Bradley Steele - Newborn Pictures

So to be honest, I'm not really sure if these count as "newborn pictures" because he was already almost 3 weeks old by the time we had them taken.. But either way we are so in love with this little impromptu shoot we did with my sweet friend Kourtney!

Kourtney has been taking all of our family pictures for a few years now, and she never fails to capture the most perfect moments. We are so thankful for her and her red headed family! :)

Next up for the Beards: Addie starts back at the Montessori school next week and this year, she's going full day! She is super excited to get back and I'm looking forward to packing her little lunch box, all the cute projects she brings home, and let's be honest... I'm REALLY looking forward to having a little bit of free time during the day ;) We're also getting ready to start tackling some projects around the house like putting in a paver patio and installing some backsplash, and once we get started on those I'll definitely be sharing some updates! Happy Friday y'all!

Bradley Steele - 1 Month

Height: 21.5 in

Weight: 10 lbs 4 oz

Wearing: Size 1 diapers and 0-3 month clothes

Little man also completely surprised us with a full head of RED hair and some bright blue eyes! He is so handsome!

Eat

Bradley is a great eater! He is breastfed and usually nurses 10-12 times a day, and about half of those nursing sessions occur in the evening when I'm trying to get Addie down for bed and cook dinner ;) Nursing him has been SO different than it was with Addie, mostly in good ways because I struggled a bit with Addie in the beginning. One thing I was NOT prepared for is the spit up! Addison never spit up, but Bradley does after almost every feeding and I am still not used to it. We've all been walking around with towels and receiving blankets over our shoulders 24/7!

Sleep

Little man is a GREAT sleeper so far, although I probably just jinxed it ;) He loves to be swaddled and he looooves white noise, so if I get that combo going I know he'll settle in for a solid stretch of sleep. He also sleeps well in his car seat which is so helpful while I'm shuttling Addie to and from all of her activities. Currently bed time is between 9:30-10:30 and he likes to start his day between 7:30-8. He did his first really long stretch of sleep (7 whole hours!!) over Tuesday night, so fingers crossed he keeps that up!

Play

Bradley really likes watching the ceiling fan spin! He also loves when his big sister talks to him, being worn in the Solly wrap, and taking baths.

Well, they all say that going from one kid to two is a huge adjustment and they were NOT kidding! Bradley is an incredibly laid back baby, but even so it has been such a big change for our whole family to have him around. Addison is taking her role as big sister very seriously, and loves to help me with "baby brutter" in so many ways. She loves throwing away his dirty diapers, helping me burp him after feedings, and rubbing his head and giving him kisses! So far she's done really, really well adjusting, and I kind of find myself waiting for the other shoe to drop!

Physically, Bradley's birth has been super easy to recover from but emotionally it's been more of a struggle. I definitely find myself feeling guilty that I'm not able to give out as much attention, whether it's to Addison or Mike or even the dogs. And I find myself also feeling guilty that I don't get to just sit and stare at Brad's sweet face all day long like I did with Addie! But we are definitely starting to find our groove, and I know once Addie goes back to school at the end of the month, it will be easier to make special time for each kid and for Mike as well!

I thought time flew by with one kid, but with two it feels like it's just disappearing. I can't believe Bradley is already a month old! It's been a great month and I can't wait to see what the next one will bring :)

Next up for the Beards: I'll be sharing some of the amazing photos we had taken at Bradley's "newborn" session, and we'll be counting down the minutes until my dad gets into town later this afternoon to finally meet our newest addition!  

Happy one month sweet Bradley! We love you so! 

Addison Grace - 2 Years

Weight: 28ish lbs

Height: 33ish inches

Wearing: 2T clothes and size 5 diapers

Likes

Bubbles, jumping, animals, trucks, taking showers instead of baths, reading books, counting to 10, singing songs, having pigtails in her hair.

Dislikes

Having her toenails cut (finger nails are fine though), being put in her car seat (she likes to climb into it herself), when the dogs try to eat her food. 

Eat

Addie is a slightly picky, but overall great eater! She'll eat just about anything they put in front of her at school and she loves pizza lunch Fridays! At home, some of her favorites are mini pepperonis, black beans, buttered toast, applesauce, white cheddar cheese, strawberries, and grapes. She's not a big milk drinker, but will chug water all day long. She's definitely more of a grazer than a 3-meals-a-day type of girl, so we always make sure to bring extra snacks everywhere we go :) Some of her favorite special treats are french fries, bacon, and bites of Mommy's pop tarts (one of my preggo guilty pleasures), and she LOVES to eat her gummy vitamin each morning!

Sleep

Addison is definitely still an early riser and we are usually up by 6 each day. I've always been a night owl so being up and starting my day so early was probably the biggest (and hardest!) adjustment I've made since becoming a mom. That being said, Addie is an awesome sleeper otherwise! She goes to bed between 6 and 6:30 each evening, and unless she's sick or something, we don't hear a peep from her until 5:30-6 the next morning! She still takes a nap every day and those can last anywhere from one to three hours. The shorter naps tend to happen on the weekends unless we REALLY wear her out first thing in the morning, and the longer naps seem to happen on school days where they play outside a lot ;) 

Play

Addie has always been a busy girl and that hasn't changed! She's usually jumping up and down in her crib by the time I go in to get her in the morning and she doesn't stop moving until she's sleeping again! She loves to climb on anything and everything, and her new favorite thing to do is a "big jump" off of whatever surface she's climbed up on. She's a brave, rough-and-tumble girl who definitely isn't afraid to get dirty! The total opposite of me, but I absolutely love it about her :)

A few of Addie's favorite things right now:

1. Animals. Allllll of the animals, including bugs - she is fascinated! Right now she's really into bumble bees, lady bugs, and earthworms (ew) so we spend lots of time outside looking for them and talking about them. She's also a big fan of hippos, big cats like lions and tigers, owls, and turtles!

2. Trucks. Specifically school buses, cement mixers, cherry pickers, and "daddy trucks" aka any kind of military vehicle. Her love of trucks all started with a random video she saw on my mom's phone of dump trucks and other construction vehicles and it just keeps growing! Any time we are in the car, you can guarantee Addie will spot ALL of the trucks and yell out their names until you say them back to her. She also loves waiting for the school bus and garbage truck to drive through the neighborhood in the afternoon!

3. Any and all outside time. This girl loooooves to be outside! Whether it's at the beach picking up sea shells, at the park looking for ducks and geese to feed, or out in the back yard with her puppies, she seriously cannot get enough. One of her current favorite outdoor activities is "helping" me poop-scoop the backyard by running around and pointing out all of the piles to me. It's a little weird, but I'm all about anything that keeps this crazy girl busy for a while!

I'm definitely in denial that my baby is already two! Some days (particularly the ones where she boycotts her nap) can really drag on, but these last two years have completely flown by. Addie surprises me every day! She is wild and sweet and sassy and SO funny. She tests my patience and pushes all of my buttons, but she gives the best hugs and the sweetest slobbery kisses to make up for it. She's usually too cool to hold my hand when we walk up to school, but she loves to snuggle before bed every evening and there aren't many things sweeter than her sleepy, sweaty little head on my shoulder! 

Addie is definitely aware of my growing belly - I mean, it's hard not to be ;) We talk to her about her baby brother all the time and I think she's finally starting to catch on a little! She can tell you his name and likes to pat and kiss my belly before she goes to bed. I can't wait to see her as a big sister.. I know she's going to be amazing! 

Next up for the Beards... We're getting ready for Addie's birthday party! We are also counting down the days until July 1st :) It's really starting to creep up on us! Lots of baby prep, and as much one on one time with my sweet girl as I can get!

31 Weeks

Hello third trimester! Man, this pregnancy has completely flown by and I'm so excited to already be 2/3 of the way through it! Long gone are the days of weekly chalkboards and bump pictures, and that's just one of the MANY ways this pregnancy has been different than the last one. So just for fun, I'll fill out the same questionnaire from last time and then move on to a more detailed summary of the last 7 months :)

My trusty sidekick Addie is always close by ;)

How far along? 31 weeks

Total weight gain: Good question! I want to say around 18 lbs.

Maternity clothes? YES. This belly can hardly be contained. In addition to a bunch of maternity tank tops, I treated myself to some maternity shorts and jeans, but the whole "pants-with-buttons" thing is getting old REALLY fast.

Stretch marks? The few that I was left with around my belly button after Addie was born are definitely very visible, but nothing new yet!

Sleep: I could sleep for a week straight and it STILL wouldn't be enough! Addie is a super early riser and I only manage to sneak in naps every once in a while so I am ALWAYS tired. Luckily I have a hubby who appreciates an 8 o'clock bedtime as much as I do ;)

Best moment this week: I tagged along with a good friend to her gender reveal ultrasound and the sweet technician offered to give me a little glimpse of baby Beard while we were in there! Baby B looks exactly like his daddy, which I'm sure comes as a surprise to no one. He has perfectly chubby cheeks, a little bit of fuzzy hair, and his lips and nose are identical to Mike's. I am so in love!

Miss Anything? Uninterrupted sleep. Wine ;)

Movement: TONS. Baby boy is even busier than Addie was, and it feels like he's constantly wiggling around in there. Mike gets to feel a ton of big kicks and Addie has even started to notice some too!

Food cravings: Sweet tea. Tacos. Brownies. 

Labor Signs: I started feeling Braxton Hicks wayyy earlier this time around (and way more frequently), but that usually just means I haven't had enough water. Other than that, no signs at all.

Symptoms: Heartburn, sore hips & back, stuffy nose. So much fun!

Belly Button in or out? Out and proud ;)

Wedding ring on or off? On.

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy most of the time! I find myself having to dig pretty deep for some extra patience when the dogs track mud through the house or Addie throws a tantrum, but for the most part I am loving life right now!

Looking forward to: I have an OB appointment on Thursday that I'm looking forward to! It's just a regular check up, but I always like to make sure things are going well with our little guy :)

Not the highest quality screen shot I've ever taken... but LOOK AT HIM! :)

I think I may have mentioned this already, but this pregnancy has been SO different than my first one. My pregnancy with Addie was about as easy as it gets - very minimal nausea in the beginning, tons of energy, very few sleep issues, I could go on and on! I think the worst part of the whole thing was going 8 days past my due date, but even that wasn't TOO terrible. This time around things have been completely different! I won't go into a ton of details because that would just turn into a paragraph of me whining and nobody wants to read that..

But I will say that I experienced a lot more nausea, a couple nasty sinus infections (probably courtesy of my germ-y toddler), and a reeeeally unfortunate case of food poisoning... Yikes. About halfway through the second trimester I started to feel some relief from the constant nausea and now it's almost completely gone! This pregnancy hasn't been all bad though... I haven't struggled with any specific food aversions like I did with Addie, and we (both Mike and I) were able to feel movement way earlier! 

First trimester feels. All the snuggles. All the sleepy eyes.

I think the biggest difference between this pregnancy and the last is probably the most obvious... Addie! When I was pregnant with her, I had the luxury of sleeping in every day, napping whenever I wanted, laying on the couch watching tv whenever I wanted.. You get the picture. When I was pregnant with Addie I felt more exhausted than I ever thought was possible, but I had NO idea what I was really in for! It's crazy and draining and sometimes frustrating, but I'm so excited for Addie to be a big sister and I know it will all be so worth it when our sweet boy is here!

Already working on her big sister skills! Snuggles are a top priority around here.

Speaking of miss Addie... She is dangerously close to turning 2 and I am all kinds of emotional about it! She is so full of personality and I can't wait to share an update on her soon :) 

Only 9 (ish) weeks left until we get to meet our baby boy!! I can't wait! Oh, and if you are at all interested in comparing, you can find the original 31 week post here!

Back To Blogging

I've been going back and forth about this little blog for a loooong time. On one hand, I love being able to look back on our memories and share them with family and friends, but on the other hand? The internet is a huge, scary place and I constantly worry that I am oversharing information about my sweet family. It's hard to strike a balance between sharing enough to be authentic and sharing TOO much information and it's something that's always on my mind when I use any form of social media!

That being said... I'm kidding myself if I think that I'm anywhere near popular enough to have a bunch of strangers creeping on my little personal blog ;) I mean, you never know, but there's enough to be scared of in this world without adding this to the list. Going through this pregnancy makes me so nostalgic for my pregnancy with Addie and I love being able to look back on how I was feeling then. Things have been SO different this time around, it's cool to be able to compare! Plus, I hate the thought of not recording all of baby #2's milestones after he's born like I did with Addison.

Now that I have that off my chest... 

I certainly am a lot busier now than I was the last time I posted, but I am determined to carve some time out of my schedule for this little blog! We've been through a lot of exciting things since the last time I posted (buying a house, bringing home another puppy, getting pregnant!) and I promise to share more about all of those things, but for now I'll just give a quick update on the Beards and get to working on my next post!

Addison is about a month shy of being 2 and busier than ever! She loves her half day school program, her puppies, and all different kinds of trucks. She is talking NON STOP and picks up new words pretty much every day. She takes gymnastics class on Saturday mornings, but will happily climb on (and then jump off of) anything she can reach :) She is smart, sassy, and full to the brim of personality!

Mike is also busier than ever, but that's exactly how he likes it :) He is about 6 months into his new job and loving it! He's been traveling a little to go to different schools, but luckily we don't have to think about another deployment for a while. He is embracing his new role as a suburban dad with open arms and is so excited for baby #2!

The animals are pretty much the same and are finally getting used to our newest addition. Everybody, meet Moe!

He's 8 months old and pretty much the complete opposite of Lou as a puppy, but we've grown to love him just as much!

And me? Basically the same, aside from being 28 weeks pregnant with our baby boy :) I'll give some more details on that in my next post... A pregnancy update plus a whole bunch of pictures - coming soon! 

Addie's Birth Story

I meant to type this up and share it after Addison was born, but I got so wrapped up in life with my new baby that I never got around to it! Better late than never, right? So in honor of Addie's birthday eve, here is her birth story!

I had been having consistent but painless contractions every day since Addie's due date, May 6th. They would start around 10 or 11 in the morning and continue until I went to bed at night, but never got any closer than 8 minutes apart. Talk about frustrating! I tried to stay as active as I could, walking the dog every day, climbing up and down the stairs as often as I could, and bouncing on an exercise ball throughout the day, but things never really progressed. Then on Thursday, May 12th, after a day of annoying contractions, I went upstairs to get ready for bed but I could NOT get comfortable so I brought the exercise ball upstairs to bounce and watch tv for a while. Around 10:30 is when I had my first really uncomfortable contraction and I decided to start timing them again. Mike was asleep and so I just bounced on my ball, watched HGTV and tried to remember all the breathing techniques I had learned as my contractions got closer together and more painful. By 2 a.m. I was starting to feel really anxious since the contractions were 3-4 minutes apart with no signs of slowing down. I woke Mike up around 2:30, we finished packing up our bags, and we drove across the street to the hospital.

We made our way up to Labor & Delivery and they checked me into triage. My vitals were normal, Addie was looking good on the monitors, and (much to my dismay) I was dilated to about 3 cm. We decided to head back to the house so I could try and relax and labor at home for a while. We got home around 4 a.m. and I crawled into bed and managed to sleep on and off until about 7:30 when contractions woke me up again. I took a shower, put on the comfiest clothes I could stretch over my huge belly, and we went out for our first walk of the day. All day Friday I climbed up and down the stairs (with help from Mike) about a million times, bounced on the ball, and paced the floor. I spent a lot of time in the big, comfy recliner in the nursery, snuggled up under a quilt, just breathing and trying to relax. We went for a second walk in the evening and we hadn't even made it a block before I was doubled over in pain. These contractions were like nothing I had felt up until that point and WOW they sucked! Mike helped me waddle along, stopping every few minutes to hunch over and try to breathe, and I decided that once we made it back to the house that I wanted to go back to the hospital. So we eventually finished our walk and checked back in to L&D around 7 p.m. I was super disappointed to find out I was still only at 3 cm, and my blood pressure was rising so the triage nurse suggested that we stay and we agreed.

They admitted me and brought us to the birthing suite (which was SO nice), administered my IV and set up fetal monitors to keep an eye on Addie. I was completely worn out and really struggling to get comfortable so even though I originally wanted to go without pain meds, we started talking to my nurses about different options for pain management. At first I opted for a megadose of tylenol + benadryl to help take the edge off my pain and hopefully knock me out for a few hours. I took those meds around 9:30 and tried to eat some chicken nuggets but I could hardly stomach any food, and definitely couldn't fall asleep. Around midnight I decided to give IV pain meds a shot and all that did was make me feel drunk. I was dizzy, loopy, and felt like I couldn't speak very well. I was able to doze off a little here and there, but couldn't stay asleep for very long. Around 5 a.m. (on Saturday, May 14th) I was deliriously tired and asked my nurse to check my progress. I was at 4 cm. FOUR. So after laboring all night in the hospital (and not to mention the whole day before that) I had barely progressed! My blood pressure was elevated, I wasn't dilating on my own, and my water still hadn't broken, so I ultimately decided to get an epidural. Up until that point I was so determined to go all natural, but I knew I needed to sleep if I was going to have the energy to push out a baby! Plus we really didn't want to take any chance of putting Addie in distress after so much labor, so I finally received my epidural around 6 a.m.

Feeling wayyyy better after a hefty dose of meds ;)

The amazing anesthesiologist arrived and I felt instant relief! In addition to an epidural, they started me on a pitocin drip to help move things along. I could still feel my belly tightening during contractions, but they were completely painless. I was finally able to relax and I slept on and off for the next several hours. When I woke up, Mike was downstairs getting some food so I chatted with my nurse Bri for a few minutes. I was still feeling great so she left the room and I grabbed my phone to stalk social media until Mike got back when I suddenly heard a popping sound and felt a warm rush in my lap. I immediately hit my call button and told the nurse "umm, I think my water just broke?" and sure enough, it finally had! I don't remember exactly what time that was, but I definitely still had a ways to go before meeting my baby girl. I took another nap, and just soaked in as much relaxation as I could for the next few hours.

Some time around 5 p.m. I started getting the unmistakeable urge to push so they turned down my epidural. Once I started regaining feeling in my legs, Mike, the nurses, and the midwife on call helped me move into different positions to push. After almost 2 hours, some dry-heaving (isn't childbirth so lovely?), and a lot of help and motivation from my sweet hubby, Addie was finally crowning. After just a few more pushes, Addison Grace was here at 6:57 p.m.! They plopped her right on my chest and in that moment I think my heart actually exploded! The exhaustion, the pain, the TWO DAY labor, was all completely worth it :)

It's so hard for me to believe that a year ago I was checking into the hospital room where I would eventually meet our sweet girl. She has changed our lives in amazing ways we couldn't even have imagined and I know without a doubt that being her mommy was exactly what I was meant to do all along! Happy Birthday Eve little pudge, we love you more than you'll ever know!

Easter 2017

Does anybody else feel like Easter fell really late this year? Mid-April just seems so late to me for some reason... Maybe it's because I've been extra excited to fill Addie's first Easter basket and I've had a hard time being patient! Luckily for my impatient self, we celebrated Easter a little bit early in the Beard house this year!

I filled up a basket for each of my loves, and we shared a yummy pancake breakfast and a laid back day together - two of our very favorite things :)

Mike's basket was simple - a small chocolate bunny, a few yummy snacks, some of his favorite candies, and a couple 5 hour energy drinks for those extra early mornings he occasionally has!

Addie's basket, while not quite as simple as Mike's, wasn't too over-the-top either! I really tried to rein in the crazy since she's not even one yet and doesn't exactly get the concept of the Easter basket yet :) The contents of Addie's basket were:

Bubbles

A big box of Annie's Cheddar Bunnies

A few Easter books

Moana - Her first Disney movie!

A new tumbler cup

Her first toothbrush + toothpaste

A couple pouches she's never tried before

She was definitely excited about the pouches (girlfriend LOVES to eat) and the bubbles have been a pretty big hit as well, but I think overall I was more excited about the basket than she was ;)

We also had the chance to attend a fun Easter party and egg hunt put on by our neighborhood, and while Addie didn't exactly collect any eggs, she enjoyed seeing some of our friends and hanging out in the sunshine! 

The whole reason for our early celebration was because Mike had to work on Easter. It's always a bummer when he has to be away on a holiday, but Addie and I still had a great time! We originally had no plans for Easter, and I figured it would just be a regular day for us, but my sweet friend Kourtney stepped in and we tagged along with her family for a fun filled day!

We started off with the early service at First Baptist of Jacksonville and Addie had her first experience in the church nursery which seemed to go really well (I don't even think she realized I was gone to tell you the truth).

After an early lunch and a nap, we made our way to Kourtney's house for a backyard Easter egg hunt and a delicious dinner surrounded by new friends!

We hope you all had as great of a day as we did :) 

Happy Easter everybody!