Reese's 3rd Rainbow Bday Bash

Last Friday our baby girl turned 3 years old and we celebrated over the weekend with a rainbow themed birthday bash! 

It's so crazy to think about how different our lives were 3 years ago.  We were living in Orebro, Sweden and anticipating the arrival of our sweet baby girl.  My, how our lives have changed.  We feel so blessed to have Reesey bear in our lives and love watching her learn and grow. 

Right now she loves books, puzzles and everything girly!  She still loves Dora, but also Peppa Pig and Max and Ruby.  She is also loving all things crafty too.  Markers, crayons, paint, stamps, and play-doh are a few faves.  She has a wild imagination and we have so much fun listening to all the stories and games she comes up with.  Still a great sleeper but think naps might be on their way out, something I'm definitely not looking forward to.  Bedtime seems to be getting later too which might have something to do with naps.  Reese loves her new daycare but took a little while to adjust as with all things.  She has a few friends that she regularly talks about which is so cute to see.  Reese is such a great big sis, usually watching out for her baby brother, but isn't afraid to tell him he's not allowed to have certain toys.  Although, I must say, she has taken 'danger' things away from him before I've even seen that he has them.  Such a big helper! 

It's hard to believe a few short years ago she was a tiny, newborn baby in our arms.  She's grown into such a vivacious little girl and we couldn't be more proud!

Updates

I keep thinking about all the catch-up posts I owe this little blog but then get sidetracked with bottles, lunches, cleaning, and other miscellaneous baby and toddler things.

I know most of the people reading this blog know by now we are no longer living the 'hockey life'.  Which is part of the reason for all the time away from the blog.  In short, we've been busy with so many changes and adjustments I barely know where to begin. 

We knew heading to the UK a couple years ago, we were nearing the end of the road.  It was part of the decision to go there and pursue Scott's MBA.  Just another way to prepare for life after hockey.  Then I got pregnant with Owen and playing another year just made the most sense for us.  Life with two started to change things a bit.  We talked much more seriously about the reality of life after hockey.  Scott started his job search and luckily enough had an offer before his season was even over.  We started to prepare for the big move home, a daunting task with a lively 2 1/2 year old and newborn.

Fast forward 6 months and we are finally feeling settled at home.  We bought our first house and what a feeling to actually be planting roots somewhere.  Of course, there will always be a part of us that misses the hockey lifestyle but we are so happy to be raising our babies at home with our family and friends.  I think we are through the transition phase of Scott's first job, outside of hockey, finding a new daycare for Reese, staying home with the kids, etc.  There were definitely a few rough patches along the way with all the changes happening for all of us but we made it through. 

Owen Update

I can't believe our baby boy is almost 7 months!  And to think I've only written one post on the little guy.  A little mom guilt over that one.  We have so many things that deserve an update but first things first...our sweet baby boy. 

Owen is such a sweet little guy and the best cuddle bug around.  He LOVES to be in someone's arms and you'll rarely hear a peep out of him if he is.  Perfectly content snuggling up with someone.  Such a change from his big sis as a babe.  We thought Reese was a great sleeper so I was shocked to discover Owen is even better.  He takes two great two hour naps a day and sometimes a cat nap in the early evenings.  You can just put him in his sleep sack, turn his sheep on and out he goes.  No fuss whatsoever.  As if naps weren't good enough, he is a champion nighttime sleeper too, going down around 7:30pm and up around 7:00am!  We are certainly counting out blessings in the sleep department. 

At his 6 month well baby, he weighed in at just over 18lbs which is just above the 50th percentile.  He's a strong little guy too, rolling both ways around 3 months and is full on crawling now too.  In the past couple weeks, he's started to pull himself to standing and seems so proud of himself when he does.  I can't say I'm quite ready for him to be mobile though.  Time to baby-proof the house!

It usually takes a little work to get giggles out of him, but big sis Reese can get a good belly laugh from him with little effort.  He loves his big sis and that love is most definitely returned ten-fold!  When Reese gets home from 'school' she runs in the house looking for Po (as we've come to call him).  

He is also a great eater and lights up when he sees his bottles.  He was a little leery about his first tastes of rice cereal but is eating an entire bowl with gusto now!  He loves other things we've tried too like carrots, sweet potatoes, squash, rutabaga, apples and blueberries.  Rice rusks and puffs keep him busy while we're getting his food ready but he hasn't quite mastered the task of getting them to his mouth. 

I can't believe how fast the time is flying by.  Life with two kids was a big adjustment at first but we couldn't imagine life without two now!  

Back at it again!

I know I've been away from this 'ol blog for much too long but really want to get back into it.  I was just reading through some of the posts and it reminded me of why I enjoyed it so much.  I want to be able to look back on these posts and see what life was like, one snippet at a time.  Will be back soon with lots of updates!

Owen Update

It's hard to believe how incredibly fast the time flies. I can't believe our baby boy is already 2 months, going on 3. It's been a bit of a whirlwind but things are finally feeling like 'normal' life again.

Owen has turned out to be such a great sleeper and generally happy boy. He's fallen into a great routine, eating about every 3 or 3 1/2 hours and napping great in between. We've started putting him up in his bed for naps which helps him sleep better and allows Reese to have some special playtime with us. Bedtime is a breeze now too as he goes down without a fuss and has been sleeping much longer stretches through the night. Sometimes he's up around 5 or 6am for a feed and occasionally lasting until around 7am. What a difference a full night's sleep makes for this mama!

Owen rolled from his belly to his back a couple weeks ago but hasn't done it again since. I left him on his blanket for a little tummy time and turned around a minute later and he was on his back. Then we rolled him back over and he showed us his new trick again. We still haven't caught it on camera but will keep trying. He's also started to giggle a little bit and it's the sweetest sound!

Reese is such a great big sister and loves to give Owen cuddles as often as she can. She loves to hold him and tries to help if he's crying too. We couldn't ask for more!

Make these!

Valentine's Day is usually pretty low-key around here. We try and do a nice meal in and a some kind of dessert. This year, with a newborn and a wild two year old, quick and easy works best. I found these peanut butter pretzel treats and thought they fit the bill so gave them a try. Delicious! They remind me of a Hershey take 5 candy bar, salty, sweet, peanut butter and chocolate, a perfect combo! Recipe found here.

image via

A Birth Story

It's hard to believe Owen is 6 weeks old today. Where has the time gone? I thought I would share the story of his arrival.

With no signs of him making an appearance on his due date, I decided to hit the gym for a light workout in hopes of moving things along. I guess it worked because early the next morning I woke up to light cramping. By about 6am, full on contractions had started. Things seemed to be moving along rather quickly. Reese was in daycare that day so Scott got her ready and left to drop her off. By the time he was home, I was in quite a bit of pain, having contractions every 6 or 7 minutes. We called the hospital and they said to try and wait until they were 3 or 4 minutes apart. By 10am, they were almost unbearable and I decided it was time to go. I was having intense contractions every couple minutes on the half hour drive to the hospital.

Once we arrived, Scott was asking me where to park and I think my response was something like, '...just stop the car and let me out anywhere'. I was not in a good place by then! We got in and found out I was dilated to a 6 or 7. I told the midwife I really wanted an epidural and at first she questioned me saying I was already so close. I was not messing around though and said I definitely wanted the epidural. In order to have one, I had to be moved upstairs, out of the midwife unit. At that point, I didn't care where I would be, just wanted the meds! The midwife took about 20 minutes to get my paperwork sorted and call upstairs to advise I would be coming up. When she came in to get me in a wheelchair to head upstairs, I was having the urge to push so she checked me again. In 20 minutes I had gone from 6 or 7cm dilated to fully dilated and ready to push. He was on his way, ready or not. I pushed for around 40 minutes and was holding my sweet baby boy.

One minor hiccup in the delivery process was his cord was loosely wrapped around his neck. The midwife lifted it up and around his neck and it snapped, spraying both midwives and the room with blood! It honestly looked like a crime scene in there. Both midwives said they had never seen anything like it before. No cord cutting for Daddy.

No time for any pain management was not in my birth plan. At all. I was fully intending on having an epidural, gas and air, whatever would help me get through labor and delivery. I never thought I wouldn't even have the option. Even though it wasn't part of the plan, it is amazing to think what your body can endure. Of course, there were times I was begging for something and honestly didn't think I could do it. But in the end, I did, proving myself wrong and reminding me what we're capable of if we really dig deep.

Owen was 8lbs. 5oz. and 20in. long. He looks a lot like his big sis did when she was born. He was due for a check-up at 6 hours of life and if all was well, we were planning on heading home. Unfortunately, the midwife detected a heart murmur when she was checking him over so we had to stay the night for further observation. They explained that it was fairly common for a valve in newborns hearts to close up on its on within the first 24-48 hours of life if it hadn't before birth. We were hoping that was the case with Owen. At his 24 hour check up, the murmur was still there so he needed further testing. The tests all checked out okay and they would listen for the murmur again at 48 hours of life. Luckily, at 48 hours, the murmur could no longer be detected. It was a stressful couple of days, but we're so thankful all was well in the end and have a beautiful and healthy baby boy.

We are busy trying to adjust to life with two kids. Not as easy as it sounds but we're learning as we go!