Becoming My Mother!!??

I mentioned in the last post that our church was having revival services this week...well, that has made the week a bit more stressful and busy, but, so far we have survived, and tonight is the last night. Well, each evening at 5:30 they have had a meal, then the services start at 6:30. The meal has been a great time of fellowship with our church family that we have sorely missed over the past 6 months! On Monday night it was Pizza, then last night they had a Chili cookoff. I'm not much of a Chili fan, so I have never attempted to make Chili, and I was just planning on taking some cornbread instead. Well, yesterday morning I decided that I was going to attempt Chili. I put out a plea on facebook for a recipe, I got one later in the day (thanks Alice), but by then, I had already started my experiement. I shopped around on the internet, read a few recipes, then dove in head first. By the time Jim got home, I thought my Chili was tasting pretty darn good. Of course, he thought it needed more spice, I let him add a few speckles of spice to apease him, but really not enough to make a difference, because afterall, I was the cook, and I thought it was great!

All that to say...out of 13 pots of Chili that were judged...I WON!!!!!!! I was in shock, so much so that I laughed!! I didn't make a whole lot, because when it comes to potluck type of things, I usually take a bit more than what my family would eat...so that is what I did. After I won, everyone wanted to taste the winning chili and my little bitty pot made me look really cheap!!! Then to add insult to injury, people were asking me for the recipe, and that is when I realized that I had become my mother!!! For years now, I have cursed my mom for not having recipes for some of the things she makes...and here I was, without a recipe for something yummy!!! Yikes!!

This is just a cheese-ball picture I snapped this morning. In his hand is a "snack-trap"...it is a bowl that has a little rubber lid on it with flaps for him to stick his hand in and pull something out, without being able to spill the whole bowl. I bought them for him a LONG time ago, but he couldn't use them then, or wouldn't use them. I put KIX in one this morning, showed him how to use it, and he LOVED it!! It will be great to have them in the car, as well as letting him have a snack in it without worrying about him making a huge mess all over the house. If he does accidently drop one, he picks it up and eats it!!

This morning I got brave and decided to try and get some pictures of the boys together. I really didn't figure it would work, so they are just in their PJ's, maybe I will try again sometime soon with them dressed cute!! Wesleigh actually sat there for a few minutes with Ethan in his lap, but when he was done, he proceeded to push Ethan's head off of him, then tried to use Ethan's belly as leverage to stand up!! :-) Don't worry, I saved Ethan!!

Wesleigh LOVES to give kisses...almost as much as he LOVES to steal Ethan's pacifer!

I think he is mostly in shock that I laid Ethan in his lap...almost like the forbidden fruit was handed to him!!

Ethan looks a bit more comfy in this position, this was about the 90th kiss since we started this little 3 minute photo shoot!

Such precious little boys!!

Wesleigh is in a phase of LOVING books. He also loves the boppy pillow, and that is his "preferred" reading spot. He likes to look at them, and pretends to read them. It is adorable. Nevermind that half the time the book is upside down when he is reading it, but it is still adorable and wonderful. Oftentimes he will bring us a book, but after the first page he is usually ready to move on to something else. The only time that he will really sit still for a book is at bed time when he knows he needs to drink his milk and listen to the story in order to buy a few more minutes out of the bed!! I absolutely LOVE to read. I haven't found the time in the past 3 weeks to start a new book, but eventually I will again! I hope that I can teach both of my boys to love reading as much as I do. I will do anything to continue to foster a love of books and reading for Wesleigh. Their daddy hates to read, mostly because it has never been easy for him, and it frustrates him, so we are both very hopeful that they can love books and reading like me, instead of hating it like their father!! He has plenty of other wonderful skills and traits that they can learn from him!! Of course, his love of reading requires me to return all the books back to the bookshelf several times a day, but I'll take it!!

In this picture, he actually has 2 copies of "Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You?? in his hands. I honestly didn't know we had 2 copies of that book!

Dont' look too closely or you will see that the book is upside down, but that didn't stop him from jabbering, I mean reading away!!

Time for an Update!!!

Daddy and the boys!! Wesleigh has major jealously issues when it comes to Daddy!! This was progress!! This was last week sometime!!

Ethan is 18 days old today, and it seriously feels like he has been a part of the family for a lot longer than that. Have I mentioned that he is a good baby? He isn't the awful baby that so many people warned me I had coming because Wesleigh was always a good baby. I consider myself BEYOND blessed to have 2 wonderful, peaceful, mellow, happy, and most importantly HEALTHY baby boys. Being their mommy every day is the greatest gift God could have given me.

Jim has been off work since the day before we went to the hospital to have Ethan. So, needless to say I have had lots of help around the house and especially with Wesleigh. BUT, that is ALL about to change tomorrow, when at 5:20 AM Jim leaves the house to head back to life in the real world!! You see, I just don't think that the Government would continue to give us a pay check if he doesn't go back to work...so I guess that leaves me and the boys to figure out a daily routine on our own!! Thankfully Wesleigh still takes 2 naps a day, at least for the time being. Ethan still sleeps a lot and is doing very well on his new formula. Wesleigh is still loving giving Ethan kisses, stealing his pacifer, and sneaking in a hit every now and then!! Ethan just rolls with it...thank goodness!!

I want to get some pictures of the 2 of them together, but Wesleigh wants to be around Ethan on Wesleigh's terms, not on mine, so it is still rather interesting!!

So, in the week and a half or so since I posted last, here is what has changed for the boys...

Ethan:

- His umbilical cord fell off, so now he is enjoying his nice, warm baths every night!

- He had a 2 week check-up where he weighed 7 lbs 6 ounces...which is up 7 ounces from his birth weight. He is now 20 inches long, he was 19 and 7/8 inches at birth.

- He met Jim's grandma, Ma, for the first time and spent some great time hanging out with her and Gran and G-Pa when they came to visit us in Del Rio.

- He traveled to Beeville for the first time to meet my grandparents, his great grandparents.

- He slept for 6 hours straight ONE night. Around hour 6 I woke up, woke Jim up and asked him what time he last fed the baby, and he said he didn't, so we both JUMPED out of bed to make sure he was still breathing!! It was a ONE time occurance!!

- He is laying here on the floor beside me as I type this, I had him on his tummy for tummy-time, and he wasn't happy about it, so he just rolled from his tummy to his back and now he is perfectly happy!!

- He has learned to LOVE his swing, and so do I!!

Wesleigh:

- He learned to climb up his slide all by himself and slide down!! We have only had one or two falls!!

- Everyday he loves being outside a little more than the last!

- His little pinky finger-nail finally fell off...from the whole...finger smashed in the door incident! Yay...no more black fingernail!!

- He says new words every day...not that we don't still wear the old ones out!!

- He too got to spend lots of time loving on and being loved on by Gran and G-Pa and Ma when they came to visit.

- He had a great time in Beeville, of course, after living there for so long while Jim was in New Mexico, he thinks he owns the place, as well as owning Nana and Grandpa!!

- Much to his daddy's dismay, Wesleigh is in this crazy phase, where he LOVES to get my purse and put it over his arm, blow a kiss, and head toward the door and wave bye bye!! Jim says that Wesleigh spent too much time with me and my mom, and it drives him crazy!! He has this little bucket that he will do the same thing with!! He will put some blocks and other "boy" things in it, then carry it like a purse, blow a kiss, and wave bye bye!! I know it is just a phase he will soon outgrow, but it drives his daddy bonkers!! I don't worry about it, because he is SO boy, it isn't even funny!!

As for the rest of us, we are doing well. Guy and Jaedyn were here for the weekend. We had a good time, we went to church this morning, and I think it may be the first time they have been to church since before we left for New Mexico. Their mom hasn't stepped foot inside a church since we were in the middle of the custody battle.

I feel great, am very glad to not be pregnant anymore!! Jim has been working like a madman the past 2 days, because our new washer and dryer finally came in, so that was a major project that is still going on as we speak!!

We will be spending some extra time at church this week, as they are having revival services all week long. The evangelist that is speaking is a very good family friend of Jim's family, and I believe that he has known Jim most of his life. He really enjoyed seeing us this morning, and meeting all the kids!! There are still people at church who look at us in disbelief when they see us with another baby. I guess since we left town for almost 6 months, then came back with another baby, some of them didn't even know we were pregnant again!! My pregnancy was so quick and easy for them!! :-)

Enjoy the pictures!!

We actually bought some fresh corn on the cob at WalMart last week...this farm girl doesn't buy corn at the store very often, but it looked and felt good...so I bought it, and it was GREAT!!! This is Wesleigh finishing off one of our cobs!!These pictures were taken last Sunday. We were hanging out outside! He LOVES to be outside. This swing is on our back porch. After we finished swinging, we went on an adventure walk, he had a blast. Curious little boys, the simpliest things amaze them!!

This is when Ma met Ethan for the first time!! She really enjoyed meeting him and spending lots of time cuddling with him!

This is the "hat" that Grandaddy made for Wesleigh out of the paper bow thingy that came off of his Russel Stover Valentine's Candy!!

This is Wesleigh ENJOYING the piece of chocolate Grandaddy let him have!!

Grandaddy's first chance to love on Ethan!!

This was the first time MawMaw met Ethan! He stayed in that spot (her arms) for the rest of the afternoon! She gave him 2 bottles, and they enjoyed cuddling!!

Grandma meeting Ethan!! She too just sat and cuddled him through the whole visit!! Her and Ethan were both as happy as could be!! She likes to hold them as much as she can when they are this size and don't wiggle much!! Once they get bigger, she mostly just watches them play, because they are hard to hang on to!!

Isn't this face pathetic!! Sweet, rotten child!

I took this picture while I was typing this post!! He is so stinkin' strong!!

This is my new washer and dryer!! I LOVE IT!!! It is fixing a major space issue that we had in our laundry room. It has been a major undertaking. We had to remove 2 cabinets in order to stack them, and at some point, those two cabinets will be rehung, on the opposite wall. That is at some point after my husband finishes the water softener/filter issue that we have going on at the moment. He is about ready to pull all his hair out at the moment!!!

Today: Wesleigh is 14 Months old & Ethan is 1 Week Old!

This is my pajama cowboy! My mom bought Wesleigh these boots a while ago. They fit, but he walks funny in them. I guess it takes some practice to get used to not being able to bend your ankles! We were playing around after bath the other day, thus creating the PJ Cowboy!!

Struttin' his stuff!

This is the Rock, Ride, and Roll toy that Nana and Grandpa bought Wesleigh for Christmas. Daddy put it together the other night, with LOTS of "help" from Wesleigh, also known as "Helpie Helperton". Wesleigh also enjoyed climbing on top of the box then, falling off on his head repeatedly!! It was a hoot, and he never even wimpered.

These two pictures were taken 2 days ago while Wesleigh was playing! He absolutely loves his chair that he got from Gran and G-Pa for Christmas. I love it too, although I am not crazy about Wesleigh's new found love of standing in his chair!He is too cute, but doesn't he look guilty about something??
Wesleigh had a WalMart gift card from a Christmas present that he recieved that I had to return because we already had it. So, we bought him this slide with that gift card. It is intended for the back porch, but it is in the living room right now, because he needs to learn how to use it before we turn him loose on the concrete of the back porch. Wee...here we go! Climbing up the slide is fun too!

Ethan was sleeping in his bed like a good boy yesterday and I happened to walk through the bedroom to catch him smiling and grabbed the camera. So stinkin' sweet.Another precious smile.Cuddled up on his boppy pillow on the floor...the big brother must have been sleeping!!

Sweetly sleeping in his bed.

These three do NOT make very productive subjects! When Wesleigh was looking at the camera, Grandpa was either looking at Ethan, Wesleigh or staring out the window! Anyhoo, this is my dad and my two boys!

This picture was taken on Saturday night. My dad, Jim, and Ethan were all being lazy on the floor. Ethan and Grandpa both have their hands over their faces!!

Well, Ethan is a week old today, and Wesleigh is 14 months old today!! Our first week with Ethan has been wonderful. He really is a good baby. He tends to be a little fussy during the day, sleeps all night like a champ, but then he decides that after his 5 am bottle that he wants to play for a while before he goes back to sleep. He eventually goes back to sleep, but usually just a short time before Wesleigh wakes up for the day.

Wesleigh seems to be doing very well with the addition of Ethan. He has his moments where he seems to be jealous, but we just make sure that we take some time to be with him. He absolutely LOVES to give Ethan kisses, and it is the sweetest thing to watch. Every now and then he will be a little mean, but we try to nip it quickly. He likes to grab the back of the bouncer and BOUNCE very hard!! Ethan usually just sleeps right through it...can we say Baby Shaking Syndrome??? We can't turn our backs for a second, we are learning to be very vigilant!

These pictures were taken at mom and dad's the last week we were there. I just never had a chance to post them, but they are too cute to let slide!

These pictures were also at my mom's before Ethan was born. Wesleigh was playing in this little cooler, having a blast, then, he squated down and was totally wedged/stuck in it. As a little boy he is always getting himself into interesting situations, and I usually make him work it out, and he is usually able to free himself. Well, I made him try to get out for a while, but when it became apparent that he was really stuck, I took some pictures, then I helped him out!! Silly little boys and the things they find to amuse themselves!

Ethan's Home...We're all Home. Totally Blessed!!!

So, we are home, reunited as a family after meeting our newest member, Ethan Jack Pool. He was born on Wednesday, February 4, 2009 at 2:07 pm. He weighed in at a whopping 6 lbs 15 ounces and he was 19 and 7/8 inches long!! He shocked us all by coming out "sunny side up" with a whole head full of dark, curly hair!!!!! (FYI...most babies are born face down, but Ethan didn't make the "final" turn before entering the birth canal, and he came out face up!!) The doctor and nurse that delivered him told us that if he had been face down like he should have been, I would have only pushed once or twice and he would have been born. As it is, I pushed for about 20 minutes!!

So, here's the story...we were admitted to the hospital for induction on Tuesday night. My cervix was still about 1 cm and 30% effaced. So, Dr. Thompson inserted the cervadil to start trying to get my cervix more ready. They gave me some Ambien so that I could "get some rest" (what is that in the hospital)!! I woke up about 3 am having contractions...they got a little stronger as the morning wore on. At around 6 am, they took out the cervadil, I took a shower, then we started the pitocin. The contractions got stronger, but still not awful. At about 9:10 or so, Dr. Thompson broke my water and inserted an internal contraction monitor. Breaking my water totall upped the anty!! I started have INTENSE contractions one on top of the other. I had the WORLDS best nurse. She was young, and spunky, and funny. She kept me laughing and in a good mood. She was the best. She told me to get the epidural, so I did!! It was WONDERFUL. They actually gave me a "spinal" that would last 2-4 hours, then he also inserted the epidural, so that if I hadn't delivered within that time frame, they could administer meds through the epidural. So...unlike my epidural with Wesleigh, I was in HEAVEN!! Absolutely NO pain, and I could feel the baby moving down with every contraction. I was sitting up in the bed laughing and joking with everyone. Then around 12:30, our parents took Wesleigh down to get some lunch, so I decided to try and nap. I slept for about about 45 minutes and woke up feeling LOTS of pressure. So, we called the nurse and I was fully dialated and ready to push. I pushed a few times, then they called the doctor in, and I sat with Ethan practically crowning while the doctor took his sweet time getting dressed. Then, I pushed a few more times and out he came...looking face up at the doctor!

Lets just say he did a LOT less damage on the way out than his brother did. Ethan weighed 3 ounces less than Wesleigh, he was about an inch shorter than Wesleigh and his head was an inch smaller!! I for one was very thankful for that!! This birth experience was 100 times different than my first, and it seems to be a lot easier on my body. I feel a lot better now than I did 2 weeks post partum before! I will take it!!

Here are some pictures from our time in the hospital! Enjoy!!

This was Wesleigh's short nap while I was in labor. Poor kid was so tired, that he just passed out on Jim's shoulder when he was walking down the hall in the hospital. The nap was only about 20 minutes, but it did him a world of good!!

This is one of his first pictures! It is amazing how quickly they slap that ID bracelet and umbilical alarm on him!

He was doing some sputtering and rapid breathing in the beginning, they were afraid they may have to take him to the nursery, but he snapped out of it after some suctioning and time.

Look at all that hair!

They put him on my tummy when he was first born, then they took him to the warmer and messed with him, but this is when they gave him back to me all wrapped up!

After we let everyone else back in the room, this is Wesleigh getting his first peek at his little brother!

G-Pa meeting and getting his first look at Ethan!

Wesleigh giving Ethan his first hug! So sweet. The first time daddy walked up to Grandpa and showed Wesleigh he grabbed Ethan's face...then he gave him hugs and kisses!!

Gran and Daddy with Ethan

Nana holding Ethan for the first time.

Mommy getting some sweet Wesleigh kisses. The days that I was in the hospital were the first time I had been away from Wesleigh. Then, when he saw me, I was hooked up to EVERYTHING and he was kind of scared of me. It was very heartbreaking for me. I cried every night and every morning we were in the hospital. I missed him so much. I missed bed times and sweet cuddles throughout the day. I missed everything about him. He thrived with Nana and Grandpa and according to them, he hardly missed us! I am glad that it was easier on him to be away from me than it was for me to be away from him. It would have been super hard for me if he was crying about us being gone.

Great picture of Gran holding Ethan for the first time!

After hanging out in the room with us for about an hour or so, they took him to the nursery for a bath and about a billion assessments. Jim went with him and stayed with him most of the time. During this time, I was moved to my post partum and hanging out with the family.

He is getting his head full of hair washed for the first time!

He screams a lot more than this now!!!This was after his bath, during all his assessments. You see the thing on his umbilical cord? That is an alarm sensor that would shut the whole hospital down if he gets too close to the exit doors. Wesleigh and Gran looking through the nursery window at Daddy and Ethan. He actually didn't realize that there was glass and bonked his head on it trying to get to daddy!!During our second day in the hospital, Nana and Grandpa brought Wesleigh up about midmorning and stayed until about 4 that afternoon. He is sporting his Ethan's Big Brother shirt in these pictures. Aunt Glenda made that shirt for him, and it was adorable!! In this picture Daddy and Wesleigh were being silly, Daddy put him in the "baby box" and Wesleigh pouted like a baby! It was hilarous!! This picture kind of shows something that Jim and I have been in awe of since Ethan was born...it is AMAZING how much of a difference that 1 year makes. Just 13 months ago, he was the baby in the box, now look how big he is!! Now, changing Wesleigh and just looking at him, is so weird, because he seems HUGE!!

Wesleigh didn't have much patience for this photo shoot, but we got a few good ones!

This is too cute...it's like he is trying to figure out what to do and think!Great picture of Daddy and Ethan!

It looks like he is pointing to him, but he is really poking him!!

These pictures are from our last day in the hospital. He had a traumatic morning that started early with his circumcision! Ouch, but necessary!! He is all dressed to go in his going home outfit that Nana bought!

So, sweetly sleeping!

Hanging out with mommy! I was chomping at the bit for discharge paperwork, because I wanted to go home. We hadn't been home in 5 months and I was ready to reunite my family in my home!!

Mommy stealing kisses! I'm so entitled!! I grew him after all!

Finally ready to go home, safely straped into the carseat for the long ride home. We had to stop just past the Uvalde Border Patrol Check Point because Ethan let us know that he was hungry. We had a dirty diaper and a bottle, then we headed home. Nana and Wesleigh were waiting on us. They had traveled from Beeville and stopped at the grocery store on the way! Thanks Nana!

This picture was shortly after we got home from the hospital. Wesleigh voluntarily climbed up in my lap with the baby. Up until this point, he had totally ignored whoever had the baby, so we were making progress!!

The whole rowdy gang!! Together for the first time!

I have to take a minute to thank our parents. We couldn't have made it through the hospital days without them. Wesleigh spent his nights with Nana and Grandpa, and we are beyond grateful for all they did for him. It isn't easy being in the mom and dad rolls, when you are used to being grandparents, but we appreciate it more than they will know.

Gran and G-Pa spent much of the days at the hospital entertaining Wesleigh and helping keep him out of trouble! Thank you for all you did, it made it possible for him to be up there longer and spend more time with us. We also want to thank you for the many meals that you brought into the hospital for us! You are greatly appreciated!

Our first few days at home have been great! The first night was a bit rough, Ethan had a hard time sleeping in his bassinet in our room. It is so much bigger than the baby box they sleep in at the hospital. After being up with him half the night, b/c he couldn't sleep when we put him down, I finally figured out that if we pinned him very tightly in a sleep positioner wedge that he would sleep like a champ.

On Saturday we had to switch from hospital disposable bottles to our regular bottles and he had a very hard time transitioning on the nipples and spent the afternoon with a cranky tummy from bubbles. I think we have finally gotten the hang of the new bottles and are doing well with our feedings again.

Saturday night was great. He only woke up twice, ate, and went back to sleep. It was great! Wesleigh has been waking up at night, but I think he is just trying to get used to being back in this house. We just have to give him some milk and he is good to go!

We spent the weekend as a family, with Guy and Jaedyn and Nana and Grandpa. It was a great weekend! Nana and Grandpa worked hard to help us get moved back into our house, and Nana made lots of yummy food! Their help was again appreciated!! We will be on our own this week, then next Sunday, Gran, G-Pa, and Ma are coming to visit for a few days! We all look forward to that time with them!