Noodle Nose and Doodle Bug

Hi!

Just thought I'd make a post in which I actually write a little, since I haven't done that in a while. If you're wondering which is which (speaking of the nicknames I used for my title), Harlie is Noodle Nose and Jordan is Doodle Bug, most days.

The girls are doing great, both growing at a rate that depresses me completely, but thrills me at the same time. Harlie is becoming her own little "woman" so quickly. I have to scold her quite often for "reading" too late, and she has the sweetest, cutest, smartest things to say all the time. She never stops talking (still), just like her mommy. It's like talking to an adult sometimes.

Today she reminded me that, "One time you took away my books because you were irritated with me." It's true, and it cracks me up that she knows the word irritated! She's been attending Sunday School, and I'm not sure how she does once she's in there, because I don't observe, but I believe she's doing pretty well. I'm proud of what a big girl she's becoming.

Jordan is hitting that sweet smiley happy stage, and we're loving it. Just today she was laughing at me for some goofy thing I was doing, which is great, because with me as a mom, it's pretty much just goofiness. She's definitely eating well, and it shows, but I absolutely love a fat baby. She's been sleeping through the night for almost a month now, and it has been so nice for us. She's still the best baby ever, and I could easily have ten more of her right now (okay maybe just five). She does NOT like the heat, however, so she's had a hard time falling asleep during nap times the past few days, with what we in Johnstown call a heatwave. She finally took a 4 hour nap today when I stripped her down to just her diaper and sat her in the living room with the fan blowing. Poor kiddo!

As for Mikey and me, we're doing well. He's finishing up the school year (still subbing) and we're hoping something opens up for next year, but we know it's not a guarantee. I'm still working an awful lot between my photography and the church, but I'm finding a balance with the home business and spending time with the kids, and still accomplishing my household "chores". I'm thinking having two kids isn't really any harder, it's just busier, and even more fulfilling. We've got a few vacations planned for the summer, and we're hoping to camp a little bit; family quality time is becoming more and more important to us.

Well, I'm off to relax a bit before bed. Have a great weekend - we'll be working a wedding on Saturday, spending time with family Sunday and Monday, and hopefully planting the garden at some point!

Harlie's favorite exhibit at the zoo - the man cleaning the tank
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Love those rolls!

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I swear she picked this outfit out herself, and she never stopped dancing in the skirt. She cried when she had to take it off.

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Best Buddies
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Too much reading makes you sleepy!

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My babies!

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A Happy Mother's Day

I'm heading to work at the church - no time to write much, but here are some Mother's Day photos for you all to enjoy:

Harlie after she fixed her own hair

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Harlie and Great-Grandma

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Pretending she's a puppy (she's panting)
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Jordan and Harlie with their Mimi

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Great-Grandma, Jordan, Mommy, Harlie, and Mimi

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Me with my sweet baby girls!

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My favorite picture of the day

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The cousins - Jordan, Zoey, and Harlie

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Harlie, Aunt Jenny, Zoey, Great-Grandma, Gigi, Jordan, Mommy

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Gigi and her three girls

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Isn't she beautiful??? By the way, at not quite 3 months, she's filling out 3-6 month clothes, another way she's just like her sister was!

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Harlie being dangled by Aunt Jenny

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Playing with Uncle Roger

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LOVE Zoey's smile!

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Hello!

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Jordan was bonding with Great-Grandma

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Harlie loves being dragged around on the rug at Gigi and Pappy's house. Cousin Tommy got stuck with the job this time!

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Zoey was very interested in poking and prodding at Jordan

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Love you guys; have a great day!

Jess

Easter Dress Maker

Hi all,

Just a little post to answer the question that seems to be on everyone's mind - where did the girls' Easter dresses come from? My cousin made them for us, actually, so we had the girls' names embroidered on each. She has a little business going, and she does a ton of other things as well, so check it out - www.critterbugandcricket.blogspot.com.

I'll try to post again soon with some more photos!

So Far Behind...

I'm so far behind on posts, but too exhausted to write. It's my turn to get up with the baby tonight, and I'm ready for bed. I'll have to write more later, but I'll caption the photos for you. Enjoy! Love you guys.

Jordan LOVES being on her tummy, much unlike her sister at that age

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Sweet Smiles!

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Jordan with Mommy and Daddy on her dedication day at church

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Harlie and Uncle Scotty looking for Easter Eggs

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Harlie giving cousin Zoey a kiss - doesn't Zoey look like a porcelain doll here?

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My best attempt to get all three grandkids together for a photo. So sorry, Gigi -we'll try again when they're not so exhausted/wound up!

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Zoey in her Easter dress

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Harlie tapping Zack on the head with her new hammer (don't worry - it's plastic and she knows how to be "very gentle")

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Jordan in her Easter dress

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My two girls. Yes, we trusted Harlie to hold Jordan on the steps, but Mike was ready to jump in if needed.

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So cute!

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Little Chubs

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Harlie at the church's Easter Egg Hunt

Settling In

Hi all!
We've settled in to our little life here, and I'm loving being home with the girls. I know it's only temporary, but I like the stay-at-home mom gig. I have just a few more weeks to enjoy it. Jordan is pretty much an angel, just like Harlie was at this age. She only cries when she's hungry, and we often have to wake her to eat so we don't hear much fussing. She wakes us twice at night and Mikey and I have been taking turns feeding her so neither of us is exhausted. Many of you have been asking how Harlie is adjusting, and I feel like I owe you more of an answer, but all I can say is she's doing fine. It's as if Jordan was always here. Harlie doesn't whine about things, and she's very helpful. She says Jordan is cute, and she checks on her a lot to make sure she's okay, or just to see what she's doing, but she's not obsessed with her either. Things haven't really changed much for her. We have been waking her up at night and in the early morning, I'm afraid, so her sleep patterns are changing a bit. I do feel badly about that, but once the baby starts sleeping through the night we may be able to go back. For right now, though, we're enforcing an earlier bedtime so she's not missing so many hours of sleep. And she has been requesting her nap a bit earlier the past few days, so at least she knows how to make things work. Thanks for reading if you got this far - I'll caption below the photos. Love you guys!

Her hair was spiked to match Daddy's

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The certainly are beautiful, aren't they???

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This is what happens when you give Harlie a bowl full of strawberries, blackberries, and raspberries. She ate the whole bowl, which was an ENTIRE bag of frozen fruit.

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Dressing up like a fairy

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Jordan Brianne

Hi there! I don't have all of the photos I want to share with you ready, so I'll just post a few quick ones to appease those of you who are complaining! Mom is coming over this morning, and I'm hoping with her help I can get myself and my things in order enough to be ready to do some more photographing.

For those of you who don't know the exact statistics:

Jordan Brianne was born Tuesday, February 16, 2010 at 7:11 PM.

7 lbs 2 oz, 19 inches

We had a long day of decent labor, though sometimes painful, and we had a few issues with the epidural, but it worked out fine. I just wanted to scare Mike! Delivery took longer than it had with Harlie - about an hour and a half of pushing as opposed to the half hour with Har - but Jordan was bigger and came face up, which I hear has a lot to do with the difficulty pushing. Anyway, I'd still do it again in a heartbeat just to keep my precious girls.