A baby bridal princess

I haven't posted since her birthday... so it's only fitting that this be my next post...

Life has been BUSY (G turned 4, family visited, sold & bought houses, moved, and we're going into busy summer season) and I haven't had a chance to sit and type... But in my head I have written several blog posts about so much life and heart and everyday things... And one day — I may type them out... maybe ;)

Until then... Around Olivia's 1st birthday I got the idea to do a mini-photo shoot of her in my wedding dress. I wanted to do it outside, so her birthday in January wasn't ideal. So here we are 5.5 months later and so worth the wait! She was a bit of a diva and had to have animal crackers and a hidden phone in my dress watching "Elmo"... But I think they turned out pretty good! :)  My goal (now that the dress has been broken out of its preserved box) is to do this every year... until she won't let me.

You see that last pose? Di-Va! Watch out world! 

Thank you for the talented and hard working Paige Bolin Photography! Miss O made you work for those smiles, and you nailed it! Thankful for you capturing our family so well!

Happy Birthday baby girl!

My baby girl turns ONE tomorrow! This year has flown by so quickly I find myself missing the first weeks -- even though they were tough, I want to take back those sweet baby snuggles and coos. I'm a little weepy this week to see her turn one... suddenly she's not a baby anymore!

I've so enjoyed this last year. To my surprise and delight I was able to breastfeed the whole time! Just a few weeks ago I dropped down to only nursing her at bedtime - I can't give up that sweet time with her. I was able to pump at work so much that I have plenty of milk still stored in the freezer! I will be a little sad to put whole milk in her cup next week. I get a little emotional and sad thinking she very well could be my last baby that I carry and breastfeed. She might be my last one to stare at mesmerized while I'm stealing sweet moments, just her and I, at bedtime. She may be my last baby to sleep on my chest for sweet naps.... tear.

 

Sweet baby girl,

I love you so much it hurts! I didn't know I could love so fiercely until you entered this world! I remember a year ago today, staring at my big belly watching you roll all around between each contraction. I remember wondering how I could love another child equally as my first, the anxiety of having a daughter, worrying if I would be enough... And then you came — screaming so the world new you were here! I loved you instantly. Our bond came gradually in those first few weeks... with each new day we "got along" better and grow closer.  Almost a year later — last night we stared into each other's eyes while I nursed you to sleep. I could stare at you all day long and get lost in those big brown eyes. 



You are a force to be reckoned with! You know what you want and make sure other's know too. You so ornery and so cute, you get most anything you want. Your smile is contagious. When you smile - your whole face smiles. You even have the cutest sad face - one cannot help but give in to you. You are completely smitten with your brother! And he loves you more than I ever hoped and prayed for. The two of you together are the sweetest things to watch! You light up at the sound of his name. 


Each day with you has been a little sweeter, a littler crazier and louder and a lot more fun. You and your brother bring us so much joy! I love you baby girl! Happy Birthday.


~Momma

Grayson-isms

I'm working an extra a lot this week and I miss my kids, so I thought I'd take a little break for an outlet and whip up a quick post of some Grayson-isms... Because this kid is getting funnier by the day!

So here's some random "isms" and conversations of late....

Dating advice from Grayson....
Caroline was crying so I gave her a hug and said it's ok, you wanna be my buddy? Sure! Okay you're my girlfriend. Then we held hands and watched Veggie Tales.


While most kids yell "hi-yah!" when making their karate moves, Grayson yells "Ninja Turtle!" while karate chopping the air.


When he sees me or Olivia dressed up for church...
Aww, sister (or mommy), you're kinda beautiful!


Singing/praying for dinner:
God our Father, God our Father
Once again, once again
Thank you for our blessings, thank you for our blessings
Aww-Man! (instead of Amen)


Bedtime conversation....
G - Where is Jesus?
Tony - Jesus is in your heart.
G- Did I swallow him!?


Grayson telling us about his day:
And we pray and pledge to the Bible and the Christmas Flag and the Captain America Flag with the stars on it!

When driving in the car we play "switch songs," where everybody gets a turn to pick their song... 

Tony- Alright Grayson its your turn to pick a song.
G: I want...Say Something (yes, he knows that song)
Me: He keeps getting cooler and cooler
G: Yes he does!

Seriously, he's a pretty cool kid. And he knows it...

Thankful

This week my mom is in town watching Grayson, who is out of school for the week. She gets to be here for 10 days and I get to come home from work each day to dinner and laundry done and a happy 3 year old who played all day! Then I get to have the whole evening to sit on the floor with my kids and play because everything's been taken care of. Grayson has asked for Grandma to put him to bed each night and wakes up calling for her... It melts my heart. Each thanksgiving I can think of hundreds of things that I am thankful for... But this year, I feel like I could just burst with thanksgiving to my God who blesses us so abundantly!

It's been a good good year. Olivia's arrival was in January (yes, she's almost 1!) and it's been pretty sweet, with full hearts and arms all year long. I got to go back to work to a place and position that I love and am thriving in. I was able to leave my baby and go to work with no guilt or sadness and have had the joy to watch her really grow and develop at the sweetest school with the sweetest baby room teachers. My big preschooler has excelled and grown so much this year! I won't deny that this year of threenager-dom is hard, but it comes with lots of moments of sweetness and pride of my little gentleman. We got to welcome a new member to our family in August and visit Illinois for the wedding. My momma is here this week for Thanksgiving and in two weeks Nana, Papa, and Aunt Eesha will be here to celebrate an early Christmas. It's a good good year. 

I'm going to go enjoy the family and the holidays. Promise to post pics soon. So I'll just leave you with a few moments of those cute growing kids....

This big preschooler just melts my heart.

We are all adopting to this preschool life ;)

He just loves school! He's learning and growing so much!

And this little stinker will prove to be quite the handful, I think. It's a good thing she's cute ;)

She's doing better than I could have imagined or hoped for at her "school". And it's so sweet to have them both at the same place.

And the two of them together.... Will truly melt your heart.

They love each other SO much. She is basically obsessed with him and follows him around everywhere. And he adores her and has learned to totally tune her out when he's watching his show and she uses him as a jungle gym. 

Lately they've been sitting in the living room watching a show and sharing Cheerios together each morning — it is precious! He hands her a couple at a time and she takes them out of his hand and looks to him like he is just the best. 

Melt. Your. Heart.

I know it won't always be like this -- but I'm going to hold on to this sweet stage that they're in right now. 

It can get a little crazy some evenings - and we don't have nearly enough time together; 

but this life of ours... it's pretty sweet! 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Slow Down!...

I know it's been a while since I posted. But I refuse to give myself guilt for not keeping up with this blog -- I'm just reminding myself that it's really just my own diary and memory keeper and hopefully the few people (hi mom!) that actually read this thing and keep up with it will stay loyal! ;)


So remember these two babies?

Well, now they are big kids! Oh goodness - Look how big they have gotten! I just can't even! How and why is this happening?

These two are now 3.5yrs and 8mo old! It's been a busy and fun summer - and they have both just grown up so much! So how about a little summer recap?

These two kids turned the big 3-0 over the summer! I don't even know how that happened... Wasn't it just a little while ago we were 21 and getting married!? We sure are blessed!

We also got to take a trip to Illinois for "Aunt Eesha"'s wedding. It was our first family of four trip -- also the first time we drove it, instead of flew.... I don't recommend it!

While there we got the cousins together (my sister had a baby just 3 weeks after O was born!) for a little photo shoot and playtime!





And Olivia got to meet her great-grandmas!

Grayson was the Sign Bearer in the wedding! He did SUCH a good job - he was SO proud of himself walking down the aisle. And why does that tux make him look so grown up!?

The wedding was SO much fun! G flirted with ALL the bridesmaids! And thought Aunt 'Eesha" was a princess. (We had to do silly faces before/after EVERY posed picture!)

We are SO excited to have Uncle Brendan in the family!

Soon after we got home from Illinois - my big kid started Preschool!

Look. At. Him! What!? I catch myself just staring at him or pictures of him and not understanding where the time has flown for him to be this big. My momma heart has gotten so soft!

This sweet boy is doing SO good in preschool. He loves his teacher (so do I!), and mostly loves learning and all his friends.

We are still going through the horrible "threenager" phase -- Ya'll.... I just don't even know what to do some days... But even on the really bad days - his sweet teacher messages me how well-behaved, disciplined and a big helper he is being in his class. So at least he's good at school and church (most the time).

And these two together....

My heart. They are so precious to watch sometimes! I like to steal sweet moments like these and just freeze them! He still adores her - and she is so in love with her big brother! She wants to be near him anytime he's in the same room. He is the only one that can make her laugh and smile on cue. He is her entertainer - and he doesn't mind it one bit. Every day he sits on the floor to watch tv or eat she crawls to him (oh yea, did I mention she full on crawls now!?). She cannot get close enough -- crawls all over him, tries to get in his lap, pulls up and stands holding on to him, pulls his hair, tries to take his food.... constantly.

She is a handful!

Speaking of which -- This girl is growing TOO fast! She is just 8 months old... Crawling, standing and getting into EVERYTHING! Her personality is so different than G's. You tell her "No!" or "Ouch!" and she gets the sneakiest grin and will just laugh at you! I'm already praying for us when she is the "threenager"! She's got such spunk! She is doing everything about 2-3 months sooner than Grayson did, so I'm just not even prepared! Last weekend she tried to climb the first step of our stairs! But that smile.... You can't escape it and you can't not be moved by it. 

(4mo - 7mo)

It was a tough summer with Tony's schedule - So I'm pretty thankful for Fall. (Still wishing Houston had Fall) We are getting excited for all the Fall activities and holidays and family visits! But most of our weeknights end like this.. Feeling pretty blessed.

Life Update

It's been three months since my last post and it's high time I give this poor blog some lovin'! In those three months I have gone back to work (thus the reason for lack of blogging), Olivia has stayed with a nanny during the work days, we have celebrated Easter and Mother's Day and had a Parent Commitment Ceremony for Olivia. Whew! Time is a flyin! How on earth is it half way through the year already!?

Easter

Mother's Day

Parent Commitment Ceremony

So here are some updates....

I'm back to work! I shared some of my anxieties and anxiousness if going back to work with baby #2 vs. staying home with baby #1.... But God is so good to me. He really prepared my heart and gave me joy and excitement in coming back. It definitely helps that I love my job; but the transition back and leaving a baby for the first time was much smoother and easier than I had anticipated. Not once has there been any guilt for leaving or sadness in my workday. With G I had a bout with some baby blues and the transition to staying home....  It's the biggest thing I prayed against during my pregnancy and maternity leave - And God showed up! I haven't been weepy (like I was with G), I came back to work excited and energized. It has been such a great transition. Mind you, there has been one moment (and I know there will be more) that I missed her first milestone and I cried a little (I never missed any of G's firsts)... But I will survive! ;)


Speaking of milestones... my kids are getting SO big! Someone slow down time. Baby O is 4 months old now! We had her 4mo check up on Monday and she is doing great and right on track with stats and development (13.4lbs and 25.5in)

Birth to 3 months

She can roll from tummy to back and just started rolling back to tummy. She babbles SO MUCH. Goodness she is going to be a talker! She has the sweetest smiles and after a horrible first 8 weeks of fussy, she is mostly happy all the time. She has definitely added joy to our family!

And Grayson!.... My little "Threenager" is getting so big! That boy LOVES his baby sister and is such a good big brother! I am so proud of him each day how he is with her and what a big help (most of the time) he is with her. He loves to be a big helper and independent. He helps with chores, picks out his own clothes and mostly dresses himself. While we are definitely going through some tough three's that aren't fun with fits and attitude... I know it's a short season and we will all come through it better people. :)

Helping with dishes

Star Student at school

Latest school picture!

We also did a fun family and newborn photo shoot with the lovely Paige Bolin! Here's a sneak peak, but I'll have those up next along with a new blog header for our family of four! Thanks for sticking with this little blog and I hope to do better at posting! (#workingmomproblems)