First fur child and baby independence

First of all, let me talk a little bit about my first fur child, Brinkley. The whole reason we bought a house, is so we could have a dog. Just kidding...a little...

My husband and I both grew up with dogs and we knew we wanted them whenever we got a house. I've always been in love with huskies, so after a lot of research, we found our Brinkley. He was just 6 weeks old when we took him home. Looking back it is crazy with how little he used to be. He is now a whopping 55 lbs (20 lbs smaller than his little sister).

Today, we celebrate this sweet boy's 4th birthday. I can't believe he is already 4!

And of course we got them gifts. Brinkley got a 3ft long rope with knots, and Clover got a stuffed squirrel. (Had to get Clover something to be fair.)

Brinkley is just a few weeks old in these pictures. This is what the breeder took for us.

This was our first day home with him

His first birthday

We took them to see horses. Look how small Clover was on the left! She was only 6 months old in this picture.

This was after Elena's first Christmas. They love her!

Happy 4th birthday my boy!

Now, onto Elena's independence:

Just this past week, Elena does not want to lay down to get a diaper change or to get dressed. We have been doing changings standing up for the past couple of days, and I feel like I am becoming a pro at in now. But just this morning, as soon as diaper came off, she started peeing in the floor. I really couldn't help but laugh. I moved her to a different spot while my husband cleaned up the mess, and she starts peeing again. I know I shouldn't laugh, but it was hard! I feel like Elena may be pushing her boundaries now on what she can get away with. (How is she at this age already?) 

She is still the sweetest most loving baby I could ever ask for. She likes to give "hugs" and just lay there and snuggle with me and her toys.

I really thought she would be walking by now, not that I'm trying to rush. At 8 months, she was already getting into a standing position all by herself. After a month or so of walking while holding her hands, she finally started using her walker! Before, she would just let it roll out from under her.

I can't believe my baby is almost 1! Time is surely a thief!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Xoxo,

Amy

Labor Day weekend

It's always a tradition for us on Saturdays to go to Krispy Kreme and then on to Elena's swim lessons. Elena started her swim lessons back in June as a Diaper Dolphin. She completed her 8 week course and graduated to become a Flipper, so we have now been in that class.

Elena loves the water. We start off by washing our legs, arms, face, and hair with a watering can. We then blow bubbles from a bubble wand and then try to blow bubbles in the water. This gets the kids to learn to hold their breath under water. Most of the babies just eat the water, but they start to get the concept. We practicing moving our arms and kicking our legs while swimming and also going under! We give them a "1, 2, ready go" cue and they immediately know what to do by closing their mouths and eyes. I was so amazed at how quickly she picked it up!

This is her getting ready to go under 

And back out of the water! 

After swimming, we want back home for nursing and her morning nap. She usually sleeps a good 2-3 hours after swim. This past one was 2.5 hours. She has been a very good sleeper for as long as I can remember. On the weekends, we all get to sleep in. During the weekday we have to go get her up at 6:30, but on the weekends, she usually sleeps until 8 and she loves it.

After the nap, we ate lunch and went to walk around the mall and check out the sales. We got such a cute top from Baby Gap that is so cute and perfect for the fall. Mommy also got a new pair of jeans from Old Navy,

On Sunday, we had a wonderful pancake breakfast that my husband makes from scratch. He made us all little short stacks, including a small one for Elena. This is the first time she had pancakes and she loved it! I love that she is getting to eat what we eat now, makes it so much easier to not have to mash and prepare food.

 

Later that day, we went to the mall again to walk around because it is way too hot in Oklahoma to do much outside right now. We ran into one of my friends from high school and her husband and they ended up coming over for pizza that night. It was so good catching up and Elena likes seeing new faces as well!

Monday we decided to go outside before it got too hot. So when Elena woke up and we all ate, we went to the zoo first thing. We go to the zoo at least every other weekend since we are members. We didn't stay too long today because it got hot fast. After Elena had her morning and afternoon naps for the day, we decided to get our little splash pad out and play in that for a while. She is absolutely a water baby! We had such a fun weekend and I love my family so much! Oh, and Elena turned 10 months this past week! Time needs to slow down!

Have a great week everybody! Excuse the humid, hot mess of hair.

xoxo, Amy