Saylor's 1st dentist appt

A few weeks ago, Saylor had her very first dentist appointment, at the ripe old age of 17 months. Apparently, from what the dentist told me, they like to see little ones as soon as they turn a year old. Crazy :)!

Sitting in mommy's lap at the dentist

We strolled into the dentist office and I was fully prepared for a melt down from my little princess. She doesn't love going to the doctor's office (who can blame her, right?!), and I felt certain she would feel the same way about the dentist.

Much to my surprise, she did great! She played while we waited, continued to play while the nurse chatted with me and was a rockstar when the dentist came in. No tears, no screaming and opened her mouth for the dentist like an old pro. Being that she is so little, they have her sit in my lap, straddling me, and then she layed back into the dentist's lap. Could not believe how great she did!

She was thrilled with the new toothbrush they gave her and carried it around more much of the day. Way to go, baby girl!

Baker's birth story

My due date was March 28th and being that I had a c-section with Saylor, they gave me the option of scheduling a c-section this time with Baker. I waffled back and forth on this, and decided that if he came on his own before March 22nd (my scheduled c-section date) I would have a VBAC. Although I had a fairly easy recovery with Saylor, my main concern was not being able to pick her up for 4-6 weeks, post c-section. I wasn't quite sure how I would manage with a 16 month old I was unable to pick up. A VBAC seemed like a good option for me.

As we got closer to March 22nd, I felt certain he was going to come on his own at any moment. I was carrying him so low and had so much pressure in my pelvic area I didn't think I would make it another day. But I did :). And on March 22nd, Sean and I headed to the hospital at 6:30am for my c-section that was scheduled at 9.

Right before we left the house (39 weeks 1 day): 

We checked in and everything went smoothly. They put us in our room and hooked me up to the monitors, where we waited the 2 hours before it was go time. I was feeling pretty good, not too nervous and very excited to meet our little boy. I hadn't slept at all the night before, so I was a bit tired, but adrenaline really seems to carry you those first few days. A few minutes after 9 (the doctor was late, ha), I was wheeled into the OR to get my spinal. Sean was left in the hallway, while he waited to get word that he could come in the room with me. 

I didn't remember too much about the spinal from last time, as I had been induced all day and was an emotional wreck! This time, I remember it all. OUCH! The anethesoligist ended up having to do it twice, which didn't help the pain, but it quickly went away as the spinal took effect. A few minutes later, Sean was in the room with me as we waited for our little boy to be welcomed into this world. 

Much like last time, I was quite nauseaus during the surgery. Apparently, my blood pressure drops very low, causing the nausea. It seemed to go fairly quickly and at 9:35am, I heard that sweet, precious cry! As they pulled him out, the doctor told me that he was a big boy and that he had chubby legs. I laughed. And big he was. Baker weighed in at 8lbs 9oz and 20.5 inches long. To say I am thankful he didn't come on his own and I didn't have a VBAC is an understatement :). They cleaned him up and brought him to me to see his sweet face. Sean then went with them to the nursery as they stitched me back up.

I went to recovery and Sean brought him down for me to nurse. I was in recovery a few hours, but unlike last time, I was completely coherent, feeling pretty good, and ready to get to my room to hold my fella. The time seemed to drag by for the feeling to return to my legs and for them to let me out of there, but a few hours later, we were settled in our room, holding our new precious baby boy. My parents had been waiting in the waiting room with Sean's mom and Saylor, waiting for us to get back. I must say, I was a bit nervous about how Saylor would do with the new baby. She came in with my mom and first got upset at seeing me laying in a bed, hooked up to a machine. She quickly recovered, however, and snuggled into the bed with me and her new baby brother.

Waiting to meet her brother

Meeting Baker for the first time

Snuggling with mommy and brother in bed

It's worth noting, for my memories if nothing else, that on the day Baker was born, Sean went to lunch and ended up with a serious case of food poisoning that afternoon. It was awful! He ended up having to go home to rest and recover and my mom stayed at the hospital with me that night. My mom and I joked and said it was like a sleepover in a college dorm. Too fun! 

15 ways to stay married for 15 years

A friend of mine posted a link to a wonderful post on Lydia Netzer's Blog and I just had to share. It is wonderful and has some really great reminders! I copied and pasted her post below or you can visit the link above. It's a must read for us married ladies :)! Enjoy!

(Copied and Pasted from http://lydianetzer.blogspot.com/2012/04/15-ways-to-stay-married-for-15-years.html)

THURSDAY, APRIL 19, 2012

15 Ways to Stay Married for 15 Years

Today is my fifteenth wedding anniversary. I really love Dan, and I am proud of how awesome our marriage is. We certainly haven’t killed each other yet. Hell, we haven’t even maimed each other. We have not always been perfect, but we have made two cool kids, and we have always kept it interesting. For two people as weird and intense as Dan and I are, staying together this long is a big accomplishment. I know some people are surprised.

Here we are going in to our reception. I had a big bow on the back of my dress. This is where we met.

When Dan and I got married, we were 25 years old. Now, we’re staring down the barrel of 40. Looking back I’m surprised we didn’t, as 25 year olds, self-destruct just for the heck of it. Now that we are older, we are perhaps surprisingly also wiser. Here are the things we have learned over the years, that helped us stay married and even happy for fifteen years. (Beyond that, you’re on your own. I can’t promise another 15.) Our list does not resemble the one you will find inCosmo or Ladies’ Home Journal. We have never had a regular date night, nor do we prioritize “communication” or play sex games or see a therapist. He doesn’t bring me flowers every Thursday, I don’t cook his favorite food very often. But we do have some other ideas.

1. Go to bed mad.

The old maxim that you shouldn’t go to bed mad is stupid. Sometimes you need to just go to freakin’ bed. “Let not the sun go down upon your wrath” is prefaced in the Bible by the phrase “Be angry and sin not.” So, who’s to say it doesn’t mean “Stay angry, bitches. Don’t let the sun go down on that awesome fierce wrath of yours.” Seriously. Whoever interpreted this to mean that you should stay up after midnight, tear-stained and petulant, trying to iron out some kind of overtired and breathy accord -- was stupid. Shut up, go to bed, let your husband get some sleep. In the morning, eat some pancakes. Everything will seem better, I swear.

2. Laugh if you can.

In any fight, there is one person who is really mad, and one person who isn’t that mad. That person should deflect the fight. Make a joke, do something stupid or corny, make the other person laugh. If the fight is very serious for you and you feel like you really want to plant your flag and die on this hill, fine. Do it. But if you’re fighting for entertainment, or because you’re just reacting, then you be the one to deflect. Fights are bad. Deflecting a fight whenever possible is a good idea. When you’re the one who’s being pissy and raw, and the other person helps you get out of it and brings about peace, that feels fantastic. This was a hard lesson to learn, for me. Letting Dan deflect a fight is the best thing, now. He does it really well.

3. Don’t criticize. Ever.

Here is a fact: Whatever critical thing that you are about to say to your wife is already being loudly articulated in her head. And if it’s true, she already feels like crap about it. Assuming you married someone intelligent enough to like you and sane enough to let you put a ring on it, trust that they are self-aware enough to know when they screwed up. It may feel good to you in that moment to say the critical thing, let it go ringing through the air in all its sonorous correctness, but it will feel awful to hear it. The only, only way it’s beneficial to give your wife criticism of any kind is if you’re absolutely positive she is completely unaware. And you better find the nicest, kindest way possible to tell her. And even then, good luck convincing her. Their recognition of the thing you are helpfully trying to point out will be INHIBITED, not facilitated, by your criticism. And then you’re the asshole. So be careful.

4. Be the mirror.

Your husband is the mirror in which you see yourself. And the things you say to him give him an image of himself too, which he will believe. You want him to believe it, so make it good. Be a mirror that reflects something positive: you’re smart, you’re successful, you’re fantastic in the sack, you’re a great provider, you’re the best. Can you MAKE him any of these things just by telling him he is? I don’t know, but consider this: the alternative really sucks. The things my husband says to me are 1000 times more convincing than anyone else’s opinion on earth. Don’t think he won’t believe you because you’re married and you’re contractually obligated to say nice things. He’ll believe the shitty, insulting things you say, and the gloriously positive things. Listen to Nico, girls:




5. Be proud and brag.

Let your spouse hear you talking about them in glowing terms to other people. Be foolish. Be obvious. It will mean everything. You will stay married forever.

6. Do your own thing.

Dan races bicycles. I write books. I don’t race bicycles or have any desire to race bicycles. He doesn’t write books, nor does he even read the books that I write. Seriously. And I don’t care. My opinion is that he’s the fastest, coolest most awesome bike racer ever. His opinion is that I’m the bestest, coolest writer ever. We don’t have to know all about cycling or writing in order to form these opinions -- in fact knowledge of literature or actually reading my book might damage Dan’s opinion of me as “best writer since the dawn of time.” We can still support each other without being all up in the other person’s stuff. Doing your own thing, having your own friends, being completely insanely passionate about something that the other person has no idea, really, about, is awesome. It allows your spouse to be your cheerleader, uncomplicated by knowledge or personal investment. And it means you’ll always have stuff to talk about, because you’re not overlapping all the time. You don’t have to read the same books either. You don’t have to have the same friends.

7. Have kids.

Kids stop you from being as crazy as you want to be. Because when you have kids, you can’t be that crazy.

For example, when I had kids, I stopped smoking. Left to right = Susannah, Joshilyn, Dan, Me. 

8. Get really good at sex.

You’ve got all the time in the world to get really really good, not just at sex in general, but at having sex with your one particular husband. You should make it your life’s mission to become the perfect sex machine exactly for him. And he for you. There is no reason to hold back, or be embarrassed, or not ask questions, and get everything working properly. There’s absolutely no excuse for letting years drag on without becoming fully skilled, gifted sex partners for each other. It makes everything so much better. Does talking about this make you uncomfortable? How uncomfortable would it make you to know that your spouse is secretly, silently “just okay” with your sexual performance? Yeah. You want to last fifteen years, remember? That’s a long time to be mildly happy.

9. Move.

Live in different houses. In different parts of the country. Travel. Make it so that you can look back and divide up your life into the years you spent in different cities, or different houses. If you’re feeling stuck geographically or physically, you can confuse yourself into thinking you’re stuck romantically. See your husband in different places, in different contexts, in different countries even. Try it. Take him to a mountaintop and give him another look. Pretty sexy. Take him to a new city and check out his profile. Along the same lines, don’t be afraid to change personally, or let your wife change as a person. Don’t worry about “growing apart.” Be brave and evolve. Become completely different. Don’t gather moss. Stagnation is unattractive.

10. Stop thinking temporarily.

Marriage is not conditional. It is permanent. Your husband will be with you until you die. That is a given. It sounds obvious, but really making it a given is hard. You tend to think in “ifs” and “thens” even when you’ve publicly committed to forever. If he does this, I won’t tolerate it. If I do this, he’ll leave me. If I get fat. If I change jobs. If he says mean things. If he doesn’t pay more attention. It’s natural, especially in the beginning of your marriage, to keep those doubts in your head. But the sooner you can get go of the idea that marriage is temporary, and will end if certain awful conditions are met, the sooner you will let go of all kinds of conflict and stress. Yes, you may find yourself in a horrible situation where it’s absolutely necessary to get a divorce. But going into it with divorce in the back of your mind, even in the way way way back of your mind, is going to cause a lot of unnecessary angst. Accept that you’re going to stay with him. He’s going to stay with you. Inhabit that and figure out how to make THAT work, instead of living with the “what if”s and “in case of”s.

11. Do not put yourself in trouble’s way.

Leave your ex boyfriends and girlfriends alone. I’m sure you’re very trustworthy. Aren’t we all? The thing is, there’s absolutely no reason to test it. Your husband and your marriage are more valuable than any friendship. Any friendship that troubles the marriage should be over immediately. Protect it with knives and teeth, not because it’s fragile but because it’s precious. Don’t ass around with a “hall pass” or a “harmless flirtation.” Adultery isn’t an event, it’s a process with an event at the end. Don’t put your feet on a path that could lead someplace bad.

12. Make a husband pact with your friends.

The husband pact says this: I promise to listen to you complain about your husband even in the most dire terms, without it affecting my good opinion of him. I will agree with your harshest criticism, accept your gloomiest predictions. I will nod and furrow my brow and sigh when you describe him as a hideous ogre. Then when your fight is over and love shines again like a beautiful sunbeam in your life, I promise to forget everything you said and regard him as the most charming of princes once more. The husband pact is very useful because you want to be able to vent to your friend without having her actually start hating your husband. Because you don’t really mean all those things you say. And she, the swearer of the pact, knows this.

13. Bitch to his mother, not yours.

This is one I did read somewhere in a magazine, and it’s totally true. His mother will forgive him. Yours never will. If you’re a man, bitch to your friends. They expect it.

14. Be loyal.

All the crap you read in magazines about honesty, sense of humor, communication, sensitivity, date nights, couples weekends, blah blah blah can be trumped by one word: loyalty. You and your spouse are a team of two. It is you against the world. No one else is allowed on the team, and no one else will ever understand the team’s rules. This is okay. The team is not adversarial, the team does not tear its members down, the team does not sabotage the team’s success. Teammates work constantly to help and better their teammates. Loyalty means you put the other person in your marriage first all the time, and you let them put you first. Loyalty means subverting your whims or desires of the moment to better meet your spouse’s whims or desires, with the full understanding and expectation that they will be doing the same. This is the heart of everything, and it is a tricky balance. Sometimes it sways one way and some the other. Sometimes he gets to be crazy, sometimes it’s your turn. Sometimes she’s in the spotlight, sometimes you. Ups and downs, ultimately, don’t matter because the team endures.

15. Trust the person you married.

For two people who are trying to help each other, it can almost be harder to let the other person help you than it is to be the one who’s helping. It can be harder to let the other person deflect the fight than to be the one deflecting. It can be harder to believe that your husband is fully committed to a lifetime of marriage than to commit yourself. Harder to change yourself than to let the other person change. Harder to be loved than to love. Weird, but true. I’m saying this to everyone who’s newly married, and to myself: trust that person. Love them completely and let them love you. If it all goes to seed, it’s going to hurt either way. Better to have gone into it full throttle. Full throttle marriage is a thrilling ride.

Believe me when I tell you: I love this dude.

What about you? How long do you want to stay married? Do you have any good tips for staying together? Any of the above that you disagree with? Tell me.

Hope yall enjoyed her post as much as I did! Now go LOVE on your husbands :)!

One month!

Happy one month, sweet Baker!

You are seriously the easiest and sweetest baby ever! I think our Lord knew I needed an easy little fella, and boy, did He deliver. You are a doll baby. 

You never, and I mean never, cry. You are the calmest and most content little boy. We laugh and say that you are the easy one of the group :).

You have brought so much joy to our lives and to our family and I still cannot believe your first month has already flown by. You have become more alert lately and love to look around and take it all in. You have 1-2 hours of awake time, usually in the morning, some in the afternoon, and usually an hour or two before bed. 

You are a big boy, weighing close to 10 lbs! You wear size 1 diapers and have pretty much outgrown all of your newborn clothes. You are breastfed and take a bottle well when needed. You are quite the spitter upper! Whew. We do lots of laundry around here :).

I love you, sweet boy. You fill my heart with such joy and I feel so blessed to be your mommy. My heart loves deeper than I ever knew possible. You are a darling angel and make the most perfect addition to our family. 

We love you, little fella! Happy one month!

iPhone photo dump Friday.

Happy Friday, friends!

On the mend!

We are slowly recovering over here, after our week of illnesses and I am slowly learning how to be a mommy to 2 under 17 months. I have finally recovered from my flu bug, and what we thought was just an AWFUL case of teething for Saylor, turned out to be Hand, Foot and Mouth. We were almost thankful for this diagnosis and the awareness that we were almost halfway through the worst of HFM. Let's just say that HFM isn't that fun, for toddler or parents... and thankfully, they usually only get it once. Whew. Glad to have that one out of the way (hopefully!).

Being a mommy to two littles ones, can be a bit tricky. Like feeding the baby, for instance. Yesterday, Saylor wanted to be in my lap while Baker was being fed. That makes for one full lap. She also wanted Baker to drink out of her sippy cup, which unfortunately landed Baker with a bonk on his head, via the sippy cup. Have I mentioned yet that Baker needs a helmet, just for protection from his sweet sister? :) Here she is, going in for probably her 100th hug of the morning.

We took Sean to the airport this morning, as he is flying out for work for a few days. We sure will miss him, especially after having him home with us this past week! My mother-in-law has had Chloe for the week while she was out for spring break, and they are heading back to SC today. Linda will be staying with us for a few days while Sean is out of town and I am thankful for the help! 

Hope yall have had a fabulous weekend! 

Life...

Can be a little crazy sometimes. My sweet hubs took the week off to help me get adjusted and what a week it has been. I'm pretty sure the work trip he is leaving for on Sunday will be like a major vacay for him!

Yesterday morning, I wasn't feeling well and have ended up with some sort of flu bug, thus keeping me in bed all day. On top of that, Saylor has been super clingy and fussy and not feeling well, and has pretty much been a complete teething mess. Add to that, our sweet fella Baker, who thankfully is such a joy and never cries, but does spit up quite a bit. It's been a circus around here. Sean has been "Dr. Sean" takin caring of all the fallen soldiers around here. Bless him.

Good thing they're so cute... ;)

Call me crazy.

My mom has been here for the past 2 weeks helping with the babies and she left today. I am one sad momma to have her gone. Thank you, mom, for being such a BIG help!!

And now, this is me. 

We have laughed daily wondering how I am going to survive this. We landed on good friends, wine and lots of prayers. Call me this time next year, I may have a minute to chat ;). 

2 weeks old

Sweet Baker is 2 weeks old today! We headed to the doctor this morning and he is growing perfectly. He is such a joy and we are so blessed to call this handsome little fella ours.

2 week stats:

weight - 8 lbs 15 oz (62nd percentile)

length - 21 inches (73rd percentile)

head - 14.75 inches (91st percentile)

Happy 2 weeks little angel, we love you!

Baker's newborn pics - a sneak peek

To see more of our sweet fella's sneak peek, visit Amanda's blog:

Amanda Joy Photography - Sneak Peek

(if you would like, please leave a comment on her blog... if we receive 25 comments, we get free pictures!)

Our first week home.

A week ago today, we brought this sweet little fella home from the hospital.

Baker has been the most perfect addition to our family. 

I had no idea just how full my heart could really be. God is so good.

He joined our family and has been melting this momma's heart ever since. We laughed and said we didn't see him open his eyes for the first few days. I guess coming a week early made him a sleepy little guy. So far, he has been a dream baby. He nurses every 3 hours during the day and I get up with him once at night. Not too bad for 10 days old. 

The girls love him to pieces, and although I was worried how Saylor would do, she has been quite the mother hen with him. She is constantly loving on him, trying to put his paci in, and covering him with blankets. She tries her best (as best you can be at 16 months, ha!) to love on him gently, but he does get the occasional head bump as she leans in to snuggle him. 

We feel so blessed to have a precious little boy to love on. It's really amazing how you can love someone so small, so much. Such a gift it really is.