Taylor's 2 month apt

Taylor had her two month apt and we tried to talk to the pediatrician about her gassiness, fussiness, and eating habits. The doctor decided that she has reflux and although she doesn't spit up...I agree with this. She has pretty much every other symptom. We noticed that she is much less fussy with formula so over the last few days we've fed her mostly formula to see how she did. Day one was amazing but day two she seemed to start getting a tad constipated. She hasn't been sleeping as good at night the last two nights like she was before so we aren't sure the formula is helping as much as we thought it was at first. We will keep going back and fourth between breast milk and formula. She only weighed in at 10lb 12oz at 2.5 months so that was a little concerning to us and we are trying to up her food consumption. The doctor told us to put her on a probiotic so we ordered that and it should be in at some point soon. Hopefully that will help and if not we will try her on a reflux med. She is getting so cute and smiley. I think I even got a the start of a little laugh out of her the other day. Today we got to witness a solar eclipse. Our whole town was so excited for this event. It went over the entire US. Cj and Daniel were over and I planned lots of activities and themed foods for the kids. Eli was very excited about it. Unfortunately the clouds went over at the moment of totality so we didn't get to see that but it did get dark, it was lightning all around us, it was thundering, and the wind was blowing so it was pretty dramatic! It was an amazing site to see and I am so glad that we were able to view it as a family.  Danielle 

Workin' it Out!

We still haven't totally gotten into a plan that works for us. I am thinking when Eli starts school in a few weeks we will get on a set schedule but for now...we're just playing it by ear almost every day. I've been making it back to the gym and working out more now. I started doing weights again and it feels good. I've been going to this place called Flex-Able and it's basically where you go to have a professional help stretch your muscles. With that they can tell what parts of you body needs work and which parts are over worked. I love that! They're helping me tweak certain exercises I'm doing and giving me suggestions on what I need to do more of or less of. Turns out my back could use some work while my chest and what not is rather tight. Same with my quads being tight but my hamstrings needing more strength. The guy I'm working with has also identified why my shoulders have been in pain and why my knees have been giving me troubles. I'm so happy for that because I thought my knees were because of doing the stairs but he told me it's because my side of the legs (not technical here..haha) are tight and that I need to foam roll them. I foam roll often but have avoided that part of my legs because it hurt so bad...guess it needs it the most though and that's why. I'm glad because I was about to give up the stair master and squats thinking my knees were bad. It's so much fun to learn about that kind of stuff to me. Unfortunately, despite getting back into working out my weight loss hasn't picked up much. It's still going but barely. That's so frustrating but I know it will come. Taylor is starting to sleep much better. We introduced some formula which I feel like I should be bummed about because it's just the beginning of the end but I'm not. She seems so much happier with formula and less gassy which I know shouldn't make sense but it's what we've observed. She's really become quite and easy baby except for her gas problems which are a constant with her. She goes down at 8ish and we have to paci her still once or 10x's before she's out. You just never know but her only feeding at night hasn't been until about 4-5. Last night she only got her paci back once and then woke up at 5:45. That's amazing! We're so blessed to have her and I know the first two months were challenging for us but I feel like they are getting better and better everyday! We're starting to enjoy our new family more rather than just running in survival mode. When I can get back on a steady work routine, I think I'll feel just perfect about it all.  Nolle is her normal adorable self but she is probably the most challenging right now. She's starting to assert her independence and throw some tantrums here and there. She is also pretty messy as in she goes through drawers and cabinets pulling things out. She's also not great at talking...like she doesn't talk but she is so ready to communicate so that is frustrating to her and to us sometimes. She wants to tell us things that we sometimes can't understand or if we do, we can't really explain why she can't get her way which frustrates her. Such as lately she's wanted to take a bath all the time. We can't do bath all the time because there's 50 other things to do but she doesn't get it so then a tantrum happens and sometimes it's 5 min an sometimes it's 30. She SO loud with her tantrums too which doesn't help if Taylor is sleeping. I find myself being more patient and understanding with her than I was with Eli. I think because I better understand that she's just learning and I know she will figure it out eventually. With Eli I thought I was setting him up to be a spoiled brat for life if I didn't disapline every fit he threw so, I'm feeling bad for that. I wish I had been more understanding with Eli and maybe he wouldn't have the anger problems that he has now. Speaking of Eli...he is fantastic. I'm curious to see how he does in school this year but over the summer he has been a wonderful little boy. He's grown so much physically and mentally and especially when he's alone with either of us he is actually pretty perfect. He can get into it with Noelle sometimes but that's expected. I've been watching CJ and Daniel some over the summer too and he plays pretty well with them too. At the gym he said there's been some mean kids and when he talks about how he wants to respond to them it makes me sad because he sounds like a little dork head and I can see him getting made fun of more. THat's not totally fair though because the kids making fun of him were older and have an unfair advantage.  So...that's our life for now. Until next time, Danielle 

2 Months In

Well we're 2 months in to this family of 5 thing and things aren't too shabby. If I look at it from the outside Taylor is sleeping relatively well, the house is kept relatively well, our business is doing relatively well, I'm relatively happy and energetic. When I look at it from my point of view I feel tired of getting broken sleep, I don't feel like I can get all the house work done that I WANT to get done, I've taken on some new (time consuming) projects at the store that are stressing me out, and I feel a little sad that I don't feel like I'm totally rocking this 3 kids thing. I think we are doing well and I wish I could just be satisfied and enjoy our sweet new baby without feeling stressed to accomplish a million other things. Taylor is getting cuter everyday. She's giving us little smiles here and there and she's getting increasingly better throughout the day. She goes down at 8 and some times we have to give her paci back a dozen times...usually it's just a couple. She then wakes up anytime between 1-3, eats, and goes right back down before waking up at 6. She can be a loud sleeper but I'm starting to be able to get pass that and sleep through it. I feel like we don't give her the credit she deserves calling her difficult or a pain and she's really not! I guess when you've gone from getting full nights worth of sleep and naps if desired, going to this is an adjustment. Noelle and Eli have been watched by lots of other people this summer so that's been helpful and when I spend the days at home with the 3 of them its actually pretty easy but I'd love to be able to go somewhere and that's what's been difficult. Taylor needs her morning nap and then after that it's lunch time then Noelles nap time and I feel like a slave to the house sometimes. When Eli starts school I'm hoping we can all get on more of a schedule. I think the lack of schedule right now is what's driving me a little nuts but who knows. I just like to be good at things and I don't feel like I'm in my groove...YET! Taylor is smiling and she's turned over for us a couple of times. She is pretty gassy so I feel bad for her about that. Noelle is so in love with her baby sister but when she want's attention she want's attention. Eli also loves Taylor and he has adjusted so well this time around. I am very proud of him! Noelle is just over a year and a half and she is starting to be able to repeat pretty much anything we ask her to say...when she wants to that is. She is starting to have little temper tantrums but she's so dang cute, it's hard to care. She knows how to smile and get her way though. She is learning quickly how to work it and it's absolutely adorable now but not sure what this means for the future. Eli's school starts back next month and I'm looking forward to seeing how he does this year. I think he's come so far. Lately he's wearing no pull ups to bed. When he did wear them he never wet them but then we decided to take them off and he had an accident like 2 days later. He's only 4 right now though so I'm not too worried, it would just be nice to not have to worry about having pull ups in the house or changing wet sheets. The kids have been hanging out with their cousins A LOT this summer and it makes my heart so happy! I love watching them play and get to know each other. I think it's been good for everyone! I think that's all the updates for now. I'm wishing I kept the updates going when Noelle was a baby so I could look back. It's funny/sad how fast you forget things!!! 

Baby Weight

I figured I'd do this in a separate post so I could easily reference it in the future. I wanted to post about my weight. With Eli I gained about 50lbs, Noelle 40lbs, and Taylor about 50lbs. A month after he was born I had already lost 30lbs putting me at 155. With Noelle I had lost all the baby "weight" by 2 months out, though I didn't get back to my normal size until several weeks after. This go around I am off to a very slow start despite really focusing on my diet and going on 45min walks regularly since week 2. At one month I weighed in at 162, pretty much the heaviest I've ever been not pregnant. It's hard to not be down about this especially since I've put in the extra effort. I haven't hit the 6 week mark yet so I haven't really upped my workout game yet and I'm really looking forward to that. I'm so ready to get back in the gym! It's also difficult to cut as many calories as I might want right now too since I have to eat enough to keep my milk production up. I'm trying to accept that even though the weight isn't just falling off like times before that it will come off over time if I make it. It's hard to be patient though and my wardrobe is so limited. I'm still mostly wearing maternity clothes though some of those are starting to fit weird and look like maternity clothes...if that makes sense. I have about 3 tops from my normal attire that fit and everything else is just sitting there waiting for me to drop some LBs. I really don't want to wear leggings all winter again so the goal would be to fit into my regular jeans by jeans weather which, thankfully around here isn't until about late December. I do have a family wedding Oct so to not look like a whale for that would be great too. I refuse to buy new clothes yet but if things don't start changing soon, I might have to get something just to get me through. I've got about one more week left before I can get back into the gym so I'll be sure to post how that changes things. Fingers crossed!!!

And Now We're 5!

Just over 5 weeks ago our little family became slightly bigger! We are now a family of 5! Taylor Elaine Motley joined us on June 3rd at 7:38pm weighing 7lbs 14oz and 21.5 inches long. Our smallest little one yet. Labor and delivery went pretty smoothly. We had a stubborn nurse who was ready to get off duty and at the end we got a little nervous we'd be delivering little Taylor on our own. That part was slightly worrisome but when the new nurse finally did check me out it was go time and Taylor was born quickly and easily. In fact my easiest....least damaging delivery yet! My recovery was also super smooth. Just 3 days out I felt like I hadn't even had a baby. Nursing started off a little rough, as usual. I guess I am just a wimp. It's so painful at first! We did pumped bottles pretty early to help get throug the first few rough weeks. By week 3 that was going better and by week 4 we were tracking her across the country to Indiana for our WBU annual meeting.  So how's the adjustment going??? I've been wondering how it would go since the moment we considered a 3rd child. Noelle & Eli have done AMAZING with her. We thought Noelle would be very jealous but so far she's still getting plenty of attention and all she wants to do is help her little sissy with everything. Eli adores her and I think he's trying to form Team Taylor just to upset Noelle but Noelle is too young to care. He gives Taylor kisses all the time and says how cute she is. (The cutest...cuter than Pell of course) He also says he only wants to play with Taylor and not Noelle....so there's that. Poor buddy has it coming in a year or so though when the two girls can work together!  Mark and I are adjusting well but it's not easy. As of now Taylor is a very fussy baby. She want's to be help constantly but doesn't like the carrier. She doesn't sleep well at night and she can cry for hours sometimes with nothing we do helping. There's little time when she is awake and content. I feel like when she finally adjusts to life we will be doing great though. I don't feel like adding a 3rd child has been the biggest challenge and now I'm even starting to think that having the "two under two" isn't so bad either. I really think it's just that Taylor is difficult right now so as soon as we get pass this stage I think we'll be doing much better!  Taylor is very adorable though. She has beautiful dark hair, that I am sure will turn blonde, and it has a little "pouf" in the front giving  some volume to her little wisps. She never really got baby acne so that was kind of nice. She is starting to fill in her clothes and I'm suprised we made it 5 weeks with a little one still in newborn clothes. She seems SO tiny compared to Eli and Noelle. Soon, any day now, we should get our first little smile from her and I remember from Eli (which she seems to have a very similar temperament as so far) that things slowly got better after that point. She has very big eyes and I think her smile will be adorable, I can't wait to see it! I feel guilty wishing this phase would hurry along. I feel like with Noelle I savoured every moment and knowing that Taylor will be our last you would think I'd never want it to end but she's just having a harder time adjusting to the world and I'm looking forward to the days when Noelle and Eli can interact and play with her more. I can't wait to see them trying to make her laugh and stuff. We have so many wonderful times ahead and I know they will get here faster than I can imagine!   

My Sweet Babies

I had an apt with the ob today and they scheduled my induction for baby Taylor to be on June 3rd. With two children, a business, and ...well...life, this pregnancy has flown by and to be honest I haven't thought much of it outside of the inconvenience I find pregnancy to be.  It hit me today that I only have one week left of my current life. One week left with my two sweet babies before we add a 3rd to the mix.

Noelle has grown so fast and she is so cute. Literally Mark and I can't get over how adorable she is. We're obsessed! She has been the sweetest thing since the day she was born and honestly she's the whole reason we changed our mind from a 4 person family to a 5 person one. I was so much more at peace with myself when she was born and in return I was able to truly enjoy her in a crazy kind of way from the second she was born. I feel like God blessed me in the most incredibly with her. He took away stress, gave me confidence, energy, and strength to really see what an amazing blessing having a child truly is.

Eli is still my baby though and I find myself wanting to just savor every stage and moment with him because I feel like when he grows it's all over! That sounds so silly considering he's only 4 but HE IS ALREADY 4! Time goes so fast! He is so much fun and full of life, energy, and love now! It's funny that I can really see that he understands that I am his mother and he genuinely loves me so much for it. Not just because I provide for his basic needs but because he actually likes and enjoys me. Every night I read him a story, we pray together, talk...I don't ever want to give it up and I know I will have to one day. I feel like each day is a day closer to more complicated times. He is just so innocent right now but I can already see him growing and facing issues he's never had to face before and it's bittersweet watching him learn about life. Actually, selfishly, it's more heartbreaking than sweet. I just pray every day that I can be the mom he needs me to be and that we give him all the love and tools he needs to be a happy, good, and godly boy, teen, and then man one day.

I know Taylor is meant to be. In fact, we had changed our mind about having a 3rd but little did we know we were already expecting. I know this is Gods plan for our family. Even still, just as with Eli and Noelle, I can't help but think about how our lives will change. I can't help but wonder if Noelle really got her fair share of love before we decided to split our hearts 3 ways and I can't help but wonder if Eli will be happy or resentful dealing with two sisters. As they grow will they be close or wish they has us all to themselves. Will I have the patience or energy for 3? I don't ever want them to feel like a burden.

Enough of all the sappiness. On a side note, Eli seems to be pretty excited about Taylor. He is calling her Tay-tay (not sure about that one) and asks about her all the time. He's always asking me when she is coming and telling me he wants to meet her. He hugs her (my belly) and even tells her how much he loves her. He asked me in the car the other day if I thought she'd have blue eyes like him and Pell. He tells me he will watch over her and protect her. Poor Pell, that's more than she gets but obviously Taylor isn't a reality to him yet. Nonetheless it is neat to see him actually know that he is getting a new sister because with Noelle he was totally clueless. We told him today that Taylor was coming next Saturday and he was disappointed that  she wasn't coming sooner...as was I. BUT, we have one week left and I need to make some plans for special one on one time with my sweet babies before all of our lives get changed once again!

Danielle

Cheesy Maternity Quiz

I think this was an old myspace survey. Anyone remember MySpace? Ha! Anyways, here goes the fun...

1. How many months along are you in your pregnancy? 7.5

2. What was your first reaction when you found out? Happy and a little nervous

3. Were you scared? If so, of what? Just a little scared of 3 children 4 and under being a reality.

4. Was it hard for you to tell others, or was it easy? Easy

5. Do you fear birth? Just a little because anything can happen but it's all in Gods hands.

6. Are you having a c-section, or vaginal birth? Vaginal, hopefully

7. When is your due date? 6/7 though I tell people the end of May because I get better responses that way. Ha! Don't judge.

8. One thing that stresses you most about being pregnant? Being uncomfortable and gaining weight. I don't like not feeling like myself.

9. Do you know if the baby will be a boy or girl yet? Girl!

10. What name are you planning on giving your child? Taylor Elaine Motley

11. Tell me all of the names you considered for your baby? Paisley, Amber, and Lily were all top contenders for a while. We've had several long lists this go around.

12. Can you feel your baby kicking now? Yup, lots of movement!

13. Worst thing about being pregnant? Gaining weight and the 3rd trimester discomforts.

14. Best thing about being pregnant? Feeling the baby move and prepping for her arrival.

15. Do you get morning sickness? A little but not too bad.

16. Do you cry a lot? No

17. Have you peed yourself yet!? Nope. Thankfully I've never really had this problem before, during or after pregnancy.

18. Do you know anyone who is pregnant right now, besides you? Yes and my best friend and sister in law just had their babies recently as well.

19. First person you told you were pregnant, besides the one who got you pregnant? Eli...he knew well before anyone else but didn't care to share the information apparently. LOL

20. How was your husbands reaction to the news? Excited. He was more sure of 3 kids than I was but I assume that's because he's never had to be pregnant.

21. Do you have a nursery set up yet? Mostly. Taylor will share a room with Noelle and it is all organized and ready for them both to share but I need to rearrange a few pictures and things.

22. What is the nursery theme? Just over the top girls. It's a little shabby/chic but mostly pretty princessy.

23. Tell me all of the things you have bought for the baby: Crib, clothes, stroller, that's about it this time around. We need to do a little more shopping for some basics.

24. Have you had your baby shower yet? No shower this time. We just had a girl 16 months ago so we have plenty.

25. Best thing you got at the baby shower/or thing you hope to get at the baby shower:

26. Who is planning your baby shower or who planned it?

27. Are you nervous for the birth? Just a little because again, you never know what will happen. I'm hoping since it's the 3rd time around everything will go as smoothly as it has before but only God knows what the outcome will be.

28. Do you think you will be embarrassed if your water breaks in public? That could be awkward  but mostly I'd be happy because t hat will mean baby is arriving on it's own and probably a little early since I'll hope to be induced right on or immediately after my due date.

29. Did you know that vaginal birth hurts for just as long as a c-section birth, after the baby is born? This is kind of a weird question that I disagree with depending on the circumstances. Since we have two kids I hope recovery goes roughly the same as the last two.

30. Will you be able to have natural birth, with no drugs? I could but not interested anymore. Been there done that and for me....I'll take the drugs please!! :) 

30 weeks with #3

I've finally hit the single digit countdown with 9.5 weeks left until due date. Along with that I've been hit with a few of the regular aches and pains that come along with the end of pregnancy. Crazy enough I don't have a lot of hip pain which was almost debilitating in the last two pregnancies. I've got some pretty serious lower back pain, some literal pains in the butt, and starting to feel a little kicked between the legs but so far things are manageable. I've gained about 40lbs so far so looks like I'm on track for the 50 I gained with Eli. That's a bummer but I don't care too much. I've been working out and I feel pretty good so I'll just have to worry about that later.

Eli seems a little excited about his new baby sister. He asks about her sometimes. We went with the name Taylor Elaine Motley and we've changed it several times so he's not sold on this name but he often says he's ready to have his new baby sister here or that he's ready to pick her up. I think the transition from 2-3 will be fairly easy with him because he just went through this change not too long ago and now seems to enjoy it. We started a chore/reward chart for him in hopes to get him just a bit more independant before the new baby arrives. It's an app that rewards him stars and he is really loving it! So are we!

Noelle is just as cute as ever! She wobbles around the house all day looking around and laughing. She gives Dadda a hard time and demands lots of cuddles and carrying but I recently read a blog post from when Eli was 15 months and he seemed to want to be carried a lot at that age as well so perhaps it's a normal stage. She's not so bad about it with me but Dadda likes to spoil her. I can see her having some jealousy issues with the new baby and I'm not so sure how she'll adjust but I'm hoping she'll be young enough that the transition stage won't be too rough for too long.

We had our first niece born yesterday! She was 8lb 7oz named Elizabeth Diane King. I am so excited that we'll have 3 girls in the family all within just 1.5 years. They'll be so close in age and hopefully close friends as they grow up. Eli and his cousins CJ and Daniel are all pretty close in age and Jack is also only about 2 years difference so I love that my sweet babies will have cousins to play with.

Danielle

Motley Party of 5!

I was looking back on this blog the other day and realized that documenting the process of building a family is so important. Time goes by so fast. In fact...our 2nd is already one and turning into a beautiful toddler. We are also expecting our 3rd in just 12 LONG short weeks. (WHY is the 3rd trimester so hard?!?) Noelle continues to be such a blessing in our life. She is a happy, chunky, cuddly little baby. She is 15 months. She started walking a few weeks ago and it's just so darn cute. She loves hugs, she eats pretty much anything though she prefers her diet more like her dads and thats carbs, meats, and cheese. Eli is starting to play with his little sister more and they get on each others nerves some too. His favorite game is tossing her onto a big floor pillow. It's definitely an accident waiting to happen but they both love it so I guess we'll wait until it does. Eli is 4 and so sweet. We still struggle with somethings about him (anger, roughness, rowdiness) but overall he is turning into a loving, sweet boy. He recently started t-ball and we just signed him up for karate. We've also been trying to get him into a public school for 4k. The general consensus is that he would thrive better in a full day school with more kids and free schooling doesn't sound bad either. I get a little sad thinking about because we love taking random trips in he middle of the year and week and that will put a damper on on that. I also get sad because there's no turning back. Once he is in school he is there for good and he still seems so young. I want to really savor his last year out of school but I know with two little ones it will probably be more stress than enjoyment to have all 3 home with me.
On that note, I guess I'll do a quick recap on my 3rd pregnancy. It started off a little icky but nothing too extreme. I ate a lot and gained a lot of weight fast. The 2nd trimester seemed to take longer to arrive in that it took longer to get rid of my morning sickness and ickyness. Later I felt great and I am just into my 3rd trimester. So far my hip pain and other pains have been more manageable which is surprising since it's the 3rd time around but I'll take it! Hope it last so I can keep working out for a little while.
Well Eli just woke up being all cute so let me go.
Danielle