Hi!
I'm currently 34 weeks pregnant and expecting my first. As the time gets closer, I thought I'd be getting more excited but have found that I'm hearing non-stop comments that are negative or unhappy about what to expect. Things like, 'just you wait until [insert here]' or 'Make sure you do this and this because you'll never get to again!' or even just people's venting about their own children. ...I know children aren't always sunshine and rainbows (I worked in Childcare and nannied since I was fourteen. I've seen the best and worst of kids) but it's left me having nightmares, abnormal thoughts and worries, and losing my excitement for what has been such a miraculous time in my husband and I's life. What have you found has worked for you in keeping that joy and excitement? What have been some of your favourite, most positive, and happiest moments with your children?

Elliott's excitement over seeing the box of Honey Nut Cheerios being pulled out of the pantry.

Lydia licking the leftover syrup off of her plate.

Elliott's shy smile when I caught him trying to climb out of his high chair. 

...saying "dada."

This morning, a blog post I wrote two years ago popped up on my facebook feed. As I read through it, I realized that I miss blogging more than realized. Like, I knew I missed it a little bit, but I have been so busy (hello MARCH, how-did-you-get-here-so-fast?) that I really don't give myself much time to think about it. This probably feels redundant because I think I've said something similar the last four times I've posted on here, but recording memories on a blog really does feel more permanent than a quick instagram post, so I need to make it a higher priority. I'm not making any promises to blog more, but maybe I should?

I'm realizing more and more that I need to be more intentional with my time. It's hard because on any given day I might have 30 minutes of "free time" while both kids are napping or I might have two hours and since I never know what I'm going to get it's been easier for me to have zero exceptions for myself and what I'll accomplish during that time. Then, if I do only get 20 minutes I don't have to be frustrated/disappointed. The reality of what that means, though, is that I end up wasting a LOT of time watching other people's instagram stories instead of spending that time proactively preserving my own thoughts and family memories.

I can't believe Elliott will be 10 months tomorrow! TEN MONTHS! In my mind 10 months is basically 1! (Stephen will roll his eyes at that because I always make these ridiculous jumps in my head with rounding up like that. hahahha. It's one of his favorite traits of mine, no doubt ;))

...And right before Elliott turns one, Lydia will be 2 1/2! In a lot of ways Lydia feels so much older than that though. I'm not around many other kids her age, but I am constantly blown away by how much she knows! She can sing her ABC's, count to 14 (sometimes she skips 7 but I'm still very impressed by it, haha) and sings lots of songs! Some of her favorites are "The Wise Man and the Foolish Man," "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and "I am A Child Of God." (She also loves Jingle Bells and Oh Christmas Tree <- which is particularly funny because neither Stephen nor I know the words so we just sing "oh Christmas tree, how lovely are your branches" over and over again.)

On Sunday we were sitting on the couch and she was calling "Daddyyy!!" I started calling with her, and then I turned to her and said, "Lydia, do I call Daddy, Daddy?" "No," she said. "What do I call him?" I asked. "Stephen," she replied without hesitating!! I then asked her what he calls me and she said, "Hannah." KIDS, MAN! THEY ARE SO STINKIN' SMART!

Elliott still doesn't have a SINGLE tooth, which I love! Something about those gummy baby smiles just makes me SO happy. He still isn't very close to crawling, but he finds ways to get around when he wants (by rolling one way and then the other). He's usually content to just sit and play with toys in one spot, though, which I ALSO love. Have I emphasized the fact that he's the BEST baby enough yet? (#neverenough)

Speaking of #neverenough that boy will never have enough food! HE EATS SO MUCH FOOD. He easily eats double what Lydia eats (which isn't hard because she eats like a bird) but sometimes i honestly think he would eat forever. After a while I just get tired of giving him food so I stop, not because he gave any indication of being done, but just because I've been giving him pieces of food nonstop for 15 minutes 😂. The other night I was out and Stephen texted me "How do you decide when to stop feeding Elliott? He's almost eaten an entire chicken breast and shows no signs of stopping." hahaha. I laughed when I read that text because I ask myself the same question at every mealtime!


One of Lydia's favorite things to say right now is "Mom! What chu doing?!" She asks me everytime I leave the room and sometimes multiple times while I'm in the same room. It might be my favorite thing she says. She also loves changing kiki's diaper (and I have to hide the wipes because she hasn't quite grasped the concept of the 'wipe ration' I instituted. haha).

Watching Elliott and Lydia together continues to be the best. The first thing Lydia says when she wakes up every morning is, "Elliott!" and she wants to see him ASAP. Usually he's still sleeping, so I have to distract her until he wakes up and she can go into the closet where he sleeps and climb in his crib with him. Sometimes she'll take books into his crib with her and read to him/show him the pictures and sometimes when I go in there to get them she'll kick me out! "Mom! Not ready yet!" She'll say. (Or when she doesn't take books, she just sits on his head. He doesn't seem to mind 🤷🏻‍♀️😂.)

Elliott had been saying something very close to "mamamama" for a while, but now every time I ask him to say it he VERY distinctly says, "DADADADA" it's the WORST. haha! That stinker.

I don't usually think that Lydia and Elliott look that much alike, but I took some pictures/videos of them together in Lydia's crib the other night and when I was looking at them after I saw all of their similarities! Turns out they DO look a lot alike! I'm sure once Elliott thins out a little their similarities will be even more obvious.

Good job for making it this far in this random brain dump of random things I don't want to forget.
I sure love this life of mine.
_ _ _
han.

Oh how we love our Lydia Girl!
_ _ _
han.

Lydia's hair when she wakes up each morning never ceases to impress! Especially now that I usually put it in a ponytail during the day and take it out just before bed - the shape of the ponytail combined with static from Lydia jumping around in her crib (that still has a blanket over the top of it to block out the light) is quite a great combination! Here are some snapshots from the past few months:



I am always so bad at doing the monthly updates. It's really overwhelming to me to try to sum Lydia's current stage in a single blogpost, so I put it off until another month passes and end up not recording anything because I couldn't record everything. It's a vicious cycle and it makes me sad because I'm sure I'll forget so many of the hilarious things she does over the years! I'm giving myself five minutes to make a list of what Lydia's up to right now and although it will be far from complete I'm not going to let myself stress about it...

(Note: She's not actually 18 months yet, she will be in about 2 weeks, but labeling this a 17.5 month update just felt plain silly.)

Lydia currently....

LOVES being outside more than anything. Her favorite word is "GO!" and will bring me my shoes and her shoes and pack the diaper bag if I even hint at the idea of going out.

LOVES BABIES. It doesn't matter if they are older than her and/or bigger than her. She points out babies left and right and gets really sad when a baby that she points out gets out of eyesight.

Loves Costco samples. She's a fairly picky eater at home, but at Costco...she is willing try anything and usually likes it!

Is very tidy. She will often refuse to do anything until all of the drawers and doors are closed. She also really loves to wipe up the floor, counter, and her face.

Is a very good helper. She loves to help move the laundry and empty the dishwasher. Having her help makes these tasks much more enjoyable for me too so it's a win-win!

Is officially down to one nap per day and it ranges from 45 minutes-3 hours... we're working on it. ha

Says the following words: (this is a quick list and I'm sure it's missing some)
thank you, ball, hi, bye, mommy (mama) (mom), daddy, baby, doggie, ducky (often sounds exactly like doggie haha), uh oh, Kiki, ya, no, ow!, ohhhh, keys, kiss, snow, go, meow, okay, more, cheese, pop(corn), bubble, tree, i love you, me, papa (meaning grandpa..or, old man, hahaha), babo (which is the closest she could get to grandma) and lately she's working on saying "Lydia"...but it's proving to be a toughy. She's getting more and more expressive with her inflections (on things like OKAY! and 'owwwww!' and we find it hilarious.)

She also makes sounds for dog, cat, giraffe, lion, cow, sheep, monkey, duck, elephant, horse, snake, owl, and firetruck (I have a video of her doing many of these words and sounds that I'll have to try to put together...sometime 😅).


Words can't even express how much we love this girl!
_ _ _
han.

At 14 months Lydia is often found..

Fist-sucking. About two weeks ago Lydia discovered that she actually has some level of control over these crazy things that fly around and smack her in the face (her hands). Since this realization, she has started sucking on her hands/fists like crazy! Sometimes she sucks so hard her hands get swollen and red - not to mention she is quite loud when she does it! I've definitely been trying to replace her hands with the pacifier whenever I can, but she often seems to prefer her hands.