Needing Mommy Advice!

Ok my dear blogger friends... I am in some dire need of some advice or your comments in general! First off, we're getting closer and closer to Reagan being here..... which means I should be getting all of the rest I can, right?! HA! Wrong! I have a terrible cold/sinus infection and have been so busy with Clayton's party... plus the things that I am about to ask you about!

Second time moms... did you notice a big change in braxton hicks contractions between your first and second? With Clayton I barely felt them. I pretty much only had them at the very end of the pregnancy before it was time to go be induced. With Reagan I am already having them and yesterday they became much stronger and more frequent. Not enough to be real contractions, but a definite sign that labor is on the way (who knows when!). I just wonder if it is normal to notice them more your second time, or for them to be stronger your second time.

Ok, now, my second issue is that Clayton has been waking up at night recently. From the time he started sleeping through the night (about 4 months old) until just a week ago he has slept nearly 12 hours a night like a little angel. I had a pampers email sent to me about what he should be doing during this time and it actually talked about how when babies become mobile they start to freak out about their independence and need Mommy/Daddy time in the middle of the night. The past few nights it has been 4am, 5am, and 4:30am. All three times we had to take him downstairs and put him in bed with us. He also took a bottle to go back to sleep which he never does. So, I don't know if it is growth spurt or seriously needing us. Last night, bless my mom's heart, she was trying to take care of him for us and he freaked out worse until I took him downstairs to our room. Could have been the change of routine...

So, anyone have any good advice for me? I'm going crazy! I need sleep! Between contractions, Clayton, the cold, and having to pee, I am going to fall apart! Thanks for the help in advance! ;-)

Almost One!

In 9 days my baby boy will turn a year old. That is INSANE! I can't believe how fast this past year has gone. I don't know if it is the pregnancy hormones or just the feeling of being a mommy, lol, but I am so sad yet happy to see him grow up! Clayton is walking all over the place now. Really the only time he crawls is when he is already sitting and wants to get to another toy... makes sense! ;-) Other than that he is walking around like a pro! He already has a few battle wounds - two bruises right now on his forehead! Oops! Poor baby has been fighting the worst cold since Saturday. Luckily he is feeling better, but is still so dang congested. I wish they made cough syrup for babies!

Everything is just about set for his birthday party next Saturday! My parents are coming in as well as Uncle Adam and his girlfriend Merissa! We'll have a full house and it'll be so much fun! Clayton's party is a music theme and it is very fitting for his personality! Here's his invitation! Darren and I took his pictures and then had a lady on Etsy make the invitation. Then we printed at home and saved a bunch of money! They turned out awesome! I took out our pertinent information, just in case any weirdos find the blog, lol.

In other news I had my first weekly OB appointment on Tuesday! I was dilated almost to a two - hooray!!!! But, he still said I was high and thick, so she's definitely not coming any time in the real near future unless something crazy happens. I'm still thinking - what in the world am I going to do with two babies?! I am thankful that my mom will be here again for a month to help out. THANK GOODNESS FOR MOMMAS! We're excited that Clayton will be in good hands while we're in the hospital with Reagan! My prediction is that she'll be an Easter baby. That would be a week early, so we'll see! My original due date based on calculations was April 10th. Easter is the 8th so that's not too bad! I bought the cutest little onesie just in case!

Can't wait to share all of the details of Clayton's birthday party and his 12th month of life! Oh my! =) And, of course, I'll keep you all updated on Reagan's progress!

Getting closer!

We're in the final countdown! Since I can count on one hand the amount of weeks we have left until Reagan's due date, I have decided this is the final countdown! We are trying to finish up the nursery this week - key word there is TRYING. My wonderful mother-in-law and I have been sewing (ok, I lied, I have been watching her sew) the bedding this week, and we're almost done! Just need some more ribbon to finish off the ties and it'll be good to go! Darren and I finished up some craft projects this weekend and last night, so now we just need to put together some more furniture and get to decorating! Yahoo! I'm really hoping to be finished by this weekend because next weekend I'll be frantically trying to get the house cleaned and ready for Clayton's birthday the following weekend. Holy crap... my baby is going to be ONE! That's another story!

In the haste of trying to plan everything I realized that we were forgetting a key element - having a plan for when I go into labor. For instance, if I go into labor at 3am who will come sleep at our house with Clayton? Or, when would we like Clayton to be brought up to the hospital in the first place? I came up with a great list of if's and just need the responses now. Oops! ;-) At least I made some plans! I got an email from parents.com and it talked about how baby number two comes faster.....


And, of course, the light at the end of the tunnel: second labors tend to be faster -- much faster -- than first ones. Exact numbers are hard to pin down, but Dr. Alvarez says that in his experience labor is about half as long the second time. And though no one likes to think she's lost vaginal muscle tone, you'll be happy to know that it'll help baby slide out that much easier. "Pushing time is much shorter for second-timers -- between 30 minutes and an hour," Dr. Alvarez explains. "Which is why we have a rule here: never turn your back on a woman who's already had a baby or two."

Holy cow! Ok, I labored for 11 hours with Clayton, and that was after being induced. From the time the cytotec was administered to the time he was out... 11 hours. I pushed for 20 minutes. Soooo.... my labor for Reagan would be 4.5 hours and I'll push for even less?! WHOA! I know that my doc did warn me that it will come a lot faster so I need to head to the hospital sooner since we have a 30min drive. It sure would be awesome to only labor for 4.5 hours! haha! Can you imagine?! We'll see I suppose!


In other pregnancy related news I have had a few braxton hicks but they have been while walking, so I don't count them too much. She is definitely out of room and definitely head down though because she pushes on my pubic bone like crazy. Clayton never did that. Sorry for the TMI but it's almost like having the urge to pee, but it's just painful and tingly! lol... Darren won't let me bend down and pick up Clayton anymore, which really I shouldn't have done to begin with. This weekend I tried to do it and really put a strain on my ligaments holding the belly, so that was a big no-no and can't be done anymore. I'm slowly getting to the point where my stomach is so smushed that I don't eat as much at one sitting anymore. Heartburn is still there but only every now and then, not every day. My legs are still cramping and hurting at night, and I get up to pee about 2 or 3 times every night. Oye!

I am ready to meet our baby girl.... but I am sure hoping she stays put until after the 1st of April! =) I'm reeealllly feeling that she'll be an Easter baby for some reason! We'll see! =) 4/8/12 would be a fun birthday!

Eleven Months!

Happy Eleven Month Birthday, Clayton Scott!

You are only one month away now from your FIRST birthday! Mommy cannot believe how big you are and how fast you have grown up! This month you changed even more! You are becoming such a little boy instead of a baby. Oh, and you know that you're growing up! You have a mind of your own and you wish that you could just do whatever you wanted to and go wherever you wanted to go!

Your major development was that you took your first steps on your own this month AND put a bunch of steps together, so basically you were walking! You took at least 10 steps and even turned a bit! When you're not walking on your own then you are walking behind things. You love pushing everything around and walking behind it. Chairs, your walking toys, your stroller, etc! You have great balance and can stand for a long period of time by yourself. You just need to learn that your feet have to move at the same time as your torso! ;-) Sometimes your upper half gets moving faster than your bottom half and so you'll fall down. Mommy thinks this is because you learned to walk behind things like your dinosaur. Since you lean over when you push that then you lean over without it! hehe.. Now you RUN behind your dinosaur or other walking toys. You really know how to move!

We had some really nice days this month so were able to take you outside. You LOVE to be outside. At lot of times you will crawl over to the door and fuss, wanting us to let you out. Poor boy! We bought you a swing that you love and you absolutely love riding in Pop's "voom-voom". On Valentine's day we were in Midland so we took you to your first park to play. You went on the swing and the slide with Daddy and you thought it was pretty darn cool!

You are more vocal then you have ever been. You love to talk to us, in your own language of course, and you now love to scream. You used to just imitate us when we'd yell (in a funny way, not a mean way!), but now you will just scream to get attention or to just plain make noise! You crack us up with how much you "talk" now. Your favorite word is "deedle". Seriously, you say "deedle". It is so funny! Your tongue goes in and out too when you do it. Your other favorite word is "dada" and "hot". You truly understand the meaning of hot, no, bottle, and voom-voom, haha! When you are playing with your cars you say "vroom vroom!!". You started this when Nana was here visiting at the beginning of the month. Mommy didn't believe Nana at first that you knew what it meant! Your other word, "hot", is said whenever you see a heater. We have had to tell you no so many times and that heaters were hot so that you would not burn yourself. So, now whenever you see a heater you say "hot!". It comes out more like just "t".

One of your favorite activities is pushing buttons. You could sit and push the button on your tractor or, unfortunately, on the heater all day! You also love pushing buttons on books that sing and on your keyboard. Mimi got you the coolest keyboard and you love to play it! You also love to play Daddy & Pop's guitars! We have been playing for church nearly every weekend so we get together a lot to practice. Every time we get the guitars out you crawl up to them as fast as you can and start strumming! Mommy bought you your own guitar that came in just the other day and you thought it was too cool! ;-) You're such a musical baby and Mommy LOVES it!

One of your best tricks this month has been giving us a high five. You used to only do it every now and then when you were younger. Now, the second we ask for one you will give us one! It's a lot of fun! You're really starting to understand how things work and cause and effect. You're so smart! You know that one of your toys will pop out the balls if you put them back in, so you sit there and put them back in over and over after they pop out. You also know that when the water starts running in the bathtub that you are about to get a bath! You LOVE bath time so you will crawl over to the tub as fast as you can and want in! You play in the bath for so long!

You're finally starting to sit still long enough for us to read you a book. You love any book that has flaps to open or music to play. You even love the books that have textured pages. Other than the time when you're eating a bottle or reading a book for a short period of time you want DOWN. You are very independent! Now that you are learning how to walk it is only a matter of time before you are into everything and going everywhere!

We are still trying to get you to eat more table foods. You are a picky picky eater!!!! You LOVE grapes and will eat a ton of them, but that's about the only thing that you consistently eat, and eat well. We decided to let you feed yourself one day and you made a huge mess, but you ate a lot more food than you normally do. Maybe you just want to be able to feed yourself! You do like most veggies but surprisingly you hate beans, potatoes, and even some meats. You are still great with your bottle, even though we wish you would drink less bottle and eat more food! You still eat your 7 ounces every 4 hours. One thing that was pretty impressive that you learned this month was that you can drink out of a straw! It's impressive!!

You're currently wearing mostly 12 month clothes. Some of your 9 month pj's still fit and your 9 month onesies fit your body but not your arms. You are only wearing 12 month pants now. When we do put shoes on you (not often at all) we put you in a size 5! Big feet! You're still in a size 3 diaper during the day and a size 4 at night. Mommy needs to weigh you to see how big you're getting! hehe...

Even on your fussy days we still think you are an amazing baby. You are so good and you hardly ever have a bad day. You had a fever for a few days and yet still you were smiling and laughing. We love you so much. We couldn't have asked for a better baby, and we couldn't feel more blessed to have you in our lives. I cannot tell you that enough. We love you so much. You are such a joy.

We can't wait to see what your year milestone will hold. We love you sweet baby! Happy Birthday!

Love,
Mommy