Project 366 {week 2}

I am so enjoying doing Project 366 this way! Thanks for reading up on a little piece of our week.



























Here's to week 3!

Project 366 {week 1}

I am jumping on the project 365 bandwagon as I think it's an awesome idea and I take so many iPhone pics as it is. Usually the pics I take tell a story of something funny that took place. I will tweet it or Facebook it but rarely do I recall what went on in that picture 6 months later. So this is where I'm hopeful project 365 will help me!
I learned about displaying my pictures in the templates below from my talented friend Sarah. The girl seriously is a Jane of all trades!! If you'd like to learn too, go read her tutorial from today! Her blog is called Life {sweet} Life and it's on my blogroll to the left <-----. Sorry, I'm on my phone & can't link to her. Week One.

Judd's 2 month stats

Judd is 10 weeks, or 2.5 months old. Sweet baby had his 2 month checkup today.
Here he is before we left for the appointment.

I always look forward to these appointments but dread them at the same time. I get excited to see how much my babies weigh and how tall they are, and to get the percentiles. But those shots. Oh the shots. Not a fan of those boogers at all.

He weighed 14.5 lbs. BIG BOY!! He is in the 95% for weight. I am so thrilled to have another chunky monkey. As for height, he was 23 inches, which put him in the 60%. I think it's funny because he and Ava were the exact same height at 2 months. Ava weighed 11 lbs and was in the 75%. Does this make Judd short and squatty? Haha! And as far as his head circumference? 80%. Homeboy's got lots of brains up in that noggin!
So, overall it appears that little Judd is having no problems in the physical growth department. He is happy and healthy. He is also doing great cognitively. He smiles all the time and coos so much. It seriously makes me weak in the knees, y'all. Ava never did coo all that much. She was a much more serious baby. This little man just loves to sit and coo all day long....when he isn't eating that is.
He also rolled over from front to back 5 times yesterday.
SLOW DOWN LITTLE FELLER! He was just born like yesterday! They weren't kidding when they said the second child's infancy goes by so much faster.

Now, if only it was acceptable and exciting for me to gain weight. Blech.

Judd {1 and 2 months}

I cannot even believe that it has been 2 months already that my sweet little man has been here with us. What a wild 2 months it has been. I feel horrible that I didn't blog about his 1 month stats and update but around that time it was so crazy. Let me catch you up.

ONE MONTH

 -At one month old you had just been through a whirl wind and your little body was recovering from a scary ordeal. When you turned 2 weeks old you started vomiting. I thought maybe you had a stomach bug and was watching you like crazy to see if you developed any kind of fever. You never did, but your vomiting did not let up. As we got to week 3 I thought you had major reflux. We visited the doctor several times in a week. We switched formulas, held you upright for an hour after each feeding, gave you smaller amounts of milk less often; we did it all. After tweeting with some moms on twitter I was informed about a condition called Pyloric Stenosis. I was also told to NOT google it as it would scare me, but to watch you closely and consider getting you an ultrasound if the vomiting got worse or more frequent. Well, the vomiting got worse and more frequent and I googled it. I read that PS is a birth defect that takes place in 4 out of 1000 white males and causes their pyloric muscle at the end of their stomach to enlarge, causing the food to be ejected from the stomach upwards and therefor not digest into the intestines. The only treatment? Surgery.

Needless to say, it eventually got to the point that you were throwing up every bottle, all of the bottle, and we took you in to get the ultrasound of your stomach. Within an hour it was determined that your sweet little tummy indeed needed surgery. You had Pyloric Stenosis. You were one of those 4 out of 1000. Lucky little guy. NOT.

What a scary night. I never thought I'd have a newborn who would need to have an IV, or need to be put under. I never thought I'd have a newborn having surgery at just 21 days of age. But, guess what? That surgery proved to be a success and you gained 3 pounds in the 2.5 weeks after your surgery.

-By the end of your first month you were up from 8.11 lbs to 11.4 lbs. You were back on regular newborn formula and continued to nurse before each feeding. You took about 3 oz of formula and 1 oz of breastmilk per feed.

-You smiled for the first time at 6 weeks and we noticed you had two little dimples at the top corners of your mouth. MELTS ME!

-You woke up twice a night most nights with an occasional once a night wake up or thrice a night wake up.

-You continued to grow and thrive, which was more than we could ask for!

TWO MONTHS

-At two months you are weighing an impressive 12.14 lbs!! YOU LOVE TO EAT! Mommy and Daddy (and Dr. Halpenny too) are so proud of your growth since your setback.

-You wear a size 3month clothing and are very close to wearing 3-6 months

-You wear a size 1 diaper and love to blow-out at least one diaper a day

-You take about 5 or 6 ounces of formula every 3 hours and nurse in the morning, before your naps, and at bedtime. You are starting to be over nursing as you know it's much more work than a bottle. In fact, I am fairly sure we are done nursing this week. I thought today would be your last time, but I did notice you wanted to nurse before your nap this afternoon. It may be that you only nurse once a day for comfort, or that you give it up completely. Either way, I am going to be okay with it because I was never nursing you for nutrition, sadly. Mommy just doesn't make enough to provide.

-You love your swing the best and you HATE car rides. I have become SUCH the homebody since you were born mostly because I dread getting in the car with you. Thanks for helping me spend less money. Haha!

-You got RSV AND an ear infection in your right ear at 9 weeks old and are still recovering from it. Poor boy can't catch a break but I am certain you are a tough little guy and have already almost fought this virus off completely.

-You smile and coo so much and we just love you to pieces!!

-Whever you sneeze you always finish it off with a loud coo. Your sister and I laugh every time because it is the SWEETEST sound.

-Your favorite times of day are tummy time in the morning and bath time at night.

-You go to sleep every night at 9pm and wake around 2 or 3 for a bottle, and then again around 6. You are up for the day at 9am every morning. I am so happy you are on a routine and hope to improve the routine in the day with sceduled naps as you get a little older and I learn more about you and your needs.

One and two month comparison pics. Look how much you have grown and filled out! Wow!

We love you so so much little boy and we all are crazy about you! You have brought so much joy to all 3 of us and we don't really even remember what life was like without you. You fit perfectly into our family like a glove. We look forward to watching your little personality form and you grow into an ever sweeter (and chunkier) baby boy!

Happy two months, Judd Richard!

Christmas 2011

Here it is 10 minutes until 2012 and I'm barely getting our Christmas post blogged. I'll make it quick with mostly just a bunch of pictures. They speak for themselves though, don't they?
We had a great Christmas and I feel like it came and went just a little too quickly. It was definitely a different one with just having Judd. I feel like Christmas shopping was so random and sporatic, I was exhausted much of the month of December, and it was hard to get out and spend much time with family and friends with a newborn. However, it was a very special Christmas in that this was our first Christmas in our new home and as a family of four. We made many great memories, started a few new traditions, and just really enjoyed being with eachother; just the four of us.
And? Christmas in the eyes of a 3 year old? It's just something I cannot explain. SO magical and joyous.
We went to Aaron's grandparent's house for Christmas Eve. We have been going there every year since we first started dating and we always have such a good time visiting with all of his family. That first Christmas there was only two babies. This Christmas there were 9. Here are some pictures from that night. Ava had a great time running around with her cousins. Mee Maw loved holding Judd. We ate way too much food, opened presents, and made our way home to prepare for Santa!
                                  
This above picture is my favorite picture of the entire month of December. I love that they are both looking at the camera, that Ava is actually smiling, and that they look so festive and matchy:) Makes this mama smile!!

                                                     Christmas Eve 

We got home and did our traditional Christmas Eve of opening one gift from eachother of matching pajamas. This year I waited until the last minute so we went with non-Christmas and not really matching as much as coordinating. The theme was gray. Ha! I'm really into gray lately and I found all but Judd's pjs in one quick Taget trip. I got Judd's online at Carters.
                                

Here we are Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. Santa was good to the kids this year. Judd's big gift was the Pottery Barn anywhere chair and Ava's big gift was a Disney fairies bike. They also got a "reading tepee" and some puzzles, books, and a few other small things.

Aaron got me a gym membership for the year. He actually got us a family membership which is just awesome because this gym has so much to offer, even an indoor water park for the kids!! That baby starts up on January 2nd. CANNOT WAIT to hit the elyptical. Yeay, operation lose this baby weight is ON!

Ava had so much fun opening presents this year. She really got into it and wanted to open everyone's gifts, little stinker!!

Our third Christmas was at my mom's house on Christmas afternoon. We went over and got our stockings, a tradition we still continue from when we lived at home, and opened presents. We also had a very yummy dinner of steaks, baked potatoes, and cherry pie. I also made a very tasty Pineapple Pretzel Salad. Thanks, Erin, for that recipe! I love the picture of my mom with her three grandchildren. And I especially love that Judd is crying. Ha! It's real life, huh?

I think Aaron's favorite gift was these pretty little babies. Redneck wine glasses. Have you ever seen such a thing? Mason jars on what looks like candle stick holders. Hilarious!! I think my mom bought these for him since he drinks cheap wine. Haha! He isn't a big drinker at all, and he doesn't drink liquor or beer so wine is his drink of choice. Only thing is? He prefers it to be cheap. And? He is not one bit ashamed about this. Love it!

What a wonderful 2011 it has been! Exactly a year ago on this very night I took my first Clomid pill, hoping to get pregnant with a second baby, and we were sitting around with my cousins talking about potential boy and girl names. It makes me smile to look at how blessed we were to welcome a sweet little baby boy into this world 10 months after that night.

(This picture makes me laugh so hard. Looks like Judd is wearing a hair piece.)

God's plan is perfect and his timing is better than any of us can ever imagine. I thank him daily for my life, my family, my friends, and all new blessings that come with each new day, each new year.
Happy New Year to you and yours. I hope this year is your best one YET!

Making Sweet Christmas Memories

We have had a fun month filled with many Christmas traditions. Some were old, most were new. One tradition we started this year was baking Christmas goodies with our friends. My best friend Jenn and I were chatting one night on the phone and decided we wanted to get our kids together to bake some goodies for our neighbors, the mail carriers, and for Santa! So today we did just that.
Jenn, Boston, and Ella Reese joined us for a morning of cookie decorating, candy baking, and ornament making! We decorated cookies to leave out for Santa, made special reindeer food for his four legged flight attendants, and even managed to find time to make salt dough ornaments with handprints of the kids and a wee little footprint of Judd. We had such a fun morning and it actually all went so smooth! The kids seemed to enjoy themselves it was just a nice time to get together with our very best buddies making special memories with our babes.

We finished with the following treats:
-Iced sugar cookies
-Walnut fudge
-Turtles
-Oreo Bark
-Saltine Cracker Toffee Bars
-Salt Dough Ornaments (or plaques in our case) of handprints/footprint

Oh! And we can't forget about the reindeer food! If Santa gets cookies, we have to feed his reindeer as well!
                                   

Each of these goodies were SUPER easy to make, which made this a piece of cake! {no pun intended} Great treats for little ones to help with!!

Dad and Ava enjoyed delivering the yumminess to our neighbors. Ava was grinning from ear to ear as she ran back to the house.

This, my friends, is what Christmas is all about. I know it's only food and not much, but I want to enstill the joy of giving at an early age with my children. One in which they can be a part of the giving from the beginning to end. And I do believe that this year, the mission was accomplished.

And just because Judd looks oh so cute with his reindeer booty...
                               

Christmas Decorations

I am ignoring the "sleep when the baby sleeps" rule tonight so that I can finally add some pictures of our Christmas setup in the McWilliams home. I've been wanting to do this post since Friday when two of my sweet friends, Kelly and Erin, hosted a link up on Christmas decorations.
We didn't go overboard with decor this year, but we did get the basics up. It did cross our minds to do nothing but a small tree since we have a newborn, (and we have a newborn that recently had surgery at that), but on second thought we wanted to make it special since it's our first year in our new home.
Aaron and Ava did most of the decorating, as we got all of this up the DAY after Judd got home from the hospital and I was EXHAUSTED. Sidenote: I will share Judd's story soon! I was VERY impressed with their mad decorating skills. The only thing I really did was the front entry way.
Here is our main tree and "mantle" in our living room.

Ava was really into trimming the tree this year. She loved putting the ornaments on and in fact, she is still loving it...17 days later! I have to tell her no less than 50 times a day to quit moving around the ornaments!! I also wanted to add ribbon or mesh to the tree, but this year it just wasn't in the cards. I am just happy it is up and decorated!

This is our "mantle". I never even realized until about 3 months AFTER we moved into our house that we had no fireplace. Isn't that so odd? I was a little panicked (yes I am dramatic) about where to put our stockings that would not be hung by the chimney with care. But have no fear, Ashley! The TV hutch worked out just as well. I just love our Pottery Barn stockings so much. Next year I plan to add mesh to the sad looking garland.

Here is our stairs leading up to the playroom and "SheShe Office". I love the lit garland as it just adds another warm touch. Do you see Beth the elf perched on the rail? Ava loves that elf more than the big Jolly ol elf himself!  

This is Ava's little area in one of our hallways. It is a bit on the Griswold side, but these are for Ava to play with and enjoy. She can break them and it will be okay. The light up Christmas village is her absolute favorite! It plays a variety of Christmas carols and she will stand next to it, with microphone in hand, and sing at the top of her lungs. I will be adding that fake snow stuff to put underneath the "junk" for next year.

Here is our breakfast nook area (aka home to our dining room table). I would love to have my nice Spode Christmas china out on display but with little ones it won't be happening for many years. So this is it for now. I put evergreen greenery inside the hurricane vase and used a red holly berry wreath as the centerpiece. I got those "disco ball trees" as I call them at Big Lots on sale for $5 each.

Here is our entry way. I bought all of these decorations on the table this year at Hobby Lobby before Judd was born. The Sleigh holds all of our Christmas cards. The picture frames on top of our windowsill are pictures of Ava every year at Christmas. Some are Santa pictures while others are of her on Christmas morning. I have already added a picture of Judd and Ava in two frames:)

This little tree is also in our entry way, but more in our kitchen. I am not sure if I like it with or without ornaments on it. The cord drives me insane so I put the "Falala" sign there for my own peace of mind. Like it really did any good, right? Haha! It made me feel better. A little, anyway. We have two more trees I didn't photograph. One of Ava's room and one in our formal  dining room. It was naptime when I took the pictures, what can I say?  

And here is our home looking in from the front door. It's so nice and majestic at night. I just love Christmas time in the home. Thanks for checking out our decorations and I wish you and your family a happy, healthy, blessed Christmas!

Christmas Card {2011}

Today I am linking up with Faith's blog for the Christmas Card Carousel and I'm excited to share our Christmas card with you all!
This year's card was extra special since we had one new little addition to our family. I'm very please with how it turned out as well!! My sweet friend Sarah designed this card and I think she did a great job. I wanted to incorporate brown houndstooth with the aqua and red picture. I love those three colors together!

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I hope to get a few minutes (who am I kidding I get lots of minutes with these late night feedings) to look at all the other Christmas cards in the link up! And from our family to yours, we wish you a very Merry Christmas!

Judd's Announcement

I'm way behind with posts, but let's start with this.

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Thank you so much to the lovely Sarah for capturing and creating this beautiful piece of work!