the night before Luca's birth.....

Being induced tomorrow at 6 am. Never in a million years would I have thought that I would have 3 kids in 3 1/2 years but as of tomorrow I will! Had this not been prompted (in the first place) and then prayed about (because I was flabberghasted to be feeling like I needed to have another baby when I had had a baby 6 weeks prior), I wouldn't feel the peace in my heart that tells me that this is what I am supposed to be doing (having a 3rd child so quickly).  Even with the reassurance and knowledge that this is what my Heavenly Father wants me to do right now, I know it isn't going to be easy. I am sure there will be days when I am exhausted, cranky, and out of patience, wondering why oh WHY couldn't I have my kids spread a little further apart?!

That is why prayer has been and will continue to be so important for me in this new adventure. I am going to need the help and reassurance that only my Savior can give me. 5 months from now, when I move away from all my family and friends, and my husband starts his 80 hr work week residency, I am going to have to remember that 1. I CAN do this 2.That my children will only be little once and
3. All of the chaos and craziness will be remembered fondly one day.

I love my 2 little girls more than anything, and I remember being so scared when I was about to have Amélie but now I look at this little girl and can't imagine my life without her! I know that it will be the same when Luca becomes a part of our family. I can't wait to raise these children and get to know them as they grow into the amazing adults and best friends (of mine), I am sure they will be.

Enough of my rambling, but since this is the only journal I sort of keep these days, I thought I would document my thoughts the night before my world changes once again.

amelie 12 months

 I always find her sitting on random chairs/benches/tables around the house that she can climb on. It must be more fun to sit and do nothing if you are a foot off the floor:)

 Amélie with her friend from next door. with. his. hand. on. her. thigh.

 an after-nap greeting from her older sister. sheer joy.

 ready for the beach... but this hairband must go.

 at the lake worth beach.

 I know this is grainy and not well lit but I love how her hair looked like a mop, and that I just found her in my messy studio laying her head down on the floor (of course she stopped when I snapped the photo).

 HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMELIE!!!! She loooooooooves balloons so we filled her room with them to wake up to on her 1st birthday. We found her standing at her crib looking down and pointing to "tha!" and wanting to get out and play.

 birthday outfit (I made the bonnet as a last minute gift during her morning nap on her birthday!)

 

 buns. and hugs.

 at mama and papa's house celebrating with family (we didn't do a party).

 our weekly sunday sacrament ritual.... what would I do without my parents here to help? (since franc is usually either out of town or having to go into the hospital:(

 love these chunky thighs peeking out from her skirt

 aunt caroline came to visit in June, the girls loooooved it of course.

 on her birthday we took amélie and olivia to their favorite local place. Lion Country Safari. Except we didn't do the animal safari, or the water park. just the rides:)

 and rode the carousel at least 3 times in a row.

 By 12 months Amelie:
-helps me pick up her messes
-said "all done!" after she finished her bottle
-had a toy banana in her hand and said "dat?" and I said "banana." She said "nana" back.
-Points to things she wants and says "thi" (this)
-Says, "tay-u" when I give her things (thank-you)
-was so happy when her daddy came home from his month in San Diego (naval base) that she fussed unless he held her hand the whole ride home. She had her neck cricked so she could see him as we drove home from the airport.

-wouldn't stop saying daddy and dadda after he came home as well.
-love love loves meat. and fruit, and broccoli. Not a huge fan of cereal and carbs, like her sister and I, but she will definitely still eat them (at least a little).
-likes to throw her food on the floor as she is eating it. Not for any apparent reason, but just to have something to throw. She will then eat it off the floor after I take her out of her chair. (like her aunt caroline was known for doing as a baby!)
-one day, as she was putting her shaped toys away, she held a green circle in her hand. She then searched through the pile on the floor until she found the other green circle and held them both in her hands.
-loves to read, mostly to herself, but sometimes will ask me to do it (hands me the book and makes a noise).
-loves to unroll all the toilet paper in the bathrooms.
-is open to trying anything (to eat) she sees on the floor in her crawling path. Has yet to swallow anything non-edible, but likes to try it out in her mouth to see:)
-loves balloons. loves loves loves loves.
-got 2 new teeth and 4 molars AT THE SAME TIME this month
-likes to climb, but doesn't know how to get back down!  It doesn't matter if the thing she is climbing on has nothing interesting too look at or do, to her it is more exciting because she had to climb to get there. She will sit and whine, so you take her down and she just climbs right back up!
-totally entertains herself most of the day. It took FOREVER for Olivia to do this, so this is really amazing to me!
-she loves to dance to whatever music olivia puts on (usually from a toy), and her signature move is a single arm swing.
-learned to clim the stairs but not back down. and I am not willing to teach her right now, so a gate went up.

If you had asked me before she was born how much I would love this girl, I would've said, "I know you can love another baby (b/c that's what I've heard), but I just can't imagine how I can love another as much as olivia!" Well let me tell you what. I am unfathomably in love with this little girl and she brings so much joy to my soul everytime I see her.  When she smiles at me it seriously puts me on cloud nine. I never knew you could love two children this much and I really truly do. Amélie I want you to know that you make me the happiest mom alive. You are the sweetest baby in the world. I love love love love love you!!!!

amelie 11 months

 I wish I had some in-action shots of these girls behind me while I ride the bike (or push them while I run), because they are so cute together in here!

 hanging out in her pjs under the kitchen table

vigorously  clapping for herself

 that is one seriously happy girl!

 I love baby stretches, and unfortunately I haven't caught that many (or any?) of amélie doing it until now!

 Eating snacks on the kitchen floor (because that's where half of it ends up anyway).

 just chattin on her cell and chewing on some post-its while I photograph her:)

 I've said it before, but I absolutely love finding her alone in her room just reading books! And she always likes to try and "feel" the pictures in hopes that they will have some texture.

 my favorite thing in the WORLD is to see them happily playing together. Its the whole reason I decided to have more than one!

 I am sorry to say that I took VERY few pictures of our trip (w/o franc) to costa rica.

 meeting cousins and "aunts" the girls were both AMAZINGly behaved even though they had been flying all day and had had no naps!

 First few minutes on our amazing balcony in our amazing condo on jaco beach!

 she was being so funny at this point, I wish I could remember what she was saying/doing!!

 with grandpa Kortman who hates getting his picture taken:) Love the expressions on their faces.

 can't you tell we are in another country??? haha joke. this little section of the block was littered with american fast food.

 But we went to POPS- a Costa Rican Ice cream shop. Since amélie can't have dairy, Grandpa Kortman had the great idea of letting her chew on a cone! It worked for now, we'll see about the future.

 by the pool

 this photo of me is beyond gross, but I love you so much amélie that I will put it in your photojournal so you have one of us together in costa rica:)

 playing peek-a-boo with me!

During this month Amélie:
-learned how to stack blocks (about 3)
-learned how to hold a pencil and "draw"
-cries so hard when you start getting her ready for bed and then laughs when you put her down in her crib, out of giddyness. and makes a sort of sucking sound when you hand her her little blankey thing.

-definitely prefers fruit to veggies now, mostly my fault b/c they are quicker to prepare and give her
-you can't even spoon-feed her something if you try
-obsessed with balloons
-is so ticklish and laughy, giggly, fun to roll around with on the bed
-really tries to play with olivia and is sad when she leaves the room (and laughs hysterically at everything Olivia does)
-initiates peek-a-boo
-makes the most awesome scrunch-faced smiles IN THE WORLD.
-went to costa rica! Was excellent on the plane BOTH WAYS despite a less-than-excellent acting sister banging her on the head and waking her up:(
-hates spraying fountains/splash parks/waterfalls
-sits at the bottom of the stairs and just tries to figure out how to get up those suckers. She has so much trepidation she never actually tries.
-is a speed-crawler now
-makes sounds that are more and more like words (besides the mama, dada words)
-honestly wins the hearts of everyone she meets. She gives everyone her huge smiles and people will come up to me from out of no where telling me how darling she is and how she has been smiling and making affectionate faces at them. This trait will hopefully help her a lot later in life!
-while in costa rica the girl slept around 18 hrs PER DAY!!!! what?? it was awesome for me (since abuella took olivia swimming and I could just sleep, sleep, sleep!)
-is so quiet a lot of the time that people ask me if she ever talks/makes sounds! Such a change from the first...