I am calling out V, Hanna, & Elizabeth!

[laurski81]

bliz1712 let's see and hear about your beautiful daughters!

EDT: I got your name right this time too

[bliz1712]

ok, here goes my major aw. I'll do a post for each kiddo.

V (Vanessa) is 11 and is really a great kid. I have been blessed to be part of her life for 10 years. She is a great student and excels in Math and Reading. She reads at a 7-8th grade level and for Math she just recently got elected to be part of a "mathlete" team. It's not called that now. But every week a bunch of kids meet and study harder math problems. Then the end of April they have some sort of competition they will go to. She started band this year and plays the clarinet and she is also a part of the choir.

She participates in Basketball and Volleyball. She used to do Soccer but decided to not continue that. Basketball was pretty hectic this year and we were gone almost every weekend since 2/1 for it. She got 1, 2, and 3rd place awards. She is really a great player and does the best at playing the defensive. We joke with her that she has gorilla arms and she gets them in the other girls face a lot. Because she is 11 it is obviously becoming more difficult at times with her. In February she got braces put on so that's been a challenge as well.

She is an amazing big sister, with the occasional issues, but that's to be expected. Hanna looks up to her and I'm trying to teach her that we need to be mindful of what we do or say because Hanna is always watching and will repeat it. Which is why last week Hanna told me I'm a mean Mom I think. V has such creative ideas when it comes to the kids and is really a help with them. She was actually bummed that I was BF Eliza because she couldn't help with bottles. and the pictures, she doesn't really like to take pictures at this age:

V holding Eliza for the first time, she got to miss school for the day

With one of her medals from Bball

With her v-day box she created all by herself, she even came up with the idea

[bliz1712]

Hanna is my independent, strong willed, and very persistent child. She is always making me smile but also keeps us on our toes. When she knows what she wants she can be a nag until she gets it. She is also such a sweet loving girl, but also has a lot of spunk in her. She has been saying "Mommy I love you" a lot lately and when someone is hurt or crying she's always concerned about them and goes over to help them. She follows V around a lot and they play well together. And Eliza she's usually watching over to make sure she's not crying or getting into stuff. If she's crying she'll sing to her or go get her a pacifier. Some of it I think is because she doesn't like to hear her cry, lol.

She loves to be outside and we live across from a school so we frequent the park often. We are anxious for the weather to warm up and she's already been bugging my parents to go swimming in the lake and ride the boat. Right now she is all about taking pictures. One day she asked me to take one of her while she was on the potty.

She has always been a great sleeper and the best is that she has always gone to bed really easily.  Until recently, now it's a game for how many things she can ask for.  And now she wakes up MOTN to come get me to go potty.  But otherwise she has been great!

Here are some recent pics:

[bliz1712]

And Elizabeth, she is our surprise child and is holding up to that name. Not only did she come 4 weeks early but she is keeping us on our toes more than the other 2. She's definitely been our "difficult" child. Sleep has been a challenge and within the last month or two has really turned a corner. She still has about 2 nights a week that she is crappy but most nights she will go back to sleep after a little fussing or just gets up 1x. We are trying to work on getting her to go to sleep on her own, surprsingly she has done it 2x this week, I about died. She is 100% a Momma's girl and when I'm gone she usually cries the whole time, according to H and V lol

She had her 1 yr appt today and is 18lbs 7 oz and 28" long. She just got her first tooth last week, but it's not all the way out yet. She crawls like a maniac and uses the furniture or anything to get around and stand up on. She is going to be our climber and tries to climb on everything. At DC she used a chair to get on top of the table in the toy room. She makes some funny faces and noises, but really isn't talking much. She says Mama, but not really meaning me just noise for now. She will wave by when you say to. She is an eating fool and we have recently stopped most purees at home. She is actually liking the pouches so those are handy in a pinch, Hanna never did.

At our appt today that face is so mischeivous

climbing

she loves to stand like this with you

that face kills me

9 month photos:


goofy grin



and some baby ones:

[bliz1712]

And here's some of all 3:
having a picnic at the park, V's idea

fall pic:


And XMAS:

[summergirl1211]

bliz1712, I just love love love your girls! They are so cute and I imagine are a ton of fun together. It just makes me more anxious for another GTG with you!

[cbear]

I just love them all!! They are all so stinkin cute! You are totally right about Elise and Hanna! A few of those pics look so similar!

What surprises you most about each one?

[laurski81]

You have such gorgeous daughters! How did Hanna deal with the transition to E's arrival?

[junkytrunk]

All such cuties!

[aimeefarrahfowler]

Thank you for sharing your girls with us! They are so cute and I think you are doing a wonderful job with V. Does she have any other siblings from her bio mom? Was she happy when she found out she'd be a big sister?

How did you pick out the girls' names? I love Eliza as a nn for Elizabeth, so cute!

I am one of three girls and it is a lot of fun, but also kinda drama-riffic in those teen years! Did you imagine yourself as a girl mom? Any chance for #4 down the line?

Questions. I have many

[bantyrooster]

Gorgeous girls! V is so lucky to o have you .

[jennmm]

They are all beautiful girls!

[bliz1712]

cbear For V it would be how much she likes school and does well with it. At first she was the shy quiet kid but she's really come out of that shell.

For Hanna it's how much she is like me, down to her stubborness. She absolutely hates getting water or dirt on her clothes and sometimes her hands. If it happens the world stops and she makes a big fit until we change or clean it up, even if it's not necessary. I was the same way but didn't make such a big deal about it. Last night she found a spot on her bed, the opposite end that she sleeps on, and wouldn't stop nagging until we wiped it up. Definitely a little OCD in her.

For Eliza, just how daring she is right now, I'm not used to it. Hanna was less interested in climbing and I was ok with that!

[bliz1712]

Apr 1, 2015 12:08:28 GMT -5 laurski81 said:

You have such gorgeous daughters! How did Hanna deal with the transition to E's arrival?

laurski81, Hanna did great.  She was apprehensive at first in the hospital, but I think that was because of all the machines and stuff going on.  I think the big thing that helped me was V being very helpful and making sure we also had one on one time at some point.  Also, to keep her schedule the same she still went to DC at least 3 days a week.  Now she plays with her, but it's hard for her to understand sharing.  All of Eliza's toys have become hers and if you tell her otherwise she gets upset.  It's something we are working on.  

[bliz1712]

Apr 1, 2015 12:58:03 GMT -5 aimeefarrahfowler said:

Thank you for sharing your girls with us! They are so cute and I think you are doing a wonderful job with V. Does she have any other siblings from her bio mom? Was she happy when she found out she'd be a big sister?

How did you pick out the girls' names? I love Eliza as a nn for Elizabeth, so cute!

I am one of three girls and it is a lot of fun, but also kinda drama-riffic in those teen years! Did you imagine yourself as a girl mom? Any chance for #4 down the line?

Questions. I have many

V has an older sister that's 13, but she has a different Dad obviously.  Her sister never sees her Dad.  And V's Mom got married last year so she now has a step dad and a Step brother that's 4 or 5.  And her Step Dad actually officially adopted her older sister.  V was so excited with Hanna.  We kept her a part of everything, she was a big part of the shower, she came to the u/s at 20 weeks, etc.  

Hanna was a name my H threw out there and it happened to be his Great Grandma's name.  I can't exactly remember if he threw it out there because it was a family name or not.  We changed the spelling by dropping the H.  Her middle name he suggested one day and I just liked it from the beginning and how it fit Hanna, Mae.  With Eliza, it's kind of an odd story.  We went into labor early and didn't have our list fine tuned yet.  I had it saved on my phone so when I was settled we looked at it and threw names out together.  It was down to Elizabeth and Zoey.  Zoey just didn't sit right with me and my H pretty much said it was my choice.  I figured since he named Hanna I wanted to pick what I liked better.  It works out great because it's actually a great grandma for my dad's side.  I came up with the Eliza as a NN but I don't actually call her that yet in person.  I want her, and Hanna, to say her full name for awhile.

I am still bummed I'm an all girl Mom.  I love my girls, but I would have liked to have a boy.  #4 will only happen if the big V for H didn't work, which we tested, or if I step out on him, lol.  Definitely no more kids for me.  Which I'm also bummed about, I would like more.

[USCgirl]

bliz1712, they are all beautiful girls! It is very cool that they seem to get along pretty well too. Thanks for sharing.

[somethingcleverer]

They are beautiful girls! Your H will be busy scaring off boys when they are older!

What are you looking forward to doing with them this summer? In the future?

[origamimommy]

bliz1712, they are gorgeous!! I haven't had a chance to read through everything I saw all the pictures and read their stories. They are so cute!

[bliz1712]

Apr 1, 2015 15:42:36 GMT -5 somethingcleverer said:

They are beautiful girls! Your H will be busy scaring off boys when they are older!

What are you looking forward to doing with them this summer? In the future?

Swimming probably, whether at the lake or at the local pool.  Eliza really loves baths so I imagine she'll enjoy it.  And Hanna loves it too.

[roo1582]

You have such beautiful girls! I love that your girls have such a great relationship with each other Does it surprise you that V and Hanna are so close?

[bliz1712]

Yes roo1582. With such a bug age gap in was worried that v wouldn't want anything to do with her. And she has her moments but for the most part they play really well together. I also try my hardest to make sure v doesn't have to watch or take care of Hanna too much. She can just be a sister then. I know some families that the older kids did a lot of the parenting or caring for and I think that can create a different kind of bond.

[mommymadness]

They are all such pretty little girls! I think it is special that they are all girls! It seems like it would be so much fun To have lots of sisters. Lol like one big slumber party! Although I know that's probably not that case! Haha

[bliz1712]

mommymadness, It really is a lot of fun, but check back with me when they are teenagers. My story might change. I can see how V is at this age and I can't imagine having 3 acting like that at the same time.

[babywinks]

They are all so cute! I love the photos of them together - especially the pumpkin one.