My Little Guy's Nursery

Connor's nursery is complete! Because we didn't find out if he was a boy or girl before his big arrival, I only decorated parts of his nursery. I never had a "vision" for a gender neutral nursery so I picked out a bedding set that I love for either boy or girl and then waited on the rest. It still turned out very gender neutral but with some special touches.

My friend, Jill, (the one that moved to Germany) sent me this awesome sign for his room. I love it on his door as a welcome to Connor's room sign. Lauren has a "Lauren" sign on her door so this was perfect. 

 View from his door.

 His changing table with his monogram above it. I was stumped on what to put above the changing table. Lauren had girly flower prints in her nursery but I love the simple look of a classy monogram.

 His crib. The prints above his bed are my favorite. The one on the left is a pretty pale green and much darker in person than what shows up on the photo. It says "If you're happy and you know it clap your hands." The blue one says "Now I lay me down to sleep I pray the Lord my soul to keep"

 Armoire. His day gown hangs on display.

 View from his bathroom door.

 My little guy hanging out as I was picture taking.

One whole wall is taken up by closets. There are 2 that are side by side. 

Just for my records:

Bedding: Pottery Barn Kids organic alphabet set

Prints above crib: from the boutique, Sophies, in North Chattanooga

Monogram above changing table: Spray painted old frame, burlap behind glass, vinyl monogram decal from etsy

Furniture: Baby Italia from Babies R Us

Rocker: Babies R Us

Tan Curtains: TJ Maxx

Green Valence: A green shower curtain from Pottery Barn Kids

Lamp: Pottery Barn Kids off white base with green gingham shade

Rug: Sams Club

Wall Color: Tanish color, can't remember the name

I'm A Super Model....

Well what do ya know, Lauren was into "striking a pose" the other day again. Woo hoo. I love her "strike a pose" moments! :) One of my favorite shops was selling these pants that were her sample this past season so I snatched them up since they were Lauren's size. Im slightly crazy about them. I wish she'd never outgrow them. They are so so soft and I wish I had a pair, ha! 

Little L has a play camera that she got for Christmas. It takes real pictures, you can delete, and all that fun stuff. We took turns taking each other's picture. She took mine on her camera and I took hers on my camera. I like this kinda deal. 

 There's my little photographer with her very own camera.

 The weather has been very strange this winter. We had snow multiple times last year and none this year. In fact, it was 60 - 65 degrees a couple of times this week. We took advantage and played outside when Connor was napping. Speaking of napping, it's kind of random. I really should focus and get a schedule for my little guy. It's a little more complicated this time around with a busy 3 year old.

 More modeling. I ordered 5 outfits for my little girl online last week for her to wear this spring and summer. She was beyond thrilled. She kept saying "Ooooo this is so beautiful. For me??" Gosh I love her. She was ripping open the packages before I could get my camera ready. We were playing so her hair is a hot mess but she was all too thrilled to pose for me. 

 We can't leave out my little guy. He enjoys his baths very much now. Check out the little hand pose. 

Trying To Catch Up

Let's see....I'm trying to catch up on my blog posts with all of the pictures I've taken since my sweet little boy arrived.

Check out the sleepy heads on the couch. We had just gotten home from Todd's mom's house and Lauren was worn out. Apparently Todd and Belle were too. They all snoozed for an hour or so until Lauren peed on Todd :) That was a nice, warm surprise!

 While those 3 slept on the couch, little guy slept in his swing. Im so thankful that we've gotten him to like his swing now. For the first 6 weeks that Connor was here, he screamed when I would put him down. We finally changed the swing from swinging side to side to front and back. He likes that much better. With all of my family sleeping, I didn't know what to do with my free time.

 This is how my sweet baby boy sleeps on his mommy. He usually always has at least 1 hand under his chin. He's a cutie!

 On to another party! Lauren's social calendar is way more fun that her mommas. Her friend, Chandler, turned 1 last weekend and we were very excited to go help him celebrate. Chandler's mommy, Brittney, has become a great friend of mine. Her family is incredibly sweet and Lauren loved playing with all of her new friends. 

The theme was Dr. Suess and the decorations were outta this world. They were awesome and Brittney did an incredible job. The party was held at the club house in their neighborhood. It was perfect for a party. There was a full kitchen, huge island to set up food, tables already there, and lots of space for the kiddos to play. 

 Brittney and the birthday boy!

 An example of the great decor. The balloons were a bit hit with the kids. Lauren loved playing with those.

 Sweet Chandler go thirsty before the big cake smashing. He's so cute.

 And finally, Lauren's new friend, McCoy Kate. Lauren looks like she's in deep conversation....hopefully not being bossy :)

It's A Party

This part isn't a party so much but a couple of weeks ago, my little Lauren spent 5 days at her grandparent's house...without me. She went to "grandparents camp" and had the time of her life. I missed her so much that I almost went to Atlanta and got her early. My mom's mom was with them when they came up to get her. Contrary to the last post where Lauren was modeling, she wanted nothing to do with the camera that day. :) 

 Connor and I just hung out together for those 5 days. He was my cuddle bug but we did practice a lot of being put down, etc. Up until now, Connor would scream and cry if you ever sat him down. He now will nap for 2 hours in the swing. I'll take it!

 On to a fun party......Lauren's sweet friend from school, Georgia, turned 4. Georgia had 4 or 5 little friends over for a Princess party. All the cute little girls dressed up like Princesses and had a tea party. They were all so cute and Lauren had the best time "going to Georgia's house."

 Lauren's favorite part of any party is the cake or cupcakes. She prefers the icing, all icing. It's hilarious. Cassie's mom (Cassie is Georgia's mom) even scooped her a little scoop of icing from the cake they had. Too funny.

 These girls are just too precious. They were playing with Georgia's makeup kit. They would put on makeup and then smile in front of the mirror. It was hilarious.

 The picture below is just so sweet. That is how Lauren feels about Georgia. She thinks Georgia has hung the moon. Georgia is older than Lauren by about 10 months but she's so sweet to Lauren. They play so well together.

 Proof that Connor and I were there. Little Connor just slept in the new Baby K'Tan the whole time.

 After playing with makeup, the girls bounced on the bed.

 Before the party ended, Cassie's sister dressed up like a real Princess and surprised the girls. They were so excited and thought that a real Princess was there visiting them.

 All the little Princesses with the real Princess. Lauren was too cool for a picture. She had to finish her conversation on the play phone.

Model Lauren

Every now & then, Lauren will "strike a pose" & be super cooperative for pictures. She'll place her hand on her hip and really pretends to model. It's so cute. When she is in these moods, I always bring out the camera! 

These pictures were taken this past Thursday, the 19th, before going to her preschool. 

 "Momma, I'm striking a pose." She has cute bags that dress up shoes and some pretend makeup and hair accessories came in. Sometimes she'll have both bags, 1 on each shoulder. I love it.

 All giggles that morning. I was behind the camera when Todd was taking the pictures or the other way around, I can't remember. We were being so silly and making her laugh. This picture really shows her personality. Her laugh is so contagious.

Connor At 1 Month Old, Lauren is 3

My 2 sweet babies. Connor turned 1 month old on January 2 and Lauren was 3 on October 29, 2011. I ordered those cute little monthly stickers for Connor to wear his first year on his monthly birthdays. I missed the ball on his first month. Poor little buddy got his month 1 picture taken today, the day he turned 7 weeks old. Ooops. We'll be on time on February 2.

The kiddos stats:

Connor at 5 weeks

8 pounds 

21 inches long

Lauren at 3 years old:

28 pounds

36 inches long

We started a little photo shoot with our little guy in his nursery this afternoon. His sweet big sissy wanted to take pictures too. She loves her little brother.

 My sweet baby boy at 7 weeks. I love his little airplane stickers. We'll take his monthly picture in his rocker and next to his new stuffed animal every month to see how much he's grown. I wish I did this with Lauren.

 I love that little guy. His expressions this afternoon were so funny. We haven't gotten real smiles yet. I can't wait for that day.

 I bought a cute gown for him to wear home from the hospital. Let's be honest, I'm not a fan of girly looking clothes on boys. I usually don't gravitate to smocking and what not for little guys but I wanted something to pass down for generations and I thought this gown looked like a "pass down worthy" gown. He looked pretty darn cute this afternoon modeling. I should mention that he actually didn't wear this home from the hospital. Kinda defeats the purpose of a "going home from the hospital" gown. He was sleeping when we were loading up the room to head home so I didn't wake him.

 His sweet little eyes looking up at me. I love talking to my sweet boy.

Facts for me to remember about my little babes.....

Connor at 7 weeks:

• Just now growing out of newborn clothes. It's a hit or miss with the brands.
• We are working on our last pack of newborn diapers. The diapers that we were gifted have worked out perfectly. I haven't had to return any sizes and we got the perfect amount of newborn diapers. And a bonus? I haven't bought one pack yet.
• No smiles yet. Come on little buddy.
• He was born with dark hair. It's still dark but I feel like it's getting lighter.
• He can sleep on his mommy's chest all day long.
• Speaking of sleeping....we're working on it :)

Lauren at age 3:

• Sweet, feisty, loving, caring, sensitive, talker, and cuddler
• Potty trained except for nighttime. She wears panties all day but wears diapers at night. I'm not brave enough to tackle wet sheets every morning.
• Hasn't figured out going #2 on the potty. We're working on it.
• Goes to school 1 day a week and loves her friends and teachers.
• Favorite show is by far Calliou.
• Thinks my dad's name is "Papa Chicken Butt" :)
• LOVES Disneyworld and wants to go back pronto.
• Dresses herself for nighttime. Her pajama combos are quite funny.
• Wears a size 2 in pants and a 2 or 3 in shirts

The Day Connor Was Born

So I want to document the day that Connor was born so I will always have it written down. It was such a special day, just like Lauren's birthday.

   I've been blessed to give birth to 2 beautiful babies. There's something about the birthing process. It feels like a dream, and out of body experience, magical, and an overall very emotional thing. I hope that I never forget the days that my children were born. Besides marrying their daddy, October 29, 2008 and December 2, 2011 are the best days of my life.  

   I was scheduled to arrive at the hospital at 4am on December 2 for my induction. Yes, 4am. That's a tad early for Todd and I. I only slept for 1 hour the night before. The whole week leading up to December 2, I struggled to sleep. I was excited. I wasn't really nervous, just excited. Because we didn't find out the gender this time, I was excited to see if I was having a boy or girl. Another thing is that we wanted to be induced, just like with Lauren. In a perfect world, I would have just gone into labor and we would have rushed to the hospital. Because of Todd's job, I really wanted him to be there so that's what we chose to do. There is only 1 flight a day from Chicago to Chattanooga (Todd is based at O'Hare) so I just knew he wouldn't make it home if I went into labor with him flying somewhere.

   We got to the hospital right at 4am. After checking in, we settled into our room at 4:30am. I was already dilated to around 3cm. That's another thing, I won't be induced if I haven't already started dilating. It makes labor so much easier if my body has already started the process. At 5:30am, my OB (the best OB in the entire world!!) arrived to break my water. That was much more painful than my experience with Lauren. Connor was very very high. He was so high that my nurse later confirmed that she was afraid he wouldn't come down and that I might would need a C section. After breaking my water, the contractions of course were very very intense.

 
   Around 7am, I got my glorious epidural. I shouldn't really call it glorious though. Just like with Lauren, I still felt pain. I thought those suckers were to give you a pain free birth. What in the world? :) Poor Todd turned pale as a ghost and almost passed out right after they put my epidural in. He doesn't have a weak stomach at all so it wasn't from watching me get the epidural. We didn't eat much food in the morning so he just got very light headed. Poor guy! He retreated to the couch and I got some much needed rest as well.

   The anesthesiology team had to come back 3 times to give me more medicine. I would be pain free for about 30 minutes and then feel intense contractions again. This went on the entire time until Connor was born.

   After 9am or so, I was around 5cm. From 9am-12pm, I just knew Connor was going to come fast. I could feel the pressure and just knew that I was progressing quickly. My OB joked that it would be ideal for this baby to be born during his lunch break. He ended up getting his "wish."

    We had a couple of visitors but at 12pm, I knew it was time. My OB and his nurse who is a good friend walked in the door right at about 12:15pm. Perfect timing. I was thrilled to see his nurse. She has become a friend and I knew she would be able to help with the birth if it was during their lunch hour. It worked out so perfectly.

Nurse Shana

 The most incredible doctor in the entire world. There aren't enough words to express how great he and his nurse are. They are the best of the best and I would never want anyone else taking their place during the delivery.

   Just like with Lauren, I got extremely nauseous during pushing. The only way that I don't vomit is by having a large cup of ice chips and to eat the ice between each contraction. Shana, my OB's nurse, got wet, cold paper towels for my head and then Todd was in charge of the ice. Perfect team! I still end up feeling much more than you would if your body responds well to epidurals. The pressure is out of this world and I always know when to push. I close my eyes the entire time to focus :) No mirror watching for me. No way.

   Todd had roses delivered to my room as I was in labor. I remember Shana telling me to look and I said "no no no, is that a mirror?" I was adamant about not looking :) Instead beautiful roses were there. Sweet sweet husband.

   My sweet baby boy was born at 12:55pm. I don't remember who announced that he was a boy but Todd and I both sobbed after seeing our precious son. Giving birth is the most emotional experience I've ever gone through.  The whole experience was so similar to Lauren's birth, even progressing quickly in the end. Hearing that I not only had a son but that he was healthy was such a precious gift.

Seeing my precious son for the first time and learning that I had a baby boy in my belly over the last 40 weeks.

Seconds after hearing we had a son. I didn't know we were taking a picture but it captures the emotion of the moment very well.

   I was then moved to my room where we stayed for 2 nights. Our hospital experience was wonderful. The nurses were great and we enjoyed our time with Connor there.  We've been very fortunate to have 2 stress free births and 2 healthy kiddos.