Feet and Curlers

Emma has officially found her feet! She's been playing with them every day for the last couple of days. She hasn't quite got them into her mouth yet, but she loves hanging onto them and rolling from side to side!


She also rolled from her tummy to her back yesterday for the first time all on her own! Here is a picture of her in the middle of the roll!

Ava wanted to make sure that she wasn't left out from the camera too, so here is Ava "finding her feet" as well! Don't mind the crazy hair, they had just woken up! :)

Later last night, after swimming lessons, we gave Ava a bath and I put her hair in curlers for the first time. She was so good and just sat there and let me do her hair! Unfortunately, by the time she woke up, they were all out, not one of them made it through the night...bummer.

Yesterday was a fun day, hope all is well for everyone. Here's one more "cheese" picture to help brighten your day!

Busy week in the Garland home...

So this has been an extremely busy week, both with work and with the girls.

Ava officially started her swim lessons, and while she's not completely enjoying going under on her own (ok that is an understatment to say the least - she screams the entire time!), however, she's progressing well. Her instructor says that most kids cry for the first week to two weeks until they become more confident in the skills they're learning, but that it doesn't effect their learning process. Here is a video of her today at her lesson, this is only her 5th one, but we're confident she's going to do great!



Emma went in for her 4 month well check today (Friday). She is now 12 lbs and 15 oz and 24 1/4 in long now. She officially is able to start rice cereal next week, after her diaper rash goes away completely. The doctor also said that it's time to start weaning her off of her middle of the night feedings - trying to offer her a pacifier and roll her over - but not feeding her everytime she wakes up. So looks like we're in for some sleepless nights in our near future...praying it works quickly...but fearing it won't. She also received clearance from her doctor to do her swimming lessons at 6 months, which we are extremely excited about.

Needless to say, all is well.

Growing so fast...

When you have your first child you realize what everyone has told you all along is actually true, "it will go by so fast - before you know it she will be driving." But, when you add a 2nd into the mix, I'm learning you have to try even harder to not miss any special moments. Life is so much busier with two kids, instead of just one, so it's much easier to not take out the camera as often or to not spend time just holding each of them. Most of the days are the same: wake up, get dressed, eat breakfast, go to school, go home, eat dinner and go to bed. The challenge is to make the days when they aren't in the preschool all day memorable for both them and for us. So we've decided to do some things different - we're going to be more intentional about having at least one day a week where we are just WITH the kids. Not grocery shopping, not running errands, not going to doctors appointments - just being with them. Going the zoo, the park, having a picnic, whatever it is we just want them to remember their time with their parents wasn't always just about going from one place to the next.

Emma is growing up so fast. 3 1/2 months old now, she can almost completely hold her head up on her own. She is smiling more and more every day and is such a happy baby. A far cry from the first 9 weeks of her life when she screamed all day, every day. She's talking (or should I say coo'ing) all the time and loves it when Ava talks to her. She's officially at the 11 pound marker and even though she doesn't sleep all night long yet, she goes to bed at 8 and only wakes up 1 time to eat between then and 7am. Not too bad!

Ava is doing awesome as well. Although - we are starting to see bouts of what I'm considering the "terrible twos." Sometimes, even the smallest things will set her off into a crying fit that will take us 45 minutes to get her calmed down. She's even having some night terrors at night - which are awful. She wakes up in a panic and screaming like she is so scared. It is the saddest thing ever. She loves the Little Gym - even asks for it and knows when we're going there. When Michael or I go to the gym she even thinks we're going to the Little Gym! We've recently enrolled her in swimming lessons - through http://www.infantswim.com/. She will start her lessons on March 16th - they are every day of the week (M-F), 10 minutes a day, for 4-6 weeks. When her lessons are complete she will be able to swim with her head down, roll over and float to take a break, then roll over to keep swimming.

Emma will do the same lessons (however she can't start until she is 6 months old - so in May). When her lessons are complete she will be able to get herself to the top of the pool, roll over and float until she is rescued. We just want to be extra careful with two little ones and a pool in the backyard. We're trying to add layers of protection so that we don't have any water tragedies with our girls.

That's what happening in our world for now...hope everyone else is doing well!

Time flies...

So it's been a while since I've posted, and as always it seems like a lot has happened since then.

Ava is officially 2. We had her birthday party at the Little Gym - and she and her friends had a blast. She was blessed with lots of new clothing, a Little Gym membership (which she loves) and of course more toys! She is still doing well in preschool...in fact she and her best friend Daniel are about to transition to the next class, the Clapping Clams room!

Emma is now 11 weeks old, and is cute as ever. She has officially topped the 10lb mark. We went through quite the ordeal with her crying non stop until we realized that she is lactose intolerant. We switched her to a Lacto-Free formula, and she has been a new child ever since. We got her ears pierced the day she had her Tetanus shot, at her 2 month appointment. She has pink stones in right now, she has to keep those for 6 weeks and then she already has her first pair of real diamonds waiting for her (thanks to her Auntie Crystal!). They match her sister's and are so cute!

I went back to work on January 27th, so that was Emma's first day in the preschool. While I know her teachers are amazing at taking care of her, it is still very difficult to turn your children over to other people. I wish that we could afford for me to stay home, but that's not reality, so I just have to adjust. Maybe someday that dream will come true...

Michael and I are doing well, just back to life being busy with both of us working. We're heading back to Texas the first week of March for Marc's (Michael's brother) wedding. We're very excited to be going back so soon, usually there is much more time in between our visits. This time it's been short enough that Ava still asks where her cousins (specifically Lexi Lu) and her Gram and Pops are! It's fun now that she remembers them and knows them by name!

That's the past month in a nutshell. I'll do my best to post some updated pictures of the girls in the next week or so!

Christmas

Christmas was a whirlwind this year. It was Ava's second and of course the first for Emma. It was time spent with friends and family.

It was amazing to watch Ava as she had some understanding of what was happening. She loved opening presents - it didn't matter whose they were! Emma was of course held the entire time - obviously not able to participate in a tangible way - but her big sister was there to help her opening everything for her that she could.

We spent Christmas day with my family and the day after we jumped on an airplane and headed for Texas. It was a chance for Michael's family to meet Emma for the first time and a chance for us to catch up with everyone. It was a blast to watch Ava learn people's names and remember those she's met before. She is at such a fun age.

Christmas was an awesome close out to 2008. Lots of friends. Lots of family. And most of all a chance to remember the real reason we celebrate: Jesus.