Life With Two...

What??? It's been a year since our last post?  I guess it's true what they say.... "Time flies when you're having fun?" No that can't be it.... "Going from one small child to two is crazy?"  Yes, that's more like it!  I know, I know... "Cherish it while they are young...they grow so fast!"  And I get it, and I have tried to cherish every precious moment that I can.  I just think it's hysterical that my last post was over a year ago- I will try to do better with the blog thing :)

Ahhh, life with two kids- how do I best describe it?  Now instead of just being pulled in one direction, we are pulled in multiple directions.  One kid was so manageable, so comfortable, so easy to share responsibilities!  If I needed to do something, it was no big deal to leave Kaitlyn with Justin, or even bring her along, now it is like a team sport. We strategize, we divide and tackle, we split our attention, while at the same time... try to give enough attention. Having multiple children is no small task, and I just hope that as they both get older, it will get easier.  One year in, and I finally feel like I am getting a handle on things outside of the basic survival of the family.  The beginning was just a fog...

This is just so funny, I had to put it in- we absolutely could not get a family picture taken for several months. Kaitlyn wouldn't look, Charlie wouldn't open his eyes, Gunther wouldn't sit, I would be irritated at the whole process- here's one of the best ones...  ;)  It's even more funny now that it's been a year...

Here are some cute pics of the many firsts for Charlie! If you can't tell, Charlie is infatuated with watching Kaitlyn all the time- they are best buds already, and she absolutely loves him, unless he's taking her toys.

Bathtime

First Cereal Feeding

First Cute Pic with Both Kids

Last August 13th, Justin and I celebrated our 7 year Anniversary, and also Charlie turned 4 months old!
Justin and I got a sitter and he showed me how to fly fish at a river nearby and then we had a nice dinner at the Gallatin River Lodge. It was delicious! And so nice to spend some quality time together!

First Family Hike

First Ride in Bike Chariot with Sis

Kaitlyn's First Fish!

Kaitlyn's First Camping Trip with Dad

First Successful Family Pic!

My Little Man- Such a Cutie!

First Halloween!

Just Being Silly!

First Spike

First Christmas!

 Kaitlyn Turned 4! March 10, 2013

 Charlie Turned 1! April 13, 2013

Also, in April, the week of Charlie's birthday, we moved into a different house closer to Bozeman (pics in the next post).  Justin's company now has an office in Bozeman, and I do stuff pretty much everyday in town with the kids. The people we were renting the other house from wanted to sell, so we thought it was a great time to move closer.   Hopefully we won't be moving again anytime soon!  Justin is really enjoying his job, the company is doing well, and we are loving the new neighborhood.  Lots of kids for Kaitlyn and Charlie to play with, and we are within 10 minutes of anything around town that we do, which is amazing. Pair that with the fact that there is no traffic whatsoever- I'll take it!

It is hard to believe we've lived here over 2 years.  It is a great little town and community.  Always hard to be so far away from family and longtime friends, but it makes visits back to Georgia that much more special. We were fortunate enough to make a couple trips this last year.  One last summer, one at Christmas, and one just recently in May.  We are looking forward to having a couple summer visitors here the next few months, and the invitation is always open. We have a guest room, and we are within an hour from Yellowstone National Park and endless outdoor adventure, especially in the summer....meaning between July and September! :)

Here's our most recent favorite picture!

Hope everyone is enjoying a fun summer!!! 

Charlie Has Arrived!

Better late than never...
We are so excited to announce the newest member to the family has arrived safe and sound!  Charles Armstrong Hill ("Charlie") was born at 2:38pm on Friday, April 13th, 2012.  He was healthy, happy, and too cute for words!
I think quite possibly the worst thing you can do while pregnant is assume that a baby will arrive early... or "like the last one"... Because Kaitlyn was 4 weeks early, I could not imagine that Charlie would ever had made it to his due date!  Then he shows up 3 days late.  You just never know when they are going to make their appearance, and now I know...
I will also add that I have been attempting this post since April and continue to get interrupted (like every two hours ;), so in my true slow fashion, I'm lucky to get it out before June, and I apologize for that!
Here's some pics from the birth and hospital!

First glimpse of the world and very alert! He was 7 lbs. 6 oz, and 21.5 inches.  Just a little blond fuzz on his head and dark blue eyes! I could tell he is going to be tall. He has those same long legs as Justin and Kaitlyn.

Not my best photo ever, but really amazing. While these are never flattering, they are totally worth it. It was definitely not a quick and easy labor and delivery as the second child is rumored to be.  But he's here safely now, and I was so thankful!

Delivery Details (Guys, I'm sure you're not interested...)
That Thursday night 4/12, I started having contractions, and my water broke at midnight.  The labor started immediately, so we headed right into the hospital.  Luckily my mom was at our house, so she was able to stay with Kaitlyn!  She had arrived on 4/7 to Montana with the hopes of the little guy already being here!  When Justin dropped me off at the Emergency entrance, I told the man at the desk I needed to get to Labor and Delivery ASAP!  His response... "Are you visiting someone?"  NO, YOU IDIOT, I'M ABOUT TO HAVE A BABY ON YOUR FLOOR!  Seriously, it was 1am and I was clearly in labor!  So, everything moved pretty quickly through the early morning and we were all thinking he'd be born by 9-10am, but his head was tilted funny as I went to push, which basically meant that I was doing hours and hours of pushing, and he was not cooperating, so as you can imagine- having no sleep that night, no food since dinner on Thursday, and all that pushing, I was done for!  Finally, he arrived that afternoon at 2:38pm.  To make it slightly worse, my epidural only fully took effect on the right side, so I was feeling everything on the left. Justin was awesome through everything, as I knew he would be.  And I think at the end of the day, he was feeling extra thankful that he was a man, and did not have to endure childbirth as we do!  ;)
Here's his first picture with Dad!

Here is my mom "Nana", Charlie's first visitor at the hospital! I have to add that the Friday morning we went in, she took Kaitlyn to school in my car, and got a $85 ticket for running a stop sign because she was flustered I hadn't had the baby yet, and was in unfamiliar territory.  She told the cop the whole story: she was visiting from Atlanta, I was in labor at the hospital, etc, etc. He still had her go ahead and pay him the $85 (cash), and went on about his day. Not typical around here but made for a great story! Poor mom! All was worth it when she got to hold her new little grandson!

Big Sister! 
Kaitlyn's first meeting with Charlie at the hospital that Saturday!

She thought he was going to be bigger...like her size...so she could play with him! Haha!

If you know how animated Kaitlyn is, you can imagine how ecstatic she was to meet Charlie, her new baby brother!   Besides acting out due to all the new attention to the baby and just being 3, she is adjusting pretty well!  She loves to help with changing him, trying to make him smile, and especially pouring water on him in the bath!   ...See the next post for more on life with balancing Kaitlyn and Charlie! ;)

Justin with both kiddos! Proud Daddy at the hospital! (and proud Sis)

All snuggled up! Everything at the hospital went great. The doctors and staff and the nursery were all wonderful, and it was a great experience!

I think this last pic is my favorite- He looks so content and innocent, and he was so little!  It is really amazing how much someone can grow in six weeks!  

This is getting too long, so I will have to do another post about life at home with Charlie, more pics, things I've learned about having 2 kids, and Kaitlyn's top 10 funny quotes of the last few weeks!

***Hope everyone's doing well and having a great Memorial Day weekend! Stay tuned!***

March Madness! Birthdays, Baby Due & New Rooms!

My goal has been to do at least one post per month, however, February kind of went by like a tornado!  Finishing up work for me was pretty stressful and being 9 months pregnant- at the end of each day, I have been done for!  As Kaitlyn says, "Charlie's taking up all the room in there!"

So, as of March 1st, I was done with work at Northwestern Mutual!  So far, it has been great. It's so nice to actually catch up on things like laundry, and plan some new meals, and pay more attention to everyone!   I can't ever imagine getting bored or running out of projects to work on or activities to do with the kids, especially this summer!

Justin's Birthday!
March 1st was also Justin's 32nd birthday!  So...Happy Birthday Justin- I'm no longer bringing in any money for us!  Haha!  Justin has actually been very excited for me to stop working for awhile and even more excited about the upcoming arrival of little Charlie!  For Justin's birthday, we got a sitter for Kaitlyn and went to a wonderful restaurant here in downtown Bozeman called Blackbird Kitchen.  It was amazing- very cozy little place with all healthy and natural ingredients and a wood fire grill.  Our salad was actually kale, don't think I've ever thought to try kale or had it out anywhere, it was delicious!  All he wanted for his birthday was a shotgun so he could delve into hunting season out here and take up a new hobby.  Here's a few pics from birthday festivities!

Justin's friend Steve also came down for a few days and they went snowmobiling in West Yellowstone and into Idaho.  They had a great time!

Kaitlyn's Birthday!
On Saturday, March 10th, we celebrated Kaitlyn's 3rd birthday!  We had a little party here at the house from 11am to 1pm with about 7 of her friends.  It was a "Tinkerbell Party" and the highlight was that Tinkerbell actually was invited!  Kaitlyn was completely beside herself!  Over the holidays, I met a girl at a cookie exchange party who started the local party character company, and sometimes, it's actually her that comes in character.  She made a wonderful Tinkerbell and came for an hour and brought a ton of balloons, did face painting and twisty balloons and just spent time with all the kids! Cute!  The dads grilled outside with Justin, and the kids got to play in the big field behind our house afterwards because the weather was in the 60's and beautiful!  She had a blast- here are some of the best pics!

Kaitlyn and Tinkerbell!

Having fun in the basement

 Tinkerbell's Arrival

 Daddy and Kaitlyn

 Evelyn, Maryn, and Kaitlyn getting twisty balloons made!

Brandon (Justin's co-worker) and Harlow (20 months)

 Kaitlyn opted for the arm unicorn tattoo!

 Evelyn opted for the full-on Spiderman face paint with her beautiful yellow party dress!!

 Blowing out her candle with Tinkerbell!

 Evelyn said it was "Spider-Girl"  (Our neighbor friend)

 Getting all sugared up!

The girls picking out what they want!

 She didn't understand why it washed off that night in the bath...

 "Bye Tinkerbell! Fly Safely" Kaitlyn said!!! Too funny!

Too much fun!  Later that night, we had been holding some gifts from all the Grandparents and Aunts and Uncles and Cousins, so we had more birthday fun that night!  All kinds of great things came with turning 3! We have been able to use that to warrant things by saying "Three year olds don't do this and that," and it has worked very nicely as a milestone!  

Charlie's Room is Ready!

For Charlie's room, we opted for a mountain theme, so we have everything all set up now, so below are the pics! It's very Montana, but very simple and subtle, which we liked!

Charlie Due Anyday!!!
BAM!!!  Here it is!  This is what the end looks like, people, especially for a short person!  This is the: can't put socks and shoes on, can't gracefully get in and out of bed, can't pick things up off the floor, etc.  PLEASE BE NEAR THE END!  This was taken today, it will be interesting to see how much longer he holds out.  Don't get too cozy in there Charlie!