Family Pictures 2012

In hindsight, it may have been a tad bit over-zealous to think that it was a good idea is schedule Charlie's newborn pictures, Leah's 2 year pictures and our annual family pictures just three days after giving birth and the day after coming home from the hospital with a new stranger to introduce to a barely two year old.

Yes, over-zealous, indeed!

It was Leah's actual birthday, we were totally sleep-deprived, still adjusting to being a family of four, and Leah was totally and completely out of sorts in every way. Mommy and Daddy had been gone for three days... she was a bit sleep-deprived herself and her world was freshly rocked to the very core with this new little brother.

Over-zealous or not, we just had to go with it...

We literally have an entire disk of pictures that look like this... 

more or less...

After 2.5 hours of trying, we did finally get one (literally just ONE) picture where no one was crying and everyone was at least looking at the camera. Not perfect, but we'll take it!

***

This was as close as we got to a smile from Leah the entire day... as she was showing us the actions to "wheels on the bus"

I LOVE HER!

However, the more that I look at these pictures, there is a certain sweetness to her very evident sourness. These pictures all capture a real "event" in her life and I kind of love them.

In the midst of the mayhem that was our life, she was able to capture some very sweet and priceless pictures of our sweet baby Charlie. For that I am thankful...

And lastly, the one and only picture in which she acknowledged the "new kid"... 

{candy corns may or may not have been used in the bribing/staging of this photo}
{not sure he's too thrilled with his lot in life yet either}

Although so ridiculously far from perfect, these pictures capture a literal moment in time for our little growing family and I love them more and more all the time!

 ♥

one month

{oh dear... this post has been sitting in my drafts folder for nearly a month now, waiting to be finished and fine tuned. turns out, he's now only a handful of days away from being TWO months now. oh well, such is life these days...a bit behind. the good news is that we have in fact seen some good improvements since I started avoiding dairy and soy. kind of a good news/bad news deal... but more on that later. Just know that difficult or not...we are in fact totally and completely 100% smitten with him and we're totally keeping him}

Once again, I am in awe of the complexities of time. How quickly this first month has zipped by and yet, how long it has seemed. My chunky littleman is already a month old.

I'm not going to lie... it's been a hard month. He's been a hard baby. It's been a hard adjustment. Two kids under two is hard. Getting little to no sleep every night is hard. 

The good news is that his delivery was nearly perfect in every way, so different than with Leah. My recovery has been smooth and quick, which is something to be thankful for.

Although my recovery with LJ was awful, she was such an easy baby... very content, decent sleeper from the get-go and mostly happy....

Charlie is not yet any of those things. The poor little guy seems sad and uncomfortable most of the time. It seems as though he rarely sleeps more than about 40 minutes at a time and cries much of the time he is awake. So sad! We suspect reflux, based on many of the symptoms he has exhibited and started him on medication about 2 weeks ago. It has definitely helped a little, but has not been the magic solution we hoped for.

We had his one month appointment today and Dr Suzy suspects that he may also have some food intolerances and suggested that I start an elimination diet... beginning with dairy and soy to see if it helps. Turns out dairy and/or soy are pretty much in everything and most of the good things in life stem from butter, cream and cheese. Wish me luck... especially now that the holidays are upon us! Looks like Chris and I won't have to fight over all the Halloween candy that Leah scored last night after all. :(

In better news.... this kid is growing like a weed and packing on the lbs like it's his job. 

one month stats:

11 lbs 4 oz

22 inches long

And the best news of all is that he's ridiculously adorable. 

Seriously, he's as cute as they come... chubby cheeks, dimples to die for and a yummy double chin!

At least he's got that going for him.

{tie and sweater vest. dapper little fellow}

A little sampling of some of his newborn pics...

(more to come)

Daddy is likely not gonna be happy about me posting this last picture, but it shows how we feel right now.

Although he too is one totally dapper, handsome dude... those are definitely some tired eyes!!

I know that they don't stay tiny like this for long, but I'm realizing it might be because you couldn't do it for long.

Happy One Month Little Fellow

We made it!

♥

Concession Stand

Our first Halloween as a family of four. Life feels a bit like a circus these days, so our costumes were perfectly fitting. My amazingly talented friend Jess once again helped me pull it off. She made the insanely awesome and adorable felt popcorn bag cover for my bjorn as well as Leah's cute red M&M costume.  

Presenting...

The C*K*J Carnie Concession Stand

Leah loved that Daddy took the day off to be with us this year. Trick or treating with Daddy was a awesome!

Although we still haven't found our new "normal" yet.... we did our best to make Halloween fun and festive this year. We dressed up for Kindermusik and even brought Charlie along for his first taste of it!

We opted not to carve pumpkins this year, mostly because mommy and daddy felt too sleep deprived to safely handle knives... but luckily painting our home grown harvest was just as fun!

Seriously... we grew these! 

In the end, it was a fun and successful holiday and these two sweet and salty little treats were about as cute as they get!!

::Happy Halloween 2012::

Pajamas & Pancakes

Although nearly a month late... we finally celebrated 

Littlemiss Leah's Pajamas & Pancakes Party!

The party that had to be delayed due to the early arrival of little brother.

all business early in the morning! thank goodness we got to stay in our pjs

We celebrated with loved ones, both family and friends, feasting on pancakes, fruit and other simple breakfast treats!

Daddy's Girl

It wouldn't be a party with out candles, dessert and some kind of poor rendition of "Happy Birthday"!

We opted for Blueberry Pancake Cupcakes with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting... perfect for a mid morning splurge... and we made enough for our guests to enjoy too...

 I tell you what....this little girl is hands down one of the greatest joys of my life. She is sweet, funny, happy, loving, curious, creative and melts my heart on a near daily basis. I am so lucky I get to be her mama!! 

She is definitely worth celebrating and the party was definitely worth the wait!!

"I'll drink to that"

Happy Happy Birthday Sweet Leah!

Happy Happy Birthday!

Oh how I love and adore you my sweet baby girl.

Life is a bit out of sorts right now... it wasn't the super, special birthday that I would have loved for you, but I hope you always know how much I love you and how much I love being your mama.

Two years ago this very day, you made all of my fondest dreams come true. I don't remember who I was before you came along... and that's perfectly fine with me. I know for certain, my life is better with you in it!

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl!

I love you to the moon.... and back!

♥ mama

Introducing...

{making room}

It is hard to believe that we are now just hours away from welcoming a sweet, new baby boy into our family. My emotions are running a bit high this weekend as I take it all in and try to prepare for all that is about to happen. We have attempted to stay busy by attending birthday parties, going out for ice cream, lots of loves and snuggles and enjoying a much needed pedi with a few of my besties. The other big item on the agenda was finishing off his nursery with the final special pieces and a few last tweaks!

When I decorated Leah's nursery, I never in a million years anticipated that we would have another baby on the way and she would get booted less than 2 years later.... but alas, that's exactly where we luckily have found ourselves!! I ended up being very, very glad that the first time around we A) went with a basic, neutral paint color and didn't paint crazy purple stripes or anything B) picked basic white furniture C) went with a neutral colored glider and D) had lots of gender neutral nursery accessories. It made it very easy to strip down and re-decorate.  I’m pretty sure CJ was equally glad, since when I start to scheme all he sees is $$$!

My only significant expense and purchase was the bedding. I had originally intended to re-use the grey geometric crib skirt from the littlemiss’ bedding set and just get new sheets… but lucky for me, Serena & Lily’s private sale email came around and I scored a full set for nearly half it's regular price. (Turns out it does occasionally pay off to be on all those email lists!) The sheet has a tiny stripe of brown in it, which helped me to tie in all the leftover accessory elements from Leah’s nursery. The chocolate brown rug, barrel shade, hamper, storage bins and changing pad covers all stayed and didn’t need to be replaced.

I struggled a bit with decorating for a little boy… it seemed that all the fluff and cutesy accessories were overkill and unnecessary. There were a few fun items from littlemiss’ original nursery that I kept in there, but since I was on a budget, I opted for super practical and inexpensive décor items to fill in the blanks….mostly toys and books. I picked up some fun wooden toys that I know he will love playing with someday soon, along with a few vintage items we had around and finally some of my favorite little boy books. And just like that, the decorating was essentially done!

In addition to his custom Petite Lemon Alphabet Chart that my friend created for him, the only other projects in the room were a monogram shadow box and his mobile. The “C” monogram came together in less than an hour and for less than $15….nothing more than an inexpensive wooden letter from Hobby Lobby with fabric (or scrapbook paper) mod-podged to it, attached to a fun sheet of scrapbook paper and inserted into an inexpensive 12x12 shadow box frame. Cheap, easy and cute is a great combination in my world! I also used a $3 can of white spray paint to re-freshen an old black mirror that we were no longer using to hang above the crib.

For the mobile, I knew I wanted something fun. I felt that littlemiss’ amazing mobile made her whole room…. So I enlisted the help of an amazingly talented and creative friend who literally “creates” for a living. She made the simple, adorable felt ball mobile that hangs above his crib and will lull him to sleep each night. It turned out to be the perfect final touch for little man’s new room! You can check out her amazing creations both here and here.

Although I didn't do much or spend much, his nursery is perfectly classic and simple and that’s what I love most about it. I love that so many of the items that make it special will be things that I hope he will one day play with and love and cherish. I love that there are so many items that I carefully selected when I first got the opportunity to create a nursery for a sweet new baby that still have a home in there. But mostly I love that very soon it will be home to a sweet baby boy….

my baby boy!

Welcome Baby Charlie!

We can't wait to meet you. I hope you love it here.

xox 

mama

littlemiss "almost" bigsis

wow. 

I feel really behind on this here bliggity blog and absolutely have an earnest desire to catch up on a few things before the littleman arrives within a few short weeks... and yet I have very realistic expectations (read: don't hold your breath), so we"ll see.

It's been a while since I did an update on my littlemiss ellejay. Man, oh man is she the light, joy, happiness and frustration of my life!! I love that I get to be her mama and I love that she is mine.

I feel like she has grown up so much in the last couple of months. She has gone from a baby to a little girl right before my very eyes. Stop it, I say! She is talking like crazy and although much of it might not be completely decipherable to most, she tries to say almost everything and I understand nearly everything she says. A few of my favorites:

"be awe-mus" (don't forget to be awesome)
"no, no mommy. ucky" (about anything she doesn't want to do)
"where's agga" over and over again (her favorite bestie, the elephant lovey)
"daddy - home" (when she's waiting for daddy to come home)
"a-mon, a-mon, a-mon" (with her arms in the air when she's watching football with daddy : come-on)
"bye-bye mama's house" (anytime we leave grandma's, it's adorable)
"two, three, eight, nine" (that's how she counts to ten. clearly, we have some work to do)
"up daddy" (she yells to him in the morning when she's awake and ready for him to come get her)
"a- dooooooo" (cock-a-doodle-do)
"okee babee,okee" (when she is bouncing and comforting her babies)
"osco- hand" (let's go to costco and get a stamp on my hand)

It's interesting that she has now given up all of the baby signs that she learned for the actual words now, except for "thank you". She is getting very good with her please and thank you's, though please is always verbal and thank you is always signed...even when she says her prayers. We help her to say them and she will repeat most of the words that we whisper in her ear, but whenever we say "thank you" or even "thankful", she silently signs it and then says the rest of the words. It's very sweet and also very interesting.

She knows all of her colors, all of her animals and sounds and is working on counting to 10. She still doesn't have much interest in letters or the alphabet and I figure as long as she learns them before kindergarten, we're ok.

Pretty much everything she says and does at this age is ridiculously cute. Sometimes, extremely frustrating...but always very cute. Somebody definitely knew what they were doing when they made little ones so dang cute. Sometimes it's the only thing that saves their lives.

Somebody got their very own little bike this summer!!

Grandma & Grandpa got her an adorable tiny bike to ride when she comes to play at their house. I think it's safe to say she loves it. Although it was still a little big for her this summer... I think she is going to totally rock it by next year!!

She has hit a very independent, yet helpful stage. She loves to "help" with whatever it is we are doing. She especially loves to help in the kitchen, which I mostly love. Although not always very helpful, I remember praying and wishing for a little baking assistant to help me in the kitchen. Sometimes, I still have to pinch myself. She also loves to help Daddy outside, whether it's watering the plants or picking the garden crop... though she tends to eat the cherry tomatoes faster than Daddy can pick them.... so not many actually make it inside.

Littlemiss Leah is all girl...from her head to her tippy toes!! She is totally into purses and accessories and loves to dress up. She carries her little pink purse nearly everywhere she goes.... including into her bed at night.

She is totally sassy and knows that a great purse and a good pair of sunglasses helps a girl get places!! (even when shirts are optional)

She loves to dress up, not only in her clothes... but also in mine. It's not unusual for her to disappear for a few minutes only to have her return wearing any number of random things... (not gonna lie... the lacy leggings and high heels kinda freak me out a bit.... hope we're not in trouble with this one here)

I love her wearing a couple of my shirts and totally checking herself out in the mirror!

Leah LOVES little kids and especially babies. She seems to be a natural nurturer. She loves her dolls and stuffed animals and has just always known how to rock and bounce them. I am fascinated to watch her play with them, comfort them, feed them and just know what to do without ever being shown. She always wants them to be swaddled and snuggled. We have several besties in our neighborhood that have had babies this summer and she is absolutely enamored by them, their gear and everything related to them (she once played with an empty carseat and receiving blanket for an hour straight. no lie). She even has a special "baby talk" that she uses when she talks to them (much like a grow-up does) She scrunches her face up and put her little fingers out, as if in a "tickle-tickle" fashion and talks to them so sweetly. It kinds melts me.We talk about our new baby all the time and she seems to not be able to wait until we have a baby that lives at our house too! I hope and pray it's not too good to be true.

She was ecstatic to start by to Kindermusik again a few weeks ago and was so thrilled to see Miss Anna again. I can't believe how much she loves everything about it. She wants to listen to the cds constantly at home and dances around and tries to do all the actions she knows. Miss Anna might be her favorite person on earth, as she has named most of her dolls and stuffed animals Anna. We are especially excited to be in the same class with some of her besties, Sawyer and Caroline. She also loves that Caroline's baby sister "E-nor" comes along.

I love this time with her and am so glad we get to do it again!

In other exciting news, after 23 months and nearly 2 weeks.... Leah is finally facing forward in her carseat. We tried sooooo hard to make it all the way to the recommended 2 years, but mama was a little too anxious to get the baby seat installed.... and to be prepared in the event of baby brother's early arrival. 

She pretty much loves it and has never been happier!! She loves looking out the window and pointing out the yellow bus or the blue truck and I love being able to turn around and see her happy face!!

I am finding myself continuing to get incredibly emotional as I think of all the changes that we are getting ready to experience as a family. I know Leah will be a great big sister and I know this littleman is such a gift and an answer to our prayers... but the fact is, it will change everything as we know it. I will never again have this much one on one time with this sweet, amazing soul that has taught me to be a mama. I will forever cherish the opportunity that I have been given to have babies and be a mama. I love everything about this girl and especially for all that she teaches me about myself and about life. 

"You will never have this day with your children again.

Tomorrow, they’ll be a little older than they were today.

This day is a gift.

Breathe and notice.

Smell and touch them;

Study their faces and little feet and pay attention.

Relish the charms of the present.

Enjoy today, mama.  

It will be over before you know it."

- jen hatmaker

{ready or not.... here we grow, littlemiss}