Baby Fever

This week there have been a lot of reminders that I no longer have a baby in my house. Mary's first birthday was on Monday. Unbelievable that it has been a year. I started to reminisce over all that was happening this time last year. It does not feel like it has been a year, however, when I remember the time before Mary was here it seems like a lifetime ago. It is very hard for me to remember our family without her. Even though we didn't know it at the time something was missing. She was missing. And now that she is here we are more complete.

The night before her party was a rough one for her. She had been sleeping in our room for a week while we had company and she was ready for her crib back. So from 4am on she was laying with me. And I didn't mind (that time). I started remembering how little she was when we brought her home and how much she has grown, in all areas, since she joined us. Made me a little sad that my infant is gone.

I also have quite a few friends who are expecting or just had babies. I see their pictures and hear their stories, which never gets old. It reminds me how cute and exciting having a new baby is. How tiny they are, the time of getting to know each other, the instant love that you feel, the wonder of a human being coming into the world. I watched a baby being born this evening on TV. When I heard the little cry I missed that beautiful cry of and infant. Remembering back to the time in the hospital with Mary. The impatient time waiting for her to come. Meeting her. Feeding her. Singing to her for the first time. Watching Mike change her first diaper, and those are bad! Introducing her to people for the first time. Those were special times.

It was around this time with Scott that I started wanting another baby. I knew we were not finished and my very independent boy made me want another baby baby. As a mom you celebrate every milestone, EVERY one. So exciting when they learn to do something on their own. Let's face it sometimes everyone needing you for everything is hard. But at the same time you realize they don't need you for that one thing anymore. It is very bitter sweet.

Wednesday I had a 6 month check up on the abnormal cells that they found back in September. So my doctor went ahead and checked my birth control. He asked me if we were still sure we didn't want to try for any more kids. And even with all this reminiscing and missing the baby baby, the answer is still YES. Lol. I love my kids, more than I thought possible. But it's hard sometimes. And the infant stage is really hard. I am very happy with where we are at right now. I have a bossy, head strong, demanding little one year old princess who stills my heart more and more everyday. I also have a smart, handsome, head strong (notice a theme) 3 1/2 year old who will always be one of the all time loves of my life.

Here are the loves of my life!

Update

Ok, I do not know how it is possible for all you Mommies to stay up to date on this blogging. I am horrible. I barley have time to go to the bathroom during the day while watching these two little little blessings. A lot has happened since my last post so this is going to be a very general overview with pictures.

First of all today is Mary's first birthday. I can not believe that she is a year old already. It does not seem like she should be a toddler yet. Although she has been walking since she was 9 months old. But, when I think back to a year ago and being in the hospital and meeting her for the first time it seems like a lifetime ago. She is such a vital part of our family it is hard to remember our life without her. We had a great Princess party with her this past Saturday. It was a blast. She got a ton of wonderful gifts, played her heart out, grabbed her whole piece of cake with one fist and shoved it into her mouth. It was great. I will post pictures of that soon.

We had Mike's family stay with us for a week. They stayed with us last year for Spring Break with hope of being here when Mary arrived. They left on Saturday and she came Sunday morning at 3:16am. So, they came to visit us again this Spring Break to actually spend time with her and celebrate her first birthday. It was a great time.

Speaking of Spring Break, Spring has came to our house. We planted our flower bed in the front yesterday to celebrate the first day of Spring. We (Mike) also has tilled up the backyard to plant new grass seed and get our garden ready for planting. We are so excited and the kids really enjoy being outside. Both of them LOVE being outside. Mary will run to the front door and start beating on the screen to tell us she is ready to go out. It is so funny.

We had our first professional family pictures taken since Mary has joined our family:

Ok, this is a really long post and not even half of what has happened since the last post. I will try to post more often and will post pics of the family visit, birthday party and playing outside soon.

4th of July

What a great weekend we had! We took a road trip to T or C to visit Mike's family. Love getting to spend time with them. Mary did so well on the 6 hour drive up there. She also had three wonderful nights of sleep. First night she slept till until 4! The next night is was till 5! The final night she went down at 6:30, ate at 9, 3 and 8. She was worn out! Pour girl. It was nice to get all that sleep though. Hopefully she will keep it up! She certainly wowed her family that meet her for the first time. Scott had a blast as always. Grandpa Rudy spoiled the living day lights out of him. And of course he was the center of attention. LOL He ate tons of candy (thank you Grandpa Rudy), saw fireworks, got to play naked in the sprinkler (thank you Grandma), got to do some fireworks of his own and just had a blast. The grown ups didn't have too bad of a time either. Mike's brother, who is in the Navy in Seattle, came down and surprised his mom. She was the only one who didn't know. It was great! We went to the lake for fireworks, Bar-B-Que'd and got to visit a lot. It was a great weekend.

Other new updates about our family: Mary has started laughing, like belly laugh giggling. I love it! She is so cute. She still has her uncomfortable times in the afternoon. Usually around 5 we just can't get her peaceful. Hopefully this will pass soon. She is ready to move from her bassinet to her crib. This still hasn't happen yet cause mom still isn't ready even though Mary is. It will have to happen soon though. She's just getting too big. :( So sad that she is in her next size of clothes. It's ok. My "little" boy is growing as well. He is growing and learning so much. I don't know where he comes up with some things. He is so smart!! He makes these thoughts and complex phrases that he should not know as an almost 3 year old. Once we get him potty trained it's going to be hard to call him a toddler. He just doesn't act like one. Mike is still doing so well in his job. He is now overseeing three employees here. He makes a pretty good boss but he's always thought he was one anyway. :) He has to spend his two weeks with the Navy in Virgina soon so you will probably hear from me a lot more. I HATE when he's gone that long. And, me (Amanda) I'm still here being the mom. Sometimes thinking I'm going to loose my mind. But by God's grace I'm still here. :) Here are some pictures from this weekend to end my spill.

Rain, Rain and more Rain

The kids and I have been hostages in our house the past few days due to rain. I love the rain. It has been cooler, the smell is great and it is pretty. Scott loves the rain too and he is learning to like the thunder (or as he says 'The Angels Bowling). However, he does not like being penned up in the house for two days straight. Now, if you have spent anytime with my son you know he is pretty active. He has a very active imagination and runs around like crazy. And he loves being outside. Add all of those wonderful attributes to being locked up in a house and you get a maniac. :) So, I have tried my best to play fun games with him. Not so easy to while watching a 3 month old. We even have a fun new game of "Watch the Rain". Cute pictures of that to come at the end of this post. He will get the chance to run out all of his energy this weekend though. A big trip to see the Valencia side of the family for the 4th. We're going back to the lake! He'll not only get to run around like crazy he will also be the center of attention the whole weekend. What's not to like. But for now it is fun in the house due to rain. I need to get more creative. We'll see how the rest of the week goes. Here are some fun pictures for now.

New Blog

I am trying to take this blogging thing "seriously". My old blog's url was mikesamandandscott. Well we have Baby Mary now. So, I created a new blog. Simply the Valencia's.

New posts to come soon. Enjoy!

Siblings

When I became a mom for the first time I was scared out of my mind! I had been around children my whole life since my parents were foster parents. But I had never had to be solely (with my husband's help) responsible for their upbringing. When we found out we were pregnant with our second one I was so excited. I wanted a little girl so bad. They are cute. And they have cuter clothes for girls. And I wanted one of each. I wasn't as scared either. There were things I was nervous about but I though it has to be easier the more you do it right? Now since Mary was born we have been told how identical our children look. And it's true. There is no mistaking they are related. However,............. I could have NEVER imagine how opposite these two little beings could be. Scott was a good baby. I knew I had it easy with him. I did not however, realize how good I had it. Now, I love Mary. But this little girl has attitude. She is very demanding. She is very needy. She demands a lot more attention. (Don't know where she gets any of that. LOL)Now I am being told that this is how typical babies are. I was just spoiled with Scott. It is fun getting to know her and learning her little quirks. But she is 3 months old today and I am still 'learning' how SHE likes things. It just still amazes me how Mike and I have made (well God's doing) two little beings that are so completely opposite and similar looking at the same time.

This is Scott at 3 Months Old:

And This is Mary at 3 Months Old:

Blogging

As a mom of two I barley have the time to go to the bathroom during the day little alone blog. But lately I have really felt it on my heart that I need to. So, finding myself with alone time (WHAT?) I thought I would give it a shot. I have never been really good at writing or putting my thoughts into a story form. I am more of an emotional person who just spills everything out whenever I get a change. There is so much going on in my life right now, and I do not have a lot of outlets. I am a stay-at-home mom. I live in the smallest town I have ever lived in. And, my friends are scattered all over the US. Now, I am a very blessed woman. I have an amazingly smart almost three year old (HOLY COW) little boy, a beautiful almost three month old little girl, a wonderful husband, great family and girls I consider Best Friends in Nevada, Texas, Tennessee and Albuquerque. You are lucky if you find one friend you can share your heart and faith with and I have more than four that I fill that comfortable with. However, for some reason God has chosen that those friends be miles away. So, I will use this as another outlet when talking on the phone to these girls is just not possible all the time. I am telling you up front that this blog will not be well written. It may not flow well. And it may be boring. But I am just doing what I feel lead to do. For now here are some current pictures of my adorable family!