Coos

Sassy

This morning Kenny was watching a cartoon in our bedroom.

Daddy enter room: "Kenny, whatcha doin' bud?"
Kenny says in an exacerbated tone: "What does it look like I'm doing? You're not blind!"

2 Month Checkup

Weight: 9 lbs. 13 oz.
Height: 21 inches

Difference from last appointment: 2 pounds and 1 inch

He checked out great and got his two month shots. The doctor wants him to put on more weight. What can I say...I have little kids.

Missing My Flowers

You probably haven't noticed, but it is mid-March and I haven't posted anything about planting an obscene number of flowers or putting in the garden I desperately want to have. Thanks to Hurricane Ike we are getting ready to do some major home renovation projects in the next two months (new siding, fascia, sofit, gutters, shutters, roof, garage ceiling, bedroom window replacement, porch roof, not to mention repainting front door, trim, garage door and reorganizing). We are also looking at getting a new air conditioning unit that actually works properly and pour/lay a new porch since ours is wood and starting to rot (we're scared of getting termites). All this in combination with a newborn means no time or money for a garden or flowers.

And I am MISSING it!! I've keep touturing myself by reading about how a start a garden and looking at stores for good flower prices. I don't know why I keep doing that, but I can't stop! Maybe this fall when things have settled down we can plant a garden. I've already started planning it out. The good thing about living in coastal Texas is you can garden all year.

Until then I will just have to content myself with my one beautiful pot of geraniums that survived the winter.

(Photo taken last year)

Baby Sling

This is my new favorite thing. It allows my clingy little sweetheart to be close to me and his big brothers the chance to be fed and generally cared for. Until I got this bad boy about 2 weeks ago I was having a hard time accomplishing even the simplest tasks because James wants to be held close all the time. Though he is getting better, he is still not very happy exploring his world. He wants to be smashed against your body all day. Now I can strap him on and go about my day. I don't have to listen to him cry everytime I have to set him down. I love having him close without having to sacrifice things like cooking dinner or caring for my other kiddos.

That's It!

I have always heard that boys are harder to potty train than girls. My experince supports that theory. Let's face it, most boys are pretty okay with being dirty and a bit stinky. Attribute that to the "caveman manliness factor" I suppose. Most know about Kenny and his...shall we say...issues with using the restroom. And by "issues" I mean pure-cussed stubborness.

Needless to say he traumatized me. We didn't push Nathan and were going to let him try on his own time. We have been working with him since last fall. He is more than willing to go to the bathroom if he is taken. However, he is totally fine with crapping on himself. And taking the time to initiate using the potty- he could care less. The real kicker is that he is perfectly capable of staying dry and has for several hours at a time.

When we would switch him to undies we would always revert back to diapers after a few days because he kept peeing/pooping himself and we figured he wasn't ready.

Well, we are done playing the game. He is 4 years old and knows how to use the potty. We have used up all the diapers in the house and we have not bought anymore. We did get pull-ups for bedtime. We told Nathan that he is old enough and knows how to use the potty and we will not put him back in a diaper.

Let the power struggle being!

Today we have been through 7 pairs of Lightening McQueen undie-roos. After each accident he would ask for a diaper. But we have held firm. We explain that he is old enough and knows how to use the potty and we do not have any diapers. There was one hour this evening when I asked him if he needed to go 3 times. Even when he said "no" I told him to try. During that same hour he peed on himself twice. The real kicker is that we went grocery shopping and he stayed perfectly dry during that time.

So day one hasn't gone very well. But we will not give in! I am done spending a fortune on diapers.

**There is a silver lining to having late potty trainers. We can blame their lack of a college fund on the cost of all those extra years of cleaning their ...

Deer In The Headlights Look

James is an expert at the bug-eyed look.

Gratitude

It has been six weeks since James was born. The time has gone by so fast. Last night while nursing I had time to reflect on everything that has happened recently. As this blog doubles as my family journal, I wanted to get some things written down. Warning: This does contain medical information and if that makes you uncomfortable stop reading.

I know Ken posted about what happened during James delivery. It is still hard for me to think about those minutes in the hospital. They were the most terrifying moments of my life. The contractions were coming fast and I could feel the gushing blood with each one. As soon as we entered the delivery room all H-E- double hockey sticks broke loose. My memories are very distinct and rooted mostly in sensation. It all seemed like a surreal dream. The room was very cold. My hospital gown was removed as soon as we got inside and I was quickly scooted onto another table. Everything started to happen at once. I had people on both sides pinning my arms down. Someone was inserting a catheter while another person was swabbing my stomach. I hear a man asking me questions about weight and height. A nurse says, "I can't find the heartbeat" and I hear my doctor tensly say, "Just knock her out. We have to get this baby out now." The whole time I can feel contractions and blood everywhere. I remember saying, "Here comes another contraction" and someone responded, "Honey, this will be the last one you feel." My last memory is looking up at the bright operating lights while they brought an oxygen mask down and silently praying, "Please save my baby. And please don't let me die."

I don't remember meeting James for the first time. In fact, the first 3 days after he was born are a bit blurry with moments of clarity. I was totally exhausted and could barely move. I remember the doctor telling me her best guess of how much blood I lost was 2 liters, probably more. She said if I had continued to bleed out like I was James and I only had a few minutes before permanent damage or death would have happened. I remeber being told I needed blood. I was scared to get the blood transfusion. That was something they did in ERs with horrific accident victims. I worried about my risk for blood clots or other adverse reactions. The whole idea scared me. Luckily, my friend Rachel hung out in the hospital during the process. She helped Ken clear up a bad nurse situation and watched out for me during the process. We ate chocolate and talked. She distracted me from the I.V. flow of blood going into my arm. I'll never forget that.

The next few weeks I saw an outpouring of love for me and my family. The type of incision I had combined with my blood loss made recovery harder than an normal c-section. The Relief Society had meals brought in for 3 weeks. I had a woman I hardly knew come and sit with me and help care for James. I now count her as a friend. Jean and her daughter cleaned my house and my mom picked up Kenny from school and stayed with me until Ken got home everyday. The Relief Society president called regularly to check on me and my needs. My friend Tara brought me lunch one day, just because. My dear friend Julie came over nearly everyday in those early weeks to keep me company, help with James, and take me to doctor appointments. I am so grateful to the many people who helped. I could not have endured this last 6 weeks without any of them. Every one of them is an angel sent to answer a prayer, some times prayers I didn't even know I had. Even now, people call and offer to help or just to talk and be a friend. I really need that even though I don't realize I do.

My heart is overflowing with gratitude and love for those around me. I don't know why things had to happen the way they did. But I do know, without a doubt in my mind, that my Heavely Father is watching out for me and I know my faith has been stregthened.

Little Boys

Picture

He has learned how to smile on purpose. I took about 20 pictures trying to catch his smile, but I missed every time. Here are a few of my attempts. They're still cute.

Nathan-isms

*Sorry about the time between posts. My boys keep me busy. I have several half-written posts. Hopefully things will get easier soon.*

Nathan is at that cute talking stage when you can understand everything he says, but the grammar and syntax aren't always correct. He'll say things like, "There it is! There it is car of Mommy." Or "I have it fruit snack for Nathan please." I love the cute way kids say things. However, I am not so keen on the new phrase that popped out the other day. He walked into my room and saw something on the floor and clear as a bell said, "What the heck?!?" It sounded so funny coming from his little tiny voice.

Earlier this week he was watching while I changed James' diaper. He said, " Baby has it yellow poop. And Nathan has it brown poop. And Mommy has it blue poop." Not sure where that came from.

His favorite commercial is the Geico money stack with a set of eyes on top. He laughs hystrically at that. Though he also loves (as does the rest of the family) the Denny's Nanerpus song (click here to view).

A few other random Nathan things-
He spent 40 minutes yesterday playing with a dead butterfly and then apologized repeatedly for breaking the butterfly.
He has to wrap up his stuffed little Einsteins rocket in his blankie and put it in the toy baby carrier to go anywhere.
He can finally actually fit into size 2T pants without them falling off.
And he is refusing to use the potty instead of diapers even though he knows how to use the potty. I wonder if all my boys are going to be stubborn potty trainers.