Our Year in Review

Well this isn't too late :). We are still technically in the first week of the month. We had a pretty amazing year in 2015 and are definitely excited about what 2016 is going to bring us. For now though...our 2015 review.

January

We enjoyed a quiet new years day in as a family.

Kinley went to her first gym class at the Little Gym. She definitely loved it but to be honest it was a little expensive in my opinion for a one year old.

February

We had quite a few fun snow days in February which gave us some much needed family time. We baked home made cookies and Kinley enjoyed eating all the chocolate chips. This was her first taste of sweets. She was a fan!

My mom came and as always we had such a blast! Of course it was too short but we look forward to her coming again soon when baby boy arrives.

Kinley had strep again (and our nanny quit) which was not exciting, but I do love all the cuddles! I know someday she is going to not want to snuggle with me.

March

Matt and I enjoyed a wonderful date night which does not happen often enough. That is one of my goals for the new year to have more dates!

Kinley started daycare at an in home that we LOVE! We are so thankful for Ms. E after having such struggles with a nanny. I truly believe everything happens for a reason and this was a huge blessing to us.

Kinley had her first swimming experience. What a blast! She loved it!!

I celebrated turning 33 with my two favorite people and it could not have been better! I also started a new job that I really enjoy.

April 

April was defintiely bittersweet for me. I stopped breastfeeding Kinley. After starting my new job it was just teh right timing. I still miss it and am very excited to breastfeed this baby boy. Kinley and I had quite the journey.

We celebrated a great Easter with Matt's family. His grandparents came to visit later in April which we always enjoy as well.

Kinley enjoyed her first carnival. She rode the train and went down the big slide with mommy.

May

We had our first zoo trip and ended up buying season passes. Kinley loves animals and we knew we would get back often. We didn't get as much as we liked but hopefully a few more times before baby boy comes.

Kinley and I traveled to Colorado for my sister's wedding shower. We had a great time spending some time at my nephew's baseball games and hanging out with family.

We took Kinley strawberry picking for the second year in a row and she was all about it this year. She picked the berries right off and ate away. Good thing I brought a spray bottle to clean them :).

June

Kinley went to the beach for the first real time. She has been before but not where she could get in the water and enjoy it. She did not want to leave.

We all traveled back to Colorado for my sister's wedding. I was the matron of honor and Kinley was the flower girl. She did amazing and we all had a fantastic time. Here are some tips for traveling with a toddler.

We got back from Colorado and Matt and I enjoyed an adult wedding of our two friends Chelsea and Tony. It was a much needed night out.

Matt celebrated his last father's day to an only child. Little did he know :).

July

I wrote one of my most popular posts. 3 car seat myths busted. If you have been following me for a while or know me you know car seat safety is a passion of mine.

Had some beach family pictures done by the amazing Lori Woodhouse Photography. I was quite frustrated with the windy evening we had but of course we ended up with some priceless memories.

We took a road trip up to Baltimore to see a wonderful friend of mine, Erin. Kinley and Bodie are only a few months apart and are the cutest when they are together. We don't get to see them often but we try for at least once a year.

Kinley graduated from her first story time class at the library. She was so proud.

I really started to embrace life as a working mom around this time. It is hard work but over all very rewarding for me. I hope the rest of us working moms will learn to embrace their role too.

August

Another beach trip in the books. This time we headed down to the Outer Banks where my step mom and her family were. I wish we could've stayed longer. Hoping they make another trip this year.

Kinley enjoyed her first ice cream eating experience.

Kinley got strep yet again. But this time it really made me thankful for the midnight screams. It is so sad when your children are sick.

September

The big announcement. Kinley is going to be a BIG SISTER!! We could not be more excited for our family.

Deciding on some must haves for baby #2 and letting go of the mommy guilt.

October

We closed on our first house as a married couple. We owned the townhouse, still do, but did not purchase that together. This house is ours and couldn't be more special.

Matt and I celebrated 4 wonderful years of marriage. It has been the best.

Kinley went trick or treating for real for the first year and jumped in many piles of leaves. We also had a blast at the pumpkin patch this year.

November

We celebrated another friend's beautiful wedding. Yay for another date!

Kinley turned 2!!! Wow time flies! I also took that time to reflect back on her, my first born, and how much I love her.

Had some more amazing family photos done. I was sure this time we were not getting any good ones. Kinley threw up on the way there and the entire shoot she fussed and clinged to me! Come to find out the poor girl had an ear infection. BUT....of course there were some amazing photos.

December

We did a few family holiday activities, looking at lights and making cookies were the highlights. We also found out that our baby girl was really a baby boy. Boy what a shocker!

Celebrated an amazing holiday with my mom here and Matt's family. My dad and step mom were even able to come visit for a day.

We ended the year on the couch with a movie and in bed by 10pm. Exciting life we lead I tell you, but I wouldn't change it for the world! Goodbye 2015!

We are so exited to see what 2016 brings us and our family! We know one thing is for sure we will be adding an amazing boy to our family.

Scenes from the Weekend

I am always a day or two late with these weekend updates! But in my defense I have had quite the busy weekend. If you read my last post you would know Kinley had strep so we've been dealing with that and the past two days Matt hasn't felt good either.

So lets say my weekend (Thursday and Friday) consisted of many toddler snuggles and Curious George. I really really don't like Kinley to watch a lot of TV but when you have a fever of 104 for a few days that kiddo gets whatever she needs. I think she will be OK watching TV for 2 days! It's all about balance remember! Read more about that here. At least I tell myself that!

Friday afternoon we went house hunting again. No such luck.....again! I am really trying to tell myself to be patient and the right house will come but it is discouraging. Honestly we have only seen 9 houses so I am sure there are many more in our future. But when your realtor sends a list of 75 houses and you only want to go see 6 you feel defeated. We saw a few that we liked but none we absolutely love. I just won't spend that much money on something we don't love. It will come it will! After house hunting we enjoyed some yummy Chick Fil A. I rarely ever eat fast food but it was 5:30 and the in laws had Kinley and there was not time to cook dinner. It was tasty though! She was starting to feel a little better and loved the horse my in laws got her.

Saturday I worked all day like usual but it went by pretty fast. Matt did a lot of fixing up at the house with the help of his parents. There was some much needed TLC that needed to be done. We have had some bites on renters so we want to be prepared. We are going house hunting again this week so please please wish us luck!! The rest of the evening was spent watching some Teen Mom and to bed early! I was looking forward to sleeping in my bed without a toddler on top of me. Don't get me wrong I love her cuddles but she is not fun to sleep with.

Sunday we went over to Matt's parents for brunch and enjoyed the beautiful day. Kinley loves blowing bubbles with poppy and checking out her pumpkins that are getting massive! I think they are going to be done way before Halloween. Matt wasn't feeling well when we got home so he took a nap and actually didn't get up for the rest of the night. I put Kinley down for a nap and ran to the grocery store. Sometimes it is wonderful to go to the grocery store alone! I like to grab some Starbucks but it was getting late in the day so I try not to have any caffeine so I skipped this time. I got home and all the groceries put away and decided what I was going to make so I had dinner for the next day.

Kinley woke up and Matt still wasn't feeling well. So I put Kinley to work helping me prepare Stuffed pepper casserole. She loves taking one bite out of the veggies and then putting them back LOL. Don't tell anyone there might have been half bitten veggies in the casserole. Hey you will never know because I chopped them all up in the Ninja! It turned out really good and will be eating it again for lunch tomorrow. And Kinley even took a bite! WIN!!! This child of mine is so picky!! I hope this stage passes soon!

When we were done we headed up to the park for a little. Of course she had to have the baby with the stroller. Thankfully she left the picnic basket behind this time. Surprisingly she pushed the stroller all the way to the park and then took the baby out for a swing in the swings. She wasn't too interested in pushing it back home so while carrying her and pushing her mini stroller we made it home. I was sweating, she was sweating, the baby was sweating! Oh wait maybe that was my sweat that dripped on the baby. Gross :)

I prepared another dinner for the nights dinner. I made chicken breast covered with cream of mushroom soup mixed with Lipton Onion soup mix. It wasn't my favorite. It was a little too salty for me. After getting everything cleaned up it was bath time for Kinley. Oh did I mention I had to feed Kinley dinner while she played with play dough. Dang this child of mine!

After she was in bed I thought I was going to be able to relax for a little after cleaning up her toys and the dishes that I didn't get to. Well it was for a little until she started screaming at 815. I don't know what was up with her besides wanting me to stay in her room and hold her or stand by her bed. She never lets my husband go into her room  at night. She screams worse. And has always been like this. It makes my patience wear very fast. She really knows how to doubt my skills as a mother. That went on until about 930 when she finally laid down. She always asks to eat. I know it is a stalling tactic because I always offer her something and she eats about 4 puffs. I really don't know what else to do! If you have any ideas please share!! Besides letting her scream until she passes out I don't know what else to do. Parenthood is always challenging and testing my limits!

I hope everyone had a great weekend and your week is off to a great start!

Why I am Thankful for Midnight Screams

It has been a long week. Monday night Kinley was up 11-2:30am. She just screamed and would not go back in her bed. I felt so awful I did not know what was wrong. She didn't have a fever and no other symptoms besides being upset. I know she has 2 teeth cutting and possibly her 2 year old molars as well so finally at 2:30am I gave her Tylenol and put her in my bed.

I really really don't like her sleeping in my bed. I have never been a fan of co-sleeping especially when she was little and now that she is a little older she moves so much and I hardly get any sleep when she is in bed with me. I really don't get how people co-sleep. It just isn't for me. If it works for you then by all means go for it!

She was up early on Tuesday, I think 530-6ish, geez I can't remember. But we did get a nap in before I had to go to work. She seemed ok but I was concerned she was up screaming so much so I made a Dr appointment. Matt took her in and the Dr said she was fine just figured she was teething.

Tuesday night she slept like a baby...hehe!!! I really don't know where that phrase comes from since most babies are up every 2 hours! Especially mine in the younger days. Read more about our struggles here. Maybe because they look so peaceful while sleeping. Anyways she slept 7pm-730am. Wednesday wasn't a bad day for her but she wasn't herself. My mother in law said she barely ate any food through out the day. I guess her teeth were really bothering her, so I thought. When she was younger she always ran a slight fever while teething but no fever as of Tuesday.

Wednesday night I worked until 10:00pm like I do every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. I came home, brushed my teeth, got in to bed and started reading my book. I was pretty exhausted from the night before. So I turned the lights out about 11:15.

12:05am I hear Kinley screaming. I get up and look at the monitor and she is laying there screaming. I have to admit I was feeling a little frustrated we were going to go through another night of endless screaming with no answers. I gave her a few minutes and went in. I touch her and my heart sinks. She is burning up. My stomach drops and I am consumed by guilt for feeling the slightest bit of frustration 5 minutes earlier. I knew I needed to get a temperature on her and some medicine in her. Her temp was 102.6. I felt so bad for her! Something was really wrong....she has ran a fever that high maybe once when she had strep when she was much younger. I put her back to sleep in my bed because I was too terrified to put her in her crib alone with a fever that high.

We had a restless night but at least she got some sleep, me not so much. We got up about 6 and she was still burning up. 104.3. The emergency room crossed my mind but I thought I would call the on-call nurse first. Poor girl was miserable. The on-call nurse said manage the fever and call the Dr when they open. So that is what I did.

We took her in later that afternoon and what do you know. She has strep and Fifths Disease (which is basically a rash on her face and arms). She has been so miserable all day. I have to admit, I have enjoyed all the cuddles! She is usually not much of a cuddlier so it's been amazing! She got some antibiotics and hopefully will start to feel better at some point today. This is the 3rd time she has had strep and I have no clue where she gets it from. Though it really could be anywhere!

As frustrating as those midnight screams are sometimes you gotta step back and be thankful. They don't know how to ask for help at this age, or tell you what is wrong. They scream....that is their way to communicate. And it is heartbreaking! There is nothing worse than watching your child be miserable and there is nothing I can do but hold her. So next time she screams at midnight I am going to remind myself that she needs something, she is screaming for reason. Maybe it is just for a drink of water, or a cuddle, but it is something, and that is how she communicates.

A lot can happen with high fevers so I am so thankful for that midnight scream! I would not have had it any other way. She needed to be in my arms and held by her mommy. I'm so very thankful! The days are long but the years are short. Sometimes it is hard to embrace the frustrating times but taking a step back and remembering that is important!

Wish us luck! We are going to look at more houses this afternoon!

Sickness and Bad News

Well we had a pretty crappy weekend and a not so good Monday. We all had the stomach flu and it's been going on for about 5 days now. I really don't wish that on anyone! But we are slowly on the mend! If only Kinley would eat a meal! I was so excited when she ate about 6 black beans and a pinch of cheese.

There is nothing worse than seeing your 15 month old throw up and then cry because she is so scared of what just happened. It's heartbreaking. Though I have to admit I did enjoy the snuggles all day Thursday and most of Friday.

I am just going to share a few snugly pictures because lets be honest our weekend wasn't so glorious!

On other note our nanny quit on us today! That makes #2! She has been with us for less than a month and hasn't even worked a full week due to all the snow we've had. I just can't wrap my head around it! We have been more than accommodating to her and her needs! Commitment was such a big deal when we interviewed! We were so picky! We said over and over how important being with us long term was. And we still got left to hang! I am just so sad in all of this! Because no one suffers more than Kinley. She is such an amazing child! Loves everyone right off the bat and already puts too much trust in them...she is my child :( !! Fault or strength? HMMMMM!! I'm thinking a fault right now. We are staying positive and will make the right decision for our family and will find someone that is right for us!

What do you working mamas do for child care? She is getting older now that maybe a we need to look at other options besides a nanny! Plus I do not want to go through this again. Two nannies in 6 months! I'm done!

On a positive note we have Kinley's 15 month check up on Thursday! I am super excited to see how much she has grown (though she has probably lost weight because she hasn't eaten in 4 days)! But she has learned so much in the last 3 months. It truly is amazing!

Last night I was telling yelling at the dog to sit "down" so I could feed him. Clear as day Kinley yells down!! It was so awesome! Matt and I immediately looked at each other like WOW!! It sure makes my heart melt to watch her grow every day!

Happy Tuesday everyone!! Hope this day is better!!