Full

It's 8:10 and both boys are sleeping; Reid for his first nap of the day and Pierce hasn't gotten up for the day, yet (he's not sleeping during the day, so makes up for it at night)! I realize I haven't blogged all week, but we've had a great and productive week. I'm checking things off my "to do" list -- buying Christmas gifts, decorating the house, doing my Bible study, getting Christmas cards ready to go out, and of course, enjoying my boys.

I've been wanting to share this picture for a while. My Nana took this while she was here and Reid is probably only 2 or 3 weeks old here. It's such an example of what my days are like...hands full!

And then, the day before she left, we were shopping and she wanted to get me a Willow Tree figure for Reid. We spotted this one and I LOVE it!

It's called "Quietly" -- which I think is interesting, b/c a house with boys is probably anything, but quiet! :)

Anyway, I felt like the Lord was really laying something on my heart with these two images. My hands are full, our house is full (all the bedrooms are occupied and of course, we continue to accumulate more stuff!) and my heart is FULL! Full of love for these precious boys and for their Daddy. I longed for these children and at times, begged the Lord for them. He answered my prayers and has been so good to me.

This morning, I was reading a blog that I enjoy. It is called Baby Bangs and belongs to Beth Moore's eldest daughter, Amanda. I encourage you to go to this post and even though it's about her daughter being 10 months old, the last few paragraphs (three, to be exact) really touched me. I'll put a little of it here, but go read it...especially you mommas!

She says:

"All I can think to end with is this - isn't it an honor to be a woman? As hard as it is and sometimes unfair, we get a front row seat to see the magic of a life growing from tiny cells into a baby, a toddler, a preschooler, and so on. And to feel it all so fully! To others and often to ourselves our lives can look utterly mundane and common....

The thing is, God is using us to grow lives. Physically. Emotionally. Mentally. Stop and marvel at whatever new thing your three-year-old said or did today. In all likelihood (as long as it was pure and lovely, of course), he learned it from you! In case no one else says this to you today, well done mama. You're doing an important job and you will be richly rewarded, even if for the time being it's a big hug around the knees every time you have to wipe your preschooler's rear."

And one last thing I wanted to include is this Taylor Swift song. I wouldn't say that I'm a huge Taylor Swift fan, necessarily, but I do enjoy some of her music and think that she is talented (especially as a musician and song writer, if not vocally!). I heard this a while ago and it meant a lot to me. Even though I don't have a daughter and it is more about a mom and her daughter, I feel like it still applies. I hope and pray that one day, my children will look back on their childhood and the simplest moments that we have spent together in the day-to-day will be some of their fondest.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Psalm 23:5-6

Trimming the Tree

We had a very low-key Thanksgiving with small, intimate gatherings with both sides of the family. Unfortunately, Reid had an extremely fussy day, which made it pretty unenjoyable for me. :( He was having trouble sleeping and got very overtired, which caused him to spend a lot of the day crying. Thankfully, he spent Friday and Saturday sleeping a lot to make up for it.

We spent those days getting most of our Christmas decorations up. Pierce has been *begging* us to set the tree up for weeks and he and Shaun did it while I was away last weekend. We did the decorating this weekend. It's so fun because this is the first Christmas that Pierce is really into all of this stuff. We're also excited to take every opportunity to teach him more about Jesus as the reason we celebrate Christmas, and we lit the first candle on our Advent wreath tonight at dinner.











I was able to get a hold of a matching stocking with an 'R' on it for little Reid -- I just love the stockings, it's one of my favorite things! And I feel beyond thankful to be hanging an additional stocking this year. Only God knew last Christmas that we'd have this precious blessing celebrating the holidays with us this year. We praise Him!!

It's so easy to feel stressed this time of year and I find my mind really going at times with everything to do (and with 2 kids in tow this year!). But, I want it to be peaceful and enjoyable and am just taking one thing at a time and really using Shaun's help a lot (don't know what I'd do without him!).

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are enjoying the start of the holiday season!

Outtakes

We had a little photo shoot this past weekend to attempt to get a good picture to use on our Christmas card. Thankfully, we did get a really great one! Getting a toddler and newborn baby to cooperate during picture taking is challenging. Here are some of the outtakes...hopefully, they'll put a smile on your face!

I love these two munchkins! (No denying they're brothers, huh?!)












These last two were very close runners-up, but did not make the cut! They are precious, though.

My Favorite Things -- Baby Edition

I've been thinking recently about the things that I feel have been really useful over the past few weeks with a new baby. I think "favorite things" lists are fun, so here is my must-have list for baby:

• Itzbeen Timer -- I read about this on another blog long before Reid was born and decided to give it a try. I LOVE it!!! It takes care of everything from how long it's been since you've changed a diaper and fed the baby to which side you last nursed on. This timer has allowed me to really know how long Reid actually nurses, and you can use it to time things like how long their naps have been or how long they have been crying (if you believe in letting them cry it out). For some people, knowing this stuff is unimportant, but I'm a big believer in putting a baby on a schedule and so I feel like this was made for me! A great example of the use of this is that last night, I pressed the sleep button when I put Reid down and this morning, I knew that he had only woken up ONE time in a 9-hour, 33 minute time-period. Pretty awesome.

• Nursing tanks. This is something that I wasn't really even aware of with Pierce, but again, LOVE them. They are great for layering, especially in these winter months and I don't feel like my belly is hanging out. I've gotten all of mine from Target.
  

• Baby bjorn. We had a front carrier with Pierce, but I rarely used it and I feel like he didn't like it because he wasn't used to it. With only one kiddo, it's much easier to have your hands tied up. A friend is letting me borrow the bjorn and it has been great. Reid doesn't mind it and has slept in it each time he's been in it. Last Saturday, we spent most of the day shopping and it was very helpful! This past Monday, I had him in while we were at the playground. Super! I haven't ventured to a store with both boys, yet, but I envision using the carrier with Reid while Pierce sits in the cart (I'm not quite ready to have Pierce walking with me in a busy store!).
  

• Boppy pillow. When I am home, I use the boppy pillow during every nursing session. It makes it so much easier and comfortable for both of us. It has even become a crutch almost in that I have trouble nursing without it, say when we are out. Sometimes, I bring it with me if I know I'll be nursing in the car...it just makes it go so much smoother! I also like it as a place for the baby to rest with his head propped up.

• Nursing cover: Again, something that I was completely unaware of when I was nursing Pierce. A friend introduced this to me and I knew for sure I would need one for my next baby. I have bought them as gifts for both of my sisters and some other friends. Nursing in public was something I rarely did with Pierce b/c I just couldn't get the hang of the blanket on my shoulder, unsnapping my bra, latching the baby, etc. This cover allows you to have 2 hands and makes nursing in public so much more comfortable for me. I have always been able to find them on ebay for very reasonable prices (and handmade).
  

• The baby swing. Something else that I am borrowing from a friend because my sister has been using mine. Reid loves, loves, loves the swing. It almost always puts him to sleep. And I feel like I have depended on it a bit too much at times to soothe him to sleep. I am trying to get away from letting him sleep in it and putting him in his crib during the day. But, this was definitely very useful when I was in survival mode in the first few weeks. I even came downstairs a few nights and used it when I really needed sleep!

• I treated myself to this Vera Bradley baby bag (got a great deal on it on ebay!) before Reid was born because I really wanted a large bag that could hold both kids' things as well as be a purse for me. This bag is perfect. Plenty of room/pockets for diapers, wipes, sippy cups, cell phone, wallet, diaper cream and on and on. It's sylish and fits everything that I need when I'm out without having to carry mulitple bags.
  

• Sleep sack -- used this a ton with Pierce and Reid sleeps in one every night as well. I only had one that I used with Pierce, but Kirsten has passed on a few that she is done with and they are so great for keeping the baby warm and comfy.
  

I'm sure there are some other things that I haven't thought of, and I definitely have a couple of books that I want to share about (mostly around sleep training), but I'll save that for another post. Reid has been doing great with his nighttime sleep and I am so thankful!

Six weeks

Reid hit the 6-week mark yesterday and I feel like we've turned a corner! A lot of people (and literature) will say that fussiness tends to peak right around six weeks, but I think it's been a magic number with this kiddo. Of course, I could be way off, but his fussiness has decreased significantly recently and he has many pleasant, content awake moments. And we've seen some intentional smiles, which is such a blessing!


There isn't too much to report, but I wanted to document some things for my personal journal. Two nights ago, Reid did a 6+ hour sleep stretch! In general, he is doing 4 hours stretches at night, but goes right back to sleep after he nurses. I can even put him down while he is still awake (but I know he is sleepy) and he'll drift off to sleep. There was one night last week, that he did one wake-up in a 9 hour period. It was glorious!

Over the past several weeks, Reid's biggest fussy period has been between 8 and 10ish in the evening. This has been difficult for me because it's such a treasured time of the day when Pierce is down and I can relax. It is getting better, though and we're hoping to get Reid into the habit of going down at the same time that Pierce does.

Reid is a much faster nurser than Pierce at this age (I compare everything to how Pierce was!). He nurses 10 minutes on each side and we're done in just about 20 minutes. That means at night, I'm up for no longer than 30 minutes and can hop back in bed!



Life is definitely getting back to normal for us and it feels good. We've been back to our Thursday morning Bible study the past two weeks and it's been so great. Pierce just LOVES his little classroom and I so enjoy the fellowship and time studying God's Word. We also did our little gymnastics class on Monday morning for the first time since Reid was born. It was so nice to be back. I feel very accomplished when we're able to get out the door and to these things on time!

I'm feeling more rested these days and it has really helped my patience level and my energy is coming back. It's been a long time!! Pierce and I have been able to spend some nice one on one time while Reid is sleeping and I think it really helps us both feel like we've had a successful day and makes things peaceful in our home.

God's grace has been abundant during these past few weeks and I am so grateful for how He has blessed my little family!

Up a tree

This is how Shaun and Pierce spend a beautiful Saturday morning. Daddy is teaching this overly cautious kiddo not to fear certain things... such as climbing trees. Oh, boy!

Fun Fall Pictures