Happy New Years 2010

Happy New Years! I didn't realize it was even New Years Eve today until after lunch...I am so out of the loop! Usually I try to have big, fun plans on days like today but I have sweeter things to tend to :)

It looks like Brandon and I are going to lay on the couch (and probably fall asleep staring at Cerly sleep) as we ring in the new year! I am good with that.

We took a picture at dinner. Our last family picture in 2010 and we are so thankful there are 4 of us in it! Chicken pot pie and mac-n-cheese. Good stuff!

We had a great night last night. Cerly slept all night long. She only woke up at 1 and 4 to eat and then went right back to sleep and slept until 9 this morning! What a change from the night before. I hope that schedule continues, I can handle that for sure!

Today was fun. We had several visitors and spent the day relaxing. My mom and family took Brylee to Chuck-E-Cheese for lunch and she had a blast. Here she was before they left....look at her little coin purse! (that is where she kept all her tokens!! she loves her monies!)

Here they are telling Cerly bye before they left! Brylee continues to do so well at home with Cerly and she loves on her very much. She forgets and is sometimes rough with her but she doesn't mean to be. I just have to keep teaching her. I am so pleased with how she is doing.

These next  2 pictures are priceless! They are not Cerly's best faces because she is not happy, but Brylee's face is priceless!!!

As I cleaned up the house today I remembered "the sling." I had not gotten out yet...it's funny all the things I forgot about! Cerly loved laying in it as I got some things done!! All she does is sleep! I am trying to get some pictures with her eyes open but it is hard. She was finally wide awake tonight and then my camera battery died. I will get them soon. I hope everyone has a happy & safe new years!!! Let 2011 begin!!!

The last 24 hours

It is starting to look like my blogging time will be after the girls go to bed! The days are crazy so until I get on some sort of schedule this is the only time I can find. I decided today that I am going to lay low for at least 2 weeks. I am used to such a busy life, and every day is so filled, but I really want to enjoy my time with the girls right now. I have seen how fast Brylee has grown and I am trying to take advantage of every minute with Cerly. I think I will enjoy taking it easy...that's not in my normal vocabulary!

Our first night home was a disaster but it was ALL my fault, not sweet Cerly's. I decided to have Taco Bell for dinner--HUGE mistake! My milk was not quite in so I didn't think it would be too big of a deal but I was SO wrong. I felt like the worst mom ever. We were up all night long and I just felt terrible. Cerly and I both finally fell asleep for the first time at 5:15 this morning. Brylee was up at 7 so we didn't even get 2 hours...it was crazy!!! The good thing was that Brandon's mom had planned to come spend the morning with Brylee so I knew help was on the way!!! I didn't really sleep today so I am going on nothing right now about to pass out. I am just waiting for Cerly to eat one more time and then I am off to bed and I hope that tonight is better!

It's really hard for me to remember the "do's and dont's" when it comes to what to NOT eat while nursing. If anyone can remind me that would be great. I am trying really hard to keep my meals simple for a while but I would love some tips. I don't want to make the same mistake twice....poor Cerly.

Our day was actually very nice. We stayed home all day (besides a quick dr visit) and it turned out to be better than expected. Brandon was surprised when he came home to 3 smiling girls! He said he expected  3 crying girls :) If I had not had help today then he probably would have but Brandon's mom and my sister made it much easier.

I feel like I have so much to write about, and I will get to it, as the days go on. For now here are some pictures from our day. Brylee was WONDERFUL with Cerly today. It didn't seem to phase her today at all. She doesn't like when Cerly cries, but it only really bothers her at certain times. Other than that it's really going awesome. I couldn't ask for it to be any better....and I look forward to the days ahead when we are really settled in and I get to see how this new life is going to be!

(Oh, and so many have asked to visit. PLEASE DO!!! I think so many don't want to text or call because they feel like they are bothering me. I promise, you are not! If I am sleeping then I won't hear it anyway so please don't hesitate. If you wanna come visit then just text me, I would love it! We will have lots of free time the next few weeks and I am already missing so many of your faces!)

Here is the set up in my bedroom for night-time. It's perfect because I have the changing station right next to the bed!! Cerly likes to be tightly cuddled up so I have her in the boppy...in the bassinet for now!

My sister and I were teaching Brylee to do our hair and give massages-haha! She had fun! It feels so good to have your hair brushed and Brylee is good at it!

Oh, and all of you who guessed on the "guess who" pictures were right! Brylee was on top, Cerly on bottom! I still can't believe how much alike they look to me!

Brylee already likes to pull Cerly around in her bassinet. Good thing Cerly is a heavy sleeper and can sleep through it all!

Off to see how the next 24 hours will be! I am definitely LOVING the fact that I have 2 girls---I can't say it enough and sometimes I still can't believe it!!! I am in Heaven. Plus, it feels so good to not be pregnant that my mood is on a high! I was getting a bit irritable that last month and it was hard to stay positive. But I am all good now....and I am enjoying all the fun...and sleepless nights! I would rather be holding Cerly and up at night instead of rolling my pregnant self out of bed 12 times to go to the bathroom or to take heartburn meds-haha.

Life is good. So very good.

Coming home & Being home

So far so good at the Horton home. We have survived 2 kids for our first day at home! Cerly has just slept all day, she doesn't wake up too much unless she wants to eat. Brylee has played hard, loved on Cerly, and I have been impressed with today. I am just trying to take it one day at a time because I know that things can change fast but so far it's going well. Brandon is upstairs with her now because she is struggling to get to sleep but other than that she had a good day.

Here are some pictures from when we came home today....

My mom met us at the house with Brylee. Brandon thought it would be better for Brylee to see that we are bringing Cerly home to stay, instead of her just being there when Brylee got home. I think his idea was great and it went really well. We met out front and as soon as she saw her she got very excited!

We spent the first hour just watching Brylee to see what she would do on her own. She calls Cerly's carseat her "bed" and so she wanted Cerly to stay in it but she did play with her while she was in it!

Her favorite thing to do so far is put the paci in Cerly's mouth. She likes to put her finger in the hole! Any way she can help is great so I am all for it!

I have waited a long time to see Miss Brylee love on Cerly so I am loving every minute of this!

This last picture is how Cerly spent the biggest part of her day....sleeping :) Hopefully this week I can get some pictures with her eyes open. She is so so tiny and adorable, oooh I just love her and I don't wanna put her down. Off to hold her some more :)

Guess Who?!?!

We are home from the hospital!

When we pulled up to the house Brandon said "And then there were 4!"

I guess he is right :) Later on tonight I will blog lots of pictures from coming home but right now we are going to try to get settled in with this sweet little girl. Brylee did SO great when we got home, I felt so much better. We missed her so much so it was good to see her as well! She went up to Cerly and was happy to see her. It went much better than I expected. I think today we will spend a few hours just resting and enjoying our time together with our new family. More pictures to come...

But, I wanted to leave you with 2 pictures for now. Brylee and Cerly came home in the same gown and when we got home we compared their pictures for fun. It seems like yesterday we were bringing Brylee home. The girls definitely have their differences, but all of their main features are so alike that it's crazy! One of these pictures is Cerly, the other is Brylee. Can you tell which one is which?!

Today....

Cerly is one day old and I am pretty sure I am completely in love. After a very long 24 hours, I was able to really rest today and enjoy my baby. I was made to be a mom, I really was. I am so happy right now that I can't even think about anything else!

One thing that I am so grateful for is having my friend Julie capture the entire experience in pictures. It happened so fast that I would have forgotten so much. She brought me a CD by the hospital last night and I spent over an hour re-living the experience. It was amazing. She got every moment and I was filled with so much emotion as I was able to look at all of them. I will have them forever and I just love that.

Today went well. I woke up feeling pretty good but by lunch it hit me and I was drained. I could barely keep my eyes open. Around 3 I decided that Cerly and I were going to eat and sleep for a few hours without interruptions. I needed it so much. I put her in her diaper and she just laid on my chest for several hours. I don't think either of us moved the whole time. When we woke up I felt like a new woman! I didn't realize how much adrenaline I was running on all day yesterday until it finally hit me.

Big sister came to visit today for a few hours this morning. Today was harder for Brylee than yesterday. People say that 2 year olds are a little young to really understand, but not Brylee. She completely understands. We have talked about Cerly every day for a long time now. It was hard for me today because Brylee didn't really want to visit with Cerly if I was holding Cerly. She was ok to look at her from a distance, and of course she noticed everything going on with Cerly, but she didn't like me holding her as much. However, when my sister held Cerly then Brylee did much better so that made me happy. I really think that things will be easier when we get home. I don't think Brylee likes to see me in this bed, I am sure it confuses her since she is used to me running around with her all the time. I honestly think that she will be much more comfortable when I get home and I can play with her like normal.

I miss Brylee so much right now. It's such an up and down of emotions because I can't stand not being with Brylee but I am in heaven holding Cerly constantly. I can't explain it really, it's just a hard place to be in. I will be glad to be home and be able to give each of them the love they need from me. I am going to really be praying tonight that God will show me how to do that in the best way. I think you can get all the advice you want, but every child is different and only God knows what Brylee needs from me in these first few weeks. She loves Cerly so much and I just want that love to grow and her not feel anxious about having Cerly home.

I feel very blessed that my body recovers so quickly. I feel amazing and there is no doubt that I will be able to be active and play with Brylee when I get home tomorrow. I feel so fortunate to feel this good and I know it will help in the transition as well. I think sleep deprivation will be my biggest enemy! It's crazy though. I experienced so much pain these last few months of pregnancy and now I can hardly remember it or remember being pregnant. It's so weird to think about. I am sure that Cerly's little face has something to do with it :)

I think that's about it right now. Thank you all for your love and support. The calls, visits, emails, and texts have been so uplifting. I am trying to respond to all of them, but if I haven't yet please know they mean so much to me. You have no idea. I get very emotional just thinking about how much God has done in my life and it just fills my heart with so much joy.

I have so many favorite pictures that Julie took but here are a few that I love from the moments after Cerly was born....

I think this is my favorite. Brylee loves to copy my faces and it looks like Cerly does too :)

Here is our families in the waiting room--don't they look fabulous in thier Baby Horton shirts!!!

Here are a few pictures from today. Brandon has been so so tired. He is seriously so good to me and I am so lucky to have him here. I love watching them sleep together....

When my sister came up we took a "sisters" picture! I am sure there will be many more of these, but this is our first one :) Brylee and Cerly have no idea how lucky they are just yet! I couldn't live without my sister!

Cerly either sleeps or she is wide awake and alert! She reminds me so much of Brylee here with her paci!

I better get back to sleep and catch up with Cerly. She has been sleeping since I started typing....I gotta stay on her schedule! Be back soon....

Brylee meeting Cerly

Last night was wonderful. Cerly just likes to sleep all the time! She stayed in our room about half of the night and the nurses were doing things with her the other half. Everything is going so smoothly so far, she is absolutely perfect. Every time I look at her I just smile! From about 3-5 am she just wanted me to hold her and she stared at me. I was so tired but I didn't sleep because I just wanted to stare back. I won't ever get these moments back so I am trying to enjoy every second.

I don't know if her stats were ever posted on here.

She weighs 7 pounds, 4 ounces. She is 20 inches long. She has blue eyes for now like her sister. She has hair, a bit darker than Brylee's was when she was born. And she is the sweetest thing ever.

Here are the pictures of when Brylee met Cerly. She was amazed and just wanted to love on her immediately. It was precious.....