Life update {4.26.2018}

It's been quite a while since I last posted anything on here. If you don't know by now, I had my beautiful baby boy back in September. Eventually I'll share his birth story! Hopefully I can do that before his first birthday... Which is actually less than five months away. Oh my! 

Anyway, I just wanted to share with you all the things going on with me and my family. Life with two tiny people has been interesting. Having a three year old and a seven month old keeps me busy that's for sure! Life is unpredictable but wonderful. 

Lydia has been diaper free since October. We took her diapers away when Silas was just one month old. It took a little while to get used to going on the potty but once she understood the concept she began to tell me when she needed to go. She goes through good streaks of not having accidents and then sometimes there's days they happen more frequently. This week has been accidents galore and I was feeling lots of mama guilt. I couldn't help myself and at the time I felt like I was doing something wrong. I know it's normal to go through this but I found myself so frustrated and overwhelmed by the situation. I felt so guilty for getting impatient. I needed to stop myself and pray. I prayed to be slow to anger and more compassionate. She is still learning and things will get better. 

However she is sleeping in her own room (without any fight!) which is a huge milestone. She actually LOVES sleeping in her room and looks forward to her bedtime routine. Let me tell you, I feel so at peace knowing she's happy in her own room. For months and months she would put up a big fight every night, and her bed time was always so late. She would always wind up in our bedroom in the middle of the night. As much as we miss her cuddles, we are proud of her and excited for this milestone. Silas will eventually join her. But for now, we are indulging in his baby cuddles for as long as possible!

Silas, our big guy, he is becoming such a little person with a big personality. He is a true sweetheart, loves listening to music, dancing, and eating! We started giving him food around six months but he wasn't into it until a couple weeks ago. Again we skipped the purees and dove right into the baby-led weaning approach. I think his favorite thing to eat lately is roasted apples with cinnamon, spoonfuls of plain full-fat Greek yogurt and banana pancakes. He still loves to nurse though. I think that's his favorite food of them all. :)

I am excited and slightly nervous because he is starting to get onto all fours now. He scoots and tends to move backwards but hasn't quite mastered forward crawling. Lydia started crawling at seven months and Silas is getting closer to becoming more mobile each day! Fortunately for us our house is already baby-proofed. Just need to put the dreaded baby gate back up in our living room. I can see Lydia getting frustrated at it already or better yet trying to climb over it!

As for me and Michael, I have been busy with the kids and tending to our home. Michael's been hardworking between work, church, and us. I love that man.

I am happy I was able to give you all a little update. It only took me four months!! I will be sure to post more things in the future. I forgot how nice and therapeutic it is to write.

Until next time,

Lydia Renee's { 19-month-update! }

I always find myself in awe with this little girl... Even when she drives me loco, I am always finding myself awestruck that she is my daughter and that I’m her mama. She just turned 19 months which means in five months she'll be a two-year-old! Her personality is really blooming. She’s strong-willed, passionate, and independent yet somehow still clingy with me especially. Independent in the sense that she's capable of playing by herself and not big on being spoon fed or having her hand held. Yet, clingy in the sense that she craves cuddles, which is fine, until she demands cuddles whenever I am in the middle of cooking dinner.

On talking: She doesn’t form sentences yet but is an excellent babbler! The words she says most have been very enthusiastic greetings such as “hi!” and “bye!!” She also likes to point to her head and say "head-head", and then of course she points to things and asks "whatsthat?!" I'm mama and Michael is "da." Sometimes she tells me "no!" which I don’t always agree with but it’s slightly better than her yelling or grunting her foreign language at me. She also barks. She seems to understand more than she can speak... Kind of like me with my Spanish skills! Though she's not a lost cause like me, and will learn to speak English fluently as time passes.

Lydia's daily activities: Besides babbling, Lydia's days are filled with what I think she believes as "organizing." She likes helping me clean by stuffing her toys in between the sofa cushion or slipping the really small stuff inside the vent.  She is big on reading and spends quite a while engrossed in her animal alphabet book. We are trying to teach her how to make animal noises and decipher which animal makes which sound. She loves playing hide and seek, and being chased too, though she's the happiest when she's outside and exploring nature. She's also happy when she is allowed to watch her nursery rhyme videos. She gets her groove on and I get a work out in, it’s a win-win. The YouTube channels that she loves (and that I can tolerate), are ChuChu TV, Dave & Ava, and occasionally The Farmees. If I sing the songs to her she tries to sing-a-long with me and does a little jig too.

What she's eating lately: Lydia is still a great eater! Her favorite are still blueberries, but now I can confidently add bananas and avocados to the list which were off limits before! During breakfast she’s currently loving oatmeal with cinnamon and maple syrup with a side of blueberries. She will usually have chocolate milk and juice throughout the day. Lunch varies between peanut butter and jelly, Annie’s mac and cheese, or whatever leftovers from last night’s dinner. She gets hungry in between meals and typically eats an applesauce or yogurt kefir squeeze packs. And when dinner rolls around, she will eat whatever we’re eating and sometimes a Biscoff cookie if most of her dinner goes into mouth and not into Zoe’s! 

Sleep: Lydia is still sleeping in crib in our bedroom and manages to sleep through the night. She's been having a hard time going to sleep earlier than 9pm but we are working on it. We are planning on moving her into the spare bedroom once it's cleaned up and painted. I have been wanting her to sleep in her own room for a while now but of course life gets busy and it will be a big adjustment for her. It's one thing to have her sleep in her crib for most of the night in our bedroom (she always winds up in our bed somehow), it's another thing to have her sleep in the crib and be in a separate bedroom all night. Sleep training is hard but I think it'll be good for all of us!

To wrap this up I will say Lydia you are a crazy little girl, and we love you so much. You create messes and have a fiery temper that tests my patience but you make both Michael and I's (maybe even Zoe's) hearts so full, and life just wouldn't be as fun without your silly antics. 

Lydia Lately {7.12.2016}

"Though she be but little, she is fierce!” -William Shakespeare 

In a few short days Lydia will be sixteen months old. Her imagination is so big, her love for her family is strong, she's independent and she finds joy in the little things,  all traits that I truly admire! Through this journey of motherhood I am constantly learning how to prioritize my time, be more present and not sweat the small stuff. Motherhood is challenging and just when I think I got everything under control something new proves me wrong, and that my friends is humbling! I'm understanding that it's impossible to be in control of everything and that some days will be more exhausting than others. Though knowing that God's in control keeps me grounded and the encouragement from friends and family who remind me that I'm doing a good work as a wife and mommy does too.

But enough about me-- here's what Lydia's been up to lately:

-she is in the 2% for weight and 7% for height but the doctor isn't concerned because Michael and I are shorties! 

-she's talking on the phone with random objects like my old credit card!

-she's waving to people a lot more now

-she is blowing kisses and giving cuddles 

-she is saying words like "hi" and "mama" in context! she is still babbling but finds ways to communicate with us through body language. 

-she's eating with utensils 

-her favorite foods are blueberries and cheese, especially the free cheese samples at whole foods!

-she is playing with her dolls and "reading" books

-she's dancing every time she hears a beat! we went to a winery and they had a band playing classic rock music and she was dancing up a storm.

-she's growing another tooth on the bottom!

-she asks us for a cookie after she's finished dinner; she points to the jar and laughs like a maniac! 

-bath time is one of her favorite pass times

-she sleeps in her crib most of the night!!! *hallelujah chorus*  

-Zoe and her have a special kind of love/hate relationship; Lydia yells at her but wants to hug her all at the same time.

-she has a strong temper and had a breakdown the other day because we took away a pen from her. she was literally in rage for 10 minutes! 

-she makes us laugh and keeps our hearts full on a daily basis :)

I love you Chubski!!