Easter 2011

We had a wonderful Easter! I slacked on getting Lily's basket together so the night before I left it in Mike's hands. He was working overnight so I told him while he was out in between calls to grab stuff for her basket. He did an awesome job if I do say so myself. It was fun to see her pick the things out of her basket. The winner, of course was the "baboon" She loves balloons so Mike knew this would be a hit. She also loves the little plastic eggs. We didn't even fill them with anything since she can't have candy ( though she did have a bite of mommy's Reese's egg) But she still loved them. she just walked around saying "ball! ball!" very cute.

After we got settled we headed to the Hunt Club, a local farm that puts on events for kids during holidays. I was so happy to see that Lily caught on to the egg hunt pretty quick. She was so proud of herself for putting eggs in her basket. She also loved the bigger eggs.. or balls, haha. 

She even did alright sitting on the bunny's lap... though I couldn't get a smile. 

Here is her photo from her first Easter 2010

And this Easter.. 2011. Look how she has grown! blows my mind. I can't even imagine going with 2 kids next year!!

She enjoyed the petting zoo part, though she wouldn't touch a goat for anything. she enjoyed saying "hi boo boo" which is what she calls our dog, Bailey. I guess they looked similar to her, ha.

After Hunt club we had lunch at Mike's grandma's house where Lily enjoyed running around in the backyard. She was so sweet and probably picked his grandmothers garden clean. Girl loves some flowers. I don't mind though ( his grandma might! haha) I think it's sweet that she goes " mom, flower!" she is really talking these days. I'll save that for when I do her 14th month post... which in true Stephanie fashion is going to be 2 weeks late.

We really enjoyed a nice day together, hope yours was great too! 

A day at the zoo!

Last Friday it was 82 degrees! Me and Mike decided it would be a great day to get out and go to the zoo. We had such a great time. Lily loved it, and it was wonderful to just have a family day, and do something just the three of us. Lily's favorite part is always the petting farm part. She is so amused by the goats and sheep.. well I think it was a sheep, ha ha. It's a lot of fun now because she can get out of her stroller and really explore more.

She wanted those goats to come to the fence so bad. They were smart though, cuddled up under some shade. They certainly weren't coming out into the sun.. even if the cutest little girl was begging them too.

Lily also really enjoys the Elephants and the Giraffe's. We probably stood, watching the elephants for a good twenty minutes.

Having so much fun!

It was a great day with my little one, we are looking forward to more warm days! 

On a different note, Lily had to be seen at the children's Hospital Saturday night. She has suffered form severe and chronic constipation for about 8 months now. She is being further evaluated for something called Hirshsprungs disease. She has another apt. today at 2 so I will update more later, but in the meantime, will you say a little pray for my girl?

Baby Mia update!

Today I am 20 weeks. halfway there! I am feeling good for the most part, just not sleeping well at all. Between getting up to use the bathroom, trying to get comfy, and one very active little girl, I'm exhausted. Guess I should get used to it, ha! 

We had an ultrasound this morning and all looks well! she is happy and healthy and a thumb sucker!

So cute! 

She weighs 12 oz and I think she looks just like her older sister did when she was that age in my belly.

Also, My cervix is still nice and long which is great news! we have our next appointment at 24 weeks, and then I'll be seen at 26 weeks also, since that is when the preterm labor started with Lily.  I am just so grateful knowing I have two healthy daughters. Can't ask for more than that!

Just for fun that is Lily on the top at 18 weeks 5 days and Mia on the bottom ( why am I not smart enough to make them side by side?! oh well.) at 20 weeks. Same nose and mouth! 

My baby is walking!

It is sideways, not sure how to turn it but you get the idea. She still prefers to crawl. Esp. if she wants something, like the cell phone in my hand recording her, haha. You can see that about halfway through the video.

So exciting!

Managing two?

Lily is a Mama's girl. Her new favorite thing is to sit in my lap and have me read her books. ( okay, okay, she does this with her daddy too) Obviously this is a behavior that I am thrilled to see and love that she enjoys being in my lap. But... she also cries when I go to switch loads of laundry, and gets a tude' if I don't help her bang her blocks, etc, etc..

My worry is, I am about halfway through Mia's pregnancy, and well I am kind of freaking out a little about splitting the attention between my girls. I know that Mia is going to need me when she first arrives, and I am so afraid this is going to devastate Lily when I can't be on the floor playing with her all the time. I also worry that this is going to hurt Lily's feelings, or make her resent her baby sister. I don't want to take too much attention from Lily because I LOVE playing with her, but I do realize it's going to happen. Especially the first few weeks while me and Mia are getting down nursing. Thankfully, Mike is taking about a month off work when Mia comes, this is going to be such a big help, and my sister will also be in town to help. But I don't want it to turn into a "daddy always deals with the older kid while mommy is with the baby" situation. I love the bond I have with Lily and don't want to lose that. I'm sure a lot of my worries are silly, and that everything will work out after we find a routine that works for our family. Lily will adjust, I know that.. but still. Worrying is what preggo's do, I suppose.

Park days and spring cleaning.

We have had some really nice days in Virginia Beach the past few weeks. Most days it's in the high 50's, low to mid 60's but we have a had a few days in the high to mid 70's. HEAVEN. I am a summer girl, so I am welcoming any warm days we get.

We took advantage of the weather by going to the park! Lily loves it now that she is more independent, and My sister and her kids just recently visited, so they were able to enjoy it with us. ( though they live in key west, so they are used to warm weather! ha!)

        Enjoying the sun and the grass.

 

 

 

Even Dylan joined in on the "climbing up the slide party"

 She giggles so much on the swings!

 And on another warm day we found ourselves again, at the park...

 Once again, her favorite part was climbing all over the slides, ha ha So cute!

On another note, Me and Mike have been tackling some serious cleaning. We cleared out Mia's room cleaned all the carpets in the house and are finally tackling some lingering piles of laundry that just never seemed to get done. We picked out Mia's bedding, so once we paint in a few weeks I'll take some pics to update on how her nursery will be coming along! we also went and registered today for her. My baby shower will be in may, so excited!

Baby number 2 update! ITS A ....

Whew.. with all that has been going on I have neglected to update about our little bean on the way!

on Friday I had an ultrasound to check the length of my cervix, we are monitoring this closer this time since Lily was trying to hard to come early. We want to avoid pre term labor again if possible. GOOD NEWS my cervix hasn't shortened at all which is a great sign! I was so relieved. They also spent a few minutes showing me Lily's little sister.. yes that's right

IT'S A GIRL!!! 

We are SO excited. Me and Mike were both rooting for another baby girl. We wanted Lily to have a sister, since they will be so close in age. PLUS... can we say matching outfits! ha ha

here I am at 16 weeks

everything is going great, feeling good and getting some energy back. So excited to meet miss MIA ROSE this summer :)

Lily turns ONE!

Last Sunday, my sweet girl turned one yeas old. Honestly, I feel insane when I say that. There is no way this year had already flown by... A year ago, this was our first family photo together.

Though I was totally out of it due to the devil itself - Magnesium sulfate

I can still remember the way I felt at that moment. It was a new beginning for me, for us, for our future. All I saw was this beautiful gift I was blessed with and I promised myself I wouldn't take a moment for granted.

This is the day of her birthday..

A year later, I still have those feelings, and I whole heatedly believe I have treasured every moment of this year. Sure, there has been rough parts but every moment of her first year has been the best moments of my life.

The day of her birthday My favorite photographer, Katy took her photos. As usual I love them!

This photo shows her personality perfectly. She is so sweet and playful and a little bit spunky. When I was a young girl and thought of my life, she is exactly what I saw. 

She is such a fun, bright happy kid. I call this her "party mode" pose. ha ha.

I wish I was able to really put into words they way she makes me feel, the way being a mother makes me feel, and the way seeing my husband be a father makes me feel.. but that is something I just can't articulate well enough for it to truly come out right.

 So I'll leave you with more cuteness from her birthday party and one year photos!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY GIRL!