Cloth Diapers

Yes, horrors of all horrors, I use cloth. Cloth diapers aren't like they used to be, no pins, no soggy leaky diapers, they are almost as easy to use as disposables. Here is picture of my boys in their Smartipants.

https://www.smartipants.com/

Yes We Are Crazy!

For our five year wedding anniversary we decided to do something crazy romantic (or maybe just crazy) and travel to the beautiful island of Kawai. We spent a week enjoying surf, sand, and chasing our little boys all around the island. We also spent a day hiking four miles into a hidden beach with both boys strapped on our backs. It was tough, but well worth the hike.

I'm pregnant

This is a post I used when guest blogging for my sister Mary Alice last year http://www.fromthefrontlines.blogspot.com/

I was given the nickname practical sis for a reason, I'm well, practical. I think things through; I plan, check off lists, organize, and say and do everything after carefully weighing all the pros and con's. I'm type A to the max. It came as no surprise to my sisters that I went straight through college, worked for two years before getting married, and then two years later got pregnant with my first son. It was all carefully planned and executed perfectly. However just when you think you have your 2.2 kids planned out in the perfect suburban neighborhood, life throws you a curve ball. This particular curve ball happened when my son was 6 months old. I was starting to feel so tired and not quite myself. In the morning I was almost, oh bleep this is the same feeling I had when I was first pregnant with my son. So I took a test just to check, since I was sure I couldn't possibly be pregnant. Well the gods must have been laughing at me, because as soon as my pee hit the stick a plus sign popped up clear as day. It might as well have said "who do you think you're fooling."

So after a few tears, I made a few lists and thought it all over and decided I could handle this and it would all be ok. There were lots of pros to have siblings close together and really my con list was quite small. Now the hard work began, I had to tell the sisters.

First I called "Mary Alice Mean Face" and she is nicknamed mean face for a reason. As soon as I spelled the beans, she burst out laughing and just couldn't stop. I spit out angrily "stop laughing, it's not funny, and the only reason you're really laughing is because your girls are only a year and half apart." She continued laughing saying, "I know that is why it is sooo funny."

Next I called Jo. This is my "take it as it comes" and "you really can't plan for anything" sister. "Oh my god, I can't believe it, I just don't even know what to say, I think I'm in shock." My come what may, sister was about to have a full scale panic attack on my account. "I just can't imagine, I mean I don't think I could do it, I mean I'm sure you'll do great, but if I found out I was pregnant right now, oh my god I would freak out, I am freaking out, I feel like it is happening to me, I mean it's you, but what if it was me." I reassured that it was actually me that was pregnant, and that she did not need to get pregnant anytime soon so she could relax.

Lastly I called Katrina. "Shut up, you are so lying" she shouted into the phone. I spent the next five minutes trying to convince her that no in fact I was not lying, I was really pregnant. "So" she asked very confused "did you plan to do this?" "Yes I know it is shocking that something might happen that I didn't plan, but no, I didn't plan this." "So it was an accident?" "Well I would prefer to think of it as a surprise." Wow that was tough. Now that I had the hard part of telling my sisters finished, I think I can handle two under two. No problem, as long as I make a list and check it twice.

Only in California

We went to the coast to play in the surf one weekend and the next weekend we went to Shaver to play in the snow.

2 months old

Ryland is now two months old. He is smiling a lot and making lots of cooing sounds. I think this one is going to be a talker.

Sleepy

If there is one thing new babies and their moms need it is sleep. The question is if newborns sleep so much why are their moms so tired?

Can we keep him Mom?

Grady loves being a big brother. He likes to try to pick up Ryland and hold him. The picture on the left is one of my favorite pictures. Although you can't see him, Grady is looking at Ryland in his car seat. This is when we first brought him home from the hospital. Grady looks so happy and excited that we brought this baby home and we get to keep him. Above Grady is happy to be holding his baby brother.

Happy Birthday

On the morning of December 21, 2008 I woke up to some mild contractions. I didn’t think too much about it and went on with my usual plans. Evan, Grady, and I went out and finished up our Christmas shopping, we wrapped presents, and played together. My contractions kept going, but weren’t too painful. I wasn’t convinced this was it. When Grady went down for his nap I decided to take a nap too, just in case I ended up really going into labor that night. After I got up from my nap, I decided to call my mom. She was supposed to come over in the morning, but I was worried about going into real labor that night and having to drop Grady off in the middle of the night. She was happy to hear from me and said she would be over in a few hours. Now I was sure with my mother making the long trek over that I wouldn’t really go into labor for days. My mother arrived at around 4:30 PM and my contractions were starting to be more painful. I was starting to think maybe this was it. I really wanted to make until 7:30 when Grady went to bed, but around 6:30 my contractions were starting to get closer together and hard to walk through. So I had Evan call labor and delivery and they said to bring me in. After kissing Grady goodbye I got into the car and just as we were pulling out of the driveway my water broke. After that the contractions started to come one after another as we raced to the hospital. As soon as we arrived they checked me and I was 9.5 cm dilated and almost ready to push. I asked them if the baby was in the right position and they said it was head down. Evan explained that our first son was face up, so they checked again and sure enough this one was face up too. I pushed for about 15 minutes, but the baby’s heartbeat was all over the place. At that point they suggested another c-section. I had wanted to have a vbac, but at that point I knew that the most important thing was to have a healthy baby. As soon as they put in the spinal the pain started to melt away and I was able to relax and get ready to meet my baby. I remember squeezing Evan’s hand and saying “we finally get to find out if it is a boy or a girl.” Minutes later they were holding him up and saying “It’s a boy.” I was so excited to finally meet my son Ryland.