Catching Up

So these last four and a half months have flown by! You always think you're going to get a chance to slow down during the summer. Yeah right! This summer was busier than ever! I'll start by giving you some updates on the kids!

Reese is seven months old now! And SUPER mobile. She's sitting up, clapping, and army crawling like crazy. I can't leave the room without her following behind me. She loves to get into all of Mason's toys. She's still taking about 3-4 bottles a day, as well as eating baby food 1-2 times a day. She loves sweet potatoes, pumpkin, apples, bananas, and pears. Not crazy about the green veggies. She tried a mum-mum rice snack yesterday for the first time and DEVOURED it. She's also starting to drink some water out of a bottle. In a month or two, we'll start trying out a sippy cup. Lots of people comment about how happy Reese looks. And it really is true. She's such a happy and joyful baby! Unless she's hungry or sleepy. She's wearing six month and six-to-nine month clothes. And as for that curly hair, Brandon and I both of grandmothers and great-grandmothers who have curly hair. We sure do love our little curly-headed bundle of joy!

Mason is now two years old! His birthday was back in July. We had a party for him at a local park with a splash pad and it was so much fun! And very minimal clean up ;) #parentscore Mason is now in full-on toddler mode encompassing melt downs, fickleness, and hilarious moments. He's currently in speech to help him communicate better. He's doing so well and I am SO proud of him! He's also come a long way with his separation anxiety. He finally likes going to school and church and being with other kids. He's becoming more social! And I realize how biased this is going to sound, but the kid is SUPER smart. He knows all of his colors and shapes and he's starting to recognize letters and numbers. He loves to learn and picks up on stuff really quickly. He recently discovered the show Paw Patrol and is just a tad bit obsessed. He always asks to watch "Paw" lol His favorite foods include chicken (especially if it's from Chick-fil-a), mac-n-cheese, bread, apples, bananas, eggs, cheese toast, and most specifically the blueberry & banana fruit squeezable. We should really invest some stock in those things. 

Back in August, we took our first family trip to the beach! We got a condo in Gulf Shores and brought my parents along. They were the best company and even better help with the kids! It was a great week and we all had a blast! Mason loved walking up and down the beach. He wanted to go, go go the whole time! The only time we could get him to sit still was when we fed him snacks. We're excited to go back again next summer!

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I decided not to continue posting about my weight loss. I started putting too much pressure on myself and felt like I was letting everyone down if I messed up one day. Life with two small children is a little cray at times and honestly some days, I'm just in survival mode! I'm still trying to stay mindful of how active I am and what I eat. But I have to give myself a break every now and then and take the pressure off. Some days, I eat clean with no carbs, no processed foods. Some days, I eat Chick-fil-A fries & ranch like they're going out of style. [Seriously...my biggest weakness!] But it's all about balance, right?

Along with that, I've been trying to lessen my time spent on social media. I still post pictures of the kids so that my family and friends out of town still have access to watching them grow up. But all the scrolling through feeds nonsense is what I've been trying to steer clear of. It's so easy to get wrapped up in all the junk. Politics, opinions... just junk. And before you know it, you're huffing and puffing over something that someone said on a website that doesn't really mean anything. Just a personal conviction.

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Let's talk about #momlife for a minute. First off, I should say how truly grateful I am to be surrounded by such amazing mamas. Within my family and close friends, I have some amazing mothers to run to for advice, encouragement, or even just an ear to listen to me. I could not imagine not having them in my life. Especially on the days when I feel like I'm completely losing it. Or the days my son screams for two hours straight because he wants to watch "Paw" on the iPad and he's already had WAY too much screen time. Or when he screams for two hours because we have fruit squeezeables in every other color BUT purple. And I hear "Puurrr" multiple times in a row. Or he screams until he can figure out how to put his sock on ALL BY HIMSELF. (Notice I haven't complained about Reese yet. Don't worry. Her day is coming. LOL) Or how about when you decide to take your kids to Pet Smart but can only fit one of them in the buggy so you let your two-year-old walk run "alongside you" and he decides to literally run as FAST AS HIS LITTLE LEGS CAN GO and bolt to the back of the store while you're checking out while everything in your wallet is falling out and you aren't sure if you can run with kid #2 in the buggy to catch kid #1 without her falling out?! On the real though, #momlife is seriously the best life! (I realize how silly that sounds after having said everything before that. Insert crying laughing emoji here. But I mean it!) These kids keep my life so fun and interesting! There's never a dull moment. I'm just so grateful.

And now I will leave you with some ridiculously cute pictures. Until next time...

Life Lately

So it's been almost three months since I last posted! Oops. I know you've heard me say this multiple times, but time sure flies when your a mama of 2-under-2! It's actually kind of sad how fast it goes by!

On that note, my sweet baby girl is already 3 months old! She's the sweetest little thing. She weighs 11 lbs, 13 oz, and is 22 in long. {She's only grown two inches since she was born! Pretty sure she's going to be short like mama. Also, she's already doing thing WAY faster than Mason did.} She loves to smile and coo. She's already talking {you know...baby talk, duh} and loves to be sitting up so she can watch her Bubba play. She's not thrilled about tummy time, but doesn't hate it either. She tried rolling over this afternoon! Right after my heart broke a little, I told her she couldn't do that yet! Yall, these kids grow up WAY TOO FAST. And then they become toddlers like Mason...... {I'll just leave that there.}

Speaking of Mason. This age/stage he's at {22 months} is so bittersweet. I find myself absolutely gushing with love for him 50% of the time. And wanting to lock him in his room while he screams & throws fits the other 50% of the time. These tantrums he throws wear me the heck out. And it's over the silliest little things. Today, he threw one of the biggest fits he's thrown yet. All because he wanted to hold a flash card. HE JUST WANTED TO LEARN, YALL.  As soon as I said no, I immediately regretted it. Because you know...once you say no, you have to remain consistent. WHY DID I PICK THAT BATTLE. WHYYYY. But when he's not throwing fits, he's one of the cutest, funniest kids I know. Actually, he's THE funniest/cutest kid I know. Besides his Sissy of course. His personality cracks me up and he keeps me laughing.

One thing that remains the same is how they are only little once. Sometimes, I catch myself getting emotional just thinking about them growing up. I went to my nieces' dance recital yesterday and caught myself tearing up as I was thinking about Reese taking dance one day and watching her in her recitals. Or at her softball games. Or whatever she decides she wants to do with her spare time. And same with Mason. I'm excited about the opportunities I will get with them to watch them grow into their own little selves. But it makes me sad to know that they won't ever be little again. That's what pushes me to try and live in the moment and just remain grateful.

#momlife

So here's the deal. I've written and re-written this post one too many times. I haven't blogged in six months and it's because I haven't been able to put my words together. Too many times did I sit down to type my thoughts and the enemy whispered to me, "Who really cares what you have to say?" Well, the fact of the matter is, I don't really care. During Mason's pregnancy and first year of life, I blogged at least once a month to document it all. I only blogged ONCE during Reese's entire pregnancy. And that's just unfortunate. But I will not dwell in the past. I will carry on and keep on typing. For me. And for the sake of documenting all of the things I'm sure I'll forget one day.

Both pics taken on the day of birth!

My childREN. Two of them. What?

So, I'm now a mom of TWO! Holy. Crap. Since I had a c-section with Mason, I had a repeat section with Reese. [Pretty sure the Lord did not intend for me to push a baby out anyway. Shout out to the mamas who have. Remind me to hug you next time I see you!] Yes, c-sections suck, too. But I will say the recovery this go round has been MUCH better than the last! I'll spare you the details. One major thing that's been different is my hormone levels. After I had Mason, I was an emotional wreck. Granted, the whole breastfeeding thing pushed me over the edge a little. But even after I switched Mason to formula, my levels were just all over the place. I was happy, sad, angry, pissed, hangry, sad. I would just cry and cry and cry my eyes out. This time, I'm happy. Blessed. I'm ENERGIZED?! [Yes, I just said that.] Even with the lack of sleep, I feel like getting outside or playing on the floor with Mason. I've been cleaning the house more. And I'm pretty sure it has everything to do with my time I spent in prayer the day Reese was born. I had so many worries that I would go through what I went through with Mason. The internal complications. The hormones. The sadness. So, I decided to defeat my enemy with the power of prayer. I prayed and prayed and prayed that day. On the way to the hospital. While I was getting my spinal. Even during the surgery. I prayed for peace that passed all understanding. I prayed for the Lord's presence to be with me every step of the way. And I felt it. I felt Him. From the day we brought Reese home, I have felt different. I feel like I have an even better grip on life than I did before I even got pregnant with Mason. And I'm so so grateful for that. [p.s. there's really not much to comment on my pregnancy -- it wasn't too different from Mason's!]

I did NOT want to take any pictures in the hospital...but I'm so glad my sis-in-law, Mandi, made me take this pic ;) I will forever cherish it. No matter how much of a hot mess I look!

My little pretty bow-head!

Those cheeks yall!

I'm not sure if yall know this...but I have a BEAUTIFUL baby girl! And the sweetest. She's such a good baby. She's a great eater and a great sleeper. I mean...she's only two weeks old. So she sleeps. A lot. But she's great at it ;) I still can't believe I have a daughter!

Mason's first time to "hold" Reese!

Mason's version of giving sister sugars...him leaning over [not touching her whatsoever] saying "awwwww"

I mean, there's really no reason for a caption here.

So back to that whole mom of two thing... if you couldn't tell, Mason's still not too sure about Reese. Obviously, he will come around one day and love her to pieces. But for now, he's just not interested. When she cries, he looks at me like he's saying "FIX HER, MOM!" He does like to "help" me in other ways though. If I ask him to pick up her paci or grab her a diaper, [most of the time] he does it. And then expects 10 minutes of praise for it. But hey, it could totally be worse. Yesterday was the first day for me to have both of them at home with me all day long. It wasn't that bad. Then again, Reese sleeps. A lot. So get back to me in a few months when she's older and needier ;)

I'm excited to get back into the world of blogging! Hopefully, I'll get back into blogging about things outside of #momlife. Maybe back to my "All Things Girl" days.

I'll leave you with a few hilarious pics of Mason. Because, why not?

"Little sister? What little sister? I'm just over here playin with this curtain."

"Can't touch this!"

Someone needed some attention...

Until next time...