Owen's Visit with Santa....

Welcome to the world, Baby Ben!

For weeks and weeks I have had braxton hicks so on Monday I didn't pay too much attention to them, but in the evening (around 5PM) I was driving home from a park where I had met my friend, Nina, and noticed that they were getting stronger and that I had been having them for awhile.  So when we got home I tried timing them in the midst of cooking dinner, helping Ethan with homework, etc.  Around 5:20PM, I emailed Sean asking if he could leave work early, as I didn't feel 100% and had had some painful contractions (he works over an hour away).  Sean made great time and was home by 6:35.  I was giving Owen a bath when he got home and he helped me finish that up and we put the boys to bed at 7:30.  Since I had been moving around all evening I decided to lay on the couch for a little bit to see if the contractions stopped.  Sean finished packing the hospital bag while I was still in slight denial that I was really in labor.  (one of my fears was that I would be 'the girl who cried wolf' by thinking I was in real labor and get the sitter over and go to the hospital just to find out that it wasn't the real thing.)  At 8PM Sean convinced me that it would be a good idea to be safe than sorry and go to the hospital at some point.  So I called JoAnna and gave her a heads up that we would probably be calling  soon and asking her to come over.  I then called my doctor and she told me to go to the hospital.  Being stubborn, I waited until 8:30 and Sean then called JoAnna back and asked her to come over.  Then the contractions were getting closer and noticeably stronger, so we called our neighbor  Rachel, to see if she could come over and wait for JoAnna to get here (she lives about 25 minutes away).  So Rachel ran over and we set off for the hospital!

We arrived at 9PM and were taken to the triage room where they hooked me up to the monitors to determine how frequent the contractions were.  After 10 minutes they told me that they were every 2 minutes and the doctor checked me and I was 6cm and officially going to have a baby that night!  At this point I realized that we forgot my purse that had the camera in it, so Sean ran home to get it.  While he was away, the doctor and the doctor in residence did an ultrasound to check the baby and the fluid levels.  Once it was determined that all looked well, the nurse helped me get all of my things and we went to the labor and delivery room (Sean met us in the hallway while we were walking there).

The nurse had asked me what I wanted to do for pain management.  I told her that I really wanted to try and do it natural, but if it got to be too much, I would want an epidural.  She was completely supportive!  (much different than the nurse with Owen was).  I told her that I wanted to be out of the bed as much as possible and not hooked up to the monitors, since it hurt much more when I was laying there and with the monitors on.  So she got me a big yoga ball to sit on, which did help, and a super warm blanket, since I was really cold.  Once the jacuzzi tub was full, she helped me get in (yup, every labor and delivery room at this hospital has it's own jacuzzi!).  She then left Sean and I and we were just talking and joking around.  I had a really painful contraction and then we were commenting on the time and how the baby didn't have much time left if he wanted to be born on the third of December.  The next contraction was incredibly painful and I couldn't help but push - I told Sean and he was pushing the call bell and yelling - the first time the nurse answered I don't think she realized what was going on, and when she answered the second time she must have heard me in the background and Sean saying that he could see the head, because the next thing I knew, there were at least 6 doctors and nurses in the room!  They asked if I wanted to stay in the tub or get out - I definitely wanted OUT!  It was so so hot and I didn't want to have a water birth, so they helped me out and onto the bed.  Two contractions later, Baby Ben was born!  They put him on my chest while they cleaned him up and we were amazed at how much hair he already had and how perfect he is!  The baby doctor was really sweet and told us to just let her know when she could take him to finish cleaning him up and weigh him (unlike at Reston Hospital, where they just snagged Owen without asking).

Overall, this birth experience was, by far, the best I've had yet.  The staff at the hospital was so helpful and supportive and were really all about doing what I wanted.  I think the only thing I would do differently if I could do it again was to ask the doctor to check me again before I went into the jacuzzi, as I had a feeling that I should have asked...  Also, this is the first time we didn't have any visitors while we were at the hospital (unless you count the endless people coming in to check on Ben or me).  So when familiar faces stopped by to say hi, such as my OB Dr. Gillotti and the nurse who really helped us when Sean passed out during the hospital tour (that is a whole other story...) I was probably more happy to see them than most are.

NAME GAME:  Deciding on the perfect name for Ben was really hard!!!  We had a list of names (Benjamin, Austin, Jonathan, Eli, Isaiah, and Gabriel) that we both liked but just couldn't decide which ones were the best fit for our new baby.  We really liked Gabriel, but Sean preferred not to have it as the first name.

I have always liked the name Benjamin but never really thought of potentially naming one of my son's it...  But while I was pregnant the name popped in my head and I never could really get it out:)  Plus, King Benjamin in the Book of Mormon is my favorite prophet.

The story behind the name Gabriel is this...  Last week I went in for my weekly appointment and my doctor told me to go immediately across the street to the hospital to get a non-stress test and ultrasound done to make sure that the baby was OK - since she was worried, I was, of course, worried!  So I went to the hospital with Owen and while I was getting the non-stress test done, the name Gabriel popped in my head.  It was a name that we hadn't even talked about and I hadn't even slightly thought of, so I was surprised by it.   That night I laid in bed and started reading a new book and one of the characters' names was Gabriel!  I then told Sean about the name and he mentioned that he had thought of it, too.  Over the next couple of days I kept thinking about the name and the more I thought about it, the more I liked it.  Not only for the name itself and how it came to both of us, but also because of the Biblical tie-in that it has.

Tuesday morning, after Sean came back to the hospital after helping JoAnna send Ethan off to school, we sat there looking at the baby trying to figure out what he should be called.  We decided that he looked too 'wise' for the name Austin.  Then Sean said, 'how about Benjamin Gabriel?'  I told him that I liked it and that if he did, too, then it should be his name.  So our sweet baby finally got his name!!

Sitting on the yoga ball with a super warm blanket on my shoulders (I was freezing!)  This is about 20 minutes before I had Ben.

He's here!!!

All set to go home!

The stork Sean surprised me with:)

Owen's Quiet Book is DONE! :)

One iron down and 6 weeks later... Owen's quiet book is officially done!  I had originally planned on buying one, but couldn't find one that I really, really liked (well, until about a week ago I found one but that's besides the point), so I decided to just make one.  It has been a love-hate relationship with project!  I loved it because I could do basically whatever I wanted (and there are so many page ideas on Pinterest!), but it also felt like this project was never going to end and I lost a lot of sleep over it because I would stay up thinking of different ideas.  I am, however, already thinking of pages for another book - haha!

Anyway, I told my family and friends that I would take pictures of it once it was done so that they could see what I've been working so hard on during Owen's naps and sometimes after the kids went to bed..

Cover - I splurged and got the front and back cover professionally embroidered (I knew I should have bought that embroidery machine that a lady in my old ward was selling a couple of years ago!).  

The inside cover (you can kind of see on the left) has a pocket for any pieces that fall out and we don't have time to put them with the right page.  

The Tree Page:  One of my favs!  I printed the apples on iron-on paper and then ironed them onto fabric that I had sewn velcro onto (so much faster than trying to make my own 'apples'!. The apples can be put on the tree or in the basket.

If you open up the trunk, you will find a cute little owl!  I had this fabric with these adorable owls on it from another project (that never became reality - hate that) and wanted to add him:)

Another one of my absolute favorite 'layout'!  I got the idea from http://masontrio.blogspot.com/2012/07/quiet-book.html (you need to scroll down a bit to get to her monkey page) but I wanted my monkey to look more like Owen's Mr. Monkey so I googled and found a tiny clip-art picture and just drew one free-hand by looking at the picture.  His mouth is a zipper (first zipper I have ever sewn - so don't look too close at it!), and you can feed him the bananas.  I wanted to add something else to do with the bananas, so I made a palm tree that you can stick the bananas onto if you don't want them in the basket or with the monkey.

You can move the space ship up and down the ribbon to fly to the moon or back. 

I got the idea of adding flaps with family pictures behind them from a site where the lady used a school bus.  Well, I didn't think I had enough space to make a school bus with enough windows for our family, so I made a house instead.  You can pull the cardstock with the pictures on it at the top of the house (hopefully Owen won't figure that out!).  

Peek!  Our Family!

I don't know why some of these pictures are sideways, but at any rate, this is one of the first pages I made.  Owen can take the paint and put them in the black 'bucket' or match them back up on the pallet.  He can then 'paint.'

This is the last page I made...  Owen LOVES ducks (almost as much as monkeys), so I had to make him a page that had ducks on it!  We have a basket that has ducks on it, so I used that as a template to draw the ducks on felt.  I cut and sewed them with velcro so that they can be taken off.  The sun rays are ribbon for Owen to play with, too.

and lift the flaps in the water and what do you find?!  A cute frog and turtle, looking at you!

I wanted to add a buckle and saw this cute idea on how to incorporate one into a quiet book...  And it teaches how to set the table!  A bit advanced for Owen right now, but at least he can play with the buckle and put the table setting back into the basket.

Since I think every little kid loves to write and draw, here you go!  Owen can draw or write whatever he wants in his little notebook and then put it in the mailbox (and then put the red flag up).

Again, I don't know why this page is oriented this way, but oh well.  The traffic light was the very first thing I made for this project.  It sat on my desk for weeks and weeks afterwards as I tried to think of what to do with it - I even thought of just throwing it away.  I'm glad I didn't as it goes perfectly with the road page!  Owen likes playing with matchbox cars and saying 'vroom, vroom!' so a road page was a must.  I made it a very simple square (some road page ideas on pinterest are pretty intense!), but then realized that I didn't have space to store the car!  I happened to glance over and saw the traffic light and immediately sewed a pocket to it and viola!  The colors on the traffic light can also be taken off and matched up to the right colors.

The left page (well, bottom in the picture) are balloons with beads that I sewed on.  You match the colors.  I decided to try beads instead of buttons because I didn't feel like sewing buttons on, but in hindsight, I wish I had taken the time to do so, as the balloons fall off of the beads very easily.  There is a clear pocket (made out of vinyl) for the extra balloons to be stored if they aren't matched up.

The right page is where Owen can match his shapes.  The screen rectangle is actually a pocket to store the shapes when they aren't matched up.

A shoe!  What kid doesn't like to play with shoe laces?!  This is one of Ethan's old shoes from when he was a baby.  I've kept it and shortly before Owen was born I realized that I didn't have it's mate, but it was such a cute shoe that I didn't throw it away in hopes that I would find the other one.  Well, I haven't found it, so I decided to cut it up and use it in the book instead of tossing it in the trash.  

The Barn page

Open up the barn pages and there are some farm animals inside!  Found the wooden animals at Michael's for $1... only problem is, is that they fall out of the pocket so easily - I know that they will get lost very soon.

The Pumpkin Page: There are different eyes, noses, and mouths that can be stuck to the Jack-o-Lantern.  The pumpkin itself is a pocket to store the pieces when they aren't in use.

The Baseball Mit:  Owen can stick his hand in the 'mit' to catch the ball.

Counting!

Back cover of the book

And it isn't complete without a bag to carry it in!  First time making a flat-bottomed tote, so don't look too closely:)  I wanted the inside to be the same green fabric as the inside covers of the quiet book, but I didn't have enough and JoAnn's hasn't had any more of it for weeks (I've been checking) and I didn't have time to order it online - so red polka dots it is!

What I have learned from this project:

• It doesn't have to be perfect, as kids will be playing with it and won't care that the pages aren't the exact same size or the thread doesn't match the fabric (it was hard to get over this, as I'm a perfectionist at times!)
• When I'm not worried about it being absolutely perfect, I really can accomplish a lot of sewing in an hour!
• Pay attention when ironing with Wonder Under!  I accidentally ironed with the glue side up and it was a huge disaster, hence, I had to buy a new iron (sorry, Sean!)
• Wonder Under became my best 'sewing' friend for this project!  (even though we had some disagreements when the iron got ruined).
• Most of the attachments can be attached to the book with velcro - which a lot of people said not to do because of the noise, but for me, it was the fastest and easiest way to do it.  (I tried sewing snaps for the applies page and it didn't go so well).  So, sorry to those who sit next to us during church and you hear all of the velcro!
• Google is awesome.  Aside from getting some page ideas from Pinterest, Google is by far just plain awesome.  It helped me find clip-art for the monkey and space ship so I could figure out how to draw it to the right size, and it helped me make a flat-bottomed tote bag!
• Next time I don't think I will line the pages with the Pellon that I used for these pages.  It made the pages thicker than I wanted (even after trying to iron them to flatten them out).  I will definitely line them with something, though.

Here are the two sources I used for how to make the tote bag:

• http://ericafaye.blogspot.com/2012/04/how-to-sew-box-bottom-bag.html
• Used this one to figure out what the dimensions of the fabric needed to be in order to make the bag the size I wanted
• http://whatthecraft.com/how-to-make-a-square-bottom-bag-video-tutorial/
• Great video tutorial!  Thanks to our iPad, I followed her step-by-step at my sewing table.  

Life Update

I realized that I haven't really posted any updates on our family since September, so I think it's time:)

Ethan:  Ethan is officially 9 years old!  I can't believe it!  My parents come up the weekend before his birthday so we celebrated a little early.  He played on one of the town's baseball teams this fall and really enjoyed it.  It was fun watching him play and see his progression.  This winter he will be playing on the town's basketball team - hopefully he will enjoy it as much as he did baseball.

Owen:  Owen is now 16 months old and is just as cute as can be!  You can't help but smile every time you see him:)  He has such a great personality and is so laid back.  He loves playing with his toys, books, and matchbox cars, and of course - Mr. Monkey!!!  We are at almost a week of no bottles.  He LOVES his milk in a bottle and would only take it from a bottle, but during the hurricane, we decided it was a good time to get rid of it.  It isn't very happy about it, but is at least taking some milk from a sippy cup now.

Sean:  Yesterday Sean started his new job with a new company.  Although it is only his second day, he is really enjoying it!  I'm happy that he is in a position that he enjoys and will continue to learn and grow.  He is studying away for the first C.F.A. exam, which he is scheduled to take on December 1st.

Baby #3:  Baby is doing well!  I get an ultrasound done now every two weeks to make sure that his kidneys aren't getting any bigger.  I can't believe that his due date is in 5 weeks!  We are anxious to meet him, but hope that he doesn't come too early (although I think he will come early... but who knows, I also was certain he was a girl!).  We have a list of 4 or 5 names - hopefully he will 'look' like one of them:)

Me:  Aside from chasing Owen around all day, cooking, cleaning, laundry, Ethan, etc., I have been busy making crafts.  I made a Halloween wreath and a Subway Art picture; and am currently working on Baby's crochet blanket, and a Quiet Book.  Hope I have time to finish all of these projects before Baby is born!  My birthday was last month, as well as Sean's and my 2 year wedding anniversary.  Sean sent me beautiful roses and bought me a new camera.

Sean and I are starting to get things ready for the baby's arrival.  This past weekend he set up the pack-n-play in the living room and bought newborn diapers (they are so tiny!).

So, that's what's been going on in our world these last couple of weeks!  Pictures coming as soon as I charge my camera battery:)

Trip to VA!

Since Ethan didn't have school on Friday or Monday, we decided to drive down to VA for the long weekend.  It was absolutely fantastic to be back and see friends and family!  And how I miss the roads there!  They were all smooth and nicely paved and more than one lane going each way.  (Don't get me wrong, the winding, two lane roads here in CT are beautiful with the changing leaves, but it sure would be nice if they were repaved and expanded).

On Friday I was able to hang out with my friends - it was so good to see them again and it was fun watching our kiddos play together!  I was even able to meet Little Leo, who was born the day before we moved, but was in the NICU so I wasn't able to see him before we left.  

Saturday my sister and Mom hosted a brunch for me to celebrate Baby Boy - it was perfect - very simple and small:)  Again, it was wonderful seeing friends and family there:)  On Sunday we went to the church building to watch the first session of General Conference - I love going to the church building to watch conference.  I know it isn't as cozy as your own living room, but I really feel the Spirit. Great messages - can't wait to get them in the Ensign to study them!

Oh, how I miss Virginia, but I know that there are good things in store for us here in Connecticut:)

Owen with some of his Virginia friends (he was wearing pants-it was just so hot I took them off)

Emery, Owen, Charlotte, and Tori 

Dave and Me for the traditional tummy comparison picture:)

nearly 31 weeks pregnant

Wanted: A Mother

Read this in one of my parenting magazines and thought it was cute:)

"Recognizing God's Hands in Our Daily Blessings"

This was on the back of our ward program a couple of weeks ago and I absolutely really like it.

"In reality, there aren't many things in a day that are totally without significance.  Even the mundane and repetitious can be tiny but significant building blocks that in time establish the discipline and character and order needed to realize our plans and dreams.  Therefore, as you ask in prayer for your daily bread, consider thoughtfully your needs - both what you may lack and what you must protect against.  As you retire to bed, think about the successes and failures and what will make the next day a little better.  And thank your Heavenly Father for the manna He has placed along your path that sustained you through the day."
               D. Todd Christofferson, "Recognizing God's Hands in Our Daily Blessings", Liahona and Ensign, 
                January 2012.