1 Month

Dear Colin,

I write to your sister every month and so now you will get a letter too. I hope some day you will enjoy reading these.

I can't believe you are only a month old.You already weigh 9 lbs 14 ounces and are 22 inches long.

You were 3 weeks early in your arrival and came on a day when I told you that you were not allowed to be born on. Since then Daddy and I have taken to calling you our wrench. Because whatever plans we have you make sure that you change them. If we plan to sit down to dinner while you are sleeping you wake up. If I plan to jump in the shower while you are happy in your bouncy seat then you are no longer happy. No matter what the plans you make sure we don't forget you are there.

You are a very calm baby. You do spend a lot of time awake and just looking around this has lead to really strong muscles in your neck. You can hold your head up very well and are very strong. You enjoy the swing and the bouncy seat. Most of the time you do not have to be held while you are awake and like just hanging out watching the kids in the daycare. You sleep through all the noise of the daycare and sometimes have a harder time sleeping on weekends when it is quiet.

At night you only wake up about 2 times. You eat and go right back to sleep. This helps mommy a lot since mommy is up for work each morning by 5:30.

You already have your dad and me wrapped around your finger and we can't imagine our lives without you. Your big sister loves to kiss your head and tell you that she loves you. I'm excited to see your relationship with her grow.

You have gotten to meet all your grandparents already (except Papa). They all love and adore you.

23 Months

Dear Alyssa,

I have not written to you in a long time. So Mommy is going to try to catch up. The biggest change you have made since the last time I wrote is that you are finally getting more hair. You have enough for me to put in a pebbles style pony tail on the top of your head.

You are saying so many words and will repeat almost anything we say. You love to talk and will do so any chance you get. You read books to us and enjoy being read to.

The other big change in your life is your baby brother. He was born a month ago. You like to lay on the floor with him and get him toys (though not your toys). You will also read him stories. You are not jealous of him, but you do watch me closely and when you see that my arms are free you take your chance to get some snuggles with mommy.

You really enjoy playing with all the kids of the daycare and look forward to when they show up during the day.

Christmas was a big hit with you. You knew how to open presents and were very excited to see what was inside. You got to open yours, Colin's and all of mine. When you would open a present for Colin you would take it to him and show him what he got before moving on to the next one.

We tried you in a big girl bed for a week and that did not go very well so you are back in a crib for awhile longer.

I can't believe in a month you will be two! You have changed mine and your daddy's life so much and we can't picture our life without you. You are so smart and happy.

You have been sick a few time in the last few months and now have to go have the tubes put back in your ears later this month. Hopefully those will help and you won't have to keep taking yucky medicine.

I love you big girl and once again can't wait to see what the future holds for you.

Love,

Mommy

Happy New Year

Today is the first day of 2011. Hopefully the start to the New Year does not predict what is ahead. Today Alyssa woke up not feeling well and through out the day got a fever and had an upset tummy. Colin did not want to be put down for one second today and spent most of the day in Chris or my arms. Through all that we get the tree out of the house and the house cleaned. It wasn't a bad day but not the start I figured for 2011.

This year will be a year of changes as every year is but I don't see any big changes in store for us this year. We won't have any graduations, moving, or babies. Hopefully my business continues to grow and Chris continues to get job assignments for his job.

Every year we have a big project we save up for and I think this year is new floors for downstairs. We would like to put hardwood down. We will see if we can save enough for that.

I look forward to watching my children grow and change this year and I look forward to see what God has in store for our lives.

I don't write new year resolutions anymore because I know I won't keep them. But after watching a few friends lose people unexpectedly in the last month, my new years resolution this year is to enjoy the good and bad that this year has in store. I will not wish my days away because who knows how many I have left. I will enjoy and cherish my family and my life.

Last Thoughts on Pregnancy

37 Weeks with Alyssa

I went back through my blog post the last one I did was 32 weeks. So here are my 37 week pictures. 37Weeks with Colin

Total weight gain: About 30 pounds

Maternity clothes? Yes at the end that is all I could wear and most of those were to small.

Sleep: I was sleeping okay as long as the baby wasn't moving too much or having contractions

Best moment this week: Going to the doctor and hearing the heartbeat again. That never gets old.

Movement: I feel the baby every night now he is getting stronger by the day. He likes to stretch with his head in my left hip and his feet in my right ribs. He also liked to push as hard as he could out of the right side of my body.

Gender: Boy! Colin James for a name

Labor Signs: Yes starting at 36 weeks 5 days I had constant contractions for 3 days. They then stopped for a day and then my water broke at 37 weeks 3 days.

Belly Button in or out? Still in, but getting more shallow.

What I miss: Being able to bend over and not think about how I'm going to breathe. My lap is also shrinking so it is getting harder to hold Alyssa for long periods in my lap.


Weekly Wisdom: Slow down and take it easy.

By day 5 after he was born I had packed away all my maternity clothes.
By 4 weeks post baby I am down 24 lbs. (So I have 6 left to lose) though my clothes do not fit the same. I still have a small flabby belly. I can put on my size 8 pants and even button them but don't ask me to sit down in them and it gives me really bad muffin top.

I am not sleeping at night but that is due to my noisy baby sleeping beside me.

My belly button has gone back to normal but does not seem as deep.

2010

2010 has been a year of some of the scariest and saddest moments for me and also some of the very best moments.

I'm sure that can be said about every year but I do have to say 2010 held more good than bad for me.

When 2010 started I was still getting over the miscarriage and my job was getting more and more stressful by the day. By March I could not take my job any longer and started looking for something else. On April 5 I started a new job working with pre-school kids.

On April 6th (my second day on the job) I found out I was pregnant (in the bathroom at lunch time no less).

In June I got offered to do my own in home daycare and turned it down. In July I was offered another time to run my own in home daycare and I took the leap.

Since July I have become my own boss and LOVE it. I have enough kids to hire an assistant part time and she will go full time soon after the new year.

I was supposed to have a baby in December to end the year but he blessed us with his presence the very end of November.

Alyssa is growing up before our eyes she is a blast to play with. To look at pictures and see how much she has grown in the last year is amazing. She is full of words and comes up with the cutest things to do and say. We just watch and play with her at night there is no need for the TV.

2010 has flown by and has been more than I could ever imagine, I can't wait to see what 2011 brings.

Christmas 2010

Christmas was a blast this year. Alyssa was a blast. She knew how to open presents and she loved everything she got. She got to open presents on 3 different occasions with one more to come. She loved all the attention she got and could not have been in a better mood considering she was low on sleep during the whole thing.

Colin could have cared less and slept through the opening of presents. He did look adorable doing it though so that is what is important.

On Christmas morning both Chris and I were wide awake at 5am. Colin and Alyssa were still asleep so we laid in bed talking and laughing that we were up earlier than the kids. Once Alyssa was up at 6 we came downstairs and played for about an hour and then had breakfast and then went up to open presents. Alyssa got to open all of them no matter who they were addressed to. If they were for Colin she would walk over to his car seat and show it to him then be ready for the next one. She loved playing with her new toys. She had a tea party with Grandpa and drew on the chalkboard with Nana and draw a picture on the magnadoodle with Daddy.

She loved playing with her cousins and seeing family.

It was a great Christmas.

Big Girl Bed

Last Saturday I decided Alyssa was big enough to move from the crib to a toddler bed. This was what I thought would be an easy move and just take off the front of her crib and put on the railing. Well an hour later it was fixed. I had to move the mattress down and find the correct screws but it was on.

That night Alyssa went to bed super easy. On Sunday she did not take a nap but went down easy for bed. By Monday night we were having trouble getting her to stay in bed at night. Last night she was so tired from no nap that she fell asleep on the couch at 6:15. By 10pm she was awake and coming into our room. By midnight I had enough of putting her to bed and told her to crawl in bed with us. An hour later she was finally asleep. But I was kicked out of bed at 2 by legs in my side.

This morning I put her crib side back up on her bed. This time it only took me about 20 minutes. For nap today I put her down she screamed for about 2 minutes and was asleep in under 10. She was the first one asleep of all the kids in the daycare. Hopefully we can go back to her easy sleeping patterns.

She was usually so easy to put down. You would lay her down and within minutes she was asleep with no crying and sleeping almost 12 hours at night straight with an hour and half to two hour nap a day. Hopefully we will be back to that by the end of the week. I can't deal with two of them up at night!