Big Sister Interview

With the arrival of family member number four just around the corner, a lot of conversations are revolving around a new baby in our house. I thought it would be fun to sit down with the big-sister-to-be and get her take on stepping into her new role. 

c/o Sara Jayne Photoprahy

Are you excited about becoming a big sister? "Yea. Then I will not be a kid anymore."

What are you most excited about? "To meet my baby bruvah."

What do you think your brother will look like? "Like a little ziggy boy!"

What color eyes do you think he will have? "Brown. Or blue eyes. Or maybe white eyes."

What are you going to say to him when you meet him? "Happy Birfday Ziggy!"

What kinds of things do big sisters do? "Change Ziggy's stinky diapies. And change his pee diapies. And I have to eat my dinner all gone like a grown up."

What sorts of things are you going to teach Ziggy? "To play with big girl toys and not put them in your mouth."

What kinds of things do babies do? "Ummmm, cry and whine. And they are really sleepy."

c/o Sara Jayne Photoprahy

When do you think ziggy is going to come? "When all of our dots are gone." {in reference to the countdown we made}

Do you think it will be fun to be a big sister? "Mmmmhmmm."

What other things can you tell me about Ziggy? "He has a bouncy chair. And um, I hope he will paint with me."

Is Ziggy going to like our family? "Yes because he doesn't have family, he's just little old Ziggy."

What is going to be the most important part of being a big sister? "Taking really, really, really good care of Ziggy. And I will have to feed him bottles."

c/o Sara Jayne Photoprahy

I can't get over how sweet this little girl is and how excited she is about this baby! I know that this is going to be a monster adjustment for all of us, but I am so confident in how she will handle it and can't wait to see her interact with her baby brother. She overheard me talking to Jason the other night about how I am feeling emotional about her not being the baby and my only anymore and shortly after she came up to me, gave me a big hug and said "Don't worry mommy, I'll always be your baby." I mean just melt my frickin' heart on the spot. She also told me over the weekend, "mom I was the cutest baby ever, but now it's Ziggy's turn." 

I just can't....

Kenley's Big Sister Gift

I knew without a doubt that I wanted to do something special for Kenley at the hospital when her baby brother is born. It's going to be a huge day for all of us and I want to be sure that she feels special and excited, so I put together a little bag of goodies for her to open when she comes to meet the baby for the first time. I threw in a mix of big sis goodies as well as some of Kenley's favorite things and wrapped everything up individually to add to the excitement. I am so pumped about how it came together and am having a hard time keeping it from her! 

I Am a Big Sister Book | Big Sister Initial & Birth Stone Necklace | Big Sister Hospital Bracelet 

VTech Digital Camera | Big Sister Hoodie | Big Sister Tumbler

The custom tote came from one of my favorite bloggers Leah and her adorable shop Simply Made with Love. I love the colors, the size and the quality of the bag! This is something Kenley will be able to use for years to come and I couldn't love it more! Leah has so much cute stuff, you need to go check out her shop!

Make sure to come back tomorrow {and next Wednesday too} because I'm going to be giving away a couple of things from the bag! 

Mom-a-versary

It was 4 years ago today that I found out I was going to be a mom. 4 years since my life completely and totally changed in the most incredible way! Jason and I had been married just under 4 months, and I had a belated Valentine's surprise planned for him. I had a room booked at a Northern Minnesota resort and a wine tasting scheduled. Our plan was to start trying for a baby after my brother's wedding which was coming up that October. For some reason, on my way home from work on that Friday, March 2nd, I got the urge to take a pregnancy test. I had no symptoms and truly no reason to suspect I was pregnant but I just felt like I needed to know for sure before I left for a wine tasting. And sure enough....it was positive!

Every moment of my pregnancy felt so surreal. I just couldn't believe I was actually pregnant, that there was a real baby growing in my belly, that this baby was a little girl, and that I was really truly going to be a mom.

My little love was stubborn and just did not want to come out. My due date came and went and the anticipation of giving birth and finally getting to meet my baby was enough to drive me pretty close to insane. Finally, the day before I was supposed to be induced, labor started. It was a long 16 hours of contractions and an hour of pushing but then at 1:07am on Thursday, November 15th 2012 my Kenley Kouris was born.

The first few weeks of her life were tough, exhausting and such an adjustment but even through the tougher parts of becoming a mom, I felt so happy and so in love with this little human.

These past 4 years feel like a total blur. They have gone so fast and Kenley has grown so much but I can truly say that every day is better and each age is more and more fun! We have already made so many incredible memories as a little family of three and the joy that our daughter brings us is unmatched.

Watching my husband become a dad has been one of the most incredible things of my life. I never had any doubt that he would be a great dad but I could have never expected the bond that he would have with our daughter. These two are best buds and two peas in a pod. It warms my heart in the best possible way to see them together and I hope their bond is always this strong.
  
Throughout my life I've dreamt of doing so many different things and seeing so many different places, but through my passions and aspirations there has always been one thing I knew for certain and that was that I wanted to be a mom. So much of motherhood is challenging and it's definitely not always glamorous, but boy do I love it. I love it more than anything else in the world. I look at my daughter now at 3 years old and cannot believe she is the same little nugget that looked like a jelly bean the first time I had an ultrasound or who loved to kick me in the ribs any chance she got. I am so in awe of her and so in love with her, I just truly don't know what I would do without her.

So today, as I prepare to welcome a second baby and attempt to wrap my head around that, I celebrate the one who first made me a mom and remember back on that day 4 years ago when I was in complete and total shock, panicked and scared and I thank God for my life's greatest blessing....getting to be a mama.

The First Haircut

My 3 year old daughter has epic hair. It's so long, so thick and has the most perfect curls. It's ridiculous to say, but I have major hair envy. 

I hadn't yet cut Kenley's hair for several reasons the first being I didn't want her to end up looking like this:

Yep, that's me. #awkwardphase
But seriously, some kids' haircuts are so brutal, I just couldn't do that to her. Secondly, I was scared the curls wouldn't come back. I know it's silly but I love those curls and the thought of chopping them off physically hurt me. And lastly, I wanted my Aunt Tina to be the one to give her her very first cut. My Aunt has been in the hair business for decades, owns her own salon in Fayetteville, Arkansas and gave both me and my brother our first haircuts. Kenley hadn't seen my Aunt Tina since she was 10 months old and actually, Tina did cut a teeny snip of hair off then so she could say she gave her the "first" haircut, but this past weekend in Colorado, it was legit.

    

Before:

 and After:

We ended up cutting about 6 inches off! It was a little emotional for me at first but ended up being really fun. Kenley's hair looks so much healthier and thicker and those curls are still there! And most importantly, she doesn't look like a freak! I mean, most importantly, my Aunt gave her her first haircut! ha! But seriously, Kenley may not get another haircut until we see Aunt Tina again.

A Family Wedding - Colorado Style

Last Wednesday, when Jason was done with work, we packed up our kid and my car and hit the road towards the Rocky Mountains. We made a short pit stop in Council Bluffs, Iowa to jump on hotel room beds and get a few hours of shut eye. 

 

But, then, it was to Colorado we went for a weekend of celebrating! Our little princess was such a trooper in the car. She kept herself busy by looking out the window, playing games on the iPad and taking little snoozes with her baby Taylor Swift {yes, that is what she named her baby. Not Taylor. Taylor Swift.}

We rolled into the Mile High State late in the afternoon and it was straight to downtown Denver we went to get ready for my cousin's wedding rehearsal and groom's dinner. The groom's dinner was at ChopHouse and was fantastic. The food was so good, the atmosphere was really cool and it was so fun being together with my dad's side of the family, particularly my cousins and siblings {no offense grandma, parents, aunts & uncles - but us "kids" just have way too much fun together}.

Friday morning, priority #1 was getting my little flower girl to her hair appointment! It was so fun that she got to have that done and really be one of the girls. 

 

 After Kenley's locks were wedding ready, I brought her back to our room to get in a pre-wedding nap. I realized at this point I had a couple of hours to kill and my darling husband was fine hanging in the dark hotel room with the sleeping toddler. One thing about me is that I LOVE alone time, especially when it's out and about in a fun city. I had such an amazing afternoon enjoying the sunshine, mountain air and downtown Denver. I walked myself to Fluff Bar to get my hair blown out. It was a lovely mile or so down the 16th Avenue Mall. Fluff was great and so fun. They had Gossip Girl playing, champagne flowing {which I desperately wanted to partake in} and did an awesome job on my hair. Then on the walk back I made a couple of quick pit stops for some guac and a chai {life's essentials if you ask me}

 After being so tired and so sore from all the time in the car, this "me time" was the perfect revival. I was in a great mood and felt so ready to celebrate my cousin and his new bride. 

The ceremony and reception took place at Mile High Station which was a venue right up my alley. I loved everything about it! Kenley did an awesome job getting down the aisle and then proceeded to chat during the entire ceremony. She was mostly talking to herself {although she did look at me and say "I wuv you" at one point} so hopefully it wasn't too distracting for Ben & Emily. The venue was super dark and I didn't want to use my flash and mess up the professional photos so I don't have any great photos of her executing her FG duties, unfortunately.

After the ceremony it was party time and believe me when I say that I'd be hard pressed to find a family that parties like mine does. I counted and realized I have been pregnant at seven weddings and this one was the most fun one to be sober at, and that's truly saying a lot because the other six weddings were far from duds! The food was awesome, the music was awesome, my family was crazy and hilarious and I danced myself silly using my Ziggy bump as my dance partner {which I majorly paid for the next day - ouch!}. It was seriously so much fun and I wish we could do it all over again! 

  

   

   

My beautiful new Cousin-in-Law posted this sneak peek from their photographer yesterday and I couldn't resist stealing it! SO beautiful!

I couldn't be happier for my cousin, it's amazing seeing him so happy and so in love and I know I speak for my whole family when I say that we are thrilled to have Emily join our circus. It was a beautiful, fun and memorable wedding and I am so glad we got to be a part of it!