A sappy Anniversary post

How did I get so lucky that he picked me?

How did I get so lucky to have such amazing in-laws?

How does he put up with me all the time?

How was it been 9 years since our wedding?

How is it possible that we have our own little family?

How can I be a better wife to a wonderful and patient husband?

 How is he such an amazing father to our two children?

How could I possibly love him anymore than I already do.

 Happy Anniversary Evan! You love me through all of my faults and I love you through all of yours. I'm proud to be your wife and the mother to your children. You're the best!

11 months

Caroline at 11 months is predictable, happy, laughing and a very smart little girl.

Skills: Signing more, drink and saying all done and pointing at what she wants more of. She says light and duck. She is very good at pulling herself to a stand on pretty much everything and loves to climb over obstacles. (through the chairs under the table) She can give hugs and high fives.  She now also "sings along" when we sing out of her 'You are my Sunshine' book. It is so cute!

Caroline is nursed twice a day. Once in the morning and once at night. She no longer takes a bottle but all of her milk is given to her in a sippy cup usually with her meals.

Caroline sleeps from about 7:30 pm- 7ish am. Sometimes earlier and sometimes later. She still sleeps with her harness on at night with no issues. Recently she has been waking up around 5 or 5:30 am although we are unsure if this is because of the harness or if her diaper is just wet. (she always goes right back to sleep)

She still sucks on her two middle fingers on her right hand while sleeping.

Caroline also takes 2 naps a day. The first around 9:30 am and the second around 2:30 pm. She typically sleeps for 90 minutes or longer.

Likes: Bathtime is still Caroline's favorite time of day. She also really likes to eat. She probably eats as much as Liam does if not more on some days. How she is so tiny I have no idea. She loves crackers, oatmeal, yogurt, cheese, beans and toast. All of her fruit and most veggies. Caroline likes to be tickled and has the heartiest laugh. She still adores big brother but has become a bit more vocal if he is doing something she doesn't like. She also LOVES daddy. She gets so excited when he comes home from work and also when we wake him up in the morning. She usually starts waving her hand right away and jumping up and down in my arms. This morning I put her on the bed and she crawled over to him and then just laid her head down on his stomach with a giant smile on her face. (so sweet)

Dislikes: Being ignored, big brother when he is doing something she doesn't like, not having any food while in her highchair and being taken away from something (dog bowls).

How has a year flown by? I can't believe our little girl is almost 1 year old!

Brotherly antics

I guess at the old age of 4 1/2  is the perfect time to start messing with your sister.

Example #1

I was trying to teach Caroline the sign language for "thank you" which is fingers on your chin/mouth and then out towards the person you are thanking. Liam decides to teach Caroline "thank you" by patting his head and then raising his hand to the air.

Example #2

Today I was trying to teach Caroline how to show on her fingers how old she is. (which will be 1) So I was holding up my pointer finger and Liam kept showing her his thumb. Then his pinky. Then his middle finger (ack!) which he probably doesn't really know what that means anyway but let's seriously not teach her that!

Example #3

Liam had a couple of pillows on the floor and was jumping either on top of them or over them in a very exuberant 4 year old manner. He encouraged Caroline to do the same so she crawled onto the pillows, then crawled off and laid down just like Liam had been doing when he was jumping over them.

I guess this will be the new norm for us. Liam teasing, taunting and teaching Caroline all sorts of things that are incorrect. If only I had had some older siblings that had done this to me. I could give Caroline all sorts of advice on how to ignore them. But all of my sweet sisters were angels. (sarcasm inserted here)

Yes, this is an action shot of Liam pushing Caroline in her swing WAY too hard.