Monday Mess.

How was your Monday???

Rolling Over.

When I went to get Ki from his nap, look what I found!

Things I have observed from the picture:

1. We keep our kids naked besides diaper/panties quite a bit.

2. His sheet is cute!

3. How did that pillow get in there?

4. That sure is a cute baby. I might have to have another one. 

5. My husband just read this and said, "No"! (We will see who wins that argument)

6. I dont want him to get a day older!!!!

Funny Audrie story:

Tonight Audrie was coloring "aka scribbling" and went over to GT and said "Daddy, draw a bumble bee". He replied, "No baby, I dont want to draw a bumble bee." And she came back with, "Come on daddy, do it." Ha. So he did. I HAVE NO IDEA where she gets this sassiness from???? Is sassiness a word?

Minnie Mouse Party Part II

These are pictures of Audrie throught her year of being 1. I got the picture frames from target and attached a 1 inch minnie mouse head to some of them. I got the number 2 from Hobby Lobby. Painted it red with white polka dots, then of course the center piece.

I ordered the cupcake wrappers off of Ebay and printed out the cupcake toppers I purchased from Etsy. Napkins came from target. And cookies came from a good friend who sells them! So cute!

Arent these darling? Thank you Jaime Rhinehart! :)

This was on the front door. It turned out ALOT bigger than I had planned. I made 2 of these last year for Audries party but alot smaller. Basically is scrapbook paper, folded like a paper fan, stapled together to make a circle.

And lastly, the birthday banner I made! :)

Messy Eater.

We started feeding Ki a little rice cereal. He loves it! He kicks his legs and waves his arms when I give him a bite! Sometimes he even cries if I take too long to give him another bite!

He is going to be a big boy and a good eater! :) 

Loving Two.

We had planned to have Ki before we even had Audrie. I knew I wanted multiple children and for them to be close in age but not too close. So...our plans were achieved. We had a precious baby girl then we were having our sweet baby boy.

When I was pregnant with Ki, I knew I would love him, and I knew it would be like I loved Audrie...but I didnt know how. I thought I loved Audrie so much that I couldnt possibly love more.

But I did and I do.

Its like my heart grew bigger to make more love for Ki. But I dont share the same love that I have for Audrie. But I love them the same amount. I know this probably doesnt make sense and is something you have to experience to understand.

I guess I felt the need to share this because I love him so dang much! I cant get enough kisses and lovin from the sweet boy. And for those out there contemplating having another one...DO IT! It is hard. Really hard. And its stressful. And expensive. BUT WORTH ALL OF IT!

Seriously. Dont you want to eat him up????

And then there is this one:

She looks so old in this picture to me! She is sooooo funny! Everyday she is saying some new phrase or doing some new trick. She blows my mind with how much she remembers and catches on to things we dont even notice. 

I look forward to times we play together and being silly. Like dancing around the room listening to Hakuna Matata on Pandora. 

Life is crazy. Somedays, most days I want to pull my hair out. They are so worth every second. I am blessed beyond any dreams I ever had. I ALWAYS have wanted to be a mother and am so grateful God has given me the desires of  my heart. I pray I am vessel for Him to parent through me because I know I will fail time and time again, but He never will! Thank you Lord! 

My Safe Haven

I am sure this blog will stir controversy. Many of my blogs do. I dont know, I just cant keep my mouth shut once I have something on my mind.

Topic of Discusion: Co-Sleeping

**Disclaimer** I could care less if people let their children sleep with them. I am a firm believer that each family is different and what works for some doesnt work for others and vice versa. With that...

This is what has worked with our 2 kids: They sleep next to me in the basinet until they are fully sleeping through the night (ab 3 months) then we transition them to the crib. When Audrie was 18 months old we transitioned her to a twin bed.

We dont chose co-sleeping because our bed is the only thing we have that is ONLY ours after 8pm (minus the two boston terriers). It is a sacred place for my husband and I to come together and watch movies, have pillow talk and be intimate. The rest of our lives we share with our children. We eat with them. We play with them. They go to the bathroom with us. I feel a sense of relief when my children are in bed and I can go to my safe haven...my bed where no kids are allowed after 8! :)

As my disclaimer states, I think if co-sleeping works for your family then thats awesome! What I cant stand is when people chose to co-sleep but complain about it. You see, I am all about the parents being the authority and laying down the law. **Note: my child is only 2, I might change my story in years to come** But at this point, her door gets locked if she wont go to sleep and tries to escape. To the point, where we changed her door handle so it locks on the outside. Some think this is cruel. However, this is how I keep my sanity. I need alone time. I need time just me and my hubs. I WOULD go NUTS if I never got a break.

I was watching GMA this morning and they had a segment about co-sleeping where 2 of the anchors were complaining about their children still sleeping with them. I wanted to tell them, it is nobody's fault but your own.

Edit: If she wakes up crying in the middle of the night, I do go and check on her because it usually means she is sick or had a bad dream. At this point, I lay in her bed until she falls back asleep. There have been times she has slept in my bed when she is sick or when we have been on vacation. 

Changes.

I got a new computer!!!! HALLELUJAH PRAISE THE LORD!

Seriously. I am so excited. I have been transforming my ETSY. And been playing on pinterest too much. GT beat angry birds. Now, its time blog more.

Some changes are taking place in the Nehls household:

• I decided not to cloth diaper Ki. I just dont have the energy or time to do it. I know what your thinking it isnt that much extra. when you have 2 kids, 2 years apart, it is alot extra. 
• We moved Ki to his room 2 nights ago. It is always a bittersweet thing to do. Glad we can speak in a normal tone and watch tv in the bed again. Sad he is so far away. 
• Ki has started sucking his thumb. He doesnt even want the paci anymore.
• I am working on getting ready for Audrie to go to MDO "school". I am calling it school because Audrie doesnt understand MDO. Her backpack and lunchbox are being monogrammed and I am planning her lunches :)
• GT's sister went to college. Makes me miss it. Thought I would NEVER say that.
• GT is taking fall off from softball. He is replacing it with fantasy football. 
• I am getting up when GT leaves from work and brushing my teeth, if I have more time I might make breakfast or read my Bible. **success!**
• I try to do my bible study in the mornings, but one child usually wakes up. 
• I love being a mom! Thats not a change, but somedays I forget I love it. :)

Not-so-funny thing Audrie did today:

I had Ki in my room in the vibrating chair and told Audrie to come with me to get dressed. I assumed she followed me as she usually does. I was in her closet picking out an outfit then heard Ki scream. She was putting a finger nail file down his mouth. UGH. He is ok. Not the pointy kind. My mom would freak out if she reads this. Sorry, I left him unattended. He really is ok. 

Not-so-funny thing mommy did today:

After that incident, I got Ki and propped him on Audries bed with her pillows to get her dressed. Then I look over and Ki is rolling off the pillow onto the floor. Good thing her stuffed penguin was right there and he did not get hurt. Seriously, poor baby. Between me and sister, he is having a rough day!

Funny thing Audrie did last night:

She had one of my old insurance cards and was acting like it was a credit card (not sure how she learned that, hehe!) We said, Audrie, what are you going to buy? She replied, "Chips" and "Hot dogs". Not toys. Food. Yes, it is confirmed, she belongs to us. :)

Minnie Mouse Birthday Part 1

Its no surprise that I love to have a fun birthday party for my kids, full of color and cute crafts! For Audrie's first birthday I did just a general polka dot theme. This year, it was a no-brainer, to do minnie mouse. Audrie used to have a constant love for anything "Mouse". However, I didnt want to have the typical minnie mouse party. I decided the first thing would be to pick a base color. Minnie mouse now wears a pink dress which I LOVE pink, but everyone does pink MM now, so I chose to go vintage Mickey, red and white polka dot! As I was starting the decor, I felt like it needed one more color so I added a hint of yellow. The yellow comes from Minnie Mouse's shoes when she wore red/white.

Below I was share the different crafts and things I did for the party! It was so fun to prepare for!

I probably spent more time collecting stuff for the goody bags than anything else. I went to a few dollar stores, wal-art and target to find the treasures for the goody bags. Everything inside was mouse of some sort. There were penciles, notepads, plastic disc, candy, a small puzzle, a magnet head of minnie or mickey, stickers...and I bought crayons for them too but they melted. I also had extra ballons I didnt use so I threw those in too.

I bought the goody bags 2/$1 @ Party City in Shreveport. I purchased the ribbon and polka dot tissue paper @ Hobby Lobby. I ordered the die-cut minnie mouse heads off of ebay.

A wonderful lady, Cheryl Coats, made Audrie this cute minnie mouse dress.  She loves it and so do I! 

I had left over ribbon from the wreath ribbon so I made a rag wreath. I printed out a 2 on scrapbook paper and cute it out and attached it with ribbon. 

This is one of my favorite crafts I did for the party. I used this tutorial. It was so easy and fun to make! I will be making more of these for the holidays.

I made 2 of these for centerpieces.

How to make the minnie mouse head-

Materials:
2 Small styrofoam balls
1 Large styrofoam ball
2 toothpicks
1 Can of Black Spray Paint
Ribbon (if doing minnie)
1 dowel rod

Spray paint styrofoam balls. Place toothpicks in smaller ones and stick them in large one. Make bow out of ribbon, hot glue or stick in with toothpick. Stick dowel rod in bottom and place in container.

I bought the bucket half off at hobby lobby then did white polka dots. Put a large styrofoam disc in bottom. Cute fake flowers to fit. GT cut dowel rod with a key hole saw. Put tissue paper in to fill in space. And there ya go! :)

I had bought my styrofoam balls in a pack so I had enough to make 3 heads, so my third one I used on the favor table.

Used a small clear bowl I had. I filled it up with these little decorative foam balls from Hobby Lobby. Stuffed tissue paper in the top then hot glued some yellow stringy stuff.

More decor to come...

Audrie or Ki?

Brother is getting to the rolling around stage. He isnt doing it quite yet, but he is on his way. As Audrie and I were playing with him this morning, I told her I had a video of her rolling over. I got out the computer and we watched it. Then I came across some pictures of her in the bath tub and couldnt believe how much her and Ki look alike! Well, I started looking at them side by side, and not so much. They have different head shapes, Audrie had darker hair and more of it, Ki is alot bigger...Ki is way more happier and smiles more. He has even been laughing a little! Hard to believe Audrie was that small and now she is talking and being sassy! :)

Bath Time w/ Ki!

I could eat this boy up! Like really. I never thought I could love a child as much as I love my sweet Audrie Kate. I do! Its like my heart just grew bigger and made room to love him just as much!

Easy Way or Hard Way?

As I have been blogging and writing on facebook, I have mentioned our interesting life as Audrie has hit the 2 year old mark. I feel like we have been in terrible twos for sometime now but it doesnt seem to get better, just more defiant. More tiring. More discipline. More time-outs. More spankings. More corrections. I do know that it is worth it. She will one day, hopefully, not need as much correction since we are starting to set this foundation of discipline and boundaries.

Something I have started recently is telling Audrie we can do this the easy way or the hard way. You can let me brush your hair while sitting still and it will be over alot faster and it wont hurt as much. But if you pull away and scream it will take longer and hurt more. And this is with everything I am finding with her. Of course, she usually picks the hard way and I have found 2 year olds arent really logical thinkers.

I started attending a Bible study last week, "A Woman's Heart" by Beth Moore. God has really spoken to my heart about how  I am just like my two-year old. Gods word is showing me the easy way but oh so often I choose that hard way. He is saying. Lydia, if you would listen to me the first time, it would be the easy way, you wouldnt be so hurt. But because you chose the hard way, it hurts and it takes you longer to learn the lesson, sometimes I have to teach it to you a million times.

I found it interesting as I was reading the story of the Tower of Babel in our study how much it relates to this. After the flood, God tells Noah and his sons (Shem, Ham, Japeth) to multiply and scatter among the earth. Well, the people start building this tower and they want it high enough to reach the heavens. I thought this was why God confused the languages and scattered the people, but it wasnt. The people were building this tower so they would all be in one place and not be scattered around the world.

Easy Way: Be fruitful. Multiply. Scatter among the earth.
Hard Way: God made it happen by confusing languages.

Another lesson is this, Gods will is going to happen. The question to me is, Am I going to be part of His will? Am I going to be used by Him or is He going to have to use someone else because of my disobedience?

Remember the former things, those of long ago;
I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like me.
10 I make known the end from the beginning,
from ancient times, what is still to come.
I say, ‘My purpose will stand,
and I will do all that I please.’
11 From the east I summon a bird of prey;
from a far-off land, a man to fulfill my purpose.
What I have said, that I will bring about;
what I have planned, that I will do.

Isaiah 46:9-11

A. List. Of. Life. Lately.

I miss blogging. I just dont have the time or brain space to have deep thoughts and if I do, I sure dont have time to type them on my cracked computer screen macbook. :(

So...I will make a list. A life list. A list of life. You get it...

• Im pretty sure I have announced it to the world already. BUT in case you havent heard, Audrie is potty trained! She really did most of it herself. We still have accidents almost daily. But they are most rebellious accidents.  My child is quite strong-willed (nice way to put it)

• Ki is the sweetest thang ever. I cant get enough of his sweet sugars and fat rolls! :)
• I am SO ready for it not to be over 100 degrees. I would even take 95. Seriously.

• I just joined pinterest. And I really like it. I wish my computer screen would allow me to fully enjoy it. 

• My husband is a wonderful man. He keeps me sane. Him and lexapro. Thank God for both!

• September 6th is 21 days. That is the day Audrie starts Mother's Day Out. I am obviously counting down the days. Those who have had a wild 2 year old understands. And those of you who have had kids 2 years apart with the oldest being wild is having bad flashbacks.

• I am so glad I am not pregnant anymore. 

• I need to lose about 50 pounds. I ate half a bag of Sour Cream and Cheddar Lays today. And I just ate 4 chocolate chip cookies. Dang.

• Today Audrie put  Desitin all over herself. Including all private areas. Note to readers: It is hard to wash off and to get out of carpet.

• I should blog about all the not-so-funny but funny things Audrie does.
•    
• Most days I brush my teeth and put on deodorant for the first time at 9pm. 

• My couch is piled high with clean laundry. Atleast its clean.

• My hubs had a softball game tonight, when he came home he asked, "What have you been doing?" Like I hadnt been doing anything? And my reply was I took a shower and washed my hair. These days that is very productive. And I washed bottles. So....there!

I leave you with  apic of my cute boy:

I would have one of my sweet girl, but she runs from the camera. :(

Ki is 2 months old!

Ki really turned two months when we were on vacation a few weeks ago, but he just had his 2 month well check-up. He is 14 lbs 2 oz (85%) 25 inches (94%) and his head was 15 1/2" (22%). I went back a read Audries 2 months post. She weighed 12 lbs 3 oz (87%), 23 inches long (74%) and head was 15 inches (59%). Meaning Ki is going to be bigger than his big sister! :)

 


He is such a sweet happy boy! He is eating 6 oz every 3-4 hours. He has been sleeping through the night for 2 weeks now. We usually feed him about 10 and he sleeps til 7 or 8. He smiles and coo's alot more than Aufrie did at this age. However, Audrie could pull toys and loved playing on her playmat and Ki is not quite there yet.

He has just started to like his bath. Last night he was kicking in it so hard, water got all over the counter and floor! But he was having such a good time, I couldnt stop him! He is wearing 6m clothes and filling those out really good.

Here are so more pictures I recently took of the big boy:

Audrie is a BIG GIRL!

Wow, I cant believe Audrie is 2. We have had a whirlwind of a year. I went back to work part time and Audrie stayed with a sitter 3 days a week. Which was good for the both of us. I was pregnant with Ki most of the year so that took a toll on how active I could be with Audrie. Then Ki was born and it has changed my relationship with Audrie. I feel like it has made it stronger and more special. And I am so glad she now has a brother for the rest of her life! 

Here is a pic fron Audries 1st bday morning, then her 2nd bday morning. What a difference a year makes!

Now I have been home with the sweet girl since a month before Ki was born. It is good to be back home with her everyday but I know she needs some socialization and to learn things that I just cant teach her. So in a month she is going to start going to Mothers Day Out. I am really looking forward to it, mostly for her but for me too! I am excited about having time with just my precious Ki!

Audrie had her 2 year old well check-up this week. She is 27 lbs (56%) 35 1/2 inches (89%) and her head circumfrence is 19" (71%). Skinny and long! :)

And to top it off she is potty trained! Or should I say potty training??? No more diapers. She only wears a pull p at nap time (which every day it has been dry) and at  night (its usually not dry but not soaked either). She has had an accident everyday, 3 of the days were my fault. Not bringing her when she asked...because we just sat on it 2 minutes ago and she did nothing!!!! or just not paying attention to the time in between pottying. She has done great pooing! I was scared that would be the hardest part!

We had her 2nd birthday party yesterday which was SOOOO much fun! I had as much fun preparing the decor too! It was minnie mouse themed with red/white polka dots. I will do a whole blog on that later.

It occurred to me tonight that I have been a sucky blogger and the biggest reason is the big crack in our MAC laptop screen. I pray everyday for a new computer or even a used one. I dont care. I just want to blog more and maintain my ETSY more...so here is a post for now. Hopefully when do one on little brother's 2 month! :)

Post Partum Anxiety Update

About 2 weeks after Ki was born, I posted this about my experience with post-partum depression and anxiety. For some reason facebook imported it like 5 weeks later! Crazy! Anyway, this is my first time to sit down and share an update.

At my 6 week appt, I told my doc I will still having some anxiety and he raised my dosage from 10 mg to 20mg. It has certainly helped. My doc thinks I will be able to wean off of it in the next few months. I hope so because it makes me really hungry. Like extremely, eat as much as my husband hungry. And for someone who just had their 2nd child, and that child was 9 lbs 3 oz, means I am not losing the baby weight. Instead, I am sure I have been gaining. But the scale is in the closet, so I have no idea.