A Little About our Little Princess...

A little about Abigail (2 weeks from turning 2 years old):

*She LOVES to sing. Her absolute favorite song is "Wheels on the Bus" and she has some great moves to go with the words. She also loves ABC, Twinkle Twinkle, and Itsy Bitsy Spider. This week she started singing the Clean-up Song out of nowhere..she must sing it at school. She also likes to sing "Alright, Alright" from a country song and the "Hey" part of Jingle Bells.

*She is in love with "Baby Sister" (that's what she calls Caitlin, although she's starting to use her name more). Funny story: She kept telling her teachers about "Baby Sister" but it comes out more like "Baby Thither." One of her teachers came up to me and asked out Peter was...??? They all thought she was saying "Baby Peter"! Anyways, she loves to help change her diaper and loves to rock her to sleep. She's also on Monkey Duty...that's Caitlin's pacifier she gets when she's crying.

*She can count to 15 and sing her ABC's (sort of).

*She has two MAJOR fears right now: The Vacuum and Strands of Hair. She is so afraid of the vacuum...but it doesn't have to be on. If she can see it, she won't go in that room. I had it in our basement and she wouldn't go downstairs...and even though it's been gone for a week, she still stands at the top of the stairs when we are going downstairs and cries about the vacuum. She is also terrified of strands of hair....????? If there is a strand of hair on the ground, or a fuzz for that matter, she screams bloody murder and yells "Bee". We have no idea where this came from but the other day she was screaming bloody murder in her highchair and I was terrified to see what had happened (bloody finger, etc) but it was a strand of hair next to her chair. So funny...but so odd!

*She amazes us everyday with the words she knows. She picks up words very quickly, so we have had to watch our language or she'll repeat it! A couple days ago I told her she had a cute butt once..and now she tells me everyday about her cute butt!

*While we haven't officially started potty training, she goes on the potty about once or twice a day on her own. I am hoping it will make potty-training in January easier!

*She has a few obsessions right now. She is obsessed with "stars," especially her Twilight Turtle that makes stars on her wall and stars in books. She is obsessed with buckles! She has to unbuckle and buckle everything. Especially when Caitlin gets out of her carseat...that gets instantly rebuckled with a baby doll. She is also obsessed with spiders and bees and calls everything one of these two words. She is also obsessed with Baby Bop (??) and has a Baby Bop sticker that she's been carrying around for days now. Lastly, she is obsessed with asking "Where Mommy Go?" or "Where Daddy Go?" if one of us leaves the room. It goes on as long as we are gone, even if it's for hours

Here's a video of her singing her ABC's....but she was distracted with her book and it was taking a long time, so it was cut short!

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

Abigail's 1st time really playing in the snow!


Enjoying sledding in mommy's laundry basket...we hope Santa is bringing her a new sled! :)



I'm pretty sure she is having the most fun she's ever had in her life!


Abigail reminded me of the kid from The Christmas Story with all her layers on!

Even Caitlin joined in on our snow time...for a quick picture!

No snow day is complete without hot chocolate and Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas!

Picking our Christmas Tree!

We went to Bass Pro Shop to see the Christmas Section. Abigail loved the 4 wheelers!

Guess who went on the potty 2 times in one day...both time because she told me she had to go! She got a very special treat after dinner for this great day!

Oh Man..This is what happened when Mommy left Abigail alone with her yogurt! This picture was quickly followed by bathtime!

Our Little Girl is 1 Month Old!

It's hard to believe that only a month ago we were in the hospital welcoming Caitlin into the world and our family! It feels as if she's been here forever! We love her so much and think she's the perfect addition to our family. We can not wait to celebrate her first Xmas with her. She's our little love bug!!!!




Look at those adorable eyes!



Miss Caitlin had a really rough day...but Mommy ended on the right note!

Here are some things about Caitlin:
*She wears newborn size diapers and newborn size clothes. I have a feeling we aren't too far away from moving to 0-3 month clothes and size 1 diapers because she is very long! (We go to the dr next week and will have her weight/height then.
*She does NOT like to get her diaper changed...but she also does NOT like to be in a wet diaper.
*She is starting to enjoy bath time more.
*She loves to be in her swing.
*Most days, she sleeps all day. She has her days and nights reversed so many nights she's up most the night...but that's okay! It's her special quiet mommy/daughter time. Right now I'm getting about 4-6 hours of sleep a night..usually in 2 2-3 hour periods.
*She has had a couple rough days with constant crying...it's something that mommy ate and we are trying to narrow it down. We think it's greens but are still working on finding this out so Caitlin will be happy!
*She is called Abigail a lot by Mommy but doesn't seem to mind.
*Caitlin is Daddy's Little Girl...he always knows what to do to help Caitlin if she's upset.
*Her Monkey Paci is her BEST FRIEND!
*She is great with her big sister. Today she laid in a chair and let Abigail read to her.
*She LOVES to be held....she has a very hard time sleeping unless she's being held. We know she just loves her mommy so much she wants to be with her all the time...and Mommy is happy to have a cuddle buddy!
*She really goes with the flow...she has been dragged around a lot more than Abigail ever was with shopping, school for Abigail, field trips with Abigail, etc! She is going to be very laid back!
*She is the cutest, sweetest baby and we love her!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

This year was a very special Thanksgiving because it was Caitlin's 1st Thanksgiving!
Here's a recap of our Thanksgiving in pictures!!!


Our little turkey! We picked this onsie out back in August, so it was so special to finally have our daughter here to wear it!


Abigail and I made chocolate-covered pretzels to bring with to Thanksgiving. Abigail ate one pretzel for every 2 I dipped in chocolate. Check our her new slippers...Thanks Tracey and Andrew for the gift, she LOVES them!!!!

Caitlin catching up on sleep with Aunt Katie on Thanksgiving Eve. Aunt Katie spent the night visiting with the girls and the morning of Thanksgiving helping get the girls ready! Kate, the offer to hire you as our nanny is still on the table!

Miss Abigail on Thanksgiving. This cup of water was hours of entertainment for her.

Beth, Great-Grandma Fran, Bob, Neici, and Rob. Rob and I are so blessed that our families spend Thanksgiving together!

My dad with Turkey#1.

My mom with the turkey.

All the Thanksgiving excitement really wore Caitlin out. She never woke up once the whole day!

Our Thanksgiving Family Tradition...Shots when we turn on the Christmas lights! Rob and I were watching Nat'l Lampoon X-mas Vacation and we decided that next year my dad is going to have to add a "Joy to the World"...but we did get a great drumroll this year!

And the lights!!! The whole house used to be full of lights...but my dad is getting wiser with age! :) For those who don't know the "ladder" story from when I was a kid, that's for another time!

******************

And who could forget this adorable picture of Abigail when she was a newborn???? We found a very similar bowl at my mom's house and decided to recreate this picture with Caitlin.




So after a few drinks and a shot....this is what we got:

Okay, the bowl is too small, Caitlin was not happy, and the effect is NO WHERE the same....but it sure was funny when we did it! Poor Caitlin.

It was a LONG and WONDERFUL Thanksgiving!!!!! We have so much to be thankful for this year....namely 2 little miracles!!!!!!

*Thank you to Aunt Katie for your pictures...because I didn't take many pictures I don't have any of Aunt Katie because they are mostly from her Camera!

Happy, Happy, Happy!

HAPPY 2 Weeks, Babycakes!!!!


HAPPY Due Date!

HAPPY 23 Months, Princess! (1 month away from the big 2!)

We've been keeping busy in the Wennerstrom Home! As you can see, today Caitlin is 2 weeks old! Also, today was Caitlin's due date! Today Abigail is also 23 months old! Lots of mini-milestones for us! Mommy and Daddy are learning a lot about balancing 2 kids...1 being in the PRIME of her terrible 2's!

******************************

Everyone has been asking how Abigail is doing with the new baby. She LOVES Caitlin and wants to change her diaper, hold her, kiss her, and play with her. She asks for her "baby sister" 1st thing when she wakes up and has to say "Bye Bye Baby Sister" whenever she leaves the room, and wants to only pray for her baby sister before bed. She also has discovered her maternal side...every baby doll gets love everyday. She feeds them, walks them in her stroller, rocks them, burps them, and loves them. However, Abigail is having a little bit of a hard time with the less attention she has been getting from Mommy. I'm learning how to balance the two, and she's adjusting to our new normal...and things get better each day!

*******************************

Miss Caitlin Elizabeth is doing GREAT!!!! She's a very content baby during the day! She eats A LOT (we have a dr. app't tomorrow and I can't wait to see her weight). She is awake most of the night (last night I got a total of 3 hours of sleep between 10pm and 6am) but I know this stage will go fast so I'm trying to just enjoy our quiet time together. Other than that, she's only awake a few hours during the day...but we know in a few weeks from now how old she is going to look to us!

***********************************

Here's some pics of our week:

Mommy got me a Wubba-Nub (basically like a beanie baby attached to a paci that holds the paci in place) and I am very happy with my monkey!

Playing together (sort-of)

Aunt Julie came out to help for a day this week. Thanks so much!!!

They were staring at each...but Abigail saw me get the camera. Priceless moment for this proud mommy!

Abigail decided to teach Caitlin how to read her flashcards! This is how I found Caitlin! :)

Happy 2nd Birthday, Luca! We had so much fun at your Cat in the Hat Party!!!!

Sunday Night was Pizza Night. Daddy taught Abigail how to make a pizza...and how to keep everything CLEAN! Oh No..I'm outnumbered!

Sunday night was also Caitlin's 1st bath since her umbilical cord finally fell off! Abigail LOVED bath time as a baby...in fact, the only time she didn't cry during her baptism was when they were pouring water on her head...but Caitlin does NOT love bath time. Although they look a lot alike, Rob and I are already noticing so many differences in the two girls! We can't wait to watch them grow up!

This week Aunt Katie (O'Connor) came out to meet Caitlin (Thanks for breakfast and coffee). Also, we went to the Hackneys so Caitlin could meet her auntie Nay Nay, uncle Jay, and "brothers" (they call Baby Abbi their sister...now they call Baby Caitlin their sister too) and Auntie Lia and Uncle Eric..plus some soon-to-be friends. Caitlin can't wait to meet her new friends that are soon to come...and start kindergarten with them! ;)

Mommy found a new favorite past time. She used to love shopping for Abigail. Now she loves shopping for Abigail and Caitlin. Just wait for Xmas pics to come...Mommy got matching pj's and coordinating Xmas outfits! Oh, the joy of 2!!!!!!

Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving Week!

We Need to Fight..Because Babies Shouldn't Have To!

Today is National Prematurity Awareness Day!

We are forever grateful for the research done by March of Dimes that gave us our daughter, Abigail...and for the research that continues to be done to save more and more babies everyday!!!! Did you know that 1 in 8 babies will be born premature in the US?

Today is a reminder to support your local March of Dimes and your local hospital so more babies have outcomes like Abigail!!!! We will continue to support March of Dimes and Central Dupage Hospital to say Thank You for our beautiful, healthy daughter! We pray that other families won't have to experience a preemie in the NICU, but if they do, we are so grateful for places like CDH!

Here's a look back at our preemie, Abigail!

Born on December 22, 2007 weighing 3lbs, 3 oz. This was our 1st family hold...X-mas morning in the hospital!

Mommy's 1st hold on day 3...we were only able to hold her once a day for 15 minutes at the beginning...imagine not being able to hold your baby!

Abigail's 1st bottle! She was tube fed the first few weeks of life!

Watching our baby thrive in CDH thanks to the amazing staff...and research by March of Dimes.

Abigail at 2 days old in her incubator.

Abigail almost 2 years later! All we have to say is "Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!!!!!!"

Happy 1 Week Birthday, Caitlin Elizabeth

We love you from your head....

to your toes!

Love,

Mommy, Daddy, Abigail, & Kramer