Rose's Kitchen

The girls got a new kitchen for Christmas! Rose loves to cook and I wanted to make it inspired by this amazing kitchen from a good friend and superior mother but I new I wouldn't be able to do it. So, I enlisted my talented brother and he created this masterpiece (with some finishing touches by grandpa)! Complete with a fridge, double oven, stove top, sink, shelves, hooks, towel rack, picture frame, a chalk board I found a goodwill, and I finished it off by making a cute checkered curtain.

I love it!!! And so does Rose so I guess thats most important:)

Cousins are so much fun!

Its so fun getting together with the whole Milmonster clan. The cousins are now old enough to appreciate one anothers' presence. Here are some fun Christmas time pictures.

Little B testing the limits in the box while Christmas chaos ensues.Nano loved holding Miss Z. So cute!

Grandma and Grandpa with all the kids.

Playing with Nano.

Not sure what happened to Little B here but the train track was a giant hit!

Still playing with Nano.

Exercising with Grandpa

Beautiful Girls

We have the most beautiful girls! I count myself lucky and thank my Heavenly Father everyday for these two precious souls. We may have some hard days (and nights) with a stubborn two year old and a fussy baby but its all worth the joy I feel every time I look at them. Thanks Chels for taking such great pictures and capturing the love I have for my family.

6 weeks old

Miss Z is now 6 weeks old! Time goes by too quickly. We love her so much. What a wonderful addition to our family. Its like we never were without her!

Rose turns 2

Our little girl is two years old! We had a nice party with family and friends. We made Rose a pig cake because she loves pigs. I can't believe she is two. Here are a few things that make Rose so special...

-She has the biggest vocabulary of any two year old I have ever met and speaks mostly in complete sentences.

-She has a nervous finger suck when approached by new people but give her 15 minutes and you can be her best friend.

-She holds, rocks, feeds, changes diapers, and puts her baby dolls to bed just like they were real babies.

-She is so sweet with her new sister and already loves her so much.

-She can go 7 hours in a car without sleeping and then fall asleep when we are minutes away from grandma's house, (on multiple occasions.)

-She already has much to say about what clothes she will wear and sometimes puts up a fight.

-She will eat anything dipped in ketchup or ranch, like strawberries, pancakes, eggs... if she can pick it up she will dip it.

-She loves to sing and knows Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, Old MacDonald, ABCs, Row Row Rows Your Boat, and Baa Baa Black Sheep

1 day old.

Clapping after singing Happy Birthday at 1st birthday party.

Singing Happy Birthday at 2nd birthday party.

Miss Z is here!

Miss Z (see facebook or leave your email if you want her full name) entered the world on Dec 2nd at 10:17am.

This labor and delivery was much quicker and easier than Rose. I started to have good contractions Wednesday morning but nothing really substantial until around 2:30am on Thursday when I knew that this was it. I had to get to the hospital early to have antibiotics because I was Group B strep positive so at 4:30am when contractions were 4-5 mins we left. I wanted a natural birth but just couldn't get relaxed or in the right frame of mind so at around 7 I had an epidural. I was only 6-7 cm then. At 9am the doc checked me at 7cm and broke my water. Miss Z still had to turn 50 degrees so we thought it might be a little longer but at 10am I was ready to push.

Only a half dozen contractions and pushes later and Miss Z was born at 7lbs 4oz and 19 3/4 inches long. She has a full set of dark hair, blue eyes, my nose, long Milmonster fingers and toes, and the tiniest head. I'm already in love with this beautiful angel. Breastfeeding has been a lot easier this time around but she is a little colicky so we are trying to get through that.

My recovery has been so much quicker than the last time and I am thankful for that considering the hardest part about having another child is still being a great mom to the first. Rose is adjusting and I'm thankful my mother was here to help and the Hub's mom is here now.

I would love any advice on how to coop with two!

The other day during nap Rose reached an entire bottle of baby soap and poured it all over her bed, her self, and took a waterless bath. Funny and I can laugh about it but not something I needed to deal with right now. She isn't sleeping or eating well and is very irritable. Poor girl. Also, pretty sure Rose gained about 20 pounds while we were in the hospital! She is no longer my little baby girl compared to little Miss Z.

Rose after her waterless bath.

Family Pictures

More family pictures. We wanted some while our family was only three and we will take some more with the new baby. It was a very cold fall day and Rose was not that happy but we did get some great shots. Thanks Matt!