8 months

So, Baby D is now 8 months.  Time passes much more quickly with the 2nd child.  I try to capture moments and film videos as often as possible, but you just don't have as much time with baby #2.  These monthly photo sessions are one thing I make time for. 
Our Delilah Grace is cross-crawling like a champ!  This lil' sucker is FAST!  She pulls herself up on everything and hauls butt in her walker!  I have a feeling next month's update will have some news about walking. ;)  She loves her sophie (giraffe shown in every photo), her lion rattle and Briar Rose (very small, bendy doll.)
She can utter a "mama" when she is sobbing and crawling towards me.  It is the saddest thing you ever did see.  But, sometimes my hands are soaking in dish water or putting a band aid on Khloe, or tending to the dog (who recently ripped out his dew claw)... and I just can't get to her fast enough. 
She spends the majority of her day playing with sissy in the play room.  And she is great at entertaining herself with toys.  The kid doesn't eat much baby food, but we try.  Its little toddler snacks (like cheese puffs) and breast milk for now. 
Lastly, D is a mamma's girl.  Big time.  Few, very few, people can hold her for very short periods of time before she is reaching for me and squirming out of their arms.  I am imprisoned by this baby.  But, I wouldn't have it any other way
Love you D.  Happy 8 month Day.

Breakfast with Santa

We had Breakfast with Santa at LOP in early December.  We went with the Rutherfords.  It was PACKED!!!  Got a pretty good photo eventhough Khloe didn't want to sit next to santa :)
And, we've been dressing our smallest elf in Christmas garb ever since December 1st! 

First Day of School

Oh boy.  Water works.  The week after Thanksgiving, Khloe started school.  Our little Khloe Bug, marched off to her classroom, and didn't even think twice about me leaving.  I stayed for the first hour, then told her, "I have to leave now" and she just said, "okay Mommy, I love you." And then I sat in the parking lot for the rest of the time.  I cried when I saw her sit down and share playdough with a kid next to her.  She has grown into a kind, fun, sweet little girl.  I am so proud of her.  She is growing by leaps and bounds with each new day.  She is so smart.  Here is her on the first day of school. xoxo

Give Thanks

We didn't do a very good job of taking photos this Thanksgiving.  But in the still of the morning, before Khloe and Daddy woke up, I got this shot.  Sweet D in her birthday suit.  Her first Thanksgiving.
God gave me a break when he gave me Delilah.  She is so easy and wonderful.  My little angel.  She just staring at me with those eyes, piercing into my soul.  Gosh, I love this kid.

7 Months!

We love you baby D!  7 months!!!  You are crawling now, and sitting up like a champ!  You looooove Mommy, and your new thing is "playing the drums" on anything and everything!  So cool!  You crack. me up.!  If you're in the Ergo, you are SUPER happy, cuz you get to hug Mom :)  Right now you have a weird rash around your mouth...maybe its because you put EVERYTHING in your mouth! (crayons, french fries, nightlights, khloes toys, grass, the dog's paws, etc.)  You are the bees knees baby, the raddest 7 month old in town.

Khloe is so funny, and does not like her photo taken these days.  She is ridiculously smart.  For example, she tells us "I need my rest" when she is tired.  haha.  She also throws out Spanish words all the time that I don't even know the meaning of.  And the kid has a memory like a steel trap, never forgets anything and will talk about stuff that happened a year and a half ago!  She helps us with Delilah all the time and picks out both their outfits everyday.  She still confuses "I" and "Me" and I hope she doesn't figure it out anytime soon...its too cute.  She is obsessed with washing her hands (gets that from Mommy).  She plays with me and tells me she is my "Big", I pretend to cry and tell her not to grow up too fast, and then she says, "okaaaay, I am your little" and waits for me to get super happy.  :) She is my best friend, we are glued at the hip, I love her.

Halloween

So, when your daughter plays dress up all day long, every day, then Halloween isn't all that different except for candy and the fact that everyone else is dressed up too!  We attended several events.  First, we hosted a Halloween themed play date at our house.  We painted leaves on fall trees and made pumpkin masks. 

 Next, a local elementary school (Cottage Hill) had a family fun night and we all went to watch hundreds of kids attempt to get candy from 6 classrooms. Can you say CROWDED??

Next stop was Bayside church in Granite Bay for trunk or treat with K's cousin Izzy.  There were a tron of fun activities for toddlers that did not involve candy...SCORE!

Halloween morning was the parade of costumes at another local Elementary School.  A tradition for Khloe and Mimi Nancy.

And finally, Trick-or-treating Halloween night at the Country Club.

As you can tell, KHLOE chooses Khloe's clothes!  And the kid has about 15 costumes, so she was a kitten, Little Miss Muffet, and a fairy :) Delilah was consistently, our Duck.

5 years ago...

15 years ago I met him.  13 years ago he let me call him mine.  5 years ago I married him.  Love that man more everyday.  My provider, my love, my moose, my man...

Summer Sum-Up

Since I am so far behind with these things, I figured I should sum up our summer. 
Welp, as you all know by now, we had Delilah in April, so the summer was mostly spent indoors or in the shade with a new born.  But, we had some fun adventures I thought I would share.
First off, when RyRy was on paternity leave and baby D was just 3 weeks old, we went on a family vacation with Ryan's parentrs and brother in Sea Ranch.  It was blissfully relaxing and a perfect way to welcome a new baby to the family.  Nancy and Joe rented a beautiful house with an ocean view.  We spent our days taking walks on the bluff trail, spying on newborn baby seals (literally got about 10 feet away), and juggling naps for 2 kids! (Wow, now we have 2 kids!)  We played board games, and hung out on the deck.  It was perfect.

 

Uncle Kyle

In June we went day camping with some friends (The Rakestraws and the Rutherfords) at Oregon Creek in Grass Valley, CA.  Had a great time fishing and exploring.  Here are all our girls.  Someone needs to have some boys!!!

Khloe, Delilah, Jade, Lillian, and Avva

In July my brother Jason came down from Washington for a visit.  He has a beautiful family and Khloe loves, LOVES her cousins Oliver and Libby.  In fact, ever since they came down here, Khloe tells me every night before falling asleep that she will dream of Oliver and libby and Lolliops...every night.  it is so cute.  Anyway, we had some quality family time, swam in Lake of the Pines, had lunch at the Alta Sierra Country Club, and checked out the new house (at that point, we were in escrow).  We hung out at Nancy and Joe's house, and watched the 4th of July fireworks at Lake of the Pines.  Most importantly, I got to hang with my brother.  Someone who makes me want to be more peaceful, more calm, more generous.  I love him.  Here are some pics from their visit:

Mid July we had a wedding to attend in Monterey, CA.  A beautiful, expensive wedding at the Plaza hotel in downtown Monterey.  Nancy and Joe rented a vacation house in Pacific Grove.  It was perfect for us.  Khloe had her own room.  We were across the street from the ocean, and went for a walk every single day.  Daddy showed Khloe how to hold hermet crabs, and we played in the sand.  It was a really nice trip.  Congrats Brent and Julia Conrad!  WooHoo!



Khloe's new thing: Open mouth, super animated, ham pose

In Late August we took the fam on a camping trip for the day :).  We went to Bullard's Bar, where our gang had built a water slide on the hill that launched you into the lake.  It was IN-SANE!  So much fun!  And baby D was so good!  She snoozed in the shade most of the day, while mommy and daddy actually got to live it up!  And Khloe Bug rode the jet ski with daddy and played in the sand.  We are seriously so lucky...the kiddos gave us a break that day. 

Finally, on Labor Day weekend, we got to go to a wedding in Santa Cruz with Ryan's Family.  Another wonderful trip filled with ritzy events, a gorgeous little vacation house, chasing waves with the munchkins, and most importantly...family.  I am so fortunate to be a part of this family!

Delilah Grace

Geesh, where does the time go?
Here we are with a 6 month old.  This age, by the way, is my FAV-OR-ITE!  It is all chewing on her feet, barely sitting up, rolling like crazy, laughing at the drop or a hat, infatuated with Mommy, trying some solid food, starting to sleep in her own bed, playing with toys, toothless grin goodness.  This is the age that makes you feel like you want more, heck a few more!  Good thing I have the will power and foresight to stay on birth control when my babies are 6-12 months...or else I would be poppin' these suckers out like crazy! :)

Delilah is a joy, just pure squishy, all-consuming joy. For the first 2 months she slept a minimum of 20 hours out of the day. She was allowing mom and dad to adjust, but to be honest, it concerned us a bit. She woke up some time in June and has been all smiles ever since! Smiled at 6 weeks, rolled at 3 months, tried applesauce at 4 months (and didn't like it much), started reaching for toys at 4 1/2 months, loves putting her hand in mommy's mouth when she is nursing (mommy likes it too), thinks her sister is the funniest thing EVER and the dog is not far behind, doesn't like it when Mommy's not around, and won't take a bottle...at all. She is my Delilah. Our baby D. Our Booshoo. Our wittlest one. We love her so much.
Photos:  2 weeks, 1 month, 2 months, 3 months, 4th of July (3 months), 5 months, and the last 3 are about a week ago (6 months).

These are the best days of our lives...

This morning I look across my bed.  In order: Me (hanging on to the edge, almost falling off), Delilah (who has just nursed and is making a bunch of grunting noises), Khloe (who came into our bed at 3am after a bad dream and is currently taking over the majority of the bed, completely sprawled out, hand on Daddy's face) and Ryan (almost falling off himself, and actually sleeping through all of this).  Tabasco is at my feet and sawing logs so loud it is a miracle any of us were sleeping.  I started laughing and made a mental note: we are so lucky, these are the best days of our lives.

Yesterday we were heart broken.  A house that we had been trying to buy for 6 months, fell through after we found too much damage that had to be repaired.  Ryan came in from work, told me I was the world's best wife, told me that he will start the house hunt again tomorrow, and that life goes on.  Again: These are the best days of our lives.

On Mother's Day Ryan spent the day being so incredibly affectionate.  We spent the afternoon at the main beach in Lake of the Pines and I got to take an hour long stroll through the water with my Mama Char, watching Khloe play in the sand along the way, and watching our husbands catch up and laugh, sitting up in the shade, caring for Delilah.  We then spent the evening at Ryan's parent's house, as we do every Sunday, and I watched as Nancy played with Khloe and kissed on Delilah...there is so much love there.  Again, I made that note, the best days.

Feeling oh so fortunate.
Hoping you take the time in your own life to appreciate how much love there is, all around you.
~Sappy Sab

Dear Khloe,

3 days ago you got your first ever stomach flu. As odd as it sounds, I am so grateful. We are 27 days away from the arrival of "sissy" (new baby) and over the past 3 days I have been able to see you for the Khloe that you are, no distractions. My primary focus has been to hold you and love you and nap with you, and squeeze you in between us in "MommyDaddy Bed" at night. Our sweet, adorable little angel. Man, we are so lucky.
Daddy heard you crying just for a second on Tuesday night, so he went in to check on you. Sure enough, you and your whole bed were covered in vomit. You stood there shaking...cold, scared, confussed. Ryan called for me and I immediately started crying. There is not a more helpless feeling than to see your sick, weak little baby, and not being able to do a thing about it.
I immediately got in the bathtub with you to clean you up, not caring or even thinking about the possibility of me getting sick at 36 weeks pregnant. It didn't matter. All I wanted was to take your fears and pain away. So there we sat in the tub, where I squeezed the sponge of warm water over your back over and over until you calmed down.
We were up all night. We went through 4 sets of sheets, 6 pairs of jammies, and all of our hot water from the numerous baths and showers. At 6am I started changing the sheets for the 4th time, and you looked at me and said, "Mommy, me really sorry me sick." It broke my heart. You could tell I was irritated. And you, being 2 and a half, didn't know it was from the exhaustion and worry...you thought I was mad at you. I am so sorry. The next 2 days I spent holding you and watching you sleep, never showing any irritation, just love. You are so beautiful. My angel. My gift. My reward for anything good I have ever done.
Thank you God for this reminder of what is important, for the clarity. And for forcing me to take time to focus souly on our Khloe before you give us our next gift, our next little blessing, our second baby girl.
Khloe, today you are healthy...just as sassy as ever, full of energy, full of life!
Thank you for being you, my dear. I hope God continues to give me these reminders from time to time.
Mom and Dad love you to the sky and back.

I forgot I was pregnant, just for a sec...

According to my new due date of April 12th, today I am 34 weeks pregnant.
Over the past couple of days we have finally been getting a winter around here! 3 days of rain, hail, wind, and a little dusting of snow! Hooray! Ryan, Khloe and I all LOVE winter! Winter, yes Winter, that is one of the names we are considering for our baby biscuit. Ryan takes some convincing with these unique baby names, but I think Winter August has a nice ring to it.
Anyhoo, I was checking the powder report for Heavenly Ski Resort today and for just a second thought about going snowboarding this weekend!!! HAHA! I completely forgot I was huge and pregnant! Jeez, I must be having a good day! :)
Also today one of my nearest and dearest friends asked me why I was particularly chipper this morning. When someone has to ask me why I am in a good mood (keep in mind I am regularly a very up-beat, positive person) then I know I am in the need for a major, more permanent attitude adjustment. This pregnancy has weighed a little more heavily on me than my first. So, to my sweet, patient, loving friends and family...thanks for hanging in there with me while I have been uncharacteristically negative and complain-y over these past few months. The weather has inspired me and I feel a change in the air...a more positive Momma Sab for the next 6 weeks, I promise! :)
Will take some photos this weekend up in the snow. Til then...

27 Weeks Pregnant

Dear our Biscuit Baby,

You have been putting Mommy through the ringer! I was really sick from week 6 to week 11, on the verge of throwing up the whole time. Then, I was tired all day every day from week 12 to week 16. At about 23 weeks, you made Mommy's blood pressure drop really, really low and I had to get a test done on my heart...thankfully, everything is okay. At about 25 weeks, the consistant stuffy nose started due to the constricted blood vessels in my nose. And now at 27 weeks, the heart burn has begun. Terrible, terrible heartburn that comes on every time I eat anything. So, you have made things a bit harder on me than your big sis did! But that's okay. Each little thing is a reminder of our greatest, newest blessing...you!

Thank you for hanging in there and bringing me so much joy! Can't wait to meet you.

~Mom