One month

One month has passed in the blink of an eye. Things have been super busy around here. Greg insisted I take the kids and go to my Dad’s for the hurricane. I am sure glad I did since we were with out power for 48 hours. We live in a bubble (Katy) outside of Houston so I don’t see any real effects of the hurricane expect the grocery store. There has been little milk, bread, dairy, etc. Monday I got up at 6:30 to go get some groceries and HEB was trying to get everything restocked. People were there shopping out of the boxes in the middle of the aisles. It was nuts! As soon as they restock they are out again. Greg says it is real bad in town and it will take some serious time to repair and get the city the way it was. We are off to Dallas tomorrow for my sister’s baby shower this week end. I am so excited for her I can’t stand it! Oh and Ava, what do I say. She is simply perfect. She is an angel! She nurses like a pro and sleep like a champ. She is a pretty chill baby, what more could I ask for? I wish I had time for more, but I have to pack for our trip!

Great week

Last week was our first week on our own with no help. It went really well I must say!

Tuesday we met Jackson's teacher and ran a few errands
Wednesday we went to swim lessons, story time at the library, and had lunch with 4 friends!
Thursday was Jackson first day of school
Friday we went to a play date and the park
The week end we enjoyed as a family

This week we have something every day as well. It is so nice to be able to get out again and do fun stuff with Jackson. I started back at the gym yesterday and this morning I got up at 6:45 to go work out. Ugh did you know it is still dark at that hour!

I have some HUGE news! We went for a weight check today and Ava gained a full pound in two weeks weighing in at 8 pounds and 12 ounces!! There is nothing more rewarding than breast feeding your child and watching her grow.

Jackson started to cry today when he was walking back to his room with all the other kids. It sure made a hard day for me, but his teacher said it stopped as soon as they hit the room. He had a great day and was all smiles when I picked him up. Once again he went straight to sleep with NO binki. BIG BOY!

Call the PRESS!!

So I said Jackson was a little sad about having to nap at school, but went right to sleep. I just thought about this today, he did not have a binki!! I did not send one on purpose, but forgot about it. I am so proud of him.

What a big boy!

He did great! He was whining when I got there, but the teacher said he had just started that when he got up from his nap. It will be quite an adjustment going from a 3 hour nap to just an hour and a half. He never once cried and was so excited to show me his stamp from his Spanish teacher. He has been saying a few words in Spanish and it is adorable! I am so happy he did great!! It makes it so much easier, but man it was a lonely day with out my little man!

I miss him so much!

It has only been an hour since we dropped off Jackson at his first day of preschool. Ava is a sleep as usual and the house is silent. I have been cleaning since I got home trying to stay busy. I did not realize how hard this would be for me. Should I have waited another year? I know I am being selfish he is ready. At his school we all meet at 8:45 for morning devotion. They sing, read a bible verse, and then pray. All the kids sit as a class and then they hold on to the rope and off they go. Jackson grabbed on and said bye. He kept looking back, but only to smile and keep saying bye. Life happens way too fast is all I can say. I will update tonight with some pictures and let you know how he did (and how I did :)).

Meet the teacher

I think when you have your first child there is an instant bond. Your life revolves around that child. Having my second child I just assumed it would be the same and it is just not. With Ava I feed her, change her, and then put her back in her bed to take care of Jackson. I don’t feel like I really have had the time to bond with her yet. All my Mom friends say it just takes longer the second time around. I was thinking that having two days a week with Jackson in preschool; it would give me that one on one time with Ava. Especially as she gets older I know I will enjoy this time. I have to admit I have been feeling so sad about sending Jackson lately. It has always been him and I every day for the last two and a half years. I mean seriously I missed him when Tina took him t Pump it Up for a couple hours. I totally figured he would be the same for him lol. Today when we went to his school to meet the teachers all the kids were crying in fear of being left, would not look or talk to the teacher, and wanted to be held. Jackson walked right in, shook hands with his teachers, told him his name, found the lagos, and then came back grabbed his teacher by the hand to come play with him. I think I was the only parent literally dragging my child out the door and through the parking lot to leave. I have been thinking all after noon about how proud I am of him at only 2.5 years old. He showed me his self confidence, independence, and how self sufficient he can be and that makes me so proud. Those are three things my parents made very important growing up and I know it has helped me through the years and as an adult. My little baby has become a wonderful little boy!

Child of God

Today was a special day for our family. I wanted Ava’s baptism to be special and a little more personal. We decided to have Father Manuel who is a family friend of Greg’s family baptize her. Greg and I did our marriage prep with him and he married us. I love our priest, but he does not do the baptizing at our parish. Jackson was one of at least 15 kids when his was done. Greg called Father Manuel months ago to ask him if he would do the honors. He of course said yes and told us he would do it at 11:00 mass. My sister, brother in law, Dad, and Sheri were all in town to help us in celebration (along with the rest if our families). Today when we showed up mass was already going on. Well he failed to tell us that he changed his mass times and it was at 10:00. We ended up going in after communion and everything worked out perfectly.
We talked for several months about choosing God parents. This was hard for us because we don’t have many people in our lives that are practicing Catholics. Along with Father Manuel we made the decision to have one God parent. We chose Tina Greg’s sister. She has been great with Jackson and I know she will be with Ava as well. She has a huge help to me through the end of my pregnancy coming to help several times. We did not want to make someone a God Parent just for “record”. We wanted to choose someone we knew would be an active part in her life. Hopefully Tina will be married one day and her spouse will share in this honor with her. Though no one will ever officially be the God Father on paper that is not what is important to us. We would rather have one active person in her life than 10 on paper. So here is to Tina! We look forward to sharing the responsibility of spiritual guiding our sweet Ava for many years to come with you!
Thank you to all of our family for sharing this day with us.
Mark 16:16 Who ever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned

My husband ROCKS!

I am pulling deep right now lol!! My saw this on my friend Erin's blog and I have been telling my self I will do it no matter how hard it may be right now. When things are stressed around here I find myself looking at all my husband's faults. I focus on everything he does not do or everything I think he does wrong. So from now on Friday's I am going to remind myself of the things he did for us through the week and why my husband ROCKS! This week Greg rocks because no matter how stressed I am and no matter how much I take everything out on him he just deals with it. Thank you for being patient with me while I am tired from nursing a baby, lack of sleep, and being worried about Jackson.

http://honestandlasting.blogspot.com/

What's next??

Yesterday my Mom got Jackson up out of bed for the day and noticed his eye was a little swollen. I of course said he was fine and initially did not think anything of it. With in a few hours I decided to skip swim lessons and take him to the Dr as it was getting worse. His head, eye, and cheek were swollen and red. We went to his Dr and he could not pin point what it was. He did blood work and everything looked fine so he said watch it and start some antibiotics if it did not go down. We came home and he went down for his nap. When he got up I was almost in tears it looked so bad. I called the Dr and he had us go straight to Texas Children’s Hospital. They could not tell us what it was either, but Benadryl seemed to help a little. When it was time to get in the car he freaked out and could not control him self. It was scary and I have never seen Jackson who is so laid back act this way. We got home and he went to bed. At about 1:00 I went up to give him some more Benadryl and his eye was completely swollen shut. I sat in the living room in tears because I was so worried. I put him in bed with us and he could not lay still. I think he just can not tolerate Benadryl. Finally at 4:30 this morning he went back to his own bed. I called the Dr and he wanted to look at it again. I appreciate a Dr who can say he is not going to just tell me something to give me an answer; we may never know exactly what this is. He did add some Zyrtec and a steroid on top on the antibiotics. It seems to be less red and the swelling has gone down some. If it is not better by Tuesday he will put him Texas Children’s to try and find out what this is.
So hope and pray for us since we have my sister’s baby shower tomorrow and Ava’s baptism Sunday. I need Jackson to be well!
The pic is after he had some medicine and it went down some.

2 weeks

Today Ava had a 2 week weight check and I am so proud to say that in the last 6 days she has put on another 6 ounces (weighing in at 7 pounds 11 ounces). The Dr was happy with that and so am I. Nursing a baby is a ton of work, but it is all worth it when you see your baby gaining weight and healthy. She is still an amazing baby eating a lot during the day and giving me 4 to 5 hour stretches at night. We have yet to hear her really cry.

I also had my two week check up today. I am so proud that in 15 days I have lost 17 of the 40 pounds I gained!! My Dr released me to do leisurely walking and I go back in three weeks for a full release. I feel great and I have to stop often and remind myself (and my dear husband) that I had a baby 2 weeks ago.

We made it!!

I made it through the first week! I say “I” because I mean me when it comes to Ava. My little booby baby is doing so well! She is nursing like a pro and things could not be better. We went to the pediatrician last week and she was down 10 ounces from her birth weight which was 10% and normal. Today we went back; 5 days later she has put on 4.5 ounces WHOO HOO! My Dr was more than pleased with that and it is all 100% breast milk. She is a wonderful and easy baby so far just like Jackson was. We are so blessed with another beautiful child. The hard part will be after Labor Day when all our visitors are gone and it is just the three of us all day. My Dr wants me to stay away from toddlers and kids until she has her shots at 6 weeks. So we will have to creative with staying busy!

A few more

Sweet Little Baby Girl

My sweet friend Eliza has done it again! She got some shots today of Ava as she will be her newest Glimpse of Soul Model! Please check out her blog as her work is beautiful! Here is a sneak peak she sent me. I will post as I get more!

We are home

(sorry wrong post I am a little sleep deprived)

I don’t know if things could have gone any easier for me. It was so perfect it was scary! I paid my dues during pregnancy so God blessed me with a perfect delivery! I went in at 5:30 am, around 7:30 I was hooked up ready for pitocin, 8:00 they started it and I was already at 4.5 cms, by 10:00 I was at 6 cms and got my epidural, my Dr broke my water right before 11:00, at 12:00 I was ready to push, and at 12:28 we had a baby! She came out so fast all the fluid did not get out of her lungs and that was hard to watch. We did not get to see her for the first 3.5 hours. We ended up having to stay 48 hours because of it, but now she is just perfect in every way! We are so in love with her. It is amazing to watch Greg with her. It is a whole new experience with a girl and we are soaking up every minute. We are now at home and welcoming visitors! Thank you all for your thoughts, prayers, and calls. I have so many calls to return so bare with me!

Less than 24 hours

So in less than 24 hours we will be checking in to have our baby girl. She has already brought so much to my life. I can tell that she will truly teach me patience and trust in God’s plan. It has been an emotional, pain full, and stress full 7 weeks. I have had a tremendous support system from my family and wonderful girl friends! I am very grateful to have each one of you. When you go through hard times you find out who your friends are, who is there to support you no matter how stupid you sound, and who loves you through it all unconditionally.

I am so ready for some normalcy in our house. It seems like our lives have been turned up side down. I am ready for a whole new chapter for the four of us. I can’t wait to see what this little girl will bring to our already perfect three. Today I am full of emotions, nervous, anxious, and sad. I think only a Mother would understand the sad part. I feel like I am going to let Jackson down by giving some of my self to someone else. I have wondered on many nights what I was thinking wanting another child to take that from him. I know as soon as Ava enters the world all those emotions will change and I can not wait to embrace that.

Please pray for us. I pray that Ava will turn (she is currently sunny side up which can make things difficult), I pray for a healthy delivery, for Jackson to adjust well, and I pray most of all in thanks for all the people who have been there to help us through this.

5 more days!

We just went to see the Dr. I have finally moved past 4 cm’s, but only to 4.5 lol! I asked her not to do another sweep. We would rather just wait until Monday so we can plan for her. I did not want to have anymore false alarms or worse irregular contractions than what I am already having. Greg is very excited to have this baby girl on his birthday! She told me than she is facing up again. She keeps flipping (facing up and then down). We need her down or it could be a more difficult delivery. I am going to sit on the exercise ball everyday and bring it with us to the hospital per her orders. Hopefully we can get her to work with us. Please keep us in your prayers and we will update as soon as she has arrived. We should have a baby pretty early on Monday as we are getting started at 5:30am. I am sure we will be exhausted so we are leaving Monday to only have Grandparents come visit. Please feel free to come Tuesday anytime. We will be at Chistus Saint Catherine Hospital on I10 and Fry Road.

Our last week as 3!

Jackson is really trying hard to figure out what exactly “Baby Ava” is. He is confused with all the baby stuff around the house, but has had fun making sure it all works. We have a busy week which should help the last 7 days fly by!

Monday- Aunt Tina is coming over. We are going to swim lessons, the pool, and out for lunch.
Tuesday- I see The Dr again and we have swim lessons
Wednesday- My Mom and I are taking Jackson to Pump it Up (inflatable bounce house place) and his swim lessons will be in the evening so Daddy can finally watch him with his teacher.
Thursday- Swim lessons and dinner with Aunt Tina for her birthday
Friday – Aunt Carmen and the kids are coming in town and we are going to the pool, dinner, and having a slumber party (Jackson is going to be so excited to see the kids)
Saturday- Doughnuts and pool again with the Miller’s
Sunday- A quite day with just the three of us for the last time

So now that I have a full week planed watch Ava make a surprise entrance lol!

Daddy's Girl!

So I think Ava is holding out for her Daddy or stubborn as hell like her Mommy. I am still at 4cms and about 95% effaced. My Dr was careful not to do anything to stir her up since she is not available tonight. I will see her again on Tuesday and she said she could try and stretch things again. We have decided to not have that done since she will bring me in to the hospital on the 11th to have her. That is Greg’s birthday so it will be extra special. Unless she comes on her own before then, Monday the 11th is the day!

Roller Coaster

At least that is what this feels like. I am now leaking from her stripping the membranes. She wanted to make sure I did not have a leak in my bag of water. This little girl is looking up again UGH! She told me to go get moving so she will tuck her head back down. Her head is right on the bag so all she has to do is tuck her head in. She has me coming back in Friday if I make it that long. She will do another strip. I am off to water aerobics to get this baby moved!

36 weeks

I almost made it the full week end with out calling my Dr. This morning at 6:30 I threw in the towel. I was having some severe cramps, contractions, and pressure. I met her at the hospital since she was already headed that way for another delivery. My contractions were 7 minutes apart and slowed down to 10 minutes. The baby has tucked her head to her chin which is great. This will put the pressure on my cervix to dilate more. She also went ahead and stretched out my cervix. If the baby is ready this should give her the push she needs. We should know if the next 24 hours if something will happen. If I get regular contractions through the day she wants me to come in and see her at 4:30 this after noon. If not I will see her Friday and she will try and stretch things again. Now is just a waiting game.