Lillian's 3rd Birthday Party

We celebrated Lillian's 3rd Birthday on Saturday with lots of friends and Family. I planned a Minnie and mickey party. Lillian's interests change often, she was really interested in Big Hero 6 and loves watching the movie still then she became interested in Frozen (only two years after the rest of the world) and lately it has been Curious George and Princess Sofia. So I decided to stick with something she likes enough and fun for me to decorate with. I collected Mickey mouse things growing up so I figured this may be my last year to decide her party theme and didn't want to miss the chance for a Mickey one.

Thanks to my sister and my mom the decorations turned out great. Most of my ideas came from pinterest. and I found the invitations and other free printables here mickey printables

The best we could get as a family picture. 

The photobooth didn't get many takers. 

Nana, Papa, and the girls

cupcakes from sam's club were only $14.48 for 30! So I just added my own decorations.

I won't post all the present pictures but these were cute. She got some great things. Our friends have better birthday gift ideas than I did. 

Cousin Teri made this precious dress and matching dress for her doll

staying fashionable thanks to Aunt Kayla's crew

Nena, Poppa, and the girls

After the party Nana and Lillian let some of her balloons go. 

Happy 3rd Birthday my beautiful Lillian!

Adeline's 5th Month

Adeline turned 5 months old on Wednesday March 9th.

forgot the sticker at first and she was over the photo shoot by the time I remembered.

I should have kept track of things that happened this month but here is what I remember.

Nursing and Sleeping: I have one word for my precious Adeline... INCONSISTENT! After issues with the 4th month sleep regression and the wonder week that carried over into her 5th month I was hoping this month would be better. We started feeding every four hours and I didn't have to feed her in the MOTN anymore. A handful of times she slept through the night completely. Then she was waking up 1-2 times at night but I just replaced her paci and she fell right back to sleep. This didn't last long though, a few nights she would wake up every 2 hours. I figured it must be because she was hungry, I tried taking her back down to eating every 3.5 hours and that didn't help. Her naps were pretty normal. She still wakes up after 40 minutes but will put herself back to sleep after about 30 minutes. If she does start crying i'll wait a few minutes then put her paci in. She is so different than Lillian. One thing she is consistent at is eating for only about 6-8 minutes.

getting stronger at sitting supported. She did the tripod sitting a couple times. She hates laying down and is always trying to sit up.

Lillian loves to hold her sister, like ALL the time. She loves her sister and is so sweet to her

We went to the Huntsville Symphony Orchestra this month. 

Looking so cute in her bonnet and dress. We first got this dress for Lillian from Mrs. Madelyn Watson back in Atlanta.

here is a picture of Lillian in the same bonnet 

-Adeline rolled over a handful of times this month but that's about it. I do tummy time but she never tries to roll over. She ends up just spinning circles.

- She grabs anything and everything near her. Especially my hair. 

-She really started reacting to her toys more and I sat her up in this toy for the first time this month. It has been a lifesaver to keep her upright and entertained. 

Lillian thought it was so funny to put these ears on her. Luckily Adeline didn't mind.

Valentine Craft

After Valentines I always hit up the stores for cheap candy and other items. This week I went to Target and things were 50-70% off. Kevin's favorite holiday candy is the SweetTart Sweethearts. I found some in a package of 8 individual boxes for only $1.40. I also got 2 kitchen towels for $1.50 and party straws for $0.30. Not a big load but I was happy I found Kevin's candy.

Well, turns out when we got home and I opened the candy it wasn't the right candy. :( They were those nasty conversation hearts. I wasn't going to let my $1.40 go to waste and a neighbor suggested using them for a craft so we did. I looked up some ideas on pinterest and ended up coming up with these ideas.

First we did a sorting game. I drew 6 hearts on a piece of paper and wrote colors inside each then had Lillian color each heart. Once they were colored I had her sort each candy heart into the correct heart on the paper.

We also counted how many each color had then I let her eat a few.  Next we glued the heart to a foam frame I had in my craft box. She loves glue but still gets pretty messy with it so I helped some. It was n't much but it was simple and fun and only cost me $1.40!

Adeline's 4 Month Check-up

Adeline had her 4 month well check-up today. We had to wait quite a long time as usual but we didn't have many concerns going into this visit so it was simple for me. Besides trying to wrangle a two year old and 4 month old. 

Here are her stats from this appointment:

Weight: 16lbs

Height: 25 3/4 in.

Head Circumference: 16 

she gained about 4 lbs since her 2 month visit and grew about 3 inches. She is average for height and weight. She had two shots (i already forgot what they were) and an oral vaccine for rotavirus. When she first got poked she made this face like Hey what was that then she cried but was fine after the second poke when I gave her a paci. 

The only "concern" we had was this dry patch on her head. We figured it was eczema and it was. She has a couple patched on her head, arms, and legs, but nothing severe. He said just to keep it moisturized and we have a prescription Hydrocortisone cream we can give her a few times a week which works wonders and makes the patches go away but it eventually comes back. 

He said he was very impressed with her developmentally. He mentioned her alertness and talking when he made eye contact with her. He didn't list out a bunch of things but said a lot of what she is doing is what they look for in 6 month olds so we have no concerns there. 

You can see Lillian's 4 month check up HERE she was about 2 pounds lighter but an inch longer, built like her Daddy. 

And here is one more picture from today. Lillian loves to hold her sister. 

Adeline's 4th Month

Adeline turned 4 months old on Tuesday February 9th! 

Sleep: I stopped doing weekly post and decided to stick with just monthly. Adeline is the easiest baby to put down to sleep. All I have to do is get her swaddled and put her paci in and leave the room and she falls asleep. She is still sleeping in her swing because she still wakes up after 45 minutes and can't put her self back to sleep. We don't have to turn the swing on so I think she just sleeps better in the swing position versus laying flat on her back. She started her 4th developmental leap this month and she would be great for two weeks and then sleep awful for a few days. A couple nights she would wake up every hour or so, that was rough. She still wakes once a night to eat usually around 3-4am. If she does wake up I just put her paci in and hope she doesn't wake up again. Lillian was sleeping through the night by about 16 weeks. Adeline is 18 weeks now and still waking to eat. The only reason I can conclude is she doesn't eat enough during the day.

Nursing: Adeline nurses every 3.5 hours. We have tried going to 3 hours and even up to four to see if that helps her sleep through the night but neither worked. Adeline nurses for about 3-4 minutes on each side. I can't measure how much she actually eats when she is nursing but I can pump for 10 minutes and get about 4 ounces out of each side so I would assume since she nurses for a total of around 8-10 minutes she probably gets about 2 ounces out of each side. When she gets a bottle she only drinks about 4 ounces as well. Lillian was drinking at least 5 ounces each feeding by this point. I'm not trying to compare them but I feel like if Adeline would nurse a little longer and get full feedings she would sleep through the night.

-Adeline rolled from her tummy to her back on January 29th but hasn't done it since. She use to not mind tummy time and now she only lasts about 4 minutes and she spits up if I leave her longer.

-Adeline loves playing with the toys that hang above her. She has a strong grip now too. She loves to grab a hold of my hair.

- We went to Shakalaka this month, it a great place for lillian to burn energy and at certain times kids two and under get in free. I took Adeline with me this last time and she enjoyed it too. More so than being in her baby carrier.

-She can hold her own bottle. She gave me a scare this month when a couple times she wouldn't take a bottle of frozen pumped milk. I was worried about excessive lipase in the milk which makes the milk taste bad after a certain amount of time. In order to keep the milk good you have to scald it before freezing. I was not looking forward to having to do that every time I pumped. I tested out a few other theories, different bottles/nipples, and gave her milk freshly pumped versus frozen. Turns out she only likes the medela nipple that is a slow flow and every time Kevin or I tried to give her a bottle we used the medium flow nipple so it was coming out too fast. She also will only drink the milk if it's hot. 

-She loves her big sister, always smiles when Lillian gets close or talks. 

- Her 4 month doctor visit isn't until next week but girl is definitely a healthy eater. I love her chunky legs and yummy cheeks. I'd say she is probably about 14lbs. 

More sweet pictures of my girl this month.

Sweet Sisters. 

I love this girl so much. I get giddy just holding her and her smile is contagious. My favorite thing about her right now is that beautiful bald head. It is so soft and warm when I hold it against my face.

Adeline's 12th/13th Week

12 weeks old

13 weeks old

Sleep:
Adeline slept in her crib for the first half of a few naps. This was the first time in her crib in probably two months at least. She still just sleeps the best in her swing. She goes down for naps and bed so easily but has been waking up after 45-60 min after going down. She will usually fall back asleep on her own but most times I have to go put her paci back in and some days she will be up for 45 min before falling back asleep. A few times I would just hold her so she would get the sleep she needed and they were some sweet snuggles. I need to get my babywise book back out but I think waking like that means I need to keep her awake a little bit longer so we may be trying that this week. She is still waking once in the night to eat. I've tried making her last feeding of the night earlier but that hasn't really helped. A few nights she would make it 8 hours but nothing consistent.

Eating: Not much has changed here. She does not take a bottle very well from me. Ive fed her a bottle three times and every time she only drinks about 2 ounces. She just plays with the nipple instead of actually latching. Kevin has given her bottles multiple times and says she'll drink it all. I guess she can just sense there is a better nipple to eat from. wink wink :) She is a fast eater. Not spitting up obscene amounts although she did spit up once while she was in her bouncy seat and she didn't get it on her at all.

-She doesn't cry for no reason but man she will let you know if she is hungry, sleepy, or needs a diaper change. It's like it just hits her and there is no calming her until you do what she wants. lol. 

-We took her infant sling  out of her bath tub this week. She was way too big for it anyways and the poor kid only gets a bath like 2 times a week. I had Adeline's tub in the shower and Lillian was taking a bath in our tub so I could watch them both. It'll be nice when they can bathe together or better yet stick them both in the shower with Daddy. 

Above is a picture of Lillian at 14 weeks for comparison. 

Check out those arms! Lillian was a big baby too but I don't think she really ever had the chunky rolls. She was longer so the fat had more room to spread out. I've weighed her a few times at home in my arms and I would say she is around the 14 lb mark right now. 

-Adeline got this toy for Christmas so we have been using it to keep her distracted during tummy time.  

Lillian also loves to entertain during tummy time. 

She is all about her new found discovery of her fingers. Apparently they are way yummier to nibble on than her paci. I also think there may be a little teeth movement in there lately because she will go to town on her fingers/teething toys and has been drooling like crazy. Lillian didn't get any teeth until 8 or 9 months so I don't expect to see anything popping through anytime soon.

- Adeline moved up to size 2 diapers and is in 3-6 months clothes. 3 month onesies are too small but the pants and arms of 6 month clothes are too long.