lots of lovin' on baby Reid

I've been MIA lately for all the best reasons, like snuggling this cute and teensy guy--and his big brother--and taking plenty of naps whenever I can. While I'm so ready to be able to sleep all night long, I still absolutely love having a baby in the house again! Deric's always preferred the toddler phase but my favorite is definitely this brand new stage. All those cuddles and the way they melt into you because they can't lift up their heads yet! Its the best. 

Reid has had a steady stream of visitors coming to meet him! We've had family in town for more than two weeks now: first Deric's parents, then Sarah and Joel, and finally my parents, who just left yesterday morning. Its been so fun to have family around, plus the extra sets of hands have been so helpful!

Jake and Joel are so much fun to watch together. They're good little buddies and I think that when Joel starts talking, they're probably be best friends! It makes me really excited that Sarah's baby is a boy as well-- being only five months younger than Reid, it'll almost be like having twins around!

Thanks to a dollar bin glowstick (and Pinterest for the idea), the boys loved taking a glow-in-the-dark bath! They were both feeling a little possessive of that glowstick during their bath (and even the next morning when it didn't even glow) as well but they're pretty good at sharing.



Jake warmed up to his Aunt Foo pretty quickly! I came in the living room one afternoon to see both boys fast asleep on her (pregnant) lap--what a good aunt! Sarah told me she'd been holding Reid and Jake came out after his nap, saw them and apparently just laid right down. He slept that way for about ten minutes before he really woke up for the afternoon.

My parents got into town the day before Sarah and Joel went home, and probably ten minutes into their visit Grandad had already taught Joel a new use for pliers. ;)

Each morning, Jake would wake up and beeline into the living room to find Grandad, the only adult awake at such an ungodly hour. Deric and I so enjoyed an extra hour or so of sleep every morning! And Mom had Reid napping like a champ: swaddled, unswaddled, couch, crib, it didn't matter. He got in some solid naps! (And so did I, by extension!)



We decided to enroll Jake in a Mother's Day Out program twice a week for June and July to ease the transition with Reid. We figured he would get some socialization and play time, and I would conversely get some peace and quiet. ;) He loves going to "school" and Reid and I enjoy time to run errands, clean up the house and relax in the mornings.

Packing Jake's lunch the night before his first day--while wearing newborn Reid--just felt crazy. It really was a life-flashing-before-my-eyes kind of experience. Most days I still feel so new to motherhood (and really I still am) but at the same time, I've been a mom for three years now! And even just a month of being a mom of two has been totally different and surreal.

Seeing him in that backpack about kills me every time! He looks so big and so little all at the same time. I'm hoping the backpack will last him through kindergarten but its crazy to think that's even on the radar!

Deric and I enjoyed a rare lunch date--with our little sleeping third wheel-- on the first morning Jake was at school. We need to squeeze in a few more dates before school lets out!

Speaking of dates: since my parents were here for over a week, Deric and I went out twice for dinner. Twice. In a week. That hasn't happened in...ever. Or at least it feels like it. ;) We tried out a new restaurant downtown on our first date night, Babalu. Dinner was delicious but the best part of the date was taking our time coming home since we weren't paying a babysitter! We took our time downtown and then hit up a bookstore and browsed for a while before heading back. It was so nice! We ate at Bonefish Grill the second night we went out. I haven't eaten there since prom in high school but man, those bang bang shrimp are where it's at! We're already planning to go back soon so I can order the shrimp as my entree this time. ;)



I'd been wanting to take Jake to a newly renovated splash pad nearby for a while but its been tricky to get out because its just too hot for Reid to be outside for long. So last week Reid stayed home with Grandma and Jake and I went to the splash pad and then to "the pizza store" for our first little date now that he's a big brother. There were a lot of neat features at the splash pad and I'm excited to take Jake back hopefully sometime soon-- I figure if Deric comes, we can tag team keeping Reid cooled off. We took a break from the fountains just long enough to eat popsicles and then get back into the water. Jake's not a fan of the really big fountains but he found what he was comfortable with and had a ball!

After we dried off somewhat, we split a pizza at our favorite restaurant and got home barely in time to crash for a nap. It was fun to have some one-on-one time with Jake, whose been so patient while I've learned (and am still learning) to balance both boys' needs by myself. Although he does like to tell me pretty frequently that "Mom, you can put Reid in his boppy [pillow] if you want to play with me." Break my heart kid! But unfortunately for you, your brother does have to eat... ;)

While I'm looking forward to figuring out our new routine with two kids, I'm so sad that family has left. Thankfully we'll see both sides of our family again in just a few weeks!

the first two weeks with Reid

These first two weeks with Reid have really been a dream. Before he was born, I was obviously unsure about how Deric and I would balance both kids and how Jake would adjust to a little less attention from us, since he is all about his quality time. But its been great!

Of course, not every minute has been butterflies and rainbows (I actually got mastitis yesterday but with Tylenol and antibiotics, I'm feeling so much better today) but overall the transition to being a family of four is going pretty smoothly.  Deric took the week off from work which has definitely helped ease the transition and its been fun for all of us to have so much time with him home.

It seems like summer appeared just this week with temperatures edging close to 90, so we've spent a lot of time outside in the shade with all of Jake's water toys at his disposal. The water table we got for his birthday has already paid off and after pulling out his pool and seeing how quickly he'd outgrown it, we used some baby shower gift cards to purchase a much bigger inflatable pool. It arrived today so I'm sure we'll put it to good use this weekend...and all summer long! But even with the tiny pool, Jake had just enough room to make a pretty good splash and get just wet enough. He's not one to go all out on anything right away, so it worked out well.

^that face!

Reid and I supervised. ;)

Our first outing was to visit the library and the neighboring park. Some new books and movies have have helped keep Jake occupied when we're busy with Reid, plus the park next to the library is shaded and quiet and Jake loves to play by the stream. He and Deric rock hopped across the stream and he was so excited!

Since I no longer have to watch my blood sugar, we visited Menchie's for some long overdue frozen yogurt! I'll admit that its been hard not to go totally overboard on all the foods and dessert that I missed while pregnant, but certain things--like Menchie's-- just had to happen!

^Jake wasn't too happy to stop and take a picture in the middle of eating his yogurt. ;)

Jake was intrigued for about half a second by Reid's first bath but I think the crying scared him away. Thankfully Reid was back to his calm self as soon as he got snuggled back up. I hate those first baths when it seems like you're torturing the poor child!

Last Sunday night our church held its annual Memorial Day picnic and block party. Since our church is right next door, Reid and I came over to eat dinner and watch Jake ride his bike through the "car wash" that was part of the Mini Indy 500 event for kids before we went back inside because it was so.dang.hot. Our children's minister captured these really cute shots in that short time frame!

he's here!

Reid Warren, born Monday, May 23rd at 10:21 pm

7 lbs, 5 oz and 21 1/2 inches long

long and thin with a fuzz of dark brown hair and royal blue eyes

When we woke up Monday morning, we didn't expect to meet our baby boy late that night! I woke up feeling like I had every morning for the past month: total impatience at how slowly time was crawling by until this baby came. We were planning to be induced on Wednesday morning so after I showered and ate breakfast, I started looking for a project, anything that would keep me occupied. I remember Jake was taking his sweet time finishing a pancake at the table, Deric had run to Home Depot to buy polycrylic to finish a table he built for friends of ours (and was hoping to have completely finished by Wednesday) and I had checked everything off my before baby list except for actually packing bags. So when the doctor's office called me at 8:30, I was in Jake's room packing his bag for his sleepover at our friend's house even though it felt a little premature.

(Back story: Because I developed cholestasis while pregnant with Jake, I had been on the lookout this entire pregnancy for the same symptoms, mainly itchy hands and feet. I thought I was in the clear by this point but last Thursday night my feet itched all night long and I woke up paranoid, called the doctor and they had me come in to draw blood. It felt kind of ridiculous because the lab results wouldn't be in until Monday or Tuesday and we were scheduled to induce Wednesday anyways. My feet didn't itch anymore that weekend so I figured it was a fluke.)

When the nurse called I only half paid attention because I was fairly sure she would tell me the results came back normal. It wasn't until she said that my levels were elevated and the doctor wanted to induce today that I really tuned into the conversation. I asked how soon we needed to be at the hospital and she told me as soon as possible. I asked if two hours was soon enough and she said no, not really, that they wanted to get things started right away. I hung up with her and immediately called Deric and told him to come home. I remember feeling really excited but all the sudden incredibly sad that I hadn't even had the chance to play with Jake yet that morning. I walked down the hall to find him and told him he'd get to go to his sleepover today, but that I had to get our things ready before we could go. He happily went back to playing while I started to pack both our bags. Deric got home and packed his stuff, did some chores around the house and got Jake ready to go. We dropped Jake off at our friend's house and he was so excited to be there that he barely registered when  we left, which made me feel good.

We made it to the hospital right at 10 and I was taken right to a room. We waited maybe twenty minutes for a nurse to come in and get things started, just enough time to finally let friends and family know what was going on! I got dressed in the gown and the nurse started the IVs and monitors. Pitocin was also administered and we spent the next two hours watching tv, texting family and friends and eating lunch-- Popsicles for me, Chickfila for Deric. My doctor came in and broke my water at noon, and that may have been the most painful part of the whole ordeal. (I don't remember that pain with Jake, but then I realized I'd already had my epidural at that point.) Contractions picked up so I asked for the epidural and got in right in time. I could feel the contractions getting stronger really low in my abdomen and all afternoon they were about two minutes apart. The afternoon actually passed really quickly considering I was so bored. I ate as many Popsicles as I could stomach, trying to keep blood sugar up, and developed a slight headache from not eating or drinking water. I tried to nap on and off throughout the afternoon but never actually fell asleep. Around 5pm, the nurse checked and I was dilated to a 4. I was a little disappointed but she said that usually things progressed pretty quickly after you hit 4. And then at 7pm, still a 4. At this point I gave up on having the baby during the day and started to pray that we wouldn't be up in the middle of the night. I just wanted to have this baby and eat something! My doctor had gone home at 5:00 but assured me she would be back within ten minutes when the nurses told her it was time. At 8:50, the nurse said my doctor had asked her to check me again and I was dilated to a 7. Twenty minutes later, I was an 8. I started to get more excited but realized it could potentially be two more hours.

By this point, I was starting to feel more of the contractions than I wanted to so I administered a little more meds, then a little more...and nothing really changed. The nurses had told me to let them know if this happened so they could call for the anesthesiologist. I wasn't in much pain, more discomfort, from the contractions but I was worried that I would feel too much when I actually had to push, so I asked them to call the anesthesiologist. They did but couldn't get ahold of him right away (of course). A little while later, my doctor came in and suggested that if I wasn't in major pain, that we should "just have the baby!" and push away the pain. I remember Deric and I looked at each other with a look of surprise and excitement before we got distracted by the nurses beginning to prep the room. I was still worried that the pain would be too intense but I was obviously excited to start pushing.

Because of the pain I was in while laboring with Jake, I don't remember very much at all of his actual labor and delivery. So this time, I wanted to really be aware of everything going on. I checked the clock to see what time it was so I knew how long I would be pushing, and it was just before 10:00. Everything was prepped and the nurses instructed me to start pushing right at 10:00. I'd push three times during each contraction and barely have the breath to get through it, but it wasn't otherwise very painful, just tiring. I wasn't making any progress at first so I felt discouraged but pretty soon, the doctors and Deric could see the top of his head. Deric kept me "up to date" on what was happening which encouraged me enough to keep pushing. Finally, he told me that we were really really close so I did my absolute best to push and within twenty minutes of pushing, he was here! My first thought as he came out was absolute terror that the doctor would drop him. She suctioned his nose or mouth and the cutest little cry came out. Deric got to cut the cord and then I got to hold him. I remember being on the verge of tears but not actually crying. I was mostly in disbelief that this pregnancy was finally over and he was really here! All that waiting and worrying about him was over and I could hold him and know that he was just perfect.

It seemed to take forever for both of us to be cleaned up so I could hold him again. I noticed that aside from that first good cry, he was totally quiet and calm. He looked around and seemed to wait so patiently for the nurses to check him out, and then I held him and he nursed pretty well almost right away. I don't remember the next few hours except that he was wide awake but didn't cry. He really seemed too good to be true. ;) Around 3:00am I nursed him again and we both went to sleep for a few hours.

The next morning, Deric and I finally decided on his name. He had told me the previous afternoon that he was coming around on my favorite name, Reid, but I tried not to get settled on it in case he changed his mind. But as I got into the shower that morning, I asked Deric to let me know if he wanted to go with Reid by the time I got out of the shower so that we could share the news. And when I came into the room, he had written Reid Warren on the whiteboard.

^ready to go home!

Reid is already a week old (sob!) and it seems surreal to have him with us. He is still incredibly calm (but also ridiculously sleepy and hard to wake up!) and he rarely cries. When he is awake, he'll look around and take everything in just as quietly as can be. He's just starting to wake himself up to nurse, for which I am very thankful. He's a dream baby and is making the adjustment to a family of four pretty easy on us!