21 months of awesomeness

1. You are an amazing big brother.  You have embraced your role as big brother and love on your sister every moment you get.  You talk to her, sing to her, hold her hand, kiss her head and hug her every day.  This absolutely melts my heart and makes me so happy to be a mommy to you both. 
2. You love playing with your train tracks and can now put them together all by yourself.
3. You love to put things in a row.  Whether it is toys, rocks, spoons, blocks or well whatever you can find....you love to line them up.
4. You have mastered puzzles.  You love playing puzzles all by yourself.
5. You listen very well to your parents.  Especially when it is diaper changing time.  I love how easy you are!
6. Even though you listen to us, you are not perfect all the time :)  Mommy and Daddy have been going to a parenting class on Sunday nights at church.  We have been learning some awesome tricks and have been implementing them at home.  We started time out with you about two weeks ago and you have been responding really well to that and you dont get up till I tell you to!
7. You LOVE Jeeps.  Pop has a big red Jeep and you love to sit in it with him and go for rides or just listen to music.  Now, when we go for walks in our neighborhood, you love to point out all the "Jeep Jeeps".
8. Before you were a big brother you did not care to much for sitting in a stroller.  But now that you can sit next to your sister (in the side by side stroller), you love to ride in the double stroller.  
9. Your favorite shows on TV are now Imagination Movers and Yo Gabba Gabba.  Anything with music gets you so excited you dance around the house with a huge grin on your face.
10. You would live outside if we let you.  You love to play in the sprinkler, on your swing set, with bubbles or just walk around.
11. You are a big fan of all things fruit.  So far I can not name a fruit that you do not like!
12. You are a good eater, but you are not a fan of carrots.
13. You still take three hour naps and sleep for 11 - 12 hours at night.
14. Daddy and I know every word to all 37 movers songs on the cd.  That is all you let us listen to in the car.
15.  When I start singing the clean up song, you drop what you are doing and start cleaning up.
16. You love balls, cats (you call every cat Reesey), bubbles, gummies, hats and babies.
17.  You are starting to repeat more words that I say, but you are still not talking much.  That, however, does not keep you from communicating.  You are able to tell me anything you want. 
18. You love being read to.  Daddy and I read to you all the time.  You love when we read in silly voices or sing the stories.  You try to imitate how we read the books :)  You even have a couple of your favorites memorized!!
19. You sleep with a stuffed Elmo and in the mornings when you wake up you like to talk to him.
20. You are still obsessed with your Auntie Lolo.
21. You have become such a helper since I had Harper.  You like to get me diapers, throw diapers away, help burp her, give her her paci and rub her head.  I can not believe how big you seem now.  You understand whatever I say to you and you are learning so much every day.  I have so much fun just sitting back and watching you discover the world.  I love you more than you will ever know!!



A week of firsts

Last week was my first week solo as a stay at home mom of two. I went on my first grocery shopping trip with two, we went on our first play date, we started taking family walks every night after dinner, and Matt and I had our first date night since bringing Harper home. It was the first time that I felt I had a handle on life with two and we are somewhat figuring out what our routine looks like. I have to say, my two sweet babies have been rock stars when it comes to sleeping and surprisingly, I feel much more sane than I thought I would at this point.

Yes, I conquered the Shelbyville Kroger with a  new born and a toddler :)

 Breaking out the double wide!!

Waking up from nap time

Harrison's first ride on a fire truck!  He wasn't a fan of the siren...

Harper's First Play Date

On Wednesday Harper went on her first play date.  It was a play date that I have looked forward to for some time.  When Harrison was 6 months old we started going to a play group and in this play group, we both made some wonderful friends.  It was about 9 months ago, Harrison and I went to play and I shared the news that I was pregnant again.  I was so excited to find out that I was not the only momma adding to her brood.  In the next 9 months, I was able to share the joys and complaints of pregnancy with Rachel and Melissa....not to mention the excitement we shared about all things pink and girly! 

Ruby 8 weeks

Warren 2 weeks

Harper 2 weeks

As the mommas sat around and compared stories of life with two, nursing, deliveries and everything else related to newborns, our boys played hard.  They were even treated to a slushy from Mr. Lee!!

Mine

Yes, these precious little people are all mine :)

Our new backyard

Matt and I thought this would be the perfect summer to enjoy our own backyard.  With the addition of Harper, we knew life would be slowing down a bit for us and we did not want that to stop Harrison from playing hard this summer.  The solution to our little situation..... this awesome score on Craigslist!!!!!  Yes, I heart Craigslist!  A family was moving and was asking for an offer, can you believe they accepted our $200 offer?!?  I am still in shock.  It took a lot of work to get from its old home to its new home, and once it was here it got some serious TLC (power wash, new swings...).  I could not be happier that our family will have this to enjoy for years to come.

It was a serious upgrade from his last swing set.... 

Harrison found a way to still enjoy it though :)

And just because she is precious :)



Memorial Day Outings

Our Memorial Day weekend was incredibly busy considering we had a baby that was less than one week old, but we wanted to share that time with family.  Saturday evening was spent at my parents.  My mom fixed a (always) fabulous dinner to welcome Harper to the family :)  We then enjoyed a beautiful evening in their back yard doing things that can only be enjoyed during the summer.  Sunday was spent at a park with Matt's family and Harrison got to play in water fountains as we adults enjoyed a lovely picnic.  Monday, we packed up our family of four and ventured to Danville to spend Memorial Day at my grandmother's pool.  It could not have been a more perfect weekend.  I was exhausted when it was over, but I would not have changed one minute of it!

Saturday:

Sunday:

Monday:

Reliving D Day

Delivery Day. 

Monday May 23rd started off as a very early morning.  We were experiencing some major storms which didn't help my already light and anxious sleep.  I finally decided to get up around 3:30 and hop in the shower....why not get dressed up, there were going to be lots of pictures today :)  That morning I got dressed (hair, make up and all), vacuumed, mopped, I even made my bed....All of that and we still made it to the hospital by 5:30 am as instructed. 

After registering at the hospital, we walked into triage to get prepped for surgery and sat in our little room for an hour and a half with absolutely no action.  I literally laid in my bed and watched each tick the clock made.  At 7:00, the nurse came in, instructed me to change, inserted an iv and brought our parents in.  After some quick pictures, and a prayer from my very worried (and a little emotional :) daddy, we were off....it was baby time!



After walking myself to the OR, my big belly and I climbed up on the table and I leaned over and received my spinal....before I could count to 10, I was numb.  I waited for three minutes before the anesthesiologist gave the Dr. the ok.  Matt walked in, grabbed my hand and it was go time.  I was so aware of everything that was happening.  Two nurses (who were waiting for Harper) were having a conversation about chocolate truffles, the two Drs. performing my c-section were trading tips on how to deal with raising teenagers, and the anesthesiologist and another nurse were comparing new restaurants in town.  I gave Matt's hand a couple squeezes to reassure him I was ok, I think he was more nervous than I was.  Within fifteen minutes of me entering the OR, I heard my sweet girl's first big cry.  Tears of joy filled my eyes as I waited for what seemed like an eternity to see my daughter.....my daughter.  I have a daughter!!!! 



My c-section with Harrison was a completely different experience.  I had already been in labor for 25 hours before being told we were going to have to have him via c-section.  During that c-section, my epidural wore off and it was exactly the nightmare you would imagine that to be.  I remember his first cry, but I would be lying if I said my number one priority at that time was just to endure the pain.  My Dr. counted down each stitch with me as I squeezed the arms of the operating table (I think to this day, that table has my finger indentions in it!!).  Harrison was born at 9 pm and the rest of the night was spent trying to recover any traces of energy that were drained from me over the course of the previous two days.  With Harper, she was born at 7:40 am and I spent the rest of my day holding, feeding, and loving on my little girl.  My c-section experiences were night and day, and I could not be more thankful for that!