Oliver Russell - 2 months

I'm behind.  Ollie boy is 5 months old and I'm just now posting about him turning 2 months in April!!

At 2 months, Oliver weighed 11 lbs. 11 oz. and was 23 inches long.

At around 2 months he started sleeping in his crib, it was a really easy transition.  He seemed to prefer his crib over the rock n play in our room.  I hated not having him right next to me but he slept so much better once in his crib!  We had also stopped swaddling him well before this.  Oliver runs HOT so the swaddle was thrown out the window early on. :)

This child is the happiest baby ever, to get a smile all you have to do is make eye contact.  He is such an easy baby!!

My little doodle bug had his dreaded 2 month shots on my 31st birthday.  Elle stayed with my parents while I took him to the doctor.  Look at this little face. :(  This was right before they came in to give him 4 shots.

After this appointment Oliver had a pretty uncomfortable afternoon (he has since had the same reaction after his 4 month shots).  His little legs get so red and swollen and he is so uncomfortable...it breaks my heart.  Obviously I am pro-vaccination so better to have this in the long run but it still makes for a rough day for my babe.  

Here is is with his MiMi, he has a wet cloth on his head and swollen legs (they aren't that chubby...I wish!). 

We are so blessed to have this sweet boy.

Strawberry Pickin'

I returned to work from maternity leave on Thursday, May 14th. So on Wednesday we decided to do something fun with the babies.  Eric was off and instead of staying home and crying all day we ventured out to Eckert's to pick strawberries.

We had gone to another Eckert's farm in the fall for apple picking and Elle LOVED it.  This time we hit up their main location for strawberry season. 

I wore Ollie in the baby carrier and he slept through most of the day.

Elle enjoyed it (not nearly as much as apple picking).  She had a harder time getting the strawberries off the vine, but that could just be because we went on the first day of the picking season.

Elle picked me a flower. :)

Once we boarded the bus back with our box of berries we let Elle pick out a toy in their gift shop (a Sven beanie baby), then hit the road for home.

It was a fun little day and helped keep my mind off the fact I was leaving my babies to go back to work in the morning.  I had a REALLY hard time going back when Elle was born but this time wasn't nearly as bad.  I worked full time up until the day before Oliver was born and went back as part-time (Wed-Fri). Being part-time has been such a blessing, we have fallen into this new schedule quite nicely. 

Being home with Elle and Ollie for 12 weeks was amazing.  Some days were long...but I was thankful to be there with them every single day. 

May 2015

Each month flies by but I manage to take 500 pictures of our life. :)

Elmo's Christmas Countdown is still on rotation over here.  The Christmas movies have died down a bit, as of March Polar Express was still a daily request.  I need her to take a nice long break for them so we (I) can be excited about them again in November.  

She has also started making her Christmas list.  So far she wants a Peppa Pig doll and Bullseye and Buzz from Toy Story.

This little angel has a habit of scratching his face and head like crazy when he is tired.  I keep his little nails as short as I can but he always still manages to scratch.

I love seeing Elle's toys set up around the house.  I'm constantly taking pictures of different scenarios I come across. 

Comfy in mommy and daddy's bed.  Eric will kill me, but I can't wait until he is old enough to lay in our bed and cuddle.  I created a terrible habit with Elle wanting to sleep in our bed all the time and Eric is determined to have one child who actually sleeps in their room.

Will proposed to Paige!  Will asked for Mary and I to set up the proposal scene for him but he planned everything himself.  I mean down to exactly where we should write on the sidewalk in Old Town St. Charles.  Will came to my house after work on Friday with tons and tons of roses and him and Elle pulled all the rose petals off together.  Then Mary and I headed to Main St. to set everything up, then hid in the bushes (like two crazy ladies) to get pictures of everything.

My little Ollie Wally Doodle Bug!

Eric and I made a quick trip to KC to visit our good friends, Jeff & Steph.  While we were there they told us some really great news, Baby Bauer will be making his or her big appearance in November!

Elle had a slumber party with her MiMi the night we were gone and Oliver stayed at MawMaw and PawPaw's.  Mary sent me this picture letting me know both the Voss boys were sound asleep and my girl was still awake having fun.  She stays up late and sleeps in late. :)

Sweet babies.

One day Elle found a Christmas nightlight in a drawer with some of my Christmas stuff.  She brought it to me and said, "Mom, this is beautiful.  You bought this for Christmas?  Happy holiday, mom!"

We went for a walk with my friends Katie and Amy and their babies Brady and Auggie.  Oliver is the oldest (and smallest) out of the three.  They were all born within about a month and a half.

Nighttime snack and a little iPad time.

Starting our morning slowly with some TV time.  Some of Elle's favorites are Dolphin Tale, Monsters Inc, Toy Story, Frozen.  We recently introduced her to the Sandlot and she instantly loved "The Beast".  It helps that Grandma Chris has a dog that looks just like him.

Tummy time for Elle.

Elle grabbed these flowers out of a vase one day and came in the living room saying it was a parade.

A fun day at the park and baseball fields.

Kisses for Oliver.

I sent this picture to my mom one day right before going back to work from my maternity leave.  I was trying to make Elle lunch and he was so fussy in his swing.  The second I picked him up he snuggled on me and fell asleep.  I texted my mom to apologize for spoiling this little boy so much, he just wants to be held all the time. :)  He's my littlest so I'm happy to spoil.

Anytime I wear these ripped jeans Elle comes up to me and says, "oh mommy, what happened?!"  She's under the impression Vito scratched me (poor Vito, he's never hurt a fly!) so she dotes on me when I wear them.  This day she brought me her lunch leftovers as her way of serving me lunch.  Also, notice the nail file by my right knee, according to Elle that's medicine for my leg.

She wanted an Elsa braid.  I need some serious braid practice...I also need a model that will stand still!

We met Henry, Bear and MiMi at the park one night, then they came to our house for dinner.  This night at the park a little boy (maybe 4 or 5?) wasn't being the nicest to our Beary.  He was calling him silly names but meaning it to be mean.  Mary was right there on top of it and Henry was running around playing but as soon as Henry heard the words come out of his mouth he ran over and yelled "HEY! Don't talk to my brother that way!!".  I don't think I've ever seen Mary so proud.  Those two Voss boys have each others back.

Elle was convinced she couldn't go across this bridge, I was so proud when she finally did.

Henry is fully capable of crossing the bridge but decided to do this instead.  This boy!  I was dying laughing!! Mary was on the other side of the park talking to a friend of hers and came back over to this.  She always blames Chay Chay for encouraging his silly moods.

We love Target.  Elle knows it by name, she also knows Starbucks is inside Target where she can get a cakepop!  This day Oliver decided he needed a bottle IMMEDIATELY so we hung out on the patio furniture for a bit.  Elle loved testing out all the chairs and kept commenting on how comfy they were.

My sweet Ollie boy.

Elle fell asleep like this one afternoon, I swear she wasn't drinking! :)

Elle loves helping me get ready, she always wants to use my makeup and hair supplies.  One day I bought her a  Disney princess hair and makeup kit.  It had a blowdryer, straightening iron, curling iron, crush and some makeup.  Elle was in love!

Blowdrying Eric's hair while he watches the baseball game.

Headed to the splash pad!

Swimming at MawMaw and PawPaw's house.  

She always pretends to be a dolphin in the water.

You can find Bear either drinking the water or laying on the side of the pool letting all the water out.

A fun day at the Voss house!  Mom and Dad were out of town one Friday so Elle spent the day with MiMi and Oliver stayed at our house with Grandma Chris.

Henry drew a picture of me and Eric. :)  This is how Hens poses for pictures now.

This girl still very much loves (and needs!) a nap.  There usually isn't much of a struggle.  She either falls asleep on her own or after lunch I tell her to lay on her little Doc McStuffens couch for a nap, I turn on a movie and she falls asleep.  This is how things go about 90% of the time, that other 10% are the wild days! 

I got this light for Mother's Day.  Eric and I stayed up until 2am one night, every single strand of capiz shells was individually wrapped.  You can also catch a peek of the frame my dad gave us for Mother's Day.  The wood and glass are from my Grandma and Grandpa's house and the picture is one from when they were dating.  I love love love it!

My little girlfriend.  She told me one day she wants a turtle names "Octopus"

Anything past tense to this girl is "last year".  It could be something that happened yesterday but she refers to it as "last year".

She only eats the icing off cupcakes...and donuts...and cake.

I randomly listed and sold all of our living room furniture on Craiglist...then told Eric about it.  Just another example of him being the Ricky to my Lucy, he puts up with my antics.  He was actually relieved, he hated the white couches but also a tad peeved because I had just bought them 4 months ago.  Whoopsy!  I just changed my mind! So we lived like this for almost a month.  We ordered new furniture immediately but the delivery date kept getting pushed back.

Off to the Mizzou store to pick out Eric's bday present, Elle loves this store...so much!

Celebrating Eric's 31st bday!

First time trying lemonade (which she now LOVES and calls marmalade, a la Paddington Bear)

Eric's bday dinner, he choose Texas Roadhouse, mainly because Elle loves it so much.  She wanted to get on this saddle but starting crying when the table next to us gave her attention. #shygirl

Mama Rita's birthday basket!

Girlfriend can dominate some corn!

Oliver hates tummy time, so he scoots down low, gets comfy and watches TV.

A little morning nap.

First time in the highchair at mom and dad's house.

First time in his little activity chair.

Fun times at mom and dad's house.  The babies LOVE to have dance parties in the foyer.  Dad is always the DJ.

Henry loves Ollie so much.  He always asks to hold him and is so sweet with him!!

Bear and his ba-ba

MawMaw's lap is definitely the coziest seat in the house for these babes.

I went back to work in the middle of May :( BUT I am so so so so lucky that I was able to go back part-time.  I work every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday so I can't complain.  Elle had (and still has) a hard time sometimes on the days I go to work.  She colored me this picture of her and Oliver waiting for me to come home. #sobs

We also had this conversation one day.

E: "I had a bad dream"

Mommy: "What was it?"

E: Mommy went back to work"

:(

She got a little boo-boo on her eye and for a couple days it's all she could talk about.

"I love you so much, you're my best friend"

When she says this to me, it just melts my heart.  We always tell each other we are best friends.

And then there is this little doodle, who is so cute it hurts.

And that's a look at our May. :)