What we've been up to...

Well I have officially survived two weeks back at work.  Survived being the key word.  This whole working and being a mom of two kids is HARD!!!  I know being a stay at home mom is hard...I did it for 2 years, but I didn't think life was going to be this busy.  Oh well!  We will adjust!

That said, we've been busy lately therefore not leaving me time to document what's been going on.  My brother and I went to a Creighton University baskeyball game last week.  I tend to have basketball withdrawls and thought this would give me a good little "fix".  It did!  Creighton plays in our huge arena here, and it is just like a Memphis game...lots of blue everywhere!  We had amazing seats courtesy of our friend Wes, and my brother and I went and screamed our heads off.  We both love basketball and will take our fix where we can get it! 


My first Creighton game


Our sweet girl is almost 3 months old.  I cannot believe it!  I was trying to get pictures of her smiling,  but she's no dummy!  She stops as soon as I try to take pictures, fixating on the vinyl J on my phone. 

To say that Lainey has been a "hot mess" lately would be an understatement.  We have been dealing with some unfavorable behaviors for the last couple weeks, which just happen to coincide with when I went back to work.  She's a smart one, as most kids are, and fully realizes the stress Mommy is under and how life got a little more hectic for our family of four after my return to the workforce.  We're thinking she is feeling left out and having a little sibling rivalry due to the fact that Lilly is now in a REALLY cute stage.  Lainey has never been ill towards her sister, but she's starting to take it out on us and getting attention where she can--including negative attention.  We're trying to make a conscious effort to spend quality time together.  That being said, I decided Lainey and I needed to go on a date to Disney on Ice.  We went Sunday afternoon, and I'm not sure who had more fun! :)  We had a blast, and I look forward to going next time they come back! 

And here's my two girls in this little leopard number from Gap.  It's been fun putting Lilly in Lainey's old clothes and doing some comparison pics!  I think they look nothing alike in these pictures, but everyone always comments on how much Lilly looks like her big sister!

Sisters are sweet

This is a phrase I heard a lot once finding out we were having another girl.  I was absolutely thrilled to find out we were having a Lilly, and of course once we found that out we started talking about all the fun these two girls were going to have.  I pray daily that these girls will always love each other, and I pray that they will be the best of friends.  I don't know what it is like to have a sister, but I do know what it is like to have your sibling as a best friend.  I'm hoping these girls will be as close as Jake and me.  I'm sure we are in for lots of fights, yelling, and drama, but I know we will have several sweet moments as well...like this one...

My heart was so happy today as I got to spend time with my two favorite girls and watch them just laugh and "talk" with each other.  Lainey was so excited to have Lilly in her bed and be reading to her, and Lilly was equally excited to hang out with her big sis!  I look forward to many more memories like this!

**Completely Random Thought**
As I was taking Lilly into her room today to change her diaper I just confirmed for the millionth time the answer to the question that plagues parents when they find out they are expecting another child--"Can I ever love someone as much ???"  ABSOLUTELY!  I really was worried about it because I couldn't imagine having that feeling again, but of course I did, and I am just as in love with this sweet miracle as I am with her sister.  Feeling very blessed that God has given me two amazing daughters!

Happy Valentine's Day!

**I added some more at the end now that I've finally gotten a few pictures off my camera.

I've always liked Valentine's Day.  It's always been a big holiday for me, but not for the mushy lovey dovey reasons it's probably supposed to.  I've had the same Valentine for 29 years, with some others thrown in here and there, and of course a tall, Serbian Valentine for the past 10 years! :)  My Daddy has and always will be my Valentine.  He has gotten me something for every single Valentine's Day my entire life, and I don't see that changing ever!  Because he did this for me, I have encouraged Jovan to do the same for his girls.  It goes with that whole "Dad's should show their daughters what a man should treat them like" thing that I find SO important.  So, Jovan has gotten Lainey something every year, and now has another girl to add into the mix!  We tried to take some pictures of the girls in their Valentine's gear.  We are finding it near impossible at this point to get "good" pictures of them, but we're sure having fun trying!

Bless Lainey's heart.  She usually loves her baby sister, but she was NOT feeling it this day! 

This is what this girl looks like 90% of the time.  She is such a sweet, happy baby!

Lainey got this lovely dress from her Daddy to play dress up in.

Lilly's Valentine's gift from us

Each Valentine's Day Jovan is supposed to give the girls a charm.  We had planned for him to do this for Lainey, but we had never really found ones we liked or Pandora ones that cost a minimum of $60, so long story short--we found some and he had to play catch up!  Now both girls each have one for the number of Valentine's days they've had with their Daddy.  Each one has a story behind it, and it was really sweet hearing him tell Lainey about each one and why he chose it for her.  I hope both of these girls realize how special this is someday.  I pray that they will have the same relationship with Jovan that I have with my daddy, and I am thankful that Jovan has the example of my dad to learn from.  Such a blessing!

A New Routine

Here's the girls on their first day together at day care.  Lilly went back two days before I went back to work so I could practice one of my favorite teaching buzz phrases-"release of responsibility" :)   This picture was taken at 7 a.m.  Don't they look so thrilled and genuinely happy, ha! 

We are slowly but surely trying to get into a new routine.  This whole working thing is exhausting!!!  I'm sure we'll get the hang of it soon enough!

Two Months!

Our sweet Lilly Boo is 2 months old today!  We seriously cannot believe it was already time to take her for her shots today.  Here's the sweet girl with her typical Lilly face looking at us like we are straight up crazy!  I put her in this sweet outfit she was given by a friend of mine today, despite the fact that it's a little large for her...my colleagues said I needed to feed her more and then she'd be able to fill it out.  Clearly I think she's getting enough to eat! :)

Here's the sweet girl a couple weeks ago showimg that sweet smile!

 The girls this morning before Lainey went to school.  I love Lilly's face in this one.  She's so used to being kissed by her big sis, it's just no big thing anymore!

• Lilly weighs 11 lbs. 10 oz. and is 22 3/4 inches long.  She's in the 70th percentile for weight, and the 70th percentile for height.  Her head is in the 70th percentile too.  And just for kicks and giggles, here are Lainey's stats at this age (keep in mind she was only 7lbs. at birth as opposed to Lilly's 8):  weight-11 lbs. 7 oz. (75%); height-23 1/4 (90%).
• She's a sweet, smiley girl and has started to "talk" to us.  You forget how adorable the cooing is! 
• She is awake and alert quite often during the day.  I feel bad for her because there's not really much she can do right now but lay flat on her playmat or hang out in her swing or bouncy seat.
• She is still sleeping in her bouncy seat with the occasional time spent in our bed.  I know! I know!  We are being bad parents, but it just makes life so much easier, and with two you kind of do what you need to to get by!  I think everyone's definition of "sleeping through the night" is different, so I'll say that Lilly sleeps from 9:30-10:00 to 4:30-5.  She then gets in the bed with us until the alarm goes off at 5:30 :(  Before that she would sleep longer, but we're starting to prepare for my return back to work so we've been up and at 'em everyday last week.
• Lilly wears a size 1 diaper and 0-3 month clothes.  She can still fit in some newborn things, but they're getting a little snug around her belly! :)

And on a completely random note, here is the big sister in her new "pupper theater".  Of course I saw a project on Pinterest and thought it to be easy enough for my limited sewing skills/patience to complete.  You use tension rods to put it in the doorway so it's really simple to put up and down.  Next I have to buy a toilet paper roll holder and a roll of tickets for admission to her "shows" :)