Whatever it takes...

This has been my first week back to work. Thankfully, the Lord blessed us with a wonderful WONDERFUL daycare facility!  So far Brae has done great, but Pressley is having a tough time.  She was so used to being loved on NON STOP all day long... and I am sure that she is getting loved on a lot, it is just a little different for her.  Please keep her in your prayers that she will continue to do better day by day.  Another thing the Lord has really been working on has been my organization and my job as a working WIFE and mother.  It had always been a little difficult with my duo roles but God has really been with me this week.  I have tried hard to stick to a schedule in my evenings. It seems that over the last 4 evenings, that I have been able to easily get both girls into that schedule and things are flowing fairly well.  The  mornings are still very hairy... I have my idea of how things are supposed to go... but they don't always work out that way! :)  

For quite some time now, I have been wanting to get family pictures done, but every time I try to plan a trip to Picture People, or meet with a photographer something comes up!  But, Finally... after much preparation and a whole lot of chaos we got them done!  Luckily, Chance was able to be home when we went which was just perfect!  

While I enjoyed my trip to Raleigh, I was ready to come home by the time the week came to a close. Being a "city girl" I never thought I'd ever say the words, I'm so glad to be back at home (now, Zirconia NC aka the sticks) Thinking on how my life has changed in the last 6 years still amazes me. I never thought I'd be dying to get back to a small 2 bedroom home nestled (like that word Dustin?) in the back woods of N.C. but I was. I didn't realize how hard it would be to tame a 1 yr old and get a new born on a schedule while away, but it proved that I was totally wrong. Both Pressley and I were out of our normal enviroment and it was more of a stressful time, spending the majority of my day telling her No, or chasing after her to prevent her from going up the stairs. :) The Joys of mother hood...

After I got back from Raleigh, I spent the next two weeks... doing... ummm I don't really remember! It obviously wasn't anything too important if I can't remember what it was, I'm sure it was going Christmas shopping, cooking, cleaning... resting, ... thats probably it. I guess looking back, I didn't do a darn thing, but isn't that what you supposed to do while on Maternity leave? It was a sweet time with my babies though, I enjoyed that!

I'll leave Christmas break for a future blog entry, and I will add pictures... But for the next one, I will simply post our Olan Mills Christmas picts... Enjoy them when I get them up!

okay those of you out in cyberland that keep up with my blog, I'm sorry that I've not done a better job at blogging, but that should probably tell you how my life has been very stressful and hectic~ tonight I have spent quite a bit of time reading blogs from all my friends and smiled in delight and things I learned! Congrats Kellan and Rob!! Sara -- wow, another boy! Good for you!! ML- I loved reading about your holiday adventures! and Jana, you're lucky that Brody didn't get into your Christmas decor (I was less lucky!)



I will be going back to work 1 day a week starting Monday, January 5th. I will begin picking up where I left off at that point, Family Christmas pictures, Thanksgiving, Christmas, babies that don't sleep at night... toddlers that do the funniest things... family times... wow, I've got a lot to tell you about.



But for now, I'd like to wish everyone a blessed new year!

So the other day, I went across the street to Duncan Donuts. I knew that my father and my uncle would be excited if I brought home donuts, so I ordered 1 dozen assorted doughnuts. To my surprise, they didn't ask me what type of donuts I wanted, so I was certain that when I pulled to the window they would ask me which types I wanted. However, upon pulling up to the window, I was met with a box of donuts. DO you know that they don't let you pick out which donuts you want!!!! Isn't that RIDICULOUS!... anyway. This blog seems pretty pointless... I'll blog important stuff later.

J

Well, I am home (in Raleigh) for a week to show of our girls and spend time with Grammy and Poppa while trying to get into the swing of being a mother of 2! The last couple nights have been great, Brae has only gotten up 2 times and Pressley has been sleeping late so I am loving that! I remember when Pressley was first born everyone said to "Sleep when she sleeps" and now I was curious, how do you do that with 2! I guess that means we've gotta get them on the same schedule... right now, that doesn't seem to be too tough considering Brae sleeps 18 hours our of the day... and I would ask all ya'll out ther for advice... but the majority of my readers only have 1 baby! ... Brae is crying and Pressley needs to get up from her nap... so I better go, but if anyone has any advice... I'm all ears!

Sheesh! The past 2 weeks have been a pure whirlwind! Everything seems to be a big blur... not sure if it is the lack of sleep or all the excitement that is causing this... :)
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving full of all the things that make holidays special. Time with family... great food... more great food... movies... desserts... laughing... relaxing... napping... football! Chance got to meet his baby sister so it was extra special... and I got my Christmas present early of having professional family pictures done... it couldn't have been better!

One proud daddy...

One excited big brother

A little angel...

and someone about to get into BIG trouble. HA

The other night, while trying to breath through some pretty painful and uneventful contractions, I remembered something I learned in my child birth classes last year... taking yourself to a relaxing place... in your mind... or as my brother Joel calls it, your happy place...

I thought it would be neat and fun to go find some pictures of things that make me happy... some of the images may seem stupid to you, but each one of these things brings joy to my heart. There are many more things, like my husband and my little girl... those are my true happy places... but I will have him there with me so I won't need to imagine him... plus he is pretty much responsible for the "pain" that I'm enduring!!!   :)

Here's how last night went... I finally fall asleep around 9:30ish... at 12:00 am, the stupid beagle's are back barking up a storm... finally fall back asleep 45 minutes later... from 3:00 - 5:00 I had contractions every 12-15 minutes apart... I finally get up, and they stop. ugh. I am over this pregnancy... It dawned on me on my way to work, the first trimester of this pregnancy was such a nightmare compared to my Pregnancy with Pressley, so why wouldn't the 3rd Trimester be any different?  My luck, I'll be having these contractions for another 4 weeks... Oh and who ever posted on my poll that I will make it to 40 weeks... you're dead meat! :)

Well, I am 3 cm dialated! WOO HOO!!! YAY!  YIPPEE!! and she has dropped just a tiny bit... nothing to write home about... still 50% effaced... The contractions are more sharp but are still irregular... :-/  

During my pregnancy with Pressley, God brought someone very special into my life by way of my job.  A very nice couple was almost done with their home being built, but I got to get to know them through the last phases of construction.  While carrying Pressley, this lady's daughter in law was expecting their first also;  a girl, named Avery. So naturally, we always had a lot to talk about, me being pregnant with a little girl, and her, expecting her first grandchild!  We struck up a friendship before meeting each other, so by the time we got to meet each other for the first time, it felt like we'd known each other for ages!  To make a long story short, she made Pressley a beautiful blanket that she totes around the house... she just LOVES it! Well, today, she brought in one for Braelyn... Here is what it looks like... so snuggly and girly!  I know Braelyn will love it as much as Pressley loves hers...

  

So today, I will hopefully come home to a "care package" sitting on my front porch from my mother.  I don't know everything that is in this little package but I do know that each thing that is in it was thought out by someone very special to me... Is it the fact that I am getting a box filled with neat little things just for me that makes me so excited, or the fact that my mother loves me enough to think of me to put together a box full of things that she knows I will enjoy... it probably is a little of both... but I am so thankful to have a mother so wonderful!  I am quite lucky!  

On Saturday, our good friends, Maggie & Chris threw us a baby shower!  We sat on the front lawn  enjoying a perfect fall day, the weather was just perfect! Maggie served up some wonderful food, and some delicious apple cider!  We were surrounded by several of our close friends & family from the area, which made a perfect day even better!  

okay, so I am 37 weeks now... I went to the Dr. on Wednesday and no progressions have been made... I am still having lots of painful Braxton Hicks contractions and having to breath through them. Dustin likes to call them "practice contractions"... I'm over them and ready for the real thing!  I have got 60% of my "nesting" done so far... but we've got a few more things left to do at home before I will feel great about leaving for the hospital.  I finished Braelyn's name and hung it with pretty lavender ribbon above her bassinet.  It is just beautiful... her bassinet is something beautiful too!  Mom and Dad bought it for us, it fit for a princess, very frilly, and I also added a run of lavender ribbon with a beautiful bow at the front to make it just perfect... I'll put pics up so that you're able to see what I'm talking about.  I have Prissy's bags packed for her short stay with Ms Jane... cabinets are packed of things that she will need while we're at the hospital... I've even made a little booklet of everything Mom and Dad will need to know while watching her!  I am short a few things in our hospital bag, but for the most part I've got that all done and packed...