Fishing

We took Owen fishing for the first time today! First stop before we got to Watkins Mill was to buy a fishing pole! Of course, he got a Spiderman pole, and O thought that he was the coolest! These pictures loaded in backwards order, so this is a pic of O and Daddy releasing their fish.



Here is Owen, handing a worm to daddy to hook. He didn't want to touch the worms, until we told him that Hudson likes to touch worms. Then he was all about holding them!



While O and Daddy fished, Mr. Wade ate lunch, and then snoozed in the shade. Look at how big he is getting...SO SAD that he is growing up so fast. He is 1 month old today. How is that possible?


Here is the 1st fish that Owen caught. He was so dang excited, we were all cracking up.



And here is Daddy and his clone, reeling in O's 1st fish of the day. We fished for about 90 minutes, and O caught 3 fish. (2 Perch and 1 Blue Gill) He also had a lot of fun throwing sticks, leaves and rocks into the water. Luckily we were the only ones out on the dock for the majority of the morning, so he didn't irritate any serious fishermen. (Although I doubt serious fishermen would be fishing off of dock...) We had a great morning, and we can't wait to go fishing again! All day O has been running around saying "I CAUGHT A FISH!!!" And if you ask him what kind he says, "BIG fish." :o)

Raise your hand if you are the cutest baby!

Here are just a couple of the pics I have worked on from Wade's VERY SMALL selection of newborn pics. He is not a fan of being messed with, so his newborn sessions were quite short! Newborn photographers (or anyone who has ever seen me do a newborn session) know that it takes quite a bit of manhandling to get all of the cute poses. Well...my youngest boy, much like his father, is not a fan of getting his picture taken. So, we have very few pics to choose from. that is okay, though! The ones we got are precious!!



Owen and Wade...my baby loves. I am very excited about having two little boys. One exciting thing that my friend and co-worker (and mommy mentor!) Carlene pointed out to me is that since my boys are so close in age, (there will be 1 grade between them in school!) we will be able to watch them play sports together when they are in high school! How fun will that be? Anyone who knows Owen knows that he will be playing every sport offered, and I imagine that Wade will be the same way, seeing as how his big brother will help him determine what he "likes" to do. The above picture didn't go as planned. Owen was not in the mood to do what I was asking of him (um, is he ever?) but that is ok. I still love this one.

Brothers

The other night, after both boys had been bathed, We put Wade in his crib to chill while we got Owen lotioned up. Well, Owen really wanted to snuggle his brother and watch the "fish tank". Owen is so in love with his new brother...it melts my heart!

Wade has officially outgrown his newborn clothes. HOW sad. I had to take him to the pediatrician yesterday for his reflux, and he weighed almost 11 lbs as of yesterday...which means that he has most certainly passed the 11 lb mark today. Which means that he has gained more than 1 lb a week since his 5 day check up. Little piggy!

In Owen news, his new thing is putting his stuffed animals in "time out." (Hmm...do you think he goes to time out very much??) In all actuality, he *doesn't* go there a lot, but he is definitely not a stranger to time out! Tomorrow we have a play date planned with Izzy, which Owen is very excited about. We aren't sure what exactly we are going to do, but we know it will be fun! And on Friday, we are going to Liberty's Methodist church's open gym with Hudson and his mommy...which should help O wear off some crazy energy! Depending on the weather this weekend, we may officially lose our minds and head to Omaha for a couple of days...go to the zoo, walk around, etc. We still haven't decided if that is a wise idea or not! We figured that if we wanted to head back the same day, we totally could, but if we wanted to stay, we could just get a hotel and stay. We shall see! My next post may just be titled, "Our Horrific Trip to the Omaha Zoo Where We Lost Owen...And Our Minds."

Great Blog

No, I am not talking about *my* blog. (Although I could probably win a "Longest Post With No Clear Main Idea" award for my last entry! You can tell how sleep deprived I am just by reading that novel-length post of nonsense!) My Aunt Laura told me about this blog, and I am totally hooked.

http://www.kellehampton.com/2010/01/nella-cordelia-birth-story.html

Long story short: The mom goes in to the hospital to have her little girl...they have a ton of family and friends there to celebrate the occasion with them. As soon as the baby girl is delivered, the mom realizes that the baby has Downs Syndrome. Nobody had any idea that the baby was going to be anything but a typical newborn, until she arrived. The link that I posted above is the birth story of baby Nella. It is so beautiful, sad, and uplifting...you will need a box of tissues! Reading this blog, as a mother, it just makes me realize that #1, how much I love my boys, and how thankful I am that God has entrusted Chris and I with the job of raising them and loving them...and #2, it really shows that a good mother is able to cope with any challenges that are thrown her way and to see the good in life, and in her children. I hope that you enjoy this blog as much as I (and my Aunt Laura) do.

Transitioning

Well, it has been 3 weeks since Wade joined our family! How time flies...it definitely doesn't feel like he is 21 days old.

If you are reading this blog, then I am assuming that you know me, and you know that I am making the transition from mommy/1st grade teacher, to stay-at-home momma. I am very excited to have the chance to stay at home with our children. But at the same time...I am going to REALLY miss teaching. I absolutely love it, and it will be strange to not walk into my classroom 5 mornings a week, teach 6-year-olds how to read and do math, and be a part of the most amazing team of teachers that one could ever ask to be a part of. If you teach at Manor Hill, you know what I mean! It is a wonderful school that has special students, parents, and teachers. I started working at Manor Hill when I was 17, and have worked there in some capacity (Kids Zone, student teaching, subbing, teaching...) for the last 10 years, with the exception of the 2 years that I taught in Smithville. I was so excited to have the opportunity to go back and teach at "The Hill", as we fondly call it. :o)

While I am staying at home, (the length of time that I will be staying at home has yet to be determined...depends on if Wade is our last baby) I am lucky enough to be able to finish my masters degree. I was very stressed about how I was going to continue my education, while working and having 2 children. Luckily, staying at home kind of naturally solves that issue. I am going through Mizzou and am getting my Masters in Literacy Education. If all goes as planned (hahahahaha) then I should have it completed in 3 years, which if Wade is our last baby, I will probably go back to work in 3 years when Owen goes to kindergarten so he can go to school where I am teaching. (By the way, lets all just hope and pray that the school district's budgets aren't so dang tight when I am ready to go back. Mkay? Thanks!)

So, transitions. We have semi-smoothly made the transition into a family of 4. Wade is a much fussier baby than O ever thought about being. He is always grunting, moaning, groaning, crying, etc. We have gotten some wonderful suggestions as to how to help his gassy belly, so hopefully he will be more comfortable soon so he can sleep. He is also on meds for reflux, and those should be showing some signs of relief soon! Poor little guy will start gagging and choking and coughing out of nowhere. It is sad!

Owen is such a routine kid, so this transition has been a but bumpy for him. For instance, naptime. He likes to sleep in our bed, and watch Barney until he falls asleep. Well, that was all well and good until baby bro got here. Now, I try to get O down for a nap, and it NEVER fails that 30ish minutes after Owen falls asleep, Wade starts screaming, and O (who is a very light sleeper) wakes up from his (normally 2-3 hour) nap and is a bear. I am sure that once Wade feels better the screaming will be much less, and they can both get some rest. Poor boys.

I also feel badly for Wade, because he cries so much more than Owen ever did to get his needs met. For instance, I will be getting ready to get O's breakfast, and Wade will start crying because he is hungry. Well, if I sat down to feed Wade, O would have to wait 30 mins for breakfast. So, instead, Wade cries and I scramble to get O's meal prepared...all while trying to reason with a 2-year-old as to why he can't have "chips and cheese" for breakfast, which leads to a meltdown for O because he is tired.

I am confident we will be a well-oiled machine very soon. (I just need to chant the previous statement every morning when it is time to get up!)

One thing that will save me soon is that our fence should be installed soon! That will be great...to be able to take Owen outside and not have to worry about him running away. And we can keep all of this big outside stuff...outside! And not have to worry about someone stealing it! It will be GREAT. Well, enough rambling. Owen is done watching his movie (The Sandlot is his new fave) and is requesting to go and see Izzy. And Chris just called and said he will be home late. Very late. At least the overtime will be nice!

Welcome, Wade!

This is going to be a fast post, seeing as how I am now the mommy of 2 kids, and have pretty much no extra time on my hands! Here is the story of Wade's arrival. Due to the fact that I was measuring ahead during this pregnancy, and the troubles that I had during Owen's delivery, my doctor decided that we were going to induce labor on Friday, the 30th. When we found out, I cried for about 2 hours. I was nervous for Owen, and I was really nervous about labor! We spent Thursday evening at Zona Rosa with Owen, since that would be his last night as an only child. We ate at his favorite pizza restaurant, we went to Bounce House Moonwalks and played, and then got ice cream and watched the birds play in the fountain in the courtyard. It was a great evening! Then the following morning, at 4 am, my in-laws got to our house to watch Owen, because we had to be at the hospital at 5 am for the induction! I was proud that I got my IV and didn't throw up this time! Woohoo!

They started me on pitocin right away, and it wasn't really doing much, so they kept upping my dose every 30ish minutes. Eek. I was excited, however, because the day before my induction I called up to Labor and Delivery and asked if the nurse that I had for when I delivered Owen would be working. She was! So I was able to request her, and MAN, did she make this experience a good one. She is the best.



before I was in too much pain, we watched "19 kids and Counting"


And then real labor hit. My dr got there at about 7 am, and broke my water. All of the sudden, all of the pitocin started kicking in, and I was having off of the chart contractions, with only a minutes break in between. It was brutal. At 10:30, I finally had had enough, and requested my (lovely, heavenly, beautiful, wonderful) epidural. I was dilated to 5-6 cm at that point. At 11:30 my nurse checked me again, and I was fully dilated. Wow. At that point, unknown to me, they turned off my epidural so that I would be able to feel when I was pushing, to help prevent another issue like I had with Owen. I was freaking out when I was feeling the pain. I have never felt anything like it!!! I am SO not an outward "I'm in pain and going to let everyone know it" type. With Owen, I labored on Pitocin for 9 hours without an epidural, and never made a peep. Let me tell you, when I was pushing Wade out, I was flat out screaming. It hurt. SO. BAD. I felt bad for Chris because that couldn't have been fun to watch! But, after 25 minutes of pushing...

Wade was here! When he was halfway out, my dr said, "Jen, look down and grab your baby!" So I was able to help deliver him and pull him up on my tummy! It was pretty cool, except that I had the goopy cheesy stuff all over my hands and I felt kind of awkward asking for a tissue, lol.


Here he is! 7 lb 14oz, just like Owen was! What a cutie!


Proud Daddy!

Here is my wonderful dr, Dr. Saunders and Wade. She is seriously the most amazing OB. Both of my delivery experiences have been super positive with her. She is so calm, and everything was just amazing! LOVE her. Even though I was initially ticked about her turning the epidural off, she soooooo made the right decision. Pushing Wade out without it was HORRIBLE, but my recovery has been so much easier than what I had to deal with when I had Owen.


After his afternoon nap, Owen joined us at the hospital to meet his new brother. When he came into the room, he kind of freaked out. He didn't know what to think, and he got his boo-boo face on, and almost started crying. So he hopped up in my bed and snuggled me for a bit, and then was super excited to have a new brother!

And here are my loves! I couldn't be happier right now! We had such a time deciding on a name for Wade. We literally went into the hospital with a list of 5 or 6 names and chose the name Wade about 5 minutes before I started pushing. It is no secret that I really wanted Wyatt, but after looking at him, he is definitely NOT a Wyatt. He is a Wade, and that name fits him perfectly. :o) Our little family is complete. Probably. :o)