18 months and Baby E Update

Dear Irelyn, Sometimes 18 months sounds little to me and sometimes it sounds too old.  But, you are definitely turning into a sweet little lady and not so much a baby anymore.  Your personality has really come out now and I feel like I know you a lot better than ever before if that makes sense.  You are smart and understand so much.  I can see you learning everyday.  Your vocabulary increases everyday.  You are such a chatterbox.  I had started making a list a little over a month ago of the words you say.  There is no way I could list them all now there are too many!  You call dogs "woof woofs" and cats "meows" which everyone finds very cute.  You have started saying phrases like "I missed you" and "see ya later".  You repeat more than ever before and Mama and Daddy need to be more careful.  The other day Mama told Bella to "shut up" and you repeated that 3 times.  Uh oh.  You always ask "where's daddy?" or "where's Bella?" or "where's mama?" whenever we are not all together.  And everything normally seems to come in 3s.  If you give Mama a kiss, Daddy and Bella get one too.  If you are pointing out your knees.  You point to all 3 of our knees as well.  You even try to take Bella's socks off after you have taken all ours off even though she doesn't have any.
I gave you a pillow for your bed for the first time about 3 weeks ago and you don't move around nearly so much anymore, you must think its comfy.  You sleep typically from 8-7 these days.  Bedtime routine consists of cuddling with mom in your room while we say prayers.  Then you lay down and talk to yourself or whoever you talk to for awhile and go to sleep shortly after.  You wake up in the morning and start saying "Mama" right away.  It makes me very happy and getting out of bed easier.  You are always super happy in the morning time and it is hard to leave you on the days we go to work.
You are not quite as into paging through book after book anymore.  But, you will now allow a whole book to be read to you rather than just looking at pictures.  Your current favorites are The Gingerbread Boy, God Gave, and Bear Snores On. We read them over and over.  I still have no idea how you choose these.
You absolutely melt my heart when you give me hugs or kisses when I haven't asked for them.  You also will climb up behind me on the couch and play with my hair.  You are normally gentle and do a great job.  I hope this continues for many years.  Daddy has never quite figured out how to play with hair the way it feels really good. Must be a girl thing.
You have your moments where you melt down, but atleast these days I know why and it's normally simply that you are not getting your way.  You also have somehow got in a habit of pooping in the tub, but atleast you don't pick it up and hand it to me anymore :). 
I tried to plan a fun day today for us.  The weather was supposed to be much better than it is (cloudy, rainy, and cold).  I thought things would go well today.  You slept good, woke up happy, and Mama was having a good hair day!  We went to take your 18 month pictures and a family picture (probably the last one as our little family of 3 as we know it).  We planned to do it outside and still attempted despite the weather.  You were shy, clingy and uncooperative.  The photographer, Jaimie, informed us that 18 months to 3 years is difficult to get kids to take pictures.  Great. I think we may have gotten a few and if not that's okay too. 
You were fine after that was over and me, you, Grandma Trinie, and Aunt Rachel went to play at the Children's Museum and out to lunch.

We went home and took a close to 3 hour nap then we gave Daddy and Grandpa a ride to Oktoberfest and me, you, and Grandma went to McDonald's to play in the play place.  We had never actually been to the one right by our house until tonight.  You had a good time!
I love you so much sweetie!  Don't grow up too fast, okay?
Love,
Mama
P.S. We will go for your doctor check up next week.

Dear Baby E,
You have now hit 16 weeks in Mommy's belly.  I think you have really grown these past couple of weeks and I'm pretty certain I have started feeling you move!  It is an amazing feeling.  You have finally decided to start letting Mommy eat a little more of what she wants.  Thank you for that.  We find out if we need to paint your room a different color or leave it pink in exactly 2 weeks and we can't wait!  Daddy told me a few days ago that your sex may determine how many kids we have.  Doesn't he know yet that Mommy will probably actually decide that ;)?  Mommy, Daddy, and Irelyn all love you very much!
Love,
Mommy

A few must haves

Once I found out I was pregnant for the second time there were a couple things I knew I needed (okay maybe wanted) for myself! (and in a way for the babies)

A new bed. Check.  Our old bed wasn't that bad, but it wasn't that great.  I really wanted a new one before I got to the big, uncomfortable stage.  I hadn't ever mentioned wanting a new bed and when I did tell Joe one day I was very surprised he was so willing (he's a little stingy).  I love the new bed.  It is pretty tall (up to my hip) so I think towards the end of the pregnancy that might be a challenge to get in and out of, but its very comfortable.  We went back and forth on queen vs. king and I am SOOO glad we went with a king.  We aren't really cuddly sleepers and having all the room is nice.  Plus I expect to have atleast 1 or 2 kids in there at some point so it will be great for that!

A rocker recliner.  When we bought the bed I was hoping to purchase this at the same time, but it hasn't happened yet.  We don't know how to arrange our living room or what pieces to get rid of to fit it upstairs where I want it.  Our couch has seen better days.  Our sofa goes with the couch and is in good condition.  Do we keep the sofa, get rid of the couch and get 2 recliners?  We are still deciding, but hopefully I get my recliner soon!  I really wished I had had one when Irelyn was tiny and I spent hours and hours feeding her and getting her to sleep.  Oops, now I made myself nervous.  Well anyway, I look forward to having one by the time baby comes!

I also want our main living area painted.  This is something I also did not know Joe would be so willing to do.  We painted it when we moved in and it was never really what we thought it would be or what we had wanted, but no one ever said anything.   Its been 2 years so I brought it up.  Joe agreed to paint it and his mom is more than willing to help.  Although having Joe agree to do something and actually following through with it are 2 completely different things!  So I decided I am going to plan a girls weekend with my Iley Pie and my mom and anyone else who would like to come so Joe can paint.  Hopefully end of October or early November.  Right now I am thinking an indoor waterpark in the Dells.  Maybe Great Wolf?  Any suggestions are more than welcome!

Irelyn turns 18 months on Wednesday.  Check back for another post then!

And in the words of my little girl ~Nigh Night

New Room- Advice Please!

Everyday at some point I seem to worry about what to do about moving Irelyn to her new room and when to do it.  For those who don't know, we own a split level home.  Our bedroom and 1 other room is upstairs and there are 2 more bedrooms downstairs.  I have already began preparing a room for Irelyn downstairs, but I DON'T want to move her down there.  It feels too far away.  I'm sure some day she will love being far away from mom and dad, but she's still so little.  I have read a few places to make all big moves and changes well before a new baby arrives so the older child does not resent the baby for making them move or change.  I have gone between moving her a couple months before due date or keeping her in her room until after and keeping the baby in our room for awhile or even having them share a room.  But, lately I have been thinking she needs to move and it should happen before delivery day.  If I really had my way I would buy a new home- a ranch with a master bedroom on one end and other rooms on the other end, white trim, open floor plan and atleast a partially finished basement.  But who's being picky?

The other problem is that I don't really want to buy another crib, but I think moving into a new room and a big girl bed is too much at once.  Especially because we would have to be running downstairs and putting her back every time she climbed out of the bed. 
So...Is it inevitable I will need another crib??  Irelyn will be almost exactly 2 when the new baby arrives.  Do I move her downstairs??  When do I move her??
I'm going to try not to worry about it too much until I atleast know what the sex of the baby is.

Her new room is not finished, but here are some sneak peeks :)...