What a difference a year makes

It's crazy how much kids change and grow in just one year. I thought it would be fun to see the difference of my little pumpkin in just one year. The first picture is of Alivia at her friends Sam's 1st birthday and the one below is exactly a year later at his 2nd birthday. Amazing how much she has grown up.

A fun week

This week was full of fun activities. In the beginning of the week we headed to the Minnesota Zoo for the day and had a great time. Alivia and Presley were able to try out my new double jogger and it was fantastic. I can't wait to have baby Ella and Alivia in it for a nice walk.

We spent a lot of time by the prairie dogs which Presley was not impressed by at all. It was funny because they squeak like a dog toy and Presley kept telling us they were talking to her and Alivia. Oh the mind of a 2 1/2 year old.

We ended the week by going to an indoor play park. There was so much to do the two girls basically ran themselves crazy. From the bouncy slide to the tricycle they had a great time. I think this might be a place we go to more often.

Playing hide and go seek with a few boys. Of course she playing with the boys.

Making something out of nothing. Wouldn't life be more fun if adults could have this much fun with a plastic bin.

Making our own fun

My little mother has taken over her babies toys. We got this pack n' play for her babies and she didn't find it that fun to put them in it. Instead she has found a new spot for herself. I gave this to her on Saturday and she has been sitting in it ever since (well it seems that way). I had to draw the line when she wanted me to sit in it with her. Bless her heart that she thinks her 39 week pregnant mom can sit in there with her.

We also were able to finally get out to the park which is right down the street from us. We had a great time and yes we had to wear our hat. She wears this hat no matter what the temp is outside.
We were the only ones that were at the park so Alivia got to run around and do what she wanted. The only new thing we had to figure out was she didn't want to take the stroller there so we both walked. She did a great job staying next to me on the sidewalk. I guess I have to let her grow up sometime.

All by myself...

Everyday Alivia stands on the toilet while I get ready. She usually waits patiently till I get to the lotion and make-up part. She loves to put lotion on and now she like to help rub it on my belly. She also likes or wishes she had her own make-up to put on. When I do my eye's she will say "me eye's" and I have to say "when your 5". It's so funny because I will catch out of the corner of my eye squinting and using her finger to put on her own pretend eyeliner and shadow. My baby is growing up way to fast. She also likes to use the q-tips as you can see. I just have to watch her closely on this one so she doesn't shove it in to far.

Magic Bed...

So some of you know Alivia has been having some issues with her sleeping lately. We finally figured out it separation anxiety and we are getting back to our normal sleep habbits which is awesome. We have had a really good 5 days so what I am doing has worked.
Over the weekend Alivia took a great nap and when she woke up I went in to get her and I usually bring her in our room so I can either put away laundry or shower after working out. So I got her, her blanket and Lilly (our frog) and I sat her in our bed. Remind you it's about 3:45pm and we just slept for about an hour and 15 mins. So I sat her down and went to start putting away clothes and turned around and this is what I saw. My little girl had fallen back asleep all curled up in her favorite things. There is just something about a sleeping kid that melts your heart. I let her lay there while I finished my things and even took a shower and got ready. Crazy girl....

So the next day we had the same thing happen. This time we had a time change so I understand completely. She woke up at her normal time in the morning and usually I bring her in bed and we watch the Today show while daddy gets ready for work, but since it was Sunday I let her watch awesome PBS kids. Since it was day light savings daddy was still sleeping, but still decided to have snuggle time with the TV really low. I brought her in our room around 8am and got up to find the remote and came back to sit next to Alivia and saw this picture. I started laughing and quickly ran to get the camera. How does this happen within two days of each other. There must be something special about mom and dad's bed to make this girl fall asleep within seconds. I am sure Clint would hate that I am posting this picture, but who can resist this picture of my two favorite people sleeping so peacefully.... (oh and don't mind the pillow between us. I use it when I sleep for my belly and between my legs so I can sleep better)

My little worker

This past weekend we did a lot of cleaning and putting things up on the wall. We finally got around to cleaning out our storage closet and organized it. It's crazy how much junk we had shoved in there. Now it's clean, labeled and organized perfectly. We also got the rest of Ella's pictures hung and after that Alivia thought she needed to get some things done herself.

Carefully working on the wall cover.
Doing a little singing while she works.

Fixing moms TV in the workout room.

36 Weeks

We have made it to the final month and I can't believe we will have two little girls in less than 30 days. We are so excited to add to our family and I know Alivia will be such a wonderful big sister. I feel like she will seem like such a big girl when Ella gets here. In my heart Alivia will always be my little girl though.

Alivia loves to kiss my belly. I don't think she quite knows or understands that there is a baby in there, but it's very sweet.

Here's my growing belly. Only 28 days left!!!!

Poor belly needs a tan, don't you think.

Goofball child

Alivia has been my big helper when it comes to laundry. Yesterday we did another load for baby Ella and Alivia took complete control over the hats and sleepers. I wasn't sure if this was a sign of a future swimmer or was just showing off how small her head really is.

We wore this hat all morning until I had to take it off to get dressed and ready. I have a feeling some of Ella's clothes might make an appearance on Alivia in the near future.

Ella's room

Well this past weekend has been a busy one. We had Clint's family up to help start and almost finish baby Ella's room. They came up early on Friday to get started on painting which took the longest, but look fabulous! I can not thank Annette and Courtney enough for everything they did.
Here is Alivia waiting patiently for everyone to arrive to get started on the painting. She hasn't seen her auntie Courtney since Thanksgiving so we were really excited.

I had to get creative to keep Alivia occupied while they worked on the room. While they painted she helped me put the swing together and then used it to watch the action going on across the hall.

The beginning stages of painting and let me tell you it took a lot of coats to get the yellow just how we wanted it.

Taking a break from her lounge chair to sneak a peek at grandma and auntie working hard in Ella's room.

And here is the room almost finished. It turned out pretty adorable I would have to say. I still need the rocking chair, curtains and picture frames on the wall.

Once we were finished all Alivia wanted to do was be in the crib. For some reason this one is much more fun than her own. This could be trouble when Ella is really here.

Just like daddy

Since we have been cleaning out a lot of things Clint finally has decided to let go of some of his basketball shoes. They have been sitting in a laundry basket downstairs and Alivia has found a huge interest in them. She thinks it's so funny to put daddy's shoes on and try to walk around. I always thought little girls liked to put mommies heals on, but hey she can have a little tomboy in her. Just as long as she continues to wear all her cute outfits she can play with daddy's shoes....

Lazy bones....

This past weekend was pretty busy with finishing up painting in Alivia's room, getting the babies crib and dresser and going to Jack's hockey game. So we spent a lot of time in our PJ's which you can see in the picture below. Alivia also found a new seat in the house, her babies stroller. I have noticed since I have slowly taken out some baby things like the swing little Alivia thinks it's for her. I found her the other day sitting in the baby swing just hanging out like no big deal. This will be interesting when this baby comes in just 40 days....

Well we finally started on baby Ella's room and it's finally starting to look like a baby room instead of an adult guest bedroom. This weekend we should have it mostly done besides little things. We are lucky to have grandma come up to help from Iowa and maybe auntie Courntey too. The Varley household is starting to come around after all our new things. I will post pictures when we are done with everything...