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Paige is now one week old! Well, she will be in a little under 3 hours. Isn't she cute?

Being home has gone well so far. The girls are still in school all day so it's just Paige and I until about 5:30. Today is the last day that Dustin will be picking them up from school for me [their school closes at 5:15 and he generally works until 6:30] so I'll have to manage going there, dragging Paige inside, and bringing them all out. We made the decision to keep the girls home this summer to save some money, and I have already concluded that outings with out Daddy will be few and far between!

Speaking of sisters... they sure do love baby Paige! A little too much. Since they've been in school all day they haven't really had too much time to spend with her. Brooke had dance on Thursday night and then on Friday night Dustin took them both to a baseball game. When they are around her they both kind of "fight" for her attention. They have yet to find a way to look at her that they both find equal. Even in the picture above you can see Molly pouting because Brooke was singing a lullaby and she wanted to sing hers.

Paige can be very alert. Just ask her newborn photographer, who has the patience of a saint and spent 5 hours with us yesterday trying to capture pictures. I am pretty positive that Paige slept for less than an hour of that, and it was all in spurts.

I've spent most of the first week just holding her and cuddling her. Since she is my last, and I already know just how quickly babies grow up, I've been trying to enjoy every moment. I did have to leave the house on Friday to take her to a Pediatrician appointment on my own, and it made me realize I still have some healing to do, so I've been taking it easy. One week olds don't really have a schedule but she does okay at night. Last night she went in 3-3.5 hour spurts before needing to eat, and I actually woke up feeling rested. The first few nights were pretty rough.

I can tell that the "hormonal slump" is starting to set in. The adrenaline from birth has worn off, and now the emotional roller coaster begins. I have been on anxiety medication since the beginning of my pregnancy, so I've been curious to see how everything goes. The nurse told me that I might need a higher dose for awhile since my body has adjusted to what I am on now. It is worse at night so I always look forward to going to be and waking up to a new day.

Happy One Week, Paige! You are the perfect addition to our family. 

Sweet Brooke

Brooke is our oldest. She hit a full hand --five years old!-- this Fall and we took her to Disney World. She is headed to Kindergarten in the Fall and has already lost two teeth!

She is calm [for the most part], sweet, caring, and a big helper. As a baby she was always so chill and smiley. She liked to sleep and once she slept through the night in her crib, I could count on her to sleep until 10 or 11.  She was seriously the cutest little thing. I mean... look....

Calm and collected as a newborn

I can always count on Brooke for a photo shoot and know she'll make a great model, especially if promised a lollipop at the end.

She is in her second year of dance and loves it.  As a baby, she LOVED to dance. From the moment she could stand she was shaking her hips Shakira style. 

She loves all things pink and purple. She wears fancy dressed on the weekend since she can't wear them to school during the week, and loves to pick out headbands and bows. She loves to have her nails painted and will pick at least two colors to alternate so they are "fancier". 

BUT there are times that she likes to get dirty.

She absolutely LOVES being a big sister -- most days. By the end of a long weekend generally they are fighting over something silly and need to take a time out from each other, but what best friends don't? ;) They do everything together, as I said in Molly's post. Brooke also takes care of her little sister. In the past year she had really grown to be conscious of Molly's feelings. If they are playing with friends she always makes sure Molly is included, and if she isn't, she won't play. They are also really good at making trouble together. I know she cannot wait until Paige is here, and will be just as good as a big sister and helper.

Brooke is also a daddy's girl, and he is the first person she looks for the second she is up in the morning. She loves to help him make soup, which is their favorite food these days.

Brooke is my sensitive girl. I am always much more aware of her feelings than I am of Molly's, it seems. I am, of course, aware of both their feelings, but Brooke is much more apt to get upset. While Molly takes many things in stride, Brooke's little mouth turns down and she gets sobby. She can also get a little whiny. Okay, maybe a lot. She takes things very personal, especially when it comes to other kids. A few weeks ago she asked to play football instead of little league and I was just thinking of how she would handle getting hit by another kid. She is always willing to jump in and play with new friends, but if she feels rejected she gets shy really quick. It always breaks my hearts when she isn't accepted into new groups. I didn't prepare myself for that part of parenting!

Brooke will sit for hours and color and cut out shapes and tape them together. She amazes me with her cutting. She can cut out the thinnest and smallest shapes with precision. She also loves to send people mail. She will also sit through an entire movie, maybe even two or three, with out a peep. She loves to sleep in and every morning I have to drag her out of bed to get ready for school.

We love you Brookie, and we can't wait to watch you grow and learn!

A few pictures

Here are a few pictures of the girls. Sorry if one or two has a watermark on it, I used them on my photography facebook page.

My little diva. She dressed herself for the pictures...

Miss. Molly | 19 months

Baby blues...



Brooke Lynn | 3 years

I'm embarassed.

I haven't posted since SEPTEMBER 2ND! What is up with that? Forgive me?

I can't even begin to explain just how busy I have been since then. I started a new job in August and Sept-Oct I was working 6 nights a week to cover the space between "we've just lost all our college aged workers" to "it's winter and no one wants to come in an eat".

I also found myself busy with photography work, and it is still going strong. I changed my name to Jessica Lynn Photography which gave me some work for changing my blog and FB page. I also bought a webpage!

Of course, I also have two toddlers keeping me busy. The older Molly gets, the busier we are! She is into everything and is easily egged into trouble by her older sister. :) I'll post some picture updates of them soon. Wait until you see how big they are getting.

The most recent update is that I've published a book! Yes, you read that correctly. A post will come on this as well soon.

My plate is full.

But my stomach is not. [more on that in a moment]

To say that I am doing a lot is an understatement. Being home with the girls is a lot on its own. They are at the age where stepping away from them for a minute can mean shampoo on the carpet, hot chocolate mix on the couch, cream of wheat on the dog, and so on. This means that every day chores don't get done like they used to. The girls naps start at different times and I have about an hour from the time Brooke goes down until Molly gets up, which means shower and lunch!

It is fun but busy!

Then we add in the Photography business, which has been great. I love meeting new families and babies and capturing special moments in their life. It has been an awesome experience. Here is a picture from a recent shoot.

Then we add in work. I got a job as a cashier/hostess at a local Amish restaurant. It has been a ton of fun and I really love what I do. I go in around 5pm at night and sometime do not come home until 9:30. I have been working four days a week, plus most of the day Saturday so there goes the rest of my time!

Check out my awesome uniform.

Then we add in my hobbies. I like to read and write and I refuse to give that up! I try to find time for at least one of those each day. It keeps me sane and happy.

So why is my stomach empty? That was a bit of an exaggeration, but I joined Weight Watchers on Friday. I have been in a weight loss slump for the whole year now, and have actually gained some weight. Enough is enough! These 20 pounds are getting kicked out the door. With inspiration from my friend Ashley at The Stauffer Shenanigans and Alyssa at The Heystek Family... I think I can do this!

Carolina Vacation Part 2

The week was perfect weather wise. We had one morning of rain but it cleared by lunch so that we could still have some time on the beach. The girls loved the beach, which I was very thankful for. I have met babies who refuse to touch sand or who are terrified as water, which can be normal, but I just didn't want to deal with that! Getting them ready and down to the beach was a production, and then of course Molly kept getting sand in her eyes and would freak out. They mostly just played in the sand or in the baby pool under the cabana tent. Brooke went into the water with my cousins a few times but we never ventured that far with Molly.

I'm a kid at heart...

Our house was awesome, as usual. We had a pool so we would come back from the beach in the afternoon and soak in the pool for a little. Brooke did really well swimming around in her puddle jumper, but Molly wasn't the biggest fan of the pool. Each family took a night to cook [we did a taco night on our night!] so we didn't eat out or anything. We did go miniature golfing one night and we took Brooke with us. She stayed up a couple hours past her bedtime every night like a champ.

Girl was a natural.

Then it came time to leave and we managed to make it home in seventeen hours this time. :: sigh ::

We'll see you again soon North Carolina. Til 2013...