Big Sister

First time feeding her little sister. It's been such a fun month watching Mackenna fully adjust to her baby sister. She loved feeding her and did a great job.

All in a weekend!

What a weekend it was! In fact, we are jam packed every weekend through the end of April. Life is busy, and great all at the same time.

Pre- weekend shopping trip to Kittery with Abby, Stella and Nana.

Friday started off as just an okay morning. We took baby Dakota to her 2 month check up. We learned that her weight gain is slower than the pediatrician would like, and he defaulted the reason to being that she is hungry. Although a little unsettling to here that our girl has been hungry for the past month, there was hope in knowing that she has been fussy for a reason. And to any parent that has ever had a child that seems sad, all you want to know is that there is something you can do to fix it. We are on a two week quest to fix her hunger, and we go back to the pediatrician in two weeks to do a weight check.

Friday night, Ben and I went out on our first date night since Dakota.

And, we brought Dakota along! Can you find her way in the back there?

 Mackenna has been really into dresses and skirts lately. In fact, she wore this tu tu all day on Friday.

Saturday morning Mackenna went to her second dance class.

We bought Mackenna her first pair of sunglasses, since she always wants to borrow ours. 

Hard to take her seriously in them!

Although it is the winter that never ends, we had a hint of Spring this weekend when the snow started melting in our driveway. Ben caught this great moment of her playing in the puddles.

 Sunday involved heading out to a Maple Syrup Sunday luncheon at Skyline Farms. I love Mackenna's pose here with Grandpa and Aunt Abby.

Mackenna's Big Girl Room

Our biggest little girl has been in her new room since November. We explained to her that her room was going to be for the baby, and that the crib was for the baby. She got to see her room come together in stages, from the pink paint to the beautiful bed that Ben made for her. The move went remarkably well, and she happily took all of her many blankets with her to her new room. She has slept soundly in it ever since. There was no tough transition from a crib to a bed. No toddler bed rails, she just adjusted and hasn't fallen out of bed... Yet. She truly is a resilient, easily adaptable kid. 

For her room, I envisioned just what it turned out to look like. A soft, girly room with an outdoor theme to it.  Just like Mackenna, a princess some days and a tomboy the next. The pink Realtree bedding that I found at Cabelas is the perfect comfortable, and the wall art suits her well. It isn't a very large room, so we do not have much furniture. The closet suits all of her current clothing storage needs for now.

The bed that Ben made, a knock off of a Pottery Barn Kids bed that I found online.

A view of the woods from her window, and her stuffed animal storage next to her bed.

I love this canvas wall print that I found at Target. It matches her room perfectly.

I ordered this on Etsy, and it hangs right above her headboard.

Merme's Girls

My Grandmother on my mother's side, "Merme," has four great grand babies. All girls. My two, of course, and my niece Stella, and my cousin Jeremiah's little girl who is named Samantha. This past weekend we had a family gathering and Merme gave all of the girls the sweetest hand-knit hats. We tried very hard to get a good photo, but it wasn't easy.

Photos of the night

Out with the old and in with the NEW!

It's been over two years since I have updated my blog cover photo, so here it goes. A lot has changed in the past few years. If you subscribe to my blog via e-mail, you can always go to www.siemensays.blogspot.com to view my blog layout and a history of all of my posts.

Old Header Photo

New Header Photo

Faces

The current faces of little Dakota, if you can't come see them yourself! 

Sisters, Month by Month

"Because I have a sister, I will always have a friend."

I am going to try my very hardest to take a monthly photo of the girls, to see how they grow. Especially with Dakota, in just this past month I can see how much she has grown. This will be a fun project every month. Because, yes, it is a project to get these two to pose together!

February, 1 Month of being sisters

March, 2 Months of being sisters

Two Months.

I'm 2 Months Old!

• I can pick my chest up off of the floor and hold my head up high.
• I am a serious gal, and often look concerned of my surroundings.
• I eat every 2-3 hours during the day.
• I sleep best on my stomach.
• I have my first cold and cough.
• I can sleep a 6 hour stretch at night, sometimes more and sometimes less.
• I am not a great napper, and have had some long days without sleeping at all.
• It is safe to say, I am giving my mom a run for her money in the baby department.
• I spend a lot of my day fussing, but day by day things are getting better.
• I am just beautiful with porcelain skin, dainty features, shiny blue eyes and the softest hair.
• I just smirked my first little smile yesterday.

Play Date

Dakota had her first playdate this week with two other girls her age. These little girls are daughters of my good friend Jessie's friends. (That is confusing, I know.) Jessie's neighbor and best friend, and I, were all due within 5 days of each other in January. I knew the gender of what we were having, but neither of them did. Turns out, we all had girls! Check out this adorable photo of Avery, Dakota, and Maggie, in that order. Avery is 5 weeks old, Maggie is 6 weeks old, and Dakota is 7 weeks old here.

Dakota's First Week Home

Note to my blog followers: I am behind in my blogging. Maternity leave hasn't been as 'easy' as I planned. I am starting to catch up now, so expect a few outdated posts to head your way. Enjoy!

After reluctantly leaving Mercy Hospital a little less than 48 hours after Dakota was born, we packed our bags up and headed home. We came home from the hospital late on a snowy Sunday night to a very thoughtful gift from my co-workers, who had planned on throwing me a baby shower on the day that I delivered Dakota. A delicious cake from Foleys Bakery.

We continued a tradition that we had with Mackenna, and picked up Flatbread Pizza for our first night home together. 

Her first night at her new house, looking like a little chipmunk. I just love this photo.

Ben took off two weeks from work for his paternity leave. It was the best two weeks at home with Dakota, and spending time adjusting our home and habits to our new family. I remember how special those weeks were with Mackenna.

Some moments looked like this.

And other moments looked like this.

And this.

All bundled up to brave the freezing January temperatures to one of our breast feeding group meetings together!

First trip to Hannaford.

 First pediatrician visit at a week old. Down a bit in weight since birth, but completely healthy. 

First trip to Freeport. It is crazy the amount of shopping you can get done without a 2 year old running all around.

 Ben and I immediately remembered how hard it is to change a little teeny newborn!

The Ernests came to visit, and Aunt Jenny was a baby hog.

Ben opened Dakota's gifts from the Ernest family. Perfect for hunting season!

Mackenna's gift, the cutest nurse's outfit. Perfect for the girl who loves to play Doctor.

First girls day out with Jenn and Sara for pedicures and lunch.

The Wescott clan brought dinner over. Which.  Was. Awesome. Having two kids under 3 years old and cooking for guests? Good luck. Pete's shepherds pie was delicious, and Jenn always makes the best salad. A tie with Judy's salads actually. Anyways, I digress. Jenn and I attempted to get a group shot of our kids. As you can see, it didn't go quite as planned. Trying to get these kids to all look at the camera and maintain a smile at the same time? Doesn't happen.

Now this is a little better.

I love watching them play together.

It was a chaotic, crazy, emotional, tiring, yet blissful and wonderful first week home with our little Dakota bear.