Bradbury Babe Update

Less than a month to go (hopefully) until Baby B #2 arrives! I'm already dilated 1/2 centimeter which is way better than I was with Isla. Baby #2 is still very active, but I feel her mostly at night now. I can tell this sweet thing is going to have her days and nights confused already. She is head down and ready for take off whenever God gives her the green light. We are hoping for smooth sailing with her arrival and that it isn't a three day excursion like it was with little Ms. Isla Rae.

Isla is making big moves too! She moved up to the Twos class at school. We have noticed such a big change in her since she turned two. She's been talking very well for quite some time, but now it's even more than words and sentences. She is having great conversations with us daily. I love it when she asks me if I had a good day... or if I'm ok.

She loves to pretend. Her favorite toy right now is her baby doll... and she is calling all of her dolls by her little sister's name. (Yes, we have decided the name, but not completely sure on the spelling so we haven't fully announced it yet).

Some of my favorite Isla words and sayings right now...

Lellow - for Yellow
BELLLLLLL---AAAA - for our dog, Bella
She changed the words to Bingo to Bella and loves singing that song now
She still loves the song 5 little monkeys jumping on the bed and also loves to sing, I'm in the Lord's army
Since I've been sick with the baby, she asks me if I'm ok nearly 100 times a day now. She is so concerned for her mommy's well being
She calls holding hands, hand hugs and loves to snuggle with me in the mornings

She is simply the best thing and medicine for my heart. Although turning two has brought on challenges and lots of emotions, I wouldn't change a thing. She is learning so much and so am I. Each day we are learning, growing and teaching one another. I love her BIG personality!

A birthday to remember...

Isla turned two on June 4th, but we had her party on Sunday, June 1st. All of our family came to celebrate our little nugget becoming a big girl. Her party was Care Bear themed. She loves the Care Bears and Strawberry Shortcake right now.

It was a beautiful day and we all had a blast! She got lots of goodies for her birthday including a tricycle, helmet, clothes, shoes, pajamas, tutu, puzzles, books and princess attire. She was beyond excited to open presents and she had more sugar in a matter of an hour than she had ever had before! Since her party, her new favorite thing is marshmallows so we are using them as prizes for potty training... which is going really well so far.

Here's some pictures from her birthday celebration...

On her actual birthday, we had a relaxing morning together and then she went to school for a few hours to celebrate with cupcakes with all her school friends. I picked her up late morning and we went uptown to have lunch with dad. She got another special treat of pizza, and decided she didn't have enough cheese so she poured dad's cheese from his salad on her pizza... looks delicious, huh?

We had a picnic in the park and then she played with all cool structures, bells and water fountains around the park.

We then had naptime, and played outside for the rest of the day. We had a great dinner together as a family and sang happy birthday to our little "baby" one last time for this year. She blew out her candle and loved eating cake. It was a very special day to all of us.

I still can't believe it's been more than two years since I first held her in my arms the first minute of her life. Time flies by so quickly and we feel so blessed to have been given the gift of parenthood these past two years! Can't wait to celebrate many more birthdays with Isla Rae!

Happy 2nd Birthday Isla!

Happy 2nd Birthday to my sweet girl, Isla Rae!

These past two years have been filled with sleepless nights, new challenges, unknown strength and patience and most importantly a love and joy that I never knew existed. A love that is so powerful and fulfilling. A love that has made me a better person and shown me the love God has for me. I have laughed through the tears and laughed until I cried on multiple occasions. These past two years have been the happiest years of my life yet and I am so incredibly grateful God has blessed me with the honor of being this very special little girl's momma. 

Isla's first two years have been so special, eye-opening and full of life! She has such a big personality and a lot of love for everyone. 

At TWO years old, she loves to sing, dance, give hugs and hand hugs, play with her baby dolls, boss Bella around, be outside, run and her newest loves are her high heel shoes and bicycle. 

Happy happy birthday Isla Rae, I love you to the moon...and back!

Praises!

On this day two years ago, my body was getting ready to go into labor. I started laboring with Isla around 6:30 pm, but she didn't make her debut until the 4th, two days later.

I can't believe it's been two years already. It's so emotional to think about. It seems when you want something to hurry up and get here, time goes by so slow. But when you want the hours, days and years to last forever, they go by in a blink of an eye.

These past two years have been the best years of my life so far. Filled with unimaginable joy, laughter, challenges and strength. God has opened my eyes and heart to a new found love. An unbreakable love I share with my husband as we parent and partner together on everything. An unconditional love I have with my daughter... as even on her hardest days, I know deep down, I will look back on these days as the best ones of my life. What amazing gifts He has blessed me with!

Isla's first two years have been such a learning experience for me too. I've learned so much about her and Joel, but also so much more about myself. I've learned I have more strength and patience than I ever thought possible. I've learned I can go on a very small amount of sleep and still manage to function. I've learned the value of "me" time. I've learned about a love I never knew before. I've learned how much my own mother loves me. I've learned more about God's unconditional love for me. I've felt a greater sense of compassion, gratitude and empathy. Children open our lives to seeing so much more if we allow ourselves to be truly present and engaged in the moments.

Twice, I was told by doctors that I would have fertility issues and likely be unable to carry a baby on my own without medical assistance. God has prevailed and reigns in my life. He has answered our prayers with not just one pregnancy, but two. As I feel baby #2 kick in my belly, I'm reminded of His love, blessings and power.

Psalm 113:9

He settles the barren woman in her home as a happy mother of children. Praise the LORD.

An Update On My Darlings...

A little behind on posting updates of my little nuggets so here's the headlines...

Isla Rae

• She's more grown up than ever before! Everything is "no, mommy...Isla do it" Then she tries for a little while and will then say, "hep, mommy, peas hep" (help, please, help) It's so cute and heart wrenching to watch her grow up so quickly. I'm savoring those hugs, clings and kisses more than ever before because I know how fleeting these moments are. 
• She loves books! She loves to read to us... she has several books memorized and to be read to. It's basically the only thing she wants to do besides playing outside.
• She loves to play outside. She is such an adventurer. She is very curious. She likes to get down really close to the bugs on the ground and investigate what they are doing and where they are crawling too. She loves to rub the bark on trees, feel the grass with her hands and feet and dig in the dirt! While I garden outside, we look for worms and I dig them out for her. She has a special Mickey Mouse shovel that she uses too. Now, she wants to look for worms all the time when we're outside! She also loves to color on the sidewalk with chalk and she likes to tell me which animals, letters or words to draw. 
• She's still a big singer. Her favorite songs are Itsy Bitsy Spider, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Jesus Loves Me, BINGO and a new one... The Ants Go Marching
• She can count to 14 now without skipping any numbers and sings her ABCs without skipping any letters. 
• I can tell she is getting taller by the way her clothes are starting to fit. She's wearing size 2T, 4 diapers and 5 in shoes. Her hair is growing a lot too and it curls up on the ends! 

Here's a few snapshots of my peanut at Easter.

Baby #2

• We have decided a name. She is no longer nameless to us and Joel and I refer to her by name now.
• She's measuring right on track for a due date of 8-7-14
• She's super duper active!! With Isla, I normally would feel her kicks and movements in the late evening and all through the night. With this little one, its non-stop all day and night. She is always moving!
• She's been easier on me than my first pregnancy. I've still been sick (in fact I got sick over the weekend) but it's not been as intense as it was the first time around and it hasn't lasted as long. 

We're so excited for baby #2 to get here and make little miss Isla a big sister! 

A big girl now...

On Friday, my little "baby" spent her first night in a big girl bed (toddler bed).

Until then, we have been a co-sleeping family and I have loved and cherished every moment of it. To be honest, it was me who wasn't ready for her to spend the night 'away' from me on Friday. I was planning on us making the transition Easter weekend when I knew we would have more time together and more time to rest if needed due to a restless night. We had been prepping for the transition for weeks though... talking about her big girl bed, making her room more fun with a star nightlight, Elmo sheets and blankets and letting her baby doll sleep in the bed overnight.

On Friday, after I put new soft sheets on her newly adorned Elmo bed, she couldn't wait to get in it! We read books as she laid in bed and something told me she was ready...even though I was not. We read 5-7 different books, turned out the lights and turned on her new nightlight that also plays music. She asked to hold my hand so I laid down beside her in the floor and held her hand with her tucked in tight with Elmo, baby doll, her stuffed dog and kitty and paci of course. She fought falling asleep for a good hour, but never cried. I slept in the floor beside her until about midnight and got up and scooted to our bed (about 10ft away from her room, if that.). She woke up once crying for us, but after a quick hug, she fell back asleep. I woke up again at 4am and found Joel asleep in the floor beside her bed. I guess we both really missed our little snuggle bug.

The next night was a little tougher as she woke up more, but last night she didn't wake up at all. She did fight falling asleep for about an hour, tossing and turning, singing, counting and doing anything she knew to keep herself awake. After she gave up the fight, she woke up at 6:40am. She's doing so well with the transition and we are so proud of her. Such a big, smart girl!

This process has proven to me one more time why we should trust, pray and not worry. I had been so worried about the transition, dreading it for months, procrastinating the inevitable transition. Once again, God has shown me that I should not worry about tomorrow, I should not worry about things outside of my control, I should not worry at all...I should pray and trust. Thank you to Him for making this a smooth transition and for His continued love and blessings on our growing family!

Differences the 2nd time around...

With baby #2, things have been different from the beginning. They say your children have distinct differences and this pregnancy has shown me that so far. While I've still been sick, I've noticed a few key differences. 

The sickness didn't last as long as it did with baby #1. With my first, I was sick until 28 weeks. And when I say sick, I mean constantly throwing up with morning sickness all throughout the day. With baby #2, I'm now at 24 weeks and while I still may get sick once a week or so, it has subsided for the most part. 

I have more energy with this baby. I'm not sure if it's because I have no other choice with a little toddler to run after or simply because my body is better prepared for what is happening, but I've had a lot of energy and been able to be proactive at work and home. 

I can feel baby #2 more. With baby #1, I could feel the kicks/movements earlier on, this time around, it took longer to feel the movement, but now I feel her constantly! It's like she is doing an Insanity workout inside my tummy. Especially at night. Fingers crossed this is not a glimpse into the future of having her days and nights confused. 

With baby #1, I over prepared...this time...no so much. I feel like I have nothing prepared. With baby #1, I was focused on the nursery, registries, name selection - everything baby related consumed my world. Obviously, I don't have as much time on my hands, but I'm still just as excited about baby #2. I think it's just that I have now experienced what it's like to bring home a new baby and I now know, I don't need to stress about her room, clothes or things. If she's anything like the first, she won't spend much time in a beautifully decorated nursery anyways.

We're beyond excited to welcome in our new little love and adorn her with just as much love and affection as we did with our first... if anything she may get a little more affection as she'll have a big sister who loves her too!

4 more months!