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!