Pretty in Purple and Plaid

Honesty moment, being a mom is hard. 

Trying to find balance, manage needs, and just take a shower.

But these little faces ... make being stinky worth it.

Snow River

And this is why we have kids, right? So they can eventually do all the chores?

Today we moved snow around in our gray white world. Everything was in a blanket of one color. The ground, the snow, the cloudy sky were all the same hue making Rivers green jacket pop as he trotted behind me in the path I was clearing. 

He giggled and clomped along behind me in this winter wonderland. 

His sheer delight made if feel a little bit warmed outside, 

but with his tantrum on having to come inside it cooled off again. 

Yes, he's definitely three with all the hots and colds of that age, 

but he sure loved shoveling snow. Maybe living in Colorado wont be so 

bad when he gets big enough to do it all by himself.

Robin's 4 month Stats

 

Robin's 4 Month Stats:

12 lbs 9.5 oz (16%) and 22 1/4 inches (0.4 %)

She's filling out nicely! Dr. Maggie lovingly refers to her as petit, the nurse flat out called her short. But they all think she's the cutest and so do we!!

Photo Courtesy of River, (my personal paparazzi)

Snow Boot and Skinny Jeans

River wears these boots everywhere and it makes the cutest fast pace clompimg sound where ever he goes; because River only has one speed and that's lightening fast.

Clomp! Clomp!

Garden of the Gods

We started this year off right, with family pictures of our new family of 4,

 followed by a stop in the ever crowded Garden of the Gods Park on the way home.

River loved climbing around on the rocks and would have stayed all day if we would have let him. I am really impressed with his abilities and coordination. He's learned well from Skyler.

So welcome 2016. I don't really know what you hold for us, 

especially now that we have 2 kids. (Crazy!!) 

But what I do know is that this year I want to "Lean In". 

Skyler said this phrase in a conversation last year, and it has stuck with me.

When things are difficult, when we feel like a task is beyond our strength, 

it's time to lean in.

I am learning and now I am leaning in.  

"Fancy" Family

All images in this post are courtesy of Elizabeth Ann Photography

We took Robin to have her photographed in her Blessing Dress and because River loves to dress "fancy" we all got gussied up with her. 

I heart this family of mine.

Thanks Elizabeth for capturing such wonderful images that I love!

Robin: 4 Months

Robin's 4 Months Bullet Points:

(Because honestly who has time for paragraphs with a 3 yr old and a 4 month old??)

- You have the prettiest blue eyes, softest light brown hair, and the most kissable squish cheeks and full lips.

- You are a mover!! You kick kick kick and love to be held standing up so you can jump and wiggle all over. Your kicks are super strong too. You could be Chun-Li from Street fighter, "Want to see my Kung-Fu? ". 

- You have the sweetest face and smile. I just can't get over your cute little round face. I kiss you every chance I get. And so does River. And so does Daddy. And so does Charlie. 

-You are a shorty but full figured gal. It breaks my heart every time I have to switch to the next size in clothing. You literally skipped all my 3 month clothes.

- You are very inquisitive and love to hold on to toys, blankets, and anything you can get your little hands on. One of your favorite toys is your christmas Dollie from Nana and Poppa, which is totally appropriate because "every little girl needs a doll for Christmas". They've learned their lesson well :)

-You have learned to roll over. You surprised us and yourself the first time you did it. You have become quite efficient in your technique, but you don't really know what to do once your on your tummy, except cry. So now we are living in that "I roll over on to my tummy all the time, but i hate it, so i scream my head off until til my mom flips me back over and then I immediately do it again" phase. It's wonderful.

- Feeding you is a quite a wrestling match. You are so strong and want to use your hands, but it usually results in you pushing the bottle out of your mouth. But it's nice when you settle down and are satisfied with a firm grip on our hands and arms with both hands. You down 4 oz bottles and you're a bit sloppy about it. You don't really like binkis, but you chew on your right hand constantly.

- You are a bright eyed baby and you love your family. You have smiles ready for each of us when we make eye contact. I love to watch you as you gaze at River with love and astonishment. There's such a connection between you two. He adores you. He's good to you bitty, so be good to him too. Watching you two together makes this mama's heart happy. 

- You are a bit of a mamas girl, I kind of love it because I love you!!

- You are a cuddler. You have to have blankets cuddled up around your face when you sleep in your bouncer and you snuggle right up to the sides of your bassinet to sleep at night. I am torn about what to do about bumpers in your crib.

- You are a typical girl with strong opinion  and definite wants. You make your opinion known and articulate it clearly and loudly :) You also communicate just as clearly your contentment and pleasure.

I can't believe it's been 4 months. It seems so short, but in the same breath I feel like you've always been with us. You've changed so much and I am so proud of my little blue-eyed girl.  

You are our treasure and we absolutely love you Robin!! You make us and our family feel whole.

All images in this post are courtesy of Elizabeth Ann Photography