Bradley's Birth Story

 

After about a week and a half of contractions and a couple doctors appointments, my scheduled c-section day came. I thought a few times I would go into labor, but in the end I'm glad I didn't because that would have been very complicated. I would have had to go to a different hospital than I delivered at (a twenty minute commute each way instead of a 3 minute commute), may not have had my doctor do the c-section, and would have had an emergency c-section instead of the easy, calm, scheduled one. 

We showed up to the hospital at 10 am (that was killer to not be able to eat for 12+ hours). After getting all checked in to admitting, we went to a nice big delivery room and hung out for a while. 

 After a blood draw, IV insertion (which took 2 tries by one assistant nurse and 1 try by the most awesome L&D nurse), and one nasty anti-nausea drink, I was ready to go to delivery.

My amazing doctor and her practice partner did the c-section. Everything went smoothly. Bradley weighed 8 lbs 5 ounces and was 20.5 inches long. After I was all stitched back up, they moved me from the operating table to a bed, handed Bradley to me, and wheeled us back to the room. As soon as we got back to the room, the nurse put Bradley skin-to-skin with me on my chest and he started nursing within a few minutes.

 After nursing for a while and some bonding time just cuddling my sweet new boy, the nurse came back in to bathe him on this little incubator table in the room. I loved how he was never more than 10 feet away from me the first day.

My mom brought Jake up after his nap to meet Bradley. He was so sweet and curious. He has been the best big brother I could hope for. He's two and a half, so he's not a perfect angel every day, but he has been better than I thought he would be adjusting to a new baby.

We just love our sweet new boy. After a few hours, we were moved to the room we stayed in for the rest of our time in the hospital.

I really loved my nurses at the hospital. They were all so sweet and incredibly helpful and accommodating. We were a bit delayed in leaving the hospital because we were waiting for the discharge nurse and she took FOREVER.  

We were so happy to get home after our little less than 48 hours in the hospital. Jake was ready to have us home too. 

We love having TWO boys now. They are both just perfect.

A lot has happened... (Jake edition)

...Since the last time I blogged. Things are just so busy all the time that I never seem to be able to find the time/motivation to blog. So here are some big things that have been going on the past few months:

Jake

Turned two. We took a trip to Houston for the weekend. First we visited the flight museum in Galveston. He LOVES airplanes.

 And I'm pretty sure he loves cars just as much as airplanes. So, we had a Cars cake to celebrate.

 He loved the cake, but was not so keen on us singing "Happy Birthday" to him.

 Here's a picture of Jake from 1 day old to 1 year old to 2 years old. My little boy is getting so big. He is no longer a baby. He is very much a toddler, tantrums and all, but he loves having fun, running around, and talking non-stop. It's crazy how much he grows up every day. I love my little man.

Started joy school with 3 other kids his age from our ward. He loves "school" days. As moms, we alternate Tuesday mornings where one of us has all 4 kiddos for two hours. We do a craft/activity, snack, and playtime. The kids love it and it's good for them to be in a social situation with other kids their age. Here's Jake on his first day:

He loves it. He keeps asking me if he can ride the school bus. Can you tell vehicles are an obsession of his?

Tantrums and time-outs. Jake is definitely two. We have had many tantrums, time-outs, and sleep refusal. Its a little crazy how quickly/easily a toddler goes from 0 to crazy. Most days we have at least one instance of this:

 and this:

but all of these moments make up for it. He is such a sweet, smart boy.

 A few other little tidbits about Jake:

• he loves to "help" sweep, vacuum, put away dishes, cook, feed the cats, etc. We are definitely in a monkey see, monkey do stage.
• he pretends to go "night-night" but doesn't actually like to go to sleep these days. But, if its during play time, he's all about pretending. 
• he loves books. I catch him "reading" to himself. 
• he loves animals. He wants to give our kitties hugs all the time, gets excited any time we see a dog walking outside, will make animal noises to himself when he's playing, etc. He's all about the animals. We should really buy a Ft. Worth Zoo pass for this year, but haven't gotten around to it yet. We also have a Cabela's about 5 minutes away and will go up there after nap time on yucky or too hot days to look at the fish, African Wildlife display, the waterfall with all kinds of animals, and the wild game room. He loves it. 

I've got more to update on in our lives, but right now I must go to the gym. Gotta keep this baby healthy and strong!

Menu Planner

Now that my freezer and pantry are organized and I know what all I have on hand, it has made me want to menu plan my butt off. I downloaded this awesome app for my iPhone called Menu Planner.

image from iTunes

I utilized this tonight on my weekly Walmart price match shopping trip. I was able to put my list in with prices and know what to expect for my grocery budget. I also was able to put our dinner list in so I know exactly what I'm making for the week and can prepare ahead of time. Love this app and I will use it every day.

Organization Post 2: The Pantry

I organized the pantry last night. It was getting out of control and I love the way it turned out. The only thing that I would change at this point is trading out the lazy susan the cans are on for one of those can dispensers.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Everything is categorized, labeled, and easy to find. Now I just need a bigger pantry!

Aquarium

Today we went as a family to check out the Sealife Aquarium in Grapevine. It was smaller than I expected, but it was fun. Jake LOVES fish, so he was in heaven. Here are some pictures of our day.

 

 Jake was nervous to walk onto the see-through floor, but loved it once we were on it.

 inside an over-head kid-sized tank

 Jake was amazed at the 360 tank. We stayed in there for a long time. 

And a little play place to finish off the aquarium. It was a good day.