And just like that, another holiday in the books!!!  I took off Valentine’s Day this year, Remerie’s monthly well-check ended up being that day + I wanted to be able to go to Avalon’s class party, so it worked out to get both done and be able to spend the entire holiday with the girls.  I am such a planner, so I thought I would share a little insight into how I was planning for the day to go down:

Heart-shaped pancakes for the girls before school.  Drive Waverly to school, then Avalon — with both their class Valentines in their backpacks which we had addressed the weekend before.  Run a couple errands with Remie, go to Avalon’s class party at 10:30 + then grab lunch before Remie’s appointment at 1pm.  Go home and relax for a bit before picking up Waverly at 3:10 and getting ready for a fun festive family dinner for Valentine’s Day.

And here is how the day actually went down:

Absolutely zero time for festive pancakes, Remie was fussy from the 100th cold she has gotten (big sisters) + I barely had enough time to put cream cheese on half-toasted bagels before getting us out the door.  Got both girls to school, only to find out that Avalon’s class party was only for kids, no parents.  Apparently I missed that email.  Made it to one of the errands I planned on, in between pumping twice to keep up with my milk supply + feeding Remie a bottle.  Rushed to get Avalon and decided on forgetting lunch and doing a fro-yo date instead, because it would take less time and we needed to get to the doctor for Remie.  Got to the doctor just in time to find out that there was a mix-up in the schedule and we really didn’t have an appointment that day.  They ended up fitting us in at the end of the day so I went home, got Waverly, + rushed back to the doctor, by the time we got out it was dark and we made it home for a quick dinner with the family.  Also worth noting, when I was cleaning up from the day, I found Avalon’s addressed class Valentines STILL IN HER BAG.

All this to say, our day did not go as planned.  It was messy, imperfect and stressful — but also full of love.  That night, Waverly said “Valentine’s Day is my favorite holiday”, Avalon was the happiest “free” year old ever on one giant sugar high, and Remerie, our little surprise baby that we announced last Valentine’s Day, forever a dream come true.

And a few favorite photos from our February.

Hope your day was special and full of lots of love!!! XO

January felt approximately 4976 days long, I hardly ever wish for time to speed up, but I am definitely not mad about the fresh start that this new month brings, especially since it has a fun holiday + brings us one month closer to school being out and SUMMER!!!  Before we move on though, I wanted to share some fun photos from our January, along with a few of our favorite memories!

We took the girls ice skating, Waverly has been a few times but this was Avalon’s first time and she loved it!  The girls personalities are very different, Waverly is a perfectionist and gets frustrated (angry) if she doesn’t get something the first try, and Avalon really could care less.  They were both super cute though, I am loving this as a yearly tradition over our holiday break!

Remerie’s first time with her little toes in the sand — SWEETEST thing ever!!!!   She is still so little but strong, and can stand with the big girls holding her hands now, they love to do this and fight over her all the time!  I am also loving mornings with her, Waverly + Avalon jump in the crib with her and get the biggest, sweetest smiles.  It is definitely her favorite time of the day.

If you have followed along long enough, you know we started celebrating half-birthdays when Waverly was just six months old.  Avalon was halfway to FOUR at the beginning of December + Waverly halfway to SEVEN (SO CRAZY!) over the weekend, so we did a cake and sang and even though it was completely last-minute, it was fun to celebrate them.

We look out the window every morning hoping for snow, it’s been cold enough here but nothing yet which is of course, because I actually have snow gear for everyone for the first year ever. Hoping something comes our way soon, we always love just one snowfall a year and I would especially love to dress Remie up as a little snowbunny for her first winter!

Farewell to the first month of 2019 and HELLO FEBRUARY!  XO

We chose not to do family photos for Christmas this year since we had just taken some for Remerie’s newborn shoot, but did do some with my entire family over holiday break and I am so happy we did!  It was the most into photos the girls have ever been, probably because they are obsessed with Remie and love to do anything with her, and also because we had all my family there to get them to smile!  Still cannot believe that we are a family of five, it feels like just yesterday that Waverly was Remerie’s size and we were brand new parents.

That last photo is my very favorite, all eleven members of my side of the family in one frame!!  My brother + sister-in-law had just flown in from Colorado earlier that day, and literally just met Remie for the first time minutes before this photo was taken. We may not all live in the same area code anymore but we are as close as ever and I always feel like the luckiest to have each + every one of them.

Photos by: Raygan Cox Photography; Girls Boots are linked here, they are one of my favorites!!!

Remerie Rue is four months old, at this time last year we had just found out we were expecting and now here she is, healthy + adorable + as sweet as ever.

This month has been so much fun, with all the magic of her first Christmas and also just getting to see her personality more.  She has found her voice and uses it all the time (the cutest little screeching noise) + also her legs, she kicks them so fast when she is super excited!  She is always sucking her two fingers, it is SO ADORABLE and definitely one of my favorite things about her.

She continues to be really laid-back and thankfully doesn’t blink an eye when she has two sisters constantly in her face, wanting to dance around with her or make her their little baby doll. 🙂 She is definitely recognizing both of them now and it makes my heart the happiest.  They each have different relationships with her, Waverly loves to help dress her and likes to call her “her baby”, and Avalon talks to her in this high-pitched voice and is always wanting to look at the monitor in the morning to see if she is awake yet.  I hope they always all love each other as much as they do now.

She sleeps great at night (!!!) but naps are pretty non-consistent or reliable, which can be hard when the big girls want to do all the things and she is tired.  She is still breastfeeding (!!!), but we have hit some struggles with that + I have had to work really hard this time around to get my supply back up.  And most days I wish there were more hours to soak all her goodness in some more, because obviously she doesn’t get near the one-on-one attention that her big sisters did.  So it’s just like motherhood, there are the highest highs and some hard moments, but there is never a second I would change any of it.

Remerie Rue, you are such a dream and we love, love LOVE you so!!!  Happy four months sweetest girl.

XO

Happiest New Year to you and yours!!!  I always look forward to a fresh start and the return to some kind of routine after the holidays, but honestly this time around 2018 was hard to say goodbye to. It was one of the best years we have had in a really long time, SO MUCH HAPPENED — with the highlight being our sweet Remerie Rue and buying our second home.  My husband also started a new job, I made it through my first year at a new school, Waverly finished kindergarten and learned to swim, & Avalon loved her her first year of preschool and started riding a big girl bike with no training wheels.  There was a whole lot of change, and chaos, but also a whole lot of love.

We are headed into 2019 feeling endlessly grateful and looking forward to taking more time to settle & soak it all in.  We are ready to make all the memories with our growing girls, but also to give ourselves grace when we need a moment to step back from it all.  To continue to grow, to learn, and to be PRESENT — something I always think about this time of year and that is hard to always achieve, but is so important to me as a mother.

I love, love new beginnings and cannot wait to see what we have ahead in the new year!

THANK YOU for following along year after year, it means so much!  Happy 2019, we hope this year is the most magical and best yet! XO

PS — Waverly & Avalon’s dresses are from Pixie Lane and they are obsessed with them!!  Such cute clothes for an affordable price.