WE ARE PREGNANT...AGAIN!

Expecting Baby #2

I can't believe we are already expecting our second baby! Our sweet girl was born November 27, 2014. Now we are expecting another little one this summer (2016). We are really excited!!! We wanted our babies close in age. My sister and I are only 19 months apart and I really loved having a built in best friend growing up & even still today. Baby #2 and Elba will be 21 months apart, so pretty close!
I cannot wait to see if we will be having another little girl or diving in to a whole new world with a boy! Either way we are completely thrilled and we couldn't be happier. I hope you all are excited to follow along this go around as I really hope to keep everyone in the loop with updates as I did with Elba. The weekly updates are not as realistic as they were without a baby the first time, so I will probably be doing updates here and there and keeping everyone informed with what is going on this pregnancy!

If you have a preference for anything in specific let me know! I always welcome your suggestions and wanna write about what you want to hear as well as what I feel like sharing!

XO Sydney

Elba's 1st Birthday + Some Party Pics

I cannot believe my baby girl turned 1 on the 27th of November this year. Makes me wanna cry! The first few months I can distinctly remember. It was so new for the two of us. Her and I were learning how to get into a groove. I look back at pictures of her from when I gave birth and I feel like I am looking at a completely different baby now. She has such a personality and pieces of her that make her who she is that I hadn't known about the day she was born. The first few months were definitely for learning. Then the months started going by quicker, she began laughing, clapping, pointing, crawling, saying her first words. She started getting a sarcastic little attitude, began playing peek-a-boo, started cuddling and then we were here...we already made it 1 year. It is so sad and exciting all at once. Our baby is going to soon become a toddler and then a big kid. I don't know what kind of train wreck I will be on her first day of school. I love this age, she is challenging because she is so smart. She knows how to get what she wants! Every age has its perks and changes, but I definitely love having a built in best friend with this age.

So now that the mushy mom stuff is out of the way,

I can't believe how few detailed pictures I took...must've meant Zack & I were having fun! Seriously, I normally have more time to take pictures throughout the party. But once people got there we all just started talking and watching the babies play so I will include some picture that I took, not all, but definitely a good amount!

Also...I want these pictures up NOW so I have no time to edit them!
I may add more throughout the month too! I can also list the details of everything from decorations to food, clothes, all of that! If requested... :)

Elba's 11 Month Update

11 Months Old

Okay so here we have Elba's 11 month update. I have gotten very far behind on these posts and it bums me out, but I will not get far enough behind to the point where I can't catch up. I will be posting Elba's birthday pictures as well. The problem with the blog the last couple of months is that it has taken the back burner to quite a few things, between Elba's birthday, moving, holidays, moving back and being pregnant...things got so hectic. So I will list a few things that are important for me to remember that Elba did around 11 months. This post will be shorter and will not follow the same format as the previous monthly updates but it is not any less important!

Updates to Remember for 11 months

She began walking

She started incorporating way more solids into her diet

She began LOVING the park 

She started saying way more words

She has gotten even more cuddly almost more calm 

She began cutting more teeth

I know this seems so short, but it really was just as important as all of the other months, but hey, I am only human and this was the best I could do considering the circumstance!

Another issue we had with these monthly updates, 2 months ago when she was 11 months old we took these pictures...she was NOT having it. She is normally such a ham for the camera and totally works the camera and this day she was teething so badly, we were trying to cut out one of her feedings and I think she was mad at me! Haha. These pictures were taken before nap time during a "weaning" time and she was staring me down haha. I love that little dirty look though. So yes, the pictures are not portraying her photogenic self, but that's raising a baby! They aren't always "on" when you want them to be!

Our sweet Elba baby girl, we love you dearly. We love you so much. You are our entire life.

XO Sydney 

Elba's 10 Month Update

10 Months Old

Yikes, this month went by a little too quickly. The older she gets the harder it is to stay on top of these updates. The days go by quicker and as she grows more active our days grow longer! There is rarely any down time to write these updates. So right now I am writing some of this while she sleeps soundly next to me. Zack is currently in Massachusetts for two weeks so I am soaking up all of these snuggles with my girl while she is still my sweet tiny princess. She is currently 11 months old, but I need to get this 10 month update written. Due to our big move coming up next month and Halloween and her birthday I have fallen behind and my memory doesn't hold on to detail very well anymore (lack of sleep?) haha. So this update may be a bit shorter, but is no less important to me. All of these updates are going to be cherished memories of my sweet girl. My first born. I cannot wait to share these with her and also myself down the road. When she is learning how to ride a bike or playing soccer or dance recital, I want to be able to look back at these updates and remember when our days consisted of park dates in the day and snuggles at night.

Momma's Favorite Things

When she is super excited she strains her neck really far out and smiles

Her HUGE smile and her teeny smile

When she wants me really badly she reaches her little hand out and says "muuuuummm" "mumuumum" haha

When my phone is just sitting there she grabs it and puts it to her ear and says "Hi, Da" (trying to talk to her Daddy;))

I love that she waves to everyone and is so friendly

I love that she also waves goodbye

She is so good at sharing with me always let's me have a turn with sucking on the lollipop when I say "Momma's turn"

Loves her tickle rubs on her back, just like her Momma

Her tiny body is thinning out, as much as it makes me sad my baby is growing it is also adorable that she totally has her Dad's body, cracks me up!

Her precious curly little locks

I love that when I whisper in her ear she starts cracking up...no matter what I say

She LOVES candy (that's my girl)

Water obsessed, LOVES drinking water from water bottles, straws, sippy cups, anything!

She loves chewing on straws (probably why a lot of my drinks go unfinished- straw jacked!)

She loves cuddling and loves being close

She loves picking up tiny little things on the ground and then handing them to me because she knows she isn't allowed to have them

As always, her laugh, her smile, her giggles, her spitting out her tongue really fast

When she wakes up in a bad mood she makes the ugliest cry face and it makes Zack and I laugh every time

I love her ridiculous dance moves

EVERYTHING about her is precious, even when she is insane!

Elba's Quirks

Getting mad and shouting little baby babble 

When I open the car door to put her in her car seat she clings to my neck like a monkey

Once she gets in the car and the music goes on she dances like crazy

Still won't take a pacifier

Holds down the button on my phone to talk to Siri

Shouts "bayyy-bee" when she wants something 

Loves the park

Loves playing in the sand at the beach and park

Loves going down slides

Obsessed with waving and saying "hi" to everyone, she has been since 7 months

Loves chicken and cheese, sometimes that is all she wants for breakfast

Loves candy, that's mah girl

Loves her puffs

She is obsessed with emptying purses, she will empty yours if it is out in the open

Loves to empty my clothes drawers (needless to say she leaves mess bombs everywhere)

I have to do all of my computer work when she is sleeping because all she wants to do is attack my computer

She loves sitting in the front of the car and pretending to drive

She loves doing make-up with me in the morning, she puts the make up brushes to her face and to my face and waits for me to say "so pretty" to smile and put the brush back up to her face (obsessed with her)

Loves the first 5 minutes of any toddler Disney show for the music and then checks out 

....and so much more!

Size (Diapers, Onesies, Etc.): Size 3 diapers; 9-12 month onesies usually; Still wearing some 9 month items here and there, but mostly in 12 month clothes and some 18 month tee shirts, kinda depends on where I get the clothes and what brand they are! A lot of things run small or large! Definitely need to get her some shoes other than moccasins haha

Eyes: They got kinda dark and then lightened up again. They are not even close to as dark as Zack's but they aren't as green-hazel as mine, they are a gray-ish brown hazel and definitely lighter.

Hair: Oh my bed head. This girl wakes up with some serious trainwreck hair and I love it. She got Daddy's curls 100% and I am so obsessed. Some days they curl into perfect little ringlets...other days she has clown hair, I love it both ways! It is a deep brown/auburn color like mine and Zack's. I have never colored my hair and Zack and I have almost identical hair color so hers is the same as both of ours. She has got some natural ombre on those little curls from all of the sun her hair gets exposed to!

Sleeping: Teething has made up skip nap time one too many times for my liking, but whatever, not the end of the world!

Eating: Loves chicken and cheese...and not just any chicken and cheese, this princess has an affinity for Chipotle Gouda cheese...so weird. Although, she really does like all cheese...She likes candy, bread (not toast too much), finally likes bananas, likes peas, she really likes just about anything I am eating. She really likes green grapes! She freaks out at the store when I put them in my basket and tries to eat them right then and there. She likes yogurt, but I think she wishes it wasn't cold. She likes quite a bit, not into purees anymore but I haven't really tried giving her any recently. She is still breastfeeding as well so she is getting nutrients a little bit of everywhere.

Milestones: 

• Crawls like a spazz!
• She knows how to walk, she will take lots of steps, but recently has hated doing so and often crawls instead...part of me is like WHAT THE HECK the other part of me is like...please don't walk before we have to move and go through airports hahaha
• Loves all of her walkers and walks around with them all of the time
• Has 6 teeth! 4 on the top and 2 on the bottom!
• LOVES climbing
• Loves to pretend she is singing when I blast the music and she LOVES to dance, although she has some questionable dance moves
• This whole month has felt like milestone after milestone...she is just so CHATTY!
• Talking! Saying Bear ("begh"), Baby ("bayyyyybeee"), Mama ("mummma"), Daddy ("Da-da),  Hi ("haiiiiii"), Bye ("buhye"), Pig ("pihhh"), when she is mad and wants something or doesn't want you to walk away she yells "baaa baa baaa"

We love you so much baby girl!

XO Sydney

Our New Adventure

Alright, this past year has been a bumpy one. A very bumpy one. I do not share the nitty gritty detail of the negatives of our lives because everyone is dealing with something. But in short, life has been crazy since graduating college in May 2014. We have gone from graduation to different jobs and a baby and more jobs. We have gone from living with our parents to living on our own then back with parents. All of this done in order to pay off student loans. Let me tell you, private universities are not cheap. They are worth it, but not cheap. Zack and I do not deal with debt as some people do, some people are great with making their minimum payments and are content with that. Zack and I are a bit of extremists. If we can accomplish something huge in a short amount of time, we will. That being said. These past six months have been spent living with parents and making a huge dent in our student loans. We are both still driving around our cars from high-school and we never have credit card debt. Being smart with our money has put an emotional strain on us...as we were living with our parents. We are grateful and beyond appreciative, but couch surfing with a baby...not so fun, but an adventure in its own way. 

A few months back, Zack got a great opportunity to further his medical device sales experience, he has been working as an Orthopedic Trauma Sales Rep. for the past six months. He has been in the operating room and growing his business in Orange County, CA. Both of our families live in San Clemente, CA so that is where we have been living, but don't know if we want to set up the rest of our lives here. We both grew up here, only went to school an hour from home in San Diego and we haven't seen too much else. 

Well, last week Zack kind of hit the pinnacle of his goals. He was presented with an offer from a company that he had his eyes on for a year now. It is one of those offers where you think, this is too good to be true. We are both so excited that over a year of craziness has lead to stability and something SUPER exciting.

So the deal with this job is...traveling for  6 months to 1 year. Zack's territory for his new Medical Sales position with this company is the South East...Texas to Florida and the Carolinas. So far the company wants him in Dallas, TX. He could be covering this territory for 6 months or 2 months and then they could want him in Florida for a week and then South Carolina for a month. Yes, CRAZINESS. Even crazier if I didn't get to see him for this amount of time...but the best part is, the company takes care of their employees very well...so I will be joining him! So for the next 6 months to a year we will be living in HOTELS! WOO! Room Service? We will be seeing the south, traveling, exploring and I am kinda hoping Elba will develop some accent...kidding, kinda. I really do want her to whip out a "y'all" here and there though. 

This will be it though... 6 months to 1 year and then we will be settling down and finding a place to call home. I will decorate the heck out of it and have candles going all of the time. Until then, I am going to enjoy some serious turn down service, bathtubs and room service. 

Elba and I will explore each city we are in during the day while Daddy slaves away ;) our superhero. 

So if you are following me on here, pinterest, instagram, and snapchat, get ready for some serious changes! First birthday party planning and then we are off to traveling! I will be documenting it all. I cannot freaking wait.

xo Sydney

Elba's 9 Month Update

9 Months Old

Wow, this took me way longer to get up on the blog than I anticipated. This is largely due to the fact that we have a VERY mobile baby now! Gone are the days of breastfeeding on the couch all day and having ample opportunity to write blog posts. All Elba wants to do is crawl, get into things, get into trash, the laundry, pull things out of cupboards, go to the park, stand up, try to walk, eat, swim, Legoland, play, play, and more play time. She would rather be outside putting the nastiest things in her mouth than be cooped up all day watching me type on my computer, so that is exactly what we do! However, no matter what, this blog and these updates are a priority to me because I would be so upset if I missed a month of this crazy journey with her. I always want to be able to go back and look at these updates and think back about the times she was swimming in her newborn clothes, losing her hair, growing curlier hair, crawling, laughing, eating, and everything in between. I don't want to forget what I found important each month. Another reason I do these updates is for family to see her grow and I want everyone to enjoy her little moments & pictures as much as I do. So, here we go...this is the craziest month thus far. Last month was so fun because she was so "infant minded" she was perfecting how to crawl, how to play, obsessing over new toys, witnessing new things and now this month is a whole other ball game. She now KNOWS what she likes and KNOWS what she wants. I always tell Zack that I feel like we have a toddler trapped in a miniature baby body. She is so headstrong and has completely turned into her own person. It makes my heart burst as well as my brain. I think this month has been the most emotional for me alongside her newborn stage. I think her new determination and stubborn attitude has really tested my patience this month and then I either cry or laugh about it. Motherhood is crazy and different every single day and no matter how emotional or frustrated I get at times I wouldn't trade it for the world. She is my whole world.

Momma's Favorite Things

Her growling (yes she full on growls, check Instagram for that fun video)

Her fake cry

Her smile and her laugh

The way she says "mummumm mum mum" when she calls my name

She waves to everyone, she is so friendly

She gasps and screeches when she sees something she wants or likes

Her obsession with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (she has now started to wake up right in time for it)

Her obsession for anything Mickey Mouse related

When I sing "If You're Happy and You Know It..." she claps right on cue every time & drops what she is doing to do so

She loves other kids and babies she gets so excited to see other tiny humans

I love how she grabs the phone when Zack FaceTime's us to talk to her Daddy

I love how she copies and mimics so well now

If I fake laugh she fake laughs, she is such an entertainer and little comedian

She loves everything Zack and I eat

She is water obsessed, she grabs my water bottles from me to drink them herself

She loves the pool and the beach

I love how detail oriented she is, she uses her tiny pointer finger to find the smallest of things

She still loves Mama and is a total mama's girl

She dances to everything, even when no music is playing

I love tickling her & hearing her new little infant/borderline toddler laugh

She has the funniest/best sense of humor

Elba's Quirks

Growling

Grunting

She thinks she is the world's best dancer, she dances without music

She dances when she eats something she likes

She waves to everyone

Just don't try to hold her she's got a new case of stranger danger

Loves the water/shower/jacuzzi/bath

When we go shopping she insists on standing in the cart and screaming excited at the top of her lungs

Chews on tags or anything paper related (like a goat)

Obsessed with drinking water

Likes picking labels off of water bottles

Grossed out by hair when she touches it, but likes picking it out of the hairbrush

When she thinks she is being funny she fake laughs to see if we will laugh

Hates getting her diaper changes most of the time

Crawling, standing, trying to walk everywhere

Loves grabbing faces

Loves smacking people out of no where

Would rather be outside

Hates her car seat most of the time

Still won't take a bottle, but likes cups, sippy cups and water bottles

Loves the park and makes me go down the slide with her a million times

Loves when we sing "If you're happy and you know it..." she claps on cue and it is adorable

Loves attacking computers

Wants to play in the car all of the time, loves the steering wheel and dancing on front seat

Has a new obsession with Mickey Mouse

Size (Diapers, Onesies, Etc.): Still wearing size 3 diapers, weighs about 20 lbs., she hasn't been in much clothing this month, it has been the month of diapers and water days. It has been so hot here in Southern California she has been living in dresses and diapers. She is wearing 6-12 month clothes, size 6-12 month shorts and same for shirts! She is wearing 9 month swimsuits

Eyes: They are dark hazel, they aren't straight brown like Zack's but my eyes are still a bit more green than hers...her eyes have cooler undertones in them, like deeper grays instead of greens.

Hair: So curly! When she gets all sweaty her little ringlets come out. I am OBSESSED. I was kinda hoping she would get Zack's curls, but I wasn't sure if she was going to and they are definitely coming in strong! She has got flippy, curly, and crazy bed head hair and I love it. It is the same color of both mine and Zack's hair, it is brown with some auburn tones to it. In the sun you can see her auburn on her curls and oh my goodness I could just eat her up. 

Sleeping: She sleeps...she is still taking a good morning nap and that is about it, depending on where we are during the day will determine how good her afternoon nap is!

Eating: Eating solids like a champ, she has both her top and bottom front teeth, so she is chomping down on things really well! She is loving some Beech Nut purees, only the veggie ones though, she hates the fruit ones, she likes fruit if it isn't pureed, she loves whatever Zack and I are eating. She would eat chicken all day. She loves smoothies, yogurt, cheese, veggies, everything really! She is up for trying anything. She loves acai bowls with granola...it is really getting fun feeding her and watching her reaction to all sorts of things.

Milestones: 

• Crawling like crazy
• Stands on her own for moments at a time
• Has taken a few steps on her own
• Eating more solids
• Climbs on everything
• Loves playing peek-a-boo
• Loves clapping 
• Dancing to everything
• Her i-teeth are sneaking their way through 

We love you!

XO Sydney