{lately}

This month has been crazy

Adjusting to life as a family of four is a lot harder than i thought it would be! 

Don't get me wrong, it is absolutely amazing & we love our sweet little guy, but.. it's hard having 2 kids!

We have one going through the beginnings of the terrible twos {I now know why they call it that}, & another who nurses every hour, day & night, & likes to be held & cuddled 24/7..

Most days, Giuliana & I don't even change out of our jammies & our meals consist of oatmeal, cereal, smoothies, or frozen chicken nuggets.. She doesn't seem to mind  :) 

Every day is getting a tiny bit easier though, so i definitely see a light at the end of the tunnel.

Our sweet girl has grown up over night! Its crazy, since we brought Liam home, she seems so big! She's not a baby anymore... it makes me kind of sad. But it is so fun watching her show off the new things she's learned {Counting, singing, dancing} She is so outgoing and fun! & she is so sweet with her little brother. We have had no issues with jealousy.. yet. haha

Liam is growing up fast too! 

When he was born he was 9lbs. He is now almost 11 lbs!! He such a little chunkster ;)

He has begun to coo & give a hint of a smile.  

He's only 4 1/2 weeks old, but it feels like he's always been here.

This month has flown by

He's a sweet boy

I've been MIA with the blog because, well, its hard to keep up with a blog when you can hardly keep up with the laundry 

Soon enough, it will get easier I'm sure. I'm enjoying every hectic minute, because i know that time flies by way too fast. 

I love my sweet babies

Happy friday ;) 

{1 week}

This little man is one week old today :)

Its been quite a week! 

Last monday, we were driving to the hospital to have this little guy. 

A few people have emailed me & commented saying congratulations, Thank you guys! 

A few mama's have asked if i was able to have the vbac i was preparing for. 

Sadly, the answer is no.

Near the end of my pregnancy we had some complications & i ended up having to schedule a repeat cesarean for safety reasons. I was heartbroken at first. I felt robbed of an experience for the second time & like my body just kept failing at doing something it should be able to do. 

 It took me a couple weeks to come to terms with it. 

I prayed a lot about it & realized it was out of my control & i wasn't going to let this small thing ruin our happiness & joy. I'm glad i did too. 

Last monday was a great day.

 We woke up, played with our daughter, dropped her off at my in laws, then had some time just for my husband & I. We drove to the hospital together & the peace & calm we felt this time was amazing.

We knew what to expect this time. No surprises.

The staff that was on that day was so wonderful too. They made us feel so comfortable. We all laughed and talked like old friends. 

I was able to talk to them about my experience last time & how horrible & scary it was 

{I had a bad reaction to the anesthesia & was given waaay too many pain meds, to name a few things}

This time, I was able to sit & talk with the anesthesiologist about different options for medicine for the surgery, & he was so kind & helpful & understanding. 

We went back in the OR & i was surprisingly calm. Last time i hyperventilated & panicked for so long, my surgery ended up being a lot later than it had been scheduled for. 

This time though, I was at peace. 

I knew i was bringing my sweet boy into this world in a matter of minutes & i was ready to meet him. 

They gave me the spinal, i layed down, they prepped their stations & talked to me, asking me about giuliana & my husband, & plans for our new little babe. There was christmas music playing in the background, {not kidding!}, & that added to the joyful mood in the room. 

Once i was all prepped, they let my husband in the room and he sat by my side, rubbing my hair. 

Since it was our second cesarean, they allowed William to take video. 

William was able to videotape our son being born, pulled from my tummy, taking his first breaths. 

I heard his sweet cries & i myself began to cry. 

It was over. 

it was done. 

HE WAS HERE

finally. 

I could hear the nurses "Look at the little dimple in his chin!" "Look at all that dark hair!"

The nurse brought him directly to my face, still connected, still covered in goop.

He was so beautiful

& he did have the cutest dimple in his chin, just like his daddy

I kissed his sweet little face & cried the happiest tears. 

Being able to see him that soon was something i had not expected. {Last time i didn't see giuliana until she was already cleaned up.}

William cut the cord & followed the nurse to recovery while i was sewn back up. 

The nurses all clapped & talked about how beautiful our sweet liam was. 

I was still calm, but filled with so much joy. 

In recovery, i held him right away. 

The anesthesia they used this time was so different. I was actually aware enough to know exactly what was going on around me. I held him skin to skin and talked with my sweet husband.

It was such a great experience

The whole time we were at the hospital, i only took Motrin. I refused all the strong pain meds they had given me last time. & i am so glad i did. 

I was fully functional the entire time we were at the hospital. Breastfeeding was so much easier this time because i wasn't an emotional wreck. My Milk came in on the second day {Last time it was day 4}

He's such a good little nurser. 

We also came home a lot sooner than last time. We only stayed 2 nights, last time it was 4. 

All in all, a much better experience than last time. 

Even though it was not the birth i had planned, it was so beautiful in it's own way, & i am very blessed to have 2 beautiful, healthy children. 

Being home with our little guy has been so fun. 

Our daughter Loves him so much. 

Every morning she runs into our room to say good morning to him. 

Well she actually says "Hey bud, goodmorning, time to wake up!"

Its seriously so cute

It's only been a week but it feels like he's always been here

I love my family

Happy monday :)

{Liam}

Meet Liam Joseph Johnston

Born at 12:49pm 

Monday, November 18th

8lbs 15.9 oz

He is perfect!

 We are so in love with him

Giuliana cant get enough of him

She's been such a big helper 

So happy to finally hold our sweet boy in our arms

We're in heaven

happy friday 

{DIY toddler tutu}

We had a fun halloween this year!

We ate dinner with our neighbor friends & walked around the neighborhood together.

Our daughters are Best friends, & are only a few months apart in age. 

Watching them run around the neighborhood trick or treating together like big kids was so fun to watch!

Giuliana's costume was super last minute. Like, the night before halloween, running around walmart, party city, target etc looking for a pair of cat ears, last minute. We had another costume for her but the day before halloween we put it on her & she cried and cried saying it was too itchy! 

So we tried to come up with the simplest costume we could think of, a kitty! We already had a black shirt, black pants & makeup, We just needed kitty ears! & Believe it or not, they were super hard to find, being it was the night before halloween. I ended up getting the very last pair at the store. While running around all the stores, i came up with the idea of making a tutu to go with her kitty costume, to make it a little more fun. I gathered all the materials i thought i would need & headed home! 

I figured out how to make a tutu {Never done it before} & finished it in about 40 minutes. 

It was the perfect nap time project on halloween!

Here's what you need:

Tulle 

{I bought 75 yards, used 3/4 of it}

Scissors

Needle & thread

elastic 

{I got 3/4 in}

Something to wrap the Tulle around for cutting 

{I used my rotary cutter guide board}

Begin wrapping your tulle around your chosen object.

I used my rotary cutter guide board.

Wrap until you have used all of your tulle.

I had 2 30 yard black tulle rolls and 1 15 yard black glitter roll of tulle.

Once you've wrapped all of your tulle, cut BOTH ends of the wrapped tulle

You will end up with a bunch of strips of tulle. 

Mine were 6x23 in 

Cut your elastic to size & hand stitch the ends together.

I didn't measure, i just guessed! 

{by the way, can you tell we do a lot of projects on our table? paint & glitter everywhere!} 

Put your elastic on something to hold it in place. 

I just put it on my thigh

Begin tying your tulle strips on one by one. 

Slide one end under the elastic, fold over so the ends meet & double knot.

Easy peasy

Keep going!

Make it nice & full! 

I used a little over 3/4 of the tulle.

I did 4 black tulle strips, then 1 black glitter tulle strip, to add a tiny bit of sparkle. 

The glitter got EVERYWHERE by the way.

My entire body and the carpet was COVERED in black glitter.

nothing a little wet paper towel & a quick vacuum session couldn't fix though : )

When you're done it should look like this! 

Nice & poofy! 

She loved it! 

It looked soooo cute

Everyone was obsessed, especially me! 

Easiest project ever. Like i said it took me 40 minutes from start to finish.

{The daddys with their girls}

{G with her great grandparents}

{Cheese!}

{We decided to be twins ;)  )

Hope everyone had a wonderful halloween! 

Happy saturday & happy crafting! 

{Maternity photos}

Earlier this month, we did a maternity/family photo session with 

our dear friend Jen from Kreatid Photography

Jen is so talented! Looking at the photos just puts a big smile on my face :) 

I thought I would share a few of them with you guys! 

{Uhm can you say Hottie?? & He's all mine ;) I'm a lucky girl}

Ok i know said a few.. but i couldn't resist sharing A LOT! 

I love every picture she took

It will be so fun to look back at these pictures years from now, & see how small Giuliana was, how big my belly was & how young & handsome William was {& still will be!!} 

Time goes by so fast, & pictures are a big way to preserve the sweet memories that we make

& to document the tiny details we may have otherwise forgotten 

Can't wait to meet our sweet little boy! 

Carrying him in my belly has been such a joy & privilege, but I seriously cannot wait to hold him in my arms & kiss his sweet tiny face! 

Less than 6 weeks to go!

Happy friday friends :) 

*All Images taken & owned by Jen with Kreatid Photography 

Check out her site!