Long update

I'm back with a long update since we've been very busy the past couple weeks.  I have been doing much better since my last post.  I had a rough couple of weeks, but things are back to normal around here and we've been enjoying lots of family time, which has been exactly what I need.  I have no house updates because I haven't had time for projects.  I have barely had time to keep up with laundry.  Life is like that sometimes, and that's ok.

Mother's Day was so lovely this year.  Last year we had just returned home from a trip out to California  and I had somehow caught an awful stomach virus. I was so sick.  I spent my entire Mother's Day alone in bed, so it wasn't the best day.  But, this year certainly made up for it.  I got lots of love from my boys, we went to church, and then back to my parents for the day.  The weather was absolutely gorgeous and I even got to take a nap with Aiden, which was probably my favorite part of the day.  Here are some pics we took before church.   

Silly boys...

 Love them so much

 Attempt at a family photo.  This is the best we could do...

Another special mom time was the Thursday before Mother's Day.  Aiden had "Muffins with Mom" at school.  It was complete with songs, crafts, and lots of love from our little ones.  I think I've mentioned before how much I love Aiden's pre-school.  We feel overwhelmingly blessed by his amazing teachers, the friendships he has made, and that I have made too with some of the moms.  He has one more year there and I think I will cry a river next year when it is over.  

Ready for "Muffins with Mom"!!

Aiden giving me a rose

Taking a quick pic with my phone

This past week was Aiden's last week of school.  Complete with the annual "Spring Sing".  Rob's mom works at the pre-school doing music, so she puts in a lot of hard work putting this together and it is always a special event.  It's hard to take good pictures, but there's Aiden singing his heart out.  

 Teacher Winnie and Teacher Jane

 Family pic!  Brady just can't take his eyes off his big brother.

The very next day was Aiden's last official day of school for this year.  Here he is ready to head out in the morning.

After the last day of school there was a school picnic at Wilson Farm Park.  The weather could not have been more perfect.  It was complete with relay races, popsicles, and of course, friends.  It was so much fun, we had a hard time leaving.  I'm sad to see this year come to an end.  We're looking forward to the summer with camps and lots of playdates with friends.  

I'll end the post with a couple pictures from yesterday.  The weather has been absolutely perfect here the past week or so.  We have been enjoying time outside and Rob's been working hard in the yard to get it ready for summer.  I came home from a run yesterday afternoon to Rob making dinner on the grill and these two hanging out, being silly.  Summer is hands down my favorite time of the year.  I'm so glad that it's starting to feel like summer and can't wait for all the time we'll be spending together the next couple months.  

I hope you are all enjoying the beautiful weather this weekend and doing something fun and relaxing.  

6 months

Brady is 6 months old today.  I can't believe how quickly time goes by.  It's going too fast.  Even though there have been some rough days/weeks over the past 6 months, I would never wish this baby stage away.  I'll never get these moments back.  So, I'm doing by best to cherish them.  That doesn't make the difficult days any easier, but it helps keep things in perspective.

I love this picture.  It was taken the morning after Brady was born.  I remember exactly how I felt in this moment: pure joy.  I was so happy to have him on the outside, to just hold him.  I was happy that I could eat food that morning after the c-section the day before.  I was enjoying the time that it was just the 3 of us- Rob, Brady and I.  Rob asked me if I wanted him to hold Brady while I ate, I didn't.  I just wanted to snuggle him and love on him.

At 6 months, Brady already has a distinct personality.  I could tell when I was pregnant with him that he was going to be a nut.  I remember the morning of my c-section, the nurse put the monitor around my belly and Brady did some type of large movement.  The nurse looked at me and said, "um, how did he do that?  How does he have the room to do that?"  I said, "oh, he doesn't...but he does it all the time".  There were nights at the end of my pregnancy where he would just go crazy, for hours.  And now at 6 months, he is seriously crazy some times.  He cracks us up, but it also makes us a little nervous.  I realized last week when we were on vacation that Brady is super social- and if someone near him is not paying attention to him, he will do whatever he can to make them pay attention to him.  He is a ham, and he knows it.  He's a super happy baby, and loves to be silly, but when he gets mad, he gets really mad.  He also puts everything in his mouth, and I know when he starts crawling we are in serious trouble.  He's so different from Aiden, but I know they will be best buds.  They already love each other so much.

So, Happy 6 month Birthday to our Brady boy.  You make our lives brighter.

Still here...

 Yesterday I wrote a really long post, with lots of pictures.  It took a lot of time.  And then just as I was about to publish it, I moved a picture and deleted the entire thing.  I cried.  I don't have the time or patience to do the same post over.  I'm upset at Blogger- it's kind of like we're dating and we're in a fight.  But, I decided this morning I would just get over it and move on.  So, I'm going to post some of the pictures and give a quick update.

Life with Brady seems to get easier every week.  We still have some seriously rough days, but overall things are better.  He's learning to nap during the day and go to bed around 7 every night.  This is making a huge difference with time we spend with Aiden.  Especially on days when I am with the 2 of them by myself.  Now that Brady takes naps for longer stretches upstairs, I can use that time with Aiden.  

It was unseasonably warm a few days this past week, so while Brady was napping I took Aiden outside to play in the leaves.  I sat under a canopy of yellow leaves and took pictures.  He got really dirty and had a blast.  It made me really happy.

One of the main reasons I love my new iPhone is that it is so much easier to snap pictures.  And it takes decent pictures.  The other day I was snapping away while the boys were playing on the floor.  

Brady is starting to get those chubby rolls, which I love!

Aiden loves laying on the floor with Brady.  

Aiden told me to take a picture of them making the letter "i".  

I don't want to just keep writing updates on here- I am hoping now that things feel more manageable that I can blog more.  I always think about things I want to blog about, but sometimes other, more important things require my attention.  

So, I am hoping to be back this week, but I'm not making any promises.  

Hope you're all having a great weekend!!

1 week

It's been 1 week since we became a family of 4.  Time is already moving too fast.

At the end of my pregnancy when I was anticipating having 2 children, I started to feel really nervous.  Not sure that I would be able to do this, managing life with a newborn, nervous about how Aiden would react to a baby being in the house 24-7.  I came across this quote last week before having Brady...


"It always seems impossible until it's done"

I realized that I can do this, I will do it.

Also, looking at this sweet face all day makes anything seem possible.

Aiden is so in love with his brother, it is probably the sweetest thing I have ever experienced.  I know that down the road there will be hard days, and brotherly disagreements, but I'm not worrying about that now. I am focusing on the now- that Aiden wakes up in the morning saying how much he loves Brady, and how all he wants to do is hold him.

Brady is a really laid back baby so far.  He is spoiling me.

Rob worked this past weekend, but is now home the rest of the week. This makes me VERY happy.  Not only is he a huge help with the kids, he always knows what I need and there is nothing better than having him around.

So, it's been a good week, and I'm looking forward to many more.

3 weeks

That's how much time is left until we become a family of 4!  I can't believe how fast these last few weeks are going, and while part of me is a bit nervous, I am mostly really excited.  I can't wait to meet our son, and at this point I am feeling like I would much rather have him on the outside than on the inside.

I feel very large these days and  am finding it more and more difficult to do simple things, like put on pants.  I'm having a lot more aches and pains and last night I hurt my back, but thankfully Rob was home to help me because I literally couldn't move.  It feels better today,  however, it made me realize I need to be more careful over the next couple weeks.

I've been feeling emotional recently that it won't just be Aiden anymore.  I know that it will be great for him to have a brother, but I know it's going to be an adjustment for him.  He's been especially sweet recently; understanding why I can't play on the floor, or always concerned when I groan getting off the sofa.  He's always asking me how I am feeling.

He's a very sensitive child, and it makes me wonder what his brother will be like.  I have a feeling they will be very different.  

But it won't be long til we find out, and we're excited!

Arm tickles and hair rubs

I haven't had too much patience with Aiden recently.  Every day I wake up, pray for patience, and tell myself that today I will succeed.   But, pretty much every day, I fail at some point.  I tell myself that it's summer, it's hot, I'm pregnant and uncomfortable, and that sometimes he does things just to push my buttons.  But, these are all excuses.

I don't want to make excuses.  So, I'm really trying.

And sometimes, I am blessed with a sweet moment that helps (a little) to make up for my lack of patience.

Every time I put Aiden down to sleep, we always say prayers, and then he asks me to rub his arm ( I call these arm tickles), or his hair.  Since he has been a baby, I would rub his head to help soothe him to sleep.  And even now when he's exhausted and just wants to go to sleep in the car, or on my lap, I rub his arm or his hair to help him settle down.

Yesterday when I was putting him down for a nap, I really wanted to get him down quickly so I could do the things that I wanted to get done while he was napping.  He asked me to rub his arm, which I did for a couple of minutes.  When I said goodnight and gave him a kiss, he asked if I could rub his hair for a couple of minutes.  He was halfway asleep at this point and I knew I could say no and he wouldn't be upset, he would just roll over and go to sleep.  But, I didn't, I said yes and I rubbed his hair while he drifted slowly off to sleep.

I chose to do something so simple for a few minutes because I knew how much it meant to Aiden, and how loved he feels in those moments.  That's what being a mother is about.