2 months...

It's always a shock to me how quickly time can fly when you have little ones, but I think it's a bit of a shock to anyone. While the sleepless nights and constant feedings seem never ending, the days are actually being scooped out from under you. Isabelle is 2 months old today. It's still hard to believe that 2 months ago I went to the hospital at 5am and came home 3 days later with a beautiful baby girl. I always dreamed I'd have a daughter, and now I do. I constantly have a bit of guilt because I worry I'm missing each little step in her life, not eximaning each step, each milestone, like I did with her brother. Although I had alot more time then....

Since I don't have time to obsess over EVERY milestone and step little Isabelle reaches I think I'll focus on the important stuff. Like for example she loves her mobile above her crib. Xander never liked his or took notice till her was much older, but if you turn her's on she is instantly mezmorzied. I catch her staring at the one on her swing for long periods of time. I think it's their differences that stick out the most to me. I thought when I had Isabelle I had been through it all, but every child is so very different. Xander was loud and wild from the start, woke every hour and 1/2 to nurse (which I gave up a 4weeks because he was so difficult), screamed his little head off all the time, never went to sleep with out large amounts of rocking and singing, didn't smile until 6 weeks and hated anything but his car seat as a baby. Isabelle is quiet. She only crys when necessary. She nurses beautifully(which is such a relief to this mommy). She's slept in 4 hour chucks since birth (which made me really nervous the first week to be honest). She goes to sleep easy with no effort. She HATES her car seat, but loves her vibrating chair. She smiles ALOT, starting with the day she was born. Yes she smiled day 1, at her daddy, I didn't believe him till I saw it. I've never seen such a smily baby, and I love it. She'll look you right in the face and giggle at you. I'm finally getting used to all the pink and purple. I love staring at her closet, wall to wall pink, fluffy, feathery, it's all so sweet.

As far as milestones go here's what I've got, she's 9lbs 1oz and 23inches. She eats about 4oz at a time. This only matters because the other day I looked at Xander's 2 month blog. He was eating 7oz at a time and was already 10lbs 10oz, up nearly 5lbs from birth! He was 1lb less than Isabelle when born, but by this point he had already passed her. I'm not sure if the difference is he is a boy or that he was formula fed and she is breast fed, or that she just doesn't like to eat as much as him. She got her first round of shots, which I hated, of course. That night she slept 11 hours straight, scared us half to death, but I think she was just exhausted from a big day. And as of this week she is officially sleeping 8 hours a night! Now which 8 hrs is still a bit of an issue, usually it's 6pm-2am or right around there, which still does not allow for a full nights sleep for mom and dad, but we'll take it. I'm hoping when I start back to work this week she will fall into a new routine.

Yes, sadly, tomorrow I go back to work. While I am very grateful to have a good job that I really enjoy, I am going to miss my sweet girl terribly. I wish I had a choice in the matter, but I do not. So I am resolved in the fact that this is what God planned for me and my sweet girl and it's what right and best. Sometimes it's not always easy accepting God's plan, but I think if I don't have faith now I'll never make it through those first days with out her. Thankfully I am only going back part time at first so my days away from her will be fewer than the ones I'm with her. I am also thankful that she is able to go to my mother-in-laws for these first few weeks.

So I know some of you are wondering how is Xander doing in all this? He is doing wonderful. I don't think Isabelle has made too much of an impact of his life so far. She sleeps most of the time so he really only sees her a couple times a day. He kisses her and gives her a toy and tells her that he loves her. He includes her in all of his stories which is sweet, and the other day he told me she was his best friend. He is getting bigger every day. He likes to tell us silly stories about robot bunnies invading or the in depth relationships between his cars haha

He is doing great at school. I am always impressed when he comes home able to write another letter or spell another word. The other day he got a super star award at school for doing well in sign language. He shows me words all the time, which I am assuming are right, but I don't know much sign language, so you never know. His current favorite movie is the Land Before Time, which brings back a TON of memories for Chris and I, I'm pretty sure I saw that movie like 100 times as a child. I'm thinking it's about time to sign him up for some sort of sport because he has so much energy and loves to play soccer and basketball. He requests to play football or baseball often as well. I'm thinking we'll let him try a few things before he settles.

Well, that's it for now, I leave you with pictures from the last month...

Isabelle, 4 weeks old, and Xander...








My bathtime baby...


Mousey butt...


Smiles for mommy...


Monkey hat...


Loving her Moby wrap...


8 weeks old and all smiles...




Mommy and baby 8 weeks old...

The Miracle of Modern Technology

Last week when I went for my 20 weeks anatomy scan I was lucky enough to also take home a few great 3D photos of our baby girl. It's amazing what you can see. I also posted Xander's 30 weeks 3D photo to show as comparision.

We never got a great shot of her face, but as you notice in the first picture you can see eyes and her sucking on her little thumb:

In this second picture you can see her face almost perfectly! See that nose? It's the same as Xander's! It's amazing that she already looks so perfect!

A new chapter...

Our family is about to begin a new chapter, and after a long break I think it's time I started posting weekly again. Our lives change so quickly it is so easy to let it pass us by. We are blessed to be adding to our family this year and I want to make sure I don't miss a moment of this very exciting, yet very busy time in our lives!
Our little one is due December 1st, 2011. I am 20 weeks pregnant today, and yesterday we were overjoyed to find out that we will be having a baby GIRL! We are all thrilled about this addition to our family.

Xander is excited about the idea. He knows there is a baby in mommy's tummy, but he does occasionally ask if he has a baby in his tummy too. At first he was VERY concerned that it would be much too dark for the baby in my stomach and that they baby would be scared. After he attempted to convince me to swallow a flashlight for the baby, we had a long talk about how the baby likes the dark right now. He has made a couple attempts to look in my mouth for the baby as well, shinging a flashlight in my mouth hoping he could see something! It's pretty cute. Now he's come to the realization that the baby is in there and he can't see it, and as my belly grows each day he talks to the baby more . He says good morning and good night baby every day. He is mostly excited about getting to be a big brother. I'm not sure he knows exactly what a big brother is but he knows that his daddy is a big brother too so that really helped get him excited about it.

As far as the pregnancy goes, I'm doing great. The first few months were filled with endless days of morning sickness, but as I entered the 2nd trimester things finally calmed down. I've got some energy back and am hoping to take advantage of it while I can and try to get the baby's room ready. We moved in March so we have an empty room just waiting for our little one to arrive. I am probably most excited because I get to decorate and be girly for once, I think the amount of testrone in the house was getting to me! haha I'm thrilled to think pink!

Other exciting upcoming events include: Xander turning 3 next weekend! We are planning a "Cars" party, complete with a Lightning MacQueen cake (if mommy can pull it off that is). He is VERY excited about this birthday. I think he finally understands what a birthday is. He can show you and tell you he is turning 3, which is adorable of course.

We are also planning our annual trip to Michgian. Xander has been asking since last year when we will go back to Michigan. I think he really loves it there, as much as his mommy and daddy do. This year all three of us are going and very excited about it. It's been a couple years since Chris has been able to go with us so this year is extra special. I am a bit nervous about flying, but I will be around 27 weeks and the doctor assures me I will be fine. It will be our last trip as a family of 3!

Well I will share more next week, hope everyone is having a wonderful week and is as blessed as we are!

- Crystal