A Day in The Life

It has been far too long since I posted something!

Charlotte will be 12 weeks old on Monday and it feels like time has just flown by.  There are times I feel like I'm living in the movie 'Groundhog Day'. Everyday seems to be a repeat of the last. 

Sometimes it gets hard, the monotony and being somewhat housebound thanks to naps (Charlotte is having three right now). My days are spent juggling both of my dear sweet babies.

Here is what a typical day looks like:

7:30am : Sweet Charlotte gets up and feeds

8:00am : Harrison gets up and gets a bottle

8:30am : Breakfast time for Mumma and Harrison

9:00am : Nap #1 for Charlotte

10:00am: Nap #1 for Harrison and now starts my hour of free time which is usually spent showering and getting dressed, cleaning up, laundry etc. stuff that is hard to do with either baby awake. 

11:00am: Charlotte is up and feeds

12:00pm: Harrison wakes up, gets a bottle and Harrison and Charlotte 'play' together 

12:30pm: Nap #2 for Charlotte and then lunch time for Mumma and Harrison

2:00pm: Nap #2 for Harrison and a short break for me before Charlotte gets up at

2:30pm: Charlotte gets up and feeds and we get a good stretch of time to spend together 

4:00pm: Nap #3 for Charlotte and Harrison gets up (sometimes*) and gets a bottle

4:30pm: For some reason Charlotte can't seem to sleep last 4:30, so she is usually up around then

6:00pm: If by some gift from God Charlotte doesn't wake up early, she gets up now and has a feed. Followed by dinner for the family. 

7:00pm: Depending how Charlottes third nap goes, this is the earliest she would go to bed, 7:30pm at the latest

7:30pm: Bath time and bedtime routine for Harrison starts. 

8:00pm: Bottle and bedtime for my little man and quiet time for me and Bobby begins!

10:00pm: Dream feed for Charlotte, and bedtime for me follows soon after!

*Harrison is ready to go down to one nap, but I'm not ready yet! So most often it takes him a long time to fall asleep during his second nap so I let him sleep til 5 at the latest and that usually only happens when he doesn't fall asleep until 4ish

Side note: also thrown into our days are Harrison tantrums and meltdowns, early wake ups from naps (both of them) or non- existent nap times (Harrison). 

It's crazy to see it all written down like that. And in there somewhere I have to get stuff done around the house, run errands, make dinner etc. I am exhausted by the end of the day. 

When Harrison was Charlotte's age, I was super strict with his schedule. Now, I am much more relaxed. I have to be if I want to run errands!

As monotonous and structured as our days are these two babies make me so happy. 

Harrison is at an age where I truly enjoy spending time with him. He is so much fun. He literally runs everywhere, tests boundaries (with a sly smile on his face) loves to 'read books' and throw his toys around. He makes me laugh all the time. When I ask for a kiss, he gives me his forehead. Adorable. 

Charlotte is just too sweet. She takes so much abuse from Harrison with hardly any crying and she usually just looks up at him and smiles. I feel like I can see her growing everyday. I am extremely aware of how fast she will grow out of being a baby so I'm trying really hard to be aware of it and enjoy this time with her. 

I love my babies so much. They bring me so much joy and purpose. This is what I was born to do. 

Charlotte's Birth Story

Both babies are sleeping (yay!) so I thought I would take the time to put Charlotte's birth story down on 'paper'.

This is one for the records people.

Here goes:

I started having early labour contractions at about 2:30am on Monday morning (April 8th), they were not painful, just uncomfortable enough to keep me awake.  I hadn't really experience early labour with Harrison, and I knew it could last for hours if not days, so I really didn't think anything of it.

I guess I dozed off, because I was awoken around 4:00am by a very painful contraction.  I had downloaded a contraction timer the night before, so I started timing them.  This felt like the real thing, and I decided to wake Bobby after the next contraction - but I had to wait for the third strong contraction to finish.

I woke him up (he told me later that he was mad that I had woken him up - he forgot that I was even pregnant.  I guess that can happen...) told him I was in labour and that he should start calling people.  I then went to brush my teeth, I didn't want to offend our new baby with morning breath.

We had planned for a home birth so we knew we didn't have to go anywhere, it was just a matter of getting everybody here.

He texted my sister-in-law Nicole who was going to be our doula.  She didn't respond right away, so Bobby called her and told her I was in labour and to make her way over.  He then called my mom, this was around 4:20am.  The only part of their conversation I remember hearing was her telling Bobby to call the midwife right away.

Bobby paged the midwife  and when she called back he told her I was in labour and that the contractions were intense and close together.

Seriously, these contractions were so incredibly painful.  They were way worse than what I remember with Harrison.   I wasn't in as much of a 'zone' as I was when I was labouring with Harrison because there was no time to get into a rhythm.  I was trying to get through the contractions while keeping tabs on Bobby's phone calls.

Very shortly after Bobby got off the phone with my mom my water broke, and the next contraction after that, I had the urge to push.   Bobby, in a panic, called the midwife to tell her the new developments and find her ETA.  She was still about 15 minutes away, so she told Bobby she would call 911 and hopefully the paramedics would arrive before she did.  Thankfully, at this point, Bobby was able to shove some waterproof pads from our Homebirth kit underneath me, or else we would have needed a new mattress.

Knowing that Bobby and I were not prepared or qualified to bring this child into the world by ourselves, I was determined to slow things down till help came.

Well, my body had different plans.

The next contraction after my water broke, my body started bearing down and pushing - with absolutely no conscious help from me.  I started to feel a lot of pressure 'down there', and could feel something happening when I felt with my hand.  I still had my underwear on at that point so Bobby ran to the kitchen to get some scissors and took care of that little problem.

She was crowning, and it was still just the two of us.  Holy smokes.

With the next contraction, her head was out.  I remember reaching around to feel what was happening, and couldn't figure out what I was feeling.

I asked Bobby what I was feeling, and he yelled 'It's her face!!'

Again, still just the two of us.

At this point, Bobby realized that no one was going to make it here before the baby was born so he ran to wash his hands.

Bobby later told me that this point was the most terrifying for him.  With just her head out, he didn't know if she should be breathing or not.  Why would we ever need to know that!  That's what the midwife is for!  FYI - it is totally normal for a baby not to be breathing when just the head is out.

I don't remember Bobby saying a whole lot during this time, but after her head was out, I remember him saying/exclaiming "Dez, what do I do?! What do you want me to do?!"  He wasn't sure if he should be pulling her out or not, but I told him that we needed to wait for the next contraction.

With the next contraction, Bobby caught our daughter and handed her over to me.

The first photo of Charlotte taken by Amanda

Charlotte Grace C. was born at 4:45am on Monday April 8th, 2013, welcomed into this world by her amazing Daddy.  She weighed 7lbs 4oz, and was 20 inches long.

As soon as Bobby handed her over, I remember thinking 'Ok, she has to start crying'.  I rubbed her chest, and cleared out her nose, and after what seemed like forever (but was only about 30 seconds) she started crying, and it was the most beautiful and relieving sound ever.  She was ok!

Once she started crying, Bobby went to the front door to wait for someone, (anyone!) to arrive.

The first people to arrive were my best friend Amanda (who had agreed to take labour and birth pictures for me) and our friend Dave, who is a Doctor in Australia and just happened to be in town and staying with Amanda and her husband Matt just up the street from our house.  Bobby had called them about three minutes before Charlotte was born and told them to get down here!  Just in case something went wrong, it was nice to have Dave so close by!

Thankfully both myself and Charlotte were fine, so Dave didn't have to do anything (thank goodness, that could have been weird).

And then the onslaught of people arrived.  One minute we were all alone with our brand new baby girl, and then our bedroom was full of people!

The midwives arrived at the same time as the paramedics, and then shortly after that Nicole, my mom and step-dad arrived.

Charlotte's labour and delivery still boggles my mind when I think about it.  Under an hour people!  It's amazing what the body is capable of!  We are so thankful that everything went smoothly and there were no complications,  I know the possibility of things going wrong weighed really heavily on Bobby during the delivery.  God blessed us with a healthy baby girl who was eager to make her way into the world!

Adorable baby feet!

After the midwives checked everything over and cleaned things up, I was able to relax in my bed, in my own home, with my daughter.  I can't describe how nice it was to be at home in the comfort of our bedroom.

Even though this was not exactly how I envisioned my homebirth going, it ended up being an incredible experience.  One we will not soon forget.

Bobby went from not wanting (but being forced to be) in the delivery room with Harrison, to delivering his daughter.  He is still recovering.

Oh, and Harrison slept through the whole thing and didn't wake up until his usual time.  Sleeps like a rock, that kid.

When Harrison was up, and had his bottle, he got to meet his little sister.  He seemed slightly interested.

There was definitely a few attempts at poking her face.  Poor girl, just a taste of whats to come in the future, I'm sure.

Our first photos of our little family of four!

We are so happy that Charlotte is here now, and that we all survived her crazy quick birth.  

The midwives joked that if we decide to have a third baby, they will have to move in during my 38th week!

All Together Now!

You've seen bits and pieces of Baby Girls room, so who would like to see the whole thing?

That's what I thought.

Here we go!

I love walking down the hallway and seeing this view.  All the different pinks against the beautiful grey.  I want to spend all my time in there!  The frame above the rocking chair will eventually have Psalm 92:4 ("I sing for joy at the works of your hands") in it.  There is another frame on the closet wall that will eventually have one of her newborn pictures in it.

The glider is the same one that was in here for Harrison, except I recovered it in pink minky, instead of the brown minky I had for Harrison.  I'm so glad that I 'recovered' the glider with safety pins the first time!  I knew I would eventually be changing the fabric.

Before Harrison was born, I made him a quilt which hung over the back of the crib (until he started pulling it off) and used in his monthly pictures.  I knew this time I wouldn't really have the energy or the time (mostly energy) to make Baby Girl a quilt, so I decided to crochet her a blanket.  I've expanded my crocheting abilities as it is easier to crochet, than to quilt (don't need to lug my sewing machine, cutting matt and fabric upstairs every time I want to create something).  Crocheting fit the bill for ease of nap time craftiness.

That's it hanging over the back of the glider.

And here is a view of the other side of the room:

Not much new and exciting over here,  I've already shown you the mobile and the hair bow holder.  The shelves are the same ones that were in here for Harrison, just with some pink on them this time.  I'm sure the shelves will eventually look a little nicer, but for now - this is it!

I got the pink metal pails from Target a while ago not knowing what I was going to do with them.  They now hold headband overflow, soothers and newborn hats.

The rug (that you can kind of see in both pictures) is from Costco in the States.  For some reason, they don't have the solid grey color in Canada.

Oh, and the drapes!  I made them.  Only because I couldn't find any blackout drapes in the color that I wanted.  They probably ended up costing me more than if I had just bought a set of blackout drapes, but this way I got exactly what I wanted.  That makes it worth it to me!

And a peek inside the closet:

Unfortunately (very unfortunately) I couldn't convince Bobby to repaint the closet.  Apparently it would have been too much hassle to completely disassemble the Expedit, repaint, and then reassemble the Expedit back inside the closet.  I guess I should have thought of that the first time and just had him paint it white.  Oh well, it's hard to see the blue through all the adorable dresses!

I also recovered the clothing dividers that I made for Harrison - because the closet needed some pink!  I absolutely LOVE opening the closet and seeing all the girly things that I get to dress her up in.

I'm loving the way my vision for a pink and grey nursery turned out.  Even better than I pictured it in my head.

Now all it's missing is our baby girl!

The End (Of Pregnancy) Is Near...

As of Saturday, April 6th, I am 39 weeks pregnant.  The end of this pregnancy is so close, and it brings with it so many feelings and emotions.

I am so excited to meet this baby girl.  I can't wait to see what she looks like (right now when I try to envision it, she looks exactly like Harrison did as a newborn), what colour hair she has, if she looks like me or if I have another Bobby Doppleganger on my hands.  I am actually looking forward to the labour and delivery, believe it or not.  This time, we are planning a homebirth, which I am excited about.  When I had Harrison, part of my 'birth plan' was to stay at home as long as possible, which could have very easily led to a homebirth as we were still at our house when I had the urge to push!  I knew as soon as I found out I was pregnant, I wanted to have a homebirth.  My home is where I feel the most comfortable and happy, and being comfortable and happy during labour can't hurt!  It also helps that my labour and delivery with Harrison was complication free and my midwives are totally on board with it.  I think the only thing I will miss about the hospital is the bed.  Definitely not for comfort, but for the electric reclining part of it.

I am overwhelmed at the thought of what it is going to be like with two babies.  I try not to even think about it.  When I first found out I was pregnant, I thought that 13-14 months old was pretty old and that it wouldn't be terrible to have two that close together.  Now that Harrison is just over 13 months old, I realize how much of a baby he still is.  I have no idea why I thought a 13 month old would be at all self-reliant.  Foolish of me.  I know that I will survive, that I will make it work, and that every scenario that I am thinking of now will probably (hopefully) not be that bad in reality.  Here's hoping (and praying!)

I am soooooo done with being pregnant.  When I was pregnant with Harrison, I was almost sad that pregnancy didn't last longer than 9 months.  I LOVED being pregnant, there was nothing about it that I didn't like!  This time is totally different.  The pregnancy itself is very similar, no issues or problems or anything at all.  The difference this time - Harrison.  Even though I was working full time when I was pregnant with Harrison, when I got home it was all about me.  I could rest as much or as little as I wanted.  This time around I have little human whose needs surpass my own - even when I felt nauseous and exhausted and all I wanted to do was sleep.  Apparently, little humans are like that.  The first trimester was hard because I was feeling so gross, but I napped when Harrison napped (didn't do that after I had him, clearly it takes the first trimester of pregnancy to get me to heed that advice).  But when he was awake, it wasn't too bad.  He wasn't crawling or walking yet, so he was totally content to sit in one spot and play with his toys for extended periods of time.  The second trimester was a breeze.  I had my energy back, could actually play with Harrison without my belly getting in the way.  And then slowly but surely, I started falling apart.  Achy hips and back, sore feet, and huge belly.  This was all around the time that Harrison started crawling and never sat still - ever.  Its almost like he can tell that I would rather not pick him up because it is all he wants to do now is to be held.  Never before has this little boy wanted to be held so much.  But when it is uncomfortable for me - he's all for it.  Go figure.  I am ready for this little girl to make her arrival.  I want my body and energy back!

Any day now, this little princess will make her arrival, and our lives with be forever changed.  I am beyond grateful for this new addition to our family and know that I am extremely blessed.

Oh, and Harrison told me he is super excited to be a big brother!

And because I don't think a post is a post without pictures, here's a look at Harrison's Cake Smash Photoshoot with Megan from Family Creative. 

She Has The Key To My Heart

I had so many big idea's about what to do above the crib in the nursery (Thanks Pinterest!)  Here are a few things that I pinned that looked good to me:

(No source found through Pinterest)

(Source)

(Source)

I really liked the gallery wall idea, but realized that it would most likely cost me a pretty penny to accumulate items that I thought were worth hanging up above the crib.  So, I scrapped that idea.  

I really liked the look of the tissue paper pom poms, and had already started sourcing quality tissue paper in the colors that I wanted when Bobby decided he would like to have a say about what goes in the nursery.

Perfect timing.

Turns out he really didn't like the look of the pom poms, thought they were too overdone (no idea where he has seen an overabundance of tissue paper pom poms, but whatever).  So, to keep him happy, and to avoid more input on the room, I kiboshed the pom pom idea.

A few weeks later, it hit me.  We had gone to Winners a couple of months ago, and I picked up a set of 'antique' skeleton keys with no idea what to do with them.

I knew what to do with them now!

I painted the keys in two different shades of pink, and hung them randomly above the crib.

Why is there that open space in the middle of the keys?  The first letter of her name will go there, but I'm not going to spill the beans on that until she's born, so just use your imagination.

I really like how it turned out.  It's different, and unique (well, I think it is anyway!)

I LOVE the pinks against the grey wall.  So pretty....

Hair Bows & Headbands

After perusing Pinterest one day, I came across this:

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I knew that my baby girl would be wearing bows and headbands, and I thought this was the perfect way to store them.  Hair bows and headbands are pretty - so why not use them for decoration!  Its the perfect combination of function and pretty-ness.

I picked up a cheap frame from Winners (it ended up being plastic, should have been more thoughtful about it and gotten a wood frame) and had Bobby paint it for me.

I also picked up some ribbon from Michaels, and used that to string on the inside of the frame.  Then I got some small hooks and just screwed them into the bottom of the frame (for this part it was nice the frame was plastic!)

After all was said and done, the last thing to do was to attach my hair bows and headbands.

This is another project that turned out just how I pictured it in my head.  Unreal!  I'm two for two here people!

I put the frame beside the change table so that it was easily accessible when I was dressing her.

Oh, and if you're eyeing the prettiest bows in the frame, my best friend, Amanda, sells them in her Etsy shop.  She makes them all by hand, and they are fabulous.  She also makes tutu's!  

I may have bought one for Baby Girls newborn photos....  

Butterflies & Tutu's

Since I made all of Harrison's crib bedding, I decided that I wanted to 'splurge' and buy a mobile for above the change table.  This time, since I bought the bedding, I decided I was going to make a mobile.

I took to Pinterest for inspiration and knew I wanted something that looked like these:

(Couldn't find the source on Pinterest)

(Couldn't find the source on Pinterest)

(Source)

With those pictures as my inspiration, I set out to figure out how to bring my vision to life.  Thankfully I know someone fabulous that has a Cricut machine.  This project would not have been possible with her help!

Unfortunately, since I wasn't in blog-mode when doing any of my nursery projects, I have no 'in process' photos.  Sorry...

Anyways, I went to Michaels and picked out two shades of pink paper and grey paper and spent one of Harrison's naps over at her house cutting out butterflies (in three different sizes) on the Cricut.  No specific reason I chose butterflies, I just think they are pretty.

Once I had all my butterflies cut out, it was time to start stringing them up using fishing line.  To add sparkle (because every little girl needs sparkle) and a little weight, I used plastic beads before and after each butterfly and on the bottom of every line.

It was a time consuming and tedious part of the job, but I was just so excited to be making something for my little girl that I didn't care!

After I had all my butterflies strung, It was time to hang them on the frame.  I ended up using a wooden embroidery hoop, because I couldn't think of anything else to use.  I knew I wanted there to be two layers of butterflies, so I strung some fishing line across the hoop so I could attach some butterflies to the 'inside' of the mobile.

Once they were all strung, it was time to do something about the ugly wooden frame. I made it look like a tutu, because, just like sparkle, every little girl needs a tutu.

And here is the finished product:

It is very rare that a something I attempt to make turns out to be just as good, if not better, than I envisioned.  This is one of those times.  Just sayin'.

I absolutely LOVE this mobile, and am pretty proud of myself for making it!  I can't wait to see her look up at the mobile and be in awe of what her mother can do. (Just kidding!)

Tickled Pink

When I saw the result of the first pregnancy test I took (I ended up taking three..) the first thing that went through my mind was Psalm 92:4 "I sing for joy at the works of your hands", the second was 'It's a girl' and the third was 'Oh crap'.

I immediately put the second thought out of my head.  I didn't want to spend the next couple months hoping for a girl and be disappointed if we ended up having another boy.

So when my second thought was confirmed by my midwife, I was over the moon.  I definitely cried.  A lot.  

I was so excited to start dreaming about how to decorate the nursery for our daughter.  I decided this time that I wasn't going to make the crib bedding and change pad covers.  I looked into the cost of getting it made versus the cost and time for me to make it, and opted to have it made.

I searched Etsy and priced out the cost for two crib sheets, a crib skirt and two change pad covers.  I decided to go with the shop RockerByeBaby.  Amber's prices were great in relation to other Etsy shops, but what made my decision really easy was how quick she responded to my questions and how helpful she was.  Before I had even decided to go ahead with my order, we had exchanged thirteen messages.  Her communication was fabulous and she totally delivered on the order!

I knew that Baby Girl's room was going to be grey and pink so Amber showed me a line of fabric that was all grey and pink and I picked what I liked and she made it be.  

This was a really nice way to get crib bedding and change pad covers.  I got exactly what I needed (no unnecessary crib bumpers or quilts that you normally get in set) and in the exact colors and patterns that I wanted.

I also got an extra crib sheet (left) and change pad cover (right):

I was so excited to receive the bedding in the mail and couldn't wait to get Harrison set up in his new room so I could start the nursery.

Since I ended up buying the bedding, I decided that I wanted to make a few things for her room.

I'm really excited to show you what I've done, but you'll just have to wait for another post!

Harrison's Big Boy Room

When we found out I was pregnant, we knew that Harrison's time in the nursery was going to be fairly short lived.  We decided to keep the nursery as the nursery and turn the office into Harrison's new room.  We also decided that we didn't want to buy another crib.  That meant that Harrison would be in a toddler bed by the time the new baby arrived.

I wasn't too concerned about the transition to the toddler bed as my mom did the same thing with me before my sister arrived when I was fourteen months old.  I'm just sticking to tradition here people.

I didn't want to have to buy anything more than a toddler bed for his new room, so we used furniture that we already had.  

The Expedit was used when this room was the office.  You may notice that the bottom two rows of this Expedit are empty.  Before Harrison had his first nap, and slept his first night in this room, I had put stuff in every cubby.  I put the books that he could 'read' without supervision in a couple of the cubbys on the bottom, and a couple baskets with his toys as well.  I was then able to put some of his keepsake items, books that required supervision, and breakable items in the top two rows.

I think it took me two naps to realize that if there was anything on the bottom two rows, it will be played with during the times sleep should be happening.  Eventually I'll try putting a few things within his reach and see how he does, but for now - they shall remain empty!  It doesn't make for the prettiest looking area's, but when it comes to Harrison's sleep - practicality rules (Mama needs her breaks!)

Due to some rearranging in our room (a post is coming!) we had a dresser from our bedroom set that just so happened to match the Expedit.  So, we threw the dresser in Harrison's room!  It fantastic as it's drawers are deep and wide, and it's deep enough to be able to use the top as a change table.

Even when Harrison was in the nursery, his drawers were organized by clothing size.  I've done the same thing in his new room.  I know that as his clothes get bigger and bigger, the likely-hood of it all fitting in one drawer is slim, but for now, it works!

The shelf above the dresser (high enough that it is safely out of his reach when he is on the change pad) is a very recent install and has a few of those items that I can't keep in the Expedit yet.

I'm also using one of the drawers for diapers and all the necessary junk that goes along with it.  I just bought some newborn sized diapers and can not believe how small they are!  And how huge Harrison's are in comparison!

And now, for what I think is the cutest part of the room:

Is that not the cutest, tiniest bed you've ever seen?  We got it from Sears.  Surprisingly, it was cheaper and nicer than any of the beds I saw at Ikea.  It still uses a crib sized mattress so I'm able to keep using the bedding that I made for him!

I originally bought that body pillow when I was pregnant with Harrison but ended up not using it.  It is now used as a soft place for him to land should he roll out of bed in the middle of the night.  I'm sure it doesn't need to be there anymore, but it makes me feel better.

I really like his new room, and it's exciting to think that (unless we move) he will grow up in this room. I still have to hang the pictures that used to be above his crib somewhere in here (right now they are leaning against the wall on top of the Expedit), but I can't decide if I want them on the wall that his bed is up against (I'm worried that the frames would look dwarfed on the big wall) or on the wall above the Expedit.  What to do, what to do....

Suggestions?

As far as Harrison's transition from his crib to the toddler bed, I decided to take a 'Go Big or Go Home' approach.  I wasn't going to flip flop between his bed and the crib because we had a deadline and I wanted him to be fully settled well before Baby Girl arrived.

That being said, when we got back from our holidays Harrison had two nights in his crib while we got everything moved over.  Once everything was ready - we made the switch starting with his morning nap.  

Not going to lie, I was really nervous.  Like heart racing, glued to the video monitor nervous.  Thankfully he didn't hurl himself off the side of his bed (not during the first nap anyways).  It did take a day or two for him to properly get off his bed, as opposed to leaning himself off the bed.  He chose to continue with the option that doesn't involve crying.  After a couple days of constantly going in and out of his room to put him back on his bed, I decided 'NO MORE!' It was exhausting for me, and I needed my rest as much as he needed his naps!

If he decided to get off his bed, he could sleep on the floor.  It wasn't going to kill him.  And so far, it hasn't.  Although sometimes he wakes up with a pretty wicked pattern on the side of his head from the rug.  It seems that he prefers sleeping on the floor to sleeping on his bed.  Oh well, as long as he sleeps.

Don't worry though - if he falls asleep on the floor at night, Bobby goes in and puts him back on his bed when we turn in for the night.

He has been in his new room, in his new bed for about six weeks now, and I'm so glad that I moved him over so early.  So that he could be settled before the baby arrived, and so that I could get my hands on the nursery!!

Anyone Still Out There?

It has been almost a year since my last post.  And it has not been for lack of desire to blog (well, maybe a little bit) but I have been busy!  Life with Harrison has been a huge blessing.  He is such a wonderful little boy, and it has been a joy watching him grow up and change over the last year.

He recently celebrated his first birthday on February 21st!

The changes a baby makes in the first year are incredible.  Hitting all the milestones, and seeing the development is amazing.  There was a time when I wondered if Harrison was ever going to crawl,  I was pretty sure that he was going to go straight to walking.  Little did I know that he would go from immobile to walking within two months!  He crawled for the first time on January 6th, and started walking on February 17th!  He just made it in before his first birthday!

He is such an active little boy - keeps this mumma on her toes!  There is a constant rotation of bruises on his forehead, there always seems to be at least one.

I love this little guy so much!

On top of just going through the first year of parenthood with Harrison, we got a BIG surprise when he was about six months old.

I was pregnant!

Finding out I was pregnant so soon was the biggest surprise of my entire life, no exaggeration.  It took us so long to get pregnant with Harrison (almost 3 years) that I thought it could possibly take a long time to have #2.  With that in mind, we decided that we wouldn't prevent a second pregnancy, but we most definitely would not try.  I didn't even think I could get pregnant so soon!  Little did I know that when I traced back conception, it was almost immediately after I stopped breastfeeding Harrison (milk supply issues).

The first few months were tough.  Feeling gross, yucky, and exhausted is really hard when you have another little human to take care of !

But I survived, and now, at 36 1/2 weeks, I am so close to having two kids (who am I kidding, babies) under 2 (under 1 1/2 really).  Holy smokes!

We are expecting to welcome our little GIRL(!!!!) around April 13th.  I am physically ready to have this baby (it's so much harder being pregnant the second time around!) and I know I will survive once she does arrive.

Actually, what got me back to my blog was checking to see what I packed in my hospital bag when I had Harrison.  I really should get that bag packed soon....

I know my life is going to get crazy pretty soon, but I am so excited for what is in store for our family!  I hope to start blogging somewhat regularly again.  I have Baby Girls nursery to show you, and Harrison's new big boy room (he's in a toddler bed!)

We'll see how it goes!