HOLY SNOW!

Well, we have had the biggest snow storm to date... almost 8 inches of snow fell the other day. Still not a fan! Anyway.. I survived being home alone with both kids all day and night yesterday. The day went rather well.. Isabella was in a good mood and Andrew was too! It was a long day.. but I did better than expected. Today we had Andrew's 3 month photo shoot at the house. I LOVE the photographer we found. Amanda Williams is her name and she is fabulous! She actually got Isabella to take some pictures and that is saying a lot. She is going through the phase of not wanting to take pictures. I have to admit that when I want to do a little photo shoot with her I bribe her with CAKE! Isabella loves her cake! Must be because I consumed so much while I was pregnant with her. Andrew did so well during the photo shoot. He is such a little ham! His smile is just the sweetest. He has started to laugh out loud now and it is the most wonderful sound. Nothing like hearing your children laugh. We went back to the GI doc today. She had to increase his prevacid. Now instead of getting it once a day we have to give it twice. He also had his first blood draw today. They are testing to see if he is allergic to milk, wheat and soy. THANK GOD Doug was there to sit with him. I heard him crying while I was in the waiting room and I am not going to lie.. I shed a few tears. My heart was aching for the poor little guy. I have made a point to schedule all his pokey appts. when Doug is off. I just can't take seeing either one of my children in pain. Andrew is still gaining weight like a champ! He weighed in at a whopping 15 pounds 10 ounces. Once I get pictures back from the photographer I will post them :)

Sleep? What is that?

Yes, who really needs sleep? My children think that I am super mom and I require very LITTLE!! Wrong kiddos!!! Mommy needs at least 8 hours or more so I can get through the day. I am hoping they get this memo very SOON. Anywho.... we had a busy weekend! Andrew turned 3 months old on Friday. I still can't believe how fast the time is flying by. It really seems like yesterday that I was begging the Dr. to induce me because I just couldn't take being pregnant one day longer. I am sitting here reminiscing over the day that Andrew was born. I remember hearing through the grapevine that there were some people that couldn't believe that I was even going into be induced. Funny how people have opinions but never share them to your face directly. I guess my point is.. that GOD knows what he is doing. I had told my nurse Barbara that there were some people who were upset that I would even consider being induced. So happens after Andrew made his debut to the world, Barbara told me it was a good thing that I had been induced that day because there was a knot in Andrew's cord and had he not been born, it wouldn't have been a good outcome. As I am sitting here typing I just thank God that wasn't the case. I honestly could not picture my life any different. Sure I am tired and a little cranky lately because of the lack of sleep and lack of "me" time.. but these two precious children in my life are the best thing that has ever happened to me besides my terrific husband. I have to admit.. the last few days have been difficult. Isabella is testing the waters and had about 8 time outs yesterday... but I have to say, we made it through. Today is a new day and she is being an angel. I truly believe the saying that God doesn't give you more than you can handle. Of course there are days where I just want to bury myself in a hole and not come out, but what fun would that be? My goal this week is to look on the bright side and not dwell on things that don't always go the way you want. My baby boy was baptized on Sunday and it was the most beautiful ceremony. Andrew loved the water and smiled right at the priest. It was truly a special moment and one that I will cherish in my heart forever. Above is a picture of him on his special day.

HOLY SNOW!!!

Holy snow outside! This is the first big snow of the winter season and all I can say is BLAH! I have never been fond of this white stuff.. I am hoping that once the kiddos are old enough to play in it, I may have a different outlook. Until then I will enjoy just looking at it from the inside while being nice and warm in my jammies. I don't know how I managed it, but both kiddos are napping at the same time today. Of course Andrew is sleeping in his swing. I figure I will try giving him a nap in his crib over the weekend (that way I have daddy backup). Isabella had a terrific time at the Valentine play date that I hosted yesterday. She loved the Valentine cupcakes that mommy made. She definitely is my child. She loves her sweets! We are so excited to take her to Elmo live this Friday evening. I told Doug the other day that I missed being pregnant and the look on his face was priceless :) I told him.. No worries honey, we are still sticking to the plan and waiting until next summer to try again. I want Isabella to be in pre-school and Andrew to be close to going to pre-school before I add another addition to our family. Of course I watched a Dr. show the other day and they said a woman only has 12% of her eggs left by the age of 30... kind of scary.. but I can't let something like that scare me too much. We have been lucky so far.. so hoping the luck with continue when we are ready again!

To nap.. or NOT to nap.. that is the question....

Well, my adorable little boy is refusing to sleep during the day! I am trying to remain calm about the situation, but I need some "ME" time during the day. I tried putting him in his crib after his afternoon feeding today and he slept all of 20 minutes for me. I remember having this same issue with Isabella and finally got her to take naps at around 5 months of age. Well, if that is the case then I have 2 more months to go. I can hardly believe that Andrew is going to be 3 months old on Friday. He is getting so strong. We had him on his belly for tummy time yesterday and he looks as though he is going to roll over any day now. I have my video camera ready during every tummy time. I will NOT miss catching this milestone on tape. Isabella and Sloanie had a terrific time at their first sleepover at Grammy and Papa's. The girls put up quite a fight getting dressed and having to leave. It makes me so happy that they are going to be so close. I am lucky to have experienced the closeness that cousins have.. now that my cousins are older it is so nice that they call me for advice. Doug and I have decided to postpone our Atlanta trip until May. After my recent drive with both kids during a snow storm.. me putting my hazards on and driving 35 on the expressway.. I told Doug there is no way that we can chance driving 12 hours in a winter mix! I am excited to say that we are taking Isabella to see Elmo Live this coming Friday. We scored 4th row tickets and I can't wait to see the look on her face when she sees all of her favorite Sesame Street characters. Andrew is being baptized this Sunday. I think it so special that he will be baptized on Valentine's Day. He will be surrounded by everyone who loves him. Aunt Kelly and Uncle Mike are his Godparents. He is one lucky little guy!

OH HAPPY DAY!!

Well, I went to my weight watcher meeting this morning and earned my 5 pound weight loss star!! It was a great feeling! I am averaging about a pound a week of weight loss. It is frustrating because of course you always wish the process would go a little faster.. but I am well on my way! I am back to tracking this week. I didn't track last week because things were just hectic... but I find that when I track I see a more significant weight loss. I just have to keep telling myself that nothing tastes as good as my designer jeans feel! I paid a pretty penny for these jeans and my dupa will get back into them! Andrew got a new toy from my mom and boy does he love it!! He sits in this little bouncy kind of seat and he kicks his feet.. he is so good at it. The little man is strong! I say he is going to be one hell of a soccer player.. and I can't wait for the day to sit in the sun cheering him on. If I figure out how to add video on this blog... I will post the video of him using it. Isabella is excited today! We are going to celebrate Sloanie's birthday! I can hardly believe that the girls are 2 years old. It seems like yesterday that we got the call that Kelly delivered our beautiful niece and we were anticipating the arrival of our precious little girl 2 months later. The girls are having their first sleepover together at Grammy and Papa's house... It will be interesting to see how they do!

I will make it!!

These last two days have been exhausting!!! Doug and I did so well at preparing a menu for the week for dinner. I was so excited to make my first roast in the oven!! It was so tasty and delicious. Well, I had to run to the fruit market for some fruit after our lovely roast dinner.. I come home to Doug telling me he didn't feel so well! Well, low and behold the poor guy was sick all night long!! I am thinking it may have been food poisoning from the roast... I ate the roast but didn't eat that much because I wasn't that hungry (I am thanking my lucky stars). Needless to say.. we won't be having roast for a VERY long time!! It may have been a fluke.. but you just never know.... Andrew is getting so big! The last time we took him to the doctor he weighed in at 14lbs. 12 ounces. He was 25 1/4 inches. My grandpa says he is going to be a linebacker for UofM one day. He is doing much better on his new medicine (prevacid). The only bad thing about it.. you have to give it 30 minutes before a feeding.. and waiting 30 minutes seems like eternity some days! He has been in his crib now for a week and a half. He did so well the first week. He is now making up for lost time and getting up quite a bit! It is really wearing on me. Last night he decided he wanted to be awake from 3:30-5:00 this morning. Boy am I tired. It didn't help that the night before I barely got any sleep due to Doug being so sick! I keep telling myself this will pass... just when you think they are going to sleep through the night.. bam.. something else comes up... teething is next and man I am crossing my fingers and my toes that he is a better teether than his sister! Isabella is still being her almost 2 self! She knows what she wants and is very stubborn. She actually knows when her birthday is!! The little girl is almost 22 months old and knows that when you ask her when her birthday is.. she replies, "April 19th" How smart is she? I remember some of my first graders couldn't even tell me when their birthday was!!! My parents were ever so gracious to come over today so I could get some cleaning done. I had an emotional breakdown this morning because the house looked like a tornado went through it and I couldn't take it anymore. Now I can actually lay on the couch and relax without feeling guilty!