Three Years

Dear Kinley,

You are three now! Where did the time go? We are so proud of you for the kind of little girl you are already. You are sweet and thoughtful. You are adventurous and of course, still sassy.

You are currently 36.5 inches tall and weigh about 28 lbs. Your hair is still blond and slowly growing and you eyes are now more greenish than they are blue. They were blue for so long we were convinced you were going to be blue for good, but over the last 6 months or so they have developed a little more green, and I'm actually excited about it. That is one thing I have always loved about myself is my eye color. I love having green eyes, and it is not very common compared to other eye colors, so I always counted myself as special because of it. I hope you see it that way as well.

You love to be outside. You love to explore and are so interested in the world around you. You love running. Dad and I joke that when we have a house we are going to have to put in a track in our backyard with how much you love to run. I have started taking you on "walks" wearing my running gear. You get to run and I chase after you, it's another way for me to get my exercise in. You love holding my hand and running with me, also.

Well, a month before you turned three we decided to try and potty train you again. This was our third attempt. The first two times were pretty rough to say the least and you didn't have a lot of interest in it after the first day or so. This third attempt was proving to be the same. Dad and I had gotten to day three with you. It was a Monday so Dad was going back to school and the morning had not gone well. I had told Dad and myself that if there wasn't any improvement by nap time, I was going to quit again and wait a few more months. While I was sitting at the table eating breakfast, feel discouraged, you went and sat on your potty seat all by yourself and when you were finished, ran into the kitchen yelling, "Mom! I goed pee in the potty!!" I was over the moon excited! I realized that maybe I just needed to give you some space and let you be in charge. Once I changed my tactics, you did great! We still had and still have accidents every now and then, but for the most part, you are my little potty champ. You gave up the potty seat all by yourself and now use the "big potty" exclusively (with a little ring insert so you don't fall in). You have fallen in once so far, which I have to admit I giggled at when I first saw you; you were not as amused, but that has been your only fall so far.

You love to talk, read books, dance and sing. Your favorite songs right now are still a few songs from Frozen, but you are loving the songs from Moana. Some other songs you love are: "I Love to See the Temple" and "Families can be Together Forever".

Your friends you currently play with are Luci McMullin and Liam Tate. Sometimes you and Luci have some power struggles, which makes having play dates hard, but you and Liam get along all the time! We love having these friends so close! As far as your relationship with Haley... it's a little hot and cold. I think you are wanting her to be bigger so you can play and tumble together, but since she is still so little, we are working on appropriate play with each other. Also, sharing has been a bit of an issue, but I was expecting that and we are practicing all the time. You will get the hang of it soon, I'm sure.

This year will have lots of adventures! We have a Glenn family reunion coming up at the end of May. You, Haley and I are going to California to see Na-ma and Papa for a couple weeks in June. We are moving back in with Gigi and Pa-do-work for the month of July and then we will move to our own place in August. Dad will also start his second and final year of grad school in August; and we also have Aunt Cara's wedding coming up in October. I'm sure we will have lots more adventures in between there as well.

Kinley, you are our little sunshine. You make us laugh constantly and we love your laugh as well. We love that you love nursery and learning about Jesus so much. Your prayers right now are so precious and I hope they stay that way. We love you, little sass! Can't wait to see what this next year brings!

Love, Mom

Christmas 2016. We didn't make it to church because Kinley decided to run through the mud...

First time meeting Santa

December 7, 2016

First attempt at potty training... FAIL

Alice, Haley and Kinley

Kinley and Aunt Cara

Friends on a walk. Kinley and Luci

introducing the potty

First time at Temple Square

Papa and Na-ma come to visit

Friends! Kinley and Layla

Eight Months

Miss Haley Lou,

Eight months you certainly are! Happy new month of life, baby girl! This month  has had lots of milestones. You are so happy and bubbly, most of the time. You still love to watch Kinley and you beam from ear to ear whenever you see Dad. You love to be bounced and you love to dance with us. You are getting more vocal which is fun. You have discovered what Dad and I call your "angry scream" and that is exactly what it is. You are one that definitely wears her emotions on her sleeve. When you are upset you have no problem letting us know, loudly! You make sure we know you are present and are ready for some extra loves and attention.


Milstones:

You can sit yourself up from your tummy
You say "ba-ba" and "ma-ma." (that last one is my absolute favorite!)
You have started eating baby puffs
You feed your bottle to yourself
You can almost scoot forward. You are so close to getting it
You can plank (which makes this fitness mamma so happy)
You still lovetummy time
You have two teeth with possibly, one more on the way.
You sleep through the night!

Also, Mom and Dad have moved you into Kinley's room and it has been great! Kinley is so excited to share a room with you and loves taking her nap with you and going to sleep with you. The first few nights took both you and Kinley some getting use to each other, but it has been pretty smooth sailing for the most part, and Mom and Dad are happy to have their room back to themselves.

Your teething toys are your favorite toys right now and you love anything Kinley plays with. We are working on sharing now because of that. You are still in 6 month clothes, but are pretty close to be moving onto 9 month size. I would say in a week or two you will be out of them. We are so excited for some upcoming events. Your first Easter, first plane ride in the summer to see Na-ma and Papa Nunes!

We love you, Hales. You keep us on our toes and your expressive faces always bring smiles and laughs. Can't wait to see what you do next!

Love, Mom

Seven Months

Dear Haley Lou,

Happy seven months little babe! Another month has come and gone and you are growing and showing your personality more and more! Let's start with the stats:

Weight: 16 ish lbs
Teeth: started cutting your first one
New foods tried: turkey and gravy (you were definitely not a fan), kale and banana puffs
Clothing size: 6 months for tops and bottoms
Sleeping: about 10 hours a night with 2 naps in the day time.

Miss Haley, you started cutting your first tooth about 2 weeks ago. I had no idea until a lady at church noticed. But you have been great at reminding me of it ever since. You are a lot more needy these days and can get fussy a lot easier, but Mom realizes this is to be expected, and I love the extra snuggles I can have. You also started  coming up onto your knees during tummy time and you can scoot yourself backwards! We love watching you move and become stronger. One thing you love to do is back yourself into the space between our couch and the floor. There have been a number of times that I have stepped into the kitchen or just away for a minute and come back to find your lower half under the couch. You seem to know that this is entertaining to us because you always giggle when we find you. You are such a character. You are still super smiley, even through all the teething! Right now you like to wake up at  5:00 AM, which isn't my favorite time to start the day, so we are working on pushing that back a bit, but you are sleeping through the night and still taking 2 naps a day, so I won't complain too much. Hopefully, we will be moving you into Kinley's room soon!

One thing we have noticed about you is that your are very curious about everything around you. You grab at everything and Dad and I are always moving things out of your reach that we don't want you to have. You are notorious for grabbing our things and throwing them to the ground. I can already tell that you are going to be my mischievous one. The one that is crawling in and out of my cupboards and making messes all along your path. I can see it in your eyes, if I end up being right I'll just look back on this letter and giggle to myself and you will know that mother's intuition is no joke!

We love you little Haley! Happy seven months sweet girl! Can't wait to see what next month brings!


Love,

Mom

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