nora was 7 months dec 19th...

7 month post...better hurry...before she is 17!

she weighs 15 lbs 4 oz! up from her 6 month check up where she weighed 13 lbs 11 oz! so we will continue to add 2 spoons of powder formula to her breast milk bottles.
she is in 6 month cloths and size 2 diapers.
  she sucks on her left thumb and index finger (at the same time)
she has one tooth! the bottom middle left.
she has started to sit up unassisted for a few seconds before she teeters over!

she will actually laugh out loud when you play peek a boo with her!
she reaches for everything, and if she gets a hold of it, it goes straight to her mouth!
she LOVES her sisters!
she takes 2 naps a day...one around 10 am for about an hour, then around 2pm (along with the other 2 girls! i call that a mother SUCCESS! i get all three napping at once!) for about 3 hours.
she will sleep from 8pm-8am but still wakes 1-2 times to eat during the night around 1am ish and 5am ish...
she poops daily now (i think its the formula)
she drinks breast milk from a bottle (im still pumping every 4 hours, 15-20 minutes at a time) every 2-4 hours, 130 cc (120cc is 4 oz) at a time.
still a work in progress the eating purees thing...she is getting a little better but its still a huge chore, she will be doing ok...then it will come out her nose because she sneezes, then she screams and doesnt want anything to do with "food" anymore.. she still tongue thrusts too...uggg...its stressful!

some of the things shes done the past month include:
we made her santa cookie plate. her footprint made into a penguin
she got her first tooth on thanksgiving day! 6 months, 1 week and 1 day.
we went to see the wild lights display at the zoo! she LOVED the lights!
on  dec 3 we went for her 3 month follow up with her plastic surgeon and he was super happy with the way she was healing!
the top picture is us driving through christmas lights at our local park...nora was sleeping in her car seat
she is a drooling fool! teething and open palate will do that to you!
she has super chubby thighs and cheeks!
she is a super happy bald baby!
that we are so lucky to have

may 2014....

i know. may was eons ago...but i cant skip all those months...
i wouldnt want you to miss any sweet pictures of my girls...
whoever "you" are...probably just my mom now...so...
for you mom...heres last may!

me and the girls being silly

 

our first trip to the zoo in 2014! we love our zoo! it is great! and FREE!

oh..and my 37 week belly...we thought we would have had a baby by now...or in the next week...little did we know...that baby had plans to hang out in my belly for 3 more weeks! i never go to my due date! well, i learned to never say never!!!

 

last may, we traded in my car, and i got a gmc acadia! i needed something that would fit 3 car seats!

the bottom picture is the girls watching "the big blue truck!" (the trash truck!) they get so excited over that dang truck! and go running through the house to look out the window when it comes!

 

 

we love hanging out in our back yard!

this day, we sat out there and enjoyed the weather...and blew bubbles till the cows came home!

 

39 2/7 week belly....ive never been pregnant this long! (both girls came at 38 weeks)

little did i know i still had a week before the baby came!

 

this is the girls last day of school.

this 2013-14 year was danikas first year of preschool and finleys 3rd year.

finley had mrs marie and mrs beverly

danika had mrs angela and mrs katie

they both enjoy school so much!

it warms me watching them and enjoy their teachers and friends!

 



 

here we are...

40 weeks!

my due date, may 18, 2014...

and im still pregnant!

 

i went in to be induced at midnight

and lynnora ann FINALLY arrived ..

may 19, 2014 at 10:59 AM

i already blogged about her birth...

but i couldnt resist a few of my favorite pictures from the first 2 days of her life!

we were over joyed!

and the girls were/are so in love with her!



life at home with 3

i have 2 helpers! that fight over helping me!

and fight over holding nora

and kissing her...



 

life at home with 3...

pretty damn good!

 

and nora...

her first smile i caught with my camera, at 12 days old!

(she had smiled in her sleep several times at 6 days old...i just didnt catch them with my camera)

gosh i miss that smile!

 

april 2014

i am not giving up on getting caught up...so here goes april 2014 looong post! lots of stuff happened!

we layed on the floor and watched tv, we wore our fairy wings while we took care of our baby...we INSISTED on wearing our new rain coats ALL.DAY.LONG!

we clowned around with daddy (this is a daily thing, not just in april! lol) the girls LOVE that their daddy is a human jungle gym! we played outside and blew bubbles!

we went to an easter egg hunt....where danika was NOT impressed....UNTIL SHE FOUND OUT THERE WAS CaNdY in those eggs!!!! (this is my sweets loving girl!)

she was super happy...candy was involved...then came the picture with the easter bunny!!!
back to not.so.impressed.with.this.crap!
we also won a little bike with training wheels at one of the raffles!
how cool is that!!!! we never win stuff like that!

 

we INSISTED ON wearing our rain boots all day long!

matt and i started our baseball season dates at a cubs cards game!

and i had a 35/2/7 week belly!

we colored eggs...then bedazzled them with glitter!!!!

we celebrated easter with fun gifts...

 

and then a sermon at church!

matt even got to hold all the precious dolls at one point!

what a lucky daddy!

 



we smiled a lot (always)
had fun a lot (always)
and loved a lot (always)
and i took pictures....A LOT! (ALWAYS)!

my flowers started blooming! i love this!
the girls love taking pictures of me/them/their dolls/their stuffed animals/the tv!
and my belly kept growing...36 2/7 weeks here...we thought the baby would be coming any time...little did we know she would have to be evicted!!!!

the girls had their end of the school year program! i just love this program each year. this was danikas first year of preschool...as you can see, at first she was shy up on stage, then she did start singing and doing the hand motions and smiling when she saw me!
finley was shy up on stage...and stayed that way, even when she saw me...but i dont blame her, that church auditorium is huge, and always PACKED on the program night!

my lilac bush that smells sooooo good
some bangers matt brought home from the hockey game
anther family selfie
and me and my girls
and a 37 week belly! full term!

and there you have it...
april...

thanksgiving weekend!

the holiday season 2014 is in full go mode!
i was off this thanksgiving and we spent a lot of family time with matts side of the family!
his brother and family came in from arkansas, and we had a blast!
we had thanksgiving at matts sisters house with 30+ people.
then we lad left over lunch on friday.
and saturday we went over and matt fried 50 lbs of chicken wings! then we went to see the light display at the zoo!
sunday we went to church (long overdue) and then put up the tree!

heres our family thanksgiving selfie!

the the 3 girls! man oh man does danika love nora!

she gets kind of pissy when she isnt holding nora....can you tell?!?!?!
but all 3 love each other so much! and i love watching them grow together and watching their bonds tighten!

oh my gosh! all 5 of us are LOOKING AT THE CAMERA AND SMILING?! and its in focus! it was a thanksgiving miracle!

we also made our annual trip to the zoo to see the wild lights display! the weather was actually great! it was in the 50's (rather in the 30's like years past) and clear skies!
we all had a blast looking at all the pretty lights! and nora was in total awe over the lights!

sunday we got the tree up! the girls were so giddy! they were bouncing off the walls! we couldnt hand them ornaments fast enough!!! they took turns great! and kept wanting up to "lift them up high" to put ornaments up towards the top of the tree!
heres a picture of us at church, then each girl putting their first ornament up on the tree, then up high!, then they thought they were funny because they put their stockings on!!!
the fireplace...with all the stockings hung with care!
all 5!~

we sure do hope you had a great thanksgiving weekend....
and lets now join in all the hustle and bustle!

how did that happen!?!??!!?

sweet baby nora turned 6 months old nov 19!
she is so much fun and we just love her to pieces!
she is in size 2 diapers and 6 months clothes, although most are pretty big on her!

she is 25.5 inches long
and her head is 16.5 around.
she weighs 13 lbs 11 oz...
only up 5 oz since she was 4 months old...so we are having to add 2 spoonfuls of powdered formula to her bottles to add calories. and to try to fatten her up a bit...but she still had chunky thighs! and cheeks that make you want to pinch them!

we moved the straps up on her car seat today...
she SLEEPS THROUGH THE NIGHT(mostly )now! she started that at 5 months old when we were visiting florida!she goes to sleep around 730-800 and sleeps till about 730-800am...will be awake until about 10 ish then take a morning nap that is about 1-1.5 hours long....then she wakes for lunch and her after noon nap is from about 2 for about 3 hours!then she wakes for dinner! and that is her day...kind of, most of the time! occasionally, she will wake up between midnight and 2 for a bottle...

she still drinks breastmilk in a bottle every 2-5 hours. 4 oz at a time...
i am getting ready to start giving her pureed food this week or next...
that should be fun!

she giggles
she smiles
she drools
she sucks on her thumb and pointy finger
she LOVES HER SISTERS and LOVE HER
she rolls from belly to back

she is not a fan of bath time
she can hold her own bottle for a few minutes
she is still bald
she is super ticklish
did i mention her chunky thigh rolls?!?!!?
she found her feet

and just for fun, 

each girl on their 6 month birthday!

our girls.

our worlds!

8th anniversary trip in september

every year we go on a little trip for our anniversary...

this year we went up to michigan. where my side of the family is from!

i used to spend my summers in michigan with my grandparents/cousins/aunts and uncles and it had been many years since i had been up there.

so friday spet 12 we drove up to our hotel in benton harbor. nothing fancy...but a requirement was a pool!!!!

we got there and checked in, went swimming in the pool (that we had all to ourselves!) and ordered pizza delivered to the room!

the girls were in hog heaven!

a pool. pizza! jumping on the beds! and a bedtime of 1130!!!!

the next day we drove down to south haven beach where it was a brisk 57 degrees. finley was not happy with this beach! she said she didnt like this beach.
to her credit, the only beach shes ever been to has been florida beaches....sunny, warm...we play in the water...
here, there was none of that....and she didnt understand why i didnt bring their bathing suits to change into!
but we did walk down to the light house, and she had fun doing that and splashing in EVERY SINGLE PUDDLE on the walk to the light house!




we ate lunch in down town south haven at a little diner called captain nemos and i bought a few souvenirs!
then we headed back to the hotel for a nap!

saturday night we headed to st joseph to a carousal that they have on the beach!

this was fun (we were the only ones there again!)

after this, we were going to go to this pizza place that was highly recommended, but the wait for a table was about an hour long and it was already 830pm...

so we headed back to the hotel...and ordered pizza delivery again!

bedtime tonight was 1230!!!

sunday we checked out and headed to the country. to my dads side of the family. we went to my aunt bonnies and spent the afternoon there visiting with her and my cousin brandi and a few other family members. we had lunch. aunt bonnie made a huge pot of spaghetti! it was delish!
it was so good to see my family! i miss them a ton! and i was super happy that they finally got to meet my little family!

 

after lunch, we headed to south bend indiana where my moms side of the family lives!

we hung out there and had dinner!

they made home made chicken tortellini soup! mmmm...we were well fed that sunday!

it was great seeing everyone on this side too, and i was happy they got to meet my little family finally!

 

 

then we headed home...

it was a short trip...

but well worth it!

i am so glad we went and we managed to visit my family!

like i said, i used to go every summer...

then i got married and had kids and its not that easy to just get up and go anymore,

so it had been a long time since i had been for a visit!

i promised...that much time wouldnt go by again!

happy 8th anniversary hunky hubby!

nora...5 months!

Nora turned 5 months old on oct 19!

i know...that was like 2 weeks ago...

but we were at the beginning of a 10 day vacation to visit my family...

and i feel like ive done nothing but work since weve been back home!

so...before she has her half birthday....

heres a bit about our 5 month old sweet pee!

 

 

she is in size 1 diapers...but only because we have some more to use! her thunder thighs are busting out of them! she is in size 3-6 and 6 month clothes. the 6 month are big....but probably not for long!
she chews on her hands/fingers constantly and is a drool machine!
she has found her voice and babble and coos all the time! i love this!
she goes to sleep around 7-8 pm and sleeps until 8ish am, but still wakes once between 2-4 to eat.
she usually takes a short 1 hour nap in the morning around 10..then a longer several hour nap in the afternoon!
she is super happy and smiles her beautiful smile all the time !
did i mention her thunder thighs!??!?!
we love to play super baby with her, hold her above our heads and she holds her legs out and she looks like super man...and this ALWAYS makes her fart!!!!! it is hilarious! this is how i entertain myself and the girls every day! with super baby nora farts!!!!
she is wanting to sit up more and be part of the action! and see everything....she gets mad if you try to hold her laying like a baby! (the nerve!)
SHE HAD FOUND HER FINGERS! AND SUCKS THEM TO SOOTHE HERSELF!mostly her pointer finger. hallelujah! no more dang binki (that she couldnt hold in her mouth d/t her cleft, so we were constantly holding it or trying to position her on her side to wedge it between her and her bed/seat/burp cloth)
she LOVES LOVES LOVES watching finley and danika and loves it when they come up and talk to her! her face just lights up and she starts waving her hands and legs! its too cute! how much they all 3 love each other!
she still heats 4 oz of breast milk (i am still pumping! go me!) every 2-5 hours but usually its about 3 hours.
she still poops once every 3-4 days...and its a doozie when she does!
she is still basically bald with peach fuzz and more in the back along the bottom.
she is very ticklish and laughs out loud!!!!
nora is just super happy and smiles (and drools) all the time!
we all just are so in love with her!