51 years and still going strong....

My parents celebrated 51 years of wedded bliss today!

Happy Anniversary! Knowing you are as happy together today as you were in this picture 51 years ago makes my heart smile!

Time is flying by.....

Meredith has already changed so much since the day she was born just a mere six weeks ago! She loves to be held (especially by her Daddy) and is very mesmerized by her big brother! She loves watching him move around the room and receives hundreds of kisses and hugs from him everyday. She is just starting smile and makes the cutest little laughing sound in her sleep. She hates being put in her car seat but falls asleep before we can even back out of the driveway. She loves to sleep on her tummy which is a major no-no in the parenting circle but as long as I am awake I let her. She really enjoys her baths and the baby massages I give her. I see many mother-daughter spa trips in our future! She's definitely a Daddy's girl. Any time she is upset and I can't console her, Josh will take her and it's like someone turned off the switch. She instantly stops crying and places her little head on his comforting shoulder. If she's anything like Jonah she's already figured out how to wrap herself around his little finger. But all I know is if she gets a certain pair of shoes with a signature red sole before I do we will have a major problem (hint* hint* honey)! I guess you can say she is also a Mommy's girl. She goes with me everywhere and has already enjoyed shopping trips, spa trips, and lunch at a tea room. I'm really enjoying having a daughter and watching Jonah and Meredith together brings a sense of peace and serenity to my crazy and hectic days!







pictures courtesy of JDL Photography

Birthdays and Ballet Recitals

Our family had a busy weekend celebrating our newphew's first birthday and our niece's first ballet recital. My brother-in-law's house was filled with family, birthday cake, balloons, presents, flowers and tutus. Jonah and Kayla wore each other out running, swinging and playing in the sandbox. Christian who just started walking tried tirelessly to keep up with the older two and the youngest well, Meredith got passed around to a lot of different hands that day and she her first meltdown on Saturday night right as everyone started getting ready for bed at midnight. A little drive around town with Daddy seemed to calm her down and I think we finally passed out fell asleep in one of the reclining chairs around 3am only to be woken up by four little ones at 7am that morning. Ah, the joys of being a parent!

Funny shots

Not a lot of excitement around here this week so I thought I would add a couple of funny shots that I've taken.

Jonah decided to give Meredith his money and a pacifier to make her stop crying. He's already got girls figured out! Heh!



Josh and Jonah laying on the couch.

Mother's Day

I had a wonderful time celebrating my first Mother's Day as a mother of two. I slept in late and Josh cooked lunch. Then we relaxed and watched movies and had take out for dinner. I received the sweetest card from Jonah and Meredith. And for my gift we are updating our kitchen/breakfast area so I'm very excited since it's the hub of our home and where we spend most of our time.

Hope our mother's and Jonah and Meredith's grandmother's had a wonderful day as well! Thank you for all that you do for us! We love you!



On Saturday we visited Josh's grandmother and she met Meredith for the first time. And what do you get the grandmother that has everything on Mother's Day?? Jonah, Kayla, Christian and Meredith made a flower pot painted with their hand and foot prints. It was very cute! I think those are the best gifts!

Compare and Contrast

I love comparing the photos of Josh and I when we were little to pictures of Jonah and Meredith. Here is a photo of Edd (Opa) holding Josh when he was a baby


and here is a picture of Opa holding Meredith.

What did we do before we had kids?

As Josh was bathing Jonah and I was feeding Meredith for the fifth time in a three hour time span the other night, we had a discussion about what did we used to do in the evenings and on the weekends before we had children. I faintly remember fancy dinners and happy hours in uptown during the week and shopping at trendy boutiques in Highland Park Village. We went to the ballet, attended concerts, and musicals. We visited friends in Austin and Houston on the weekends and took Riley on frequent trips to the dog park. There were get togethers at our friend's houses and we saw every new movie that came out. We could read the New York Time's best sellers latest novels in two days. We worked out together at the gym, played tennis and hit the golf course from time to time. We seemed very busy!

Now our idea of a fancy dinner is getting take out from Del Frisco's and eating it front of the TV in our PJ's while catching up on episodes of Supernatural and Smallville. Our happy hour is walking over to the bar area in our house and pulling a bottle of wine out of the wine rack from the wine club we joined a couple of years ago and pouring a glass. I have had to find boutiques that are within a 10 mile radius of my house but now my outfits need to slim certain areas and lift others. The last musical we saw was the Backyardigans and the last concert we went to was the Wiggles. Riley's only social interaction now with other dogs is during his walks around the neighborhood with Susan (aka Oma). Instead of frequent get togethers we now see and catch up with friends during our children's birthday parties and we are up to date on the latest movie releases from "On Demand". The only novels we read now are filled with pictures and are less than 25 pages. We still have the gym membership but these days it's more like we just make a monthly donation to Lifetime Fitness (just doing our part to help boost the economy).

But at the end of the day I wouldn't have it any other way. Yes, we had to tweak our lifestyle when we had children but now our life is a lot more fulfilling! And we finally understand the real meaning of the word busy!

Here is a poem that I found online that seemed to go perfectly with the theme of my post! You'll notice I made a couple of minor changes.


LOST MEMORY

I think I've lost some memory
since Jonah and Meredith were born
I don't remember sleeping late
on a lazy Sunday morn
I don't remember quiet dinners
with candlelight and wine.
Or getting up and ready for work
and making it there on time.
I don't remember summer days
just lounging on the beach
And those memories of "girls' night out"
are somehow out of reach.
I don't remember long warm baths
with bubbles and a good book
Or my favorite TV program
or a movie worth a look.
I can't remember all those things
I spent time on yesterday
And I can't remember life
being any other way.
And as I lay them down at night
and kiss my precious little boy and girl
I can't remember so much happiness,
such love and joy in my world

1 month old

Meredith celebrated turning 1 month old today! She is just so beautiful and such a good baby. She's wrapping herself more tightly around my little finger with each day! Her hair is getting longer, her eyes are turning more blue and she is starting to sleep a little more at night. She had a checkup this morning with her pediatrician and she is 8 pounds 14 ounces and 21 inches long. She received an A+ on her report card. No vaccines today since she has a cold which means we've spent the last few nights with a humidifier and my new battery powered nasal aspirator close at hand. Josh says I'm a electronics junkie but what used to be an obsession with the latest and greatest that Best Buy had to offer has now been replaced with battery powered nasal aspirators, thermofocus thermometers and electronic baby care timers. I'm not sure how I survived without these convienent little electronics when I had Jonah. With him I used a regular thermometer, my baby care timer was a piece of paper and a pen and I used the blue nasal aspirator provided by the hospital.

As I type this post she is currently snuggled in my lap asleep where she spends most of her day. While I love nothing more than holding her in my arms, I have an ever growing to do list that also needs some attention. So, tomorrow I am purchasing a new sling to see how that works. At least then I will be have both arms free. Jonah never liked being in a sling but he seemed to be a little more independent as a baby. He loves to be around people and is very social but he also enjoys his alone time. Meredith does not like to be left alone especially in her crib or in the papasan chair! She likes the constant attention and is the most content when she is being held. I think this is a result of all the attention she received while I was pregnant with her! Or it might just be the difference between boys and girls.

In one of my previous posts my tone seemed a little stressed. I would say this week that the storm has calmed down but it's still cloudy. We are still trying to figure out a schedule in the evenings that works for us. Right now I'm missing a lot, like my time with Jonah. I'm usually so tired in the evenings and busy with Meredith that Josh is the one that takes care of Jonah (and yes, he is the perfect husband). Of course it's been that way for awhile since I was on bed rest during most of my pregnancy but at least I used to be able to lay in bed with Jonah and read to him and then stay with him until he fell asleep at night or lay on the couch with him in the mornings before Josh took him to school. Now Josh lays down with him at night and gets him ready for school in the mornings while Meredith and I sleep in since we've usually just fallen asleep after her last feeding around 6am. Actually I think this is harder on me than it is Jonah. He loves his time with Josh and I love watching their bond grown stronger everyday! Another thing I miss is sleeping in my bed but on the flip side it's so nice to sleep in Meredith's room and have everything I need and not have to worry about waking anyone up when she cries at night. I also really miss my time with my wonderful husband! Right now most of our interaction consists of passing each other on the staircase and sharing a kiss and hug or bumping into each other in the kitchen and exchanging a high five! I really shouldn't complain because this past weekend Jerod and Lauren stayed with us so Josh and I had two date nights! On Friday we went out to dinner and then saw the X-men movie. On Saturday we went to our favorite Sushi restaurant and then did a little shopping afterwards! It was a nice weekend and Josh and I enjoyed our alone time together.

I have to constantly remind myself that the four of us will be able to start doing more fun things together soon and Josh and I will eventually have more time together. I'm looking forward to our summer schedule. I have so many activities planned. I just have to start finding a few more hours in the day to fit them all in!!



Please Note** I was playing around with photo editing software with the photo above. I obviously still have a lot to learn!