Eisley-2 Months

It is hard to believe that we are already 2 months into being a family of 4! It is crazy how she already looks so "big" to me and not like an infant anymore. I love all the chunk and rolls she has! It is just so cute! This month has been pretty crazy for this mommy and daddy. I find myself looking back at Tyler's monthly posts and am realizing all the information that I didnt record so forgive me if these are more detailed. I just want to remember everything...good AND bad! The first month and a half of Eisley's life were very difficult. She would just scream and scream and Brian and I would spend our evenings holding her while pacing around the house trying to get her to calm down and sleep. Nothing worked! All this time I am reading on social media about all my other friends that have recently had babies and how they just love their new baby and how he/she is so sweet and happy. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love Eisley but I just was not having the same experience as "everyone" I was seeing on Instagram. My baby was not happy and content...I spent my days and nights trying to figure out how to make her happy and most of the time it didn't work. I know during that time I also posted sweet pictures on social media but I wanted to make sure and clear things up...I was struggling! We were trying EVERYTHING we could think of and nothing seemed to work. Finally we decided since we weren't getting much sleep we should just go ahead and transition her to her crib. What could it hurt?! I think the first night I caved and gave up but the next night I took her to her room, turned off the lights, swaddled her, and turned on the sound machine. I fed her and then she fell asleep!!! Praise the Lord! I put her in her crib with a little "shushing" she was out! That is the first time since she was born that Brian and I actually sat on the couch ALONE and had a conversation without a screaming baby. I feel like that was the turning point for us. I don't know if it is the routine, the fact that I eliminated dairy from my diet, or that she is just getting older but it has worked every night since. There have even been a few times she has woken up and fallen back to sleep with almost no crying. I can not tell you how much of a difference this has made for us. I am hoping that Eisley had colic and that we are finally over the hump and on our way to a much happier baby! Thanks to everyone that has let me vent and checked in on us during this time. Again, I don't want to sound like I am complaining but I need to be honest and real. Plus, if this can encourage any other mommies that are struggling through the newborn stage it is worth it. 

Alright now on to some pictures from this past month! 

 

This is a picture of my dad (left) and Brian (right) wearing my robe. For a while this was the only thing that comforted Eisley. We were DESPERATE! :) 

The struggle is real guys!

Weight: 12 lb (95th %)

Height: 24 inches (95th %)
Head: 39.3 cm (65th %)

Food: Breastfeeding every 3 hours during the day and 3-4 hours at night. Typical feeding schedule is 7am, 10am, 1pm, 4pm, 7pm, and 2am. She is a fast eater and only nurses for about 20 minutes total! 

Sleep: Takes a long nap after the 7 am feeding in her swing and then typically naps after every feeding. However, she doesn't nap after the 4pm feeding so she is nice and tired for bedtime. Just 2 weeks before turning 2 months she decided to start an actual bedtime routine where you go to sleep (in her room) around 7:30. She was waking up twice (12:30 and 4:30) until a few days before turning 2 month and now she is only waking up at 2:30...WOHOO!!! 

Clothes: 3 months and size 1 diapers but I have a feeling we are moving up to size 2 soon!

Likes: being held by her mommy, sleeping in the swing, smiling and cooing, the mobile at Mimi's house

Favorite Mommy Moment: It is so fun having "conversations" with her. She loves to talk in the morning after her first feeding so we sit and talk and it is just precious!

Easter 2015

This year we spent Easter in Dallas splitting time between both families. Saturday morning we headed to Rockwall to hunt Easter Eggs with Tanner & Hadley and then had lunch. We headed home in time to nap Tyler and then head to the 5pm service at The Village. 

Then on Sunday we headed to the Pattillo's to have lunch and hunt eggs with Jackson & Will. Next year we will look forward to Carson and Eisley participating. I just hope Eisley can hold her own with all these boys! :) It was a great weekend spending time with our families and reflecting on the blessing we have in our risen Savior! He is Risen! 

Reading the Easter story with Grammy!

Prize Eggs!

Tyler-isms

Tyler says the funniest and most random things and I don't want to forget this cute stage. I decided to dedicate a blog post to write down all of the fun things he says so I don't forget! 

-"Every time I put on my boots it makes me feel proud." 

-"Mommy, do you toot?"

-"Mommy, you are Pampers Swaddlers. I saw that on a commercial."

-"What did you learn at church today?" "God has big muscles just like me!"

-"Mommy I need a friend to play with." "Tyler you are Mr. Social." "No mommy, I'm a MAN!"

-Tyler looked at Eisley and said "You're beautiful!" Melts my heart :)

-Tyler found a screw on the back porch and brought it to me. I said "Thanks Tyler" and he responded "You're welcome my precious!" 

-"Mommy I have boobies too but they don't make milk." 

-"The couch is really dirty. You need to lawn mower it."

-"Mommy, I really love you. I love you so much so lets do something together like watch TV." 
-"I love you but I love daddy more. He likes to wrestle."

-"Daddy told me if you see someone with a big tummy don't tell them they look like Santa because it hurts their feelings." (3 1/2 years old)

-A couple weeks ago I was watching the Taylor Swift music video for "Out of the Woods" on my phone. I let Tyler watch it with me but he was only interested for about 10 seconds. Today the song "Out of the Woods" came on the radio and out of no where Tyler said "Hey mom! Is that Taylor Swift? We watched that video when we were at Mimi's house!" (3 1/2 years old)

-We were playing an animal guessing game in the car where one of us tells clues and the other guesses the animal. Tyler clues were "They have hips and no toenails." I asked him if he had "hips" and he said "No I have hands!" I guess he was meaning the animal has hooves! (3 1/2 years old)

-Eisley was pulling on my hair and Tyler said "Mommy, maybe she is trying to pull out your grandma hairs!" (week before he turned 4)

-On Tyler's 4 year old birthday we were putting him to bed and reading a Bible story. He stopped Brian in the middle of the story and said "Daddy, when I get older I'm going to get a big penis." 

-"Mommy I love the sister you got me at the hospital." (4 years old)

Eisley-1 Month

Wow...it is hard to believe that we have been a family of 4 for a entire month! I know I am her mommy but I think Eisley is just the cutest little thing. 

Brian and I have come to the conclusion that we just make babies that like to cry...a lot! Her best time of day is typically the morning and early afternoon. After 4 pm there is no telling how the day will go. For example, last night she screamed from around 9-midnight. Yep..not so fun. Because Tyler was such a hard baby I feel more prepared this time around. That doesn't mean that its easy but I do feel less stressed and frantic when she is fussy. 

She is such a good eater and in fact Dr. Berkowitz was surprised at how quickly she not only gained but surpassed her birth weight by her 2 week check up. She has the cutest leg rolls :). I feel like she already look so much bigger than she did when she was born. It is crazy how quickly babies change! We did start trying bottles and she has done great! I think she just enjoys eating and doesn't really care where it comes from or how she gets it. I am so thankful for this because Brian and I are heading to Mexico in a couple months without our kids and I needed her to take a bottle. 

We are slowly getting back into our normal routine and getting out more and more. I still am trying to be careful just with all the sickness going around. We have gone on a few walks, to Target, the park, and MOPS meetings. She has done great even if it does take us about 20 minutes to get loaded up and in the car :). 

We love you so much Eisley and can't wait to watch you grow up! 

Weight: 9lb 5oz (as of 2 weeks..not sure how much she weighs now)

Food: Breastfeeding every 3 hours during the day and 3-4 hours at night. Typical feeding schedule is 6am, 10am, 1pm, 4pm, 7pm, 10pm, and 2am. She has reflux like her big brother did so she is taking medication twice a day for that and it seems to help. 

Clothes: Newborn, 0-3 months, we already moved up to size 1 diapers

Likes: being held by her mommy (sweet but kills my back!!), sleeping in the swing, being in the k'tan, looking at the tv, being held and wrapped up in my robe.

Favorite Mommy Moment: I love having a little girl and seeing all the pink! It is so fun looking through her clothes even though she pretty much stays in pjs :). 

Here are some pictures from our first month with Eisley!

Eisley Beth is Here!

It is hard to imagine that Eisley is finally here. I feel like I was so anxious to meet her and quite honestly getting pretty impatient the last few weeks of my pregnancy. My pregnancy with her was much different than my pregnancy with Tyler...however, I can't complain because neither were all that bad. I definitely gained more weight this time around (about 10 more pounds) and I don't know what sister was doing inside of me but she would move and stretch my belly in some of the strangest positions. Once she was in the down facing position she liked to stretch her little legs out and kick right under my rib cage and it was so painful. I am just getting to the point where touching that spot on my skin isn't painful. Another thing that was different is how much sleep I was able to get the last few weeks. While pregnant with Tyler I slept great but this time I had so much trouble sleeping and spent many nights on the couch sleeping basically sitting straight up. I can't even begin to tell you how much I am LOVING sleeping on my back again! :) Anyways...now on to her birth story!

Since Tyler was a week early I feel like I was expecting the same from Eisley. WRONG! This just made the last few weeks go by even slower, I think. Monday (Feb. 9th) I went in for my 40 week appointment and was only dilated to about 1 cm. I was so disappointed especially since my doctor told me that she was taking Tuesday off and wouldn't be there if I delivered on Tuesday! She missed Tyler's birth because it was on a holiday and I was so hoping she would be there to deliver Eisley. I mean that is why we decided to drive all the way to downtown to deliver our babies! 

Later that afternoon a friend invited us to the park so Tyler and I headed out after his nap. At that point in the day I had begun to feel some cramping but nothing that made me feel like I was in labor. As the night continued I began to feel more of a "rhythm" to my contractions but it was Monday night and I wanted to watch The Bachelor and eat a good dinner. I called my doctor to see what she thought and she said to just wait for the contractions to become consistent and then quickly head downtown. Once The Bachelor was over I began timing them and they were about 2 minutes apart and lasting around 30 sec-1 min long. They still weren't really painful but I could tell they were progressing. With Tyler, my water broke and he was born 5 hours later so we knew not to mess around laboring at home this time. Oh I forgot to mention that Brian's parents came and got Tyler around bedtime just in case we ended up going to the hospital that night. (Good thing they did!)

We loaded up the car and headed downtown. The last 2 contractions in the car were really painful so I knew we needed to hurry. We got to the hospital and I was already between 5-6 cm dilated. I lasted about an hour and then was begging for the epidural. Once the epidural kicked in they came to break my water and I was already 10 cm. They called my doctor and she arrived around 2:30am on Tuesday morning. I pushed through 2 contractions and she was out! She was 7 lb 14 oz and 20 3/4 inches long. She (like Tyler) had the cord wrapped around her neck twice. Scary! Thankfully everything was ok and we have a precious and healthy baby girl! Welcome to the family Eisley!

 

Tyler at 2 1/2

I know this blog is about to be flooded with pictures and updates on Eisley (since she is due any day now) so I wanted to do a quick update on Tyler. He is seriously in such a fun stage and I don't want to forget all of the sweet/silly things he is doing right now!

• bedtime is 7:30 although he will roll around talking to himself and not fall asleep until usually between 8:30-9:30. he wakes up between 6-7 but we don't get him until 7 no matter when he wakes up. 
• naps are from 12:30/1-3:30-4
• he is obsessed with applesauce pouches. we have to limit him to 4 per day.
• he has finally started enjoying going to childcare at church and MOPS.  
• his favorite shows are Peter Rabbit, Paw Patrol, and Octonauts
• he is learning his colors based on the Paw Patrol pups. "My shirt is green like Rocky, mommy." 
• thinks it is hilarious to use the word "toad" at random times. no clue where this came from but he does it all.the.time. "Lets get in the toad car!" weird, i know...
• still loves to snuggle up on the couch while watching TV.
• i put him down for naps and Brian puts him down at bedtime and he has started asking for us to tell him a story. he loves hearing real stories from our childhood.
• he has such a sweet demeanor and is so good at saying "please" and "thank you" and "I'm sorry mommy" at random times. 
• he has recently become obsessed with his daddy. he gets so excited on friday's when you ask him if daddy has to go to work he will say "no, its the weekend!"
• he loves taking a bath until you try to wash his hair. if I need some down time I can just put him in the tub with his toys and he will play for an hour! however, he hates when I try to wash his hair.
• he is so verbal and some of the things he says amaze me! he makes connections from things we see on tv or read in a book to real life. the teacher in me LOVES this! :) 

We are so blessed to have such an amazing little man in our lives and I can't wait to watch him love on his sister. I have tried to make the most of the last month as we await her arrival by doing lots of special things with just Tyler. We have gone to the zoo (twice), eaten out a lot, gone to see Big Hero 6 (for the second time in theaters), and other things.