Four Weeks Old

Charlie is a great big brother. He's struggling a little right now with having to share the spotlight with his new baby brother, but seems to be adjusting well on most days. He's become quite a talker lately. He doesn't stop talking until he goes to bed. Lauren came and visited us the other day and got to see him in rare form....lol

This is JM's new bumbo seat. He loved sitting in it. He looks like such a big boy in it. Check out his feet. Too cute!

Three Weeks Old

Two Weeks Old

Finally Catching Up....

Sorry that I haven't gotten around to updating our blog lately. I've been a slacker. I have to admit that this whole having a new baby in the house is a lot harder than I expected it to be. We are still trying to figure our new little guy out. We know that he definitely likes to eat because he wants to eat all the time. I can't wait to find out how much he weighs at his next checkup. He is doing really well except for having some tummy aches on some days and he has broken out in a rash on his face which the doctor assures me will go away soon...I'm crossing my fingers! He is sleeping well most nights, but we are still having some nights where he's up on and off all night. He likes to be held alot. He doesn't like to be put down which is keeping me from getting anything done around the house. However, I love it. He is so snuggly, you can't help but want to sit around and love on him all day. Amy Warren reminded me the other day that in 20 years I won't remember the housework that didn't get done, but I will remember snuggling with him. Good point, Amy! However, I need to get a little housework done so that I can find our red Spiderman hermit crab who has been missing since Sunday. This is the second time that he's gone missing. Hopefully he'll turn up soon...Here's a pic just in case you see him out and about...

JM and I are having some quality time by ourselves this week while Charlie is at VBS in the morning and taking swim lessons in the afternoon. He had a rocky start to his morning at VBS because he's gotten really used to being at home with me and didn't want Chuck to leave him at the church, but he quickly got over it and had a great morning. He also did very well at swim lessons this afternoon. Thanks goodness! I was very nervous that he would cry alot during them. Ms. Diane has been such a big help with Charlie since JM's birth. She is helping us with him this week with shuttling him around after VBS and having swim lessons at her house. Thanks so much Ms. Diane!

One Week Old

John Michael is one week old today! Charlie was so excited that he wanted to be in the picture too! He's such a great big brother!

John Michael's Arrival

Well by now most of you have already heard that John Michael is finally here. He was born on Monday, May 17th at 2:58 pm. He weighed 7 lbs 7 ozs and was 20 1/4 inches long. I had a wonderful delivery. My epidural was fabulous! It worked beautifully!! I was actually talking to Charlie at 2:15 and had John Michael a little over 30 mins later. I have to say that I was very impressed with the TRMC nurses and staff. They really took great care of me and John Michael during our short stay there. We left the hospital for home on Wednesday around lunchtime. I have to admit that I was really excited, but at the same time scared to death. It's been 4.5 years since I have held a baby this tiny. I feel like a first time mom all over again. John Michael has done really well since we came home, but is battling some tummy issues. He cries alot with tummy aches and it just breaks our hearts. We hope to figure out what the problem is soon. We have started using new bottles in the last couple of days and hopefullly that will help with the tummy aches.

Charlie is adjusting well to being a big brother and smothers John Michael with hugs and kisses daily. We took him to see the new Shrek movie on Saturday as a treat after we had pictures made of him and John Michael. Charlie loved spending time with us alone and loved the movie. It was a really cute movie, but I dozed off a few times during it. We are getting very little sleep around here right now, but I know that will get better in the weeks to come. Our pictures went great and I will upload a link to them whenever they are posted. I can't wait to see them!


John Michael is one week old today. He's already changed so much! We praise the Lord for giving us this sweet baby! Our prayers were answered with a healthy baby. We are floating on cloud nine!

The Big Day

We went to the doctor this morning and I'm making progress. Yay!!! After talking with the doctor and discussing our options, we decided to let the doctor set us up to be induced late Sunday night. The only downside to that is that I won't be able to have my preferred OB deliver John Michael because she isn't on call on Monday. I'm a little nervous about that, but I have met the doctor that will be on call that day and I feel comfortable with him. I feel very encouraged by the progress that I have made so far and the doctor thinks that it's possible that I may even go into labor before the induction starts. We are going to continue taking our nightly walks and maybe that will help the labor go better as well. I feel much better now after talking to the doctor today and finding out that my body is getting itself ready naturally for the process already.

Chuck and I are going to use the next couple of days to spend as much time with Charlie as possible before the big arrival. I can tell already that Charlie is sensing that it is near because he has been extremely clingy with both me and Chuck. Of course, I don't mind that a bit because I love cuddling with him, but I'm worried about him. I hope that he handles the change well, but I'm sure that he will. He has always been such an easy child. I hope that John Michael will have his same disposition. It will be interesting to see how their personalities are alike and different. Keep us in your prayers as the big day approaches. We'll send out texts and updates as soon as he gets here.

Waiting to Exhale

Well I've been out walking since my last doctor's appt and I'm going back to the doctor today at 12:30 to see if I've made any progress. I'm crossing my fingers that I have :) This last week has been really rough because I've been hurting so bad. I don't remember any of this happening with Charlie. I think that if it had he'd definitely be an only child. I hate to complain, but I'm just plain miserable right now. I hope that with all of this preparation for the big day that my body has been doing, then my labor will go fast and uneventfully. I've got alot of anxiety over this whole labor thing which is surprising to me because I totally now what to expect this time. All of my anxiety centers around John Michael being healthy when he arrives. I know that it sounds crazy, but I don't care about the pain....I just care about hearing him cry and the doctors saying that my baby is okay. I sure do hope that this anxiety goes away after he is born. Our last year has just been so hard after losing our other baby. Please pray for this to be the start of healing for me. Even though I never met that baby I haven't been able to make it through even one day since then without thinking or crying about it. This has been the hardest thing that has ever happened to me and I desperately need to find some peace about it. Please pray for John Michael's safe arrival also. We are so excited about finally getting to meet him! Charlie can't stop talking about him. He's going to be such a FANTASTIC big brother!

Waiting...

Well I've finally gotten with the program and started a blog. I've never really been that good at following through with this kind of stuff, so we'll see how long it lasts. Chuck suggested that I start one while I have the time to set it up, so that we can use it as a way of keeping everyone up to date on John Michael and the rest of the family.

Right now we are just waiting...I've had some bad contractions that seem to come and go. The other night, I thought that we may be headed to the hospital again, but the contractions stopped. Apparently I don't know how to do things half way and after the doctors told me that I could come off of bedrest, I must have overdone it because the contractions were really bad the next day. I've been trying to pace myself since then. I have washed everything in the house including all three pairs of Charlie's converse shoes (which look brand new now :) and every piece of clothing that we own. I've also cleaned out every drawer or cabinet that I can find. I've filled up multiple bags of donations to Goodwill. I want to get anything that we don't use out of the house. I want to simplify our lives as much as possible. Apparently I'm nesting...lol I must be rubbing off on Chuck because last night he wanted to clean out the garage and today he wants to clean out our office whch are the two places that I haven't been able to clean by myself. This morning I shucked fresh corn and cooked it, made tacos, made 24 cupcakes, and washed/cut up two pints of strawberries. I've been pretty much useless since then. I ended up taking a nap when Charlie napped and haven't been productive at all since then.

I got the chance earlier to just sit and cuddle with Charlie. I know that these days are numbered because pretty soon it's gonna get very busy around here when John Michael arrives. I hate that I had to leave work earlier than I planned, but have enjoyed having some time at night to cuddle and spend time with Charlie and not be so exhausted from the school day. This week's events have really made me think about my priorities. We had a student in the class across the hall from mine that was killed when he was struck by a car while trying to board the school bus. It really put things in prospective for me. I've gotten really bad about checking my facebook account, email, etc... and multitasking when I've had Charlie in my lap. This week I've made sure that I put my full attention on him when he's around. I am so blessed that I have him to cuddle with.

We'll keep everyone updated as the week progresses. I have another doctor's appointment on Tuesday and will know more then about how things are progressing. Hopefully I will have made some progress now that I'm off of bedrest. I'll be 38 weeks on Monday!