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Family Lines

by on November 29, 2011 in design, Family Fun, james, me, things i love

Here is an up-close view of the family tree in lines. I love how it turned out and how well it matches James room. :)

James' Family Lines

(the names are blurred out just a little bit. in the real print, they are in black and really easy to see. they look great.)

p.s. if you love these family trees (the circle or the lines) and would like one for your family, contact me. I’ve decided to sell them. They’ll make a great Christmas present and if you contact me soon, I’ll be able to get it to you in time for Christmas.

Comments { 1 }

Big Boy Bed. Big Boy Room.

by on November 10, 2011 in james, things i love

Back in January when we found out that we were expecting another baby, one of the things that crossed my mind was where baby #2 was going to sleep. I didn’t want to buy another crib, so I wondered when we could move James into a normal bed and if I would be able to before the baby came.

As the day for Brennan to join us came, we started to make preparations. We got a mattress and put it on the floor in the room that would be his new room once the baby came (we would have to take the crib, chair and dresser apart to move them, so we didn’t want to change the room that would be the nursery).

new bed

NEW BED!

This was in July and James loved it. He thought the bed on the floor was the greatest thing. He would jump, say “BOOM” and fall on the bed.

Then I became worried that he would think it was only a toy and for fun and not a place to sleep. Then he got sick. He threw up one morning all over his crib and I bundled up all the bedding and threw it in the laundry and headed to the doctor’s office (it was his 15 month appointment that morning…I don’t just run to the doctor after just one throw up). On the way home from the doctor he fell asleep and I carried him into the house and was going to put him in bed, to my surprise there weren’t any sheets or blankets in his crib (I was 8 months pregnant, I had completely forgotten that I didn’t remake the bed after throwing the bedding in the laundry) and I decided to put him on his mattress and see how it worked for nap time.

It worked like a charm and we decided to move nap time to the mattress and new bedroom permanently.

Shortly after Brennan was born, I was still afraid to change bedtime to the new bedroom. James was sleeping so well in his crib. We read scriptures, said prayers, snuggled on the chair for a few minutes and put him in his crib and he went right to sleep on his own with no complaining or crying. Messing with such a good thing seemed like such a bad idea.

But it needed to be done and we did it and it is working just as wonderfully as the crib.

My favorite thing about James in the new bed is at night either Bryan or me will lay with him in bed for a little while until he gets sleepy enough to fall asleep on his own. The last little while, James has started to pull his binky out of it mouth, lean over and kiss us on the head and then put the binky back in his mouth and turn over. It is his signal to us that he wants us to leave. It is one of the cutest things ever.

I love my sweet Baby James.

To make the transition even more smooth, I wanted to make sure that he room was special just for him so it was time to decorate (and I was nesting and I took it out on his big boy room). I love how it all turned out. Here are some pictures:

The Bed

The Bed

Above the bed is James’ family tree (not the circle one that I made originally, I wanted to do one with lines that would match his decor more. Up close view in another post). Also are the six canvas pieces that I made to match the bedding. I got the idea on pinterest and really liked how they turned out. The stool helped him get up on the bed (after we put the box springs on the bed, it was too tall for him on his own, but the box springs, and the bed rail keep him in bed after he wakes up).

Canvas and Family tree

bookshelf

Bookshelf and toys

I didn’t want to buy a new dresser and the one we had didn’t match very well, so we hid it in the closet and use the green buckets for diapers, jammies, extra blankets and jackets. He has a teddy bear, his jungle truck, a piggy bank and the Illustrated Stories of the Book of Mormon (he LOVES those books). The frame above the bookshelf is going to be filled with pictures of his aunts, uncles, cousins and us! We also found a beautiful picture of the Savior holding hands with a little blond boy by Greg Olsen, a picture of the temple and a picture of President Monson.

The Temple, the Savior and the Prophet

It turned out a little high on the wall for his little eyes but he still takes notice of it (he pointed at President Monson today and said “bumpa” (how he says grandpa)…opps, we’ll have to work on that).

On the side of the room (where I stood to take the pictures) is just the door and a closet. So nothing interesting to see over there.

He loves his room and understands that it is HIS room. I love going in to get him in the morning and finding him snuggled up in his bed, just waiting for me. I love snuggling with him and watching his eyes open and close as he fights going to sleep. And although I know that I’m going to miss him being my baby, right now I love doing these things for him to help him grow up a little tiny bit.

 

Comments { 6 }

Helping?

by on November 7, 2011 in Family Fun, james, movie monday, things i love

James likes to help. I’m not sure how helpful it actually is, but he loves it.

video taken Nov. 5.

Comments { 1 }

I’m a Ninja

by on October 23, 2011 in Family Fun, me, things i love

I hate flies. They are currently plaguing my existence, however.

For the last many weeks, we have had at least two flies living in our house, and I can’t get rid of them. There has also been one living in the car that I always drive, and upon getting in the car that I never drive, I discovered another one.

I was beginning to think they were somehow living in my hair. Gross (they aren’t actually living in my hair though, it’s okay).

The other day, I was in the bathroom getting ready for the day and one was buzzing around my head, driving me crazy. I didn’t have the fly swatter, so I grabbed some tissues. I didn’t actually think that I would get him with a handful of tissues, but I had to try.

He landed on the door frame right at eye level and I looked at him, took and breath, aimed and swatted.

Success. I got him!

I was so proud, I called Bryan to tell him.

Then today, while I was nursing, I saw what I thought was a spider on the bumbo. I called Bryan to kill it and he went into the bathroom and got a tissue. As he was getting the tissue, the “spider” flew off the bumbo. It was the other fly!! Bryan came back and I told him that it was not a spider and a fly and told him to get it anyway.

“I don’t have the fly swatter, I can’t get it,” he said.

“Sure you can, you have some tissue,” I assured him.

“I can’t get it with just tissue. What do you think I am, a ninja?” he responded.

I think since I did get it with just tissue, that officially makes me a ninja. Wahoo!

I’m a ninja.

(sadly however, it was a one time ninja deal. After I finished nursing, I tried to get him and missed. sigh. Oh well.)

Comments { 4 }

You-er than You

by on October 8, 2011 in Brennan, Family Fun, james, things i love

One of the things that I love so much about these two little boys is how different they already are. Brennan has been here with us for four weeks now and I can already tell that these two little boys are going to be unique little turkeys.

unique little guys

Brennan loves to be held, cuddled, snuggled and wrapped up. If he is unhappy, holding him close will often solve any problem. I am loving it (who doesn’t love to snuggle a brand new baby?). The only issue is that in the middle of the night if he is upset and I am tired, I know that I can just tuck him in the crook of my arm and he’ll fall peacefully asleep, then I can lay down and do the same, with him still tucked into my arm. I’m not against co-sleeping, it’s just not a habit I want him to be in when he gets older. I like my own personal sleeping space.

snuggled

James didn’t much care if you were holding him or not. He was pretty happy to jut stretch out on the couch, floor or your arms. He also was not much of a snuggler. Right from in the hospital James liked to stretch out. He liked to see the world and know what was going on. Even now he’s not too much into snuggling. We have moved him to his big boy bed and at night either Bryan or I will lay in bed with him for a little bit while he starts to fall asleep, but he doesn’t like for me to actually touch him. He likes that I’m there with him, but I can only put my arm around his belly to make sure he lays down, no other snuggling allowed.

Stretching

James stretching in the hospital

Their love for binkies are different too. James thought the binkie was great and still loves it. Brennan will tolerate it, but I can just imagine him rolling his eyes at me while I try to put it in his mouth when he is upset.

James loved baths and still does.
Brennan thinks baths are pretty horrible.

I have always known that no two kids are alike, even in the same family (goodness, just look at my siblings, we are all crazy different) but it is just so much fun to discover it in your own kids.

Comments { 3 }

Adventures in Bedding

by on October 7, 2011 in me, things i love

Did you know that bedding could be an adventure? It can.

In May, we bought a new bed for our anniversary. We upgraded from a queen sized to a king, thus rendering all of our sheets, comforters and quilts useless. I had some bedding picked out that I loved, but it wasn’t available yet, so I decided to wait until it was released. When it became available I discovered it was going to be over $700! (far too much than I wanted/am willing to spend on new bedding.) So the search began for bedding that I loved. Until then, we bought some inexpensive sheets and used a pile of blankets, or just the fitted sheet and nothing else because it was summer, and I was pregnant.

As fall descended upon us, I realized we needed new bedding because it was soon going to be necessary to use more than just a sheet. And since I am no longer pregnant, I don’t have any sort of built in heater and I really need a comforter. So the search became more intense.

Searching online and in stores, I finally found one that I loved at JC Penney – awesome (and it was on sale — double awesome) – and made my purchase. When it arrived I was so excited. I wanted to put it on my bed that day, but didn’t have any sheets that matched (it is a 10 piece bed set with a comforter, 4 decorative pillows, two king shams, two euro shams and a bed skirt, but no sheets) and needed to make a trip to the store.

Finally, I had everything that I needed and was ready to make my room beautiful once again. I wanted it to look like the picture, so I even pulled out the ironing board (don’t even ask me the last time I pulled out the ironing board. I can’t remember. We never iron anything around here, so getting the ironing board out is a big deal).

Turns out, I don’t iron because I don’t know how or am just not good at it.

I started with the bed skirt. It was really wrinkly from being folded up in the bag, so I read the instructions and set the iron on low according to the care instructions. It is a type of fabric I’m not familiar with, so I didn’t want to burn or melt it. I’ve done that before with the iron.

I sprayed the bed skirt and ran the iron over it. Nothing happened. I tried again and the wrinkles persisted. I thought maybe I needed to let the iron warm up more, so I took a short break then tried again. The wrinkles wouldn’t budge. Sprayed it again and tried more. Still nothing.

Fine. The bed skirt wouldn’t be ironed. No one would see the wrinkles in it anyway.

Then I realized I needed to move the mattress to put on the bed skirt… hmmm. It’s pretty heavy and Bryan wasn’t home, but I’m tough and knew I could do it. I lifted and pushed aiming for the bedroom wall. Pushing, lifting, grunting and crawling across the box springs I finally got it propped up against the wall and set to put the bed skirt over the box springs. After I had it all positioned I just needed to put the mattress back. Placing the mattress back on would be far easier than lifting it off, so why not rotate the mattress at the same time. It’s good to rotate mattresses every once in a while, right? Right, but probably not when you are trying to put on a bed skirt.

In the process of lining the mattress up with the box springs and rotating it, there was only inches of the bed skirt left showing on either side of the mattress.

just a smig

inches...

I tugged, pulled, lifted, tucked and tried everything to pull the rest of the bed skirt out. Then gave up.

There is currently a bed skirt on  my bed, but if you look, you won’t see it because I gave up just tucked the whole thing between the mattresses. Who needs a bed skirt anyway?

Then it was on to the sheets. I had washed them the night before and left them in the dryer, so they were pretty wrinkled too. Still having high hopes of the bed looking just like the picture I thought I would iron the sheets too. But not all of them. That would be way too much. Not the fitted sheet and only the top part of the flat sheet that you see at the top of the bed.

I knew I could turn the iron much hotter for sheets (we were taught how to iron by ironing pillow cases when we were younger) and knew that I could get the wrinkles out of sheets. At the top of the sheets the is a fold in the fabric and a decorative element, but the problem was that the sheets aren’t the highest quality and I’m not sure the decorative element and fold were quite alined when they were sowed, so I ended up ironing creases into the sheets (I’m sticking with the sheets were defective and not that I just am terrible at ironing).

Finally finishing, I ironed the pillow cases and set to work putting the whole bed together.

The finished product!

(Please excuse all the random junk on my nightstand. I refuse to get out of bed at night when I feed the baby, so everything I need is within arms’ reach.)

At this point, even though it was snowing outside and we hadn’t turned on our heater yet, I was sweating. But I love how it turned out and I love the colors in our bedroom and it so warm and wonderful. There are a couple too many pillows, and I knew Bryan would mock me for that, but after moving the euro pillows to the family room (the two in the very back) it doesn’t seem so over-pillowed and silly and I love love love it.

I’m still a little sad about the crazy $700 bedding, but I am so happy with the final product that this really was worth the wait.

Next: on to adding a cool accent wall behind the bed, with paintable wallpaper, a shelf and blue paint. It’s gonna be awesome.

 

Comments { 2 }

Brennan Lee Phelps

by on September 13, 2011 in Family Fun, me, things i love

We are happy to announce the arrival of Brennan Lee Phelps! (warning: this is an extremely long post…)

Brennan Lee Phelps

He made his debut into the world Friday, September 2, 2011 at 6:10 am. He was 6 lb and 3 oz and was 18 inches long.

His timing was actually pretty great. As I mentioned before, Bryan has been called and was serving on jury duty for a case that began Aug. 29 (the Steven Strate case). I was so scared that I would go into labor while Bryan was in trial and I wouldn’t be able to get a hold of him. Due to scheduling with the court system Bryan didn’t have to go to jury duty on Thursday or Friday (they have Thursdays and Fridays set aside each week for different kinds of trials (family, civil, etc.). I was very happy about that because I had my 38 week appointment scheduled with my doctor on Thursday at 2:20 and really liked to have Bryan there with me. He was able to come home from work and go to the appointment with me (even though he hadn’t been at work all week because of jury duty … Thanks MonaVie and Alex for being so understanding and working around our schedules!).

At the appointment my doctor, Dr. Jones (with Legacy OBGYN in American Fork, whom I highly recommend. He is absolutely fantastic)  asked how I was feeling and if there was anything new going on in life. We quickly told him about Bryan’s jury duty and joked a bit that we this baby might be popping into the world without Dad present.

Dr. Jones checked all the important things they like to check at a 38 week appointment and settled back down onto his chair to chat for a minute. He told me, you look great. You are dilated to a 3 and are good and ready that this baby could come any minute. The baby is in a great position and you’re full term. Your strep B is negative and you have no high blood pressure issues…  Do you want to have this baby tonight?

Thinking he was joking, I agreed that having the baby that night would be great.

He told me that he could help the whole process along and strip my membranes (TMI for a blog, maybe, but its my record keeping process and you choose to read a post about the birth of my baby so you get to deal. :)). He said that doing so would give me a 50/50 chance of starting labor tonight. He told me that he was on call all night, so he would be there to deliver the baby for sure (which I really wanted, because with James he was off and another doctor delivered James. It was fine, but I really like Dr. Jones and wanted him to deliver the baby).

We were a little bit worried about doing it and wondered if it didn’t start labor tonight, if it would speed up the process and I would end up going into labor some time next week, earlier than my due date and while Bryan really couldn’t be there. He told us it would either start or not start. He left us alone for a little while to family council it and decide what we wanted to do.

I liked the idea of having the baby and then having the whole weekend with Bryan home before he had to go back to jury duty. I also liked the idea of not having the worry in my head about the possibility of going into labor and not being able to get a hold of Bryan. I couldn’t decide what to do. I told Bryan it was up to him and he reminded me it wasn’t at all up to him, and it was up to me (being my body and all). Finally I decided that I was going to do it. I either would have a baby that night, or be in a some additional pain and not have a baby. Having a baby and no longer being pregnant won. I was so ready to not be pregnant.

Dr. Jones came back and we chatted a bit more about the whole process, he did what he needed to do and we were off for the day.

I wasn’t really sure what to think. I really wanted it to work and start labor, but I didn’t want to get my hopes up and be disappointed. So I started to make a list of things that I wanted to do just in case labor did start.

After we got home, we at dinner and watched Big Brother (its out summer tv guilty pleasure. such a stupid show, but so entertaining). Then I picked up a couple of rooms but didn’t actually do all the things on my list. Then, after putting James to sleep, we thought we should warn/ask Kevin if he would come up to our house and stay with James if we did go into labor that night. He was great and said he would.

Instead of going to bed and getting some sleep, Bryan and I stayed up and played Ticket to Ride (Looking back now, I realize I should have just gone to bed. I ended up only getting about 20 minutes of sleep). We climbed into bed around 11:30. Throughout the evening I had been feeling a few small contractions here and there, but nothing consistent and they weren’t getting more painful. As soon as I relaxed and tried to go to sleep, that’s when I really started to feel the contractions.

Around 1:30 they were consistently 7 minutes apart and getting more painful. I tried to get a little bit of sleep through them but to no avail, so I got up, washed my face and brushed my teeth. I put a few last minute things into my hospital bag and woke Bryan up at 2:30.

He had told me earlier that he didn’t think it was actually going to happen that night. So when I woke him up I made sure to tell him he lost the bet and we were having a baby. He woke up and called Kevin. We got a few more things ready for to leave while we waited for Kevin. He came, we got him some things to help take care of James when he woke up and were off.

The drive to the hospital was surprisingly calm. Bryan joked about taking me all the way into Provo to the hospital instead of American Fork. We talked about how I could have totally driven myself to the hospital and when we got there, I just had him park and we chatted about how nice of a night it was as we strolled through the parking lot to the front doors. We even stopped at the front door to document our arrival at the hospital with a picture.

We're Ready!

It was amazing how much more calm I was with this baby than with James. The contractions were 4 minutes apart, but weren’t crazy painful. I felt like I knew what to expect and was totally ready to have this baby. I had no fears of lack of preparation or not enough socks.

We got settled into the triage room around 3:40 so they could monitor me and make sure I was progressing before officially checking me in. Bryan and I played Words with Friends and Hanging with Friends back and forth for most of the hour. Then the contractions started to get more painful.

At 4:40 I had dilated to a 6 and they officially checked me into the hospital. They moved me into a labor and delivery room and called the anesthesiologist. I was so ready for my epidural.

My contractions hadn’t moved much closer together, but were more painful, so Dr. Jones came in, broke my water and put me on a pitocin IV to help the contractions move closer. John the anesthesiologist came in and we were on the way. I felt the epidural start down my left leg and into my toes. Then felt it move its way very very very slowly up my right leg, starting with my toes. It was 5 am.

The contractions were getting much closer together and much more painful. And the epidural had stopped making its way up my right leg. I could feel how painful the contractions were getting in just one little spot next to my right hip.

It hurt.

I cried.

I screamed.

We pushed the button to get me more of the epidural, but it wasn’t moving any farther up my right leg. She brought in Dr. Jones and explained that I had a “hot spot” that the epidural wasn’t hitting. He checked me, and I was dilated to an 8. They decided to go a head with the catheter and Dr. Jones told me he was going to get some water boiling and to get ready for a baby. The nurse then went to bring back the anesthesiologist to have him check to see if there was something wrong.

After Dr. Jones and the nurse left and the catheter was in place, the hot spot disappeared and I could feel the contractions radiating pain around both of my hips, back and down both legs. The epidural wasn’t working.

It hurt.

I cried.

I screamed.

Poor Bryan had no idea what to do to help me. I remember clinging to the railing of the bed and just shaking because of the pain. This wasn’t exactly how I had calmly remembered labor.

Dr. Jones and the nurse came back in and I was still only dilated to an 8, but Dr. Jones said the baby was coming and he was coming now. He calmly told me that I needed to push. I not so calmly told him there was no way I was pushing without the epidural working.

They had everything ready and told me to start pushing. I screamed. I kept telling them over and over that I couldn’t do it without an epidural that was working and I didn’t want to. I screamed and told them I wasn’t going to push. I could feel myself having a panic attack and I couldn’t breathe. The nurse and Dr. Jones told me to breathe and to push. If I would just push, the pain would go away. Everything would be better if I would just push. Dr. Jones told me I could do it. I couldn’t understand why the pain wouldn’t go away and I couldn’t understand why the baby was trying to come if I wasn’t even dilated to a 10 yet. He couldn’t come yet, my body wasn’t ready. I was breathing out short small bursts of air or holding my breathe trying to make the pain go away. I looked over at Bryan while I was screaming and crying. He looked terrified.The cute nurse was trying to get me to calm down and just breathe. I remember thinking to myself, “You are having a panic attack. You need to calm down and breathe.” but it didn’t happen. I had no control.

Amazingly though, during my panic attack and freak out, my body knew exactly what it needed to do and was pushing anyway. As I was telling Dr. Jones no, my body was doing exactly what he said to do and what it knew it needed to do.

At one point, I remember the nurse telling me to hold my legs. I told her I didn’t want to, put my feet in the holders and pushed away from the dr and nurse.

After two really hard pushes, he was here. I leaned over and looked, and there he was… my beautiful baby boy.

Here at last!

It was 6:10 a.m.

It took him a minute to cry and I looked at him and said, “cry, baby. cry.” Dr. Jones assured me that the baby was okay and soon the baby took his first breath and cried. It was beautiful to hear. Dr. Jones had Bryan cut the cord and they took the baby to clean him up a bit.

After a little bit, I could feel Dr. Jones stitching me up. I asked him what he was doing down there and if I had torn. He told me that during the part where I was “climbing up the table” I was going to tear so he just gave me a little more room so I didn’t tear (TMI again, but it’s my blog).

He was 6 pounds and 3 oz and 18 inches long. After cleaning him up a little bit and testing his breathing and everything, they let me know that he wasn’t breathing very well and needed to be placed on a breathing machine for an hour. But before they wisked him down to the nursery, they let me snuggle with him for a little bit. But then had to take him to the second floor. I told Bryan that I was okay and to stay with the baby.

After everything was over, I apologized over and over to the nurse and Dr. Jones for all my screaming and freaking out. They told me I was fine and that I did great. I still felt horrible and wanted everyone to know how sorry I was that I was so difficult and screamed so much. I still feel a little embarrassed, but I had no idea that I would have so little control over what my body was doing. It was like I was there, and inside, but couldn’t control it.

I know that because the epidural kind of worked, I didn’t feel everything that I’m sure I would have felt if I had a natural birth, but what I did feel was crazy painful. When I was younger, I had a few warts on my feet that I had frozen off. I remember it was pretty painful. I cried and screamed. Then suddenly in the middle of the process, I couldn’t feel anything anymore. My whole body had gone numb and I just looked at my mom. The doctor was quite confused and told my mom that I should be hurting a lot right now. Then everything turned back on and I was screaming again. I guess my body had just had too much and had shut down. I had always kind of hoped that something like that would happen during labor. Guess not.

Everyone had left the room and I was alone. Bryan and the baby were down on the second floor for the baby’s breathing treatment, the Dr. and nurses had left to let me relax and calm down a bit. I was so shaky. I couldn’t decide if I was cold or shaking because of everything that just happened. I sent out a couple of texts telling my family the baby was there. Called my mom and let her know the baby had come (she was getting ready to come down, but because he came so quickly, so completely missed it). Then, I got a phone call. It was 6:30 in the morning and it was a number I didn’t recognize. I’m not sure why I answered it, but I did. It was a good thing I did because it was my older brother.

We had a really nice chat he told me how much he loved me and how proud of me he was. I was pretty surprised by his call because it was 5:30 in LA. I didn’t think my brother’s body could actually function at that time (he normally doesn’t go to bed until at least 3 am and doesn’t get up until past noon). He was wonderfully sweet and it was so great to talk to him. We haven’t always gotten along, but I am so thankful that as we have gotten older we have become closer.

Bryan came up and showed me some pictures of the baby and I realized how much I missed him and wanted them to bring my baby back to me. But he was hooked up:

After an hour, the nurses shift had changed and my new nurse came in to let me know that there was no room for me on the Mother/Baby floor and that I would have to stay in labor and delivery for a while. I was okay with that, because the labor and delivery room are really nice and so much bigger. She asked if she could get anything for me and I told her I really missed my baby. And she set off to find him and bring him back to me. It was wonderful to have him in my arms again. The breathing treatment they gave him worked and he was breathing really well on his own and his lungs had expanded and everything was good.

Around this time, we got a message from Kevin telling us that James wasn’t too excited about mom and dad not being home when he woke up.

Where's my mom and dad?

He loves his uncle Kevin and aunt Aubrey though, and warmed right up to them. They were so great for watching him and bringing him to the hospital later (with the help of Lindsay and her car seat) (and capturing the sweetest moment of the day on camera… more on that in a minute).

We were finally able to move down to the mother/baby floor and get settled into our room. After lunch time, Kevin, Aubrey and Lindsay brought James to the hospital to meet his new brother.  I was a little bit worried about how James would react to the new baby. Bryan went out in the hall to get James and bring him in. He set him on the bed with me and the baby and I leaned over and told James that this was his new brother. He looked at the baby for a second then reached up and patted his head. I moved the baby a little closer to James and without any prompting or any of us saying anything, James leaned over and gave Brennan a kiss.

Their first meeting

(How is that for great camera timing? Thanks guys for having the camera ready!)

It was so sweet. I melted my heart. They definitely knew each other in Heaven and James was excited to see his brother again. He loves having the baby home and wants to always see him and be by him (he’s getting a little too excited about the baby and hitting him, but we’re working on it).

We had a hard time deciding on a name and didn’t settle on one until right before we went home and had to fill in the paperwork for a birth certificate. Because it took us so long to figure out his name, I had a hard time calling him Brennan at first. I called him Bennett and Benson and Braden so often. I think Brennan is perfect though and it suits him so well.

After just a day in the hospital, I was good and ready to come home and get started with our new life as a family of four. So far the adjustment has been good. We are getting into the swing of things and with the help of some Dr. Pepper, I am actually getting stuff done. Hooray!

(congratulations on making it to the end of this post!)

P.S. It turns out that Bryan sat through the whole trial, but ended up being an alternate juror  and when it was time for the deliberations they sent him home. I guess they do that a lot with trials. They have 10 jurors listen to the case, but only need 8 to actually decide the case. Learn something new every day.

Comments { 14 }

This Time Around…

by on August 31, 2011 in me, things i love

As I mentioned in my last post, my little baby is due in 14 days. I’m very very much looking forward to meeting this little squirmy guy and holding him in my arms for the first time (and not on my hips and bladder).

I have an app on my phone that keeps telling me to write down a pregnancy memory. And today, I felt like writing down how it all felt this time around. So you all get to read it.

Just for Good Measure... The Belly: 38 Weeks

This pregnancy has been so different than my pregnancy with James. I have had heartburn to the point that I have to take a pill every morning just to make it through the day and TUMS don’t make a dent in the pain. I wasn’t nearly as sick with this little one as I was with James. There were only a few times that I had to make a mad dash for the bathroom. Also, this time, I don’t have any indications of high blood pressure and will probably not have to be put on bed rest (except by my own instructions).

(I do have to admit though, last week at my 37 week appointment, I freaked out a little bit, worried that they would tell me I had high blood pressure again and send me to the hospital or put me on bed rest. It was my 37 week appointment with James that all the craziness happened, so I was so worried. I packed my hospital bag and a bag for James and was a total mess the whole morning before we went in. Poor Bryan. I don’t think he knew why I was being a crazy. He’s deals with me so well though.)

This little guy moves so much more than James did. In the evenings he is especially wiggly. Some nights I will sit in bed and just watch my stomach move back and forth, back and forth. One night Bryan and I sat and watched my belly more for a good 20 minutes. It was crazy.

Really though, one of the biggest differences between this pregnancy and the last, is this pregnancy I have James to chase around. I have no idea how people with children have more children. Chasing around my 16-month-old is exhausting with this big belly to lug around too. I’m truly thankful that he can walk though. If he were a late walker, I’m not sure I could ever go anywhere. When we go shopping or out of the house, I only have to pick him up to get him in and out of the car. Besides that, he’s really good to hold my hand and walk along side me until we get where we are going or get to a cart to put him in. Carrying him wears me out so quickly. Thank goodness he was so determined to be mobile (sometimes, little tiny things like these strengthen my testimony so much and remind me that my Heavenly Father is watching out for me and has a plan for me. I know it seems so small, but James walking has been such a blessing).

James is becoming so independent and learning so much every day. It’s so fun to watch him grow, but so frightening to think of how he is going to be when little baby B joins the family. The transition scares me a little bit, but I know that I will have Dr. Pepper to help me through it. :)

I had a conversation with Bryan the other day about how I am so tired lately, I just want the baby to come. He reminded me that after the baby comes, I’ll still be just as tired because he will wake up during the night…Yes, I responded, but I wake up just as many times during the night right now to go to the bathroom, or because the baby is kicking me or I’m having Braxton Hicks. But after the baby comes, I can have Dr. Pepper again to help me make it through the day until I get used to the new schedule. (I don’t like drinking caffeine during pregnancy for all those good health reasons, but also with this pregnancy it gives me CRAZY restless legs when I do have a sip or two, so I have had to cut it out COMPLETELY.)

We haven’t picked out a name for Baby B yet, but we know that it is going to start with the letter B (hence calling him, Baby B). With James we knew we wanted to name him after his two grandpas. James for Bryan’s dad and Edward for my dad. With Baby B, we weren’t sure what we wanted. We went through other grandpa and family names, and weren’t sold on any of them. We did know that we wanted him to have the same middle name as Bryan, but we didn’t want to name him Bryan Jr. Then we thought of giving him the same initials as Bryan and carrying on Bryan’s name in that way. So since we made that decision, we have narrowed it down to a handful of B names and are just waiting to see if one jumps ahead of the others. What do you think?

  • Bennett
  • Benson
  • Brayden

Bryan suggested the other night that we just name him Blue. I ruled that one out.

 

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