Miss Harps is 3 months

Harper is now 3 months old and growing like a weed!  She is such a fun baby and I just cant imagine life without her.  There is a constant smile on her face and she just LOVES life :)

*Harper is now wearing size 3-6 months clothes. Some 0-3 month outfits still fit her but they are getting snug hehe.
*She is now wearing size 2 diapers.  Kinsey is still in size 3 LOL!
*tummy time is not as much as a struggle anymore.. she used to HATE it and scream as soon as I put her on her belly.  Now she can tolerate it for a few minutes before I get yelled at ;)
*Bedtime is between 8-830 and for quite a few nights now she has slept all the way through until I wake her up at 715 to feed her before I go to school.  I hope she keeps this up :) (we might even have to make bedtime earlier..)
*She LOVES to lay on her back and swat at toys and grab anything close to her
*Harper takes 4 naps a day and we are on a feed/wake/sleep cycle.  I totally recommend this for any new moms.. it really does help them sleep better at night :) Her naps range from 1.5 to 2 hours long, depending on what nap it is.
*She must be in the room where all the action is..she is very observant and loves to watch people.
*She eats every 3-4 hours
*Harper absolutely adores her sister.  Kinsey is better at soothing her then I am sometimes, its amazing! She loves to sit and just watch her sister play and whenever Kinsey talks to her she gets THE biggest smile on her face. Kinsey also adores her sister and if we go anywhere without her she is constantly asking "where Harper??"

We go back to the dr in a month for her 4 month Well Child Check and I'm anxious to see how much she weighs and how tall she is.  She seems to me much longer than Kinsey was..

She loves her bumbo

Her hands are 95% of the time in this position! I love it :)

this pic wont upload in the correct position.. but I LOVE their expressions haha

smiles :)

Big GIRL

haha Kinsey was getting mad that I wasnt taking pic of her.. so when I pointed the camera at her, this is what she did LOL

Being a Mommy comes first.

Just a quick update on ME :)  I am loving life as a mommy of two and staying so busy.  Schools is going amazing and I couldnt be happier!!  I decided to just focus on Chemistry this semester since Harper was only 2 weeks when the semester started and I knew my life was going to be quite an adjustment.  Well I am getting an A in the class so far and we are more than half way done :)  My professor is probably one of the best I have ever had and I know he is there to help me succeed.  If anyone has to take Chem at Weber State I HIGHLY recommend Dr. Spencer Seager!! 
I have a set schedule down for both girls and I now have about an hour when their naps overlap to do what I want (usually clean or do homework.. LAME i know lol)  Kinsey is adjusting to life with her sister so well and I rarely have to deal with jealousy issues which is awesome!  The only time she show signs of jealousy is when I sit down to nurse Harper.. but usually I can talk her into getting a few book and she will sit next to me and we read together.  MAJOR multi-tasking :) haha
Now for my running habit... This makes me so sad to admit but it is whats best for my Miss Harps. I have had to dramatically decrease my running because I was training so much and burning so many calories that I started to not "produce" enough milk for Harper.  Running is so good for you and burns so many calories but unfortunately between running, chasing a toddler, and nursing, I was burning TOO many calories.  I lost 4 lbs in 10 days!!! Nursing alone burns around 300 calories a day, plus I am very active with Kinsey so all that put together was just too much.  I was/am eating constantly to keep my energy up so I know I did my best in that department.  I started to notice Harper wasnt getting quite enough because she would still want more and was crying to be fed about every 1.5-2 hours.  At her age she should be able to go 3-4 hours in between feedings.  So I took a full week off from the gym and just ate and drank water until it was coming out my nose!! Now everything is perfect and Harper is much happier :)  I am still going to run and keep up those habits, but I have set a goal to run 7 miles a week.  I chose 7 because that means I can do 3 miles twice a week (3 miles is fun, 4 is just too many, and 2 isnt enough) and a mile for fun another day in the week... and also because 7 is my lucky number haha.  This also means that I wont be doing the Salt Lake Half marathon in April like I wanted to.. and this is the SADDEST part for me :'(  I was so looking forward to it and couldnt wait!!! But being a mommy comes first and has top priority to me so I will be running the Salt Lake Half April 2013!

Thank you just isnt enough..

This post is going to be totally different from what i normal blog about: me, the girls, and celebrations.  It is going to be all about my hubby!!! I have gotten so busy with "life" and feel so guilty that I have neglected to brag about how wonderful he is!  This April will mark the 6th year we have been together.. crazy to think I was only 16 when we started dating.. We have def had our rough and tough times but we have also had very great times together :) We havent done things the easy way, EVER, but I think thats what has made us grow so close together and become such a strong couple.  Going through tough times with the one you love is bound to make you love them even more!

I dont tell him nearly enough how much I appreciate all he does for me and the family.  There is just not enough time in the day even if i was to tell him every min or every second how much i am thankful and how much i love him.  He goes to school full time, works well over 40 hours each week and still comes home to help me with the girls and housework.  I am just amazed at how well he has done in his job and know its because he is such a great man and hard worker.  He is only 24 years old and has his own corporate T-Mobile store, and is supporting me and the two girls. Plus he owns his own home and pays 2 car payments each month.  How freaking amazing is that?! I dont know what I would do without him.. At times I know he is stressed to the max because he has a lot of pressure being the only income and when I offer to go back to work his response is always the same.. he wants me to stay home and raise our girls and focus on school. he knows school does not come easy for me and that my major is very time consuming and supports me in any way that he can. 

I love you so much Brandon and words cant even describe how thankful I am for you and all you do for us :) The past 6 years have been amazing and I cant wait to see how far we come and achieve in the next 6 years!

Look who's TWO!

Its official... I have a 2 year old!! WOWZA! It seems like Kinsey should still be crawling around and eating baby food :( Her birthday this year was so much fun to plan because I knew she would love it!  We went the the Sesame Street theme and focused more on Elmo since he is her favorite. 
The morning of her party she woke up to balloons EVERYWHERE!! Brandon and I stayed up late the night before filling tons with helium and blowing them up as well.  Her face was priceless and made it all worth it :).  I also cooked her favorite breakfast, eggs, bacon, and pancakes! YUM YUM!
We kept her party simple this year with just close family, but geez louise my house was still packed full! Kinsey has so many family members that love and spoil her.  At her party we served some of her favorite afternoon snacks, they were all kinda random but I didnt have any left overs so they all must have been good ;).  We had little smokies, 7 layer dip, fruit with the marshmallow and cream cheese dip, popcorn, and some of her favorite candies. Her cake this year was AMAZING!! I am so glad I paid someone to make her cake haha If you ever need someone to make a great themed cake that also tastes yummy I highly recommend this girl.  You can check out some of her work here and here.  Kinsey was a spoiled little girl and had tons of fun at her party! Thanks to all of you who came out to celebrate with us :)

Grandma and Grandpa Sullivan got her this dress and if I could I would have her wear it every day!! She loves wearing it and I love seeing her in it!

So happy she FINALLY got the Elmo from mom and dad.. she had wanted it since Christmas!

So this was one of those $1 toys at Target and I thought it was a good idea when I saw it... but I am kinda regretting my decision lol she LOVES to play it all day!!!!!

4 generations :)

I am THE luckiest wife and mommy in the world!! I love my family :)

On the actual day of Kinseys birthday we decided to take her to the Living Planet Aquarium since she loves water and fish!  She had such a great time and didnt want to ever leave lol.  When we first got there I whipped out my camera to start taking pics and guess what... my freaking batteries were DEAD!!! Just my luck.. so we went to the little gift shop they have to get some batteries and they only sold AAA and my camera takes AA.  Brandon, being the amazing husband he is, decided to run to a near gas station to get some and the first one he went to was completely out of batteries so he had to walk further to another one and finally got some LOL! What a man! Her favorite station, by far, was the sting ray pool.  I dont think she liked the sting rays as much as she loved playing in the water ha! After dinner we took her to Texas Road House.  I wanted someplace fun and somewhere I knew they would make a deal out of her birthday :) They of course put her on the saddle and gave her a big "yeeehaww!!" :)

playing with the sting rays..

what a life :)

I LOVE her so dang much!!

So she got an otter pop when we left the aquarium and of course dad picked the bright red one that would have stained her shirt pretty good.. so he made a nice bib out of a napkin LOL It actually worked quite well and she only got a little bit on her sleeve!

She did NOT want to leave the aquarium..

YEEE HAW!!

2 months, and 2 years!

Wow my girls are growing up so fast right before my eyes!  I love them to pieces and I KNOW I just have to be the luckiest mom ever to have these 2 munchkins in my life.  They are healthy, happy, smart, and just perfect.
I scheduled their appointments back to back since their dr is CLEAR out in Pleasant View and they needed to be seen around the same time anyways...

Harper is doing so well! Here are her stats:

Height: 22 inches (25%)
Weight: 10.3 lbs (25%)
Head circumference: 36 cm (3%)
She is a well rounded girl with a tiny small head :) The MA was laughing because her 36 cm head is barley touching the line so technically she is not on the charts but since it was touching she said she is in the 3rd percentile haha
*She is now awake longer during the day and I am loving it! She is such a chill baby and doesnt require a lot of attention.  She just likes to lay and watch her sister play or watch the family be goof balls that we are lol
*Her middle of the night feeding is more of a chit chat session so I have a feeling we will be getting rid of that feeding here in the next few weeks.  She will nurse for about 5 min on one side then just sit and talk and smile at me and wont eat any more!
*Harper is wearing size 0-3 month clothes and size 1 diapers.
*Her toothless smile is THE cutest thing ever and it melts my heart every time she does it!  Her whole face just lights up :)
*Kinsey has a way with calming her down and it makes me so happy! She can get to be one onry girl and as soon as her big sis comes to see her she smiles and it happy again lol

Kinsey is growing into a WOMAN! She is 2 going on 15 lol

Height: 33.25 inches (40%)
Weight: 22.9 lbs (5%)
Head circumference: 46.5 cm (25%)
Kinsey is tall (well kinda lol) and skinny! She will be the model of the family for sure! :)
*She likes to be independent and is getting quite good at doing things on her own.  We are working on not getting so angry when she cant get something the first time.. but its rough when you cant accomplish something you want!
*DIVA is this girls middle name. Holy Cow! She is a champ at throwing "drama" tantrums to try to get her way.
*She imitates just about every word you ask her to say or say to her.  Brandon and I have really learned to watch what we say around her now lol
*Kinsey loves to eat! Im surprised with as much as this girl eats that she isnt higher in the percentile for her weight.  Its very rare for her to not have something in her hand to eat.
*Bedtime is between 8-830pm and she will sleep until about 730 or 8am.
*When tucking her in at night I HAVE to tuck in Elmo, Grover, and her bebe as well or else she will NOT lay down ha! Its a good thing she is sleeping in a twin bed now so she has room for all those "extras" :)

I LOVE being a mommy to these two little girls!!!!

My new hobby

Since I am now 22 years OLD I decided I needed to get a new hobby since I dont really have any others besides being a mommy to 2 perfect lil girls. Well my new hobby is something that I have always HATED doing.. crazy?! just a little bit.. I have picked up on the whole running thing! I dont know if its because I always hated running days in gym class because they made me get a sweaty and gross for the rest of the day or if its because I have never been good at it.  Either way I LOVE it now! I have started the Hal Higdon training program and plan to run my very first half marathon in April.  Again, I am just a little crazy but I am bound and determined to do this and do it for ME! So far it is going great but I am only in my second week HA HA!  I ran my first 3 straight miles last week and felt amazing afterwards... NOT! Every inch of my legs hurt but I know it will just get harder.. I am looking forward to the day when I can say "honey Im going for a quick run" and bust out doing 10 miles around my neighborhood :). That day is far away but I WILL get there!! Thats a promise :) 
I have really been doing some soul searching because I have been in quite a "funk" lately.  I wasnt enjoying things I used to and just basically felt like a machine everyday.  I am so young still and should NOT feel that way.  I should be living life to the fullest and making the BEST out of each day.  I am so lucky to be able to enjoy my girls 24/7 and focus on school without having to work.  But for some reason I just havent felt "complete".  So I have made myself a promise to do something I enjoy doing by myself for at least 1 hour a day.  Either working out, taking a very long bath, watching my favorite movie, or just going for a drive and wondering around a store.  I mentally need this time to myself and so far it is fixing what I feel like I have been missing. My house is not near as clean as I would like it to be, I am NEVER going to be caught up on laundry again, and not everything gets done in the day that I would like to get done but gues what, I DONT CARE!  There is never enough time in the day and before I would have a clean house and caught up on everything but then there was never any time left over for ME.  So I know its a little late but my New Years resolution is to run my heart out (because I really do enjoy it), and spend more time on ME.  Sound selfish? I think not! haha

boo hoo.. im 22!

Well I am now 22 years old as of January 28th.  This was the birthday when reality hit that birthdays are not going to be the same as when I was a kid.  I used to LOVE my birthday but now it is just another day (kinda lol).  I woke up the morning of my birthday to a VERY onry 2 year old who didnt sleep that night and who was not feeling well at all.. :( I tried to take it and make the best of my morning because Brandon even made me breakfast before he went to work and there was flowers with multiple chocolate bars on the table as well! After breakfast I rushed to get myself and the girls ready to meet my mom for our manicures and pedicures.  They were much needed and I had so much fun just hanging out with my mom :) I even went wild and had them paint my finger nails and toe nails BRIGHT blue!  why not?! lol Then for the rest of the day it was just the girls and I hanging out at home relaxing. 
Brandon was supposed to get off work at 3 so he had time to get home (he works clear out West Valley now... UGH), get dressed and ready and help me get the girls ready so we could make it to our dinner reservations by 6.  Well.... he didnt leave work until 4 so he didnt get home until 10 to 5 and we needed to leave by 5 to make it on time.  So instead of rushing (which I had NO energy for) and getting ready to make it in time, I had an attitude and called everything off! I was so mad and quite onry so instead of making the best of the situation I threw a fit haha.  I refused to get ready and went to the store to buy stuff to make for dinner.  Then I came home trying to forget it was even my birthday and cooked dinner for my family.  Which Brandon didnt even eat and I didnt eat either because I was so onry and my attitude was in full swing lol So Kinsey enjoyed what I spent time cooking.  After I put the girls to bed I went downstairs to pout some more and watched a movie by myself haha! (total PITY PARTY!) My brother Colton did drive clear to my house to come visit me and my awesome neighbors had me come to the door and threw confetti all over me so it wasnt a total waste of a night ;) 
I could have had a great night and just accepted the fact we were going to be late to dinner or gone somewhere else but I let my stupid attitude interfere and ruin my night.. .I REALLY need to learn to let that go... one day maybe Ill mature LOL!

K enough of my pity self and onto better things! Sunday my mom and Rob made me yummy lasagna for lunch and even some DElicious lemon cupcakes.  My mom always spoils me :)  I had a great day just hanging out with my family. 

Overall I had a good birthday except for my attitude issues... I just had high expectations and that was my first problem lol.  Next year will be better!!!! :)