Charli's potty training adventures!

Well, I think we officially have one less child in diapers.  Woo hoo! A few weeks ago (November 12th to be exact) Charli started going on the big girl potty!  I started the whole process a little earlier than I did with Ansley.  I knew at this point (almost 2.5 years old) that they both understood it, however with Ansley I didn't push it.  She didn't want to go and I didn't really want the hassle of running to the bathroom all the time.  With Charli I felt the same way, but she started telling me that I needed to change her diaper and that she had just gone potty, so I knew it was time.  Plus, we're going on a Disney cruise in April and she needs to be fully potty trained to swim in the pool.  That alone was motivation enough for both of us to get things moving and now she's so proud to tell everyone that she could go to Disney (as if we'd leave her if she wasn't :) ).  She really hasn't had that many accidents, other than a few poops, so I think we're on a roll!  We even made it to Pennsylvania and back without any accidents.  Of course I should mention, we whipped out the potty chair several different times and put it in the front seat for her to go right there on the side of the interstate.  We all stood outside of the truck in the blistering cold and watched her from the windows (as if we needed to give her privacy....?  I still don't know why we did that).  Regardless, she was a rockstar on our road trip for sure!  One of the things that cracks me up is that she is always still so proud of herself when she goes.  The excitement is still fresh for her. 

While we were training her, we bribed her with treats. :) She could either pick 2 M&Ms or 2 Skittles if she successfully went and most of the time she chose the Skittles.

Here's a snippet from one of her first times going. I'm the weirdo that videos that sort of thing. :)



On our way to PA....during one of our many pit stops.

              

Hollyn Monroe: 2 Months!

*She's a little squirmer!  She squirms like a worm in hot ashes to be exact.  Her legs and arms flail when she’s on her back like she’s doing the backstroke. 

*She coos and laughs all the time.  I would say at this point she is our happiest baby of all 3 girls.  She even makes sounds like she’s talking!  Yes, there are some occasional crying fits, but most of the time she is smiling and happy.   

*She has the cutest little crease on the top of her nose.

*She rolled over!  Now, I’m sure this was a total fluke, but the girl wiggles so much when she’s on her back that it didn’t surprise me one bit when I found her on her tummy one morning while she was lying on her activity mat.  The first two weeks of her life, I felt like she could roll off the changing table because of how strong she was.  Not kidding….NONE of my kids have ever seemed like they were even close to rolling over until it was time. 

*She’s in the 97% in height, 88% in weight, and 41% in head circumference.  My tiny little baby is suddenly covered in squishy rolls all over and we haven’t had a baby as high in the height department this early that I can recall.  She’s growing like a weed!

*She was a pea in the pod for Halloween just like Ansley and Charli.  That costume has gotten some good wear!

*She is sleeping anywhere from 6-9 hours a night.  It’s usually around the 7 or 8 hour mark, which at this point I’m happy with.  This momma is tired and those long stretches feel amazing!

*She loves her binky and I’m down to 1 that works.  Yikes!

*The swaddle blanket is NOT her favorite thing in the world.  She’d rather sleep with her arms out and stretched above her head.  She usually gets her left arm free during her naps and is usually sucking away on her fingers by the time I get in there. 

Hollyn, we never imagined we'd have another precious little girl to add to our crazy bunch, but now that we do....we can't imagine life without your sweet face.  We love you so much and can't wait to watch you grow!    

 

For the love of soccer.....

Ansley wanted to play fall soccer again this year, so we signed her up.  We were a little reluctant about this decision, knowing that Hollyn would be arriving in the middle of it all, but we're pretty much a bunch of push overs....so we did it. :)  Little did we know, our little soccer player would be asked to be on the All-Star team.  Don't get me wrong....she is a good little player, but All-Stars?!  We were just a touch confused, but we went with it!  So a 4 week recreational soccer schedule turned into another 4 week soccer adventure.  The tournaments were in Jackson, Perryville, Sikeston, and Cape.  Apparently....none of us wanted to get off the soccer train.  :/ After it is now all said and done, I'm glad we did it!  Ansley had fun and we met a lot of new parents that are lots of fun and just about as competitive as Jason and I are.  Ha!  

These are some of my favorites from rec soccer and All-Stars

   

Ansley usually played goalie for half of the game and then either forward or fullback for the rest

This was one of her spider monkey moves.  Ouch!

Ansley's friend, Lynlee after rec

Macy is Ansley's friend from school.  This is who we all called Grace for the first week of school....Ansley was a little confused. Ha!

Look at that form!

I want the ball please!

Our next soccer star :)

Ansley waiting to play and Daddy there to "cheer" her on.  The Sikeston folks called Jason a goal coach. Ha!

One perk....trophies at every All-Star tournament

That tongue!

I loved their little huddles

The tiny fan club!

And part of the big fan club....Pam was in the car taking care of Hollyn (so she didn't freeze!), so unfortunately she didn't make the picture. 

Hollyn pooped through several outfits during the tournaments.....and it would always be RIGHT after I changed her diaper!  Unbelievable.

Sweet friends

And cookies afterwards!  Ansley's favorite part of soccer. :)

End of the season team pictures.  It was such a fun time!

Hollyn Monroe:1 Month!

Look at that double chin! ;)  I can't even explain what it took to wake this girl for this picture!

It doesn't matter how many times you do it....when it comes to your babies....time always goes too fast!  It hasn't changed with our newest addition, Hollyn either.  She's so adorable, squishy, and perfect, but she keeps growing, darn it.  So it's time to start her monthly updates!

*She is quite the sleeper!  When we first brought her home, I'm not sure that we saw her eyes for a full week!  If we did, it was usually at 10 o'clock at night when we were trying to head to bed.  No bedtime for Miss Hollyn though....she was ready to party!  She would stare off into the dark when I layed her down (I would watch her on the monitor)....it broke my heart to see her awake and no one around. :(  Shortly after week 2, she started to sleep from 11:30 to 4 or sometimes 5.  Score. 

*She weighs about 10 lbs and is about 23 inches long. Growing fast!

*She's got lots of sweet peach fuzz all over her little body, especially around her shoulders and little back (and more dark in color than the other girls).  She may be the dark haired girl of the bunch.  I love it.

*She is a smiley thing.  I feel like Ansley didn't smile for the first 3 months and Charli did a little more, but Hollyn....she smiles ALL the time!  It is so precious.  I don't care what anyone says....they aren't gas smiles!

*She has dark hair on the back of her head (and a lot of it) and lighter in the front.  We joke that she got some beautiful ombre highlights for the fall season!  She also came out with lots of curl on her wet head, so she's probably going to be like the other two in that regard.

*She spits up occasionally, but only when we don't get out a good burp.  And she has hiccups about 3 times a day....just like in my belly.

*When she cries she lets out one big screech and then she's done for the most part (unless she's REALLY hungry).  She sounds like another little pterodactyl.

*She makes the funniest faces.  We call them her old man looks.  She scrunches and twists her mouth and face around in some crazy ways!

*She has the LONGEST fingers and toes of all the girls (and Charli has some long ones)!  Before long she'll be playing the piano with her feet.

*She's a pooper!  Her favorite time is right when her diaper is off (lots of laundry for momma)!  During her newborn photoshoot she peed and pooped on Ansley and Sheri.  Both of them were dancing around trying to get clean.  It was hilarious.

*Her eyes are a beautiful blue color right now and I'm sure they will stick around.  Sometimes they like to cross, but she's still a beauty!  Before long they will track together hopefully. Ha!  :)

We are so thankful for Hollyn's healthy arrival and we treasure our little biscuit (name given by Ansley) so much! Praise God for the blessing of another sweet girl!

Our little surprise.....Hollyn Monroe!

We had our THIRD little blessing on September 24th.  We didn't know what we were having so imagine our surprise when our girl, Hollyn Monroe came out at 8:18 am healthy and beautiful at 8 lbs. 7 oz. and 20 inches long (the same as Ansley and 1/2 an ounce bigger than Charli).  She immediately looked like a clone of Ansley when Dr. Carns pulled her out, yet as the day went on....we saw a duplicate of Charli.  We are just beyond thrilled.  After miscarrying our sweet boy, Adler one year ago on October 13th, you don't take for granted the miracle of life.  We are so blessed. 

My friend, Sheri was able to be next to the operating room and captured the most amazing images for us.  I CANNOT stop looking at them and reliving the moments.  These images are one of my favorite treasures ever.  Prepare yourself....image overload.

 

It's a girl!  The whole room rejoiced.    

The look on Daddy's face is priceless.

She gave out the most wonderful cry.  I can remember hearing her while lying there on the operating table and then I was instantly crying uncontrollably.  She was here and she was healthy.  Praise the Lord.

I was immediately smitten

Oh my dear Lord....that first glimpse of her and the very first squeeze.  What a moment. 

This is one of my favorite images.  Jason has been so incredible, knowing exactly what I needed to hear at the very moment I needed to hear it.  He sweetly attended to me and also loved on our newest girl.  I will never forget it. 

I wanted to kiss her one more time before he told our family

Jason was in love all over again.

And then the family found out we would be 3 girls poor and 3 girls blessed. Ha!  I love seeing these images because I would have missed the whole moment if I didn't have these.

I was so worried about Ansley and Charli's little hearts.  They wanted a boy so bad.  Thankfully, Ansley went from a moment of disappointment to a glance of Hollyn that immediately won her over.  They are both head over heels to have their new baby sister.

A moment of giddiness.

There's not enough kisses in the world to show my love.

It doesn't get any better than this

Oh, Hollyn....we LOVE you so.

Welcome to the world sweet baby girl!