Life as of Late

I know that lately I have using my blog solely for the monthly/yearly updates of our girls. But as I was finishing up Haley's post I got thinking about everything that has gone on this last little while and I thought I would write a little extra post on what's been happening.

So to start off with, Matt turned 30 this year! I threw him a small party with some of his family and friends from school! It was perfect. Lots of pizza and ping pong and laughs. I love the friends he has made and their spouses. He started his 2nd semester of grad school this January. I am glad that the first semester is behind us. That was a tough few months. It was nice to have that Christmas break for us to recharge and spend some time together as a family before the next semester started. Matt is still busy with schoolwork and projects, but it doesn't seem to be nearly as intense and his first semester. Right now he is in the middle of the semester with lots of projects and presentations coming up. He is also looking and applying for internships for the summer. Currently he is looking all over the country, but our focus is a bit on Utah since that would be the easiest for us. He will start interviewing soon and we should know something if not by the end of February then in March sometime

As far as things with me they have been great! I have been able to get into a really good routine with the girls and I even have it so Haley takes her 2nd nap of the day when Kinley naps! It is so great! It allows me to get a little bit done around the house and I get a little nap as well. Yes, I will admit I still nap and I love it! I feel so recharged and ready for the rest of the day! And they are so needed, especially for those days where Matt has to stay late at school. I am currently teaching at a local rec center. I teach Aqua Aerobics on Wednesdays and I am loving it! It feels good to be teaching again and to be in the water! (my class members kept insisting that I get in the water and once I did, I decided I will probably teach in the water from here on out). A nice perk about teaching is that I can also attend other fitness classes free of charge and I am taking full advantage. Right now I take a yoga class on Tuesday nights and a lifting class on Saturday mornings! I am loving both classes so much and have made some friends in each of those classes as well!

As far as the girls, they are doing great! Kinley is still very chatty and very busy. It's been a bit of a rough season with it being so cold. It's been hard for us to get out of the house with the weather and with Haley being sick so much. But we got ourselves a pass to a children's museum here in Salt Lake and it is fabulous! It's called the Discovery Gateway and it's a mother's dream! So many areas where kids can play and pretend and learn. It's amazing! Every time we go it seems that Kinley finds something new to play with! We love going with friends and it has been a life saver for the 2nd half of this winter! Haley is also great, she is finally healthy again and anything else you want to know is on her 6 month post.

We are loving the new friends we have made here and they have been such a blessing to us since we moved into our little complex! In the same breath while the people in our area are wonderful, our living situation is not so much. We have found that we are a little too cramped with 4 of us in a little 2 bedroom apartment and it is only going to feel smaller the bigger the girls get. Once Matt lands an internship we will know more about what we want to do, but as of now we have decided to start looking for a house to rent for the 2nd year of Matt's school. Something with a little more space and a yard for the girls to run around in.

So, that's what is going on with us, for anyone that wants to know! =)

Six months

Dear Haley,

You are six months old now. You have been in our little world for half of a year; that doesn't seem real! I feel like we just barely brought you home! But, six months is in fact here and I have to say that we have enjoyed every minute of those six months with you! Haley, you are quite the little ray of sunshine in our lives! Your smile is so contagious and lights up a room. You are such a happy little baby! Most days are filled with smiles and giggles and little to no crying, unless Kinley has just stepped on you. (I'm sorry) Speaking of which, Kinley absolutely adores you! She is so excited to wake you up in the morning! She loves to dance with you and make you laugh. She showers you with kisses and toys and love! I hope and pray that one day you become the best of friends!

You love to giggle and babble. Most of the day you are relatively quiet, but when Kinley goes to bed at night you pour your heart out in babbles, very loudly I might add. I know it's hard to get a word in with your bigger sister being such a chatter box. I have a feeling you are going to be just as chatty which will make for a very loud household of ours. But I love the chatter, so keep it coming! And now for the milestones:

-You weigh 15lb 1 oz
-You are 24 inches tall
-No teeth as of yet
-Can just about sit up with no assistance
-You grab at everything
-Started a new sleep routine that has worked wonders

We have started you on solid foods a month ago and so far it is going well. You are still learning to master eating from a spoon. You are a little behind with that because you didn't care for the texture of rice cereal and since we had to mix it with formula, we decided not to bother with it. So far you have tried: apples, pears, bananas, mangoes, squash, sweet potatoes, carrots, peas and green beans. Peas and green beans you are definitely not a fan of right now. Your favorites are probably any of the fruits and squash.

You love to smile and interact with others and you love your play mat! You also have gotten so big that you have graduated from your bassinet to the pack n play. I promise you will get a crib eventually, but I think we are going to wait until we have a little more space this fall. For now, the pack n play has plenty of space for you and you have adjusted to it just fine. You nap and sleep like a champ. You take 2- 3 naps a day for about an hour and a half to 2 hours at a time. You can sleep through the night if you wanted to, but because you have been sick so much, we kept up the nightly feedings just to get some more fluids in you. Now that you are normal and healthy again we have decided to wean you off the nightly feedings, which may make for a few not so sleep filled nights. But we know you will catch on and be back to sleeping through the night soon. You are no longer the little night time monster that you were! Mom and Dad have a set routine with you now and you love it! We start with your last bottle of the night, change your diaper and give you a little lotion massage. Then it's PJ's and some snuggles and songs with Mom and that puts you right out! (Yay!)

We love you Haley Loo. You bring us so much joy each day! Happy six months!!

Five months

Dear Haley,

Happy five months, Little Miss! We are loving watching your personality grow every month. You are still so smiley and happy all the time!  Let's start with the stats:

-You weigh 13.6 lbs!
-Not sure on your height but probably around 24 inches, I would guess
-No teeth yet
-Full time formula
-Sleeping through the night *(once you fall asleep)
-Can roll both ways now (back to tummy and tummy to back)
-Loves tummy time
-Celebrated your first Christmas and New Years
-Took your first road trip

We decided to drive with you and Kinley out to California to see Na-ma and Grandpa Nunes for Christmas! Dad and I were so amazed at how well you both did in the car! You were so great and slept through a lot of the way. Every now and then you would start to fuss, but it was usually because you missed us. Once Dad or I sat in the back seat with you and big sis you were as happy as could be. We ended up making it in 12 hours when I thought it was easily going to be 15 with all the stops I thought we had to make. Christmas was so fun to spend with you and Kinley. We went and looked at Christmas lights and ate out a bunch, saw your great grandparents and met your great grandma Joyce for the first time and you were such a gem through it all. You both were totally SPOILED this year! Na-ma went way overboard on you girls! You loved being around their dogs also! I think we will definitely be getting a dog one day in the future.

As far as  sleeping goes, you are an awesome sleeper throughout the day. You nap about 2-3 times a day for 1-2 hours. At night though, you are a totally different girl. I think I mentioned this last month, but you are still a total monster at night! You hate going down for the night and fight us tooth and nail! Dad and I have started cry it out with you and, girl, you are totally playing hardball! But once you do go to sleep (around 11 P.M.) you sleep through the night. You usually are up around 7 or 7:30 unless big sister wakes you up earlier than that, which she loves to do!

We just barely started feeding you solid foods. We skipped the rice cereal altogether since you are on formula now and... formula is expensive and your parents are cheap. We just decided to put it inn your milk at night to beef it up a little and make your belly extra full at night. So far you have tried pears and peas. Loved the pears, not so fond of the peas. In fact, when you tried the peas at one point you gagged! Literally gagged on the peas. I laughed so hard! We will keep muscling through them though!

Miss Hale bell, we love you so much! Your happy, easy going disposition fits right in with us! You are so content to be held or even on the floor. I love that you love tummy time so much. You are trying so hard to sit up on your own, hopefully next month will be the month. Here's to another great month with you girly! We love you!

Love,

Mom

Four Months

Dear Miss Haley,

Happy four months! It's been quite a month! We almost got through one whole month without getting sick! Unfortunately, Dad came home with a cold and infected the rest of us. So, we are back again with your runny nose and goopy eye! Luckily, you are just about over it and have been sleeping great despite all that.

Some quick stats:
- You weight 11.5 lbs this month
- You are 23 inches long
-Officially can roll over from back to tummy.
-Still loves to stand
-Love watching big sister, Kinley

 A lot of times we compare what you do to things your older sister did when she was your age. One thing that is different between the two of you is that you loved to be changed! It does not matter if it's your diaper or clothes, you smile and grin the whole time. I have a feeling you are going to be a little wardrobe changer like I was when I was a little girl. Or have an eye for fashion at a young age. It makes getting you ready so easy and much more enjoyable!

 One new development that we're not so crazy about is you have become quite a little monster right before bed. You do not like to settle down at night. You like to be held and walked with until late at night. You hate when Mom or Dad tries to sit down with you. You are making it a little hard for your mom and dad to hang out at night just the two of us. We have officially started cry it out with you so we can get you to fall asleep on your own and then eventually move your bedtime down to a more appropriate hour.

Haley, you are such a happy little baby. Mom has nicknamed you Happy Haley because you are so happy all the time! I think the only times you cry are when you wake up from your nap and at night when we are trying to put you to bed. Otherwise you are so content! You love to look at your surroundings, Kinley provides you with hours of entertainment and you smile like no other! We love you so much Miss Haley girl. We are so grateful that you are happy and healthy and that you are part of our family!

Love, Mom

Three Months

Dear Haley,

Happy three months, my sweet girl! I can't believe it's been three months already! Honestly though, I'm a little glad! You are a much better baby than a newborn, my dear. You are so happy all the time! It seems like ever since you learned to smile you haven't stopped. You even stop right in the middle of nursing just to look up at me and give me a big smile. I absolutely love it!

Let's pause for a few stats:
-You are 9 ish pounds. Probably closer to 10
-No idea how long you are.. (sorry)
-You can officially hold your head up with no problems!
-You can roll from side to side
-You love to stand and don't mind tummy time all that much.
-You are sleeping through the night pretty consistently, which I LOVE!

Also, Miss Haley, you are finally healthy again! You finished your 2nd round of antibiotics at the beginning of this month and we are praying that this is the end of your illnesses at least until the end of the year. We are being very cautious of taking you places now and bundle you up like a mini Eskimo whenever we go outside, even though the weather has been amazingly warm for November in UTAH!

I feel like since you have gotten over your second sinus infection that your personality has finally come to life. As I said before, you love to smile, you are such a happy baby. You love being around people. You absolutely love watching your big sister Kinley. I love the way you look at her with such awe and amazement. And let me tell you, Kinley absolutely loves you! Maybe a little too much sometimes.  A lot of times I need to pry her off of you because she likes to lay on you and hug and kiss you.

You had your baby blessing this month, which was so fun! It was extra special because we were granted permission to bless you at home due to all your illnesses. The circumstances that lead to this were less than ideal, but I will say it was so special to have such a sweet and small celebration of you! We had it at your Gigi and Grandpa's house in Heber City. We kept it small, just had both sets of your grandparents there and your aunts and uncles. It was the perfect celebration!

Haley, we love you so very  much! Life is so much better with you in it!

Love,

Mom.

Two Months

Dear Haley,

You are now two months old as of the 8th of October! Time is steadily going,  and we love watching you grow! I will say last month was a little rough. You, my darling, have been sick for about half of your little life so far! You caught Kinley's cold (as did the rest of us) as soon as you came home from the hospital. Then shortly after that you caught another cold, which over time turned into a sinus infection! It was so awful to listen to you struggle for air at night and throughout the day when your nose would get congested. Because you are so little, you don't yet know to breathe through your mouth, so Dad and I had quite a few sleepless nights with you for awhile! Luckily you pediatrician was kind enough to give you some antibiotics so that you could finally heal. I think everyone in the family was relieved to hear that news! Once you started feeling better  you were such a different baby! So happy and content just to be with mom or in your chair!

A few stats: you currently weigh 8lbs 12oz. and are 21 inches long. Dr. is concerned about your weight gain, so you are currently nursing and taking formula 3 times a day. Even though the Dr. is concerned, I am not as much. Having big sister, Kinley and now you has confirmed to Mom and Dad that we just have petite babies. You are perfectly healthy, just on the small side, and that is  A-okay with us! When you get older, you will notice that your parents are not very big either, so take that for what it's worth.

You started smiling about two weeks ago and we are in love with your smile! You use your whole face for your smile. At first it took you a couple of tries to get your mouth just right, which gave us a laugh to watch. With lots of practice you now smile with such ease! You love to eat, right now you are liking the bottle more than Mom, which I'm not taking offense to. Bottles are so much easier to eat from and you are probably getting more that way than you are from me. (Mom has low supply and low fat milk... not a good combination).

You love watching Kinley! With all her running and jumping and talking she is full time entertainment for you! You love to sit in your chair and observe everything and you like your mat where you can stretch your little limbs, squirm and stare at those memorizing butterflies over your head. You only like tummy time for so long and you quickly inform Mommy when the pleasure of tummy time has ended. We figured out that you like to sleep in your car seat for nap times. For some reason, both you and Kinley do not like to nap in your bassinet. When you are down for the night you have no problems, but when it comes to day time naps, the bassinet is forbidden! Your absolute favorite place to be though, is in my arms. Anyone's arms, really. You love to rock and snuggle in my warm loving arms, it just gets difficult to do that long term with big sister is running around.

We love you so much Haley. We are grateful that you are finally starting to feel better and we can finally enjoy healthy you! Happy two months my sweet girl!

Love, Mom

One Month

Dear Haley,

Happy one month, little girl! This month has seemed to go by so fast. You already have grown so much since we brought you home from the hospital! You have big beautiful eyes. They seem to be a dark blue with brown in the middle. I would love if you ended up with big hazel eyes, but really, you will be beautiful no matter what. You have had kind of a rough month to start out in. For your first month you have had two colds, both have been from Kinley. Don't worry, she gave it to Daddy and I also. Hopefully you will be on the mend soon.

Some things we have learned about you in the last month:

-You love to be held and snuggled. I have joked with  your dad that I'm pretty sure Heavenly Father sent you to me to help me with my issue of body space. Your goal in life is to be held 24 hours a day, and you seem to be somewhat succeeding despite my best efforts. I am, however, also soaking it all in because I know you will only be so little for so long.

-Your favorite place to sleep is in someone's arms (see above) . Unless you are being held, your naps usually aren't terribly long. But when you do decide to take a good rest, you sleep long and hard. It takes a little while to wake you, which we are not use to, since big sister was a light sleeper  when she was your age. Between the two, though, I like you and your deep sleep better. =)

-You HATE the car with a total passion. Unless you are in a deep sleep you scream and cry the entire time that you are in the car. Dad and I are working to rectify that and are trying to get you as use to the car as we can.

-You love looking at the world around you and you love watching your big sister, Kinley. Kinley loves you so much, also.

-You are over 7 lbs now and 20 inches long.

We love you so much Haley girl. Our hearts have grown since you have joined our family! Can't wait for what's in store next month!

Love, Mom