Friday, July 27, 2012

Makes You Think

Last week we were at Meme's house (Evan's aunt, aka Liliana's favorite person on earth) and his uncle told us "Mike was in Colorado this weekend and I still haven't heard from him.  I texted him 2 days ago.  He would be the kind to go to a midnight showing of a movie."

We didn't think too much of it.  But then again, I thought "Mike doesn't seem like the kind of guy to not text back for TWO entire days when he knows his Dad is worried." 

Turns out, Evan's cousin WAS seeing Batman on opening day.  In Aurora.  At the same movie theatre.

Evan and his cousin Mike get along really swimmingly.  We even had him over for dinner a few months ago and I can see why Evan always enjoys his company so much.  He's a laid back guy, super kind, a brilliant artist, and just a really good person.

Mike scraped by though.  He went to the 12:01 showing and not the 12:00 showing.  So he was in the movie theatre RIGHT NEXT to where the shooting took place.

This story isn't over though.  A bullet went THROUGH THE WALL and hit the arm of the man in front of him and some debris hit Mike's ear.  In other words, his life was spared by a SMIDGE.

I told my Mom this story and she said "his EAR?  That's an INCH away from his brain ... imagine."

And it made me think.  WOW.  That is absolutely crazy.  My heart breaks for the people that lost their lives.  For the family that lost their 6 year old in the shooting.  And it really hit close to home when Evan's cousin nearly lost his life last week.

As I type this post, I look at my baby girl sweetly asleep on a blanket on the floor and realize HOW MUCH it would hurt to not have my family in my life.  I am so fortunate that we're all safe and healthy.  And I'm so sorry to those that lost their loved ones, because I can not imagine the pain, anger, etc. that I'd be feeling.

Every now and then, these things unfortunately happen where there are shootings and  every time I promise myself to "stop and smell the roses" and spend quality time with those I love.  But this time it just hit a little closer to home, and I promise, this weekend, it'll be us 4, watching the Olympics, and being thankful for what we have.

PS TOTALLY off topic, but in honor of my 150th sale in the etsy shop, I'm doing a 15% discount on anything until Sunday!  Simply email me at prettyprintsshop@gmail.com if you want a custom order (I do invitations, announcements, etc too!) or convo me on etsy letting me know what you want!  THANKS!  I've added some cute things lately ... take a look ...


This is a fun print for the kitchen!  I think I'll also make one that says "drop it like it's hot" ... you know ... taking me back to my high school days!  : ) 


 I just think this will look so fun in any dorm room, office, or kids room.  FUN, positive reinforcement.

Monday, July 23, 2012

Like Highschool All Over Again

Evan was off this weekend which was such a treat.  We haven't really been able to have time to "sigh" and "relax" in nearly a month.  This weekend we had a TON of things planned and got basically NONE of it accomplished.

It was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING.

Sometimes when you have children, you don't realize how much you talk about them.  And yes they're SO important and you should talk about them a lot, but without realizing it, you don't talk about your lives enough.

On Tuesday, I asked our neighbor (who had been asking multiple times "when can I help watch one of the girls?") if they could watch Liliana so Evan and I could go get some ice cream.  She said yes, but nearly right after that, Evan's aunt texted and said "Can we keep Liliana over night on Saturday?  We miss her too much!"  While we love our Liliana and love spending time with her, I knew that since we would have all Friday evening and Saturday during the day with her, we would have a great time and knew she was in great hands.

We dropped Liliana off (actually, Liliana kicked us out ... about 5 minutes after we dropper her off she said "ok Mommy, bye bye!"  When I asked her if she'd miss us, she quickly told me "no."  HAHA.  Gee, thanks Lili!) around 5:30 and took Gloria to Bravo (an Italian restaurant that's pretty darn yummy.  Their lasagna is awesome).  We both bought drinks (my first alcoholic drink in nearly a year!) and Gloria slept through the entire dinner.

And we talked.  And talked.  And talked.

It's amazing how we never run out of things to talk about.  I see him nearly everyday, we text a few times everyday, and we do a really damn good job of always staying in communication with each other, but I still want to know MORE about my husband.  I want to feel like I'm falling in love all over again, constantly.

And that's exactly what this dinner did.

We talked about my future, about his job, about his plans, etc. I love knowing what Evan does all day.  Since he works such long hours, I want to feel like I'm there as much as possible.  I want to hear about his challenges, his victories, and how happy he is to have chosen what he loves to do.  The world of a Urologist is lost on most people, and though I know more than most since my husband is one, I still know SO very little.  He told me about the different cancers he sees on a daily basis, his favorite thing, his least favorite thing to do, etc. etc.

Knowing what he does all day, how much GOOD he does during the day, and the sometimes funny things he is told as well (I can't repeat them on this blog, but if you can imagine, as a Urologist he sees and hears some pretty great stuff) just made me respect him all the more.

When we got home from dinner, we watched "Salmon Fishing in the Yemen."  HIGHLY recommended.  SUPER cute movie.  We cuddled on the couch, talked more, kissed some, stared at Gloria, and realized that we are so blessed to have what we have.

I often realize how fortunate I am to have two beautiful girls in my lives.  And I often sit back and notice how fortunate I am to have a husband that makes me feel gorgeous, loves me unconditionally, and is my perfect match.  But this weekend really made me realize that a million times over.

I felt like I was in high school all over again.  I sat back and stared at him and thought "he is my match."

Oh, and it doesn't hurt that he made some damn good Spaghatti Carbonara last night either.

PS This great blog is hosting a giveaway from my etsy shop HERE!  Go sign up to win!  I'm giving away two digital images! ; ) 

Friday, July 20, 2012

Losing the Baby Weight ... AGAIN

Here I am again!  I feel like I was trying to lose this baby weight two months ago, but it was actually two years ago.  Two years ago, I lost the baby weight with Liliana by eating less and working out A TON.  I was able to join a gym and went 5 days a week for an hour.

This go around, I don't have a gym to join and I certainly won't have an hour a day to spend working out.  I will still work out, but our gym with a daycare here closed so my exercise will be happening at home after the girls are asleep.  And that's going to be TOUGH to convince myself to do it ... I'll be VERY sleepy, exhausted, etc. but I will get it done.

I am 16 days out.  And obviously, I'm not permitted to exercise yet, but I did the inevitable ... "huh, wonder what I'm weighing in at?" this morning and was scared, pleasantly surprised, depressed all at the same time when I saw the results.

I gained less weight this go around.  I gained 36 pounds with Liliana.  I gained 29 pounds this go around.  Considering that the Doctor wanted me to gain between 25 and 30 pounds, I was pretty happy with this weight gain!  I didn't necessarily TRY to gain less weight this pregnancy, but I definitely ate healthier and craved food MUCH less often.  I ate more than normal, of course, but I wasn't eating a bag of candy everyday and weirdly enough ... that helped! haha.

So where am I now? 

WELL, here's the moment of truth.  The moment where I throw my weight out there on the internet for everyone to see.

With Liliana, I had a GOAL dress about 4 1/2 months after her birth because our brother-in-law got married.  My OTHER brother-in-law is getting married this time ... but in 5 weeks.  SO, I know I won't be able to lose all the weight 8 weeks postpartum.  Not really a plausible goal.  I'm not a celebrity who has a trainer, nannines, and a chef. As a result I don't really have a "goal date" to lose all the weight by.  I'd like to do it as quickly and safely as possible.  I miss feeling like myself.  I miss having my toned booty (yeah, you think that's TMI?  Keep reading!) and boobs that don't look like I've been breastfeeding (equivalent = HUGE and HARD followed by DROOPY and LIFELESS... yay childbirth!)

Sorry, I digressed AGAIN. 

Where am I?  Here we go.

Weight when I got pregnant with Gloria: 130 pounds

Weight when I went into labor: 159 pounds

Today's weight: 145.0

Weight to lose before I go back to prepregnancy weight: 15 pounds exactly!

Goal for the next two weeks: lose a couple more pounds at least!  I hope to do this by not eating too much junk food and while I can't workout for 2 more weeks, I 'm going to just try to walk around (without dying in the heat) and maybe doing VERY short workouts depending on how I feel. 

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

The Big Playroom Reveal!

Our playroom has been done for a few weeks now and I truly did intend on posting about the big reveal, but then ... I got tired on bed rest and didn't want to pick it up (it's usually a big mess when the tornado that is Liliana finds her way through it).  Then, I went in to labor.  Then, I had Gloria.  And now, it's time to reveal it ... a month later. ; )

I really do LOVE how this room turned out.  We are in here A LOT.  I wish I could say we're in here more, but we're trying to let Liliana find her independence (something we're working on) so we're trying to encourage her to go in there and STAY in there on her own.  She's fabulous at going in here, getting the loudest toy possible, and bringing it to wherever we are.  However, we want her to be fabulous at playing by herself occasionally too.  I'm not saying we never want to see her, we're simply trying to teach her that Mommy and Daddy don't have to be paying attention to her 100% of the time. 

SO here it is!


These couches are DIVINE.  They're from Walmart and our favorite things about them is just how big they are ... that wall, you can't really tell in the picture, is HUGE.  So these couches filled it up perfectly and they're nice and low to the ground which is VERY baby friendly when they're pulling up!

 Thought it might not necessarily look pretty, the toy storage cubicles were a must.  I tried doing without, but it just didn't work.  We got that at Target and it's great for quick and easy clean up. 

 This changing pad and table was bought at my favorite used baby store in Little Rock.  I got the changing pad, the table, all 4 baskets, and 2 changing covers for $50!  WHAT A STEAL!

This little area is Liliana's favorite.  She LOVES the loud toys standing up there, and she likes her little area behind that curtain.

While this playroom might have been a lot of work, it was TOTALLY worth it to see moments like this ...

 Liliana giving sissy a kiss over the weekend.

 Gloria likes to catch zzzz's in the most adorable way possible.

But she also LOVES opening this gorgeous eyes nice and big for Mommy! : )

Friday, July 13, 2012

She's BAAAACK!

Last night, our world got "flipped turned upside down!" again when the tornado that is Liliana came back home.  I missed her so stinking much!  When she came in to the house I gave her a hug and nearly started crying.  Talk about hormones on overload huh?  I realize it had only been 5 days, but Liliana has become my buddy and my pal when Evan works his long hours so it was weird not having somebody talk me through putting my make up on, or somebody to help me make the bed every morning. 

This week has been a big transition for the Lacefield family.  Evan officially started being a Urologist as he is now done with General Surgery.  We were both under the impression that his hours would greatly improve.  LORD were we WRONG.  This week for instance, from Monday to today, he has already worked nearly 70 hours ... BUT here's the problem.  He's on call ALL Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday.  This means he is technically working for 60 hours straight, piling the hours to about 130.  Yeah, talk about exhausting.  Evan has helped get the night feeds a couple times and usually insists to get them more often, but I am a stubborn woman and I tell him it would be irresponsible of us to allow him to do it more often because he needs to try and rest SOME times.  I mean, he's waking up at 5:15 am everyday to head to work, so at least I get to keep sleeping after the feeds where he wouldn't be able to.

This morning was the first morning that I was by myself with the two girls.  WOWZA.  Let me tell you, the morning is NO JOKE any more.  We fell asleep at about 11:15 and Gloria wanted to feed around 1:15 am.  She awoke again at 4:50 and this feed took a while because she took the worlds TIMELIEST poop ... seriously ... kernel by kernel I sat there and let her do her thing for a good 15 minutes.  Poor kid, she needs a bathroom book.  ; )

I went back to sleep until about 7:40 and then took a shower.  I was finishing getting ready and heard Gloria wake up around 8:45 and then heard Liliana starting to play with her toys.  My kiddos were officially awake!  NOW ... how to manage this ...

I got Liliana and she immediately wanted to see "Gloria, the sissy baby!" (yeah, that's her name according to Liliana).  She tells Gloria "don't cry baby!  It's ok!  Te quiero baby, te quiero!" (translation: I love you baby, I love you!)  It's the most precious thing ever.

As I fed Gloria, Liliana tried to clean up Gloria's room (translation: make it SUBSTANTIALLY messier).  Then we both got dressed, we went pee pee and poo poo (while one goes in her diaper, the other is carrying around a frog potty full of poop ... wow, a lot of talk about bowel movements in this post, my apologies). 

We finally left the house at 10 am.  I was pretty proud of myself until I realized that somehow, in about a month, I will have to be leaving the house around 7 am when work starts once again.

NO clue how we'll get that done unless I wake up around 5:00 am.  Sounds tiring.  REALLY tiring. 

Can I just get a great, Spanish speaking, free nanny already?

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

It's Great.

Those first few days after having a baby are pretty much a blur.  I wouldn't necessarily say they're STRESSFUL, they're more like a shock a ... "BOOM you forgot how much work this was going to be!"

That being said, we have had a FABULOUS first week with Gloria.  She is a BEYOND amazing baby.  Liliana was always a great baby and a great sleeper, but I have to admit, Gloria is substantially more easy going.  She has yet to cry for more than 6 minutes in a day.  We do a few sessions of tummy time on a daily basis and usually (or at least Liliana) babies cry after a while on tummy time.  Not this girl.  She just plays and plays and plays.  Evan and I can't get over it! 

As for sleep?  I guess we're lucky with our babies.  The shortest she has gone at night is 3.5 hours.  I've even been breast feeding some this go around, so it's not just that I'm drowning her in formula (as people often say). 

The first night we got home from the hospital, my back was still in EXCRUCIATING pain from the epidural.  I couldn't lie down without being in a huge amount of pain.  Fortunately for me, I have the most amazing and supportive husband on earth.  Evan didn't let me do any feedings the first two nights home.  He insisted I take some medication to help my back pain and to help me sleep.  The first night, I slept 10 hours straight.  Evan was even on call that first night, so I don't know how he kept walking, but I really did appreciate his demanding that I let myself recover.

Since then, I have felt GREAT!  It took me nearly 2 weeks to feel back to normal after having Liliana.  This time around, I felt nearly 100% at 3 days!  I don't know if it was the fact that I slept so well, if it was the fact that this is my second baby, or a combination of all of this, but it all went so quickly.

Speaking of brilliantly, EVERYTHING happened faster this go around.  My labor went SO quickly.  Gloria lost her little umbilical cord at 5 days, I took my first poop 3 days after! (yes, when you're a Mom, this is a big moment for you when your bowels finally return back to normal, so TOO BAD for you if you're grossed out by my comments!), AND my milk came in WAY WAY sooner ... like a week sooner.  My boobs have been RIDICULOUSLY engorged again and I have no problem with milk supply (fortunately).  Gloria doesn't really enjoy latching much, but I've just been pumping and putting it in a bottle so when Evan gets home, he can help feed.

I am so in love with this little girl.  Liliana is too!  Liliana has been in Dallas with family for the past few days and gets home tomorrow.  I CAN NOT wait to see her.  I've missed her SO very much and while she was gone, Evan repainted Liliana's room and I've spent some time reorganizing it.  It'll be a BIG GIRL room when she gets home! : )

Here's my life in pictures as of this last week ... and you know what?  I can't recall feeling this happy in a long time.  I am BEYOND happy with life.  With my complete little family.  With my two perfect girls.  With the most amazing, kind, loving, and sexy husband on this planet.  Life is not just good.  It's great.


 We had to get our bilirubin levels down earlier this week and I put her in the doorway so the sun would hit her and keep her warm.  I was making some etsy prints and when I looked again, I saw this!  Guess we need to buckle from day 1! : ) 

 Really?  How can this be comfortable?

 Liliana and Gloria meet for the first time at the hospital. 
This was probably one of the most ENDEARING moments of my life.  One I will never ever forget.


 yeah, this picture is going to be enlarged and put in our home somewhere.  
How can you not smile when you see it?

 My loves in one picture.




 Liliana loves reading to Gloria.  Gloria's not too interested yet, but soon and soon enough ...

 Like I said: life is good. No, it's great.

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Gloria's Birth Story Part II (SHE'S HERE!)

If you want to get caught up on Gloria's birth story, go here.

When we left off, my OB had told us he didn't think we'd make it to July 5th for my appointment.  When I woke up on July 4th, I thought he was going to be wrong.  I mean, what, had the guy gone to medical school and residency for a billion years or something?  What did he know?

After we put Liliana down for a nap, we went to lie down and fell asleep for a little bit.  I woke up with a contraction but nothing major.  I had another couple, but again, nothing major.  I told Evan I was going to go downstairs and see if they continued.  They did, but were 7 or 8 minutes apart and weren't painful.  Suddenly, I stood up and had a contraction that hurt like the dickens.  Some tears even started running down my face and though it had only been 45 minutes, Evan called his aunt and said "it's time."

We went to the hospital where I had already progressed another centimeter and my water broke.  That's when, for lack of a better phrase, the shit hit the fan.

In a matter of 30 minutes,  I was COMPLETE and baby was READY TO PUSH.  Fortunately, my man is an amazing hubby and I had decided the day before that I wanted an epidural because I had, after all, been laboring since Monday and my body was exhausted.  The nursery informed me there wouldn't be any time for an epidural but Evan just texted his buddy and they were ready for me.  Unfortunately, I was kinda pushing (without wanting to, but Gloria calls the shots at this time) while they were placing it.

I was SCREAMING MY HEAD OFF like a crazy MAD woman.  It hurt like HELL.  I labored, on my lonesome, to a 10 and I'm proud of myself for that, but let me tell you what, pushing AND getting the epidural placed at the same time?  ABSOLUTELY MISERABLE.  They had to do it 3 times (apparently I'm difficult to get because the SAME thing happened with Liliana).

They did something to make it take effect REALLY quickly because my OB was right in there and said "let's start pushing!"  So we did.  I had sensation of everything around me, it hurt some, but I was no longer screaming.  I pushed about 15 times (maybe ... it wasn't long!) and ... BOOM!  There she was! 

At 36 weeks and 6 days, our girl was pretty darn big!  She measured 19.5 inches, 6 lbs and 15 oz, and was PERFECT!!! My labor was RIDICULOUSLY fast, and yes, people heard me down the hall, but I enjoyed every second of seeing the birth and enjoying the fact that we were now a family of four!

Our little firecracker is now a July 4th baby and forever and ever, I will always maintain that fireworks are in her honor! : )

 JUST born.

 Looks quite a lot like her sister!

 Right after delivery!  I was pretty happy the pain was over, haha!  
Side note: DO NOT recommend sitting on a bed at 10 cm dilated.  Turns out it hurts like the dickens to push something out when you're sitting.

 First time I held my baby girl.  I was ECSTATIC!

 She's pretty freaking cute if I may say so myself!

 Like REALLY REALLY cute!

 Daddy stayed with me in the hospital and had to check in for work at 6 am, but when he showed up, his fellow residents told him to head back upstairs and take care of his wife!  LOVED having his help!  He's on call tonight though and we're headed home ... so pray that Gloria and I have a good night, I'm still getting around quite gingerly!

PS Yes, that is urine on Evan's scrubs.  Even on his day off, the Urologist can't escape getting peed on! ; ) 

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Gloria's Birth Story Part I

On July 1st, around 3 pm I started getting some contractions.  They weren't STRONG per say, but they were there.  My Doctor told me to come in once I had 6 in an hour.  I guess he was being more cautious because it's my second baby and because I was already progressed.  So I gave it 6 in an hour and then waited ... another hour and a half and they didn't give up!  SO, off we went!

In the mean time, Evan started acting just like he does with these HUGE life changing surgeries that he works on nearly every day: calm and collected. 

NOT!!!

He reorganized the ENTIRE office, put together a bookshelf, vaccummed the upstairs etc.  He was kinda FREAKING out.  He did the SAME thing with Liliana, and it absoultely cracks me up and warms my heart.

When we got to the hospital, I had progressed to a 3/4 already.  They said in order to be considered "laboring" I had to progress.  Within an hour and a half, I was a 5, so we were there to stay!  YAY!

Around midnight, the contractions were STRONG and coming every 2 minutes.  Evan and I started thinking "this is going to happen QUICKLY!!!"

Then, around 1 am ... the contractions STOPPED.

Since I am not 37 weeks yet (today is 36 weeks and 5 days along) they refuse to give me any pitocin or help me labor at all (with Liliana, when I got to a 4 during labor, they gave pitocin.  I guess every hospital has different rules). 

SO, I stayed at the hospital overnight and all day yesterday because my doctor was convinced I would start laboring again.  So I walked all around the hospital MULTIPLE times (they weren't letting me walk before because they didn't want me to labor so early in the pregnancy) trying to induce the labor AGAIN.  BUT, NADA! 

SO, that's why we're at Gloria's birth story Part I.

I am now sitting at home, 5 cm dilated and 75% effaced, waiting for this baby.  I lost a SECOND huge amount of bloody show this morning and thought it was time because I had 4 contractions in 15 minutes, but since 8 am, I've had nothing serious.  Just waiting ... and waiting ...

Doctor said there is an 80% chance the baby will come either today or tomorrow.  He says only a 20% chance he'll see me at our appointment on Thursday morning.

But at this rate, I have NO earthly clue when this will happen!  While I'm so glad she's still in my belly, it's also frustrating since I THOUGHT we were in labor and it just randomly went POOF, done. 

I was EXHAUSTED last night.  I had labored so much already, without any form of medication (they weren't allowing me any medication since I wasn't 37 weeks yet, which is fine b/c I really like going as long as I can without any help with pain).  That being said, I hadn't slept because I had been laboring AND was anxious about it.  So we got home last night and I fell asleep around 7:45 until 8:30.  Then I went downstairs, Evan put Liliana to sleep, and I fell asleep AGAIN.  And finally, we both CRASHED about 20 seconds after Liliana fell asleep.  I slept over 10 hours and am SO glad Gloria gave me the time to do that because I don't know how I would have gotten the energy to labor after that.  NOW, I have the energy, and I'm ready baby girl!

Whenever you want to come, we're ready!!  Whether it's today, whether it's on the day that the fireworks will be JUST for YOU, or even later, we're ready.  But supposedly it's REALLY soon!! : )  Mommy is HALF way there before we start pushing.  Let's get those last 5 QUICKLY and PAINLESSLY shall we? ; )