Amelia 13 Months Old

Watching Amelia these days I remember how much I love this age. I remember feeling this way when Maggie was little too. I think that year between 1 and 2 is my favorite. Walking, starting to talk, independent, good sleep patterns, eating table food, and so on. They are changing and learning so fast in this short time it is amazing to watch them take in the world around them. So interactive but still a baby, easy to hold, snuggle, and of course still having those fat cheeks that I so love to kiss. It has been such a different experience this time around with Amelia. Not only does she have her big sister to learn from and interact with but she also has a house full of other children to influence her growth and development. It has been so fun to watch her pick up on certain things from watching the other kids. For example, when I tell everyone it's snack time she goes running to the kitchen with her hands in the air hootin' and hollerin' like everyone else. I always told everyone from the very beginning that she was going to be the child that I would find climbing on my kitchen table and counter tops and...

I was right!

It has been a challenge to keep her from climbing the walls and she are determined but she are also smart and is starting to learn her limits. Now when she climb one of these little chairs she know how to turn yourself around and sit the right way.

 But still anything she can climb on, she will!

I love this beautiful face.

She copies everything her big sister does...

  

And she thinks it's pretty hilarious. We are trying to use this opportunity to teach Maggie how to set a good example for Amelia and to teach her the right things to do...like I said, we are working on it. The two of them get along really well. The only time we see any trouble is when Amelia is messing with anything that Maggie is playing with.

This face is a new one and it completely cracks us up!

  

She loves playing with her Daddy!

She is more of a cuddle bug than her sister ever was. Every time she snuggles with me or is giving me kisses I think to myself, hold on to these moments because they are going to be gone so fast.

Playing outside this summer is going to be a whole new world for her and I can't wait to watch 

her explore it!

It still blows me away how different my girls are with looks and personality. I look forward to watching what the dynamic is like between the two of them as they grow up.

Sledding and Swinging

We all know how New England weather can be and this year us "newenglanders" have been getting a beating. Record lows for temperatures and snowstorms on almost a weekly basis. Needless to say we have all been a little stir crazy. So with a never ending supply of snow Jonny decided to have some fun with it.

 

 

Sorry for the quality of this picture, it was taken through the screen in the window. As you can see Jonny worked very hard to create our very own sledding hill and of course he had to test it out! (He'll kill me when he finds out I posted this picture, lol) We weren't able to use it this particular day because it started raining but with yet another snow storm soon on it's way we had more to work with about a week later.

 

Amelia's first experience in the snow. Her boots were about 2 sizes too big but she still did pretty good trekking around the driveway. She wasn't too fond of actually being in the snow, even when we went sledding down the hill with her. She was happy to just walk around.

 

Maggie on the other hand had a blast going up in the down all over the place.

 

And of course you can't play in the snow without making a snow angel!

 

Even though it was only in the 20's that weekend it was so nice to get some fresh air and have the sun on your face. Maggie and I spent a few hours sledding together. Great exercise that I totally paid for later. Then some of our neighbors came to join in the fun!

 

So after a great weekend in the snow we found ourselves in what seemed like a different season the very next weekend! With temps in the 50's being outside was the only place to be!! So with lighter jackets and sneakers instead of our snow boots we headed to the playground.

 

What a great feeling to be out in such weather while in the middle of a very cold snowy winter. We had to enjoy it while it lasted because the temps were headed back down to the 20's that week with more snow in the forecast. What a beautiful but tease of a weekend!

 

It had been a long time since Amelia had been in a swing so this was a whole new experience for her. She was a little unsure at first but was loving it after a few minutes. As I was pushing her and saying "Weeeeeee" she would copy me and say "eeeeeeee". I was able to catch it on video.

 

 

 



Playing Catch Up!

OK, it's been about a 1 year and a 1/2 since my last post. Finding time to keep up was impossible with all that has happened in that time and with the fact that my blog is not viewed by a whole lot of people I was never all that motivated. After taking the time to revisit the posts I have done I have realized that I want this to be more for me and my children. A virtual photo album or scrapbook if you will. It's one thing to have all the photos you have taken over the years to look back on but to be able to have a place where you can journal it and have it stored forever to view whenever you'd like is invaluable. I have so many strong memories from my past because of pictures my mom saved in albums over the years. I want my children to be able to look back in time and really remember what their life was like. So here we go playing catch up for the last 17 months. It was hard to narrow down the pictures and memories I wanted to share since there are so many but I'll keep it to just the highlights. I will continue to post about my day care moving forward as well but I won't recap as much on that.

 

Fall 2012

 

 

5 months pregnant with Miss Amelia

 

Halloween with all our neighborhood friends

 

Amelia 26 weeks

 

Thanksgiving parade in Plymouth

 

Hosting my first Thanksgiving Dinner

 

 

Winter 2012

 

 

Maggie's 3rd birthday

 

 

Bryanne and I, 32 weeks pregnant. Two bellies 3 babies!

 

Christmas 2012

 

The Havey Family Kids

 

Winter 2013

 

 

Brielle and Braelyn Bradley born January 22, 2013

 

 

 

Daddy's Birthday February 2nd

 

Amelia snuggling with her future BFF's Brielle and Braelyn

 

February 8th my due date and the Blizzard of '13! Needless to say I was slightly terrified.

 

The before...

 

40 weeks pregnant

 

No Power

 

The After...

 

I went into labor early Sunday morning February 10th. After a hectic morning trying to get out of the house we made it from Carver to Weymouth by 10am. I was 8cm dilated when we arrived and after a few hours and almost not being able to have an epidural...

 

 

Amelia Kathleen Dennen was born! 3:43pm, 9lbs 6oz, 21in!

Big sister meeting her new little sister

 

 

The Bradley Bunch and The Dennen Clan

 

Getting ready to go home

 

Home Sweet Home

 

First Bath

 

Sleeping Beauty

 

Meeting Mia and Gramps

 

First Smiles

 

Spring 2013

 

Easter 2013

 

Don't let this adorable face fool you, she was a tough baby. The first several months where tough especially while running a full daycare. Sometimes I look back on these days and wonder how I made it through. Hence the reason I was unable to keep up with this blog.

 

 

The Girls

 

Maggie flying a kite with Daddy

 

Dan and Andrea's Wedding

April 26th 2013

 

 

Nana and Amelia

 

Maggie and cousin Ethan

 

Amelia 3 months old

 

Mother's Day 2013

 

 

 

Visiting Daddy

 

Mommy decided to cut Maggie's hair

 

 

Ocean Explorium

 

Touching Stingrays

 

 

Dan and Andrea's Baby Shower on the Pilgrim Belle

 

Summer 2013 

 

Amelia 4 months old

 

My niece Sophia Estelle Hadley

Born June 10, 2013

 

 

Nantasket Beach Hull, MA

 

 

4th of July Parade

 

 

 

4th of July Cookout

 

 

 

Amelia 5 months old

 

Visiting with Great Aunt Vicki and Great Aunt Berni

 

Princess Sophia

 

Maggie's first time on the commuter rail and subway

 

Heading to the Children's Museum

 

Over night trip to New Hampshire and Canobe Lake Park

 

A Tribute to Katy Perry Concert...Maggie was in heaven!

 

The Girls

 

Marshfield Fair

 

 

Maggie and Brendan

 

Fall 2013

 

Maggie's first dance class

 

Apple picking at C.N. Smith Farm

 

 

Sauchuk Farm and Corn Maze

Halloween 2013

Harper and Maggie

Harper, Isla, Amelia, & Maggie

Amelia 9 months old

Amelia had to have surgery at Mass Eye and Ear, in early December, for a blocked tear duct. Aside from her fall in the hotel room the night before that warranted stitches above her eye, everything went smoothly and the doctors and staff at Mass E&E were fantastic!

The sun rise over the city that day was beautiful!

She was such a trooper!

Maggie's 4th Birthday

Christmas 2013

My Spunky Monkey

Maggie's first dentist visit

This has been a common sight this winter

These ladies are some of the best friends I have in my life right now and the best part is we all live in the same neighborhood and our kids are going to be growing up together. I am one lucky lady!

Amelia having snack with the big kids!

Amelia's 1st Birthday

Amelia 12 months old

And last but not least...my Sweet Valentines

February 14, 2014