Wrapping up February

It is hard to believe that August will be 1 month old on Friday the 26th!  Crazy!

Here are a few pictures from the end of February :)

I LOVE this picture.  They are so cute just hanging out together :)

Doc and August.  He and Honey came to visit last weekend and braved the Dallas snow.

So nice and clean after a bath.  The first bath was quite traumatic - but he is getting better and better...no more tears :)

 

August apparently "hurt" Amelia.  Yes, he did scratch her, but his little nails are REALLY sharp and she just got too close.  Lesson learned.

 

Bonnie, Jenny, Ruby and Raney came to play :)  It was so fun to see them!  Can't believe the girls are almost a year old!  Amelia enjoyed them, but I don't think August even woke up once :)  He'll be more active soon enough and they can ALL play! (and with Evan too)

 

Things I'm Working On...

1. I'm working on...living with very little sleep again.  So far it hasn't been too horrible (knock on wood)!  He sleeps about 4 hours and then 3 hours at night.  I am usually able to get in a nap during the day, but recently Amelia has been sick and hasn't been taking a full nap (or napping at all).  So, by the time I get him fed and her settled down and lay my head on a pillow - it's about 10-20 minutes of sleep.  That is almost worse than not sleeping at all.  However, once she's better, the naps should get back to normal!

2.  I'm working on...my patience with a whiny 2-year-old.  Yes, she's been sick, so whining is normal...but she is also 2 years old!  That means extra whining for apparently no reason.  I don't want to get mad at her, so I'm taking deep breaths and then trying to show her a different way to ask or get what she needs.  It's starting to work - but there have been a few time-outs necessary :)  She is a VERY good girl, and she is adjusting very well to having baby brother around - but I can tell that she is jealous sometimes and it makes me feel awful when I have to give my attention to him and not her.  When she's better - we'll go do something just the two of us :)

3.  I'm working on...getting out of the house in less than 30 minutes!  Yesterday I did it in about 15 and conquered a big fear - going to the grocery store with BOTH kids!  I did it!  AND I was able to get everything on my list and get home before August started crying - woo hoo!  It took about 30 minutes to put up all the groceries, but I'd rather have him cry at home than in the middle of the store.

4.  I'm working on...getting back into a normal routine.  This is happening some days, and then others are just out-of-whack.  The difference this time around is that I was prepared for the chaos and it's no big deal!  The stress level is much lower and I just roll with it.

5.  I'm working on...taking as many pictures of August as I did with Amelia.  I want him to have these to look back on when he's older like she does.  This one is pretty easy!

6.  Next...I'll be working on...getting August to sleep through the night.  I'm going to wait until he's about 2 months to move him into this own room and start the "Baby Wise" techniques we used with Amelia.  I have already started the "eat...wake...sleep" routine, so that is in place - hopefully the next step will go smoothly!  We started this much later with Amelia and she finally slept through the night at 6 months - since we've started right on time with him, I'm hoping for a full 8 hours of sleep MUCH, MUCH sooner!  Wish us luck!

Picture Post

Awesome hair after a bath!

 

Time for a nap

 

First time in the snow!!!

 

Getting a little chilly

 

Clearing the sidewalk with Daddy

 

Static Hair!! (after playing tents)

 

Silly pirate!!!

So Sleepy

This is the only thing I feared when we learned that we were having baby #2...NO SLEEP!  I LOVE our son...but boy oh boy could I use more than 4 hours of sleep in a row!  Now, don't get me wrong...I am very grateful that I am sometimes getting 4 hours (knock on wood) but I sure wish I could get 6 or 8 :) 

Then, to top everything off...Amelia has decided that she doesn't need to nap every day.  So, when I'd like to lay down for an hour in the afternoon, I can't!  She will stay in her bed, but she just talks and talks and talks and that keeps me awake...bummer!

OK - sorry for posting my complaints - the truth is that I am so lucky to have 2 wonderful kids...and the sleep will come back again - one day :)  In the meantime, I'll just drink coffee!

Thank you

It has been just over a week since we brought baby August home!  Life has certainly changed for us (no sleep, etc.), but we have had a lot of help and some great food :)  I wanted to use this post to say Thank You again to everyone.

I appreciate Granners and Granpa for helping me out with Amelia when I had to take August to the doctor for the first time last Monday!  We have also LOVED all the meals from friends and family...Uncle Carl and Aunt Sandy, Janie and Reagan, Pat and Ashli, and Jamie and John!  We have been spoiled for sure!

The person who needs the most thanks is Honey!  She took care of Amelia when we were in the hospital - we couldn't have done it without her.  Then, she came back this week to help us out again.  I was able to sleep in, take naps, and not worry about Amelia while feeding August.  I even sent her on errands since getting out of the house is a little harder these days!  She is definitely going to be missed.  Amelia has so much fun with her.  She understands that Honey went home, but she was still asking for her this afternoon.  I'm sure we'll be making lots of phone calls to her until she can make it up here again.

So...THANK YOU!!!!

The Story...

I've had several requests to hear "how it all went" - so here it is.

Last Tuesday, the 26th, Andy and I went to the hospital at 7AM for an induction.  My doctor was concerned that this was going to be a big baby, like Amelia (9lbs 6oz) - so she wanted to get the baby a little early.  Not a problem with me - I was DONE being pregnant! 

My mom came in the night before to stay with Amelia, and my dad and sister were able to drive in for the day in hopes of being there in time!

The nurse, Kathy, who we had last time around, was a nice familiar face to see that morning!  It was comforting having some things kind of be the same as last time.  She started Pitocin(sp) around 8ish, and the doctor broke my water around the same time.  I started feeling contractions right away, but they weren't bad...so I held off on the Epidural for a bit.  Once Kathy told me that the "window" for my Epidural was limited (because of other deliveries and scheduled c-sections) I took it! 
I was only a little shocked when Doogie Houser arrived with the Epidural!  He looked all of about 25 years old...wore a thumb ring, had a goatee, and talked like a skater!  When I asked him if he was good at this he said, "Ummm..I'm alright!"  Not very reassuring!  But the nurse said he was good, and he did a great job - it was just a good laugh at the end of it all. 
After that it was smooth sailing.  Monica came by to visit and my dad and sister arrived around 11:00.  There was nothing to report - so they all took off and it was just me and Andy again.

Around noon, the doctor checked and I was about 4-5cm and 50% so I figured this would be another long labor.  I was a bit disappointed, but it just meant a little more rest for us.  Then, I started feeling a little pressure, but thought it was just the Epidural being blocked (it had done so about an hour earlier because I was laying on the tube).  HOWEVER, a nurse came in and asked if I was feeling things...and at that moment the pressure became VERY obvious and I knew this was not normal.  She checked me at about 2:15 and I was 9cm and at about 100%.  The nurse told me not to get my hopes up because it would be "a lot of hard work before the baby was here." 

Hmmm...was she ever wrong!  We waited about 45 mintues for the doctor to get there...then it was time!  "A lot of hard work" turned out to be about 10 minutes of not really hard work at all!  He arrived at 3:15!  It was crazy!

We spent the next 2 nights in the hospital - but had everything lined up so that we were ready to leave first thing on Thursday morning.  We were so ready to get out of there and to be back home and with Amelia. We would have left on Wednesday if they had let us! 

Well - I hope that wasn't too much information...and hope it wasn't boring...but I'm just trying to give the people what they want!  Ha ha!!!