These are a few of my favorite things {{Second Edition}}

1.) Sleep

As the mother of a newborn, I am sure that I don't really have to expand further than just saying that sleep is one of my favorite things. Bug has been a good sleeper since day one. But she came out almost nine pounds and sucked down two full ounces of formula {{she was too hungry to latch at birth}} for her first meal. As long as she was full, she slept well. Nursing a newborn has been different. The first few days she cluster fed. One night, she nursed for five hours straight {{Ouch}}. Another night I was up with her 7 times. As one of those people who doesn;t do well without 8 hours of sleep, all I wanted to do was cry. Thankfully, It has gotten better over the last week and last night we got almost a full five hour stretch of sleep. Thank you, God, for sleep.

2.) Family

Thanksgiving and Christmas are my favorite times of the year. I love everything about the season and love it even more when we can spend it with family. This year for Thanksgiving, not only do we have a gorgeous new baby to share it with, we also get to share our meal/week with my mom and J's dad. I'm so excited to have them here and for them to get to spend some time with us {{though I have a sneaking suspicion they are only it for a visit with their grandchildren}}.

3.) Olympic Premium Paint & Oil Based Primer

Since moving in, our two year old has become an artist. She LOVES to color. She has used her new artistic skills on almost every wall she can reach in her bedroom and even gave us the pleasure of coloring pictures on three of the four walls in our stairwell. {{All the crayons in the house have since "disappeared"}} Usually a Magic Eraser and some elbow grease will remove crayola from anything; however, the builder used flat paint through out these homes and flat paint is not washable. Between the crayon and the move-in marks & scuffs. Our stairwell looked AWFUL. This week I did some artistic work of my own with some Kilz & Olympic Premium Paint and now our AWFUL stairwell is pretty again {{with paint that I can wash}}.

4.) Meal Planning

Saves you money at the grocery store & allows you to plan ahead for guests. Need I say more?

5.) Creative Neighbors

This week I bought a custom Moby wrap from my neighbor, who is the owner of Divastitch12. It's gorgeous and has a creme colored base with a pretty teal & gold patterned fabric on the front ((see pic)). The perfect cozy place for my new little bundle to cuddle while I'm out and about or just cleaning & messing around the house.

Also, at the beginning of this week my other neighbor, the owner of Alayna's Creations used 2.0 for a model for some of her bows & knit caps. You can see a preview of one of the pictures by clicking her link and checking out the adorable baby in the striped, brown, pink, red & white elf cap. I'll be posting a blog of her pics after she has finished editing them. Here is the teaser she sent me - I'm absolutely in LOVE with this picture!

6.) Getting back to normal

J went back to work today. As overwhelmed as it made me to be the only one in the house to fullfil the wants & needs of a toddler and a newborn, it is nice to get back to our normal schedule {{well as normal of a schedule as you can get with family coming}}. Sometimes its easy to feel stretched thin by the ridiculous need to Wonder Woman {{It's an illness and I own it}}. You know, the feeling like you should be able to juggle two babies, a house full of chores & cooking, a husband and... what was that last one? Oh yea, healing from a delivery. With J back at work it feels like I have one less person to please. While he's at work, anyway. Geting back to normal is nice...

7.) "I love you too, Mommy"

Bug has been saying, "I love you" for awhile but she's never really repsonded to an "I love you" unless she felt like it. This past week she has started saying it on her own or in response to our "I love you's" and its GREAT :)

8.) My Crockpot

I always say the best baby shower gift I ever got was my crockpot. My mom bought it for us when I was pregnant with Bug and since then we have used it more times than I can count. Now that 2.0 has arrived, I can safely say that a crockpot is the most practical awesome gift you could give a new mom.

9.) Elastic Waisted Pants

It's already only been two weeks since I had 2.0 but I have already tried to squeeze into some of my "fat" pants from pre-pregnancy. It was bad idea. I've lost 25ish pounds since I delivered but I'm no where near the size I was on my largest day pre-pregnancy. Thank god for elastic waisted leggings and workout pants. Not very attractive but they work and they're comfortable.

10.) The End to the Sleepy Newborn {{I'm sure I'll regret this one in a week}}

2.0 is starting to be awake and alert for longer than the ten minutes it takes to change her & nurse her. {{During the day}} It's so nice to see her pretty eyes and all of her funny newborn expressions. I can't wait to start seeing her personality and who this little girl will turn into <3

These are a few of my favorite things {{This week}}

1.) Pink Squishy Babies!!

2.0 Arrived on Monday! It was fast & I didn't even believe it was really happening until they broke my water {{what?! - I know denial isn't just a river in Egypt}}. She is perfect and we are so blessed with our little family. More to come on her arrival later but for now:

2.) I can't mention a 2.0 without mentioning the 1.0

Bug is a fantastic big sister! She always asks where her "Baby Sissers" is and she talks to her and rubs her head. When her "Baby Sissers" is crying she gets worried and even asks if she's ok. It's very sweet and I am one VERY glad Momma.

3.) Our new Chrysler Town & Country

Yes, {{*facepalm*}} you read that right. We are the new proud owners of a fully loaded... minivan. You can laugh, it's ok. We do. We have even discussed family masks for while we are driving it so no one will recognize us. However, it has saved us some money, given us a whole bunch more room and it even came with dual DVD players - which Bug has become a HUGE fan of. {{I know what your thinking... It's still a minivan.}} This week it has come in extra handy. The empty third row has become my quiet place to nurse a hungry baby or pump away engorgement where no one can watch. You can't put value on these things, people. And thats coming from someone who pretty much would have bet their soul five years ago they'd never {{NEVER, EVER, EVER, NEVER}} own a minivan.

4.)Belly Binders

Or Post Partum Belly Wraps {{I have a plain white hospital-grade one, but you can find some really nice ones here}} A friend of mine gave me hers to use for after I had 2.0. I didn't use one after Bug and didn't really know they made that much of a difference... but they do. If you are expecting I HIGHLY suggest investing in a post partum belly wrap to help your baby belly go down.

5.) Lansinoh Breast Milk Storage Bags

These are kind of a no brainer. I never used them when I had Bug because the little punk out ate my supply no matter what I did. This time - thanks to an awesome little latcher - I already have a bunch of back stock in the freezer and these bags rock as containers. They have a double seal and a nice little space for labeling them with the date and amount of BM enclosed.

6.) Cape Fear Valley Medical Center

I heard all sorts of awful terrible things. Plus I had some pretty bad pre-concieved notions about what kind of care I was going to get thanks to the lack there of from certain providers at my OB clinic. But we had a great experience and an excellent birthing team and my only real complaint is they wouldn't leave me alone {{aka they were attentative}}. Which is not really a viable complaint.

7.) Knowing people

I have a cousin who is a RN and I've bugged her my entire pregnancy {{and even a little since}} for instant access to medical advice. It's been awesome and I SOOOOO appreciate it. If I were a nurse I would charge by the text ;)

8.) My awesome husband

I certainly cannot discuss our family without mentioning him. He's been great this week and I love him and our little family SO much!

and last but not least...

9.) Milky Way Candy Bars

I don't know, must be the hormones.