So here's the long awaited video. There's a lot of stuff in it. Landyn talking and rolling. Jordyn tells her colors and no, we didn't practice ahead of time. She really does just know them! A glimpse of what it's like at breakfast and a fun song Jordyn learned with Grandma on spring break. There's some more fun things too like playing in the mirror and just being silly. Hope you enjoy!

New Changes

To those of you who check our blog regularly, sorry about how long it's taken to get a new post up. Those of you with kids know how difficult it is to find time for anything, and just add two parents in school on top of that and it's almost impossible to do anything else besides school and kid things. So, I know it's been long and I apologize. Because of that it's going to make this blog full of information to fill you all in.Let's start with this weekend. It has been a whirlwind with a lot of new changes in our lives. Landyn started rolling over! Since she did it about 6 times in a row we were able to catch it on camera. Jordyn was very excited as well because she has been showing Landyn how to roll and trying to "help" her roll over for some time now. We couldn't believe she was doing it and she seemed very happy about it! Landyn also started cereal this weekend. I've been feeling like a lot of times after eating she's still hungry so what better way to fill her up than cereal. Again, Jordyn has been very excited and wanting to help feed Landyn. She also keeps saying she wants a bite but as soon as it's about to touch her mouth she changes her mind. The biggest change this weekend happened when we decided to potty train Jordyn. She has been very interested in the potty for a couple of weeks and been asking to go so we decided now was as good a time as any. We used a method called potty training in 3 days, which I highly recommend. By day 2 Jordyn had only one accident and day 3 brought on no accidents along with waking up dry from a 10-hour sleep! Today, day 5, has been a more trying day as the first half of the morning she decided she didn't want to go on the potty and had two accidents but now we are back on top of it and she's excited again about going and getting an M&M for a reward. I know there will still be accidents and frusterating moments with this but I'm so glad to be over the hurdle of potty training.

In other areas of our lives, Jordyn, Landyn and I were able to go home to NY for spring break. We were gone 8 days and we missed Wayne like crazy but really had a fun time. We all started off sick and so the first few days were a little rough and they convinced my brother he never wants to have kids! It's easy to convince someone of that when you have two screaming girls climbing in your lap and having nothing make them happy! But after the first few days they both just jumped into life there and it was a lot of fun. It was Landyn's first trip so I enjoyed showing her off to all of our family. Having all my siblings there as well as my parents was great too because it gave me some time to go out to lunch with friends, take a nap one day and do some shopping without having to carry anyone around the store! We were sad to go and Jordyn is still asking when Grandma and Grandpa will come!

Wayne is now in the middle of two online classes that are taking up a lot of his time. He's so great about it though. Most of the time he won't even start his work until the girls are in bed, forcing him to stay up late but he does it to spend time with them and help give me a break and for that I am always thankful! I am also in the thick of two classes with tons of work. Pretty much all my free time is taken up studying and I am just trying to focus on the end and stay as positive as I can. For those of you who know me, you know how difficult that is!

We are loving our life and really enjoying our girls. Landyn is really developing a personality and is awake and alert a lot more. Jordyn has really been enjoying playing with her now that she can hold toys and smile as well as sit-up (when propped). It is really fun to see the two of them interact together. With the warmer weather, we have had some days in the 70's we have been able to go to the park a few times and that is always great too, to have a change in scenery. We are really looking forward to May, the end of school and the start of two one-week vacation trips where hopefully we will be able to see a lot of you! We miss you all and thanks for keeping up on us. I'll be posting a video hopefully later tonight or tomorrow. I'm still working on it!

It's Been a While

Hey everyone. I know I haven't posted in a while...life has been busy, but I thought I would post a quick update. Classes are going well for me but they're keeping me busy with studying and homework. Wayne has been quite busy at work with a lot of huge projects and his classes start next week so please keep us in your prayers as we are flying through this semester! The girls have their check-ups on Monday so then we'll be able to let you know how they really are growing. Landyn has been starting to sleep through the night which is great! This past week has been a whilrwind. She slept through the night Sunday and Monday but she was very restless and while she didn't cry to eat she wasn't all that happy so I gave up and fed her Tuesday night when she woke up. Then Wednesday night she went to bed at 10 and wasn't up to eat again until 7! She did that again last night too so I think this might officially be the new schedule which makes me very happy. I've still been waking up to check on her since my body is on that schedule but I'm sure I'll soon be sleeping through the night again.

Jordyn has been doing well too. She's definitely getting very dependent and opinionated which can be very frusterating but at the same time she can be the sweetest thing. She is saying more and more new words and growing in leaps and bounds. She's getting very good at counting and can now recognize some of her numbers as well thanks to her number puzzle from Uncle Kirk and Aunt Jen. She's been obsessed with coloring and wants to do it all the time. Her coloring books are filled with scribbles. Well, thats all for now but I'll try and keep up with this better in the future.

Updates

Life has been going well in the Yates home and we are moving into a comfortable and easy routine. Landyn eats 5-6 times a day, giving Jordyn and I a lot of time to spend, just the two of us. Some mornings we just hang out while other times we do special things such as crafts or a little t.v. I've ventured out a few more times with both girls to both the grocery store and the library. Both trips went really smoothly so I think we'll keep going out from time to time. Jordyn has really adjusted now to Landyn and rarely ever gets jealous or angry with her. She does feel she needs to be included and be doing whatever Landyn is doing as you can tell from the picture above. In short, our life has been going very smoothly and most days are stress free. I'm loving being a mom of two!

I've also posted a cute little video of the two girls. Jordyn counts! She doesn't know 7 or 9 but she knows all the rest. Then just some cute video of the two girls spending time together. They just get along so well and this video shows it. Enjoy!

Landyn's Update

Landyn is now a month old and we really can't believe it. Sometimes it seems like we had her just yesterday while other times it seems as though she's always been a part of our lives. She is such a wonderful girl, so full of interest at the things around her. We definitely see both Wayne's and my temperament in her. She is often so laid back and happy to just be, but when she gets angry she gets so unbelievable angry and screams at the top of her lungs! We'll let you guess whose temerapment is whose!

She is very patient with Jordyn and doesn't often get upset. Jordyn tends to trip on her or accidentally drop toys on her. Once she covered her face with a blanket, something I quickly put a stop to. In all that Landyn just seems to take it in stride and not really seem to mind it. She doesn't have a doctor's appt. this month so we can't tell you her exact weight and height but I know she is definitely growing as some of her clothes are now getting too short and too tight!

Really the only things Landyn does are eat and sleep and both she does well. She eats only 5-6 times a day, only once in the middle of the night, and loves to sleep. We've been having to keep her awake for a while after eating otherwise, she'll sleep all day and come night time she'll be ready to play. Thankfully, we've been nipping that in the bud.

She has a very strong neck and when put on her belly or held over our shoulder, loves to look around and see everything she can. Her favorite expression is a frown but she also likes to just be wide-eyed and take everything in. She is a complete pacifier baby and is alreayd dependent on it, just like Jordyn was. The frusterating thing is that she can't keep it in her mouth and so almost every time it falls out, she cries. Hopefully that stage will be over soon becuase we're both tired of popping it back in a million times and also tired of just leaving it out and listening to her scream! We can't seem to wean her off of it though.

She really is a great baby and we are so thankful for the added craziness, sweetness and cuddles that she's brought into our lives. We couldn't imagine life without her and are excited about how she will continue to grow!

Jordyn's Update

Jordyn is growing in leaps and bounds every day it seems. She is now 16 months old and we just can't believe all the things she's doing. She loves to eat and can do much of it by herself. While that sometimes drives me crazy because I have to treat almost all her clothes for stains and we definitely do more laundry, it is so fun to watch her work her magic with a fork and spoon. And even if you do want to help, she's very strong-willed and often refuses to eat it unless she's doing it herself!

She is also talking all the time. She says new things every day and we just can't believe it. She's great at saying Landyn's name, even though she can't say her own very well, and loves to say it often. Imitating is something that Jordyn does best and will copy almost any word we say, which is fun and scary. We definitely have to watch everything we say! Some words she says even though they aren't really true. She loves to tell me that her clothes are all to tight and proceeds to try and pull them off. She also thinks all her food is hot and will tell me that, and then not eat it until I blow on it, even sandwiches! But overall her vocabulary development has been really enjoyable.

Other things she loves to do is read books. Thats always been one of her favorite things but now she will actually say words and point at things, all on her own. It's really fun to just sit and watch her. She also has started learning to jump and tip-toe and will just run around the house on her tip-toes yelling "tip-toe, tip-toe". It's very cute.

Lastly, her adjustment to Landyn has been great. She loves her sister very much and doesn't usually mind her. She used to be afraid of the crying but has now come so used to it she'll just talk louder over Landyn's cries. She enjoys helping pull out the wipes for me when I'm changing Landyn and putting her paci in. She'll cover her up in a blanket and give her kisses without even being prompted. I'm so thankful for how well they get along!

I think thats it for now in the area of Jordyn but I'm sure in two weeks from now she'll be a totally different girl, on to bigger and better things!

Christmas

We had a great Christmas season this year and while it was totally different than any other Christmas we've had it was still very memorable. Since Landyn was still small and Wayne had used most of the rest of his vacation days when she was born we opted not to go anywhere for Christmas. This was my first Christmas not spent with my family and Wayne's first Christmas season not visiting his family. While it was a little difficult for us at first we still had a fun time.Christmas Eve was spent opening the gifts from eachother. Jordyn didn't get tons of gifts from us but even still, it was hard to get her to focus on opening them. She would open one and just want to play, oblivious to all the others still to open. On Christmas morning we had a big breakfast and opened the presents from other family members that had been sent to us. That took over an hour just because Jordyn was so slow! We had a lot of fun though and did a lot of playing.My parents and sister were able to come visit a few days after Christmas and of course brought more presents! For Jordyn it was the year of the kitchen stuff. She got a kitchen set, play food, bowls and measuring cups and a chefs hat and apron. She looks very cute and loves to play in the hat especially. Poor Landyn just got stuck with clothes (every childs favorite present) but we loved them all and it has been very fun putting her in all her new things and not just hand-me-downs from Jordyn. It was a great Christmas season and while I missed my family and all the activity that usually takes place I just couldn't stop thinking that I didn't mind to much. I have a beautiful family that I got to spend the holidays with and we got to make fun memories together, just the four of us. Happy Holidays Everyone!