HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY GIRLS!!

 We can't believe our girls are now three and one! This last year went by so fast. We had a small party the weekend before Thanksgiving (in between Eloise's and Finley's birthdays) while my family was in town and with the Tudors as well. It was low-key and delicious celebration with cake, ice cream, and some gifts. 

We started the party with a small cake smash for Finley! She desperately wanted to touch the fire on the candle, and had no idea how to blow it out haha. After the candle was removed, it took some coaxing to get her to try and eat some of the cake. She refused to go all in, but she enjoyed scooping off small fingerfuls of frosting and eating them :) She also tried to stand using the cake for leverage, which was hilarious haha. Finn may have enjoyed spreading cake on the ground more than eating it.

After focusing on Finley for a few minutes, we brought out a second chocolate cake for Eloise! She loved being sung too and giggled and grinned the whole time, and loved blowing her candles out! We shared her chocolate bundt cake with everyone, though she preferred the side of ice cream over the cake and asked for multiple helpings, haha. 

After cake and ice cream, we opened some presents. Thank you so everyone who spoiled my girls!! Finley still didn't really get what was going on, but she was excited about what she saw under the wrapping paper. Lou was ecstatic about all her new princesses and didn't even want to continue opening more gifts, she just wanted to play with what she had! We got Finley a music set and Eloise her first pedal bike :)

We're so grateful to call these beautiful girls ours. They make our lives so fun and meaningful, and we can't imagine our lives without them.

Happy birthday Eloise and Finley!! We love you both so <3

Finley is ONE!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY FINN!!!

LIKES: 

 - Playing peek-a-boo

 - Crawling over objects (and often falling over the other side, haha)

 - Fruit, especially berries

 - Chasing/crawling after Eloise, whether she does it herself or you hold her

 - Hugs and kisses from Eloise

 - Drinking water

 - Bath and pool time

 - Playing in dirt and sand

 - Seeing me or Dustan after a time apart

 - Playing with hair

 - Toast and banana pancakes and cheerios german pancakes and oatmeal

 - Dancing and music

 - Ice cream

 - Cups/water bottles with straws

 - Nursing in the morning

DISLIKES:

 - Being hungry

 - Long car rides (usually anything over like 30 minutes)

 - Being laid on her back (clothes and diaper changes)

 - Most vegetables and meat and eggs

 - Not being part of the fun/feeling left out

FIRSTS/SKILLS:

 - Halloween

 - Super consistently pulling to stand on as much as possible

 - Takes steps/moves her feet while standing and holding your hands

 - Stands independently for short amounts of time

 - Waving

 - Says (mama, dada, uh-oh), hi

 - Dances to music by bouncing her booty

 - Sings along to songs (just one, "Into the Unknown")

 - Stands in the middle of the floor

RANDOM NOTES:

 - Weight: 17 pounds 8 ounces (15th percentile)

 - Clothes: 6-9 and 9-12 months

 - Diaper: Size 3

 - Because Finley refused to drink any of the frozen breastmilk I had stashed away for her (grateful I didn't need to use it though), I ended up being about to donate about 350 oz to other mamas that needed it :)

 - Six teeth and blue eyes! Though in some lights they often look hazel and/or gray as well. I'm still not positive they will stay blue.

 - More cuddly this month, for very short spurts <3

 - Light brown hair that is in a constant messy state, and she refuses to keep bows in.

 - Nicknames: Finn, Finny, Finny-Jen, Finn Finn, Finny-babe, Finny-Finny-Boo-Boo, Sweet Thing, Honey Bunches

Finley, once again, is still on the same two nap schedule. I hope it lasts a while yet! She doing great at taking at least hour long naps usually, and rarely wakes before 7:00 am. It's been a great schedule so far! She has been less interested in nursing lately, especially after her second nap, so I might consolidate her two middle nursing sessions and see if that goes better. We'll see.

7:30 am - Wake up and nurse

8:30 am - Breakfast

10:00 am - Nap
11:30 am - Nurse

12:30 pm - Lunch
2:30 pm - Nap
4:00 pm - Nurse and snack 
6:00 pm - Dinner
7:15 pm - Nurse, bedtime routine
7:30 pm - Bed

Finn has gotten so quick at crawling, and now pulls to stand on everything! She has started to very slowly walk around on furniture, but not very often. She usually prefer to sit down, crawl over a couple feet, and just stand back up. She also has figured out how to stand independently in the middle of the floor for a couple seconds before sitting back down. Her legs will be jacked soon with all the squatting she does ;)

Each month, Finley's personality just grows and I love it! She is so smiley and happy natured, and lately more feisty as well. It's not hard to get a smile from her and she is so content. She has learned from Lou and will throw herself on the ground and lay her head down when she doesn't get what she wants, which is just hilarious. Finn and Lou are also playing together and interacting more, and it makes me so happy! Finn just loves to follow her around and try to do whatever her sister is doing.

Taken on her actual birthday, after our 5k Turkey Trot

We had a little party for the girls while my family (a few days early because Finley's actual birthday was on Thanksgiving), and they got totally spoiled <3 We did a small smash cake for Finley, and she was very dainty about it! She refused to go all in, even with some coaxing haha. But she loved just dipping one finger into the frosting a licking it off slowly. It was darling! Afterward, we opened some presents and Finley loved the music set Dustan and I got for her! I'll make a blog post for the birthday party and post it next :)

We LOVE our sweet and happy girl!! She is perfect for our family and we're so grateful for her. Finley's personality is starting to shine and we can't wait to see who she becomes. She has the best, most crinkliest and toothy grin and loves to share it with everyone. Happy birthday to my beautiful girl!

Eloise is THREE!

LOVES:
 - Bike rides (with us, or on her Strider)

 - All things Disney, but especially the princesses and Frozen characters the most

 - Watching animated movies

 - Fruit, ice cream, and breakfast foods
 - Playground
 - Back tickles

 - Reading books

 - Looking at "I Spy" books

 - Trampolines

 - Helping cook and clean

 - Wearing dresses every single day

 - Coloring and painting

 - Toothless from How to Train Your Dragon

 - Running around outside

 - All things water: pool, bath, water table, dishes, etc.

 - Hiking

 - Imaginary play, especially with her princess and animal figurines

 - Anna and Elsa braids in her hair

 - Putting on makeup with me

 - The color pink

 - Dancing AKA running in circles 

 - Wearing princess clothes

DISLIKES:
 - Vegetables and most meat
 - Loud, sudden  and unknown noises

 - Engine noises
 - Boogers in her nose

 - Being sick or hurting in any way

NEW SKILLS:
 - Counting to 20 (usually correctly? haha)

 - Pee trained on the potty!

 - Gliding on her Strider for 10+ feet

 - Hiking for over a mile at a time

 - Knowing all her basic shapes and colors

 - Knows most letters and numbers 0-9

 - Drawing recognizable things/shapes

 - Climb nearly everything at most parks

RANDOM NOTES:
 - Still takes a nap nearly every day, though I'm not sure how much longer that will last. If the nap is longer than an hour, it usually takes Eloise a while to fall asleep that night. She still goes to bed at 7:30 pm sleeps until about 7:30 am.

 - Never had a haircut in her life, and her pretty hair is now down to her waist. She dislikes it tucked behind her ears, and constantly holds it out of her face with her right hand when she doesn't have a clip in or have it out of her face.

 - Breakfast is her best (and favorite) meal, and she tends to eat a little less for lunch, and less for dinner.

 - Does a wonderful job peeing on the potty, but refuses to go number two and still wears a pull-up when sleeping.

 - Loves to talk and with chatter at you all day long. She also loves to narrate what she is doing, and also will say what she wants you to say to her.

 - Lou is still sooo ticklish, and loves to be tickled! She laughs especially hard when you tickle her while giving her a hug or while wrestling.

I have to include just a few of my favorite photos of Eloise from the last few months ish :)

Eloise's Favorite Books:

 - Your Personal Penguin

 - Pout Pout Fish

 - Little Blue Truck

 - I Spy books

 - Princess books (with electronic reader)

 - Puck's Peculiar Pet Shop

Eloise's Favorite Music:

 - Anything from the Frozen movies, but especially "Into the Unknown"

 - "This is Berk" and "Coming Back Around" from How to Train Your Dragon

 - Anything by Phil Collins in the Tarzan movie, but especially "Two Worlds"

 - Anything from The Lion King, bust especially "Hakuna Matata" and "Can You Feel the Love Tonight?"

 - "Imperial March" from Star Wars (this was a short phase, but hilarious)

 - "Axel F" by Crazy Frog

 - "When Will My Life Begin" from Tangled (mainly because Dustan plays this song whenever he brushes her hair)

Eloise's Favorite Movies/Shows:

 - Frozen I and Frozen II

 - Tangled

 - The Magic School Bus

 - How to Train Your Dragon

 - Llama Llama

I desperately wanted to record more of Eloise, but it is hard to remember exactly what she was like a few months ago. I guess that is the problem when I fall behind on my blogs! But I still can't believe we have a three year old! She is feisty and beautiful and tough and absolutely hilarious. We love you, Eloise!!

Finley at Eleven Months

LIKES: 

 - Chasing/crawling after Eloise

 - Fruit, especially berries

 - Hugs and kisses from Eloise

 - Drinking water

 - Bath and pool time

 - Playing in dirt and sand

 - Seeing me or Dustan after a time apart

 - Playing with hair

 - Toast and pancakes and cheerios and oatmeal

 - Dancing and music

DISLIKES:

 - Being hungry

 - Being laid on her back (clothes and diaper changes)

 - Most vegetables and meat and eggs

FIRSTS/SKILLS:

 - Responding/turning when we say her name

 - Riding in a shopping cart (poor, Covid baby haha)

 - Saying "uh oh" and "mama" and "dada" 

 - Getting up on hands a feet/bear crawling

 - Tantrum

RANDOM NOTES:

 - Clothes: 6-9 months

 - Diaper Size: 3 (though I honestly think she would still fit 2s fine haha)

 - We are still exclusively nursing! I do feel like I am producing less milk, but we tried to give Finley some of my freezer stash a couple times this month and she wasn't interested.

 - Still just has four cute teeth, but her gums have seemed a little more swollen and red at the end of this month.

 - Dustan and I were kinda lame parents and didn't dress Finn up for Halloween at all...

Finley is still on the same schedule as last month, and her naps and early mornings have improved, yay! She is sleeping longer for her naps, and she is usually sleeping until 7:00 am or later most mornings. She has started to have some trouble falling asleep for her naps, especially the morning nap. So I'm wondering if it is getting time to push back the time of her naps to a little later or cut them shorter. We'll see. I just hope she keeps her two naps for at least another few months! I'm not ready for her to be on one nap just yet!

7:30 am - Wake up and nurse

8:30 am - Breakfast

10:00 am - Nap
11:30 am - Nurse

12:30 pm - Lunch
2:30 pm - Nap
4:00 pm - Nurse and snack 
6:00 pm - Dinner
7:15 pm - Nurse, bedtime routine
7:30 pm - Bed

Finley has started to be a little sneaky/naughty this month and loves to get into everything. And she knows she's not supposed to, which is the funny part. She is constantly trying to climb into the fireplace and is sticking her hands in the dirt of my plants. She will look at me, give me her sweetest and crinkliest grin, then crawl as fast as possible to my plants or into the bathroom. I'm just thankful she hasn't realized she is totally capable of opening cupboards and drawers yet! I'm sure Eloise will teach her how soon enough. Finley often thinks it's so funny when I drag her away, but she also likes to throw mini tantrums and clench her fists and scream at me. I don't remember this starting to early with Lou, haha.

A pretty cool place to nurse

Finn is getting a lot faster at crawling, and is really improving at crawling over objects. She will pull/push to stand on low objects like legs or pillows, but hasn't really figured out how to do it on higher things like the couch or chairs. She doesn't love to stand, though can sometimes do it independently for a few seconds when placed in the position, and does some balance correcting. She won't take steps with balance support. Overall, she is hitting her milestones just on time. I find it so interesting how different our girls are, and developing wonderfully in their own timeline :)

This month, we took a fall break trip to southeast Utah and stayed in a cabin south of Moab. We were a little worried beforehand about how the girls would do with our whole family sleeping together in one room and being out of the house from breakfast to dinner time every day, but they did amazing! Both girls slept well overnight, even when we put them to bed late every night. They both took naps in the car and in the hiking backpacks every day. And they were both still happy girls :)

We can't believe our girls turn one and three next month!! We're so lucky to have them <3