Worst. Blogger. Ever.

I am seriously the worst blogger ever. But, two little kids plus a full time teaching job doesn't leave much time for anything, much less blogging. These are pictures from a shoot we did with www.amyjophotography.com in November.  She is amazing!

I'm going to try and catch up and share photos I've taken and memories we've made over the last 9 months because, wow, I have some cute, funny kids! ;)

This next photo is a little piece of chalk art I did yesterday while watching the kiddies play outside. It was oddly relaxing.

3 Month Update

I can't believe I haven't updated my blog in 3 months! Actually, I can believe it. Life with an infant and a 2 1/2 year old is BUSY! Right now Kaylin is watching her morning "toons" and Liam is asleep on the Boppy in my lap. :)

Liam is growing like a weed! He's in size 2 diapers and is wearing 3-6 month clothes. He eats like a champ and sleeps pretty good. He's still co-sleeping but we hope to move him into his crib for nighttime sleep soon. It's just so easy to nurse him and go right back to sleep. (I'm determined not to have him in our bed when he's 2 like Kaylin!) He rolled over from belly to back yesterday for the first time! It took him a minute, but he finally got all the way over. He enjoys sitting up straight and is trying out sitting in the Bumbo seat. He is not a fan of his car seat, unfortunately. He has a well baby appointment this month, so I'll be sure and post his weight and height.

Kaylin is doing great, too. She's fiercely independent right now. I know that goes with the territory at the age, and I do my best to be patient and accommodating. But, to be honest, sometimes I just want to do whatever it is myself just to get it done - especially if Liam is fussing and needs something. She's been really funny and imaginative lately. She'll tell me, "Good idea, Mama" when I suggest something she likes. (painting, going outside, etc) She regularly takes baths with Mickey and Minnie and calls Daisy on the phone. She'll hold her phone to her ear and say, "Yeah...yeah....yeah...bye bye Daisy." She's sleeping great - we read books, say goodnight, and she goes to sleep on her own. She hasn't figured out that she can get out of the bed on her own, so when she wakes up in the morning, she just calls for me. We're still working on potty training. She'll sit on the potty occasionally, but hasn't show much interest since Liam arrived. I'm tempted to try a weekend in big girl panties. Potty training is kind of difficult with a baby to care for, though. Can't exactly get up and sprint to the potty while breastfeeding!

I will post pictures soon. My camera has a ton of pictures on it, but something goes wrong every time I try to download. Seriously frustrating.

Little man's up. Gotta run!

Welcome to the world, Liam!

Baby Liam decided to join us on April 26th at 3:16pm. The labor was pretty quick - my water broke at home at 6:30am and he was here less than 9 hours later. (much different than Kaylin's marathon labor!) He weighed 7lbs,7oz and was 20.5 in long. He also has a full head of reddish/brownish hair! He's a very easy going, laid-back baby. He really doesn't fuss unless you're doing something to him - changing or bathing, usually. And he's taken very well to nursing - yay!

Kaylin is adjusting well. I will never forget how her face lit up when she saw Liam for the first time. It was priceless! She said, "Baby, out!" :) She likes watching us take care of brother, and usually pulls up a stool so she has a better view. She likes to rub his face and head and says, "Hi baby brother!" all the time. Sometimes it's, "Hi brother, baby!" which is even cuter. She's had a few small meltdowns ("MY paci!!") but it's usually when she's really tired.

Speaking of tired, she was up at 5am, so I need to get her down for a nap. Liam is sleeping peacefully in his bassinet. :)

(before serious contractions began!)

TWO sleeping babies!

(hospital photographer took the ones below...)

For Kaylin

My sweet girl,

These are your last few days as an only child. I know you don't know what that means or how your life is about to change, just take my word for it that it is. Not that it's going to be bad, it's just going to be different. You have been the center of my universe for 2 years and I have enjoyed every second of it. I am soaking up every last minute of you having my undivided attention. If I'm being honest, I'm a little nervous about sharing myself with your little brother. Will both of you get enough attention? Will I be able to keep up with a newborn and a toddler? I'm also nervous about how you will adjust to having a little brother. You are such a mama's girl that I'm afraid you'll be really jealous of him and think you aren't important anymore. I promise to do my best to show you that you are.

As nervous as I am about adjusting to life with our new addition, I am so excited to see what kind of big sister you will be. You are such a sweet, caring little girl. Sometimes you'll lift up my shirt and give brother hugs and kisses. Recently you started patting my belly and saying, "Baby brother... hold you." It makes my heart melt. I watch you play with your dolls - replacing their pacifiers and hugging them when they cry - and I can't wait to see you do the same for your little brother. It'll be a while before you can really play with Liam, but I can already see it in my head, and it's fantastic.

Love,
Mama

 

New Blog Name

Now that we are adding another one to our family, I need a new blog name. I've been trying to think of something cute but haven't been able to come up with anything. We'll see...

Hiatus

It's been a looong time since I've posted. (obviously, right?) A lot has happened and I know I won't have the time to explain using the right words. But, I guess the CliffsNotes version is that my dad passed away unexpectedly on April 1st from a very, very short battle with esophageal cancer. Thankfully, we spent the previous weekend in Pensacola and got to spend some quality time together. He got to play with Kaylin - that was such a blessing to see. We went back the following Thursday to say good bye and buried him on April 5th (a day before his birthday) at Barrancas National Cemetery with my mom. It was a beautiful service and I will never, ever forget accepting the flag that had been draped over his casket.

I am 37 weeks pregnant now, which means I will have baby Liam any time now.

Gotta run, mini me is ready to play....

Snow Week 2011

Soooo... the snow stayed around for a full week! School was cancelled ALL WEEK! Kaylin and I did not leave the house from Saturday night until Thursday night. While it was nice to spend so much time with my sweet girl, we were both going a little stir crazy by the end of it!

Here are some more pictures....

Snow!

Kaylin and I woke up to, like, 6 inches of snow this morning! She ran to the window at 6am saying, "HI SNOW!" and "lots!" So cute. :) Here are some pictures and a short video of our very quick outing.

Name Game

I am 23 weeks (and 1 day) pregnant now. I can feel the baby moving much more these days. I love that feeling. Billy can also feel him and we can see him wiggling in my belly, too.  I don't want to jinx anything, but I think the nausea is finally behind me! I have a cute little belly and can't fit into any of my pre-pregnancy clothes. (pajama pants excluded!) I can't believe he'll be here in about 4 months! I know people do it all the time, but I'm starting to freak about having TWO children! Kaylin still doesn't sleep all night long and is such a mama's girl that I worry what will happen when a newborn needs me all the time.

I've started to get motivated about getting ready for baby's arrival. One of the main things we've been discussing is a name. Billy is the fifth (or is it sixth?) William in his family. We will follow tradition and name our baby boy William as well. I am totally cool with that. I was hoping we could call the baby by whatever middle name we chose. In my mind, since Billy goes by Billy (not William) and Billy's dad goes by Bill (not William) the tradition is in the boys officially having the name William - not so much being called that. Billy is dead set on calling the baby Will. I am not a fan. I especially don't like it with our last name. It sounds too short and choppy to me. I suggested calling him Liam, since, like Will, it's part of William. Billy is not a fan. So, I am getting pissy about it and Billy will not give in. It's starting to become a real point of tension for me. This is important - it's what we'll call our son! Forever. How in the world are we supposed to come to an agreement? One of us is going to have to give in on something he/she feels strongly about. Ugh.

I think we've settled on some bedding, though. Like with Kaylin, we didn't want anything too cutesy or annoying. Billy wanted dark colors (forest green was his #1 choice) and I wanted blues and greens. Here's what I'm pretty sure we're going with:


The plan is to give the baby Kaylin's crib and changing table/dresser and get her a big girl bed and new dresser.

I also found out that my sisters-in-law are throwing me a baby shower! Yay! I didn't think I'd have one since this is baby #2 and they'll be pretty close in age so this was a nice surprise! I guess I need to register. :)

We're also in the middle of trying to make a HUGE decision about where we'll live when our lease is up in September. One option is to move down to south Georgia and into Billy's grandma's plantation home. It's a big, beautiful 100 year old house and needs a little TLC which we both think would be fun to do. On the other hand, it will probably be expensive to do. It's in a very quiet little country town that is definitely nice to visit, but would we like living there? I would be able to stay at home with my babies, which is something I've wanted to so since Kaylin was born. Dropping a newborn off with someone else is heartbreaking. BUT, on the other hand, I like that Kaylin is learning to socialize with other kids. I could go on and on but I'll stop there for now. Bottom line? I don't think I'll be able to pass up an opportunity to stay at home with my kids. (although I have a couple of friends who did it for a while and say they did not enjoy it. hmm...)

I guess that's it for now. I still need to pick a new name for the blog - and get better about posting. Life just goes so fast right now. I finally got around to ordering Christmas cards and still haven't sent them out! Where does the time go?

I'll post more pictures soon, but here's one of our snowy Christmas night...

Hello, there!

It's been quite some time since I've written (and I only have a few minutes while Billy and Kaylin are out at the grocery store getting - what else?- more milk) but we have had some big changes in our lives. The biggest and best news is that Kaylin is going to be a BIG SISTER this Spring!! I will be 15 weeks along tomorrow and our official due date is April 28th. We have also found out that this little peanut is a BOY! We were shocked when they were able to tell us at my 11 week ultrasound! I am feeling ok, aside from the nausea and vomitting. Hopefully it will subside soon!

We also moved. I don't know if I'll share the details, but both of our commutes are a great deal shorter and for that we're thankful. Less time in the car = more time as a family. :)

I'll be redesigning the blog soon and trying to choose a new name since it won't be just three of us anymore. Suggestions welcome! :)

Hope all is well where you are.

Technical Difficulties

I'm having issues over here. I recently got a Trojan Horse virus on the desktop where I keep all the pictures and videos. We're still in the process of trying to get it fixed. I'm also having problems with my layout and background. I spent a lot of time making the blog all pretty about a month or so ago and the other night all my edits disappeared. So annoying!

Wordless Wednesday

Bedtime Conversation

Me: "Shhh.... night night."
Kaylin: "Teeth?"
Me: "You already brushed your teeth. It's time for night night."
Kaylin: "Toons?"
Me: "We already watched cartoons. It's time for night night."
Kaylin: "Owsiii?"
Me: "We will go outside again tomorrow. It's time for night night."
Kaylin: "Toons?"
Me: "No toons. Night night."

Sweet dreams, lovebug.

Wordless Wednesday