Better late than never... Easter!!

Well, I am a month late but oh well! We had a really nice Easter. The Easter Bunny woke up a little early and hid all of our colored eggs and our baskets. Lou kept saying "That silly Easter bunny, why'd he hide all our eggs?" She really enjoyed finding all of them though. Callen had fun watching his sister run around, but he always enjoys doing that!

Later we were able to go have a nice dinner at my brother's house. My Mom also provided another Easter egg hunt for Olivia at my brother's. And there were tons of eggs!!! Good thing Brandon helped put them out or otherwise we might not have found them all! Olivia had a lot of fun running around the yard looking for all the eggs. In fact, she had so much fun that she forgot about going potty and peed her pants. It was the first ever, and so far only, accident she has had when we weren't home. After I got her all cleaned up she told me "Okay Mom, now you need to go clean up the grass because I peed on it." :) It was a nice laid back Easter which we really enjoyed it.

Singing in the rain

Okay, she wasn't really singing but she was definitely splashing and playing!!!
We had so much rain last week that our little dirt road and driveway got a bit flooded. So Lou got her rain boots on and went to play in the puddles!!

A baby story- Callen

I did this same little survey with Lou when she turned 8 months so I figured it would be good to do one for Callen at 8 months too.

1-Where were you when you found out? I was at home. I had taken a pregnancy test and the line came back really faint, which means I was prego, but I wanted to make sure so I bought another one that said either pregnant or not pregnant and it said PREGNANT!!

2-Who did you first tell? I told Casey of course!! Well, he was there with me while I took the test. It was New Years when we found out and we were doing a late Christmas with my parents that next day so we went and had Lou a shirt made that said "WARNING: Big sister in training." We had her open in up in front of my parents. My dad got it right away but it took my mom awhile. But she then freaked out!! We couldn't get to Casey's parents for awhile so we emailed them a pic of Lou wearing the shirt.

3-Did you find out the sex of the baby? Yep

4-Did you have morning sickness? I was really sick with Callen. I was so sick (and got the stomach flu) during my first trimester that I lost weight and had to take medicine so I would stop throwing up. Those little pills were magic and I did not get sick once I took them twice a day!!

5-How much weight did you gain? 23 lbs

6-Did you get stretch marks? Nope

7-Did you have any cravings? Surprisingly, no. I guess one time after talking about the pretzels at the mall, I HAD to have one and went straight there after school to have one. Other than that, not really.

8- Were there any complications? I didn't get very big with either of my kids but my doctor wasn't worried about this one because things were still steady. So, not really.

9-When and where did you go into labor? I went into labor at around 11:30 PM on September 8th. Well, I started feeling a little funny around 10:30 but thought it was all in my head because I was suppose to be going in to be induced on the 8th and had to call around 7:00 but all the rooms were full so I couldn't go in. So I decided to try to get some sleep until they called with a room available. But I guess Cal figured he would take matters into his own hands and come out anyways. I woke up and thought I was in labor but wasn't sure, because that would just be too ironic since I was suppose to be being induced right then anyways. So I went out and started watching Jimmy Fallon. When my contractions were about 6-7 minutes apart, I went and woke up Casey and then called my parents so one of them could come over and stay with Olivia. We ended up getting to the hospital around 1:30 AM.

10-Did your water break? Not on its own

11-Who drove you to the hospital? Casey

12-Who was in the room for the birth? Casey and my mom.

13- Was the baby born early or late? 2 days late.

14-How long were you in labor? From when I woke up and started watching Jimmy Fallon at around 11:30, it was 4 1/2 hours until I had him. My labor and delivery were great, I was so glad my doctor came in just for me before going out of town. He was awesome and had me laughing and cracking jokes in between pushing. He made things really easy and comfortable. I only pushed about 3 times before I had my sweet little boy in my arms!

15-Did you have any drugs? Yes, an epidural. I was getting a little nervous I wouldn't be able to have one because I was dilated to an 8 before they came in. I got the epidural around 3, it fully took around 3:20, and I had him right after 4. It seemed really fast.

16- Natural or C-section? Natural

17-What was your first reaction after birth? Wow, that was great!! He is perfect... what are we going to name him??

18-How big was the Baby? 6 lbs. 9 oz., 19 in. long. Almost exactly like his sister, except an ounce smaller.

19-Date and time of birth? September 9, 2010; 4:03 AM

20- Baby's Name? Callen Russell

21-Does the name have any significant meaning? We knew his middle name would be Russell because it is Casey's middle name, Casey's dad's middle name, Casey's grandpa's name, and Casey's mother's maiden name. Lots of family importance for his middle name!! We struggled for a first name. We finally decided and went to the hospital thinking his first name would be either Carson or Caleb. After he was born, Casey and I both thought that he didn't look like a Carson or a Caleb. And it was funny because we both kind of just said "I think he looks like a Callen." We had talked about that name before but never seriously for some reason. I really like it because it is spelled C-Allen. C for Casey and Allen for my dad (that is his middle name). And of course now we think Callen is a PERFECT fit for our little man!

22-Did the baby have any complications? Just like his sis, he must have swallowed some fluids during birth. He struggled coughing it up and chocking on it the first day and had to have his little belly pumped to get the amniotic fluid out.

23-How old is the baby today? 8 months today!!

24-What kind of temperament has the baby had so far? Callen is the most giddy happy baby. He loves to catch anyone's attention so he can give a big smile. He is the ultimate Mama's boy and cuddler. He loves to fake laugh and cough. We absolutely love our sweet little boy.

25- Would you change anything about it? Besides having a pinched Sciatic nerve, everything was great. I guess a little more sleep and rest during pregnancy would have been nice but not at all possible with a two year old. Other than that things were great.!

I tag anyone that wants to do this, I just did it for my own journal.

I'm a Mom

I'm a mom. I have two children. Sometimes I have to tell myself these things because sometimes I don't believe them. Sometimes I can't believe that I am really 25 years old and they are MY children. WHAT??! When did that happen??

Sometimes I think I am younger than I am (maybe I am not the only one) and it just does not seem like I should have two kids calling me Mama. But then I look in the mirror and I see myself and I can see that "mom" look. You know the look. A little tired, messy hair, little or no makeup, spit up or a booger on my shirt, a few more lines on my face... but happy. My kids make me so happy.


I usually don't get into Mother's Day for myself. For my own mother, yes; for me, not so much. I don't know why, I guess for the past two years I just did not put myself in the "Mom" category. Which is crazy because I now have had two children; that definitely puts me in the "Mom" category. And I have a great mother. However, even though I have been celebrating Mother's Day for my wonderful mom since birth, I don't think I fully appreciated it until I became a Mom myself. You don't realize how much your mom (or dad for that matter) really loves and cares for you until you have a child of your own. Suddenly, the light bulb goes off and you think, "Wow, I bet my parents love me as much as I love my children....Huh, crazy." It puts a new perspective on it. I guess I still just thought of mother's day as a day just for my mom. That day was not meant for me too, was it?

This year I felt like part of the mom club. I don't know why. I guess it started with my daughter waking me up at 5:00 in the morning because she was scared of snakes in her room again (those dang snakes, I sure wish they would stay out of her room at nights). As she led me back to her room so I could lay down with her, I thought to myself, "Well, happy Mother's day Kristi." But then I smiled because it is happy. I have a little girl that when her world is turned upside down because there are imaginary snakes in her room, she wants me. I have a little boy that thinks, hands down, I am the best person in the world. I get to snuggle, hug, and kiss two of the most beautiful and wonderful children anytime I want. And they love me.


I love that most days I stay in sweatpants because I get to stay home with them. I love that I have to wash 7 bottles a day and change a million diapers. I love that most of my TV time is consumed with princesses, frogs, Bambi, puppies, and The Backyardigans. I love that my kids think it is AWESOME when all three of us lay in Olivia's bed together and read our library books. I love that when I don't get ready all day my daughter will still tell me "You're as pretty as a princess." I love that my son will smile at me as soon as I enter the room, even if I was only gone for 3 seconds. I'm a mom. And I am so glad that I am. Happy Mother's Day everyone.