One Month!

Guess who is one month old today! I can’t believe it, well maybe at 2 am I can believe it, but still it has gone by pretty fast!

Adelaide, here is what you have been up during your first few weeks…

• You weigh 10 lbs. 4 oz. and are 20 inches long.
• You wear size 1 diapers and as of today I packed up all the newborn size clothes so you are in all 0-3 month. The newborn onesies were getting a little tight, and the 3 month stuff is a little big but it works.
• Your hair seems darker than Aedan’s, but it is still blonde. Your eyes are pretty blue so I am thinking they might stay blue just like his.
• You eat about every 3 hours or so during they day, and usually give us two 4 hour stretches at night (although some nights not so much). Aedan was doing 8-9 hour stretches by 2 months, so you have a lot to live up to.
• You nurse well and that is what we do the most, but I am determined to make sure you take a bottle (unlike Aedan) so you have at least one a day. Sometimes I pump for it and sometimes we give you formula. You definitely prefer the pumped milk which is fine, I am just glad you take the bottle!
• You take most of your naps in your bedroom, but at night you sleep in our room. You are a pretty loud sleeper just like your brother so I think we are going to move you to your room soon. You sleep in your rock n play cradle, swaddled and on your side.
• You would love it if we held you while you slept 100% of the time. You have a knack for popping your eyes open as soon as we put you down. Although starting today we let you fuss/cry for a while and you actually put yourself to sleep for one of your naps. You have a few more weeks, but pretty soon I am going to work on you putting yourself to sleep for all your naps.
• I went back and read Aedan’s one month update and you seem to be about the same…you hate to be in your bouncy seat and the swing is pretty hit or miss. If you are asleep the swing is great, if you are awake…not so much. Basically you would just prefer to be held.all.day.long. By two months Aedan loved his bouncy seat, so I am hoping you follow suite.
• Aedan told his preschool teachers that all you do is scream. Haha! You do have your moments, but overall I think you are quieter than he was as a newborn.
• You have already had your first cold. I guess that is what happens when you are born in the fall/winter and have a 2.5 year old in the same house. You handled it pretty well and are totally over it now.
• You have been on tons of walks this month, although you would never know it because you pretty much fall instantly asleep when I put you in the carrier.
• Aedan really likes you except when you are crying. He loves to check on you and pat your head or belly. This week we started bathing you guys together and he is fine with it, except for the night you lost it and pretty much screamed the whole time I was bathing you. The next night he said he didn’t want to take a bath with you anymore. :)

Well baby girl, already one month old! I can’t wait to get to know you more and see what the rest of the year brings!

-Lauren-

Life Lately

We haven’t been doing too much lately, just hanging around the house for the most part. Both Aedan and Adelaide had a cold last week, but I think everyone is feeling almost back to normal now.

Adelaide is 4 weeks old today, I am about to start writing her one month update which is hard to believe! She has been doing really well despite having a stuffy nose for the past week.

We got the house decorated for Christmas over the weekend and now Aedan insists on turning on the Christmas tree lights as soon as he gets up each morning. He also picked out some Toy Story ornaments at Target and they are his current favorite toys.

We have been so blessed to have some friends and neighbors bring us meals over the past few weeks. Everything has been delicious and it has been so nice to not have to worry about dinner a couple of nights each week. A couple of weeks ago, one of our neighbors brought over minestrone soup. It was really good, so this last week I decided to make some for myself. I found this recipe online and it was really taste and pretty easy. It will definitely be in our normal meal rotation this winter.

Speaking of winter, while Aedan was at school this morning, Jon and I did a little shopping. I picked up some winter clothes for Aedan at Old Navy. I almost ordered some stuff yesterday for Cyber Monday but I am glad I didn’t because today I got 40% off in the store for using our Banana Republic card…I just need to find him a cute pair of jeans and I think he will be set for the season.

Jon did some shopping at Best Buy and picked me up a flip case for my new phone. I am still loving my new phone and the new case!

After that we did the grocery shopping for the week, picked Aedan up from school and just relaxed all afternoon. Aedan got woken up from his nap only an hour into it (he takes a 3 hour nap still every afternoon…he would probably sleep longer but I wake him up after 3 hours). They are finally finishing up the house next door and today they were drilling the spots for the fence posts. Nothing like a jack hammer going off out side your window during nap time. Sigh. Oh well, it meant for an early bedtime and once they get the fence up tomorrow, I think they will probably be completely finished outside so we don’t have to worry about construction noise during nap time anymore! Yay!

Since Jon is off work this week, he has been waking up with me when I get up to feed Adelaide. Last night we started watching the second session of Walking Dead. Adelaide usually gets up twice at night and it usually takes me about 30 minutes to feed her and put her back down so we watched half the show during the first feeding and finished it during the second feeding. I like the show, but the first episode was super gory and pretty intense. I was wide awake and had a hard time going to sleep after her first feeding…it may not be the best show to watch in the middle of the night. Ha!

Well, I think that about sums up what’s been happening over here. I can not believe it is already the last week in November! I guess I better get to Christmas shopping!!

-Lauren-

Picture Taking

Jon keeps reminding me that I need to take as many pictures of Adelaide as I did of Aedan during his first year…I am trying, but man I set the bar pretty high. ;)

Yesterday I was about to put Adelaide down for a nap and I thought I’d take a few pictures first.

Aedan decided to join in with his camera…

I’m not sure what I love more, the fact that he wanted to join in or the fact that he insists on holding the camera backwards. It actually takes pictures and he has taken a ton of self portraits.

Every since we brought Adelaide home, Aedan just seems so much more grown up. He has been such a good big brother but sometimes I miss my little baby boy!!

All this picture taking can get exhausting…time for a nap!

-Lauren-

Happy Thanksgiving!

I am so thankful for my family! Yesterday we were able to celebrate Thanksgiving with both my family and Jon’s family. The nice thing about having a newborn is that everyone comes to you and brings food! I have to say a huge thank you to my mom, grandmothers and mother-in-law. They cooked two great meals for everyone and left us with tons of leftovers!

Today we are enjoying a relaxing day as a little family of 4 (or 5 since we count Hiro as our first baby) and eating lots of yummy leftovers. Tomorrow I am hoping to start getting the house decorated for Christmas! I can’t believe tomorrow will mark one year since we put a sold sign up in the yard. This year has gone by so fast!!

I got a few pictures yesterday while my family was here for lunch, but I completely forgot to bring out my camera when Jon’s family was over for dinner. Fail.

Adelaide got to meet both of my grandmothers…

And of course got to be held by everyone…

This little turkey got no shortage of attention either. He had a blast with everyone. In fact he woke up this morning and went through the list of everyone he got to see yesterday and asked to see them again. :)

I also got this great shot of my parents and their three grandkids. :)

I hope everyone is having a great Thanksgiving and enjoying lots of good food and time with friends and family!

-Lauren-

Thoughts in Bullet Points

 

• We have been battling a cold around here and let me tell you, a toddler with a cold is one thing, a 3 week old with a cold is another. I was up most of last night and the night before and I am worn out! Luckily it looks like Aedan is feeling better and I am hoping Adelaide will be feeling better tomorrow.
• I am so thankful that Jon has the rest of this week off as well as all of next week! Yay for help with night feedings. :)
• Other than the cold, we are doing pretty good, although I still haven’t ventured out of the house with both kids by myself (other than taking and picking up Aedan from school). Jon will be happy because our Target bill should be lower this month because of it!
• I finally got my nice camera out and took a couple of pictures of Adelaide. I have been meaning to take some newborn ones but the days just keep flying by. I am hoping to take some time this week to get some good ones since she is almost a month old already!

• Yes, that would be my newborn sleeping on her tummy on our bed. She was on our bed because I had her propped up since her nose was all stuffed up and she is on her tummy because I think she takes after her brother. Usually she takes her naps and sleeps at night in her Rock n Play cradle but I have a feeling when we move her to her crib in a few weeks she will be sleeping on her tummy full time. She is just so much more comfortable that way.
• Do you think she looks like Aedan?…I think she does.

• I packed up all my maternity clothes a couple of weeks ago, except for my William Rast jeans. I love them too much. They just have a thin elastic band around the waist and they are so comfortable…I may just keep wearing them all fall/winter.
• Tomorrow my grandmothers are both coming over with my parents to see Adelaide and celebrate Thanksgiving, I am hoping everyone feels better and that I get some more sleep tonight!! On that note, I am heading to bed at 9:45. Ah life with a newborn. :)

-Lauren-

The winner of the Tiny Prints giveaway was Michelle. Congrats again!

Christmas Cards

I love sending out and receiving Christmas Cards each year. I have sent out cards since the year Jon and I got married. I love looking back and seeing how our lives have changed over the years. For the last few years I have used Tiny Prints for our Christmas cards and have always been happy with how they turned out.
I can’t wait to pick out cards this year! Last year, things were kind of rushed since we were in the middle of moving. I ended up having to use an older picture of Aedan since I didn’t have time to take a good Christmas one. This year, I plan to start early and get things going now instead of waiting until the last minute!
There are so many choices and I will probably decide on a card once I have the pictures I want to use, but these are a few that I really like…




You can go here to check out Tiny Prints special offers and such.
So what about you? Do you send out Christmas cards? How do you display the cards that you receive?
This year, Tiny Prints is offering my readers a $50 off your order to put towards your Christmas cards
(offer expires on 12/14/12 and cannot be combined with other promos and does not include shipping)
Would you like to win? First you need to subscribe to my blog and then leave me a comment either saying you already subscribe or you did subscribe and what you like most about giving and receiving Christmas cards. One comment per person please.
I will use random.org to pick a winner Sunday night, (11/18) at 9 p.m. I will email the winner that evening and announce it on my blog on Monday, (11/19). So please leave your email address so I can contact you!
-Lauren-
This is a sponsored post and I am being compensated, however the opinions are my own and I have used Tiny Prints in the past for Christmas cards, and invitations and have always been pleased.

Two Weeks Old!

We have been busy around here and I haven’t had a chance to get on my computer much at all.

I took Adelaide to her two week appointment yesterday and she is doing really well. She weighs 8 lbs. oz. now, which puts her just a little behind Aedan at the same time (I looked back and he was 8 lbs. 10 oz. at 2 weeks). It is so funny to me how nervous I was taking Aedan anywhere at this age. I think I had Jon come with me to his first three appointments, while I took Adelaide to her first appointment 3 days after she was born and to this one solo and it was completely fine.

I wake her up to eat every 2.5 to 3 hours during the day (if she is awake we do 2.5, if she is asleep we do 3). At night she usually goes two 4 hour stretches which is nice, but I am already ready for longer stretches. Hopefully she will be like her brother and give me 8-9 hour stretches by two months (which would be a wonderful Christmas present!). :)

Aedan is doing really well with her also. He loves to go and check on her when she is sleeping. We are working on going into her room quietly and luckily she isn’t too phased by much noise yet. He doesn’t like when she cries and if she gets really worked up like during a diaper change or something, he will start crying too. He loves to pat her feet and give her kisses on her head. For a 2 year old that is all boy and plays pretty rough, he has done a great job of always being gentle around her.

We tried out the swing for the first time yesterday and the only way she likes it is if she is swaddled up, which is exactly how Aedan was too.

-Lauren-

Adelaide’s Birth Story

I thought it would be fitting for this to post on her due date. She is now 8 days old and doing great! I’m not sure if I am just more comfortable or if she is just easy but so far things have been going really well. I know she is still in her sleepy newborn stage so we will see if she stays this easy in a few weeks. :)

Okay so her birth story…

On Sunday (the 28th), I woke up around 2:30 with more contractions. They felt pretty much the same as they did the last time around. I figured I would wait them out to see if they ever got closer together or more uncomfortable. They never did. I had them pretty much all that day but again it was nothing.

Monday, I didn’t feel like doing much so I just stayed around the house with my mom and Aedan. I didn’t have a single contraction so I figured it was going to be Friday before Adelaide would come. I was so ready to be done so it was a little frustrating!

Monday night/Tuesday morning I woke up again around 2:30 with really bad stomach cramps. I thought maybe I had eaten something bad and was sick. After being up for a few minutes Jon woke up and took one look at the amount of pain I was in and started getting our stuff together. I kept telling him I was worried that this wasn’t it again, but since I couldn’t even walk during a contraction he decided we were going in. We live literally 10 minutes from the hospital so we didn’t even bother calling the after hours number. By the time they would have called back we would have been there. Luckily my parents had stayed over for the night so we woke them up as we left.

We got to the hospital around 3:30. They put me in a triage room for about a minute before they realized everything was happening pretty fast. I was 8 cm when I got there and the first thing the nurse said was that I probably wasn’t going to get to have an epidural this time around. Um what! Remember when I wrote this….I was serious about having the baby in the hospital with a epidural. I was in no way prepared to not get one.

What is a little funny is that the new maternity wing had just opened that night at 6 pm. So I was the first person to deliver in the new rooms. Unfortunately they weren’t all stocked and ready to go so three nurses were kind of scrambling around trying to find thing and get everything ready.

I remember the nurse asking if I felt like I needed to push. When I said yes, she told me to just do little pushes because the doctor wasn’t there yet. I remember I kept saying I couldn’t do this, and then one of the nurses came over and told me I was already doing this…I think that is when I realized this was it, there was no changing how it was all going to happen. The doctor showed up, broke my water and I think Adelaide was out in about 3 pushes. She was born at 4:25 am. So from start to finish my labor was less than 2 hours long, which is 30 minutes less than the amount of time I spent just pushing with Aedan. Completely difference experience and definitely more painful but thankfully much faster!

I felt so much better after having Adelaide than I did after Aedan. I remember telling Jon while we ate breakfast Tuesday morning, that I felt like I could go home already. Luckily since I didn’t get an epidural, we only had to stay one night and we were home by 10:30 am Wednesday morning (which meant I got to go trick or treating with Aedan!). I tore really bad with Aedan and I tore again with Adelaide but nothing like before. I think that is one of the reasons my recovery has been so much better.

-Lauren-

Halloween Weekend Recap

Better late than never…this was the recap of our weekend before Adelaide came.

On Friday, when Jon was done with work, we did our typical shopping/running errands and then out to dinner. We started at Best Buy to look at new cell phones. I was up for an upgrade now and Jon will be up for one December 1st. I was thinking about getting the new iPhone, but I was kind of ready for something different so I wanted to check out the Samsung Galaxy. After Best Buy we hit up Old Navy to get Aedan some fall clothes since it actually felt like fall this weekend! From there we went to dinner at Waterloo. The food is always so so, but the fact that they have a playground is always a win!

Saturday we had a lazy morning around the house and watched Aedan’s new favorite movie…Toy Story 2. He actually loves all 3, but we had picked up the second one the night before and since it is the new one, it is his new favorite. He is obsessed with Buzz. He pretends he has wings and button just like Buzz and he even calls Star Command before jumping off the couch or bed. It is hilarious.

After nap time, we headed over to Aedan’s school for their trunk and treat. We had told Aedan that after his school party, we were heading over my sister and brother-in-laws house for their neighborhood party. He loves his cousin Cooper so pretty much all he talked about at his school party was that he wanted to go see Cooper. We only ended up staying for about 20 minutes.

After a quick stop at home to get some jackets, we headed over to see Cooper (and my SIL & BIL). We all had a great time, but I was feeling pretty blah so we made it an early night.

My parents came over on Sunday and Jon and I went out to look at cell phones again. I ended up going with the Samsung Galaxy 3 and I love it!

When we got home, we headed out to our neighborhood’s Halloween party. It was pretty fun! They had a chili cook-off, games, and a hay ride through the neighborhood. Aedan even found a little boy dressed up like Buzz  and you would have thought he was some kind of celebrity. It was pretty cute.

I kind of felt bad since I dressed him up like Bob the Builder (since that was who he was into for so long) but Jon found a Buzz costume on clearance after Halloween and Aedan still won’t put it on so I guess I made a good choice. :) He does like to have the costume hanging on his closet door so he can push the buttons and call Star Command when needed. Ha!

I have zero pictures from the weekend apparently, but I did take a few when we went trick or treating on Halloween. I am so glad I was able to be home to go to a few houses with Aedan this year!

Next year we will have two little ones to take trick or treating!

-Lauren-

Update–Adelaide is here!

I had a whole post almost ready to go on Monday about our weekend recap. I just needed to add some pictures from the Halloween parties we took Aedan to. Obviously I never got around to posting that but I will soon!

Monday I really didn’t feel like doing much. I was a little annoyed since Monday was supposed to be the day I was induced and I was DONE being pregnant.

Luckily I didn’t have long to wait, since Adelaide was born Tuesday morning 4:25 a.m. We have been home since Wednesday morning and are all doing well.

She was born October 30th and weighed 7 lbs. 2 oz. and was 18 in. long. I think she looks a lot like Aedan!

I am hoping to have some time to finish our Halloween recap as well as Adelaide’s birth story soon!

-Lauren-