Easter 2014

Hopefully we will get one with all four of us soon!

Another fun Easter for the Von Rosen family.  Jack left carrots and lettuce out for the Easter bunny and loved hunting for his basket in the morning.  This year Mr. Bunny left it in the play closet.  Mikayla's first Easter was a hit, too. She mostly loved watching her brother run around the house looking for his basket.  She watches his every move.  We were able to keep the tradition of going to see the Vinci's, which is always fun.  Where is the time going?  We hope everyone had a happy Easter!

Becoming an annual tradition!

Found it! Silly rabbit!

Yummy!

Octonauts! Jack's favorite!

Mikayla's gift from the Easter bunny

"Sharing"

Got it!

Months 5 & 6

Our dearest Mikayla, these past few months have been so crazy and fun.  You are quite the adventurous and funny little girl.  At 5 months you were rolling everywhere and LOVE being around your brother.  You started eating solids at 5 months and it cracks your Dad and I up because you and your brother are so opposite!  When I had all the time in the world, I made your brother tons of homemade purees which he refused to eat.  He just loved the Gerber food.  However, you love anything and everything I make for you and refuse to eat the Gerber food!  I am so happy that you like the homemade stuff because I love making delicious and nutritious for my babies.  Feeding you can be quite a challenge because you are so nosy and busy all the time.

You just absolutely adore your brother and, of course, Dixie.  You have such a fun, curious and intense little personality!

6 MONTHS!!

You are such a happy little girl.  You love to eat and for the most part, you love to sleep.  We can put you down in your crib and you play with your toys in there and then eventually put yourself to sleep.  However, you are a climber already.  You are quite the moving machine!  You army crawl (quite emphatically, I might add) everywhere, including your crib.  In the middle of the night, you spot that baby monitor and we swear you know that we are watching you.  You smile and laugh right into it and then you grab it.  I think you have figured out that if and when you grab it, we will come in. You are very clever...we are in trouble! You are getting better at sitting up all by yourself and you absolutely love being held all the time.  You love the outdoors and people watching, just like your brother.

You are quite adventurous in the culinary world.  You pretty much eat anything and everything we offer you.  You have had butternut squash, sweet potatoes, apples, pears, zucchini, bananas, pears, avocado, pears, yams, carrots, mango, and spinach.

You talk to yourself and others all day long.  No real words, but lots and lots of babbling and repeating sighs and noises we make.  We feel so fortunate that God blessed us with you, Mikayla. You have brought so much joy into our family.  We love you to the moon and back and we can't wait to watch your grow!

Here are the off-the-chart stats for your growth and development at 6 months:

WEIGHT: 18 pounds 7 ounces (71st percentile)

LENGTH: 27.5 inches (91st percentile!! Tall girl!!)

HEAD CIRCUMFERENCE: 99th percentile (just like your brother, baby big head)

We love our big, healthy, chunky-monkey girl!!!

4 Months!

February 14, 2014

Miss Mikayla Marie, you are now officially 4 months old and here are your stats:

LENGTH: 25.5 inches (83.5%)

WEIGHT: 15 lbs 8 ounces (71.2%)

HEAD: 45 cm (99.9% following in your brother's footsteps!)

You are a VERY healthy, active, and happy baby.  You desperately want to be big enough to play with your brother.  He is someone you absolutely adore and he is, well, warming up to you.  He tells us all the time that you are too little for him to play with, but he loves the fact that you love to watch him, so now he feels he always has a captive audience.  Dr. Im predicts you will walk early because when we hold you up, you love to put one foot in front of the other and "walk".

I had to go back to work part-time last month and it was so hard to leave you.  But on the positive side, you get to spend lots of time with your Nana, Papa, Aunt, and Daddy.  You are such a happy and smiley girl.  All anyone has to do is smile and talk to you and you laugh and grin ear-to-ear.  There is only one thing that makes you truly angry and boy, do you get angry!  When you are hungry, we better have that bottle ready for you pronto!  You get so mad you hit me and pull my hair...hard. 

You were a pretty good sleeper up until a few weeks ago.  I think you are going through the same thing your brother went through which is too much formula and not enough food.  We started you on rice cereal, but it is time to venture out; the overload of formula is giving you a belly ache.  You will be starting your first real food purees soon!  Such a big girl!

You are a social butterfly, just like your Daddy!  In fact, you are Daddy's twin and definitely a Daddy's girl.  You love to fall asleep on and with Daddy.  The two of you are always so cute snuggled up together. You must always be a part of the action, no matter what is going on.  You adore watching your brother and cousins play.  We set you up in your bouncer and you bounce and bounce and throw yourself back because you get so excited.  We call you little Katherine Gallagher.

Everyone always comments on how pretty you are and how much you look like your brother.  You have such a cute and funny little personality.  You think it's HILARIOUS when we take off your clothes, but it is not so funny when we try to put them back on.  You love taking baths with Jack and prefer hot, hot water just like your Mommy.  You are already rolling over from front to back and back to front.  You HATE it when anyone holding you sits down.  You want to be carried around to see everything!  Unfortunately, you like television a little too much (again, just like Daddy).  You are been teething like mad for a month now; lots of ripples in those gums, but no teeth, yet.

I can't wait to watch your personality blossom and watch you grow over the next month.  We love you so, so much and couldn't think of a better Valentine gift than you!  I pray that God continues to keep you safe in His light and also continues to guide your Daddy and I on being your loving parents.  Happy four months Baby Girl!

Halloween 2013

We kept our tradition going this year by trick-or-treating with the Spottsville's and the Wichterman's.  I absolutely love celebrating and decorating for all the holidays because I have such warm and fuzzy memories of holiday traditions and decorating as a child.  Since Mikayla's due date was October 17, I was obsessed with making sure everything was in place for a spooktacular Halloween for Jack.  I knew his world (and mine) was going to be turned upside down with the arrival of our new angel, so I wanted Halloween to go off without a hitch.  Jack's costume was ready, trick-or-treat bag out, and decorations up.  Of course, nothing goes smoothly no matter how prepared you are when you are talking about doing anything with two toddlers, a newborn, and an 8-month old, but we had fun nonetheless.  Mandi made some awesome turkey and sweet potato chili and I made some pumpkin cornbread.  By the time we got out of the door for trick-or-treating, it was already 7:00, but it was perfect because Jack and Anayah have little legs that can't last that long anyway.  Jack and Anayah were stinkin' adorable as Jake and Izzy from "Jake and the Neverland Pirates."  They stayed in character all night, often correcting us if we called them Jack or Anayah, and they would naturally hold hands when they crossed the street.  My heart melted.  He is so blessed to be growing up with such a sweet friend.  Mandi and I had to turn in early since we had feeding and bedtime schedules to mind.  I hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween!

My little pumpkins and me

They are soooo cute!

Choosing candy...a kid's dream come true!

"Follow me Anayah! Yo-ho let's go!"

Isn't she gorgeous?!

The trick-or-treatin' crew: Surya holding Jack (his shoes gave him a blister, so he had to call it a night); Maddie as Catniss from Hunger Games; Sarah as a pirate; Anayah as Izzy; Lilly the car; Kaitlyn the ghost

My new little pumpkin Mikayla settling in for the night

Exhausted and sugar crashed!

Jack's Art Show

There are many reasons I love living in Temecula and one reason is all the fun classes the city offers for kids.  I signed Jack up for an art and literacy class this summer.  Each art project was accompanied by a book.  Nana took him to classes when I had to work and she made a suggestion that I have an art show displaying all his art work at the end of the session.  I thought that was a grand idea!  Even better, I decided to have it at my baby shower so he didn't feel left out.  We displayed all his pieces in the front of my sister's house on the day of my baby shower for Mikayla and made special art cookies.  As guests arrived, he offered them a cookie and juice box and showed off his art work.  It was so awesome to see how proud he was, especially since all summer he was so shy about sharing his work with anyone.  What fun we had!

He loved handing people a juice and cookie.

I love how happy and proud he looks in these photos!

Jack's 3rd Bithday

We decided to have a small party for Jack's 3rd birthday since his time as an only child would be ending in a few short months.  When I first asked him what kind of party he wanted, he was obsessed with the show, "Octonauts" so I found all sorts of "Octonauts" themed party ideas and started planning.  Well, any of you with small children at home know that Disney had commercials all summer long about a "Pirate and Princess" summer and advertised the shows, "Jake and the Neverland Pirates" and "Sofia the First."  Mandi (remember, Anayah's Mommy) and I quickly realized how effective that advertising was because it wasn't long before Jack wanted a "Jake and the Neverland Pirates" themed party and Anayah wanted a "Sofia the First" party (thanks Disney!).  Nevertheless, I had lots of fun planning the party.  It was a small party, but tons of fun.  We went to my sister's house again to utilize the pool on a hot day and had a blast!  I can't believe my baby is already three!  I find myself getting emotional by how quickly time is passing by.  I just want to hold on to every moment. 

Jack's actual birthday

His aunt and cousins brought him cake and presents on his actual birthday.  He loves these girls SO much!

Pre-party fun with Grandma Sherry

Surya's mom came down to celebrate Jack's 3rd birthday and he loved every minute of her being here.

Pirate Party Time!

They are checking their maps for how to find the treasure!

"Here it is, guys!"

The tablescape

Gotta have a pinata!

Fun details

Party favors

Surya and I did our best to make pirate-themed cupcakes.

One of my favorite pictures of the birthday boy.

Waiting patiently for their turn.

CANDY!!!!

Mila won the game!

Madie so wanted to join in with the big kids.

Besties

"Look at this, Anayah!  We can play this together later!"

What great memories!

Happy 3rd birthday to my sweet angel from heaven.  He is growing up to be such a thoughtful, caring, loving, and wonderful little boy.  Every day is a blessing with him.