Meet Gabriel

We welcomed Gabriel Patrick to our family on June 2nd at 2:21am!  He weighed in at 8 pounds, 11 ounces and measured 20 inches long!  (If you're wondering, Cameron was 7 pounds, 15 ounces and 21 inches long)

Week 1

I can't believe my new little man is already a week old!  

Cameron has been adjusting to his new brother really well.  He moved himself out of the crib and into his toddler bed.  He decided he is done with his high chair and prefers his booster seat.  He loves to help mommy get diapers and throw away the dirty ones.  Today the three of us snuggled into the recliner and Cameron showed Gabe a few of his favorite books.  

Gabe is a really sweet baby.  He's a good eater, maybe too good sometimes. He went through a little streak of eating every 45 minutes- 1 hour.  We already had his first doctors appointment because he had forceful vomits.  The pediatrician thinks it happens when he eats more than his little tummy can handle.  He sleeps pretty well at night- especially when we fall asleep together in the recliner in the nursery.   When we do that we sleep for about 3-4 hours!  I don't think Cameron let me sleep that much for the first six months!

Hubby went back to work yesterday.  It was really nice having him home with us. Cameron is definitely daddy's boy!  I was nervous about being alone with both boys yesterday, but we survived!  Nap time was a nightmare but we did much better today!   I'm looking forward to being able to spend the whole day at the lake when it is so hot out!  

Snuggles

Still no baby here.  Cameron is taking advantage of this and enjoying extra snuggles with mommy while he can.  

Waiting for baby

Well we have certainly been busy around here!  I've been slacking on blog updates but I've been busy finishing up everything on my to-do list before baby comes.  Hubby's mom stayed with us and helped me get everything cleaned and Cameron's big boy room organized.  We haven't been successful in transitioning him to sleeping in his new room but he's been doing really well pooping on the potty, so I decided one big milestone at a time is plenty of change with a new baby on the way.  Baby won't be in the crib for a while anyway, so I'm not in a huge rush to evict Cameron.  

Last Friday I had contractions all day but nothing came of it.  On Wednesday at my appointment my midwife said I was dilated to a 4, so I've been on high alert ever since!  She said that once the real contractions start I probably won't have a very long labor because everything is ready to go!  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that she is right!  

On Thursday I had an appointment for a manicure and pedicure.  So my nails are looking great!  Friday I had an appointment to get my hair done.  My long bangs were driving me crazy so it felt really nice to get them trimmed up.  I even splurged and got some highlights and some color put in!  I definitely feel ready for our new little man to join our family.  

But apparently he can't decide if that's what he wants to do.  Yesterday afternoon we went on a nice little walk that led to lots of contractions for me.  We got the car packed and Cameron headed to grandma's house for the night.  My contractions were never very consistent, ranging from 2 minutes apart to 15 minutes apart.  However they did seem to be getting stronger so I called the hotline to let them know I was thinking about coming in.  I didn't want to wait at home too long in case things progressed quickly during the 40 minute drive to the hospital!  

The nurse suggested that once we get into town I do some walking to see if I could get things more consistent.  She said they wouldn't be able to keep me if the contractions were that sporadic.  So once we got into town we went to the only store still open- Walmart.  Let me tell you, walking the aisles of Walmart is NOT my favorite idea for getting labor to progress.  In fact, walking the aisles of Walmart hoping for contractions is more like something from my nightmares.  Plus it was late, Hubby and I were both tired, and I was very frustrated that the contractions didn't seem to be strengthening.  I didn't last very long walking around there.  But thanks to Priceline we were able to score a really great deal on a hotel room for the night, $50 is a small price to pay when it comes to peace of mind that I wouldn't risk having the baby in the car if we tried to go back home.  

Unfortunately everything pretty much stopped after we got to the hotel.  This morning I went in to the clinic and the doctor said I'm still only at a 4.  But she also agreed with my midwife that when the contractions start it will likely be a quick moving labor so I will want to make sure to get to the hospital.  

I'm in a much better state of mind today, but false labor is no joke.  It's exhausting and frustrating.  I've heard of people saying that they've rushed to the hospital for false alarms, but somehow I never thought that it would be as annoying as it is.  And so disappointing.  

Cameron, on the other hand, had a great time without us.  He loves to have slumber parties at grandma's house.  Today he got to go on an adventure to visit the twins!  He is having a much better weekend than mommy so far.  :) 

2015 finishes

I think this is finish #2 for 2015- the first would be the Charley Harper quilt I made for hubby's parents for Christmas.  

I'm trying really hard to make 2015 the year I finish up some unfinished projects (or finish new projects that I start!). The problem with sewing as a hobby is that there are so many awesome projects to do.  There is always new fabric that seems more awesome than anything in my craft room and new books and patterns that would look PERFECT on my bed/couch or they would even look great laying out on the yard this summer so me and #2 can hang out while Cameron runs around outside.

I'm trying to resist starting too many new projects, but this is hard!!  So I decided to make myself a hospital bag.  Giving birth is easier if you have a beautiful bag with, right?  And pillow case.  I ordered fabric for a new "delivery day" pillow case.  I haven't started the pillow case yet but here is a progress photo of my duffle bag!  There are about a million pieces and 4ish hours of prep work before I can even start sewing anything together.  

I have another quilt that I just need to tack down binding and a top ready to go on the quilting machine. 

Cameron doesn't care if the back is attached or not.  It's a perfect play mat either way!  

Cameron's Easter quilt from last year is waiting for me to finish dying the backing fabric so we can get that one quilted, too!  I dyed a big piece of flannel last year and it has a lot of white left on it.  I'm excited for it to have a lot more color!  It will be perfect for Cameron's toddler bed!  

It's a dangerous thing to make a list of all of my unfinished projects.  Apparently nesting for baby #2 involves a lot of personal projects.  (At least I'm going to assume that's the reason for my motivation!)  Nesting for Cameron was a lot more home improvement/baby gear buying.   

To change the subject, here is a 33 week bump photo!!  Don't mind my wild unbrushed hair and apparently unwashed mirror!  I might have to add cleaning to my to-do list.  But who has time for that?!

  

Easter Eggs & 30 week appointment

Today we had lots of fun dying Easter eggs with grandma!  

I had my 30 week prenatal appointment last week and had to do a second ultrasound.  Thankfully they were able to get the measurements they needed this time!  Little man seems to be quite uncooperative in there!  He was measuring about a week ahead of schedule, so I'm curious if I will make it to my due date.  Cameron came 5 days early so I assumed #2 would come a little early as well.  One of the "ahead of schedule" measurements they were able to give us was an estimated weight of four pounds!  Oh boy!  He still has a bit of fluid around his kidneys, but they said it was not enough to be concerned since that is pretty common and generally resolves itself by birth.  

I've gained probably close to 30 pounds... I blame it on feeling better this pregnancy than I ever did when I was pregnant with Cameron!  Most of my aversions are gone (with the exception of scrambled eggs... Bleh!).  I'm happy that we've been able to get outside for walks again because I think that will help me keep things under control for my last weeks!  

Now if it was just warm enough to head down to the lake!  We are definitely ready for some lake days!  

New chair!

We got a new chair for the nursery!  Apparently Hubby remembers better than I do how often I finally came to bed after middle of the night feedings with Cameron complaining about my sore neck.  I think this new chair will solve that problem, but I might spend more time sleeping there with #2 than sleeping in my own bed!  It is definitely a comfortable chair!  Cameron approves, too.  He takes such good care of his animals, he even rocked his cow to sleep a few nights ago.