Miss Amelia Ann is 1!

Yesterday, our little Meli-girl turned the big "1". She is learning and growing a little more each day.

She has lots of different "names" - 

o  Evie couldn't say "Amelia"  right away, so she called her "Mae-Mae" and it stuck. She also used to refer to her as "Mia", and now calls her "My Baby".
o  Jared and I generally call her "Amelia" or "Meli".
o  Reagan calls her "Meli", "Amelia", or even "Melia".

Things she can do -
o  She is crawling proficiently now, and on all fours vs. the combo army/caterpillar crawl she used to do.
o  She can pull herself to a standing position.
o  She walks around furniture and when holding someone's hand, and she pushes Reagan and Evie around the house on the walking toys.

o  She says a few words: Daddy, Momma, nanna (banana), na-na (no-no), daw (she says this every time she sees a dog), dat (that), bmpa (Grandpa), du (duck), go-go, baba (bottle), and num-num (she says this almost the entire time she is eating).
o  She claps and waves all the time, and gives kisses. :o)

Her Favorite Things
o  Her thumb (which we are trying to get her not to like)
o  Her favorite game is "peek-a-boo" but she also like playing "hide and seek".
o  Her favorite toys are stuffed animals (her monkey especially) and books.
o  Walking (with help), she loves to walk but can't do it on her own so she will follow us around the house until we stop. Then she will climb up our legs and try to grab our hands so we can walk her around the room.
o  Food - pretty much anything as long as she can do it herself.

Amelia is really starting to exert her independence. She has started wanting to feed herself using utensils and sometimes refuses to eat unless she is allowed to do it herself. She now has 4 teeth and I think she's working on 2 more. Her hair has some definite redish/orangish tints to it and we're looking forward to finding out exactly what color it will end up being. It's hard to tell exactly which side of the family she looks more like as I think she's a good mix of both. She loves to follow Reagan and Evie around the house, and they really do entertain her.

She's a very content little girl and we've really enjoyed having her around this last year. :o)

Differences

Over the last couple of months, I was reminded again at how different the 3 munchkins are in personality (and yes, Amelia has even started developing her own personality at almost 11 months).

Reagan loves to win and gets very upset when he loses ANYTHING (even the race to see who can finish their supper faster, which has become a nightly "game" that we play to get the kids to focus at mealtime). He also wants to be the only "big kid" sometimes and gets upset when he discovers that Evie can now do some of the things that only he was "big enough" to do before. Reagan is sooooo curious about everything and wants to know how everything works, is made, etc. He is also like a sponge with any and all information. For example, on Saturday mornings we let the kids have just a little bit of coffee (it's really more milk than coffee but they don't really care) for breakfast. This past Saturday I happened to have chocolate milk in the fridge, which is a rarity, and so I asked the kids if they would like to have chocolate or regular milk in their coffee. Reagan piped up, "Chocolate, mom. Because that would make it a mocha." Now neither Jared or I can remember explaining to Reagan that when you add chocolate to coffee it makes it a mocha, but somehow he knew. He is also very strong - in opinion, personality, will, etc.. Whenever he chooses to do something it is never half way, which can be difficult at times when he decides to do something that he is not supposed to do. I know that if/when he gets saved this will be a great asset. Reagan is already a leader, and actually has been since about the time he started to walk. Sometimes, when I am trying to let Evie learn how to do something on her own, Reagan will jump in and just tell her how to do. Then I have to remind him that Evie needs to learn things on her own just like he did, which he does not like. He is also almost never shy.

Evie is very tender-hearted and sensitive to how people are feeling. She doesn't like to see other people cry and tries to comfort them as much as she can. She is also very repentant because of this. She can be quick to tears but just as quick to flash a smile. Evelyn will tell us that she loves us, and give hugs and kisses many times throughout the day. She can be very shy around strangers (unless Reagan is with her and then she will talk to anyone that he talks to). She is truly a follower most of the time and Reagan uses that to his advantage on occasion by telling her to do things that he thinks may get him in trouble for doing but wants to see for sure without being the person to get disciplined. She is not as "driven" as Reagan. If she isn't able to do something right away she just tells you that she needs help, i.e. she'd rather have you push her on the tricycle than learn how to pedal it. But in some things, she can be very quick to tell you, "I do it MYSELF!" She already has that strong desire to mother things (I didn't realize how fast little girls develop this). She takes care of her "babies" very well - feeding, changing, hugging, putting to bed, etc. She has a miniature stroller and a baby doll that she always wants to take along when we go for walks.

Amelia is still developing her personality but there are some things that I have noticed. She LOVES attention, but especially from Reagan and Evelyn. She's very content and easy going most of the time, but when she decides to be upset you'd better be ready for a battle if trying to calm her. She laughs and smiles easily and freely. She is already starting to express her independence in little things - she wants to feed herself, stand by herself, etc. I am looking forward to seeing more of her personality as it develops.

Both Reagan and Evelyn have wonderful imaginations already and I really want to continue to encourage this.

I also made an observation about their "security blankets". All three of my munchkins had/have "security blankets" that deal with their mouths. For Reagan, it was his Nuk. For Evelyn, it was a specific bottle. And for Amelia it has been her thumb, which has been by far the hardest to deal with.

Oh, How Fast They Grow

It is hard to believe that it has been over 4 years since we found out that we were expecting Reagan, and now we have 3 little ones! The munchkins are growing up so quickly and time seems to just race by.
Today, little miss Meli is 9 months old and is growing so fast it seems. She got her first tooth on Saturday and I think another will soon follow. She started clapping about a week ago. Amelia has also started growling at people and things, but just in fun. She will usually smile and start laughing right after she growls. Unless, of course, she is growling at me for not getting her food to her fast enough, then she is seriously growling!
Last week, Evelyn turned the big "2" and no, it hasn't been terrible. She is really developing intellectually. Evie recently went from being able to count to 5, to counting all the way 12! When people hear her talking they think that she is older than 2, but I think that is more because of Reagan than Jared or I. She watches and listens to Reagan intently, and tries doing or saying anything and everything that he says or does. Evie is also getting really tall. She is wearing 3T in most things and even a few 4T skirts/dresses. She loves her baby sister and is always giving Amelia hugs and kisses and telling her, "Love you, Mia."
Reagan has started "adding" fingers lately. Every time you tell him a number (i.e. "we will do xyz in 7 minutes"), he will ask you to show him how many fingers that number is. Then he will say something like, "5 fingers and __ fingers is __." He has been trying desperately to get Evie in trouble lately. Reagan will tell Evie to do things that he knows she is not supposed to and then he will smile and laugh when she does them and gets into trouble. Typical older brother, I think. He has also figured out that if he wants Evie to do something that she does not want to do, all he has to say is, "Evie don't...," and she will do it. Like the other day, he wanted Evie to try pulling him in the wagon. After asking her to pull him 3-4 times, he told her, "Evie, you get in the wagon and I will pull you." Evie said, "No, I will pull you." Then he smiled and jumped in the wagon without any hesitation, and she struggled to pull him around in he driveway.
Things have been busy lately. Jared will be done with classes next week and I've picked up a June wedding (altering 8 dresses). We are hoping to put a garden in this year and I'm praying that God keeps the rabbits out of it!

The Kiddos

I know that it has yet again been "FOREVER" since the last post and much has happened.

Reagan is FINALLY daytime potty trained, and we're working on nighttime training. Since being potty-trained, he has developed a bit of an obsession with what makes him a boy, which is a whole new adventure for me having grown up in a family of only girls!


We recently took Reagan along for a college/career activity. We went to a Green Bay Blizzard game (IFL), which they won by 1 point in the last 9 seconds of the game! Jared bought Reagan a "Yeti (the team mascot) Claw"  and he was having a blast with it. He also managed to eat 2/3-3/4 of a tub of popcorn ALL BY HIMSELF! He had a bit of a tummy ache the next day though.

Evie Sue is really developing a large vocabulary (it helps that Reagan's is even bigger and he never stops talking). She is finally getting some hair, but almost never lets me put "pretties" in it. We've started working on potty-training with her but she recently decided that she will only use the potty if she has her seat (the little kid toilet insert). She is quite the little giant for her age, she won't be 2 till next month but is already almost completely in size 3T (and some 4T) clothes. She is also only a couple of inches shorter than Reagan.


A group of moms-with-small-children (from church) went to the N.E.W. Zoo in Green Bay. I took the kids and they had so much fun! They can feed the giraffe, goats, llamas, etc. Here are pictures of Evie and Reagan feeding the giraffe. 

     

Also, the geese and seagulls were horrible when we were eating lunch so this picture is of Evie holding on to and protecting her sandwich. (She loves her food and generally will not give it up for anything.)

Amelia Ann is growing like a weed. She was 29.5" long and weighed 18.5 lbs. at 7 months. Meli is even outgrowing her 12 month clothes. At 8 months old, she has been rolling over for a couple of months now. Recently, she started waving "bye-bye", saying "Dada" (which Jared rubs in when he gets the chance), and just this week, getting up on all fours. No crawling yet, which I am fine with, but she has figured out how to get where she wants to go while in the walker or when she is sitting up on the laminate floor (she just rocks back and forth until it scoots her to what she wants). She LOVES to go for walks in either the wagon or the stroller, and Reagan likes to be the "big boy" holding her in the wagon.

Jared will be done with school at the end of May and graduation is set for June 6th. We are both getting really excited for the school phase of life to be basically over. I was thinking about it and one of us has been in school since we got married five and half years ago.

We have also been in the process of remodeling the living/dining room and it has come along nicely. We still have some finish work to do, but for the most part it is done. Here's a list of the things that we have done:

• Tore out the old greenish, brownish shag carpeting that was in the living, dining, and hall area, and replaced it with honey oak laminate flooring.
• Widened the doorway between the hall and dining room, and trimmed it out to mimic the pattern of the French doors on the opposite wall (between the dining room and entryway by the garage).
• Repainted the living, dining, and hall walls in Sandy Beach Beige (everything was white before), and the trim in Sand Dollar.
• We added 4 can lights in the living room, 3 can lights and a ceiling fan in the kitchen, a new light fixture in the hall, and a new light fixture on the front porch.
• We finally bought drapes for the living room windows and found a decorative curtain rod that was long enough for the big picture window (it is 11' 4" wide and most decorative rods only come in up to 10' lengths).
• We replaced some of the base boards and the heat vents (a big long bulky one for 2 smaller ones).
• We also replaced the trim around the doorway between the dining room and kitchen.
• We bought matching rugs to go under the dining room and coffee tables, as well as one for front door.

Things look sooooooo much better, and as Jared puts it, "Our house is looking more like a normal modern house."

Reagan is "3"

Reagan turned "3" on Saturday. Here are some pics from his "party". He told me that he wanted a Super Why cake, so I did my best to make one...

Here is one from church as he was getting ready to go to his new Sunday school class (3-4 year olds).

I took Reagan in for his 3 year checkup today and his doctor says that he is very smart for his age (too smart for his own good most of the time). He is just shy of 38" tall and weighs just over 32lbs.

Family Updates

I know we haven't updated this blog in over 18 months, so I figured that it was about time to let everyone know what's going on with us.

Since the last time I posted:

We have begun the potty training adventures with Reagan Daniel and are getting a little closer to completely trained every day. In fact, today he went poop on the toilet without even being told to try! He will be 3 years old next month (it's amazing how time flies) and is extremely smart and VERY curious for a not-yet-3 year old. He is always coming up with well thought out statements, such as today, he came in and asked me where Jared was this morning, when I told him that "Daddy was at work", he paused for a moment and then asked, "So does Daddy just come home, go to sleep, and then go to work again?" This has been quite true lately as Jared has been working 50-60 hours a week and goes to class another 2-3 hours after work 3 days a week (for a total of 7-9 hours each week).

Evelyn Sue was born (May 14, 2008 @ 5:30am, weighing 9lbs. 2oz. and 22" long). She is now almost 19 months. She is really talking a lot now, albeit not as clearly as Reagan did at the same age. Still quite tall for her age, she was off the charts at 36" when we took her in for her 18 month checkup (just for comparison, Reagan was only 36 1/4" at his 2 year checkup).

We found out last year, on the day after Christmas, that I was expecting again. It was quite the shock as we were not planning to have another one for a while. None the less, Amelia Ann was born on August 18, 2009 at 2:30am weighing 8lb. 12 oz. and 21.5" long. She is almost 4 months old and is quite the chunk, she weighed 13lb. 8oz. and was 24 1/4" at her 2 month checkup (just to give you an idea of how chunky she is in comparison to the other two: Reagan was 13lb. 2oz. and 24 3/4" at 2 months, and Evie was 12lb. 11oz. and 25 1/4" at 2 months).

I am still working for an independent insurance agency and Jared for the industrial painting company. Things are busy, busy, busy between family, work, school, and church stuff. We have been working at becoming debt free since September of last year using the Dave Ramsey Total Money Makeover. Since then, we haven't used a credit card or taken out a loan, and we have paid off both vehicles and a couple of credit cards. God is good!

The Bouncy Chair

We recently pulled all of the baby stuff down from the attic and Reagan has reclaimed the bouncy chair.

Reagan's Little Sister

We had an ultrasound done on January 22,
and Reagan is going to have a little sister, Evelyn Sue.

Here are the pics from the ultrasound.

This is the clearest profile pic.

Here she is with her mouth open.

Here she has her foot up by her head.

Video Clips of Reagan

Reagan is walking:) January 08

Reagan laughing (November 07)

Reagan reading a book.

November 2007