Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Our weekend in pictures...

My first day back to work was on Saturday, and Mark stayed home with the girls. Annie did great taking bottles from him all day, and it was actually nice for me to get out and work a little and not worry about the kids. Other than that, we had lots of fun relaxing and hanging out with friends and family this weekend.


Me and my girls :)




Eating watermelon and playing with friends





Annie giving me some big smiles



Cooking out with Dee Dee on Memorial Day



Swimming with daddy





So grateful for our time together this weekend!

Friday, May 27, 2011

FIVE YEARS!!!


I can't believe it's been five years since I married this wonderful man. He is an amazing husband, and a better father than I could have ever imagined for our girls. We have been through some pretty heavy stuff in our first years of marriage, but we made it through together, and are now stronger, closer, and more in love than ever.

Happy Anniversary! To the next five....

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Kalan's wedding

Lucy was a flower girl for the first time this weekend! My best friend from high school got married, and Lucy and I were both in the wedding. It was a jam packed weekend with lots of activity and very little sleep, and Lucy did surprisingly well. With a really short nap on Friday and no nap at all on Saturday, she managed to wait until AFTER the wedding to have a complete and total meltdown. I'm actually impressed she made it that long. We had so much fun and were both so honored to be apart of Kalan's special day. She was a beautiful bride, and I really wish I had taken more pictures. Mark stayed at home with Annie during all the festivities so it was up to me to keep up with Lucy, and all of our bridesmaid and flower girl duties, so needless to say I didn't have much time to take pictures. Hopefully we can snag some from other people.


Getting ready in the hotel room. Lucy was such a trooper and had so much fun hanging out with all the bridesmaids.



At the rehearsal with daddy



"I think I'm gonna put my basket in the bushes"



Practicing walking with the bride



My sweet girl




Lucy and Mommy



Kissing the beautiful bride!



My flower girl!


Sadly that's where the pictures end. Once we got to the location and starting pictures, the camera got left in the bridesroom and never made it back out!

We love you Kalan and Josh and are so happy for you guys!

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Bathtime

It gets a little hectic in the evenings at our house. But we did manage to bathe Annie last week.





She seemed pretty happy through the whole bath. If her skin wasn't so dry I would do it more often!

Friday, May 13, 2011

Is it summer yet?

It is at our house!






Monday, May 9, 2011

Mother's Day

Mother's Day has been difficult for me ever since we lost our first baby. Fortunately I never experienced loss before having a living child, and I cannot imagine those mothers who have lost babies and aren't acknowledged at all on Mother's Day just because they don't have a living child. It breaks my heart to think about those babies, but it also reminds me how blessed I am to have two beautiful, healthy girls.

Last night was crazy. Evenings are always difficult with kids, especially when you are alone. Mark was working, both girls were having multiple meltdowns, and I was trying really hard not to have one of my own. I remember reading a blog post about a year ago, about a woman who was right in the middle of morning sickness and was complaining about it when a friend who didn't have children because of infertility came over to help her with her other children. She realized in that moment, that her friend would have killed to have morning sickness, and to have screaming children running around, and to have chaos in her house. She decided to embrace the morning sickness and the choas. That's how I felt last night. SO blessed to have crying children in my home, SO blessed to have two babies who want to be held and loved, SO blessed to be pulled in multiple directions because my children need me.


Love the lyrics of this song:

You give and take away for my good
For who am I to say what I need?
For You alone see the hidden parts of me
that need to be stripped away.

And as you begin to refine
I’m learning to let go and rely
on One who walks with me
As hard as it may be,
You’re teaching me all the while to say:

Bless the Lord, O my soul
All that’s in me bless Your name
Forget not Your power un-told
not Your glory or Your fame
For You came to heal the broken
to redeem and make me whole
Bless the Lord, O my soul.


I said a special prayer yesterday for anyone who longs to be a Mother, and for anyone who is a Mother but whose babies are in Heaven. Happy Mother's Day to YOU.

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

One month!

My baby is one month old today! I can't believe it's already been a month, and yet I feel like she has been in our family forever. I am so happy and so grateful for the sweet miracle that she is. Life with two is definitely challenging, but it feels so right. It felt like something was missing before Annie came into our family.


As much as I love her, I am SO glad she's a month old now. I don't know about the rest of you, but the first 2 weeks are so hard for me. Maybe its the c-section, the hormones, no sleep, the constant nursing, or all of it combined, but I am happy to see those 2 weeks gone. At a month old, Annie has settled into a nice 3 hour schedule and is a great night sleeper, and has been from birth. But I am happy to report that naps (as of this week) are going fabulous too. She took a little longer than Lucy did to get into my routine, but now that she has mommy is much happier, which means everyone else is happier too :)

Here's what we know about Annie so far:

- She is much more laid back than Lucy, but isn't afraid to let out a squeal if you do something that makes her mad
- She HATES the swaddle. We swaddle her anyway because otherwise her little flailing arms wake her up
- She is smiling! She has smiled at her daddy, Lucy, and Dee Dee, but so far mommy gets the biggest smiles :)
- She is an excellent nurser
- She is still wearing newborn diapers; Newborn onesies still fit but the ones with footies are getting too short
- She loves to hear Lucy's voice
- She loves to be sung to
- She has a dimple on her left cheek
- Her eyes are still blue
- Her hair might have a red tint to it....we'll see :)
- She is cuddly and loves to be held (Lucy hated to be held, which is funny, because she is SO affectionate now)
- She is holding her head up SO well, but she doesn't like tummy time.
- She was 9lbs 11oz and 22 inches at her 1 month check up (on May 5)



Lucy has quickly figured out that mommy is occupied while Annie is nursing, and there are lots of fun things to get into....



My cup runneth over! I love my girls!