Wesley

April 4, 2012
Dear Wesley,
How time flies!  I cannot believe you are 6 and a half months old!  You have grown so much already, it seems you are doing some things earlier than your brothers did.  I’m sorry I haven’t written anything until now, but I hope this letter will make up for that.
You were born via c-section at 10:32 am on Wednesday, September 14, 2011.  It was a smooth, uneventful birth, and I was 39 ½ weeks along when you were born.  You were my longest pregnancy (I was induced with Tyler when I was 37 weeks along, and Mason was born via c-section at 38 weeks).  You were also the biggest baby of the three of you at 8 lbs 2.9 oz!

You nursed like a champ from the beginning and even gained weight while we were still in the hospital!  In fact, you were doing so well that our doctors discharged us 1 day early (at my request!).  Tyler and Mason visited you in the hospital, and were both very excited about their new little brother!  They were both very gentle with you (they still are), and they become calm and so sweet when they are playing and talking with you.  They love you very much!

Tyler started Kindergarten shortly before you were born, and during the first week we were home, Grandma and Grandpa stayed with us to help me and to take care of some chores around the house.  Two weeks before you were born, a major hurricane blasted through Mechanicsville and downed a tree in our backyard.  The tree fell on our deck and crushed our grill in the process.  (We had the deck rebuilt in February, and just replaced the grill last month.)  Grandpa spent much of his time with a chainsaw cutting up the tree into smaller pieces and then hauling trailer-full loads of wood and debris to the dump.  Daddy demolished the remnants of the deck and stacked the wood, so Grandpa took that to the dump, as well. 

TREE/DECK PHOTOS

Grandma was a big help, too.  She would wake up with you in the middle of the night during that first week, change your diaper, and then bring you to me so I could feed you.  I rocked you back to sleep afterwards.  During that first week, you started sleeping for 5 hours at a time, only waking up once a night to nurse, then back to sleep for another 4 or 5 hours.
Like your brothers, you didn’t enjoy baths until you were a little chubbier.  But you started loving them at around 2 months old.  That’s when you became more fascinated with the water, splashing with your hands and kicking wildly with your feet. 
BATH PICTURE

At around 2 months is when you really started smiling and giggling, too.  Those are some of my favorite smiles!  When you and your brothers each reach that 2-3 month mark and you each started smiling and laughing, Daddy and I would do anything to get you to smile more!  At 2 months you weighed ___ lbs ___ oz.  You were ___ inches long!
CHUBBY BABY PICTURE
Your first real trip was when we drove up to Northern Virginia for my cousin Tom’s wedding.  You were so cute in your khakis and button-down shirt!  You were very good during the hour-long Catholic ceremony at the church, and then Lola held you for most of the reception.
PICTURE FROM WEDDING
For Halloween, you were a little green and blue dragon.  I took your brothers out trick-or-treating, and you stayed at home with Daddy to help hand out candy.  You were so friggin’ adorable in your costume, and then you promptly outgrew it in a few days.
HALLOWEEN PICTURE
You started sleeping through the night very early on, I think you were sleeping through before I had to return to work, when you were 2 months (8 weeks) old.  That was such a blessing, because we are a busy family!  You must have known that somehow, and decided to go easy on your Mommy and Daddy. 
We spent Thanksgiving with Grandma and Grandpa in Suffolk.  We drove up to visit Lola and spend Christmas Eve with her in Falls Church.  Christmas Day was spent at home (so that Santa could easily find our family and leave your presents under the tree), but then we drove to Suffolk to spend the day after Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa.
FAMILY CHRISTMAS PICTURE
BOYS’ CHRISTMAS PICTURES
By January, your hair was getting very long and you often woke up in the morning with a knot in your fine hair at the back of your head.  Daddy and I decided to give you your first haircut January 4, 2012!  Daddy held you in his arms over the bathroom sink, and I trimmed your hair with scissors while you had a bottle.  You were so good!  We think that your first haircut came out very nicely!
PICTURE OF WESLEY BEFORE & AFTER HAIRCUT
By 4 months, you were lifting your head up (while laying on your tummy) much better.  You enjoyed playing in the entertainer, but really started liking the doorway jumper/bouncer.  Both of your brothers LOVED that when they were little, too.  At 4 months you weighed 20.6 lbs and were ___ inches long.  This put you off the charts for weight, and the doctor said you were approximately the size of a 6-month-old baby.  That made sense, since you were more comfortable in 6-9 month clothes.  Your bottom two front teeth started coming in at 4 months, as well.

By the time you were 5 months old, you were able to sit up for short periods of time by yourself!  You needed help getting into the sitting position, but once you were there, you were good for 30 seconds or so.  Your top two front teeth also started coming in at 5 months!

In late February, we finally had the first winter snowstorm.  We bundled your brothers up so they could play late in the evening, and we bundled you up in some outerwear that was too big for you, so you really looked like the Michelin Man!  You are so laid back and willing to go with the flow, I couldn’t tell if you minded or not.

At 6 months, your personality really started showing.  You began trying to talk more, instead of just making noises.  Many times I could get you to make a “mumm” sound!  I working hard to try to get you to say “mama” before Daddy can get you to say “dada”!

It seems as though you are constantly teething!  The teeth on either side of your bottom and top two front teeth all started coming in at the same time!  You are such a happy baby, nobody would even know you were teething, though.  You discovered your feet and legs, and often like to grab them!  You like sitting so that you can look around, but you also enjoy laying on the floor so you can roll around!  You are very good at rolling to get from one place to another, now.

You smile and laugh very easily, and are thoroughly amused by your big brothers.  They can almost always change your cries to laughter. 

If we put you in a seated position, you can stay sitting for quite a while (several minutes at a time), and you can now grab something in your hand and put it in your mouth.  In fact, you’ve been doing this with your pacifier for a couple of months already, taking it out and putting it back in your mouth correctly.

You know what your bottle is and you can grab it with both hands, put it in your mouth and hold it until you finish!  That is a big help to Mommy and Daddy when we have to get dinner on the table and feed you at the same time!

PICTURE OF WESLEY WITH HIS BOTTLE
On Sunday, March 18, 2012, you were baptized at the New Song United Methodist Church.  So many of our family members came to celebrate! 

At your 6-month-checkup, you weighed 21.3 lbs and were ___ inches long.  Your doctor was happy with your development, and that you were back on the growth charts again at the 90th percentile for weight!  You are wearing size 12-month clothes, and will need another haircut again soon.  You are about the size of a 1-year-old, weight and height-wise.
Recently, the daycare that you and Mason attend took spring pictures, and they did a great job!
SPRING ALL ABOARD PICTURES OF WESLEY & MASON
You now like to stand every chance you get.  Your legs are very stable and you can stand for several minutes, if someone puts you in a standing position, you even make the effort to hold on to keep yourself balanced!
You are such a good-natured, happy child.  You are easily entertained, and love receiving kisses and "zzrrbrrts" on your belly.  Your smile lights up your whole face, and your eyes are so wide and observing.  I am so excited to watch you learn and grow!
Love always,
Mommy

35 Weeks Pregnant, 2 weeks to Kindergarten

Wishin’ and Hopin’

One month to go! Wesley’s due date is exactly one month from today. I hope we make it all the way. So far, everything has been good. We have an ultrasound scheduled with our 36-week appointment on Tuesday to see the position of the baby. Keep your fingers crossed that he’s head-down! I would really, REALLY love to avoid having a c-section. I had a c-section with Mason, and while I was awake for the delivery, they gave me so much morphine that I was completely out for about 5 hours after I delivered him, so I didn’t even nurse him or hold him until then!

The big K

Two weeks from Tuesday, my oldest will start Kindergarten. I’m excited and also nervous for him, but I don’t know why! He’s been in day-care and then pre-school since he was 3 months old, so it’s not like he’ll have a big adjustment to go through. The only real difference will be that he will take a bus to school and get to eat his own packed lunch. My SIL will be watching him after school, so he’ll actually have to take a different bus in the afternoon to go to her house. Maybe I’m afraid he’ll get on the wrong bus? Whatever the reason, I just can’t believe he only has 2 weeks of pre-school left. My little guy isn’t so little anymore. We have a sort of Kindergarten Orientation to attend with him on Tuesday, as well. (I also had a dentist appointment for Tuesday…what the heck is up with that? What’s so great about Tuesday, August 23 that 3 completely unrelated events were all scheduled for that day? Weird.)

Exciting and New

About a month and a half ago, I convinced Mike to let us join a local produce delivery group. We pay a monthly fee and receive a box of fresh, local produce every Thursday. There are some great staples in the box, but it has also given me a reason to make foods with all sorts of different ingredients that I never would have tried before. So far, I’ve made a cabbage stew (really, you couldn’t even tell there was cabbage in it), peach and blueberry crisp (twice), Eggplant Parmesan, Pasta with Eggplant (using a delicious recipe from Ree Drummond), peach dump cake, fresh salsa, Tomorrow, I plan to make some old-fashioned grits for breakfast, then acorn and butternut squash soup for dinner. Hopefully, I’ll be able to blog a little more about the new foods I’m making while I’m home with Wesley.


Maternity Photos – 35 Weeks

We had Amanda Anderson (a fellow Richmond Mommy) with Amanda Anderson Photography come to our house this past Saturday morning to take some family and maternity photos. She was great and funny, and made our house look much nicer/cuter than it really is! We did clean up a bit before she arrived, but she didn’t have a huge space to work with, yet she produced some really beautiful pictures. I showed her some ideas with the style of photographs I was looking for, and she was able to re-create some shots, and also came up with even better ones! Here are some of my favorites:

32 Weeks

Okay, 32 weeks and counting! My doctor's appointment went well on Friday, but I have to see my cardiologist to have a look at my heart because of what happened at the end of my pregnancy with Mason. I was starting to feel my heart race for several seconds at random times. For a little while, it happened once about every other day, for no apparent reason (I wasn't in the middle of a strenuous activity, usually I was either sitting or lying down when it happened). But for the past week or so, I don't think I've felt my heart race at all. I don't know what the cardiologist will find.

I'm still playing volleyball once a week. I'm definitely slower, and I can't believe my team still wants me to play. I'm probably more of a hindrance than a help on the court! I think that next week will probably be my last week of playing.

This baby is SO active. He is moving all the time. I don't know if he ever sleeps! He moves while I'm walking, and on Sunday, I even felt him while I was running on the volleyball court! I have a feeling he's going to be a handful.

Wesley is still our top name pick, I'm starting to get more attached to it.

2 months

Dear Dad,

Today marks 2 months since you died. I'm sad to know that I'll never hear your voice again, or see you being silly with your grandchildren, or watch you hug Mom, or listen to you coax me to use less plastic/eat more coconut oil/throw away my microwave... I miss you. I wish that you didn't have to die in the hospital, that you could have come home one last time. Instead, you were whisked away from the nursing home to the hospital. I hated that place for you. I hated that you were there, and I'm so sorry I didn't push harder to have you transferred to a nicer place. I'm sorry if being in that place made you not want to live that way any more. I love you so much, and I hope you know that we would have helped Mom take care of you...but I know that you were too proud and that you didn't like relying on others (even if it was just your daughters and your wife) to help you.

I know you are with our Lord and Jesus Christ right now, happy and pain-free. I believe you are watching over me, Mom, Chark, and all your grandchildren every day. I believe you probably know more about your newest grandson than I do. You are probably rejoicing over being reunited with your parents, and your sisters. I know that my sadness and grief will fade, and the memories I have of your last weeks and days will be washed out by all of my other fonder memories of you. I know that even though you aren't physically here with us, you will still share our experiences...maybe even more so.

For now, though, I just wish you were still here.

Love always,

Kath

Tyler's Kindergarten Registration, Mason & the Potty, 30 Weeks

Wow…so, I’ve been completely slacking on the blog posts recently. I don’t think it will get any better for a while, but I am still going to try to update as much as I can.

We spent quite a bit of time and effort talking with Tyler about his feelings and controlling his emotions (both positive and negative), and discussing with his preschool teacher how to handle his outbursts at school. One major contributor to his mood was his hunger! Imagine that, just like Mommy and Daddy! J So, along with discussing Tyler’s feelings at appropriate times, his teacher allowed me to bring in an additional snack for him to eat during the day, when he felt his energy was low. All of that together seemed to work very well, because he has had great weekly behavioral reports for the past few months!

In April, we registered Tyler for Kindergarten!! We took a tour of his school, and he was also given a quick assessment of some basic knowledge. He is so excited about going to school! In May, his preschool held a graduation ceremony for his class. They were completely adorable in their graduation caps, singing all sorts of songs, like:

Zippity doo da

Zippity ay

My oh my, summer’s coming our way!

Plenty of sunshine heading our way

Zippity doo da

Zippity ay

There’s aNo sadness in the air

It’s over, it’s done, but wasn’t preschool fun?!

Zippity doo da

Zippity ay

Summer’s coming, coming our way!

Tyler has grown so much just in the past 4 months. It really is amazing how fast kids learn and grow. When Mike’s awesome sister & her kids moved down (to within 5 miles of our house!), his brother’s family, her family, and our family all joined the local pool. It’s been a lifesaver on hot summer days for this preggo momma, let me tell you! It has also helped Tyler and Mason build their swimming skills. Tyler is a much better swimmer (still not swim-team material, but definitely next summer) than he was while just taking once-a-week lessons at VCU. Tyler can now jump off a diving board and swim to the side of the pool. He did that over and over just a few days ago!

The latest development just happened on Sunday. Tyler announced his first loose tooth! Maybe it’s the pregnancy hormones, but when he told us, I just gushed over him and gave him a big hug, calling him a big boy and trying to wiggle the tooth J He was so darn cute! And not at all worried, either.

Now, Mason’s big event happened just recently, too. He is consistently peeing in the potty!! It’s only been two weeks since he started wearing regular “big boy” underwear to school and during the day. He had a LOT of accidents the first day, and then 1 the second, and no accidents at school since then! We still wear pull-ups to bed, and some mornings he wakes up dry, but others he’s wet. He loves using the potty, but has yet to poop in the potty. So far, we’ve thrown out 2 or 3 pairs of underwear that were just too soiled for me to save & clean up (we weren’t at home when Mason decided he didn’t care he was wearing underwear, he would poop in them anyway!). I’m excited that Mason may be fully and completely potty-trained by the time the baby is born!

Mason is also very adventurous in the water. Something that has developed, I’m sure, because of the amount of time we’re able to spend at the pool, now that we’re members. He learned first to put his whole face in the water, and once we introduced him to using goggles, he wanted to put his face in the water all the time! When we were at the pool last week, Mason wanted to touch the bottom of the pool with his feet. He did that several times, completely immersing himself underwater! The last time, he got too excited and ended up taking a breath while he was still underwater, which resulted in him coughing up his dinner. Afterwards, he was done for the day.

As for the baby, we found out at the end of April that we’re having…drum-roll please…another boy! Yes, we’re just destined to be an all-boy family, because we are DONE! Three kids is a perfect amount for us. I’m 30 weeks along, and getting more uncomfortable every day, but only because of the recent stifling heat! I don’t have anything to really complain about, I’m probably rather lucky in that I just have some minor aches and pains, but nothing to keep me away from volleyball! I played on Sunday night, and did much better than I thought I would. I’m not sure that I’ll play any longer than July, but I’ll see how I feel each week.

Mike and I are considering naming the baby Wesley, but only because neither of us like the other’s name picks!

20 weeks!

It's been a while since my last post. I haven't even taken any belly pictures (I took one at 9 weeks, and that was it). I'll try to take one this week, since I've hit the halfway point.

A lot has happened since my last post. Last Friday, we found out that everyone was wrong about the sex of the baby. All signs seemed to be pointing to a girl, since everything was so different for me this time around. But, like I said, everyone was wrong...we're having another boy! I guess God figured we're good at raising them (or that we'd be terrible at raising a girl!).

11 Weeks & Tyler's Emotions

11 weeks and 3 days along today.  My goal is to take my first pregnancy photo this weekend.  I’m definitely feeling much better.  I hardly experience any nausea and I am generally feeling more energetic.  I still seem to hit a wave of tiredness every afternoon around 2 or 3 pm, though.
 
On Monday, I had my “12-week” check-up a week early.  Mike came with me and we heard the baby’s heartbeat (166 bpm!) and talked with my doctor about having a VBAC, and the possible risks.  She thinks I’m a good candidate for a VBAC, unless the baby is in a breech position (or some other complication that would prevent a smooth labor and delivery).  I was very happy to hear that, and am hoping and praying that this pregnancy goes to full term, that nothing weird or strange happens at the end, and I am finally able to experience natural labor and delivery, even though it will be fully monitored in a hospital.

Emotional?
We receive weekly written reports about Tyler and Mason from each of their main teachers at daycare.  For the past few months, Tyler’s report usually says that he’s emotional and will have a crying/screaming tantrum about once a day.  The tantrums are worse when he’s tired or hungry (I could have told them that), and he’s usually fine the rest of the day after throws his fit.  They tell me that he’s very emotional, and I guess that’s related to the tantrums.  He does this at home with us at least once a day, as well, and we usually tell him that we don’t like seeing him throw an immature fit (for his age), and to go in his room if he wants to act like that.  Yesterday, when I picked him up from daycare, Tyler had gotten in trouble for throwing a toy at another child.  According to him, he was just trying to throw it to her to give it to her, but I think that he threw it hard and hurt her, unintentionally.  He was put in “red” for that and I had to sign an incident report.  He hasn’t been in “red” for months, it seems, so I don’t think that this was a malicious act, but we still had to punish him by not allowing him to watch TV.  I talked with Tyler that evening about how to act when he feels mad, and that kicking his legs and flailing his arms won’t necessarily make him feel better.  I told him that he could try to talk about what is making him so mad, and we would work on a solution to find what would make him feel better.  So, I am going to try to work on being calmer at home, not yelling so much (which ends up actually KEEPING me calm, too).