Monday, July 19, 2010

Braelyn's Birth Story

It took me a little longer then I had anticipated to sit down and type this out, but I guess with 2 kiddos and a husband who is again MIA due to the Military I have a pretty good excuse.

As planned, Braelyn was induced. Not the dream come true of birth stories, but it was the only way to insure that my husband was present for her birth and I could never deny him that if there was a way for him to be there. The plan was to be induced on my husbands birthday, July 8th, however the hospital had different plans. On July 7th around 9:30 pm I received a call from the hospital telling me that they were too busy for any "scheduled" procedures on the 8th and I was pushed back to the 9th. Talk about disappointment! I had been doing so well. Time had not stood still, I had no anxiety about the pending induction, nada! Oh well!!

On July 9th at 4:30 am my hubby and I got up and ready to head to the hospital to have our baby girl. By 6:15 I was checking in, 7am in my labor room, and by 9am the pitocin was hooked up and things were rolling. I started out about 1.5 cent and 80% effaced so I was hopefully for a quick delivery. By noon the contractions were building but I was still chatting away with the nurses and enjoying a House marathon on USA with no problems. Around 2 I was checked again and had only progressed to about 2 cent and 90%, however my bag of water was sitting right on the cervix's and my nurse felt if my Dr would break my water I would have a baby within a few hours. She was right!

A little after 3pm my Dr (who I LOVE and was super wonderful) arrived and broke my water. By 4pm I was 5 cent and begging for an epidural thanks to a position the Dr had me laying in called the Midwife position. Due to the size of my daughter the Dr's at my practice were worried about shoulder displasia and I was listed as a "high risk" delivery as I refused a c-section. I personally believe that most woman do not grow babies they can not birth. Woman have been having large babies for millions of years without issue. I did not have gestational diabetes so there were no outside factores that could cause me to have a larger baby then I could handle. But to say she was big would be an understatement. My Dr was very supportive of my decision and felt I would be just fine, however she prepared my husband and I that morning for what could come later on during delivery.

Although I asked for the epidural at 4 I didn't receive it till around 6 and lets just say I might as well have skipped it. Although no one is 100% sure why, but my epidural didn't take. I mashed that damn button as many times as I could but it didn't matter. The only things that were numb was from my knee caps down, not exactly the blissful feeling I had when I had my last one. The nurses continued to roll me from side to side in the midwife position to open my pelvis as far as it would go as well as to thin out ever piece of my cervix there was(this position is laying on your side with your fare leg slung over the leg of the side you are laying on, quit painful I may add!). At 8pm I was ready to go. The Dr was on her way, the nurse's were prepping the room, and all I could think about was getting this baby out!

It was such a different experience from having my son. The room was quite. Instead of 20 people in there like there were for my son's birth, there were 2, plus my husband and myself. The room was dimmed and my Dr was seriously the most calm relaxing woman I have ever meet in my life. We discussed for the last time the "what if's" because of baby's size and at 9pm it was time to push. Although the pain was excruciating it was nice to be in control when the pushing started. My Dr told me to just go when I felt ready. I looked at my husband and said "dear God make this go fast" (I only pushed for 13 minutes with my son and my biggest fear with this one was that I was going to have to push for hours and I didn't know if I would have the strength or the stamina to do it). The Dr looked at me and said "now this is a bigger baby then your last one so it may take longer. Just be patient and we will get this little girl out the way you want".

The 1st round of pushing felt GREAT! The pain leaves your body when you are pushing against it! It is so strange! and what do you know 3rd push of the 1st round baby was right there. YES! I was screaming inside, 2nd set 2nd push crowning baby and dr yelling at me to stop!!! SO I did. Oh good lord the Ring of Fire is just what it sounds like. The burning was intense and insane. I kept asking if I could push and was being told no. The Dr didn't think I would get her out so fast so the ped's team needed to be paged, plus she was trying to keep me from tearing and wanted the baby to come slower. FINALLY! I was told I could push again. Dr. Cook said to push hard but to stay slow and controlled, I did as I was told and about 2 seconds later, 9 minutes into pushing, 6 pushes, and baby was out. Instant relief! Any pain I felt was gone that second and I had a big beautiful baby girl laying on my chest. It was amazing. A 12 hour induction was pretty quick, and probably could have been faster had I skipped the epi all together and had my bag broken a little earlier, but I will take it!

This time my birth plan was more specific. I didn't hold my little boy for almost an hour because they bathed him 1st and all kinds of other things. I specified that she was to come to me 1st! Then they could weigh her and all the other good stuff a little after, and her bath could wait!! I had family waiting to meet her and not having a bath in the 1st hour of life will not hurt her. She had her 1st feeding within 30 minutes of coming into the world and then she meet her grandparents. It was such an amazingly different and better experience then it was with my son that I couldn't be more grateful. With him it felt like everything went wrong (except I had an amazing epidural) this time everything else was perfect and the epi stunk...but I wouldn't take it any otehr way!

July 9th 2010 Braelyn Ann Ensley H...was born at 9:10 pm 10 lbs 12 oz 22 3/4 inches long and absolutely perfect! (and no I didn't tear, not sure why but that seems to be everyone's 1st question). She is doing wonderfully! Bog brother has adjusted well, and with the exception of the hubby having to leave when she was a week old all has been better then I could have imagined

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

So...

It has been a while, and life has been busy to say the least. Wes has been gone for over a month now, Kercher is in his last week of school, my baby sister graduated college and my brother graduated high school. Talk about feeling old!

A few weeks back we had another "scare" I guess you could say with the baby. I failed my 1 hr glucose test as well as had a dangerously low iron level. The OB was considering sending me in for a transfusion. Got both of those shockers at the same moment and it was a lot to take. Luckily I just went in for an iron injection so no transfusion. Took the 3 hr GD test and all was well. Had a 2nd Iron injection along with an INSANE amount of iron supplemen (ya me), but with the 2nd injection things seem to be just fine! They will continue to monitor my Iron. I have added a lot of greens to my diet as well as take the supplement I was prescribed everyday. Very relieved that both issues seem not to be a big deal as the OB was very concerned in the beginning.

Friday I had a growth ultrasound, and lets just say I am having another big baby. It kind of surprised me a little because I feel so much smaller this go round. I think a good deal of that is weight gain. With Kercher I gained around 60, after my apt yesterday I am only up by 17 so ya me. It has been a pain to stay down, but given I have extra weight to begin with it is a really good thing for me, so for that I pat myself on the back. Gaining weight when you are pregnant is a good thing, but when you have some you could shed from the get go it is better to not gain a lot, so I have really stayed on top of myself and made sure to not fall into the "I'm pregnant and fat anyway so I can eat whatever I want" like I did with Kercher. I also carried Kercher around like a tire, which is how most people carry girls, and am carrying this baby straight out front like an over inflated basketball which is how most people carry boys, but hey Old Wives tales are just that, tales. Anyway, Braelyn was weighing in at just shy of 6 lbs on Friday at 32w1d. I know growth u/s can be off by up to a pound, but I tend to believe she is right. Even if she is wrong and she is just shy of 5 lbs, the average baby at 32 weeks is 3.75 lbs. I had been measuring 14 days ahead, but have taken a huge jump and am now measuring 4 weeks ahead. However, from our 1st ultrasounds we know I am not any more pregnant then we thought and originally the OB was thinking I was less pregnant. Oh well =) So we are off the chart in size. As long as she has a small head like her brother I will be good with that.

Well, that is enough catching up for today. I will try to be better about posting.

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Mommy, where is your wewe....

Yes, this was the 1st question of the day today.

We are at church for Easter Sunday. Little man has to potty so off we run. Being a little over 25 weeks pregnant, I figure lets kill two birds with one stone so I too decide to use the potty. Then I get the show stopping question "mommy where is you wewe?". Being that it is Easter I had more prepared myself for "why did Jesus die" or "how did Jesus come back to life" question today. I was pretty much completely blindsided by "where is your wewe?" Best I could come up with is mommies don't have wewe's. Oh if I only knew the slew of questions that would follow. See if you can follow along:

K:"mommy where is your wewe?"
me: "well mommies don't have wewe's"
K: "well daddies do, I know because I saw daddy's it is like mine just bigger, because he is bigger"
me: kind of taken back by my child's detailed account of my husbands body but ok..."right daddies and little boys have wewe's but mommies don't"
K:"well how do you peepee? do you not peepee mommmy?"
me: processing how to explain human anatomy to a 3 year old "mommies peepee just in a different way"
K: "right you sit on the potty like you have to poopoo" as he giggles
Me: "right mommies sit down to go peepee"
K: "so is your peepee broken?"
Me: thinking this is a good way to exit this conversation "yes, mommies have broken wewe's so we sit when we peepee."
K: "cool"
Me: thinking to myself thank goodness that conversation is over for now, I better figure something out before the baby gets here because I am sure the "where is Braelyn's wewe" question is looming around the corner.

We exist the stall to wash our hands were two women in their mid-forties both smile and me and say "that one threw you for a loop didn't it? Just wait they get better! No worries you handled it like a pro". Then they walk out.

I just kind of laughed to myself. I remember my mom always saying that you explain things to kids a little bit at a time. They will keep asking and you keep giving a little more till they are satisfied with what you have told them. I have to say after today's experience I think that is totally right. I don't think my 3 year old is ready to process the deference in male and female anatomy and if a broken wewe works, then we will go with it =)

And in other completely not related to this post news. I finally took a bump pictures for all of those who keep bugging me for one =) don't hold your breath of another...but here you go =)

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Things a 3 year old will teach you

1)Candy, Cake, and whatever else they can reach themselves is a nutritional breakfast as long as it means you do not have to get out of bed yet.
2)The word Finger sounds weird when you say it 100 times.
3)Fingers do not have proper names. They are all fingers. You have the "littlest finger" (the thumb), the "tiny finger" (pinkie), the "biggest one" (middle finger), the "medium one" (index finger), and the "almost big one" (ring finger). But they are all "just fingers"
4) your favorite color will be assigned to you not chosen by you.
5)Dirt is ok because God made it and made man from it so therefor I cannot be angry when he is dirty because he is made from dirt.
6)Fish Sticks are a vital part of a daily diet.
7)Watermelon is only for little people, and I am not allowed because I am big people.
8)No need to have one best friend, everybody is a best friend.
9)Work is elective.
10) the word mommy can be said a 1000 different ways, but when heard 1000 times a day you may start to wonder why you taught them the word.
11)Bath time=Break time.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Welcome to the Boom Boom Room

Welcome to the Boom Boom Room, aka my uterus. Oh the days before you could feel your little one move. Even being a 2nd time around mommy and knowing that once you do feel him/her they tend to want you to feel them when you want to do something else, like sleep.
Braelyn is a picking mover, just like her big brother. I have been able to feel her from the outside and even see her kick my blanket for a few weeks now, however the second Wes's hand touches me she lays still. No less then 2 minutes after he has stopped waiting to feel her she is off again. She is a night time mover, hence her Boom Boom nick name. Around 7 pm the acid reflux kicks in, and then by 8 she is in a constant state of movement.
I envision her thinking something like this:
"ooo what is that over there (i feel major kick) ooo a kidney, that is bouncy, kick, kick, kick, hey hey look at that, what is that? (squeezes bladder by sitting on it) humm, I wonder if mommy needs to pee? Naa (bouncing up and down on bladder). Uh oh there is daddy I better be still....ok he is gone lets run our finders across things and make mommy feel all flutter and weird. LOL did you hear mommy? She said it is creepy lets do it some more....( as little tinnical(sp)like feelings spread across the upper rib cage). Ok well I am board now I will leave her alone for now.
-2 hours later laying in bed-
DANCE PARTY time! Forget hitting these crazy things lets just do some new butty busting moves, a little cha cha to the left, oh no mommy don't lay that way, I don't like it (bang bang bang on my side till I re adjust). Like that, yes lay like that. Da da da da da da, da da da da da ta this dancing all around and flipping is fun. Whooooosh summer salt (sp) whoosh and another one (me feeling nauseous feeling as insides are spinning wile this child literally flips herself over and over and over again. Don't believe it? You can watch as her butt passes on by the top of my stomach, again and again, an again). Ok well I will sleep now."

Tap tap on face, "mommy you awake" oh good lord the other one is awake now.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Blogging='s time I do not have!

SO I realized the other day it has been a while since i posted. Funny thing is it hasn't been a long time since I have written. When looking in my blog post I currently have 10 that is right 10 unfinished blog's! That is just too many! Some now are from so long ago I don't even know if they are worth posting, so I will sum them up really quick =)

1. Kaje has adjusted to having a little sister instead of a little brother. A few weeks back he brought me one of his small Elmo cars and told me it was for Baby Braelyn. He wanted to out it in the crib where we have all of Braelyn's little things displayed. He said that she will need this (meaning the car) to play with him. It was so sweet!
2. I think the people on Toddler with Tiaras are CRAZY! Yes I did pageants, NO I will not put my 2 year old in Glitz Pageants! maybe the mall pageant where she wears a church dress and the winner gets a savings bond, but rest assured I will not be spending thousands of dollars and spray tanning my child and putting on fake teeth and hair!!!! Those people are just OUT THERE!!!
3. My hubby heads to VA here soon and I am very sad. Explain to me how you have a Deployment Meeting at a Shore Command? No really sure but we did!!!
4. My sister got hitched! I got sick and swoll up like a balloon. Traveling is so hard when you are preggers. Now Ihave to figure out how I will get back to Memphis for my little sisters graduation from College and my brothers high school graduation...I am sure I can figure something out.
5. Wes's cousin had brain surgery to hopefully help with his MS we are still waiting but so far so good!
6. Kaje heard the babies heart beat finally! He thought it was "cool" seriously this was his response! "Cool mommy" then he informed the DR that Baby Braelyn was a girl and not a boy and he wanted to make sure she understood that. Got to love a 3 year old that knows it all.
7.I am exhausted all of the time again and morning/all day sickness has returned yay me!

Ok so there is a wrap on life here =)

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Mom, Dad, you have some explaining to do!

These are the words uttered by our ultrasound tech as she notified us that we were having a Girl! To say that complete disbelieve and utter shock hit both of our faces is by far an understatement. I asked her 3 times if she was sure, and she was sure, 100% sure. 3 lines, spread eagle, bearing it all and her mouth was wide open as she laughed at us! Needless to say Kercher did not take kindly to this news. he informed the tech that the baby in mommy's belly was a BOY his name was Brock and that she needed to check again. Nope, no baby boy there just a Baby Girl moving around like an acrobat so we have no, no decent pictures. luckily my office does another ultrasound at 30 weeks! Yay for that i had no idea I thought this one would be it. So hopefully when there is less room for her to move around we can get a good shot of her =)But the more important issues is how to get Kercher to understand that Mommy is having a girl and not a boy.

Rookie parent of one mistake. Don't assume you know the sex of the new baby and tell your 3 year old. he is excited to have a sister, be he is still asking about his brother. He let me know this morning that he would like Brock 1st and then BraelynAnn can come. I am not sure that it is going to work out quite like that. Kids are resilient (THANK GOD) as well as if you keep enforcing things they tend to adapt to them so I am sure it will be fine. I have a friend who was told she was having a girl so she prepared her family for a girl, however brought home a little boy. Granted this situation is not exactly the same, I am thinking we will get through it. Of course I though about her last night and looked at my husband and was like "that had better not be us, he is going to be so confused if we tell him it was a boy, no now it is a girl, then come home with a boy!" At the 30 week u/s they will be able to get a super clear, oh yea its a girl shot!

We are both so glad that we didn't wait for the delivery room to learn the sex of our little one. I would say most of the time a mothers intuition is right on what she is having. I think with all the emotions in that delivery room and how convinced we were it was a boy I am just not sure how all that would have gone, so this makes me very excited! And although I wasn't exactly sure I wanted to know, I am so relieved that I found out. the feeling was not what I thought it would be. It was great don't think it wasn't, or that we weren't excited because we were, but it is just funny. I was so sure it was a little boy that I told my husband I felt until we knew it was a girl that this was it. 2 boys and we were good. I was happy with that. But now having one little girl makes me think that I really need one more little boy, but something tells me you are always going to want one more of something =) and you have to draw the line somewhere.

We are excited to announce that BraelynAnn Ensley will be joining the family in mid July! And hopefully by then Kercher will have come to terms with a sister =)

Sunday, February 28, 2010

It is time I suck it up….

and buy some maternity clothes. I am not sure what I was thinking back in October when we discovered we were pregnant and thought I could make it through this pregnancy without the purchase of any maternity clothes. You would have thought I had never been pregnant before!

I think my initial thought was that I was not working in the office, so I would not need any work clothes. Well that is stil true. I figured I could wear my “fat” jeans (yes I have those) and put on a Bella Band and that would work. Still good there. Then I am pretty sure I could just wear all the cotton dresses I wore last summer because they are cotton, I bought a few of them a little large I figure oh yea sure that will work. Oh yea NOT!

I was at Target the other day and saw several super cute cotton summer dresses just in! granted I don’t really “need” anymore. But it is all I wear in the summer just about and I love it! So I tried them on. OMG laughable! I put on my regular size and although the top of the dress was super cute, let’s just hope that although some of the 80’s styles are making a comeback I really hope that a spandex preggo dress is not one of them! Tried a size up, umm still a little stretchy going on, went 2 sizes up the top looked ridiculously HUGE and the bottom, well it fit, for now! There was definitely no room for growth and given that I am only 20 weeks, something tells me I will be getting larger then I currently am. Not to mention that the few that did fit and looked cute, and had room to grow, would be so short in the front that I would look, well I would look like my clothes didn’t fit.

So….I hopped on the internet a few hours ago and ordered away some preggo summer clothes. I think I can make it till it gets warm. Provided that all this global warming will hurry up and kick in because I am still freezing my tushi off up here. I ordered WAY more then I need. But since I couldn’t try anything on I figured it was better safe then sorry. If I can get half of it to work I will be set. I still need a pair of jean Capri pants because I so do not wear shorts even when not pregnant. But, other then that I think I can make it through the summer =) and hopefully will be back in my non maternity clothes by the fall.


I still just can’t believe I thought I would be fine without any maternity clothes? I can be so blonde sometimes.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

My Advice

With a recent wave of new preggo peeps in my life I have had a lot of questions on what things I recommend and don't recommend for new parents. So to sum it up here is my advice.

Pass on the travel system and get the car seat of your dreams and a snap and go stroller. Buy a Britax convertible car seat, trust me they are worth the $$$. Get an swing that goes both front to back and side to side. If you plan to Breast Feed get a Medella Dual electric pump. If you can't afford the new one either rent from the hospital or buy a used one off Craig's list and order new parts from BRU or from their web page. Get a booster seat instead of a high chair. Shop Craig's list for Big items you want, but don't get at showers like swings and exersaucers. Often sold for a 3rd of the original price and can easily be disinfected when you bring it home.

Just my 2 cents =) I know lots of people do a lot of the opposite, but for me this is mostly what we did or what we learned by trial and error. Of course I have lots of other opinions on what I think is the best this or the best that, but these are the BIG ones! The ones that I really feel are good advice for a lot of people, the others are more of just my personal preferences like which Breast pads are the best, or what bottles I liked =) If you want that info by all means email me and I will fill you in!

Happy Shopping!

Oh one more thing! Be sure to register on all the web sites for formula, baby food, and diapers! No matter what you plan to use you will get great samples and coupons!!! And we all love to save money!

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Place your Bets!

I may have won the war, but I am losing the fight.

Next week with be our BIG ULTRASOUND! And although for the past 20 weeks I have said we will not be finding out the sex of the baby, like all woman I have changed my mind =)

Hubby was always in favor of finding out, although now he says he has no opinion because he is in a lose lose situation. If he says yes lets find out then later I will say I wish we had waited, or if he says no lets wait and then later I say we should have found out. Although I know it was such a battle to just get him to accept waiting that I am sure deep down he wants to know.

Why am I failing at this? Well basically it is 4 fold. 1) I am pretty much 100% sure I know what the baby is. And when you are pretty sure you know it is kind of frustrating to not know for sure. 2) I can not buy any coordinating clothing. Yes I will be doing this alot! I don't care if I have boys!!!! Everyone says that all you can not buy when you don't know the sex is clothing and that is no biggy except when you are on baby 2 and that is all you really need. Other then that we have it all. So what fun is it to have a new baby coming yet not be able to get anything? I am a woman I LOVE TO SHOP! And 3) I have so many preggo friends right now who know what they are having and it makes me kind of sad not know. and last but not least 4) I hate calling my child an IT! It is not an IT is my baby a he or a she and I would like to call he/she by there name. I think it will be fun for Kaje to know who is coming and we can talk about it together. Now it is just "the baby" which to him means a whole lot of things.

So, what is your guess? We will know on Monday!

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Best Comment EVER!

Some of you know that the birth of my son was FAR from ideal. Quite frankly it was pretty crappy and not a good experience. Due to my previous experience when we learned we were expecting again my hubby and I started looking into A LOT of other birth options.

It is amazing how many different options are out there. I am not a big promoter of Home Birthing, which a lot of people are doing these days. I just think that it is wiser to be somewhere just in case. We were looking into Birthing Centers, which I was VERY interested in using in the beginning. You have an atmosphere much like home, however have medical experts with you as well as the ability to get to the hospital very quickly if need be. In VA where we use to live there is actually a birthing center inside of a hospital! What an ingenious idea! Had there been one like that here then I think we would have chosen that option, however with some of the complications in my 1st deliver my husband was not thrilled about the 5 minutes ambulance ride to the hospital if there was an issue. Given it is his baby as well, that decision was nixed. Then we looked into using a Mid Wife at a hospital. One of the complications I faced was major back labor, due to my sons position as well as a type of scoliosis I have in my lower back. Due to my scoliosis (which is fairly extreme) the Dr had issue with getting an epidural in...imagine how you feel when a Dr tries 3 times to hit the right spot in your spine...the answer NOT GOOD! So I wanted to go as natural as possible with this 2nd birth. From speaking with other people and research I felt that I had the best chance of achieving that with amid Wife. My husband was happy we would be in a hospital so if there was an emergency we were there and I was happy getting my mid wife.

Well, that has all changed now. The more research I did, the more I knew what hospital I wanted to deliver at . Well, that hospital does not have any practicing Mid Wives, so out the door that went! And I found a great practice with 4 drs that I love! When speaking with my Dr's and telling them many of the difficulties I experienced with my son I felt very reassured that I would not encounter those issues again. SO many of them could have been avoided and were just laziness of the Military Facility I was at with my son. They also set me up to meet with 2 of the attending anesthesiologist at the hospital where I would labor. What a great experience! I had 2 Dr's feel my back and talk me through the difficulty's and the solutions if I wanted to receive pain medication. It was a relief. A relief to know that if it is too much or I have major back labor again (which I was told I probably will due to the shape of my spine) that I don't have to be all scared about getting an epidural.

It is good all of those things have changed because now Wes and I have decided to be induced so that we can insure his presence at the delivery (got to love the Navy, we are on Shore duty yet my husband will be traveling to VA for 5 months). That would mean a midwife is out from the get go, as well as a much higher chance of an epi with pitocin.

Enter the BEST COMMENT EVER! A doctor asked me why I felt it was more natural to be in pain then it was to receive a safe pain medication. My reply was it is drug and it would be a drug free birth. I could get up and walk around and be more active. Some say the baby is more active, (although my son was pretty active with an epi last time)you can push better, and etc. His reply was that is very true, but that doesn't mean that getting an epi is an "unnatural birth" if you went to the dentist and had a root canal and told the dentist you didn't need pain medication for something you know if going to hurt do you think that would be more "natural". I just laughed. I think if you can make it without pain medication that is awesome! But in no way do I feel as though a woman who ops to have pain medication is a failure. I have talked to many woman who did the whole labor without and then were too tired to push. SO i think it is very personal decision. But I loved the comment! I also love that I feel good about getting another one if I need it!

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Life Lessons~The Hard Way

I swear, I learn everything the hard way...EVERYTHING! It has its ups and downs learning things the hard way, but that doesn't mean I don't wish somewhere someone would let me read the book of my life and allow me to change a few of them. However, there are some of them I look back and say had I done that I wouldn't be here. Like, if I had gotten my degree in Education to begin with and wasn't taking grad classes for it now, I wouldn't have worked at Bahama Breeze in Birmingham and wouldn't have met my husband. If I hadn't moved strait to Norfolk after we married and my husband deployed and I had gone to Knoxville and completed grad school with my sister...then I wouldn't have met a lot of great people. But I would already have my graduate degree and wouldn't be putting it off yet again for another semester for the new baby and would already be teaching.

Those are just the tip of the ice burg. There are so many others, some that were life altering decisions and not always for the good, some that were minuet that may have had little to no outcome on my life what so ever. Some would have spared people (or myself for that matter) pain, but then again who is to say that it would have stayed that way forever?

My brother just made a HUGE decision. One that I hope he made the right one. He had an offer to play football in college, but decided to pass! How many people get that? I wish I could have just said DO IT! DO IT NOW! Listen to me! DO IT! Then again, maybe I would have been wrong and he is right. I guess only time will tell.

Going through this decision processes (and some of my own not so good decisions lately) has me thinking about how to tell/help my children make decisions. How to steer them in the right direction to make them be the people they should be. I also wish I could read their life manuals so I can spare them some pain. Don't you wish you could do that? Even something as simple as don't befriend that person, they will not be good for you! Or don't go to that party something bad will happen. I just wish I could keep them from any and all pain. I know it makes us who we are but there was definitely pain, or things I did in my life that would have been better had they been avoided.

I guess I just have to sit back and enjoy the ride. Share my mistakes and hope they don't make the same ones. That their mistakes don't alter their life for the worse,or that mistakes I have made don't negatively effect them either. That in the end they turn out just as perfect as I already know they are...I guess only time will tell, but wouldn't it be nice if everything in life didn't have to be learned the hard way?

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Too Exhausted!!!

I have been too exhausted to blog....lots on my mind to blog about but zero energy in which to do so.
However, looks as though I will be without work here soon! So maybe when that happens I will have more energy, or maybe after all this travel stops Mid-March I will have more energy.

But for now I got nothin...

Thursday, January 28, 2010

No Pain! No Gain!

A term we hear often, but not necessarily when it comes to parenting. But I have decided we should really change that. Seems to me that parenting is often a balance act of either pain or gain!

For example, take the Binky, when your child is young it may be a saving grace. She/he gets quite, takes a nap, sleeps through the night, just gets comfortable, ect. However, one day you have to take that binky away or deal with a 4yr old walking around with a binky in the mouth, which lets all get real we have all talked about that parent behind their back whose child still walks around with a binky in their mouth while speaking full sentences to you.
See no pain, no gain! You either suffer through the a week of crying and pitching a fit for the binky when you take it away, suffer through an unhappy infant if you are anti binky from the get go, or you are that parent that we all talk about behind your back.

It doesn't have to be a binky. It can be and will be and for me is! A million different daily instances that pop up that I can either suffer through and get something accomplished, or relinquish another win to my 3 year old.
Tonight---it was PLAYDOUGH! Yes to those who have no children Playdough is dreaded by all. It is messy, kids get it everywhere, they do not understand that you can not dig it out of carpet, they eat it (which thankfully it is non toxic), the dogs eat it, it gets meshed into an odd brown color within a few hours of being opened, and is just a general pain in the ass.

Tonight though, I didn't care. I would trade a mess at the kitchen table, for a few solid hours of cleaning and packing and just in general peace and quite. Kaje sat at the kitchen table with his 5 small cans of already oddly colored brown playdough, his Playdough hamburger maker play set and that was all he wrote for about 2 hrs. DO you have any idea how much stuff you can get done in 2 hours of not having a 3 year old at your feet?...?....?...? Let me sum it up for you...

In 2 hours I: folding 3 loads of laundry, changed 2 beds of sheets, vacuumed my small 5 room home, ran a load of dishes, made dinner, started 2 loads of laundry and place one in the dryer, cleaned two bathrooms, took out all of the trash in the house, packed for a trip to Virginia, dusted and very dusty house, made all of the toys that were anywhere but the playroom reappear in the play room, sat down and watched about 20 minutes of uninterrupted news.

Wow! I may have to suffer through some more Playdough pain if it means I can get this much done!

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

My Baby is 3!!!

How did this happen? Where did three years go? How did we get here?

Three years ago today I held my little boy for the 1st time and my world change in ways that you can not put into words. People always say that your life will never be the same, but you really do not understand that until you are there and in that moment. To me it was ALL for the best. There is nothing I could do before having a child that I can no longer do, some of them maybe not as much as others, but I don't miss them at all!

Kercher has been such a blessing, and such an amazing addition to my life that I can not imagine life without him. I wish I could sit a brick on his head to keep him from getting taller. Or stop time to enjoy these days with him while he is young just a little longer.

But I can't.

Happy 3rd Birthday to my little man! I love you so much!

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

I Ate Sushi for Breakfast!

I know I know that doesn't even sound good. But it soooooo was!

I think that it is safe to say that although my worship the the porcelain god continues on a simi regular basis, Cravings are in Full Effect at Hey Mommy's House!

With my 1st child I feel like I craved normal foods. Or normal pregnant woman foods. We ate Mexican at least 4 times a week. The people at the restaurant down the street from our house new us by name, and most of the time didn't even take our order would just bring us our food =) Yes we were on a 1st name basis with a "the usual" order at the Mexican watering hole. I love spicy, spicy, and more spicy. The heartburn was a bitch but who cars when you are preggo and happy!

But with this baby it has been much much different. Although I still like to eat Mexican, I do no feel as though I crave anything more pregnant woman would other then I do eat a lot of Sherbert these days =) So yummy and fruity flavored. Instead I find myself consuming large amounts of sliced tomatoes topped with mozzarella cheese, drizzled with olive oil, and flavored with salt and pepper. Honey Nut Cheerios are definitely my favorite snack food, and today, well today I guess I decided Sushi would be an awesome choice for breakfast. I am not so sure how my stomach will react to that here soon, as the sushi has just been eaten and I am headed to the gym in an 1 1/2 hrs. But who knows, it never stopped me from eating something before I doubt it will stop me now!

But seeing as cravings are different for everyone, what did or do you crave?

Monday, January 18, 2010

Wonderful Weekend...

Some weekends are just more wonderful then others.

You spend them with the same people, you usually do a lot for the same things, but for some reason or another some are just more wonderful.

We just had one of those wonderful weekends!

After all the rain, and freezing temps here in SC (which I thought we moved to because it was warmer!!!) we had wonderful weather. The hubby was off work, Kaje was in a great mood, the dogs behaved, the baby was not kicking my ass all day everyday. It was just perfect.

The playroom and been reorganized! Which yes was one of the highlights of the weekend!!! We put shelves in the closet and took the doors off so all the toys are in there now which is very nice! A new day bed was set up and the crib/toddler bed was turned back into a crib and moved to Kaje's room. So although we still have 25 weeks to go we are pretty much ready for the new baby!

Friday evening we ate some yummy Mexican and enjoyed a rare night out with Kaje. Came home and watched a movie together uninterrupted by our almost three year old. Saturday started with a family breakfast cooked by the hubby, then a trip to Lowe's. Later that day the three of us made a mid-night (well 9pm) run to the Red-box for new movies on Saturday and got some Sherbert while we were out! Came home and watched movies together and had ice cream. Sunday we made homemade pancakes, put all of the Christmas decor in the attic, got Kaje his big birthday gift, A NEW SWING SET!!! and just enjoyed being a family all day.

May not sound like much fun to most, but for some reason for us it was just a great weekend. Sometimes things just run smooth and you just have a great time being together. We have had many wonderful weekends, but it has truly been a long time. It was great to really enjoy some family time together and get some things accomplished!

Saturday, January 2, 2010

I WIN I WIN I ACTUALLY WIN!

Not that in my marriage I never win, but it does always seem to be more of a compromise then an out and out win, well and this probably is more of a compromise as well but still I am calling it a WIN!

It is official! We WILL NOT I repeat WILL NOT be finding out the sex of baby "b" till s/he is born! I am excited and terrified at the same time. I think it is only natural for the unknown to be a little scary. I kind of wished we hadn't found out with Kaje, but honestly I didn't think about not finding out. I just figured everyone did these days so it was what you did. Then come to learn a LOT of people do not! Yes it is nice to plan and all that good stuff. But with our 1st I wanted all of the big things to be gender neutral because we new we wanted another child. So really all you can't get a clothes, and lets face it that is pretty easy to go and get! Then 1st months they live in sleep and plays and little draw string gowns, so really much of that is the same for a boy or a girl.

I am very excited to be waiting! My hubby protested for quite sometime. We have been telling people we were not finding out for a while, but the agreement was we would find out and not share the news. I wasn't super thrilled with that because it was me that wanted to be surprised. Finally yesterday I had the best argument and point in the world! And it worked!

Some good friends of ours did not find out the sex with their 1st, but then did with their second. When I was visiting them on New years day Jen was so excited for us! One of the 1st things she said to me when I came in was that she didn't know we were not going to find out that the sex and how happy she was that we were doing that! She and her husband both talked about how amazing it was to learn in just that moment what you were having. How amazing it was to have the doctor hold up your little one and say "Congratulations you have a SON!". Even Jen's husband said it was great. She talked about how with the 2nd they went ahead and found out. Everyone had told them that whether you learn the day you have the baby or when you have your ultrasound it is still exciting to find out. Not that they were not excited to find out that they were having another boy, but they both said it wasn't the same. It is much more exciting to find out in the moment she said. And if they have another, they will again not learn the sex of the baby.

I think for my husband having another husband say how awesome it was to not know was the key. he still really wants to know. I know then next 6 1/2 months will be very difficult. Even more so after we have our BIG ultrasound and we know that the Dr's office will know what the baby is, but I know it will be worth the wait. I know we will be so happy to have had that surprise and that experience. Although I am pretty sure it is a boy and will be shocked if it is a girl. As long as s/he is healthy I really don't care. I would love a little girl to dress up (although it will break the bank I am sure) but at the same time I would live for Kaje to have a little brother...I am torn on that. But that is a different blog!

So! We will get to experience one of the few surprises in life! We will learn the sex of our baby "B" the day S/He arrives! HURRY UP JULY!!!