Excited for a little Island time...

We are preparing for a 9 day vacation in Kauai. I am beyond excited (despite the massive amt of flying we will have to do with the kiddos)-because this is my favorite place ON EARTH.

Hudson is sooo excited. I think he is going to be a beach lover like his parents. Hope all had a great holiday!!!! We did and are so grateful :)

Somebody's Cute

Darling girl-you are SUCH a doll.

Isla Versus Hudson

Since everyone says they look so much alike, I figured I would do a comparison and this momma doesn't think they look much alike at all.  :) Here are their two month pics.

Isla Vivienne

Hudson Benjamin

Thoughts?

Two months!

TWO MONTHS!

Isla was two months on December 17 and I have been a bit behind on posting. What is Isla up to now? Isla is growing quickly out of size one diapers and should be wearing twos (although I am trying to use up the size ones I have).  She is wearing the big 0-3 month clothes and some 3-6 month clothes. She is a smiling girl and laughs and smiles a ton-especially in the morning! She is really good at holding her head up and is a pro at tummy time (I think this girl will crawl early!...eek). She is a great eater and still solely on breastmilk and weighed 12 lbs 4.5 oz at her 2 month appt. She also slept through the night for the first time this week! We were thrilled. Good job baby girl!

We are all in love with her. She is mommy's little girl and it is obvious! The baby girl has everything girly you could imagine because mommy just can't resist. Hudson is sooo good with her and is such an absolute sweet soul. We are soooo lucky to have such a wonderful little man in our lives. I am so in love with him.

A few gifts our kiddos are snagging for Christmas:

 The toy kitchen (stove and fridge) is a joint gift for both kiddos from us and Ellie Bubbie & Poppy.

Couldn't resist this bambi for Baby Girl.

 Gotz baby doll from PB kids for Baby Girl.

And how cute are these princesses for Isla.

Our big guy loves this movie and is getting the movie, figures and a few other MU items:

He is also snagging Boo from Monsters Inc., a bunch of Disney figures, Planes the movie, some fun candy in his stocking, a bike from Grandma & Grandpa and some play food for their new kitchen. Merry Christmas! I can't wait to see Hudson's face on Christmas morning! Traditions with him have been sooo fun this year.

Blessed

This season has been a whirlwind! Starting right now, my only focus is my family and making this holiday season memorable as the first in our new home with our new baby girl and precious son. I suggest a mass slow down...starting NOW. Signal Christmas music...

But seriously, Brandon and I need to sit down, notice how gorgeous our babies are, look at the Christmas lights, eat yummy food, enjoy our kiddos and each other. It has just been too busy this year. I am going to start with wrapping Baby Isla's beautiful baby doll today and putting it under the tree....

Merry Christmas to all.

December! :)

We had a wonderful thanksgiving with family and still have family in town. We have had a great time. I can't believe it is already December and I only have 8 more weeks off from work! We are gearing up for the holidays, working on indoor and outdoor decorations.  Here are a couple random pictures:

Our little family

                                                                     Kiddos stockings :)

                                                            Thanksgiving day table :)

One month old!

Isla-
I can't believe you are already one month old! Time is flying and needs to slow down!! You are turning into a chunky monkey and love the Beco carrier, being held and being cuddly with mommy and daddy.     You are officially only in size 1 diapers as of last week-the newborn are WAY too tight. You are wearing the large newborn clothes and small 0-3 month clothes.  Your daddy and I talk all the time about how it feels like you were always meant to be in our family and how you blended so well and helped make us feel more complete when you arrived. We love you so so much! You are such a good, sweet little girl and you have been everywhere since your arrival including shopping, out to eat many times, to several birthday parties, and all over the city. :) You are sweet and easy and we are so so lucky. You only wake up twice a night usually, which is amazing and I haven't even been that tired since your arrival since you are so easy-going.

We are so excited to see your likes/ dislikes as you grow and to hear your little voice someday.  We are anxious to see if your hair will stay dark and if your eyes will stay blue.  So far, your hair shows no sign of falling out like your brother's did.  Your eyes are not changing yet but are pretty dark blue.

Your big brother has been such a sweet big brother too. We love you two so so much darling babies.

Love,
Mommy

A bit behind but loving life

We are a bit behind over here on blog posts. Been enjoying the kiddos and just generally trying to use my maternity leave to be as productive as possible.  I am feeling good and Isla will be a month old on Sunday!! I have lost almost all of the pregnancy pounds and am working on getting fit :) The weather has been amazing here-it has to be 70 out there today. Our picket fence is in progress and will be finished next week. Isla's room is done and I will post pictures soon. In the meantime, Isla is calling....

Isla's Bath and a Tired Girl

I finally gave Baby Isla a bath. I realized with Hudson I went a little overboard with the baths, drying out his skin, so I gave her just small wipe downs last week and today was her first official sponge bath :) She hated it.

Before:

After:

She is such a sweet little girl and H and her have both been so good today. Brandon is out working on our picket fence, so I am on double duty. :) Loving these little tiny ones.

International Day

Hudson's school hosted an "International Day" at the Denver School of Science & Technology. His class represented Greece and did a Greek dance. We also had to make a Greek dish and had to be there saturday morning for the giant festival and potluck. It was great and H did fantastically with his Greek dance. Here are a few pics:

The Greek Boy:

Isla's Nursery

Here is an updated photo. I will be posting more soon.

Baby Girl!

Thanks Ellie-Bubbie for the gorgeous stork announcing the birth of our first baby girl!

The weather here has been absolutely gorgeous. Loving fall in Colorado, especially on maternity leave!

Isla Vivienne Albano

Our baby GIRL was born October 17, 2013 at 7:04 pm. She was 6 lbs 11 oz and 20 3/4 inches long. She is a tiny peanut and such an amazing, sweet baby. We are absolutely head over heels in love with her, as is Hudson.

Baby Isla sleeps a lot, when she isn't sleeping she is content to look around and only gets upset when either cold or hungry (like her mommy lol). Her birth was amazing. We went in the morning of the 17th, only to find that the fluid was lower than it had been tuesday. I must have had a leak, as I had suspected on tuesday. We were sent over to labor and delivery for an induction and we were nervous about the entire situation. At 11:15 am, I was given a cervical ripener to try to spur on labor. I went from zero centimeters dilated to 3 cm in a few hours. After that, the midwife on call broke my water. Following that, hard labor started (as it had with Hudson), I labored on the ball for a while then went into the bathtub and labored with Brandon and our Doula, Julie until I was about 8 cm. I got an epidural at 6:30 pm, and felt an intense urge to push right after that. The doctors asked me to wait for a bit (my dr was on her way!) and with ten minutes of pushing (3 pushes to be exact), our sweet, teeny tiny baby girl was in the world. I will remember until the day I die how absolutely gorgeous she was and how grateful we were for her health.

She is tiny but fierce and her heartbeat stayed strong throughout labor.  We couldn't be more grateful for our gorgeous son and daughter.

Brandon is on paternity leave and I am LOVING my maternity leave. I am off until January 30, 2014! (taking about 14-15 weeks). Hudson still goes to school for part of the day, but overall we are having a cozy fall together as a family the next few weeks. I can't wait to have a Christmas shopping partner this season too!

Here are a couple of pics of baby Isla.

 She literally looks like and acts like a darling baby doll.  Baby girl, your daddy and I are absolutely in love with you.

39 Weeks

39 weeks today and our appointment is in a couple of hours. I will update everyone regarding the plan :) I have literally drank my weight in water the past 24 hours, so hopefully the fluid looks great and we can just proceed naturally on waiting until Baby A decides to show up.

I proceeded with the acupuncture yesterday in Boulder and it has already increased activity/ contractions. Just trying to prepare this morning in case we meet our baby today or tmrw! :)

It is supposed to snow tomorrow morning of course :).

Until I have more information....signing off.

Update

Hi all-almost 39 weeks here and contractions coming pretty often. Was admitted for some monitoring today when I thought I might have a bit of a fluid leak. Turns out my fluid is on the low end of normal, so if it doesn't increase by thursday, I will have to be induced. I am drinking tons and tons of water and just trying to get things to normalize. I spent the day in depositions so that probably was a bit of an issue in causing the situation. The depositions went well-I just went straight to the hospital afterwards upon suspecting something being up.

I was discharged today and will head up to Boulder tmrw to try to continue to spur on this natural labor to avoid medication thursday just in case the levels haven't increased.

I will keep everyone updated. In the meantime, it was fun to see contractions on the monitor for 2 hours today every 3-4 minutes. My body is getting ready to meet this baby!!! It was a "mock" run and now at least we know how to get to labor and delivery. My doula will send me more natural induction methods tonight :)

Pumpkin patch and still pregnant

We had a great day at the pumpkin patch today. Heading to complete my 39th week soon and contractions on and off. Looks like this baby will likely be slow like his/her brother :) We are waiting and excited but definitely enjoying our last time as a family of three. The weather has been beautiful but chilly here. Loving fall!  Hope everyone is well!

Due Date Fast Approaching

Our due date is fast approaching and no sign of baby #2 except for on and off contractions every other day or so. Any guesses out there as to a date this baby will make an appearance? Halloween? I am anxious while realistic. More than anything, I just need a sign so I can wrap things up at work in an orderly manner. Every day I go in I create more work in getting back out LOL. My desk is piles of work that need to be handled. Hoping to make an orderly exit this time.

On another note, H has been under the weather and we kept him home today. He is such an adorable little guy, so sweet and caring. I bet he told me he loved me no less than 50 times today. Oh little boys, so sweet and wonderful.

Brandon has finished 18 posts for this picket fence-in the ground, concreted, level and ready to set the stage for our new picket fence. So exciting. I am working on getting some additional lighting replaced in the house to make things feel a little more like home before the holidays hit and we have a house full of family :)

My mom will be painting the playroom this week :) I am so excited about that. She is painting it Jicama by Benjamin Moore. I will then order some toy storage and some furniture including sleeper sofa and ottoman.

Well, as you can tell I have insomnia. Signing off :) Always trying to stay rested just in case!

Weekend :)

Yesterday we attended a wedding for a dear friend and it was beautiful, and we ended the day with my sweet Grandmother's birthday dinner. It was a great day. The weather here has been amazing. Today we have been cleaning and organizing the house while Brandon builds a picket fence around the entire front and side of our house. Poor guy-it is so much work and quite a lengthy perimeter. He almost has all of the posts in the ground though and it is only his second day working on the fence. We will finish that up, get it painted white and call it for outdoor projects for the season.

I have gotten out the baby swing, rocker/ vibrating chair, infant carseat (waiting to be installed in our garage), and a lot of gender neutral baby clothes today, as well as the bottle drying area just to be ready in case we have a new member of the family this week! Hoping this baby holds off another week or two to give us a little more time to prepare for him/her. :)

I am feeling good these days, although pretty tired at the end of the day. I have had series of contractions on and off but nothing that sticks around too long.  My body is getting ready.

This time around we hired a Doula named Julie and really looking forward to that experience.

H keeps us busy but he is such a good boy and doing really great with potty training (even going on his own when we are at home).

Next weekend we will do the pumpkin patch saturday morning :) Hoping to finish up a lot of the fence this week and next so we can hire out the painting before the next snow.

I will leave you with some pics from H's class this week. They are learning about Greece and the first picture is of their Grecian dance they will be performing at the Denver School of Science and Technology for International Day on the 26th. They also have had safe child training this week and on the 17th go on their first field trip.

Two months in school and H hasn't gotten a single illness. He did start coming down with a cold yesterday. Hoping he is better by morn and can go to school :)

We are full term!!! :) Won't be long now....

We are full term and the baby is the size of a watermelon! I am doing great, sleeping pretty well, but definitely very tired at the end of the day. Luckily Hudson is so good and really helps out when mommy is resting (even using the potty by himself with no prompting now).

The nursery is just about done-I am waiting on the rug (it is backordered for another two weeks), and need to pull out some final stuff from the basement to prepare but my stuff is packed, and I think we have all of the essentials ready to go. Any day now! We are so excited to meet Baby #2! At our last detailed ultrasound we were told the due date is likely closer to October 20 .... so it is anybody's guess when this baby will arrive. BUT-I am not working past October 23 and I only have 14 days of work left before leave!

The weather is changing here in Colorado and it is gorgeous. :) But snow is in the forecast for tmrw. Hopefully we are spared! I will update everyone when I go into labor! For now, signing off for another work day!

It is October...and it won't be long now! Baby Albano will be here in a few weeks!

Coming home outfit :)

We decided to bring Hudson's coming home outfit for a baby boy (sentimental) and got a baby girl outfit yesterday at Janie & Jack.  Here is what we got. I am in love with both Hudson's old one and this baby girl ensemble. We also got a gorgeous pink and white bonnet.

It is warm and has beautiful detail. We will see if we actually get a baby girl to wear it! It has vintage looking cream lace on the collar, on the back and around the feet.

Here is baby H in the same ensemble we will send Baby Boy #2 home in should this baby be a boy :)

We are spending the weekend resting, cleaning and getting organized!

Only a few weeks!

More nursery touches

We are working on finalizing the Nursery. There are a few things I will wait on until I see if we are having a girl or a boy. Namely a name bunting like this one:

And a blanket for the back of the chair like this one:

The nursery bunting we have now in the pictures I posted prior looks pink  but it is a mild peach.  We hung that up as well as the cloud mobile a few weeks ago. Once I find out if this baby is a girl or a boy I will either add touches of pink vintage roses or light greyish blue.

I ordered the grey medallion rug:

It is coming together (but will be a bit of time until everything arrives or can be ordered).
I will post pictures once the baby is here! Only a few more weeks! How exciting!

In other news, Hudson is doing fantastically in school. He is loving it and making lots of friends and it is making me so happy to see our shy boy blossom out there. He is so excited for his baby to arrive.  I will go get a boy and a girl coming home outfit this weekend!

Happy Friday!

The end of an era....

We traded in our 2004 Kia Sorento last night for a 2013 Toyota Highlander. The Kia Sorento was the first big purchase Brandon and I made together right before we got married AND to sign title over, I even had to write my maiden name :). We are very excited about the new car, as my Sorento was very very much on its last leg (including no A/C-thank God it isn't that hot here). However, it seems to mark the end of an era. Second baby on the way, new house, new car :) Here is to as great of a second era as the first!

On another note, I have been having tons of contractions! :) Should be anytime over the next few weeks!!

Maternity Photos and Sneak Peak of Nursery

More H Montessori-Weeks 2 and 3

Hudson Boy

Now that I pick Hudson up most days by 3:30 pm, we have at least one weekly yogurt date :) Mom and Baby Albano love frozen yogurt as much as H does. Look at my cute boy!

A day to catch up.

Looking forward to a day to catch up with house chores, decorating, and yard work. We are spending today at home, getting organized and just generally working on house projects.  The nursery is almost done, all of our bedrooms are painted. Hudson's room is Glass Slipper Blue by Benjamin Moore, the baby's room old-fashioned peach and our room Palladian blue. Next up-the kiddo's bathrooms and the loft.

I am also trying to get stuff up on the master bedroom walls today now that it is painted. Only took us 8 months!

I vacuumed the entire house and am in clear nesting mode today! We will also get the lawn mowed, the rest of our plants planted and Brandon is working on the drip system for my new planter box we put in about a month ago. I have had a lot of peppers and tomatoes :)

Approximately 50 days until Baby Albano!!! I can't believe it.

Happy Labor Day!

Fall!

So excited about fall! Today we will spend the day watching college football and made a trip to whole foods to get some wonderful unique yummy cheeses, apples, and cider. Our cider pulled pork is cooking in the crock pot. The only thing missing-Baby Albano #2....but he/she can take all the time needed to grow. :)

Only 33 more days of work...

I can't believe that after today I only have 33 more days of work (excluding weekends and vacations) before I leave for maternity leave!! Really crazy to think! I am so excited to meet our baby girl or boy !!!!!

I am feeling great and we have an ultrasound today! Yay for Friday!

Never thought I would be this excited about a vacuum...

After 7 years with my old vacuum and dust bunnies flying all over my very dark and unforgiving wood floors, I broke last week and bought a Dyson. I got a really good deal on said Dyson, which was the only reason (along with staring at my constantly shedding wool rugs on those same floors) that I bought a Dyson. However, let me tell you, as someone who never thought a vacuum could be all that great, I was wrong. I spent a good two hours vacuuming my house last night and every minute of it was dare I say it-enjoyable. This vacuum glides and it picks up everything. I am ashamed to say I filled an entire canister and a half of dust bunnies AND the canister is so easy to empty. Praise you Dyson! At 8 months pregnant you have made my life complete.