Tag Archives: baby

Annabelle Lyn: 3.25 Years

24 Jun

Annabelle was 3 years old on March 27, so instead of being horribly behind on a 3-year post, I’m choosing to be a little ahead of the game on a 3.25-year post. 😉IMG_8376IMG_7827IMG_7634IMG_7519Size

At Annabelle’s 3-year well-child checkup, she weighed 31 lbs (55%) and was 3′ 1″ tall (39%). She is wearing 3T clothes and size 7 shoes. She is also fully potty trained (more details below), so no more diapers!

Eating

Annabelle’s favorite foods recently have been yogurt, bagels, cheese, bacon, sandwich meat, veggie straws, pretzels, applesauce, and mandarin oranges. Her favorite treats are chocolate, Starburst, and gum.

Whenever she eats something that she is really enjoying, she goes “nom nom nom nom” in rhythm with her chewing.IMG_7805IMG_7819Annabelle typically front-loads her calories each day, in that she eats 27 snacks before lunch, then forces us to fight her for 5 bites of dinner. As long as I make sure her snacks are healthy, and as long as she continues to eat a variety of foods, I don’t really care. She’s growing, she’s healthy. That’s all that matters. I am, however, working with her on not screaming, “Mommmmm!!! I want a snack and a drink!!” every time she wants a snack. Because hearing that for 27 snacks, times 5 requests every 5 seconds for each snack, equals a LOT of screaming and Mommy losing her patience. I tell her that she needs to ask once, in a non-whiny, non-screamy voice, and then wait for Mommy to respond.

There have been a couple of times when Annabelle has asked Travis for a snack and he has asked her to try again (say please) but she doesn’t understand what he’s asking so she just keeps repeating her request in a different way.

“Daddy, I want some cherries!”

“Try again.”

“I want cherries.”

“Try again.”

“Give me some cherries.”

“Try again.”

“Can I have some cherries?”

“Try again.”

She got so frustrated after one of these encounters that she came crying to me. I told her “Annabelle, just say ‘Can I please have some cherries?'” She immediately stopped crying, laughed, and ran back to Travis to ask him again.IMG_7385IMG_7384IMG_7381Sleeping

I mentioned in my last update about Annabelle back in December, we had moved Annabelle back into her own room. She had been sharing a room with Emma, sleeping on a twin mattress on the floor, and we had been lying there with her until she fell asleep. Being in her own room helped Annabelle make progress with falling asleep on her own because we could leave while she was still awake, and she could flip flop around in her bed making as much noise as she wanted, and we didn’t have to worry about her keeping Emma up.

Then two things happened: We got Emma a twin bed for Christmas (freeing up her toddler bed for Annabelle) and we did 10 days of respite care for a little boy at the end of January. We had been planning to leave Annabelle in her own room until Corbin needed his room but instead, we moved Annabelle back into Emma’s room at the end of January.

We quickly discovered that we couldn’t leave the room if both girls were still awake, because even if one was almost asleep, the other would keep talking and get them wound back up. Then they’d both stay awake for another couple of hours tearing their room apart, playing with toys, hiding under the bed, etc.

Travis likes to Divide & Conquer by putting one girl to bed in our room, but I don’t like doing that because momma wants her bed for watching a show before going to sleep. So when I put the girls to bed, I “tick” Emma (run her back, legs, arms, face) first, then while I rock and tick Annabelle, Emma usually falls asleep.

For the past couple of months, we’ve been having Annabelle skip her nap. The problem wasn’t that she was fighting her naps, but that she wouldn’t be sleepy until 9 at night. The first couple weeks with no nap, Annabelle would fall asleep at 5 PM (or earlier if we didn’t keep her moving) so we had to make dinner and get her pajamas on starting at 4:15. But now she’s good until 6 or 7. She usually sleeps through the night and gets up around 6:30 AM.IMG_8616IMG_7803IMG_7693Development

Annabelle is officially potty-trained! Like with Emma, daycare did most of the work. She had been wearing pull-ups to daycare for several months when they suggested she could start wearing underwear because she was doing really well staying dry. So after they suggested it a second time, we started sending her in undies.

Once Annabelle was staying dry in undies, we started trying to be more diligent at home about having her go potty every couple hours. She was all about the potty for a few weeks and then started fighting me on it, so I let it go. A month or so later, she started telling us she had to go potty and she even started pooping on the potty (with very little prompting on our part). So we had her start wearing undies at home too. Now she only wears diapers/pull-ups at night.

She still has occasional accidents (usually because she doesn’t make it to the toilet in time). Her reaction is the cutest — she looks down and covers her eyes in shame. It’s seriously adorable.IMG_7902IMG_8680IMG_7548IMG_7334Annabelle has started to recognize letters (especially letter A since her name starts with it). She has a longer attention span for coloring and actually does pretty well with staying in the lines.

She got a bike with training wheels and has learned how to pedal. She loves riding that around! She also loves swinging on a big-girl swing.

Annabelle is a curious mix of liking to get dirty and play in the mud, and not liking her hands being sticky after eating something messy. She and Emma waded in the river just a month or so after the ice went out, and she walked through the nasty muck to find an abandoned flipflop, but she hates it when Emma splashes her and accidentally sprays her with the garden hose.IMG_8007IMG_8612IMG_8614Annabelle loves to sing and knows the lyrics to several songs, including Rain Rain Go Away, The Itsy Bitsy Spider, ABC, Bingo, Old McDonald, and Jesus Loves Me.

She still loves playing with Emma, and their favorite activities these days almost always involve Barbies and their imaginations. Annabelle also loves her “pink blanket with flowers” and “big purple baby.”

When Annabelle wakes up in the morning, she will often open her bedroom door but then wait for me to come get her. If Travis tries to get her, she hides in the corner and whines for mommy. 🙄

Annabelle loves her baby brother but is often rough with him, and weirdly likes to play with his earlobes.IMG_8620img_8637DBF2132F-911C-4933-932A-112F5F29DCE5img_8323Things Annabelle often says:

  • “I want a snack and a drink.”
  • “I have a runny nose!”
  • “Emma’s not sharing with me!”
  • “Ticky ticky ticky” (complete with butt swagger)
  • “Bye bye poopy butt.”
  • “No, I’m the mom!”
  • “I have to go tee tee.” (potty)

Other things Annabelle likes:

  • Playing hockey
  • Hand sanitizer
  • Sleeping on her stomach, with no blankets
  • Pretending to be the mom of her Barbies or babies
  • Holding my hand, sitting on my lap, being carried around, and cuddling

IMG_6325IMG_6494IMG_7222IMG_6227IMG_0875IMG_6133And that’s Annabelle at 3.25 years!

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Corbin Travis: 3 Months

23 Jun

Corbin is already 3 months old (13 weeks)!

Wow, that went fast. Some people feel sad when the newborn stage is over, but I’m excited that he’s starting to interact with us, play with toys, and coo more. And since he wasn’t an easy newborn, I’m kinda breathing a sigh of relief that the first three months are over!Size

He won’t go back to the doctor until 4 months so no weight or height stats for ya, but Corbin has been in 6-month clothing for at least 3 weeks now. Even 6-month pants mostly fit him. He doesn’t have a bunch of rolls though–he’s just a solid little boy. He’s also in size 3 diapers now too. Size 2 still fits him technically but I’d rather not chance the blowouts (sometimes they even happen in size 3 because he saves up for days and then lets it rip).Eating/Sleeping

Corbin has stretched his awake time out to 75-90 minutes (including feeding time). That gives us a good 30-45 minutes to actually play and interact with him before he needs to nap, which is nice. Generally speaking, he goes to bed between 7 and 9 PM, and wakes up between 4 and 6 AM to nurse. If he wakes up more like 4 AM, he goes right back to sleep for another couple of hours. If he wakes up at 6 AM, he’s usually “up for the day” (aka up for an hour before he needs his first nap).

His naps are usually about an hour long, with the exception of his late afternoon nap, which tends to be 2-3 hours long (from about 3-6). He still goes to bed at the normal time and sleeps through the night, so I guess it works for him!Corbin usually drinks 5-6 ounces from a bottle for a feeding, so I would assume he gets roughly the same amount nursing. He’s been a champ with the bottle (praise Jesus!), and has done really well with the nanny we hired. He is still taking his acid reflux meds. I didn’t give them to him for a day before his 2-month checkup and he seemed to be fussier, so we’re sticking with them for now.He still loves being swaddled, though he’s started to be able to get his hands out once he wakes up. He has been able to find and suck on his hands more too, so maybe we’re nearing the one-arm swaddle? I can’t imagine him giving up the swaddle altogether yet, because he loves it so much. When he’s ready for a nap, he wails like the world is ending. We swaddle him, sometimes give him a pacifier, and 85% of the time, he totally relaxes and is content to be carried around and bounced. Sometimes he’s still a little fussy (having a hard time settling down) but after only about 5 minutes, he starts getting sleepy. It still takes 15-20 minutes to get him to sleep though.

He fell asleep once in my arms unswaddled. The thing that makes him the fussiest is either not getting a good nap or getting woken up from a nap. Then he is a beast! But as long as he gets good naps (whether in the Bjorn or Rock n Play), he’s a pretty happy guy.Development

Corbin seems to be a pretty mellow baby so far. He does smile a fair amount, though not nearly as much as Emma and Annabelle did (though we were told by several people that Emma smiled more than the average baby). Emma and Annabelle were also considerably more vocal than Corbin has been, but maybe I’m remembering them at more like 4 months?

Since Corbin has distinct awake times now beyond just feeding, we can tell that he’s a pretty happy baby overall. His favorite thing is to lay on his back and kick his legs, whether on his playmat or in his bouncy seat. He has also sat in the Bumbo a few times, and seems to like that (we make sure to support his head if it bobs around too much but he has pretty good neck strength). He does not like tummy time though AT ALL. Seriously, 5-10 seconds and he’s done. Oh well.I put Corbin forward-facing in the Baby Bjorn yesterday for the first time and he seemed to really like it! That might start making it more possible for me to be outside with the girls while he’s awake. I also take him on very short stroller rides (to the mailbox and back). That’s usually his limit!

And that’s Corbin at 3 months!

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Corbin Travis: 10 Weeks

3 Jun

Corbin was 10 weeks this past Thursday but just had his 2-month well-child checkup on Friday. (#thirdchild)

Size

Corbin is now 14 lbs 11 oz (87%) and 23.5 inches long (58%), with a head circumference of 16.13 inches (89%). He is 4 pounds bigger than Emma was at this age, and 2 pounds bigger than Annabelle.He is still mostly wearing 3-month clothes, though he does fit into his 6-month summer rompers, and 6-month onesies aren’t crazy big on him.

Corbin is still wearing size 2 diapers but once we use up all the ones we currently have, I think I’ll move him up to size 3.Eating/Sleeping

Corbin is still eating about every 2.5 hours during the day, but has lengthened his long nighttime stretch to 5-8 hours, which is awesome (now if only our girls would stop waking up for various reasons…). Most of the time, Corbin is down for his long stretch somewhere between 7:30 and 8:30 PM, and wakes up to nurse between 3:30 and 5 AM. But he’s still unpredictable so every night is a little different.

Since my last update at 8 weeks, Corbin has mostly decided that naps longer than 45 minutes are overrated (though he napped well for my mother-in-law the days I was working… figures). He often wants to be held for naps, and still LOVES being swaddled. We started swaddling him even in his car seat (with his legs out for the harness)–now he does a LOT better in his car seat.Even though his naps are hit or miss these days, Corbin has thankfully become easier to get to sleep. He’s content to just be swaddled and held, and we can have him outside or rock him in the chair and he’ll eventually drift off to sleep (most of the time).

Corbin unfortunately isn’t always a huge fan of the Baby Bjorn (or even the Moby wrap). He will sometimes tolerate the Bjorn, as long as he has a pacifier or his thumb to suck on. Sometimes he just screams bloody murder until you take him out of it.He really likes sucking on a pacifier about 80% of the time (the other 20% he just pushes it around with his tongue).

Development

Corbin’s favorite thing to do while he’s awake is lay on his playmat, kicking his legs, batting at the toys, and watching the blinking star.

We’ve tried tummy time a few times but he lasts about a minute before screaming his head off, and we’ve had about all the crying we can handle right now, so I’m not going to push it.

He hasn’t started cooing or smiling much more than he had been doing at 8 weeks.

Last week was my first week back at work and Corbin did great for my MIL! We found a nanny for him so hopefully he’ll do well for her too. And that’s Corbin at 10 weeks!

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Corbin Travis: 8 Weeks

18 May

Corbin was 8 weeks old yesterday!

9AA0B00E-F728-40A3-86BF-E79C6CF5D8A3

He will be 2 months next Tuesday, May 22, but his 2-month well-child checkup isn’t until June 1, so I decided to do an 8-week update, and will do another update at the beginning of June (since babies change so fast in so little time!).

Size

Corbin is starting to outgrow his 3-month shirts and sleepers. He has short little legs though, so 3-month pants are still kind of long on him. And he switched to size 2 diapers when he was about 5 weeks old.

5EE3098A-2238-4EB1-9491-8AAD340229F4

Eating & Sleeping

Similar to Emma, Corbin is pretty much all over the place in terms of how long he goes between feedings, and how long he naps for. But in general, he goes 2.5 to 3 hours between feedings during the day and has at least one 4-5 hour stretch at night. The night before Mother’s Day, he slept from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. He knew just what I wanted! A few nights, he has slept so well that after nursing him at 5 a.m., I’ve stayed up to go on a run. What a great way to start the day! (But that doesn’t happen very often yet.)

Corbin can stay awake for about an hour between naps (including the time it takes to nurse) and then he naps for 1.5 to 2 hours, sometimes 3. His fussiest time of day is actually the morning. He’ll nurse between 6 and 7, and then be just generally unhappy. Travis has tried many times at that time of day to get Corbin back to sleep by swaddling and bouncing–unsuccessfully–so we’re conceding that it’d just be easier to put him in the Baby Bjorn in the morning (because he has come around on that, and is usually fairly content in it for at least one nap). I usually nurse him again around 8:30 or 9, and then he’ll take a decent 2-3 hour nap.

Usually he’ll nurse around (give or take an hour) 12 p.m., 3 p.m., 6 p.m., and sometimes when he falls asleep at 7 p.m., he’ll sleep straight through until midnight or 1; other times, he’ll wake up again between 9 and 10 p.m. for another feeding. For some reason, after his nursing session between 4 and 6 a.m., he’ll usually go back to sleep for only about an hour, then he’s up for his morning fussing. Good thing Emma taught us how to go with the flow!24398D94-2AD9-4BAE-B626-F1FE8AD4AC73

After my last post on Corbin, our neighbor offered that we could borrow their Rock ‘n’ Play with built-in vibration, and I think that has been a huge help with getting Corbin to sleep longer. We just leave the vibration on the whole time he’s sleeping and have white noise from a fan in his room. He still loves to be swaddled and bounced (or carried around while I make lunch, get the girls dressed, etc) while held horizontally. He can take or leave the pacifier, but he loves sucking on his hands (which he does often in the Baby Bjorn to soothe himself). He doesn’t like being rocked in a chair and he’s not a huge fan of the baby swing (though he does really enjoy swinging to sleep in the chair swing we have outside!).BE0AEA23-6DDF-4112-AFEC-1EFD2071416266DAE0E8-A7B7-4E25-B45B-FDAE93FF71A2

Also since my last post, we met with a dentist that specializes in treating lip and tongue ties in infants, and found out that Corbin does have mild lip and tongue ties. But because he can still breastfeed without causing me any pain, it’s not necessary, and they can’t guarantee that treating his lip and tongue ties would solve his fussiness/swallowing air/spitting up a ton. So we decided to wait and see if things improve as Corbin gets older before going that route.

We did, however, start Corbin on acid reflux meds just to rule that out as a potential issue. For the first few days of giving him the meds, it didn’t seem to be doing much so I contemplated stopping them (since I don’t *love* the idea of giving him meds in the first place) but over the past week, his fussiness has decreased considerably (though he still hates his carseat unless he’s swaddled in it), his periods of being alert and content have increased (he’s even started cracking some smiles!), and he is overall easier to get to sleep. So for now, we’re going to continue the meds because they just might be working!

Development

Like I mentioned above, Corbin has started smiling. Those moments are just so precious! It’s so fun when you can tell that your baby sees you, and likes you. (My baby likes me!) Corbin has also made a few babbling noises, (baby noises are the best!), and started to enjoy looking at the star on his playmat that blinks and plays music, and batting at the dangling toys (by accident).AB1E08BC-EFFB-4BB1-A2BD-F9ECCDD332C96D61CF01-6B59-4635-9D6F-3D2CB32B03DA

Corbin has also stopped pooping so much–thank goodness! Now he’ll poop every couple of days, but his toots are super smelly! Before we figured out it was just gas, we changed his diaper expecting to see a blowout, but only found little skidmarks.

A few firsts for Corbin in the past week were his first walk in the woods (at 8:14 a.m.), first road trip (to the Cities), first night in a hotel (he didn’t know the difference), and first time at Cabela’s (one of Daddy’s favorite places). And he has finally taken a bottle from Travis! The girls got to help feed him too when Nana was down here the first weekend of May.

DBF2132F-911C-4933-932A-112F5F29DCE51571CFCE-02F6-4DD8-98B7-079B4FF823744A10E3A2-7793-4E0A-9388-0F8B14ECC15CLittle by little, I’m getting the hang of three kids. I’ve become a lot more flexible with where I nurse Corbin (in the hallway during bathtime, outside when the girls are playing in the yard) and also resigned to having him in the baby carrier more often. Some women love wearing their babies; I enjoy it to a point. I also enjoy being able to bend down without squatting, and take a shower every now and then.

And that’s Corbin at 8 weeks!2939D48F-C1C4-474D-A03C-17E86284047D4A4C0C62-6329-4985-A748-185DA89CCA77979D8651-C5C8-4B0A-B7E8-5816A73F2F94

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Pregnancy #3: 6 Weeks Postpartum

10 May

I’ve posted postpartum updates with both of my other pregnancies so why stop now? I’m technically 7 weeks postpartum today but kept this as my 6-week update because it sounds better. Anyway…

Physical Recovery

This pregnancy was my easiest physical recovery by far. The afterpains of uterine shrinking were a b!tch (Tylenol with codeine was a lifesaver) but that was really the only issue. My bleeding was much lighter with this recovery than the first two (though it lasted slightly longer) and I made sure to be diligent about taking a stool softener for about the first month, since I learned the importance of them the hard way after having Annabelle. I didn’t even have the abdominal pain that made it hard to be up walking around after giving birth this time.

Nursing has gone well overall, despite Corbin’s swallowing a lot of air. The fact that he has a weaker latch because of his lip tie means that I haven’t had any nipple discomfort or pain. TBD on whether we do anything about his lip tie. It’s unique in the sense that breastfeeding is going well and he’s gaining weight.

Weight / Body Image

I’m about 5 lbs from my pre-pregnancy weight.

It’s all concentrated in my stomach, but this time I started doing ab exercises at 2 weeks postpartum so I can actually fit into several pairs of pre-pregnancy pants. I did also buy a couple new pairs of jeans though so that I could put my maternity clothes away (and even though the weather is warmer, it’s still jeans weather).

I also bought three nursing shirts from Latched Mama. They are awesome to use, though I have mixed feelings about the fit and fabric. I plan to do a separate post on the nursing tops and bras I bought in the next month or two.

I’ve gone on a handful of runs so far and done some strength training (squats, lunges, pushups) a few times. I’ve been fairly consistent with my ab exercises, only missing a few days (it helps that they only take 5-10 minutes). I’d like to get out biking soon too! It feels good to be active again, and with Corbin starting to sleep longer stretches at night, morning workouts are starting to be a possibility.

Emotional

The first week postpartum was rough. Life just changes so. much. when you’re the mother of a breastfed newborn. The father gets to more or less go back to life as normal (sleep for a full 8 hours, go to work each day) but the nursing mother is now tied to a child 24/7 (even those who use bottles still have to pump). So I was having a hard time with once again staying home full-time and not being able to “accomplish” anything besides caring for children all day. And between nursing and trying to sneak naps in, I was feeling isolated from my husband and girls too. I still feel that way sometimes–I love family time more than anything so when they’re having fun without me because I’m sleeping in or going to bed early, I feel left out and a little lonely. But I know it’s just for this season, and even a little more sleep will help me be a nicer person.

Because I was struggling so much, I re-read the book Loving the Little Years by Rachel Jankovic. I had read it when Emma was a baby but now I have more parenting experience under my belt so I can relate more to what she writes. Her book was the change in perspective I really needed. It’s so easy to let the challenge and mundanity of parenting glamorize other roles and convince me that having ambitions bigger than parenting well is necessary for me to feel fulfilled. This isn’t the first time I’ve struggled with feeling like parenting is preventing me from doing other, more worthwhile things with my life. But Rachel’s book encouraged me to fully embrace parenting as being the absolute best way for me to spend my time, seeing as God has made me a mother three times over.

The recurring theme of my life over the past 8 years or so has been “The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the LORD” (Isaiah 29:19). What that verse means to me is that joy is not found by demanding my life be a certain way, but by embracing the life and circumstances God has allowed. I will never find joy if I am “one foot in, one foot out” in my own life, if even part of my heart is lusting after How Things Should Be or What I Want Instead.

And what I’ve found to be true is that ironically, when I give up dictating what my life should be like, instead of feeling trapped and limited, I find great freedom and abundance. Living within God’s limits on my life brings freedom. Denying or begrudging those limits leads to bitterness and resentment.

These truths have proven to be very helpful and I call them to mind often, especially when I feel like I’m completely in over my head, have absolutely no idea what I’m doing, and fall so far short of the kind of mom I want to be (which is every day). Because parenting well is hard. Frankly, without God, it’s impossible. The last thing I need is a bunch of unrealistic, guilt-producing expectations about What I Should Be Able to Handle and What I Should Be Doing Besides Parenting.

In this season of my life, parenting is all-consuming. That’s ok. God knows that. He sees me in the midst of it. And He empowers me to keep on sacrificing my life and my desires for the good of my family. I have full confidence that I will look back on these years, from old age or heaven, with absolutely no regrets, but instead joy and gratitude to God for strengthening me to persevere. It will all be worth it because Jesus is worth it.

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Corbin Travis: 1 Month

24 Apr

Little man is already a month old! He was 4 weeks last Thursday and 1 month on Sunday 4/22. Some nights are super long but the time has actually gone by fast.

Size

Shortly after he was 2 weeks old, Corbin outgrew his newborn clothes, and is now wearing all 3-month size. He has also been wearing size 1 diapers since we came home from the hospital, and I’m contemplating moving him to size 2 already…

At his 1-month well-child checkup yesterday, he weighed 11 lbs 13 oz (95%!!!), was still around 21 inches long (14%, but they have measured him shrinking since he was born so who knows!?!), and had a head circumference of 15.55 inches (97%).Eating

Corbin has gained 3 pounds on top of his birth weight since he was born, so it’s obvious little man loves to eat! He still eats every 3 hours pretty much around the clock, though he has given me a handful of longer stretches at night.

During one of those longer stretches, I woke up before him, so I got up and pumped, partly to not inundate him with milk after 4 hours, but also so that we could start feeding him a bottle. And he has done great! He’s taken a bottle from my mother-in-law a handful of times now, which is so encouraging, since I’ll be heading back to work in the next month or so.I met with a lactation consultant yesterday because even though Corbin seems to nurse really well and is obviously growing, he is fussy and unhappy often. Almost the only way he’s happy while awake is being tightly swaddled, cradled horizontally in our arms, and jiggled/bounced — and he can tell if you sit down (and doesn’t like it), which makes for some very sore arms and back for whoever is holding him. The lactation consultant observed a partial lip tie and referred us to a dentist in a nearby town who will do a consultation for free, so I think we’ll look into that.

However, starting last night, I started only nursing Corbin on one side for each feeding. That seems to help him be more comfortable and it doesn’t majorly decrease the amount of time he goes between feedings, so I think I’ll stick with that for a while and see if it continues to help, or is just a fluke.

Sleeping

Corbin may be a fussy baby but his one saving grace is that he will let us put him down in the Rock ‘n’ Play once we get him to sleep. We have a vibrating pad that fits in a pocket at the bottom of the Rock ‘n’ Play, and turn that on whenever we’re putting him down — I think it helps the transition. But that vibrating pad burns through 4 AA batteries every week! Still, it’ll probably end up being cheaper than buying a whole new Rock ‘n’ Play with vibration built in.

We’ve tried Corbin in the Baby Bjorn several times — both of our girls loved it, but he does not seem to be a fan. My sister-in-law loaned me a Moby wrap, though, and he seems to like that so there’s that.Similar to Annabelle, Corbin will fall asleep in his carseat on car rides, but wakes up immediately when we try to move the carseat inside. Yesterday, I took a nap in the car with him while the girls played outside in our driveway. It was glorious.

Corbin is starting to be awake for longer periods of time, but still mostly just eats, sleeps and poops. There are times that he has been awake for an hour or more, but only because he’ll be almost asleep and then gets woken up by what appears to be gas pains, and it starts all over again. A few times, I’ve had to wake Travis up in the middle of the night and ask him to take over because Corbin has taken over an hour to get back to sleep, between pooping, burping, and squirming in pain. Poor little guy.We have noticed, however, that one thing that gets Corbin to sleep faster than anything else (once you have him swaddled, cradled, and bouncing) is for him to hear people talking, either in person or on the TV/radio, or even the girls screaming. I had been avoiding watching shows at night out of fear that the noise would stimulate him and keep him awake longer, but it actually has the opposite effect on him. He also seems to like being carried around (swaddled, cradled) while I tidy up and out toys/clothes/dishes away, which is nice because then I can at least stay on top of the housework (for the most part) while holding him.

Development

There’s not a ton to report on development yet, because Corbin still pretty much sleeps all day. He still hates his carseat, but will tolerate it when the car is moving. He doesn’t mind baths, but hates getting his face washed. His hair is as awesome as ever, but he has a little bit of baby dandruff from a flaking scalp (though I expect that to go away in the next couple of weeks).

He hasn’t smiled while awake yet, but he does smile a fair amount in his sleep, which is just the cutest thing ever.I will say that the hardest thing about having a newborn this time around is not the newborn himself, but our other kids. Two kids was a juggling act, and three is even more so. It is very helpful that the girls are as old as they are. Emma can get snacks and drinks for her and Annabelle while I’m nursing (as long as she’s in the mood to be a helper and not a helpee), and Annabelle is about 75% potty trained, so we don’t have to change her diapers/pullups very often.But because the girls are older and capable of more things, they are also harder to wrangle. Emma will take off on a walk through the woods, or climb up a snowbank in her tennis shoes and regular pants, and I can’t race after her because I am holding a baby (and Emma is pretty stubborn/defiant so she doesn’t listen to my pleas or threats). Annabelle is better about sticking in the driveway or yard around the house, but is also more needy in terms of getting her shoes and jacket on, and getting hurt doing stuff she sees Emma doing but can’t quite do herself.

Then there are the dinner and bedtime struggles, and the middle-of-the-night wakings with our other kids that make having a newborn even more challenging. Travis and I have agreed that in general, I will take care of Corbin at night while he will get up with the girls–in the middle of the night if something happens, but mostly in the mornings when they rise at the ungodly hour of 6:30. I’ve usually just gone back to bed around 6 AM after nursing Corbin, so Travis gets up with the girls (and often Corbin too) and lets me sleep until around 8 AM. I relish those extra two hours of sleep, and am severely devastated if/when they don’t happen. But after a cup of coffee and the reminder that God’s mercies are new every morning, I soldier on.

This is just a season. It will get easier. This is just a season. It will get easier.

“It is of the LORD’s mercies that we are not consumed, for his compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness.” (Lamentations 3:22-23)

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Corbin Travis: 2 Weeks

5 Apr

Corbin is already 2 weeks old!Corbin is nursing well. He was discharged from the hospital on Friday 3/23 at 8 lbs 9 oz and when we took him to the doctor the following Monday, he was down to 8 lbs 6 oz. But my milk came in late Sunday so by his follow-up appointment on Thursday, he was up to 8 lbs 10 oz. He had been tested for jaundice on Monday but his level wasn’t high enough to be treated, and since he was gaining weight and having plenty of wet/poopy diapers, his doctor felt he was headed in the right direction.

He eats every 2-3 hours around the clock. During the day, he sleeps like a champ and I sometimes have to wake him up to nurse after it’s been 3 hours. He almost always nurses himself back to sleep but the past couple of days, he’s sometimes alert after nursing so then we let the girls hold him or give him a bath, and then swaddle and rock/bounce him to sleep. He also likes to suck on his thumb. Sometimes he finds himself (by accident), but sometimes we help him. He also seems to like vibration like Annabelle did, but not so much swinging in the swing.We had a couple of rough nights that first week, with him feeding every couple hours and/or being awake and hard to get back to sleep (so I was only getting an hour of sleep here and there) but the last several nights, he’s given me one 3-hour stretch of sleep and gone right back to sleep after nursing.

Corbin is hard to burp so he has a fair amount of random spit up, and seems to struggle with gas pains (he sometimes cries at random intervals). He is also a poop machine!! During our roughest nights, I’d nurse him on one side, change his diaper to wake him up, then while I nursed him on the other side, he’d poop. So I’d change him again and he’d poop again while nursing. And there have been several times when he has peed or pooped all over his outfit in the middle of a diaper change. But I think I’m *finally* getting the hang of changing a boy’s diaper!The girls are enthralled with Corbin and give him loads of affection by patting his head and stroking his face. They love holding him and try to help other ways, but are limited by how young he is and how much he sleeps. (He has to be in his room to get good sleep, because the girls won’t leave him alone if he’s out in the main room with us.)

When Corbin is awake, he loves to look around and seems very content. He only cries when he’s hungry, cold, getting his diaper changed, or being held by the girls when he’s tired. But those things can probably be said about any newborn, and like I said, in just the past couple of days, he’s started being more alert and not just sleeping all the time. So we are just beginning to discover what he’s like!Corbin wasn’t a huge fan of the sponge baths he received before his umbilical cord stump fell off when he was about a week old, but he doesn’t seem to mind a real bath (until he has to get out).

Likes

* Held lying down in arms (vs. upright)

* Nursing

* Being bounced/walked around

* Sucking on his hands or thumb

Dislikes

* Being in his car seat (unless the car is moving)

* Tummy time

* Diaper changes

* Tight swaddles

We’re getting Corbin’s newborn pictures and family pictures taken in a little over a week! I’ll be back with his one-month update in a few weeks.

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Corbin’s Birth Story

28 Mar

Corbin Travis (aka Jellybean) made his debut on Thursday, March 22, four days before his due date. He was 8 lbs 15 oz and 21 inches long with a head circumference of 14.25 inches.IMG_2938 (Large)

IMG_2932 (Large)I went into labor the evening of Wednesday, the 21st. I had actually seen the doctor that morning, who said I was still 3 cm but now 70% thinned — my cervix was doing what it was supposed to, and it could be any day, we just didn’t know which one.

After Travis got off work, he went on a run and showered, then we went to Costco for dinner in the food court (I had a major craving for pizza) and some groceries. My hips and inner thighs were killing me, and I was walking as slow as a grandma.

Bedtime with the girls went as usual and I got to bed around 9:30. I woke up again around 11 from a few strong Braxton Hicks with a lot of downward pressure (which I had been having almost every night), and a small pop similar to when my water had broken with the girls, only this time nothing came out.

About 5 minutes later, though, I had my first real contraction. I laid in bed for a few more contractions, just to make sure they were consistent and that first one hadn’t been a fluke.

It hadn’t been. The contractions were all strong and about 6-7 minutes apart. I got up around 11:45 and moved to the couch to watch some episodes of Modern Family while continuing to time my contractions. I also reviewed my list of stuff to bring to the hospital, put my nursing pillow and the Rock n Play by the door, and retrieved the infant car seat from its storage spot in the garage (and discovered the straps had gotten moldy, so I washed those too).

Around 3 am, the contractions were still coming every 6 minutes and strong enough to require some intentional breathing so I ate a bowl of Cheerios with strawberries and then woke Travis up. “I think it’s time to have a baby,” I said. “Oh goodness,” was his response.

He asked if my water had broken. I told him no, I was just having contractions painful enough to know they were real. So he got up and took a shower while I finished packing my bag, and then I jumped in the shower while he finished packing. After getting dressed, I called my friend Brenda, who had graciously volunteered to be our middle-of-the-night childcare.

She arrived at our house around 3:30 and we got to the hospital around 3:45. Since it was the middle of the night, we had to go through the ER entrance. They immediately asked if we were headed upstairs to the family birth place, and a nurse escorted us up. I totally accepted her offer of a wheelchair so that I could be sitting during any contractions that I had on the way.

I was wheeled right into a room, and the nurse had me change into a hospital gown and then hooked me up to the baby and contraction monitors for 30 minutes. By then, my contractions were more like 2 minutes apart and I was 5 cm dilated. They seemed to take their sweet old time getting everything set up but by 5 am, I had my IV in and was getting my first round of antibiotics (for the Group B Strep), as well as the liter of fluid required to get an epidural.

The contractions were quite painful by that point, and I was panicking just a little at the thought of having to wait a whole hour to get an epidural (that’s how long the liter of fluid takes) so I asked about the possibility of using nitrous oxide in the meantime. My nurse, Kathy, asked the anesthesiologist, who approved it, so they got that going and it definitely helped. At the very least, it gave me something to focus on during that hour besides just the pain of the contractions.

A little after 6 am, my nurse, Kathy, checked me again. I was 6 cm dilated and decided to go ahead with the epidural. The anesthesiologist arrived around 6:15. I was worried about the pain of the epidural but needn’t have been. The numbing medicine was a sharp pinch, but I barely felt the actual epidural being placed. I told Travis later that the most painful part of the whole thing had actually been getting that darn IV put in my arm.

After the anesthesiologist was done, Kathy had me lay down in the bed, tilted to the side, which I have to admit wasn’t the most comfortable position ever because of how heavy my belly was. But overall, the epidural worked perfectly — I could feel the pressure of the contractions but they weren’t painful, and I could still move my legs and feet. They checked me again shortly after the epidural was placed, and I was 8 cm.

A little before 7 am, one of my contractions must’ve pushed Corbin’s foot up into my ribs and it was so painful that I demanded to change positions. So Kathy tilted me the other way, and that helped. At 7 am, there was a shift change and my new nurse, Shawnna, gave me a pillow to prop up my belly, and I was actually fairly comfy that way (though I would’ve preferred to lay on my side instead).

Because I was positive for Group B Strep and my first round of antibiotics had been started at 5 am, they wanted me to wait until at least 9 am to have a baby, because the antibiotics need 4 hours to take effect. So we had a couple of hours to just rest. Travis fell back asleep but even though I was relaxed and was really trying to sleep, I just couldn’t turn my mind off. It was nice to rest anyway.

Around 8:45 am, the on-call doctor, Dr. Senica, came in, introduced himself, and talked about the game plan. He’d come back down around 9:15, break my water, and then we’d have a baby. Shawnna checked me again around 9 am, and I was still at 8 cm because my water still hadn’t broken, so Dr. Senica broke my water around 9:15. By 9:45, I was almost fully dilated, and I was starting to feel pressure by 10 am. Because the pushing stage of labor with the girls only lasted a few contractions, they weren’t planning to have me start pushing until the doctor came back down. Just to be sure, Shawnna had me push a little while Dr. Senica was on his way, and confirmed that yep, we want to wait until he’s here to start pushing.

He got into the room a little after 10, got all set up, told me that we were going to push until the baby’s head came out, clean baby’s nose and mouth with a bulb syringe, then push the body out. When the next contraction came, they told me to go for it, so I took a deep breath, and with three pushes, Corbin’s head was out. A few minutes later, they were ready for me to push again, and his body came out with a huge gush of amniotic fluid. Then Corbin peed all over the doctor while he was clamping off the umbilical cord. 😉

After wiping Corbin off a little bit, they put him on my chest for skin-to-skin. He was covered in vernix and very purple. He cried a little bit right away, but once he was snuggling with me, he was totally content. Too content. It was taking him a little too long to pink up — Shawnna had to keep rubbing his feet to make him cry and exercise his lungs. After 10-15 minutes, they took him over to the warming station and gave him some oxygen to help get his oxygen levels up (they started out at 60, and were up to around 80 by that time, but they wanted them between 85 and 95). Eventually, his oxygen levels got up to desired number, and they brought him back.

Within an hour of birth, Corbin started making motions with his mouth like he wanted to nurse, so I put him to the breast and he did a great job sucking. He nursed for about 45 minutes straight, then wanted nothing to do with it until the next morning because he was so sleepy. When he wasn’t being poked and prodded with needles, oxygen sensors, and stethoscopes, Corbin pretty much slept the whole time we were in the hospital. We were grateful that he was willing to sleep in the bassinet and didn’t need to be held the whole time.

Having a child born in the morning was a new experience for us–both the girls were born at night. About 2 hours after Corbin was born, he got his first bath and the Hep B vaccine and erythromycin eye ointment. The epidural had worn off by then, so I was able to walk to and use the bathroom on my own strength.

I was starving and parched by then (since you can’t eat or drink during an epidural) so we ordered breakfast–french toast for me, eggs and bacon for Travis. And I drank a whole bottle of Gatorade, plus two glasses of apple juice, and a bunch of water.

After eating, we decided to try to get some rest, so we closed the shades and laid down, but I still couldn’t sleep! Ugh, it was so frustrating. I just could not stop thinking about anything and everything.

One of my co-workers came to visit around 3 pm with balloons and gifts for the girls, and a card for us. My boss came to visit around 5 pm. They both stayed about 20 minutes. Travis and I ordered dinner, then around 6:30 pm, Travis’ parents came with the girls. They were very excited to see Corbin, and wanted to hold him for about 5 minutes, then they were interested in checking out the room. Having kids in a hospital room is chaotic. They left around 7:30, with Emma crying because she wanted to stay with us at the hospital, or have us come home with her.

I ate an amazingly delicious sub from Erbert’s and Gerbert’s, then my Bible study ladies came to visit around 8:45. They stayed for about half an hour, then left so that we could get some sleep. I tried to nurse Corbin once more before going to sleep, but he wasn’t interested.

For the first few hours after “going to bed,” I was able to fall asleep but was woken up by intense cramping (afterpains). I paged my night nurse, Jena, and asked for pain meds. She gave me some Tylenol, and then an hour later, some ibuprofen, but even after both of those, the cramping was still really painful, so I asked if I could have anything stronger. The doctor on call approved Tylenol with codeine for me, so sometime between midnight and 2 am, they gave me some of that with a heating pad to place on my belly, and that helped a lot.

After that, the night is a blur but I recorded on our breastfeeding and diaper log that Corbin woke up at 2:45 and nursed for 10 minutes on each side. He nursed again at 6:45 and 9:30. Sometime during the night, Jena took Corbin for his hearing test and baby pictures, and Travis and I were able to get some sleep then too.

A little after 7 am, our day nurse, Katie, came in to let us know that the pediatrician would be coming by soon. I was also starving so I woke Travis up and asked him to order french toast, bacon, eggs, and coffee for breakfast. Since we were trying to leave the hospital before noon and knew that there was a slew of things that needed to get done before then, we decided to just get up. It was sunny that day, so that helped wake us up (the day Corbin was born was cloudy).

After the pediatrician looked Corbin over and gave the green light, I took a shower. Dr. Rice, my OB, popped in a couple times while I was in the shower, but I didn’t actually end up connecting with her (not sure if this was an oversight?). She did write me prescriptions for a breast pump and Tylenol with codeine, though. Then we worked on getting all our stuff packed up and loaded onto a cart.

Right before discharge, Katie did Corbin’s newborn PKU screening and the CCHD test. When the girls arrived with Travis’ parents, we quickly had Katie take some sibling pictures and while they printed those out, Travis and his dad took a load of stuff down to the car.

Finally, it was time to go home! We had always been required to stay for 48 hours in the hospital (I think because my water was broken so long with both girls?) so it was nice to get to go home earlier, and stop being monitored constantly by nurses.

We ate lunch when we got home, then took nice long naps. And the rest I’ll talk about in Corbin’s 1-week update, coming soon! He’ll be a week old tomorrow already! We are in love with our little sweetheart already.

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Pregnancy #3: 39 Weeks

18 Mar

Well, tomorrow I’ll be 39 weeks. I was really hoping baby boy would decide to come early like Annabelle did but no such luck, even with three bouts of false labor trying to suggest otherwise.

The first instance happened on our way back from Eau Claire on March 4 (I’ll talk more about that trip shortly). I had been feeling sick all day, with what I assumed was bad acid reflux. Once we got to around St. Cloud (an hour from home), I started having contractions every 5-10 minutes, and my back was killing me. I texted my friend Brenda to make sure she’d be around to watch the kids in case I got home and it was the real deal, but alas, when I laid down in bed at home, the contractions stopped.

The second was the following Wednesday night. We had gone out to dinner at a restaurant so I once again had fairly bad acid reflux (but it was from my favorite dinner of Tequila Lime Chicken Tacos, so #worthit). I was woken up around 2 am with contractions that were consistently every 8-12 minutes, but they didn’t increase in intensity or pain, so after about an hour, I stopped timing and figured if they were the real deal, I’d find out eventually. They pretty much continued the rest of the night, but when I got up in the morning to take a shower, they stopped. (So annoying!! I tried googling “Does acid reflux cause contractions?” but couldn’t find anything.)

The third time was the following Saturday night. I didn’t have any acid reflux this time, but was woken up by sharp pains on the side of my belly. I got out of bed to see if I could relieve the pain by a change in position, but the pain and cramping continued. I drank 3 glasses of water and tidied up the kitchen counter and downstairs to see if being up would make it go away, but it didn’t. Finally, around 4 am, I woke Travis up and told him to pack a bag just in case. No sooner did he have his bag packed than the pain subsided, and we both went back to bed.

Thankfully, since then, my contractions have been very obviously Braxton Hicks so we haven’t had any more fake-outs (even though some of them produce so much downward pressure that I’m amazed my water hasn’t broken yet!). It’s hard to wait when you keep being taunted!

So our trip to Eau Claire… we left Saturday morning and came back Sunday night. While we were there, we visited my brother, sister-in-law, and niece that was born in December. My dad was there too, and we saw one of my other brothers, sisters-in-law, and niece born in September on our way back through the Cities. The drive out there went well, and the girls had fun seeing their baby cousins. We booked a hotel that had a waterpark, and Emma had a blast swimming and going down the big waterslide. Annabelle, true to form, was more conservative and not so sure about all the splashing and swimming. The waterpark was definitely geared toward bigger kids, like Emma’s age.

My SIL in Eau Claire also threw me a surprise long-distance baby sprinkle by asking friends and family (info provided by Travis) to send gifts during the week of February 26. It was very unexpected but so thoughtful! We received several boxes of diapers and quite a few adorable outfits, plus a few extras like boy blankets, boy towels, baby sunglasses (I die!), and a picture frame. We’re borrowing boy clothes from friends who have 5 boys, but it’s nice to have boy clothes that we can keep, and Travis appreciates getting some hunting-themed ones. I got all the clothes washed and put away this week, and thank you notes written and mailed, so now we’re just waiting for baby boy to make his debut.

Last weekend, Travis took the girls up to Bemidji for our nephew’s Eagle Scout Court of Honor. I had been planning to go, but after the rough drive home from Eau Claire, I decided to stay home. I did our budget, took a long shower and a long nap, and did some shopping. It was a nice day!

OB Appointments

I’m going every week now, and my doctor has done 3 pelvic checks. After my bout of false labor on the way back from Eau Claire, I was dilated 2-3 cm. Jellybean’s head is very low and my waters are bulging. At my most recent appointment, my doctor said that I’m 3 cm and 50% effaced. Progress! With both girls, I was still at 1 cm, even when I checked in to the hospital after my water broke, so I’ll take any forward progress I can get (even if it doesn’t mean I’ll go into labor soon).

I tested positive for Group B Strep again. No surprise there. I’ve also decided that if I get to the hospital and am dilated to 6 or 7 cm, I’m going to try to give birth sans epidural again. But if I’m only 4 or 5 (or still at 3) cm, I’m going with my half-med epidural plan still. We’ll see how things go down, hopefully sooner than later! I’ve been doing some anecdotal research online about timing tendencies with third babies (because that’s what majorly pregnant women who are sooo ready to be done do), and read that the third child can tend to be a wild card, and not follow suit timing-wise. Emma was born on her due date, and Annabelle was born at 38 weeks 2 days, so Jellybean will either be born between them, or late!

Symptoms

Acid reflux has gotten better with the combination of Tums and Zantac (though I am still trying to be more mindful about what I eat for dinner).

I’ve had a little sciatic pain with Jellybean’s head being so low, but overall I’m still feeling pretty good (as long as I’m sitting down, ha!). I have a little bit of swelling in my legs and ankles, but I can still wear my wedding rings so the swelling is less with this pregnancy than with my previous ones. I have a very faint linea negra, and have noticed more stretch marks this time around (boo). Sometimes it feels like the skin on my stomach can literally not stretch any more, so I guess stretch marks are not surprising.

Jellybean still moves around a ton, and when he pivots his head, it’s not a very pleasant feeling (right on top of my bladder and pelvic bone), but it’s reassuring that he’s still healthy and active.

Sleep

My hips are definitely feeling the weight these days. I usually go to bed propped up against 3 big pillows, plus 2 smaller ones (one for head support, the other for lumbar) and sleep that way for the first couple hours. Then I throw the little pillows on the floor and sleep on each side as long as comfortable. Usually somewhere around 4 or 5 am, I get my pillows set back up for sleeping sitting up and stay that way until morning.

The weirdest thing about sleep (and actually about this pregnancy in general) is how sweaty I’ve been. I’m not normally a sweaty person (and wasn’t when pregnant with the girls), but I have been during this pregnancy. Usually in winter, I wear a long-sleeve shirt and pants to bed, but the last couple of weeks, I’ve been wearing either nursing tanks and undies, or nightgowns, to bed, and I still wake up sweaty. I can only imagine how sweaty I’ll be after Jellybean comes. :/

Food & Cravings

Still loving cereal. If it were advisable to eat it for three meals a day, I would (but it’s not). And I’ve been eating more sweets lately (Girl Scout cookies, anyone?)… I’ve also been craving juice–specifically orange juice–but don’t dare drink it because of the acid. I can’t wait to eat cold deli sandwiches like they’re going out of style. (I’ve eaten a few this pregnancy, but am trying to behave.)

Nesting

I’ve been trying to do some cleaning and organizing as I have energy and time. I cleaned both bathrooms, the kitchen (including the oven), and the rest of the windows upstairs that I hadn’t gotten around to cleaning a month or so ago. I’m also wanting to figure out Easter and family picture outfits, but we’ll see. I did buy these adorable shirts from Etsy for the girls and Jellybean to wear in the hospital for sibling pictures (and probably for family pictures too).

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Pregnancy #3: 9 Months

28 Feb

It’s the home stretch, baby! I’m 36.5 weeks along and ready to DO THIS THING!IMG_7166OB Appointments

I’m going every week now. At my appointment this past Tuesday, my doctor verified that Jellybean is head down (yay!) and swabbed me for Group B Strep. Since my labors with Emma and Annabelle were so similar, I’m pretty much expecting the same thing this time around (though who knows, Jellybean could surprise me!): positive for Group B Strep, water breaks in bed, lack of natural contractions leads to Pitocin, labor happens slow and steady (with Emma, my labor was 12 hours; Annabelle, 8). This time, though, if labor is slow (as in, I have time to get pain meds), I’m planning to get an epidural with just half the meds to start — enough to take the edge off but still let me feel what’s happening. I didn’t get an epidural with Annabelle and was so absolutely exhausted by the time she was born, I felt almost delirious. And then to start taking care of a newborn and 2 other kids? :\

Symptoms

I’m still tired but my daily naps really help. My main complaints at this point are just a general feeling of heaviness/whale-like-ness, acid reflux, and Braxton Hicks. Holy cow, the Braxton Hicks. It’s hard to appreciate them when they do nothing in the way of dilation. But my doctor said that Jellybean’s head is low, so maybe I have Braxton Hicks to thank for that (my doctor with Emma said they helped with that). They’re mostly just uncomfortable, but some of them are actually a little painful, and I get them a lot at night, which sometimes limits my sleep positions.

As for acid reflux, I’ve been taking Zantac morning and night, and that has helped some, but not taken care of it. My doctor said I could take Tums at the same time, and I did notice a difference when taking Zantac before dinner, as opposed to afterward (now I just need to remember to do that).

I’ve gained about 25-30 pounds so far.

Clothes

After seeing their ads pop up on Instagram a bunch, I bought a couple of dresses from Wren & Ivory that work now for maternity, and can be worn after baby comes too. So far, I am very impressed with them! The fabric is super soft, they both fit well, and they wash well too. I bought the Liza Floral Faux Wrap in Mauve and the Floral Maxi with a Twist in Raven. IMG_7035I’ve also continued my quest for maternity leggings and ordered these under-the-belly ones from Amazon, and love them. They don’t attract dog hair like magnets, they haven’t pilled at all even after washing, and I can wear them even after baby comes! I’m planning to buy a couple more pairs. I also ordered these maternity leggings but ended up returning them because the top elastic around the belly was a little too thick and tight at this stage of pregnancy, and I’d also rather spend my money on something I can wear even after baby comes.

Food & Cravings

Probably my biggest craving during the last month has been cereal–specifically Honey Bunches of Oats with Strawberries and Honey Nut Cheerios–and glasses of milk (especially when eating PB&J mixed in oatmeal). I’ve also been digging canned mandarin oranges (but I have always loved these), grapes, and blackberries. I just realized during this pregnancy how much I love blackberries. I can polish off a pint on my own in one sitting.

Exercise

I’ve pretty much thrown in the towel at this point. Just picking up the girls’ messes every day is plenty. I’m looking forward to getting back into running outside this spring though, and would love to train for a race, but that depends on how good of a sleeper Jellybean is.

Nesting

As much as I would love to have Jellybean’s nursery perfectly organized and ready for him to make his debut, I know it’s an exercise in futility because of the girls. They get into eve. ry. thing. So we hung a couple things on the wall, bought some diapers that are being stored in the closet, organized baby clothes in the makeshift bookshelf dresser, and are calling it good. #thirdkid

We focused more of our energy on other house projects. We finally finished redoing our master bedroom–only took us 9 months. We bought a bedroom set and painted last July, I replaced our lamps and comforter at Christmastime, and we finally got things hung on the wall and curtains + rod replaced in the past couple of weeks. I’m planning to do a separate post on our bedroom soon.IMG_7173We also made a playhouse for the girls under our stairs. The previous owners left a giant TV behind that was built into the wall. When we got rid of the TV, we had a giant hole to deal with. It stayed like that for oh, about 2 years, until I finally had the idea to just close the hole off with a homemade chalkboard. Easier than sheetrocking (which is our long-term plan, to be done at an unknown time in the future), but better than nothing. We turned the spot they had used for a DVD player and stereo into the kid door (there’s a real door too), added plexiglass to the speaker hole, and added some trim to the outside wall to make it look like a house. We painted the inside bright pink and bright purple (the girls’ choices), added some wall stickers and battery-operated lights from Costco, and three weeks later, voila! A playhouse. IMG_6209IMG_6315IMG_6565IMG_6863IMG_6866IMG_6870IMG_6878And that’s pretty much it for 9 months!

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