Louie - 4 Months

Little man is 4 months old! A whole 1/3 of a year, and we are loving every minute of it.

At the doctors office for this visit we discovered that Louie is...
17 lbs, 4oz - 89%
27.5 inches long - 98%
44.5cm head circumference - 94%

He is just the chillest and happiest little guy. He still is enthralled with his big sister. This month he started playing in his exer-saucer and for the most part enjoys it (as long or if not longer than the average baby does). He loves being sung to and he loves to "stand" with someone holding his hands. He is getting great head control and that is quite a feat given the large size of the kid.

He had that amazing roll over occurrence at the doctor's office for his 2 month appointment in August, but for the most part he either stays on his tummy or his back. And that means that he is still swaddled - which I am a fan of. I hate the learning to sleep unswaddled phase. I know it's coming. -sigh-

He still doesn't really take a pacifier...he will enjoy it for a hot minute and then he is done. I keep trying just to see - and even though he never keeps it for long, he will get distracted by it in his mouth and that sometimes is enough to calm him down and for him to forget whatever he might have been upset about in the first place.

One of our favorite things he started doing this month is what we call Chewbacca Louie - or sometimes "Loubacca" ... when he is tired and ready for a little snooze he sometimes will let us know by making these gurgling sounds. It's quite cute and funny. He also just recently decided he loves to stick his tongue out. I have a picture of Noelle doing the same thing at four months and they both look so cute and similar! I see how they really are quite different, but then I see a comparison and then they appear to look alike again!

He loves to breastfeed and is very fast at it (thankfully) - and sometimes he will take a bottle and sometimes he won't. I'm usually around all the time so it isn't an issue. Sometimes he won't take it and just decides to wait it out for me. But luckily he doesn't cry about being hungry. He just chills and waits. I guess he has plenty stored up for his body to eat on until I become available :)

He usually only wakes once a night to eat, if at all. He really is just a rockstar baby.

Louie boy, we love you!

First Day of School, First Day of School!

If you read the title of this post and had Nemo's voice in your head, you get bonus points!

I have been waiting for this day for months! Today was Noelle's first day of preschool. She has been longing to go to school since she figured out this past spring that her own personal hero (Meaghan Mahoney) went to school.

Here's what she knew about the day: she would have a teacher, make new friends, and that Mala (my mom) would cry.

Here's what she kept asking about school for the months leading up to it: could she ride the bus and would Meaghan be there.

Now I told her over and over again that Meaghan went to the big kid school and she would be going to the little kid school, but she still kept asking. On the bus thing we told her she just needed to pretend that Mama's car was a bus and she seemed to be able to deal with that.

We had her open house last week and it went pretty well. She was shy, but she was excited about her classroom and was mildly interested in some of the other kids there.

The night before her first morning it literally felt like Christmas Eve to me. I was so excited for her, for me, just all of it!  She's a great kid, but Mama needs a break from being the constant playmate. It's a little tricky with a 3 month old in tow and the constant rotating schedule of his needs. She also just seems to thrive with structure and learning and being around other kids...it's all going to be so good for her.

Today was day one and she did great! She had fun and even though she still seemed a bit shy about it all, she immediately asked if she could go back to school as we were driving out of the parking lot. That's a win in my book!

I very much look forward to the days where she can actually tell me about what she learned in school. Right now her answers are pretty much "I don't know" to most questions. She retains lots of knowledge and picks up on stuff pretty well, so I'm not quite sure why she isn't able to tell me what she did...I'll just chalk it up to her being a threenager.

Here's some pictures from this morning of our big girl!!

I told her to show how excited she was to start school :)

Another excited face. I will show her these one day when she doesn't want to go to school, in like 5th grade.

Posing before we left! Louie wasn't so sure about all this school business.

Louie - 3 Months

On September 5 this little guy turned 3 months!

And OH what a joy this little boy is and becomes with each passing day. I officially no longer have a newborn baby boy, I now have an infant baby boy!  I remember from Noelle that babies start to get more and more fun at the 3 month stage and Louie is no exception (a whopping 3 days in, ha!)

We did a weight test at our friends the Mahoney's and Louie is weighing in at a hefty 16 pounds even. Now, at his 2 month doctor's appointment (which was a week after he turned 2 months) he was 14 lbs and 14 ounces. Just 3 weeks later...THREE WEEKS...he is now 16 lbs. Man that kid can grow.

He is thoroughly filling out his 6 month clothing and there are quite a few items that will need to be retired very soon.

He loves to just stare you down with those deep deep brown eyes and he loves to chuckle. It's not the full belly laughs we got from Noelle, but Louie is definitely laughing. He is just more of a short chuckler than a giggler. He gives tons of smiles to his big sis, but he gets most excited when we eat his ribs, chin, or feet.

I can take Louie just about anywhere and he is pretty happy. He still gets slightly cranky right at the end of the day, but overall is not much of a fussy boy.

Here's the fun photos of our little boy who is now 1/4 of a year old!

Small Changes, Big Difference

I'm embarking on a new project...I call it the "Great Kitchen Spruce Up of 2015!"

Let's just hope I actually get it all done before 2015 is over :)

Basically, I'm home more now...but I'm still a do-er. I like to get stuff done. We've lived in our home for over 5 years now and one of the first rooms I painted was the kitchen. Not much else needed sprucing up in there at the time, although over the years we have changed a few things (new sink, new faucet, added a garbage disposal...)

But over time the painted kitchen cabinets have not held up. They are in desperate need of repainting. On top of that, I accidentally painted with flat paint on the walls, which you should never do in a kitchen. I just asked for flat instead of eggshell and just lost my mind.

So being around this kitchen much more often, it is officially driving me crazy. I had to do something.

After some research I've decided, I'm going to go for it! I love DIY projects, and oddly enough I think I can do this. It will just happen SLOWLY. But that's ok with me! Of course I would love instant transformation, but let's face it, we don't all have the budget to pay the pro's for this stuff.

I decided to start small this week...with the refrigerator.

Ever since we moved into the house it has had these stained patches on it. Not sure what from, don't really care. But I just decided one day, enough is enough. I got on pinterest and read about other people painting their appliances. I decided I could totally do that one evening. And I did. Small change, big difference!

You can buy the appliance paint at Home Depot (it's rustoleum appliance paint). I got myself some white, and went to town. It was very very smelly, but I only had to do one simple coat on the front. The rest of the fridge was just fine. So if anyone wants to try this, I have LOTS of extra paint.

Next I will slowly repaint the cabinets myself. Then I will paint the ceiling, trim and update the wall color. I still want a yellow kitchen I just want it a little lighter than it currently is. I'm excited for all these small changes to add up to a refreshed kitchen!

I'm hoping to even replace a couple light fixtures maybe! Exciting times in the Watkins household - let me tell ya!!

Louie - 2 months

Louie turned 2 months old on August 5th - and he is doing awesome! I don't have his 2 month "stats" just yet since we don't have his 2 month check up until next week. But this kid seems to grow overnight every night!

Here are some highlights from Louie being the big 2 months...

Louie has dropped to just one night feeding usually...it happens anywhere from 2am-4am and then his next feed is usually between 6am-8am (and I consider that into the next day...even though we usually go back to sleep afterwards). He did have one magical night where he went to bed around 9 and didn't wake up to eat until 6am, fingers crossed more of those start happening!  I had tried doing a dream feed with him a couple weeks ago and it didn't eliminate any of the night feeds...and since it took work to drop Noelle's dream feed, I have decided to just not try to dream feed this kiddo. Especially since I don't have to get up early for work or anything.

Louie loves looking out the window and sitting outside. He still is very tolerant of his car seat and most car rides unless he is a little hungry. He happily sits on his playmat and loves to kick a ton. He naps about 4 times a day, two of which are usually cat naps on me while in the baby k'tan carrier. He loves to eat and is very fast at it. The only long feeds are usually the last one of the day when he is tired and not as alert.

Noelle adores her little brother still and can't wait for him to get bigger so she can play more with him. Louie loves his big sis too - and usually gives Noelle at least a smile or two each day. He gives great smiles (especially after eating) and that is when he also likes to "talk" to us with the sweetest little baby coos. We are watching him get closer to laughing but he isn't quite there yet...but probably will be in a couple weeks.

It's getting alot easier each day and we feel we have mostly adjusted to having 2 kids...the evenings are the hardest at this point, but they seem to get easier with each passing week. I am very much looking forward to the 3 month mark when Louie starts getting even more expressive and transitions to the "infant" stage and out of "newborn" days.

We are so grateful to have this little chunk of hunk in our family!!

National Whatever Day

Ok, so all these "National ______ Day" things are a little out of hand. Every week seems to be some kind of day....sibling day, donut day, pizza day, hug day, etc...

Most of the time I don't participate at all, but today I decided to participate. It is "National Lipstick Day" - silly I know.  But it was an opportunity to talk about my favorite lipsticks!! And I love finding favorites and then trying to make everyone else agree that it is their favorite too. I'm not sure what to call that, but I'm sure it is some type of disorder.

This particular favorite is rather an "obscure" item - which makes me want to talk about it more. Where to begin... ok so, I try to use more natural products whenever I can. I know in general it is a good thing to do. About three years ago I went through a phase where I tried the "no-poo" shampoo craze (look it up, it is a thing) and I tried to eliminate as much unknown ingredients for use on my skin as I could. Then I decided I didn't have enough time or energy to devote to that movement, so I just tried to buy safer products in general.

A little after that my sister discovered the brand BeautyCounter and loved their products. She loved them so much she decided to sell them (mostly so she could get easy access to the products themselves, and not as much for extra income of any sort.)  She got us all to try their stuff and I have been extremely pleased with almost everything that I have tried. You can read more about their products on their website here.

Just this past Christmas my sister gave me one of their lipsticks though (called a Lip Sheer)...and I put it on and I was blown away. I am very picky about lip products...I have dry lips and I don't like anything too bold, but I put on my first swipe of lip sheer and was very impressed. So soft and smooth, wears away nice and evenly, no funky tastes, and is safe for my skin?! WINNER!

If you like super long lasting stuff or super pigmented this isn't for you, but I find those two things difficult to wear and rather uncomfortable. If you are like me and spent most of your life just wearing chapstick and then woke up in your 30's one day and realized your lips don't naturally have enough color for "just chapstick" then this product is for you my friend!

I have 4 beautiful colors now, and I enjoy all of them and look forward to more colors that may arrive in the future! Oh, and the packaging is so very luxurious, which if you didn't know can make you love a product even more!

Look at these beauties...

Oooo, pretty gold packaging! And they feel nice and heavy too :)

Like pretty little maids all in a row.... (anyone get that movie reference?!)

Colors from Left to Right: Twig (like lipstick that looks like you're not wearing lipstick beautifulness); Currant (a bit tawny and perfect for fall/winter weather looks); Coral (pinky spring/summer fanciness); and Rose (classic understated pink)

If you ever get the chance to try one of these babies I highly recommend it. I think you can find a consultant on their website if you want to try any of their stuff (I also swear by the Jasmine Face Oil and the Countertime Cleansing Balm).

And in case you were wondering, my other favorite "lipstick" brands are Fresh (their lip sugars are fantastic too) and Bite (I haven't tried too much from the brand, but what I have tried I really enjoy). Both are also of the sense that things should be natural and safe for use, and considering these items are on your lips and easily ingested, I say that is a pretty good standard to have!

Happy National Lipstick Day to you and yours!!

My "Vacation"

So, summer vacations are hard to fathom when you have a newborn. I love having warm weather babies, so many benefits of people not being sick, life being a little bit slower, and so on and so forth. But this year I have missed just enjoying summer as well. Noelle and I had so much fun at the pool last year, and it just isn't possible for me to do that this year with a 3 year old AND newborn.

But this week is my "vacation"! Noelle is with Mala and Pop-pop in Marietta. Josh, Louie and I are holding down the fort here in Lexington and it is glorious! Noelle isn't a difficult child at all, but toddlers in general like a lot of a attention and don't always want to go with the flow. I miss my little buddy, but am enjoying a little break.

That's right - I can watch whatever I want on tv...not having to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse every morning. I can easily get errands done with Louie in tow and don't have to manage wrangling a little girl into a shopping cart. I can even fly solo for a window of time and not feel guilty about leaving Josh with two crazy kids. He can totally handle one - which is awesome for me!

I had the thought before giving birth to Louie..."What was so hard about having an infant around?" I stand by that thought. The hardest thing is sleep deprivation of course, but I will say that Louie is not horrible at sleeping - and on top of that, once you have been sleep deprived as a parent once, it is like your body knows how to function more easily the second time it gets sleep deprived! Other than that, little babies are pretty awesome.

As much as I am tied down every 2-3 hours with this awesome chunk, he's a gem and thanks to him I get my little "vacation." I am still trying to enjoy these early days, because the other side of the coin is that I cannot wait for him to get big and see his personality. Kids just get so much fun just as they also become more "difficult"...

In the end, I love getting to love every stage of development. I'm sure I'll recant that statement in about 10 years when I have my first teenager in the home, but until then I will look forward to each and every precious age and stage.