Adjusting

Having a newborn at home again has been nothing short of magical - most of the time.  In all honesty there have been several times in these first few weeks that I have sincerely asked myself how people do his - have two children (forget about three!). But as we've been getting back into the swing of things and learning to let some things slide I can honestly say life has never been better.  We're learning together and figuring this out.  We're tired, things are busier, the house is never quite clean, and laundry is more endless than usual but we are so happy and so so lucky.  These two little ones are the most precious things in our world.  At night when we Maddie and Beckham are both in bed, Josh and I talk about just how blessed we are to have these sweet babies in our family.  Life is so good.

I wondered when I was pregnant how my heart would ever find room to love another, but these past three weeks have shown me exactly how that is possible.  I feel like my heart has grown and my capabilities are trying to keep up.  I love, appreciate, and adore Maddie even more and my tiny innocent Beckham has proved to me just how strongly I can love someone so new and helpless.  This motherhood thing is pretty amazing.

My wild-haired Rapunzel girl

Maddie's first Disney love was Tangled - it will always hold a special place in both of our hearts because of it.  So naturally, when I was in the hospital with Beckham and my mom was watching Maddie, she decided to make Maddie a Rapunzel dress - braid and all.  To say my little ones have the world's best grandparents is a complete understatement.  They are well taken care of.  I still can't get over how darling and intricate this little dress is.  And the way she twirls and curtsies and holds it up - she's got this princess thing down.  Such a girl and I'm loving (almost) every minute of it.  

aaaand don't mind the finger in the nose in this last one - princesses can't always be perfect ;)

Beckham James Taylor

Beckham James Taylor

7 pounds 20 inches

Born March 26th, 2013 at 4:09 am

Perfect in every way!

preparing for two

We're on the homestretch with this pregnancy.  I had my 37 week appointment today (technically I'm 37 weeks and 2 days, but who's counting?) which means I'm officially full term.  The nurse informed me that if I were to go into labor now, they wouldn't try to stop it.  I'm fairly certain this little boy is trying to kick his way out of my stomach. The past couple weeks or so have had their rough moments - nausea, morning sickness, round ligament pain, tiredness in general, and a corneal ulcer that is probably not pregnancy related but painful nonetheless.  I feel like I get more uncomfortable every day which makes me all the more eager to meet our new little one.  All right baby boy, we're ready for you!

We're over the moon excited to meet this little guy.  I keep asking Josh dumb questions - "What do you think he'll look like?" or "Do you think he's going to be cute?"  Every time I'm having a particularly rough day with pregnancy I always say to Josh "I sure hope this baby is cute" to which he replies "I sure hope this baby is healthy."  I obviously want that, but is it too much to hope for a cute baby too?

I think Maddie is getting excited - it's a little hard to tell.  She somehow has come up with the idea that I'm having a girl.  I showed her some of baby brother's clothes the other day and asked her who they were for and she said "baby sister" without blinking an eye.  She also has named her little brother "baby Hannah."  We have absolutely no clue where this came from because I'm pretty sure she has never heard the name Hannah in her life.  Either way, I'm hoping she's not disappointed.  Josh thought maybe she was inspired and that we were having another girl.  I don't think so.  I'm already so in love with this little boy that I can't imagine anything different.

As these last few days/weeks pass by I'm filled with so many mixed emotions.  I cannot wait to have our little guy here, but I'm so in love with my baby girl and cherish our relationship with just the two of us.  How can I balance two and split my heart between them? I have to keep reminding myself that so many have done this before and I hope to be able to do it again and that the relationship Maddie and our little boy will have will be one of the sweetest parts of motherhood.  I know Maddie with be a darling and doting and protective big sister and I'm excited for our family to grow once more.

I know I'm probably getting ahead of myself with excitement- I still have a few weeks till I hit the 40 week mark.  Maybe baby brother has decided to wait until we decide on a name.  If that's the case I may be pregnant forever which I'm not so sure I can handle, so here's to hoping my next post is filled with photos of our new family of four!

in case you wanted to see lots of pictures of my girl.

Happy Birthday Maddie!

On Sunday we celebrated our sweet Maddie's second birthday.  We were finally able to get her over some of her initial fear of her birthday (still a little scared but a big improvement) and I think she loved it.  She's had me sing happy birthday to her in both of the days since so I think it was a hit.  I think it was her balloons that changed the mood of her birthday - especially the "happy" one (she's obsessed with everything being happy).  We started off the morning with her favorite breakfast of "pan-pan" (pancakes) with "sur-sur" (syrup) on fancy paper plates.  She got to go to church (which she loves) and eat cupcakes, open presents, and just generally be spoiled all day.  It was such a fun day for Josh and I - this whole parenting thing isn't half bad - I think we had more fun than she did.

At two Maddie is talking like crazy. The way she says certain things just kills me - my favorites are beach, morning, happy, Harry Potter (she has no clue what this is), yay! yay! yay!, Josh, and especially Mommy.  She mostly still says one word at a time but we get phrases in occasionally.  She is still a great napper and generally a great eater and a good sleeper most of the time (minus last night).  She's pretty opinionated about some things - the songs we sing to her at bedtime, what cup she drinks out of, and she has to have a certain blanket over her at night.  Lately it's been that she has to have her Brave doll and horse (which aren't small) right next to her every nap and every bedtime.  

Maddie is so obedient and so observant.  She listens to and obeys everything I say and loves being around other kids.  She is definitely a Daddy's girl but I'm growing on her ;)  She's our little artist and loves to "draw."  It's rare to find her more than a few feet away from her crayons/ markers/ easel/ pencils/ etc and I can't get away from the grocery store without her coloring all over my shopping list while I shop.  

She is still so girly - I think she gets more and more girly as she gets older.  I love it.  She loves clothes and doing hair and makeup already.  She asks me to paint her nails and loves shoes and bows and jewelry.  She watched part of Beauty and the Beast the other day and kept saying "pretty, pretty" when she saw Belle.  I hope a little brother doesn't scare her away.  

She's a little nurturer and starts to pretend cry whenever she sees someone sad (or someone she thinks is sad) and immediately says "happy, happy" because she wants them to be happy.  

We're beyond lucky to have this little girl.  I still can't believe it has already been a whole year since this and two whole years since we brought home that teeny tiny baby from the hospital.  Saying she's the best thing that happened to Josh and I is an understatement.  Happy birthday Maddie!!

Aaaand on a side note, we kicked off the terrible two's with a bang when she decided I needed my phone in the shower with me this morning and kindly brought it to me.