BOWquet

School time A-B

2012-01-31T09:10:00.000-08:00

My 3 year old has known her alphabet since she was 18 months old, she can count to 20, she knows her colors, shapes and so much more that I can't remember. I've started "school" with her like 3 times. lol Because we'll be homeschooling, I want to start training her at a young age that we will have a daily school time. 3 weeks ago I started doing "school".. We are very laid back with it, but she LOVES it. I am doing 1 letter a week, teaching her things that start w/ each letter, and trying to teach her to write them, though she is not a fan of writing yet. lol She has some pre k books that my mom gave her that she loves to work on. Every day, no lie, she comes to me with her books and says "mom will you teach me something". I love it, and just can't say no to that. lol

I do not have any pictures from A week. But we just colored some pages, ate animal crackers and that was about it. It was my first week and I couldn't come up with anything.

B week, we did some coloring, gluing activity (she LOVES to glue), read some books and more.

We also do a Bible verse a week, starting with our letter.
Thankfully I have a friend who is inspiring me and helping me. She's 2-3 weeks ahead of me, so it's been fun to pick her brain. :)

Making a Bee with the letter B

It's a B :)

We had a grab bag with "b" things... I will do this weekly for each letter.

Butterfly with buttons. Again, she loves working with glue and different mediums. :)

Displaying our A and B sheets.

This week we are on C. We're having a blast w/ it! :)

Up late...

2012-01-29T21:42:00.001-08:00

twas 11 pm on Sunday
and all thru my house
not a creature was stirring
not even a mouse...

Just then I decided
I would go to bed
so I put on my jammies
and laid down my sleepy head

I turned off the light
ready for sleep
I closed my eyes tight
but then heard a tiny peep

Tonight was not the night
I thought that just maybe
I'd get to sleep before midnight
But different plans had my baby

Tis now 1 in the morning
a new day is beginning
this tired mama is still waiting
for her sweet baby to start dreaming...

-written by this tired mama :)

Wordless Wednesday

2012-01-25T09:56:00.000-08:00

sweetness

2012-01-24T09:27:00.001-08:00

baby sister figured out how to flip to her belly a few weeks ago.. Then she recently figured out she can sleep that way and she's sleeping SO much better.. Is there anything sweeter than a sleeping baby?!

Wordless Wednesday

2012-01-18T09:23:00.000-08:00

Earrings

2012-01-17T07:32:00.000-08:00

This past weekend baby sister got her ears pierced. It results in a few minutes of screaming, but then she's fine. Her big sister was very excited that baby sister got earrings like her. lol

Some bling :)

kitchen remodel

2012-01-14T06:07:00.000-08:00

We live in a 1930's house, we love it! When we bought the house, I HATED the kitchen. The countertops and walls were avocado green. bleh I HATE the color green. We've been in this house for about 5 years, and last December (2010) my dad (he's a contractor) gave me a wonderful Christmas present. New countertops! They are marble and beautiful! This past week (yes 13 months later) he came back to do the backsplash. He picked everything out, I LOVE it! There are still some minor things to be done, and I really want to redo our floors soon. The opposite wall, facing the sink has a small patch of countertops and my stove.. No backsplash there. lol

Before backsplash

After

How it was before we remodeled

My girls

2012-01-13T07:29:00.000-08:00

Hubby and I have recently been talking about how fast time flies. Any parent out there experiences this feeling. It seems like it was just yesterday that I held my first daughter in my arms for the first time. I look at her baby pictures now, she was always so skinny and tall! I LOVE her long legs. :) I used to think, how in the world did we have such a tall baby? She has always been 75-90% for height. The doctor predicts she'll be about 5'8 when she's an adult (I'm only 5'4).

Anyways, now we have a 2nd daughter. Who is growing up WAY too fast. I mean, seriously, wasn't she just born!? Now here we are, she's 5 months old. CRAZY! Talk about crazy, I thought my firstborn would be my big baby. Boy was I wrong! This little cutie here is in the 95% for height and weight. :) My little solid chunk! I'm allowed to call her chunky b/c I'm her mommy. ;) But I am really getting sick of people telling me how big she is. Or "What are you feeding her?" Should I put my 5 month old on a diet to satisfy stupid people?! I think she's absolutely perfect!!

On the 5th we started giving her baby food! Big sister insisted on being the first to feed her, it was so sweet. :) I wanted to wait another month to start her on food, BUT our children have the weirdest bowels, so from firsthand experience with my first daughter, and per the doctor's advice, we started her on solids to help her out. :) She wasn't sure what to think at first, but now she LOVES it! So far she's only had bananas.. This weekend we'll try pears.

Are't they awesome!? I just love my little beauties to pieces! I know I am SO blessed, my heart is full!

Giveaway

2012-01-12T05:10:00.000-08:00

Creative Minds is hosting a giveaway, the prize is 3 original BOWquet bows :) 1 princess crown, 1 loopy flower and 1 heart! :) Check out her blog for a chance to win!

Wordless wednesday

2012-01-11T10:54:00.001-08:00

Princess

2012-01-10T09:51:00.000-08:00

I have been recently inspired to try my hand at some new bows.. I am making castles and crowns! I have a couple listed in my shop with more to come. :)
Check them out!

I can't wait to try different colors. I made a blue crown for my daughter and it looks adorable on her hair :)

Valentine's Day

2012-01-03T07:37:00.000-08:00

I'm so excited for the new year.
Valentine's day is just around the corner, then spring! :)
Here are some of my new cuties listed in my shop.

Christmas Day

2011-12-27T20:32:00.000-08:00

Our tree the night before Christmas.. I was so excited to see my girls opening their gifts.

Present time! Baby sister didn't really open anything, but she was trying hard to get her sister's toys.. We gave baby sister a baby doll, a fisher price zoo and that little dog.

Baby girl got a dollhouse this year. I was SO excited!!! She got some rooms for the dollhouse, movies, tinkerbell dolls and I can't even remember. She kept asking santa for a dog and stuffed penguin. So we got her that too, a furreal dog, she named Riley (after the dog we lost in June). She named her penguin, Pingu...

I named baby sister's doggy, Perry.

baking...

2011-12-26T19:39:00.001-08:00

Holidays are always stressful.. I've decided that I am going to do what I want with my family, and the grandparents and other family members just need to work around it. Hubby and I each have a sister. Each sister have inlaws.. There are way too many families to make happy and it gets too stressful. I want to enjoy my husband and daughters.. So this year, I chose not to get stressed. lol

It was a good day. On Saturday we spent all day home, cleaning and baking. My girl loves to help me bake, it's the sweetest thing. I made a chocolate chip pumpkin pie and a triple layer chocolate cake, all made from scratch. I haven't baked this way in about 5-6 years. lol My baby girl was right there with me, watching and helping.

We also made cookies for Santa and a ginger bread house. :) She had so much fun and was worn out by bedtime.

Christmas Eve

2011-12-23T22:14:00.000-08:00

I feel so blessed to celebrate another Christmas with my sweet baby girl. She's so excited, it's so fun to see Christmas as a parent, especially now that she is starting to understand everything. I love when she says that we're celebrating Jesus' birthday. :)

I am so thankful that God has blessed me with this little girl. It's our first Christmas with her and I'm so excited. She has no idea what's going, but sure loves looking at the lights. :)

This Christmas Eve, I sit here awake, at 1:30 am, anxious for the celebrations to begin. I feel so blessed to have a wonderful hubby and 2 little princesses to spend this day with. I look forward to teaching my girls the meaning of Christmas and building new traditions with them.

sisters

2011-12-19T11:56:00.000-08:00

My girls in their christmas dresses. My toddler said she looked like snow white... :)

I just love them!!! I'm so blessed!

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

2011-12-13T17:15:00.000-08:00

Christmas time is so fun when you have kids. It's so neat to see it through their eyes. My 3 year old is finally understanding the concept and is having a blast. I've been teaching her that we buy gifts for others and taken her shopping for her cousins... She's helped us decorate the tree and even decorated her own little Christmas tree that we put in her room. We've done lots of Christmas crafts. I still plan on making a gingerbread house and sugar cookies... She's also discovered Santa and has a LONG list for him. lol Between Target and Amazon, I've spent a LOT of money on her. lol I feel kind of bad b/c baby sister isn't getting as much as her big sister, but it's hard to shop for a 4 month old.

Wow, I can hardly believe she's 4 months old... She's been a blast lately, laughing and giggling. We've started letting her cry it out and our nights have gone SO much better. She was keeping us up till 2am everynight crying or just hanging out. Now we just put her in her bed and within 10-20 minutes she's asleep. It's been so nice! She is such a smiley and happy baby, I love it!

She loves gluing stuff :)

Sweet sisters by our tree

Christmas Time

2011-12-02T08:45:00.000-08:00

Part of getting ready for Christmas is getting all those pretty dresses and outfits for your kids. I LOVE holiday wear, and better yet, LOVE making the matching bows for those pretty outfits. Do you have your daughter's hairbows yet?
Check out my shop for bows to compliment those special outfits. I will also do custom orders :)

This Christmas tree will match every christmas outfit! I can make in pink too :) Selling for $4 in my shop.

I came up with this little guy after watching Rudolph :) He is perfect for Christmas time. Selling him for $4 in my shop!

My daughter got a very cute dress w/ penguins on it and I just HAD to come up with a matching bow. :) Isn't this penguin so cute!? Selling him for $5 in my shop :)

Wordless wednesday

2011-11-30T11:09:00.000-08:00

Getting ready for Christmas. So excited!

my loves

2011-11-27T11:33:00.000-08:00

Me and my 2 loves on turkey day. Sadly we didn't get a family picture w/ daddy...These girls make me so happy! They are my heart!

Give Thanks

2011-11-24T18:15:00.001-08:00

HAPPY THANKSGIVING everyone!!!

Christmas bow

2011-11-23T11:27:00.000-08:00

$5 plus shipping :) Perfect for that pretty christmas dress!!!

30 Days of thankfulness part 3

2011-11-19T07:51:00.000-08:00

I’m participating in “30 Days of Thankfulness” on facebook this month. Every day I am posting something I am thankful for in my status.

On the weekends, I will post what I wrote on facebook here.

Day #1
I've been chanllenged to post something I am thankful for each day of this month. Today I am thankful for my wonderful husband. He is an amazing husband and father and I still wonder what I did to deserve him..

Day #2
I am posting something I am thankful for each day this month. Today I am thankful for my church. I'm so thankful God brought us there almost 6 years ago. I'm thankful for our church body and how encouraging they are. Thankful that we can be in a church that preaches the truth. Thankful for the friendships we've made there.

Day #3
Today I am SO thankful for my daughter. She turns 3 today and I'm so thankful that God blessed us with such a beautiful and lively little girl. I love her so much and am thankful to be her mom. She's growing fast and I've loved every minute of it. Happy 3rd Birthday to my beautiful daughter!!

Day #4
Today I'm thankful for my baby. She has brought us so much joy these 3 months... I love that she's a total mamas' girl. I love how happy she gets whenever her big sis is near. :) so thankful I get to be her mom.

Day #5
Today I'm thankful for answered prayers. I'm thankful That God answers in His time and not mine. Thankful the answer is not always yes. Thankful for the lessons I've learned while waiting For God's timing. Thankful that He is faithful and loving to answer all my prayers.

Day #6
I'm thankful for my parents. They've worked hard to bring us to this country and give us a better life. Thank you mom and dad for all your sacrifices.

Day #7
today I'm thankful for my sister. she is a one of a kind sister and I know I can always count on her. I'm so thankful God gave me a twin b/c she's an automatic best friend. lol She is also an awesome auntie and loves to spoil the girls. We are all blessed to have her in our lives.

Day #8
today I'm thankful for my little brother, Nathan. I can always count on him to make me laugh. I'm so proud of him, I know he's destined for great things.

Day #9
today I am thankful for my nephew. He made me an aunt and totally stole a piece of my heart. Looking forward to enlisting his help to scare the boys away when my, girls, are, older. Lol

Day #10
thankful for my father and mother in law AKA Poppy and Nona. :) They are so awesome and are always willing to help us w/ anything. From doing yard work to baking cakes, we can always count on them. So thankful to be part of their family.

Day #11
Thankful for all those who have fought and those who continue to fight for our country.

Day #12
Thankful for the sweet friends God has put in my life. I can always count on my friends and am so blessed by all of them!

Day #13
Thankful for cold medicine and the relief it can bring.

Day #14
thankful for my dishwasher. I HATE washing dishes and love being able to just load up the dishwasher. lol

Day #15
Thankful for my husband's job. Thankful that his job allows me to stay home with my babies. Yesterday Story asked me if I "go to work." I hugged her and said "no, I stay home to play with you." She smiled :) LOVE IT!!!!!

Day #16
thankful for coffee. :) I love having a nice cup of coffee everyday. It's my daily treat and "escape".

Day #17
Thankful for sales and coupons. :)

Day #18
Thankful for cold medicines that work. (oopps I repeated this one, but that should tell you how awful this cold has been)

Day #19
Thankful for weekends :)

2011-11-18T09:37:00.000-08:00

I've been lacking motivation and energy these past few days. Today, after only 5 hours of sleep, somehow I had energy. Well, either that or a combination of being sick and tired of a mess and needing to take out my frustrations on something. I have spent all morning cleaning. I swept, mopped, dusted, cleaned the bathroom, got caught up with laundry and much more. It feels good to be in a clean house. :) I cleaned like a madwoman all morning. I'm worn out, but happy. On my to do list is, organizing the bathroom closet, kitchen cabinets and my closet. I'll feel tons better when that all gets done.

Wordless wednesday

2011-11-16T08:19:00.001-08:00

My daughter's new favorite toy!

Monday blues

2011-11-14T05:49:00.000-08:00

I am dragging today.. Anyone else feel the same way? I woke up to a screaming toddler, who woke up her baby sister.. There are dishes to be washed, laundry to be folded, errands to run... Right now I sit on my couch watching Frasier reruns with a nice cup of coffee. I won't say that my breakfast was a cupcake leftover from my daughter's birthday party. Now I guess I must get my girls from their beds and start my day. All the while in my head my inner child is screaming "NO I DON'T WANT TO"...

Can I have a day off?!

Ps. Monday Etsy Finds coming later...

30 Days of thankfulness cont.

2011-11-11T13:51:00.000-08:00

Hair Style

2011-11-10T16:19:00.000-08:00

On Nov 3rd my baby girl turned 3 years old. I can hardly believe it. We spent the day at home, we had celebrated at Disney the week before. :) I made her favorite dinner, quesadilla, and I made cupcakes. We had a little celebration, just the 4 of us. We'll be having a small party w/ family and close friends this weekend.
I wanted to do something fun with her, so I curled her hair. She looked so sweet with curls, I can't wait to do it again!

photos

2011-11-09T21:38:00.000-08:00

I LOVE taking pictures, especially of my girls. About 6 months ago, I got my DSLR camera and am enjoying learning all the ins and outs.. I LOVE envisioning something and seeing it come out :)
I've also been learning photoshop and have been having a blast playing with it.

We went to my niece's baptism and I loved the church.
I love this shot :)

Beautiful doors

cute shot of me and my girl. I had to bring out the colors in this one...

30 days of Thankfulness

2011-11-05T03:38:00.000-07:00

3 all around!

2011-11-03T22:07:00.001-07:00

Today, Nov 3rd was a super special day in our house!!! My sweet baby girl turned 3 years old today. :) It is hard to believe that 3 years ago I became a mom. It was such a perfect day. She was such a little doll baby and I can't believe my little 7.12 lb baby is now this fiery little girl. She's growing so fast and I love her more by the minute. She is such a fun little girl, so lively and full of energy. She loves her mama, but is a total daddy's girl. She loves Disney Princesses, pink, baby dolls and all these girly things. She also loves cars and LOVES Buzz Lightyear. :) So much so, her birthday party next week will be Toy Story themed ;)

Today I made her favorite dinner, chicken quesadillas, then I made some cupcakes and we had presents. It was just the 4 of us and it was perfect! Next Saturday we'll have a small party at a local park. It's her first party with friends, we've kept her parties simple up till now. lol She is so excited and can't wait for cake and presents. lol

Today was also a special day b/c my sweet baby turned 3 months old. Time is sure flying with her as well. She is a total mama's girl and I love it. Though she is very clingy and it makes for some long nights sometimes. She has brought so much joy to our family. The sweetest times are when she looks at us and smiles. She LOVES her big sister and flashes her the biggest smiles whenever she's around. I love it!

November

2011-11-01T10:57:00.000-07:00

Can you believe November is here?! So scary!!!
That means in 2 days my baby will be 3 years old. I can hardly believe it. I look at baby sister in shock b/c I feel like big sister was JUST my baby. Now she'll be 3 and I have a new baby. Time just flies by!

Hard to think that 3 years ago I was anticipating the arrival of my daughter. I had no idea what I was in for. Her birth, sadly, is a blur to me. I remember seeing her, feeling an instant overwheling joy over finally becoming a mom. Holding her for the first time was a dream come true. She was gorgeous!!! She had puffy cheeks (still does), beautiful pouty lips and blue eyes. I had dreamed of having a blue eyed baby :) She was perfect! I will never forget holding her for the first time, I never wanted to let go.

Now she's this stubborn, too smart for her own good, extremely talkative ball of energy. She's my little buddy and I love her to pieces! Watching her grow and being her mother has been amazing! Now I get to watch her in her new role as a big sister and she is just SO good. These past few weeks she's grown and changed so much. I love the little girl she's becoming. She is constantly amazing me. :)

And I had to share a pic of my girls on halloween. :) Aren't they so cute!? I was so happy with how the ghost costume came out, I made it :)

wordless wednesday

2011-10-26T05:03:00.001-07:00

We're going to a special place soon :)

busy, tired, stressed...

2011-10-21T11:16:00.001-07:00

So having 2 kids is more overwhelming than I ever thought. I haven't been able to get much done lately, other than taking care of kids. I am not complaining at all, I love motherhood. I love my girls. I am exhausted. Baby girl still hasn't been sleeping through the night. She is whiny and clingy and loves being with her mama. I love it! :) BUT it makes getting anything done very difficult. I have been trying to get back to crafting, and it has not worked out. Anytime I try to do any sewing or anything, one or both kids need me. The house hasn't been properly cleaned, I barely ever cook dinner. I've been struggling to adjust to having 2 kids. I love it, but it is the most overwhelming and exhausting job. It's also the most rewarding. My oldest comes to me randomly and says "mommy I love you so much" and my baby flashes me a big grin just out of the blue. I love it! It totally melts my heart.

I look forward to when I feel normal again. I haven't felt like myself in months, I have a hard time finding energy and motivation. I know it's just for a time. I love watching my girls grow and I know soon they won't be little anymore. So I gotta take advantage of all the special moments. :)

The other day, big sis asked to hold baby sister and it was the sweetest sight EVER! Baby sister just loves her big sis and was all smiles. Talk about making a mama's heart melt with joy! :)

stressful times

2011-10-12T15:54:00.000-07:00

I just realized that I haven't blogged in a while. There has been a lot of stress in this house. Baby has been having a rough time sleeping, her naps are sporadic and extremely short. She has been restless and clingy and fussy.. More so than usual. We started giving her gripe water, which helped calm her down some. Though the task of giving her the gripe water is really interesting b/c she HATES it. So today we had her 2 month check up. Doctor said she has "silent reflux".. Basically she has reflux, where it goes up her throat, then back down, but nothing ever comes out of her mouth. So we'll start zantac as soon as I pick up the prescription from the pharmacy. I couldn't pick it up today, after her appt (she got shots) she was beside herself so we just came home.
I haven't been able to get anything done, the house is a mess, laundry has piled up, I haven't cooked... I could let it stress me out, which it does a bit. BUT I know that this is just a season, my babies are growing fast, so I'll spend this time with them, enjoying them. The house will be spotless again someday. When baby sister and I are awake for 2+ hours in the middle of the night, I no longer get upset b/c I'm tired.. Instead we cuddle on the couch and I get sweet smiles. It's the only time we get to be alone, so I want to enjoy it. :) So for now, I will be a mom, and do what I can and have to for my babies. My toddler has also gotten clingy b/c she never gets me to herself. It's kinda bittersweet b/c it was always the 2 of us for so long, I miss my time alone with her as much as she does. I do what I have to do to keep up with the house, but it's far from perfect. And I DON"T CARE! lol

For other news. Baby sister is a "beast" as daddy put it. At 10 weeks, she weighs 13 lbs and is 24 1/2 inches long. I could hardly believe it. Her sister was big at that age, but she was 11 lbs and 23 inches. Can you believe it!? Hubby and I keep wondering how we make such big babies. lol My toddler is skinny and tall. She's got the longest legs and I love it. Baby sister is a chub, I had no idea she was SO tall. She's got short stubby legs, so I guess she's just tall in general. lol I love my girls and they are perfect! That's how God made them. :)

I leave you with the cutest little girls ever!

wordless wednesday

2011-10-05T15:03:00.000-07:00

Fall decorating

2011-10-04T10:48:00.000-07:00

I LOVE fall! As I've mentioned before :) I have been working on a wreath for my door for the past 2 weeks. It took me longer than I thought, but it's done and hanging on my door. I went to Target with the girls today and went nuts over the decorations. I bought a "BOO" sign and black cat for my porch. It was in the $1 section, thought it was cute. I keep wanting to decorate the house b/c my daughter loves it. Next year I want to go BIG on the halloween decorations, b/c she loves halloween.

The wreath I made for fall. It was easy to make, just time consuming.

I put this on our front porch, I fell in love with the cat. :)

The front of our house. Simple, but cute.

Monday - Etsy finds

2011-10-03T05:08:00.000-07:00

Having 2 girls means 2 times the dresses, bows, frillies :) I spend a lot of time looking on etsy for fun things I can get for them. While looking around etsy for girl clothes, I found such a cute shop with beautiful smocked outfits for boys and girls. White Daisys Creations has beautiful and unique outfits for your little ones.

This is perfect for Christmas time. And I just love the monogramming :)

I love everything about this one, the style, colors, the ladybugs..

perfect for that little boy in your life! I love this fabric!

There are tons more of adorable outfits in her shop! Please visit White Daisys Creations, tell her BOWquet sent you!

October

2011-10-02T05:24:00.000-07:00

This weekend hubby and I took the kids out for some shopping. We went to 2 of my favorite places, Joann's and Michaels. :) We had some coupons so we got some fall decorations for the house, I had been wanting some scarecrows for the front yard, so we got a "couple" :) I think they're so cute. Now that I put them up, I wish I had gotten more...

Elephant!

2011-09-30T11:24:00.000-07:00

I made my daughter a cute little elephant bow to match a smocked dress I bought her. I think it looks so cute together and I can't wait to see her in it! :)
I plan on making some different colors and listing it in my shop soon!!!

sleep

2011-09-30T05:19:00.000-07:00

I am lost w/ this sleep thing.
We feed the baby and put her in bed around 9. She had been sleeping, waking up around 12 to eat, then going back to bed for about 4 hours or so. This week something changed. We'd put her in bed at 9, then she'd wake up about an hour later wanting to eat again. She kept us up till 2-3 am. When you are exhausted and ready for bed, staying up w/ a baby for no apparent reason is hard! Thankfully she wasn't cranky, just awake.. Last night we kept her awake and instead of putting her in bed at 9, we put her in bed at 10:30 or so.. We thought she'd be so tired, she'd stay asleep. That didn't work. After an hour of being asleep, she woke up again. Thankfully she went right back to sleep, so I was in bed by 1.

So I'm just lost b/c I don't know what changed and I don't get why she's waking herself up after being asleep for 1 hour. Anyone have any thoughts?!

On the plus side, last night, she slept about 6 1/2 straight hours. Our new record. So nice to sleep through the night :)

My new addiction

2011-09-29T15:43:00.000-07:00

I LOVE coffee! I have recently bought 2 new creamers, Cinnabon and Almond Joy. They are both awesome!! My favorite is the almond joy. I love chocolate/coconut together. Whenever I open the creamer and prepare my coffee, it makes my whole kitchen smell amazing. I got a little nervous b/c I'm running low and haven't been able to find it in my grocery store. Last night I went to wal mart and they not only had almond joy, but they had others in the BIG container. So I bought the big container of almond joy. If I didn't have self control I'd be drinking 3+ cups a day. lol

Fall is here...

2011-09-29T05:58:00.000-07:00

My favorite time of year is fall. I love everything about it, the cooler weather, the clothes, the smell, the colors, the decorations... Now that we have kids, I love coming up with halloween costume ideas :)
I think my most favorite part of fall is the FOOD. lol I love making/eating soups and stews and such. Last night I went out and found candy corn and once I opened the bag, I couldn't stop eating it. lol

Wordless Wednesday

2011-09-28T07:11:00.001-07:00

Play Time

2011-09-27T05:35:00.000-07:00

Lately my daughter has really enjoyed playing in her playroom. She takes out her babies and favorite stuffed toys and makes them dinner. It's so cute! She also likes to put her babies in their stroller and go on a walk.
Since being pregnant and recovering, tv has become our best friend. It's sad, but true. So this week I've started leaving the TV off and setting up more playtime. I call it "boot camp". I've created a more structured day for her, divided in 30 minute increments. Every half hour we switch activities. I'm still working out some kinks but I'm very excited. I have myself, my daughter and the baby in boot camp. :) I am trying to get baby on a schedule and I want to make sure I spend enough time with both kids and have time to clean the house. I will post my schedule once the kinks are worked out. :)
And for other moms of toddlers out there, what are some arts and crafts that you do with your kids? I'd love some ideas b/c I am not exactly sure what to do with my daughter in that department.

stroller help

2011-09-26T05:22:00.000-07:00

We were given a graco double stroller by a friend. I was so excited, and then we realized that it did not fit in the trunk of our '95 Honda Accord. I was able to get it in there, after much twisting and turning. lol SO my hubby and I took the girls out, it took me about 5 mintues to get the stroller out of the car. Our Peg Perego car seat does not fit on it and the stroller was impossible to steer. After 10 minutes with it, we decided we would put the baby in the sling and our toddler would walk. lol I ended up giving the stroller back to my friend b/c it just wasn't worth the hassle to take it in and out of the trunk. On top of which, nothing else fit in there.
Now we have a dilemma. We need a double stroller, a compact one. But I don't know which one. We can't spend too much. I found this jeep that I like, I'm pretty sure it'd fit in our trunk. And the best part, it can hold our peg perego car seat. Now, I really want a new car seat, a lighter one. BUT if we can fit our old car seat in this, then it saves us money. lol
So my question is, do any of you have one of these and can offer some feedback? OR is there another double stroller out there that is compact and could fit in the trunk of our little car? We'd like to keep the cost at around $200 or so.
Thanks!

The stroller we're considering.

My moby

2011-09-23T08:01:00.000-07:00

This week I made an awesome purchase. You see, my daughter is VERY clingy. I am working on breaking her off the habit of being held, but it's a slow process. I put her in her swing, bouncy and playmat. But it lasts for about 3-5 minutes. She screams bloody murder and I only like to leave her there for a little bit b/c I don't want her getting sick over it. SO I am constantly holding her, which makes it hard to get anything done. Several friends raved about the Moby Wrap. So I bought it. I LOVE LOVE it!!!

I carry baby sister around the house in it and can do most of my chores. And the best part is, she loves it. She was unconsolable yesterday, as soon as I put her in the moby, she became happy. :)

If you are having a baby or have a baby, this is great! I had a sling, but it was killing my back. This distributes the weight evenly and doesn't hurt my back or shoulders. It barely feels like I'm holding my baby. And I will be able to carry her in it until 35-40 pounds.

Playroom

2011-09-22T13:46:00.000-07:00

Since having the baby 7 weeks ago (I can't believe she's 7 weeks old) I had not cleaned up the playroom. I couldn't vacuum, so it just kept getting messier. A few days ago I was over it and cleaned. I vacuumed, picked up all the toys and organized them. It looked amazing!!! It doesn't look that way anymore. lol Toys everywhere, her books on the floor.. I can't wait till she can keep things better organized. She's good at picking up her toys, but not her books. lol
BTW anyone that comes here says that this room is an explosion of pink. I love it! And you can't even see the other side of the room. lol

Coffee goodness

2011-09-22T05:09:00.000-07:00

Towards the end of my pregnancy coffee started making me sick. I hated giving it up, but it just wasn't worth it. Then after my daughter was born I drank it sporadically. Well now I've been drinking it daily, I NEED the caffeine. Plus I have found 2 new addictive creamers. I have been on the hunt for these for a long time and my grocery store finally had it. I even paid full price for them, I never buy creamer w/out coupons. lol

This one is SO good and smells delicious. It is like drinking a cinnamon roll. lol

This is my new weakness. You see, I LOVE LOVE LOVE chocolate/coconut combined. My favorite candybar is the mounds. So when I saw this, I HAD to try it. When you open it, all you smell is chocolate/coconutty goodness. I am addicted. Just writing about it is making me want some mounds coffee. lol

I am thinking of writing International delight and asking them to make these a permanent edition. lol I need to buy more and keep it in my fridge.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-09-21T05:08:00.000-07:00

My daughter's favorite :) I lost. lol

Random thoughts...

2011-09-20T07:28:00.000-07:00

Being a mom has gotten very comical for me lately. I've been so exhausted and scatter brained, there have been some dumb things I've done around the house. lol
Some examples:

Did you know that if you put your clothes in the dryer, they won't get dry until you turn the machine on!? Yep, I learned that this week. lol

Did you know that your clothes wont' get washed well w/out laundry detergent? Yep, My clothes went through a whole wash cycle and then I remembered that I never put detergent in there. lol

When putting your children in their car seats, it's best to buckle them up BEFORE driving off. lol

I'm sure there have been more but my scatter brain can't think of it. lol
Right now I'm still trying to get baby sister on a schedule. I'm hoping that she'll be used to the schedule we're setting up by next week. Then I'll be able to start "boot camp" with my oldest. lol We're making some changes around here! :)

Aren't they so cute in their matching pink dresses? :)

Crib

2011-09-19T14:40:00.000-07:00

For the past few weeks or so we've really been struggling with getting baby sister to sleep. There were nights that she'd keep me up till 4-5 am.. When she wakes up to eat in the middle of the night and stays up for 2 hours. It's really hard and I've been beyond exhausted. Last Thursday night (among many nights) she'd fall asleep in my arms and whenever I'd put her in her pack and play she'd wake up. It happened 3 times and I was desperate for sleep. I noticed that her p-n-p had an indentation from where she laid. I was told by several friends that a pack and play is not that comfortable. SO my hubby and I came up with a new game plan starting on Friday. We were both tired of the sleepless nights.

Starting on Friday we made a few changes and things are getting better.
First, we took her pack and play out and put the crib in our room. So she's now sleeping in her crib.
Second, we are doing our best to keep her up through out the day.
Third, we put her in bed at 9:30.
Fourth, b/t 12-1 am I wake her up for a feeding and within 30 minutes she's back in bed. She wakes up again around 5-6 to eat, but then is up for 2 hours. I need to fix that one. lol
Fifth, we put a white noise maker in her crib
sixth, instead of feeding her every 3 hours, which wasnt working anyways, I'm doing it every 2 hours.

SO hopefully these changes will continue helping and soon she'll be able to sleep through the night. Right now I get about 5 straight hours of sleep, which is much better than before.

Etsy finds...

2011-09-19T05:03:00.000-07:00

Are you getting ready for the holidays!?
As you know, I have several halloween, thanksgiving and Christmas bows listed in my shop, with more to come! I have an etsy buddy who makes BEAUTIFUL children's clothes. I am seriously in love with her shop! You have to go check out Your Design for these cute clothes. Her holiday clothes match my holiday bows :)

My turkey bow, $5. Check out the cute outfit below and how well it matches.

And how cute is this outfit!? It's gorgeous and perfect for Thanksgiving!!!

This spider outfit is PERFECT for the halloween season. ADORABLE!!!

It's never too early to be thinking about Christmas! I am in love with this outfit!!

Check out YourDesign, you will fall in love! She's got great stuff for boys and girls. Tell her BOWquet sent you. And don't forget to stop by BOWquet for a matching bow ;)

Rebel fun

2011-09-17T06:51:00.000-07:00

I LOVE LOVE taking pictures, especially of my girls. I am now learning photoshop so I can edit my pictures.
Here's some from our last photo shoot. BTW it's very hard to get a good picture of the 2 girls together.

sweet sisters

I decided to have some fun with the girls shoes. :)

shoes and bracelets

Big sister

2011-09-16T05:03:00.000-07:00

I feel like I blog a lot about baby sister. lol So here's a post about Big sister.
She has loves helping me out, sometimes she's a little too helpful. lol But she loves her sister, and it's so sweet. She's so girly, I love it. She loves getting her hair done, pedicures, princesses, dolls... Lately she's really been into baby dolls, she likes taking them on walks in their strollers and feeding them. So cute!
We are planning a trip to Disney for her birthday at the end of the year. We'll have to find the princesses for her to meet, she'll love it!

I have no words! lol BUT baby sister hates the bouncy, so at least it's getting some use. lol

That's her spot to watch TV. I have no idea how she's comfortable.

She loves playing with her sister :)

Nighttime woes

2011-09-15T13:40:00.000-07:00

Well, baby sister is 6 weeks old, I thought by now she'd start getting the whole night/day thing straightened out. I had my other daughter sleeping through the night by 9 weeks.
Right now the problem I have with baby sister is that we put her in bed b/t 12-1 am, after a feeding, then I go to bed. Well, she'll wake up after 4 hours to eat, but won't go back to sleep. She'll stay up for 2-3 hours for no reason at all. Or she'll want to cluster feed during those awake hours, but then get mad while she's eating. It's so weird. This week, we've had 3 nights where she woke up for her 12 am feeding and stayed up for 4-5 hours straight. Cranky, whiny, eating, but not eating, fighting sleep. It was horrible! Someone mentioned that it could be that I'm drinking too much caffeine. I drink a lot of tea and coke through out the afternoon. Last night I actually had coffee at 6 pm, not even thinking about the caffeine. SO today I am avoiding caffeine. I am having a cup of coffee right now, but that will be it.

Other than that, I have no idea what her deal is. I know yesterday she slept too much during the day, I tried everything to wake her, and it was impossible. Today I will try harder. lol

6 weeks ago

2011-09-15T05:24:00.000-07:00

6 weeks ago my life changed, I became a mom, again. lol Baby sister has been a joy to our family. I can't believe it's been 6 weeks already...
AT 6 weeks, she weighs 11 lbs and is 22 1/4 inches long. I call her my little chunk :)

I bought this for her right after I found out I was having a girl and then made a matching bow.

I LOVE her in purple

I love her so much!

Etsy finds...

2011-09-14T14:52:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to take a minute and share my husband's latest print. I can't wait to have this hanging in our girls room :) I love everything about this painting!

Isn't it gorgeous?! This print comes in 2 sizes, 8x10 and 14x11. They are both on sale for 20% until the 17th. Don't miss out, tell him BOWquet sent you! ;)

There are tons of beautiful prints in his shop, for boys and girls. Go check out The Adventure Shop!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-09-14T05:36:00.000-07:00

Girl time :)

Target

2011-09-13T14:05:00.000-07:00

This past week I went on my first shopping trip w/ both girls. It was a quick one, I just HAD to get out of the house. Target needs bigger carts b/c after putting both girls on there, I couldn't fit much else. lol

Sewing fun

2011-09-13T06:56:00.000-07:00

When I first found out I was pregnant, I bought a onesie, it had to be something that worked both ways b/c I didn't know what I was having. Last week I got the sewing bug so I took out my sewing machine and tried something new. I'd been seeing tutorials for onesie dresses, so that is what I made. I had fun and have plans for more! :)
I had a lot of fun making this and it was so easy! I can't wait to make more.

Materials-I wanted the onesie to be more girly :)

The finished product! Dress and matching rosette bow

My model refused to cooperate for a good picture.
The onesie says "Could I be any cuter"

My work station :) As of right now, I have no dining room table b/c it's covered w/ fabrics and stuff. lol

mini van

2011-09-12T12:10:00.000-07:00

My dream car has always been a Ford Mustang. When we first got married, I had a Scion TC, sports car. My hubby hates mustangs. lol Now that we have kids, my dream car has changed, I WANT a mini van :) After my first daughter was born, I started wanting one. Now that we have a 2nd daughter, I want one even more. Now that we are going out more often w/ 2 kids, I am realizing more and more the need for a van. I drive a honda accord. My first problem w/ that is that there is NO backseat now that it's been overtaken by 2 carseats. Then, we cannot fit a double stroller in the trunk. Also, there is no room in the car for anything else, so if we ever go shopping or go on a trip, packing will be minimum. Putting or taking out 2 kids from the car is a hassle when I am alone. It takes me forever! lol

All of those "problems" are annoying and makes me want a van even more. BUT we refuse to have car payments if we can avoid it. So, for now we have to make do w/ what we have. And I am thankful that we have 2 cars w/ no payments. 10 months ago we only had 1 car. lol

FALL is here...

2011-09-12T08:15:00.000-07:00

.. Well, I don't really know when fall starts officially, but in my shop, it's here!
I've had my shop on vacation since having the baby, but we are having a reopening this week! In order to celebrate, I am offering free shipping this week (domestic only), use the code: fallfun
Check out these fun bows!

Cute ghost, $3.50

Turkey, perfect for Thanksgiving! Only $5

Cute spider! only $4

Check out BOWquet for more bows :)

zoo trip

2011-09-09T07:54:00.000-07:00

On Labor day we went to the zoo. We wanted to get big sis out of the house and figured baby sis would be ok in this awful heat for a couple hours. So off we went. I had baby sis in a sling for about 20 minutes then gave up. We were both sweating! Our problem now is that we have a single stroller, but big sis loves to sit in it. Which I'm fine w/ b/c then she's trapped. We were blessed w/ a double stroller from a friend, but we found out on Monday that it doesn't fit in the trunk of our Honday. :/ So now we are trying to figure out what to do as far as a double stroller goes. I found one that can fit in our trunk but baby sis needs to be older to sit in it. So I'm not sure what our plan is.

Some pictures from the zoo. Keep in mind I took 100 pictures that day. lol

Feeding the giraffes

Baby sister slept the whole time

Looking at the apes

One of my favorite parts of the zoo. That's where the giraffes are

I have not been very good at updating the blog. I'm always tired or busy. lol It is all worth it!

I will survive

2011-09-07T08:43:00.000-07:00

I keep hearing the song "I will survive" in my head... Being a mom of 2 is HARD! I know it's just a season and it'll pass. I know TONS of moms do it with 2 and more kids.. But right now I feel like I"m drowning a bit. Between my toddler, 1 month old, house work, very little sleep... I feel like I am not doing any of those things really well.. There is no schedule or order in my house. which I HATE! I like consistency, I NEED a schedule. And getting the baby on a set routine has been really hard for me to do this time around. We wake up whenever we wake up, then she just eats on demand. I WANT and NEED more of a schedule than that. I was going to attempt to do that this week, but it hasn't happened yet. I need to discipline myself to wake up at a specific/set time each day and set the girls schedules instead of letting them run the house. lol I feel stressed, depressed and all of the above. It's hard to get motivated when I'm so tired all the time.

Right now my toddler is watching Pingu (is there anything more annoying out there) and baby sister is sleeping happily in her swing. There is a HUGE pile of laundry that needs to be folded. I know that I need to get that done and want to get that done. But that would require moving from the couch and right now I have no desire to do so. lol Alas, let me get over it and feel like I've accomplished something.

1 month

2011-09-04T15:36:00.000-07:00

On Sept 3rd, baby sister turned 1 month old. She has been such a blessing to our family.
She was born weighing 7.15 lbs and measuring 20". She was my tiny baby. Last week she saw the doctor and weighed 10 pounds. Yesterday I was looking at her and thought she just grew overnight. She looked huge all of a sudden, it's like she grew overnight. I decided to measure her, out of curiosity. Yesterday I measured her and got 23".. It surprised me that she grew 3" in 1 month, so today I measured her 4 more times. ha! It's VERY difficult to measure a wiggly baby. Today I got 21 1/2" and close to 22" each time. So I really have no idea! I think she's just under 22". She's nowhere near 23" so I have no idea where that came from yesterday. lol
At 1 month:
she wears size 1 diaper
has begun to wear 0-3, 3 month clothes.
Eats every 2-3 hours, at nights she can usually go 3-4 hours (some nights she'll do 2 hours)

She has the most beautiful dark blue/grey eyes. Her sister had the same color eyes, until she turned 1, now they are hazelish.. So as much as I LOVE blue eyes, baby sister's eyes will probably change too...

I LOVE taking pictures, especially of my girls.. Here's some pictures of baby sister's 1 month photoshoot:

Happy Birthday!!!

2011-09-03T06:42:00.000-07:00

Today is my hubby's birthday, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my prince charming! I love that we get to celebrate our birthdays together :)

I am so blessed to have such an amazing husband. He is an amazing man. He works hard at his day job, sometimes over 40 hours a week, then comes home to work on his art. His dream is to be a full time artist and work from home. Until that happens, he works a LOT, one job to provide for us, the other to pursue his childhood dream. In between all that, he finds time to help me around the house and spend time with us. It's so fun to watch him with the girls. Our toddler is totally a daddy's girl, they enjoy all the same things. lol

I am so proud of my how hard my husband works. He is my hero!!

He absolutely loves his girls. He is the king among all these women ;) He loves it!

4 weeks

2011-09-01T07:02:00.000-07:00

Yesterday marked exactly 4 weeks since the birth of my 2nd daughter. Before we got pregnant, I never thought I could love another daughter like I love my firstborn. Boy was I wrong. 4 weeks ago my heart and love doubled.
I had a c-section, which meant that I never saw her coming out, there was a partition hiding my belly, so I couldn't see anything. I could see my doctor and husband's face, They could see her and I got so anxious to meet my little girl. They took her to get cleaned up and I grew more and more anxious, I was dying to meet her. Then they brought her to me, all bundled up. I was in love and couldn't wait to start our new lives as a family of 4. Her entire birth was an amazing experience that I'll never forget. Somedays I look at her and can't believe that I have 2 amazing daughters. They have my heart and they know it ;)

She has my heart. Growing up so fast, it's bittersweet...

Big sister is always very attentive to baby sister's needs.

Monday blues

2011-08-29T07:54:00.000-07:00

I am sitting on the couch, watching Blues Clues with my daughter, while baby sister sleeps in the swing. It's been a rough couple of days. We got baby sister's last feeding to be at midnight, then I go to bed. Her wake up time varies, sometimes she's up w/in 2 hours to eat, sometimes 4 hours.. Regardless of her wake up time, she keeps me up, for no reason I might add, for 2-3 hours. Last night when she woke up I prayed while I fed her that she'd go back to sleep quickly. Didn't happen. We came to the living room so mommy could keep herself awake w/ the TV and she just sat there in my arms, looking at me. She wasn't hungry or upset, just awake. I finally rocked her to sleep after 2 hours.. The night before she was up for 3 hours, I finally had to hand her over to daddy and he rocked her to sleep.

Exhausted doesn't begin to cover how I feel. The night "parties" are killing me. I love the extra time w/ her, but it makes for a very hard morning and day. I can't get motivated to do anything. I have no energy. I'm so tired, my body hurts, everywhere! My migraines are returning. I love having a newborn, but I do look forward to her sleeping through the night :)
She will be 1 month on Saturday (seems so fast) and I really want to start getting her on a schedule. We'll see how it goes.

What I love...

2011-08-28T09:32:00.000-07:00

One of the best days of my life was when my first daughter was born almost 3 years ago. I thought I'd never love another child as much as I loved her. Then along came my 2nd little beauty, and my love just grew immensely. I love both my girls and I can't believe I get to be their mom. :)
And the best part is seeing them together, they are so cute, there's so much love b/t them. It'll be fun to watch them grow up together.

Trying to calm sister down. So sweet.

Anytime the playmat comes out, she wants to play with sister. :)

Hairdo

2011-08-25T07:35:00.000-07:00

Lately my daughter's hair has been driving me crazy. It's all over her face and unmanageable. Daddy wanted it cut a few months ago, but I couldn't do it. lol Now she needs some sort of trim, I'll be taking her sometime next month. For now, I keep styling her hair and playing around w/ it to get it off her face. Yesterday I did pigtails, I LOVE pigtails.. Then I decided to do something a little different w/ it :)

Isn't it cute!?

For other news, I am in total survival mode here. and exhausted.

Dread

2011-08-16T19:48:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is Wednesday, baby sister will be exactly 2 weeks. Seems CRAZY, time is already going SO fast and I hate it. I want my beautiful girl to stay little forever. My first baby will be 3 in 2 months and it seems like just yesterday that she was born. It is very bittersweet to watch your kids grow..

Anyways, back to the point, it's been 2 weeks, which means hubby's paternity leave is over and he goes back to work tomorrow. It is very sad for us b/c we LOVE having him home. It is our goal to have him work from home someday, so it makes it extra hard when we get a "taste" of it and then it's over...

Let me take a minute to say that he has been absolutely amazing! He's taken care of our toddler, kept the house clean, helped with the baby and so much more. He's done a great job, with no complaints and will be greatly missed. I've gotten spoiled these past 2 weeks. I haven't had to do anything except for feeding the baby. lol Thank you so much to my amazing hubby for his unconditional love and support. He is such an amazing husband and father.

Here is a picture of some of my favorite moments. I love watching him play with our girls.

sisters

2011-08-13T18:21:00.000-07:00

It took me a long time to feel "ready" to have a second child. I felt like I'd be short changing my first born. But now that we have baby sister, I see that she is exactly what our family needed. :) Big sister has taken to her role great, she loves her baby sister. She constantly asks to hold her and kisses her. Anytime she doesn't see baby sister, she goes looking for her. It's so sweet. I love seeing them together, it just warms my heart.
Aren't they so cute!?

I know they'll be the best of friends and I can't wait to watch them grow up. Though I hope they don't grow up too fast...

Slacking..

2011-08-08T11:05:00.001-07:00

So sorry I've been slacking on my blog. I've been a bit busy taking care of 2 GIRLS! :)
On Wednesday, August 3rd, at 8:08 am we welcomed our second daughter into the world. Thankfully my husband has 2 week paternity leave and we've enjoyed having him home. He's been taking such great care of all of us. I'm recovering so much better this time around, it's been nice. Baby sister is amazing, I'm so in love. I never thought I'd be so in love with 2 girls. Big sister is doing a great job, she LOVES her baby sister and loves holding her.
Baby sister was 7 lbs 15 oz and 20" long. With a head full of black hair! She is so mellow and sweet and cuddly. She's been SO easy and I'm amazed!

My sweet baby girl the day she was born :)

Sisters. I love seeing them together!

waiting and waiting...

2011-07-30T12:13:00.000-07:00

Today I went out and ran some errands. It was nice to be able to make my stops alone, big sister stayed home w/ daddy. I went to my favorite place, Target. :) Then went to the grocery store. I am stocking up on things, or trying to stock up before baby comes. I am 38.2 weeks pregnant today... We are just waiting. I had a "good" night's sleep last night, only woke up twice. lol The night before I woke up every hour. I did wake up today in a lot of discomfort. The bottom of my feet hurt, making it difficult to walk. I have some very mild cramps, very mild and sporadic contractions, pain in places I didn't know existed. BUT with all that said and done, I am very happy that baby sister is staying put and I will miss my fat belly. lol I love feeling her move around and will miss it. BUT I am SO looking forward to seeing her for the first time and holding her. I think what excites me the most is to see my daughter meet her sister. She keeps asking for her and it's so cute.

I am dreading the hospital stay. I have NEVER been apart for long from my daughter. I've always been here to put her in bed, I will miss it so much! She will be staying home at night with daddy, during the day she'll be with friends and family. That makes me feel better, knowing she'll be home with daddy. But I already miss her so much. It hit me today how weird it will be that my husband will be going to bed alone. I've never been gone. lol He has gone out of town, but I never have.
I know once I have my baby is in my arms I'll feel much better and my worries will be gone.

Playroom-Playtime

2011-07-29T03:45:00.000-07:00

When we found out we were expecting another girl, we decided they'd share a room that way we'd still have the office for my husband and I to use. With that in mind, I couldn't keep 2 girls in one room plus all the toys. Thankfully our small house has a front sunroom, which I turned into a playroom. It was a fun room to decorate and it's almost finished. In fact it's just missing an "S" and and "J" that my sister got them for the wall. I've only taken a few pictures of the room with my cell phone, I'll take more when I get the chance.

I've been waiting to have the room cleaned before I took anymore pictures, but let's face it, it's a playroom, there is no "clean" :)

When I started thinking about the room, I knew I wanted a big area rug b/c the room is cement floors. I found this at Target and fell in love with the colors and the alphabet. I was so excited. So the rest of the room is based on this rug.

Looking into from the dining room

Left side of playroom

I found this painting at Target and fell in love. It matched the rug! Underneath it is her toy shelf.

Toy shelf. I love storing her toys in the bins.

Right corner of room.

I saw a playroom online that had the letters and said "playtime". I knew I wanted it. My sister got these on etsy to match the colors of the room, I LOVE LOVE them!!! My sister got them from ashleenicole84. Her shop is so cute and full of beautiful letters! Check her out!!

38

2011-07-28T05:49:00.000-07:00

Today I am 38 weeks. These past few weeks have been hard on me, I'm exhausted and just have the "done" feeling. However, my doctor is out of town until the 1st, so I can't hope to go into labor. lol I want him to deliver her, he's been my doctor for over a decade, so it's special to me to have him there. :)

I've been having contractions on and off, but nothing extreme or to cause alarm. I'm in pain, discomfort, and just ready. I will miss being pregnant. I keep looking at my belly, watching it dance as baby sister moves, I'll miss it. BUT I am looking forward to holding my sweet girl and watching big sister take on her new role.

My heartburn has been the same. Some days are better than others. I have to watch what I eat and am careful b/c if I eat the wrong thing, I suffer all night. Some of you may remember that at 31 weeks I ended up in the hospital w/ dehydration and contractions 1 minute apart. Ever since then I haven't been eating that much. I eat 2 meals a day, my body can't handle more than that. It's usually lunch and dinner. Lunch is my biggest meal. I usually don't eat what I cook for dinner, I live off sandwiches. lol I actually haven't really cooked in over a week. I've been so nauseous I just haven't felt like looking at food. My hubby has been so good at just eating whatever, he's awesome!

Nothing else is going on... My daughter the other day wanted the baby to come out so they could play. It was so cute. :) I cannot wait to see them together.

I love seeing 2 carseats in our backseat :)

clock is ticking

2011-07-24T15:24:00.000-07:00

It's a rainy Sunday afternoon, my daughter and I are sitting on the couch watching her new favorite, angelina ballerina. I am fighting some nausea thanks to this cursed heartburn. Daddy is taking a nap.
I sit here with the number 37.3 staring me in the face. I can't believe how close we are. It seems like we just found out we were expecting again. We kept our pregnancy a secret for over 2 weeks because we wanted to tell our family on Christmas day.

Anyways, yesterday I went crazy nesting mode. We had my inlaws come and hang out for a while. My sister in law is the master of putting together stuff. When I had big sister, my sis in law put together our high chair and toy box. Yesterday when she was here, she took apart the car seat and washed it for me, then put it back together. I had started taking it apart but got overwhelmed. That type of stuff is not my forte. lol So the carseat is all nice and clean and I went ahead and installed it in the car. It's weird to see 2 car seats in the backseat. I did manage to take apart the swing and both bouncy seats, washed it and put it back together. :) To be honest, even though this is my 2nd child, I honestly did not know that I could take that stuff apart and wash. lol I'm excited to use my double stroller, and big sister loves sitting in it. lol

I also set up the pack and play last night. I was nervous to do that, but am glad I did. It ended up that it's missing 2 parts, 1 to hold up the bassinet part, and 1 that holds up the changing pad part. Thankfully a friend has the parts and is no longer using it, so she's giving it to me. :)
I think it needs more pink in there! ;)

bad weekend/good weekend

2011-07-23T12:21:00.000-07:00

Today is Saturday, I am 37.2 weeks pregnant. We are trying to get everything ready for baby girl's arrival. Daddy's version of nesting is to sod the front yard. lol Our sod was supposed to be delivered this morning, but they called early and said they couldn't deliver b/c their machine broke. So it won't be delivered till Wednesday.. :( Add to that on Friday we were supposed to get our maternity/family pictures done but it rained all night so no pictures... When we woke up today it just felt like nothing was going right... BUT the weekend turned around, our family came over to visit for a while. My sister in law helped me wash the car seat, it looks brand new! We all had lunch together at firehouse, yum! My daughter got to play with her cousin, who is 18 months younger. It's so cute to watch them play together.

Right now my mother in law and hubby are leveling out our front yard and preparing it for the sod that will come later in the week. I'm sitting on the couch thinking about baby girl's arrival, thinking about what she'll look like... I am still dreading leaving big sister for 3 days, but she'll be in safe hands w/ daddy. I feel like all we're doing is waiting. lol Right now I really want to set up the pack and play, but I'm scared. I keep thinking that once it's set up then she will make an early arrival. lol

Here I am, first pregnancy 35 weeks vs second pregnancy 36 weeks

WOW 37!

2011-07-21T06:41:00.000-07:00

I have disappeared from blogging this week. I'm so exhausted these days and have not been up to blogging. lol I haven't even thought of any posts.. We've been prepping the house for baby's arrival, hubby is working hard on the yard so it can look nice. All we really have left is to set up the pack and play and the car seat. I've had 2 lovely showers, gotten awesome gifts! I've washed all her 0-3 month clothes and everything is set up. I was nesting like crazy last week. This week, I am just plain exhausted! I can't sleep, my back is killing me and the heartburn, argh! I've been seeing my doctor weekly, which I hate. lol It's hard b/c I've been taking my toddler w/ me. It will all be over soon. :)

I still can't believe we're at 37 weeks. How insane is that!? We are getting anxious and excited to meet our sweet girl. Her big sister is very excited. The other day she asked me if I could make baby sister come out so they could play. lol Isn't that sweet? I told her we have to wait for the doctor to take sister out. lol

Our hospital bags are packed! I need to buy some snacks and stuff for my toddler for when she comes to visit. I've bought her some new toys, they are hidden. lol I've got my toddler's clothes ready and ironed for the days I'm in the hospital, the babysitters are lined up. :) So thankful for friends and family that are willing to watch my baby girl while I'm laid out in the hospital. I've been very emotional and stressed about leaving my baby girl for 3 days. We have NEVER been apart and I'm dreading it so much!!! I just want those 3 days to be over with so I can be at home w/ both my girls... My husband and sister keep saying that it'll be fine, I know it will be, but I'm still dreading it and I really hope it's not awful...

For something else, have you tried the McDonald's mango/pineapple smoothie? I've been dying to try it, but have never had a chance to get it. Those are 2 of my favorite fruits! Tonight hubby wanted to get me a treat, he offered me starbucks. Well, I can't have coffee, it makes me so sick. But then he came home with this smoothie, it is SO SO SO good. I finished it and wanted more. My daughter also loved it, I gave her a sip. ;) Baby sister had a party with it too. lol I may be hitting McDonald's again this week for more!

Fun gifts

2011-07-15T06:01:00.000-07:00

I had a blast in my shower. I spent all week posting about things I got from etsy.. Here are some gifts from sweet friends. I can't wait till my baby girl gets here and uses all her new stuff :)

My friend Lauren gave me this cute seahorse. It lights up and plays music. Big sister has been playing w/ it and keeping it safe for her baby sister. :)

Pretty dress from the girls nona (my mother in law).

My mom (Nana) got me this burp cloth from etsy. She also made baby sister some really cute shoesies, I still need to take a picture of it.

My best friend made this beautiful sheet for the crib. The girls room is toile, I still can't believe she found this fabric, isn't it gorgeous?!

My friend Dani made and sent several gifts for both my girls. Baby sister got a pretty pink zebra print blanket, this lemon fabric burp cloth and a teething ring. I can't wait to have baby girl use it. Big sister got some really cute jewelry that plays the Little Mermaid song and she LOVES it!!! :)

36 weeks!

2011-07-14T06:28:00.000-07:00

WOW! I'm 36 weeks. We are seriously in the countdown mode. CRAZY!!! Hubby and I are both anxious and excited. :) We're getting stuff ready and making plans for everything.

I saw my doctor earlier this week, in 5 weeks I only gained 1/2 a pound. :) I told my doctor, with all the bad heartburn I've been having, I haven't had much of an appetite. My morning sickness comes at night. So my biggest meal is usually lunch. I don't usually have dinner, or if I do, it's very small. Thankfully baby sister is still growing strong and measuring right on target. :) And she's head down now! My doc said that if I were to go into labor at any point now that he'll just take the baby, there's no point in stopping the labor. Kinda scary but exciting. I never went into labor w/ my first daughter, so I am not overly worried about this one. lol Though this pregnancy has been very different. I feel fine, no contractions or anything. I've been taking it easy and slowly getting the house ready. I've been VERY tired and sleep is very hard for me. Other than that, I'm fine.

As I've written in previous posts, I had a baby shower this past weekend. It was awesome! :) When I found out I was pregnant, I told my sister I really wanted a cute, monogrammed diaper bag. I never got to have one w/ my first daughter and I really "needed" it this time. :) So then my sister went on the hunt on etsy and found me this gorgeous bag! I cannot wait to carry it around. :) She got it from Little Happys.

I love my bag! Go check out Little Happys for bags and more... She has tons of cute stuff!

Baby shower cont.

2011-07-13T05:37:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, my sister threw me my first baby shower. It was perfect!!!
My sis did such a wonderful job w/ everything, it's hard to pick just 1 favorite thing. She got each grandmother and I cute coffee mugs. I LOVE them!!! Aren't they so cute? She got them from My cutie tootie

The coffee bar all set up...

Aren't they so cute?!

My mug, in all my favorite colors!! :)

I had yummy iced coffee in my mug :)

My cutie tootie has tons of beautiful personalized items, such as; mugs, tumblers, glassware and so much more!!! Check out her cuteshop, tell her BOWquet sent you :)

Baby Shower #1

2011-07-12T06:23:00.000-07:00

This past weekend my sister threw me an awesome shower! I was so overwhelmed by all the beautiful gifts I got and she did a great job decorating! When I asked her where she got the decorations and my gifts, she had 1 answer: ETSY! :)

The table with the wonderful food. My favorite part was the centerpiece. It's a beautiful diaper cake that I will be sad to take apart.. For now it's still in my dining room :) It's too pretty to take apart. Check out Oh Baby! Diaper cakes for lots of cute diaper cakes!!!

See, this cake is just too cute to take apart. My toddler keeps walking by it and asking to eat some. hahaha

Here I am with my hostess! :) I am the one on the right...

For cute diaper cakes, check out Oh Baby! Diaper cakes. You can find her on etsy and facebook.

Click here for etsy.
Click here for her facebook page.

Mommy's Big Girl

2011-07-08T07:08:00.000-07:00

We have about a month or so to go before baby sister's arrival. So tonight, with my dad's help, we got baby girl's new mattresses and set up her new big girl bed. She is both excited and I think a bit nervous to sleep in her big girl bed. She is surrounded by pillows, just in case. lol She kept asking for her old bed, which is still in her room. It's set up as a toddler bed, but we are converting it back to a crib for baby sister. So now begins the process of teaching her that's baby sister's bed. She seemed ok-ish with it.

So here's the bed set up. Daddy did such a good job staining this bed. He stained it twice b/c I didn't like the first color. lol Such a good husband to put up w/ my insanities.

Here's her bed all made up. I love the toile bedding. It's so dainty and girly. :) I can't wait to teach her how to make up her bed.

The theme in their room is Toile, which I LOVE! I used it for baby girl's room, and it'll stay that way now that the girls will share a room.
My husband, the artist, drew these pictures for me to match the room. I told him if he drew it, I'd paint it. I figured it'd be easy to trace the pencil lines with pink paint. I was so nervous at first, but enjoyed painting it. And the best part was getting to do a project with my hubby. :) I came up with the idea of doing 1 big picture, but in 4 canvases..

All done...

35..35...35...

2011-07-07T06:31:00.000-07:00

35 weeks today. Yikes! Can you believe it? I sure can't!!! I am so excited, I have my first baby shower this weekend and I'm so excited! I still can't believe that in about a month I'll be holding my baby girl. It seems like it was just yesterday that we found out we were expecting.

We're still not ready. I think by the weekend we'll have big sister's bed ready for her. I will be ordering her mattress today and getting her sheets tomorrow. She already has her comforter set. She is so excited for her big girl bed. :) I have the pack and play in our room, but it's not set up yet. I know we have time for that, even if we do it when we get home from the hospital. I also need to wash her clothes, but I will be doing that after the baby shower. I'm so excited to get everything set up.

Up till last week, I was not mentally and emotionally prepared for her arrival. In fact, I was freaking out! But these past few days I have been getting more and more excited about her arrival. I can't wait to hold her for the first time. The only reason I am dreading her arrival is b/c I will be away from my daughter. She and I have never been apart and I'm going to miss her like crazy. But hopefully those days will go by fast and we'll all be home together, our brand new family of 4. :)

I still haven't been eating much, I got a prescription for zantac, so that's helped me be able to eat a bit more normal. But there are still things that make me sick. I'm drinking water and gatorade like crazy. I'm always so thirsty. And always so exhausted. I feel like I never rest enough, I wake up in the middle of the night very uncomfortable and can't go back to sleep. I guess I should get used to it b/c I won't be sleeping a lot once the baby comes. lol

Wordless Wednesday

2011-07-06T05:00:00.000-07:00

After putting away 6+ loads of laundry, I made up my bed. Within a few minutes, my toddler added her own special touch. lol

Blogger United Featured Artist

2011-07-05T11:58:00.000-07:00

This weeks featured artisan is Ruth - RSS Designs in Fiber! Beautiful Creations! You can find
RSS Designs in Fiber on:
Artfire
Etsy
Blog
Facebook

Tired

2011-07-05T07:09:00.000-07:00

You can't see the captions, but the left side says "My day yesterday" and right side says "My day today"

Yesterday was a great day. I'll have to do a post later w/ pictures. We went to the beach with my family and had a great time. But today, hubby is back to work and I am back to household duties. bleh I HAVE to fold laundry, but I so don't want to. I've been sitting at the computer for about 40 minutes now avoiding laundry. lol

Rain

2011-07-01T06:03:00.000-07:00

If there is one thing my daughter loves, it's rain. She gets so excited and begs to play in it... I don't let her play in the rain though. lol A couple days ago it rained a lot here, lots of thunder and lightning.. I found her sitting on the back of the couch, staring out of our big window. She begged me to play outside, but b/c the lightning was so bad, I didn't feel safe. I really would've let her go, b/c I know she'd have a blast, but not w/ lightning. She then asked me to get her a brown umbrella. lol I told her we'll look for one.. For whatever reason, her favorite color is brown and sometimes black.. I think it's hilarious b/c black is my favorite color. :)

BTW has anyone realized that it's July!?!?! WOW!!!! Can I have a minute to freak out. lol

34 weeks

2011-06-30T06:40:00.000-07:00

These weeks seem to be flying by.. And stressing me out b/c nothing is ready. haha! I have to laugh so I don't cry. Hubby is still working on staining my toddler's twin bed and hopefully we'll get the mattress by the weekend. Baby sister will be in a pack and play in our room until she sleeps through the night. I think I want to get the pack and play set up by the weekend, just to ease my mind. lol
I have 2 showers coming up. My sister is throwing one on the 9th, I cannot wait!!! And my friend is throwing another shower the following weekend. I'm so excited to celebrate baby sister!

Baby sister has been very active.. Last night my belly was lopsided, so I poked the higher side and she moved. lol I have no idea how she's laying at this point b/c she moves around a lot. I love it! I think that's what I'll miss the most. You know, I am the nut that loves being pregnant. This pregnancy has just flown by, I'm nervous about having 2 kids, but so excited to meet my little troublemaker. She's also been either elbowing me or kneeing me.. It kinda hurts, but funny at the same time. It'll poke out so I poke back :)

Thankfully the contractions seem to have stopped. I get real bad ones, but sporadic, if I over do it. SO I'm taking it easy, cleaning up slowly and not forcing myself to do things like I was before. The heartburn seems to be getting worse, so I may call my doc and ask for a prescription b/c tums is doing nothing.

Nothing else is going on, just continuing to be in awe at how close to the end we are. Still praying we make it to August, which seeing as how I've been doing better, I can see it happening. I know July will fly by so hopefully we'll get everything done and ready for her arrival.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-06-29T05:46:00.000-07:00

She said she's a baby. lol

blogger United Featured Artist

2011-06-28T04:06:00.000-07:00

This weeks featured artisan is Kim - Va Beach Quilter. Kim has a wonderful selection of goodies in her shop. Quilts, table runners, coasters.. the list goes on and on... You can find Va Beach Quilter on:

Etsy

Artfire

Blog

Twitter

Facebook

Monday etsy finds

2011-06-27T07:38:00.000-07:00

My sister is throwing me a baby shower in 2 weeks. I'm SO excited. I love the theme and colors she picked, which she picked for me b/c those are my colors.. It's zebra print/ pink. so cute! So she went on etsy to look for invitations and found this amazing shop. She shared with me and it's an amazing shop. I have the invitations in my hand and they are beautiful!!! Absolutely worth the money. Babyfreshdesigns has baby birth announcements, shower invitations, wedding invitations, save the date and so much more! Check it out and be ready to see many cute things!

I was left speechless when I saw these invitations and can't wait for the shower guests to see them too. :) Take some time and go check out babyfreshdesigns. :)

playroom

2011-06-24T07:00:00.000-07:00

When we found out we were expecting a girl, we decided to have our girls share a room. The 3rd bedroom in our house is the office and being that I have a lot of sewing supplies, ribbons and such, and my husband has tons of books and art supplies, we decided that there was no way that we could put all our stuff anywhere else. SO I told my husband, the girls can share a room, but I'll need a separate space for toys. Thankfully our old (built in 1933) house has a sunroom, which this past week has been turned into a playroom. My daughter LOVES it. It's so cute. There's still some work to be done to it, mainly decorations. Plus the table I really want to get pictured in the last post. But right now it's functional and we're really enjoying it.

I did put up sheer drapes on the windows, the room has 9 windows and I wanted them covered. Then when we went to Michael's I found this cute pennant banner on clearance for only $1.99.. I thought it looked so cute up there! :)
When the room is all done I'll post more pictures.

33 weeks

2011-06-23T06:33:00.000-07:00

Well here I am, 33 weeks and counting. I can't believe I'm so close to the end. How crazy!!! We are anxious to meet our girl, praying she stays put till she's full term though. We still have 7 weeks to go and it's bittersweet to me. I LOVE being pregnant (I know some women out there think I'm crazy), and I'll miss it once she's here. BUT the reward at the end of the pregnancy will be too awesome for me to be sad about no longer being preggo. lol I am enjoying every minute of it, enjoying every kick and punch. Even with all the weird contractions, pain and discomfort, I will miss these days for sure. lol

Last night as I went to bed, I had a bit of a freak out second. Life will change in August, I'll be a mother of 2. And life with a newborn is exhausting. I'm terrified of how it'll be w/ a newborn and a toddler. I'm hoping this baby will be a good sleeper. :) This mama turns into the hulk when I don't get 8 hours of sleep. :) I know my sleep will be limited once baby comes. Again, it'll all be worth it. And my toddler is such a good helper, I know we'll have rough days, but we can all snuggle up on the couch on the days I'm exhausted. lol

Eating has been hard these days. Ever since last Monday when I came home from the hospital, my appetite has changed. NOTHING sounds good to eat, I have to force myself to eat (or my hubby lovingly makes me eat) and most of the stuff makes me sick. This past weekend I had a calzone, oh my word I was miserable afterwards... So I'm being careful with what I choose to eat. Water and gatorade are my new BFF's. :) I always feel so dehydrated, so I'm making sure I drink a lot, don't want to end up back in the hospital. Tums is also my BFF. lol

Other than water I crave nothing. As I said, eating is hard these days. I don't even crave chocolate, can you believe that!? lol

We are slowly getting the house ready. This week we finally got the playroom put together. There are a few things I need to get, I want to get a table/chair set for the room, I found one that I love on amazon (in the picture). And some minor decorative things, but other than that the room is functional and my daughter is loving it. My hubby is working on staining my daughter's "new" twin bed so that we can get their room set up. I'm so excited to see 2 beds in that room :) It'll all come together. I want to pack my hospital bag in the next week or so and possibly get the pack and play set up. I'm not sure how early is too early to set up the pack and play. We never really used it w/ my first daughter, but this time baby will sleep in our room in the pack and play for a few months before sharing a room w/ her big sister.

Our daughter's room is pink/white toile. I LOVE it!!! Baby sister will be using the old crib bedding, so I want to get the matching twin set for my toddler. I can't wait to have it all done and have tons of ideas for decorating. One thing that I really want is a nightstand table, for in between their beds, but the one I want is round and almost impossible to find...

Wordless Wednesday

2011-06-22T06:07:00.000-07:00

I got my daughter a Lightning McQueen and she girlified it :)

Back to work

2011-06-21T08:08:00.000-07:00

So I have been having a rough time getting back in the groove of things.. I usually make bows at nighttime, after my daughter goes to sleep. But lately by that point I am exhausted and end up doing nothing. Last night I forced myself to do something. So I made some bows. I ended up making a few for my baby b/c she'll be coming soon and has no bows. lol Now I am on a roll and can't wait to make some more. I need to see which colors she'll need for her outfits so I can make some more...

Blogger United Featured Artist

2011-06-19T19:21:00.001-07:00

This weeks featured aritsan is Shelly - Handmade Creations by Shelly! Wonderful creations made by a wonderful lady!

You can find Shelly on:

Etsy

Artfire

Shelly's Knitting

Twitter

Facdebook

Blog

You can grab the code for your blog here:

https://docs.google.com/document/pub?d=1kAnDZ4JoTymW34AwVspuhoMFif6mzjoSsukJ7aJ8ZEo

Father's Day

2011-06-18T17:27:00.000-07:00

I am so incredibly blessed, I have the most amazing husband. He is hardworking, thoughtful, selfless, loving, supportive and so much more. Somedays I just stand in awe at the man God selected for me. I don't know what I did to deserve him, but he truly is the best, my soulmate, my perfect match!
When we started talking about starting a family, my husband was anxious about becoming a father. I knew he'd be great at it, and he is truly the best daddy. Our daughter is a true daddy's girl, she asks for him all day long. When he comes home from work, he can barely get in the door before she is asking him to play this and that, and he is more than happy to oblige. :) They have so much fun together and he is teaching her everything he knows. It's fun to see her share his interests. I'm so excited to see him w/ 2 girls. :)

the day we became parents, over 2 years ago.

He is truly the bestest and most fun daddy ever! He is our hero and our prince charming. Happy Father's Day to my love!