Eliana Grace - 6 months old!

September 28, 2009

Six months ago today my 2nd baby girl was born! It is absolutely impossible to believe that 6 months have already passed since she came into our lives, but at the same time it seems like she has always been here.

Eliana is truly the sweetest, happiest, easiest baby that has ever been. She smiles with her whole entire face and just fills me with joy everytime I see her. She loves her family and especially her big sister.....everytime Aubrey comes home Eliana starts laughing hysterically at her.

So at six months old, Eliana is a champ on her belly......you can't put her down for 2 seconds without her flipping over to be on her belly! She is just starting to pull her knees up underneath her and can push herself up on her arms really well. She's not quite sitting up yet, but she'll do it for a few seconds at a time. No rush for me!! I am so not ready for her to crawl or be mobile yet. I want her to stay my little baby for a little longer......although I can say for sure that I have enjoyed every second of her little life thus far. It's definitely easier the second time around......less worries and uncertainty, and more enjoyment of those early days and months that go by so fast.

Her official 6 month doctor visit is Fri. so I will have to update her stats then..(and here it is! 17lbs and 27inches, 95% percentile for her height!! My girls are going to tower over me one day)....but she is eating solid foods, sitting in her high chair, and putting everything within reach right into her mouth! No teeth yet, but she is definitely teething (and drooling!!) But she never complains. The only time she cries or fusses is every 3 hours or so when she is ready for her bottle.....other than that she plays and watches her surroundings, talks to herself and her toys, sleeps like a champ, and is just happy. Happy, happy girl. She truly brings such joy to our lives.....she is just a dream. She sleeps 12 hours at night and wakes up with a big old smile on her face.

I can't wait to get to know this little munchkin more and see the amazing little girl she is growing up to be. How I got to be so blessed with my girls I will never know, but I thank God everyday for the miracles that they both are.

Happy 6 month birthday Eliana Grace Katz!

We love you sooooo much!!

5 years old......

Sept. 19th, 2004........

Aubrey Michele Katz came into this world weighing 7lbs, 6 oz., 20in. long and screaming her head off!!!!

And has brought such joy and love and amazement to our lives every day since.

On Saturday, Sept.19th, 2009 (this year at 38lbs, and 44" tall) we celebrated Aubrey's 5th birthday! She wanted a "doggie party" so we rounded up every dog decoration, craft, cake that we could find and made it happen! 2 hours and 25 crazy kids running around having a blast.......she loved it and we all had a great time. We were so busy though we didn't get too many pictures!! :( But I am going to try to get some from friends that were there and will post them as soon as I do.

Now onto the mushy, mommy stuff.........

So incredibly hard to believe that 5 years have already passed since we had our first baby girl. I will never, ever forget the day I found out I was pregnant with Aubrey......in our little apartment in NYC, completely and totally shocked!! And thrilled.......and I will also never forget the day our doctor told me that we were having a little girl. We were so excited.....a beautiful baby girl.

So now that baby girl is 5 years old going on 15 for sure!

She is fiercely independent, strong willed, determined, creative, loving, and hands down the best negotiator I have ever seen at such a young age. She is a tough one sometimes though and I find myself praying for patience all too often! But I love her for her strong spirit and I know it is going to serve her well as she journeys through life. Someone recently told me that "God does not give strong girls to weak women....." I love that. Let's hope I stay a strong woman to help guide this amazing little girl!

She loves to sing and dance and play with her animals. And by animals I mean the 50 stuffed animals and probably 50 more plastic animals (horses, dogs, cats, unicorns, whales, coyotes, you name it) that she rotates through every day. She can entertain herself for hours at a time just talking and creating stories and games with these animals. Every night when she goes to sleep she surrounds herself with about 10-15 animals (the selection changes daily except for a few favorites) and when she sneaks into our bed about 3am every morning she brings them alllll with her. So we usually wake up with a sweet little girl and about 10 various stuffed creatures in our bed every morning! It is precious.

As independent as she is though, she has moments where she wants nothing more than to snuggle and love on her mommy and daddy and baby sister. She tells us daily that she is never going to get married and never going to college.....she wants to stay with us forever!!! I am going to remind her of this when she calls to tell me she is on a plane to China or France or wherever that spirit takes her. I know better! But I can say for sure that if she did want to stay here forever I would love it! :)

I am so proud of Aubrey and I love her to a million little pieces. She is my big girl, but still my precious baby and always will be.

Happy 5th Birthday Aubrey!!! I know this year will bring many wonderful moments and smiles and times to treasure to all of us.........

We love you Aubrey!!

Hilton Head!

We did our annual trip to Hilton Head, SC over Labor Day weekend and had a blast. The weather was absolutely gorgeous and we enjoyed some much needed R&R!!

Every morning began with a trip to the beach where we stayed most of the day! Aubrey loves playing in the sand, jumping in the waves and making new friends. Eliana was happy as she could be to lay on a giant towel in the sand on her belly and just enjoy the cool ocean breeze. We played in the pool a bit and then headed out to yummy seafood dinners everynight! Every place we went had live music so we sat outdoors and Aubrey danced to the various entertainers and had a ball. We went to Lawton Stables so Aubrey could ride a pony.......her favorite thing to do every year! She still loves horses and can't wait until she is 8 years old to go to horse camp!!

It was a wonderful weekend........so nice to just be there and enjoy some quality family time with our girls!!

Already planning and looking forward to next year!

1st Day of Pre-K

Aubrey started Pre-K on Monday!

She was soooo excited. She keeps telling me that Pre-K is not the same as school........it's for big girls. And right she is. I am so proud of her. I asked her what she learned at school today and she said,"that it is not nice to tell someone that you don't like their dress. That would hurt their feelings." So lessons in manners it is! But she assured me she was going to learn to read tomorrow so we shall see......(she always tells me she is going to do or see or learn something tomorrow, it's her favorite word these days).....I am pretty sure the year will begin with some letters and numbers before the "real" reading begins, but she is so excited to read!

It truly seems like yesterday I was in NYC at the corner of 57th street when I found out I was pregnant with a little girl.............and now here she is. I couldn't be more proud or happier for her and all her accomplishments in the past 4 years.

I love you Aubrey Michele!!

:)