Merry Christmas!!!

I hope everyone had a great day today, and that you were able to spend your time with someone very special...

God bless!

Adventures in Mommyhood - Part 2

As cliche as it may sound, being a mom is one of the greatest gifts ever. My kiddos are my life, and even though I have some stressful days, I wouldn't trade them for anything!

I'm not Supermom. This was a hard pill for me to swallow. I really want to be the mom that...gets everything done...can handle going places at the drop of a dime...has a clean house all the time. I want to play with my kids all the time and not get frustrated that they get clingy. They love and need me. That's all that I need to know but some days it's hard to remember that - like when they're both crying for 20 minutes or more and I can't for the LIFE of me get either of them to calm down, causing me to break down into tears with them.

Housework waits. A lot. I hardly have a chance to touch much of anything anymore. I get maybe an hour max of quiet time, and that's if Justin decides to nap when Julia does. Do you think I like to bust my bum trying to straighten up the house or anything of the like? Heck no. First thing on my list is usually crocheting...then a shower...then relaxing...then a nap. Many days, the shower gets put on the back burner and I just plop my rear end on the couch or in the chair with the TV on. About the only things that I've been able to relatively maintain is the diaper laundry and all of the crochet orders that I have waiting for me! Diaper laundry is maintained more so out of necessity than anything. We only have so many diapers for two kids...and when you think about it, two kids in diapers...that's a lot of pee and poo!

Leaving...rarely happens anymore. It is getting better. I can get both kids and myself out the door in about an hour. MAYBE 30 minutes if I've already packed a few things, Julia has already eaten breakfast, and Justin has already been fed.

The kids are so good...I really should remember to count my blessings. Michael and I actually had a night out last night, and left the kids with my mom and his cousin. Julia went to bed without fussing at all, and Justin was a little charmer as usual. Now...that doesn't mean that they slept well!!! LOL But the fact that we were finally able to get a night out together...ALONE...since I don't know when was wonderful

I just hate feeling like I can't do everything. I want to give my best, but that never...never feels like it's good enough. My to-do list grows daily, and the only times that I can get even remotely close to getting everything done on my daily list, requires me to have Julia under my feet while I'm cleaning bathrooms, doing dishes, washing diapers...you get the idea. *sigh* I guess it's just time for me to concede to the fact that I can't do everything...and to "Hang it on the Cross".

God Bless!!!

One Month of Thanks

I did this last year, and decided to do it again this year! I posted these on Facebook each day and just decided to transfer them all here so they're easy to reflect on. I challenge all of you to do this next year!!!

November 1, 2011: I am thankful for my health.
November 2, 2011: I am thankful for the roof over my head.
November 3, 2011: I am SO thankful for the 2 beautiful babies God has blessed me with!
November 4, 2011: I am thankful for my family and all of my friends - new and old. :-)
November 5, 2011: I am thankful for the food on our table.
November 6, 2011: Today I am thankful for a clock that resets itself! Even though I felt like I was in the twilight zone watching the clock tick 2:57, 2:58, 2:59, 2:00...lol
November 7, 2011: I am thankful for the car that gets me to the bazillion places I need to go in a day. (OK, maybe that's an exaggerated amount, but that's how I feel sometimes!)
November 8, 2011: I am thankful for my God given talents. =)
November 9, 2011: Today I am thankful for all of my struggles, loves lost, and friends of the past. Without those things, I would not be who I am today.
November 9, 2011: Part 2. Today I am also thankful for properly fitting diapers! Holy cow...lol
November 10, 2011: Today I am thankful for the headache I have. It reminds me that I'm still alive....
November 11, 2011: Today, as every day, I am grateful for our Veterans and our active duty military men and women!
November 12, 2011: Today I am thankful to be able to hear Julia say 'dooooooooon TOUCH'... :-)
November 13, 2011: Today I am thankful that we are able to heat our house and keep our family warm. :)
November 14, 2011: I am thankful that I can hear the jibber jabber of my nearly 2 year old daughter on the monitor...even though she should still be sleeping! LOL
November 15, 2011: Today I am thankful for my self-control. It's a work in progress, but it's getting better. :)
November 16, 2011: I am thankful for my husband. I love you Michael!
November 17, 2011: I'm thankful for the life God has blessed me with. :)
November 18, 2011: I'm thankful that I get to watch my babies grow day in and day out, and know that I am the one teaching them everything!!!
November 19, 2011: I am thankful that we are able to provide for our kids what they need.
November 20, 2011: I am thankful for good teachers. :)
November 21, 2011: I am thankful for the 4 hour stretch of uninterrupted sleep I got last night! And the nap I got to take with the little guy yesterday. :)
November 22, 2011: I am thankful that Justin didn't wake up screaming today...just chatting away in his crib. :)
November 23, 2011: I am thankful that I get to spend a lot more days with my hubby this weekend than normal!!!
November 24, 2011: (I know...it's not the 24th, but I missed that day!) I am thankful for fun family gatherings that allow us to share stories, laughs, and chats with cousins serving overseas.
November 25, 2011: Today I am thankful for new blessings!!! Congratulations to my cousin A, and her husband J...welcome to your beautiful baby girl born yesterday at 7:13 pm!!! Baby M, welcome to the family beautiful girl! I hope you can handle us! :) Congratulations also to the new grandparents, K, J, and auntie E!!!
November 26, 2011: I am thankful that we decided to use cloth diapers.
November 27, 2011: I am thankful for one word..."Yes"...such a small word, with such huge meanings. ♥
November 28, 2011: I am thankful for mousetraps.
November 28, 2011: I am also thankful that I just heard Julia in her crib saying "mamamamamamamamamama" :-)
November 29, 2011: I am so thankful that Michael's job is enough to support our family so that I can be with my kids all day. They may drive me nuts sometimes, but I wouldn't trade it for the world!!!
November 30, 2011: I am thankful for my faith. Where it has taken me, and where it will take me in the future.

God bless... :-)

Bad Dreams

None of us like bad dreams. After all, they're called 'bad dreams' because...well...they're BAD!!! What makes them worse is when they're about your kids.

Last night, I had a bad dream about Justin. I was at my brothers place (not the place he lives in now, so I have no clue where he was living). My mom, sister, brother, my hubby and myself were all getting ready to go somewhere. Justin had just fallen asleep but was fussing. Everyone kept telling me "it's ok, you can leave him, he'll be fine". I did not agree and fought tooth and nail. They all kept saying "JUST LEAVE HIM. HE'LL BE FINE!!!" Within a few minutes, he was screaming and crying. He would only calm down when I walked toward him. I didn't even have to be right there with him...just moving towards him. Then, someone (not anyone that I recognized), grabbed me and dragged me out slamming the door on my screaming baby! I could hear him all the way out to the car...I was crying too. It was so terrible!!!

I woke up from that one feeling pretty crappy. :-(

Thankfully...it's not true, it never happened, and now I'll do my darndest to not ever let that happen.

On a more positive note...we got some snow last night!!! And, both kids have been sleeping for about 40 minutes. :-)

God Bless!

Joy!

Ok, now that Thanksgiving is over, I can get excited about Christmas! Who am I kidding...I've been excited about Christmas since before Thanksgiving!!! LOL I just love this time of year. The lights, the tree, the music...*sigh*

I was standing in the kitchen the other day getting a cup of coffee. Justin had just gone down for a nap, Julia was eating her lunch, and "Where Are You Christmas?" came on the radio. I don't know why, but it hit me like a ton of bricks. I just sat there staring at Julia watching her eat. She is MY daughter...almost 2 already. So beautiful, so funny, such a perfect mix of me an her dad. Julia cracks me up on a daily basis with the things she does and says. Justin is my little MAN. He's already getting so big... Weighing nearly 17lbs at his four month appointment, he's almost as big as Julia was when she turned 1! I love watching him develop and change. He's so handsome... The whole time I was thinking "I am SO blessed..." It actually brought tears to my eyes. I get so frustrated with myself sometimes because they both demand so much of my time and I feel stretched SUPER thin, so I get irritated. I really need to keep counting my blessings. There are people that can't have kids, and here I sit...BLESSED with two beautiful babies!!! They are my pride and joy. I can't wait until Christmas morning when we bring Julia down and she sees all the presents again. Last year was cute, but she'll be much more into it this year! Justin is infatuated with the tree already because of the lights, so he will probably be staring at it like a fool too! LOL

Anyways...just wanted to get some of that out!

God bless!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Yeah...it's been a while again. Just wanted to say Happy Thanksgiving to all in the blog world. :-)

Happy Halloween!!!

From my family to yours! Even if it is a few days late...lol

Mr. Justin as the most adorable little pumpkin ever, and Miss Julia as the cutest little monkey! Enjoy!



God bless =)

Yep...I'm a slacker.

My only excuse...my two little ones! I have started up a little shop of sorts...check it out on Facebook here!

I promise I haven't forgotten about my loyal readers (if there are any...lol) I will get back to updates as soon as things get a little calmer...

Smiles...

Smiles from my nearly 2 month old baby boy, a little extra sleep thanks to him not waking up very much, hugs and kisses from my daughter and my hubby are all I need!!!

Now, here's hoping for a couple more nights like last night...I actually felt rested when I got up today! Woohoo!

God Bless!

Been MIA for a while...

Let's just say life is BUSY with two kids under two!!! I'm working on a couple of posts, so be please be patient with me... ☺

God bless!

She's In Love With The Boy! Tot's Story

Well boys and girls, the tot has arrived! This is their story...

At my 36 week appointment, I was 1 cm dilated. The next night I was up for about 4 hours with contractions that were painful, but not unbearable, and were 7 minutes apart. At my 37 week appointment, the doc said I was 2-3 cm dilated but still very "thick". I was pretty excited about the progress since I didn't get to experience that with Julia at all.

Anyways, Michael and I went on plenty of walks, and yes...I even tried the Labor Cookies (hey, any excuse to eat cookies, right?). At both of my next appointments, despite the sporadic contractions and multiple Braxton Hicks, there was no change. I was ok with that though.

Fast forward to Sunday night, July 3rd. I went to bed around 9:30 pm because I was POOPED. Michael came to bed around 10:00 pm. I had a couple of weak contractions and thought nothing of it. After all, I had been having them randomly for weeks. But then, I had one around 10:30 pm that had me curled up in the fetal position. I told Michael that laying down was going to be no good if they kept up like that. I had another one around 10:34 and got up to head downstairs. Michael asked me what I wanted him to do, and I said "try to get some sleep", and then I sent a text message to my sister that said "don't leave yet, but I think we're going to need you tonight" (she was our "on call" person for babysitting Julia). About 3 minutes after that, I got another contraction. I sent her another message saying "we're going to go ahead and go to the hospital just in case" and told her I was going to jump in the shower real quick. It's about a 25 minute drive from her place to ours, so I knew I had time. She said for me to let her know when I got out of the shower unless I wanted her to come right then. I told her just to come over because the contractions were getting closer together, and I got in the shower.

By the time I got out of the shower, the contractions were a consistent 3 minutes apart and were practically paralyzing. Michael had gotten up by that point, and started loading up the truck to head to the hospital. By the time my sister was about 5 minutes away, Michael went to pull the truck out of the garage so we could just take off when she got here. He knew that these contractions were different from the ones I had that Thursday night because I couldn't really talk through them, and I could barely walk. When he came back in the house, he said "she's pulling into the driveway". He barely got that out of his mouth and I was half way out the door already. I gave my sister a hug, said thank you, we jumped in the truck and took off. It was 11:15 pm.

The hospital is generally 25-30 minutes from the house depending on traffic, but Michael got us there in about 15. He was going 60 almost all the way there when the posted speed limit is only 45 (and on one road 35). Shortly after we left and I realized how fast he was going, we joked about him getting pulled over. He said "I'm not going to stop" and I said "Yes you are, because then we can get a police escort!" The contractions were coming so close and so strong that Michael about lost the "oh shit handle" on the passenger side because I was holding on to it so hard and practically lifting myself out of the seat with each contraction. Once or twice I almost felt like I could have pushed. When we got to the hospital, valet was already closed, and I was NOT going to walk from the parking structure, so we parked the truck right in front of the entrance. The doors that we had to go in locked at 10 pm so we had to have security buzz us in. Michael hit the button and someone came on saying 'can I help you?' Michael just blurted out "my wife is in labor!!!" and they let us in. Once we got in the doors, we made it about 10 feet before I had another contraction. I had to stop Michael and stand there with my hands on my knees trying to breathe through it.

When we got to the registration counter at Labor & Delivery, I tried to answer questions and sign paperwork between contractions. There was a couple that came in just after us and they were standing there watching me. The lady at the counter got someone to come walk us back, and as we walked away I heard the other couple say something along the lines of "she's close!". When we got to triage, the contractions got even more intense. One lady came in to start the standard registration stuff, and another came in with the ultrasound machine to make sure the baby was in the right position and to take a few measurements. Since I didn't know how far along I was, or if my water had broken yet, I asked if it would be possible to get an epidural. A nurse came in to check me and said "your water is still in tact, and you're at 9". I said "I'M WHAT?!?!?!" I couldn't believe I had labored that much already... They didn't even have a chance to hook me up to the fetal monitors or anything before they heard me go through another contraction and they realized that it was TIME. The nurse came in and said "We're just going to take you straight up to a room. I'm just going to see what the baby's size is really quick." She put her hands on my belly, felt the baby, and said "About 7 lbs 6 oz." They then sent me straight up to a delivery room without doing all of the usual registration stuff in triage. We were only there for about 10 minutes.

When we got to the delivery room, I got on the bed and they crammed an iv in me as fast as they could just in case I could get an epidural. 2 contractions later...I needed to push. No epidural...I would get my natural birth after all, and was scared. I even said to Michael "I don't think I can do this..." He and one of the nurses said "YES YOU CAN". By then it was about 12:00 am on the 4th of July. We were waiting for the doctor to show up, but I couldn't wait anymore. I needed to push. My body wouldn't let me wait any more. The next contraction came, and I pushed. I could feel the baby moving down which was such a neat feeling! I could tell when I had a good push rather than relying on the nurses telling me what was good like when Julia was born. Four sets of three pushes later, and my beautiful baby was born at 12:27 am, weighing 7 lbs 10 oz and 19 3/4" long. As the nurses pulled the baby up to lay them on my chest, I looked down, saw his little dinger and said "AAH!!! IT'S A BOY!!!" I didn't quite cry, but I was really close! My doctor came in about 2 minutes after he was born! I was ecstatic both that we had our boy and the fact that I had done it drug free!!! It was so different from when Julia was born.

We had gone through a few boy names - Adam was #1 for quite some time because of my really good friend that had passed away the day after our wedding. Then, we had semi-firmly decided on Andrew. A couple of days before he was born, I looked at Michael and said, "what about Justin?" He said "Not bad..." and we pretty much left it at that. Well...while we were in the delivery room waiting for the baby to get checked out, I said "He doesn't look like an Andrew..." Michael agreed and went over to talk to the baby. He said "Hi there big guy!" - he is VERY excited about having a boy). Then he said "What do you want to be called? Andrew?" and the baby cried. So he said "Ok, not Andrew...how about Justin?" and the baby was quiet. Then he said "Ok! Justin Michael it is!" I was laying in the bed laughing as he was having this conversation with the baby. I even told the nurse that there is never a dull moment in our house because of him. It was pretty funny.

After they got me stitched up (I wound up with a 2nd degree tear), we got moved into our recovery room around 3:00 am. I didn't sleep much that night just because I kept staring at Justin. I was in shock that I had actually delivered him without medication. I was so in love already... He was nursing relatively well, though we still needed to work on his latch a little bit. Later that afternoon, we started asking about when we would be discharged. Since he was born so late (or early depending on how you look at it), we weren't sure what day they would be sending us home. They worked up our papers and we were out of the hospital by 5:00 pm on July 5th!

Here are some pictures of our beautiful baby boy! He has a striking resemblance to his big sister...









God Bless!

Adventures in Mommyhood

So much has happened since the last post! My sun burn is gone, it's a lovely shade of brown. On half of my calves...lol  Anyways. I was sitting here watching TV and playing on the computer one day while Julia was playing with her toys. It was one of the many days that I have attempted to keep my feet up to keep the swelling down. Well. The front door was open, and she loves to sit on the stairs and look out the door, talking (or rather yelling) at anyone and anything that passes by. She sat there playing and talking for a good 10 minutes. After telling her to stop scratching the screen door, all of a sudden, I noticed that it had gotten really quiet. I looked over and she was nowhere near the door. Checked the bathroom. Nope, the door had been closed all morning. Looked around completely confused then looked up the stairs. There she was. At the top of the stairs. Grinning from ear to ear as if to say "Look what I can do mommy!!!" I about had a heart attack!!! I got up the stairs as fast as I could and made her climb all the way down on her own...the safe way. She did it. After that...the baby barricade went up!!!

I've also babysat for my good friend K a few times. Having a toddler and a 4 month old has been a great practice, and even though it tired me out pretty good, I am VERY thankful that I've had the opportunity to do it. Little E is so cute, and is a very bright little girl! My first tough lesson in mommy-ing 2 under 2 happened the second or third (I think...) time that I had Little E. It was time for Little E to have her morning bottle, but Julia was vying for my attention...hard core. Let's say that Julia got bit by the BIG jealous bug. She stood in front of me while I fed Little E nearly the entire time crying...whining...screaming...wanting me to pick her up. I tried to tell her that we would be done soon, but that Little E needed to finish her bottle. More screaming, whining and crying...this time from both girls.  Julia would scream, it would scare Little E so she would start crying. I'd get her calmed down and Julia would start in again. You get the picture. Almost a full hour and a half that morning was just the two of them crying, whining or screaming at one point or another, sometimes at the same time.

The rest of the day didn't go so bad. There was still a lot of jealousy from Julia (which is to be expected), but we got through the day, I got to spend some quality quiet time with them both, each while the other was napping, so that was good. Since then, we've gotten a couple of "special" toys for Julia to play with while I'm preoccupied with the new baby. I'm hoping that it will help to ease the 'blow' so-to-speak. She loves to be with other babies, so I'm hoping that the adjustment won't be too bad.

On the "tot" front. Still hanging in there! I'm 39 weeks 2 days today. My due date is quickly approaching, and to be honest...it feels kind of strange still having a baby in me since Julia came so early. I'll wait however long it takes though! I want the baby to be fully cooked.  =)  I had the joy of nesting (if you want to call it a joy...lol) last week. Thursday I took everything out of the linen closet and completely rearranged and organized it. I also washed the dishes that were in the kitchen sink, then scrubbed out the sink, scrubbed the visibly gross parts of the fridge (it sits right next to the stove), scrubbed the tea kettle, stove top/backing (knobs and all...)/oven door and drawer at the bottom, and cleaned up Julia's room a little bit. It was crazy. Nice to get the linen closet in order though! We made a pretty hefty donation to the Salvation Army later on too! I did some more on Saturday and Monday, but not nearly as involved as what was done on Thursday. I think the second and third days were a result of me being sick of trying to keep my feet up to keep the swelling down. I didn't want to sit on my butt anymore! LOL

The garden is also coming along very nice! All but one of my corn stalks are at least knee high, the peas are coming in like crazy - I've even picked some and gotten to eat them - they're tasty! The carrots are starting to come in nicely (I picked one the other day out of curiosity and the orange color was coming in), I finally got the last of the tomato plants transplanted to the garden, and got the cucumbers planted as well. Hopefully they'll grow well! I love fresh cucumbers! The lilies are all blooming...yellow, orange, salmon, and red...they're gorgeous! My Zinnias are coming in like crazy now too. Although, they're only supposed to be 6" high and some of them are already 12"!!! It looks nice though since the flowers are blooming...

With that, I'm off to tend to some cloth diaper laundry, and grab my tea out of the fridge!

God Bless!

Bad Blogger!!!

I have been such a bad blogger lately and I apologize!!! I have a new post rolling around in my head, and will hopefully have it posted in the next couple of days. =)

The Lord's Beauty

I was sitting on the couch putting aloe on my sunburn from yesterday, and I looked out the window. There were some gray clouds, and the sun was setting casting an orange hue. Then...I saw them...the beam. It was gorgeous... (sorry about the quality...I took them through the front window...)

God Bless!

Another Greenery Update

Well, we've had another pretty productive day over here in our neck of the woods! Pulled more weeds in the garden and flower beds, Michael cut the grass, we cut back and transplanted the mums from the front to the back yard, I laid out flowers to plant in the flower beds so Michael could plant them, later we're going to install the infant car seat base and possibly start to tackle what's in the guest bedroom so we can start getting that transformed into Julia's big girl room!

Here are some pictures of the greens popping up around the yard...(sorry for the photo overload!)

The lilacs.

My peas.

My carrots.

My corn.

The raspberry bush.

The lilies (they're INSANE!!!)

The peonies.

The hostas that I got from my mom - before.

And the hostas - after.

Julia's tree =)

And the flower beds after Michael planted the Zinnia's (Thumbelina mix), and the white Geraniums.

All in all, another good day! =)

God Bless!

I often wonder...

I always say that my siblings and I all turned out pretty well. We're level headed, have good intentions, and love our family. We all have the ability to see things from just about any angle. We may not agree with one decision, and it might grate on us, but for the most part, we can at least see that point of view. We can all multi task efficiently, can cook with the best of them, and have each others backs when the time arises. I always have to give credit to my parents because of how well we turned out.

There are many days that I sit and wonder if my kids will turn out as well as we all did. Will they understand that everyone has their own opinion? Will they be accepting of said other opinions? Will they be polite? Will they listen when someone is talking to them, or continue doing whatever they were doing? Will they be courteous? Will I be able to teach them that family should always come first, and that when they gets married their family comes first? Will they be able to see all sides of the story when a dilemma arises? Will they do well in school? Will they be athletic? Will they understand that unconditional love means just that...unconditional? Will they be patient in their life and with their decisions, or will they jump to conclusions and in and out of relationships trying to find "the one"? Will they be able to understand that they need to be independent, but at the same time know that we will be there - as their parents - should they not be able to do it on their own? Will they be respectful? Courteous? Honest?...

I know I have no way of knowing the answers to all of these questions right now, and that it is in fact all in the way that I raise them, but I can't help but wonder especially now that we've entered the stage in Julia's life that tantrums are more prominent. She's still so young, but I wonder if there's anything I should be doing differently...

*sigh* the joys of parenthood...

God bless

It's DONE!!!

Finally! The baby sweater is done! What I thought would take me only a couple of weeks, wound up taking me FOUR MONTHS. Guess that's what I get for over estimating my abilities! Brand new pattern with new stitches, first time making a clothing item...yeah...but...here's a picture!

Now I'm down to 3 projects. One hat to match the sweater, a blanket for the tot, and a blanket for my sister!

God bless!

This mama....

Is SLEEPY!!! What a busy day today...we went grocery shopping, I was able to sneak a nap in this morning, we did our laundry, I swept the floors and vacuumed, Michael put up blinds on our door wall, put the screen on the front door, sprayed some dandelions, measured to finish the lattice around the shed, started staining the doors for our little tables, and we cut up some watermelon, strawberries, broccoli, celery, and cauliflower. Now, I'm going to sit down with my hook and yarn (the sweater is thisclose to being done!), and then...I'm going to bed!

Good night blog world.

God bless!

Greenery update

So, in my last post, I mentioned a lot of things "popping up" around here. Today, I managed to get outside and get some pictures of them!

Pea sprouts

Bean sprouts

Lilacs

Lilies #1 

Lilies #2

One of my peonies

Japanese snow maple that my mom bought for Julia when she was born

Yay!!! I can't wait to see how all of these do this year!

God bless!