The Sinkula Family

Christmas Pictures 2011

2011-12-14T17:34:00.001-08:00

Visit with Santa

2011-12-14T04:42:00.001-08:00

Lydia was extremely excited to see Santa. Eliana was a much bigger fan of Mrs. Claus.

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T11:48:00.000-07:00

She's 3!!!

2011-09-16T11:39:00.001-07:00

Somehow, my itty bitty baby Lydie turned into a smarty pants three year old right before my very eyes. On Monday, September 12 she FINALLY got to say that she is 3. It's been a long time coming, as most of her friends are older than her and we've been celebrating their birthday's for the past 6 months.

Monday morning I made her eggs (her favorite) and then we left the house to make it to our first day of ECFE for Eliana. This is a treat for Lydia as well, as she gets to be in Sibling Care with her friends while mommy and Eliana have class. Lydia loved this!

After school we met my parents and Elizabeth at Wendy's (Lydia's choice!) for lunch and then headed to Snail Lake Beach to swim for a little while since it was 90 degrees outside!! I figured it would be our last opportunity to swim outside until next summer, so why not take advantage of it. Here is a picture of the birthday girl in action:

That night, per her request, we had chicken nuggets and french fries for dinner and homemade chocolate cake which she told me she didn't like because it was "yucky"... oh to be 3! Next up, she wanted to go to the "inside whee park", which is the indoor playland at the Community Center. Brian and I took turns playing with the girls while the other worked out. It was a nice evening had by all.

Tomorrow is her Special Agent Oso themed birthday party at a local bowling alley with 13 of her friends and some family members. She's super excited... can't wait to bowl, eat pizza, see friends, and most importantly - DRINK SODA! This is a VERY rare treat for her, so she's totally excited for it. More pics to come after the big event.

First three word sentence

2011-09-03T09:32:00.001-07:00

Today in the car Eliana said "daddy uh oh baby"

Yay! Our little girl is growing up so quickly...

15 Month Appointment

2011-09-02T12:48:00.000-07:00

Today we had Eliana's 15 month well check - where has the time gone?! She's doing great, meeting all of her milestones and talking up a storm. Thye say she should have 3-6 words and her vocabulary surpassed that long ago... she's taking after her big sister for sure. She's my champion sleeper, still consistently taking 2 naps a day and sleeping a good 11-12 hours overnight. She puts herself to sleep, all we have to do is put her in her crib with her blankies, turn off the lights, shut the door and down she goes. Sometimes if she's not quite ready, she'll let us know, and then after we give her about 30 more minutes of play time she goes down without a fuss. I knew after all the headaches Lydia's has given me (and still does occasionally), it could only get better, right?

Here are her stats:

Weight: 23 lbs - 50%
Length: 32 inches - 90%
Head: 18 3/4 - 90%

She's continuing on the same curve - right in the middle for weight and super tall... should be interesting to see if she stays this tall. It wouldn't surprise me as the Sinkula side of the family (both Brian's mom and dad) are very tall.

Day 11: Something Blue

2011-08-24T11:03:00.001-07:00

We found a fantastic new park near our house today. It's my new favorite!

Day 10: Childhood memory

2011-08-22T15:21:00.001-07:00

Pic taken with my camera phone zoomed in from the "whee park." My most fond memories as a child were those that I have playing softball... LOVE!

Day 9: Someone you love

2011-08-12T15:22:00.000-07:00

I love a lot of people, so the only reason she won out is because I took the picture today and the look on her face makes me smile :)

Day 8: A bad habit

2011-08-12T15:16:00.001-07:00

Day 7: Fruit

2011-08-12T15:11:00.000-07:00

I have no fruit in my house... normally there is an abundance of fruit, but the girls are going to Grandma's for the weekend and Brian is out of town, so I've stretched our groceries as far as I can this week to avoid produce going to waste. So here is a picture of the strawberry scones I made earlier in the week with the end of my strawberry supply.

Day 6: From a low angle

2011-08-12T13:13:00.000-07:00

Super late, but finally here....

Slacker

2011-08-09T15:02:00.001-07:00

I knew this would happen, I always procrastinate at everything I do... It's just me. That being said, I've put my photo challenge aside every day and keep getting further and further behind. I think right now I'm two days behind and when I tried to get caught up I got overwhelmed. My new goal is to do this at my own pace as I'm having a hard time coming up with quality spots that I'm proud of. Slacker.

Day 5: From a High Angle

2011-08-08T13:22:00.000-07:00

Okay, so obviously I'm not in Mexico right now... but I totally forgot to take a picture yesterday, so I'm cheating and using a picture I took back in May. Ooops. It's pretty though, isn't it?

Day 4: Something Green

2011-08-06T19:13:00.000-07:00

Chuck E Cheese's

2011-08-06T08:16:00.001-07:00

Day 3: Clouds

2011-08-05T09:50:00.000-07:00

Well, even though these clouds aren't very pronounced, I still think the picture is pretty cool... the sky is really strange right now, you can feel the humidity getting higher and the sky is totally blue on one side and all clouds on the other, this is a picture of right where the sky starts to change.

** This is the first day where I've actually attempted to take something unique, since I cheated the first two days and used my camera phone just to get the obligatory shot.

Day 2: what I wore today...

2011-08-04T18:51:00.001-07:00

Don't judge me based on this pic. It's 86 degrees in my house and being creative is the last thing on my mind. I'm only posting this so I don't fail this challenge on day 2.

Cheesy camera phone self portait: day 1

2011-08-03T09:33:00.001-07:00

Well my schnazzy new phone has this cool front facing camera feature, so I figured I'd try it out today. Totally cheesy, and makes me feel like a high schooler taking profile pictures of myself.

Jumping on the bandwagon...

2011-08-03T06:51:00.000-07:00

Alright, so I have totally sucked at blogging lately... Life has just gotten in the way I guess, or else I'm just lazy. Okay, it's probably more the latter.

In any rate, a few of my facebook friends who have gotten pretty darn good with their DSLR's have been doing a 30-day photo challenge on facebook and their blogs and I have decided to give it a shot myself.

I'll admit, I don't know what the heck I'm doing with my DSLR. I've had it for a year and I haven't learned anything more than using the automatic settings... I really need to work on that and MAYBE, just MAYBE, I'll learn a thing or two by participating in this challenge. Day one, as you can see below, is a self portrait, and since I'm still in my PJ's and wearing my glasses, we'll have to wait until later for that reveal... In the meantime, here is what you have to look forward to this month. (for those of you who actually still read this blog, that is)

My little fishy

2011-07-25T09:06:00.000-07:00

Learning to walk

2011-06-05T13:39:00.001-07:00

Watch "How to learn to walk with a crazy older sister..." on YouTube

Sister Love!

2011-06-04T12:06:00.003-07:00

Watch "Sister love!" on YouTube

Eliana's Birthday Party!

2011-05-30T13:08:00.001-07:00

We celebrated Eliana's big birthday on Saturday the 28th. The original plans were for the party to be at a local park, but when I pulled into the parking lot to start decorating at 3:40 it started to rain and there was a threat of a storm so we decided to move the party to our house. Thankfully, the weather was fine and we were still able to enjoy the day outside. Here are some pics from the day:

Happy birthday baby bear!

2011-05-27T06:30:00.001-07:00

Our baby turned one yesterday, which was extremely bittersweet. As we learned in ECFE yesterday, for every first there is a last... so sad and exciting at the same time.

We'll celebrate in style tomorrow at her party. Pray for no rain...

Fun in the sun!

2011-05-19T14:30:00.001-07:00

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Today's Milestones

2011-05-16T18:49:00.001-07:00

Today Eliana surprised me over and over again. Her first accomplishment came while we were playing on my bed and out of no where she crawled to the edge, turned around and backed herself off the bed like it was no big deal. I had to help "catch" her of course, as she's not tall enough to make it down without falling.

Next, I thought i'd try the steps to see if she'd go down the right way. Sure enough, she turned herself around and crawled down the steps like she'd done it a million times before.

Later on this evening she took 17 unassisted steps! She's getting so close to walking... hopefully she'll surprise us all soon and give up crawling for good!

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11 months old

2011-04-29T14:01:00.000-07:00

Well, my baby's first birthday is right around the corner. It's hard to believe she's 11 months old already. At 11 months old she's meeting new milestones practically every day:

* Sleeps through the night (finally)
* Falls asleep on her own (no bottle or snuggling), most of the time
* Stands unassisted
* Stand up in the middle of the room, using only her hands to push up
* Takes 3-4 steps
* Says Ma Ma, Da Da and is really working on saying Lydia
* Eats bite size pieces of "real" food
* Loves chicken - can you believe it?! Lydia didn't eat chicken til she was almost 2!
* Loves her sister and gets really excited when she gets to see her every day
* Wave bye bye and hi
* LOVES to kiss with her mouth WIDE open ;)
* Likes to mimic activities that we do daily, coloring, brushing hair, using a spoon/fork.
* Able to scribble a little with a crayon
* She likes to "sing" to music by humming along when she hears it

She's such a sweet little girl and I can't believe we'll be celebrating her 1 year birthday so soon! Here are some pics that I had taken today:

Easter Pictures

2011-04-29T13:57:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I went to Target and got the girls Easter pictures taken. They both cooperated and the pics turned out great - these also happen to be Eliana's 10 month photos.

Lydia's First Haircut

2011-04-22T19:21:00.001-07:00

Today we finally took Lydia to get her first hair cut. It was getting totally out of control and unmanageable, so it needed to be done. I was nervous she'd lose the "super blonde" hair from last summer, but it's still really blonde. And I was nervous she'd lose the curl, but as you can see, it only intensified the curls. Fun! She did such a great job, mommy and daddy were so proud of her!

First Step

2011-04-21T05:48:00.001-07:00

Eliana took her first unassisted step on Wednesday, April 20th. I really feel like it was just yesterday that I had her, how is it possible that she's on the verge of walking already??

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Spring Swing!

2011-04-12T10:34:00.001-07:00

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Standing Unassisted

2011-04-12T06:20:00.001-07:00

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First Tooth

2011-03-29T04:52:00.001-07:00

We've been patiently awaiting the arrival of Eliana's teeth, and as of yesterday, she finally has one starting to poke through on the bottom. I'm gonna miss her gummy smiles!

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Girls Stats

2011-03-02T13:09:00.001-08:00

Today we had Eliana's 9 month and Lydia's 2.5 year well checks. The girls did great, and everything was right on track.

Eliana @ 9 months:

17.75 lbs (32%)
28.5 inches (87%)

Lydia @ 2.5 years:

28.5 lbs (50%)
36 1/8 inches (75%)

February Update

2011-02-11T13:02:00.000-08:00

Is it really mid-February already? I can't believe that Valentine's day is just around the corner already, which I always see as a sign that spring is coming. I'm not sure why I feel this way, considering it's in the dead of winter... maybe it's because the next big holiday is Easter, which is a definite sign of spring.

Winter has been tough this year, we've had lots of cold and LOTS of snow, making for a long hibernation period for us here at the Sinkula household. I try and get the girls out of the house as much as possible to burn energy, but I think we'll all be happier when we get a good daily dose of sunshine and warm air.

Eliana is now 8 months old and learning something new every day. The biggest change has been in her overall sleeping habits. As I mentioned in my last post, she is now officially sleeping through the night. Praise God! We were all in desperate need of some good sleep around here. Once she learned how to sleep through the night, she also miraculously learned how to put herself to sleep without a bottle or snuggles, it's quite fantastic. We've had a few hiccups over the past month, with random night wakings, but all in all we've seen drastic improvement. In addition to sleeping, she's now crawling all over the place. She squeezes into the tiniest little crevices to try and get cords, which means we have to be extra careful and baby proof quite a bit around here. She's more "adventurous" than her sister ever was, which should be quite interesting as she gets older and learns to walk. Lydia was always very cautious, but Eliana is quite the dare devil. She's able to pull up on anything she can get her hands on and has started letting go and standing on her own unassisted for about 10-20 seconds at a time. We've been slowing introducing her to more and more foods, which she's a big fan of. She loves to eat, but refuses to eat green beans or peas, which Lydia loved. We've been better at making baby food this time around and have thus far made sweet potatoes, green beans, carrots and apples. She also LOVES YoBaby yogurt and can put down a massive amount of puffs.

Lydia is now officially registered for preschool in the fall. She'll be going to Messiah Lutheran in Mounds View, which we're all super excited about. She's definitely ready, as am I. I think it'll be good for Eliana and I to have some time together, just the two of us. And Lydia could really use some structure. I try my hardest to do activities at home, but it's really hard for me with two little ones at different ages, especially as Eliana gets more mobile but can't participate. Little Lydia amazes me every day with how much of a sponge she is. She has her bedtime and meal time prayers memorized and reminds us whenever we forget to say them. She's finally starting to learn her colors, which I knew she would do in her own time, but it was starting to drive me bonkers since I knew she knew them and was just being a stinker about it.

Well that's a quick update of the happenings in the lives of Lydia and Eliana... hopefully it won't be quite so long until the next one!

A Long Overdue Update

2011-01-15T06:52:00.001-08:00

It's been a while since I posted a blog with any actual content, so I thought I'd take a few minutes and share some recent updates while Brian and Lydia are off to Tumbling.

Lydia is 28 months old, super vocal and only stops moving to watch Mickey Mouse or Special Agent Oso. She started potty training on October 27 and officially said good-bye to diapers for good, and after about a week, was pretty much a pro at going on the big girl potty. We had a few random accidents in the first few weeks, but I'd say she did pretty darn good for being so young. She still wears a pull up for naps and at night, and I think she will for quite a while, but I know that can take time. In other big news, we've started the preschool search for fall 2011 - I can't believe my baby is going to start preschool this fall! She'll be young, and will likely be in preschool for 3 years, but I think she's ready and I am excited for the alone time with Eliana while Lydia is at school. We haven't decided on a program yet, as there are a lot of different factors to take into account, but I feel like we're narrowing it down and will most likely be going 2 days a week. Our options include, our church, a church closer to our house, the school district and the community center. We like the idea of sending her to our church, but the drive can be 25 minutes, each way, and I just don't know if I am willing to make that commitment, especially when that would require driving there 5 days a week during her last year in preschool.

I keep Lydia pretty active, both socially and physically, which I think has been great for her. On Monday's we drive to Richfield for our playgroup that we have been part of since she was only 4 months old. Both Lydia and I have met some amazing people through this group and it's been such a blessing for us. It's a bit of a drive, but so worth it for all of us (Eliana too!). The moms are great and I know that I've met people who I can really trust and count on. On Thursday's we have ECFE, which has been such an amazing experience for both Lydia and I. The teacher worked very closely with Lydia to help teach her that separation is good and that "Mommy always comes back". Last year, Lydia would have nothing to do with separating, and this year, after a lot of work with Teacher Kelly, she has done wonderfully! This has also worked with separating at other events, not just school. In addition to these achievements, she has made some great friends and so have I! The Shoreview Moms are wonderful - we have regular wine nights and I really feel that I have made some great friends.

Lydia continues to amaze me on a daily basis, she's developing into such a smart, adorable young girl. She can sing her ABC's, identify shapes and count to 12 (sometimes 20, but that can be sketchy at times). She could care less about learning her colors, which sometimes drives me crazy, but I know that some kids take a while in the color department, she'll get there. Her hair is finally long enough for pig tails - it's about time - and she looks so old when she has them in! I am sure there are other updates that I am forgetting... but I better move on to Eliana before I run out of steam.

Eliana is 7.5 months old, oh how the time flies... She's really growing fast and developing into such a smart little girl. She weighs about 18 pounds, which is insane to me since Lydia weighed 19 pounds at ONE YEAR! One neat thing about Eliana is that she picks up on skills SUPER fast, it's a little scary actually... You show her something once and she's practically a pro at it over night. She started rolling over at 3 months, sitting up at 5 months and crawling at 6.5 months. She's pretty much meeting her milestones about 3 weeks ahead of her big sister... yikes! She started doing "so big" a few weeks ago and just started clapping last night. She doesn't have any teeth yet, but we swear they've been coming ANY DAY for the past 3 months ;) Our biggest struggle with Eliana has been overnight sleep, which miraculously, seems to have corrected itself over the last week... I'm cautiously optimistic that we've made a turn for the better. I'm not ready to say it's a permanent change, but we've had about a week straight of her actually sleeping through the night. The last few days she's actually made a point of not wanting to fall asleep in our arms at night, she WANTS to lay down in her crib awake and put herself to sleep.... we know this because she squirms and whines until we lay her down. Now that I typed this, I am sure she'll be up every 3 hours tonight, but at least I know she CAN do it, YAY Eliana. I think we're actually one step closer to getting her out of our bedroom and into the room with Lydia. :) That will be a day for celebrating!

We've been a little slow at introducing foods to Eliana. She really likes oatmeal and rice cereal, and thinks YoBaby yogurt is the best thing on earth. Green Beans however, she thinks are poisonous, and she cries throughout the entire feeding. She thinks sweet potatoes are pretty fantastic as well. :) Next up, carrots. I really want her to like veggies as much as her big sis, but so far that hasn't gone so well. But do you blame her - banana yogurt or pureed green beans? That's an easy decision!

Eliana Clapping Her Hands

2011-01-14T18:33:00.001-08:00

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2010 in review

2011-01-03T19:17:00.000-08:00

2010 was a great year! :) As I said on my Facebook on New Years Eve, I've been pregnant at some point in 2008, 2009 and 2010. Here's to a new year pregnancy free!! :)

Here's a quick recap of 2010. I'm sure I left a lot of very important happenings out, but I did my best to throw this together quickly!

January - Ultrasound: It's a girl!

February - Surviving Winter

March - Snow Melts Early = Outdoor Fun!

April - Easter

May - Eliana is born!!! (5/26/2010)

June - Eliana's Baptism

July - Smiles Caught on Camera and Sisterly Love

August - Daddy's Birthday

September - Lydia Turns 2!

October - Eliana gets glasses and sits unassisted (5 months)

November - Potty Training Completed

December - Eliana's First Christmas

Learning to Crawl

2010-12-14T19:08:00.001-08:00

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Crawling... well almost.

2010-12-08T11:36:00.000-08:00

Over the last few days Eliana has been getting more and more mobile by the minute. She's been rolling both ways for quite a while now, but over the weekend she managed to figure out how to roll all over the place and how to get from point A to point B. She's also figured out how to get up onto her hands and knees and propel herself forward - not quite crawling, but REALLY close. She gets up on her hands and knees and shoots herself forward over and over again, it's pretty fun to watch. (and pretty scary too - she just turned 6 months old)

Here is the latest family pic from Thanksgiving:

Eliana's 6 month stats

2010-12-01T10:51:00.001-08:00

Weight: 16.5 lbs (70%)
Length: 27.25 inches (90%)

Eliana is growing like a weed and continues to stay on her curve. She's meeting all of her milestones early and the doc said she looks great!

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What's your name?

2010-11-16T07:05:00.001-08:00

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Our new ride

2010-11-11T10:09:00.001-08:00

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Potty training - Week 1

2010-11-03T17:02:00.001-07:00

After one week of intense potty training Lydia is pretty much trained! She tells me when she has to go pee and hasn't had too many accidents. We've even had some success with #2 as well in the last couple days! She told me on monday and tuesday that she had to go and went as soon as she sat down! Exciting! Shes in big girl undies all day now, and only wears a pull up during naptime and overnight. She usually wakes up from naps dry, but i think it'll be a while before we get the overnight stuff mastered. I was even daring on monday and took her to Target without a pull up! She went potty as soon as we got there and stayed dry the whole time. Yay Lydia!

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Sitting up on her own!

2010-11-03T06:47:00.001-07:00

Eliana started sitting up on her own on 10/30/10, at just 5 months 4 days old. Good job baby girl!

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Happy Halloween

2010-10-31T19:03:00.001-07:00

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Happy Halloween

2010-10-31T19:00:00.001-07:00

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Peanut Allergy

2010-10-26T13:30:00.000-07:00

As if we weren't dealing with enough medical issues, Lydia has recently been diagnosed with an allergy to peanuts. Huh? How in the world did that happen? No one in our either of our families have food allergies, let alone peanuts... Ugh. The good news is that she has a very low level according to her blood tests. The bad news is that can change at any time. We met with the allergist today, and he pretty much scared me into submission. She hasn't had any reactions from eating peanuts yet, she has only had a few little hives on her face where her little fingers touched after eating peanut butter products. She is only a level 1, which is good, because those with low levels have a great chance of outgrowing the allergy. However, only 20% of kids with peanut allergies outgrow them. BOOO! It's not a huge deal, just one more thing to think about. The doc told me that "most" families with a peanut allergy remove all peanut products from their houses and avoid Chinese restaurants, bakeries and ice cream shops. What fun is that?! I'm optimistic that she'll outgrow it, or at least continue to have only surface reactions rather than ingestion reactions. Regardless, we'll be carrying an epi pen just in case and won't be eating any Reese's peanut butter cups for Halloween... at least when she's around ;)

Lydia's Big Girl Bed

2010-10-23T10:32:00.000-07:00

Eliana's New Glasses

2010-10-23T10:31:00.001-07:00

And so it begins...

2010-10-15T18:51:00.001-07:00

We bought a potty for Lydia a few months ago, but she had yet to show any interest in actually using it for its intended purpose. In fact, she would protest at the thought of using it, until yesterday. While i was taking a shower she mentioned the potty and proceeded to strip down, take of her diaper and sit on her potty. She didn't actually USE the potty, but i knew we were making a step in the right direction. I also told her if she went potty on the potty chair she could wear her new Minnie and Daisie undies.

Today she asked specifically to wear them, so i insisted she try to go potty first. After two large sippies of apple juice/water, we had our first success! Mommy followed up with lots of praise, hugs and stickers and Lydia was one proud girl! In the next 10 minutes we had three more successes, and the last time she even pulled down her undies and pants herself! We had things going on the rest of the day, so i put a diaper on her.

At about 5 pm i changed her diaper before we left the house and when we got home three hrs, and two glasses of water, later she was completely dry and sat on the potty and peed immediately!

I'm so proud of my little girl, and know this could be a long road, but I know we need to celebrate all of these small victories. I wasn't quite ready to start this process, I wanted to get her in a big girl bed first, but know I need to take advantage of this window of opportunity while its here. Yay Lydia!!

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4 Month Pics

2010-10-07T12:04:00.000-07:00

Well Check Updates

2010-09-27T13:23:00.000-07:00

Today I took the girls to the doctor at the same time for their well checks and here are their stats:

Lydia - 2 years old
27.5 lbs (50%)
33 3/4 in (50%)

Eliana - 4 months old
14 lbs 4 oz (75%)
25 3/4 in (95%)

Eliana's Rolling Over (9/15/2010)

2010-09-23T12:07:00.000-07:00

About a week ago, Eliana surprised us all by rolling over from her back to her tummy at only 3.5 months old! Lydia did this the day she turned for 4 months old, so Eli is already 11 days ahead of her sister. UH OH! Brian and I don't know if we keep up with two little girls as hyper as Lydia! :) Oh yeah, and in the week that it's been since she first did this, she's become a total pro. She plays a game with us where she rolls over the second you put her on her back, and thinks it's fun to do it over and over again. And she can get her arms out from underneath her to look all around! She's pretty mobile now... YIKES!

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Lydia's Two Year Pics

2010-09-23T12:03:00.000-07:00

Eliana's Eye Update

2010-09-23T11:47:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday we had our first appointment with the pediatric ophthalmologist a the University of Minnesota. Eliana has a pupillary membrane on her left eye. When in utero, everyone has a mebrane covering their pupil, and as babies develop in utero, that membrane begins to dissolve prior to birth. The pupillary membrane in mammals exists in the fetus as a source of blood supply for the lens. Many people are born with traces of the membrane left, and most of the time they are small and microscopic and you would never know they are there. Unfortunately, that's not the case with Eliana. Her's pretty much covers her entire un-dilated pupil. I noticed it when she was three days old, our first day home from the hospital, when I was able to look at her in natural light. We started seeing the eye specialist at St. Paul Eye Clinic when she was one week old. Since then, we have been dilating her eye twice a day, which makes the pupil bigger and helps her develop her vision. We also patch her "good" eye for about 2 hrs a day to ensure that she uses her left eye. If we don't patch her eye, she'll naturally use the better eye and her left eye will essentially "shut off" and cause lazy eye. We know that this may still occur, but we're trying to be as proactive as we can about the situation and give her the best chances possible to develop vision in her left eye. Our regular eye doc thought it would be a good idea to get a second opinion, to see if surgery was needed to remove the membrane, which is why we visited the U of MN last week. The good news is, she won't need surgery. The doctor said that having the surgery could actually make her vision worse, as he would most likely have to perform an entire cataract surgery, which isn't necessary. As long as we use the dilating drops, she's got enough of an open pupil to develop sight. Only time will tell how good that sight will be. In addition, her left eye is behind her right eye in terms of development, which needs attention. She'll be getting glasses, which will bring both eyes to the same spot.

Bottom line, yes this will be a big hurdle for us, as we'll be seeing the eye doc regularly, and giving her drops and patching her eye daily until she's five. She'll most likely have glasses for the rest of her life, and she most likely won't ever have perfect vision in her left eye, even with glasses. Only time will tell... BUT we did catch it really early, so we pray for a good outcome. The important thing to remember in all of this is, you only really need one eye to lead a totally normal life. She'll still be able to drive, and they even make cosmetic contacts that could cover the white spot on her pupil if she gets self conscious about it as she gets older. In the grand scheme of things, it could be a lot worse. I thank God for two healthy girls, and know that we can handle whatever the future brings.

Lydia's 2nd Birthday Party!

2010-09-20T13:39:00.000-07:00

Lydia turned two on September 12 and celebrated with family and friend at the Minnesota Children's Museum. We could only have 20 people total at the party, so it was a pretty small group compared to last years shindig! I can't stress enough how great it was to have MCM set up and clean up for me! The party took place from 10:00-11:30 am in the private party room. We started off with finger painting and sensory tables for the kiddos. After about 30 minutes of play time, Lydia opened her presents - a big thanks goes out to all of the fantastic gifts she received. We really have some generous family/friends! After gifts we had tacos, catered by non-other than Lisa's Catering (my mom!). We finished off the party with cake an favors for Lydia's friends. I tried keep the party themed "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" as it is by far Lydia's favorite tv show. The favors were a sand bucket/shovel filled with a MMCH coloring book, color crayons, playdoh, fruit snacks, MMCH shape/color flashcards and MMCH card game. Lydia even got to take one home and loves playing with all the goodies!

After the party was done we all headed to the museum to explore the exhibits before heading home for nap. What a fun day for everyone!

My baby turns 2 TOMORROW!

2010-09-11T11:43:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how quickly time flies. 2 years ago today, I had no idea what was about to happen when I went to bed that night. I thought I had more time, but little did I know, my water would break around 4:30 in the morning. September 12, 2008 changed our lives forever, in the most amazing way possible. Lydia Marie Sinkula was brought into this world 10 days early, weighing 6 lbs 13 oz. We knew from the moment we saw her that we loved her more than we could have ever thought possible. And here we are, 2 years later, with another little blessing.

Tomorrow we will celebrate Lydia's birthday in style at the Minnesota Children's museum with about 20 of our closest friends and family. I don't have to do nearly as much work this year, which is fantastic, but I still have a few fun things put together for the celebration. I'll be sure to post pics after the big day!

3 Months Old!

2010-08-27T13:07:00.001-07:00

Well, Eliana is now 3-months old. She's changing daily and things are going pretty well at the Sinkula household. She's talking more and more every day, and smiles and giggles quite often too. She sleep on average about 7 hour straight every night, wakes up for a feeding and goes back to sleep. I can't imagine it'll be too long before she's sleeping even longer, although we've been in this pattern for quite a while. The nice thing is that when she wakes up to eat she goes right back to sleep, either in her bassinet or in my arms - depending on how deep of sleep she's in when she's done eating. I don't mind sleeping with her for a couple hours in the morning, since I don't get nearly enough snuggle time with her during the day, as I spend most of the day chasing around my other little gremlin, Lydia. I've got the girls on a pretty awesome napping schedule right now, which is so good for mommy. Eli takes a mini cat nap or two in the morning and then goes down for a nice afternoon nap at the same time as Lydia, and if I'm lucky, I get 3-hours out of both of them simultaneously.

Speaking of Lydia, how is it possible that in two weeks she'll be 2 YEARS OLD?! Seriously... every day I realize more and more that she's no longer my little baby, but my little "kid". She talks like crazy, speaking in full sentences now (of course, not always perfectly put together, but 6-7 words nonetheless!) She's a bundle of energy and just loves her little sister to pieces. She must know that Eliana is getting stronger by the day because we used to be able to leave her in the room with her and not worry, but now, if we leave Eli on the floor and leave the room, when we come back Lydia has helped her "roll over" all the way across the living room floor. The scariest occurrence was on Tuesday when we were cleaning up after dinner Lydia picking Eliana up out of her bouncy seat and was holding her in the air with her arms wrapped around her tummy. Good thing Eli's pretty resilient, and she actually thinks her older sister is pretty fun.

We're busy gearing up for Lydia's birthday party, which will be held at the MN Children's Museum. I am super excited and can't wait for the big day. And despite the fact that I don't have to do nearly as much work this year to prepare, I do have a few little details in store for the big day themed around her favorite cartoon, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

My Girls!

2010-08-10T10:36:00.001-07:00

Hot Summer Days!

2010-08-09T19:34:00.000-07:00

Today was a hot one here in Minnesota - over 90 degrees and extremely humid. Lydia and I decided to have some pool-time fun while Eliana was taking her afternoon nap. As you can see below, Lydia was extremely helpful getting the pool set up! And just cause she's cute, I had to post a couple pics of Eliana from this afternoon too...

2 Month Photos

2010-07-30T12:40:00.002-07:00

2 Month Stats

2010-07-29T11:54:00.000-07:00

Eliana had her 2 month doctor appointment today and here are the stats from the visit:

11 lbs 8 oz. (75%)
23 1/4 inches long (80%)

She also had the dreaded two month shots, which she took like a champ and is sleeping away the pain as we speak.

For comparison sake, I thought I looked up Lyd's stats and she weighed 10 lbs and was 22.5 inches long.

Happy 2 Months Baby Eliana!

2010-07-26T11:13:00.001-07:00

7 Weeks Old (And July Family Update)

2010-07-16T14:12:00.000-07:00

Somehow, my little itty bitty baby is already 7 weeks old. She's growing like a weed and becoming more and more interactive every day. I don't know how much she weighs right now, but know she's been growing and putting on weight, since we're already in SIZE 2 diapers! It's crazy, because we didn't move Lydia into size 1's until she was 8 weeks old. For as big as she is, she's very long and lean considering at her 1-month appointment she was below the 3% for weight to height comparison (meaning 97% of babies as tall as her weigh more than her). As long as she's growing and eating, we know she's healthy. Oh yeah, and perhaps the biggest accomplishment thus far has been sleeping from 10:00 pm - 5:00 am last night ;) I know it'll be short lived, but I was proud of her for doing it! The previous three nights she woke somewhere between 3:30-4:30 which is really good too!

She's been smiling up a storm and likes to talk to us too, and she really loves her big sister. She gets a little crabby at night after we put Lyd to bed, and we like to think it's because she misses the little gremlin (despite the fact that Lydia will not leave her alone). Speaking of Lydia, it's so fun to see her interact with Eliana. She loves playing with her, singing to her, and of course waking her up. When Lydia wakes up in the morning or after a nap the first thing she says to me when we're leaving her room is "See Ana". It's just too precious.

We go back to the eye doctor next Wednesday for a check up on her membrane over her pupil. At our last doctor's appointment the doc was extremely impressed with how much it had improved and was optimistic that it would go away on it's own. There is still a very big chance that she'll need surgery to remove it, but given the fact that she's getting so much light into her eye with the dilating eye drops, we know she's developing sight and buying us some time for her to get bigger and stronger before surgery. We pray daily and have faith in God that she's going to have minimal long term damage. And might I add, she looks awfully cute with her little eye patch!

1 Month Stats

2010-07-01T12:35:00.000-07:00

Eliana has her 1-month doctor appointment yesterday at 5 weeks old. She's certainly bigger than her sister was at this age. Maybe we'll have a future WNBA player on our hands?

Weight: 9 lbs 14.5 oz (70%)
Length: 22 3/4 inches (95%!)

4 weeks old!

2010-06-24T18:22:00.001-07:00

Eliana turned 4 weeks old yesterday, and if I thought the time flew by when Lydia was her age, it's going even FASTER this time, if that's possible.

Things are going good in the Sinkula's household - we're adjusting to having Eliana around, and Lydia loves her sister so much - it truly melts your heart. Until she tries to "hug" her in her bouncy seat, which really means laying her entire body weight on top of her. At least I know she means well, and as long as mommy is nearby, Eliana is safe! Lydia has also been such a big helper - she insists on throwing the baby's dirty diapers in the "diaper garbage", shoving Eliana's nuk into her mouth for her (which surprisingly works sometimes), and showering her with kisses at every chance she gets. I also have her sing to her or read her stories when Eliana is fussing and I am in the middle of something - it's quite endearing. The flip side, of course, is that she really enjoys waking her up when she's sleeping peacefully in her bouncy seat. She likes to bounce her, scream at her, yell in her ear and say "WAKE" as loud as she possibly can. I have a feeling these two are going to be the best of friends, provided Eliana survives the torture in the meantime.

Eliana is growing like a weed, which is really different for us since Lydia was such a little peanut. According to our home scale she weighs 9.5 lbs already (which is known to be off, but gives you a general idea). Lyd weighed 7 lbs 10 oz at 1 month! She's learning to use her vocal cords to coo at us, and has been giving us real smiles for about a week now. As for sleeping, she usually sleeps for 3-4 hours at each stretch overnight, waking up to eat around 2 and 6. Hopefully that'll stretch out more as she gains weight. Most nights she lasts about half the night in her bassinette, and spends the rest of the night on my chest. It's not her fault though, it's mine, since I'm too groggy in the middle of the night to transfer her back when I know she is sound asleep. I'm working on this though...

Eliana's Baptism

2010-06-07T14:29:00.000-07:00

Eliana was baptized yesterday at our church in White Bear Lake (June 6, 2010). She slept through the entire service, and big sister Lydia was kept occupied by both of her Grandma's! After the service we had everyone over at our place for lunch and cake. The rain even held off for us until the party was over. It was a great day!!

Eliana Clara Sinkula

2010-05-29T11:19:00.001-07:00

Eliana (Ellie-Ahna) was born on Wednesday - May 26th at 4:30 pm weighing in at a whopping 8 lbs. 9 oz and she was 21.5 inches long! Labor was a little harder this time around, as she came down my birth canal "sunny-side up", meaning her face was up rather than down. They started me on my antibiotics for Group B Strep at 8:30, broke my water at 10:30 and started me on pitocin around 12:00. The pitocin worked pretty quickly this time around and I had some serious pain for about 45-minutes as my contractions were coming every 30 seconds and her face was pounding into my pelvis. Finally, the nurse was able to get her to flip around, the doctor came and after about 5 minutes of pushing she made her dramatic entrance into the world with the cord wrapped around her neck THREE times. Her face was super swollen and bruised from the fight she had with my pelvis, but each day her face is getting better and better. Poor thing, I can't imagine how awful that must have felt for her.

We made it home yesterday (Friday) at about noon, and had a pretty smooth first night at home. Lydia went to bed like a champ, and slept straight through the night like normal til 6:30 am. Eliana finally settled to sleep around 1:00ish, after I realized she was cold and needed her hat on her head! I woke her to feed at 4, and then I was up for the day around 7:30 after getting up with her every hour or so. I think I got about 5-6 hours of sleep pieced together, which is a lot more than I can say for the first night home with Lydia.

Here are a couple pics:

Hello from the Hospital!

2010-05-26T09:08:00.000-07:00

Well, we made it to the hospital at 7:30 this morning for my scheduled induction. After yesterday's appointment (39w5d), the doc decided to order and induction as I was dilated to a 4, but she had a somewhat difficult time finding her heartbeat, and once she did it took a dip. They hooked me up to a NST (non-stress test), while Lydia watched Sesame Street and drank juice. She also got to experience M&Ms for the first time. The NST went great, and baby was wonderful, so they didn't send me straight over to the hospital like I thought they might. But, just to be safe, they wanted to get her out today.

So here I sit in the hospital room, waiting for baby to come. At 7:30 we got to the doc and at around 8:00 they started me on my antibiotic for Group B Strep. Because I delivered so quickly last time, they didn't want to do anything agressive until I had the meds for a while to ensure I had them for at least 4 hrs prior to delivery. If I didn't, that would just buy us an additional night stay in the hospital. At 10:25 the doc came in and broke my water, and now I sit in the rocking chair waiting for labor to start on its own. I'm having contractions that are showing up on the monitor, but nothing that I'm really feeling. If nothing happens by noon-ish, they'll start me on pitocin and see where that takes us. I'll update more later after the baby is born.

Hot Summer Days = Pool Time Fun

2010-05-24T10:13:00.001-07:00

Since the temp today is expected to reach 93 degrees, Lydia and I decided to have our first kiddie pool fun of the season. I need to do something to keep my mind occupied as I patiently await the arrival of baby #2.

Still pregnant... 39 Weeks

2010-05-18T14:37:00.000-07:00

I had my 39 week appointment today (38w5d). I was dilated to a 3, and that's about all the news I got. Doc said my cervix is very favorable, which is always funny to hear, and that most women deliver in their 39th week, so she'd expect me to go sometime in the next week. Seriously, the waiting is killing me. I know I need to be patient, but when I've been planning to go early the entire pregnancy, since I did with Lydia, having to wait longer is giving me an ulcer. Okay, not really, but I want to meet her once and for all.

My birthday is on Sunday, and my fav doc is coincidentally on call on Sunday, does that mean that's probably when I am going to have the baby?! Of course! Does it make me selfish that I don't want to spend my birthday in labor?! COME NOW BABY!

38 Weeks!

2010-05-14T14:13:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday I had my 38 week appointment (37w5d) - I was 2+cm dilated and over 50% effaced. Nothing new to report... slowly but surely.

37 Weeks

2010-05-05T14:52:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had my 37 week appointment... No major changes - 1+ cm dilated and about 50% effaced. Baby's head is "definitely" down. The only big piece of news that we received is that I tested positive for group B strep, which just means I'll have to be given antibiotics prior to delivery to protect the baby from GBS infection. I sorta freaked myself out yesterday when googling "group b strep during pregnancy," but after talking to others who have had it, as well as a few doctors, I've been assured that there really isn't anything to worry about. If I have the antibiotics, the baby's chances of getting GBS are 1 in 4000... Still, for your own sanity, please avoid google when researching anything related to medical conditions, you'll only cause yourself more stress.

36 Week Progress

2010-04-29T15:30:00.000-07:00

Today I am officially 36 weeks pregnant. Ay Ay Ay... How in the world did that happen?!

I had my weekly check up on Monday and found out that I am dilated 1 cm and the baby's head is down and in the "perfect" position for the delivery (back/body on my left side, feet on my right). I looked back on my blog from when Lydia was born, and this was exactly where I was with her at this point in my pregnancy. Not that 1 cm dilated really means anything though, because you can be dilated and not go into labor for weeks... but still, at least we know we're progressing. And hopefully not TOO quickly. The thought of going into labor at any point in time is a little scary. The car seat is in, the baby clothes are washed and we've got newborn and size 1 diapers in the house, so what more do we really need to do? Well, for starters, I need to buy new pump tubing, get the bottles out of storage, and most importantly pack a bag for the hospital.

Now that I am on the weekly doctor visit schedule, I'll keep everyone updated informed each week. :) Oh yeah, Lydia is a ham and getting more and more vocal everyday. When we went to the doctor on Tuesday she insisted we were at the doctors house, and yesterday we went to Costco house, and then to Pastor house (church). It's pretty cute, I gotta admit :)

Picking "Flowers"

2010-04-24T14:12:00.001-07:00

Lyd's newest obsession is picking "flowers"...

Easter Egg Hunt 2010

2010-04-04T18:18:00.001-07:00

We hope everyone had a Blessed Easter! Here is a video of Lydia doing her first outdoor Easter Egg Hunt - I think she picked it up pretty quickly!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

18 Month Stats

2010-03-18T08:17:00.000-07:00

We had Lydia's 18-month doctor appointment this morning and she's doing great. Her vocabulary is exploding... she's learning new words every day and insists on pointing to everything and telling us what it is. The doc told us today that usually at this age they look for 10-20 words, and Lydia definitely had those back at her 15-month appointment... I couldn't even attempt to count how many words she knows now!

Weight: 23.5 lbs - 40%
Height: 32.4 inches - 80-90%
Head: 40%

18 Months Old!

2010-03-12T11:22:00.000-08:00

Today my "baby" is 18-months old - where has the time gone?! Happy 18-months Lydia, we're so grateful to have you in our lives and love you dearly.

Daddy's Day Off

2010-02-15T12:09:00.001-08:00

Today Brian had the day off for President's Day so we decided to take Lydia to Eagles Nest for some morning fun. She had a blast, as you can see from the pics below!

Long time no update...

2010-02-03T11:07:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been about a month since I last posted. Where has the time gone?!

Things are going good at the Sinkula household... doing our best to survive winter, but can honestly say that I am ready for the warmer months to be here. Lydia and I keep ourselves busy during the day, so we're not too cooped up in the house, but still can't wait to be able to go outside and go to the park or just for a quick walk on our own neighborhood without having to bundle up.

Lydia is doing great, she's growing and maturing every day and she amazes Brian and I every time we look at her. The things that she is learning and picking up on are crazy! She's learning new words every day, and is starting to put two words together - her first "sentences"! Mama Bye, etc. We take an ECFE class every Wednesday that is two hours long, with the first hour being mommy and Lydie play time in the classroom, and the second hour we separate and the kids stay with the teacher and the moms go in the room next door and talk about development and any other child related topics. Before Christmas, she never let me leave the room and would scream bloody murder to no end until I came back for her... the teacher couldn't even console her, but after Christmas break sometime just clicked and now she does great! She says Bye-Bye to me and stays in the classroom and plays the whole time I'm gone, and this has been the case for the past three weeks in a row!

Lydia's favorite word right now is definitely "Bye-Bye". She insists on telling everyone we see Bye Bye, including strangers in the aisles at Target, or people at church... and she even knows when I am about to get off the phone with someone just by my general tone, and she'll start saying bye bye. It's just too cute.

Every morning when I get her from her crib we go into the living room and wake up to The Wiggles, which she's been requesting for the past month or so by wiggling her fingers like they do as soon as I pick her up. About 3 days ago, however, she started requested "Goo", which is her favorite Mother Goose DVD, which she insists that we watch over... and over... and over. It's made in the 80's, and about as cheesy as it could possible get, but she LOVES it. She dances along with them and loves the nursery rhymes, and it's pure wholesome entertainment, so who can really complain. And how can you say no to a toddler who brings you the DVD remote and says "Goo" over and over until you turn it on?!

We've really been working on animal names and sounds lately, and she's successfully mastered puppy, kitty, lion, turkey and duck... she knows what a cow says, but insists that a cow makes a clicking noise with her tongue, because she thinks its silly.

As for baby #2, she is still nameless, but I think we're getting closer to deciding on her name... but don't get too excited, we're going to plan to keep it a secret until she is born. Which, by the way, is approaching rather quickly. Is May really only 3 months away?! And am I really on 2 weeks away from my 3rd trimester?! How in the world did that happen?! As for me, I'm feeling great. Still not showing too much, and keeping the weight gain as low as I can... although I fear for my appointment this afternoon, as I have a feeling that I gained about 6 lbs this month alone. Ick. Still doing better than last time. This baby is active, but not nearly as active as Lydia. She's strong and powerful, but takes breaks, unlike Lydia who squirmed in my belly 24/7, and hasn't stopped.

Alright, well this post is MUCH longer than I anticipated. Hope everyone is doing well (for whoever out there actually reads this, maybe it's just for me for nostalgia purposes in the future?!

It's a.......

2010-01-06T16:55:00.000-08:00

GIRL!!!!!!!!!

Lydia is going to be a big sister! We're super excited and can't wait to meet the newest addition to our family. We had our ultrasound today, and everything looked great. Baby was measuring right on track, to the day actually... which is crazy since Lydia always measured behind! This baby's heartbeat is also holding steady at 145-150, which is good, just much slower than Lyds.

Are you sleeping?? 1/5/10 at OneTrueMedia.com

2010-01-05T07:01:00.001-08:00

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Ring Around the Rosie 1/2/10 at OneTrueMedia.com

2010-01-02T19:50:00.001-08:00

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-27T10:41:00.001-08:00

We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas, and stayed safe if you were driving in the snow!

This year was eventful for our family, as the weekend before Christmas Lydia came down with the stomach "flu" for the first time, and threw up at our Olson Family Christmas at Nick and Laura's house on Friday the 18th. :( It was the first time she's gotten sick, and the poor thing was super scared... We managed to make it home with her only getting sick in the car once, and the rest of the night was spent with mommy and Lydia in bed together. Lyd was feeling better by Saturday, but then Mommy came down with it on Sunday afternoon! It was the first time I've thrown up in 11 years - ick! It took a few days for us to get back to normal, but by Wednesday the 23rd, we were all on the mend and Brian managed to stay healthy through it all. He was definitely our rock, cleaning the house and taking care of us!

We stayed the night at Brian's parent’s house in Apple Valley on Wednesday and Thursday night, and when we woke up Friday morning - Brian's mom AND brother were both throwing up! It certainly seems as though this stomach bug is making it's way around MN, since many of my FB friends who I haven't seen in months have it too. I hope everyone feels better soon!

On Friday, Christmas Day, we spent the morning together as a family and then headed to my parents house that afternoon. We had a great time there as well, and this time, no one threw up!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! :)

Oh yeah, we recently had her 15-month check-up, and here are her stats:

Weight: 21.75 lbs (25%)

Height: 31.25 inches (75%)

One Year Ago Today...

2009-12-15T09:50:00.001-08:00

I quit my job at RBC to be a stay at home mom. I can't believe how quickly this year has flown by, and how much fun Lydia and I have had together. She's taught me a ton about myself and I think I've taught her a few things along the way :) I certainly miss my career at times, and the extra money that went with it, but nothing can compare to the joy I've experienced with Lydia by my side. A special thanks goes out to my wonderful husband, Brian, who works so hard to make this possible for our family. I love you honey!

Here are a couple pics showing how she's changed over the year:

December 2008

December 2009

We have a heartbeat!

2009-11-18T16:01:00.001-08:00

Yesterday (11/17/09) I had my first official OB appointment for baby #2 at 12 weeks 5 days. We brought Lydia along for the ride, and Brian and I sat patiently in the waiting room while we waited over an hour to be called into the room. This time around the waiting room was quite a bit different than the last - no reading books and enjoying the quiet time... Instead we (Brian) spent the entire time chasing Lydie up and down the hallways of the building. Once we finally got called into the room, Lydia decided that she needed to panic as she thought we were there to get shots for HER!!! It took us a while to convince her that everything was okay and Mommy would be just fine. So far, I managed to only gain 1 lb in the first trimester (much better than last time, I think I gained 6)... and my blood pressure was nice and low at 104 over 58.

The icing on the cake at the appointment was when we got to hear the heartbeat! It took a little while this time, not like with Lydia where they were able to find it within the first 5 seconds... This time we had to wait while the doc hunted around looking for the baby. Once she found it, the sound was unmistakable.... and oh so reassuring. It's so great to hear your baby's heart beat for the first time - knowing that everything is going well inside and the baby is actually really there! The heartbeat was around 150 bps, whereas with Lyd it was in the 160's. Could the old wives tales be true - slower heart beat = boy? The Chinese Gender Predictor was right last time, and says it'll be a boy this time... so we shall see :)

Happy Halloween!

2009-11-04T10:28:00.001-08:00

Could this BUG be any cuter?!

Pumpkin Patch Fun

2009-10-29T09:40:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday we decided to take advantage of the warm fall weather and head to the pumpkin patch. We went to Anoka County Farms in Ham Lake and had a blast. We each picked out our own pumpkin, and even got a free mini pumpkin for baby #2. Here are some pics of Lydia having fun at the patch:

Guess who's going to be a BIG sister?!

2009-10-21T12:13:00.000-07:00

Baby #2 is set to arrive May 27th, 2010! Two under two, are we crazy?!

Ring Around the Rosie

2009-10-09T15:38:00.001-07:00

This is Lyd's new favorite dance move!! She taught herself to turn in circles during Ring Around the Rosie on her favorite video!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Gaining Weight!

2009-09-24T06:06:00.000-07:00

Ever since we started Lydia on whole milk, she's actually been putting on weight. No longer is she my tiny 8-10% baby....

At her 1-year check up, she weighed in at 19 1/2 pounds, which puts her in the 25 percentile - good job baby girl (or should I say TODDLER)...

As for height, she was 30.5 inches, which was the 80%, and her head measured in the 30%.

All is well, we're dealing with a pretty nasty diaper rash right now, but went to the doc again yesterday to get some butt paste (actual stuff from the pharmacy), and hopefully it'll get cleared up soon.

ECFE started last week for Lydia and I, and it's been great so far. She's the youngest in her class (12-24 months), but is adjusting well and keeping up with all of the other kids :) Brian and Lydia also started a music class through ECFE last week, so that'll be really good for the two of them - and Lydia LOVES music! :)

Happy Birthday Lydia!

2009-09-13T13:37:00.001-07:00

Yesterday Lydia turned one, here are some pics of the special day!

My baby turns one tomorrow...

2009-09-11T21:09:00.000-07:00

And in anticipation of the big event, I'm going to post some of the party detail pictures here... I really can't believe this day is here, where has the time gone?!

Officially Walking!

2009-09-08T18:08:00.000-07:00

Last Monday, August 31, Lydia finally decided that walking was much more fun than crawling. She had been taking steps for over a month, and stringing quite a few of them together, but still wasn't really a "walker", since she'd revert to crawling whenever she wanted to get someplace quickly. Well, look out world, she's now walking 99% of the time, and getting better by the day. I'm so proud of my little baby, but can't believe how quickly time flies...

Speaking of, her big FIRST birthday is this Saturday, how is that possible?!

Walking AND Talking!!

2009-08-13T17:27:00.000-07:00

Be sure to watch the whole thing!

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11 Months!

2009-08-12T09:21:00.000-07:00

Wow, where has the time gone? My baby is officially 11 months old today. I can't believe in just one short month, she'll be 1. And I can't believe that the end is in sight for this whole pumping business, it's about time. I have enjoyed providing nourishment for my baby, but man, I'm ready to have my body back.

At 11 months, Lydie can:

Stand unassisted
Get herself into standing position without using her hands at all
Take 13 steps (can I consider that walking yet?!)
Say mom, dada, kitty and baba
Wave, and know when we're about to leave the house to start waving
Give kisses (open mouthed and sloppy!)
Feed herself with her hands, and attempt to use a spoon
Give hugs (my personal favorite - she wraps her arms all the way around my neck)
"Dance" to music... as soon as music starts she sways her body and moves her arms to the beat - too cute!

There are a million other things she does that amaze me every day, but these are just a few that came to mind as I am writing this post. Here are a couple recent pics of the bug:

Stubborn Baby!

2009-08-10T10:01:00.000-07:00

This video was actually taken a couple weeks ago, but it shows just how stubborn she is when it comes to walking... She's been taking a few steps here and there for the past couple weeks, but only does it on her terms. She'll walk after her big purple ball, but when I put my arms out and try to get her to walk to me, she either just stands there or gets all excited and gets on her knees and crawls to me. This video is long, but I think it's fun to watch because of all the little noises she makes and how she stands up so well. Enjoy!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

First Steps

2009-07-20T13:38:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning Lydia took her first "step" when her and Brian were hanging on in the living room before church.

She must have been thinking about walking, because she woke up at 1:35 am last night and didn't go back to sleep until 4:20 am. The entire time she was awake she was talking, playing and practicing standing up and taking a step. Little stinker, it was cute, but not at 4:00 am.

Then, this morning when I was talking on my cell phone, she stood herself up and took four steps towards me! She's been practicing all day, and can string 2-4 steps together before falling on her butt. It's too cute to see just how persistent she is. I can't wait for daddy to get home so we can show off her new skills. She's gonna be walking in no time. When did my baby get to be such a big girl?!