Valentine's Day

I have the three sweetest people who are my Valentine! Cooked something new and we celebrated at home. We had Alice Spring's Chicken from Outback, and it was great! We weren't supposed to be getting each other anything besides a card. But of course Bryan cheated! He gave me a Gould's gift card. I am already dreaming of my massage! Thanks hone. Martin had a party at school, and loved looking at his valentines on the way home. He really loves all of his school friends. It's pretty sweet. They made cute placemats to bring home, and I am in love with all of his little art projects.

Olivia is doing great! She is 7 weeks old today--can you believe it?? I cannot! She is growing growing growing. We are still trying to figure out bedtime, but it is getting better. She only wakes one time to eat and have her diaper changed and usually goes right back to sleep. So we don't look like zombies as much! And Martin isn't bothered by her crying during the night. Usually if it even wakes him up you will hear his music box cut on but he doesn't cry. Thank goodness he is such a good sleeper! We go to the doc the first week of March for our first round of shots. I cannot believe it is already time for that. Have a great week everyone! My parents and brother were here this weekend, so stay tuned for another blog post soon.

We made Valentine's for Martin's class. I had no idea how hard it would be to help him finger paint that tiny heart on the cards. We did bubbles and heart shaped fruit snacks tied up with this card. He was so proud of them, and it was pretty fun making them with him. Hope everyone had a Special Valentine!

1 month old

Well little Miss Olivia turned a month old on Thursday. Thankfully Bryan remembered it was the 31st already! Because this worn out mama had no clue. I realized late last week that the 31st was Thursday, but didn't think about it again. It's hard to believe we have already had a month with her--then other times it feels like she has always been there.

So stinking sweet--even if her hair is CRAZY!!

Happy One Month Birthday Girlie

ENOUGH with the pictures

Is she not the cutest thing you have ever seen?

It's my birthday!

Worried face

Sweet baby!

Here are her One Month Stats:

She weighs about 9 lbs now and I have no idea how long she is.

She nurses about every three hours during the day and usually wakes up once during the night about 3 or 4 am and then again about 7 or 8 am!! She likes to stay up late though (usually about 10:30 or 11)  Although night before last she only woke up at 6 am--and I felt like a new woman in the morning. She is a great eater--this is very different from Martin. We basically had to beg him to nurse. That's all this girl wants to do.

We are in size 1 diapers, we just switched on Wednesday. Could have switched a day or so before but I was trying to finish off those newborn diapers! Diapers are expensive :). She is also in size 0-3 month clothes. The newborns would fit in width--but not length!! It was getting hard to snap the stride! Sister is long.

Sleep is another place where she is very different from her brother! Martin could and would sleep anywhere. Bouncey seat, swing, pack n play, cradle, crib, stroller, car seat--didn't matter to him. Usually sister has to fall asleep in your arms and then be carefully placed somewhere to sleep! She HAS to be swaddled at bedtime because she is a wiggle worm! She would wake herself up 100 times if not!

She doesn't seem to like her swing at all--so different from Martin! She tolerates it in the morning.  Second babies are sneaky like that.  You think you have figured it all out with the first baby, and then the second one comes along, and BAM! things are so very different :)  Love it--it keeps us on our toes.

Bryan and I both call her Olivia with Livi sometimes thrown in the mix. Martin calls her about a million different things. He usually calls her Livi or Baby Sister, and sometimes Girlie (which is hilarious to me).

She is a blessing and we are so lucky to have her. We wouldn't trade one sleepless night for her.  Martin is still totally in love with her and such a HUGE help!  He is always bringing me a burp cloth, diaper, or telling me she is crying.  He always wants to know "what's wrong with Livi?" when she is crying.  So proud of how he has taken to her!

February

Things are going well here around The Benton Household. One month down!! That's crazy isn't it? Promise to do a one month post soon. Everyday is different, and brings with it new obstacles, but each day is getting better. Olivia is doing a lot better at night (usually waking up once about 3 to eat and get a diaper change then back to bed). Martin is still in total love with her, and they say at school he carries around the babies and burps and rocks them. So stinking sweet. When she cries he always yells "hey mom, whys livi crying about?" Hey kid, I don't know--why don't you ask her :). When Bryan is in the middle of his "on week" the house is usually a disaster and there are dishes in the sink. But I am learning to let go a little. Baby steps! I need to understand that every inch of my house doesn't have to be spotless especially when I am too busy feeding babies or reading "The Very Noisy Night" for the 10th time of the day. Have a great Saturday!!

Precious Babies

Thank you Lord for my precious babies. And thank you for letting them both take a nap today so that I could too! Sounds silly to you?? You must not have a very active two year old and a newborn! These healthy babies are more than I deserve and I love every ounce of them.

Olivia's nursery

I just love damask prints, so I knew as soon as I saw this fabric that I would be ordering it! It went perfect with the antique white crib we already had. And I got busy on the accents for the rest of the room. I was able to use Martin's glider in Olivia's room. Which was perfect. I painted the Walter Anderson prints that are above the crib to match the colors and had them framed that spell her name. I did this for Martin's nursery too--and I think it is a great piece that will grow with them. The afghan that is on the glider was mine when I was a baby.

I picked up the pink lamp and night stand at the Pottery Barn Outlet! And I think they are perfect in the room. I painted the wooden initials above the changing pad pink and then distressed them a little and I love how they turned out. I also made the owl mobile. Told y'all I had been busy. I found a mobile like this on etsy for over $100 and decided I would try to make one like it. I had such a good time making it, and love that it cost me about $10 instead of over $100!! Isn't it girlie? And pink! And precious?? I think so too.

Life with 2

Life with two isn't near as easy as life with one, but we are making it!! Martin is such a good helper. He has really stepped up and been an awesome big brother! Olivia is still working on getting her nights and days sorted out! So, that equals two really tired parents. Especially since Bryan is back at work. Mom left Sunday afternoon and I am not sure who cried harder---mom, me, or Martin! We all got spoiled with the extra help :). Bryan's mom has been here a few days to help too and it's always nice to have an extra set of hands :). We have a new obsession with The Muppets at our house. Have you seen the new one??? It's terrible--but Martin LOVES IT! We have watched it approximately 45 times in the last month. And I am NOT exaggerating. He just loves that Walter. He sings along with the songs for goodness sake! We enjoy anything with a song and dance so naturally this is a favorite.

I turned 30 this week, and it was about like getting old is--I wished I could forget it was happening. I stayed in my pjs until about 3 o'clock. We were all 4 on the couch at one point and I told Bryan I certainly didn't think this is where I would be spending my 30th birthday! But that I wouldn't have it any other way. I truly mean that. My kids are precious--I wouldn't trade them for anything. They make us feel complete. Even when I am having Dino discussions while trying to cook dinner and trying to watch Toy Story 2 while "Singing Rock"! We stay busy but I love it! Gotta run--I have a a request to "come play Thomas choo choo train mama!" So I better go--duty calls.

Captions for the pictures below: 1. sweet dreams of never ending milk! 2. sweet babies telling secrets 3. which one of you is the baby?? 4. this is what I call "milk drunk".

Olivia's birth announcement

Vintage Volute Birth Announcement

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