Six Months and Some Change

Babies just grow up so fast.  Leighton seems to be growing up even faster than Paige.  I don't mean more advanced or baby genius or anything, it is just going by even faster than it seemed to with Paige.  Maybe its because we are watching two little girls grow and change before our eyes!  

Leighton is really blossoming into her personality!  She is such a happy, snuggly, playful baby!!  She is so ticklish, loves to cuddle, is enthralled with her sister and is "talking" nonstop!!!  

TONS of people told me our second born would be more docile and different than the first child.  All signs point to this child being equally as outgoing as Paige!  She even gets frustrated when Paige and I carry on a conversation and don't include her.  She will start "yelling" at us to include her!  She loves me to sing and dance with her, probably her favorite thing.  

She has been sitting up for several weeks, going from laying to sitting, doing lots of crawling type activities but hasn't quite mastered the traditional crawl just yet.  She is plenty strong enough--she does a pretty awesome Downward Dog (yoga pose) several times a day!  I can't believe how strong her arms are and she has been pulling up in her pack and play and on anything she can get to since last friday!!! 

She loves her family so much too!  Not just us but all her grandparents and Aunt Tiff and Uncle Bubby....and her puppy dog Oscar! She loves petting him now...and posing on his back side! Found this pic on the camera last night, daddy must have taken these:)  

She has been sleeping on her tummy for quite awhile now and has turned out to be a great napper!  She occasionally will wake up in the night but hopefully now that she is starting solids she will stay full in the night and be a champ sleeper!  

She has been eyeing our food since she was 4 months old!!  Its obvious she wants to know what its all about!  I follow the recommendation of our pediatrician and the majority of nutritionists and wait until 6 months of age to introduce solids.  Well last night she got to have cereal for the first time!!  She LOVED it!!  She did kind of practice the pushing the food back out like babies do but she actually ate the whole bowl of cereal!!  Paige and I kept telling her it only gets better from here!  I can't wait to start making baby food again! 

Disclaimer: I just finished hot yoga and look a mess and Paige just finished a battle with ketchup so is only half dressed...we may or may not usually look like this but I'd like you all to think otherwise:)

 I like how both of us have the same expression here! HA!

 I Love my daddy so I have to stop and smile at him!

 Look daddy, I FINALLY got REAL food!!

 And here's my tongue daddy!  I sure love my tongue these days too!  

Just when I think it couldn't be possible to love her more I do!  I was looking at the girls yesterday and I could literally feel my heart grow and swell!  Its amazing how much they love each other and each day get closer.  We love you so very much Leighton Kennedy and are so blessed to have you in our family!  I can't even imagine life without my girls and its had to even remember life without them!!  

Every Day is Mother's Day...

The greatest gifts of my life was my husband and children!  The day I found out we were pregnant with Paige was indescribable.  That feeling you have when you are 5 years old and its Christmas morning...that's nothing compared to the feeling you get when you realize you have God's greatest gift...a new life.  I would do anything in this world for them, to protect them, to teach them, prepare them, show them, lead them, guide them, but most importantly--love them.  The day I found out we were pregnant with Leighton was equally amazing.  We prayed for these children and the Lord gave them to us.  I will never be grateful enough.  

 But Ruth replied, "Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me." Ruth 1 16-18 

Happy Mother's Day to all of the wonderful mother's out there, today, tomorrow and every day.  For those that yearn to be mother's, we fervently pray that you receive your request.  We pray for healing for those that have lost children.  

My Baby Gypsy-4 Months

Where does the time disappear to?!  Leighton is 4.5 months old but we just went to her 4 month checkup on Friday since our doc was out of town.  She is so healthy, happy, wonderfully delicious and beaming with personality already!  I was going to do her 4 month post on Friday afternoon while Paige was napping but I literally could not stop kissing Leighton!  It is so incredibly difficult to put into words how much one loves their child(ren). I cannot imagine our family without her and its so special to see the bond between two sisters!  We are so incredibly thankful for both of these girls and how perfectly complete our family is with these girls!  

Here are some fun facts

Age: 4 months, 2 weeks

Weight: 16 pounds

Height: 26 inches

90% Height/90% Weight/90% head circumference 

Favorite toy: a plastic, hollow ball that is super colorful and easy to maneuver with her chubby little hands

Favorite food: mommy milk, but she looks at human food longingly for just one taste:).  We won't be starting solids until 6 months though so she will have to wait a bit longer! 

Activities: Rolling all over the place-she starting rolling over before she was 4 months old. She's ready to chase her sis! She even army crawls a bit.  Loves her exersaucer, snuggling, playing with Paige, taking naps in her stroller

Sleep: She is a great sleeper, still in our room for a bit longer.  She wakes occasionally for 1 night feeding lately (seems like a growth spurt) but will probably be ready to sleep in the pack-n-play in the spare room soon.  Since she and paige are going to share a room, I am going to wait to move her in there until they are on a pretty similar schedule.  As of now, they go to bed the exact same time but Leighton wakes at 5 am to eat then goes back to bed until 9:30 am.  I definitely don't want Paige up at 5 or Leighton getting woke up at 7:30 when P gets up!  Paige had this exact same schedule as a baby but it was not too long before she gave up the 5 am feeding. 

Development: Laughs hysterically-got her momma's laugh, reaches for things, awesome grip-has taken a few handfuls of Paige's hair out!, sucks her thumb occasionally to sooth herself, doesn't like pacifiers much, just like P but will occasionally take one for about 45 seconds then spits it out just as she falls asleep-this is wonderful to me, don't like the idea of having to break pacifiers!, sits and stands with support.  This little gal is so strong!  I guess she is just going to do things so fast because she watches Paige. I just can't believe how she is blazing through milestones.  I just want her to cuddle and be tiny a little longer:).  

Hair: Her dark hair fell out very early on and she has soft blonde hair now, with a tiny dark brown mullet in the back.  I will be cutting it off soon.  

Personality: She is such a delightful creature!  I know I am partial but I cannot take my eyes and my lips off of her!  Recently she and I went to pick up some food to go and a man and his wife (late 50's) stopped me because they couldn't stop starring at her and the man said "She is ever bit as cute as my own grandkids, that is one beautiful child!" I thanked him and he turned around and said "That baby is prettier than my grandkids..." as he was continuing on his wife's eyes got big and she said 'Honey, you can't say something like that!!  Come on!!" it was so funny!  Her tiny eyes just twinkle and you can see her gums from molar to molar when she smiles.  She lights up as soon as she sees her daddy!  Squealing and reaching for him!  He loves this age.  

She already knows her family!  When people hold her that she doesn't know, she doesn't cry but will keep an eye on me but she knows (and loves) her grandparents, aunt and uncle and several of our close friends.  She has a special bond with her pappy (Tyler's dad) and has the funniest look on her face every time he holds her.  Kind of like "I can do anything I want when I'm with this guy, don't mess with me!" HAHA  She is also mesmerized by Elmo and basketball on TV.  

Nicknames: Muffin, Baby Gypsy, Cake, Muffie, Susan Jr., Cuddles, Tator Tot

We Love you so very much Miss Leighton and love watching you grow & learn!!  You add so much to our family and our hearts, life is so much better with you in it!!  Love, mommy, daddy, paige & Oscie

Anatomy of a Smile

Nothing makes me happier than seeing my beautiful girls smiling!  Leighton has a smile on her face most of the time these days and we just love it!  

 Her first smile caught on camera!!! 

 Her sweet and innocent smile...

 Her smile that proves she is indeed my daughter:)....

 Her I may be a newscaster when I grow up smile...

 Her "I know I am soooo loved by sooo many smile!

Dear Leighton

My Sweet Leighton,

I am so incredibly excited to hold you!  I hate to say meet you because I feel like I already know you!  We have been sharing a bunker for over 9 months now with no breaks from each other so I find it hard to consider you a stranger!  Just like with your big sister, the bigger you have grown and developed, the more I can tell about you!!  You definitely love food like mom, dad and sissy!!  You get very excited when I eat!!  You also love to be on the same routine as me.  When I sleep you sleep, when I wake up you wake up!  I don't think that is very common in babies but what do I know--I've only done this twice!  If I get upset, you get very unsettled and can't stop moving around. When Paige and Oscar are near my belly-your home-you get so very excited, almost bursting through the seems to get to them!  Oh how Paige loves to see you punching and kicking at her!  Oscar lays by my belly to protect you, he seems to always know when there is a new Beaver brewing up!  Since mommy is 38.5 weeks pregnant (1.5 weeks more pregnant than I have ever been) I'm thinking you are like your dad in being in no rush to join us!  Honestly, your life will probably be more peaceful if you get that quality from daddy!  He must have the lowest blood pressure on the face of the Earth!  Now your sister and I are pretty high on the Richter Scale of high strung.  When we are together-which is most of the time-our energies could literally bounce people to next week!  We love life and I know you will too whether you are mellow like dad or bouncing through the roof with Paige and I!  

We have been doing lots of preparing for your most perfect arrival!!  From preparing all the baby necessities, washing clothes to some pretty elaborate projects!!!  I think you will be most impressed when you find the time to check it all out!  Mommy has designed a beautiful bathroom for us girls to share over the years!!  Since mommy and daddy hope to be in this house for a long, long time I had to be creative in designing it to grow with us!  I couldn't make it any bigger so using every inch perfectly was the way to go!  You will understand once you start using hair dryers and products...your sister started all that very early on but take your time...its a lot of work!  Anyway, we have also done lots of fun things outside!!!  Your daddy planted nine trees a few weeks ago!!  Oh man are they beautiful!  We put in lots of winter plants too so it would be nice and pretty when you get here!  Mommy has also decorated for Christmas since your pending arrival is thought to be right in the middle of the "acceptable holiday decorating days".  You must know now though-mommy does not live by those sort of worldly restraints.  I have many years decorated for Christmas the first weekend of November to get the full benefit and reap the rewards of my hard work!  For your information in case you will be burdened with these type of restrictions, the day after Thanksgiving is the acceptable time to decorate.  I hope you won't be though-I'm sure lots of folks that drive past our house get a huge kick out of all the Christmas nonsense I have up and try to imagine what kind of gal lives here!  It must brighten some people's day!  Also, a little of the subject but please know you can definitely wear white after Labor Day!  In fact, its one of the best times!!  I will explain more later but its true so just know that.  So to conclude our Christmas decorating thoughts, I have three trees up-one of which is on the front porch-that is definitely new this year and I love it, Nonny (your precious grandma) decorated our door sooo beautifully and your stocking is hanging perfectly from the mantle in anticipation of your arrival!!!  We even have a party scheduled to introduce you to to all of our favorite people!!  You just wouldn't believe how many people already love you and are excited to meet you!!  The girls hosting the party are some of my best friends and you will love them and all the people that are sure to join us!! 

Mommy has been spending the past couple of days doing some last minute stuff to feel prepared for you!  Paige stayed with Nonny for two nights while I rested up, got a mani/pedi, a facial, stocked up on all of our necessities and today I will get my hair done so you don't have to meet your mom with bad hair:)!  The good news is, once you get here all I have to focus on is you!!  We have everything we wanted to accomplish done, the house will be all clean and we will just snuggle all day!! 

Mainly, I just wanted you to know how much we all love you and cannot wait to see you!  Go ahead and come when you are ready!  We prayed so hard for you and continue to pray you are healthy and strong! My heart is so happy and full to have two precious daughters! You guys are the most amazing things that have ever happened to me and I promise to always strive to be the best mommy you could ever have!  I love you guys more than life itself and would do anything for you! 

Love Always and Forever,

Mommy

200th Post~!!!!

Wow, 200 posts!!  I feel like that is a lot for the past 2.5 years when I started this little blog!  I love looking back at our families memories and it has been especially fun looking back on my last pregnancy and preparing to bring our first child into the world, making some big life decisions on whether to work or stay home, and watching our life transform into a bigger family!  I can hardly wait to share the newest member of our family with you but it will have to be a little later...she is still a little medium...we like our babies nice and well done if possible!  (Okay, that sounds a little disturbing...)

To commemorate this 200th post I'd like to represent some of the things that are most important to me.  Faith, Family, Friendships, Food (don't laugh-it really is!), Traveling, my puppy dog, Love, Being true to myself, Cherishing others, having a Gracious and Giving heart-and fostering that in my little ones, and constantly Growing as a wife, mother, friend and Jesus follower. 

Crafting is something I have really taken to since I've been a stay at home mom.  For one, I think its kind of natural when you become a mother to start getting into glue guns, paint and all that.  I also love sewing and being able to create homemade gifts for those I cherish.  I never plan to be a master sewer or sell items I make, its more of a hobby and sharing something I love with close friends.  Now that I have more time on my hands, I have been able to search out items for our home and bring new life to them.  It is actually quite rewarding, saves money and generally looks great!! I love this quote I saw on Martha Stewart today..."Embrace imperfections in handmade crafts." 

Here is a very special baby clearly enjoying the quilt I made her....Ok, maybe she is enjoying her mom and brother but I will tell myself its the blanket:)!!  I love this girl and her family very much!!  Her mommy and I had our first babies around the same time and have done two bible studies together over the past couple of years.  She is a cherished friend!!

I love being apart of special times in my friends lives! Here are some special friends and events from this summer!

Chelsea's Wedding Day!!!  

April's Wedding Shower!

I love my furry son more than I could ever say!  He makes us feel safe, loved, and as silly as it sounds has taught us a lot about "special needs". 

I love my hubby so very much!  I love that he loves me exactly the way I am, that he always tells me what a great mother I am to his girls and is constantly building me up-and he means it! I couldn't have chosen a better man to spend my life with and be the daddy to my children!  I love that we have a clipping of a malnourished horse on our fridge that he put as a reminder for me to donate to this very sad cause.  He is the only person I know that loves animals more than me! 

Oh how I love my girls...they are my heart.  I pour my whole self into them and always will as long as I have breath to breathe.  My life was transformed when I became a mother and I am so grateful and blessed each and every day I have with them. 

I Love that there is a little person growing inside me!~  I love that Paige tells everyone that Jesus gave this baby to us.  He did!  We won't let him down on choosing us as her family!  She only has a short time left in her temporary cabana.  Here is a shot of her current living quarters (32 weeks).

I don't really have any travel pics or food pics that haven't previously been shared on this blog, but I will be making Apricot Chicken for dinner which I remembered about when cruising my own blog recipes:)!!  And as for traveling...well, its getting a little tough to do that as preggo as I am but I am currently dreaming up places we will go next summer so stay tuned!! 

I hope you have enjoyed some of these 200 posts and will stick around to find out what happens in the next 200 posts!!! 

(My goal for this post was to touch on all of the subjects-labels-I have in this blog...I got most of them so sorry if its a little confusing following my nonsense:) )

xoxoxo

Where Dreams Are Made (Part 2)

After careful contemplation on leaving the bed in its original state or painting it, I decided I would take the tips I found from two blogs and transform this beautiful antique, family treasure into something spectacular...fingers crossed!!!  I am crafty but not so much with paint or manual labor!  Here are the blogs for my inspiration:
http://osofaboreillys.blogspot.com/2011/06/audreys-big-girl-bed.html

http://missmustardseed.blogspot.com/

And what kind of paint I used:

http://www.anniesloan.com/

which can be purchased locally--message me for details if you want to know where:)

After deciding exactly what I wanted to do, I struggled with the colors.  I liked the color from O So Fab Oreillys blog but also liked the color "Provence" on the paint website.  I did more research...until finally committing on Duck Egg Blue, Old White and Clear Wax.  Exactly what Oreilly used on her daughters bed.  The only difference, I didn't want quite as much white-washing on Paige's bed.  This paint requires NO sanding, NO priming, NO nothing before you use it.  Buyer BEWARE: it is pricey BUT it covers wonderfully!!!  You also don't have to sand or prime so factor in those costs but for a quart it was $38.95.  So I spent about $110.00 on the blue, white and wax.  I have half a quart of the blue left and almost all of the white and 1/3 of a can of wax!  It really goes a LONG way!

Here is the bed after the blue paint:

The paint really brought out the detail work of the bed!!  Even Tyler commented on how pretty it was!  Which of course always gives me anxiety of the next steps..."Will I ruin the bed when I attempt white-washing?!?!  Its already so beautiful, what if I ruin it all!!!!"  So I had Janet come to help and supervise and to blame her if it were totally ugly when we added the white!
Here is the beauty after white-washing:

The method we used was take the white paint-we originally started with about a 60% paint / 40% water ratio but quickly realized we needed more water so we weren't wearing ourselves out wiping off the paint.  It is really thick, good quality paint!!  (I wish I were getting paid to say all of these nice things!!  Maybe I should write a letter to Annie Sloan and tell her about my blog and the 4 people that will read my FREE advertisement!!) Ok, back to my original thought--Janet brushed the white on with a normal paint brush and I wiped the excess to my desired "whiteness" with a damp rag.  It was so quick and easy and I honestly thought this would be the hardest part!  P.S. This is in horrible garage lighting, with a camera phone so the bed isn't nearly as white as the pic may lead you to believe but you will see shortly...
Then all that was left was sanding for a distressed look (also have never done such a thing) and waxing.  Yesterday morning I drank some coffee and headed to the garage hunting for some sandpaper.  I definitely didn't trust myself with a hand sander.  I was alone and afraid...actually a blind doberman and a toddler were supervising but I was scared!!  After I messed with it for a bit, running in and out of the house to look at different distressed pieces I have and some on the internet, I got to my desired "distress".  Then I had a few spots that I decided were too distressed so I just brushed a tiny bit of blue paint and got it just right!!

The final step was a clear wax application which protects the paint and also brings out the original color where you distress.  I read the label carefully and it was not a safe for preggo substance so I called in my SIL to rescue us and finish off the project!!  She did a wonderful job and she used a combo of a rag application and a brush application.  For all of the small, detail spots, a brush was necessary but everywhere else she was able to rub it in with a rag and it was like a magic potion as she rubbed it on!  The bed just glowed beautiful colors of blue, white and original wood peeking through in a few spots!  While the wax was drying or whatever it does...Paige and I went to purchase her new mattress!!!  While she napped, I cleaned her room, reorganized things, moved the crib to the corner, rearranged rugs...everything except move the bed in.  Daddy would have to do that when he was done golfing--I have too many projects to complete to put myself into labor 8 weeks early!! 
The mattresses were delivered last night about 8 pm and here is P anxiously awaiting me to finish making her bed:

And getting to try it out for the first time!!!

And here is another shot of the bed and room layout, pre-mattress delivery:

So we have a crib for baby sis, a full sz bed for P, a glider to read and feed babies, a chest to store pretty clothes, a night stand a bookshelf, toy box, random animals and toys and much more in this room...I think it may be Mary Poppins purse!!!  It actually looks really cute and there is plenty of room!  Not cluttered at all!! 
The last things for this room will be a bedskirt for Paige's bed, a bumper for Baby, and hang their things on the wall and hopefully some fun family photos of special women in our family!!  I hate posting photos before I'm all done but I knew if I didn't I probably would never do it!