Another new "normal" has begun!

Our first photo as a family of four!

 

A whole year has passed since the last post, and wow has life changed for our small family. Once again, we have reached another "new normal" in our lives! Steven has grown (quickly!) from an infant into a toddler which makes for an interesting life! However, our biggest change this year was the newest addition to our family, Emilia Claire. Wow. She is amazing. More on her later!


The morning of the csection

As a brief overview of the second pregnancy, it was overall healthy and doubly hard the second time around. Taking care of a toddler and working and growing a human all at once is a lot of work. I will need serious convincing to go that path again. Two heathly kids is such a blessing and a joy, it's time to just enjoy them while they are still little!

Emilia (Emmy as we call her) Claire was born via scheduled csection. So much better the second time! I think mostly it was nice to not have to labor for 24 hours and then have a csection. With it scheduled, we had everything arranged, and I wasn't the same caliber of exhausted afterwards. The pain was the same, but at least I knew what to expect this time around. Recovery was a little different with already having another one at home to take care of, that's for sure. My husband was home for the whole first three weeks of her life, though, which was a huge blessing!

First picture of mother and daughter

Emmy has added so much to our lives! From the first moment this child made sure that she was going to be different from her brother, but not in a bad way. I love that she's different and cannot wait to see what her personality turns out to be like. She is such a happy baby, and now at 11 weeks old she loves to smile. I LOVE that she just lights up when you talk to her. She has become a good little sleeper, sleeping through most of the night, waking up once to eat. She loves being in her swing the best, just like her brother. Her only other thing that she really does is eat...ha! She's good at that too. She is such a precious little girl I cannot even stand it!

One of the first times meeting his new sister

One of my most favorite things now about being a mother of two is seeing the kids together. I love it when Steven talks to Emmy--his voice goes up about 3 octaves and he is so sweet talking to her. Nobody understands what he says, but gosh it's sweet! He has welcomed her into our family pretty graciously, which is a huge relief to all of us! Every morning one of the first things he says after waking up is "Emmy??," to which he then runs straight into her room to make sure she's there. If she's awake he'll say "Hi!" which is adorable. She loves him too!

Ha! I love this picture. Emmy's first bath at home, we thought
Steven would want to help. He couldn't have been less interested.
Honestly.

Having two kids is definitely a change in lifestyle from just one. Seriously, I waste more time now thinking about what the HECK did I do with all my free time before two kids, let alone one! I used to think I was busy then. Sheesh. How precious time is to me now. If I can get both kids to have naps at the same time I feel like I have seriously accomplished the impossible. It then takes me most of their nap just to figure out what to do with myself. It's not for lack of things to do, just where to start.

This is about as photogenic as he gets...

  Soon life is about to take another turn. I go back to work next week after being off the last three months. I feel good about it, especially since work has always been something for me that I enjoy. It feels selfish, but I like having something that is just for me in my life. As a mom you sacrifice and give so much to your kids, it's nice to have something that you don't share with them. It will be hard at first being gone essentially for the whole weekend every weekend, but I have the whole week to catch up with the kids. By Friday I am usually ready for the work weekend, as Steven has usually driven me through Crazytown and beyond.

Love, love, love.

I thought life would feel super crazy with two kids under two (well, not technically anymore since Steven's birthday last week), but it has been surprisingly calm and relaxed. I feel soooo much better now not being pregnant anymore, words cannot describe. Even the sleep deprivation as a brand new mother does not touch the physical strain I felt in the last three weeks carrying that little baby. Now that she is here I feel like life has begun. I finally feel "normal" again!

Who doesn't love to brush their teeth?

Early morning play time, when we're the happiest.

So happy all the time! I love love love this face!

Every mom's fear: falling asleep before you get home. There went nap time, but he was so peaceful and sweet sleeping!

Trying out his new slippers that he picked out. He wears them for about 2 minutes, if we're lucky. He just wants to play with them.

Brushin' teeth with daddy. He LOVES to brush his teeth, he gets a huge grin when he sees his toothbrush. Too cute and funny!

 The next few videos I couldn't take all at once in order to upload them to the blog, so they seem "cut off." Sorry about that, hope you can enjoy what conversations with the little man are like! I think my favorite thing that he does right now is "all done" hand motions with dinner. It is so adorable, and can be seen in the last video.

12 month stats and life as normal

We finally had our 12 month checkup today at the peds. Here's the new stats:

Weight: 22 lbs 10 oz
Height: 31 inches

Some things that we're into lately....He is walking everywhere! Which means he is into everything as well. Childproofing has clearly not been perfected in our house, it's a work in progress. We have gotten completely off of formula and bottles, and now Steven drinks just whole milk from a sippy cup! I honestly thought that this day would never come, but I was a little sad when I was putting the bottles away. Steven is one of the funniest and happiest kids I think I know (I'm his mother, of course I'd say that :-)). He has been sleeping through the night and still taking two naps a day. He loves to play peekaboo, clap his hands, and he is starting to "hi-five"(which he thinks is pretty hilarious). He says "uh-oh" VERY clearly, and is now starting to say "thank you," mostly when you give him food. He'll say Mama sometimes, but usually only when he cries. He wakes up every morning in the best mood, playful and ready to go. He truly is a joy in our lives and  I cannot imagine life without him in it!

Steven and his cousin Lila checking out the digital picture frame. It's all pictures of Steven, and they LOVE to look at them!

Haha, Steven chasing his birthday balloons around. It was entertainment, but I'm not sure if it was more for my benefit or his.

Thanks for my sippy cup of juice, mom! I would like to note, this was the first and only time I opted to give him red juice, and the lid was not on correctly, and you know where this is going. :-(

He loves to climb into the wagon and just hang out, watch tv, or whatever. It's hilarious.

Cousin love. This was actually a very gentle touch, for once!

 Love this face!!!

Guess we should mention Gator...he is the major stressor in our lives! this is how he chooses to nap since we took the divider out of his crate.

MMMmm carrots! He was so funny eating these carrots!!

Life has been pretty normal lately. Same schedules, same old thing. Sounds pretty perfect to me!!!

Happy Birthday!!!

It has been a strange few weeks. We have been so busy traveling and preparing for the birthday party, time just seemed to slip on by once again. I sat down a few days ago to update the calendar with all of Steven's milestones, and realized that I was on the LAST PAGE of the one year calendar. I lost it. I have not had a cry like that in a long time. Why? I would love an answer. I am so happy that my son is celebrating his first birthday, and yet there is something just so sad to me about it. His babyhood is gone, replaced with this toddler (!!?!) already. I don't think that I was prepared for this, I really don't. I got this out of my system, though, and we made it through all of birthday weekend with no tears! I was proud of myself.

The small family party that I started planning turned into a little bit bigger of a celebration, but we had a wonderful time!

Steven had a blast at his party, even though it was the hottest day we've had in a long time. So many friends and family members came to celebrate with us, and we are so lucky to have a little boy who is so well loved. Our party had a jungle theme, which was a blast to plan and put together.



Not to toot my own horn, but I am pretty proud of this cake!!! It took me approximately 15+ hours, with 2 hours for each animal. It was so much fun to put this together for him, I just wish he could truly appreciate it!!!



He got so much stuff for his birthday we are holding on to some of it for later....he'll never know the difference!! So glad that we could have an awesome celebration weekend! 

Cake Building 101

I got it into my head that I had to make Steven's cake for his birthday party, but I didn't want it to just be any old cake. I found a cake on Wilton's website, fell in love, and the rest is history. I wanted to document my progress step by step, so here are a few shots of the process, which spanned approximately two weeks.

With my first cake project finally under my belt, I am thinking of taking some classes! I had a great time doing this, and am now looking for a good excuse to try another cake. :-)

Beach bums, motherhood, and milestones

 It has been waaaayyyyy too long. I miss blogging. Sometimes life just gets the better of you...and I decided if I didn't continue with my blogging now, when would I? So here we are.

Steven will be 11 months tomorrow. 11. I spend my days now planning his birthday. He is so much fun, but sometimes it hurts thinking about how fast the time has gone. What does life with an 11 month old (and don't forget, our crazy 5 month old puppy Gator) look like? It is chaos! Steven is walking more and more each day (he just took his first steps about two weeks ago), and can take as many as 10 at a time. Last week he started standing on his own without any assistance, and prefers to not have any help (he is a little bit stubborn!). He is really starting to eat a lot of table food, and as of now, has refused to eat baby food in the last week. He learned how to clap, so that is now his new favorite thing to do! I didn't think this kid could get much happier than he already was, but clapping at everything just makes him giggle! He is truly such a joy beyond words. Did I mention that he says "mama?" We are trying to teach him other words, but he seems to be content with this one for now. :-)

We just got back from a wonderful beach vacation with my husbands family, and despite yucky weather for part of the time, we had an awesome time. It was so great to be at the beach, but my husband and I both agreed that the best part by far was being able to share family time with the three of us, without someone being at work (like we usually live with me working on weekends). Steven had the BEST time on the beach, which was a huge relief to his parents who love the beach and wanted to spend time on the beach.

Vacation with a child is soooo much different than before we had a child. Whew, it is exhausting! I miss the days of being able to just lay on the beach, read my book, and not move or talk to anyone. Sadly, those days have ended....but wonderfully, I have this little life that I am introducing to the world and that is so much more than the life I used to lead.

First day on the beach...he is still unsure here, but quickly learned to love that sand!

A little too much of the sand. It was pretty hot, also, and that heat got to all of us pretty quickly.

Playing guitar "with" daddy is always a favorite. When the boys were hanging out, playing around, he would dance and get a kick out of it. I think he'll definitely play some sort of instrument when he's older.

He was always trying to get at the stuff on the table from underneath, it was too funny! Here he was playing with the boys again, this time cards.

Best view of the ocean is clearly from standing on a chair

Steven and his cousins (Steve's cousin's kids). The four girls didn't know what to make of this little boy!

Us with all the grandkids and great grandkids

Grandma and Grandpa in front, and just a few of the kids, grandkids, greatgrandkids that were along for the vacation.

Family portrait

Uh, mom, can you put me down? I'd rather be on the sand.

Steven's first clap that we were able to get on film. He was sooooo proud of himself!

Our amazing beach view....we will miss you!

Going to the chapel, gonna get married!

Moments happen in life that you never thought would ever happen....case in point, my mom got remarried. It was a small wedding with family and a few friends, and it turned out beautifully! I got to meet my "stepsister" for the first time (still a little weird to say that yet) and a lot of Dave's family. It was wonderful to see a lot of my family and friends that we don't get to see too often, plus getting to spend time with my mom and sisters. We had a great time at the wedding, and surprisingly, there was no drama! The baby made it almost all the way through before he passed out. No offense to my mother, but he did steal some of the show with his outfit! 

The hat says it all...priceless!

My sister Jenna and her husband, Kris

My sister Christine and her boyfriend, Cody

My Aunt Karen and cousin Chris

Sisters!