Model Material...

So when my little guy was 9 days old we had newborn pictures done. I just got the CD back last week and they are A-FREAKIN-DORABLE but yeah I'm a little biased. Here are some of my favorites..

 

 

 

 

 

He did so good! Hunter came with us at the beginning to get a few shots and then him and Dad had a fun afternoon together. Jack and I had a blast (not...) I got peed on right at the beginning and my clothes were soaked. Plus she keeps it warm for newborn shoots (it was like 85 degrees in the house) so I was dripping with sweat and urine...fun times. But it was all worth it. She is an amazing photographer...the photos speak for themselves!

I'm starting to get used to less sleep than usual. He is still waking up twice at night. Goes to bed at 8:30 wakes up around 2:30 wakes up again around 5:00 am and then sleeps another few hours. I can't wait until he drops that 5 am wake up! I started pumping and giving him bottles for his night feedings. It takes me about 20 minutes to feed him vs the one and a half hours it was taking me before! Score!

I'm going to be posting about my favorite newborn and new mom items later this week! SO exciting I know!

Hope everyone has a fantastic week!

 

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So Far...

So good. I LOVE being a Mommy of two. Yes its hard. Yes its tiring. But there is really no place I'd rather be than with my two boys. It's funny I wanted a girl so bad this time around but now that I have my little Jack I am so in love I couldn't imagine my life without him.

Things are so different this time around. I have no signs of Post Partum depression or even the baby blues. I sometimes feel guilty because I had PPD with Hunter but not with Jack. I know I couldn't help it, but it makes me sad I didn't enjoy his first few months of life like I am now. I know he will never know the difference. He has always been given the best care and most importantly loved more than anything, but I still regret not enjoying the newborn stage with him more. It goes so fast and if this is my last baby I want to enjoy it more than anything.

Last post I wrote how I was worried about being home with two. While it's difficult and frustrating taking care of a newborn with a fiesty two year old it is getting better every day. As long as Hunter gets his time with me he is pretty well behaved. And as long as I get my time with him I am a happy Mama. We are kind of getting a routine, but its hard to get a newborn on a schedule. So I'm just rolling with the punches. Hunter has school Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9:30 to 12:00. Today we didn't get there until 10:00 but I call it a success.

Baby Jack goes to bed around 8:30 wakes up around 2 am to nurse (usually takes an hour he is a SLOW eater and eats A LOT), and then again between 6 and 7. He still sleeps a ton during the day. He is having a LITTLE more awake time and I love it. His eyes are so bright and wide open during it and he is just peaceful and calm and looks around. I can't believe he will be 3 weeks old on Saturday. He is still wearing newborn size clothes and diapers. Last appointment he was 7 lbs 8 oz (5 oz over birth weight,) so I'm thinking he is close to 8 lbs by now.

Now for some pictures that work this time!

 

bruders

 

 

I have the best hubs in the world, he helps so much!

Sorry so flaky with posts lately! I am thinking in about a month I will be back on track!

 

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These Last Moments...

(This Post was written on Wednesday....)

My last post I sounded very impatient with wanting this baby out. And while I am excited to have my new baby boy I am a little sad about losing my one on one time with Hunter. So today Hunter and I had fun. I wanted to relish in our last moments of just him and I together during the day. I didn't want to say no so I said yes. And it was perfect. Now I wouldn't do this every day but once in awhile he deserves it. Honestly, he is really well behaved for a 2 year old. The hubs would disagree, but during the day when it's just me and him it is pretty awesome. He is pretty much well behaved on play dates and shares so well with other kids. Of course I'm biased. When the hubs gets home from work Hunter gets a little wild. I think it's just because he hasn't seen his Dad all day.

Anyway, back to today. We woke up and lounged around and watched cartoons. Then he asked for macaroni (ok I did say No to that haha). BUT we had macaroni for lunch! After breakfast he wanted to go outside. First we went on a mile walk.. He loves his stroller lately. We had a good time and went a different way and found some random baby cows calves. Hunter loved it. Except he was super worried because they had flies all over their faces haha.

Then we played outside for like an hour and a half. I just relaxed and played and not worried about what I had to get done around the house. It was great.

We were hot so we came in had some popsicles and decided to bake. He loves to help me in the kitchen so I found a super easy lemon bar recipe on pinterest: Here.

 

We added sprinkles because...why not?!

After our baking sesh we enjoyed some healthy macaroni and bananas for lunch (not mixed together), and washed it down with some chocolate milk. It was amazing. ;) We cuddled and watched cartoons and then took a 2 and a half hour nap! WOW! it was pretty much the best!

We finished out the day by giving my car a bath (in Hunter's words) and let me tell you my car needed it bad! He was soaking wet by the time we were finished so we just dried off in the sun...

I'm not sad about my newest addition, but I'm going to miss these days with just Hunter and I. I know when we have baby # 2 and get in our routine I won't want to go back to just the two of us. I hope Hunter understands how much I love him even though I will spending alot of time with the baby in the begining. Eventually, he won't remember I just dont want him to feel like he's losing his Mom. Everybody feels this way right???

Soon we will be a fully functional family of 4. I can't wait to meet my new little man but I'm going to enjoy these last few days of a family of 3. <3

 

 

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Dear Post Baby Self...

When I first started my blog I shared my story of being a new Mom. A new stressed out Mom. I had Post Partum Depression but didn't know how to handle it (more on that in a future post). I know here in blog land we write a lot of letters to "past selves" but I am writing this today to my future self, my 2 -3 weeks from now self.

Dear New Mom of TWO,

First of all wow, I can't believe you're a mom of two precious boys! Your world is changing by the second but it'll slow down. For now enjoy the chaos and the few moments of peace. Remember that you only get this time with them once and soon they will be wanting to leave and do things on their own. Although it is hard work being a mom it is just a tiny, amazing and gratifying time in life. When you want to pull your hair out (and you will) think about how much these boys need you and count on you and most importantly look up to you. Count to ten before losing patience with your two year old...just breath. Read stories to him while your nursing the new baby, have Hunter bring you diapers and wipes, plan out time for just you and him daily.

Make sure you are eating properly (last time it would be 2 in the afternoon sometimes before you would remember to eat.) Take time to nourish yourself with healthy meals so you can turn around a give your baby the nutrition he needs. It's okay if he cries for a minute when you're getting your meal ready he will be fine.

Don't overdo it. If the house is messier than normal oh well. Try to do one thing each day not ten things half assed. it will make you feel better.

Get "semi" ready. In the first weeks enjoy lounging around. Wear what you want those around you are ones who have seen you at your worst so who cares?! After that slowly start getting back into getting ready, now you don't need all your make up. But sometimes doing your hair, some mascara and pants that don't have an elastic waist band are all you need.

Think about yourself positively. Don't hate your body it has put in a lot of work the past 9 months. Unfortunately we are not all Giselle or Heidi Klum and do not bounce back in 4.5 days. Everything shrinks back when you treat your body right.

Ask for help. If you are desperately tired one day let Hunter go to "school" and play with his friends while you and baby nap. It'll do you good. Don't take on too many activities that you can't handle.

Make time for the hubs (this should be a lot further up on the list). He is a great Dad and helps so much. You both need your alone time and time to just be together. Put away your phone and talk. Set aside being a Mom for that time.

Don't stress about working out. Whether you deliver "normally" or c section your body will recover and you will workout again. Start with nourishing your body healthfully and then start your workout routine when you are completely healed.

Sit. Just sit. And if all else fails lock yourself in the bathroom!

Enjoy some wine. One glass of wine won't ruin your milk and remember you can always pump and dump. :) Just don't get too crazy with the margaritas!

I know you are stressing but don't! Find sanity in the chaos and enjoy the noise. Soon things will be too quiet and you will want all of the commotion back (just not the spit up and poopy diapers!)

 

 

 

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Hunter's Birth Story

Well I figure since baby # 2 is coming VERY soon I better put up Hunter's birth story before I block out forget much more of it. Let me tell ya it was not a walk in the park. I am not like Darci and sneeze and my baby pops out. :) Just so you know there may be some graphic details in here!

The last 6 weeks or so of my pregnancy I had pretty high blood pressure it was around 170/100. Which is super high for me. My normal is 110/60. So I had to go in all the time for non stress tests and a bunch of other fun stuff. Finally they set a date for my to get induced, Dec 28, 2010 at just a few days before 39 weeks. I was so excited to meet him and was eagerly getting everything ready. My house was perfect, we had just built it and moved in a few months earlier so it was not cluttered and full of toys and junk like it is now. Then I had planned to just relax until I got induced.

Well, of course like most things with babies plans change. On December 27 at about 3:00 am my water broke in bed. I woke up and at first thought I pissed myself. I got up to go change and go to the bathroom but it just kept leaking out (gross I know). I'm calling for the hubs from our master bath he must have been sleeping super deep because I had to yell for him like a million eight times. I told him I was leaking and he was so confused, then realized what I meant and was like we have to go now. I still wasn't completely convinced it was my water breaking, so I called the hospital. They wanted me to come in and I was not excited about it. But we got everything ready I ate some cinnamon swirl toast and headed to the hospital.

Then contractions started on the way there. I honestly don't remember them being too bad. We got to the hospital and my doctor checked me and said yep we're having a baby today! It was his day off and I was scared he wasn't going to deliver him, but he ended up staying...my doctor rocks! About an hour later I got some IV drugs they didn't even help with the pain just made me super loopy and drunk feeling. I'm not getting those this time. Then 45 minutes after that I got an epidural...best. thing. ever. I went from 4 cm dialated to 10 cm in about 45 minutes after that. They gave me an hour to rest and then it was baby time. I thought I would just push him out in a couple minutes. Of course it didn't work like that. I pushed and pushed and pushed for 3 and a half hours. I thought for sure I was going to have to get a C- Section. Then my doc came in and was like OK we're getting this baby out! I was thanking The Lord I was exhausted and had about 12 cups of ice chips and just wanted to be able to have the baby and drink some actual water.

I was so freakin exhausted from pushing so long, but I knew this was it, it had to be done. He ended up having to use a vacuum and my baby was born! Honestly, it sucked, it was hard and it was disgusting but it was the best day ever. I got to meet my beautiful baby boy for the first time and he was perfect.

To me, the scariest part of being pregnant is the unknown of labor and delivery. I'm freaking out a little but I know the end result will be perfect just like last time!

 

 

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34 Weeks Pregasaurus/My fears/Potty Training

I'm a little over 34 weeks knocked up y'all! Time is flying and my anxiety levels are UP. I am so nervous/scared to be a mom of two. Mainly because I don't want Hunter to think I don't have time for him. But that is another post for another day.

So far I have had a pretty uneventful pregnancy. Until last week when my damn blood pressure was high. So I had to go back a few days later so they could make sure I was still doing okay. Well my blood pressure was still high. As of now I'm just going to be monitoring it at home, and watching for other symptoms of preeclampsia (i had this last pregnancy). Unfortunately, I will have to go into the dr more and will be having my cervix checked earlier now (boo!) because they think I may go into labor earlier.

I was doing fine on weight gain until the past few weeks where I have gained 7 lbs. Putting me at 23 gained :( oh well. At this point I'm not worried I am really motivated to shed this weight after baby, and I will.

This was about a week ago..

 

Hunter has been such a crazy kid lately. I seriously love him so much but he does drive me crazy at (many) certain points throughout the day! He is the biggest goof ball and sooooo active. I don't know where he gets his energy. He is doing pretty good potty training. He just figured out how to pee standing up and always says "I pee standing up like Mommy and Papa" I still haven't told him I can't pee standing up (wouldn't that be the greatest though.) Plus he always watches me in the bathroom so I don't know where he gets that from. I still have to take him like every 45 min to an hour to the pot if he hasn't told me himself he has to go, so he is not fully trained yet. But it's a good start!!

 

Big boy undies!!

 

Pretty sure I will be needing to do this to my toilets at my house soon!!

How were all of your potty training experiences? Anyone else balls deep in it? Any mom advice for having a second kid??

 

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Domestic Goddess Part 1: Meal Planning

A couple weeks ago I mentioned that I would write a post about some easy dinners that I make. Well here it is finally! I kept putting it off until it came to the dreaded time to meal plan so I thought I would write a post and meal plan at the same time (score!) A lot of these I haven't made and will let you know. I'm trying them out because they are also freezer meals that I want to try first.

Let me tell you this whole stay at home mom who meal plans and makes freezer meals is completely foreign to me. I never thought I would be doing this! Serisouly, I would eat cereal every night for dinner if I could get away with it. But it makes life a lot easier if I have things planned out and freezer meals made ahead (I want to have like 25 stocked up) for after baby. So here we go I'm going to try this whole "domestic goddess" stuff out and let you know how it goes!! So here is the first part of my domestic goddess mini series I'm doing.

 

A lot of people use a calendar to meal plan like this meal on this night and so on. I've decided I'm just going to make a list of 10-12 meals per grocery shopping period (twice a month) and can choose from that list each day depending on how we feel. I will make my grocery list based off of these meals so I will always know that I have every ingredient I need. I don't have a meal for every night because I know we will probably go out or get take out once and I will make our favorite chicken and brown rice (just marinated chicken breast baked, brown rice and veggies) a few times. Also im sure we will grill steaks and burgers a couple nights. Now I realize there is a lot of chicken recipes on this list but that's what we like to eat in the summer.

My lovely grocery list :)

 

Spicy Sausage Pasta

Slow Cooker Cheesy Chicken and Rice

Crock Pot Santa Fe Chicken (skinny taste)

This chicken and make brown rice on the side

Layered Enchilada Casserole

Brown Fried Rice (beef)

Cafe Rio Pulled Pork Salads

Honey Lime Chicken

Easy Chicken Pot Pie

Chicken/pesto stuffed shells

Cranberry Chicken

Healthy turkey meat loaf muffins

It's fairly easy to make most of these recipes healthier. You can sub plain Greek yogurt for sour cream (I usually do half and half.) I like to use whole grain brown rice it's much healthier for you, or whole wheat pasta. Also, I use corn tortilla's instead of flour.

I hope this helps with meal planning. I know I hate deciding what to cook for dinner! And I like things that are easy peasy, which all of the above recipes are...yee haw!!

Stay tuned tomorrow for a not so mommish post Wedding link up with the ultra fabulous Holly and Melanie!

 

 

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Hot Summer Reads!

My little man started swimming lessons yesterday and did SO RIDICULOUSLY AWESOME. I was one proud Mama.I thought for sure I was going to have to sit on the side of the pool and get in but I didn't. It was a far cry from last year when I had scratches all down my back from his nails digging into my skin. The only time he cried was when it was over!

Before his lesson he was so excited!

Okay Mommy bragging over! Today I'm linking up with the BEAUTIFUL blogger Erin and Mean Ang (whose blog is awesome and I just started following!) They are doing a HOTTTT summer reads link up. I love books and I love reading. I just wish I had more time to actually read. I do have a few hot, smutty and semi romantic reads on my kindle that I have read recently. I'm so excited to check out the other blogs who linked up and get some ideas for some spicy reads. 

Fallen too Far by Abbi Glines

Never too Far (sequel to Fallen too Far) by Abbi Glines

Both of these books are super easy smut filled reads (aka amazing) haha! They are not too deep though. Basically, a good girl whose had a rough life falls for a play boy rock star and things go from there. Some of it is a little messed up but it makes for an interesting read!! 

The Help
 This one isn't smut as I'm sure you all know. I loved the movie and finally read the book last summer and it was really good. Tons of parts that weren't in the movie.

A Stolen Life: A Memoir: Jaycee Dugard
I like books about survivors. This woman is amazing for what she has been through with her kidnapping. A sad and heart touching read. 

Waiting to Be Heard: A Memoir: Amanda Knox

I haven't read this yet but I'm planning on reading it this summer! Should be pretty interesting...

I'm pumped to check out everyone else's books and find some good ones!

Before I was a Mama...

How was everyone's Fathers Day yesterday? We had a great day together! After the hubs opened his swag (aka a custom mug designed and colored by Hunter, a framed picture of them, beer and a home made card) we hit up Denny's for breakfast. Then just spent the day as a family and went out of town for a bit. I am so lucky to have Ian as a husband and father to our child(ren). He has been such a hands on Dad and from day one has changed poopy diapers, cleaned up spit up and woke up in the middle of the night. I love you Ian (even though he won't see this because he doesn't read my blog haha)! 

Connect the dots at breakfast :)

Before I was a Mama...

 

 

I liked to take selfies: (oh wait I still do!)

 

Going to bed early was 11:00

Sleeping in (on weekends/summer) was 11:00 early was 8:00

Spur of the moment activities were endless

Always thought about myself 

I could get ready without any interruptions 

Could leave the house within 5 minutes if I needed too

Long car rides were no big deal

When I was sick I could lay in bed all day

When I wasn't sick I could lay in bed all day

I didn't realize that later I would be packing diaper bags with snacks, bottles/sippy cups, diapers, wipes and a change of clothes just to go out for a few hours.

I never understood why so many moms were on a "schedule"

I would not be prepared for the day when sleeping in was 8:00 am

I never knew how much I could love someone so small

I didn't know how much one tiny person could take up your thoughts

I couldn't imagine how it would be to care for someones every needs no matter the time or place and enjoy it 

I never knew I would be so obsessed with spying:

I never knew I would protect someone with my every move

I couldn't imagine cleaning up spit up without being grossed out (yes its gross but when its your own kids it doesn't bug you as much)

I NEVER EVER thought how much I couldn't imagine being without this tiny person would shatter me. 

I never thought that before I did anything I would think about how this would effect my child

I didn't know how much one tiny person could take up your whole heart and soul

I never ever thought I could love someone so much and only had known them for seconds

I truly love being Hunter's and soon to be Baby 2's Mama! When I think about life before him it seems SO long ago. I still love having fun and having time to myself, but for some reason my own needs don't matter as much anymore. Now, I still fully believe in taking care of myself and MAKING time for myself (going to the gym, time with the hubs and friends etc..) but my little guy is most important. No one truly understands this feeling until they have/adopt children of their own and it is AMAZING.