The BEST Baby

It's official..I am the mommy of the BEST baby.  She is so sweet, smiley, snuggly, and smart!  We just had her four month well baby check, and besides waiting close to an hour to get in and out, she continues to do well.  She is still tiny and tall...12 pounds 13 ounces and 25 inches tall.  Her head is pretty normal sized at 16.25 inches.  She got two shots and the oral rotavirus and we both cried!  We will be trying rice cereal soon, but the dr. wants us to wait closer to the 5 month mark.  Brooke has rolled over, though not consistently.  She talks and makes great eye contact.  She loves to put toys in her mouth, and has begun to discover her tootsies.  She has great head control.  Recently she has slept through the night the last five nights...fingers crossed.  She is the BEST baby EVER!  And might I mention..the CUTEST thing since Jordan. 

God Bless Brooke

We have had an amazing weekend celebrating Brooke with family.  Rob's brother and his fiance flew in from Jersey and joined the rest of the family for Brooke's baptism.  It was a beautiful weekend, filled with amazing weather and love.  Both Jordan and Brooke fell in love with Tracy and the three of them were inseparable.  My brother, Rob's other two brothers, and his parents joined us on Sunday at St. Thomas More for her actual baptism.  Both girls went down early Sunday night and were completely tuckered out.  I am thankful of and in awe of these gifts God has blessed me with.

It's Impossible

It really is impossible to get a cute picture of the girls together, so I will settle for these few I got, plus just some cute individual ones....they are so photogenic it is hard not to click away...

Snapshots

Since being back to work has been such a whirlwind, I have not had time to post much.  Sadly, I don't even have the kind of pictures of Brooke that I did of Jordan at this age.  Ugh...I hope she doesn't resent me...I am struggling to document her milestones too.  Here are just some really random shots of my sweet angels....

Brooke loves her Bumbo (or Bimbo as Jordan likes to call it) and snuggling.  She also loves to face out in the baby carrier and she is constantly looking around and socializing!  She can ALMOST roll over from back to belly but gets stuck and tummy time is still not fun..... she SMILES all the time and LOVES her hands.  She can grab her feet and she talks to anyone who will listen:).  Sleeping through the night. Uh, no.  Sometimes till 4 or maybe 5..usually up for a feed at 3 or so.  A little bit of a stuffy nose right now, but has not affected sleep..yeah!!



Jordan enjoys putting on her own make up....
Screaming "no"
Going to the park
Sweets and junk food
Her weekly ballet class
PRINCESSES
The library

A Mother's Heart

This week we had fifth grade Open House, where incoming fifth graders are allowed to tour the school with their families and get a little orientation.  Since I have worked in the building for 9 years, I look forward to seeing parents with siblings of students I have already taught.  One student, A, is dear to my heart.  I had him in sixth grade and he is already 16 years old.  A has autism and an absolutely amazing, amazing, amazing family!  I was excited to see mom and hear how A had been.  He had a very hard few years since leaving our middle school and was not placed properly for that time.  He acted out, got suspended, and generally struggled.  DCFS was actually called on these poor parents.  Luckily, A's current placement is more appropriate and as mom said, " my A is back!"  As I listened to this wonderful mom who loves her son so very much, I started really thinking.  Being a mom has made me a more sensitive teacher, but I think also a more reflective person.  I can not imagine what this family has been through and what that initial "autism" diagnosis must have been like.  Imagine the denial.  The tears.  The heartbreak.  The dreams that won't be.  It got me thinking about parents and their children.  The love that a mom feels is so deep, so intense, so protective, that we ache to see suffering, and my heart ached for this mom and this family.  I couldn't help but think about how blessed I am and how lucky I am and if I am grateful enough for what I have.  I need to stop and enjoy moments rather than rush, because they go so fast.  I also started thinking about my friend, Sara.  She is currently in Ethiopia finally adopting her beautiful twin boys that she has waited so long for and I thought about that instant love you feel for your baby the minute you see them.  It doesn't make one bit of a difference if they are biological or adopted.  Fostered or special needs.  Old or young.  Sick or healthy.  Happy or hurting.  Moms love.  We .love with our whole souls.  There is no point in this but to say I am lucky.  I am blessed.  I miss my own mommy very much and hope that I do her proud.  I hope my girls will grow up one day to love me with the kind of love I have for my own mom.  I hope that I am doing this amazingly important, unbelievably exhausting, and incredibly difficult job "right" whatever that means.  Happy mother's day to all!

It's Been A Hard Day's Night....

SI have been back to work officially for two weeks and we are starting to get some kind of routine. I am usually up by 5:30, feed Brooke one more time before leaving, get myself and both girls dressed and get them packed into car seats. Luckily Rob leaves around the same time as me so is there to help. They need to be in their carseats by 7:10 so I can drop them at daycare, brief the sitter on the morning and get to work. Fast forward to 3:40, I rush out the door, pick them up, wash bottles, get dinner started, play with them for the few precious hours I get, do baths, bed, rinse and repeat. Hard, exhausting, etc. I miss them so much and still to this day feel like I am missing major moments. I missed a lot of Jordan's firsts...crawling, rolling over, etc. Sure, she did those tricks for me at home, but I didn't get to be the first to witness them. I get sad thinking I will miss those with Brooke too.

Brooke continues to be the SWEETEST baby ever. She is an absolute dream. Happy, Smiley, Content. Coos at me, bats at her play mat toys, gets half way to rolling over from her back, and still despises tummy time (though a towel has helped a little). She is really strong though and can support her head pretty well. We tried the bumbo for the first time recently, and she did really well...Bedtime is finally a routine. She goes down around 8 or so, but absolutely still needs to be swaddled. She has slept until 5 or so a few nights, but usually is still up around 2 or 3 for a feeding. She is amazing and perfect and just a little lovie.

Jordan remains spunky. She has been doing ballet still and got her recital costume. she also had her first pedicure this weekend..actually sat pretty still. It is like she has grown up overnight. She has always been very talkative, but her vocabulary has just blossomed and it is like she is my little buddy...she calls me mom (what happened to mommy?), loves dress up and stickers, and m and ms for the potty. speaking of potty...she is pretty much trained during the day, a few accidents here and there. Pull ups still at nap and night.

I can not believe the love that I feel for my girls. They are my heart, my soul, my world (oh and their daddy too!)

Some bunny loves you!

We had a pretty low key Easter. In years past, we have gone to brunch, but this year we stayed closer to home. Jordan dyed Easter eggs...she wanted them all to be purple, and the Easter bunny visited and left some goodies. Holidays with Jordan are getting so fun, and I look forward to sharing these moments with both of my girls. Every time I look at them, my heart overflows with love and joy.