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!

40 Weeks

Needless to say, I did not think I would be making a post about reaching the 40-week mark. I had Abigail 2 days before I hit 40 weeks/her due date. I expected I might go early or at least on time with this little one. She seems to be in no hurry to evacuate the premises ;-)

We are all ready for baby's arrival. Most of the apartment is clean. Our pantry/refrigerator is stocked up. Bottles are sterilized. The diaper changing table is full. Now all we need is a new baby.

One fun thing about being due today and not actually having a baby yet is seeing peoples' reactions when they ask me when I am due. That's about the only fun thing ;-) I am ready to meet our new little girl!

So, here is a 40-week belly picture followed by a picture of Abigail doing quality control checks on Sarah's play mat.

Good Clean Fun

Abigail has been adding new big girl activities to mix up her daily routine lately. A few weeks ago at church she had her first experience with Play-Doh. She only attempted to eat it once. After realizing that the play clay amused her for a good while, we decided to invest in some of our own.

Another activity we added today was finger painting. My Mom has a few books of home recipes for all sorts of concoctions (clay, paints, etc). I tried a recipe for finger paint made out of vanilla pudding, water, and food coloring. Unfortunately we were out of red food coloring, so our color palette was limited.


Here are her final products.

Creative Big Girl

Abigail is always finding new ways to play with her toys. Sometimes she will place all of her stuffed animals on the coffee table and try to stand them up. Other times she will try to give them rides on her pull toys. This weekend she did a different form of furniture climbing. She's bumped her head a few times but seems to like crawling onto the "shelf" of our coffee table. Now, Abigail may love this new way to play, but her Mommy does not. Maybe she'll get over it and find something more amusing to do.