Day 116 - Dannelly 5 Weeks

She is 5 weeks. 

She already thinks she is a princess.

She thinks she needs to be held at all times.

She must be held the way she thinks is best.  If you move, she cries.

She thinks someone should be holding her hand at all times.  I need to start training Sam.

She thinks that in order to go to sleep, she must be wrapped in a blanket.  Preferably the one I made.

She is going to be a hand full.

A beautiful little hand full.

Day 115 - The cute things I find on my living room floor.

Sometimes regular UNO just isn't interesting enough.

Ben laid the baby down on the floor and Sam immediately laid down next to her.  Obviously it was time to play on the floor the way he plays with Dad.  For some reason he was surprised when we told him he could not flip his sister.

Day 114 Apology - Crack Cookies

Day 114 comes with a couple of apologies.  First of all, I didn't take a photo.  So to apologize I'm going to give you a recipe for some cookies.

Second, I'm apologizing for giving you this recipe.  I'm pretty sure there is some crack hidden somewhere in these cookies because Ben and I are both addicted.  We are going to have to go to cookie rehab.  Someone please send me photos of my darling children while we are there.  

Crack Cookies (aka PB Cornflake no-bake goodness)

1 cup sugar
1 cup caro syrup
1 18oz jar of creamy peanut butter
6 cups of cornflakes
Some chocolate chips or M&M's (Ben's suggestion)

Directions:
(So easy, I'm fairly certain Sam could make them)

1.  Over medium-high heat, bring sugar and caro syrup to a full boil.
2.  Remove from heat and stir in peanut butter until melted.
3.  Pour over cornflakes.  Stir until fully coated.
4.  If you are using M&M's stir them in now.  As much as you want.  Guess on the measurement.
5.  Drop by tablespoon (or more) onto waxed paper.
6.  Let set.
7.  Devour.

You can either drizzle them with melted chocolate chips or dip the tops once the set up.  No matter what you do, they're going to be killer.  Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go eat 5 cookies.

Day 113 - Plants

Sam LOVES to water plants.  We decided that it might be a fun activity of have some plants to take care of.  Last night we ran to Walmart and picked out three plants for him to raise: basil, basil and daisies.  Tonight he was excited to water them with Ben using his special new watering can (as opposed to the Rudy's BBQ cup they've been using on my hydrangea).  Tomorrow the boys will re-pot them.  Can't wait for fresh basil!

Day 112 - April 26th

Since both of my kids were born on the 26th of their respective months, I'm hoping to get a shot of them together every month on the 26th.  After the shoot today I realized that while TOTALLY worth it, the idea might be a bit challenging. 

Dannelly 1 month old.

Sam 3 years and 8 months old.

Day 111 - Haircut

After looking like a street urchin for a couple of months, Sam FINALLY got a haircut.  I had been trying to grow his hair out but I couldn't take it anymore. I told the stylist, "Short!" 

 So glad I did.  I love this kid with short hair.  

Day 110 - Twinkle Twinkle

This is the scene I found Tuesday afternoon when I walked into the living room.  Sam was holding her hand singing Twinkle Twinkle.  When I picked him up from school that day he said, "Oh!  Hi Baby Sister!  You are soooooo cute!"  Love that boy.

Day 109 - Dannelly 4 weeks.

Dannelly at 4 weeks. 

At her appointment she weighed 8 lbs and 13 ounces.
She is more and more awake everyday.
She's also sleeping longer at night.
In the words of Sam, "She is cutie cute!"

Day 108 - Chores

This week Sam started doing "chores" to earn a Chuggington train.  Hodge to be specific.  He had to do the following:

1.  Pick up toys

2.  Put both his and Elly's dirty clothes in the hamper. As you can see in the photo, this is the job he does best.

3.  Take a nap

4.  Have a good report from school.

5.  Listen to mom.

He did a great job,  Today he got his 20th start and was VERY excited to earn his Hodge (it's been sitting on the bookshelf for a week and a half)  he has already informed us that he needs to get 21 stars (his number, not ours) to earn his Zephie.  

 Here is a link to a video of him talking about his chores. 

Day 101 - 107 (The last mass post)

Day 101 - Sam LOVES Uncle Kent.  When he arrived Sam stood at the top of the stairs and said, "Hey Kent!  You have a green shirt and a suitcase.  C'mon up!" 

While he was here, Kent got a taste Fruit Ninja with Sam.  Sam may or may not have kicked his trash. 

Day 102 - Dannelly's favorite activity. Slipping into a milk coma.

Day 103 - Trying to feed this little girl at 11:00 pm was not going to happen.  I pretty much had her dancing and she didn't react.  More on her dancing later.

Day 104 - After WEEKS of searching, Sam and I finally found an Angry Birds shirt at Target.  In case you can't tell this is Sam smiling for the camera.

Day 105 - I thought I had a couple more years before she started rolling her eyes at me. 

Day 106 - This poor baby has the smallest nasal passages ever.  As a result, she gets SUPER congested.  In the last week I have spent hours sitting in a steamy bathroom with her.

Day 107 - Ben, Sam and I all got REALLY sick. Sick enough that Ben considered calling his mom and telling her she needed to fly to Austin.  Somehow we all survived the day.  By that night we all felt like this.

Day 94 - 100 (Will the catch up ever end?!)

Day 94 - Easter.  Sam got a Mater hat.  Baby sister got a nap on Dad.  Dad got a honey baked ham and rolls.  Mom got a nap.  A perfect Easter.

Day 95 - First shaved ice of the season.  One of my VERY favorite things about summer.  Summer that starts in April.  :)

Day 96 - Introducing Dannelly to Brandon Flowers/The Killers by making her listen to a cover of Bette Davis Eyes.  As you can tell, she is as enamored with them as her mother.  Love her little lips. 

Day 97 - I imagine her face is reflecting the realization that her mother is going to take a million pictures of her in her life. 

Day 98 - Sam took a tour of the cafeteria.  They had all of the kids put on hair nets.  Sam forgot about his.  Since it was so funny his teachers "forgot" to remind him about it.  Mom may have "forgotten" as well.  Ben's caption for this was, "

After touring the cafeteria today, Sam was NOT happy when we told him he couldn't drop out of preschool to pursue his dream of becoming a lunch lady.

 "

Day 98 part 2 - My very favorite scene that is repeated almost everyday.  Love my little family.

Day 99 - Baby Houdini.  You can try to swaddle her arms but she always manages to get them out.

Day 100 - I am NOT looking my best here but we had to show you how a pro eats ribs.  With one hand.  While holding a baby.

Days 87 - 93 (The week we tried to establish a routine)

As I may have mentioned, I had ZERO swelling my entire pregnancy.  On day 87 this all changed.  Here is the gratuitous photo I sent to my favorite hairdresser in Utah.  Parker and I are tight like that. 

Day 88 - My mom bought us this cute little outfit.  My sister called to tell me she bought my niece the same one.  Grandma must like cupcakes.

Day 89 - Grandma also bought Sam some Angry Birds fruit gummies. He didn't eat them.  He played with them.  Two weeks later and he might STILL be playing with them.  Gross.

Day 90 - Obviously we eat way too much Old McDonald's (Sam's name for McDonalds) as both of my children and my husband all think they are Green Lanterns.

Day 91 - One of my very favorite things about Dannelly is that she likes to hold hands.  My least favorite thing is that once she gets comfortable you DO NOT want to move.  She gets super sassy about it.

Day 92 - You know how sometimes they show statues or buildings next to elephants to show size.  This photo is to show you the size of her face compared to a newborn binky.

Day 93 - Remember all of those ultrasound with her hands up by her face?  Some things never change.

Days 81 - 86 (aka the week we went from 3 to 4)

I've decided that rather than posting 3.5 weeks worth of daily posts, you are getting them by week.  Also, if you are friends with me on Instagram or Facebook you've probably seen all of these.  But hey, it's my blog.  I get to do what I want.  

 Day 81 - Our first night together.  All I know is we were both exhausted and I woke up holding a sweet sleeping baby.  Not sure the nurses loved that but look at this little face.

Day 82- Ben would come chill with me in the hospital after work.  Not only did he bring me a Potbelly sandwhich, he also "brought a sixer to get the party started."  Love this man.

Day 83 - In an exciting turn of events, my doctor let us come home one day early!  Hooray!  Little Miss actually had pants to go home in as well but we couldn't put them on until after they took off her in-house arrest ankle monitor  hug tag.

Day 84 - No photo that day as I spent the entire day dealing with hormones, an aching back, a crazy son and brand new baby.  Imagine how much worse this would have been had my lovely in-laws not been here assisting.

Day 84 - First doctor's appointment and outing.  Ben's parents went home, mine arrived.  Dannelly succumbed to a milk coma.

Day 85 - At the Apple store with Grandma and Grandpa.  Grandma got a new iPhone.  Sam played on the "bumputer."  Mom loved how his hair poked out of his little hat. 

3 weeks

Three weeks on Monday positively perfect.

Yesterday morning while getting ready for school, San asked, "Where's Baby Sister?"  I told him she was on the bed.  He very carefully climbed up, gave her a kiss and said, "Oh, I love you Baby Sister."

And then my heart melted.

1 Week (Sorry, we're out of order)

DAYS after we got home from the hospital, I dragged my poor baby and my mom out for a quickie bluebonnet session.  Ben had been telling me to get on it before they were gone.  Thankfully there is a lovely patch right by Sam's school. It was the quickest session you have ever seen.  Literally 10 minutes max.  I'm finding that newborn sessions are really fun when it's your baby.  You can do them whenever you want provided the subject is sleeping.  

2 Weeks

Dannelly had her 2 week appointment yesterday.  Little miss is back up to her birth weight plus two ounces.  Hooray for letting her sleep a little bit longer.  Everything looked great.  

I also subjected her to a little mini-shoot while she and Sam were napping.  She slept right through Mom messing with her.

So happy to have this little cutie in our family.