my midwife & little Zora

I went to my 5-week check-up last week. All's healed & I've lost about half of the Zora weight. I have experienced a different post-baby emotional roller coaster than last time. When I have a while to type (& think), I'll have to "tell" about it all. The other moms I have spoken to about it have either experienced something like it, or know someone who has. Most of my down times have been anxious & sleepless. I'm getting better & life is getting more calm, but this phase is still going full force. Prayers are always welcome. I'm attempting to get through all this without drug intervention (which hasn't been a-okay with my OBGYN...my midwife talked me through it much better), but I've never used anything mind altering before & I really don't want Zora to begin life on drugs...if at all possible. Once again, just as I said about C-sections vs. natural birth, sometimes medical intervention is necessary, but for now I'm trying life sans meds.

a blustery sort of day...

so our family flew a kite! L. flew it (really high) all by himself! Then we went out for hot drinks (it was really windy & a little cool). This was our first trip out as a family. It was a really nice day.

My little artist

Here are some of L's drawings of late. They come by request. :) He has gotten really good at looking at a pic & then drawing what he sees. He & I do (did...before Zora, I'm trying to get back into the swing of arts & crafts!) this a lot. The top pic is one that hangs in Zora's room. It's our family. L. is blue and "climbing up Daddy," who has the usual "spikes" (Barclay's hair & facial hair...since he shaves only weekly). Zora is the tiny yellow person at the bottom. The next pic is drawn by using the pic of a fairy on the side of a book. I tried to take the pic of both L's drawing & the book. I think that's one of his best. He did it last week. The next one is a drawing he did in late March (for Zora's birth). It was patterned after the birds on her bumper & painting in her room. (Notice the detail on the tails!) The hot pink page has an "angry bear" on it. it was part of an animal series, but I can't find the rest. We have tons of art pages, "stories" (a.k.a. drawings with lots of letters around them), & crafts. I try to date them & keep some, but it's a lot to keep up with!

Plays well with others

So, a month into this "2 kid" thing & all's well with them both. They get along swimmingly. Zora watches her big bro with intensity (as one of these pix shows) & he loves her with vigor. (Sometimes a little too much vigor, but we usually ask him to be more gentle & he chills.) I am thankful for them both...and for the 3+ years we had bt them! I hope they'll get along a year...10years...a lifetime down the road. Don't we all hope that for our babies?

Happy Birthday to Zora!

My sweet girl was one month old on the sixteenth! For all you out there who remember what I did for Langston every month till he was a year old...here come the "monthly hats"! (Barclay hates these...usually by 10 months the baby agrees.) So my big girl went to the dr. and she is a healthy one. 10 # 8 oz. and 22" puts her in the 90% for a girl! (I looked at L's baby book & he was about the same...a little smaller, but not much at all. He was in the 75%, though. I guess that's the diff bt girl-boy charts.) OH! Langston helped with Zora's hat. The design is "birds on the top with a cat at the bottom...blue background." :) He is a helper. And he must be a part of whatever photo session is going on. A ham for the cam, my boy.

walks & worms

Now, don't cheat & use this post as reference for the next one! My kiddos & I went for a walk last night. We all enjoyed it (once Zora went to sleep). L. biked on his trike while I strolled sister. The weather was a little cool, so I got to try out this baby car seat thing shown in the pic. I couldn't imagine having to put this on L's seat when he was tiny (I used my gel ice packs from my breast pump kit to put on his chest so that he wouldn't get heat rash...when he kept getting heat rash where his car seat buckles were...in April...in Gainesville).
Langston & I found a giant worm on the way home (I had to check it out to make sure it wasn't a small snake!). He was super happy (even after the worm "came apart"). And he is adding the pine cones pictured to his "collection" (?). Oh! His word for the day is "terrified." He & "Rock" (Rocky's nickname) were terrified of something they recently found. ;)

Clones of my hubby

One of these is of L-town at 3 + weeks...one is of Zora-bean at the same age. Which is which? You can call our hotline to vote, or just leave your guess on this "comments." The winner gets to hear me say, "good job" as a prize!
Seriously, my kids look just alike. And L. looks so much like Barclay. So, Z. will look like him (and therefore like my mom-in-law). No light green eyes or pale, pale Southern belle like her mommy.

Mama's Day (or Momma, if you're Southern)

Happy Mother's Day, all you moms! I hope that next year will be a little more restful for our family (am I dreaming?!), but this year was a nice one. I had been craving chocolate (good chocolate, you know, Jessie? :) and my husband was listening...he & Langston got me a little box of fudge from a specialty shop here in Macomb. We are all enjoying it.
Barclay also let me "sleep in" a little & cooked breakfast for me. I guess my breakfast has actually been "brunch" lately...I finally get going around 9 or 10. Anyway, it was yummy.
L. and I went to the store together for various paper products & new paints for him. He tried them out (as one could see by the pic above...he's the Hulk...thanks, dad). He also managed to coat one of his cute shirts in paint, smear a little on my new rocker, & cover our coffee table in 3 different colors. But, as my close friends know, washable messes are no big deal to me. I've been known to allow many-a-marker-tatoo. :) (I will make note here that he was so invested in his art that he peed in the floor...something he hasn't done in months.)
Oh, and we've hit the "Why?" (Yes, Mel, we are there with you now.) I don't know what took him so long, but it's driving me insane...not the questions, but the fact that they come in opposition to what I tell or ask him to do.
Me: L., please don't dip the whole cloth in the bucket.
L: (as he dips it in) Why?
Me: Langston, your need to clean up the paints before you get the play dough out.
L: (as he sits on his bum) Why?
Urg. I know it's not a big deal, but we are having time-outs over some of the disobeying. I believe that it's better to correct the small things before there are big things. He's a really great kid. I hope he grows into a really great person. I want to do all I can to help him along the way...and I think that guiding him now will giving him grounding for later.
And since I've told about some of the crazy Langston, I'll now tell of some of the daily Langston. he is beginning to use the words, "hilarious" and "interesting." He uses them appropriately. Usually as he is telling a story, something along the way was "really interesting. " Now, I will say that the pronunciation of this word is a little off, but we can understand him. Also, we are having trouble with "his self" and "himself." I must confess that is a pet peeve of mine. One of my close relatives uses this incorrect grammar (you know who you are!) & I am part of the grammar police for this one. :) My grammar is far from perfect (esp. right now...since I'm sleeping in segments for only a few hours a night), but I want my kids to know what I know & then learn much, much more.
Now, finally, a little about my littlest one. Miss Zora is sleeping like a champ at night! She had her first 4+ hours b't feedings last night! (Of course I got in on about 11/2 hours of that, but still...) She dislikes sleeping during the day. Cat naps & dosing (on someone, usually) is all she'll do, for the most part, during the day. This prevents me from getting anything done, but I know that she'll be actively listening and watching big brother soon, so I'll get to sneak in a load of laundry or dusting as they mesmerize one another. I would like to say how thankful I am for all the families that I babysat for in the past. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be so used to all these phases. So far, the only things that hit me with surprise were: 1.how time consuming breastfeeding can be 2.how sore you get when you are holding a baby for most of 24 hours. That was with Langston. I knew that would happen with Zora, so I am more chill about the house and I try to stretch more.
Well, that's it for the moment! Oh, and the first pic posted is me & my little loves doing our bedtime routine...stories with milk (both kinds). :)

Bwrother

Tonight Barclay was telling Langston what a great big brother he was. He told L. that he knew he would be a good big bro, but he didn't know how great he'd be. Langston's reply was, "(Yawn) God made me that way." ;) I love that little guy.

Siblings

Little L. is still smitten. One evening when Zora was crying and Barclay & I were both busy at the moment, L. ran in to where she was waking up & snuggled her & kissed her & began to pat her (like we do) while saying, "It's okay, sister. Brother's here. Brother's here. Shhhh, baby. Don't crwy. I'm here." She was soothed a little (by his company?) & fell back to sleep! I told him that he could do that anytime!!

9.7 lbs.

Happy 3 weeks, Zora! I know that someday it will be bad manners to post my girl's weight online, but for now...we're proud of that big belly & chubby thighs! She was 9.7 this week & has officially outgrown all "newborn" clothes & diapers.

Utawlh & other Southern drawl

Langston has once again been working on his "states." His puzzle of the U.S. is one of his favs right now. He and I put it together, then he and Barclay worked on it. After his last U.S. puzzle session with dad, he came to me & told me, "Mom, Utah does NOT have an "L" in it!" He was shocked to find this out. Thanks to his sounding out with phonics combined with my Southern drawl...there is no tellin' (as I say) what my child is hearing me teach him on daily basis. Bless 'em. :)

Second week & all's well

So far, some better. Zora is sleeping & nursing well (for some one only a few weeks old). I finally started sleeping okay. (I was having trouble falling asleep when she was asleep at night...that coupled with the maybe one, maybe zero nap during the day made for one exhausted & emotionally spent mom.) Things are getting better, but we are still taking it "one day at a time."
Barclay & Langston have had lots of "guy time" lately. Barclay took him to a fun zone (kinda' like Chuck E. Cheese) called "Going Bonkers" on Monday. They both had a blast. (We found out later that Rocky goes to "Going Bananas" and various other "Going __" places with his dad. L. has been filling Zora in on lots of Rocky stories lately. :) Langston has had a few emotional "missing mommy" moments, but on the whole he has done really well. He isn't acting out or showing any anger towards Zora, which would be my biggest no-no. He's having some "crying over small things" fits, various "baby acting" times, and a few "resisting dad" moments, but we're having conversations & punishing when needed. I'm trying to craft, play, read, reassure, and hold him when I can. I'm getting better at doing all kinds of things with him while nursing her! :) (I hear that's all part of the game...score one for mom.) We're really proud of our little guy.
On to the little girl...she's growing by the day...literally! My friend, Stacy, brought by some infant scales today and our little chicka topped out at almost 9 lbs. already! She's outgrowing some of the clothes that L. wore at 4 or 5 weeks. She's filling out, but also is taller than he was at this point. (I should mention that the scales weigh a kid up to 44 lbs., so I let L. hop on & he has grown, too. The man was 31 lbs.! :) That's up from the 28 that he held steady foreva'! He was excited. :)
The pics are of mommy feeding Z. (by L.), Langston's "dance" from this morning (think Olivia the pig...or Riverdance), my babies napping (I put Zora next to L. for the pic...they don't sleep this way really!), Langston holding "sister," a playzone from Going Bonkers, & my baby Zora...getting a big tummy & thighs. :) Enjoy, loved ones!