4 Year Anniversary

Today, Josh and I are celebrating our 4 year anniversary! Where have the past 4 years gone?! They have certainly flown by with fun adventures and memories to last a lifetime. I can only imagine how wonderful our next years together will be. In the past 4 years, I began my teaching career (and also put it on hold to stay home with my girls), we bought our home, Josh continued to advance in his career, we found a new church home, and best of all, we had two beautiful daughters together. Who could ask for more?! I love you, Joshua!

Olivia's First Trip to the Zoo

It took us 25 months to take Julianna for her first trip to the zoo. I was 38 weeks pregnant and trying to accomplish some things with Julianna before Olivia was born. Well, Olivia got to go to the zoo for the first time at a day shy of being 6 weeks old! Josh and I purchased a zoo membership for our family since the zoo is only about 20 minutes away from our home. Julianna loved the zoo when we went last time so we thought this was a good investment.

I actually took the girls to the zoo by myself. Momma, Julianna, and Olivia. I met up with a few other moms from church. It was stressful, it was fun, and I would definitely do it again. I'm very thankful for my mom friends who helped out when I needed an extra hand- couldn't have done it without them. Here's to many more trips to the zoo with my girls!

Olivia- 6 weeks old

Miss Olivia is now 6 weeks old. Where has the time gone?! My sweet little girl is giving us lots of beautiful smiles now and many more coos. Here's her pretty smile today:

She's got a great appetite and enjoys feeding time. Momma is also quite proud- we have made it 6 weeks of just exclusively breastfeeding. This is a big accomplishment for me. To be honest, I wanted to give up the first few days. It was so hard and so painful but it was well worth it. She's a great little nurser and is growing beautifully. I am hoping to nurse her for at least 1 year. We can do it!

Artsy

Julianna is an artsy little girl. She loves art in all forms. She enjoys music and dancing as well as anything where she can be creative. Being home with her has allowed us to enjoy many fun activities together. We've gotten into paint, watercolors, play dough, crayons, markers, stickers, and chalk. She enjoys playing and creating in an artsy kind of way!

Olivia- 5 weeks old

Our little Olivia is 5 weeks old! She went to the doctor this past Friday. She weighed in at 10 lbs. 2 oz. and was 21.5 inches long. She's growing very nicely! Olivia is sleeping much better during the night. She has one stretch that lasts at least 3-6 hours. Then she'll go right back to sleep after that. Mommy is feeling much better now that she's getting more sleep. I napped a lot when Julianna was a baby but with a 2 year old in the house- napping really isn't an option. There's only a small window when they're both asleep so I use that time to have some "me" time or to get some things done around the house.

Olivia is only awake about an hour to an hour and a half before she's ready to go back to sleep during the day. I spend that time talking, singing, and playing with her as much as you possibly can with a newborn. Julianna and I lay on the play mat beside her while she has her tummy time. She loves getting kisses and will give you a little "smile" when you kiss her nose, mouth, or cheeks.

Olivia Grace

Splish Splash

We've discovered even more in the past few weeks just how much Julianna loves being in the water. Her fear of the swimming pool has faded and her anxiety about the water temperature is gone. She's ready to splish splash! We took her to the YMCA to go to the Splash Pad with our church on Friday night. It was water was freezing but she didn't care- she wanted to play! We also went to the pool at her grandparent's apartment complex on Saturday. She got in with water wings and had a blast. I think we have a little fish on our hands!