Potpourri Of My Mind

Some random thoughts that have been floating through my mind lately...

• I forgot some of the sweet things that newborns do. Like how they clench their little fists to their chests. It's like he is protecting himself and he usually does it after he's gotten upset and is calming down. When Dane does this it kind of breaks my heart - like he thinks it's him against the world and doesn't yet know that he has a Momma and Daddy to protect him.


• The tonic neck reflex - I remembered the theory, had to look up the name. It's when a newborn is lying on his back and when his head is turned to the side, the arm in the direction which he is looking is extended out to the side. The arm behind his head is held up and fist clenched. If you turn their head the opposite direction they will reverse their arms. It's often referred to as the fencer's position because that's what it looks like. I took a picture of Dane doing this with my handy dandy new smart phone!
  

• How they kick their little legs in and out, in and out, and do so with so much strength. All of these things are so sweet and precious, and so distinctive of newborns. I don't want to forget these things!


• Also running through my mind... The minute I gave birth my hips got better - maybe with the bulk of the weight gone it solved the problem. I don't know, but after Dane was born I didn't think one more time that my hips were going to break. (and they had just been through so much!) Also, my nose had been stopped up since Thanksgiving. At night I had to use a bunch of chapstick (and reapply each of the 10 times I got up to go to the bathroom) because I had to breathe out my mouth and my lips got so chapped. Luke even said I snored occasionally! After Dane was born my nose instantly cleared up. Of course after giving birth there are so many other things to think about that I didn't really appreciate my hips not hurting or the fact that I could breathe out my nose again. But 7 weeks later, I've had time to notice. - random, I know.
  
• Also, I think Dane is really looking like Will. Here is a picture of Will when he was newborn and Dane. I will try to get some of them in the exact same position, but there's no mistaking that these two are definitely brothers!

How thoughtful!

I found early on that Dane is a very lazy nurser. He will eat for 20-40 minutes and then promptly fall asleep. He sleeps blissfully for a short period of time and then wakes up starved and furious. This made for a round-the-clock nursing marathon that just wasn't working out. I really wanted to continue to breastfeed him and would love to make it to 6 months like I did with Will. Unfortunately I had to make the choice to pump and bottle feed him for now in order to save my sanity and any sort of time for Will. I do still nurse him during the night. This method is a little more tricky, and makes for lots of dishes. I have hope that as he gets older he might get better at staying awake and we can go back, but this is our routine for now.

Will sees me pump 5 times each day. Today he decided to relieve me of my pumping duties and take care of it himself. He even brought the resulting "product" over to Dane and offered him a meal!

Dane's 2 week checkup was this morning. He is doing great and is back up to his birth weight of 8 lbs. 6 oz. He is such a sweet baby. Very good - especially when he is comfy in someones arms or in one of his baby seats. He was sleeping really well, going right back to sleep after I fed him, but now I think he's found that there are more comfy places to sleep than flat on his back, so now he prefers the other options. Last night I broke down and let him sleep in his Boppy Popason chair. I know - bad habit to start but after a few nights of 3ish hours, Momma needed some sleep!

Luke went back to work on Monday morning and my mom has been/is helping this week. It's nice to have her around and Will loves it. She has taken him with her to spend the night last night and did again tonight so he's having a blast. A week seems like a long time, but we've been busy and have a lot going on the rest of the week so I know it's going to fly by.

Things at home have been going well, but pretty busy, and at times chaotic. One night we left the garage door open, car in the driveway and keys in the ignition... Will has been really good with Dane; only a few things that have made me panic. One afternoon I put Dane in the baby swing in the living room and went into the kitchen. I had it set at the nice slow speed of "2". When I peeked back in the living room to check on them Dane was swinging at full speed - whoosh whoosh whoosh. Will thought he needed to be swinging on "6". Fortunately he was strapped in safely. I also caught Will trying to feed Dane a Goldfish (not the real kind, the cracker) He was just trying to share. It's going to take some adjusting to get used to having two. I remember when Will was born I was so anxious about Luke going back to work and being by myself. Now when I'm alone with the baby it seems like a breeze - the real challenge is when I have them both now. Funny how perspective changes. They are both such a blessing and I am so grateful.

Baby Boy Payton #2

I am now 35+ weeks. My Dr. told us that as long as I'm dilated and showing signs that my body is getting ready for delivery he will induce me at 39 weeks, which puts my due date around April 22nd/23rd. WHICH leaves us with just 3 1/2 weeks until D-Day! This pregnancy has gone by so fast and in some ways it's been better than my first, and other ways much different (a nicer way of saying worse, I guess). After Will was born I was unsure about whether I would actually be able to carry another baby because my back pain was so bad. This time around I was determined to "baby" my back to avoid the extreme pain. So far it has worked. Last time I would push it until it would give out and I would literally drop to the floor. This time I've given up my daily walks, which makes me sad, but all in the name of saving my poor back. We still get outside and I walk occasionally, just not every day. My sweet tooth has been consistent again throughout this pregnancy, and combined with my cutback on exercise has made for a slightly bigger weight gain ...fortunately I think I'm still in the "safe zone." I once again was blessed with no morning sickness or nausea. I do feel much more achy and uncomfortable this time around though and at times feel like my hips are literally going to crumble or break, no exaggeration. The baby is measuring big (my belly is measuring big). The name debate continues, although we think we might have a winner. I've gotten all the baby stuff out of storage and have bought pretty much everything else that we need. Over the next two weekends I will wash and put away all of his things and get my hospital bag packed. I know these next few weeks are going to fly by. He kicks and pushes his little legs out so far in my belly that I feel like I could just reach thru and touch him. I'm so excited to meet him and find out whether he's similar to his big brother or totally different. I'm also looking forward to the labor and delivery. A little nervous of course, but mostly excited. Can't wait to meet this new little Payton!

Tick Tock Tick Tock

I haven't been writing much lately because we've been so busy. So busy, waiting!!!

• Waiting on our broken computer to be fixed. I called Dell and was told it was a virus (software) problem so I took it to the Geek Squad to fix it for us for $130. A week and a half and a refund later we were told it was actually a hard drive failure and that we would need to send it to Dell to be repaired since we bought it directly from Dell. Ok, so we did and now we finally have confirmation that it has been nursed back to health and is on it's way home. And even better, it was still covered under warranty since we just got it last summer!
• Waiting on bids back from builders. The house plans are finished and we have met with our prospective builders, now we are just waiting to find out how much this is little (huge) remodel is going to cost us. One would think that in this time of economic recession that builders would be chomping at the bit to get work. Apparently not so, since every single contractor that we've talked with has taken longer than they said they would to get back to us. Once I even left a message asking about some pricing, only to never hear back and have to call again - and get the "Oh yeah, sorry I didn't call you blah blah." So, next year, once we find out all the numbers, we meet with the bank and then after closing, begin construction!!! I was so hopeful that we could break ground so to speak before Payton Baby Boy #2 arrives, but I'm just not sure that's going to happen now. (sniff sniff) Actually, sniff sniff for Luke because that just means he's probably going to have to do more of the work by himself while I'm at home wrangling Will and nursing a newborn.
• And finally, we're waiting on baby!! I have all of the baby items out of storage and I think we have everything we need, I'm just waiting a little bit longer to wash everything and put it all out (so it's "fresh" for our little bundle of joy of course). At this point I think (we hope) I'm going to be induced around April 23rd. Which leaves us just 5 weeks! I'm so excited sometimes I wish it were tomorrow. I think I've been able to connect with this baby more than I did with my first pregnancy because I can actually wrap my brain around what is going on. The first time it was so inconceivable that I don't think I could even truly comprehend. So we are very happy and thankful that he's growing and maturing in my belly, but still we are really excited to meet this little guy. Too bad we still can't agree on a name for him. We think we might just let him go nameless and then when he turns 18 he can just choose his own.

So anyway, the weeks are going by in a flash, one after another, and we have so much to do! But still, we wait.

I am very excited that we are having another boy for a number of reasons...

• It's not possible for me to love Will any more than I already do. He has been such a blessing and a joy and although I was a little nervous at the idea of having a boy at first, now it is so natural and second nature that it makes me think: What's better than a precious, adorable, loving, irresistible little boy? TWO precious, adorable, loving, irresistible little boys!
• We already have everything we need, in the correct color! When Will was a baby and it seemed like every month I was packing away clothes he had outgrown and barely worn, I thought my gosh, what a waste! Now...we get to use them all over again! I can't wait to get them all out and wash them and put this next little guy into some of the old favorites.
• I can't wait to see Will interact with his little brother. And I can't wait to see this next little guy grow up with Will as a big brother to take after and follow his example (which both excites me and scares me to death)
• I'm sorry, but can you think of anything cuter than my two little boys running and playing on the beach in Michigan?? Or playing together on all the land where we live?

The only downfall (which Luke would consider a very good thing) is that I haven't shopped for much. Part of the fun preparation of having a baby is doing the shopping, finding the bargains, getting the new things for the new baby. We don't really need anything. I have picked up a few things here and there that I couldn't resist, but not much. So anyway, if you're still with me...

I was SO excited to go to Buy Buy Baby with my 20% off coupon and get a new double stroller this weekend with Luke and Will. After, I bet, at least an hour and a half of frustrating shopping we left with nothing. I was shocked to realize that a double stroller is going to set us back just about as much as the whole darn travel system that we got for Will! (hundreds of dollars) Is Will even going to want to ride in a stroller that much when he's 3? I decided no on a side-by-side because Will could barely even squeeze his shoulders into them with his winter coat on as it is. Plus they don't look that comfy for a baby. Which leaves us with the "mall cruisers" - the big front/back strollers with the cup holders and storage underneath. They look nice, but are monstrous and I would have to put Will in front (insert image of him kicking newborn in front of him if he were in back) and the front seat was so short that it didn't look comfy for Will at all. (plus the fact that he screamed bloody murder when we tried it out and was attempting to slink out of it the whole time kind of turned me off too). We still don't know what to do - they have these "boards" that you can attach to your current stroller that your older child can stand on and ride. But I'm not sure I want to commit to Will never riding (sitting) in a stroller again if we go with that option.

The only bright point in the entire experience came from Luke. We had taken our Chicco infant seat with us because apparently they are only compatible with a couple of other strollers, so we thought we would take it along to actually try it out. After we shopped for at least an hour, and had determined this was not going to be an easy task, Luke took the infant seat and approached a side by side stroller. I looked on with horror as he tried to jimmy it into the stroller, rocking it back and forth trying to 'get it to stay'. I was imagining our newborn baby in there, suffering from shaken baby syndrome. After he had gotten it wedged in, with the seat sitting almost vertical, he turned to me and with all seriousness said "We could probably bungee it in and..." I burst out laughing. That is SO my husband. Willing and able to fix anything. Gotta love him. :)

Being a Parent

In June of 07 Luke and I had a son, Will. He is 18 months old and the most adorable, funny, intelligent, sweet, and charming little man ever. And I'm not biased because I'm his mom either. I am convinced that even if I were a stranger I would feel the exact same. When Will was first born we had a tough time adjusting to taking care of another person 24-7. Will was, I'm guessing, by all standards a fairly easy baby. But months of sleep deprivation and the process of completely changing life as we knew it definitely took it's toll on both of us. Slowly we began to get the hang of it and now are completely in love with Will and every second of joy he brings into our lives. I find the two of us staring at him and waiting for him to do his next cute thing - just like the "obnoxious parents" did before I had my own child. Becoming a parent definitely changes your life. You get up earlier, prioritize differently, are suddenly scared of things you weren't scared of before, and are full of a love you never knew you were capable of feeling. Just thinking of our sweet little boy makes my heart swell with love and can easily bring tears to my eyes. If I would have read this post 5 years ago (maybe even 2 years ago) I would probably have rolled my eyes and hit NEXT but now this is my life and it's the real deal. I am incredibly blessed with a wonderful and loving husband, a healthy son, and a fantastic family. I guess because it's the Holidays and it's customary to talk about what we're thankful for, I'm a little more sentimental than usual, but I'm ok with that.