Motherhood

 Growing up, I always knew that I wanted to be a mom.  As I got older, my love for children grew.  I have always worked with children whether it was babysitting as a youth, being a nanny in college or teaching kindergarten as an adult.  I loved these children and learned so much from them.

 What I didn't know was that this love for children would grow infinitely more when I had children of my own!  I cannot put into words the love I have for my own kids!  I never knew I could love someone so much!  Or that my life would feel so complete with them in it!  They are my world and I would feel lost without them!

Miss Adelyn Jane made me a mom for the first time!  Travis says she will always be my favorite because of that!  She is the happiest little girl and makes me laugh every day (and pull my hair out some days).  She is really developing her own personality and has such a love of life!

She has taught me what it means to find joy in the small things!  She has taught me to laugh and have fun!  She has taught me to be confident in who I am as a mother!  Lately she has also taught me patience as she is going through a period of testing boundaries!  I love her so much!

 Little Lila is my cuddle bug!  I bonded with her a lot faster than I did with Adelyn.  She had a rough start and needed me all the time!  Right now I am her favorite person in the world and that makes my day!  When you hold her, she immediately searches for the perfect position to lay in.  She is my little angel! (This pic makes me laugh because she looks like a grumpy old man)

In her short life, she has taught me lessons that Adelyn never did!  She has taught me true patience when I didn't know what to do.  She has taught me to let things go.  She has taught me that I can't control everything.  She has taught me that I can do hard things.  Most importantly she taught me that my love really is multiplied and not divided!

The greatest thing about motherhood is watching your children grow and learn.  It is being there for them and being their biggest fan.  It is comforting them and teaching them.  It is about helping them see their potential!

One of my greatest joys is seeing my girls together!  Adelyn loves Lila soooo much!  When people come over, she takes their hand and leads them over to her seat to show her off.  I often find Adelyn cuddling or kissing or squeezing Lila's cheeks or sharing her toys/food or patting Lila on the head.  She loves being with her and being close to her.  She is the best big sister!

I am so grateful to be the mother to these two sweet girls!  They have helped me grow and discover who I am.  I hope to continue to have a great relationship with them and teach them how to love! 

 

I love this quote by Howard W. Hunter.  "Motherhood is near to divinity.  It is the highest, holiest service to be assumed by mankind." 

Adelyn's First Haircut

We finally gave in and had Adelyn's first haircut.  She was born with lots of hair and it has grown out pretty evenly so she hasn't really needed one until now.  It was starting to get scraggly on the ends so I thought it was time.  My friend Kera is a cosmetologist so I got her to come over.  She has given me the best haircuts in Dayton and I knew that I could trust her!

Adelyn's hair had been in a pony tail all day so here is a wild before picture!  I think she looks so cute wearing the cape!

  

Here it is brushed out.  You can't really see because her hair is the same color as the cape, but there are some random stray ends.  It has gotten pretty long for a 2 year old!

Making the first cut!  Adelyn wasn't quite sure what to think!

She looks sad, but really she was just overly tired! 

She sat so still!  I was super impressed!

Here is the after!  She has cute little layers and it feels so much healthier!

It wasn't as traumatic as I thought it would be!  Thanks Kera!!

Lila Photos-11 days New

A couple of weeks  ago, my friend Jackie came over to take some newborn pictures of Lila. She was 11 days new!  They turned out so sweet!!  This one is my favorite!  I love the color and her little lips!

 

I love babies in pastels!  They look so angelic!  

 I love tiny little baby bums!  She has such beautiful coloring!  She gets it from my dad's side of the family!  She is already as dark as me!

 Of course when we start taking pictures of Lila, Adelyn wants to join in!  This pose happens about a thousand times a day!  Adelyn loves her little sister!  She hugs and kisses her all day long.  I have to stop her from picking her up or squishing her while cuddling.  I LOVE their relationship and can't wait until Lila can reciprocate! 

  My little ham!  I have some pretty cute kids if I can say so myself!

2 Weeks

This little booger is giving me a run for my money!  Its a good thing she is so cute!

When I had Adelyn, I didn't feel overwhelmed with my new responsibilities (aside from breastfeeding).  I started babysitting before I turned 12 and I was a nanny several years.  Not much came as a surprise to me and I felt comfortable in my new role.  I was working so I didn't feel like I lost myself and I had plenty of "me time" with all of her naps.  Adelyn was also a very easy baby.  She slept like a dream and would just chill out any where I put her.

This little munchkin has been a little bit different experience.  From the time we decided to have another, I knew this time around would be harder.  I knew that "me time" would no longer exist.  I knew that there would be times that both girls would be crying and I could only help one at a time.  I knew that I wouldn't get to nap when baby naps.  I knew that I wouldn't be able to give both girls all the attention that I felt like they would need. 

 Overall I feel like we are all adjusting pretty well, but things are different this time around.  I now understand the "mombie." (mom+zombie)  Lila sleeps pretty well, but Adelyn has started waking up.  She is in her big bed now and is still adjusting.  She will wander into our room at random hours of the night ready to play and be up for the day.  Last night we were up from 2-4am.  I have to remind myself that she has had some huge changes to deal with too and that this is just a stage...hopefully.  Between Adelyn waking up and Lila needing to eat, I get hardly any sleep and feel exhausted...which leads to me having less patience and energy to play...which makes me feel like a lame mom. 

Lila also seems to be a much needier baby.  This isn't her fault though.  She is having some crazy tummy issues.  Every time she eats, she gets the worst tummy ache.  You can hear her tummy churning and smell the stinky gas.  She lets out the most pitiful cries that are sometimes non consolable.  I try everything to help her get it out and I keep eliminating things from my diet to figure out what it is that she is sensitive to.  It is so sad...and exhausting.  For now I just spend a lot of time holding and bouncing her because it seems to be worst when she is laying down.

Once we resolve this issue, I think things will get much better.  I can't imagine life without her at this point.  She is a very sweet and cuddly baby!  She is becoming more and more alert and I love seeing the relationship that is developing between these two.  We love our little Lila!

Sisters

 One of my biggest worries with having a baby was how Adelyn was going to react to the change.  The last few weeks of my pregnancy she was super clingy to me.  She didn't even want to go to Travis.  I was really concerned that she would hate the new baby and get really jealous!

I read all sorts of blogs and articles about introducing toddlers to newborns.  Many of them suggested having the newborn in the nursery when they arrive at the hospital and have the toddler go get them.  I wanted to do this so that I could spend a few minutes with Adelyn first.

Travis, Adelyn and my mom arrived at the hospital while they were doing rounds so the baby was in my room.  As Adelyn walked in, she had a really serious look.  I excitedly said hi and all she kept saying was baby while looking around.  I was sad that she didn't even care about seeing me.  She found Lila and got super excited!

Travis handed her over to me and put Adelyn up on the bed.  She was a little timid at first but was really intrigued.  She would gently touch her and say baby.

I asked if she wanted to hold her and she did, but only for a second.  I love how she is looking at me in this picture!

 She was so proud of herself and loved seeing her baby sister!

 Gigi(my mom) finally got a turn holding Lila.

 Adelyn loves to hug and kiss Lila.  She is the sweetest sister!  She has really proved me wrong in my worries. 

I already know that they are going to be the best of friends!

Welcome to the family Lila!

Lila Rae Birth Story

Before I forget, I wanted to document Lila's birth story.  I was scheduled for an induction on April 9th.  Travis and I got up that morning, got ready, had a good breakfast and headed over to the hospital.  Everything was so calm and comfortable and almost unreal.  I was feeling great both mentally and physically at that point!  It wasn't until we were checking in that it hit me that I was actually about to have a baby.  It was a totally different feeling than when my water broke with Adelyn and I knew it was go time.

This is when we first got to the room!  39+ weeks and very large!

We got checked in, they did some bloodwork and got me started on pitocin at 8:45.  Travis and I spent the next several hours trying to find something to do to pass the time.  They would come in occasionally to check my progression but not much was happening and I wasn't in much pain.  My doctor finally came in at 12:30 and told me he wanted to break my water to see if that got things moving.  I was nervous, but agreed.  Almost instantly the contractions began to get stronger. He said the nurse would come back and check on me.

Waiting for things to get moving and obviously not in too much pain.  I still have a smile!

 Travis trying to get ahead on sleep while he still could.  I requested the air to be turned on because I was dying but Travis said he almost froze to death!

Finally after what seemed like forever, my nurse came in and I let her know that I was ready for my epidural.  She came back to let me know that not one, but both of the anesthesiologists were in with c-sections and not available.  I was in pain, but it was bearable if I was squeezing Travis' hand!  Ok, actually, it was terrible!  Every time someone came in my room I would ask for an update.  After 45 minutes of strong contractions I began to freak out!  I knew that something was happening and I could see my window of opportunity closing!  Travis said that at this point I turned into a crazy lady!  I kept telling him I couldn't do it without an epidural.  Really, it was so stressful!  He laughed at one point and I nearly lost it!

After an hour had passed, the anesthesiologist came in and I heard a choir of angels sing!  I told him he had the best job because everyone is so happy to see him!  He laughed and got to work.  With Adelyn I felt relief almost instantly, but wasn't so lucky this time around.  After he left, the nurse said she would be back in an hour to check on me.  I questioned an hour because I felt like I had probably progressed since the last time she checked but I went with it since she is the professional.  Travis decided that it would be a good time to take care of some paperwork and billing.  When he said he was going to go, I asked if he was sure and he assured me that we had plenty of time.

After Travis left, I suddenly felt really weird.  I feel like my brain got kind of fuzzy and I was super nauseated.  I didn't think much of it until a couple nurses came rushing in.  They put oxygen on me and turned me on my side.  I remember talking, but don't really remember what I was saying.  Apparently Lila's heartbeat dropped super low.  The nurse decided to go ahead and check my progression.  She said I was at 9.5 cm and ready to push.  The weird feeling was from all the work my body was doing so quickly.  They paged Dr. Horlacher and I somehow managed to text Travis to tell him to get back immediately!

They got there at about the same time and it was go time.  I remember telling them that my left leg/bum really hurt and I thought there was something wrong with the epidural.  Turns out that it was the baby's head bearing down and the epidural wasn't in full effect so I felt a lot of the pain.  After a few big pushes and less than 15 minutes she was out!  I remember pushing really hard because I wanted the pain to end!  Dr. Horlacher said he didn't think I would breathe if he didn't tell me to.  I was determined to get her out!

Travis got to cut the cord and then they handed her over to me.  She was 7 lbs 4 oz and 19.5 inches long.  She has Adelyn's cute little button nose but did not get blessed with much hair!  It is weird looking at a bald baby after Adelyn having a head full of hair!

 Leisy left me and moved to Japan, so I didn't have anyone taking pictures this time.  Travis snapped a few though in between me squeezing his hand off and supporting my leg for me!

Holding Lila for the first time!  She looked so much like Adelyn at first.  It was weird because I felt like it really was Adelyn.  I was a lot more involved with this delivery.  I helped hold the cord out of the way while Travis cut it, I got to see her head before she was completely out and I held her before they got her all cleaned up.

  The official weight

 This picture looks alien-esque, but I strangely like it!.  I will post cuter pictures with her all cleaned up later.

 While labor was a lot more painful this time, recovery has been AMAZING!!  I feel great!  I did not get an infection this time and it has made a world of difference!  I feel like I am ready to run but my mom keeps reminding me to take it easy and that my body is still recovering.  It is amazing what our bodies can do!

Basketball and Tents

A little while ago I posted that I didn't have any updates on Travis.  Like I mentioned before, he is working long hours and then he comes home and works some more.  He is often doing things with the Scouts at church as well.  Luckily he gets along well with the other Scout leaders and has formed some lasting friendships!

A couple weeks ago, BYU was playing here in Dayton.  A lot of his friends here went to BYU so they all decided to get tickets last minute.  They ended up getting great seats and having a blast...until BYU lost. Travis was so excited to go so I am glad he took the time to have some fun. 

 Then this past weekend a few of these same guys took a ride to Columbus to go to an REI garage sale.  Travis LOVES REI and was so excited to find one not too far away.  I don't think I have ever been, but it is his favorite store.  It sounds like it is similar to Cabellas, but it requires a membership to go in.  They have all kinds of outdoor sports and recreation gear. 

We have been wanting a new tent for a while so Travis looked up all sorts of tents and reviews before he went.  Since it was a garage sale, there was no guarantee of finding a certain product.  He was lucky to find the exact tent that he wanted at almost 50% off!  It was brand new, but was moved to damaged goods because the bag had about a 3 inch tear down the seam.  He was so excited to get it and set it up.  Adelyn loved it too!  Looks like they will be going camping soon!