Merry Christmas!

Our Cuties

Sarah has been smiling for a while now it seems. However, we have had a tough time capturing it on camera. I got a few shots last night, though they are a bit off center. For some reason Sarah would rather smile at her Mommy rather than at a one-eyed monster that flashes at her ;-)


Abigail is doing well. She hasn't been too much of a handful when it comes to the Christmas tree. She does take down maybe a handful of ornaments in the course of a day, but for the most part she leaves the tree alone. This morning I caught her adding her own special ornaments. They didn't last though-I think they're a bit big:

Christmas Tree

We broke from tradition this year and went to a nursery with pre-cut Christmas trees rather than go on our annual trek to cut down our own. We figured it would be easier since Sarah is so young. Hopefully next year we can go back to our normal Christmas tree tradition.

We bought a nice balsam fir tree from a nursery down the street and set it up this morning. We had it in place with lights and garland on in time for Abigail to put one or two ornaments on before her nap.

During Abigail's nap, Jonathan and I finished trimming the tree. It was cute to see Abigail get excited as she noticed new ornaments here and there.

I can see it will be a challenge initially keeping Abigail from giving into the temptation to play with and remove ornaments. Hopefully she will lose interest in a few days/a week (here's hoping).

Too Much Sauce in the Pasta

This is what happens when you put too much sauce in the pasta...

Mommy's Little Helper

The other morning I decided to make the most of extra cranberries from Thanksgiving by making bread with them. I thought I would be extra adventurous and have Abigail assist me. Abigail's main task was placing the cranberries in the mixing bowl-which she did one by one. She also took her turn at mixing the batter. My tasks included making the bread and keeping Abigail from making a mess and putting her hands in her mouth. The final product turned out great and the two of us had a fun time making it!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! We spent ours at my parents. The day was full of food, fun, cleaning, food, and food. Abigail had her first taste of cranberry sauce and seemed to enjoy it. She also really liked a strawberry marshmallow dessert Auntie Laura made. Sarah Beth had the usual.

Today was the day we finally got a picture of the whole family. It took the help of Uncle Nick distracting Abigail with a ball while the pictures were snapped.

One Month Old

Today marks Sarah's one-month birthday. This will probably get old, but I'll say it every month, I can't believe she is one-month old!

Sarah is starting to coo and make baby sounds more. In the beginning she limited herself to grunting and crying. Also, Sarah now makes eye contact instead of just looking in our general direction. Her neck muscles are getting nice and strong. She'll often lift her head up when we are holding her so she can get a good look at us.

We decided that we would take pictures of Sarah every month in the same 12-month onsie. Here she is at a few days old followed by her one-month picture:

New Milestones for Abigail

Abigail is growing up so fast. It amazes me the things she picks up! She can now identify the parts of a face with ease and can also identify other body parts. One fun thing to do is to ask her where the top of her head is. She knows that this is often met with a tickle under her arm, so she'll touch the top of her head as quickly as she can and then quickly bring her arm back down.

Abigail is also getting really good at is using a spoon. She can use a fork, though sometimes she gets impatient when she can't grab her food and often resorts to her fingers. I have been hesitant to give her control of her spoon because of the potential mess it could make. However, Abigail has made it clear that she will not eat something if she cannot use the spoon herself. Here are a few snapshots of her eating yogurt all by herself:


Abigail has been sick this past week with a fever. So Jonathan volunteered to stay with the girls so I could go to church today. When I got back this afternoon Jonathan had a smirk on his face. He proceeded to tell me about how Abigail wanted to play on our bed, but Jonathan suggested she play on her bed. As Abigail played a bit on the bed, Jonathan made her bed. Abigail then picked up a book wanting Jonathan to read her the book. After he read to her, she plopped herself on her bed as she was ready to sleep. Surprised, Jonathan covered her with her blanket and sang to her and left the room. Abigail was fast asleep in her big girl bed by the time I got home!

What a Morning!

I figured today would be a long one. Abigail didn't sleep well at all last night and was up a good hour earlier than normal.

I was getting things ready to bathe Abigail when she decided to go into the bathroom and close the door behind her. She can't reach doorknobs yet, so I needed to open it for her. Well, I was not quick enough. Abigail then opened the vanity drawer. This blocked the door and made it impossible for me to open. I could hear her grabbing at the Q-Tips. I told her to close the drawer so Mommy could get in. Over and over I asked her to do this with no success.

I started to freak out. Then my MacGyver instincts kicked in. I tried using a wire hanger to close the drawer from the outside. This started to freak Abigail out. Still no success! To top it all off, the only phone in the apartment-my cell phone-was in the bathroom!

There was nothing else I could do. I had to go to a downstairs neighbor to call 9-1-1. Two officers came by and used my hanger, a bread knife, and finally a jimmy. When we got in we found Abigail in the corner with tears in her eyes :-/

The funny part (in my opinion) was that both officers asked Abigail to give them "a five". She gave one to both of them. She doesn't do this for some people she knows! Anyway, needless to say, it was a memorable morning. Hopefully I won't have to call 9-1-1 again any time soon.

Fall Fun

Today Abigail spent time playing in the leaves outside our apartment. We figured she would enjoy it because of the time she spent crunching leaves in our church's parking lot. She liked it so much today that she didn't want to go back inside.

She's a Keeper

Abigail is really warming up to her baby sister. She often likes to walk up to her and gently touch her. Abigail is learning the parts of the face, so she will often touch Sarah's nose and mouth (with close supervision of course ;-). Abigail has also offered to share some of her food with Sarah and also tried handing a toy to her to chew on.

This afternoon Abigail showed her affection for her baby sister by giving her a kiss. Abigail kisses are usually only reserved for Mommy, Daddy, and her stuffed animals, so this is a big step for her. Abigail also got to hold Sarah for the first time.


We are looking forward to watching Abigail and Sarah grow up together!

One Week Old

One week ago today Sarah Elizabeth was born! I can't believe it has already been a week! Adjusting to having two little girls under two has been fairly smooth so far. However, I anticipate things getting difficult once Jonathan goes back to work.

Sarah went to her first Doctor's appointment on Monday and was already back to her birth weight! She is a very healthy baby girl.

On Sarah's one-week birthday we visited with Nonna, Papa, and the girls' Great-Grandparents. Here are a few pictures from the day:

Mommy's Little Helper

We've let Abigail venture into the forbidden room in our house since Sarah's arrival. This forbidden room is our kitchen. We let her in with us when we're preparing meals or getting Abigail milk. Tonight while I was plating a meal a friend made for us Abigail decided to do some sweeping. What a cute little helper!

The Sleep Deprived Mom

Last night was unlike any other in Sarah's short life. She was up from around midnight to a bit before 4:00. I think Abigail and Sarah conspired against us. They must have planned a little slumber party or something. Sarah woke up before midnight crying. For the first time since being home the crying woke up Abigail. I tended to Sarah and Jonathan to Abigail. After an hour or so of crying and talking to herself, Abigail fell asleep. After numerous feedings, burpings, diaper changings, and bouts of crying Sarah fell asleep-just before 4:00 AM. We did what we hoped to avoid and gave Sarah a pacifier. Thankfully Abigail wasn't ready to get up until just after 8:00.

So, what does a Mommy (and Daddy) do the day after a long and sleep derived night? See below:


Drink Caffeine!

What does a newborn do? Something a bit different:


Sleep!

Abigail the BIG Sister

Abigail is still getting used to having a baby sister around. For the most part she doesn't pay any attention to Sarah. We try to give her just as much attention as we give to Sarah, which isn't easy in the first few days of babyhood.

One hard thing for me is bedtime with Abigail. When we bring her into the bedroom she quiets down. Normally she gets really excited about reading a book, giving Daddy a kiss, and listening to us sing Jesus Loves Me to her. I hold her while we sing and she does not want to let go. She has a tight grip on me because she knows after "the Bible tells me so" we kiss her goodnight and lay her in her crib. Instead of having a big smile on her face she immediately stands up in the crib and cries when we leave. I am looking forward to this phase being over-it is heartbreaking!

On a much lighter note, here are pictures of Abigail, the BIG Sister:

It's a Girl: Sarah Elizabeth Kapaldo

God blessed us Thursday afternoon with a healthy baby girl. She was born at 2:20pm and weighed in at 7lbs 13 oz. and 21 inches long. Both Mommy and Sarah are doing well. Over these last couple of days, she has been sleeping, awake, and eating well!