Christmas 2017

Whew. We had a great Christmas! Grab a cup of hot chocolate and settle down because these pics are going to take some time to get through. {grin} This year it was nice to get back to our 'normal' Christmas after we took last year off with a 4-day-old baby. I definitely like life WITHOUT a newborn!

We started our holidays with a slumber party at Babs and Pops' house. They kept all the grandkids except Paige for the first time! Such an awesome treat for the kids who had a BLAST and for my sister and me. Patty and David actually had a date! 

The Swope Six!

Paige doesn't yet realize what she missed out on, but she'll have plenty of Swope Slumber Parties as she grows!

Oh Christmas Eve, we went to Brent's Nannie's house and enjoyed yummy food, great cousin time, and a few presents.

Nannie with my trio

It's present time!

Paige just wanted to pick up the boxes.

I also love in this pic that you can see how Drew is ALWAYS touching Paige.

 She has learned to climb and loves sitting on whatever she can climb on.

Papa and Paige

Starting 'em young...just kidding!

Drew telling Brent's Uncle Keith {you can see his reflection in the window} that she is a Longhorn and an Aggie. My girl has such a sweet heart.

Christmas morning started REALLY early for Paige and me. She is cutting her molars and we hung out 3 times in the middle of the night, so after she finally fell back asleep at 7:30 from our 3rd adventure, I let her sleep until 9:15. The big 2 woke up a little after 7:00, so we let them open their presents from us. Santa brought Trent a Nintendo 3DS, Drew a build-a-bear bunny kit {she asked Santa for a real rabbit, and he wrote her a letter saying all the baby bunnies weren't ready to leave their moms and dads}, and Paige got a cozy coupe.

Trent was SO EXCITED about his 3DS

Drew with her Santa gift

Opening the rest of their presents...

We built her bunny right away, and she loved it! Her name is Pink.

After I woke Paige up, we nursed really quickly and then headed to my parents. My sister and her family spend Christmas Eve night at my parents', so they were already there.

Paige with one of her new books - that girl loves books!

Tangled

Paige was more interested in Babs' phone than presents

Making phallic jokes with my brother-in-law using a present of Paige's - 

yes, I know that is extremely juvenile - if you know my BIL...it makes sense!

Yes, I also give my mom beer for Christmas

My brother-in-law

Babs got the girls this shirt - we all loved it!

Her grandma name comes from the Czech word for Grandma - Babicka

Bad quality but Trent got a new Kindle because his other screen is destroyed.

He was so excited and said 'Electronics forever!' That kid!! 

Although the gift that caused him to get up and hug someone was the bag of a million Pokemon figures my sister got him. We all couldn't believe that - Trent is not a very demonstrative kid {except with his Nana}.

We only stayed a couple hours at my parents because Paige needed a nap - hopefully next year we can spend a little longer because the big 2 were really sad to leave their cousins.

Normally we would have our Christmas afternoon/evening at Brent's parents' house, but they have been in a 1-bedroom apartment since April, so we hosted this year. They move Friday into their gorgeous new house that is 6 minutes from us!

The Gurley grands - 

first time we've had Brent's nephew, Branden, with us in 6 years! 

Our crew

Paige was so funny - she kept trying to sit on this one tiny present.

And climbing on Bubba's science experiments - that girl!

And that ends Christmas for us! It wasn't Paige's first Christmas, but it certainly felt more like it than last year - it was amazing watching my 3 babies enjoy Christmas so much, and I can't wait to see it for years to come.

And just for giggles...4 day old Paige last year! What a difference, huh??

12 Month Comparisons

I'm working up the energy to post about Christmas because I have A LOT of pictures to share. So until then, let's compare my 1-year-old babies!

Trent:
Weight: 20 pounds - gained 11 pounds, 7 ounces
Height: 29 1/4" - grew 8 3/4"

Drew:
Weight: 18 pounds, 4 ounces - gained 9 pounds, 4 ounces
Height: 28 1/2" - grew 8 1/2"

Paige:
Weight: 18 pounds, 1 ounce - gained 8 pounds, 2 ounces
Height: 28" - grew 8"

Pretty cool to see how they stack up - at least to me! People comment often that Paige is my biggest kiddo, but at 1 she is actually the smallest of the 3. I personally think it's the cheeks. {grin}

Merry Christmas!

Grow Baby Grow {Paige} - 1 Year! [Hold me]

GAH! Without my permission, here we are! Paige up and turned ONE on us today, that stinker. We had her well check bright and early this morning, and I was surprised to find she's smaller than Drew! 

Stats:
Height: 28" {10%}
Weight: 18 pounds, 1 ounce {25%}
Head circumference: 44.5 cm {40%}
Clothes: 6-12 months or 9-12 months
Diaper size: 3 in disposables, 1 snap down, 2 snaps open in cloth

It's funny because I was reading Drew's 1 year post, and there is so much that is similar to Paige. 

The big change this month is Paige is walking 99% of the time. She has spent the past few weeks really mastering walking and about a week ago it all clicked together, and she's been solely walking ever since.

She's also found more sounds this month - 'da-da' was your main sound, but she's added 'ma-ma' and 'ba-ba'. She can also say 'night-night' and will say that and sign 'milk' when it's bedtime - so cute. She can also sign 'all done'.

Nursing is going well - Paige nurses when she wakes up, before and after naps, and before bedtime. She is not interested any other time. At school, she is only drinking water, in the last few weeks she started refusing her bottles, so after our Christmas break, she's only going to get water...which means I'm done pumping! Yay!

Paige loves to play - she loves to push her stroller and the wagon, she loves to knock over towers, she loves to fill up containers, she loves baby dolls, she loves to put anything in her mouth that shouldn't be there. She loves to get her siblings attention. She wants our phones all the time and gets mad if we lock the home screen - ha.

She has 6 teeth, and her 2 bottom molars are SO CLOSE to breaking through.

I would say Paige is 50/50 for sleeping through the night. If she wakes up, it's just once, and we nurse for 10-20 minutes, and she goes back down. Bedtime is between 6:00-7:30, depending on if it's a school day or not, and she typically sleeps until at least 7:30 if she's left alone.

We are so close to 1 nap - if we give her 2 naps, the first one is always about 3 hours and the second one is a cat nap of an hour or less. She's really close to being able to drop that second nap.

Paige's favorite activity is EATING. She eats everything we eat with relish. The only thing I've found she hasn't liked is pickles. Her favorites are blueberries, avocados, breakfast sausage, eggs, grapes, tomatoes, cantaloupe, and pretzels. She LOVES water.

She is still not really into books - she more likes to play with them. It's a miracle if I even can read her a few pages before she takes the book and starts turning pages.

Paige still hates the car, and food is still the best way to appease her. She loves her Vitamin C and probiotic tablets, so those help get her in her seat. I can also sing to her, and even though I have a terrible voice, that usually calms her down.

She loves water - she loves to take baths or be in the shower with us. She likes to drink the bath water too which cracks me up. If I leave the water running, she puts her whole face in.

Twas the Night Day Before...

...not Christmas...but the day before my baby turns ONE. SOB.

I have all the feels right now. Parenthood is so bittersweet, am I right?

I'm so in awe of watching her turn into a little person. She is walking and communicating with us and is the star of the show. I love her more every day and parts of me can't believe she's only been with us 364 days.

I'm so excited to see who she becomes.

But I'm also a little sad knowing the baby days are fading away and will be no more. She is done crawling, she is done with bottles, she is done with being a baby! She has learned she has an opinion and can throw herself on the floor and kick her little feet in the cutest way, but I know soon it won't be cute and will likely happen in the aisles of Target far too soon.

The difference between Wednesday and Thursday is only 1 tiny day out of the thousands and thousands I pray for her, and Paige will age the same amount she's aged every other day of her life, but it's the day Paige goes from being 11 months old to being 1 year old. We'll still nurse and snuggle at bedtime tonight, she'll still hold my hand, she'll still be MY baby, but when she wakes up on Thursday morning, that tiny shift will mean she won't be A baby.

I look at Trent and Drew and know how quickly the years will continue to pass by. I know there is so much fun in our future. But I also know we're crossing an invisible barrier, and we won't ever go back. That silly cliche is so true and is heavy on my heart: The days are long, but the years are short.

Thursday, we will play and laugh and cuddle and sing and be silly and read and make messes and be together all day. She will be joy personified. She will be worth every sleepless night and every Zoloft pill I had to take. She will be worth every tear and moment of anxiety. She will be worth the 3 years of arguing I did with her daddy to get her here. She will worth the 45 pounds and added stretch marks, the birth plan that got thrown out the window, the post-partum body that doesn't seem to want to go away. She is one of the 3 best things I've ever done.

I can't wait to celebrate this little life tomorrow that I know is going to do big things. But I'm also going to hold her a little tighter tonight and snuggle a little longer. It's my last time to snuggle a baby after all!

Happy almost birthday, Paige. You are beyond loved and the joy in my heart.

Currently: Christmas Vacation

Current Book

Current Song

All Christmas carols, all the time!

Current TV Show

We've been doing some holiday movies and are going to probably watch White Christmas with the big 2 soon, but this is the next show I am going to watch.

Current Drink

Made my first batch of cranberry tea yesterday!

Current Shame-Inducing Pleasure

I think I ate 746 chocolate chip cookies yesterday. But dang they were good!

Current Outfit

Target tee, Old Navy black jeggings, Stitch Fix cardigan

Bonus: little girl who thought I was trying to take her picture {grin}

Current Celebrity Crush

Not your traditional 'crush', but I am obsessively refreshing the IG feed of a DJ I've listened to {Amy} on the Bobby Bones Show for over 11 years - she's in Haiti picking up her adopted kids after being in the process for 5 years. Can't wait to 'see' them in the US!

Current Mood

Current Anticipation

So excited for Christmas!

And 8 days after that, Drew turns 5!!!

Current Wishlist

I'd say 2 weeks off work, BUT I CURRENTLY AM GETTING THAT!

Current Film

Allison and I saw this last week, review to come soon!

We're going to pause our Oscar movies to go see this soon!

Current Picture