Meeting Santa!!!

For the first time, we actually braved the crowds and took Alana to meet Santa.  Last year, we were lucky enough to see Santa at church, which was great.  This year, we headed down to Macy's (...Marshall Fields) on State Street.  We waited for an hour plus and finally saw Santa.  Alana was really nervous and blurted out "I want a Snow White doll and the Prince."  It was really out of nowhere and she was clearly concerned she would not get it out!  Miss Sierra stayed behind with our nanny, Natalie, since she's been a bit under the weather.  Next year, though!!!

3 months old!

Hard to believe that baby girl Sierra is already 3 months.  Sierra is just an absolute joy.  She is SO easy going.  Loves her swing, loves to just sit and chat and the smiliest baby i have ever seen.  Alana is getting better and better with her and keeps telling her they are "best friends."   Sierra is pretty close to sleeping through the night, but she is still waking up here and there for a pacifier fix.   She is starting to really discover her voice, so there is LOTS of chatter and it keeps getting a higher and higher pitch.  It really takes a lot for her to get mad enough to really scream and cry, so that is nice!!  She is also trying to figure out her hands and how to use them to get her pacifier.  It's pretty cute.  Needless to say, we love our little addition!!! 

Halloween!

We had a great Halloween!!!  It is amazing how many kids Halloween events there are!  We went to a party at her gymnastics studio mid-week.  It was insane.  Alana was dressed as a witch and loved running around with all the other kids.  It was a little bit crazy with so many kids, but she seemed to enjoy it!  Sierra was a trooper as I just slung her over my arm and she slept like that for 1.5 hours while we walked around this crazy party.  

She also got to wear her costume to school, but I did not get any pictures that day.  Apparently a stomach bug went around that day and about 80% of her class got sick.  She ended up throwing up that night, but ended up ok after that.  Thank goodness!!!  Luckily, Sierra never got sick.

We started the day with the Monster Mash Dash--50 yard dash for kids down by the lake.  I thought she would be pretty hesitant and i was right.   I finally convinced her to run and she ended up crying half way through.  i think the large crowd freaked her out.  she wasn't alone--half the 2 to 4 year old bracket was in tears!!!  Maybe next year!!  For Halloween, Alana dressed up as Snow White.  She was so excited.  She was a bit overwhelmed by the trick or treating, but once she went to a few houses, she was totally into it.  I had to negotiate away some of her candy, but I think we are all good now.  Sierra was a trooper and was her usual laid back self all night.  Grandma and Alicia came over and we all had a blast.  Grandma convinced Alicia to dress up like a witch and she was a real hit.  There were people line up to come here for candy!!!

 

Fun days at home

Sadly, my maternity leave is coming to a quick end.  Though, happily, I am going back part time!!  Yea!  I am racing to find a nanny and hope to lock down a nanny in the next few days.  Alana and Sierra are doing great.  Alana is rapidly approaching 3 and sometimes it feels like she is going on 13!  She is full of spunk and energy.  She tells the greatest stories and completely talks with her hands, wonder where she gets that from!!!  She is a great big sister and tells Sierra she is her best friend all the time.  Sierra is a joy, too!  She is such a wonderful baby to be around.  She smiles all the time and does not really cry.  She is really patient with Alana and loves when Alana holds her or hugs her.  We are still working on her sleeping through the night.  She consistently wakes up at 4:45am....hopefully that ends soon.  Cross your fingers!  

Alana helping Daddy put ghosts up in the trees.

Our little smiley girl!

Alana LOVES being a big sister

Alana is so great to Sierra.  She sits with her and if she gets fussy, she asks for Sierra's pacifier.

2 months already!

Hard to believe our little Sierra is already 2 months old!  At the same time, it feels like she has been around forever. She is just a wonderful little baby with the sweetest temperment.  She is really pretty chill.  She loves to hang in the swing, or just sit staring at whomever is holding her.  She has been super smiley starting a few weeks ago.  She is still working on sleeping through the night, but she's the most pleasant company in the middle of the night.  I walk her in room to some mild yelping, and she just smiles and snuggles my neck and shoulder as soon as I pick her up.  She rarely gets totally fired up, she seems to be such a patient gal.  Alana calls her "Sissy" and I fear for her that this nickname may stick, since we all call her Sissy now too.

Alana tells her all the time that they are best friends and it is just the cutest.  I have a feeling as time goes on, they will be.  Sierra already loves to watch Alana and they play together all the time.  She looks SO much like Alana and it will be so interesting to see her as she gets bigger.  

 

For being so smiley, I have gotten SO few smiling pics!

She loves the fresh air!!!!  

She totally has curly hair when it's wet

Pumpkin patch time!

Classic "don't picture me" moment

Last weekend we went to the good ole CP pumpkin patch with Grandma, Aunt Jen and the boys.  We made the unwise choice of going right around when Alana would be ready for a nap, so things were a bit hairy at times!  We had a great time, though.  It was crazy hot out, so we were happily able to convince Dot that the hay ride was a bad idea.  Sierra basically slept the whole time, such a compliant gal she is.  Alana loved feeding the goats.  I am not one for petting zoos, etc, so she does not get many opportunities for this.  Hopefully she still grows up well rounded!  :)  She loved feeding the animals and was cracking up the whole time.  She also got to do a pony ride and explore the corn maze.  Overall, a great day.  I think Saturday will be our big pumpkin carving event!!  Stay tuned for pics.

Goats...gross.

My little sleepy gal.

Lovin the pony ride.

Hollywood Alana

Enjoying our QT at home!

Hard to believe it is already October when the weather has been so nice!!!  We have definitely been enjoying every second.  We try to get outside as much as we can and I am SO proud of myself for being so adventurous!  Many days, Alana just wants to hang out around the house so she can play with Sierra. As you can see, she loves to hug and kiss her like crazy.  She's getting better and better at understanding how to be gentle.  Today I picked her up from preschool and she told her little buddies, Tomas & Rocco, how important it is to be gentle with babies.  At least I know she's listening, even if she doesn't always act gentle herself!!!

Sister outtakes

Things are going well here!  Alana is loving being a big sister to Sierra and really wants to help in every aspect with her.  Sierra also loves her big sister and smiles whenever she comes around.  Alana continues to be incredibly entertaining and really keeps us on our toes!  Sierra is such a sweet baby.  She is pretty low key.  She either sleeps all day, or stays awake all day, so we are working on that!

I pretty much attempt a picture of the two of them every day.  It is amazing how unsuccessful I am on most days.  Mostly, it's Alana who decides to be noncompliant, but that always leads to funny pics!

Alana the Wild Woman

Alana continues to be a total wild woman.  She loves to play in her room and is always reliving every moment from school.  Usually, we are changing someone's diaper or playing "cots".  She puts socks on her arms to change the diapers and stacks all the diapers up for the kids.   She is quite skilled at yoga as, which Alicia learned the other day when she came over to play! 

just a sample of the "cots" usually displayed on our floor

 her 

More baby Sierra

My favorite place to snap baby pics is on our bed.  I was able to snap a few cute ones of Sierra the other day in between feedings.  I am hoping to get some good ones of her and Alana on the bed, but that will take some timing.

higher quality hospital pics than when Alana was born!!!

Alana loves playing with her feet.  Sierra's feet are super tiny, but surprisingly long.  too cute.

Welcome Baby Sister, Sierra Lily!!!

Alana's baby sister, Sierra Lily, has arrived!!!!  Sierra was born on Monday, August 2 at 12:17am.  My water broke on Sunday at about 10:30am, right in front of church!  Sierra's delivery was mostly pretty smooth and pushing went MUCH quicker than with Alana, so I was thankful for that!!  Erik was an AMAZING labor and delivery coach, and Grandma was able to make it for the delivery, too!!!

Alana is LOVING her baby sister.  Our biggest struggle is that she wants to hold her, hug her and kiss her all the time....she doesn't quite know her strength, so that's a constant battle.  She tells everyone about baby sister, and even calls her Sierra sometimes, when she's not calling her Waffle.

We are so thankful that everyone's happy & healthy!!!

just before heading to the hospital!

Erik pretend sleeping before the action got going!

Just a few minutes old!

one of her very first pictures, looking pretty confused and wondering where she is!

sleepy girl...she continues to be pretty sleepy.

proud dad!

sweet face.  We have seen little of her eyes since the day she was born.  she is definitely catching up on her sleep now!

Alana right before she got to hold Sierra.  She was SO excited to hold "her baby"