Tagxedo = Cool

We are using this for a ice breaker with my new students this fall, but I had fun loading this blog and seeing what came up!

Ochies

Lily has reached the age of the skinned knee. In the last week she has drawn blood four times! Granted, three of those were on the same scraped knee  (the fourth was from falling in the tub on the drain and scratching her bottom). The first time she fell on the knee was at the park and she didn't cry or anything. She just got mad at me for having to clean her off when she wanted to play. The second and third time she was sad and kept saying "all done knee" which I think was because she wanted to be all done with it hurting.

I'm actually sort of surprised at how tough Lily is. She very rarely cries and we have learned to not react too strongly when she falls. She usually gets right up and says "I'm ok." It's kind of funny. Still, it is a tough line between letting her explore and play and keeping her safe.  I think Josh and I somewhat disagree about how much we should let her climb and risk. I am a worrier and don't want to see her hurt. Josh takes more of a "scraped knees are part of childhood" approach. What do you think?

When she got hurt at the park, I realized how unprepared I was. I had to make a trip to the store for peroxide, bandages, and neosporin. Now I keep a bottle of water in the car and bandaids and neosporin spray in my diaper bag. What other advice do you parents have for a first aid kit for toddlers?

Father's Day

In honor of Father's Day, I wanted to share this picture of our awesome dad! Let's be honest...if one of us was going to stay home with the kids full time, I think it might be him. He is so good with both of them, and they sure love their daddy. I think everyone's favorite time of day is when daddy gets home. Lily goes running to the door saying "daddy, daddy, daddy's home" and Jack gives him big smiles. Mommy is glad too! We are very blessed with a great daddy!

In honor of Father's Day, Lily climbed up in Josh's lap and said "I love you, daddy!", which is her newest adorableness. Jack is also doing some Father's day tricks. He laughed at Josh for the first time today and rolled over! They each had their own special way of saying "Happy Father's Day!"

My Little Artist

One of Lily's favorite things to do is "color". She will draw with any drawing instrument on any kind of paper. I really think we may have a budding artist on our hands. Just recently she has also ventured into the world of sculpture with play dough. I consider us very lucky that she rarely tries to eat either the crayons or the play dough. My only concern is that she may be color blind. At this point, everything is "green". Although, to be fair, I do love green and it is typically the right answer to the question, "What color is...?"

New Videos!

Pictures can no longer capture the essence of Lily, so we've been taking more video! She enjoyed playing in the rain with cousin Jesse and is just learning to "jump" over things. My little girl is so proud of herself! :) She is just too cute these days!

STTN (Sleeping Through The Night)

It is true, my little man is already sleeping through the night. I've had several people, mostly other new moms, ask what we have done to get him to sleep through the night. People also tend to be in a bit of awe when they see how easy Lily goes to sleep and hear how she plays quietly in her crib when she wakes. I say we are blessed because I'm pretty sure that is mostly what has led to having good sleepers, well, and maybe a little genetics since we have no trouble sleeping. Still, there are a couple of things that I think have helped the process along.

I think the most important thing is that we tried pretty early on to get them into a pattern of eating, having awake time, then going to sleep. Getting used to going to sleep without nursing is huge. Then, when they do wake up a little during the night, they don't have to nurse to go back to sleep. I know that letting them cry it out is controversial, and I certainly don't advocate long periods of crying, but our children were almost always asleep after less than ten minutes (which may be the blessing part) and now go to sleep without crying at all. I think the video monitor helped me some with this because I could turn the sound off (it's hard to hear) and watch and know they were ok.

The other thing is that we don't get them up unless they are really awake and hungry. Jack makes all sorts of grunts and sounds during the night. Sometimes he even wines or cries a little, but he isn't really awake, so I don't get him up. When he is really awake, he lets us know! As Lily got older, we would leave her in her crib some in the morning while we were getting ready and she got used to just hanging out there and being happy. She sees it as a happy safe place where she likes to be. I'm not sure how that is going to transition when we move her to a toddler bed.

I think that having a bedtime routine that lets them know it's time for "long sleep" (at nap or night) also helps. With Lily we do a bath (every other night), then put on her pj's and sleep sack for Lily, then we brush her teeth, go in her room and let her turn off the light, and I sing her a little song before putting her in her crib. With Jack, I nurse him,  then change his diaper and swaddle him. He get's the pacifier and a little snuggly rocking before I put him in his bed.  I think this routine clues him in that this is different sleep than when he falls asleep in the swing or car seat during the day, which helps him sleep longer.

The final thing that helped both of our little ones early on was keeping them swaddled. I've noticed that both of them tended to startle and wake themselves up when they weren't swaddled. I really think it helps them sleep and Summer makes awesome Velcro swaddles that really make them feel cozy and safe. I left Lily swaddled when sleeping until she was probably four months! I'm not sure if it would work if you haven't done it since they were little. I doubt an older baby would want to be swaddled if they aren't used to it.

So, that is what we have done, and you can't argue with the results, but I know it doesn't work that way for everyone. I do think we have been truly blessed with pretty easy tempered little ones. 

Victory

You may not know this about me, but I am a little stubborn. When I put my mind to something, I make it happen.  I can even become a bit obsessive. That is part of what bothered me about nursing Jack (that and the incessant pumping). I just really wanted to nurse him. I saw it as part of my identity. It is who I am. I am a nursing mom. I nursed Lily. I should, and desperately wanted to, nurse Jack. I hated everything about pumping. I took every step I could think of to "solve the problem". Chiropractors, lactation consultants, ENT, not to mention tons of message board posts. Nothing seemed to be working.

This past week, though, we had a break through.  I had  an appointment with a new lactation consultant. She and my amazing doula came to my house to watch me nurse and help me figure out what was going on. Honestly, I don't think they told me anything I hadn't already heard or tried. We didn't even really have great nursing sessions. But, when they left, I felt a new sort of peace. I came to the realization that even if I didn't nurse him, he was getting my milk and I could and would put my mind to surviving the pumping.

Then, the very next day, I discovered a way to get him to the breast. It wasn't anything insightful. I would hold him with his head at the breast while he screamed and bounce him until he relaxed enough to latch. We had a few feedings that started that way before he began to latch without the screaming. Within about a day, he seemed to actually be happy to nurse. Victory!

Since then we have been almost exclusively nursing, AND Jack has been sleeping through the night. I feel like a totally different person. I still worry just a little that he isn't getting enough milk from me, because he is a very quick nurser, but he seems to be pretty happy and has good awake time and good sleep, so I think he must be. I know it shouldn't be this big of a deal, but it is awesome. It makes me so happy!

Baby Poop

Hang around new parents for long, and baby poop will come up. I promise. As gross as it is, it's a frequent topic of conversation among parents. The website babycenter.com even has a photo guide to help parents better understand their baby's poop. Much to my consternation, with Jack, I haven't had much to talk about. For some reason, unlike his sister, this boy is not much of a pooper. As of today, it's been eight and a half days since his last poopy diaper. I know...right...eight and a half days. That seems crazy to me. The first time he went four days, and I assumed it was a fluke. Then he went five days after that and I took him to the doctor. She said it's not abnormal and nothing to worry about. Now, it's been eight days, and I have to admit I'm a little worried. I feel like it has to be bothering him, but if it is, it's only slightly. For the most part he is totally eating and sleeping as normal. He does have a little extra gas and is fussy at times, but not terribly. I'm not really complaining because it has saved us lots of laundry compared to Lily, but it's weird...anyone else out there have babies who went that long?

Jack Smiles

Jack has started smiling. It is rare, but adorable! I tried to catch it on video, but only got the last little bit of the real smile and some lingering smirk. Still, pretty cute!

Feeding Jack

Jack's First Bottle

Before Jack was ever born, one of the things I looked forward too most was nursing him. I loved nursing Lily and was pretty upset when she decided to ween herself when I got pregnant with Jack. I consoled myself by remembering that I'd have another little one soon to nurse.

Nursing Jack, however, has not been at all like I dreamed it would be. It seems to be one challenge after another. I had a few problems with Lily, but nothing long term and felt like because I had been there before, it would be much easier this time. My doula wisely pointed out that although I had nursed before, Jack hadn't, and, honestly, he's just not good at it. I think it's mostly due to a pretty major recessed jaw, but he just doesn't want to latch and nurse properly.

The Funky Frog Nursing Position :)

In about the first week he had torn my poor nipples up to the point they were scabbed and bleeding (sorry for the TMI). It was super painful to nurse him. I went into survival mode and went to see a lactation consultant while also starting to pump quite a bit in an effort to heal. Then my supply (which had started out abundant) dropped way down to the point I couldn't pump enough to feed him and had to give him formula. Then, with a new position to try and healing nipples, we started to get better.

Then a week and a half ago, at the lactation consultant because I was afraid we had thrush/yeast (we don't - Jack has an Epstein pearl), I found out he was loosing weight. So, I began to try to feed him more by supplementing with bottles of pumped milk, only to have him again stop nursing very well.

We've gone to the chiropractor (much to Josh's skepticism) the lactation consultant, and even an ENT to make sure there were no physiological issues. We've tried all sorts of positions and the nipple shield. Sometimes he nurses well, sometimes he doesn't. I'm not totally ready to give up and pump exclusively yet, but I may be getting close. It is exhausting, and frustrating, and by far the hardest thing about Jack so far. I just hope he will grow into being a good nurser!

Jack and Lily

One of the main questions people ask me is what does Lily think of Jack. I would say that on the whole she is adjusting well. When she first came to see him in the hospital, she was sort of oblivious. She was much more interested in looking out the sixth story window than looking at the baby. In fact, I think it took her a while to really understand that this baby was her brother, Jack. For at least two weeks, she called him "Carter" the name of our friends baby and continued to point to my belly for Jack.

Now, however, she knows that he is her brother, Jack and she certainly loves him. She wakes up every morning and from every nap asking about him and wanting to see him. When he cries she says "Mommy, uh-oh, Jack" as if she feels she has to let me know he needs me. We do have to work with her on appropriate ways to sooth him, which do not involve forcefully rocking his chair, slapping him on the head, or jabbing the pacifier in his mouth! :) I know she is just trying to be helpful, so it's sort of cute, but I'm also still a little afraid she'll hurt him.

She has had a little bit of added tantrum time lately, which could be her age, could be Jack, and is probably both. She has always been so good, but has started screaming, throwing things, and obviously testing the limits the last few weeks. Josh and I are both trying to counter that by giving her as much attention as I can, but it is tough when Jack needs me so much. I tried to take her on a Mommy daughter shoe shopping trip a few days ago, but that backfired and ended with us both crying! Today, however, we had a successful day out to the library and picking up Josh for lunch. It was nice and I hope she understands that I love her and still want to give her attention too! That has to be the hardest part of parenting two, making sure both know you love them!

Jack is Here

Tomorrow is Jack's one month birthday! Wow! I thought life was busy a month ago. Turns out I had no idea how busy Jack would make our life. In order to play catch up, I'm going to be writing a series of posts about the last few weeks, starting with this one telling his incredibly fun birth story!

I was really worried about having to be induced with Jack. Week forty came and went without any real signs of labor. I had a scheduled induction for forty two weeks, but Josh and my Mom both thought that was too long to push it. At my 41 week appointment I was going to ask to do it right away. I was scheduled for a non-stress test on Wednesday, March 14th, and I was really dreading it. On Friday, April 9th I went to a chiropractor to get an adjustment to hopefully get everything in line for his arrival. At the midwife appointment that afternoon, I was 2cm dilated and he was very low! I tried not to get too excited.

But nothing much happened over the weekend, which was a little disappointing. then Monday night, as I was going to bed, I felt a gush of fluid. My water had broken. I was excited! I instantly texted Josh, who was out with a friend. He replied, "Cool, let me finish my beer", then "JK, I'm on my way home!" We went to the hospital that night and they checked everything and let us go home and get some rest with instructions to come back around noon the next day to start induction if labor didn't start on it's own.We actually slept a little and I woke up around 7am disappointed that nothing was happening. It looked like I was facing induction after all.

We called our parents and told them to come, but not to hurry. I emailed some friends and asked them to pray that I would go into labor and not have to be induced. At 7:30, I felt the first real contraction. After two more, that were strong enough I felt like I needed to get out of bed, Josh said he thought we should go on to the hospital after our nanny arrived. I thought he was being a little over cautious, but agreed and we both got a shower and got ready to go. By this point my contractions were fairly strong and frequent. I decided I should have something to eat, and, although not hungry, forced myself to eat some applesauce while my nanny set timing my contractions. At that point they were about three minutes apart! We needed to get to the hospital.

We left our house around 8:45 and Josh debated stopping at Mc.Donalds for breakfast. At first I told him it was fine, but after we pulled in the parking lot I told him I thought maybe we should keep going, so he pulled out the other side and drove quickly to the hospital. At this point I was having nearly constant strong contractions and was starting to feel like a sissy. I kept thinking. "We are just getting started and this hurts...how in the world am I going to be able to stand this for hours". Josh was apparently thinking, "I hope I don't have to deliver this baby in the back of this rental Cadillac!"

We made it to the hospital and I, stupidly, refused a wheel chair and opted to walk up to labor and delivery. I had to stop and lean on Josh several time in the hospital lobby to have contractions. Apparently people were looking at me like I was about to deliver in the lobby. At check it, it seemed to me that the lady was going incredibly slow and I was in almost constant pain, so I finally demanded a room, or at least a bathroom (I felt like I needed to poop) NOW. A nurse took a look at me and said she would take me back and get me settled. Soon after, about 9:45 a midwife came in and checked me and said I was 8cm. She had to see another patient, but said to page her if I felt like I needed to push.

As soon as she walked out of the room I told Josh I knew she would think I was crazy, but I sort of felt like I needed to push, so he pushed the nurse button and the midwife and nurse came back in. Sure enough, he was there and ready to be born! I pushed for about ten minutes and at 10:36, little Jack entered the world screaming! It was amazing. I got to hold him right away and even try to nurse him soon after his birth. Josh got to cut the cord. My doula made it just in time to help with pushing and my Mom and Dad were texted Jacks picture just as they pulled in the parking garage!

It was crazy fast, but amazing. I felt great after his birth and not even tired or all that sore. It's the kind of birth experience I wish all women could have. I'm not going to lie and say it didn't hurt, it did, but it was so quick and all of the pain felt like it had a purpose and was bringing us our little man.

Update

I feel bad about this, but I just haven't had time to blog much lately. Life is crazy. So, in favor of making sure things don't slip by unnoticed, here is a update!

A friend is born! - On February 7th our dear friends Jon and Kelly welcomed Carter Preston to the world! I am sure that he and Jack will have many fun years of torturing Lily or following her lead to get in trouble!

Final Preparations - Final preparations for Jack's arrival are underway, such as they are. It's amazing how much less I've thought about things this time. We don't really have a bed set up for him, but I did get the pack 'n play infant napper down out of the attic so we are ready to install it. I washed the car seat cover and Josh put the seat in his car. I have things set out, although not packed, for our hospital bed. We have one pack of newborn diapers and some clean newborn clothes. Today we got our new monitor, which is awesome! Sarah is on high alert to get the midnight call to keep Lily, and our doula is on standby. Still, with all of that, I don't think it's totally sunk in that he could be here any day. I've had lots of contractions, so I don't really take them seriously. I guess he'll come when he's ready and we'll have to be ready when he comes!

Lily - I'm not sure if Lily has any idea what she is in for. When introduced to little Carter, at first she wasn't very interested. Then, she wanted to rock him in his seat. We may have to work a little on being gentle. :) Today she got a new book today called "Big Sister Blue" which is about when Blue (from Blues Clues, which she is obsessed with) becomes a big sister. She has made "baby" one of her favorite words, which is cute. I have to admit that she is so sweet and fun lately that I'm struggling with feeling a little sad about the fact that I'll soon not have as much time for her as I like. I pray that it'll be easy to find a balance.

Time Keeps on Slipping, Slipping, Slipping...

Can I just say that the months seem to be flying by. I have been so sick since before the holidays that I didn't have the energy to do more than survive. Now that I'm finally all well (thanks to finally giving in and taking some good antibiotics), I find myself super busy with all of the preparations for Jack. Thus, what follows is a brief, overview, blog post to sort of catch up with where things currently stand in the Hall house!

LILY
Unbelievably, my little darling is now sixteen months. She seems to be growing up so fast and changing every day. She has a whole vocabulary of words now, her favorites of which are, appropriately, mama, dada, hi, bye, baby, and kitty. She also likes "boo cue" (for Blues Clues) and "ish" (for goldfish), some of her favorite things! It is quite nice that she is learning how to verbally communicate her needs, but she is also quickly developing a strong sense of her own will! We have a had a few minor tantrums and attempts to escape her car seat, high chair, etc. On the whole, though, she is a pretty well behaved young lady and I consider us blessed by that. She is really quite good at listening and seems to get pure joy out of our celebration when she does what she is asked from pointing to her ears to picking up her toys.

JACK
Jack, and therefor mama, is growing rapidly! I can tell already that he is a squirmy ball of boy! At thirty-five weeks, I am starting to feel seriously huge. My midwife says all of my measurements are right on track, but she also commented on how low he is, I feel big, and people keep telling me I look like I'm ready to deliver any day. I'm not totally sure how to take that, but I have to admit that I am not sure I think I'll make it another full month. Who knows, though, he may be late like his big sister. I am, however, starting to seriously get ready. I worked hard today to get things at school to a state where I wouldn't be embarrassed for sub to come in. We've got quite a few clothes for Jack, courtesy of some very generous friends, and even bed linens. Those are all washed and ready. My sister is coming this weekend to bring his crib and I think we may go ahead and get the pack n' play and car seat out and ready. I have to admit that thinking about labor and delivery makes me a little nervous (those memories are still sort of fresh), so I'm trying not to think too much about that part. I am getting really excited to meet him, and bring him home, and see how Lily responds to him.

Things in the Hall house are busy, but I think they are about to get really interesting! :)

P.S. These photos are courtesy of a photo shoot with my amazing friend Star a few weeks ago. You can check out more on facebook! :)

To Drug or Not to Drug...That is the Question.

I am sick. I hate being sick. I have a lot to do. I like being active and productive. I feel like I have been sick for a very long time. There have been times I feel better and times I feel worse, but I have had this "cold" for well over a month now, and have been struggling with whether or not I should take any medication.

My default response is always no. I am very nervous about taking anything when I'm pregnant. I just feel like if I can survive without it, it's better for baby if I abstain from any medications. In a perfect world, I'd make it the whole pregnancy without taking anything more than a vitamin. I'm a strong woman, right. I don't need medications or rest. I can will myself to get better! :)

The last two weeks, however, I have felt like total crap. I've had a cough (which I have learned can lead to some unfortunate bladder control issues), headache, stuffy head, runny nose, sore throat, and indigestion to top it all off. I resisted taking anything, thinking I'd get better soon, but this week, I seemed to be getting worse.

On Thursday last week I took the day off work and went to see my midwife who encouraged me to try a few things like Tylenol to help with the pain and saline (or a neti pot, which Josh won't let me do) for the stuffiness. She also offered antibiotics, but I refused them at that point. She said I could take Sudafed and Benadryl too, but I read a bit about them online and got nervous and wouldn't take them.

So, for the last few days, I've been trying to "tough it out", but really just barely functioning. I've taken Tylenol, which helps for about a hour and tried saline, which just runs back out of my nose. Last night, the left side of my head and my jaw/ear began to throb. I didn't sleep. I woke up this morning resigned to taking meds. I called the midwife (thank God that Jenny, who I love and totally trust, was on both last week and today!). She assures me that both the Z Pak of antibiotics she prescribed and Sudafed are totally safe. She encouraged me to take off work and rest and take care of my baby by taking care of myself.

I know she is right, but still, as I took the pills this morning, I felt guilty. I felt weak. I felt bad about missing work. I felt worried that in some way they will hurt Jack and his last little bit of development. I know that is sort of silly, and I seriously pray that what will really happen is that I will get all better quickly and be the stronger momma that he needs to grow healthy these last few weeks!

New Year Reflections

As we begin a new year, I find myself in a rather reflective mood. Josh and I have had several conversations lately about just how blessed we are, and we are super blessed. We have both have good jobs. We have a nice house and cars that run. We have plenty of food to eat and amazing friends to share our life with. We have a wonderful family that makes the holidays a fun and relaxing, not stressful, time. We have an amazing little girl and a, hopefully equally adorable, little boy on the way. Our marriage has survived the stresses, strains, and tests of almost nine years, and our bond feels stronger than ever. We are blessed!

Last night we rang in the new year with a small group of friends discussing the high points of 2011 and our goals for 2012. I honest had a hard time coming up with a high point from 2011. It was a tumultuous yet in many ways wonderful year as I struggled to figure out how to be a good mother, teacher, wife, daughter, friend, and person. I wouldn't say I figure it all out by any stretch of the imagination, so my goal for 2012 is to, rather than worrying about it and being caught up in all of the "work" of life, take time to enjoy each moment as it comes and savor all of my blessings!

*I found this resolution by Bishop John H. Vincent online and find it quite beautiful. Maybe I'll put it somewhere to read everyday.