Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Wordless Wednesday - Life is random these days, and so are these pictures :)



 Levi on the day we traveled to Baltimore.  
Of course his onesie matched the day ... my "little traveler" did such a great job on his first flight!


Levi's new sleeping arrangement.  Being in a more upright position seems to help.
Thanks to the Nap Nanny we are getting longer stretches at night.  Not long enough, but we are getting there I guess :)


These two are completely obsessed with each other.  
Thank God for such a great baseball family!

Photobucket

Saturday, May 12, 2012

I'm still here ... are YOU still reading?!

Wow.... I can officially say that my days are nonstop, on-the-go, and my attention is constantly needed by two children.  Many of my girlfriends said the transition from one to two was easy... simple... and that it didn't change too much with the way they did things.  So I guess I'll be the first to say it... this two kid thing is hard and quite a challenge.

The hubs keeps reminding me that we are in a "unique" situation though.  Our family isn't together a whole lot during the baseball season, which leaves me handling the day to day routine with the two littles.  I love it, I wouldn't change it, but it's hard.  And at least we are in Baltimore now, taking this challenge on together.  We'll get used to it!

Abby is doing great, extremely happy to have some Daddy time again.  Although mornings pass rather quickly and then he's off to work again.  Then Abby has a mini meltdown, but we simply remind her Daddy has to work and that we'll see him again in the morning.  She's getting much better and realizes Daddy isn't going anywhere for too long.  Abby is changing so much everyday.  She's talking in sentences, learning new words and phrases like crazy, and doing a lot of singing.  We are still in the whiny and "I want" stage, but hopefully that will pass quickly.  Quite the little girl.... and I love that little girl so much!

Levi will be six weeks old on Tuesday.  I can't believe it.  The weekend before Jim got back to Baltimore was really rough.  All along we were debating whether Levi had the typical newborn gassiness problems or whether he was really having a hard time digesting the formula he was on.  Well last weekend just about did me in.  He was awake for several hours straight during the nights just screaming, pulling his little legs up, and turning bright red.  I knew he was in pain and I wanted to get him relief of some kind.  We tried gas drops, without much success and gripe water which worked, but only for a short amount of time.  Then after talking with some girlfriends, I decided to switch to a different formula.  I'm happy to say that it's made a huge difference and Levi is like a new baby!  He is still gassy, but nothing compared to what he was and I'm confident that he is feeling better.

Abby was able to get Levi's first smile and I'm so glad that she was able to share in that first major milestone.  We are loving his little cooing noises and grunts.  He is getting passed the newborn "sleep all the time" stage and is starting to stay awake for longer periods of times after his feedings.  Sleep during the night is getting better and he is waking twice to eat.  Instead of staying wide eyed for a few hours after a night feeding, he has been going back to sleep fairly quickly and easily.  I sure hope it stays this way.  This is manageable, especially with Daddy's help.  :)

Anyways .... we are having fun exploring Baltimore and finding new places to spend our days.  Our place is nice and the people here are so helpful with everything.  I started Bible Study with the ladies last week and look forward to growing together this season.  Tomorrow being Mother's Day, I will take the littles into the ballpark so we can spend the day together, even though Daddy will be on the field.  And I'm super excited to have the hubs home tomorrow night so I can take a bath in our huge whirlpool tub that has been tempting me this past week.  Ahhh, an hour of peace, all to myself... definitely looking forward to that!!

Now time for some photos .... Little Man is growing and changing SO fast!


Look at that baby ... awake and happy!


Abby had a mini photo shoot too :)


Levi loves the swing just like his big sister did. It looks so cozy!
Abby fed Levi today for the first time and I'm pretty sure it made her day.


Found a Spring Fest in the city this afternoon.
Who knew there would be pony rides? Abby loved it!


She makes a cute little puppy, don't ya think?!

Photobucket

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Monday, April 30, 2012

Newborn Photos

It's hard to believe that our sweet little newborn is turning a month old tomorrow.  I guess it's about time I post some of Levi's newborn photos before he celebrates his one month birthday.  :)

The hubs and I were really impressed with the quality of the newborn photos from the hospital.  With Abby, the photos were the standard up close, not so cute, baby mugshots.  But this time around, the photographer was skilled with taking photos of newborn babies.  The convenience of having the photos done right in our hospital room was definitely a bonus!!

We still would like to have more photos taken of both kids and plan to do that in the next few months! :)

'

                                   


Photobucket

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Wordless Wednesday - Catchin' Up

Yesterday was a beautiful day, a perfect day for a Mommy & Abby playdate at Hunsader Farms.  I knew Abby needed this special one on one time with me, but I don't think I realized how much I craved that alone time with her as well.  We had a blast swinging, chasing each other, taking goofy pictures (until Abby graciously told me to leave her alone), and feeding the animals at the petting zoo.  




In other news, Levi turned 3 weeks old yesterday!


Levi is one strong, little baby.  He is loving his tummy time and is always lifting his head to see the world around him.  He's a curious little boy! :)



Photobucket

Monday, April 23, 2012

Life With 2 :)

So it appears that the old to-do list isn't getting any shorter and it actually keeps getting longer.  Needless to say, blogging is lost somewhere on that list and I'm just not finding the time to keep up with it as much. I'm not giving up on it though.  Things will start to fall into place and I'll have some more time on my hands... eventually.

Life with two has been interesting and quite a challenge at times.  With the hubs being in Baltimore, it's been a big adjustment for all of us.  I'm trying to juggle finding time to spend with Abby and meeting the needs of a new baby (on not much sleep).  Abby is fighting for attention, which sometimes leads to acting out or not listening.  She's definitely Mommy's little helper (like we all thought she'd be) but sometimes it's a little overwhelming.

Thankfully I've had help from my parents and they've decided to stay until I head to Baltimore on May 4th.  I think know I would have lost my mind already if they hadn't chosen to stay here.  It's nice having them around to distract Abby, keep her entertained, or to just hold a crying baby.  Having company here during the ups and downs of this new journey has been a huge blessing.

I'll blog about Levi's birth story soon, but for now here are some pictures from our first few weeks at home.


First bath ...


... and first mohawk.  I couldn't resist.


Looks just like Abby did ...


2 weeks old :)


Abby loved finding her eggs Easter morning...


... and loved the goodies the Easter Bunny left her!


Sweet sister/brother time :)

Here I sit typing the rest of this blog post with one hand, while cuddling sweet Levi.  It was work to get this done today, but two diaper changes later, one wardrobe change (ahhh, boys....), and a lot of pacing and shhhh'ing, here we are.  Hopefully I'll check in again soon! 


Photobucket

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Wordless Wednesday - "Levi Come!"


Abby's been asking ... and asking ... and asking ...
"Levi come?"

Well, he's finally here!

The excitement begins ...

... and a miracle is soon brought into this world.

Absolutely nothing like it and a true gift from God.

Welcome Levi Michael!
April 3, 2012
4:09 pm

7 pounds 8 ounces & 21 inches long

Abby is one PROUD sister ...

... and we are all feeling so blessed to add this sweet little boy to
our family. :)
Photobucket