Picnic at the Park

The weather has started to turn from cold and rainy to warm and sunny. It's the perfect time of the year to get outside and enjoy nature. So we did just that! Instead of eating lunch cooped up in the house, we packed some sandwiches, water, some fruit and headed to the local park. Daddy and Emma kicked the soccer ball around, then we ate our lunch, then some fun on the playground equipment! After we wore ourselves out here, we took a trip to Babies-R-US/Toys-R-US to buy Emma some new puzzles (more complicated ones since she seems to have mastered her existing supply) and some springtime/summertime clothes since she has outgrown all of her other clothes! They grow too fast...

Needless to say, it has been a perfect day. Now Emma is napping with daddy and mommy is searching for some coffee;) Kaelyn is sitting here as I write this giving me her two sense. She's a little talker, and a feisty one at that! Life with these two little spunky bundles of joy couldn't be better :)

Winter Update

I know, I know... where the heck have I been!!?? I really wanted to do a better job of keeping this blog updated on a regular basis, but as you can imagine, these days are packed full and left with little time for leisurely fun such as writing about our beautiful family! It does cross my mind daily, because honestly, I could write a new story every day. Hmmm not a bad idea? haha I won't make any promises. But what I will do, is give you an update now...

Last time I posted was after Christmas. So we have survived Winter and are starting into Spring. The beginning of 2013 has started out great! Everyone is happy, everyone is healthy (well off and on... this flu season generously shared its wealth in our home) and the girls are thriving. So grab some coffee, and a treat if you plan to read this post, because it is likely to be a long one!

A brief update to a tid bit I threw in to a previous post regarding Kaelyn's eyes and an upcoming MRI. She had her MRI in January and everything came back normal! BEST NEWS EVER. I was one anxious and worried mommy. Daddy wasn't so worried. He "knew" she was fine and a "perfect bundle of joy". He always has a way of staying optimistic and going with the flow. In my heart I knew she was fine, but knowing the possibility existed was enough to almost cripple me with anxiety. The MRI procedure alone was daunting for me. I can only imagine what parents actually go through when their baby has to go through surgery or something completely more invasive than an MRI. Kaelyn was a trooper. The nurses fell in love with her and her ever present smile. The end result, brain is perfect, orbitals are perfect and she is perfect! She does have "nystagmus" which is just a symptom where her eyes involuntarily go back and forth, moderately, but over the past couple of months that has even improved. Here are some pictures of her MRI experience...

She didn't even cry when they put the IV in her hand. And the nurse even had a little trouble with her veins. She smiled the whole time! 

Being the thumb sucker that she is, usually only her left hand though, she still found a way to suck her thumb even with the bandages

When she woke up from the sedation, she was a little loopy. I don't know what she thought about that tag but based on her expression it looks like it may have looked a little psychedelic ;)

Coming home, she slept mostly and hardly ate but other than that she was her usual happy self. We were so relieved she handled it all so well and then to get the good news just a few days later was the icing on the cake. The doctor was surprised that the MRI results came back as good as they did; a good surprise obviously, but his excitement added to our excitement :) 

Since then, Kaelyn has started sitting, "babbling", scooting and eating solid foods. So far, she has tried peas, sweet potato, apples, bananas and zucchini. And so far she only likes bananas and zucchini!! Here is a picture of her eating apples... 

I am not quite sure what about the apples made her make a sour face (they were red apples) but she definitely did not like them. The peas, she ended up throwing up so that was a one time meal. May try again at a later date. Sweet potatoes she ate for 3 days but never became accustomed to the taste. But bananas, that was an instant hit! And then the zucchini, she was trying to feed herself. Once she ate it all I said "all gone!" and she started to fuss. I find it odd that she likes zucchini and not sweet potatoes but I'll take it! Emma has always disliked zucchini and squash so it seems Kaelyn will be opposite. 

Emma has flourished in her big sister role! Kaelyn absolutely admires and adores Emma, as does Emma, Kaelyn. Now that Kaelyn is becoming more active and involved, Emma loves to get down and play with her. Often times we have to remind her that sissy is still small and needs to be handled gently to which Emma gets discouraged, but nonetheless, gets down to play with her. More recently, with Kaelyn eating solids and Emma always wanting to help, we let her give her some spoonfulls during dinner time. When she is not gagging Kaelyn with the spoon, Kaelyn actually seems to take the food better when coming from Emma's hand ;) 

It's nice to see how involved Emma wants to be and how conscious she is of sissy. Every morning when I wake her up, one of her first questions is "what's sissy doing?" and inevitably I say "she's sleeping, shhhh, we have to be quiet..." to which Emma responds by whispering her next few words of inquisition. If Kaelyn is coughing/sneezing/crying, Emma lets out a sympathetic "awwwww mama! sissy..." (to let me know I need to tend to her) with such a concerned look on her face. And if she is in arms reach, she is usually patting her and saying "it's okay sissy". I recently switched the car seats so that they sit next to each other in the car and I will find Emma holding Kaelyn's hand. It just absolutely melts my heart... then a few minutes later that sentiment ends when I hear Kaelyn crying and I turn to find Emma has taken her giraffe from her! (this giraffe is Kaelyn's best bud, she loves it). And I think ahhh, let the sibling rivalry begin. It's in those moments I imagine the future "mom!  she hit me!" moments and I do not look forward to that at all... let's just hope they have a strong, loving, and respectful relationship sans bickering ;) (anyone with siblings knows that is a fairy tale statement lol) 

Before this gets WAY too long, I'll sum up the Winter now. Kaelyn is now 6 1/2 months and should be crawling in no time, Emma is talking in sentences more and more during the day and has also become quite the puzzle master. She has also started to ask "what's that?" of EVERYTHING! I admire her inquisitiveness, but when I am driving and she is asking "what's that?" it's kind of difficult to answer... so I usually say "a tree" or "a sign" (she is always pointing up and out when asking). She also likes to ask "where did 'so-and-so' go?" and "what's daddy doing?". Oh, and "where [is] Gaga? Faaja?" I am just waiting for the "why?" stage ;) 

Here are some recent pictures to enjoy!