Just a little excited....

So Zach and I have already started "getting ready" for baby #2. (If I don't name this kid soon, I'm going to go crazy!!) Can you tell we are just a little excited? We still have 5 months to go... But we just couldn't wait to start our remodel for our boys' room! :D

We live in a 3 bedroom house. Of course we have our own room and so does Zane. The third bedroom (the second biggest) is used as a "guest room". Well, it has a bed that has only been used probably 5 times since we moved in (almost 2 years). But, mainly I just use that room. It has two HUGE closests where I store all my "absolutely necessary" things... You know.. Clothes, shoes, purses, bag, shoes, more bags, oh and more clothes. Not only are the closets full, but I use 2 night stands and have storage underneath the bed.. Ok so maybe I need to purge my closets. So that's exactly what I did. It's not easily getting rid of stuff, I hate having to part with things- especially my bags.. but I think I did a darn good job! And I still have stuff to get rid of. Needless to say, Zach is proud! Zach is trying to get me down to 1 closet.. We will see what happens.

We are going to remodel all the closets in our house and give the boys the second biggest room. The third room will be for my crafts and all that fun extra stuff.

Here is a pic of what all of the closets look like before. They are floor to ceiling and each one has another beside it- so the closets take up an entire wall.

And this is our plan for them all. 

One closets done! 3 more to go! 

Here's what the closets looked like in the spare bedroom when I have all my stuff in them... They are side by side and soon each of the boys will have their own..

Ok, so we don't have the most exciting weekends sometimes, but this is what we love to do. Can we say nerds? Oh! But my awesome hubby did take me out for a date night Friday while my in-laws watched Zane. And then we spent Saturday celebrating Christmas with my family- so all in all- a great weekend! 

 

CHECK OUT "MY LITTLE SUPERHEROES" PAGES FOR THE REST OF THE FUN! :)

Christmas!!!

It's Christmas Eve and my baby has been sick for the past 4 days... We ended up taking him to the ER Monday night. He was really starting to worry his daddy and I- He wasn't drinking and he has barely ate anything since Saturday night. I am praying he is better for Christmas with family tomorrow.

This Christmas I have been thinking about things a lot.. "things" as in our kids, family, etc. I really feel as though people are forgetting about what Christmas is really about. It's not about the gifts. To be completely honest, I'm a little nervous to see how much stuff my 15 months old is going to get this Christmas. Between his daddy and I, plus all his grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc etc... Really?!? I don't think we're even going to have the room for all this stuff. Obviously people want to buy gifts for the children. I'm just going to be a little bit more aware of things next year (as I am going to have 2 boys). Mommy is going to be doing a lot less spending then she was. I was constantly buying things for my child, so when it came to his birthday and Christmas, he didn't really "need" anything. And the things he does "need", people don't really buy him. Plus, I guess they wouldn't be any fun to open.

I've also seen on pinterest how parents will have their children go through their toys and donate them. I definitely plan on doing this every year before Christmas with my kids- what a great way to give back and teach them that they don't need everything.

I feel like this year has been especially worse when it comes to shopping. Black Friday is starting on Thanksgiving night... stores are open on Christmas Even until 12:00 and also on Christmas day. What about the people that have to work at these stores?!?! how unfortunate that they don't get to spend time with their family/friends on the holidays because they work retail and it's more important that everyone is out shopping instead. I feel sorry for the individuals who don't have a choice but have to work during these times.

My husband and I are constantly wanting to start new traditions with our little family all throughout the year. For Christmas, we started all kinds of traditions. Last year we started cutting down our Christmas tree, this year we started the Elf on the Shelf, making gingerbread houses, and an advent calendar. I'm sure as the kids get older, we will start lots more traditions. Tonight, we don't have any plans other than to spend it with each other. We were watching the news last night and discovered a house nearby that has a light display to Christmas music. I think we will take Zane there tonight and make this a Christmas Even tradition each year.

Hope everyone enjoys the Holidays!!! Lots of Love form the Bourelle Family!

Sick Baby = snuggles GALORE

My poor little man has been sick since Saturday night... I am 100% blaming this on daycare! He just started this past week and went for 2 days- 2 days that caused my baby to become so sickly! One thing I HATE about daycare is the sicknesses... BUT there are so many things I love about it too.

This is off subject, but here's my experiences with daycare...
The daycare Zane is currently enrolled in now is the 3rd one he has been to. I liked and hated different things about each one.
The first one he went to was a very nice and well known daycare. However, the price was just outrageous! I'm talking $260 a week. And if you know anything about daycare you know most places don't do part-time or anything for infants (usually up to 18 months). It's basically a flat rate no matter if they are there or not (sickness, holidays, etc). This sucks. Why can't I just pay for the time he is there? Well, that would be ideal. I took him out of this daycare to save some money. My husband and I were planning on me quitting my job soon anyway, so we figured we should save some $ while we could.
We then took him to a daycare literally right around the corner from our home. It was a lot cheaper and more convenient. for us. However, what I didn't like about this place was the crap they fed my kid... I am VERY picky about the food I feed Zane. I made all of his baby food myself and refuse to give him all that food full of sugar (I will write a post about this more later..in "new mommy tips"). If you take the time to read labels, you would be surprised about what they put in the foods we are supposed to feed our children. On several occasions, the kids would be eating cinnamon rolls for breakfast (with icing).. NOT what I would feed my child or what I want him eating at 8:00 am. They also would feed him cheeseballs.. They kept telling me he wouldn't eat his lunch, but he would eat cheeseballs. Well of course he would! wouldn't you? Geesh, these people pissed me off. Ok, so then we took him out of there as soon as I quit my job.
The daycare he is at now is very flexible. They are open until 8:00 pm and also on the weekends until midnight (for parents who need date nights and don't have a sitter). AND it is literally right across the street from my work- love this. As of now, I really like it. So we will see how this goes.
I LOVE daycare so Zane can be around other kids than just his cousins. He needs to socialize with other kids and I want him to be more independent. It is also good to have some time away from him. I love being with him, but sometimes being apart is necessary. Daycare has a lot of positives too.

ANYWAY... this post is supposed to be about my kid being sick.

We went out to dinner with my in-laws/family. Zane was already coughing and we could tell he wasn't feeling well. By the time we got home, he was miserable... When he is sick like this Zach and I always do this-- We take blankets and make a huge bed on the living room floor. This gives him plenty of room to roll around and allows us to lay with him. Our bed isn't big enough to have him in there and us be comfortable as well. And, Zach insists that we both don't need to be up with him all night. This allows one of us to take care of him and the other can get a good nights rest, and then we switch. This works perfectly for us and is often times what we would do when he was little if/when he had a hard tome sleeping or was ill.
And I definitely need to brag about my hubby.. He is just the sweetest guy ever. He slept with Zane in the living room Saturday night and let me get a full nights rest in our bed. Then we spent all day Sunday cuddling with each other (all 3 of us all day- it was great!). Zach slept with him again Monday night. (he insisted) I told him to let me, but he wanted to be the one to do it. Since he works during the days, I could reallly tell Zach was enjoying the never ending cuddle sessions with Zane. He took such good care of him. Plus, he is just too nice to his pregnant wife and didn't want me having to sleep on the floor. What a keeper :)

I got some good advice from some other mommy friends about what to do to help Zane while he was sick. I was already aware of some of the things.. such as vicks on his feet and chest, humidifier in his room, tylenol for fever, etc. However, we tried something new- Zarbee's naturals for his cough- this seemed to help a lot! Thanks to my other mommy friends for the help!!!

Zane is just not himself... he would hardly get off the couch and was trying to lay down on everything. He carries his TMNT blankie around everywhere and his wubbanub hasn't left his mouth (mommy and daddy are letting him do what he wants basically). He is just so sad and pathetic right now and it hurts my heart. However, daddy and I are absolutely loving the never ending cuddles we are getting. He is so lovable. We are hoping and praying he gets better by Christmas. He has a doc appt. tmrw. Luckily my mother in-law has the week off work and is watching him while I'm at work so he doesn't have to go to daycare. Thank you, Grandma!!!

During dinner on Saturday night...

Snuggling Mommy's arm

Cuddling with Daddy

Look at the pathertic face :(

More snuggles for Daddy

His "must haves".. BOTH wubbanubs, his TMNT blankie and pillow. Comfy on the couch watching cartoons.

Baby #2- It's another BOY!

My son is currently 15 months old at the moment and I am also pregnant with my second little BOY (name still undecided) that is due May 21st. Two boys!! I cannot explain how excited I am to have another little guy join our family. My husband (Zach) is especially excited! His dream come true! I am beyond thrilled that Zane will have a little brother that is very close in age (20 months apart) to grow up with.

When I was little, I always knew I wanted 2 kids- a boy first and then a girl. When we're little, we think we can just plan these things and they will happen, right? Well, I got my little boy I wanted as my first child. Then, after I had him I started thinking to myself... how many kids do I REALLY want? Do I really care what the sex is? What about what my husband wants? Well, the number 2 is pretty much set. Thats the number I have always wanted and my husband has wanted as well. OK, we have one decision made...well, kinda- people always change their minds, right?? Well, we are set for now.

As far as the sex goes... I was going to be happy either way. How could you not be?? But then I got to thinking... holy cow, there is so much stuff I would have to do if we have a girl- pretty much everything I own baby wise is boyish. And then I started panicking... I just recently quit my full-time job and dont have the income I used to. Im not prepared for this! And then my husband and I started disagreeing about everything if we had a girl. Why are we arguing about something we dont even know is going to happen?? - NOT OK in a marriage. So we quickly stopped the arguing and then went to find out the gender. haha this will solve it! And it did! I immediately saw a little penis as soon as she started the sonogram... "I see it!" I yelled.

So, why did I "hope" for a boy???

Lately, it has been babies GALORE around me. My family and friends have really been busy... :) and I'm definitely thrilled that it happens to be the same time my husband and I planned to have our children. When I got pregnant with Zane, all 3 of my brothers (blood, step, and in-law) had babies on the way as well. And guess what- they were all GIRLS and all within 5 months of Zane. And then my close friends all had girls and so did my cousin... so thats a total of 9 (yes, 9) girls and 0 (yes, 0) boys. Poor Zane... I just desperately wanted him to grow up with at least one other little boy close to his age. So God has graciously blessed us with another little boy on the way for Zane to grow up with. How exciting!

As for a girl?? I honestly cannot answer that. I can say that I do not feel like I have to have a girl. I am completely happy with just my two boys (well, three. Can't forget about my hubby). If Zach and I ever do decide to have a third child, it will be because we want to bring another child into our family, not because we want a girl. Plus, who says I'll have a girl the 3rd time? My instincts tell me, God has plans for me to be a mom to boys.. just my feeling.

And you know all those old wives tales they have about pregnancy and gender- none were true for me. One of the reasons I was stressing so much was because ALL signs were pointing to girl for me. I felt as though I was carrying lower, my body was reacting in ways it "should" if I was having a girl (from ridiculous posts/articles I read) AND this crazy little app I had on my phone said I got pregnant during the "girl time"- first of all- is this really a thing?? Well, not for me obviously.. haha I'm just saying- I believe God will give you the child he wants you to have.

 

Aren't these 3D images AMAZING! This was at 17 weeks- gender reveal.

Us BEFORE the kids... WHY?

My husband and I have this discussion often- as in probably once every week or two. I am so glad he feels the same way- of course he does, I married this man for a reason... I love my son (and unborn son) unconditionally. However, I strongly believe my husband and I and our relatipnship MUST come first. Why do I believe this?

My parents divorced when I was very little and I always wanted to give my children the blessing of having both their parents under the same roof for their entire lives. But most importantly- two parents who love, respect, trust, and cherish each other under that roof. I believe that the only way my husband and I are able to give our children what they deserve and need in life is to make sure we have the best relationship possible with each other. This means date nights, alone time, romance, you name it... it needs to be done and sometimes that means putting our needs in front of the children. No this does not mean we neglect our child... that's crazy. We simply just believe in making each other happy in order to make a loving home and family to raise our children in- end of story. Sounds pretty legit and aboslutely necessary in my opinion.

So parents out there- make it a point to have these moments with your significant others... Some things my husband and I do...
-We will turn off the TV and just talk to each other after Zane has gone to bed. We discuss plans for the weekend, what we want to get accomplished around the house, how our day went, and most importantly it gives us the time to bring up something that is bothering us- if there is something.

-Date night- sounds easy, right?? Not always when you have a kid, you work, and you're tired a lot of the time... Luckily, we have plenty of people to watch our son.. my in-laws, my parents, siblings, and I have a close aunt and uncle that love to watch him once in awhile. We do dinner and sometimes a movie after. If you don't have family or friends to watch your child, if they go to daycare, choose a teacher you like or maybe a neighbor. Care.com is a website online that has local sitters. I know this is scary, but I was found on there for a nanny job and it was fantastic.

-Dinner at the table- I can honestly say we do this at least 5  nights a week at my house.. so important to us. It sounds so simple but I bet most families don't do this. We don't eat in front of the TV. We bought a nice big dining room table for a reason! We cook together most of the time and then sit at the table to eat. We say our prayer and then enjoy a nice home-cooked meal with no TV. Of course our son is involved in this- but it's also nice for my husband and I.

-Involve each other in what your doing- I know I say Zach doesn't necessarily "love" my DIY projects- but that's not 100% true. Often times he helps me and we do a lot of projects together. Since we remodeled our whole home, we made every little decision together- and it was great! We bounce ideas off of each other and usually end up with a great plan for our home.

There are plenty of things to do with your husband/significant other. Just remember to make time for each other and dont just put 100% focus on the kids... If you do, you could loose what you have with the person you love.

And also, don't forget to do things for yourself! We all need some alone time now and then :) I hope there are lucky ladies out there like me and have husbands that will let you just take some time alone while he watches the kiddos- this is so nice!

 

 

Bloggin Momma

I chose to start a blog for several reasons...

-My new job consists of me sitting in front of a computer with a lot of down time :) So, I'm going to make the best of it.

-I have lots of things I want to write down... I think about everything so much I feel as though my mind needs a break and my fingers can do the typing. This ranges from my DIY ideas, babies, marriage, life in general! So stay tuned, because you may never know which direction I may take.

-I want to remember everyting. I am a huge scrapbooker and obessed with documenting everything my child does. He already has two scrapbooks that are huge... Many moms may say they dont have time for this- but I will share how I get it all done.

-I want to share my thoughts and ideas... I like feedback as well. I don't know all the answers and often times wonder if I am the only person thinking things.. especially when it comes to parenting. After all, moms need to talk and get feedback from one another on how they have done things and what worked or did not work for them, right??