MERRY CHRISTMAS!

(Christmas Day morning, 2010)

Day to day

i love this pic, she's holding on to her paci...

sweet dreams

is there something on my face?


It's taken some time to get into the groove of things with a toddler and a newborn. My best intentions to get out of the house are thwarted when there is one (or both) of them napping, or when one needs to eat, or when one is fussy. I really could go on and on. But I am getting better at managing both of them and making it work. While I have taken Emma out to places like the park or music class, we have spent alot of time at home since Sophia was born. I think alot of that has to do with mommy being very tired as well. But we manage to have a good time, whether we are out of the house or at home.


playing at her water table with her monkey

the monkey is now on the wet ground next to her

pushing her sister around the backyard, such a good little helper

love these two girls.

mommy's little helper. even if the bottle is empty.

my little angel

blurry pic, but you can still see the smile that brightens up my life

gotta go! see ya!

peek-a-boo!!!!

do you mind? i'm on the phone.

So it's been a while.

I'm just now realizing my last post was in September. October seems to have just flown by. I guess you could say I've been a little busy.

Conor, Emma and I are so happy to welcome little Sophia Elizabeth to our family. She was born on October 11 at 9:50pm. She weighed in at 7lbs and was 19 3/4 inches, and she is just perfect. It is still surreal sometimes that I have two children, two daughters. I always wanted girls, I always felt like I was a "girl momma". And guess what? I got them! Aside from the lack of sleep and quadruple the work, I think the biggest adjustment has been for Emma. She did really well the first week, but it seems that as time goes on, she has been getting a bit more impatient, a bit more frustrated with the situation. I think this is compounded by the fact that she is not very verbal right now, so any frustration comes out in "acting out". The main issue is when we're holding Sophie (yes, I call her Sophie) and when I'm feeding Sophie. Those two spark some jealousy, but only once in a while. It's a tough situation dividing the time between a newborn and a toddler, but Conor and I are doing our best to split the time and spend as much quality time one-on-one with Emma as possible. I have someone to watch Sophie on Fridays so that I can take Emma to music class and breakfast. That is definitely something I'm so looking forward to doing with her. This has not only been an adjustment for Emma, but it took a while for me as well. Emma was my one and only, my little girl, and she still is. But the dynamic of our family has completely and permanently changed. And while I feel blessed and grateful, I know I will sometimes miss that time that I had with Emma, the endless amount of time and energy that I could give to my little mama. I told Conor about my concerns a while back, and he said that I'd be surprised at how I'd be feeling once Sophie was born. He was right. Overnight, our lives changed forever. Our lives went from revolving around 1 little munchkin to 2 little munchkins.

Overnight we became a foursome and I couldn't be happier, feel luckier, or count my blessings enough.

You are my sunshine...

My only sunshine...

You make me happy, when skies are gray...

You'll never know dear, how much I love you...

So please don't take my sunshine away...

We've come a long way baby...

It's hard to believe that Emma was so small 16 months ago.

At this point, we had no idea what she was going to look like...

What kind of personality she would have...

We had no clue how much joy this little girl would bring into our lives, our family's lives, and our friends' lives.

We just knew that were blessed beyond measure.














We now have a much better idea of what her personality will be like... and all I have to say is it's amazing.

You pick your battles...

I did not feel like picking this one today.

It's all a learning experience, right? And you want to know the best part? I didn't clean it up. The dog did that for me :)

What are we doing these days?

So we're basically in the home stretch in preparing for the arrival of bebe #2. But aside from preparing, and nesting, I'm spending as much one on one time with Emma as possible. That's not difficult now that I think about it, I do stay at home with her everyday. Here are somethings to catch you up on as far as how Emma has been progressing...

1. She waves goodbye. Now you may think, ok, big deal, she's almost 17 months old. But she waves goodbye to EVERYONE. You pick up your keys, she will wave goodbye. The AT&T guy drives past our house, she waves goodbye. Was that a plane that flew overhead? Yup, she waved goodbye.

2. She loves to give kisses. And alot of them. Most of the time they are wet and sloppy, some are dry. I will take the kisses any way she gives them. She also does "kondi", it's what I grew up doing, sort of an Armenian tradition with kids... it's where you say "kondi, kondi" and she will touch her forehead to yours... Sometimes she is gentle, other times, not so much.

3. Playing in the backyard = Emma has to be a nudie. I did it a few times and now, if her clothes get wet, she will fuss and tug and stand in front of me til I take them off. And I better not forget the diaper. I'm just waiting for the day she figures out how to take off her own diaper. Fun.


(keeping cool on a hot summer day)


4. She talks on my phone. Now it's pretend talk, but she will talk like she is having a conversation, complete with inflections and pauses and hand gestures. (I will post a video of it next time). It's about the cutest dang thing I have ever seen. Well, aside from Emma that is :)

5. She points to her bellybutton. She points to my bellybutton. She points to her nose. She points to her hair. She points to the baby in my belly. When I keep talking about the baby in my belly, she cannot pull my shirt back down fast enough. I know she's thinking "well that's enough of that, no need to dwell on the baby...".

6. Emma LOVES music. Country. Hip hop. Musicals while daddy is giving her a bath. She shakes her little butt from side to side, and recently, she has started lifting her arms, like she is raising the roof, or praising Jesus. I have not a clue where she picked that up from. She dances everywhere... tub, car, patio, Whole Foods. The child is a dance machine.


(playing with Tia Vanessa)


7. Emma loves her purses. And her necklaces. I don't think she is the girliest of girls, because she also loves Thomas the Train, but give her a purse and she will carry it on her shoulder with her arm raised the entire time so it won't fall off.

8. As of last week, we have officially transitioned to 1 nap a day. Yup. 1 nap a day. It's usually about 2 hours long, smack in the middle of the day. It was actually a pretty easy transition, the child has no interest in a 2nd nap. This means one of 2 things for me... do I want to be productive and get stuff done while she naps? Or do I want to nap as well? This late in my pregnancy, you guess which option I have been choosing.

9. Although she is a child of few words, her comprehension astounds me. We need to change your diaper, she goes to her room and waits for me. Want milk? She will walk me to the fridge. Where's Grandma? She will stare at the door and wait for her to walk in. She puts everything back in it's place, whether I ask her to or not. She is very orderly, or OCD, depending on how you look at it. I guess as a parent, every little thing really just amazes me.


(Watching her favorite a.m. PBS cartoon, Dinosaur Train, while eating breakfast...)


10. I love her more than the world. That last one has nothing to do with how she is progressing, but I just had to say it. I honestly cannot imagine my life before this child.

Reason #126 why it's great to be a kid...

You can spend as much time as you need to on daddy's shoulder after waking up from your nap...