6 months later...

And this perfect little baby BOY has grown into my chubby little 6 month old rolling, babbling, teeth cutting, solid food loving little man!!!  Introducing (6 months late), Logan Matthew...born 7/26/12, the day before his daddy's birthday.  He is the sweetest happiest little guy, and just loves his big sis Aubrey who just turned 2 in January!  He is different than Aubrey in most ways, arrived 6 days early unlike Aubrey's arrival 6 days late, great eater, not great sleeper...but when he came out it was like looking at Aubrey all over again.  Aubrey likewise is over the moon with her real live baby doll little bro LoLo, and I'm loving watching these two become best buds!  He has been such a gift and the most amazing addition to our little family!  Hope everyone out there in bloggy world is well, miss you all!!! Xoxo

A Long Overdue Post & Baby #2

So I have been meaning to write this post for a very long time, and apologize for my year long silence!!  How is that even possible?!  These days I'm hardly ever on the computer, but I do continue to read everyone's updates on my phone so please know I haven't totally disappeared. 

So what's going on in our life...well the big news I've been meaning to share is hubs and I are preggo with baby #2, aka Chili (as in the pepper and not the penguin).  And even more exciting I'm due in 5 weeks...when Aubrey will be a little over 18 months so we are proudly joining the 2 under 2 club.  We honestly couldn't be more excited or feel more blessed to have conceived #2 so easily after having an IVF baby.  We had already been back to our fertility center to meet with our RE, who said we'd have to wait til Aubrey was a year in January (so my body would have a full year to recover), to give our 2 frozen embryos a shot.  I think that was in September/October, so I planned to make my blood work appts for December and with the couple months we had would take my RE's advice to give it a try on our own. I figured as nice as it would be to be "those people" who go through IVF only to get preggo on their own the next time...that simply would not be our story and just stay hopeful IVF would be our ticket to baby #2 as well.

So come end of November I was feeling a bit off.  It was the Sunday before Thanks.giving and like I said I was pretty much set on the fact that a frozen IVF cycle was in our future so I wasn't going crazy with tracking/counting dpo's.  Plus the 2 or 3 periods I got post nursing were super long and weird, so it was hard to get a positive opk in the first place.  I had caught it that cycle so I knew we had a chance, and it occured to me I was 14dpo.  Sadly enough that morning we had heard the news my 95 year old grandfather had passed away.  He had a wonderfully long life, and was only in a nursing home his last year...lived on his own until he was 94 years old.  He passed quickly, and luckily enough we had recently gone to lunch with him and snapped the sweetest picture of Aubrey with her great-grandfather.  I knew we'd be seeing family over the next couple days with funeral arrangements, plus with Thanksgiving looming I knew there would be lots of drinking and I just wanted to get the idea of pregnancy out of my mind. 

So that night after dinner, I secretly went upstairs after dinner without telling hubs and took a test.  I said a quick prayer for my grandpa, and said this one's for you.  I only had a digital and hubs was calling me to come down for something, and I'm waiting waiting for the NO to appear.  I'm walking downstairs as the little clock is still flashing, about to admit to the hubs what I sucker I still am, thinking it would actually work this time...and all of the sudden....YES.  Cue instant shock, pure joy, and panic all at the same time.  I truly believe I have my grandfather to thank for this miracle.

Fast forward 35 weeks and here we are today.  Aubrey is about to be a big sister and I truly can't believe it.  People keep asking if I'm nervous for another one, but to be honest my real fear with how this baby with affect her.  Right now we're having so much fun just the two of us, Aubrey seriously gets cuter and cuter by the day as more of her personality creeps out daily.  She walked on the later side (15 months), so she's still pretty amazed with just being able to walk everywhere/anywhere.  She's a way more verbal baby (my pedatrician said they're either a walker or talker), and we definitely have a talker on our hangs.  She's obsessed with her shooos (shoes), her favorites are her $5 tar.get flip-flops which are not the most stable, but hey the girl likes what she likes.  She finally has some hair growing, so the boy comments are starting to trickle out, finally...ha!  She was literally a perfect baby, and now is the most adorable toddler.  She is definitely setting the bar high for little Chili, and I'm just gonna soak up every minute of this last bit of time we have together just us two. 

I could go on and on but this mama needs to get some laundry done while Aubrey is still napping!  Here are some recent pics, I seriously cannot believe how much she has changed in a year.  Blows my mind.  Hope everyone is well and I definitely promise to post once Chili arrives to announce if Aubrey has a little sis or bro...my money is on boy but hubs is dead set its a girl so stay tuned!

Aubrey's 1st Birthday - Elmo Themed (her fave)

Family trip to Florida in March (Aubrey 14 months & almost 20 weeks)

Loves finger walking!

And the pool!

Checking out the beach.

Father's Day 2012 - Aubrey 17 months

Aubrey & Mama (33 weeks preggo)

This face kills me, love her more than anything!

Too Busy to Blog...But Loving Every Second!

Hi all!!! So I got my 2nd where have you been comment, so I thought I would drop a line and let you all know I'm still here, but just taking a hiatus from blogging at the moment. Life has been just so busy, and I knew to keep up with the big stuff, i.e. new baby, new house, cooking, cleaning, etc....something had to give. So my poor blog got the boot...BUT, please know I read as often as I can from my phone while I'm nursing and I'm following and thinking about all of you!!

So to fill you in, Aubrey is almost 5 months old. I can't even believe I'm typing that...seriously where does time go?!? So I'm going to whip through and give you the highlights:

- Took our first family vacay in Feb to Florida. It was so nice to get away from awful Chicago winter and just veg out with hubby and baby girl. She freaked out right before the flight, and I swear the whole terminal was staring at us praying we weren't on their flight. But the minute we got on the plane she was OUT. And also an awesome excuse to blow money on a teeny tiny bathing suit that she would only wear one time...worth every penny for this pic!

- At about a month baby girl was sleeping through the night!! I was seriously blessed with the best sleeper ever. Now, we were letting her sleep downstairs with/on us until we went to bed around midnight...so she was getting that late feed, but would then sleep til 7. During my maternity leave I would usually pull her into bed with me after that first feed, and snuggle until the next feed. Sometimes I felt super lazy sleeping the day away...but those mornings were just the best.

- Some random tidbits about baby girl. Nicknames: baby girl, obviously (she loves when I sing that song to her, my baby girl, my baby girl...but then I don't know the words and just make them up. She also loves wheels on the bus! Other nicknames: sleepy amigo, smurf, munchkin butt, super baby. Baby girl's most favorite friend...monkey!! Her paci/wubb.a.nub. Best investment ever...we've even bought other animals but monkey remains the fave. Around 1 month when she started smiling...the key to get her to do it, was "what does monkey say" and then proceed to make monkey sounds. To this day if I say that she will totally bust out a huge smile, she LOVES monkey and he's in almost every picture we take of her!

- Was due to go back to work 4/4...i was dreading that day from the moment I had her. I had even worked out 2 days a week from home when I returned to work...but the week before I had a HUGE meltdown, crunched some major numbers with hubs, and decided I could stay home with baby girl!!! I feel so incredibly lucky to be able to stay home with her, but also have the new task of figuring every possible way to save moola.

- Two weeks ago we moved into our new home!! As nice as it was to be living rent free with the p's...after 9 months of it, we needed our own space. First task was baby girl's nursery, which I don't have a pic of yet. But it's gorgeous and totally my favorite room in the whole house! Well, maybe tied with my kitchen...which I do have a pic of. This is how hubby surprised me for mother's day. I told him that all I wanted was to have our own celebration, which is difficult when you're living with your parents. So he surprised me and brought me to the new house and had breakfast/mimosa's/balloons...just me, him, and Aubrey....LOVE him. And I LOVE our new house.

- I think I got all the big stuff which brings me to current. Right now my big thing if deciding when to quit nursing. I was thinking around 5 months, and I think I have enough frozen to get her to 6 which was always my goal. But at she approaches her 5 month bday the thought of stopping makes me kinda sad. And this is coming from someone who prior to getting pregnant though b-feeding would be weird and never thought I'd even do it in the first place. It's just been such a special bond, and as fun as it is to give her a bottle and see her little face chug away...I will miss that connection that only her and I could share.

- Finally, as nice as it is not to have a period...I think I'm ready to get my cycle back. I would be totally lying if I said I wasn't already thinking about getting preggo again. I miss it so much, and I've always said I want 4 (like I said I was blessed with an easy baby, so at least after Aubrey this statement is still true). Whether or not that's possible physically/financially...we'll see. I'm pretty sure as soon as my cycle starts up we'll start trying....maybe not call the fertility clinic to de-thaw the frozen embryos (we have 2) yet. But maybe take a couple months to just see what happens.

Aubrey has changed my world in the best way possible...and every day I love her more than the day before. Every minute I'm with her I feel like I've literally won the lotto, and when I see how over the moon hubby is with her...there just are no words. He says he wants all girls now, which I think is just so cute. So sorry for the rambling catch up, and hope you enjoy the pics!!!

A Month of Pics!!!

Happy one month my sweet little Aubrey!! The month has been so amazing, and I just cannot get enough of your gorgeous little face. Mommy loves you so much! Here are some of my favorite pics!

Just Born

Photoshoot at Hospital

Mommy's Fav Pic - 2 Days Old

Big Yawn

I'm so little

First trip to the mall

Love Daddy!

People think I look like him

Love this face

Mommy caught me smiling at my 1 month dr. appt

I'm 1 month old already!

All In a Month

So its 1:30am, and I finally have found a moment to get on the computer and blog! Hubby is sleeping by my side, Aubrey is in the bassinet on my other side, and the pups are finally back (see below) at the foot of our bed. What can I say, life is good!! Even if I have to wake up in a few hours to feed my little munchkin!!!

Aubrey is going to be one month on Wednesday, and I seriously can't even believe it. Where does the time go?!? I know there are so many fun things to look forward to as she grows, first smile, first laugh, babbling, rolling etc. But this newborn stage is just so precious, and I know it will be over in a blink of an eye. And she's already changed so much, its just blowing my mind! All I can say is thank goodness for my i.phone so I can snap 50 pictures a day to attempt to capture each and every moment, hah!

So in this first amazing month with Aubrey, I've definitely learned my share of new mommy lessons and some of the big ones include:

- Time frickin flies, and just the months but the actual days. I was a little worried about getting antsy having a baby in the dead of winter, not to mention the worst Chic.ago winter in a long time. But man, something about living in 3 hour increments really speeds up your day, and leaves little time for anything else. Not that I really want to be doing anything else other than snuggling with Aubrey inbetween feedings...but there are necessities such as laundry and showering that I'm finding are much more difficult to get done than I would have thought!

- Breastfeeding is hard, at least it was for me in the beginning. I have to say the only reason I'm nursing today is because the nurses were so amazing at the hospital where I delivered and helped SO much. It took about 4 different ones literally taking my boob and Aubrey's head and shoving them together to get her to latch, a lactation consultant, pumping, wearing nipple shields, and doing SNS (taping a little tube of formula to my nipple). This little girl did not want to latch, and then finally on the last day something finally clicked and we had a latch. And I was not prepared for the painful nipples those first few days...especially that first shower, omg I literally had to keep my hands over them it hurt so bad! But after a week or so everything just fell into place, and my milk came in and nipples stopped hurting...and now I'm just dealing with crazy dripping tatas and staining all my pj tanks, hah!

- Dealing with puppy jealousy, so much worse than I thought. I love my dogs so much, and before I had Aubrey I would have said absolutely nothing will change when it comes to the pups. Well, unfortunately they were WAY too excited when we brought her home...jumping all over us because we'd been gone for 3 days. Normally I love it, but not when you're holding a 3 day old. So hubby and I headed to the basement, and most of the time we leave the pups up in the kitchen. Now luckily we're living with my parents, so they're usually up there with them...but those first few days were just awful. Especially when we went up to bed and left them downstairs, they looked so confused and it seriously broke my heart. But with all things its gotten easier as the pups get more use to having Aubrey around, and we finally have them back in our bedroom!

- Mommy friends are the best! Seriously, you just don't know until you've been there. I'm so lucky to have mommy friends that have given me the best advice, tips, etc! From what kind of diaper rash cream to use, what pedatrician to go to, where to get the best deal on diapers, its so nice not to have to navigate this stuff all on your own! Especially the questions about healing, which can get pretty graphic...how long will I bleed, what is that first #2 going to feel like, what will it feel like when hubby and I get romantic again? I know the answers to the first two, but am still a little nervous for that last one, yikes!!

- I didn't think it was possible to love my hubby more, but watching him with Aubrey is just so amazing and my heart could just explode. This little girl already has her daddy wrapped around her little finger, and he's just so frickin cute with her. I knew he'd be an amazing daddy, but seeing it in person makes me fall in love with him all over again!! He told me the first night in the hospital after we had her, that now when he sees his birthday on a clock (for those of you that make a wish when that happens) that he has nothing left to wish for, because he always wished for her. It was the sweetest thing he could have said, and I told him to start wishing that our house gets done on schedule, ha!

Okay, so lots more to come including pics once I finally upload them to my computer!! Oh, and someone asked why we were so surprised she was a girl, and if we were told she was a boy. No, it was just EVERYONE we knew, including strangers would come up to me and tell me I was having a boy. One of my girlfriends was so sure she had to return the little boy outfit on the way to the hospital. And we called the baby Skooter, and referred to her as a "he" our whole pregnancy so it was just so shocking when she came out a "she". And to that last commenter, does dismay not mean surprised cause that's what I meant! For the record I'm a numbers girl, def. not a word girl!

Birth Story and 3 Weeks

So yesterday Aubrey was 3 weeks old. I can't even believe I'm typing those words, I have a beautiful little baby girl who has only been in my life for 3 weeks...but at the same time I can't even imagine my life without her. The last few weeks have been amazing, and stressful, and tiring, and full of love, and starting in awe of this perfect baby that somehow hubby and I created. And even though she's here in my arms, sometimes I still think back to the day she was born and feel like it was all a dream. Even my pregnancy seems like it happened a million years ago. I think its just so amazing how in one day everything can change so drastically, it makes the whole birth experience even that much more amazing in my mind.

So this is going to be long and over detailed, because I have the worst memory and don't want to forget anything! Aubrey's birth really couldn't have gone more smoothly. I always imagined those typical tv scenarios, waking up in the middle of the night...shaking hubby awake with the words "its time". Frantically packing up the car and heading to the hospital. Well, ours was the complete opposite. I woke up on Saturday 1/8 and felt the teeniest bit crampy. I'm talking period is three days away crampy, nothing I would have considered could have turned into labor. BUT, I was almost a week late at this point. So hubby and I decided to get up and go to brunch...we had been on house arrest all week and had both been working from home all day, so we finally needed to get out of the house. We both showered, and during the shower I felt what I thought were a couple more substantial cramps...but again small enough where I was questioning if I was just so desperate to go into labor that I was making them up in my mind.

Hubby even asked who goes into labor on a Saturday morning? I mean really it was too perfect, we were both home, Hubby wasn't downtown at work or anything, we both showered, I dried my hair, did my makeup, it was way too convenient if I really went into labor. So off to brunch we went and I was still feeling crampy. The first place we picked had a 20 minute wait so we drove off to the next place. During this drive the crampiness became more like super mild contractions, every 10 min or so there was a teeny cramp. I of course blanked on what the baby class said as far as timing and when to go in, so I decided to call the dr and ask. Hubby was passing a gas station and decided to fill up the car, just in case we needed to head downtown. Also, it was a beautiful sunny day so he said might as well get a car wash while we're at it.

So we're in the car wash line, and there are about 4 cars ahead and now 4 cars behind. And I jokingly said to hubby wouldn't it be hilarious if I went into labor and you had to back out all these cars, hah! Literally 5 seconds later my water broke...and my words to hubby were "omg, something is coming out of me!". It was such a weird sensation, like warm pee running out of you and not being able to stop. Luckily hubby had put a towel in the car for this exact situation, and we both were just laughing hysterically! I think we were both in shock it was finally happening, and that we were stuck in the car wash line of all places. So while I called the dr. back to give them an update we sat and waited to go through the car wash, and yes we kept the receipt and its definitely going in Aubrey's baby book!

So the Dr. said to come on down, and we went home and cleaned up, grabbed our hospital bags and drove downtown. On the way down my contractions started heating up, every few minutes and were comparable to period cramps. I was admitted right way once we got to the hospital, and we had to wait about two hours until the delivery room was ready and we got to go upstairs. During this time I was still dealing with the period cramps every few minutes, but the nurse said I was only a 1. I always new I was going to get the epidural, so the minute I got upstairs and got my IV I asked for the epidural girl to give it to me. My pain was just starting to get worse than period cramps, and that was enough for me! Man, was that epidural amazing...I mean the idea of it was totally scary, and being the huge baby I am I totally cried when they made Ryan leave the room. But it was really no big deal, a tiny sting when they put in the numbing stuff and then boom, my legs were nice and tingling and I felt nothing in the way of cramps.

So from here out the story is pretty boring, the nurse kept checking on me and I was still a 1 up until midnight when they finally decided to give me pitocin. Then things finally got moving, I think I was a 4 at about 3am, and a 8 around 5am when the dr. came in and "stretched" me out to a 10. They let me sit a little longer to let the baby move down so I wouldn't have to push as long. Which apparently worked because the dr. came in at 6:30ish and Aubrey was born at 6:57! The pushing was no big deal at all, and as I was having her I actually thought omg, I'm not going to tear because I really couldn't feel a thing...wishful thinking I might add. Because she was late she did have meconium, so the dr. warned us there was be a team from peds in the room when she was born to make sure it didn't get into her lungs. So when Aubrey made her arrival, the Dr. announced she was a girl...to my and hubby's total dismay and they took her over to the baby table. It seemed like an eternity before I got to hold her, probably only 15 minutes or so while they cleaned her up and tubed out the meconium. I was bawling with excitement and worry, but hubby was there watching and kept saying she's okay, she's okay.

When they finally brought her over to me it was the most amazing feeling in the world. She was so beautiful, and teeny, and perfect...and most importantly she was ours. It was the most wonderful experience and her birth couldn't have gone any better. Not to mention when they wheeled us up to the recovery room we got the corner suite with a gorgeous view of La.ke Mi.chigan and the Han.cock building!

So there is so much more to discuss but I'll save that for another day, right now I need to do some major blog catch up! There are so many blogger babies on the horizon, can't wait to see how everyone is doing.

Skooter is Here!!!

And HE is a SHE!!! We welcomed Aubrey Leighton yesterday 1/9/11 at 6:57am, weighing in at 6lbs14oz. My water broke Saturday around 12:30pm, we were fortunate to have a super easy labor with the help of my epidural, and 25 minutes of pushing and she was here. We were shocked when they said "it's a girl", but so absolutely thrilled. We are head over heels in love with her, and I'm still in disbelief that she's ours! Detailed birth story to come soon, but I'm uploading pics to facebook so here are some good ones!