Homemade Fashion Fridays: I'm Back!

After a long hiatus of moving and having Noelle, I've decided to pick up my needles once again. Because my dear friend Allison told me that crochet is much faster than knitting, I decided to teach myself to crochet. This pink bonnet was my first project...finished it just in time for the cold snap to leave Houston and for the temps to reach 75. :) But b/c it's Houston, I know we will be having cold fronts all the way through April...it will get some use!

Look at me sitting in my Bumbo!

Finding her toes.

And speaking of Allison, I never posted the elephant I knitted for her sweet baby girl. Amelia was born last July and I think I mailed this out in September. What's a two month delay among friends?

Happy Valentine's Day!

Chris and I aren't much for celebrating V-day...we're kind of gooey, flower-buying, card-writing people all year round, so the holiday has always seemed a bit superfluous. But using the day as an excuse to dress up my girls in red & pink, and make cute, sparkly cards?...Sign me up!

Here's Delilah hard at work, making valentines for her classmates. I cut out construction paper hearts & wrote the words; she used a glue stick to add red & silver glitter.

I have to say I was a little disappointed that we were the only ones to hand make our valentines...I thought that was the point? But then again, I was the only parent half an hour late to the party b/c I had the start time wrong...we can't all be good at everything. :) (I add the smiley face to make it look like I don't care, but the truth is that when Red & I were walking into school and I saw some families walking out, I realized I must have gotten the time wrong and I wanted to cry b/c I felt so bad. Mommy guilt is the worst!!)

Side note: I was telling Delilah all day that we were going to a party later. I guess I never mentioned that the party was at school b/c when we pulled into the parking lot, she adamantly declared, "This not a party, Mommy. This is school!!!!!" Poor thing thought I was trying to trick her.

The kiddos all enjoyed the sugary treats.

As usual, Delilah stayed at the table long after everyone else got up to play

Miss Bertha.

Miss Tommie.

It was a beautiful day, so we played at the park after the party.

Delilah is a climbing machine.

"I did it!"

Running to play in the sand.

Grammy Di sent cute outfits for the girls, and I wanted to get a pic of them together. Since Delilah always wants to change into her princess dress or her p.j.'s the second we walk in the house, I had to throw lighting & setting to the wind and snap a pic wherever I could.

Noelle does not look like she trusts Red...but Red looks very proud! :)

And I threw in this last pic b/c of the color. When Noelle's pink curtains are closed during the day, the whole room glows with a beautiful rose color. I didn't alter the tint of this pic at all...just thought a pink picture of my littlest valentine was the perfect way to end.

Wordless Wednesdays: Noelle Doesn't Like Rock Stars

3 Months!

What?!?!? 3 Months? Impossible!!
Everyone said that time would fly once you start having children, but I never found that to be the case with Delilah. Everything seemed to happen about when it should...but trying to comprehend the fact that Noelle was born 3 months ago is nearly impossible. I've already had to start packing away clothes that she's outgrown and it makes me want to cry. No doctor's visit until 4 months, so she's unofficially about 13 pounds. And officially adorable. Hasn't rolled over again, but I have to take much of the blame. How can she ever roll over if I'm holding her all the time? Seriously, I've made an art of it. Tonight I made an entire batch of spaghetti and garlic bread from scratch and never set her down once. It's a gift.
I'm starting to really see the differences between her and Delilah and it's both fun and frustrating. Fun, b/c I get to see them both as individuals, and frustrating b/c what used to work to make Red happy doesn't always work on Noelle. Unlike Red, Noelle loves her swing (hooray), and hates to be swaddled and held close when she's upset (boo). Noelle likes to be wrapped up in her blanket, but wants her hands free. Which will probably be great once she has more control over them, but she still has a tendency to hit herself in the face, which isn't so great. :)
I am OBSESSED with the way she smells, and can't stop sniffing her sweet little head. She pouts like a champion and can stick out her bottom lip farther than seems humanly possible. Sleeps like a champion, too (thank you, God!)...takes her last feeding around 10pm, then sleeps until about 6am. I still don't sleep that well b/c I'm always half-awake, waiting for her to wake up. I'm sure I'll get used to it soon!
She is absolutely beautiful and I am so thankful that I get to be her mom. I love you, Noelle!

Rare smiling shot.  Her smiles aren't rare at all, but capturing them on camera is!

She 'talks' all the time, and this is a candid of her mid-sentence. :)

I've mentioned before that she doesn't always need to be held, but she does always need to be able to see someone. This is what happened in the time it took to walk to the trash can and throw away the "3 Months" sign. :)

"I'm adorable, dontcha think?"

Hello, Formula

This is going to be one of those posts that I'm sure won't interest anybody, but I think my girls may want to read it when they're older.

I decided on Tuesday to start Noelle on formula. I am absolutely positive that 'breastmilk is best', as they say, which is why I've nursed her for 3 months. I planned to nurse much longer, but my body is not cooperating. The left side is perfect...no pain, no issues, just like mother nature intended. But the right side seems to have a mind of its own. It's bothered me since she was born, and I've been treated for both mastitis and a yeast infection (who knew you could get a yeast infection of the breast?), but nothing is working. It feels like someone beat my right side with a baseball bat, then hooked up electrodes in order to send electrical current every ten minutes, even when she's not nursing. And when Noelle latches on, I feel like I want to scratch my own eyeballs out, it hurts so bad. I've been putting up with it, but on Monday night & Tuesday morning Noelle started spitting up significant amounts of blood...blood that was coming from ME. So I decided I'm done. I headed to the grocery store Tuesday afternoon to buy some formula and had to call two of my dearest friends for moral support.

I know that ultimately it's not a big deal and that a bazillion people have been raised on formula. But it makes me sad to be giving up that connection. And it makes me sad that, although formula is great, I can't give her the BEST. And I'm mad that half my body won't work the way it's supposed to.

But as soon as Chris gave her the first bottle, and she happily drank the whole thing, I relaxed. And I realized how tense it had been making me for these past 3 months.

And, what do you know, that side is healing nicely, and I'm still able to nurse her about 3 times a day.

I just need to keep trusting that happy mama = happy family. And THAT is what is truly best for everyone.

Poor Aggies

Last Friday, the Aggies played LSU in the Cotton Bowl. The game was in Dallas, but since the Hauschilds live in Baton Rouge, we thought it was the perfect excuse to head to Louisiana for a visit!!

Sadly, the Aggies lost, but at least they had a super cute cheerleader rooting them on. (Note to self: maroon is NOT Delilah's color...)

The rest of the weekend was spent hanging out, going to the park, playing games, and watching Delilah and Avari dress up at every opportunity.

Delilah thought Avari's toys were the best and after we went home, she spent several days telling me, "Want to go to A-vee's. Play with A-vee's toys. I want my A-vee!"

I may have said this before, but I love visiting the Hauschilds b/c it's just so easy and relaxing to be with them. In fact, on Saturday, I took a nap and I think it was the deepest sleep I've had since Noelle was born. Not the longest, but definitely the deepest. :)

I wish I could write more but having two small children is definitely affecting my blogging skills. I can't post as often, I can't make the posts as long, and I can't make the posts as coherent and eloquent as I'd like. Oh well, at least I'm still on here! :)

Thanks again for everything, Hauschilds...viva la Nighthawks!!

Happy Belated New Year!

We celebrated the New Year on time...it's just this post that is very belated!

The four of us (along with my sister and her family) headed down to Rockport to join my parents at their beach house. It was an extremely fun weekend of fireworks, football, and boat rides.

My sister has 3 boys, so they DEFINITELY had a fireworks stockpile to be envious of. I stayed inside b/c I thought it was too smoky and loud for Noelle, but Chris & Delilah joined in the fun and had a blast. Delilah was in charge of picking out which fireworks would be used next and she was very proud of her responsibility!

 

Delilah and Brenden have always been the best of buddies, but lately Ashton has been usurping Brenden's position. Here are A and Red enjoying "How to Train Your Dragon"--currently Delilah's favorite movie.

I never did get the full story, but at some point either the sink or the dishwasher or both broke. Chris, Red, & PopPop made a quick trip to Home Depot and had everything fixed up in no time!!

Here's Delilah telling us she is tired. :) She hasn't slept in a pack'n'play in about a year, but I guess it just looked too cozy to resist.

And there are no pics, but we also went on the boat a few times. Delilah LOVES going on the boat. She thinks it is so much fun and loves looking for dolphins. Absolutely no fear for this little one! There are also no pics of all the champagne we enjoyed. My parents had some neighbors over for NYE, and by the time midnight rolled around everyone was feeling 'pretty good', except for my breast-feeding self. So my dad and I decided to be a little mischievous and we hid the really good champagne (two bottles of Dom anyone?) b/c we figured everyone was too drunk to enjoy it. So at 5pm on New Year's Day, the Huntleys and the Cliftons enjoyed another champagne toast...this time, with the good stuff. :)

Happy New Year Everyone!