My 'H' Initial Ring + A Funny Story

I never bought into the whole idea of a push present, but I always knew that I wanted something I could wear or carry to remind me of my kids. When I first had Graham, I bought a very dainty gold 'G' necklace, but I am just not a wear-it-everyday-never-take-it-off necklace girl. I am a ring girl. I've worn a ring on my right ring finger as long as I can remember, so it was very natural for me to opt for a sentimental ring to symbolize my boys as opposed to something else.

When I was a teenager my grandparents gifted myself and my two girl cousins matching necklaces. My grandparents had gold rings melted down, collected all the diamonds and brought all their "treasure" to a jewelry designer to make matching pendant necklaces for us three girls.

You can imagine how excited I was as a young girl to receive a diamond necklace! I wore that necklace for all the special occasions, and anytime I visited my grandparents.

Then, one day I remember my older cousin (eleven years older) telling me that she never wears hers because the pendant looks like....ummm...male anatomy (you can sort of see the shape in the picture below). I was like WHAT?! My maiden name is Isenberg, so our grandparents had the pendant designed to look like an "I," but once my cousin clued me in on what it really looked like, I couldn't not see that. So, that was the end of me ever wearing that necklace again. (When I find a close up picture of the necklace, I will add it to this post!!)

Flash forward to before I had Graham and I decided to bring the necklace in to a local jeweler and have her melt it down and design a ring for me that could be an everyday ring that I could eventually make in to a stack. What she came up with is something so simple and perfect, and Chris gave it to me right after Graham was born, so I consider that ring my "Graham" present. Graham's birthstone is a diamond, so it worked out perfectly that the ring has diamonds on it. Plus, it is super special that the gold and diamonds are from my grandparent's jewelry.

When thinking about what I wanted as a "Hayes present," I knew I wanted something I could stack with Graham's ring. Hayes's birthstone is a ruby, which is not my favorite, so I really didn't want something with his birthstone (sorry Hayzers!).

Initial rings and necklaces are so popular, and I loved the idea of getting a dainty ring to stack with my ring from Graham's birth.

When I found this perfect ring, I knew it was the one! It is so dainty and it is as if it was made to stack with my other band. The 14K gold quality matches perfectly, and I can wear both rings stacked together everyday without feeling like the rings are too much.

I am so happy I have something that I wear on a daily basis to represent both of my boys. I love that each ring has its own meaning, yet they fit so well together. I can't wait to show these rings off for the rest of my life, and possibly add more to the stack!

Did you receive a "push" present? Do you have any jewelry with someone's initials?

*Thanks to Nakturnal for collaborating on this blog post!

Why the second baby is easier than the first.

Let me start this post by saying this is 100% my opinion, and I also think the age gap between your kids weighs heavily on how difficult this phase of life can be. My boys are three years and four months apart.

I remember getting a positive pregnancy test in August of 2015. That is still one of the most exciting days of my life. I was the girl who always dreamed of my wedding, husband, and kids, so to be pregnant for the first time was a dream come true.

Fast forward to April 1st, 2016, when Graham was born. To say we were in heaven would be an understatement. I remember looking over at Chris, the morning after Graham was born, and seeing him weeping as he looked into our new son's eyes. It is a moment I'll never forget.

We were as smitten as any first time parents, but I'd be lying if I said our world wasn't rocked.

You see, with your first baby you have no idea what to expect. I don't care how much research you've done, how tired you think you know you'll be, how prepared you think you are...you have no idea until you actually become a parent.

Chris and I had been us, just us, for over six years by the time we had Graham. We had always done what we wanted, when we wanted. We had always spent money how we wanted, when we wanted. We had always gone on date night or took a trip without having to think about leaving behind our heart and soul. We had always slept through the night and woke up when we wanted.

Then, you have a baby and that all changes.

Going from no kids to one kid rocked our world. It was the best and hardest thing ever.

When we started to think about baby number two, we got nervous thinking, "Are we ready?" When we finally decided we were ready, we felt extreme peace knowing this time around would be easier.

You see, the second time around you aren't adjusting to some small human coming in and disrupting things. 

You aren't trying to figure out how to keep a newborn alive.

You aren't trying to figure out when you'll sleep again.

You aren't trying to figure out how to get your baby to nap right away or sleep through the night.

You aren't worried about never having alone time again by yourself or with your spouse, or how to navigate marriage and a baby.

You aren't scouring mom blogs and Facebook posts about all the advice from every angle.

You aren't wondering when you'll ever get to shower longer than five minutes. 

Instead, you embrace the disruption knowing things will eventually calm down.

You are less stressed and more confident knowing that you know how to be the perfect caretaker for your baby. 

You don't cry about lost sleep, but, instead, grab that cup of coffee, scoop up your newborn, and cherish their sleepy smiles knowing that one day they won't let you snuggle them like that.

You don't stress about a schedule or naps or sleeping through the night because you know it will come. You don't read books or blogs about babies sleeping through the night right away because 1. you don't believe anyone who says their baby always sleeps through the night, and 2. you know that when your baby is developmentally ready, your baby will do all the "things."

You squeeze in "dates" with your spouse and know that one day you'll get to have solo date nights and solo vacations. You know that one day, soon, your baby will take nice long naps and you'll be anxious for them to wake up because you miss them!

You unfollow most mom blogs and never read the Facebook posts because you know that you have to do what you feel is right for your baby...not what the 1,938 other moms say. You know that too much advice is never a good thing. 

You, now being a seasoned mom, don't even take long showers, so this isn't an issue, ha!

I write all of this to say, it gets better. Everyday, every moment, ever season and stage gets better. Some seasons may challenge you. Some phases may be difficult. Some moments may make you want to fake a poop for thirty minutes just so you can get some alone time. That's all normal.

What I can also say is that the second time is so different than the first. It is a whole different level of love because you now get to see your oldest be a sibling. Seeing Graham as a big brother is something straight out of a fairytale. His pure LOVE for his brother is so genuine and precious.

So, to all you mommas out there hanging on by a thread...it is normal. Life will one day feel normal again. Time is fleeting, so grab that tiny human, snuggle them, and be thankful God chose you to wake up fifteen times a night to care for His child.

Graham || 3.5 Years Old

I can't believe it is October 1st! Here in Texas it is still scorching hot, but I'm choosing to think the cold weather is on the horizon. Here's to wishful thinking!

The first of the month always makes me smile because that means our biggest boy is another month older. Today, Graham is officially 3.5 years old. I cannot believe we have a child that old. It still blows our mind that we have two boys, let alone one who is getting so big!

I wanted to jot down some things that Graham does and says because I never, ever want to forget this age...even though some days I'm close to pulling my hair out.

If you follow me on Instagram (@SarahTuckerUp) then you know how talkative and active Graham has always been, so some things I'm jotting down will only make sense if you've seen it in person/on video!

- He is officially in a big boy bed. When I asked him if he was okay giving his crib to Hayes and never sleeping in 'his' room again he said, "That's the truth." Ha!

- Everyday, when I pick him up form school, he asks if I have a treat for him. I talk to him about how treats are special and not something you get everyday. So, on one particular day I told him I forgot the treats at home (thinking he'd forget once we actually got home). Instead, the entire way home he kept saying, "Silly mom! Mom, you're like so, so silly. You for-totally-agot my treats at the house! Hahaha, gosh mom, you're like so, so silly!"

- He loves Hulk and, at random times, he will puff up, look at his muscles, and let out a roar.

- Every morning he kisses and hugs all over Hayes and tells him he is so precious.

- He is very into saying, "right?" after everything. "Mom, this apple is so good, right mom? Right?" "Dad, that was a fun scooter ride, right dad, right?"

- Every single night when we tuck him into bed he yells out, "Love you! Best friend! See you in the morning!" Then he asks, "You can see me? You can hear me? And you're not goin' to close my door?"

- He can spell his name. Up until this point all he could spell was Blippi, haha! If you're a toddler parent, you know Blippi.

- He is very into running super fast, and he actually has great form.

- Playing policeman is his favorite 'game.' Basically, I get a monster truck and he gets a monster truck and I sit in my chair and tell him he's going too fast.

- His favorite foods are apples, granola bars, peanut butter and jelly toast/sandwiches, Cheetos, and frozen Go-Gurts, salad, pizza, and spaghetti. He is not a fan of cheese.

- He loves when I make him a 'picnic." All I do is cut up his food and put it in a muffin tin. He thinks it is the best thing ever.

- He went to the beach for the first time during our vacation to Florida. He loved it! He also passed out before we even pulled the car out of the parking lot.

- Speaking of passing out, he doesn't nap much anymore. He should, but he isn't tired until way too late in the day. We do have a "rest time" everyday and now he goes to bed earlier, so that's a plus!

- Thanks to a very handy daddy, Graham knows almost every tool made, how it works, and he insists on fixing everything.

There are probably a million more things I could write about our boy. We love him so much and are truly so thankful as to how well he has adapted to having a baby brother. He is smart, funny, opinionated, observant, thoughtful, and we are so happy we get to call him ours.

We love you, G!