And stuff...

I really don't have anything to say, much less anything DEEP, but I just realized I need to write something, even if it's nothing. We've had a few weeks of new stuff - Brayden's learning a new word or two every day. He still isn't talking *clearly* but I know what he's saying and he'll usually attempt to say a word at least once. Ty has started babbling and it seems like he knows what he's saying. He'll say, "mamamamama" when he's upset and wants me. "Dadadada" toward John and "Bababababa" around Brayden.

Brayden has started saying words together like, "Brrrr - Cold!" and "Whoa! Wazzat?" His cutest thing right now though is any loud knock or bang he yells, "Min!" which of course is "Come in." I'm trying to teach him to say, "Who's there?" instead so that we can work on jokes. He and Ty dressed up as Batman & Robin for Halloween. They were so cute!!! Brayden can say "Ba-men!" Ty pulled up all the way to his feet for the first time yesterday. We think he'll be an early walker like Brayden was. It's so exciting to see him growing up, but John & I both miss having a little bitty baby.

We finally paid John's car off this week. One less bill, but it still seems like we never can catch up. We're hoping for a really good tax return to put towards debt and climb out of our hole. It sure would be nice to have some breathing room. It's odd because I'm not super worried about stuff, but I probably should be. :)

Okay, Brayden's done eating & Ty's fussing, so I have to go. Now.

Icky finicky

I have the blahs. I also have the angries. This causes problems. I don't want to do anything, and EVERYTHING is upsetting me, but I don't want to do anything about it, so I get more angry because I'm not getting anywhere. Make sense? Not to me either. I think I'm nuts. Oh well. I'm not sure, but I think it may be a touch of PMS. I don't want it to be, but at least then I'd feel justified in my craziness.

This week's been hectic already. We had missions emphasis at Newcastle this entire weekend which meant lots of driving and trying to be social when we were tired. But it all went fairly well. We spent the weekend at Mom & Dad's though so they could watch Brayden while we were missioning. That helped out a ton. I'd have liked to leave Tyler too, but Mom isn't quite comfortable with that yet since he's still attached to his food source (i.e. me).

Last night I didn't get a whole lot of sleep... Tyler decided he didn't want to sleep alone, so I took him and slept with him on the couch in the living room. That actually wasn't too uncomfortable, but at the same time, it's a lot more pleasant to sleep without a child on you. But I have to remind myself that these days don't last very long and someday I'll be wishing that I had my little cuddlebug back. Maybe.

Herman & Melissa had their baby last night. His name is Noah Rylan. He was born at 1:40 am, weighed 7 lbs 13 oz and was 20 in long. He looks a lot like Herman. Holding him gave me baby fever again, but I think my ickies tonight made me get over them. I really feel like I'm not a BAD mom, but at the same time, I'm not the best either. I get really frustrated easily and have a hard time coping with the crying boys when I'm tired. I think it all comes down to me being selfish. I'd rather do things like mess on the computer, watch TV or play xbox than do laundry, dishes or read a book to the boys. I would really like to work on that, but I keep making excuses or saying to myself that I'll do it later or tomorrow...

Tyler is 6 months! (and more)

We all kind of slept in today - until 8!! That was nice. Ty actually woke up at 7:30 but I put him in the pack-n-play and he just goofed off for 30 minutes. So then we all got up and Brayden & John had breakfast. Then John headed out to mow. I got some stuff done and then the DHL guys came with part 1 of John's birthday present (the tv wall mount). So he spent the next few hours setting all that up. He got the tv on the wall right about noon and we had to leave because Ty's appointment was at 1:30. So we went and had pizza at Pizza Hut for lunch and then rushed to the doctor. Brayden did a pretty good job waiting... He now likes to smile at strangers and say something that sounds like "hi!" It's a riot. Ty & I finally got called back (only to wait some more). He is 27 1/4" long and weighs 17 lbs 4 oz, that puts him in the 75th and 40th percentiles respectively. Dr. Holter said that it's right about where he likes to see breastfed babies at this age. We talked a little about Ty's rash that I assumed was from the rice cereal. He said to try oatmeal cereal and that I can start introducing veggies and then fruits. I can't believe Ty's this old already. Where'd my baby go???

After the appointment, we all went to Lowes to get a shelf for the A/V stuff and then to Walmart. I had to do some grocery shopping, so I took Brayden and John took Tyler. Things took a little longer than expected. Brayden kept wanting to help push the cart, but then would stop and run away. I tried putting him in the cart, but then he wanted out... When we finally got done, we went to the pharmacy to ick up Ty's prescription for his diaper rash. Of course it wasn't done yet - why would it be??? So we had to wrestle the boys for another 30 minutes or so... Yuck. By the time we got home it was almost 4. Brayden needed a nap; Tyler needed to eat. John finished the mounting of the A/V stuff and tv. I dealt with Tyler... Tons of fun.

But tonight - Ty actually crawled!! He moved his arms and knees!!! We were really surprised and excited. Also, Brayden tried to repeat after me when I said, "A-B-C." The boys are both growing up so quickly.

Tyler is 6 months!

I cannot for the life of me believe that my baby is already six months old. Time has just FLOWN by. He's getting more alert by the day. He interacts with Brayden a lot - even when Brayden doesn't want him to. They enjoy watching The Backyardigans together. It's really funny because Ty giggles when he hears the theme song. Reminds me a lot of Brayden a year ago. He's already pushing up and scooting - he has yet to actually crawl, though. Friday he learned how to push himself up into a sitting position. He's doing it all the time now.

We have his 6 month checkup at the doctor's tomorrow, so I'll come back then and post his stats and a few more things. But right now I need to go and cuddle him... He's crying instead of sleeping. But that's my boy!

Somewhere in Missouri

John, Tyler, Alan, Jen and I all took the long car ride to Branson this weekend!! In fact, we're there right now. Alan & Jen were going, and John's been wanting to go so bad, that we just decided to tag along. (We left Brayden with Grandma because we weren't prepared to deal with any toddler meltdowns.) We're all sharing the hotel room, gas money, and FUN!!! John, Alan & Jen went go-kart racing last night (Ty and I went to the outlet mall to check for good sales... no luck), then we all went to Shorty Smalls for dinner. We headed back to the hotel room after that and stayed up WAAAAY too late playing Phase 10. It was a lot of fun, though. This morning (not so) bright and early, we all got up and around and headed to Silver Dollar City. We all have season passes (thanks to Mom & Dad giving them to us for Christmas!!) and we had 4 guest passes with us as well. Obviously most people who are coming to SDC at this time of year have season passes, so it was kind of tough to find people to use them on, but finally after waiting a little while, this couple came our way. They were actually from Canada (!) and were so excited that we wanted to take them in for free! They even took our picture!! We're probably gonna end up in someone's scrapbook.

So we get into the park... John sees that the cake/bakery when you first come in has BISCUTS & GRAVY!!!! So of course he had to get some. He's chowing down on them while we walk through the park heading toward some rides. He has them all eaten before we even get to Wildfire. They all rode while Ty & I watched. I didn't want to ride because the last few times I've gone on it, I've gotten a really bad headache... So then we headed to Powder Keg. After a while, I see John finally coming out of the ride and he's pointing at this little kid beside him. I'm thinking, yeah, that's nice, you rode with a kid. And then I look more closely and it's my cousin Peter!!! It just so happened that John got in line RIGHT BEHIND my uncle and two of his four kids. Crazy stuff. Their whole family and my Aunt's mom, dad & sister were there today having fun, too! It was so great to see them - since we moved, we don't see our Arkansas family as much as we used to...

After all of that, we headed to some other rides - Alan & Jen rode the new Barn Swing - that was INSANE stuff. Then we wanted to eat, so I got fajitas; Alan got a Philly Cheesesteak and we all chowed down. BUUUUUT, then it started to rain. And it pretty much rained the rest of the day off and on. But we had ponchos and Ty did okay in the snuggli under the poncho. We still had a TON of fun. It was just so great to be back here having fun. Not being able to come to Branson on any given weekend is one of the only downfalls of not living in Joplin anymore.

SOOOOOOOOOOOO.... the day's winding down... Alan & Jen are out eating Olive Garden (John & I had pizza in the room so Ty could sleep). As soon as they get back, we're going to go putt putting at Pirate Golf! John's napping right now too so I hope that when they get back he'll be all charged up. We've had such a great time so far! We needed the vacation so very badly. And Branson was pretty much the perfect place. It's so relaxing for us here - it's where we used to go on weekends to "get away", where we go for Christmas with our families, and where we went on our honeymoon. It's just full of "warm fuzzies." You know?

This ended up being a lot longer than I'd intended.... Isn't it always? So in closing, I'll just say thank you to Erin for keeping us posted about the OU game while we were in the park. Thanks to Mom & Dad for keeping Brayden. And to Alan & Jen for letting us invade their space. That is all.

Alan's Married & Ty's 3 months!

Not only did my baby brother get married today, but MY baby is three months old. Yikes. Where does time go? Watching my little baby brother stand up next to the woman he's now married to, smiling during the ENTIRE ceremony made me realize how fast it all goes by. Alan was only 10 when I left home, so in a lot of ways, that's how old he'll always be to me. I can't believe that he's a man - grown up, moved out and married. I know that someday soon I'll be sitting in a church crying as my little boy walks me down the aisle so I can give him away to the woman that will take my place. It seems so impossible right now, but I know it's all only a breath away.

But I also need to talk about how Ty is growing & changing for my memory's sake. He's transitioning into size 2 diapers & FB mediums - so I guess he's probably weighing around 15.5-16 lbs now... He can fit some 6-9 clothes, but he's still mostly in 3-6. He's always got a smile for you...IF you're holding him. He is such a cuddler - he hates to be put down or left alone. He loves to "babble" and squeal. He found his thumb/hand this weekend and has started smacking on it any chance he gets. I'm not sure if it's because he wants to suck his thumb or because he's working on teething (he's drooling excessively also). We're trying to get him to roll over, but he's not in to it. He does scoot, though. It takes him a lot time to get anywhere (he mostly does it when he's frustrated), but he can really get around. He's almost worked himself off of our bed!! He's a good napper - sometimes he'll sleep for 2-3 hours!! He doesn't sleep through the night yet, but he's come close a few times. He usually gets his last feeding/play time around 11ish and then sleeps until around 3 or 4. Of course he sleeps the best if he's in the Snuggli or if we're holding him while he's asleep. I put him in the walker the other day and he really seemed to like that, which wasn't surprising considering that he LOVES to "stand up" while we're holding him. He also likes the Johnny Jump-Up. I think he's going to be an early walker like Brayden was. I guess that's about all?? I just have to say, though... Tyler is the most adoreable baby in the world. I love him to pieces and can't wait to see what kind of little boy he's going to be!!!

One down...Five to go

Junior High camp starts today... We've got 160+ gonna be here. Yikes. But that's nothing - we had 180 last week for Senior High. It's so great that camp is growing again. I'm still miffed that so many bunks were removed from cabins and then DESTROYED. I mean, come on - we could really use some of those beds now. And where are all the mattresses???? (And why is the rum always gone? Just kidding.) Back when I went to camp here, we could sleep 18 per cabin!!!! Now it's down to 12-13! That's a LOT of campers that we could be housing that we are unable to. Granted, there's a lot of space in the cabins now, but seriously it wasn't THAT bad when I was a camper. In fact, I enjoyed having so many in our cabin.

On to other things...

Brayden STILL isn't talking. He's started mumbing sentences in toddler-speak, but I can't understand a word of it. Every now and then there happens to be an understandable word, but I never know if it's on purpose or not. Like he says something that sounds like, "Gotta go!" (for going outside), but I'm not sure if that's actually what he's saying. He has started being able to point to body parts when asked. His favorite is his belly button (and jamming his finger in anyone else's too!). I know he knows how to count - he says something like "one, two, three" and then does something like fall down or throw a ball. Also, his Baby Tad (a Leapfrog stuffed animal) has a 6-minute lullaby countdown, but you have to hit the button 6 times to get it to the limit. He knows how many is 6 - he'll press it 6 times and then stop and smile. And he got out my rubber gloves the other day and put them on. He LOVED camp last week... He got to swim, run around, eat lots of food AND play on some big congo drums (there's a name for them like jimbo drums or something, but I'm so un-musically inclined that I have no idea what they were saying they were, and even if I did, I couldn't spell it). He is going to be like Daddy and play every instrument he can get his hands on. But I think he's always going to lean toward the drums.

Tyler is cooing more and more everyday. He has started being able to see farther distances - he'll track us as we walk across the room. He is such a cuddler. He HATES being put down or left alone. He almost rolled over the other day, but alas, it was just chance. He loves his swing and being strapped onto me in the Bjorn carrier. I've mastered being able to have Tyler strapped to me and carrying Brayden on my hip at the same time. Oh... by the way, Ty's 2 month well-baby appointment was last week... he is up to 14.5 lbs!! Brayden got on a scale, too - he weighs 25. Both boys have nice little round bellies. We still haven't found a food that Brayden won't eat.

Well, anyway... time is ticking away and the campers will be here before I know it - before I'm READY for it. So I gotsta git. Please keep us in your prayers - trials seem to be the norm this year and it's starting to wear on us. Thanks!!!

this and that

There are times in life when it all just seems... well... you know? Like you're happy about *this* but you're upset about *that* and you don't know whether to giggle or pout. A crying baby is a sound that will grate on your nerves to no end, yet how thankful are you that your baby can cry? There's a mouse in your kitchen munching on your pantry's contents, but how thankful are you that there is FOOD in that pantry? Your clean laundry needs to be folded, your dishes need to be washed, and house needs to be cleaned, but you have something to wear, clean water to use and a roof over your head.

Just some thoughts from a mommy.

Another day...

Whew. Both boys are FINALLY napping. It's been one of those days where I'd get one down and the other would cry and then that one down and the first one would cry. Yikes.

But I wouldn't trade any of it for the world.

SOOOOOO... Not too much here in sooner land. We've got a retreat going on right now, so John's been pretty busy. I'm gearing up for summer, so I've been busy as well. I was thinking the other day how pretty much since I started college, my whole life has really been about the summer time... My freshman summer I was on camp teams and had one of the greatest experiences of my life. I could tell so many stories about all the things that happened that summer - and I will never forget how much fun I had with Steve, Allen and Crystal.

Um... yeah... gonna have to finish these thoughts later because Brayden just woke up. =) GO MOMMY!!!!!!

Tyler James' Birth Story

It all started a month ago with nice "semi" painful contractions that were 5 minutes apart... I went from a 1 to a 3 in one week's time, so we thought that we would be having a baby earlier rather than later. My kid had other ideas. Every week's appointment came and went after that with no progress. Until my 39 week's appointment - Tuesday, 3/27/07. At that appointment I was a "big 3" and my doctor started talking induction with me since obviously my contractions weren't getting regular on their own. I was still having them about every 10 minutes and they were getting more painful every day. But they would only stick around for an hour or so at a time. So she said that she felt my body was ready, it just needed a little push to make contractions consistent enough to work. My doc can only induce on days that she is on call in the hospital - it happened that she was on call for that weekend. So I was supposed to come in on Friday (3/30) if I hadn't had Tyler on my own by then, but I was still having inconsistent contractions. Here's how Friday went...

8:30 - John, Brayden, my mom and I all leave the house to head to the clinic to get checked. I'd been up since 7 am and was having contractions about every 10-15 minutes - about every 2nd or 3rd one was BAD, and I just generally felt very crampy. I felt a lot different than I had for the last 3 weeks, but I didn't think anything about it - just that I was excited that I would most likely be induced that morning and would have my second baby boy by the end of the day!!

9:00 - We get to the clinic and I get checked in. I get called back about 9:20ish, but doc doesn't come in until about 9:45. I had THREE contractions while waiting, one of which was very, VERY hard. She finally came in and talked to me for a second or two and then wanted to measure and check me. As I was lying down to be measured, a hard contraction hit me, so she checked me during the contraction and SURPRISE - that contraction bumped me up to 5 cm dialated!!!! I was also about 80% effaced. Tyler was head down, but not totally engaged yet. She said that she was going to admit me and we should head right to the hospital - especially since I was GBS+. This basically meant that I had to have 4 hours of Ampicillin before she could break my water or add pitocin, so it was going to be a long morning. Of course, if Tyler came before the 4 hours was up, it wouldn't be THAT bad (although potentially serious), but we couldn't push my labor along until he was covered from the GBS.

10:00 - We make it into the hospital and I get gowned up and in bed. The nurse hooks up my IV right away so that we can get the Ampicillin going along with my sugar water solution to keep me from getting dehydrated (got the drip started at 10:30). We get all the monitors in place and everything looks good. Tyler's heartrate was steady and where it should be with the nice peaks during contractions (which were still not consistent). I had a few hard contractions, but nothing that I was having problems breathing through. I knew I'd get an epi if we had to start pitocin, but I didn't want to be on it too long, so I was holding off on it until we got my GBS drugs in.

Noon - John, Brayden and my mom go to get some McDonald's for lunch and give me a chance to rest. It was nice to have the quiet for a while and watch some TV on my own.

1:30 - Um... Oklahoma in springtime = storm season. We're under tornado watch and flash flood warnings. We've got it locked on the news channels because my brother, sister and dad are all in the "red zone." It gets kind of scary for a while and the nurse lets us know that if things get serious, we'll all head to the basement of the hospital. Fun. I'm not worried, though...

2:30 - We're done with the major dose of ampicillin, so we start the pitocin. She said that she'd let it get through the first couple of rounds before my doc would come break my water. I let her know that I want the epidural right before we break the water.

3:00 - My nurse lets me know that my doc will be coming soon to break my water - but it will probably be close to or after 5 since she's still got patients over in the clinic. But we're upping my pitocin every 30 minutes or so, and I decide I'm ready for the epi.

3:30 the epi guy comes in and gets started. Takes him more than 30 minutes to get the darn thing in and going. I have no idea if he was just slow or what, but he wasn't even that good... I wanted it on a very low dose, but he started me out on a semi-low dose... By 5:00, my legs were starting to go numb. Not too bad at this point.

5:50 - I'm on the internet on my mommy boards updating the girls on the morning thus far and I feel Tyler kick. I think - Oh DANG! This kid just made me pee myself!!! But it didn't stop coming, so I knew it was my water. John rushes over and tries to take the laptop before it gets all amniotic-y and I yell - NO!! I have to hit post first. I type my last line, hit post and call the nurse.

6:00 - The storms & my contractions are REALLY BAD at this point. My dad wants to come, but doesn't want to drive in the flood, so he says he'll stay put. John's parents are on their way. We turn the lights off so we can watch the lightening. I tell her that I'm uncomfortable with how strong my epi is right now and I'd really like to have it lowered. The guy comes right in and lowers it 4 points. I'm kind of worried that I'm already too numb to push effectively. Brayden is tired and hungry... He's just sitting on John's lap and his eyes look so heavy it's not even funny. My mom gets out a pencil and some paper to "take bets" on when Tyler will be making his appearance and what his stats will be. I say 6:20, 7 lbs 4 oz, 19". John says 6:32, 7 lbs, 5 oz, 20". Mom says 6:50, 7 lbs 10oz, 20". Brayden is holding up 2 fingers, so we say he says 6:22, 7 lbs 2 oz, 20". We go ahead and let the nurse know that I'm starting to feel presure and will probably be ready to push soon. 5 minutes later, I tell her that I really think I'm going to want to push VERY soon. She checks me - I'm a 9.5 and Tyler's head is RIGHT THERE. I've got a little bloody show and she asks me to give a little practice push. She goes to call my doctor... Guess she took me seriously when I said that when I say I'm ready I mean it.

6:15 - We're set and ready to push. I am still fairly numb, but at least I can move my legs now! I'm a little upset that I didn't say something a little sooner... But hindsight is 20/20. They actually have to help me lift my legs onto the supports. I can feel the contractions and a need to push, but it's so faint that I'm not sure how effective my pushing will be... But I guess Ty's head was low enough that it really didn't matter.

6:32 - I had 3-4 sets of 4 pushes and WHOOSH! There he is. Total pushing time was about 15 minutes. No tears, rips or complications. John's time guess was right on!! They are a little weird in this hospital and don't weigh and measure the baby until they are taken to the nursery. Very odd. But whatever. They let me have Tyler for a little while and give me a chance to let him nurse a little. My mom & Brayden come in right as I'm getting done (he only nursed for about 15-20 minutes). I really wish you all could have seen Big Brother's face when he got to see Tyler for the first time. He had the biggest smile - and just stared at him. It was like he KNEW that Tyler was HIS brother. We took pictures and a little bit of video... Then the nurses came to get Tyler to measure and weigh him. John gets to go with... I'm stuck in bed. Mom and I start talking about what to get for supper. Brayden is tired and hungry - he's starting to get hard to handle.

7:15ish - John comes back and tells me how HUGE Tyler is - 8 lbs 9 oz (Brayden was only 7 lbs 7 oz)!!!! I was FLOORED. I never in a million years thought I'd have such a big baby!!! He's 19" long and got a 10/10 on his APGARs - the nurse said that that's the first time she's got to assess a 10/10 baby! I was very proud! His head and chest are both 13", he's got brown hair with a red tint and dark eyes - they aren't really any color that we can tell. He had a very healthy color - in fact, he's just downright red!! And BOY do his lungs work!! The nurse tells me that's it's okay for me to eat now, so we send John to get us all food!!!

8:00 - John gets back with food... My dad gets here (he decided to brave the storm because he couldn't stand not seeing Tyler). I have to go to the nursery to fill out some paperwork and they start to move us to our room.

9:30 - We FINALLY get Tyler back from the nursery. John's parents get here. My parents are ready to leave and head home with Brayden. So we give hugs, kisses and they head out the door. John's parents stick around until about 10:30ish... I'm started to get tired and want to feed Tyler, but I don't want to rush them out...

10:30 - John's parents leave, I get Tyler and get to feed him. It's the first time I've had him 100% to my self and really get to concentrate on him. He's just perfect and I am so happy!!!!! I can't believe that I'm a mom to two kids now. But it's one of the happiest moments of my life!!!!!

Ready to have a baby?

Well, we have a light at the end of the tunnel!!! At my appointment yesterday, my doc said that she would be willing to induce us on Friday if we haven't gone into labor on our own by then. I've been contracting off and on for a month now, so that's been pretty tiring. She could tell I was miserable, and she said that really, my body is ready to have the baby, I probably just need a little push with some drugs. SOOOOO... We're looking at Friday ifeverything goes according to plan. If there are a lot of others having babies on/around Friday, I won't get to go in - I'm "low priority" for a room unless I'm in labor on my own. I'm really hoping that things will work out for us and we'll get a room.

We are so excited that there's an end in sight. It was weird to think this morning that the DAY AFTER TOMORROW I could be a mommy of two.

Keep us in your prayers - of course we'd LIKE to go into labor on our own because it'd be a lot easier and less risky, but we don't mind the induction.

Next time you hear from me, I'll probably be posting a "birth story"!!!!!

One Week to Go!

This baby is stinking stubborn. We've been having signs of labor for 3 weeks now, but they've all been for naught. We are one week from our estimated due date now, and hoping that we won't make it that far. If I thought I was huge and miserable before... yeah... It's almost a comedy now. We're pretty much ready for him to be here. I've got all his clothes washed and hung up, we have a couple packs of diapers and some cloth (fuzzibunz) ready to go. There are the few little things that I don't have, but that I don't want to buy ahead of time because I'm not positive that I'll want or need them (like lotion).

I think he's gonna be a big boy... I'm guessing he'll be pushing 8 lbs and about 20 inches. It's gonna be funny seeing Brayden and him side-by-side. Brayden started out as such a chubby little thing and has thinned out quite a bit since being mobile. I'm pretty sure that there will be a couple of months where they are fairly close to the same weight!!!

Speaking of Brayden... He's still showing us that he has all the personality of about 20 people stuffed into his little body (remind you of anyone?!). He's still not talking, but he's doing a ton of other things that are pretty advanced. And he RUNS now. Literally. He sprints away from me at the mere mention of changing a diaper. I don't know how or why diaper changes became such a tramatic experience, but he sure knows how to throw a fit when it comes time to get "cleaned up."

We've discovered that he's a MAJOR lover of the outdoors. He HATES to be inside if there are people outside that he can see (like Daddy). He runs for the door when you say, "Wanna go outside?" And then he screams bloody murder when it's time to come back in. He'll be Daddy's little helper really soon!! I don't think Daddy can wait for that either!

Okay, well... I've got a few things to do around the house and a dirty diaper that needs tending to. Hopefully it won't be too long before you're seeing pictures of little Tyler on here.

Isn't it over yet?

47 days to go. But who's counting? I have figured out that the third trimester of pregnancy is ANNOYING. You're to the point where you just want to have the baby, but all it's doing is torturing you from the inside (hey - MOVE that elbow, kid!). Bathroom breaks are a necessity - at least every hour - but you're supposed to be drinking more water than ever before (at least, if you want to stave off the Braxton-Hicks contractions). You're supposed to be "glowing," but you only feel fat (and they say you're supposed to gain a pound a week - so you're just getting fatter). You can almost hear the little pitter patter of feet - AGAINST YOUR RIBS AND LUNGS! And the best thing? You know you can't do jack squat about any of it because it's just a waiting game now.

But all that said - I love my little baby. When he wiggles and squirms it may be annoying, but I know he's okay and growing. I actually worry about him when he gets still for too long. I feel as huge as a house, but the smiles from random strangers seemingly appreciating what I'm doing, make it seem a little more fun.

I still have SOOOOO long to go... But yet, time is flying by. Seems like just yesterday I was stressing out over having TWO kids. Now it's not so bad - it's exciting really! Bring on the challenge - my little man is dying for a playmate!!

My baby boy is ONE

How can it be??? I can't believe that a year ago, John & I were sitting in the hospital on the way to becoming parents in a few hours (B was born around 3:30 pm). We don't have big plans for today - we've got a doctor's appointment for Brayden to get weighed and measured. He'll get shots later, though - thank goodness.

We were GOING to have birthday party Saturday, but they're calling for 2-5" of snow now, so we're moving the date. It really stinks, but that's January in Oklahoma for you. My mom says we're going to be going through this "will we or won't we" every year of his life. At least at this age he doesn't realize that he's not getting his party this weekend... We have everything ready, though. It's "Backyardigans" themed and everything is so cute!! He gets so excited when he sees the stuff. My dad thinks we're doing the theme for us because he doesn't understand that Brayden is actually crazy about the Backyardigans! He has a little Surfer Pablo figure that you have to press a button on his choker to make him sing... Brayden figured it out yesterday and was carrying him around the house pushing the button over and over yesterday and dancing along with the song. It was TOO cute. He gets excited anytime he hears the theme song and starts bouncing up and down! I'm so glad he likes something that John & I can enjoy as well (not like the Wiggles or Doodlebops).

He's eating his ritual blueberry waffle right now. He LOVES to eat those in the morning. After this, I have to get him cleaned up and then get ready to head out since we're going to have to go extra slow because of the ice on the road. Ick.

Sick of sick and other junk

So... I've had a cold - well make that 3 or 4 different colds - for a MONTH now. Stinks. I can't breathe most of the time, which is SO much fun for a pregnant woman, lemme tell ya. John keeps telling me to just hurry up and get over it all. Much easier said than done. Each time I kick one cold, someone else says, "Here, have mine!" And my wonderful body says, "Sure, why not?" It's led to me being loopy. And droopy. And... yeah, I got nothin'.

Anyway. We are only 80some days from Tyler's birthday! I can't wait. I'm not to miserable yet, but quickly getting there. This kid moves around as much or more than Brayden did. It's like having a small alien inside of you that thinks it needs to come out via your belly button. I can't even describe the unnatural feeling. So if prenatal activity is any indicator of postnatal (as was true in Brayden's case), please pray for me. I am having to laugh out loud at the thought of having TWO Braydens running around the house. (And I think I'm tired now?!)

Speaking of Brayden... He's practically RUNNING everywhere now. Yes, he's not even a year old. He almost climbed up on the coffee table today. His favorite thing to do is climb in and out of the laundry basket (or get into his small recliner and then stand up and JUMP out). He's a handful. And then some. He doesn't talk yet, but he's been doing this funny "OH" noise that almost sounds like a monkey's "ooo-ooo-ooo." He loves to wave at strangers and grins at anyone who walks by him - it's like he KNOWS that they will look at him and comment on his precious looks - and he ENCOURAGES it. I don't want to brag, but he is pretty darn cute. He's a ham and a half. He loves attention from anyone and everyone. And he's a bully. You read that right. He can take down his 2 year old cousins. He actually understands what "Get 'em Brayden!" means. While at Grandma Ritz's for Christmas, he figured out how to WALK down the stairs using the railing - he's not a normal child, I'm telling you! And he can eat an entire Happy Meal by himself.

I think that's about all about that. We're having his first birthday party 2 weeks from today. The invite list is HUGE. If you don't get one, but you'd like to come, just let us know - there's always room for more.

Speaking of the little angel, he just woke up... So I'm off to play!!