Caleb | one year photo shoot

 

I just can't believe the pace time seems to be moving at. I mean, JUST YESTERDAY I was holding a fresh new baby in my arms and today I have a toddler. Last week on February 17th my littlest turned one. I feel so beyond grateful to have two healthy little boys and so so blessed to be their mama.

 

A few weeks ago we did a family photo session with none other than Jennifer Terrero Photography. If you've followed this blog from the beginning then you know, we have so much love for Jen and her work. She's been there to document everything. Everything. And she always delivers. If you live in central florida, I highly recommend her. We actually drive 4 hours just to take pictures with her.

 

 

 

 Some Stats |

 

clothes | 12-18 months

shoes | just growing out of size 5

favorite food | everything! He's a really good eater and gets so excited over anything we give him. Although, he may be a bit partial to bananas

loves | his toy cell phone, mommy and daddy, eating, his rocking sheep, time in his Sakura Bloom

dislikes | diaper changes. I mean, he fights me HARD

 

Caleb is SUCH a mama's boy. And I don't mind one bit. The differences between Caleb and Cruze are abundant. He's definitely a more.... high maintenance child haha. Loves to be held but also loves to explore around the house on his own. And when he wants something, he makes it known. He loves his brother and they love to play together, make silly noises together and are always making each other laugh on car rides. But I also see some major fights in their future. I'm thinking payback for everything my siblings and I put my mother through?

 

This year has seriously FLOWN by. And it has been the most amazing, joy-filled year of my life. Caleb has definitely made our family feel complete, we just can't imagine our hectic little life without him :)

 

I can't wait to see what this next year holds for our family. If it could just slow down a tiny bit....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Caleb Monthly | 7 Months

 

Oh Caleb boy, where do I start? I guess I need to start off with how I'm truly feeling. My heart is so incredibly full now that I have my two boys. I'm tired. Oh am I tired, but my heart has never felt so happy. At the same time, the mommy guilt I'm experiencing these days is intense. I can't help but feel like I am always slacking in at least one area. And when it's at my children's expense, It hurts extra hard.

 

It's been hard balancing it all. Being a mom to two tiny people while also running a business with no baby sitter or help from family. The months have passed so quickly and the monthly updates have well... haven't happened. My love for this boy is crazy. Yet, my lack of documenting it all makes me wonder if maybe one day he will look back and get the wrong idea. And I know for a fact that I will look back and wish I wrote down every single detail because these moments? They're precious and they're fleeting. So I am making it my goal to put all of the other things on pause several times throughout the day  and week to make sure of the more important things.  

 

He loves this little sheep. While he doesn't actually use it for the intended purpose (to help him sleep) he LOVES to roll around with it and squeeze it tight.

 

Babies in overalls... gah!

 

It took some convincing but at around 4 months old we were able to convert him into a binky lover. It helps at night. Trust me.

Oh and BABY FEET!

 

The Stats
 

Diapers: size 4 for disposable and bumgenius one size for cloth
 

Clothes: 6-12 months
 

Weight: 18ish pounds

Favorite Things: Two words. Sakura and bloom. BEST THING EVER! I've tried other baby wearing methods but this one is our absolute favorite. Also, he just loves watching Cruze play and will just stare and laugh for up to 15 minutes straight.

New things: getting ready to crawl. I guess you could say he's scooting? Sitting up by himself for longer periods. And.... formula. It's been about a week and a half of no nursing. I'll have to share my feelings about that in a separate post though...

Sleep: It hasn't been easy in this department but we are finally getting somewhere. He now sleeps from 8:30pm to about 6:30 or 7:30am. It's pretty awesome :)

It's been a pretty good month and while I wish I could slow time down just a tad, I can't wait to see this sweet boy of mine grow...
 

Adjusting to our new normal

I know I totally slacked with getting a post up when baby boy was born (and for weeks after that) but don't let that fool you, we are over the moon, crazy crazy in love with him. I cannot believe how much I could love yet another person. The second he was born, he just knocked me down so hard.

Oh that face! He just looks like trouble here doesn't he? 

I still can't believe that I'm a mom of two sometimes. At the same time, I feel like he has always been in our lives. I can't imagine things being any different from how they are today. I worried so much before his arrival. I felt like I would fall apart because of the added responsibility. I even wrote a post about it here. Cruze is a handful, as most toddlers are. I just couldn't imagine chasing Cruze all day long AND caring for a tiny newborn who needs constant attention. I made the mistake (several times) of reading other bloggers thoughts on having two that were completely negative and quite depressing. Silly me. If you are pregnant with #2, please don't make that same mistake.

While it's important to be realistic with your expectations, reading such negative material by women who are extremely unhappy, it's bound to make you feel a little unhappy too. 3 weeks in and so far so good for us. I know, I know... I'm just starting out and therefore, I really have no room to talk but I really hope things can continue on the path we are currently on.

Initially, we had a hard time with Cruze understanding how fragile the baby is. We also had family around and he clearly felt the need to act out. Throw in teething with his 2 year molars AND a nasty stomach virus that hit when Caleb was just days old and we had a recipe for chaos. I had to stay away until his sickness passed in order to protect Caleb. Hardest. thing. ever. I missed my son terribly and wanted nothing more than to be able to comfort him. Fast forward a week to when the last of my family was leaving...

I had a hard time dealing with this. Again, I was scared of what was to come and honestly, doubted my ability to care for two children. So I worried myself sick for a few hours, then remembered that only I could control how I handled my new life and pulled myself together. And you know what? It's been so great. I've had so much more energy than I thought I would (coffee and a solid breakfast helps) and Cruze calmed down a ton as soon as our company left. I think he just needed life to go back to being as normal as possible.

Cruze absolutely adores his baby brother. And this just melts my heart. When Caleb cries Cruze says, "is okay baby cay-bub" or "what happened?" with his tiny palms up in the air. The other day while Caleb was unhappily waiting on mommy to pick him up, Cruze started singing "I Love You" to him. Hold me. I just can't.

Cruze meeting Caleb...

and then stealing his pacifier.

Cruze showing me just what he can get himself into in the blink of an eye while I nurse his baby brother. And as much as I thought moments like these would drive me crazy, all I can do is laugh and remind myself that one day, I'll be looking back on them with fondness. 

 Yes I let him eat them off the floor. Ya know, for the photo op. Plus the floors were freshly mopped. 

My sister in law looked like she was going to fall over when I let him eat those things off the floor. It's just so unlike me. But I'm liking this version of myself and I'm quickly learning how far a sense of humor can go. 

Do you have any other tips for me besides going with the flow? Do share! 

p.s. I had a post for yesterday about my birth announcements but it either didn't go up or got deleted somehow. I will have that up tomorrow.

Lifestyle Newborn Photo Shoot

I feel like I owe all of my readers an update on life lately. Yes we had our sweet boy almost 3 weeks ago (already?!?!?!) and life has been super busy since. But really, I am just soaking it all in and loving on my babe too much, it's hard to put him down to spend some time blogging. You guys, I am just so in love with my little family. My. heart. is. exploding. Every second of every single day. I can barely handle it.

So while I have some posts planned (in my head) to let you all in on our days with Caleb and Cruze, I may be a tad absent while I adjust to our new life. For now I want to share some photos with you all. Last week Jennifer of Jennifer Terrero Photography, made a 3.5 hour drive to come take pictures of baby Caleb. First I must say, I was so beyond touched by this gesture. That was such a long drive and I'm so happy she did that for us. We didn't have much time together and baby boy did not cooperate enough to fall asleep for the photos so Jen did lifestyle photos instead.

I absolutely love the way they came out. Especially considering the fact that we had less than two hours to get them done and running after a very busy 2 year old without my hubby around to help... wowza. But Jennifer is truly talented so I knew I would get something that I loved and worthy of displaying in our home. This girl, she just doesn't disappoint.

Gah!!! My boys. PLURAL. I can't even. All I can say is...

Be still my heart.

 On Monday I will be needing some advice on our birth announcements. I'd love it if you'll stop by to give me your input.

Happy Happy Friday! I hope you all have a joy- filled weekend :)