Blanket Time…

Since we’ve been attending a church where no one looks at us like we’ve lost our minds when we bring our children in to the service.  And since I don’t want to be running around with a newborn in my arm and chasing Ceili Rain during the service, we’ve started blanket training.

Blanket Training was a concept I’ve heard of a long time ago but learned a little more about by reading the Duggars book, 20 and Counting.  A couple of weeks ago, I researched a little more about how to do it.  Apparently there are various ways to do this.  This is how I did it.

First day, I sat her down for about five minutes with two to three toys on a blanket.  If she tried to get up, I told her, “No, it’s blanket time.” and sat her back down.  The second time she got up, I told her the same and disciplined her.  I actually don’t think I had to tell her twice the first couple of days.  Her attention span is pretty good so she got up to 10 minutes pretty quickly.  So…basically the goal is to increase the time she can sit on the blanket.  My goal is 30 minutes since that is a typical sermon (I haven’t “timed” our preacher but I’m just guesstimating).

She loved it from the beginning, and like I said, she sat on it for a long time for a 16 month old.  I’ve been impressed with her stamina.  I’ve also been able to walk out of the room for brief periods and she remains on the blanket.

The goal, however, is to do it consistently so that it becomes routine.

We tried it out at church on a Wednesday night after three days of working on it.  She did amazingly well.  Our Sunday worship was not as great…but I had not been consistent over the couple of days leading up to worship for her to do it correctly.

I’m  loving it though and hoping it will help not only with worship but also when I’m feeding Bryant!

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More Liamisms…

So, we had friends visit from far, far away last week.  The dad is in the army and worked while here.  He got up the first morning in his army uniform (camo) and came and ate breakfast acting pretty normal.  However, as soon as Liam saw him his eyes got very wide.  He was quiet for awhile and then asked, “Are those your pajamas?”

He was pretty much in awe when I explained that Mr. John was actually in the army and he had to wear that work, etc.  Then Liam decided that meant he was going to fight the “bad guys.”   Then I had to explain that Mr. John was a computer army man.  Still didn’t lose the awe factor on him though.

***
A very overly tired Liam on the way to get something to eat:  I’m looking for cars with trees on top of them.

Ace (who somehow knew what he was talking about):  Those are Christmas trees and it’s not Christmas.

Liam:  I know.  But they are saving them.

Zoe:  Ohhhh, Because it’s Christmas in July in some places.

Me:  Um, Liam wouldn’t know that because he can’t read.

***

Liam:  Mommy, do some men marry old ladies?

Me:  Yes, Liam, Daddy did.

(Mark is 20 months younger than me)

***
Liam:  Mommy, do you remember when Santa got his hair cut off?

Me:  Um, no.

Liam:  You don’t remember that story?

Me:  No.

Liam:  I’ll tell you.  Remember he killed the lion and then he went to the bad place where that mean woman was.  And he got his hair cut off.

Me:  Oh, yes, I remember when Samson got his hair cut off.

Liam:  Right, that’s what I was telling you about.

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Meeting the Newest Character

The kids were so excited to come and meet Bryant.  Normally, we would have them up at the hospital in the morning, they would hang out there all day playing in the waiting room or at the playground (which is a great playground by the way) and then go eat lunch and if I was close (which I’m usually not) they would hang out some more and if I wasn’t (which is the case) they would head for naps and be back up long before I delivered.  But, since Zoe decided to, um “spill the beans” earlier that morning, we decided to have them wait at home and see if she let loose any more stomach contents.  Which she didn’t…which leads us to believe she just ate a little too much or had a little something that didn’t agree with her tummy the previous night.  So, we intended to call them when I got really close.  But close came right before naptime and baby came right near naptime. 

As Mark put it to Zoe, “you guys wouldn’t have even had time to get your shoes on and he was born.”

So, we opted to just have them come up right after naps.  It worked out great because they arrived right as we were getting settled in our post delivery room.

Zoe was very patient about waiting for her turn to hold Bryant.  But she definitely wanted to get her hands on him.  She is really enjoying showing him off when we have visitors at the house too!

Not quite sure about his hair!
Ace is still laying claims to the ultimate baby lover title.  He just loves holding babies!
Liam enjoyed meeting him but had to know how he came out of my tummy…yet again.  This is an ongoing conversation between us.  Now, just how do you tell a 4 year old something that is very personal and that he has the potential to repeat without lying to him.  I think I did it right but he just giggled and laughed when I told him.  So far, he hasn’t repeated it to anyone (keep your fingers crossed people…for the sake of my blushing skin).
It took Josiah a second to realize that Bryant wasn’t still in my tummy.  The next day, he crawled up beside Ace (who had to have first dibs) and kept whispering, “Hewwo Bwyant!”  All the while patting his head.

Ceili Rain decided he was all hers.  We think her main thought was that he was a doll.  Bryant had been very alert and finally settled into a good sleep when we got to our room.  So, he was still and had his eyes closed.  A sure sign to a 16 month old that mommy had been gone all day to get her a baby doll.

She also didn’t want to share him with anyone else and squeezed him tight when we tried to tell her she was all done.  The next day, when he did stir she looked around at us.  I’m surprised she didn’t flip him over to find the batteries.

We make up “labor bags” for the kids to keep them occupied on labor day.  This year, we included card games much to their delight.

Papa had the job of teaching them how to play the games though!
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Bryant’s Birth Story

Okay, if there are any guys out there who read…you know the drill by now…your story includes the following information:
I went to the hospital.  Got a few drugs to get the labor going.  Six hours later, I had a baby.  He was big.  The end.

And for the ladies:

So, we headed out to the hospital around 6 ish.  Zoe actually woke up at 4 and said she was cold and didn’t feel good and needed to go to the bathroom.  We told her to turn her fan off, go to the bathroom and go to bed.  She was by Mark’s side a few minutes (I think) later saying she didn’t feel good and was still cold.  Somehow Mark woke up enough to realize she needed to throw up and pointed her towards the bathroom where she, well, threw up.   We started this induction out with a bang!

By the time Zoe was settled in our bed, we decided to go ahead and get up and get ready for the day.  So, off we went to the induction.  They started my pitocin at 7:30.  Ominously, I had told Mark that I was praying the air was working.  We were having a pretty hot and humid streak that was bringing the heat index well above 100.  And, when we got in our room we noticed it was a little stuffy, but not too hot.  Our nurse noticed too and promptly contacted the hospital engineer who came to check it out.  He finally determined our room needed a new thermostat and left to get one.  After some time, he came back without a thermostat (because he couldn’t find one), he did something to the unit and got it kick started and working…making the room much much cooler!  Yay for Mr. Engineer…otherwise, I would have pulled the plug until I could get somewhere cool.

Since my labors are notoriously long, we settled in with a movie.  Speed Racer was the choice (it was next on our cue in Netflix and so it was what we watched…plus, I thought if it was something action packed, then it would help speed things up).

Dr. J came in about 9:30 and broke my water and I was at a big ol’…3 to 4 cm…which was what I came in at.  Pretty bummed, we continued to watch the movie.  After the movie, I realized they were picking up, so I started changing positions and breathing a little bit more through them.

By 11, my nurse came in and wanted to know how I was doing.  I could tell Bryant had moved some and there was some pressure starting to build but it wasn’t anything worth worrying about.  My nurse and Dr. J were pretty anxious to make sure they knew when I was complete.  So, she decided to check me.  Personally, I question her “checking” skills because when we came in she couldn’t even tell I had dilated at all.  When she told me I was at 3 to 4 cm still at 11, I was a little deflated but also optimistic since I knew her “checking” could be a bit off.

However, by 12, I felt completely defeated and was slumped over the back of the hospital bed crying like a…well, a baby…I just knew this labor was going to be another long one and was not looking forward to going through that again.  I stayed slumped over the back of the bed (a favorite position while laboring with Josiah too) but eventually tried the birthing ball as one o’clock approached.  Two contractions through that and I had had enough.

I climbed back in bed and told Mark to just page the nurse.  I was going to give up and get an epidural.  Now, if you’ve read Ceili Rain’s birth story, you probably are thinking what Mark was thinking…she’s transitioning – it’s “go time.”  This was definitely not on my mind since two hours earlier I reported at a mere 3 to 4 cm dilated.  I just knew I couldn’t keep this up for six more hours.  So, I pressed the button and told the nurse that I wanted to be checked.  Mark added that I was feeling pressure which quickly brought a nurse in.  I was, to be honest, feeling quite a bit of pressure but not the need nor urge to push.

My nurse had gone off the floor for something or other, so this nurse checked me really quickly and announced I was at an 8.  Mark and I both began telling her she needed to hurry and get things ready and call Dr. J because I transition quickly.  She didn’t take a second glance and ran out of the room.

Then the flurry of activity began and as I got put up high on my throne (so Dr. J could deliver), I really started to feel the urge to push.  Dr. J arrived quickly, got suite up, checked me and I was still not quite complete.  He worked a little and kept working and I still wasn’t quite there.  I could feel my body start to push.  But I knew I wasn’t quite ready to get him out.  So, Dr. J laid the bed down a little to get me to complete (the “lip” left over was on the bottom and Bryant’s head needed to get pressure there to get it to go away).  While I was laying down contracting…which, by the way, is not a fun position for a non-medicated mama, Mark was comforting me, and blogging at the same time.  He was down at my feet because he is the kind of guy who enjoys watching a baby be born…well, at least his babies be born…I know not all guys are like that.  Dr. J who was also at my feet waiting noticed Mark’s phone.  He looked over at it and said, “I just got a Droid three days ago.”

Yes, that is what he said.  I’m laboring without an epidural and my doctor and my husband decide to discuss their phones!  Then Dr. J starts talking about he didn’t know how to do such and such and Mark started to show him.  After finishing up a couple of contractions without my doctor or husband coaching me, I looked up and breathlessly said, “Hey ya’ll!”  To which Mark, who had stayed close and kept a hand on me, moved closer by my side and Dr. J said, “Oh yeah.”

It wasn’t long after that that I really felt I needed to push.  Dr. J checked me (visually) and said I was complete…could be because Bryant was coming out no matter what I did or he said about me being complete.  With the next contraction I pushed and continued to push and out Bryant came!  So, I was complete at 1:31 and had him at 1:32.  I like fast deliveries.

I will say, looking back, that I did not feel I was in good control of my delivery.  That was my fault for losing concentration.  The only thing going through my mind at that time was to get him out!  I even told Dr. J that several times.

So, here’s the after birth funny…Bryant not only came out very healthy and very big.  He also was using the bathroom on himself both pee and poop!  I was a bit disappointed in that because he was so, well, covered in it, that Dr. J and I agreed to let him get a little clean before I held him.  Really, he stunk a little too…so I was okay with that.  However, I never got a good peep at him until after the pediatric nurse finished up her stuff with him.  However, after that, he was all mine.  But, he did decide to poop some more while getting his hair washed.  The nurse had not put a diaper on him but had him wrapped up in towels, so he was covered and got the second bath of his life.  Yep, he met his poop quota in less than two hours after birth!  He’s a super duper pooper!

This was bath #1.  Before she took the diaper off to clean his other parts and wash his hair.

Daddy doing what he does best…soothing a fussy baby!

One of the coolest parts about Bryant’s birthday is that he was born a month after his cousin!  B&B welcomed baby #7 to the world June 23rd.  Our nephew is too adorable and I can not believe I didn’t post that he was here on our blog.  I didn’t realize that they would be a month apart (continuing a tradition that got hiccupped with the birth of their twins and our Ceili Rain of having our children an easy distance apart…one week, one month, eight months…all to the day) until the day before he was born.  God’s taking care of Grandmere and Papa in their “old” age (which I in no way am implying they are old) by giving them easier birthdays to remember!

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Happy Birthday Ace-Man!

Birthday Boy!

To celebrate Ace’s birthday, we had a baby brother for him!  Something he’s been wanting since we had Ceili Rain.

Happy Birthday to our oldest son who is now SIX years old!  So excited to see him grow and mature every year.

Ge & Granddaddy came to visit on Sunday and so, Ace got to open his presents from them!

With a little help!

And later that night, Mark helped put together the present…

With a little help

 Thanks Ge & Granddaddy…this was a great hit!  They have played with it on and off all morning…and had little battle scenes set up and all!  For the record, I think this is a cool gift…however, Mark may disagree…it took him over an hour to put it together.

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How to Wait for a Baby…

Aside from schooling and doing normal child related activities, I’m trying to busy myself with little projects while waiting on Bryant.  Here we have leftover fabric from a nightgown I made for Zoe.  I used a pattern that Grandmere brought and “whipped” this little dress up.  One day, I will actually measure my children and use the correct sizes on the pattern instead of just guessing.  This one I guessed a large based on the weight.  It was too long and too wide and too big all over…lots of adjusting and I was able to make it fit! 

I added the applique after realizing how plain it looked on the front.  I did it using my Cricut and cutting it out of paper and then tracing it on to fusible interfacing stuff.  And then I stitched around it.  All in all…she looked cute I must say!  But chasing a 16 month old to get a better fit…phew!  That was enough to put me into labor.  But it didn’t.

I searched on line for a pattern to make a small tote bag to use as a diaper bag.  After talking to my “Sewing Guru,” I found this pattern online, for free!  I was feeling crunch time coming on, so I suggested to my Guru to make it and see if it would be easy for me to do.  She obliged and made this cute tote that Ceili Rain is toting around.  She brought it by this weekend for me to check out and I loved it.  Now, I’m waiting to see if she’ll let me pay her for it!  It’s adorable and just the right fit for a couple of diapers and wipes for CeiRai.  She likes it too…see!

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Don’t hold your breath, but…

I promised to live blog so I thought I’d start here.  My contractions, since my doctor’s appointment have been staying steady and strong.  Not sure how far apart.  Still able to talk and walk.  They very well could fizzle out tonight…and so, we are about to employ the “sleep test.”  For those that don’t know that’s where you go to sleep and if the contractions wake you up, it’s hospital time!    Praying that they wake me up!!!

I think I’ve talked Mark into trying out his “contraction app” on his phone.  We’ll see how far we get before we both pass out.

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Bryant Update-40 Weeks

If you’ll notice on my blog page…Bryant’s name tag states, “It’s go time!”  I have officially been pregnant longer this time than I have with any other pregnancy.  

So, I spent last week in quite a bit of ugly discontented attitude.  Not wanting to do anything and wanting to get him here quickly.  By Thursday, I realized how my attitude was unacceptable and not honoring God.  God also reminded me how blessed I am with my little ones and this little one too.  I gave up the whining and decided to focus on being happy with where God had me right now…and with what I have.  

This weekend has been great and having my best friend come in with her kids this week has been even more fun!  Trust me, pictures will be coming soon.

We are praying, though, that while she is here he makes his appearance.  We shall see.

I had my doctor’s appointment today.  I’ve progressed a little more to 3 1/2 cm and he was able to really strip  my membranes this time.  He left everything up to us.  

With Ace’s birthday approaching, Dr. J going out of town, and wanting to make sure grandparents were able to come soon after or before his birth, we scheduled an induction for Friday.  

Now we’re praying for a safe and healthy delivery.  With my progression over the past three weeks, we are praying I’ll go on my own.  So, please pray that happens (and preferably while our friends are visiting!).

So, stay tuned…Bryant will be here any day now!

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