Whew...Putting My Big Girl Pants On

Okay, so after being totally spoiled for the past seven weeks, our family is officially on our own. The splitting long nights with Mimi have given in to a total of three hours of sleep. The clean kitchen and prepared bottles have now transitioned to a sink full of dishes and the last two ounces of milk prepped to drink. The constant companionship and advice has become seemingly silent. Yet, we are making it. B has been a relatively easy baby per se...as long as he's fed and burped, he's pretty happy. But B and sleep just don't seem to mix well right now. Well, let's just say that B doesn't want to miss a thing...he loves conversation and LOVES television. So when there are better things to do than catch 40 winks, he's all over it. Though everyone else would rather a few z's here and there, B has other plans. And like I told Big J the other day, I wouldn't trade it for a thing....But I still miss my mommy already :)

So what have we been up to? Well, we had a good Thanksgiving week in Orlando. We got to visit with some of my work friends, take in some basketball, spend time with cousins from the west coast and SHOP. Of course, everyone was glad to see the boys and they both delighted in all the attention....Certainly two ladies' men!!!! (SN: I will be in trouble in 10 years...cue the gray hair). We missed Guncle this year but he had a great time hanging out on an island, I guess that's his Thanksgiving tradition now.

Anyhow, we came home to the greatest surprise of a HUGE Christmas tree waiting to be decorated. WHOA. Okay, so in full disclosure, I have never had a live Christmas tree before, so that's new. And secondly, I am the lazy decorator who gets the 5 foot plug in tree and calls it a day. So looking forward to the change this year. J is already having a great time as the lights are going up and his train is starting to loop around the base of the tree.

In other news, our birth announcements have gone out, so B is now officially a part of the family :). We have our Christmas shoot scheduled for Monday. Okay, so I had a long debate with myself as to whether or not we should have sent announcements AND holiday cards...I had decided the answer was no, but then that changed somewhere along the way, so holiday cards coming soon! Did I do the right thing?

Well, I guess I will leave you with another image of my princes. Love yall!

THANKFUL

Just a quick post...I know everyone is posting about the holiday and what it means to them. This year, as every year, I have much to be thankful for. As I reflect on my time, the only thing that I long for is if my dad were still here. Regardless, I am still thankful for having him in my life and for him making me the person that I am. Laughing tonight as me and J are burning the midnight oil (hey, he's on vacation too)...I showed him a picture of me and my dad when I was an infant and J is insistant that the picture is of Pawpaw and B. LOL. I guess baby B does look like me after all. Okay, I digress, back to the point...

I am thankful for:
-Love and a loving God
-A healthy, happy family
-Being able to get through nine months of pregnancy
-The support of family and friends
-Shelter, provisions, transportation, luxuries
-A job to sustain our lifestyle
-Blogs, facebook, photography...capturing the moments of life
-Every minute that I am blessed with

Love you all!

with Many Thanks

in this season for holidays, family, friends and love, i pause to give thanks for all that is special to me and near and dear to my heart.

i am on a mini blogging break until after thanksgiving to enjoy time and live in the moment.

me and my three boys are sending you all big holiday hugs and plenty of kisses

And For the Big Reveal...

My little loves!!!! J and B :)

If you want more pics, leave a comment below and I will email some to you! Announcement cards will FINALLY go in the mail this weekend.

Don't you just love J's face on this pic??? Priceless! You have to wonder what the boys are thinking. I hope they are the best of friends!

Kisses!!!

This is the Way We...

This is the way we brush our teeth...wash our hands...blow our nose...you name it...

Yall know that song we all sang when we were little as we immitated various behaviors. Well, lately, I think I need to sing that song to myself. Let me explain...

Some days, I literally don't know where the time goes. It's like I blink and it's dark outside and we're ready to start the bedtime routine to get ready for the next day. Now, I won't say that I get everything done in a day because that's far from the truth, but I manage to pull off a few things here and there. That doesn't mean that sometimes it's not until lunchtime when I realize that I haven't brushed my teeth or washed my face (sorry if you think that's TMI, but that's the reality of life with a newborn and preschooler)...But hey, at least like I said, I get it done, lol.

Between taking care of the boys and house and home, things are just on a slower timetable and the focus has shifted. So like one of my best friends said yesterday when the dishes go unwashed or the floor unmopped, I really don't care. I don't count it as a loss and I don't lament over the things piling up on the counter. I keep them all in the "to do" pile and move on to getting ready for the next day.

My boys are fed, clean, happy and thriving and that, to me is a mommy win!

This is the way...I roll :)

On What I Wish I Knew

I quickly learned this time around that there are so many things I wish I knew when cooking baby boy B. At different times I have "blamed" a lot of my mommy friends (sorry y'all) for not keeping it real with me about what goes on during this time. Now y'all know that if nothing else, I don't have a filter when it comes to telling it like it is, so I feel its only right that I compile this list of stuff I wish I knew...but as SDJL told me, it may be better that I keep this stuff to myself so that I don't discourage any of you or put a cloud on your mommyhood pursuits...so if you fall in that category, feel free to stop reading now and check back tomorrow :)...this is also my TMI alert, so the faint at heart (or stomach) need not read any further...

Now that that's out of the way, here are my musings on the stuff they didn't tell me:

-Pregnancy is not all fun, games and glowing...okay, so maybe it is for some women, but not for me...we are all prepared for the weight gain, constant bathroom breaks and general discomforts, but the migraines, frequent nosebleeds, gas, heartburn...need I go on? Bottom line--be prepared for your body to totally betray you. You will do things and hear sounds generated by your temple that you never thought possible.

-Its not all mushy all the time. I always watched the kleenex commercials with the moms totally overwhelmed by emotion with every doctor's visit, ultrasound appointment, baby kick, etc. Well, though I marvled at the creation growing within and was amazed at God's awesomeness in this whole process, I was rarely moved to mushiness. At the risk of thinking something was wrong with me, I conversed with my doc to realize that I was completely normal. It was cool and so was I :)

-Doctor's appointments are the most unpleasant times...up until delivery. Now, the early appointments exploring the wonders of pregnancy were great. But as the time clicked closer to d-day, so did the need for pain pills. What the heck was the doc reaching to find? My heartbeat from down there? Geez...throwing back the liquid for the glucose tolerance test was one thing, but loosing all your dignity every seven to ten days to see if your little ones head was emerging...all I can say (or scream) is OUCH! Okay, but once you get over the pain, its hospital time. And while these professionals do it every day, there's something about having your hospital gown ripped open, undies pulled down and privates bared publically that just does something to you. Having a baby? Leave your modesty at the door. I somehow thought that with a csection, I would escape some of the probing...not so.

And last thought for today (baby waking, so to be continued later...)

-In my words that I screamed on day 4 from home...HOLY BOOBS BATMAN! God bless you if you happen to suffer engorgement like I did. Let me tell you, its the worst pain I have experienced (and I have gone through some things and surgeries). Breastfeeding/pumping/expressing is not for the faint of heart. To sum it up, my pain pill popping was more for my breasts than my c-section...

That said, don't want to scare y'all, just keeping it real :)

Even with the experiences aforementioned, I wouldn't trade a minute of them to have B safely in the world!

Not too Bad...

For one month post baby! I'll take it... Now, let's heal so I can get to the gym and get rid of the last portion of baby B's 9.5 month home :)