Well, this past week has flown by. We have been busy eating, sleeping, playing with toddlers, and taking care of the baby. We have been spending time with Blake’s side of the family for Noah’s first Thanksgiving. He was introduced to tons of cousins, aunts, uncles, great aunts and uncles, and great grandmas. We are fortunate to be able to spend an extended period of time in South Dakota.
Well, we weren’t as prepared this time around, and even though I got peed on, we managed to get Noah in his bathtub. Like Willow’s first bath, he wasn’t very excited. Needless to say, it was a two person job, hence the one photo we have of the ordeal. I forgot how scary it was to wash a newborn! (and by the look on Willow’s face, how scary it was to watch Mommy wash a newborn.)
All children were supervised during the shooting of these photos. 
Life with a newborn is interesting, and life with a two year old is even more interesting. Willow has her ups and downs with this new baby brother thing, but I am very impressed with how she is adjusting. Although Noah isn’t a huge fan of the binkie, it doesn’t bother Willow when he has one. She is even beginning to understand when Mommy needs to feed Noah and how sometimes Mommy can’t pick up Willow because she has Noah. I am not saying its perfect yet. I know there are a lot of temper tantrums yet to be had, but we are taking baby steps.
As far as the little man goes, he is approaching the 7 lb mark. I still find it hard to believe that he fit in my tummy. He is so long, and even when he is curled up on my chest, he takes up a lot of room! It is such a pleasure to have a baby to fall asleep with again. He has been very popular around these parts these past two weeks. Not only have we been getting lots of special visitors, but he has been receiving lots of fun packages in the mail. Along with a gift for Noah, many of our friends and family members have been sending little gifts for Willow too. Both she and I are grateful beyond words!
Time has flown by and like I said before, tomorrow N will be 2 weeks old already. These two weeks have flown by, and I still feel sane! I have had so much help from a doting and hard-working husband. I don’t know how he is taking care of all three of us, but he has been such an awesome support. We are also so very fortunate for our parents. Making the transition from 1 to 2 is never easy, but it has been a little bit less bumpy with their help.
WSWW or What Should Willow Wear? Halloween is coming up and fortunately for this little peanut, we have several adventures planned for the weekend. Between Trunk or Treats, a Halloween party, and trick or treating, Willow will not go without an adorable costume. Between myself, her auntie, and her Grandma Gail, Willow has tons of cute outfits to choose from!
1. This ensemble is a handmade Owl shirt plus Owl stocking hat *courtesy of Aunt Lisa. I saw this idea on Pinterest and had to create one for Willow myself. I used ultimate hold heatstick bond and ironed the little feathers on to a size 2T shirt….which is long enough to wear as a tunic with leggings.
2. This adorable costume was sent in the mail by Willow’s Aunt Holly. As a surprise, Willow received a plethora of bumblebee accessories: tutus, wings, and antenna. Paired with one a gymnastic’s leotard, this costume will pay homage to Blake’s favorite band, Blind Melon.
3. I created this next costume last year out of a dress Willow grew out of. It was a puff sleeved corduroy Cheetah print play dress, and with a few snips here and there, I created a one-strapped Pebbles look. Once I snipped off the neck and arms, the too-small dress grew to much larger proportions and failed to fit Willow last year. It may even be a little large this year, but it is so cute, I couldn’t resist. Paired with a handmade “bone” barrette and a Dino straight from the Badlands, this costume is super sweet.
4. This wicked fairy dress was thrifted by Willow’s Grandma Gail. She has successfully provided costumes each year. Once this dress is paired with a little black cat candy bucket, pointy witch hat, and handmade fairy wand, Willow will take the wicked out of witch!
So tell me, what is your favorite costume and what do you think Willow should wear?
Tuesday at the doctor’s office all the nurses swooned over Willow and upon hearing her name just melted even more. (We are 3 cm dilated and 90% effaced blah) Yesterday, we even received an awesome belated birthday package for Will from our dear friend, Elena. Inside was a beautiful, new storybook and a kick butt cardigan with the brand name of Willow. Yep, I died! not only is the sweater adorable, but it is a little more special because of its brand name. I know that several celebrity’s children now have Willow’s name, and hey, that’s okay too. If I had a nickel for everytime I heard that Pink named her baby Willow, I would be quite wealthy.
When naming Willow, we came up with two names that we loved: Willow Madeline and Piper Addison. We couldn’t decide between the two, so we decided that Piper fit a blonde hair, blue eyed little girl…and Willow was more fitting for a brown haired/brown eyed little one. Well…out came Willow with dark, almost red hair, and large, piercing brown eyes. When the doctor asked me her name, it was instant…she would be my little Willow. Crazy how hair color and eye color can change. My little blonde haired, blue eyed girl is still fittingly Willow.
Naming this baby has been quite difficult. For the first 7 months Blake and I argued about names. We made lots of lists and texted each other any time we heard one we loved. Then, 24 hours later, we cringed and laughed at the name we had just come up with. Nothing had been quite right. Then, on a trip to Minneapolis this summer, we sat down with my sister-in-law’s Baby Name book. We literally scoured the book…going over every name, its meaning, and its popularity. It didn’t help, and we each returned to our individual favorites.
This process was getting us no where. Finally, we each sat down and created a list of our individual top five favorite. We traded the lists, and there was only one name on each list that was the same. And thus, we chose this as Baby Heinz’s name. No one voted on it, no one suggested it, it was just kind of there….subtle and strong and present. We have decided that once Baby Heinz is born, if the name doesn’t fit, we will return to square one…and this time it will be a mutual decision (sorry Blake!) But for now, the name is on the nursery wall and its the only thing that comes to mind when referring to this bowling ball in my belly.
…Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day. Here are a few articles about the day. Check them out.
Your Baby Had Weight in this World: Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day
Pregnancy and Infant Remembrance Day: Marking lives lost too early
Here are a series of pics from the week…not much going on at the Heinz household, but I try to keep it fun.
There is a new blog that I have been crushing, and after reading some of the author’s older posts, I stumbled upon this one titled “the daily mommy workout.” I have already been stressing about getting fit for two very important weddings this spring and summer, but after reading this post it really brought me back to reality. Take this times two (plus some Jillian Michaels 30 day shred and yoga thrown in for a good balance.)
Thank you Lindsay R from Just Us for Mom’s daily workout:
Willow was up bright and early this morning, talking in her crib to her little Cabbage Patch Kid, whom she recently renamed Blake. We listened to her for a while, then decided it was time to drag ourselves out of our own room. Immediately upon leaving her crib, she wanted to go downstairs to play “dotor.” This doctor set is a toy I received from Santa Claus when I was little. It is a Cabbage Patch Nusery set, complete with blood pressure cuff, stethoscope, and even x-ray machine. Willow has wanted to play with it non stop since we stumbled upon it in storage yesterday afternoon. It is fun watching her talk to her baby, administer “medicine” and shots, then bandage the baby and tell him everything is going to be okay. Then, she puts her baby to sleep in her nursery and grabs a new one and starts the process all over. It’s like she knows that pretty soon she is going to be helping take care of a real “live” baby. We’ll see if Mommy will let her take x-rays of that one.
On another side note, I logged into my facebook account this morning and saw that there were THREE new babies posted in my news feed. Three! I think this may be a sign. Please, let it be a sign!
