maeve at one month..

Sweet sweet girl, you are one month old today.  How?  How is that possible?  You are changing every day and really starting to fill out.  You kinda have a double chin, which secretly makes me happy because that means you are getting plenty to eat.

You are starting to stay awake a little longer these days.  You still prefer to sleep all day but we are starting to see your beautiful eyes a little more often.  You still feed every 3-3.5 hours during the day.  You have wake time right after every feeding for about 15 minutes and then it's off to dreamland.  You've been stretching it out a little at night.  Last night you were in bed around 9:30 and didn't wake up until 3:00!  So awesome.  I keep you on a pretty good schedule during the day so that my life is a little easier.  You and Asher always take your middle of the day nap at the same time.  I feed you around 11:30-12:00 and your both in your beds ready to nap around 12:30-1:00.

You grunt and make lots of noises while sleeping, just like your brother.  You have been in your crib for over a week and you are doing amazing!  I'm so glad we put you in there.  I was so scared at first but you are sleeping very good so I know it was the right decision.  You love to be all spread out with your arms and legs stretched out.  We've never swaddled you.  You've learned how to self-sooth and rarely fuss before falling asleep.  At night you, nine out of ten times, you go right down after every feeding.  This I am so very thankful for.  You only nurse for about 15-20 minutes.  Asher man was a 45 minute dude for the first few months of his life and it about killed me.

You are a little more dramatic than your brother.  You have such a girly cry.  You have already mastered sticking out your bottom lip.  You cry when we first put you in your car seat but are fine within a few minutes.  

You are starting to focus on us and objects a lot more.  You love looking into our eyes when we are talking to you.  It's like you understand everything that we say.  Tummy time is still not your favorite thing but you like it a little more now.  When I lay you on your activity mat, you sometimes fuss for a few minutes (drama) and then you are fine.  Your newborn onesies are getting a little tighter but you are still too small for anything much bigger.

We love you so much sweet girl and feel like you've been a part of our family forever.   This is only the beginning and it's been wonderful so far.

this boy

We love this super silly oh so happy car lovin' boy!  Happy Thursday!!

32 never looked so good

Last week my hunk of a husband turned 32.  We celebrated a few times, once with his family, once with my family and then once just the four of us.  

Our niece, Sidney and I made a cake on Saturday while his family was here.  Asher loved it and licked his plate clean.

On Sundays we always go to my parent's house for dinner.  This time we surprised Travis with shipping Central BBQ to East Tn.  He was very surprised and it tasted delicious!!  Just as good as we remembered.

This is my favorite recent picture of my boys.  How did I get so lucky to be surrounded by two good-lookin' guys?!

Happy 32 love!  September 19 is by far my favorite day because it gave me you.  You are the best man I know.  Love you tons.

three weeks..

Three weeks and counting.  Girlfriend is growing like a weed.  She's such a sweet little thing but she's showing us her attitude lately.  Definitely going to be a little drama momma, but hey, aren't all girls?  

Bath time is a little more fun for you now.  You don't love it but you don't scream the entire time anymore.  Asher loved to bathe and we did it every night.  Right now we bathe you every other night.  Why torture you on a nightly basis?  

You are starting to kinda enjoy tummy time.  It's not your favorite thing to do but it's getting better.  You will lift your head for just a few seconds.  Your neck is getting much stronger.  You always lift it up when you are chest to chest with someone.

You don't like to be put down, see drama momma.  You will cry for a few minutes and then you are ok.  You are just a little love bug and want to be held.  As much as Mommy and Daddy would love to hold you all day we just can't.

You slept in your crib all night for the first time last night.  You've been taking naps in there and doing well.  You cry for just a little bit but not too long.  Hopefully, we will not have to let you cry it out like we did your brother.  We learned our lesson with him.  

During the day you still feed around every 3-3.5 hours.  At night we let you sleep and wake us.  You go anywhere from 3-5 hours.  Ninety percent of the time you go right back to sleep in the middle of the night, which I'm so thankful for.  I hold you for about 5 minutes after feeding you to keep you upright, in hopes that you won't spit up.

You aren't too obsessed with your paci.  At night I never give it to you.  Sometimes you love it but most of the time you could care less.

You love Asher.  Your eyes will follow his voice.  He does scare you sometimes when he gets right in your face and talks.  We are working on him not yelling but he just gets so excited to see you.  He sure does love you.

Over it.

I kept a few of Asher's onesies and love seeing you in them.  Cannot believe my wild man ever fit in such little things.

I love how you make the silliest faces.  You have no idea that you are being silly and it's the funniest thing.

Love love this girl!!

Asher wearing the same onesie when he was just a few weeks old.

21 months..

Wild man.  You are 21 months old and you are wild.  I'm not going to lie, you are giving us a run for our money these days.  You've upped your game these past few weeks.

You talk/babble all the time.  Most of the time we have no clue what you are saying but you sure do.  Here are a few words we do understand.. "gone" "bye bye" "dada" "bea" (for baby) "uh oh" "hiii" "ahben" (for amen).  You know sign language for more, please, thank you.  I've taught you how to say I love you by pointing to your eyes, heart and pointing straight ahead.  You catch on like wildfire and are soaking everything up right now.  You are a little sponge.

You are so big and tall.  You are 29lbs which is still on the skinnier size for your age.  But you are super tall for a 21 month old.  Everyone thinks you are much older than you really are.

You have the "mom and dad you are embarrassing me" look down pat.  Your facial expressions are hilarious and get you out of trouble a lot.  It's so hard to get mad at your sweet silly face.

You get put in time-out at least twice a day, sometimes more.  Makes me sad.  You have struggled these last few weeks adjusting to our new life but each day seems to get better and better.  

Your happy place is still the great outdoors.  You do not like to come inside.  It's a battle every time we have to come in.  You always want to bring a stick back inside the house with you and man do you get mad at Mommy when I don't let you.  Sorry but we aren't going to have sticks in the house.

You love to watch tv.  Not just anything though.  Your favorite things to watch at the moment:  All of the Madagascar movies, Finding Nemo, Shark Tales, most shows on PBS, ELLEN, Harry Potter and the Glee concert.  You are pretty obsessed with the iPad, too.  I hate how much tv/iPad time you are getting these days but it makes Mommy's life a little easier while doing things with Maeve.

You are the cutest little boy I've ever seen.

You are a mini-Daddy and you look more and more like him.  So many little things remind me of him.  

You have two BFFs.  You are lucky because they will always be around.  You three have so much fun together.  Josie is such a little Mother Hen and you love it.  She loves taking care of you and you eat up the attention.

The other night at GJ's you hopped in the running bath water with all your clothes on.  You had to ride home in just a diaper.

Helping Daddy wash the car was the highlight of your night the other night.  Daddy said you stood in front of the hose and let it drench you.  Crazy.  You are 110% BOY.

You love to say the blessing at dinner.  You fold your hands together, keep your eyes wide open and then say "ahben" at the end.  

Julia, Jack and Callaghan gave you an early birthday present the other day.  It's a bubble blowing lawn mower.  It hasn't made it outside yet but don't worry it's mowing away.  You absolutely love it and mow our house 1,000 times a day.

You love to look out the window.  Waving bye to people is one of your favorite hobbies.  It makes me sad whenever I leave and I see your sweet little face standing there.

You are a BROTHER!!!!!  Yep.  You are starting to get the hang of your new job and I think you kinda like it.  Just this week you really started paying attention to Maeve and being sweet to her.  You want to see her, touch her and talk to her.  You lay your head on her to give her hugs and say "ahhhh".

Your going to be a great big brother.  We are still working on "being easy" with her.  It's a process.

These two make you extremely happy.

Asher, my how you have changed and grown over these past few months.  This is such a fun age but a very challenging age.  I love every moment with you and want to kiss every inch of you.  You also make me want to pull my hair out sometimes.  If I'm being honest.  We love you an amount that you will understand one day.  You have the sweetest heart and are as stubborn as they come.  Each day we learn something new about you and each day you make our hearts smile.  Thank you for being you.

before and after

Before Maeve..

With Maeve..

Party of four

two weeks..

Two weeks and you are growing, growing, growing.  We go to the doctor this week and I'm so excited to see how much you weigh.  You're newborn clothes fit just right and some are still a little big.  You are starting to stay awake a little more, not very much, but more.  You go to bed around 8:30 every night and wake up about every 4 plus hours.  Normally we are up at around 12:00, 4:00 and 8:00 which is when we start our day.  During the day I don't let you go longer than 3.5 hours and I almost always have to wake you.  It breaks my heart to wake you because you look so sweet.

You are still a great sleeper and I hope that never changes.  You do good putting yourself to sleep, most of the time, sometimes you do want to be held and that's ok.  

Your umbilical cord fell off and you had your first real bath.  Girlfriend, you didn't like it.  Hopefully, you will enjoy it the more you get used to it.

Happy two weeks little love!

one week {and a few days}

Maeve, how are you already one week old already?  You are such a good baby!  No lie.  You do exactly what all newborns are suppose to do.. eat, sleep, poop and repeat.  During the day you feed every 3-3.5 hours and we always have to wake you to feed you.  At night we let you wake us up, you go anywhere from 3-5 hours and then you go right back to sleep.  Told you, you are great.  You are just now starting to stay awake a little during the day.  The first several days of your life, I swear we never saw your eyeballs.  You are a little snuggle bug and love laying chest to chest.    

Your eyes (when we see them) are gorgeous.  You get prettier and prettier every single day.  I know I might be a little biased but you are such a beautiful little thing.  Before meeting you, I had no clue what you were going to look like.  I kept imaging you looking like Asher.  You do look a lot like your brother but prettier, which is totally ok for me to say since you are a girl.  You took a nap in your crib the other day for the first time.  You slept for 2.5 hours and I had to wake you.  Right now you sleep beside our bed in a rock-n-play sleeper.  The first night home you spit up twice and it scared Mommy and Daddy to death. I ran to Target the next day and bought the sleeper.  It keeps you at an incline and that makes us feel better about you sleeping and if you do spit up again.  You haven't since that night, thank God. 

 You've had your first doctor's visit and are back to 6lbs 5oz which is what you were when we left the hospital.  We go back next week for another check.  I'm hoping you are 7lbs, wishful thinking maybe.  Keep being perfect little love!  (I hope I'm not jinxing everything...)  

maeve's birthday

Our little sweet Maeve, let me tell you about the day you came into our lives, August 26.

We arrived at the hospital at 5:30am and got all checked in.  Then the long day began..

We were so ready and anxious to meet you.

Here's how to day went:  

Check in at 5:30am

Pitocin around 8:30am

Epidural around 12:00pm

Break water around 5:30pm

Time to push around 7:35pm

Hello world at 8:01pm

Mommy hadn't had a bite to eat in over 26 hours, I was beyond ready for you to get here!  Thank you for taking it easy on me.  The day was super long but not incredibly painful, which I am so grateful for.  

Daddy and Dr. Buckingham

You weighed 6lb 11oz and were 20inches long..

GJ was in the room with us when you came into this world.  She was so excited to meet you and get to hold you.  

One proud Papaw..

Our families had been there all day long.  Everyone was tired but got a burst of energy when you were born.

Your sweet Nana.

Proud Poppy

Aunt Sum 

Cousin Katie

You are the sweetest little thing.

Day 2 

Since you were born later that evening, we didn't get to spend a whole lot of time with you.  You were getting checked bathed and all that good stuff in the middle of the night.  Mommy and Daddy tried to get as much sleep as possible while we were there and had help.  

I couldn't stop taking pictures of you.  You are absolutely beautiful to me.

Your Daddy.  Oh how he loves you.  You are his favorite girl.  I love him more and more everyday.  His love for you and Asher is one of a kind.  He cannot stop kissing you.

We quickly learned that you love being on your belly.  You will slip into a deep sleep if you are chest to chest.  

You had lots of visitors.  You already have several BFFs and boyfriends waiting for you.  You were born in the exact same room that Carson was born in.  Isn't that awesome?  

GJ came back to see you.  She also brought your wild man brother to meet you.  GJ thinks you are the prettiest and sweetest little thing.  

Papaw also came back by to steal some Maeve love.

Cousin Katie wanted to see you again, too.  Asher loves to give Katie hugs and I think you will, too.

  

Your brother came by to meet you in the hospital.  He didn't get to stay very long because he was into everything.  Literally everything!

While he was there he did try and hug you.  

And grab you..

Our world has completely changed..

Love this boy.

Day 3

We got to go home after two days in the hospital.  You passed all of your test and are perfect!

Loaded up and ready to head to the house!

So excited to be taking our little lady home.  Let the craziness begin.

"It's not fancy hair, gold jewelry, or fine clothes that should make you beautiful.  No, your beauty should come from within you- the beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit.  This beauty will never disappear and it is worth very much to God."  
1 Peter 3:3