nursery #2

Ok...finally...here are pics of Philip's nursery...

a sweet and funny moment

There are many things each day that make me smile. This was just one of those moments today. I couldn't help but giggle...

It's such a sweet moment of Charlie sleeping but then...why is the pillow on his head!?! :)

our budding photographer

During the photo shoot of Philip on Tuesday, Charlie had to take his turn behind the camera as well. Charlie got introduced to taking pictures by his Grandpa while we were in the hospital for Philip's delivery. So, I just showed Charlie which button to push and off he went. I also mentioned to him to take pictures of the bear or the duck but the rest were all Charlie's doings. After our shoot, I put Philip in his bouncy seat in the living room and went on about doing other things. Charlie still had my camera shooting more pictures. When I put the pics on my computer, I was amazed at some of the pictures he took and at the subjects of his pictures. Here are a few of my favorites...
He took Woody back into Philip's room and took his picture just like the ones we had been doing of Philip...in pretty much the same spot. I'm sure it was just Charlie snapping random pictures but the composition of this one is great:
I don't know why I like this one so much but it just tickled me. I had to keep telling Charlie to keep his fingers off the lens but he had a hard time holding the camera without doing so.

Here are a few other shots Charlie took...

Philip is one month old!

What an experience it has been so far to have little Philip in our lives! He is just such a sweetie! I relish in each moment I get to cuddle and squeeze and kiss him. As with Charlie, I just love to sit and watch him sleep.

I had him in the doc's office on Wednesday. Philip is up to 10 lbs. 14 oz.! So, as you probably guessed, he is eating well...about every two hours when awake. He sleeps well and has actually given us a few nights of going to sleep around 12:30 or 1:00 am and sleeping until 6:30 or 7:00 am. I would have never guessed he would sleep that long at night at 4 weeks old! However, when Philip is awake, he wants to be bouncing. Spoiled already. I know. The bouncy seat is our salvation sometimes but I hate to keep him in it all day. We've had many nights of walking, pacing and bouncing.

The 11 to midnight or 1 am shift is the hardest for Daniel and me. Mainly because we just want Philip to go to sleep so that we can sleep. I usually take it just because I feel bad for keeping Daniel up when he's got to go to work the next day. I normally have to get up to feed Philip anyway. I am not having any issues nursing Philip. I guess I became a pro by breastfeeding Charlie for a year. Philip just latches right on. I'm just waiting on the soreness to go away.

We've yet to get Philip to take a pacifier. I think this would help with some of the fussiness between feedings so we'll keep trying. I talked with the pediatrician while in the office the other day about the fussiness. Philip also spits up alot. She said he may have a little reflux. She wasn't concerned since he's eating well and gaining weight well. He's not spitting up the majority of what he eats so we're good for now. He gets pretty fussy about an hour after he starts feeding. I've just had to be diligent about getting him to burp and Philip's doing much better. We've also tried to not lay him down as much. He seems to spit up if you do. Again, the bouncy seat has been good to help with this.

Charlie has started back to his Mother's Morning Out so I'm having to get up three mornings a week and get all three of us out the door. I'm still adjusting my schedule since I'm barely getting Charlie there on time but I'll get it soon. Philip has done fine with this. He's actually a great car rider. He just goes to sleep. I've had trouble keeping his head upright in his car seat but he seems to be gaining more strength in his neck each time we ride and I don't have to reach back there near as much.Charlie seems to be adjusting well with Philip being here. His new phrase though, that I hear constantly, is "Mommy, watch me." So, I know he's struggling with the diminished attention but is doing well with it. No major meltdowns yet. I just tell him that we can do whatever it is that he is asking for when Philip gets done feeding. I'm just trying to make sure I follow through with that as well. He is all about a schedule so Charlie tells me over and over, "After Philip gets done eating, we'll go play." or "When Philip wakes up, I do bowling." Hey...atleast he understands. :) Other than those type things, his world hasn't changed too much. He's actually growing up more. Charlie is a great helper. Too much sometimes. He's starting into the "Charlie do it" phase which has been a great thing in potty training.

Charlie still loves to give Philip kisses and get his "piggies". Charlie has had a cold this week so we've had to be even more diligent about keeping Charlie out of Philip's face and keeping him from touching Philip. I just keep telling him that he is sick and that we don't want to get Philip sick. He takes it at that and goes on about his business. Granted, I have to tell him every time but, again, I'm thankful he understands. Charlie loves his little brother. You can tell just by being around them. It is really quite sweet and believe me, I am so thankful!

who does he look like?

Everyone keeps asking me who Philip looks like. Some say he looks like Charlie. If asked, I say that he doesn't look like Charlie when he was a baby...well, because he doesn't. Charlie was almost identical to Daniel's baby pictures. I think Philip looks more like me from the baby pics. And, so, since everyone seems to be so curious about it...you can decide for yourself who Philip looks more like.

Here are some of Philip's recent pics...

Here are pics of the rest of us as babies...

bowling...

We were able to attend Alex's 3rd birthday party on July 16th. It was at Stars and Strikes. It was chaos trying to keep the kids from running all over the place and convincing them to wait their turn. However, they had so much fun! Charlie was all about rolling the ball down the lane.

Pizza and cake were the treats of choice...Here are more pics from the party...

first day of PK3

Yesterday was Charlie's first day back to school. He started in the PreK3 class. We went last Thursday for the Open House to see his new classroom and meet his teachers. He seemed excited to go back and the changes didn't bother him much. I think it was because of a few reasons. One, he is used to the rest of the surroundings. His classroom is just a couple of doors down from last year's classroom. Two, we have been talking about these changes and he understands.

Daniel's parents were visiting so Gram rode with us to school yesterday morning. I was really glad they were here because they were a big help in getting the three of us out the door. I wouldn't have made it on time without them!

I had decided I would not walk Charlie in. They gather the kids in the fellowship hall until everyone is there and then walk to their classroom so I would only be walking him into the fellowship hall. The staff does a drop-of system so since that is what Charlie was so used to from last year, I just decided to let them come out to the car and get him. I was able to hold it together this year (unlike last year) as my little boy walked up those big steps to his first day of PK3. I can't say the same for Gram. :)

I talked with his teachers afterwards. They both said he was a little quiet and reserved the first part of the morning but opened up later on. He talked with the kids in the class. (Most of them are the same kids from his class last year.) He would not, however, talk with the teachers. But, that's normal for Charlie. They said he participated in everything though and did as he was told. One of his teachers this year is our minister's wife, Emily, so Charlie knows her well and I think that is going to help a great deal. We're gonna have to work on the potty time at school. Charlie wouldn't use the potty when they took all the kids so I guess he just held it the whole time. I'm curious to see how long this will last. Surely, he'll get comfortable with it and begin to go when it's time. Who knows...

I interviewed Charlie before we headed home from school. The video is below. It's amazing the difference between this video and last year's video! You can view last year's video here.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

first worship service

Sunday, we took Philip to worship for the first time. Everyone had been asking Daniel when we were coming back so they were all excited to see us. As expected, Philip ate all through Sunday School and slept all through worship service. :)

VBS 2010

We had a Super Saturday VBS at our church building on July 24th. The kids learned about the universe, dinosaurs and the human body. It included the younger kids as well so we took Charlie. The toddler room was mostly storytime, playtime, snacktime, a movie and a few crafts. Charlie seemed to have alot of fun and didn't even cry when it came time to go to his class. He especially enjoyed the singing before and after in the auditorium...especially the hippo song. There was an appearance by Indiana Richey (our minister) and Fred the dinosaur...

Here is Charlie and a few kids from his class...

I didn't take many pics that day simply because I wasn't there much. I was at home with my feet propped up on the couch! Isn't that what a 9 months pregnant lady is suppose to do? :)

giddy up!

Charlie taking Ernie for a ride on his horsey...

eskimo kisses

Philip - two weeks old

We took Philip in today for his two week check-up. Everything checked out great. He is doing so well. Philip is back to his birth weight which means he has gained almost a pound (13 ounces) since leaving the hospital. He had dropped to 8 pounds 8 ounces the night before we checked out and was at 8 pounds 9 ounces a week after he was born. So the kid has definitely found his appetite in the last week! Philip measured in at 22.75 inches today. Heartbeat sounded good and doc said he was taking good deep breaths. We couldn't ask for a healthier little boy and we are thankful every day!

Philip is sleeping and eating well. He has begun eating about every two hours during the day and I have to wake him every 3-4 hours at night to feed him. Doc said today that since he is gaining weight well that I could just let him sleep during the night and feed him when he wakes. This was music to my ears! :) She did say that he may eat a little more often during the day to make up for it though. But, I'm ok with that.

Charlie is adjusting. He is constantly wanting to give Philip a kiss or touch his nose to Philip's nose. This was so sweet in the beginning but when it gets to be 14,000 times a day, you at some point have to go "Ok. Let's stay out of Philip's face." He also loves to touch his head which we are working on and he loves Philip's "piggies". Charlie just always wants to touch them and this is one thing we never say "no" on. He's been very sweet towards Philip and does want to hold him some. Charlie's learning that Mommy can't do much when Philip is "drinking his milk". He's been pretty accepting of that but there's constantly been someone else here to fill that gap so far though. The true tale will come when it's just Mommy and the boys.

Charlie's overnight adventures

While Daniel and I spent a few days at the hospital for Philip's arrival, Charlie took a grand adventure to the Moore house. And, I think they were just as excited about it. I hadn't told Charlie where he would spend those days for a couple of reasons: one, I didn't know when he would be going and two, I didn't want to hear it for days on end until it finally came. But, as Daniel and I were headed to the hospital that Tuesday morning, Charlie found out that he was going to Mo's house (the Moore's) with Kathy and he was super excited! There was no hesitation on our part to send him there. It is by far one of his favorite places to be.

Some of the things I heard he got to do was go to the park to play on the playground, go with Morgan to eat lunch with Michael, and play ball outside with Kathy. He apparently got to eat lots of chicken fingers too! I can only imagine how many chips with cheese dip he ate when they took him to the mexican restaurant. :) They also took him to Bible study that Wednesday night. Charlie slept on the floor in Morgan's room and I was told that when he woke up the next morning, he just came walking down the stairs like it was his own house.

I can only imagine what other things filled the days! We were lucky that Morgan finished her last final that Tuesday morning and was out until fall semester so she was able to keep Charlie during the days. I don't think Charlie missed Daniel and me much, which looking back, I am thankful for. I sure missed Charlie when he was gone but we are so appreciative and so blessed to have friends like Terry, Kathy and Morgan who were there to take care of him. This allowed my parents and Daniel's parents to be at the hospital with Philip without worrying about Charlie.

So a BIG "thank you" to the Moore's! Charlie is truly blessed to have you in his life. We love you!

The last night we were in the hospital, Charlie stayed back at the house with Daniel's parents, Gram and Papa. Let the spoiling continue! :) They played and played in Charlie's room and when they just couldn't go any longer...went to bed. Gram told me that Charlie just climbed up into bed with them that night and within about 12 seconds, Charlie was asleep! The next morning was filled with more playing before they came back to the hospital. I didn't even ask in what other ways they spoiled him. I just figured I would stay in the dark on that one!

Philip's arrival

On Monday, July 26th, I had my usual weekly OB doc appt. Everything checked out great. I was still at about 2-3 cm dilated (which, I'll admit, disappointed me). Not long after I got home from the appointment, I began to have contractions. These were very low on the belly so I figured it was the beginning of labor since I was only a couple of days from my due date. However, they weren't very hard or painful so I just proceeded on through my day thinking it would be a while before I would need to do anything or go to the hospital. I did end up calling Daniel to come home though because I was having trouble putting any weight on my right leg. I figured it was the baby sitting on a nerve.

I had contractions until about 9:30 that night and then they stopped. They were about 6-8 minutes apart and had been all day long. I would have periods of about 30 minutes where I wouldn't have one. I still wasn't concerned since Charlie's delivery took so long. Daniel and I did discuss calling parents but decided to wait and see what developed during the night. I had decided I would rather call them at 3 am than call and them not sleep that night, waiting on the phone to ring. I was never awakened during the night because of a contraction. I actually got the best night's sleep I had had in months.

I guess Daniel had a sense as well that baby Philip would be here soon so he got busy that night finishing up some of the little things in the nursery. We got letters and trucks on the walls, the curtain hung, etc. I promise pictures are coming soon!

The next morning, I woke up feeling really good. My contractions did resume about 8:00 or 8:30 am. But, they still weren't strong or any closer together. Charlie and I ate breakfast and he was watching PBS as usual. All of a sudden I got really tired so I decided to lie down on the couch for a bit. Around 9:30, I felt two thumps "down below" and gush...my water broke. I immediately got up, grabbed a towel or two and made all the important phone calls. I was, surprisingly, calm. My contractions at this point though became very strong and starting coming very fast.

My friend, Kathy, came rushing over to help and to take Charlie for us. She was a Godsend. I mentioned that I would like to take a shower so she kept Charlie busy while I did that. Looking back...not a good decision. But, in my defense, I thought I had plenty of time. Kathy was so sweet to stand there and dry my hair for me. By this point, Daniel had made it home. I realized my contractions were closing in on each other and knew we needed to go RIGHT THEN. I was unable to walk though. The contractions were too hard and were making me lightheaded and nauseous. Kathy got on one side of me and Daniel got on the other. The two of them walked me down the hall, down the stairs and helped me in the car. Charlie was behind us saying, "Mommy, going to the hospital?" "Hi Mommy." "Mommy, you sick?" He wasn't sure what was going on.

As Daniel and I were pulling out of the driveway, he asks me, "Do you want me to take it slow and easy or just get you there?" My contractions were really hard and I just wanted to be there so I of course said, "Just get me there." Trying to get to the hospital quickly but still obey the traffic laws I'm sure was hard for Daniel to do.

We arrived and had to wait for someone to bring a wheelchair down since there were none available in the lobby. This seemed like an eternity. I knew I had progressed a good bit just by the intensity of my contractions and was anxious to get inside and see just how much. And, as seems to always be the case, I had to wait in the waiting room a while for registration to open up. I have no clue how long I sat there. I just breathed through each contraction in agony and waited. Once we made it into registration, I think they realized I was really struggling so they left Daniel to finish registration and took me to the triage. They debated whether to examine me there or to get me in a L&D room. My contractions at this point were almost back to back. To my disappointment, they put me in a triage room. The nurse could barely manage to get the monitor on me since this is normally done between contractions. She examined me and said I was about 6 cm dilated. They then immediately took me to a L&D room.

The nurses had to lift me in order to transfer beds. I had already asked for an epidural atleast ten times (not really but it seemed to be taking forever). They got my IV in and informed me that I had to get atleast a half a bag of fluid in before they could do the epidural. That was not what I wanted to hear.

Somewhere amongst all of this, I realized that Daniel hadn't brought the suitcase in. I remembered that our camera was in the suitcase. I had decided that he could go and get it after I got my epidural since with Charlie, it slowed my labor progress. As they were working on my IV, Daniel told me he was going to get it. At this point, I didn't care. I was in too much pain to care what anyone was doing. I was about to pull the rail off the bed as I pulled on it with each contraction. Not a minute after Daniel walked out of the room, the nurses began looking for him and asking each other where my significant other went. No one knew. This was a moment of humor for me because they had a sense of panic in their voice but then I realized...panic!?!

I soon began to feel the need to push. Talk about chaos in the room! I was afraid Daniel wouldn't make it back but as soon as I thought it, he walked in. I can't imagine what went through his mind when he walked back in and the nurses are frantically trying to find the midwife because I was wanting to push!

The midwife, Vivian, finally came in and just looked at me and said, "Are you ready to just push and get this baby out?" I remember thinking...do I have any other choice? I realized that since it was time to push...no epidural. I asked the midwife if she could give me anything for the pain at this point. Her response was that if she gave me anything this late that it would most definitely affect the baby and making him very sleepy. I decided it wasn't worth it and got it in my head that I was going to push and push hard to get this baby out as quickly as possible. I was going to have to do this "au naturale".

I began the series of pushes. Push and hold for a count of ten then breathe. Repeat two more times then rest and wait for the next contraction. Daniel claims I only did this for 6-8 times and the baby was out. It was a completely different experience for me just because I could feel everything. With Charlie, I had to be told when to push due to the epidural. I think it helped me this time to know in what spot I needed to push because I could feel where. I was straining/pushing with all my might to get this baby out. I never looked over at Daniel. I knew he was there but I was too focused on pushing. I think my eyes were closed the majority of the time anyway. I remember each time I would rest between pushes, he would lay a wet washcloth on my forehead. I also remember his encouragement. He just kept telling me that I was doing great and kept reminding me to breathe or to slow down my breathing and to relax between pushes. That encouragement really helped because I so wanted to give up but had no choice but to keep pushing.

I never thought I would be a screamer during labor. The baby's head crowned and I had to wait on another contraction in order to push. At this point, it was pure torture. I was hollering to please get the baby out! Just pull him out! I was begging. My next contraction came, I pushed and out came the baby's head. I was still in agony but the midwife was able to pull him on out as I kept pushing. The feeling of him being delivered and out was an incredible feeling though. That feeling made all the pain worth it! Philip was born that Tuesday, July 27th, at 12:12 pm.

The midwife laid the baby up on my belly and I remember thinking, "Oh! Baby." I wasn't expecting that since that didn't happen with Charlie. I didn't quite know what to think. One of the nurses reached down and moved him up onto my chest and I was able to really hold him and love on my little boy. The midwife cut the cord and they took him to be weighed, measured, suctioned, etc. Philip weighed 9 pounds and 3 ounces. He measured 20.5" long. He was beautiful. They don't bathe babies in the L&D anymore so they brought him back to me pretty quickly. I realized he favored Charlie as a baby but Philip was Philip and not a spitting image of Charlie. The first thing I noticed that was different was, of course, the dark hair. Charlie's was light brown/blonde and was very thin to the point that you couldn't really see it. Philip also has a different nose. Charlie has Daniel's nose.

Needless to say, since my water broke at 9:30 and Philip was born at 12:12, none of our family made it for the delivery. I didn't call any family until my water broke just because I didn't think I was that far along until then. Daniel's parents and my parents and grandmother were all on the road when Philip was born. We called them back after his birth to tell them that they could slow down and take their time getting to ATL since Philip was already here! My sister was in PA at the time visiting inlaws' family but had intended on flying back when I began labor. Yeah, that didn't happen. :\ She wanted to be there for the delivery just as she was with Charlie.

As we were sitting in the L&D room waiting to be taken upstairs to a Mother/Baby room, Daniel and I talked about how we hate that no family was there but that it was kinda nice for it to just be the two of us. We were able to take a few moments for ourselves and enjoy the birth of our son. I think that's something we will both always cherish.

We were moved upstairs about the same time as my parents and grandmother arrived at the hospital. They met us there and had a look of just pure joy on their faces. We got settled in and the visitors began to come and go. Daniel and I were proud to show off our newest addition. Kathy brought Charlie to the hospital that afternoon. He was so cute meeting his little brother for the first time. He wasn't quite sure at first but fell in love rather quickly I think. :)

Daniel and I are blessed to have a wonderful church family. Not only did we have our physical family there to celebrate with us, we also had many of our spiritual family there too. These visitors included Neil & Emily Richey, Derek & Kasey Brown, Troy & Anna Golden and Michael Kingsley. Kathy and Morgan brought Charlie to visit each day. Daniel's parents were there the whole time we were in the hospital as well as my parents and grandmother. My uncle, Dale, came to visit the next morning. I also had MANY well wishes on Facebook when we got home.

Our family is truly blessed...we have a wonderful God, we have each other, a great extended family, a great church family, great friends and now two precious little boys. For that, we thank God each day.