Where has the year gone?!

It's hard to believe this was almost a year ago now.  I feel like it was literally yesterday that I was sitting in the hospital, waiting for my daughter to make her appearance after almost a month of nightly labor.  Maybe that's because I have a new baby kicking away in my belly now.  Ha!  If someone would have told me that a year ago, I'd have laughed hysterically.  No way, no how.

But as preparations came together for Adalyn's birthday party, there was no denying it: my baby is no longer a baby.  Something about the second one is so much different than the first.  I felt like Ben was grown up from three months on.  Adalyn still feels like a tiny baby...until I actually hold a tiny baby like I did the other day and I quickly realize that she is not, indeed, a baby.  She walks!  She talks!  She eats by herself!  It's so cliche, but time really does fly by way too quickly.

So to reminisce a little, let's take a quick look back at January 14th, 2011.  

Adalyn's party was Saturday and was a total blast!  This was my first year putting Pinterest to good use and I love the way it all turned out!

I still love Adalyn's nursery so I decided it'd be fun to stick to those same colors.  I added in some pops of  blue, too, seeing that it's my favorite color and all.  I used her curtains as the tablecloths.  How easy is that?!

Her monthly picture collage!  

The rock candy was my favorite.  Throwback!

And of course the striped paper straws - I'm a HUGE fan of these things!

Her invite (which sadly and lamely, I didn't end up getting to send out because I am master procrastinator and she ended up with an evite instead - so I taped this on the door to get at least a tiny bit of use out of it):

Thank you, Target, for giving this pregnant mama a baking break and making fab & delicious hot pink cupcakes!

This was the best picture I could get of the active birthday gal and the outfit I made her.

Her outfit & pennant banner:

Obligatory cake face picture!

 And allow my little piggy to dazzle you with her cupcake eating abilities.  I love this girl & her new voracious appetite!  Also, please enjoy the blurry quality and my husband's stellar singing.  Be jealous!

Happy birthday, my precious sweet pea!  

Ben: Version 2.0

We had a lot of health issues during Ben's first 18 months of life.  There was blood in his poop the first month, then the non-stop spitting up and the green poop and the eczema (food allergy related).  Then there was the time he swelled up when we gave him peanut butter and the fact that he pretty much dropped off the percentile charts after being at 50% for awhile.  Then a horrible face rash plagued him all winter last year.  Luckily, though, he's now healthy as can be!

I was really praying for a healthier baby this time around.  Unfortunately, it's quickly becoming clear that we are dealing with the same issues.  Only we can add crying-almost-every-minute-she's-awake-if-she's-not-being-worn to the list.  And being held isn't good enough.  She actually doesn't even really like being held.  She must be WORN.  She's been gassy and fussy for a few weeks now.  Then she started getting some mild baby acne a week ago.  That took a turn for the worse and in the past few days, has gotten horrible.  It's ALL over her face, her neck, her back, her chest, even in her ears and on her eyelids.  I'm not even sure this is baby acne now.  Her face feels like sandpaper.

Then enter today's newest symptom.  The green, mucus poop.  Sorry, but you are reading a mom blog.  The tell-tale milk intolerance poop.

I went off dairy and gluten and wheat and eggs starting on Monday.  I'm living on chips and salsa and coconut milk.  Yum.

It wouldn't be so bad if she weren't obviously in such pain.  At least with Ben, he seemed mostly content despite his issues.  It breaks my heart to see my baby hurting and not know what to do for her.

The silver lining is that we went through it all with Ben and came out on the other side with a healthy, happy (well, when he's not being two years old) toddler.  We'll survive this, too.  We could just use a few prayers that she gets some relief from the pain soon.

My poor, poor baby girl:

Adalyn.

After Ben was born, I think I posted like ten pictures a day (at least!) for the first few months.  I was absolutely obsessed with capturing every little detail of his precious face and every little moment of his precious life and showing him off to everyone.  Funny how being a parent makes you a show-off.  But seriously, who doesn't think their kid is the cutest?!

Anyway, I wondered during this pregnancy if I'd be the same with baby girl or if, like many things the second time around, it just wouldn't seem as important to show her off.

Nah.  I think she's the cutest and I want everyone to know.  :)














She looks exactly like Ben did as a baby except that she has a completely different nose.  In every other way, though, I feel like I'm raising Ben all over again.  She's a perfect sleeper, doesn't cry (like literally ever) and is totally content to hang in my arms all day long and make cute little squeaky noises.  The newborn stage is just my all-time favorite.  I love every last second of it!