July 4th

We went to Aunt M and G's neighborhood block party again for this 4th of July. It's always a blast because they have a live band, food, and fireworks. This has turned into one of my favorite holidays because of this. Camo had a lot of fun this year. This was his first experience playing with fireworks. The fireworks always scare me, especially when I see all the kids lighting them. I have always had a fear of fire. At the party I was sitting next to my sis in law and I was telling her how nervous I get around fire/fireworks. All of a sudden we look over and my bro in law was trying to light a sparkler, but instead of lighting the sparkler the lighter caught on fire. He dropped the lighter and started to stomp on it with his foot but the fire wasn't going out. Someone then got smart and dropped it into the bucket of water. I was definitely fearing for my bro in laws life plus mine. It actually was quite hilarious after all was said and done. My sis in law and I were laughing about it the rest of the night. Here are a few pictures from the night. I thought Camo might be developing the same fear as me with fire, but he got braver as the night progressed. If you notice in the pictures he was worried at first but then he held the sparkler all by himself. There are no pictures of me because I was a couple days away from my due date. I wasn't about to pose for any pictures.

Grand Floral Walk and Parade

I just realized I have not updated on some of the fun things we did this summer. I think that all of these posts were neglected because we were anticipating the birth of TJ. I want to start with the Grand Floral Walk and then parade afterwards that J's family and us participated in. We did this last year and decided that because it was so fun, we had to do it again this year. I am so glad we did because Camo was obsessed with the parade that we watched after the walk. He especially liked all the high school marching bands. Every time they walked by playing he would dance and clap. Camo has a love for music right now, especially the drums. I wish I knew more about music so that I could enjoy it with him. Another highlight of the day was riding the max train downtown. Camo always loves riding the train.  Here are some pictures from the fun day.

                            Aunt M, Cousin Sambo, Camo and I

                                Getting ready to walk

                                    All tired out after a fun filled day

                                 Our family of 3 for only 1 more month

                                         Grandpa and Camo

                                      Clapping for the dancers

                                        Waiting for the train

2 Months

Well TJ has hit the 2 month mark. He has changed into a different baby as of lately. Don't get me wrong, he still cries, but not incessantly like he used to. He is a lot more content. I just had his 2 month check up with the pediatrician. He was 12 pounds 9 ounces in the 75% and 23 1/2 inches long also in the 75%. TJ is exactly 1 pound heavier and 1 inch longer than Camo was at 2 months. He's got some size on our little Camo. TJ also got his shots at his appointment which he was not very happy about. He pretty much screamed the whole afternoon after his shots. Poor guy.

TJ has been starting to do some cute things. He smiles when you look and talk to him. He is cooing a lot. He drools all the time which is not so cute. He still wakes up a couple times in the night. He usually goes down to bed at 9 and wakes up at 3 and then at 6 to eat. He eats about every 3 hours right now during the day. Sometimes he will go a little longer in between feedings. He sleeps in a moving swing the entire night which I know is not a good idea, but it allows me to sleep. We went to Sunnyside, WA with some friends for labor day. We borrowed a swing from a neighbor next door of the house we stayed at. The swing didn't stay on the entire night so I had to keep getting up to turn it back on. Turner woke up a couple more times in the night because of it. I am really worried when we have to break  him from our moving swing. We might have a couple of rough nights sleep training him, but we will make it through. We just love our little family of 4. Stay tuned for an update on Camo. I don't want to neglect him.  

Lifesaver

I wanted to dedicate a post to my mom. I shared my labor story on this blog, but I have not shared the drama after labor. My mom was able to spend three weeks with us after TJ was born and I don't think I could have made it the first three weeks of TJ's life without her. As soon as we brought TJ home, we knew he was a different baby than Camo was. He cried incessantly and J and I had no idea how to handle all the crying. J was only able to get a couple days off of work so when he went back I was so grateful my mom was able to step in and help with Camo and the baby. My mom would take Camo out all morning while I stayed home with the baby. I was so grateful for this because it meant that Camo took a great nap in the afternoon. Camo was also hard the first three weeks of TJ's life. He was acting out a lot which I assume is normal for a 2 year old, not to mention we had recently moved and a brand new baby to add to that. My mom helped a lot with the disciplining considering I was so exhausted after delivery and TJ not sleeping well at night.

Then about a week after delivery I developed mastitis again.I had this with Camo as well.  I started feeling a bit feverish and then went to take a shower. I had to yell at my mom to come in the bathroom to help me because I started getting extremely lightheaded and thought I was going to pass out. My mom said when she walked in the bathroom I was white as a ghost. She quickly helped me into a towel and I laid me down right on the bathroom floor. I was shaking so bad that she had to bring a heavy blanket to wrap me in. Once again, what would I have done without her in that incident. She was a true lifesaver. It took me about an hour to gain my color back and stop shaking. At that point J was home from work wondering what all the commotion was. That whole night was miserable because I was running a very high fever from mastitis. We decided the next morning to go to the Urgent Care to get on some antibiotics. While we were leaving the Urgent Care to go home Camo wasn't cooperating and would not come to the car. I started feeling lightheaded again and headed straight back into the Urgent Care. I found the closest couch and plopped right onto it. Meanwhile my mom was holding TJ's carseat, chasing after Camo, and worrying about me. They took me in a wheelchair back into the Urgent Care and ran a few tests on me. Slowly I regained my color again and started to feel better. The doctor told me that I was probably getting lightheaded because of the infection mixed with exhaustion and stress.   Once again, how would I have handled that situation without my mom.

After getting over mastitis I slowly started gaining my energy back. On top of helping me with the kids and dealing with the health issues I was having,  she was doing many other things around the house. She made me french toast every morning. For some reason I craved that. She did all the laundry plus folded it, cooked, cleaned and basically kept Camo fed, dressed, entertained every day. She held TJ while I napped. My mom was also such a great companion to have around while J was gone at work all day.

I could not have asked for a better mother and grandmother to my kids. She is the most kind, giving, loving, service oriented person who puts other people before herself. I know that she loves to workout, but she sacrificed a month of not working out because she knew that I needed her help throughout the whole entire day. Thank you mom for all you did and still continue to do for me. I wished you didn't live miles away, but I enjoy being with you when I get to see you. We love you Grandma (or Grandpa according to Camo)!

Brother's

It has been a month since TJ has been born. It has definitely been an adjustment having two kids at home. I feel that I am just now starting to get the hang of things. TJ has been quite a different baby than Camo was. He cries a lot more and it's hard knowing what to do for him. I am so grateful to have had my mom here for 3 weeks. We got off to a rough start when we brought TJ home and I am so happy that she was here to help. I got mastitis and was down for a few days and on top of that I kept having fainting spells. I think  it was the stress of everything.  I will say that in the last week TJ has gotten better. Maybe it's because I am getting used to it and can find ways to soothe him. He is eating and sleeping well at night which is a definite plus. Last night he only woke up at 4 to eat so he had a good stretch of 5 hours. I am so grateful he sleeps at night because that is what helps me get through his crying during the day. I had an appointment at 3 weeks and he was 8 pounds 9 ozs. and 21 inches long. He really is such a cute baby and we are so happy to have him in our family.

Camo took a couple weeks to adjust to the new baby as well. He was acting up a bit which I think is normal. I think it's hard for him to have to share his parents with another child. In the last week Camo has been better as well. I think he is getting used to having a baby at home. The other day we were at the park and my dad grabbed TJ's carseat to help me get him in the car. Camo started shouting "Mommy, grandpa is taking TJ, we have to get him back." I think he thought grandpa was trying to take him home. LOL.

Camo is getting to be such a big boy. I was just telling J that I can have a full on adult conversation with him. He is so smart. He has been saying the cutest things as well. The other day in the car he said, "Baby TJ is my best friend." That just made me smile as I thought that one day they would be good friends and be able to play together. Camo has been into music lately. He loves to dance and anytime we are out and about and he sees someone playing an instrument he will stop and stare. His favorite instrument right now is the drums. The Children's Museum has a room designated for music with a drum set. He played on that for hours. He still talks about wanting to go back and play the drums. Camo's favorite show right now is Dora the Explorer. Hopefully he is learning some Spanish.:)

 Here are some pictures of the boys. I just realized that I have not taken any pictures with the boys. Hopefully when I decide to dress up for his blessing we will get a few shots with me in some of them. I havn't really been in the mood to have any pictures taken of me.

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Labor Story

I believe labor started for me early morning on Thursday. I wasn't quite sure I was in labor, but I was having consistent contractions about every 10 minutes from 5:30 until 9:30. J asked if he should go into work and I said yes because I wasn't sure if I was in true labor. He went to work and I continued my day as normal. I noticed my contractions starting to go away.

I really had to get my license renewed so I decided to get that taken care of before I had this baby. When I went into the DMV the lady looked at me funny and said are you okay? I told her that I thought I might be in labor. I think she thought I was crazy for being there.

I then started contracting on and off again throughout the rest of the day. Around 9:30 in the evening they started coming on a bit stronger and coming every 10 minutes. Little did I know that that was the beginning of a very long night. I stayed up all night contracting about every 10 minutes wondering if I really was in labor. My contractions started lasting 45 seconds but still weren't getting any closer. I called my mom around 2:30 and told her I probably was in labor. She was supposed to fly into Portland by 10 a.m. the next morning. I then called my doctor at 4:30 and told him that I was contracting regularly. He said he would call the hospital and let them know I was coming.

We then called my mother in law because she was going to take care of Camo until he woke up. We told her not to hurry because I was worried I would get to the hospital and be a 3 and have to labor there for a long time. That is what happened with Camo.

We finally left the house at 6:30 and got to the hospital around 7 in the morning. When I got there I told J to snap a few shots of me for my last pictures as a pregnant lady. I walked very slowly into the hospital and got checked into my room. When the nurse checked me I was an 8 and said we would be having this baby shortly. I immediately started to cry. The nurse asked me if they were tears of joy or tears of being scared. I told her joy. I couldn't believe that I had labored that long at home. I also can't believe I was telling J to snap pictures of me outside the hospital.

I knew that I wanted to do it natural again. My doctor came in and broke my water about an hour after we got there. I then dilated back to a 7 which was a little discouraging. I continued laboring for the next couple hours and still I wasn't progressing very fast. My doctor ended up going back to his office for a bit to take care of some of his patients.

My mom then showed up at around 10.  I then started to feel the need to push. The nurses were trying to tell me to breathe through the contractions instead of pushing, but that wasn't working. In natural childbirth your body just naturally pushes. It's almost like you can't control it. I then yelled out, "I need to push! Is there anyone in this room that can deliver a baby!?" The nurses both looked at each other and said I can. I believe my mom and mother in law also said they could. Haha. So about 4 hours after getting to the hospital TJ was born. My doctor showed up about 30 seconds after I pushed TJ out so the nurses delivered him. I can't believe my mom made it just in time for the delivery.  She got there at 10 and he was born at 10:50.  He was born on July 6th about 9 days before my due date. So these pictures are of me at 39 weeks. He was 8 pounds 2 ounces and 20 inches long. We are so in love with him.

Here are some pictures of me at 39 weeks outside the hospital. Remember I was up all night laboring so I don't look my best.

These last two pictures are the reason why women get an epidural. They don't have to be in this much pain. I am pretty sure I might have asked for an epidural but I think I was too far dilated.

Baby TJ has Arrived

Baby boy #2 arrived Friday July 6th at 10:50 in the morning. He was 8 pounds 2 ounces and 20 inches long. He has been doing well. We think he looks just like Camo except a little bigger.