Lyla is 2!

I knew I hadn't written in a while, but I didn't realize that my last post was the day before I went back to work.  Wow.  I guess that proves just how busy my life is right now!  It's actually been great... I enjoy having a routine; the past four weeks at work have been just fine.  My class is awesome; I really love my students, so that has helped make my transition a little easier.  Hagen has been doing great at daycare. He is such a fun, sweet baby!  I love his little coo's and the way he looks at me when I hold him.  I sure do miss my sweet babies all day... only two more weeks until summer, though!
Lyla Grace turned two years old on Saturday, May 26.  She had a Minnie Mouse themed birthday party.  She enjoyed opening presents and eating cake!  I can't believe she's already 2.  Life is flying by... I can't wait to savor every second with my cuties this summer!
Enough talk... here are some recent photos!

One. More. Day.

   Tomorrow is my last day of maternity leave.  I've been sitting here trying to think of something really fun to do with Lyla tomorrow... I will really miss her for the next six weeks until summer!  Today my (90 year old) grandma took Lyla for a walk around the block (ONE BLOCK) and it took them one hour... that's because Lyla has to stop after every step to talk about something!  But I think that might have been right on pace with my Grandma, she's gotten a little slow these days.  That's another person I'll miss when I go back to work- Lyla, Hagen, and I visit 'Nana' almost everyday.  I love that lady!  I know she will miss us too! 
   Part of me is a little excited about going back to work.  Even though I love my freedom, it will be nice to have some sort of schedule again.  Lyla has been spoiling me lately because she sleeps until 9 or 9:30... it will be rough to set that alarm again.  Hagen is no where near sleeping through the night so I know I will be a very tired teacher until I get used to it. 
   Hagen turned 6 weeks yesterday... he is growing so fast!  Here are my cuties!

The Boyle's Visit!

I was very excited for the Boyle family to come visit with us! Mrs. Boyle is my Room Mother and Matthew (yellow shirt) is in my class. His sister, Krista, and brother, Graham, came along too. Lyla and I enjoyed their company!

A Little Set-Back

   Saturday night, my family went over to our friends, the Stanford's, for a Pot-Luckin' good time!  I started to feel bad at her house- I had chills and was freezing!  Unfortunately, I had to cut the night a little short because I was starting to feel worse by the minute.  That night and Sunday were HORRIBLE... I had Mastitis.  I had a fever, chills, sweats, headache, and aches and pains like I had the flu.  I could not move- I did not move! 
   It hit at a really bad time, I had SO much to do!  We were supposed to move our refrigerator on Sunday and I was in such a good de-cluttering groove for my house.  I had gotten a LOT done on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.  Our house was supposed to go up for sale on Monday but I wasn't able to get everything ready so we had to change the date.  :(  I ended up going to the doctor on Monday to get some antibiotics since I still had a fever and pain and finally started to feel more like myself by Tuesday.
   On another note, I have one more week at home with my sweet children!  In addition to missing them, I am also going to miss watching soap opera's, shopping at any time of the day, getting lunch from wherever I want, and spending a lot of time outside. May 7th is going to be a very sad day but at least there are only 6 more weeks of school left- I can do it! :) 
  Here are a few recent pictures of them!!!

This is the life...

Hagen turned 4 weeks old two days ago... which means I'll be heading back to work in about 2 weeks.  This makes for a really sad mommy!  I am so grateful for the time off I have had with the kids and in only about six weeks, I'll be off for summer... so I can't complain too much.  And I REALLY do miss my students! 
Hagen is still eating every 2-3 hours and sleeping all the time.  He is a very strong baby, he lifts his head really well during tummy time.
Lyla is almost one month shy of turning 2 years old.  I am in the process of planning her birthday party which will have a Minnie Mouse theme!  I tried to think of the things she likes- which bascially only includes Elmo and Barney... and my sister just had an Elmo party for Zoey and I can promise you I will NEVER host a Barney party... so I figured I'd go with number three on Lyla's list: Minnie Mouse!  So far, I've found a bunch of cute ideas for a Minnie Mouse themed party.  I'm excited! :)
The construction on our house is finally finished and our realtor is coming to talk with me today.  It's been CRAZY trying to get this house ready to be put up for sale.  We seriously have WAY too much stuff for this little house.  (A big thank you to my sister for always cleaning my house... and especially for helping me with this big task!)  The house still isn't ready for anyone to come in and look at it.  I think we just have to go ahead and pack things up to put in storage so that it doesn't look so cluttered.  So, that's my task today and probably this weekend.  After I make my way to the shower, I'm going to head out in search of boxes.  The main thing is Lyla's toys... she has TOO many toys... and we're coming upon another birthday- what am I going to do?  AND throughout my stay at home with her I have realized that she doesn't even play with her toys... her main interests are electrical sockets, computers, baby's swing, baby wipes, and desitin.  Why can't my child just sit down and play with toys?  I hope she outgrows this soon... I mean, don't get me wrong... there is a time (about 5 minutes out of the day) when she rides her bicycle, pulls her wagon, or pushes her doll in a stroller... but this definitely does not outweigh the time she spends playing with things she shouldn't be playing with.  Good thing she's so stinkin' cute! :)  I also really just need to get good at throwing things away.  (Good thing my husband doesn't read this, he would know I'm coming to terms with my weaknesses!)  Maybe I need help?  Am I borderline hoarder?  I don't think it's that bad... but I really need to let go of the things that I constantly say, "I'm going to need this one day".  If I need something again another day, I'll just go out and buy it... chances are I won't be able to find it in the house anyway. 
Here are a few recent pictures... look at these cute faces I have to send to daycare soon :(

But I Don't Want You To Be 1 Week Old!

I remember with Lyla, I was so excited about everything she was going to do... the wonderful things that time would bring. I said things like, "I can't wait until she..." With Hagen, it is making me sad to think of how fast they grow and I'm really trying to cherish each and every little moment. I actually cried today for Hagen's 1 week old day! (But remember, my hormones are still wacky!)
I am completely enjoying my time off with Lyla and Hagen. (And the thought of Hagen being 1 week old means that one of my weeks off from work is already GONE! :( :( :( maybe that's why I cried!)
Our first night at home was a rough one... I think I slept for a total of 2 hours that night. Hagen must have had his nights and days mixed up or either he was still fussy from the circumcision. Poor thing. Since that night, he has been a dream... he sleeps for 4-5 hours straight at night time and that makes for a really happy mommy! And, his umbilical cord fell off last night (3/27/12)... please stop growing up, Hagen!
Lyla has been doing pretty well. I do not think she's jealous or craving attention, I really just think she might be going through what's known as the DUN DUN DUN... terrible two's! My heart is breaking for her because even though I really think she loves having the baby around, it makes me sad to know how much attention she used to get and no longer does (to some extent). I honestly don't think it has phased her though. We have spent a couple days over at my Grandma's house which is good because Grandma holds the baby and I get to spend time with Lyla outside or playing with dolls. AND it's so weird how I thought she was so little and ever since we've been home from the hospital, Tommy and I continue to comment on how big she is... maybe it's because we were away from her for a couple of days.
Here is Hagen at 6 days old!

Here we are during our first trip to the grocery store as a family of 4! Yes- Lyla is in the cart eating grapes... which normally I do not allow, but Tommy said "Don't you pay for grapes by the weight?" "yes, yes you do!" "Then let her eat them!" haha :) Gotta love him!

Here's the proud big sister! She asks to hold him all the time and has proven to be a really big helper! :)

Here is Hagen at 1 week old! We were sitting outside at Nana's house soaking up some rays. He had a low level of jaundice when we left the hospital, but it went up after we left so we've been back and forth to Lab Corp checking the levels. I've been trying to get him in the natural light as much as possible.

Introducing Hagen Bo Heflebower

Hagen has finally officially entered our lives and we couldn't be more in love! He is so sweet. I went in to be induced on Wednesday, March 21, 2012- already dilated to 5cm and my contractions had started. It seems that March 21 would have been the day he joined us anyway- I'm glad we already had it planned to go to the hospital that day! We arrived to the hospital at 6:45am and they began giving me fluids. At 7:45, my doctor broke my water. By 8:30, since things were not progressing really quickly, I was given pitocin. And at about 8:45, I had the epidural. My nurse said they were sort of just going to let things work on their own for a little while (since everytime you have a contraction, the baby descends a little bit). I had been feeling pressure and knew he was getting pretty low. At about 1:30, the nurse came in and said she would let me start trying to push. In the middle of that first push, she said "STOP!", she ran into the hallway and yelled for the doctor to come in. The whole crew ran in, got suited, and prepared for delivery! I was then told to give one more slow push and there he was! Thank goodness for an easy, easy delivery and recovery so far! I wish my first experience would have been this great!

Hagen has been an excellent baby! We went in this morning for his pediatrican check-up and everything is perfect.

Lyla has been such a caring and helpful big sister. She loves to kiss on Hagen. She has adjusted really well so far... the biggest difficulty she is facing is that she doesn't understand why I can't pick her up. She has had lots of time in my lap though... only a few more days and hopefully everything will be back to normal for her.