Family Update

Wow, I can't believe it's been over a month since I did a blog post. Life has obviously been a little crazy and finding free time to work on my blog has been pretty much non existent. I had a free moment this morning, so I figured I would share some pictures with you guys and update you on how we're all doing. I am realizing now that we don't have a single picture of the 4 of us yet... wow! Adding that to my 'to do' list. I should probably hire a professional but let's be honest, I will probably take it on my iPhone.


Ella has adjusted to being a big sister amazingly well. She does have moments of jealousy once in a while, but it's pretty rare. I am very proud of her. I think it's been harder on me than it has been on her. I hate seeing how much her life has changed and how little one on one attention she gets now, as compared to before. I cried almost every single day for the first month, mostly because of Mom guilt, but sometimes just from feeling overwhelmed too. It has already gotten easier and I know will continue to get easier as Mia gets older and less clingy.


Ella is obsessed with Mia. Every time she wakes up, she asks to see Mia. When Mia is sleeping, Ella is itching to wake her up. She'll say 'good morning sweetie' and it absolutely cracks me up. While Ella doesn't love helping fetch diapers as much as I thought she would, she does love imitating me. She takes care of her bunny the same way I take care of Mia and it's so funny! I catch her burping her bunny all the time and will tell me "Mom, bunny crying. Needs to sleep!" When I was younger I loved playing house and pretending to be a Mommy to my babies, and Ella is the same way. It amazes me that here I am, living my lifelong dream of being a Mom. I am so blessed! 


Here are some pictures of my beautiful girls together... 

I may be biased but I think they are two of the most gorgeous humans I know!


 

Love these two cuties. Ella thinks it's so funny when I let her hold Mia. "SO heavy Mama!"


 

Matching outfits, of course! These were a gift from a coworker but she got them at Carters. I just love the matching outfits! I can't wait for Christmas... matching jammies for the WHOLE family! :D 



As you can see, Ella is obsessed! We all are! 



Mia likes being held way more than Ella ever did and any moment she is awake, I pretty much can't put her down. This makes balancing the two girls more difficult because I can't always do exactly what Ella wants of me in the moment. Because of this, I have tried to make sure Ella-Mommy time is a priority. Whether it's a quick trip to the grocery store or park, just the two of us, or if we can- a whole day date.



Most recently, Ella and I spent a morning at this small little theme park for small children called Adventure City! Ella had a BLAST and it was so nice spending time with her. 









Ella is definitely going to love rollercoasters when she gets older. This is a pic from one of the rides but she insisted I take her on the rollercoaster too... She barely made the height requirement, but was allowed to ride with me. Even I thought it went fast, but Ella had a blast and asked to go on again! I wish I had a picture of her on the rollercoaster too. It was precious! 





I promise she loves this ride! She has a very sad looking resting face but she was happy, just a little tired.



And an ice cream to end our fun day!
 



We try to do things as a family of 4 as well. Unfortunately Mia was sleeping in her stroller when we too these pics, so we didn't get any of her, but she was there!





I love my sweet little family!




And miss Mia girl is doing great! The first 4 weeks were a bit rough, as we had to learn about our sweetie's needs and figure out what her crying meant. Now we know our girl likes to eat, sleep, be held and that's just about it... Haha! Her fussiness is already so much better, we just can't let her get over tired and we are okay.


 

Mia is already sleeping through the night basically. She goes to bed between 8-8:30 and eats once around 3-4 am, and goes back to sleep until 7 am. It's pretty incredible considering her age, but I am NOT complaining. We have done a lot of research on babies and sleep and I think our knowledge has helped us out a lot so far. We haven't seen the pediatrician since her 2 week check up, but because she was doing so well they told us we can wait until 2 months for another. 

As far as breastfeeding goes... that is always my downfall! I nursed her for the first few weeks before I got so stressed and anxious I had to stop. I decided I would pump and feed that way. I don't know if it's the stress when she can't latch properly, or not knowing how much she is eating (if she's full) but it just made me a wreck. But I didn't realize how much work exclusively pumping was either. We ended up supplementing her with formula with the breastmilk, because otherwise I was pumping every 2 hours and it was just too much work with Ella. I felt like I was spending all my time pumping, feeding Mia, rocking Mia, washing bottle parts and neglecting my sweet Ella. We are SO fortunate to have Michael's parents help, as they come over to spend time with Ella nearly everyday. But even with that, Ella still wants her Mom to play with her. I had to make the decision to take care of BOTH of my girls (and honestly myself )and formula has allowed me to do that. So no regrets there!


Now here are some pics of my sweet girl! 







We finally got our little girl to smile AND caught it on camera.



Not the biggest fan of tummy time, but she's a bit less fussy during TT than Ella was. Mia's favorite place to sleep is on her tummy, so that's usually where this leads... ha! 





We like to play with Mia, although she gets fussy fast and usually just wants to nap or be held!


 

 My sweet cuddly girl!



Here are some side by side pics of Ella and Mia looking similar as babies! 






So similar and yet so different. My sweet girls! 



*I wrote this post a long time ago, and I need to do another update already because they have both changed already! Working on that soon! :) 

Thanks for those that still check on this neglected space of mine!


7 comments

  1. Aw, what a sweet new addition to the family! I am so happy for that you that she already practically sleeps through the night; that's huge! You should definitely not feel guilty about supplementing with formula-- the girls are happy, fed, growing, and loved; that's all that matters.

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    1. So true Joanne, thank you. She is thriving on her formula and Ella did as well.

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  2. They look so much alike! I just love them. Thanks for the update!

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    1. It's so funny. They totally do and totally don't. Sometimes I feel like Mia looks like my side of the family- I see my Dad and brother in her. But other days I look at her and she looks super Chinese. I can't wait to watch her grow and transform! :) Thank you for following along and sorry for the late reply.

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  3. Congrats Ashley! I thought I had seen on instagram that Mia had arrived but I hadn't seen a blog post. When did she arrive? Did you have a hospital birth or did you end up going au natural and have her at home due to the pandemic and all the crazy rules around visitors? I am glad that you have Michael's parents near by to help with the girls. Have you guys gone ahead and gotten "officially" married yet or are you still waiting for a better time?? p.s. Sorry for all of the questions but I love a good update post! 💜

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    1. Mia arrived on May 20th! We did have a hospital birth. The pandemic restrictions were in place, as we were not allowed visitors and my husband was required to wear a mask. They were flexible with me and the mask wearing. We did not mind the restrictions as we have seen how devastating Covid can be. Anything we can do to protect others is a-okay with us right now. We have not yet gotten married- although I pretty much refer to Michael as my husband 100% of the time now, so I guess we should do that, huh? Haha!

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  4. Oh I just love to see the pictures of both the girls as babies! Your girls are lovely and so precious together!

    Be proud of your breastfeeding accomplishments! No matter the length or journey, you did it. Feeding in any capacity is hard, what matters is that everyone is fed, healthy, and happy. You are an incredible Mama, so grateful to do this mom thing along side you Ashley, XO!

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I appreciate and love all questions and comments!