Easter 2016

Nothing like reality slapping you in the face with a 5 am alarm!

Easter has come and gone, as has our last long weekend for quite a while!  Regardless, we had a wonderful holiday full of family, candy, eggs, fun, and smiles.

We spent the long weekend with my family.  We did the annual picture with the Easter bunny, attended our church egg hunt (where Hudson learned that throwing eggs really is a lot of fun), colored eggs, went to Easter Sunday church service, and of course dinner following by lots of dessert and candy.

I was sad to see the weekend come and go so quickly, but I am glad we were able to spend the time with our kiddos!

Friday Favorites

It's been a long time since I've done a Friday Favorites post, but we have a few major favorites going on in our house right now.  So, without farther ado.. I give you my current favorite things.

1.  Swimwear.  Boys and girls!  Maybe it's because I'm over the cold (which honestly, haven't even been bad this year thanks to El Nino) or maybe it's because Spring is less than 30 days away.. either way, I'm loving all of the swimwear for the babes.  I am into all neon colors for Hudson because he gets so tan in the summer - thanks to the Italian skin he inherited from Matt.  As for Ellie, give me all of the frills!  This one piece is my favorite, and she will be sporting it at swim class as of next week!  Carters (my go to since we have a local outlet) has some super cute tankinis out for baby girls.  I cannot wait to make her summer purchases!

2.  Watermelon.  This one might sound odd considering it's February.  But seriously, watermelon is a staple in our house.  It is the ONLY food that Hudson likes on a consistent basis.  I wish he would like more things on a consistent basis (mac & cheese.. of the Kraft variety is right up there), but if it has to be one thing, I'm glad it's fruit.  I just wish it were in season all year round so it wouldn't cost approximately $77 per watermelon.  Ok, maybe not that much.. but you get my drift.

3.  Enfamil coupons/rebate checks.  Yes, please.  I am so thankful for these.  Ellie is a bit of a tank and enjoys eating.  Like A LOT.  The girl can house a full 8 ounce bottle in about 5 minutes.  Like it's her job or something.  This happens four times a day.  Needless to say, we are going through formula like there's no tomorrow.  Enfamil is the only thing that seemed to work with her tummy when she was a newborn, so I am sticking to it.  Luckily, between what we get in the mail and what friends give us, I haven't had to pay full price for a single container.  And I have found the best deals to either be at Target or BJ's (our local Costco type store).

4.  Maytag washers.  This is a love/hate relationship.  I hate that we had to spend the money on a new washer.  (Thanks to President's Day sales we got a pretty good deal.)  But I'm going to love the fact that I can wash more than 10-15 articles of clothing at a time.  Seriously.  Until this thing is delivered, that's my current status.  We have a front load right now and I loathe the thing.  The spin cycle won't work (and it's already been fixed) if I wash more than 10-15 pieces at a time.  Who's got time to do 10 loads of laundry every weekend?  Not me.  That's for sure.  I have another week to wait for delivery, but I am anxiously awaiting it's arrival.  Is it bad that buying a new appliance makes me happy?  Welcome to official adulthood.

5.  My Kindle Fire.  This has been my bff lately.  Now that basketball is over, I have a little bit of time each night to finally start trying to lose some of this baby weight.  We have a treadmill in the basement.  The dreadmill (yes, that's my name for it) is boring.  Very very very very boring.  The only way I can get through my run/walk each night is if I have a good book to read on my Kindle.  My phone screen is just too small to read on while running.  Or maybe it's just me and I'm showing my age.  Either way, Kindle to the rescue.  I am also able to download apps so I can do a social media catch up as well.  

In addition to the Kindle, my FitBit is right up there.  I know it probably isn't the most accurate, but it's a lot of my motivation (other than being able to close my work pants).  I'm in some weekly competitions with co-workers, family members, friends, etc.  Being able to see their steps motivates me to do more - and do better.  Because I want to win first place one week, darn it.  Just one.  That's all I'm asking.  That's the competitiveness coming out in me, but it works.  It gives me the drive to do the "five extra minutes" each day.  And I just finished a great book that has given me major motivation to de-clutter and downsize things!

6.  Warm mist humidifier.  This thing is magic.  Pure magic.  Ellie inherited my night time congestion.  The poor girl gets so congested every night when she sleeps.  It literally takes me 5 solid minutes to suck her nose out every morning.  Sorry for the visual, but real life folks.  This thing has helped her sleep tremendously.  We turn it on the highest setting and her room gets so warm and rain forest like.  She's good until about 4:30 am when she needs the pacifier to get through the rest of the night, or she needs her nose cleaned out just a little bit so she can breathe better.  Prior to using this on a daily basis, she was up around midnight needing something.. and then again a couple of hours later.. and again.. and it was a vicious cycle.  Now, she sleeps like a queen!  We also use this with the Vicks insert when someone is sick.  That makes a huge difference, and also makes the bedroom have a nice minty aroma for a few days.  Totally worth it in my books.  

Those are my current favs!  Oh, and the fact that it's Friday and I get to spend the weekend with my kiddos and husband with a nice visit from a good friend from home!

Happy Friday!

Valentine's Day Photo Shoot

Let me tell you.. photo shoots with a Toddler and a 3 month old are not exactly the easiest things these days.  We attempted a Valentine's photo shoot the other day with our shirts from the amazing Ashley Wise  and her shop AWiseCreation.  Check her out on Facebook :)

Happy Valentine's Day from these babes!

Elizabeth Ruth

At my 30 week appointment in September, we scheduled my c-section for November 2nd.  My last day of work was supposed to be October 29th.  I took October 30th to spend one last day one-on-one with Hudson.

Of course, as is the norm in our lives.. things didn't go as planned.  I was in a ton of pain and was incredibly uncomfortable at the beginning of my last week of work.  I knew I had a ton to prepare and get ready, so I got up and went in on Monday.  Monday evening things just felt off.  I could barely move without being in major pain. I ended up going into labor overnight.  By 5:30 am my contractions were four minutes apart and I hadn't felt E move for a few hours.  I called the on-call doctor and they had me go to L&D for monitoring.  I dropped Hudson off with the babysitter and went into school to put a few things together for the day since I literally had very little ready.  Around 8:30 am we headed to the hospital.

As soon as I got there they hooked me up to monitors.  No hospital gown or anything since I hadn't felt any movement. We were settled in and about five minutes later alarms started going off and seven people - including doctors - swarmed the room.  E's heart rate had dropped to double digits.  I was immediately given an IV and had all of my blood cultures down.  They removed my shirts and started moving me from side to side to try and get her heart rate back to normal.  After about 5 minutes, her rate was back into normal range, but the doctor on duty at the time said they were not chancing anything and I was going into surgery as soon as a room was available.  

There was an emergency section that needed done and they needed the anesthesiologist in the room the entire time.  As soon as that was done, I was prepped and taken in.

I have to say, this experience was so much better.  The doctor I had this time was nothing short of amazing.  At first she thought she was going to have to go in at a different location and I would need a second incision, but she figured out how to make it work with the scar I had from my section with Hudson.  I was not exhausted this time and was able to be alert and talk to Matt.  I walked into the room and sat on the table myself.  I got the spinal - which feels just as bizarre as an epidural.  I laid down, the put up the curtain, and it all began.  I ended up having a ton of scar tissue to get through and it took them about 45 minutes to actually reach E.  And then the doctor took her time stitching things up in hopes that my scar would look much better than it did last time.  (She did a great job - it's 100 times better.)

Elizabeth Ruth was born at 3:43 pm on October 27th.  She weighed in at a whopping 8 pounds 9 ounces (at 38 weeks!) and 18 inches long.  My short, chubby princess.

Once I was in recovery, we called our parents and siblings.  They all arrived within the hour.  My mom brought Hudson as he was the first person we wanted to meet her.  He was having a rough time at first because he was scared of the elevator ride - go figure.  But after some McDonald's chicken nuggets, he was good to go!  Hugs and kisses were given and he was so intrigued by her!  Everyone stayed to visit for a little bit and then cleared out.

That first night was a bit rough.  Ellie slept other than when we had to wake her for feedings.  I, on the other hand, could not sleep.  I have no idea why, but I literally woke up every 10-15 minutes all night long.

We agreed to spend the rest of the week at the hospital so I could recover as much as possible before going home to tackle the stairs.  We were discharged Friday morning and have been home since.  We had an adjustment period, but things are currently great.  I couldn't imagine my life without these two precious babes.

I had a short stay in the emergency room the night after discharge for a UTI, but other than that, my recovery has been much better this time.  I was doing my normal activity within two weeks. 

Ellie's name was the only girl name we could agree on.  We decided to give her a formal name - Elizabeth, but agreed we wanted to call her Ellie from the beginning.  Ruth was my late Grandma's name and I couldn't think of a better way to honor her.  Elizabeth Ruth, we love you more than words.

So I did a thing..

and took a pretty major blogging hiatus.  It wasn't on my planned agenda, but life got a bit busy because I did a few other things during the past four months as well.

So, let's have a probably rather lengthy recap.

The last post I made was my 36 week review with Miss E.  Basically, I had a gigantic belly, could no longer fit in my maternity clothes, and was in the process of getting all of my work stuff together for maternity leave.  Oh, and trying to deep clean my house and make some freezer meals.  Fast forward about ten days later.. I got majorly uncomfortable, things became painful and shit got real.

My c-section was scheduled for November 2nd - I would be 39w2d.  Ellie (I will do a birth announcement post for her soon) had other plans.  On October 27th (one week prior to this date) I went into labor on my own during the night.  We went to L&D for monitoring, stuff happened, and she was born via c-section later that day.  Then shit got really real.  We have two kids.. which means we are now in man to man defense.  Well, we will be when basketball season is over.. which leads to my blogging hiatus.

We adjusted to being a family of six - human family of four.  We got through the newborn stage.  Oh, and the holidays, too.

We decided to keep things small this year because.. newborn, so we had Thanksgiving dinner at our house with my parents.  It was quiet and relaxing.  The girls decided to introduce Ellie to what Black Friday shopping is all about, and I finishing my shopping!  

Fast forward another 4 weeks and it's Christmas.  Holy craziness.  We again changed our plans last minute.  We spent Christmas Eve day at my sister in laws house and then traveled to my parents to spend Christmas Eve (cut back on traveling big time) one last time before Hudson understands what exactly is going on.  From there on out, our holiday was like it has been for the past few years.  Family celebrations, friend celebrations, and just plain fun.

Of course Hudson was sick.  With a virus.  The kind medicine doesn't help.  He didn't open a single gift, but went down his new slide approximately 2094573459 times and shot his basketball in his new hoop about 10 more times than that.  And he sneezed snot all over the place, too.

Ellie was all into her sleep and formula, but gave us all big smiles and looked like a diva in her skinny jeans.

Both kids were incredibly spoiled and we are so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends.

Fast forward to mid-January and it's time for momma to go back to work.  Cue the ugly cries, stress, and sucky-ness.

I'm about 3 weeks into work now (give or take a few days since we had Blizzard Jonas.. aka Snowzilla) and things are going well.  We have a routine in place and the kids stick to it.  Oh.. and we have two more days left in basketball season.  Can I get a hell yeah?  No, really.. I'm glad Matt coaches because I know he enjoys it.. and Hudson enjoys the days he gets to tag along to practice or play with the big boys before games.. but it will be nice to have 4 hands rather than 2 at bath and bed time.  Oh, and have some time to start trying to lose that baby weight (and not eat 5000 m&ms a day).  Just sayin'.

So, that's our last few months in a nut shell.  I promise to try and be better about posting, but obviously I can guarantee nothing.  Hudson is an active boy and requires constant watching as he tries to dive head first off of our front porch (that is 3 full steps off the ground), run straight off the couch, and slide head first off of the ottoman.  And Ellie is starting to be super interactive, so we all have a fun time entertaining her.  Especially big brother.

I'll leave you with a few pictures illustrating our life the past few months.  And hopefully start working on Ellie's birth post.

Also, here's to an early Spring!  Unless Punxsutawney Phil is a jerk and lied to us.  Again.

Week 36

How far along: 36 weeks (as of 10.10.15)

Gender: It's a GIRL!

Baby is: The size of a large cantaloupe.. about 19 inches long and about 6 pounds.

Weight gain: 48 pounds as of this week's OB appointment.  I think it's mostly belly.. but, man.  That's a lot of weight!

Maternity clothes: I've busted out of pretty much all of my maternity clothes.  Leggings and dresses are my current best friends.  And my oldest pair of TOMS since the weather is getting a little cooler.

Stretch marks: Nadda.

Belly button in or out: Almost totally popped.  It's freaking weird.  And seriously 16 year old self.. don't get that thing pierced!

Sleep: Sleep is pretty crappy at this point.  I fall asleep early and sleep well for a couple of hours.  Then I am up and down with bathroom breaks and insomnia.  I don't feel totally un-rested, though.. so it's all good.

Best moment this week: Starting to get the last minute things ready.  Matt put together the double stroller (which Hudson loves), hung the monitor and moved the glider into place.  E's hospital bag is pretty much packed - I just need to pack mine!

Movement: She is super active in the evening once I finally get to sit down.  You can see body parts just moving like a wave across my belly.  She has moved to the head down position and is totally locked in.  I was 75% effaced two weeks ago - but that doesn't really matter since I'm having a scheduled c-section.

Cravings: Chocolate.  Chips.  Anything unhealthy.  It's bad.

Queasy or sick: Nadda.  Give me all of the food.  Thus the 49 pound weight gain.

Looking forward to: Finishing my nesting.  It has started.  I have an insane excitement about deep cleaning my house this weekend and preparing freezer meals for when E arrives.  We are in the homestretch and this stuff needs done!  Well, according to my OCD it needs done.  

Fall Fun

There is just something about fall that makes it awesome.  Maybe it's the cool, crisp air that takes over the summer humidity.  Maybe it's the fact that I can live in hoodies.  Or pumpkins.  Or the color changing leaves all over our property.  I don't know.  But whatever it is, I love it.  We spent the last two weekends celebrating the arrival of fall and Hudson seems to love it just as much as I do.

Last weekend, we visited a pumpkin patch with my family.  Hudson wasn't sure what to think of the pumpkins and pretty much refused to touch them.  He did enjoy the corn shooting and pumpkin sling shots.  And riding in his stroller.  Other than that, he was having none of it!  He did get his first very own pumpkin that he picked out.  It didn't help that it was literally 85 freaking degrees out.  Yuck.  Regardless, we had a great time watching him explore!

This weekend, I (along with my brother and his girlfriend) took Hudson to a local farm that all sorts of fun fall activities for kids.  There is a kids corn maze, an adult corn maze, petting zoo, hay bail jump, corn crib, huge pumpkins, tube slides, play equipment, hay rides, etc.  Did I mention the petting zoo?  this was Hudson's favorite part!  He could not get enough of the goats - big or small.  He especially loved the baby goat, but had no problem giving his attention to the bigger goats as well.  Who knows.. maybe he will have one as a pet in the future.  It would cut down on the grass maintenance, right?