Post for Auntie Jess

Dear Aunt She-Sha(Jess),
Please come home for Christmas. I can't wait to meet you! Bring uncle Ry-Ry and Titus too( I've heard so much about him!) Please hurry because I am getting big and mommy says I am losing my newborn look. I am really cute and I will smile if you talk to me. See you soon! Mommy says that Christmas is great! I can't wait to find out!

Love your littlest niece,
Eliza

Parenting the Second Time Around

Eliza is now 7 weeks old and I feel like we are getting into a routine and coming out of that newborn fog. Do I dare to say that she has slept through the night
the past three nights...from 9pm until about 4:45am. She eats and goes back to sleep until about 7:30! I am so happy! It is funny because ella first slept through the night at 6 weeks and 6 days(I checked her baby calendar that I kept) and low and behold eliza first slept through the night at 6 weeks 6 days too! I am thankful for good sleepers!

It is definitely different parenting with two! I love having two! Twice the work and twice the love! I have told kevin over and over how I don't feel like I am spending enough time with eliza. I am sure anyone who has more than one child knows this feeling. With ella I was able to sit and hold her, rock her, read to her and I spent hours upon hours doing that with her as a tiny baby! My time to do that with eliza is more limited. I feel like I often nurse her and have to put her in her bouncy seat, because ella has waiting patiently or not so patiently for mommy to finish! Yesterday, I think I had to stop nursing her two or three times to discipline ella.

I also used to bathe ella every day or every other day when she was a baby. It was just part of our daily routine. Now it is much harder to bathe eliza with my little helper (who wants to bathe sissy herself) so she is def. getting fewer baths than ella did. (Don't worry she's not stinky!)

I am holding eliza more while she sleeps. With ella I put her down for most of her naps as a baby. I didn't want her to get used to having to be held to go to sleep. Now when ella is napping I am finding myself sitting holding eliza and cherishing every minute of our quite time together! In fact, she is sleeping on my lap right now.

Eliza has probably had to cry a little more than ella did as a baby. I am sure this is normal also for having two little ones. Sometimes mommy just isn't fast enough at meeting everyone's needs.

I think it has been different for Kev too. We were so so ready to have a baby when ella was born. I think I wrote before that we literally used to fight over who would carry her into church! No joke. I remember us begging the other to get to be the one to hold her after her shots (we both wanted to be the one comfort her tears!) Now, he is normally on ella duty and I take care of eliza. He said the other day how good it was to get to hold and spend some special time with just eliza.

So all this to say that it is a little different the 2nd time around. I wonder how all this plays into their personalities due to birth order. I am sure it molds them into who they are meant to be!

What's Better???

...Than one little girl in striped and polka-dotted footed pajamas???



Answer: Two little girls in striped and polka-dotted footed pajamas!






"Sissy, you okay?"



We had such a great time at the Walk for Life this past Saturday. It was a great event that was well coordinated. There were tons of families there and people of all ages. It was a bumpy 2 mile walk on a neat trail through the woods. As the walk started they had an awesome band playing some praise music. I couldn't help but fight back the tears as I thanked God for what he has done for us. I guess my face looked not so happy and my sunglasses were hiding my eyes because one of the male event coordinators said, "Come On, Look happy!" I was happy, just having a little moment! Obviously, he had no clue who we were or what the day or walk meant to our family personally! Thanks so much to all our family and friends who felt led to donate to this ministry. Our little family raised $250 in just a few short days. We are hoping to raise more next year as well as bring along friends and family to participate with us!

Ella with her purple balloon! (I am happy to report that we now know our colors...but she still calls red Mickey's car red!)

Eliza at the Walk! She got carried in my sling for most of the walk because it was quite bumpy! She didn't mind!



I have a huge praise! I have said over and over how I have been stressed about my girls getting sick, swine flu, and etc. Well , low and behold who gets sick! Kev and I! I started with a cold last Monday and have coughed and sneezed my head off! I can't tell you the last time I had a cold like this. (Thankfully not the flu!) I prayed with every cough and sneeze that my girls would stay well! I mean they were covered quite literally in my germs! The Lord is teaching me once again that He does hear my prayers! So far they have both stayed perfectly well ! It is nothing quite short of a miracle. I know that they will get sick, but just knowing that they didn't when they were so exposed to sickness has helped me to be less worried.


Also, the doctor appointments that have caused me to worry were fine! Thank you Lord!


And ella now knows her sissy's name! Praise the Lord!

November 7th, Walk for Life!

Saturday, November 7th, 2009 will mark exactly four years since my life changed! November 7th,2005 we walked into my Ob office for our 20 week ultrasound and walked out with our lives forever changed. It was that day that now seems like a long time ago! It was the day that our first child, Samuel, was diagnosed with a fatal kidney problem at 20 weeks into our pregnancy. It was that day that my pro-life stance took on a whole new and personal meaning.

While many onlookers and doctors questioned and advised us to end our pregnancy(no baby with this condition had ever survived), we knew that our baby had the right to life...no matter how brief it might be. I will tell you that in those 13 weeks of carrying Samuel when I and everyone else knew that my baby was dying, I often felt like Hester Prynne (I did have to look up her name) from the book the Scarlett Letter....wearing a huge sign on my shirt saying...."My baby is going to die!" It was a rough time and although the Lord gave us grace and hope to get through it...there were days when I really just wanted it all to be OVER! I was tired of people feeling sorry for us and tired of being stuck on a merry-go-round that I couldn't stop! I know that may sound harsh but I was scared and hurting. Thankfully, we were surrounded my friends and family who loved us and gave us sound counsel when we were tired and discouraged! They encouraged us that God had a plan for us and a plan for our unborn child. They encouraged us that this rough season of life would pass and that "spring" would come. They encouraged us with cards, prayers, meals, and friendship!

I cannot tell you how thankful I am that I am Pro-life! That is one of the best decisions I have ever made! By choosing life for our little Samuel, I now face everyday without a hint of regret or guilt. I know that I did all that I could do to give Samuel the best environment to grow. I know that the day he was born and the day that he died was his appointted day. Although I will never understand all the whys, I do know that God has used his little life to shape our lives more than any other thing we have faced. He was my precious little boy and I will never regret meeting him and giving him life.

I do not write any of that to impose guilt onto anyone who may have chosen differently than I . I write it because I know that there are thousands of women who are faced with unwanted, terminal or difficult pregnancy and they lack the support that Kevin and I had.

This November 7th our now family of FOUR will be walking bright and early on Saturday in the Lowcountry Walk For Life. It is a fundraiser for the Crisis Pregnancy Center in our Town. This is an awesome nonprofit ministry that offers life-affirming alternatives to abortion. They offer free pregnancy testing, counseling, ultrasounds, literacy classes, parenting classes, and on-site prenatal care. They also help with adoption referrals and post-abortion support. They are changing lives in our town. They are providing the care, love and support that many women need in order to get through a difficult pregnancy. We are walking to raise money for this great ministry but also to say that life matters no matter how small!

I am so thankful for how the Lord has blessed us since November 7th, 2005. He took our sadness and pain and has turned it to joy. He has filled our home with babies and baby "stuff!" He has given us a hope and a future! All praise be to God for He does ALL things well!

ella's 2nd birthday party

Have you ever tried taking a pic of a 2 year old?

Her dress up clothes were a big hit!

She was so proud of herself for blowing out her candles!

We FINALLY celebrated ella's 2nd birthday this past weekend. We had planned to have it early in September before eliza arrived, but I went on bed rest the week before. I was sad to have to postpone it(I had just mailed out the invitations), but we really didn't have a choice. Thankfully, I had almost everything already made (I can assure you that it wouldn't have gotten done otherwise!) Ella has been to several parties in the past few months and was really anxious for her party. In fact, she asked me most days when she could wear her party dress!

I really enjoy planning her birthday parties and making the decorations. At times I as ask myself if it is really worth my work...but it totally was when I heard her reaction. She said over and over, "Mommy, So pretty!" She had tons of fun with her cousins and enjoyed the Cheetos and cake (of course she would)! She was too cute after blowing out her candles. I don't think she really expected to blow them out (she had a little help from her cousins)! I am glad that she had fun and I enjoyed celebrating her 2nd year of life!

Fall Fun at our house!

Look who is growing!

She's not sure about not wearing pink today, especially since her

sis calls her Titus!

Wishing she could find that thumb again!

So Cute!

Ladybug #1

Ladybug #2

Our Church's Trunk or Treating!

Happy Fall Yall!

Favorite ella sayings at 24 months

"Titus, soooooooooo tute!"

"Shoooo.....daddy!" (even if daddy is at work)

"Praise you....we praise you....clap, clap, clap!" (This is in her singing voice and she sings it all the time!

"So Pretty!"

"I love sissy!"

"Where paci go? Dentist say all gone! Oh no!"

"Okay" (which is her favorite word)

We are having a good day today. We got out of the house a little and both girls are napping. I should be too. Eliza is growing like a weed! In five weeks we've gone from preemie diapers being big to size ones! Last night she slept in her first 0-3 month sleeper although it was a little large. I am thankful she is growing but sad to see those newborn days passing so fast. She is the sweetest little thing and we are all crazy over her.

I promise to one day blog about something other than ella and eliza! Happy Tuesday!