So many Kids....

This past weekend we had 2 birthday parties. A cousin on my side and a cousin on Kenny's side. When talking with Kenny this weekend we realized how much our little circle has grown since beginning our journey together 7 years ago. When we first started only my sister had a baby, Emily was born in 2007, we had been together for 3 years.

Now it looks like we have a birthday party or two or three every month this year including our two little angels. It is so different now. A good different.

Here are some pictures for our first weekend of birthday parties!

We have a couple in March and so on...its going to be alot of fun. I cannot believe how fast all these little ones are growing.



A Special Connection

When changing babysitters, the girls were moving from one cousin’s household to another cousin’s household. It was scary, exciting, and I was an anxious momma until I picked them up on their first day. They have been there for a month now. It seems like they have always been there. Ava fits right in with the other kids and has a great time there. My little chunky monkey, Hailey, is being taken care of and loved very much when I cannot be with her.

Vickie is my mom’s first cousin, my second cousin, Ava and Hailey’s third cousin. She is on the Raines side; her mother and my grandfather were brother and sister. My pap pap Rawhide has been gone for about 15 years now.  Aunt Kathleen, Vickie’s mother, is 86 and battling Alzheimer’s disease, but still moving and able to interact with the kids.  

For whatever reason, Ava just gravitated to Aunt Kathleen. The kids call her ‘grandma’, so does Ava. Aunt Kathleen has a stuff dog toy that she holds onto and treats as if it alive, she cuddles with it, takes care of it, and usually has it right under the blanket with her. Ava has began to carry around a dog toy of her own, (a gift from her Aunt Gail), and has ‘grandma’ take care of it during the day while Ava is playing.

When we walk in the house, she must know where ‘grandma’ is and when she will be up. Vickie has told me that Ava will follow ‘grandma’ around the house and makes sure she stays out of trouble. When Vickie has to take care of grandma and bathe her, Ava has been going in with her and helping. Keeping ‘grandma’ company and talking to her during her bath. I absolutely am amazed about my kind hearted little girl. A 2 year old is being gentle and making sure that this older generation is being taken care of.

One day when we picked them up, Ava and ‘Grandma’ were at the door looking outside, Ava had the biggest grin on her face. To watch Ava interact with her is nice.

My mom thinks that Ava only being 2 and a child of pureness and innocence can sense that something is wrong with Aunt Kathleen and she needs attention. Ava has taken to Aunt Kathleen quick and wants to make sure she is okay. Aunt Kathleen spends her day in the recliner or on the couch; Ava usually has her cup and dog or baby doll next to Aunt Kathleen. She will tell me that ‘Grandma’ is watching it all for her so she can play. I am tickled that Ava is able to be with a generation.

I am proud as a mother that Ava does not pick on her, does not take advantage of Aunt Kathleen’s condition, that she isn’t mean to her, and that she is helping her during the day.

Couponing

So I have been couponing for about 4 months now. I am not really good at it, sometimes we get a super deal, most of the time we don't. I have the binder, a place at the desk for everything, but not a lot of time to really get into it. I see these people get these awesome deals weekly, some that as soon as they get their paper and sales ads are on the road to get whatever product for a couple pennies. I sit here thinking, 'how in the world are they doing it?' How do they find the time to match everything up and go?



After working 40 hours, having the girls in the evenings, and trying to spend some quality time with my husband, who has time to be online all evening checking for coupons and match ups. Well one thing is for sure, I would like to find the time. I would like to save more. As a family of 4 now, we are going to be going through certains items faster the older the girls get.



I'm hoping it will come in due time. Hailey is only 3 months, still getting up at night, I am still exhausted most of the day then getting up with her. Ava is going to bed later and waking up early still. There really is no "ME" time to work on this. But I am still working at it. I still clip. I still organize in my binder. I don't even DO the grocery shopping. Kenny does. So I clip, organize, and hand off to him. Sometimes he uses them, sometimes he doesn't.

Any websites or tips for couponing are always appreciated as I am still learning. I am on a few websites and I see what others are doing. Maybe one day I will be really good at it. But I think with 2 little ones, life will always be just a little busy where when it comes right down to it, I will choose sleep over couponing!

Who has time for Post Partum?!?!

The other evening, when I was sick and thinking how as a mom I don't have time to be sick and that it needed to leave my body very quickly, I also began thinking, where is this post partum stuff that should have happened. Granted yes I am 3 months post partum and maybe it has passed. After I had Ava, I wasn't depressed I would say, I was just lonely, Kenny was very busy and not home a lot while I tried to figure out the stuff called parenting. I got lucky, I had my crying and fits and after about a month it was done.

During my pregnancy with Hailey, I cried all the time, way more than I ever did any time before that. I am not a crier, things don't make me sad, and I am more aggressive. However during those 9 months, I would cry at a commercial that wasn't even sad! So I thought, 'okay I have been a cry baby for 9 months, post partum is going to suck because I will have 2 people to take care on top of recovery.'

Life has been so busy that I just realized this week, that I haven't really had a bad post partum moment. Not that I am asking for it to show up and turn me into a crazy lady or a weeping woman but just surprised. I thought for sure as strong as my hormones have been that I would be worse this time than last. I am very thankful that I haven't. Kenny hasn't been as busy as he was with Ava, yet he still has his schedule and isn't home when he isn't home. I have had my moments, but they have been more 'I am going to lose my mind if I don't get 10 minutes to myself' instead of crying and feeling overwhelmed. I am chalking it up to being busy. Life with 2 and working full time I don't have time to be sad. Sad over nothing. I don't sit up at night after they have gone to bed, I am sleeping too. I don't have a break in the day to ponder this or that, thinking too much can cause a lot of issues. I have been lucky. Some women have a really bad time with post partum, some need medication, and some need time by themselves.

My time to myself, my bath, yes I can take a bath again! My time! My 20 minutes in the tub, at that time, I go through a to-do list, what I didn't do that should have been done; things I would like to do, and listen to the noises outside of the bathroom. Sometimes there is just the TV, sometimes Ava is screaming at the door for me to come out, sometimes Ava is laughing, running through the house being chased by her daddy, Hailey can now be heard cooing or crying. It's amazing how calming just sitting in the tub can be sometimes.

I don't know what I would have done if my post partum would have been worse, just a few crying spells, mainly when both girls were upset and I was just exhausted. Now we are in a good spot. I know the post partum phase can last a while after delivery, it can affect you at any time, but I am keeping my fingers crossed that my time is over and my hormones are shifting back.

Hormones are weird, I wish husbands could just have one week of the ups and downs and they would never want them back. I felt out of control sometimes while pregnant, angry for no reason, or snapping at someone for a something that they didn't even mean to be put into that context, and like I said, crying for absolutely no reason at all other that the feeling was there and it made me feel better.

I hope life continues to balance itself out and my hormones adjust as challenges come my way. Life can get pretty crazy and unpredictable at times but I hope to keep it under control (or at least try to).

3 Months Old!

Hailey is 3 months old! Where has the time gone? Who knows? These 3 months have flown by. She is doing great. She is gaining weight, growing taller by the minute, and so alert. She can now hold her head up and look around the room, always searching for Ava, I believe. She smiles back at you. She sticks out her tongue. She has giggled but not really laughed but I think she is almost there. She is rolling over onto her side. She grabs for toys. She will take your finger and stick in her mouth to be chewed. I believe she is teething, her bottom gums are white and bumpy, she just drools and chews on her fingers all day. She is getting into a pattern, eating about every 3-4 hours, taking a nap or two in the morning before a long 3 hour nap in the afternoon, a nap in the evening, then bedtime.

She is so aware of everything going on. She loves her big sister. Ava got her first real smile at someone. Ava gets a lot of smiles when they are around each other. Ava is still doing well with her, she has been a little rough but we keep reminding her how small Hailey is. Now that Hailey can hold her head up and wants to sit up, Ava tries to get her to 'play' however we have to explain that Hailey just isn't 'big' enough yet. Hailey loves her play mat, staring into the mirror looking at that other baby. She is usually a very happy, pleasant baby. She is cooing, trying to talk. Vicky, their babysitter, has told me more than once that she is sure Hailey is going to be mouthy just like Ava.

At her last appointment she was 11 lbs, 12 oz, 23 ½ inches long. I am sure she has grown some since then. She had a little set back with her feeding this past weekend, she had a little touch of a stomach bug, but was up to 6 oz a feeding, we are slowly getting back to that, she is still at 4 oz and it satisfies her for the time being. She is such a joy.

I always said that I couldn't remember my life before Ava because she brought so much into my life, well now with 2 little girls in my life, I don't know how we ever managed with just one. It is so busy, so much fun, so frustrating, so entertaining, and happy. It's like it was always meant to be the four of us, together.