The Princess has Spoken

So, occassionally I will call Sophie "princess" as a nickname. Not that often... but every once in awhile. But, this afternoon at lunch I asked Sophie if she wanted milk or water with her lunch. She told me she wanted juice. I said, "no, Sophie, we are not having juice with lunch. You can have milk or water." So, my sweet little girl looks me straight in the eye and says in her most serious voice, "the princess wants juice". You have got to be kidding me!! I know she is our only girl and is bound to be a little spoiled... but come on! Thankfully I was able to save my laughter for later.

Almost September!

Oh my goodness! Can you believe it is the end of August! I am super excited for fall but I feel like time is passing just too quickly! 4 weeks ago today we had just welcomed Jack into the world hours before. We are so in love with our little man. I just can't believe we have already had him for 4 weeks!

We had a really great weekend. On Saturday we just spent the day at home. Nick painted Jack's nursery (I will post pics soon!) and we had lots of family time. Then Sunday we got stuff done around the house in the morning (no church... I know! But, it is hard to get there with a baby!) and then we headed out to my parents for lunch and to hang out. It was great! My sister and her fiance and my grandma were there so it was great family time. When we got home Nick ran to the store and he brought home these...

I love the color! And the guy who brought them home for me.

A guy that brings home flowers and then does the dishes... um, yes, thank you!

3 Weeks Old

Today our sweet Jack is 3 weeks old! I feel like he was just born and that he has been here all along both at the same time. He is such a sweet little guy! He is starting to get a little fussy at certain times of the evening but I think that is to be expected for his age. At his 2 week check-up on Friday he weighed in at 9 pounds, 2 ounces and 21 1/2 inches long. Gotta love a growing boy! Here are a few pictures from his first real bath last night!

Confession

So, I am loving breastfeeding. Jack has been a fabulous nurser from the start and aside from a little soreness I could not be happier about the situation! I love the special time I get to have with him and I love knowing that he is getting so many health benefits from nursing. But, secretly, one of my favorite things about breastfeeding... I get to eat a ton and still loose weight. Ha! I know this isn't true for everyone but oh my goodness has it been the case for me. I eat A LOT these days and in less than 3 weeks I am down to my pre-pregnancy weight. When I was nursing Sophie I was the thinnest I have ever been in my adult life. Granted, I gained it back as soon as I stopped! But, it is kind of fun to get to just eat and eat and watch the scale go down!

A clean house is a happy house...

So after years of searching I have finally found the secret to having a clean house all the time! Seriously! The secret to my success? Cleaning my house all the time! Okay, well not exactly! But, I do clean very frequently! But, because I quickly put things away as soon as I am done using them or whenever I see things out my house is pretty much always clean. This is a challenge when I have 2 little people who constantly work to sabotage my efforts by dumping every toy they find out onto the floor! But! I will prevail! Having my house clean is super important to me. Not because I care what other people think but because it makes me feel less stressed and happier! When I am playing with my kids and the house is clean I feel like I can be totally present with them and not going over the to-do list in the back of my mind.

I know this is probably not a great epiphany for most of you! Most of you probably keep your houses clean by nature! But, I used to be a slob! Totally a slob! Ask my college roomate! It was horrible! So, it is not in my nature to pick things up and keep a clean house.

I am just so excited to finally get this figured out. I think I was always looking for a "magic pill" when it came to cleaning. I was looking for the easy way! But, let's be honest... there is no easy way in life. You want a clean house? Clean your house! You want to loose weight? Eat less, exercise more! You want to do better in school? Study more! Working hard is just a part of life.. one that I am learning to accept 26 years in!

Happy Birthday Sophie!

My beautiful daughter Sophie is 2 today! I can't believe this was us just 2 years ago today!

Sophie you are an incredible little girl! You keep up with your big brother and can play dinosaurs and run around like a crazy woman! But, you are also the most delightfully girly little girl I have ever met! You love all things "pretty". You even noticed the other day when your grandma had new shoes on! We love your spunky personality and your infectious smile. And we can now add wonderful older sister to your resume. You have blessed our family more than you will ever know. We are excited to watch you grow and your Daddy and I can't wait to see the woman you become. We love you and we are thankful for you!!

"Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart."

Adjusting to life with 3

I have wanted to post for awhile not but for some reason I haven't found the time. Ha! But, in all honesty, so far so good in the Ramsey house. I am sure I will be singing a totally different tune next week when Daddy goes back to work! But for now, we are just enjoying having our sweet little Jack home and in our arms! The big kids are doing well and seem to be enjoying their new brother. Max refers to Jack as "my baby" and Sophie either calls him "Baby Jack" or "Baby Brother". She is a good little mommy and is quick to help if I need it!

On Friday Nick and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary! (again I had really good intentions of posting all about that!) Of course with a 4 day old baby we chose to celebrate by getting a bottle of wine, Qdoba, and watching TV! It was lovely though! Very low key! Which is kind of an ironic way to celebrate such a crazy first 5 years of marriage! In 5 years we have lived in 4 different houses, 2 different cities, and had 3 children! I wouldn't have it any other way!

On Saturday Nick's parents came and spent the day with us and got to meet Jack for the first time. It was a very nice low key day and the big kids had a great time playing! Nick and I even got a chance to sneak away to Target for about half an hour while Grandpa and Grandma stayed with the kids! I was glad they got to come and see Jack while he is still so little!

And of course this week we are gearing up for Sophie's 2nd birthday! I can't believe she will be 2! We are going to have my family over and have a little Minnie Mouse birthday celebration. At this point (and maybe forever) I like to keep birthdays special but simple. I love to just spend the day celebrating our children with the people who love them most!

Well, since Nick and Max are out and Sophie and Jack are napping I think I am going to take this opportunity to turn on the TV and veg for a few moments while I have the chance! I will be back soon... with pictures!

Jack Powell Ramsey is here!

I am so excited to announce the birth of our son, Jack Powell Ramsey! He arrived on August 2nd at 2:56 am weighing in at 7 pounds, 11 ounces and 20 inches long. He is PERFECT! We are so in love. Neither of us like putting him down yet.

I am still in disbelief at his quick arrival! Sunday night our little family of 4 spent the evening at my parent's house eating a delicious dinner, swimming, and hanging out. While we were there Nick started not feeling very well and we realized he had a fever. My first thought... "the baby will come tonight since he is sick!" Isn't that always the way things go? Ha! When we got home and got the kids settled in bed it was probably almost 9:30 or 10. Nick decided he was going to sleep downstairs on the couch because he didn't want to get me sick. So, I tucked Nick in bed and headed upstairs. I fell asleep quickly. 

Around 12:30 or so I woke up to go to the bathroom and had a crazy strong contraction. I immediately felt lots of pressure. Contractions started coming quickly and I never experienced any relief in between because of all of the pressure I was experiencing. I finally was able to make it downstairs and woke up Nick. When he realized how quick and intense my contractions were he quickly called my parents and then got a hold of my future brother-in-law (who thankfully lives about 5 minutes away!) and then we got in the car. 

The contractions were so intense and there was never really a break in between. We waited in the driveway in the car and as soon as Simon pulled up we headed out. We rushed to the hospital. I was so scared because it felt like Jack was going to come out right now. It felt like a movie with Nick driving fast and me screaming the whole way down the highway. We arrived at the hospital close to 1:30. 

When I got into my room (still screaming! ha!) they checked me and I was 7cm dialated already. Thankfully, they asked me if I wanted an epidural right away so they were able to get the anesthesiologist in. I got my epidural right in the nick of time! I think if we had gotten to the hospital any later it wouldn't have been an option. Finally right before I started pushing I got a little relief and was able to calm down! It was so crazy and intense!

At 2:56am Jack arrived! Wow! 

People's first reaction when I tell them has been "3 hours of labor, so lucky". HA! I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy! Starting labor at that point with contractions coming that quickly and intensely right away was horrible and so scary!! But, praise God Jack is here and he is healthy! We are so blessed!

After a little bit of rest Jack was able to meet his big brother and sister and that was very special. His sister is already taking such good care of him!