A Great Blog

what sleep?

2010-08-22T08:12:00.000-04:00

It really amazes me how you can manage on consistently very little sleep. Before kids, I thought I needed a good 7-8 hours to function... haha! That literally makes me laugh out loud now. If I get a few hours straight I'm doing good. But it doesn't really bother me - I guess you can get used to being a walking zombie.

It's partly our fault though... we stay up late watching tv. I know we shouldn't, but we enjoy that down time together to end the day. We never got into the show Lost when it came on, but we decided to start watching it on Netflix. Man... how did people wait a week between episodes?? The show is crazy addictive. We're in season 3 now. I can't wait till tonight... Kate and Sawyer just got away from the others, and I'm curious to see how everyone will react to their situation. Ack! Anyhow... we might get some sleep if we weren't addicted to that show. :)

Haley has started saying 'baby' (not 'buh buh' or 'baba' - 'ba-by') and 'uh oh'! It's so cute. ♥ She said 'night night' once, with the N and everything! She's consistent with 'dada' for Seth and 'buh buh' for me, and with yes ('sss') and no ('oooh'). If she's in the mood, she'll try to repeat anything we ask her to. She has made remarkable improvements. We'll have to get a new video soon - we're SO proud of her! And Blake? I'm pretty sure he'll be giving speeches by next week.

Some recent pictures...

We're about to upgrade their car seats, so I had to get a picture of them in these.

warning: super mushy post ahead

2010-08-18T14:11:00.000-04:00

I've been thinking a lot lately about what I love about my family. Sappy, I know... But it is what it is.

I'll start with Seth. We've been together almost 12 years (married for 7). We were 15 and 16 years old when we started dating. That seems crazy young thinking back... my sisters and brother are that age now. I guess that's what happens when you get old - younger ages seem much younger. When you're 15, 30 is like 50. When you're 30, 15 is like 10. Or something like that.

So what do I love about Seth?

• He loves me. That's not an easy job I'm sure!
• He's an incredible husband. I can't even put into words all the things he does for me and our marriage. He just - is - a great husband. Period.
• He's so kind.
• He's a super daddy. I love watching him play with Haley and Blake, and the way they are with him - it's nothing but love.
• He's a hard worker. He's great at what he does, and he's passionate about doing it right and well.
• I could go on and on, but I think I got my point across (and I haven't started on the kids' lists yet!). He's a great man, and I'm so blessed to have him.

What do I love about Haley?

• She's SO sweet. I'm not just saying that because I'm her mother - she really has a very kind heart.
• She always makes her babies/dolls hug and kiss. Barbies, army men, Yo Gabba Gabba characters, farm animals, dinosaurs... they all have to hug and kiss. The ones with arms are best.
• She loves her brother and tries to include him. This morning Haley and I were kind of dancing, bobbing our heads to a song. She put her hand on Blake's head and carefully helped him bob along too.
• She's a great player. She sits with her toys for a long time and plays so well. She makes lots of noises with her sweet little voice - it's so fun to just sit and watch her.
• Sometimes at night she wakes up for no other reason than she wants one of us (Seth since Blake was born) to sleep with her. So sweet!

What do I love about Blake?

• The way he looks up at me when I'm feeding him... It's perfection.
• Sometimes he sucks his thumb. It's so cute!
• He's really talkative and animated. I could sit all day and talk to him and make him laugh.
• He's a pretty good sleeper at night. He doesn't sleep through the night - I don't expect him to. But he does sleep a pretty long stretch, and when he wakes up to eat he usually goes back to sleep very quickly and easily.
• When he's upset, I lay down to feed him. He cuddles into me and settles right down. That alone makes me so happy to be his mommy.

I could go on and on and on about all of them. They are my world, and I would not be who I am without them in my life.

That was probably mushy enough. How about a few pictures. :)

family portraits

2010-07-27T09:19:00.005-04:00

We wanted family portraits with each of our families. My brother was home from Afghanistan for a couple weeks, and Seth's brother is about to move to Savannah. It seemed like a good time to get a portrait with each family.

This is my family, minus my older brother.

This is Seth's family.

We're blessed to have such great family close by.

Random thought... Last night I dreamed we were ready to try for another baby. I must have ingested something toxic before bed. Ack!

More pictures? Sure! :)

Their eyes make me melt. ♥

big update

2010-07-22T12:50:00.003-04:00

It's hard to find computer time these days, hence the lack of blogging the past couple months. I'll try to keep this thing more up-to-date. I'm thinking about trying a photo blog type thing. If I do I'll add the link to my sidebar. :)

Blake is such a good baby. He got super fussy there for a while, and his pediatrician prescribed Zantac for him. That helped him a LOT, and after 2 weeks of that we decided to see how he does without it. He hasn't had it for a couple weeks now and has been fine. Seems like it was a temporary problem. He's not much of a napper... he cat-naps all day. But I don't' worry about it since he sleeps pretty well at night. He's such a talker, and he's so happy! It's really easy to get smiles and coos from him. His ability to talk reaffirms Haley's speech problems - she never cooed like he does. Another thing about Blake... he HATES riding in the car. That makes it pretty hard to go out anywhere. Haley hated the car for a while too, but she got better. I know he will too.

Haley's been seeing a speech therapist through the early intervention program, but we also got with another speech therapist who sort of specializes in apraxia. Haley's too young for an "official" diagnosis, but everyone seems to agree that it definitely looks like that's what she has. We've been working on different things, and she's made a LOT of progress! She can say 'dada', 'buh buh buh', and 'eesh' to try different words. She's doing so great and trying so hard. We're so very proud of her.

So how is it having 2 little ones? I won't lie - it's not easy. Housework and showers are luxuries that don't always happen every day. (Did I just admit that publicly? Ugh...) I spend my days changing diapers, feeding them, cleaning after them, helping Haley with mouth exercises, helping Blake learn to roll over, getting Blake to sleep, playing with either/both of them, watching Dora, dealing with tantrums, playing outside when it's not too brutal, etc etc etc... Does that sound fun? It doesn't to me just reading it. But overall I REALLY love staying home with them. Yes it's hard, yes there are things I'd like to do that I can't right now (start a photography business, take a random spur-of-the-moment trip, have a relaxing meal out, type with 2 hands, etc...). But I wouldn't trade my situation for anything. It's so fulfilling taking care of them. Before we know it they'll be in school and I'll miss the days of trying to appease 2 crying babies at once.

How about a "few" pictures? :)

Haley's Speech

2010-05-27T13:18:00.003-04:00

Haley has made a few improvements in her speech, but she still isn't really talking. Her speech therapist thinks (and we agree) that she may have Apraxia. Cognitively she's right where she should be, but she has a hard time getting her mouth to make words. We're looking into options for her so she can get the help she needs. I read online that a lot of people have had success giving their apraxic kids fish oil, so I started that Tuesday. Hopefully that'll help her too. This video was taken yesterday, and you can see how she knows what to say but can't. She's really trying though, and she's so smart.

I spoke too soon about Blake not being a fussy baby. He's still much less fussy than Haley was, but he does cry a lot now. Not much at night, but a lot during the day and evening. He does have some awake happy times too though. He's actually pretty vocal already... he coos and 'talks' a lot. I don't remember Haley doing that. Maybe he won't have any speech problems.

Even with all the things we're dealing with with our babies, we still love them both more than life. They're so very sweet. Haley loves her brother and doesn't show any jealousy yet.

Blake had his one month appointment on the 21st. He gained almost 3 lbs in 3 1/2 weeks. :) His doctor said he had better head control than most one-month-olds. To quote her... "keep doing whatever you're doing!". :) We're so blessed to have two healthy and beautiful babies. ♥

A few pictures, 'cause that's what I do :)

3 weeks old

playing outside

4 weeks old

sibling love

one month old

swimming

Adjusting

2010-05-06T12:14:00.003-04:00

Blake is such a good baby so far. Not that there are bad babies... just more difficult ones. Like Haley was. :) I really think she was colicky, especially after seeing how laid back Blake is. He doesn't cry much, and he sleeps and eats really well. Of course I'm not picking favorites and never will. I love them both more than life. But it's nice to have an easy baby this time!

Haley is sooo sweet with him, she really seems to love him already. She never acts jealous or anything. We're still working on teaching her that she can't play rough with him, but she's never mean to him.

I've had fun photographing him. I love photographing Haley, but it's even more fun with both of them. And it's really challenging getting them both in the same shot.

He was 4 days old in these:

First real bath, the day his cord stump fell off (1 week old):

Big sister:

These were taken on his due date (1 1/2 weeks old):

These were taken today (2 weeks 1 day old):

First tummy time:

Play time on the floor:

Blake's Birthday

2010-04-24T16:32:00.004-04:00

Wednesday, April 21, 2010 – 5:08 am

8 lbs 5 oz, 21 ¾ inches

I had some contractions over the weekend and Monday and Tuesday – nothing too strong. Tuesday they started getting more intense and somewhat regular off and on. When we went to bed Tuesday night I was able to relax through the contractions and sleep between them. Around 12:00 I couldn’t sleep, and by about 2:00 I couldn’t lay down and had a hard time relaxing through them. The pain was all in my back – he was sunny side up.

We called Seth's parents at 3 am (so they could come stay with Haley) and got to the hospital at 4. The contractions were VERY intense and close together at that point. I had decided I wanted the epidural by the time we got to the hospital (even though I was planning to try to go natural). I was 10 cm when we got there, so it was too late for the epidural. They got me into my room and got things ready. I could feel him coming down… I knew it wouldn’t be long. My water broke with a contraction, and then my doctor walked in just in time. It only took 3 pushes. The first time I freaked out and stopped. The second push was more productive. The last push got him out.. head, shoulders, and all. Such a relief!

He came out face-up, but he was perfectly healthy. I was able to hold him right away and nurse him. He didn’t have any trouble nursing from the beginning. He ate 3 different times within the first 2 hours, and then he slept most of the rest of the day. During the afternoon/evening/night he nursed great.

Thursday morning he had his circumcision done, and then we got ready to go home. We were home by 3:30. He’s been doing great... he’s not a very fussy baby so far.

We’re adjusting to our new family dynamic. We’re used to being able to help each other, and it’s different when Seth has to be with one while I have to be with the other. We’re doing really well though. I love love love having 2 kids. ♥

Our Easter Weekend

2010-04-07T09:22:00.006-04:00

We had a great Easter weekend! Saturday we went to my sister's house for her son's birthday party. They had a blow-up jumpy thing, and Haley loved it! They also had a net set up and various balls to play with. Haley had to throw all the balls over the net and hit them with the badminton racket. She's pretty good at playing ball - she may have gotten all the sport genes that skipped Seth and me. :)

Happy birthday Cameron!

Sunday afternoon we went to my parents' for a meal and egg hunt, then we went to Seth's parents' for a meal and egg hunt (just for Haley). She did much better with it this year. Last year she was super crabby - she just pitched a fit and wouldn't do anything but throw a big egg (which was actually a decoration and not part of the egg hunt).

Just for fun... this is from her first Easter.

Last Easter...

And this Easter...

And just a few more cute pictures...

8 months down, 1 to go!

2010-03-31T18:25:00.004-04:00

Blake is doing great! He has the hiccups at least once or twice a day, and he's very active. We had an ultrasound yesterday because I hadn't been gaining any weight. His size is right on target, and his fluids are great. During the ultrasound he yawned a few times and sucked on a couple of his fingers. :)

Haley's really been trying to talk more lately. She watches us talk and moves her mouth. We're getting there. :) I wrote down all the signs she knows - it was around 40. The quality is terrible, but you can see her trying to sing in this video.

Too cute. :) Just a few recent pictures...

Spring!

2010-03-08T13:10:00.004-05:00

Ok, so it's not *technically* Spring yet, but the weather has been so nice lately! We've had lots of good outside fun, at home and at local parks.

Daddy's Girl

2010-02-23T22:18:00.003-05:00

Haley is such a Daddy's girl, and that makes me so very happy. They have so much fun playing together, and they have their time before bed every night while she drinks her milk. ♥ We have our fun during the day, but when Seth is home she prefers to play with him and sit with him. Makes my heart smile. :)

Throwing paper airplanes

snow day!

2010-02-15T12:22:00.004-05:00

We got about 4 1/2 inches of snow Friday night, and Haley had a blast playing in it! Seth made snowballs for her, and she had a lot of fun throwing them. :)

This was when the snow first started falling. She wasn't too sure about it, but she liked it!

Then it REALLY started coming down.

Typical Haley... didn't want to keep her hat on.

So pretty...

The next day, sun and snow! :)

to sleep or not to sleep

2010-02-11T16:13:00.004-05:00

Haley has gotten better about sleeping at night... She has slept through the night the past 2 nights. On the flip side, she has mostly quit taking naps. Yesterday I made sure she got a nap since she woke up at 6:30 am, but then she wouldn't go to sleep last night until 10:30. :-O It takes about 1 1/2 hours to get her down for her nap, and then another 1 1/2 hours to get her down at night. When we skip her nap, it usually takes about 10 minutes to get her down at night. So weighing the pros and cons... I'm going to quit trying for a nap unless she's obviously super tired. Seems like a good trade-off to me, especially if she starts sleeping through the night more often.

A few recent pictures...

Progress

2010-02-03T10:53:00.003-05:00

Haley has made a lot of progress with her speech in the past week. Friday night we were playing a 'ready set go' type game. I stopped for a minute because Seth asked me something, and Haley tried to say 'ready' to keep the game going. It came out as 'airy'. :) She did it a few more times, so we know it wasn't a fluke. We're counting it as her first word since it's her first obvious attempt at a real word. It was a very exciting moment and very unexpected! We knew she would talk when she was ready, but actually hearing her try it was the coolest thing ever. Since then, she has been more interested in watching us say things and trying to mimic us. I have a feeling the explosion of words isn't too far away.

Speaking of smarty-pants things... After speech this morning, she grabbed a magnadoodle toy and scribbled something that looked like a '2' (she didn't mean to write a '2' but it definitely looked like one). She looked at it for a second and then held up 2 fingers. :) We didn't tell her it was a 2 or anything - it was all her. We work on numbers and counting with our fingers, so it was fun to see that she picked it up. I'll try to get her to do it again for a video.

The pregnancy is going really well - we made it to the 3rd trimester! We decided on a name - Blake Arthur Filkins. Blake and Haley sound great together, and Blake just feels right. :) I think I'm carrying him higher than I did Haley - he's squishing my stomach and lungs already. Eating the smallest amount of anything gives me heartburn, and I get winded very easily. It's not too bad overall, and I'm so excited to meet our little guy in a few short months!

As the weather gets warmer, I'm hoping to be able to do more photoshoots. Once the kids are older I plan to concentrate on building a photography business. For now, I'd like to do a few photoshoots when I can. If you know of anyone who would be interested, send them my way (www.alyssafilkins.com). :)

A few recent pictures and videos of Haley...

"I'm 2!"

Videos:

Crazy cat

reflections

2010-01-19T13:36:00.005-05:00

I can't believe I'm saying this... but Haley is 2 years old today. Where did the time go? It seems like just yesterday she was a tiny precious little baby with a conehead. :)

Now she's a sweet little girl. I've learned a lot in the past 2 years.

- It is possible to function on little to no sleep.

- Babies can poop 5 feet from their bottom.

- If your baby is a bad eater for a while, it doesn't mean she won't be a great eater later on.

- You can love a tiny little person so much it hurts.

- Breastfeeding HURTS for a while.

- You shouldn't give your breastfed baby a bottle unless you're prepared for the possibility of them preferring the bottle.

- It's not possible to take too many pictures of your baby.

- Your husband becomes a different person in some ways after having a baby, and it's incredible.

- Dora and SpongeBob are super annoying, but they can actually grow on you after a while.

- Not all kids start talking at the same age, and it's perfectly ok.

I could go on and on and on... Being a mom has been the best experience of my life. Haley is so sweet, cuddly, (can I say it?) beautiful, and so smart. She amazes us every day with something new she has learned. It's so much fun to watch her grow, and we're looking forward to many more birthdays!

Happy birthday, sweetheart. We love you more than life!

We're having a BOY!

2009-12-18T15:29:00.003-05:00

We're so very excited... Haley's going to have a little brother!! ♥ We've been thinking about names and nursery ideas. The pregnancy has been going really well. I've lost close to 20 lbs, but I'm pretty sure I'll start gaining now that my appetite is back. He's very wiggly and kicks a lot.

There's definitely no doubt that he's a boy!

The tech had a hard time getting a good shot of his face... He kept his arms up by his face the same way Haley did during her ultrasound.

We went to Disney for a few days and had a blast. Haley did so well! We can't wait to go back (when we don't have to worry about naps and strollers). :)

swine flu

2009-11-20T09:53:00.003-05:00

Last Thursday and Friday Haley woke up with a 102 fever. We kept it down with Tylenol, but she was generally pitiful. Friday I took her to her doctor, and she tested positive for h1n1 flu. She never got a cough or anything... she was just whiny and pitiful for a few days. She got a very mild case, and we're so thankful. Friday night I started coughing, and I felt rough off and on for a few days. The cough just got worse the past few days but seems better now. We're both doing great! I still have a bit of the cough to get over, but I can deal with that. :)

The pregnancy is going really well. Yesterday I felt baby moving and kicking a lot. :) We'll find out in a few weeks if it's a boy or girl - I can't wait!! Haley's going to be a great big sister.

Haley still isn't talking, but she's been signing more. It'll be interesting to see if she starts talking before her 2nd birthday!

Fall Fun

2009-10-27T16:08:00.004-04:00

We had a great weekend. We took Haley to the pumpkin patch and then up into the mountains. It was SO COLD up there... it was perfect! :)

happy girl

2009-10-12T11:19:00.003-04:00

Haley has been especially smiley lately. I think she's excited about being a big sister. :)

I hate that this one is so blurry... it's such a sweet smile. <3

She did get into the speech therapy program, so hopefully they'll be able to help with a boost to get her talking. We won't be able to get her to be quiet before long, and that will be perfectly ok. :)

good news!

2009-10-04T19:40:00.002-04:00

We're pregnant! :) We're 10 weeks today, baby is due May 2nd. So far things have been going well. I've had some days where I'm super nauseated, and other days where I'm mostly fine. I've been losing weight, but I lost 15 lbs with Haley before I start gaining. So I'm not worried about that at all. We had an ultrasound on September 21st... baby's heart rate was 169. Perfectly healthy. :)

Haley's doing well. She still isn't talking, but we may be getting some help for that. She was evaluated and doesn't have any actual problems. She just doesn't want to talk. :p If she gets in the program we're looking into, she'll get a little boost to help her start talking. Some kids are just late talkers, I know, but she gets frustrated when she can't tell us what she needs or wants. And that's frustrating for us. So we'll see if she can get this boost to get her going. According to the evaluations, she's at or above where she should before everything but speaking and her hearing is fine.

In other news, we have a kitten now. She was in our driveway one morning, and thankfully Seth noticed her. She was pitiful... she was barely moving, her eyes were crusted shut, and she was covered in fleas.

Now she's playful, happy, and flea-less. Her eyes are fine after a week of antibiotic.

Other recent pictures:

Savannah, GA / Tim & Kylie's Wedding

2009-08-25T08:22:00.002-04:00

We went to Savannah, GA over the weekend for Tim & Kylie's wedding. It was a great weekend!

We drove down Friday afternoon. The drive was long and boring, but the clouds were beautiful.

Friday night we drove out to Tybee Island to eat at the Crab Shack. It was really rainy, but the food was good. There was a nice rainbow on the way there, once some of the rain cleared up.

Saturday morning Seth and I took Haley downtown to River Street. She had a blast running around and looking at the water and boats.

She walked along the edge of the water, jumping and walking on everything (with Seth's help of course).

Walking across the cobblestone street

Saturday afternoon we got ready and went to the garden for pictures before the wedding. It was raining, so the wedding couldn't be in the garden like they wanted. It was still really nice though.

The cake was pretty messed up, but they didn't let it get in the way of enjoying their day. :)

Sunday morning I followed the photographer (Seth's cousin - cherishedmemoriesonline.com) around downtown taking pictures.

Then we grabbed some lunch before heading home.

Overall it was a great weekend, even though it rained and Haley was fussy and uncooperative at the wedding. We may go back to Savannah so we have plenty of time to enjoy it. :)

just a few recent pictures

2009-08-17T20:29:00.002-04:00

I just thought I'd post these because I like them. :)

Today she was sitting on the couch eating her mid-morning snack, and she just fell asleep. She's never done that before, I was shocked! How precious is she? :)

such a big girl

2009-08-14T14:32:00.002-04:00

We decided to see if she would sleep on a mattress on the floor rather than her crib. We had a spare full-size mattress, so I got it in her room and braced for a few rough nights. But to our surprise she slept much better!

She slept through the night a few nights in a row, and she's been taking great naps. The past few nights she hasn't been sleeping well, but I think her teeth have been bothering her. She has one (left of the top middle 2) that has been coming down for forever. It's at a point just under the gums but doesn't want to pop through. I'm pretty sure that's why she's had such a fussy few days.

(she's laughing in this picture, not crying :) )

Oh, and she's finally starting to try talking now! It's later than she should be talking... she's just taking her time. :) She's been babbling with Bs, Ms, and Ds. She's specifically been trying to say 'dada' and 'mama'. It's cute and exciting to hear her little voice.

Just a few recent pics, because that's what I do. :)

reading a photography book

little artist

she's getting pretty good at feeding herself with a fork

being silly

hanging with Daddy

18 months pictures

2009-07-23T17:06:00.002-04:00

We decided to take Haley to the Athens Botanical Gardens for some 'real' 18 month pictures. I'm actually impressed with how some of them turned out. :)

18 months old / bad pregnancy news

2009-07-21T13:18:00.003-04:00

We had a miscarriage over the weekend, at almost 8 weeks. It's a very sad and heartbreaking thing of course, but we're at peace about it now. Everything happens for a reason. This just wasn't our time to have another baby. We'll try again when we're ready, but for now we're perfectly content with our beautiful perfect baby girl. I plan to work on really getting healthy, and I plan to throw myself into photography. We're dealing with everything ok, and are moving on as best as we can. We really appreciate all the thoughts and prayers everyone has outpoured to us. We have a great family and friends... we couldn't be more grateful.

Nothing heals a broken heart like an 18-month-old sweetheart. She's so sweet and playful, and such a Daddy's Girl! :) It seems like she's been especially sweet through this whole ordeal. Of course she doesn't know what's going on, but it's heartwarming to get a big hug from her. We got some cute pictures of her last night. I couldn't get her to look at me for any of them, but they're still pretty cute. :)