9 years!

Today marks our 9th Anniversary! Unbelievable! It took us years to finally get the digital files of our wedding pictures and then with moving and babies and such I am just now getting them loaded onto the computer so I thought I'd share a few. 

We feel like we look so young in these pictures.

Maid of Honor and Best Man 

Amy and Eddie

 With the parents

We got so lucky with the weather. We very well could have had freezing temps and snow or ice but it was pretty nice for that time of year and the sun was shining!

We had such a great time! Thanks for waiting 9 years to see a few pictures!

Happy Anniversary!

Our little ladies

While we were trying to take Jane's 8 month pictures Anna decided she wanted to sit next to Jane. It lent itself to some pictures that we absolutely love. 

I love how this one shows off Jane's hair and it is so sweet to watch Anna hug Jane. 

Jane is so happy here! Daddy is so funny!

Sister Love! I adore this picture. 

Kisses!!!!

One of our favorites of the day. Usually we have trouble getting Anna to smile for pictures but we caught her in just the right moment. 

We sure do love our sweet little ladies. 

Jane: 8 months!

Jane's 7 month pictures are no longer the most difficult pictures we've taken so far because these 8 month pictures were much more challenging. I snapped a ton but she would hardly hold still. She was either diving forward to grab at something or turning around to mess with the blanket or sticker. We weren't sure if we got any good pictures but we were pleasantly surprised. 

This last month was a little bit rough in that we had a few virus' hit our house. We were doing so much better with sleep and then snot and mucus took over. Jane ended up with croup and therefore a trip to the doctor for a round of steroids. Several days later we thought things were looking a little better when she threw up in her crib. We got her cleaned up and then she threw up mucus about 5 more times. Her breathing sounded terrible and we were pretty concerned. We made a call to the 24 hour nurses line but they took forever to call back so we made a trip to Children's Mercy ER. Once I got there with her she seemed much better so I felt dumb for taking her but it was actually kind of scary there for a little bit. A week later it happened again....that's how long the snot and mucus business went on for! This all started 3 weeks ago and I'm still wiping noses but everyone seems to be doing much better now. 

At the start of this month Jane was close to getting on her hands and knees. Not long after this she could get there and rock briefly. A couple days ago she did it! We officially have a crawler! I will try and get a video up sometime this week. 

Even before crawling Jane was getting into anything and everything around her. If it was close she was reaching for it (mostly so she could shove it in her mouth). We now hear a lot of "Don't chew on that Jane" from Miss Anna. Jane was also really good at pushing herself backward while on her tummy on the hardwood floors. We've definitely been fine tuning our baby proofing (going through toys and keeping our shoes off the floor) and I've had to sweep the floor a lot more frequently.

Besides figuring out the crawling business Jane has figured out how to get into a sitting position from laying down and is getting close to being able to pull up to a stand. She's pulled up onto a step briefly and can sort of get up onto her knees so I know it won't be long.

This lady has been getting into music a lot lately. When one of us is singing you'll look over at Jane and see her waving her arm up and down or opening and closing her hand by her mouth repeatedly with a goofy smile. It's made Rhyme Time at the library and singing songs even more enjoyable. Jane has also begun protesting when something gets taken away from her. It sort of breaks your heart to see how upset she gets sometimes. It is fun watching her look for objects when she drops them from say the changing table. She would definitely just dive right over if you let her. 

One thing I'm not certain I've mentioned before is Jane's growling. This girl can growl like no other. It's pretty impressive for this baby to be able to make noises like this. I think I have a pretty good video on my phone I will try to load soon too.

Despite all the sickness it's been an exciting month full of changes from our baby girl. We look forward to seeing what this next month will bring. Love this little lady to pieces!!!

Keeping Busy in January

January flew by for us despite it being a quieter month. It was nice having less going on after traveling to Topeka so much in December. Even though we had fewer things going on we still managed to keep busy.

Got to love baking soda and vinegar!

Snowflake Fizzy Science

Playgroups started back up for us so we enjoyed getting back to those. We've made several friends and Anna seems to really enjoy going. I know I've enjoyed my time with other Mom's. We've organized one Mom night and have another one this weekend...Can't wait! I need to take my camera sometime but I usually have my hands full with both girls so taking pictures isn't a priority. 

Jane loves sitting up!

The girls love playing together and do pretty well (considering). Anna always informs us "I want go see Jane" and "I want play with Jane". 

I was in the kitchen and I asked Anna to go get a toy for Jane to play with. I walked around the corner to find this. Pretty cute. 

If one toy is good...25 must be great!

We've had colds and runny noses at our house which has been no fun at all. For about 3 days we were stuck inside (which was even more sad since it was nice out). While poor sick Jane was sleeping we did a little Valentine craft. 

Kevin often says "What are my two girls doing?" Now when Anna is sitting next to Jane or we are holding both of them at the same time Anna will say "Two girls doing!" and giggles like crazy. 

We love how they light up around one another. 

Love that they love each other!

While they love each other we still have to watch Anna pretty closely. Usually she is giving too hard of a hug and will knock Jane over or bumps her head with a toy on accident but every now and then she'll get a little rough on purpose. Overall all they do great together though!

Pictures: 6 months & 2 years

Just before Christmas we had Jane's 6 month pictures taken. We used this time to also get some 2 year pictures of Anna, and attempt a new family picture. I've had these for some time but life has been getting in the way of posting them! Life keeps getting in the way. All photo credits go to Glass Lantern Photography.

This is probably one of my favorite pictures of the girls together. I smile every time I see it.

 We had such a happy baby this day.

Anna wasn't really excited about getting her picture taken but we managed to snag a few smiles.

We can't remember what we asked her to do. She may have been messing with her dress and we told her to let us see her hands or something but the picture turned out adorable. 

She loved sitting in the rocking chair.

Getting a family picture was next to impossible. Jane just wanted to mess with Anna or Kevin's hand and it was tough to get Anna to look up at the camera with us not being behind Elena to talk to her. Next time we need to recruit a Grandma or someone to act silly to get the girls attention. 

Kisses!

Since this was technically Jane's session there are many more pictures of her.

 I love how expressive this little lady is and how she smiles sometimes with just her eyes and sometimes with her entire face. It's like happiness just radiates from her. 

Baby loves sitting in a basket!

It's always so hard to choose which pictures to post. I can't post all of them and I love them all so much. 

This set is special to me because my Grandma Koch crocheted this blanket. I love the color and the fact that she made it so I knew I had to use this for some of the pictures. 

Love my happy girl. 

Jane: 7 Months

Still can't believe that Jane turned 7 months old last week! These were probably the toughest pictures to get so far. Partially my fault since I knew she'd want to eat the tutu. As you would expect she enjoys putting everything in her mouth. You can't tell from these pictures but Jane is still a super happy baby. She loves laughing...especially at her big sister. 

This girl has been rolling up a storm this month. When playing on her back or tummy and you walk out of the area for even just a minute she's usually not at all where you left her. 

When sitting Jane has become much more stable. She sits great and wants anything and everything around her. We are trying to explain to Anna that if she puts something close to Jane she will grab it and then put it in her mouth. It hasn't quite sunk in yet. 

While going after toys she gets soooo close to getting up on her hands and knees. If it weren't for that silly leg she'd be there. She's a motivated little girl so I wouldn't be surprised if she figured it out any day now. 

 I was struggling to get classic Jane smiles this day. I think it was a little too close to nap time but we still thought the picture was funny. This little lady is such a little chunk. I love her chubbiness and it's been really nice to be able to use a lot more of Anna's clothes then I thought we were going to be able to use. Right now the girls are in the same size diaper (although Anna gets the next size up at night and could wear the next size during the day). It's made packing the diaper bag that much easier. 

 I thought taking off the tutu would help but then Jane just stared at me like I was a crazy person. At least you can see her hair sticking straight up in the back. We try combing it down but it just goes right back up. Love it. 

Over this past month Jane has become much more chatty. Lots of "blah blah", "ah-blah", "mamamama". I know she isn't referring to me as mama but I love hearing her little voice say it anyway. 

Sleep has been a little bit better over the last few weeks. We made a few changes and they have helped things so much. I wish Jane could have a better morning nap but she's forced to be flexible since we are out and about most mornings during the week. At least the girls have had more overlapping during afternoon naps lately. It's not a guarantee but when it happens it is amazing. I can get so much done!

Jane just seems so much older this month. Our baby is growing up so fast!