How to Take Pictures of Toddlers

Since I'm an expert, I thought I would share my advice.

1. Bribe them with anything that will work. Candy in our house. I offer something and our little negotiator will say "FIVE!" and then I say "deal." Usually only a deal if I'm sending her to school for the teachers to deal with her sugar high. 

2. Do it first thing in the morning after getting dressed. If they have a few minutes, they will likely spill stuff all over themselves, rip out their bow, and lose their shoes. Just like your drunk friend at a wedding, post midnight when the band plays a Bon Jovi cover. Except its 7am and you haven't finished your microwaved 3x coffee. 

Make sure to do the above two steps, and you too will end up with beautiful pictures.

Olivia and Emma

These girls are my favorite! I keep thinking I couldn't love them more and then they get even cuter! Yesterday, Olivia was laying on the floor next to Emma with her feet in the air. Emma was doing all she could to throw her feet in the air like her big sister. I wish that pictures and videos captured how much they love each other. Emma has just started lighting up when she sees Olivia and I can't wait to see their love grow.

Olivia has started making things up. She told me "Mama, in two weeks, Dada is going to become a girl! Mhmm, he told me." Dan assures everyone that Caitlyn Jenner is not in his future. She told me "Mama, I just saw a bear driving a motorcycle outside!" Not sure if this is an imagination thing to be encouraged, or lies to be discouraged. But she made me laugh out loud with the first one.

Emma is doing SO much better with her reflux medicine. After the first dose she no longer arched in pain all night. She went down without a peep and actually looked comfortable for the first time in her life. Seeing her like that made me so sad we didn't get her medicine earlier. We knew she had reflux, but the doctors thought that my diet change would fix it - and they didn't want to unnecessarily medicate. She hates the taste and it's a challenge getting it down her - but she seems to be (mostly) pain free! 

I'm hoping she'll start sleeping longer. She's trained herself not to eat much (because it bothered her reflux) - so hopefully she'll eat more during the day and let mama sleep at night. 

Our Weekend

Just a quick recap that I wished I did more often.

Dan's grandfather came in town on Friday and it was SO wonderful to see him. We hadn't seen him since Christmas, so he hadn't met Emma yet. Both girls love him and we hope to see him more often. Olivia insisted on riding to and from the airport to drop off and pick up "great papa."

They were busy ALL morning and early afternoon on Saturday. Olivia asked for her friend CJ to come over. We were headed to CJ's parents house for a party that night celebrating their 10 year wedding anniversary. I figured they could use a few hours to run some errands, so we had them drop CJ off. 

The rain finally stopped so all the neighbor kids came outside and every single toy we have was played with that morning. Maybe I'm a glutton for punishment, but I love all the chaos of a ton of kids - vs Olivia whining that she's bored. 

That night we headed out for our first kid free night since Emma was born. Our sitter was wonderful - but we were like, "no one has napped, and everyone is cranky, OH and Emma wont eat for you, so good luck, see you in a few hours."

The girls both went down and slept in until 7:30am (minus a few wake ups for Emma), and we had an absolute blast! We need to do that more often!

Sunday started with some leftover rain puddles and Dan mowing the lawn. Olivia threw on her rain boots, climbed the back fence to look over, and kept yelling "Hey Girl Hey!" to her dad with her toes squished in the holes in the fence. So girly and so adventurous. 

We wished we could have spent the weekend at the pool - but it was too chilly. Maybe this weekend Olivia will get some pool time in!

Potty Training Round Two

You guys remember our first attempt at potty training? After a solid 9 days, we gave up. We put her back in diapers. No one was stressed anymore.

Then we though, wow, this is nice. We don't have tarps covering our living room. And I no longer have to help her use the toilet at Harris Teeter, Target, and gas stations. Once Emma came along we were so thrilled that no one had to drag a newborn into public bathrooms.

So Target ran a diaper deal and we STOCKED UP.

The day we got home. "Me no want diapers." Thats fine Olivia, start going potty and you don't have to wear them. That sentence rolled off, because she had been saying that for months.

She hops on the potty, pees and says, "Okay mama, no diapers." 

Well...that was unexpected.

She then convinced her teachers to not put a diaper back on her, and she went potty all day at school.

That's awesome Olivia, but you are at least wearing pull ups here. I'm not worrying about accidents. Knowing that if I don't even remember we have a dog, I wouldn't remind her to go potty.

She would pull up the stool, potty, put her pull up back on and ask for a potty treat.

That's awesome, Olivia, and you don't have to wear pull ups at home, but you need to wear them out. I'm not worrying about an accident while out and about.

We'd go somewhere, and once we got home she'd go straight to the potty all by herself. 

We went to the park and she asked to go and I said sorry, sweetie, you are going to have to hold it, there is no potty here. She waited until we got home.

It seems as though .. despite our discouragement .. she has potty trained herself.

It's been a month now and she's had 0 accidents. 

We put a nighttime diaper on her just in case, but she wakes up dry and goes straight to the potty. 

Who would have thought?

What are we going to do with 5 boxes of diapers?

Freshly Picked Review and Giveaway

You guys remember my first Freshly Picked review? Well, not only is Olivia still wearing moccasins, but the sweet people at Freshly Picked sent Emma her first pair. 

I cannot tell you how much we love these shoes. They are adorable! Have you seen all the colors and metallics? The platinum is our favorite staple color - but birch, chrome, and blush have also been great neutrals. If I had a boy, you'd bet he would wear electric palm.

They are incredibly soft. Very well made (Olivia is handing all of hers down to Emma - and they are about the only shoe that's held up that well). And the elastic around the ankle makes them stay on. This is huge. Comfortable shoes never stay on!

The soft soles are great for littles ones learning to walk - much better for their feet. They are thick enough to wear outside, on playgrounds, and on the scorching hot concrete here in the south. 

They make hard soles now for bigger kids, but you bet Olivia still loves the comfort of her soft sole moccasins. Not to mention matching her baby sister. 

And the teeny little footprint worn into the bottom after a few months? My favorite keepsake of their first steps. 

But the BEST news? Freshly Picked is giving away a pair (any size, any color) of moccasins to a reader. Comment here with the color you'd choose for one entry. And head to instagram @kelley_lovelikecrazy for more entries!

Winner will be chosen May 20. U.S. Residents only. Giveaway is for the soft sole moccs only. Cannot have won another FP giveaway in the last 60 days. 

Winner was Corey H.! Congratulations!

Emma vs. Olivia - Three Months

Another comparison of my sweet girls.

 

They looked so similar in the two month shots. I can't tell if its different expressions and lighting or if they do look different now. What do you think?

Emma - Three Months

Height: 23 3/4
Weight: 10 pounds 12 ounces

Sleep: Hahahaha. Still wakes up every 2.5 hours to eat. BUT the doctor wants her to keep it up since she needs the calories. She's a teeny little thing and not gaining much weight. But she's tall and her head is a great size, so he's not too worried about development.

Naps are great. She's napping only in the swing and we get 2 2-hr naps a day from her.

Eating: still newborn status at 9-10 times a day. She's trying to find my breaking point. I will prevail.

She just was prescribed Zantac. We were hoping that the dairy and soy free diet I am on would help with her reflux symptoms. It helped a little, but she's still in a lot of pain. She doesn't want to eat much in one sitting because it causes heartburn. We are hoping that she'll start gaining some weight, and start eating more in each sitting, once we get the reflux under control.

Best Moment of the Month: I can't pick one, but it has to be the times Emma and Olivia are together. Olivia always wants to hold her and read stories to her. I love how much Olivia loves her little sister.

Parent of the Month: When Emma rolled from back to belly while on the coffee table. I was changing her, grabbed a diaper, and she flipped over. I didn't think she'd be able to do that so early. She's keeping us on our toes! 

Milestones: She makes these new noises that are like scream / squeals. She's so happy that all she can do is shreik. She just started holding things in her hands. She was holding my bracelet and waved her hands around and dropped it. Olivia goes "Emma! No! We don't throw things on the ground" while laughing hysterically. Apparently what we say sinks in, Olivia just doesn't listen to it. 

Clothes / Diapers: I just put away all her 0-3 month clothes and she's in 3-6 month and size 2 diapers. She's taller (and a lot skinnier) than Olivia was at this point.

Favorites: Emma has boycotted the wrap because she wants to look out. So I just carry her everywhere we go. She hasn't shown an interest in toys, but loves her big sister, smiling, being social and attention. This time around we have a changing station downstairs, which is really helpful. Not in losing the baby weight, but in being lazy and not walking up the stairs. 

I cannot believe my little baby is three months old! It seems like she's been part of the family for forever - I cannot imagine life without her. I know people get worried that they might not love the next kid as much as the first. But when that second baby is placed in your life, it is unimaginable the love you have for both of them.

Despite all of her tummy pain, she is the best baby. She's pretty chill in letting the drunk dictator (Olivia) get the attention while she just hangs out. She likes to be part of the action and see what's going on, but she doesn't need all the attention that Olivia needed. She's really social and all she ever asks for is someone to look at her, notice her, make faces at her. Sometimes we can get so caught up in the days activities, cleaning, and the demands from our toddler - that I have to stop and remember to play with Emma (which breaks my heart). I'm loving being home right now, so I can have some Emma time in the morning before Olivia comes home from school. Then I get time with just Olivia during Emma's afternoon nap. 

'Emma baby' you are the most wonderful addition to our family. I couldn't love your smiley self more!

Funny Stories from Instagram

I don't want the blog and Instagram to be the same content. But then Dan printed the blog posts into a book for me, which is so cool to flip back through and read. So I also don't want to forget about some of these silly things Olivia has said. 

If you follow on Instagram, bare with me on some repeated content.

I pretended to steal her food. Olivia goes "Mama, I need my foots!" and I asked her why. She said "I need to put them in my shoes so I can wear all my shoes." Thinking that was just her first answer, I said "what about for walking?" She made me laugh out loud when she replied "Nah, I could just crawl on da floor."

Absolutely nails the ball. Looks at me and says, "I so good at soccer." Dan having played soccer, he's a little bummed she doesn't have her sports straight.

Took a few selfies of me and Emma looking fly. Walked away just knowing one of them was good. This is the best I got. Just Emma's bow. #uncoolmom

Blurry, but too cute not to post.

Parenting at its finest.... Dan and I were talking and Olivia said "Shh mama, I no hear my TV." 

Olivia: "Remember when Emma was in your belly? And then you went to the hospital to get her out. And now she cries at Target." This is the best summary of the last two months.

The only one who's outfit was on point for Strawberry picking.

Some sisterly love.

My mom stayed with us for a couple days. Since we don't have a guest room, she stayed on the pullout couch in the play room. My mom goes "Olivia where'd the bed come from." And Olivia said "Gaga, you brought it with you." My mom goes, "Well, then where'd the couch go?" And Olivia has this big bucket we keep all her toys in. "Umm .. in my bucket."

I'm spray painting some new porch furniture (can't wait to finally furnish the porch) and I asked Olivia whether she like the white. "Umm I like pink. You have pink spray, mama?" 

Lastly, 

• She told Dan he could get a new car as long as he got a pink one. 
• I bought her new shoes and you would have thought I brought home a puppy. This chick gets SO excited over shoes and clothes.
• She told me that I should have worn a maxi dress to the bourbon festival. And that she needs more dresses. She wants to wear those instead of shorts or pants. Diva.
• I had a margarita on Cinco De Mayo. Olivia runs up, points to my drink, thinking its juice, and goes "Ohh mama, I like that!" and I said "tequila?" and she started running all around the house yelling "I like tequila!" You can go ahead and call child services.
• She told me when Emma gets big she's going to make her turn the TV on for her. Priorities.
• Emma must have had a growth spurt because one morning Olivia comes downstairs and says "Oh Emma! You big now!" and then looks at me and says "Is she walking now mama?"
• Olivia had a birthday party Saturday and I said "are you going to have pizza tonight?" She said "I don't like pizza." False. So I said "what are you going to have for dinner?" "Cake." Clearly she's been to enough birthday parties to know the routine.
• I've gotten her saying "Girrrrrrlll, shoot" and its hysterical.

This crazy girl has us laughing all the time. Wish I remembered enough of the stories!