I Always Thought it Would Be Fun...

Seriously, sometimes I look around and think, my life is so good. I have so many blessings. This isn't one of those "fluffy" posts. This is how I truly feel.

I have an amazing husband that makes me laugh everyday. I don't deserve his love. We have a love that I always only hoped to find. He rocks. And the. He gave me two beautiful kiddos.

Brigz can wear me out. Holy moly, the energy of that child. But he is so sweet and so stinkin cool. Every night when Corey puts him to sleep, I love to listen to their conversations and smile. I can't wait to see what he will be as a man. He is bound so have some spunk in him.

And miss Raleigh. She is just the sweetest little thing. Endless smiles and happiness. She is so fun. If you smile, she smiles. If you don't smile, she still smiles. Just don't tick her off. Wowwwza.

But really, this post is because #1 the sun is shining which is a HUGE factor in my attitude towards life, #2 it's warm. 82 degrees to be exact. And #3 I have exercise in my routine. Those three things help me look at our life and all God's blessings in awe. We are so blessed. I knew that marrying Corey and being a mom would be great. I never expected it it to be this awesome.

Maybe I'll publish this one?!

I have started about 5 blogs and never finish them. By the time I remember them, it is old news. So here we go.

Life is good right now. We recently have had some challenges with little Briggy Boo. He is... Well... Two. He is a two year old. Our pastor says, "have you ever met a NICE two year old? No. No two year olds are NICE". And I find this very true but only in the presence of smaller children. When Brigz is home with us, he is amazing. He is so sweet. Full of kisses, thank yous, pleases, and is super sweet with Raleigh. He makes us laugh and makes life so much fun. Put a small toddler in his way and, man, watch out. He bites, pushes, hides his toys and doesn't listen to me. Needless to say, I am reading three parenting books right now tryin to figure this thing out. The hard part is, we can't "test" these things out until we are with other kids. Poor kids.

Raleigh is still a dream baby. We have seen her fussy side recently because she is getting new teeth. I forgot how long it takes for them to come in though! It has been two weeks since I thought it would be any day. Until then, she is a drooly, hand chewing mess. She still sleeps great (if not more). She goes to bed at 7:30, wakes at 3:30-4 for a quick snack, then back to sleep until 7am. It's pretty great. She giggled for the first time on valentines for Brigz. She has only done it two more times (once for Brigz and once for my mom). She smiles constantly but her daddy says she must not be a Laugh Out Loud-er... Like her mom. She still has two different colored eyes. I think they will both be brown, but one looks much darker and the other more green. We will see!

So other than being crazy ready for summer, we are good! I am glad Corey hasn't been working out of town as much. I wasn't getting a little loopy.

Sweet little blessings

It's crazy how in life, there are only a few moments that are life changing. Hopefully, all for the better. The moments that stand out to me are when I left for college, married my best friend, and then baby Bell #1 and #2. They were life altering decisions. All for the better, of coarse :)

This past week was amazing. One week ago from tomorrow, I held my baby girl in my arms. It was amazing.

We had to be at the hospital at 5:30am. I was nervous, but it wasn't until I got my IV that I really started to have anxiety! When I had Brigz it was an emergency. We needed to get that baby out. Plus, I had been contracting for 6 days so it was a relief to actually get admitted! So this time I felt like each step was drawn out and I had time to take in each moment. From the bright light of the OR to the feeling of the spinal slllooowwwlllyyy affecting my each inch of my body. Once I was numb and they started, everything went to smooth. They found lots of scar tissue and a staple from my last. C section... Which made for a little extra bruising and shaking of my body during the surgery.

At 8:27am my baby girl was screaming her head off! Hearing my babies cry for the first time is so amazing. Since I can't see them right away, that noise Is filled with relief and anticipation to hold them and soothe them! I was able to see her and kiss her cheek before they took her off.

Corey then went with her and introduced her to Brigz and the rest of the family before I was ever even able to hold her. I finally got to hold her an hour later in recovery and nurse her immediately. I was so sick from the morphine though and spent the day with her in one arm and a pink bucket in the other. I busted a few staples and got myself pretty sore while I was still medicated! But I would do it a million times over for my baby.

The stay in the hospital was wonderful as it was with Brigz. She slept great and ate great and I felt full of energy and happy. It was so difficult being away from my little buddy though. He would come see us but didnt understand it all and I just wanted to pick him up and love on him so bad.

Coming home was strange! Both babies were asleep and Corey and I watched a movie! Chaos struck at about 10pm when exhaustion struck and our little girl was wide awake playing tag with her brother on getting up! We made it and it ended up being a pretty restful night!

Since we have been home, I have to say I feel like I am on cloud 9. She is just a little sweetie. She only fusses when she is hungry or if you change her diaper with cold hands. So we haven't heard her cry much. She gets sleepy around seven thirty so I feed her at seven (as well as all day long... She loves to eat!) and put her down at seven thirty awake. She falls asleep with no fuss. I am still freaked out by this. I spoiled Brigz so bad that he could skip a half a breath before I was holding him and usually putting a boob in his mouth!

I am feeling great! After the morphine finally wore off, I didn't want to take anything else (if you know me, you know I don't even take a Tylenol for a headache). I took ibuprofen until I got home. Yesterday I didn't take any and it was a wake up call! I realized I had been doing way too much and need to slow down a bit. Other than being sore and my incision being a little weird and painful from busting staples, I feel so good. I have already dropped most my weight but looking in the mirror at my belly and booty are still a scary thing!!

Brigz has been doing so good! He hasn't seemed to be jealous at all. He definitely doesn't understand his own strength and body weight and why on earth he can't lay on her and snuggle with her like he does with us. We realize now how rough we have always played with him. But as long as we talk things through before he touches her, he does awesome. I miss my time with him and us being buds, but we will get there again.

Corey has been a rock star. He took on all briggy duties as well as chores around the house. He took up drinking coffee which I am so excited for! He now gets my love for a drink that helps you get things done twice as fast! I love his amazing relationship with briggy and how he looks at Raleigh. I know he is just going to melt over that little girl and we are all in trouble!

As I'm writing this, they are both sleeping and I can't help but feel so blessed. The love I have for them is unreal. Sitting at home with our now family of four is the biggest rush ever. I love my husband so much and I can't believe god has trusted us to take care and raise these two precious angels. We are so blessed:)

Holy Moly Guacamole!

I cannot believe it has been nearly two months since I wrote an entry. So much has happened!

First of all, my belly has grown! Little Raleigh is a little jumping bean in my belly and her movements have changed from slight to full fledge jabs. She is crazy. We had an ultrasound at 24 weeks and she was measuring small so we hope it isn't my placenta acting up again and that she will catch up. We have an ultrasound again in a week and they will check her out again. We are getting to a point where ultrasounds will be more frequent. Which is great with me!

I am opposite than most people and I love the first and third trimester and I am a hormonal disaster in the second! With brigz I was able to keep myself in check better because I was able to get more sleep. With this girl, I have been a bit of a grouch this trimester. I gladly welcome the third trimester.

We just ended our crazy traveling spree of this summer. Ireland was really cool and I need to upload all my pictures. The wedding was so beautiful and fun! The people were so sweet and the scenery was amazing!! However, it is not a place for someone who gets car sick. There are lots of small windy, bumpy roads. And if you are someone who gets motion sickness you know it wipes you out for a couple days. So unfortunately I was sick almost every day and didn't really seem to feel better until we got home. Plus add a bouncing two year old, out of his element to the equation and a pregnancy and well, you get one tired mamma. I am sad that I didnt get to experience it like I thought I would and that I probably wasn't too much fun to be traveling with, but I at least was able to get lots of pictures. I still had so much fun!!

We just got home last night from Vegas. We were there for my family friend Tony's wedding. It was a great wedding and it was fun! Now we don't have anywhere we have to be until October 29th when Miss Raleigh comes. I got motion sick on our plane ride home last night, so my body is thanking me for no more serious traveling for a while!

Brigz turned two while we were there! We had a little party in ireland a little party when we got home. He has no idea either was for him and what it means to be two, but it was still so cute! Since we got home, I have been trying to spend every second I can with him since it hit me that our time will be much different in a couple months. He has been so good! He is listening really well and talking so much!! He is a goofball and makes us laugh so hard! I love when it is us three and all of us are laughing so hard we are almost crying! Usually because of something brigz has said! He makes us so happy! He is sleeping in his big boy bed (we won't mention that the binky made a huge reappearance for sleep time recently) and is potty training well. He seems to really get the potty thing lately so hopefully it lasts. I love that crazy little guy.

We think we found a house. Perfect timing right?! Umm no, not really, but I'll take it after as long as we have been house hunting! We are BROKE from all our trips and about to have a baby but we still feel so blessed! Our offer is in so hopefully we find out tomorrow if the seller took it!! I have already decorated and painted it in my mind, so we are praying we get to actually do it! It will be a big budget change for us. We will have to eat beans for a while when I am on maternity leave, but I think it is our "forever house" so it is worth it. Prayers please!! We are so anxious!!

And I think that is it for updates! It's been a little wild and crazy lately, but fun! Here are some pictures of it all!!

Big Boy Bed... Dun dun dunnnn

There are two things as a mamma that I am dreading... moving Brigz to a big bed and taking his binky away from him at night and naps. Typically, I think I can be pretty strong about deciding when it is time for a change. I quit nursing and bottle feeding cold turkey. I took his binky away during the day without hesitating or budging when he asked for it. But these two things... shewww... I am nervous. I would like to move Brigz into a big boy bed at two. Which is next month. We will be in Ireland for two weeks and I am hoping that when we come back, he will be used to not being in his crib, and I can have his bed set up and we can go from there.

BUUUTTT there are a few things that scare the crap out of me.
#1. He is a crib addict. And not just any crib. HIS crib. He won't sleep anywhere else. Out of town is always a night mare. He wakes up constantly. He sleeps about 10-11 hours straight in his crib, for the most part. And if he wakes up, he puts himself back to sleep. Anywhere else, no way.

#2. His crib contains him. He has been able to climb out of his crib for about 10 months, but for some reason he doesn't. He climbs in, but he won't climb out. In a big boy bed is going to be wandering around??

#3. I put him to sleep awake and he falls asleep. It is typically after about 1-2 minutes of yelling for me though. In a big boy bed, is he going to get out and come get me??

#4. He is a baby hurricane when he sleeps. Seriously, it is like he is doing break dance moves in there. I took him bumbers out recently and he tells me, "My crib broken" because he jacks his head on the bars constantly at night with his acrobatics. I thought taking out the bumbers would ready him for "new boundaries" or AKA very little boundaries in a big kid bed. We will see. I saw in pinterest that if I put pool noodles under the sheets on his bed, maybe he will be contained a little. I also have a client that told me that I have to teach him he cannot get off his bed alone. Mommy or Daddy has to come get him. We will see if that works.

So any suggestions for this process? The binky is going to have to be taken away down the road I think. I don't think he will sleep at all without it. But who knows. Thoughts? Prayers? haha!

4.5 Months Til We Meet Baby #2!

We had an ultrasound this week and I have been on cloud 9 since. Our baby is "normal" which = perfect to us! Nothing extra or missing and so sweet! This was the ultrasound with Brigz that they found his choroid plexus cysts so I had prepared myself to hear this baby did too just to be safe. But he/she didn't.

Brigz thought it was so cool to see a baby on a tv!.... But he still doesn't understand what it all means. I was so overwhelmed with emotions seeing one perfect baby on a screen and one perfect baby giggling in front of us. I am so excited about our new life with two munchkins! Brigz and I pretty much just have fun all day. He is such a blast! He is so silly like his daddy! I can't imagine the new dynamic a new little one will bring. Im sure some stress, but I am still so excited!!

I don't have any ultrasound pictures because most of them are sealed up in an envelope to be opened on June 23rd! We will get to find out if I will be outnumbered still or if We are about to be broke buying bows and frilly things! I can't wait! Here are some recent pics:

Cute little body

I love days where Briggy and I are home without a single thing we have to get done except have fun. The house is clean. Chores are all done. No need to go to the store or run into town. I love it. Today is one of those rare days and I am in heaven.

Maybe it is because we are going to have another little one soon or maybe that Brigz is growing up so fast, but I just can't get enough of him! I love to just watch him and the the little things he does. I love to watch how he moves his big monkey hands he got from his mamma and how he sits on his knees. I love to watch how his little mind figures put problems and decides what crazy thing he is going to attempt next. I usually end up hugging and kissing his sweet little cheeks until he screams that he is "ALLL DONE MOMMY!!" with my loves. He is just precious.

I love those little hands and legs and ears and tummy... so stinking cute!

He has had some digestive problems lately and it has been sad to watch. He randomly started waking at 3am throwing up last week. He had no other symptoms and was completely himself during the day. After a couple days at the doc, an X-ray showed he has some serious back up in his intestines. Which totally took me by surprise since this kid goes to the bathroom 4x a day! But I guess it's possible for things to move around the blockage. Tmi? Haha! So he is on a laxative this weekend and we go back Tuesday to see if things have moved at all. So keep little Briggy is your prayers that that worked and no more tests have to happen.

And put other munchkin is growing well. Between both lil ones, I am one worn out mamma. I have resorted to drinking SOME caffeine (I have had none so far and had none with Brigz).

16 week belly bump

We also have been home searching. The owners of our house are putting it up for sale. It is a little stressful since we will have a baby in five months. We think we found a great house with loads of potential (aka needs a TON of work). I love a house with character but a work in progress to make it our own. This will be it because I'm not sure if our work will ever be done, but I kinda love that.

Prayers needed for Briggy to get better, baby bell #2 to grow healthy, and this house to work out. Thanks!!

little worn out guy

beautiful morning

14 weeks, Crazy big belly, Lots of mud, Tons of fun

Holy cow! Life has been in full speed recently. Two Thursdays ago, I had two doctors appointments-one with my knee doctor and one with our baby doctor. Both went great and said I could start running and I could do the warrior dash. So far, this pregnancy has been just like with Brigz. It has been easy and I have been feeling good.

On Sunday, I woke up spotting. My doc said not to worry unless it got worse. On Monday, I woke up bleeding. A lot. I thought I was having a miscarriage. Besides almost losing Brigz, this was one of the scariest times of my life.

We rushed to the ER and after lots of test and an ultrasound, they determine the baby is great and I have placenta previa. It will hopefully move and I will hopefully not bleed and cramp the whole rest of my pregnancy.

So needless to say, I didn't get to do the warrior dash which I have been wanting to do sooooo bad:( but it was so fun going to watch and see everyone else do it. Corey's family came in and some of them came out to our house along with some of my besties and we had pasta and had a really good time Friday. Saturday morning came a little early! My parents and Joelle and Rob brought their campers an camped out. My dad ran in my spot. Corey was dressed as a redneck and his cousin Eric wore all camo. It looked so fun and I was so sad I couldn't participate!! There will be more races:)

Corey's dad came in this weekend and I think Brigz is gonna be sad when he wakes up from his nap without his Popz. They are two peas in a pod. Im mad i didn't get any pictures of the two of them. We had such a great weekend. We don't get many visitors in the boonies and we LOVE having people out so it was pretty special to have so many people come out this weekend.

Here are a few pictures of life recently.

A lot to talk about

There is sooo much to talk about!! First of all, we had our first ultrasound yesterday! I am so amazed at how the baby's little body is already developed. It was nice to see all the staff that was there for my pregnancy with Brigz too. They all remembered us and they liked seeing Brigz. Plus, Brigz told all of them he "lubs" them about a million times.

Sweet little profile

Whole little body

Little foot on the bottom

The baby was very different than Brigz was. Well he/she looks just like Brigz ultrasound, but the baby was calm.....weird. The whole time I was pregnant with Brigz, it was always such a disaster trying to get his heart beat because he was a crazy person in there. He didn't sit still for two seconds. They would always comment, "wow, this is one active baby"! Which has translated into one active toddler! So maybe baby #2 will be a little on the calmer side. Give his/her mommy and daddy a break!

It was pretty interesting because the doctor there hadn't heard about our labor/birth experience with Brigz. After we talked with the genetic couselor and she took all the information down about Brigz birth, the doctor came to speak to us. He finally gave us some long awaited information about that last dreaded week of pregnancy. He told us that he thinks, without a doubt, that my placenta failed. Why? Who knows. It is unclear why a healthy 23 year old would have a faulty placenta, but it happened. It could have been due to early preeclampsia, or some unknown reason. But basically that means that this baby and my placenta will be watched like a hawk towards the end. I also have to take all these loveley pills to help my blood flow through my placenta better and keep me healthy. It was really hard to hear him talk about the stress that Brigz must have been feeling. He said that the fact that he was born so skinny, yet so long, and 3 days past my due date says that he was cut off of nutrients by my placenta. How sad is that that his own mamma's body failed him. It makes me feel terrible. I can't even think about his poor little body in there fighting and not getting what it needed from mine. It is awful. It makes me so sad.

But next baby will hopefully not have to go through anything like that...

all the things a have to take

In the mean time, Brigz has been keeping my tired butt very busy! The spring is so beautiful this year! So warm! We spend every chance we get in the sunshine- swinging, riding his vroom, and going for walks! He is so much fun right now. I think I say that with every age (except the 15-18 month temper tantrum phase... not near as much fun). He is so talkative and tells us the funniest things! Right now, he loves everything. I never realized how much I ask him, "do you love that"? until he says it about everything now! He always says, "I just lub swinging" or "mommy, I lub you". Corey and I get told we are lubbed about 200 times a day. Not kidding. He says it about every minute. It has yet to get old.

I love how pretty it is here. The sky, some green is showing up, our trees- it is so peaceful.

We have started a cloth diaper adventure. Pregnancy isn't good for me because I get obsessive. For real. I start deep cleaning my house right away and searching for the things we need for the next baby. I read everything possible trying to always get the things that will fit us best. I added up the cost and we have spent roughly $2000 on diapers. rediculous. So I am obsessive stalker cloth diaper websites and getting lists of things going. I have about 10 diapers already that we are trying on Brigz to see which kind we like. There are so many options... so many brands... it is very overwhelming. I am determined to like them because it will save us so much money. We will see how it goes with a newborn though. My best friend thinks I'm nuts. She reminded me of how many diapers we went through with our boys in the first few weeks of life and how we had both said, "people who do cloth diapers are nuts. Our washers would break". soooo we will see how it goes!!! It will be awesome if they work and we can use them for baby #3 also.

My knee is doing so much better. It still gets sore, but I think I should be able to successfully run (by successful I mean without looking like weirdo with my lopsided limp) next week. Then it is max running so that we can kill it in the warrior dash in may! 

Wow. Preggers #2.

This pregnancy is very different. First of all, I think I could eat all day every day. Well at least I feel that hungry. But after 4 bites in over it and grossed out. I was NEVER hungry with Brigz. I had to force down meal replacement shakes because the thought of food grossed me out.
Second, I never had cravings with Brigz. I thought pregnant woman were making up the craving thing. With this baby, every other minute I want something different. Things I don't typical like either. To list a small few: Alfredo, Reese's, pickles, French dip, dions sandwich with Greek dressing, Chinese food, Caesar salad, cheese, pinto beans, tortillas, and so much more.
Fourth, I am exhausted. And I get nauseous at the end of every day. I don't remover feeling so drained. My house OCD has come to a pause. The hubs has been helping so much. Well in between his sickness (aka pregnancy sympathy symptoms). He had it all with Briggy too.
And most of all, my belly is already big. Like as big as I was around 16 wks. So that's 6 wks ahead of brigz.

It's weird because with Briggy I had no idea what I was in for. With this baby, we know how cool it is. Don't get me wrong, the thought of a newborn sleep schedule scares the bejeezies out of me!! But we have an idea of how things will be. We have an ultrasound next week and I'm so excited!!

Just when you think life can't get full of any more blessings, God gives us another.

We just recently announced on the FB that we are welcoming another little Bell into the world this year. Excited? Yes! Scared to death? Yes!

You should call me Fertile Mertyle because literally both babies happened on a "maybe we should think about getting pregnant... Oh im already pregnant" plan. Brigz was my idea so corey picked when he wanted #2. We found out about a month ago when my prego test made two extremely pink lines. We once again tried to keep a secret til 11 weeks but it didn't happen.

Yesterday was our first apt and we met with our awesome doctor. We will have a scheduled c section around oct 28 at the new hospital (about 1.5 hrs away, but worth it for a good doc). We were able to see our little "boomerang" as our close friend Matt called it! The baby looks great and we saw Gods little miracle right on the screen- that little fluttering heart. So awesome. Just like with Brigz, i feel great! A little sleepy, a little nauseous and a ton hungry (never had with brigz), but in general i am one of THOSE people that loves being pregnant. Weird i know. We can't wait for another baby!

Lately we have lots of exciting things happen. Briggy turned 20 months old and we think we have made major progress with fit throwing! He has been such a sweetie lately! He listens better and life is so much fun again. There were a couple months in there that I think he lived in time outs and Corey and I pondered why God thought we were cut out for children. Which made me so sad because our days used to be so great and over night they switched into grouchy, winey, kicking, scratching, head banging, screaming fights. BUT I think we are good now. Keep your fingers crossed!

I love looking at him. Especially at night when I am rocking him to sleep and I can look at all his little features. He is so snuggly and sweet and big. He is talking so much and growing so fast! I get so proud of him and how fast he picks up on things. He is just perfect.

Now onto the least fun stuff. My stupid knee. I found out next week what is wrong with it. In the meantime I am trying to not notice how insanely beautiful it is outside and try to shove my intense cravings for a log run out of my mind. Running is my therapy. Is need to run. So being pregnant, with a 20 month old, and not being able to run is slightly close to torture. But I'll be fine. I hope. If I need surgery, I can't have it done until after the baby. So please say some prayers that I won't need surgery! Thanks!