An Extraordinary Ordinary Night

Tonight was just one of those nights that I don't ever want to forget.

About a week ago when it looked all but certain that the Cardinals would be playing in the inaugural Wild Card Game, my mom and I were already planning our traditional family Cards game party.  For all the big ones--Opening Day, All Star Game, Playoffs; and all the little ones in between during the season; our tradition is enjoying Cecil Whittakers Pizza and watching the game.  Opening Day is usually celebrated at the restaurant, and we bring it home for the Playoffs because we can get kinda rowdy...make that really rowdy, ha!

Cardinals baseball is such an integral part of our family.  It's kinda hard to explain...it is...and it isn't so much about the actual game.  Everyone shares the same excitement and love for it, and rattling off all sorts of quirky stats and such. 

The best thing about it all, is the memories we make.  Every family has that one special thing.  Ours is Cardinals baseball.

Going into tonight, I knew I wasn't going to be too upset if they lost.  I cared more about spending time with my mom, and the rest of our family.  Just the opportunity to all be together, and to not take for granted the time we have.  The one thing I forgot about, was that my mom had chemotherapy scheduled today.  I knew she had another treatment soon, but couldn't quite remember when.  So when she called to say they would be late getting home due to a longer than normal chemo session, I felt bad for forgetting.  I didn't want her to feel like we had to keep our plans, I wanted her to be able to come home and relax.  But she was adamant about still having our little party, and told us to let ourselves into their house and they'd meet us there.

Her only hesitation was having Maverick see her for the first time with her new hairdo.  In less than a week, it had all pretty much fallen out.  She was so apprehensive about upsetting Mav, and cared so much about HIS feelings, just like the best grandma that she is.

This was just last Saturday, when Mav went over to their house to pick his pumpkin out of my Dad's garden.  He was so excited to bring it inside and show Grandma!

My Mom is the most brave person I know, and today was a huge step in her journey.  She asked my Dad to shave (buzz) her hair since it was falling out so rapidly.  I know that it didn't come without many tears and heartache.  Even though she knew this day would come, and that it's just a temporary side effect of the medicine, it's incredibly difficult as a woman to lose your hair.

When my mom walked into the house, Mav kinda took a second glance but didn't seem too concerned.  He went right back to playing with his Hotwheels.  A few minutes later, he stood up and went over to her and stared for a little bit longer. 

And then he said, "Grandma fix her hair?"
My mom replied, "Yeah, I fixed my hair."
Mav, "Grandma use the buzzers?"
Mom, "Yep, Grandma used the buzzers.  Do you like it?"
Mav, "Yes!"

And that was that.  Mav and Grandma played with his dump trucks and cars again.  It completely melted my heart.  I was so blessed by how relieved my mom felt, and so blessed by my son's natural ability to look past appearances.

Shortly thereafter my Mom asked if I could take her picture and post it on Facebook.  I think she was just really ready to get the big reveal out of the way--it was important for her and dealing with the enormity of it all.  I am so proud of her!!!  Love you so much Momma! 

The rest of the night we spent on pins and needles watching the most crazy, crazy, playoff game ever.  (My Dad is still arguing that it was NOT a playoff game.  He refuses to accept the new Wild Card system, ha!)  Mav was having an awesome time watching all the adults in his life yell at the tv, haha!  He also had SO much fun playing with Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunt Robyn.  His little cheeks were pink from all the excitement.

I'm not one to think that sports games are all that important to God.  At least, not in the way that we'd hope while we're pleading for our team to win in the most desperate moment.  But I do know that God loves us in an incredible way, and that He cares about the things we care about.  Like I said, I knew tonight would be great even if the Cards lost.  An evening full of amazing family memories.  But maybe...just maybe...God helped us out a little bit more than the Braves on behalf of my mommy. ;) 

30 weeks and 5 days

Let's just round up to 31, ok? Haha! That would mean I'm in the last week of my 7th month, with a little over 9 weeks to go, agh!!! Who am I kidding...I'm pretty sure I won't make it to 40. At least going by my first pregnancy experience. With Mav I was put on bed rest for 6 weeks before my due date because of early dilation, and he chose to arrive a week early. Crazy though--if I go 1 day overdue, Sawyer and Maverick will have the same birthday!

I really don't want to get addicted to using mobile devices for photos, since the quality isn't that great and I have an awesome camera. But I thought trying to take a belly picture today with Robbie's iPad would be fun.  (Old news if you are friends with me on Facebook, haha!)

The official last draft of "things to do before the baby is born" is posted to the refrigerator.  The goal is to have everything checked off by November 1st, just to be on the safe side.  The list is mostly little things like washing the carseat cover, setting up the bassinet in our room, packing hospital bags, etc.  I'd also really like to premake and freeze some meals, just so that fast food isn't always on the menu the first couple of weeks.

I went to the doctor this past Tuesday, and the little guy's heartbeat was joyful, as always, to listen to.  It was in the 140s-low 150s range.  He is still head down, and I hope it stays that way!  He kicks my rib cage constantly, so I'll know if he turns, ha!  My doc was late for my appointment because she was delivering another patient--so exciting!  Pretty soon it will be our turn. :)

We have an ultrasound scheduled in a couple weeks, and I'm so excited to see how much Sawyer has grown!  It's been a long time since our last one.  I was spoiled with Mav because I was going twice a week for an ultrasound & NST the last 2 months of that pregnancy due to the early dilatation and gestational diabetes.

At almost 31 weeks, these are the big things:

--Leg cramps...UGH!  Specifically my calves.  I get the most intensely painful charlie horses during the night, and the muscles are still sore the next day.  I've been loading up on bananas, staying hydrated, stretching the muscles, etc.  I've noticed that they are the worst if I'm sleeping on my back, so I prop pillows to keep my laying on my side.

--Heartburn.  The other day it was an apple that kept it lingering.  An apple!!!

--Fatigue.  Gone is the energy of the 2 trimester for sure.  I find myself nodding off the most random times of the day.  Preparation for those feedings through the night!

--Lots of baby movement!  I was keeping myself and my coworkers entertained during a really boring meeting the other day by placing things on my tummy and watching him move them around.  Haven't really noticed a definite sleep/awake pattern yet. 

--Itchy, itchy skin.  My skin is sooooo dry.  I keep gallons of lotion handy for my hands, legs, and tummy.  My poor tummy has been so itchy from dryness and stretch marks that it actually bleeds sometimes.  Eeek!

--I know this is horrible, but I'm already looking forward to losing weight.  I say it's horrible because I don't want to rush it.  I love the incredible feeling of having this life inside me, and I'm so very blessed.  But at the same time...I miss my clothes.  I'm ready to not feel like a balloon in an over sized t-shirt.

With all that said, more than anything I'm SO anxious to meet our little boy!!!!  I can't wait to see what he looks like.  Will he look like Mav?  Will he look completely different?  Is he going to have lots of hair, or none at all?  How big (or little) will he be? 

We can't wait to meet you little Sawyer!!!

The past few weeks or so...

This is looking like it's going to be a long post, so go grab your favorite beverage and a comfy seat, haha!  That's what happens I guess when you slack on blogging.  Oh well.  :)

Like everything that is this blog, this post is no different.  Just a bunch of mundane...yet big stuff...that I want to have help remembering someday.  It's one of my favorite ways to record family memories.

Maverick had his first Parents As Teachers visit of the new school year last week, and we officially started Sawyer too!  PAT does provide prenatal counseling, so it was fun to do that in our visit as well.  For Mav, we set our goals for the new school year, and reflected on the ones we set for last year.  This year we set 2 goals: fully potty trained and sharing toys.  Pretty big things for an almost 3 year old, ha!  He is a pretty good share-er, but there's always room for improvement.

Mrs. Sally (named changed) brought with her this little animal hospital.  All the doors were a different color, and the only way to unlock them was to use the corresponding color key.  Only my son would hold up the wrong key color--on purpose--and laugh about trying to use the wrong key to open the door.  He'd say, "Nooooooh, wrong one!"  Eventually the lure of the little animals inside was too irresistible, and he would use the right key.  Oh man...every teacher's dream student, haha!

This little guy is something else I tell ya.  But my wonderful little guy. :)  (He wanted to use his giant crayon that is a piggy bank to color with, ha!)

On the potty front, I think we've finally cornered a big twist.  He's been great about getting on (and going) when asked.  But he's never vocalized when he feels like he needs to get changed...which leads to vocalizing when he feels the need to go potty.  So, so, so many times I'd leave his diaper off and it wouldn't phase him in the slightest when he wet himself.  Until now!  When he goes #2, he tells us right away that he wants to get changed.  Progress! 

I know I'm setting an unrealistic expectation, but I want to focus hardcore on potty training during my maternity leave.  It will be the only large chunk of time that I will be at home all day to keep things consistent.  Let's hope it goes well!

It would be awesome if he could learn to potty train as fast as he learned to navigate the internet.  Yep.  That's right--the internet.  Scary, huh?!  Haha!  One afternoon I went on the Thomas and Friends website.  Mav was next to me and asked to play one of the games.  I was like, "Sure!  You don't know how to use a mouse...so go for it!"

Not only did he teach himself how to correctly click with the mouse, but also to use the arrow keys simultaneously to play a game.  Ummm, okay?!  10 minutes later he figured out how to navigate the entire website, and could choose different games to play.  Yeah...um, yeah.  And Thomas' website leads to pbskids.org.  So he can navigate that site too.  Crazy, crazy!

The other day I just happened to snap a few pictures of Mav napping, and I'm so glad I did since it ended up being one of the last times he slept in his crib/toddler bed.

Also, on what ended up being his last night in that bed, he was having a rough night and I ended up laying next to him on the floor for most of the night.  That is way out of the norm, but I think he was having nightmares.  Just kind of a heart warming memory to have. :)

One of the last huge pieces of things-to-do-before-the-baby-is-born, was to move Mav into a bigger bed so we could convert his bed back into the crib.  We've been shopping around for weeks, but never found anything in our price range that was also what we wanted.  Until yesterday!!  We found an awesome twin mattress (way too comfy for a toddler, ha!) for a great price.  We're just doing a twin mattress on the floor to start, and then add a frame later.

Even though we plan on the baby sleeping next to our bed for the first few months, we didn't want to make the switch after he arrives.  That way Mav doesn't feel like his bed was stolen, haha.  So not only was Mav SUPER excited about his new bed, he helped us take his old bed into the baby's room without us asking.

I distracted Mav long enough for Robbie to bring the mattress into his room.  Then I said, "Mav, your big boy bed is here! Today is the day!"  (we've been talking to him about it for a while)  This was his reaction:

Mav was jumping with excitement while daddy cut off all the plastic.

I kid you not, this was the first thing he did when it was time to test it out.  So precious! ;)

And then--the most important test: it's trampoline ability, ha!

I have to admit, I got teary eyed.  My sweet little baby is now sleeping on a twin mattress!  Oh my gosh time flies...  It's a good thing we have another baby on the way to fill the crib, haha!  I don't know what I'm going to do when Sawyer gets too big for the crib/toddler bed.  Probably make him sleep in it until he breaks. :)

Later on we all went together to buy some sheets and a new pillow.  Mav didn't really care two cents about which color or design of sheets.  He was more interested in playing hide & seek in the aisle.  His friends Carolina and Elizabeth taught him how to play the other night at Aunt Jo & Uncle Jon's new place, and ever since that's all he wants to play.

Now the task of rearranging his room and going through that giant toy box.  A lot of his baby toys are on the bottom, so those will eventually make their way to Sawyer's room. 

Okay, last thing on the updated blog agenda: progress on Sawyer's room!  This has been quite the process.  Mostly because we were storing a ton of junk in there.  And it's only taken the excitement of a new baby to motivate us to go through it all, and organize our storage.  Not only have we organized that room--but also our basement!!!  Miracles do happen!

Here's what his room looked like to begin with (no judgemental eyes please, lol!).  Actually, this was after we had already removed some stuff...

View of the other side of the room.  The book shelves are still there, I have no idea how I'm gonna organize all of those.  It's a mix of all my favorite books from my childhood (my parents saved them, woo hoo!) and children's books I get all the time from work.  The library in the elementary school I work in goes through their inventory twice a year, and staff gets first pick before they donate the rest.  It's SOO dangerous for me, ha!

This is how it has looked for a few weeks.  Not too terrible, but still some work.  Also, as we took stuff out of the room--we brought in baby storage. :)  I washed & folded all my newborn-6 month clothing, and put it in the closet.  Loved, loved, LOVED that part!

The closet is (for the most part) is actually cleaned out!!  Except my wedding dress.  Still figuring that one out.  But now we can put the baby clothes in there.  That itty, bitty camo jacket hanging up was Mav's first jacket. :)

This is what his room looks like today!!  Still need to move a few things in there, and add little details...but for the most part...ready for a baby!

Maverick did climb in the crib...but he was only wanting to bounce on it like a trampoline.  He keeps saying it's a baby bed for Sawyer and that he has a big boy bed.  Let's hope he doesn't try to bounce on it while Sawyer is laying in there! ;)

I'm officially 29 weeks today.  Not too much longer, which is still just so unfathomable to me!  I'm going to have 2 sons!

27 weeks today

With the 3rd trimester coming next week, I just wanted to spend a short moment writing little things down to remember about this pregnancy.  Little things that make it so special, but are easy to forget down the road.

--Weight gain overall: about 11 or 12 pounds.  At my last appointment my doctor mentioned that I had only gained 1 pound last month, so she wanted to see it start going up.  Enjoying the sound of that, because I know it will be the last time to hear that from a doctor!

--It's funny that my doctor said that I need to start gaining weight on pace, because I feel huuuuuuge.  Like, my tummy skin hurts.  And I have no idea how it's going to hold up for roughly 13 more weeks!  I slather all sorts of lotions on it all day and that seems to help.

--Also funny: that random strangers think I'm going to give birth any moment.  Their jaws drop when I tell them I'm not due until November.  The end of November. 

--I think I'm just going to start wearing a shirt that says my due date so I can avoid the awkward conversation.

--Sawyer has been moving like crazy, crazy, crazy!  It's fun to just sit and watch my stomach move all by itself.  Kinda creepy...but fun.  I like to set the remote control or the iPad on my tummy and watch him move it around.  Again, since I feel like my skin is going to burst any moment it's a little painful.

--Two words: LEG CRAMPS!  It's like clockwork to have them wake me up in the middle of the night.  To make them stop I have to get out of bed and do calve stretches.  Ouch.

--Increasing hip/pelvic pain.  Should only get worse from here, haha. 

--Everytime I stand up, I feel like I need to go potty.  Baby is sure running out of room in there!

--Speaking of standing up, it is increasingly difficult to do so, ha! Especially from sitting on the floor. :)

--Food!!!  I've definitely hit the 1st breakfast, 2nd breakfast, 1st lunch, 2nd lunch, 1st dinner, and 2nd dinner schedule. (fans of "The Office" should hopefully get that)

--When I wake up in the middle of the night with a leg cramp, I'm ever so tempted to go eat something.  It seems like I'm always hungry.

--Cravings/favorite foods: Mexican!  Hmmm...and steak.  And pasta.  And coffee.

--Huge praise to the Lord: I do NOT have gestational diabetes!!!!!  In so, so, so many ways I'm thankful.  God knew that I would need one less thing to be concerned with right now.

--Now that delivery day is on the horizon, I'm starting to feel a little apprehensive.  I keep praying for a safe delivery.  I'm just a little freaked out because of what happened with Mav.  He was stuck in the birth canal for a while, and they were trying just about everything to get him out.  Thankfully, just before they were going to use the vacuum, he made it out.  But he was in distress.  It seemed like an eternity before I heard him cry.  And the fetal heart specialist had to rush in.  One of the scariest moments of my life.  Thankfully he recovered well and didn't have to go to the NICU or anything.  Praying that Sawyer makes a lot less dramatic (and faster) appearance.

--Totally still aren't no where near ready for the baby to arrive.  I think at this point with Mav, we had the nursery set up and were pretty much ready to go.  Not only do we still need to get Mav a bigger bed so we can convert his bed back into the crib for the baby, but the room that we had cleaned out for the nursery has accumulated some stuff again.  All the baby clothes are still in the basement.  Agh!  Good thing we have the pack 'n play...

In short, life has come to a screeching halt this past week.  I feel like I can't blog about it yet.  It's just too much in too many ways.  Taking each moment as it comes, as it is all I (and my family) can do right now.  In all, I continually seek God for refuge.  I am so thankful for my parents and what they have instilled in me, and how much I see Christ in them during this trial.

Just as a short update for those who may not know, and who can join us in prayer: my Mom has been diagnosed with advanced angiosarcoma.  It is a very rare, and aggressive cancer.  Less than 1% of all cancer patients have been diagnosed with this type.  Please pray for my family during this difficult time.

Praising God in the highs and lows...we want Him to be glorified.     

Our Baby's Name

When we found out Baby #2 was another boy, we were stumped for a name.  We thought for sure it was a girl, so we didn't even bother having a boy name ready.  The name we've always wanted for a potential daughter is Ruby Mae.  I'm so sad that we (probably) won't ever use this name since we aren't planning on having any more children.  I guess I'll always have it in my heart. :)

With all of that said, we are SO very excited to be having another boy!!!  I can't even begin to describe all the time I spend imagining how life is going to be with 2 sons, I feel so blessed.  Thus began the journey of naming our second son.  The biggest factor--we had to find a name that is just as awesome as the name Maverick.  Like, we couldn't go with something super traditional like Peter or Matthew.  No offense to those names, they just aren't our flavor of tea.

So without further ado, our son's name is:

Each time we thumbed through a baby name list, our rough draft ended up with different picks.  Eventually the two front runners were Rollins and Ace, which we really liked.  But even then...those did not feel right.

So one evening I was sitting on the couch with Robbie's iPad and I googled "Bad Ass Boy Names".  Not that we want and/or are looking for either one of our sons to be a super bad ass, ha ha!  We were just trying to find a name that had some "oomph" to it.  Strong, yet humble.  Kinda like Captain America.  (I guess we should have gone with Steve Rogers)...

The first link I clicked on gave me a list of names, and almost immediately I knew I had found it.  Robbie was sitting next to me and I said, "What about the name Sawyer?"

His expression lightened and with a smile he said, "Yeah, I'm really liking that. Sawyer. Yep. That's it.  What does it mean?"

We looked it up together and there were a few meanings, "Hard worker" was the most popular; "One who works with wood/carpentry" was next; and "Slightly mischievous--as in Tom Sawyer" was also up there.  Perfect!

Just like Maverick, we wanted the middle name to have a personal connection.  Maverick's middle name is William--for my Dad and Robbie's Papa (even though technically he is Billy Joe).  Also, just in case either Maverick or Sawyer absolutely hates their first name--they have something they might fall back on.  Both my mom and my mom's mom did that, ha!  Although, I will always call them Maverick and Sawyer...because I'm their mother and they can't do anything about it! ;)

For Sawyer's middle name, we chose Nathan--after one of Robbie's best friends.  Nathan B is the nicest guy in the world (ever), and such a genuine, wonderful friend.  The name Nathan means "God given" and also "Magnanimous" which means "of noble mind and heart, very forgiving".

So that's it, and so perfect.  Those are our boys.  Maverick and Sawyer.  :)

Maverick can't quite say his brother's name correctly yet, so he calls him baby Doyer.  Love!  For Sawyer's nickname, we are going with "Sy".  Not sure yet if we are going to spell it "Sy" or "Cy".  But you get the idea. :)

Oh one more thing, officially Sawyer's due date has been moved from November 18th to the 25th...so maybe we'll have another Thanksgiving baby.  Can't wait to meet our little guy!  Thanks for sharing this exciting journey with us! 

24 weeks!

Today I am 24 weeks, woo hoo!  I took an updated picture to compare it to when I was about 24-25 weeks with Maverick....agh!  Not only do I feel bigger this time around, it definitely looks like it.  Yikes!  Funny though--with both pregnancies I started out the same weight and have gained about the same at this point.  I guess (from what I've read) it is true that your muscles are all stretched out from having "been there and done that".

Here I am about 24-25 weeks with Maverick:

And here I am at 24 weeks with Little Brother:

It is so exciting to feel the baby move all the time, and with gusto!  I have an anterior placenta (it's in the front instead of along the spine) which made it hard to feel him early on.  He looooooves to kick my ribs all the time, and I'm pretty sure I felt hiccups the other day.  It's fun to have other people feel him now, too.

All the aches and pains seem to have hit sooner than last time.  I remember being almost 9 months with Mav and not even feeling that awful.  I was almost in tears the other night because I was in sooooo much pain.  I thought for sure the top of my stomach, right at the top of my ribs, was going to rip open from all the pressure of my growing insides.  Sitting down is more painful than standing, and laying down is the best.  I feel like this baby is carrying higher than Mav, and I've got the new stretch marks to prove it, haha!

I go a week from Tuesday for my glucose test...and I'm not holding my breath about passing.  I actually don't feel any of the symptoms like I did with Mav, I just assume since I had GD once I'll get it again.  Thankfully I didn't have to do insulin or anything last time, just diet control.  So if history repeats itself, it shouldn't be too bad to do again.

It's so exciting to think that in about 16 weeks we will be having another baby!!!  I know it most likely won't happen, but I would love to go a few days over my due date and have another Thanksgiving baby.  This year it falls on Nov 22, and my EDD is Nov 18.  Of course I'm sure at that point the thought of going over due would be torture, ha!

I know every pregnancy is different, but I can't help comparing...and I don't think I'll even come close to being over due.  Maverick was due December 1st, and he decided to come November 26th.  I vividly remember going to sit down on the couch to wait for Robbie to get ready for our day of errands, when my water broke.  That was Wednesday the 25th, and Maverick finally arrived early the next morning. :)

Speaking of Maverick, how about a cute picture or two?

Mav is just the awesomest little boy.  I am so blessed to be his mommy.  Every day he does or says something new and it is so fun to watch.  He is becoming such a little person (I guess babies do that?!). 

He loves to spell, and trace letters.  He knows where all his favorite cars come from (Ferraris come from Italy, Mercedes come from Germany, etc).  We've started working on State capitals since he has the States down...but he's a little confused as to why California is also called Sacramento. :)

Mav is starting to understand more and more about his baby brother.  Today was the first time ever that he came up to me and touched my belly to talk about the baby--all on his own free will, ha!

I think (and pray!) that my boys will be best friends and great brothers.  I know that may take until they are grown up and past the fighting-about-everything stage.  Hopefully it won't take that long and they'll be great friends from the start. ;)



Late Afternoon Ramblings

Today started out as a wonderful Sunday, except it all came crashing down when we picked up Mav from his classroom at church today.  His teacher told us that he was having trouble with hitting, and even had to sit him aside for doing it repeatedly.  Talk about a downer!!  Robbie said as soon as he made eye contact with Mav, he put his head down.
Having worked with preschoolers for a living (longer than I've been a mom), I knew this day was coming...but yet it still makes me SO sad!  I know my child is far from perfect, and this is a normal part of child development.  But it just stings when it's your own kid.  At least for me, anyways.

He's hit a few times at home, but it's never been a consistent problem.  As soon as he does it, one of us gets eye-level with him and says in a very stern voice, "Hitting is NOT okay.  We do NOT use our hands for hitting."  And if he does it again (which is the typical "I'm testing my limits" thing) he gets whatever he is doing taken away and put in time-out.

Mav doesn't really understand when he gets put in time-out for 2 minutes...but if his toy (or whatever he is doing) gets taken away--that's when he knows he's in trouble.  Interesting how every kid is different!

Anyways, with all that said I think we're maybe seeing some acting out from all the new baby talk, too.  We have been reading books about bringing home a new baby and talking about little brother all the time.  Mav loves to give my tummy a hug and talks about little brother too.  However, we are expecting some behavior changes...after all...his little world is getting rocked! :)

Right now Mav is being super clingy to me.  He only wants mommy to give him his food or milk; only wants mommy to cuddle with him at bedtime, etc.  Poor Robbie gets discouraged sometimes, but I just reassure him it's just a phase and that I think he's already sensing a big change coming.

We'll get through it.  It's just a short season of life. :)

Thanks for letting me ramble a bit!