Letter to Patience

Dear Patience:

-I understand that 1)I am a mother of a Toddler and Newborn, 2)I am the offspring of one of the most patient people I'd ever met, my mother, so i'm hard on myself and 3)I am a little tired, BUT, can you seriously cut me a break.

-I was told that my daughter would show some regression in potty training, and probably act out once Austin arrived. Little did I know that it would rear it's head 5 weeks after he was born. I'm trying to explain nicely why we don't throw our toys and Austin's stuff, am taking deep breaths while she laughs at me during "time out", trying to understand that she is peeing her pants intentionally to get my attention, and doing my best to ignore the massive amount of tantrums that have begun. All the time feeling a bit defeated and wondering where my sweet little Ashlyn went. Can you bring her back?!?!?!

-I know Austin is the easiest baby ever, and I could be much more sleep deprived having a 5 week old. BUT, how do I deal with the guilt of not having any time to talk to him about the animals and colors on his playmat, and do tummy time. I used to drop what I was doing the second my newborn cried, now I yell across the room....just a minute Austin, I'm almost done Austin.

-It's only been 5 weeks, of course my regular clothes shouldn't fit. BUT, they did at this point after Ashlyn. I was at pre pregnancy weight by my 6 week post partum visit, this time I have 8 pounds to lose. I know I look great, I'm 30 now, and it's my second child, but help me deal with the pressure I put on myself to get back to MY old body.

-So patience if you could please help me keep my cool and try to teach Ashlyn right and wrong in a calm and loving manner, make sure my second child feels as loved and important as the rest of my family, and that I am perfect just the way I am, that would be great!

-Lindsey

Austin had his 1 month appointment last week. It feels like he has been a part of our family for so much longer now, but I can't beleive he's already a month old. My little boy... is not so little. He is weighing in at 11 lbs 2 oz. and his height is 21 3/4 inches long. Making him 80th percentile for weight and 60th for height. He got a Staph Infection on his skin two weeks ago, but everything is cleared up and he checked out perfectly. Still sleeping very well and we even had our first smile today. He melts my heart!

My Chunky Monkey

Ashlyn enjoyed HallZOOween with Aunt Sarah last weekend, and loved dressing up and saying Trick or Treat for candy. Halloween should be fun this year. The girls hair is finally starting to grow grow grow......to cut the bangs or not, that is the question!

What am I coloring Mama: I can't see it!

FALLing more in love each day

Cincinnati and Dayton have a lot of really fun family oriented things to do in the Fall. My mom always talked about wanting to take the grandkids on the LM&M train ride in Lebanon, so when I saw that they did a Pumpkin train trip I knew we had to go. Ashlyn was SO excited to get to ride on a real train and get to pick a pumpkin. Although the train only went 10 mph, is not air conditioned (it was 86 degree on this particular October day), and drops you off at a random farm in Mason...it was a really fun trip. Ashlyn loved seeing all the animals (chickens, cows, donkeys, horses, sheep, goats), walking through the corn maze, picking a pumpkin, and waving to all the cars we passed while on the train. She is still talking about it, and I know it is a fun fall memory we will never forget! Next project is to decorate pumpkins....hmmm!

I held a Sip and See Open House at my parents house for anyone who wanted to come and meet Austin. We had cookies, champagne punch, and a lot of people got some much needed baby holding time. As expected, Austin slept through the whole thing. It was great to catch up with Mom and Sharon's friends, and I was excited to share Austin with everyone. He's easy to Show Off!

Being a Mom of 2

I do not know what could be sweeter than while holding my newborn baby, my precious baby girl lays her head on my shoulder and says "Love you Austin, Love you Mama".

Have to say that I went into having 2 children with the overall impression that going from 1 child to 2 is pretty tough. Not that it's harder than having one, but that it is exhausting and takes a lot of transitioning. So while adding a new bundle of joy into the house isn't a walk in the park, I can honestly say it has been a super easy life change.

When i had Ashlyn I remember feeling overwhelmed, emotional, physically and mentally drained, like i was supposed to feel a certain way and I didn't know what that was, ect. Where as bringing Austin home was just natural. Life went back to normal within days, I felt normal, and I it all felt right. I'm sure a lot of that is the knowledge that goes with being a 2nd time parent, but it's a really good feeling. I'm not exhausted, i'm not overwhelmed, i'm not crazy emotional, i'm just beyond blessed at my beautiful babies and how awesome it is to hold them both in my arms and smoother them with kisses.

The past few weeks have been crazy, it seems like months ago that I had Austin. We've had visitors, been out and about a ton, and just trying to keep life as normal as possible for Ashlyn. Ashlyn is quickly adjusting to having her brother in the house. We've had less tantrums, and needing attention from mommy/daddy. We still go out to wave at the bus as it goes by in the morning, go to the playground, have gymnastics class, and watch lots of Mickey mouse. She started calling me "mama" out of nowhere last weekend. I love it!! Here she is:

Painting

Reading Books with Her Uncles

And Playing in the Rain

Thank goodness this little one sleeps ALL the time. We are usually up just once each night to nurse, and awake maybe two hours out of the day. I'm not complaining, but he is one sleepy sleepy boy. Waiting for the day he just Wakes Up, eek! Makes it fun for all the visitors to just hold, snuggle, and love on the little guy.

My Little Tiger Snoozing

Snuggling with Aunt Liz (who came for a weekend visit)

Cuddling in Nicole's lap

Bonding (or sleeping) with Aunt Ashes and Uncle Nick

Letting Loose with Uncle Justen

Having his First Bottle

Loving on My Beautiful Babies!

Little Miss Dimples Turns 2

Although we have been in toddler mode for quite some time, Ashlyn officially turned 2 on September 23rd. Hard to believe my baby girl is 2. I honestly don't even know where the last year went, I feel like it was yesterday that I was putting her in a birthday hat and tutu for her 1 year portraits. She has been a bit out of sorts the past 2 weeks ,since Austin came home, so I was glad to have a reason to celebrate and focus on her for a couple days. Seems like we've been celebrating for days now. Lots of people brought over gifts, we got phone calls, and then did a party at Mimi's house over the weekend. She was getting frustrated when we would sing Happy Birthday to her, so I wasn't sure how the party would go, but she clearly was over being dramatic and loved all the attention from the family. I love that my little baby is becoming such a sweet and adorable little girl, but it's sad that she is a "girl" and not my baby. Can't get enough hugs and kisses from her cute dimple face, and am so proud of my daughter!!! Happy Birthday Ashlyn!

Look who Turned 2

Obsessed with her new Big Girl Bike

My mom ALWAYS made our birthday cakes, so it is a tradition I am trying to keep with my children. Took me hours, but i'm pretty happy with my 2nd year of making Ashlyn's birthday cake.

She was so proud of the cake (melted my heart), kept saying "My puppy dog cake"

Minnie Mouse themed birthday party at Mimi's House

Happy Birthday to Me!

Huffed and Puffed, and tried to blow those candles out!

Getting showered with gifts from the Family! Thank you everyone.

Till Next Year!

New Season, New Beginnings

As the summer shifts to fall, our lives has shifted from one of 3 to 4. I am blessed to say that I had the most Amazing experience having my 2nd child, and am even more blessed to welcome a son into our family.

Austin James was born on September 14th, 2010 at 2:39 PM. Weighing in at 7 lbs 11 oz and 20.5 inches long.

My OB decided to go ahead and induce me at 39 weeks since I was 3 cm dialated, having lots of regular cramping, and had such a hard time pushing out Ashlyn.

We arrived at the hospital at 5:30 am on Tuesday the 14th. After a not fun experience getting my hand IV (poked over and over, busted a vein in my hand, and pumped fluid into it) we were ready to get things going. They started my pitocin around 7:30 and I felt tightening from the contractions but no pain. Requested the epidural at 8 since I don't like pain. They had the epidural in by 8:45 and my OB broke my water around 9 am. Things progressed from there at a pretty regular pace, dialating about 2 cm's every 2.5 hours or so. When she checked me at 2:00 I was at 10 cm, and ready to push.

The nurse called the OB and came back to start practice pushing. My dad arrived and helped me push. About 20 minutes later Dr. Shie arrived and they prepped me to deliver. Matt and I were in shock since I pushed for 2 hours with Ashlyn. About 2 more contractions of pushing, and we had our baby BOY!! Matt was all smiles, it was an awesome surprise (definitely worth the wait). I felt no pain during the delivery (unlike Ashlyn) and had no tearing. It was almost TOO easy and surreal.

Ashlyn arrived about 2 hours later and got to see Austin for the first time as we settled into our big corner "suite" for the night. She wasn't too sure what to make of him, but very excited!

Our family of 3 quickly changed to a perfect little family of 4!

After 1 night in the hospital, we decided we wanted to head home. I was feeling really good and everything checked out great with Austin. So we packed our bags and broke out early. Not sure I would do that again, it was pretty exhausting at home that night!

Ashlyn spent another night with Mimi and Papa as we settled back at home with Austin, then she joined us the next day. She loves knowing where he is, and what he's doing, but really has no interest in holding him or messing with him. She just likes to look at him and say "Hi Baby Austin". It's been an adjustment with lots of temper tantrums and wanting mommy to hold her, but that's to be expected and overall she's doing pretty well.

He looks just like his big sister, and daddy! Doesn't have the big cheeks and dimples like Ashlyn did, but everything else about his face is exactly the same.

Mostly he does what babies do best, SLEEP! The boy is awake maybe 2 hours out of the day. We've gotten a whole week now of awesome sleep. He nurses at 11, sleeps until about 3:30, then nurses and goes right back to sleep till 7. He never cries unless you are changing his diaper. It really is just too good to be true, but i'm not complaining. We've been sent an angel, and I just can't get enough of him! Our lives truly have been BLESSED!

Last Blast of Summer

I have felt anything but cute the last few months, so it was such a pleasant surprise to get these AMAZING maternity photos captured by Natalie Schindler. She made me feel beautiful and got some adorable photos with Ashlyn and I to capture this time in our lives.

Baby 2 seems to constantly have the hiccups these days, which is a tad annoying, and never happened to me with Ashlyn. Otherwise, I think this baby is going to sit tight for the long run. Having lots of cramping but it seems in no hurry to join us outside the womb. Trying to be patient, but since I went early with Ashlyn, it's hard to understand why I am not holding my baby yet. I can honestly say, I'm ready......bring on the Baby!!!

As for my little busy bee, the last 2 weeks have been full of last minute summer activities. We never seem to have a dull moment and she is full of energy. The girl keeps me energized for sure. She loves going to her gymnastics class every Tuesday, and I think we've hit up every playground in a 5 mile radius of our house. Makes my hot summer days go a little faster, i'll miss it when the warmth and sunshine are gone!

Dressing up in Mommies Necklaces:

Sitting in the big kids chair at the bar and drawing pictures for Daddy:

Totally fascinated by babies- She is going to be an awesome Big Sister!

Not too sure about the shaving cream. Kept saying, "big mess"

Always loving her bath time, and running naked afterwards!

Checking out the Sunflowers!

Loving the zoo and her first time Feeding the Giraffe's!

Finally shifting over!

My pediatrician told me that at the age of 1 it's All about mom, then around the age of 2 it becomes All about Dad. Well I am happy to say that Ashlyn seems to FINALLY be making that transition. This week has been all about Daddy. She wants him to do everything with her, even running to him first to kiss her boo boo and get hugs. It is So adorably sweet, and I know Matt is eating it up too. Just in time for Baby #2, whew! Let's hope it isn't just a weekly phase.