Maggie: Two

Eating: Maggie's been dealing with cutting her last two molars and some sinus gunk, which seem to bother her eating. She will either eat everything and ask for more, or just pick at it all and hardly eat. There really isn't much she doesn't like. Not huge into whole fruit, but will eat it on her terms. We weaned her from whole milk and she's now drinking skim like the rest of us.

Sleeping: Maggie lets us know when she is tired, either by saying so or by going to get her pacifier, blanket and wanting to cuddle. She is taking a two to three hour nap every day and then going to bed around 7:00 p.m. then waking up around 6:30-7:00 a.m. We converted her to a big girl bed (took the side off her crib) and she is doing fantastic and absolutely loves it. There's been a few times when we go get her up from her naps or up for the day that we find her sitting on the floor with all of her stuff, patiently waiting for us. She really is smiley the moment she wakes up. We are lucky that for the most part, she is a morning person.

Development: At Maggie's two year check up, she weighed 33 pounds 2 ounces (97th percentile) and measured 36.75 inches (98th percentile). Perfectly proportional. Our pediatrician couldn't get over Maggie's vocabulary and her manners.

Aside from physical appearance in development, she's pretty coordinated with kicking, throwing, dancing and walking up and down stairs. She's good at doing puzzles, coloring and chalking lines/circles. Maggie can count to five, sometimes ten, but has been doing that for about six months now. Can sing her ABC's, sing many other songs, says her prayers and can repeat some books that she has memorized. Seriously, this girl can talk. A LOT.

Likes/Dislikes: Her dislikes are pretty typical for her age: being told no and not getting what she wants. This girl has quite a bit of sass. If she doesn't like what you are saying or doing, she will quickly tell you to stop. Maggie also is not a fan of big sister Emma invading her space, so she will bite or pull her hair to have her leave her alone. Seriously, Maggie values 1:1 time or time alone. Big sister doesn't quite understand that :) But at the same time, she loves playing along with her sister.

Maggie LOVES baby dolls. She pretends to put them to bed, feed them, change them and is very motherly with her dolls. She likes playing kitchen, coloring, puzzles, reading books and dressing up.

Let me love you a little more, before you aren't little anymore. 

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Easter 2017

Remain Gardens Easter egg hunt on Saturday. 

Easter Sunday was sunny, warm(er) and beautiful. The girls woke up to hunt for their baskets that the Easter bunny left and then it was off to church we go. We were invited to join Nana and Papa for brunch at their house along with an easter egg hunt (filled with money, stickers and candy). Lucky girls received another filled Easter basket from Nana and Papa as well.

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All About That Sass

Emma and Maggie: our delightful, loving, funny, cute as heck darlings that blessed us as parents. Emma and Maggie: also little dictators that can turn on you in a hearbeat with their screaming, meltdowns and sass.

We are in the throes of toddlerhood with not one, but two and seriously, it sucks and it is exhausting. It hasn't really been until the last month that the back talking, attitude, stomping, hitting and just all around sucky-ness has begun. Emma had her terrible twos, has been pretty good during her threes and as we are about to hit fours.....she is all of a sudden a teenager. Maggie meanwhile has been showing glimpses of her terrible twos for a few months now. She is constantly telling us not to look at her, not to say that, don't sing this, or to just plain stop. She says "nope" so proudly and adamantly.

Someone just say it: toddlers are terrible.

Okay, they aren't terrible, but they aren't fun all the time either. Of course Matt and I love our girls. They are awesome.....at times. There are nights we lay in bed and talk about how genuinely sweet and loving they are or the cuteness of watching them play together. We love them more than we can even describe. But lately, oh boy are they driving us crazy.

We are in the trenches of toddlerhood, of Maggie and Emma finding their independence and voice. There is no advice for this stage but to survive and advance. Oh, and to keep wine and beer on hand. For you, not them.

Maggie: 22 Months

Likes/Dislikes: Princesses! Maggie loves all things princess (just like big sister) and her favorites along with Elsa/Anna are Belle, Rapunzel and newly discovered Merida. She can sit and watch Beauty and the Beast or Tangled in absolute awe. She still loves her baby dolls, playing with Emma and has recently become a bag lady. Maggie is one that also likes to have her alone time and have play time by herself. She still wants to cuddle before bed or when she's tired and still loves her paci. There's very few things Maggie is not a fan of, but some includ invasion of personal space, help with brushing her teeth, fruit and being told no.  

Development: This girl can talk......a lot and incredibly clear. It's pretty astounding to hear certain things come out of her mouth or how much of a song she knows (Twinkle Twinkle, ABC's, Doc McStuffins, Let it Go). She responds to any question you ask her and you actually understand what she's saying. I love the growth of this age. It's so fun to see how much she has changed or learned week to week. She's started wanting to help take her clothes on/off and gets her shoes and coat when asked, while trying to put on herself. Her independence has kicked in.  

Sleeping: We cut Maggie's morning nap a little after 20 months and she's doing great with one nap a day. Typically two to three hours in length. Bedtime is around 7 p.m. and sleeps until 6:30-7:00 a.m.

Eating: Carbs are definitely a favorite for Maggie. Luckily we can get her to eat meat, unlike Emma. Veggies are a hite or miss, though we did learn she likes salad. We can hardly get her to eat fruit except for apples or on a rare occasion, a banana. 

Emma: Three and a half

"Wait until she hits three, terrible twos have nothing on threes"

I lost track how many times I have been told the above. But here we are, in the middle of the so called "awful" threes and you know what? I am seriously loving this age.



Emma is full of fun and laughter, curiosity and discovery, wonder and amusement. She talks ALL THE TIME, radiates love and kindness, is sensitive yet strong. Sure she has her moments, but they are few and far between.

She is changing as fast as the days come and go, it's hard to keep up. Emma is so proud to show us new skills and things she has learned. She just beams with pride. Her independence has really kicked into gear the last month with dressing herself or pushing us out the door when we drop her off at preschool. While she isn't needing us at much and it at times hurts, I'm definitely hanging on to every cuddle, hug, kiss and "I love you" these days.

My most favorite observation of Emma the last several months is how protective she is of Maggie. She is ALWAYS looking out for her, guiding her, mothering her. They are often caught randomly holding hands, hugging or saying "I love you". As much as they can drive each other crazy, they truly adore one another.

Some of her current favorites.....

Shows: Elena of Avalor, Mickey and the Roadster Racers, Paw Patrol, Doc McStuffins
Movies: Frozen, Tangled, Beauty and the Beast
Princess: Depends on the day, but still loves Elsa. Especially since receiving the dress, crown, wand and shoes for Christmas. But she's also super into Elena, Belle and Rapunzel.
Food: Fruit, peanut butter and honey sandwiches, french toast sticks, yogurt
Activities: Playing dress up and baby dolls

Emma, it's simple: I hope you always stay as tender-hearted and caring as you are now. You are truly one-of-a-kind. Stay YOU!

Christmas: 2016

Again, another post that is long overdue. But hey, at least it is up. 

We kicked off the holidays with Emma's first preschool program and boy was it cute. She was excited to have us all there and that showed in her performance of bouncing around and singing with extra animation. Afterwards, the girls went to dinner with Nana, Papa and aunt Alaina to celebrate Alaina's 21st birthday. Matt and I headed to the men's basketball holiday party. 

We were lucky with timing of basketball games and no weather issues to be able to head to Minnesota for a few days to celebrate with our Shoultz family. The girls got in a lot of quality family time, including their favorite, cousin Madison.

We made it back to Iowa in time for Christmas Eve service with my family, followed by dinner and opening gifts. Emma and Maggie are at such a fun age to watch open gifts. Maggie gasps in pure excitement, as if she is totally surprised, and Emma is just thrilled with all the new items she has to play with.

Christmas day was relaxed as we opened presents from Santa, played with all our new things, watched the Christmas parade and headed back to my parents' for dinner and opening our stockings from them.

We had full intentions of going to the movies, but with travel in Minnesota and celebrating back at home, the girls just wanted to play with all their new toys. So on the 26th, we went and saw "Sing" as a family. This was Maggie's first time at a movie and she did great. Such a cute movie with fun songs throughout that kept the girls engaged. Thank goodness for juice boxes, fruit snacks and family sized popcorn!
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Maggie: 20 Months

Likes/Dislikes: Maggie is our little dancer and we die over how into it she gets. She definitely has more rhythm than her sister, but some of her dance moves are a little questionable :) We started having little dance parties before bed to drain some energy and it is so funny watching the two of them. She continues to love baby dolls, dressing up, Frozen, Minnie Mouse and playing with Emma. Maggie really dislikes getting dressed when she's not ready, putting coats on or having her hair done. It's like wrestling an alligator sometimes to get her coat on. I think if she could wear pajamas and have her hair disheveled all day, she would. Personal space is still something Maggie values, so watch out if she is in a mood and you are invading her boundaries. *cough* Emma, Chloe and Rylee *cough* 

Development: I think (and fear) we may have started entering the early stages of the terrible twos with Mags. She has been refusing to get dressed or put coat/hat on and just throws a fit while throwing her body around. She's been bringing on more meltdowns and telling us "no" or "nope" a lot. She's also mastered crying that then results in laughing. Everything is funny to her. She can count to ten, and may only skip one or two numbers. And her ABC's - oh man, I love listening to her sing them. She gets the tune and skips a few letters, but I say she gets over half of them. Matt and I were able to get a full weekend alone with Maggie last week and kept talking how much more talkative and funny she was 1:1. Matt said he thinks Emma may suppress her and so she was relishing in the attention.

Sleeping: Bedtime has been closer to 7 p.m. as of late and waking up anywhere between 6:15-7:00 a.m. (except today when it was 5:45!). Trying to cut her from her morning nap, but that has been a struggle lately. She doesn't take morning naps at our house or Miss Amanda's, but does at my mom's. Taking good afternoon naps too.

Eating: Maggie is loving feeding herself things a spoon like oatmeal, cereal, soup and yogurt. She grew frustrated seeing big sister be able to do it, but after a couple messy tries, she is now fairly neat about it.