Mothers Day

Mothers Day was very low key for us. It was nice though. Josh woke up before me and made me breakfast. An egg white omelet and a slice of natural uncured turkey bacon. Jayden came into the bedroom soon after Josh had woken up to give me my mothers day gift. He had been hiding it in his backpack since Friday, when he got home from school. It was a plate which he colored and drew a picture of all 4 of us. Me, Josh, him and 'baby sister'. Complete with tv hanging on the wall and ceiling fan on the ceiling. We spend a lot of time in our living room!

It was sweet. One of those things I will tuck away and keep forever and bring out every mothers day from here on out to show him what he made me in his Kindergarten class. I love it. 

Instead of spending the whole day going places and doing things, we spent the first half just hanging out at home.

Penelope has been on this massive exploration since learning how to crawl {I know, already!}. It's so much fun seeing her take everything in and become so curious over everything and anything. Many times I just sit there on the floor with her and watch her do her thing. One of the moments of being a Mother that is so special. Seeing your baby learning and exploring the simplest of things.

Normally we go out for lunch somewhere on Mothers Day but this time I decided we should all just go for ice cream. Normally we go to the Yogurt Bar place but I wanted some good ol' fashion ice cream. So we went to the Marble Slab and it was delicious. I gave P a little tiny bit of my chocolate ice cream and she loved it. We have been giving her all kinds of different baby foods and she has always been so uninterested with it and for the most part will keep her mouth closed. The chocolate ice cream however... that's a different story. She wanted more. I totally understand though. I would much rather have chocolate ice cream then chicken, peas and potato all mashed into one serving.

This Mother's day has been special and bitter sweet all at the same time. It's my first Mother's day as a Mom of two, but my last Mothers Day as a mom to an 8month old and a 6yr old. I know the word 'last' seems kind of depressing and sad to describe something as special as Mothers Day but it's a good last. One of those that you take in. You sit back, you take in each moment with your baby and your 6yr old and realize that he won't make you a plate like this next year and your 8month old won't be crawling all over the place, exploring new nooks and crannies. It may be a cup next year and a toddler running around all over the house, whichever the case may be, I love it all the same and will continue to cherish all of these moments throughout the year and every Mothers Day to come!

Penelope Grace - 5 Months

I cannot believe my baby girl is 5 months old already. Seriously, where has the time gone!? I remember back when she was born. I was sitting outside in the backyard with her as the sun was setting, it was nice and warm out, the crickets were chirping and there were a few birds left still hanging out before calling it a night. I remember cherishing that moment. She was less then a week old and I was still recovering from our c-section. It was quiet, the neighborhood was quiet. It was just the two of us and I thought to myself in that moment how I really needed to cherish every single moment and to not take any of it for granted. Even the sleepless nights {as hard as that can be} because her big brother grew up way to fast {hello. 6yrs old in a week and a half!}.

So here we are. 5 months old and she has changed so much already!

At her last appt. she was 25" and 13.2lbs and perfectly healthy!

She rolls over now but prefers to roll from her belly to her back.

When on her belly she becomes frustrated sometimes because she wants to crawl so badly, lifting her chest up and moving her legs. Soon, very soon!

Loves to babble and chat and oh that smile... Does this girl love to smile!

She started using her legs about 2 weeks ago to bounce up and down, non stop {lol}, thank goodness for bouncers!

She loves to chew on her hands and especially her feets!

She went on her first plane ride to Grammy and Grampys house a week ago and did awesome! As we were leaving our first plane a guy walked by us on the plane {I waited last to leave since I had the kids} and he was like 'Wow! I didn't even know there was a baby on the plane. Good job Mom!'... well why thank you kind sir.

She sticks her tongue out a lot.

Is starting to giggle when I blow raspberries on her belly.

We tried cereal for the first time and we aren't quite sure yet how we feel about that.

I was a bad Mama and forgot to take 3 MONTHS and 4 MONTHS photo in the nursery chair {shame on me}. So that's why we go from 1 MONTH, 2 MONTHS and then 5 MONTHS. Oh well, I have photos of her for every month, just not in the chair.

She has gotten so big already! She is my sweet, sweet girl. I love her so much, she truly is just perfect!

Happy 5 months baby girl!

A last minute trip to Beantown

I recently traveled to Boston with Jayden and Penelope {Josh couldn't make it, boo!}. My family still lives around there and went back for a visit at last minutes notice.

It snowed a little the day after we got there, but nothing major. Of course it was in the teens and low 20's for the high pretty much the entire time I was there. Was not liking that one bit {I got used to the mild winters for sure}.

I thought I missed snow.... but.... im not so sure now LOL.

My Dad handed Jayden a snow shovel, he didn't know what to do with it. He thought it was used to make a snowman so I saw him out their using it to make a big pile of snow for the snowman lol. So I had to go out there and show him how to effectively roll a ball of snow into a snowman.... It's been a long time so im a bit rusty but hey, we managed to make a little snowball at least!

J and his cousin Gavyn :)

The Portuguese in me came out when I realized J didn't have any snow boots. Had to improvise with plastic bags. If you are Portuguese then you know what I mean when I say... Portegy snow boots!!! haha.

Jayden turns 6 in a week and a half so we had an early party for him while we were visiting.

had to make a trip to Target while I was there because some little lady discovered her legs and was bouncing like crazy! had to go and get her a little door way bouncer. She loves it!

Coffee Milk.... enough said.

Hello Boston!

And waiting for our flight back home to sunny Florida!

We left on time and had a lay over in D.C... Our flight from D.C to Florida was canceled. I will say at that point my patience was tested and I almost had a break down in the middle of the airport. Between all the people, trying to keep everything organized with two kiddos and wondering what the hell my plan would be if we couldn't make it out that same day, I just felt like throwing my hands up and crying my eyes out.

I managed to get myself together, take a deep breath and get our butts out of there! The closest they could get us was 3hrs away from home but I was desperate and did not and could not wait to leave the next day. Josh drove the 3hrs and met us at the airport and we finally made it home.

Aside from the minor hiccups with traveling, all in all it was a good trip and good to see family again and great for J to see some snow {and play in it of course}!

A look back at 2013

I can't believe that 2013 is over {well almost}. I know every year I/all of us say that but for real, this year just flew by and I think part of the reason it went by so fast was because so many things, memorable things, happened. It was like one milestone after another.

I know technically this doesn't fall within 2013 but it's relevant and if not just as important.

Christmas Day 2012 we found out we were pregnant with little Miss Penelope.

We bought a new family car -2013 Ford Escape-

Jayden turned 5!!

My bump grew by what seemed the day...

We worked on projects, we were silly and we spent family time together going to our usual spots to 'sight see'.

Summer was slow, mostly waiting for Penelope's arrival.

Turned the studio into the Baby room.

Got to see little Miss on our 4-D u/s {never had one of those with Jayden}.

Looked for some land to buy {haven't found any yet}.

The bump grew.

J graduated Pre-School....

...Then started Kindergarten!!

Penelope Grace was born September 6 2013!

Halloween came and J wanted to be a Zombie from Walking Dead then changed his mind at the very last minute so the only costume I found in his size was Capt America.

We had a very low-key Thanksgiving {as in we made dinner, had good friends over, didn't sit around the table, instead sat around the couches in the living room and watched movies}.

My car was broken into and $200.00 was stolen. My fault for leaving my purse in there but not my fault someone took it upon themselves to get into my car...

Aside from the break in we started a new tradition. Went out and bought a bunch of non-perishables, baby items and hygiene products and donated them to the Salvation Army.

Christmas fast approached and we had good times with good friends.

Anxiously awaited Santa.

Santa came and destroyed the house ;)

Penelope had her very first Christmas and on Christmas day it had been exactly 1 year that our adventure of becoming a family of 4 started.

Here is to a good 2013 and an excited 2014 :)

2 Months

This sweet girl is 2 months old. I am amazed at how much she has grown already. I am also still amazed at the fact that every time I look at her, I see glimpses of her big brother when he was this age, which melts my heart that much more.

This little lady sure loves her Mama. We co-sleep and so even though she is used to her swing now and will take a nap or just hang out in her swing, she prefers to be snuggling with her Mama instead ♥

She is starting to smile and staring around a lot more. She loves to look at me and her Daddy and will start to make her little coo's and aahs {or 'stories' as I call them}.

She's not a very fussy baby and typically only fusses if she is hungry or her tummy hurts.

She has been sticking out her tongue a lot now and 'drooling' a lot more.

When she is tired she starts rubbing her eyes and face. That's when I know for sure she is about to fall asleep. She isn't fussy when she does this and is usually quiet or does a few grunts but mostly just rubs her eyes with her little hands and within 5mins she is asleep.

I have 1 more month home with this sweet girl and I am going to cherish every single moment of it!

Life Lately....

THIS little lady is....

....7 weeks old now!

I think we are slowly both starting to fall into a routine. She is getting used to when it's 'bed time' and when we wake up in the morning and how I put her in her swing while I get some much needed coffee :)

Jayden is in his 2nd month of Kindergarten. For the most part he loves it. We have had a few rough days of not listening but the good days out weigh the bad ones.

He loves his baby sister but is still trying to get used to having her around. The boy has been the only child for 5yrs so it might take a little time.

I have already had to weed through Penelope's closet and take out the majority of her newborn sized clothes. It was extremely bitter sweet as some of the little outfits she never got to wear because I totally forgot I even had them. Taking them off the hangers with tags still attached, remembering how I was still pregnant when I bought them made me a little sad :(

I set her hospital going home outfit, the hospital hat, blanket, the onesies she wore in the hospital and 1 newborn diaper aside for her keepsake box. That was also a very bittersweet moment.

My baby girl is growing up!

Fall is upon us and I think it's gonna be a cold one! Ya... we might live in FL but we live in Northern FL, or as I like to say 'Lower Alabama/Georgia'. We had a really wet summer and typically when we have a wet summer we usually have a cold, dry winter. I'm game.

Last weekend we took a drive around the area to look at some land. Josh and I have been thinking about buying a big plot of land. Probly around 30acres. We won't do much with it right away other then build a shop/cabin type thing and go up there to camp out with the kids. Someday I hope to get some Horses again so the land will be ideal!

Life has been fairly slow around here lately. I am feeling creative to work on some projects for the Shop but little Lady loves attention and well I am a sucker for some snuggles so all shop/creating type work has been put on the back burner for the time being. I go back to work December 2 so I am taking every single moment I can with her, that's also another reason the blog has been super slow lately. It just hasn't been my main priority right now. In time, things will pick back up again.

But for now, it's all about spending time with the Fam. :)

Hello world. I'm new here!

Well hello everyone.

I would like to introduce you to the sweetest baby girl on the planet!!

Penelope Grace was born on September 6 @ 10:22am, weighing 8lbs 2oz and 20.5inches.

Her birth was a little intense to say the least.

I was hoping for a vbac but as the cut-off to go into labor on my own {41wks} approached, my Dr advised me that I needed a back up plan. An induction or a repeat c/s. My first was a failed induction after 18hrs of hard labor, so I decided my back up plan was going to just be another c/s, just in case an induction would have been a repeat from the first one {not to mention inductions can make vbac's more risky}.

I was initially scheduled for Thursday morning {earrrly} but I got a phone call the night before from my Dr about rescheduling for Thursday afternoon... Okay, a little bummed but whatever. Thursday came. I was nervous, we all were. Just anxiously awaiting for the clock to strike 1pm so we could make our journey to labor and delivery. As the morning progressed I received another phone call. They had to reschedule again due to an emergency c/s that needed to be done asap on another pregnant patient. At the time they didn't know when I could be rescheduled but said they would call back and let me know and that they are going to get me scheduled as soon as they can {apparently they had a massive baby boom around the time I had Penelope}.

I was bummed but understood.

That night while lying in bed, labor and delivery called me and informed me that they were able to schedule me in for the next morning {Friday morning}. The nerves started to set in ...again... in hopes that this time, it was for real.

Josh and I left the house around 5am-ish and drove the stretch of empty roadways on our way to the hospital. We didn't really say much to one another. I had a million things going through my mind. Lots of emotions. This was our final 'journey' as being parents to just one child and that when we travel this same stretch of road again, we will be the parents of two children. Everything just seemed so surreal. I was tired and wanted to take a nap but I couldn't close my eyes. It was like it was physically impossible for me to do so.

We arrived at the hospital. Checked in and they brought us to the Recovery room where they had me shed the clothes and cloak myself in the fancy hospital gown. I got comfortable {or as comfortable as I could} on the bed and the Nurse had me fill out some forms while another nurse came and put my IV in {thankfully I have no horror stories of how she had to stick me 5+ times and blew my veins out}. After the forms were filled out Josh and I just kind of sat there. The room wasn't small but it wasn't big either. It was large enough for two recovery beds and there was a 'Nurses' station to the other end of the wall along with a bathroom. It was going on 8am and they wheeled another Mama into the recovery room. First her husband wheeling their new baby in the hospital nursery bed and then her in the recovery bed. I remember she looked at me and smiled. It was sweet. She had just had major surgery but our smiles were from one mother to another. A 'Good luck and Congrats' kind of smile. Their baby started to cry and it made me tear up a bit because I knew that in just a short time we would be them. Holding our brand new baby girl in our arms.

9:45 came and they brought me into the OR. Everyone seemed very upbeat and happy, which was nice. My spinal block was put in and I was ready to go. Josh walked in and sat down next to me. The coming moments were just blank. Nothing really went on other then what normally goes on when they start to perform a c-section. Then it seemed like I had a hard time breathing, like I was gasping for air and that's when I realized that something wasn't right. The doctors and nurses were anxiously shouting things back and fourth to one another but I didn't really hang on to the words they were saying as I was to busy trying to breath. I could tell the bed/table I was strapped to was moving vigorously and after about 10mins of this, they pulled her out. I could breath again but the silence was deafening.

I turned my head and looked at Josh. He could see where they brought her. He looked at me and had this look of worry. I had never seen him look like that before. He kept looking back at the nurses who had Penelope and then looking at me, each time, the same look of worry worse then the look before. I don't remember all that was said but I heard someone shout 'Baby crash cart' and the tears began flowing. I felt numb. I looked up at the ceiling. I didn't know what to do, what to say, what to think... All I wanted was to hear her cry. No soon after that I heard just that. I heard her start to squeak and then she started to cry. A nurse turned back to Josh and gave him the thumbs up. I looked at him, he looked at me and his eyes were watery and I knew he was smiling under the hospital garb he was wearing on his face.

They moved part of the curtain that was draped above me to the side a bit so I could see. By now there were only about 2 nurses around Penelope. I couldn't see her really but I saw two little legs and two very tiny little feet sticking up and moving all around. I started to cry again.

It turns out they were having a hard time getting her out of my belly. It was like she was stuck in there and it took all the doctors and nurses to pry her out of there. I guess the stress from it all caused her h/r to slow way down but they got her out just in time. One nurse said that if they hadn't of gotten her out in that moment they did they would have made another cut {vertical} above the one they already made. I didn't care. As long as my little girl was okay they can do what they need to with me.

After a 48hr stay in the hospital {which had the best nurses I have ever had!}, we headed home for Big Brother to meet his new baby sister. He is all smiles and is amazed at how tiny she is. The first time he held her she started squeaking and he became wide eyed and told us he didn't know why she did that and didn't know what to do lol. He has a lot to learn but as each day passes he is catching on.

My heart is completely full. I am so in love and feel so complete. This pregnancy has gone by fast for me. With my first everything was 'new' to me so time seemed to go a lot slower. Since I knew what it was like to be pregnant it was as if nothing had changed from before I was pregnant. We continued on with our routine without a care in the world and part of me was afraid about not having the same connection with this pregnancy as I did with my first. Would it carry over to when she was born? Well I quickly found out... NO. This little girl has stolen the remaining piece of my heart and has it locked up tight in her little body. Just looking at her, I want to cry tears of joy and happiness.

She has truly completed our family :)

A local Day-Vacation

Last weekend for Mother's Day, I didn't really want to do anything spectacular or extravagant. Just wanted to hang out with the fam. and maybe take a little drive around the local populous and see the 'sights' ...or as I always like to remind everyone... the same sights we have seen a dozen times lol.

We drove on down to Pensacola to check out Fort Pickens. This was our second time coming here. It never gets old for me though {haha... old} because I love all things history.

The last time we came J was only about 2-3yrs old so he didn't really know what everything was around him, nor did he probly care. He saw tunnels, lots of space and sand and that's all that mattered.

This time however he was full of questions! 'How many bricks are in this fort??', 'Why are there so many tunnels??', 'Where did the people sleep??', 'Where are the people now that were here when this was built??'... the list was endless.

Overall it was a nice quiet, relaxing day filled with family time, sunshine and of course learning about our past. J seemed to enjoy it just as much as I always do {which is nice}. It was a perfect sunny day, hot but none the less, perfect. It's the simple things I enjoy doing with the family. We haven't taken an actual vacation or stayed anywhere for an extended period of time for a vacation {other then staying with extended family for a week every once in a great while} so it's nice to just get out of the house once in awhile and check out the local spots. The vacation spots that are right here in our own backyard.

Re-energized

Hi everyone. Another hiatus with no updates, I know but to be honest, and im not going to sugar coat it... I have felt like shit. Serious shit. This pregnancy hasn't been hard but it certainly has been a lot harder then my previous pregnancy. I will be 19 weeks tomorrow and up until about 2-3 days ago, I finally feel like I am getting my energy back. ...I know, I know, my last post which was quite a few weeks ago I said I was getting my energy back but ya, it stalled and conked out and went away. This time though, I think it's for real and here to stay {at least till my 3rd trimester anyways lol}.

So with that said, just a few photos to share. Nothing to spectacular but I ♥ taking photos!

Easter weekend at the in-laws house in Mississippi. They had a crawfish boil, Josh got pulled over by a sheriff for riding one of the 4-wheelers down the dirt road lol {no ticket though luckily}, and just some good time catching up with family.

My little boy lost his first tooth! I saw him last night picking at a tooth {or something} in his mouth and being discrete about it. When I asked him what he was doing he sort of shied away and when he answered I noticed his front tooth didn't look right and that's when I knew he was picking at his loose tooth! He was a little freaked out at first because he didn't know why his tooth was falling out but after me and Daddy talked to him about how and why it happens and that it happened to us and happens to everyone, he started to be more keen on the idea of a baby tooth falling out and a big boy tooth coming in. It didn't fall out last night but up until it did {this morning} he was regularly wanting to see our 'big' teeth because he thought it was cool. This morning he was eating his cereal while Josh and I were in the Kitchen and he interrupted loudly with 'Well guys, here it is!' as he held up his tooth. Just another reminder of how my little boy is growing up!

This weekend we started working on enclosing a section of the backyard for the dogs. They have been evicted from roaming the entire yard freely {if we are out there with them they can roam freely}. No this is not mean, this has to be done. The state of our backyard right now looks like complete trash. Chloe is a chewer. A big time, hardcore chewer and has chewed on everything in the yard. ALL my plants and bushes she has chewed up or dug up, the pillars at the end of the patio she has chewed on, the pool accessories she has chewed on and has chewed on any and every toy Jayden has had outside. Not to mention the digging of the holes throughout the yard and chewing on the patio furniture. So, ya, no more free roaming when we aren't out there with them {she doesn't do it when we are near her and yes, she has lots of chew toys and chewies to chew on}. Another reason we decided to enclose part of the yard is not only to keep the destruction under control but also for when people come over. Chloe isn't a mean girl but she is strong. Very strong and thinks she's a little lap dog and when she see's the kids playing she wants to join on in, in the fun and well, she doesn't realize how strong she is. After the fence is done we plan to build them a nice dog house too {they don't stay out all night, come night time they come inside}.

While Josh and J were working on the fence, I started cleaning out the veggie bed. Raked out all the leaves, tilled the dirt and just cleaned it up some. We won't plant anything until the dog fence is done {because as stated above, Chloe will just dig anything we plant right back up}. After this little project I did I had to go inside and take about a 45min. nap... Oh the joys of being pregnant lol!

The bump.

I am so ready for Summer to be here. Granted it already feels like Summer, living in the South and all but it's not Summer because the humidity hasn't showed up in full force yet. That is about the only thing I am not looking forward to. The stinkin humidity. I don't know how I feel about being pregnant in the dead of Summer but luckily we have the pool and I think I will be using our pool more so this summer then I have any previous summers since moving into this house! :-D

P.S- We find out if bean is a BOY or a GIRL tomorrow morning!!! Stay tuned!