She graduates to big girl furniture...

Due to the pending arrival of the newest Wilson, we decided to get Kayla "big girl" furniture so that she'd be used to it by the time the baby came. She LOVES her new furniture and new setup. Although it's tougher to tackle the "cry it out" times (not that she really cries anymore)... It's more like she gets out of bed to play for naptime when she is not in the mood to sleep. Nighttime is so dark though that she won't venture out of bed...

Christmas thru a 2 yr old's eyes...

Lots of fun this Christmas... Multiple visits from Santa... Great new toys... Tons of family time!

Santa stopped by on Christmas Eve...

Mommy & Kayla playing in front of the tree

Supporting Big Blue!

Arriving to see what Santa left...

Classic picture

Big girl undies!!!

Princess lemonade party anyone?

The big gift... she played with this for HOURS!

It was a huge hit!

Love this one.... taken thru the doll house window

Cousin Love

This Wilson girl loves her Bud Light!

Kayla was SO excited to see Abigail on Christmas

Another visit from Santa... not such a big hit! :(

At least Abby liked him!

Pregnancy is different each and every time :)

It is truly amazing how the same situation can be completely different each time you go thru it. This pregnancy is different in itself since I am chasing a very active 2 yr old toddler around and not sitting at a desk job. Running a house, being a chef, scheduler, referee, nursemaid, housecleaner etc.... Is much harder this time around. Although symptomatically, the last pregnancy was far "worse". I was more nauseous & tired but I felt "prettier" last time. My gall bladder is giving me problems once again but maybe because I know what it is I am tolerating the pain that much more? Lots more back troubles this time around too. So far I gained more weight this time but time will tell how that pans out.

All in all, I am glad we decided to have another baby and add to our family. Kayla is so excited to be a big sister... I know she will help out so much when the baby comes!!!

Baby #1 (Kayla) at 23 wks

Baby #2 at 23 wks

Being a Stay at Home Mom....

First I want to start by saying that this is not a typical post with family news or pictures... it is more a topic that I have been wrestling with all by myself... so apologies ahead of time.

Recently I was faced with a very real conversation with a good friend that lead to think for several hours about the difference between being a Stay at Home Mom vs a Working Mom. I don't think that someone changes when they become a parent but I do think their life and schedule can change. Lately I have been faced with the sadness of the fact that a few of my friends seem to think that just because you have a child and are busy, that everyone around you understands and thinks the friendhsip will wait for when our children are older to get together ... and while I get that I stay at home to raise my child and I am not at a job... I am not understanding why things have changed SO much between us. It hurts and saddens me SO much!

I know that the grass is always greener for the other person and all my life all I ever wanted to be was a MOM. Well I got my wish a little over 2 yrs ago... then 5 months later was laid off from my job of 13 yrs.... Granted, every week since I got laid off I spend time applying for jobs for finding something that is going to work for the family and pay for the bills - including daycare, has not been an easy find!

I was 100% prepared to go back to work and send my daughter to daycare - I had all the extra supplies, the name labels, I even planned to send her back 2 wks prior to my return so we could get the schedule down before the real deal. All along secretly hoping something would happen that would make it possible for me to spend more time with my little girl. Babies are only little for so long and I understand why parents want to stay home with them and hold them and care for them and provide every little thing. I also understand that for some, its not an option for one parent to stay home because they need to have those 2 income's.

I have been extremely fortunate to have a husband who is supportive and has let me stay home as long as I have with our daughter. Sometime shortly after we moved this past spring I told him that I either needed to go back to work OR we need to have another child... I was beginning to feel like I could no longer give Kayla what she needed throughout her day and was feeling like I needed to be more challenged (in a mental way - b/c trust me that when I say every minute of every day challenged me emotionally & physically at times!). She needed to socialize with kids her own age more in a structured envirnment. We obviously opted for the later being that I am expecting our next child in April 2012.

Now, like I said before, the grass is greener for the other side. For me, I wish I had more of a break from my child... more adult time or even alone time. I have several friends with whom I am able to share phone conversations with during the weeks - but mind you that my screaming 2 yr old is hanging on my limbs and its not much of a conversation. I wish I could go to the Dr. without having to bring my daughter or run simple errands like going to the bank, store or picking up the dry cleaning without having to deal with the buckle on the car seat and a 2 yr old who wants to run into traffic everytime I get out of the car. I don't have a lunchbreak like working mom's do to accomplish the little things. I do get to spend endless amounts of time with my child but it's not quality time. It's time discipling or yelling, cooking lunches or making snacks, coming up with creative crafts on a rainy day, dealing with other ruthless moms at the playgroup or changing diapers and trying to get my kid to nap. By the time my child is sleeping and my husband is home from his long trecherous day commuting almost 2 hours each way... I am exhausted and dont even want the adult time... I just want to be alone! I wish I had a job many days that took me away from my home so I can accomplish more... I wish I could drop my child off at daycare / school for someone else to entertain her for a while so when I did have to face the meltdowns, I did so with a fresh face and different perspective. I feel that I would be a better mom because of the time away.

Now I understand that would mean dropping off and picking up only to do feedings, changings and sleep routine 5 days a week and the only quality time would be wkends... Wkends are when the rest of the world makes plans and gets together.. I would want to spend that time with my husband and child. I also realize that those 5 days a week I would in effect be working TWO jobs since my husband does not get home til 8pm most nights. BUT, I can tell you also, that I would still make time for my friends... Girlfriends are your rock, your support, your cheerleaders in life... without them, we would not be the woman we are. When you have a good friend and then all the sudden, one or both of you have gotten married and have children and you are still on the same page in life... whether one or both are working, you should still be able to maintain a friendship that is equal or at least give and take. I am not feeling this is the case with some of my girl friends. I am feeling like I am the one to pick up the phone... in which case ends with me leaving a message since they never answer... or I am the one writing the start of an email chain... I am just feeling so exhausted!

I too am going thru a great time in my life - I am having another child. It's exciting and scary at the same time. I would love to be able to share the experience (good and bad) with my girl friends... Not just have them there when I am upset or need a shoulder. I think its sad that some people are only around during tragedy... While I keep telling myself that I am going to re-evaulate the friendship and how much energy I am putting into the calls and emails (plus the thinking about them).... in the end I just really miss talking to them.

Not just Kayla's world anymore!

After a few months of working at it, we can finally say that we are going to be another little person to our family in April 2012. In the beginning, it was all surreal b/c while we were excited to have another, we realized that our little threesome would grow... for better or worse.

The decision to have another baby was obviously both of ours but never did we understand how it would truly impact our world... just the pregnancy alone. This pregnancy is SO different than my first! I was nauseous again this time around but did not actually get sick nearly as much. The tiredness was overwhelming since my "day job" is very different and getting shut eye when I was not working was not an option... because the job is chasing a two year old around is much much different than sitting at a desk for 8 hrs a day (which included a nice lunch break that was usually spent in my car napping). I did not have to make meals for anyone else the 1st few wks since my husband was fully capable of pouring a bowl of cereal or nuking some mac n cheese! I also was not lifting a 32 pound human regularly or crawling around on the floor playing catch me or bending down to pickup legos, play food or plastic balls.... which seriouly leads to back pain unlike no other.

On the other hand, feeling a little person growing inside of you is also a feeling like no other in this world. And while I have not been as focused on a day to day basis with this little baby, the realization once he / she started kicking a few wks ago was just amazing. Kayla is totally enamored by my growing belly.. she talks to her baby brother / sister everyday and now sings it songs regularly... She also gets mad when I am tired and says "bad baby"...

So in coming months, our home will change even more since Miss Kayla is almost potty trained... the next adventure is getting her into a big girl bed and out of the crib since we will need the crib come April for the baby. We have furniture to buy and a room to setup but that will be way after the holidays come and go.

It's very true what they say about your 2nd child not getting as much attention as the 1st.... since you are spending time taking care of the family and your 1st child...

Uncle Denny gets Married!

Uncle Denny (Brian's older brother) finally got hitched on November 12th. To a wonderful girl, Aunt Ali (as Kayla fondly refers to her)... It was a gorgeous wedding and Kayla even got to be the flower girl! She was such a trooper all day... with a short nap before leaveing for the church, she lasted thru the ceremony with little trouble and was a party animal rock star at the reception. She fell asleep in Daddy's arms at 11:45pm while he was fist pumping to "Living on a Prayer" on the dance floor... luckily she was in her jammies already... too bad I did not take a pic of that site!

patiently waiting ...

Kayla leading her 4 yr old counterpart Nina down the aisle

Denny & Ali say I DO!

She wanted to say congrats too... just wanted more than a handshake!

Just the 4 of us!

These flower girls were partying during the cocktail hour!

Gorgeous Cake ... yummy too!

Well rehearsed 1st dance!

Silly Uncle Liam and his ...um "date"

Head table

Wilson ladies ....

Stopping to strike a pose!

This little girl LOVES her butter!

Dancing McLaughlin style... napkin in hand!

You can tell she was started to loose speed...

1st Hibachi Experience

We decided to take Kayla for Hibachi for my birthday dinner this year... She made it so much fun... although our chef did not do all the cool things they used to do... she was still very excited!

BONZAI!

Happy Birthday Mommy

Halloween Storm

Halloween wkend was more interesting for people in our area than it has been in many years! A huge Nor-easter came thru with snow and all... the unfortunate part was that there were still so many leaves on the trees which made it more possible for the trees to come down EVERYWHERE! The snow was so heavy on the leaves & branches that it created a complete disaster zone. It also happened to be the very 1st time my Aunt Joanna came to visit - to meet Brian & Kayla.

It began snowing Saturday morning after gymnastics and by 2pm the power had gone out. Good thing that Brian cut a bunch of fire wood that morning so we had wood for the fireplace. He also mowed the lawn and got up all the leaves b/c once the snow came we figured we'd never get the leaves up.

Our power was out until Tuesday night (around 8pm) but we stayed in the house everynight... We ended up going to the Poconos to buy a generator so we could avoid damage to the house - since no stores around here had them! Thank God Aunt Jo was here to hang out with Kayla and keep her busy. Once the generator was on and the fire was roaring, we were set... not that there was not drama!

By Monday night, the roads were clear and Kevin / Angela had power so we stopped by for Miss Alice in Wonderland to do some Trick or Treating... We also made a stop across to our neighbors - who are just SO nice to Kayla.

Gettin prepared!

Snuggled by the fire....


Our neighbors house... trees falling everywhere!

Just the girls!!!

We had lots of trees removes in Sept... although we left this one up...

should have had it taken down too!

Kayla (Alice) and her Buddy Steve

Daddy taking Kayla trick or treating...

Going to see Abby the Angel

Our family picture...

Kayla & Abby

Cousins

For the longest time (before Abby was born) we called Abby "Bumper"... so when she came into this world as Kayla's little cousin there was a bit of confusion. But soon enough she was quite intrigued by her little cousin and now asks ALL the time to "play" with Abby. She can't wait for her to grow up so she can teach her "tea party" and "crafts" as she explains!

Kayla is in love!

Kayla is definitely MORE excited to play with Abby than Abby is to be bothered...

she would prefer to sleep at this point :)