Jessica at 2 1/2

(Jessica trying to show how old she is with her fingers)

So, Izzy's 3 month bday falls on Jessica two and a half bday! Apparently 8 is the number in this family :) Just like 17 was the number in my family (my brother Chris and I were both born on the 17th of our respective bday months. I alwasy thought that was cool, and now think its cool that my daugthers have the same thing!)

Jessica is quite the 2 year old!
She can spell her name, and can recognize a few letters
Can count to 20 pretty much strait, adn can count to 10 in spanish!
LOVES to sing, and I'm amazed at how quickly she picks up words to songs! She really just has to hear it once.
She does not nap anymore. I'm really really hoping its a phase, but this has been going on since before she turned 2 and was still in her crib! She still has quiet time though, and on the days she doesn't nap she'll go to bed at 7 and sleep till 7 or 8 the next am!
SHe's been taking swim lessons and loves it, but still isn't too into putting her head under water
Had her first big beach day where she played in the waves and really loved it
Has a bazillion best friends, she's a lucky gal
Loves to play tea party and dress up
She's quite girly
She changes her outfit at least once a day
Is 99% potty trained. But she likes to have pee pee accidents whe she's on a time out. Convient, no?
Still has to wear a pull up at night, but she did wake up one morning dry
Loves to look at books and have them read to her
Her favorite color is still pink
She loves The Little Mermaid, Dora, and all things princess.
Is a definite two year and loves to push bottons. Time out is a pretty regular activity for her =/
She has become a huge daddy's girl, especially since Izzy was born.
She is really shy
But once she opens up she LOVES being the center of attention
She's got a great sense of humor
She's in mostly 3T clothing, about 34 lbs
Drives everyone batty with the no napping induced temper tantrums for no reasons
But man, does she know how to justify things!
She's getting used to the Big Sister thing, and for the most part- I think she likes it ;)
One thing is for sure, her Mommy, Daddy and baby sister LOVE her so so much!

More pictures from the photo shoot attempt that failed:

At 3 months

(so the 3 month photo shoot did not go so well......)

Izzy is HUGE.
Trying to sit up, does not like laying down! she prefers tummy time over being on her back cause she can push up and do things!

Starting to grab toys

Really working on moving her arms. its pretty amusing to watch

Cooing all the time

Starting to laugh!

Gets the hiccups ever day

Super drooly! Like, she has to wear a bib to catch it all so her clothes don't get soaked drooly. Its awesome

Hair is thinning out, is it going to come in another color?

Has big blue eyes- Daddy calls them purple, or saphire eyes

Has a HUGE smile, and when she does that huge smile you can see the dimple in her left cheek

She also has a dimple in her chin

She gets those from her daddy

But she still pretty much looks like her mommy

Loves her big sister, smiles at her and watches her play. i can tell thats why she's growing so
much- she can't wait to join her!

Starting to let other people hold her besides mommy

Is wearing her all-in-one cloth diapers on the biggest size. at 3 months. this could be a problem....

Breastfed only- and only took like 2 ounces of breastmilk from a bottle once, when mommy and daddy went to a wedding

Is about 20 lbs. SOLID

Used to like using Mommy as a pacifier,but since we've moved her into her basisnet she is

FINALLY taking a binky when we lay her to sleep. This just started like 4 days ago.....

Sometimes her fingers work, too. Its the cutest thing to see her sucking her thumb when she's sleeping- just precious! I would love to take a picture but will NOT risk waking her up

Has been sleeping in her bassinet for the past week. Goes to bed around 6 and gets up between 2 and 5. She once went 10 hours, it was amazing!!!!!!!

Usually takes 3 one hour naps. One day she took one 3 1/2 hour and one 2 1/2 nap and mommy was very very happy. Wished it happened more often

In about 9 month clothing

Can raise one eyebrow (another thing she got from daddy! see, she is his! ;) )

Rocking the cloth diapers. our favs are the bum genius pocket dipes. all in ones are cool, too, but take soooooooo long to dry

Such a super happy baby (when mommy is holding you especially) and so glad that the colicky part is over

Mommy, Daddy and her big sister Jessica love you soooooooooooo much!

a few more pictures from the photo shoot. apparently I choose a time when she was uncharacteristcly (is that even a word?) fussy

My favorite Wedding memories

So, to spare you all for solely lovey-dovey mushy stuff, here are a few of my favorite wedding memories:

the bridal party walking in to "Roadhouse Blues" by the Doors and us making our Grand Entrance to "Lets get it STarted" by Black Eyed Peas


My maid of honor getting mad that I didn't throw the boquet at her, when in fact I did- she was just too Inebriatedto realize it(the little girl behind her caught) and then her asking me to help her find her purse as I was leaving- luckily my mother in law saved the day, and helped her so i could go get my honeymoon on


My friend Amelia saying something incredibly inappropriate but oh so Amelia to my friend Patty's then boyfriend. Oh goodness, still makes me laugh


Steve's friend James telling my dad he was Steve's cousin as they did a little do si do


The flower girl hissing at the ring bearer "Jordan, get over here!" with her little 3 year old lisp as they walked down the isle



My friend kara spilling RED WINE on my dress during cocktail hour, but really not being that mad about. It was the happiest day of my life (at that time) and I wasn't going to let that ruin it


My grandma taking a shot of tequila with bobaleen! (still not 100% sure if i believe that)


Our first dance to Better Together by Jack Johnson. We did a Rhumba.



The guest "book" was actually little squares of fabric that my mom made into a quilt for us
We also had them sign a frame, and its hanging in our bedroom


My veil getting caught as i turned down the isle and Bob yelling "surprise!" and it made Steve roll his eyes and smile- I think it made him less nervous

The birth of Rasputin- the mans' dance


All the guys really getting into the garter toss. Rob did a Michael Jordan jump and caught it. We later explained what catching the garter meant. All garter tosses since have been much less exciting......


My dad telling me a super corney joke so I wouldn't be nervous



Being soososososos excited and nervous, but it being the most absolute perfect day of my life :)


Can't believe its already been four years since that day!

Two beautiful baby girls later ;)

Super excited- tonight Steve and I are going on our first date night

Since Izzy was born! WOO HOOO!!!

Happy Anniversary Steve!

I cannot believe that we've been married for FOUR years

its been an amazing journey

it hasn't always been easy

we've had quite the rollercoaster of ups and downs and all arounds

this last year has been really crazy

new job, new baby, life

but its really made us stronger

with everything we've been through, espeically the birth of our second daughter, i am shown how i have found the perfect partner for me

We balance each other out

We support one another

We push each other to be our bests

We bring out our best, and sometimes even our worst

He knows me better than anyone ever has or even could

I love him with all my heart, and am so thankful for the two most beautiful babies he has given to me

It gets getting better every year

I can't wait to see how our relationship grows

I love you Steve!

Breast Feeding Mama- Part II

In honor of World Breast Feeding Week (thanks Em!) I decided I should do a post on nursing Izzy. Now, I understand that some people aren't all about breastfeeding, or even if they are, they don't think woman should flaunt it in public. I disagree, but I am respectful of other people when out and about (love my hooter hider!). And I do understand that our society sends mixed signals about it and why people could be uncomfortable. So- if you are uncomfortable with nursing/breastfeeding pics, don't read further. But please, no negative comments. This is my blog, so if you don't like it you can leave :) Again, not wanting to offend anyone, just wanting to jot down the memories of this special time and bond I have right now with Isabella.

I had quite the ride nursing Jessica. You can read about it here (you have to scroll down a bit)
Luckily, its been much MUCH easier with Izzy. She nursed, and actually latched on, with in a half hour of being born:

Isabella nursing for the first time

We had a little hiccup since she had to go to the NICU. They didn't want Izzy to nurse for a few hours because they didn't want her to inhale the milk into her lungs. I had to pump, and yeah- talk about depressing a woman! Now I understand why its so hard for woman with babies in the NICU to keep nursing, its so hard when absolutely nothing comes out but just a teeny tiny bit of colustrom- not even enough to get into at bottle. Luckily I only had to do that once, I came in and nursed Izzy all the other times

Nursing Izzy in the NICU

Anyways, then we had to use tubes taped to my boob that we pushed some formula through to get Izzy to nurse and get food (since she was so big she was also soooo hungry!). Luckily we were able to stop that with in a day of coming home.

Once home it only took about a week before her latch was so good I was able to nurse laying down- and get some sleep!

She did a lot of nursing/cluster feeding the first few weeks. And basically used me as a pacifier.

Now she's finally not living on my boob! And we both have nursing down pat ;)

A few of my other nursing pictures

The next 2 pictures were taken by my friend Carol
Izzy nursing at 1 week old

My view. This picture breaks my heart- she was so little then!

Isabella's favorite place to sleep

Getting used to nursing a baby and entertaining a toddler

Wearing Izzy, and nursing her at the same time!

Out with the family at the park.

Nursing Izzy

My view now:

Yep, she's a breast fed baby through and through!

Weekend Highlights

We had a pretty mellow, low key weekend. Just the kind I love :) Thought I share a few of my favorite shots

We celebrated both of Steve's parents bday's on Saturday night. So I had the girls where their matching watermellon dresses
Yeah, Izzy is starting to go bald.........
Jessica would not pose for a picture

FINALLY got her to kinda pose:

love Izzy's expression

We made an awesome dinner, starting with Caprese poppers (don't you love the name I made?) All ingredients fresh from the garden, except for the mozarella balls of course
I also made a zuchinni pineapple cake with cream cheese frosting- AH MA ZING! Found it on the Pioneer Woman's website. Click here to see the recipie.

Sunday we went up to the park. Put Izzy in some stylish shorts

It was Izzy's first trip to the park! So of course, had to put her in the swing. These pictures just crack me up

Do you notice the big wet spot on her shirt? Yeah, its from her drool. That is a LOT of drool...

Jessica LOVES the swing

Daddy and his two girls at the park

This picture just cracks me up! You can see her drooling, and her expression is saying "Seriously mom? A picture now?"

Don't you love Jessica's hot shorts? And how the one strap is falling off her shoulder? She was explaining something to us about her purse, she filled it full of random not really park appropriate. Whatevs. She was taking it out to share with another little girl who was there- it was really sweet. Not something I'm used to with Jessica.....

When we got back from the park, Izzy took a short nap, then Daddy read them a story

Izzy has also been enjoying her new excersaucer toy. She LOVES it! Jessica also loves it, and we have to constantly remind her that its Izzy's and to play gentle. Here she is doing ring around the rosie, pulling Izzy around in a circle (the seat spins). She was actually being gentle and sweet!

We decided to try Izzy in the big bath with her sister. Since Jessica did not nap alllllll weekend, we knew it was going to be a early bedtime for her. So, we decided that they could try bathtime together! The first of many, many baths together I'm sure ;)

Izzy liked it. She wasn't sure at first, but once she realized it was water she was happy :)

I love love loooooooooooooove mellow weekends that don't feel jam packed, and I get to spend lots of quality time with my hubby and my girls :)

Photo Shoot!

My mother in law got the girls ADORABLE matching watermellon dresses from Gymboree. I am in love with them. The cutest things ever. So, to say thank you, I wanted to get a cute picture of the girls in their dresses. I finally figured out, actually more like took the time, to hang some white sheets in our brightest room in the house (to use the natural lighting) and tried to get the girls to pose for the first official photo shoot at the Post family house.

Um yeah

Didn't go so well

This is the best picture I got (edited a bit in Picasa)

Well, what do you expect when you are trying to take pictures of a 2 1/2 year old who skipped her nap and a 2 1/2 month old who, well, who is 2 1/2 months old!

At least they looked adorable in their dresses!

Thank you Karen!!!