I'm So Glad I'm Here

It has taken all of my brain power and energy to make this little slide show today, but I think it was well worth it.I had my best friend send me all of the pictures she took while I was in the hospital, and I added more of our own, to make a little montage of how our family has expanded. The song in the video is called "I'm So Glad I'm Here" by Elizabeth Mitchell and it's from a children's CD but it's become one of my favorite songs. On good days it's my anthem and on bad days it's a reminder of how lucky I am. It's been two weeks now and we're still getting into the swing of life with two little ones. The whole first week we basically hung around in pajamas and took naps when we could and enjoyed having our friends and family drop by with food or simply extra hands to help out. But now Sean is back to work, I'm back to cooking and cleaning and I'm finding it challenging to balance running a household with caring for two kids, especially an infant who is having a growth spurt and wants to eat every hour and a half. It's typically 11am before I've managed to get myself and Aiden dressed and we've gone from being at the park or the library or where ever each day to staying home and playing in the yard everyday. Each day is an adventure and I'm trying to embrace it as such, rather than feeling like everything has derailed just because we didn't get out of the house or we're having leftovers for the third night or, once again, we're still in pajamas at noon. I keep having to remind myself that this is okay, it's alright to sit back and just enjoy the ride and not care how messy things get because this time is short. nbsp;

Brotherly Love

He's Here

Rory Peace Evanoff, born June 26th at 12:55pm, weighing 7 lbs 3 oz (the EXACT same as his brother) and 18 1/2 inches long. 

He's here! I was very lucky that it was a pretty quick labor with no complications. I was given the medication to start labor at about 7pm Monday evening and the contractions started in the middle of the night and unfortunately tailed off by morning. Tuesday morning the doctor broke my water and that was pretty much enough to getting labor started again. After all of 20 minutes of pushing he was here! We were really lucky that everything went so smoothly and we're so thankful he's healthy and well. 

When he was first born we thought he had dark hair like Sean and Aiden but pretty quickly we realized it's sort of light brown or blonde. His eyes are that mysterious steel blue that all newborns have, so no telling about eye color yet. As for the name, we just like Rory, it's Gaelic for "Red King" and Peace is a family name on Sean's side although we've already been teased that we're just big hippies, which may be kind of true too. 

Although I've been a mother to two for all of two days and can't exactly make a sweeping statement on how easy or hard it is, it's gone beautifully so far. Aiden came to the hospital right after Rory arrived and was very nervous around the baby. The next couple of visits he was still hesitant but, as I assumed would happen, he is quite in love now that we're home. He sings to the baby, he puts his hat back on when it falls off and he generally stands as chief protector. Naturally, Bo has already welcomed Rory into the flock. When we first came home we let him come smell him and he kind of wandered off in disinterest. Later on I was nursing the baby and Bo leaned over and gave him a little lick and suddenly he realized that this was a genuine little person and has refused to leave him alone since. He was up all night last night every time Rory sneezed or cooed trying to asses the situation. 

Rory has been a great sleeper so far. I know enough this time to know that despite what the nursery nurses say, do not wake a sleeping baby. They'll wake when they're hungry. One of the labor nurses actually said to me "I know they're going to tell you to wake him up every 2 or 3 hours but please just let him sleep and sleep yourself!". I also could care less about whether his outfit matches so long as he's dressed, I've learned to say "yes please" every time I'm offered help and to sleep early and often. All these things have made our brief time as parents to two that much easier than the first go around. 

Another thing that I've noticed this time is that physically, I kind of feel like I've been hit by a truck as opposed to the way I felt like skipping around after Aiden's birth. Emotionally though I feel beyond wonderful. The anxiety and uncertainty and general turmoil of learning to essentially give all your thoughts and attention to another human being is gone. Having already grown and stretched to accommodate for one child kind of makes it feel like I've thrown the door to my heart wide open. I've got enough room for anything and anyone now and I feel pure unadulterated joy instead of  fear. It's been very apparent to me that to two or so moments of unease I've had so far stemmed directly from hormones rather than any real anxiety and it was such a relief to be able to step back and say "this is a temporary feeling" rather than feel like it was a true reflection of how life is going. 

Again, it's been such a short time, and I'm sure there will be moments where we feel like everything is crazy and out of control, but for now it's been unbelievably beautiful. We are beyond lucky to have each other and can't wait to learn more about this new little life. 

Getting Ready

We are in the final stretch of waiting for the baby. I've been being closely monitored because of the medication I'm taking and each appointment has brought a different opinion of how close I am to labor. One week they're telling me to have my bag packed and ready and the next they're saying everything seems to be at a stand still. It was driving me crazy and I had nearly reconciled myself to being pregnant long into July when one doctor brought up having an induction.

I was induced with Aiden due to being a week and a half overdue but I really hadn't considered it this time. She was worried about potential complications with the medicine and pointed out that if I had just taken a dose and went into labor soon afterward it would be unlikely that I'd be able to have any pain meds. I hadn't really considered having an induction this time but I'm comfortable with the decision. Her arguments made a lot of sense but I won't lie and say that being this rotund and exhausted in the middle of a heat wave didn't have some small effect on my decision. That and the fact that I'm a planner and I can now have all the loose ends tied up before labor. I just hope everything goes as smoothly as it did with Aiden.

We all keep discussing what this baby might look like. Aiden looked a lot like Sean with brown eyes and brown hair (a fabulously thick and long mane of it no less). But we also have three blue eyed parents between us. There's lots of hazel eyed people, a fair number of blonde and auburn haired relatives too, so it's a total crap shoot genetically. I'm excited for the surprise.

 Testing out the infant carseat

 Resting before the big day

The induction, which will be Monday, has basically consumed our thoughts. We're busy cleaning, doing laundry and stocking up on groceries. Aiden will stay with my mom while I'm in the hospital and he keeps telling everyone how he's going to get pizza at her house! Yay! He's very excited to meet his "brudder" and asks what each of the baby items around the house are for. When he picked up a diaper I explained that the baby won't be potty trained. He wrinkled his nose and said "He just poops in these?!" as if wasn't just two years ago that he was doing the same thing. I was worried in the beginning that he would feel displaced by a new sibling, and I'm sure there will still be some rough moments, but overall he's embraced this role of little helper. He is so proud of himself when I point out all the things he can do that he'll have to help his brother learn and he is constantly wanting to help me with all sorts of tasks around the house. I just hope some of this sticks after we bring the baby home.

In the mean time we're enjoying our last few days as a family of three.

Made Me Laugh...

Babies Everywhere

It's almost Memorial Day weekend which means we're in the middle of Birthday Season. There are at least four family birthdays this month (Sean turned 25! His fear of aging kicked in and he mourned the day, but we had cake so it wasn't all sad), plus Mother's Day and this year: a graduation! Sean's mom just graduated with her PhD in Information Sciences. We got to watch her graduate this past Saturday and it was very exciting to see her years of hard work pay off.

This Saturday was also NiskaDay which is our annual town pride festival. There's a parade, lots of overpriced food and carnival rides and fireworks to boot. We went to the parade in the morning and Aiden was in heaven. He loved watching the firetrucks, the marching bands, the firetrucks, and the giant cookie monster balloon. And the firetrucks. Sean enjoyed the free food.

                                           

FIRETRUCKS!!! YAY!!!!

                                                     

 Firetrucks....yay.

Other than those activities we have been busy with house projects. We have become those married people who are all "Oh, we're spending Saturday fixing up the yard. Gotta run to Target for some drapes. Maybe we'll swing through the grocery store for some ground beef. Probably have some burgers, it'll be real exciting". Sean's three days off were spent at...Lowe's. And Target. And the grocery store. Our basement is finally finished, we bought some new couches and are replacing some countertops. It's very exciting for us and yet woefully boring to tell other people. I would've taken some pictures of all the home improvement madness but the computer probably would've fallen asleep while I uploaded them. I blame all the domesticity on the fact that I think Sean is going through some male nesting symptoms. I obsess over onesies and diapers and cleaning and he maniacally clears the yard and trims hedges.

While we were out and about in the yard this weekend we (meaning Aiden) discovered a little baby bunny that had fallen into our basement window well. The window wells are uncovered for the moment and everyone freaks out about how Aiden is going fall into them and whatnot but let me tell you: Aiden isn't going to fall into them. He will probably jump into them on purpose. But anyway, we do plan on covering them, don't worry. I rescued the baby bunny and off he hopped but he came back the next day!!! We released him much farther away this time and he hasn't been back to visit but oh my heartstrings. I cannot handle the idea of lost little babies right now, no matter what species.

 Of course, later that day I came outside to see Aiden clutching a beige colored oval in his hand. He proudly said "I FOUND AN EGG!" Initially I thought it was a chicken egg someone had thrown or dropped that didn't break but it was slightly larger and a much deeper khaki color with a sort of greenish tinge. It definitely wasn't rotten so I took to Google for some answers. What we found: most likely a duck egg. During a week of heavy rain we had noticed that our neighbors lawn flooded and a pair of mallards were living on it like it was a pond. Even with people coming down to watch them (because hello, literal odd ducks in the middle of our neighborhood) they wouldn't leave. I'm assuming they had a nest nearby and maybe abandoned it once the flooded area had dried up. Some animal likely got into the nest and dropped an egg in our yard and now we have a poor abandoned egg that won't hatch but that Aiden is obsessed with watching. Please animals, stop leaving your babies on our doorstep! This is too much!

If you couldn't tell from my obsessive nesting and my attachment to other creature's offspring, this pregnancy is still chugging along. I've entered that unfortunate stage where it's gone from "Aww, cute little pregnant lady!" and is quickly morphing into "Dear God, should she be out in public?!". The belly has grown beyond rounded basketball proportions and now changes shape depending on how the baby is laying. It will morph from round to square as he rolls around, complete with little elbow and knee bumps. As I say to Sean all the time, the only way to describe it is National Geographic.
I'm moody, tired and hot all the time. Seriously, the weather says 75 and breezy but I have my own personal sauna going on all the time, day and night.

I've decided I could be the poster girl for a 1950's B-movie called "Attack of the Pregnant Lady". It would feature me stomping through town and scowling as the citizens shield their eyes in horror. "She's sweaty, she's hormonal, and she just keeps getting bigger!"

8 Weeks To Go

I keep meaning to post here but it always ends up getting added to my ever growing To-Do list. This list is now about eight pages long and gets longer everyday now that I've entered that lovely period of nesting. Suddenly it seems urgent that I vacuum out our cars or reorganize the bookshelf or rearrange furniture because I can't possibly bring a child into the world if the car is sandy, the books are in disarray and the furniture seems off. I just can't I tell you!

Anyway, I seem to be swinging between mad bouts of energy where I try and tackle a laundry list of projects and days where my achy back and exhaustion keep me from doing much of anything except sitting with Aiden and playing endless rounds of dominoes or reading and rereading his favorite books. I have no middle ground. Either I'm moving at warp speed and full of gusto or I'm barely awake.

Babywise, everything seems to be in order. They keep telling me I'm measuring a week small which doesn't surprise me in the least because I'm about 99% sure I'll deliver late again. I think that's just how I grow babies: extra sweet and a week slow.

Aiden is gearing up for the end of school. They are putting on an end of the year show and working on lots of songs. He will come home singing a whole variety of tunes and I always ask "Are you going to sing these in the big show?" and he scoffs and says "Uh no. They can sing and I'll just watch". He's not big on public performances I guess. I'm sure I'll get lots of nice pictures of him up on stage, mouth clamped shut, standing with his classmates while they sing their little hearts out. Oh well.

The basement remodel that has dragged on now for mooooonths will be done this week! Everything is painted and finished and all that is left is for the carpet to be rolled out. I have never been so overjoyed at the sight of boxes of carpet tacking in my life. The only danger in finishing this ever-so-long project is that now the basement will be just one more area of the house for my nesting to manifest itself.

Anyway, here are some pictures of Aiden at the park looking like he's about 14, and one of him dressed as a pirate fireman to remind myself that he's actually only 4.