Jello Fun

Although it's a lot of work getting out of the house with both girls by myself  I try to do so at least a couple times a week. We've been going to summer playgroups twice a week and we've even done a few trips to the grocery store. Since it isn't always feasible to leave I've been trying to come up with fun activities for Anna so that she doesn't get too bored. I find that she has fewer tantrums if we get outside or do something new.

This particular activity was messy but Anna really enjoyed it. A jello sensory bin with various things inside. It was going to be ocean themed but it turned into more of a lake/little mermaid theme because that's what I had handy.  

 She was pretty excited when I brought it out and she examined it for awhile before tentatively touching things. 

 Eventually she was digging in and having a blast. She would take a handful of jello and rub it all over the duck, fish, mermaid, etc. 

 I had a trash bag set out in an attempt to contain the mess but it didn't really help all that much. I wasn't too worried though since we were outside and I was able to hose off the deck. 

 Anna enjoyed bringing over all the creatures for me to "rinse" off. She would take them out of the jello and put them in the water and then repeat. She absolutely loved it!

It was bath time afterward and then she was ready for a nap. We just got a water table for Anna so hopefully I can get it put together soon and I'll have some good pictures from that to post!

Jane's newborn pictures

We had Jane's newborn pictures taken by the fabulous Elena with Glass Lantern Photography in Topeka. I have many favorites but after loading them I forced myself to delete some because there were waaay too many. It was a little painful deleting each one though.

Lovely in lavender

 Jane did very well during this photo shoot and other than needing to nurse a couple times and a few diaper changes she slept pretty much the entire time. 

 We tried to use colors that would bring out Jane's red hair. I think she looks beautiful in blue. 

I love this picture because it uses one of the bows that we used in Anna's newborn pictures. 

It was tough getting pictures with both girls but we managed to get a couple. 

 The family pictures were also tough to get but we did get a couple of those as well. 

We love our little family!

Jane: 1 month!

I'm a couple weeks late in posting this since Jane is already 6 weeks old but I didn't want to skip it! On July 15th our little lady turned 1 month old...where in the world did the time go?!?!

Jane is turning out to be a pretty chill baby. Not sure if it is because she's our second and we are more relaxed, if it's just being a different baby, or both. She is also a pretty great sleeper. At 1 month we were already getting 4-5 hour stretches of sleep most nights which is pretty nice for us :) Anna never took a pacifier and Jane does so that could also play a role in how things seem "easier". 

During these picture attempts I made a very bad decision. I placed the sticker on the edge of the coffee table while we were getting Jane ready. Anna, who had just woken up, saw the sticker and grabbed it and put it on her tummy. Without even thinking I grabbed the sticker off of her and put it on Jane. It was silent for a little bit and then all of a sudden we heard a loud scream/cry. Anna was soooo upset about that sticker and I felt pretty terrible. I rocked her for a bit to calm her down and then we put her next to Jane to take some sister pictures. 

All was going well until we moved Anna to the middle of the chair for better pictures and that started the meltdown all over again. We did what every good parent does though and snapped a few pictures of our bawling toddler to document it properly. 

We decided to give the pictures another go the next day during Anna's nap. (Next time I will have a sticker for Anna if she's awake during). You may be wondering where the chalkboard is. We decided it was too much work and we're going for the stickers this time around. Kevin, who was in charge of the board, was a little tired of me being so picky about how he drew the numbers. With two kiddos we are going to be lucky to get the pictures every month so why not make it easier right? 

Over Jane's first month she has begun focusing on things more and along with being awake longer she's moving her arms and legs around more and more. I don't have a 1 month weight for her but based on her two week weight and the fact that I've been packing up newborn clothes like crazy I know she's got to be getting closer to 10 pounds. She's getting stronger and stronger every day and we love how she's filling out.

It's hard to believe how quickly the summer has flown by since Jane was born and her it is...almost August. I have grand plans of getting more posted soon so let's see if I can do it!

4th of July

Rewind back to the beginning of the month. Per tradition we headed to Topeka to celebrate Independence Day at the Kent's. Jane wasn't even 3 weeks old but she couldn't miss her first 4th of July by the lake. It was a little crazy getting out the door with both girls (we were staying the night so a lot of stuff was required) but we made it. 

Jane just hanging out with Gama

Since Jane was so young and there were going to be a lot of people out for the party we put forth a Grandparents only rule for holding Jane. Kevin's Aunt Connie and Uncle Bill were there before everyone showed up so they were able to get some snuggles in. :)

Aunt Connie meeting Jane

 Anna was a little overwhelmed by all the people at the house but she mostly just coped by playing outside all evening. Luckily it wasn't insanely hot out like it is some years so she was able to stay out there most of the time. There were several babies there so she had to share the baby swing and actually got to ride the glider for the first time. She's growing up so fast!

Grandpa playing with Anna

My mom took advantage of the grandparents only rule and held Jane for a long time. It was nice for her and me...I was able to chase Anna around and visit with people I hadn't seen in awhile. 

Grandma snuggles

When it started getting dark out we brought out a few Target Dollar Aisle toys for the girls to play with. Anna was pretty much obsessed with hers even though you can't tell by her expression in this picture. 

We weren't really sure how Anna was going to do with the big fireworks display (The Kent house is by Lake Shawnee so we take advantage of the big show from the front yard). As soon as the show started Anna got really nervous and upset so I took her inside. We ended up watching them from the front window. Anna wanted to hug me for the first part but eventually she would lean closer to the window and say "pretty". I loved watching her expressions as she took in her first fireworks. It was amazing.

Earlier in the evening I made an attempt at a picture with my girl but she wasn't really cooperating. This was the best I could do. I tried getting one with Kevin and Anna but Anna wouldn't hold still long enough for a decent picture.

The next day we headed out to breakfast with Kevin's family. Joe was leaving right afterward to head back to Austin so we didn't want to miss saying goodbye to him.

Joe and Anna's goodbye kisses

Shortly after Joe left the rest of us were getting up to leave. It was then that I discovered that Anna had a massive poop that had leaked out of her diaper. (She was wearing a dress so it was all over the high chair). Kevin and I had to come up with a strategy at that point for dealing with this. I pulled her dress up and tucked it up so it wouldn't get poop on it. Kevin took supplies and picked Anna up to head to the bathroom while I dealt with the highchair. From what I heard people were parting to make way for Kevin. It was pretty nasty but we all had a pretty good laugh over it. 

Just rockin' outside Cracker Barrel 

After getting a bath we eventually packed up and headed over to my parents house for dinner. We attempted a nap for Anna but it wasn't happening.

After dinner we got Anna in her jammies and let her swing while we finished getting ready to head home. She ended up crashing in the car and slept in for us the next day which was great....it was a fun weekend but we were pretty exhausted by the time it was all said and done. 

Swinging with her Maddie Dog

Luckily we had Sunday to partially recover before starting a new week. It was a blast but very exhausting!

The rest of June

June really flew by after Jane arrived. Here's a quick run down of our activities....

The Watkins' stopped by for a quick visit to meet Baby Jane and see our house.

Theresa and Gregg

Kevin had to go back to work but my Mom and Hailie came and stayed the week with us. It was so wonderful to have them here helping us out. Hailie enjoyed having time with both of her little cousins. Anna definitely enjoyed having a playmate for the week.

Mom and Hailie took Anna to her playgroup one day and Kevin took her on a couple of bike rides. We live pretty close to a nice paved trail and there are several playgrounds along the way. Anna loves her bike rides with Daddy!

I was so appreciative of my Mom this week. She cooked for us, did laundry, helped with the girls, kept me company and ensured I had a nap each day she was there.  She got lots of snuggles in with both Jane and Anna so I know she enjoyed the week too. :)

My sweet little girl!

One day we all got out of the house and stopped by the playground so Anna could get some energy out. I'm not quite ready to venture to the park with Anna and Jane by myself (Anna still needs a lot of supervision on the equipment) so it was great to have some company.

Me and my girl

I love watching Anna take in the world.

After dinner one night we broke out the bubble machine for the first time. To say Anna loved it is an understatement....

Bubbles!!!!

Jane's cord fell off so she had her first real bath. She did better with it than the sponge bath and now she seems to like bath time.

First bath!

The week went way too fast and we were sad to say goodbye. Thanks again Mom for taking care of us!

We had gone to Topeka for Sunday dinner with Kevin's family since Joseph was in town so that he could meet Jane. Anna stayed the night at Gama and Gampa's and then they brought Anna back to us the next evening. Anna had fun hanging out with uncle Joseph and Kevin and I snagged a little extra sleep with our toddler free evening. Thanks Patti and Kevin!

Jane's head looks so tiny next to Joe's hand!!!

Anna was pretty excited to be home. She loooooves her baby sister and always wants to hold her. We love the way she says "hold".

Sisters!

We also had Jane's 2 week appointment and she was definitely growing! At that visit she was 8 pounds 13 ounces (75%). Since then I've packed away almost all of her newborn outfits. She barely fit into her 4th of July outfit! Hopefully I can get started on July posts soon and get Jane's 1 month pictures up!

Two Girls

Kevin had the entire week off when Jane was born and once we were all home it was wonderful having time to bond with our little family. We had Jane's first doctor's appointment at 4 days old and we all headed in. Anna did a pretty good job of entertaining herself while we waited for the doctor.

Look at me!!!!

Jane's appointment went well. She had gained a few ounces back after having lost 9% at discharge (they don't like babies to lose more than 10%) so we were pleased. Here's our little cutie in her carseat. It is strange seeing a tiny baby in it again!

Anna was a good sport and just chilled while were loading Jane into the car.

This girl loves her books.

Later that day we headed over to a playground so Anna could get some energy out. Slides and swings make for a happy toddler.

On another day I was enjoying some time with both my girls. Reading to Anna while nursing Jane. Kevin grabbed a picture before heading outside to fix our lawnmower. Shortly after this picture was taken there was mass chaos. I had to burp Jane and continue feeding her while Anna wanted back up to read some more. I was having trouble communicating to a hungry and tired toddler that she needed to wait just a minute and then we could read some more. When Kevin walked back in we were pretty much all in tears. We have since come up with a better system...it's all about trial and error!

Jane had her first sponge bath and did NOT enjoy it.

Anna hanging out before bedtime. 

Anna gets excited whenever she sees the baby. Whenever we put her on her play mat she is down there to touch the baby and play too.

This is the first time Anna got to hold her little sister and this picture is now one of our favorites. 

It was so wonderful having Kevin home that first week and I only wish he could have more time off. He sure loves his girls and I pretty much fall in love with him all over again whenever I see him like this. :)