Welcome to the World, Caleb Ryder!!!

Caleb Ryder was born on June 29th, 2009 at 7:59 a.m!!! He weighed 7lbs and .5oz and was 19 1/4 in. long. It was a perfect labor and delivery and we're both doing great.

I was scheduled to be induced and the doctor wanted me to come in at midnight on the 29th. The plan was they'd hook me up to the monitors, start pitocin gradually, then break my water and have a baby by late morning/early afternoon. Well, it turns out, after much prayer and special labor foods, I started going into labor on my own. As I was sitting on the couch ready to go to the hospital, I was having cramps that I just chocked up to nerves. Then, since we got to the hospital a bit early, we had time to go to the store. As we were walking back to the car I felt a lot of pressure and felt extra waddly and mentioned it to AJ. I said it would be funny if I was going into labor now, but never gave it another thought. Well after checking in and getting into my room it was about 1 a.m. I was hooked up to the fetal monitor and the contractions monitor and was started on a very low dose of pitocin. About an hour later I was having some contractions and they gradually became pretty painful. At about 3 a.m. my water broke and my contractions really became strong. The nurse said that I must have been going into labor on my own, because the amount of pitocin I was given wouldn't do this. Well, they stopped my pitocin and my labor progressed on it's own for the rest of the way. About 5 in the morning my doctor came in and broke my water (the rest of it) and then started me back on pitocin (not sure why) for about an hour. Well just before 7, the nurse said I was ready to push soon and since she knew I was waiting for my mom to arrive (after dropping William off with our neighbor,) we were just going to do some practice pushes. Well after 1 push the nurse said that I was a "good pusher" and if we do any more the baby will be here. So, we just hung out for about 30 minutes and gave my mom a chance to get there. Four pushes later Caleb came into the world!!! My apologies if that was all too much information, but after a long labor with William and 2 hours of pushing I want to make sure I remember these details too.

Right away Caleb started exercising his lungs and for the second time in my life, it was the most beautiful cry I'd ever heard. I don't know what it is, but it seems as though from the moment the baby is born I just hold my own breath and wait anxiously as the doctor clears the airways until I hear the first cries. It's like music to my ears and then I can breath again. Once the baby is home I'm not loving the cries so much though (wink, wink.) Caleb looked just like AJ, just as I suspected. I could tell from the latest ultrasound pictures that he had AJ's chin and mouth. Although, I think he does have my eyes. And like William, he has blonde hair and not much of it. My hospital stay was really great and I enjoyed that time getting to know my new son. I remember just trying to comprehend having two children and feeling my heart just grow with more love by the second.

Later that morning, AJ went to get William and bring him to meet his new brother. I was so excited and couldn't wait to see him. I was looking forward to holding both of my babies. William thought Caleb was fun to look at and he said "Baby" a few times, but he was much more interested in the buttons on my bed and the doors in the room. The next few days went by pretty quickly and on Wednesday I was able to go home. William didn't seem to mind that the baby was there, but it was clear that he did not like that I wasn't home for 2 days. He acted out a bit and didn't want AJ or I to leave his side. That initial clinginess has gone away some over the weeks, but William is still getting used to things. He absolutely loves Caleb - that is one thing I am sure of. However, he is absolutely testing his limits with me and I'm not sure if that's jealousy or his age since he is approaching 2 in September. When William wakes up from a nap, he always goes to the pack n' play and looks for "Baby." When I'm holding Caleb he likes to come over and kiss his head and point out his body parts.

It has definitely been quite the adjustment for me, having 2 little ones. I can't speak for AJ, but I know that he's been very busy with work, school, and kids. BUT I must say that my mom was here for a month and that was a HUGE help in getting adjusted. She played with William and gave him much needed attention and then held Caleb when William needed "Mommy time." Debbie also came down for a few days and was helpful in keeping William busy. After my mom left, I had about a week of doing it on my own before Vance and Annette came into town. They are here right now and both are also a HUGE help! We've also had some friends come by and bring dinners for us during the week no parents were here which was amazingly wonderful. I must say we've been really lucky too, because Caleb is a great sleeper. He quickly got on board with the whole sleeping longer at night and waking more in the day routine. Afer 1 week he slept 5 hours at night. I had to check with the doctor to make sure that it was ok and he assured me it was. The next night, he slept 8 hours! That's not typical, but he does sleep about 5-7 hours at night now. I was just hoping that he'd sleep that long by 7 weeks like William! He's defintiely spoiling us in that regard.

OK, well that's all for now. Below is a slideshow of our newest addition. If you click on the slideshow and view it on the separate page, you'll be able to see some captions I've added. Love to All!!!

June Pictures

Here are some pictures from the month of June. You'll see that William had a busy month. He helped Daddy put stepping stones in the backyard, went to Monkey Joe's, and even was goofing around in Daddy's socks and posing for the camera. There are also some photos of my belly leading up to Caleb's arrival. Enjoy!

Any day now...

I am 38 weeks and 3 days pregnant, so little new baby will be making his debut any day now. I think I'm finally ready for him. I sewed a nursing cover and burp cloth for him, got most of his clothes washed, cleaned the carseat and swing seat, bought little bity diapers and wipes, and packed my bag for the hospital. I just need to (well AJ needs to) bring the bassinett up to our room and install the carseat bases in our cars. I feel like I'm forgetting something, but I always feel that way so it's no surprise. Well, I feel good overall. I'm pretty uncomfortable and I can't walk 10 ft. without having to pee.... even after going immediately before. Also, (here's the memory thing again) I'm not sure if I mentioned this in my last post, but I have acquired carpal tunnel syndrome late in this pregnancy. My right hand goes numb after just minutes of typing, holding the phone, and even shampooing my hair. Oh, and my hips are sore and my joints are achy. BUT, all that aside I feel great! My mom got into town earlier today so we're ready. I will admit that I'm a little scared of going through labor again. Not that it was bad the last time, but a person is about to come out of me and that's a little nerve wracking, don't you think? I just keep praying for a healthy delivery for the both of us and I'm sure God will take good care.

William is doing good. He's teething again and is just getting over a VERY bad diaper rash and a super runny nose. He seems to be somewhat understanding that a baby is coming. He's been playing with the carseat and pushing it around the house and kissing my belly a lot - unprompted. When we talk about the baby he always is more agreeable by saying yes to questions about him being a helper and getting excited to meet his brother. So I guess we'll see how well he really takes it. William has been in a mother's day out program 2 days a week for 3 weeks now. The first day he ran off and played like it was no big deal. He barely even said goodbye to me. Then, the second day came and he did NOT want me to go. He realized I left last time and was not a fan of that. It has been tough on me too since I have not spent this much time away from him since January, but it's been such a Godsend to have some free time this last month of my pregnancy. Tuesday, there were no tears so it looks as though William is getting used to it. I know he has a fun when he's there. He likes his teacher and they do great activities like arts/crafts, playground, and even have water/swim days.

AJ started school this month too. He's already received some grades which have been very good - not that I would suspect otherwise. It seems to be going well so far and he is really enjoying it, which is what matters. We've also put our house on the market. In 2 weeks we've had 7 buyers come through. No offers yet, but feedback has all been good so far. It's a bit challenging keeping the house in 'showing' condition with a toddler and pets, but we're making it work. I've been out a couple times looking at houses and have found some great homes in great neighborhoods. I haven't found our dream house yet, but that's a good thing since we need to sell our house first anyway. Well I will add some new pictures soon. I have to upload them on the computer so once I do that, I will put them up here... so keep checking back. I'm sleepy now so it's time to stop typing before I ramble on forever. Good night!

Lots To Write About...

So I'll just get started. First of all, after 6 interesting months, this is the last week that I'll be watching Addyson. As I mentioned before (I think) it's bittersweet because William and Addy have been together just about every day since William was 3 months old. This is the first time they'll be separated, but at least they're only down the street so we can have playdates still. Well... for the time being I guess. AJ and I have decided to bite the bullet and make the move on up to a new house that is more accommodating for our expanding family. After interviewing several realtors, we found a great company that we'll be working with and we will be putting our house on the market THIS WEEK! This is so crazy since AJ starts grad school next week and I'm due with new baby in 4 1/2 weeks. I just pray that the timing on all of this works out well with the least amount of stress... if that's possible. I was looking forward to June so I could do some 'nesting' but now I'll be 'un-nesting' my house, which is very confusing to my new mothering hormones. All the time and energy I spent planning the new baby's room and now I don't know if he'll even be in his new room here or the new house. But, if all goes according to plan, we'll be in a house with much more space and a yard. And we may even have some grandparents in town to help, depending on when we sell (wink wink.) I must also add that this whole process has lit quite a fire under AJ to clean. Yep, it's true. I've never seen him so motivated to clean anything! I mean scrubbing walls, washing windows, cleaning closets and floors... and bathrooms! It's amazing!!! I must say I'm enjoying this side of him... it's very sexy ;-)I think I should tell him we're selling at least once a year! Ha ha!

(Side Story: Ok, so just now as I'm writing this, the door bell rang. I answered the door, and it was a sales girl for ADT. She said the best thing she could have ever said to me... "Hi, Is your mom or dad home?" HAAAA HA HA HAHA! That was great! I said, "Um... this is my house, but I'll take the compliment." She felt so silly, but I was quite happy. If we weren't selling, I would have bought whatever she was offering! And, in her defense, I couldn't open the door all the way because Chewie was spazzing out, so she couldn't see my large protruding belly. Aahhh... how funny.)

OK, so what else? Oh, I mentioned a few posts ago that I was having sugar issues. Well, it continued so my Dr. did another glucose blood test. It was elevated (130) for the first time so she had me go to a diabetes class. As part of the 'treatment' I have to eat a certain meal plan, write down everything I eat, and test my blood sugar 4x a day. Yuck! It has not been fun, since I never paid attention to what I eat EVER in my life and who likes poking themselves 4x a day? Not me. The good news is that I don't actually have gestational diabetes and this was just a precaution. They said to do this meal plan/blood testing for a week then we meet for an evaluation. I'm hoping that they'll tell me just to pay attention to what I eat and that I don't have to write everything down or poke myself still... because honestly, who has time for that? But, I'll do whatever it takes to make sure this baby is healthy and has a great start to his life. As much as I tried to make this pregnancy the same as the last one, I'm finding I just couldn't do it. For starters I'm home all the time and I honestly ate better when I worked and ate out for lunches. It's so hard to cook every meal. And as I'm approaching the last month I am SO uncomfortable, sore, and tired! Maybe I was with William too, but I didn't have to bend over and pick up after anyone and lift a 25lb kid several times a day, so it was a bit different. Oh yeah, I got to take naps whenever I felt like it back then too... that's not an option anymore. I don't mean to complain... I know all this will be worth it once I get to see my precious little bundle in just a few weeks. I can't wait to meet him!

Below is a video I took of William and Addyson today playing out in the yard and below that is a slideshow of recent pictures I took of my precious little boy. The first ones are from Debbie's visit and the Rennaissance Festival that we took William to for the first time. Enjoy!

The Toddler Bed

(I wrote this one a few weeks ago, but never published it - oops!) This past weekend we (mostly AJ) nearly finished the new baby's room/guest room. It's painted and the chair rail is up, thanks to our dear friend Jon, who has all the nifty tools to do it. Saturday was the day they completed it and while the boys were at work in the room, William got to play with his friend Owen (Jon and Brandi's little peanut) who is nearly 6 months old now. William really liked playing with him and all his old baby toys. I wonder if this means he'll have lots of fun when his little brother arrives? So anyway, once they finished with the walls the boys brought up the new furntiture for the room along with William's toddler bed. The plan was to keep the bed in the room along with the crib and give him time to get used to it. That night, before bed, we read stories in the bed (since we moved out the chair)and then he slept in the crib. The next day, when it came time for nap time we started off just planning on using the crib. William was getting settled when he saw AJ walk by the room and quickly became unsettled and wanted 'Daddy.' I left the room only to see that a few minutes later, AJ had put William to sleep in the toddler bed. I thought it was going to be a disaster, but after 2 times of putting William back in the bed, he stayed there and took a full 2 hour nap - YAY! At the end of the nap, I went to just check on him and to my additional surprise, he was just sitting in his bed waiting for someone to get him. Can he be any cuter??? He spent last night in his crib, but I thought I'd try for nap time in the bed again today. It didn't work so well in the morning, but that's probably because he hasn't been taking morning naps lately. When the afternoon naptime came around, I gave him the choice again and he wanted the toddler bed. Success again! He slept for nearly 3 hours this time! And below are some random pictures, but the last few are how AJ found William the first time sleeping in his bed. So cute!

New Baby Update

I am 30 weeks and 3 days pregnant and had my checkup this morning. They did the ultrasound to make sure that our new peanut is growing the way he should since my belly measured small last time. Well, it's looking pretty good at this time. He's proportional (which is great news) but only the 35% percentile for this stage. He weighs 2 lbs 11 oz. I still have 10 weeks to go and I'm sure if my annual summer ice cream craving kicks in that will surely contribute to his growth. He was an active little stinker today and it was really neat to see him on the ultrasound at this stage. He's much bigger than at 20 weeks - and yes, he's still a he and not afraid to show it. Also, as mentioned from my last update I had the diabetes test and it came back negative (although this morning I had extra sugar in my system so I may need to take the test again) and another issue I had just disappeared on its own - so overall it was a good visit. I go back for another ultrasound in 4 weeks just to be on the safe side with his growth and development, but it's seeming like I'm just going to have a bit smaller baby.

And William, oh what a cute and lovable little boy! I could just gush over him all day. He's saying new words and communicating pretty well now. He still doesn't have very many teeth yet (8 total,) but they're slowly making their way through. So some of you may have heard this story, but a couple weeks ago William and I were stacking blocks. They kept on tipping over on the carpet so we stacked them on a book. Well, I was preoccuppied with something and when I looked back William had covered the book with blocks (stacking them side by side) instead of stacking on top of each other. I told him "Good Job! That is so Neat!" Well he was so proud of himself and now anytime he stacks blocks or makes something he's proud of he says "Meat, Meat!" It's so cute. Well, the kiddos are napping now and I'd like to take advantage and lay down for a bit myself. :-) Here are just a couple of recent photos of William playing... Enjoy!

Easter Bunny Fun

Hello! I hope everyone had a great Easter. Ours was very low key, but we had a great day! It started with Church and that's where William gave us our Easter present. He sat like such a great good boy during the whole mass. Toward the end he was getting a little playful, but he was so well behaved still. AJ and I kinda looked at each other wondering what was happening, but we did enjoy it and didn't question it! The Easter Bunny brought William a little climber/slide that he just loves! He spent the whole day on it and we could notice him getting braver with it as time went on. Baba and Grampa got him his first tricycle and he got a bubble lawn mower too. Needless to say, William was kept very busy with his new toys and we just adored watching him go. Somewhere in there we found time to hunt for the Easter eggs that the Easter Bunny left. William caught on quick that there were treats in them. He also got the hang of the concept fast and he was so cute walking around with his little basket and finding those eggs to fill it. We took some video of that that I may put on here, but it's a bit long. I made dinner as close to our 'traditional' dinner as possible, but it was just the 3 of us so I didn't make nearly as much. Overall it was a fantastic holiday and William just made it so special for us.

Today we went to check out a potential Mother's Day Out program for William to start attending. It's a great facility and William seemed to enjoy it. While we were getting the tour he just wanted to run around and play with the other kids. It is for 2 days a week and he'll start in June. Based on his reaction to it, I think he's really going to like it (I hope!!!) It makes me feel anxious just thinking about bringing him to a daycare situation again. Not that it's ever been bad, but I just worry about him. I think that it's the best thing for him right now anyway. It will give him more social interaction while teaching him things along the way. It will be something that is 'his' when the new baby comes and it will help me out once the moms leave and all our help is gone. So let's cross our fingers that he likes it!

There's a slideshow below from Easter - Enjoy the pictures!