Reid Douglas Fenton - Birth Story

I'm not pregnant anymore!!!! Huzzah! Hurray! Caloo, callay! :D

And wow, it's been a while since I wrote a blog. Heh. I do have a very cute excuse as to why I haven't been able to tinker on the computer much, though.... but you can see that cute excuse later. For now, I am going to subject you to a grueling, engrossing (as in, will hold your attention and make you feel gross) birth story. Bwa ha ha!

I started writing this a few days after Reid was born, and didn't finish it until today, so I'm not guaranteeing a perfectly cohesive and coherent story. Read it anyway. No complaining, either.Or the gnomes will get you.

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It was the day before Reid was born, and I was feeling more tired and run down than usual. It was a Sunday, but I didn’t feel up to going to church, especially since we were planning on going to Uncle Bernard’s Birthday party later on. We went to the party, and on the way there Ty stopped for gas, reasoning that if I went into labour it would be better to have a full tank than be running on empty in case we needed to rush to the Hospital. He’s a planner. 

We stayed at the party for a little while, and then went home, and I changed into comfy pajamas and spent the rest of the afternoon trying to relax and watch TV. I was uncomfortable, but I had been feeling more and more uncomfortable for weeks so I didn’t think anything was out of the ordinary.  I had never experienced a natural labour before, I was induced with Deklan so I wasn’t sure what to expect, whether my water would break suddenly or I would start having contractions closer and closer together (I had been having very strong Braxton-Hicks contractions almost all of my pregnancy beginning at 10 weeks, and there were a couple times in the last few weeks of this pregnancy that I had thought it was real labour, only to realize after they diminished and went away that “no”, it wasn’t time yet).  I was starting to feel depressed, like I was going to be pregnant forever. It had been a long, long, rough pregnancy, and I was very ready for the end of it.

I went to bed that night not expecting anything to happen. I was convinced that I would be going overdue, because Deklan was only 4 days early and he was absolutely covered in vernix. Based on that, I figured I was just one of those women who cook their babies a little longer than average, and with a new resolve to be patient and trust that baby would come when baby was ready, I fell asleep. 

It was 3:00 a.m. when a particularly strong contraction roused me from sleep. I stayed in bed for fifteen minutes, trying to rest, but in that time I had three contractions, each five minutes apart. I thought perhaps I just needed some water or a spoonful of cal-mag, so I got up and went downstairs. I was also hungry, so I had a couple yogurt cups and then sat down at my desk to check my email. The contractions kept coming, as I browsed a couple websites and posted a poem I liked to facebook. It was a little before 4:00 a.m. when I posted it, and I smiled and thought "Well, Adeena & Heather will know I'm in labour."

I went back upstairs and crawled into bed, and waited another fifteen minutes before I decided it was time to wake Ty up. I poked his shoulder and said "Ty, wake up... I think I'm in labour." 

My Ty is not easy to wake up, and if you do manage to get him to open his eyes he usually falls back asleep instantaneously. This time, he sat right up in bed, and said "Are you sure?" 

Was I sure?? "No, I'm not suuuure... but I've been awake since 3:00 and I've been having contractions every 5 minutes since then, oh here's another one...." 

Ty got up and shut his alarm clock off so it wouldn't scream at us, and then headed to Deklan's room because the commotion woke the little guy up. They went downstairs and Ty turned Sportscentre on, while I scratched my chin and wondered whether I should call Susan (my midwife) or not.

I followed the guys downstairs, doubting myself as to whether I should call and wake Susan up, when a very strong contraction hit. That settled it, so I picked up the phone and called my midwife. She sounded very sleepy, but said she would come out right away. *Okay, guess this is happening then...* I called my Mom to let her know, and she asked if Linda could come to, to which I said "Okey dokey" (or something like that). Then Ty called his Mom.

The damage was done... people were called, woken from their peaceful dreams, the sleepyheads were out of bed.... I thought "I better be in labour!" Nothing would be worse than to call people at 4:00 a.m., have them come to my house in the wee ungodly hours of the morning, then have them say "No you're not in labour after all! Goodbye forever!" Worst thing ever. Ugh.

Deklan fell back to sleep (thanks to Daddy's cuddles and rocking in the big comfy chair) so Ty took him back up to bed, and then Ty helped me tidy up the house (Yes, really... I am that insane) and put a load of laundry on.

This will probably make some of you blush, but oh well! Susan checked my cervix to see how dilated I was, and I was already 5 centimetres! For the noobs among you, that's halfway. 

I was like "Rock on! Actually in labour! Yes! And already 5 centimetres! Double yes!"

I was feeling pretty good overall, the contractions were painful (to be expected) but they were pretty far apart so I was able to rest in between them and gather my strength.

The morning went on, and my labour stayed pretty constant, the contractions were long and strong but stayed an average of 4 minutes apart. I was able to eat and drink without tossing it all back up (yay!) unlike my labour with Deklan, so that was a plus. 

I had an exercise ball to sit on, and I pretty much spent 80% of the time sitting on it, bouncing and rocking, having a bit of fun. Because even when you're in labour, it's fun to bounce on a big bouncy ball. It was even pink! Which is awesome. 

I tried to watch a movie that I borrowed from my Dad, "Star Trek", but my Mother-in-law and my sister were too chatty and I couldn't hear any stinking thing of the dialogue! The pretty colours and lasers going "pew pew" were okay, but I didn't know what the heck was going on. So I gave up on watching the movie after a while. 

Tyler and I had the spare bed set up in our living room, a short walk away from our downstairs bathroom, and when I got tired of the ball I laid on the bed for a while, then I got into the shower and laboured for a while in the shower... water is nice. Very nice. I highly recommend water for soothing you through a contraction, oh pregnant and soon to be labouring ladies of the world.

This is the part of the story that kinda gets boring, my labour started to drag a bit, it didn't really seem like the contractions were doing much. Susan suggested that maybe it was time to break my water, and I said "Sure" because I was starting to get bored of being in labour. 

After my water was broken, the contractions got more painful. It wasn't as fun. I stayed in the bathroom more, away from people, because although I wanted my Mom and Ty's Mom there, I didn't want them there every second. I didn't want anyone there every second, except for Ty. Everyone was really super amazing about giving me my space, I didn't even have to ask! Ty's Mom just stayed on the couch with her knitting, Linda played with Deklan and kept him busy for me, and my Mom and the midwives mostly hung out in my kitchen. Ty stayed with me, sat with me and comforted me after every contraction. 

Finally (finally) I was fully dilated and ready to start pushing, my Mom drove Deklan to Adeena's house so he wouldn't have to see Mommy in too much pain. Susan told me I was ready to push, and I thought "Okay..."

....BUT...

I had no urge to push. It just wasn't there. With Deklan, my body started pushing before I even knew I was fully dilated. This time, nothing. Nada. Not a wick of sensation telling me that the baby was there ready to come out. 

I pushed, or tried to push, but it wasn't working. It didn't feel right. It also did nothing. I tried different birthing positions, squatting, sitting, laying down, but nothing worked.

I was starting to get a little desperate, and I got into the bath to try to relax. I pushed in the bath for a while, with no success. I was really tired, and I said to Ty "I don't know if I can do this much longer!" I didn't know how much time had passed, but it was about 2 hours of pushing, with nothing to show for it.

My midwife suggested I get out of the bath and get on my hands and knees on the bed, with my head touching the bed and my butt high in the air. (Yes, I said butt. I do have one.) I said "Okay", really I was ready to try anything to get the baby out. 

I stayed there for I'm not sure how long, maybe 15 minutes, I pushed through a few contractions, and then HALLELUJAH I felt the urge to push! It was working! 

I laid on my side, Tyler was beside me holding my hand, and I buried my face in his shoulder because it was better than facing the pain. It was a very ouchie, ouchie pain. I think I said "Owie owie owie ow!" more than once, because DAMN. It hurt. 

Everyone was saying encouraging things, some of it I heard, most of it was like "Wuh wuh wuh wuh" a trombone sound, probably because I didn't have much blood going to my brain, my body was diverting it to other areas that needed it more (although I think brains need blood too, body!) I did hear "Baby's almost here! Couple more pushes!" and I thought "So close!!!!" and that gave me the boost I needed.  Couple more pushes, extreme amount of burning pain, then I felt the baby's head come out! I didn't need to consciously push after that, my body did the rest and I heard my baby cry for the first time, at 3:06 p.m. 12 hours of labour, same as my first.

Actually, "cry" doesn't really describe it. It was more like a scream, a wild scream. He (a boy! I totally knew it, too) was a very unhappy baby! And it was no wonder, he had terrible bruises on the top of his poor little head, from being in a bad position when I was pushing on him.... for two hours.

They put him on my chest right away, and I had tears in my eyes as I held him, tears of relief as well as joy. I held him and hugged him and told him it was okay, and suddenly my pain was gone, because he was here and he was safe and healthy and I had him in my arms. Pain? What pain!

Someone asked what his name was, and I looked at Ty.... "Reid?" Ty nodded, and that was it. "Reid Douglas!" 

He was such a big boy... 9 lbs 5 oz, 21 & 1/2 inches long. And chubby! So chubby. I had my skinny boy Deklan, 7 lbs 2 oz and 19 & 3/4 inches, and now I had my chubby boy, Reid. :)

He nursed for the first time in his first half hour of life, and he nursed like a boss I tell you! Latched on with no trouble, nursed for ten minutes straight. He was hungry after all that screaming. 

I don't remember who held him first after me, I think it was Ty, then after that I completely lost track. I was busy doing other things (like pushing out the afterbirth.... and then getting some stitches, ugh). 

I had a herbal bath, and Reid came into the water with me. I held his tiny hands against his chest so he would feel secure, and let his body float in the warm bath, and he relaxed and let his feet float. He was so beautiful and big, his skin was so soft and he was so perfect... I fell in love with him all over again.  I loved him when he was in my womb, but I didn't know it was him. It was fun to be able to hug and love my second-born son and call him by name instead of saying "baby".

Adeena brought Deklan home, and he came in to see the baby. Tyler and I said "This is our baby! He came out! See? His name is Reid!" It was awesome. :D

We got out of the bath and got dressed, and while we were in the bath the elves had been at work tearing the messy sheets off the bed and putting clean ones on it, they moved the bed against the wall so I could lay down and watch TV, and someone had made me a snack of cheese and crackers and a glass of chocolate almond milk. I got into bed and got comfy while the others held my baby and oohed and aahed over him, then they gave him back to me to nurse again (like a BOSS I tell you, he nursed so well!). Deklan had some cuddle with Mommy time, while Daddy held the baby, and we had a family picture taken. 

Adeena held the baby, both Granny & Grandma held him again, and Auntie Linda, then one by one they all packed up and left. 

Deklan, Ty, Reid and I all settled down to rest. I laid on the bed with Reid, and Tyler had Deklan in his big comfy chair. We watched sports together, a football game and a hockey game, before Ty took Deklan upstairs to bed and Reid and I stayed downstairs on the single bed in the living room. I had strict orders from my midwife to feed the baby every 2 hours, get a drink for myself every 2 hours, and go to the bathroom every 2 hours. So Ty put everything I needed, a jug of water and a glass, diapers, wipes, tylenol and cal-mag on our little washstand and set it by my bed within my reach, then he kissed me and Reid goodnight and went to bed. We were all exhausted. 

I did follow the midwife's orders, mostly... I think the longest stretch of sleep I had that night was 3 hours. But still, pretty good... especially since I didn't have an alarm clock. 

And that's it, the end of the birth story. Hope you enjoyed it, and hope you suffered through the squeamish parts. 

To Reid Douglas Fenton: Momma loves you. You were worth it. All of it. The long, long months of awful pregnancy symptoms, the posterior (extremely painful) birth, yes... you were worth it. Remember that when you're all grown up and annoyed with me 90% of the time. I'll still love you forever. (And probably enjoy annoying you... because I'm evil like that. XD) 

Kisses and hugs, 

Love, Mommy

(To all you other people: I'll post pictures later. Right now I have to go feed my very fat, yet somehow very hungry 4 week old baby.)

The calm before the storm

Waiting? Yeaaah, I'm not a huge fan of it. There are things that are worth waiting for, so I do, but it's so much better once the wait is over!

Currently I'm waiting for my baby to decide it's time to come out. I'm okay with waiting a little while longer, because seriously how cool would it be to be able to fill out forms with the birthdate "11/11/11"??? But I don't want to wait too much longer to be able to hold this little person in my arms, and smell them (yes, smell.. I love new baby smell) and see them and touch their little hands and feet and toesies and legs and back and all!  Oooh I forgot fingers! Teeny tiny little fingers...


I also want to know what this baby IS already. Boy or girl?? I don't know! I have a feeling, and I want to know whether I'm right or not! Enough of referring to the baby as "the baby" or "it". 


Deklan is also getting tired of waiting. He comes up to me, pats my belly and says "Out. Out." and I have to say "Not yet, the baby isn't ready to come out yet. Soon! Not now. Soon!" And then he gives me the stankface like it's MY fault the baby isn't here RIGHT NOW. Toddlers.... sigh.


There are some things I should get ready before the baby gets here, like getting my home birth kit together (kinda helpful to have that ready before I go into labour... heeyuk heeyuk) and moving the single bed downstairs to the living room... I did wash the newborn clothes today, BOTH sets, just gotta fold them and oooh and aah over their extreme cuteness for a while, then I'm ready! Oh I should wash some receiving blankets... OkAy, so I'm not completely ready!! Big deal. I am really quite ready. If I go into labour tonight I can throw a bunch of blankets in the wash and have them ready by the time the midwives get here. So there.


I guess I should enjoy this time of rest before the baby comes, it's just hard to rest! Especially when you don't have any books in the house to read. I should raid my sister's book collections, that might make me happier between now and whenever the baby decides to make their appearance...


I've just given myself a great idea! Linda, prepare to have your bookshelves raided! Tomorrow. If I come. Which I probably will. But maybe not. Mwahahaha! Suspense!

  

I dislike alarm clocks.

I think I've said before on this blog (somewhere, sometime) that I hate alarm clocks. The screeching sound of an alarm clock is the worst sound ever, ever, ever.

Before I started my sick leave, the alarm clock wouldn't even wake me up, probably because Tyler and I worked at the same place and I knew he was going to jump out of bed and shut it off. Honestly, I didn't even hear it. Now that I'm done work, for some reason the alarm wakes me up, and since I'm hugely pregnant I have major problems getting back to sleep. Mostly because I have to wee wee when I wake up, and that involves getting out of a nice warm bed and walking to the bathroom, sitting on a cold toilet seat (darn you cold fall temperatures!) and then climbing back into a slightly less warm bed, alone, because the husband is downstairs getting his coffee made and going to work. Poopy.

That's what happened to me this morning, and to make it worse, I was hungry when I woke up. I can usually warm up after getting back into bed, because we have nice snuggly blankets, but I can't eat my pillow or the tissues beside my bed. I probably could eat the tissues, because they are small and fragile, but it would be gross and thinking about it is making me want to gag. 


So, I came downstairs, got the fire going again and got some cereal, and now I'm going to go tidy up my kitchen and living room and wait for Deklan to wake up. Yes, he's still sleeping peacefully.... he's going to wake up full of energy, and I'll be a half asleep zombie mommy... at least I can still get him some breakfast (pouring yogurt into a bowl doesn't require me to have both eyes open at the same time) and turn the TV on for him.  Ugh, I hate TV. But I love it too. Stupid electronic babysitter of wonderfulness with a side of evil.

Apple Butter!

I rarely eat apple butter. By rarely, I mean once every 6 years. It's just not something that I pick up and put in the grocery cart when I'm shopping. This year, however, I had a big bushel (read: laundry basket... someday I'd like to get a real bushel to put apples in) full of apples from our tree to either do something with or let rot, and I hate seeing food go to waste.... I had to do something.  

I didn't think I had enough apples to get a decent amount of applesauce, so I wanted to try my hand at apple butter.  I canned applesauce with my Mom when I was younger, so I knew (generally) how to do that, but making apple butter was new to me. 

Since I am so very pregnant, my very lovely sister Linda came to help me make it! Due to an unforeseen alarm clock malfunction, she didn't get to my house until basically lunchtime, so we didn't start making the apple butter until 2:00-ish (girls gotta eat!!) so it wasn't actually finished the day she was there.... because, as it turns out, apple butter takes a heckahecka long time to make! 

It didn't help that I kept on boobing everything up, leaving lids on the pots (FYI, you're supposed to cook the apple butter with the lids OFF the pots so the steam can escape... who knew? Not me! Deena did, and props to her for sharing her apple-butter-making secrets with me!) and being all pregnant and having to sit and put my feet up and take snack breaks and tea breaks and supper breaks. 

Anyway, we started the process by washing the apples and cutting out their hairy butts and stems. Apple butter is actually way easier than applesauce to prepare, because you just cut up the apples, peels & cores & all, and throw the pieces in a pot with an itty bitty amount of water, cook them until they're soft and then grind them through the masher thingy to get the appley goodness separated from the pulpy crap. Then, you add spices (I added cinnamon and nutmeg, but not cloves because cloves are gross) and put it on the stove and cook it and cook it and cook it and cook it forever and ever and ever amen.

And since I knew I was starting my blog back up, and knew that I would want to blog about making apple butter, I very dutifully took pictures that day of Linda in the kitchen helping me make it. 

Yeah, Linda is so totally awesome. Look at her go! Make that apple butter! Shake what your Momma gave ya!

My laundry basket full of apples made a lot more apple butter than I thought it would! All three of my big pots were full to the brim. Of course, by the time the apple butter was ready to can, all three pots were half full because it has to cook down so much.

It was three days later before I actually canned anything... Adeena, Jeff & the kids came over to our place for dinner and a movie, and Adeena helped me can my first batch! I was so happy. It was a momentous occasion for sure!

These have been sitting on my countertop for a week, and they may just stay there all Winter, because I love looking at them and knowing that all the work I put into making apple butter paid off! :D

Deklan likes it, Tyler likes it, I like it, and we get to enjoy it for hopefully the next few months before it's all gone! 

Next year I'd like to can a lot more! Not just apple butter, many different things! I enjoyed it. :)

Beginning

It's been a long time since I last wrote a blog... long enough that I'm second guessing myself, typing and backspacing, typing and backspacing in a frenzy of indecision. I've started and stopped writing this post easily a dozen times. 

The problem is, I'm not a planner. I like to think that I am, I strive to be one actually, but the truth is I'm best when I'm spontaneous, writing from my heart rather than from my head.  It doesn't help that I'm out of practice, the last blog I wrote was in May... and we're almost through October now. Eeek.

There's so much to tell you, so much has happened these past months that I've been absent from the blogosphere... too much for just one post. So I'm going to start with the obvious, the easy, the adorable...

Deklan, of course. 

He's 26 months old, we celebrated his 2nd Birthday at the beginning of September (because August was so RIDICULOUSLY busy, like srsly, so busy) with a pony party! Yes, ponies. Actually, technically they're miniature horses, but ponies is easier and more fun to say.

His new favourite word is "No", which really doesn't surprise me. I wish he didn't say it when I ask him "Do you love me?", it's not really an ego boost when he answers "NO NO no no no no NO NO NO!" with a mischievous grin on his face. I know he does love me, but really, it'd be nice if he would say it every once in a while!! Throw me a bone here, Deklan. 

He still loves tractors, trucks, cars, basically anything with a motor and wheels, actually just wheels as he also loves bikes... He does like to play with a baby dolly occasionally, since we've told him we're going to have a baby, and the dolly at Grandma's house is realistic with eyes that open and close (one of those "tilt to blink" baby dollies). He's actually pretty good with the dolly, he doesn't slam it on the ground or swing it around by it's legs or try to poke it's eyes out... it gives me a small measure of hope that he won't attempt any gymnastics with our newborn when the baby arrives sometime in November.

That leads me nicely to my next topic, my pregnancy! I'm 35 weeks pregnant, almost done cookin'. It's been a long pregnancy for me, I've had fatigue and morning sickness (that lasts all day, so all day sickness) and leg cramps and varicose veins and backache and fatigue and nausea and fatigue, all those lovely symptoms that I didn't have with my first pregnancy. So far, no sign of pre-eclampsia, so I'm crossing all my fingers and toes that I don't have to deal with that noise again.

We didn't find out the sex of the baby this time, so we're going to have a surprise! I wanted to find out, but Ty really really didn't, and I knew I couldn't keep it a secret if I found out and he didn't (I'd let it slip somehow...) so as a kindness to him, I didn't ask (even though my Mom said she would have if she were me! *Gasp* so evil....) I do have a feeling, we'll see if I'm right or not when the baby comes.... 

What's next... hmm... Oh yeah! We moved! We sold our house on the terrible no good very bad crazy busy dangerous highway, and moved to the middle of nowhere! Really! Google maps doesn't even know where we are. It tells people to drive through a swamp to get to our house. There's no road where google maps tells them to go. It's a little bit hilarious, actually..

That's actually why I re-named my blog, because our new property is the Hobbley Hilltop. We're in the middle of nowhere, on top of a hill, not the highest hill but the second highest hill. It's okay that we're not the highest, the big hill hides our house so we're more secluded and have more privacy than if we were king of the castle. So it's aight.

We have 4 and a quarter acres of land now, which is at once exciting and sobering, exciting because someday we're going to get cows and a horse and chickens and have a big garden and be all homesteady, and sobering because of all the reasons I just listed. Responsibility! Stewardship! It's going to be fun, and hard, and hopefully rewarding.  

I'm so excited about it, because since I was a little girl I've always wanted to have a bit of land to live off of, raising animals and growing food in a garden, it's probably got something to do with my childhood obsession with Little House on the Prairie and the book about Pioneers that my Mom read to us... I love the romance of the agrarian lifestyle, well except for the part about having no indoor plumbing and using corn husks to wipe your butt.... I can't live without indoor plumbing. Just can't. Won't. And I have a sensitive hiney, so corn husks? No thanks. I'll stick with Charmin.

Other than that, working with my hands? Digging and shovelling and sweating and back-breaking, all that kind of stuff? Me likey. And animals???? I love animals, I've missed having animals around, in fact I'm giddy because my Father-in-law asked us to board his chickens this winter because he's going to be away a lot for work, and he doesn't want to leave too much for his wife to do (considering she's having knee surgery this Winter, and although she'd put up a heck of an effort, it's probably best if she doesn't have to worry about hobbling out to the barn to feed and water chickens twice a day). 

I'm looking forward to having a garden next year, and canning and preserving my own home-grown veggies! We have an apple tree now, and I just made apple butter (my very own apple butter!), something I'll blog about soon to tell you all about it. Why? Because I'm psyched about it, that's why. 

Today is my fourth Wedding Anniversary, so although I'd like to stay here all day and blather on and on and on at you, I really should get something done. I've got steaks marinating for Supper, I want to tidy up the house a bit then I have to get Deklan's diaper bag ready to go because he's going to have a sleepover at Grandma's tonight, to give Tyler and I some alone time! We're going to go to town to choose paint colours for Deklan's big boy room (right now he's in the nursery, because his room was PINK, and we're re-painting it and making it into a cool boy's room for him!) and probably buy a movie to watch, because we're hip like that. 

So, have a good day, 

TTYL!

Music

Feeds my soul.

I just made my own playlist, and boy howdy am I loving it. 

Listening to great music (not radio music, patooey!) while doing dishes or vacuuming is awsum. Yes, so awsum that I forgot how to spell the word.

Sorry I haven't been blogging lately folks, I've felt a little under the weather. Stormy, yucky cloudy weather, that is.

I ♥ Faces - Slice of Life

More often than not, I post happy smiling pictures of my baby boy on my blog.

However, life isn't always happiness and sunshine. Sometimes, it stinks. ;)

Little man did not want to come inside, even though we had been outside for almost 2 hours. 

That was one of the warm days that teased us with thoughts of Spring, before Old Man Winter woke up and decided to shake his beard one more time..... the stodgy old bastard.

Go see more slices of life at i heart faces. :)

19 months! :)

D-man is 19 months old today! :)

And for once, I actually took his month pictures on the correct day! Yay, me!

(This one is all blurry, but it was too ridiculously cute not to share...)

And, this is what happens when a 19 month old who loves being outside is told that it's time to go inside. Le sigh...

But, this is what happens when said 19 month old (after playing outside for 1 1/2 hours) gets inside and sits on Daddy's lap in the rocking chair...

D'awwww.....

Anyway, I've been sick all week, and am starting to feel better today (yay!) but my write-o-meter isn't up to 100% yet, so I'm afraid this is all you get. 


Oh, quit whining... just scroll up and look at the cuteness again. You'll be a'ight. 

Edit: Or... scroll down and look at cuteness. :D

This is last March 16th (back when I was really good at actually taking his month birthday pics on his month birthday) when D-man was 7 months old. 

AAAAAH!

Wasn't he just SO precious???? 

I swear I just started lactating again. Bad girls, bad!

Such a sweet baby.....

Happy sigh... :)
 

I need a sick day. Or, how I'm a selfish ingrate.

Just every once in a while, it would be nice if there were 'sick days' to take off from parenthood just like there are 'sick days' you can take from work.

Because when my head is achy, I really don't want to listen to Deklan crying when Daddy takes away the T.V. remote.

When my nose is stuffy, I want to curl up in a blanket with some hot tea, not entertain a fussy 18 month old.

When I have a mild fever, I really really realllly don't want to read any baby books. I just don't. Even when the baby that's asking me to read his book for him is the most adorable baby ever.

And when I'm coughing and sneezing and my nose is dripping uncontrollably I don't want to get up -again- to get Deklan away from another stupid fly that's coming out of Winter hibernation and buzzing around on the floor. Sigh.

Tyler tries to help, but he can only do so much, since Deklan is going through a "I hate Daddy" phase. Daddy's not allowed to do anything. Mommy do. Mommy do. Argh....

It would be nice to say "I'm sick today! I can't come in... la la la." and someone else will magically take care of my baby for me.

This is teaching me patience, though... right? That's something, anyway. I guess.

Bleh.

Ty was sick last week, Deklan was sick Wed/Thurs/Friday, I've felt sick since last night and all of today, so hopefully by tomorrow night I'll feel better. Because if I don't, I'll probably have to call the whaaambulance.

Ah.... it's not so bad. I just feel like complaining.  

Tired, Grumpy & Nose-Fountainey,

~Me

i heart faces "Best Face Photo from February 2011"

My baby boy, watching his Daddy clean out the driveway with the snow-blower.

Go to i heart faces to see more! :)

Random Drawings from 2008

I left my journal on the couch last night, and this morning D-man grabbed it and the pen that was with it and started doodling, and was quite upset when I took it away from him. So, being the problem solver that I am, I went to get him something else to colour on.

That is how I found my old sketchbook, sitting under a pile of papers in my art supplies cupboard.

These drawings are all from 2008, and they are all mine so no takey or touchy without express permission from myself, the artist, Sarah Fenton. So there, artwork stealing people.

I need to start drawing again. I haven't drawn anything in months.... it's kind of funny, considering that's all I ever used to do. ;)

My girls! :)

 Brady

Lucy

I think dogs are like kids in some respects... they depend on you for food, shelter, love, attention... they want your approval, they get sad if you're sad, and are excited when you're excited.

Dogs have their own personalities, likes and dislikes, and even their own funny quirks or embarrassing idiosyncrasies. At least, they would be embarrassing if dogs were capable of being embarrassed. 

For instance, Brady only has 7 nipples. Yep. I don't know why she only has seven, she should have at least 8, but she doesn't. 6 are all lined up nice and pretty across from each other on her belly, and then at the bottom, is lonely number 1. So sad.

And Lucy, she is an intolerably stuffy princess. She's a dog, but she turns her nose up at the hardwood floor, as if sitting or laying down on the hardwood floor is beneath her royal highney. 

We used to have a doggy bed for her, but since she's a long-haired dachshund it would get so choked with hair that it would make me retch every time I looked at it. Once we had a crawling baby, and crawling baby wanted to curl up in said choked-with-hair & disgusting doggy bed, it was over. Lucy was demoted to the same level that Brady is at, and that level is, you sit on the floor. It's just the way it is. This isn't a democracy, after all.  

The problem is, Lucy is a rebel. She still remembers her days as the Queen of Soft Cushy Things, and any time a couch cushion or a blanket or one of Ducky's onesies falls on the floor, she curls up on it. Until I catch her in the act and take it away.  At which point she gives me an evil glare with her devil eye (the blue one) and disdainfully curls up next to Brady. Because, when all else fails, Brady is softer and cushier than the floor.

That's what true friendship is, after all. When someone will let you sit on them because the floor is too uncomfortable for your sensitive butt, that's friendship. 

That'll do for my "profound statement of the day". You're welcome.

18 months! :)

He repeats words I say, especially when I'm not expecting it.... no more casual swearing for me. ;)

He plays pretend; he'll wake up in the morning, and before I go get him I hear him making animal sounds "Grrrr" & "Roooawr!" and when I go in to get him, he's pointing at his shelf in his room that is full of his stuffed animals. He especially loves his lion. :)

He's starting to watch T.V., but only really likes a few shows... 'The Wiggles' are a hit, and so is 'Mighty Machines'. He dances and tries to sing with The Wiggles, and when Mighty Machines is on, he stands and claps and says "Brummmmmm bbbb bbbbb brummmmmm".

He's learned that when food is hot, you blow on it to cool it down.

He likes to sing, he sings "Baaaah bah bah baaaaaaah" (it's always bah, not la) and makes actual notes. If I'm singing, he starts singing with me.  He likes it when I sing "Head & Shoulders Knees & Toes" and he knows where his eyes are, and his nose. We're working on the rest.

He doesn't really like sitting and reading a book if I'm the one that suggests it, but if he's in a mood to read books he'll bring three to me at once and isn't satisfied until we read all three of them. 

He gives great hugs and kisses.  


He loves playing with his cousins; he's always happy to go to Aunt Heather's on Thursdays. :)


He loves his grandparents.


He loves his Mommy & Daddy.....


..... and we love him. :)

 

Listen to your Sports Gut!!!

Especially a 'Sports Gut' who is that cute!!!!

(If you haven't seen the T.V. commercial I am referring to, well then this post won't make much sense. But you can admire the cuteness. Oh my, yes.)

I'd prefer....

..... being sick on Ty's weekend to work.

Being sick on Ty's weekend off, is not so much fun. 

D-man has the flu. He threw up Thursday night, most of the day Friday, and has had recurring fevers & headaches since then. Today, he's better, but not better better. He's still very grumpy and clingy, and wakes up crying from his naps. :(

I can hear him laughing at the dogs in the next room, though... he's kickin' this flu, peeps.

I, however, am feeling woozy and headachey, and just might go collapse on the couch and snooze the night away.  I don't even have the dishes done! Auuugh! Horror of horrors.

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You know, I'm a fan of babies... and toddlers, and kids, and heck even big kids, but... oh... I don't like pinchers.  

We went to a Mom-to-Mom sale today, took a look around... Deklan was clingy and fussy, but eventually he let me put him down.  He was looking around at all the people, standing close to me, when a little girl no bigger than him came marching up. She studied him for a minute, and he watched her. She had intense, dark brown eyes. She walked up to my baby boy, and put her little hands on his face.

  I thought "Aww---!" but my brain jumped to conclusions. Before my thought process could finish the "Aww-haw-haw" the little girl started pinching my son's face with all her might! His hands shot up, trying to pull her hands away, and I bent over and tried to -gently- remove her hands from his face, saying "No no, honey, don't pinch! Don't pinch!" 

After what seemed to be an eternity, I got her to let go, and she ran off. Deklan started to bawl, because he was expecting to make a new friend, and instead she tried to rip his face off. I picked him up and hugged him, and kept one eye open, just in-case the little viper baby came back for more.

It took a long time for me to console Deklan... he was so surprised! And it wasn't a nice surprise. :(

I have no idea where her parents were.... there were no adults around except for me and Ty, and moms sitting behind tables, nobody who she could have belonged to. My question is, who lets their 17-19 month old little girl wander around, alone, in a room full of people, allowing her the freedom to walk up to babies she's never met before and pinch their faces!?

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In other news, you've probably noticed I don't have Deklan's 18 month pictures up yet. To that I say, he's had the flu all weekend, and I'm currently fighting it, so I'll put them up.... tomorrow for sure. ;)

Because....

.... I know ya'll are going through some Ducky-withdrawal. ;)

(And, I didn't take get his 18 month pictures ready for today.... tomorrow for sure.)

17 months, one month too late.

I didn't take his 17 month pictures today. That would be terrible of me, since today is my son's 18 month birthday.

No, no no.... I took his 17 month pictures quite a while ago, but have so far neglected to put them on my blog because... ah I'm not going to give some paltry attempt at an explanation, I'll just say I've neglected it, and it's time to make it right. 

So here you go.

 (This is his "fake smile" face, which he has been using more and more lately..... It's that pesky Matt Disease, his maternal genes are showing! Ack! Actually, his paternal side has Wayne Disease, so I guess he's euchred either way.)

There's a real smile!!! :)

I don't know where the whole "tongue sticking out" thing comes from.... although he does bear an uncanny resemblance to his Auntie Elena in this picture. ELENA! What have you been teaching my son!!!!! >:[ (pretend mad face, ya'll... i really can't complain if others teach my baby boy bad habits, because i've spent almost half my life instilling bad habits in my nephews, nieces, and little bros and sisters. so technically i deserve it.)

This is his "why aren't you playing trucks with me instead of taking pictures of me with that silly ol' camera?"face. And I couldn't come up with a good enough reason, so I put the camera down and played trucks. It's more fun.

Tomorrow I'll post his 18 month pictures. I know, I know..... you don't have to tell me. Mom blogger/photographer of the year, I am NOT. ;)

His 17th month whizzed by, he's 18 months old already, and I'm all like ":-o" over it all. He's had a rough week so far, he has a super bad bum rash (methinks he might have snagged one of his cousin's wheat-y snacks at Grandma's on Monday, because his bum is blistered... youcha) and he's been a bit clingy, but that's okay. I can handle having extra cuddles and hugs and kisses, really. :) 

I'll tell you more about him tomorrow for his 18 month pictures. Because I haven't eaten supper yet and I'm all out of steam tonight, folks. 

(There, Linda! ;) )