Saturday, June 30, 2012

Bathtime with Olivia

Here's a few pictures of my sweet little Olivia enjoying her bath tonight. I love this little girl!



Health & Fitness... a journey

Health and fitness is really important. It's important because I want to be a healthy mom that can keep up with the needs of my girls. On my wedding day, I was small. I weighed about 125 pounds. But of course, think backing, I thought I was fat. Seriously?! What was wrong with me?! I'm not sure why I had that mindset because I was clearly not fat. Now when I look at pictures of myself, I think I was too small. I needed to gain a little bit of weight and I would look healthier. Well, 2 kiddos later and I gained that weight.

When I got pregnant with Julianna, I weighed about 130 pounds. I gained about 35 pounds during my pregnancy. About 18 months later, I got pregnant with Olivia. At that time I weighed 140 pounds. There were about 10 pounds leftover from my first pregnancy that I just never could get rid of. I probably should have worked out more and ate healthier then but I had never had to do those things. Before babies, I was just naturally thin. It's not a lie- your metabolism changes so much when you have children and just get older in general. After I had Julianna, I tried exercising and just didn't stick with it. Life was so much busier. Working full-time, being a wife, being a mommy... I was just exhausted. So I never lost the rest of the baby weight.

Here I am now. I weighed 140 when I got pregnant with Olivia and I weighed 169 pounds on the day I delivered Olivia. The first 10 pounds came off instantly after birth and then other ten came off within a week of birth. Now, I'm stuck at 149 pounds. My current goal is to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight. Mostly for my health (my BMI is almost obese) but of course, I want to look good too. I would be lying if I said that wasn't a reason. I want to look and feel healthy.

So, how am I going to do it? Well first of all, I have to have self-control- which I seriously lack when it comes to sweets. I love my sweets. I still have to get quite a few calories in per day because of my breastfeeding but I have to be certain that they are healthy calories and not junk. I've given up fast food. It makes me feel terrible after I eat it anyways. I've been cooking almost all of our meals at home- which saves a lot of money too. I try to prepare balanced meals and use the healthiest ingredients possible. I have been planning out our meals for the week so that I know ahead of time what we're eating and we don't resort to fast food because I don't know what to make.

Self-control and healthy eating are the easy ones. Exercise is where it's difficult. I need to exercise to get back in shape. To tone up and to lose these last few pounds. But when you have 2 small children, it's difficult to workout. But starting Monday, I am going to try. I am going to start the 30 Day Shred again and stick to it. I'll do it when Olivia is sleeping and Julianna might just have to join in and do it with me if she doesn't want to play independently. We have a treadmill so I am going to try to walk a little bit when I can each day. When the weather isn't 100 degrees, I'll get the girls out and go for a walk outside too.

I have a plan. Can I stick with it? I'm going to pray for the motivation to stick to it. I want to be healthy and I want to be in shape. I want to be the best mother and wife that I can be. It's just 9 pounds... I can do this! Wish me luck on my journey!

Friday, June 29, 2012

6 week postpartum checkup

Today, I went in for my 6 week postpartum checkup and physical. Everything went well and I got Mirena again. The funny thing is, it's been almost exactly a year since I got it out to start trying for another baby. I reread my blog post about my 6 week postpartum checkup with Julianna (from April 2010) and I said that we wouldn't be trying for baby number 2 until she was at least 2. Well, we started trying when Julianna was 18 months, suffered a loss, but were given another little miracle less than 2 months after the miscarriage. It's amazing how plans change. God has a plan for us and we've definitely been learning that throughout the past few years. I'm so thankful for my 2 little girls. We're not sure if we'll have a third child. We'll see how the next couple of years go... right now, we've got our hands full!


Cuteness Overload

Olivia fell asleep on my chest yesterday. I was able to capture this super sweet, super cute moment with my cell phone. It's cuteness overload!

Sleepy Olivia at 6 Weeks Old

Anniversary Surprise Dinner

Yesterday, Josh and I celebrated 4 years of marriage. He's always been such a romantic guy. He loves doing special things and surprising me (yes- he is a keeper!). I'm not one who loves to be surprised though because I can't stand not knowing everything- I'm nosey like that. So I was a little difficult to deal with yesterday but he still pulled off a beautiful, romantic dinner for 2 + Livi. Livi and I met him at the park where we exchanged vows 4 years ago. He had a beautiful little table setup with dinner from my favorite restaurant as well as new wine glasses with our names and anniversary engraved (one of originals got broken) and a mini cake that was designed exactly like our wedding cake. He even arranged for our friend and the girl's godmother to take care of Julianna and put her to bed. It was so sweet and so thoughtful! What a wonderful way to celebrate our 4th anniversary! I can't wait for many more amazing years together!





Thursday, June 28, 2012

4 Year Anniversary

Today, Josh and I are celebrating our 4 year anniversary! Where have the past 4 years gone?! They have certainly flown by with fun adventures and memories to last a lifetime. I can only imagine how wonderful our next years together will be. In the past 4 years, I began my teaching career (and also put it on hold to stay home with my girls), we bought our home, Josh continued to advance in his career, we found a new church home, and best of all, we had two beautiful daughters together. Who could ask for more?! I love you, Joshua!

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Olivia's First Trip to the Zoo

It took us 25 months to take Julianna for her first trip to the zoo. I was 38 weeks pregnant and trying to accomplish some things with Julianna before Olivia was born. Well, Olivia got to go to the zoo for the first time at a day shy of being 6 weeks old! Josh and I purchased a zoo membership for our family since the zoo is only about 20 minutes away from our home. Julianna loved the zoo when we went last time so we thought this was a good investment.

I actually took the girls to the zoo by myself. Momma, Julianna, and Olivia. I met up with a few other moms from church. It was stressful, it was fun, and I would definitely do it again. I'm very thankful for my mom friends who helped out when I needed an extra hand- couldn't have done it without them. Here's to many more trips to the zoo with my girls!




Olivia- 6 weeks old

Miss Olivia is now 6 weeks old. Where has the time gone?! My sweet little girl is giving us lots of beautiful smiles now and many more coos. Here's her pretty smile today:
She's got a great appetite and enjoys feeding time. Momma is also quite proud- we have made it 6 weeks of just exclusively breastfeeding. This is a big accomplishment for me. To be honest, I wanted to give up the first few days. It was so hard and so painful but it was well worth it. She's a great little nurser and is growing beautifully. I am hoping to nurse her for at least 1 year. We can do it!

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Artsy

Julianna is an artsy little girl. She loves art in all forms. She enjoys music and dancing as well as anything where she can be creative. Being home with her has allowed us to enjoy many fun activities together. We've gotten into paint, watercolors, play dough, crayons, markers, stickers, and chalk. She enjoys playing and creating in an artsy kind of way!






Olivia- 5 weeks old

Our little Olivia is 5 weeks old! She went to the doctor this past Friday. She weighed in at 10 lbs. 2 oz. and was 21.5 inches long. She's growing very nicely! Olivia is sleeping much better during the night. She has one stretch that lasts at least 3-6 hours. Then she'll go right back to sleep after that. Mommy is feeling much better now that she's getting more sleep. I napped a lot when Julianna was a baby but with a 2 year old in the house- napping really isn't an option. There's only a small window when they're both asleep so I use that time to have some "me" time or to get some things done around the house.

Olivia is only awake about an hour to an hour and a half before she's ready to go back to sleep during the day. I spend that time talking, singing, and playing with her as much as you possibly can with a newborn. Julianna and I lay on the play mat beside her while she has her tummy time. She loves getting kisses and will give you a little "smile" when you kiss her nose, mouth, or cheeks.

Olivia Grace

Monday, June 18, 2012

Splish Splash

We've discovered even more in the past few weeks just how much Julianna loves being in the water. Her fear of the swimming pool has faded and her anxiety about the water temperature is gone. She's ready to splish splash! We took her to the YMCA to go to the Splash Pad with our church on Friday night. It was water was freezing but she didn't care- she wanted to play! We also went to the pool at her grandparent's apartment complex on Saturday. She got in with water wings and had a blast. I think we have a little fish on our hands!







Father's Day 2012

Josh celebrated his first Father's Day as the daddy of two beautiful little girls! First, we dedicated Olivia to the church. It was a special celebration and we are so very thankful for our church.

Josh and Olivia after she was dedicated.
After church, Julianna gave Josh his Father's Day gifts. A bottle of cologne from mommy, a picture plaque from all 3 of us, and an art creation by Julianna. He loved all of his gifts!



Josh continued his Father's Day by going to a Greensboro Grasshoppers baseball game with my dad, my brother, and my brother's two little boys. Josh brought home a souvenir hat for Julianna.


Happy Father's Day to a wonderful husband and a fabulous father!

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Olivia- 4 weeks old

Our Olivia is 4 weeks old. She's still eating about every 2 hours during the day but in the past few nights, she's been going at least 3 hours between feedings. She's sleeping in her swing for the most part and I have a nice spot for "sleeping" on the couch. One of my biggest mommy worries with having a toddler and a newborn is that one will wake the other and I'll have 2 non-sleeping, fussy children. Thankfully, Julianna has only woken up during the night twice in the past 4 weeks.




Friday, June 8, 2012

Olivia- 3 weeks old

Olivia is 3 weeks old. This past Sunday, she went to church for the 2nd time. But church was super special this time. It was at the park. It was so nice to enjoy church outside and the weather was just perfect.
I took Olivia to the doctor for a checkup this week. Our sweet girl already weighs 9 lbs. 1 oz.! She was 7 lbs. 11 oz. at birth and she's exclusively breastfed so I'm so really happy that she's gaining weight so well. She's definitely our little piggy! She still wakes up about every 2 hours to eat and spends most of the day/night sleeping, eating, or pooping. She's started cooing a little this week and it sound so sweet.
Happy 3 Weeks, Olivia Grace!

Olivia's Birth Story

The day before Olivia was born, 40 weeks 2 days.
On the morning of May 16 (40 weeks and 3 days), I couldn't sleep. I was awake at 3 am. I was so uncomfortable. I started having contractions that were about 10 minutes apart. By 6 am, they were about 5-7 minutes apart. I called the doctor's office after hours line and the nurse recommended that I head to the hospital. My contractions weren't strong or painful, just uncomfortable but the main reason she wanted me to go was because I had group B strep so I would need to get antibiotics into my body before I would be able to deliver. The nurse wanted to be safe since I was 3-4 centimeters dilated the day before.
Josh being silly in our first room before being admitted.

Josh's mom came over to stay with Julianna and we headed to the hospital. I was checked right away. I hadn't made any progress since the day before and the contractions were very sporadic, sometimes 10 minutes apart and sometimes 5 minutes apart. My doctor was already at the hospital and she told me to get breakfast and walk around the hospital for a couple of hours. So we did just that. We walked and we walked and we walked. I even had a delicious pink, strawberry flavored waffle from the hospital cafeteria. After 2 hours had passed, I went back to be checked again, no progress. But the doctor thought I would make progress if my water was broken so she went ahead and admitted me to the hospital. At that point, we knew we were going to leave the hospital with a baby girl!
A cute bench we found on our hospital walk.
I was in my labor and delivery room by 1pm. It felt like it took forever to get there. We had to wait awhile because all of the rooms were either occupied or getting ready to be cleaned. Lots of babies were ready to come into the world that day!
Settled in my room.
So the picture above is when I was all settled into my labor and delivery room. My sweet nurse got me some crackers and jello because I was so hungry.
My doctor and I after she broke my water.

The doctor broke my water about an hour and half later. I started having a few more contractions but nothing really painful (notice my smile in the picture above) and the contractions still weren't helping me make any progress as far as dilation goes. I took a nap and then around 5:30 pm, my doctor decided to give me pitocin. I wasn't happy about getting pitocin- it wasn't in my birth plan but my doctor believed it was the best option so we went ahead with it.
The evil pitocin.
The pitocin was evil but it did the trick. Within 15 minutes of getting it, I was contracting every 2 minutes. Crazy, painful contractions. Every 2 minutes for the most part but occasionally they were coming every minute. I was by myself when this happened. Josh stepped out to get some dinner. I have a pretty good pain tolerance but not when it comes to pitocin. My pain was unbearable and I was in tears. I asked for the epidural about an hour after I got the pitocin. There was no need to suffer. I needed the strength to push later and I wasn't going to have the energy to push if I had to fight this nasty contractions.
My little Olivia with my doctor.
Once I got the epidural (around 7pm) everything progressed REALLY fast. I was 4-5 cm around 7pm but by 8:30 pm, I was fully dialated at 10 cm! I started pushing right away. It was much harder pushing this time compared with Julianna. I thought I was going to pass out so I had to get some oxygen. Josh helped me so much. He counted for me and held my hand. I couldn't have done it without him there beside me. After 30 minutes of pushing, the doctor was concerned because Olivia was stuck. She said we can either do a c-section or I can suction her out. Of course, we went with the suction and on the next push, she was here! The cord was wrapped around her neck and it was preventing her from coming out.
Holding Olivia for the first time.
Seeing her for the first time was priceless. Such a beautiful moment. All of the pain, so worth it. She's worth it. Olivia was 7 lbs. 11 oz. (much bigger than we ever would have guessed) and 20.5 inches. She shares a birthday with her uncle Adam, as well as a cute dimple in her chin. Welcome to the world, sweet Olivia Grace!
Our first family photo as a family of 4.

Saturday, June 2, 2012

Two is too much fun!

Julianna is learning and enjoying life more than ever right now. She's become even more verbal since her baby sister arrived. It's so much fun listening to her talk and express herself. She's picking up on everything! She enjoys singing her ABC's (leaving out letters here and there), counting 1, 2, 3, and 8, and 10, and she particularly loves the color yellow- when you ask her what color something is she always shouts yellow.




On Memorial Day, we setup her little pool in the front yard, as well as her UV protection tent. We didn't plan on letting her play outside until after naptime but when she saw the pool in the morning, she went in with all of her clothes on. After naptime, she revisited the pool in proper attire.