Easter video

My Dad and Teddie sent the girls their Easter basket. I told them that I would post a video of Sophie opening hers so that they could feel a part :)!

Here she is enjoying bubbles out of her basket. If ever in doubt of what to get her you can always trust bubbles to be a hit :)!

Sophie is obsessed with Toy Story! Especially Woody! Teddie had Woody at her house and Sophie made off with him! Anyhoo...Jesse was a great surprise to find in her basket! She has slept with them both every night - they are her constant companions!

Easter 2011

Wow! I'm actually posting about Easter on Easter and not two months later :)! We had a pretty laid back Easter Sunday. We went to church this morning, came home for Sophie's nap, and then went to Cracker Barrel. I wanted to make a big "to do" for lunch, buuuttt I got distracted by some incredible shopping yesterday and ran out of time to go to the grocery store. That's a good excuse, right :)?? Speaking of which - I actually found an Easter dress. Surprise, Surprise! The girls, however, ended up wearing the same dresses they wore to my Dad and Teddie's wedding. The dresses I had originally bought them didn't match my dress very well.

Here are some pictures of our day!

Sophie takes early naps, so Sundays are always hard on her. We usually don't get home too late after her scheduled nap time, but we bring her right in and put her down - no piddle paddling around - straight to bed she goes! She is NOT one of those children that can skip naps. EVER. Below you will see what happens when we push her. (For the record - her tantrums are MUCH, MUCH better! She rarely has them and when she does it's usually because she is tired! Maybe I'll post on what I feel worked to end these fits because Lord have mercy I thought I would NEVER get her out of those!)

We gave up on getting any good pictures. Ha! I didn't laugh in front of her because I would never want her to think that her tantrums are funny, but look at her sprawled out like her life was ending! So dramatic!

Both my girls are Mama's girls and looovve for me to hold them! My predictions were right - you can find me most parts of the day holding them both! Which has done wonders for my back.

There is a southern saying that goes, "The bigger the bow, the better the Mama"! Well, I must be one darn good Mama from the looks of that bow ;) - KIDDING!

Hope every one had a terrific Easter!

What a day!!!

I'll be honest...today was tough! For any Mommies of 2+ children that may be reading this, bear with me tonight. Try to remember when all you had were two and how there were times when it was rough - even though what you have now is definitely more challenging :). With that said...a friend asked me just this morning how it was with two. I think I may have answered a little too confidently because the day only went down from there, ha! Honestly, having two hasn't been that difficult for me up until now, but it is getting tougher. Elle is not sleeping - AT ALL. She is such a happy baby, but her lack of sleep is starting to make her fussy. I have tried to get this baby on a schedule but she is having nothing to do with it. It's funny how different children can be! Sophie practically put herself on a schedule. She thrives on a schedule and can get out of sorts if she is off of it. Elle is her own little person already and she has decided not to have a schedule. Well, Mommy will be working very hard to put her on one. I need it for my sanity! Thankfully Elle is taking a nap right now - on her Daddy's chest because if she is put down she immediately wakes up - so that I can have some quiet time. I think it's time to get serious about a schedule and sleeping for Elle! Her Mommy is pretty worn out :)!

Where have I been the past two months???!

Apparently, the blogging gods have been against me these past two months because EVERY time I have gone to blog something has happened! Last month I decided that it would be best to simply post pictures of our life since the last post, but even those pictures are old now, ha! Anywho...I am determined to catch up on blogging today! Be prepared for an overload from the Quesenberrys - hopefully :)!

We moved...again. This time only just down the road. Still, we found a house on Friday, moved everything on Saturday, and I had everything unpacked by the time my MIL got her on the following Sunday! What a week that was!! BTW - this is Sophie with her first busted lip. Our new house has hardwood floors. They were a bit dusty when we were moving in and Sophie wiped out coming around a corner. She was pitiful! Broke her Momma's heart!

Blake - who has been the BEST FRIEND EVER for helping us move TWICE!! That moving day was something else! Sophie busted her lip and Elle has SEVERAL blow outs. Here I am covered in poo poo and blood. I was having such a "mommy" day!

Sweet, sweet baby Elle! This child is seriously the sweetest thing! She is ALWAYS smiling! And she has recently started laughing! All you have to do is look at her and she'll laugh. I can't wait to see more of her personality develop!

Joe and I on a date night! Thanks to Momma we've had more dates in the short time we've lived in KY than we have in our entire marriage (Keep in mind that I was pregnant with Sophie with in 3 months of being married so we don't really know what marriage is like with out a baby!)

Sophie is such a daddy's girl these days! Annnddd she likes to help with whatever project we're working on! Here they are working on her new table.

Nothing sweeter than my two girls snuggling in bed with me in the mornings!

As I mentioned my MIL came to visit. The last weekend that she was here more of Joe's relatives came. This is his grandmother with Elle.

My Miss Hollywood! What you can't see is she has my bracelet on as well! LOVE this girl!

Oh, those big blues will get you a lot in life ;)

The only place she'll sleep - in Mommy and Daddy's bed!

My entire world in this photo :)

Sophie is such an attentive big sister!

One morning I walked out to the sunroom and discovered a mess that Sophie has made and tried to clean up! This girl is a cleaner. Wonder who she gets than from, ahem, Momma :)!

We've had some moments of reverting back to a baby...

Elle in her bumbo for the first time! She's growing too fast!

Ha! Can you tell he's a father of a daughter :)! Hoping for him that our next child will be a boy!

A couple of weeks ago we went to TN to help Sarah and Blake move to Chattanooga...boo! I went down a couple days early to see my Dad and friends! Here is one of my dearest friends, Ahrmin! This girl keeps me laughing for sure! Her sweet daughter, Emory. Is this child not gorgeous like her Momma???

Ha! Like father, like son, like granddaughter! My grandfather would ALWAYS take a nap on the floor like this! Notice he has hand on her...so sweet!

Sophie had her first nutty icecream (that's not the real name, but I can't think of it!) cone at Teddie's house.

Sophie has had her first experience with chalk. She LOVED it!

She also had her first trip to the movies. My Aunt, who is always taking Soph to fun places, took her to see Rango.

Soph and my Aunt leaving for her big adventure :)

I tackled at BIG project - planting flowers. I'm NOT a fan of the dirt and yuck, BUT I'm sure it'll be something I do every year! These are the before and after pictures. Quite a difference I think!

This is a picture after I planted the flowers

Thank God I'm at the end! This gigantic bird is sitting outside the office window just staring at me. It's really starting to freak me out, ha! I was going to post more, but think I'll wait for my friend to leave. See what I mean...the blogging gods are against me :)! I'll post pictures of my dad's wedding later. It was such a beautiful day!

Longest Post EVER

Life is definitely very full these days! Lots of "brand news" going on! New baby, new job, new step mother, new step sisters, and new life in Kentucky! All of which I am grateful for!

Things are going great with the baby! She is such a happy little thing and most of the time she is content where ever she is and no matter what chaos is going on around her! Sophie has been wonderful with her! There have been a few bouts of jealousy, but that is to be expected! I have tried very hard to include Sophie in everything and to make sure that I spend time with just her as often as possible. However, there are just some times that the baby needs me and that is where I have to put my focus. It breaks my heart because I can see the confusion and disappointment on Sophie's face. I have been so proud of Sophie with how well she interacts with the baby! She is such a momma hen! Now if we can make progress with these tantrums of hers!

Joe was offered a job and starts next Tuesday! YAY! God always provides right on time! I'll go more in depth on this one in another post :)!

My dad is getting married to a wonderful lady named, Teddie! My sister and I are so pleased that Dad found someone who makes him as happy as she does and is so kind and accepting to/of us! Apparently, I am the one that set this thing in motion by mentioning Teddie to my dad several years ago. I vaguely remember this, but am happy to take credit for this match :)! I was in the same sorority as Abby, Teddie's youngest daughter, for a semester before she graduated. In fact, all three of Teddie's daughters were in DZT which is a neat thing to share! I always thought so highly of Abby which is a good thing now that we're going to be step sisters :)! Yes, in case you missed that Teddie has three daughters bringing a total of FIVE daughters between the two of them! So far there are a total of eight grandchildren with more a comin'. No one is pregnant that I know of, I'm just saying that I'm sure there will be more :)!

We are loving life in Kentucky! I thank God everyday that he made a way for us to move here! I'm even more thankful that He has lead us to a great church! It's Presbyterian and we LOVE it! The moment I walked in the reverence they had for scripture and Christ brought me to tears! There was such a peace there that seemed to bring healing to my soul immediately! I'm sure this sounds hyper-dramatic, but if only people knew what we had to endure and were exposed to in previous places then it would make sense :)! The church puts all their emphasis on outreach and our responsibility in serving the community - which is what Christianity is all about, right?

I'll leave y'all with a funny story:
The other day Sophie was helping me change Ellie Faye's diaper. When we were finished she started lifting her shirt which puzzled me, but not too much because who knows what is going through a two year olds mind! She then proceeded to try and pick her up which I, of course, didn't allow. I picked up the baby to hand her to Sophie who guides the baby to her chest. Bless her little heart, she was trying to nurse her! I told ya, she's such a momma hen already!

Ellie Faye Quesenberry

Miss Ellie Faye is here!!! YAY! She was born on 1.11.11. Which is a pretty neat birthday I think! Plus it is mine and Joe's anniversary. My labor was WONDERFUL! Completely different than with Sophie! The pain was never, ever unbearable and she was out in three pushes! My doctor, who has been delivering babies for 35 years, really knew his stuff! I'm pretty sure that he is the reason that I had such a great delivery! Sorry for those who have seen these pictures on Facebook - I wanted to post them for my family that doesn't have FB.

Here I am getting ready to push...we took a picture because Ellie Faye was all on one side
and since there was no water you could see every movement she made!

The one picture of Joe and I on our 3 year anniversary!

Sweet baby girl!

When she first was born we thought she looked identical to Sophie, but her looks have really changed!

Our first family pictures

Perfectly said

Ever since I first found out that I was pregnant with Elle I have struggled and worried over one thing; Feeling a protectiveness over mine and Sophie's relationship. To be very honest, I was worried that I would resent Elle for taking away from Sophie. For two years Sophie has been my number one concern. I make every single decision based on how it will effect her. Now there is going to be a new baby that needs that same kind of love and I was worried that I wouldn't be able to give it. Don't get me wrong, I am so excited about Elle. but I couldn't help these emotions that I felt so strongly. I've always heard that second time mother's have these concerns and I was praying that was my case! My friend, Sarah Holland, sent me this poem that another friend of hers posted on her blog. It brought me to tears because it was exactly, word for word, how I felt! It gave me such comfort to know that I was not alone and that there IS enough love for both. I especially love where she mentions both daughter's having their own supply!

Today I was thinking about all the fun that Sophie and I will have with this new baby. I know once she has made the difficult adjustments of not being the only child that she will be an incredible attentive, caring, and protective Big Sister! She is so eager to help Joe and I with anything we need. I've watched her love her babies and care for them as if she were grown! So, here is to you, Sophie! Mommy loves you more than I ever imagined I could love! I remember the moment that I felt like your mother. It wasn't the very moment I gave birth, but a couple days later. I remember feeling that I would walk the earth to get you what you needed. I would fight for you until my last breath. I would protect you even if it hurt me. I would make sure you knew that in this world there was nothing as important as YOU! You will never share my love - you have your own supply!

I walk along holding your two year old hand, basking in the glow of our magical relationship. Suddenly I feel a kick from within, as if to remind me that our time alone is limited. And I wonder, how could I ever love another child as I love you?

Then she is born, and I watch you. I watch the pain you feel at having to share me as you've never shared me before.

I hear you telling me in your own way, "Please love only me." And I hear myself telling you in mine, "I can't." Knowing, in fact, that I never can again.

You cry. I cry with you. I almost see our new baby as an intruder on the precious relationship we once shared. A relationship we can never quite have again.

But then, barely noticing, I find myself attached to that new being, and feeling almost guilty. I'm afraid to let you see me enjoying her - as thought I am betraying you.

But then I notice your resentment change, first to curiosity, then to protectiveness, finally genuine affection.

More days pass, and we are settling into a new routine. The memory of days with just the two of us is fading fast.

But something else is replacing those wonderful times we shared; just us two. There are new times - only now, there are three. I watch the love between you grow, the way you look at each other, touch each other.

I watch how she adores you - as I have for so long. I see how excited you are by each of her enw accomplishments. And I begin to realize that I haven't take something from you, I've given something to you.

I notice that I am no longer afraid to share my love openly with both of you.

I find that my love for each of you is as different as you are, but equally strong. And my question is finally answered, to my amazement. yes, I can love another child as much as I love you - only differently.

And although I realize that you may have to share my time, I now know you'll never have to share my love. There's enough of that for both of you - you each have your own supply!

I love you - both. And I thank you for blessing my life.