I have a 3 year old!!!!

AAAHHHHHH!!!!! How is this even possible? I feel like yesterday we were preparing for his arrival, making sure I had everything washed folded and neatly tucked away waiting for the day he would decide to make his entrance in to our world. I remember wondering what he would look like?...would he be a good baby?...would I be a good mom?

Then the day came, I woke up in the morning wondering if I was really in labor or if my mind was playing tricks on me, I mean I had 16 days still to go before my due date, first babies didn't come that early...did they? Sure enough my little guy decided he wanted to meet the world so off to the hospital we went and 17.5 hours of labor and a c-section later we met this little guy:


I remember, when I finally got to see him, how perfect he looked (even if he did look just like daddy and as though I had nothing to do with him at all) and wondering how I ever lived a day in my life before without him. He had my heart, this tiny little 6lb 9oz perfect little person, had my entire heart and I felt like the luckiest person ever to be his mommy.

The days passed and he grew and grew and I sat by watching him and wondering what I could do to hold time still for just a little while, I wanted to savor every moment, every little thing that he did. People always told me that time would fly by and boy were they right. But I will admit the more he grew the more exciting it was to watch him, to see him hit all the milestones of crawling, walking, getting teeth, talking and to see him grow in to the little boy he is now.

Today is so exciting and sad all at the same time. Well maybe not sad but bitter sweet. I feel like my baby is growing up too fast, like one day in the not so far future he is not going to need me so much, I mean come on, once he learns to wipe his own butt there is very little he will need me for at all, hahaha. At the very same time it's so exciting to see the little boy he is growing up to be. He is so smart, caring, sensitive, tough, opinionated, and just the best little boy ever (I might be a little biased).

This is also an exciting day because as a new mom 3 years ago there were definitely some days where it didn't feel like we would ever make it through some of the sleepless nights and rough days (luckily there were few of those), but here we are, we survived...not without accidents though....but we made it through and it makes me that much more excited to see him grow more and more and develop more in to the amazing little boy he is.

And of course, here are a few pictures to recap the last few years :o)

my newborn Jack


6 months


1 Year



18 Months


2 years old


2.5 years old with a new baby sister


3 whole years old!!!


I love you my sweet boy!!!

6 Months...1/2 a year...WHAT?!?!

Seriously, I feel like it was just yesterday that I posted something similar to this about Jack turning 6 months. How is it even possible that my sweet little baby girl is 6 whole months old already? I just don't get it. I feel like it was last week that Joe & I were engaged and planning our wedding and just yesterday that we had our first baby.

Now here we are with our last (for now, hehe)baby and she's already 6 months old, it's so bittersweet really though. I'm sad that she is 'growing up' so fast but excited at the same time because it is so much fun to see how the interaction between her and Jack changes as she gets older. She has always loved him, and I say always because even when she was still an 'inside baby' she would move, kick & squirm whenever he was in our bed with us and giggling and playing around. Now she just can't get enough of him, if he is near she wants to be able to see him, looks at him with her big blue eyes in a way she doesn't really look at anyone else and laughs at just about everything he does. It really is so sweet to see them together. Today during breakfast I walked away for a quick second and he said 'i love you pretty girl' to her, completely unsolicited and then said 'mommy, we're best friends' and I said who is? To which he responded 'me & Pay', I will admit, I was just about in tears!

Well here we are at 6 months and here is what she is up to now:
- doctors appointment was yesterday and my 'big' little girl is weighing 15lbs 9oz and is 25.75 inches long which is so tiny compared to her brother who was 20lbs 4oz & 27.5 inches long at the same age.

- we are now eating 3 meals a day which consist of oatmeal for breakfast (soon we'll be starting yogurt too), fruit for lunch and a veggie for dinner. She is also drinking 4 bottles a day of about 6-7oz :o)

- Princess face can now sit unassisted. I still put a giant stuffed duck behind her most of the time when she's on the living room floor because she gets lazy and falls down but for the most part she is good.

- Teething is still going on but none have appeared yet. I think she is going to follow in her brother's footsteps and not get teeth for a few months yet. (Jack didn't get any until 9 months)

Other than that all is well here on the home front. Next up...my baby boy turns 3!!!!! Ok, I am going to sit in a corner & cry now!

Sleep...what's that again?

Remember the days when you could go to sleep whenever you wanted and then wake up whenever, lay in bed, watch TV, take your time getting up just to eat something or grab a cup of coffee and head back to bed? No? Me either! It feels like those days never even existed and never will again. I will admit, my children are decent sleepers but lately.....UUUGGGHHHH!!!!

We put Payton in her crib about 2 weeks ago and the first week was great, she would go down around 9:30/9:45pm right after Jack, sleep til about 3am when I just had to go put her paci back in and then wake again around 5am for a bottle and go back to sleep til 7. Then week 2 came and hell broke loose. I have no idea what happened, maybe teeth, yeah, I'm thinking teeth but OHH MMM GEEE it was awful! She as waking up every hour starting at 12:30, sometimes every 40 minutes and it's not like she was happy, she was miserable. I was too, running up & down the hall way to get her before she woke up Jack, not sleeping myself and then having to be mommy, wife & worker all day was exhausting.

Luckily, the last 2 nights have been back to her old self. I know I probably just jinxed myself but I'm really hoping it continues. I am also hoping my children decide to start sleeping in in the mornings a little bit. I know that's a far fetched hope but one can dream can't they? :o)

How is your kid/kids sleeping? Hopefully not everyone is as sleep deprived as I am!

Crazy, Hectic, Tiring...but PERFECT!

That pretty much sums up life these days but you know what, I wouldn't change it for the world. There are days that I am exhausted, days where I wake up in the middle of the night to replace a paci and can't for the life of me figure out what day just ended and which one we are going in to. People who have more than 2 kiddos get a hats off from me because as much as I always say I would love to have another (eventually, not now, don't let your mind go crazy here) I have no idea how I would manage it.

Don't get me wrong, I have 2 extremely good babies (or a baby and a toddler) but being a mom, working part-time and trying to keep everyone happy all the time is exhausting. With that said we have had so much go on since the last time I posted so let's see if I can do a quick run down, ready...here it goes:
We had Payton's ears pierced (woo hoo, didn't have to wait til she was 6 months old after all), had Payton's Christening, went to birthday parties, christening parties, turned 5 months (and now almost 6 months), had 6 month & 3yr pictures taken as well as sibling pictures taken, started solid foods, started sleeping in her crib, Jack is now learning to 'step & throw' - a big thing in this house of athletes, he is also learning to bat righty so he can be a switch hitter. We are finally having some nice weather so there has been some park days (and nights), basketball out in the backyard and just over all fun.

I don't know about you but just writing all of that, and then reading it back, I am exhausted all over again! I am trying though, trying to learn how to enjoy things more and worry less. Trying to take the time to sit and play even though there is laundry sitting nearby in a basket that needs to be folded, hell, there is always the iron if it gets wrinkled. I realized recently how fast time goes by and I don't want to miss out on things anymore because my crazy self thinks I always need to be doing something productive instead of just sitting down and enjoying my babies.

Hopefully I will get better about blogging more often. There is definitely still more I should blog about and I will but as of right now I am exhausted and need to head to bed so that tomorrow I can do what I just said and enjoy my kiddos :o)

Life with 2

I have slacked so much with blogging. I really have so much to write about and really want to most days and then by the time the kids are asleep I either have cleaning to do, laundry to wash or fold, cooking that needs to be done or it's time for me to go to sleep to. Don't get me wrong, life with 2 is great, but it's exhausting!

Payton is 4 months old now...seriously 4 months? How did that even happen? Oh well, it is happening and I guess I have to stop being in denial about my baby getting 'older'. She is so fun right now, she has the sweetest little personality and it comes through more and more every day. She smiles all the time but mainly at the people she knows, she has already shown quite a bit of stranger anxiety and it's not pretty, she is definitely a bit dramatic. We had her 4mth well visit the other day and the nickname peanut that I gave her seems to be perfectly fitting, she is now 13lbs 3oz and 24.5 inches long, so right at the 50th %tile for height & weight now and only 25th for head, haha, she's a tiny one :o) Yesterday Joe and I started feeding her a little rice cereal and so far she seems to do pretty good with it. It's funny because Jack was so in to the whole eating thing, he devoured the cereal the first day we gave it to him and hasn't stopped eating since. Payton on the other hand seems to like food but not nearly like her brother did.

Sleep is starting to get a little better too (although I probably just jinxed myself). We are now sleeping 5-7 hour stretches at night which is awesome and would probably be even better if I could start making myself go to sleep when she does so that I get the full sleep time too.

For our big boy, he is amazing, really, it's not just because he's my son...ok, maybe it is a little, but he's really something. He is learning more and more every day and is just so good with his baby sister. He is now counting to 10, knows how to spell his name, knows his right and his left and just comes out with things that make us laugh so hard even if it's something we really shouldn't be laughing at. When we were at the dr. for Payton's appointment this last week we made the appointment for his 3yr well visit, I wanted to cry! How is it possible that my sweet baby boy is going to be 3 in just a little more than 2 months? Really, why is he getting so old so fast, I'm NOT OK with this!

Joe & I are doing great too, we have a lot of things on our plate right now and trying so hard to get them all done. The last few days we have been re-painting, re-decorating & re-arranging the dining room and it's amazing. The color we chose is called Divine Wine and although it's a dark maroon color it loos great with the crown molding, chair rail & base molding all being white. I can't wait to have it completed and once I do I will be sure to blog and post pictures. Then once the dining room is done we are moving in to the kitchen where there will be painting done, walls knocked down and lots or re-arranging, I can't wait!!

So that's all for now from the Farley fam...here are a few pictures though because what can I say, I like to show off my kiddos :o)







He wanted to be a knight in shinning armor because that's what Goofy was doing on TV...this is what we came up with:

Necessary things w/baby #2

I am learning more and more every day about the phrase 'never say never'. I feel like there are things that I swore with Jack I would never do, things I said I would never use and now those things are not only an option but more of a necessity. Here are some things I am finding so very very useful this time around, some are still around from last time and others are very new to me!

1st: Homedics Sound Spa & Lullaby aka The Baby Crack Machine

With Jack I had this and it came in very handy, he would sleep the best during the day when it was on. This time around it is a godsend! With a noisy toddler it is so great to put this machine on to the sound of the ocean (which makes me want to sleep half the time too) and have my baby girl sleep so peacefully while still being able to let me toddler run and play and be the boy that he is :o)

2nd: the Rainforest Jumperoo

Jack spent so much time in here and loved it. There were days where he would jump & jump and the next thing I knew he jumped himself right to sleep in it, haha. So far Payton hasn't been in it all that much but she does love it already :o)

3rd: Fisher Price Papasan Swing

I hoped and hoped that my second baby would actually like this swing. I registered for this swing when I was pregnant with Jack and loved it...unfortunately Jack did not feel the same way about it. I think that maybe he spent a total of an hour in it the entire time he was an infant, he hated it so much that I put it away very early. Luckily Payton loves it, she will hang out in there, fall asleep and take small naps in there, it's been great :o)

Last but certainly not least...and more the reason for this post than anything:
BabyBjorn Baby Carrier


I was so against these when I was pregnant with Jack, always said I would never 'wear' my baby, that it just didn't seem necessary because if my baby needed to be held than everything else in life could just wait until later. Well fast forward to now being a mother of 2, that is just not the case anymore. There are times when we go out now that Payton needs to be held but Jack also needs me at the same time. This has been a huge lifesaver! A friend lent me hers when we went to the circus and I don't know what I would have done without it. I was able to walk with Jack and soothe Payton all at the same time. I loved it so much that Joe & I ordered one the next day.
So far it's been great, Payton loves to be cuddled up in it and it allows me to still have both hands free. We can now all go grocery shopping together, Jack sits int he cart while Joe pushes it and Payton hangs out in her carrier on me. We have also been to the park a few times and I can run around the park with Jack and not have to worry about Payton being in a stroller. I think having to worry about her in a stroller and turning my back on her to run after Jack would make it not so enjoyable, this way, we all have fun and we're all happy :o)

I'm sure there are other things that I'm leaving out but right now I heart these baby things and hopefully will continue to love them for a long time!

To double or not to double

I have gone back & forth on this for a while, ever since I got pregnant with Payton probably. I love our 'big' carriage that I had for Jack. I love that it has a bassinet option for the small baby so that the baby can sleep, relax and stretch out when we are on long stroller trips and that it transforms to a big kid seat when the little one is ready for it. I also love that I have the option of having the baby look at me or look out at everyone else. The only thing, is that there isn't an extra place for Jack in that stroller now. When Joe & I go out together with the kids of course we can take both strollers, the big one and the Maclaren, but when I am by myself Jack has to walk.

Don't get me wrong, he is awesome at walking, listening and holds on to the stroller like I ask him to. He's really become such a big boy it amazes me. I just feel like it would be nice for him to be able to sit somewhere and be comfy if we are shopping or even maybe a place to stand so in case his little legs get tired he doesn't have to walk. I'm just not sure if this is a huge waste of money or not.

So what do you think? Double stroller or no & why? Also, here are a few of the ones I have been looking at...any opinions would be appreciated :o)

Baby Trend Sit 'N Stand Double Stroller:


Jeep Traveler Tandem Stroller:

Peg Perego Aria Twin 60/40 (my favorite so far but also the most expensive of these 3)