Fall is upon us

My favorite time of year is here! I love fall because it is just cold enough for a light coat, a pair of cute boots and a nice little fire to roast marshmallows!  On the flip side I do get homesick this time of year too, the holidays are around the corner (along with heaps and heaps and heaps of snow) and I look back and  remember this time of year in AZ when the heat starts to subside and its so refreshing to be able to go outside again. 

On to other things, Maverick is almost 9 weeks now and growing so fast! He is in the 91 percentile for height....I am wondering if he was switched at birth except for the fact that he is like Kyles identical twin.  He is so smiley and just loves to babble, he very much likes to be a part of the family and cant stand it if he is left out.  Hannah is the best big sister, she is so protective and makes sure to let everyone know as she says it "he is my baby Maverick".  Hannah also got measured recently, she is in the 11th percentile for height....pretty soon Hannah and Maverick will be the same height lol. 

Here are some pics of the goings on this fall....

                                           At the pumpkin farm...those are corn kernels....only in Iowa

                                                                playing in rain puddles

Projects

So Kyle has had a nice paternity leave from work, he has not sat still! We have accomplished some big projects one of them being the newest addition to Iowa Sheds, the Iowa Sheds Clubhouse, designed and built by Kyle.  We are super excited about these cute little houses and hopefully they will be a hit.  It was really fun working on the house too, we made it a family affair. 

                                                  Maverick doing his part overseeing the project

                                             Um yes this is Hannahs new permanent outfit

Its been 4 weeks!

Oh my 4 weeks has already passed and I am more tired than ever.  I think 4 weeks is the peak of exhaustion. Maverick has been so completly different than Hannah I feel like a brand new mom all over again learning things I never knew.  Hannah was pretty easy, she would just eat and sleep, eat and sleep, not Maverick! Poor baby spits up non stop, cant sleep unless upright, and cries uncontrollably at night so we took him to the peditrician.  Turns out he has acid reflex so now he has medicine which has mildly helped but I have read that the condition improves around eight weeks...only four more weeks to go! Other than his acid reflex he is a good baby, Kyle can already get him to smile and he is full of funny faces.  It has not only been a month of new baby but also a month of family members from AZ.  Hannah has absolutly loved all the extra attention and gifts and I enjoyed the help for sure, but now its time to get back to life.  This week Kyle and I are starting our 90 day challenge.... goal is better than pre baby body, same for Kyle, he gained some sympathy weight :).  We are doing the 90 day challenge from Body by Vi, we have only heard good things and day 1 went well so far. The exception, today kyle did make honey nut pancakes for my birthday breakfast!

                                                        Maverick at 4 weeks old

                                             With Haley going to get Grammy and  Megan

                                          Hannah with just a few of her presents from Grandma

                                             Hannah showing Maverick how its done!

such a good little shopper!

                                                      She wants to be the baby

Stationery card

Modern Introduction Boy Birth Announcement

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2 Weeks and A Day

Two weeks and two days ago we drove to the hospital to be induced.  I was so excited and so anxious and so done waiting to meet my little boy.  It felt like that day had taken forever to get here but now time seems to go so fast! The induction, which I was totally nervous about (hearing all kinds of bad things) actually went extremely well.  I can credit my midwife for a good portion of the labor experience and recommend a midwife to anyone who is pregnant with no complications.  They started pitocin at 6:30 on the 22nd and Maverick arrived at 7:47 am on the 23rd.  He came into the world crying like no other and continued that for the first hour or so.... a stark contrast to Hannah, she came into the world with a pouty lip and no tears.  I am not sure if its boys are different than girls or just each baby is different but he is from minute one the grumpiest looking baby but so adorabley grumpy I love it. He came out the exact same size as Hannah, 7lbs 10oz and a quarter of an inch longer at 20 inches.  I forget how tiny they are, it is hard to remember Hannah so small so I am really trying to soak up this newborn stage and accept the lack of sleep a part of the beautiful little tiny sweet stage.  Hannah is doing great as the big sister and tries to help as much as possible, sometimes more than needed... but she just wants to do a good job :).  She is so funny, she tells everyone we meet or see that she likes her brother but he cries too much.  I am excited to see them become closer as he grows and they can play.  Here are a few pics from the first couple weeks.

                                                                   His Grumpy Face

                                                         My Beautiful Babies Sleeping

Just waiting......

Only two weeks away from the due date of our little boy.  It seems so long yet when it gets here it will feel it happened so fast.  Aside from being excited to have my body back to myself, I think I am most excited to see Hannah become a big sister and how she will react.  She has her moments where she annoyingly pushes on my belly and says "I dont want him to come out" but other times she is asking me "when will he be here?".  I have had her help me every step of the way so she feels the importance of her duty as a sister, from painting the baby room to folding the onsies she has been awesome so far. 

Aside from waiting for the baby I have been super busy with everything I am starting, as of September 1st Glitz Floral Designs will official open, however, I am already booking weddings for next year! Super exciting yet a little overwhelming how quickly its coming together.  Kyle has been putting together my site and I just got my business cards.  For some reason these business cards were more exciting to me than any business card I have ever had my name on, I think something to do with the fact that its all my own.  In addition to Glitz Floral I also just became a Thirty One consultant which so far seems like it will be a lot of fun and rewarding, I will share more once I really get into all of it, first I must have this baby!

Only 5 weeks left!

                                                                        Me at 35 weeks                                                     

and yet 5 weeks sounds like way too long! We have all the important stuff done, the baby room painted, crib up and clothes in the closet.  I go in his room everyday and look at the little clothes and move things around and imagine what it will be like to have him.  I keep reminding myself to enjoy this time with Hannah and just Hannah before things get hectic but it seems my energy is not matching hers and we spend most days with her begging me to play or go outside and me replying with "mommy is tired, cant you play on your own?" Hannah is very excited or so she says, she loves helping with putting away his things and when we are  out shopping she will say "mom this is cute  for baby brother" or "when will he be here mommy?". 

Okay so I know everyone wants to see the baby bump!

I finally have a picture of myself pregnant! I am just over 24 weeks and we now know we are having a boy.  I dont have the ultrasound pics on the computer yet but I will post those soon.  Oh and excuse the messy room in the background!

This small town life.

Five years ago if someone told me I would be living in Iowa on acreage in a town smaller than Gilbert when all cities within a 75 mile radius are combined I would say you are nuts and where is Iowa even located? I actually more so imagined myself in a contemporary condo of some sort walking distance to starbucks and shopping in a city somewhere.... anywhere with cool shops and stuff to look at and do, oh yeah and some kind of waterfront too!  But here I am.  I will admit the adjustment was hard on some days primarily because I missed my family...oh and Chandler mall too....and a few other things... (pita jungle,zipps, etc. lol) , but I have come to really enjoy and appreciate so much that I never imagined.  This weekend Hannah and I planted our first garden, something in Arizona I probably would not have done, mostly because I had so many other things to do and places to go.  I feel like I have been dropped back into the fifties and life is slower here which I can definetly use since Hannah is growing up so fast!! None of this is to say that the country life is mine forever, but I do know that here is where we will make some of the best memories of our lives. 

Hannah is just getting started....

                            Helping daddy on the tractor! This is by far her favorite thing to do right now

And one more makes four!

Yes thats right we will be a family of four in 7 months! Baby Hane number 2 is currently baking and we couldnt be happier! Two weeks ago we went in for our first ultrasound and determined the estimated date of arrival is August 16th, 2011.  Im not quite sure if Hannah fully understands but she has started calling the ultrasound picture "baby sister"....maybe she is on to something....we will be excited boy or girl and cant wait to find out. Sorry the picture is a little blurry...Hannah has had her sticky little fingers all over our camera lens recently....oh the joys of toddler hood!

Hannah Loves Hockey

                                         She was too busy yelling with the crowd to smile

So a couple of weeks ago we took Hannah to her first hockey game.  I was a little worried if it would be too noisy or if she would want to stay in her seat, to our suprise she loved it! It was so sad when we left she was crying and crying and saying "I want more hockey" so sweetly as tears rolled down her eyes.  She was devastated... she is truly Kyle's little girl.  Here are some pictures from her experience.

So here I am again...

I recently created a blog know as the Vanilla Mom Blog, but I have decided to switch over to blogspot.  First of all wordpress is very complicated for someone who is not super computer savvy and I was having problems uploading pictures and such.. a little frustrating.  Anyways I am happy to say the blog spot has been super simple! I look forward to sharing and posting over the next year and keeping everyone updated on what is going on in our always changing life.

lol...I thought this was funny.... :)