5 weeks!

i failed to do regular updates with julia but i would really like to do one every month with josiah! so, since i didn't get to do it monday when he was one month, i'm doing it today. anyway...my little man is 5 weeks today!

he opens his eyes a lot more now, which is nice. although it seems like whenever he's awake, he's hungry. the boy can EAT! let me tell you. he gained 2 lbs in 2 weeks. most newborns do that in a month. he's probably close to 10 lbs by now. and those of you that have seen julia know that this is very foreign to me! of course i should have expected it, because i committed myself to beefing him up and nursing him as often as he wanted instead of trying to stick him to a schedule. looks like it's working!

i keep waiting for the first real smile, should be coming soon. you know, the one that healthcare professionals don't just chalk up to gas. if i remember correctly, this usually happens around 6 weeks. i think julia's was at 7.

he's still sleeping in the pack-n-play (bassinet attachment) next to my side of the bed. of course i'm using the word sleeping very loosely. sometimes i put him down after a feeding and it seems like 5 minutes later (although it's probably actually an hour or more) he's hungry again. the best night i've had so far (actually this happened twice) is only having to wake up to feed him twice. i can totally live with that. but yes i'm looking forward to more than 3 hours of continual sleep! someday.

getting out and about with both kids has been getting easier. i've started braving the grocery store, which is still challenging so i try to leave the kids with riley when possible. it's nice to get away for a little bit, even if it's just to buy food.

josiah finally got to meet his cousin simeon yesterday! they are only 3 days apart which i think is so cool. i hope they get to be good friends!



ok, so josiah spends most of his day lounging in the boppy. that is, when i'm not changing his diaper or feeding him, with the boppy. i quickly discovered that he is more comfortable there than in the bouncy seat. maybe it's because he knows that underneath the blue blanket, the seat is in reality, pink.

he's managed to survive many big sister attacks, which we're still working on putting an end to! alas, he's sure to be much more tolerant than she is. because, well, he has to. it's not that she doesn't like him, she just tries to pick him up and occasionally thinks it's funny to hit him. i watch the way she carries around her dolls and stuffed animals and just thank God that they're not josiah!

so, before josiah was born, i bought 3 boxes of newborn diapers with a gift card from riley's generous coworkers. that's 252 diapers, which i figured he was sure to go through before getting to the 10 pound limit. well, i guess he's just shaped differently because he outgrew those pretty quickly, before he was even 9 lbs. i ended up taking 2 boxes back and exchanging them for size 2s. Then i started buying size 1s at the hospital because they are stupid cheap. $2.95 for a pack of 20. YEAH!

let's see, so i've covered eating, sleeping, and pooping so i guess that's about it for now!

The kid's got talent!

Here are a few highlights of the recent acceleration of my baby girl's grown-up-ness:

1- ok, so this is bad news turned good: she broke the cd-rom in our computer. which of course is expensive and we were really bummed! when riley got time to see if he could fix it, turns out the piece that made it fixable was one of her little hairbands. i don't know the details of why that worked, but it did. crazy!

2- yesterday julia broke some chips up while sitting in her highchair and threw/dropped them on the floor. so after she got down and told her she needed to clean them up. well i didn't expect a great result, but still. she needs to know the principle. the broom and dustpan happened to be sitting on the floor close by and before i knew it, the chips were in the trashcan. yes, ladies and gentlemen, my 2-YEAR-OLD swept the floor! there were still a few crumbs but i think it's aMAzing that she was able to get the big pieces into the dustpan with the broom (not one of those little ones, a tall one that requires some height and balance) and make it to the trashcan w/o spilling them all over the floor again. i was so impressed i just glowed and told her how proud of her i was and gave her a treat! maybe i can get her to scrub the bathtub next!

3- i got a box of pizza rolls today for free (because i and the grocery game (plug) are awesome! anyway, so when i was helping julia into her highchair, not that she needs assistance, she's the best climber i know!...she started calling them pizza pillows. at first i didn't get it, but then i realized she is a genius! i had called them pizza rolls several times before that (although this is the first time i've bought them in years) but hey, they really do look like pillows! how smart is she?!

4- this morning, before we left to run errands, i told julia she needed to get dressed... diaper, pants, shirt, shoes. well i'm sitting there nursing josiah, expecting to have to help julia after i'm done. nope. a few minutes later, she comes out dressed in a matching outfit! yes, the shirt and shoes were on backwards but still. i was impressed!

she is growing up so fast! i knew it would feel like this once i had a newborn, but it's even moreso than i expected. julia is so smart and funny! i love watching her discover and learn new things. being a mom is the bestest!

Looking for a new place to live?

Come check out our new home!

Oak Creek Apartments are located just south of 183 off Forest Ridge. Our neighborhood is really quiet and we love living here!

The rent is GREAT, especially for Bedford! Current prices are:

$525 for 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom, 790 square feet.
$692 for 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom, 995 square feet.
$735 for 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom, 1098 square feet.

They will also take $300 off your first month’s rent and half off the security deposit if you look and lease the same day.

All units have walk-in closets. One of our favorite things about our new apartment is all the storage space! Our bedroom closets are HUGE, plus there is a coat closet, linen closet, outside (private) patio storage, and tons of kitchen cabinet space. There are washer/dryer connections, but if you don't own those there is a laundry room on the property.

Most units have a fireplace and the second floor has vaulted ceilings. The crime rate is really low in this part of town, so that’s one less thing to worry about in your search! Each unit is assigned one covered parking space at no extra charge.

Oak Creek is pet-friendly and also has a playground for kids. There are four pools and a 24 hour fitness center.

THE BEST PART is if you put our names (Riley and Joanna Moore) on the application in the “who referred you” line and sign a lease, the following month our rent will be discounted, and at that time we will give you $150!

That is more than you can get from any apartment locator and you won’t have to wait three months for it!

Oak Creek Apartments
1800 Oak Creek Lane
Bedford, Texas 76022
817-283-5901

Oh Sleep, Oh Sleep, Where art thou?

Well, it's not as bad as it seemed with Julia, but REALLY... when am I supposed to get some rest already?

It was so nice to have my mom here, Riley off work, my niece here for a few days... and then something called reality happened. I'm all alone with the kids now, at least for 10 hours a day.

Not that I don't LOVE being a stay-at-home-mom, because I really do. I've looked forward to this "career" all my life.

But it's days like these that I just want to pull my hair out, crawl up in a hole and wake up to a clean house and happy children.

Here's what I mean: Julia hasn't been napping well since Josiah was born. I didn't realize at first that the two events coincided, but now it makes sense. This is a big change for everybody, including Big Sister. I'm not sure what it is about the new baby that makes her not want to take a nap, but she just outright will not go to sleep during the day. Which means I don't get a break, and Julia doesn't get the rest she needs. Many times she has fallen asleep in her high chair during a late afternoon snack. Which totally throws things off for a couple days. AGH!

I absolutely don't mind waking up to feed Josiah every couple hours at night, but it seems like most of the time, he eats (er, drinks) a full meal, is fast asleep, but then not five minutes after laying him down (in the pack-n-play next to our bed) he is fussing again for the boob. Which of course leads to bringing him into bed with me and nursing him there throughout most of the rest of the night. No biggie, I know how to co-sleep safely, and we all get our needs met, but I really do want him to sleep in his own bed. Hopefully it will happen in its own time. I know that he's still a newborn who's got his days and nights mixed up, so I'm not so discouraged about his patterns as I am my two-year-old darling.

She is so precious and funny and cute and sweet and smart. And defiant, and strong-willed, and fearless, and independent, and curious. So besides the challenges I had to deal with prior to birthing another child, now I have to go without sleep. Not because I have a newborn who eats ALL THE TIME. Because I can't "sleep when the baby sleeps." Seriously, I didn't know how important that was until those days were gone from possibility.

Oh, the joys of parenting.

Labor and Delivery, Josiah

It should go without saying that a labor and delivery blog will be graphic. So there, you're warned!

Let me start with the fact that I didn't think I'd make it to my due date (August 10) before Josiah was born. Julia was 16 days early, and my doctor said I was likely to follow the same trend. Although, it was hard for me to decide what I thought would happen, since I had previously convinced myself that the reason Julia was early was that my last doctor had stripped my cervix. When I found out that she in fact did NOT do that, I was sure Josiah would be early.

Most of the pregnancy everybody kept telling me how tiny I was, but then I dropped pretty early and everybody thought I was about to pop from like a month before I was due!

I guess I'll review here some highlights of this pregnancy:

-found out the same day Julia got her tongue clipped, she was barely 18 months old. I had planned a long time before that how I would tell Riley the next time I got pregnant. Well, I didn't do it exactly like I planned but came pretty close. Almost immediately after we got home from the surgery (just me and Julia, since Riley had to go to work) I took the test and of course it came back positive! I didn't even have to wait the three minutes. By the time I was all zipped up and flushed, the second line was there... I was so excited! So I took this picture and emailed it to Riley:


... Pretty clever, huh? Riley replied on im, "are you pregnant?...holy crap!"

-so the next couple months were a miserable concoction of fatigue and nausea, although I was spared the vomiting that most women have to suffer with.

-just when I thought things were going to get better, you know, since the 2nd trimester is supposed to be wonderful, I started experiencing 3rd trimester symptoms. no fair! my doctor said that was normal with subsequent pregnancies since your body already knows what's coming. so, i was NOT enjoying pregnancy like I thought I should be. my friend caelene loaned me a book called supernatural childbirth. i won't go into the whole thing, but what i learned was that pregnancy doesn't have to be miserable, children are a blessing and God doesn't give a curse with a blessing. I started to see things differently and although the next few months wouldn't be perfect, i began to have a little more faith that i could enjoy this pregnancy and not have to be miserable. well, wouldn't you know, i started to feel better. my back stopped hurting so much, i had more energy, and just an allover better feeling about things.

-finding out that it was a boy was SO great. i longed for a son since before julia was a year old. not that i wanted to get pregnant right then, but i really hoped the next baby would be a boy. and BOY, there was no doubt! here's the sono picture at 19 weeks:


-i never got to the super uncomfortable "get this baby out of me now!" point with julia, but with josiah it was different. we got all moved into our new apartment and i was starting to get uncomfortable, so i was pretty ready for him to come early, even though my due date was still 3 weeks away. i decided he should be born on july 31, since riley would have a week off of work, he would actually have 9 days off since it was a friday. plus it was my grandma julia's bday. that would be cool. and we had stuff going on the weekend before that.

-with the nesting instinct kicking in and contractions galore, it seemed like every night Riley was convinced that we'd be having a baby the next day! i just kept saying, no... not yet.

-ok, i'm finally getting to the day of...!

we went in on friday, july 24, for my 1:30 weekly checkup. hearbeat, great. blood pressure, great. urine, great. weight gain, great. but then she measured my tummy (from the top of the uterus to the pubic bone is supposed to be approximately as many centimeters as you are weeks pregnant). well i was over 37w4d and only measuring 33 cm so she decided to do a sonogram to make sure josiah was growing okay.

he was measuring fine (estimated 6lbs1oz, give or take a pound) but then she started looking for amniotic fluid. anthing below 10 (not sure what that number represents, i think 100cc) is low, and anything below 5 is really dangerous. well, she could only find one pocket that measured 3. yikes!

what does that mean? we asked. well, when there's not enough amniotic fluid, there's no cushion for the umbilical cord, he could smash it and it would cut off his oxygen supply. she said we had a couple options. one, induce labor and have the baby that day. or, get admitted to the hospital for iv hydration to beef up the amniotic fluid, then go home, be on bedrest, have to come back for more iv fluids because it wouldn't stay up, etc. she recommended getting induced, and since i was full term and didn't want to be on bedrest, we decided to go ahead with the induction. "we're having a baby tonight!"

so, josiah was coming early, as previously thought, just not the way we imagined. we went home, finished packing the hospital bag, called a friend to pick up julia (good thing we had JUST asked her the night before if she could do that whenever he was born!) and went back up there. the whole time calling and texting people with the news. good thing we upped the minutes on our cell plan, because we still went over!

we left the office around 230, got back up to the hospital around 330. i was supposed to have a maternity portrait session at our apartment at 300, so that was a bummer! we had 2 parties to go to that night, a party the next day, and i was supposed to teach the toddler class that sunday! hence the reason i wanted him to wait until the following friday! well libby ended up coming to the hospital to take final pix of my big belly, which are turning out quite well with a little photoshop-ing the hospital-ness out! (will post those another time, along with his newborn pix)

checking in, paperwork, changing into the gown, getting hooked up to the monitor, yada yada, they finally started the pitocin at 430. i was only dilated 1cm, so it was looking like it'd be after midnight. my doctor wasn't going to be on call after that, so i was really hoping for a miracle! my doctor with julia wasn't able to be there so i really wanted this time to be different! plus i really like this doctor. we were thinking 1-4am, since typically with an induction you dilate 1cm per hour.

so we're just sitting there, no contractions, texting, calling and facebooking everybody that i was in labor. fun! the adrenaline was definitely pumping! the nurse asked me if i was planning on an epidural, to which i replied, "if it starts hurting, yeah!" see, last time i wanted to do without, so i waited until i was absolutely miserable in excruciating pain, to give in and take the epidural. well, by the time it finally kicked in i was complete, so i swore to myself that next time, i would get it right away instead of suffering through more than i had to.

it took a couple hours for the contractions to start, so around 630 i asked for the epidural. i had just gotten my blood drawn so she said i had to wait about an hour for the results to come back. well, i figured i could deal with another hour since they weren't too bad. i found that sitting up when one came on helped a little bit.

the results came back and the nurse said she'd go ahead and get the anesthesiologist to come do the epidural. she said he was her favorite. yay! he was really funny and did a great job. i'm not sure why people are so afraid of getting that needle in their back (talking pain here, not possible side effects), after all, it's so much less painful than contractions! anyway, by the time i actually got it in, it was 830.

the nurse checked me again and i was a whopping 3cm dilated... geez! 2 whole centimeters in 4 hours. the chances of delivering before midnight were looking really slim! i actually started worrying that they'd end up having to do a c-section for failing to progress. but i tried to be hopeful!

i started to feel relief pretty quickly, in fact, my right leg was REALLY numb. i knew it was going to be a much better experience this time! riley decided to take a shower since it was obviously going to be a while. about an hour later the nurse came in to check on me and i was starting to feel pain again. i told her i could feel the contractions again, so was the epidural wearing off or were they just getting a lot stronger? she said she'd check to see if i'd dilated.

well, she puts her fingers in and says, "um, that's a head... you're complete!" it was 9:52. 4 hours to dilate 2cm and 1:16 to dilate 7. crazy! i couldn't believe it.

but of course my immediate thought was yay! my dr gets to deliver me! they called her up and she got there pretty quickly. i kept feeling a lot of pressure down there, and since i knew i was complete, i was afraid the head was like, right there and he was just going to slide out! he didn't.

my doctor got there, the nurses had everything ready, we waited for the next contraction, pushed and the head started to come out! i looked down and could see an inch of wrinkly mush. that's the head?! it was so weird. i even got to touch it! another push, and more head came out. one last push and he was here at 10:14pm! piece o' cake =)

seriously, it couldn't have gone better. we (along with lots of family and friends) were praying for a smooth delivery but i never imagined it would be that easy. don't get me wrong, the oligohydramnios (low amniotic fluid) was quite a scare and the pregnancy had it's share of less-than-fun times, but i really couldn't have asked for an easier experience when it came to labor and delivery.

riley cut the cord and they immediately put him in my arms. gooey and everything. my son! i was so excited. i just kept looking at him and a flood of emotions ran through me. i kept thinking, why am i not crying? and then i finally did. the minutes after that are kind of a blur, but basically they wiped him off and gave him back to me to breastfeed, which he did pretty well if i remember correctly. riley held him, then soon after my mom got there (had to drive from abilene). i was a happy camper!

let me tell you, i love harris heb. it is so mom-and-baby-friendly and the whole time there was wonderful. i had great nurses, and they never took josiah out of my room. they did EVERYTHING in there where i could see. they let both my mom and riley stay both nights, and they encourage a nap time from 1-4 where visitors are discouraged so mom can nap with baby. they don't even send any nurses or paperwork people in there during that time. it's fabulous!

i've recovered pretty quickly, aside from a little bit of pain here and there, but nothing major. josiah is a great eater, a great burper, and so peaceful. and don't just say it's because he's a newborn and sleeps all the time. he just seems a lot more laid back than julia was/is. which is what i was really hoping for!

he's already back up past his birth weight (6lbs 14oz) and is pooping and peeing more than enough. julia is a great big sister-- we have to remind her to be gentle, and remember to give her lots of attention, but she likes him!

this is my first day alone with both of them, and it's going good so far! riley was home the whole first week, and my mom was here till the 30th, and my niece was here this week until yesterday afternoon. so i've had lots of help! i've been trying to take naps when julia does, since i'm up throughout the night with josiah. it's hard though, because i'm used to using that time to get stuff done. guess i've gotta rearrange my life a bit! i love my hubby and babies and am looking forward to this new chapter in our lives as a family of four!

we've also had family and friends bringing us dinner almost every night, which has been SUCH a blessing! i kind of feel spoiled. but i'll enjoy it while it lasts! maybe after it ends i'll actually feel like cooking again. =)

i LOVE watching riley with josiah. i can see the desire there for relationship... he wants to hold him and talk to him and it's just so precious to see their bond! of course it doesn't hurt that josiah looks a lot like riley! he resembles julia's newborn pictures, but looks more like riley than she does. from the big hands and full lips to the prominent cheekbones and beautiful eyebrows, he's definitely his daddy's son!

here's my belly as josiah grew:

6 weeks

10 weeks

14 weeks

18 weeks

22 weeks

27 weeks

30 weeks

34 weeks

35 weeks

37.5 weeks, 7 hours before Josiah was born

after the epidural

2 days postpartum

and, if you've read this far, then here's one last one for you!

2 weeks postpartum: what breastfeeding (and good genes, thanks Mom!) have done for me!

ok, that's all for now... i'm sure i'll be writing more as he grows!

oh alright, ONE more of my little prince!

don't you just want to kiss him?!

First family nights out!

What a fabulous weekend I had! It occurred to me at some point that I've been [somewhat subconsciously] stressed out recently because of what all was on the horizon, with the up and coming birth of our little Josiah, etc. but I realized that we have absolutely nothing major coming up... our son is here, we're all moved in to our new apartment, we both have a couple months off from church commitments, and now we can just enjoy each other as a family and adjust to the addition of our newest member! What a refreshing feeling. I am really excited about this new phase in our life... there are times where I'm scared about handling two children at once, but the fear is subsiding and I know that everything will be okay (even if not everything is always clean and done!) and not only will we survive, but we will thrive!

So Friday night was our first time out as a family of four. We went to Riley's sister's house for a swim party and dinner. It was so much fun! I just relaxed by the pool with Josiah in my lap while Riley played with Julia in their new and improved pool! There were a zillion (okay, like 10) toddlers there and it was crazy fun! I got to take a bunch of pictures while sitting by the pool with Josiah (a nice break from handling a fearless, waterloving Julia) AND it was the first time all 6 cousins were together.


Then Saturday I managed to make it to my friend Caelene's baby shower, with Josiah in tow. He was very well behaved, i.e. slept and nursed the whole time, and it was good to get out and see friends! I'm amazed at how quickly I've recovered from delivery! More about that later, when I actually sit down and blog the whole birth story. That afternoon Libby came over and took some really great pictures of Josiah (she did Julia's newborn pictures at one month)... maybe I can get some of those uploaded soon too. Then we decided we (er, I) needed to get out of the house again! So...

We packed up again (it takes a lot longer now, but we'll get the hang of it soon) and went to Carabba's in Grapevine. Yummy! They had this ball of dough for Julia to play with which was great because it kept her entertained until the food came. Then we went to Baskin Robbins for dessert with my BOGOF coupon, yay! so yummy! Julia fell asleep on the way home, which was great because she didn't take a nap earlier in the day but it was late enough (8pm) that I was pretty confident she would stay asleep all night. Which she did. So we decided with the kids (the kids! I can say that now!) in bed early we'd rent a movie. Even if we fell asleep in the middle of it. After all, since Julia didn't nap, guess who else didn't?! The only decent thing redbox had was 007 Quantum of Solace. Pretty good, especially since we just got to sit and snuggle and relax. Josiah was still a littly fussy after nursing so he snuggled with us for the first part of the movie too!

So I still have a pretty length to-do list but I have to keep reminding myself that I need to sleep whenever I get the chance. Like now, instead of blogging. Will do as soon as I'm done. I promise I might. If I'm not rested, I won't have the energy to get stuff done anyway. It's hard though, because before Josiah was born, Julia's naptime was my get-stuff-done time. Well maybe I can slowly ease back into that once I get a full night's sleep. Whenever that will be!

Ok I better stop. Oh one more thing! Riley had the coolest idea before Josiah was born. Get me new glasses! I get my eyes checked every year to renew my contacts prescription but since I only wear my glasses at home, I haven't bought new ones in like 6 or 7 years. So I can't see a lot through them. Well since having a baby means taking longer in the morning to do anything with myself, he thought it was time to just get some new ones. Well he found this website where they are $8. $8 for glasses! That's just unheard of. My last pair were like 100-200 I think. Anyway, so you just type in your prescription and pick the frames you like. Well, I was a little iffy on it since I'm really picky and couldn't try them on. So Riley had a brilliant idea. Go to a eyeglass store, try a bunch on and when I find a pair I like, write the measurements down and pick a pair online that comes close to the same numbers and looks good in the picture. Risky, but hey, if I don't like them, at least they're the right prescription, were really cheap and I only have to wear them around the house. So, I found some I liked at jc penney, wrote the numbers down, picked some out online, paid $13 with shipping and got me some new glasses in the mail yesterday! Buying glasses on the internet is such a foreign concept to me, but hey, we should be willing to try new thing right?! Well they look pretty good for not having had the opportunity to try on a million pairs, and I can see better through them. Yay! I'll have to get a pic of those too.

Ok, that's really all for now. Until I write my labor and delivery blog. Have a great week everybody! =)