Our Family is changing

Our view of our family will be changing once again in April when we welcome our surprise new addition Micah Andrew. We weren't necessarily planning on having another baby so soon, but apparently God thought it was a good idea. My due dates are 18 months apart exactly.
We are going to be changing things up a bit since life got a little more complicated after I had a c-section with Stephen. We decided that if possible and if we could make it work it would be best for me to NOT have major surgery and just opt for a repeat c-section. But instead to try for a Vaginal Birth after Cesarean (VBAC). Unfortunately to get a VBAC and find not only a supportive VBAC hospital but a provider as well that met my criteria (mainly that they could handle and emergency delivery if it became necessary) we have decided to go up to Portland to have this little one. I found out that my insurance will cover OHSU as "in network" and they also have a group of midwives who do VBACs up there. I'm actually really excited for the opportunity. There are parts of me that are a little nervous. Mostly of the unknown: when will I go into labor, will Lonnie make it in time, will I know I'm going into labor, will I be able to do it without pain meds (one of my goals so I know if something bad is happening), will everything go well, will I end up with a repeat c-section. Ultimately I am okay with a repeat c-section. The way I see it is that I have a 100% chance of surgery if I sign up for a repeat c-section, I have a 35% chance of surgery if I try for a VBAC. The thought of recovering from major surgery while taking care of an 18 month old does not sound appealing in the slightest, but I will do it if I have to. I feel fortunate in many ways because of my experience as an L&D nurse. I KNOW what to look for, what to listen for, what things are emergent and what isn't. I'm hoping and praying that this delivery goes off without a hitch and I get a nice, normal, boring vaginal delivery.
Including that and having a nice normal pregnancy, things have been going great. Stephen and I just got back from a trip to Australia for my sister Janell's wedding. Unfortunately Lonnie wasn't able to come, but we survived somehow. Let's just say 30 hour journey's are NOT for the weak. Stephen is also walking up a storm now. He took his first steps Nov 1st, and now he walks everywhere. He LOVES to walk around with things in his hands whether it's his ball, soda cans, mini pumkins...whatever. It's just amazing to see him grow and change. He's such a blessing to our lives every day.
Lonnie's job is still going well and he is considered the best report writer in the office. It has it's pluses and minuses in that he doesn't get the opportunity to go out and supervise people because he's busy writing reports. But, everyone thinks very highly of his writing abilities. My work is also going well. Things don't slow down in the baby birthing business and we are busier then ever.

So there's the update on the fam and the changes we are going through. I'm hoping to write on here more and maybe not just do family updates but write about other things that I think about too.

Heading home!!

We are heading home tomorrow morning. It has taken a fair amount of packing and figuring to pack it all up and get it all in the car. We are going home with a fair bit more then what we came with so that has been a challenge for Lonnie's super packing skills. We are planning to stop in Redding and pick Sherman up. Then Lonnie has to cut off at Yreka and do two more days of training there, while we continue home and I have to be the single parent of a baby and a pup for a few days.

I am totally stoked to get home and to be in my own space. Granted this has been a really good situation for us. Stephen and I were able to join Lonnie for 5 out of the 6 weeks he'd be gone which is incredible. We had a great hotel arrangement which has been awesome. I think the thing I am most excited for is just to sleep in my own bed. I never realized how incredibly awesome our bed was until we've had to sleep in a bed that has a dip in the middle similar in size to Crater Lake. Lonnie's parents are going to meet us as home to help me get the baby and the pup situated.

The tough thing going home is figuring out all the things that I need to do with the puppy. We really want him to be a good member our family. We want to make sure from the get-go that he has good behavior. We've been reading a number of books by Cesar Millan who is "The Dog Whisperer." He has a lot of good tips and things to do to help you raise the perfect dog. So hopefully we will be able to raise the pup well and we won't have many of the behavioral issues that many other people have. We'll see. Like Stephen this pup is the first "baby" we've ever had, so I'm sure there will be mistakes along the way.

Our newest family member!

Lonnie and I have been on the hunt for a puppy. We have wanted to get a dog for awhile but just haven't gotten one. So we've been looking and reading and watching online to find the one that we want. Because purebreds are so scarce in Crescent City, we thought that we might have a better chance of getting the dog we want if we get it while we're down here in Sacramento. Originally the plan was to get a Staffordshire Terrier because they are known to be very good with kids, and from our understanding our apartment has a 20 lb limit on pets. Well, Staffies can be up to 35 pounds and it made me really nervous that the dog might get too big. See, we have an apartment manager who is perhaps a little bipolar. One day you can be on her good side, the other you're on her bad. And she can make life really difficult if you get on her bad side. So I really don't want to piss her off if I can avoid it. So, we changed our focus and tried to find a dog that would meet the standards. We wanted a dog that was cute, great with kids and patient, and would be under 20 lbs or right around that. We considered a dachshund but they aren't known to be very patient with kids. We ended up stumbling upon the Shetland Sheepdog or Shelties as they are commonly known.
We started looking and found that it was very difficult to find one, especially one for less than $1000. We found a couple of 5 month old pups that were 3 hours away. We strongly considered going to get one or at least go look at them but we found another ad for 8 week old puppies. We called on the smaller puppies and they still had two available. We decided that we'd like to have a smaller puppy because we wanted the pup and Stephen to grow up together. We also didn't want to chance having a dog who had already settled itself into unknown habits. We drove up to Redding on Saturday to take a look at the pups. I fell in love with the smaller of the two right away. I like all things miniature so it made it easy for me. We spent a little time holding and watching each of the pups and decided to go for the smaller one. Stephen did well with them and like he does with everything else he tried to eat the dog. He wanted to hold his ears and grab his fur. We definitely have a ways to go in trying to teach him to be gentle. We talked to the breeder and she was willing to hold the dog for us until next Sat as we drive home. This made things so much easier because it was going to be difficult to figure out keeping a dog in the hotel. We decided to name him Sherman, a name that just popped into my head one day as I was driving. He's such a cute dog and I know that he and Stephen will grow up to be good buddies.

Trip to Long Beach

We decided that since we were closer then we would be from home we would drive down to Long Beach and see my brother Tim and his wife Gina. We saw them last at their wedding in November but didn't get to spend much time with them at all(for obvious reasons). My brother David hitched a ride from San Diego so he could be there for the weekend too. It was nice to be able to go and see them for a little bit of time. We drove down Friday after Lonnie was done with his class and got there just before midnight. We slept on their "hotelement" mattress which fits in the back of my brother's Honda Element. Stephen slept on a blanket in the closet. On Saturday we hung out around the house. In the morning Lonnie went with Tim to go and take some pictures. Stephen snuggled with Uncle David who complained about being woken up until I reminded him that he will VERY RARELY get to snuggle with his nephew. We ended up spending most of the day around the house, though Gina and I took a walk down to a park and learned a little bit about lawn bowling. We had dinner that night of Carne Asada tacos that Tim made. We also had a bonfire in their fire pit and made s'mores. On Sunday morning we ate breakfast at their house (it was more of a lunch). Then we took a walk to the Colorado Lagoon where Tim has done some conservation work. After the trip to the park it was time for us to go home. We drove home and got home late that night. It was a nice visit and I'm glad we got to see them.

Trip to Monterey

We discovered last minute that my sister Amanda and Brother-in-law Bill were going to be in Monterey for the Big Sur Marathon on April 25th that my BIL was running. Not sure how we all missed that and didn't plan ahead, but we decided to head down there to meet up with them anyways. It took us a few hours of driving but we got there. We ended up going to downtown Monterey and walking around a bit, ate some lunch. We visited the check-in for the marathon. Then due to fatigue and needs for naps Lonnie, Stephen and I all went back to their hotel room and took a nap for a bit. Then we met them for dinner at a pizza place that was packed out. We finally made it home by midnight but it was nice to check in and see them. We hadn't seen them since Christmas so they got to see how much Stephen had changed in 4 months.

Stephen's half birthday

So, I'm getting caught up now. Stephen had his half birthday on Tuesday April 20th. We were down in Sacramento with Lonnie. And he got to celebrate with his first trip into the swimming pool. He really enjoyed himself! Here are a few pictures!

6 Month Photo shoot

Well since Stephen is just about 6 months old we decided to have my friend Bekah do some family pictures for us. She took my pregnancy pictures, the pictures when Stephen was 2 weeks old, and now these. And she always does a great job. We live too far away to get any studio type of pictures so these are the replacement. Plus it's such a steal for $40 if you ask me.

Lonnie's left us!!

Well he did leave, but we'll see him again in 5 days. He has a TON of training to do in central California for work. One of the courses is 4 weeks long and he was supposed to complete it before he'd been at the probation office for a year (oops, that didn't happen). He also has an assortment of firearms trainings, defensive tactics training, and a number of things I can't remember. When all is said and done he will be gone for about 6 weeks. Stephen and I were hoping to go with him the whole time but in order to compromise with work I agreed to only take 4 weeks off which made it much easier for them to give me the part-time position that I now have. So Stephen and I will leave on Saturday morning and drive down to meet him in Willows which is north of Sacramento and then we'll caravan (is two cars a caravan?)to our hotel in Roseville which is about 15 miles from Sac. The people at the probation office aren't super "on-the-ball" about finding things and considering what a person might need for a whole month so I did all the research based on our needs since we'd have Stephen with us. I found a Residence Inn in Roseville which is 15 miles from where Lonnie's training is every day. We get a one-bedroom hotel room which makes it super convenient for Stephen to be in there while napping. We also have a "kitchen" that has a full sized refrigerator and a stove top. I'm bringing my crock pot and we'll get a toaster oven when we're down there to make our "kitchen" complete. I'm loading up all my books I want to read, photography stuff, stuff for Stephen, just about everything but the kitchen sink. I'm so happy we get to be together for most of the time Lonnie is down there. It would be really hard for all of us to be away from him for that long. I'm hoping to find a way to go to San Francisco while we're there to go and see "Wicked" but it depends on whether or not Lonnie's co-worker would mind watching him for the evening or if Lonnie's parents are going to come down. During our trip we also plan to drive down to Long Beach to see my older brother Tim and his wife Gina. We went down for their wedding when Stephen was a couple weeks old but didn't really get a chance to see and talk to them much. So we're hoping to use this chance that we are closer to see them and spend some time with them.

Making baby food

So I've decided that I am going to be making my own baby food. I'd never really thought of it before having Stephen. I just decided that along with other things that I try to do to provide healthy things for him, that making my own baby food would not only potentially be more nutritious but also a heck of a lot cheaper. The fact that I continue to drink diet coke is not included in the healthy decisions that I make. Since we have started in introduce him to new foods I have been exploring on what I can do to make it myself. It's actually a heck of a lot cheaper then I would have originally thought. Not only do I have the food mill which I will be able to use to grind up whatever we are eating, but it's also pretty easy to make purees and freeze them in ice cube trays. I am now in love with the website wholesomebabyfood.com where they have tons of tips and recipes on making your own. You can make any kind of fruit and veggie. You can also make your own baby oatmeal, rice, or barley. They have a cost comparison analysis that shows you how much cheaper it is and for the most part it averages around $.25 cheaper per oz then store bought food. So far I have ground up butternut squash, pureed sweet potatoes, and pureed bananas. Stephen has had small tastes of all of those and loves them all. I can't get the food on the spoon fast enough for him. I have also frozen avocado slices so that they can be taken out of the freezer, thawed, and then mashed and served. It's so exciting to make and try new foods with him. It's made even easier and more exciting because he loves the food so much. I'm so happy to have a big eater. He would definitely love to eat more then the 1 tablespoon that I give him, but for now that's where I'm cutting him off. I am also trying to figure out about organic vs inorganic foods. I want to provide him with the best possible nutrition and have it be healthy so for now I am trying to use organic fruits and veggies, although it does present more of a challenge and expense. I haven't actually figured out the cost if I buy organic and make my own if it would be any cheaper but we'll have to see. I may just do it anyways, then I know what is in the food that he's eating. Ahh, the challenges of making the best decisions for your baby.

Stephen is rolling over!!

Stephen is now 5 months and one week and he's rolled over from his back to his belly. He started rolling from his belly to his back about a month ago and when then he started liking tummy time and that removed his motivation to roll over. He's been getting super close to rolling from back to belly but had been unsuccessful until today. I held a toy just out of his reach and he rolled to get it from me. I grabbed the camera and with the use of another toy (he tired of the first) he managed to do it again and I caught it on video.

Already 5 months

First of all I can't believe that I am the mother of a 5 month old.  It seems like it was just yesterday that I was going into the hospital to have him, and yet it feels like so long ago.  Kinda hard to explain.  But he is such a joy in our lives.  He loves it when his daddy sings to him and quiets down almost immediately, he loves to play with other people's hands and stick their fingers in his mouth.  He loves to play with his cloth diaper and stuff it in his mouth.  He now loves tummy time-which makes it hard to get to him to turn over because he likes it now.  He absolutely loves his baths and kicks all the water out as I start putting him in.  He likes to ride around in the front pack or mei tai when we go out.  He also likes to practice his standing and tries to stand up all the time when you're holding him.  There is very little he doesn't like and is almost always a very happy baby unless he's very tired or very hungry.  He is super content to go to other people and isn't afraid at all.

Some new things in his life are that we finally got his mullet trimmed.  He's had this really thick portion of hair in the very back on the very bottom that was a few inches long.  Everywhere else it was evenly spread but right there it was almost abnormally thick and looked really funny.  It seriously looked like he had a mullet and it was emphasized by the bald spot he has right above it from laying on his back to sleep.  Our friend who is a hair dresser was cutting and doing my hair so she said that she would cut his too.  I saved all the clippings but we are calling this his first hair "trim" because a hair cut is the whole head and this was just one small portion.

We've also started giving him some solid foods.  I was planning to wait until he was a full six months but he started getting really mad when we were eating and he didn't get any or we would move our plates away.  He wanted our food, our silverware, our cups, everything.  I am starting really slow because I don't want him to get real used to solids or expect a large volume so we started with a little baby rice cereal, then gave him some oatmeal (I like that it has more fiber), and he's had avocado.  He absolutely LOVES avocado, he keeps it all in his mouth and doesn't spit any out.  I was trying to make the cereals really loose but the loose consistency was really hard for him to manage without spitting it out.  We are also using the mesh baby feeder that allows him to try foods without having to eat it.  Babies can mash it around in their mouths.  He's had avocado, apple and banana in the feeder just for tastes.  He loves eating and dive-bombs to get the spoon as I start going up to his mouth.  We'll have to work on our highchair manners as he gets a little older.

He's also been working on sitting up.  It generally ends up with his listing to one side or the other but we're working on it.  It hadn't occurred to me until a couple weeks ago that he should be sitting up and he actually did really well when we tried it.

We just love our little boy so much, and look forward to him growing and learning and developing.

5 months of Stephen

I have to say that it is pathetic how bad I have been at keeping up this blog.  Perhaps it's because I doubt that anyone looks at it, and in part because most people are on facebook and I update pictures there.  But I will give an overall update on Stephen over the last 5 months.
     In November we flew down to LA for my older brother Tim's wedding.  Stephen was 2 1/2 weeks old.  We drove over to Medford the night before and stayed in a hotel with Stephen sleeping in a drawer lined with a blanket.  The flight to LA was uneventful but throughout the course of the day Stephen went through 5 outfits between his puking and peeing.  He got to meet his grandpa Dunham, and his great grandparents, as well as most of my siblings.  It was a good time and a beautiful wedding.  At Thanksgiving we went to Eugene to see Lonnie's side of the family.  They gather every year and we had a great time.  I got some "big city" shopping in, and the family threw us and his pregnant cousin a baby shower.  We also drove up to Portland and showed him off to everyone.  This month he start "talking" a lot more.  Now he babbles all the time especially when he is tired.
     In December the biggest thing was celebrating Christmas.  Stephen got to meet his Auntie Laurie who flew in from Liberia for the holidays.  We went up to Portland for actual Christmas and Stephen got to meet his uncle David and spend some good time with other aunts and uncles.  We hadn't seen David since his bootcamp graduation almost 2 1/2 years before that, and we got to see Amanda and Bill as well.  Got some more shopping in.  We came home and had Christmas with Gma and Gpa Reyman and Laurie.  Stephen got to have some time to open his presents.  He's such a joy to have.  He is getting better with sleeping during the night and only waking once to eat.  He is getting fat and happy with his eating.  His naps are usually shorter as we are now experiencing "the 45 min intruder."
    In January we didn't have anything big going on.  At almost exactly 3 months he started losing some of his hair in the front.  He's been working on his bald spot in the back for awhile now.  His hair is so funny because in the back he has this bald spot and then he has this hair on the very bottom that is about 2-3 inches long and really thick.  It makes him look like he has a mullet.  At 11 weeks he started sleeping through the night from 11-8, only occasionally waking up for his pacifier.  We had to "super swaddle" him and pin his arms down with a receiving blanket, but it worked! I also started back to work at the end of the month.  It created an interesting situation because it happened unexpectedly on a Sunday and Lonnie had to take him early to church with him while I went to work and then we had to sort out what would happen for the rest of the day.  It was also his first time in the nursery by himself.
    In Feb he rolled over for the first time.  He also had his baby dedication on Valentines day and my parents were able to come down from Portland for the weekend.  It was nice to have in-home babysitting where all I had to do was feed him and put him down for his naps.  Beyond that my parents did everything else.  They burped, changed, played, everything.  He has gained a real interest in everything that he can reach for and grab at.  He also drools all over everything and tries to put it in his mouth.  I don't think he's teething but it's probably not that far off for us. 
    It is now March.  He is currently about 16 pounds, still eating like a champ. He can sit in a tripod position with someone nearby to make sure that when he lists to the side that he doesn't do a full on face plant into the floor.  He is also closer to rolling from back to belly and can make it all the way onto his side.  We took him to the beach for the first time earlier in the month.  We didn't actually make it onto the beach but we got close.  It's pretty sad that it's taken us 4 months to get him to the beach when we only live a mile away, but I blame it on the weather (sad excuse).  I do try to get out with him in the stroller though, that's gotta count for something.
    So I am going to try and be more consistent about updating the blog.  But I think it's going to take on a new tone as well and be a blog for not only family updates but for my own thoughts on life and whatever else pops into my crazy head.  So stay tuned for what is to come