Newborn/Family Pictures

~September 17, 2010~

Vivi was just 5 days old when we had her newborn pictures taken. We were able to fit in some family shots and some of CeCe before her pre-nap meltdown! Thanks to Lindsay of Lindsay Horn Photography for capturing some beautiful pictures. See a sneak peek here and below!

So busy...

In between sleeping, eating, and pooping, Vivi has managed to find her thumb! Such a busy girl. She must have been doing this in the womb for quite some time because she is a pro and seems to like it.

And since we got CeCe's first hiccups on video...

...we had to get Vivi's too!

Precious Moments

~September 13, 2010~

CeCe meeting Vivi for the first time!

Arrival of Vivienne Armelle

It was about 6:00pm on Sunday, September 12 when I began to feel my water leaking. I went to the bathroom just to make sure that's what it was. Although I wasn't completely sure (even though I knew it couldn't have been anything else) I decided to get in the shower so that I would be ready in case I went into labor. I wasn't having any consistent contractions. I had been having braxton hicks contractions throughout the week but nothing was ever intense or consistent.

After my shower, I decided to call our midwife (Cherie was the one on call) to let her know that I thought my water was leaking and to make a plan about what to do. Since this was our second baby and things could go much faster, it works a little differently. However, because I wasn't having any contractions, it wasn't time to go to the birth center yet. She wanted me to take a walk (supposed to be an hour) to see if I progressed. As we were talking, she remembered that the main birthing room downstairs was having the tile redone and wouldn't be completed until morning. So if my water didn't break, another option was to just take it easy and wait it out until the morning. But since I was pretty sure it was my water, we had to try to get things going.

Well, we waited about an hour so that we could finish packing and get some things done before we went on the walk. After about 20 minutes of walking, I was hot and decided to go back in. Some of the contractions were a little more intense but still nothing consistent. By this time it was about 8:30pm and Cherie called back to check up on us. I told her that even though not much had changed, we would feel more comfortable going to the birth center to verify that my water had broken and to see if I had dilated anymore (I was at a 2 and 50 % effaced at my last appointment, 5 days earlier). We left the house at about 9pm.

On the way, I had to make a stop at one of my coworkers' house to give her my sub notes for work in case I did go into labor. We arrived at the birth center at 10pm.

We arrived and shortly after, Cherie checked and I was between a 5 & 6 and my water was definitely leaking but I still had a little balloon left. So she went ahead and broke the rest to see if that would get the contractions going. We went on a walk around the park right outside the birth center for about 20 minutes. The contractions began to pick up and get more intense. I wanted to go inside, cool off, and use the bathroom. We went back outside for another walk and this time, the contractions were much more painful and I could no longer walk/talk through them. About 10 minutes into the walk, I threw up, so I knew that I was definitely getting close. We went back inside and I started to labor using the birthing ball and squatting. By this time, I was so ready to be done so I had the birthing assistant, Beverly, check me to see where I was. I wasn't completely dilated but any pressure I felt, I wanted to go ahead and push. So Beverly helped me move the baby's head down past the rest of the cervix and under the bone. That was really painful but so worth it!

Once I got to this point, I was ready to move onto the bed. I pushed 4 times and she was here! Josh pulled her out and put her on my chest. This time, I was the one to check to make sure she was actually a girl!

Vivienne Armelle Allen arrived at 12:34am on September 13, 2010, weighed 6 lbs, 11 oz, and was 20.5 inches long!

I could not have asked for a better delivery. My labor was a total of 2.5 hrs long! And everything went very smooth! Josh gave Vivi a leboyer bath, bonding time for daddy and child, and then I got in the shower. About 4 hrs after delivery, we packed up and headed home. We were home by 5am.

All the while, CeCe was sound asleep :)

We thank God for a healthy baby girl and no complications. Another miracle. God is GREAT!

To see a slideshow of the birth, click on the picture below. Pictures and slideshow by Carter Rose of f8studio.

Baby Shower

~August 29, 2010~

My sister and mom threw a baby shower for us. It was a good mix of friends and family and was such a fun time. We had it at our house because it was really the only spot to hold somewhat of a big crowd and we had just finished a little remodeling and wanted to show it off to those who hadn't been there yet. (Another post with before and after pics to come.) The theme of the shower was "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. How We Wonder What You Are..." and decorations were moon and stars.

Erin, Carrie, Me, April

Me, Josh, April, Becki, Kathleen, Erin, Dwayne, Carrie

Uncle Carl, Mom, Aunt Mary

Erin, Aunt Joyce, My cousin Donna, Amanda

CeCe, Aunt Julie

My sister did such a great job of putting together games and favors. She had her share of surprises but Josh and I had one up our sleeves too! At our first sonogram, we told the sonographer how we didn't find out the gender of our first child and didn't plan on finding out this time either. They had told us some stories about how some parents decided to find out the gender and some of them were really cute ideas. Josh, more so than me, really liked the idea of doing something different this time for finding out the sex. So at my second sonogram, I went ahead and had the sonographer write down the gender in a sealed envelope, in case we had decided to follow through.

Well, once we knew that we were going to have a baby shower, we decided to copy one of the ideas that the sonographer told us about. It involved having a bakery make a cake with the filling being either pink or blue, according to the sex, and have it revealed once the cake was cut. We thought it would be fun to surprise our guests at the shower with the big reveal as most were wanting to know what the gender would be way more than us!

I took the envelope up to the bakery and ordered the cake! I had them reseal the envelope so that I could keep it as a keepsake. I love how it turned out! The decorator did such a great job!


When it came time to cut the cake, we announced our surprise to the guests and drew a name for someone to cut it for us. The reaction from everyone was priceless! Everyone was completely surprised and so excited.

Aunt Julie had the honors! And the perfect person to do it! So much fun :)

Here we go!

Before she finished cutting it, the filling was on the knife when she pulled it out!

IT'S A GIRL

See the PINK!

I got so emotional. I'm not really sure why. I think it was just the excitement of the shower and reveal, and not to mention pregnancy hormones! I really had no preference for girl or boy. I know that I would like to have a boy and since we already had a girl, it would have been an even bigger surprise had it have been a boy. But with them being so close in age, I think it will be great for CeCe to have a sister.

Mom, Me

CeCe, Josh, Mom, Me

My family

Our CeCe girl

CeCe and My Grandma

I could not have asked for a better shower! It was so much fun and a day that we will never forget :)

J.O.B.

~August 16, 2010~

Well, I am no longer a SAHM (stay at home mom) and am officially employed. A full time employee. I have a j.o.b. It's been over 4 years since I've had a job, unless you're one to consider being a full time mom a job. This was not actually in the plan for me to get a job at this point but thank God it was in His plan.

So here is how it all happened. Before baby #2 was in the picture, I had planned on doing my student teaching this fall, while CeCe attended school. Since baby #2 came in the picture, I had planned to move my student teaching to the Spring so I could stay home with the baby. And, CeCe would still go to school because I thought it would be better for my sanity and hers. Then Josh and I started to look at the budget for having CeCe in school for the fall and then having both kids in school/daycare for the Spring while I did my student teaching, and it seemed completely impossible, even with Josh working two jobs, to manage all of the expenses. We were definitely in a bind and had no idea what to do.

So I happened to be on the UNT website looking at the school calendar (to determine exactly how many days we would need daycare) when I came across a program they offered. It is an Educational Aide program that helps with tuition costs, but also exempts students in Education from student teaching, if eligible. That was the part that I was interested in and decided to look into it further. Although I had always planned on completing my student teaching, it has now gotten to the point where that is no longer an option for us, since there is no pay. Especially with having 2 kiddos in the mix now.

So I researched the qualifications required to be eligible for the program and I had everything covered except for having experience in a school district as a substitute teacher or aide. I decided to look up job openings in the area on the off chance that an aide position was open. And as luck would have it, there were 2 open in the same district Josh works for. So Josh put in a good word, I applied, interviewed, and got the job! And all of this happened, from the day I found the program online to being offered the position, literally in about a week. Talk about craziness. We went from being completely stressed and in a hole we had no idea how we were going to dig ourselves out of to having hope. God was definitely looking out for us.

As far as the program, I'm not completely out of the woods. I can't officially apply for it until after I have this year of experience under my belt, so it ultimately could end up not working out at all, and me still having to do my student teaching while delaying my graduation for another year. But I'm hopeful that everything WILL work out and in December of next year, I will FINALLY have a degree.

So about the actual job. I am an inclusion aide at Lovejoy high school. It's a great job and I'm enjoying the experience I'm getting that I otherwise would not be had I just completed student teaching. The only thing I'm nervous about, at this point, is having to leave our then 6 week old in the care of someone else, especially after being able to have CeCe stay home with me for 18 months. But I know working parents do this all the time and things work out. I just know that I'm gonna need some heavy anxiety relief when that day comes.

4th Anniversary

~August 12, 2010~



Josh and I celebrated our 4th Wedding Anniversary this year. We kept going back and forth on what to do. Between being almost 9 months pregnant and having a 21 month old to keep us busy, our celebration ended up being rather low key. We decided to just go out to dinner and it wasn't until we left the house and started to drive that we made a decision on where. After passing a couple of places, we ended up at Chili's. Not very exciting, much less romantic, but it was nice to just have that time alone to spend together.

I can't believe 4 years has already gone by. It seems like yesterday that we were getting married and heading off on our honeymoon. I am very blessed to have such a wonderful and loving man to spend my days (and nights) with. I love my husband so much and am so happy and content with our relationship. I love how simple things are. I love how we make a great team. I love how we work together as parents. And I love how we appreciate and respect one another. I look forward to following the path that God has made for us and am curious to see what life has in store for us in the years to come.

(Oh and look that awesome beard my husband is sporting! Love it :) Glad I got a picture of it!)

Reagan turns 2

~August 6, 2010~

Reagan in her adorable outfit made by Erin!

It was actually August 8, that we celebrated Reagan's 2nd birthday! Erin, Carrie, April, Shannon, Debbie, and I and all the kiddos went to the circus. On one hand I was really excited about going because I had never been before and I had always wanted to go. On the other hand, I was nervous about how CeCe would do. She's not much for sitting in one place for very long. So I made sure to pack lots of bribes....I mean snacks and goodies...to keep her satisfied!

We got there early because they were allowing everyone to go on the floor to watch some of the pre-show acts and take pictures. Shortly after we got to our seats, the show started. And shortly after the show started, the bribes had to come out. The first part, before intermission, was not as eventful as we were thinking. Every act that I was looking forward to seeing apparently happens in the second part of the show. So we ended up leaving about 30 minutes into it. Had we have known better, we probably would have come late and stayed until the end. However, with all of that said, it was still a great time and I think the kids enjoyed what they did see.

CeCe stood most of the time on my lap and danced to the music, clapped, and played with Bradie. Overall she did great and I was so proud of her!

CeCe feeding Bradie her snacks!

CeCe and Debbie

Carrie and Bradie

The kids looking at and playing with the goodies in the shop!

Reagan - Hope you had a great 2nd birthday! Can't believe how fast you are growing up. You have become such a beautiful and sweet little girl :)

Where to begin?

Wow, time has gone by. I have a lot to catch up on since I blogged last, with the most exciting news being the the birth of our 2nd little miracle, Vivienne!

It will take me the better part of this week to finish it all up, but I want to make sure to document everything so one day if/when I look back, I can remember how crazy busy and fun this time in our lives is/has been!

Glad to be back :) Enjoy!