Annie enjoyed her first train ride downtown on Sunday. We took the girls to the huge Harold Washington Public Library on a very hot and humid day. Mia loved the train ride pointing out all of the coal cars, tracks, etc. etc. Annie did great, her eyes were so big looking out of the window as we speed on by the trees and houses. Saturday we had a fun day, Grandma and Papo came to visit and stayed for dinner.

I have been visiting my grandpa George each night this weekend...he is having open heart surgery as we speak. We are praying he will do just fine and his recovery will be quick. I am glad I'll be home to help out when he is released. Mia has been praying for him too so that he will 'feel all better'.

social butterfly

Our little Annie has turned into a little social butterfly. She giggled, all out belly giggled, for the first time on Tuesday. It was the cutest thing ever and luckily my IPhone was nearby to catch it! But in turn, I think she is fighting her naps so much because of this! Yesterday I seriously tried to get her to nap from 1130 until finally she fell asleep at 220 (in her crib) but to wake up at 3! Then she stayed up until bedtime, which of course I pushed early and started to put her down at 630, only to have her smiling at me but crying whenever I left. Finally I just took her back out and she was so happy just watching Mia and I fold laundry. Then (Corey was late) we took her up and Mia sang to her (which is the normal routine, Dad and Mia read to her then sing to her before I put her to bed) and I rocked her a little (she isn't much of a rocker like Mia was) I put her down and she finally did her roll to the side, suck her thumb and fall asleep thing....then she was up at 455, 520, 6 then finally back until 730! I know I can't complain because she does sleep for so long at night but I hope this phase passes soon. We follow Dr. Weissbluth's book on sleep and he says by 4 months is when nap cycles start to length and mature. As long as she is happy, we are happy too!

On a side note, can I just say that I have taken a 'facebook' break and allow myself to only go on once a week! It's REFRESHING. Sometimes it's too much to know what all these people are doing, thinking, bragging on....I do like to see what family and friends are up to but years ago wasn't that what phone calls were for? or even letters and emails for that matter! something to think about today...

first week

Our first week staying home went pretty smoothly. We usually start our day with a double stroller, double dog walk. Then we do something fun (playdate, park, etc) then home for lunch/naps. Then we get dinner ready and wait for daddy - we are all happy to see him when he comes home. Someday are busier than others and some are 'no plans' day which I love! Last week we had a blast with our neighbors Rocco (2) Gina (3 months) and Carrie (mom) at the museum. We are super excited to have a close by playmates for those cold winter months. We also had a nice visit last week with Great Grandpa George and Uncle Brian.

Saturday night we had mexican for dinner and Mia insisted on trying the 'hot' salsa. So without asking she dipped into it and ate away...then screamed hot hot hot! We told her to drink her milk and it would feel better. She is a brave little girl and very tough. We've been doing 'school work' before dinner time and she loves it! She's been practicing writing left to write on the midline, counting small sets of objects, recognizing beginning sounds and lots of other fun stuff. She loves doing connect the dots, she makes me do it but does the counting part. She loves matching too, like lower to upper case letters, shapes, etc. She does it all the time when we are out or around the house (look mom dad's shirt matches bosco). She is becoming a baseball history buff. Each night before bed her and daddy read his big baseball history book. She is recognizing the likes of Ted Williams and Babe Ruth.

Annie is doing good too. Sleeping 10 hours at night. We are trying to work on naps. She loves being read to and 'standing up' on our laps. Still rolling around and trying to crawl like crazy. Loves her jumperoo.

Roly Poly #2

On Friday Annie kept rolling to her side and sucking her thumb after she was done playing. That night she fell asleep that same way in her crib (who needs pacifiers! haha). Then on Sunday, Mia and I were in the living room with Annie on the floor playing and she just ROLLED OVER to her tummy and gave us the biggest smile. She keeps rolling over and over again. I really thought Mia was ahead of her in the rolling department but after my calculations, Annie actually rolled first! Mia rolled to tummy at 3 months, 1 week and 5 days. Annie rolled at 3 months, 1 week - yes I calculate these things, I know I'm crazy! I feel like Annie keeps looking at her big sissy and so badly wants to catch up! She is still cat napping all day long (mostly about 4 - 30 min naps daily) but I can't complain about night time, this week it's been 10 straight hours on average. She is doing great, smiling and 'talking' to us all the time. Such a sweetie, I know I say this but she really is a sweet, sweet baby.

pics: Annie outside and Mia watering the flowers saying "see Mom I can do this all by myself" her favorite new thing to say! Mia and Dad collecting sticks for fall fires.

Lemonade Party

Yesterday we went to Diane's house for a Lemonade Party! It was so fun, bittersweet too since Mia won't be seeing her friends on a daily basis. We will visit and keep in touch though. But the kids had a blast in the jump house and slide and playing together. Very sweet.

Corey was home yesterday too so we went to my classroom and cleared out stuff I wanted to keep. I have been in that classroom for 6 years so it was hard to sort through what I wanted to keep. I left a lot of stuff because I know the new teacher can use it. Also, it looks like my student teacher will be hired to take over my room so I am excited about that. It was bittersweet too since I have been teaching so long there and have some close friends I won't be seeing daily too. But we will adjust and I am soooo happy to have the chance to stay home with my babies!!

pics: Diane's group of kids she has watched past and present; Mia with Charlotte and Avery her girlfriends; Annabel not wanting to nap...see that blonde hair coming in!!!

3 months

My little baby turned three months yesterday! She is talking so much now and must be going through a growth spurt because she was up at 2am this morning to nurse! And she has been so good about sleeping through the night. Still holding her head steadily, rolling from tummy to back occasionally and flipping all over! She is like a little fishy in the bathtub splashing all over. Such a cutie pie really. So sweet.

We had a great week at our summer house. It only rained one day and the rest of the days were nice out. Mia had a blast in the pool and we did lots of fun stuff like a trip to st. joe's and south haven, visit to the farm, lunches out, kids museum...it was fun! Grandma really enjoyed putting Mia to bed each night, reading to her and singing to her. Mia loved the train at the Fernwood Gardens and loves her new tracks and tinker toys from the neat toy store in St. Joe's. Annie did great too and loved being outside. Both girls slept great in their rooms at the house. We were ready to come home and see Daddy on Saturday.

decision

I have been in denial about going back to school this fall. After Mia was born I was actually excited to go back. But now, I just have no desire, to teach, to set up my classroom (I always love this time of year) and no desire to leave Annie! So after talking and crunching numbers, going back and forth Corey and I have decided that I will be STAYING HOME THIS FALL!! I am beyond excited! . I know somehow things will work itself out and we will adjust to our new budget. I just can't think of leaving Annie so young with our sitter and I just love being home with my girls. We will keep busy and there are just so many things we can do now that I'll be home. I am currently looking for one or two kiddos to watch part time during the week, I have a few interested parents so we will see how that goes!

I just feel that my children are only this age once in their life...I have the rest of my life to teach (haha probably will after stopping for a few years at this rate with retirement)...but life is too short and I want to be home with my girls while they are so young. So we will make it work.

In the meantime Annie is growing like a weed and turned 12 weeks on Saturday! She has discovered her thumb...she still refuses a pacifier (not complaning) but loves to suck! She is talking all the time to us now in response to our voices. Still sleeping good at night, now just to get our naps scheduled a bit more.

Tuesday we leave for a week at the summer house with just the girls and Grandma - should be fun. Papa came to visit us this weekend and Mia had a blast with him playing at the park and just enjoyed his company. She loves visitors!!

pics: Papa and his granddaughters, Annie sucking her thumb and Mia and Daddy taking a bike ride down to the library.