Happenings As Of Late:

Let me begin with Haylee's two month check-up! It went good...well, except for the vaccination part. I forgot how hard it is to go through as a parent! I told myself, "Oh, I've done this before..I'm good. I'm good." But I wasn't! I cried. Admittingly!

As of last week {her appt}, she now weighs in at 10.08 lbs, and is 22 in long. Just like Em, she is a petite little thing. Clocking in at 25% for both height and weight. But perfectly healthy and happy! Now keep in mind - she was three weeks early, and only weighed 6 lbs 9oz at birth! So in comparison, she is growing like a weed! Must be the formula! :)

I am in so much Love with this grin!

Next on my list, Thanksgiving: it will definitely be one that I will not soon forget. Long story short, that night I ended up having to go the Covington E.R. {which is really nice, by the way} for what ended up to be a gallbladder attack. Let me just say, I am not one to quickly go the doctor or hospital on a whim. So for me to head to the E.R. should clue you in on the pain I was feeling....

Today, actually, I will be meeting with a surgeon to discuss how quickly I need to get it removed. Needless to say, I am not looking forward to having surgery. Especially with two littles at home to take care of. This should be interesting! I have had about thirty people tell me that they had their gallbladder removed, and that the recovery is only about 2-3 days. Phew! That's a relief to hear!

Hello, and Good Morning!

Also, I recently found out that my Best Friend is moving back home from Wyoming! I could not be more excited about that! Let's just say that there are days when I could use a good friend around! Not to mention our kiddos will be thrilled to see each other!!

And now I have to mention my new business venture! It kind of fell into my lap, and couldn't pass up the opportunity. I recently became an Independent Consultant for a company called Thirty-One. It is a faith-based company, all about helping and supporting strong, independent women! They even have a line of products called Thirty-One Gives, where each purchase donates a portion to a charity that empowers women and girls! Right On!

And in case you are wondering what this company sells, it has a little bit of everything! 

From stationary and bags, to totes, purses and bins, to accessories and wallets, nail files and makeup bags! All of which can {mostly} be personalized. Basically, anything you need to get organized in style with, Thirty-One offers! 

 This past Friday night I held my Launch Party, and I would like to Thank everyone who came out to help me get started!

And if you know me at all, you know how much of a organizational freak I am! So this company is pretty much right up my ally! 

If you want to check it out, here is the link to the site!

Thirty-One Gifts

And last on my list, the Holiday Season! My favorite time of year has finally arrived! 

I have my decorations up, and now we just have to decorate our tree that we got yesterday! 

Now with Christmas, comes Hermy - our Elf on the Shelf! Emma absolutely LOVES him, and looking for him each morning is quite possibly one of her favorite things to do each day! 

I think I may love him as much as Em does!

Santa DOES love her!

 I am so excited to kick off this Holiday Season, and celebrate it with our newest little addition! Babies first Christmas is always so exciting, don't you agree?!

Routines and Guilt

In 5 weeks and 3 days, not much has changed around here.
Other than Haylee's first Halloween!!
 

We are still having mostly-sleepless nights. Occasionally Haylee will sleep for 4 hour stretches, which is very nice! But once she is awake, she will not go back to sleep...little stinker! She likes to wake up around 12am or so, drink a bottle and just look around. She finally falls back asleep around 3 or 4-ish. It's been rough, to say the least. But it all comes with the territory! Plus, I have finally started to settle into a routine with the Girls!

On the weekdays, I wake Em up at 7am to get ready for school. I get her fed, dressed, ready to go and feed myself. All while Haylee is {usually} still asleep. Then around 8:30am I drive her up to the bus stop, and she's off! Then I head back home, make myself a cup of STRONG coffee, do whatever I need to do around the house, take an hour to watch some t.v. alone, in the quiet! That's usually when Haylee wakes up, right on que!
I have to change her, feed her, burp her, etc...Then it's just about time to pick Em up from the bus stop, right around 12:20pm. Once we get back, it's time to make lunch.
Each day I have to go through Em's backpack to see what she has done for the day. I try to read a little with her, but that unfortunately does not happen every day.
We try to find something to do during the afternoon, for Emma's sanity! Then, it's about time to start thinking about dinner and the nighttime routine. Which I will not bore you with.

So yeah. I'm getting there...Slowly!

And as some of you may already know, I had difficulties breast feeding Emma, and it hasn't been much easier this time around. I breast feed Haylee for about a week or so, then decided to exclusively pump (due to the pain and difficulty of it). And with exclusively pumping, comes a lot of stress and a lot of commitment. Let's just say that I have my alarm set on my phone for every 3 hours. Yes, you have to pump that often, for 15-20 minutes at a time. It takes up a lot of time. But for me, it far outweighs the pains and stresses of exclusively breast feeding.

We were hoping that this time around I would be able to feed her breast milk for a long time, so that we could save money on formula. But sadly, that is turning out to not be the case. My production has been dwindling, and I have tried everything they say to try - Fenugreek, pumping on a schedule, etc...it just seems to be my bodies thing. Not producing enough.
So needless to say, I have been supplementing with formula. Luckily, I received three different cans as samples, so I have been using those up.

And about the money we thought we might save? It turns out in the long run we really won't be. :( I have been renting a pump from the hospital, so the money we would be spending on that, will end up being the money we {inevitably} spend on formula.
 We were both really hoping that this time around things would be different on this subject. I went through the exact same thing with Emma. The only difference, is that this time I did produce a little bit more. But not by a whole lot.

Yes, this is frustrating. And stressful. And I am guilt ridden. 
Not being able to provide naturally for your child, as it is intended, is a really tough thing to have to swallow {hence the guilt}. But it is, what it is. As unfortunate as that may be.

{This whole subject is so touchy, and tons of women are "judgy" on it.
So I ask nicely, that if you are one of them, please do not say a word. I do not need your negativity on top of my guilt and stress. Thank you!}