A Shower for Bridget and Tiny Nathan

Last Saturday LuAnn and I co-hosted a bridal shower for Bridget. We went with a sports theme since Nate was such an athlete and many of the attendees are family friends made through the many years of sports between the Wyss children and their teammates.

We kept it simple and had 1 activity and 2 quick games. A set of ABC blocks were out for guests to decorate as they enjoyed brunch foods and mimosas or fauxmosas :) I created a diaper cake for the occasion to double as decor and useful items! I'm obsessed with these bibdanas for little boys! They aren't exactly my style for girls, but I just love them on boys!

Guests also took their time guessing the contents of bags with each one letter of the word "Baby Shower" on it. The contents were baby items that start with that letter of the alphabet and it is a tough game! We definitely took some liberties, like our Y - yellow duck!

Guests also brought a onesie that was special to describe them or their relationship with Nate and Bridget. My favorite was the person who is the wife of their lawn maintenance person, who is also the mother of one of Traci's fellow softball players, brought a John Deer onesie! Some were easy, like ours which said "Cousins make the best friends", and some were more subtle like that one. It makes present opening more interactive to watch, which is especially nice for larger showers!

For favors LuAnn gathered a chap stick, a candle, and a nail file for each person. She labeled each of them with a cute saying too! We also had everyone sign a soccer ball with a fun message to the little guy!

Afterwards we took advantage of this being the last time we would see each other while we were pregnant together and took some sweet photos to commemorate the occasion! I gave Bridget that shirt to tell her and Nate we were expecting - announcing afterwards that I had a matching one and unzipping my jacket to show it off. She had the cutest reaction letting out a little squeal and jumping up and down! Caidyn and the new cousin shirts had to make an appearance, too!

Now all that is left is for Tiny Nathan to arrive! She is due February 11 so any day now we will get the exciting news! Congratulations, again, Nate and Bridget! I'm not sure if I ever shared with you guys but when Brian was pushing for a second baby last year I kept saying arbitrarily, "when Nate and Bridget have a baby then we can have a second one". I'm glad it really is working out that way :) 

Parent's Love

I have so many people around me who have just entered or are entering the wonderful world of parenthood. As I reflect on my short time as a parent and what parent's love means to me I am reminded of the process I went through shortly after Caidyn was born.

I will admit I was very nervous about post-partum depression. My body does not do hormonal changes very well (each time I tried a birth control pill I became depressed and it quickly went away after stopping) and I didn't do well with little sleep. I made extra sure to be very in check with my emotions after Caidyn was born to ensure I sought help before anything went downhill.

And then she was here. My tiny new best friend who loved to cuddle and needed me so much. And I was so in love.

In my sleep deprived and emotionally aware state, I knew I loved this little being. I loved her so much that it felt irrational. I had never loved anything like that in my whole life, and especially never so soon. It truly felt irrational and a bit insane and almost worried me. 

And then one day I was watching Brian with her. And my goodness it was so apparent he loved that little girl just as much as me. 

So here we were, insane together. It made sense that we would both have these irrationally strong feelings - we were both sleep deprived and she was just so amazing. 

And then I began to notice other moms and dads and their interactions with their children. And you could see they had that irrational love too. Every mom and dad I came across looked at their child with those same lovey eyes we had and those same irrational thoughts. Except it wasn't irrational, it was parent's love. And we all have it for our children. 

It is by far my most favorite thing about parenthood. I love to listen to people talk and brag about their children. I get it in a way I never did before. A parent's love is life-altering in the best way possible. And I love it so much. 

And we still are insanely in love with Caidyn and her soon-to-arrive sister tiny Ellie. 

I keep this love in my head when listening to and giving parenting tips and tricks. No matter what parenting choices anyone makes, I know they are doing it with this love driving their decisions. It makes mom's groups and message boards a much happier place ;) 

I also try and share this with my friends and family members around when their first child arrives. No one likes to think they are crazy! But mostly its for selfish reasons - so they remember to tell me their story of when they went through each phase. Because I really do love love - and parent love is my most favorite! 

#TheWysSequel Weeks 13-16

So I'm officially very behind on the weekly posting thing... I think a monthly update, and then life posts in between will be a much better blend for me :)

So month 4 - OMG I can't believe it has already been 4 months. By this time with Caidyn we had her room painted, decor worked on, and I was in the midst of planning her gender reveal scavenger hunt and finishing out the school year.

With Ellie we know the gender, we are patiently waiting for the kitchen/great room reno to be complete so we can clean out her storage unit of a bedroom right now (seriously, this will be the best before and after picture ever. Even if all we did was take out all the boxes, extra beds, dressers, etc.), and I've created a list of the baby 2 "gear" I need. I feel SO far behind but... it will all get done!

Week 13:


Week 14:


Week 15:


Week 16:


We had a great 4th month! I FINALLY gained some weight as of my 15.5 week appointment I was up 2 lbs! Which is a plus considering I had lost 5 with the food poisoning we caught during our night at the Naples Botanical Garden. So up 7 from my lowest and 2 from my starting point. The doctor still wasn't thrilled, but understood with the food poisoning.

I am wearing almost exclusively maternity bottoms and making the most of my tops. I go through stages where I want to wear my regular clothes since I'll really miss them soon. But at the same time we are wanting to be a two child family and, unless our minds change or something awful happens, this is my last chance to wear maternity clothes so I want to enjoy wearing them, too.

From about weeks 11-15 I had CONSTANT headaches. They were awful. But around week 16, when I got my first injection, which I'll talk about below, they have been much better.

Also, I've been feeling fairly great besides that! My tiredness has either become normal and I've gotten used to it or gone away - but either way I'm feeling great. Enjoying showing off my little bump and being excited day dreaming about Ellie and feeling her little movements!

My doctor did decide she wanted us to go ahead and do the Mackena progesterone shots. These started at week 16. I am not going to lie - it HURT. The needle is thick, the serum is thick, I bleed, I'm sore the next day, and its just not fun. At the same time, there aren't really any negative effects from the medicine, and it helps to do more to guarantee we won't have an early baby - something I can be appreciative of!

Overall, feeling great! I can still run, I'm working out on a regular basis, and just really enjoying this pregnancy. I guess this is what women mean when they say they love being pregnant!

Fiesta de Dos!

On December 26 we hosted the fiesta I had been planning in my head since last February when we decided we were really going to try for a second baby. At that point we lovingly started referring to our second baby as "dos" and I thought what fun it would be to plan a fiesta gender reveal party!

I purchased a few decorations from Target when their Cinco de Mayo decor went on sale in early May, and then got a few other last minute things from Amazon shortly before the party. The star of the show was the giant pinata I got at party city! They are normally $30, which was a lot to pay for a pinata, especially one that had been sitting on the floor of the store and was partially damaged. Luckily, after looking around online for a good one and being unsuccessful I went back and asked about a partial discount since it was damaged. The manager gave it to me for $10! My great friend Robyn, who couldn't be with us at the party, was the one to stuff it and she made my vision come to life!

As for other party details, it worked out perfectly that we were planning a fiesta since my biggest craving at that point had been Moe's Queso!



We kept it simple and bought some salsa, and frozen taquitos, quesedillas, and mini burritos from Sam's. There was a sombrero balloon tied to the mailbox (which I was so excited about!) and a sombrero cupcake-cake that our local Publix made for us! I was so excited when I picked it up! When I ordered it the baker and I spent about 5 minutes looking through google images of sombreros and chatting about the cake. She ended up being the person who made it and was there when I picked it up! She was so excited to bring it out to me and it just looked PERFECT!

We had an amazing time with so many of our family members and friends! The three of us each had festive shirts to wear (good thing Caidyn can't read yet, or Brian would have worn a different shirt, hehe!)

Then it was time for the reveal! We actually broadcasted it live on my youtube channel for our traveling and far away friends and family to view and it worked out so well! It was fun to get so many texts before we had even posted anything! 

We counted down...

Pulled the string...

And saw pink!!!!! Caidyn was right- "Baby Sister Coming"! We were elated and I literally jumped for joy! 

We can't wait to meet you, sweet Ellie!