nap time

The trickiest part about adding another child to my life has been nap time.  I got into the lazy habit of napping with Lily while I was pregnant, and now that I have a newborn, I try to nap with her again if I can get baby Marco to cooperate and nap at the same time.  

Sometimes I have to sneak away to make sure that his needs are met.  The times I have to sneak away my chances of taking a nap are slim.  On Wednesday's I never take a nap because I teach Piano Lessons after Lily wakes up and I don't want to be groggy while teaching piano.  Other days that I don't nap I find myself reading and editing a friend's book.  It has been a slow and long process and I'm grateful that she's patient with my crazy schedule.

When Lily wakes up from her nap, I never know what kind of mood she's going to be in.  

Sometimes she is happy.  

Sometimes she is cranky.  

Sometimes she is cuddly.  

Sometimes she is goofy.

And sometimes she is all the above.

This specific day we took pictures to document her being cuddly, cranky, silly, scary, and goofy.

 After a while she thought it was a game and tried to kick at the camera with her feet.  Every time she hit the phone she laughed and laughed and was so proud of herself.  I just happened to get some of her attempts on film (not on purpose, but by accident).

But the best part about nap time is how Lily likes to fall asleep on me.  It takes a matter of seconds for her to zonk out once she climbs on top of me and lays her head on my left shoulder.  After about two minutes I can move her to the side and she'll sleep soundly for about 1.5-2.5 hours.  I feel loved, needed, and wanted when she falls asleep and I know that she feels safe and secure enough to go to sleep on me.

You'll read plenty of books, blogs, and newsletters that will probably say I'm a terrible mother for the way that I put Lily down for a nap... and how I should do it differently.  But in my opinion, I look at this tiny little occurrence differently - she is only going to be small for so long - and soon she won't let me cuddle, snuggle, or fall asleep with her.  So for now, I'm going to cherish the naps that we get to take together, because this won't last for long!

Baby Marco - 4 & 6 weeks

Baby Marco ~

You turned one month old today!

And your big sister loves you more than ever!

Thank you for being such a good little boy!

6 weeks

You and your sister are a lot alike...
 ~ You never spit up, and she hardly spit up.
 ~ You both love being held.
 ~ You both smiled at around 7 weeks.
 ~ You both were born with little to no hair.
 ~ You both are such good, good babies!
 ~ You both hated pacifiers, but took them when dipped in gripe water.
~ You both are so strong and started lifting your own head at a very early age.

Here's how you two are different...
  ~ You are a squeaker... big time, your sister was a crier (but not big time).
 ~ At 6 weeks old, Lily only woke Mommy up once in the middle of the night.  You, on the other hand, are struggling with that.  You range from waking Mommy up from 2-4 times a night.
 ~ Big Sister was giving Mommy at least 8 hours of sleep (4 hours interrupted at a time).  Mommy is lucky if she gets 5 with you (2.5-3 interrupted).
~ Lily never had a swing and her favorite places to play were in the bouncing chair and in the jungle toy.  You much prefer the swing and could sit and rock and rock for hours.
~ You have had maybe two blow-outs.  By six weeks, Lily had had dozens of them.
~ Lily was getting outfit changes constantly (thanks to blow-outs), you are content in just chilling in the same outfit all day long.
~ Your diaper rashes go away so much faster than Big Sister's ever did.
~ You are a terrible nurser, your sister on the other hand was great.
~ You are a great burper, but it would take Big Sister forever to burp.
~ You hate to be held upright, you much prefer to snuggle in on your side in Mommy's arms.  Lily loved to fall asleep upright on any chest available.
~ You don't seem to mind the carseat, Lily hated it.
~ You also don't seem to mind tummy-time.  Lily screamed the whole time she was on her tummy.

Even though you two are so alike, and are also so different, Mommy and Daddy love you so, so much and are so grateful that you are a part of our family!

Lily's future career?

Our cute, cute friend Bailey sent Lily a Doc McStuffins play doctor set for her birthday.  And every single day Michal and I get to have all of our vitals checked by Doctor Lily.

She always starts with checking our blood pressure.

 Nest comes our heart beat with her magical talking stethoscope

 Then she always checks our ears to make sure that they are okay.

 Upon concluding our check-up, and getting our diagnosis - she then gives us our medicine.  (It's really a 'play' shot, but she thinks its a medicine syringe... so we roll with it.)

And then the whole process starts all over again (in that exact order).  Our "doctor" visits usually last about a half hour and we feel much better after they are finally done.

Our first snowstorm of the year

End of February, 2015

Do you wanna build a snowman?

C'mon let's go and play!

The first snowstorm of the year was quite uneventful: 1/2 inches of snow (originally called for 3-10 inches) and school was cancelled 4 days... but Lily loved playing in the snow. Michal was unprepared for how long she wanted to go out and enjoy the white, cold, feathery stuff so he made sure that when the next snow storm arrived about a week later, he was much more prepared to go outside and play with little girl.

This time we received about 6 inches of good snowman-building-type snow! Lily loved the snow.  It didn't matter how cold or how long she was out in the snow, she wanted to go "again, again, again."  Since it snowed Daddy was able to take the morning off and make sure she got her fix of snow.  (Isn't Michal just the best Daddy ever?!)

By far, this is my very favorite picture of you.  You wanted to build 'Olaf' so badly and Michal even provided you with a carrot to finish him off with a nose!  That snow man was made entirely by yourself, and I think that it is the most adorable snowman I have ever seen!  Lily's 'Olaf' is perfect, even though his nose is backwards and body not proportionate, it is absolutely perfect in every way.  I'm so proud of her and can't wait for next year's snow storms to see her get this excited about snow all over again!

Mayberry with Grammy & Grandpa

While Grammy and Pa-Pa were here, we took Marco on his first trip: Mayberry (Mt. Airy), NC.

Mt. Airy was the city used to fashion or replicate the city Mayberry on the Andy Griffiths Show.  The Andy Griffiths Show is one of my Dad's very favorite shows and so he was really excited to go up and check out this tired, quaint, little sleepy town.

Since it was off-season... everything was shut down and closed up.  But that didn't stop us from taking lots of pictures and checking things out.

I loved watching my parents up here, it was like they were little kids in a candy shop.  They got so excited to see the scenery, and famous landmarks, of Mayberry.  It made my heart just swell and wonder what would make me this excited to see?

I can't wait for them to come back during a summer so we can go up and tour the different landmarks and go to the museum.  I want my Dad to sit down and get a haircut at the infamous Barber Shop on main street.  I want to enjoy ice cream while walking down the tiny little strip of main street.  I can just picture how much fun it will be.

I just don't know who it will be more fun for: me or them.  I definitely think me because I get to watch them light up and I get to watch them spend time with my kids, which always melts my heart.

Thanks Mom and Dad for a fun outing and adventure!  Let's do it again!

Grammy & Grandpa come to visit

January 21 - February 15

2015

Having my family come out to visit was a heaven sent.  Everything was so much better having them around.  I was able to recover from 2 hours of sleep much easier, my postpartum anxiety was minimal, and projects on my house were completed.  I couldn’t have asked for better parents to have come as long as they did and helped as much as they did.

My mom flew in just in the nick of time; for three hours after she got here, Michal and I left to go to the hospital. She spent time with Lily and made sure her needs were taken care of.  Then, when Michal needed to come home for a shower and a little break, she switched places with him and spent time with me in the hospital.  It was so comforting and nice to have her there.

When I arrived home from the hospital, my house was all put together thanks to her.  Soon thereafter my dad flew in and we welcomed him into our home as well.  He was put in charge of holding Marco, taking care of fixer-upper projects, and entertaining Michal.  I am so grateful that he was able to come out.  Michal loved being able to show my dad all the interesting restaurants that I refused to try with him.  I loved that so many things on my “to-do” list was accomplished.  Here’s just a small example of what he accomplished.

• installing new fire-detectors (which was tricky because our fire-detectors are wired into our home and all interconnected)
• fixing my broken fence
• fixing some soft wood on the outside of my house and applying epoxy so that it wouldn’t rot and create problems
• putting up a new chandelier in the piano room
• installing towel holders, mirrors, door stoppers, and other items that the painters either screwed up or “just painted around” or failed to re-put back where it originally was
• plus many, many more small projects which only took him mere minutes…

But the biggest accomplishment of all was that he helped Michal purchase a car.  I couldn’t handle being a one car family with two children. So, my dad helped Michal find a good deal on a car he wanted.  This car was only meant to take Michal to work and back - and my dad found such a good deal that Michal now wants to drive it everywhere.  (I’m hoping this mentality will wear off sometime soon).

While my dad was busy with his projects, my mom was busy doing laundry, fixing meals, cleaning my house, and potty-training Lily.  This was no small feat.  Just keeping Lily entertained is a big job - but she not only did this, she did all this with me trying to just catch up on sleep and not able to really help her much.

I really feel so lucky and so blessed to have had them come out and stay as long as they did.  They made my life so much easier and more manageable.  It’s hard to say or express a “Thank-you” in which conveys really how appreciative I really am and how much things meant to me.  

Thank you Mom & Dad.  You’re the best and I love you two so much!