End of maternity leave...

Happy 12 weeks old Brooklynn!!! I can't believe my baby is 12 weeks old. Sniff...she is getting big too fast, plus it means that I have to head back to work tomorrow. It has been so much fun being home the past 12 weeks. I definitely think that it was easier going from 1 to 2 kids than from 0 to 1. Maybe it was because Brooklynn is a pretty easy baby and Kenzie took to being a big sis pretty well, maybe it was because I wasn't so nervous, who knows....but it was a lot more fun this time around :) So, I turn in my stay at home mom towel tomorrow, and Jason begins his daddy daycare again. I will surly miss my sweet little baby tomorrow.

Piggy tails :) Her hair is

getting so long. She got a hair cut this morning, just her bangs. She told me she wouldn't get the rest cut because princesses have long hair :)

Santa...

Brooklynn met Santa tonight at our friends Christmas party. Even though the picture doesn't show it, I think she was intrigued by him. Santa was more afraid of Brooklynn than she of him :) At least one kiddo would sit on his lap.

Mackenzie would not go near Santa tonight. She kept her ears plugged while Santa was in the house....I think the bells and his loud voice scared her. But, she was absolutely amazed that Santa really knew what she wanted for Christmas. She got a Vet Barbie with a little kitty and horse. She jumped up and down and repeated over and over "Santa brought me a present!!!" Christmas morning is going to be SO much fun. I love this little girl :)

Christmas fun :)

I love this time of year. It has to be one of my favorite times of every year. I am finding that Christmas is just as fun as it was when I was a little kid now that we have kids. I love watching Mackenzie's entire face light up when we are doing our Christmas crafts. She has decorated our entire apartment with her little crafts...paper chains on every door, cards hung on the door way, a small sparkly angel on her door, garland on her bed and around her door frame, an angle nightlight in her room, and a Christmas count down ginger bread house. She asks to decorate nearly every day. She is also fascinated with Santa this year. She asks us daily if she is good if she will get a present. Maybe I am a bad mommy, but I am loving the ability to use her fascination with Santa bringing her a gift to my advantage to stop tantrums :) She helped me make the gingerbread ornaments for the tree and then had a blast decorating one single branch at the bottom of the tree. We have also make hand print ornaments of Mackenzie and foot print ornaments of Brooklynn to hang on the tree. I can't wait until Christmas morning :)

Happy baby :)

My sweet happy little girl! Brooklynn is just the most pleasant little baby I have ever met...yea I know I'm a bit biased, but she truly is just a happy kiddo. Tonight as I was trying to convince her that it was bed time she was smiling and chatting up a storm. She has found her voice!!! She is making what sounds like little baby sentences. Her entire body smiles when she figures out how to make a new sound. She is amazed when we make goofy sounds at her or if we laugh. She giggles all the time. I can not wait until she breaks out a full out belly laugh. I just love her. Tonight she did have her very first protest...so far she has just gone with whatever we were doing. I swaddled her in her blanket as usual and tried to feed her but she was fighting and fussing with all her might. So, I unswaddled her, changed her diaper, checked her over, gave her Mylicon, and burped her...all that did was piss her off and make her spit up. So, I unswaddled her again and reswaddled her leaving her arms out...she promptly went to sleep. I have a feeling we will have another strong willed little girl on our hands...lord help us now! I think she is in the midst of her first big developmental milestones...in the past week she has started tracking all the time, smiling, cooing, laughing and really responding to her surroundings. She is attempting to mimic our facial expression and copying the sounds we make. She also rolled over from her tummy to her back for the first time yesterday....she is only 11 weeks old!!! This seems so early to me b/c Kenzie was just so content to just be still :) I have a feeling she won't be immobile for very long. Ah, she's up...

Life as a mom...

If you would have asked me 5 years ago if I would be living the life I am living now, I would probably have laughed. Five years ago I wasn't sure I wanted kids, was very happy as a career person, wanted to have something to do every weekend, pretty much just loved being able to pick up and go as I pleased. Fast forward to today...I am so glad that I changed my mind about having kiddos, wish that the work day was shorter and the weekends longer, am quite happy to spend my weekends holed up in our home, and don't mind that it now takes upward of an hour to get the whole bunch ready to leave the house :) This is the hardest job I have ever had, but hands down the best and most rewarding job. When Mackenzie was a baby I feel like I wished the days away wishing she would fast forward to the next big milestone...when she rolled I wanted her to sit, when she sat I wanted her to crawl, and when she crawled I wanted her to walk...etc, etc, etc! With Brooklynn I feel more like I just want to freeze time right now and have her be little for a few weeks/months longer. I am enjoying have a newborn so much this time. Maybe because she is a such a pleasant easy going baby, maybe because I am so much more relaxed this time, who knows....all I know is I don't want my girls to hurry up and grow up anymore. Everyone said I would want my second to stay little longer :) Guess they were right. I love being a mom more than I can even explain. Sometime I feel like I love them so much it hurts...I know that doesn't make sence but I can't explain it any other way. Even on those days when I am ready to ripe my hair out and feel like I am going to loose my mind I wouldn't trade a single second of my day to day life for anything. Having the girls has made me a better person and made life so much fun. Everyday is like a new adventure that I get to experience through kids eyes. Watching Mackenzie get sooooo excited about Christmas and Santa has completely put the magic back in Christmas. It is awsome to watch her eyes light up when we talk about Christmas. She picked a gift out for Jason while we were shopping yesterday. She saw "the gift" she ran over picked it up and exclaimed "It's my daddy's!!!" So, we bought the "gift" she came home wrapped it and hid it in the closet, she promptly told Jason where it was hidden, but she has yet to tell him what she picked. I can't wait until he opens it, she will be so excited. I love that she is so into the whole decorating and wrapping and such this year. It makes me feel like a kid all over again.