He only cried a little when I took him out too...within minutes, he was clean, dry, swaddled and off to dreamland for the night!
Monday, March 24, 2008
Monday Moments...
We gave J-boy his bath last night a little later than his usual time. Apparently a little TOO late. He was in the water for all of one minute before he drifted off into sleep right there in the water. Talk about your relaxing baths! :) Good thing Mommy and Daddy are there to keep watch (and take pictures...hee,hee!)
He only cried a little when I took him out too...within minutes, he was clean, dry, swaddled and off to dreamland for the night!
He only cried a little when I took him out too...within minutes, he was clean, dry, swaddled and off to dreamland for the night!
Family Update
So sorry I haven’t posted…life around here is busy, busy, busy…..here is an update on our cute family-o-five (note: this post is a little dated – I wrote it last week, but I decided to go ahead and print it anyway.. enjoy!)
J-Boy – He had his post-circumcision check-up today. Our pediatrician declared that he “looked good” (she was talking about her circumcision job) – so good in fact, that she joked that we ought to take a picture and frame it – she cracks me up! (Our pediatrician is originally from Nigeria, so if you can imagine her saying all of this with her big smile and thick accent, you can get an idea of why I thought it was so funny).
J-Boy will be three weeks tomorrow, and today at his appointment he weighed in at 9 lbs 8.oz. WOW! This big boy already has those adorable “rolls” on his thighs, and super chubby cheekers that I just want to kiss all the time (so I do!). His weight definitely tells the story that this boy likes to eat! As a matter of fact, being hungry is the only time that he ever really screams…the rest of the time he’s a pretty mellow-fellow. J-Boy is really giving us great nights right now – up only a few times to eat and then usually right back to sleep. He’s a true cuddler, and although getting used to a newborn again has been a BIG adjustment, we love every part of our precious boy. Here’s a picture of him with his big ol’ eyes open – taking in the world one day at a time.
Lorelin – She is almost fully potty-trained – hooray! I would have posted a lot more about this, except that she has really done it all herself (I’m sure that having her sissy to watch helped a lot). We weren’t going to try to potty train her for a while still, since we knew we had a newborn coming, but one day she decided she wanted to wear panties and go pee-pee in the potty, and that was pretty much that. She had a few poo-poo accidents right after J-Boy came home from the hospital, which perplexed us a little bit, until she made the comment while we were cleaning her up that “I’m being changed just like baby Joshua.” After that, her Daddy took her for some one-on-one special time to go and get ice cream at Leaps (a locally-owned custard shop), and reaffirmed that she was still our special girl – expect now she got to be a big sister too. (the picture below of Lorelin and Daddy right before their “date”) A few days later, Lorelin started showing a lot more interest in her baby brother, and now spends her days playing “This Little Piggy” with his toes, giving him cuddles and hugs, and asking for time to hold him on the couch.
K-Bug – K-Bug is constantly amazing me with her desire to learn (she wants to learn all of her sounds for her letters), and I delight in her very vivid imagination. She is content to spend her days creating and singing her own songs, or trying to engage her sister in playing “cow” or “horse” or “puppy” or a zoo of other animals. She loves to use hats, boots, jewelry, and dress-up clothes in all of her pretend play. Here is a picture of one of her very own hats that she created herself – it’s two buckets put together.
She took very quickly to her role as oldest sister to two younger siblings. She loves to sit beside J-boy and read him stories. She also loves to sing him songs, hold him in her lap, and give him lots of kisses on his “soft head”. She still leans toward the dramatic – she told me the other day after her “time-out” discipline that “My very happy heart has run away!” Don’t worry…she found it again a few minutes later!
Us – We are busy and tired, but doing well. I’ll post more about myself and my dear hubby in a later post. :
J-Boy – He had his post-circumcision check-up today. Our pediatrician declared that he “looked good” (she was talking about her circumcision job) – so good in fact, that she joked that we ought to take a picture and frame it – she cracks me up! (Our pediatrician is originally from Nigeria, so if you can imagine her saying all of this with her big smile and thick accent, you can get an idea of why I thought it was so funny).
J-Boy will be three weeks tomorrow, and today at his appointment he weighed in at 9 lbs 8.oz. WOW! This big boy already has those adorable “rolls” on his thighs, and super chubby cheekers that I just want to kiss all the time (so I do!). His weight definitely tells the story that this boy likes to eat! As a matter of fact, being hungry is the only time that he ever really screams…the rest of the time he’s a pretty mellow-fellow. J-Boy is really giving us great nights right now – up only a few times to eat and then usually right back to sleep. He’s a true cuddler, and although getting used to a newborn again has been a BIG adjustment, we love every part of our precious boy. Here’s a picture of him with his big ol’ eyes open – taking in the world one day at a time.
Lorelin – She is almost fully potty-trained – hooray! I would have posted a lot more about this, except that she has really done it all herself (I’m sure that having her sissy to watch helped a lot). We weren’t going to try to potty train her for a while still, since we knew we had a newborn coming, but one day she decided she wanted to wear panties and go pee-pee in the potty, and that was pretty much that. She had a few poo-poo accidents right after J-Boy came home from the hospital, which perplexed us a little bit, until she made the comment while we were cleaning her up that “I’m being changed just like baby Joshua.” After that, her Daddy took her for some one-on-one special time to go and get ice cream at Leaps (a locally-owned custard shop), and reaffirmed that she was still our special girl – expect now she got to be a big sister too. (the picture below of Lorelin and Daddy right before their “date”) A few days later, Lorelin started showing a lot more interest in her baby brother, and now spends her days playing “This Little Piggy” with his toes, giving him cuddles and hugs, and asking for time to hold him on the couch.
K-Bug – K-Bug is constantly amazing me with her desire to learn (she wants to learn all of her sounds for her letters), and I delight in her very vivid imagination. She is content to spend her days creating and singing her own songs, or trying to engage her sister in playing “cow” or “horse” or “puppy” or a zoo of other animals. She loves to use hats, boots, jewelry, and dress-up clothes in all of her pretend play. Here is a picture of one of her very own hats that she created herself – it’s two buckets put together.
She took very quickly to her role as oldest sister to two younger siblings. She loves to sit beside J-boy and read him stories. She also loves to sing him songs, hold him in her lap, and give him lots of kisses on his “soft head”. She still leans toward the dramatic – she told me the other day after her “time-out” discipline that “My very happy heart has run away!” Don’t worry…she found it again a few minutes later!
Us – We are busy and tired, but doing well. I’ll post more about myself and my dear hubby in a later post. :
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Happy Anniversary!
Yesterday marked eight wonderful years that I've been married to the love of my life. Although there have been anniversaries where I've been pregnant (and of course we've had children too) , this is a first for us with having a newborn. Needless to say, we didn't really get to go out and do anyhing just quite yet (we loved the pizza though - thanks Brand!) However, my dear hubby did surprise me about a week ago with these beautiful roses - "one for each beautiful baby you've given me" - he said. Of course I cried my little post-partum eyes out.
The night before our anniversary I was up after one of J-boy's feeds, and I wrote him this poem. For my dear hubby...I love you and happy anniversary!
Most days I am a MomGirl – a very busy Mommy of three
But tonight I am thinking back to a time when it was just you and just me…
Of a white wedding dress, and a perfect spring day,
And a man and a woman speaking vows
Of a man and a wife, starting a new life,
Christened by wedding night “wows”
Of an apartment so sweet, all 650 sqaure feet
Dinners shared by candlelight
Of working the day thru, and coming home with you
Of “cuddling” in bed together all night
How we’ve grown, how we’ve changed
Our lives rearranged – now we have three children all still quite small
Now it’s diapers and wipes, sibling rivalry and fights
But I still have the best life of all
A husband I adore, every day more and more
As we maneuver the rapids called life
Blessed by God above, I couldn’t be more in love
And happier to be called your wife
HAPPY EIGHTH ANNIVERSARY!!!!
Monday, March 10, 2008
A Labor Story
I love to hear other people’s accounts of how their own little one came into the world. Funny how each birth and can be so alike OR so different in their experience. Mine have all been very different experiences. Here is a snapshot of my experience with J-boy.
3:50 a.m. – Phone rings. I had been moved-up to a 5:00 a.m. induction time, but the hospital was calling me to tell me that they were full and I was being put on a wait list.
4:00 – 6:00 a.m. – Too much adrenaline to go back to sleep. I toss, turn, and pray waiting for the morning light, and finally drift back off to sleep.
7:30 a.m. – The girls wake up and the day starts like any other. My sister-in-law is still on stand-by to come and stay with the girls, but the morning passes without any phone calls from the hospital. My husband decides to go ahead and leaves to work his morning shift.
10:00 a.m. – The carpet cleaner comes and is surprised to find me still at home (I had told him I’d be having a baby). I play with the girls in the kitchen while he cleans all the carpets for me. Cain has been my carpet cleaner for years – he is a small business guy and a Christian too. He tells me he and his wife will be praying for us. He leaves us with clean, happy carpets.
11:30 a.m. – My Mom’s flight back to Phoenix from Texas had arrived earlier that morning, and she is home now. Hooray!! I’m so glad to see my Mom (the girls are too!) God worked it out so she could be present for J-boy’s birth.
Noon – My hubby arrives home, changes his clothes, and I start lunch for our family and my Mom
1:00 p.m. – The phone rings and it’s the hospital telling us to “come as soon as we can.” I go back to the bedroom to tell my hubby that we got the call, and it’s time to go. We’re both a bundle of excitement and nerves. My Mom will stay with the girls until my Mother-in-law can arrive to take over in a few hours.
1:30 p.m. – My dear hubby and I both grab quick showers, I put on my make-up (have to look pretty for my pictures, right? ), and we load the car with the diaper bag, my suitcase, and some pillows.
1:45 p.m. – We check in at OB triage, sign some paperwork, and are sent directly over to labor and delivery. A nice nurse shows us to our room, and proceeds to hook me up to all of my various monitors.
2:45 p.m. – We complete our paperwork, and the nurse starts my IV (ouch! That long needle hurts). She also tells me that I tested positive for the group beta strep, and will need to complete several rounds of antibiotics before the baby is born.
3:00 p.m. – My pitocin drip is finally started and I am also started on the first round of antibiotics. BTW, the penicillin burns like FIRE while it goes into my arm – I hold my arm and pray for it to be quickly over each time I start another round…
3:00 – 8:00 p.m. – I am dialating very slowly. My Mom shows up and my Mom, my hubby, and I all sit around talking. I am having regular contractions, but I am able to breathe and even talk through them. When I ask why it’s going so slow, they tell me that they have had to turn up the pitocin very gradually in order for me to receive all the rounds of antibiotics.
8:00p.m. – My OB comes in to break my water. She informs me that my contractions should become “very painful, very soon” and what-do-you-know……OWWWW! The contractions are suddenly very intense and only two minutes apart. I beg for my hubby’s hand, and try to squeeze his fingers completely off while trying hard not to scream out loud during the actual contractions.
8:00 – 10:00 p.m. – Some of this is a blur for me .I do remember lot of very intense pain.
-The baby’s heartbeat keeps dipping up and down, so I am rolled onto my left side into a rather uncomfortable position. My contractions hurt even worse on my side, but I’m willing do to whatever it takes to keep the baby healthy.
-I beg for an epidural and the anesthesiologist is summoned. He is a very quiet and serious looking man with a very kind bed-side manner. I HATE epidurals (but I hate the pain even more), and I actually bite my pillow while he puts it in – he was very quick and very good though. He stays for a while and my hubby and I get a chance to talk and joke with him a little bit (he had a very dry sense of humor….he was actually quite funny)
-But then something happened that I’ve only heard of happening to others before – the epidural took effect on only one side of my body. So soon I’m back to squeezing fingers and trying not to scream while I’m rolled onto my right side to try to get the epidural to numb that side of my body.
-The epidural finally takes effect on both sides. I breathe a sigh of relief…..
10:05 p.m. – I’ve been pain-free for about ten minutes when I’m checked and told that I am ready to push….so I guess it’s time to go…more nurses show up and get the room ready for a baby
10:15 – My OB shows up and we’re all ready to go. I’m so numb from the epidural that I can’t really feel anything, but I push the way I think I’m supposed to.
10:20 – Three pushes later, my OB informs that the head is out, but that the shoulders are stuck. A look of concern crosses her face, and I worry for the first time that day. She tells me to push once more, and as I do, she applies pressure directly on my abdomen with her body.
10:22 p.m. – Baby J-boy slides out into the world. I was pretty freaked-out, because my first look at him was of a completely purple and blue-faced baby. My OB immediately started saying, “He’s Ok, he’s Ok, he’s just bruised, he’s just bruised…”
10:23 p.m. – I hear his first cries, and I start tearing up too. I just remember saying over and over to myself, “He’s Ok, he’s ok…he’s crying.” I get hugs from my Mom, and kisses from my dear hubby.
10:26 p.m. – They place him in my arms for the first time, and the new adventure begins…
3:50 a.m. – Phone rings. I had been moved-up to a 5:00 a.m. induction time, but the hospital was calling me to tell me that they were full and I was being put on a wait list.
4:00 – 6:00 a.m. – Too much adrenaline to go back to sleep. I toss, turn, and pray waiting for the morning light, and finally drift back off to sleep.
7:30 a.m. – The girls wake up and the day starts like any other. My sister-in-law is still on stand-by to come and stay with the girls, but the morning passes without any phone calls from the hospital. My husband decides to go ahead and leaves to work his morning shift.
10:00 a.m. – The carpet cleaner comes and is surprised to find me still at home (I had told him I’d be having a baby). I play with the girls in the kitchen while he cleans all the carpets for me. Cain has been my carpet cleaner for years – he is a small business guy and a Christian too. He tells me he and his wife will be praying for us. He leaves us with clean, happy carpets.
11:30 a.m. – My Mom’s flight back to Phoenix from Texas had arrived earlier that morning, and she is home now. Hooray!! I’m so glad to see my Mom (the girls are too!) God worked it out so she could be present for J-boy’s birth.
Noon – My hubby arrives home, changes his clothes, and I start lunch for our family and my Mom
1:00 p.m. – The phone rings and it’s the hospital telling us to “come as soon as we can.” I go back to the bedroom to tell my hubby that we got the call, and it’s time to go. We’re both a bundle of excitement and nerves. My Mom will stay with the girls until my Mother-in-law can arrive to take over in a few hours.
1:30 p.m. – My dear hubby and I both grab quick showers, I put on my make-up (have to look pretty for my pictures, right? ), and we load the car with the diaper bag, my suitcase, and some pillows.
1:45 p.m. – We check in at OB triage, sign some paperwork, and are sent directly over to labor and delivery. A nice nurse shows us to our room, and proceeds to hook me up to all of my various monitors.
2:45 p.m. – We complete our paperwork, and the nurse starts my IV (ouch! That long needle hurts). She also tells me that I tested positive for the group beta strep, and will need to complete several rounds of antibiotics before the baby is born.
3:00 p.m. – My pitocin drip is finally started and I am also started on the first round of antibiotics. BTW, the penicillin burns like FIRE while it goes into my arm – I hold my arm and pray for it to be quickly over each time I start another round…
3:00 – 8:00 p.m. – I am dialating very slowly. My Mom shows up and my Mom, my hubby, and I all sit around talking. I am having regular contractions, but I am able to breathe and even talk through them. When I ask why it’s going so slow, they tell me that they have had to turn up the pitocin very gradually in order for me to receive all the rounds of antibiotics.
8:00p.m. – My OB comes in to break my water. She informs me that my contractions should become “very painful, very soon” and what-do-you-know……OWWWW! The contractions are suddenly very intense and only two minutes apart. I beg for my hubby’s hand, and try to squeeze his fingers completely off while trying hard not to scream out loud during the actual contractions.
8:00 – 10:00 p.m. – Some of this is a blur for me .I do remember lot of very intense pain.
-The baby’s heartbeat keeps dipping up and down, so I am rolled onto my left side into a rather uncomfortable position. My contractions hurt even worse on my side, but I’m willing do to whatever it takes to keep the baby healthy.
-I beg for an epidural and the anesthesiologist is summoned. He is a very quiet and serious looking man with a very kind bed-side manner. I HATE epidurals (but I hate the pain even more), and I actually bite my pillow while he puts it in – he was very quick and very good though. He stays for a while and my hubby and I get a chance to talk and joke with him a little bit (he had a very dry sense of humor….he was actually quite funny)
-But then something happened that I’ve only heard of happening to others before – the epidural took effect on only one side of my body. So soon I’m back to squeezing fingers and trying not to scream while I’m rolled onto my right side to try to get the epidural to numb that side of my body.
-The epidural finally takes effect on both sides. I breathe a sigh of relief…..
10:05 p.m. – I’ve been pain-free for about ten minutes when I’m checked and told that I am ready to push….so I guess it’s time to go…more nurses show up and get the room ready for a baby
10:15 – My OB shows up and we’re all ready to go. I’m so numb from the epidural that I can’t really feel anything, but I push the way I think I’m supposed to.
10:20 – Three pushes later, my OB informs that the head is out, but that the shoulders are stuck. A look of concern crosses her face, and I worry for the first time that day. She tells me to push once more, and as I do, she applies pressure directly on my abdomen with her body.
10:22 p.m. – Baby J-boy slides out into the world. I was pretty freaked-out, because my first look at him was of a completely purple and blue-faced baby. My OB immediately started saying, “He’s Ok, he’s Ok, he’s just bruised, he’s just bruised…”
10:23 p.m. – I hear his first cries, and I start tearing up too. I just remember saying over and over to myself, “He’s Ok, he’s ok…he’s crying.” I get hugs from my Mom, and kisses from my dear hubby.
10:26 p.m. – They place him in my arms for the first time, and the new adventure begins…
Saturday, March 08, 2008
The Number Three
There’s nothing really so scary about the number three, that is, until the pregnancy test turned positive this last time….I remember all during my pregnancy, when people would ask me which baby this was for me, and I would tell them “My third” one of two things would happen.
#1 – They would tell me how wonderful it was to have three kids – and how wonderful for me that it was two girls and “now you get your boy too! Life will be so much fun!”
#2 – They would tell me something along the lines of, “When that third one came along, it was just SO much harder, things were WAY busier then with two, etc.”
And the response in my brain would go something like this –
#1 – “See, you can totally do this Stacy!” OR
#2 – “What was I thinking? I can’t do this!”
So, here I am. An official Mommy to three wonderful children – all under the age of five.
And how I am coping? Hard to tell, a week into this adventure, but I will tell you a few things I DO know….I’ve already had many moments that were just like the two scenarios above – lots of fun and firsts AND some tears and moments of feeling completely overwhelmed.
I also know that when Joshua came out, I instantly could not imagine our family without him. He is a miracle and I fell instantly in love.
I also know that during my first day alone (more on that in a later post), I could count the minutes I had to myself in VERY small increments, and had the feeling that my time in the months ahead would be consumed with meeting the immediate needs of my young children. So, where I am going with all of this? I’m not sure….
I just know that the adventure ahead has been given to me by my Heavenly Father, and He has promised to be with me every step of the way (even at 1:00 a.m. feedings! - and you my bloggity friends get to come along on the ride!
Thank you Father, for the number three.
#1 – They would tell me how wonderful it was to have three kids – and how wonderful for me that it was two girls and “now you get your boy too! Life will be so much fun!”
#2 – They would tell me something along the lines of, “When that third one came along, it was just SO much harder, things were WAY busier then with two, etc.”
And the response in my brain would go something like this –
#1 – “See, you can totally do this Stacy!” OR
#2 – “What was I thinking? I can’t do this!”
So, here I am. An official Mommy to three wonderful children – all under the age of five.
And how I am coping? Hard to tell, a week into this adventure, but I will tell you a few things I DO know….I’ve already had many moments that were just like the two scenarios above – lots of fun and firsts AND some tears and moments of feeling completely overwhelmed.
I also know that when Joshua came out, I instantly could not imagine our family without him. He is a miracle and I fell instantly in love.
I also know that during my first day alone (more on that in a later post), I could count the minutes I had to myself in VERY small increments, and had the feeling that my time in the months ahead would be consumed with meeting the immediate needs of my young children. So, where I am going with all of this? I’m not sure….
I just know that the adventure ahead has been given to me by my Heavenly Father, and He has promised to be with me every step of the way (even at 1:00 a.m. feedings! - and you my bloggity friends get to come along on the ride!
Thank you Father, for the number three.
Monday, March 03, 2008
BABY JOSHUA IS HERE!
Joshua Alexander Smith made his entrance into the world on leap year - Friday, February 29th at 10:22 p.m. He weighed in at 8 lbs 7 oz and was 20 inches long.
Yup - this boy is big. I ended up being induced around 3:00 p.m. on Friday, and after a lot of labor, Joshua came with five minutes of pushing. There was a push or two where his shoulders got stuck and my OB informs me we were "this close" to an emergency C-section. Praise God though, one more mighty push and Joshua came out - albeit with a LOT of bruising on his poor little face (they told me he came down really fast and hit his nose/face on my pelvic bone).
We are all home now and Joshua is doing well. The girls are super excited about their baby "brudder" (as Lauren calls him). We are moving slow (and I'm a little sore..) but we are just so thankful for all of God's blessings in getting our son here safely!
We'll send more pictures and updates in the days ahead!
Yup - this boy is big. I ended up being induced around 3:00 p.m. on Friday, and after a lot of labor, Joshua came with five minutes of pushing. There was a push or two where his shoulders got stuck and my OB informs me we were "this close" to an emergency C-section. Praise God though, one more mighty push and Joshua came out - albeit with a LOT of bruising on his poor little face (they told me he came down really fast and hit his nose/face on my pelvic bone).
We are all home now and Joshua is doing well. The girls are super excited about their baby "brudder" (as Lauren calls him). We are moving slow (and I'm a little sore..) but we are just so thankful for all of God's blessings in getting our son here safely!
We'll send more pictures and updates in the days ahead!
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Family Of Five
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