Party Time

 Jumping into this blog thing, again. Maybe. We'll see how it goes. I've decided since I can't figure out what to say on here I'd just start posting pics. For now those photos are of my kids birthday parties and the things I've made for those events.  

Figured we would start at the beginning- Lauralie turned one and we celebrated with a pink and blue cupcake theme. We hosted her party at a local park but the wind was horrible that day so I failed to use any of the decor I spent hours and hours working on. I was able to use it while we did a mini-party on her actual birthday.    

The Birthday Girl!

Yummy

 

Bam.  Lauralie turned 2!  They say time goes quickly, who would have thought it would go THAT quick!  Ha! 

By the age of two LL was all about Dora the Explorer. I made the 3-tier banner, her tutu, hair bow and shirt.  

 I have a couple more parties to post but that will have to wait for next time.  Need to save something for a future post!

"Mama, ay"

The kids and I were running errands this morning and got home late for lunch so I opted to quickly reheat last nights leftovers. I fixed LL's plate first and gave it to her, I then proceeded to fix my plate and join her at the table.  My mind is running, I'm thinking about nap time and what all I can get accomplished with both kids sleeping, and am totally oblivious to what I should be doing.  I'm on my third bite when I awaken from my trance and realize LL is talking to me,  "Yes, baby?"  "Mama, ay"  "What??" "Ay, momma"   She then proceeds to put her chin on her chest and I then realize "ay" is "PRAY!"  I quickly applauded her for her memory and said a prayer.  Even now, 12 hours later, I'm still thinking about the situation.  I am so proud of her for knowing and finding a way to tell me that we had not prayed.  It excited me that praying is a habit for her, as it should be. Yet, it also grounded me. How could I get so wrapped up in daily life that I couldn't remember to take the time and pray with her? Shame. One of the many blessings in having kids is their ability to humble us and to prioritize correctly. I need to remind myself to slow down and not worry about everything constantly, I don't think we will die if the dishes sit in the sink, or if I don't clean the fridge as often as it should be done.  

Chad and I are always questioning ourselves about whether we are making the right decisions in raising our kids? Are we too strict, or too lenient on certain things. How can we set better examples? What methods of discipline do we wish to use?  Sometimes we are left wondering are we doing anything right?  Today's lunch made me realize we must be doing some things right. 

*Since I failed to mention JJ, let it be known he fell asleep in the car and went straight to bed. 

Then there were four

Goodness, I am terrible at being faithful with writing. Here is another attempt, cross your fingers I stick it out this time 'round.

About a month after my last post I became dreadfully ill with bronchitis. After being on hardcore antibiotics for a few days and feeling worse, I headed back to my doctor. It was then she suggested a pregnancy test. I laughed, there was no way. Fast forward. Yep, there was a way. I remember the moment she told me the news, I froze, broke and tumbled all in one fraction of a second. All I could think about was that I was going to have another miscarriage since I required progesterone supplements to carry Lauralie. Thankfully God had other plans. This pregnancy was pretty uneventful, until the end. At Lauralie's first birthday party we announced the sex of our little baby. Lauralie was going to have a BROTHER. We were thrilled. Chad and I always said it would be awesome to have one of each. My due date was October 1st. By the middle of August I was already having contractions. The contractions weren't consistent but worrisome none-the-less. I started progressing around this same time. The week leading up to Labor Day I was put on restrictions, bed rest. I was eager to meet our little guy, but fears of him coming to early kept me in bed. Thankfully, bed rest worked and was able to delay further progression and labor. I had a check up on Wednesday, September 15th. I had been contracting off and on that morning but didn't think much of it, I was too busy getting Lauralie and myself ready to get out the door. It was while driving LL to a friend's house I realized that the contractions weren't that far apart, but they never really hurt. I went to my appointment and found out that I was at a 5 and pretty much "in labor". I had the option of going home and waiting it out (and having the on-call doctor deliver) or being admitted and starting pitocin. I opted for the semi-induction. I called Chad and he met me at the hospital. I was already in my room, and in bed when he got there around 11:45. Labor progressed nicely, and when my doctor was called in a little after 5 things were rolling! I had already reached a 10, but we were taking a breather before pushing time. The nurse had me do a "pre-push" and yelled at me half way through to stop. Dr. Emmet had just arrived, she comes in and checks things out and watches my contractions... which magically stopped. For reals. The contractions STOPPED. We waited and waited for the next contraction so I could push through it, but nothing. At this point I'm cracking up because who has their contractions stop at game time? ME! That's who. Emmett finally decides to see what happens if I just push, so I did. Once, twice, third time there was our baby boy. Completely perfect. Jensen Jamis 7lbs even. Four ounces lighter than his sister. Lauralie was very excited to meet her baby brother even though she had no idea what was going on. Lauralie was barely 16 months old, she really didn't have a grasp on baby or brother yet. She loved him from the first moment she saw him. I remember after we got home she wanted desperately to hold this little sweet baby, and so we let her. She was so gentle, she would hold him tight and lean over to kiss his head. She was the perfect big sister.

Jensen is now 10 months old and Lauralie turned 2 a couple of months ago. Jensen was a little baby for a VERY short time. He has always worn a size or two larger than his age bracket. Right now he wears very few 12-18months, and mainly 18-24months. We tease that he is our little linebacker. Jensen is one of the sweetest and happiest babies I've ever seen. He coos' and smiles at everyone. He is cruising around holding onto the furniture and thinking about standing on his own. He has never done the "true crawl", he prefers to army crawl so that he can carry and/or push toys around with him on the go. He is definitely a boy. He has mastered climbing onto both the couch and ottoman. He has always been caught climbing the stairs! Jensen is going to be our little daredevil!

Lauralie is still enjoying being a big sister. She loves playing with JJ, they have a blast crawling around and climbing on top of each other. Lauralie has always been a great help with handing mommy things or throwing away trash/dirty diapers. She is finally starting to talk more and surprises us every day with a new word, she might not say it consistently but they are there.

This is a quick summary of the past 18 months. Life is moving so fast, hopefully I'll do a better job of writing about the kids and our daily life.

The whirlwind continues

I haven't been posting as I should because I know there is so much catch up to do, which only leads me to get further behind. That cycle must end!!

Yesterday Lauralie turned seven months old. She amazes her daddy and me daily.
She has been army crawling since 4 1/2 months and has started a true crawl recently. She has her two center bottom teeth. Lauralie has begun to greet me in her crib by pulling herself up into a standing position and yelling out till I come get her. She loves to play on the floor with all of her fun toys. Although sometimes I wonder who enjoys her toys more, Lauralie or Daddy!

There is nothing greater than Lauralie looking up at me and watching her eyes light up as that beautiful smile sweeps across her face. She warms my heart and soul. I never realized how someone so little could encourage me to strive even harder to be everything that I should be.

I may do minor recaps from time to time- and I desperately need to post pictures but I'm on the lappy with no pics so those will need to wait. From here on out this blog will feature our daily goings on, from Lauralie to different projects I have going on, and may include anything else I feel like expanding upon.

A new baby is like the beginning of all things-- wonder, hope, a dream of possibilities. -Eda J. LeShan

It is time to bring this blog back into action. I can't believe I let it sit for a year now. So much has happened it is time to start catching up. How can one begin to summarize a whole year in just one post? I for one can't seem to figure it out so for now we'll just deal with the "big event" of 2009.

May 6, 2009
I went in for my 38wk OB visit- I had been progressing the past couple of weeks and was excited about where I would be then. I was dilated to a 3, and 95% effaced. Everything looked great except for my picture perfect blood pressure. My Doctor had the nurse check my BP a couple of times and every time it was dancing around 140/96, which is high and SUPER high for me. I was kicked over to L&D to get things checked out. What an adventure that was, nothing like spending a few hours in the hospital hooked up to machines being told that if your BP doesn't come down we are having a baby TODAY!! Thankfully after a couple of hours on the machines it lowered and I was released. Due to the blood pressure scare and the fact that I was progressing we decided to schedule an induction for Monday the 11th. (I'll save my thoughts of induction for later)

Monday 11, 2009
Chad, my mom and I loaded up at 5:45am to head to the hospital. I checked in at 6:30 and the fun began. After the initial paperwork was addressed, the nurses started hooking up all the machines and gadgets to monitor the baby and me. Upon arrival I was completely effaced and somewhere between a 3-4, Lauralie was ready to come!! I was started on a low dose of pitocin and things began to move, slowly. Doctor came in around 12:00 and broke my water and increased the pitocin level again. Boy did things start moving then. I forget all of the exact details, when you are in that much pain you aren't thinking about what time it is, but I was progressing quickly. I skipped the part of getting the epidural- best thing EVER!! The doctor that put it in was amazing, one little set back in that I had a reaction to one of the meds and began itching like mad but nothing benadryl wouldn't cure. Anyways by 2:30 I was at a 10 and Lauralie had moved all the way down. Our fabulous nurse suggested for me to rest prior to pushing to help shorten the length of time I would have to push. It was around 4:30 that I began pushing. I pushed and pushed and pushed. She was so close but we just couldn't get over this one hurdle. Doctor offered the vacuum and we accepted. Due to using the vacuum Lauralie was getting listed as "high risk" so a swarm of nurses came in to greet her into the world. This title also meant that Lauralie would not be placed directly on mommy or that daddy would be able to cut the cord, which was all a bummer but anything for our little girl's safety. Lauralie scored well and shortly she was resting in daddy's arms. That moment laying in the bed, looking across the room and seeing Chad hold our daughter was so precious, monumental. We instantly went from being madly in love with each other to madly in love with each other and our beautiful baby girl.

As I was getting fixed up, Chad came and rested Lauralie on my chest. Here it is 5 months later and I can remember the feeling of her weight on my chest. The emotions that came along with that touch I'll never forget. After all of the heartache Chad and I faced trying to bring a baby into this world, we finally won! Lauralie Reese was born at 6:20pm weighing 7lbs 4oz and was 18.5 inches long. Daddy and I were both shocked that she came out sporting a fair amount of light red/dark blonde hair! Our child wasn't BALD!!

I could continue on with how madly in love we are with Lauralie but I'll spare you for now. I've got plenty to catch up on and to remain current with that I'll be able to sicken you with the amount of gushy love we share.

Daddy got a new job!!

What an exciting day! Chad had an interview last Thursday with the City of Irving, Monday they called and asked for him to come in for a second interview with the City Manager. After the meeting today, Chad was offered the job! I am so proud of him.

Our first hospital visit..

Baby don't you know its a bit early for us to be making trips to the hospital??

On Sunday 10/12 I started to be sick. Really sick. Between Sunday morning and Monday morning I probably threw up close to two dozen times. When I woke up Monday to get ready for work I started to feel very weak. I called the kids dad (nanny job) and told him I wouldn't be able to come in, good thing he had the day off. After that I called Nancy (mil) and asked her to take me to the doctor. After fighting everyone up front I got to see Dr. Swegler- after she figured out I was severely dehydrated she called my ob, Dr. Emmett, and I was sent to HEB. I spent several hours in the ER, during which I got an ultra sound and was able to see Baby Love Bug once again. At first the tech wouldn't let me see the monitor or anything, finally she turned on the heartbeat and I just broke down into tears. I was so happy to hear that sweet precious noise. After the tech realized how stressed I was, she turned the monitor and pointed baby out to me! Later Monday evening I was finally admitted into the hospital where I remained until Wednesday evening. After some speculation we came to the conclusion that I had a nasty virus on top of my morning sickness.

I have been doing okay since, pretty weak and blah feeling but we are managing little one! Love you, Baby!!