Doodle-Bug

Meet Duncan Wilder. Also known as Doodle-Bug, or Dunka-Doo, Dunka-Doodle Doo, or Doodle-Poodle.

(Photo courtesy of Missy Saunders Photography and Design)

I adore this boy so much. So much, in fact, that I will post this extremely unflattering picture of me simply because I love the way he is looking at me.


Those who are close to me know that when I found out I was expecting another baby, I was less than thrilled. Don't get me wrong, I'd always planned on having another, but I felt it was too soon, not to mention the fact that circumstances were less than ideal. My health wasn't great (later I was diagnosed with Graves Disease) and things at home could have been better. I won't get overly detailed, but I was scared to be pregnant. I cried. I never regretted that it happened, surprise though it may have been, but I just felt it couldn't happen yet. I couldn't handle it. And this pregnancy SUCKED. HARD. So much suckage. I did finally have an epiphany that God always knows best, and that there was a reason for the timing. And sometimes the very best blessings require the hardest battle.

(Photo courtesy of Missy Saunders Photography and Design)

He came to us on October 8, and I just love love love love him. Of course I do, I'm his mother. But he's just so wonderful, and I feel he was meant to come and bless our home when we needed him most. The boys all adore him, Bryce adores him, he's just sweet and pleasant and I swear that kid already has an awesome sense of humor.

(Photo courtesy of Missy Saunders Photography and Design)

I'm catching you up one post at a time! More to come!

Sisters and babies!

Happy birthday to my cute nephew, Jonah, who is one today, which I totally cannot believe. He's my younger sister's son, their first baby, and he has Amy's red hair. He's a handsome little man, and I can't wait to see him again!

Jonah

And something I can't believe even more is that today Corgan is eleven months old! I feel like I was in the hospital with him last week! He is just about ready to pull up to stand, but he's so stubborn and he gets so frustrated that he gives up. It's pretty cute! All of my boys kind of waited until the very last minute for every milestone, so I know he'll get there. I CAN'T BELIEVE he'll be one year old next month! Time is stealing my boys away from me!

Corgan

On that note, because I was behind on my blog earlier this month, I didn't document the birth of another nephew, making me an aunt for the 24th time. Camden McKay Myers was born to Ashley and Jon, their fifth child, on Septemeber 10, and we are so excited he's here! Belated congratulations to Ashley and family! I can't wait to get to know him!

Camden

Happy 6 months to C-Dawg

The Corganator rolls over both ways, shrieks like an owl just to hear himself, cries a lot over his teeth, is fascinated by the kitties, laughs and grins like the Cheshire cat, adores Ewan and is being really stubborn about sitting-up practice. Oh, and he reeeeeallllly loves his mommy. And I love him. *Sigh*

On a related note, happy 7 months to baby cousin Jonah!

Let me count the ways

The number of reasons why I love this video are too many to count.  Cheesy and silly, maybe, but at least I've stopped short of hanging posters of kittens and babies on my walls.

Christmas Eve with friends, sisters and babies

Today was a very good Christmas Eve. The Saunders came over for lunch and the boys had lots of fun decorating train cakes and running around. Tonight we headed over to Ashley's house for a little family party. I was so excited to get to see Jonah again, and to see him next to Corgan. They are exactly one month apart to the day. Jonah is so cute, and gave my dad some really great giggles. Babies have always loved my dad; he has a magical touch. It was great to see my nieces and nephews, but especially my sisters. I love them both so much and it's always a highlight of my day when we can be together. Here are a few pictures Amy sent to me from her camera. I'll post some more later when I download ours and I know Ashley will be posting more as well. Ewan was running around most of the night, so no pictures of him yet, but I know Bryce got some. Now at our house, Santa has come and gone, Bryce is crashed on the couch, and I am probably more excited than the boys to get up in the morning and see their little faces and open their presents. I won't be getting much sleep.

Big giggles for Grandpa from Jonah.

Fynn was stationed here for a lot of the night.

Corgan on the left with Jonah on the right. Too much cuteness for one room, I say.

Jonah and Corgan, looking like they've been on a bender.

Swapping babies.

There's Chloe!

Ashley, me and Amy. I'm actually not that tall, I was wearing my "Hollywood shoes."

Ashley seeing what it's like to be Angelina Jolie.

Snippets

Ewan's take on Thanksgiving:

"Mommy, I thought Thanksgiving was more fun stuff instead of just eating."

and

"Mommy, you don't know how to make stuffing."

The holiday was good, we had the Bowers over for Thanksgiving, and seriously, all the food we made was some of the best food I've ever eaten (even the stuffing.)  Then I took a nice, long nap with the baby and afterwards we visited with my parents and my brother with his girlfriend.  Then we headed over to Bryce's parents' house and saw his uncle from L.A., some cousins, and Bryce's brother D.J. and girlfriend.  Ewan loves D.J., and he's such a great uncle.  Now Bryce has gone to San Angelo with Ewan and Fynn for his great uncle's funeral.  I've had the house to myself since yesterday at 9:30.  I haven't done  much:  watched movies, eaten pie and bonded with Corgan.  Then I did a TINY bit of shopping and lunch with Sarah.  It was a lot of fun.  The best part was finding GOOD movies at Target for only $3.98.  Can't beat that.  I'll be alone all day today, too, probably until 6:00.  More movies are in store for me.  Oh, and naps.

Side note:  Can anyone tell me why the addition of one wee baby to a family makes laundry shift from manageable to nearly impossible to keep up with?

*Sigh*

Okay, yes, I am totally busy, shouldn't be on the computer, but I couldn't let this go undocumented for one second. I looked over at Fynn a little bit ago, and he had put Corgan's newborn hat from the hospital on Elmo's head. He held him up against his shoulder and started patting Elmo's back. Then he took him to his room and said he was "night night" and he shut the door.

Which reminds me, have you ever seen the following video from Sesame Street? Totally worth the time.

Babies and Boys and Boy Babies

Since Kristy and I are both in Primary, and are both having (had) babies this month, we were thrown a shower by all the Primary women, plus a few friends who were invited as well. Kristy definitely needed a shower more than I did, since she had her first boy after three girls, but I'm grateful I was included and it was so fun to get together with all these women and talk and laugh, and eat really good food. Luckily everyone there has had children, or some of the conversation topics might have horrified someone into never having them. I received many wonderful gifts, and if I was ambitious, I would post pictures of all of them! But I'm not, and sitting in this chair hurts my back, so I am just going to highlight two of my favorites. But thanks to everyone who was there, I loved everything.

If you remember this post, I was coveting both the baby and the hat. Luckily the baby was already in the works, and Julie offered to make the baby a hat just like the picture. This is the result! I love it so much, and CAN NOT WAIT to put him in it. I think Missy might have to come over with her camera... Thank you so much, Julie.

Okay, what are those, you think? Just plain hilarious, and having had two boys - definitely useful. (I tried to find Elisa's page on Etsy, but I lost the card.) For the purposes of this blog, I'll call them (drumroll) pee shields. Basically, you put this over your little boy's, ahem, penis, and if he decides to shower you while you are changing his diaper, these handy little tent-thingies keep the spray contained. Elisa knows we love pirates over here, so she gave me these pirate ones. I am SOOOO using these. Thanks, Elisa!  (*Update*  Elisa just wrote and said she found these on Etsy at bluejeanjess.etsy.com.)

And just for fun, a picture of Fynn's favorite past-time. Before the accident, he would play for hours with this plastic bat and a baseball, running around the house, making us throw the ball for him and trying to hit it. If baseball is on T.V., he is entranced. He really only likes to do it with Bryce, and he demands Bryce wear his baseball hat while they play. As you can see, the cast has not slowed him down at all, although his technique has changed a bit.

We went to the pumpkin patch yesterday, but unfortunately our pictures did not turn out so great. Most of the pictures Ewan absolutely refused to pose for at all. So I'll just post this one of him, happy in the bounce house. (Ignore the fact he's wearing a St. Patricks's Day shirt at a Halloween event. I tried to talk him out of it, but he is who he his and I let him be just that.) It was a very busy day, and he was very tired, so I think this might be the only time he smiled all day. But that's okay, he's still cute when he's not smiling. As long as he's not yelling. The other day as he was changing into his pajamas, I was just marveling at how lean and tall he is now - no baby body left at all. I couldn't help wondering, when did this boy move into my house?! It's so wonderful to see him growing up, but also sad. Time flies by much too quickly.

Visit to Jonah!

I recruited Erica and her daughter to drive to Austin with me for a day trip to meet Jonah. The trip went well, with Ewan and Megan, who are so much alike it's kinda scary, hitting it off well and laughing in the backseat like little Gremlins. (By the way, I have never heard a cuter laugh in my life than Megan's. Never. I mean it.) The kids were very good, but way too energetic for a brand new mommy's nerves, so Erica took them to Walmart for snacks while Amy and I had some quiet sister/baby time.

The drive was nice, Erica and I talked and talked and talked. At one point, her daughter said, "Um, Mommy, I'm trying to hear Peter Pan, you can stop talking now." It was the first time Erica and I have been able to really talk in many, many years, so we didn't stop, but I think Peter Pan was enjoyed anyway. The last leg of the trip got a little long for me, with the drive from Erica's to home seeming to last longer than the whole day. Fynn was crashed well before we hit home, and Ewan was so tired he was slurring his words. For the first time in my life, I don't think I want to sit down ever again (yet here I am...)  Oh, and one of the cutest moments of the day came when Megan told Ewan, "You are just the cutest thing."

It was a great day, and thanks so much to Erica for keeping me company and helping keep my burden light. Erica's post with some pictures of the day can be found here. Please forgive this particularly HORRIBLE picture of me. I would use pregnancy as a double-chin excuse, but it was there long before Corgan took up residence. Just pretend you don't see it. Deal?

Ewan loves babies so much. He went with Amy to change Jonah's diaper and told her that he was the cutest baby in the whole world.

Amy and Jonah. Very red-haired Jonah.

"Just like that one scary Transformer does..."

When I had Fynn, Ewan was so completely awesome.  Other than a little nail-biting in the beginning, he never showed any ill-adjustment or jealousy at all.  He loved him from the moment he saw him and has ever since.  I took that for granted, I think, and with this baby, I've mostly worried about how Fynn is going to take it.  He'll only be 22 months old when Corgan is born (whereas Ewan was almost three at Fynn's debut) and he's just a much more jealous type than Ewan ever was.  

But I suppose now that Ewan is older, he understands more and I might have a little more to deal with than I had anticipated.  Today, Ewan said, "When our new baby is here, I don't think I'm going to like him very much."  I asked him why, and he told me he wanted things to stay just as they are, "...with Fynn, and you and Daddy.  Fynn's a great brother."  I told him Corgan would be a great brother, too, and I told Ewan what a great brother he himself is.  

There were a few moments of silence, and then he said something that was extremely difficult not to laugh at, and I absolutely could not let myself laugh, because this was obviously a very important discussion.  So I was barely able to hold it in when he said, "It's just that... some babies make my teeth chatter."

Finally, Jonah in pictures

Thanks to Ashley for getting some pictures I could post of Amy's new baby, Jonah. I think he is such a beautiful baby, truly. I wish I could see him in person, he only weighed 6 lbs.! Ashley said he's like a little Cabbage Patch Doll.

I'm told he has Amy's gorgeous shade of red hair.

More pictures here.

A haze of laze for the rest of my days

This pregnancy is so kicking my butt, that I fear I'll just be lazy for the rest of my life. Seriously, I am "out of commission" so much lately, that Bryce ends up doing tons of extra work for me, and I struggle through the rest of the day while he's at work. My kids are subsisting on dry cereal and if they are lucky, Spaghettios. What if this becomes a habit? I really do get scared of that. My biggest fear in life (besides the obvious - losing a loved one) is that I'll become this lazy mom who eats bon-bons all day and barks orders at my kids while reading trashy novels. I just can't even imagine being back to normal at this point. Last night, when Bryce walked in from work at nearly midnight, he found me on the couch, literally unable to walk the ten feet to the bathroom to brush my teeth due to my back problem. I wasn't feeling humble enough to crawl, so I'd waited there for twenty minutes for him to come home and help me. Forgive my whining, it's just the state I'm in. As if it wasn't challenging enough, I was rudely awakened this morning by a monster of a Charlie horse that has yet to completely go away, as well as having a sore throat, aching head and a cough as the cherry on top. I know, I know, I should stop whining. But I'm so good at it - the one thing I'll never be lazy about. I really do not post this for sympathy, I just really do worry about the affect this will have on me after the baby comes. That fear rises up so much, I guess just because this is all I know right now - the days of normalcy seem so far behind.

Welcome, Jonah

I really wanted to wait for pictures before I posted this, but I don't know when we'll get them.  I imagine they are pretty busy and occupied down in Austin.  But Jonah was born early this afternoon, weighing in at six pounds, something.  Yeah, I'm a little vague on the details.  But welcome to the world!  And he has red hair!  We figured he probably would, Amy has red hair and Jesse has reddish highlights.  This makes me an aunt for the 23rd time.  And I'm so happy for Amy, she went through a lot for this baby!  Congratulations!  I can't wait to meet him.