rushley & crew

Dear Ada,  Oh, how I love having a 9-year-old, and I love that that 9-year-old is you 😊 It's just so fun watching you become a full-fledged PERSON, with ideas and opinions and emotions, and to see you starting to mold those parts of you into a wonderful person. I love seeing this person who came from me, and who is like me in so many ways, but you're also your own person, and I love seeing that, too! I love watching you unfold into the person you're choosing to become :) Lately, you're very into getting books from the library that are about crafting or various activities, and you constantly ask me for supplies or opportunities to do the things you read about (most of which I say no to . . . we're both still trying to figure out how to get you doing the things you want to be doing without it being a constant ask on me 😅). You also check out tons of chapter books at a time -- lately you've loved the Whatever After, Ivy & Bean, and Dory Fantasmagory series......

Dear Holly, Oh my sweet girl, how I love you! In the last few weeks, I've really felt like you're growing up. You were my little Holly for so long, and now you're getting to be my big Holly! (Though that doesn't stop you from always wanting to sit on my lap, which you're also getting big for 😅) You love art and music, and you're still not the biggest fan of books. Picture books are fine, but almost every time I read a chapter book aloud, you ask at some point, "when are you going to be done???" 😂 You often look for ways to help, so even when your help isn't all that helpful, it's always sweet! (And can be helpful, too 😊) You love being a big sister (you're always trying to tell Peter what to do) but not always a little sister (you and Ada can definitely get at each other's throats!), and you love playing with whichever sibling will play with you. Our family wouldn't be the same without you, and I'm so glad you're part of ...

Dear Ada,  You are 8 years old! You've been anxiously awaiting this birthday, both because you're excited for presents, and because you're excited to get baptized! You frequently talk about how much you love Jesus and how you want to follow Him. You say the most lovely and heartfelt prayers for specific things and specific people. You love primary songs, and you sing them beautifully. You are so creative and imaginative. I love that you are still little, and you still love to play pretend. You still play Barbies and house, and lately you're very into creating what you need out of paper and/or cardboard -- a small backpack, a notebook, a room for your Barbies, you name it! My favorite thing is to see you and Holly playing together happily and creatively. You LOVE to read. You've been in an online reading class for about a year now, and your skills in and love for reading have both grown so much. You're reading chapter books now, sometimes passing hours doing so. ...

Dear Holly, What a year it's been. When you turned 3, you were THE SWEETEST child, and this year has been a little bit of a wild ride 😅 You're starting to get back to your sweeter roots, but you still have a mean streak! You like getting your way, and you are not afraid to voice your disapproval when you DON'T get your way. There is just no reasoning with you in so many situations 😅🤣 You are silly. You love to ride your scooter. You love to sing, but usually not all the right words 😊 You love to dance at your class. You love to color and cut at home. You love to tell other people when THEY are not following the rules, nevermind the times that you don't follow them. You're still a mama's girl, and you prefer to be near me, even if I'm working on something else. You always want to come with me to the grocery store and to help me in the kitchen. You don't *dislike* books, but you're not crazy about them like Ada has been. You've learned how to w...

Dear Ada,  How on earth are you seven years old?!?! There is so much that is fun about you growing up. For instance, you listen to a lot of audiobooks, and then you'll use vocabulary and phrases that aren't common around our house, and I'm always surprised because your world is expanding and I'm not the only one giving input these days! Sometimes you'll use a word, and then because I make a face (maybe a face of surprise, maybe a face that lets you know you used the word wrong), you'll immediately say something like "I don't even know what that word means!" Which is funny to me because adult-me wonders why you would use it if you don't know you're using it correctly, but that's just how kid-you learns! You're also getting good at things that required a lot of training on my part in the beginning -- things like cleaning up your room/playroom, folding/putting away laundry, doing table tasks. You're responsible and do those things ...

Oh my sweet, sweet Holly, I love you so much! I can't even describe accurately how special I feel our bond is. It's just easy to love you because you love me so freely. Of course you still have tantrums and blow-ups, but most of the time you are truly so calm and sweet and kind. Your little voice is sooo cute. You are the biggest snuggler (with me, at least) -- you snuggle me in my bed after I get you up, in your rocking chair before and/or after sleep times, and almost anytime I sit down on the couch, you make your way over to snuggle with me. Plus you tell me frequently that you want to snuggle me on the couch 😍 I'm excited for us to add a little brother to our family, but I sometimes worry about how it will affect our relationship -- you love to be close to me so often, and I know I won't always be available to be so close once baby brother gets here. I know we'll all figure it out, but I just hope you always know how much I love you through that big change. I...

   Dear Ada, You're six years old!  You are fiery 🔥 You are creative, curious, and you soak up knowledge like a sponge! You can be so kind and empathetic…you can also lose your MIND if you don't get your way 🙃 You and Holly are the best of friends (and the worst of enemies 😅), and you're so excited to have another little baby around here in a few months. Although you weren't a snuggly baby or toddler, you now LOVE to snuggle. You like mermaids, princesses, and you still have a thing for Star Wars, though MUCH less intense than a year ago. You recently figured out how to pump your legs on swings (finally 😅😅) and are obsessed. You're full of energy and ideas, and I love you so! Stats 45.2 pounds (about 53%) and 44.75" (about 42%) 5T-6x fit best. Milestones Switched to a high-back booster at about 5y5m. Pumping legs on swings about a month before your birthday. Doing math randomly, just because you feel like it. You've already memorized some simple additi...

Stats 25.0 lbs (26%), 33.12" (36%) Size 4 diapers Mostly wearing 24m or 2T these days Words At 21 months, she was saying roughly 45 words, and now she's easily saying 100+. She basically just talks a ton, though she's definitely in the stage where she needs mom and dad as translators for other people. She says sentences up to about 5 words ("What you doing daddy?" "where Ada go?" "milk please, mama")  Some of the words she started saying before I stopped taking notes: Anna (from Frozen ) toot snuggle hat cat meow pumpkin sock leaf eye panda fish (sounded like "fee-ah" at first, now says "fishie") I love you cup show moon ready soup washcloth ("Shash-sauce") shower Elsa sleep sack Weston cheese blueberries cake monkey cereal lid She also likes to add -ee endings to things, like hug-ee and ice-ee.  She won't say "santa," but instead calls him "papa." With words that end in -er, she often swit...

  Dear Ada, How on earth are you FIVE YEARS OLD?! I love watching you grow up. It's so fun to see the way that your personality grows and changes. You are so silly, so thoughtful (when you want to be), and so sweet. You have strong opinions about all the things, which I need to remember is a GOOD thing -- you're figuring out exactly who YOU want to be, and that's what I want for you, too. You're so curious, always wanting to learn about any words or ideas you're unfamiliar with, and I love this! I've always kind of felt like certain things are learned at certain ages, but you're showing me that we really do learn little by little. We've discussed things like how the ocean and space work, how the theory of relatively works, how cameras work, and those are just the things off the top of my head! We always try to answer in an age-appropriate way that we think you'll understand, and as a result I just feel like you're so smart and able.  You're s...

Stats 23.8 lbs (48%), 31.6" (13%) Size 4 diapers 12-24 month clothes, but 18-24m clothes fit best! Words At 18 months, she was saying about 20 words, and now she also says: Sissy Shoe Grandma Cookie Apple Happy Stinky Bum JJ (a la Cocomelon) Holly Buckle Bubble Phone Fly (the bug) Ugga Mugga (Daniel Tiger) Here you go Go away Peng (for penguin) Mine Hot So 40+ Milestones no new teeth (still 12) can identify most facial body parts walking up and down stairs on her own (holding the wall) or with help coloring without eating the writing instruments jumps like a frog a lot runs really well even tries out Ada's bikes and scooters Overall she's just pretty physically able. Fearless with slides. Seriously does any of them, all by herself. I think it's the cutest thing. Obsessions Still prefers mom, but has eased up a bit. Still obsessed with her puppy, along with her penguin and sleep sack. Real dogs. She loves to see them whenever she goes on my walk with me. Cookies. Def he...

Well, I didn't do my usual weigh and measure, and I'm about a month late posting this, but here are the few notes I've put in my phone about Holly these last few months! Stats Size 4 diapers 12-24 month clothes, but 18m clothes fit best! Words At 15 months, she was saying about 10 words, and now she also says: Mommy Papa Hiya Puppy Doggie (every animal is either a puppy or a doggie haha) Boo (sounds like "Bo") Beep Ew (always about diapers or toilets 😂) Yummy Baby (and she says it anytime she sees a toddler or younger!) Her favorite and most commonly used words are "mommy" "go" "uh oh" "no" and "puppy." Milestones 12 teeth (including 4 molars) Mastered the art of getting out of being picked up right around 15 months Giving hugs and kisses when asked (sometimes) 😍 Obsessions She definitely prefers mom. Anytime she gets hurt, anytime I'm THERE, she wants me. Which is both sweet (for me) and sad (for Russ), and ...

Stats 21 pounds even (24%) (Ada was also 21 pounds even at 15 months!) 30 inches (32%) Size 3 diapers (double diapering at night, and I think I'll size up the next time I buy diapers because they're seeming small lately) 12-18 month clothes. A lot of the 12-month stuff is getting too small. Words In addition to "mama" and "dada," which she was saying at 12 months, she now says: hi (more like "hi hi hi hi hi!") go uh oh thank you (she did it a few times but hasn't much lately) all done (also not doing this one much anymore) cheese (for pictures) She just started saying "bye bye" but with G sounds haha (guy guy) No Milestones Started cruising along furniture like two days after her birthday She has  eight teeth! And the 5th and 6th teeth to come in were parts of her top (I think) molars! . . . they're like way back there! Started going DOWN stairs around 13-14 months. She took her first steps on 2/16 (14 months), and started standin...

Dear Ada, I'm always amazed to see how much you grow and change in such a short time. You just become more of a grown-up every day, it seems! We had a pretty rough year or so, but I think things are starting to get better. I'm not sure if it's just because you're growing up or because I'm (sometimes) doing better at managing my own thoughts and actions, but I finally feel like the good is starting to outweigh the bad. I've loved you all along the way, but it was tough to feel like things were always hard. I'm enjoying feeling like things are getting a little easier for us most days. You like to go go go -- all day long you want to be doing something, whether that's playing with a friend, going to the park, playing a game, coloring, or playing pretend. You always want to play more, but you always want someone to play WITH you. Definitely an extrovert like mama! You're still sweet and forgiving, and you're even pretty good at saying sorry! You just...