July 31

Isla is two months old today!

We have her two month doctor's appointment on Friday, so we will get all of her official stats then. Last time we were there, she was 3 1/2 weeks and weighed 7 lbs exactly. My guess is that she is now between 9 and 10 pounds.

Of course, Audrey had to join us for today's Raggedy Anne photo shoot.
And since this is technically a monthly birthday for Audrey too, here is her 33 month picture with Raggedy Anne!

July 29

The rest of our trip to Keokuk was a lot of fun. On Friday, we went to the Keokuk pool. They have redone it recently, and it was pretty nice. I failed to bring my camera, and I missed some cute picture opportunities. Out of the 3 kids, Audrey was the oldest and she was also the scaredest! It took her a while to warm up to the new pool, but she eventually started to enjoy it just as much as the other two.

We enjoyed being able to see my aunt Martha, cousins Chloe and Olivia, and Chloe's little girl Madalinn. Madalinn is almost two, and she is so adorable and sweet!
And seriously, my nephew Josiah is the cutest little boy!!
This is my sister Andrea, my cousin Chloe, me and all our kids.Finally, here's a picture from today of our little family of four.

July 28

We are in Keokuk for a few days. My aunt and cousins are also in town visiting, so we are looking forward to some fun times with the family! Audrey is excited to play with her cousins Josiah (my sister's baby) and Madalinn (my cousin's baby).

We were at my grandparents house tonight for dinner. It was a little crazy with all of us adults plus 4 kids crowded into their living room! I'll try to get some more pictures of the craziness tomorrow.

Baby Josiah isn't going to be a baby for much longer. He is on the move and crawling everywhere!!

July 27

Pinterest is my newest obsession. It is an internet bookmarking site, that allows you to save and organize photos and websites that you like. For an internet research junkie like me, it is completely amazing and addicting.

So when you are searching the internet or reading one of the gazillion blogs that you follow and you come across an idea that you like, you simply "pin it" to one of your boards. Then it will be saved there for you, and you can access it at any time from any computer.

Plus, you can share all your boards with your friends. And you can follow your friends' boards to see what they have discovered and pinned, and then repin things to your own boards. You can also view random people's boards and pins. It is a whole new world of internet searching just within Pinterest itself. One click just leads to another and another and another!

You can also use Pinterest on your smart phone (or ipod touch in my case). So I can do all of this while feeding baby Isla. Then I don't feel like I am wasting time...just multi-tasking!

Right now, I'm finding ideas for Audrey's 3rd birthday party and even a few for Isla's 1st birthday party. I am getting ready to shoot some senior pictures, so I am looking for posing ideas. I'm collecting ideas of activities to do with Audrey and our letters of the week. Plus, I'm finding fun ideas we can use for our Sprouts playgroup. I also have boards for house decorating and organizing ideas, recipes to try and vacation ideas.

Pinterest is only available by invite only right now. If you want to try it, let me know and I'd be happy to send you an invite...and spread the addiction!!

July 26

I finally caught some of Isla's smiles on camera! She is also starting to make more happy sounds...i.e. sounds that are not grunts or cries.

It is so rewarding to see her smiles and hear those happy sounds, however brief they may be. Those first few weeks were so hard because she never seemed happy. We worked so hard to keep her fed and rested and content, and it just never seemed to be enough. Audrey was the same way as a newborn, and I just kept asking myself with both of them, "What if she doesn't like me? What if she is going to be grumpy like this forever? What if she never smiles? What if something is wrong with her?"

Obviously, those are silly worries, and I should know better this time around. But between the sleep deprivation and general stressfulness of life with two little ones, it's easy to forget how short-lived this period of life will be. But then I get a glimpse of these sweet, smiling face, and all of those silly worries are quickly forgotten!!

July 25

Tonight, Audrey wanted me to take pictures of her and all of us. It turned into a fun little family photo shoot. If I would have known we would be taking so many pictures, I would have combed Audrey's hair and put some clothes on her!!




The sleep saga with Audrey continues. Nap time seems to be the biggest struggle. Today she was in and out of bed for 30 minutes, she screamed for 30 minutes, and then I let her come out of her room. Almost immediately, she fell asleep on the couch and slept for an hour and a half there. She was obviously tired, but she refused to sleep in her room. She is showing us her stubborn side!

Bedtime was better...she only got up once and she was asleep (on the floor by her bed) by 8:30 (about 30 minutes after we started the process). Last night, Audrey slept through the night and Isla slept all the way until 4:30...hopefully we will all sleep that well again tonight!!

July 24

We were feeling adventurous tonight, so we took both girls to the Muni to see Hairspray.

I was kind of nervous about taking a 2 year old and a 2 month old to a 2 1/2 hour long show that started 30 minutes after the 2 year old's bedtime! But it went fairly well.

Audrey was super excited to go see a show! Daniel has taken her to a few rehearsals for Hairspray, so she sort of knew what to expect. (Daniel is on the board of directors for the Muni and is in charge of all the sound, so he occasionally drops in on rehearsals and occasionally takes Audrey with him).

I knew she wouldn't be able to follow the plot of Hairspray. And I knew most everything would go over her head (which was a good thing in some cases!). But she did like the dancing and singing and especially the lights. If you asked her about the show, she would probably tell you about the lights. Every time the background lights changed color, she would point it out. "Ooh, blue! Oh Yellow! Yellow is my favorite!" At the end of every song, she would always say rather loudly, "What are we going to do now?"

She sat and watched carefully for the first 45 minutes or so. Then she started to get a little more restless...talking and moving around. We were hoping she would just fall asleep, but I think she was too excited. We decided to leave at intermission before things turned disastrous.

This whole Muni adventure made for a great bedtime with Audrey! She fell asleep on the way home. She woke up a little as we changed her and moved her to bed, but she quickly fell back asleep. In her bed too...we'll see if she stays there all night!

July 23

With all this talk about her sister, baby Isla is feeling a little left out on the blog. So let's talk about Isla for a little bit before we get into all of Audrey's sleeping woes.

Isla is getting a lot better about holding her head up for brief periods of time when you are holding her. I tried to get a picture of her doing it today, though I didn't get any great shots. She is also starting to smile a little more frequently too, but again, I haven't captured any smiles on camera yet.

Last night, Isla was even a better sleeper than her big sister. Isla woke up once around 3 am, but she slept pretty well the rest of the night. Audrey, on the other hand, was up at 3 am as well...plus she was up at 4:30 and 5:00. She did finally go back to sleep until almost 8 am though (laying on the floor right in front of the door to her room).

The sleeping struggles continued today. Sorry for another long winded post. I just have to record these things, as I know someday I will look back and laugh at myself for stressing so much about this.

Naptime was horrible today. Part of the problem may be our inconsistencies in dealing with her. We've never dealt with a kid who won't stay in bed before, so we keep experimenting and trying different things to see if anything will work. We know what we want Audrey to do when it comes to sleep and bedtime:

1. Audrey will continue to take a nap, or at least have an hour of quiet time in her room.
2. Audrey will continue to go to bed at 8:00.
3. Audrey will sleep in her room by herself.

I think all of those things are both good for Audrey and for our family. The problem is--how do we go about getting her to do those things? I'm determined that we will make this work, but I don't know how to go about doing it.

Yesterday, putting her back in bed over and over again seemed to work well. But today, that turned into a game. She would laugh and run back to bed as soon as she saw us coming. Not good. We put a childproof cover on the door handle so she could no longer open the door, but that resulted in the most horrible screaming/kicking fit, which was more than my nerves could handle today. So we switched to another new strategy tonight that seemed to work fairly well.

I decided to just make a bed for her on the floor tonight, since she seems so intent on sleeping there. Then I agreed to leave her door open, as she pleaded over and over again, "Please Mom. Leave door open. Just a little bit." Then I sat outside her door, facing away from her. She could see me and know that I was present, but I wasn't giving her a lot of attention.

It seemed to work. As long as I stayed by the door, she laid on her makeshift bed on the floor and didn't move a muscle. It probably took about 20 minutes, and then she fell asleep without too much fuss.

I really don't want to have to sit by her door every nap and bed time until she falls asleep. It's kind of hard to do when there is a little baby around that needs attention too! I am hoping that this is just a temporary thing to help her get over whatever separation anxiety she seems to have. At the same time, it feels like this is turning into a control issue--who is really in charge here anyway??

We are intent on sticking to our guns and making sure that she does get good rest each day and night. But many more gray hairs may be added to my head in the process!!!

July 22

(This was supposed to be posted yesterday, but I got sidetracked by Audrey's sleeping issues. So here it is today!)
VBS is over! That is a huge relief. It went well, and the kids seemed to enjoy it. Hopefully they learned something about Jesus too!

The Moby Wrap came in handy this week. It worked fairly well at keeping Isla content and asleep, and it allowed me to be hands free. Plus, it looked somewhat authentic with my costume as well.

And now for today's sleeping update:

Today was better than yesterday. There was very little screaming from Audrey. At both naptime and bedtime, she did go through the whole getting out of bed and opening the door routine several times. But we didn't even have to put her back in bed. Once she saw one of us come into the room, she walked right back to her bed and got in it.

At both naptime and bedtime, she did eventually go to sleep after a few rounds of being in and out of bed. But she went to sleep on the floor instead of in her bed. I don't understand what happened to make her bed an undesirable place to sleep. I really don't care if she wants to sleep on the floor for naptime. As long as she is in her room and not screaming, I'm fine with it.

I'm not sure if she can make it all night on the floor though. And I really don't want to deal with her waking up in the middle of the night. Tonight, she fell asleep on the floor in front of her door. Daniel successfully managed to move her from the floor to her bed without waking her up, so right now she is in bed asleep. Hopefully she will stay there all night long!

Just one more thought before I quit writing:

Tonight, Daniel graciously allowed me to abandon him at bedtime again, leaving him alone to deal with all of these sleep troubles. I went with some friends to see the final Harry Potter movie. It was a nice reward after a long week of work at VBS.

I was an extremely reluctant Harry Potter reader. Everyone loved the books so much, but I was stubbornly determined to avoid all the hype. I was not going to jump on the Harry Potter bandwagon.

Somehow my friend Kellie managed to convince me to read the books. Of course, I was instantly hooked! Once I finished the last book, I knew there were still a few more movies to be made. So it wasn't really the end yet. But now that I have watched the final movie, it really is the end of Harry Potter. Although, there is now a theme park...

July 21

So, let's talk about how my daughter, who has been an awesome sleeper for the past two years, is now refusing to sleep.

Today at naptime, she cried for 60 minutes and slept for 0 minutes. After the first 10 minutes, I went upstairs to check on her. She said she needed to go potty, so I took her to the bathroom and she went. I put her back in bed, and she started crying as soon as I started to leave the room. I tucked her in one last time, then left with her still crying. Screaming is really a more accurate term.

She continued screaming. Daniel eventually came home from work at the 45 minute point to see if he could get her to calm down and sleep. (She woke up at 5:30 this morning after a late night last night. She was very, very tired...probably overtired...and we knew she really needed to sleep).

Daniel went up to discover that she had peed the bed. He cleaned her and the bed up and tried to put her back to sleep, but he didn't have any luck. She continued to scream.

Finally, we gave in and let her get up. When we got her up, we discovered that she had peed the bed again! I am pretty sure the peeing was a result of the tantrum or just her being defiant because she was mad at us. Very frustrating!! I hated giving in to her tantrum, but we couldn't let her keep crying all day long!!
After Daniel went back to work, Audrey ended up falling asleep on the couch! She has never done that before for us. Definite proof that she was exhausted and needed a nap.

Naptimes have sometimes been difficult lately, so it didn't surprise me too much to have her fight us on her nap. Bedtime has been going smoothly for a long time, so even after the rough nap today, I expected her to go right to sleep tonight.

I was at church tearing down after VBS. So Daniel had both of the girls at bedtime by himself, which is not an easy task. All seemed to be going well, until Daniel got up to leave her room. And the screaming resumed.

I was just talking to someone tonight about how Audrey sometimes screams at bedtime, but she doesn't get out of bed. Plus, the door to her room is really hard to open, so she doesn't know how to open it. So at least we don't have to deal with her getting out of bed and out of her room.

At least we didn't have to deal with it until tonight.

Audrey not only figured out that she was capable of getting up out of bed by herself, she also figured out that she can open the door all by herself. So that's what she did. Over and over and over again.

Daniel eventually called me to come home and help. We employed Super Nanny's technique of putting her straight back in bed every time she got up. It took a while, but eventually it worked. She quieted down at 10:00, about 1 1/2 hours after the whole bedtime routine began.

I'm trying to muster up some sympathy for Audrey. She has been separated from us a lot lately--first with Isla's birth, then recently with her trip to Daniel's parents, and VBS this week has kept me busy and away from her. But really it is hard for me to feel bad for her. I am mostly just extremely frustrated and completely exhausted. With a baby that is still up a couple of times a night and a crazy week of VBS, this is not good timing for Audrey to give us a hard time.

I read this blog post today, which was a good reminder that all of this is just a phase. It will not last forever! And I"m hoping it won't last much longer than today. =)

July 20

Day 3 of VBS went really well...probably the best night yet! This picture was in our Wool Shop. The kids are making felted wool soaps, and they are pretty cool.

I have decided that I have a love/hate relationship with VBS. I love helping and planning and all of that. But it also stresses me out! Especially with baby Isla in the picture...things are a bit more stressful than normal this year. We are making it work though, and tomorrow night is the last night!

July 19

I have been failing at this blog lately. VBS has been consuming every ounce of time and energy. I do enjoy it, but it frustrates me and stresses me out too. After all the planning and setup, you want to see everything flow perfectly during the actual event. Things are going well, but we've still had some hiccups this week. And that really frustrates the perfectionist in me.

Anyway, I'll try to post some VBS pictures later this week. I don't have any ready yet tonight.

The big news of the day is that our big girl came back home! Audrey spent the last 4 days or so at Mimi and Papaw's house. I forgot how much that girl talks! She came in and started talking and I don't think she ever stopped. It's kind of fun that she is able to tell me what she did while she was gone. Here are a few samples of things she told me about Mimi and Papaw's house:

When asked about Chuck E Cheese: "I eat pizza. I play games. I put coins in. Tickets come out."

When asked about the Winnie the Pooh movie: "Eeyore lost his tail. Kanga find it. Pooh looking for honey. Pooh LOVES honey!"

When asked what food she ate: "Breakfast!! I had toast and yogurt. And jelly. And cinnamon sugar. At Chuck E Cheese, I eat cotton candy. Blue cotton candy." (to Isla) "I eat blue cotton candy baby Isla." (to her new Buzz Lightyear toy from Mimi and Papaw) "I eat blue cotton candy Buzz."

Soon after she was home she got upset about something and started crying: "I want my Mimi and Papaw!"

One last story: tonight, Audrey was helping me make tacos for dinner. She likes to put the cheese on her taco. Usually she takes a big handful for her mouth as well and half of it ends up on the floor. As I watched the cheese fall on the floor, I said, "Too bad Maggie isn't here anymore to clean up all the food we drop."

On hearing this, Audrey got another big handful of cheese, climbed down off her stool, and set the pile of cheese in the middle of the kitchen floor. When I asked her what she was doing, she said, "I leave that for Maggie."

I explained to her again that Maggie doesn't live here anymore. She insisted in a very serious voice, "Maggie come back to my house to eat that cheese. I leave it there now and Maggie come eat it."

By this point, I am cracking up. Audrey hasn't really seemed to be too bothered about Maggie being gone. But she was set on the idea that Maggie needed to come back just to eat the cheese she set in the middle of the floor. Oh she is a funny girl! Life is never dull with her around!

July 15

Yesterday, we sent Audrey to Daniel's parents house to visit for a few days. She was SO excited to go to Mimi and Papaw's house. She constantly talked about all the things she was going to do with Mimi and Papaw. "We go to movie theater, see Winnie the Pooh. We go to fair and see animals. We fly a kite. We play with toys."

She also was very concerned that Mimi and Papaw would not have all the necessities that she uses in daily life. She kept asking:

"Mimi and Papaw have food?"
"Mimi and Papaw have TV?"
"Mimi and Papaw have potty?"
"Mimi and Papaw have table?"
"Mimi and Papaw have toys?"

You get the idea! We are hoping she has a fun time at Mimi and Papaw's. So far, it sounds like she is doing good. Except for a 3 am wake up call, followed by her being awake for an hour and a half. She never, ever, ever does that. She was probably 6 months old the last time she woke up in the middle of the night and wouldn't go back to sleep! Hopefully she will adjust to sleeping in a new place and won't wake Mimi and Papaw up again tonight!


Audrey is visiting them now, so that Daniel and I can have a little extra time to get ready for Big Block Bash (a big block party at church tomorrow night) and VBS (which starts on Monday). So far, I am not quite as stressed out as last year. I feel like I have recruited more help this year. So as long as they all show up to work tomorrow, we should be in good shape.

The picture above is just one of the shops in our Nazareth Marketplace this year. I can't really take any credit for it though. A volunteer named Connie brings in all of her own stuff to set up her shop, so that everything is coordinated and looks good. The rest of our shops aren't quite as pretty, as we are working with a lot of random stuff. But in the end, it should all come together to create a fun experience for the kids.

July 14

Isla is 6 weeks old this week. We were playing outside tonight, so I thought I would take advantage of the natural light and get a few pictures of her. She is so much more relaxed outside, and she fell asleep as soon as I laid her down. I tried to wake her up to get a picture with her eyes open, but I didn't have any luck!
She is fattening up quite nicely. Someday, she won't be too excited about me talking about her getting fat, but for now it is a good thing! Her cheeks are now nice and plump, her belly is nice and round, and she is starting to get some rolls on her arms and legs. She looks much more like a normal baby now, rather than a tiny fragile little baby. We haven't had her weighed in about 3 weeks, but I'm guessing she is getting close to 8 1/2 pounds by now.
Her favorite activity (besides eating and sleeping) is staring. She will stare intently at our faces, and it appears that she is very seriously studying us and trying to decide what she thinks of us. It is very cute. She is a bit stingy with her smiles. We get some half smiles and a few real smiles occasionally. I am looking forward to the day when the smiles start flowing a little more freely.

She is getting stronger too. She has more control of her neck and can hold her head up for brief periods of time. We are working on tummy time and getting her to lift her head up when laying on her stomach. She will lift it up for just a second or so, before giving up and getting mad at us for making her work so hard! =)
She is starting to get into the rhythm of a schedule. I say that with caution, because things are subject to change frequently with a baby. At night, she will wake up once or twice to eat, then generally she will go right back to sleep. She is a very restless sleeper though, and often grunts and squirms in her sleep for what seems like the whole night. Sometimes we get her up because she is making so much noise, but really she is sleeping and we end up waking her up. She has had some issues with gas, so that might be part of her restless sleeping problem. The doctor says it takes about 3 months for babies' digestive systems to mature. I'm hoping as she gets older, she will start to sleep more soundly and generally be more content.
As soon as we came back inside tonight (and out of the good light), then she decided to wake up and open her eyes!

July 13

I am terrified to try to cut Audrey's hair. So when it is time for a cut, even just a trim, I take her to my hairdresser Jenni. For $10, it is worth having an expert do it for me! Plus, Audrey loves to go see Jenni! I think today was her 3rd haircut.

Today after Jenni cut Audrey's hair, she put it in braids. She looked so cute and grown up in her braids.
One reason that Audrey likes to go see Jenni: she gets a sucker at the end of the visit!
Before we left this morning, Audrey kept telling me all the things she wanted to tell Jenni.

"I eat yogurt and toast for breakfast. I tell Jenni that."

"I tell Jenni about my new van."

"I tell Jenni about my baby sister.'

"I tell Jenni about Scheels."

But then when we got there, she was super shy and didn't talk much without a lot of prompting. Silly girl!

For the rest of the day after the haircut, Audrey kept randomly bringing up different things about Jenni and her haircut experience. Such as:

"Jenni hold my hand." (Jenni did hold Audrey's hand as we were walking back to Jenni's station)

"Jenni help me sit in big chair. I can't do it myself."

"Jenni give me sucker."

"Jenni cut my hair again next week."

July 12

Isla is 6 weeks old today. I have a post ready to go in my head, but I don't have the focus/energy to write it tonight...so stay tuned for that coming soon!

VBS starts on Monday. I'm heading up our Marketplace again this year (see last July's posts for lots of stories about what this entails). I'm kind of starting to stress out about it, as I underestimated how difficult it would be to get anything accomplished with two little ones around!

July 11

Isla had a better day today, which meant a better day for me too! It's funny how things change from day to day, hour to hour, minute to minute. Last night I was feeling completely overwhelmed, but tonight I feel much more capable of handling two kids and life in general. We shall see what tomorrow brings!

On a different topic, my friend Lindsey has inspired me to start eating a little healthier around here. She is working on eating more real foods and less processed foods with her family, so I thought we might try to do the same. I'm not going super crazy with it, but I am trying to make more things from scratch and be more aware of what is in the food that I am serving/eating.

Last week, I made whole wheat zucchini chocolate chip muffins and whole grain waffles. Both were delicious, and we now have a good supply in the freezer to eat for breakfast and snacks.

Tonight, I made homemade chicken nuggets. From a fat/calorie standpoint, these really aren't a healthy meal. But when you compare them to frozen, bagged chicken nuggets, they are much better for you. Since chicken nuggets have become a staple in Audrey's diet, I decided it wouldn't hurt to make some with fresher ingredients.

I used this recipe. The only thing I changed was the frying part. I did cook them in a some extra virgin olive oil on the stovetop, but only for a second or two on each side...just to help them get a little crispy. Then I baked them in the oven at 400 for about 10 minutes on each side. Not sure if that made them any healthier, but it did make it easier to know for sure when they were cooked all the way.

Most importantly, they tasted really good! I thought Audrey might reject them, as the taste and texture were a bit different than the frozen kind. But she ate them all up! I now have at least 6-7 servings in the freezer that she kind have for lunches in the coming weeks.

July 10

Here is Audrey painting with water outside in the driveway. I saw this idea a long time ago, and I have been meaning to do it with Audrey. It's so easy and cheap and not messy! Just a paintbrush and a bucket of water, and Audrey was all set to play for a long time. When it was time to go in, Audrey said, "We do this again next week."
We brought Isla's bouncy seat out so she could hang out with us too. This little girl loves to be outside! She is so fussy when you set her down by herself inside, but set her down outside and she is totally content. I think the fresh air and warm temps help her to relax.
It's tempting to leave this post as is and make you think that we are all happy and having fun all day long. But that would not be the truth. To be honest, there were several moments today and in the past few weeks, where I have really questioned my ability to be a mom, specifically a stay at home mom.

I've said before that the newborn stage is frustrating to me, and that is still true. Isla continues to be fussy. And I just don't know how to deal with it or how to make it better. What is wrong with her? I want someone to tell me why she is upset, so that I can fix it and make it better for her. But there is no one to tell me what to do, and so we are just left guessing and trying to figure things out. Then, once we think we have things figured out, she changes and does something different, so we start all over again. I get frustrated/angry/stressed out when she is crying and unpredictable.

(Even though I know that crying and being unpredictable is exactly what she should be doing as a newborn. I think I want her to be this incredibly unusual baby who is just happy and content all the time...wouldn't that be nice?? But then, she probably wouldn't need me, and that would be kind of sad too, wouldn't it?)

Then you add a two year old into the mix. Audrey's crazy mood swings and whining and constant talking, along with a crying newborn, is just about enough to push me over the edge sometimes. Honestly, Audrey is really doing a good job with being a big sister and being around Isla; I'm really proud of her. But she is still two, and she still acts very much like a normal two year old. There was one point tonight when I was alone with them, and they were both crying. It was all I could do to not join right in with them.

I don't have any answers tonight, just lots of rambling. I know these days are short and that they will be over all too soon. Before I know it, the girls will grow up and get more independent. Then I know I will wish that I could have my little babies back with me. I remind myself of this about 500 times a day to help me remember to enjoy this time and not stress out about it!!!

July 9

Daniel's brother and his family came for a visit today. Audrey was so excited for them to come, and kept asking all morning, "When my cousins be here?"
Audrey and our 9 year old niece Mariah were best buddies all day long. Audrey just wanted to hold Mariah's hand and lead her around the house from toy to toy and room to room. Mariah was so patient and willing to play with Audrey; it was just too sweet. Audrey wanted to copy everything that Mariah did. I wish Mariah lived a little closer so they could play together more often!

We had a fun, busy day: lunch and play time at our house, I went to a baby shower, then we went to Scheels, had dinner at Bennigans and ended with swimming at their hotel pool. Now, it is time for bed!

July 8

Continuing with our ice cream theme this week, we did make homemade ice cream tonight. When I told Audrey we were going to make it, she asked, "It's pretend?" Obviously, she was very excited to find out that the ice cream we were making tonight was real!
Isla seemed to be more content today. She slept more and ate more, which helped both her and I to feel better! It's been a few days since she has made an appearance on this blog, so I figured it was about time for some new pictures of her. She's pretty cute, if you ask me!!!I think she looks a lot like Daniel. I told Audrey that the other day. Her reply: "No, she not look like Daddy. Daddy's not a baby. Don't say that, Mommy!"

We got out the baby toys this week to see if baby Isla would be interested in them yet. Baby Isla didn't seem to care much for them, but Audrey was thrilled to have a whole new box of toys to play with.

July 7

Isla has been more awake and alert this week, which means she has been more fussy. I don't think she quite knows what to do with herself when she is awake. Up until recently, she ate and slept and didn't do much else. Now, she is more awake and alert. Then she doesn't know how to fall asleep when she gets tired. These are tricky things for a tiny little baby to have to figure out!

Plus she is still eating every 2-3 hours, which would be normal if she was breastfed. But since she is formula fed, I expected her to eat less frequently by now. She still is not eating that much at each feeding. She usually eats between 2-3 oz every 2-3 hours. Normal for her age is 4-6 oz every 3-4 hours. I think she is still eating enough, but she is just eating in smaller portions. That makes her hungry more frequently, and therefore more fussy.

Anyway, all of that was just to say that Isla has needed lots of extra love and attention this week! And I have needed lots of extra patience (and Diet Dr. Pepper) in order to maintain my sanity.

I feel Audrey has been getting a lot more negative attention from me lately. I'm always telling her "no" or "stop doing that" or " be quiet" or "go play by yourself." This afternoon, Isla took several good naps, so I decided to use the time for some positive, quality interaction with Audrey.

We picked up with a new letter of the week: I. (It's going to take us three years to get through the alphabet at the pace we are going!). Ice cream was the main focus of our activities today. We made this lovely ice cream I.
Then we made pretend ice cream sundaes. When it comes to pretend food, Audrey has come a long ways since this incident last year when she was so upset that the ice cream was fake. Today, she kept coming up with different creations, then she would pretend to take a bite and say, "Yum. Yum. So delicious. Mmm, mmm, mmm."

We also found a couple of ice cream books at the library this week that Audrey has been enjoying: Curious George Goes to an Ice Cream Shop and Ice Cream. I'm thinking that as a finale for this ice cream theme we need to make some homemade ice cream tomorrow!

July 6

I decided I didn't want to mess with a little kiddie pool in our yard this year. So instead, I bought a sprinkler, which I found at Wal-mart for $6.

When Daniel got home from work tonight, we decided to try it out with Audrey. Audrey wasn't too sure about the water splashing in her face at first, and she refused to walk through it. So Daddy helped her out and carried her through the sprinkler (in his clothes!) to show her how much fun it is.
Then, Audrey got brave enough to do it by herself. She made the best faces as she was walking through the water. And as soon as she was done, she wanted to do it again.

Unfortunately, the $6 sprinkler from Wal-mart sprung a leak and stopped working. So Audrey had to stop playing in the sprinkler shortly after she was starting to have fun.

Time to buy a new sprinkler...hopefully it will last more than 10 minutes this time!

July 4

Happy 4th of July! (Just pretend like it's still the 4th...I meant to post this yesterday but didn't get it done.)

I took these pictures on Sunday, when the girls were dressed up in their red, white and blue outfits for church.


We had a nice 4th of July. We celebrated with a cookout and swimming with friends, though I failed to take any pictures to prove it.

After our sun-filled afternoon, we were all pretty tired...especially Audrey who had missed her nap. We were thinking it would be best to skip fireworks and stay home and go to bed early. I wasn't sure that Audrey would like fireworks. She hated them when we saw them at Disney in February.

But then I started thinking about what a nice evening it was and how the 4th of July only comes around once a year. I decided we should be festive and celebrate. So we joined some friends from church to watch the fireworks show.

All was going well at first. They were giving away free cookies and ice cream, which made Audrey happy. Audrey sat with me and we talked about watching the fireworks way up high in the sky. She seemed excited.
Then the fireworks started, and the disaster began. Audrey immediately started crying and saying, "I want to go home" over and over again. Then Isla lost her pacifier and we couldn't find it in the dark, so she started crying too. After trying to get them both to be quiet for a few minutes, we decided to pack up and go home. At least, we would be able to get out before getting stuck in traffic.

However, this was like the shortest fireworks show ever, and they were over before we even got halfway back to our car. So, we still got stuck in traffic on the way home.

Oh well, there's always next year!