Please pass the cocketballs

Dinner, Pope household, 7pm.

Jemma, pointing across the table, "Mama, Jemma have cocketball?

Tom, whispering to me, "Did she just say cock and balls?"
Me, whispering back, "I think she said chocolate balls."

Jemma, interjecting into our conversation, "Please Jemma have cocketball!" She is becoming a little frustrated at this point.

Tom, "What do you want Jemma?"

Jemma, "Cocketball! Jemma want cocketball!"

And finally, we realize she is pointing at the bowl of olives, which, yes, she thought were chocolate balls. She continued to ask for "cocketballs" throughout dinner!

Visiting with our cousins Addie and Roman

Jemma changes a diaper

This actually happened a week or so ago, but I just got around to uploading the pictures. I went to the bathroom and came back to find Jemma changing Lily's diaper. Quite a feat considering we use cloth. Jemma had gotten Lily's diaper off, but couldn't figure out how to put the new one on her :)

Introducing...

SCARY JEMMA!!!! AHHHHHHH!!!!

My little girls :)

I've been busy enjoying our new little addition as well as our super spunky 2 year old. Jemma has officially become a toddler. I may not have wanted to admit it before Lily was born, but there's no denying it now. Her favorite question is "why?" and she dresses and redresses herself 5 times a day lol. She's still the queen of cuteness though.



She's also become quite the little artist. I got her some paints the other day and she's asked to paint every day. (Disregard the dirty face...she'd just had lunch)




Lily is a sweet little angel and I love her to pieces. Poor babe has been battling reflux. I noticed this right away when she was born, but it didn't seem to bother her until around 3-4 weeks old. We got a prescription for Zantac from the pedi (which has helped a lot) and I stopped eating dairy (which helped even more). It's been a bit of a transition for me since milk, yogurt, cheese, and ice cream are pretty much staples of my diet. But I'm learning to read labels and eat differently. Started drinking soy milk and eating soy ice cream...did you know they even make a cheese subsitute? Tastes a little like cheese puffs. Anywho, it definitely helped me shed some pounds as I am only 3 pounds shy of my pre-Lily weight. Hoping to drop a little more too! It has made such a difference for her. We went from vomiting out her nose and mouth with a pretty large amount at every feed to a little puddle every other feed or so. Double bonus that it's helping me too. I've been wearing her in our wraps a lot since staying upright minimizes the spit-up and plus she just seems to love it. Jemma liked being worn, but Lily LOVES it. She is such a little cuddle bug.

Jemma dresses herself :)

So the other night, Jemma got to spend the night with Aunt Kari and her cousin Ella. She was so excited she packed her Dora backpack and dressed herself. She insisted on wearing her red Made in Ohio t-shirt, her leggings with stripes and hearts, and her winter boots. She is so stinkin' cute!

Pregnancy #2 Update

Well, most of you know by now that I'm preggo with #2! We are very happily anticipating adding another little girl to our family in early April. The pregnancy has been going very well - I initially had some nausea and some extreme fatigue, but that passed pretty quickly this time. I've been feeling great for a month or so. This little lady is much more active than Jemma was. Jemma would only kick in the evenings or when I laid down to rest; this one is kicking me all day long! She especially hates when I sit down to drive and repeatedly kicks me where the seat belt presses into my stomach :)

We've been telling Jemma that there is a baby in Mama's belly, but I'm not sure how much she understands. She loves her cousin Ella and loves to help change her diaper, hug her, and bring her a "ki-ki" (her word for pacifier). I'm hoping this will transition well when she has a little sister of her own! We're in the process of moving her to into her big girl room. It is decorated and ready to go, but we're making a slow transition to sleeping in the big girl bed. She is still preferring her crib, which is fine. We have plenty of time to move her. The new baby won't need the crib for several months anyway.

I switched OB practices this time, mainly because I wanted to develop a better relationship with my doctor. The first practice I used had 5 doctors and it was hard to get to know all of them. This one has 2 and it is also much closer to our house. The doctors are amazing and I really like both of them. They spend time talking to you and genuinely care how you are feeling and how the pregnancy is going. I've been really happy with my switch so far. I'm determined that this time I'm going to have a natural birth and my docs are so supportive of that.

Overall, we are all doing great. It's amazing how fast this pregnancy has progressed. It's halfway through and I feel like we still have so much to do before this little one makes her appearance! I'll continue to keep you updated! Happy Thanksgiving!!

Just a little light reading...

Jemma's Dollhouse

About a month ago, we were purging all our toys at work since we are being renovated soon, and I was able to save this lovely wooden dollhouse from the garbage can.



It needed a lot of love, but I thought it would be great for Jemma. I have wonderful memories of playing with our dollhouse at my Grandma's and ours at home, and it was always so fun. I knew Jemma would like it. Every girl should have a dollhouse! It needed a lot of love though - sanding and painting. My youngest sister spent the weekend with me a few weekends ago, and she helped pick out the paint and we got started! We did a lot of sanding and smoothing and then all the painting started. We wanted it to be bright and cheerful. This is our finished product. I'm so happy with it, and Jemma seems to enjoy it so far! She tried to climb in, which is pretty fun. I also found a little bunny and bear family to live in it, although she still puts her big babies in it :)

The Littlest Robben :)

I'm so proud to announce Jemma has a new baby cousin! Her name is Ella Grace Robben, and she was born today weighing in at 8lbs, 4oz and 21 inches long. Mommy and baby are doing great and recooperating at Bethesda North hospital. I am so excited to have a beautiful little niece.




This is making me feel quite sentimental abour our own little bean. She has gotten so big, and is turning into such a toddler. It's so hard to believe she was so small once, too. We are so blessed to have these 2 beautiful little girls in our lives!!

3 month hiatus...sorry :)

As you can imagine, we are quite busy with our lovely little lady. So much has happened since my last post!! We had her a simple little birthday party with just family at hour house. She had fun, but she wasn't really into the cake so much.

She is soooo close to walking, but mostly just stubbornly refuses to do it (hmm...I wonder where she gets that from). She's taking around 5-8 steps most of the time if she doesn't realize she is walking. She can walk all over holding your hand, but the second you let go, she sits down and crawls. She'll get it soon though. She loves using her push toy. Here's a picture from us walking outside with her push toy today:





She also LOVES outside. It is her new favorite thing. She loves to walk around and point to everything. We just got a zoo pass so we're looking forward to lots of fun trips this spring and summer.

I promise it won't be another 3 months before I post again, but off to get the munchkin to bed.

Our growing little girl

I was home sick with Jemma today (I am sick, not her...at least so far!) and I was reflecting on how much she has grown and how different she is. It is amazing how fast they change!! Corny, I know, but I had little else to do other than watch TV on hulu :p

For instance, we have had this little child's chair in our living room since she was about 4 or 5 months old. We originally used it like a bouncy seat, then as a feeding seat, and she had pretty much ignored it for several months until she recently decided it was perfect for climbing on! Today she climbed into it with her snack and sat there while she ate. It is amazing to think that a few short months ago we were placing her in the seat and now she gets in and out herself.

And just so you have a visual, here is Jemma at 4ish months (this was the first time she held a rattle)






And here's her today at snack time...









I can't believe our little girl is going to be 1 in less than a month!!

Things Jemma Says...

I was talking to my grandma the other day, and she mentioned that one of her nieces (or maybe a nephew...I don't remember) had made a list of all the things her baby was saying. I thought that was a cute idea, and thought I'd share Jemma's current vocabulary.

Uh-oh (this is what she says most)
Mama
Dada
Oof (woof)
Og (just starting to use the D)
Mow (meow)
Hi
uh-uh (usually after we tell her no...)
Wow
Look (sounds more like ook, but she gets the L sometimes)

I think that's it...I'll add more if Tom tells me I forgot something!

My first snow

Since there was such a fabulous snowfall these past few days, I had to take Jemma out for her first time playing in the snow! Much to my dismay, I realized we did not have a sled, nor a snowsuit or even baby gloves...so we made do with a laundry basket, wrapped Jemma up in several layers of clothes, her coat and her daddy's coat with socks for gloves :) Our front yard has a little hill which was just perfect for baby sled riding! She had a lot of fun and we got a good laugh.

Merry Christmas!

Okay, I know we're a few days late, but we've had a blast the last few days spending time with Jemma on her first Christmas. She didn't really understand the ripping open part, but she had a good time. We spent Christmas Eve at Nana and Opa's and Christmas Day at Grandma and Grandpas. I also tried to get a picture of Jemma dressed up in front of the tree, but it went kind of like this...



That was the best smile I could get at that point :) She needed a nap. Here are some action shots of present opening!

At Nana's...



At Grandma's...
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And at home!


I'm planning to add more pictures later, but the computer is acting up. I'll try to post them later today or tomorrow!