Happy 2nd Birthday Avelyn

Last weekend we got to celebrate Nolan's best friend Avelyn's 2nd birthday. It is so hard to believe our little ones are already two years old! We are so grateful for the friendship we have developed in the last two years. Not just for Nolan and Avelyn but also for our family. It is hard to find friends that are kind, loving, honest, trustworthy and just good fun! And we have found that 100% in Brandis and Avelyn so thank you so much for your amazing friendship and becoming a part of our family.

Our new family of four

These last 7 weeks have been a whirl wind of emotions smiles, laughter, tears and sleepless nights. I have always wanted my kids to be 2 years apart but I did not realize exactly how much work it would be. Don't get me wrong I love every second of being a mother of two amazing kids but its a lot to juggle. Since Layla has been born Nolan has been incredible with his sister and loves her to pieces. On the other hand he really struggled for the first 4 weeks not having his mommy to himself 100% of the time. I literally was hit, kicked, pinched, bite and had juice thrown at my head anytime I was near Layla. He just wasn't having it, but as John and I divided and conquered he now understands that he has to share his time and Layla is here to stay and mommy needs to feed and hold her. Now when he hears Layla crying he says "mommy baby crying" and if daddy is holding her when she is crying Nolan says "no daddy, mommy baby." Besides giving his sister endless kisses my favorite thing he says when he sees her is "Hey Baby Gurrrl" and he exaggerates girl. I need to video  tape it because it is priceless.

We learned this week that Layla has acid reflux. For the last two weeks she has been screaming at the top of her lungs from 4-9pm and would not let you set her down. This make dinner, bath and bedtime very challenging for us at the end of the day. After going to the doctor and getting her on some medicine we have a brand new baby. In the last 24 hours I have seen my baby girl, laugh, smile and sit by herself while we work around her and she just watches us. Before she was on medicine none of the above were impossible. I feel so awful she was in so much pain but am happy we caught it early and she is now comfortable.

As we are now in a routine and adjusted to our new family of four. I want to take a minute to stop and think about how lucky we are to have such an amazing blessing in our life. It is hard to believe 12 years ago today our country was under attack by terrorist. As a mother I look at September 11th in a whole new light. I want to make sure I instill in our children the importance of this day and how proud they should be of our country and how united we are. Also I am so thankful for all of our military that serve and protect our country. We are truly blessed and I am thankful for their services everyday.

Baby girl in a tub

So lately I have been fussy almost every night from 4-8. And my parents don't know why or what to do. Yes my mommy has been watching her diet no caffeine or too much dairy intake going on. I just like to give them a hard time from 4-8. Come on I don't cry any other time so I'm having a little fun. What more can a 6 week year old do. So last night my mommy tried everything and since I love bath time she decided to stick me in my bath tub with my clothes on. And guess what.... It worked!!

Tiny footprints

At the hospital we delivered both kids at they take the babies footprints when they are born and the put them on the chest of the daddy's blue hospital scrubs. I have been holding into Nolan's for two years and now that we have Layla's too I decided to take an old frame from our house and display their footprints. I decided to put them in our master bathroom so I can remember every morning two of the most memorable days of my life.