Sisters

Sisters are an amazing thing. I am so excited that my older two are close in age! It's nice that they willing dress alike- I know right?!? And that they have similar interests. They are both so loving to Lauren and I can't wAit to see how they mature!

Advice time: have your kids close in age if you can, 1.5-2.5 years apart. They will be the best of friends and the worst at times. Love how close they are in age and in school!

Baby announcements!

There are so many ways to announce the birth of your new baby. For our first daughter my friend and I hand made adorable card announcements. They were very precious and took a lot of time. 

19months later our second daughter came into the picture and i was a little more busy more handmade cards having her sister announce Kate's birth. 

By the time #3 was born, we sent out digital announcements. We used things like red stamp (a free app) which I LOVE and use all the time. 

Good luck and be creative!

Our preemie

We are the foster parents of a cute little baby boy. He was born at 25 weeks, yes 15 weeks early! He has gone through a LOAD of issues and overcome a lot. When he was born, he was addicted to 5 different substances. Probably one of the reasons he was born so early. He was born with a grade 3 (out of 4) brain bleed, whole in his heart, intenstines inside out, eye sight a mess, swallowing disfunction and premature lungs. Prob other things I am forgetting at this point. He was in survival mode for the first 3 months of his life and fought hard. We met him on November 16, 2013 (4 months old) and our journey and education of a premiee began. These babies are not like other babies. He gets sick VERY easily, he has A LOT of appointments and check ups and is very delayed in all aspects. He's now about 8 months (4.5 months ajusted) and functions at about a 3-4 month old. He is said to have some form of CP going forward. We do not know the severity of it thus far. He was also diagnosed as blind a few weeks ago. 

If you have a preemie, God bless you, it is no easy journey. We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. But we feel lucky to be able to care for him and give him all the love he needs until a decision is made on his behalf where his forever home will be. 

Professional photos

We have gotten pictures taken at various places by various people including our own camera. Here's what we think...

Target: medium quality, prints in about 7 business days, some photographers are good. Not all. 

Picture people: Looooooong wait. Medium quality prints in an "hour" they used to print out all your shots in all sizes and throw away what you didn't purchase but thankfully they don't do that anymore- what a waste. The picture people in Montgomeryville mall is SUPER slow and going kids taking pictures. I usually go a few times and then get frustrated and take them myself. 

Sears: when I used them, you had to wait about 7-10days for the prints. Although, the photos were very traditional and well done. 

When we did them ourselves inside, they turned out just ok bc we don't have the right lighting. Recently I took them outside and they are my favorite by far. 

So, here ya go, just know if your going to pictures people (or anywhere) take a coupon- everyone has them! And be prepared to wait a long time at picture people. 

Update

I wanted to let everyone know that my dates on my enteries say 2010 but I updated them today. So everything with a date (like the gym class) is current. Thanks for looking :)