The end of Summer and the start of Fall

The past couple of weeks seem to have flown bye.

Time to rewind a little bit.

Collin had his 2nd birthday. He had a fun and exciting Mickey Mouse party. Mickey Mouse must be pretty popular because in the past couple of months we have gone to 3 other Mickey Mouse birthday parties, but I knew Collin loved Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, so he would love it.

The night before his party we stayed up and decorated the whole house with Mickey stuff. tons of streamers, balloons and Mickey Mouse pictures every where. When Collin woke up he was so excited. He kept saying "wow" over and over again. Then he made this mommy cry. He came over to me and said Thank you Mommy, all on his own. It was so sweet, it melted my heart. All of the family and friends showed up around noon and we had a wonderful time.

Collin has really grown over the past couple of weeks too. His foot is now a size 8. HE HAS HUGE FEET! We bought a pair of tennis shoes in three sizes, because Collin really likes them, and they seemed to be very comfortable. He wore the size 6 out. Then he said "oww", and I knew his toe had reached the end of the shoe so we went to size 7. Only one week later, I felt his toe and he had already reached the end of the shoe and it was tight.. So now we are in size 8 shoes. This is just crazy to me.

Some other things about Mr. Collin.

He is putting 3 to 5 word sentences together.
It is still pretty hard to understand what he is saying but it is getting better.
He is in 24 month clothes.
He is in size 5 diapers. (he is just not interested in potty training)
He loves to dance when music is on.
He goes to sleep around 8:30 each night and most nights sleeps through the night.
Some nights he gets up in the middle of the night comes in our room and crawls in bed with us.
He can count to five, then the rest of the numbers get mixed up.

Miss Emily is 3 Months old!

She is such a joy to have around. She is a wonderful baby. My mom is still watching her at our house during the week while we are at work. She is getting such a personality now. Her little cries are so distinct. You know when she is hungry or sleepy, and boy does she let you know. She also giggles and coos all the time. Especially when Collin is getting in trouble. She thinks that is so funny. LOL

She is still sleeping really well, most nights only waking up once for a bottle and then back to sleep instantly. She is still wearing size 1 diapers and drinking 8, 4 oz bottles each day. When Collin was 3 months old we actually started letting him eat oatmeal. I am not sure if we will start that early with Emily. She is still doing so well on just a bottle.

The past couple of weeks have been pretty busy with each weekend full of activities. Here are some pictures of our little ones.

Decorations for Collin's Birthday party

 

Collin loved his Mickey Mouse Cookies

Everyone singing Happy Birthday!

My mom and Emily in their Minnie Mouse Outfits.

 

 

Collin and Emily watching Jake and the Neverland Pirates

Collin at the Bootfest Festival

 

All of us at the Bootfest Festival

 

She was so happy

 

Collin had to wear his shorts on his head.

Emily came to visit me at work.

A almost 2 year old and a 2 month and 2 week old

Welcome to my fun and exciting 3 ring circus.. aka my home and family.

Getting used to having 2 little ones isn't easy. Things in the house are always upside down and that is hard for me because I really try my hardest to always keep our house tidy and things put a way most of the time. This is becoming pretty much impossible. I am figuring that out now, and just picking my battles.

Collin and Emily are both doing great. The initial shock of having a little sister has worn off. Collin has officially accepted her to the family. And now most times he wants to know where she is 24-7. He always wants to check on her while she is sleeping.. Ugh... most times this wakes her up and we have to start all over to put her back to sleep. But I would say this is a sign he is going to be one protective brother.

A little more on Collin.... He is turning 2 years old this weekend. Wow time sure does fly. He is growing like a weed, and taking everything in like a little sponge. Learning new things every day.
He still attends a in home day care every day from 7:15 to 5pm. Most days going to school is a chore because he does not want to leave for what ever reason it may be that day, but when it comes time for him to leave daycare he is does not want to leave there either, he is having too much fun with his friends. I am really happy we chose a in home daycare for Collin. He has done so well with only having 6 other kids around him and keeping things small. We have introduced the potty to him the past three months. And about a month ago he went for the first time in the potty. This is still hit and miss, most times it is only right before bath time. But at least he understands, and is curious. We are now watching lots of Daniel Tiger goes to the potty and reading Elmo potty books.

Now on to Miss Emily...

She is doing so well. A happy, healthy baby. When someone tells you, your second child with be a lot different than your first. It is so true... First you as a mom are much more relaxed and things are not the end of the world any more.  Plus you kind of know what you are doing or what to expect. Plus Emily is such a good baby. At 8 weeks old she started sleeping 6 to 7 hours at night time. And only waking up for one bottle at night is a complete difference from Collin.  Collin had such bad reflux when he was that age, he was only sleeping 2 to 4 hours at night until he was about 6 months old. I felt so sorry for him and I was so happy when he grew out of it  Emily is on newborn formula and takes about 9 four ounce bottles a day. She is wearing size one diapers still and we are actually moving up to 3 month clothes. On her two month doctor visit she was 10.5 lbs and 21.25 inch long. Right on track.

Since I went back to work, 2 weeks ago, my mom has been coming to the house to watch Emily. This has made the transition so much easier, I really like knowing that they are at home and Emily has been able to sleep in her own bed while she is still so little. We are thinking of putting her in daycare with Collin when she is 4 months old. For me she will be a little bigger and by that time she will also be eating baby food and more than likely be able to roll over while sleeping. Emily has slept on her tummy since the day she came home from the hospital, yes I know that is a a big no no out there in the law of babies sleeping. But she just does. And she does so well. She sleeps in a bassinet next to our bed at night and I feel very comfortable with her there next to me. At daycare though, they will have to put her on her back, but as long as she knows how to roll over on her own they don't care how she sleeps.

A little more about what is going on.. Josh started his new job a couple of months ago and really enjoys it. Being an accountant is his nitch. He is also going to school full time for his Masters degree which means two nights a week he does not get home until about 10 at night. But hopefully in about a year he can take the CPA test, and that is the goal. I am really happy to be back at work too. I missed being around grown ups and keeping busy with all my customers. Plus our private banking department at the bank is really involved in the community and I really enjoy helping out at the functions we are apart of.

Collin's Birthday Party is this weekend. MICKEY MOUSE!! He loves the mickey mouse clubhouse on Disney Jr. He cannot say Mickey so he just calls him Mouse. I cannot wait till the party, we are having it here at the house and I hope he loves every minute of it.

Yes, our family is a three ring circus, but I love them all so much.  

Here are some photos of our little ones that past couple of weeks.

6 weeks old and on the go.

We are still doing so good, this mommy could not be any happier. We have been really busy. The summer is still going strong. 

This past weekend we were on the go again. On Friday we went to Port O Connor to visit our cousin Judy. She bought a new house and we had to come down and see. Emily did such a good job in the car again she slept most of the way. We also stopped by Cathy's to eat lunch. Port O Connor is a big part of our family. My family is from POC so we always run in to someone when we are down there. 

Me and Emily at Cathy's

A little bit about Miss Emily at 6 weeks.

Eat, sleep, poop, make funny faces. 

Drinking 4 oz bottles and breast feeding on demand. I am about to stop though, it is a lot different this time for me. I just don't make anymore, it is weird it is just like my body stopped. 

Sleeping great. She takes 3 to 4 naps a day. Goes to sleep at night around 9 and will sleep 5 hours, then back down for 3 more hours. This works for us and gives me enough sleep at night to function.

Wearing size 1 diapers. Right now we are using pampers. 

Not very fond of bath time, she does not like to be wet. It's okay to be naked, it is the water part.

Doing good with her big brother. He always wants to know where she is. He is still a little too rough, so we have to watch him like a hawk.

Here are some more pictures from the past two weeks.

Miss Emily is 4 weeks

Our little sleeper....

Tomorrow Emily will be 4 weeks old. And of course what everyone else always says, man time flies by so fast.  We could not be any happier. She is doing so good, but I really wanted to say what a good sleeper she is. And for all you other mommies out there you know how excited we get when we get a couple of hours sleep ourselves. Well, at first we were doing the one to two hours of sleep and I felt like we were going to have a repeat of Collin. He had a such a hard time sleeping until about 6 months. But our little girl is doing so well. For the last 4 nights she is sleeping 4 to 5 hours and then back down for 3 more hours.. To me this is just unheard of. But I am so grateful.  And so is Josh... Ok, enough about her sleeping. I was just excited.

She is doing great all around eating and sleeping really well. She is able to lift her head all the way up and is very strong.  She does have a little bit of a stuffy nose right now, but I think this is just normal. We don't go back to the doctor until her 2 month check up.

Now a little bit about this past weekend. Since Emily was two weeks old, she has been on the go. I didn't feel like we had to be confined to the house like we did with Collin in the beginning. so we are always doing something. Going out to eat, shopping or visiting family out the in country. We are non stop.

So this past weekend we went to Port A. We went to visit my cousin Christy and her family who had a condo right on the beach. Collin loved it! He had so much fun playing with his cousins playing on the beach and at the pool. He is becoming much braver when it comes to water. We found out if his cousin Lexi did it, then he wanted to play copy cat.  So jumping off the side of the pool became a fun game. Now, Collin did have his moments too, he wanted the colors, and the next thing I know he is coloring all over the kitchen cabinets in the condo.. OH NO!!! Luckily with a little bit of bleach we were able to get all the marks off. No more colors...

Emily did so well too, she slept well in the travel pack in play. She even came out to the beach with us for 30 mins.

Yes it is taking time for our family to get adjusted, but things are much easier than I imagined. We are taking each day, one day at a time and loving it.  I have to go back to work Sept 23rd, I am cherishing each day I have at home with her.

Tanning in the backyard

Out to lunch with her Great Aunt Donna

This is an old pic, but this is me 10 days before her arrival.

Collin having fun at the beach in Port A

Collin and Lexi playing in the sand at Port A

Me and Emily hanging out on the patio in Port A

 

Me and my Little Man in Port A

Me and Emily out to lunch with the Cousins

I love her new outfit

Meet Miss Emily Hanchett

Its time to come back!!

Life with a toddler and working made it impossible to blog. I don't see how you other mommies do it. I found myself never having time to write and it was always easier to just post short and sweet comments on Facebook. However, looking back I love that I was able to read all about Collin's first year of life and I hope one day he will enjoy reading it too. I really want to be able to do the same thing for Emily, so she too can read it one day.

So, here goes....

Miss Emily Grace Hanchett was born on Wednesday, July 17, 2013. It was 1:39pm and she weighed 7 lbs 10oz and was 18.25 inches long.

My pregnancy with Emily was a whirl wind. After having your first baby time just goes by so fast, and you don't get to focus on all the things you did with your first pregnancy. Some days can even go by and you forget that you are pregnant. So I would for sure say it was an easier pregnancy than Collin's.

We found out that we were pregnant on November 12, 2012. We were in Houston, and on the day before we were at the Texans Grill watching the Houston Texans Football Game for Josh's birthday and we decided to stay the night in Houston. The next morning at the hotel I decided just to see (I kinda had a feeling), and sure enough it was a plus sign.. What a wonderful birthday present for Josh. We are having a baby!!

But has far as the pregnancy, I did have morning sickness for the first three months, not as bad as with Collin, but still not a lot of fun. My second trimester was a breeze, I felt good most of the time. We found out we were having a girl at our 20 week appointment, we both could not have been more excited. We had our boy and our girl. The third trimester was probably the worst. It seemed she was getting so big so fast and there was not a lot of room. My stomach hurt most of the time from her kicking and stretching out. Plus she never stayed still, some days she was breech, then sideways, then head down. Pretty much on each weekly visit to the doctor she was in a new position.

My due date was July 26, 2013, but since I had a C-section before we knew were going to have another C-section. The doctor decided Friday, July 19th would be the day.  On Wednesday, I was scheduled to have by blood work done so that it would be back from the lab for Friday.  But Emily had other plans. My mom and I went to the hospital for the blood work and they had me fill out the paper work in the registration office. While I was in there, signing my name I started having hard contractions, and I think I scared the office lady to death, she started freaking out and said she really wanted me to go upstairs and get checked out, she even ran out of the room and got a wheel chair. I was not that nervous because I had been having contractions for a while. But it made her feel better.

Well the next thing I know after putting the heart monitor on the baby, they said today is the day, that the contractions were close together and we were having the baby, NOW. That is the word the nurse used. NOW. I was like oh my gosh I have to call Josh. We are having a baby today!! This was all about 11am and Emily was born at 1:39pm. For all you mommies out there that are going to have a second C-Section, I want to put your mind at ease, for me it was a lot easier, even though it was a surprise time. I think it is a mind thing, I was much calmer and relaxed. I talked to the doctor most of the time she was doing the c section about random things and she even had the radio going. With Collin I was scared and nervous because I didn't know what was going to happen. Even Josh was more calm..it was like we were Pros at this.. ha ha ha. Not really. The recovery time is still not easy. I won't lie, it hurts! But seeing her face for the first time, it melts your heart

We could not be any happier. She is perfect and our family is now complete. We decided together that two was our stopping point. Now it time focus on our two little ones.

Collin is being great big brother. I love him to pieces. He tries to share his things with her, his toys or cookies. Too cute. There is a little bit of jealousy though, mainly in the mornings, he does not understand why he has to go to day care and mommy is staying home with the baby. He cries, but I think it will just take time. We will get there.

There is so much more to post but I will write more tomorrow. Here are some pics.

"Ma Ma Ma Ma"

Collin said "Mama" a long time ago and I was so excited, but he only said it when he was crying. And then after about two weeks of doing that, he just stopped. It has been about four months and I have not heard the sound MaMa, until this past Monday.

On Monday we went to take his 1 year photos at Sears and the whole time he said MaMaMaMaMa. I couldn't believe it. I asked the girls at Daycare and they said he said it all day long.. WHOO HOO... But now... He really knows to relate the word Mama with Me and Dada with Josh. Too Cute. So tonight I was in our bedroom and he was in his room and he started saying MaMa and crawled all the way down the hall saying MaMa MaMa MaMa and it got louder and louder and louder. Oh my goodness. Then he saw me and was so excited. I love it, it made me cry. Happy Tears.

Collin is also cutting two more teeth. One on the top and one on the bottom, that will make 7 teeth so far. And watch out because if he bites you it HURTS.. He has been running fever the past two days with these two teeth, can't wait until they are all the way in.

Only 9 more days and he will be one year old. We are in full swing, planning his birthday party. Elmo and Seaseme Street Friends. I cannot wait to see him dive in and eat his cake. He has had cake before and loved it, so I am hoping when he sees his own cake he will love it just as much.

This year has flown by. It is amazing to watch your little baby grow up into a toddler. Every minute they are learning something new. It is so hard not to miss something. I am very blessed to have gotten to spend time with him at home until he was 9 months old. Those are moments I will never forget. I love my little man, he is growing up too fast.

11 months.. time to catch up!

I say this over and over again, I really do wish I was better at this. But finding time to do anything is hard to do... But enough complaining lets get started....

It has been two months since the last time I was able to blog. And of course so much has happened it seems like I would have to write a book to tell you all about it.

But here are some highlights.

To start, I left off with Collin was going to go to his first day of Daycare.....

OH DAYCARE..... Collin does not mind going, sometimes he cries when we leave or drop him off but sometimes he can not wait until we put him down and he wants to go play with the other kids. So there are a lot of pros and cons to daycare.

Here are a couple. PROS...
1. They are always open, I never have to worry if they will be able to watch him. Plus they are open from 6am to 6pm so that really helps a lot with the two of us going to work and working odd hours some days.
2. He loves playing with the other kids, I really believe that he has learned so many new things just from watching the others play.
3. I trust his teachers, they always give me a report of how he does each day.
 - CONS... which are starting to out weigh the pros... but everyone keeps telling me hang in there it will get better....
1. HE WILL NOT SLEEP. poor baby,  it has been two months and he will not take naps at day care. I get his report each day and some days there are no naps at all and some days he sleeps maybe 30 mins or maybe an hour. So by the time he gets home he is so tired. I have asked if there is anything we can do, but not really, they have to keep all the lights on for all the other babies in the room and it can be noisy since the other babies my cry or laugh and Collin does not get any rest... (But the days we are at home, he take 2, 2 hour naps, one in the morning and one in the afternoon.)
2. Of the 9 weeks that he has been there, I would say we have been 20 days sick at home. He has caught every sickness known.. it seems. tummy virus, colds, pneumonia, upper respiratory infection, other virus. We have been to the doctor more in the past two months, than his whole life.. ERRRR. I just really want my baby to feel better and be happy.

So that is my saga of Daycare so far, we are going to keep at it for the time being, I just hope his immune system can keep up.

Now for the fun exciting things he has been up to.. The baby that makes me smile every day...

Collin is growing up into such a little man. He has such a funny personality that is forever changing.
He laughs and smiles at things he things are funny, he growls when he is frustrated, he screams when he is mad, SCREAMS loud if he is not getting his way. (Yes my child can throw a big temper tantrum at the age of 11 months....) My parents say he is very dramatic just like his mommy.. HA HA! He coos when his does not feel good and loves to cuddle. And the only words (sounds) he says is, ba ba and da da.

He is eating table food now, every once in a while we are still giving his Gerber baby food, but mostly table food. Loves, fish sticks and chicken nuggets with ketchup. mac and cheese, peas, green beans, pork and beans, and a all time favorite is any Mexican restaurant with beans and rice. OH My.

He is still having 4 to 5 bottles a day that are 4 oz each. Mostly to get him to sleep. Throughout the rest of the day he has juice and water out of sippy cups. Starting Monday we are going to go to half formula and half whole milk. I have let him drink milk from my cup and he loves it, so I don't think this is going to be a hard transition for him.

In the past two months he has become an expert crawler to a couch and table walker, to now we are pushing all the walking toys. He can even walk with me, as long as he can hold on to one of my fingers. I have a feeling very soon he will be cruising on his own.

The last doctors visit we went to he was 23 lbs and 30 inches long.. 90% for his age.. We are going to have one tall young man. He is wearing 12 to 18 month clothing and size 3 diapers. No shoes yet still bare feet, but we did by him so really cool Nikes last week.

His grandma and grandpa came down from Oklahoma to see him 2 weeks ago and we had a great visit. We went to Texas State Aquarium and Collin loved seeing the fish.

The first week of October we are flying to Oklahoma so that Collin can see the rest of his family and meet all of his cousins. This will be Collin's first time to fly too, this mommy is a little nervous.

Collin will be 1 year old in 20 days.. He gets to have 2 birthday parties, one here at home and one in Oklahoma... Oh what am I to do with all these toys....?????    :-)