the stats

Playing with a phone on thanksgiving- We were twins!
I'm 18 months old!
Admiring her hard work after we decorated the tree.
Helping hang the balls that she chose at Home Depot for our tree.
My Black Friday shopper!


There is a one and a half year old running around the house now! How did that happen? A whopping 18 months old. She's NOT a baby anymore!

We went in for the 18 month appointment today. Gosh, I cannot imagine those with an infant along too! Not the point, but filling out surveys with a scared child, in a tiny tiled room with no toys, is difficult. But, Coranelle made herself heard and scribbled all over the 8 pages analyzing her development and growth. As always, I think the whole office heard her protesting and screaming while we weighed, measured and examined her. Not sure why that is so scary, but Coranelle HATES it all. On a positive note, my peanut has graduated from the fifth percentile in weight to the 13th- weighing a whopping 21 lbs, 11ounces. Yay! She's been eating really well lately- even enjoying vegetables again -not just tomato sauce and salsa, but bits of carrot, red pepper, cucumbers and olives. The new teeth must be helping her enjoy a bigger variety of foods. She loves her meat too, and "meat" is one of her favorite words now. As far as the other stats, she's 32 inches long (61st percentile) and her head is in the 80th percentile. She gets the big brains from her daddy!

I talked to the doctor about having another kiddo and helping her to adjust, potty training, night terrors, etc. Overall, she is doing really well. She's at the top of the charts for her communication, gross and fine motor skills, problem solving abilities and personal/social skills. I am very proud of her and feel SUPER blessed. We took a survey for Autism and she is not showing any signs for that either. So, really no complaints or anything out of the ordinary.

I cannot believe how her language has exploded in the last month. It is so fun to be able to communicate with her and see her learn lots of new words. She imitates everything I say and I cannot even keep track of all of her words. When we're driving, she loves for me to point things out and then she repeats it. "Cow, Sun, Bright, Tree, Car, Light, Horse, Etc." She also loves trying to recite the alphabet and she repeats all the letters. She's struggling with "W, J, and G" but, it's awesome! I think the more she can communicate, the happier she seems.

And, as for my last post... since my nervous ranting, she has improved significantly on being able to entertain herself. While I cook dinner, she'll sit in her high chair and play with her bowls and spoons. She is getting really interested in coloring, stickers and play-doh and she does pretty well playing on her own for a while while I do chores. I feel so much better about the new addition to the family when she acts a bit more independent. So, thanks for all your thoughts and prayers there.

Excuse me for the rather numerical and informative post. After tomorrow- I'll have some other kind of news to share. Yes, we learn the sex of the baby tomorrow! We're are very excited. Ryan thinks boy this time, and my guess is girl. We'll see who's right soon! Stay tuned!

restless dependence

I thought I would be blogging this post about our trip to Florida (which was awesome, by the way), but I have something pressing on my heart that I wanted to get out. It seems as if writing about things on my mind often really helps, not to mention that the little bits of feedback and the advice I get are priceless.

As I look towards the changes that face us in April with the arrival of a new baby into our lives, I have been feeling pretty anxious and apprehensive lately. I cannot stress how much I love Coranelle or how blessed we feel to have her in our lives. We love her spirited nature and who she is becoming. Yet, when I imagine taking care of her and a newborn, I panic. The girl CANNOT sit still- not ever. I am not talking about your typical energetic toddler. We saw plenty of those on our trip. Those toddlers fell asleep on a four hour plane ride. They'd sit in a stroller, shopping cart or wagon for at least 10 minutes without freaking out and throwing a fit. No, this is a different kind of restlessness and inability to relax. Holding her on our laps on the plane was an exhausting and almost impossible endeavor. If the fasten seat-belt sign came on and we had to keep her on our laps instead of standing between us and the seats in front of us, she would yell, wail, flail, wiggle and fight. We had all the essentials to keep her entertained- fun snacks, stickers, coloring books, toys, new books from the library, the aqua doodle, etc. Managing to get Coranelle to stay in one place for that long was enough to convince us that we will not be flying again... for a long time. We just spent a whole week at the beach and I never once laid on a towel and read a book. Actually, I never sat in a lawn chair. Not that I minded, we had a blast playing in the water and sand with Coranelle, I am just illustrating my point.

The way Coranelle manages to fight sleep is kind of astounding. She didn't nap well in Florida, despite all the sun, running and playing on the beach, and excitement. She was up by 6:15 most days, but didn't fall asleep until around 8:30. She's not really getting the recommended 11 hours a night of sleep that is needed at her age. It doesn't matter how early we put her to bed. It's typical for her to take 45 min to an hour to wind down and fall asleep. When she gets overtired, we seem to experience the dreaded night terrors, which we had two of this past week because she didn't sleep/nap and got overtired.

On top of her restless nature, I have been noticing more and more how much she depends on us to entertain her. I know this is my fault, but I am not sure how to force/teach her to play independently. We had a different routine and schedule on vacation, and that seemed to augment the issue. I could barely pour a cup of juice without her wanting me to hold her so she could watch. We have come to realize that me holding her all the time is not good during pregnancy (or ever at this age). It is taking it's toll on my back and neck. So, when I refuse to pick her up so I can take a few minutes to make a sandwich, cook, put clothes in the washer, type a quick e-mail, whatever... she freaks out and cries. Obviously, this is not going to work when baby #2 comes around. So, what do I do? How do I prepare her? What on earth is going to happen when I have to nurse an infant for 30-45 minutes 8 times a day?! I don't seem to be able to nurse within 10 minutes like many moms, so I am really worried about this. My mom said that when she nursed me, Stefan would just sit really close to her on the couch and watch. We have a problem there as my child literally cannot sit still! I am really quite concerned about this. We have lots and lots of toys, but she doesn't seem to want to play alone. I know she will change and grow up in the next few months, and I am hoping that she will grow out of her current neediness, but I don't know. I'd love some advice! She'll have to adjust to spending more time at home, playing on her own as we spend time nursing, waiting for the baby to nap, avoiding big crowds and the flu season for a while and I am concerned about that!

I've been hearing from a few moms recently who had their second kid this past month. It is almost upsetting to me to hear how easily their first child has adjusted, because I know Coranelle will not fall angelically into the role of being an older sister. I want to be able to find a sense of peace about this so that all of my worrying about what's to come doesn't stress out the little one inside of me! I fully believe that God won't give me more than I can handle. I know He'll give me the grace and strength to get through, and provide lots of people to help out and support me. Sometimes though, I feel as if Coranelle drains every last bit of me and I don't know how I'll properly care for two. So, I'd appreciate your prayers and advice immensely!

On a more positive note, the trip to Florida was a wonderful time to spend with Ryan, Coranelle, my mom and Steve. We loved it and I hope you enjoy a few of the pictures! Enjoy your thanksgiving week!

leaf piles

Playing with GPS this weekend!



17 weeks along.


I'm not actually going to write about leaf piles, I just drew a blank when thinking of a title and wrote the first thing I saw when I glanced outside into the rain/snow mix we have coming down on this chilly afternoon. I shouldn't be surprised that it is cold, it just seems as if we have had a gorgeous fall settle in this past month and I was getting used to spending hours outside everyday.
I don't really mind the change in weather- it is fun to get out some old sweaters and fleeces and feel like it could be an afternoon for hot chocolate. It seems about time to have a fire in our stove and hang out as a family reading.

Soon, we will be facing a stark (and welcome) contrast to snow, fires and hot chocolate, as we leave for Florida with mom and Steve. I am so excited to play in the sand, beach and pools with my little fish. She loves scooping sand and playing in the water and I cannot wait to do it in warm weather. Ryan has also been swamped with work and responsibility, so it will be wonderful to spend time together as a family! On that note, if anyone has suggestions for keeping my monkey of a child entertained for 3 1/2 hours on my lap during a flight, I'd LOVE to hear them! I am nervous about that part of the trip, but thrilled and anxiously awaiting everything else. I already have summer clothes packed in the suitcase and am currently looking at a stack of sand shovels and sunscreen that need to be tucked into bags too.

Here are a few updates on the last post: We have not had any more night terrors! I am not counting on them being over, but it has been a blessing to have a break from them. Now, every night before bed, we say a prayer and ask Jesus to keep Coranelle sleeping soundly and feeling safe. If I forget to say a prayer before bed, she'll say "A-mee"- which is her way of saying "amen" to remind that we still have something to do. She sits her little body quietly on my lap, with her hands folded, head against my chest, and listens until I say "amen" and she chimes in. No guarantee that the prayers stop the night terrors, but it was a fun habit to start and she is SO adorable when we pray that I had to paint you a little picture. Speaking of adorable, she just gets cuter all the time. I know I am biased, but it's allowed, so humor me. When we go to the rec center or church now, she happily runs in to play with the new toys... but always remembers to turn back and say, "Bye Mommy". When I return, she always runs to greet me and says good bye to everyone in the room and blows kisses. When I picked her up from her second successful trip to MOPs this morning (for a 2 1/2 hour period of time!), she was as happy as could be. (I know, because I picked her up and asked her how she was, and she said "happy.. happy") The ladies taking care of her said that she was a lot of fun and did really well. All the ladies at church know her by name now and get excited when she comes in and always make a point to tell me how much fun she is. (They probably say this to all the parents, but... it's true- she's getting to be SO fun!). I just love her so much!

Now, for all you moms out there growling at me because your kid is not sleeping, not eating, throwing tantrums, or whatever- don't hate me. I'm just focusing on the positives. We have tantrums- daily. We do. She gets frustrated that she cannot walk by herself in the grocery store or push the cart the whole time. She screams and howls at times when I try to put her in her car seat. She gets mad at me when I tell her she cannot stand on furniture and we have to put her in her crib for a time out. We deal with all that on a daily basis. But, what I love is that her little personality is coming out and she's learning how to express herself and it's so fun to see her becoming a little kid. She is such a blessing and I am so happy that I get to see every day. I missed her TONS this morning during MOPs and when my parents took her overnight on Friday for our date. I know it is great for her to spend time with other people, and great for us, but she is addicting!

On that note, we did get to go on a lovely date this past weekend and Coranelle had a sleepover with Grandmadele and GPS. We got to get coffee at Ozo, have a delicious dinner at the Med and enjoy Glacier ice cream and a movie. It was a much needed treat and wonderful to have some time to catch up with Ryan without a kid yelling, or wanting down or needing something. We need to do it more often! Coranelle did really well at her grandparents' house- except for not falling asleep until after 9pm, but she does that at home, so no complaints.
Here are a few pictures of our date.
Waiting for an hour at the Med. I didn't mind the wait at all because we could sit and chat and people watch!
We shared a latte at Ozo before dinner. My mom dropped me off to wait for Ryan to finish work on her way to take Coranelle to Longmont and I even had a few minutes to myself to journal! What a novelty!

My mind is drawing a blank for what else to report. But, before I forget, I have exhausted my list of books and I need some more ideas, hopefully before Florida. So, if you've read a great book lately, please share.

I hope you are all having a wonderful November!