Too-too & Chum-chum

Ahhhh... maternity leave... or as my husband has called it "vacation"... is anything BUT a vacation!  I love my time off with the boys and treasure it- but the organized part of me is dying for routine and less chaos...   trying to apply organization and routine to a 3 1/2 year old and newborn feels like trying herd cats in a single direction.  I swear Quinn is always eating and then I am grounded to the couch for sometimes hours at a time.  I finally bought a pump so I can break away once in a while.  I don't know how other women do it with a toddler in the house!  Instead of peaceful and fulfilling, it's mostly stressful and painful.  I feel guilty for not spending more time with Ronin, but then I feel guilty for not enjoying just sitting down and feeding Quinn.  Again- chaos! ha!

We had a quiet Thanksgiving and spent it at our friends house.  Ronin got to play with his bff Sean all day and we had great food :)  It did take us about 2 hours to get everyone and everything ready to travel the 10 minutes it took to get to Mike & Shelleys!  It will get easier... this I know!

Turkey Day

Rory couldn't wait to get a Christmas tree so we got one from Thortons tree farm on Sunday.  It smells so good!  I only put plastic ornaments up this year... getting tired of sweeping up glass from the tile floor.

Thorton's tree farm

Our camera on a tripod picture

Ronin has been watching a new, disgusting, cartoon called "Fanboy & Chum Chum"-- but he keeps calling it "Too-too & Chum Chum".  Thus the title of the post ;)  He's having problems coming up with a good Santa letter because he keeps telling me to write "Dear Santa, please bring me all these toys..."  We have to work on his delivery. haha

Quinn is getting better at giving me a stretch of sleep at night, one night I got a five hour stretch of sleep- that was wonderful!  But then I woke up worried that something was wrong.  Guess he was just zonked too.  Ronin is having a hard time getting to sleep at night, I think we threw off his schedule a bit... but I'm trying to fix it by having him get up with me around 7 so he's tired by nap and bed time.

We made it to McDonalds playland yesterday and I promised him Chuck E Cheese on Wednesday.  We are going to visit my work on Thursday... gotta keep Ronin active or he'll just watch cartoons!

More photos:

Til next week,

C

God needs cheese

First week as a family of 4!  It's been a challenge but definitely a blessing having two sweet boys to care for and a helpful hubby all under one roof.  Rory and I have been using the midnight feedings to catch up on this season of "Walking Dead" and two seasons of "Dexter" on my new laptop.

Ronin asked this week if we could send God some cheese.  When asked why we needed to send God cheese he said because he will need to give Lucy her pills in the mushy cheese.  I told him Lucy doesn't need her pills anymore because she is all better now. He said if she's all better than she can come home now.   A few days ago he cried on Rory about missing her too.  Poor Ronin, he is always asking about Lucy and why she can't come home.  I feel so terrible seeing him so torn apart about his dog. Poor guy :(  Instead of getting a new dog - he got a baby brother I suppose...

Proud big brother

It's so strange how having a new baby makes our first baby suddenly seem much taller, older, heavier and smarter than he was before going to the hospital.  Ronin is no longer a baby- although he's been telling us as much for a while, we had always thought he would remain a baby...  How did he grow up over night?? It makes me sad but also proud of the character he's becoming.  He doesn't seem to be jealous of his baby brother at all- which is hard to believe.  He's still bossy and has his normal breakdowns but seems ok with the changes in the house.... so far anyway!

Little Quinn all stretched out

Quinn is such a happy baby.  He is always smiling when he's awake and in his sleep- I have even caught him chuckling in his sleep a few times :)  But when he's upset it's the saddest sound- he sounds like a little lamb crying... Such a sweet baby boy :)

Well it's Thanksgiving week - I hope everyone has a great holiday and be safe on Black Friday if you brave the crowds! 

Love,

C

Quinn makes his way into the world!

Quinn Lucas Jones

Born 11-11-11 @ 7:17am

9 lbs 2 oz

21" long

Quinn decided to make his appearance neither early nor late, but right on time!  Also the night of a full moon...  2 am I woke up to contractions 4 minutes apart.  Afraid I'd be one of "those" moms that go to the hospital with false labor so I waited and timed them for about 30 minutes before waking Rory to tell him it's time to go.  By the time we got to the hospital around 3am the contractions were around 90 seconds to 2 minutes apart... things were going quick and they were a little panicked that they couldn't get an IV in my arm.  They called the IV specialist, and informed me that I can't get an epidural until the IV was set and my blood tests came back clear.  They pushed me into a birthing room where the contractions got soooo much worse- I couldn't breath through them any longer, but moan and cry.  They finally got the IV in and then told me there was no time for an epidural because I was ready to push.  I remember crying for an epidural and telling them it's not too late and I didn't want to have a "natural" birth.  I wanted to slap the mid-wife when she said "I'm sorry, it's just too late you'll have to do it".  But then out of nowhere the epidural guy came and said my blood tests came back fine and he could give me a "super deluxe" epidural that would take effect quicker than the regular ones.   He was like an angel!  Somehow I managed to hold very still and breath through a couple contractions in order for him to administer the epidural, and practically instantly I was numb from the belly button down.   This slowed down labor a while because I wasn't pushing during contractions but letting the contractions move Quinn down on their own.  Finally the midwife said "let's try pushing".  I really couldn't tell if I was doing it right but I tried and after about 4 pushes he was out and in my arms :)  

Ronin is very excited about his baby brother and wants him to go everywhere with him.  He couldn't wait to show his friend, Sean, his baby brother.  He's very interested in everything we do for Quinn and wants to help whenever possible.   Such a good big brother!

Quinn is such a good baby.  He loves to look around at everything and everyone and cries when he's wet or hungry but otherwise doesn't seem fussy at all.  He is enjoying 2 hour long breakfast "buffets" at 3 am for some reason...  I just have to feed him almost twice as much at that hour. 

We had his follow-up appointment yesterday and found out he has a fractured clavicle from being born so big.  Poor guy!  I feel so bad but he doesn't seem to hurt or be bothered by it.  The pediatrician said the first day would be the most painful for him, but we are way past that so she said there's nothing we need to do or avoid doing because it will heal on it's own.

My birthday was the day we came home from the hospital.  Besides getting a new cute baby I also got a laptop with my birthday money - yay!  Rory and Ronin also made me the coolest jewelry holder for my necklaces.  (picture above)  I love it :)

So now Ronin and I are off for 12 weeks to take care of Quinn (and for me to heal- youch!).  I can't wait to see Quinn grow into his own person just like Ronin did.  Ronin can't wait to play with him.  Although very challenging- I'm so grateful for this time off with my two boys :)

Love,
C

It's the final countdown...

Ronin-isms:

After I drew a face on Ronin's banana peel he says "Mommy, don't throw the peel away- because he's my friend!"

After making a turkey out of foam stickers he says "you can throw my banana peel friend away now, the Turkey is my new friend."

Last week was uneventful.  Doctor appointment on Wednesday, not much progress except he dropped a little bit.  My blood pressure is rising, I lost 3 lbs, and I have protein in my urine... which pretty much means my body is ready to evict it's little guest!  Just something to keep an eye on, but we are so close to the due date there's not much to do about any of it.  At our next appointment we are supposed to discuss getting an induction if he's late.  Little turkey doesn't want to come out I guess!

I took Thursday off to relax with Ronin.  Which really isn't that relaxing when he's bossing me around.  We bounced on the yoga ball for a while and he thought it was funny that we were trying to bounce his baby brother out.  We went to Gustav's for lunch so I could finally have my bowl of fondue... yumm...  Ronin had noodles.  Best lunch ever :)   but all it really did was give me heartburn.

Cute picture of the week -- Ronin, Madeline & Sean

The weekend was pretty uneventful as well...  just waiting for some kind of sign that the baby is coming... but nothing...

Here's my big 'ol 39 week pregnant belly:

Hopefully this week!!  

Lots of love,

C