first the adieus felt nonchalant. I had been living there so long I couldn't seriously wrap my head around the fact that this was goodbye. My grieving process was further disrupted by the fact that I didn't have to pack all of my belongings. My surroundings weren't changing enough to help me process the fact that we were leaving.

Those last few days though... It started with saying goodbye to former roommates. First Marlee, then Ashley. And then Kaitlin Stead (Kunz). Kaitlin has been with me every step along the way. We only lived together for 1 of those 7 years, but our lives always seemed to be going in the same direction. We wed & had children on nearly the same timeline, our husbands were still going to school while we stayed home with the kids, we come from large families and can relate to one another. It felt so right when they moved into our apartment as we left.

Then came my sister. Ruth has been holding down the fort in Provo since before I started visiting for Spring Break. She has seen everyone in our family come and go. With over 10 years separating us, we finally hit a point in life where things were similar. Our kids could play together, we worked out at the gym night after night to get our pre-baby bodies back, we shared recipes, and got equally excited each time Mom announced she was going to visit. My farewell with her is when it truly, deeply sunk in. I was leaving. Tears were shed driving home from her house. (And I realize now that I hardly ever took pictures at her house. I feel like such a dummy.)

Lastly, Ron & Kathryn. Paul's parents have been so good to, and for, us. Their example helped us to loosen up and have more fun with Vincent. They introduced our boy to a whole new world of music, train rides, old phones, tree swings, buttermilk, marbles, and much more. Kate lit up each time she saw her Grandma & Grandpa (they also introduced her to the wonders of whipping cream). Our time in Provo with them will always be cherished.

We woke up bright and early to drive to the airport. The children were calm, the morning was still and I quietly cried as we drove away from what had become my home. Goodbye to Y mount, Helaman Halls, Utah Lake. I reminisced about how good Utah had been to me. Hiking at Arches National Park, camping beneath the desert stars, rafting down the Colorado river in Moab, tying the knot in the Salt Lake City Temple, working nights at the Harold B. Lee Library, building forts at the Brittany, late nights at Park Plaza, climbing up the side of a mountain because we couldn't find the trail head, zip lining in Provo Canyon, watching a Temple being built down the street, flying down water slides, watching fireworks from a rooftop. It's just all so good. Life is so good.

With six bags, two car seats and a few backpacks in tow, we hobbled our way through the terminal. We boarded a plane and flew away. To a new life. A life that doesn't start by being alone. One where I take my family with me and we grow and develop together. Because I already found myself. Provo gave that to me. Now, I help my children discover who they are and why they are so very important to me. Who knows how long we'll be in Grand Rapids, but whatever the length, we're going to make beautiful memories here too.

 

 

Kate: 9 months old

Nine months is a fun milestone because a baby has spent as much time growing inside of you as they have outside of you. Contemplating the amazing changes that happened from conception until this point is astounding. It bears witness to me that we have a loving Heavenly Father who has prepared a way for us to come to Earth and have physical bodies. I am eternally grateful to enjoy the responsibility of raising these children.

The best part of this month has been my decision to drop Kate's dream feed. It was becoming too exhausting and the disturbance was doing more harm than good at this point. Instead of ensuring a good nights sleep, it was waking her up for 1-2 hours. It took a few days for her to make it til morning, but now she sleeps from 8pm to 8:30-9am all by herself. The next step will be unswaddling her left arm. We've decreased from 6 to 4 pacifiers for her to wrestle with at night. Progress, right?

Her naps have improved as we've increased her awake time during the day (abt 3 hours, almost 4 hours at night). We're guaranteed one 1.5 hour nap and one 45 minute nap. Sometimes she graces us with two 2 hour naps and it's the best gift she could offer. At church, she has taken to sleeping in Daddy's arms. I think she loves how tight he holds her... and I think Paul secretly loves getting that special time with his daughter (even though he feels like his arms are going to fall off afterward).

This month was rough in the health department. Kate clocked a total of 3 weeks of sickness. She would work her way through a cold, be healthy for one day, and then acquire a cough, recover, and repeat. I would definitely say this made for an increase in fussiness. No doubt, she is still an extroverted, happy baby, but she isn't all smiles anymore. She's beginning to understand the correlation between fussiness and attention from parents. Obviously, she's smart. It even sounds like she's crying "ma ma" when she's most upset. Break my heart, okay?

Kate is serious about eating. She nurses lightening fast, enjoys oatmeal or eggs for breakfast, a banana and cheerios for lunch and occasionally tries bits of noodles and other finger food for dinner along with a puree. She has made leaps and bounds with self-feeding. It wasn't until the last week or so that we allowed her to try more finger foods. Whenever the family is eating and she isn't, she yells. It's this high pitched scream that continues until you let her eat too. Kate still hasn't cut any teeth, but she's proving to us that those gums can mash just about anything.

Kate's happy exhales have turned into little giggles. You make eye contact, say her name, anything, and tiny baby giggles escape her mouth. When she is in the car she laughs at Vince or tries to turn her head to see the driver. Red lights are becoming a favorite of mine so I can turn and chat with my sweet babe for a few precious moments. This social girl still smiles at strangers and loves attention from just about anyone who will give it to her. She's also taken to splashing in the bath. Paul has to hold one leg down the entire time to keep from getting completely saturated during bath time.

I'm trying to step up my parenting by doing something about Kate's locks. Her hair is odd. It's long in the front but short and rough in the back. Slowly, the back is coming in and will (hopefully) catch up with the front. It has made for some good pigtails and ponies, though! I had to start coiffing her hair, otherwise Nana threatened to cut it off!

This nine month old's biggest accomplishment is pulling up to stand. She gets this extreme look of accomplishment followed by smiles and a laugh. Her hips rock back and forward as she tries to steady herself. Although she just learned to stand, she is fearless. Twice, she has gotten steady enough that she has let go of my hands and stood by herself for a moment before plopping to the ground. She immediately reaches forward to pull up and try again.

Her current mode of transportation is tummy to sitting, tummy to sitting. She doesn't crawl, but her up and down movements take her in all sorts of directions. Nothing is safe anymore. All if fair game in this girl's eyes! Speaking of her eyes, they are still stunning in their blue clarity. Vincent also had blue eyes at this age. His have slowly turned green/gray with time. Paul and I both have green eyes, but have enjoyed the blue eyed stage of both our children. Who knows,  maybe hers will stick?

 

(Almost) Home Owners.

I have been house hunting for years now. Any time Paul mentioned a potential job location I would hop on the internets and start my search. Now we're in here, in Michigan, doing the real thing. Looking at every house available and picking up and driving 20+ minutes, one way, to look at a house.

It is not fun.

If I didn't have children, it would be a completely different story. But I do have kids. Two of them. And working around naps, meal times and the terrible twos has been a headache. In the process of house hunting we have missed out on three serious potential homes. Two were sold in under 12 hours. The third home was taken from us by someone who put in a cash offer. Who even has that much cash?? 

I was becoming desperate. Our realtor wasn't aggressive enough and I felt myself going through quite the emotional ride as I saw the perfect homes slip through my fingers. As tough as it was, we did what was best for us and dropped our realtor. Can I just tell you how difficult that was? She was extremely nice but we needed more than a great personality. We were connected with Cindy Witke-- our answer to prayers!

Within 24 hours she had a huge list of potential homes for me to pick from. I was still discouraged as I looked through the list because many of them weren't the right fit. Then, I saw it. At 2-story house with an unfinished basement and a quarter acre lot. It had only been listed for a few hours. Cindy scheduled our showing and we had an offer in that very night.

We offered 15k OVER asking price. The market is insane in Grand Rapids. We're thankful we went so high because the next highest offer was 13k over asking price. Obviously the home is worth what we asked because we weren't the only ones bidding in that range.

The home was off the market in under 24 hours, and they accepted our offer!! We had an inspection that night and felt comfortable with the minimal findings.

So let me recap. We found the house online, toured it, made an offer, had the offer accepted and performed the inspection in under 48 hours. You guys, I am exhausted! The whirlwind isn't stopping though. The loan officer was shocked by how quickly she verified our finances and said we could close in 2 weeks. TWO WEEKS. If the sellers agree we can close on April 6.

Although we're practically homeowners, I won't feel it's settled until the keys are in my hand after closing. At that point, I will show you pictures of the biggest piece of debt I've ever 20% owned. I'm sure you'll also be updated with the many renovations/updates we'll being doing.

Come on, home ownership. I'm ready for you!

Kate: 8 months old

February being cut short means Kate didn't have a true "8 month" landmark to celebrate. But that doesn't mean we're any less proud of her growth and accomplishments. This girl is almost going places! By that I mean she is getting up on her hands and knees with more stability than ever before. Instead of rocking uncontrollably, she is beginning to steady herself and reach forward until her legs slide out from beneath her. She also stumbled upon her ability to push herself up from her tummy onto her bottom. She's only done it a time or two, but seems quite pleased with herself for getting off the ground.

One of the sweetest milestones from this month was the addition of "da-da" into her babbling. Paul walked through the door, she gave him the biggest smile, and let our her first string of da-da-da-da's. In that very moment, Kate wrapped her old man around her squishy little finger. Paul didn't even wait to take off his shoes or change out of his work attire-- he immediately got down on the ground began chatting and loving on his baby girl. She is probably too young to associate da-da with Paul, but sometimes it really seems she knows what she's saying.

Her social skills are in full bloom. She's beginning to understand the process of reading books and loves turning the pages so she can devour (figuratively & literally) the next page. She has also taken to smacking the pages with open palms when she gets exited. Oh, and don't even get me started on her relationship with Vincent. She adores that boy. He is by far her favorite person. When we get her in the morning she is all smiles. Then, the moment she hears the patter of Vincent's feet as he enters the room, she lights up to a new level, kicks her legs, and squeals with delight. As she sits in the car, her head is always raised and cocked to the side so she can look at her big brother. Whenever he acknowledges her or makes a funny noise, she laughs with pleasure. It is a joy to see how much those two love one another.

She has become known as Katydid around here or Katy-Diddy-Do according to Vincent. I've taken quite a liking to dressing her up in some of the clothes I wore in my infancy. It's amazing how terrible some of the outfits are from the 80's. Yet, you stick a cute babe in the clothes and, miraculously, they become quite darling.

I find it remarkable that Kathryn is so joyful. Through all of the packing, jostling, moving, traveling and constant change we experienced this month, she has been a bright, happy babe. If you so much as look at her, an enormous smile spreads across her face and her blue eyes begin to twinkle. Even strangers are drawn to her happy spirit, stopping us on our way to admire her.

 Still: No teeth, sleeps like a champ, two naps a day, not pulling up to stand, great nurser, loves pacifiers, get rosy cheeks, loves to be cuddled.