Visit from our Seattleite

My older sister got to come for a visit last week and meet her newest niece!  It was such a blessing to have Paige here. We had beautiful sunny weather for Paige to soak up her vitamin D.  And any trip from WA is not complete without a visit to Chick Fil A (they don't have them up there).  Paige is great with kiddos. She put Maggie down like a champ several times and entertained Emma non-stop! Park trips, walks, legos and Elmo were just a few of the things on our list.  Paige also took lots of pictures of the girls and I, but we didn't get many of her with them. :-( 

The week flew by too fast and before we knew it, we were heading back to the airport.  So thankful that Paige was able to visit and that Jacob and Jonathan could let us borrow their Mom/Wife for so long.  Paige was already working on Emma to come see the whales in Washington to which Emma was estatic!

Aunt Paige with Emma, Feb 2011

Aunt Paige with Maggie in same outfit, October 2012

 

Aunt Paige with 'The Girls'



 Thanks again Aunt Paige!  Love you!!

4 Months

Maggie had her four month appt today.  Feels like we were just at the hospital having her.  She is doing great. She's smiling, laughing, rolling from side to side. She's a pretty content baby which I am thankful for daily.  And she is also pretty quiet most of the time.  I think she is starting to like the sound of her voice and makes these baby dinosaur sounds.  I'm also noticing her desire to interact with us more... like if I turn my face away she'll make a sound sometimes and then when I look back at her, she smiles.  So cute.

Her hair has thinned significantly on the sides, providing her a baby mohawk look for the time being.  Emma's did this too but since she had lighter hair it wasn't as noticeable.  Will it come back in blonde??  Only time will tell.  Billy had dark hair until almost a year and then went blonde for a few years before returning to his darker shades so we'll see if Maggie follows suit. 

Maggie is sleeping 8-10 hours a night and would take 3 naps a day if we were home all day long.  Normally it turns into two longer naps since life calls us to leave the house.  She is a good napper and will still fall asleep in my arms, if needed.  She is nursing 6 times a day and is still quite the effective eater she was at birth.  Here's her latest stats:

Weight:  13 lbs (45%)

Height: 23.5" (25%)

Head: 16.6" (80%) 

Sweet Maggie Moo

 

Kansas Cousin Camp & Missouri

We survived our first big trip with the girls. We decided to make a trip up to the Kansas City area to see my sister and her family to celebrate our nephews 1st birthday. Billy also has his Grandma/Aunt & Uncle relatively close so we were able to plan to visit them as well!

Emma and Maggie did pretty well on the plane(s). Maggie wasn't sure what was going on during our way up there but only cried for about 15 minutes. Emma just had lots of fun and enjoyed all her goodies. The trip home was even better but Emma did get fussy when we took away the iPad. Why don't toddlers understand that we have to turn off all electronics for landing. :-)

On our way to Kansas

 It was great to see Mer, Ryan and Austin.  They are settled into their new home in Leavenworth and have already been hosting visitors. We quickly realized that we were not going to get to do as much as we wanted to do because of having three kids under 2 but we still had a great visit.  Eastern Kansas is beautiful.  Way more scenic than I expected.  Mer and Ryan made this trip so easy for us by having tons of stuff that we would've had to bring; pack-n-plays, Carseat, etc. They spoiled Emma and even celebrated her birthday early when we did Austin's.  It will be fun to see these cousins grow up together and we've already started discussing future trips when the kids are older.

 

Cousin Camp, October 2012

T-Rex Cafe, Emma loved the dinosaurs!

Stroller Gang

Everyone bounce on Uncle Ryan!

 

Grandma, Aunt Beverly & Uncle Dennis live about 2 hours east of the Welch family.  We were able to spend the better part of a day visiting with them and introducing Emma to country life. She loved the cows across the street from the Stobie's house. She also loved their stairs and the button drawer. Even though it was a quick visit it was wonderful to see everyone and introduce them to Maggie. 

Grandma with two of her Great Granddaughters

Billy and girls with Aunt Bev, Uncle Dennis & Grandma

 

All in all it was a great trip and Emma did very good despite not getting the naps she still needs and being in new surroundings. We loved getting to see our families and look forward to the next visit.

Bruce Family, Kansas Trip 2012

Dallas Zoo

So we decided to hit up the zoo a few weekends ago.  Emma loves her animals but it was fun to see her reaction to how the real-life versions compare to the ones she's use to seeing in books.  This was Emma's second trip to the zoo.  We went with her last year just after she turned one.  Here's a picture:

 

 

This time we were packing a little more baggage and a bigger stroller:

 

 

We didn't set our expectations high since it was still part of the hot season.  But we got there first thing in the morning and made it until lunch time.  Emma had a great time in the Safari area and the Kid's Zoo.  She didn't even flinch when we fed the giraffes!  She loved seeing the lions too. 

 

 

 

Yes... my child was that child with only her diaper on... we didn't bring a change of clothes and so we shed them to keep them dry for later.  A lesson learned for future trips. 

 

 

Maggie did great!  She slept thru most of the excitement but she had fun hearing updates from her big sister.