February

 February was the month of lots of snow, lots of love, lots of crafting, and no school. The first full week of school Paige only went to school 2 1/2 days, the following week school got cancelled the entire week because of the snow, the following week was a scheduled week off, and now finally the last week of February it is back to school and back to routine. I loved having Paige around. She is such a big help especially with playing and entertaining Baylor. We did feel a bit couped up with all the snow and having to pretty much stay home and it being too cold to go out and play. We missed Nate a lot since on most of the snowy days he had to work 12 hour shifts to go out and plow. It was weird not having him home at dinner time and in the evenings. He hardly got to see the girls during those days- just in the mornings for a little bit. I'm grateful that we don't live in a place that usually has this much snow so this kind of work for Nate doesn't happen that often. 

One day the sun was shiny so we went out and I pulled the girls in the sled for a bit and Paige and I built a snow man. I let Paige use some watercolor paint to decorate her snowman which she loved doing. 

Paige missed Dad and even decided to dress in his clothes one morning. She was even talking in her dad voice which was pretty cute. 

We made chocolate chip cookies together one day and Baylor got her first ever taste of cookie dough and absolutely loved it! She kept asking for more and even grabbed a big handful out. I did catch her when she did this and gave her a smaller amount. :)

After cookie making and while I was baking the cookies I let the girls play in some flour. They loved it. Paige was her creative self and wanted to make a flour "cake". And Baylor just made a mess and even tried some.

One evening I let the girls play with some shaving cream. Paige likes to do this and draw in it. It was Baylor's first time and she liked swishing it around all over the table and then after a while she would touch her face or hair and it got all over so it definitely turned into a bath night. 

One day it had warmed up enough and the roads were good enough to drive on so we ventured out to the store. Paige spotted these two chairs for them to try out. Baylor loved them and loved a comfy chair that was her size and kept lounging back in it.

When Paige was home she crafted almost every day. She loves to create and she makes things for Nate and I all the time. She makes the best notes and one night when Nate and I were going to bed she had left these sweet notes for Nate and I in our bathroom so that we could see them right before we went to bed. The colored paper in the bottom corner was a pocket that had all the gifts in it along with some chocolate kisses. Mine says- "Mom, I am just telling you I love you very much. You do a lot for our family- clean dishes, laundry, change diapers, and cook so I wanted to give you a present. Love, Paige". Nate's said- "Dad, I just wanted to tell you I love you. You are the best dad ever. You do a lot for our family- sell, change diapers, and go to work. I love you very much. Love, Paige." She is just the sweetest and knows how to melt my heart!

For the month of February each day counting up to Valentine's Day I would put a heart on Baylor and Paige's door to tell them something we love about them. Nate and I both wrote on some. Baylor was cute every morning when I would take her out of her room. She would excitedly point at the hearts and want to touch each one.

Things we love about Paige- I love your silly laugh you do; I love you being you; I love that you are a great friend and make friends easily;  I love you creativity; I love how thoughtful you are. You give the best notes and think of others; I love listening to you read and how you write your own stories; I love that you are a good student at school; You are a rad big sister; I love how funny you are; I love how brave and kind you are; I love that you  love our outdoor adventures

Things we love about Baylor- I love going on walks with you and seeing you observe the world around you; I love how much you love Paige and seeing you bond as sisters; I love the gap in your teeth and your cheesy grin; I love watching you learn/grow; I love that you have a sweet tooth and love ice cream and chocolate like me; I love the silly faces you make; I love your chompers; I love how cute you and Paige are; I love that you are a tease; I love how funny you think you are; I love my miracle baby and so happy we have you

We had a great Valentine's day! It was simple and filled with love and lots of love notes from Paige.

Paige's love notes

 A week or so before Valentine's day, Paige planned what Baylor and her would wear on Valentine's day and painted this picture to hang up on Valentine's day so that they would match the picture.

After I gave Baylor and Paige their Valentine's gifts in the morning Paige created this sweet card. She is so thoughtful!

                                                    More Valentine's crafting from Paige

Paige was decorating the table for Valentine's dinner while I was cooking and Baylor decided to "help" her out. :)

After dinner Paige decorated a Valentine's house. We didn't get around to decorating a gingerbread house at Christmas time so I promised Paige we would do it on Valentine's day.

Baylor loved having access to lots of candy!

This past Sunday I curled Paige's hair for the first time. It turned out gorgeous! I have tried in the past but she has super fine hair and it wouldn't stay curled. So I tried again with lots of hair spray and it stayed in long enough for church. She is turning into such a pretty little lady and growing up way too fast!

 Paige and Baylor having some fun in the dryer.

 The past couple of weeks Baylor has turned into a climber. She has figured out how to climb up on all the chairs. So she climbs up and gets on the table or gets into her high chair because she wants to eat. She is a busy little bee and now that she has figured the climbing you have to constantly keep an eye on her.

I love my girls so much! They keep me busy and tired and also bring me so much joy.

Snow and More

 I mentioned in my last blog post that Paige got a pretty bad ear infection that she had to go to the doctor for and get some type of penicillin to help it go away. The medicine helped right away and she was doing great. She was able to go back to school and took her last dosage on a Wednesday. The following Saturday she woke up and Nate noticed that her cheeks were more rosy than usual and she said she was itchy. Upon more examination there were red spots all over her body. So it was back to the doctor. It turns out that you can have a delayed reaction from penicillin and she had an allergic reaction to the medication. Poor girl! The rash didn't seem to bother her that much though it looked pretty bad and it was weird seeing this rash all over her body. After a couple days of medicine to clear that up she is back to her normal self.

On February 4th Baylor slept through the night for the first time in her life! Finally after 15 months! :) She woke up and fusses early in the morning but I could tell that she wasn't really awake and after one or two minutes she went back to sleep. So she slept from 8 to 8 and these last couple of days she has kept it up. She usually wakes up and fusses one or two times during the night but it is for a very short time and then she goes back to sleep. We are making progress!

 Sunday evening it started to snow and we had lots of snow and Monday and Tuesday school got cancelled because of it. It is quite pretty but really cold. It is crazy that last week I was walked around the park three days in a row this close to 60 degree weather and now we have snow. 

Monday morning the girls admiring the snow and Baylor knocking at the the birds.

On Monday we took advantage of the snow and ventured outside for a little sledding. It was Baylor's first time playing in the snow and she was super unimpressed. :) I think some of it was the snow suit that she could hardly move in but it was funny seeing her serious little face the entire time we were outside. 

We did go over to the park for a little bit because Paige wanted a bigger hill to sled down. She went down maybe three times and then was done because she got snow in her boot and her foot was freezing and I went down once with Baylor and she got sprayed with snow in her face and started to cry. It started out fun and then it was tears but at least we got out and had that experience. It was a fun and short adventure out.

The last couple of days have been staying inside and Paige has been super helpful with cleaning and organizing and has done lots of crafting. Baylor and Paige also made this cute drawing for me while I was cleaning up from breakfast. I am one lucky mom to have two such cute and incredible little girls to spend all my time with!