.:Remi’s Popcorn Party:.

Our sweet little Rem-A-Lem turned two about a month ago, and I’m just barely getting around to posting about her party.

I had a lot of fun planning and preparing for her party, minus the popcorn sweat shop I had going the nite before until about midnite. But it was totally worth it!

I made labels for the various kinds of popcorn.

And popcorn cupcakes (which were super cute and super easy, and also super tasty!)

The whole spread

I made Rem a cute little banner in her party colors.

And a decorative ribbon banner for behind the food table, which is now doubling as a tutu in our dress up box.

The favors were Mother Goose popcorn in little take out boxes. We ended up with waaaay too many leftover, but luckily I taught pre-school the next week so I was able to get rid of them easily!

And of course, the beautiful birthday girl!

Even though she is a huge fan of popcorn, she was content to just run around and play for the entire party.

We tried opening presents, but the first problem was that she wasn’t really interested in the actual opening of presents. Luckily Reece and Jay were there to help. Once we got the first one open, she just wanted to sit with that one.  We tried to force her through a few more, but we ended up taking a bunch home and slowly opening them over the next couple of days. Her party was a few days before her birthday, so it turned into a kind of birthday week!

She did know exactly what to do with the candle on her cupcake, though!

And she knew exactly what to do with her cupcake after she blew out the candle.

Harpie was not such a party animal.

It was a super fun party, and Remi was totally spoiled. We seriously know the best people, and are so blessed to have so many people that care about us!

At first I couldn’t believe that Remi was two, but now it’s more like, of course she’s two! She is totally growing up by the second, and turning into such a little girl. We’re so proud of her and love her so much!

.:Never Grow Up:.

Last week the girls and I headed up to Oregon to spend some time with my family since we hadn’t been up in awhile. That’s a whole ‘nother post in itself once I get caught up on this blog, but we’ll save that for later. We split the drive up on the way there, stopping at my sister’s in Boise, and again did the same on the way back. We were caravanning on the way there, but we were on our own on the way back.

I was a little nervous to do the drive by myself. When I was in college, I had no problem driving to Oregon through the nite – alone – to surprise my family. Now? I’m ready for a nap about 15 minutes after we’ve left our house when Josh is driving. Maybe it’s because I know he’s got it under control? But I figured with some good music, enough Diet Coke, and three little people depending on me, I could do it.

On the way back, we were driving through eastern Oregon. I was listening to Taylor Swift, and singing my heart out, and one of her songs just got to me. It made me feel all teary and grateful for my children. So of course, I listened to it over and over for about the next half hour, getting progressively teary and progressively more grateful.

You see, I haven’t really been the best mommy lately. Harper still isn’t sleeping through the nite (and has had some pretty horrible nites as of late), so I am so tired all the time. My hormones are still crazy from having her. I’ve just felt ‘off’ for the past little bit. And the ones who get to deal with this are my poor, sweet kids. As I was listening to this song, I was feeling so sad that I haven’t been cherishing them like I ought to. That I haven’t been enjoying every second of them being small (even the ones that aren’t so fun). That I’ve been too tired and crabby to appreciate them dressing up, or playing well together, or wrestling, or giving each other hugs and kisses, or just wanting to be around me. Mommy guilt can be a powerful thing, but I think it was totally warranted and a good thing this time around.

It gets tough sometimes, having three little kids this close together. I need to remind myself that this isn’t going to last forever. They aren’t always going to be little and innocent. They aren’t always going to want to be around me. They aren’t always going to be amazed and excited over the smallest things.

My girls are so precious.

Who else, besides this beautiful Reece, has so much enthusiasm over everything? She appreciates every little thing. She is always telling me she loves me, saying thank you, calling Remi ‘sweetie’, and being such a good helper. I just love her, and I want her to always know it.

Who else, besides this beautiful Remi, can bring a smile to your face with her cheesey smile? Remi is such a happy little girl, and loves to be around her sisters. She is growing up so fast all of the sudden, and I love how she always has a hug or kiss for me. I love her, too, and hope she never forgets it!

And who else, besides Harper, has the cutest dimple and endless smiles? She is the happiest baby, and loves to interact and be social. She is such a sweetheart, and I can’t get enough of her. I want her to always know how much she is loved.

I don’t want to ever look back on this time and regret not embracing the stages they are all in, and regret not enjoying them for the wonderful little people that they are. I love them so much, and don’t know how to say it any stronger than that. I feel so blessed and humbled to be their mom, and so grateful to have made this family with the man I love.

Maybe it’s lame to post song lyrics on here, but I’m going to post some of them anyway.

“Your little hand's wrapped around my finger
And it's so quiet in the world tonight
Your little eyelids flutter cause you're dreaming
So I tuck you in, turn on your favorite night light

To you everything's funny, you got nothing to regret
I'd give all I have, honey
If you could stay like that

Oh darling, don't you ever grow up
Don't you ever grow up, just stay this little
Oh darling, don't you ever grow up
Don't you ever grow up, it could stay this simple

I won't let nobody hurt you, won't let no one break your heart
And no one will desert you
Just try to never grow up, never grow up

Take pictures in your mind of your childhood room
Memorize what it sounded like when your dad gets home
Remember the footsteps, remember the words said
And all your little brother's favorite songs
I just realized everything I have is someday gonna be gone”

It’s okay if you are crying. I’m crying. Again. (And did earlier while listening to this song in the car, too). Just grab a tissue and remember to be thankful for your own blessings, whatever or whoever they may be.

.:Harper–Five Months:.

Our sweet little Harpie turned five months last week. I feel like I just barely wrote that she turned four months! Time is flying!

Harper is seriously just the happiest, smiliest, cutest little baby ever! She has a smile for everyone, anytime. Even when she is trying to fuss, you can usually still squeak a smile out of her!

She still has her dimple on her right cheek, and sometimes one tries to come out on her left cheek. I just think it is too stinking cute!

Harper is still so social. She loves to chat and talk, squeal and giggle, and most of the time is easily pacified if you will just pay attention to her. She loves interacting, and doesn’t really care if it is someone old or young! (Or an animal!)

Harpie is really starting to get the hang of using her hands. She is constantly grabbing at things. Her control isn’t perfect yet, but it’s fun to watch her figuring things out. It makes it so much nicer to be able to give her toys to play with in her car seat, or even just laying on the floor.

We borrowed Sam and Nikki’s Bebe Pod since Harper hasn’t been a fan of the Bumbo. Their tray has the toy (as you can see above) and she is much happier sitting in that. Now maybe we can get her working on sitting! She is always straining to sit up, even when she’s buckled down in her car seat; it’s so funny. It’s like she can’t relax!

Reece and Remi continue to love on her all the time. It really just makes my heart happy that they are so sweet and gentle with her. I hope they are always like that with each other! Harper loves it when they talk to her or play with her, I can’t wait until she can start interacting even more with them!

Harper’s sleep is still not fantastic. Her naps are slowly improving, but her nites are about the same as before. She could probably be sleep trained, but I’m admittedly too lazy about it right now! It’s just easier to feed her and go back to sleep. But I’ll probably go down that road sometime soon. I’m ready to get more than three hours of sleep in a row!

 

Harper is a rolling fool! I can’t get her to stay on her back if I wanted to. She still gets stuck on her tummy sometimes, but she is starting to get better at rolling back over. She’s just a lot more wiggly than she used to be. Sometimes on her back, she’ll push with her legs, which scoots her around. I just have to be super careful now about where we put her!

We just love our Harpie girl!

At five months, Harper likes:

- rolling

- grabbing

- smiling

- talking

- squealing

- giggling

- toys

- baby einstein

- watching her sisters

- listening to mommy sing

- play mat

- bebe pod

- eating

- sucking on her hands

- binky (sometimes – I wish more!)

At five months, Harper does not like:

- being swaddled

- sleeping very long

- being in her car seat for too long

- being left alone for too long

- getting stuck on her tummy

What a beautiful babe!

.:Reece–3.5 Years:.

Where to start with our Reecie?

Reece is a sassy spitfire and a total sweetheart all rolled into one! She definitely keeps us on our toes! Reece is a talker. She is constantly saying, “Look, Mom!” or “What?” or “Why?” or a myriad of other questions. She loves to talk and share stories, and sometimes she just cracks me up with what’s going on in that little head of hers. Reece also has quite the imagination. I absolutely LOVE to catch her and listen in when she is in the middle of a make believe scenario. She frequently uses names of characters from movies and tv shows she watches, and I notice her doing/saying a lot of things that I do/say, especially when she is playing with her baby dolls. Guess I better be careful! It is amazing how much she absorbs without us really realizing it.

Reece loves to sing and dance. I am always amazed at how quickly she can learn the words to songs. We listen to Primary songs (jazzed up) in the car most of the time, and we get to hear re-mixes every nite as she is laying in bed. It is fun to listen to her sing in the car. She is definitely a Stewart at heart – total performer! Love showing off, loves singing and dancing, and loves being the center of attention! She is in dance again with some of her little friends, and it’s cute to watch her.

Like I said in Remi’s post, Reece and Rem are just best buds. Nothing makes me happier than seeing and hearing them playing well together. It always cracks me up how Reece calls Remi, “Rem” like we do. She tries to use logic when talking to Remi, like we do with her, and she just looks out for her. Of course, there are the usual problems with sharing (which are gracing our house right now with all the new birthday toys!) but overall they really just have a lot of fun together.

Reece also loves Harper to pieces. She loves to make Harper smile, and loves to give Harper her binky. It is really nice to be able to have Reece go help Harper if she is fussing and I am trying to get Remi dressed or something! She’s a great little helper, and just so sweet. Reece is always so proud of both of her sisters, frequently telling people how cute they are. Can it please always stay this way??

Reece is a girly girl, through and through! It is rare to find her without a princess dress on if we are at home. She always wears one to play in, and usually wears one over her jammies to bed as well. Lately, she will put on a dress, along with some jewelry, ‘glass slippers’, and a crown and then either just come stand by you with a little smile on her face until you notice her and comment how beautiful she looks, or will just tap you and smile shyly at you. It’s pretty cute.

Reece is a hoarder. She loves to collect things, and keep them from Remi – and everyone else. Some of the usual hoarded items: ‘lips’, magnets, bracelets, happy meal toys, and basically just any small thing.

If you couldn’t tell by the pictures so far, Reece loves to have her picture taken! She is always asking us to take pictures of her, and also loves to take pictures using the camera or the tablet. I’m sure a little camera for her is in her future!

Reece is in a little joy school this year, and she loves to learn! She loves practicing counting (makes it up to around 15) and loves to sing her abc’s. She’s been really interested in recognizing her letters lately, and almost always knows the names of letters. She likes to ‘count’ (as she calls it) by spelling out signs that she sees. We’re working on knowing examples of what each letter stands for. She’s just eating it up!

Reece definitely has her sassy moments, along with some fantastic tantrums. I find that I don’t have tons of patience for them, and I need to be better about that and helping her work through her feelings. I was talking with my friend about a reward system she is going to start with her son, and I’m thinking something like that might work well for Reece. She responds really well to positive things, and shuts down when I react negatively.

Reece is extremely polite! It is rare that she doesn’t say thank you when someone helps her or gets something for her. Even at Halloween, people were so impressed that she said thank you on her own (which is sad that lots of kids don’t!) When I get frustrated or upset at something she does, a lot of the time she will say sorry right away, and even does so if I’m frustrated with something that she had nothing to do with!

We just love our Reecie girl. I feel bad because sometimes I think I expect too much from her since she is the oldest. I need to remind myself often that she is only three and a half, and still very young herself. She really is a smart, helpful little girl, and we’re just so grateful she’s part of our family!!!

At 3.5 years old, Reece likes:

- baths

- books

- movies

- treats

- dressing up

- princesses

- Rapunzel anything!

- playing with Remi

- making Harper smile

- hoarding things

- lips

- purses

- dolls

- ‘nite nite’ (blanket)

- playing with friends

- going to school

- practicing numbers and letters

- talking!

- climbing

- jumping

- chasing

- singing

- dancing

- Primary

- playing games on the tablet

- taking pictures

- helping in the kitchen

- wearing skirts/dresses
- saying prayers

At 3.5 years old, Reece does not like:

- sharing

- being told ‘no’

- not getting her way

- taking naps

- going to bed (it often takes her 1+ hours to fall asleep, no matter when I get her up from her nap!)

We love our Reecie girl!

.:Remi–2 Years Old:.

Oh, the Remster.

This girl is such a joy in our lives. She is turning into such a little girl now, and I can hardly stand it!

Remi absolutely loves playing with Reece. They play so well together most of the time. Remi seems to have learned her place and usually has no qualms about giving up whatever Reece wants. She is great at sharing, and giving things back to others. She and Reece will just run around the house together, giggling like crazy. I’m not sure there’s a much sweeter sound. Sometimes they will go in their room, close the doors, and I’ll go in there to find them sitting on the bed, carrying on in some little imaginary scenario. It’s really sweet, and I love how much they love each other.

Remi has also become very interested in Harper. She is always going over to Harper and talking to her, which makes Harper smile. Which then makes Remi excited! It is so sweet.

Remi is very good about putting things back where they belong. If she is at home, she has to return toys or movies where she got them from (usually). If she gets a toy out at the store, she won’t just leave it somewhere random like I try to get her to, but she will go find the aisle that she got it from and put it away in the right spot. It is a good habit that I need to encourage!

She is also always very concerned about closing doors. If I leave the pantry door open, she shuts it. If I leave the fridge open, she closes it. For some reason, she just loves to close the doors! Remi has started this new thing where she will say, ‘bye, bye’ and close the door, immediately open it up and say, ‘hi!’, and then keep repeating the process until you are done in whatever room has the door. Whenever Reece goes into a room and closes the door, Remi will knock on it. I don’t know why, but it cracks me up!

Remi is our eater! She is the queen of shoving as much food in her mouth as she can. Fruit snacks? They all go in at once. Fruit roll up? Crams it all in. She hasn’t quite learned how to savor food, but she sure knows how to enjoy it! She also loves her popcorn at Target, and if she ever drops any, or sees any on the floor, she often picks it up and eats it before I can stop her. Hey, she’s had a deer bone in her mouth, so I figure she’s fine.

Remi’s speech is slowly improving. She says more words than she used to, and I also think she probably says more than we give her credit for because we probably don’t listen as hard because we aren’t expecting as much. Whether it’s real words or babbling, she always has plenty to say!

Remi loves to squeeze into little nooks and smaller places to sit. She has always loved this, and her new baby doll crib is no exception!

Rem-a-lem appreciates a good back tickle like no other. If you ever start to tickle her arms, neck, back, legs – anywhere! – she goes immediately still. If you ever want to get in her good graces, just try giving her a little tickle and she’s yours. She is always tickling herself, too. She’ll lift her shirt up and tickle her belly while she watches movies, or will do her legs and arms if she’s just sitting somewhere. It’s really cute and really funny! I so understand!

Some other random facts about Remi: she can fall asleep anywhere (sitting up, in a shopping cart, head on the table when out to eat, really, anywhere!), she does a self soothing thing where she rocks against the couch or chair when she is tired, she sleeps on her tummy most of the time, she has the deepest laugh ever, she loves being cheesey, her hair is very curly, and she is just too cute!

Basically, Remi is just a beautiful, sweet, feisty little lady, and she is growing up entirely too fast!

At two years old, Remi likes:

- tickling back, arms, lets, etc.

- snacks/treats/eating

- movies

- books

- pushing things (i.e. stroller, cart, etc.)

- playing with Reece

- making Harper smile

- playing dress up

- rocking

- fruit

- closing doors

- being outside

- going up and down stairs

- popcorn

- baths

- chasing

- climbing

- dancing

- laying on the floor….anywhere (gross!)

- wrestling with Reece

At two years old, Remi does not like:

- being in the cart/stroller

- having things taken away

- getting her head wet

- being told ‘no’

Happy Birthday our sweet little Rem!

.:Harper’s Four Month Stats:.

This sweet thing weighed in at 11 pounds, 11 ounces which is the 11th percentile. (Good day for the number 11!)

 

Her length was 25.25 inches, which is the 83rd percentile.

 

Long and lean!

 

 

She definitely didn’t get that from me.