February

We decided to have a little superbowl party with some of our neighbors as well as my sister and her friend, Emily. 

There was 5 kids 2 and under and 8 adults in our little house. 

You really missed out if you weren't there :)

I think most if not all of us were rooting for the falcons, but I could be wrong about that?

I'll take any excuse to make some decorations with my cricut.

I learned how to write with my cricut, and figured this was the perfect reason to try it out. How cool is that?!

In the midst of the chaos these two snuck away to Hudson's room to play. 

It was adorable. These two are best friends one moment and fighting over a toy and hitting each other the next. It's brotherly love. I tell ya.

Just like any other holiday, Valentine's day is more fun when you have children.

We went to open gym in the morning, spent a little bit of time outside, and enjoyed the love day.

I don't think we were cute enough parents to get our children anything, but I did make them some shirts. That should count for something, right?

Carly and I shared a design and made shirts for the kids. 

Fun fact: Hudson is 2 months younger than Kaiden and Ella is 2 months younger than Emma. 

That brotherly love (insert heart eye emoji)

Ella had 2 Valentine's Day outfits because she spits up so much that I knew one outfit wouldn't be enough haha. 

Really though I got this "my first Valentine's Day" onesie on clearance last year. It might possibly have been meant for a boy to wear it? Either way I had to take a picture. 

Taylor came home from work with some chocolate covered strawberries for me.

Hudson promptly demanded one and got chocolate drool all over his white shirt. 

We won't talk about how it was before we were able to get a picture of the kids together..

My parents mom got Hudson these glasses and some chocolates, and she got Ella a little stuffed bear? Dog? A stuffed something that was red and white and valentiney.

Hudson wore these all over the place for a while including outside to go play.

This picture makes me want to remind him that they exist again.

Date night this month was a combined birthday and Valentine's date.

We ate at the Roadhouse (no surprise there considering it was Taylor's choice and we still had a gift card), and we went and saw Fantastic Beasts in the cheap theater.

Taylor turned the big 26 on the 19th. I say the big 26 because it means he got kicked off his parents' health insurance hahaha. He got a basketball he's been wanting for a long time, and a sub for his truck.

Other random less significant but I still want to have documented moments from the month: 

I taught myself how to make matching bows and bow ties thanks to a little help from pinterest, and I've spent quite a bit of time making them lately. 

Ella had her 4 month check up at the beginning of the month, and I couldn't resist this comparison picture of the two of them at the same appointment.

Dinners with the Bushes that lead to toddlers with nerf guns are kind of my favorite.

It's both hilarious and terrifying all at the same time.

Getting released from the primary presidency means these two get to have some more best friend time. It won't be long until Ella is sitting up playing with Emma.

We're getting to the point where Hudson is starting to say some cute and funny things even though he really doesn't talk much still. Eventually this will probably become its own blog post, but we have a ways to go before he talks enough for that. So here we go with "Hudson says huh?"

At church one Sunday Hudson handed a teddy graham to a little boy sitting in the pew in front of us. After handing him the teddy graham Hudson said to the little boy, "What do you say? Thank you."

We told Hudson to go brush his teeth and on the way to the bathroom he was saying
"sun beam" and jumping when he said beam. It took me a second to realize what he was doing, but he was singing Jesus Wants me for a Sunbeam to himself. It was absolutely adorable. I hadn't ever sang that song with him, so that shows he is learning a lot at nursery.

12 Months of Ella// Month 5

Weight: 15 pounds

Height: Around 26 inches

Diapers: Size 2

Clothes: she still has some 0-3 month clothes, but she is also starting to fit into 3-6 and 6 months clothing.

Sleeping: Her sleep is fairly unpredictable. She still usually takes 3 naps a day- shorter morning nap, long afternoon nap, and shorter evening nap. Some nights she is up twice while other nights she only gets up once. Some nights it takes me 1-2 hours to get her back to sleep and other nights she goes right back down. She goes to bed between 7 and 8 and that is pretty predictable. She typically has an hour or just over an hour of awake time before she is ready for another nap. After her last nap of the day is probably her longest awake period. She is up for the day around 8. It just depends when the last time she ate was. She is still swaddled for sleep, but that needs to change asap because she has rolled over while swaddled.

Eating: If Ella is not swaddled and going to sleep, then she is a pretty crappy eater. She gets so distracted that she'll only eat 2 ounces at a time even though she is hungry, so she usually only gets fed if she is going to sleep. It still works out to be around 4 ounces every 3 hours. I'm excited to start solids this coming month!

Milestones: Ella is doing things her own way and rolled from back to belly on January 22nd. Most babies roll from belly to back first, but she has spent a long time trying to get her over her arms. She spends a whole lot of time rolling to her belly these days. She just rolled from her belly to her back the first time this morning. She found her feet just in the last week. She had her first Valentine's Day.

Likes: playing with toys/ being swaddled for sleeping/ grabbing onto everything and anything (toys, hair, shirts, etc./ rolling over

Dislikes: not being able to roll off of her belly/ getting splashed in the face in the tub/

Personality: She has really become so intrigued and interested in everything. If you have her on your lap, then she will lunge at anything you're holding to try to get her mouth on it. She is super smiley, but she doesn't laugh a ton.

I am continually amazed at how different Ella is from Hudson as a baby. By her age Hudson was sitting up on his own for short periods of time, and she does not sit up on her own at all. Hudson was super ticklish and laughed so easily, but it can take some serious work to get a laugh out of Ella. I can't wait to see their differences shine through even more in their personalities.

Of course she struggles more the time I go to record her than she normally does, and who knows what Hudson is saying no to haha. 

Hudson's 5 month update can be found here.

Parenthood is..

..microwaving a teddy graham repeatedly because your toddler demands it.

..sleeping on the floor for a night because your son refuses to sleep unless you are near him.

..hearing "Hi Elwa! Hiiii. Hiiii." and seeing your son laying on the floor with his sister petting her head and giving her kisses.

..being spit up on repeatedly.

..swearing that you are never ever ever having another child in the middle of the night, but then waking up in the morning and thinking you might have another two or twenty of these ridiculously cute children you make.

..putting a toddler back in bed for the 15th time in an hour.

..rolling a baby back onto her back countless times in a day.

..pouring milk in a bowl so your son can drink/eat it with a spoon.

..getting heart melting kisses and hugs.

..having boogers purposely wiped on your shirt.

..having your son hi-yah his sister right in the face.

..spending 10 minutes trying to figure out what it is your toddler wants from the kitchen only to have him take one bite of the food you finally figured out he wanted and never touch it again.

..letting your child have ice cream cake for breakfast because some battles aren't worth fighting sometimes.

..being the only one in what seems like the world who can get your daughter to sleep.

..knowing the tickle spots that get the best laughs.

..wanting a break and then missing your children 5 minutes after you leave the house.

..the best and worst thing you've ever gotten yourself into, but would never want to get yourself out of.

January

Am I the only one that feels like January was forever long? Maybe it's because we're really trying to stick to a budget and I was ready for the next month to start so our budget would reset. Or maybe it's because we kept getting inches and inches of never ending snow. Either way I am so glad the month is over. 

Thankfully January wasn't all bad, and we did manage to have some good times. 

Hudson and Ella's relationship continues to grow and develop. 

He'll let us place her on his couch with him as long as she isn't touching him. 

He'll hold her and lay with her on occasion.

The second that he hears Ella waking up and making noise he runs to her room, opens the door, runs to her, and say "hi Elwa" over and over again.

Now that Ella has started to play with some toys, Hudson has started to take her toys from her and say "mine" with a big grin on his face.

Basically, the fun of having two kids less than two years apart is just beginning.

I redid our ward's primary board for the new year's theme just in time to get released from the primary presidency. I have a lot of fun doing the bulletin board and being in primary, so I am really going to miss this calling.

Hudson discovered how to get to the camera when my phone is locked. 

It has led to lots of selfies and 3 second long videos of the couch or other random things.

Just because he's really cute, and he is growing and changing every time we blink.

Our date night this month was dinner at the Roadhouse and ice skating at the local rink.

It was my first time ice skating, and it was tons of fun.

It was also our first date without kids or without anyone doubling with us since Hudson was born. I have no idea how we managed to go so long without a date, but needless to say we are not letting that much time go by without a date again.

I was relieved that I didn't fall down at all, but I think having my handsome husband's hand helped with that.

I woke up one day and decided I didn't love the color of our living room anymore. 

A few days after I made the decision I found myself buying paint and repainting the whole thing.

I feel like I've been on a big "if I don't love it, then I'm changing it or getting rid of it" kick lately.

Maybe it's because of the new year, but either way I kind of love having this attitude about things.

The first picture is the color it was and the second picture is the color I painted it.

The new color is lighter in person, and I love that it has brightened up the room.

The biggest thing that happened in January was trading in our beloved crossover for a minivan.

It was a really sad day driving away from our Journey because I LOVED that car.

I definitely plan on getting another Journey after I'm done with car seats and kids have moved out.

The saddest part might be that our Journey was only listed on the dealership's website for a few days before it was sold. It didn't even last a week!

We knew we were going to trade it in one day, so after stewing on the idea for a few weeks we figured why not do it now considering cars only go down in value. 

When we saw this van with heated seats and navigation we jumped on the opportunity to upgrade. We had a remote start put on the car, and it is now perfect for us.

We're planning a big trip towards the end of this year, and it will be so nice to have the van for it.

I'm fully embracing my new life as a minivan momma. Now bring on all the babies ;)

I am so ready to move onto spring and the rest of the year.

We have something exciting that I will be doing for our family in the coming months, and I can't wait! (and no it isn't another baby)

12 Months of Ella// Month 4

Weight: 14 pounds give or take (Height and weight will be updated after her appointment on Monday) 13 pounds 14 ounces officially at appointment

Height: 24ish inches- 25 inches officially at appointment

Diapers: Size 2

Clothes: 0-3 months & 3 months. 3-6 months are way too big.

Sleeping: She take 3 naps a day. Her morning and evening naps are usually around an hour with her afternoon nap being about 3 hours. She goes to bed anywhere between 7 and 8 depending on how tired she is, and she wakes up closer to 8. She is usually up at least once a night, but she has slept through the night quite a few times. We typically have a pretty good battle at getting her to sleep, and she will wake up a few times before she is asleep for the night. She still sleeps in her rock n play.. Any advice on getting her out of it would be great. We have a blanket under her mattress, so that it props her up, but she still won't sleep in the crib. She does spit up worse on the rare occurrences that we get her to sleep in her crib, so I don't know if it's still her acid reflux that makes it hard for her to sleep in the crib or what.

Eating: 4 ounces every 3 hours.

Milestones: She got her ears pierced! It's quite possibly the most adorable thing ever to see her in earrings. She has started to giggle. We are still waiting on the full on laughing, but I will take her little giggles any time. We're still waiting for her to roll over either way. She doesn't really seem to have a desire to move at all. Hudson was rolling over both ways by now, so it goes to show how every child is different. She has also started to interact with toys quite a bit-mostly the play mat. A different kind of milestone is that she no longer screams when you take her out of the bath tub. She was even giggling the other day as I got her out of the tub and wrapped in a towel. For some reason this to me means that she really isn't a newborn anymore.

Likes: Grabbing on to things/having something in her hands//sucking on her hands//play mat//being rocked to sleep

Dislikes: being over tired//formula that isn't the perfect temperature. She is super picky about her formula being warm.

Personality: She loves to have people make eye contact with her, and then she gives you big smiles. She spends a lot of time watching Hudson and just taking in the things he does.

Pierced ears! 

I asked Ella's Aunt Kristyn to make some headbands for Ella, and they turned out so cute!

We had to have a little photoshoot with Ella one morning, so that we could send Kristyn pictures of her in them. Ella was in the best mood this morning and was totally hamming it up for the camera.

Kristyn has something in the works for her crafts, and you can find her blog here.

Hudson climbed up once again this month, but he didn't want his picture with her.

He did however want to pose by himself cookie covered face and all.

I had to post outtakes because they are too funny not to share.

This girl is not lacking personality that's for sure. 

I couldn't get her to smile for this month's picture because every time she would smile she'd get so happy that she would move her whole body leading to blurry pictures.

It's no secret that the newborn stage is not my favorite, but I can't believe that it's already over. Our little girl is a third of the way to being a year old, and that just doesn't seem possible. Ella gives us a run for our money, but I can't imagine our house without her lively spirit filling it up.

Hudson's 4 month update can be found here.