2012 Already??

Jeez where does the time go??
    Ariya is already almost 6 months old!!! I LOVE seeing how she is growing!! Even though I work every weekend because I have 4 days off I truly feel like a stay at home mom. Changing my schedule was one of the best things I could have ever done for my family!!
    Within just this last month she got her first lil tooth (which daddy found first...punk!!!) and I think she has another coming in cause she has been a lil fussy for daddy over the weekend while I was at work.
  She has also figured out how to go from a crawling position into a sitting position. Now I only work 3 days a week and OF COURSE she picked the time I went to work to figure this out for the first time...Thankfully daddy was nice enough to capture the moment for me!! Jason is really good about sending me photos or videos of her while I'm at work cause he knows I don't want to miss a thing!!! I can't tell him enough how much I appreciate him doing that for me!!! 
    2012 is here and we have a lot of things to look forward to in the next few months.
    Taylor's birthday is coming up this month and she will be 12yrs old. yikes!!! The crazy hormonal teen years are about to be knocking at my door!!!

 Sitting up for the first time while I was at work!! Lil squirt!!!

Thinks she's a big girl pulling up on things!!!

    My birthday is in March and the our 3yr anniversary is in April!! Oh and the most exciting thing we have planned for this year is in May! We are taking the kids to DISNEY WORLD!!!! I CAN NOT WAIT!!! I haven't been since I was 13!!

Merry Christmas!!

 I can't believe December is almost over!!!

Ariya is starting to try to crawl! It's this army crawl, froggy looking thing she does. Whatever it is, girl gets around!! She gets up on her knees but she doesn't actually use them to crawl. Either way it's the cutest thing I've ever seen!! The funny thing is she can't even sit up by herself but she is already getting around and her newest thing is to make her way over to me then use my legs to get herself into half standing position!! This trips me out because she can barely crawl but she is already trying to walk!!

She loves the Christmas tree but thankfully she can't reach the ornaments, she can however reach the presents so with any luck they will stay wrapped until Christmas!!

We did pictures back in November but since they were for Christmas I've tried to keep them kind of under wraps (no pun intended) so here they are now!!

We also just did pictures with Santa! She'd just woken up so she wasn't her usual smiley self, that happened about 5mins after we were done with Santa, but one a good note he didn't freak her out and all she was really interested in was pulling all that fluffy white hair!!

Technically it's Christmas Eve and I am so thankful and bless I have such a wonderful family to spend it with!! I hope every has a very Merry Christmas!!!

This month I'm Thankful for....

.....My family of course!!!
 In Baby updates;
Lil baby Ariya is rolling over like a champ!! She rolls all over the floor. You put her down in one spot and it's not long before she is half way across the living room, it's so stinkin cute!!
She had her 4 month check up on Wed. While we were sitting in the waiting room to be called back I took her over to the fish tank to look at the fishy. Her eyes were GLUED!! I'm telling you if those fish weren't in that tank (and not so slippery) her reflexes were so spot on, she could have caught herself a fish!! Every time the big yellow one swam by, her arm would shot out like a light to catch him. I was cracking up!!
Everything with the visit went well and of course my angel is growing exactly like she is suppose to!! The doctor called her tall and skinny with her coming in at 12lbs 1oz and 25 inches long. I really thought she would weigh more by now. She eats a jar of baby food anywhere from 2-3 times a day and rice cereal (girl can eat!)
She got two shots during her visit and that night and the next day I could tell they had made her not feel so good. Usually I have the happiest baby. It took us a little while but we finally got all her tummy problems figured out so for my little baby not to be smiling I knew she wasn't feeling good. Usually wakes up smiling and talking but today she just looked a little sad. (breaks my heart)
After a few long naps and some Tylenol she seemed to be feeling a little better by the time left I for work. Yes, I had to work tonight. I got called in (Wed. night) I'm actually kind of happy about it. I was suppose to have to come in on Thanksgiving day for an 8 hour shift but because I was called in tonight I get Thanksgiving all to myself...well actually all to my family cause that's who I'll be spending it with!!
Well hope everyone has a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving and cherish all the things you are thankful for!!
I know I do!!!

Baby Fresh!!

Nothing smells better than a baby fresh out her bath!!!

Ariya is all clean and tucked into bed, I could never fully express how in love with that little baby I am!! I truly love being a mommy!!

Of course I feel the same about Taylor, but she's no longer a baby that relies soley on her mommy. Oh I'm not even 'mommy' to her anymore, just 'mom'.  And of course instead of taking my advice she has to find everything out the hard way!

lol, anyway....

A few weeks ago we started giving Ariya baby food. Oh what fun that is!!! She seems to be a vegetable baby, with her favorite being peas. She can put down a whole jar in no time flat!!! She also seems to like carrots, squash, and sweet potatoes. She is NOT however a fruit baby, fruits like peaches and bananas make her squish up her face in sour distaste....it's so stinkin cute.

This past week she has started grabbing her feet, they haven't made it to her mouch yet but I know it's only a matter of time!

Also recently when I have left the room for a moment or turned my eyes off her for a few minutes while she is on the floor I have looked back to find she is starting to try to turn herself over onto her tummy!! She loves to do these things when I'm not looking!! She waited to give off her first laugh just a few hours after I went to work a few weekends ago. When my husband text me to tell me she was cracking up at my friend Kelly and her son Tyler, I seriously thought I would cry!! I have been waiting so long to her that baby giggle!!! They grow up so fast and I dont want to miss a single moment!!

But back to the roll....thus far she has only managed to get her bottom rolled over with her arm still tucked under her, she then alerts me to this by starting to fuss because her face is half in the floor and she doens't know what to do but today while her daddy was home for lunch I looked up and she was comepletely on her tummy with both arms holding her head up high!!! I was so proud!!!

Taylor's cheerleading is pretty much over and up next is gymnastics and then I think soccer. Between all that and her friends she stays pretty busy. She has grown up so much in this last year. She is not my little girl anymore. She is on her way to being a beautiful young lady....someone shoot me now!!!

As for me, I just started a dance class to get rid of the rest of this stubborn baby weight. I have only been going for a week but I really enjoy it! I was also really surprised at what a total workout it is! After the first two days I think just about every muscle in my body was sore!! No pain no gain...or loss in this case, cause if they continue to kick my butt like they did those first two days, bye bye baby weight!!

 My sweet doll baby laying on our new rug!

She has this thing with pulling any covers, blankets, spit rags, etc over her head!

We didn't take the baby out trick-or-treating but I did take her around to visit family

lol, my lil ladybug!!! She looks surprised!!

3 Months old!

Baby Ariya is 3 months old already!!! I cant believe how fast time is flying!! I want her to stay a little baby forever! The cool thing about her getting bigger is watching her discover new things. In the past week or so she has;
~Locked in on her feet, she can't grab them yet so she just stares at them (bet she thinking she can't wait to get those suckers in her mouth!)
~Begun sticking out her tongue, and not because something is near her mouth
~While laying on her back she waves her hand in front of her face and watches it
~While laying on her stomach she can roll onto her back
~and she has gotten much better at seeing an object, grabbing it and holding onto it.
All simple things but even though I have been through it before it all amazes me! oh and she is so close to laughing I can't stand it! She kind of chuckles now but I am waiting for a full blown from the belly laugh!

Ariya in the new toy daddy bought her!!

In other news
My new shift is working out well, for both me and the bambino. I get all my hours in all at once and then get to spend the rest of the time with her, it is WONDERFUL! I am so thankful that I have a job where I have this option!

We got a new living room set. I am in LOVE with it! If i get time I'll post pictures of it.  I told Jason that it makes me feel like an adult now. I know...I'm married with two kids but it takes a LIVING ROOM set to make me feel like an adult, go figure!! The way we have re-arranged has opened up our whole living room with plenty of space in the middle for baby to play. Our next purchase=bigger tv!!

Taylor is still cheerling although the season is almost over. She says she doesn't want to do it again but every game she has so much fun! She is in full blown "pre-teen" mode! I am thankful that A.) She is a good girl and B.) She doesn't realize how absolutely gorgeous she is. If either of those things change I-AM-IN-TROUBLE!!!!
 Here is a pic of her in her cheer t-shirt and shorts.

lol, I had her giving me spirt fingers when I took the shot!!

I'm Back!!!

Back at work that is!! For me it is bitter sweet.
I like being back at work because I really enjoy a lot of the people I work with, I was also able to get the shift I wanted so Baby Ariya will always be with either Jason or me and that is awesome! On the flip side I was so sad leaving my baby girl today that I had tears in my eyes. I have been with her non stop for 2 1/2 months. Yes I realize it's only work and I will see her again very soon but that little baby has all of my heart and I feel like I left it with her when I had to leave for work.
She of course is doing wonderful and is growing like a weed! She is at the stage now where she coo's and smiles all the time! The other day I even got her to laugh for the first time!!! She hasn't done it since but it was the sweetest thing ever!!
Just the other day I was shopping for a new living room set (which I am super excited about) so baby Ariya, my mom, and I were looking about. I had just finished feeding her and sat down on one of the couches at the store to burp her...bad idea! I'm sure you can figure out where this is going.....before I could even get her on my shoulder and on her burp rag, she spit up all over the place!!! Thankfully no one was looking! She had me and my mom laughing so hard I had tears in my eyes! Silly baby!!
I have about a million pictures of this child but here are some of my favorites!

 This one is a little blurry but it's the first picture I have of her smiling!! She smiles all the time but it's harder than you would think to catch it on camera!

 This one I took today before I left for work

 Nothing is sweeter than a sleeping baby

 She has the best expressions!!

 Dont you just want to pinch those cheeks!!!

 Her first and so far only sink bath

Oh I just can't express enough how in love with this baby I am!!

Baby Ariya finally arrived!!!

2 months ago today my little bundle of joy FINALLY arrived!!!
It was both the happiest and most painful day of my life!
One week after my due date my doctor decide to have me induced. I was SO happy to know my baby girl was coming one way or another at 41 weeks.
As you may have read in my previous post I was absolutely miserable by this time.
At 3:30am Tuesday morning my husband Jason and I woke up so that we could make it to the hospital by 5am. Jason's mom had just flown in the previous night to help us watch the kids so due to having to pick her up from the airport we both went to bed pretty late and only got a few hours of sleep. Excitment may have played a part in that as well.
After arriving at the hospital and getting a quick check they decided to send us to breakfast. Wait BREAKFAST?!? I thought I was here to have a baby not breakfast!!!
Turns out the Labor and Delivery floor was completely full and since I wasn't actually in labor yet they needed to buy some time.
So to breakfast we went. Since we woke up so early neither one of us had eaten before we left the house and it was too early for any fast food to be open on our way to the hospital.
After a delish bagel at Bruger's, we got back to the hospital around 6:30am. It took until about 9:30 to get me all settled in and get my pitocin started.
At 9:45am my water broke!!! I asked the nurse if it was due to the pitocin they just started but she said no probably not,it happened to quick for it to be the pitocin, my body was just finally ready to have this baby!!
Of course the pitocin started the more intense contractions and after about two hours I couldn't help myself and asked for my epidural. Unlike with Taylor, the doctor told me there was no magic number (like 4cm) and that I could have the epidural whenever I wanted. I tried to tough it out for as long as I could, then decided there was no reason for me to be in so much pain.
As expected, after the epidural was placed I felt a ton better! I could move me toes and legs but only very slowly. I still knew when I was having contractions but the pain wasnt there....at least that's how it was for about 5 hours. In this time I was checked and told I was at 4cm.
Sometime between 4-4:30pm I started to feel extremely painful contractions. The nurse was a little perplexed because she felt I shouldnt be feeling such pain with the epidural in place however they were so bad I was moaning and having to concentrate on breathing through them. She decided since I was in so much pain to call the doctor's in (I delivered at MUSC, which is a teaching hospital, so when you call one doctor in you also get a whole gaggle of residents, however while in so much pain I could care less who was in the room see me in all my glory) they checked me and told me I had jumped now to 8cm!! I was so overwhelmed I burst into tears. I knew my baby girl would be in my arms soon and I also realized the worst was yet to come. It was bitter sweet tears ;-)
While the doctor's were getting everything ready I continued to concentrate on breathing through the contractions which were now coming every 1-2 mins. I was also doing some practice pushing. With my first daughter Taylor I could feel everything throught the epidural but felt no pain until the epidural wore off. This time around I was in the worst pain I had ever been in. I could actually feel my baby girl dropping lower and to my surprise she was MOVING!!! I dont know if this is normal or not but I could feel her moving her head back and forth!! I wanted to scream and during the last few pushes I think I actually did!! Both my mom and Jason said I wasnt screaming but I had an oxygen mask on and I was so exhausted by this time I'm sure to me it was a loud scream but to them it was a tiny squeek. With shaking hands inbetween pushes, my Ariya Jacklyn finally made her appearance at 5:28pm Tuesday July 19th at 8lbs 6oz and 20inches!!! Compaired to Taylor's 6lbs 12oz, this was HUGE!! I'm sure that extra week to pack on the lbs helped.
After they cleaned her up I realized I would not be getting another mini-me but i also realized she was one of the most beautiful things I'd ever seen!!!
She came out with beautiful dark hair and eyes and girl had some nails and let me tell you they hurt!!!

These first couple of weeks were like a getting to know you time period. I had to remember how to take care of a baby all over again!! And this baby was so much different than Taylor. It took us a long time to figure out the whole breastfeeding thing and in that time we had to supplement with formula. It also took us awhile to realize that the reason baby Ariya was so fussy was because the MILK I was drinking was upsetting her stomach. WHAT?!? I cant drink milk!!! I was so surprised!! She isn't on Soy milk but I am! I also have to stay away from all dairy, which means no cheese : (
It has been really hard adjusting my diet so that I dont upset her tummy but it is SO worth it to be able to breastfeed my little one.
At this time my little munchkin loves to smile and talk to everyone. It is soo sweet! She also really seems to love her bathtime!!
I have enjoyed my time at home with her and am sad that I have to go back to work soon. I did decide to only work the weekends so that she wont have to go to daycare. I will work all 40 hrs in 3 days at work over the weekend so that the baby can be with me Mon-Thurs. and with Jason on the weekends. It is going to be tough on me but the time I get to be there for her and Taylor during the week will be priceless!!! I consider myself lucky to even be able to have that option...and a bonus is working weekends I'll make more money!!! \

She was about 6 weeks here

Well I have been extemely busy with the baby and Taylor just started cheerleading but I will try to post a little more often. Maybe once I go back to work i'll find some downtime to post.