Bailey's 3rd Birthday Princess Party! (and other stuff too.)

Well obviously having two kids cuts down on the amount of time I have to update this blog. Sorry it has been so long! We had Bailey's 3rd birthday this last weekend and what a whirlwind it was. It was tiring but oh so worth the smile on her face. Mimmy made her and Reece princess dresses for the party (that will also double as their Halloween costumes). Pops and Mimmy spent two days building a wood and cardboard princess castle that took up almost half of the upstairs for all the little princesses to play in during the party. It was the hit of the party, and Bailey's favorite part! I decided to be super-mom and made a princess castle cake. It turned out alright, but I am not sure it was worth all the stress it caused. Bailey looked absolutely adorable in her princess Cinderella dress, and I have to say she looked so grown up it made me kind of sad. Three years have gone by so fast, it seems like yesterday I was holding her in the hospital thinking how lucky I was to have such a precious little girl.
Now, I have two. Bailey is like a little adult in a three year old body. If I could remember half of the funny things she says and write them down, I would have a very good book. She is now attending Cochran Music Preschool twice a week from 8:30am to 11:30am, and she loves it! The days that she doesn't go she asks "Do I go to school today?" It is so fun to watch her learn, and it always amazes me how fast she picks up on things. Reece is a powerhouse. She started a strange form of crawling at 6 1/2 months, pulling up at 7 months, and crawling normally just a week later. Now she is cruising around the furniture and practices up and down, over and over and over. Bailey couldn't wait for her to crawl, but now she isn't so sure. Reece loves to play with anything that is Bailey's of course, and we will often find Reece in Bailey's room playing all by herself. She has been a entirely different baby ever since we started supplementing her with formula. She went from being whiny most of the time, to being whiny only when she is hungry or sleepy. I am so thankful that she is happy most of the time now! The hardest thing now, is probably getting her to eat her solids. Bailey would eat almost anything you put in her mouth, but Reece is completely against anything that isn't fruit. It has gotten better and we are tricking her into eating her vegetables and meats. She has perfected "locked lips", which is somewhere between funny and frustrating. Well that's all I have for now, I will try not to wait so long to write again.

What's the deal?

Well it has been two months since I last updated this blog. I cannot believe how being a mother of two changes things. We are loving life right now. Every day holds challenges along with very precious moments. The girls love each other so much. Bailey can't hardly stand not to touch Reece, and no one gets Reece to smile bigger or laugh harder than Bailey. It is so neat to watch. Bailey has been very sweet lately telling everyone that she loves them soooo much. Nothing brightens my day more than a little hug around my knee and a sweet smile followed by Mommy I love you sooo much! I wish I could capture that sweetness forever. Reece's smiles are the other thing that melts my heart. I can be busy doing something and walk by her and she gives you this smile that just says "Oh mommmy I love you and please pick me up or, play with me." It makes me stop every time and spend a few minutes or just a few seconds interacting with her. I just wish I had a little more one-on-one time with each of the girls sometimes. Bailey has quite the vocabulary these days and I wish I had a tape recorder for all the funny things she says. She keeps everyone laughing. Some of my favorites are "Not quite yet" "Hold me just a little bit" "What's the deal?" "Daddy has an attitude" "Excuse me Mommy" "Be nice" "Don't talk with food in your mouth" "Knife, fork, poon". I could go on but it would take me forever. Reece's current mode of conversation is growling and a sort of deep guttural yell. She growls like a little bear cub, especially when she wants something that is just out of reach. The yelling started last night when she was getting tired and was really really whiny, I kinda went AAAAghhhhhh to her and she started doing it back at me. It was pretty funny, and she did it so long that she started getting hoarse and was coughing. I would have thought she was just mad but she would stop and smile in between yells. She is a little over 4 months now and weighs 14lbs 5oz. She has only rolled over a few times in her crib when no one was watching and once when there was a witness. She is trying very hard but keeps getting hung up on her arm. I think she will be sitting up before she masters the rolling thing though, she loves to sit up and is starting to sit unassisted with the Boppy around her. She started her cereal this month and has not taken to it as quickly as Bailey did, but she is starting to come around to it. Oh, since I didn't update after Bailey was in Ryan's wedding, Bailey was a beautiful little flower girl and did an excellent job. Her favorite part however was the "party" (reception) where she danced on the dance floor until 10 o'clock when everyone else had already left. She keeps telling us she wants to go to another party. I see dance lessons in the near future! Sorry this is so long but I have a hard time condensing information. Hope to see everyone this summer!

Settling down.......

Sorry it has been so long since I updated the blog, but life is still a little crazy at times. Reece is now 10 wks old and she is starting to be a little easier. She has had colic and she seems to be getting over that now, thank goodness. She is definitely a crier and makes her opinion on things heard. She smiles a lot and tries to laugh, but it sounds more like a squeal. She is starting to reach out and bat at her toys, she balances quite well lifting her head and feet up when on her tummy. Her favorite place is in someones arms and we are trying to make her learn how to entertain and pacify herself during playtime and when she is trying to go to sleep. She cried (screamed) for an hour and a half Monday night before going to sleep for the night. She is doing better now and the longest she cries is 30 minutes before she goes to sleep. YEAH! Bailey loves Reece but often forgets that she has to be careful when trying to play with her. She is also adjusting to the fact that Reece takes a lot of Mommy and Daddy's time and has learned to play by herself quite well. She loves anything Disney princess or Barbie. She thinks that when she is going to be in her Uncle Ryan's wedding at the end of this month that she is going to be a princess. Every time I have tried on my bridesmaid dress she tells me that I am Cinderella. The bridesmaid's dress I will be wearing is blue and of course any blue dress is Cinderella's. Sooo sweet. I worked for the first time since Reece was born on Tuesday and it was kind of nice to be around adults that don't whine or cry for my attention. I did however have a patient who screamed very loudly and very often so I felt right at home! I was excited to come home and Bailey, Reece, and definitely Paul were excited to see me also. Paul did very well with them both all day, he even did the laundry! Yeah! Easter was fun with family and Bailey and Reece both looked adorable in their matching dresses. Bailey thoroughly enjoyed the Easter egg hunt with her cousins and then again last night at church with her friends. She has way too much candy lying around tempting Mommy who is trying to lose as much weight as possible before Ryan's wedding. I will try to post pictures of Bailey as a flower girl as soon as we get the pictures, and hopefully I will be able to leave updates more often now that things are starting to settle down a little bit.

It's been a month!

And what a month it has been. Having a new baby, having a child with a cold with a new baby, mommy having a 24 hour stomach virus, and Grandma Pitt having cardiac bypass surgery. Whew! I am glad things are starting to settle down a little bit. The green eyed monster visited Big Sister Bailey but seems to have settled down a bit and only emerges once in awhile. Bailey now enjoys hugging and kissing her baby sister which Mommy has to referee at times. She is definately in love with Reece and frequently tells her "I uv do". Reece is sleeping well during the night somtimes up to 6hrs at a time. Whoo hoo! She has been giving us smiles since 2 weeks but is being more generous with them now. We even have heard her "talk" a few times. There are moments that I would like to pull my hair out, for instance when Bailey (who has been completely potty trained since October) stated that she had "pee peed on the couch" or when she had pooped in her princess panties twice on same day, when she had been going to the bathroom all by herself. She has not tried this since. Thank goodness regression only lasted one day! Mom and I tried to go shopping yesterday and I have to say that it was not an enjoyable experience, much to Paul's dismay. HA HA HA! The stroller it requires to hold two children drives like a train and fits down no aisles easily. I pointed out to mom at one point at how ironic it was that I was carrying one child in a front carrier, was holding one's hand walking next to me and pushing the ridiculous stroller (holding only the diaper bag) with the other. Needless to say, I don't want to do it again anytime soon. It is still hard to believe that we are now the parents of two precious girls but we are loving it and can't wait to see what the future holds.

She's Here!

Reece Emerson Jones arrived January 27th at 12:24pm. She weighed 7lbs 15oz, and is 20 1/4 inches long. I had a very short labor and only pushed 3-4 times. Somehow though Reece's left clavicle was broken and we are having to deal with that. Other than that everything went great! She is absolutely beautiful and looks like a miniature Bailey. She is sleeping anywhere from 3-4 hours in between feedings and seems to be an easy baby thus far. We left the hospital after 24hours so that we could make sure to avoid getting stuck in the hospital because of the weather. We stayed the first night at my Mom's just in case we lost power. They are on city water and would at least have water where we would not. The snow and ice are beautiful but I would have rather skipped it all. Bailey is in love with Reece and says often "I hold that baby". It has been difficult though because she has a fresh cold and is sneezing and coughing all over the place. So, we are stuck between whether to tell her to stay away from the baby or to just let be. Soooo frustrating. We had her well baby visit today and she now weighs 7lbs 5oz, a whole pound lighter than Bailey when she was born and man what a difference it makes. She feels so light. Paul has become super Dad and I can't even begin to tell you how much I appreciate it. He was wonderfully supportive during labor and is doing so much around the house to keep everything in order and everyone happy. We are loving being the parents of two and can't wait to see all the adventure it may bring. We hope to see everyone soon!

Tomorrow is the BIG DAY!

Well tommorrow is the day I go in for the induction. We have to be there at 6:30a.m. I only hope I can sleep tonight. We dropped Bailey off at her Mim and Pop's this evening and hopefully she will sleep for them too. We are all so excited, and can't believe that after tommorrow we are going to be four instead of just three. Please pray that everything goes smoothly and that the winter weather coming in won't be as bad as predicted. I will try very hard to post a picture on the blog tomorrow if things are not too hectic and the labor isn't too long. Lots of love.

It's getting closer!

Well I saw the Dr. on Tuesday and she said I was still dilated to a 3, but she says that I will be ready for induction on the 27th. We are getting so excited and pretty much have everything ready to go. I have been having lots of contractions and some that are pretty uncomfortable, but no labor! Bailey is very excited!Her Mim told her the other day that we were going to get Baby Reece in a few days, and now everytime we get out of the car or when she wakes up she says "Get baby?" This morning while cuddling with me in bed she hugged my tummy and said "baby Beece come out!" and then gave my ever growing bump a kiss. She is soooooo sweet! She is trying to be very independent right now and frequently says "I do it all myself!" The most difficult thing is having enough patience to let her do it by herself. I will continue to update if anything new or exciting happens. Stay tuned!

Making progress!

I was at the Dr. again today and I am now dilated to 3cm, 75-80% effaced, and -1 station. Whoo hoo! Dr. Anderson said that I might not make it to my induction date but I don't think I will be that lucky! Bailey is definitely feeling that it is getting close. Today she said "Baby Reece comin to town". This is funny because for the last two months she has been talking about "Key Claus comin to town". When I arrived home from my appointment today she said "Baby Reece comin soon". She crawled up in the rocking chair in Reece's room yesterday while I was organizing and told me in Bailey language that she was going to "rock, feed milk, read book, and go night night Baby Reece". She seems so excited, I just hope it lasts. We will soon see.

Dr. Visit

I went to the Dr. yesterday for the first of my weekly OB visits. The Dr. checked my cervix and said that I was dilated to 2cm and 75% effaced. Yeah! Reece is due February 5th but we are scheduled to induce on January 27th. So only 19 days left to go! I have been feeling really good and staying active. We all all so excited to meet this new baby girl. I have been trying to tie up all the loose ends and making sure everything is ready for when she arrives. Sara Wilson of Eden Wilson photography is going to photograph the birth and we are very excited about this too! Stay tuned and we will update the blog as things progress.