my favorite 2 year old

bubba

Shiloh's Bubba would do anything to see her smile...even lead a cheer with a pink pom pom. What more could a little girl want?

melt me

playdate with sheena and stormie

We were so happy to get a chance to meet up with Sheena and Stormie this afternoon at the community center. We had lots of fun visiting with our old friend and meeting our new one :)

All 3 girls

Proud big sis

Watching big sis!

Playing!

Sheena's a Mommy!

paci chronicles

Shiloh Isabelle is a girl who has loved her pacifier "paci" from the time she was an itty bitty baby. I was blown away by how badly she "needed" it, since neither of the boys had cared much for one. We even had a pediatrician comment that Shiloh had a strong need for non nutritive sucking and that the pacifier was good for her.

The paci didn't impede her speech or her teeth, so we let it be for a long time, especially with all of our constant upheaval. Many moves, Daddy coming and going because of the Army, potty training, new baby, etc. But, a few months before Emmeline was born, I told Shiloh that big girls only have a paci at bedtime, and we were going to start leaving it there. I prepared for a backlash....and was pleasantly surprised. She asked for it twice that first day, and not at all after that. She happily left it in bed, and the only time it made an appearance downstairs was when she would "sneak" it down as a game (to hear me say "Shiloh! Where do big girls keep their pacis?!" At which point she would laugh and bring it to me....like the tent picture in the last post which was actually from a couple of weeks ago.)

She had 3 pacis left and I wasn't going to buy anymore. She started chewing them at night, so slowly, they started getting holes. One would get a hole, I'd tell her it was broken and throw it away. Then the second one. When she put holes in the last one, I was torn. Would we ever sleep if I got rid of the last one and didn't buy her more? I mean, she still cries if she loses it in the night! But, we didn't have a chance to get to the store that day, so I bit the bullet, tossed the last paci, and put her to bed. She asked for it once, and I reminded her that it was "broken." She nodded, and that was that! No tears, and, what's more, no waking up in the night, b/c she's not looking for it anymore!

Easy Peasy, I couldn't believe it. She is now paci free....just in time for us to have another daughter who is wild about her paci.... :)

everyone loves a good tent

1 month {e}

Little Miss Emmeline is already one month old! She is doing really well and starting to settle into more predictable routines. This is a good thing, because for a while I felt like I was never going to sleep, ever again! This is not to say we are getting tons of sleep, but for 1 month old, she's doing pretty well, averaging one 4 hour and one 3 hour period of sleep during night time hours. Generally, she would like to sleep later in the mornings, but unfortunately we all have to coordinate our schedules and the boys need to be up at 6:30 to get ready for school.

As you can see in the pic....she is smiling now! At first it was just an unpredictable smile here and there, but she has been more generous with them the past few days, smiling at her brothers, sister, Daddy, and, in this pic, Mommy. Nothing is better then baby smiles! One of the things that I'm happiest about...we are still nursing! My confidence with this took a serious blow after Shiloh, who was tongue tied, but Emme and I are still going strong!

Emmeline did have a small set back with her weight gain when she had jaundice a few weeks ago (like all of my other babies), but we did the bili blanket here at home, and got that behind us quickly. I don't know what she weighs right now, but I know she's growing, because she is now too big for her newborn size footy sleepers!