Look who is a month old!

Happy one month birthday, Miss Ileigh Grace!


Everyone told me that that pictures would slow down after the first baby; I didn't think it would happen this fast! We haven't taken a single picture of the Little Miss aside from her 1 week pictures. I am vowing that we will take a picture of her tonight and update the blog with it later. Sad people! Just sad!

*And I did take pictures! :)

I know it is a little weird, but I think it is adorable the way as babies try to focus on you, their eyes go cross-eyed a little. We freaked out when Eli was little, but now we know it is normal...and I think it is sweet.

Maybe Ileigh didn't think it was as cute as I did...by the way, these pictures were totally taken during her "fussy time".

I can't decided it she looks like Eli or not...she did get little "hormone bumps" right at one month, just like Eli. 

Ileigh, you are such a good baby. Too good, really; you are totally spoiling us with sleep. You will sleep for four straight hours at night- what a good girl you are! Some nights we wake up more with your big brother than you! Ha (we love you, Eli)!


You weigh 8lbs and 1oz and are really starting to focus on things and slowly follow an object with your eyes.


You love to be in your sling close to mommy and you definitely have your fussy time- 8:00-10:00pm every night, without fail. But, then you sleep so well that it is really difficult to complain! :) You have the most adorable little toes and deep blue eyes- I wonder if they will be the same beautiful brown eyes your brother has…


You, little one, are so loved. I hope someday you know just how many people have been thinking/praying about you. There have been so many people offer support and love over this last month- the outpouring has just been so amazing and we are surrounded with love.

Happy One Month Birthday, Sweet Pea! We love you!

Here are both of their announcements so you can see for yourself if you think they look alike...

And here is a picture of the E man at 1 month...

Touch and Go...

Well, our little guy finally has the flu. (**I just noticed that my husband already explained that when he hacked into "our" blog...see previous post. I love you, honey :)**) Honestly, I am surprised that it didn't catch up to us sooner.

Sadly, both my parents have it, so Eli didn't get to see them at all this weekend. He usually sees them at least once a week and it helps so much...he must get tired of daddy and mommy all the time.

And baby sister...he really gets tired of her. :) Especially when he is extra tired, sick and cranky and doesn't want mommy to put him down to feed baby sister...(that was a long afternoon).

Thankfully, Chris nor I have it... let's hope it stays that way.

Two nights ago, even with a healthy fever, we decided to let Eli run around outside. It was a really nice late afternoon. He had a blast! I guess he was really tired of being inside all day because he didn't want to come in at all. I decided to take his bike outside to see if we could get him to use the pedals. Grandpaw got him this bike a while back and he loves to climb on it and push with his feet inside the house; he was having trouble with the pedals because the carpet was so thick.

Anyway, smooth pavement was all he needed because within minutes he had mastered the pedals...now I can't get him off of it! :) Just like that cowboy hat...I can't get him to take that off either. Someday we will have to find another that isn't too small.

(We can add "keep up with the kiddos scrapbooking" to my list of New Year's Goals)

Ileigh is doing great too, by the way. We are just keeping her full and trying to not give her the flu. We haven't taken a single picture of her aside from her one week photo shoot. Hopefully this weekend we can do a little special shoot for her 1 month pictures though.

She is eating like a champ and gaining away. She is starting to get the little "baby pimples" on her face like Eli did when he was a month old...they look so much alike to me!

Blog hacker....Volume 2.

Well, I don't know if it's really hacking if I logged in to "our" account.  (I say "our" in quotes only because I never post on here, mainly because Tif's left pinky has more blogging skills than I do.)  Anyway, onto Volume 2.

This week is Tif's birthweek.  My goal is to spoil her, but I can never really treat her the way she needs to be treated.  If you are reading this, then you know Tif, and you know what I mean.  She is amazing, simply put.  She deserves more than I can give her, not just during birthweek, but always.  Nonetheless, I try...and she's still here!  :D  This blog cannot begin to tell of her good nature and her loving soul.  I watch her everyday as she grows as a mommy, wife, daughter, follower of Christ, and I sit in wonder because I get to learn so much from her.  I, me, Chris.  God has blessed me with this wonderful person.

I digress....on to birthweek.

The last two days have not quite been the "birthweek" start I envisioned.  Eli has not been feeling well, and has been needy and running a fever.  I had a brief "mommy moment" when I was taking care of the kiddos this weekend while Tif had a chance to take a shower.  (I think I take showers for granted, because I have no idea how stay-at-home parents can go to the bathroom, much less take a shower!)  Anyway, I was making some toast with peanut butter for Eli and picked up Ileigh since she was being fussy.  Well, it turned into me holding Ileigh and trying to stir peanut butter with one hand (you try it), while Eli continued to want his toast.  Then, I don't know if it was God laughing, some cosmic force, Murphy's law, or maybe I was on hidden camera, but Eli and Ileigh started crying in unison.  This was shortly followed by Eli hugging my leg and pulling my pj pants down (still trying to stir the pb with one hand)...giggling.  Then it hit me.  The awe we should all have for stay-at-home parents.  I began to laugh and thank God for my desk job.  I love my kiddos, deeply, but there is just something about having my pants pulled down by a two year old while holding a crying infant...stirring peanut butter...one-handed.  I know that Tif sacrifices a lot, and it doesn't go unnoticed (maybe unrecognized but some schmuck of a husband).  Thank you for all that you do, Tif.  Eli and Ileigh are beyond blessed.

Tif, for all the times you have "stirred peanut butter with one hand" and for so many other moments for which I don't have a clue, I love you more than you know.  I hope you truly have a wonderful birthweek and know this:  that you are loved more than you know, more than I know, and that my love grows stronger every day.  I love you and Happy Birthweek!

Chris

Ileigh Update...

I can't believe it has been 3 weeks ago today that we welcomed Ileigh into the world...crazy.

We celebrated by giving her a "real" bath. (I know, I know, I am awful. Really, it is just so much easier to stick with a quick rag bath while dealing with a two year old tugging on your leg. He spent a few hours today with his Mema, so I didn't have to worry about him or what he might destroy while I was bathing her!)

Also, I posted a few more of her pictures on our photography blog. Check it!

New Year’s Resolutions

My New Year starts March 1st. Knowing that we would still be preggo in January, I decided to give myself a break and start my New Year’s goals in March. That would give me a little extra time to adjust to the new pace of things without totally falling off the wagon before I even started.


1. Lose the baby weight.


Okay people, I have my 10 year high school reunion this fall. I can’t look like I just birthed my second child. So cliché, but hey it is reality. Actually, I have already lost all of my baby weight according to my OBGYN at my 2 week check-up…my clothes do not agree. For my sanity I try to stay away from a scale at all cost and judge by my clothes on my progress. That is why I really don’t know how much I gained from my pregnancy. I am betting around 20lbs. I am going to miss these days of all-you-can eat bread and sugar…oh, sweet bliss (literally). I am still breast feeding though, so I can still get away with a few breads.


2. Do more with our money.


The best thing I ever did for our budget was take over our finances. That was a little less than a year ago. I was always finding an excuse to go out to eat or pick up this or that…and Chris knew we shouldn’t, but would go ahead and say okay. Then I read Dave Ramsey’s book and asked Chris to let me take everything over. Of course he didn’t hesitate. He hates paying bills. I created a spreadsheet and we haven’t gone over budget once since. Mostly it is because I can see exactly how much money we have at any given moment. I break everything down weekly and balance everything out on the 7th, 14th, and 21st. I have a grocery list and rarely stray from it…honestly that might be because I am always worried about the dreaded “grocery store melt-down” with a 2 year old. Thankfully we haven’t experienced it as of yet. I like to get in and get out as quickly as possible. Anyway, we are rockin’ our budget and now I would like to do more…as in set up amounts to put towards the kiddos college and the principle of our house. Chris and I sat down on our anniversary weekend and wrote out our financial goals for the year. This year we are planning to put in one of those underground storm shelters and save a ton for Chris a new-to-him car.


3. Read.


Pretty self explanatory, but I just feel like I don’t have time to read anymore…that is one thing I miss so much from my grad school days. Even if it was “forced” reading, at least I had to make time for it. I have a list going from parenting, faith, crafting, cooking and everything in between.


4. Go out with a girlfriend at least once a month.


I am really excited about this one! I feel like I have my own little world inside my home now. I don’t get out much and I am really craving friend time (also, something I miss from my grad school days). Anyway, I have decided that at LEAST once a month I will make specific plans for lunch, dinner, a manicure... something with friends. Chris is actually doing something similar to this (although not with other women :)), but his is more for work purposes and mine is just purely fun.


5. Recycle more.


I am really bad about recycling. Really bad. I want to change that, so this is my attempt.


6. Learn something new.


It is amazing how quickly the days fly by. It seems like every night we have something going on. When we start doing our photo shoots again I am sure it will just get worse. So, I want to take a class with some friends or start up guitar lessons again. Maybe learn to crochet or tackle piano lessons? All of those sound like fun. Basically, have something besides my kiddos and my awesome husband to talk about! Really, I could talk about them forever, but would anyone want to listen? :)


7. Give it to God.


This is His year to open new doors for me; be that what it may. I just want to make every effort to not be in the same place spiritually as I am right now- continual growth is what I am after. I want to try to grow more intentional and not waste this time we are given.


And so, there it is. I think it is a pretty good list and now it is in print, so you can hold me accountable!

My heart is full...

Happy Valentine's Day!

Just wanted to share Eli's Valentine's Craft from our church's Kids Night Out last Friday!

(It came on a VERY good day...this mommy needed some grown-up alone time!)

May your heart feel as full as mine today!

Thank you to all of our wonderful friends & family. You guys are awesome!

Perfection.

I can't believe she is ours...

So, now what…

Well, we are home; things are getting into a routine again. My mom will be leaving soon and I will be a stay-at-home mommy of two kiddos.


I just want to take a little time to reflect on everything that happened over the last few weeks. Sometimes I am guilty of not taking an opportunity to look back, but instead fix my eye on some other task that needs to be completed; we miss a wonderful opportunity to learn when we do that.


First of all, thank you. Thanks to the many responses that I got to my post about struggling with the idea of another C-section. It is so wonderful to hear that a lot of women don’t have their “perfect” labor experience. I think that we all feel so much pressure to be so happy and joyful about our new baby that we feel like we can’t express our disappointment when things don’t go as planned. I seriously had no idea that so many other people I knew went through the same thing or similar things.


Thank you for allowing me to share what was on my heart. If you know me, you know that I am really a private person. I am not one to openly say what I am feeling at a given moment, especially if there are emotions that are tied with it. Really the only person that I truly let my guard down for is Chris, and there are times with him that it is really hard. I learned so much just from sharing this one issue. Thank you. Just to feel so much love and support took me completely by surprise.


I was so ready for all of the drama to be over! Into the wee hours of the morning the night after my last doctor’s appointment, Chris and I decided that we were going to hand everything over to God- if He wanted a natural delivery to happen, He was going to make it happen in those two days. The next morning I gave an update to my Wednesday morning Bible study group and at the end of the class they got around me in a circle and prayed for Ileigh and I. I was totally at peace about what was going to happen. During nap time I read over my devotional for that day- it pretty much said “lose the expectation that you deserve a perfect life”. Ouch. That pretty much shut me up from whining about the C-section totally. That night, Chris’ parents came to watch Eli and Chris took me to dinner. I started having contractions earlier that day, but didn’t want to tell anyone. By the time we went to dinner I was in ton of pain and we started timing them. They were strong and consistent; we thought about going to the hospital or at least calling the doctor. I kept telling Chris that I didn’t want to get my hopes up, but I was…and so was he. Of course they stopped in the middle of the night, but were hard and strong when I got up that morning.


Chris got up at 5 to make me breakfast, even though I told him not to. I was shocked when he came and woke me up with a plate full of pancakes. I think I cried. I told Chris that we would go to the hospital at noon as planned and then have them check me before they started anything. If I hadn’t dilated at all then we would go ahead with the C-section. The morning flew by and before I knew it, we were packing the car to drive to the hospital. I think I only really broke down and cried twice. They checked me and nothing had changed. I tried not to be devastated. That was exactly the sign I was looking for that we should go ahead and get this whole thing over.


I wasn’t brave or strong. I love being pregnant- I would have been pregnant for another month, but the emotional rollercoaster of ups and downs was exhausting. I didn’t want to go through with it. I told Chris twice “I don’t want to do this” laying in the prep room hooked up to an IV (Isn’t that just awful? I can’t imagine the pressure that put on him). As I walked into the operating room and they were prepping to put in my spinal I contemplated how much trouble it would be for me to just tell everyone to stop and for us to go home. But of course I didn’t say anything. I just waited for Chris to get there.


I will say, the whole C-section experience was SO much better this go-round. People said it would be better- I am glad they were right. Chris was phenomenal. He brought one of Eli’s stuffed animals to lay by my head when he had to leave with Ileigh. He said he and Eli didn’t want me to be alone. He had told me earlier that was one thing that tore him up after reading my blog… he had no idea I had felt that way. He stayed with me and made the nurses wait until he was sure that I was okay with him leaving. He kissed me and wiped away my tears…I have never felt more loved. God, I love that man.


It made such a difference that Chris knew what was going on in my head. Moral: TALK TO YOUR SPOUSE- even if it is two years later. Chris had no reason to know how I felt about everything and honestly, until I worked through all my emotions, I didn’t really know how I felt either. It can be so much easier to push our emotions down and try to forget them than actually dealing with them.


I have learned so many lessons through all of this and that was one of the bigger ones. So many times I just expect Chris to know how I feel- that he loves me a little less when I have to tell him everything. Hopefully, this will help me work through other situations and then actually be able to express my feelings to him.


The doctor did say that everything looks good to have another baby in the future. He told me that twice during surgery and twice while I was in the hospital in recovery. I am so very thankful for that.


Anyway, this is way wordier than I imagined. Overall, I think that I am doing well handling everything. It is really hard to give up the dream of having a natural birth; I still have to remind myself to step back and look at the big picture. I question why everything happened the way it did, but then I see a woman unable to carry a child and my heart aches for her. It also helps to have a sweet little face to remind me of what to truly be thankful for.


And there you go. My wrap-up. I am already glad I shared everything we were going through just for the shear realization on my part that I am not alone. I also hope that it brings a little light to someone else going through the same thing or something similar. Thanks for reading…

HOME!

We are home!

We were excited, but a little sad to leave the hospital. Really, the only reason that I wanted to leave is because Eli wasn't handling us being gone very well...I felt so helpless that I couldn't go be with him.

On the other hand, I loved sitting in my hospital bed with Chris watching TV...that never happens at home.

In the end, Eli won out and we came home a day early...

Here is Miss Ileigh in her "Coming Home Outfit". It was a little 3 piece set that Chris' mom gave us...

At the last second we pulled a nurse in from down the hall and asked her to take a little family picture for us. In the middle of getting everyone else's pictures, we totally forgot to get one with the three of us. 

Here is the diaper wreath that my cousin Kaci made for the door- I got so many compliments on it and would even hear people commenting on it as they walked by. It made me feel so special- thanks again, Kaci! 

They let us escape with another one! Someday they will know better...

Literally 30 seconds after we walked through the door, Tim, Amber and Addy came over! They had just missed us at the hospital.

Eli was super excited about his birthday present! 

Aunt Amber and Ileigh... 

Cousin Addy Grace and Ileigh Grace! 

Eli....still lovn' the new tractor... 

Big family pic...I am telling you, if you touch our baby, you have to have your picture taken... 

Eli. Still "diggin'" the new tractor...awesome distraction from all the attention baby sister was getting...perfect! 

Thank you everyone for the calls, e-mails, text and messages.

We are slowing getting use to having an infant in the house again.

Kudos to Chris, yet again. He is already back at work and a champ throughout the night for me.

I am still really sore and having a hard time getting around, but I have some awesome drugs to pull me through!

Also, thanks to my mom- she took off this week to stay and help me with Eli. He is a little heavier than the 5lbs limit my doctor set for me to lift. Honestly, I have no idea what I am going to do when she is gone, but we will just take it one day at a time...

More Visitors!

We are home!

Here are a few more pictures from everyone that came up to the hospital to see Miss Ileigh.

Thank you all so much for your support and love! I was a little out of it, so I just want to make sure everyone knows just how thankful we are for all of your support!

Ileigh and her cousin, Kaylee...isn't Kaylee just the cutest thing!?!

Cousin Madison... 

Cousin Abbi... 

A few of our Sunday School friends stopped by- thanks Melissa and David! 

Ileigh and her Uncle Steve... 

Ileigh loved her Aunt Abby! 

Finally, we got a picture of her and her Papa! 

Lynz and Kelsey came by on their way to a show...I had just had a round of my pain meds and we were having so much fun they missed the show and stayed to laugh at me...I love my friends. :)