Lately...

Brooke has been curing her cabin fever by "painting" with water on our front steps. She loves it. And it's something she can do while I sit on the couch and watch from the window.

In case you were wondering about her outfit (I always feel horrified by the outfits she is wearing in pictures. I promise that I do take care of her and actually brush her hair), because Brooke's obsession with changing her outfit 50 times a day has made me insane, I took all her dresses and swimsuits out of her room, and moved her tights to the top shelf of her closet. I thought that would cure it. Nope. Now she just changes into different PJs all day long. AHHH!!

She has also been doing some fun crafts at preschool:

Porter got his first real bath...he wasn't too sure what to think of it:


Porter also reached his 3 week milestone and has graduated from newborn clothes to sizes 0-3 month..which actually is good because I didn't buy very many newborn outfits and was doing laundry a lot. Now, he has a few more outfits to wear and the laundry has slowed a bit.

I have accepted the challenge of finding cute boy outfits. It definitely is a lot harder than buying for Brooke and I think I am even more picky about boys' clothing than I thought I would be.

I love this picture of Porter...look how huge his head looks compared to the last picture! I think it's more the angle that is making his head look so big, but I still love it. You can kind of see Porter's double chin that he is starting to get.

I was having fun taking pictures of Porter's facial expressions one day:

He has the prettiest blue eyes. They don't really show in this picture. Maybe one day I will capture them on camera.

And Little Miss wanted a picture of her eyes taken too:

Finally, Blake put together my new stroller for me and saved the bubble wrap for Brooke to play on (how cute is that?). She had a lot of fun doing little dances.

And here is Mr. P making his video debut...not too interesting yet, but at least I've captured him in real time for family to appreciate.

And that's pretty much what we have been up to lately. My mom, brother, and his wife came to spend a couple of days with us and we did some fun things together, and I finally got Porter's newborn pics back. But I will save both those things for another post :)

2 week accomplishments

Being homebound with a newborn has made me a little stir crazy. Our upstairs living room, which has always been neat and tidy, is now overrun with baby stuff and Brooke's toys. She wants to be where we are, and the living room is usually where I am...sitting on the couch nursing. Because I got so sick of toys and things being strewn everywhere, I decided to give Brooke a special place in the coat closet for her stuff that is eay for her to get to and put away when she's done. A magazine holder for her coloring books, crayons, and construction paper, and a bin for her growing play dough collection.

So far, it's helping save my sanity...or what's left of it anyway. Blake had me text him a phone number he needed the other day. When his phone alarm sounded I said, "Do you want me to bring you your phone so you can see who it is?" Blake just looked at me and said, "Are you serious? Didn't you just message me?" Oh yeah. My response was, "I don't have any braincells left!"

Some other things I've accomplished these past 2 weeks:

• my house actually got vacuumed
• I was able to return everyone's tupperwear to (hopefully) the right houses
• I made dinner for the first time since Porter was born
• Brooke started back at her preschool 3 days a week and I actually dropped her off and picked her up on time (mostly)
• I have showered and gotten ready for the day--some days

Things I've learned with having a newborn again:

• I've come to accept that my clothes will always smell like spit up
• that baby gear is like lava--it just keeps flowing and filling up every inch of your house
• I don't need to sleep with the light on like I did with Brooke and watch Porter constantly in his bassinet--me staring at Porter is not going to keep him alive.

Blake left last Sunday for a 4 day training. I was left at home all alone with 2 kids. Things started off okay, but the last day and a half were rough. Brooke colored on my kitchen table with a sharpie (thank you magic eraser!), was playing in the bathroom and dumped an entire bottle of hair-detangler spray down the sink and made a HUGE mess with water all over the counter. Then, while I was cleaning that up, she went downstairs and dumped an entire bag of goldfish crackers all over the couch and floor. The next day Brooke said she had to go potty and for some reason decided just to pee all over the floor. I was very happy when Blake came home the next day. And because he was gone on the 14th, we celebrated a late Valentine's day: Sparkling cider, a homemade card from Brooke, homemade oreos from me, and Blake got me Breaking Dawn and picked up some lotions from Bath and Body Works called "Twilight Woods". They don't have anything to do with the movies, he just thought it was very appropriate for me :)

Oh miss Brooke and her crazy outfits: a swimsuit top, tights, snowboots and a hello kitty jacket with a sparkling blue headband. She kind of looks like an 80s aerobics instructor.

This is a little better: ballerina

On Thursday while I was gone at Porter's dr. appointment, my friend Rachel watched Brooke for me. Perhaps she felt bad that Brooke's hair looked so terrible, because when I picked her up it was done in this adorable up-do. I took pictures in hopes that someday I will recreate it.

Blake's big accomplishment this week has been trimming our giant trees in our backyard. After the crazy windstorms elsewhere in the state, I have been worried that it wouldn't take much to tip one of these trees over onto our house. Blake, wanting to save some money, decided that he could do it himself. After some damage done to the neighbor's property, we decided it might be best to have the professionals come and finish the job.

He is 50 feet in the air. That made me really nervous. I was praying the whole time he wouldn't fall out.

At Porter's 2 week appointment he weighed 8 lbs and 2 oz. The nurse and I were both shocked and weighed him 3 times just to be sure. I can't believe he's gained so much weight in only two weeks. I guess that is a good sign that he is eating and healthy. And speaking of eating, with Brooke I would always wake her up during the night to feed because I was paranoid that if she slept through a feeding that she was going to die. With Porter, I came into it with a more relaxed attitude about it, but realized there was no need. This little eater grunts and tries to eat his blankets in his sleep and that alone wakes me up.

2 weeks old

I love his feet. One of the first things the nurses commented on after he was born was how big his feet are. Already there are predictions that he will be tall just like his daddy!

2 weeks with 2

On Thursday Porter will be 2 weeks old. Time is going by too fast already. Porter is such a good baby. He rarely cries and is very content to be in his bouncer chair while I do things with Brooke (I think that might be an inherited 2nd child thing...Brooke wasn't that way, she always wanted to be held. Maybe being #2, he just knows that's the way it's gotta be sometimes)

I wanted to just mention a couple of things about our hospital stay that I didn't get to in the last post. During labor and delivery there were two nursing students in the room with me. They saw the whole process. The head nurse assigned to me and Blake both made sure it was okay with me that they were there. I never thought I would be the type of person who would want extra people in the delivery room with me, but I was so far beyond caring at that point. Dr. B even had the two students practice checking the baby's position, which was a first for both of them. After I delievered, Blake and I were talking to them and they both said they never wanted to have children after seeing what I went through. (They were both young and unmarried) So that experience was good birth control for them at least!

And I just can't say enough about our experience at the hospital. The first night we were there, they prepared a special steak dinner for two for Blake and I. Then when we left, they gave us a gift bag that had some fun things in like Hershey's candybars that say Here.He.Is, a blanket with the hospital name on it, "it's a boy" bubble gum cigars, soaps and lotions, and ticket vouchers to the movie theater. What a nice thing to do! We loved staying there...at least until we get the hospital bill, I guess :)

Life with two so far:

• I could not have survived these first couple of weeks without awesome friends and neighbors who have fed us every night so far. THANK YOU! Also my mom came out and was great to help with Brooke, who needed attention just for her. And my MIL is always great to help out when I need her. We feel very blessed to live close to them.
• By far the biggest adjustment has been getting used to not sleeping, my house being a wreck, and trying to get on some kind of schedule (which is not happening right now). Porter and I are still trying to get used to nursing. He wants to eat about every 3 to 3 1/2 hours, but he will always fall asleep after he nurses on one side. I try everything to get him to wake up but he just wants to sleep. I will lay him down and after 5-10 he will wake up and realize he is still hungry and want to eat on the other side. This makes for a slow process and it's been pretty frustrating. I am hoping it will get better as Porter gets older.
• On Friday we had two appointments to go to and we were late for both of them. How do people go out with more than one child? Between getting Brooke ready and making sure Porter is happy and fed, I am pretty sure we will always be late.
• Brooke really hasn't been jealous of Porter. A few days after we were home, Brooke climbed on my lap and wanted me to hold her like a baby while she did a "wah, wah" cry. I was nervous about that, but once she got it out of her system she's been fine ever since.
• When I get Brooke up in the morning and I don't have Porter with me she says, "Where's my baby?" and wants to go see him in his bassinet and give him a kiss
• She always says she wants to "pet" the baby
• Whenever Porter makes a noise, Brooke will run over to where he is and talk to him or just see what is the matter. Last night Brooke made us laugh by saying "Hi baby Porter! You are poopy and stinky. You need a diaper change."

Thankfully, Brooke knows how to watch shows on my PBSkids app on the ipad all by herself. Not so thankfully, I have no control over what outfit Brooke chooses to wear while I am in the middle of nursing. And really, I don't have the energy to care at this point. Maybe in another few weeks I'll fight that battle.

This basket has been my lifesaver. Sure beats running up and down the stairs everytime I need something. So glad Similac gave me this instead of a diaper bag I will never use.

Once during a diaper change Porter peed and pooped all over the place. Brooke saw yhe whole thing and it freaked her out--she was crying and really upset. After that this is about as close as she wanted to get to Porter:

It took a lot of coaxing to get this picture:

I also want to mention that Porter's "swaddle me" blanket was a great purchase! I am not a good swaddler. Blake is actually much better at it than I am. But this blanket makes it so easy to get him nice and tight.

On the 9th was Porter's one week mark and also my birthday. We had a pretty low-key celebration. My MIL watched Brooke for the day and Blake, Porter and I went for a drive, got Chinese takeout, and rented a movie. I also have a coupon for a day at the spa to use when I can actually go out by myself, was able to do some online shopping for some things I had been wanting and my new double stroller was delievered! I have spring fever so bad now. I am ready to get out walking and use it.

Happy Birthday to me!

My two favorite birthday presents: new baby Porter and a picture drawn for me by Brooke. Isn't Brooke's expression awesome?

Don't think I am mean by not saying B. is my favorite bday present. Brooke is my favorite Christmas present ;)

And here's our little guy just relaxin'

During our first week home, we gave Porter a bath. Blake was in charge of it and as you can tell, Porter is soaked. I had a mild freak-out because I worried about his umbilical cord, but at Porter's 5 day check-up the Dr. said it looked fine.

At his 5 day check-up Porter went from 6.15 at birth to 7.1. This boy loves to eat! I am curious to see what he will weigh at his two week appointment on Thursday.

Finally, on the 10th I took Porter to get some pictures taken. The photographer did a great job and here's a little preview. I can't wait to see the rest!

D-Day

Porter's Birth Story

It's true what they say that every labor and delivery is different for each child. Brooke was a textbook case: woke up with contractions, they got harder as the day went on, checked into the hospital around midnight and Brooke was born around 11 am.

With Porter, it was totally different. First of all, I felt like I was in labor with him for days. When I went to my last Dr's appointment and found out I was dialated to a 4 already, I was determined to get this boy here. I went walking everyday, I started drinking raspberry leaf tea, and I made a smoothie out of a pineapple core in hopes things would get started. No luck. On Monday night I started getting pretty intense contractions while I was sleeping. I thought for sure this was it, but as the day went on, they went away. Same thing happened on Tuesday night. The contractions were so bad that everytime I would move in my sleep they would start up again so intense that I was in serious pain, but then as I laid still they would go away. If I would move again, they would start back up. On Wednesday night the same thing happened and I didn't know what to do. I was paranoid of not getting to the hospital in time if I kept putting it off. The contractions were pretty consistent at 10 minutes apart and very intense. I told Blake I thought we should probably check into the hospital. We dropped Brooke off at his parents and got to the hospital a little after 7:30. The nurse checked me and I was dialted to a 5. They hooked me up to monitors and after an hour my contractions really weren't getting closer together so they started me on pitocin around 8:45. I had heard different stories about people being put on this and was kind of nervous and wondered if I was in for a whole day of waiting.

By 10:30 they checked me again and I was at a 6. I asked for my epidural because the contractions were very close and I was in pain. At 11:15 I was checked again and was at an 8. Still no epidural. By this time I thought I was going to die. Super intense contractions every 2 minutes. Finally the dr came to give me my epidural. He had me get into the most uncomfortable position and I was just praying for it to be fast and over with so I could relax. It took the dr. almost 20 minutes to get the epidural in. He put it in once and hit a blood vessel so the tube filled with blood. He had to take it out and try again. By this time I am crying and holding onto Blake because I was in so much pain. I was praying that this time it would take because I could not imagaine delivering natural. Finally he got it in and I was able to lay back down and once the epidural kicked in I was in heaven! Meanwhile, the time it took for the dr. to put the epidural in and the two contractions I had after it, made it so I was dialated to a 10 and ready to push.

I started pushing around 11:45 and my delivery dr, Dr B., noticed that the baby was face up--making it so the biggest part of his head was coming out first. I ended up pushing for an hour and a half to get his head out. Everyone in the room was super supportive, cheering me on. After 30 minutes or so the Dr. B explained that we might have to use a vacuum if he wasn't going to come out. Then after I pushed a couple more times, he said, "Nope! You've got this! You are just going to muscle him out!" I was so relieved that we weren't going to have to use a vacuum and even more relieved that I couldn't feel anything. Everyone in the room said how painful trying to deliver a "sunny-side up" baby was naturally. Amazingly, during the long process of pushing the baby turned himself so by the time he emerged, he was facing down. He was also super wrapped up in his cord. It was around his middle and came up diagonally across his chest and up by his neck. It was also the longest cord Dr. B said he had ever seen.

And at 1:15pm he was here!

If you have ever delivered a baby, I am sure you know the drill: during pushing you lean forward, hold onto these bars, tuck your chin and push. After doing that for an hour and a half, of hard pushing, my whole upper body was sore and shaking. Imagine doing rowing exercises for that long. Even a few days later, I am still sore and can't lift my arms above my head.

Brooke was able to come visit us later that night. She immediately climbed into bed with me and wanted to hold her baby brother.


I had the best experience at our small town hospital. The nurses were wonderful, the food was good, the rooms were nice and comfortable and I can't say enough about Dr. B. He stayed with me almost the entire time I was pushing (my Dr. in Logan only came in the last 10 minutes) and cracked jokes during delivery which was welcome while I was resting between pushes. One joke was a reference that I have a skin discoloration disorder "down there". I also have it on my hand but obviously have never noticed I have it elsewhere. Dr. B said "Well, so much for your nude modeling career" He also went back to the office and scheduled all my next Dr's appts for me. He definitely went above and beyond his calling. I also loved that after I deliever Porter the nurse put him on my stomach for me to hold for a minute before they cleaned him up. That didn't happen with Brooke and it was a really special moment.

We had a little bit of a scare on the first day. The doctor and nurses like to see a baby have at least one wet diaper 12 hours after birth. Porter hadn't peed all day or at all into the next morning. We were going on 24 hours. That combined with his history of only having a 2 vessel umbilical cord was enough for our dr to schedule an ultrasound on him to make sure everything was okay. The tech reported that his bladder seemed a little abnormal, but he couldn't say for sure. We needed a radiologist to give us his expert opinion. Meanwhile, we decided to supplament with some formula in hopes that would fill his bladder and help him have a wet diaper.

Brooke helped me give Porter his first bottle.
By the end of day 2 still nothing. We were really starting to panic. Dr. B called a specialist at primary children's hospital and he said that if Porter hadn't peed by 48 hours that we should really start to worry. We had until the morning to wait and see. Blake and I were so worried. When the nurses came in and told us he had peed in the middle of the night we were overcome with relief! I never thought I would cry over a wet diaper.
Finally, on Saturday we could go home!
While Brooke was taking her nap, I decided to nap too. I think this might become part of our daily schedule.

So far, Porter is a very content baby--just like how Brooke was. He rarely cries, but is quite the eater! We are still working on a schedule. He will wake up to eat and then fall asleep 10 minutes in and won't want to eat anymore. He's not full, so he will want to eat again just 2 hours later. It made for a long night last night.

Brooke has been really good with him so far. She helps me by getting things that are out of my reach while I am stuck on the couch nursing. She told me this morning that she would hold Porter while I took a shower....ummm no. I am sure Brooke will go through an adjustment period, but so far she is just interested in him--what he's doing or where he is.

I also have a question for you moms of multiple children: Brooke is interested in how Porter eats. When I told her Porter drinks milk she was ready to go to the fridge and get him some. I haven't used any anatomically correct words to explain nursing. I have told her Porter eats on my tummy. I am hesitant because I am afraid that she will go up to every female she sees and point to their chests. What do you think?

And finally, here are Brooke and Porter. They were taken roughly around the same time. Do they look alike?

This and That...

Tuesday morning I slept in until 8am. Brooke usually wakes up between 6:45 and 7, but luckily is usually very content to play in her room until I come and get her around 7 or 7:30. Well, with some extra time, she found a way to keep herself occupied: she lined up some of her books literally from one corner of her room to the other. She was pretty pleased with herself too!I am trying to do more fun/creative things with Brooke for the holidays now that she older and is into it more. So one day while Blake was at home sleeping we went to my in-laws house to make Valentine's crafts. Brooke calls them "ballet-en-times"
I also got this idea from Nie-Nie's blog. Her's looks way cuter than mine, but I am still pretty proud that I did this. I had to watch the youtube video on how to make paper flowers twice. Yep, twice. That is how uncrafty I am.
Finally, here is Brooke and her broom, inspired by Harry Potter