Cousin Buggy!

I went to get Lola's newborn pictures taken yesterday (they're ridiculous BTW,) and there was a little 16 month old boy that was getting his done before us. As the photographer was snapping away at this kid he was a hot mess. Crying, whining, throwing a fit, wanted to be held - ugh - all as I am trying to get Lil Lola to sleep. It made me think "My nephew Trey is nothing like that!" Yes he's busy, what 15 month old boy isn't? But he is just the most lovable man you will ever meet.
 I have watched him grow into such an adorable little man and I just HAD to post a couple of pics. His mom & dad are my husbands brother, and his wife Antoinette, who is not only my Sister-in-law but one my best friends. They are a beautiful family and we just love 'em. So let me introduce you to the biggest little sweetheart on the planet. My nephew Trey aka Bug!

This is one of my faves. It captures his true personality. He is in absolute disbelief that his Mommy let him play in the fountain, and he is in his glory!

Pics by Brooke Logue Gomberg. 

Family Photos

These are a little late. We took them after John's promotion ceremony. (He made SGT.) I was so upset that my dear friend Brooke Logue Gomberg  didn't get to come visit us and do our newborn session because Lola was sick. I felt like such a bad mommy - I know thats ridiculous, but blame it on the pregnancy hormones! So I asked our family friend Susan Weiss come do some shots of us. I love the way they came out, and I am so grateful to her. She has been documenting our family throughout the deployment and the birth of our little Loli. At the end of the year, she is doing a show and our family is one of 10 that will be featured. Cool huh?


This one cracks me up. Look at Lola's face. She is a ham sandwich already.

Disclaimer: Please excuse my obscene cleavage - I swear I am still getting used to these things!

Its Days like today.

...that chip away at my mental stability. Haven't heard from John today. He usually skype's me everyday by atleast 2:00. Iraq is 7 hours ahead of us. Its days like today that I dread. The fear of the unknown is the worst. 

Just for kicks, here's a throwback photo of us

Weigh in

So heres the skinny on my pregnancy weight. Before I got pregnant I was 128. About 10 lbs heavier than I'd like to be. During the first trimester I did pretty well, only gaining around 10 lbs. THEN... John left, and the holidays came, and the traveling. I think I traveled around for a good solid 3 months. My diet consisted of Chick-fil-A, Chipotle, eggplant parm, Ben & Jerrys Peanut Butter Swirl, and M&M's. I was on the fast track to Fatville. Thankfully, my yoga-obsessed, veggie loving, diet nazi, vegan Dad saved my ass - literally. He came to stay with me for awhile and had me on a pretty strict, all organic, no meat, no dairy diet. With that I was able to curtail my weight gain. By the end of my pregnancy, I ended up putting on 32 lbs. Not bad. 

I thought for sure it would all magically fall off in the first few weeks. I prayed that I would somehow give birth to a 32 lb baby. Yeah, not so much. So here I am 4 weeks postpartum, with 20 lbs, to go. Ugh.

There's only one little problem, I hate working out. I don't think I have broken a sweat while working out once in my life. That needs to change. So heres my plan: Im gonna buy a jogging stroller
and hopefully it will motivate me to get up and go. I figure, if I spend the money on a jogging stroller, then I will feel obligated to USE it. If I dont, it would be a waste of money, and I hate wasting money.

One Month Old!

She changes everyday. Check out those lips!

 I think its fair to say that she has recognized my voice since day one. Especially when she was sick, it seemed that when she would get upset, just hearing my voice calmed her down. I love that. She definitely smiles now. When I make high pitched noises {super annoying baby talk}, she gives me one of those half smile + wink faces. Melts my heart. She also laughs hysterically in her sleep. I remember when I was a kid, I could hear my little brother Jonathan in the middle of the night from the next room, DYING laughing in his sleep. He must have been having a funny dream. In turn, I would DIE laughing at him laughing. Reminds me of that :).  She holds on to her bink, God forbid it should fall out of her mouth. She swats my hand away when I am trying to clean her face. OH! She has gotten pretty good at lifting her head up during tummy time too. She has a laundry list of faces, this is how I know she is my child. I was the same way. She farts and poops as much as my husband which I didn't think was humanly possible. She has his lashes {lucky girl!} and my eyes. His nose and my lips. She has his chin too. I just love her so much.

Daddy is back in Iraq and we miss him so much. We are counting the minutes till he comes home. 

Things they dont tell you.

Being a Mommy is the best thing ever. I have my best friend with me 24/7. BUT there are a few things i DIDNT realize before I got pregnant. Here they are...

1. The worry. I worry constantly. For the first few weeks, i slept with my hand on her just to make sure she was still breathing. I told John I was apprehensive about having another just because I dont think I could handle double the worry. They tell me it never ends.

2. How much she poops! I feed her - she poops, I burp her - she poops, a put her down to sleep - she poops, I change her diaper- she poops.

3. How bad breast feeding hurt. For the first 2 weeks, it felt like razors were shooting out of my boobs.

4. How much life would change. Adjusting to being a Mom was definitely tough. Lola is on my mind every minute of every day. When you have a baby, you can just plop down on the couch and watch your favorite show. I guess thats why they have DVR.

5. How people just touch your baby. They dont ask, they just put their dirty little mitts all over the baby's hands & face. I have learned to say "Oh please dont touch her she isnt feeling well today." That usually works.

6. How much I TRULY understand my parents better now. They tell you your whole life "Just wait till you have kids, you'll see then." and you think "Yeah right." Well its true. You really cant understand what that love is like until you have one of your own. Thanks Mom and Dad!

Im sure they'll be more as the days, months, and years go by. For now, Ill leave you with a face that just cracks me and John up. Its her poopin' face!

3 weeks old!

Loli, Lola bean, String bean, Lola Bear, L Boogie. The nicknames keep piling on. We went for our 2 week checkup today. (A little late cause we were in the hospital last week) All of the nurses came up and hugged me and John. They had seen Lola before she was taken away in the ambulance. They said they were calling the hospital every day to check on her. I thought that was nice. But they were all really happy to see she made a full recovery.

So, the little weed has grown 2 and 1/2 inches, and gained a whole pound. I thought for sure she would fall behind being in the hospital for a week. She must take after my husband. I can already tell she has a love for food. The girl can eat. 

John leaves to go back to Iraq tomorrow. I will be a wreck as usual. But it is a little easier this time around because I know next time he comes home, he will be home for good. PRAYING that he's only gone for 5 more months!!

In Love With Lola

Here is John and his mini me. She looks just like him. Makes me kinda sad, I wish she looked like me just a little bit!! Today we went to John's promotion ceremony (pics to come). He made Sergeant. I was able to pin his rank on him. It was quite a big ordeal. I am so proud of him. After the ceremony, he gave a little speech. It was awesome. Lola was right there with us. I cant believe he is leaving again.

Here are a few more pics of this past week..

First bath! She actually enjoyed it. I think she liked the warm water. 

She freaked when I took her out.

Going for a ride in Daddy's new car!

Our RSV scare

Here are a few tear-jerkers. Lola caught a bad cold from one of our visitors. Long story short - she was admitted to the ER and had to be put on a ventilaor for 3 days. She was having trouble breathing. By far the worst/scariest 8 days of my life. Thank god she made a full recovery and is home now. 

Note: DO NOT let anyone near your baby who may be sick. Limit the amount of visitors in the first few months. I wish I did. 

She's here

Our sweet baby Lola was born on February 24, 2010 at 2:40pm. She weighed in at 7lb 6oz and was 20 inches long. 

We are so in love with our little girl. John and I went in to Savannah Memorial hospital on the night of the 23rd to start cervadil. Thats a drug they use to help your cervix dilate. Neither of us slept much that night. Next morning around 9 am they started the pitocin. At that point I was about 2-3 centimeters dilated. My contractions didn't really hurt at that point, I'd say they were just uncomfortable. Around 12 o'clock, they checked me and I was 4cm, so the doctor decided to break my water - thats when all hell broke loose. The contractions came on like crazy. Worst. pain. ever. After about 4 major contractions, a little man I like to call GOD came and gave me my epidural. Heaven. After about an hour and a half, I started to feel some REAL pressure down low. So we called the nurse and she checked me and to my surprise I was 10 cm! Ready to push. My mom hadn't arrived yet so I insisted we wait (She flew all the way from NY and would've been so sad to miss it.) A few minutes later she arrived, and after about 40 minutes of pushing Lola Marie Rourke was born. The cord was wrapped around her neck one time, but other than that she is perfectly healthy. Best moment of our lives thus far :)

Heres some more pictures of her first days of life...

Finally a family.

Looking at her Daddy for the first time. She looks just like him. Nothing melts my heart more than seeing my husband look at her.

Her hat I got off etsy.