Big Sisters Aren't Supposed to be THIS Big!

Amelia has had a pretty big summer! In a very short amount of time she has become a big sister, a chef, an architect, an artist, and a child prodigy! Let me elaborate:

Amelia loves to help me with EVERYTHING, including cleaning, cooking, and taking care of Jack. Anytime she sees me get the vacuum out she has to "help mommy" by holding the loose cord for me;) And for months now she takes it upon herself to use her wet wipes to clean anything within reach;) Every morning now she runs to the kitchen, drags a chair to the stove and says "I help cook mommy"! Usually though around supper time when she wants to "help" mommy is short on hands/time/energy, so I just give her a bowl with dry pasta and let her go to town stirring and measuring. Sure she gets almost every spoon and bowl she can reach dirty but it keeps her busy and she has a blast! Here's the little chef in action:
Now I don't claim to be the most artistic person, but I do remember how much I loved getting messy in art class (well I probably just loved cleaning up to be honest, but for blogging sake...) Our girl has become obsessed with painting recently! It all started a few weeks before Jack was born I let her play with some finger paint, you may remember a previous post with the picture of all the paint on her. Well we have a full blown artist now, wanting to paint any and all the time!

Little Painters first trip to paint pottery at Fired Up!

Now I've always known that Amelia would have to have a little tomboy in her because Chris planned to take her hunting and fishing just as much as any boy. So I'm not surprised that she can blow a goose call better than some men I know! Here she is at a Ducks Unlimited dinner we went to in the kids calling competition:
I have to say probably my favorite thing to see Amelia learn is how to become a GREAT big sister! She shows Jack so much love and affection it just melts me! She loves to wash him in the bath, and knows she can only wash his legs and belly and mommy does the rest;) And anytime Jack even opens his eyes she runs to him yelling "baby waken", her version of "the baby's awake" So sweet!

Architect isn't something I would typically call a 2 year old, but if that 2 year old loved building blocks as much as this one, then an architect she is! Amelia has recently discovered how fun building blocks can be with a little imagination, we've had rocket ships blasting off, tall towers knocked over, tiny houses for Little People...fun fun!

And finally yes we have a child prodigy! Ok maybe not but we did have a very proud mommy last week when we were told that our girl talks VERY WELL for her age! There was a speech therapist at her babysitters house for another little boy there and heard Amelia talking and told our babysitter that she was amazed by her speech;) Of course Amelia's been talking forever it seems like, and she's always had a pretty good vocabulary, but here lately she just DOES NOT stop talking! In the car, at home, in bed, all the time she is so curious and funny! And it's not just how much she says, but how she says it-always adorable but surprisingly easy to understand! With her increasing vocabulary I've found it hard to keep her vocabulary list updated (*see right side*) so I've changed it to our words of the week, because even I am surprised by the words that come out of her mouth ( and I'm not talking wordie-dirties either lol)!

So we leave you for now with my brave girl befriending a giraffe at the zoo;)

And that's why they call them terrible two's!!

Okay to start I have to post this adorable pic of my two beautiful babies because more than anything motherhood has taught me that even the worst day isn't that bad compared to how amazing they make life! Just look at those precious kids!

....but I also have to admit that even my angel can be a little tyrant at times! She is so independant and smart and curious, it gets the best of her at times;) Don't get me wrong-we are extremely blessed to have a child that is so sweet and who almost always listens and obeys. But she is 2 and with that comes a little exploration and testing boundaries, most of the time mommy's! She's so funny though when she does it that I almost have to laugh (almost). It's so cute to hear her, after we've said no to something, slump her shoulders and say "puh-leeeeeaase" in the most heartbroken voice. And the one that drive's Daddy the craziest is when she doesn't want to do something she says "can't do it", which is better than the occassional "don't want to" that we get! There have been only a couple truly horrific meltdowns so far by my sweet baby, and both involved wanting to "drive mommy's Jeep" (which she loves to pretend to do), and a severe lack of sleep (which is rare and never a good thing)! I know that every toddler has to learn by trial and error,and I feel blessed to be the one responsible for showing her the way. Luckily I have also been blessed with an almost neverending amount of patience too;) So here's a picture of my very independant, strong-willed girl, who even as all the other kids were running in the fountains having fun, she never has liked fountians and would only get this close to it for the picture-but it's oh so much sweeter because I know that's my girl!

Slowly Coming Back to Life (i.e. life with a newborn)

So I realize that it's been over a month since my last post. Well let me tell you that life in the Wolsiefer house these past few weeks has consisted of mostly me feeding Jack, with little bits of life in between! We have been sooo lucky with Amelia during this huge transition in our family! She has been so patient and understanding for a 2 year old, never getting upset even after the fifteenth time of hearing "I'll get your drink/snack/movie/toy.. after I finish feeding the baby", instead she just says oookkaaay in her adorable voice and goes about her business. I am so happy that I have been able to nurse Jack like I did Amelia, even though sometimes it can be a little challenging. It just melts my heart to feel this bond growing between me and Jack, the same bond that me and Amelia still have today! So for the most part things are going pretty well!

Since my last post when we brought baby Jack home, we haven't done much but stay out of the heat and enjoy our new family of four! But here's a recap of what we have done:

Our best friends welcomed their first baby Adalynn a few weeks ago, and we are so excited for them!

We took Amelia and Jack to the Ducks Unlimited Greenwing Event (a banguet for the children of DU). Amelia was in the duck calling competition and was sooo cute! She didn't win but she had the best style!

Our friend Gunner turned 5 years old and we went to his swim party, and our good friends Matt and Melanie surprised everyone when the engagement party we were supposed to be going to for them turned into a wedding reception after they had a very unexpected wedding the night before! Congrats guys-we can't wait to go to their big wedding next year!

Welcome Jack Michael!

So alot has happened in the past week! As most of you should know, we welcomed our second child into our family on July 9, just over a week ago. We are thrilled to announce that we have a beautiful baby BOY, Jack Michael! It was almost four weeks early, and we definitely didn't expect it to happen when it did, but everything went great and he is healthy so everything happened just the way it was meant to! I have to say that I was extremely lucky to have had a very fast delivery and for the most part easy recovery! So on to the most important part-the baby!!

Jack is an absolute angel! He is handsome like his Daddy, has eaten like a champ from the first feeding, and sleeps great! We thought for sure that after Amelia was such a good baby, we surely couldn't have been lucky enough to have another baby that good, but so far he is just like his sister! Amelia loves him, always wanting to hold him, give him a paci, help change his diaper! I can't wait to see how their relationship grows as he gets older! It feels like Jack has always been a part of our family, I can't believe that only a week ago we didn't know this amazing person yet! I can't wait to see what the future holds for our new family of four!

Four Generations!

Such a good big sister!

My Big Girl

So since I'm writing this post now, comsidering ALOT has changed in the last week, these pictures mean more to me than just a summertime blog. When I look at these pictures now I see a big sister, big girl with two years of life experience and not even a glimpse of that newborn girl we had just a little bit ago! We have been so blessed to have this amazing, precious, hilarious girl be a part of our family! From birth Amelia has been a joy, with everyday better than before! We are amazed by her everyday-the way she has never met a stranger, but pretends to be shy when she's tired. The way she talks when she wants something, the intonation in her voice is hilarious, but you'd just have to hear it;) How she is such a princess, always having to wear accessories, including shoes, necklaces, bracelets, "makeups", hair bows, and always has an opinion on which ones! I love the way she twirls when she thinks she looks especially pretty in a dress, and calls any dress a "dancing dress"!! She keeps us cracking up all day! I've been especially attached to her lately, feeling like I need her more than she could ever need me, knowing that with another baby coming I want her to always know how special she is! She's already showing what a good big sister she is going to be, and I can't wait to see how our little family changes!

Always creative-accessorizing even with finger paint!

She has always loved helping mommy clean and now loves to help cook too!

The child knows no fear!

Baby #2

Here's a look at the yet-to-be-revealed new baby! I got an ultrasound just for fun at work a couple nights ago and it showed exactly what I thought-that this baby is chubby and very crowded. I really didn't need 4D technology to tell ya that but the pics are pretty cute!

Yep that big foot is poking me all day every day (and I love it).

Chubby cheeks+chubby lips+chubby arm=preciousness!

There are lots of preparations going on around our house right now trying to get ready for the new baby. Today I am 35 weeks and 2 days, which means that sometime in the next 5 weeks this baby is coming-ready or not!! Chris has been working hard on Amelia's big girl room that she's moving to, and I've been getting all of the baby things out and washing and organizing. Nothing like waiting till the last minute! I've been feeling good overall but the last week or so I'm definitely moving slower and feeling it more! I've gotten some pretty humorous reactions from people lately when they see me and my ever-growing belly, some being: :"how much longer...really?" and "where did your ankles go" and my all-time favorite "GOOD GOD RACHEL!" Yes my belly is impressively massive-it's a contradiction of gravity that I can even walk upright, but I'm hanging in there and keeping this baby happy and healthy as long as he/she would like!

Panama City Beach 2010

The first Wolsiefer Family Vacation was a blast! We left the last Friday of May and stayed the whole week. At first we planned on going halfway and staying overnight-mainly because I thought my preggo self couldn't make it the whole way in one day, but we drove the whole way through down and back and everyone did surprisingly well! My feet survived, and Amelia was an angel! The week went way too fast, filled with lots of activities and some rest and relaxation too;) The first full day we just swam and went out to eat at Marguaritaville. We spent one incredibly hot day playing put-put, the guys played golf, the girls had a night of shopping and eating, rented a pontoon boat and went to Shell Island, and went to Gulf World (a small SeaWorld-type place where we saw a dolphin show and a sealion show). Amongst all of those activities we spent lots of time swimming and enjoying the beach, dinners together almost every evening, and late nights on the balcony. Here's just a few snapshots out of literally hundreds of pictures from the week! So many memories were made;)