Adjustment or Just Being Two?

So...when I reported that Nathan has made the adjustment to being a big brother smoothly, I wasn't entirely truthful. He has done, under the circumstances (me being in the hospital, a little brother to take our attention, company, no power, schedule a little askew) remarkably well. The ONE thing that has happened, though, is that he has become even more attached to me than he was before. He has always been a "mamma's boy"...however, now it is very extreme. He is having extreme separation anxiety. EXTREME!

The places (i.e. Nan and Pap's, school, church, bedtime) that he used to excitedly and willingly go, have now become places of extreme anxiety. He has gotten more used to school and church the last week or so...meaning, he only whimpers when I leave him. However, going to Nan and Pap's house he has huge emotional meltdowns. He is fine if I am there and around (but he has to know where I am at at all times)...but seems to completely lose it when I go to leave, or they come and pick him up. It is heart wrenching for me to hear (what sounds like) his heart breaking and begging to "just stay with Momma". He does this a tiny bit when I leave, and Jonathon is with him, though not as bad. And when I am around, like I said, he has to know where I am at all times...and often follows me everywhere I go.

Now, within 5 minutes of me being out of sight, he normally calms down as if nothing happened...so he can't be that heart broken, can he?

My question to all you "pros" out there is: What is this? Is this being two? Is this having a little brother and adjusting? Is it all of the above? Am I doing emotional and psychological damage to him by leaving him once and a while? Is he just playing me? Am I the worst mother in the world for leaving him when he is begging for me to stay or begging to stay with me? HELP!

Gah...this mothering thing! I am trying SO hard not to screw up my kids! Is it even avoidable?

How Samuel Spends the Day

Wear Yourself Out

Deja Vu

I seem to have completely forgotten what Nathan was like as an infant...it is a good thing I blogged about it! Check it:

http://nathanielcharles.blogspot.com/2006/09/so4-weeks-old.html

The funny thing is, is that in the last week (Samuel's 4th week of life), I said the same exact things about Sammy as apparently I did about Nathan. He is filling out, it makes me sad, he eats every 3 hours (sometimes less, sometimes more, but not often), he is starting to have definite awake times, our "schedule" is panning out to be the same as Nathans, etc...

Very odd to be reading about your first born, yet it all seems to apply to your second born as well. Also, Samuel is really starting to "change looks". When he was born, *I* think he favored me more so than Nathan did, aside from his coloring (Nathan's coloring is all Frentheway), however in the last week his little cheeks have plumped up (SO CUTE!), and is beginning to resemble Nathan. He still has the dark coloring, but both Jonathon and I think his hair is getting lighter. He and Nathan will have the same color eyes (yeah!!! Nathan's eyes are beautiful, and they get that from Jonathon), but I do think Samuel will have my little head.

Anyways...that update is totally random and without pictures...

Spring Time PLEASE Hurry!!!

This is what we do when we are SO tired of being couped up in the house. We dis-assemble our train set and use the train table as a dance floor!

You know, because...I don't have ANYTHING to do except clean up toys...;)

(oh yes...did you notice Cars on the TV. Never fear, Lightning McQueen is back "in", and Thomas the Train has taken a hike...this week, at least.)

Brotherly Love

As I am sure I expressed on many occasions, one of my biggest fears in having another child was how Nathan would react and behave towards the new little one (and to me). Well, now that Samuel has been here a few weeks (already???), I have something to report!

Nathan has done extremely well. My apprehension and fear of the unknown is, so far, proving to be just that...fear of the unknown. Nathan LOVES his little brother, and takes the opportunity to tell everyone that, many times a day. He doesn't seem too bothered by a new addition...though he has grown completely attached to me (which I hear is normal). After all, his world has been completely turned upside down with a new baby, not to mention the Ice Storm that kicked us out of our house for a few days. Along with all that, I have found it a little difficult to be super strict on Nathan's schedule (not that I was the Nazi-scheduler before Samuel arrived, but he did have a definite nap time and bedtime...for the most part. Both of which have gotten later and later since Sam has arrived.). As a result I think Nathan does feel a little displaced and insecure about all the changes. Time is the only remedy as we all try to figure out our new normal.

Brotherly love at its finest...here is Nathan "petting" Samuel, as he does many times a day. VERY gently though.

And of course, the photo you all have been waiting for:

Brotherly Kisses.

Keeping Ourselves Entertained

So...in the recent power outage, we had to find a place to stay...since, well...we had no power and two kiddos. Jonathon thought that our house would have been "okay" to stay at, IF we didn't have the kids. However, I beg to differ, as I am soooooo not a cold weather type person. The house was FREEZING, I could NOT have stayed there...and he wouldn't have wanted to stay there with me. His ears would have started to bleed at the constant sound of my shivering (and complaining). ;)

SO, we kindly packed everything except the kitchen sink and headed to Nan and Pap's house...where we stayed (in complete warmth and luxury I might add!) for a good 5 days. Here is how we spent our days....

We ate. We ate gooood! Nan made many breakfast, lunch and dinners for us...and of course she treated us with chocolate shakes and chocolate pudding. Which, as you can see, Nathan just hated! ;)

Nathan decided to try on Nan's slippers and take a stroll around the house:

Perfect fit!!!

AND...we played...cars:

Lots and LOTS of cars:

We did really have a great time. It was like being on indefinite vacation. Like I said, we lived in the lap of luxury...our own room, bathroom and lots and lots of love. THANKS Nan and Paps for opening up your house to our chaos!

Taking Care of the Weather

We have had TONS of winter weather here in Louisville, and through all the chaos, we did manage to get out and play a little. Here is Nathan playing with cars in the snow, and then helping his Daddy shovel the driveway...

He totally enjoyed shoveling the snow, until the shovel got too heavy and he got cold...a kid after my own heart! ;)

We'll Leave the Lights on for ya...

Yes, we do have power (knock on wood). It was turned back on Sunday afternoon...right before the Super Bowl (conveniently!).

So...we are back in business. Trying to figure out our new normal...:)

And...

We STILL don't have power!
Enough said.

Not Again...

So...for the second time in less than 6 months, we have no electricity! We were hit with an ice storm on Tuesday evening...which proceeded to accumulate on tree limbs, which then began to break and fall...and well, knock out the power around the entire city (you may have heard...). Anyways. We are one of the lucky ones that won't have power for 7-10 days (that is the current estimate). We are so SUPER lucky! (can you read the sarcasm???)

Remember last September when we didn't have power for 8 days (is that correct, Jonathon? ;)), and we all said "at least it is warm out, and you don't have an infant to care for..." . Well, look here...it is FREEEEEEZING, we have an infant and a toddler...AND no electricity! I am not sure how much I can handle of this, emotionally... apparently we did'nt learn what we needed to learn (patience?) the first time.

Luckily, we have amazing family! The first night Uncle Rob and Aunt Yvette opened their very clean, kid free, home to us. They made us dinner and gave us nice comfy beds to sleep in! Then yesterday, Nan and Paps opened their door to us as well...and we have taken full advantage and moved in! We even kicked them out of their bedroom! ;) So...on the very positive side, we are warm, fed and with loving family. We couldn't ask for anything more (except electricity).

Thank you to everyone who has offered your homes, food, blankets, clothes...etc. We really appreciate it and hope you all know that the offer is reciprocal.

I will keep you updated...

Picture of the Day

A day in the life...

This is how Samuel sees the world...

Pictures of the Day

Samuel, going home...

Nan, Nathan and Samuel

Nan and Samuel sharing a moment

He is Here!

And...then there were two! On January 15, 2009 at 10:31pm, Little Tyke turned into Samuel Nicholas Ice. Here is his first story:

As most of you know, I am probably the most impatient person when it comes to being 9 months pregnant. I think I just get tired of the "countdown" and just want the birthing process over with already. This time wasn't any different...especially when you go in for your 36 week doctor appointment and the "process" has already started, and your lovely (she really is lovely) doctor says (and I quote) "wow! you are already 3cm dilated...make an appointment for next week, but I doubt you are pregnant by then." . And so...the countdown became THE longest countdown in the history of countdowns. Every day I was like "will it be today?" Every contraction I was like "is this it?". It got to the point where I really thought I would be pregnant until December!!!! Regardless...I woke up on the 15th, so utterly frustrated and irritated with still be pregnant that the contractions that began at 10am didn't even phase me. Nan and Paps had taken Nathan the day before and kept him all night, so they brought him home around 11, and we had our usual of McDonald's "dippy" lunch. The contractions had continued about every 5 minutes, and were getting a little uncomfortable...however I had convinced myself that "this wasn't it. this was just a fluke..again!" At around 1:30 or so, Jonathon became a little worried and demanded that we head to the hospital. I reluctantly agreed, knowing full well that they were only going to turn me away and tell me to go home and wait it out.

We showed up at the hospital, the monitored me for an hour only to tell me that I still was 1cm short of being the "admittable" dilation. So they told me to go walk for an hour. I have to tell you...Jonathon and I had a fabulous time walking around that hour. I was having contractions, and they were getting pretty painful, but it was so fun just walking hand in hand with my husband...and laughing, making jokes, just enjoying the moments together. It is an hour that I will truly cherish!

After that hour, they checked me again, and I had progressed to 5cm dilated...so they admitted me. I got a sweet labor and delivery suite (thanks to the nice nurses that hooked me up, and the fact that it was a slow birthing day). Within an hour I had an epidural, and was dilated to an 8. I will say that this doctor that gave me the epi did a fine job! Tooooooo good, I must say. I couldn't feel a thing, not even my toes! With Nathan, the epidural just took the edge off, but I was always able to feel my legs and could have probably still walked if needed. This one, no way. I couldn't even lift my legs! After a couple of hours (and a Purdue basketball game) later, a kind nurse "accidentally" broke my water...and with in an hour I was ready to start pushing.

10 minutes later, Samuel Nicholas was here. I will say that he gave us quite the scare upon his arrival. He was completely non responsive when he was first born, and for about a good 10 minutes afterwards. It was one of the most disturbing things to see nurses rushing in the room, not answering your questions (other than "he is just stunned", whatever that was supposed to mean) and looking worried themselves. They began tubing his nose, and hitting his tiny little back to get him to cry or respond. I kept asking the doctor if he was okay, and she kept reassuring me that he was...yet he wouldn't cry. Once again, the reason was because he was just stunned because he was born so fast (?)...yet at one point I did over hear the nurses ask how much drugs I had. I am not a doctor nor a nurse, so I may be talking crazy here...but I think the Little Tyke was drugged up with an epidural! I really think the amount that I was given affected Samuel.

After they did get him to respond, the nurses said that we could hold him for a couple of minutes but that they were going to take him to monitor him for a while...which they never did. After about 10 minutes, they came back and said that he was doing fine and they didn't need to take him at all. A relief!

Meeting Samuel

Samuel

Proud Poppa.

Happy family (minus Nathan).

So there you have it.
Samuel Nicholas Ice
6lbs 10oz
19inches
January 15, 2009
10:31pm

Cold Day at the Park

What do you do when it is winter, freezing cold, and you are sick and tired of being couped up in the house? Well, you brave the freezing cold, bundle up and head to the park of course!

Cheeky

Picture of the Day

The Bump

Update: No baby. No changes. Nadda. Zilch. Zippo...nuthin'! I assume I won't be pregnant forever...however, do you remember that story I told you a while back about hiking with my Dad out of the 50miler, and at one point I firmly believed that we would never, ever, never, ever get to the car? Well...welcome to my world of being pregnant! I am really starting to question whether this Little Tyke will just graduate college from my womb. ;)

Moving on...I have gotten a few requests to see what I look like 25 months pregnant...so...here you go. These were taken last week:

I didnt get any good shots of my face without the camera hiding it...because, well, I was taking pictures of my belly. So, you know what my face looks like...pretty much the same during pregnancy :)

I will keep you updated on any, IF any (ever), news...

Stay tuned...

(predictions are still being taken...so far, most of the dates have passed...)

Prediction

Okay folks...we are almost 3 weeks from the due date for Little Tyke...so here is your challenge:

Predict the birth date.
Weight
Length/Height

Here is some info on Nathan...I was two weeks early, he was 6lbs 13oz and 19in long/tall.
Further info...I went to the OBGYN today for my 36 week appt, and I am 3 cm dilated and 80% effaced..

So yeah. Predict away in the comments. Not sure what the "winner" will receive...but I will think of something.

(P.S. Scroll down for the Christmas 2008 update and pictures!)