Chore Boy

The time has come for Jackson to get his first chore. He currently knows how to clean up after himself, pick up toys, put his shoes in the closet, etc. However, these tasks are not chores but rather responsibilities he has. Ben & I have been discussing having J start feeding the dog, but we had yet to institute it as a new rule. We want to instill in Jackson that as a member of our family, he has the responsibility to contribute.

So after catching Jackson yet again sifting through Bella's dog food, I figured there was no better time than the present to train Him on his new chore. The novelty of the whole thing was quite exciting for J but I'm sure it'll wear off sooner than later.

So as of this Wednesday, Jackson is now a contributing member of this family.









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Party Animals

Bebe came down on Wednesday and since her birthday is right around the corner, I decided we'd throw her a surprise "party". (I use the term "party" loosely, as it was really just us, but as my friend Sally says, if you put a fancy label on an ordinary activity, it instantly makes it special. So true!)

I talked it up all week to Jackson, and he & I baked a super special bday cake on Thursday evening. After dinner, we played with balloons, sang Happy Birthday, blew out candles & ate cake. He was so excited and it's awesome to see things through the eyes of a child.










Today, we decided to take the boys to the Greenville Zoo. We haven't been in several months and despite the heat, we knew Jackson would enjoy going back. He had a blast, and little Weston was an angel & slept almost the entire time.













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From 0 to 10 in 5.5 hours...

To commemorate my due date of August 30, I decided it was time to document my labor story before the details start to blurr.  Its hard to believe it was only 2 weeks ago that I had my sweet little angel.  What a blessing these past 2 weeks have been!  We are so in love with Weston and can't remember life without him. 

So I've been know to pop out babies pretty quickly -- Jackson was here in 6 hours of mild labor & 2 pushes.  Weston was not much different and I was not prepared for an even quicker labor & delivery.

I had an intuition that I may go into labor that Wednesday, August 17....or that at my 38 weeks OB appointment that day, my doctor would check me and send me on to the hospital.  Don't ask, it was just a feeling.  Enough of a feeling to put my hospital bags in the car & go ahead and install the infant carseat....

It all started when I woke up around 3am on August 17 with major back pain.  I was hoping to go into labor prior to my August 30 due date so any signs of labor were quite welcome.  I hopped in a warm bath but the back pain didn't go away and I was also having some "cramps" (I was in denial it was actual contractions).  After about an hour & a half, I decided I maybe should start timing my "cramps" just in case it was true labor, plus it was a great excuse to use this new contraction monitoring app I got for my iPad.  Well, after about 30 minutes of timing them, I realized that I better wake of Ben because they were 4 to 5 minutes apart and getting stronger.  It was around 5am, and we called our parents to alert them, then called our close friend Lovee (Jackson's "Greenville Grandmother") to come over to stay with Jackson.  I took a leisurely shower, shaved my legs, dried my hair for the first time in 3 months, ate a banana and took a few pictures of us leaving the house.

By the time we arrived at St. Francis, things were going downhill fast.  It was 6:30 am and my contractions were about 3 minutes apart (thanks iPad) and my chattiness was quickly replaced with bitchiness.  And of course, they had to put me in a triage room to "make sure" I was in labor before they could completely admit me.  4 centimeters & 100% effaced confirmed it.  By the time I was in the labor & delivery suite and hooked up to the contraction monitor & IV, I was miserable.  As in screaming-so-loud-that-it-looks-like-a-movie-scene miserable.  As in worst-pain-of-my-life miserable. 

The anesthesiologist mosied on in around 7:45 and gave me an epidural that did not work.  Apparently, I was progressing so quickly that the meds could not "catch up", whatever that means.  I got partially numb on my right side but could still feel my contractions and my left side was not numb at all.  As in I'm-being-stabbed-in-my-kidney not numb.  And not only did the epidural not take but the doctor was not there yet either so I had to not push for about 10 minutes.  And the only thing worse than pushing is not pushing.

The doctor finally made his way into our room around 8:10 and decided to give me a "topical" since my epidural didn't work.  I told them that a cream was not going to improve my condition -- to me, "topical" means neosporin.  Well, apparently "topical" in the OB world means a 6" long needle and a Robitussin-sized bottle of something.  All I know is that he stuck that needle somewhere and I didn't feel any "topical" pain after that...contractions, yes, "topical", no.

Regardless, I was finally given the thumbs up to push, which I did through approximately 4 contractions.  The baby was eager to be born and I was very fortunate to be spared a brutal final phase of delivery.  I'm not sure who exactly called the gender, but all I remember is that I could clearly see that our baby was a boy by the way the doctor had him dangled upside down over my stomach.  I was not as surprised as I expected to be -- deep down, I had a gut feeling it was a boy.  The anticipation of the big reveal was amazing for the past 9 months, but the actual moment of truth was somewhat of a letdown for me.  Not because I was not thrilled to have a healthy baby boy, but because my level of pain overshadowed the surprise factor.  It was so caught up in the absolutely awful pain that I didn't get to enjoy the last few hours of anticipation.

All in all, I am very thankful the labor was super quick, but I do know that next time we have a baby I will head to the hospital at the first inkling of labor . And yes, there will be a next time....gotta try for baby girl one more time.  As far as finding out the gender, we are still talking through whether or not we'll wait.

We survived!

So today was my first day riding solo with both boys (it still sounds funny to use plurals)! Things were awesome and we had a great day.

Its all about being organized! I had quite the agenda planned, heading to buy a much needed double stroller then heading over to my friend Julie's for a playdate. After nursing Weston at 7:30, I hopped in the shower while he dozed back off and I had the chance to dress, eat, pack J a lunch & load the car before he woke up again. I got Weston settled in his carrier before waking Jackson up (at 9:15 I might add), dressing then feeding him. We were out the door by 9:45 and not the least bit rushed.
I bought the stroller then spent the morning catching up with Julie while we watched Jackson & Slade run around the yard playing in the water & making mudpies in the inflatable kiddie pool. Sweet Weston dozed in his carrier, waking for the occasional snack. After lunch and a much needed bath for the big boys, we headed back home and I had an entire hour & a half of me-time while both babies were napping. Shortly after nap time commenced, Ben got home.

I am by no means an expert, and I honestly think the good Lord just blessed me with a peaceful day, but I do think a few things were key.

1. Preparation. Sunday night, I stocked both diaper bags, packed our swim bag with fresh towels and a change of clothes and packed J's lunch. Before the babies even got up Monday morning, I loaded all 4 bags (yes, four) in my car so all I had left to put in the car were the kiddos.

2. Rise & Shine! In my pre-Weston days, J & I would both sleep in until 9 or 9:30 on a regular basis. Total bliss. However, juggling a nursing newborn and a hungry toddler while groggy does not sound like fun to me so I decided to join the ranks of 99% of moms and get my lazy butt out of bed. It was awesome to shower, eat breakfast and check my email in peace. It's just amazing how a calm start sets the tone for the entire day!

3. Strategic timing. I learned quickly that it's easiest to get one baby settled at a time, rather than managing two potential meltdowns. I let Weston's nursing schedule dictate our timing, but once he got good & settled, I focused on Jackson. Each boy got undivided attention and I was able to quickly move through our morning must-do's such as teeth brushing, dressing & hair combing without having to do it with only one arm or having to block out screaming in the background.

Tomorrow will be the true test...as Jackson has to be at preschool at 9am. Wish us luck!

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So far so good...

Ten days into being a mommy to two, I must confess this is going much better than I expected. Jackson has been amazing and is transitioning really well. Weston is nursing like a champ & is sleeping 20 out of 24 hours a day. I'm getting adequate sleep (so far) and i've been spared of having to do any real cooking. Plus, it's been a blessing to have so much help from family. And from the sweet big bro.



Weston had his first newborn check-up on Monday and he was already back to his birth weight of 7lb 8oz. He got an excellent bill of health from our pediatrician and we don't have to go back until his 1month well visit! We had his first outing last Sunday, when he & I made a run to Target. Minus a mid-store meltdown & near diaper blowout, it was a success. Since then, we've been to pickup Jackson from preschool, to the library, the grocery, mall & pool. And no, baby didn't swim, we watched Big Brother & Daddy. We finally took Weston to Dillard Farms for ice cream last week. He slept through this outing but it wont be long & he'll be well aware what ice cream is.






Jackson started back preschool last week. He goes Tuesdays & Thursdays and not only does he love school & truly thrive being around other children, having structure and learning new things, I also cherish the time it gives me alone with Weston. I know most of my "free time" will be consumed with running errands that are easier to accomplish with one child in tow, but I also plan to be intentional about spending quality alone time with Weston, just hanging out. Th biggest challenge will be getting everyone up, dressed & fed and to school by 9am...when our typical day doesn't start until 9am usually, due to my late sleeping toddler.
Bebe & Oma were in charge of getting Jackson ready for his first day of school.









Ben's been off work since last Wednesday so we've had 12 days of tag-team parenting. We've enjoyed evening walks with friends, spontaneous get-togethers and a trip here and there to the pool. Monday is going to be a reality check for me. I'm praying for a peaceful day of staggered meals and simultaneous naps, cooler weather and happy kids.


My neighbor Kim & her baby Carson, who was born 8 days before Weston.



BFFs already! Same size and similar hair color.

Tomorrow, we plan to take Weston to his first church service then come home and spend the day relaxing.

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From scrap wood to a playset...

As I mentioned in a previous post, Jackson was gifted with a play set for his birthday from Nanny & Poppy. While we were grateful for this new addition to our yard-o-fun, we were a little weary of the amount of time & expense it would take to "polish this turd" as Ben calls it. And with less than 3 weeks before New Baby makes his/her debut, he's tripled the pace in attempts to appease me & my "it better be done by the time this baby is born" deadline.
The original wood arrived in the form of bee-infested cedar, closely resembling a stack of broken down pallets.



After 2 weeks of killing hundreds if bees that had planted roots in our cedar, we invested in expensive bug killer & enough wood filler to plug over 100 holes.
Next was the pressure washing, which culminated in purchasing a new pressure washer as our current one had issues that were not worth fixing. So add 2 weeks of pressure washing to the schedule, and then realizing that despite the e washing, the wood really ought to be sanded as well. After all, no one wants to get splinters!

So sanding commenced. An extremely timely project when you are using a 5" orbital sander and have an entire stack of lumber to work through. Enter in power tool purchase #2 -- the belt sander. While this little guy helps speed up the pace, he also roughens up the boards enough so that you have to go back over them with the orbital. Double Duty, that's right. After 3weeks of constant sanding, Ben finally wrapped it up early this week and I must say, the wood looks amazing. The finishing he did on it to round the corner and completely smooth out the boards truly paid off.



Now on to the staining. Ben got a slight head start on staining on Monday night and had 2 teenage guys from church come over today to help finish it up. It's amazing how much time you save by hiring a few extra sets of hands. With me having back pain and some mild contractions, Ben's sense of urgency has increased, for good reason! That piece of the project is knocked out and now, all that is left is assembly!

Saturday morning, J & I headed to the pool so Ben could have some uninterrupted play set construction time. In typical form, he had to do some minor repairs to his air compressor before work could even begin. I spent the afternoon keeping J from peeking out the back windows so we could surprise him with something substantial before bedtime. It was worth the wait...just before 9 pm, we took J out back for a "really big surprise" and he went nuts going up the ladder & down the slide until we decided it was too dark to keep playing.







Today after church, Ben hit the backyard to finish up this project. He managed to get the heavy roofing panels attached to the platform, creating a fort. He installed the awesome picnic benches under the fort and Jackson & Bella have already shared some snacks in their new hangout.







Monday & Tuesday nights rolled around & Ben tightened up some bolts & righted the A-Frame of the swing beam. However, the legs of the beam were too long and create a slanted swing beam. So 3 options: 1) raise up bracketed end of beam (difficult), 2) cut off the legs of the A-Frame to level it up, or 3) bury 6" of the legs to lower it, making it level. I think we are going with the third option but that may be a few weeks from now, seeing as the set functions perfectly as-is and we are pretty much dying for a few days of relaxation prior to New Baby's arrival.



All in all, the play set looks amazing & we can already tell we will get many many hours of pure fun our of this piece of work. We plan to put a cost on what it took to get it from point A to point B...our preliminary estimates are around $500.  The question is...how much is Ben's time worth?


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It's a....!!! (Preview for Mama Sal)

At Sally's gentle reminder, I've decided to update the blog with pictures of our new little BOY!

Weston Michael Talbert was born on August 17 at 8:30 am. Our angel was 7lb 8oz & 21" long. Everyone is healthy & happy and we are thankful for a full-term baby! His birth story to come but here's some photos for now.




Our sweet family of 4! Bella & I are out-numbered!



My sweet baby boy...


And his Daddy...



My friend Kristin had her baby, Ian, 3 hours before Weston was born and is my labor neighbor --staying 5 doors down! How cool that these two share a birthday?



Bebe & PopPaw and their grandsons.



Poppy & Nanny...



Oma came all the way from Georgia!



And last but not least, St. Francis' model patient...labor is hard work!



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