I Never Want to Forget: My 11 M/O

I can't believe in one month I will have a one year old! This year flew by so fast. I remember where I was last March. My grandmother had just passed away, and that allowed my mom to visit me since the funeral was in Utah. I remember feeling huge (and no doubt, probably was ;) ), attending school (taking science, sewing, intro to soc, online BOM, and American foundations - yes I'm surprised I remembered). I also remember finding out I was actually a week ahead than I thought I was (which kind of changes things if you think about it - at least for planning around your due date).

Yeah, I just can't believe how much has slipped by these 11 months! I still need to get started on Elena's scrapbook of her first year. With Lydia I had no school and only her and lots of time, yet I started at 9 months and it seemed like it took me a while to complete. Elena's birthday is next month and I haven't put a single thing in. Yikes! I guess my only redemption is that I have these "I Never Want to Forget"s here on my lil ol' bloggy blog that I can just print and find a way to cutely paste in, with some other fun notes, stats, and stickers to make it specialized for her. I think I'm going to make a scrapbook for all my kids of their first year as a birthday present. I know as a 2.5 year old Lydia loves looking at her "baby book." Hopefully this tradition continues!


Anyway, here is what I Never Want to Forget about my 11 month old!

I Never Want to Forget

Thanks Aunty Jamie for the jammies :)

How one of her favorite things to do now is pull her self up and stand against anything - your legs, body, chairs, the couch, and her crib. Last night I must've laid her down at least 5 times before taking her out of her crib because she would just stand up and start singing while Lydia was trying to sleep. 

She seriously has an appetite for everything! I've found that she even loves spicy food! It's kinda funny :)

On that note, she must be going through a growth spurt or something. Kind of later last night I gave her a 4oz bottle and tried to put her to sleep in which she kept crying. So I took her out thinking maybe she's teething since she's never grumpy like this and always falls asleep when I put her down, so I also gave her some baby snacks. Then we played and I thought she'd be tired and tried laying her down again. Nope, still grumpy, standing up in her crib and crying. So I took her out and tried cuddling and rocking her (tried nursing too, even though I'm completely dry now; it's kinda sad :( ) and she was still being a grump. So I made another 4oz (so that's 8oz - she's never had that much before) and I finally found my happy lil thang again. It's funny how much you notice is wrong when your child's attitude is always happy and then grumpy all of a sudden. You just know something is up.
Also, this morning she had 7oz of milk and two bowls of yogurt, strawberries and granola. She kept grunting and shaking when I wasn't fast enough! haha then when we were all done I made myself a salad and sat down and what do you know, she crawled over to me and starting staring and whining at my plate! What the heck lol. Yup. Growth spurt.

I saw that she has broken another bottom tooth through. I want to say it's one of her molars, but it's hard to tell. 

How she still chooses to cuddle with me when she's sleepy. I absolutely love it. 

She is learning to fight back against Lydia. Often times when Lyd's too close Elena will reach over and grab her hair and just yank at it. I feel kinda bad... but then I think about all the times Lydia pushed(pushes) her over and would bite her..and then I don't feel as bad anymore ;)

I Never Want to Forget

 

How she likes to sometimes copy tunes! A few weeks ago Jonathan randomly sang the line "ash-es, ash-es" (to Ring around the Rosie), and Elena copied the tune (mostly something along the lines of "ahh-yuh ahh-yuh" over and over haha). Sometimes she copies the tune/sound of "UH-ohh" or "THANK-youu" :) It's cute. And it makes Lydia laugh when she hears her "sing."

She likes playing the musical puppy piano toy we have and knows what button to push to hear it play songs (instead of words). Then she lays there and wiggles one arm back and forth (kinda like you're trying to elbow someone), while giggling. She loves music. And I love her dancing. :)

 She loves, LOVES seeing pictures of herself, or even me just holding the camera out taking a picture, she will smile for me. :) 

She has fun when I hold her hands and we walk across the room. Gotta get those legs working! We'll see if she starts walking around the same time Lydia did :)

How I love the back of her hair that is starting to curl. It makes my heart happy. I hope she has beautiful curly hair!

The way she smiles when I come pick her up at the babysitter's. It's like she's my biggest fan and it makes my heart so incredibly happy.

I Never Want to Forget

My friend was over interviewing me for a class and she must've thought it was incredibly boring haha. She fell asleep on my lap after this picture. Also, don't mind the mess. I cleaned up but the kids destroyed it while she was over haha.

When she's laying on her side, in her awesome modeling pose, she likes to grab her leg or foot and go up and down with her leg while holding on to it, kind of like she's stretching haha it makes us (and the babysitters!) laugh. :)

How when she picks something off the floor and puts it in her mouth, I put my hand up to her mouth and say spit it out and she does! On command! She knows she's not supposed to be eating that. But, at other times when I see her about to eat, she grabs the item and quickly sticks it in while smiling lol. Little goon.

How cute she was when we took her to a Sunday Class and she started waving at a friend's husband, right off the bat, not prompted. It made us all smile. :) 

She is picking up signing pretty well (although it takes a little prompting to get her to do it). But she knows "more" and shakes her hands around for "all done" along with waving "hi" haha. I know this isn't a sign, but this is what I've always associated with food; when she puts her one pointer finger in her mouth while crying, I know she's hungry. It's a good little cue, and kinda funny how we just kinda picked up on it haha. When I see her finger in her mouth, I know it's time to get her something to eat other than milk. 

Lately I've been finding her asleep in the morning with her arms under her tummy and her bum in the air haha (hopefully she's not too cold :( ) But I think it's kinda adorable. 

I Never Want to Forget

 

Her face as I pushed her on the swing for the very first time.

The fact that she sleeps all night (I'm actually getting sleep at night - since I've separated them). It's been so nice :) 

When some people see her for the first time that day, she does this cute, funny shy thing where she smiles and then puts her head down haha. Then she pops it back up, smiles, and then puts it back down, like she's super bashful to see you. :)

*I just asked Jonathan what his favorite thing about her was* He said that she's always happy. It's so true. I'm so blessed to have such a wonderful happy infant. She really lights up my life!

I love all you are, Elena.

Sometimes it's good for the heart to

 remember someone so tiny, precious, and pure.

I Never Want to Forget My 10-month old

Whew! Now that I finally have a spare moment to myself I can finally write down the things I never want to forget about Elena being a 10 month old. Only a week late. Oops. :) 

I never want to forget

 

She puts up with so much haha. Still so happy through it all.

How she has learned to wave using both hands (different techniques of waving with each hand at the same time haha.) AND has learned how to sign "more" when eating.. it's kind of like waving both hands together, but I'm so proud :) 

Whenever she's about to put something in her mouth and I catch her, she giggles, crawls really fast and shoves the item in her mouth very quickly as if I won't come over and get it if she can just put it in her mouth. She think she's being so sneaky ha-ha.

I love her modeling pose! It's our absolute favorite. And I'm pretty sure I've said that the past 3 months. 

I love how she'll crawl over to me on the bed and just lay on my chest with her blanket. I love that she loves being with me. :)

How smart she is! I always forget that babies are smarter than we think. She loves this miniature 5'' baby doll that we have. It was about 6 feet away from us, and with her in my lap I asked, "do you see the baby?" She got all excited so I put her down and then she crawled (still scooting) quickly over to the baby to get it. She loves that thing. 

That she is mama's little cuddler. It warms my heart to have such a sweet cuddler. I love that she doesn't mind being with me. She will sometimes spend the entire length of a movie in nothing but my arms. It's the best.

I never want to forget

How she is starting to pull herself up more and more. The other day when I got her out of her crib she was already sitting up in it. Sigh...growingupsofast.

How she has a funny sense of humor. I was doing my homework the other day while we were both sitting at the table, and she was eating. Well I grabbed some papers, shoved it in my mouth to organize what I had in my lap and she thought it was hilarious and started giggling! What a little goofy goober!

I love how her hair in the back is starting to slightly curl. It makes me so happy.  

One of her favorite games is to play peek-a-boo. She does the hiding and then pulls her blanket off her face, only to put it up again. 

She also starts to grin when I give her butterfly kisses.

She gets so randomly sick sometimes. I keep thinking it's her teeth..but I haven't seen anything new. She just gets random fevers every once in a while. And now she has a sore throat/cold. Her throat was so scratchy the other day, Jonathan asked if we owned a Bull-dog lol! How sad!

I love how she likes to make cute little puppy sounds. The other day she crawled into the bathroom and Lydia shut the door and all we heard were little puppy sounding barks..haha it was kinda funny. Don't worry I rescued her pretty quickly after.

I never want to forget

How when she crawls and is determined to get something, if I call out her name she stops and turns to look at me. 

She's my wonderful sleeper and eater. I never have to worry about her eating habits :) She loves everything. And sleeps so well. 

Her chubby baby rolls. I love that she's so babyish looking! Lydia was so mature it was hard not to treat her a lot older than she was. Even now I forget that she's only 2 because she has such an extensive vocabulary and long hair. I love that Elena looks like a baby. It makes it easier to remember how small she is, even though her birthday's only 2 months away. Cray cray. 

Her kind of unofficial nickname is "Sha do-do" hahahahaha...don't ask me why, I don't know how Jonathan came up with it! I know we used to call Lydia "Suh-wo-wo" after what his family used to call his wiener dog when he’d roll over...........don't ask. But anyway, we go about the house singing different versions of "sha do do" such as “shoul-da sue!..shoul-da wuu” and now even Lydia's embraced it and says that's her nickname and not Elena's. Yeah, call us weird. It's okay. But we have fun with it haha.

 AND one of my favorite things she does lately...dancing on command. Oh my goodness, so funny. Watch the video. Just watch it.

She really is such a fun little baby. Last night she did not want to go back to sleep after she woke up, so we were up until 2am! She just played while I cleaned the house while the other two were sleeping. Then I cuddled with her for a little bit and we played together. I love that she's so happy and laid back, yet has a funny personality. Sigh.. why must they grow up! Why can't my wee ones stay babies forever?! I love my kids so much. 

Love you 'Lenababy!

Dear Elena

Dear Elena,

Today is your last day as a 9 month old. Tomorrow you enter the double digits and in two short months you're going to be a 1 year old. Seriously, you need to stop growing up so fast. I look at you each day and notice a little bit of baby leaving you and it makes my heart sad. I'm so thankful you're in my life. You bring light to any gloomy day and your smiles have the power to bring love into my soul. You are such a sweet, well-mannered baby. I couldn't have asked for anyone better.

I love your model pose, with one leg hiked up and your hand on your thigh as you pause mid-scoot. I love how you give blank stares to strangers who giggle non-stop at your seriousness. I love how you manage to wiggle your entire body when I ask you to dance and I love how you wave. Oh my gosh, I love you. Your gap between your teeth adds to your perfect smile that I adore, and I love how the back of your hair is starting to curl.

You're my little mobile vacuum, my mini singer, my good eater. You're a gentle spirit with a forgiving heart, always giving your big sis second chances.

Elena, you're my pure little rose. I love you.

I'm glad I call you mine.

Last Friday Night

So I figured I might take the time to write about our awesome date night we had last Friday, while Jonathan is working tonight to cover for Tuesday when he stayed home. He really is the best.

I guess he had been planning an all-nighter type date for 2 weeks prior to last Friday. He had got a hold of our amazing friends Jared and Whitney and asked if they wouldn't mind keeping the girls over night. Then he arranged for us to have time to go to dinner and see a movie.

That Thursday night I had told him a few times that I was probably going to donate plasma when he got off of class at 4:15 since I had missed out for a few weeks. He kept telling me no, but wouldn't explain why. I was slightly frustrated that I didn't get a real answer, but figured I would go anyway haha.
That Firday after class I came home to a bunch of love notes placed strategically around the house (one in the fridge, one in the bathroom, one in-between an unused diaper haha). It was so sweet. Well, because of my silly stubbornness about going to donate plasma or wondering if we were going on a date at all, and the fact that he can't really pack my diaper back (I was so confused why certain things were put in and other things taken out earlier that day), he sat down with me and told me our surprise and that that was the reason why I couldn't go donate plasma. I was literally shocked haha. My first thinking was, "Who is going to watch the babies!?! The only people I trust is Jared and Whitney" and that's who he got :) So I was to get them ready while he was at class so that when he came home we could just drop them off at their house and go out. (I'm glad he told me the plan. I really suck at being told things last minute or being super spontaneous and not having a plan. I need a plan, even if things don't go exactly as the plan, I feel better if I at least have something..so he did the right thing by telling me haha.) Because of homework delays it took us a little while longer but about 6pm we were baby free! Before we left he surprised me with a beautiful red rose, lindor chocolate, and a lovely card. :)

That was a crazy feeling haha. To go to the movies and dinner and not have to share your food or miss any scenes or worry about how much of a huge mess you're making. It was so nice. We actually talked to each other...in full sentences..because we weren't interrupted haha. It was lovely.

We went to the Hickory for dinner. We waited a while for our food but it was pretty yummy. I got country fried steak and he got the gordo burger haha. Then we went over to Fat Cats and watched Labor Day. I really liked that movie. Not because it was funny or anything, but it really showed the feelings of women who miscarry/still birth or go through depression and can't bounce back like maybe other women do. Sometimes depression lasts a long time. And it's hard for other people to realize what you're going through. I thought it was an interesting film. There were other kinds of social problems that were showed throughout the movie (haha here I am speaking with my sociological mind ;) ) and a few times I just wanted to sit there and cry...but I didn't since there were a few others in the theater. But Jonathan and I both really liked it a lot. He is just so sweet. Instead of seeing the movie he wanted, he chose this one even though that's not really his type of movie. He's so thoughtful :)

After that we headed home and he brought out a Lord of the Rings T-shirt for me with Samwise on it (my favorite hobbit). After that we were able to spend the next few hours together alone. The night was so nice. Multiple times I kept thinking, "we need to turn the tv down" or we need to be quieter or whatever because I thought the babies were asleep. We were able to be intimate together without being interrupted a zillion times or having some little head pop up randomly in our room asking for milk..it was just very much needed date. I feel like my love tank is over flowing because of how amazing this was all put together and how thoughtful he was being.
By 3am I still didn't want to go to sleep because I didn't want our night to end. I love my babies but the alone time was very much needed and appreciated. Luckily we were able to sleep in until about 10 when we had to get ready to get the girls.

I'm so grateful for Jonathan. He really is a sweetheart. Right now he's suffering from a cold and sore throat but still went to work and school the last few days because he knows he needs to. He really earned some husband points this last date. He took the time to put a lot of effort into it. And he told me it was perfect timing, especially after Thursday when Lydia locked me outside :) I have such a great husband and I hope he knows how much I love him!

Te amo! My sweet lover!

I Never Want To Forget My 9 M/O

Do you know the feeling when you've had a rough day...and then that friend, parent, or special someone delivers flowers to you? You get a dozen of red roses? That's how I feel about my little Elena Rosalynn. She is my little rose. Some people might think we had our girls too close together or that we should've waited, but I think it's perfect because at Lydia's age, and her "terrible twos", holding Elena is exactly what I need after a rough day. She is my dozen red roses.

Here are some things I never want to forget about my 9 month old (a few days late, oops).

I never want to forget

How she scrunches up her nose when she smiles or laughs.

How she waves her arms when you say "hi".

When she does wave her hand, she cups her fingers together, but her pinky is raised up haha

How she bounces up and down and throws her arms in the air when she's really happy.

She also sleeps so well at night. Last night I put her down at 9 and she slept until 9 this morning. Love it.

I never want to forget

My little chunker is almost 20lbs. In December she was 18.5.. so I bet she is getting there pretty soon!

She eats everything, and I love it! So glad I don't have another picky eater.

She army crawls everywhere! I've had to barricade her in the living room a few times just to keep an eye on her.

Poor Elena, she puts up with so much of Lydia's crap, but she is still such a good sport about it (usually haha). One time Lydia pushed her finger on Elena's forehead and she'll fell straight backward. She screamed pretty hard about that. Sigh... one day! She'll fight back! Just you wait Lydia ;)

She did so well at the movies the other day. She actually enjoyed it and didn't cry once!

Still gets kind of nervous and cries when stranger-men try to hold her haha. She makes the best sad faces.

I never want to Forget 

sorry for the blur..dang camera phone

How she giggles when she gets her (8!) teeth brushed!

How her pink soft blankets are magic to her. If she's fussy and you get her blanket she instantly calms down and kind of melts into it and starts sucking on her thumb to self-soothe. It's my favorite. Sometimes in Church she'll see her blanket and fold over in half just to lay on it, while sitting in my lap. :)

She's just like her sister and likes to make a huge mess all over the floor while eating at the table.

Drinks almost 6oz of milk, usually. I've had to supplement with formula because I just don't make enough. So I nurse and then if she's still hungry a while later I make a bottle, or get her some adult food. I love my chubby baby!!

How I love that when she's laying on her back in my arms, her chubby legs will raise up and her feet will go together.

How she crosses her feet when she's sitting or relaxed in your arms.

And my favorite... I just love that she's a big cuddler!! Lydia rarely cuddled when she was little..always up and around moving. Elena loves to just relax and cuddle and stare into your eyes while you sing to her. Mmm it's just my favorite!

I love you, Elena!

December Shenanigans

I'm just going to go ahead and combine everything we did in December (besides our trip) into one post..so I can just get it done and over with and not get too behind! ...annnd it will mostly be pictures. Hope you're ready.

We put up our treeeee

The girls and I watched Elf. Lyd looks thrilled ;)

For an FHE night we had pizza for dinner, watched Jingle All the Way and made Christmas ornaments

Lydia met Santa......lol

Our ward Christmas party was catered by Texas Roadhouse ..mmm

For a family home evening activity we read The Three Trees and then decorated waffle cones on cupcakes

yeah...gross lol

Jonny's creations lol

I got a lot of holiday orders on my Etsy shop to keep me busy

We made yummy brown sugar cookies! And then decorated them and gave them to friends.

Made home made Christmas decor

Took some fun pictures of the girls!

Yep. Pretty basic holiday festivities to keep us busy!! Jonathan ended up working 40 hours during finals week and me and Elena got sick right before our trip! The fun just never ends! :)

Things I Know

Although I've been a terrible blogger the past 3-4 months, I still try to keep it up to date with the milestones or things going on in my little girls' lives. I need to write these things down before I forget how they are at this age. I've been trying to do a "Things I Know" post every so often about Lydia, ever since she was 8-10 months old so here are some things I know about my 2 1/2 year old!

I know

She is a good helper most of the time (when she wants to be haha). She loves throwing things away in the trash or opening the door to the room when Elena wakes up and keeping her company until I can come get her.

She loves LOVES jumping on the bed..and takes the time to throw all of our blankets/pillows off until it's all clear for her to jump.

Anything she's not supposed to play with...she does. Today she found my lavender essential oil..and now my room smells like lavender and I can't find the lid.

One of her favorite movies is.."dalmay-sans" ...she loves 101 dalmatians. :) Besides that and the normal princess movies she likes Super Why and still has a love for Pingu.

Every once in a while when we're all laying together on the bed or the couch she'll cry out "FAMLY HUGS!" ..that's where we all simultaneously start hugging and kissing each other as fast as we can. It's my absolutely favorite! I hope that sweet little thing we do NEVER changes!

I know

She loves Elena so much..but she also likes torturing her..so much. More and more these days I find her riding her like a horse.. or pushing on her back while Elena's sitting so that she face plants into the carpet. She likes her.. a little too much.

She adores her cousin Anna. Not a big fan of Baby Sam, as we noticed while we were there (Poor Sam always got pushed down..or pushed off the slide). And of course, Lydia was SO bossy!! On a few occasions I saw Anna (who's 5) take orders from Lydia.

She loves fruit a ton, mac and cheese, pasta, and likes to chew and spit out veggies (she grabs more when she's done..only to chew it for a while and then spit it out again..maybe she likes the texture, just not the flavor).. and she still isn't a big fan of meat..unless I am forced to share my sandwich with her. We're still working on meat.

Tried potty training again.. but..nope. I wonder when it will happen. Maybe we can try again in April during the school's break. Multiple times today she kept telling me she was peeing in her diaper. I think she knows when it's happening.. so maybe the next time we try we'll be more successful.

She loves church a lot. But I think the different time schedule and new building got her all wacked. She loves going to church to see "tha kids!" but last Sunday they didn't have nursery and they put priesthood and relief society first, sunday school, and then Sacrament last.. so by the time sacrament came along she was all wired and was still wondering when she was going to see the kids, since that usually happens right after the first block in the morning.

I know

She is getting a bigger vocabulary. She copies a lot of shouted words..like "shoot", unfortunately..due to Jonny's love of sports..ahem..haha. She doesn't copy all the time..unless it's something you wouldn't want her saying lol..like the word "gosh"..We definitely gotta work on that.

She would rather sleep in her pack and play..than her toddler bed with a real mattress. Maybe that's why she's grumpy during the day..crappy sleep ;)

She really is a sweetheart, even if I feel like she's whiney most of the time. I will ask for hugs and she comes and jumps to my neck to hug me and we say we love each other and she smashes her lips into my face haha I love it when she's sweet. I just wonder if all the changes are getting to her... Elena moved in, we tried potty training, different set up at church and now school will be starting on Monday. Maybe she can sense all the changes and she's just getting used to it. OR maybe she is just behaving like all toddlers are at this age and it's just something I have to get through or perhaps I need to be better at schedules..since I heard kids love schedules. Oh well! Best stock up on that chocolate! ;)

She sure has a lot of spunk. She's sweet but she likes to do what she wants to do.

Here are things I know at 2.5 years of age about Lydia Danielle Hernandez. I'm looking forward to what the next 6 months has to offer us!