A sad good bye

After we brought Eagan home from the hospital, we had a few nights of him having his days/nights mixed up. After careful thought, we realized that I had probably been drinking too much caffeine. During my pregnancy I drank a cup of coffee and/or Dr Pepper or Pepsi at least 3 x's a week, if not more. Well, I continued that trend even after delivering. When I was prego w/ B, I did drink caffeine, but as soon as I gave birth, I gave it up while breastfeeding.
Since I've stopped drinking caffeine, Eagan has been doing great with sleeping at night. For the last week and half (of his 2 weeks of life), he has been sleeping 5-6 hr stretches during the night. Knock on wood - I know. And even though it's hard to give up the caffeine, it's SO worth getting some sleep at night.

However, to take it's place, I crave sweets like none other!! Somehow, these found their way in my shopping cart today, not sure how it happened. !?? I. never. buy. these. But I so look foward to eating them. :)

Guess I won't be fitting into any skinny jeans anytime soon...

Mom = a blessing!!

There's really not much to say except that my mom has been a HUGE blessing to us this past week and a half. She arrived last Wednesday (the day I was discharged from the hospital) and will leave tomorrow morning. tear. She has helped us SOO much. Breeson has had a great time getting to know his Grandma a little better. It's been great for their relationship. Plus, it's been great having her here to give him extra attention during this adjustment. It's been an extra blessing to me as I have had a harder time post delivery than I did with Breeson. I've been to the doctor 2 times and the ER since delivering (bladder infection and blood clotting); not to mention the Ped's appt's that we've had for Eagan.

Thanks mom (and Dad for letting her come for so long) for being a great MOM and Grandma to Breeson and now Eagan. We appreciate your sacrificial heart and selfless attitude. Thanks also for getting up several times during the night to either take care of Breeson or allow Jamie and I to get extra sleep. We can't thank you enough!!

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Last night we ate dinner at White Fence Farm. It was a fun place to eat at. It's a family-style, southern cooking type place. Plus, they have a petting zoo, gift shops, and playground. It was a great place to run off some energy.

Since Eagan was born, time has gone by fast and slow. It's crazy how it can do that. I think the adjustment will really start to sink as we will be doing it "on our own" now that my mom is leaving. However, we do look forward to Jamie's mom coming out later on.
I don't want to jinx anything - but the last 3 nights have been great as far as Eagan adjusting to night time routines and feeding/sleeping. He seems to like his sleep better than eating during the night - and for that I'm thankful!! Knock on wood.
He'll sometimes go 5 hour stretches. I wake up and check on him to see if he's still alive!
Now that we've been home a few days, Breeson doesn't even seem to notice Eagan 90% of the time. He likes to occasionally hold him but once he does, he's off to playing again. I think once Eagan becomes more interactive that'll change though.

2 year old

On Tuesday we celebrated Breeson's birthday. We now have a 2 year old on our hands. He reminds us everyday too! Sadly enough, it wasn't a great day to celebrate. It was rainy, he was super frumpy due to a short nap, and our plans didn't go as planned due to the weather. We even took him to the indoor play place at the mall and after 5 minutes he wanted to leave. I think he was just partied out since we had done his birthday party last Sunday. I'm SOO thankful we did it then.

But I don't mean for this post to sound so negative. Breeson has been a true "joy" to us and we're thankful God has allowed us to be his parents. It's hard to believe he's our "big boy" now. So far, he's been a great big brother to Eagan.

For his birthday we got him a tricycle:

The Labor & Delivery Story

Where to start?! The past few days have felt like several weeks. It's hard to believe Eagan came into this world just this past Tuesday. We are slowly adjusting as a family. My mom is currently here, which has already been a HUGE help. We are all a bit sleep deprived (except for Breeson - which I'm thankful for!). Eagan seems to have his nights/days mixed up. I pray it won't take too long for him to make the switch. It's amazing to already see the differences between him and B, considering he's only been here a few days. But before I get into all of that, let me start from the beginning as to when he came into the world...

Monday: I was having harder contractions on/off all day; nothing regular though. The closer the evening came, I knew it was going to be that night (or was like 90% sure) but wasn't sure when. We got the bag ready that night and informed our pastor and his wife (who came to stay the night w/ B) that they could possibly be getting a call later in the night. When I went to bed, my contractions were at best 10 minutes apart, but even then they were so irregular we weren't sure what was going to happen. We finally turned out the lights around 10:30 pm.
At 11:00 I woke up to a pretty hard contraction. After having 4 of them in a row at 3 minutes a part, I woke Jamie up. I was confused b/c where did our 511 (5 min apart, lasting 1 minute, for 1 hour) go?? We called our friends, got dressed, and waited...for what seemed like an eternity, but was only like 15 minutes at best. When they arrived, Jamie gave a couple instructions re: B and we jetted. The hospital we delivered at is only 5 minutes away. We parked the car and headed to the E.R. Between the parking garage and the door to the E.R. I had to stop at least 4 times for the contractions. When we got in the door, the lady at the desk got our names and wanted us to sign in. Right then I had a contraction and I told them (Jamie and the registrar) that I needed to push. She immediately got on the phone and told them to get a wheelchair STAT!!! I was able to manage signing in and right then a nurse arrived w/ a wheelchair. She ran (literally) w/ Jamie running right behind taking me straight to L&D. This was after midnight by now.

Tuesday: As soon as they put me in a bed, got my IV's going, they checked me and said I was dilated at a 9 and 100% effaced. I kept telling them I needed to push. They kept telling me to hold off and the Doc would be there soon. Within a few minutes he arrived, sat down and told me to start. I pushed 4 times and Eagan arrived into this world at 12:45 am. Total time of being at the hospital (walking into the ER and Eagan's arrival) was 40 minutes!

We are very thankful for a quick delivery. With B I did an epidural. But with Eagan we had set our minds to doing it naturally this time. I'm thankful God answered our prayers in allowing me to have a quick delivery - it allowed me not to even have the option this time. I thought pushing with Breeson for less than 25 minutes was pretty good - but I broke my own record by only pushing for less than 5 minutes. Looking back we realize that had I delivered at the hospital we were originally going to deliver at, we most likely would have been delivering either on the road in the parking lot. God knew what He was doing and we're thankful we changed hospitals in the end.

In all, we're doing alright. I'm still a bit sore but healing rather quickly. After birth the nurses would always ask what my pain level was on a scale of 1-10 and at most it was at a 2 or 3.
B is adjusting pretty well to his new baby brother. We are doing our best to give him extra attention as we know he needs it right now. All we can do is take it 1 day at at time.

(for complete picture tutorial, see post below...)

Pictures only...

(above: Breeson leaving the hospital)

(above: Eagan 4 days old)

An early birthday celebration

Although Breeson's birthday is not until May 24th, we decided to do an early celebration...just in case. We had originally planned to have it at a park close by, but due to the weather, we had it at our house. It was a bit snug with everyone in our tiny house, but it was still fun.
Thanks to all who were able to make it. We appreciate you coming and supporting us by loving on our son.

Nichole and baby Chase (the youngest party-er)

Christina, Kristy, Jael and Joe

the drink stand

Joe and Jack enjoying a Pepsi

the food table (for B's cake, I just made a layered yellow cake w/ choc frosting. I put the 2 candles in and realized it looked "blah". So I quickly made a small flag banner to put up between the candles - it helped dress it up)

the birthday boy himself

me and Mary

the birthday boy and the ladies!! (Lillian & Carolyn)

Bullets

• Today after I showered and got dressed, Breeson kept repeating that we were going "bye-bye". This isn't unusual for him to say but I did realize something. It dawned on me that my son only recognizes us as going bye-bye when mommy gets dressed. :) So in other words, my laziness in staying in my pj's or not showering is being communicated to him in ways I really wish he didn't understand. So I hope I can do better at this... :) We did in fact go somewhere but I'll admit there are days that if I know we're staying at home all day that I don't put much effort in getting "dressed". And although I don't live in my pj's when I do stay home, I should be more assertive in looking better. I know it'll help my morale just as much as his - it'll help me get the day going.

• I had a wonderful Mother's Day yesterday. My boys spoiled me, as usual. But it felt even more special b/c of the special day marked on the calendar. It started off by Jamie letting me sleep in. Then I woke up to a wonderful card and pancakes!! After church we came home and just hung out. In the afternoon we did some last minute shopping before baby comes (I needed slippers!) and we ate out. We ended the day playing at the park. It was fun. We had a lot of laughs and the weather was just perfect. I couldn't have asked for a better day.
  

• I'm 37 weeks now. It's crazy to think that he can come anytime now. I'm really hoping he comes sooner rather than later. This time around I'm much more swollen. I had to give up my wedding ring about a month ago. But I did that with B as well, but it felt much sooner this time. My toes and fingers constantly look like sausages; it makes for some uncomfortable days at work with my shoes. I'm currently (as of last week - I do have a doc's apt tomorrow) 2 cm's dialated and 60% effaced. But I know that doesn't mean much.

• This Sunday we're celebrating B's 2nd birthday. We are going VERY simple and cheap this year. Simple b/c I did Evites (please don't look down at me for that) and we're doing it a local park. Cheap b/c I'm making his cake and cupcakes. I'm just praying for nice weather.
  

• My job is changing and I've been asked to switch from 3 days/week to 2 days/week. And although they're doing their best to help me get the hours I still need before the baby comes, it's still affecting our budget. This is a time in our life where we truly are having to lean on God's provision and timing. This time around I don't have maternity leave pay or paid vacation - since I'm only there part time. Plus, there's no guarantee I'm going to have a job after my maternity leave.
  

• Which brings me to my next point: Jamie is avidly looking for a full time ministry position. We understand the economy right now makes it tough for churches to hire an Associate, but we're praying that God will open a door somewhere. We're even open to moving...
  Last Friday we went to a Soaking Prayer service at our church. It was SOO refreshing and a humble reminder that God truly does hear our prayers and that we just need to continue trusting in Him.

• It's pretty crazy to think we're gonna have a 2 year old on our hands in 2 weeks from tomorrow. He already likes to show us that he'll be 2 by holding up his fingers. He's almost got his colors down, but we still like to stick to "1, 2, 1, 2" instead of increasing our numbers to 3, 4, 5...
  We're nowhere close to potty training. I hope to really work with him during my maternity leave (however long that may be). But if he's not ready, then he's just not ready. And I'll have to accept that. He's doing well in his big boy bed. We did hit a period of about 2 weeks where we were getting up during the night to put him back in his bed. But he's pretty much in a routine and does well. Something very special to all of us that we started recently is praying together as a family as we tuck him in bed. He even asks for it and knows it's time to pray, or "pay" according to B. He's ALL about trucks right now. He has 1 truck in particular that is his. He does share his others and likes to bring us a truck so we can play with him. We had some friends over a couple weekends ago and he was quite disappointed when their younger son had no interest in playing trucks with him. :( He was sad and didn't understand why one wouldn't want to play!? We still supplement his milk w/ Iron b/c he still has no interest in eggs or meat. The only "meat" he eats is turkey hot dogs and McD's cheeseburgers.
  

Well, I'll quit there. Hopefully you'll hear news soon of the arrival of baby George #2. But then again, it could be a few more weeks. Booh.

Showers of Blessings...

We are truly blessed. In the last couple of weeks, we've been given 2 baby showers: one at work and a couples shower given by friends. God has truly provided and continues to meet our needs, even when we don't know how or where it's going to come from.

Thank you ALL who have showered us with blessings on baby #2.

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At work they blessed us with a double stroller:

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The couples shower was held at Clint & Theresa's. The hostesses were: Theresa, Becca & Kristy. They each did a great job and each of their talents really did shine through.

Kristy made these owl cupcakes: