Baby in a Basket

This is Cailin when she was just a wee sprout, about two months old. I put her in this wicker basket with her knitted hospital hat and did a big photoshoot with her. Her hat was a bit small, but it looked so cute on her. I took so many pictures and put a billion of them on Facebook. There are many framed pictures of that shoot up all over the house.

A few days ago it was Carter's turn. He went in the same basket, but there was no way his knitted hospital hat would ever fit on his head now, so I just fluffed up his hair. Of course this photoshoot was different because I had two assistants helping me. Cailin and Bailey were fantastic baby-distraction-ers. They also spent a lot of time hanging out in my natural light source from the window. That is, when they weren't laying around on the mat under the kitchen sink:
Those two troublemakers really are best friends and they are never far apart. Bailey still sleeps outside Cailin's door waiting for her to get up in the mornings and they spend their days tearing around the house chasing each other. And generally making a lot of noise.

Carter is getting very smiley and talks a lot these days. He chats away happily and falls asleep with a little smile on his face. He is truly the sweetest baby I have ever seen.
Cailin insists on calling him "Buddy". It's hilarious. Everything is Buddy's - Buddy bath, Buddy blankie, Buddy jammies. When he cries, she makes sure to tell him, "It's okay, Buddy."

We had another busy day today. I think Bailey rolled in cat poop (I'm not that interested to really check too hard) and then rolled around in our bed at my absolute horror. Needless to say I washed/changed/fumigated our room so fast it blew everybody's hair back. Cailin helped me do laundry by stuffing clean and previously folded clothes into the dryer. So helpful!

We cleaned here and there. Did a little shopping at Walmart and got some groceries. Nana bought Cailin a beautiful winter coat, but it wasn't received well. I'm hoping she likes her coat better when she doesn't have toothpaste on her shirt and is upset about it.

Cinnamon buns anyone? Looks like we need more brown sugar!

Thanksgiving, Two Month Shots and Such

Thanksgiving was wonderful. It was nice to see everyone and eat my weight in baked goods. This year I'm so thankful for my healthy children, my family and our lifestyle. There are so many people who aren't as blessed as we are with what we have. I try not to take that for granted.

Cailin, Grace and Odin played together all weekend. They are going to be a little gang of troublemakers when they get older, I can already tell. The girls kept locking Odin in the closet and he would cry, Grace would blame Cailin and they'd all march back into the closet to do it over again. They absolutely love playing in Nana's office, especially now with the addition of a very interesting and fun futon. Let the games begin!

Grace loves Carter. She asks me if she can take care of him and wants to hold him. She's quite the mother hen and always lets me know exactly what Cailin, Odin and Bailey are up to at any given moment.

Cailin had so much fun playing with her cousins that she cried when they left to go home. For days after she asked if they went home in (Uncle) Dustin's orange truck to 'go sleepy nap bed'. She's been practising their names since then, saying them over and over and ending with "go home". Apparently my brother's new name is 'Uncle Dustin Orange Truck'. Heh.

It snuck up on me pretty fast, but the day dawned for Carter's two month shots and checkup. Since it was impossible to book him in for his shots in town, I had to book them in a tiny town about 20 minutes from home, halfway between here and Beaver City. His four month shots have been booked (three months in advance) in Beaver City and I'm very glad I won't be taking Cailin with me for those.

Cailin is a very sensitive and sympathetic soul. She started crying the moment we got into the teeny tiny health clinic (which is actually an old converted house slash seniors' hall). She cried the whole time we were in there, reaching maximum pitch when Carter got his three needles and joined in for the chorus (so to speak). I was under the impression that going through needles with the second baby would be a lot easier than the first. Ha. When both my babies were screaming and the tears were flowing, I almost felt like joining in. However, it didn't last that long and we were able to get out of there in a timely manner. Cailin stopped crying once we were outside.

Of course once she was buckled in, Cailin demanded to go see Nana. I obliged since it had been such a stressful morning. On the bright side, Carter did not have any side effects from the shots. No swelling, no fever, no crankiness, no being sick. Unlike some other eldest children. Ahem, Cailin.

Carter's stats:

Weight: 14 lbs, 12 oz

Height: um, the nurse said it was 21", but he was curled up and was 23" tall at his 6 week checkup so I'm going with that.

Head: Pretty big

95th percentile for head and weight, and according to her botched measurement, 10th percentile for height. So the prognosis was that he's short and fat with a big head. But the height is off, so I'm gonna say he's 95 percentile across the board. Big healthy boy!

At any rate, Carter is sleeping through the night, eating very well and hardly ever fusses. He is such a good baby. I have no idea how I lucked out twice.

Other updates:

Cailin finally got her last eyetooth (again), and hopefully it stays out this time.

Bailey has a sore eye today and I have no idea how that came to be.

Carter is in size 3 diapers! Holy cow!

It took about 10 days, but the basement is completely purged, organized and clean. I did stay up til 5am to get the bulk of it done a few days ago. I can't explain how big a weight has been lifted off my shoulders having that done. Five truck loads of stuff left our house - donations and junk. I did the upstairs a few weeks ago, and it only took two days. Everything in our house now has a place, and it makes the tidying up so easy and quick. Carter's room is the playroom for now, and it's organized. He's got a queen sized bed in there at the moment for guests and such. After much thinking and angst, it suddenly dawned on me that he doesn't need a twin bed in there eventually - he's already got a bed. It's a big bed, but a nice bed. So I ordered a jungle comforter for it for Christmas. No need to try and make a guest room out of the (now organized) storage room. Guests can simply use Carter's room for now. Hope they like jungle animals.

Cailin is talking up a storm. Take this conversation we had this morning for example:

Cailin: What horsie say?

Me: Neigh.

Cailin: No, mommy! Horsie say WOOF! *laughs hysterically*

Cailin: Mommy, what horsie eat?

Me: Hay, or grass.

Cailin: Mommy, no! Horsie eat cars! *laughs hysterically*

Cailin: Piggy say oink!

Me: That's right! What does horsie say?

Cailin: WOOF! *laughs hysterically*

Cailin: Where daddy go?

Me: He went to work

Cailin: *twinkle in her eye* No, he went to the store!

Me: No, he's at work

Cailin: He went to bed! Sleepy nappy!

Me: Work.

Cailin: Store! *laughs hysterically*

Seeing a pattern here?

Cailin also knows how to work the iPad flawlessly and uses it to play Angry Birds and watch puppy videos on youtube.

While working on the basement, we've been leaving the baby gate down and Cailin has had free reign in the house. She loves it. While we're not letting her be downstairs without one of us there, she's been having a lot of fun. For a lot of the time I was slaving around in the storage room (upgraded to Storage Room of Mild Disarray), she would lay in our bed playing iPad games with her ever-present bowl of popcorn. Which leads me to my next point.

This kid doesn't eat anything anymore. At best we can get 2 glasses of milk into her, a couple crackers and maybe some cheese and toast per day. Maybe some meat, but always popcorn. I know they go through stages of not eating, but it's never easy to watch.

Cailin slammed the door shut on me yesterday when I took garbage out to the bin. I watched the door slam and then she was able to reach the deadbolt just enough to lock me out. Thankfully the neighbor was outside and graciously let me use his phone to call Ryan. Who didn't have his phone on him. I left him a couple messages while trying to convince Cailin to open the door for me. She cried and begged me to open the door. I told her I couldn't, she would have to be a big girl and do it for me. She got frazzled and upset. She tried her hardest to flip the deadbolt, but once it had turned a bit more (in the right direction even!) she could no longer reach it. I asked her to get her stool from the bathroom and she ran off to comply. She brought back a butterfly hairclip. Gee.

It was a gruelling 30 minutes as I waited outside for Ryan to get my messages and come home. Cailin and Bailey pulled a chair up to the counter, watched the breadmaker churn away at pizza dough and helped themselves to a bowl of popcorn. Watching Cailin and the dog eat/lick/bat popcorn pieces off the counter was almost funny if it wasn't for the circumstances.

After a while she gave up on the breadmaker, popcorn, trying to unlock the door and me in general and sat on the couch watching youtube on the iPad. Carter had cried off and on, but mostly slept through the ordeal. Ryan showed up with a key and everything was good.

I will say this though, our house is like Fort Knox. Every window had a doweling in it and was latched and locked, and all the doors were locked. With the alarm system on top of that, I feel quite safe.

It was Nana's birthday last weekend and we went out for a fire and pizza. Cailin played outside like crazy and had a great time. I brought cinnamon buns (a little overcooked, oops) and it was such a good day. Cailin ate loads of brown sugar and cinnamon helping me bake. She brings me the sugar bag and asks for some sugar. Funny!

We've had quite the month so far. It's been very busy, but good. I'm looking forward to settling down now and just living day to day with the kids.

Picture Time!

Welcome to Fall

CAILIN HAS GIVEN UP HER SUCKIE!! We are on night #4 suckie-free. Still working on that last stubborn eyetooth though. Gah.

Fall is officially here. It's been busy around here with a new baby, but things are organizing themselves into a routine. Carter has been sleeping a lot more at night and being awake a lot more during the day. At his 6 week check up he was 12 lbs and 23" long and has done nothing but grow ever since. He is now in 3-6 month clothes and even some 6 month sleepers. Carter is two months old today! Time sure flies when you're having fun.

Speaking of fun! Cailin is just barrels of fun. She is talking, singing and dancing and generally making life complete and interesting. One of her new favorite chores is to throw stuffed animals in the tub and wash them. She's especially fond of washing Elmo with soap. "Wash Elmo, soap!"
Recently I've been busy organizing and cleaning the house. It took me two days to completely clean, organize and purge all unnecessary items from the upstairs. It is really comforting to open a closet, cupboard or drawer and have a place to put away items. The playroom (which will one day be Carter's room) is also fully organized and cleaned. It's great to be able to toss the toys quickly into their assorted bins and be done with clean up in half the time it used to take. Guess watching those hoarder TV shows and getting panicky about clutter really paid off.

Of course, the downstairs is a different story. Fresh off the victory of a fully cleaned and organized upstairs, I attacked the storage room downstairs (Pit of Doom) with a vengeance. It has now been upgraded to Pit of Despair. Kinda looks like a hoarder took over the basement right now. I had every intention of getting back to it over the weekend, but we spent it at the farm instead. Meh. I'll get it one garbage bag at a time.
Grampy and Pammy came to stay with us for a week and Cailin enjoyed their company thoroughly. She's still talking about them and looks for them occasionally in the playroom. We had a good visit and look forward to seeing them again.

August Updates

Carter is now three weeks old! The days are flying by way too fast. What passed for summer around here is fading into fall - sunshiny days with brisk winds and earlier sunsets. My sweet little Carter is growing before my very eyes. Our special nickname for him is Buddy and that's mostly how we refer to him - even Cailin calls him Buddy.

Carter is such a sweet and calm baby. He doesn't fuss very often and sleeps very well. So far we've only had one night where he wasn't too interested in sleep, but quietly observed his surroundings instead. Of course he likes to be held, but doesn't mind being put in his bassinet for a sleep either. Some nights we get up every two hours, but mostly he's been waking every three hours to eat. One night we even went four hours between feedings.

I'm healing up from my c-section fairly well. Once in a while I'll think I'm farther along in the healing than I really am and over extend myself. Today I'm taking it very easy as a result. Other than that, I'm feeling very good and can get in and out of bed with no pain. That's a huge bonus when I get up with Carter. I've been tired the last few days, but I'm expecting to catch up on some missed sleep in the next few days.

We've been out at the farm now for two weeks. It really doesn't feel that long! We started out by camping here for Mom and Dad's 30th anniversary a few weekends ago - and I never went home. I'm unable to take care of Cailin by myself, so she's been out here with a swarm of grandparents to look after her. I had a choice - I could be home by myself with Carter or I could stay at the farm too. I chose to stay. It's been a great system. Carter, Bailey and I take up residence in the guest room downstairs, and I only have to worry about caring for the baby. Mom and GG wrangle Cailin during the day (with a little help from Papa Ray) and Papa takes a turn in the evenings. She is extremely well cared for, and extremely lucky to have all those grandparents doting on her.

Since Ryan is on days off tomorrow, we will be packing up the kids and dog and heading home. I'll be glad to get there and get a routine going, but I'm going to really miss being at the farm with everyone. It's been a great time with lots of visiting and playing with Cailin and getting to know Carter.

I just so appreciate all the help that has been given to us (and especially me) in the last while. Thank you to Mom and Dad, and GG and Papa Ray for taking such good care of us. There aren't enough words to say the kind of thank you I want to portray for your efforts. From the big things like taking care of Cailin and walking Bailey when I wasn't able to, to bringing me a water - it's all appreciated more than you could possibly know. Thank you so much.

Welcome Carter!

Carter Aubrey Lyle

August 3

8lbs 1oz

20.5"

Mommy and Carter are both doing fine. Carter is a very laid back baby, good eater and wonderful sleeper. We're at home now and settling in nicely. Looks like Cailin is coming back from Nana and Papa's house tomorrow, and we can't wait to be all together!

Last Prenatal Appointment EVAH

I was looking forward to my last prenatal appointment (ever!) on Thursday morning. Well, kind of. I mean, how fun is getting in line with all the other pregnant women herded like cattle through a strange conveyor of peeing in cups, being poked and prodded and getting your dreaded bulk weighed? Answer: not much, really. But I really enjoy hearing Jellybean's heartbeat over the monitor.

Of course the drama started again Wednesday night. I was exhausted and sore. My stomach pain flared up again, along with some nice sharp jabs from Jellybean with a side of contractions. In short, I was miserable. Everything between my chin and knees hurt. Cailin got to go to bed nice and early while I retired to the comfy couch downstairs with an equally miserable and bloated Bailey. That dog doesn't leave my side these days. In fact, she was letting toots go against my leg for all she was worth. I could have cried.

I put up with pain, and acid dog farts for a couple hours and was about to heave my bulk into my own bed when Cailin woke up. She was so upset I pulled her out of bed and walked her around the house until I couldn't hold her anymore. We sat down on the couch to give my aching body a rest. She took the opportunity to grab the remote and turn the TV on. We watched a home improvement show for a while - until the couch positively quaked and rumbled. I turned to Cailin and asked her what that noise was. She pointed to her butt and told me, "Poopy!" then laughed hysterically. Apparently she had had a terrible gas pain. After that, she was all smiles and happy. We went downstairs to say good night to Daddy. She told him she had farted. He was so proud.

It took quite a while, but I eventually caught the wee squirming toddler and deposited her back in bed. It took even longer to convince her that she had to go back to sleep. The yelling of the injustice of such an act was long and loud. I retreated back to my couch since it hurt too much to lay down. I was up past 3am.

My phone rang at 8:30am. It was the doctor's office, and I knew they wanted me to come in early as soon as possible since the doctor was leaving on vacation that afternoon. I felt awful and sore. And dreadfully sick to my stomach. I ignored the phone call and tried to get some more sleep. They called the house line. And then called my cell phone back. I checked my messages. They wanted me to come in at 9:45am. That's laughable. I might be able to heave my bulk through their door at that hour, but Cailin simply does not get out of bed before oh, say 11am these days.

I rested for a while yet, then decided a shower would make me feel much better. Um, not so much. Let's just say I got sick and couldn't stop throwing up. Also? There is nothing like being nine months pregnant and vomiting. Riveting I say. I hope to never experience it again, and that's all I will say about that.

It took a while to recoup after that, and by then I had to really hurry to get my sorry behind in gear to get to that fabled last prenatal appointment (ever!). I dressed Cailin in her crib while she was half asleep and put her on the floor with suckie and blankie and told her to go put her shoes on. She immediately burst into tears, thinking I had forgotten her morning sippy cup of milk. "Juice! Juice!" she cried (everything is juice these days). I gave her the sippy of milk and ushered her to car and strapped her in. She was tired and obviously felt crappy.

The doctor took one look at us and asked what was wrong when we walked in (10 minutes late, I might add). I was the only patient in there. I explained Cailin was super tired and had been up late, and that I had been sick all morning. The doctor seemed very concerned. I thought maybe I would hang off her leg and beg her to make me feel better, but turns out she is a very compassionate woman. She had her staff give me the star treatment and I was in the examining room so fast my head spun (Jellybean is doing perfectly). She ordered me to go straight to the hospital for IV fluids and gravol. I could have kissed her feet. I love gravol.

Stats

Weight gain: 34lbs (how??)

Jellybean heart rate: 156 bpm

Jellybean size: BIG. measuring 39 weeks or so (doc was vague on that point)

My blood pressure: surprisingly 130/70

Cailin asked the doctor for a sucker (she would never forget that part) and I was reminded to head to the hospital right away. So I ran over to the office and picked Ryan up, who drove me once again to the hospital and dropped me off at the front doors. Cailin gave me the stick from her sucker - all done, Mommy! - as a parting gift. I texted Mom and Dad to keep them in the loop. I registered again, went up to Labor & Delivery and got a non-stress test right away. This would be the fourth time in L&D in two weeks if you've lost count.

This time though? The place was filled to the rafters with laboring women. There was one in there screaming like they were shooting a horror movie down the hall. She was scaring all the first timers. The one nurse (ONE NURSE FOR ALL THOSE WOMEN) kept apologizing for the wait for my gravol. Every time she came into my curtained room she had to run out to go help someone else. I put my feet up and laid back, glad for the rest. But eventually enough was enough. I had things to do that didn't include sitting in a busy hospital listening to the agonizing of my fellow preggos. I know it's a natural process, but it's unnerving after a while.

Eventually the nurse came back and asked me if I knew what I was in for. I got scared and told her no, what was I in for? I expected something dreadful - maybe a painful procedure, maybe an early c-section or something like that. She leaned in and whispered, "An IV." Pffffttt. Come on lady, I've had much worse than that! Bring it on! GIMME MY GRAVOL ALREADY. I'd been in there for almost two hours at that point.

She put the IV in, expecting me to flinch or cry or something. Which I didn't. I'm nothing if not a tough nut when it comes to pain (except obviously the last few weeks of this pregnancy of course - GET OUT GET OUT GET OUT). She put the sweet, sweet gravol in the IV bag and left me for a few minutes. My nausea went away almost immediately.

I was feeling moderately better when she came back and told me she needed my bed for another patient. I had to wheel my own IV pole out to the couch in the waiting room around the feet of several other (very) pregnant patients and sit myself down. I felt a little cheated. Gravol makes me super tired and I now didn't have a bed to lay in. Ugh. I sat and watched as my veins slurped down the first bag of fluid in record time. Eventually the nurse came back, started a second bag, inquired how I was feeling and lamented that there was no TV for me to watch back there. Um, okay. How about not having to sit in the waiting room while receiving fluids? Isn't that more of an inconvenience? I could give a rat's posterior about watching TV.

I watched the second bag disappear as quickly as the first. The nurse came in again and started a third bag. Holy cow! How much fluid did I need anyway? I was approaching four hours in there and hadn't been seen by a doctor yet. The nurse eventually came back and apologized for me getting the short end of the stick in treatment. They were having babies in storage rooms they were so busy and full up. So... they were going to send me home without the doctor having a look at me after all. If I still felt I needed to see him, he would be available at 8am the next morning. She stopped my IV, bandaged me and bid me adieu.

I left feeling decidedly... puffy. Jellybean's graph had been perfect, and he wasn't stressed at all, so I didn't feel that bad about leaving. If we could only get through until Wednesday without any more drama!

Nana had picked Cailin up from Ryan and had both girls downtown (Kelli is also here for a visit). Ryan picked me up at the hospital and we met the girls at home. I felt moderately better, but my stomach was still hurting. I packed a bag for Cailin and Mom whisked the girls back out to the farm. I miss my little girl whenever she is gone and I felt bad I was too sick to take care of her. I slept the entire afternoon. I felt better when I woke up. Bailey even behaved herself (as much as she is capable of anyway). It was so quiet without Cailin that night.

The next morning I got up and took my time showering and getting ready for the day. I made cupcakes for Kelli to decorate later that afternoon. I made the girls lunch while Nana went to painting class. We decorated the cupcakes. Cailin decorated her hair and after some futile attempts at cleaning her up, she had to be tossed in the bath. Nana came back to get the girls, but I wanted Cailin at home with me. So she took Kelli to get feather hair extensions and Cailin went for a long nap. It was a good day. After Cailin had gone to bed, I retreated to my comfy couch downstairs to watch a movie. And ended up being sick and unable to sleep until after 3am. Sigh.

Today was touch and go. I can honestly say the most energetic thing I did today was make french toast for dinner. The rest of the time I sat on the couch (with swollen feet up scaring the other residents) surrounded by more toys than I could possibly count. The entire living room looked like a toy store exploded in there. Cailin was all revved up and showed zero signs of napping and... didn't nap. By 6pm I begged Ryan to take her with him when he took the movies back. He did more than that - he took Cailin for a ride and was gone for two whole hours. I had a blissful nap on the couch and got some much needed rest.

Cailin doesn't let me rest very often. Whenever my eyes slam shut for a minute, she has to ask, "What Mommy doing? Mommy sleeping! Mommy sleepy?" and pokes me. Then laughs. What a comedian. She is talking so much these days. Her baby words are being replaced with real words and sometimes I'm surprised when she launches into a great long speech and that I've understood most of what she's said. When I stop and think that we'll have another one soon, our son, and that we'll get to watch him and listen to him too, my heart gets very full.

GG and Papa Ray are coming in the morning, and we can't wait to see them. Cailin especially talks about GG and 'Papa' a lot. "What GG doing? Where GG go? GG go Nana's house?" and then repeats everything except with "Papa" instead of "GG".

Technically now, it's three more sleeps til Jellybean's here. Lordy, I don't know if I'm gonna make it.