Bob and Larry

Bob and Larry were at a local Christian bookstore this past weekend and we took Aidan to see them since he is very into Veggie Tales right now. He was talking about giving them a hug, but if you can tell from the pic, he was a little apprehensive when it was his turn to see them.

Sleeping Beauty

I love it when babies sleep on their tummies! We let Nora sleep on her tummy for her long afternoon nap and she loves it.

Thoughts from a sleep deprived Mama

First off. SNOT. There seems to be plenty of said substance coming out of my 2 year old's nose. And, I can't stand it. There is something about a snotty child that just gets to me. I feel like I am constantly saying, "STOP wiping your nose on the couch, blankets, your sister, your clothes, etc..." And then there is the snotty sneezes...can't even begin to describe how those make me feel. Enough said. You get the picture.

Sleep. Oh sleep. I miss you. Why is it that snotty nosed children also like to wake up early? I've been up with a little precious bundle, trying to keep her awake while she nurses and stumbling back to bed at every ungodly hour of the AM. Can you please just sleep in for goodness sake?

Okay, so obviously, I am losing my mind or something. Other than that....we've had showings at our house the past two days. Yesterday, I spent the whole day getting the house ready and then it was a no-go. Bummer! Then, we had another showing today, and I only had to pick up for like 45 minutes. Still waiting for some feedback on this one tonight. It is at least encouraging to actually have showings for once. We are having an open house this weekend so that's another potential move in the right direction.

Started watching The Amazing Race last night and I was cracking up. If you haven't seen the girl getting smashed in the face with a melon, then you have to look it up on youtube or something. It was so horribly awful and funny at the same time. Usually things like that aren't so funny to me, but hey, I haven't had a good night's sleep in weeks....so shoot me.

No crafting going on in this household as of late. Mostly just nursing, nursing, and nursing some more in the evenings. This girl likes to cluster feed if you know what I mean. Glad she is eating well, but sure looking forward to the days when things are a little less demanding.

Well, I am totally going to go make myself some Mother's Milk Tea (started getting anxious about my supply even though everything seems to be going just fine). Guess it doesn't hurt to give myself a little boost. And....then I am going to finish The Amazing Race premiere that I started last night.

Just trying to keep it together over here.

This is me.

I am a work in progress. Especially when it comes to being a mother.

Some days are just hard. Disobedience is rampant in my home. I feel like I can't deal with things properly and I give into anger and frustration. Then, I feel guilty. I get mad at myself for not running to the Lord and letting him soften my heart and direct me in my discipline tactics. Instead, I get angry and say things that I don't mean to, raise my voice, or throw my hands up in the air.

I wish I was better at surrender. I need the Lord's grace more than ever right now as I deal with sleep deprivation and constant demands. We've been having sleep issues with Aidan recently and it really has been taking its toll on me. I can deal with one little being waking me up, but two kinda puts me over the edge. It's not so much that we have 2 children now, because I don't find that necessarily too difficult. It's just that 2 1/2 year olds are difficult to manage sometimes...especially ours. I love him dearly, but today it is hard to like him.

This is me....being honest. Needing some respite from the craziness of this day. Lord give us all peace and joy amidst the trials....oh, and a little sleep might help too.

Ouch!

Aidan fell pretty hard last night and hurt his finger and busted his lip. He asked for a bandaid and we assumed it was for his finger. We were wrong.

First Bath

We did it!

Today was our first day without Daddy at home. And....it was a success!

I was thrilled that by 8:00 am I had nursed Nora, changed both kids, taken a shower, and started eating breakfast. We also ended up going to MOPS last minute and we made it on time. It was such a pleasant morning. Aidan did great during lunch and we all napped. I was blessed that Aidan took a long nap for once and Nora slept in bed with me, making her little sweet noises the whole time. :) I didn't actually sleep much, but the resting was nice. Dinner was brought to us by some friends from church and we went on a walk to the park afterward. It was a delightful day when all said and done.

Here is a pic of my sweet sleeping princess. She smiles and laughs in her sleep all the time and it is the cutest thing ever!

 Also, here is a pic of my two sweeties. Aidan was reading a book to Nora last night for awhile. He is such a good big brother. As I type this, he is listening to her heart and taking her temperature with his doctor kit. :)

Precious

Adjusting

Life with two little ones has been a new adventure for us all.

Seth took the week off work, which was a great blessing. We left the hospital Sunday (Sept. 12th) and have been home since that evening. We have been out and about quite a bit already and have made a run to the store nearly every day. Nora is doing great. She is such a sweet presence in our house and is so content so far. She is a great eater and has been doing great at night too. We feel so blessed. Aidan adores his baby sister and calls her "little bud." He loves to smother her in kisses and wants to talk to her a lot. He has been having some issues adjusting to this new life and has been rather difficult for us, acting out and disobeying, and such. I have really been praying for him to have a quiet spirit and to desire to obey. We had our first date last night (with just Nora). We went to a Sara Groves concert and it was a refreshing time for us both.  Nora did great, eating and sleeping during the concert. Unfortunately, the little one woke up in the middle of the night with a cold (we've all been fighting something similar) and she was up quite a bit. She is pitifully stuffy and has been crying a lot more today. She loves to snuggle though and is very comforted when you pick her up. I hate to see my baby sick, but I am praying she recovers quickly. Tomorrow is my first day alone with both kids, so that should be interesting. I hope for a little more sleep and am praying for Aidan to have a good attitude.

Pictures of the little sweet one to come soon. We've had some computer issues lately that have made blogging a little bit difficult. Can't believe my little girl is already 9 days old!

Labor Story

This is for only those that are interested and willing to hear the details of Nora's birth.

On Sept. 9th, I woke up feeling like I had a crampy backache. Had contractions off and on all day until I went to my midwife appointment. She said I was 4.5 cm dilated and 70% effaced and stripped my membranes. Contractions got a little bit more consistent a few hours later and we sent Aidan off to his grandparent's for the night just in case. We took a walk and contractions came every 3 minutes, but then slowed down when we came home. This was very similar to my experience with Aidan and was very frustrating because I never went into labor on my own and I didn't have any way of knowing if something would really progress. Took another walk later and then called it quits and went to bed around 11 pm because contractions were pretty much gone. I was super frustrated because my midwife was on call that night and then would be gone for a week. We scheduled an induction for the following week, but I was afraid that I might not make it until then and I really wanted her to assist with the delivery. Woke up around 1:30 am with what I thought was a contraction, but then slept off and on until about 2:30 am when I suddenly had contractions 10 min., 5 min. and then 3 min. apart. I got up and walked around, got a drink of water. Contractions remained at 3 min. and were getting strong. I decided to wake Seth up at 3:00 and called my midwife. She said to come to the hospital. We started packing and I called my parents. The pain started to pick up quite a bit, but was still manageable. Left for the hospital sometime around 3:30, arriving just before 4:00. We were diverted to a different hospital because they were full (kinda a bummer) so I had to do most of my paperwork again while in active labor (frustrating). By the time we got to our room, I was at 7cm. It took four tries to get my IV line in which was a huge pain, but after that was done, I was able to get in the jacuzzi tub. Let me just say.....amazing. I was seriously doubting my ability to make it through the delivery, but once I got in the tub, I felt so much better. Well, not really, but it made it more bearable. Progressed super fast in the tub and started to really feel a lot of pressure. My midwife came in and checked me and told me I was complete and ready to push. I got out of the tub and started pushing. 9 minutes later Nora was here. 5:27 am. Just about 1 1/2 hours after arriving at the hospital. The pushing was super intense and painful, more so than I remember with Aidan and I was a little less calm. It was quick though and I pulled her out and held her immediately. She was super alert and started sucking her thumb almost right away. I feel so blessed that my midwife got to be there for the delivery and so happy she came when she did. Can't believe I made it through another unmedicated delivery, but I am so in love with my baby girl.

She's Here!

Nora Cadence Simmons 

September 10, 2010

5:27 am

7 lbs. 3 oz.

19 1/2 in.

Hugeness.

Some days it is hard to believe just how huge my stomach has gotten. I am so ready for this baby to be here! I have a midwife appointment today, so we'll see what she says. One more week max til they said they'd break my water. So, hopefully it will be before then, but if not, it will be over soon.

Diaper Cover

This is the little diaper cover I was working on last week. It was an experiment and I ended up ripping most of it out and changing the pattern up to my liking. I think that the outcome wasn't super perfect, but I think it will go even better next time around.

Stickers!

Look at me Mom! Aidan found some stickers from an activity book that he put all over his leg. The second pic is of him trying to "show" me his leg. I told him I was taking a picture of him.

Love.

My two favorites at the park. We've gone to the park 4 times this weekend and had 3 picnics. It's been great. Daily blogging was a little bit stalled this weekend due to internet issues with our computer. More to come later. We are off to the pool for a little while, going to eat spicy chicken sandwiches from Chick-fil-a, and watch Lord of the Rings this evening. I am hoping the swimming and the spicy sandwich will give baby girl a little incentive to come. Not going to cross my fingers though. Just really ready to be done.

Yesterday

Didn't get to post yesterday cause I was too lazy.

I wanted to put up a pic of the diaper cover I crocheted, but it didn't turn out quite like I wanted it to, so I am going to tweak the pattern a little, pull out half of it, and see if I can make some improvements.

I am still working on the blanket for my baby girl, but here is what I've finished so far.

 Okay, that pic is turned the wrong way, but oh well. Colors are a little softer in person, but I wanted to do something that matched our car seat (green/brown) and that would be a little less babyish.

Also, made this shirt for Aidan to wear.

I thought he would be thrilled to have a new shirt to wear when his sister is born. Couldn't help myself. :)

Well, just threw in a load of laundry and am about to go in the backyard to pick apples to make some apple sauce. Love that we have apple trees out there. Planning to have a picnic with family and friends at the park this evening. It is a gorgeous day and I am trying to enjoy it while I can.

3 centimeters

So, I am dilated to a 3. That's nice. It means nothing, but somehow gives me a peace of mind.

Had an absolutely splendid morning. I decided to go to a garage sale down the street just for fun. And, boy did I hit the jackpot in boy's clothes. I got 16 shirts, 4 pairs of pants/jeans, a cute old navy jacket, 3 set of pj's, and a pair of Nike shoes for Aidan. I spent $12.50. It was amazing! The clothes are in great condition and most all of them are from The Children's Place or Old Navy. I was so thrilled and so blessed by that great surprise of a find. It truly made my day.

Took my little A-man to the library. He was so sweet and fun and we read lots of books.

Midwife appt. went well. Baby is coming soon (that is so relative, but whatev).

Aidan took a 2 1/2 hour  nap today which was totally awesome.

Made a huge pot of potato soup to freeze for after the baby is here. Yummy!

Went to Chick-fil-a with Seth's parents for dinner. Fun treat for us all.

Worked forever on the blanket I am making for baby girl tonight. I was going to post a pic, but I think I will post it tomorrow with (hopefully) a pic of the sweet little diaper cover I am almost finished with. 

We packed our bags

But, unfortunately, my flirtation with labor came to end around 1 am.

Had such strong contractions last night, and they started coming every 3-4 minutes for about 2+ hours. I even took a bath and laid in bed for awhile to see if they would fade. They didn't, I called the midwife. Decided to wait another hour or so before going to hospital. With that, my labor got shy and ran away. This annoys me greatly because I had this pre-labor junk for weeks upon weeks with Aidan. However, nothing quite as uncomfortable, painful, or prolonged as last night.

After a night of very little sleep, I was rather grouchy today.

We had a little playdate with some friends, Aidan took his new routine short nap, we played, I made waffles, got smoothies from Smoothie King, took a long walk, long shower, and now ready for bed.

Tomorrow is my midwife appt. and we shall see what she says.

I need to just focus on enjoying these last few days or weeks of waiting.

Must crochet. :)