Happy Mother's Day!

I got the best Mother's Day present this year--not sure that this one can be topped :)  Our little guy (who still needs a blog nickname) was born at 10:58 a.m.  7 pounds, 13 oz, 21.5 inches long, and a full head of dark hair--something new for our family!

It was another pretty fast labor, although not quite as fast as Bug's, and we left for the birth center a little earlier on to avoid the crazy car ride this time around, so I actually spent 3.5 hours at the center before he was born.  I woke up just after 3 a.m. with some contractions, let Daddy-o sleep until 5:30 when I finally decided this might be it, and then felt really guilty that I couldn't wait more than another hour before I thought it was time to get the kids up and start waking up our friends and midwife on their Mother's Day, but I really wanted to get down to the birth center, so we were on our way by 7:00 and there a half hour later. 

The first couple hours there, I kept saying I really hoped it wasn't going to end up being a false alarm.  For once, I wanted to not get sent home, but my midwife never questioned it and just let Daddy-o and I rest and work through the contractions when they came.  And then, after a couple hours, I decided I was ready for her to fill up the birth pool because it did feel like things were getting more intense.

I've used the Hypnobabies program for my last two births, and while I can't say I have the painfree experience that some do, I do think that it's helped me relax enough that my labors are fast, and really, its only the last hour or so, when I'm in transition, that gets pretty uncomfortable and intense.  I was in the water at that point this time around and even though I had this nagging fear that I wasn't that close and this was going to go on for longer than I could handle,  Daddy-o totally called it and said at 10 a.m. that he thought I'd have the baby within the hour.  He recognized all the signs from the last time around.  The water took the edge off the back pain between contractions, and maybe some during--I coudn't really tell, but it did feel nice and gave me breaks between. 

And then, it was only 3 minutes of pushing till we got to meet our little boy.  The way I was holding him, I couldn't see at first if he really was a little boy and since Daddy-o and I had this little nagging fear that all our struggles over boy names would end up being an even bigger struggle to come up with a girl name at the last minute, I had to ask, but sure enough, the ultrasound was right, and we were back to trying to decide which of the names on our list fit this little guy.

The experience at the birth center and with the midwives there was seriously the best I can imagine.  It was so peaceful, being there on a Sunday morning, no one else in the building, and it was all about our little family.  The two midwives who were attending quietly cleaned up while we snuggled on the bed and then did the newborn check, made sure we were both okay and eating and knew what was coming up in the next couple days, and then, we got to go home, just 3 hours after he was born.  I guess with a first baby, that would have made me nervous, but third time around, it was just awesome to get home to nap in my own bed, and then spend the rest of the day with my other two kids as well.

And speaking of the siblings:

 Bug was really excited to meet his new baby.  The first thing he'd said to me after Daddy-o woke him up in the morning was a very ecstatic, "I'm going to be a big brother today!"

 And he is loving his "adorable" baby.

And Bean is pretty happy to have another little brother--she hasn't even mentioned wishing he was a sister since she met him.

Busy, Busy, Busy

This past weekend was jam packed with fun.  First off was the Father/Son campout with the church that Daddy-o took Bugaboo on.  It was their first one together and from all reports, Bug had a GREAT time.

 They got to sleep in a tent, watch a movie outdoors, cook breakfast on the camp stove,

 and play tons of games, like soccer, tug-of-war, water balloon toss, and have a 3-legged race.   Sounds like this will be something they'll want to do each year.  I asked Daddy-o how he feels about taking an almost 1 year old next year :)  Don't think that's going to happen!

While the boys were busy doing their thing, Bean and I had our own fun to go to.

Friday night, we had a dinner and auction for her school, where we picked up this little bit of art.  One of the parents did these Andy Warhol inspired pictures of each of the kids after their unit on artists.  I think its pretty fun and may have to go get the other kids done as well.  Bean had a blast playing with her friends from school, and getting to stay up too late and then have a slumber party in my room.  I'm not sure how many of these we'll be having--she is a wiggle worm and took up more room in the bed than her dad does, but she loved it.

 The next morning, we hosted a baby shower for a friend from church who is due a month after me.  I just mildly panicked when I realized that I'd committed to do this and would be almost 38 weeks pregnant, but a couple friends helped out with all the food and I think the nesting instinct kicked in this last week because I even cleaned and organized things I didn't have to.  It also really helped that the last few days I have been way less nauseous and have been able to keep the heartburn under control, so I've been feeling better than normal.

Bean was pretty excited to be going to her first baby shower and we had a fun morning.  At one point at the shower, we realized that half the women there were pregnant, which is pretty funny.  There are a lot of baby boys coming--we feel bad for whoever is going to be running the church nursery in a couple years!

And then, that night, I got to leave behind the tired (and totally whiny by this point) kids and go out to dinner with several of my book group ladies.  We had good southern food and a great time talking and laughing.  I love getting to enjoy both my dinner and conversation without any interruptions from the little people.  It will probably be awhile before I'll have that privledge again, so I'm glad we were able to work out a time to do this.

Sunday was all about tying up loose ends with the work I do at church with the women's organization.  I'm pretty much counting on having a baby before our May 12th activity, so I've been trying to work out the details and make sure I'm covered for the next couple months before I go on my "maternity leave" from church.  I had a friend telling me today about some of the things she did that she thought helped speed up her recovery post baby and how she was able to get back to church a week later, but honestly, I'm just not in that big of a hurry.  We don't like taking our babies to church that young, anyway, and I'm so distracted by the baby those first few weeks--they are really all I can think about--that I can't imagine I'd get much out of being there. 

We're at just under 2 weeks!  Even though I've been counting down for months, and have hoped for this little guy to come as soon as possible, now that it could be REALLY soon, I'm not quite so anxious.  It just doesn't feel quite real.  But we made it through this really busy week, and now, I am just working on my list of last minute things to take care of and projects that aren't necessary, but will be nice to have out of the way.  The longer I'm pregnant, the more random cupboards and closets I'll get cleaned up.

Less Than 4 Weeks!

Even though in some ways, I feel like I"ve been pregnant FOREVER, its hard to believe that we've got less than 4 weeks to go.  And since Bean and Bugaboo were 11 and 6 days early, that could really translate into just over 2 weeks.  Crazy!  We've been taking guesses around our house, so if anyone wants to weigh in with a guess, bragging rights will go to whoever gets it right :)

I've never done maternity photos before, but I have a friend who is a photographer and she mentioned that I should get some done.  I started thinking about how I haven't gotten a decent belly shot this whole pregnancy, and how this is most likely the last time I will ever look like this, and how cute my kids are with my belly, so I decided to go for it.  We just took them yesterday, and now I have to go through and figure out which ones to buy, but there are a few up on Carla's facebook site for Expressions in Focus (or you can see them in my profile as well).  I love how the ones with the kids turned out, and now I'm really excited to do newborn photos in a few weeks, which I've also never had done professionally.

It's also nice to remember some of the beauty of being pregnant, because I'm at that point that I'm feeling VERY pregnant.  It's hard to sleep, roll over, get up off the couch.  My ankles swell up every time it gets over 80 degrees (which is happening a lot lately), my lower back gets "stuck" if I sit or lay too long, and walking up a set of stairs totally winds me.  This little guy is also doing a headstand right on my bladder, which is just not that comfortable when I'm walking around.  But it all just means that its almost time to meet him!

You Know You're Pregnant When. . .

the weather forcast can bring you to tears of joy.  I'm so sick of being cold and its going to be over 70 degrees tomorrow!!!!

random people start rubbing your belly when talking to you.  I always say I'm going to rub theirs in return, so maybe they'll realize that its still kind of personal space, but I always lose my nerve.

you eat things that you know are going to make you feel sick, but you're just so dang hungry and tired of not being able to eat what you want.

you can't remember how many times you got up during the night to pee.  (I'm getting scared about this since I still have 3 months to go!)

your kids keep hugging and talking to your stomach.  This one, I love.  Bugaboo likes to say good morning and good night to "baby", and checks in randomly throughout the day as well.

We're in the third trimester!  Only 13 weeks to go!  (Not that I'm counting or anything.)

No Blogging Mojo

I don't know why I can't get back into this habit, but the blogging, obviously, just hasn't been happening lately.  It's not even that I don't have time to get on the computer, but I just have no motivation anymore.  And what little energy I can muster to do things ends up getting spent on folding laundry and sorting and organizing.  And occasionally cooking for my family.  That mojo hasn't totally come back either.

But here's a summary of what we've been up to lately:

--Trying to kick yet another virus of some sort that has made its way through everyone but Daddy-o.  Luckily, the fever and aches part of it only lasted about 36 hours for each of us, but now the kids and I are going through Kleenex boxes like crazy (Buggy used an entire box yesterday, but that is due somewhat to his manner of using tissues, and me not having the energy to stop him.)

--Dealing with more school woes, but I think we've made a decision and will be moving Bean, hopefully next week, to a very small school we found that is modeled after our dream charter school that we will probably never get into.  The biggest pluses--very small class size (11 kids in the first grade), only 5 minutes from our house, good teacher/parent communication, thematic studies, and no TV in the class, so there will be no more reports of which Disney movie they got to watch in class this week (because I don't care if Lion King is set in Africa, that movie does not teach them about Africa!  And Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs doesn't teach weather, and I have no idea what Up was supposed to be teaching, but I know we'd decided to wait a couple more years before showing that movie to our very sensitive, emotional child.)  I hope this school works out for all of us--Bean was pretty excited after visiting today, and I was impressed and hopeful, but mildly wary after how our last experience has turned out.

--I'm 25.5 weeks along in growing this new little boy, and feeling every second of it.  I have never loved being pregnant, but I'm so done this time.  I'm not nauseous anymore, thank goodness, but I still feel a little bleh after pretty much every meal, and the heartburn has kicked in full force.  I just don't feel good, and I'm kind of tired of whining about it, so I just hope the last 3 months go quickly so I can stop.

--We've started some minor baby preparations.  Got the kids new dressers so theirs could be moved to the baby's room (and I immediately filled it with all the newborn stuff we have), and finally got the crib out of their room (Bug hasn't been sleeping in it for months), and I'm working on figuring out colors for the room so I can paint and get it all set up.  And I visited the birth center I want to use and have set up to switch from my doctor to the midwife group there.  Now I just have to start my Hypnobabies again--I'm guessing it will come back to me quickly, so I don't want to start too early and get burnt out on the daily practicing.

--Daddy-o has been working too many hours again.  Poor guy had to work through most of his birthday last Saturday, taking care of a little emergency.  Things have slowed down a little now, but we won't know for a couple more weeks what the long term story on this project is going to be.  He's already counting down to paternity leave.

--Bugaboo has been mostly loving preschool again.  It's a relief to drop him off without the tears and yelling about how much he hates school--we've only had one of those days in the last 3 weeks.  And school has been fun.  They've been painting with feathers, sponges, stamps, and different textured rollers, hammering into playdough, playing in their newly set up grocery store, and running up and down the new pile of mulch that was delivered this week.  He's come home really dirty and grinning from ear to ear, so I have a hard time believing him when he tells me he hates it all.

--Bean celebrated the 100th day of school (which funny enough, she'll get to do over again at the new school this next week).  She made a picture using 100 beans and pasta peices, and then got draw a picture of what she'll look like at 100, make a necklace with 100 fruit loops, build with 100 legos, and eat cake--no idea what that had to do with 100, but it seemed to be her favorite part of the celebration.

We are all surviving, hoping for the early spring the Groundhog has predicted, and counting down until Mama gets her motivation back.

Merry Christmas!

We hope everyone has had a wonderful Christmas full of lots of family, friends, and fun.  We've had a great day full of lots of fun surprises. I need to go back and post a few pictures from the last few days, but wanted to share our Christmas news.  Apparently no one in our family is terribly good at guessing because to our surprise, we're going to have a BOY!  We're all excited and getting used to the idea that this isn't a girl.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Busy, Busy, Busy

It's been a bit of a whirlwind the last week or two.  We've been getting ready for Christmas and our big excursion.  We've gone a bit crazy and decided to drive to New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado over the holidays, so starting tomorrow, we'll be spending 3 days straight in the car.  Sounds fun?  I'm sure you all wish you were traveling with us.

But in the past couple weeks, we've also done plenty of Christmasy type things:

Our neighbors hosted their annual neighborhood Christmas brunch which we always forward to--its so fun to get together with all the people who we don't see much of once the weather turns cold.

Watched several Christmas movies with the kids, including watching Rudolph with our neighbors.

Went to our church Christmas dinner, which had several crafts for the kids to do--they were in heaven.

Made Christmas cards with the kids for their teachers and friends one day when they'd stayed home sick.  We've been fighting our third cold since the beginning of November and I'm getting really tired of being sick.

Finished up the Christmas shopping and wrapping--its so nice to be DONE a week before Christmas!

Delivered Christmas goodies to a few families we know--it was probably the coldest night of the year, but we had fun spending a couple hours visiting with people and no ones fingers froze.

Attempted to make fudge for before mentioned deliveries.  Instead we ended up with a pan of soft chocolate that we learned makes incredibly good hot chocolate and had to substitute with plates of mostly store bought cookies.  It's the thought that counts, right?

Had the Christmas musical program at church--one of my favorite weeks of the year and the choir did a really great job this year.

Finished up the charity shopping and dropping off--I think the kid's favorite was dropping the Toys for Tots at the fire station since they got to climb on one of the firetrucks while we were there.

And mixed in with all the Christmas stuff--we had our ultrasound Monday.  The little peanut looks healthy and is measuring right on schedule (this is my first that wasn't measuring big, so I'm trying to get in the mind frame that I may actually make it until my due date this time instead of having the baby early.)  And the sex is still a mystery.  But we did have the technician check and currently have the tell-tale picture in a sealed and stapled envelope (and she even put sticky notes on each side of the picture so there's no use holding it up to the light--she has developed a whole system to keep people from cheating.)  Our current plan is to open it on Christmas, but Daddy-o still mentions that we could just lose the envelope so we'll see what happens.

Details, Details

A little more in the way of pregnancy details.

First, this next little one (gotta come up with a nickname for this one!) is due May 15th.  No being 9 months pregnant in the summer (yay!!!!)

We haven't decided yet if we will be finding out the sex. I'm thinking yes, but Daddy-o would like to be surprised and there is a tiny part of me that would like to also, but the rest of me, the planner part of me, wants to know.  I can't quite convince myself that I really want to wait an extra 4 months to find out something that I could know right then.

And, the most exciting news in my mind, I've actually had a couple good days in the past few days!  I'm on 3 different medications this time around to combat all the nausea and sickness, and while its helped, I've still been feeling pretty poorly for 7 weeks, so the fact that it may actually be winding down before I hit the halfway mark is really exciting.  I had about 10 hours straight that I honestly just felt normal--like a human being again--and it was GREAT!  I celebrated by doing laundry and vacuuming and picking my little boy up from preschool.  It's the little things. . .