Sometimes!!!!

Post pregnancy- sometimes you cry!

I have been less emotional this time around for the most part, way more relaxed than my first. With that being said, whether it is due to lack of sleep, hormones, or anxiety, sometimes you can't help the tears. 

Sometimes they are tears of frustration or anxiety because I am on a strict feeding schedule.

Sometimes they come when people do nice things for you, like now cause my cute husband is trying to make my day better by cleaning up, taking the baby so I can nap, and just being helpful. 

Sometimes it's because you are holding a precious little angel and you feel so blessed.

Sometimes it is when the people you love leave and you are left to face this new phase on your own.

Sometimes they are for no reason you can think of. 

If I could control it I would! If it made sense that would make it better but sometimes you just can't help it. Like today! 

Delanys blessing day and tears have been coming for all sorts of reasons, but I can't help it! Bear with me, I just had a baby.

Welcome baby girl!

Delany was born the 16th at 8:12 pm. I went from 5 1/2 to crowning in a matter of minutes, although I am wondering if the nurse knew what she was doing. But she came after 3 pushes, which is nice and she was only 6 lbs 1 oz. Lets just say, thank heavens for small babies! 

Carter never peed when his diaper was off. Delany has done it many times...what is the deal? I thought it was a boy thing but apparently not.

How do people do it without help and I am so grateful I don't have to find out. My mom is a rock star, she came and looked after Carter while I had Delany and was in the hospital. It took away a lot of my stress away knowing Carter was not getting bounced around and that he was having fun with Grandma. Of course there will be some tears and a reality check when she leaves for me and Carter. Grandma takes a LOT longer putting him to bed than he gets with his parents. She sings every song she knows and Carter sings right along with her, but he loves it! She will never know the depth of my gratitude for the time,sacrifice and service she has given me. She is one of the most amazing women I know. She has made my life so much easier and stress free the past few weeks.Thank you!!!!!

Carter loves his baby sister. He holds her everyday. Sings to her. Pats her head. And whispers it will be okay to her when she is crying. He is so good with her and did better than I expected with the changes around our house. I think we are all starting to feel a little more comfortable with the addition to the home and family.  But he is a great big brother. 

It was cold and rainy when we took her home, so this outfit wasn't the best planned, but it is cute. The summer was so hot and September has turned chilly far sooner than I was ready for. Since baby girl is still a wee thing we have to bundle her up to keep her cozy! The first few days I could not get her to wake up to eat, she wanted to sleep. She is a pretty good sleeper and I get 4 hours at a time at night, which is amazing!

Her cry and squeals are a lot louder and more shrill than Carters were. I haven't even put a monitor in her room cause I know I will hear her. Of course that is also due to the fact that I am a lot more relaxed with her as my second child. I can deal with her crying and not get worried or anxious. I have been less emotional, although there have still been a few days where those hormones get me. But overall my recovery has been faster and my anxiety has been less. That is good for everyone!

She loves her baths and getting her hair washed. 

She likes her soother like her big brother does. Carter will try to stick her soother in her mouth sometimes, it's cute.

She is a little doll! Loves to be in the sunshine for naps.

Carter thinks her little sounds and hiccups are hilarious! He has even gotten the hiccups a few times, funny cause he hasn't had them since he was a baby.

Of course her weight isn't what it is supposed to be....not surprising. I didn't have cream with Carter and I don't have it with Delany. What can you do? They survive, right. 

Back to my amazing mom, she has been sewing up a storm since she has been here, on top of caring for me, my children, cooking, and cleaning. Do I really have to live up to that????? Exhausting to be the fantastic. She made the crib set and curtains and blankets for Delany's room. It turned out so cute. I love it. Now I will just wait for my sister Tami to get here and put the finishing touches on the room decorations. 

Here Carter is holding her and giving her her soother.

More bath time. It helps relax her most times.

Carter's caterpillar turned into a butterfly. It is so cool and he still looks for his butterfly to come back everyday.

Here he is chilling on a nice day. He loves sitting outside on his chair with his feet up. And he really LOVES Popsicle! The other day Carter was eating lunch and was talking about seeing a spider, then says " I'm just eating my curds and whey." We laughed. He comes up with some funny stuff.

My friend, Lori, made this hat for her, it is so cute.

While daddy was away for business we cheered on the Cougars and they beat the Aggies. Delany was dressed for the game and Carter was cheering for BYU with mom and Grandma, who both went to BYU.

Sweet sleeping baby!

I will try to post more frequently now that baby girl is here, but I make no promises. We love her lots and are so blessed to have a healthy baby girl in our family. 

Why

 Why did I let my doctor talk me into this again? I swear I thought I was going to be further along and more ready.... But then you get to the hospital and it feels like things are standing still. I would much rather wait this out at home. Ahhhhh! Plus it's like going to the mechanic when you hear a noise in your car and then get it there and it's gone. I was feeling more happening till I got to the hospital, now I  stuck here waiting.
Plus I had an intern try to put an IV in...... It was taking her 15 minutes as she kept trying to figure it out as I was ready to pass out. Finally she stopped and got a real nurse to put it in and it took her 1 minute. Honestly, I already have a hard enough time with needles without clueless interns.
I hate waiting around in a bed when I could just be going about my day. I promised this time I would wait till this baby was falling out of me.... But here I lie trying to let my body relax and be patient.
I was contracting Friday night and have felt her head between my legs, I convinced myself she was ready but now I am stuck here and waiting and I hate it! Please let it be faster and easier this time.

Disneyland

I realize no one reads this, especially since I haven't kept up on it. But it is kind of like my journal, so I need to do it for me.
This spring I took Carter to California for a friends wedding. My sister, Tami came with us to help out, she is awesome like that. Honestly, one of the most giving people I know. It is always hard for me to go to California and not get a little homesick for it. I loved my time there. But my new moto is there is a season for everything. You can't be perfect at everything all the time, because there are different things to focus on and use your talents for at different times in your life.  Right now my focus is on trying to raise my little family the best way I know how. My soapbox today is about teaching our children to be kind to everyone. I know kids will be kids and they are learning and growing, but it seems like a lot of parents don't even try to teach their kids the right way to act and respond. They just let their kids bully and be mean and ignore it. It makes me sad when Carter is trying to play with other kids and they are older and won't give him the time of day or are mean to him. I want to teach him to include others and be nice. I am grateful he has some amazing cousins on both sides that are willing to play with and include him even though he is younger. But I have got to think that is something they have been taught. I am trying to teach that to Carter everyday.
Anyway, there is my voice on that subject.
Back to our summer trip. Carter loved the plane ride and still talks about going on a plane back to Disneyland every day. It was months ago and he still refers to it daily, so he loved it.

He loved building sandcastles at the beach and running away from the water.

And it's important to know how to relax on the beach too with some snacks.

I love you HB!

Carter had his first bowling experience. I will tell you that he beat my sisters score and wasn't far behind me. Embarrassing, but true.

Pretty cute little bowler!

His favorite was Disneyland and the bus rides there. It was hilarious to watch him put all his might into pulling the weighs up. Good effort! 

He was nervous to actually meet Mickey or any other characters but still likes talking about Going to Mickey's house.

He thought he was big enough for a roller coaster but was anxious to get off once it started. In his defense, it did go really fast.

Here he is again pulling with all he has to get the sword out. Too cute!

Any time he sees a castle he usually thinks its a Temple. Love this kid!

We tried to get in as much as we could in one day but it wasn't a ton. We did hit a few rides in California adventure. 

Once again wasn't super excited to get a picture with Lightening McQueen, even though it is his favorite movie.

He did like collecting buttons.

Here is the real reason for the trip to SoCal, my good friend Jen got married. The sealing was beautiful and was a good reminder of all that is important. So happy for her!

It's always fun to see and reminisce with my amazing friends from California. Miss them.

Some

Some last little things I need to remember about summer and Carter. He is starting to be able to reason better which is nice. He is getting his independent streak. 

"I do it, myself!"

"No, please."

" let's think," and puts his finger to his cheek.

"That's a good idea."

He wanted to eat popcicle a everyday this summer. 

He is sleeping in a big boy bed and still waits for me to come let him out. Has stayed in his room from the first day and been so good about it. Now he will fool around in there for a while before going to bed but still doesn't come out. So thankful for that! He still is so good about taking naps, hope that lasts for lots longer. 

He still has no desire to be potty trained. But that will come.

He doesn't like slides but loves to climb. He has loved weekly park day with his cousins.

He is a sweet kid but isn't afraid to stick up for himself no matter how much bigger the other kid is. 

I couldn't ask for a better kid and I love him so much. He is so fun and I think he will love being a big brother. 

Attitude

This is Carter's stink face. Sometimes it is for no reason but it is usually if I tell him something he doesn't want to hear or do. "Just right now, mom!" "I promise..." It probably shouldn't make me laugh but many times it does. Are you seriously already giving me attitude kid......

The only movie Carter will watch is Cars movie. Everything else scares him. I figured Planes would be close enough to cars that we would be okay. So we took Carter for his first movie experience. He loved it, minus a preview where he started shaking and had to sit on my lap. He loved the popcorn and treats and wanted another movie when it was over. It is fun to see him growing up, he is fun.

I am way behind in blogging, so just a few summer highlights. Carter likes riding the motorcycle and here he is sporting his stylish helmet.

He loves golfing. Or rather he loves stealing his dads ball to be funny and loves racing the cart from hole to hole. That is a lot of running for his little legs. 

He likes hiding and having people come find him, even when he is in plain view. Now his thing is to pile pillows on top of him to hide. Funny kid!

Baby girl getting big, can't wait for her to get here and be able to bend over again.

Carter rode in his first parade in grandpa's Jeffrey. A Hickman tradition. He happily threw out candy and waved to everyone . 

He watched his dad play hockey and wanted to play too. He is actually a good little shot. He gets into it.

Look Who Is TWO!!!

My big boy is 2. For those that don't know he will be a big brother in September. Heaven help me! He is so fun though. Learning his colors, counting to 10, recognizing shapes and letters. He has a great memory. He loves reading and his new favorite show is Dora. He helps me with driving by yelling out whenever there is a stop sign. "Stop it sign" Or "stop it!" He is always learning to tell cars to get out of the way....that comes from both his dad and I....haha! He is a good eater. He is going through a phase where he is always worried about "scary monsters" I am not sure if he is really scared or just likes to say it. He does get scared, so we stick to safe shows and experiences as much as possible. We are loving being able to play outside again. Thank heavens for SPRING! He is still a mommas boy. He asks me to "hold you" all the time. He loves to sing and knows many songs and makes up some too. He is all about who's turn it is. Mommy's turn, or Carter's turn. Hopefully one day he will learn to share toys and not horde them when other kids are around. He is fun!

Again a swim birthday that Carter would not get in the water for....guess we need to rethink that for next year.

He did love his train tunnel cake. 

Party favors! Trains and bubbles!

We had lots of cousins to help celebrate. So that is always fun. Thanks to everyone for making the trip to celebrate with us.

My sister was a huge help, thank you! And Carter loved playing with her kids. We love when the Aland's come to visit.

Daddy was ready to swim, but Carter preferred playing with toys.

Lucas was Carter's favorite person to drag around or try to keep his toys away from. Lucas was a good sport!