Brother and Sister

When I saw Georgia Kate for the first time right after she was born and she was crying, she looked SO much like Reid to me.  It was that sweet bottom lip sticking out!  Then once I started studying her, I felt like she didn't really look like him at all.  Now that she's getting a little bit older, I feel like they are starting to have more similarities again!  They definitely look like siblings to me.  What do you think?

I love these babies so much!

vintage and mumsie clothes

What our days are looking like...

Disclaimer:

This will be super boring to anyone except me and I'm going to scribble it down in about 5 minutes so it may not make sense. ;)

I feel like in the last week or so we've settled into our own little semi-predictable routine.  I like that.  I know that with babies routines are very loose and change every couple of weeks it seems, but for now, this is what our days are looking like!

Georgia Kate wakes up for the day between 7 and 7:30.  I feed her, change her diaper, etc. before going upstairs to get Reid.  Reid starts waking up anywhere between 7:15 and 8:00 but I'm thankful that he stays in bed happily until I'm done with Georgia Kate.  Our mornings seem to start off better if I can take care of her before getting him up.

The three of us play upstairs for a little while and then come down for breakfast.  Georgia Kate goes into her "pocket" at this point and sleeps for a while.  Sometimes we will eat breakfast while watching Thomas and Friends and sometimes we will take it out on the back porch.  After Reid eats we just hang around downstairs.  We play on the porch for a while or play in the living room... He loves to do stickers (his new obsession) and play with play-dough.  At some point we change him into his clothes for the day.  

Georgia Kate eats again around 10.  One of the trickier things about two kids is keeping the toddler entertained while feeding the baby.  We are working on patience. :) After I feed GK, I change her out of her pajamas and it's time for me to "get ready" (this term is used loosely).  Georgia Kate lays in the Boppy lounger or under her playmat while I get ready and Reid is usually playing with the water faucet on the bathtub resulting in soaking wet clothes.  Once we are all ready, we try to go on some kind of outing.  A couple of times we've gone to Target, today we went to the park, but usually we just drive around or drive through Chick-fil-a for lunch.  I'm ashamed to admit how many times we've had Chick-fil-a for lunch over the last few weeks.

After our morning outing, we come home to eat lunch and play.  Georgia Kate usually falls asleep in the car, so she sometimes finishes her nap in her carseat in the house or gets back in the pocket if she's fussing.   She wakes up and is ready to eat between 12:30 and 1:00.

Reid goes down for his nap around 1:30 and then I get some one on one time with Georgia.  It's fun getting to focus on just her for a little while.  I've starting putting her in the rock n play at this time of the day to try to let her get in an actual nap.  Sometimes she sleeps, sometimes she doesn't.  If she does, I have been trying to squeeze in a little cat nap for myself!

Reid wakes up about 3:00 and we go up to get him.  It's usually time for Georgia to eat again so I feed her while Reid plays.  We spend the next few hours before Chris gets home playing and trying not to destroy the whole house. ;)  This is usually the most challenging time of the day.

Chris gets home around 6:00 (today he got home at 5:30 - YAY!).  We have been so blessed not have have to cook yet.  So many wonderful friends and family members have been bringing meals and now we are eating frozen meals that we prepared before GK was born.  Before we ate dinner tonight, I fed Georgia Kate at 5:45 while Reid and Chris played for a few minutes.  Usually Chris and Reid eat and I walk around with Georgia and then I eat later that night, but tonight she let us put her down in her Boppy pillow for a few minutes on the table, so we all sat down together!  

The rest of the evening has been really up in the air and Georgia Kate was having a very hard time going to bed.  It was taking close to two hours to get her to sleep...poor baby just couldn't settle down.  Tonight we tweaked things a little bit.  So far, so good!   We tried really hard and kept her awake from 5:45 to about 7:15.  At 7:15 I gave her a bath, which calmed her down and relaxed her.  We have been doing a bottle in the evening so that Chris can spend that time with her.  Chris gave her the bottle at 7:30 and she fell straight to sleep by 7:45.  She has been getting up to eat around 1:30 and 4:30, but that may change with the new evening routine.  

Now I am off to help with Reid's bath and bedtime!  Well, that's what life is looking like right now and I wouldn't change a thing!  This is such a special time as we settle into life as a family of four and I want to remember what it was like. :)

Just a couple of random pictures from the park today...

30 things

In honor of turning the big 3-0 last week, I decided to list 30 things that I've learned in the last 30 years.     Here it goes (in no particular order)...

1.  Marrying your first and only boyfriend is a gift and a blessing.

2.  It's actually fun to like football.  It only took Chris about 12 years, but I can actually say I enjoy watching it now.
3.  Stop putting so much pressure on yourself and let go of trying to achieve perfection.  It's never going to happen.

4.  All food tastes better with Diet Coke.
5.  Read for fun.
6.  Don't be a picky eater. I am still relatively picky, but I've come a long way with this one.
7.  Being a people pleaser is exhausting.  Apologizing for no reason and when you don't really mean it and over-explaining yourself is silly.
8.  Don't obsess about what others think of you.  They think about you a lot less than you realize.
9.  Don't let your weight determine how happy you are.
10.  Don't rush to decorate a home just because you want to fill it up.  Take your time and wait until you can find and get what you really want.
11.  Be kind.  You never know what someone is going through.
12.  You might miss out on knowing some great people if you are too busy judging them just because they are different than you.
13.  Be thankful for everything you have and don't take anything for granted.
14.  Find a job that you love and fulfills you.  I am so proud of my 6 years as a teacher and now my job as a stay-at-home mom.
15.  Not all trends are a good idea.  I owned way too many pairs of Doc Martins.  Ew.
16.  Always send a thank you note.
17.  Learn to say NO.
18.  I'm much more of an introvert than I thought.
19.  There is no place in the world like Texas A&M.
20.  Compliment someone whenever you can.  You never know the difference it might make to them.
21.  Be in pictures with your children, even if you don't like the way you look at that time.
22.  Don't blink.  Times flies.
23.  Accept help.  If someone offers to help you it's because they want to.
24.  Make new friends, but keep the old.  You will have friends from different phases of life, but there's nothing like old friends that share a history with you.
25.  Comparison is the thief of joy.  Don't compare your behind the scenes to someone else's highlight reel.
26.  The grass is not always greener on the other side of the fence.
27.  The to-do list will never be done.
28.  Give more than you receive.
29.  You will never regret spending time with your kids.
30.  Never underestimate the power of a good pedicure and an eyebrow wax.

We celebrated my birthday with my family on Friday at my parents' house.  It was easier than trying to bring both kids to a restaurant and having to rush.  We had a great night!  

At 30, my life is sweeter than I could have ever imagined!

One month of Georgia Kate!

Our beautiful baby girl has been in our lives for a month now and we couldn't imagine life without her! She is truly the perfect addition to our family and we love everything about her.  I love the way she puckers her little lips out like Reid used to do, the way she raises her eyebrows and wrinkles her forehead when I pick her up, her long skinny feet and toes, and the way she holds her hand out in front of her face when she's being bothered.  We've gotten a few real smiles (we think)!  She smiled at me for the first time on Sunday.  There's just nothing like your baby smiling at you.

One thing (among many) that I have learned is that every baby is different.  Overall, Georgia Kate is a pretty calm baby, but this girl definitely has her own set of preferences!  Our Princess Peach (other nicknames include Peachy and GK) LOVES to be held and snuggled and usually only by Mommy.  She is the BEST cuddler!  I got an Ergo Carrier (Reid calls it her "pocket") and it has been an awesome and completely necessary purchase!  She loves it and it allows me to play and take care of Reid while still feeling close to her.  She's not impressed with the play mat, swing, or bouncer.  Sometimes I can put her down in one of those for a couple of minutes, but she gets over it really fast. Georgia Kate's eating and sleeping are pretty typical of any one month old.  Right now I just feed her when she's hungry, which is usually every 2 hours, and she sleeps whenever she's tired.  She's definitely a sleepy eater, so she's eating more frequently right now.  At night Georgia Kate sleeps swaddled in her swaddle pod in the rock 'n play next to our bed.  This was something I had heard a lot about and when she wouldn't sleep in the pack 'n play, we decided to try it out.  We are having a hard time getting her to settle into bed at night, but she's usually pretty good about going back to sleep after middle of the night feedings.  She really just started having a little more "awake time" the last few days.  This girl loves her beauty rest.  We finally get to see her eyes sometimes!  She has beautiful eyes, just like her brother and daddy!  I can't wait to see if they will stay blue or turn brown like mine.  Georgia Kate loves bath time and it really seems to relax her.  Nothing compares to a clean, snuggly baby!  We are not on any kind of predictable routine whatsoever yet, but I'm okay with that.  It's a lot more challenging to get on a schedule when there is a toddler involved too and honestly, it's just not that important to me like it was the first time around.  I know now that we will settle into a routine eventually. 

Georgia Kate is wearing mostly newborn and 0-3 month gowns and pajamas and size 1 diapers.  We've had so much fun playing dress up!  My mom kept a lot of mine and my sister's dresses and bubbles from when we were babies.  The one in these pictures was mine!  

It's been a month of lots of visitors and time with family, lots of learning, lots of loving, and lots of memories.

Georgia Kate, we absolutely adore you and are so thankful that God gave us YOU one month ago!

Sidenote: I turned 30 today!  It's fun to get to share the 22nd of the month with GK! :)  

Life with two...

We are only about a month into life with 2 children, but I thought I would share about how things are going so far.  I have to say, the transition has been so much smoother than I thought it would be.  I'm not saying it's been easy and there have definitely been many challenging moments, but overall, it hasn't been near as hard as I was anticipating it would be.  Here's a list of random thoughts about life with two (because I don't feel like figuring out how to make it flow into paragraphs)...

• My c-section recovery was much quicker the second time.  I felt almost back to normal after about a week and had to remind myself that I just had major surgery and still needed to take it easy.  
• Something that has surprised me is how much less tired I feel this time than I did with Reid.  I think it's because you are forced to get up and go when you have another child to take care of.  With your first, your body is just in shock over all of the changes.   I was really worried about having the energy to take care of a toddler and newborn after sleepless nights and while I definitely feel tired, I'm not dragging.  
• The days seem to go by so quickly right now because I am ALWAYS doing something.   
• In some ways I feel much more confident this time, but in other ways I feel just as clueless!  Every baby is different, so I can't just always do what worked with Reid.  It's been fun figuring out a new baby!
• "Getting ready" (brushing teeth and putting in contacts) takes forever, leaving the house takes forever, and going to the bathroom and eating really doesn't happen for Mommy.  
• I have learned to let a lot of things go.  Reid is wearing things that I probably wouldn't normally let him wear and eating things that I probably wouldn't let him eat.  He's loving that of course!  
• I  feel like our washing machine and dryer are running constantly.  
• The house is usually a mess, but I really don't care.  These truly are the best times of my life and I am not going to let them pass me by because I am too worried about things that don't matter.
• Reid has been so helpful and seems so much older all of a sudden.  I have to remind myself that he is still only 2.  I try to involve him in almost everything I do with Georgia Kate.  I am so proud of him for how well he's done!  
• It's so important to give yourself grace as a mom and not put too much pressure on yourself.
• Second children are put through a lot.  Georgia Kate has gotten a book thrown at her head and a toy truck rolled over her (by her brother, not me) :).  Bless her heart.  We are working on being gentle.  
• Flexibility is the name of the game.  
• I might have a slight problem with searching for coordinating outfits for Reid and Georgia Kate.  
• One thing that has really helped (this tip came from Courtney!) is that I loaded up on random toys from the dollar store and a few other fun things to pull out during these first few weeks of being inside the house a lot.  This (and the fact that we've had tons of friends and family in and out) has really helped keep Reid from getting bored.
• The three of us ran our first errand today!! Woohoo!  I had to really gear myself up for this.  We went to Target of course!  I realized that I hadn't been to Target in over 4 weeks.  That has to be a record for me.  Overall, it went very smoothly and I left feeling very impressed with myself! :)
• A selfless husband, loving and involved grandparents, and friends that bring you meals are invaluable.  We have been so blessed! 

 I am in love with this picture...

I am so beyond grateful for our babies.  We are LOVING life with two!   

Georgia on my Mind

On July 22 our lives were forever changed once again with the birth of our beautiful baby girl.  I said this after Reid was born too...Georgia Kate is exactly what I always wanted.  God sure knows what He's doing. :)

The whole day was just perfect and magical.  Because we had a scheduled repeat c-section, we were able to make plans for Reid ahead of time.  Chris and I left the house around 9:30 to head to the hospital.  Our precious friends the Myers watched Reid during the day.  It was emotional to say goodbye to Reid for the last time as an only child, but we were also so excited to meet his baby brother or sister!  We arrived to check in around 10:30 and I felt like things happened so quickly from there!  There was a little bit of waiting, but I felt more relaxed than anxious because I knew what was going to happen.  Our families arrived around 11:30 and my parents and sister came back to keep me company until it was time to go to the OR.  They wheeled me to the OR and the prep time was close to 30 minutes.  Chris had to wait in the hallway for all of the prep.  I wasn't very nervous, just so so so excited!  The spinal tap made me very nauseous, so the worst part was getting sick after I was already strapped down.  Yuck.  Once Chris got to come in, it was go time and it was so fast!  Our doctor had us look at the baby ourselves to see if we had a baby boy or baby girl.  It was a little hard to tell at first because of the angle she was holding her.  When she said, "It's a girl!" I was truly SHOCKED.  Dr. Levin used the word flabbergasted to describe the look on my face and I would say that's about right.  

Georgia Kate will forever be one of the best and biggest surprises of my entire life.  

One of the amazing changes that they have made at the hospital since Reid's birth is that the babies go to recovery with Mommy after a c-section.  I loved this.  Chris and Georgia Kate went to recovery to wait for me while they were finishing me up.  I got to hold her immediately, which was so special.  Something else that was really fun was that I got to be the one to tell our families the gender of our baby!  Chris got to tell them with Reid and even though I got to watch a video of that, I loved getting to see their reactions in person!  The grandparents all came to recovery first and then my sister, John, and Chris' cousin Christie.  My mom's reaction was about like mine...shocked!  

Reid came up to the hospital that evening to meet his baby sister.  I didn't really have any expectations for that moment.  We had talked about Baby Georgia before (when talking to him about his brother or sister) so I was hoping he would at least recognize her name and make somewhat of a connection.  Once he got in the room, he was kind of uninterested in her.  She got him a big brother gift and that was what he was focused on.  He eventually climbed into the bed with me, which was just what I needed.  When it was time for him to leave, we told him he was going to go eat dinner with all of the family.  He did not want to leave.  My dad walked out with him and he was reaching for me yelling, "Mommy come!! Mommy come!" I could hear him crying and yelling all that way down the hallway.  It was heartbreaking.  After that we decided it was best for him to not come back to the hospital.  My dad took him back to the beach for a couple of days because my grandmother and some of the family were going to be there all week.  I think it was a good distraction for him, but I missed him SO much.  We stayed at the hospital from Monday to Thursday.  I really felt like I needed that just from a recovery aspect.  Our hospital stay was a wonderful experience.  I love how it feels like the world just stops for those few days.  I loved the one on one time we got with Georgia Kate.  Our time was spent falling in love with her and getting to know each other.  I am completely amazed all over again with the miracle of life!

My mom came up to the hospital on the day we went home to help get Georgia Kate dressed in her going home gown and to take some pictures for us.  Mumsie outdid herself once again and created a beautiful going home gown with a matching bonnet and blanket for our baby girl.  Georgia Kate wasn't a fan of getting dressed, but she looked like a baby doll!  For all of those that were concerned that our possible daughter wouldn't have any clothes since we didn't know what she was, you can now rest easy.  Baby clothes are Mumsie's thing.  This girl had herself a pretty nice wardrobe within a couple of days of birth. :)  

We arrived home to a yard decorated in pink! It was so fun!  Reid was waiting for us on the porch with all of his grandparents.  I had missed him so much and couldn't wait to hug and kiss all over him.  He walked over to the car to look at his baby sister and then he and I walked hand in hand into the house while Daddy carried Georgia Kate.  The very first thing he said was, "Baby Georgia watch Reid swing!"  He wanted her to come outside and watch him swing.  Precious.  We all went out there and Chris and I pushed him on the swing while Georgia Kate "watched".  The afternoon and evening were spent with our families.  There were a few challenging moments with Reid and my heart was just hurting for him.  He didn't quite understand what was going on.  He didn't want me to hold Georgia Kate.  Over the last few days we've seen him transform into a big brother and it has been such a precious thing to see.  I am so proud of him.  Hearing him say her name ("Baby Jo-Ja") is the sweetest sound ever!  We had to take Georgia Kate to the doctor the very next morning after being home because she had lost too much weight in the hospital.  Our appointment was at 8:30!  I was so impressed with us for all four being ready, out the door, and EARLY to our appointment after getting basically no sleep.  Yay!  I know our parents would have watched Reid, but we didn't want him to feel like we were leaving him again after just getting home from the hospital.  Reid was so excited that Georgia Kate was riding next to him in the car.  He wanted to show her all of his favorite landmarks that he sees when we leave the house.  "Show Baby Georgia horses.  Show Baby Georgia a-day (alligator)."  When we got to the doctor Reid wanted to push Georgia Kate's stroller.  He was SO proud.  When a lady stopped to admire the baby, Reid looked up at her and said "Baby Georgia" in his sweet little voice like he was showing off his baby sister.  It was a moment I will never forget!  Now he's all about his role as big brother.  He likes to help by giving her her paci and he loves to point out her little features, especially her feet.  He thinks everything she does is so funny!  

Reid wore the same pajamas on his first night home, minus the bow. ;)

Reid "holding" Georgia Kate for the first time...

Meeting Uncle Thomas and Great Grandmother Guinny...

Let's talk about her name.  I love traditional southern names that aren't very common.  I also love double names.  Right now she gets called Georgia and Georgia Kate, so we will see if the double name sticks or not.  Georgia Kate is a name we've loved since before Reid was born!  Yes, she happens to share a birthday with the royal baby.  Yes, his name is George.  Yes, his mother's name is Kate.  HOWEVER, we had her named the second she was born and George wasn't named until the next day. Just funny coincidences!

A new baby always reminds me how blessed we are with such wonderful people in our lives.  We have been surrounded by family and friends wanting to come spend time with Georgia Kate!  She is a very loved baby girl!  Our parents are making sure Reid is getting plenty of attention.  I've also been able to steal some sweet one on one moments with my favorite little boy while someone is loving on my favorite little girl. We are so grateful to my mom for helping us around the house with dishes, laundry, etc. and to our friends for the delicious meals! :)  All of this has made the transition so much smoother!

I am LOVING and appreciating the newborn phase so much this time around.  I just know how quickly it passes.  I am eating up every little coo, every little facial expression, every little sleepy smile, all of it.  I loved this phase with Reid too, and I specifically remember all of the times I was laying with him sleeping on my chest and thinking to myself, "enjoy this because you won't get to do it forever".  Georgia Kate is the BEST cuddler. She wants to be held constantly and I am more than happy to oblige.  I don't believe you can spoil a baby and one thing I know for sure is that I will never, ever regret putting off chores or my to-do list to hold one of my babies.  

I am so overwhelmed with love for my two babies!