Whirlwind

The past few weeks have been a whirlwind. Andrew is 4 weeks old - he will be one month old tomorrow. Anthony has been back to work full time for a little over a week. Nathaniel is getting used to his brother more and more. And me, well I am getting the hang of long days with both boys on my own and learning to handle the endless challenges of a very clever 2 year old. I even managed to care for my 2 boys and my nephew for a few hours with a little help from my baby sister. She thinks I can handle three and wants Anthony and I to get started on having a niece for her. I keep telling her not for a long while and maybe not ever. It has been fun having all the boys together and watching the new things they are all doing and learning every day. Here are some pictures of the boys hanging out on the floor together yesterday.

All 3 hanging out on the floor

Andrew and Nikolas kicking away

Andrew - 4 weeks and 1 day old

The next few weeks are going to fly too. Tomorrow both boys get weighed. I am excited to see how much my hungry little one has grown this past month. He is so long in some of his 3 month clothes already and getting some chubby legs too. I am hoping Nathaniel has gained a little and isn't just maintaining. We are going to make a trip into my work briefly tomorrow and then visit Oma and Opa (who is finally home after lots of tests and 6 days in the hospital).

Next week Monday all 3 boys are having their pictures taken in matching outfits (1 month, 4 months, and 30 months - super fun) and then Thursday and Friday Andrew will get introduced to St. Catherine University as I will be bringing him along with me to my OTD orientation. Lucky Nathaniel gets to have a day with Grandma Betts and a second day with her and Nikolas. And then the following week my cousin Amy is getting married. Before I know it January will be over and February will be here and I'll be going back to work. By then I'll probably be starting to get the swing of things around here with 2 little men.

Just a few more pictures from Andrew's Baptism and one from Andrew's first Edelweiss party. I will be sure to update on the boys' weights - hopefully sooner than later.

Andrew's introduction to Edelweiss - 1 week old

Wearing the same gown as mommy, aunties, and big brother wore

Wide eyed and ready for cake

Nathaniel loved watching Andrew get Baptized

Andrew Frederick de Sam Lazaro

Andrew is now 16 days old and what a 16 days it has been. I'm still trying to get used to timing everything with 2, but I think part of that is the lack of routine that we have had due to holidays and family visits, etc. I am really hoping that with the start of next week (holidays done and daddy back to work) and Andrew having been in the world for 3 weeks, Nathaniel, Andrew, and I will get into a rhythm together.

I went in for me 40 week check the day after my due date and got scheduled to be induced on Thursday 12/15/11 if nothing happened on its own. We spent the weekend walking at various stores and spending some time on the Wii Fit. My water broke on Sunday evening, 12/11/11. It may have broken earlier in the day, but I noticed it for sure that evening. I went in to make sure that it really was my water and was kept there. The doctor started pitocin to get the contractions going stronger at about 1:30 am on 12/12/11. Andrew arrived just over 12 hours later at 1:56 pm. It was very similar to what happened with the induction for Nathaniel - drugs/medical intervention started with him at 9:30 in the morning and he was born at 9:36 pm. A grueling 12 hours for both, but when the time came to push them out, they were both really easy on me. I pushed through 3 contractions (less than 10 minutes in the pushing phase) and Andrew was here. He was vocal from the beginning and certainly lets us know when he wants/needs something. I guess he learned in utero that if he wants to be heard he will have to be louder than his chatty older brother.

Anthony and I had both guessed we were having another boy, so we weren't too surprised when we saw we had another "he". My first words when seeing him were "you look just like your brother". He does resemble Nathaniel a lot, but is starting, even at just 2 weeks, to look more distinctive and like "himself".

Nathaniel has been doing well for the most part. He likes to look at Andrew and hold his hand and will sing to him as well. Andrew definitely recognizes Nathaniel's voice. We could tell that he recognized his voice from their first meeting. I really hope they grow to enjoy lots of things with each other. Nathaniel is for sure jealous of the time that Andrew has with mommy. He climbs up into the chair with us often and seizes the opportunity to sit on my lap when Andrew is napping or finished eating (and daddy takes him to get changed, etc). I am hoping that as the three of us establish a routine some of the jealousy will diminish. I have been trying my best to give Nathaniel play time with mommy as well as time with mommy to do dishes and laundry and take baths and all of his favorite things. It has been difficult however as Andrew is a hearty eater, especially during the day. He eats every 2 hours during the day, sometimes more frequently and then usually goes 4-5 hour stretches between feedings at night. I will take the extra night time sleep (even if it means engorgement, discomfort, and extra pumping at night) in exchange for "hungry days". He usually takes a good nap in the afternoon, which has coincided nicely with Nathaniel's nap (good for mommy to rest or get things done, but not the best for mommy/Nathaniel time). I know I can't expect him to do well with all of this change overnight, but I'm hoping once the holidays are fully over and we get into a routine things will be smoother.

Here are a few pictures of my boys.

Nathaniel and Andrew meet

Nathaniel is excited to see mommy and baby brother

Giving Andrew a kiss

One of his favorite things - rubbing Andrew's head

Mommy checking out Andrew

All of my boys

Just born

One of Mommy and Andrew's first picture together

One of Daddy and Andrew's first pictures together

Nathaniel saying good night to Andrew his first night at home

Christmas Eve - The first time Nathaniel "held" Andrew

Our Family of Three to Become Family of Four

So the "nesting" continues here at our house. Going through massive amounts of stacked up mail, papers, and general mess. Laundry, ironing, putting things away in general are all consuming my time. I also finished some crocheting today and got all the pictures from July of this year until now onto my new computer. I think Anthony got his "nesting" out last week as this weekend he is just back to being antsy as usual. He is playing various video games, surfing the web, reading on and off, and just pacing the house driving me nuts. I don't know what to do for him, but at this point I think he is more anxious for this baby to come out than I am. I must be driving him crazy.

We took a picture of the three of us on Thanksgiving to put in the baby book for our newest family member to have a picture of our family just before his/her arrival. Nathaniel had been sitting on Auntie Erin's lap with his baby cousin Nikolas for pictures before this picture was taken, so he was ready to be done with pictures by that time. Here is our family of 3 soon to be 4.

This one has our silly man.

We are all anxiously awaiting the arrival of our newest family member. Everyone is anxious and expects exciting news whenever they see a call from our house. We are disappointing them frequently - especially my mom since I talk to her several times a day. I am resigned to the idea that I just am not capable of going into labor on my own and that I will have to be induced on Thursday. I am not looking forward to induction since last time I had some rough spells with it, but if it gets the job done and brings our baby into the world safely that is okay with me in the end. Usually you don't get to pick your child's birthday, but we picked Nathaniel's and it looks like we're picking this little one's as well. Maybe this one will surprise me. For now, let's assume we'll have news for everyone on Thursday.

An aside: While I was typing this Nathaniel asked if he could "make some letters with mommy". So here are Nathaniel's letters and thoughts for all of you:

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

(Can you tell he likes to sing the alphabet song? It only took one letter for him to figure out he doesn't need to hold the key down for it to show up. Our smart little man.)

The Things I Missed Out on in OT School

So several of us were talking at work recently about knitting, crocheting, and sewing. This topic came up as many of us bring our knitting or crocheting to staff development days in order to increase our attention. One colleague was recalling knitting and sewing as part of one of her OT courses. She learned to knit as a young girl which helped her in this course. By the time I started OT school crocheting, sewing, and knitting were no longer part of the curriculum. We did however do copper tooling, leather work, and some woodworking. I made a cute Christmas decoration in that class with use of a band saw, some glue, and some paint. My mom puts it up in our home every year and it has become a moving target for amusement in the family. (It sits on a door frame or windowsill and my family members like to move this Santa around the family room and place him upside down). What family fun a class in OT school has brought us for the past 7 years.

I missed out on the sewing, knitting, and crochet instruction. I do know how to crochet though. I don't know that I could ever get the hang of knitting. My grandmother taught me to crochet while I was in elementary school and I have learned to progress these skills over the years in order to make more complex projects. Why is all of this on my mind? I am behind on my current crochet project. I finished the baby's afghan. I whipped up a hat for my nephew a couple weeks ago and a couple for our baby as well. I finally spent time today finishing the baby's Christmas stocking. I have been working on it on and off for weeks. I made most of Nathaniel's Christmas stocking on our bus trip to Detroit and back in 2 years ago. I went off the pattern a bit for the baby's stocking making it a bit wider and with fewer panels. It looks a lot bigger than Nathaniel's but I don't think it is much bigger and I think the differentiation of the 2 is important. Maybe one of these years I will get a chance to make stockings for Anthony and I as well. I made a tree skirt for my mom last year and hopefully one year I will have time to make one for our home too.

Here are a couple pictures of the stockings:

Baby's Christmas Stocking minus name

All four of our stockings

Baby Time - Anytime Now, Right?

Much like Nathaniel this baby is proving to be a stubborn Austrian as well. Today is my "official due date" and no baby yet. I was induced 5 days after my due date with Nathaniel mostly because I requested that date as they would have waited another 2-3 more if needed. Both Anthony and I are hoping this little one comes on his/her own and that I won't have to be induced again. We were lucky with Nathaniel that the morning of my scheduled induction there was space for me at the hospital. We may not be so lucky again and may have to wait longer.

I am sitting here this evening drinking raspberry tea. One of my coworkers brought it in to work for me yesterday as it is supposed to help induce labor or at least help make the contractions stronger and more progressive. The cup I had yesterday actually eased the contractions I had been having during the night and morning. This evening it doesn't seem to be doing anything either way. BUT ... it tastes good and is a nice warm drink on a cold December evening.

As I sit here I have been thinking about how this year the day after Thanksgiving was much different than the day after Thanksgiving 6 years ago. We got engaged the day after Thanksgiving, November 25th of 2005. We spent the day together and then met friends at the Gasthof for drinks and dancing that evening. The following day we had dinner at the Glockenspiel with our parents and grandparents. This year we spent a long evening in the hospital and tried to have a semi-relaxing weekend at home while I was uncomfortable with a headache. Nathaniel on the other hand got to spend time with our extended family who he doesn't see often, but enjoys spending time with and talking about. He got the better end of the deal I guess.

Nathaniel's due date was around many family members' (alive and gone) birthdays. We were waiting to see if he would arrive on his Great Auntie Mary's birthday, his Great Uncle Anthony's birthday, his Great-Grandpa Edward's birthday, a couple second cousins' birthdays, or his Auntie Shireen's birthday/Grandparents' Anniversary. He decided to come out on his own day once the doctors helped get things started and that is just fine.

This little one is in a similar situation. Several family member birthdays have come and gone. My cousin's fiance, my aunt, Grandma Betts, and mom's cousin (all the same day), and now today is almost gone and was my great-grandfather's birthday. There are still more to come. I don't know that tomorrow is anyone in the family's birthday, but Saturday is my Uncle Russel's birthday as well as my Great-Uncle Henry's birthday. My initial prediction for baby's birthday was December 10th since Nathaniel is July 10th, so we'll see if this little one gets to share a birthday with his/her great-uncle and great-great uncle. However, maybe he/she wants a birthday of his/her own, in which case tomorrow is a fine day ;).

There are other predictions coming in about baby as well. My in-laws leave town early tomorrow morning for a long weekend in Portland, OR, so many of us are predicting that baby will arrive while they are gone. My latest prediction is that baby will decide to make an appearance on Monday. All of my paperwork has been turned in and processed for my doctoral program and I am scheduled for either a Skype or in person interview on Monday afternoon. My prediction is that I will be in labor on Monday and be unable to make that interview and have to reschedule it for later next week. Let's hope that is not the case, but this little one will determine his/her own entrance into the world.

The best thing is that whenever baby arrives we are ready. My substitute starts work on Monday, so I will be off and resting with Nathaniel next week if baby is not here yet. I am ready to be done at work anytime and my loose ends are tied up for the most part. Anthony's work stuff is tied up and he will be able to be at home with us from baby's arrival until after New Years' when he starts at the firm. We are ready to go. Nathaniel on the other hand may not be so ready, but I am hoping he will be excited once the baby is here. He continues to mostly say "baby brother" and I think most people think the baby is a boy (including Anthony and I), but we will all be pleasantly surprised with a girl. There are a few convinced the baby is a girl and hoping the baby is a girl. Hopefully within the next week we will know and have a wonderful new addition to our family.

I will be sure to keep everyone posted on baby's arrival and name and pictures when the time comes. I will also keep you all posted on my insanity with interviewing and maybe getting into the doctoral program. Much less exciting news than a baby, but news none the less.

Thanksgiving Excitement, or Not So Much

This is the first time since the year we got married that we didn't write a "Thanksgiving Letter" and get it out on/before Thanksgiving. Our anniversary is November 4th, so the year we were married we just sent out a wedding picture for our holiday card. We both look forward to and LOVE Thanksgiving. Lots of good food and good times with family. No worries about gift giving or timing of everything. Just sit and eat and talk and have a good time. This year we decided to wait on the letter because of baby's arrival and we want to include that news in our holiday "thanks" this year.

This year was no exception. I am pregnant and love Thanksgiving food, so it was wonderful to feel guilt-free eating and snacking on 2 meals and lots of dessert on Thursday. We got Nathaniel down for his nap before our first meal, so it was also filled with child-free eating enjoyment. He slept for a decent nap, but was a bit overwhelmed by the 16 people there to welcome him from his nap. He enjoyed the time with "lots of people" before his nap as not everyone had arrived yet and sat well to take a picture with his Auntie Erin and cousin Nikolas as well as a picture with Mommy and Daddy for "Nathaniel's Baby's" baby book.

After Nathaniel's nap we headed to Anthony's parents' house for Thanksgiving in our pjs. It was nice to be relaxed and comfortable, especially being 38 weeks pregnant. Nathaniel was again a bit overwhelmed by the 18 people at this gathering, but enjoyed playing and showing off all his smarts to everyone. He crashed hard on Thursday night that is for sure.

We didn't do any Black Friday shopping this year. We just had a leisurely morning and then went to visit with Grandma and Grandpa D and Auntie Shireen. Anthony went with me to my OB appointment and that was good as I tripped and fell up the stairs on the way into the clinic and ended up in triage observation for 6 hours on Friday afternoon/evening. Not exactly what we had expected as we were planning to go to Anthony's aunt's house for dinner that evening. I came home having lost 6 hours and with a horrible headache. Thankfully Grandma and Grandpa D kept Nathaniel overnight so we were both able to get some extra sleep. It didn't really help my headache, but such is life. The headache has been going on and off since Friday, but the OB on call does not think it is anything to worry about unless it get worse or I start to have other symptoms. Let's hope all goes well and this little one stays in a little longer. Though the "nesting" instict hit me today and I did that rather than "work work", which is probably a good thing.

We got a Christmas Tree today - the earliest we have ever had one and even before we planned to get one today, I started to rearrange and move some of Nathaniel's toys upstairs so that we have more room in the living room and also give him another place to play. The upstairs in is good shape for him to play and I also wrapped all of his, the baby's, and my nephew's presents. I'm ahead of the game this year. Maybe I'm feeling like I should be more prepared for this little one's arrival. Though I think the sooner s/he arrives the easier it will be to get some things ready for Christmas later. Not sure if that makes sense to anyone else but me though.

A couple other notes about baby. We had an ultra sound on Wednesday and everything looked fine with the baby measuring on the small side (a couple weeks behind, but there is a large margin of error this late in the game). We got a front view picture of baby's face and in some ways baby looks like big brother Nathaniel, but as Nathaniel says, "baby has a squishy face". My amniotic fluid is on the low end of normal, so the baby doesn't have a lot of space to move in there. And one added thing to the whole 6 hours in triage. The baby's heartrate was over 150 and in the 160s most of the time. The old wives tale is that over 140 means a girl, under 140 means a boy. So while many of us still think we're having another boy, Auntie Erin is waiting for her niece to arrive and a few others are hopeful for a little girl as well.

We will soon find out and let you know what our new addition is and what his/her name is.

Preparing to be a Mom Again

This past week I worked while many of my teammates had a break from work. It was awesome to have a relatively quiet office to work in and get lots of paperwork done. Unfortunately, there is a whole lot left undone. I will probably end up spending some of Nathaniel's nap time on Monday and Tuesday working on a bit of work to prepare for the crazy week back after Thanksgiving break. I can't believe we are getting this close to the end, but after some long days of sitting at my desk and lots of driving in my car, my body is starting to tell me lots of messages. The first message I hear is "you didn't strengthen those muscles enough between pregnancies ... we aren't strong enough to do what you want us to do". The second one I hear is "this baby is head down and practicing pushing his/her way out". The third one is "get to a restroom ASAP ... again those muscles we were telling you about". And the last one I get on and off "let's practice this whole contractions and downward movement thing". My poor husband has been under a lot of stress preparing for an arbitration and I have been awake on and off and having a hard time being comfortable at night. I am sure I am no help to his sleeplessness.

As I have been working non-stop to get evaluations and other due process done prior to my maternity leave I am noticing more and more how many philosophical differences are in play in our early childhood program. It is too much for my brain to try and sort out at the moment. I'm hoping that when I return from maternity leave a lot of the headache will have been sorted out in my absence. Is is sad that I am really looking forward to maternity leave? This is only partially related to having a baby and all of that excitement. It is also partially related to wanting and needing a break from work drama. I am sure once baby is here it will drastically change and I will just be focused on baby and family, but right now I'm looking forward to the break from work. The sad thing is that many co-workers have noticed the increased stress around my new role at work and have commented that "you must be looking forward to maternity leave". Once the comments continued to roll in I was thinking about it more and more. The nice thing about heading into maternity leave is my sub. I took her position when she retired and we had a few months to work together as mentor/mentee. She filled in for my last maternity leave and I had nothing to worry or think about as I knew everything would be taken care of while I was out. I know this time will be no different and it is so nice to have that sense of ease when moving out of work and leaving a lot of stuff to do.

So where are we? My body is getting ready to have this baby. My brain is working on organizing work life to have everything in place for my substitute and my leave of absence. Our house is basically ready. We have the carseat in the car. We have the bags packed. We know where to go. Anthony's big case is over, minus the post hearing brief. I guess the baby can really come whenever he/she is ready. I, however, know how important every day closer to 40 weeks is for the baby's development. I also would love to be able to work for a couple more weeks so that everything is really wrapped up and ready to go. I am going to do my best to enjoy this week off and not do much work. I spent the weekend getting my application finished and submitted for my OTD program. (Yikes!) I will probably write a couple of assessments or at least parts of assessments and will for sure spend a little time writing coverage notes for some of my students and I'm sure I will be doing quite a bit of email. But that will be done while Nathaniel naps so that he and I can spend what will probably be our last chance for a while to have "mommy and Nathaniel" time. He had some fun outside with daddy in the snow this morning and all of it is supposed to melt this week, so I think we'll have some fun running errands and having lots of playtime in our inside playground. (His slide is back in the basement and we have lots of fun with balls and time on the slide).

So while my body and mind are preparing for childbirth and having 2 children, I am going to do my best to enjoy the little man that I have. He gives Anthony and I lots to smile and laugh about on a daily basis. Below are some pictures from his adventure in the first snow of the season as well as his pre-bedtime call to his Auntie Erin.

Calling Auntie Erin

Trying out the shovel

Gave up on the shovel - Decided to use his hands to help daddy get the snow off the deck instead

Nathaniel and his purple shovel