I came in to find them both with binkies in their mouths- ahh the binkies are still sneaking into Mikayla's mouth!





Marissa's first smiles...and many more to come!







chilling on her belly



Mikayla loves holding sister..for about two minutes!

This was about the time I stopped taking pictures for a little bit.  Marissa got VERY fussy and I couldn't figure out what was wrong with her.  after a few sleepless nights and her screaming I decided to take her to the DR.  The Doctor told me she as acid reflux as well as some possible food sensitivities.  So the bland diet of mommy began...
no Dairy, chocolate, nuts, broccoli, tomatoes.... and yes that's about half of my diet right there!  So it took a good 4 weeks and we seem to be on track again.  Every once in a while she has an episode of screaming but its much better than every day.  So hopefully she will out grow this issue and we will move on. 
I seem to remember Mikayla always being fussy and I am almost positive she had the same thing I just never kept bugging the doctor about it.  So now we know and life goes on!  Mikayla has out grown the issues  and I am hoping this little one will do the same. 

June Fun and Family

Well the first few weeks of Marissa being here was soooo much harder that I expected! I had a wonderfully pleasant experience at the hospital and I was actually sad to leave! My experience compared to 4 years ago was 5 star! The hospital food was great, the nurses were great and my Dr was awesome. When I got home we all had meltdowns and ended up needing "Grandma back-up" that night. We are so thankful again for all the family and friend help -especially since my mom wasn't able to come out right when the baby was born. I have learned how much more I need to ask for help than ever before!

The best part of all this- I have had to learn to let a lot of things go and not get so stressed like I was as a new mom before! I must have seemed so crazy to my Canadian friends with all my silly little quirks of parenting- I would never have let my baby lay on the ground near my dogs, or even be held by someone with out them washing their hands and sanitizing! I am not saying I have become more dirty....just less paranoid and less stressed! So in turn life is a little easier and parenting is less of a "no no no" and more of a "just be careful" approach! I think part of that solved itself when Mikayla picked up a lollipop from a parking lot....and hid it from me, then when she was asked what it was, her response was "Mom don't get mad- I just wanted a candy." So all the germ sheltering doesn't really help when your kid will pick up a strangers used lollipop!

Marissa did end up with a little jaundice and was able to get over it with in a few days! Part of it is that my milk supply seems to be more than plentiful for this one so much that she gags! So she gained about 2 pounds in 2 days! But she still was in preemie clothes for about 3 weeks and they were so cute!

Mikayla has been an amazing help and a sweet big sister. She was so cute when she first got to see sister. She was the happiest little girl I have ever seen! I had never noticed all the sweet little baby talk I say until I hear Mikayla repeat things like "its okay you little bean" or "you sweet pea its okay I'll get you a binkie, no cries". I love it! I almost can't explain in words how much I can see her love for her little sister! It is heavenly! And yes Mikayla has had quite a few meltdowns but she never went through a real "terrible twos" so I think she is going through the "terrible fours!" Even then she will stop crying and quiet her sister down or smile for her and help out the second she is asked.

My parents came out the middle of June for the Baby Blessing and to help out a bit. I thought I might feel like an intrusion but it ended up being the best break ever! I was so sad when they left because they helped out so much!

Marrisa is Here

Marissa is here!

After being put on bed rest @ 28 weeks pregnant because I was having contractions we had a long last few months of me being pregnant and VERY grumpy. There were a few bedtime prayers where Mikayla asked for Marissa to be born so Mommy would stop being grumpy! I had two wonderful baby showers! and a visit from my Mommy and my older brother. Also had tons of friends and family help with babysitting and meals which we were so blessed and thankful for! So after the first scare I had to go in three other times thinking I was about to have this baby- first was from sitting up too long one day and the next was from dehydration from being sick. The third time I went in and was told (on Mikayla's real Birthday - and also Mothers Day) that I was going to have the baby that day because my water was leaking- just to find out the test they did was a false positive test and that I needed to go home and take a bath, drink lots of water and rest. The last visit I swear almost sent me over the edge because we thought we were so close to having our little one here! Anyways I finally decided that I may not have her early and to just enjoy the bits of time I had left with just one child so I did! I was scheduled to go into the Dr to be induced around noon the day we had Marissa. I woke up with my water leaking and so we packed up and went to the hospital. We got all set up in the room and had Mikayla go visit Grandma's house. I had my epidural put in and was told my whole bag of water hadn't broken but only a part- so the Dr. came in broke my water and told me he would be back in a few hours to see how far i had progressed. In ten minutes I went from a 6 to a 10 and with about 5 pushes Marissa was here! Weighing 6.2 pounds and 17 inches long.

and yes we had the most amazing hospital photographer ever!

Back up and running

We are alive and well!

I don't even know where to start as to why we haven't blogged our life away this year.

To sum up the reason in one word- Pregnancy-

So here we are a Family of Four now. It all seems so new but at the same time this little one was a missing piece of our family!

We were so blessed to welcome this little girl into our family so but before I start bragging I don't want to forget our Sweet Mikayla turned 4 this year!

We celebrated with a low key dinner at Mimi and Papa Bakers house and a Tangled Birthday cake-

She is such a smart girl and has learned how to negotiate (like Daddy)

She just finished her first year of preschool and has learned so much from "Miss Joey"

She loves to make up jokes and she has been so excited about becoming a big sister.

I Still can't believe its been four years since the first time I met her face to face I have fallen in love with her all over again seeing our new little one...why? because she looks almost Identical to her! So enough ramblings from the Mommy- I am so blessed to have such a cute little girl and can't wait to see what the next year will bring our Mikayla! She is growing up so fast!

Happy Four Years Old!

January 2011

January where did you go?

Well I am okay with January leaving us so quickly...because its that much closer to us seeing our new baby!...

We found out that we are having another beautiful BABY GIRL!!!!!!

Mikayla is VERY excited and loves to tell EVERYONE (including the greeter at Wal-mart) that she is having a baby sister.

but in the mean time of playing the bun in the oven game-

Mikayla has definitely tested us!....

*Jonathan took her with him to do some errands which included a trip to Lowe's- and she came back home telling me "Mom I got to see a Penis fly trap today!...you know the plants that eat bugs!"

*She came in one night after having a great day and told me she pooped her pants. I completely didn't believe her because she was laughing so hard. Then to realize she was serious! She had a #3 accident while trying to run back to her bathroom- and lets just say we spent the next hour cleaning and laughing- (what else was there to do- either laugh or cry so we chose to laugh!)

*She has some pretty amazing Mikayla words and song lyrics: "on the 8th day of Christmas my true love gave to me- 8 Lucky charms, 7 words of wisdom..." "can we get a "stample" (aka sample) at Costco", "My stuffed animals are in time out so don't talk to them", "Dude I am just resting, I don't need a nap", "Mom- there are more Freaking flies in our house!", "Mom I am growing a baby puppy in my belly and it will be here when sister comes home"

Yes the list is much longer than that but those ones are stuck in my brain for now-

So onto another fun 2011 year and hope for new beginnings, more success and lots of fun!

The rest of 2010

Sum UP the rest of the 2010 Year-
our Top Ten:
10- Mikayla picking out a huge horse costume as a favorite costume EVER!
9- I found out I am pregnant! (Due in May)
8- Being sicker than a dog and broke blood vessels in my eye puking up!
7- Mikayla loving every second of Halloween- Decorations, visiting the Halloween store daily!, making treats...(the list can go on!)
6- Singing Thanksgiving songs daily
5-Having Uncle Ryan come to visit- and go the Thanksgiving at Little America- Yum!
4-Setting up Christmas and singing Christmas songs hourly!
3- Threats of Calling Santa for a naughty little girl
2- Shopping, Wrapping and Sleeping!
1- Spending time together laughing and playing games (and all of the fun new toys/ DVD's Mikayla was so spoiled with!)