Our Life Currently

Allen is now 19 months old and showing off 10 almost 11 teeth. From the child who didn't cut a tooth until he was 13 months old to now having 10, it boggles my mind. He is the typical toddler with testing the boundaries, babbling his current favorite word...no, and is full of energy.
Abram is 3 months old. Wait...WHAT!!! Where has the time gone.
Even though Abram looks so similar to his brother in pictures they are on complete ends of the spectrum as babies. I think this has to do with a number of things. When Allen was a baby I was working full time. This time around I have the luxury of being a stay-at-home-mommy. I also believe that both the boys have completely different personalities. Allen is a funny guy just like his Daddy. Abram is a bit more serious. Allen didn't really have stranger danger much at all and Abram most definitely takes a long time to warm up to people. He is a ladies man as I like to call it and is more fond of women than men. Allen loved his paci and for the most part being swaddled. Abram is indifferent about his paci and more or less hates being swaddled. Allen was a side sleeper and Abram is a tummy sleeper. Now before you go trying to give me advice about how these are wrong sleeping positions for the boys I don't really want to hear it. I always go with my mommy instincts and whatever is comfortable for my children I am comfortable with as well. Are you starting to see the differences between the boys? I most definitely am. I have heard from some people that Abram is more fussy, I don't think this is true I just think he likes a little more lovin' and one on one time than Allen did. I do not feel that Abram is a colicky baby he just spends a lot of time with me and so that is his comfort. Okay I'm done rambling about the differences.
I recently read a post on a blog that I like to follow A Mommy In The City where Lauren the writer was seeing differences in her children and was finding that her recent son Macks was fighting with bottles. I think I'm starting to see the same things. My mind is somewhat programmed from what Allen liked and I'm slowly realizing that those same things might not and most of the time do not work for Abram. Abram is breastfed and 95-100% of the time gets fed directly from the tap. On occasion I like to have a break and allow others the pleasure of feeding him as well. We have Tommee Tippee bottles and Avent bottles. As I'm coming to realize he is not doing well with either of these. I think it may be a combination of he doesn't get a bottle often so he doesn't really know what to do with them and/or he's just not a fan of these two bottles. After reading the post mentioned above I think I may try out the Playtex Nipple Variety Pack and see if we can have any success. I'm interested to see what happens.
I recently did a post on how things have changed in our lives going from one child to two. Some other changes going on in my life is I have decided that I need to find the best me...weight wise and health wise. Thanks to mother nature and the warmer weather coming in I have been taking the boys on daily walks. I have for the most part been taking the same route every day as to see how the trek becomes easier and easier with time. I've been using an amazing app on my phone called MapMyRide and it's the coolest thing. It uses the GPS on my phone and tracks my route, counts calories burned, tells me how far I've gone and how long I exercised for. Since May 6 I have walked a total of 30.35 miles. Adam and I enjoy bikes rides together and we have rode a total of 17.54 miles. I've found that I have to rejoice in the little accomplishments that I make because some exercise is so much better than no exercise. I haven't been brave enough to start tracking my weight because for the time being I'm am going with how much better I feel and how my clothes fit. It's been a hard balance thus far because I don't want to overdo it since I'm breastfeeding and lose my milk supply, but I do want to see some changes. I'm hoping with time I will find a good balance. I would also say that I'm making healthy choices food wise. I know I need to up my water intake, I could always add more in. I've found that I haven't found excuses. The weather was moody as I like to call it yesterday so I didn't have a chance to take the boys on a walk. I decided that after the boys went to bed that I was going to walk/jog on the treadmill. I got 3.17 miles in. I'm not trying to brag by any means I'm just making do with what I have and trying my best to not find excuses to not do it. Here's to hoping I keep up the good work and will start to see some changes.

Postpartum after #2, Things That Have Changed & What Keeps Me Going

Before I even start this post, I have the feeling that I'm going to ramble a bit.

Now three months into this crazy journey of having two under two I feel like I have some funny things that I can share and how my life especially has changed drastically. Please don't take this out of context, but life does change and I'm not complaining. I love being a mommy.

The first thing that has changed is my blogging posts don't get finished in one day. A lot of times a draft is save and it will take me two or more days to finish. I have also been stumped a lot as to what I should be writing about. I have gotten some feedback, but what are some things you would like me to cover. I'm no expert, but I have experience. That counts...right???

Showers are a luxury. I decided early on that the one thing I would do every day is get dressed and look presentable. I didn't want to lounge around all day just because I was staying at home. Now the question is looking presentable and taking a shower every day. ha. I found out early on showering at night was the easiest option because I was guaranteed to get a shower in and I didn't have to be flustered the next day if I hadn't got the chance to take a quick shower. Now don't go thinking that I'm the smelly kid or anything. I don't go weeks on end without bathing just because I'm so busy, but the transition from one to two and getting a little me time is difficult.
Something that goes along with the showering is my hair loss. I should be bald by now at the rate I'm going. Last time and this time around 3 months or so my hormones level out and hello hair shed! I feel like it's coming out in clumps and clumps. Somehow I have a full head of hair, but at the rate I'm going it's going to be gone in no time. Anyone else experience hair loss postpartum. It's one thing that I kinda forgot about and then bam it's there to remind me that it's all part of having a baby. I gave Adam fair warning this time when I noticed it happening, that the shower drain might be plugged and that there might be more hair on random things.

Time to exercise...does such a thing exist?? I had drastic weight loss after having Allen. I can attribute that to breastfeeding and going back to work 7.5 weeks after having him. I don't know if I ever got to fully see my prebaby weight body after having Allen because when Allen was 9 months, I was pregnant again. I know when I was pregnant with Abram I didn't gain nearly as much weight, probably because my body was holding onto a bit from Allen. Maybe I'm being too harsh on myself this time around, but I feel like I'm not losing as much as I did the first time around. I can definitely tell you that my body is not the same as it was prior to having babies and I'm slowly becoming more and more okay with that. And yes the question you're probably all thinking are you fitting into pre-pregnancy clothes. Yes I am. Not bold enough to try it all on just yet, but probably more than 75% of my pre-pregnancy clothes fit. Yes I am taking that as a victory now just to get slimmer and more toned. When in the day am I supposed to work out? And I'm not trying to come up with excuses by any means, and I'm not running out and joining a gym because I feel like that would be money wasted. On nice days like today I make sure to take the boys on a walk, and pushing them in a double stroller is not easy! Adam and I have also been going on bike rides. Which is another added benefit of warmer weather. My only concern is that I'm not doing enough. I really need to sit down and look at my schedule for the day and see where free time happens. Then what do I do with that free time? What are some easy workouts I can do with little time? Maybe an upcoming post will be about the physical activity that I am able to do and where it fits into the crazy schedule of our day.

Shopping. Oy have things changed. Yesterday I think I had one of the most stressful trips to Target ever! Allen decided screaming would be a good option and Abram protested his infant carrier. Good choice boys. I can say without a doubt that shopping carts AREN'T big enough. I have to put Abram and his carrier in the big part of the cart taking up most of it eliminating most of the room for me to put items and Allen in the cart seat. Yup very little room for any items. Shopping with Adam is a breeze. We put Abram in his travel system and Allen in the cart and we have the whole bottom of the cart empty. This is what we do when we do our weekly shopping at Woodman's. It works out perfectly.

After proofreading this things seem a little crazy. What has been getting me through has been my rock of a husband who has been nothing but supportive and helps whenever needed. My family who has been nothing but helpful and loving towards the boys. The last three things that have helped me greatly is my bible/prayer and this book. These three things together have brought a sense of peace and calm to me in the greatest of storm with my two littles. Asking for patience and wisdom in my prayers has been so helpful. Also learning about what things boys will need the most and how I can pray for that has been amazing. Boys are a different breed that is for sure and the saying 'boys will be boys' I'm starting to understand more and more.

I can't leave you without some cuteness from the two littles who I live for each and every day.

Update on the Boys

On Monday the boys had a joint doctor appointment. It was Allen's 18 month check and Abram's 2 month check.
Allen weighed in at 28 pounds putting him in the 77th percentile and is 33 inches long putting him in the 87th percentile.
Abram weighed in at 13 pounds 1 oz putting him in the 66th percentile. He's almost doubled his birth weight. And is 24 inches long putting him in the 74th percentile.

They both got vaccines which they were troopers with. Our doctor was super impressed with both of them, and Allen had the doctor laughing by saying hi and singing Go Cubs Go. Allen also got the medical assistant laughing by pounding fists with her and saying boom while he did it.

As Adam would say I am going to have big boys. I told him that is just fine as long as when they come out they are small, that's all that matters to me.

Abram is already wearing 3-6 month jam jams which seems insane to me. Allen is wearing 18 month pants and 24 month/2T shirts. Yep I'm going to have big boys. I think I'm going to have to ponder on the fact that my boys will most likely be standing taller than me.

Allen's vocabulary has exploded and is using more and more words. His fallback is signing, which I'm completely fine with because in my mind he is still communicating with us.

Abram is a rock star and growing like a weed. He coos, smiles, and loves to hold his own head. He was hours old and was attempting that little maneuver already.

This post wouldn't be complete without some adorable pictures of my little monsters. =]

National Day of Prayer

Today is national day of prayer. After seeing this image on K-Loves Facebook page it got me really thinking. What do you pray for? Is there going to be a huge movement today. Will more people pray today more than usual. And it also made me think of the line I have heard a time or two before "What if you woke up tomorrow with only the things you thanked God for today?"
That saying is HUGE. That would drastically change the way we pray. How would you describe prayer?
Something that I know I need to pray more for is thanking God for the beautiful life he has given me and asking for forgiveness for not thanking him enough!
I also need to remember that when I have been give more than I can handle I should kneel. Many times I feel like I've been given too much and cried out to God. I like to think of my prayers as a conversation with God. I also know that I would like to improve on my prayer and have them be more rich. I think to have whole-hearted, rich prayer takes practice. I can only get better if I continue to pray.
I also want to pray about letting God having full control of my life and to use me to bring others to Christ.
I hope that today people who have been straying will be turned back to God. I hope that people that have strayed away from prayer will turn back and re-open their hearts.

I was listening to this while writing and I think it's a perfect song to go along with this post. Third Day- Cry Out to Jesus