Alex's First Day of School

Yesterday was Alex's first day at school! (We call it school because it makes us feel better to drop him off at school than to drop him off at daycare).  We started his day a little earlier than he's used to so he was already napping as it was time to take him.

Don't be fooled by this smile...my heart was aching since I was about to leave this boy

Silly Jilly was so excited that she was going to get to show her baby brother her school.  

As we were walking in, I asked her if she would take good care of him at school and she said, "Yes Mommy, I will protect baby from the witch."  (The witch is Jillian's go-to bad guy.)  What a good big sister she is!

It seems like just yesterday we were dropping Jillian off for her first day, and now it was Alex's turn.  It really does take everything I have to leave them at school.  I really do feel like I am leaving my heart when I leave my kids.

But is really is a little easier when we know that the teachers we're leaving him with.  Alex is in the same class that Jillian was in at this age and I know that his teachers will do a great job taking care of my little love while we are at work.

I have no idea what Bubs is thinking in this picture

Yesterday was a short day for Alex as he had his 4-month check-up, so he left school at about 2:30.  When I picked him up, he was a happy boy.  He didn't nap too much at school on his first day since he was so curious about his new surroundings.  

All bundled up and heading to the doctor

At his well-check, he was 16 lbs. 4 oz. and 25.5 in. (60th percentile for both).  He is growing so quickly and doing lots of fun new things.  I am sure Alex will love going to school and in due time, I know it will get a little easier day by day.  Love you, Chubs Bubs!  

Happy 4 Months, Alex!

Oh, sweet boy!  You are 4 months old today!

It has been a month of big transitions for you.  First, mommy started back at work and so you have been spending some quality time at home with Daddy and Miss Cary.  I miss you every second of the day but it does make coming home a little extra sweet.  And I think you miss me too because you give me lots of big, gummy smiles when I walk in the door!

Also, you were sleeping through the night, and so silly Mommy thought it would be a good idea to move you to your own room since our room is so cold.  You've been sleeping in your crib for about a week now, and I'm not so sure you like that very much.  You have not been an up-every-2-to-3-hours baby since you were about a month old, but the transition to your own room had made you not sleep as well (and Mommy and Daddy aren't sleeping either). :(  It's ok, we're going to get through it and I'm sure we'll figure out something that works!

We got the jump-a-roo out of the attic and I hoped you would love it as much as your sister did.  And you do absolutely love it!  Play time seems to be one of your favorite times of the day!

You are getting so big!  A lot of your 3 month clothes are snug and you fit best in 6 month clothes already.  And I have even put you in a few 9 month outfits too!  You weigh over 16 lbs and your belly is growing so big...just in time to see Santa with his big belly, too!

Shake my belly like a bowl full of jelly!

And you are looking big next to your elephant already.  What a difference a few months make!

Alex, you are a calm, happy boy who is too cute for words!  We love Love LOVE you, Bubs!  You make our lives complete!

One Year Ago Today...

So I know it's not Throwback Thursday, but I have a little bit of a throwback to share...

One year ago today, Julian and I found out that we were pregnant again!  I was honestly a little surprised to see the + sign on the pregnancy test.  Julian and I had only been trying for 2 months and I was convinced that it would take us awhile to get pregnant.  With Jillian, we tried for months and months, trying everything in the "how to conceive" books.  After riding that roller coaster of emotions, we finally got pregnant with Jillian.

Yup, that's my pee stick...glamorous, I know!

But as everything is with Bubs, this one just came kinda easy.  I threw out all those conception books with all their rules and methods.  Those books claim to have a method to the madness, like "try to conceive while standing on your head on the 4th day of the new moon and you are sure to have a boy."  OK, that may have been an exaggeration, and maybe that stuff actually works for some people, but we just decided to take it easy this time around and let God decide the perfect timing for us.

I remember waking up on December 3rd, 2012, a little anxious to take the test.  I was most anxious to see if we were giving Jillian a sibling.  I mean, this news was going to change her life forever.  After we found out, I went and got Jillian from her room to get her ready for the daily routine.  But I couldn't help myself from cuddling with her a little longer that morning.  The baby that I had put to sleep the night before woke up the next morning and was going to be a big sister.  Funny the way it is...

A picture from the morning we found out we were expecting #2
She's so little!

We had our first doctor's visit on December 20th to confirm the pregnancy.  And it was just in time to share the good news with our family.  Somehow, we managed to keep it a secret from our families for over 3 weeks.  If you know me at all, you know that's kind of a big deal!  (Of course, I had already shared the news with 3 of our closest friends...I can't keep secrets!!!)

For my family, this was going to be the 4th grandchild in 3 years!  We were not going to El Paso for the holidays so I chose to send them a gift to share the good news.  I made up 3 identical frames and mailed them off with instructions to not open them until Christmas Day!

From top left, Lauren (my niece), Jillian, Baby Mikey (my nephew), and the special announcement of Baby Acosta Coming August 2013

And for Julian's family, they were coming to spend Christmas with us.  So we came up with a plan to have Jillian reveal the big news to the family.  We wrapped up a special present just for Jillian to be opened on Christmas Eve.  She was so excited to get to open her present.  She took the box to Mami Mari for a little help.

And out came the book "I'm a Big Sister!"  The look on their faces was priceless!

Mami Mari explaining how the light bulb clicked on what the book meant

This Little Girl was going to be a Big Sister!

Looking back on it now, it made our holiday season just a little extra special and bright.  We knew that it would be the last Christmas as a family of 3.  I remember trying to soak in every minute with Jillian as I saw this baby girl suddenly become a big-sister-to-be.  And I  really enjoyed getting to share the gift of our baby-to-be as a little extra Christmas gift to our families.  

And funny how just one year later, a + sign on a stick would be the first sign of the miracle of our son...

Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho, It's Off to Work I Go...

...I know you probably just sang "Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho" in a cheery voice.  But trust me, I am singing it more in a sad/weepy/begrudged kind of way...

Today, I return to work full-time after 16 weeks of maternity leave.  It was unbelievably hard to leave this little guy this morning...

Doesn't he look so comfy and cuddly in bed?!  It was torture to wake up to an alarm when my alarm has been a sweet baby coo.  It was even harder to peel myself out of bed, when I would normally stay and cuddle with this little cuddle bug for the next 2 hours.  And it was even harder still to work up the courage and the motivation to walk out the door.

These past 16 weeks have been heaven!  I really enjoyed myself during maternity leave this time around.  With Jillian, as is the case with most things the first time around, I was just trying to survive, trying to remember to feed her on schedule or work in a shower somehow or at least pick up a little bit before Julian came home.  Don't get me wrong, I LOVED my time with her!  

But this time seemed different, almost as if I was good at maternity leave.  I learned his rhythms quickly so I knew when I would have a 2-hour break to shower/clean/eat.  I would feed him when he seemed hungry, not on a schedule.  My days were a lot more easy going, partly because Alex is such an easy going baby.  I was able to go with his flow and get stuff done, too.  

And boy, oh sweet boy, did we have a good time together!  We would fill our days with cool weather strolls (and treats for mommy).  

Or mid-day trips to Old Navy/Target/Hob Lob for no reason at all.

No matter what time, we were always available to grab a quick lunch with Daddy!

The 2 cutest lunch dates

Sometimes we would just enjoy a lazy day together (usually when it rained), staying in our pajamas and reading books.  

Often times, I would sit and watch you sleep, and wonder what you were dreaming of.  

And there were lots of silly times, too.  

I was so blessed to get to spend nearly 4 months at home with my sweet Bubby Baby to watch him grow from this tiny little thing...

...into this adorable growing boy!

For as long as I live, I will forever cherish all the special little moments with my Alex!  I will remind myself  of this everyday as I go to work...

"Don't cry because it's over...Smile because it happened!"

Love you to the moon and back, Bubs!  I will miss you every second I am away from you!

Give Thanks with a Grateful Heart

What greater blessings than these 2 to remind us to give thanks with a grateful heart!

We had a great Thanksgiving this year, starting with a Thanksgiving lunch at Jillian's school on Tuesday.  This little turkey booty couldn't eat any of the food yet (next year, son)...

But this little turkey was more than happy to eat from the sweets table!

We were so thankful that Granny, Auntie Shell, and Uncle Joseph came to see us for Thanksgiving again this year.  

And I was oh so thankful for the extra hands to help play with Jillian, hold Alex all day long, and especially to cook lots of yummy meals!

On Thanksgiving Day, we had a low key day, doing what we always do during our Thanksgiving meal...we watch the Cowboys game!  That is one of our Thanksgiving traditions that I can remember doing since I was a little kid.  It just wouldn't be Thanksgiving without watching the Cowboys and eating turkey!  (And boy were we thankful for the win!)

This little turkey decided to work off his food by getting in the jumparoo for the first time!  He hasn't quite gotten the hang of it yet, but I'm sure he'll be jumping away very soon!

As it was time to put Jillian down for the night, I asked her what she was thankful for this Thanksgiving.  She said she was thankful for Minnie Mouse (of course Minnie was 1st), Mommy, Daddy, Baby, Jilly Bear, and cupcakes...Silly Jilly!

And Jilly, Mommy is thankful for your silliness, baby brother's smile, Daddy's hard work, family (both near and far), our health and happiness, and so much more.  This grateful heart is most grateful for these 2 little turkeys who light up our everyday lives.

Hope everyone else had a blessed Thanksgiving, too!

Julian's Fall Decor

Hello everyone! I would like to welcome you to my first blog post ever!  After all these years of Amber trying to get me to "help out" with the blog, I would find some way of getting my way out of it.  She finally got me interested when she said that I could write about all my DIY projects.  So here it is, my first DIY project blog post.  It's partly a how-to for the DIY project I made, and partly a glimpse into my thought process behind this DIY.

I have always been really big into decorating the house for the holidays.  The season that has given me the most difficult time has been decorating for Halloween/Thanksgiving.  There has always been a fine line as to when is the right time to pull down the witches hat and throw up the pilgrim.  So this year I decided to look for universal things that would show the greatness of the season and not limit it to just one holiday.  While looking on Pinterest, (that's right, I am a man and I am totally addicted to Pinterest. Think what you want but it is your one-stop-shop, you can start by looking at cars and before you know it, you are looking at ideas for your kid's 20th birthday party...I digress),  I was looking for some inspiration and I came across this really nice looking rustic box used as a centerpiece.

So I went outside to take a look at some of the scrap pieces of wood I have collected over the past couple of months.  I narrowed it down to a piece of 1x6 and a piece of 1x4.  I typically like using Pine because it is a soft wood, not that expensive and stains really nicely when trying to get that rustic look.  You can pick up these same pieces at your local store for about $5 a piece.

After I selected the wood I decided to start building.  I decided to use the 1x6 as my bottom piece and the 1x4 as the side pieces.  After much debate negotiating compromise, we decided that it would be best on the buffet and I based my measurements on that.  I cut the 1x6 piece to 17 inches, so that when I added the side pieces, I would get a total size of about 19 inches.  Since I wanted the cut parts of the wood to be visible on the side of the box instead of the front I cut a 4 inch section from the 1x6 to account for the side pieces.  

After doing that on both sides I then took a piece of 1x4 and drew a line with my square to let me know where to cut the 1x4. No need to make things complicated and use a tape measure when just a simple alignment and square will do the trick. 

Now that I have all the pieces of my box cut out I was time to put this baby together.  By using some wood glue and a brad nailer I would be able to create a box that would feel sturdy and last for years to come. 

When the glue dried I wanted to give it that old rustic look so I grabbed some stain that I had picked up at Lowe's.  I picked up a Mission Oak stain by MINWAX that was a stain and polyurethane in one because when applied with a brush it gave it that old world feel...that feel like this box had some cool stories to tell.

After the stain dried, I had one more piece left for this box to be complete and that was some handles.  I mean, if you are making a rustic box, why not throw on some rustic handles as well.  It not only adds functionality but also gives it that sweet kick of personality and charm.  I decided to go with some handles that I got at...wait for it...Lowe's!  They were only about 2 bucks a piece and came with the hardware to make installation a breeze.  

So now that I finished this sweet box, what am I going to put in it? I typically like to look for garlands that have all the things I am looking for.  One reason is they are less expensive than buying the pieces individually, and two, some designer out there thought they looked good together.    Amber and I went to Kirkland's several days later and came across the mailbox garland.  I liked the various colors and it provided me with enough material to have some left over.  

My toes are apparently making their blog debut as well.

Now here comes the best part, this is where the creativity and personalization (is that even a word?!) part come in.  Instead of just shoving the garland in there and calling it a day I like to cut all the pieces of the garland and work with smaller pieces arranging them how I think they will work best.  

From here, you just take some good sized candles to take up a bulk of the space and start getting creative.  After the first couple of leaves and berries everything started falling into place.  (If you start losing vision and just getting frustrated, like I did, take a step back let is sit for a while, and then attack it again.  Remember, this is supposed to be fun!)  When it was all said and done, I added a runner for the buffet to create a separation in color and I am really happy with the way it came out.  

Well that concludes my first blog post! I hope you enjoyed it because I've got more DIYs coming soon!