Beautiful Chaos

As one of my favorite country singers, Gary Allan would say "Life aint always beautiful, but its a beautiful ride."

Ha!! Two babies are definitely twice the love, twice the diapers, twice the snuggles and now twice the screams!

I thought I'd take a minute and make sure everyone in blog land wasnt mislead in thinking this new adventure was all roses. I am coining it the "beautiful chaos" phase of our life. Everyone warned us the first year of having two kids one year apart would be the hardest and so far I can understand why. We love both our kids immensely but there are days like the past 72 hours when you want to walk outside and not come back! Yes, I said it. But clearly I don't. Managing two different schedules, one kid that is adjusting to life with competition, one kid on a feeding frenzy that I can only chalk up to a growth spurt, one kid in the midst of teething all while the other cant seem to be happy unless you're walking around holding him. Its all worth it but really?! Lately, I find myself in the middle of days where I smell like milk, cheese, and spit up, still in my pajamas without a shower or lunch. Then other days are absolutely great. Eva will sleep all night and wake up smiling like an angel ready to give kisses and take on the toddler world. Kellan will eat in normal 3 hr increments and sleep 4 hour stints at night which means I get to get ready and be a normal human.

So here's to more of those days to come. I don't wish all these memories away for anything but I pray, "Lord can you please add a little sanity and caffeine to my already overflowing cup."

Playdate at the Park

With only a few nice days left this year, we decided to take advantage of the 60 degree weather and head to the park. Daddy is definitely Eva's favorite playdate and you can see here why!

Kellan's Last Few Weeks

Lots going on at the Whittakers these days. I'd love to say its all been wonderful and beautiful and I guess in some way or another it has been what I'll affectionately call Beautiful Chaos. However, life with two definitely has its ups and downs. One being not a whole lot of "extra" time for blogging so I apologize for being somewhat behind on my posts. I happen to find a few minutes today when Kellan is sleeping and Eva is occupied so here are a few snapshots of our little man over the last few weeks. He's growing so fast and I still find it hard to believe that I am a mother of two little angels.

Snug as a bug in a... nini!!

Chillin out and looking mighty handsome!

Laurie and Isabella came by to visit the little man. How fun to think that Isabella was a baby when I met her and now 8 years later, she's holding mine.

Pretty typical action when I try and snap a picture of the kids together. I guess Kellan needs to get used to his sister!

What a silly face!

All the excitement wore him out!

Kellan's First Bath Time

Much like his big sister, mister Kellan is not a fan of bathtime just yet. It takes a while to understand what's happening and then of course Mom comes and takes pictures of it!

However, when its all over, he's all happy and snuggly now!

Go Hogs Go

So maybe we didnt make it to many (ok only one) Razorback game this year, we definitely enjoyed teaching Eva to call the hogs, making sure the kids were taught to wear their gear on game day and commit to watching the game. Eva already knows the move for "touchdown" and of course anytime someone says "woo pig sooie" her arms go in the arm. (Yes, I know these two motions are the same but she knows the drill for each so I am impressed)

Friends Forever

A lot happens in one year... One of my best friends in the whole world, Evelyn, and I had our girls three weeks apart so its been fun watching them together. This past year we have had a lot of change but one thing that hasn't changed is that we are committed to our girls remaining as close as we are (despite the 5 1/2 hour distance between us now). Below is a snapshot from a year ago when they were our "babies".

Fast forward to now and our big girls are cuter and more fun than ever!

May we always remain close to those who mean the most! We love you Ev and Claire!

Happy 1 Week Birthday Little Man

My how fast a week flies by! Thank you Kellan for bringing us so much joy and love that we didnt even know we had to share. We are so thrilled you're such a sweet, healthy and beautiful little boy.

At your checkup yesterday you had already passed your birth weight and is 7 pounds 1 ounce and 19 1/2" long. (Yes, you apparently shrunk 1/4 of an inch). I love that you sleep 2-3 hours at a time and have gone easy on Mom and Dad so far at nights. I love that your sister loves you so much we are now learning the word "gentle" around our house. I love that your so easy going and seem to love us all too. Basically, we love everything about you!

Happy 1 Week Birthday, Kellan James!

My Own Happy Halloween

So Halloween isnt that big of a deal to me but I think that may all change next year. Dressing Eva up, even if it was just in the house, was too cute. I had to share some pics of my sweet little angel and of course my new little pumpkin!! Does it get any cuter than this???

Snoozin with Momma dreaming about dressing up next year!

Our little angel!

My sweet little angel getting in some snuggle time after a long day. Doesnt get any better!

Big Sister Meets Baby Brother

We had another great experience at Willow Creek! They really know how to take care of their Momma's. So after two days of stay we were ready to head home Friday morning. We got all loaded up and got home in time to get settled before going to get Eva from school.

Some of you may know, I was so excited about Eva being a big sister but it came with some anxiety. Eva's been my little girl, my world for a year now... I worried how she'd react to him when she realized she wasnt the only one anymore... I was hoping she wouldnt be "mad" at us even though the pediatrician said it was natural....

But all my fears were gone when she came home from school to finally meet Baby Kellan (who for months she'd only known him in my belly. I greeted her by myself and then let her come to him herself. She was glowing excited and so ready to get to him. She wanted to give him "pat pats" and when I said "Eva give Kellan love" she totally went to him and gave him kisses. Of course I burst into tears. As a Mom there was nothing more beautiful than witnessing my two kids love each other. I just pictured the start of years full of memories and fun they're going to have together!

So the last couple of days required a little more attention to Eva than we had hoped but she's really adjusting well. She loves him and we're definitely teaching her "gentle" but I think she knows he's here to stay so as long as we dont "forget" about her, I think all is going to be ok. I feel so blessed to have these two kids- gorgeous and healthy!! A mom cant ask for much more.