Christmas + Update

Christmas time is right around the corner and everyone here cannot be more excited. Every morning this month the girls cannot wait to get up to find Sammy the Elf and to open their advent calendars (Kinder Egg & Play-dough Advent calendars). The funniest thing is that Ella is almost always the one to find Sammy the Elf first. She's also completely obsessed with Sammy - demanding I constantly acknowledge Sammy's presence.

 

I feel as if Christmas snuck up on us this year. Although I've been strategically purchasing gifts since September as things I've had my eyes on, go on sale - I still don't feel prepared. We are SO excited for the girls to open their gifts - especially their new play kitchen and all of the accessories!

We are hosting again this year which means we will be very busy getting the house and all of the food ready. My priority is to enjoy the day with the girls and Fraser as much as I can while also getting everything done. Fraser and I have one more day at work and then 11 days in a row of vacation/time off and we could not be more excited. 

These girls are growing at warp speed and I feel like every time I blink my eyes they are both doing something new. For the past year, I've been working on potty training Harper with no luck. It was to the point where Harper full on refused to sit on the potty. I had finally gave up and decided to wait until she was showing more signs of being ready. To be honest, I was getting a little worried when she turned three in November and was still not showing signs of wanting to use the potty.

These past two weeks we started to notice that she was able to predict when she was about to pee in her diaper and would immediately ask to be changed. Yesterday while home with her grandma she requested to have her big girl undies on and sat on the potty all on her own and peed. She was so excited she insisted on calling me at work to inform me - I was obviously thrilled! She continued to use the potty all day and into the evening with zero accidents. That continued all morning, day and night today. I'm sort of in disbelief that she's practically potty trained herself in 24 hours. Now our focus is to get her to poop on the potty!

The most shocking part of this potty story is that little miss copycat Ella ALSO started using the potty yesterday wanting to be like her big sister. I nearly passed out when she peed on the potty all on her own. She looks like a 6 month old because she's so tiny - sitting on the potty peeing. My big girls!

 This sweet girl - I can't even describe in words how cute this kid is. Both of our kids are beautiful and so alike but also so different! Harper is very passive like her daddy where little miss Ella is a complete spit fire like her momma. Everything we were so grateful Harper didn't do - Ella bean is doing. Like eating play-dough, climbing on EVERYTHING, telling us "no" all of the time. And she's so bloody tiny and cute that you can't get mad at her!

 To say we are busy is a complete understatement. With Fraser and I both working fulltime, the girls and my Etsy shop - I feel like time is just flying by. Fraser got a long over due promotion to "Manager of Operations". I seriously could not be prouder. My hunny works his butt off, always helping others and ensuring everything is running smoothly. He was completely thrilled to be promoted to Manager and everyone at our work was not surprised at all. This holiday we are taking as much time to relax and hang out with our sweet babies.

I hope everyone has a very merry Christmas and an even happier New Year!

xoxo

Ella's 9 Month Update

 Our sweet Ella turned 9 months a few days ago. I just want time to slow down. I want to keep her a baby a little while longer. The idea of both my girls being "big girls" is enough to make me sob.

Ella had her doctors appointment last week, she weighs exactly 19 lbs and is 27" long. She is still our tiny toad. Like I've said since she was born, she makes up for size with her personality. I have however, noticed she has mellowed out a bit lately. I'm thinking that's because she has a tooth up and another that's poked through the gums. She is a lot happier and a lot less sassy!

Ella is a complete ham. She makes Fraser and I laugh daily with her funny little quirks. For instance she is obsessed with Fraser's facial hair, constantly pulling at his beard the second he picks her up. She is also fascinated with ears - especially if I'm wearing earrings. She dances already, which is completely hilarious. The second music comes on, even if its in another room, she starts to bob up and down. Even if music isn't on, and you start to sing, she will start dancing. Melts my heart, having two tiny little dancers.

Ella is also on the move. She has been crawling for the past month (although she doesn't do it entirely correctly, it's more of a scoot). She is also pulling herself up using anything that can hold her weight, which terrifies me because it seems so wrong since she's so tiny! I think she just wants to keep up with her big sister.

Napping still isn't the greatest. She was an AMAZING napper up until 4 months old. Then the 4 month sleep regression and teething hit and it's been a yo-yo since. I see a slight improvement the past two weeks but still not great. Her sleeping at night has gotten a lot better though (thank goodness). She goes to bed at around 6:30/7pm and wakes 1-2 times to nurse and sleeps until 6:30/7am. I can't complain and it's only getting better so I anticipate more improvements in the next few months.

Ella still breastfeeds in between having solids three times a day. Her favourite foods are yogurt, applesauce, rice and potato.

Her first word was ma-ma which she usually says when she's tired and cranky. It is still the sweetest thing to hear!

Harper and Ella have a total blast together. They love to play in the patio curtains, staring outside giggling while playing peek-a-boo with one another. They also love having baths together before bed. These moments are what make me so fortunate to have two little girls so close in age, they are going to be the best of friends when their older.