"Wee Little Designs"

A little while back I won a contest for Lexi's birth announcements. This in itself was amazing because I never win anything! I had been looking at a fellow blogger's page and she has a biz called Wee Little Designs. She makes some awesome things from birth announcements to holiday cards and more. I was already planning on getting our birth announcements through her whenever our newest addition decided to join us so it was definitely my lucky day to win her contest! I just wanted to thank her so much for the fantastic job she did considering my camera sucks and has been acting up lately so the pics I sent her were not so hot to start with - not to mention I am not the worlds greatest photographer either! Here are the two I had to choose from. You should definitely check her site out at www.WeeLittleDesigns.com and order some holiday pics while there is still time! Her name is Jamie and she does a fabulous job! Thank you Jamie!!!!

House Hunting

We have made the decision to hold off on moving to North Carolina and stay put in Florida for the time being. But we are in desperate need for a bigger house. Ours is big enough size wise but the layout is all wrong. It's a little sad to move out since this was the first house we have owned and we built it. But we are not selling at the moment - thanks to the wonderful market here - so it'll still be ours for a while. Instead we will be renting it out. So needless to say we have been looking at a lot of houses. We found our favorite and then two or three that will do. We have even put in two offers and are just waiting to hear back. I am excited to start over and decorate a new home. And the girls will have plenty of space with their own rooms and a playroom! That excites me because we have been using our breakfast nook for the playroom and it drives me insane! I hate the open floor plan we have now! Especially wit the kitchen - the whole house looks filthy to me if there is a cup on the counter! I know, me and my OCD! Well, wish us luck in the house hunting!

Lexi's Arrival

Sorry it's been a while but I've been a little busy having a baby! Alexis was born on 10/25/07 at 5:15 pm by c-section. For those of you who know what a freak I am - I wanted to watch but unfortunately the angles of the mirror were off so I was not able to see. I wanted to watch when I had Bella too and they had said no - so I made my Doc tell me everything he was doing! He says he has never had anyone want to know before! Leave it to a freak like me - lol. Anyways, everything went well with the surgery and they took her to the nursery to get her weighed and such and said they would call me with details. Well freak I am, of course hubby was again instructed not to leave her side - in case of a baby swap - you never know! So imagine my surprise when they called and said she weighed 10 lbs 1 oz!!!! And just hours earlier the ultrasound showed 8 lbs 10 oz! Talk about some amazing growth! But the funny thing is, she doesn't look as big as Bella did at 8 lbs 11 oz. Bella was all chunk and not as long, Lexi was 21 1/2 inches and has skinny legs and no behind!

So Bella got to meet her and was very excited and wanted to hold her and kiss her. I was amazed at how well behaved she had been what with not being with me those 4 days I was in the hospital - it has always been the two of us since I get to stay home with her. So far she has handled things well. The hardest part for me was when she would say "up" when she wanted me to hold her and I could not lift her. Talk about breaking my heart. But then the day after I had the baby, they had to take her to the NICU for low blood sugars and put her on an IV. Poor Bella didn't understand where she went so she kept trying to lift my shirt and see my belly and asking "Baby"?

So poor Lexi was in the NICU for 5 days - I had to go home without her - that was very hard. She did very well though - they had the IV in her wrist for the first few days and then moved it to her head - twice. My poor bubby was pricked in the heel at every feeding to check her sugars. I was so happy to finally get her home. The nurses there were fantastic but it was hard to not be with her those first few days. We visited her all the time and came for most of her feedings but it was not the same at all.

So now she is home with us and we a re all settling in so I thought I'd take a minute to update and get some pics posted. And that's the story of Lexi's arrival.

Baby Alexis Is Coming!

We are going to have our baby tonight! We had gone to the OB last Wednesday and they did an ultrasound and measured her at 8 lbs 13 oz - that's 2 0z bigger than Bella was! Plus her fluid level was on the lower side - it measured at a 6 and they would have taken me if it was a 5 or lower. So we had to go back this past Monday and have a non stress test - which came out fine - so no baby. Well we went in again this morning for another ultrasound and another non stress test and she was measuring at 8 lbs 10 oz and her fluid level was down to a 3. Also she was not moving much for her non stress test. Just enough that we are doing the c-section today but I did not have to go directly to the hospital to sit all day. I have to go in at 2pm and we are having the surgery at 5pm. I am so EXCITED!!!! I had told my hubby that no matter what I was not leaving that office without a baby today or tomorrow - I could not make it until next Monday when I was scheduled! So we'll keep you posted!

Growth Spurt

Sorry for the sideways pic - no matter what I do it comes out the same way...any suggestions?

Well I am so glad I tried this costume on Bella today - I had bought it last year for her to wear for Halloween this year - but it is a little too short! She has grown so tall lately. By the looks of these pics, you would never guess she had freaked out and cried hysterically as I tried to pull it over her head. Once it was on she was fine. And for her to cry over anything is just out of sorts. She is a happy go lucky baby 98 percent of the time - and well - we won't comment on the other 2 percent - but let's just say she doesn't usually spend it crying! So we will have to go shopping for a new costume this weekend. And I saw the cutest pea-in-a-pod costume for baby Lexi - she will be only about 2 days old but hey - it's still her 1st Halloween - we have to celebrate! Or at the very least snap some pics!

Shades

Well Peanut's newest thing is to play around the house wearing her shades. All of a sudden she wants them on all the time - but only in the house - as soon as we get in the car she pops them off. Now if I could find her a pair of baby chaps and a baby biker dude - she could fit right in at Biketoberfest!

Bath Hat

Bella's new favorite thing is wearing her bath hat around the house. Mind you - she won't use it in the tub, but we are past the freaking out stage of water in the face anyway. So now she comes up and says "Help you" meaning she wants me to help her put it on her head. These are just a few of the cute shots she held still enough for me to take!

Bella's 1st Haircut

OK - I am a little behind on the pics and the posts but give me some credit - I feel like I am 45 months pregnant here! I finally broke down and took Peanut Girl fro her 1st haircut - well - just her bangs. I really wanted it to all grow out but the child would not leave anything in her hair - no clips, no bows, no headbands - nothing. I made it until it got to the point where it was constantly in her mouth and decided to go ahead and chop some bangs. And let me just tell you how very much I HATED it the first day! Only for the simple reason that she no longer looked like my baby but a BIG GIRL! I was not prepared for that!
So here's the before.......

....and the after

These are the during - sorry my mom was behind the camera and she is not so steady! I was very impressed with my little girl - no freaking out or anything. She sat very still and watched in the mirror - then again - she had Elmo with her and she can do anything with Elmo along for the ride!



Of course, now I love the haircut but I have to admit it took a little while to grow on me!

We Finally Decided On A Name!

Well we finally did it - we picked a name for our new baby girl - with just weeks to spare! We decided on Alexis Gianna Chadwick. We will call her Lexi for short. It was a very long process for some reason this time around! We had it narrowed down to just a few but we each had a favorite and weren't breaking down! But we fianlly compromised and I think we are both very pleased with the outcome. now if she would just get here already!!!!

We Won A Contest!!!!

I can't believe my luck - I never win anything. I was checking out some of the blogs I like to read and got onto All Things Avery and there was a post from over the weekend about her mom having an anniversary contest that was ending Monday. Well it was Monday but I figured - let me try my luck. Basically she has a site called Wee Little Designs and since she had been blogging for two years - she was having a giveaway on Christmas photo cards. Well, I have already checked out her site many times before cause she has the CUTEST cards - and I was going to be ordering from her for our upcoming birth announcements. So imagine my surprise - and delight - when I won the contest - and to boot she said I can use birth announcements instead of Christmas cards. This is especially good for me because although I had like 5 favorites, one of them was named Lexi - which is what our newest girls nickname will be - it actually helped us finally decide on a name - I figured it was just meant to be! So anyways - just wanted to share my good fortune! And you should check out her stuff at www.weelittledesigns.com - she has all kinds of goodies!

A Name For Sissy

Well we are still undecided on a name for our new arrival that will be here this month so I decided to ask Little Bit what she thought. I got her up one morning and was changing her diaper - this is when she is most talkative - and our conversation went something like this....

Me: What do you think we should name sissy? Do you like Alexa?
Bella: (silence)
Me: Do you like Alexis?
Bella: (silence)
Me: Do you like Sydney?
Bella (silence)

Well this is not my normal talkative girl fresh up from a good night of sleep. So then I ask her...

Me: What do you want to name sissy?
Bella: Turtle.

SO we have a nickname if nothing else - Bella wants to call her sister Turtle.

"El Bebe" Update

Well we went to the OB again today. I begged and pleaded but they will not take "El Bebe" out! I go back in two more weeks and then every week after that. She says the baby is gonna be another biggin - bella was 8 lbs, 11 oz. Right now she is measuring at 6lbs and I still have like 4 or 5 weeks left! I feel like I am gonna explode! This pregnancy is definately not as enjoyable as the 1st time around. Oh well we'll just have to be patient..........

My Impatience

My impatience has set in - well actually it has been set in for a while - I have just recently made it known! I could not imagine making it until my c-section on 11/2/07 so I asked my OB when was the soonest we could do it. So our new date is 10/29/07 - and he promises I can be out by Halloween for my peanut girl. I will probably not be up for the whole trick-or-treating but at least I can be around to get her dressed and take some pics! So that only leaves us like 5 1/2 more weeks to come up with a name for "El Bebe" as we call her now. I still can not believe we have let this go for so long! I think we are both just holding out for the other to give in to our favorites! Too bad no one has budged. But I still figure I should get the last say since I am the one getting sliced open - again! Just my viewpoint though!

My Little Book Worm

One day all got quiet and you know quiet usually lead to trouble. So off I went in search of Bella and this is what I found.



She had gotten into her room, helped herself to a book off her bookcase, and sat down at her table to read.



And she had pulled out a book about dogs - all of which she calls Bubba after our dog Roscoe - who we call Bubba.



I just love the serious face. She is so funny too - she loves books as much as I do but she will not sit for you to read one to her - she has to do it on her own. She will sit for 45 minutes and "read" by herself - but if you try to read to her you'll be lucky to mnake it through two pages before she tells you no and closed the book saying all done!

Car Wash

Daddy was outside washing all the cars yesterday so Bella and I decided to join him. Before she realized what was going on she got distracted by the flowers - she loves to smell flowers! Although at the moment - these look more like weeds - but they are flowers - promise!



Bella found the bucket of soapy water and had to check if it was okay to get into it! I am not looking forward to this stage ending and her doing whatever she wants!



Here she is getting into the bucket of water.



She thought she could carry it away to play with it - until she realized how heavy it was. Little does she know Daddy has the hose!







I love how she hates to be in the shower but it's totally okay when its the outside hose instead - talk about a country girl at heart!



Sorry about the cut off head but she was running away pretty quick and its still a cute pic. Plus I was using my mom's camera and am still mastering the difference. Needless to say Bella had a blast out there - even if she never did get around to helping Daddy wash the car - by this point her diaper was lugging her down and it was time for lunch anyway.

My Sis Is Having A Boy!

My sister called me after her ultrasound today and told me she is having a boy! I was completely wrong - I thought for sure it was gonna be a girl. I am so excited! I went out today and bought him two little outfits - don't tell hubby - he took my debit card away! But I had a secret stash of leftover money to spend! I can't help it - I love to buy baby things!

My wonderful hubby also just bought me a 2001 Dodge Durango. I LOVE it! It has every option you could imagine and then some! He is so pretty! (my truck - not my hubby - I would never call him pretty!) And I am so glad because he went to the auto auction and not only did he get a fabulous deal on it but he almost came home with a minivan for me instead. Not to knock them but they are so not my speed! So I am forever grateful to him for that. I really like that it has a 3rd row seat that folds down flat too - not taking it out. So when we move to NC and I start watching my new nephew I have room for all 3 car seats! Not sure where I will be able to go with three tiny ones by myself but hey - other people do it - so can I!

We decided to move in January - we are going to rent our house out to a friend since the market here sucks so bad. I am so excited to move and be close to my sister again. We are probably gonna rent a house for a year or two until we sell ours in FL so we don't get in over our heads with 2 mortgages! I am not looking forward to the car ride with my two beast dogs though - especially my Roscoe (Bubba) as he likes to stand over your shoudler and pant and drool the entire car ride!!! We will have to sucker someone else into driving him! And he is so not allowed in my new truck!

My dad has been greatly improving - they have taken his trach and his feeding tube out and he is sitting up and feeding himself. They have started getting him up to stand and walk a little bit although he is still very weak and unsteady. But he looks so good compared to the 1st day in the hospital. I am so impressed with how far he has come. They are trying to get him into a nursing home or rehab facility soon.

I never did get my new camera - Justin found the warantee on the stinkin Sony that doesn't zoom. Hopefully thay will not have been able to fix it and I can get a new one! Here's to hoping anyways. I have borrowed my mom's in the meantime - she has the same new Sony that I was gonna buy to replace my old one. But of course - Bella is staying the night with her tonight - so no pics! I will post some soon though I promise.

Catch Up!

Wow - lots to catch up on - and sorry no pics - I am still trying to get a new camera. I have the money and found the one I want - I think - but hubby wants to see if we have a warantee on the old Sony - I don't want the old Sony - it does not ZOOM!!!!! Anyways. We went up to see my sister in North Carolina last week for a few days and also looked at some more houses and some land too. jsutin had an interview and was offered a job - but we have to stay here until "el bebe" comes on 11/2 - or sooner! We may just need to name her "el bebe" because on the ride up -which took us 10 1/2 hours due to traffic - we agreed about 95% that we would name her Alexa Nicole. Well since we have been hoem he decided that Alexa sounds like a stripper - no offense to any professional dancers out there - we all gotta make a living - so we are back to a no named child once again. He says he likes Alexis better - but I don't - reminds me of the car - a lexus. So back to the drawing board!
We are also up in the air about what to do for our move from Florida to North Carolina. We are so ready to go. But the market SUCKS here and we do not know if we shoudl try to sell our house for like nothing or rent it until the market picks back up. We have put a lot of work and sweat and money into this house we built to get it nice and homey - well I dind't sweat too much! BUt it is too small for us now and we want to move out of state. So there is that whole dilema. Plus I am not looking forward to packing and moving with a toddler and a newbirn come the end of the year! But I will gladly get it done! And I can;t wait for that time to come - I am so over being pregnant this time. I have been getting so many charley horses lately - my legs are constantly sore for days afterwards. I actually woke up yelling in pain the other night and poor hubby thought I was doing a practive drill for labor. At least he is on the ball at 3am!!! I also hurt just to walk - thanks to Miss Bella being so big and me not having her all that long ago - I have pubic symphesis seperation - basically my pelvis bones are splititng apart. They will go back together after I have her but good ole doc says it wil just get worse as she gets heavier and drops down. I can barely walk as is and Little Bit always wants me to bend down and pick her up whcih doesn't help - but how could I tell her no?!!? I would rather have my throid problem back like I had with her and deal with the constant nasuae - this pain is killing me - it is constant and feels like I have a bowling ball sitting on my pelvic bones - especially the left side. They should make a splint for it!!! HAHA.
On another emdical note - my dad is doing way better - he is actually talking now - they capped the trach off and while I was there today he was waiting for physical therapy come to get him up and moving. They had him standing up this morning! Hopefully he will be moved out of ICU since he has been there since August 4th when this all happened.
Well that's all for now - hopefully I will get my camera tomorrow if there is no warranty on the one we have now that is a load of crapola! Then I can post more pics of my darling peanut girl.

My Little Golf Pro

I got these plastic clubs for Bella when she was a newborn in honor of hubby's favorite past time and his plan for us to retire - for Bella to become a professional golfer! I finally busted them out the other day and she loved them - she would not put them down for days! Of course they have all since broken since they were only like $4 for the set! Time to invest in some heavy duty ones!

Busy Weekend

Well today will be a busy day - we are going to the hospital to visit Grandpa Ron, then to JCPenney's to pick up our pics, and then to meet Lisa who is in town for the weekend. Her son is my future son-in-law. Heehee. We have it all planned out. Then it is hoem to pack because we are leaving in the middle of the night to drive to NC to see my sister and look at some homes and some land. That should be fun since there will be 3 of us in an altima - not too roomy - especially since last time Miss Bella decided to stay awake for most of the trip - both ways - even though it was night time and I had to sit in the back with her to keep her occupied and not whiney!! So we will see how she does. I think Jsutin is going to look at portable car dvd players today - may be we can occupy her with some Wiggles and Momsters Inc - she loves that movie! We should be back sometime Wednesday. I am just worried about leaving with dad still in critical care -but I will be with my sister so if anything happens - at least she will not be alone. Hopefully only changes for the better will occur though! Will keep you posted!

In need of a new camera

Well our Sony has pretty much bit the bucket on us. If you turn it on the screen comes on upside down or fuzzy like a broken tv. I had asked hubby for a new one for my birthday but was told we have another one - an old Kodak that is like ancient and dusty! I want a really nice one - one that the has an actual zoom lens instead of a zoom button that gets nowhere near zoom. Maybe for Christmas....we do have another munchkin coming and will need to get good pics to add the the thousands I have of Bella sitting and collecting dust in my closet since I have not time to do my scrap booking! Hopefully when we finally move I will get a room to set up all my stuff and actually get to use it - wouldn't that be nice?! So needless to say - no pics to post for now. My little peanut girl is getting quite the little attitude lately when things do not go her way - luckily that is not often and she is still pretty easily distracted - but I am getting a taste of the future for sure! She is learning some more animal sounds - my favorites are the cow cause she moos really loud and sticks out her neck and makes a face - and the lion cause she whispers her roars! So funny! Well hopefully, I will be able to get some pics up soon.

Grandpa Ron is in the hospital

Miss Bella and I have been spending most of our time in the hospital for the last week. She has been cheering everyone up in the waiting room. Her Grandpa Ron - my dad - has been in critical care since last Saturday. He lives by the water and they think he was trying to shoot a water moccasin but the gun jammed and he must have accidentally shot himself in the chest and out the shoulder. He just missed his heart but did hit his lung. He was also on a blood thinner for medical reasons and they think he was alone at least 45 minutes before his girlfriend found him. So needless to say he had lost a lot of blood. He was responsive the first few days even though they have him sedated and on a breathing machine but over the last few days they have not been able to get him to respond even when they turn the sedation off. We are still at a "wait and see" standstill. They are now thinking there is something neurological going on. My sister had come down from NC but had to leave today. I am hoping and praying that we get our Grandpa Ron back.
On a lighter note, my little wee one is getting to be such a big girl! I look at her and can't believe how much she seems to have grown and changed from that cute baby stage lately - not that she is not still cute but she looks more like a toddler now. She is learning and saying more as each day goes by and amazes me all the time! I just love her to pieces.

Picture contest

I had entered this picture into a photo contest online and just got an email that is was nominated into The best Photos and Photographers of 2007 book. How cool is that?!?! Of course the book is like $60 or $70 but you know I have to get it! They want me to submit another picture for the next part of the contest. I am not even that good at taking pictures - Bella just makes it so easy! I always wanted to take a photo class and learn more. I actually am in desperate need of a new camera. My Sony has just crapped out on me - every time I turn it on the display comes up upside down of fuzzy and shaky. Good time to invest in another though with anotehr baby on the way. I wanted a new one anyway cause the one I had did not zoom enough - it didn't have a lens that comes out at all. So anyways - that's out most current news! Any recommendations on a good - but affordable - camera would be well appreciated!

Rainbow Brite girl

These are pics of my "Rainbow Brite" girl! I love this outfit on her - brings back memories of my childhood - we used to have those short shorts! HAHA.

Pig Tails

I love that Bella's hair is long wnough to do pig tails now. She, however, is not so much a fan of them. I am lucky if she leaves them in for 30 minutes! It takes me forever to get them in and somewhat even and then she goes and pulls them out. AUGH! But they do look so adorable.

Miss kissy face

I just took this pic the other day. I had given Isabella a little stuffed animal on a keychain I found when cleaning and she was giving it kisses. Of course my camera is slow so it looks more like she is about to eat it! But she makes the muah noise when she kisses him. Too cute.

Trying so hard to set this up

Please bear with me - I am trying to set up this new blog and it is my very first one - so I am basically clueless! It is so funny, once upon a time I was good at this computer stuff but now I am not too sure what the heck I am doing! An old friend to ld me it was an easy site - ha - I must be really bad then cause I am having some TROUBLES!