taken care of

Right now Freeland is out of town for the month.

And Im surviving so far.

But the only reason why is because Freeland & Camille made sure I was taken care of. They both worked to have all our friends take shifts and come by our house to help / check on me. So literally the first 4 days someone was at my door by 7:00 in the morning to hang out, distract me, help, and bless me. Its been AH-mah-zing. And I truly do feel blessed! (Thank you Lindsey, Christie, Kristen, Sarah!) And all of you who have called to check in on us and been praying and loving us too!

My Aunt got here Wednesday! She is awesome and a huge help and blessing our socks off by taking off work and staying for ELEVEN DAYS!  (then my mom & step dad come for 12 days! .. then freeland is home .. then my brother comes .. so I guess Im getting pretty spoiled with visitors!)

OH and .. AND .. I cant believe I didnt share this!!! The first night I was by myself .. Wylder finally made it a 5 hour stretch at night! (by this time with River he was sleeping through the night (at 7 weeks) so yes, I realize how crazy it sounds to celebrate a 5 hour stretch now! But trust me Im celebrating!!!) The most he normally makes it is 1.5-2 hours. We let him cry one night. (after the doctor said we could) Looks like it helped! I'll take it. It hasnt been perfect since .. he went back to 1.5 hours.. but I now know he is capable of it and thats great! I'll also praise the Lord for it because the timing couldn't have been more perfect.  His love and way He takes care of the details is amazing!

I feel very loved and taken care of.

day to day

If I did those "what I wore Wednesday" post (and if it were actually Wednesday)

This is what it would look like:



or maybe this:



tshirt or vneck
yoga pants (or my black stretchy pants)
and a baby



and thats why I dont do the "what I wore Wednesday" post.

But those of you who do - I admire. And I want to borrow your clothes. (especially you Mary! for real if you're ever cleaning out your closet I'll send you our address!)

also if I did a "what my house looks like" post it would look like this:





I dont know what this says about us? The table is sideways, messy, at least 5 bottles of wine out, diapers everywhere, toys everywhere ... hmmmm?


This is my life people.

And I happen to actually love it. Which speaks volumes of the Lord.

4 years

4 years

and

2 kids later .. here we are!



Last Thursday Freeland & I celebrated 4 years of marriage. It looked a little different this year but the day was still spent celebrating and focusing on our marriage.



Since Freeland was leaving in 2 days we spent this anniversary celebrating as a family so he could get as much time with the kiddos as possible.  We went to Port Farms (pictures coming) in the morning which was awesome and Im so glad Freeland got to come with us.



Then that afternoon we all got dressed in our Sunday best and went to dinner.

(technically I realize now that I wasnt in my Sunday best. I was in my normal V-neck shirt with a cardigan! whoopsie)



Normally for our anniversary we actually stay home and cook but it seemed more relaxing to go to dinner this year. I wasnt up for planning, cooking, or cleaning. Even if we did it all together. And Im glad we made that decision. Dinner was fun. Especially when you go at 5:30 and the restaurant is basically empty.



Also, Im happy to report that both Wylder & River were on their best behavior (a great gift to us!)

I know its important to focus on your marriage first. And to be honest I have to really work at that since Im with kids all day and its easy to let my focus and all my thoughts be around them.

However, they wouldnt be here if it wasnt for our marriage so in a way its nice to include them in some of the celebrations! At least this year it was!

NOW, do you want to see the most horrible/funny picture ever:



Boom! Check that face out!

2 months

Well, the little guy is officially 2 months old. I feel like things are ca-razy but at the same time starting to slow down. Maybe Im just becoming used to it?

Wylder is doing all the wonderful things a 2 month old does: smiling, cooing, grabbing my hair, growing out of all his clothes, and making us fall more & more in love with him. Seeing him smile was such a blessing and affirmed he is actually happy. In a lot of ways he is a total momma's boy but of course Freeland is the one who can get him to smile the most!



I forgot to write down his stats at the doctors appointment so I cant remember them. But I do remember that he was 11lbs 8oz!!! Which was around the 50%? But River didnt even weight that much at 3 months so it definitely made us laugh. Little brother may just be dominating big brother before we know it!


funny old man faces

At first the nurse made us feel like idiot parents when we told her how much Wylder is up during the middle of the night. (not her fault, she probably just didnt realize how it came off) But then the doctor affirmed us that its normal with his reflux.  However, she did also give us the go ahead to let him cry some if we were up to it. Which we are. We'll see what happens.

As far as a schedule goes there still isnt one. But there is hope of one! He's starting to go to bed earlier and if we can get him to take good naps it seems like he is starting to take them at normal times 3-4 times a day.

Oh and it also seems he is going to follow in his brothers footsteps and do the 45 minute nap intruder thing! But this time I know he will grow out of it so its okay!


conversations with dad

There are good days and bad days. What Ive learned is that just because there is a good day doesnt mean it will be that way tomorrow.. but Ive see how important it is to just be thankful for the good moments! This month my aunt, mom, & step dad are all coming to visit. I cant wait for them to get extended time with Wylder and get to know him more (and of course spoil River rotten too!)

One Thousand Gifts

Picture via here

I started reading One Thousand Gifts: A Dare  to Live Fully Right Where You Are a few weeks ago and its been amazing!

I feel like its been perfect for me in this season so I thought I would share it with any of you who may enjoy it also.  Its all about finding the meaning of life and fully embracing where you are at. 

I just read a few pages here & there as I can but its been encouraging and challenging all at the same time & I still am only half way through the book.

We're also reading What Did You Expect?: Redeeming the Realities of Marriage by Paul Tripp. Its been great too. If youre looking for a book on marriage I recommend it.

BC and Lady come to visit

Its officially taking me about 3 days to do 1 post now. But we are slowly making it through all the events in the Ackley household.

Over Labor Day weekend my dad & Tracy ventured up north to pay a lil visit to their 2 grandsons. (and us) It was their first time to meet Wylder!!  However, you wouldnt know this from the pictures because I dont have a single one to prove it. (thankfully Tracy does so we'll have to snag those from her!)  I do have pictures of them with River though.

It was SO fun having them here. I didnt realize how nice it was to have other people help with Wylder until they were here. And getting to watch them with River at this stage in his life was pretty special. You never realize how special time is with family until you are away and dont get it all the time.. Especially after having kids. I wish they were here to see all the things River does & know everything about his little personality all the time.  Instead we just did all we could to let them soak it all up in just a few short days.

Like taking care of scraped up knees:

(this was Rivers first bandaid! :) In this picture he was actually melting down though because Freeland & I cleaned the snot out of his nose so he could breathe. We're so mean. BC came to rescue him.



watching cartoons & snuggling before bed. these are the moments I wish our family & River got to have all the time.



the rest of the weekend was spent just hanging around the house. We did make it out to the zoo & dinner a few times. But other than that we stayed inside & rested... oh and ate a TON of food. It was my dads birthday right before the trip so what better way to celebrate than with your family & food!?






River in his shirt from The Masters!

It was sad to see them go. They were both so great with Wylder too. Jumping at any opportunity to hold him (there are lots) and working to get him to smile. It was sweet to see them with Wylder and watch them love on him for the first time. Ill have to post some of those pictures if I can snag them from Tracy. It really is amazing getting to watch people love your kids. Even if its family. Im thankful for all the trips everyone in our family is willing to make to see us.

I cannot explain how perfect this is

I mean seriously .. words cannot describe how perfect this is or funny this it to me during this exact moment in our lives.

for reals.

just wait for the 1 minute mark.



PERFECTION (the discussion about who slept the most .. not the "want to ummm do it" part)

Youre welcome. 
 

thank you

Wylder was actually screaming crying in this picture but I just happened to take it where it looked like he was smiling. (and definitly thought it was appropriate right now)

I just wanted to say thank you to pretty much everyone in the world right now.

Seriously, since we have had Wylder and all this reflux/colic junk kicked in I feel like Freeland and I have felt so loved and supported by everyone we know. All the phone calls, comments, emails, advice, messages on facebook, text, and even cards in the mail. Its been pretty unreal. The fact that anybody cares blows my mind.

Its been amazing to see how faithful the Lord has been during what was honestly one of my biggest fears (having a colicky child). There has been joy .. true joy .. patience .. grace .. faithfulness .. peace .. hope .. and perspective all in the middle of some seriously stressful and chaotic moments. And that is nothing but a testimony of God. Trust me, I couldnt do any of that on my own & especially not with a smile on my face!

Want to know exactly how crazy it is? I was even in the OB office for my follow up appointment .. surrounded by at least 5 women who were all pregnant and I seriously thought to myself:

"I could totally do it all over again right now and I would be fine if I got pregnant again today"


WHAT??????

THAT, my friends, is the grace of God because no sane person could honeslty think that on their own with a 5 week old (at the time) severely reflux baby at home.

Dont worry, we are definitely not planning on getting pregnant again right away. But I was just sharing that as a testimony to how the Lord can provide joy in the midst of craziness.

Please know that Im never trying to be dramatic or make this more than it is. But the reality is that things are crazy. And in the moment it feels dramatic taking care of Wylder & River at the same time. But Im thankful for perspective that really this isnt that bad & its honestly going to be so short lived. Im so thankful for Wylder and seriously find so much joy from him. I wouldnt change anything (well maybe I would ask that he sleep more than an hour at a time at night or not scream.. if we're being honest) but Im thankful for the blessing he is so I hope I never offend anyone by the things Im saying!

Phew - all that to say, thank you! THANK YOU!!!! Your prayers are beyond a blessing and they are definitely being answered.

I know what River is getting for Christmas

The other weekend our dear friends Russ & Corinne came to visit us again. They are always so sweet and willing to make the drive to visit us. And its always fun & refreshing having them here.

We knew River would especially have a blast because Miley, their amazing/adorable pup, was coming with them. River loves dogs. And Miley is seriously so good with kids so its the perfect combination:

*all these are mega overexposed but its still just so adorable to see the pure joy on Rivers face .. I had to share them

















Adorable.. no?

and sadly, I only got one other picture from their visit. But at least its a sweet one:


Russ & Wylder

Just for fun .. here are pictures of River & Miley almost exactly a year ago. (puppy and 3 month old River) cuteness.

PS: Dont worry family .. we arent going to actually get River a puppy for Christmas. (although I know he would love it and love us forever if we did;)  We will at least wait until he can say "I want a puppy for Christmas" himself.

sweetness

a few sweet moments that make all the craziness worth it:

my favorite picture




River rocking Wylder when he started to fuss  (on his own .. even though Im not sure if he understood exactly what he was doing or if he was just copying what we were doing. Either way .. it was sweet)



While it was sweet .. Wylder didnt seem to enjoy it:


early mornings on the porch:


I wish you could have seen how proud River was to be sitting there. biggest grin on his face ever.



We got the nap nanny in the mail last week. Unfortunately it didnt work for Wylder so we returned it. But here are some pictures that I took right when we opened it up:

First of all, River's blanket is made with the same material so the first thing he literally did was put his face on the chair! It cracked us up:



then he apparently thought we got it for him to watch movies in:


thankfully he gave it over to his brother after that:







I cant wait until Wylder starts to respond to River. He definitely watches him now but before we know it Im sure River will be cracking him up and Wylder will be enamored with him!

dads best friend

these days pretty much anything Freeland is doing .. River wants to be doing too. I have so many pictures of him "working" with Freeland. Its cute.

Here he is putting together a stroller .. without pants on:



Its amazing to me the things he will copy. Like pretending to put sugar in his drink after he see's Freeland add it to his tea!



Its adorable when Freeland is outside working in the garage. Im pretty sure River thinks he is doing everything too. We're working on making sure he has his own tools so he isnt actually playing with Freelands tools. ;)



I think my favorite was when River "helped" Freeland build the new crib we bought. I need to find those pictures! (and also post pictures of both their rooms now that they are different.)

He is becoming quite the helper these days. We've quickly discovered asking him to "help" us is the best way to get him to follow directions and not throw a fit .. along with allowing him to feel involved & like he has our attention when it comes to helping with wylder. (for example, help me throw this diaper away or help me pat his back.. etc.) It doesnt always work but a lot of times it does. I think Ive learned so much more about Rivers personality and character watching him as a big brother! Its amazing. Okay off to grab the little one who is waking up!