did anyone notice how I put Delilah in one of Elliots shirts(the sweet brown shirt with pink and red polkadots) and there is a pic of elliot as a baby right next to it on the blog...my heart...

Our little baby girl is 1

I cannot believe that a year has gone by. It feels like we just brought her home, though its impossible to imagine our world without her. I can remember when I had Elliot, people asking me all the time if I was "over the moon" and "it's hard to imagine life without her, right?" and I was thinking to myself...what? I remember all too clear how it was to sleep and do what I want when I want to do it and I am still trying to get to know this little baby that literally scares the shit out of me. Not that I didn't fall in love with her immediately, but I thought I would look at her and think to myself "it's you" Which I know the fact that Elliot was a girl, rocked my world. But I remember thinking, who are you? I don't know you and I have no idea how to do this. It was the longest most formative year of my life. That being said... When Sehra Delilah was born, I had a similar reaction when she was born because she also surprised me that she was a girl, not to mention her birth was stressful and I didn't get the ultra important bonding moments with her after she was born due to the fact that she was having trouble breathing and holding her vitals. BUT...once we got the ok to move out of the labor and delivery room and move into our recovery room, it was almost immediate that I recognized her (it probably took some of the horrible swelling to go down)and felt as though I knew her. I think it was because she reminded me so much of elliot even though they didn't look very much alike but there was something so familiar about her immediately. I suppose that I also wasn't in shock either:) Once we got her home, she was added into our life as though she was always there. Sure, it was hard, as it always is though the second time around it is so much easier because my life was already set up to not sleep and focus on the kids before myself. Delilah, Baby D, Sehra D, Boo Boo is just a sweet girl. She came out looking identical to her daddy. She still does, but she is changing and has some flavors of mommy in there. She has the biggest blue eyes with super long lashes and a smile that doesn't stop. She is almost as determined as Elliot and she will let you know if she is not happy, but in general she is just a sweet natured little girl that smiles and flirts with everyone. She is now walking - tentatively, but its now the main mode of transportation. She has been taking her time with it and been working on it for over a month but she is getting pretty good and even bending her knees now:) She is a great eater. She will pretty much eat whatever you put in front of her which is nice after Elliot, my little picky eater(who knew that could be genetic?) This time, I can honestly say, that this year flew by and I can't imagine life without her. I'm so sad that she is growing up so fast. Knowing that she is our last little munchkin, its hard to watch her baby time fade. She is my snuggly little baby that loves to love. We had a fabulous over the top one year birthday blow out complete with a bouncy house, face painting, grilling and a keg of beer:). It was definitely more for the older kids and the parents, as Delilah napped through a good portion of it, but it was the best party ever.

I have now moved her into her big girl carseat facing forward (i know, some say not until 2) but she is so much happier and I have the best seat in the house when I look in my rearview mirror and I see my two sweet baby girls behind me. Who knew? I never pictured myself having a daughter, nevermind 2, but it sure it sweet and I can't wait for all the girl fun to come. Thank you, Danny for my beautiful children, our love filled life, being the most amazing hands on dad, getting up with her (and Elliot) at 5 am and letting me sleep some more and most importantly for still being here when I'm clinically cu-razy! Thank you, Mom for all your help and the way you love my kids (all of them) Thank you, Dad for making sure to be here for their big days Thank you, Brooke Amys for being my place of comfort, sanity, and laughter Thank you, Ryan and Tk for being awesome and having kids at the same time as me:) Thank you, Running, relays and triathlon Thank you, life.

Old friends, new neighbors!

We are super lucky to have had our avl bffs move literally around the corner! Taylor and Elliot have grown up together since the womb. The amount if adorable pics we have if these two is too many to count. Brooke (Taylor's mom) and I sit in awe as we watch our little babies turn into little ladies. They are so smart and almost self sufficient - at least while they are playing:). They are such good girls and such wonderful big sisters. They are also in the same pre-k class this year which is very fun for them because like their mothers, they can't seem to talk and hang out enough. Love.

11 months old!

This little sweet chubby child is now officially 11 months old. She is getting so big weighing in at 19.5 lbs having gained 1.5 lbs in just the last month. She is eating pretty much what we eat. She charms everyone she sees by flashing her toothy grin and blowing a kiss (without the hand) to anyone who will pay attention. Unfortunately she is ringing in her 11 month milestone with an ear infection- 2nd one in a few months poor thing. Her crib is still in our room and we are still getting up one to two times a night...Uhg. The plan is to move her crib into Logan's room and they will share until next summer when Kyla goes to college. As soon as she is used to Logan's room, we will begin sleep training. She isn't walking yet. She gets around now doing her bear crawl on her hands and feet. She has started to let go of whatever she is holding onto and make a turn to take a step but her feet aren't quite ready. But she's close:). She is still only clearly saying mama. I'm pretty sure she says hi in a very sweet breathy voice. Just today she really sounded like she was trying to say Kyla. No dada yet or bye bye though she does wave. She is holding steady with her top 4 and bottom 2 teeth that she's had since about 6 months. I'm just waiting for the others to begin appearing as soon as we start sleep training:). I am hoping to throw an elaborate fall festival 1st bday party since it will be our last 1 year old bday:(. Bobbing for apples, face and pumpkin painting etc...
I just love my sweet Sehra Delilah. If its possible, I'll love her even more when she is sleeping thru the night!

Catch up time!

I have been a terrible blogger. I mean to do it, but there is just barely enough time in the day. I really do want to keep better track of the kids and all of their wonderfulness. It might be the only way I remember any of this:) We will start with Sehra D's monthly growth pictures... I believe we left off at 7 months.

8 MONTHS She is still not crawling. She is scooting around in what looks like an army crawl. It works and gets her places. She is still not a great sleeper. But she makes up for it in cuteness.

9 MONTHS she loves her bro and sisters and any other little kid that might be around. Her sweet baby cousin Charlotte came for a visit. She is still army crawling but fast. She pulls herself up on everything and just wants to stand. I can't believe Elliot was walking at this age. Thank goodness Delilah is taking her time. She is holding steady with the 6 teeth. Still not sleeping completely through the night. She doesn't have a real flow that we can count on. I know this is our fault because our days are not completely scheduled either. Some nights are better than others. We need to get her into her own room and out of ours.

10 MONTHS She is so fun. still no new teeth but she has had lots of colds and/or teething. She is now fulling crawling and pulling herself up on everything and cruising. She is standing alone for a few seconds and then sits herself down pretty well. She thinks she is super funny:) She blows kisses by making kiss noises which i find to be probably the sweetest thing i have ever seen. She is eating pretty much just solid foods now. She is a great eater. She isn't super excited about cooked veggies so most veggies are still in a puree. She loves chicken, blueberries, pasta, string cheese. She is also starting the obsession with trying to get upstairs...stressful. OMG...so as I'm writing about her wanting to get up the stairs Danny ran down to find her actually up on the second step working on the next one...oops. Let the games begin.

Strike a pose!

This is her new typical pose. Possibly influenced by her model big sis:)

Elliot's 1st day of Pre-K

She has grown in leaps and bounds in the half year since turning 4. She has become a sweet, articulate, still very funny and entertaining, great big sister helper! She surprises me almost daily with her very big girl-ness. She is a super swimmer now and just very self sufficient all the way around. I'm so proud of my little Elliot.