Summer Update

Well so far this summer we have made it camping twice and taken a trip to the zoo. We went to a local campground over the 4th of July weekend. Just the four of us. Had a TON of fun.

Surprisingly, Miley was excellent. For only being a month old she did phenomenal! We had great weather the whole weekend and really got to relax and enjoy each other.

A couple weeks ago, we decided spur of the moment to head up north with Aaron's dad and his family. It was a blast! We left around 5pm Monday night, hoping Aiden and Miley would sleep the whole way up there. Needless to say, Aiden talked/sang constantly until we were around 20 minutes from our destination. Miley slept the entire way. Aaron and I both agreed we now realize why parents leave in the middle of the night so kids are sure to sleep! =) Really it wasn't bad!!

We stayed at Avery Lake the first night because it was so late when we got up there. We packed up first thing in the morning and headed to a state park in Atlanta closer to Rush Lake (the lake Aaron's dad wanted to fish). We stayed at this campground until Friday morning. We had a great time!

The boys made a "helmet" for Aiden and he thought he was a robot truck! Hilarious watching him run around like a mad man!!

Aaron's step-sister's bday was on Wednesday, so we all took a trip to Mackinaw. We got to see the bridge and walked around in some of the shops downtown. We had a blast!

The guys fished everyday (except the day we went to the bridge) and caught a few fish, but nothing great! Aaron caught a 22" pike and they all caught some gills.

Aaron's dad and his family took off Friday morning and we left to go back to Avery Lake. My parents and little sister were going to meet us there Friday evening. We got our site all set up and went into Lewiston to fish East Twin Lakes. Aaron caught his very first Walleye (19"). He was pretty happy with that. I didn't fish, I just played with Aiden and kept Miley happy. It was fun just being out there together.

Aiden was CRAZY with his lil' fishing pole. Daddy tied a bobber onto the end of it without a hook. You had to pay attention when he was casting it. Daddy got smacked right in the forehead with it. The bobber also was a great flotation device. He dropped the pole in the water once and the bobber kept it afloat!

We went back to camp and mom, dad and Jess pulled in around 8pm. We helped them set up camp and then sat around the bonfire.

Aunt Jessie thought it would be funny to put some makeup on Aiden. Daddy wasn't very impressed, but it made for a good picture!!=)

Dad and Aaron fished in the morning and Jess and I got to go out with my dad Saturday evening. Dad and I caught some nice smallies, while Jess caught a couple that were small. We had a great time! We all started home Sunday mid morning! Great unexpected trip!!

This last Monday we took a trip to the zoo: my mom, my sister, Jess and me and the kids. We only had a few hours to spend, so we chose to go to Binder Park in Battle Creek. We had a great time. Miley slept through the entire zoo. Aiden LOVED the monkeys, giraffes, and zebras. He and my mom got bit by a goose. Aiden was like, "Momma, he try eat me!" It was quite funny! It was hot, but we had a GREAT time!!

Aiden LOVED his ice cream. You can tell by his "Yellow" shirt once white! =)

All in all we've had a pretty fun summer! We are planning a couple more trips yet this summer. Heading to Jellystone with family in a couple weeks and back up north with my family over the Labor Day holiday! Hopefully we have a few more spur of the moment trips too!

Miss Miley will be a month old this Friday

Things have been going great! I have pretty much fully recovered. I'm getting around pretty well these days.

It has been 4 weeks and a day since Miss Miley was born. I took her in at 3 weeks and she weighed 9# 4oz and was 21.5" long. She is growing right along. She doesn't have to go back in until 2 months. That will be when we get the dreaded first round of shots =(

Miley is still sleeping great. She only wakes up once or twice in the night...it just depends on when we put her down for the night. If we put her to bed around 10:30, she wakes up a couple times...if we out her to bed 11:30 or 12 she will only get up once. LOVE IT!! Her sleeping patterns are completely different than her big brother, Aiden. Aiden was colicky and didn't sleep that well.

It looks like Miss Miley will have curly hair. Her hair is crazy, thick and curly! She hasn't lost any of it yet!!

Miley is taking her first camping trip this weekend. We leave tomorrow. We are so excited to get away for a little while. Can't wait for bonfires and just relaxing at camp. We will try to take lots of pictures.

Aiden is doing well also. He loves his sister. He is already protective of her. If strangers come up to her to see her or touch her he will tell them, "No touch sissy!" Aiden loves to kiss her and hold her. He has only hit her a couple of times. I figure if that is the worst she gets from her big brother she will be pretty lucky!

I'm finally getting to my blog. My lovely handy hubby decided to trim our bushes and trimmed right through the wifi cable...hmmm...I'm convinced he did that on purpose!! He has never been a big fan of me and the internet! ;)

Anyway, as most of you all know, MILEY JO was born on June 2nd at 10:40am. She was taken by planned c-section and everything went well. She weighed 8 lbs. 2.8 oz and she was 20" long.

By the time she left the hospital she was down to 7lbs. 7oz. They said that was totally normal! They just want her to be back up to her birth weight in 2 weeks. Her billy-rubin count (jaundice) was only a 7 something at birth...they said they don't get concerned till it is up near 15. When she left the hospital it was up to 10 something. They said just keep an eye on her over the weekend and see how she does.

The first night at the hospital SUCKED! I have to be honest!! She was up most of the night...very gasy and very cranky. Aaron spent Wednesday night in the hospital with me, but was snoring next to me. =) He did help when I asked him too!

She took to breastfeeding right away with no problem other than being a little gasy. However, she slowed down on the eating early Thursday morning. She didn't eat that great all day Thursday. Thursday, Aaron went home and brought Aiden back for a few hours to see his sissy.

He wasn't quite sure what to think of her, but the longer time goes by the better he has been getting. Friday, Aaron just came up and left Aiden at Grammy's.

We all got to come home on Saturday!!

As for how everything went...Thursday I was exhausted and Miley was extremely cranky! That night I gave in and sent her to the nursery so that I could get some rest. I told them to give her one feeding of formula (because that is what we had to do with Aiden because he wasn't getting anything from me). I'm telling you what...that must have been just what she needed. I sent her to the nursery at 12:30, they fed her at 2:30 (2 oz. of formula), she woke up at 6am...not to eat again, but because she had a messy diaper. Then I had to wake her up at 8:30 to eat again. Every night since then she has went to sleep anytime between 11pm and midnight and woken up at 4 or 4:30 to eat. Then I've had to wake her up at 8:30 in the morning to eat again. FABULOUS! I'm really hoping this schedule sticks. I can totally live with getting up once in the night. =)

Its now been 5 days...I had to get my staples removed today, so my mother came along with me to help. For some reason I felt the need to tackle WALMART. Sure didn't realize how ruff that can be on a person. Of course I was too proud to use a lil scooter and chose to walk around the entire store. Not really my greatest choice I've made thus far! I tell ya what...I'll gladly be driving a buggy if I go back any time soon.

All in all I'm tickled to be at home! I'm so excited to have the summer off! I can't wait till I'm recovered and can get out and do fun things. We have a camping tripped scheduled for July 4th, so I'm very much looking forward to that!! =) Hopefully the days DRAG by. I'm already dreading going back to work =(

Here are just a small preview of some pics I had taken during a photoshoot on Sunday.

Only ONE WEEK to go...

I can't hardly believe that our lil' girl will be here in a week. Sometimes it feels like I have been pregnant forever and other times it feels like I just found out. Everything is ready! I can't wait to see what she looks like!

The weather this week has been amazing! The heat has not bothered me as much as I thought it might. I actually have been outside enjoying it, sitting in the sun and playing in the water with Aiden. My "albino-ness" is slowly fading...that is on my arms and neck only! =)

Sunday afternoon Aiden and I hooked up his lil' kiddy pool with the sprinkler and had a blast!

Last night my sister, Jess and her hubby came out, as well as my mom and dad. Jess and Aiden got into the pool. Jess said it was actually pretty warm. I just took her word for it! =) We grilled burgers and hot dogs and relaxed enjoying the beautiful night. It was mainly for my dad's bday that was Sunday!

I'm looking forward to having this summer off. I only have until Thursday left to work, then I am off until the day after Labor Day. I can't wait to spend days outside in the sun and take trips to the zoo. We plan to take weekend camping trips as well. The freedom this summer will be AMAZING! I'm very much looking forward to it. Just knowing that my sister can come out any time of day to soak in the pool with us will be great!

We already have made reservations for camping over the 4th of July weekend and I am so excited for that! We will take our trip up to Avery Lake over Labor Day and hopefully bring along some good friends and fam as well. We hope to get up north a few more times...but time will tell!

I'm hoping to have a Garage Sale mid to late July. Hoping to get rid of the last of Aiden's clothes and some toys and lots of odds and ends. My sister-in-law plans to put lots of kids/baby stuff in as well. It should be a pretty busy summer, but I'm excited it will be FAMILY TIME!

Keep checking back for the arrival of Lil' Miss Boyd!!

Wow! Only 2 weeks left...

Can't believe I only have 5 or 6 days of work left and I will be off all summer! Cannot wait! It is too bad that it won't be 3 months of bliss...more like a month and a half or two months of no sleep and adjusting to healing and a new baby and a 2 year old! Oh well...I am still counting my blessings!

The nursery is completed! (except for her name) I have arranged for a projector that I can borrow for as long as I need. I will use the projector to paint her name on the wall! I put the wall decals up this last weekend. I went shopping with one of my girlfriends last Friday and bought a bunch more clothes and some last minute things that I needed. She now has two outfits to pick from to wear home from the hospital. Everything seems to be in order...just missing the baby!

I have a photo shoot scheduled for a week after she is born. I cannot wait to see those AMAZING pictures!! I will be sure to post some of them on here for all to enjoy!

My 2-year old, Aiden is getting excited for his baby sister's arrival. He refers to her room as sissy's room and when asked who is in my belly he will say sissy! I can't wait to see his first interaction with her. I'm hoping to plan a day just for him and mommy and daddy to spend together before the baby comes. Just to make him feel special!

I have been feeling pretty well lately. I don't know whether it is because she is dropping or what, but the horrible discomfort I was experiencing a few weeks ago doesn't seem to be as bad. For now, I am still sleeping ok. I only have to get up once and sometimes not at all to pee in the night. My 2 year old seems to be my alarm clock for making me get up in the night to pee. I swear almost every night around 4am he wakes up. Wonder if that will be the magic hour for the new baby? That won't be too bad if she only gets up at 4am...wishful thinking anyway!

I visited my good friend, Nicole, yesterday and she blessed me with a whole bag full of goodies for the baby. The greatest invention in the world...the wubbanub!!

Cannot wait to try it out! We struggled so many times with my son and keeping his pacifier in his mouth...this should help out tremendously!! Another miracle invention (so I've heard) is the Belly Bandit!

I cannot wait to try it out. I have heard nothing but amazing things about it and if it alleviates half the pain and helps suck in your gut...I am every bit a HUGE fan!!

She also let me borrow her Medela Double Breast Pump. I cannot wait to use this. When I was breastfeeding my son, I had a brand new Avent Single Breast Pump that seemed to take forever. I'm excited to have the double this time and hopefully cut down on the pumping time.

I'm excited to try some of the things that she has found useful. She is on her third kid and she is getting the necessities down. Quite a few great ideas that I myself will have to look into.

Hope everyone has a blessed day! Look forward to sharing more soon!

11 More Work Days Left =)

So I just realized I only have 11 more work days left...maybe 12 if I work the Tuesday after Memorial Day (just before my c-section is scheduled)! I'm so excited!

The nursery is finally taking shape. We have the crib assembled and the bedding set in place. We have the closet organizer installed with her clothes and blankets arranged. We put her dresser in last night and I have that filled too.

Her valances and mobile came in the mail yesterday, so I put those together.

Its looking more and more like lil' missy's room! Basically the only thing left to do is decorate the wall. I want to paint her name on the wall, but I can't paint it until she is here because we are keeping her name a secret! I'm getting so excited for her arrival!

I need to get our bags packed in case I go early. I still have yet to pick out her outfit that she will be wearing home. After looking through her clothes, I realized that I have tons of summer dresses and short sleeve onesies and I am afraid the first of June it won't be warm enough. I really hope she doesn't grow out of all the "hot weather" clothes before she gets to wear them.

Well I will keep you posted on the nursery progress and her arrival. Have a wonderful day!

My Surprise Baby Shower

Well, my sisters and mother put on a BEAUTIFUL surprise baby shower for me on Saturday! It caught we completely off guard. I was told we were supposed to get together for lunch for my older sister's bday and then spend a day of shopping an just hanging out...which we NEVER get to do. We were even going to be kidless! =) Needless to say I about fell over when I walked into a room FULL of friends and family and PINK everywhere!!

I hate being surprised, but it was all worth it. I received everything that I was planning to buy that same day. I'm excited to go through all of my stuff this week and find out what all I still might need.

My lil' sister came over on Friday and helped me paint the nursery. I'm SO excited!!

I went Saturday morning to the carpet store and bought the carpet. The delivered it later that day! I'm hoping my hubby's cousin can find the time to install the carpet in the next day or two. As soon as the carpet is installed I can get the closet organizer up, assemble the crib, and but the dresser in the room. Then I can sort through all of her clothes and all the rest of her things and find out what more I might need. The time is getting REALLY close!

I went to the doctor's on Friday and they told me that my c-section is scheduled for June 2nd, but if my water breaks or I start contractions I need to go to the hospital and they will take the baby. I'm excited that the time is near. I will go back to the doctor's every week now. I only have 4 weeks to wait (if she goes full term). They expect the baby to be slightly larger than my son. When it is all said and done, they expect her to be around 8lbs. 2 oz. I guess we will find out shortly.

I'll be sure to keep you all posted on here with the progress of the nursery and especially when she arrives!

Thats it for now! Have a wonderful Monday!!