pink and chocolate milk

wordless wednesday

2012-01-25T10:27:00.000-08:00

the big behind

2012-01-23T07:32:00.000-08:00

seems i am falling behind these days in so many areas. obviously my blog being one of them. the frustrating part is i have so much about the girls that i want to share (ie- christmas, the beach, matching pjs, ear tubes, and more) but just can't find the time to do so. despite having tubes now, hadley is still sleeping horribly. so that of course means i am sleeping horribly. and until that is resolved, i have a bedtime of like 8pm. gotta sleep when i can.

these two sure play well together. caroline is so patient with hadley. i smile just thinking about them.

hads loves looking through the mailbox

and seriously.... does it get any sweeter than this note?

it is things like this that get me through a rough day

wordless wednesday

2012-01-11T11:27:00.001-08:00

wordless wednesday on thursday

2012-01-05T06:47:00.001-08:00

month seven

2012-01-03T09:45:00.000-08:00

i am writing about hadley's seventh month. hadley is actually 8 months as of only a few days ago. so close enough.

you may wonder about the quality of the pictures below, as well as the ones in her six month write up. the reason for the low quality is the pics were taken with my phone. the reason the pics were taken with my phone is because i dropped and broke our camera. love when i do such smart things! i was having caroline take a picture of hadley as she "hung" an ornament on the christmas tree. caroline handed me the camera back but my butterfingers dropped it. no saving it unfortunately. so until a new one is had, the phone pics will have to do.

so hadley at seven months:

has four more teeth coming in- her top two front and both teeth next to her eye teeth
is crawling. on all fours. she totally skipped the army crawl
is pulling herself up. we actually had to lower her crib last week. i don't think caroline even pulled herself up until 10 months or so. bad thing about this is that she isn't good at getting herself back down. she falls quite a bit unfortunately
still really only eats cheerios, puffs, sweet potatoes, and green beans. i have been trying to improve on her menu. desperately trying to get her to eat other foods but she has no interest. forget anything pureed or anything that feels wet/slimy
went to stone mountain for the first time
loves when her sister tickles her belly
loves "the itsy bitsy spider"
has had a long month of sicknesses
her first ear infection, which was actually a double ear infection
her first round of pink eye
her first cough
her first 4 rounds of antibiotics
still on prevacid
still one feeding a night
bottles are closer to 7 oz
loves her leapfrog table still
loves any playtime that involves caroline
makes the 'mmmmm' sound now, so it sorta sounds like she says 'mama,' though i know it really isn't her calling me. one day it will be intentional. can't wait for that
has definite separation anxiety

oh, please notice in the background of the above picture that adorable reindeer shirt that hadley's grandma made for her for christmas time. so cute. it is one of my favorites that she has made. please don't notice hadley's dirty clothes on the floor. thanks.

many sleepless nights

2011-12-28T11:14:00.000-08:00

we took hadley to the e.r. for the third time in her little life last wednesday.

poor girl has been having such a tough time throughout the month of december. she has double ear infections that just won't quit. the ear infections have also given her a constant runny nose and cough. you know sleep is slim in our house. she started out on amoxicillin as a treatment, which failed her. she moved on to omnicef, which failed her. then to augmentin, which was another big fat fail. so poor hadley is in the process now of receiving the antibiotic rocephin which is given to her via shots three days in a row. it hurts to see my little baby enduring so much pain. ughhh.... it is the worst feeling having to hold her down for the shot knowing it is so painful. i am told it is a thick, slow moving liquid so it burns for a few minutes. i am just really praying that this will be her cure. i so want her to feel well again. it has been a long time since she has felt that way. i put it on her christmas list but santa did not deliver. hopefully soon enough.

i went a head and booked her an appt with a ped ent at the end of january. i hope tubes are immediate! it worked for caroline and i hope they will give hadley the same relief.

look at her... so tiny in that e.r. bed with her little hospital band around her wrist

i want to add what a super help caroline has been throughout all of hadley's appts and treatments. she is such an amazing big sister and is always there right by hadley's side trying to make her smile and laugh. i am really the luckiest mom ever. don't know how we did it, but we did do something right with that big girl. hope to do the same with the little one. hadley is lucky to have caroline as a sister and as an example.

wordless wednesday

2011-12-20T10:47:00.000-08:00

month six

2011-12-20T08:26:00.000-08:00

when left with nothing else... improvise.

that is what i am doing.

i did not get hadley's six month onesie shot. GASP! right. but totally not surprising from me these days. my brain has gone on a vacation. it's been on vacation. maybe a permanent vacation. i am not sure. so guess what i did? i still schlepped that six month sticker on her onesie this weekend and am going with that.

so hads at six months:

had four teeth come through in a matter of two weeks. the bottom middle two and her top two eye teeth
began scooting backwards but that didn't last long
started eating veggie puffs
started eating cheerios, which she loves. a pretty impressive pincer grasp already if you ask me, especially considering that the cheerios are broken in half
eats sweet potatoes, avocado, and green beans cut up into tiny pieces
still doesn't eat baby food... blah!
is taking one bottle at night
drinks 6.5-7 oz per bottle
still on prevacid. her gi is basically slowly weaning her by not increasing her dose based off her weight. so far she is doing great
likes to be tickled
took an actual bath sitting up with her big sister
had her first thanksgiving. ate some roll and sweet potatoes
smiles a lot
loves playing with her leapfrog musical table

hadley pretending to be 6 mos

you say it's your birthday

2011-12-15T06:27:00.000-08:00

my baby brother turns 25 today!

happy birthday!

we are so proud of you, jer.

can't wait to see you next week.

thursday with words

2011-12-08T07:26:00.001-08:00

a letter to me from sweet cheeks. guess i should find more fun places to take her!

chomp chomp

2011-12-01T12:23:00.000-08:00

hadley loves to eat my necklaces.

all of them.

doesn't matter what kind they are. none of my necklaces are safe for a babies mouth i am sure. no telling what country they come from or what is on them. so i started waiting until i got to work to put my jewelry on.

then i find this place on etsy- the vintage honey shop -they sell some really sweet necklaces meant for little teethers to chomp on. what a concept... a necklace for hadley to eat and not choke on. so i had to try them. and the price isn't bad, $12.50 each.

guess what? they work! especially if i am wearing hadley in a sling. she loves them. maybe the little, round balls act as massagers to her sore gums.

how cute and stylish are they. i love the variety of fabrics and colors too.

these are the ones hadley eats

gobble gobble

2011-11-30T06:52:00.001-08:00

we had a great thanksgiving, full good food and good company.

it was hadley's first and of course she had absolutely no idea it was even a holiday. it was just an average day for her.

we ate at my sister in law's house but hadley and i did not stay long as she was a teething, crabby mess. hadley that is, not molly- my sister in law. molly already has all of her teeth i think. Poor hads has 6 teeth coming in at once. painful i am sure. tylenol seems to really bring her some relief though. the husband and sweet cheek's ventured out on thanksgiving night to see 'the muppets.' i still want to see that one. mahna mahna.

here are just a few pics of the girls on turkey day.

note their cute tees that their sweet grandma made for them.... like she does every holiday. seriously. she is the best.

wordless wednesday

2011-11-30T06:51:00.000-08:00

wordless wednesday

2011-11-16T09:20:00.000-08:00

harajuku mini

2011-11-14T12:45:00.000-08:00

love it- gwen stefani has launched harajuku mini at target.

i am pretty sure caroline will be shopping this line for some trendy pieces. you know the girl has got a style of her own.

take a peek below

and maybe we can throw in a piece or two for hadley-

i really love those striped leg warmers!

bag it up

2011-11-10T10:35:00.001-08:00

i once posted here during my pregnancy about my want for the jj cole technique diaper bag in green. and at the time it was $80 from buy buy baby.

today baby steals had the jj cole technique in red for $39.99. though normally red wouldn't have been my first choice, i couldn't resist the bag at such a great price.

now i just wait for her to arrive.

wordless wednesday

2011-11-09T07:47:00.001-08:00

month five

2011-11-07T11:35:00.000-08:00

so hadley turned 6 months on october 29th. i took these pictures last weekend. just being honest people.

i can't believe this month i have a six month old and a six year old. it is just nuts.

anyway, since hadley is so freshly six months, i am still making this her month 5 update.

at month 5, hadley-

is an official sitter. what a big deal that is! i love seeing her sitting on her nursery floor and playing with her toys. such a big girl already
has so much hair. it really seems to be coming in fast. won't be long till i am getting some sweet hair clips in there
is still only drinking about 5 ounces per bottle
is still waking twice a night to eat. so need to get rid of one of those feeds. haven't i said that before. the husband and i need some decent sleep
weighs 16 pounds. had to take her for a sick appt last week and they weighed her then. can't believe she has more than doubled her birth weight already
is eating several new foods. though i wouldn't really call it eating. more like taste testing. so far i think she has had peaches, pears, carrots, sweet potatoes, and prunes. she just isn't a big baby food eater. she'll get there
loves to use her little mesh feeder. so far we have put ice cubes, frozen carrots, and grapes in it.
drinks water from a straw sippy cup
eats her socks when she doesn't have her robeez on
loves peek-a-boo
smiles the biggest for caroline, who we refer to at our house as "sissy"
sits in her bathtub now rather than laying back. i think we are going to move her to just the regular bathtub this month
loves to play with her sophie the giraffe, which i often call a chew toy. how ridiculous is that. isn't that what you call a dogs toy. i really need a better name
is such an easy, happy baby. even when the girl is tired, she rarely cries
really notices the dogs now

and here she is

with her favorite rattle

she has got some serious blue eyes
playtime

okay, so i said she rarely cries right. i just pushed my luck here by trying to add a headband...

fallen leaves

2011-11-07T07:28:00.001-08:00

yesterday was a beautiful day outside, even with the chill from the wind. i bundled hadley up and took her out front to play in the leaves.

i of course had to snap up a few pictures of her sitting (yes, has officially been a sitter since 1 week before turning 6 mos) and being entertained by all the pretty leaves. it was sweet to watch. it even took her a good 3 minutes before trying to eat any of them!

she loved the crunch in her hands

once i finished taking hadley's picture, i was immediately brought back to similar photos i had taken of caroline when she was about 7 months old.

so i had to share the comparison shots for fun...

sweet cheeks - nov, 2006

look at caroline's cheeks just hanging over! loves those.

even with the difference in cheek size, i do think my girls look a like. both have that one sweet dimple in their right cheek. they are both just so darn huggable!

wordless wednesday (pre-halloween)

2011-11-02T07:18:00.000-07:00

skip skip skip to my lou

2011-11-01T08:41:00.001-07:00

skip hop- not just diaper bags

skip hop is absolutely one of my favorite children's brands for toys and gear. not only are their things super cute with amazing colors but they also have such functional pieces. you must see their website. now.

and in case you didn't go to the website that i suggested.... here are a few of my favs

cute catch-all bib

butterfly plate

love this no skid sectional plate for babies and toddlers. i see less mess with this thing

so awesome ...a soap or shampoo dispenser. now this is what i'm talkin' about...cute and super functional for moms giving baths or kids showering on their own. a must have

simply cute. love the red and aqua together with the polka dots

the books ends in action

i'm ordering this for hads. love the actual size of it.

hads already has this and loves it. mainly loves shoving the tail of it into her mouth as far as she can. the girl knows how to have fun

and i just thought these were sweet

joe who?

2011-10-27T12:59:00.000-07:00

I've found some new clothes to try. It's Joe fresh. Ever heard of them? It's new to me. I read it's from the same guy who started club Monaco. To me Joe fresh is the look of gap and madewell but with an old navy price tag. I'm gonna have to give it a try. I'm only nervous about the jeans since I don't know how their sizes run.

A few pieces for Hadley

Isn't the plaid cute

And a few for Caroline

Some more plaid

And for me....the longest list. Some cute pieces, right?

Oh look plaid for me too

pumpkins

2011-10-26T07:14:00.002-07:00

we took the girls to our annual pumpkin patch trip, which is just at a methodist church up the street from us. their earnings go to their teen youth group, so i like to think of us as supporters of a local cause! we have been taking caroline to this mini pumpkin patch since she was 2 and now hadley gets to enjoy it too. though i am not sure you'd actually say she enjoyed it when she hasn't a clue what a pumpkin is.

caroline loves holding hadley. this picture makes me laugh as i am pretty sure hads is trying to squirm away but caroline just keeps smiling and gripping!

wordless wednesday

2011-10-26T07:14:00.001-07:00

wordless wednesday

2011-10-19T07:34:00.000-07:00

wordless wednesday

2011-10-12T10:06:00.000-07:00

alike in many ways

2011-10-11T10:14:00.001-07:00

sweet cheeks woke up saturday morning with an idea in mind. sometimes her ideas are so far fetched and not even remotely possible, like building a fort the size of her bedroom. however, this idea was definitely doable. it was for her and hadley to dress alike that day. you know the camera was already in my hands when she said that!

she really took her time planning out an outfit for herself that could match with something in hadley's closet. i was pretty impressed with what she came up with. never mind how adorable it totally was to see them dressed alike.

what she ended up picking was a long sleeved tee under a tank top, tutu, leggings, and sparkly chucks. fortunately both girls had all of the requirements.

i love that sweet cheeks and sweet eyes are so good to each other. sisters are an amazing thing. seriously. i speak with lots of experience.

wordless wednesday

2011-10-05T05:39:00.000-07:00

month four

2011-10-03T11:58:00.000-07:00

i apparently will never be on time with my postings for each month, given the fact that hadley turned 5 months on sept 29th. what can you do!

so here i am doing her 4 month post... today.

and at month four, hadley:

weighs 15.9 oz
eats twice a night. can't wait to get her down to 1 feeding. this happens every so often. and i stress.... every.... so.... often
eats about 5.5 oz of formula in a bottle every 3 hours. she totals 7 bottles a day. she doesn't always finish her bottles though
still takes prevacid solutabs 15mg a day
started solids. she has tried oatmeal, peaches, and pears. in one sitting i am lucky to get about 3-4 bites in her. i can say she doesn't seem interested in eating but sure loves to watch us eat
rolls over from front to back and from back to front
was sleeping in her crib full-time but is having a little set back currently due to those horrible vaccinations. so she is back in the rock n play for a bit since they aggravated her reflux
wears size 3-6 mos
still eats her feet
still is a drool machine
is quite the giggler
loves to stand and bounce
intentionally kicks her crib aquarium on and off with her feet
when doing tummy time, actually moves around like a wiggle worm. the girl loves to be on the go already
is highly awesome as a little sister
is read to by her equally awesome big sister at bed time. more often than not she reads her "the very hungry caterpillar."
definitely seems like she knows her name
smiles when you sing to her

put me in the zoo

2011-09-23T12:57:00.001-07:00

family trip to the zoo!

i think hadley enjoyed her first trip ever to the atlanta zoo. though she will experience many more since we are members and absolutely love to go.

we spent a good 4 hours there last sunday. caroline and hadley both had a terrific time and we were all completely exhausted when we left.

no descriptions needed. just enjoy our trip to the zoo as seen through pictures of, well, us! good times, right.

3 sprouts

2011-09-21T11:39:00.001-07:00

this adorable pink elephant bin is in hadley's nursery. obviously, right... as you see it here in the picture. stick with me though. i am sharing this picture again for a reason.

this bin is a great catch-all for her toys now. though it started out as a blanket holder. gotta love multi-functional pieces!

3 sprouts also has so many other cute things for kid and nursery decor, all with such unique animal appliques on them. i want to get hadley a few more things for her room. i am a fan of organization. just wish i had all the time in the world to do it. but this is reality... and i don't. back to the adorable items from 3 sprouts. take a look below and i think you'll agree.

alligator wall organizer

piggy caddy
mouse caddy
raccoon bin
peacock box
cow soft seat (i so want this one for hadley)
see, don't you agree that it's pretty darn cute and functional!

wordless wednesday

2011-09-21T09:42:00.000-07:00

wordless wednesday

2011-09-14T07:46:00.000-07:00

all in a name

2011-09-12T09:38:00.001-07:00

hadley meet...... hadley?

i can't believe barbie totally stole hadley's name! sweet cheeks and i saw this while shopping at target yesterday. i thought it was pretty funny. apparently, hadley is a new barbie from the movie "barbie princess charm school."

(poor quality pic was taken with my phone)

trendy girls for fall

2011-09-09T08:40:00.000-07:00

zara now has online shopping for kids!

it is times like now that i am sad for sweet cheeks to wear a uniform to school when she could be rockin' some of the clothes below- and we know she would rock them.

dresses-

how adorable is this. love the brown with the orange
for the fancier side of sweet cheeks
shirts-

love this polka dot skirt w/ belt
shoes...because sweet cheeks love shoes! don't know where she gets that from.

a scarf... oh yes, she could pull this off no problem

leopard print ear muffs for those cold recesses.. she could get away with this one at school

and the purse. omg the purse. i would use a purse like this
and even though they do have zara baby, the only thing i really saw that i would put on sweet eyes is this striped dress. everything else is adorable but just doesn't look comfortable or functional for a 4 month old
definitely worth checking out zara- boys for some really cute tees.

a year ago

2011-09-07T07:13:00.001-07:00

one year and two weeks ago sweet cheeks had strep. that girl is so susceptible to strep still to this day.

one year and one week ago we were up having a great weekend with our friends at their mountain house. then suddenly i started to feel tired and weak. next thing i knew i was feeling sick to my stomach. all in a matter of two days. i was pretty sure that i had caught strep from sweet cheeks.

4 days later i was getting pretty upset that i couldn't kick whatever was making me feel so horrible. i was still tired, nauseous, and now crabby. poor hubby and sweet cheeks.

it took me a whole week of being sick to even consider the notion of pregnancy. so on my way to work, a wed morning, i stopped at cvs to pick up a test. got to work, peed on the stick (like i had a gazillion times before- i was so sadly quite experienced at this), and had a heart attack in the bathroom stall when i saw a second line appeared. the tears just started coming uncontrollably. i could not believe that despite 3 failed iui's (and thousands of dollars later), we were pregnant. the tears came because i was scared to death. the fear of a miscarriage, the fear of not being on progesterone, the fear of everything baby flooded me. i called the hubby to tell him. i was shaking. he was calm, cool, and said he already knew it. he's that good.

that was september 7th, 2010, the day before my 34th birthday. turns out it wasn't strep. i was 7 weeks pregnant. and boy did i, the husband, and caroline have to endure many more weeks of sickness. it was a rough ride. the whole time though i knew i was having a girl. i just knew it sweet cheeks would get a sister. some birthday present.

what a difference a year can make...

wordless wednesday

2011-09-07T07:06:00.000-07:00

wordless wednesday

2011-08-26T12:53:00.000-07:00

wordless wednesday

2011-08-24T06:54:00.001-07:00

month 3

2011-08-22T10:47:00.000-07:00

3 months already! I'm sad that I am rushing Hadley to grow up while I should be savoring each and every baby second. She has come so far though with each week she turns. She doesn't cry all the time like she once did. She is happy a lot and as a parent, that is so rewarding.

So at three months, Hadley:

-is all hands. She can practically get a whole hand in her mouth. Impressive, right
-is a drool machine still
-loves her feet. She is caught holding her feet lots
-can grab anything she sets her sights on
-is now on week three of the prevacid solutabs. She had been on compounded prevacid since two weeks. If I had known how well she would do on the solutabs, I would have changed her over 2 months ago. It's working out great
-is on night 3 of sleeping in her crib in her room on her belly. (ironically I'm on night 3 of sleeping on the floor in her room) she is doing so well with it since she has such strong neck and head control. She's still waking twice a night but seems to be sleeping more comfortably
-drinks 4 oz of alimentum formula every 3 hours.... So she probably won't be giving up those night feedings until she increases the amount she drinks during the day
-smiles so much
-is full time in daycare
-is still smitten with her big sister

Her three month pics

This sums up hads at 3 mos perfectly ... Mouth full of hand and hand full of foot!

Still has blue eyes. Thinking there here to stay

Such a sweet girl with an extra sweet smile

first and first and first

2011-08-17T11:37:00.001-07:00

Sweet cheeks started first grade! That even feels weird to say and type. Please someone slow time down for me when it comes to my kiddos. The good news is that she loves school and is an awesome student. Two things I could never say about myself. She also has a friend in her class so that made her transition into her new class a bit easier.

Look at her. Seriously, she has a style of her own. Dig the socks! I love this girl. I'm smiling as I even type this because she makes me so proud.

Walking in with her daddy on day one

In front of her new teachers name just outside the classroom

and lookie here....guess who else had a first day of school. Ok I admit she didn't cry but I did. It's so hard to leave her as I worry so much given her health issues with reflux. Just totally adds another level of stress to daycare that I could do without. For the most part, Hadley is adjusting really well. She just doesn't nap much there yet. Luckily the first two weeks she was only there from 9-1 as we are both adjusting to the new schedule. This week she is staying until 3:30 and next week begins our normal full days. It's going to be tough for sure.

Hadley with her teacher, mrs. Connie

I am so blessed to have two smart, well adjusted girls!

wordless wednesday

2011-08-17T06:57:00.001-07:00

day or night

2011-08-16T09:02:00.000-07:00

just got this cute and comfy all in one piece for hadley from 77 kids. looks to me like it could be worn for day or sleep.

i love the pink and gray together

i also got sweet cheeks this yellow bauble necklace. it looks great with all her blue uniform shirts.

and this ribbon link necklace

that sweet cheeks is still such the trendy one.

one of those blogs

2011-08-16T08:45:00.000-07:00

i have become that mom who starts a blog and then ever so slowly lets life creep in the way and never posts again. i seriously feel like i have no time in the day. and i don't even know where the day goes but it is gone before i knew it was even here. yup, there it just up and went. did you see it?

i have hopes that now that the girls are in school (sniff sniff) and i am back at work that a routine will kick in soon and i will have a little more "me" time at the end of the day. of course this all works out perfectly in my little head but when it comes to actuality, that is a whole different story, right.

so i am here on my blog and setting post goals for this week

1. wordless wednesday

2. girls first day of school

3. hadley's month 3

wish me luck.

the first is so close

2011-07-20T11:11:00.000-07:00

in just 3.5 weeks sweet cheeks will be starting the first grade. not only has her summer flown by, her last 6 years have flown by. she is very excited to be a first grader.

we did most of her school shopping already at old navy. sweet cheeks wears a uniform so the shopping isn't as exciting as i once remember. her wardrobe consists of polos in red, white, or navy, and pants/skirts in khaki or navy. thankfully she is able to spruce up her mundane outfits with her shoes, socks, leggings, and headbands.

sweet cheeks picked out her backpack from garnet hill this year. for some reason she really wanted one that rolls. i jus went with it.
and bonus! their backpacks come with free shipping and a free matching lunch box right now. oh how i love free.

and we also got her these fun morgan + milo leopard print mary janes from garnett hill-

month 2

2011-07-20T11:03:00.001-07:00

Hadley turned 12 weeks yesterday but these pictures were taken Monday, so technically she was still two months.

These days hadley
-holds a baby speak conversation with you which is totally adorable
-reaches for things with her hands in a semi uncontrolled manner. She wants to grab something and flails her arm in the right direction till she hits something
-smiles lots, especially if Caroline is in view
-eats 3oz per feeding which is usually ever two hours
-is no where close to sleeping through the night. The longest stint to date was 5 hours, and that's only happened twice! Average is four hours then every two
-takes 2.5mls of prevacid in the morning and evening, and mylanta as needed
-is absolutely adorable
-is due to start school, as we like to call daycare, in two weeks

wordless wednesday

2011-07-20T07:47:00.000-07:00

picture overload

2011-07-16T13:42:00.000-07:00

so i have been mia for two weeks. hadley is keeping me way more busy than i ever expected.

she was having a few good weeks but unfortunately the vaccinations she received last friday set her back again due to a reflux flare up. a week later and she is doing a bit better but still not where she was prior to the shots. i really think it was the rota vax that did her in. it is a live virus and viruses, so i am told by her gi doc, will always result in a reflux flare up. wish i would have put two and two together before the vaccine. maybe i could have prevented her from having a bad week.

so now i present to you picture overload of my girls, caroline and hadley...

hadley lights up when her sister is near. i love to see them together!

she looks so old here! such a big kid

wordless wednesday

2011-06-29T09:11:00.000-07:00

month 1

2011-06-21T07:37:00.000-07:00

what a month this little girl has had!

from the minute i saw hadley choke the first time in the hospital when she was only 2 days old i knew we had another reflux daughter on our hands. the choking is scary because when she is doing it, not a sound comes from her. her only movement is flailing arms. so unless you are staring at her and happen to see it, something serious could easily happen.

so when she was two weeks old i got hadley in for her first appt with the gi doctor. i knew the protocol and it was prevacid, mylanta, and keeping her up right 99% of the time. it is tough when you are getting used to it again but once into the routine of it again, it is obvious why you do it. she also only sleeps in a nappy nanny. that thing really makes sleeping at night possible for her and us.

two weeks ago when hadley was only 5 weeks old she had a reflux episode like we have never seen before. it was scary enough to warrant a call to 911. come to find out once we got to the er that she also had a fever of 101, pretty serious in a newborn. so now not only is she getting treatment for the reflux, but for the fever we didn't even know she had. any time a newborn has a fever it is automatic blood work, iv, and spinal tap. those two words freaked us out... spinal tap! thank god it all turned up ok. however our one night in the er turned into 4 days in the hospital. hadley also had a upper gi and was seen by a speech therapist.

we were so fortunate that my parents were able to come down and stay with caroline the entire time we were in the hospital.

in the end hadley had a viral infection that has gone away on it's own. we learned that anytime hadley gets a virus, to expect her reflux to get worse. as a result of her hospital visit and testing, her prevacid was increased from 1.5 ml to 2.5ml and her diet was changed from soy to alimentum formula. here we are now at 7 weeks old and she is really doing wonderfully. so much better than she had been. of course she still has a bad day here and there, like yesterday when her food was coming back up through her mouth and nose. overall she has improved so much.

then we have this past saturday night when hadley had her 2nd er visit. she had a yeast infection of sorts under her chin, an area where it tends to stay moist under her rolls from spit up and food.never even knew such a thing was possible. i unfortunately agitated this rash when i put aveeno lotion on it. aveeno! of all lotions. suddenly within about 2 hours it had swelled up, blistered, and she was crying in so much pain. it was a hard cry to hear knowing she was in a lot of pain. we were in and out of the er within 2 hours. our childrens hospital is so amazing! her treatment is a paste of cortisone, nystatin, and butt paste. it is working wonders too!

the amazing thing is that this week alone you can catch hadley smiling on purpose... sucking on her fingers on purpose.... and talking to her sister on purpose. she is definitely one happy baby. it is a beautiful thing!

wordless wednesday

2011-06-15T11:36:00.001-07:00

wordless thursday

2011-06-02T10:12:00.000-07:00

she's here...she's been here!

2011-06-02T07:30:00.000-07:00

HADLEY GRAY

4.29.11

as most people know, sweet cheeks (ok lets just go by names now since i just announced her sisters name to the world...) caroline was born via c-section due to decreased heart rate during labor. i got to 10cm with her, pushed 20 minutes, and then the call was made to just take her out. it was the safest thing for her. sadly though, i absolutely hated the c-section. it was a scary experience and only made my anxiety that much worse not being able to feel my body or feel when i was breathing during the procedure itself. the recovery was quite difficult. i didn't even hold caroline until she was 12 hours old. in the end, though it got sweet cheeks to me safe and sound, it was a horrible experience. one i really hoped to avoid the second time around. i had made a vbac my goal for baby #2 and luckily i had a doctor that was willing to work with me on it.

that being said, a repeat c-section date was still set for when i was 40 wks 1 day, which was friday, april 29th, at 10:15am. i was going to do everything i could to avoid this day.

her birthday story...

37 weeks-monday

i was dilated 3cm and 60% effaced. i really thought she would arrive either this week or surely by my 38th week

38 weeks-monday
i was dilated between 3-4 cm and 75% effaced. so i had the doctor strip my membranes. i was definitely having contractions so i thought the stripping would move things along a bit faster. i had always heard the stripping of the membranes only works if you are actually in true labor, which i thought for sure i was.

39 weeks-monday

i was only dilated to 4cm and still 75% effaced. it was as if my labor had stopped for some reason, which scared me. so once again i had the doctor strip my membranes. then i walked... and walked... and walked. and still nothing.

40 weeks- thursday - 1 day before c-section

i decided to go back to see my doctor to have him check me just once more with the hopes that some progress had been made. i was still 4cm. i can't tell you how disappointed i was. i was now beginning to feel the reality that was to be my repeat c-section. the only good thing about it was that my favorite doctor would be the one performing it, not just any doctor at the practice. this did put my mind at ease. i had the doctor strip my membranes one final time with hopes of labor coming on. then went home and walked... and walked... and walked! i went to bed at 9:30pm that night feeling only slightly crampy, as i had felt after all the other times of membrane stripping, and knowing what the morning would bring.

bring on 10:30pm that same night. i was in bed watching tv with the husband asleep and snoring next to me. i started to feel a bit more crampy but not what i would call contractions. just in case though, i started timing them. they were irregular and about 8 -10 minutes apart. i didn't get excited. by midnight, i was up and pacing the floor feeling what i still though might just be cramps caused by the stripping of the membranes. at 1am, i woke the husband up and told him we needed to go to the hospital as we were going to have our baby one way or another. holy cow! i can't believe i was able to say that. it was like a movie scene!

the long, bumpy ride to the hospital was the most surreal thing in the world. and by now, my contractions (whadaya know.. .not cramps after all!) were regular, only a few minutes apart, and they HURT.

once at the hospital, i was feeling 100% every bit of the active labor that i was in. during a contraction, i just had to stand up and rock myself back and forth. this really helped me just focus through the pain as best i could.

once checked in to our room, the nurse checked me and i was now 5cm along at 2am. that excited me. good to know the contractions were actually doing something. i endured the contractions for another 1.5 hours and then welcomed the epidural. i was 6cm when i finally got it at 3:30am.

my sister arrived right after i got the epidural. then literally 5 minutes later we heard a pop and i felt the gush of my water breaking all on its own. things were really moving along quite smoothly.

by 5am when my doctor arrived, i was 9.5cm dilated. she told me just to enjoy the epidural and take a rest before the long road of pushing that was a head of us.

by 7am, i started pushing.

the funny thing is all the while we, meaning myself, my sister, the nurse, and the doctor, were all watching THE WEDDING, prince william and kate middleton's. it made for some entertainment and memories in between those contractions.

in the end, we watched the entire wedding as i had to push for 3 hours. i was thankful i was able to push that long as most doctors only allow vbac patients to push for 1 hour. everything with the baby's heart rate was fine so my doctor wasn't worried.

finally after 3 hours of pushing and one vacuum later, hadley gray was born at 9:53am weighing in at 7lbs 9 ounces and was 20 in long. i was so happy to hold her immediately. she was a tiny miracle in my arms.

hadley gray was born 22 minutes before her scheduled c-section delivery.

she was and is beautiful and perfect!

her quarters

2011-04-21T09:49:00.000-07:00

i am so happy with the end results. i think even the husband, who was once doubtful of the grey, is happy with the nursery. hopefully little baby girl will love it too!

my mom recovered the rocker for me, which when i used it with sweet cheeks was pink and green. it is such a comfy chair so i am so glad she was able to recover it in the pink damask fabric.

i absolutely love the book ledges. they brought a lot of color to the room. plus, i love that all of the books once belonged to big sister sweet cheeks. and how cute is the little sophie & lili doll on the shelf. isn't she adorable.

i ordered the sweet dreams banner from my baby sam.

the elephant bin by 3 sprouts will be great for her toys but for now it is blanket storage.

the garden blossom elephant in the crib is from dwell. the crib sheet is also by dwell, mini dots in grey. i decided to not use a crib bumper this go around. crib skirt was a freebie from work.

the doll house book shelf was sweet cheeks. it didn't fit in her room after the room make-over so luckily it works just great in the nursery.

the changing table is an ikea hemnes dresser. the pink zinnia knobs are from anthropologie.

the cute pink and gray fabric cat was made by a girl i work with. the little white chair is ikea kritter. hanging on the closet is a pink "little sister" tee.

so there you have it. the nursery for my second daughter!

i am getting so excited to put the room to use.

wordless wednesday

2011-04-20T07:45:00.000-07:00

break on through to the other side

2011-04-19T09:25:00.001-07:00

the nursery is finished! yippee. i will post pics of it later this week.

i did want to show you the amazingly special touch that the husband added to both girl's rooms. it is a tunnel! since the room's closets shared a wall, he just went in, cut a hole in the wall, and created a unique tunnel for them to go through. the trim needs to be painted and carpet installed along the inside but it is still functional in the meantime. sweet cheeks and the dogs already make good use of it.

sweet cheeks coming back into her room from her sisters room

and the view from little sister's room looking into sweet cheek's room. half of sweet cheek's closet was transformed into a mini reading space. we just put a bucket of books, bean bag chair, and some pillows in it to create a little reading room.

april showers

2011-04-04T05:47:00.000-07:00

hello blog.

nice to see you.

sorry pregnancy has come between us... again

so how lucky am i that with my second daughter (still so weird to say that!) i have had THREE baby showers! we are more than spoiled.

the first one was thrown by my two sweet girlfriends. they did such a great job and we all had a wonderful time. (sadly i didn't take pictures. must see if they have any!) not only did we get so many wonderful gifts, they also sent home two dinners to freeze for once the baby arrives. i love that idea!

the next one was a surprise shower thrown for me at work. it was sweet because so many people participated bringing baked goods and such. one girl went so far as to have her grandmother in colorado make a beautiful pink and white baby blanket for this baby girl. so thoughtful.

our third shower was thrown for us by my amazing mother and sister. and even though i did remember to take some family photos, i was mad at myself for not taking pictures of all the cute decorations and delicious food (especially the cheese dips and cake. they were so so good!).

we really are so blessed with our family and friends.

my side of the family...

(and notice the cute BABY banner that my sister made hanging over our heads)

the husband and me with sweet cheeks, her cousin, her aunt, her nana and her great grandma (aka- GG)
and us.... sweet cheeks ran and hid from us for this picture. by then, she had enough of the picture taking.

wordless wednesday

2011-03-30T06:05:00.001-07:00

my girl wants to party all the time

2011-03-29T07:39:00.001-07:00

what a fun 6th birthday sweet cheeks had.

for her party, we took her and 4 of her friends (2 of which were her cousins, cailyn and ellis) to the american girl cafe. of course all the girls brought their girls along with them. what fun was had!

here we are with 4 of the 5 girls loaded in our car on our way to the cafe. look at all those smiles! they were so excited.

the girls (sans 1 cousin) in front of the cafe right when we arrived

we had some time in between shopping the store and our dinner reservation, so we walked around sephora a bit. the girls enjoyed it since they got to put lip gloss and perfume on. lip gloss makes everything fun when you are 6! they were pretty cute walking around the store in a single-file line looking at everything.

in order- ellis (cousin), hayden, cailyn (cousin), birthday girl sweet cheeks, and catherine

the girls giving their girls "tea," which was really water.

the birthday girl and julie
making a wish
please note sweet cheek's adorable birthday shirt that her sweet grandma made for her. i think this is the third year now that grandma has made her a birthday shirt. they make for great keepsakes too. i plan to have her do the same for the baby. it's a great tradition now.

a bunch of silly girls
it was such a fun time and i know sweet cheeks really enjoyed spending it with her cousins and friends.

35 weeks down, 5 to go!

2011-03-29T06:49:00.000-07:00

how far along: 35 weeks

weight gained: 19 lbs

maternity clothes: i am so tired of my maternity clothes! i am ready to wear my regular clothes again. guess i have several weeks before that will happen. and ughhh... how i hate those first 2 weeks after delivery when you aren't pregnant but still look it! that is torture and everything fits horribly and uncomfortably. that stage is the worst.

stretch marks: it must be a miracle! i still don't have any. please stay that way! thank you mustela.

belly button in: it is totally an outie now. feels funny, pokes out through my shirts, and makes sweet cheeks laugh when she sees it.

baby movement: i am kicked in the ribs and side nonstop. it is crazy just how painful it can actually be. i know she is small in there but apparently she likes to stretch out as much as she can. it is funny feeling small, round things poking out and wondering just what part of her body it is! pretty sure she still does flips in there. i am hoping though since i feel the kicking in the ribs that it means she is at least head down.

cravings: not really. i just eat small meals more frequently. i get full quickly.

next appt: monday, april 4th. i will have the group b strep test at that time.

update from last appt: i met with my favorite doctor and explained to him my nervousness over both a vbac and repeat c-section. the truth is i am scared to death of both! i feel like it is a no-win situation but she has to get out of me somehow. thankfully he listened to me, explained my options thoroughly, and told me in the end it was our decision. i just wish he would have decided for me. he did make me feel a lot better about the vbac, saying i am definitely a good candidate for it. that eased my fears a bit. so that is still the plan. we will push on for the vbac with hopes of a much better recovery with this girl than we had with sweet cheeks. of course, i realize everything can change in a minute and i will do whatever is safest for her. fingers crossed and prayers please that we have a successful vbac!

symptoms: i am actually feeling pretty good for the most part. the reflux hasn't been near as bad. that may be because i am doing smaller meals now. the only complaint really is the huge, ugly, swollen feet and ankles that i endure daily. seriously, they are UGLY and shoes only accentuate it. it is weird that it is mainly my left foot, a lot more so than the right. maybe i walk funny and never realized how much i lean on the left foot. hopefully someone would have told me by now that i walk funny if that was the case! i am doing much better drinking water hoping that will help the swelling but it really doesn't seem to make a difference. i am surprised that it is actually kind of painful by the end of the day and hurts to walk on them. i figure if this is my worst complaint, i am still doing pretty good.

nursery: it is looking so good now! i love it already. we have some shelves hung, crib mattress in the crib, rocker with cushions, lighting, and clothing washed. the only things remaining are hanging of frames, purchase of a decorative pillow for the rocker, and a changing pad for the dresser. once the husband and i get those things done, i will be ready to share pictures with you. hopefully we'll finish that up this weekend.

gear: i did get a little bouncy seat from work for her. it will be nice so now i have two... one for upstairs and one for downstairs. makes that a bit easier i think.

me at 35 weeks

time keeps on slippin slippin slippin into the future

2011-03-24T06:56:00.000-07:00

happy 6th birthday to sweet cheeks!

happy birthday to the girl who brings continual joy, happiness, sunshine, laughter, silliness, and fun into our life.

happy birthday to the girl with the most amazing smile.

happy birthday to the girl that loves to make, draw, and color pictures for her parents.

happy birthday to the girl who is now a skilled two-wheeled bike rider.

happy birthday to the girl that always has two drinks with every meal, even though she only ever drinks the water.

happy birthday to the girl who loves to sing, dance, and entertain.

happy birthday to the girl is who very adventurous and always willing to try new things. (which she obviously didn't get from her mother!)

happy birthday to the girl that makes me smile inside and out.

from my favorite book to read to sweet cheeks, 'on the night you were born.'

i tear up every time i read this to her...

"for never before in story or rhyme
not even once upon a time
has the world ever known a you, my friend,
and it never will, not ever again…
heaven blew every trumpet
and played every horn
on the wonderful, marvelous
night you were born."

i love you sweet cheeks!

springy spring time

2011-03-23T11:04:00.000-07:00

i was at target on my lunch break today getting sweet cheeks a birthday present. tomorrow she turns 6! i am not sure how that is possible since i just had her yesterday. where has the time gone? i can't believe it.

more to come on the sassy 6 year old tomorrow...

but here is a cute outfit i picked up for her, along with a few other things...

simple yellow tee

cute blue tiered ruffle skirt

love these little floral ballet flats for a mere $9.99!

she can just pair her outfit with some of the cute accessories she already has. that is one area target doesn't have much of a selection in, girls jewelry/accessories.

wordless wednesday

2011-03-23T06:25:00.001-07:00

i am not your rolling wheels...

2011-03-17T08:14:00.000-07:00

check out sweet cheeks rockin' the two-wheel bike! oh yea! not only is she awesome at it, she is 100% impressed with herself. and she should be.

watch not only her talented cycling skills, but her facial expressions too. it is a quick shot but look how big her smile is and how proud she is of herself.

wordless wednesday

2011-03-16T05:44:00.000-07:00

a space of her own

2011-03-14T10:48:00.000-07:00

well i am finally getting around to posting the before and after pics of sweet cheeks room. i am happy with it. more importantly, she is happy with it! you'll see the sweet cheeks "style" throughout...

sweet cheek's room before

painted a lilac color for her nursery

sweet cheek's room after

i had to cover up the 3 pics above her bed, which are really, really cute, but from work and not out yet... so just being safe. trust me when i say they are cute though.

ikea chandelier... per the request of sweet cheeks and her daddy

ikea snoig wall lamp

target xhileration dot bedding
owl/tree decals only $9 from kohls

ikea hemnes dresser
the touches of sweet cheeks.... peace sign decals!

the corner with the chair in it is a little reading area. you can't see it but on the floor is a basket filled with some of her favorite books.

and of course her vanity which santa brought to her this year.

just the right mix of cute and colorful without being too baby or too big for her.

gentle reminders

2011-03-10T12:37:00.000-08:00

how cute are these good manner wall cards from art and philanthropy on etsy?

these nature themed counting cards are pretty cute too.

wordless wednesday

2011-03-09T06:17:00.001-08:00

one step at a time

2011-03-08T06:21:00.001-08:00

the nursery.... well it is coming along slowly but surely. i should feel rushed with only 8 weeks to go but strangely i don't feel that way. i am probably more relaxed about it than i should be. i guess going into it i didn't quite realize how much work we had cut out for ourselves with this room. and when i say "we," you know i am mainly referring to the husband. he had his work cut out for him with all the projects i wanted done. what a great relationship right.. i have the ideas and he does the work. he has gotten so much completed already. i'll point out everything in a future completed nursery post. the only other main projects i need him to still do is finish painting the closet and hang 3 ledges for me. once those are done, i can start moving everything in and decorate. the fun part!

he changed out an ugly brown ceiling fan for this ikea leran pendant light

i started washing all of her tiny clothes and putting them in her dresser, which is an ikea hemnes

we are getting there.

can't wait to share pics of something special that the husband did for sweet cheeks and her baby sister!

wordless wednesday

2011-03-02T07:01:00.000-08:00

31 weeks...

2011-02-28T10:25:00.000-08:00

how far along: 31 weeks

weight gained: 18 lbs (this time around with sweet cheeks i had gained 19 lbs, funny how close the two pregnancies are)

maternity clothes: yup and those are even starting to feel small. my belly is quite round and my shirts feel like they are barely covering it.

stretch marks: yippy! NO!!!

belly button in: nope. i have 100% lost my belly button. can't find it anywhere.

baby movement: definitely. i feel her all the time. she is quite the gymnast. it often feels like either her elbow or her heel is coming out of my side. kind of strange feeling. the husband got to feel it the other night too. makes me wonder what position she is in.

cravings: yoohoo and chocolate eclair ice cream bars. yummy! explains the 18 lbs i guess.

aversions: still the same restaurant... just the smell of it.

next appt: monday, mar 7th

update from last appt: the doc i saw isn't my fav. she made me feel rushed. i had my gestational diabetes test and my antibody test, both of which came back fine. this doctor went ahead and scheduled my c-section for april 25th. i am hoping to avoid a c-section all together. i am going to ask my (favorite) doctor at this coming appt if they will at least push the c-section date off until may 2nd, as i'd prefer it after my due date to give me the chance to go into labor naturally. we'll see what he says.

symptoms: currently i have a cold. blah. sleeping is still sporadic due to leg/foot cramps. and reflux... oh my gosh... the reflux!!! it is so horrible. i avoid bending over at all costs because of it.

nursery: it looks so beautiful. i already shared a pic of the new paint, which is gray on 3 walls and gray/white stripes on one wall. the nursery now has a crib, dresser(need to go get these knobs for it though from anthro), and table in it. i need to get a mattress for the crib. holy cow are there a lot to choose from. i feel overwhelmed every time i start researching the topic.

gear: i got an ergo baby sport carrier in blue. not the color i probably would have chosen, but babysteals.com had it one day for a great price so i had to take it. i have heard lots of good things about these carriers, so i hope baby girl and i both like it.

and finally my belly shots

big and round... i'm talking about my belly here!

wordless wednesday

2011-02-23T05:57:00.000-08:00

she's got the look

2011-02-22T08:32:00.000-08:00

the weather here has been warm for a few days. simply lovely. it is a nice taste of what is to come this spring.

makes me ready to shop for clothes for sweet cheeks. this would make a cute springy outfit for her, don't ya think...

all from 77kids

stripe tank dress

classic lace-up sneaker
beachy stitch tote

the nursery... part one

2011-02-17T10:00:00.001-08:00

once everything was finally moved out of the nursery, the painters came. i struggled with which color to paint the nursery since i was in favor of gray and the husband was in favor of pink. in the end, i won. well as far as the nursery goes. he won in that sweet cheek's room was painted pink (i'll share a pic of her new room soon).

i of course was much inspired by so many rooms on my favorite nursery blog, ohdeedoh. i know i shared some of those photos with you here. the gray we went with is benjamin moore stonington gray, mixed at lowe's with olympic no voc paint.

so here it is. the first photo of the nursery.

it's gotta start somewhere, right.

wordless wednesday

2011-02-16T06:12:00.000-08:00

wordless wednesday

2011-02-09T13:20:00.000-08:00

she said it

2011-02-04T06:18:00.000-08:00

i was putting sweet cheeks to bed on wednesday night. the first 5 minutes of bedtime is our catch up on the day time. i love hearing about her day at school, what she did, what exciting things happened, etc. so during our talk time, sweet cheeks decided to share some words of wisdom with me that she herself had to learn the hard way.

she said, 'if you scratch inside your ear with your finger, then put your finger in your mouth, it tastes yuck.'

good to know. lesson learned on her part. i hope.

wordless wednesday... but with words

2011-02-02T06:57:00.000-08:00

27 weeks down, 13 to go

2011-02-01T11:08:00.001-08:00

how far along: 27.5 weeks

weight gained: 11 lbs (oddly enough, the exact same amount i had gained with sweet cheeks at 27 weeks)

maternity clothes: yes and no. i have discovered that my non-maternity tunics work great with a belt over my belly. gives me a little variety with my clothes at least.

stretch marks: so far, NO! yippy. maybe my mustela does the trick.

belly button in: it's so on the verge of being out. so close. sweet cheek's thinks it is a funny sight to see

baby movement: wow does she poke and move. mostly poke. i often feel what i think is a foot or a hand poking me. of course as soon as i touch it, she moves. she also feels like she does flips in there. i will feel her totally all the way across from one side of my belly to the other. i think she is quite long already. she moves a lot though... morning, noon, and night! wonder if this is any indication to how she'll be outside my belly.

cravings: sticky rice is a favorite lately. not much else.

aversions: a local restaurant i used to get lunch from quite a bit but not now. suddenly just the smell of the restaurant bothers me.

next appt: feb 18th

update from last appt: no more placenta previa or blood clot. i am so excited about this. so for now, i am released from the perinatal doctor and go only to my regular ob. and if all goes well, i hope to be back on track for a vbac. fingers crossed! but of course i have learned in life that the best laid plans never really happen.

symptoms: oh. my. gosh. the charlie horses are killing me at night. they are a torturous way to be woken from sleep. i also could not count on both hands the amount of trips taken to the bathroom in one day. i really think she dances on my bladder and tries to get me to pee my pants. already a funny girl, right.

nursery: the husband, sweet cheeks, and i have all been working as a team to get the room emptied. we are quite close. my goal is to have the painter out next week. we'll see if we make it.

gear: a girl i work with had a sample of a skip hop via messenger. so yippy us, it's now ours. love the color and size of it. plus, i think it works for both the husband and me. isn't it cute.

sweet cheeks and i also cashed in on the babies r us great trade in event. we took in an old car seat and used the 25% off coupon on a new graco snugride 35 infant car seat in racer. so little by little, we are getting all the baby essentials needed.

me and my ever growing belly

belly close up!

wordless wednesday.... a classic

2011-01-26T06:59:00.001-08:00

you're the inspiration...

2011-01-25T07:04:00.000-08:00

to even get to the part where baby girl's nursery is ready to paint, the husband and i have a lot of work to do. we started this past weekend. he with cleaning out the garage. me with cleaning out the guest room closet. the garage now looks fabulous. the nursery and the guest room look like a tornado went through. so much work to do before it gets painted in two weeks.

but i still thought i'd share the photos which will be my inspiration in putting together her nursery.

the first one is from the blog haute mama daily. the nursery was done by lindsay brier for her son, hawken. love the simple, clean look to this room. it isn't cluttered and the color palette is so calming. the stripes on the wall are my favorite. (though the dog on the floor is pretty cute!)

i saw the next nursery on my favorite website, ohdeedoh- osianna's modern baby nursery. the pops of the orange and pink really work with the gray walls. the mobile is sweet and simple. and i absolutely love the eames rocker.

overall the look i want to accomplish for daughter #2 is clean, simple, and functional with pops of color.

the bigger the belly, the bigger the shirt

2011-01-20T12:07:00.000-08:00

my baby girl is growing, and weird, my belly is growing too. i already feel huge. hard to believe we still have 14 more weeks of growing to do.

i got a few new maternity shirts from old navy (thanks to my sister and that great christmas gift card!).

roll sleeve top

crochet trim top

3/4 sleeve striped pocket tee

wordless wednesday

2011-01-19T06:36:00.000-08:00

the sweetest thing

2011-01-15T17:00:00.000-08:00

it was a double daddy-daughter date night tonight. sweet cheeks, her daddy, catherine, and her daddy ventured out for dinner and a show. the girls were treated like princesses tonight as they had 8th row seats at the theatre to see "beauty and the beast." i am already anxious for them to get home to hear how wonderful the night was.

(sweet cheeks was at a party today... hence the face decorations that she couldn't part with)

money money money

2011-01-14T07:52:00.000-08:00

sweet cheeks was pretty fortunate this christmas and received quite a bit of money from her great grandparents. i am speaking of a lot of money in terms of a 5 year old. she got $100 but you would have thought it was a million. she was ecstatic and kept saying it out loud over and over, "i have a hundred dollars!". it was pretty cute.

since santa thought best to bring sweet cheeks a vanity this year rather than another american girl (he so generously gave her rebecca last christmas), sweet cheeks decided to use her own money and buy herself another doll.

what a trip that was!

i think we were in that american girl store for over an hour while she decided which girl she wanted. i really enjoyed watching her weigh her options with each doll she browsed.

in the end, it was julie who won sweet cheek's heart.

here are the girls on their first carousel ride together.

seriously, you have got to love sweet cheek's sense of style, right down to the jeweled flower on her face!

so happy together.

don't worry... sweet cheeks makes sure she spends equal amounts of time between julie and rebecca, as not to hurt either doll's feelings. she is thoughtful like that.

wordless wednesday

2011-01-05T07:27:00.000-08:00

the crib we're in

2011-01-02T17:48:00.001-08:00

we took a trip to ikea.

it started out as a trip to buy the gulliver crib in white. after reading many reviews, i had decided that this crib was the way to go. not only was it cheap ($99) but it also received great ratings in consumer reports. plus, i read many other good things about it on my favorite website, ohdeedoh. it is easy to trust other parents, right. why would they lie.

once we got to ikea though, the husband liked the hensvik crib better. i could see his point as this crib converted easily into a cute toddler bed. i loved that he had an opinion regarding the crib, so i went with it and we took home the hensvik.

once we got home though and i began to read about the hensvik crib, i saw that it didn't rate near as well. nor did many of the comments i read on it sound as great. so i asked the husband if he would mind if we returned that crib back to ikea and went with the original plan of the gulliver. so that is just what we did. we returned the hensvik with the intentions of getting the white gulliver. of course, after the return, we went down the aisle to grab the gulliver, which was now a "last chance" buy at ikea for only $79, and they were out! i was already panicked. so i called ikea two days in a row waiting for their last 6 gullivers to come in. finally it did and sweet cheeks and i schlepped down on our own to ikea and bought that crib.

so yippy... baby girl now has a bed for sleeping in!
next on the list... a car seat and stroller!

23 weeks

2011-01-01T17:23:00.000-08:00

how far along: 23 weeks, 2 days

weight gained: 6 lbs

maternity clothes: yup, all the time! i love my gap maternity jeans and cords.

stretch marks: no! i did start using my mustela 9 month maternity cream. hope it works at preventing this time around too.

belly button in: yes

baby movement: i feel her. the husband can feel her. sweet cheeks can feel her. all the time. she is a tumbler, especially at night. it is the most amazing feeling in the world and just impossible to describe.

cravings: sadly yes... mcdonalds sausage, egg, and cheese mcmuffin. also, blueberry mini wheats.

aversions: still none

next appt: mlk day- we get to have an ultrasound to check the moderate placenta previa i have. sweet cheeks will get to go. hope she is as amazed at seeing her sister as i am imaging her to be.

symptoms: trouble sleeping, sciatic nerve pain, and daily reflux issues. it is ridiculous how hard bending over has become.

me at 23 weeks. the belly has grown lots since 18 weeks!

happpy holidays....

2011-01-01T16:57:00.000-08:00

hope everyone had a good holiday. i know we did!

and for a quick recap....

christmas eve

sweet cheeks in her new christmas eve pjs. it's a great tradition.

christmas morn'

sweet cheeks opening her big present from santa (gotta love her sporting the bed head!)

new year's eve

celebrating with her buddies

and we're off... 2011 is going to be a great year. can't wait to welcome sweet cheek's baby sister into the world!

wordless wednesday

2010-12-22T12:37:00.001-08:00

baby essentials

2010-12-21T05:55:00.000-08:00

i am slowly starting to build up the baby's necessities.

of course that always starts with shopping. i don't mind that one bit.

gap was having a huge sale the other day so i picked up a few cute pieces for the little one, as well as a few maternity pieces for myself.

velour cheetah footed one-piece

penguin footed one piece

days of the week bodysuits (which the website shows now for $39.99 but i snagged for $17 at the store)

monster booties

i also had my first visit to the store buy buy baby. loved it! i actually like it more than babies r us. the store is huge and they have a wide variety of great brand names. of course i had to buy a few things for baby girl there too!

method squeaky clean bath products

swaddle me wraps (which i really hope helps this one to sleep peacefully...colic stay away!)

organic cotton mittens

i didn't walk out with this but i really wanted to...

jj cole technique diaper bag in green
shopping for this baby girl is so much fun. now i just have to decide on some of the big ticket items... carrier, car seat, and crib.

a frosted house

2010-12-21T05:43:00.000-08:00

sweet cheek's dad was kind enough to surprise her with a gingerbread house kit. she wasted no time putting it together. i'm not sure which she enjoyed more, decorating the house with frosting and candy or eating it. probably a bit of both.

wordless wednesday

2010-12-08T06:35:00.000-08:00

she's 20 weeks already

2010-12-07T10:34:00.001-08:00

i was and am so excited that she is still a she. since we were told we were having a girl at 12 weeks, i was still a bit apprehensive to believe it 100%. i've even had several dreams since that first scan that i was having a boy. turns out my doctor was right on and our 2nd daughter is in fact our 2nd daughter.

we had our 20 week anatomy scan yesterday. it was once again such a great experience. nothing more amazing and breath taking than seeing the little person i am growing inside of me move on the screen. she is healthy and perfect. we are so blessed. all of her heart chambers, fingers, toes, and limbs were accounted for. we do not take that for granted.

i found out i still have a moderate placenta previa and a blood clot because of it. the doctor did not seem overly concerned. i will just go back in 6 weeks for a follow up scan to see how it looks. i am keeping my fingers crossed it will correct itself before then.

here she is... sweet cheek's nameless baby sister

wordless wednesday

2010-12-01T06:22:00.000-08:00

18 weeks

2010-11-29T13:49:00.001-08:00

how far along: 18 weeks, 3 days

weight gained: 3 lbs

maternity clothes: a bit. some shirts and 1 pair of gap semi panel jeans. love them! so comfy. also no, still wearing lots of my own shirts and pants (with a belly band of course)

stretch marks: nope. not at all. never got them with sweet cheeks either. hope it stays that way! need to buy myself some mustela.

belly button in: way in!

baby movement: i don't think so. every so often i stop and think, "hey, was that it? did i feel her move?" then that is it. the moments gone. so no real movement yet but i absolutely can't wait.

cravings: queso tonight since we ate at moe's and i couldn't have it. darn you soft cheese!

aversions: no

my first belly shot! can you see it?
i think i feel bigger than i look.

block party

2010-11-24T17:56:00.000-08:00

these blocks from etsy are cute for both decor and playtime.

still can't believe i will be decorating a nursery for sweet cheek's sister soon.

sister sue designs - pretty in pink play blocks

knit style - sydney cloth blocks

wordless wednesday (pic from june)

2010-11-24T15:57:00.001-08:00

wordless wednesday

2010-11-17T08:14:00.000-08:00

*all product is from etsy of course!

wordless wednesday

2010-11-10T08:22:00.001-08:00