He absolutely adores his big sister. Every time she comes into the room he stares at her, and for the most part she returns the adoration. I am so happy there hasn’t been too much jealousy from Rylie. I just pray that it stays that way as he gets older.

My little man weighs 17 pounds and is 26 1/4 inches long (90th for weight and 75th for height). He hasn’t rolled over yet, but is getting very close. I have a feeling he will be with in a week or so. He is reaching for toys and holding them tight. And as you can see from the next picture he is trying to sit up. He is getting so strong.

His drooling is also increasing by the buckets. The Dr. said he will probably get his first tooth by 6 months. He is working on them that’s for sure.

Look at this little stud. Can we say future ladies man? Haha I’m kidding. But he sure is a cutie!

I regret being a lazy bum this time around, but I learned my lesson. It’s taking me a whole lot longer to lose the weight and for a while there it was frustrating. I keep reminding myself that I was way out of shape after having Andrew, plus it’s only been 4 months! I am finally starting to see my hard work pay off and it keeps me motivated to KEEP GOING!

My diet consists of lots of fruits and veggies, whole grains, little to no sweets during the week and just healthier food decisions. I love making home-made pizzas for lunch which really are just a tortilla with a bunch of healthy toppings. My favorite is honey mustard sauce (just honey mustard with greek yogurt), cut up apples, shredded chicken and a sprinkle of fat-free feta. Bake at 350 until golden brown. It is so good! If I am in the mood for pizza I do a tortilla (Flat Out brand is only 90 calories) pizza sauce, chicken, turkey pepperoni, and a sprinkle of cheese. I also take Advo Care products such as the muscle gain, spark, meal replacements, and post-work out recovery. Those are pretty much the only ones I can take due to breast feeding. The other very important thing I do is drink a lot of water. 96 oz a day to be exact. I mostly drink that much because of breast feeding, but it still would be important even if I wasn’t.

My exercise routine has gotten more intense in the last month or so.  I started out with Jillian Michaels’ 30 Day Shred. Once I was cleared by the Dr. to exercise I added in running which was only about 1.5 miles. It was brutal, but I stuck with it. Now I am up to 3 miles (4 miles once a week) 2-3 times a week and I decided to take on Shaun T and his Insanity program. It really is insane, but I love it. It’s the only video that makes me feel the way I do after a run.

If anyone wants a work out buddy let me know. There are some fun apps out there that let you share your progress and results with each other. You can work out together with out being together. It’s a good way to stay accountable.

I hope to come back in a couple of months and share my final results. Hopefully I can lose that last 5-10 pounds with out getting discouraged.

This week I am focusing more on my DSLR. I don’t use it nearly enough, and I feel like the term “use it, or lose it” applies here. I need to keep taking pictures in manual and stop being lazy, because I definitely don’t want to lose “it”. Hopefully I will have some nice pictures to share later on this week.

6 more months and my eldest child will be 3. Sometimes I feel like I am not old enough to have a 2 1/2 year old. I still feel like I am that young, naive, college girl with out a care (or many cares) in the world. Now, I am a mom with 2 children. It blows my mind sometimes.

My oldest baby has become such an independent little girl. She has conquered many new things in the last 6 months. She has mastered the potty, she’s talking in full sentences, and even grew 2 1/2 inches–which is why she needed a new wardrobe. Her personality is starting to shine through. She is funny, smart, and beautiful. One of my favorite things she does is stops in her tracks, taps her cheek and says “think, think, think. Oh, I know!” and then runs off shouting “I have an idea!”

I am not gonna lie. The past 3 months have been difficult. The tantrums have kicked in full force, and the word “no!” or “I don’t want to” have become her new favorites leaving mommy at her breaking point. But we are working on it. All children have to learn their boundaries and right from wrong. This is new to the both of us and we are learning from each other. And even though I have days where I want to rip all my hair out, we have a lot of fun together too. We play chase, hide and seek, do horsie rides, I toss her high in the air, and we run around the yard kicking the big yellow ball. She loves when I paint her toe nails, play blocks, and she treats the dog as if he were human (she once asked him if he wanted to play then dragged him by the collar to her bed room and shut the door).

She is such a good big sister as well. She loves to give Andrew kisses and pat his head. If he is in the other room crying she runs over, stroke his cheek, and tell him “everything is ok. Mommy is coming.” She will be the one looking out for him until he is old enough to protect her. I am excited to see their relationship grow and watch them play together.

I am so blessed to be her mommy and I can’t wait to see what the future will bring her. I love you Rylie!

What you need: (Makes 3-4 cups)

1 pound sweet potatoes (roughly 2 medium or one large)

1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1 garlic clove chopped

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon paprika

2 tablespoons tahini (I didn’t have any and it still tasted great)

coarse sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Directions:

Bake the sweet potato until soft all the way through (I usually put in the microwave for about 6-7 minutes). Peel the skin off and place a food processor. Add remaining ingredients and blend (adding water if you need to thin it). Put in the refrigerator to chill. Use carrots, pita chips or your favorite veggie to dip.

As I have grown my mom has guided me, spoiled me, and has become my best friend. There is barely a day that goes by that I don’t talk to her. I hope we always stay this close and I don’t ever want to take her for granted. I am thankful for the relationship we have because I know not everyone has that with their mother.

I look at my own daughter hope that we can grow to have that kind of relationship. There will be times of fighting, days she doesn’t want to hang out with me, and times she won’t listen (even though I am right ), but one day she will be grown with a family of her own and I hope that I will be the one she calls (after God) in times of need.

Now that I have a son added to the mix, it brings on a whole new set of emotions. Boys will always have a special place in their mothers hearts and I hope he always remembers that. I hope he grows into a polite young man who is respectful of women. Being his mom has been such a joy so far and I’m excited to watch him grow. As soon as he was born my heart grew 10x bigger. I love holding him and snuggling with him, and I truly love being his mommy.

Being a mom changes you. Your selfish desires slip away and put your family first. Sometimes I get lost in the laundry, diaper changes, time outs, and cleaning, but I believe that this is what God wants me to do. I believe God has called me to stay home with my children not only for their sake, but to give me patience, self-control, and teach me about His love. I am definitely learning these things everyday, but I am also filled with so much joy when I look at these children. I see these innocent little eyes where I can do no wrong. I wish I could shield them from the real world, and keep them young forever, but that’s not a reality. So, I will do my best to guide them, give them what they need, teach them about God’s love, and be there to kiss their boo boo’s–just as my own mother did for me.

It’s true what they say; being a mom is the hardest, but most rewarding job on the planet.

What a week! I feel like I haven’t been home much, and when I have I was either cleaning, organizing, or playing. We started off  on Sunday by taking a mini vacation to the timeshare my mom booked for the week. We basically were here from 10:30am until 5pm…

Rylie had a blast on that pirate ship and swimming in the pool. It was our her first time swimming for the year (besides her kiddie pool) so she was a little timid at first. By the end of the day she was jumping off of the ledge to Seth and I, and going down the slide by herself.

Seth had to work the rest of the week, so my mom and I went back to the pool on Tuesday and spent another day at the pool. Rylie crashed later that night and went down with out a fight.

The rest of the week consisted of reorganizing the play room, church, playgrounds and grocery shopping. Yesterday we weren’t home at all. We went to our last MOPS meeting, visited GG, and then swam in my mom’s pool the rest of the day. I wore that girl out. She was asleep in the car as soon as we left my parents drive way–at 7:45. Today is another busy day with a trip to the store and a birthday party! Hopefully all this will help my children sleep well–which means mommy gets some sleep too

Mommy is smiling, Andrew is looking off some where, daddy is being a goof, and Rylie is being stubborn and not looking for the picture. This, my friends, is my family. I love them all even though they are difficult at times.

Some of the things we were up to this week.

• Being goofy on the way to church.
• Some yummy Olive Garden.
• Completed another 5k.
• Being crafty.
• Babies sleeping on me.
• Side walk paint messes.
• Hangin’ around.
• Rylie pushing her brother on the swing.
• Energy bites!
• Smoothy break.
• I spy on my children.
• Morning walks.
• Andrew’s first time in the swing.

This month is packed full! We have a birthday party every Saturday and then Mothers day is the last weekend. Today we are going to the first party of the month and then staying the night at a resort my mom booked for the week. They have a cool pirate ship water park, so we wanted to take Rylie to play on it. I’m sure I’ll be posting some Instagram pics through the weekend so look out for those (follow me at 25design). I hope everyone has a great weekend and Happy Cinco de Mayo!

I know we’ve only been a family of 4 for 3 months, but as they grow their love for one another will also. There will be times of fighting, arguing, and telling, but isn’t that what siblings do? My brother and I sure did, but at the end of the day we still loved each other and were great friends.

As a parent you want to see your children stay close. You want to see then get along and play nicely even into adulthood. Since they are only 2 years apart I hope that they will look out for each other when hard times come, especially at school. It won’t be perfect, but God knew what he was doing when He gave me these two blessings.–I just hope they don’t decide to tag team on us.