Needs for Baby #2

So, obviously, we already have most, if not all, of the baby essentials, and we do not have to buy them for Baby #2. It's definitely easier the second time, because I don't have a list a mile long of needs...but right now, I don't have anything on my list yet for Baby #2.

I know that so many of my blogger friends are pregnant or recently had Baby #2 or #3. What was on your list of needs for these babies? What did you have to have this time around that you couldn't re-use from the first go-around? Was there anything that you didn't buy for Baby #1 but purchased for your second or third?

Any advice is welcome! :)

Thank You!

Thanks to all of you for your great advice after Weston was feeling so badly, and I was out of town! Grant ended up taking him to the doctor on Tuesday, and it turned out that he was indeed very sick! He had strep throat. He's back on a 10 day antibiotic, and we are hoping that this will be the end of his sicknesses for the winter!

I'm SO worried though, because I feel like the RSV has caused him to be worn down and not be able to fight things off quite as easily as he did previously. I'm hoping that this doesn't continue to be the case, and he can stay well.

Thanks again to everyone! I really appreciate your advice and support! It is SO nice knowing that there are people out there that are so SUPPORTIVE and can relate to me when I'm going through this difficult times with my little guy.

Mom Advice Needed

So, Weston has been really sick the past four weeks, and we are SO ready for all of this sickness to be over. We thought that we had overcome the sickness, but apparently, we haven't.

It all started with a runny noise, then turned into difficulty breathing. We were at the doctor with the diagnosis of bronchitis and a prescription on a Thursday. He struggled to breath over the weekend, and we started breathing treatments prior to doctor recommendations on Saturday. He began wheezing, and we were back at the doctor on Monday. He tested positive for RSV, and he was put on a steroid and breathing treatments every four hours. He also had an ear infection in his right ear, so he was on an antibiotic for that. He was okay for the remainder of the week on steroids, antibiotic and breathing treatments. I took him to the doctor this past Friday for his follow-up appointment after being diagnosed 11 days earlier, and he had been running a fever the night before. I thought for sure his ear infection hadn't gone away...I was wrong. His ears were perfect.

He has continued to run a fever every day/evening since Thursday. It's been off and on, and it hasn't reached over 102. I'm concerned, but I'm not sure what's going on. The doctor said his ears look clear. He had a fever all afternoon yesterday, and he was sent home from daycare today with a fever. Did he catch something else at the doctors on Friday? Does anyone have any suggestions?

The worst part...I'm seven and a half hours away in Mississippi for work this week. I can't do anything...I can't check on him. I'm SO sad. I feel stressed and helpless. The worst feeling ever!

MIA and Here's Why...

So, I've been MIA for over a month now, and I totally left off on finishing up the posts with Weston's 1st Birthday details; however, I have one or two more posts, and I'll finish posting those this week!

I've been SO excited, but we weren't ready to share the news with everyone quite yet, so I didn't want to post on the blog yet, and I knew if I started to update, that I might let it slip. We told our families a couple of weeks ago, and we are planning on announcing it to everyone else after our second ultrasound and appointment next Thursday. Until then...it's still a secret to most! :)

Baby Harvey #2 is due on October 5th, 2011! We feel SO blessed and grateful and can't wait for our second little one to arrive and make our family complete! We found out about Baby #2 on Tuesday, January 25th...just five days after Weston's 1st Birthday! :)

Weston's Wild Rumpus - Part 2: The Guests

So, I'm delayed again in getting back to the "Where the Wild Things Are" party photos, but I was out of town last week, and I didn't have a moment to spare. I'm finally back, and I think things are calming down, so without further adieu here are photo's of Weston's guests.














Emma #1 & Meghan from "Bundles of Joy" (Breastfeeding Support Group)

Aunt Anna














Aunt Amanda




















Sisters, Madison & Kylee, friends from our Neighborhood




















Emma #2 - Friend from Bundles of Joy














Zachary - Friend from Bundles of Joy














Brady - BFF from Daycare














Brady & Weston




















All of our family from the party...We are only missing Aunt Ashley!

Next Up...Photo's of the Birthday Boy enjoying his party! :)

Weston's Wild Rumpus - Part 1: The Details

So, I've been a slacker, and I know that some of you have been waiting for me to upload photo's from Weston's Wild Rumpus. We've had a busy week and a half, but I've finally been able to stop for a moment and upload the photos.

As I mentioned before, Weston had a great birthday part, and we had tons of friends and family celebrate with us. I started planning Weston's birthday party back in June, so I had plenty of time to work out all the details. I knew right away that I wanted to do a "Where the Wild Things Are" party, so I started looking online, and I was able to find lots of great ideas!

Now on to the details...

I went with mostly oranges and yellows with splashes of green and blue, so I got orange and yellow napkins, and I had napkin tags made to wrap around the utensils. I loved this!














One of my closest friends and I made Monster Hats for all the kids and adults, who wanted to wear them. They were a huge hit, and everyone enjoyed them! This was a fun, easy project for anyone who is interested in making some for their next party.

Weston's Highchair with his Birthday Banner, Bib & Birthday Hat

The favors...We did crown cookies and cake pops for the favors! They were delicious, and we added tags to the favors that say "Thanks for coming to my Party! - Weston"














Here is a better shot of the favor table...as you can see we had cookies and cake pops laid out, we then had a sign that said "Thank You", as well as, photo's of Grant and I holding Weston during his first couple of months.














Here is a better shot of the table with the cake...we had Orange plates, napkins, the big cake and Weston's smash cake. The smash cake had Weston's head on top of the Max. It was SO cute!














These are the photo's of Weston's 1st Year! We had Months 1 - 12 in the flower pots with beans spray-painted green by my wonderful husband inside the pots. We also had a "Where the Wild Things Are" book on the table that we asked everyone to sign as they arrived at the party, so we could save as a keepsake.




















Here is the wreath that my friend, Abby, made for Weston to go on the front door. She is so crafty, and this was her gift to Weston for the party!














Grant cut the logs, and we cut branches and taped the photos on them of him throughout the first year. I ordered the Happy 1st Birthday sign on Etsy.















We had photos of Grant and I from our 1st Birthdays, as well as, a photo of Weston a couple of days before his party! He definitely looks more like Grant! :)














Here is a close up of our "Monster" cake pops!














I ordered stickers, and I put them on all of the cups! They said "Weston Is One!"

I had a couple of other personalized items. I had a banner that said Weston, and I had some pictures in various places and "WTWTA" stuffed animals, as well as, acorns laying out in various locations and cut out leaves. I unfortunately didn't get a photo of this...I also had paper pom's, and I didn't get photo's of these either. I was SO busy with everything else, that I didn't get all the photos that I should have.

For food, we had lots of stuff for the little ones...blueberries, cut up grapes, bananas, apples sauce, gold fish and cheerios. For the adults, we had a pineapple dip and crackers, cheese and crackers, vegetables, grapes, corn dip and fritos, sugared pecans, chicken nuggets and sausage balls. I'm sure we had other items, as well, but I can't think/remember off the top of my head. For drink, we had a couple of soft drinks, homemade hot chocolate and wassail. It was all delicious and a HUGE hit!

P.S. Sorry for the strange formatting...I don't know what's going on, but I can't get it to look right, and I don't have lots of time to try to fix it this morning!

Sneak Peak of Weston's 1st Birthday Party

Weston's 1st Birthday Party was on Saturday, January 15th at my parents house, and we had such a great turn-out. The party was a huge success, and I'll do a series of posts including the details, as well as, guests, but for now, I'm going to leave you with a sneak peak from my little man's big day!

Weston's Highchair Decorations, Bib & Hat

Favor Table w/ Cookies & Cake Pops for Weston's Guests

Handmade Monster Party Hats

Our little family with our Monster Hats!!

Cake Pops made by my sister...they were a huge hit!!

Weston's Smash Cake

Birthday Cake for Weston's Guests

A Boy and his Dog

Weston and Banks have the best relationship, and it's TOO sweet. Banks is so gentle and will let Weston do ANYTHING to him! It's too funny, but they do love one another, and they play with one another all the time. Seriously...Weston will have a toy and Banks will come and grab the toy from Weston, then Weston will grab it from Banks and back and forth...it's great! I'm so glad that they get along so well, and I never have to worry about the two of them together!

It's a New Year...

So, it's a little late since we are already 10 days into the new year, but I guess it's better late than never, right?! There are a few things that I'd really like to make a habit in 2011...I'm not putting a whole lot of pressure on myself to make them happen, but I would like to work towards these goals and let it go, if I'm not successful.

Here is my list...
- Put a focus on myself. I do so many things for my family, Grant and Weston, and it's great, and I love doing things for them, but I do want to exercise more and put a focus on making time for myself. I will sometimes put off going to the gym even though I really want to go, because I feel like I need to do something for Grant or Weston, like cook dinner or pick W up from daycare. I love doing those things for my family, but I need to make time for myself too and not feel guilty about it.

- Do weekly posts about what we did throughout the week. I don't want them to be incredibly detailed, but I'd love to be able to look back and recount our weeks throughout the year, so I can print them and save them for my records.

- Keep up with W's monthly updates. I didn't do a great job with keeping up with W's monthly updates as he passed the half year mark. I need to get back on updating and keeping up with this through his 2nd year.

- Make weekly meal plans, grocery lists and cut coupons. I did this throughout 2010, but I didn't do it every week, so I didn't save as much money as I could have, and I want to be better about organizing our weekly plans and sticking to them!

- Stick to our budget and save money! We always have a budget, but sometimes we don't stick to it, and I'd love to stick to our budget, as well as, save more money throughout the year. I'm working on a plan and budget for us by month.

These are my main goals for this week, but I mostly want to enjoy spending time with my family and enjoying the year. We have a lot to look forward to throughout the year. Weston's 1st birthday, a surprise trip for Grant and my sister's wedding...I anticipate that we'll have a great year!

My Almost 1 Year Old...

I can't believe that in just 10 days, my little boy will be a year old...where did this year go? It did fly by, and those newborn days and waking up in the middle of the night that I thought would never end have come and gone, and I'm SO grateful!

We have a "Where the Wild Things Are" birthday party planned for next Saturday, January 15th at my Mom & Dad's house, and I can't wait! It's going to be great, and I'll definitely be sharing LOTS of photo's after the event. I've been planning his 1st birthday since he was around six months old, and I'm SO excited to share with everyone all of my fun plans!

This past Saturday, Weston and I went to my parent's house, so we could finish up with plans, and we could work on preparations, and we took some photo's of Weston while we are there. I can't believe how big he is getting!






On another note, I went a played with some different cameras, and I chose the Canon EOS Rebel T2i. We ordered it on Friday night, and I can't wait for it to arrive! SO excited!!