The Maxwell Family

Winner!

2011-11-21T09:05:00.000-05:00

Okay, I'm late in announcing the winner of the gift card, but one of my best friends had a baby this weekend, and I was a little busy holding and loving on my new niece! The winner is...

"True Random Number Generator

Min: 1

Max: 4

Result:

2"

Danielle said...

Of course I could use this! With 2 growing boys, sign me up! My favorite Thanksgiving dish isn't really a dish per se, it's the homemade yeast rolls Wes' aunt makes! Yum!!

Yay Danielle! Email me your mailing address and you should have your card very soon!!

Kroger Gift Card Giveaway!

2011-11-17T10:09:00.000-05:00

That's right, MyBlogSpark has provided me with a $25 gift card to Kroger, AND they're allowing me to give one away to a lucky reader!

This is great timing as Kroger is running a great promotion right now. From November 13th through November 26th, with the purchase of any four participating General Mills products, you will either receive free milk (up to $3; limit of 2) or receive $3 off your shopping order.

Free milk? Yes please! I don't know about you, but we go through a lot in the Maxwell House. Like, at least 1 1/2 gallons of skim milk a week! We love our dairy.

Want $25 to spend towards this promotion? And maybe grab some ingredients for a special Thanksgiving dish while you're there? All you have to do is leave a comment and tell me,

What's your favorite Thanksgiving dish?

Deadline to enter will be Saturday November 19th at 12:00 pm EST. Winners will be chosen right after that. Make sure I have your email address so I can contact you to get your mailing address. My card came really fast, so you should still have plenty of time to take advantage of the General Mills promotion.

Good luck!

Disclosure: The Kroger gift card, information, and giveaway have been provided by Kroger and General Mills through MyBlogSpark.

Holly Hill Inn

2011-11-16T14:10:00.000-05:00

When you're born on a holiday, you get used to celebrating your birthday on a completely random date. This year my birthday falls on Thanksgiving Day again, so we celebrated this past weekend. Friday night we went out with all our friends and then people came back to our house and hung out for a while. Now that everyone has started having kids, we're kind of like a circus rolling into a place!

Saturday night Nick and I went out.

Usually we go somewhere like Malone's. Which, don't get me wrong, I love; but I wanted something different this year. No chain restaurants, and really good food. I'm not sure why it took me so long to think of a place, but I finally did. Holly Hill Inn. Have you heard of/been to this place? Go. Make reservations right now, and go!

I had never eaten a sit down dinner here, but had been to a fabulous wedding there once where there was amazing dish after dish served. Michael, one of my bosses, and his wife, Brigitte got married there. Yeah, she's on the cooking channel now, and is just as nice in person as she seems on TV. I can't really even describe to you how neat their wedding was. It was one of those situations where you felt more "hip" simply for being there. The atmosphere was amazing, live music, food-incredible, there was a guy hand rolling cigars and then suggesting the perfect bourbon to accompany your cigar...the whole night was spectacular.

But on to my birthday dinner! I had mentioned to Michael that we were going on Saturday. We get there, are seated and then the manager comes over to us. His exact words:

"Michael Prather just called and said that you all would be here celebrating your birthday. He said you are an invaluable part of their team and your entire meal is taken care of tonight and you'll be having the 5 course Chef's Tasting Menu and feel free to order any drinks you would like. And if you would like to sub out any of the courses, we will take care of it for you."

Seriously?! I was blown away, I didn't know what to say. I immediately sent him a quick text and tried to thank him the best I could. Nick and I just kind of sat there looking at each for a moment. We had planned on doing the three course menu, so we flipped our menu over and looked at what we would now be enjoying. I had already decided that I wanted to do the "wine flight" before the manager had spoken to us. This is designed to go along with the three course menu and they have a wine specially paired with each meal. I spoke to the manager again and asked for them to please place that on a bill for us, and he cut me off before I could even finish my sentence, saying Brigitte and Michael made it very clear for us to get whatever we wanted.

Now, on to what we actually enjoyed that night. Before our first course was brought to us, they surprised with another little special treat, an amuse-bouche (a small bite). It was a crostini with some kind of spread I still can't remember topped with smoked trout. Nothing I would ever order myself, but oh.my.gosh, it was so good. Great way to start the evening. Oh, and also at this point they brought me out a glass of Chardonnay, and this wasn't even part of my wine flight.

Next up, first course. This was the only course we ended up subbing out. It was supposed to be shrimp, which I just don't like and Nick has a slight allergy to. I had the Bluegrass Lamb Ragout with Sweet Potato Gnocchi and Nick had a Warm Smoked Quail Salad with an Orange Vinaigrette. Both so different, but equally amazing. I also started my wine flight at this point, couldn't tell you now what this glass was, but it was delicious.

Second and third courses. I can't remember which order these came in. What can I say, there was a lot of wine! We had a quail dish served with wilted mustard greens. This was prepared beautifully, but I decided quail isn't my favorite protein. Then there was Zak's Fresh Striped Bass Almondine, Rolled in crushed almonds, sautéed in brown butter with garlic, lemon and capers. Again, this is nothing I would have ordered. I'm not (or so I thought) a huge fish fan, and I don't normally like almonds. But really, this dish. It literally just melted in my mouth. There was a great buttery quality to it. It was served with a pickled beet dish that was a perfect accompaniment.

Fourth course. Alltech Angus Delmonico Bordelaise, Ribeye pan-seared in a cast-iron skillet with a rich red wine sauce. This was served with a small, perfect roasted potato and mustard greens. The steak was cooked exactly as we ordered it and the red wine sauce was fantastic. I had a nice red wine at this point, and considering I hardly drink anymore, things were a little fuzzy!

Fifth course. Dessert! I ended up choosing the pumpkin cake and Nick got a chocolate terrine. Both incredible! They brought mine out with a candle and Happy Birthday written on my plate. They also gave me a little card signed by everyone in the kitchen, how thoughtful!

If you've made it through this l-o-n-g post that didn't even have photos of the incredible dishes (I was too busy eating them!), really, make a reservation and enjoy an amazing dinner. Tucked away in Midway, the chef and owner, Ouita Michel is a 4 year James Beard award nominee, and along with her husband, also owns Wallace Station, which was featured on Diner, Drive-ins and Dives, and Windy Corner Market and Restaurant.

Enjoying the Sunshine!

2011-11-07T14:57:00.001-05:00

We have been having such wonderful November weather here in Kentucky the past couple of weeks. I know these days are coming to a quick end, so I made a promise to myself to enjoy every bit of sunshine and warmth mother nature decides to throw at us. Which this weekend, meant trips to the playground!

When I walked out of my office at 5:00 on Friday I knew I didn't just want to go home and sit on the couch until time to go out to eat. So I rushed home, got the girls ready, called up a friend, and we headed to the playground to have a little fun before going out to eat some yummy Mexican food.

There was lots of sliding.

And this little girl loved every second of it!

Friends!

Hi baby Drew!

Daddy, come down from taking pictures and play with me!

Then on Sunday after we did our weekly grocery shopping, it was so nice outside that we decided to do it all over again! Only this time we took a little picnic to eat lunch there before we played. Then it was off for more sliding, swinging, running around and giggling.

Peek-a-boo!

Daddy's are just plain better at certain things. Like not being as nervous about their little girls climbing rock walls as this momma is. I try not to be that mom, but I just can't help it. I usually have my hand right under her little bottom the whole way up. I think there's a reason God didn't give me boys, I'm not sure I could handle the fearlessness most boys tend to have.

Big sister took a little time out of her running around to stop for a quick photo with her leaf munching sister.

Other than eat leaves, Peyton LOVED swinging! She would just giggle the entire time.

This face cracked me up!

And of course she needed to see what the slide tasted like too!

Then we had a little mini photo shoot.

Which resulted in the tasting of more leaves.

By the time we got home, both kiddos were exhausted! This was pitiful little Peyton while I was trying to change her diaper to lay her down for a nap.

And Bailey ended up taking over a 3 hour nap! They both had so much fun. It's easy to forget that it really doesn't take much to make kids happy. Just a quick trip to the small playground near our house and they both were as happy as could be!

Homemade Happiness

2011-11-05T09:31:00.003-04:00

I love the feeling of making things for my family. Something about knowing exactly what I'm putting in the mouths and bodies of my loved ones, knowing that I made it with my two hands, makes me happy. Makes me feel like I'm doing something good. It also makes me feel like I have a connection to the happy housewives in their pearls and aprons. Only I'm not a housewife, I only wear pearls to work and I usually forget my apron and end up wearing whatever I'm making.

Today, this is what makes me happy.

Opening my fridge and seeing my big batch of homemade chicken stock and the little bit of pizza dough I have hanging out in there.

What, you don't keep your asparagus in a Tigger cup? You're missing out my friends.

Busy

2011-11-04T17:00:00.002-04:00

This girl is busy!

No idea why Bailey is sitting in the bumbo seat. Or how she can still fit in there.

Can't tell you how much I love these Big and Little Sis shirts!

Peyton is pulling up on everything now. We've already had our first bruise when she fell one day standing up next to the toy box above. As soon as I lay her down for nap now she pulls up and plays with the toy attached to her crib for a few minutes before finally going to sleep. I'm not quite ready for this next step, does anyone know where the pause button is? I think this kid is going to be into everything!

My Sweet Girl

2011-11-04T09:05:00.003-04:00

My sweet Bailey, I just love her.

This is what Bailey's teacher told me when I picked her up yesterday. Apparently one of the little boys in her class had gotten hurt on the playground, and it really upset my sensitive girl. To help make him feel better she kissed him on each cheek, hugged him and gave him a leaf. Mrs. Lydia said Bailey was concerned about his well being the rest of the day.

Her daddy didn't think this was as sweet as I did. Something about his little girl kissing boys...for whatever reason, didn't go over as well. He calls on school days at lunch time to talk to Bailey and see what she learned at school that day. After he was told the story he told her not to kiss boys. Her response?

Please daddy, let me kiss...PLEEASE!

I couldn't help but bust out laughing. Oh my sweet little girl is kissing boys.

Happy Halloween!

2011-11-03T21:01:00.000-04:00

While I never quite got into the Halloween spirit this year (I didn't even manage to get out a single Halloween or fall decoration this year...fail on my part!) seeing these two cute kiddos all dressed up sure put a big smile on my face!

Just like last year, we headed out to our future neighborhood and participated in their trick-or-treating on Saturday night. It was a beautiful night, with just a little chill in the air. Nick had started feeling sick earlier that day, but he toughed it out and came out with us. We had such a good time, and just like every time we venture out there, it makes us want to move out there even more! Bailey's little 4 year old legs got tired pretty quickly. She complained a few times about getting tired and Nick and I had decided when we finished the last house on the street we would head back to the car. Just then Bailey announced, "I'm going to one more house and then I'm going back to the car." I couldn't help but laugh out loud! I'm pretty sure mom had to drag me in on Halloween...maybe next year.

Aren't they just sweet together? And here's Bailey in this same shirt on her first year trick or treating.

Bailey was 1 year old when she wore this shirt...Peyton isn't even 8 months old yet!

All ready to go get some candy!

My precious ladybug.

Both my beautiful girls! Hope everyone had a great Halloween1

Let's Get Mommy

2011-10-20T14:58:00.001-04:00

Hey sis, look, there's mommy. Let's get her!

Come on, we're almost there!

Gotcha!

Sis, where did you go?

Here I am Peyton!

Sisters

2011-10-19T10:36:00.002-04:00

Some people are blessed with sisters from their parents, and some of us are blessed to have found friends that we can call sisters.

One of my dear friends is dealing with the loss of her brother. It seems unfair and unreal. He was only 22 years old. He had served and survived two tours overseas, but passed away in his home after an outpatient surgery last week. He had two children and another baby on the way. As all tragedies do, this makes you stop and think about what is really important in life. As we've all come together to try and help our friend through this awful time, I'm reminded of how lucky I am to have these amazing women in my life. These women are my sisters.

There have been weddings

There have been babies

With more on the way

We've had fun together

We love each other's children as if they were our own

I love these women. I am forever grateful that God put each of them in my life. I couldn't ask for better friends, and my girls couldn't ask for better aunts. I believe there are certain things in life that a woman must have, and amazing friends are at the top of the list.

Rub a Dub Dub

2011-10-14T21:32:00.000-04:00

Peyton's in the tub

Peyton's eating the tub

Peyton's trying to escape from the tub

Pretty much sums up every bath now!

And yes, Peyton's baby bathtub is on the floor of my bathroom. I had to give both girls a bath when Nick was gone one night, and found this was the easiest way to do it since Peyton wasn't sitting up that great at the time. I give Bailey a bath in our garden tub while Peyton crawls around the floor. Then I give her a bath in her tub while Bailey splashes and plays. Works out great. So well that we've continued to do this even when Nick is home. He takes one kiddo and I take the other, but we still do it in the same room. But someone thinks she's too big for her tub now and tries to crawl out. I'm a little nervous about putting her in the actual tub though. She sits up great, but she gets a little lazy sometimes. Guess we'll stick with the little one for a little while longer and then try our hand at the big girl tub a little later.

Birthday Party!

2011-10-12T20:42:00.001-04:00

Nick has told me I'm not allowed to plan two big events back to back again. The first weekend in October was one of my best friend's baby shower which we had at my house, and last weekend was Bailey's 4th birthday party, also at our house. I don't think I was very fun to be around. I let myself get overwhelmed by all the little details that go into any party/event. And I felt like such a bad momma. I realized a week out from Bailey's party that I never sent out invites! Granted, it's pretty much all family and our friends that come, but still, I felt awful. I also really hadn't figured out exactly what we would be doing for her big day. I had come up with the idea about a month ago that I wanted to do a "drive-in movie" party. We would get a projection screen and watch a movie outside. I had all kinds of cute ideas for popcorn bags, invites, party treats and games. But I knew we would have to start the party late in order to be able to watch the movie outside, and I didn't really want my 4 year's old party to start at 7:30.

Then last week I decided I wanted a bouncy house for the party. Yeah, a week before I make this decision. After convincing Nick that we needed the bouncy house, I start making calls trying to find one that's available. The first 3 places I called were booked. I finally found a company that was over an hour away from us that had one available. At the end it was $10 more expensive than the closer locations, so I booked it. After I booked the bouncy house, I decided we'd do kind of a carnival theme for the party. Not sure how an outdoor movie works in connection to a carnival theme, but oh well! I'll apologize in advance for the number of photos in this post, but I just loved them all so much! Thanks to my step dad for taking all the photos while I played :)

The bouncy house

Oh yes, the adults got in on the action too!

Even pregnant ladies...don't worry, we all fussed at her later!

And we had face painting, thanks to aunt Brittany!

Tough boys

Peyton kicked back and taking it all in

And the cake that I planned and planned and planned. Yes, I realize her name looks like a serial killer wrote it.

Really bad iPhone photo, but each tier of cake had 4 layers. Devils food chocolate cake and french vanilla sour cream.

Those are some worn out kids! And yes, I participated in the face painting also...I was a kitty cat

I should have known that given the option of sitting still and watching a movie or playing in the bouncy house, the kids would choose bouncy house. I think they sat there with me for all of 5 minutes. Oh well. The movie ended up working so well that all the adults decided we need to have our own little party with an outdoor movie!

The next morning we gave Bailey the last present from us...

Waiting for the surprise

A new princess bike!

What a big girl!

And that wraps up Bailey's birthday party! I think she had a great time, and we appreciate everyone that came out and celebrated with us and spoiled our princess!!

Interview with a 4 Year Old

2011-10-10T20:00:00.003-04:00

In another attempt to capture just a moment of Bailey, before I turn around and she's 13, I decided to do a little birthday interview with her last night.

And yes, my daughter asked a boy in her preschool class to marry her. Initially I couldn't believe she kept telling me she wanted to marry this boy. And then he told her no?! Momma no likey. Come on, how could he turn down my beautiful girl? Apparently he's going to live in the church when gets older and can't marry her because of that. Guess he's going to be a priest...at least that's what he told her. Oh the many joys of children!

For Bailey

2011-10-10T10:20:00.000-04:00

Dear Bailey,

You are now my big 4 year old. I still can't quite believe it. You are growing up so fast! It seems like every time I blink my eyes you have grown a little more. While it makes me sad to think about the fact that you're such a big girl now, I am so very proud of the little lady you are becoming.

You have such good manners. You are always very polite and kind to others. You amaze me at how well you share. You are always wanting to share something with me and daddy, whether it's a toy or your food, you give freely. You're getting better at sharing with your sister too. But it's really the fact that she chews on everything and gets slobber everywhere that stops you from wanting to share with her.

I never know what you're going to say next. You make us laugh all the time. You are so funny and witty and you can make Peyton laugh like no one else can. I can tell that you really love her, and that warms my heart. I hope you all continue to grow closer and closer as you both grow up.

You like to be independent at times and want to do everything by yourself. But then there are times when you just really need me, and I love that. Every night before you go to sleep, you and I snuggle under your blankets. It's just me and you, and we talk about whatever is on your mind. Sometimes you have serious questions about school and how to make friends, and other times we just tell silly jokes and make each other laugh. This time with you is so precious. When it's time for you to go to sleep we have a little ritual that you came up with that we have to do every night. After I give you a kiss, we have to kiss noses, eyes, forehead, cheeks, chins and then lips again, followed by a big hug. Then I tuck you in "snug as a bug in a rug" or "snugs bugs" if you're feeling silly.

You are my princess. I am more amazed by you every single day. You are smart, caring, funny and you wear your heart on your sleeve. I feel so blessed to be your mother. I know I will make mistakes along the way, but always know that everything I do, I do for you and your sister. You all are my heart, my soul, my everything. I love you Bailey Grace. Happy 4th birthday!

Chalk it Up!

2011-09-21T12:00:00.033-04:00

I've been drooling over adding chalkboard paint to my kitchen for a while.

I bought a can of chalkboard paint while I was still pregnant with Peyton with plans to paint an area of my laundry room...that still hasn't happened. I figured it was time to put that can to good use. I don't have a lot of wall space in my kitchen because there are 4 large windows, so I had to figure out a good way to incorporate it into the space.

I stopped by The Dollar Store one afternoon to see if I could find some inspiration (and something cheap). Here's the little beauty I picked up for a whopping $6.

I liked that it had the distressed look, with a little red tint to the frame, which would match the walls in my kitchen.

I slapped on some painter's tape*

And I ended up with this!

And a look from afar

I love it! We make a menu every week, but before we just wrote it down on our grocery list to help plan what we needed to get. That piece of paper always got misplaced or thrown away, and then there would be a night where we couldn't remember what other items we had planned on making for the week. Or we'd forget that we needed to lay something out of the freezer, and then we'd have nothing to make and would end up going out to eat. Having this menu up on the wall makes it so easy for me to take a quick glance over and see if I need to set something in the fridge to thaw, or marinate something and it acts as a general reminder as to what we're having that particular week. Stylish? I think so. Functional? Definitely! Now if I could only get someone with pretty handwriting to come fill it in every week...any takers??

I still have plans for the laundry room that include the chalkboard paint, but that will have to wait until another burst of inspiration hits...don't hold your breath!

* A note on the painter's tape. I do not have a steady hand when it comes to painting, and painter's tape is always my friend. However, you have to apply at least a few coats of the chalkboard paint over the mirror, letting it dry in between coats. Dry paint and painter's tape do not mix! After my first attempt, when I pulled all the painter's tape off, all the chalkboard painted peeled away from the mirror because it was attached to the tape! So, I just had to do it freehand. That's why you'll notice in the close up photo there is some paint on the inside edge of the frame.

Can You Help?

2011-09-20T20:40:00.000-04:00

Can someone get this girl a toy? Because apparently she has nothing else to play with besides door stoppers!

Uh-oh, she spotted me.

Peyton is EVERYWHERE now! She's still pretty much "scooting" or army crawling, but she can get up on her knees and rock. She actually started scooting the day she turned 5 months old. Now that she's more mobile, she's doing better about not wanting to be held all the time. Today I couldn't have asked for a better baby! I think she only cried twice when she noticed I had left the room for a second.

I still need to write my update post about Peyton at 6 months, but we don't go for her check up until next Thursday...between the doctor's schedule and my ability to only go on Tuesdays or Thursdays, it pushed us way back from her actual 6 month "birthday". I still can't believe she's already 6 months old, where is my baby going??

What To Do?

2011-09-19T09:45:00.000-04:00

I have a problem. See all these clothes?

And these?

And these?

These are all clothes that either Peyton has outgrown or that were Baileys and Peyton never got the chance to wear because the seasons were quite different when they were born. So what's the problem?

Nick and I have had several conversations about whether or not we'll be having another child. And when I say conversations, it's more like...

Me - Are you 100% certain you don't want anymore kids?

Nick - Yes.

Me - But you might change your mind?!

Nick - No.

End of conversation. And there are some days that I think two is a perfect number, any more and I might pull my hair out! But then I'll think back to moments like these

Bailey being held by one of our friends in the hospital

One last kiss for Peyton while she was in my belly

Nick holding Peyton for the first time

Bailey holding Peyton for the first time

and I know I still want one more baby.

So the problem with the clothes, is that I know I should get rid of them, since all indications point to the fact that we will not be having any more kids, but I'm having a hard time parting with them. I feel like giving them away is essentially the same thing as waving the white flag. Ok, I give up. We're not having more kids, end of story. But I don't know that I'm ready to give up the "fight" just yet. Even though I can say things like all indications point to the fact that we will not be having any more kids, doesn't mean I'm ready to stop pleading my case.

These clothes are all still sitting in Peyton's room right now, waiting for their fate. To be passed on to a new home and little girl? To be held onto on the off chance that this crazy woman can convince her husband that they should have one more child? I just don't know what to do.

First Day of School

2011-09-14T20:37:00.000-04:00

Somehow, this sweet little girl

is now a big preschooler!

I was so worried about how she would do on her first day. Since she was 3 months old my mom had kept her everyday. This was such a huge blessing in so many different ways. Saved us money, I didn't have to worry about how well she was being taken care of and it allowed them to have a special bond. On the other hand, it meant she had little to no interaction with other little ones. This was really the main reason we went ahead and started preschool this year. I wanted her to learn how to play and make friends.

Bailey and I were both nervous about the big day. The night of orientation the kids stayed in their classroom while the parents went to the sanctuary. Bailey did great! She gave Nick and I hugs and kisses and then started coloring. This really gave me hope. The night before her first day, she and I were lying in her bed after reading her bedtime story and we were talking.

B-Let's talk about school mommy.

Me-Ok, do you have questions about school?

B-Yeah. How do you make friends?

This little convo seriously broke my heart. After more discussion about making friends and what to expect for her first day, I kissed her goodnight and closed the door to my baby's room, knowing the next day I would be opening the door to my big girl.

Nick had taken the day off work so he could go with us on the big day. In true Maxwell fashion, we were pushing it to the last minute to get to school on time. We get there, walk in the classroom, and I know immediately there's going to be trouble. Bailey's obviously nervous, and there are two little boys just screaming in the classroom. The teacher is holding one little boy and the other screamer is being held by his dad. I really think if Bailey hadn't seen this, she would have been okay. But seeing those two little ones crying made her even more nervous and scared, and as soon as we tried to leave, the waterworks started. Standing in the hallway with her, Nick was manning the stroller with Peyton, I was trying to console her and tell her everything was going to be okay. I was trying so hard not to cry, because I knew it would only make the situation worse. Thankfully, the preschool director was standing close by, and as she saw me about to lose it, she stepped in and saved the day. As Bailey willingly went with her into the classroom, Nick, Peyton and I headed out the door. I cried the whole way to the car, not caring that I looked like a blubbering mess.

Let me tell you, the 3.5 hours I had to wait until I could go pick her up were some of the longest in history. I'm pretty sure the clock simply stopped moving at one point. I was standing in the hallway outside of her classroom at a prompt 11:50 (only 10 minutes early, although I wanted to go much sooner!) waiting to squeeze my munchkin. When the teacher opened the door and started dismissing kids I kept a look out for my braided beauty. After what seemed like forever, she came rushing out of the classroom with a big grin on her face and one important question to ask me. "When can I come back to school?"

Hello World

2011-09-12T21:06:00.000-04:00

Hello out there! Wow, it's been a while...again! I've had a terrible case of nothing I write sounds good to me so I just end up deleting everything after I spend the time writing it. Never heard of it? It's a serious condition. I hope it's all behind me now.

There's really been quite a bit going on around the Maxwell House lately. Peyton seems to have chilled out a bit and is starting to enjoy playing by herself more. Bailey started preschool and got her ears pierced. We're working on "No Eat Out September". I've made several batches of homemade baby food for Peyton. I'm working on redoing the Recipes tab on here, this time focusing on my husband and I and our adventures in the kitchen (go ahead, click on the icon right below the header and check it out...ya know ya want to!). Peyton turned 6 months old and has been scooting/crawling all over the house for the last month!

My plan is to go back and detail some of these moments in length on here. This is after all, supposed to be a place for me to record the details and milestones of my little family. Until then, I'll leave you with one photo.

A Dose of Reality

2011-08-09T15:05:00.000-04:00

Just thought I'd share a little dose of reality from the Maxwell house.

Girls are napping and I'm working. And here's what's around me.

Let's see what all is going on in this shot, shall we?

1. Towels that need to be put up.
2. Clean diapers that need to be put up.
3. Baby toy.
4. Big bouncy ball.
5. Video game(ish).
6. Nick's tie.
7. Spastic dog that is just waiting for someone...anyone...to walk past the door so he can bark.
8. Clothes hamper with clean diaper pail liner.

And of course,

laptop open with work emails looming in front of me.

And because the girls are sleeping

some trash TV.

And that's my little dose of reality for this Tuesday. What was your reality today?

There's a Giraffe on Your Back!

2011-08-04T16:11:00.000-04:00

"Hey Peyton."

"Yeah mom?"

"Did you know you have a little friend on your back?"

"Yeah, it's just Sophie. I gnaw on her all day long, so I thought I'd give her a break and let her take in the sights. Since all she usually sees is the inside of my mouth!"

"Okay, just wanted to make sure you knew she was up there."

"I just love my giraffe friend!"

I'm still not sure how this happened. When I left the room Peyton was on her back chewing away on Sophie's ears. Then Bailey starts cracking up telling me that Sophie was on Peyton's back. Sure enough, that's where she was! She really does love her Sophie.

Miss Crafty Pants

2011-08-03T10:00:00.002-04:00

My girl Bailey L-O-V-E-S crafts! Whether it's coloring, painting or making something, she just loves it. I try to find new fun crafty things that we can do together to flex her artistic muscles. I found this idea a while back and just kept forgetting to buy food coloring. After finally picking some up at the store on Sunday, I knew we'd be doing this on my next work at home day.

After we got back from buying school supplies (does anyone else feel like they live at Wal-Mart??) I set up everything we would need. Bailey was so excited about the food coloring, it reminded her of coloring eggs at Easter.

This craft was great because there was little instruction and very easy for her to do by herself.

Essentially, make a design on card stock with the glue and then cover the glue with salt.

Using a dropper, place a small drop of the colored water on the salt covered glue, and watch the color spread throughout the design!

It was a really neat project and Bailey really enjoyed it. Not to mention cheap and very easy!

Long Lost - The Pioneer Woman

2011-08-02T21:47:00.000-04:00

Is anyone else out there bad about taking tons of pictures with your digital camera and then just letting them sit there? In a kind of picture purgatory? I rarely ever print pictures, they usually just end up saved to a folder on my computer and then some are lucky enough to be uploaded here. And the rest just sit on my camera, hoping to having a permanent home, somewhere. And after a while, I actually forget what pictures I still have on the memory card. Which is what happened with these photos! In a moment of "There are way too many pictures on this card and I can't take it anymore!" I found these. Which really, I can't believe I never shared. But as you can tell, I was quite pregnant, maybe towards the end of my 8th month, I really don't remember. Anyway, things were kind of hectic then and I never got around to sharing my photos of...The Pioneer Woman!

She came to Cincinnati for her book tour and my friend Shana and I headed up to meet her. Aside from my GPS lady having a major fail in Cincinnati, we had a great time! Lots of girl talk and meeting The Pioneer Woman equals a great night in my book!

Food Lover

2011-07-28T14:42:00.000-04:00

I love food. I love to look at it, talk about it, shop for it, cook it, and of course eat it! And it looks like someone else might love food too...

We started rice cereal this past weekend and Peyton devoured it! There was never a sour face and she acted like she had been eating all her life. We let Bailey be the first person to feed her and she thought that was pretty neat. Until about 5 minutes in and then she was ready to go play.

With the rice cereal being so successful, it makes me even more excited to start real baby food. We're hitting up the farmer's market this weekend to see what we can buy to go ahead and make and freeze. I'm really excited to be making her food. Not only will I know everything that's in it, there are so many different possibilities with combining foods that she will have a large variety of flavors!

"Here mom, let me help you."

"I got this!"

Chores can be Fun!

2011-07-24T15:28:00.001-04:00

At least Bailey thinks so! She's been helping do little things around the house for a while now, but it wasn't until a couple of weeks ago that we made her official chore chart.

These aren't any major tasks, and most of them were things she was doing any way (picking up her toys and putting her dirty clothes in her hamper), but she thinks her chore chart is the coolest thing. She loves the fact that she gets to feed the dog. Every morning she asks if it's time to go check his food bowl, and in the beginning anyone who came to the house had to watch her feed him.

I think the reason we didn't do a chore chart ealier was because we weren't sure about the whole reward aspect of weekly chores. I knew I didn't want to give her money or any certain reward on a weekly basis, because I didn't want her to expect a prize just for helping out. Which is one of the reasons I included the phrase "How I Help My Family" on the chart. We explained to her that as a family we have to work together, and that includes working together around the house. What we finally decided to do about the reward was just randomly get her a prize when she's doing a good job. We told her she would never know when exactly she might get something, so she always had to make sure to keep up with her chores. So far she's never once asked when she would be getting something. We've gotten her two new coloring books for her good work and she was beyond thrilled to get them.

About the chart: I googled "chore charts" to get some ideas on what to include and how I wanted to make it. I mixed a little of what I already had in mind with some of the ideas I found online. I created the chart in Microsoft Publisher, printed it out and then took it to the UPS store to get it laminated.

Here she was after her first week of completing all her chores. She was so proud of herself! And I am so proud of how well she has done too!

Just the Girls

2011-07-20T22:19:00.000-04:00

Cloudy Saturday, daddy playing in a 3v3 soccer tournament, what were the Maxwell girls to do? Head to the Explorium!

We had only been once before, on Bailey's 2nd birthday, but I thought she would enjoy it more now that she was older and could play with more things. I also found on their website that they offer drop-in activities on Saturdays during the summer, and this particular day it was going to be thumbprint caterpillars. A little finger painting makes everything more fun! I was a little nervous about heading there by myself, but we loaded up and headed out and I hoped for the best.

We painted.

Had a puppet show.

Had some fun in the water.

Blew lots of bubbles.

Played a little drum.

And of course, played with some food.

Some of us napped.

And we all had a great time! Both of the girls were so good while we were there. Bailey's favorite things were the bubble room and the finger painting. She's already asking when we can go back. Peyton never made a peep. She hung out in the sling the whole time and even took a little nap. I'd call our trip a success!

Dear Peyton

2011-07-11T16:13:00.001-04:00

Dear Peyton,

Hello sweet girl. You are four months old today. I'm not really sure how that is even possible. Time went fast with your big sister, but somehow it is going even faster with you.

You are changing and growing every day. I love to watch you take in the world around you. You get so fascinated by everything. Especially your big sister. You love to watch her. She makes you smile bigger than anyone else. You also like to pull her hair, but I'm sure this isn't a sign of things to come, right?

You love rolling over! We'll lay you on your mat to play and the next thing we know you're off the mat and half way across the floor. You have wanted to be able to move on your own since we brought you home. Rolling does make you happy, but I can tell it's not enough for you. In your own way, you try to crawl. You can actually scoot yourself with your legs when you get good and mad about being stationary. But it's not a good thing, you end up with dog hair and whatever else is on the carpet, all over your face. We'll lay you down in one direction at one end of your crib and when we go to get you, you're at the opposite end of the bed in a completely different direction.

And yes, you are sleeping in your crib now, in your room. I'm still a little sad about this. I miss being able to roll over and see you sleeping in your bassinet next to me. This is just another reminder about how fast you're growing. You love your bed though! The very first night we laid you down for the night in your crib, you went straight to sleep with no problem. Here lately you've been going to sleep around 9:30 or 10:00 and you sleep until 7:30 or 8:00. Such a good sleeper! Your naps are getting better too. You take your afternoon nap in your crib, and it's anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours. We never know how long you're going to sleep. You still take a morning nap after your first bottle and then you usually take little cat naps on your play mat during the day.

You love to talk to us, and you love when we talk to you. Bailey always says that you're talking to her, even if she's no where near you when you start to babble. You have the cutest laugh and I'm always trying to find a way to coax it out of you.

I love you sweet girl. I love that your crazy hair that still stands up in a mowhawk (although I've noticed there seems to be a slight rat tail now, and we'll have to take care of that!), I love the sound of your sweet voice, I love the big grin you get when you see me, I love the big grin you get when you're watching your sister. I pretty much love every little thing about you. Happy four month birthday Peyton Kei!

Love,

Mommy

Blueberry Pickin'

2011-07-05T23:07:00.002-04:00

I was so excited when I read on my favorite orchard's website that they were offering u-pick blueberries! I'm not sure if this is something they always offer and I've just missed it or if this was the first year. Either way, I couldn't wait to get out there and get my own berries. We made a girl's day out of it and I loaded up the girls and my friend Shana joined in on the fun.

Shana showing Bailey the ripe berries.

Bailey decided her job was to find the "monster" (aka - big) blueberries.

Showing off one of the "monster" berries!

And this is how I did most of my picking, with a sleeping baby in my arms.

A close up of the sleeping cutie.

My beautiful blueberry picker, who may or may not have been sneaking a fresh blueberry right off the bush.

We had a great time, and I'm already looking forward to the fall when we get to pick our own apples!

Slobber

2011-06-23T17:14:00.000-04:00

all

over

house.

But since the culprit is so cute, I guess I'll get over it.

Simply Fresh

2011-06-22T17:30:00.006-04:00

That little tab at the top of my blog, the one that says Recipes, yeah that one, I haven't updated it in...forever! That doesn't mean we're not still trying new recipes at the Maxwell House, it just means I haven't been documenting them or taking photos of them. However, this ridiculously easy recipe is just so darn good that I had to share.

I think I've made this almost every week since I first discovered it, I like it that much! It just tastes so fresh that I can't get enough of it!

Lemon, Corn & Zucchini

1 small zucchini, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced

1/3 cup chopped onion

1/4 teaspoon dill weed

1 tablespoon butter

1 (15.25 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained

2 teaspoons lemon juice

In a skillet, saute the zucchini, onion and dill in butter until onion is tender. Add corn and lemon juice; cook and stir until heated through.

The only alterations I made to this dish were that I used 3 ears of fresh corn, because really, who wants to use canned corn when you get good, sweet fresh corn?! And the first time I made this I only had green onions in the house, so that's what I used, and it turned out so well that I always use them now. For just a little something special, I also added a little freshly grated parmesan at the end. Pecorino Romano works great also, as that's all I had on hand last night.

Who's Going to Lend a Helping Hand?

2011-06-22T12:22:00.000-04:00

If you see a mom with her kids, who obviously has her hands full, do you open the door for her? Pick up the sock that fell from her baby's foot that she hasn't noticed? Give a knowing and understanding smile of encouragement when you see her wrestling with a squirmy and screaming baby?

I would like to think that most people would answer yes to all of the above. And if you're a woman yourself, especially if you're a mother, I would like to think that it would be a resounding yes. However, it seems that isn't always the case.

When I was pregnant with Peyton, I was talking to my mom one day about how it seemed more men were willing to go out of their way to help than any women did. Open doors when they saw me waddling towards the store with Bailey by my side. Offer to pick something up I (or Bailey) might have dropped. Give up a seat at a party when they see me standing in heels and carefully keeping balance against the protruding belly threatening to topple me over.

Now that I have two children in tow, quick errands aren't as quick or easy as they used to be, and the trend with men being more helpful has continued.

While I was on maternity leave, I got in the routine of going grocery shopping on Mondays instead of the normal Sunday shopping we usually did. This way we didn't have to use our weekend time together as a family to do this errand. I would strap Peyton into my Maya wrap (which deserves it's own post because I LOVE it!) and put Bailey into the front of the cart and off we'd go. Usually Peyton cooperated and would sleep on me while we shopped, but there was one day that she wasn't having any of it. There we were in the produce aisle, me trying my best to calm Peyton down who was red faced and screaming and Bailey who was starting to get a little impatient and me, who, well, was also starting to get a little impatient. I tried to steer clear of other shoppers and did finally manage to get Peyton under control, but not before noticing a few looks of annoyance from more than one shopper...all female! Really? Peyton was maybe 3 or 4 weeks at this point. Guess what, babies cry!

Then, in the same trip, I was making my way down one of the aisles. Now, since Peyton was asleep by this point she was starting to lean over my shoulder, which meant I had one hand on her in the sling and the other guiding the cart. Not always easy to do. This certain aisle had several store employees in it trying to stock shelves. I was trying my best to maneuver around the pallets on the floor, the other shoppers and the employees...one handed. The other shoppers in the aisle, who were women, just looked at me. Never once moving their carts to maybe make it a little easier.

Now, on to the part of the story that restored my faith in humanity. While going down another crowded aisle, I came to an impasse, an unattended cart. As I was trying to get my own loaded down cart around it, a man hurried over and moved it saying "Here, let me get out of your way, you obviously have your hands full." I thanked him profusely.

After we finished our trip and headed outside it was time to unload everything. I was placing the bags in the back of my car with Peyton still strapped to me and Bailey in the cart. This very nice older man came over and asked if he could help me. I told him no thank you, but that I really appreciated his offer. He asked again, making sure I really didn't need any help, and again I told him no, but thank you.

Okay, now let me say this - I don't feel like I am owed any extra help just because I have two children. What bothers me is that this story is just one of many experiences I've had where it seems men are more apt to help a pregnant woman/mom out with her kids than women are. I just don't get it! I'm sure the few of you that read this little blog are the exception, because I know (even if it is just through your blogs) you, and you are all generous kind people, but that doesn't seem to be the case with the others. At least not in my experiences. What about you all? Have you noticed this too? Or have I just had bad luck?

First Smiles

2011-06-12T21:54:00.001-04:00

There are so many firsts to look forward to when you have a new little baby. First steps, first words, first kisses. But one of my favorites is that first smile. I even love those very first "gassy" smiles. With both my girls, once they started giving me real smiles, I was on a mission to capture that adorable face on camera. And with both of them, they made me work for it. They'd smile, I'd break out the camera, and they'd stop. Little stinkers! I think Bailey was a little more cooperative, but Peyton was not interested in letting me document this first for her! Not deterred, I kept trying until I finally got a good picture. Here are snap shots of both my princesses and their first smiles caught on camera.

Bailey Grace

Peyton Kei

I could stare at those faces all day!

Two Month Check Up

2011-06-11T21:57:00.000-04:00

**I realized tonight that I had saved the below post last month and never posted it! I figured I might as well go ahead and share it, even though it is a little old now...**

Yesterday we had Peyton's two month check up. I was glad it was finally time because I wanted to talk to her doctor about her little belly issues. As I had mentioned earlier, after calling in they had prescribed her a laxative. We weren't sure how long to use it, and after things seemed to be returning to normal, we had stopped giving it to her. But then the hard bowel movements returned. It's the most pitiful thing. They get so hard that she can't hardly pass them and she just screams. The doctor said we can continue using the laxative, and probably just do it once a day. She said it's essentially like a prescription Karo syrup, so it's nothing that will hurt her. She said some babies just need a little help.

She was 22.5 inches long and 10 lbs, 11 ounces. She was a champ with her shots! She had 3 shots and one she had to take orally. She cried at the shots (of course) but by the time we left the office she had stopped. She slept most of the rest of the day and never had any side effects from them. The doctor said she looked perfect, but of course, we already knew that!

A New Routine

2011-06-11T21:47:00.000-04:00

This past week was my first official week back to work. As I had mentioned on here previously, I took 6 weeks of actual maternity leave and then 6 weeks of working from home. Monday I went back to the office, but with a new schedule. Now I will be working in the office on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and I'll be working from home on Tuesday and Thursday.

We have been really fortunate, and up until now, my mom had kept Bailey while Nick and I worked. She even continued watching her after she decided to go back to school to get her nursing degree. She had been working on her general education classes, and was able to take evening and weekend classes. She finished up this spring and was accepted into nursing school, which means she will be in class all day 4 days a week. I am beyond proud of her and excited for her! Of course, with her new schedule it meant we had some decisions to make. We looked into child care briefly and just couldn't swallow the cost, especially with two kiddos. Then I got to thinking that since my bosses were being kind enough to let me work from home for part of my extended maternity leave, that maybe they would allow me to do a couple days a week once my leave was over. After discussing it and figuring out a plan, they were on board! Tuesday and Thursday seemed like the best days because Bailey will be starting half day preschool in the fall on those days, and this way I will be able to take her and pick her up myself. And with her at school for the morning and Peyton (hopefully!) napping, I'll be able to really focus on work.

Nick's mom will be keeping the girls on Wednesdays, but as of right now we don't have anything lined up for Mondays. We thought it was covered, and then realized it wasn't. Right now he is home for summer, so we have a little time to figure things out. I think I could probably work from home that day as well, but Mondays are always such a busy day trying to catch everything up from the weekend, that I think it would be a little hard.

I was nervous about going back on Monday, but I am loving this new set up! Before I always felt guilty about not getting to spend enough quality time with Bailey during the week, and I was really worried about how hard it would be with two girls needing attention. With this schedule I don't feel guilty when leaving for work because I know I have two whole days during the week to spend time with them. And on the days I work I feel more focused because, again, no guilt! And to be completely honest, it has been so nice to go into the office and enjoy some quiet time with my coffee before everything gets going.

I feel so lucky to have this opportunity to spend more time with the girls while still helping provide for my family and feeling like a productive member of the world outside the Maxwell house!

Pillow Fight!

2011-05-18T22:54:00.000-04:00

Sunday my mom kept Peyton for a while so they could have some bonding time and Nick and I could spend some alone time with Bailey. We had hoped we'd be able to take her to the park, but it was cold and rainy. At first we agonized over what we could possibly do. Go to the mall so she could play in the kiddy area? Go to the library? Then we realized that all she wanted was for us to play with her...why were we trying to make things so difficult?

I think things started out innocently enough. We were probably playing with her little princess toys. Then Nick decided to act like he was asleep on the couch, which led to Bailey trying to wake him up...which might have included tickling and a wet willy. Which somehow led to a full on pillow fight! I had more fun in those fifteen minutes than I have had in a long time. Bailey laughed louder and harder than I think I have ever heard her. I laughed so hard my stomach hurt. We ganged up on Nick and Bailey had my back the whole time. While Bailey would run around the couch collecting stray pillows, Nick and I would engage in a little more intense version of the family friendly pillow fight.

By the time it was over, Bailey was sad because she wanted to keep "pillow fighting", but I was happy. It was nice to have a little time alone with her and let her get all of our attention for a while. It was wonderful hearing her laughter and contentment at such a simple game. And it was nice to have that fun with Nick. It's so easy to get lost in the world of mommy and daddy and making sure everyone is fed, bathed, diapers changed, toys picked up and boo-boos kissed that you can kind of lose yourself. Just that little bit of carefree play reminded me of how much fun we have together. It brought back memories of when the only things we had to worry about was which movie to see that weekend and whose house to go to afterwards. It was the feeling of an earlier time, only better because it included our daughter. Who would have thought a simple pillow fight could make me feel that happy.

Roll Over!

2011-05-14T15:23:00.000-04:00

It always fascinates me how you can start to sense a baby's personality almost from the very beginning. With Peyton, we're pretty sure she's going to a busy body, and getting into everything! From the very first time I held her in my arms she's been moving her head around and she's gotten really good at holding it up. Her nickname before we ever left the hospital was "squirmy wormy" because she just doesn't like to be still. Her favorite thing to do is lay on her mat and just look around and kick and punch her little arms. And to top it off, she's decided she needs to inch closer to being mobile. Right after she turned 6 weeks old, she rolled over! I couldn't believe it. She had been trying to whenever we did tummy time, but I didn't think she would actually be able to do it yet. After she did it the first time I ran to get the video camera thinking she would never do it again, but sure enough, she just flipped herself over!

I'm pretty sure this little girl is going to keep us on our toes!

Happy Two Months!

2011-05-12T09:21:00.000-04:00

Well Peyton, yesterday you turned two months old. I'm not quite sure how, but I feel like you're growing up even faster than your big sister did! It seems like you're changing every day.

First smile captured on camera!

You are happiest right after you finish your bottle. We can usually get at least thirty minutes, sometimes an hour, of a really happy baby. After that you start to get sleepy, and to say you are cranky is an understatement. After several different calls to your doctor and trying all kinds of different things, we've had to start giving you a laxative. You just have so many little belly issues! You were very gassy and uncomfortable on regular formula, so we switched to the Sensitive, which ended up making you constipated. Your poop has pretty much been the talk of the household for the last month. The laxative is helping and hopefully soon we can stop giving it to you and things will return to normal.

Bless you child, you are sleeping through the night! Your regular sleeping schedule is usually 11pm-5am. This works wonderful because your daddy wakes up about that time so he feeds you then and you go back to sleep until about 8:00. Some mornings you sleep later than that though. This morning you slept 11pm-8am! You must have been one tired girl! It might also be because as of yesterday you starting taking 5 ounces in your bottle.

You "talk" a little more to us every day. You love to hear your own voice and will just smile. Bailey is your favorite person to talk to. Actually, I think she is just your favorite person in general. You watch every move she makes and when you hear her voice you start turning your head to try and find her. I love watching the two of you together. I can't help but imagine all the fun you two will have together as you get bigger.

I love you my little chunky monkey!

Pleasant Evenings

2011-05-06T21:58:00.000-04:00

I've mentioned before that Peyton is a high maintenance baby. Before, right at around 8:00 every night she would become inconsolable. She would be so tired but would fight sleep with all her might. Of course by this time of night I would be tired from the day and trying to get her calmed down would absolutely drain me. It seems she is starting to mellow out though! The past few days she has been a very happy, smiley baby, even at her normal witching hour. With Nick just now wrapping up his soccer season, the evenings with a fussy baby have been long, and I'm hoping they'll soon be in the past for good.

Tonight was a very pleasant evening though. Making dinner with two kids in the house by myself while Nick is away hasn't always been easy. I've tried to plan easy things to make, or even things I could make the night before (when Nick is home) and just reheat. But tonight both my girls cooperated and I actually got to enjoy myself in the kitchen. Right after lunch Bailey was busy painting and Peyton was sound asleep so I went ahead and prepped everything for tonight. This is my favorite part. I love the chopping and dicing, it just calms me. Tonight when it was time to start dinner everything was ready, which made it so much easier. Again, Bailey was flexing her artistic muscles, this time by coloring

and Peyton was snoozing on the couch,

allowing me to make chicken enchiladas

and rice.

(And yes, I realize I should have made this yesterday since it was Cinco de Mayo...slight menu fail for the week).

During dinner Bailey decided she wanted to make her own "secret recipe", so she took her enchiladas apart and carefully put them back together again, adding some rice. My little chef.

Posing with her creation

After dinner I took the girls to see the last half of the soccer game. Bailey had a blast playing soccer herself and even played with a few of the other little kids...big step for my shy little girl!

After going into overtime and then into a shoot out, Nick's team finally pulled out the win for a trip to the final game of the tournament next week. Then we all headed home and snuggled on the couch while Bailey watched her customary before bedtime cartoon.

I could really get used to evenings like this!

Green Booty

2011-05-04T21:00:00.002-04:00

One thing that I was both excited and nervous about trying with Peyton was cloth diapering. I had read so much about it before and during my pregnancy with her that I knew I at least had to give it a try.

Yes, this is definitely more environmentally friendly than disposable diapers, but I'd be lying if I said that was the main reason I chose this route. The financially friendly aspect is what caught my attention. Depending on which ones you buy, they are expensive up front, but it's a one time cost. I researched nearly every different type of cloth diaper before I chose what we are now using, Bum Genius. I went with these because the reviews were all excellent and they adjust so we'll never have to buy larger ones as she grows. They actually fit 8-35 pounds I believe. Her umbilical cord ended up falling off right around the 1 week mark and she's been wearing them ever since.

Nick was definitely more nervous about the prospect of the cloth than I was, but he's had no problems with them. Of course, I do all the rinsing, so it's really just like a regular diaper as far as he's concerned!

What I love about them:

*No more buying diapers!

*They are insanely cute

*I can't get over how absorbent they are. Even with the explosive breast milk dirties, there was never any seeping out. I also find that I use fewer wipes than I did with Bailey because they are so absorbent...saving even more money!

I honestly don't have any complaints about them. I was afraid the constant laundering would damper my spirits about them, but I honestly haven't minded. I do one load a day of diapers, and since I have to wash them, it's also made me keep up with the laundry in general, which is good for everyone!

Diapers drying

Snuggling with her daddy and showing off her cute little rolls.

See the poor yellow gunk in her eye? Her tear ducts were still closed when she was born and this was a constant look she sported.

Catch Up

2011-05-04T16:18:00.000-04:00

Hello blog, I'm sorry I've been neglecting you again! I thought I would do a catch up post and share what all is going on around here.

Last Monday I took my first step back into the "real" world. After 6 weeks off for my maternity leave, I started working from home. I'll do this for 6 weeks and then it will be back to the office. Working from home was a little overwhelming in the beginning. I knew it would be hard to balance the kids and getting work done, but it was more stressful than I thought it would be. The hardest part was that I felt like there was never a break from anything. Anytime the girls were napping I was either working or cleaning or cooking. Then when Bailey went to bed I was going up the office and working for an hour or so and then coming home and doing laundry or getting things ready for the next day. By the end of the day I was just drained. After I got some of the work caught up from my 6 weeks off, it's gotten better. I'm finding ways to manage my time a little better, and yesterday my mom kept both girls from 9:30 until about 2:00, which really gave me time to get caught up at work.

Bailey continues to be a great big sister and Peyton just loves her. Anytime I have to leave the room and Peyton starts crying, Bailey is right there by her side. And almost every time, Peyton will stop crying. Bailey loves to talk to her, sing to her and just love on her.

Peyton is starting to make little cooing sounds and she just smiles every time she hears her own voice. No surprise, she "talks" to Bailey more than anyone else. For about a week now she has been sleeping for 6 hours straight at night. We usually lay her down around 11 and she wakes up at 5. Since Nick's alarm is always set to go off around 5:15 anyway, he takes that morning feeding and lets me sleep. I'm so glad we've gotten to this point, I function so much better with sleep!

We had a great Easter. Went to a nice church, came home and hunted eggs and then went out for dinner that evening. Aside from both girls having a major melt down at the same time right around nap time and the house being filled with screams and cries, it was a nice relaxing day.

Not only is this our Easter family picture, it's also our first family picture! Shameful, I know.

The Little Gymnast

2011-04-15T15:39:00.000-04:00

With being tired at the end of my pregnancy, preparing for Peyton's arrival and then surviving after her arrival, I have completely forgotten to post about Bailey's gymnastics debut!

In January we started Mommy and Me KinderGym. Bailey absolutely loved it! She had so much fun at all of her classes.She followed directions so well and did everything the teacher asked of her. We started out with me helping her during class and Nick watching, and as my due date crept closer, he stepped in for me and it became "daddy and me". As much as I missed not being able to be the one participating with her, it was nice to get to sit and watch her have such a good time. I think her favorite was the dancing they did at the beginning of every class. They always sang and danced to 3 Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed, she is still singing it around the house all the time.

Originally, there wasn't supposed to be a recital for the Mommy and Me group, but then they decided they would include the little ones. Since the recital was right around my due date, we knew Nick would have to be the one up on stage with her, and he was okay with that. This was one of our first outings with both kids, and being new to the whole getting two kids ready thing, we were running late. When we got to the recital Nick and Bailey had to rush to get behind stage with the other kids. Her little group of kids didn't really have a costume, they were just supposed to wear khaki shorts and a white shirt. She had gotten herself dressed before we left and she had put a pair of sweat pants on over her shorts because it was a little cool outside. Right before the curtain opened I got a text from Nick saying her shorts were on backwards! I didn't know she had done that since she already had her pants on when I saw her and he didn't have time to fix them before the show. So she performed the whole time with her little shorts on backwards...luckily, you really couldn't tell unless you knew.

I wasn't sure how Bailey would handle being in front of that many people, but she did great!! She was a little ham and had no problem blowing kisses repeatedly for the crowd. She carried her flowers proudly across the stage and I, well, I cried. I couldn't believe my little girl was big enough to be up on stage. I was so proud of her and happy and sad all at the same time. If hadn't been for all the people around me I'm pretty sure I could have had a real cry fest right there!

After the show with her flowers

The family after the show...sad news is, this is the ONLY picture we have of the 4 of us...and Peyton is covered up!

The gymnast and her mamaw telling her how proud she was. Look closely, those are the back pockets of her shorts. Silly girl.

The girls.

Crazy Haired Babies

2011-04-11T14:27:00.000-04:00

There are so many ways in which our two girls are different. Bailey was a chill baby that was oh so easy going. Peyton is a high maintenance baby that wants to be held all day long. Bailey was born with black hair, dark brown eyes and the longest eyelashes I had ever seen. Peyton was born with very light hair, hazel eyes and her eyelashes and eyebrows are so light they're almost non-existent. Bailey never cared for a pacifier and Peyton has days where she can't enough it! But despite their differences, there is one way in which they are the same...they were both born with a head full of crazy hair!

Bailey's hair stuck straight up right around the crown, there was no making it lay down.

Peyton was born with a mohawk! It stands straight up. She also has what looks like a receding hair line in the front and then a thick section of hair right at the nape of her neck. I don't even know how to brush it down after I give her a bath...there's no real good way to go about it.

I'm not sure what it is that we have to pass along that makes such crazy haired babies, but I'm sure glad we have it!

Nursing...the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

2011-04-09T15:50:00.000-04:00

I tried nursing Bailey, but to be completely honest, I didn't try that hard. I went into it thinking that it would come naturally and would take little effort on my part. I didn't push for extra help at the hospital when she wouldn't latch on. I didn't seek out help when she was eating little to nothing that first night at home. We had to give her formula that night and we never turned back. One of the things I was most determined about this time around was being able to nurse. I read everything I could, watched videos and asked questions (thank you Danielle for letting me bug you!). I also made sure to let my doctor and the nurses know that I planned on nursing and would need help.

The first time they brought Peyton to me she was starving. We were alone in the room and both ready to try this nursing thing. She took right to it! I couldn't believe it! The whole time we were in the hospital she did great. The lactation consultant said everything looked perfect and I went home feeling like a champ. That first week was pretty much a piece of cake. She would latch on and was satisfied after each feeding and having more than the required wet/soiled diapers. Then I noticed that it was starting to hurt more and more when she would nurse, and I was starting to crack and bleed. Exactly one week after she was born, I went to nurse in the middle of the night and cried during the entire feeding. It hurt so bad I couldn't take it. Luckily I had been pumping, so we had milk stored up and I was able to give her that for the next feeding. She took right to the bottle, was still getting breast milk and my body was able to rest.

After much reading I decided I would keep pumping and bottle feeding and allow myself to heal completely before trying to nurse again. It took nearly 2 weeks before I was healed. During this time my whole world revolved around milk. Pumping milk, feeding milk, cleaning parts to pump milk. When taking the bottle, most feedings were taking nearly an hour, for 3 ounces! So after an hour feeding her, I would spend about 30 minutes pumping (including getting ready and clean up), and by the time that was finished I had about 1.5 hours before it was time to start the whole process over again. I was worn out. I was tired of the pump, tired of cleaning parts, tired of thinking about milk!Bbut she was still getting breast milk, and that was important to me.

Once I was healed we tried nursing again. I found that she was latching perfectly to the right side, but it still hurt on the left side. I tried different suggestions, but it still hurt. Not wanting to end up like I did before, we went back to pumping and bottle feeding. Then I tried again a few days later and it didn't hurt! She was latching well on both sides, finally! However, after nursing for nearly an hour, she wasn't satisfied. After trying 3 different times we were having to give her bottles with at least an ounce, sometimes 2, after each feeding. Somehow she wasn't getting enough from me. We quickly went through our milk stash that I had built up.

Then one night there was none, and she had her first bottle of formula. I felt like a failure, again. I wanted to cry, wanted to break down, for several different reasons. Mainly because I felt like I was letting her down and partly because there was a small piece of me that felt relieved, which made me feel even worse. I was so tired of the whole trying and pumping experience that it was an almost welcome thing.

I've not quit pumping. I still pump 3 or 4 times a day. She is getting breast milk almost exclusively during the day and then the bottles at night are formula. Is it ideal? No. Is it what I had planned? No. But I know that any amount of breast milk is better than none. I'm not sure how long this will last, but for now, it is working for us. I've come to terms with it. The most important thing is that my baby is being fed and is healthy, and she is.

4 Weeks

2011-04-08T15:08:00.001-04:00

My precious baby girl, somehow 4 weeks have already flown by! I feel like it was just yesterday that they were placing you in my arms for the first time. Your sister has grown so fast, but if it all possible, I think the time seems to be passing even faster this time around.

You, my dear child, are a little high maintenance. Actually, you probably lean more towards very high maintenance if I'm being completely honest. If you had it your way you would be held 24 hours a day. Not that I can blame you, I'm sure it feels great to be held and snuggled, but see, you have a big sister and sometimes she needs my attention too. And there's the whole silly thing of eating. That's right, sometimes I need to put you down so I can make your sister breakfast or lunch. Or sometimes she needs help washing her hands or with some other task. Or maybe she just needs some snuggles herself. And *gasp*, sometimes mommy just needs a break! I know, you think all of these are unacceptable, but it's the way it has to be. Some day you will understand.

When you were born you were 8 pounds even and when we left the hospital you were only down to 7 pounds 9 ounces. By the time we took you to your first check up a short 2 days later you were already back up to 7 pounds 15 ounces, only 1 ounce away from your birth weight! At our check up last week you were up to 8 pounds 1 ounce. I would have guessed that you were more than that by how heavy you feel now! You are a very healthy girl and the doctor always says you look perfect.

You don't like to nap on your own. If someone is holding you, you pass right out. But lay you down, and you're not having it! You've taken many naps in your swing and bouncy seat, and of course, in the arms of me and daddy. You're a pretty good sleeper at night time. The first time we lay you down for the night can be a bit of struggle. Usually if we have the vibration going in the bassinet it only takes about 10 minutes of fussing before you're snoozing away. Most nights we lay you down about 11-11:30 and you almost always wake up at 3:00 for the first time and then again at 6:00. There was one night where you slept from 12:30-5:30, and that was amazing!!

Despite the fact that you are high maintenance, we all love you so much!!

Adjustments

2011-04-08T14:48:00.000-04:00

A mother of two. It's amazing how normal and odd that phrase is at the same time. On one hand it feels completely natural. Like I've always had two precious babies to love. Two adorable girls to call my own. But then, sometimes, I think to myself, oh my gosh, I am a mother of two! Somehow I don't feel old enough, or mature enough, or like I've got it all together enough to be entrusted to have these two beautiful girls.

We're definitely still in the transition phase at the Maxwell house. We're all still trying to figure out how this whole family of four thing works. I think we're doing a pretty good job though. We've been out to eat a few times now, I've taken the girls to the store by myself and we had our first big grocery shopping trip with everyone this past weekend. So far so good on those accounts. The biggest thing for me is still trying to figure out how to get everything done during the day now that there are two cuties vying for my attention.

Bailey has been such a good big helper. I was worried about how she would handle the adjustment of having to share the spotlight, but she has been great! She is always loving on Peyton and helping me in any way I need it. She asks to hold her and gets so excited when she's awake. If I'm out of the room and Peyton starts fussing, Bailey will almost always run over to her and try to calm her down. I absolutely love watching her interact with her baby sister.

I was lucky enough to have Nick at home with us for two whole weeks right after Peyton was born. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous on my first day home alone with both kids. I felt like that first week was sink or swim in some aspects. That Monday night he had soccer practice, Tuesday night an away game right after school, meaning he was gone from about 6:00 am until 9:30 pm. Wednesday night was a normal night, Thursday night another soccer game, Friday was normal and then Saturday he had class from 9-5 at EKU. It was a rough week at times, but we all made it through with little to no permanent damage! I had a mini meltdown one day (more about that to come later), Bailey had a few meltdowns and Peyton, well, she's just high maintenance most of the time!

Right now I'm enjoying some "mommy time" at Starbucks with a nice cold frappuccino and catching up on some blogging. That's right, that means there will actually be more posts coming very soon!! And if I can get Picasa to cooperate, a new header...FINALLY! A big thanks to my hubby for watching the kiddos for a little bit today so I could enjoy this me time.

A Family of Four

2011-03-24T23:26:00.000-04:00

As of 6:53 pm on Friday, March 11th, the Maxwell House became a family of four! While the delivery didn't go as I had hoped, we are so happy to finally have our newest princess at home with us.

I had been dilated to 3 cm for almost two weeks when I went in for my check up on Thursday the 10th. I had progressed another cm and my doctor went ahead and stripped my membranes. She let me know since I was already 4 cm that anytime I decided to check into the hospital they wouldn't send me home. We came home and did a couple of loads of laundry and made sure we had everything we would need for our impending arrival. Starting at about 10:00 I began having fairly regular and very strong contractions. I really didn't want to check into the hospital during the middle of the night and I figured I wouldn't be delivering that night anyway, so I got into bed and the contractions tamed down. Right after I got out of bed the next morning I knew there was going to be a baby that day. I called Nick, who had gone into work, and told him it was time to come home. I finished packing our bags and went to wake Bailey up. We snuggled for a few minutes and then I told her that she was going to have a baby sister that day. She responded by jumping up and down in her bed and shouting yay!

Giving baby Peyton one last kiss while still in my belly

Mommy and Bailey before we left for the hospital

Daddy and Bailey before leaving for the hospital

After getting settled into the delivery room, we found out I was 5 cm dilated. The nurse was talking like Peyton would probably make her appearance in just a few hours. We were so excited! Then, we started to get a sense of deja vu. I was barely progressing at all. I was on pitocin and having regular contractions, but it was taking me at least 2 hours to dilate another cm. When my doctor came in to check me she discovered that Peyton was face up, meaning it would be harder to deliver. They had me get on all fours and sway back and forth to try and get her to rotate. I can't begin to tell you how hard it is to get in this position when you can't feel either of your legs! She was trying to turn, but couldn't quite seem to make it all the way around. They turned up the pitocin and had me in every possible position. As the contractions got stronger her heart rate kept dropping, and I was still only 8 cm dilated after nearly 8 hours of labor. Finally my doctor said the words I had been dreading...c-section. After a brief cry...by me, Nick and my mom, we were overwhelmed with nurses rushing in the room to get everything ready. My doctor hds said she wanted me back in the room within 5 minutes, she wasn't sure what was going on, but she felt certain there was some type of issue with the umbilical cord.

Once we got back into the operating room I was a little calmed down, but still overwhelmed and scared. Nick was great and never left my side. He held my hand and rubbed my head and talked to me the entire the time. I can't imagine what I would have done without him! After what seemed like no time at all, I heard Peyton crying. I couldn't hold back and started crying myself. When I finally saw her precious face, nothing else mattered. The surgery, the long hours of laboring and not knowing why I couldn't progress. She was here and healthy. And we found out the reason she wasn't coming out was because the cord was wrapped around her little foot.

She was a little chunky monkey compared to Bailey! She was 8 lbs even and 19 inches long. They said if I had gone full term she would have at least been 9 lbs.

More crazy hair!!

Mommy holding her new little girl for the first time

Daddy holding his new princess for the first time

One of our last days in the hospital

We are beyond happy to be home as a family of four and I have MANY more posts to come about our first couple of weeks adjusting to two babies, nursing, cloth diapers, big sister-ing and much more!

And The Winner is...

2011-02-27T14:15:00.000-05:00

True Random Number Generator

Min: 1

Max: 8

Result: 5

The 5th person to comment was Meredith! Email me your mailing address to nicolemaxwell@kw.com and I will get the info the MyBlogSpark.com, and you should have your card in just a few days! Thanks to everyone who commented and I hope you're still able to snag some great deals at Kroger's newest Cart Buster sale.

I'm Back...with a Giveaway!

2011-02-25T12:48:00.001-05:00

It's been way too long, and I have too many posts that have been lovingly typed up and are just waiting for me to get around to uploading photos before posting them! It seems there just hasn't been time between trying to get things at work ready for my maternity leave, getting Peyton's room ready, entertaining an energetic three year old and trying to keep the growing laundry pile from taking over our house. Basically I've been doing good to keep my eyes open after work and that's about it.

BUT I do have a great giveaway for you!! Thanks to the wonderful people at MyBlogSpark, I have a $25 gift card to Kroger Family of Stores to give to one of you wonderful readers!! Why the Kroger Family of Stores? Because they're getting ready to run a huge sale starting this Sunday and going through March 12th. For more information, click here.

"From February 27th through March 12th, shop Kroger´s biggest-ever promotion and find the hottest prices around on more than 35 brands, across more than 60 categories from General Mills, P & G, Nestle, Pepsi and Kroger Banner Brands. During the Cart Buster Savings Event, you´ll find great savings in almost every department at the Kroger Family of Stores, which includes Kroger, Ralph´s, King Soopers, City Market, Dillons, Smith´s, Fry´s, QFC, Baker´s, Owen´s, Jay C Food Stores, Hilander, Gerbes, Food4Less, Pay Less Super Markets and Scott´s Food & Pharmacy.

Here are just a handful of the great brands participating in the event: Multigrain Cheerios, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Pillsbury, Betty Crocker, Hamburger Helper, Yoplait, Progresso, Totino´s, Green Giant, Cascadian Farm, Tide, Charmin, Bounty, Pampers, Pantene, Crest, Iams, Febreze, Old Spice, Bounce, DiGiorno´s, Nestle Toll House, Juicy Juice, Coffee-Mate, Edy´s, Stouffer´s, Lean Cuisine, Hot Pockets, Nestle Candy, Purina and many more!

Looking for even more ways to add money to your pocket? Visit Facebook.com/Kroger to participate in their "Deal of the Day" promotion! During each day of Kroger´s Cart Buster Savings Event, be one of the first 1000 people to click on the deal link and receive a free load-to-card coupon for the featured daily item."

To anyone that knows me, it's no secret that I love a good sale and I love me some coupons. I can't wait to see what all Kroger has up their sleeves for this sale and how many items I'll be able to stock up on for as little as possible! I have also been provided a $25 gift card for this promotion and I will document how far I'm able to stretch that little card!

How can you win? Simply leave me a comment and tell me your favorite way to cut your family's grocery budget. Coupon? Shop sales only? Stockpile? Try to eat left overs a few nights a week? Leave your comment by Sunday the 27th at 12:00 pm EST and I will randomly select one of you and will make the announcement here at that time. My card arrived in a just a few days, so you would have it soon after that!

I can't wait to see what the rest of you all do to try and save a few dollars at the grocery store, and I can't wait to share the wealth with one of you lucky readers and help you save a little money on your next trip!

(The Kroger Family of Stores and General Mills/Nestle/P&G provided me with the gift card, information, and giveaway through MyBlogSpark)

You Just Never Know

2011-02-10T15:49:00.001-05:00

While I've been neglecting my little slice of the blog world, I've been busy keeping up with a happy, funny and down right silly three year old!

Bailey with the picnic she had set up for us!

While she may be only three, somewhere in her skinny little body is a 63 year old woman that is trapped and comes out occasionally. I think it has something to do with the fact that she doesn't go to daycare and is around adults all day long. I was the same way. In fact, my old lady never left, she's still in there and shows her face from time to time. Like when it's time for the Holidays and I can't wait to break out my Christmas/Halloween pins. Or when I see a Christmas sweater and I tell Nick that once I'm old enough I'll be wearing them all season long! But back to my 3 going on 63 year old daughter...here are some of the recent old lady (and silly) things she's been caught saying.

*After waking up from a nap at my moms, she was laying in bed and looked over and said Grammy, I've wasted my whole life just laying in your bed. My mom obviously thought she had misunderstood her and asked her to repeat herself, and she did, and said the same exact thing. Mom then asked her if she wanted to get up then and Bailey replied, yes, and if I get up now, I won't waste anymore.

One morning while I was gathering her things for swim lessons she was laying on the floor in the living room watching Super Why when the same phrase came out of her little mouth. Mommy, I've wasted my whole life just laying here. I have no idea where this phrase came from!!

*On the weekends Bailey comes and gets in bed with us for a bit after she wakes up in the mornings and we have a little family time watching cartoons. One Saturday morning Nick and I were tickling her and she was flailing about like a crazy person. She would accidentally kick her daddy or hit me in the head, and we would just say, Be careful, say sorry to (whomever the injured party was). I guess this was getting on her nerves. The next thing I know she is covering her face and won't talk to us. When I asked her what was wrong she said Nuffing, you've just gruined my life. Okay, aside from the fact she didn't quite get the phrase right, using gruined instead of ruined...how in the world would she know to say this!! I'm sure she's heard the phrase on TV somewhere, but then to use in a context that actually works?! I didn't even know what to say.

*I recently bought Bailey and baby Peyton some new clothes and I was showing them all to Bailey. She asked me if Peyton had any clothes on right now. I explained to her that baby's were naked while they were growing in their mommy's bellies and she would be naked when she came out, and then we would put clothes on her. She thought it was totally gross and exclaimed, yuck, I don't want to see her naked! That night while she was getting out of the tub she told me she was cold, and I told her it was because she was naked. And she responded with, hey! Just like baby Peyton! We can be the naked sisters! Let's hope that's a nickname that they never earn!

I just never know what is going to come out of her mouth!

Hugs

2011-02-04T14:09:00.000-05:00

I've been neglecting my poor little blog. I even took the time last month to write down all the things I wanted to blog about so I could be a little more organized with my thoughts...but it still didn't help. February snuck up on me and I've not managed to cross a single one off my list.

Today though, I want to share this video. I just found it over here while doing a little blog hopping. I couldn't help but have a big smile plastered on my face while watching this. I grew up in a family that wasn't overly affectionate. I knew I was loved, and there were hugs and kisses, but it's not something we did a lot. Maybe that's why I hug and kiss Bailey all the time now. Sometimes all you need is a good solid hug. I can't wait to get home and hug Nick and Bailey after work!

I hope everyone is having a great start to February and know that I'm sending each of you a virtual hug today!!

Dear Peyton

2011-01-17T09:24:00.001-05:00

Well dear child, you're getting closer and closer to entering the world. We are all getting so excited to meet you! I think about you all the time. You help make sure of that by your vicious kicks and jabs to my insides. I'd really appreciate it if you could be a little easier on your mommy.

Bailey talks about you all the time. Just yesterday she and I were going through her old baby clothes trying to find the few newborn clothes that we still have and she was telling me that she was going to dress you up in whatever you wanted and change your diapers. She also said that she will change all the poopy diapers and I can have the pee diapers...but I'm not getting my hopes up on that one! She also talks to you a lot. She loves to sit next to me and pat my belly and talk to you. It's usually just a quick Hey Peyton. Are you napping? conversation, but a talk nonetheless. She finally got to feel you kick this weekend and she thought it was so neat!

Your daddy talks to you a lot too. He's been telling you to be nicer to me, but I don't think you have your listening ears on. He's gotten to feel you move several times and has witnessed the sight of you rolling around in there as my belly goes all deformed. He's already picked out something Duke for you, like he did with your sister, and he's quite excited. I'll go ahead and tell you that your family is crazy around basketball time (well, all the time really, but that's a talk for another day). Daddy is a Duke fan and the rest are all UK fans, and mommy could care less.

I'm getting a little nervous thinking about taking care of you and your sister. I never want either of you to feel neglected or overlooked. I will tell you that I will make mistakes along the way, but know that I will always love you with all of my heart. While I am so ready to meet you and hold you and kiss you, there's a small part of me that doesn't want things to change. Right now, you're all mine. I don't have to share you with anyone. I know you're protected right where you are and it's just you and me.

In just about 10 more weeks you will make your entrance into this big world. (Please try to make it a quick and easy entrance, okay?) There will be so many people there to meet you. You're extended family...well, they're kind of like a circus. When your sister was born, the nurses couldn't believe all the people that were in the waiting room, and it will be just the same for you. After mommy and daddy get to snuggle and love on you, we've already promised Bailey that she could be the first person to hold you. Even if you come at some crazy early or late time and she can't be there right then, no one else gets to hold you before her.

I love you sweet girl, and I can't wait to meet you.

Love,

Mom

And the Name is...

2011-01-10T09:01:00.000-05:00

Oh, I'm so excited to finally be sharing baby Maxwell #2's name, so I can quit calling her baby Maxwell #2! This little bundle of joy will be named...

Peyton Kei Maxwell.

Peyton what?! Okay, a little story behind the name.

First, Peyton. When I was pregnant with Bailey, we had the first name picked out whether she had been a boy or girl. Bailey is my grandparent's last name, and if she had been a boy, her name would have been William, which is my husband's first name and a family name on his dad's side. Of course, she was a girl, and Bailey it was.

As I've mentioned before, I just knew this baby was a boy. Because of this, we hadn't even discussed girl's names. Our baby would be named William Donovan Maxwell, and go by Donovan. Only the ultrasound tech told us we were having another girl, so that name wasn't exactly going to work. As we were sitting in the room waiting on the doctor to see us that day, I was looking at the birth announcements that people had sent in and saw the name Peyton. I mentioned it to Nick, and within a week or two, we knew that was going to be her first name.

The middle name was a whole other issue. We couldn't agree on anything! Initially I wanted the name Elizabeth. I thought it flowed together so well. And it was one of those names that rolled off the tongue nicely, so when I needed to yell at her when she got older, it would be easy. Hey, those things are important! But, for whatever reason, Nick was totally against the name Elizabeth. I think I looked at every single girl name possible, and we still couldn't agree on anything!

One day he emailed me a list of names he had copied from a website. They were horrible. However, I noticed that some of them were Japanese names, which got my wheels turning. I had been struggling with the fact that Bailey's name had meaning, and Peyton's would just be random names we liked, BUT, Nick is a 1/4 Japanese, so if we chose a Japanese name, there would be meaning there! Plus, we had planned on using his dad's family name for the boy, and this way we were still honoring that side of the family.

Thinking of using a Japanese name was the easy part, finding one we liked was not. I knew I wanted something that at least sounded "normal". I enlisted the help of a friend of mine who is a Japanese translator and scoured different websites until I found the name Kei. Pronounced like the name Kay, it means blessing, grace, kindness. Did you see that middle meaning there? Grace! Which is Bailey's middle name also. So, not only does Kei represent a part of Nick's family, but it also unites the girls. I just love it!

So, it may look a little different written down, but our precious little baby is Peyton Kei Maxwell!

Bailey

2011-01-06T13:30:00.000-05:00

Thought I would share a few snipets of what Bailey's been up to lately.

This girl LOVES playing games! She has a whole stack of them now and we play most of them on a regular basis. She's only played Candy Land a few times, but seemed to really enjoy it. She loves her Twister game. She thinks it's the funniest thing ever when she falls. And when she does fall she'll laugh and say I got twisted! This game is also great because it helps reinforce her left and right, which she is doing really well at remembering.

Please don't be jealous of the green/red shirt, pink pants and yellow socks combo!

If she's not playing games, you can almost bet she's listening to music. Santa brought her, her very own CD player and some Disney princess CDs and Veggie Tales CDs. Every time we would get in the car, the first thing she would ask would be to listen to her Cinderella CD, so Santa did a good job with this gift. It amazes me how quickly she can memorize a song. Within listening to it a few times she knows the whole thing! And after her daddy showed her one time, she knows how to load and unload the CDs and how to hold them and what all the buttons on the CD player do. She looks so big when she just lays on the floor and sings along to her music.

Every year after Christmas, Nick and I go through all her toys and donate what isn't being played with to make room for all the new gifts she received. This year we decided to involve Bailey. We weren't sure how it would go, but I had a long talk with her the night before about how some mommys and daddys don't have a lot of money to buy toys for their kids, so they need people to donate toys so they can buy them for a lot less than going to the store. She soaked in all the information and was already telling me what we could get rid of. Still skeptical, we started sorting everything the next night, and she blew me away! We ended up letting her make the call on every single toy and she chose to give away 2 garbage bags full of toys!! She would look at each toy and you could tell she was really thinking about it. When she knew it was something she didn't want anymore she would say, I don't really play with that anymore mommy, why don't we give it to the other little kids. I had told her if she got sad while we were going through things that was normal, but after we were finished and I just kept telling her I proud I was, she said, And I didn't even get sad one time! Because I know I still have lots more toys. Really, I couldn't have been happier or more proud of her if I tried. Well, except for when she found certain things that she had really liked and asked if we could save them for her baby sister so she could play with them when she got bigger, that was pretty darn sweet too.

A Fresh Start

2011-01-05T12:02:00.000-05:00

I still have posts and photos to share to wrap up 2010, but today my mind is on what I hope to do in 2011. This year I'm not making any resolutions, and I'm not trying to trick myself by making resolutions and calling them goals. No, this year I am simply wanting to change some things about my life that I think will help make me a happier wife, mommy and person in general. (Okay, that still sounds a little like "goals", whatever, just go with me on this.)

1. Simplify, Streamline and Organize

I've actually already gotten a good head start on this one. I have been in extreme nesting mode lately and it's made me want to clean out every drawer, closet and nook and cranny of our house! We tackled the garage this past weekend with the help of some good friends, and I still feel giddy every time that door goes up and I can actually see the floor! I've finished the laundry room (although I've thought of a few more tweaks) and Bailey's room is almost complete. With the lack of wall space for a dresser, we're going to be adding some wire shelving to her closet to store her folded clothes and shoes. I also cleaned out our pantry...it was amazing what all I found in there! I think the biggest thing I have left to do is our bedroom and closet. While cleaning out all the other areas, the homeless items have taken up residence here until I can figure out their permanent destination. Since I've made such good head way in this area, my focus will be on trying to keep these areas organized and tidy. It's amazing how much better I feel when everything has a home.

2. More Date Nights

Bailey is in bed every night by 8:00, leaving Nick and I time to spend together relaxing before we retire to bed. While I love this time, it seems to always get taken up by laundry, dishes, homework (for him), grading papers, cleaning or one of the other million things that need to be done on a daily basis. We do go on dates, but usually when it's a special occasion or when one of the grandparents has asked to keep Bailey. It's not really something we've tried to fit into our schedules. This year I want to make more time for us. Our goal is to try and have a date night once a month. It doesn't have to be something spectacular. Just a night out to dinner, or maybe even dinner at home just the two of us. Ignoring the mounting laundry and all other things household related. I know this will be a little tricky for a bit, what with me giving birth some time in March and all! But I also know with two kids it's going to be even more important for us to make time for one another.

3. Girls Night Out

Okay, I'm not sure if this is a universal mommy thing or not...but I always feel so guilty doing anything by myself. I don't feel guilty when Nick and I do have a date night, because I know how important that is for our relationship, which is in turn important for our family. But ask me to take time away from Bailey to go hang out with my friends? I'm a guilt-ridden mama for almost a week before the actual outing and then try to think of a way to get out of it when it's time to leave. Why is this?! I know it's important for me to have time with my friends to just unwind, and I always feel so much better after I do. It's just making myself do it that's the hard part. This year I want to try and tackle these guilty feelings and allow myself some girl time. Again, I would like to try and do this once a month. And maybe it's just grabbing some breakfast or lunch with a friend and chatting, but I know I need more of this in my life. It's amazing what a little girl talk can do for your soul!

4. Find a Way to be at Peace with Being a Working Mom.

This is something I struggle with daily. I would have thought over 3 years it would have gotten easier, but instead it just continues to get worse. And now with baby #2 on the way (by the way, I think I'll be announcing her name next week!) I'm dealing with the thought of having to leave two princesses every day. I honestly feel like my place is at home with them. My mom worked when I was little, and I never resented her (I don't really remember it) and today she's my best friend, so I know they'll be okay. I know millions of moms kiss their kids goodbye every day and head off to work. Whether it's because they have to or because they're the type of mom that needs that time outside of the home, they do it, and they survive. I sit at work every day and think about how much happier I would be if I could stay home. Am I seeing the stay at home mom gig through rose colored glasses? Maybe. I just feel like I miss so much. But I know financially, we don't have a choice. So this is something I really need to try and come to terms with, for my own sanity...and probably that of those that have to hear me complain about it.

5. Be Content

This year I really want to focus on being content in my life. It's so easy to get bogged down in what I don't have. Why do we so easily get caught up in the material things? Yes, I do want a larger house, and I want to be able to go shopping whenever I want, and I want, want, want! Notice a pattern here? I'm really going to try and make an effort to be content with what I have and truly appreciate all the wonderful people I have in my life. After all, that's what's really important in the end.

I hope all of you have bright things in store for 2011!

Christmas in (mostly) Photos

2010-12-29T21:33:00.001-05:00

Just when I was doing so good about getting caught up on my posts, Christmas comes along and gets me all off track! We had a great Christmas here at the Maxwell House. It was, as always, too fast and too busy, but I think we managed to enjoy it as much as possible. I think I'll save my words on this post and share mostly photos...with a few descriptions, because I just can't be that quiet.

We always do snack foods on Christmas Eve, and this year we ordered pizza. I hope this is a new tradition, because it made things so easy! I didn't have to worry about making any chili or soups and clean up was a cinch. Which is nice since I make Christmas lunch the next day.

My step dad and nephew.

My grandparents, who celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary this year. Isn't my boppy cute?

A little introduction to the next two photos. You know how sometimes you're just taking photos and don't realize what you're capturing? Well, my husband is the king of this. When he's in charge of photo taking I know there will be at least 100 photos of whatever the occasion is. He just shoots everything. So when I asked him if he noticed what was going on in the next two photos, he said he had no idea. It's a progression of sorts. Are they each just scratching their noses?

Nope, that's just full blown picking! Apparently I was quite oblivious too, since I was sitting right next to them and didn't see it either.

The sugar cookies just waiting on the kids to decorate them for Santa. This was a new sugar cookie recipe that I tried and I give it 5 stars! I'm not usually a big sugar cookie fan because they're usually too sweet and I don't like them thin and crispy. These were fat, soft, very mild flavored cookies. I ran out of time to make the frosting the recipe suggested, I think that would have made these perfect!

Making our reindeer food. All the kids got to make a small batch to take home to sprinkle on their yards for the reindeer.

Sprinkling our reindeer food on the snow. Also, can I mention how much I love our new camera?! It was about 8:00 pm and very dark when this picture was taken!

A very tired girl after a long Christmas Eve.

Jackson on Christmas morning looking for Bailey. He was ready to open presents!

I love this picture! Nick captured Bailey just as she saw all the goodies that Santa left for her under the tree. And I was capturing it on my new Flip camera, which is pretty darn cool too.

Making sure Santa ate her cookies.

I think she was almost as excited about this big sucker in her stocking as she was about all of her toys combined!

Jackson enjoying one of his gifts from Santa.

Shew...that was a lot of photos! But yet, once again, there's not a photo of the three of us!!! Oh well, maybe next year I'll remember to get one of the FOUR of us. I hope everyone had a very merry Christmas!

An Update

2010-12-21T09:42:00.001-05:00

Okay, so I realize I've not talked about my pregnancy much, and after a request from Sarah on a comment yesterday, I thought maybe it was time for an update.

I will be 27 weeks this Friday. I can't believe how fast the time seems to be flying by! The first 3 1/2 months crept by because I was so sick, but since then it's like someone has hit fast forward. I think it also helps that I'm not as anxious as I was the first time around.

Me at Home:

It's nice to be in the stage of pregnancy where I have energy again! I think Nick handled almost all of the housework during my sick period while I slept!

I seem to have hit the nesting stage as well. I completely cleaned and reorganized our laundry room, am caught up on laundry and do at least one load every night and am compulsively picking up after everyone. I even drew a sketch on how we can organize the garage...seriously, this is not me!

It is getting harder to give Bailey her baths. It hurts to try and lean over the tub, but luckily Nick's always willing to help out when I just can't do it.

Me at Work:

Thanks to my friend Emily, I haven't had to buy any new maternity pants for work. She let me borrow her Belly Band and I use it 5 days a week! I'm hoping to get through the rest of the pregnancy without new work pants, but we'll just have to wait and see.

Since I'm on my backside a lot of the day, I still wear heels almost every day. It doesn't matter what I wear anyway, my back always hurts.

I'm stressing a little less about maternity leave because I think I've figured out we can actually live on half of what I would normally bring in a month. That means cutting back on some savings during that time, but it's worth it. It would be awfully nice if I actually got paid during my leave though!

Me in a Nutshell:

Overall, I'm feeling pretty good. Except for the fact that I just lost my voice thanks to some sinus infection junk. And as I mentioned earlier, I am having a lot of back pain. My back hurt with Bailey, but no where near this bad. It's my very lower back. It doesn't matter if I'm sitting, standing, wearing tennis shoes or heels, it hurts.

I'm sleeping okay. I have nights where all I do is toss and turn and get up to go pee, but luckily those are usually only a couple of times a week.

As far as how I feel about my body this time, I actually feel pretty good. I've gained about the same amount of weight so far, but I started out 20 pounds lighter than I was when I got pregnant with Bailey.

**Okay, I know some menfolk in my family read this from time to time...you may want to stop reading here or skip the next part**

My only real complaint about my body are these huge boobs I have to pack around! The bra I am currently wearing is a size G. I told Nick that must stand for "good golly those are ginormous!". Seriously, a G...it's just ridiculous. But, since I'm about 98% sure this will be our last child, they should be gone in a little over a year. I'm so excited about the thought of a breast reduction that I can barely stand it!

We have a first name all picked out for our little bundle of joy, but are still working on a middle name. I don't want to say her name on here until we have her full name finalized. I'm just waiting on my husband to finally give the okay and then we're all set...he doesn't seem to be in any hurry though!

Bailey and the Pregnancy so far:

She talks more and more about her little sister every day. She talks to her a lot and hugs and kisses my belly. When she's eating her dinner she'll make comments about how she needs to eat her veggies so she can grow big to be a big sister. Here's my favorite conversation we've had so far...

We were sitting on the couch watching cartoons one morning when out of nowhere Bailey starts saying, "I'm going to show her that the sand isn't scary mommy. And I'll show her not to be scared of the pool, the beach or the lake. I'll walk right down to the water by myself and get water in my bucket for my sandcastle, to show her it's not scary." "What are you talking about?" "I want to show my baby sister not to be scared of those things mommy. That's what big sisters do."

Really, it doesn't get much sweeter than that! I can't wait until I can hold both of my princesses in my arms and just love on them!!

Here Comes Santa Claus

2010-12-19T22:54:00.001-05:00

We finally had a successful trip to see Santa! We had done the sleeping baby picture (she was only 2 months old), crying picture, the Bailey sitting on mommy's lap with Santa behind us...but this year, my big girl actually sat on his lap and talked to him!

We have been talking about Santa for what seems like forever. Every day she either asks me something about him or reminds me that Santa likes it when we share and when we're nice to our friends. We also talked about how you had to sit on his lap and tell him what you want for Christmas in order to get those things...I think that's what really sealed the deal.

Aunt Brittany gave us the Elf on a Shelf book, and that has helped too. Our elf is named Charlie. He has landed all over our little house, and it's a good thing that it's almost Christmas because Charlie is running out of places to sit! She gets so excited every morning looking for him around the house.

The first morning she found Charlie.

Where Charlie was this morning.

Since we started talking about Santa, Bailey has been saying that she was going to ask for a Belle dress and Belle glass slippers. That's all she wanted Santa to bring her. Easy enough. I made sure we had both. Then, the day before we make our trip to go see him (which was December 17th), she decides she wants one more thing: a Christmas puzzle. Okay, that should be easy enough to find, right? Wrong. The only Christmas puzzles I could find were the regular ones with the tiny pieces. Nick ended up finding one on Amazon and it only cost $5. In order to get it here by Christmas though? An extra $12. But, she'll be happy.

Snow Day!

2010-12-17T13:47:00.000-05:00

There's not a whole lot I miss about being in school, aside from the whole no responsibilities thing of course. But I do miss the excitement of watching the snow (or snow AND ice, in our case) fall and waiting in anticipation to see if we would have school the next day. Once you're a grown up and have a real job, however, there aren't many snow days in life. Snow just means your commute will take longer, you'll have to get up earlier to scrape your car and let it warm up and that your feet will be cold all day long.

Sometimes, if we're really lucky though, we might get one or two of those long lost snow days. And friends, yesterday was my lucky day! My boss told me to stay home and that they would call if they needed anything. I think part of this generosity had something to do with the fact they were afraid the pregnant lady would slip and fall on the ice...whatever the reason, I'll take it!

I had big plans of what I would get accomplished on my snow day, and managed not to do a single one of them. But I have no regrets. It was absolutely wonderful to be a couch potato and do N-O-T-H-I-N-G!! As I'm sure all of you can agree with, the holiday season seems to leave all our weekends jam packed with something. There are parties, shopping, wrapping presents, preparing for Santa and all kinds of other things that take up our time. So yesterday, I soaked up every bit of my free time and just relaxed. Here's what we did manage to do at the Maxwell House on our snow day:

*Make pancakes for breakfast, with the best kitchen helper ever.

*Play hide and seek, Elefun, puzzles and lots of other games.

*Snuggle.

*Make sure Jackson didn't feel left out and snuggled him in blankets too.

*Order pizza and eat in the living room while watching Frosty the Snowman.

Waiting on her pizza. Love that her belly is hanging out!

*Snuggle.

*Stay in our jammies ALL DAY LONG!

*Make chocolate chip cookie bars. Again, with the best kitchen helper.

*Spend lots of quality time together.

All in all, a great snow day!

Holiday Dinner Party

2010-12-14T14:58:00.001-05:00

As I wrote last year, my husband and I host a holiday dinner party every December. This year marked the 5th annual Maxwell Holiday Dinner Party. I love having all of our friends over and listening to their laughter fill our home. As I've also mentioned before, I prefer sending out real invitations as opposed to evites. Even though I could have simply called/facebooked/emailed every one that attended, I thought it would be nice for them to get a special invitation in the mail. Usually I hand make the invitations, but this year I decided to step it up a little. While I wanted to order custom invitations, I still wanted to be as frugal as possible. Snapfish is probably my favorite site for all things photo related, and they always have great coupon codes and promotions. However, I couldn't find just what I wanted. I browsed several different sites until I found what I wanted, and then redesigned it myself in Publisher and uploaded the image into a blank card design that Snapfish offers. Here's the finished product.

Here's the front...ignore the white lines, that was just private info :)

The full inside

Close up of the menu

The back

This year was extra special as there were three little ones to love on! Until a few months ago, Bailey had been the only kid in our group, but now there have been two cute little babies added also. So that meant we had 12 adults and three little ones! It was a full house indeed.

Baby Claire and baby Drew.

Look at that smile!

That giraffe tasted good!

My cowgirl and her Christmas tree.

Bailey getting her practice in holding a baby!

Love this picture!

So excited about her presents!

Now, on to the food. I decided to put the food that I would be providing in the invitation so that everyone else knew what was needed/what was available to bring. We ended up with a great selection of food and desserts! This year we decided to brine and roast the turkey instead of frying it. I thought it turned out terrific! The meat was very juicy, and by following Alton Brown's recipe, we ended up with a wonderfully brown bird. The mashed potatoes were of course, The Pioneer Woman's, and so was the macaroni and cheese. I made the rolls using this recipe, and they are delicious, and very easy! The broccoli casserole and dumplings are just simple recipes that I've gotten from family members.

Brooke brought her requested broccoli slaw that was a big hit from last year, Brittany provided the appetizers to hold everyone over until dinner was ready, Emily came bearing a rum cake and brownies, Elyse brought a rice dish and Shana brought corn, green beans and these fabulous cake pops!

I'm afraid I wasn't the most entertaining hostess after the dinner was finished. I was so exhausted after being on my feet all day preparing everything and I felt like my back was going to give out at any minute. After cleaning up I pretty much stayed on the couch the rest of the evening. While I was kind of a bump on a log, I enjoyed listening to everyone have a good time.

I love all these people and am so thankful that they let me play hostess and get the "I wanna be Martha Stewart" tendencies out of my system.

The girls.

The guys. It looks like they called each other to coordinate!

The whole gang!

Rock Star

2010-12-03T12:08:00.002-05:00

As I mentioned in my last post, Bailey received a few early Christmas presents while we were traveling over Thanksgiving. The hit of the gifts was a microphone and guitar she received from Nick's step mom's mom, Meme. Now, I'd like to state that I don't think my daughter has ever held a microphone before, and definitely not a guitar, but you'd never know that by looking at these pictures!

Singing with Meme.

Solo performance. Doesn't she look like a pro?

And with the guitar!

While rockin' in her jammies was cute, her aunt Kim and twin cousins Bailey and Hannah decided she needed something to go along with her new music persona.

And when in Tennessee, what's better than pink cowgirl boots?! Here she is performing "I'm a Little Teapot"...on the coffee table.

Then her uncle Bryce decided the girls should all perform together, and he'd be the manager. They'd go out in the garage and then come in and put on little skits and sing songs for us. It was by far, one of the cutest things ever!!

Look at her get into it!!

Relaxing with her "Poppa Bear" after the show.

After they recuperated, the kids went to help make a "surprise" birthday cake for me and Sandy. My birthday was the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and Sandy's was the Sunday after.

Enjoying a little cake batter!!

I think this was by far my favorite night while we were down there. Watching all the girls play and entertain us all together was great! And chocolate cake? Well, that always makes things better!

Thanksgiving - Part 2

2010-12-02T09:14:00.000-05:00

I forgot the other thing I love about Thanksgiving when writing my last post...a short work week! This year I was able to take off the Wednesday before also so we could get a head start on our travels. We loaded up after dinner on Tuesday night and hit the road to Jackson, Tennessee. Bailey was, as is usual, a great traveler. We listened to her Cinderella CD for a little bit, then she talked to herself and her lamby and finally fell asleep for about the last 2 hours of the trip. We usually stay with Nick's dad, but this year we stayed at his grandparents house, which was fantastic because we had our own room and bathroom! It's the little things when you're staying in someone else's house for 4 nights that make you happy.

There were a TON of people at the house for our Thanksgiving meal. We counted off after saying the prayer, and I think the total was around 36. Some were family and some were just friends, but everyone is always welcome. They're the type of family that will invite you over without even thinking, no matter how many people are already there. There were lots of kids running around for Bailey to play with, which she really enjoyed.

Here's a shot of the family - minus Bailey, this was taken really late and she was in bed already.

While we were down there we also had some family photos taken.

We had a great time seeing his family, since we only get to see most of them once a year. While we were down there Bailey scored some early Christmas presents. One of which was a guitar and microphone. The pictures are so good they deserve their own post! It's coming next.

Thanksgiving - Part 1

2010-12-01T21:31:00.001-05:00

Thanksgiving is my favorite "food" holiday. It's the first holiday of the year where you get to load your plate full of starchy goodness and it's completely acceptable. It's also the first holiday of the year where my whole family gets together to enjoy each other's company. Like always, my family got together the weekend before Thanksgiving because Nick and I go out of town on the actual day to visit his dad in Tennessee.

I was a little nervous how it would go this year because there was going to be 2 extra kids, meaning there would be 10 adults and 6 kids in my not so big house! Luckily it was unseasonably warm that day so the kiddos were able to run around outside while we finished getting everything.

Bailey was pouting because she wanted to come inside and the others didn't.

My uncle Mike and my Boppy supervising the kids.

Finishing the dumplings.

The table all set with my China!

I was really excited, however, at the prospect of having a kids table this year! I was an only grandchild for 16 years and we never got together with any extended family, so there was never a need for a kids table when I was growing up. We had to have the table in the living room, which meant it would be on carpet...and there were no spills!

The only little oopsie occurred when my cousin accidentally broke one of Bailey's kitchen toys and then started crying because she was embarrassed and felt bad for breaking her toy. Bailey was apparently comforting her and saying "It's okay, just take deep breaths." Guess she's heard us say that a time or two during her cry fits!

I forgot to take a picture of any of the food, but we had our usual: turkey, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, broccoli and cheese casserole, dumplings, homemade yeast rolls, stuffing, green beans and more. I also made some little mini pumpkin pies with fresh pumpkins. The highlight of the meal for me was when my boppy told me that his aunt used to make the best pumpkin pie when he was young and that mine tasted just like hers.

After dinner the kids gathered in Bailey's room to play and color the turkeys I had printed out for them. Then they had some of the adults vote to see whose turkey was the best...amazingly, it was a tie.

I am thankful for each and every one of the crazy people that make up my family!

My momma and aunt Heather.

My stepsister Traci trying to get a little rest.

Everyone at the table!

Cinderella the Turkey

2010-11-17T13:50:00.000-05:00

Meet Cinderella the turkey.

Bailey and I had a little fun the other night and made our first Thanksgiving craft. It was a very simple craft made out of her little hand prints and foot prints. After gluing everything together (side not here: DON'T BUY GENERIC GLUE! I didn't think there would be a difference, but trust me on this one, spend the extra dollar and get the real stuff...it was like using slightly sticky water!) I decided we should write what Bailey was thankful for on the feathers.

I asked her to tell me what made her happy that she was thankful for. She sat at the kitchen table in deep thought for a few seconds before replying. The very first thing she told me she was thankful for? Her family.

Wow. From a three year old. I had to give her a big hug and kiss right then and there. I was so proud and awed that she already has an understanding for the importance of family.

After that the list included: doggies, eating, Halloween stuff, riding ponies (which reminds me, I still need to do a post with her riding her pony Bob!) and trying new stuff.

We had such a good time making the little turkey together and it was great listening to her tell me what she was thankful for. I know I am definitely thankful for her! So now Cinderella the turkey is living on her bedroom door where she can see it every day.

And The Winner Is...

2010-11-15T09:01:00.001-05:00

Thanks to everyone who left a comment for the Kix giveaway! Random.org says the winner is...

#2: Brooke said...

Oh goodness! We are huge cereal eaters.. Kix being one of our favorites. But, if I had to choose, I'd go with Cinnamon Toast Crunch for sure :)

Congratulations Brooke! If you'll send me an email with your mailing address, I'll make sure My Blog Spark gets the information and they will mail your prizes directly to you! Oh, and Cinnamon Toast Crunch is my favorite cereal as well!

Finally...A Giveaway!!

2010-11-12T09:43:00.002-05:00

**I know I said this was going to be like TWO days ago, but, really...I think you all are used to my tardiness by now!**

Speaking of tardiness, I am NOT a morning person. I'm always pushing the limit on when I need to leave my house to get to work on time. And now I don't even have to get Bailey ready anymore since she can get herself dressed, so I can't even use her as an excuse! Needless to say, there's no time for breakfast at the house before we leave during the week. Which isn't a huge deal, she eats as soon as she gets to my mom's house and I pack some oatmeal, banana, muffin or whatever I have to take and eat at work.

We're not big cereal people at the Maxwell house, and when I do buy it I end up buying sugary stuff that I eat as a snack, instead of for breakfast. And then of course it's off limits to Bailey, you know, being that I'm the sugar Nazi and all.

I was contacted by My Blog Spark a while ago to review the cereal Kix, and since I'm all about free stuff, I said sure! The email said I would get to try the Original Kix and Honey Kix...what? I didn't even know there was Honey flavored Kix! When my package came in the mail (a short 2 or 3 days later!) I was so happy with what all I found.

The two boxes of cereal, as I mentioned, a 24-piece counting-themed floor puzzle, learn to count flashcards, a snack bowl and a sippy cup. Not too shabby!

Bailey loved the cup right away. And while she hasn't used a sippy cup in a long time, we allow her to use this on occasion, since it's really just a cup with a built-in straw.

We opened the floor puzzle almost immediately and that kept her entertained for quite a while. She did really well with matching some of the pieces up. I like how large they are!

The cards are neat because on one side you have just a number with the corresponding number of items, and on the other side you can learn addition and subtraction.

To the cereal...Bailey loved it! She actually had a little in the snack bowl on the way to my mom's this morning. She calls it honey bees, because of the picture of the honeycomb on the Honey Kix.

While I still don't think I'm a cereal person, and I prefer to give Bailey hot breakfasts when we actually eat at home, I feel completely comfortable letting her eat this. Until now the only cereal she had ever had was Cheerios, but I think we've found a new go to for mornings when we need to eat fast.

Now, the best part...one of you all get to win this exact same package!! Just leave a comment about your family's favorite cereal. Or, if you're not cereal people either, what's your favorite breakfast to share with your family?

Giveaway will end Saturday, November 13th at 8:00 pm Eastern Time. Winner will be chosen randomly and will be announced sometime on Sunday, November 14th.

**I was provided this gift pack from Kix through My Blog Spark for offering to do a review of their product.**

My Girls

2010-11-09T11:42:00.000-05:00

Well, once again, this post is LONG overdue...but better late than never.

On October 22nd we had "the appointment". If you are or have ever been pregnant, you know what I'm talking about. "The appointment" that shows you whether you've got a little girl or boy growing inside you. We found out we're having another girl!!!

I really thought (and most of you did as well) that this little babe was a boy. This pregnancy was so different in the beginning than it was with Bailey, that I was convinced it must be a boy. We had a boy name picked out and hadn't even thought about girl names. You can imagine how surprised I was when the ultrasound tech announced that it was another precious little girl! Bailey, on the other hand, was not surprised at all. She had said all along that it was a girl...because my belly looked like a girl baby. When the tech asked her what she thought the baby was she said "It's a girl" with this, duh, like it could be anything else tone. Guess she knew what she was talking about!

She's starting to talk more and more about her baby sister. She thinks her name should be Tinkerbell. No middle or last name, just Tinkerbell. I told her she could call her Tinkerbell if she wanted, but that we'd probably have to pass on that suggestion. Every now and then when she goes to bed she'll give my belly a kiss to kiss her sister goodnight. It absolutely melts my heart!! I love the thought of having two little girls. Lots of pink and frill and giggles, I just love it!

What's interesting is I really wanted another girl, even though I was convinced it was going to be a boy. I had also decided that I was DONE having babies. But as soon as the tech said "it's a girl", I was overcome with excitement, then I cried a little bit, and then this thought went through my head...we should try for a boy.

What? Where did that come from?! I'm not sure, but I have to say I'm not 100% sure I want to be finished having babies just yet anymore. Nick, on the other hand, says he is completely satisfied with two. We'll see what happens I guess. I think it's the finality of it. Of saying, I'm never having anymore children. Until then, I can't wait until this little pumpkin arrives in late March!!

P.S. I've got a great giveaway coming up really soon! Hopefully I'll get it posted tonight, but don't hold me to that! One lucky winner will be counting their way to an easy, good breakfast!

Swim Lessons

2010-11-05T16:06:00.000-04:00

Bailey loves the water. When we were on vacation all she wanted to do was go swimming. We'd been talking about putting her in swim lessons for a while, and finally got around to it this year.

We've been twice now and she has done great! This is the preschool class, so they're just with the instructor. I was a little nervous about this initially because Bailey can be very shy and attached to me at the hip, so I didn't know how she would do. Before her first class we had many talks about how mommy and daddy would be really close, but not in the water. She kept asking "But there will big people in the water with me, right?", and when we told her yes, she seemed fine with that. At the first lesson, she nearly ran off with the instructor...so much for being attached to me!

There are 4 little kids in Bailey's class, including her, and their instructor is great! After their first session ended Ms. Michelle went around and spoke to each set of parents individually. She spoke to us last and here's how she started the conversation: "I just love Bailey!" That's all it took, she won me over right there! She said Bailey was the most patient little girl (what?!?! she's never patient at home!) and that she listened to all the instructions really well and followed all the rules.

She did suggest we get some goggles, because she could tell Bailey did not like the water getting in her eyes. Bailey gets so excited on Saturday mornings and can't wait to go swimming. When she sees Ms. Michelle walk in she nearly runs to her! So glad I have a little water baby!

Trick or Treat

2010-11-05T13:57:00.001-04:00

Yeah, it's November, and I'm just now posting Halloween pictures...I'd like to use my pregnancy card on this one, okay? You know, the card excusing me from just about anything I need/want it to for the next 20 weeks. Now that we've got that cleared up, how about this beautiful princess!!

I think it was decided very early on in the year that Bailey would be Cinderella for Halloween. She has a slight obsession with all things princess right now. She was all decked out in the dress and light up slippers...the crown was too big for her little noggin.

My mom and I took Bailey and my nephew trick or treating down town on Friday the 29th. This is the third year we've done this, and I love it! All the businesses pass out candy to the little ones from 1-5 pm and there is a certain age limit, so you don't have to worry about the bigger kids knocking you down.

Georgetown decided to have trick or treating on Saturday this year and we headed out to our future home site to snag some goodies there. Usually they have a big wagon that hauls all the kids around and then there's a big bonfire party, but that didn't happen this year...I was a little disappointed about that, but it was still great! Since the houses are further apart than the neighborhoods in town, Nick and I were trying to figure out the best way to attack the situation. We rode around a little bit to see what everyone else was doing, and most people were riding in their cars, so we went with that method also. Bailey and I rode in the back of the car with the lift gate up while Nick chauffeured us around. She thought it was the coolest thing that she was able to sit in the back with no seat belt while the car was moving...I made sure to stress the point that this was a special occasion and not to get used to it!

She had such a good time! Everyone was sooo nice and it made us that much more ready to build our home and move out there...everything in good time though.

Notice the orange ring around her mouth? Silly sticky faced girl!

Growing Up...and Up and Up!

2010-10-26T11:58:00.001-04:00

When I look at Bailey, I can see so much of Nick and I in her that it just amazes me. For better or worse, her attitude and demeanor come from me. When I see her being shy around new people, I know that's not from her father, I don't think Nick has ever met a stranger! If I compare baby pictures, I see a lot of resemblance between myself and her, but to look at her now and compare her to Nick and I, I see so much of Nick. Their eyes are shaped almost exactly alike, and she has his eyebrows. They make so many of the same facial expressions.

I think this photo really shows the similarities (excuse the half asleep look on both of my loves!). When Bailey does that face right there, with her eyebrows kind of drawn in, I think she looks just like her daddy!

But somewhere along the way Bailey seems to have inherited a trait that didn't come from either of us. Since birth she has been consistently in the 90th percentile for height, and that didn't change when we went to her 3 year check up either. She was 39 inches tall and 32 pounds. The doctor showed us her growth curve on her new big girl growth chart. If she were to stay on the same curve, they say she could be around 5'8"! Seriously, I'm only 5'4", she would tower over me!! Nick's 5'10", so he's not very tall himself. We'll see where she ends up stopping in the future, but I was just floored when the doctor told us that!

She did so well at her check up. They took her blood pressure and she sat there like a champ and the nurse kept bragging on well she did. While we were in with the doctor Bailey was, in true fashion, being a chatty Cathy and the doctor commented on how she could tell there were no speech problems! When it comes to the shots, I always let Nick be the one holding her, I'm just not good at that part. He had Bailey look at the animals on the wall and pick out her favorite one and talk about it. By the time she realized she was getting a shot and that it kind of hurt, it was over. She didn't shed a single tear! She was such a big girl, in so many ways.

Good Eats, Good Signing, Good Times

2010-10-24T21:46:00.001-04:00

While Nick may not appreciate my trashy TV shows and I can't stand to watch sports, we both love watching just about any type of TV show dealing with food. One of our favorite shows to watch is Good Eats with Alton Brown. He's entertaining to watch, you always learn something and his recipes are good. We were both excited to find out he would be traveling to Lexington to do a book signing at Joseph Beth's for his new book and we were determined to go.

He did a q&a before the signing that lasted about an hour. By the time we got there all the seats were taken and the room was packed. We found a spot against the wall and squeezed in and strained to see and hear Alton. I did not enjoy this part nearly as much as I would have liked to, but it was so loud and our spot happened to be right in front of the doors where anyone coming and going needed to go. However, when I could pay attention and hear, he was very funny!

Once the book signing started they went in order of line pass letter, we were letter F. We headed over to the kids section and just sat down and read book after book to keep Bailey entertained. She did so well!! We ended up being there for about 3 1/2 hours and she only got a little whiny once, and that was during the q&a. Because she was so good she got to pick out a new Veggie Tales book...which we've read EVERY night since...that was a week ago!

Our line pass had said that no posed photography was allowed, but he said upfront that you could take pictures and that he would sign anything you wanted signed. He was very nice and personable and he made you feel like you weren't just being pushed through the line.

If you watch his show, you've probably seen the new diet he went on, and let me tell you what, he is tiny! I couldn't believe how skinny he was! And yes Danielle, I thought he looked much older in person too.

Nick and Alton discussing their favorite bourbons.

Jerrill and baby Claire joined us for the q&a part. She did really well too!

This was right before she finally gave up the fight and passed out on daddy.

I Don't Like You

2010-10-21T15:48:00.000-04:00

We've all said these words at some point in our lives. Sometimes we say them out loud to someone else, sometimes we whisper it under our breath and sometimes we merely think it to ourselves. I can remember saying this to my mother. She had just told me that we were going to be moving and I was furious. I was in 4th grade and we lived in a little townhome on a cul-de-sac that was full of children my age. Little did I know we had only moved there so she and my stepdad could save money to build our future home. No matter how nice the house or new neighborhood were going to be, all I heard was "I'm making you leave your friends" and I told her I didn't like her...okay, okay, maybe I used the hate word. I was mad. And angry. And hateful.

Well, now I've had a taste of my own medicine. Granted, my daughter is much younger than I was, and while she does know what she's saying, she still doesn't understand how hurtful some things are. But regardless of her age, when those 4 words came out of her mouth...aimed at me! I was devastated.

We were playing the game Cooties with Brittany and Mike the other night. Now, if you've never played this game, you must understand it takes A LOT of patience, which isn't easy for most adults, let alone a 3 year old. But she likes it, so we played. **I'm sure there are parents out there who would whole heartedly disagree with what I'm about to say next, but oh well...

I don't believe in allowing my child to cheat. I know she's just 3, but I want to teach her now that you can't always win and that it's important to follow rules, even if it's just the rules of a board game. After we had been playing for a good 15 minutes or so, I could tell she was getting frustrated because she wasn't rolling the number she needed. I just kept reassuring her that she had to keep trying and that she would eventually get it. The next thing I know there are tears and I'm hearing "I don't like you" coming from her lips.

I was stunned. I didn't even know what to say next. I sat there for a minute and then decided to ask her why she didn't like me. She said because I hurt her feelings. Okay, I nearly died at this moment. I know she was overreacting but still, that crushed me! I asked her if she wanted to come sit on my lap so we could talk about it, and she told me she didn't want to sit with me. Ow - another dagger!

We did make up not long after all of this started, but my heart was broken. I was sharing this story with Bailey's doctor at her check up the other day and she kind of laughed and told me just to wait until the teenage years, I'd get used to hearing it then!

Your Guess

2010-10-21T12:21:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow morning is the big day when we find out if this little pumpkin inside me is a boy or a girl! I am so excited I can hardly stand it. It doesn't seem like it should already be time to find out. Now that I'm finally feeling better this pregnancy seems to be flying by.

Nick and I know what we think the baby is, and I'm curious to see what everyone else thinks. Leave your guess and let's see who gets it right! That is, if this little babe cooperates and gives us a good look!

For what it's worth:

*This pregnancy has been totally different than my first

*Last time I craved pizza from almost day 1 and this time (so far) I've not had any cravings

*Bailey says my belly looks like a girl baby :)

P.S. Today may be crazy post catch up day, considering I have about 5 different things I'm behind in posting about...including Bailey's 3 year check up, hearing my first "I don't like you" from my daughter and meeting Alton Brown!

The Big 3 Year Old

2010-10-11T13:22:00.000-04:00

Could someone please tell me where the last 3 years of my life have gone? It just doesn't seem right that the baby I brought home from the hospital could possibly be 3! While I may not be ready to accept that she's growing up, Bailey is embracing it! She doesn't miss a chance to tell me that she's a big girl. If she eats all of her dinner, it's because I'm a big girl now mommy, I'm not a baby. When I tell her good job for getting herself dressed in the mornings, she tells me she could do it because I'm a big girl mommy.

Oh dear child, trust me, I don't need a verbal reminder. Every time I look at you I see the little lady you are becoming. There aren't many baby tendancies left in you at all. Except for the fact that you still sleep like a little frog, just like you did as a baby. You talk so big, you're so independent and you don't miss anything! While it does make me very sad that you'll never be a baby again, just like I always tell you, you will always be my baby. Even when you're a grown woman and have children of your own, you'll still be my baby. I cherish every moment I get to spend with you and I hope that as you grow up, we can have the type of relationship that I have with my mom, your grammy. I love you Bailey Grace!

Here are some shots from the big birthday party.

We surprised her with the Cinderella dress first thing Saturday morning. She LOVED it! She put her little hands over her heart and said I love it so much! This is also going to be her Halloween costume.

Waiting on her big surprise present...

A Barbie jeep!! She hopped right in and took off, but has been a little hesitant since to ride it. I think it will take some getting used to.

The Cinderella cake that I made her. She is really too smart for her own good. I had the cake hidden when she woke up Saturday morning, but I had left the cupcakes out. She saw the blue frosting and said Blue cupcakes are my favorite! Where's my cake mommy? I told her it was a surprise. Then she asked me what color her cake was, and again, I told her it was a surprise. Then she said I think it must be blue, cause the cupcakes are blue. And you know what else is blue? Cinderella's dress! I just told her she would have to wait and see, but of course, she was right!

Nick spending a little time with baby Drew while we opened presents.

Showing off her new coat. She was so done with taking pictures by this point, definitely a forced smile!

Bailey had another great birthday this year! I can't believe my little pumpkin spice (her new Fall nickname) is 3 years old! Just to make me feel better...

The Best Age

2010-10-07T09:27:00.000-04:00

I can remember when Bailey was first starting to smile and thinking, this is the best age.

Then she started crawling and soon after walking, and I thought, no, this is the best age.

When she started talking more and really learning how to play I thought again, this is by far the best age.

Now she's almost 3, and I'm nearly certain that this must be the best age. She is so much fun right now. I love being able to have real conversations with her. She is such a good helper and wants to help us in any way possible. When it comes time to pick up, after she does one task she comes running back into the room asking what can I do now mommy.

In fact, she's quite the clean freak, and I have NO idea where that came from. She can't go to bed at night if there's even one toy that's not put up in her room. She'll come in our bedroom sometimes and say mommy, your rooms a big mess, I think you need to clean it. I hope she always stays like this!

I love to watch her play. She has such a vivid imagination, and plays so well by herself. She'll get out either her princess dolls or her baby dolls and she's just in her own little world.

She also says some of the funniest things and makes me laugh on a regular basis. Here are some of my favorite (that I can remember!) that she's said recently:

*She almost exclusively refers to Nick as her "Oh Silly Daddy" now. Mommy, did you see what my Oh Silly Daddy did? or Who forgot to pick that up? I bet it is was my Oh Silly Daddy.

*Whenever something annoys her she says - that gets me on my nerves!

*After waking up one morning she came into my room and said Mommy, I haven't seen you in a little while have I? Because I was sweepin (sleeping).

*Oh my gosh!!!! She says this any time she gets really excited, and she says very loud and excitedly. And usually her hands go up over her mouth.

*She told my 4 year old nephew the other day - Q, just do what I say and there won't be any problems.

I just never know what's going to come out of her mouth next! I'm sure there will come a time when she gets older that I'll think that is the most fun age, but for right now, I'm trying to enjoy every second possible of this amazing little girl who is about to turn 3 and makes me laugh every day!