I'm. Tired.

"I'm tired" has been a common theme around our house lately for both Michael and I....I don't know why Caden sleeps in on the days I work but gets up early on the days I'm at home. For example, he woke up around 7:30 yesterday morning and woke up at 6:15 this morning. Ughh! So, aside from that, we're busy when we're at home with the kids and busy with things at work and to top it off Emberly hasn't been sleeping very well at night ever since Michael went on his trip to India. I'm not sure if it's because she's teething (she had 2 teeth pop in on the bottom in January and now 1 has dropped down from the top in February) or she doesn't know how to go back to sleep on her own or if she's having separation anxiety. Whatever it is, I'm really hoping and praying that she'll get it figured out soon because it's draining!! I remember when Caden was a baby and we were able to just let him "cry it out" when he woke up in the night and he would just go back to sleep on his own but that's not the case with Emberly (unfortunately!!!) We've tried and she just cries and cries and cries for hours on end. So if you know of any tricks on how to get her back to sleep w/o rocking her or letting her co-sleep in your bed, let me know!!!

Wow, that was a depressing way to start a post! Let me switch gears :) Like I mentioned before, Em has 3 teeth in now and it's really cute when she smiles because they poke up from her bottom gums. I need to try and get some pictures of them because I don't have any yet.... And now that she's 8 months old she's tried a couple other baby foods besides oatmeal and squash, she's now added sweet potatoes, green peas and carrots to her repertoire. So far she likes them all but has a hard time eating/swallowing if there are little pieces in it. Since I make her baby food at home there can be little pieces in it, so last night I put her peas through a strainer to remove all the husks and little pieces that didn't blend up in the food processor so she wouldn't gag on it (again!). In other news she's still rolling around on the floor to get places and only has the reverse gear on when she crawls :) She's getting really good at sitting up on her own though and knows how to go back and forth from being on her belly to sitting and vice versa. I wonder if she'll ever crawl or if she'll be one of those kids who goes straight to walking. We had a well-baby checkup 2 weeks ago and here are her stats: 18 lbs 13 oz and 26 inches tall. Yep, she's cute with her chubby cheeks, arms and legs! Her hair's starting to grow in more too.....and it's still auburn-colored.

Caden is still his normal, toddler self and is learning new words every day....I swear, that kid doesn't ever stop talking! And because of that he acts much older than his (almost 3-year old) age. He's definitely starting to be more rough-and-tumble with Emberly now that she's mobile, so we've really been trying to work on our patience and teach him the right way to play with her...which is NOT sitting on her, or hitting her face with his trucks....oh boy!


A couple weeks ago we made an impromptu trip to the beach and it was P-E-R-F-E-C-T! It was like 55 degrees with clear, sunny skies. It's amazing that we have days like that in the middle of "winter" amidst all the rain and clouds. It was much needed and very refreshing. Here are a few pics from that day:

Caden playing in the sand with his tractor

Yes, she's just wearing a t-shirt, it was that nice!

Look at that red hair!