A Growing Girl!

Our baby girl is growing!  Because she's the second child I am only posting her updates every three months.  I just want to make sure she really understands that she is the second child.

 

All kidding aside, Lydia is a beautiful, happy, baby girl!  She smiles and coos at anyone who will talk to her.  Even her teachers at school talk about how she is always happy and hardly ever fusses.  They call her "the precious one".  That I can't deny :)  Even at home, she really only cries when she is hungry or tired.  The rest of her time is spent laughing at Big Brother and cooing at her mommy and daddy.

 

Here she is at 1 month

 

 

And 2 months

 



 

 

At her two month check up she weighed in at 11 lbs, 8 oz and 23 inches long. Grow baby Grow!  She is as healthy as can be.  We are so thankful for a healthy baby girl!

 

At three months you are still eating like a champ!  She has really put on some weight and I can't wait to hear how much she weighs at her four month doctor's appointment.  You are so chunky, baby girl, but that just means more for Mommy to kiss!

 

Big Brother still loves to hug and kiss on Lydia.  He loves to sing to her too, especially when you are crying.  His go-to song when you are crying is "Jesus Loves Me."  It is the sweetest thing.

 

One morning as we were frantically getting ready to go to work and school, I paused because I heard the sweetest sounds coming from our room.  James was leaning over Lydia's bassinet and singing "You are My Sunshine" to her.  Lydia was just looking up at James and taking in every word of the song.  Mommy's heart melted on the spot.  James is such a great big brother.  He has really put all his heart into being a Big Brother.  I just hope it continues for many years to come.

 

Here are some more up-to-date pictures of sweet girl

 

Fourth of July

 

Kisses from Daddy



Hanging with Daddy at the Zoo.





Lydia Emily Wallace

 

 

On Wednesday, April 8th, 2015 our sweet Baby Lydia was born at 10:29.  She weighed 7 lbs, 7 oz . and was 19.5 inches long.  She is so beautiful and we are so in love with this sweet thing.

 

The delivery went so smoothly and so fast this time around.  Her actual due date was April 10th but the closer it got, the more miserable this momma became.  So, we made the decision that if she had not come by April 8th, we would induce her delivery.  The Monday before, I went to the doctor to check on her progress.  He said that I was already 3 centimeters dilated so inducing would be no big deal at all.  Music to my ears!

 

The night before her delivery I was having some mild contractions so I was not surprised to hear that I was 4 centimeters dilated when I arrived at the hospital the next morning. Already on the way!  They started the induction around 7:30 a.m. and she was born just three hours later!  With James, I was in labor for almost 12 hours so time flew by this time.  Another difference in Lydia's delivery was the amount of times I pushed.  With James, I pushed for over an hour.  With Lydia, I pushed maybe three times?  She was so ready to come out into the world that I wasn't even allowed to push until the doctor arrived.  Easy!  The only downside of having a baby that quickly was that the epidural did not have enough time to truly set in.  I was in a good amount of pain towards the end of delivery but luckily, it didn't last long. Phew!

 

Here are some more pictures of her birth day:

 

She looked so much like James when she arrived, it was uncanny

 

 

 

Meeting Daddy.  She already has him wrapped around her finger :)

 



Meeting Nannie

 

First bath in the hospital.  Not a fan.



Sweet Girl

Meeting KoKo



 

Later that day, Big Brother James came to meet his baby sister.  At first, he was unsure of the situation.  I think seeing Mommy in a hospital bed was a little frightening at first.  There were some tears but then he held her... he was in love!



 

My stay in the hospital was in a way... relaxing.  No laundry, or cooking, or cleaning to do.  However, I missed my James so much.  On the day of discharge, I was so ready to get home to him!  I arrived to hugs and kisses from my sweet big boy!



So much excitement from Big Brother!

 

Sweet Lydia, you are so loved!  You fit in perfectly to our family.  You were the missing piece and now our family is whole.  We love you so much!

 



Holiday Wrap-Up

 

Since it's been awhile since I've posted anything on the blog, I'm going to do a wrap-up of the last couple of holidays that I haven't blogged about.  I really want to document every special occasion of our lives so I can reminisce in a few years as I read my past blog posts.  So, here it goes...

 

 

Christmas

 

This Christmas was such a special one. It was the first Christmas in our new home. James was older and really started to understand the traditions of Christmas.  Mainly the tradition of Santa Claus and that he was going to be getting toys and books on Christmas day.  The whole month of December, we tried to do activities that were Christmas-related so that he would understand.

 

My parents came to visit the day before Christmas Eve.  James was so excited that they were here!  On Christmas Eve, KoKo came over and we all had a great dinner with beef tenderloin, potatoes, and pecan pie!  This  is definitely a tradition I would like to continue every year.  It was delicious!

 

On Christmas morning when James woke up, he was so excited to see what Santa had brought him.  Santa really out did himself this year and spoiled James completely.

 

 

James loved everything!   He was so excited looking at everything.  He would "ooh" and "ahh" at it all!  He got right in his new car and checked it out. What he found (much to our surprise) was that the car had a radio in it.  He loved to turn it up and dance to whatever song was playing.  Hopefully, that isn't a sign of what's to come in about 14 years.

  I'm going to have to have a discussion with Santa about not giving James nicer stuff than what his dad and I have :)

 



 

He started driving the car in the house that morning but didn't really understand the idea of steering.  It was hilarious!

 

Later, we took the car outside for a test drive.  We laughed so hard as he tried to figure out how to push the pedal and steer!  We worked on our technique in the coming months.

 

Then, months went by.  Tax season was in full-swing and my belly grew by an inch every day. 

 

Easter came upon us.  We didn't have a lot of plans for Easter since we did not know if Baby Girl would make her debut before Easter.  She decided to stay put for a little while longer.  In the mean time, James hunted Easter eggs and we prepared for the birth of our second and last child.

 

James loved hunting for eggs.  We just hid them in our backyard and he had a blast!  He would get so excited every time he would find one.  So much joy!

 

 

Love the look on his face here...

 

 

Found another one!



 

Afterwards, he opened them to find some had some surprises in them.  Mommy was surprised to find that some had candy in them from last Easter.  Did not notice before hiding them.  Next, year, we will just buy all new eggs.  Ooops.



 

On Easter morning he woke up to find that the Easter bunny left a trail of Easter eggs leading from his room to his Easter basket.  He love it!  He was so excited about his basket!

 



 

 

Of course, he found more candy in the eggs and was eating chocolate before 7:00 a.m.

 



 

He put on his new sunglasses that the Easter Bunny brought him and wore them all day!  Even to Cracker Barrel where we went with KoKo for Easter brunch.  Judge all you want but I was not about to cook or clean since I was 9 months pregnant and Lydia could come any day now!

 



 

This sums up the day.  Happy 2 year old after loads of candy and pancakes with syrup.  Sugar overload makes a happy toddler!

 

I really enjoyed the last holidays as a family of three.  I tried to soak up every minute and memory that I could.  Some moments weren't as good as others since I was very pregnant towards the end.  However, I will never forget these last celebrations with James as an only child.  He's the one who made me a Mommy.  I love him more and more everyday.

 

Now that Baby Lydia has arrived (blog post coming soon), we are looking forward to the next chapter in our lives.  We can't wait to celebrate every holiday from here on out with both of our children.  Every moment is precious. 

 

The days are long but the years are short.



The Months Before Christmas

I know it's been a long time since I last posted something on this blog.  It saddens me that I am not documenting James' milestones and toddler years but I am going to do my best to do a quick summary of things that have been going on around year since the last time I posted.

 

James is growing into such a sweet young boy.  He can be so sweet to his mommy and loves giving me kisses and hugs, especially in the morning.  I'm trying to cherish every moment of being with him.

 

This is not to say that every moment is blissful and calm.  He is two, ya know.  And sometimes, the TWO in him comes out!  Dinner times are rough around the Wallace household most nights.  It has become something I dread.

 

 

Back to sanity...since our beach trip, we have been having so much fun exploring the world with James.  We had our two-year check up which confirmed he's a growing boy and healthy!

 

 

We also made a BIG announcement...

 

We went to the pumpkin patch to pick out our very own pumpkin!

 



 

James loved the hunt for the perfect pumpkin

 

More than that, he loved the hay ride!

 



 

After the hay ride and a much needed snack of funnel cake, James kept pointing to the ponies and saying "Ride!".  I thought we would just bring him to the ponies to he can see them and maybe even pet one, but he kept saying "RIDE!"  So, with hesitation, we put him on a pony.  He LOVED it!  The man in charge called him a "real cowboy".  Cutest cowboy I've ever seen.

 



 

We moved right before Halloween into a new house.  We chose a quick and easy costume for James, a firefighter.  He didn't want to wear the jacket, so he just looked like this.  You kind of get the idea, right?

 





 

 

Before the Thanksgiving holiday, we found out we were having a baby GIRL!  We were thrilled!

 

My very sweet and talented cousin took these pictures of our gender reveal.  Isn't she the best?

 

 

We are so excited to have a baby girl in our family!  I know she is going to be so loved and I can't wait to meet her in less than 4 months!

 

For Thanksgiving, we went down south to visit my family.  We finally got to meet my newest nephew, Joseph.  He is so sweet and such a good baby.  James loved holding him too! He would tell everyone, "My Baby!" when someone tried to take him away.  He was so sweet to Joseph!  I think he's going to be great big brother :)

 

 

When we returned from Thanksgiving vacation, we were in the Christmas spirit!  Every weekend, we have been doing activities related to Christmas.  We went to the Christmas Parade in Mountain Brook Village.  James had a great time on Daddy's shoulders.

 



 

They handed out ice cream sandwiches.  Ice cream and a cookie all in one??  James is in heaven!

 



 

He waved to Santa when he came by on the Fire Truck!

 



 

This Christmas holiday has already been so much fun with James.  He loves looking at Christmas lights and singing Christmas carols.  His favorite is of course, "Jingle Bells".  He sings it all the time!

 

I am really looking forward to Christmas day when James wakes up and sees what Santa brought him.  He is so sweet and so excited about everything.  I know this year is going to be a special one.