Sunday, March 28, 2010

Sweet Boy

Jack is an incredibly sweet little boy. He loves to snuggle on the couch and watch cartoons, he randomly gives us kisses, and tried his best to help around the house. He loves his little sister to no end, and brings her dolls and pacifiers when she's not happy.

Of course, he sometimes has trouble listening and is as stubborn as his mother, but overall we are overjoyed with our precious boy.


Friday, March 26, 2010

Clutter Tips

Today on Kelly's Korner is "Show Us Your Life - Cleaning Tips." I've never done one of these before, but I thought it would be fun!

We live in a small house - 1479 sq. ft. We love it. The tradeoff for our small house is a great yard and privacy. We can stand on our front porch and not really see any other house. In fact, I've been known to run out to the car with a towel wrapped around my head and not thought a thing about it. But the house itself is quite small, and clutter can take over very quickly. So I guess my post is actually about "Clutter Tips."

For those of you living in small houses or apartments, you know that clutter can ruin your life. Maybe it's just me, but leaving things lying around the house without any rhyme or reason makes me batty. Seriously batty. Ask my husband.

I have a one-month-old, a three-year-old, and a forester-husband who is chronically muddy. So, here are my tips:

1. Place a heavy-duty bin by the back door for muddy shoes/clothes. The mud and dirt will only make it 6 inches in the door. Our back door opens into the laundry room. The realtor told us we would regret having a back door that opened into the laundry room. I beg to differ. The mud stops here.

2. Do laundry every day, no matter what. I have started this over the past couple of weeks and it helps tremendously. We have two or three loads a day around this house! This will also help me when I go back to work. No more Sunday afternoons of folding for hours!

3. Limit your child's toys. We have a toy box in Jack's room. He is only allowed to have enough toys that fit in that toy box. If he gets a new toy, an old toy leaves. Typically kids only enjoy a toy for a few months anyway before they get tired of it and it becomes clutter.

4. Put all of your DVDs in a CD/DVD organizer book. I did this a couple of months ago and it has changed our living room! No longer do we have DVD cases filling up our entertainment center. They are all in one neat little book that we can flip through to find something to watch!

5. Analyze your purchases. Even though that Easter decoration is precious, you'll have to store it somewhere the other 11 months of the year. Do you really need another bunny?

A clean house makes everyone a little more sane, but don't let it run your life. If you skip a day of laundry, or run out of the house with the coffee mugs still in the sink, it will be okay. Worse things have happened!

Monday, March 22, 2010

One Month Old!

Sydney is one month old today! She is such a joy in our lives and we love her so much!

At one month, Sydney is....
  • learning to hold her head up
  • staying awake a little between feedings
  • sleeping four-five hours at a time during the night
  • outgrowing her newborn onesies and sleepers
  • going through diapers like crazy....250 so far!!

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Due Date!

Today is my due date! How strange to think that Sydney is almost a month old and according to ultrasounds should just now be arriving!

Monday we went for a well-child checkup. She now weighs 8 lbs and has grown 1/2 inch taller. She is really starting to fill out and fatten up! She still sleeps almost all the time. She has a little "awake time" in the evenings, but that only lasts for an hour or two. The rest of the time, she just....sleeps! During the night she will wake up every four hours to eat, then she goes right back to sleep!

Here she is sleeping in the doctor's office:This is a very cute dress Aunt Jenn bought her. She hasn't quite grown into the bloomers yet!


We've tried many times to get a good picture of her for a birth announcement. Her eyes were always closed, or I would forget to put a bow in her hair. We got this one yesterday. Even though it's not great, it will have to do! I ordered the announcements today, and they'll come in sometime next week. You can see her double chin and not-quite-focused eyes!!

Sunday, March 14, 2010

New Beginnings

**Blogger won't let me upload pictures....but I had already written everything! I'll try to add pictures later.


Don't you love spring? Everything is turning green and it feels that just anything is possible! Daylight Savings Time is also such a boost of energy. A whole extra hour after we come home from work to play in the yard and enjoy long walks as a family!

This spring seems especially energizing to me! I have so many projects and goals that I cannot wait to get accomplished:

1. The Yard. One of our financial/house projects for the year is to get some green going in our yard. When we moved in, the plants were dead. Last year we planted a few shrubs, but they didn't grow much and then ants ate them. This weekend we tore the dead stuff out and started from scratch! We still need to put in some good soil and mulch and of course, some plants. The Forest Hill Nursery Festival is next weekend and I can't wait to get some plants growing!


2. Spiritual Growth. The first week home from the hospital was spent on painkillers on the couch, feeding Sydney every three hours and watching TLC and HGTV. By the end of the second week home I decided that I was watching entirely too much TV and needed to have some more constructive ways to spend my time. One reason I'm so excited about my time at home for the next five months is that my life just became a lot slower-paced and I can spend more time in God's Word. Even over the past week I have grown so much in my relationship with the Lord. I plan on spending my time until August in "retreat" so when I return to work I will be closer to Jesus (and hopefully more like Him!)


3. Physical fitness. I have a wardrobe of "teacher clothes" that must fit by August. Oh my word.


4. And, of course. A new addition to the family. A new beginning of sleep schedules, first smiles, rolling over, and all things girly.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

First Bath



I'm a little behind. Sydney had her first real bath the other night! It seems like it took FOREVER for that bellybutton to heal! Of course, Jack wanted to help, so he's in the tub with her. It was quite interesting.

Brotherly Love

Jack absolutely LOVES his baby sister! He wants to hold her all the time. He sings to her, reads books to her, and talks to her like she is three years old! She seems to like him, too. She'll look at him and listen to everything he says. One day, I'm sure she will think that he is disgusting and he'll think that she's annoying. But for now, they like each other and I'll hang on to that!


Reading books together.




He shares Thomas the Train with her. She keeps him while Jack is at school.

Friday, March 5, 2010

If you think this is bad, you should have seen the other guy...

Jack got a real shiner this week! If you ask him what happened, he'll tell you that he got in a fight with the four-wheeler, and he won! He is definitely "all boy"!!






And she is definitely "all girl"




My tough boy and my girly girl.


Life is good.

Monday, March 1, 2010

First Outing

Sydney Kaye went for her first outing today! Don't worry, it was just to the doctor's office. It will be a while before I'm comfortable with our little girl out in the world. Dr. Clark said that she looks just perfect. She weighed 6 lbs, 11 oz. So far she has been a dream baby! She sleeps almost all the time and eats perfectly on schedule every three hours. I'm not sure if she's so calm because she was a month early, or if she will really be an easy baby. Only time will tell! For right now, though, I'm loving feeling rested and relaxed.


Here she is in her first "going out" outfit! I enjoyed washing her poofy hair and putting on her clothes!



Her bow in her hair! She doesn't keep it in for long, though.

Jack also started back to daycare today. He was SO EXCITED! I can just imagine him running and telling all his friends about his baby sister and his mommy's bobo on her belly. He came home completely exhausted, but I could tell he had a really fun day.


We told Jack that his job is to keep Sydney safe in the backseat. He takes his job very seriously.



Sydney stayed awake for an entire hour this afternoon! She enjoyed looking around the room in her bouncy seat.



I'm recovering slowly, but surely! It's very hard for me to not be able to drive and do everything I want to do, but I'm learning to depend on help, which is not easy for me. It's also forcing me to stay home and take my time getting back into the swing of things!