Baths & Belly Buttons

Isabella had her first bath a few weeks ago. We'd waited because her belly button was taking awhile to heal, we now know why. So far, Isabella hates having her hair and body washed, but she LOVES to have the water poured all over her. And the reason her belly button is taking forever to heal: she has a condition called an umbilical hernia. Basically, there's a hole in the abdominal wall, where her BB is, that hasn't closed correctly, yet. However, it could take up to one year or 'til the age of five. If it does not correct on its own, which it most likely will, she will have to undergo minor surgery when she's a year, which the pedi suggests. So, we're hoping it goes away before she's a year and we won't have to deal with it. We'll see.



Her 1st bath...






Her belly button...

Isabella's Birth Announcements & Newborn Pics

It was back in June when I made arrangements to take Isabella's newborn pictures. We had originally planed for the last week in July but as we know, she came a week early. So, the very weekend we came home, we had her pictures taken when she was only 4 days old. And again, I *heart* Craigslist! I found my photog at a really great price, she traveled to my house, and she gave me the CD to print my own pictures. I was able to use the images to make Isabella's announcements! And it was sooo hard to chose which pictures made the cut, but here's her announcement, some collages the photog made, and a couple of in-hospital pictures...

Extra! Extra! Read all about it! Jacob's 2 Year Stats

About a month ago, Jacob came out in our local paper. We have a local program that provides "Concerts in the Park," and my dad goes to listen to them every once in awhile. He often takes Jacob for the ride and the music, and he had mentioned that they took a pic of him. Well, low and behold, he actually came out in the paper. The caption is funny because he was no where near 18 months, try 23 months! My dad told them 18 months, he had no clue about his age. So anyway, they had brought me the paper when it came out, and I happened to be in the hospital having Isabella. Now I have it saved for his memory box!

And Jacob's finally had his 2 year wellness appt. Just like his appt a few weeks ago, Jacob is growing along great! Although, I was confused about his stats. The nurse measured him and said something about him being 3.5ft tall, and the doc said he was in the 90%ile for height but that doesn't seem right at all. According to my measurements, and the neurologist's, he's 34.5 in tall which is in the 50%ile. As for weight, he's lost a little bit, he's now 29lbs (62%ile). The weight loss is understandable since he's been battling something and hasn't been eating well, but the doc said it's fine. And he had 2 shots, and took them like a champ. Well, he wailed with the shots, but was okay for the blood test. The lollipop and toy at the end cheered him up just fine. Next wellness check-up is at 3 years...OMG, he's going to be 3 years old!

Everything Nice Link Party

I'm participating in a link party at Mad in Crafts. She's having a baby girl link party with all girly tutorials! I linked up the nursery letters and hairbow holder I made for Isabella. I can't wait to see what everyone posts! Check it out!

Isabella is 1 Month

Didn't we just bring her home?! I thought time went by fast with one kid, but it really flies with two! We didn't get a 1 month appt for Isabella, so I have no stats. But I'll tell you how we're doing. She's gained quite a bit of weight and is much taller. She's now exclusively formula fed and is eating 4oz every 3 hours. She cat naps throughout the day, and sleeps well at night. We get at least a 6 hour stretch! Yay! And the last couple of nights it has been 7 hours! She's been such a great sleeper since day 1. Now if only mommy and daddy could get on her schedule we wouldn't be so sleepy. I cannot see myself going to sleep at 7p or 8p, but I should at least try to go to bed at 9p instead of 11p. But it's my only time to catch up on my DVR, and have ME time. Isabella's also started cooing and smiling, aka talking back. She started this last week. It's so adorable. It melts my heart. She hates being in her PnP but would rather be nosy in your arms. She loves walking around and looking at everything. I think she'll love her sling once we can turn her around. Right now, the swing is love/hate. Sometimes she'll sleep in it, other times she'll scream her head off to get out, same with the bouncy seat. And forget about tummy time, we get through only minutes at a time.

Jacob is still great with his sister, but the tantrums are getting out of hand. Seriously. I have THAT kid that throws himself on the floor in front of everyone. Ugh. And the eating situation is a joke. He doesn't eat like he used to, not even a little. I know he likes the food 'cause he used to eat it, and once we get over the initial tantrum, he'll eat most of his food. But I don't know what I'm going to do when they're both screaming and it's just me. Yup, so far, for the last month, I've had help. I'm spoiled. I had Jess for the 1st two weeks, then Jasmine for a week, and then Jess took another week, but now he's going back to work and Jasmine starts school. It's going to be hard. But I hope to get on some sort of routine, for my sanity.

As for me, I'm doing well too. I feel pretty much back to normal. However, I still have to take it easy. If I over exert myself, I do feel some soreness. Nothing painful or uncomfortable just a pulling sensation on my incision. I need to not let this happen too much or I could end up with a hernia. No thanks. But I'm grateful things are going way better than I had hoped. Jacob is still a sweetheart with his sister, Isabella is growing along perfectly, and I'm healing well. Let's see what next month brings.

Look at that smile!








They were checking each other out...


He loves her feet!

Jacob's Elmo Party

It was super last minute when I decided to throw Jacob a small birthday party. Two weeks before the party, I was contemplating having one, and finally, a week before, I decided to go ahead with it. I decided to use an Elmo theme, and I got pretty much ALL of my decor from Party City - no time to make anything. Okay, I made a few things, I made his birthday banner, the tags for the favors, the centerpieces, and that's it. Actually, the centerpieces were recycled from his 1st birthday party. I think everything came out great for being so last minute. I know Jacob enjoyed his birthday celebration despite running a fever most of the day and having little sleep. Poor baby, you could see in his face he wasn't feeling good, but he went swimming and this helped his fever. He got a ton of toys, and he pretty much loved everyone of them! We did have some drama. Small drama. We placed an order for his cake a few days before, but on the day of, the store could not find the order, so they had to come up with something fast. We picked a generic design, but it didn't look as cute as it did in the picture. If you notice in the picture below, there's no trace of "Happy Birthday" on the cake, and the handwriting on the cake is screwed up. It should read "J is for Jacob" in a consistent font, not hey, lets start off in print and end in cursive. Serious. What was this store thinking?! Anywho, we contacted the store, and they're supposedly sending a gift card to rectify the problem. We'll see. As for the favors, they were plastic Sesame Street cups filled with bubbles and candy. I figured I'd get the kids something they could continue to use. All in all, Jacob had a great 2nd Bday, and we're all looking forward to next year when we have a big bash for both Jacob and Isabella!

My big boy...


The cake table...


Centerpieces...


Banner I made and the other decor...


THE cake. At least it was yummy!


Hamming it up...




If you look closely, that is spit...


Awesome favors...


He went down the slide, his second time...ever. He loved it.


She slept through pretty much the WHOLE thing.

Jacob's 2 Years Old!

Yup, my baby boy is two years old! I can't believe it, 2 years ago at 10:41pm, I had my oldest baby. Where does the time go?! He's such a big boy now, and every day I am amazed at all the things he's learned and knows. We don't have his 2 year doctor's appt for a few more weeks, but we did have an appt with the neurologist, it was a routine check-up to see how he's doing as far as the seizures. And thank God, he's not had one since November despite having fevers. But Jacob is currently 34.5 inches tall (50th%) and weighs 31 pounds (90th%). And according to the neurologist, he is a normal 2-year-old boy! He repeats EVERYTHING! This is a good and bad thing.

Right now, his current obsessions are Toy Story and Hot Wheels. He still has his good ol' favorites - Elmo and Yo Gabba Gabba, but they do not compare. Toy Story is slowly becoming an everyday presence, but not if I can help it. As for food, Jacob likes pretty much everything, and if you're eating something, he will try it. Most of the time he'll like it. But apparently he's not too keen on raisins. I think he thinks they're bugs, but I could be wrong. And although he eats everything, the terrible twos have reared their ugly head. He has to be in the mood to eat, and he has to eat himself, but he hates getting his hands dirty. Tantrums are also a regular occurrence - the feet stomping, the wailing. He's also quite bossy! He'll tell you exactly what he wants. I LOVE when he asks for stuff...like cake or pickles! He'll stand by the kitchen and say cookie, strawberry, apple, juice (yes, I know, he doesn't ask for veggies, but he does eat them).

He's also getting ready to potty train! He knows pee pee and poo poo, and every time he goes to the bathroom he looks for privacy. I know I should do it within the next couple of months, but it's going to be hard. And Jacob has adjusted really well to his new little sister and for that, I could not be happier. Every morning he runs to her and says Baby! or Hi, baby! in the cutest little voice. He helps feed her, he'll give her her paci, he'll help burp her. And he'll hold her, just 'cause he wants to hold her. As a mom, it's the most heartwarming thing to see. In celebration of his brithday, we will be having a small party for Jacob, and you know I'll have pictures to share!

Push Present

So this is a relatively new trend. Husbands, significant others, buying their baby mommas a present after the birth of a child. I never believed in this. Usually, it's a nice piece of jewelry or something sentimental. I mean it's a nice gesture, but isn't the gift of a beautiful baby gift enough? Seriously. I don't need a gift. But the day after we got home from the hospital, hubby came home with a gift for me. No, it wasn't some piece of jewelry, it was much better. Something I've been wanting for 9 months, something that meant that he was listening to me when I told him what I wanted. My push present (okay, not really) was a...coffee machine! Yup, I've been wanting one my whole pregnancy but held off because of the caffeine thing, but I would often tell Jess I wanted a coffee machine. You know I broke out that sucker right away. Jess even bought me fresh ground coffee, and the filters and creamer to go along with it. He's so thoughtful *swoon*. So now I have coffee often. I would say every other day. I would do everyday, but I don't want to get addicted. Who knows though...I may need it.

It keeps me happy...

Isabella's 2 Weeks Old

Wow, 2 weeks! It feels like she's been part of the family forever! Isabella had her first doctor's appt, and she's weighing in at a hefty 9lbs 2oz! She's gained 1 whole pound since birth! She's now 21 inches long, and around the 75th percentile for weight and 50th for height. She's a really good eater. She still has a STTN period where she can sleep 5-6 hours. Too bad mommy and daddy can't get on this schedule. We can, but who wants to go to sleep at 8p? She's barely getting out of the newborn clothes stage. I'm kind of glad 'cause she has a ton of 0-3 mos clothes. A ton. So, per pedi, Isabella's looking great! Yay! We'll be seeing him again in 6 weeks at Isabella's 2 month appt. Oh, and Jess thinks she's a cry baby. He has no clue what a cry baby is. I've seen colic, and I'm hoping and praying that Isabella doesn't get it. For now, she does the usual - eat, sleep, poop, and cry.

As for mom, I've had my 2 week PP check-up, and I'm doing good too. My incision looks great, and the doc even said I looked good. I feel good! I've lost a total of 30-35 pounds. I'm about 15lbs under my PP weight. Yay! The OB said I can drive now, and I can go in the pool, but no swimming. And still no exercise, or crazy abdominal stuff, 'til 6 weeks. I have 4 weeks to go! And I can sleep comfortably. Oh, how I've missed thee! I'm recovering way better than I did with Jacob. It feels so good to be practically back to normal!

2 weeks...


9 days...


8 days...


6 days...