Haven is 3 Months Old!!

Where does the time go? She's already 1/4 of a year old!! Each month that passes makes me want another baby even more!! (or at least another Haven!) ;)

Here are her 3 month stats:

Weight: about 15lbs, 12oz (she was 15lbs, 9oz ten days ago- I'll have a more accurate measurement next month at her 4 month appointment!)

Length: 26 inches

(Venily was about 15lbs and 24 in)

Clothes size: 6-9m (though the legs and arms are getting short- a problem she will probably have the rest of her life!)

Diaper size: 2

Shoe size: 2

SLEEPING: 11+ hours every single night!!! She goes to bed around 8pm and wakes up around 7:30am. You can't beat that! And she takes awesome naps during the day too!! AND I just lay her in her bed when she's tired, turn on her glow sea horse thing that plays music and she puts herself to sleep!! Venily would NEVER, EVER go to sleep on her own! :) Oh, and she hates sleeping in my arms... she'd much, much prefer to sleep in her own bed!

EATING: Still exclusively breastfeeding, I don't know how much she gets at a time, but apparently enough! haha! I haven't tried a bottle again in a really long time. One more month until we get to start cereal! YAY! I'm so excited! (The doctor predicts she'll be a good eater, lol!)

PLAYING: Her favorite things to play with are mirrors, rattles that she can hold and chew on, anything with flashing lights, her swing, and of course her crazy sister!

APPEARANCE: Still has very blue eyes and very little hair! She is looking less like Venily though and Jason and I fight about who she looks like more, me or him! :)

OTHER: She found her head a couple days ago, haha! She now loves to have one hand in her mouth and the other hand rubbing the top of her head! She's so cute!


AT 3 MONTHS...

Haven's LIKES:
* Mommy and Venily (nothing against Daddy, but I think she likes us more... I'll enjoy it while I can!)
* Toys, especially mirrored toys and mobiles... also anything that plays music
* Standing! She locks her legs straight so that I can't make her sit, haha!
* BATHS! She loves to splash!
* Loves to look at other babies and pictures of babies!
* Loves when I read her stories and sing her songs!
* Her saucer and swing and changing table

Haven's DISLIKES:
* Not being able to lay in her bed when she's tired
* Being scared! Sometimes when someone she doesn't know yells really loudly around her or something she gets a look of shock on her face and then starts crying. It's really sad, but really cute!


HAVEN/ VENILY COMPARISON: (Venily at 3 months)

• Venily used to nap about 15 minutes at a time, Haven naps for up 3-4 hours at a time!
• Haven sleeps through the night and falls to sleep on her own! :)
• Haven LOVES baths, Venily would scream the entire time!
• They both loved toys and mobiles!
• They both were crazy about chewing on their hands or anything they can get a hold of!
• They both had BIG cheeks! :)
• They both preferred standing over sitting and wanted to be standing all the time!

Pic: Venily at 3 months!

I've said this a million times, but I honestly can't believe what a WONDERFUL baby she is!
When I was pregnant with Haven I thought "What the heck did I just do?! Things are PERFECT right now. I love my life and I love my 1 daughter. Why am I going to change things?". Then I would tell myself that although things were going to be really hard for awhile, the payoff in a few years would be well worth it! I strongly believe in family and that children need someone else with them while growing up to share in the experience. I never in my wildest dreams imagined that Haven would fit so perfectly into our family, be the most absolute dream-child, make it so that my life was actually EASIER than just having 1!!! I've heard a lot of people say that the change from 1-2 children is even harder than the change from 0-1 child, but that is definitely not the case with us! She was destined to be part of our family and I couldn't imagine life without her!!!

Merry Christmas!

We had a great Christmas this year! I can't even believe all the stuff Venily and Haven got! It's overtaking our whole house! :) The girls got TONS of clothes, pajamas, and toys! Venily got lots of arts and crafts stuff (including ColorWonder paints and markers), coloring books, electric toothbrush, big girl cups (w/out tops, she was so excited, lol), a new blow up Dora bed (that she insists on sleeping on all the time), lots of letter things (magnets, games, etc.), a laptop, puzzles, LOTS of babies and baby things, ornaments, dress up things, books, outfits and MORE. Haven got a LOT of really cool new toys, new head bands, sippy cups, books, a car mirror, ornaments, coins, and super cute clothes!

I didn't take nearly as many pictures as I should have (I always seem to be holding and running after children!) and I didn't take ANY at my grandparents' for Christmas Eve, but I got a few here and there.

This was the first Xmas that we did the whole "Santa" thing (last year I just put presents under the tree as I wrapped them) because Venily is old enough now to understand and be super excited and I have to say that it's been the best so far!! Jason shocked me and got really into it, lol! He was the one to make sure that Venily put out milk and cookies for Santa and carrots for the reindeer! I love him! Venily was SHOCKED when she woke up and saw the food missing, haha!

Both the girls, however, woke up with bad colds Xmas morning! :( Venily had had a runny nose that turned into a cough and everything else too! Haven has a runny nose and slept ALL day long and slept ALL day long today as well. I called the on-call doctor this morning because she also spit up some dark brown stuff one time, but she didn't want to see her unless she did it again. I'm hoping it won't last long! I really miss her when she's sleeping all the time, lol!

I'm really excited for next Christmas already! Haven will be walking and talking and running around to add to the excitement! ;)


Also, Haven is 3 months old today!!! I'll put her 3 month update and pics up tomorrow if I get a chance!

Big Girl Bed!

We moved Haven into her pack and play to sleep last night because she has officially run out of room in her bassinet! She slept great!! Though we kept moving her back to the middle and then the next time we'd check on her she'd be up and over, against the side!! She has room to move around now! :)

A couple nights ago:



This morning:



I still want to get her an actual crib, but in the meantime, this works great!!

And yes, she always sleeps on her stomach and yes, she always sleeps with her hand in or near her mouth! She also always sleeps with that glow seahorse! She loves him- he lights up and plays music!! ♥

Moving on Up!

I took out all of Venily's 3T stuff to start wearing! These girls just keep getting bigger and bigger!! :)

4 MORE DAYS UNTIL XMAS!!

I'm so excited, we already had 1 family Xmas party and will have 2 more this week! Venily is incredibly excited!! Every morning she runs and tells me that she needs to put a sticker on her calendar! Then we count all the stickers and she shows me which day is Christmas Day! :) She ABSOLUTELY loves opening presents! And Lucky her, she gets to open all of Haven's too, this will be the only year she gets to do that! haha


One year ago at this time we moved into our new house!!!!! I can't believe it's been a year already! I remember how stressful it was to try and get moved in before Christmas! I used to come over to our house every day with boxes and my 14 month in tow and desperately try to get things unpacked and in order! And a year later, I am more in love with our house than ever!! It's so perfect for us, I'm hoping I can convince Jason to stay here while our kids are in school! We still have things that need to be done (the yard needs grass and landscaping, the basement needs trim and doors, the downstairs bathroom needs to be completely hooked up, and we still don't have window coverings for our living room) but hopefully by next December that will all be done!! I am excited to make another year of great memories in this house!

Venily's 1st & 2nd Christmases!

How is it even possible that this is Venily's THIRD Christmas already!! I can't believe it! And I was looking though pictures of her first 2 Christmases and can't believe how much she's changed!!

Venily's first Xmas:



And Last Year, her 2nd Xmas:








Awww!! :)

I think the funniest thing is how little hair she had last year! I had almost completely forgotten her very little hair, bald spot and swirl in the back, with silly "strands" in the front that I would refuse to have cut because it was the only real hair she had!! :)

Sleepy Girl!

Haven has been sleeping since 4:30pm yesterday... and is STILL sleeping!!! I woke her up at 7:30pm to eat because I was tired and ready for bed, but I didn't think she'd fall instantly back to sleep when I was done feeding her! Then I thought for sure she wouldn't sleep through the night since she slept all afternoon... but she did (as usual)!

The doctor said that some babies get really fussy after they get a shot and some get really sleepy! GOOD CHOICE HAVEN!!

I think I should look into cloning this baby and selling her! I'd make BILLIONS!! :)

UPDATE: I am about to go wake her up right now, its 9:35am!

In the True Spirit of Christmas...

Have you ever willingly given away something that you wanted so badly because you knew that this other person needed it more? I know that we made the right decision, but the "what if's" are still there and probably always will be. I hope and pray that everything works out for my friend, what an absolute blessing it will be if it does!!! I'm so excited for her and her family!!!

Sorry for the cryptic-ness of this post, Jason has asked me not to say anything to anyone, though I'm sure that hasn't stopped anyone from already knowing what I'm talking about! ;)

It's funny how one day in your life can put so much in perspective! I am so grateful for everything that I have! I have the world's MOST amazing husband and the ABSOLUTE 2 most perfect, precious little girls in the world and a life together with them that I wouldn't trade for anything else!!!! I have to pinch myself daily to realize that 'yes, this is actually my life'!! I think I might just be the luckiest person in the world! ♥

Venily's 2 Year Well-Check!

Venily had her 2 Year Well-Check today finally (at 2 years, 2 months)!

Venily's 2 Year Stats:

Weight: 27lbs, 6oz
Height: 37 inches (96th %ile)
Head Circumference: 48.5

And because what else am I going to do while waiting for the doctor, lol... Haven weighed 15lbs, 9oz! (Up from 15lbs, 3oz thirteen days ago! Oh boy!)


Everything else went great!! The doctor was very impressed with everything that she can do and she looks very healthy! She is a smart little cookie, that's for sure! She also said that Venily is going to be a TALL girl (but I still think that Haven is going to have her beat!!)!!

Venily needed 2 shots and Haven needed 1. I am so amazed at how awesome my 2 girls are it's not even funny! I TOLD Venily that she was going to get 2 shots today and she didn't even care! Then she got them and just flinched a little for each and when they were done, she asked "Can I get my treasures now?" (she got to pick out 2 treasures from the treasure chest)! Then it was Haven's turn. She cried for a few seconds and then I fed her and she fell asleep! The whole way home I kept thinking 'these can't be my girls!', I don't think I could be more proud of them!

I think even Jason should agree with me that it's time for Venily to get her ears pierced!! (I've been pushing for it since before she was born!). And his thing was "once she's old enough to realize what's going to happen and wants to get it done." Well, she definitely can handle it and says she wants it done, so I hope he doesn't get mad when I come home one day with them pierced! :)

p.s. Venily can now recognize "V" and "T" on the keyboard and keeps wanting to press them, lol!

Aquatic Center!

We went to the Aquatic Center yesterday and both girls had so much fun! Of course I knew Venily would, she was CRAZY!!! ....running around everywhere, swimming around, playing with the other kids, and NEVER wanting to leave (even though she was shivering so badly by the end, lol)... Haven surprised me and LOVED it as well!!! She thought it was an awesome giant bath! :) She was kicking her legs like crazy the whole time and getting super excited! She liked it way better than the first time she went swimming at 5 weeks old! (See here) :)



I let Haven sleep as long as she wanted the past 2 nights and she slept 11 straight hours last night (until Venily woke her up this morning) and 13 straight hours the night before!!!

Santa... Take 2 & Haven is 11 weeks!

We saw Santa and Mrs. Claus today and it went soooo much better than last time, lol. Venily has been really excited all week to see them. When we got there she was a little hesitant at first, but then sat on Mrs. Claus's lap and was talking to BOTH of them!!! I was really proud of her!

LOL, I bought this dress for Haven LAST December, before we even started trying to conceive! That's how badly I wanted another girl by this time! Maybe I should buy another one this December.... haha, I'm just kidding! :)



Haven is 11 weeks old today!

She is sleeping 10 or MORE hours straight now at night!!!!! EVERY night this past week! I wake her up every single morning too, so I wonder how long she'd actually sleep, LOL! It must be tiring be so darn cute!!! I just get nervous that she's hungry or that she's sitting in a wet diaper too long so I wake her up to change and feed her! :) I love her so much, she's such a little sweetie!!!!! ♥

I had to pack up her 3-6m clothes this week, haha... it was definitely hard for me! She's in all 6-9m stuff now and even some of that is JUST fitting her! Ahhhhh!!!!!!!

I also took out and organized all of Venily's shoes that she's outgrown!! An astonishing 45 pairs that no longer
fit her! OH MY!! (That's not counting the 12 or so she has now that DO fit her!) I think I've only ever bought her maybe 3 of those pairs, lol!

Haven and Venily love each other so much, it makes me want to cry! Venily is always making her laugh and wanting to play with her and read to her and be near her!!! I hope they are always the best of friends! :)

Also, I can tickle her now!! And she'll laugh instead of just look at me like 'what the heck are you doing!', I love it!!

I think...

Haven looks like me!!! She still looks a heck of a lot like Venily did when she was a baby, but I can definitely see more of myself in her... these are my 3m and 6m pics!


Jason DISAGREES!! He's crazy! Her blue eyes, little bit of light hair, big cheeks w/ dimples, and face structure are EXACTLY the same as mine! :)

Though I was checking my weight and height and I was only 12 lbs, 12 oz and 24in at 2 months! I was 15lbs at 4 months and Haven is already over 15 lbs at 2 months, lol!

Santa... Take 1!

We saw Santa yesterday at the Wheatland firehouse! Haven liked him and happily slept in his arms... Venily also liked him at first. As soon as we got in there she saw him and was really excited and said "It's SANTA!!!" and waved to him from across the room. But, when it was time to sit on his lap... she wanted nothing to do with it, lol! I ended up just holding her up by him while she fought to get away, haha! Oh well, we will be seeing him again on Saturday so hopefully it goes a little better!

A New Record! :)

Haven slept 10 hours, 15 minutes straight last night instead of her usual 9 hours!! AND I still woke her up this morning!!

I LOVE HER!!!! ♥

Not Good...

Today Venily asked if she could have some ice cream. I told her that it was all gone and that we had finished it yesterday. To which she responds "Damn it!"

Jason and I had to fight so hard not to laugh, though I really don't think it's funny! I don't swear unless I'm really, really mad and even then not in front of her, so I don't know where she gets it from! She doesn't watch much t.v. either! She also took a piece of a Xmas decoration and was pretending it was a gun!?! She was even saying "pow, pow" with it and calling it a "pow-er". Where does she get this stuff from when I am with her almost 24/7?!!

A day in the life... of Haven Araya!

I wanted to know how many hours a day Haven sleeps, how many times I change her, and how often she eats so I figured I'd actually keep track of it for the day! :)

(At 10 weeks old)

9:00 pm-6:00 am - SLEEP! (9 hours)
6:00 am - I woke her up b/c she was sucking on her knuckles so loudly, lol!)

• changed diaper (wet)
• fed her (no burp)

6:15 am - Fell right back to SLEEP! (1 hr, 15 min)
7:30 am - Spit up in her bassinet! I changed her sheets and fed her again!
7:45 am - Back to sleep (45 min)
8:30 am - Woke up!

• changed diaper (wet)
• fed

8:45 am- 9:30 am - PLAY TIME! (swing, floor time w/ toys, watching her big sister be crazy, etc.)
9:30 am - changed diaper (BM) and fed
9:45 am - SLEEP! (1 hr, 5 min)
10:50 am - Awake

• fed
• changed clothes and diaper (wet)
• played

11:50 am - Fed
12:00 pm - SLEEP! (40 min)
12:40 pm - Awake!

• In her front carrier with me while we checked my email, brought up the laundry, and did a "1 mile walk" workout!
  

1:40 pm - Changed diaper (Wet & BM)
2:05 pm - Fed
2:25 pm - SLEEP! (2 hrs, 20 min)
4:45 pm - Woke up!

• changed diaper (wet)
• Fed
• Played
• changed diaper (BM)

5:30 pm - Fed
5:45 pm - SLEEP! (1 hr)
6:45 pm - Awake!
6:50 pm - changed diaper (wet and BM) & into pajamas

• played

7:45 pm - Fed
8:00 pm - Listened to stories and songs for Venily's bedtime (she LOVES to do this!)
8:30 pm - Fed
8:40 pm - Attempt to put her to sleep, but she spit up in her bassinet...
8:55 pm - Sleep!

Which means that in 24 hours...

* She slept for 16hrs, 10 min!!
* I changed 8 diapers (4 wet, 2 BM, and 2 both)!
* I fed her 11 times! (she usually only takes one side at a time, only a few times of those did she take both sides)
* And she only spit up twice!! Both times while laying in her bassinet and both times after not burping well after a feeding!! :)


This was a pretty typical day! She is pretty consistent with when she wakes up in the morning and when she goes to bed. I think she usually takes a longer nap though in the morning rather than several smaller ones. I think 4 BM a day is on the high end but they were all small (no blowout diapers today, lol! YAY!). She typically cluster eats like that! I think it's because she goes so long at night without eating and she doesn't take a lot at once b/c of her reflux! I think I'll do this again in a month or 2 to compare! :)

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Also, she is 10 weeks old today!! This past week she has been chewing on her knuckles and fingers even more and has started drooling a lot too! My fingers are crossed that she doesn't get teeth any time soon (though Venily chewed and drooled a lot too and didn't get any teeth until she was almost 8 months!). Also, she LOVES to hold onto toys now when I put them in her hand! She will hold onto it for up to an hour and can bring it to her mouth and chew on it. Venily is always bringing her different toys to try! :) I sometimes forget that I gave her a toy and will see it in her hand again way later, lol!

Things I love... (this time around)

Front carrier!- I use it so much, it's ridiculous! I love it! Definitely makes grocery shopping with 2 kids MUCH easier! Though I can not go down a single aisle without somebody making a comment to me, lol! And I found out the other day that I can nurse her while she's in it! LOL! Very useful that I don't have to take her out of it to feed her! I had one with Venily but it was a pain in the butt to put on, this one is soooo easy! She likes to face frontwards in it now too!!

Swing!- Venily liked the travel swing, but never liked a full-sized swing. Haven really likes it! And it has been really useful to be able to put her in it when I make dinner, help Venily on the potty, etc.!

Nursing blankets with neck bands!- I don't know why I never bought any with Venily?! It's nice not having to worry about little grabby hands pulling down the blanket and exposing me to everyone, lol!

Cloth water-proof changing pads!- I put them under Haven when she lays on the couch, our bed, etc. so I don't get spit-up or leaky diapers all over everything!

Shout Laundry Spray!- (I used Dreft spray with Venily and it didn't work nearly as well) Since Haven spits up so much AND usually has at least one blow out diaper mess every single day (despite EVERYTHING that I try, though I'd really like to try cloth diapers! :) ) it works really good to keep things from getting stained!

Hmmm.... the things I DIDN'T think of last time! If I get a next time, I'd love to see what else I didn't think of! :)

Haven's 2 Month Well-Check!

Haven had her 2 month well-check today and she is a very healthy little (or I should say BIG) girl! :)

The nurse and doctor were very impressed with how strong she is and how well she holds herself up, how focused she is, and of course how sweet and happy she is! :) She was also impressed that she is going 8-9.5 hours straight of sleep every night!

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Her 2 month stats:

WEIGHT: 15 lbs, 3 oz!

HEIGHT: 25 inches!

Head circumference: 41 cm

(At Venily's 2 month visit she was 12lbs, 7 oz and 23 inches long!)

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Haven is off the growth chart for height and weight!!! The doctor said that she is very healthy and since she is off the chart for both she is proportional and perfect! :)

She had 2 shots today and took them like a little champ! Just cried for a second and then was happy again. I gave her some Tylenol anyway and so far she hasn't had any indication that they are bothering her. She was supposed to have 1 more shot, but they were out of it unfortunately and she'll have to have it on Dec. 16th when I go back in with Venily for her well-check!

We talked about her spitting up again. (Which is still often but SOOOO much better than it was in the beginning). And the doctor said that since she's gaining weight so well and since she's able to get it out without gagging on it anymore, there's really nothing to do but wait it out... which is fine with me. I just need to make sure that she gets a really good burp out after every feeding (which she is doing a lot better with now!).

Her next well-check is at 4 months, on January 26th!

Art Project

I came across this art project and did it with Venily yesterday and it actually worked REALLY well so I thought I'd share it! I used to LOVE doing these in school! :)

Website:
http://skiptomylou.wordpress.com/2007/01/11/scratch-art/

Ours:

The things kids say!

I really need to record more of the funny things that Venily says! I love the age that she's at now and how she is learning more and more new vocabulary and using it in her sentences! Some of her new favorite things to say are:

"What does that mean?" and "Are you kidding me?" haha.

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Yesterday we were driving to the store and Venily saw the moon.

Venily: "The moon! I see the moon! New Moon."
Me: (laughing)
Venily: "Bye Moon, we're going to Wal-Mart!"
Me: (laughing some more) "You're so cute Venily!"
Venily: "It's amazing!"
Me: "It's amazing?"
Venily: "Yeah, the moon is AMAZING!"

hahahahahaha


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The other day she came up to me and asked,

Venily: "Parents... what's that mean?" (I don't know why she asked, lol?!)
Me: "Parents are your Mommy and Daddy."

(the next day)

Jason and I were laying on the couch and watching t.v. while Venily was playing with her toys. She was talking on her cell phone and goes in front of the t.v. and says,

Venily: (on the phone) "My parents are watching The Wedding Singer CONSTANTLY."

Hahahaha, and the best part was that she said it with like an annoyed teenager attitude!! She's so funny!