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!

Nursery Tour - Penelope's room

I don't think I ever gave you all a tour of Penelopes room... which doesn't surprise me. Everything has been so hectic and busy the past couple months. I know at one time I mentioned making a post showing her room but never got around to it. My B... Well better late then never I suppose right!? :P

{one of my resolutions this year aside from losing the baby weight? Become more ORGANIZED!}
 

You might remember her room used to be the studio...

It's definitely changed a lot! Moving all of my stuff into the office {that we all share} really forced me to downsize and weed out a lot of my crafty stuff. Which was a good thing. I had a TON of it and probly about 80% of it I haven't used since ive bought it and more then likely won't plan on using it.

I am a crafting/art supplies hoarder, let them make a show about that!

This wall makes me smile. I remember making these fabric pieces right before she was born. We were all in the living room on a Saturday night. I was about 38, almost 39 weeks pregnant and Jayden helped me put these together. One of those small moments that you just never forget.

I intended to paint these little bird houses and hang them from her ceiling but deiced to hold off on the painting and instead wait until she is older and let her paint them with me. It will be a little special project her and I will do and she will add her own special touches to them.

 

Some of J's old books he had when he was a toddler ♥

Before, during and finally after.

I miss having my own space to create my art BUT having my little peanut and the moments I share sitting in the rocker with her and seeing her babble and 'chat' with herself while she is in her crib are just priceless and I wouldn't give it up for the world.

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 :)

Project Nursery - Progress

I feel bad about the state of my Blog. I wake up everyday with the intentions of writing a post by the end of the day but when the end of the day actually comes, honestly im to pooped to sit down in front of the computer to write a post up.

I am hoping I will get my energy back once the little one is born {haha ya right}.

A couple of weekends ago my mother-in-law came for the weekend to help with anything we needed to get done with the baby room. It just so happened to be the same weekend we got our crib and dresser that I ordered online. So she headed on over and we went and picked out a color for the room while Josh stayed back and put together the furniture.

I knew I wanted something that was more of a cool tone but not to cool. I bought a few sample colors {I can't remember what they were} and they just didn't do anything for me. So then we headed back to the store and after looking through a variety of colors I came across this one. Valspar's 'Foggy Mirror'. I liked how it was cool but not to cool {but of course cool enough to be in baby girls room hehe} and I also liked how it was a bit creamy. Not sure if that's how you would describe paint color but I liked how creamy it was.

And now for the current state of the Nursery....

With 2.5-3 months left we have gotten a lot more done then I thought we would have gotten done at this point. The bookshelf was a score from my mother-in-law, the crib is by Carters, and the original dresser I had bought for the room, once it came I decided to axe the idea of having it in the Nursery and instead put it in Jayden's room. I took the vintage dresser I had re-done for his room a few years ago and put it in the Nursery instead. It just seemed more 'feminine' compared to the one I ordered {which I really like, just didn't seem to fit in with the Nursery}.

I also had a lot of help from future Big Brother :)

So here is the break-down as far as what has been done and what still needs to be done.

Nursery Progress Checklist
-Clear out 3rd bedroom
-Buy and assemble crib {Carters Child of Mine Woodhaven fixed side crib - $143.00 @ Wal-Mart}
-Buy crib mattress {Safety 1st Heavenly Dreams - $53.00 @ Target}
-Buy and assemble dresser {Room Essentials 6-Drawer Dresser - $155.00 @ Target... moved into J's room and using the $20.00 Goodwill dresser re-done from 3yrs ago}
-Buy rocker/glider {Vintage find - $39.00 @ Goodwill}
-Paint walls {Valspar Foggy Mirror in Semi Gloss - $35.00 @ Lowes}
-Hang photos and handmade paintings/art
-Hang Mirror
-Find fabric for crib skirt
-Sew crib skirt
-Find crib blanket
-Buy changing pad {Safety 1st contour changing pad - $20.00 @ Wal-Mart}
-Find floor lamp {Floor lamp c/o mother in law - Free!!}
-Find bookshelf {Target bookshelf c/o mother in law - Free!!}
-Find a good area rug
-Storage baskets {Target and TJMaxx - No more then $7.00 for one basket}
-Curtains

Do any of you mama's have any good ideas for some storage other then baskets? Under the bed crib storage perhaps? It's been over 5yrs since I have worked on anything remotely close to a Nursery so this is almost all new to me :)

Baby Bean is a ..........................

So you wanna know what baby bean is? :)

We had our very much anticipated gender u/s last week and I was so anxious I could hardly contain it. Josh and I headed out to our appt. that Monday morning as giddy as a 5yr old on Christmas morning. After getting checked in, we waited a bit... I played some stupid game on my phone to try and pass the minutes which seemed like hours, then we were called back to the u/s room.

I lay down on the chair-thingy and the u/s tech, after squeezing some warm jelly on my belly, started moving the wand over my belly and immediately we saw our little beany-bean.

Then after scanning around a few seconds the u/s tech said 'Sooo are you ready to find out what the baby is!?'.

YES!

Beany-bean is 100% Girl!

I almost cried. I always knew I wanted our second to be a girl, to have one of each. To actually hear the tech tell us and to see it confirmed on the u/s was just so overwhelming and really filled us up with joy and that much more excitement.

Now that we know we are having a girl, I couldn't wait to start.... shopping!

This weekend we went out to the outlets to get J some new clothes {the kid is seriously growing like a weed!} and of course we had to pick out a few outfits for baby girl.

We also stopped at Target and I was so happy to see the stroller I wanted, in the colors I wanted, was there and there was only ONE left, so we picked that up as well.

The room however needs some work. I just haven't had the urge to go through all my stuff and purge it into the office with the rest of the stuff I had already moved in there. Today was a rainy day and we did get our room cleaned out and also went through J's room, through all his old clothes and really just deep cleaned everything. Am I nesting? I'm not 100% sure just yet but I know it's coming, slowly but surely, the nesting will really kick into full force!

I'm back! and... Oh Baby!

Hello friends!


If you {my followers to Little Brick House} even remember me {it's been quite some time}, yes my last post on this blog was about me moving over to wordpress. Wordpress didn't work out so well for me {Blogger is a more comfortable platform in my opinion}. Then I took a bit of a bloggy break here and there, played around with the idea of changing my blog name... yada yada... in the end I decided to come back to where it all started- Little Brick House.

And I have got some news! :)

You see, on Christmas Day there was another unexpected, yet not so unexpected Christmas gift for us.

On Christmas day, we found out that I am pregnant with baby #2! :)

Yes. Expected in the sense we were trying. Unexpected in the sense we didn't think we would get a positive right on Christmas day!

So why the month off? Well... This pregnancy has been the complete opposite of my first pregnancy. The bean has been kicking my butt, but for good reason of course. I have been having extreme fatigue since about a week after we found out. I mean to the point I could barely make it home from work I was so tired. Come home and skip dinner because I was so tired. Fall asleep on the couch {when normally I don't ever really do that}. Weekends I am usually a bushel of energy. Cleaning, crafting, family time... you name it. This past month?? Every weekend I have been super lazy. Not because I don't want to do things but I am just so tired to even attempt to start on something. I can't even tell you the amount of naps I have been having every weekend, off and on.

The other thing? Nausea. Yep. Fun.

I never really had nausea with my first pregnancy. When I did, it came around 11-12 weeks and only came in the morning. By about 9am I was good to go. Now?... HA! Non stop, all day and all night. Just off and on. Comes in waves. Started about 5 weeks. Luckily my doctor. Bless her heart, prescribed me some Zofran. It has helped tremendously but every now and then the nausea creeps through the medicine and there ain't really nothing I can do about it.

We had our first doctor appt. on January 22. I had an ultrasound and got to see the little bean. Doctor said everything looked perfect and the baby had a strong HB. My next appt. is in a couple of days :) Of course my nerves will settle once we head into the 2nd trimester, but until then, just still soaking it all in that I am pregnant. I already have a bump and im bloated everywhere, but it's been so long since Ive been pregnant and so long since we had a little baby in the house that everything sort of seems surreal.

With the news that were are expecting baby #2, that meant.... car shopping! It's also been so long since either of us had another vehicle. We knew we needed one now because my car is a small 2-door sports car and the back seat is smaller then the trunk. Our truck is 4 door but the heat/A/C mysteriously stop working whenever they feel like it. Both vehicles are paid off so we felt we were okay with moving ahead and purchasing a new 'family vehicle'.

NO we did not get a mini-van.

What we did get was a new 2013 Ford Escape SE with the turbo/ecoboost.

I looooove it. I seriously love this car. Then again I have never owned a brand new car right off the lot complete with new car smell. I am still getting used to all the little nick-naks {the navigation, sirius, the entire sync system as a whole} but as each day passes I get more and more acquainted with the new wheels.

So there you have it folks.

Lots and lots of changes around here. This year will be a big year for our family. New baby. Jayden turns FIVE!!!!! this month {with a trip planned to the Zoo in New Orleans along with my Dad coming down to visit}, J also starts Kindergarten this year.

There will be lots of pictures, lots of smiles, some tears and overall just lots of happiness!