Answer to a prayer

It was an answer to a prayer that my grandmother finally got to meet Maverick. She was transferred from my Aunt's home in the mountains to a Hospice facility here in Raleigh on Wednesday, 3/30. I was able to go see her with Maverick on Thursday. She got to "hold" Maverick and she was just beaming. I was too!

I'm not sure what the future holds for my grandmother or how much longer she will be with us, but for now I'm cherishing this moment.

Thank Goodness for Mimi

Derek went back to work this week. Thank goodness Mimi was willing to fill in so I didn't have to manage all three by myself (at least for now). Mimi was here full-time while Derek was at work on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of this week. She helped me by cleaning the house and doing what ever was needed. I think her favorite thing was napping and holding the baby though!

Thanks to Granddaddy Bob for bringing lunch several times. He was able to make good on his promise to bring me pickle chips, but they didn't make it here while I was still pregnant ;)

Oh well!

Maverick's 3-day stats

Yes, this is another post that is back-dated one week. A nurse from the midwives center came to our house on Monday, 3/21 to do Maverick's and my 3-day check. We both checked out great.

The nurse noted that Maverick is a little "tongue-tied" but it didn't seem to interfere with nursing at all, so not to worry about it. Brighton was the same way, but I can't remember if his was more/less severe. Next came the weight check:

Considering all my boys are little clones of each other I predicted that Maverick would have lost 4 oz since birth. I hit it right on the money as he weighed in at 6 lbs, 12 oz. This means nursing is going great, hurray!

Here's one last picture just for fun. Dad calls this my lion face!

And the show went on....

We planned to have Chandler's 4th Birthday party early since his birthday and Maverick's due date were so close. I thought that having the party 3 weeks early would ensure we could have the party without a new baby in tow. Boy was I wrong! Maverick was born on Friday, March 18th at 4:27 p.m. and 25 hours later Chandler's Birthday party went on as scheduled. I only made a brief appearance at the beginning and again for the last 20-30 minutes. Maverick slept happily in the car and family members took turns keeping an eye on him.

I hear that the party was a blast and Chandler had a great time. I hated to miss most of it, but we decided this was the best option.

We had pizza and cupcakes and Chandler was so excited and wanted to play that he only ate the icing on his cupcake. He had requested lemon cupcakes with purple icing and Grandma made them.

Instead of traditional gifts, I requested that the kids bring a new book for a swap. The birthday boy got first pick and then the other kids got to pick out their favorite. I think this was a success too. Much better than way too many presents and no place to put them! Overall it was a great day for Chandler and he says he is four now (although he still has a week to go). Happy Birthday Chandler, we love you!

Maverick is one week old!

Today Maverick is one week old. I can't believe how fast the time has gone by. Maverick is such a sweet baby. I'm so in love with this little guy. He is sleeping like a champ for four hour stretches at night. Let's hope he keeps it up. Yesterday (at 6 days old) his umbilical cord stump fell off so today was bath day!

We decided to opt for the sink for the bath rather than the baby bathtub. From experience they like being submerged in the warm water rather than laying in the baby hammock in the tub. Maverick did great and thoroughly enjoyed himself. Here he is bundled up after bathtime:

After bathtime we got him dressed up in this cute outfit that was a gift from my Aunt Judy. Doesn't he look handsome?

I'll have to post some pictures for comparison soon, but Maverick looks just like Chandler did but with slightly lighter hair. Seeing him brings back memories of my first baby. I can't believe he will be four years old next month!

Right before dinner we were surprised by the flower delivery man. Derek's manager had these flowers sent over to celebrate Maverick's birth. Isn't that sweet?

One week ago today....

One week ago today was SAINT PATRICK'S DAY!!

I had planned for Derek to take off so we could spend one last fun day as a family of four. Little did I know that it would really be our LAST day as a family of four! Our day was packed with activities. We started off by dropping off the van for an oil change and then we headed to NCSU's farm animal days. It was a lot of fun. We started out by holding baby chicks and polts. Here is Chandler holding a baby turkey (polt)

From there we moved onto the rabbits. Chandler said that his favorite was actually a Hare they had on display. He truly was beautiful. Brighton said he liked the white ones. They got to put a rabbit also.

Another fun thing we did was pretend to rope cattle. It was really hard to get the hang of. I'm not sure I could have done it. Chandler said this was one of his favorite things, but he had hoped the would get to practice with real cows.

The last thing we did before heading for our free icecream was stand in a VERY long line in order to climb up in a tractor. This was also a big hit with the boys. It's amazing to me that some parents are clueless when it comes to something like this. With 50 + people standing in line with kids that all want to get in the tractor, why would you let your kid sit in the tractor for more than a few minutes? Some kids were in there for almost 10 minutes!

After leaving the farm we headed to a park to enjoy a picnic lunch. What a great day!

Maverick's Birth Story

So here's the last pregnancy picture we have of me. I was exactly 37 weeks (or full-term) on Wednesday, March 16th. I remembered to have Derek take a picture of me before I went to bed. It was right after my shower and I was tired, but I'm so glad I took the time for this or obviously I wouldn't have it!

On Thursday, 3/17 I lost my mucous plug when I got up in the morning. Since the day that I lost my mucous plug was the day I had both Chandler and Brighton I was a little shocked. I know that losing the plug doesn't mean anything and that labor could still be days or even weeks away. That's not my "normal" though so I thought it would be sooner rather than later.

We had already planned for Derek to be off on Thursday to go to Farm Animal Days (I'll post about that later) and we continued with our day as planned. I was having contractions throughout the morning, but nothing intense and not very noticeable. I did call my midwives around noon just to let them know what was going on. I already had my 37-week checkup scheduled for Friday, so they said unless major changes occurred they'd see me then.

Friday morning I woke up about 4 a.m. with a very large contraction. I started having them every few minutes for the next half-hour, but I hesitated to call anybody because I just didn't feel like this was "it". The contractions continued for the next hour, but then really started to space out to at least every 20 minutes. I was able to fall back asleep and proceeded with my Friday plans that morning as usual.

After dropping Chandler off to preschool, Brighton and I headed to the midwives for my appointment. Everything went great at the appointment and it appeared Maverick had turned from being posterior to a more favorable position for birth. I left the midwives about 11 a.m. and picked Chandler up from school about 12:45 p.m. The boys went down for their quiet time about 1:30 p.m. I called Derek at 1:55 p.m. and asked him if he could try to be home about 4 p.m. I said I was tired and really needed to rest and once the boys got up I knew that would be hard. At 2:15 p.m. I called Derek back and said change of plans....you need to come home NOW! I was in the middle of making 4 batches of soup for my cooking club and when I could no longer focus on chopping up the chicken I knew something was happening.

Derek got home, loaded the car and the boys and we were on our way shortly after 3 p.m. Traffic on I-40 was backed up so we detoured from our normal route and I thought we were never going to get there! We got to the birth center about 3:45 p.m. and they checked me and I was complete. I had asked them to fill up the tub in advance so after getting my vitals I got in. It felt great! I was so glad and I was able to relax some and hold off the urge to push. My parents hadn't arrived yet and I was hoping they would make it in time. My water also had not broken. When I finally started pushing, I was able to break my water after a few pushes. A few pushes later and I knew he would be out soon.

My family all came into the room and I slowly pushed Maverick out. I was able to have greater control this time and didn't tear at all. Funny thing is that even after moving to a more favorable position for birth, Maverick still came out "sunny-side up". He did great at birth and they didn't even need to suction him out. His apgar scores were a 9 and a 9.

It was such an amazing experience and I'm so in love with my latest little boy!

If you are wondering.....

If you are wondering why I've fallen off the blog-bandwagon. This is probably why:

Our newest little miracle, Maverick Robert, was born on Friday, March 18th at 4:27 p.m. He was three weeks early, and barely considered "full-term". Although we were ready for him we never expected him to be here so soon.

Maverick was 7 pounds and 19.5 inches long. Quite a good size for being so early. We were all thrilled with how healthy he came out. His apgar scores were 9 and 9!

Big brothers, Chandler and Brighton were able to be there for the birth. The timing couldn't have been hand-picked better by me. They are both loving their new little brother and Chandler is amazing. He wants to hold Maverick all the time. He loves singing to him and is very protective over him. We were able to be home by 11 p.m. that night. Here one more picture of my newest love!

I hope to back-track with some blogging soon. Including Chandler's birthday party that we still had on 3/19 even with a baby only one day old! So much for having it early to avoid this complication!

My bags are packed, I'm ready to go...

My bags for the Birth Center are packed. Granted it probably looks like a lot for a 6 hour stay, so let me fill you in on everything shown here. First of all the red bag (by far the largest bag) is not for me at all. It is for Chandler and Brighton and is filled with various things to keep them entertained should they come with us. It has books, coloring books, water colors, play dough, toys, and some special snacks/treats. Actually now that I think about it....I'm missing two more things in this picture which are a gift for Chandler and Brighton from the new baby. I'll be putting those in the car too.

The next largest bag, the black one, contains things that I might need along with stuff for the new baby. It has my toiletries, a t-shirt, underwear, bras, socks, and a robe for me. It also has both coming home (boy or girl) outfits, 2 baby blankets and a burp cloth.

The pink bag contains probably the most important stuff to me:

My labor food! Yum! I tried to pick things that were good for energy like nuts, but I also needed some chocolate too. The bag of Craisins trail-mix has been altered by me to include a few handfuls of PB M&Ms. I also have a few drinks that are not pictured that are being kept in the frig so they are nice and cold when I need them. I have yet to make the soup that I will have after the birth, but that should get done tomorrow. We also always bring a cake for the "Birthday party" but last time since we were going home at 2 a.m. we didn't eat it. To save my sanity but also keep the tradition, I will buy a very small cake from Harris Teeter and use that. After making my mom's b-day cake, I'm not willing to tackle another one right now.

Lastly, the blue laundry bag contains two large towels, two trash bags, and a plastic grocery bag. These are considered emergency supplies should I have to deliver en-route to the Birth Center. Derek will be doing his best to ensure that does not happen! He did review the guidelines on how to assist the mother with delivery, but I'm sure he'd really prefer leaving that part to my midwife. Luckily they've told us that babies that come that fast generally do just fine.

Well I guess that's it. There are a few last minute things we'll be grabbing like the camera, flip, and my i-pod with my hypnosis scripts on it, but we are ready. Anytime this baby wants to come, although we'd prefer not Saturday (Chandler's b-day party) we are ready!!

Brighton's Singing Debut

Today was Brighton's singing debut for our church's Cherub Choir. It snuck up on us and we didn't know he'd be singing until the last minute. Luckily he did great! He was super cute in the front row with the other two year olds. He is so different from Chandler at this age. Granted, some 2-year-olds will not even go and stand up with the choir (and Chandler did) but most of them just stand like statues. NOT BRIGHTON! He was really into doing the motions for the song and I even heard words come out of his mouth! The funny thing is, he was on a "delay" from the big kids as he would watch everybody and then quickly copy them. See in this series of pictures:

We got so many comments from everybody about what a great job our "twins" did, but especially Brighton. We are so proud of you!

Happy Birthday Mimi

Today we celebrated my mom's (Mimi's) 60th Birthday. I made the cake with some decorating help from Diane. I'm glad I started on the cake the night before because it always takes longer than you think it will. I was rather pleased with how it turned out. It was a carrot cake, and I heard it was quite yummy. I was too busy serving it and helping with other things to actually get a piece for myself at the party!

The party was a 1960's theme and people even got dressed up for the occasion. Derek and his mom actually won two of the "best dressed" awards that were handed out. Too bad we never got a picture of Derek, but my cousin did. He looked hilarious! My mom had a great time. Here she is dancing with her friends:

I organized the games we played. We did a trivia sheet about my mom and also "name that tune" I think everybody had fun. My dad even arranged with me to dance to the song "Brenda" with my mom as a surprise. What a great night!

Tonight was also a milestone for the boys as it was the first time ever that they had a non-family member baby sitter. They did great and can't wait to do it again.

Happy Birthday Mimi!

Lunch Date with my Baby

Today I had a lunch date with my "baby" Brighton. I'm really going to miss the special times that the two of us have together. Since Chandler is in preschool on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, Brighton and I have the mornings to ourselves. He is at my favorite age, two. It is also my least favorite age.....but today was one of the good ones. After my midwives appointment today, I felt like treating myself to lunch. Brighton and I headed to a new place in Brier Creek.

I had eaten here once before, and was craving some more Pad Tai. Since I tried this the last time I was here, I knew Brighton would like something a little different. Here's my yummy Pad Tai:

I was a little disappointed that they didn't have a kids menu since I'm not sure that Brighton would eat a full portion. The cheapest "noodle bowl" was $6.50 for a small. I decided on hopefully a winner, Spaghetti and Meatballs.

I really wouldn't mind paying the price for this if he ate it, but if he didn't, I'd probably be frustrated. We were traveling light, and I let him sit in a chair (instead of a high chair) and no bib! I asked for another bowl so I could transfer a small amount at a time so it could cool. I cut up the spaghetti with a knife, gave him a fork and let him have at it. Wow! He did great! He only spilled a little on the floor, but most of it got in his mouth and even better was that he ate it and ate a lot! I refilled his bowl at least 4 times! Granted he did have some left over, but so did I. As a reward for his good eating, I let him have a sip of my root beer. I took a super cute picture with my phone that I'll post here when I figure out how. It was a great lunch date and I'm glad I'll have this special memory of my "baby".

Maverick's Lovey

Maverick's Lovey arrived in the mail today. Without thinking I opened up the box since the boys were dying to know what was inside. Chandler wanted to know why there were two loveys in the box. Hmmm....think fast Mommy.....oh yeah, "one is for Maverick and the other one is for baby Zachary". Not really sure who "baby Zachary" is, but they bought it.

Of course I know why there are two. One is a spare and they will be rotated so that they wear evenly. Chandler has the same lovey in a monkey style, Brighton has a giraffe, and now Maverick will have a frog.

Brighton's attachment to "giraffey" is still going strong. Chandler's # 1 lovey is "hanky" but he still has his monkey. Hopefully the frog will be a big hit with Maverick!

Day of Bliss

Today is definitely a day of Bliss! I started my day by taking the boys to Chick-fil-A for free Breakfast. You can't beat that! We each had chicken minis and I had water too. I pre-packed the boys some milk and cut up apples. After eating the boys played on the playground for a little bit before we headed off to MOPS.

I LOVE MOPS!!! It is such a blessing to me and today was awesome. It was "spa day" and I began my time at MOPS by receiving a professional hand massage. Then I headed over to one of the craft stations where I made a rice heating/cooling pack. Isn't it so cute?

Everything was pretty much pre-sewn. I just added the rice and a few tablespoons of lavender to each section and sewed it shut. I love the smell of lavender and can't wait to try it out. How relaxing. Speaking of relaxing, I love nothing more than a nice hot bath. The next craft station was right up my alley....bath salts!

There were recipes for three different types: Relaxation, Sore Muscles, and Cold & Flu. I got to make two bags of each kind. These definitely will be put to good use. I enjoyed making them and smelling all the essential oils that went into each one. How fun!

After making the bath salts, I did a warm hand scrub and then sat down and enjoyed good conversation while having some brunch. I then put my name down for a cappuccino, but since I'm not a coffee fan of any sort, I requested just a hot chocolate. Yummy!

Oh, and did I mention that I got my car washed, for free, while all this relaxation was happening. The day is going to end off great too since it's Shrove Tuesday at church and we'll be feasting on a pancake supper tonight. These are the days!

One Month and Counting....

Today marks one month till my official due date of April 6th. It is coming quickly and yet the time is also dragging by. I am certainly getting excited. There is not much left on my "to do" list, so I'm going to have to come up with some mini projects to keep me busy.

I have packed for the new baby and the boys. All that is left is to pack what I need to take to the Birthing Center. I will also need to make and freeze Maverick's Birthday cake. I really should start doing my hypnosis on a more regular basis. I have to do this when I have at least 30 minutes of uninterrupted time, so it usually only comes once the boys are down for the night. By then, I'm ready for bed myself. I'm sure I'll do fine, but a little extra practice never hurt.

Tomorrow is my final day of antibiotics that I've been on for the sinus infection that left me feverish all last weekend. I'm hopeful that one good side effect of it will be that I do not test positive for group B Strep this Friday (3/11). I did not test positive with Chandler, but did with Brighton. If I am positive, it's not a big deal, but they will attempt to get an IV in me before this baby comes. I'd like to forgo that (but certainly will if needed).

Starting this week I will have weekly visits with my midwives. That certainly makes it more "real". I got a gift certificate for Christmas to a spa, that I should probably use now before the baby comes. I'll put that on my "to do" list. Sounds like a plan to me!

Coming Home Outfits

Here are the coming home outfits for outfits for our baby. Yes, it may seem silly to you, but I am bringing a "girl" outfit just in case!

Granted, I don't think it's a girl, but ultrasounds are not 100% accurate. Also, since a second opinion didn't confirm "boy" in February that leaves a little more doubt in my mind. We've had this outfit since we were pregnant with Chandler. We've never known what we were having before, so I've always been prepared for either way. It just seems natural to bring it.

Here's the boy outfit, and the most likely contender to be worn home. We always try to find an outfit with red in it since the babies have always worn the same NCSU booties and hat for coming home.

Here's Chandler:

Here's Brighton (with Midwife, Jewel):

35 Weeks

The belly is getting big! Here I am getting ready to go to our church's youth dinner theater. This is an annual event and we've gone for the past 5 years. We've actually been pregnant at 3 out of the last 5, which to me is even stranger. Hard to believe this little guy will be here soon. I can't wait!

Gifts from a Girl

Chandler came home from preschool on Wednesday and was very excited to show me what was in his bag. I pulled out this masterpiece and noted that his teacher had written "To: Chandler" at the top instead of just his name. I also noticed that "ALLY" was written in yellow towards the middle right of the picture. Upon questioning Chandler I got many different explanations as to how he got this picture, who made it, and what it was.

I think that his friend, Ally, made this picture for Chandler as a gift. I was also told that she made him a red snowflake (which I later found in his folder). Now my question is, does Ally make gifts for everybody in the class or just Chandler? Could this be his first crush? Chandler certainly likes playing with Ally and mentions her often. I will have to ask his teachers more about the picture and see what they say.

Updated Nursery Pictures

Over the weekend we decided to get the rest of the baby paraphernalia down from our attic. Well, at least the big things like the swing and the bouncer. Derek figured he better take some pictures of the completed nursery before more stuff got piled in there so here they are.

On the wall to the far right you will notice Chandler's and Brighton's framed birth announcements with a spot for Maverick left at the bottom. Although the company we have used for announcements in the past is out of business we are hopefully we can find something similar to use for this little guy. I was also very happy with the way the airplane decals on the walls turned out.

This picture shows above the changing table. It's a little hard to see in the picture, but there is a mobile hanging above that has vintage style airplanes on it. A gift from grandma that I saw in Restoration Hardware Baby. How cute!

Here is where the two Craig's list finds ended up. We actually moved our desk into the nursery for now to make more room in the greatroom for the baby swing. It fits nicely in this niche and will hopefully make it's way back to the greatroom in early 2012. Overall the nursery is complete and we are just missing one piece----MAVERICK!

Crazy Bee Lady

I'm going to be known as the Crazy Bee Lady because I'm now on a war-path to eliminate the ground bees in our yard. We have had this problem from 7 years (since we moved in) but it seems to keep getting worse each year. The bees mainly inhabit the grassy area on the other side of the sidewalk near the street, but they are creeping up our front hill and into the front yard. Here's a picture of one of these little buggers:

When I looked outside to check on the boys today I was horrified to see them running on the hill and the SWARMS of bees that were around them. I'm sure it was a little bit of my pregnancy craziness, but I immediately jumped into action and went and got some insecticide and started spraying like crazy. I'm hoping that it worked. I did see some dead bees on the ground after the killing spree stopped, so I'm hopeful :)

Here is what their lovely holes look like in the yard:

Now imagine about 1,000 or MORE of these stupid holes in a very small area. I wouldn't mind it so much if these holes weren't completely overtaking the front yard. There are tunnels underneath the holes, and walking in the front yard you'd think we had gophers or something. The bees usually are only active for about 6 weeks. I'm hoping to get them under control and at least get their numbers down from the thousands. We'll have to see if the first round of poison worked. Another strategy is to keep the ground soaked, but that seems like more work. Wish me luck!