LOTS of stuff!

This past week has been our first full week home with Cecilia and things are going really well. We are all getting some sleep which is good and settling into life as a family of four!

I didn't blog about last weekend because it was all I could do to get the post up about Cecilia's arrival, but one thing I did want to mention is that we moved little Jimmy's room upstairs. You are probably thinking we are crazy to have moved him just as we brought him a new little sister but there is never a good time so we went ahead and did it and it has worked out great! Jimmy spent the day and night at his Sissy and Papa's house last Saturday so that gave us (well, Jimmy) time to get everything together. Here is a pic of his new room and I wanted to point out the pictures above the bed because Jimmy drew them just for little Jimmy's room. So special! Little Jimmy loves his new room and hasn't missed a beat. Jimmy's parents got us a video monitor so we can keep an eye on him and it has been so funny to see what he does after we leave the room!



We also had a few more visitors! We love it when friends and family come to visit. Courtney and Amanda, two of my co-workers and friends came by to meet Cecilia.



This week Cecilia got her first "bath." It was just a little sponge bath since he umbilical cord hasn't fallen off yet, but still required the first bath photos. She actually didn't scream her head off as much as I thought she would. I think I learned my lesson with little Jimmy (the benefit of being #2) and put a warm towel in the seat/bath so that helped I think.



Georgia had a bye week this Saturday so we were able to get out of the house and head to the Fall Festival at the Bamboo Gardens. It was quite the outing and probably would have been more fun if it didn't start raining but it was nice to get out of the house for a little bit. Here are few pics of Jimmy and Cecilia dressed up in their Halloween best before heading out.

Jimmy is going to be a monster for Halloween and here he is practicing:


Our first family outing:


In the gown and hat my Aunt Gin Gin gave me:

Jimmy meets his little sister!

As you can tell from one of my previous entries little Jimmy pretty much slept through Cecilia's arrival in the waiting room. Though he looked pretty cute in his big brother t-shirt. We decided to wait until after school on Tuesday for him to come to the hospital and meet his little sister and it worked out great! When he came in the room he had his t-shirt on and came straight to my bed and gave me a big hug and lots of "I love you." He was so excited to meet and hold his little sister and he would hug and kiss her and tell her that he loved her. It was such a wonderful moment! The hospital brought us a little birthday cake for Cecilia's arrival and Jimmy was very excited to have some birthday cake and Cecilia also gave him a present. She gave him a big box of dinosaurs and Jimmy was very excited and started to play with them right away.

Now that we are home Jimmy continues to be a very loving big brother. The first time she cried pretty loudly he was a little bit startled but he hasn't asked us if she is staying or when we are going to take her back so I guess we are all settling in!

Here are a few pics of Jimmy meeting his little sister for the first time:

More Pics

Here are a few more pictures of friends and family that came to visit!

Jimmy and Josh


Ashley


Eliza (with Mary Margaret) and Catherine


Maria with the beautiful blanket that she monogrammed for Cecilia

It's a Girl!

I have to say that I was completely surprised when the doctor told us that we had a GIRL! Not that I didn't want a girl, I just felt that it was a boy the whole time. My pregnancy felt the same as last time and for some reason I just felt it was a boy. In our group of friends here in Savannah the girls far outweigh the boys so I thought it was time for another boy! But, I was wrong! We were just so thrilled and excited that we have a both a son and a daughter!

So it all started on Sunday night. I woke up around 2am and started feeling what I thought were contractions. From 2am until around 430am they were pretty mild and irregular. I feel back asleep around 5 and then didn't wake up until 7 or so when little Jimmy woke up. So I figured maybe they were just Braxton Hicks. Since it was Monday (although it was Columbus Day, it wasn't a holiday for us) Jimmy took little Jimmy to my parents as normal. Around 8am or so I felt my water break! I called Jimmy who had just gotten to my parents house and he turned around and came home. I called my doctors office and they said to go on to the hospital.

We got to the hospital around 9am and I was feeling pretty comfortable and wasn't having many contractions. I went ahead and asked for my epidural early (I waited too long the last time!) which was a good thing because the first one did not take on my left side so they had to take it out and do it again. Thank GOD!

We just hung out in the room most of the day as the doctor had several C-sections and urgent deliveries so they didn't want to give me Potocin until he was ready. Around 6pm they gave me some Potocin and then at 6:47pm Cecilia Louise Kelley arrived!!




Jimmy was able to go to the waiting room to tell our family that it was a girl! Little Jimmy was there but he had fallen asleep on the way to the hospital and was a bit cranky so we decided to wait until the next day to introduce him to his new little sister.

Jimmy asleep in the hospital waiting room:


We got to our room around 10pm and the first night went well. Cecilia is healthy and that is what we are most thankful for. She spent some time in the nursery so that we could get some rest after a long day! We had several visitors on Tuesday and it was so nice to celebrate with friends.

Uncle Marty


Aunt Gin Gin, Mimi and Sissy


Papa


Papa Joe

Cecilia Louise Kelley

It's a GIRL!! Cecilia was born on October 12, 2009 at 6:47 p.m. She weighed 7 lbs and 10 oz. I will post more later but here is a picture of our new blessing!

Spices Etc. and Mo Hotta Mo Betta

NOTE: I prepared this post last week before Cecilia arrived so just in case anyone was wondering how I had the time to blog, I don't, I just planned ahead!

I have been a pretty loyal blogger in Kelly's Show Us Your Life Friday series and this Friday was one that I did not want to miss. This week is a great week to show everyone what my husband does every day-run two family businesses: Spices Etc. and Mo Hotta Mo Betta. I am not going to link it to Kelly's blog since we don't make and/or sell all the items but thought this was a great time to showcase our small businesses.





Spices Etc.

Spices Etc. is the reason that Jimmy and I are together! Jimmy's family bought the business in 1998 and it was located in Charlottesville. He moved to Charlottesville from Savannah to run the business. He moved into a basement apartment in Charlottesville and it ended up that his next door neighbors were the Matthews-as in Dave Matthew's parents! That is a fun story for another post. I worked at a bank the summer between my 3rd and 4th year and Jimmy would come in daily to make his business deposits so that is how we met! Jimmy and his family moved the business to Savannah in the spring of 2000 and I moved to Savannah after graduation.

Spices Etc. is any novice or gourmet cooks dream. They carry the best quality herbs, spices and spice blends and have huge selection of the best gourmet flavorings. Cooks Illustrated featured their vanilla flavoring as one of the best several years back. They carry your everyday spices to the more unusual and hard to find. They recently added dried vegetables to their growing list of great products and they have quickly become very popular. I am sure that everyone will be thinking of cooking as the holidays approach so be sure to check out Spices Etc. for your cooking needs! It also makes a great gift for the cooks in your life!

Vanilla Extract-you always need vanilla! Comes in regular and two-fold.


I think this is a great gift, especially for a new homeowner or for friends and family that need the basic spices: Beginners Spice Set.




Mo Hotta Mo Betta

In the summer of 2000, Jimmy and his family added another business to complement Spices Etc. Mo Hotta Mo Betta is the "original hot and spicy food company." They have their own brand of hot sauces, BBQ sauces and condiment sauces and carry many other favorites. They have some great gift baskets for special occasions, especially Christmas for those hard to buy for husbands, dads, brothers, etc.

Here is a great sampler of the Mo Hotta Mo Betta Hot Sauces: The Mo Hotta Mo Betta Four-Pack


This is one of my favorite gift baskets: BBQ Joints Across America


They offer lots more so be sure to check out their websites! I am so proud of Jimmy for running two successful small businesses!

I also did want to give a little shout out to some of my friends and acquaintances that have their own businesses. They are very talented and creative women!

Bowtangles
My friend Angie makes the best custom hair bows. They range from $6-$12. You can email her at bowtangles@gmail.com.


Molly Rosedale
Custom jewelry available through Etsy.

Backyard Baby
Adorable kids personalized t-shirts and accessories

100th POST!

Wow! I have done 100 posts! I started this blog about year and a half ago but have only been blogging consistently for the past year or less. It is kind of hard to get started, writing about yourself and the things that you do, but once you get started it is a lot of fun. I have really enjoyed looking at past blog entries and think that my family and friends have enjoyed it too.

Nothing too exciting for the 100th post, was hoping that I could post about a new baby, but that will have to be for another day (hopefully this week!).

I'll just do my normal weekend recap!

Saturday: It was a sad day in the Kelley house! The Dawgs lost big time to Tennessee and Jimmy wasn't too happy (and lots of other Dawg fans I am sure!) with the performance of his team. But he handled the loss pretty well! We went over to the Justice's to watch some of the Alabama/Ole Miss game. Laura took this pic of Jimmy and Izzy. It was so cute because Laura was taking a picture of Izzy and he just sidled right up and held her hand. So cute! Izzy will be 2 in November. As you can see the little Tinker Bell loves dress up! It's a little blurry but you get the picture.


We got the tires fixed on one of our bikes so we are back in business. Little Jimmy loves bike rides and with the weather getting cooler it is a nice thing to do to get outside. Though it hasn't been very cool the past couple of days..high 80's and humid!

Today: We took a cut from church today. We were a little lazy waking up and honestly, I just didn't feel up to it. Jim and little Jim took a morning bike ride. Jimmy went to the grocery store for me while little Jimmy and I just hung out at home. Jimmy and little Jim went up to the nursery in Sandfly and picked out a pumpkin and some pretty yellow mums for the front porch. Then Sissy and Papa came by for a visit and brought us a new video monitor to use for the new baby! Then we took a short golf cart ride but had to cut it short because the cart was running out of juice! We had to take the shortcut home and we barely made it! I did snap a couple pictures on Bluff Drive. Right down the street from us...and I drool over the houses, views and breeze! Maybe one day...