Nursery Love and a Mermaid

We officially moved the girls into their rooms a few weeks ago and couldn't be more excited with how they turned out.  Bella's taken over the nursery and Addie is now in her big girl room.  First, we updated the nursery for Bella.  I still absolutely love the nursery we did for Addie before she was born and didn't feel like we needed any major changes, so we just put some personal touches in there for Bella.  I ordered her a monogram for above the nursery, painted some letters for her name, and changed out the pictures, then it was ready to go!  In Addie's room, we kept the same color scheme of corals, pinks, and turquoise and I decorated the room based on an adorable mermaid print that I purchased on Etsy.  It's very girly and multi-purpose, which is exactly what we wanted for her big girl room.  She has room to play, storage for her toys, a reading corner, and her crib.  As she gets older I think she will really appreciate having her own space where she can escape to when she wants to.  I couldn't be more happy with how both rooms turned out and I think the girls will love their rooms for years to come!

Bella's Room

Addie's Big Girl Room

Bella - Month 3

Weight, Length, Head - No updates here until your 4 month well check next month

Clothes:  3-6 months

Diapers: Size 1

Health:

No news is usually good news in this category and that's how it's been this month.  I know you are growing and developing right on track, but our next well check isn't until next month.  

Diet:

At the 3 month mark, you and I seem to continue to make a really good team.  You are a very efficient eater, it only takes you about 15 minutes per feeding.  During the day you eat every 3-4 hours and then go a longer stretch at night.  I usually nurse you before bed around 8pm and then you wake up to eat between 5-6am.  We continue to give you a bottle every once in a while and you take it without a problem, as long as it is warmed up first.

Sleep:

The biggest change this past month is that you are now sleeping in your own room!  We tried to transition you to the crib as well, but it didn't seem to work because you were constantly kicking and waking yourself up.  I decided that's a battle we would fight after the holidays and for now you sleep in the rock n play.

Another big change is that you have become pretty predictable with your sleep habits and you have started napping in the afternoons when Addie naps :)  You typically wake up for the day between 7-8am and will take a mid-morning snooze on the go.  I'm very lucky that you seem to be pretty easy going and you don't mind napping in the car seat while we are out and about with your big sis.  Once we get home, I nurse you and feed Addie lunch and then both of you go down around 1.  This is usually your longest nap of the day, sometimes as long as 3-4 hours :)  Occasionally, you wake up before you are ready, so on those days you nap again around 5.  Every night you go to bed around 8 and sleep through the night, only waking up once to eat.

There's nothing better than a sister and these 2 have been best buds for 3 months now!

NOSE!  Addie is obsessed with Bella and Bella loves to watch her sisters every move.  Watching them together melts my heart!

Likes:

This month you have been much more alert and aware of what's going on around you.  Sometimes you like to sit up with me in the playroom and just watch your sister play.  Sometimes you lay on the floor and she comes and lays next to you and the two of your babble and smile at each other, it melts my heart!  You have also found your hands this month and you are obsessed with them!  You love your rock n play, especially when you are swaddled.  The aden and anais blankets are your favorite! Mommy's milk continues to be at the top of your list too!

Like I said, someone found her hands...and LOVES them!

Dislikes:

Bella, you are such an easy going baby and there are very few things that you do not like.  Tummy time is not your favorite though and it's partially my fault probably because we didn't do it enough from the beginning.  Since we are on the go so much these days and when we are home it's tough to let you lay on the floor unless I sit right next to you the entire time.  Your sister is very lovable, but sometimes she gets a little too close for comfort.  It's something we are working on though and hopefully you will learn to like more as you get older.

Bella has the best facial expressions.

Milestones:

Your neck strength has really improved and you are able to hold your head up without any wobbling back and forth (even with your hatred for tummy time!)  You are very aware of the sounds of our voices and will turn towards your dad and I and smile when you hear us.  You've started communicating a lot more with your baby babble and you love to tell us stories.  I've noticed you looking at yourself in the mirror this month during tummy time and you've even started grabbing for your toys on your play mat.

On another note, we celebrated your first Halloween and it was a blast!  It was just a glimmer of what's to come for the holidays and we can't wait!

Personality:

Bella you are the best baby ever!  You are always willing to just go with the flow and with a smile on your face!  You are the happiest baby and so chill, I love it!  Even when your big sister and her friends like to poke at you and snatch your pacifier, you still sit there and smile!  I'm sure that eventually you will stand your ground a little more, but for now it's pretty awesome that your so willing to play along.  Even though it's only been 3 months, I already forget what life was like before you were born.  You fit into our family so perfectly and I couldn't imagine life without you!  We love you to the moon and back Bella!  Happy 3 months!

Seriously, she's so chill.

Visitors:   

We went to Pittsburgh at the beginning of your 3rd month to introduce you to the rest of the family.  Grandma, Pap, and cousin Bryan are coming to visit this weekend.  We have lots of plans with friends and family over the holidays as well so stay tuned.

Fall Pictures

The weather has been absolutely beautiful here lately and the leaves couldn't be prettier, so Eric and I decided that it would be the perfect time to try to take some fall pictures with the girls.  We decided to go to Oak Grove Park on Saturday morning and crossed our fingers for some cooperation from our very active toddler.  Since we plan on getting professional pictures taken again in the spring, for Addie's 2 year and Bella's 6 months, we decided to just do these on our own.  Plus, it's extremely difficult to take pictures of a toddler who refuses to sit still and a very adorable baby who can't sit on her own yet and with that being said, we are actually please with out they came out.  They may not be canvas worthy pictures like we usually get from our amazing photographer, but we are saving that for the spring.  This spring, Bella will be at her peak of picture taking, the grace period as I call it.  All of my favorite pictures of Addie when she was a baby were taken between about 6-9 months old, when she could smile, giggle, and make the cutest facial expressions, but she couldn't move or walk away from the camera!  I'm also hoping this spring that Addie will enter the stage of bribing.  I have no problem trading some ice cream for some smiles :) It's really a win, win for me!

Since Bella was born, I've probably taken close to 100 pictures...no judging please, babies are just adorable, a baby and a toddler together - priceless!   But, when I was looking through my pictures the other day I noticed I have a ton of both Bella and Addie, both individually and together and I even have a bunch of family pictures, but I lack pictures of Eric with the girls and myself with the girls.  I always like to have options when it comes to photos and sometimes it's nice to have just Eric with his girls by himself and same for me.  Plus, I might need them for a project I am working on for Christmas :)  With that being said, here are the finished products - The Harvell Family Fall Portraits, Addie is a 21 month old toddler who never stops moving and Bella is the most easy going, sweetest almost 3 month old that I've ever met.  Enjoy :)

Halloween 2015

This year we had an entire day of fun planned for Halloween since it fell on a Saturday.  We started the day with our little bumble bee and sunflower at a Halloween brunch with some of our neighborhood friends.  Addie had a lot of fun running around their back yard, chasing the orange and white balloons, and playing on their swing set.  Although Bella slept through most of the party, she was still miss popular with the other little ones.  Addie loves to make sure all of her friends know where Bella's eyes are and her nose is, it's the funniest thing.  They all gave Bella lots of hugs and kisses and I love seeing my pretty girl so loved - as long as she doesn't lose an eye in the process :)    My friend had some super yummy Halloween themed treats and Halloween activities for the kids, it was the perfect way to start out our day.  We left the brunch with full bellies and naps on our mind:)

Luckily, both girls took awesome naps on Halloween.  By the time everyone woke up, it was time for dinner and then it was back in their costumes for some trick or treating.  Some of our friends met up with us along the way.  Addie and her little buddy Hudson were the most adorable little bumble bee and puppy holding hands as we walked from house to house.  After a lot of walking, they were both pretty tired, so tired that Addie had to catch a ride with Hudson on his stroller on the way home.  When we got home, we checked out Addie's candy stash and then it was off to bed for Addie.  Eric, Bella, and I then went outside to the bonfire to join the rest of the neighborhood to hang out, make smores, and enjoy some drinks and good company.  Halloween 2015 was a success! 

Hudson between Addie and Addy :)

We may or may not have waited too long to take a mom picture

One happy little bumble bee ready for some trick or treating

Daddy and his girls

Addie's first boyfriend

Hand in hand ready to get some candy.  

It's getting close to bedtime

The cutest sunflower I've ever seen :)

Addie got pretty good at trick or treating by the end.

Catching a ride home with her buddy!

A happy girl with her Halloween candy

Some adult fun after the kids went down.

Halloween Fun

There's something about having kids that completely changes the holidays.  Everything takes on a whole new level of fun, whether you are watching your child experience something for the very first time or you get to see the look on their face as they enjoy some special family traditions.  Watching your kids celebrate the holidays makes you feel like a kid again and I think it's one of my favorite things about being a mom.  

Even though Addie is a toddler and Bella is still pretty brand new, I still wanted to plan some fun Halloween things for us to do the week leading up to Halloween.  They may be little, but that doesn't mean that they can't have some orange and black, costume, themed fun and that is just what we did.

Pumpkin Painting

We decided to do something a little more toddler friendly with our pumpkins this year.  Instead of helping us carve our pumpkins, we gave Addie some paint and a brush and let her go to town.  She was a little confused at first because last time we painted it was with a yogurt and food dye mixture that was totally edible and tasted very yummy, but she quickly learned that this wasn't quite the same.  In typical Addie fashion, she stuck her tongue out to help her concentrate and worked her magic.  She did so well that we even let her paint Bella's as well.  The pumpkins turned out great, they lasted a little bit longer than normal, and we even got to display Addie's work of art both inside and outside of the house.  Toddler pumpkin painting is something I would definitely recommend, as long as you are okay with getting a little messy!

Check out that concentration - and that tongue!

The finished product! 

Zoo Boo at the Pittsburgh Zoo

Addie is obsessed with going to the zoo these days.  She loves walking around and making animal noises, so we thought what could be more fun that Zoo Boo!  We dressed up our bumble bee and sunflower, packed the car, and off we went.  Aunt Kristen came with us as we took our zoo to the zoo!  Zoo Boo was Addie's first experience Trick or Treating and it was probably a good thing she had some practice.  She loved getting her treat, but then liked sitting down right next to the person and signed "more" because she wanted me to open it.  We had to work on taking our candy and walking to our stroller before we enjoyed our treat.  Practice makes perfect though right!

Our "zoo" at the zoo!

Addie the bumble bee

Our adorable little sunflower

Peek a boo

Addie and Daddy hiding behind the sign

Kisses for her little sis!

Fall Festival at Chick Fil A

We went to Chick Fil A with our friends for some dinner and Halloween fun.  The kids got dressed up in their costumes, they got some treats, and they even got to decorate a pumpkin.  We even won a digital photo frame before we left - so between our prize and the fact that I didn't have to cook dinner, I would say all around it was a win!

BOO Bash at the Little Gym

Anyone who knows Addie knows that she is our little monkey.  She loves to jump around, climb on everything, and is constantly moving - which is why she has always loved going to the the Little Gym.  We haven't been to class since the summer, so when I saw that they were having a BOO Bash on Friday night I knew we had to go.  Addie had a huge grin on her face from ear to ear the entire time that we were there.  She played with bubbles, balls, and her absolute favorite thing was the rings.  Bella was a little unsure about all of the craziness and all of the noise, but I know she too will learn to love the Little Gym.   I can't wait to take her to her first class when she gets a little older.  

Our Batgirl was adorable in her outfit from her Aunt Judy and Bella sporting some black and orange gear.

"Weeeee"  Addie must have gone on the rings at least 100 times!

Check out that smile, like I said, she had an absolute BLAST!

Family photo :)

Cookies and some Spooktacular Fun!

Addie loves to help me cook, so when we got home from the Little Gym we continued the fun with making some sugar cookies.  Addie helped me use the cut outs - she picked out the pumpkin and the bat.  Then, while the cookies were baking we watched a Spooktacular Disney Halloween special all cuddled up with some pillows and blankets!  

 

Someone even snuck some cookie dough :)

Watching movies with Daddy

How cute is that smile!  Someone is excited for her 1st Halloween :)

Such a cute pic in their matching pajamas!