Trees, Boxes, and Books

March was an insane month around here and I've been terrible about posting but I thought I'd try and catch up in a few posts. They may be sort of random but that's all I can manage right now. 

Earlier in March we had a nice weekend so Kevin took a couple days off so that he could work on cutting some trees down in our front yard. The previous owners planted 4 Bradford Pear trees in the front yard and we hate them. For some reason the old owner planted them in between the sidewalk and street. Garbage trucks, delivery trucks, etc always hit the branches, the leaves in the fall are a pain to rake since they are in the street and sidewalk. Grass can't grow because of the density and these sucker branches come up (in the root system of the tree) and look terrible. Well, three of those trees are no more!

We borrowed my Dad's pole saw and Kevin went to town. He cut down pretty much all the branches and then my parents came to town with the trailer and my Dad helped us haul everything off and he brought his chainsaw so we could finish getting the trunks cut down. It was a lot of work but they are gone and we are happy. 

We were very appreciative of the help. My Mom watched the girls so I could assist here and there. Hailie and Seth even helped load up the trailer. It was quite the production. I haven't taken a picture of the yard since they all were removed but I'll try and do that soon. We still have three trees left up front so I don't feel too bad about chopping them down.

Anna enjoyed lunch outside while Jane napped and I helped Kevin out one afternoon. 

 I saved a huge box from a diaper shipment and the girls had a blast. Anna colored it, Jane used it to stand up, and they laughed like crazy crawling around inside. 

I love how a box can keep them busy long enough for me to get something done!

I have a few random pictures of Kevin with the girls so I thought I'd throw them in. I love this one of the girls in their matching pj's reading books. 

Just climbing on Daddy!

Anna was generous and decided to share one of her doggies with Jane. She allowed her to have "other Maddie". So sweet. 

I'll try and get some more posts up from March soon!

Jane: 9 Months!

We started out this week with a 9 month old. It's crazy that we've hit this milestone already. My baby is going to be one before I know it. We've had some nice days so we managed to get outside for pictures although my "helper" was actually more of a distraction but I think we managed to get a few good shots. ;)

Jane now has a full month of crawling under her belt and you can tell. She's much faster and is now into everything as expected. You can tell the path Jane has taken across a room based on how the toys are strewn across the floor. She is also very persistent. When she sees something she wants she will go for it. Doesn't matter what or who she has to crawl over to get to said object either. It's created a little bit of conflict with Anna and we now hear "No Jane", "Don't touch that Jane", "That's mine Jane" more and more then ever before. 

Can't take her eyes of big sis!

We were having Anna play with some toys on the coffee table but I fear that isn't going to work for much longer. Jane has been pulling up to a stand on things like crazy this past month and in the last few days I've seen her standing up by the coffee table (it's taller so it's taken longer to figure out). It's only a matter of time before she does it with the intent to get into Anna's stuff. 

This last month has also brought two more teeth! We had a rough week getting there but Jane's top front teeth finally made an appearance. We now just have to work on biting. She usually does it when she's giving kisses or playing but man it hurts. The other day she bit her own hand and got very upset so I'm hoping that helps her figure out that she shouldn't do it. 

Our house is a split level so we have several baby gates. Anna is pretty good on the stairs so there are a couple of gates that we have been fairly lax about closing. We have to get better though because Jane can now climb them. It's crazy how much she has improved in just a week! It helps that she has Anna "cheering" her on. "Come on Jane", "Climb the stairs Jane!". Adorable. Jane has also been getting more and more into dancing. I love watching her bounce to the music and smile.

It's been a fun month full of changes. I love that she's getting so mobile and there is nothing like having your baby crawl over to you. It does make her seem like less of a baby though and it makes me a little sad because it's going too fast. We just love our sweet, happy, growling girl. 

Our favorite picture!

Crawling, growling, and fun!

I've been pretty bad about loading pictures from the camera this last month so I'm very behind on posting. Here is a random assortment including a couple videos for your viewing pleasure :)

Anna has been enjoying "reading" to Jane lately. I thought it was thoughtful of her to show the pictures to her. 

I think I've mentioned that Jane is a bit of a growler. I managed to get a short little video one afternoon when she decided not to nap.

Just a few weeks before she started crawling!

This was just a little over 2 weeks ago. It's funny watching the video now that she has gotten the hang of it. Jane is into everything now. I sort of forgot how exhausting it is when they first become mobile and want everything they see and won't stop until they get it.

In preparation for Valentine's Day we worked on a few Valentines. Anna really enjoyed working on them. We got a few store bought Valentines for our playgroup buddies and Anna LOVED handing them to all the boys and girls. She had to come home and tell Daddy all about it. 

Post dinner chunky baby snuggles! I adore her double chin in this picture. 

Clean baby snuggles with Daddy. 

We've had some snow and Anna wanted to play in it bad. Jane was napping and it was way too cold outside to play so we brought some snow in. She was so cute and spend a long time just filling bowls up and then dumping them. 

The next day it wasn't quite as cold so while Jane was napping Anna played on the deck for a little bit. It will be nice when Jane can get out in this and they can wear themselves out stomping around. 

With Jane's new abilities she can more easily follow Anna around. It was so cute when they started pulling containers out together. 

House projects have been on hold for a few months but last weekend we got back to work and have started moving forward. Eventually I'll post some before and after pictures but I will wait until the progress is more impressive. We're in the patching and sanding stage that isn't really noticeable in a photo. 

Anna fixing stuff on her workbench

 Poor little Anna spent about 3 days with a high fever last week. She'd perk up on ibuprofen but as soon as it wore off she wanted Mommy. 

Luckily Jane has been fever free and I'm hoping it stays that way. While Anna was down Jane kept busy working on pulling to a stand. She's definitely getting there!

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!