Disney junk mail + baby brother = 30 minutes of free entertainment for Bennett

squeaky clean

Dawson had his first bath tonight. We tried Bennett's first bath in the sink and he screamed bloody murder but he loved his second bath in the tub so we went straight for the tub with Dawson. He generally enjoyed it after the shock of waking up in the water wore off :)

Week 2

Nursing was going so well until I got a clogged duct. Still trying to recover. Ugh...that is just awful. It happened with Bennett but this time was worse. I've felt really achy and weak and had the chills...not what you need when you're lacking sleep! But it seems to be getting better. Bennett's still crying a lot. My sister Bethany took him with her to AWANA at my parents' church last night. She stayed in the room but after about 15 or 20 minutes she saw his face get sad and his eyes water and when she asked him if he was okay, he said in his sad little voice, "nope". He started crying really hard and she had to bring him back home. That's so different from our usual Bennett.
He sure loves Dawson though. He always snuggles up next to him on our bed and likes to lay his head right on top of him. And when he starts squeaking and squirming, Bennett says, "don't cry baby Dawson, I wuv you!" He brings him his tiny diapers all the time and sets them on him. Dawson's been doing really well at night - usually a 5 hour stretch between feedings. I'm hoping he stays that way over the next few weeks. I know he'll get less sleepy as the days go on but maybe that'll just be during the day. I'm crossing my fingers.

A million thoughts...

Man, I feel like I have a million things swarming through my head about having a second baby but I have exactly 24 minutes til feeding time so I'll have to keep this fairly short! (and yes...he's only 6 days old and on a schedule. Think what you want...this is what works for us and so far its paying off. He's already going 5 hours between feedings at night!)

I couldn't believe how much stuff I now need for newborn baby care! The first night at home I told Jon it felt like I was preparing for battle with everything I had to get laid out for the nighttime! Between burp rags, boppy pillow, the pump and nursing pads and diapers and gauze w/ vaseline and swaddling blankets....seriously-- so different from throwing a 2 year old in bed with a few pacifiers!!

But man alive, despite all that, I can't even begin to describe how much easier this all is the second time around! If you were around me when Bennett was born, you'd never know I was the same mom. I was a complete wreck the first time- emotionally and physically. Jon was really nervous about entering this newborn phase again because of how hard it was on us last time. And its so ironic how before Dawson was born, we were constantly thinking how it seemed impossible to love another baby as much as Bennett and that we both were dreading just caring for a newborn baby. Turns out Bennett's been the higher maintenance child so far! He's an emotional wreck! Can 2 year olds get post-partum depression? He must have it. Hopefully this phase doesn't last more than another week, but who knows. It breaks my heart when he's crying so much. I definitely cried along with him a couple times. But boy, does he love Dawson! He talks to him and kisses him and wants to hold him and sing to him. He's going to be great once he adjusts to sharing my attention.

Anyway, I suppose that's all for now. The important part-- some new pics:

And for a video of Bennett singing to Dawson, check Jon's facebook (I know most of you have probably seen it already): http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?cropsuccess&id=704004117#/video/video.php?v=1228205941701 (if that link doesn't take you to it, will someone post a comment and let me know?)

Sweet sweet baby

There is nothing at all in the world like the feeling of a newborn baby sleeping on your chest...especially when its your own. I'm just cherishing this sweet baby boy. Dawson Graham Colyer entered our lives at 12:31 on Monday. 8lb 4 oz., 20 in. long. Just one ounce less than Bennett and the exact same height. Delivery went well...should have hurried more at home. Contractions were 5 min. apart at 8am, got to hospital at 9:15 and was dilated to an 8. And by the goodness of God, they broke hospital records and my epidural in less than 30 min. later! I was a big wimp and was panicking at the thought of not getting one so I totally lucked out (though I felt way more during pushing than I did with Bennett. Thankfully the pushing only lasted 20 min.)

I've felt a million times better post-partum than I did with Bennett and have enjoyed the whole experience much more this time. (Save for a humiliating allergic reaction to apple juice--think Will Smith in Hitch. Seriously. There are no pictures of me with an ape face, I can assure you.)

Anyway, that's all for now...Dawson's starting to squirm. Feeding time again.

Projects

There's nothing like a looming due date to motivate you to get stuff done around the house. (Talk about preggo brain...I just sat here for an entire minute trying to think of the word "motivate". Wow.) Anyway, my parents came over on labor day and my dad and I painted the baby's nursery. Sorry, I don't have any "after" pics yet, but here's the work in progress with our little helper:

Jon also got our house fully landscaped. His work always blows me away. Especially how quickly he gets something done once he puts his mind to it. He landscaped around the whole house and it looks beautiful. (We'll add more flowers and stuff later, this was just phase 1, done with anything that was on sale). He's also going to paint the trim on the house. You can see the color it'll be on the strip to the right of the stone--a leftover gallon from our old house. It's pretty yellow right now, if you can't tell from the pic. I'll probably come home from my Costco run this afternoon to find it completely finished :)

Hot Mom in a Minivan

Is that a complete oxymoron? I hope not because I made the gigantic leap from my lovely Audi A6 sedan to a big ol' Honda Odyssey. Nothing has felt more like a shedding of my former self and fully embracing my role as a mom than the purchase of this van. I've never been one of those anti-van people. I knew when we had our second baby that I'd really like to switch over to one (mainly because I would hate never being able to bring more than one other person in my car with me at a time. I guess I drive a lot with other people and wanted the flexibility!) Anyway, I was super excited to get it and it drives great. It's fully loaded with a DVD player and remote side doors and leather but turns out the unbelievable deal we got on it wasn't quite so unbelievable when we discovered the transmission will need to be replaced (hopefully later than sooner!!!). But we sold my car this week, thankfully, and we'll just be praying it holds on for a while. Call me a nerd or whatever but as long as the waistband of my jeans remains a couple inches below my belly-button and I don't own any sweatshirts embroidered with my kids names on them or wear a big pin on said sweatshirt with my kids' face on it to his sporting event, I'll still consider myself a hot mom :)

No news yet...

Ok, I'm blogging just for anyone who may be wondering about the whereabouts of baby boy #2 (well, that's not the right word...you know right where he is. It would be more appropriate to say the when-abouts, if that were a word). Due date is two days away and I didn't expect to go early at all so I shouldn't be too disappointed. The disappointing thing was going to my Dr's appt. this morning and having to schedule another appointment for a week from today! Bummer.
I've had a super easy pregnancy but have finally reached the I'm-totally-over-this-and-can't-wait-to-have-this-baby phase. The most frustrating thing is when my back gets so tired and sore and all I want to do is lay down to rest but even that doesn't help the discomfort. So, here's to a long week of waiting and hoping!!!

The Zoo!!...again

Jon and I love the zoo just as much as Bennett does and it doesn't get much better than the Omaha zoo. We finally made it there today (only 11 days before my due date...Phew!) and had a great time. We went with my parents and also brought cousin Piper along. (Bethany stayed home with new baby Quinn and hopefully took a nice nap!) The weather couldn't have been better and both 2 year olds did great. We broke up the day by driving them around after lunch so they'd fall asleep for a bit and then enjoyed the rest of the afternoon. We went to Zio's pizza for dinner based on a friend's recommendation and it was delicious! Thanks Emily!

Here are some highlights:

This orangutan was striking quite a pose :)


I LOVE this shot! These gorillas are amazing.