Happy 22 1/2 Months!

Bean (more often called Goose),

Wow, have you given us a run for our money this month!


You:
*proudly sit forward facing in "Black Van" - a milestone all of us looked forward to!

*give "Baby Sister" one armed hugs and countless kisses on top of her head.

*help out with Chickpea as best as you can: getting diapers and giving her back her "binky".

*can hold an actual (albeit short) phone conversation that makes sense. [Example: You bring us the phone and say, "Call Mom-Mom." You say "Heh-row," followed by lots of "uh-huh"s. But you can answer what you are doing ad who you are with. It's so neat!!]

Making Room for Baby & Making Changes

Bean,

There were a number of things we wanted to do to get you ready for your sister's arrival. But as I told a dear friend at work, I think God laughs at me whenever I make plans. :) Therefore, we didn't get to prep you as much as we would have liked. I think many families never give this a second thought but as Daddy and I don't have siblings we wanted to make sure this experience was a happy and positive one for you!





We did have an amazing "big brother" book that we shared with you for many months beforehand. You did nice touch to baby sister Chickpea and tried to feed her goldfish and Os in my belly and shared  your stickers.

<----      :)





Fortunately, we spent Labor Day making crafts for your sister and you even picked out a gift. I was afraid you would forget the experience before you could give it to her but luckily, she was only 2 days away!

You loved your "tube" of animals and the camera "cam-ma" that Grace got you! More importantly, from Day One, you have loved your sister. I could not have asked for anything more. What you didn't love though, was thinking that you were missing out on something.. or perhaps the disruption of it all. By the time Grace was two weeks old, you decided that sleep was something to buck us on again. One night, you woke up and tried to exit your crib - head first. The next day we prompted changed your crib into a toddler bed. You said it was "broken" and so the long two months of not wanting to go to sleep at night (and not wanting to go back to sleep in the middle of the night) began. Thank goodness Grace only woke up once or twice a night! It was very trying (and tiring) to be up with you again, sleeping on your floor to get you to sleep. There were many nights that MomMom had to put you to bed. Thank goodness for her too!

Happy BIRTHday, Sweet Grace!

*Warning: Birth story ahead!*

Grace,

Daddy and I were pretty sure you would be a September baby, but we had no idea you'd arrive so early! I knew something was up the morning of Tuesday the 4th. When I got to work, I talked with your "Aunts" Jaime, Kristin, Christina, Kimber, and Megan and told them I felt it could be any moment! By the evening, I felt very uncomfortable and by 10 o'clock, I told your dad to "be prepared." He asked me to tell you that he would like a full night's sleep first. :)

As you will soon learn, your mama loves her sleep. So when I could not fall into it easily, I knew you were on the way. By 11, my water broke and didn't stop. I woke Daddy up and told him that maybe we should pack our bags. :) We stumbled around in the dark, trying not to wake Liam as we got our things together and called over your grandparents for back up. We arrived at the hospital around 12:30AM and requested our favorite triage room, #5, which we frequented during the early part of your pregnancy. Daddy was bummed when it was already taken. It's the only one with a comfy reclining chair. :) This was the last thing on my mind as I was so incredibly worried that your labor would be super quick as your brother's was six hours said and done but while you were itching to get out early, you took your sweet time.

Last belly shot - 36 weeks 2 days - 1AM

Contractions weren't as bad as I had remembered but I suppose that's easy to say when they are 20 minutes apart. I opted for an epidural anyway. A special "Thank You" to Dr. Katz for his amazing work!! Your heart rate did dip a few times however not enough for the doctors to be concerned. The midwife and nurse were impressed with the contraction length. I'd push a few times, then we'd wait and chat before the next one came along. I learned about her free spirited volunteer daughter whose life dream is to work for TOMS and her son's August wedding in NYC. Definitely not your typical TV show labor. :) While the contractions weren't super painful/pressurized towards the end, they were LONG. (See the "mountain range" picture below.)

Like your brother (and unlike your parents), you had a full head of hair. So much so that I could see it before you were even out! Daddy was momentarily concerned that it was dark brown though.. I wonder where that came from!

At 9:22AM, you came into the world and joined our family. I remember being in awe of your brother, just staring at him. With you, I just cried. I was so happy that despite being close to a month early and all of our adventurous beginnings, you were okay. That was, by far, the greatest gift of all.

You are beautiful and we can't wait to watch you grow! <3

Documenting Our Family of Three

Before Liam was born, we had our wedding photographer (of Heather Fowler photography) take photos of us (and belly) down in Cape Henlopen. We had previous had some post-wedding portraits taken on Wildwood's boardwalk and Cape May so we thought we'd get in Kevin's beaches too. :)

For our newest addition, we wanted to be sure we had something similar. I hear lots of stories about how the children after the first one get gipped in terms of pictures, albums, and other special stuff. As an only child, I cannot imagine doing this! Chickpea already has the beginnings of a baby book and free 4D ultrasounds - courtesy of that subchorionic hemorrhage. 

I love the photojournalistic style (in layman's terms: photos without manmade backdrops or tons of posing) but I also love getting different photographers' views. Enter Emily. :) I met Emily as a freshman in college and was already admiring her photography skills of pictures she took of our campus. She now has her own business, Emily Troutman Photography, so if you are in the Delaware area you should check her out!

Here are some of my favorites from her blog post of our session. Check out her page to see more! 

Our Family <3 <3 <3 <3

Liam's obession with phones led to this idea. :)

You don't know what you're in for, Liam!

This is one of our ultrasound photographs with a verse (John 1:16).
"From the fullness of His grace, we have received one blessing after another." 

I can't believe we are one step closer to welcoming our baby girl! <3

Adventures in Life & Triage

Chickpea,

You will be arriving in T-4 weeks and a few days. However, Daddy and I think you have other plans and guess you might be a mid-September baby. Daddy thinks the first day of fall, his favorite season, while I'm hoping you'll hang on long enough for my students to meet their long term substitute at school!

If it's one thing your pregnancy isn't, it's uneventful. With Bean, week by week passed with textbook milestones and anticipation. This is similar to you but with added "excitement" along the way. The subchorrionic bleed is now a small sliver of a crescent moon overshadowed by a beautifully growing girl whom we've witnessed kicking and yawning on ultrasounds in the womb. It's hard to forget how scary it was when, at weeks 6-14, it was a massive black pool triple your size.

But I've learned:
God takes Time and Time does Heal. Quite literally, in fact.

As things become "normal", it becomes increasingly easy to forget to be thankful. So perhaps this is why Wednesday's 12 hour triage trip occurred - another wake up call. I woke up at 2 AM with dizziness and an inability to focus properly. When it didn't go away by 6, I'm glad I had the right mind to say that something was off. I went to the hospital armed with an amazing husband who sat in an incredibly uncomfortable chair beside me for 12 hours while we talked with nurses, PAs, and doctors about the "episode" and my symptoms. Many hours of magazine reading later, I had my first ever MRI which I believe is inaccurately portrayed on House as it sounded like a cross between a rave, construction site, and nuclear warfare. More waiting and the scan came back - nothing. I was diagnosed with vertigo. That I can handle. Dehydration could have also been a trigger so perhaps drinking more water wouldn't be a bad idea either. :)

Having a baby is not easy work. It takes strength to hold it together - for yourself and for your baby. For some it's in trying to conceive, others in staying pregnant, for others in labor or what to do when you're finally home with this human being you prayed so hard to receive. And a quick note about all those who raise a child without having gone through pregnancy themselves: It's not easier for them. Their strength came in the waiting for a child and having to trust that when the time was right, a child would enter their lives.

During all of my Wednesday waiting it really began to sink in that so many things could go wrong and that we are extremely BLESSED. While they don't seem like small things in the moment, everything I've gone through so far was just a little bump in the road. In fact, through every trial that we've had in our pregnancy with you, you were doing just fine. I found these logics on an elementary school friend's post today and thought it was fitting.

While #s 1 & 3 are logics I need to take the time to remember, #s 2 & 5 are especially difficult for me. I care deeply about what others think which somehow manifests itself in dwelling on how much better other people have it. But it's true. I don't know what their journey is about just as the strangers who comment on my pregnant size or shape have no idea of the stressful beginning of my pregnancy with you.  

If it's one thing I'd like to teach you in life, it's to enjoy YOUR journey. Surround yourself with people who will stick by in the bad as well as good times and those who don't care how much or little you have, just how you make the best of it.

Happy 21 Months!

Bean,

While you are still our baby (and always will be), this month you really have become a "Big Kid." Perhaps you really do know that a new baby is coming into our lives.  We celebrated the day with a maternity and family photo shoot with Emily Troutman of Emily Troutman Photo. We loved the photos we did for you and are excited to have professionally documented "Us" as a family of three before becoming a family of four. 

You are also our guinea pig child - every day with you is a first for me. Because of this, I really don't know when you are supposed to hit important, yet smaller, milestones so I like to celebrate all of them. <3

Here's what you can do this month. You:

*have started calling your father "Big Daddy." Lord only knows where that one came from, but it's hysterical and Daddy loves it. I find it important to note that I was only called Big Mama once. It didn't stick and perhaps that's for the better! 

*have decided that I'm "Mommy" now instead of Mama. It was a hard change to get used to but hearing your voice say anything that means me and only me is precious. 

*call yourself "Big Kid" and you are getting better at pronouncing your own name. Ls are tricky!

*can recognize your name when written with a few others and know that those combinations of letters make your name every time. As a literacy student, I think that's pretty cool. :)

*could eat an entire pint of blueberries ("boo-berries") in one sitting if we would let you!

*have decided goldfish do indeed make a good snack.

*had your first real sickness - hand, foot, and mouth disease. It was not pleasant but you were a trooper! We are blessed that you have been such a healthy child!

*know how to manipulate bedtime by asking what EVERY SINGLE animal is on the last pages of your ocean book when you know it's time for bed.

*must brush your teeth first before Mommy can help you finish the job.

*can climb! Not out of your crib thankfully, but it was nerve wracking and cool to turn around and see you seated at the kitchen table with your cup and snack by yourself!

*are now in a big kid seat at the table which you enjoy buckling yourself very much!

*have a new best friend - Penguin ("poe-win") and love to have him read, share your snack, jump, swim, and give kisses.

And my favorite:

*created a special good bye routine with Daddy. Mommy showed you once how to keep kisses with you by putting them on your heart so our love is always with you. So now, when he blows you kisses, you catch them (with a grunting sound effect) and pat your chest with it while you say "Heart." It makes me teary eyed every time. 

Happy 20 1/2 Months!

I can't believe you have been with us for close to two years already! Right now (while you are sleeping), it seems like yesterday, while at other times it feels more like a decade. :) I saw on another mom's blog where she posted what her child was able to do milestone-wise for the month and thought it was a fun way to document things as your baby book doesn't have room for it.

At 20 and a half months (because I didn't post this in July), you:
*Let us know when Chloe's bowl is empty and feed her yourself (with our help opening the bag). Then you yell, "Coe-ee! Food!"
*Can now say the letter X in words like mix and fox.
*Play talk on the phone, complete with laughter and pausing as if you're actually talking to someone.
*Love story time at the library. But I think ti's mostly because you get: a snack, to use a glue stick, and two stamps. :)
*Enjoy hopping on your bouncy cow and dismount by putting the front of it down and stepping over his head.
*Feed your giraffe and monkey by dipping their heads in a bowl of cheerios and making eating noises with your own mouth.

At 20 months, you:
*Do "nice touch" to your sister and now call her Chickpea (chee-pea).
*Talk non-stop! You wake up with a running commentary to all of your animals. On the monitor Daddy and I hear, "Hi, Crab (cab)! Hi, Turtle! Hi, Sea Horse (sss-horse)! Hi, Monkey (mun-kee)! Hi, Hippo (hee-poe)!" complete with waving. It's absolutely adorable!
*Can pronounce three syllable words like detector with no problem, but clock, fox, and drink definitely sound like swear words.
*Were shown jeeps by your Grandpa and, somehow, you can identify Wranglers and Cherokees where ever we go.
*Love our new Odyssey and call it "Black Van" (back van) with much enthusiasm.
*Picked your first eggplant from our garden.