2 Months & 2 Years

Wow, it has been busy around our house and I feel like we have a lot to catch up on so there may be a lot of new posts in the next couple of days. For now, I'll just talk about our recent check ups.
I'll start with Sadie. As you know Sadie just celebrated her 2nd birthday, so we went in for her check up and the doctor said she looks great. Sadie is 37 inches tall, 95th percentile for those of you who are interested (same height as big sister Lily was at age 2). She weighs 28 lbs. 6 oz. and that puts her in the 75th percentile. Sadie doesn't really enjoy seeing the doctor but she did great, until the nurse came in to give her a shot......the last one until she turns 5! There were tears but we made it and she was very excited to get a Cinderella sticker when it was all over.

And now for Mia. Mia turned 2 months old on Monday and also had her check up. She is a great baby, very laid back and a very good sleeper. We have started to notice a fussy time in the evenings especially after days when she has been around a lot of people....too much stimulation. She is smiling and cooing a lot and she laughed for the first time on Monday. She likes to play but tires easily and loves to just watch her sisters as long as they aren't right in her face. Ok, so her are her stats. Mia is 11 lbs 9 oz. (75th percentile) and she is 22 1/4 inches long (50th percentile). She did great at her appointment and only cried a short time when she got her shots.

This next picture has nothing to do with check ups but I love it. Matt and I wanted to give some of our family members a picture of all 3 girls together so I had my mom help me with a little photo shoot. The girls did great and Mia had her eyes open for most of the pictures. This one is just a favorite of mine.

We hope you had a great Christmas! Stay tuned for more about our Christmas celebrations...

Happy Birthday Sadie!

It is just after midnight on Dec. 19.....Sadie is 2 years old today! I should be in bed but I thought I'd take a minute to write about my Sadie. If you have been keeping up with our blog, you know that Sadie got glasses at the beginning of this month. She is doing really well with them and I think that she is noticing a difference. So what else is going on with Sadie? It seems like her vocabulary has really increased....she is talking so much and putting sentences together really well. She is able to add things to conversations at appropriate times. She still repeats a lot of what Lily says, but there are a lot of things that are completely Sadie. The toys that she loves to play with right now include her new baby pony Cheerilee, blocks, puzzles, stuffed animals, and she loves to read books. There are some really challenging days because Sadie loves to climb on things and get into things she knows she isn't supposed to get into. But no matter how frustrating she is, she seems to know exactly what to say to make me smile or laugh.
Sadie is sensative and caring, she is curious and likes to experience new things, she loves being a big sister to her "baby Mia" and adores her big sister Lily, and she still likes to cuddle. I love watching her dance like "Cillallella." In this last year she has grown and changed so much and while I don't want her to grow up too fast, I'm looking forward to seeing what comes next :)

We love you Sadie!

Happy 2nd Birthday!

Preschool Christmas Program

Lily was the cutest little lamb in her preschool Christmas program last night. It was a short little program and all the kids did a great job. The 3's class was all dressed up as animals and all they had to do was sing the songs. Some kids actually sang while others cried or just stood there very distracted. Lily seemed very distracted at times but she also sang. Here is a video of one of the songs they did. If you listen at the beginning of the video you can hear Sadie's voice as she discovers Lily for the first time during this 2nd to last song of the program :)

Birthday Celebrations Part 2

...Saturday morning we got up and started packing for our day trip to my parents house in Illinios to celebrate Sadie's birthday. The drive there went really well. Sadie started to get a little antsy near the end of the three hour drive but overall she did great....Sadie is our worst traveler :) Mia slept the whole trip and Lily pretty much entertained herself with her toys and just looking out the windows. My parents just moved into this house so when we got there, we had the tour and the girls found the toys. After lunch Grandma brought out a singing penguin that was the entertainment off and on all day long.

Mia didn't really know how to react to the penguin.

Sadie & Lily thought it was very cool.

Sadie opened some presents, she didn't open them all at once, just one at a time at different times throughout the day. It worked out well because when she opens them all at once it is hard for her to decide what to play with first.

Mia loved being at Grandpa & Grandma's house

Lily, Sadie, Grandma, Grandpa, & Daddy spent quite awhile decorating Christmas cookies. Lily did a great job but some of the sprinkles came out very fast and she ended up with piles of red and green in front of her.

Sadie had a hard time not sampling the cookies and ended up with very messy hands and face....evidence of a great time =)

Grandma had party hats for the girls and they actually wore them for a little while but then Sadie got a hold of them and ripped them into pieces.

After a great spaghetti dinner, we had another pink puppy cake.

When dessert was done we decided to give all 3 girls baths. Lily & Sadie loved playing with measuring cups in the tub. Mia didn't really like her bath and showed us that by pooping in it.....sorry Grandma! Soon after that it was time to go and we loaded up our 3 clean girls in the car to head home. The ride home went just as well as the ride there and although we were all tired the next day, I'm glad we went.

Birthday Celebrations Part 1

Friday night the Staal family got together at Grandma's to celebrate Sadie's birthday. We were also celebrating my birthday and Matt's sister's birthday but it really wasn't about us :) After a delicious dinner we let the kids play a little and then had Sadie open her gifts.

Sadie waiting for the fun to begin
She had no problem opening presents this year. She loved her legos and aquadoodle from her cousins (and aunts & uncles). Grandma got a big hug after Sadie opened her Snow White dress, a new book, and the fridge phonics. Sadie asked for a pink puppy cake this year, so this is cake #1 of 2. She thought it was cool that the puppy had glasses like her.

Singing Happy Birthday and blowing out the candles.....she needed a little help from daddy to blow out the candles.

Sadie had a great time at her party. She loves seeing her cousins, especially when there are presents and cake involved.

It was a little bit of a late night and we put all 3 girls to bed as soon as we got home because we were heading to another birthday celebration the next day...

Fun in the Snow

On Friday morning the girls were so excited to see snow on the ground. They asked all day to go out and play in it but I had to keep telling them that Mia was too little to go out and I couldn't just leave her inside by herself, as Lily suggested :) So, when Matt got home after work we bundled them up and let them play while Matt shoveled the driveway. Here are a couple pictures.

Lily loved her new shovel, but kept taking the snow from the yard and bringing it to the driveway....stinker :)

Sadie just liked being outside. She had a hard time walking in all her winter gear and fell a couple times but she still had a good time.

Just Like Mommy

Some of you may know that I had to get glasses when I was 2 years old. Because of this I have been watching my kids for the signs that they might need glasses too and a couple weeks ago I noticed some of those signs in Sadie. After taking her into the eye doctor we found out that she is far sighted, just like mommy and she needs glasses, just like mommy. Her glasses just came in today so I thought I'd post some pictures. I just hope she keeps them on :)

mommy with glasses (I think I'm 3 here)

1 Month Old

On Saturday Mia turned 1 month old. Mia is a great baby. She sleeps a lot and eats well. She is starting to have more time where she is awake now. She plays on her playmat and she likes to watch her sisters. Mia has been smiling more and more....she smiled for the first time on my birthday so that was a great present. She likes to have her nose booped and her neck kissed and she will smile to show you how much she likes it. Here are some pictures of our "baby Mia" as Sadie calls her.

All dressed up for our holiday card photo

Playing on the floor

Big smiles!

Catching up

I finally have a minute to sit down and catch you up on what has been happening in our lives. My parents recently moved into a new house that had a pretty cool swingset in the backyard. Since they weren't going to be using it, they decided to pass it on to the grandkids. Thankfully there has been some nice days so Lily and Sadie have been able to enjoy the gift.

This past weekend was a busy one for us. On Thanksgiving we got together with my dad's side of the family. Everyone was so excited to meet Mia. We had a great time catching up. Lily and Sadie loved playing with all my cousins' kids and were too excited to eat much while we were there. When we got home at about 8 pm they both sat down and had some cereal.....Lily had 5 bowls! The next day my mom and I did some shopping while Matt and the kids cleaned the house. Saturday morning we got together with Matt's dad's side of the family for brunch. Again everyone was excited to meet Mia.

Here is a little video Sadie and I made for Uncle Kurt, Aunt Laura, and Aunt Mary who we didn't get to see this weekend.

On Thanksgiving day we also put up our Christmas tree and stockings. Sadie and Lily helped to put up the tree and decorate it while watching the parade on tv. Mia slept most of the time which was very helpful as well.

Sadie helping daddy find the right branch to put up.

The finished product. There is one branch that has about 6 different ornaments on it.

Our stockings all made by my grandma.

Sadie Singing

Sadie has been singing a lot lately and I finally got her to do it when the camera was on :)

Pretty in Pink

This morning Sadie wanted to dress like Lily, in pink of course, and they thought Mia should wear pink too. My most comfortable outfit just happens to be pink too so we all matched today :)

Things have been going really well for us. Matt is back at work and we are trying to get back into a routine. Mia is a really good baby so far. She sleeps a lot but is starting to have some more awake time. She doesn't cry a lot, just when she needs to eat. Lily & Sadie have been adjusting pretty well to having Mia home. They both have their moments when they are naughtier or crabbier then usual but overall I think things are going smoothly. We have been sticking close to home and restricting visitors on the doctor's orders because of all the sickness going around, but if you are healthy and would like to meet Mia just give us a call and we can try to set something up :)

Thanks to all of you who have called to check up on me, offered help, or made a meal. It is all appreciated.

Fall Leaves

Lily has been asking to jump in the leaves since the first leaf fell from our tree this year, so this morning we decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and rake some leaves. It was even warm enough for Mia to go out for a short time. She only stayed awake for a minute but I think she had a great time. Lily and Sadie loved being outside! Lily helped with some of the raking and Sadie just ran through the leaves over and over. Here are some pictures from our morning.

Mia all bundled up in the stroller

Sadie wasn't too sure about laying in the leaves

Lily loved it!

Our 3 girls

Mia Catharine

Mia Catharine Staal was born on October 28, 2009 at 2:03 pm. She weighed 7 lbs. 7 oz. and was 19 in. long. She is our smallest baby and we have started calling her "Peanut." Mia is a very content baby and so far she is a great sleeper. We are really enjoying getting to know our new baby girl. Here are a bunch of pictures of our new addition.

Mia & Mommy

Mia & Daddy

Mia & big sister Lily

Mia & big sister Sadie

Sisters

Going home

Family of five

R2D2 Cake

Matt is turning 30 this year and I wanted to do something special for him. We always celebrate Matt's birthday on the Staal side with our nephew, Ethan, and since both Matt and Ethan are Star Wars fans, I decided to make an R2D2 cake. Both Matt and Ethan loved the cake, so I think it was a success.

Post Family Farm

On Saturday morning we ventured out, in between the rain showers, to get our pumpkins and have some fun at Post Family Farm in Hudsonville. It was a little wet and a little muddy but it ended up being a really nice time. The first thing we did was get pumpkin donuts. This was my favorite part of the morning because I have been thinking about these donuts for weeks now :) After our little treat, Lily and Sadie decided to try out the pumpkin train and they loved it. As you can see from Sadie's face in the picture, she had a great time.
We were a little unsure about the weather so we decided to get on the first hayride out to the corn maze and pumpkin patch. Both girls were pretty excited about the hayride.

Lily was very excited about the corn maze because she had just seen a Curious George episode about one on PBS. She was our leader through the maze and her instincts were pretty good. It took us a lot longer than the other groups to get through, but we had lot of fun watching Lily figure it out.

Playing in the corn.

Finally we made it through the maze and onto the pumpkin patch. Lily and Sadie searched around for the best pumpkins. Lily picked a really big one and Sadie picked a little one. Lily even found a tiny one, perfect for our new baby.

We got back to the parking lot just as some very dark clouds were moving in and made it to the van just as the rain started. The girls were sad to leave and they can't wait until next year so we can do it again.