family – All Kinds of Happy

I’m Back! More Good News!

Published on February 27, 2020 by stephaniemagsLeave a comment

I know I haven’t posted ANYTHING since I announced Holly’s Birth, and she’s going to be TWO in a couple weeks, times flies. (We actually have AdventureWithTheMags.com where we share stories of our travel adventures now instead). This blog was originally created so I could track my pregnancies and I’m so glad I did such a great job documenting the last two, because now I’m back and announcing Baby #3!!! Yep, September 2020 another little one joining our crew (and hopefully the last one). I was torn on whether or not I wanted to blog this one, but then I read through some old posts from the other two and I was so glad I had so much documented. So I decided not to shaft the third kid and come back for more.

I’m currently 11 weeks but I’ll try to recap from 6 weeks on briefly without rambling too much.

So, week 6-11…. We didn’t find out until I was almost 6 weeks, we had been away on a little weekend ski trip in Ellicottville and when we got home I was late so I decided to take a test. I only took one test this time. I know my body and when I saw the big “pregnant” on the digital test, it was all the confirmation I needed this time. Surprised yes, but not in complete shock like the other two haha.

I had Holly help me with a little photo that I texted to Dan a little while later while sitting across from him on the couch. He was a bit more shocked. We hadn’t really been trying and the plan was kinda to wait for spring, but everything happens for a reason and we are so excited! Below is the photo I shared with Dan.

Eviction Notice

I called my doctor the next morning and she sent me for blood work, everything came back positive and numbers looked good. 48 hours we repeated the blood work and everything more then doubled. Because of my history of miscarriage they did have me in for an early ultrasound the following week at week 7, we were measuring a little behind where we should have been, so 10 days later we got a second ultrasound just to check on the growth and they were happy with everything. I was supposed to come in at 10 weeks for my first “official” appointment, but we were traveling and so it was postponed until today, I’m actually 11 weeks 5 days and of course we had a major snow storm blow in last night, so everything is closed today. So we’ll probably be over 12 weeks by the time I get in to see them now.

We waited a couple weeks to share the news with girls, but we told our parents and siblings a few days later. I tricked the girls into taking this picture below in order to share the news.

Sibling Announcement

I told Ada that I wanted to sell these shirts I made on Etsy and she asked no questions. Haha so they took the picture and we texted it to our family. Love sharing this news via text now, haha Its the fastest way to spread news and half our people live out of town anyway!

So how have I been feeling? I’m gonna skip the formal survey that I used to do for now, I may go back to it, but today I’ll just bullet some stuff.

-Thrown up twice already, which is more then I did with both girls (once with each of them).

-I’ve had strept throat twice, a sinus drip/persistent cough, 24 hour stomach bug and a nasty cold. Fortunately nothing serious, like flu, but just enough to keep me feeling like crap most of the time.

-I was working out a lot before I got pregnant, so I felt like I was in the best shape I was ever in before getting pregnant and I intended to keep working out, however being sick all the time hasn’t kept me on track. I think I did good for the first 2 weeks we knew and its been downhill from there.

-Showing? Not really, some days a little and some days not at all. That’s actually the reason I was reading through old blog posts last night, I wanted to see when I started to show last time. With Ada it wasn’t until about 15-16 weeks and with Holly I was noting it as early as 10 weeks, and I even said I was wearing maternity jeans and using a rubber band on my regular jeans already and I’m no where near that yet, so I feel good about that! The scale shows me up anywhere from 0-3 lbs. so hardly anything yet.

-Food? I have a hard time eating, (probably why I haven’t gained much) I can’t really find anything I want most of the time. I’ve had a lot of digestion issues, mostly after eating anything my stomach hurts and I feel so full for the rest of the day that I won’t eat again. I’ve had more carbs than usual but no sweet tooth or anything like I had with Holly. I had a pretty bad coffee aversion, which was unfortunate when I needed it most. I simply had no desire to get any of my usual coffee drinks.

-Miss the most? Wine. Always and forever will be my answer. We went on a Disney cruise and I really wanted some beverages. Holly had a small injury our first day which lead to a lot more tears then usual and I REALLY needed a glass of wine after that travel day. We’ve also, the last couple years, really developed a taste for good wine and we love trying new stuff and actually enjoy real wine tasting, and so I really miss that, Its gonna be a long summer.

-And Last, I have to do a gender prediction: I think boy! We are all sure we are getting a third girl, because we are most definitely a girl family, but I feel a little different about this pregnancy. A little sicker, and my food aversions and likes are a lot different. I definitely craved sweets with the girls, from Ice cream sandwiches, to candy, to girl scout cookies etc. and this one I’ve been pretty far away from all that. My Chinese calendar says boy and it was right with both the girls (well Ada we’re not 100% because we don’t know if she was conceived in December or January, lol) 😂 Hopefully we’ll be able to find out in a couple weeks. I think we do some genetic tests around 13 weeks and they were able to tell us Holly was a girl that early. They confirmed at the anatomy screening at 18 weeks, but either way we are only 1-6 weeks away from finding out.

I’ll finish with a sono pic that we had done already and the only two bump pictures I’ve been bothered to take so far. Hopefully now that I’m back to blogging I’ll get a little better at taking them.

Sono #1

Welcome to the world Baby Girl!

Published on June 5, 2018June 5, 2018 by stephaniemagsLeave a comment

I would like to finally share Holly’s birth story and how she made her grand entrance into the world. (warning this is a long post) Our second little miracle Holly Noelle, was born Monday, March 12th at 1:25pm. 8lbs and 20″. After much uncertainty about HOW she would arrive, I’m thrilled to say we were able to have a natural birth and she made her debut fairly fast and furious!

After our version procedure had been successful they had me into the office the following week to make sure she had stayed head down, and as far as they could tell she was. They thought I had a lot of amniotic fluid and that the baby was on the smaller side, so we changed the scheduled c-section on March 13th to an induction. Baby girl decided however that she didn’t want to wait and one day after her Dad’s birthday she decided to surprise us.

Around 4am I woke up to what felt like my water breaking, so I went to the bathroom and sure enough it was a VERY slow leak. So I put some towels on my bed and went back to sleep. How I did that I’ll never know. Around 5am I got up again to check and it was about the same, so I went back to bed again. At 6am Dan’s alarm went off as he was planning to go running with his buddy and I said “You can still go for a run, but I think we might have a baby today”! After I explained what was going on he of course freaked out that I hadn’t called the doctor yet, so finally around 6:30am I called and they told me to head in and get checked out. Dan’s mom arrived around 7am just a few minutes after Ada woke up. We told her what was going on and she was so excited and so happy she got to spend the day with Grandma.

We checked into the hospital at 7:30 and all the scheduled inductions and c-sections were also arriving around then so I spent some time just hanging around waiting. I hadn’t had any contractions yet, so we weren’t even sure we were going to stay. When they finally did come in to check me, she said I was already 5 cm and when she did the check she fully broke my water, and they weren’t kidding when they thought I had a lot, it continued to leak almost all morning.

It was a slow uneventful morning and around 10am they decided we might need to start some pitocin to get my contractions to start up a little more frequently. They started that and the first few contractions I had that really hurt the baby didn’t handle well and her heart rate jumped, so I had to labor on my side figuring she had a pinched cord, that was no fun. We wanted to hold off on the epidural until I couldn’t take the pain since we knew it would slow things down and I was good for about an hour or so suffering through contractions every 5-7 minutes on my side.

They finally got so bad so quickly that I was begging Dan to get someone in the room to give me an epidural. They got me one right away and before that doctor had even left the room, my OB came in to check me and said we were at 10 cm and should start pushing. I panicked a lot because I wasn’t even num yet from the epidural and she said to just relax and give it a few more minutes and then we’ll start pushing.

I don’t remember pushing so hard with Ada. I mean I remember pushing and it was about 25 minutes with her, but I don’t remember it being SOO HARD. I pushed again for about a half hour, but it felt like hours and hours! Each time, it took me the entire time between contractions to catch my breath and relax before we had to go at it again. It was exhausting but at 1:25pm Holly appeared screaming and making a fuss, they laid her on my chest and I stared at my little beauty while they cleaned her up.

She is 8 pounds of the most perfect little being! Ada was able to come up and see us around 3:30-4ish and she did not want to leave us, but we explained that the doctors needed to take Holly and make sure she was nice and healthy and promised she could come back first thing in the morning again.

Here are a bunch of pictures of everyone meeting her for the first time. I don’t know if its possible, but I think Ada loves Holly more then anyone else combined. I cannot get over the love this little girl has for her baby sister. And for me as their mommy I cannot even explain how much my heart explodes to see them together.

I just love so much the way Holly is looking right at Ada in this one!! ❤

I could not have made up a better birth story for our little Holly and I am so thankful and blessed that she was able to come into the world the way she did. Holly is almost 3 months old now and today she experienced her first day at daycare with her big sister. Ada has been waiting for the day her sister could come to school with her, I can’t believe how fast the time is going and that I’m already back to work.

Holly has been a bit more challenging then Ada during the day but she has been an amazing sleeper at night and that’s all I can ask for! She has been sleeping through the night since she was about 5-6 weeks old and right out of the gate she was giving me 4+ hour stretches. I had to wake her up to feed a lot because she took awhile to get back up to her birth weight. We had a few stretches where all she would do was eat, sleep or cry and that was a bit challenging, but we noticed it was mostly during growth spurts and other then that she’s great!

She is such a smiley little girl, if you make eye contact and talk she will babble on and on and on, she sounds like a cat! She is super strong! She’s been standing on her little twig legs for months, she’ll kick my phone right out of my hand (maybe her way of trying to get my attention) and she’ll squeeze your finger until its white. She was also already trying to roll over from her back to her belly, she’s so close, but her big head is to heavy for her.

More then anything though I have loved watching Ada be her sister. She reads to Holly alllll the time and Holly will just lay there and listen, she’s gotten a bit too brave a few times trying to carry her or maneuver her in her arms like I do, but best of all she hasn’t shown a bit a jealousy. She loves her sister and always wants to match her (even though I am having the hardest time finding clothes in girls sizes and baby), she never once has complained about us giving Holly too much attention, she has understood that I cannot help her when I’m breastfeeding and goes to daddy, and she has even attempted to change some diapers with me (backs out halfway through). She is already planning our next baby, she said that one has to be a boy so daddy isn’t outnumbered. (Too soon, but my two amazing girls have made it much easier to want another one).

Here is a photo overload of our last three months together! And I’ll try to get better about staying up to date with these posts again.

Holly’s first day home, snuggling with her Big Sister!

My little Jaundice Budda baby getting some sunshine in the window!

Sister Snuggles -this is how we spent our first few weeks. I think Ada held her more then me.

My three LOVES!! Holly’s first Easter at my parents house.

Some of our very first smiles around 4 weeks old.

Holly loves the Unicorn blankey that Ada got her at the hospital. I love that its big nose helped keep her binky in her mouth.

Holly’s first plane ride at 7 weeks to Florida! (Vacation post coming up next!!)

Vacation. We enjoyed long, quiet walks on the beach together sipping coffee while everyone else was still sleeping.

Holly is just another one of Ada’s dolls. I believe this is her class and its snack time.

Annnnd some days have gone like this, full of screams and tears.

Ada will read to her forever and Holly will listen until she falls asleep.

And of course always needs to be holding her hand when we are out and about.

Every Monday we have cousin time at my parents house. The girls all love playing together.

This was Holly’s first day of Daycare and a proud big sister who was going to “Make sure Holly was okay all day long”.

Stay tuned for more fun family adventures as a new family of four!!

Welcome to the World Holly and Sorry I’ve been MIA!

Published on May 24, 2018 by stephaniemagsLeave a comment

I did have a baby and everything went perfectly! I’ve just tried to stay away from work and email and stuff as much as I could while on my maternity leave. I’ve been enjoying long days and long nights with my new baby girl. Here is the first family photo we had taken after Ada got to meet her new baby sister.

We welcomed Holly Noelle into the world on March 12, 2018 at 1:25 pm. It was a short, fast and furious delivery and I’ll recap her birth story in another post. She was 8 pounds, 20 inches of perfection, we are so in love with her. She is actually 2 months old now already, I know I’ve been really MIA from the blog and I do plan to catch up on everything now that I am back to the real world. Ada has been the absolute best big sister in the world, she is such a big helper to me, there has been no jealously or acting out and she’s been perfect as we transitioned from a family of 3 to a family of 4.

We already took our first family vacation which I will also recap later and we had our first family photo shoot when Holly was 10 days old, so I will share those photos now and I’ll catch up on everything else in future posts. I have lots to write about, so expect more posts now that I’m getting back to normal.

Alyissa Landry Photography did the photos for us and she was amazing, she captured everything I wanted out of our newborn session. I didn’t want to dress Holly up in wraps and bows. I wanted our family in our own home enjoying our new baby girl and she did just that! I get all the feels seeing Ada love her baby sister and the pure joy on her face.

And because I didn’t get a chance to post one last update before I had her at 39, weeks, I figured I would share the very last bump picture I took while I was about to explode! Stay tuned for more fun posts about Holly and our new family adventures!

30 weeks and a comparison

Published on January 8, 2018January 8, 2018 by stephaniemagsLeave a comment

Since this blog is more for me then anyone else, this post is going to be similar to my 30 week post with Ada. I was super curious as to how many similarities we had going on from last time and as it turns out we are at almost EXACTLY the same place. Its really funny to see, but my weight gain is almost identical, the nesting and nursery stuff is the same and even my comparison picture is almost spot on! I can only hope that once this baby is here she is as awesome as Ada was. We always thought we got spoiled with how good she was and how great of a sleeper she was and joked that our second baby was going to curse us, but if she’s anything like her sister, I think we’ll be pretty lucky in few short months! So the answers in RED are from my First Pregnancy (word for word what I said) and the answers in BLUE are from this current pregnancy!

How far along? 30 weeks and counting / 30 weeks 2 days

Total weight gain/loss: Still up 24 lbs. / Up about 22 lbs.

Maternity clothes? Yes, and I’m usually in crisis mode finding something that fits that I haven’t worn 3 times in a week already. / Samsies. Mostly maternity clothes. I can still wear a few things that are not, but maternity fits better. I think I have more options in the winter because its easier to hide in big sweaters and sweatshirts.

Stretch marks? Nothing yet. / Ditto

Sleep: Still sleeping relatively well, tossing and turning a little bit, getting up to pee every now and then in the middle of the night, but can’t complain. / I guess I can say about the same, I’ve been very uncomfortable sleeping, tossing and turning a lot. I wake up feeling pretty stiff or with a sore back most days and usually get up to pee at least once. Once I’m up and moving everything loosens up again and I don’t feel like I haven’t gotten any sleep, so I guess we’re doing okay.

Best moment this week: This was a pretty average week I think, not really anything exciting. I guess I did get a few more things I ordered online for the nursery, and a few shower gifts came in the mail which is always exciting. / Same in terms of it being a pretty average week. Nothing crazy exciting. Have a doctors appointment tomorrow afternoon, so we’ll see if there are any new developments but I doubt it, I think it will be a quick in and out.

Miss Anything? Meh, I’ve made it this far, anything I miss is in my near future again at this point. / I had this same exact thought last week, I’ve made it 30 weeks I only have 10 to go, I can do without anything for that long. My answer is usually wine, but after the holidays, when I had a few small drinks, I had my fill and wasn’t really into it much anyway.

Movement: Movement is getting very strong, I can feel almost every move she makes, kicks are definitely like kicks now and not just a weird gas bubble in my tummy. Sometimes I think she is trying to flip and can’t, I’ll feel her head (always on my right) but sometimes really low and sometimes really high. / Its funny how identical I feel to this right now. Some wicked strong kicks and usually on my right side. Our last check she was still breech too. I get a lot of kicks behind my belly button, which I really hate. I feel like its her head on my right again too, sometimes really far over.

Food cravings: Pop! I can’t get enough and I have to really cut myself off because I can’t have that much caffeine, I think I just like the bubbles and the fact that it isn’t water, but that’s all I really want to drink. I also have had a bad thing for Snickers Ice cream bars. YUM! / I would say the same thing again. I’m into the whole pop thing really bad again. I have been the whole time, its really just that craving for something other then water. Ginger ale has been my savior with the amount of horrible heartburn I’ve had this time around and at least there isn’t any caffeine in that. I still have a pretty bad sweet tooth too even though I’m trying really hard after the holidays to get rid of all that crap. Otherwise not craving anything specific.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nothing. / I would say nothing again. The only difference I think is the extreme exhaustion that has gotten me feeling pretty awful a few times, but now that we’re slowing down I’ve been a lot better.

Gender prediction: Can’t wait to meet my little lady!! / SAME!!

Labor Signs: I’ve had some shooting pains on my sides that feel like running cramps once in awhile, usually simultaneously as she kicks me, but I asked the doctor about it and (of course its not labor pains) but she said its completely normal and the baby may in fact be kicking something. / No shooting pains, some running cramps when I walk a lot which feels like an actual side stitch when I’m out of shape. Braxton Hicks really bad again which is exactly how I was with Ada. And I’ve had some really bad tailbone pain where I could barely walk a few times, but it seems to come and go.

Belly Button in or out? In when I lay down and out when I stand up…. gravity I guess? / OUT, way out and never going back in I don’t think!

Wedding rings on or off? On / On

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy!! So much to look forward to right now! / I would definitely say the same, Happy with so much to look forward too. I will admit that I get a little moody at night. I get very sore and tired by the time I get home from work and therefore I start complaining a lot. I feel bad because Ada just wants me to get on the floor and play with her, and I’m so uncomfortable and tired that I brush it off and I’m trying really hard not to do that because these are my last few precious months of just us. Her whole world is about to be flipped upside down and she has no idea! I’m just so happy that she is so excited for the baby to come and not at all resentful (yet)!! Here is the sweetest picture of her, She just loves my big belly and this little baby so much, I could cry just thinking about them meeting for the first time!

Weekly Wisdom: I am doing a lot of reading now, on breastfeeding, preparing for a newborn, what I can do to make transitions and healing time smoother, trying to plan out freezer meals and stocking up for grocery shopping, I figured I have the time now and I won’t in a few weeks when I am trying to figure everything out. / I can say I have not done ANY of this, this time around. With it being #2 I know what to expect this time and I plan on doing whatever I can to make breastfeeding better and the transition of healing time better, but I think just knowing what to expect has me feeling more confident about all of it and way less worried. I’m definitely more ready to just say “it is what it is” when it comes to all that stuff because I know I can’t control everything. I do want to get ready with some freezer meals and grocery shopping soon, but I know I still have some time, so I’ll get there. Priorities the second time are definitely different.

Looking forward to: A busy upcoming week… my mom’s birthday dinner, a girls night out, Dan’s parents are coming into town to visit and the shower this weekend, so I’ll get to see a lot of family and friends this week! / Thankfully NOT another busy week, I am happy that our busiest weeks are behind us. This week I am looking forward to the fact that we have NOTHING to do! We have no plans this weekend, and we can spend quiet time home with just the three of us. I have hopes of wrapping up everything in the nursery and finishing the reorganizing of the playroom that I started. We’re getting a new Ikea wall/shelf organizer delivered today for the playroom so I plan to spend some time organizing toys and getting the age appropriate things put high on shelves where they need to be and some clear baskets and bins so the kids can see all the toys and things stop getting forgotten about.

And lastly, I threw on the same dress I wore in my 30 week picture with Ada. While here on the East Coast we’re experiencing the coldest weather in decades, I put on a summer dress! Its like the worst picture I could have picked from last time for a comparison as my hair is a mess and make-up non-existent, so don’t judge but you get the idea! Pretty comparable in size, I was kinda shocked! The only difference this time around is that I think my belly button is forming its own second bump.

We celebrated the Buffalo Bills going to the Playoffs this past weekend for the first time in 17 years!! Which means I was only 14 the last time the Bills made the playoffs so that was a pretty exciting time for Buffalo! We had to document this historic event with a family picture! Unfortunately, they lost to Jacksonville 3 to 10 in the most uneventful game ever, but we’re excited to have made it and “There’s always next year!” Something us Bills fans are pretty used to saying!

And lastly one of my new favorite pictures of Ada loving her sister some more! (In her Elsa dress of course) I couldn’t take a bump picture without her wanting to jump in it too. This is pretty much where you can find her all the time. Either kissing my belly or talking to it. I’m pretty sure her new sister is going to recognize Ada’s voice better then anyone else!

29 Weeks and the Holidays

Published on January 3, 2018 by stephaniemagsLeave a comment

I posted 28 weeks right on time last week and since then we’ve celebrated Christmas, New Years and for the first time in 17 years, the Buffalo Bills going to the playoffs! So its been a very exciting 2 weeks!

I think I’m going to skip the survey again and just do some bullets. I feel like it was more interesting then the survey plus I have a lot to share with the holidays.

-29 weeks and 4 days today, we are almost to the big 3-0 Countdown. I feel like I’m so excited to be there that I’m jumping the gun and anyone who asks I just say I’m already 30 weeks, or that I only have about 8-10 weeks left (wishful thinking that she will come 2 weeks early like her sister did!)

-Christmas kicked my butt, I literally made myself sick on Christmas day night. Not sick, sick, but so exhausted that my whole stomach was tight and achy, I could barley stand on my two feet and my back felt like it was breaking in 9 places. We hosted Christmas Eve brunch, went to my parents for dinner, woke up at 5:30am Christmas Day with Ada and went non-stop all day getting ready and hosting a big dinner again, with our first guests arriving around 1pm and the last leaving close to 10pm. Dad had to do bedtime because I felt so awful and I made Ada watch her show and have her milk in my bed with me because I couldn’t move. It was not the way I wanted to end Christmas but I was glad I woke up feeling much better the next day.

-I got the best Christmas gift ever from my amazing husband, hopefully I can continue wearing it throughout this pregnancy! Ada calls it glitter, which I love!

-The tailbone pain that is setting in is REAL. It started way earlier with Ada, like it was one of my first pregnancy symptoms and it was bad enough to keep me from running a half marathon that I signed up to do, but it got better and was only mild compared to this. Its not constant now but when I have it, I can barely walk. I need to make sure I am getting up every 10-15 minutes so I don’t stiffen up.

-I’m trying to workout again. I know it feels like its too late to even bother, but I’ve kept the weight down a little, and I’m still starting to notice it in my face and arms so I thought if I could get some cardio in and some light upper body stuff, It would help in the long run. I’ve been giving myself the holiday excuse to eat like garbage and now that Its a new year I feel like its a good time to stop making excuses and eat better in general. I’ve stayed pretty active the whole time between chasing a 4 year old around, moving, traveling and the holidays that I don’t feel super out of shape, so I think I’m safe to ease back into a gentle routine.

-Braxton Hicks are getting worse (as I expected) they are not all that frequent yet but when when they come they are pretty intense.

-I’m sleeping like crap. I am so uncomfortable at night that I just toss and turn from side to side (a lot of its because of the tailbone). I fortunately don’t wake up feeling like I didn’t sleep at all, but I just can’t get comfortable. Ada has been sleeping good and she got her new “Ok to wake” alarm clock from Santa, so she’ll even stay in her bed until 7am, but I usually have to get up to pee at least once or twice myself anyway.

-Stealing from my survey a little bit: Best moment this week, I hung curtains and finished hanging the gallery wall in the nursery all by myself!! I was determined to get the last few things done in there, and my nesting was a bit crazy having so much time off between Christmas and New Years. I only have a couple things left to do for the baby’s new room. I’m working on reorganizing the playroom and our guest room too, so I ordered some stuff online that I am waiting for, then I think I’ll steal the shelf that’s in the play room now and reuse it for the nursery! See… the nesting stuff is bad! I told my husband to watch me, the day I went into labor with Ada I went on a cleaning frenzy, even vacuuming out the fridge. That seems to be my queue that the end is near! I’ll share nursery pictures when everything is done. This was my major project in the guest room, getting my craft closet organized since it got dumped on when we moved in.

-Baby is moving like crazy! Big aggressive movements now. She seems to be snug on my right side which I think is where Ada spent all her time. I think now that the bump is so big and Ada can see it more she’s grown more and more obsessed with her baby sister. Its so sweet! I cannot wait for the first time she gets to meet her in real life. Ada talks to her All.The.Time. She gives the baby a play by play of everything we are doing and cannot leave or enter a room without kissing and hugging my belly. She also just loves to lay her head on my stomach any time we are snuggling together, which at this point is so uncomfortable for me, but too cute to make her move #MomLife.

Here are a few favorite Christmas pictures….

My beautiful family, Can’t wait to have a 9 month old in my arms next Christmas!

Leaving milk and cookies out for Santa after we sprinkled the reindeer food on the front lawn!

The very best view on Christmas morning. I had those alcohol free mimosas flowing!

-Not only did I host Christmas (twice) but we also hosted my best friends baby shower and New Years Eve. both were much less stressful, and I really had fun opening my house up to all our friends for these special events. Here are a few favorite pics from those!

New Year countdown at 9pm with hopes they would go to sleep after! Ha!

The last picture is the best because she literally fell asleep on me like this at 11:54pm. She made it ALMOST to midnight and then had to sleep on me in such a way that it was almost impossible to get up to ring in the New Year 6 minutes later! Kids are A**holes like that!! She’s lucky I love her so much!

And that’s about it for baby news this week. We were mostly consumed with the holidays and now that its all over, I’m ready to slow down for a few weeks and ~~patiently~~ wait until this baby arrives. We’ll be finishing up the nursery and buying a few last things that we need. I’m working on a Big Sister hospital Bag/Gift for when Ada comes to meet her and I need to dig out some stuff from basement storage like the car seat, my pump, and other feeding supplies, some of which will need replacing. Next Doctors appointment is on Tuesday and as promised I want to try and do a side by side photo of 30 weeks pregnant with Ada and 30 weeks with this one!

Hope everyone else had a very happy Holiday and is ready to start fresh with a New year! We sure are happy to see 2018!!

Ada’s 4th Birthday Party

Published on October 3, 2017October 3, 2017 by stephaniemags2 Comments

My baby girl is FOUR YEARS OLD! How did this happen? I feel like it was just yesterday that we brought her home from the hospital tackling this newborn thing, and now she is the most spunky, sassy and sweet little girl! She has grown up so much this past year from a toddler to a kid, its amazing how much they change year to year. She asked me just this morning, “Mom, why don’t you want me to grow up?” I said I do want you to grow up, but I want you to always be my baby, and she said, “Don’t worry, but we have another baby coming that can be your baby!” She’s right, so sweet, but she’ll always be my baby!!

4 Years of Ada

Crafts, coloring, writing, and painting are her favorite things to do and she has perfected writing her own name, “Mommy” and “DAD”. She is so good at drawing houses and palm trees and even drew an elephant the other day that was better then anything I could do!

I love when she tells me that Indian food take out, is the BEST meal I make and when she talks like crazy telling me about all the kids in her class, who went to time out, what her favorite part of her day was and what she is going to dream about as we lay in bed together every night before falling asleep!

I cannot wait until we add BEST BIG SISTER to the growing list of awesome things she is becoming! She is going to be the most loving and helpful sister in the world, and she already cannot wait to show the new baby All.The.Things!

Her party last weekend was so much fun! We tried to keep it small, but it still ended up with 30 or so people there. It has rained every year on her party, so it was so fun this year to have a hot, sunny day! It was so hot in fact that we had to get the sprinklers out, and I even picked up a really cool slip n’ slide for $5 at Target! We still had to keep all the food and drinks inside because of the temperature, and my Dad saved the day by coming over and setting up a huge tent in the driveway so we had some shade. Despite feeling very distracted about the move and not wanting to go to crazy with theming, everything turned out super cute and she loved it which was the most important part! Here are just a bunch of pictures from the day, and a few from her actual birthday the day before the party! Happy 4th Birthday to my Baby Girl!!

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Day Trip to Niagara Falls USA

Published on September 27, 2017 by stephaniemagsLeave a comment

Over the summer we took a day trip to Niagara Falls. We went right before the 4th of July because usually any time after that the park is mobbed, no matter what day it is. After 9 years of working of there I thought I had it figured out, but we were wrong! It was still pretty crazy, even on a Wednesday afternoon!

The day trip had two parts, one because I really wanted to go back and see all my old co-workers and two because I figured Ada would really enjoy some of the activities there, since she loves the water so much!

We all took a half day from work and school, and left around noon. Usually the later in the day the crazier it gets, to take full advantage you should plan on getting into the Niagara Falls State Park right when it opens at 9am. Hit the majors like Maid of the Mist and Cave of the Winds right away!

Our first stop was the Niagara Falls USA Visitors Center, my old home! We spent a good hour there talking with everyone. I picked a good day because almost everyone was there and it was so nice to catch up again! It felt very weird to be in there again, to spend so much time somewhere and then just stop going one day is a strange feeling. Everything looked and felt the same except it wasn’t my desk anymore. I miss the team so much, but I couldn’t help feeling like I still made a good decision for my family to move on. It was so much fun promoting such an exciting destination for so many years, and to see it now and how far its come is exciting!

We left with cookies and cupcakes in hand (that kitchen was always stocked with goodies) and headed to the park. My plan was to try and do both the Maid of the Mist and the Cave of the Winds, then head somewhere for dinner. The lines were much longer then we expected and since it was nearing 2:30 by the time we headed out, we only had time for one thing. I chose the Cave of the Winds because it always has been my favorite thing!

The Maid of the Mist is a classic, its a famous stop that if you’ve never done it you should! But since we have, I decided the cave would be more fun for Ada. Of course she was tired of walking before we even got to the attraction, so she was piggy backing it early!

Stephanie

The line at the Cave of the Winds took us about 20 minutes to get sandals and then another 20 to get to the Elevators, (Tip: if you can, don’t stop to sit on the benches and put your sandals on, grab them and keep moving. There is usually time while you are standing in line to put that stuff on and you’ll get a jump on all those people who stopped).

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Ada was a little hesitant at first about all that water. She stayed close by and when we got to the top she wanted nothing to do with it. I was so surprised that she was so nervous about it. FullSizeRender 16

The very top of all the stairs is called the Hurricane Deck, we stepped to the side when we got to the top because we were in a lot of peoples way. I let her just stand by me and watch everyone for a few minutes and then all of a sudden she wanted to head in, and I mean ALL. THE. WAY. Something I wasn’t prepared to do and I didn’t really want to get that wet, but that’s the best part about having kids, they force you to do things sometimes that take even you out of your comfort zone! So we headed in and got wet, really wet, and it was SOOO much fun!

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I love my little travel buddy so much! I’m so happy she was willing to step back, watch and then dive into something new. We had so much fun, even though it was literally the only thing we had time for.

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I didn’t think the Trolley was that exciting, but she kept seeing the “Train” go by and wanted to ride it so bad, so we decided to take the “Train” back to our parking lot instead of walking. We had Discovery Passes, so it included rides on the Trolley all day, but its like $2 for a day pass if you didn’t have the full pass. Girlfriend was all kinds of tired after that, (she also missed nap time at school) so she was actually cool with sitting still for a little bit while we waited for the Trolley.

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We had about a 4 minute car ride to the restaurant for dinner and she of course passed out! She never stays asleep once we arrive, so I carried her in with the hopes of her sleeping a little longer but that didn’t last. We went to dinner at Bella Vista Ristorante, inside the Four Points by Sheraton Hotel. Its right on the waterfront and since it was only about 5:00pm it was still pretty empty. The view was incredible and the food is really good, lots of Italian dishes to chose from.

They do a lot of weddings there right on the waterfront, and have an amazing ball room that overlooks the water. After dinner, Ada gave me an insight into her future by pretending to be the “Wedding Girl” with daddy! At only 3 years old she has been to more weddings then I did at 20, so she knows what’s up! But I am not ready!

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We had a super fun family day! Its always fun to be a tourist in your own backyard. The Niagara Falls State Park has so much to do, people tend to think that because there are only 4-5 attractions right there that its not enough to keep the family busy, but we spent one afternoon and did one attraction and dinner, it was more then enough for our family and we very easily could have come back and spent 2 or 3 days there trying to get everything in. Niagara Falls USA has so much to offer families, and with it being so close to my heart, I’ll be taking my family every year to remind us that we have a truly special gem right at our finger tips.

Back Logged

Published on September 20, 2017 by stephaniemagsLeave a comment

If you are a follower of my blog, you might notice that there are some new posts hiding in here. I actually made the blog private for several weeks so that I could document the fact that we are expecting baby #2!!! I didn’t want to share the news publicly for awhile, but I wanted to make sure that I documented everything! I love to look back on this blog as a place to remember everything for myself, a digital scrapbook of sorts, more so then for anyone else! We’re now in a safer place in the pregnancy so moving forward you can follow along with us!

So if you are so inclined to catch up on things, I’ve made this post to include the links to the several blogs posts I’ve done while I was incognito for a few weeks. Feel free to catch up with us, or pick up from where we left off. I’ll be documenting everything moving forward!

Some Exciting News to share!!

Baby Bumps!! Week 4, 5 & 6

Baby Bumps!! Week 7, 8 & 9

Baby Bump!! Week 10

Baby Bump! Week 11, on vacation!

Baby Bump! 12 Weeks and more exciting news!!

Baby Bump: Week 13

And one post that was not related to the bump!! Adirondack Trip 2017

Adirondack Trip 2017

Published on September 18, 2017 by stephaniemags1 Comment

Before it gets away from me, I wanted to recap our family vacation to the Adirondacks this year. We didn’t do much, or anything really for that matter. Ada was more then happy to just stay at our cabins paying in the sand, water or the playground. She made some cousin friends this year that she got along really well with and basically wanted to spend every waking minute with.

We went to town one afternoon, took her to lunch for pizza and shopping to pick out her one souvenir gift of the week. She picked a cute little stuffed, pink pig and a stuffed elephant for the new baby! And she got to pick out some candy from the Candy Cottage. She picked cotton candy! She also took a ride on the carousel horse outside the shop, a highlight every year, it will break my heart when she thinks she too old for that!

We took a family kayak trip out on Fourth Lake, which she really enjoyed this year, so much so that she wanted to go again later in the week, so Daddy took her again. Probably one of my favorite pictures from the week! Love when they spend special time together!

I took her for a hike one of our days with a group of the littler kids. A group of them went earlier in the week and we were supposed to go, but we had a shoe incident, thankfully though, because that group did a very long hike. We did a short, flat, 2 mile loop around a lake and even that you would think I was torturing her by making her walk herself.

She got to do her first, solo (without me or dad) tube ride on the boat, which she absolutely loved, she was a little nervous to go out but I’m pretty sure I was more nervous then her! Watching from the dock makes you feel pretty useless if anything were to go wrong. She loved it though and of course they went nice and slow, so she did great! Had the biggest smile on her face! She just looks too old for me in this picture!

And lastly we had a family wedding for the first time ever while we were there. It was fun to have something different to do, although the lack of a babysitter made it harder. Fortunately, Dan has a 13 year old cousin who offered to watch her, and I obviously wasn’t drinking or partying very hard, so we took Ada to the ceremony with us, but then left her back at the Cabin with Dan’s cousin, and I made it back home around 10pm to do bedtime. It was a really beautiful wedding, just a little chillier then we all expected!

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And finally I’ll end with a few more favorite pictures from the week. Nothing better then a good family vacation! Ada slept great all week, with the exception of our first night there, which I always expect since its takes a night to get used to our new surroundings. It just always amazes me at how appreciative she is of everything we do, even if it feel likes nothing to me, its so exciting for her. To experience all this through her eyes makes every trip we take, worth every penny! I cannot wait until our next vacation to California in December! Our last one as a family of three!

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Another great year in Old Forge, NY!

Baby Bump! Week 11 on Vacation

Published on September 5, 2017September 5, 2017 by stephaniemags1 Comment

We just got back from a week in the Aidrondacks, our annual family trip to Old Forge, NY. I’ll be doing a post on that trip recap shortly, but first I wanted to catch up with week 11.

Everything has been going well. We met our new doctors on Friday before we left for vacation. The appointment took waaaay longer then I expected but we met the first nurse practitioner and because they couldn’t pick up a heart beat with the fetal monitor I ended up getting another sonogram. Everything was just fine and we were able to take home a ton of new pictures (which I’ll share at the end).

To avoid sounding repetitive I’ll just dive right into my update!

How far along? I’m 12 weeks 3 days right now, but this update is based on last week.

Total weight gain/loss: Up 4 pounds

Maternity clothes? I bought my first pair of maternity jeans before we left so I would have something to wear when it got cold. They are skinny jeans so they fit everywhere but are pretty loose around my waist, which I know is the point. I just don’t have much of a belly to hold them up yet, but they are much more comfortable. Today was my first day back to work and I busted out the old rubber band trick on my jeans. They would button, but this way was much more comfortable.

Stretch marks? No

Sleep: Slept pretty well for being on vacation and not in my own bed. The bad sleeping is usually because of Ada waking up over something, which has become quite frequent lately. I hope this phase passes because once she wakes me up my mind races and I have a hard time falling back asleep.

Best moment this week: Being on vacation with my family. Ada had so much fun and its so awesome to watch her enjoy the little things soo much! The world is just such an exciting place for her and I love watching her take it all in.

Have you told family and friends: We told more family this week who were all away with us, everyone was very excited. We’re still slowly telling people as we see them! Only one co-worker knows right now, but I have a feeling it will get harder to hide soon.

Miss Anything? Not really right now. I of course wanted wine while vacationing, but I didn’t have a huge desire for it. A few sips of Dan’s once in awhile does the trick for now.

Movement: I swear I feel little flutters when I lay really still, once in awhile. I might be delusional since its really too early, but they do say you can feel it earlier with the second.

Food cravings: Not anything specific. I’ve been eating horrible lately (I’ll blame vacation) and I’ve been getting bad headaches again, I’m hoping they are related and I’m cleaning up my diet starting NOW!

Anything making you queasy or sick: Just a really bad headache yesterday left me feeling nauseous, other then that no, I’ve been feeling pretty good. I came down with a bad cold (or allergies) while away, Its getting better, but made me feel pretty crappy for a couple days.

Have you started to show yet: Just Fat, but towards the end of the day definitely pregnant. I think I’m going to pop out soon though. Last time it was around 16-18 weeks that I noticed it pop. I’m definitely not going to last that much longer though.

Gender prediction: I’m thinking girl now. Most of my “old wives tales” point to girl. Heartbeat was 171 on Friday (girl), was craving sweets (girl), my face was breaking out last week like crazy (girl), Ada’s prediction (girl).

Labor Signs: No

Belly Button in or out? Eh, it pops out when I’m gassy or eat too much, sometimes I can deflate it back in, but it usually comes back out. Otherwise its flat still, but this thing is going to cause me some problems, it hurts when it pops out.

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy, enjoyed our vacation very much but it was time to come home. I was getting a little grumpy by the end when you are just ready for home!

Looking forward to: We have another sonogram on Thursday for the 12 week genetic testing. I’m hoping with a little luck we might be able to find out a gender, but not counting on it! We are finally moving (which I’ll update in my next post), but I am looking forward to that happening in the next month or so as well. Lot’s going on!!

For now, some pictures of the baby from last week and just a couple other randoms!

This one is a picture of me and my BF Katie, who is 4 weeks ahead of me, that we sent to our other girl friend to share the news! We had the boys jump in too!

And lastly a picture of me an my girl from vacation! This one the bump looks to have made the “fat appearance”, but still cute since I know its a baby in there!

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