I’m Back….Maybe

I have said goodbye to facebook for awhile. It seemed like I spent my time on there looking at pictures of puppies and kittens doing silly things or reading 500 status updates a day from the same people. Not that I don’t care about the people but…..well, I guess I don’t care what they are doing 500 times a day.  I figure I will pick this back up and that way people can read about us if they want to. But it does give me an outlet to exhale. In case you missed it I am home with the girls now and teaching history online. For the most part I enjoy how and what I am teaching. I am just trusting God to provide each semester. I like having the little extra and not having to worry about what we would do in an emergency. I also like to take vacations 🙂 That is my selfish part.

I’m sure that most of you know that last year was really rough. I’m in a weird place trying to get use to life as it is now. Some days are better than others. I am so grateful for my little family. There is no time to drown in self-pity. I am grateful for our wonderful church and the opportunities God has provided. I have met some amazing people who care enough to pick up the phone every now and then just to ask how I am. I know they genuinely care and I care about them.

I want to be more personal in my life. Liking someone’s status is not enough for me anymore. If I care about you I want you to know that I care. I want you to see, hear and feel that I care. Life is a journey and honestly right now I am not exactly sure where I am or where I am going. But even though I feel it sometimes, I know that I am not alone.

 

Raise Your Hand if You are the Worst Blogger Ever!

Why am I so horribly bad at blogging? My daughters are amazing and I have a hundred hilarious stories I could tell you but I don’t. I’m going to chalk it up to being lazy, and facebook. It is quicker to post a one liner there. I want to be like Julie from “Julie and Julia” who gets rich and famous from her blog. Probably not in the cards right? I think that I am probably to the point where no one even bothers to check this thing away. Here is my test statement. Sad but true event…today at Lowe’s Mattie said, “This is not good, this sucks.” I am taking full responsibilty for this and will now have a filter over everything I say. Once again I am going to try to get better at keeping everything posted.

Pictures!

She is getting so big and loves to be outside!

My beautiful baby on her special quilt from Gee Gee.

Our organic garden. Tons of yummy veggies on the way!The reasons I am Mommy. Happy Mother's Day to me!Thomas Kincaid mural at Billy Graham LibraryJesus paid it all, all to Him I oweMattie and Holly. Two special girls!

Where has the time gone?

The last few weeks have gone really quickly for me. I told Matt today I have never been as happy as I have been since I have been home with my girls. The days fly by. There are a few changes on the horizon that are causing me to feel a little anxious and overwhelmed. This is something I have struggled with my whole life. I am trying really hard to find a balance so that this down time will not last too long. It just takes faith!

I had a wonderful Mother’s Day! The weather was beautiful! We went to church and the sermon was great. Mattie made me a cute “flower pot.” After church we went to Fuji, a Japanese steakhouse, for lunch. Mattie was afraid of the fire! The food was great!

At the end of April Michaels, Holly, and Lydia came up to visit. The girls had tickets to a Dave Barnes concert in NoDa. I had never been up there so it was great to see that part of the city that I have never seen. I am lame I know. It reminded me of when I was in school. I worked to go to concerts. I went all over the place for a good show. We spent a relaxing afternoon at the Billy Graham Library. It amazes me that there are girls their age who would choose to spend an afternoon there. We were the youngest people by at least 40 years. It was such a blessing though. They are two of the sweetest girls! Mattie loved them and they were wonderful to her. It is a great feeling to see others invest themselves in your child’s life. That is why it is so important to surround your children with positive and Godly examples.

I have recently become addicted to “19 Kids and Counting” and “Say Yes to the Dress.” I don’t watch a lot of TV but these are must haves most days. I use to think the Duggars were a little creepy and weird, but now I absolutely love them. She is living the life I want, plus about 15 kids. I have always felt that I have a 1950’s point of view in a 2010 world. I would love to be at home with my kids. Homeschooling and having them involved in community activities and engrossed in the church. The weeks would be filled with outings and playdates. I would have friends who challenge me spiritually and help me grow as a mother, wife, and Christian. My house would be clean and organized and every night we would sit down to dinner, together. I would say that for the past 3 months this is what I have had. I’m sad to let a little bit of this go.

Maryn is growing so fast! That always brings a little tear to my eye. She is smiling and “talking” all the time. She is such a chunk too and I love it!

Mattie adjustment has changed a little. She entertains herself most of the day until I have to feed Maryn and then she has a melt down. Matt is great to give her extra attention when he is home. She loves her Daddy. I am having to balance myself now, which is not easy at all. Prayers requested as we adjust to our new normal.

I’ll put in pictures later!

Reality Strikes Hard

Things are going great with the girls! Maryn is sleeping at least 6 or 7 straight hours each night and that is amazing! It gives me the energy to make it through the day with Mattie. I was planning on having Mattie on a better schedule by now but my early sicknesses slowed things down a little. This brings me to my next saga…..teeth. So we changed dental insurance last year and our old dentist was not covered. I tried a couple of times to make appointments with the dentist Matt was using but they wouldn’t call me back. It was irritating at first but ended up being a blessing. My teeth had been sore but I just chalked it up to the 3 sinus infections I had had in as many months. My teeth always hurt with a sinus infection. Well after all of the antibiotics I had to take the first four weeks of Maryn’s life, my teeth were still hurting. If the dentist had called me back I would have made an appointment for a later time, well when I finally got them they had a cancellation that morning and were able to see me. It turned out I needed a root canal and a crown. I am glad they figured out the problem but this has led to 3 lengthy dental appointments and I have no one to keep the girls. I panicked a little at first but once again God was looking out for me. My dad came up and stayed with the girls last Friday and today so that I could go to the dr. My friend Randi is keeping them on Thursday, well Mattie at least 🙂 The last appointment should be short and I will just take them with me. I am telling you those of you who live in the same city as family who can help you out are truly blessed.

April started out with a bang. We took Mattie to see Disney Live! Mickey’s Rockin Road Show. She LOVED it! She really enjoys live shows! We rode the light rail train up into Charlotte and she enjoyed that too.

Making silly faces while we wait!

Easter weekend was great! Jason came up and was able to spend some great time with Mattie and meet Maryn Kate! We were also introduced to the song “Fire” by some 60’s singer, Arthur Brown I think. I haven’t laughed that much in a long time. I miss my brothers.

Not really feeling like pictures this Easter.

Pretty little girl.

Daddy's Littest Girl

Last week flew by!!! Mattie was able to play with friends on several occasions. I switched her to a Wednesday gymnastics class and that is working so much better for her. This past week there were only two kids in the class. She gets a lot more one on one attention and enjoys the smaller group. The mothers in this group are nice too. I decided to sign her up for summer lessons too. The coach for this group will be a man. I am interested to see how she will respond to a male teacher. We went to Family Fun Day and Fantasia Farms again and Mattie loved it. She used all of her tickets to ride horses. She rode 5 times! I wish we had the funds to support this habit.

Cowgirl

This week’s mission is schedule. Both for Mattie and Maryn. We have four more months together and I want them to be productive and fun. My friend Randi Beals took some pictures of the girls and these are two of my favorites.

Baby model anyone? I think so!

My Angels

Spring as sprung

What a beautiful week we have had and are going to have for a little bit longer! We have spent a lot of time outside and playing with friends over the last week and a half. I am trying to give Mattie play time with kids close to her age. I know she misses that. She still talks about school and her friends all the time. Trying not to feel as guilty about it though.

Last weekend we went to the Easter Egg Hunt at Matt’s work. Isn’t it great that some companies still do things like that for employees and their families? I hope it is something that they keep up even as the company grows. Mattie found the prize egg and I was so proud of her. For the past few years she has had a little help but this year she did it all on her own. I’m a little competitive when it comes to my kid 🙂

On the hunt!

This is the second year in a row we forgot to take her basket so I got to walk around with an egg carton. I’m just glad they had them available. At least I made it with both of my kids. I think that is a feat in and of itself.

Maryn's prize.

It was sooooo cold that day! Last year Mattie wore a cute little sun dress and this year we all had to bundle up. You can’t tell from this picture but Maryn had on the cutest little bunny outfit that Matte and Gee Gee picked out for her. She held the other prizes while her tall sister hunted for eggs. What a sweet sister!

We went to church on Sunday for the first time in a while. We kept the baby with us and she did a great job! Mattie had a wonderful time in Sunday School. When I asked her what she did she told me that she “made a leaf, walked around in a circle singing Hosanna, Hosanna to Jesus.” It was so cute! We also celebrated Nic’s 9th birthday on March 25th. I can’t believe I have had him nine years. He is such a great dog! He is so good with the girls. Mattie loves him so much!

Happy Birthday Nic!

It was Mattie’s idea for us to make him a cake. We even put a candle on his cake and sang happy birthday to him. He loved it! Mattie is so thoughtful 🙂 She loves helping in the kitchen and making special treats for birthdays.

On Monday I called and made a dentist appointment. Luckily they had a cancelation and were able to see me that day. It was time for a cleaning but I had also been having some pain and sensitivity. I have had so many sinus infections over the last couple of months that I never know when the pain is my teeth or my sinuses. I am so glad I was able to get in that day because they did x-rays and I am going to have to have a root canal and a crown. How does that happen? They said my I hardly had any tartar and that my teeth looked good, yet one of them is rotting from within? Mystery to me. I also went for my six week postpartum appointment. Things look good but I have to have a follow-up sugar test to make sure that the diabetes is gone. So in a 3 hour period I now have to make 4 more doctor appointments and have no one to keep my children. They are long appointments too. I have no idea what I am going to do. I need to start making friends with my neighbor. This is my biggest problem to date as a stay-at-home mom.

On an up note Maryn Kate is now 6 weeks old! She has grown so much. This week she has started having more alert time. She is going to through a little growth spurt and and has eaten more often. Our only road bump is that I am having trouble getting her to eat from a bottle. She would do it last week but I haven’t been able to get her to this week. She will barely take a paci. That isn’t too much of a problem because she is only fussy when she needs to poot. The bottle thing is a little tricky. I am going to try other types of bottles and just she if she prefers one of the others. Mattie wasn’t very picky. They are already so different.

6 Weeks Old!

As I was typing all of this Mattie was literally hanging from my head, covering my eyes, kissing me, laughing, pulling my hair, etc. We need a schedule BAD!

We’re a Great Team!

The first  month of Maryn Kate’s life has passed so quickly before my eyes! She has grown so much! We have been blessed to have family here most of the month. She has met all of her grandparents and her Uncle Michael. Her growth has amazed me! She is such a good eater! This has been such a blessing for me. Feeding was such a struggle with Mattie. I know part of it was probably my first-time mom stress. Things are going great with Maryn though!

Contentment

I know that newborns sleep a lot but other babies have nothing on Maryn Kate. She is a sleeping professional!

I'm awake, a month old, and AMAZING!!!

This week was a little rough for me. I developed mastitis and had to go to the doctor and get some pretty heavy antibiotics going. I developed the infection while I was taking another antibiotic for the worst sinus infection I have ever had in my life. It really goes to show that different antibiotics do different tricks. Feeling much better now!

So the title of this blog comes from Mattie Grace. She does her own thing most of the time but this week she was helping me do some chores and she looked up at me with her big blue eyes and said “We’re a great team Mommy!” My heart skipped a beat. She is so sweet. She is also so sensitive!!! We  have not struggled with sibling jealously but Mattie wears her “feelings” on her sleeve. If we have to correct her she thinks we are mad at her. That has been hard for me to deal with. I hate to upset her but she has to learn her new role in our family.

Matt was out of town on business most of the week and that was hard for her. She was outside playing and drew a picture for her daddy with sidewalk chalk. It was a “trunk with a roller coaster inside.” She knows her daddy loves roller coasters! Motherhood is the best job ever!

Mattie's picture for daddy!

Quarantine and Elliot

In an effort not to complain too much I will only say that I have felt horrible since last Friday. It ended up just being a really bad sinus infection but it has kicked my tail. Antibiotics have finally kicked in and I feel much better today. Maryn Kate was 3 weeks old yesterday and we took her for her first check-up today. She now weighs 8 lb. 10 oz. and is 21 1/2 inches long. She is in the 50th percentile for weight and head, and the 75th for height. She is a growing girl! She has stayed awake a little bit more this week. Mattie and I got in the garage and got out some toys to play with MK. She follows our voices and is very aware when we are there.

Maryn Kate is 3 weeks old! Gotta love baby Uggs!

Mattie talks a lot about school and her friends. I have a little bit of guilt about pulling her out because it is what she is use to. I think right now she really misses the routine. I figure about the time she and I get into a groove it will be time for me to go back to work. The weather was beautiful at the beginning of the week but I had to stay inside because I felt so bad. For the past two days all she has talked about is Elliot the Boy coming over. She keeps telling me to call his mom so that she can show him her “baby, cat, and dog Nic.” She informed me today that his mom is named Sally. I have no idea what she is talking about. She has watched a lot of Pete’s Dragon so I don’t know if she means the dragon, Pete, or possibly a little boy that use to be in her daycare class, named Elliot. He has been gone since before Christmas and she hasn’t talked about him much before now. Who knows? All I know is that she gets really excited every time she talks about Elliot coming over.

I did rack up at consignment last weekend and have three more sales to go to. The one this weekend is when I usually find a lot. I am keeping my fingers crossed for cheap play clothes for my girls! Mom and Mrs. Simpson are coming on Sunday and will spend the week with us. We are excited about that. The timing couldn’t be more perfect because Matt is going to have to travel a lot next week so we will have some company. It could all hit the fan next week 🙂

Pictures!!!! Here are some pictures from this week. Well the first one is from last week when Michaels was here. My girls love him and he loves them!

Michael and Maryn

Nuk time!

I always loved this outfit but it was too small for Mattie. Fits Bean like a glove.

Maryn loves lounging in the sun. This outfit is not weather appropriate for outside but they are so beautiful I wanted her to wear it at lease once.

She is so long but smaller than Mattie. Some things about them look alike to me and other things are as different as night and day.

Mattie decided she likes Snow White this week so we have watched it pretty much none stop. Usually I don’t do this but it has helped since I felt so rotten. She has to get into character every now and then too. How did I end up with such a princess?

Princess attitude

Getting in to character.

Week Deuce!

The second week of Maryn’s sweet little life has been great. She still sleeps most of the time but is eating really well. I took her to the lactation nurse to be weighed on Thursday because we do not go back to the pediatrician until next Thursday. When she was weighed last week she weighed 6.14 now she is up to 7.12! She is over her birth weight! That is such a reassurance for me that she is getting what she needs. I am hoping that with in the next couple of weeks she will start sleeping in longer stretches at night. She is up every 3 or 4 hours now but does go right back to sleep. That helps me get some rest each night. Here is her two week old picture

Maryn Kate at 2 weeks

We were also able to visit with a friend from work who had a baby three weeks before Maryn Kate was born. Katie and Mason Carelock came over and spent some time with us on Wednesday. It always helps to have someone who is a step ahead of you when you are going through any situation. Even though I have been through this stage of parenting before it is hard for me to remember exactly when Mattie did things so that I know what to expect. Katie and I have been able to talk  a lot about what our babies are doing and what we are going through. I will say this pregnancy and postpartum has been much smoother so far. The delivery was great and my hormones seem to be under control. I am still taking it one day at a time and not saying it is easy yet.

Mason and Maryn

The most challenging part about the last week has actually been Mattie Grace. She has not shown any jealously and has been very helpful, but she has also been really sick. Last Friday, right after Mom and Dad left of course, she started running a low grade fever. Over the next day she became really congested. We gave her some over the counter meds but they really jacked her up. She wasn’t getting any rest and she needed it desperately. She began complaining of her ear hurting so I talked to the pediatrician and we started her on some antibiotics. She was sick throughout most of December and January with strep but she acted more sick this week than she ever did with strep. She is finally on the mend but I have to include a picture of her lovely attitude I have lived with this week. I as so grateful that Michaels has been here to help entertain her. He is leaving tomorrow so I will have to get a picture of them tonight. She loves him so much and it really shows how much he loves her!

I am Mattie hear me roar!!!!

Maryn Kate’s First Week

I am making a promise to myself and my family to update my blog at least once a week, with pictures. I will be staying home with my girls until I go back to work in August. This will be a great opportunity for me to keep everyone posted on what they are doing and how Maryn Kate is growing and changing. So…to begin I will recap the last week.

I had a scheduled induction on Wed. February 17th. It took awhile to get the IV started and I can honestly say that was one of the most painful events of the day. Labor progressed pretty slowly and I got the epidural as soon as possible. With Mattie it made me relax and really speeded up the process. I don’t remember what time I got it this time but it did help me relax. I should add that right after I got in my blood pressure dropped to 50/70 and I thought I was going to pass out. I could hear people talking to me but I could not respond. They rolled me over and gave me something and I felt better pretty quickly. I was a little scary though.

The epidural completely numbed my legs and my belly for the most part, until around 6 pm. I started feeling every contraction in its full force. They called the “good drug” dr. back in and he fixed the problem. When the dr. checked me she said I was ready to push and wanted me to do a practice push. With the practice run Maryn Kate almost fell out. She had to rush and get dressed and I tried not to laugh. That would have made her fall out! I pushed one full time and she was hear. The nurse tole me I had a “lovely pelvis” (she was from South Africa). The baby’s head was perfectly round!

Stats: 7 lb. 4 oz., 19 1/4 inches long, born at 7:54 pm. Beautiful baby girl!

The last week and a half has been great. She is a good baby. Eating great and gaining her weight back. She sleeps most of the time, but at night too. I know she will get more alert each day so I am taking it a day at a time. Mom and Dad have been here for two weeks and it was so sad to see them go. I am hoping my hormones will be a little bit more in control this time around 🙂 Matt’s parents are on there way. It is so helpful to have family around.

Mattie is an amazing “tall sister.” That is what she insists on being called. She is curious about everything and very helpful!

My precious girls!

I am so excited to see what the next weeks and months will bring our family. We are so blessed. The pregnancy had some issues but all I have to do is look at how perfect my little girl turned out to know that God was completely in control. Keep us in your prayers over the next several weeks and months. We have to get use to our new normal!