Transformation

Lately I feel like I've changed - changed as a person.  Sadly, the excess baby weight I'm carrying on the outside hasn't changed, but I've changed on the inside.

My second pregnancy was hard on me.  I wasn't down a lot with morning sickness (thank goodness, had enough of that the first go around).  But I ached more than I have ever ached in my life.  I used to wonder if someone would run me over with a bus, would that feel better than what I was going through.  I used to have extreme back pain that I couldn't do anything but lay down & cry until it went away.  Now with all that, you add in a stressful pregnancy and a small toddler, and of course there were going to be some ups & downs.

So I slacked in the mommy department.  I put on that extra movie, I warmed up whatever was in the fridge to satisfy, I did whatever I could to get us through the day.  But I didn't go that extra mile.  I wasn't that mom I dreamed about, heard about, seen in the movies & on television.  Don't get me wrong, Olivia has never been deprived of her fair share of attention in all her life.  But we just didn't do all the extras because I was too tired or too achey.

And sadly this continued into our land of "newborn-ness."  We didn't do a lot of the extras because we were tired, run ragged by feedings, diapers, a two million doctor appointments. (what, not two million.. close enough).  Side note:  we did go on plenty of trips this summer with lots of family fun, so we did do some extras.  But that took away any extra energy we were storing up for hard times.

Recently, that has changed.  We do more than we ever have.  We read more books than ever, we talk, we sing, Olivia helps me cook when time/safety permits, we go to the park, we go for walks, we dance for no reason, we load up in our "momma-mobile" & we do whatever our little hearts desire.  Life is better, life is fun.  These are the memories I will hold on to, the messes, the unplanned trips to nowhere, the laughter & sweet i love you's.  Olivia is older & is able to have a little more freedom.  Jameson will be 5 months old soon and he's truly the best baby ever.  Never hardly cries, goes with the flow.  He's still a spitter more than you can even imagine, but it doesn't phase his attitude a bit.  That makes life better as well.

Our children are our world.  We base our whole minute, hour, day, year, lives around them.  I feel better now that my mommy-mode is back.  Am I that Mom I see on tv, heck no!  But I learn from each day, & I get better each day.

*****

Some random photos I found on my camera.

Out shopping!

Being goofy in the mirrors.

Not sure which one to pick

She liked the pink heads. haha!

Bubby being a good sport.



Pushing Daisy in the stroller.



Of course Daisy had to ride every ride possible, too.  Sheesh, how did we find time for shopping.

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all ready for Wednesday night church service

Ready for church, waiting on Mom.

Park time.

Showing off her make-up!  Thanks Mamaw for buying her real makeup. {BBM Hand over Face}.

This is REAL paint, REAL paint on her, my carpet, furniture, EVERYTHING.  She found it & entertained herself after nap time instead of coming to wake me up.  Thankfully, most of the damage is gone.  Only one spot remains & we'll chalk that to visual memories.

*****

If you all haven't checked out Brittany's blog: The Story of our Rookie Years - you need to go like.. NOW.  Recipes, helpful household advice, plenty of humor.. one of my favs!  Anyway, I've tried a few recipes she's posted (she finds them, I try them. haha! Call me lazy), but this idea is my new fav.

Its a bowl made of cookie dough with ice cream inside (I put cookies & cream, talk about cookie-overload-fly me straight to heaven).  Mine doesn't look nearly as pretty (nothing I make ever does :( ), but it tastes YUMMY.  Its one of those "super easy, why didn't I think of that, but I'm so glad she did" kind of recipes.  Check out her post here.  Brittany - All of my dear family's stomachs thanks you for all your hard work.  :)

*****

Well, I'm catchin' up fast!
I'm done for the night!  Maybe tomorrow!
Goodnight, peeps! (What, they don't say peeps anymore.. WHAT-EV!)

Soccor Mom Status: Complete

Well, we did it.  I finally convinced Brandon we're a "mini-van type of family."  So after looking online for a few weeks, two Saturdays ago, we set out on the hunt.

Now there was nothing wrong with the Trailblazer, I loved it very much.  But this mom needed a less gas-guzzler & more space.  There's a lot of people out in the world that would say "ewww, I would never drive one of those."  Well good for you, that left more options out there for us.  I've always been the girl to dream of being a stay-at-home mom with a hardworking husband, quiet well-behaved kids, and a mini-van to go to & from every kind of activity & school event imaginable.  Well, now the dream is almost complete (darn, where are those well-behaved kiddos I've been looking for. haha!)  Maybe I didn't dream BIG, but at least I can say my dreams have came true.

So anyway, back to the van.  That Saturday we set out early to see what was out in the world.  Brandon has so many specifications before he'd ever walk off the lot with anything.  He's ALMOST impossible, but that's what's good about him, I guess.  I'd buy the first thing the salesman showed if it was me.  I do NOT deal well with large purchases.  We went to Bristol - Nada!  We went to Johnson City - Even Less!  We went to Kingsport - No such luck!  I was pretty discouraged & ready to pack it up.  After 5 car lots, we decided it just wasn't the time for us.

We stopped by McDonald's in Kingsport to get some lunch & let the kids stretch out since they had done so well.  Olivia made friends at the playground area in McDonald's & we were just enjoying watching her play.  We got back in the car for the drive home, and less than half a mile from McDonald's, I spotted one at a car lot we didn't even think about checking at (Granted, it was the only mini-van on the huge lot and I would spot it going 65 mph past).  We decided to give it one more go, make a u-ey, & check it out.  There it was.  *IT* was made for us.  It met Brandon's unrealistic expectations of price, mileage, year, etc.  It exceeded my expectations of dvd player, leather seats, seat warmers, automatic door openers, etc. etc. etc.  L-O-V-E, LOVE it!  Bonus points, we went to college with the salesman & he treated us right.  So that afternoon, we left the lot in our "new" (new to us, its used) Honda Odyssey.

We have found one pitfall since bringing home our new vehicle.  Since we have the extra row of seats, Olivia thinks all of her stuffed animals & babies need to come along for the ride.  And Heaven forbid we leave without buckling each & every one of them in. 

*****

We've been super busy & on the go a lot the last couple of weeks.  I'm trying to catch up, so more blogging in the near future.

Happy almost Friday, folks!!

Turn Page: New Chapter

Yesterday marked something new for us.  Livi started "school."  Well, actually its just Toddler Time at the Library, but she feels like such a BIG kid calling it school, so we go along with it.
This is new for us because other than church, its our first place actually getting ready and getting out.  Brandon scheduled his lunch so he was able to go with us the first day (since I was unsure how it was going to go, and you throw in Jameson and a Mom only has so many hands).  But it went GREAT.  She had the best time and has talked about going back ever since.

This is just what we were needing in our lives - something to look forward to, something to get us out of our pajamas.  Sometimes I get very overwhelmed staying at home all the time.  I went from college where I juggled 18 hours of classes, work as a secretary, President of sorority, captain of cheerleading, planning a wedding, marrying and playing wife (aka taking care of my hubby) TO staying at home with 2 small children all day long, every day.  And while this job is very fulfilling, important, and something that I LOVE, it can be very repetitive and mundane when I was used to a life on the go.

And for Olivia, she loves to be around other kids.  She lights up like you wouldn't believe and loves to make a friend anywhere she can.  I'm so blessed to be able to stay at home with her, but sometimes I wonder if she wouldn't rather be in daycare.  She just loves stuff like that so much.

So here it begins - a new chapter in our lives.  A real sign that in fact, our little babies are growing up.

She was so excited!!!

Her being silly face.





Don't Worry - Be Happy

Birth = Never having a good night's sleep again.

As a mom, I worry.  I probably shrug a lot more off my shoulders than other moms, but I still worry.  This is especially true at night.  Olivia has been sleeping through the night (like 12+ hours at night) since 2 months.  Jameson has been sleeping 10+ hours since 2 1/2 months old, but I, however, have not had a solid 6-8 in years.  Something's just not right about this.

During the day, I've got my to-do list in one hand and sippy cups in the other (oh, and the bottle propped up with my chin as I run around looking for my keys.  why yes, this is a daily occurance).  So when Olivia bounces her nose off the pavement (again) and she "accidently" hits Jameson with her toy, I tend not to think twice about it.  Because in the chaos of the day, there's no time to worry.  You just live with what life gives you & survive.  But at night, its a different story.  My insomnia gives me plenty of time to worry about my kids.  So as I trek through the sea of toys that barricade myself from my babies for the third time that night just to hear their sweet little breath & sleepy sighs, it gives my worries a small sense of relief.  (Although as I step on the play fork, block, and barbie along the way, my worries seem much smaller in comparison to anger, but that's a different story).

Why as mommies are we programmed to worry?  We worry when our infant has the sniffles.  We worry when a bully is mean to our kid at school.  We worry when our daughter has that first date (with an older boy, no doubt).  Now I'm assuming the last two, but I have no doubt these will occur sooner than I'm prepared for.  Daddies are programmed much differently.  I can hear my loving husband now with his "deal with life" personality.  "Shrug is off", "No sense in crying"... He would word them in a much funnier way, I'm sure, but you get the picture.  Daddies are amazing at what they do, they just don't worry.

But I guess that's part of the job.  Wanted Ad:  Mommy, a woman to feed, burp, change diapers, rock to sleep, play, snuggle, doctor boo-boos, many many other hats, and WORRY for the rest of our lives.  Welcome to Mommyhood!!

I say it many times, it must be nice to be a Daddy, but there's nothing compared to being a Mommy.

******

Jameson had an appointment with the specialist last week.  We went in for an emergency weight check since he wasn't showing much weight gain.  Once we got there, the prayers kicked in because he showed remarkable improvement.  We decided to keep doing what we're doing in hopes of continuing improvement.  Around the 4 month time frame is supposed to be the worst time for this reflux, so we're hoping we'll kick it in the next few weeks & it will start improving.  For most babies with this problem, it causes severe pain (think of constant heartburn for an infant), however for a small number, they call them "happy spitters" because it doesn't cause any pain.  You can tell my smiley little baby is definitely a happy-spitter, he's never even had the first tummy ache.  He's beyond what you would call a happy baby, that's for sure.

*****

Picture Catch-Up!!


First time eating cereal




I think he likes it. :)



Watching Sierra at her show - Of course, Daisy HAD to have her own seat

Happy 4 Months, Baby Boy!

Holding his cereal bottle all by himself

watching it rain



playing with her green car Papaw got her.




What's this?????




Too cute for words!!



Doing damage on some corn on the cob

I love her effort here. haha!

*****

Isabella (my sister-in-law's niece) turned *1* with a birthday bash at the park.  We all enjoyed ourselves so much & Isabella is just a little beauty.

What's a party without the classic "Bubby's sleeping" picture

The Birthday Girl eating her pizza





Uncle Mikey & Livi



Bubby's Awake!!!




Sweet, sweet baby girl.



They almost match



Yum!  Cake



I'm pretty sure she enjoyed it.

 

It's her party & she can cry if she wants to!
(No really, she didn't like when they took her present for her to open another one)



Watch out, Miss Diva comin' thru

*****
And more....

A Dora Band-Aid WILL save the world one day

 *****

We had an impromptu date to the park, to visit my Grandmother's, and a pit-stop to McD's drive-thru for a Happy Meal.  Oh, the simple days are the most fun!

A babydoll is much more fun to push

My Grandmother with Jameson

and with both of the kiddos.





Bubby in his jumper for the first time (notice the pillow under his feet)

Olivia now thinks you should do this to ALL babies & their things. haha!

Daddy's boy, right there. I can't wait until a few years when he'll enjoy football with Dad

*****

Another post soon to follow!
Until next time.. :)

Its all in the Name

As soon as you find out you're pregnant, you're asked the standard 3 questions.  1)  When are you due? (That's usually followed with "Whoa you're about to pop" or in my case the more annoying "Are you sure you're eating enough").  2)  Do you know what you're having?  (That's followed with why girls are better than boys or boys better than girls.. never fails).  And 3)  Do you have names picked out?

Names.  One of the toughest thing you'll ever do as a parent.  Why?  Because a name defines you.  Its a large part of what makes you YOU.  You'll hear it the rest of your life, there's no way to get around it.

With both of my kids I wanted to wait until they were born to reveal their names because as soon as you say it, you always hear "That's what this person's named their kid" or "It makes me think of this, I don't like it."  With Olivia, Brandon couldn't wait to tell.  With Jameson, I folded as soon as we finalized.  Its just not in our cards to keep such a secret.  I always say "maybe we'll do it with the third" while Brandon follows with "third what? are you crazy?" hahaha!!  (We've got a little work to do on that one).  Anyway!  In follow-up questions regarding names, people always want a story.  What led you to that name, what family member is named that.. can't people just be random these days?!?!?!

OLIVIA - I chose Olivia before I ever found out I was pregnant.  I had no idea why, just always loved the name.  It wasn't until after she was born my brother talked about how I named her after Law&Order:SVU, a show that I am completely obsessed with (its no joke, I'm watching it right now.  Side note:  I have 47 episodes saved on the Tivo that I watch constantly - Beat that!).  I guess in a round about way, yes, Olivia was named after the lead character on SVU.  So much for being random.

ASHTON - It is my middle name & a family name from my mom's side.  I HATED it as a child, I have no idea why, but I cried everytime in school when they asked me what my middle name was.  It should be a line on Alanis Morissette's "Ironic" that I named my first born child a name that I hated growing up.  Over the years, I grew to love it.  I loved that it wasn't your standard name & that it was in fact a family name.

So on Friday, April 10, 2009, Olivia Ashton Bevins came into this world and it's the perfect name for her.  Every name comes with nicknames.  Livi has stuck & has morphed into her more common name by Brandon & I "Livi-Lu."  Livi-Lu is short for Livi-Lucifer, an endearing term we refer to her as she's destroying one thing after another.

Fast forward to the next child.  Oh no, we have to choose another name.  We knew Olivia was a girl from the moment the stick said "pregnant."  With this child, again, we just knew BOY.  Boys names are tough.  There's not a lot of options other than the spell changes.  Aidan, Aiden.  Michael, Mikel.  Eric, Erik.  We wanted something not on your standard top 10 list, but Brandon & I never strive to be "different."  We like to be ordinary, normal folk that have kids with names our grandparents can say.  We soon chose Jameson & fell in love.

JAMESON - I'm so sorry to disappoint, he is NOT named after the whiskey, porn star, or hotel chain.  I guess it would be a more interesting story if he was.  His name was initially chosen as random as they come, off the baby name list & its the ONLY name we could agree on.  Brandon did have a fraternity brother whose last name was Jameson, but you know guys, everyone called him "Jameson."  So I guess that maybe influenced our decision a little.

BLAKE - Choosing a middle name was the hardest decision.  Nothing goes with Jameson.  We chose Blake because its the ONLY name that sounded good to our ears.  Jameson is also a little formal, so I wanted to be able to call him JB if it stuck.  Its not stuck yet.

Friday, April 15, 2011, Jameson Blake was born.  Around here we simply call him "Bubby."  I have translated that into "Bubby-Boo" because it sounds so good with Livi-Lu.  That's turned into Bubby-Boo-Boo, or just Boo-Boo. haha!  We very rarely call him Jameson around here, although I really do love the final choice of his name.

Have I done good with their names, only time will tell.  (If they change their name on their 18th birthday, I guess that will be an epic fail, but we have at least 16-18 years to find out).  I wonder what their friends will call them in school.  Will he be referred to as Jameson, will they call her Livi, or will they come up with something crazy (my brother's name is Michael, but he was lovingly referred to as "Trash" in high school, it was a basketball thing).  I can't imagine any other names being strung across their rooms other than Olivia & Jameson.  As their mother, I think its simply perfect.