Christmas Memories

Sadly, Christmas is over.  All that build up and in a blink of an eye it's over.  POOF!

Abby had a super exciting day and has not put her Jesse toy down since she opened it!  It even came shopping with us yesterday (for the record, shopping the day after Christmas is not a good idea with 2 kids... AAHHHHH).

I hope that Santa was as good to all of you as he was to me!  I got a snazzy new camera that is so fancy, I was actually afraid to open the box!  I have got a lot to learn but I'm super excited!  My husband is too good to me sometimes!

One of the gifts that meant the most was actually not given to me, but to Abby.  Attached to her gift bag from my Aunt was an ornament.  We thought it was so strange that the ornament had a G on it but I thought that maybe she just hadn't noticed it.  Turns out, this was one of my Mom's ornaments from when she was about 18 and they lived together.  It's been on my Aunt's tree every year since then and she decided to take it off this year and give it to us.  How sweet is that?

The cool part is, that me and Dan collect ornaments.  Most of our ornaments are sentimental and hold memories from places we go.  Our wedding favors were even handmade ornaments!

We started during when Dan came home from Iraq and we went to Niagara Falls.  Unfortunately, that one is lost somewhere in the tree right now... can you see it because I can't!

I even have an ornament given to me by my Grandmother on my very first Christmas.

I'm crazy when it comes to labeling because one year there were a bunch that I wasn't sure where they came from.  Now that the season is over, all of these ornaments and memories attached to them will get tucked away in a closet.  We'll collect new ones throughout the year and reminisce as we decorate for Christmas 2012!

Hope you all had a Merry Merry Christmas and I wish you all a very Happy New Year!!

Fa La La La La

We are in full Christmas mode but have so much left to do!  Abby is literally counting down the days until Santa comes!  She still won't take a picture with him but was ambushed yesterday.  We went to see some Christmas lights and Santa was there.  She debated whether to go see him but she couldn't resist the candy cane!

I wish I was just a little quicker!  

We've also been spending time making salt dough ornaments, which is apparently serious business!

And, making (eating) a gingerbread choo choo train!

Oh, and we've been wrapping presents like crazy.  Well, the ones that are here.  Did I mention I have a terrible habit of mailing things to the wrong address?  I know I'm an airhead!  A few months ago I had something mailed to my old apartment, which my old landlord thankfully intercepted for me.  This time I had stuff mailed to my mom's house which is where my brothers still live.  So, wrapping won't officially be done until Christmas Eve but we're close!

Tonight starts the baking extravaganza!  Too much to do and too little time, especially with an infant who has a tendency to scream from 8 til 11 at night!  I feel an all nighter coming up soon!

What are you all up to for the holidays?

No Momma... No Santa!!!

We have been hyping up Christmas around here since before Thanksgiving mainly because we love Christmas and partly because Abby is totally fascinated with Halloween still.  This is the first year that she actually 'gets' the holidays which is super fun to be a part of.

However, we did not anticipate that she would fear Santa.  It's something I really wish I would have known prior to going to a tree lighting and standing in line freezing my buns off for an hour.  All was good until we had an 'accident'.  You know, the 'I've been doing so good at potty training that my parents forgot to remind me to use the potty before we stood in line for an hour' type of accident.  Here we are, in line, just me and the girls and Abby announces "I have to go pee pee momma."

I try to quickly think where, in this crowd of hundreds of people, I could take her and Lilly who is in a stroller.  I am quietly cursing my husband and dad for going to get food at the worst time because clearly they should have known this would happen.  I try to ask her if she can hold it for a minute and she panics while screaming, "I HAVE TO GO PEE PEE!"  By the time the words came out of her mouth, she was already going.  AWESOME!

The nice people in line ahead of us tell me that they'll hold our place in line but, more importantly, let my husband know where I went since I (of course) forgot my cell phone.  Not that it matters because Dan never carries his phone anyway, but that's a whole other story.

We try to maneuver as quickly as possible to the nearest bathroom.  Big clunky stroller, hysterical toddler, and crowds do not mix!  We make our way to the nearest coffee shop and are second in line, thanks for nothing lady who wouldn't let us go first!!!

So, we clean up and go back to line.  I'm sweating but Abby seems happy again so we're good, or so I thought.  We get back in line a few minutes before the parade starts and the excitement of seeing Santa starts to build.

Well, for all the kids but mine.  Abby becomes hysterical again.  "No Mama, No Santa.  I no like Santa!"

What?!?  Who doesn't like Santa? Totally crazy!  We thought that she would eventually come around but no such luck.  She was begging us to take her home.  She wouldn't even glance at the parade.  She wrapped herself around whoever would hold her with a death grip.  I felt like I was literally torturing her with every extra minute we stood there.

Needless to say, after an hour in line and a pee pee fiasco behind us, we had to leave without seeing Jolly Old St. Nick because Abby doesn't like him.

You would think that this would mean that we could go ahead and skip the whole present thing but apparently the big guy is good enough to bring her gifts because she has requested:

• Lightning McQueen
• Beast (from Beauty and the Beast but I think she means Belle)
• A Horse (black one and a brown one)
• Snacks
• Snow White
• Pooh Bear Movie
• Mickey Mouse
• Water
• Puddles
• Doll house
• Doodle Bear
• Jessie Doll

Does anyone know how to gift wrap puddles?

Bye Bye Baby Weight!

One of the best parts about having a baby, aside from the obvious being Lilly, is losing the weight after.  I have always struggled with my weight and gained entirely too much with both pregnancies.  It wasn't as big of an issue after Abby because I was still smaller than I ever was at my heaviest.  This time it's different because I was still carrying the extra fluff from the first time so even though I gained less with Lilly, I am now heavier than I have ever been.

That was enough to make me really WANT to change things this time, hopefully for good.  So, 5 weeks have gone by and I'm down about 25 lbs by just eating healthier!  WOO HOO!!  I had a little setback with Thanksgiving (far too many cookies and too few people to share them with) but I finally made up for it!

The biggest hurdle I've always had to overcome was saying NO to all the goodies.  I'm a snacker and if I have it in the house then I'll eat it.  I mean, I will go to bed wanting it and then wake up craving it and will not be satisfied until it's gone which leaves me feeling guilty.  I will quite literally hide in the kitchen stuffing my face!  Yes, I am a fat kid at heart.

Holidays are the worse because they revolve around food, especially the cookies and cakes.  The thought of limiting what we bake is painful to even think about!  So, my goal is to lose at least 5 lbs by Christmas so that I don't set myself back to where I was for Thanksgiving.  It's going to take a lot of planning and will power but I'm in because my long term goal is to lose 40 more... 20 will put me back to where I was pre-Lilly and another 20 will put me back to where I was pre-Abby.

I plan on keeping you all updated throughout my journey and would love to hear any tips or tricks you may have!

Fast and Furious!

No pregnancy is ever complete without the birth story and the story of Lilly's arrival is definitely entertaining... to all those who didn't have to experience the pain!

Since Abby was 2 weeks early, I figured Lilly would be too.  I at least knew enough to be ready.  So, I was pretty much packed and had all the important numbers I needed to get in touch with Dan and my sister.

Here's a quick breakdown of how Lilly arrived:

October 27th (our wedding anniversary):  3 cm dilated so every twinge put me on high alert.  That made for a great dinner celebration, let me tell ya!

October 31st (Halloween):  Still not here but now my back is starting to hurt so I was sure tonight would be the night!  I was confident that all the walking would accelerate the process.  When I started having contractions that night, I called Dan home but by the time he got here they were gone.  OOPS, false alarm!

Fearing that I'd become the 'girl who cried labor', I started keeping things to myself so that I would be sure the next time.  Days went by and on November 2nd I went back to the doc and was still only 3 cm dilated.

That night, I started having contractions again but I kept telling myself it could be because of the exam. So, I kept things to myself until later that night.  When they were 3 to 4 minutes apart but not too strong I called Dan to come home again.  Since they weren't strong and sometimes only lasted about 5 seconds I figured this was another false alarm and tried to get some sleep.  My thoughts were that if I could sleep then it's not labor because no one could possibly sleep through labor, right!?!

Around 3, my contractions woke me up but they still weren't steady nor were they that strong.  My water had broken with Abby so I thought it would break this time too.  Even though it hadn't, I called the hospital and asked them what I should do.  They said that since my contractions weren't steady and were only lasting anywhere from 5 to 30 seconds then I probably wasn't in true labor.  She told me to stay home until they were about a minute long unless the pain increased.

So, I stayed home.  Almost a BIG mistake!  Thankfully, Dan and I started getting ready anyway just in case.  A couple hours later, I took a shower and by the time I got out I could hardly move to get dressed!  In true airhead fashion, I wasn't sure if this was it.  The contractions still weren't a minute long but now they were coming every minute or less!  Off to the hospital we went!

The 15 minute car ride was unbearable!  We pulled up at 5:37 and Lilly was born at 6:33... after the longest hour of my life!  No epidural meant there were lots of 'mother effers' thrown out there (sorry nurses!) and my poor husband definitely got beat up a bit (only a little sorry for that)!  The doctor literally walked in, suited up, and she was out in two contractions!  Fast and furious for sure but well worth it!

So, lesson learned.  Contractions will not always be a minute long or steady.  For those of you who are expecting, if you think it could be labor then it probably is!  I probably could have had her in the car on the side of the road!  Thank god it wasn't too bumpy of a ride!

Here I Am Again... with Someone New to Introduce!

Could it be... am I actually going to update this little blog of mine?

Yup I am!!!

After a long hiatus and a couple random posts in between, I've decided to try my hand at blogging one more time.  I miss it... lots.

It's not that I haven't had tons that I've wanted to write about, because trust me when I say that there is always something going on, but I've been focused too much on the negative things going on.  This blog was meant to be a place where I celebrate the bright side of things or poke fun at the things that drive me crazy.  Unfortunately, laughing at things was hard for a little while.  Maybe my pregnancy hormones were affected my brain because I was just dwelling on negativity.  So, finding inspiration was hard even when I know it shouldn't have been.

But, I'm starting to think of things a little different.  I'm slowly starting to feel like my old self.  The things that were troubling me are still there and will tug at my heart until they change but I need to focus on the good things.

Good things.... like my girls!  Yup, Lilly was born on November 3 and she is absolutely adorable!

Of course, to me she was instantly just another member of our family and I loved her to pieces.  I wasn't sure how Abby would react towards her.  For months she's been waiting for her to come out of my belly.  For months she's been talking to her and giving my belly kisses.  But all that is way different than seeing a real life baby!  It amazed me and warmed my heart to see how she instantly accepted her as her sister.  She adores her and can't wait to see her every morning.

How proud is she?  She's the best big sister! And she put that awesome outfit together all by herself too!

On the other hand, she has become a bit more clingy and she's been testing us a bit but I'm sure we'll work that through.

So, now that I got my mind retrained to focus on all the goodness in my life, I promise I'm back!  Can't wait to catch up with all of you!!

Here I Am!!!

Wow, another long break in blogging for me.  It has really been hard for me to keep up with blogging during this pregnancy (and really hope you all are still reading).  I am just so TIRED!!!  I am also an emotional basket case... up and down, up and down... I just never know how I'm going to feel from one moment to the next.  It's frustrating, especially for my poor husband.

Other than mood swings and being tired all the time, this pregnancy has been going great.  I'm 28 weeks along and had to take my sugar test today.  I am a little nervous for the results since I had gestational diabetes last time.  In anticipation of not being able to eat anything fun soon, I stopped at Panera on my way home from the test for a bagel and an iced caramel latte with soy milk and whip cream.

After that last statement, I'm sure no one is surprised that I gained a little too much wait this past month.  Oh, and the month before.  Oops!  But in the big picture my weight gain is on track.  Basically, I gained very little the first few months but made up for it this past two.  It will always amaze me how such an itty bitty baby could make a person so hungry!

In my own defense, I have been working out regularly.  I love my Youtube exercise videos (I highly recommend this series of workouts) and run 1.5 miles 3 to 4 times a week on the elliptical.  It's not crazy intense but it's something.  So, I'm hoping this extra weight gain is more baby than fluff but we shall see.

By far the cutest part about being pregnant is Abby's reaction.  She can not wait to meet baby sister!  She's been to the past few doctor appointments with me and behaves shockingly well!  Except for the time when she was confused why baby sister was still in my belly and kept lifting my shirt yelling, "OPEN MOMMA!"  Guess she was ready for baby sister to be here.  I'm hoping that she's just as excited once she's here!

Notice how I referred to her as "baby sister?"  Well, the prepared parents that we are have yet to pick a name.  Or order a crib.  Or move my sister out of her room (and into the bedroom downstairs).  Or get a car seat.  Or get anything else one would need to care for a newborn baby.  With Abby, things were ready so early!  We had a name, a plan, we were good to go!  This time... not so much.  It's crunch time!

One last thing to catch you up in this long update.  I am forever in awe of how fast Abby grows and changes.  When we went on vacation last year,  she absolutely hated the sand and the water.  This year, she was such a brave girl.  We couldn't keep her out of the water and the sand!  Not to mention how many more rides she was able to go on at the amusement park and all by herself too!  It's amazing to see how quick things change.  I can't wait to see what next year's vacation is like with baby sister!