Nail Polish

This only shows a little of the mess. 

Baby sister really enjoys dumping, throwing, and pitching items out of a container. Whether that's my purse, a basket, or toy boxes, everything gets removed.

It's actually cute when she throws it out and over her little head. Well it's cute cute the first time, even the second time, but after the fifth time in different rooms, it's not quite so adorable. It gets to be a little exhausting but she thinks it's great and has so much fun.

I have had a bag in the bedroom sitting on the floor that had a variety of things in it: a jump rope, a toothbrush, bottles of nail polish, and kid tub tablets (the ones that change the color of the bath water). Well baby sister loved ripping the items out of the bag whenever she was in my room so I never emptied the bag to put things in their spot. It kept her occupied.

Silly Momma!!!

A couple of days ago my husband and son were fixing something in the master bathroom, I was putting laundry away, and baby sister was emptying the bag. Giggling and throwing things out. Just as I reached into the closet to put towels aways I heard the crack of glass. She took two nail polish bottles and smacked them together with all of her one-year-old might.

Birthday Party Fun

I can say that I haven't posted because it's summer and we love to be outside, or that my son is no longer in preschool, or even the baby is getting older and more active but the truth is...I haven't posted because well, I've been lackadaisical about it. I also have been posting pictures on Instagram, which is great because it reminds me to take photos, please consider checking it out.

asvonavec on Instagram!

Our family has actually had a lot going on, at the end of May we had a shared birthday party for the kiddos and I probably went a little overboard. Last year our son turned five but I just had the baby girl so we didn't have a big party. We had some family over for pizza and cake but little friends weren't invited. I actually had planned to have family at our house the weekend I was in the hospital, so we postponed the small celebration. Anyway, I felt a ton of guilt because our son had asked to invite his class and friends, and I couldn't do it. So this year we made up for it. Plus it was the baby girl's first birthday.

Little Girl, No Shoes!

No shoes, no socks, happy girl. 

Momma got her cute shoes. 

Calling someone to say she's mad about the cute shoes. 

Kicked off the cute shoes, happy girl again!

Little Girl - 8 Months

First vs Second

Today I saw the newest Luvs commercial, well maybe it's not new, but it's the first time I've seen it - the one that shows a mom having a young girl use hand sanitizer before she holds the first baby and by the second child she's handing over the baby to the auto mechanic. It's a cute commercial to advertise the diapers but it really hit home for me, not the diapers message, but how much more relaxed I am with my second. I still can't imagine myself handing over the baby to my auto mechanic but I'm not as obsessive about cleanliness with the second. And I'm sure any family reading this is saying thank goodness. 

With my son I was so worried about everything! When he was a tiny infant I had read that back in the day mothers didn't take their babies outside into the world until they were baptized (around 3 months old). I thought that's a great idea, I don't want him catching a cold, other people touching him, or what if he fusses or screams and people stare. 

My baby girl, well she's been out and about. She attended her brother's baseball game around 2 weeks old. Don't get me wrong, I don't want her catching a cold and I still cringe when someone wants to look at her at the grocery store because in my mind, I'm repeating…please don't touch her, please don't touch her. But I no longer insist on people washing their hands and if family or friends want to hold her I don't feel that apprehension that I had with my son. 

When I sit down to think about how much more relaxed I feel with my daughter, I can say I'm surprised I didn't give myself an ulcer with my son. I'm not a naturally calm, relaxed person and outsiders may not see me as calm but trust me, you should have known me five years ago. 

Our little girl is a screamer compared to our son, and while no mom wants her child to meltdown in public I don't sweat through my clothes nearly as much. I don't have anxiety about her screaming during church beginning on Thursday or worrying if I can get through the grocery store before she wakes up. 

I do hope being more relaxed with the second helps me to relax more now with my son. He needs to have the benefit too, after almost five years, he deserves it. :) 

Now the bigger question...for those of you that have more than two children, do you get even better with remaining calm?

Pre-Baptism Photos

Let me be the first to say I am not a wonderful photographer. I have taken a couple great pictures of my son and my husband but hey, every once in awhile a blind squirrel finds an acorn. 

I wanted to take some photos of our little girl in her baptism dress because it's absolutely adorable and I was trying to take a couple outside with the 'right' light, that natural light in the evening - according to a few photographers blogs I have read. Our little one is extremely fidgety so I knew I'd have a little bit of an issue but was hoping I could at least get a couple photos that weren't blurry. Well, I grabbed pillows, a pink sheet, her little chair, a burp cloth, a blanket, and both kids to get these photos. I was keeping my fingers crossed that she didn't spit up all over the dress and luckily that didn't happen. I really didn't even have the movement problem. However, this is the progression to absolute meltdown. 

She's not really thrilled
to be laying this way.

She's not really
liking this way either. 

Starting to get really furious
that no one is picking her up. 

Yes, we are now at meltdown. 

I will need to try again, but her best time of the day is in the morning and that's not the best light outside, lots of hard shadows. Although, for someone that isn't a good photographer I figure if she's happy, no matter the light or the surroundings, and I can get a few decent pictures, I should consider it a win. 

And yes, she was picked up right after the last picture and calmed down instantly but would not lay back down on the pillows for more pictures. She was finished.

Night Lights

The new baby is just three weeks old and when I get up in the middle of the night to nurse I have a huge problem trying to see in the dark with a mini night light. I obviously don't want to turn on lights in the baby's room because I want her to fall back to sleep and the hall light is exceptionally bright, not to mention my husband is a light sleeper. So what I generally do is turn on the bathroom light to get enough of a glow into the baby's room but when changing a dirty diaper, well it's not enough light to really see.

I was going to try to find a lamp with a dimmer as per my dad's advice but then I saw this portable fun light - a GloMate from Mobi. I wanted to purchase but it's on back order and I'm curious if anyone has one and what they think of it?

Please let me know what you think. Thanks!

Be a Calm and Happy Momma

I have a habit of tearing out pages in magazines of things I like or want to remember, I don't want the whole magazine just a page or portion so it gets ripped out. The problem then becomes...which magazine did I read that in. Anyway, recently I read a small list of 10 Ways to Be a Calm (and Happy) Mom by Valerie Reiss that I want to share with everyone.

1. DANCE 

for five minutes a day - with your baby, alone, just because. It's fun for Mama and will remind your wee one of happy times in the womb. 

2. Drink Plenty of WATER

hydration balances mood and pretty much every system in your body.

3. LAUGH!

find something hilarious about today, which shouldn't be difficult with your funny little one around. 

4. Sleep when your baby sleeps

cliche and hard to do - but true.

5. Be GRATEFUL

every day, name three things you're thankful for; it's an instant joy boost. 

6. Ask for support

call a trusted friend, visit a welcoming message board - and receive. Also give support - check in with someone to see how she's doing; you'll both benefit. 

7. Eat GREENS

fresh veggies make everything better. You can also mash them up in a blender when your baby is ready for food - she may love them too!

8. MOVE

preferably outside. Even if you're exhausted, go for a walk. Fresh air is essential to sanity. And when it rains: Pop in a yoga or fitness DVD, or gently stretch. 

9. Write

when you can, take notes. Try the one-sentence journal or a six-word memoir. 

10. Create

Make something each day, even if it's just a doodle. It will help you feel like you. 

~BONUS~

Be kind to yourself

You're doing your best. After that: have faith, let go, trust!

Itty Bitty

Most pregnant women don't expect they'll sleep soundly through the night but when you wake up with contractions you really know sleep isn't much of an option.

(Don't worry, I won't go into all the details of labor or my c-sections.)

I woke up at 3am with the start of contractions, but I didn't think that much of them - six or seven minutes apart and only lasting about 10 seconds. This same thing happened with my son and that doctor at that hospital sent me home. I returned three days later to have my first c-section. So I wasn't calling the hospital and I was not going to call the coal mine to track down my husband, have hime come home, wake up our four-year-old  to go to the hospital only to be sent back home. Nope, not wasting all that time, I'll wait until 8am when the doctor's office answers phones to see what they recommend I do. I did think, I'll try to just rest as much as I can and at 5:30am I gave up. I got up, showered, washed and dried laundry, did a few remaining dishes, and packed my hospital bag. I of course had to stop whenever a contraction came which now started to last longer and get stronger. My son woke up and was very helpful - he counted how long the contractions lasted...my my 20 seconds was his 40 seconds . He really enjoyed counting. 

At 8am I called the office, yes instructions were to go to the hospital, they'd be expecting me and if I could find anyone to bring me sooner than my husband could I was to do that and have him meet me. We live about an hour from the hospital with the expected Pittsburgh traffic and almost two hours from other family so unless I drove myself (which probably wasn't the best option) I was waiting for my husband.

Alright - time to call the coal mine:
Coal Miner: Hello
Me: Hi, my name is ~so and so~ and my husband is ~so and so~. I'm not sure which section he's in tonight but would you be able to track him down and ask him to come home. I'm kinda in labor and they want me to go to the hospital.
Coal Miner: Absolutely, we'll track him down and get him out.
Me: Ok, thank you very much.
CLICK

In about five minutes my phone rang - husband calling from underground - he didn't sound calm at all! He told me the guy that answered my call said I sounded calm but he was excited which in turn created some excitement (don't want to use the word panic) with my husband. He said he'd be home as soon as he could, like 45 minutes. Okay, now we wait, get the house in order, pack fun things for our little boy, let the dog out, call my mom to see if she can meet us at the hospital to watch the little guy.

And 45 minutes later my husband almost took out the bushes at the end of our driveway. I later found out most of the neighborhood figured I was in labor based solely on his driving. No he wasn't panicked . 

Once we arrived at the hospital it was only about 40 minutes from walking in the door until I was prepped and everyone was ready to bring out our wonderful baby girl.

New House, Pregnancy, and Now...New Baby

With everything that has been going on I haven't blogged is a while, which is silly because I've actually had a good bit of things to write about and now as I sit down to actually post, where do I begin?

We had moved into our new home and just as we started getting a little more comfortable my husband and I found out we needed our whole electrical system upgraded because of safety issues, the toilet upstairs (that the painters broke) was more of a major project, and the air conditioner needed serviced...twice because they previous owner hadn't used it in years and the first part was j-u-n-k.

The electricians came to upgrade our system and the only issue we ran into besides getting it updated was they unknowingly pinched a wire inside the electrical box and soon after they left, 75% of the power went out in the upstairs part of the house. Thankfully, they were able to come back the next day. Please know that I'm not complaining about the electricians because I would and will recommend them to anyone. My issue is with the previous owner not seeing the huge safety issue of having a bad electrical system.

Now as far as the painters - I'm completely complaining about them. They broke the toilet - the master bathroom one in our new house! However, I have no way of proving it so it just needed fixed. (Side note - they did a good job with the paint.) Anyway, I asked my dad to help - he's good at this sort of stuff and my husband had already replaced many parts and nothing seemed to work. My dad helped us fix the plumbing underneath the kitchen sink and then moved to the bathroom. Like anyone working on plumbing issues, we shut off the water around 1pm and took apart valves only to find out the pipe had at one time froze and swelled. After two  trips to the local Lowe's, about six hours of working on it, and no water, it was time to call a plumber who thankfully came to our house at 9pm to fix it. Details of this are mind-numbing so we'll skip that, on the the air conditioning.

At nine months pregnant and an 80 degree house, I finally broke and said we have to try the air conditioning and hope it works, prior to getting it serviced. And when I saw the thermostat say 75 degrees I said I think it's going to keep working but my husband thought it would be best to continue with the service appointment. Just in case. A week later a technician came to look at it, turned out that he fixed a part that would soon short out, good call on the husband's part because I would have cancelled. Only problem he replaced the part with a part that was j-u-n-k so he eventually had to come back out and replace the same part again because we were without ac for three days over three of the hottest days in May.

The same day the technician came the first time was the same day my son had a play-date at the house. Two four-year-olds for about six hours at nine months pregnant...yes, I was exhausted at the end of the day!!! They both had so much fun and I would do it over again if given the opportunity but wow, completely and utterly spent. Now this play-date was on a Wednesday and my husband was on a midnight shift at work. He was up for the beginning of the playing but obviously had to go to bed. Also, when I found out I was pregnant I picked a day I thought I'd go into labor if the scheduled c-section didn't happen first. Anyway, I picked the play-date day. No luck!

That night, or should I say three hours into the early morning the next day, Thursday, labor started.