Sick Hubby

Patrick has been home sick with pink eye (don't tell him I told you) for the past 2 days and as sorry as I feel for his poor, miserable eye, it has been nice to have him around so much. Normally he is gone from 7:30am until 5:30pm Monday-Friday so it has been great to have 4 consecutive days with him, even though he couldn't help out with the kids - we don't want him germing them up and giving them pink eye. ;)

Connor has loved having Daddy around too! He is finally getting over his sicky funk (he was miserable with a high fever for 4 days last week) and getting back to his normal self. I love that he is better, but is it sad that I miss his cuddlebug-ness? He is such a stinker these days! Terrible twos is an understatement! I think a lot of times, kids' behavior is a reflection of parenting, but I swear I don't put up with tantrums....EVER! And yet Connor feels the need to challenge me every.single.day. He throws tantrums, has been hitting lately, screams...you name it, he does it! And then as quickly as it starts, its over and he is back to being the world's cutest 2 year old. ::sigh:: I LOVE this stage that he is in. He says the most adorable things in the most ridiculously cute little voice. He is a little lover - both to Pat and I, and to Mya. He is funny and loves to make people laugh and yet at the same time, he is so shy and clingly when it comes to strangers. And yet with all of these wonderful things, this has easily been the HARDEST stage we have gone through so far. We just haven't found a form of discipline that really works for him. Threats - NO. Time-out - NO. If-then - NO. Yelling - NO. Calm, "let's talk it out" approach - NO. He is just so stubborn. Sometimes it's all I can do to not just break down and cry during one of his tantrums (which trust me, I did plenty of while I was pregnant). I am just praying that Mya is a little easier on me....and that Connor grows out of this stage soon! Anyway, pictures of my little McNuggets?! You got it. ;)

Blogging Take Two

I used to blog fairly regularly when Connor was a baby but it seems that the older he got, the less often I posted until eventually, I gave up all together. I didn't give much thought to ending my blogging days and we went on about our lives. About a month ago, I randomly opened up that old blog and started reading through and I wept like a baby. It has been so long (or at least it seems that way) since I have witnessed his babiness, it melted my heart. At the same time, I was so grateful to have all of those stories, videos, and photos preserved forever. Reading through, there were stories that I vaguely remember and haven't thought about, it was amazing to have those refreshers. So anyway, now that baby #2 is here, I have decided to get back in the game. Even if this blog doesn't score a single follower, it will be nice to have this to look back on later.

Without further ado, I would like to introduce the newest member of our family, Mya Brynn. Little Mama surprised us 5 weeks early and was born Friday, December 9, 2011 weighing in at 5 lbs 5 ounces and 19 1/2 inches long.

Good sized baby for being early. We were so fortunate to have had a completely healthy baby girl born at 35 weeks. She had a very minor breathing issue and was in the oxygen helmet for a few hours, but never required anything more. They kept her on a heart monitor and an IV for 48 hours due to hospital policy but she didn't experience any other complications. She was born at 9:57 Friday night and we were released around 1pm on Monday - TOGETHER! I was over the moon when they said she could come home with me. When she was born, they anticipated her having complications that would keep her longer, but then every time they checked her, she was thriving. My little rockstar. :)

She is 11 weeks old today and sweet as can be. She looks SO much like Connor when he was a baby! She is fussy lately, but then has so much personality at the same time. She is smiling and cooing and melting my heart at least 45 times a day. :)

A random Connor bathtub picture because he is adorable!

Connor is an amazing big brother. I'll admit that I had a lot of anxiety prior to her being born about how he would react. I haven't worked since he was born so he has gotten 100% of my attention for the past 2 1/2 years. I wasn't sure how he was going to adjust to having to share me with a tiny screaming human being. He was extremely stand off-ish for the first week. Whenever she would cry he would say, "She needs her mommy daddy." He didn't quite understand that we were her mommy and daddy too. About 2 weeks in, he really started to come around and now he absolutely ADORES her. He has a baby voice and says things like " Hi baby girl!" and "What doin' princess?" ::swoon:: I couldn't be happier with the relationship they have right now. :)

Alright, to conclude my first post on the new blog, a few more pictures for fun to catch us up to current day. ;)

Oh and PS...I apologize for the cheapo blog layout right now. I am patiently waiting my turn for an amazing new layout from Jumping Jax Designs. Hoping to have it in a few weeks.