Adam's Fight

Sometimes things happen in life that we don't understand. Sometimes we have to face things that are, well, BIG. 

For those of you who know my family well, you know that we are really close. I have three brothers who have always been some of my best friends. We are still like little kids when we get together. When the four of us are all together, we always laugh so hard!  My oldest brother, Adam, is one of the strongest people I know. He has always had this attitude about himself. The attitude like "Don't mess with me!" I actually remember one summer when Adam, Drew, and I played basketball all summer. I mean we were in the gym constantly. We all still joke about the time when we were playing pick-up games and this guy on the other team kept giving Adam crap. This guy was a shorter, black guy who was like an ex-marine or something. Adam just kept giving it back to him and they ended up in a yelling match. Adam won. It was so funny. Drew and I just died laughing. 

Anyways, about two weeks ago Adam got the news that his cancer has returned.   He had won his battle with cancer 6 years ago and he is determined that he will win this fight again!  I know that he will win this fight because it is Adam's nature. He is a winner.

As a way to tell people about his fight against cancer Adam has set up a blog. I really want people to look at it and try to gain some type of insight as to what he is going through.  I know that we can all learn from the journey that he is going through; his FIGHT.

http://myfightadam.blogspot.com/

Oh the lessons you can learn in 1 MONTH...

As of tomorrow, we have been a family of four for 1 month! I cannot believe that Halle is 1 month old. To say that this month has been eventful is an understatement. I started thinking of the many things that Matt and I have learned throughout the past month and came up with this short list. Sorry if it is boring but I rarely write things down other than on this blog so this is for my own record as well. 

• Nap time is SACRED!  Nothing beats a 2 year old napping for 2 hours in the afternoon...priceless!
• Movies (such as Cars, Lion King, and Toy Story) and a locking baby gate provide mom with the chance to shower in peace each day.
• Toddler jail is a great method of timeout. (See the video below. To clarify, he is yelling "Open the Gate.")
• I can totally understand why people use leashes on their kids (not that I have resorted to it yet).
• DO NOT attempt to carry a toddler down the stairs, in the middle of the night, with no lights on...Matt learned this the hard way!
• Although it isn't fun to get up during the night, enjoy snuggling with your little girl while it is quiet!
• Bribery is completely OK when you are in a public place.
• Having the flu while nursing should NOT be wished upon anyone.
• Babies grow FAST. Halle is already getting little rolls on her legs and chubby little cheeks
• Matt has more patience than I do. Thank goodness for two parents.
• Nursing while walking around the house is OK.
• A clean house is so OVERRATED! :)
• Family and amazing neighbors can take Ryan for an hour or two anytime they want. He loves to go play with someone other than his mom. We can't thank everyone enough for their help. 
• We thought Ryan ate good as a newborn. We just didn't know any better. Halle nurses like a champ!
• Nothing is sweeter than Ryan giving his sister kisses or holding her hand while she is crying.
• 5 hours of straight sleep can go a long ways! 

A little smile from our little girl

All in all we really have had an amazing first month. Although challenging at times, it really is so much fun to have two kids. We love the two of them so much!  Thanks to everyone who has helped us through this first month!

Halle's photo shoot @ 2 weeks

Our neighbor has a photography company and took some great pictures of Halle.

Here are just a few of the really great shots she got of our little girl! 

There are a couple more that I really love but I think I will wait to post those because I'm gonna use them for her birth announcment.  If you want an announcment leave your address for me and I'll be sure to send you one:)

Thanks Autumn! 

(autumnbaldwinphotography.com)

"Two is better than one!"

Life in the Oakey house has definately changed over the past three weeks but we are convinced that we absolutely love having two kids.  The whole feeling in our house has changed. Ryan has past the point of hating his little sister and throwing cars at her and he now wants so badly to help with Halle.  He also loves to give her kisses and hold her hand (which is one of the cutest things I have ever seen).  He isn't quite sure about the time mom has to spend with Halle but he is trying to figure it out.  He doesn't get the feeding thing yet so we have had some funny conversations about that. For instance yesterday I had just fed Halle and was now pumping for a few minutes. He had the most priceless look on his face when he looked at me, looked at the pump, lifted up his shirt and said, "On Ryan, Mommy?"  I'm not sure what he was thinking but he wanted to do what mom was doing.... so funny! 
Matt and I are adjusting well to two kids.  I have ventured out more than once and I feel proud of myself. I feel like Sam's Club is easy but the grocery store is still in question. This past weekend we actually went camping on Saturday and Sunday.  Halle and I didn't sleep over but we spent most of the days  in the mountains and just drove home at night.  She did awesome!   It is actually kind of hard to remember what our life was like before a toddler and an infant. It is becoming more normal to hold Ryan's hand and carry Halle's car seat in the parking lot of Walmart. 

I love this picture of Ryan. So dirty, so happy, and so cute!

Enjoying the sun!

Nothing like a nap on daddy's chest

Our little girl!

The only adjustment we haven't mastered quite yet is that of getting sleep!  Ryan has never been a great sleeper so it is normal for him to come into our room atleast once during the night.  Add that to a 3 week old on a typical 3 week old sleep schedule and you tend to get a few long nights.  I honestly don't know how Matt functions at work each day. He gets up at 5 am everyday and doesn't get home until almost 7 pm.  In fact he was putting Ryan to bed last night and this is what I found after about 10 minutes. 

Ryan was not the one asleep. He was the one singing to his dad. It was priceless!

He is such a great dad and as you can see the kids love cuddling with him!  This is a pretty common scene at our house lately.

Last of all my mom and dad took a few pictures for us on Labor Day. We really don't have any pictures of our little family so it was fun that Halle was awake and the scenery was so pretty. We didn't really plan this so we aren't very prepared but it works for now.