Playmates

Craig and Ethan will pretend that ANYTHING is a phone. This time they have little plastic containers from my tupperware drawer. Here's how this conversation went.

Craig: "Hi Ethan."

Ethan: "Hi Craig."

Craig: "What are you doing?"

Ethan: "Nu'in."

Craig: "See you later. Bye!"

(Ethan gets distracted.)

Craig: "Ethan, your phone is ringing. Ethan! Your phone is ringing! ETHAN! HURRY HURRY! YOU'RE PHONE IS RINGING!"

Me: "Craig...use an inside voice please."

Craig: (whining) "But he's not answering his phone."

Me: "Maybe he's done playing that game."

Craig: "But I don't want him to be done. ETHAN!"

Me: "Craig...you can't force him to play your game."

All the while Ethan is obliviously playing by himself. It's funny to me...you'd think the oldest child who spent a good portion of his young life without a sibling and built-in playmate would be better about playing by himself. In our family, it's the opposite. Ethan is the little self motivator and Craig is fueled by his interactions with others. I wonder what Grant will be like?

My Little Angel

Now's my chance to brag about my new little boy. This here is the sweetest, most pleasant little baby anyone could want. I have two theories...1) Based on 1 Corinthians 10:13 (one of the scriptures that says the Lord won't give you anything you can't handle), He knew what we had here in our little family with the youngin's being so young and one in particular being quite a little stinker, so the Lord sent us the sweetest little baby He had or 2) we just lucky and Grant happened to choose our family. Maybe he thought he was tough enough to handle Craig and Ethan as big brothers. Whatever the case, he's such a great little addition, and here's why.

1) He sleeps all night long! He had one bad night, the second night home from the hospital, but ever since then he has been great. Sometimes I have to wake him up to feed him because I can't make it all night without feeding him. There have been occasions (usually only once per night, though) where he'll stir a little and make some little noises to tell me he's awake and hungry, so I bring him in bed with me and feed him. Then I go right back to sleep.

2) He takes nice long naps during the day.

3) When he's awake he loves to sit and look around, content to observe the world.

4) The only time he really cries or gets fussy, for the most part, is during that fussy-baby time of day right before bed time. And then it's easy to calm him. He just wants to either nurse or be held, sitting up and facing out.

5) He's a great eater.

6) He LOVES eye contact and has attempted some cute facial expressions and almost-smiles. I think all babies do this, but I just love it. I love wondering what he's thinking and telling him, "I see you, Grant-sully." Never has a movie quote made more sense to me. That's from Avatar...the native people say "I see you" to mean they acknowledge you, respect you, understand you, etc. But you probably knew that already.

I'm sure there's a lot more, but right now the angel is sleeping and the older two are pulling on my arms and distracting me with cries of "up!" and "snack!" I'm sure Grant will grow up one day and turn two, then three, and he'll be just as annoying as Craig and Ethan can be. But I'll still love him, of course, because he's mine and will have his redeeming qualities, just like his brothers. I just want to make the most of the next year and a half with him, though, because these are the golden days. Even my sweet baby Ethan is leaving those days behind as he approaches his second birthday on Sept. 5. Sigh...the loss of innocence during these terrible twos is sad. I'm just grateful for this new little guy to bring it back into our lives.

His first bath at home.

On My Own

My mom just left. Grant is a week old already and for the first time I find myself alone with all three boys. Now I'm going to have to do the dishes, do the laundry, feed the dog, and (eventually) I'm going to have to make dinner ALL BY MYSELF!

If I think about it too much, it seems daunting. Not in the long run, but just during the next month or so while Grant is nursing all the time, Craig and Ethan are adjusting, and I get settled into my fall classes.

If I don't think about it, though, I have a general feeling of calm and acceptance. I know can do it and everything will be fine.

The Birth Story (rated G--I'll keep it clean)

Even after all my complaining and my woe-is-me attitude about this pregnancy, Heavenly Father still decided to bless me not only with an early baby (by five days) but a fast delivery, too. Well, parts of the fast delivery were a blessing, but it was a double-edged sword. I'll get to that later.

Grant Benjamin Leal was born Thursday, August 11th at 3:26 pm. He was 9 lbs. 8 oz. Bigger than both Craig and Ethan. Craig was 8-14 and Ethan was 8 lbs. even. I think I could feel every ounce of him, too, as he made his way out. I know I felt that weight during these last few difficult weeks of the pregnancy. I know everyone around me SAW how I struggled, some were just more tactful about than others. :)

So, here's what happened. I had been feeling a lot of activity going on for quite a while--mild/irregular contractions, dropping, etc. At my checkup on Wednesday the midwife said I was 2 cm dilated and 70% effaced already! I decided to have her strip the membranes...they say (if you don't know already) that it helps induce labor if you're body is ready. Otherwise it does nothing. As the triage nurse at the hospital said, the midwife must be a good stripper because it worked! (Robert and I chuckled to each other, but the nurse seemed oblivious to her faux pas. :)) I felt nothing significant Wed. night and even Thursday morning as I sat with Craig and Ethan in the living room feeling the contractions come and go, they seemed just as mild and irregular as they had all week, only a little more frequent.

Not wanting to get myself excited, and remembering that with both Craig and Ethan I still had between 20 to 25 hours from these mild contractions to delivery, I didn't rush it. I did, however, begin my routine of doing my cleaning chores for the day. I only got about fifteen minutes into these chores when I realized that being up and moving around they contractions got a WHOLE lot more frequent and intense. Robert had been home from the midnight shift and asleep for only a couple of hours at this point, so I decided to take shower and then sit down and relax for a while to really time these contractions. I never made it that far. I got the shower in and I managed to get mostly dressed before I had to wake him up.

We decided to get things moving. I called the babysitter, he got in the shower, and I started to get everything together to leave. By this time I was moving slowly, having contractions about 3-4 minutes apart, and just waiting for Robert to get out of the shower, the boys to take their naps, and we were getting out of there. The babysitter was getting visibly nervous, I could tell. :) We got to the hospital around 1:30pm. Robert dropped me off out front of the ER and I could only make it as far as the first set of doors and into a wheelchair. A guy walking in behind me went in and told the people I was out there then he came back out and wheeled me in to the lobby since Robert was parking the van. There was a line, but I was that lady in the movies who the hospital workers don't want to alarm but they can tell by how you look that you are about to pop, so they really start to hustle. A woman came out from behind the counter, took my name (I am SO thankful I took the time to pre-register online), wheeled me to a counter where they had me weakly scribble my name on a piece of paper (I could have been signing the baby away to the gypsies for all I knew, I was so out of it at this point), and Robert came in just in time for the labor and delivery transporter to come and take us upstairs.

First, they took me to triage where they said they wanted to monitor me for 20 mins. before taking me to my room, but once they realized I was already 8 cm and after getting a few things taken care of logistically, I was put into another wheelchair and taken to the delivery room. I had printed off my birth plan and Robert was so on top of it all and doing his job so well that he had them out, telling them what I needed, and answering the questions I couldn't due to the now intense contractions of the final stages of labor. They saw I had requested the spa tub, so that was set up and going for me by the time we got to the delivery room. I got straight into it from the wheelchair. It really helped me relax and get my mind around this whole thing that was quickly speeding out of my grip before I had a chance to really know what to expect. After about 20 minutes, though, I could feel that things were getting close so I got out. I was 9 cm by then and not too much later (less than an hour in the delivery room) the midwife checked and said I was ready to go.

It was so intense and I was already more exhausted at this point than I had been during my entire labor with either Craig or Ethan that I just wanted it all to be over. I had used a birthing bar with Ethan, so we got that out first, but after she broke my water and I tried to push once with the bar, I realized it wasn't feeling right and I couldn't get it right. The midwife had me turn on my side and then next thing I knew I was bearing down, he was coming out, Johnny Cash was running through my head (thanks Laura), and I yelled, "I can't do this anymore!" and then he was out.

Immediately following this ordeal was that huge rush of endorphins where you are so euphoric and you love the world so much you can't stop talking even though you know you probably sound like an idiot but you don't care because you're sure they've heard it all before and who really cares because you've just given birth and everyone needs to be nice to you and think everything you say is wonderful. After that, it's all really a blur.

From the time I realized I should get up and start getting my day together Thursday morning until time of delivery was an amazingly short 7 hours! Not only was that fast in general, that was fast compared to my previous births. I've thought a lot about this and realized that as natural births go, I would much rather have one that is smooth, predictable, and of a reasonable length so I have plenty of time to prepare my mind, focus my breathing, and properly relax my body. This fast, short labor and delivery was so incredibly, inexplicably intense that I felt so out of control and had a hard time handling as well at the other two. I think my biggest problem was that I thought I had time and just didn't get things moving fast enough to get us out the door.

Now, though, little Grant is doing great! He sleeps so much I'm having to wake him up every 6-8 hours to feed him even though I know "they" say you should feed them more often. I figure I'll give him another day or so to see if he regulates himself a little, but I don't want to mess up a good thing, either. I know that all too soon he'll be demanding feedings, awake more than asleep, and then my mom will be gone. The boys love him and always want to touch him, hold him, or talk to him. Craig is obsessed with wanting to see him with his eyes open. He keeps asking when he can play with him and when Grant can talk to him and say hi. He also loves that my tummy is "flat" now (I correct him and say, "It's more soft than flat, Craig"). Ethan just likes to "pet" Grant, as he says. Oh, and of course there are tons of hugs and kisses for the baby. I'm excited to see how Grant grows and who he becomes. I don't want this baby stage to pass too quickly, but when it does, I'll be excited to see how he becomes his own little person in looks and personality.

Freecycle

Have you ever heard of freecycle.org? I hadn't until we moved here. Most areas have a group on freecycle and basically it's just people who have stuff they want to get rid of or things they're looking for and they post it on freecycle for free. I've given away some stuff, posted things I've needed, and replied to others' posts and gotten free stuff. You have to act fast, though, because it goes quickly. I lucked out today and got the best thing yet from freecycle--this cool Cozy Coupe car. I've been looking on craigslist for one now and then since I've always thought they would love it, but haven't found anything cheap and with all it's parts. Someone posted this thing yesterday and I responded. It was still available so I picked it up this morning! The boys were SO excited when I put it in the back of the van and they ran outside to play with it the minute we got home. Of course, now it's over 100 degrees and just barely 11am so I only let them play for about 20 minutes. They'll have to wait until tonight, after it cools down a bit, before they can play with it again.

I just thought I would share this since I don't know how many people know about freecycle and how awesome it can be when everything comes together. Oh, and it's monitored better than cragislist so you don't get the spam and weirdos as often.

Pictures that I am actually in!

I have gotten so uncomfortable being in public that we rarely go anywhere anymore. For the first time, I've begun to really understand the meaning and purpose of the term "confinement"--as in 150 years ago, women of society who were "in the family way" went into confinement. With this pregnancy more than ever before I find myself often in great discomfort. The first few moments after I stand from a sitting position, it's like everything falls and hits my pelvic floor. It's rather....painful. Not to mention walking, or should I say waddling, around the library/store/mall isn't fun. And then there's the comments. Like the guy who was in front me at the Redbox who turned around to glance at me and then, with eyes widening, said, "WHOA!" As if that weren't bad enough, he continued making comments about the 12 lbs. baby inside of me and how it looked like I needed to sit down. Sadly, I am not kidding. So, as a result of all these factors, I don't like being seen outside of my home and church. Even church can be annoying, but I put up with the "You still haven't had that baby yet?!" type comments, even though I'm not even 40 weeks yet.

I'm telling you all of this to lead into my post today. First all, it explains why I haven't wanted many pictures taken of me lately. That's why this post is so rare. There are five pictures, and only one of which I took myself! The other four I am actually in. My confinement story also explains why we (the boys and I) have resorted to finding fun things to do around the house that we normally wouldn't care two cents about...like playing in a co-sleeper and taking pictures for fun. I've been trying to find things that keep them busy, are mostly indoors (since between 10am and 6pm it's too hot to let them play in the backyard) and don't require much movement from me (see "pelvic floor" comment above). And thus this post was born!

Yesterday, I set the co-sleeper up! It's been almost two years since this thing was open and attached to my side of the bed. There is a lot of nostalgia for me with this thing since I've used it since Craig was a newborn. All my little boys will have slept in it. If you haven't used or seen these before, I HIGHLY recommend them. I have loved it. There is a 35 lbs. weight limit though, so Ethan (being not even 30 lbs. yet and almost two) can still play in it, but Craig (being closer to 45 lbs. at three) cannot. Seeing Ethan laying inside of it and remembering how big he was the last time he slept in it (three months old) was a "moment" for me.


And then we were just playing around and Robert took a picture of us.


And here's a belly shot of my HUGE belly. By the way, this is what I wear pretty much everyday now--I have a pair of these pants in gray and one in black and three shirts like this one in different colors. You know what they say, if it fits...


And then Craig wanted his turn taking pictures. I like to call this next one "Thumbs with Heads and a Cute Little Boy." We LOVE the upshots.


And then Craig wanted to take one more of just me and Ethan. I came closer to his level this time, though. Ethan is still obsessed with Robert's cell phone, so no smile from him again.

Before and After

I just realized that I haven't posted a set of final before and after pictures of our backyard. The reason is that up until a couple of weeks ago, the back upper sprinkler line hadn't been buried yet. It was still sitting on top of the grass and didn't make for a great picture. Robert and our home teacher were able to get their schedules to coincide long enough for them to get that part finished about two weeks ago. Then Robert had to install the valves and controls for the sprinkler system so now it goes on and off all by itself at 6:00 every morning. It's SO nice not having to run them myself. Plus the grass is all done and watered by the time the kids have eaten breakfast and want to go out and play. Robert also finished building the box around the valve system (not pictured) and getting most of the paving stones laid in around it. Anyway, without further ado, here is the total, final, ultimate result:

Before (ugly, dirty, no good)


After (yay!)


Before (boo!)


After (lovely)