six months

Happy half birthday (a day late) Paige! 

^I was trying to stop her from rolling during all the other photos 

Size: So last month I was looking at Paige's diaper situation more closely and made the realization we switched to size 3 too soon. However, I didn't go get any size 2 and now we think she really should be in size 3. All this to say, she's probably going to be in this size longer than "normal". I can tell she's growing though because some 6 month clothes are getting tighter and she's in some 12 month pieces (like the onesie in these pictures, but it's Gerber and they tend to run on the smaller side). I won't have official weight and height till the 14th, which I'll add here after her appointment.
*Update 12/14: weight: 16.62 lbs (55%) and length: 26.5" (67%)

Eating: We gave her a bottle more this month. She still kind of "plays" around with it for the first bit before getting serious about eating. I finally gave her a bottle, too - before it had just been Steven, and  she took it from me the same as she does with him. I love that she's really efficient at breastfeeding though...when she's not getting distracted with Ellie or a show Ellie's watching. I sometimes need to feed her in her room so she can focus! This next week we will introduce solids. Still no sign of a tooth coming through, however she may be acting like it.? We are very unsure on any teething "signs" until we actually see a tooth, because we thought or blamed things on teething with Ellie from this age till she finally got one two at age 1!! We shall see...

Sleep: This girl is keeping us on our toes in the sleep department. We will get a good system in place and then she'll not like the time I put her down. I have been putting her down about a hour and half after she wakes. So she'd get about 3 naps in a day. However, ever so often she won't like going down for a third nap, but then other days, she'll take three 2 hour naps! She is starting to wake more often, on average, at 6:30am (otherwise I'll wake her, at the latest by 7). Even going off a semi routine morning wake up time, the day would play out so different on some days. I do the same sleep routine every time and I'm careful on what she's exposed to before we even start the routine (loud noises, being tickled, etc). Bedtime is on average 6:30pm and she sleeps great through the night, waking rarely for a quick diaper change in the early morning, and goes back to sleep well. I have started playing with the time she's awake for and only doing two naps. Some days it works, some days it totally backfires. Also, some times she'll take longer to fall asleep and cry a little more, like I'm not hitting the right time. Plus, she'll spit up a bit in her crib, which is uncomfortable to sleep in of course. So, we'll need to go in, clean her/the spot and slide her in a different area. That of course disturbs her sleep. The only time I feed her close to a sleep time is at bedtime, so I can't really do much different to help her not spit up. Though, she does 1.5-2 hour naps despite it being a little difficult going to sleep. Needless to say, we've been in a hard spot figuring out what she requires to thrive off of.
*Update from when I wrote this a few days ago:
Paige has done 2 naps the last 4 days and it has all gone better than before! Now, lets hope it sticks...

Ellie was soo easy with sleep at 5 months and on. She woke around the same time every morning (sometimes we woke her), and her naps would be around the same time every day: wake at 6:30am on average, nap #1 around 9am - sleep for about 2 hours, nap #2 around 2 - sleep for about 2 hours and bedtime at latest 7pm. Plus, she would be happy going down/waking pretty much every single time. It's hard not to compare. It's just when you had it so great the first time, you want it to work the same again! I'm learning to not compare and realize we have two different kids ; ).

Milestones/Accomplishments:
- Rolling every which way, all the time
- Shifting to the right and left, kind of like crawling, but not...
She will not be in the same spot you put her down in for long!
- Scooting legs under her for a moment or two; trying to crawl
- Sitting better independently/unsupported, but does need you close by of course to catch her tumbles

Likes:
- Having her tongue out and kind of licking her gums/lips
- Dancing/being bounced around in your arms
- Being sung to. I love how it will catch her attention, calm her down if she's fussy and make her smile. And by no means do I have a great singing voice
- Putting anything and everything into her mouth! Loves her toes during diaper changes especially
- Peek-a-boo
- Kicking in the bathtub - she makes some good splashes ; )

Dislikes:
- Holding still for diaper and clothes changes. Anything with buttons are a bit tricky with her legs moving and her desire to roll!
- Not being able to watch the tv. We'll turn her away from it and she'll strain so hard to look back at it. And when you've done this a few times she'll start getting really fussy!
- When a toy she wants is just out of arms reach. She wants to crawl to it so bad (and she tries), but when she realizes she's not really getting closer she can start to get fussy

Additional things I want to remember:
How laughs are hard to get out of her. She makes us work for those sweet sounds.

Her bald spot has been going strong, haha. The hair below it, around her neck, is the darkest hair she has and it looks hilarious right under her bald spot. Plus, she has more hair growing on top than the sides...if she was a boy, she'd have a great faux hawk. It is starting to grow in that bald spot though!

One evening Paige was fussy in the car and Ellie reached over to her, trying to pat her and says to her, "It's okay Paige, it's okay." And Ellie started singing some random, made up song to her and it calmed Paige down. When Ellie stopped, Paige would kind of start up again, but when Ellie started singing again, it worked again.

She still likes her fingers, but doesn't really use them, from what we can tell, to fall asleep with like Ellie did.

A note:
Ever since Paige came out into the world my heart has grown with the amount of love I can carry. Holding her for the first time and every day since has made my heart swell. Becoming a parent to another beautiful girl is sometimes beyond what words can express. The thankfulness I have to God is abundant. The days can be exhausting, not only because they are busy with doing "things", but because I'm trying to do what I can to raise happy and loved girls. Some days I stretch myself thin and fail at what I'm actually trying to do well at, but I hope these girls know that we love them so much.

November photo favorites

I can't believe the month of November is over! Time is going fast for me! Our girls are having more and more personality...and attitude if I'm being honest HA! But November, the month of Thanksgiving, time to reflect on all I'm grateful for - there's a lot. Our family of 4 is challenging at times, but I love these big and little people I get to share life with!

^ Steven made this adorable paper Olaf and turkey (named Squanto by Ellie, after a turkey in one of her books) for/with Ellie one day. Pretty talented guy!

^ This is Ellie focusing so hard, trying to nurse her baby! I could not get over her grabbing a nursing cover, and sitting down to feed her baby. At first she was wearing a dress but it was too hard lifting it up with the cover and getting her baby under there. The "dress needed to come off!" She had done the same thing a couple days before as well (which was her first time impersonating this). 

^One afternoon she was playing in her bed, looking at an instruction sheet and sucking her fingers - had to capture

^Quite often at night Ellie puts her arm/hand on her side rail like this and will fall asleep. How is that comfortable and how does her arm not fall asleep?

^Ellie loves to wear my sunglasses!

This spider was up by our front door one day. Steven looked up and at first thought it was a leaf and at a second glance realized it was a SPIDER! This thing was huge- no joke. We had never seen one like this before, but we also figured it was pregnant. Well, we took no shame in squishing that thing, after we took these photos. Thank goodness Steven saw this before it laid all those babies! UGH!

^FIRST date night since Paige was born!! We did dinner at a local pizza place and then we tried dessert at our new Black Bear Diner - yummy food. We laughed a lot that night and enjoyed our time, just the two of us.

^Ellie playing doctor. Paige was a good patient ; )

This shirt was mine as a baby! It is so wide, and looks like there are shoulder pads, haha. With a cardigan it looked quite cute, even though it covered up those sweet back details...

Ellie was really excited to make this "ginger house" (she calls it a gingerbread house now). Of course we all snuck candy to eat during the process and had to taste test the frosting a couple times. It was a fun activity we all did together!

A local donut/coffee shop does a thing called 'Tasty Tales' every Tuesday. They read several books while you can enjoy a discount donut, milk or coffee. Ellie and I were able to leave daddy and Paige at home, while we met up with some friends here. It was fun. (And donuts do seem to make an appearance on here often, but it's a special treat for Ellie, and us. We really limit Ellie on treats and artificial sugar at home - if any of you wonder...)

^ Thanksgiving! The struggle of picture taking with a toddler and a baby!

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^Ellie made these lego "towers". She informed me however that "the big one is daddy and the little one is me (Ellie)!"

^Hands in the mouth all the time. She likes this chair a lot. When she kicks her feet it makes it bounce

five months

^big sister wanted to join in on the pictures as well ; )

Size: Wearing size 3 diapers and clothes ranging in size from 6-9 months and some 6-12 sized clothes.

Eating: Nothing really new to put in this category. The only thing she is getting is her mama's milk. She is very interested in our food and drinks, but we are waiting till she's 6 months to give her anything else (recommended by her doctor).

Sleep: This last month we sleep trained Paige, loosely following the Ferber Method. We had sleep trained Ellie when she was around 5 months old and it worked really well. Paige all together had been sleeping better than Ellie at this age, and it seemed like a good time to make this move. Paige was swaddled, using a pacifier to help relax/put her to sleep, all while we were holding/swaying her to sleep before we put her in her crib. It wasn't a hard process and she would go to sleep and stay asleep great at night, but naps were not great at all. They would range in length from 30 minutes - 2 hours, but more than not they were on the short side. Every once in awhile she would put herself back to sleep. It was wearing on me and we wanted to create better sleep habits for her all together.
The first couple days of sleep training were a bit rough, to be expected, but each night got better. Naps were a slower start, however she does great now. It usually takes her less than 10 minutes to fall asleep. Sometimes she chats, makes some noise, and may whimper/cry for a min, then drifts off to sleep. She usually prefers to roll to her tummy and sleep that way. She is also favoring both her index and middle finger to suck on at the same time- going back and fourth with those fingers on her right and left hand - not sure if she'll pick a specific side or even stick to those fingers. And now her naps (2-3 a day) are 1-2.5 hours most days. Her bedtime is 6pm, on average. At night she does 9 hours straight on average. Her wake time in the morning varies, but hopefully soon I can find a good time to consistently wake her (or she may even start waking at a more consistent time on her own). This way the day can be more predictable. Now, I just go off her wake times and make sure to put her down to sleep after an hour and a half or no later than 2 hours after.
Her sleep routine looks like this:
-Nurse in her room (if bedtime) with all lights on
-Diaper change (and change into pjs, if bedtime), with just side table light on
-Put in sleep sack
-Read a short book or two
-Stand and sway for a minute
-Lay down in crib awake
-Turn on sound machine to white noise and turn off side table light

Milestones/Accomplishments:
-Rolling consistently from back to tummy
-Sleep trained
-Finally found her toes
-Sits well with support around her sides
-Grabs her toys and brings to mouth really well
-No more pacifier
-Opens her mouth big and leans toward you for kisses sometimes

Likes:
-Toy zebra that hangs on carseat (Ellie loved it, too when she was a baby)
-You blowing raspberries on her, anywhere
-Rocking in the chair with Ellie
-(this one could have been on a few updates prior) Loves listening/watching people talk
-Attention! She will brighten up with any form of this from Ellie, daddy and me. She does take a little warming up to strangers, but a good smile to her will do her good!
-Touching faces
-Sucking on index and middle finger at same time - on both hands, but at different times

Dislikes:
There aren't really any new dislikes that I can think of...

Additional things I want to remember: Her eye color is brown, like mine (and I hope they stay this way!). Her thigh rolls - still so chubby and cute. How she'll babble on and on. Her grabbiness with book pages. How she'll also look up back at me while I'm reading to her.

October photo favorites

Trying to take advantage of these last mild temp days, spending time as our family of four and with friends! There's so many holidays in these next few months that bring people together, too! 

One afternoon as I was getting Paige ready for nap I noticed Ellie was being particularly quiet in her room. So I went to see what she was up to. Well, she had gotten into her (new) big girl bed and was fast sleep. I usually put Ellie down for her nap a little after Paige, but I guess this day she was really tired and decided to go into bed/sleep on her own. We always read and cuddle for a few before I put her down, but I didn't need to this time and she slept her normal length nap as well. 

I will add, this was the only time she has done this...so far. And, she didn't want her pillow/side in bed to be on the "proper" side for awhile, but now it's switched around. 

^ Ellie just leaned over and wanted to cuddle with me while we watched a show together. 

Love it when she does this. 

^ Steven has been taking Ellie out on her bike a little and I guess she's not totally into striding herself just yet! She looks so grown up to me...almost threenager!

^Was able to snap another sleeping picture on a different day. Love it when I can sneak one in before she wakes up!

Soaking up these beautiful fall days with some walks with our little family. 

Picture below shows Ellie checking out some ducks in the water and holding a leaf. 

All on her own she has been enjoying picking up fall leaves and bringing them home. 

^Got to celebrate one of my best friends and her little baby girl on the way. Paige and her are going to besties! (Also, I am wearing a tank top under my Moby wrap, even though it doesn't look like it! ha)

^ALWAYS wanting to dress up like a ballerina (can you guess what she'll be for Halloween?!?) and dance with her daddy!

^Ellie quite often asks for me to put Paige by her in the chair so they can rock together. Paige loves it, too - as you can tell. Melt my mama heart!

^Steven took Ellie to her FIRST trip to the dentist. They call them "Happy Visits" where we go. However, there were some fearful tears shed. But overall she did well and her teeth are looking good! 

^Our friend Shaina invited us over to play in their leaves. Ellie enjoyed herself.

 Below are more pictures of the girls in the rocking chair. Ellie wanted to hold Paige's hand, too!! I couldn't pick just one from the several I took, because each one captures a little something different and sweet that I want to remember. 

^And that same afternoon Ellie wanted to join in on story time with Paige (before Paige's nap). I wasn't paying close attention to the whole shot, and I cut off the second page of the book that says 'What a wonderful world'. It truly is a wonderful life that I'm living. Even though there's not so wonderful events occurring on the regular in the world, I can still see the beauty in it and am so grateful to be living the life I do. Thank you God!

Another walk with my gang

^A walk with the ladies and kids from our life group at church!

^Ellie got this My Little Pony mask from a McDonald's kids meal and I find it hilarious when she puts it on! 

^First picture captured of Paige sleeping after being sleep trained! She is doing super well with it all - not perfect, but SOOO much better than she was! 

(more details on her sleep will be in her 5 month update post in a couple days)

Happy Halloween!

^Ellie posed like this all on her own! 

^She did have a hard time looking at the camera; kept looking at me and Paige! haha

Our friends had a TV show themed party!

Steven: Burt Macklin (Parks & Recreation) and Me: Rachel Green (Friends)

The girls were obviously their own thing, but we had fun putting ours together. 

 After I posed for the above picture, Ellie wanted her pictures taken (below photos) again and she was so cute posing!