Birthday week.

Amelia's birthday is Wednesday and will be 1. Aleigh's birthday is Friday and she will be 2. This means I will have 2 one year olds for two days!!

We will celebrate on Thursday and Friday.  I will make Amelia a cake on her birthday and watch/take pictures of her smashing into it. So far we know we will go to the zoo Thursday morning then to a show at Jake's work Thursday night, its like a luau minus the food and is free if he can get a pass from work. Friday we are going back to Jake's work to do the Character breakfast with Mickey mouse and Minnie mouse. The girls will wear their Thing 1, Thing 2 outfits all day as Amelia is 1, and Aleigh 2 I just thought that would be too cute. After breakfast we will try to go to the beach if the weather is nice and after nap time eat dinner out, go to a new playground and have cupcakes at our church group's house. We should have a fun time!

These are some of the things I think I will miss most about our babies growing up;

The look on Aleigh's face as soon as the introduction song to the Lion King comes on, which is the only movie or show she likes right now. She wants to watch it multiple times a day if I let her, which I have a few times just to watch her face light up.

Going for a walk with the girls in the stroller. It is usually a peaceful time and we all quietly take in the nature around us. We go for a 45 minute-1 hour walk daily in the stroller.

Feeding Amelia solids and seeing her reactions to the things she likes and doesn't like.

Watching Amelia play with her food, with a look on her face like she just won the jackpot, while she flings food all over the floor. The dog then runs to get it as if she also just won the jackpot.

Aleigh's face when she sees an animal she likes. She gets nervous but really excited at the same time.

Reading the same books 20 times just to make the girls happy. I know I will miss "Brown bear, Brown bear", "Hush little baby" and the "spot" books as those have always been the favorite among Aleigh.

Washing 8 bottles a day. The girls are both on whole milk now and Amelia has been off the bottle for almost a month. At one time when Amelia was first born I was washing about 10 bottles/cups a day between the 2 of them. I already miss those moments of bottle feeding my tiny little newborn while she cuddles in my arms. My wallet says thank you, my heart says can't you stay a baby!

Amelia's baby chub. Amelia is a tiny little thing. She didn't have nearly the amount of baby chub Aleigh had, but my oh my she does have those chubby cheeks. I just want to squeeze and kiss them all day long. I learned with Aleigh that they practically went away over night and I am not making that mistake again. Those cheeks are getting a lot of attention, whether Amelia likes it or not.

I will miss seeing Aleigh just randomly walk over and hug Amelia. Thank God that will probably last awhile longer, but I know eventually I will miss those extra sweet moments.

I will miss seeing Amelia's cute little baby walk. She kicks those legs straight out while holding her hands straight down with her fingers pointed out, it reminds me of how penguins walk. She is just too cute.

I will miss all the laughter when they are both exhausted. This is Jake's favorite time of the day. When they are really tired they will just giggle at the smallest things and Jake loves to get them going. I will miss just sitting back watching those moments.

I will miss the baby babbling. Neither of the girls are really talking right now but they are getting so close. It is adorable when Amelia goes "mama mama MAMA" she only does this when she is upset for some reason. Haha when she is happy she says everything else.

I will miss those moments of holding your baby while they sleep. Let's face it, I haven't held either one while they slept in months. They got bigger and have since grown out of it. I miss those sweet moments.

I will miss those silly faces Aleigh makes. She has so many expressions. When she is learning something new and I say "no we shouldn't so that because of ____." She will tilt her head to the side scrunch one eye closed give her mouth a half grin and say "eh" as if she says that's ok, oh well.

I will miss those early morning and bedtime cuddles. I know they will eventually fade away. I just pray they last at least 1 more year.

I will miss changing diapers. I am sure I will somehow miss those moments of holding down a baby to change their diaper when they squeal, giggle, sometimes cry because all they want to do is crawl, walk or play. At the moment those times can be annoying. Now looking back I am already laughing because they are just really silly.

I will miss those playful moments when Amelia thinks it is funny to sit on your head, eat your nose, pull your hair or fall on top of you. She just wants to play with ME and I am the most blessed person.

I will miss the moments when they are obsessed with one thing for weeks because they are learning to do it themselves. Aleigh has always loved going up and down stairs. She can now do it on her own. She went through several phases where she wanted to go up and down them way too many times. This meant I had to carry Amelia up and down them. It was quite the workout really. But it was so worth it to see her excited face when she did it all by herself for the first time. Right now it is an obsession with door handles and we have to open and close them over and over and make sure little sis doesn't get hurt each time as she wants to be right there in the action too.

I will miss rocking/holding a baby to sleep. With Aleigh I did this every nap time and every bedtime until she was 18 months. While it became stressful doing this I now miss those moments and wish I would have enjoyed them a little more. Amelia has never wanted to be held to sleep. She has always wanted room to move and be more independent. I remember she went through a phase at about 3-6 months old where she wanted to be held and finally, for the first time I was able to hold her to sleep, I cried little tears as I loved that moment. Before and after those few months all she would want was our hand on her back letting her know we were there. I know I will miss those times too.

I will miss their firsts. The first smile, the first tooth that pops through, their first step, the first time they clap their hands, their first solids, their first time rolling over, the first time playing pat-a-cake, their first shoes, their first babble, their first giggle. The list could go on and on.

I just loved every minute of having a baby, and I will miss each and every moment big or small. I have to say though I am really looking forward to watching them grow up together. I hope they will be best friends. Here is to having a 1 year old and 2 year old!

Cheers, Jennifer.