Introducing Kerigan Kay Robinson

It's a GIRL!!!!

Kerigan Kay Robinson was born Sunday November 17, 2013 at 9:05am. She was a healthy 6 lbs. 14 oz and 20.5 in. long. Labor began around 1:30am that morning and progressed quickly which resulted in the birth of our little girl in less than 8 hours. I was able to deliver naturally and am excited to share her birth story with you soon.

In the meantime, I am going to leave you with a few highlights from her first minutes of life. As you can see, she is already completely loved and adored. Briggs could not be a better big brother. He has completely skipped calling her by name and only refers to her as Sister. I still cannot believe that we have a daughter. Ryan and I feel so honored that the Lord chose us to be the ones to raise this little miracle to know and love Him. 

Now I'm off to snuggle my 3-day-old crumb cake...

Preparing for D-Day on Team Green...with a Toddler

Hospital bags are packed, pumpkin seat is taken out of storage, the jeep now has TWO carseats installed, the neutral clothes and blankets are washed and ready...

I still love the idea that we are on Team Green. I can't wait for that moment! However, I didn't realize it would take twice the planning until recently. (It has saved me some money on not buying too many new clothes...yet.) You have to come up with twice as many names (we have known our boy name for a long time but just recently barely settled on a girl name.) and you have to prepare your toddler on the possibility of having a baby brother or baby sister. When I say prepare, I do mean mentally prepare but also logistically prepare him as well.

With Baby 2.0, I am much more aware of how to efficiently pack for the hospital. Despite planning to go natural, I believe my bag weighs about 20 lbs. less. However, this time around I am not just packing for me and my baby boy. I am packing for me, my toddler and for a girl baby and a boy baby.


As far as the baby's packing plan, I had decided I would take a few boy outfits (Briggs's hand-me-downs) and a few girl outfits (Kinsie's hand-me-downs) and one or two neutrals new to this particular little one. Plus, I had to include my two onesies- each with a respective girl name and boy name for the birth announcement. After that, the hospital has all the essentials.

As for my toddler, he takes the cake. We have an outfit with a blue bow tie if he gets a brother and a pink bow tie if he gets a sister. He also has changes of clothes, entertainment including videos and books, supplies to throw a birth day party (he is really into singing the birthday song to everyone right now) plus a brand new gift from his baby sibling. He also has an overnight bag for Yaya and Bapa's while we are at the hospital.

I don't blame you if you think I'm going over the top, but if you have a child, you know you can never be over-prepared. Now, prepare for one of the biggest moments in your child's life plus the welcoming of a new life. It makes my mind spin. I think this nesting mother of 2 needs to go to bed...

Soaking in the last few (days and/or weeks) with this baby always with me.

Our Halloween '13 in photos

He's got the roar down like a champ thanks to all the halloween celebrations we attended. I think by the last night his throat hurt- ha poor baby. He trick-or-treated like a rockstar and loved passing out candy to other kids! I couldn't get enough of this little lion.

Confession: I like Halloween way more now that I have a kid.

FULL TERM..This Time Around as a "STM"

If any of you have ever joined a pregnancy app or forum, the first time you log on you almost need an interpreter with all the abbreviations these moms use.  FTM, STM, TTC, LO, DH...the list goes on and on. When I was pregnant with Briggs, after a few weeks and a lot of google searches, I finally caught on to the lingo- usually pretty easy to figure out. In this instance, STM simply means Second Time Mom.

So as a STM at 38 weeks, I am at a totally different place than I was as a "FTM". At 37 weeks with Briggs, I was miserable. Looking back now, it was completely mental. I am still feeling all the physical ailments I did last time- but I'm embracing it and letting my body do its work. As a FTM, I was not used to Braxton Hicks contractions. I thought every time they started up again, I was going into labor. That is...until real labor began. When my sister asked me how to tell the difference in contractions, I told her BH contractions were like thunder and true contraction were lightning. You can certainly tell the difference.

Now I sit here and trust my body. My birth plan this time around is to go all natural- no epidural. However, I am a sound believer on doing what is best for the baby. If an epidural or even a c-section is best, I trust the Lord that He will lead us in the right direction to deliver a sweet healthy baby- because after all, isn't this our ultimate goal?

For the record though, the latest labor update at 37.4 which was my last OB check-up, I am dilated to 2 and 50% effaced. The baby could decide to put me into active labor like... now or 3 weeks from now. Either way, its okay. I have a toddler dressed as a lion to take to soccer class right now. I'm certainly not twiddling my thumbs.

Baby 2, whenever you are ready to make your debut, we are too. Until then, your brother has some "roaring" to do.

P.S. Baby, please don't be mad if your nursery isn't complete yet- we have a whole house we are still unpacking. I promise you will have a warm place to sleep. <--This is another example of the STM mindset I have learned to accept. Love is enough.

A Housewarming Baby Sprinkle

It's amazing how quickly you become "out of the loop" in newborn world. When I went with my sister to help her register for her baby showers, the Buy Buy Baby rep asked if I was registered yet. I guess she assumed I was pregnant. Lucky guess. This time. I told her I was pregnant with my second so I wouldn't be having a shower. I have all the necessities. Then she told me how a lot of second time moms have "sprinkles". A miniature shower with a small group of family and friends- love it!

With a one-month-old in tow, my sister and mom organized a lovely housewarming/baby sprinkle for us. It was perfect. We are now restocked on diapers, neutral apparel, a new swing and even a few presents for the big brother.

Thank you all who attended and sprinkled Baby 2 with love. A special thank you to my sister, mom and dad who planned and provided the food as well. It was such a wonderful day to stop and celebrate this little one!

A Maternity Photo Shoot for Baby 2

At 34 weeks into Baby Two's pregnancy, we had our maternity photography session with the very talented Loree Alayne Photography. We met at Beasley's Orchard and Briggs could not have been more excited about all the "punkanns".

When I went to Loree's house for my ordering session, I couldn't help but cry. I was completely overwhelmed by HIS grace. These pictures incapsulated such a special time in our lives. I'm incredibly in love with my hard working, witty and loving husband. Plus, life with this amazing little boy is so incredible. And to think, we are multiplying this feeling in a few weeks with another...I cannot fathom the blessings. What a beautiful life we live- I am soaking up every.single.moment.

Kinsie's Newborn Photos

My sister asked me to take Kinsie's newborn photos before Little Miss was even born. I love photography and am learning more and more every day. I was happy to take Kara's maternity pictures because there was less pressure, I guess. However, I have never done a newborn session and I know how stressful Briggs's session was (at least from a mother's view).

Newborns do not sleep through photography shoots. Period. They do not let you put them in positions that you see on Pinterest, they are hungry as soon as you want to begin and they always pee as soon as you take the diaper off. I remember by the end of Briggs's session I was literally sweating because I didn't want to take up any more of our sweet photographer's time. 

From the photographer's standpoint, I honestly didn't mind if I had to be there all day. I just didn't want Kara to stress out if I wasn't able to get any great shots. But with a lot of cooperation and patience, we were able to capture some beautiful moments of my precious niece. I know Kara was happy which was the ultimate goal.

Here are a few of my favorites:

She has quickly promoted herself to one of the loves of my life. I love you always, baby girl! I'm so glad I can be a part of so many of your precious moments!