wordless wednesday-gotta see this

my girls

8 weeks old

A little someone turns 8 weeks old today. I can't believe it has already been 8 weeks. Seriously, why does time fly by so quickly?!

Little Isabelle Grace has created a place in our family that no other little person can fill. I say that because I was so nervous about how she would fit in because we had been a family of three for 2.5 years when she made her appearance. Obviously, no matter how anyone felt she was going to be a part of the family and I was anxious for nothing. Although Anna-Kate doesn't acknowledge her all the time she knows she belongs with us. When she walks by she gently rubs her head and says, "hi baby". It's so sweet to see her loving her little sister. I'm pretty sure it'll be an amazing day when Isabelle can respond to her big sisters affections. Of course, it's not ALWAYS like that. There have been a couple of times that she has told me to put the baby in her seat so I can go play with her. It's pretty funny. She says, "baby sit" or "baby swing" and points to where she wants her to go and then pulls me by the hand and says, "come on momma".

ANYways, about Isabelle. She weighed 11lbs 14 oz last Wednesday. The girl is getting so big. She's bigger than AK was at this age but was smaller when she was born. She's definitely a great eater. I'm so proud of her. Proud that she nurses well, proud that she's growing well, proud that she's healthy, proud that she seems so smart even at an itty bitty age. And I don't mean proud as in cocky, just proud to be her momma. She's a sweet sweet girl.

She eats every 3-4 hours depending on how tired she is and snacks quite often in the evening-usually starting around dinner time. How convenient ;). She usually has her last feeding around 10:30 or 11 and sleeps until around 4 AM and then she's up like clock work three hours later. It seems that around 9 AM she wants attention from her momma for a good 30 minutes to an hour and isn't satisfied doing anything else but being held and then sleeps pretty good for a couple hours after that. I'm okay to do it most mornings because she will only be this little for so long before she won't fit comfortably in my lap anymore.

She smiles and coos all the time. I LOVE it and it seriously is good medicine for my sometimes dark soul. I mean, not like dark and angry, but like dark and tired and drained. More like cloudy maybe? Anyways, yeah, it's so good for my insides.

Little Issy Grace is such a wonderful addition to our family and I'm sooo happy she's here and happy...and healthy of course!

what a Saturday

I spent my Saturday up to my nose in baby clothes. For some reason I got the itch to bring in every single bin and box from the storage shed in attempts to organize the clothes by size. It was mostly done but I had about 7 diaper boxes full of clothes in random sizes and a couple other boxes here and there. I would let a family member borrow them and then she'd give them back in the same box and I'd just toss them in the shed. It adds up to quite a bit of chaos after a while. There were actually three times that I ran out to the shed to grab or do something and I'd find yet another box of clothes-and every time it was AFTER I was done-so I thought. So I spent hours working on that. I went through all of the clothes and ended up with two diaper boxes full to give away. I stuffed all of a certain size in ONE bin or box because I refused to have more than one of a particular size. Size 3-6 months is the only size I have more than one bin of and that's because one bin is winter clothes and the other is spring/summer clothes. I had enough of both seasons to fill their own bin. ANYWAYS, as if you care, here is the finished product.
For some reason I feel like that picture doesn't do me justice. I should've taken a before picture. There are a ton of clothes in those bins. I promise. Just imagine little baby clothes nicely sorted and stacked and stuffed.

Next in my long Saturday was to get some decent pics of AK. I'm so sick of having every day pictures. LOL. I like posed cutesy pics. Not sure why, I just do. Plus, I can never get her to smile for the cam so that was my main objective when getting pics of her. This pic is my favorite.I have more but blogger is taking FOREVER and I don't have the time really.

I even got some pics of little Baby Belle. I had fun working with photoshop and talking with a friend off and on about how to accomplish some stuff on there.

Then I played outside with AK for a little bit. It was fun. We saw the moon and airplanes and birds and "bees". Anything that is little and flies is a bee and freaks her out. That's because last year there was a bee half dead on our floor that I swatted out of the window and she stepped on it and it stung her in the foot. So now she doesn't like bees.

I snapped a picture of our first bluebonnet sighting conveniently located beside our house :-).
I love Spring.

sister love

I caught Isabelle's first smile, directed towards her sister, on camera. It's not her first smile but her first for her big sissy. She was even cooing. It was precious.

advice anyone?

It's been a while since I posted last. It's been pretty crazy around here. Last week I had two days where I just about sent myself to the loony bin. With Sean's new job I was left home with the girls for 11 days straight for about 20-23 hours a day, alllll alone. It was awful. It's finally regulating and he's been off the past three days. I'm thankful things are getting semi-normal.

Over the weekend I got to use a gift certificate I got for my birthday a MONTH ago to get a pedicure. It was sooo relaxing. VERY MUCH NEEDED. Then on Sunday I drove up to Waco for the day to see some family. I hadn't been since about two months before Isabelle was born so it was long overdue and Isabelle got to meet two of her aunties and a couple of cousins. Super fun.

Today I went in for my post 6 week check up. Everything is fine and I'm clear to resume normal activity. Obviously, birth control came up in the conversation and I'm having a heck of a time deciding what is appropriate for me at this time. Pills are difficult because I can't remember and overall I haven't had a good experience with them, the nuva ring dries up your milk, the depo shot causes some weight gain as does the arm implantation one and the Mirena has some not-so-good possible side effects that I read about. I've considered the "no birth control" route but we've done that twice-hence the two little girls :-)-and another baby IS ABSOLUTELY NOT an option for us now or anytime soon. I'm torn on my opinion about totally trusting God with that aspect of our life or whether being smart about what's feasible and WISE for us right now is the honorable way to go. Does that make sense? Hopefully God understands our situation and our choice to control the timing of our offspring for the time being.

Anyways, do you have any advice on a form that has worked well for you?

chubby overnight??

A little someone has been smiling and "talking" ever since her six week old "birthday" on Monday. I am LOVING IT. A day gone wrong can quickly be remedied with a flash of her cute, chubby, baby grin.

In this ^^one^^ the flash went off and distracted her. Her smile was WAY bigger than that, I promise :-), like one of those mouth wide open smiles. SO SCRUMPTIOUS!

^^Here^^ she is just being cute and chubby :-).

And in this ^^one^^ she is telling me about something.

Seriously, when I woke up yesterday morning she was chubbier than when I went to bed the night before. Can that really happen overnight?!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

six weeks old

Babies grow up way too fast!

She must have known it was her six week birthday because the girl gave me some magnificent smiles today. None of which I got a picture of.

She's been getting better about sleeping for longer periods of time. She usually has her last feeding around 11:00-11:30 and then sleeps until four, sometimes five. After that feeding she sleeps until around 8 or so. It's been nice but for some reason I've been feeling more tired than I did when I hardly got any sleep. Maybe because when I was hardly getting any sleep I was great about napping when the kids did but since I'm getting just enough to tide me over I don't nap and then by the time dinner rolls around I'm exhausted. My life will be back to normal SOON- that's what I keep reminding myself.

Other than that, that's all there is to update. She's a great baby and I am definitely enjoying her.

A certain little person is getting way too grown up! She is changing so much every.single.day. *tear*

All I know is that she'll ALWAYS be my baby, like it or not.

That's all I have to say for today.

I see the light!

I'm seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. I think God knew I needed a little glimpse.

This morning I woke AK up at 8:40 after feeding Isabelle. I treated us to Shipley's Donuts. Yum. AK ate one, ahem, and a half glazed donuts and half of a kolache. I had one and a half kolaches and a glazed donut and became very sick to my stomach. Ever since the surgery it's a guessing game on what is going to send my system over the edge. Sucks but that's how it goes I guess. After we picked up breakfast we came back home and watched Word World while we ate.

After a pretty low key morning I put AK down for a nap at 12:45 and an old friend that I haven't seen in quite some time, like since before I was pregnant kind of some time, came over to meet Isabelle and hang out with me. We sat on the couch and watched Maury (tacky, I know), Rachael Ray and Dr. Phil. See how exciting I've become?! Those kind of friends are great. The kind that will just sit and veg out with you and not expect you to be exciting all the time. She is definitely one of those and I have another old friend who I can always do that with and every time we talk, which isn't often, it's like we just talked yesterday. We always pick up where we left off. I should stop complaining that I have no friends because I really do.

And while I'm talking about friends, I have a new friend who lives like 2o minutes away. We've been meeting up like two times a week to let our kiddos play. It's been awesome! And AK loves her two year old little boy. She also has a five year old who is in school and a 5 month old. We're perfect friends for eachother :-).

Okay, back to my day, my friend-Sam-stayed until close to 4. I woke AK up at 3:30 and she got to see Sam and talk her ear off. The girl never shuts up.

When Sam left I jumped in the shower while hubby watched the girls. When I got out I got ready to go to the store and somehow convinced him that I should go alone and that he should keep both girls. Haha. So, I got to go somewhere ALL by MYSELF and it was simple, refreshing and EASY! It was all those things even though my hubby called me a few times asking how much longer I was going to be because Isabelle was showing signs of hunger an hour early. Haha.

When I got home I proceeded with our evening routine. Feed baby. Dinner. Play. and then bedtime. I put AK to bed at around 9:30-40 and she actually didn't get up one time! Light at the end of the tunnel folks!

And instead of being in bed right now while both girls are sleeping I'm telling you all about my day. THAT'S how exciting it was. No really, I just got off the phone with my hubby so that's why I'm still awake. He's at work.

SPEAKING OF WORK, he got a job about a week ago. Thank you for those who have kept us in your thoughts and prayers. It came out of nowhere, wasn't exactly what we expected he'd be doing BUT God is in the middle of it and we are starting to see the reasons why this is what he should be doing right now. He's still on the same wacky schedule he was on while working for his step-dad...he still works one night a week for him to make a little extra money...and we're still trying to figure out life while on completely different schedules. All I know is he's a working man again. YAY!

Love to all, goodnight.

wordless wednesday- sweet sisters

deathly afraid?

What are you deathly afraid of?

Side note: the vacuum was still on

ONE month old

A little someone turned a month old exactly one week ago...I'm just a tad bit behind...a week to be exact. Today she is five weeks old.

Here she is at one month.


She isn't anywhere close to having a schedule which creates balance in our family. I am finding it very difficult to even attempt to get her on one. I'm either feeding baby, feeding AK or thinking about what I'm going to feed her next, playing with AK or trying to catch some shut eye. That's it. That's my day. WHY am I not able to manage our time better?! By the time AK was 8 weeks old she was sleeping through the night. I don't see that happening this time around. I really need to start keeping Izzy Grace awake after her feedings for a little while but it relaxes her so much that she just wants to sleep and I just want to let her.

My favorite thing the littlest miss is doing these days is making cute little baby sounds. I love those little coos. They are sooo precious. I could listen to her make noises alll daaaay loooong. Wait, I kind of do. Except sometimes they aren't pleasant noises. I could do without those.

Anyways, that's about all that's going on with her. Eat, sleep, poop, grunt, poop some more, sleep, eat...all in a days work.

Izzy's first trip

Isabelle went on her first little road trip last-last weekend, on February 28th, to San Antonio to meet my aunt and her family. Even though I was beyond exhausted I am so glad we went. It was nice to just sit around with family and do nothing but hold a baby. AK had her cousin CJ to play with and she really loved that. They played and played.

It was my cousin's birthday (we're six days apart) and they went all out for dinner. Chicken fried steak, potatoes, green beans, corn on the cob and CAKE. They were even making what my cousin refers to as "sangritas"-sangria margaritas. Haha! Of course, I didn't partake in the sangrita fun. We left right after dinner.

Isabelle did really well on the trip-slept the whole way

here is my Aunt Sissy (real name Jodi) and one of her daughter's Lori-Lori is pregnant with her first and enjoyed getting some baby practice :-)

AK enjoyed some Wow Wow Wubbzy and sugar free kool-aid-hence the very red mouth

And here is what I did a majority of the time...besides the occasional trip to the kitchen for a snack...and besides nursing a baby. That spot was so comfy.

So that's that. Isabelle's first trip out of town. I think she liked all the attention.

P.S. I'm feeling MUCH better today after some decent sleep lastnight. AMEN!

the 5% is talking...

I've been trying to figure out for the past couple of days what I want to blog about but the only obvious thing I can come up with is how my life has drastically changed.

95% of the time I am a perfectly happy wife and mommy of two. Obviously I choose to be happy that 95% of the time even though there are things I can be very unhappy about. The 5% of flat out unhappiness has made it's way into my life the past two or three days. It could be because I'm sleep deprived and my patience bank has about dried out OR because that's just how things are-sleep deprived or not.

My toddler has mastered this whiny tone that cuts to the bone. I'm not kidding when I say I get this intense urge to pop her in the mouth (although I haven't-don't go calling the authorities). It's so nerve wrecking and annoying and flat out BEYOND frustrating. I guess she picked this up when little sister came home and gets her cries responded to right away. She thinks it should be this way for her as well. Another thing she has been doing is throwing fits when I pick a movie for her to watch because she's not using her words to tell me herself what she wants to watch. It drives me nuts. Seriously, I think my brain cells are dying off from lack of good quality sleep.

And Isabelle, she is such a great baby BUT she's not really happy with anyone holding her but momma. She gets ticked when she has the hiccups which happens after almost every feeding. She has tummy problems that I'm trying to figure out by changing around some things in my diet. I've gone from regular 2% cows milk to Lactaid-lactose free milk. I just started that a couple of days ago so we'll see how that helps. She's been staying up from like 9pm to 1am, sometimes close to 2. This does not fly so well when I have to get up in the morning and tend to a two year old who really wants and needs my attention, hence all the sleep deprivation talk.

I'm good for no one right now...well...except for acting as a dairy cow. I'm in serious need of a vacation. A vacation from scheduling, planning, playing, thinking. laundry. dishes. breakfast. lunch. dinner. snacks.

But THEN, my tough two year old says, "thank you momma" after I give her something she asks for. She says, "bless you momma" and "bless you baby" after she hears one of us sneeze. She says, "baby trrryy" when she hears the baby crying. She tells the baby not to "try" when she, herself, is scared or doesn't like something-like the toilet flushing in public bathrooms (because they're so loud). She says, "hold jew momma" when she wants to be held. She says, "momma sit" when she wants me to hang out with her in her room. I hear her tell "Charlie dog" and "titty" (the letter t sound for the c and k sound remember!! LOL!) goodnight after we put her to bed and leave the room. And THOSE are the things that keep me sane and thrilled about being home with my kids. SOOOO, even though I'm just about ready to pull every strand of hair out of my head I'll hear that sweet little pitched voice and involuntarily a smile will come to my face and I'll involuntarily become happy again :-) forgetting all that I was frustrated about just seconds before.

So hears to sleep. Do I have any amens?!

wordless wednesday-ruuunnn