T H R E E

{Another late post, I started writing this the night before Sienna's 3rd birthday,}

Oh Sienna,

A little over three years ago, daddy and I were waiting. We kept being told any day, any minute. Dr. McCracken, mommy's OB, and the wonderful woman who would deliver you, told me it was almost time- and we scheduled a day for your arrival.

I remember waiting to be admitted to the hospital. There was a couple across from us waiting, too. Their second baby. Now I know what that feels like too. I can remember the smell of the room. I remember my sweet nurse. I remember telling myself then and there to bring my own Gatorade next time.

I was ready. I thought I was ready, anyway. For a first baby, you came pretty quickly. And when you arrived, they marveled at your full head of hair- and how you managed to be all curled up inside, giving us the impression you would be smaller than you were. Seven Eleven. The nurse guessed your weight perfectly.

And on that day, three years ago, I became a mama. And you became mine. Three years has gone by so fast it makes my head spin. Your baby days feel like light years behind us. And yet, if I close my eyes I can distinctly feel your body against my chest nursing after your naps at 10 months old. I can remember your sweet chubby cheeks and your baby giggle so very clearly. Three is SO good. I love that you're still such a cuddler. Into my arms, into my body, you want to be close to us. It's endearing and beautiful and I know it will be come more rare as time moves on. You're stubborn and you know what you want- I hope that never fades (just be polite while doing it). You are a fantastic learner.

Your big blue eyes and crazy hair of head are your own. You wear them well. You choose pajamas most days over clothes. You choose giving me and daddy one last hug before we leave for work over finishing your game. You choose ice pops over dinner. I am so in love with you little bug. You're a tremendously good big sister. You love and look out for Piper already. The night before I left our house to have Piper,  I kissed you goodnight and sang to you until you fell asleep. I knew it was our last night with you as our only one. I just couldn't imagine (after a few weeks of adjustment) how perfectly you and Piper would go together. It seems, that you, me, daddy, and Piper were meant to be a family. And I love that you include all of us when you say we are "best friends forever".

Happy Birthday to my carousel loving, sweet, talkative, empathetic girl. I love you to pieces, Sienna Grace Walls.

S I X MONTHS of Piper.

Half of a year!

Miss Piper turned six months old a couple weeks ago. I am so behind on blogging and keeping these updates, but I really do hope my girls can look back and see how they grew and changed so here it goes. Better late than never:

P is so smiley. Every single person who sees her says this. She smiles at everyone as long as they smile at her. Our nanny greets her with "hi smiley girl!" every morning. Sienna pulls her paci out of her mouth and says "hiiiii Piper!!" to get her to reveal her gummy grin.

Piper is still our little peanut- 14lbs 14 oz a week before her six month birthday! She's 26 inches so not really a peanut in length. Our girl is still obsessed with breast milk only. After getting her tongue tie and lip tie clipped, she honestly doesn't nurse much better and still prefers bottles- but lots of them. Solid foods so far are sort of bleh- she isn't super impressed! This girl prefers the healthiest stuff around, so I keep pumping for her. We sort of have it down to a science now.

She is learning and doing so much each day. Every morning she likes to sit and watch Sienna as she runs around like crazy. She loves picking up objects and can FINALLY get her own pacifier back in her mouth thankfully. Of course, at night, she seems to forget that progress and cry for mama. We are working on sleep. Definitely working on it. I used to say Sienna was my bad sleeper- I was wrong. Pipes, you sure know how to keep mama on her toes in the hours of 10pm-6am!

She's rolling around and reaching for things but no actual movement yet. Which is fine with me because I'm well aware it all gets way harder after that! Six months feels like a big deal, but also feels like P's always been with us. Sienna adores her and watching them play is so fun. I can't wait for Piper to continue to learn from Sienna and I can only imagine the trouble these two will get into in another few months when P starts to really move.

Piper, you are so adorable. You are sweet and cuddly and mama's little buddy lately. I can't wait to see what the second half of your first year has in store for us!

XOXO,
Mama