Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Our Week without Pictures.

Here’s what has happened over the past week. I don’t have any pictures this week because I haven’t deleted any of them from the camera and it is full. For some reason, it is extremely painful to delete those cute little moments, even though I know they are saved in CDs and thumb drives and blogs. But, I am glad the camera beeped “full” at me before new baby arrives. I feel as though not having any camera space available might have been the thing that sends me over the edge after new baby’s arrival! So, that will be my next project. Save and delete, delete, delete (oh the agony-you can be sure it will take me several hours!!).

-We took Brayden to Cranial Sacral therapy yesterday. One of my clients is in training for it, and after taking one look at me (a very pregnant woman who hasn’t slept in a long time), and she asked me what was happening. When I told her that my current baby wasn’t sleeping, and that we were setting alarm clocks and waking up every 4 hours to pump his little body full of dye laden antihistamines that are meant for children over the age of 6 or we had to listen to him cough, gag, cry, choke and wail “OWIEEE!” all night long. She told me about her new venture into Cranial Sacral Therapy, and that he would probably be a good candidate, I jumped at the offer. It meant that she (a 20+ year veteran in the nursing field, wellness proponent and anatomical expert) would actually put her hands on my child. And she did. She FELT his sinuses and adenoids and throat. She felt his occipital bones, spine and sacrum. She put her hands on my head and spine to show him what she would do, and so I could feel what she would do as he buzzed around her office. This was more than any of the providers that Brayden has seen in the last year has touched him, or palpated him, combined! Our current doctor, after seeing us for the coughing/gagging/ nightmare of a night, listened to his chest, looked in his ears and said, “Well, there isn’t anything wrong with him, so if the antihistamine is working, keep doing it”. No adenoid check or tonsil check…but she was pleased with how he sounded (well, sure, you can hear him from a mile away!). After palpating his swollen sinuses, the therapist confirmed that all of his little bones were in good locations (they didn’t need any manipulation), and that he was indeed experiencing allergies, with quite a bit of inflammation. An antihistamine was our best bet, and she will put together a homeopathic remedy for him, so we don’t have to pump him full of pharmaceuticals, and he didn’t need any other manipulation (yea!!!). Thankfully, we have been on a dye free 24 hour Claritin for about a week, and it has allowed all three of us restful sleep, and we can continue to use that while we wait.

-The other day I was on the phone with Kayla, bawling my hormonal eyes out, and Brayden brought me a tissue and wiped my nose. That was the end of my tears…how could it not be?

-Brayden was playing with one of the blankies that needs to go in the wash for new baby. When he was done, he brought it to the bassinet and threw it in. Later, while he was playing on our bed, he pointed to the bassinet and said “Baby? Baby sleep?” We’ve been working pretty hard on that, so I am pretty excited about it. Now we just need a gift for new baby to give to big brother upon arrival to cement good feelings. Any ideas?

-You may have noticed the Rangers have beat the Yankees, several times now (we are all dedicated Ranger’s fans these days). It is because they have a new good luck charm that they are completely unaware of…Brayden wears his daddy’s Rangers hat all of the time. He wears it inside, outside, to daycare and while he is eating. They should really name him the new MVP.

-Our little flirt also had his first kiss this week (I know, what a week!). She is an older, blue eyed blond, who loves race cars, going really high on the swings, fast slides and is a total adrenaline junkie. They started out holding hands as they walked around the swing set and when we were headed home (across the driveway), Lilly said good bye with a big fat smooch right on the lips, and then they wrapped their little arms around each other in a super cute toddler hug. Us mammas about died from cute overload, but boy oh boy, is Lilly’s mamma going to have her hands full!

Monday, October 11, 2010

I claim the next kid....

...because this one just doesn't look anything like me!

Friday, October 8, 2010

She had me worried...

I have a great OB doctor. She usually doesn't worry too much about me (second baby and all), and my appointments are usually quick and painless.

But she measures me every time I go in. I never got measured, not even once, with Brayden. But because I am a smaller person, this doc measures me. And worries us both over it.

It had me stressed. It made me worried (nervous nelly that I am), anxious, and flat out cry (or is that hormones?).

Yesterday she told me I measured three weeks behind my due date instead of the two weeks that I had previously been measured at. So we better get another ultrasound just to make sure everything was fine.

By the way, the measurement she was taking was in centimeters. Do you know how small a centimeter is??????

So Brayden and I went in for another ultrasound today. He snacked on powerballs in his stoller and I laid on the table, warm gel on my belly, watching new baby swim around in there.

The tech measured new baby's head and said "oh my!". I said, "What? Is it big?"

She kind of laughed a nervous laugh, and I told her that it was okay, I wouldn't be offended. And she said "Yes, very big. 80th perctile, actually!"

Oh boy.

When she was done poking around in there she read me the report, laughing and asking my why my doctor wanted this ultrasound (she thought I was measuring small, remember?).

New little baby is 5 pounds, zero ounces with 8 weeks to go (and supposed to gain about a pound a week). With a head in the 80th percentile. At this rate of development, new baby will be cooked and ready to go around November 15th...not just one week ahead anymore. THREE WEEKS AHEAD of schedule.

She asked me where I was keeping that much baby. I said "Lady, compared to last time, I am huge!"

She laughed and said she'd let the doctor know everything was fine.

And I am not going to worry about new little baby anymore (well, except maybe about that 80th percentile business...yikes!).

Thursday, October 7, 2010

How Time can Fly...



It has been four years.

Four years since we were blessed enough to have our first kiss as a married couple.

In that time we have been soul mates and sparring partners, lazy bums and adventurers, crazy and sane, comedians and console-rs, and now baby number two is about to make us new parents all over again.
Can all of that really happen in only four years?

Lost and (thankfully) Found shortly thereafter

I lost him.

Our little broccali and bannnana and bean and stick and dirt lover.



Our budding little chef who loves to "help" in the kitchen.





Our little little buddy who is finally wearing 2T clothes,

even though the pants won't stay on his little waist.




Our adventerous little climber, who loves to cuddle and hold one of Mommy's and one of Daddy's hands when leave home. The little blond boy, that I still can't believe they let us take home from the hospital almost two years ago, who is a little confounded and confused by all of the stuff around him that he seems to recognize as his, but doesn't quite fit into anymore.




I lost him.
He was playing in the driveway while I tried to put new baby’s car seat back into the Xterra. I popped my head back out to check on him again because he wasn’t in my line of sight anymore. I yelled his name, and heard him yell back but still couldn’t see him. I called him again, with a little panic this time. Grizzly came running out of the paddock, running like he always does when he hears that tone in my voice. The horses stayed focused on whatever they were looking at behind the barn, and I ran around to see if it was Brayden.

It wasn’t.

I thought about the pond, beyond the gate that Brayden never crosses without one of his parents, overflowing with six inches of rain water that had just trucked down the creek. I thought about the water trough that I had just filled on the other end of the yard.

I took off running toward the pond, yelling “Brayden!” for all I was worth, around the front of the house, past the septic mound where he likes to test out his strength on the hill and down towards the gate.

No little buddy.

I kept yelling out his name and ran up the hill back towards the garage and the barn, trying to decide if I should take the time to call the neighbor for help, or just keep running around looking for him, frantically questioning where his short little legs could have carried him so quickly.

But the horses were still looking at the back of the barn. So I swallowed the contents of my stomach one more time and ran as fast as I could back behind the barn. And there, tucked up next to the lean-to that can hide so much, was our little man on a very serious stick hunt.

It was the worst 45 seconds of my life.

But Brayden didn’t seem to notice. He showed me the stick he found and that he was sharing with Grizzly.

And I don’t think I will take my eyes off of him again until he goes to college.