Family of Four

I can't tell you just how excited I am to be a family of four. I love that we have two kids. When we had William, we fell in love with being parents, but something was missing. We immediately wanted more ... more of the cuteness ... more of the smiles ... more little babies. :) So we were ecstatic when we found out Anna was going to be part of our family. I am really looking forward to growing as a parent and loving on two children. I think we are going to have a lot of fun this year. :)

William loves putting Anna's paci in her mouth

First family photo

I'm a mom of TWO!!!!

We could barely get William to stay still and happy for pictures. So we took some while he ate. Needless to say ... It was naptime!

She's Here!!!

Anna Grace Spencer was born on January 18th at 4:23am. I'm so glad she is here. I'm not pregnant anymore and labor is over. Of course I'm not sleeping, but I don't mind. I feel great and I'm so in love with my little growing family.

First Mommy Daughter Pic

Uncle Phil came to say good bye to me at the hospital and got to meet Anna. She barely made it in time for Phil to watch William for us. But it all worked out and we are so thankful for Phil coming to visit!

 

 Anna started sucking her thumb only 10-20 minutes after she was born. This girl LOVES to suck!

Going home! The pic on the left is Will's first view of his sister.

Will kept looking over at her on our ride home.

Going home outfit

More Mommy Guilt

We had our first failure as parents of two this morning. Last night in an effort to get Anna back to sleep so we could get sleep, Isaac turned on a sound machine as put it right near us. It worked fabulously for Anna and Isaac and I got the sleep we wanted. But we woke up late to William screaming in his bed for us. It was much later than we normally wake up and who knows how long William was trying to get our attention. If that wasn't enough for me to feel guilty about, I soon heard piercing screams coming from William's room when Isaac went in to get him. He had discovered that William had been sitting in a poopy diaper and had the worst rash ever. William was screaming like I did when I was in labor.  I just kissed him and cried with him as Isaac inflicted painful wipe after painful wipe to get the gunk off of William's skin. I felt like (and still do) a complete failure. I prioritized Anna's sleep (or ultimately mine) over being able to respond quickly to my son's needs. 

I'm sure William will never remember this. His skin is healing quickly and already diaper changes are not as painful as that first time this morning. But I feel broken. I didn't expect to struggle with two yet. I thought I would gradually give up feeling like I was in control at all times. But it has hit me suddenly that having two children multiplies my need of a Savior in my life and my need for my children to have a Savior. 

Christmas Stockings

I know I haven't blogged in a very long while ... and if the holidays and being pregnant weren't enough of a reason to be too busy to blog ... I have been EXTRA-ORDINARILY  busy with my Etsy shop (www.rachelle-isms.com) and baby projects ... oh, and I made pretty much all of the Christmas gifts I gave everyone this year.

So here is the first of several blog posts I need to make to show everyone what I have been working on. Isaac's and my stockings had gotten stained by a red candle while it was being stored in the attic ... PLUS I needed to make one for William, so I decided to copy my awesome friend Kristin's designs (http://birdinhandquilts.wordpress.com/2011/12/14/four-christmas-stockings/) and quilt up some stockings. Isaac's is mostly grey and green with a bit of dark blue. I wanted the stockings to match a bit, so they all contain some dark blue fabric. Mine is the blue and red one. I will say, I am not a red person AT ALL, but I love my stocking! It was the perfect splash of color and blue always makes me happy. :) William's should be easily recognized because my friend Kristin had made William a quilt (http://birdinhandquilts.wordpress.com/2012/07/12/wonky-stripes/) with those wonky blue and white stripes. AND YES, I did make one for Anna. It didn't make any sense to wait until her first Christmas to make her one. I had been making her matching bumper pads and quilts and wall hangings with this blue and yellow fabric, so I just cut out some more stripes and made her chevron style stocking.

I am pretty proud of my work and I hope you like them too. :)

Where do you like to read?

I caught William right as he was climbing in the shelf and luckily had the camera nearby. So where do you like to read?

Halloween

We didn't get many great pics but we had so much fun watching him trip down the street. We got to meet a few neighbors and one of them has goats and chickens! They invited us to come over sometime for William to see them. For now, we only got to see a baby goat. It was sooo cute! We couldn't get any good pics of it kissing William's face, but trust me ... It was adorable!

Fall Fun

One more nice day in between blustery cold days.... So Will and I went outside and found tons of ladybugs! They flew all around us and got in our faces. Will was fascinated and stayed pretty still so I could take lot of pics of him. Getting good pictures of a one year old is almost impossible!!! Enjoy!

Oh, look! A Ladybug is on my face ... Got it!

Mom, I found a stick!

 

This face isn't him crying, but rather exclaiming while he shakes leaves off of his hands. :)

 Silly Faces. :) At least I finally got a smile!

 I LOOOOOOVE this little boy!