3 year & 2 month check ups

We went to the doctor for both girl's check ups today. Both are tall for their age (they get that from me:) and their weight is proportionate to their heighth. They are both healthy & happy.

Samantha

3 Years Old

38 inches tall (75%)

34 (80%)

Brooklyn

Almost 2 months

23 inches tall (80%)

12 lbs 9 oz (80%)

Fruit Smoothies

Nic and I have a new obsession for fruits smoothies. Nic has always liked healthy stuff, but I am just coming around :) We recently found the Orange Julius recipe and adapted it to add more fruit. It is so fabulous. Here is the recipe...

1 orange

1 lemon (adds such awesome flavor)

3-4 large (costco) strawberries

Large slice of pinapple

1 cup milk
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
10 to 12 ice cubes

We have also added mango to it!

Brooklyn smiling (ignore my annoying voice)

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Nature Walk

There is not a lot to do in Northern Nevada for kids/families, especially that is free. So I am trying to come up with creative activities for Sam to do this summer.

Sam loves being outside, taking walks, and making crafts. So today we went for a nature walk. Sam picked up anything she wanted from our walk and then she glued them on paper when we got back home. She had a lot of fun. I'm sure we will make this a regular activity.

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Jessica's Visit

My sister and her 2 kids came to visit us last week. It was so great to have her here. She was so great to help me with the baby and it was wonderful to have someone to talk to all day. Not to mention Sam had 2 playmates all day. Here are some pictures of our week together...

Meeting Brooklyn for the first time

 Too long of a story to explain why these guys needed to get thrown in the bath tub :)

Let's just say there was water, soap & toilet paper in involved

 Samantha & Whitney in matching outfits

with Lindsey

Jess with all 4 girls!

We took the girls to see Brave the day it came out. Sam is totally in love with the movie and won't stop talking about Merida, her horse Angus, the bears, and her bow & arrows. It's not the typical princess Disney movie, I think that's why Sam loves it so much.

And here is our baby Brooklyn, growing non stop!

7 weeks old...she looks so old in this picture!

I love her blond hair & blue eyes, she is so pretty.

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Sam's Birthday

We made sure that the little chocolate lover had a treat on every gift

Sam was up at 6am on her Birthday! She came over to our bed and opened up her presents from us.

Her stuffed animal snake (from Brooklyn) was her favorite

We let Sam choose what she wanted to do all day. She chose to go to McDonalds (or Mr. Donalds as she calls it) for breakfast and to play in the playland.

Then she wanted to go swimming

Brooklyn laying out :)

After an hour playing and then 3 hours swimming she was pretty tired

For her cake, she told us she wanted a chocolate dinosaur cake...

She was allowed to eat it any way she wanted to

She also requested root beer floats which are her new favorite treat. We had such a fun day celebrating her Birthday. She is such a special girl and I can't believe that she is already 3!

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All ready for Sam's big day!!!

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Adjusting & Updates

So how does anyone function with more than 1 child? I sure can't do it. I can only accomplish things when Nic is home from work. I feel like during the day I can barely take care of their needs let alone cook, clean, or have fun with them. When you are taking care of one you are neglecting the other, and I hate that. The main issue is that Brooklyn can not be put down. She is one of those babies that you always have to walk and move with. Anytime I put her down, even for a few minutes, she screams. From what I have read and from what our pediatrician tells us there is no such thing as spoiling a baby...so holding her doesn't make her want to be held more if that makes sense. So I am trying to figure out how to take care of Sam while always having the baby. I am looking into getting a swing as I think she may like that movement. It's just hard adjusting because with your first child you never have to put them down. Sleep deprivation is the other thing that Nic and I are both struggling with. Again, with your first child it's so much easier. You can just sleep when they sleep throughout the day. When you have another child who wakes up at 7:30am you have to be awake even if you just laid down an hour before. We are getting better with the night time routine..Nic is taking the first shift from 10pm-2am and then I am taking her the rest of the night/morning. That has helped because it gives us each 3or 4 hours of good sleep.

So I am looking for advice from experienced parents out there! How did you transition to two? How do you give equal time to the older child? How do you deal with a baby that needs held a lot?

Moving on to a few pictures and updates:

Sam's Birthday Countdown (1 week until this girl is 3 years old!)

Sorry she is just in her underwear, that's how she usually looks :)

Baby Brooklyn, 1 month old (can she really be a month already?) 

Her hands are always by her face when she sleeps, this particular pose makes me laugh 

Smile :)

I snapped this picture in the middle of the night, love it!

My 2 girls