Friends and Family

We've had some ups and downs this week. Molly spent a good portion of the week feeling under the weather. She had some kind of virus and ran a fever for several days, but it was nothing some Motrin and Blue's Clues couldn't fix. Here she is in Mommy and Daddy's bed with her little set up! :-)
We got to have dinner with Cooper and Nicole this week. This was the day Molly started feeling yucky so we are hoping we didn't share any of our yuck with Cooper--since we were sharing popcorn!
Brian and I got some good practice in for when we have our sixth baby. (TOTALLY kidding!) We've been trading off date nights with Brad and Annie Beth so this weekend was our turn to babysit. Six kids is a little crazy, but lots of fun!
We also got to visit with some family today! We went to my cousin's baby shower this afternoon and got to see some family that I hadn't seen in awhile. My cousin Angie's boys have gotten SO tall! I'm not usually that impressed with preteen boys, but her boys are such good boys! I just love them!
Rayna has a new little buddy in the family. My cousin Jerry and his wife had a baby girl in December. She's a doll!
And Aunt Marie is in town! The girls had a fun evening with Aunt Marie. We went to Chicfila and Extreme Play with Aunt Marie tonight. Fun!

Molly Moment

Time for another Molly update! Our sweet girl is growing so quickly! :-) I managed to get a very quick video of her today. I had to go to Target this afternoon to pick up a prescription and saw a Blue's Clue's video for really cheap. Molly has one other Blue's Clue's movie that she LOVES so I couldn't pass it up. She was beyond excited about my purchase. I told her after she had her bath and Rayna went to bed, we would watch it. Getting her to take a bath and brush her teeth was no problem tonight! :-)



Molly,

Every month you seem to grow up more and more! You are SO funny! We laugh at something you say everyday. One day last week Daddy found coloring on the wall. He asked you when you did it and you said, "with Nana." I asked you what Nana said and you replied, "Don't color on the wall! Oh, my! Look at this mess!" It was very funny!

Your biggest accomplishment this month is that you are pretty much completely potty trained! You always tell us when you need to go and you're pretty much even staying dry at night and during your nap. You get so proud of yourself when you use the potty--and we are proud of you!

You got to play in the snow this month. You obviously didn't remember the snow from last year and you were so excited when you looked out the window and saw the snow. You had a good time throwing snowballs and walking in the snow.

You finally enjoy taking baths again! I think this is mostly because we give you a bath with Rayna and you like playing with her in the tub. You're also getting a little better about having your hair washed or getting water in your face. I think you'll enjoy swimming even more this summer than you did last summer.

You're such a sweet girl with such an awesome personality! We love you so much!

Rayna Slept Through the Night!

But don't get too excited for us. Her big sister did not.

I am so excited to report that Rayna slept through the night for the first time last night! She didn't wake up until almost 6AM! I did what I'm sure all mothers do the first time their baby sleeps through the night. I panicked. I woke up and darted to her room to find her sleeping peacefully. :-)

Molly, however, did not sleep peacefully through the night. She woke up in the middle of the night crying. When she calmed down, I asked her why she was sad and she said, "I want my Mommy!" Awwww.......she just wanted her Mommy! I brought her into our room, put her between us, cuddled her under the blankets--and that's where the dream ended.

Molly: Move you pillow, Mommy! It in my way!
Me: Can you ask Mommy nicely?
Molly: May you move your pillow, please? It in my way!
Me: (moving pillow out of the princess' way) Go to sleep, Honey.
Molly: (singing) The wheels on the bus go round and round....round and round....round and round....
Me: Honey, it's time to go sleep.
Molly: You sleepy Mommy?
Me: Yes. Now go to sleep.
Molly: Daddy, you awake or asleep?
Daddy: (no answer)
Molly: (a little louder) Daddy! You awake or asleep?
Daddy: Asleep.
Molly: No, you is awake! YAY! (Jumping up and down)

And so on and so forth until we finally decided that Molly's bed is the best place for Molly! She agreed to return to her bed only if she could take Daddy's pillow with her. :-)

Hand-Me-Downs

One of the many reasons that we were SO excited to find out that we were having a baby girl was that Molly could pass her clothes down to Rayna. I have to say that I wasn't expecting it to happen quite so early, but Rayna is already wearing some of her sister's hand-me-downs. It's so fun to look back at Molly wearing some of the same things that Rayna is wearing now.

Did you recognize the Ao Dai that Rayna wore for Tet this year?

It was Molly's last year!How cute is our baby girl in her little jeans?

There's only one other baby girl that they could look that cute on!

Milestones!

Our little Rayna has had a week of milestones! First of all, she's been rolling from her back to her stomach! She's not all that happy once she gets there, but she likes the challenge!

And yesterday she ate rice cereal for the first time. Molly was excited about the event as well!

Valentine's Day

We celebrated Valentine's Day with the Hendricks again this year. We had a great time hanging out at Concord Mills (Cooper and Molly even got to ride the train!) and having dinner at Cracker Barrel. We've figured out that Cracker Barrel is the only restaurant that is not crowded on Valentine's Day. We didn't even have to wait for a table! You can see more cute pictures on my friend Nicole's brand new blog!
Look at how much our babies have grown since last Valentine's Day!

Happy Tet!

Snowy Saturday

Our Big Girl

Our big girl has been accident free for FOUR days now! She's been telling us every time she needs to use the potty. It's been so great! So much nicer than changing diapers. (Or her ENTIRE bed!) We are so proud of her!
And just because her little sister is so adorable......

Video of the Girls

I took this little video when Molly was eating snack one day last week. She crossed her arms, looked at me and said, "So, Mommy? You fine, thank you?" It was SOOO cute! I asked her if she would say it again for the camera, so it's slightly staged, but it's still super cute!

I can't remember if I've mentioned this on the blog or not, but we are having Molly evaluated for speech therapy because of her stutter. I was a little concerned at first because it seems to be getting worse and worse, but both speech therapists that I've talked to have said that it's usually a pretty simple thing to correct. You can hear her stutter some in this video.

I love these happy baby girls! :-)

Crazy-Busy Weekend and Our Little Artist

This weekend has been busy--not just busy, but CRAZY-busy! When you work full time and have two small children, you have a lot to squeeze into two days! But it was fun! After our routine house cleaning and grocery shopping on Saturday, we went to my mom's to celebrate my brother's birthday. Today is both my brother and my sister's birthday. (My brother was born on my sister's second birthday). Lynne, I have had your birthday present wrapped and ready to be mailed for about a week now. One day I will get to the post office--honestly! Happy birthday, Bob and Lynne! :-)

Bob got an entire chocolate pie all to himself for his birthday.
He ate half of it in one sitting. How does he stay so thin?!
Apparently, we don't share that gene!

Tonight we went to James and Anna's for their third annual Super Bowl party. James and Anna have one of those fancy, high definition, big screen TVs so it was like being at the game! James even let women and children into his "man cave!" :-)

The highlight for Molly--fruit kabobs!

And I HAVE been to all three Super Bowl parties, Anna! Here is my proof! :-)

Super Bowl 08

Super Bowl 09
Super Bowl 10
(This picture was taken by Molly--
I think she did a pretty good job!)

Our Little Artist....

If you are my Facebook friend then you may remember that I recently asked for some fun craft ideas for toddlers. Molly LOVES crafts and we've been trying to do fun things with her after Rayna goes to bed at night. She loves playdough, coloring, fingerpainting, etc.

Well, today Molly thought of a fun craft all on her own......

Our sweet girl has not really been napping very much lately. I thought she had actually fallen asleep today because she had been quiet for a long time. Brian had to run to the store, so when he got home I asked if he would just peak in at her to make sure that she was really sleeping. I heard him open her door and then immediately yell, "Honey!! I need you!!"

She had pooped, taken her diaper off, and had proceeded to "finger-paint" with the contents of her diaper. It was EVERYWHERE. She had "painted" her books, her pillow, the crib rails, her stuffed animals, and her doll. Brian and I just kind of stood there for a little while not sure where to even start.

Two baths for Molly (a wash and rinse cycle), many loads of laundry, and a bottle of Clorox later--we are back to our original state. It's a good thing our sweetie is so stinkin' cute! (Pun intended.)

Poor Lamb. This was her second "bath" this week.

Good Times With the Russells

We had dinner with our good friends, the Russells, tonight. I grew up next door to this family and they are so special to me! Jenni was pretty much my mentor growing up (and I still call her for advice today!) and I so admire her. It has been so fun to watch the five Russell children grow up into lovely individuals. We had a great time chatting, watching old home videos, and listening to Nathan play the guitar. Jenni made homemade pizza and Grant made some AWESOME chocolate cake! It took Molly a little while to warm up, but once she did she had a great time playing with everyone. Especially Meredith! As soon as we put her into the van tonight she asked, "Where Meredith go, Mommy?" Fun times!!

The Russells got Molly these big sister jammies.
Are they not the cutest EVER?! :-)
Happy baby girls!