Happy Birthday Aidan!

I can hardly believe my little guy is 2 years old today!!! He has been having a great Birthday week so far!!! Grandma and Grandpa Mullen drove in from Missouri on Wednesday. He has loved having them around and it has been so nice that they could be here for his Bday. Last night we went to Apple Bees. This is a tradition we started last year that we want to keep up with. My water broke at Apple Bees on the 30th so every year we want to go there on that night for dinner. He go to have his favorite meal (chicken fingers and fries with chocolate milk and they brought him a ice cream sundae for the occassion). This morning Cliff and I filled up the living room with balloons. He LOVES balloons so that when he woke up there was a room full of balloons for him to play with. It was really cute to watch. He then opened up his presents. He got some great stuff and our new basement has now been taken over with toys.....Fine by me!!! I just finished making him a peanut butter cup cake/pie which we will have tonight and of course are going to watch Toy Story 3 with popcorn to finish off the day. I have his Bday party set for next Saturday at Mubius Museum. I think it will be fun.

Here are some updates on our little guy.
Wearing 2T clothes
Wearing his new cloth diapers but would be a size 4
Size 7 shoe
Weighs 30 lbs but is starting to get skinnier because he is growing so quickly
Goes to bed at 8 and wakes up at 7:30
Takes a nap from noon to 3 sometimes 4 (Yes I know I'm spoiled)
LOVES anything with cars
Bestfriend is Norah
Loves going to Bible class and jumps up and down when we tell him he gets to go
Started baking with me. Knows how to run the Kitchen Aid
Obsessed with anything Toy Story
Enjoys skyping with family
Follows Daddy around every second he is home
Loves to clean....He loads the washer for me, transfers clothes to the drier, and knows how to push the buttons to make it start.
Also loves to unload the dishwasher.
Goes on 1 to 2 playdates a week with church friends.
Has all his teeth minus 2
Loves every dog he sees!
Reads about 10 to 15 books a day.
Talks all the time and LOVES to sing.

I'm sure there are many other things but that is what I can think of. I will post more pics later and try to catch up on my posts.

Craigslist and Double Stroller

So my friend Amanda has been trying to get me to try Craigslist for a long time and I finally decided to give it a try. Cliff and I have been researching double strollers but have not been excited to invest in one. I found the one I liked and put it in a search on Craigslist. Brand new the stroller was $380. It was listed on Craigslist for $150 and I got it for $135. I was pretty excited. It was only used for 1 year and is in almost new condition. If you are shopping for one we would really recommend this one. It is a Maclaren WOX15013 Twin Techno. I wanted something fairly light weight and wanted a side by side one. Our main uses will be for walks to the park and several trips through the airport. We took it out today and it was AWESOME. As you can see it works for a good sized toddler and little newborn. Look forward to using it!

2 Questions

So since Ryla was born I have noticed that I get asked the same two questions over and over again. It doesn't bother me....I was just surprised it was always the same two questions. So I thought I would answer them in my blog......

Question #1
How is big brother doing with his new baby sister?
Aidan has transitioned beautifully. in fact, I could almost say that a majority of the time he doesn't even realize she is around. This could be the simple fact that she is still in her newborn stage and sleeps constantly (except at night...lol). When she is awake he likes to hold her and help me when she's crying. For example, if I am helping him out in some way and she starts to cry, he will tell me to put him down and will go stand by her and point and say "Baby" over and over again until I go and pick her up. He will also bring her her binky and put baby toys around her. So far we have not had any signs of jealousy....so that has been very nice.

Question #2
How has it been being the mother of a toddler and a newborn?
Aidan turns 2 next week which makes he and Ryla 22 and a half months apart. I will say that it is pretty much what I expected but it has been a rough transition. The hardest part for me has been my bonding time with Ryla. When you have your first baby, you can devote as much time (typically) as that baby needs. When they are sleeping you can spend your time however you want. Which for me this meant rocking in the rocker in the nursery or popping in a movie and baby gazing. Basically 100 percent attention can be given to the baby if that is what you desire and with Aidan that is what I did. With Ryla....it is completely different. All of her basic needs are always met pretty much right away but I have not been able to bond with her as much as I would want. When Aidan is down for his afternoon nap that is pretty much the only time I have to get supper started, start the laundry, do some casenotes or prepare for a client, or clean up around the house. There have been a few days where I have just let this go and it turns to bite me in the butt later when we are out of clean diapers or having people over for dinner (which we do a lot especially since Cliff is a minister.) Typically I get the most time in with her after Aidan goes down to bed at night which would be from 9-11. There are also craft times and movie day where I take advantage of some one on one time with her but a 2 year olds needs are about as time consuming, if not more, than a newborn. I know it will get better with time but I am missing just all the snuggle time that I had with Aidan. I'm sure a lot of people would say it would have been better if we had them farther apart in age but I for one am 100 percent happy with our decision at having them closer together. I really wouldn't change anything...I think it is something that most parents go through when they have their second child??????

Being a mommy of two has been so rewarding and challenging. I am enjoying the challenge on most days. It has strengthened my relationship with God so much. It has helped me strive for more patience, selflessness, and gentleness. Some things I have always needed to work on. I will continue to pray that God will help me strive for these three things as I raise my little ones.

Scrapbooking

I'm bound and determined to not fall behind on my scrapbooking with Ryla. For her scrapbook I think I decided that I am going to do 2 pages for every month in her first year. I also need to start on our family scrapbooks. I'm about 4 years behind!!!!!! Hopefully I can do that soon. Here is the first page that will be in Ryla's book that I worked on yesterday.

One Month

Almost a month!

Here are some pics of Ryla. I will put some more up on Thursday when she is a month old. Crazy!!!!!

Anniversary/Christmas Present

Cliff and I went shopping last night for a new dining room table. I love my current table. It is my great grandmothers. I got the chairs from various garage sales 6 years ago but the chairs were starting to get very uncomfortable and squeeking a lot. The table also did not fit the space we have because it is so big and bulky and only fit 4 comfortably. This new one we found is square with a leaf for when we move to a bigger house someday. It fits a lot nicer in our space while also sitting 6 people. I was pretty excited. It was a very nice anniversary and Christmas present for Cliff and I.

Cloth Diapering Adventure

So Cliff and I decided to switch over to cloth diapers. We did A LOT of research and found ones we really liked. They got here yesterday and we put Aidan in them right away. We decided to get a one size fits all. So the ones we got will fit Ryla as well as Aidan. We are not going to put Ryla in them, however, for another couple of months. She just goes through so many diapers right now and we also need to purchase another batch since both kiddos will be in them for several more months. So far we are really liking them. Aidan didn't like them at first but he is already used to them. I know that a lot of people are against these but we think they will work out really well for our family. We were spending about 30 cents a diaper on Aidan right now so for financial reasons it was a great investment. These diapers were also nice because they are very hastle free. They button, have the outer liner attached, and don't have to be soacked in water or bleach before you wash them. So for us right now the only major difference is an extra load of laundry every other day. We will see how I feel in a couple of weeks.

To Infinity and Beyond!!!

So last Monday night we decided to let Aidan watch his first movie. He has seen parts of movies but really hasn't been too interested in TV yet. I have tried VERY hard to keep the television off during the day. He usually only gets to watch it right after nap time for about 30 minutes. So this was a special treat for him. I pulled out Toy Story 3 from his stocking (just couldn't wait), made some popcorn, some chocolate milk and we were set. Our first family movie night. He LOVED it. I was shocked that he watched the whole thing. He knew who Buzz lightyear was so when he saw him on the screen he went to grab it from his toy bucket. He also insisted on sleeping with it that night and almost every night to follow. It is pretty cute. So Cliff and I have decided that Monday night is Family movie night. Too fun!

Winter Fun

We have been enjoying the Washington winter. Aidan has been introduced to snow and LOVES it. He helped Cliff and I make our first snow man and spent A LOT of time eating the snow. Other than that we are still just enjoying our new addition, getting out our sweaters, making hot chocolate, and taking LOTS of pictures.

1-6

Well I fell a little behind on my blessings but that's okay....I have a good excuse.
#6- My new finished basement. It has pretty much doubled our house size. I love that it is carpeted instead of hard wood and love how much room Aidan has to play and run around. It was a pain to finish but I'm glad that we went through with it.
#5- My family. Even though they are far away in Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma, we remain very close and talk often. It was wonderful to have my parents here and I can't wait to see them again and my brothers in February.
#4,3, 2- My beautiful new baby girl, my energetic toddler, and my hard overworked husband. They are the joys of my life and I feel so blessed that God has chosen to give them to me. I can't imagine my life without them now and get so excited thinking about the many years in the future I will have to build memories with them.
#1- Being able to have so many blessing in my life that it was difficult to choose a top 10.

Ryla's Birth Story

My little girl is a week old today and I thought I should type out the birth story before I start forgetting the details. My parents got here on a Saturday and I was having some contractions but nothing consistent. We enjoyed visiting with them without all the chaos of a new baby for a few days and it gave them some good one on one time with Aidan. Saturday night my leg was popping out of place a lot and I was starting to fall more and more. My regular doctor was out of town so we called the on call doctor who told me he wanted to admit me to the hospital for pain management. Since I was 39/40 weeks along, Cliff and I were hoping that they would just induce me while I was there. But once we got there, the nurse said she had orders to admit me until Monday morning so that they could wait for my regular doctor to give orders to induce. Cliff and I were a little annoyed because I did not want to be in the hospital that long when I could be way more comfortable at home. We were able to convince the on call doctor to give me meds that I could administer myself for the pain and to let me go home.

We had an appointment on Monday afternoon with my regular doctor (which I was very thankful for) However, I woke up that morning with signs that I had gone into labor so he had me come into the office early to check me. He said that even though I had started the labor process it still might be awhile. I batted my eyes and ask for an induction. He told me that was fine and that we could do it Thursday. I told him my parents were leaving that day and he was VERY nice and moved it to Tuesday morning. Cliff and I spent the rest of the day getting packed and hanging out with my parents.

We checked in the next morning at 7:00 a.m. They started me on Pitocin at 7:45. I was dialated to a 2 at this time. My doctor came in and broke my water at 8:30. I started really feeling the contractions around 9:30. At 10:15 I asked the nurse to check me to see if I could have something for the pain. I was only a 2 still but she gave me some drug to help "take the edge off." It did nothing for me. After 30 minutes the contractions only got worse. We paged the nurse again and she said I had jumped up to a 4 and that I could have an epideral if I wanted. She got my doctors permission and went to get the anastesiologist (have no idea how to spell that). At this time I was still able to relax myself quite a bit. Cliff even asked me if I was awake one time. I had to put myself in such a relaxed state of mind because I was about to loose it but was noticing that the more relaxed I tried to make my muscles the less it would hurt. About 5 minutes after the nurse checked me the contractions were out of control and I started to feel a lot of pressure. The nurse came back in and told me the epiderall guy was on his way. I told her he needed to hurry because I felt pressure. She told me not to worry that we had plenty of time because I was only a 4. I told her to check again. She said "oh my goodness you are an 8." She paiged everyone immediately to get ready for the delivery. They just caught my doctor before he went for lunch.

At this time I told the nurse that I needed to start pushing immediately. She told me to hold on for the epiderall. He came in very casual and started small talking with me. Lets just say I was not in the mood. I asked him as nicely as I could if we could chat later and hurry it up a bit. The epiderall was not fun this time around. I was dialated to a 10 by now and he knicked a nerve that went down my right leg. That hurt really bad. My doctor got there just as I had the epideral and checked me and said it was time to push. I tried to push once but the epiderall had not kicked in at all and it hurt so bad that I didn't have the energy to push during the contractions. The nurse said I could wait but it would be another 15 minutes until the medicine kicked in. I tried to think this though but my doctor came over and i told him to not touch me. Obviously i was very incoherent at this time....At least all he did was laugh. So i decided that this baby was going to come out more or less without meds.

Thankfully.....One push...She crowned.....Second push.....Her Head....Third push.....SHE WAS HERE. 4 Hours of labor and I had my baby girl. I probably could have skipped the epideral but it was nice to have the meds for the repair and to be able to hold her and bond with her without being in pain.

We were released from the hospital in less than 24 hours and the nurses were very surprised we wanted to leave already but it was my parents last day, since they were leaving at 5 a.m. the next morning. We were home by lunch and spent the rest of the afternoon launching with our new precious one and my parents were able to get some good one on one time with her before they left.

There it is....a little graphic maybe but I look at my blog as a personal journal for myself to.

New Born Shots

Cliff and I bought a nice Canon camera about a month ago in hopes that I could learn to work with it so that we wouldn't have to keep paying for a photographer. I took these Saturday when Ryla was 4 days old. I think they came out descent. Although I like the coloring of the pink flower I think I am going to choose the one with the white flower for her birth announcement which is in the process of being ordered. I might try to take some more while she is sleeping but she pooped ALL over my bedding so it will require some energy and patience on my part. It was pretty funny though. LOL

Comparisons

I tried to get these photos side by side but can't figure it out but wanted to show you how much they look alike. The first one is of Aidan. I think they are pretty similar.

Number 7

Today and for the last year and a half I am thankful for our house. Houses are VERY expensive on the west coast and I am so thankful that God blessed us with the finances to buy a house in July of 2009. It has been the perfect first home and I have loved making it into a home for my family. Since moving in we have put in tile in the kitchen and finished out the basement. This coming spring we are putting in underground sprinklers and focusing on landscaping in the front and backyard. Another project for my poor overworked hubby but we are enjoying the process and learning a lot.

3 Days Old!

Our little cutie is 3 days old today. She is doing outstanding. Eating regularly and sleeping like a champ. We are LOVING having her around and feel so blessed. Here are some pics I grabbed of her today right before we left for her doctors appointment. She got a clean bill of health. Birth story still to come.

8 and 9

Today I am thankful that my baby girl and little boy are healthy and strong. I have seen too many little babies struggle in the last two years with their health. I pray for them everyday. I feel blessed that God has given Cliff and I a health baby girl and a energetic strong 23 month old boy. My continued prayer is that He continues to bless us in their health.
I am also thankful for my husband's paternity leave. Not many men are allowed this in their career. Our church has always allowed Cliff's hours to be flexible when it comes to caring for his family. I had a hard time recovering from labor with Aidan and he was offered two weeks paternity leave with him. He has been given another week to be at home with our new arrival and I am LOVING it. The best part is that he will go back next Tuesday and Wednesday and then be back at home for five days due to the holiday and that his day off is Monday. So fun for us to have this time together as a family.

What's Up Baby Ryla

Ryla Elizabeth arrived yesterday at 12:20 PM. She's 7 lbs. 2 oz. and 19.5 in. long. Ryla's doing great, mama's doing great, and we hope to be heading home this afternoon.