Still Loving the Peaches!

My little peach is still loving her peaches!
I really enjoy comparing the pictures of her eating them...

August 2008
June 2009

August 2010

Reagan in Action

This one's for my Mom (and anyone else far away)...some of Reagan's coos!

Finally!

I have a belly button! I was really attached to my umbilical cord (or maybe I should say it was really attached to me), but a couple days ago, when I was 5 weeks and 4 days old, it finally fell off!

Here it is! My cute little belly button!

Dewey Beach 2010

This year marked our first family vacation to Dewey Beach with Reagan! It's funny to think that last year when we were at the beach it was just three of us. I was not pregnant with Reagan or even thinking that it was possible that the following year we would be returning with 2 children. Funny how things happen!
So this year we toted two kids to the beach. One being only 5 weeks old. We thought about skipping the trip this year, but then decided that we didn't want Jocelyn to miss out on all the fun of Dewey Beach, so we planned on taking an abbreviated trip--3 days instead of 7. Jocelyn had a blast last year (we all did), and we didn't want her to totally miss it this year.

As it turned out, it was a bit rough taking a 5-week-old on vacation, especially to the beach. You have sun and sand to worry about. Nursing on the hot beach, in an even hotter beach cabana with an infant who does not have control of her body doesn't help make things easier either. It takes us twice as long to get ready for anything, so doing any of our normal activities were a bit more stressful. Since we had just settled into a routine at home, Reagan was a little out of sorts and cried a bit more than normal while we were there.

Although the trip was a bit more stressful than normal, we did manage to have some fun too!

The first day was a little cold and cloudy
But the second day was better!

Wishing Reagan was more willing to sleep here while down on the beach, rather than constantly in my arms!Jocelyn had fun with Uncle Zach......and finally got used to the sand by the last day were were there.

We spent some time at the boardwalk playing games and riding rides.

Jocelyn was super worn out! This day she didn't get a nap and passed out while waiting for our Grotto Pizza. She obviously still needs her nap time!
And last but not least...Here are our second annual beach grass pictures.

Jocelyn:

Reagan too!
Thanks again to Will and Carolyn for having us!!

I'm 30.

Me. 30-years-old. It's weird, but I'm dealing with it a lot better than I anticipated. It's just a number anyway, right?

On August 7th, my wonderful husband threw me a birthday party at South Park. Everyone thought it was funny to tease me about being 30-years-old, but since it was only the 7th, I was still only 29! :)

Here are some pictures that Todd's uncle Glenn took during the event! It was a really fun day and I really enjoyed celebrating with family and friends!

The Pavilion

Todd's Stepmom gave me a special shirt to wear.

Everyone was sure to know I was the one who was turning 30!
Makes it pretty obvious, right?
Yummy Cake (also advertising my age)!Jocelyn enjoyed the cake, the park, and her friends!Reagan slept a lot!
It really was a great day! Thanks so much Todd, for making turning 30 a little easier and much more fun than sitting around the house!

Binky Free?

Jocelyn has been using a binky since birth. For the better part of the last 20 months, she has only been allowed the binky in her bed, and she has been okay with that, but she really loves her binky while falling asleep.

Right before Reagan was born, Jocelyn's binky became cracked and was no longer safe for her to use. Todd and I had decided that that binky was her last one, and once it was gone, that was it. No more binkies for Jocelyn. Well, since it was so close to a life-changing event for her we decided to buy just one more.

She had ONE binky in the house. Yesterday morning she woke up and binky was missing. We looked for it, but were not successful. Nap time came, we looked again, but were once again not successful. Jocelyn took her nap without the binky! Bed time came and we still couldn't find the binky. She went to sleep and slept all night, just like normal, without the binky.

Seriously? It was that easy? I have worried about taking that binky away for months and months. I have had nightmares about Jocelyn not going to sleep and waking at terribly early hours. I searched the internet for the various techniques for becoming binky free, trying to decide which one would work best for Jocelyn, and she somehow loses it during the night and is about 95% okay with the fact that she won't ever see or use it ever again? Really? I guess I should have taken that thing away from her a long time ago!

Now, I'm going to have to find that little sucker before Jocelyn does...I really would like for it to stay lost!!!!June 16, 2008
No more binky face for Jocelyn!

Life with Two

So here we are, nearly 4 weeks into our new life with Reagan! I have to admit that I am loving every second of it so far, and that includes being awakened at 4:00am for a feeding and having my hand pooped on too many times to count. I don't know what it is, but I am just unbelievably happy. Did I say that I don't know what it is? Okay, maybe I do. I have been so blessed with these two little girls and I just feel so lucky to have 2 happy and healthy children.

Adding Reagan to the family has been so amazing. She's a wonderful addition! I was so worried about the trauma adding a newborn would cause, but it has been relatively easy. Jocelyn has been adjusting nicely, and to tell you the truth, I already believe that she doesn't remember a time without Reagan around. She went through a short phase of super-charged "terrible twos", but has now calmed herself back down a little bit. She loves to help me take care of Reagan. She wants to hold her and burp her and help change her diaper. She kisses her all the time and has even proclaimed that she "love baby". I just can't wait until they can play together and giggle together!

For me, labor and delivery was rather easy, recovery went quickly, and Reagan is (so far) a really easy baby. She is eating every 3-4 hours, nursing well (no more pain there for Mama either) and has given me nice stretches of sleep at night. The past few nights she has slept 6-hour stretches! The sleep makes all the difference for me! She is a happy baby, usually only crying when she needs fed or is tired. I am counting my blessings for sure, and hope that she stays as easy as she has been so far!

I don't know if this is the case for everyone, but for me, bringing Reagan home has been so much easier than when we brought Jocelyn home. Having your first baby is such a life-changing event. You can't even imagine how it changes your life until it happens to you. It's almost not even worth trying to imagine until you actually bring that baby home from the hospital and are experiencing it directly. I was a mess in those first couple of weeks after Jocelyn came home. The hormones were crazy and the change was very hard for me. I can't remember when it all started getting better--I'm guessing it may have been around the same time that Jocelyn started sleeping better at night--but it did get better, I adjusted to my new life and really started to enjoy being a mom. Flash forward 2.5 years and I am doing it all over again. Although this time it is much easier. I think it's because I have more confidence in myself as a mom since I have done it once before and have a 2-year-old child to show for it. The hormones didn't rage, the change wasn't as big, the nursing was MUCH easier. Reagan started out a pound heavier than Jocelyn and I think that may have led to better sleeping right off the bat. Anyway, it has just been a lot easier and I am just so happy with our little family. I look forward to experiencing all the things we experienced with Jocelyn all over again--the first smile, the first babble, first holidays, first steps. Plus I look forward to experiencing new things, like watching the love of siblings, watching my girls learn and laugh and play together. I can't wait for it all to start, but at the same time I am enjoying Reagan as a newborn because I know she will be 2.5 in the blink of an eye.

We are happily a family of four! We couldn't be luckier!

Some pictures!

Twins?

Jocelyn Paige
Reagan Olivia

I didn't think they looked alike at first, but it seems that they look pretty similar to each other now. What do you think?

Let's Compare

Jocelyn
Reagan

Jocelyn
Reagan

Our Newest Addition!

Reagan Olivia Aston-Reese

July 11, 2010
11:12am
7 pounds 14 ounces
20 inches

On July 11, 2010 we were blessed once again with a beautiful daughter. Three days after her due date, Reagan Olivia finally made her appearance!

I guess it all began with me telling my parents that I was nervous about going into labor after a long day of doing things. I thought I would never be able to make it through if I had just spent an entire day awake doing things and didn't get any sleep before things started. I should have never mentioned it...does speaking your fears out loud make them come true?

I woke up Saturday morning and being 2 days past my due date, I decided that I wasn't just going to sit around and wait for baby to be born. I was going to keep busy. I cleaned the bathroom, did the laundry, vacuumed the house, dusted the blinds, and then had an impromptu cook-out with Todd's family at our house. My dad and Todd put up a railing in the front of our house. My mom was looking out for Jocelyn. It was a long day and I was tired at the end, and ready for bed. I went to bed a bit late that night, around 11:30. Todd and I were laying in bed talking for a little while when he fell asleep. It takes me a bit longer to fall asleep with a giant belly, so I was trying to get comfortable when all of the sudden I got a contraction. It wasn't unusual for me to have a contraction, so I let it pass and tried again to get comfortable when I had another contraction. After a few more I started timing them. For about an hour they were 4-5 minutes apart. I woke Todd up and told him I was going to take a shower just in case. He wasn't really coherent and thought I was crazy. I took a shower and the contractions continued. I went back to the bedroom where I turned on the light, which didn't bother Todd in the least--he continued snoring--sat on the side of the bed with a note pad, pen and my "What to Expect When You Are Expecting Book" open to the page with the symptoms of false labor. Every time a contraction started I would write down the time. For the next hour the contractions were consistently 3 minutes apart. I woke Todd up, kind of. It's hard to wake him when he hasn't been sleeping for more than a couple of hours. I believe I told him I was having contractions and his response was, "I'm just trying to close my eyes!" Eventually he became a bit more coherent, but he still didn't believe that I was in labor. I asked him to time my contractions, which he did and they were then 2 minutes apart. He believed me after that. We called the doctor and headed to St. Clair Hospital. Thank goodness my parents were here, so we could leave Jocelyn soundly sleeping in her bed!

We arrived at the hospital around 3:15am on Sunday, July 11th. We remembered being told to park in the Emergency lot when we were pregnant with Jocelyn, but we figured that I was fine enough to park in the regular lot and enter the hospital through a main entrance. Being the middle of the night, the main entrance ended up being locked and we were stuck in the parking lot because a token had to be purchased to leave. The only place to buy a token was inside the hospital. We had to walk completely around the outside of the hospital to the Emergency room. When we got to the door, there were two valet drivers sitting there saying we should have just pulled up and they would have parked for us! HA! Oh well, the walking probably did the baby good...

We finally made it to Labor and Delivery. The nurses seemed excited to see us. It was a slow night. They didn't have any other patients in labor. We got set up in a room and they began the admission process. I kept asking if they were going to keep me and they seemed to think I was silly. Once we knew for sure we were staying, we made a couple phone calls and let things begin. I was hooked up to the monitors, you could see that I was contracting regularly. I was about 6-7cm dilated and the nurses couldn't believe I was as pleasant as I was. The contractions hurt, but they weren't anything overly horrible. I must have a high tolerance of pain or something. The nurses asked me if I was open to receiving an epidural and I said yes. They called right away, and about an hour later the anesthesiologist was there, but I probably could have lasted a bit longer without it. I was worried, though, that it would become too late, and I would rather not feel the pain of actually pushing the baby out, so I got it. The doctor came in and told us to rest for a couple of hours and that she would be back at 7am. I tried to go to sleep. Todd had no problem. I was about to have a baby--I couldn't sleep, so that meant I hadn't slept in about 21 hours. I did dose off a couple of times, and during one of those doses, my water broke. I had no idea until I saw the sheets getting wet. My epidural worked very well! After a little while, my epidural wore off enough that I could feel a little of what was going on, but not enough that anything was painful. The doctor broke a second bag of waters and soon after I was feeling the pressure to push. I told the nurses, who felt that the baby was right there and ready. There was a flurry of activity preparing for delivery. I pushed for 5-10 minutes and Reagan arrived!!!

I feel so lucky to have had two really easy deliveries with my girls. It almost makes me think I could do it once more. Almost...

So Reagan was here! At 11:12am they put her down on my chest and I instantly fell in love with her. There she was. The little baby that was pushing around inside of me for the past couple of months. I was so happy to finally meet her. They took her away to clean her up and make sure she was ok. She scored 9s on both of her APGARs and was a healthy 7lbs 14 ounces, 20 inches long. A full pound heavier than Jocelyn, but the exact same length. She is beautiful, just like her sister and we are so excited to add her to our family!

Happy 4th of July!!

We had a great 4th of July weekend! Todd has a 4-day weekend, so we are still celebrating today! We enjoyed a parade and spending some time with both friends and family, and Jocelyn really enjoyed watching the fireworks this year. She stayed awake, unlike last year when she fell asleep about 2 fireworks in. Jocelyn came down with a little head cold on Saturday, but got a lot of good sleep in and was feeling a bit better yesterday. The only thing that would have made this weekend better was some cooler temperatures! The heat and humidity are almost unbearable!