Summer Fun

Let me just say that March was an awesome time to have baby #2! It has been warm enough that I can send Seth outside to play to his hearts content so I can nurse Eli without him clambering all over me. Seth is happy, Eli is fed, so Mom is happy. We have also taken Eli outside in his bouncy chair and he has seemed to like it just fine, as long as the sun isn't too bright. Fortunately, we have a couple of mature trees in our backyard that provide shade for Eli.

We are so blessed to have such a happy baby. Eli is full of smiles and is quite content. Having another baby has helped me remember to be grateful for all of our blessings. I also have been truly enjoying having a baby around. I know how fast the baby stage passes, so I am soaking up the baby-ness! Of course, having a mellow, smiley baby who sleeps 4-5 hours straight at night makes it very easy! (I think Seth didn't sleep 4-5 hours in a row until he was 18 months!) So, in the spirit of enjoying the baby stage, I put together a list of my favorite things about new babies!

Best things about having a new baby around:

-Of course the CUTE FACTOR has to be on the list! No matter how funny looking some features may be on babies, (like Eli's bald spots on his head) babies are all still cute because they are miniature people. Pretty much anything miniature is cute.

-There's nothing as special as HOLDING/CUDDLING a new baby. It is one of the best feelings ever!

-Is there anything cuter than a BABY YAWN or a BABY SNEEZE??!! I don't think so!

-The SPECIAL SPIRIT in your home from having a baby who was just with Heavenly Father days, weeks, or now, for us, a few months ago.

-You can't spoil a newborn too much. I love that. :)

-You always have an excuse for your house being messy, or for not getting something done, etc. Maybe I use the "I just had a baby" excuse too much!

-IMMOBILITY. Babies always stay where you put them, unlike wandering, mischievous crawlers/toddlers!

-The first time they look right at you and SMILE.

Well, I could continue, of course, but then this post might end up being too long! :)

So I'll just end with a few pictures of what's been going on here. I just realized I didn't upload the others of Eli that I wanted, so those will have to wait for another day.

Seth playing with the hose in our back yard. It's almost a daily occurrence, and our lawn always needs the water, so I don't mind!

Hose picture #2. We have a few (too many) patchy spots in our lawn, so Seth makes mud piles with them. What is more fun to a little boy?!

Our zucchini plants and one of the tomatoes. We have several other tomatoes, and actually have some little baby green tomatoes on them! We are excited for fresh tomatoes. BLT's, here we come!

Is this not the cutest little hat? This picture was taken when Eli was 2 months old. What a sweetie, huh!

Seth on the coolest toy ever from Grandma and Papa Call! Battery powered four-wheeler. :)

Seth loves wearing his helmet. I hope that continues!

Well, that's it for now!

Eli's Arrival

Well, a lot has happened since my last post. Like I had a baby! So exciting, huh! For those of you who care, and because I need to write it down somewhere, here is his birth story:

My due date for baby Eli was March 24. Boy I don't remember those last few weeks dragging so slowly with Seth! I know every 9-month-pregnant lady is sore and tired, but those last few weeks were much harder than I anticipated because Seth's pregnancy was not nearly this hard! But there was an end in sight, so I knew I could make it!

Because I chose to have this baby in Idaho Falls at Mt View Hospital, instead of Pocatello (a 45 minute drive away), (and partly because I wanted SO BADLY to be DONE being pregnant!) I opted for a scheduled induction on Friday the 21st. We were scheduled to go in at 6am, but when I called that morning at 5am to make sure they didn't fill up over night, they said every room was full, they would call me in a few hours to see what it looked like then. After calling every 2-3 hours all morning, we finally were able to go up at 2pm that afternoon. Despite having to wait till the afternoon, we actually had a great morning. We slept in, had a good breakfast, and the 3 of us enjoyed being home all together one more time before Eli entered our lives and changed everything! (For the better, of course!)

Well, to my surprise, when we got there, I was already dilated to 5cm. Having been dilated at 3cm since 35 weeks with pretty much no change since, I figured I would still be at a 3. But I was already half way there! So they started an IV and got the pitocin going! Since they were so busy in labor/delivery that day, it took a couple of hours to get that going; it was 4:30 when they started the pitocin. I still wasn't in pain from the contractions, but the nurse asked if I was planning on getting an epidural. I said I was, and she said the nurse anesthetist was already there so whenever I wanted I could get one. Well, I figured since I was going to get one anyways, why wait? So I still have yet to experience true labor pains! (With Seth, I got an epidural before I even got pitocin!) The anesthetist was awesome, and the epidural was awesome.

A short few hours and a few March Madness basketball games later, and it was time to push! I was really nervous about pushing because it was really physically hard for me with Seth, and I had to push a lot. So I was prepping myself mentally for a similar experience. This time though I only pushed through 2 contractions, 5 times, and he was out! I was done already! Wo. Awesome. He was born at 8:48pm. They immediately gave him to me to hold, and even offered to let me cut the cord (after Geran (of course) declined). I was so in rapture of my little dark-haired bundle that I also declined. It was so special to be able to hold him so quickly with Geran so close to us, too.

My nurses were awesome, and my 1st post-partum nurse was especially great. I tore a little bit and had to get stitched up, but I really didn't feel sore. Everything after the birth went very smoothly. Eli had no problems latching on for me to breastfeed, and he nursed for a long time! I enjoyed the snuggle time with him. :) He did great through the night and the next day.

Meanwhile, Seth was at my sister Rosemary's house. Seth loves it over there, and I know Rosemary is such a sweet mom and aunt, but I still missed my little Seth and was a little worried about him being away from Mom and Dad for so long. So we made the (poor) decision to come home the day after Eli was born. Eli had to have his 24 tests done before we could go, which means we couldn't leave until at least 9 or 9:30pm. Of course after they finished all the things they needed to, Eli was hungry, so we didn't leave until after 10:30pm, arriving home at 11:30. It was a bit of a long night! We should've stayed an extra night! Oh well. We made it anyways!

Seth has been a great big brother, and has not had any jealousy issues like I thought he might. I am so pleased with him. He has been such a sweet boy, loves to pat Eli on the head and say hi to him, pat his back to help burp him, give him "big hugs," and is really good and telling me when Eli is crying! "MOMMMYYYYY! ELI CRYYYYIIIIIINNNNGGGG!" he says. Very loudly and emphatically. Good thing Eli isn't too fussy. He also takes and binky and a bottle, and nurses about every 3 hours, which makes my life way easier! The transition from 1 to 2 kids has been seamless and I love everything about it. Everything is easier the 2nd time around! Plus, Geran and I aren't out-numbered yet. :)


Here are a few of the pictures I took yesterday. I plan to take some with Eli and Seth together, but just haven't gotten around to it yet.

Yes, Seth still naps in his bouncey chair! Can you believe this bouncey chair has lasted this long??!! Fortunately, Seth still takes a good nap every day (though that may have something to do with his 10-11pm bedtime....) so I can usually catch some shut-eye while both kids are sleeping!

Thoughts [ramblings] on Parenting

First a quick holiday update! We were able to spend Christmas with the Call's this year in Washington! Seth did pretty well on the drive, thanks to an overnight pit stop at my parent's in Kuna, a DVD player in the car, and an iPad. :) Staying with Nina and Mark was great--they are some of the most generous people I know! Colin (age 6) and Aubree (age 4) were so nice to Seth and pretty much let him have free reign over lots of their toys! Seth had a blast! It was fun to see all the cousins play together. I am continually impressed with my sisters-in-law parenting skills and how well all the kids treat each other. It makes me sad that we don't live closer.

Seth on Christmas morning sitting with Daddy. He had fun opening up presents, then mostly played with Aubree's toys! Lol. At least we got a picture with him playing with his own toys!

30 weeks pregnant. Only 10 more weeks! Whew. I know I don't look very big, but I sure feel big!

Don't feel obligated to read this part; it's mostly just me putting my thoughts into (somewhat) organized sentences! Here goes:

As Seth has gotten older, I have encountered more and more parenting challenges. Naps, tantrums, picky eating, biting, etc. I have so many questions all the time! Like, "Should I chastise him for [insert somewhat questionable behavior]?" "Do I spoil him too much?" "Do I play with him enough?" "So-and-so does [this] with her kids, should I?" And the list goes on, and changes as he goes through phases and grows older. I probably will never really know the answer to any of these, but I keep plugging away at this parenting thing, day by day. I see so many other moms who seem so confident in their parenting choices! But I think all parents have similar questions, whether or not they voice them. Their questions might be different than mine, but everyone is trying their best! We all have different challenges with our children. One common line I hear a lot (not necessarily directed towards me!) when it comes to parenting is "How do you do it?" Some challenges that seem impossible for one parent might be the exact challenge another parent is cheerfully and successfully dealing with. I have learned to be grateful for my challenges, and try to learn from them. I have also learned to be grateful for the challenges I don't have: I am grateful Seth enjoys good health, I am grateful he sleeps in, I am grateful he doesn't despise his car seat, I am grateful he gives me hugs and kisses, I am grateful for his happy temperament, and so many other things! And one other lesson learned: don't judge other parent's decisions; all kids are different, and you never know exactly what their situation or what their child is like. Being a parent is one of the hardest but most rewarding things in life, and I hope I can continue to learn from it!

Ok, rambling over! (For today. :) ) Thanks for indulging me, if you made it this far! See ya next time!