Whew......has it been THAT long since I posted last?
Oh boy...life is busy. Scratch that....nuts....but we're having fun!
House is coming together beautifully! We are LOVING having an extra (almost) 2000 square feet of living space. I can't remember what life was like when we lived in the current house only. Wow!
The basement is open for business....it's TOY CITY down there. Toys, swing set, music.....about 800 square feet of open space for the two little one's to run, jump, dance and burn off some of their energy.
So much to update on the kiddo's.....where to start?
Ruby is doing amazing. This little peanut was topping the scales at over 12lbs when she was only 1 month! GULP!
She is eating a ton (4-6 oz per bottle) and just started sleeping for longer stretches which makes me a very happy mommy. Last night she slept from 9:30pm-4:30am!!!
She is smiling now, I believe it's not involuntary but on purpose. She gets very excited and kicks her little legs when you talk to her.
She loves the bath!
She is really, really strong. She was 6 weeks when she started sitting up in the Bumbo chair! She likes it too...it allows her to look around.
We go in next week for an ultrasound on her hips....she has metatarsus adductus which basically means she was positioned in utero where her feet were quite squished. Therefore, she has a pretty severe "turn in" with her feet and so we have to do exercises with her feet every diaper change. The Dr then thought we should check out her hips because with the metatarsus adductus.....hip dspylasia is also common. Ugh!
I'll post more on Miss Ruby's toes too.....but we have an update on that front as well.
All in all......this baby girl is a true gift and answer to our prayers. She is so beautiful, cuddly, lovey, and brings SO much joy to us. She just needs to stop growing so fast!!!!!
The Twins
They are loving their little sister.....Hudson especially. He can't be left alone with her....EVER! He just can't contain himself and wants to smother her with kisses!
They are really starting to talk.....Harper's vocabulary expands daily. It's unreal. From all I've read, girls do speak a bit earlier than boys and that's been true in this case. Not worried about Hudson, he's catching on daily. His sister is giving him a run for his money.....she is really a talker!!!
Their top words are mommy and daddy....
Hudson says: mommy, daddy, dog, bee, hot, banana (nana), Hi, Bye Bye, Baa (sheep)
Harper says: water, agua, mommy, daddy, me, Hudson, Sister, Dog, Hot, More, Milk, Up, No, Please, banana, apple, Uvas (grape in spanish), Hi, Bye Bye
I'm sure I missed a ton....because basically every word you tell her to say, she says.
Other than talking a ton.....we've entered into a tantrum phase. UGH! Hudson gets VERY frustrated lately and is physical. He hits the object or hits anything in his path....but it's usually contained to that physical act. Harper on the other hand, she throws a tantrum that lasts FOR.EV.ER!!!
We've been ignoring them....but I"m not sure it's helping. I jumped on Amazon this week and ordered "Happiest Toddler On The Block" because I'm beside myself! It's pretty rediculous how upset she gets....over nothing!
So, the good and the bad. We're working through it. There have been a lot of changes in our home: home remodel, new baby and so I have to believe that they've suffered a little stress with the changes.
Lastly......our last BIG change is that we have a new family member! Ivonne is our new au pair and arrived to our home on Oct 21st from Bogata, Columbia. She is awesome! Ivonne is a kindergarten teacher in Columbia but wanted to better her English so she decided to become an au pair in America for a year. We matched with her in August and though we had to say a VERY sad goodbye to our wonderful auntie Katie who was with us every Wed and Fri and our amazing Steph who was with us Mon, Tue and Thurs. this arrangement has been great.
Ivonne lives in the basement bedroom and with the remodel, we were able to give her her own bathroom and living space. She is awesome with the kids and it's been SO fun having her teach us about her culture. The kids have started picking up spanish already. I feel very fortunate to have help with me all of the time! We're getting her accostumed to American living....we've hit up the Mall of America (which blew her away), Target several times and have introduced her to all kinds of new foods including peanut butter. Can you imagine a life without peanut butter??? She didn't know what she was missing!
We've had some good laughs. Last night when I asked her to grab Hudson another fork....she gave him more beans, a napkin and then finally a fork because we couldn't communicate the correct item. Ha!
Her english is really good....but every once in a while we get stuck in trying to communicate which ends up in a ton of laughter!
Lots of changes! A BIG picture post next time with Halloween pics of the adorable kids and pics of beautiful Ruby Anna!
Smurf Family on Halloween 2011
Baby Smurfette
Playing SO nice together.....for the second anyway!
Extreme Daddy Close- Up
Little Yogi's....practicing Downward Dog
Harper accessorizing
Proud BIG brother
The twins in their Columbia shirts, gifts from Ivonne
The 3 deer in headlights look.....Ha!
Happy Baby!
Giddy Up Kingston
Bathing Beauty
Oreo Smiles
We learned these two are the perfect pair....Hudson loves the cookie and Harper loves the creme!
Scary flash! Us on Thanksgiving!
Holding hands on the way home from Grandma's.....I love this!
