August

So August went by in a flash!! We were quite busy all month! Realizing that I only had a few more weeks of maternity leave left, we tried to get all those fun summer things in. We went to River Rhythms, which is held every Wednesday night durning the summer in Downtown Milwaukee, for some live music. Addison really enjoyed that, she loves to dance and be social! We also went to the Milwaukee County Zoo as a family. We have a zoo pass which allows us to go at any time, so I take the girls myself, but this time Tom got to go too! We went to the Sea Lion Show , rode the Zootrain and went on the Merry-go-Round. Addison had a blast! Alivia will probably enjoy it more next year! :)

August 9th was Alivia's baptism. It of course, was the hottest weekend of the summer to have a house full of people, but turned out great! It was so nice to have family here!

August is also Wisconsin State Fair time. We thought Addison would like all the animals a little more this year, but she was still a little uneasy around them. She didn't even like being in the barns where all the animals were, maybe its a smell thing. She liked seeing the ones that were outside better. Addy's favorite part of the fair was the big slide! She went down 3 times! (With Mom or Dad of course!) She also enjoyed having a corndog (a must-have at the state fair) and some frozen custard (ice cream/frozen custard is Addison's FAVORITE!)

Towards the end of the month, Tom and I made our annual trip to IKEA in Schaumburg. The girls got to spend the day with Grandma ( a good warm-up for Grandma, since she is watching them every Friday for us). That night Tom and I went to the McHenry Outdoor Theater. For the last 6 weeks of the season they were having "themed" weekends. The weekend we were there they showed Ferris Buellers Day Off and The Breakfast Club, a tribute to director John Hughes who just passed away. Every weekend they are having a different "theme" for their movies.

August 10th marked Alivia's 2nd month. She had her 2 month pediatrician appointment (at 10 weeks). She weighed in at 13 lb 11 oz and was 25 3/4 inches tall. So she grew almost 4 inches and put on about 4 lbs!! She's our growing girl!! Alivia is such a great baby just like her older sister was! She has a sweet little personality, very smiley and happy! She's not quite sleeping through the night yet (she had couple of nights where she did, I thought we were going to keep that routine), but she's not too bad. She goes down for bed around 9:30 or so and sleeps until about 3:30 or 4 AM, when she gets up to eat. Then she goes back to sleep for a few hours. So I really can't complain, its just tough when I get up at about 4:45 AM for work.

August 31st marked my first day back at work. I am back to my normal schedule, MWF 12 hr days. It was nice to be back into a routine. I actually did enjoy being back to work, I like what I do. It was hard to be away from the girls after being home with them for 12 weeks. I have decided that being at work is MUCH easier than being home taking care of two small children. I love them dearly, but they are a handful!!

Now a word from Addison:

e

' pl' 'jh ghhjhkkkjmmjmvmd,

hvvv dbj

mmjk djnbfkjmkjjlnnv m/

ufjcdvn mlouj8

She really wanted to type something like Mom! :)

So now into the month of September, I'm sure it will fly by just as fast as August!

Alivia at 2 months old

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

July

Playing with Daddy

Sisters

Running through the sprinkler at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Hangin' out

Wauwatosa fireworks on the 4th of July



Its been a fun month in our household...busy, but fun. 4th of July we went to the Wauwatosa parade. Addison loved seeing the firetrucks and the horses. After the parade we went to the annual Hagopian-Smith 4th of July picnic, where there were TONS of kids to play with. Addison had a blast! She was definitely ready for a nap when we got home. A late nap was good for her, so she could stay up for her first fireworks. Addison loved the fireworks, she talked about them for days afterwards. Alivia enjoyed sleeping through them.

We went to the zoo a few weeks ago for the first time in months. We need to get there more often (seeing as its only 5 minutes away and we have a Zoopass), Addison loves to go see the animals. The monkeys and the elephants are her favorites right now.

Alivia is growing like a weed! She is almost grown out of any 3 month clothes! She's been a really good baby for us. Not sleeping through the night just yet, but not doing too bad. She usually gets up just once to eat and then goes back to sleep. She's had her first smiles in the last few days and is really starting to coo and "talk" to us more. She's such a cutie! Addison has adjusted well to having a little sister and loves to help take care of her.

The last week or so has brought some big changes for Addison. We started potty training last week and she has done very well with it! We had several puddles on the floor the first day, but since then she has done very well with keeping her big girl underpants dry! She has enjoyed going potty on the toilet so much that she sometimes like to tell us every 5 minutes that she has to go, oh what a fun game! But she's getting the hang of it! Yay, we'll only have one child in diapers!! :)

Along with the potty training, we (by we, I mean Tom and I) decided it was time to be done with the Nuk (pacifier for those of you that don't call it a Nuk). So, I cut the end of it off on Saturday...it was hard for me to do it, knowing how she was going to take it, but I did it. The first two days were tough, but she seems to have gotten better with it. However, she seems to have decided that if she doesn't have her Nuk she is not going to take an afternoon nap. We're still trying to make her take one, but she mostly ends up playing in her room for an hour. Which to me is still an hour to myself (mostly). Bedtime is tough too, it takes about 2 hours for her to settle down and finally fall asleep. That was a little better last night, we'll see what tonight brings! Tom and I are making mental notes to ourselves that we are not going to let Alivia go as long with her Nuk as we did with Addison! We are learning from our mistakes...the older child is always the test child right?? :)

Thats it so far for this month...will post more in the near future! Hope everyone is enjoying their summer!

This week at the Scharlau's

Our little water bug! Addy loves the pool- she is totally fearless, which is a little scary for us! But we are happy she likes the water!

Alivia's first bath in the kitchen sink! Big sister Addison was there to help.

Babies make the greatest faces :)

Alivia Grace has arrived!

Alivia Grace Scharlau

Wednesday June 10th

7:25 AM

10 lb 2.4 oz 22 inches

Still waiting...

Unfortunately, I don't have much to report. Baby still hasn't decided to join the outside world! I will be going to the OB tomorrow afternoon and I am hoping she will induce me. Until then, I am trying to keep myself busy around the house...