Sisters...

 Little Sis, Big Sis

Kylee wasn't too happy about a ton of pictures that day, but Zoe is always thrilled to take pics with her sister!

Very alert and observant, like her big sis...

We are definitely enjoying our time with the girls.  Kylee is growing like a weed.  I think much faster than Zoe, but we will officially find out in a couple of weeks at her 2 month well baby check up.  She is so observant already and is always looking at her surroundings.  We are working out a schedule for her, but she is still pretty much calling the shots.  She is starting to sleep longer.  Yeah!  If I am lucky, she sleeps a 5-6 hour sift, then a 4, so I get 2 good 3-3 and a half hour shifts of sleep plus a little more before Zoe wakes up.  I will take it!!!  We are on count down for school...can't wait until Daddy is home with us!!!  I am going to start pumping and training Kylee to take a bottle, so Shaun can take one feeding at night :).  More sleep for Mommy!  Shaun can't wait either because he was able to feed Zo from the start, so he is eager to be able to help out at night.  That has been quite an adjustment for Shaun because he feels so helpless at night. 

Zoe has been a great big sister, but we can see some of the affects it is having on her emotionally.  She has definitely become a good tantrum thrower.  I think she is starting to wake up to Kylee's little noises, so some days I am not sure how well she is sleeping.  She has been waking more than Kylee in the middle of the night...she just got the other half of those HUGE molars in the back bottom.   They were already in but the back half of each of the bottom molars came through, so that increased the whining.  She is getting better each day, so hopefully the top two will ease their way in and not make a big stink.  I will cross my fingers!  We heard she is in at our school preschool.  Yeah!  The administrator said the teachers said she was shy, but will give her a chance...they will see...she just needs time to warm up to them and then they will be sorry they ever said that :).

By the way...a BIG thanks to Kris, Meghan, Khloe, and baby Kaitlyn for the super cute big sis, little sis shirts!!!  They are perfect! 

The Life of the Umbilical Cord Stump

Holy Cow!  Kylee is 7 weeks, 2 days old and her lovely umbilical cord stump just fell off!!!  As parents of two, we didn't think that something as little as the umbilical cord stump would be a different experience than Zoe's.  We know that every little one is different, but this?  Really?  Zoe lost her umbilical cord stump within 2 weeks of her birthday, so we anticipated the same with Kylee.  Kylee wanted to be different than all others and hang onto hers for quite a long time!  (Hopefully this is not a sign of future attachment issues :) )  To me, it is a pretty gnarly thing...not to mention when is stays on for 7+ weeks!  At 3 and a half weeks, I took her into the doctor because it had changed and I thought that it was infected.  The doctor said it was fine and it looked good.  He said it would probably fall off by the end of that week.  NOT!!!  Try 4 weeks later!  Well...what really bugs me about the whole thing is that we have not given Kylee a full bath yet.  Poor thing!  I am a fan of schedules for the kiddos and this has killed me!  We FINALLY can bathe her at the same time (or a little earlier) as her sister and put them down around the same time.  My goal is to have that routine in place prior to going on vacation.  We'll see!

Zoe's First Tee

 "Watch the ball."

 "Good swing!"

 "We said, watch the ball!" (Notice:  Zoe's eyes are CLOSED :) )

Zoe had some birthday gift cards, so one of the things that we decided to take Zoe shopping for was a baseball tee.  Well at the toy store they had a couple of choices.  I asked Zoe if she wanted a red/blue one or pink/purple one.  Well...as you can see the princess needs everything pink/purple.  Shaun has made a prediction that Zoe will be our little dancer and Kylee must be our athletic one.   We shall see!  Anyways, Zoe's boy friends can play ball really well already, so Zoe tries it at home when she is not intimidated by their athleticism.  She is too cute, but we sure do have some work ahead of us.  The concept of sports is a tough one for Zo.  Isn't that skirt cute???  Tasia was visiting from Montana and we found it on clearance at Baby GAP.  Definitely not a baseball outfit ;).

Kylee Update

 I am REALLY trying to capture that smile that we've seen!

 Watching the Dodgers with Daddy...

 "Mommy!  This flower is swallowing my head!!!"

Getting CHUBBY cheeks!  :)

Our schedule is very predictable now.  Kylee feeds every three hours for the most part.  Sometimes we can stretch it to 4.  Ideally I like that at night, so Mommy can get just enough sleep to feel well rested in the morning.  It is such a difference if I get a 4 hour stretch at night instead of a 3 hour stretch!  We transitioned her from our bed (I know...I know...she shouldn't have ever been in our bed, but between her and I adjusting to the feedings at night, it made life easier.) to the bassinet this week and she is such a trooper!  She is sleeping very well in her bassinet now and I am just waiting until Shaun gets out of school (2 and a half weeks, but who's counting!?) to transition her to her room and start pumping to teach Kylee to bottle feed every once in awhile.  That way Daddy can help out at night :).  She is getting soooooo big already!!!  It seems like she is growing much faster than Zoe ever did!  I think she is almost 10 lbs.  They say newborns are supposed to gain somewhere between .75 oz and 1 oz everyday, so she is right on track.  I think she is going to give her sister a run for her money...my bet is she will be the taller sis!  We'll see!

Interview about Mommy

Okay...so my friend Kim, sends her kids to a daycare and their teacher always has such fantastic presents for Mother's Day.  One thing she does with the kids is an interview about their mommy.  The responses are always so cute and definitely something to always treasure, so I decided to ask Zoe the questions because I was curious if she would sit through all of the questions and how she would answer them.  It was so funny, so I decided to post it.
What is your mom's name?
     Mommy and Erica
How old am I?
     2 and 1 month
How tall am I?
     high
What do I do?
     Takes care of Kylee and she takes care of me and Daddy...and she picks out things for Kylee
What is my favorite color?
     yellow, blue, and purple, and red
What is my favorite food?
     chicken, eggs...scrambled eggs...bread...(we just had toast and scrambled eggs for breakfast :) )
What do I do for fun?
     I don't know...(with a shrug of her shoulders)
Where do I work?
     At the school...past Goya's house (Goya is our babysitter and she is absolutely right!)
What do I always say to you?
     You say jokes about me and you say funny.
Where do I like to take you?
     the park and play place (at the mall)
What is something I have taught you?
     You teach me how to play.
What do you love about Mommy?
     I love Mommy that's funny.
What do I do to relax?
     You slow down.
What would you like to tell me?
     I like to do special things with Mommy.

Zoe's Creativity

Zoe is so creative these days.  I was able to capture a good example this morning.  She found my flower from the restaurant on Mother's Day and the stem happened to be bent when she picked it up.  She held it out and said, "Look Mommy, it is like a fishing pole."  Wow!  I was pretty impressed with her imagination and creativity.  Yesterday, we met my friend Amanda and her little guy, Jakey, at the park and she was playing with a tennis ball.  She said it was an orange and she was squeezing it to make orange juice.  I am really trying to be concious of all of her creative ideas, so that I can document them.  Kids are pretty amazing!!!

Happy Mother's Day!!!

 Good Morning!  Happy Mother's Day!

 Mommy and Zoe at Tam O Shanter Restaurant

 Great Grandma and Kylee

 Silly girl!!!

 Auntie Diana and Kylee

 Mommy and the girls

 Like Mother, Like Daughter (Same facial expression!)

 Family Pic (I am trying to get better at taking these more often!)

 Grandma and the girls

Happy Mother's Day to all our family members and friends that are mothers.  I had such a great day hanging out with my family today.  We took it easy in the morning and the girls got me a certificate to get a pedicure each.  Yes, one from each kiddo.  I went last weekend, so I am going to wait and get one maybe next weekend, but it definitely is my favorite get-away.  My girls are the best!!!  Zoe was very loving today (on most other days too :) ) and had a great day, so that always makes my days a lot better.  It was so nice to have another little one around to celebrate with (I think I have a Momma's girl on our hands :) ).  My family made it such a special day and I am so grateful to have two healthy beautiful baby girls!  We hadn't made firm plans yet and my mom asked if we wanted to join the fam for dinner, so we decided to go.  Lately, we have been so busy that we don't see all of the family a lot.  It was yummy!  Then home for bath and bedtime.  I look forward to everything that life with the girls will bring!

Zoe's Preschool Screening

On Friday Zoe went to our school for the preschool screening.  I was a bit nervous because what do they ask a 3 year old at a preschool screening?  And, does Zoe know enough for her to get in?  (Hahaha...I know Zoe is really smart, but you still question it.)  I had no idea that schools screen kiddos so young.  I had two days to prep Zoe because it was the first time we have EVER dropped her with a stranger to her and she is very slow to warm with most people.  She was so excited!  She wanted Shaun to pack her a lunch in the morning (the screening was only 45 minutes long, so no lunchtime, but whatever floated her boat, we did :) ), she HAD to bring her Dora backpack, water bottle, juice box, and she wanted to bring toys, but I said no.  Shaun met us with the group of kids and parents because it was at his lunchtime, so the timing was perfect.  She was a big girl and walked all the way to the classroom, but the closer we got, the more clammed up she became.  Oh no! was my only thought.  When we got into the classroom, she wanted Shaun to pick her up and she wouldn't let go of him.  She started to cry and one of the teacher's had to hold onto her while I dragged Daddy out of the room.  I thought, "Oh great!  We have the ONLY crying child!"  The other kids were familiar with the classroom because their siblings have attended there, so they were all comfortable.  Jeez!  We sat in the lounge for the 45 minutes and about 15 minutes in, one of our colleagues/friends went to check on Zoe.  She didn't see her in the room, so it panicked both of us.  Her and Shaun went to check the playground because she said that she thought she saw her on the playground.  Shaun and Deni hid in the bushes to spy...too funny!!!  And they were caught by our preschool administrator.  Even funnier!!!  She reassured us that she was doing fine and stopped crying.  Phew!!!  When I went back to pick her up, she was happy and had an art project for me!  The teacher said she cried, but the typical separation cry and did very well.  Yeah!  I am sure she was still very shy, but the teachers have seen it all, I'm sure.  She told me all about her day...Mrs. Barbara read a story about the ocean, she made an art project and they let her use a glue stick, they sang "Slippery Fish" (one of our favorites at home :) ), she checked out the dramatic play area, and she even told me about some of the kids.  I know she will do just fine in school. 
The screening is to see if the kiddos will suit the teachers classrooms, so a couple of the teachers need to see how they interact and click.  After the screenings, they can basically put "dibs" on each kid for their class.  This preschool program is a special ed preschool, but they take "typicals" (typically developing kiddos) to balance the classrooms and have some role models.  I am hoping that this will give Zoe the opportunity to develop acceptance and tolerance of others who are different, plus...how can you go wrong with teachers who are credentialed in early childhood education?  The program is wonderful, so I am so excited for her to go.  She will also go to the park and rec preschool two days a week near our house, so she gets a balance.  I am really looking forward to Zoe's growth this upcoming year!

Week 5

We had quite a busy week and it went by sooooo fast!!!  Kylee is starting to recognize more and more and she tracks toys with her eyes.  Sleeping and eating are going well.  There are some nights that I am really lucky and get a 4 hour stretch, but mostly 3.  I am definitely not complaining!  We have figured out most of the gassy issues, so hopefully between Kylee's digestive system maturing and my small diet changes, we won't have too many more crazy 2 to 3 hour long gas battles.  The umbilical cord is still on!!!  To me it is totally gross!  Zoe's fell of within days, so that is what I thought would happen with Kylee's.  I am afraid they will probably have to freeze it off at her next appt.  We'll see!  The biggest problem I am struggling with is no baths!!!  I sponge her, but it is not the same.  I would love to get Kylee in her routine of bath, then bedtime, like Zoe has, so I am trying to wait patiently.  She is beginning to smirk and smile a little!  I haven't captured it yet, but I will soon!

Kylee's Newborn Pics and Zoe's Three Year Old Pics

 Our littel angel...

 My FAVORITE!!!

 This picture is priceless!!!

Capturing Zoe and her personality :)

I was soooooo pleased with JC Penney this time.  We have had our fair share of horrible photo sessions, but this one made up for all the others!  Kylee was only 9 days old and she did pretty well...she even opened her eyes for some pictures.  The photographer commented that she has rarely shot a baby that little with their eyes open.  She just looks like a little doll.  I had no expectations, so Zoe was ready to take pics, but I gave her the option when we got there.  She definitely did not pass up the opportunity to take pics with her sister.  Then her sister needed to eat, so the photographer and Grandma just hung out with Zoe in the studio and were able to get some more candid photos for her.  It is hard to get her to pose by herself, but she sure does turn on the charm when we tell her she can take a pic with her sister.  The key is to get the first appt. of the day and don't go during a busy time of year.  

Kylee is One Month Old!!!

 Kylee LOVES to follow her sister with her eyes!

 One month and growing like a weed!

 We are just starting to see glimpses of expession on Kylee's little face.

Loves her big sister's attention :)

Kylee turned a month old on Tuesday.  We cannot believe that a whole month has gone by.  She has been eating, sleeping, and pooping (TMI!!) well.  There has been a little problem with GAS, but it is not as bad as a couple weeks ago.  Right when Shaun had to go back to school, she started having bouts of GAS right at bedtime and it would last sometimes until midnight.  No fun!!!  Poor thing!  We are starting to see some smiling!  It is so cute!  I forget how fun it is when babies start to smile.  She loves her big sister and watches her like a hawk where ever she goes.  I think Zoe will have a little follower for many years to come.  Lately, I have been putting her down a little more because I think she was getting way to used to being held all of the time.  We are still working on the transition to the crib.  I think it will be much earlier than Zoe because she refuses to sleep in the bassinet.  I have been putting her in some 0-3 month clothes, but they are still very baggy.  Can't wait to see how grows and changes!  BUT not too fast!!!