SLO in Arkansas: August 2009

Sunday, August 30, 2009

My Big Boy

Tyson has turned into such a little boy lately, and even more so since we brought Jace home. I just can't get over how grown up he looks! I finally got some pictures of him wearing his new hat, so he can be just like his daddy. He does a pretty good job keeping it on. I also thought these pictures were cute of him watching TV on his "chair"!!

He is still not potty training, but he definitely has the whole process down. He likes to drag his potty chair out into the living room and practice going potty at random times! On this particular day he discovered it made a pretty good spot to watch some television too:)

Saturday, August 29, 2009

More Baby Pictures

Just wanted to add some additional pictures from Jace's birth. This was my last official pregnant picture when I checked into the hospital! The big grin on my face is because I know that the next day I will get to meet my son, and not be pregnant anymore!!! I was 40 weeks and 5 days pregnant when Jace was born.

Meeting my precious son for the first time. There is no better moment in the world for a mother than this. I never got to hold Tyson after he was born before they took him off, which was devastating to say the least. I made sure this time that I got to hold him from the very beginning. It was the best moment ever!

Going home from the hospital. New babies always look so tiny in their car seats!!

Jace at one day old. We had a really good first day and night at home, and I am happy to report that Tyson has warmed up considerably to his brother. He is much more interested in him now, and talks about baby Jace. Tyson seems so much older all of a sudden now that we have a tiny baby to compare him to. It just makes me see him in such a different light, as he is so big and capable. I am loving my two boys so much!!!

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Welcome Baby Jace!

Jace has arrived!!! We are all home and doing well, and enjoying getting used to having a new member of the family. I just wanted to post a few pictures of our first day together. I will write more later about the birth and how we are adjusting. For now, here are the stats and some pictures of our little boy:)

Jace Britton Orbison
Born August 26, 2009
2:12 pm
8 lbs 3 oz
21 inches

Just home from the hospital and hanging out. He is definitely our laid back little man:)

Tyson being silly. This was right after we brought Jace home from the hospital. Tyson started acting like a baby, put the hat on his head and climbed into the car seat! Although this is a cute picture, it has not been an easy adjustment for Ty so far. He is very clingy and whines, and has thrown several fits already. He acts really mad at Silas and I like we have offended him by bringing a baby home. He has been pretty indifferent towards Jace so far as well. I know this is a big adjustment for him, and we are working hard to make it as easy as possible. Hopefully things will fall into a good routine soon and we can get some pictures of the brothers!

Everything else is good so far. This will be our first night at home, so hopefully it will go well. I will get more pictures up over the next few days so keep checking back!

Sunday, August 23, 2009

It's My Due Date and I'll Cry If I Want To!!!

Ok, so actually Friday the 21st was my official due date, and I did cry that day. I am just feeling ok enough to even write this today:) Pregnancy is long. 40 weeks is very long. But over 40 weeks.....good grief. I am not one who has lots of patience in general, and this has been a very difficult past few days for me. Apparently this kiddo is very happy and comfortable just hanging out baking, with no desire to come out and see me! The trick is, I would very much like him to come out now:) I have gone through lots of emotional highs and lows the past week or two, from excitement, to anxiousness, to frustrated. Right now I am just plain worn out. I am tired. I am uncomfortable. I am moody. I am not in control of any of this and that is aggravating in and of itself. I don't really want to be induced, but we may be heading down that path in the next few days if he doesn't come on his own, just because of the time he has been in there in addition to his ever increasing size. I am really not sure what else to say. I have been doing tons of resting, napping daily, I have taken the past few weeks off of work, and am trying to enjoy spending my days with my family. The problem is that just daily life and activities are hard in the state I am in, and I get worn out so easily which really frustrates me. And I have a 2 year old ball of energy who I wish I could play with more, but it's just hard to right now. So that is where I am today. Still waiting, sometimes patiently, sometimes not so much. Some hours and days are great and I am distracted, other hours and days seem eternal and I can't do anything but try to will this thing out of me!! I have contractions all the time. I have them every 5 minutes for hours and they are getting increasingly painful, but as soon as I think I am ready to go to the hospital, sure enough they will die down or just go away for half the day. There is nothing left to do on my "to do list" because I had all that done weeks and even months ago, and now I have to resort to doing things that aren't really that important just to fill my time while I wait. And the waiting is so hard. I have loved this baby from the second I knew I was pregnant, and every minute that goes by that I can't hold him and smell him and look at him is killing me. I know I can't be pregnant forever, but it sure feels that way. Every day I get so excited that "this could be the day" and then nothing happens and I am so disappointed. I know that God has a plan and that little Jace will be born at exactly the minute he is supposed to be. I just wish I knew when that minute was!!! So for now I am still waiting. I appreciate all of your prayers and calls. Some days I just do better at handling the waiting than others. I am really hoping my next post will have some baby pictures in it! Please continue to pray for a relatively smooth labor and delivery for both me and Jace. I am feeling optimistic and hopeful today:) It just can't be that much longer, can it?!?!?

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

My Next 30 Years

I celebrated my 30th birthday yesterday! Actually there was not much real celebration, as we are saving that for after this baby comes and I can go out and do something enjoyable:) I did manage to get an ice cream cake and a night out to dinner on the actual day, so that was great! I have to say, this little guy is one of the best things I have done in the past 30 years. Having Tyson and marrying Silas are the two greatest joys of my life to this point:) I am really looking forward to my "next 30 years" and seeing what is in store for me!

My little lizard man:) I love this bath towel and so does Ty. He goes running through the house with it on after his bath. It is really cute to see him from behind...just a big green towel flapping out behind him as he runs!

My big two year old boy. The little squirt just won't quit growing! He has his 2 year check-up coming up in the next week or so and I will know his official stats then, but I know he is growing like a weed. He keeps getting into things I don't think he should be able to reach. His worst trick by far is being able to push any chair around the house and get up onto the counters and get whatever he wants!

Here he is enjoying some of my ice cream birthday cake:) He loved the stuff. I know I should have posted a picture of me, but really, 39 weeks and 3 days pregnant....not a pretty picture!!! I go back to the doctor tomorrow morning, so maybe I will know more by then. We are pretty much playing the "wait and see" game at this point, as my doctor is not a big fan of induction "for no reason." Seriously Mr.....have YOU ever been almost 40 weeks pregnant in late August??!?!?! I didn't think so! Ok, that's just me joking:) I am still doing pretty great overall, and at this point it is much more a desperate wanting to hold my child and love on him rather than a sick of being pregnant thing. It's like being super excited for Christmas, but having no idea what day Christmas will be on!!! Ok Ok, and I am a little tired of being pregnant:) I am really hoping for any day now.....

Monday, August 10, 2009

Crazy Train

Well, the 9 month pregnant crazy train has arrived and I am officially on it! I have had a very uneventful pregnancy and have been surprisingly calm and happy for most of it, so I figured this time would come eventually:) I hit the wall of being "done" this weekend. I will be 39 weeks this week and am getting a little tired of being pregnant. My hormones are all over the place and I know it will be over soon....it's just killing me that I don't know when exactly! I go back to the doctor this Thursday, so we will see what this week holds.

In light of trying to have a good attitude these last few days, I have been thinking about all the good things I have (or have not) experienced this pregnancy. Number one blessing hands down has been a straight gift from God.....the weather. I just knew I was going to be a miserable sweating angry mess by late May as the temperatures heated up here in the south, and a downright nightmare by late August for sure! But each and every week we have had exceptionally cooler temps than usual with the highs rarely reaching the 90's the entire summer. I have been so grateful every day for this huge and unexpected blessing. I have been pleasantly comfortable throughout the summer, and I know that has been the biggest contributor to my positive mood:)

I am grateful that I have only started to do the pregnant waddle the past week or so:) I have felt physically good (with the exception of throwing up all first trimester). I am still sleeping well, have very minor back aches, no swelling, etc. I was able to wear my wedding ring the entire pregnancy which made me happy too:) I have been able to keep up with work as needed. (The house is another story!) I was able to borrow all my maternity clothes from friends and family, plus what I had for Tyson, and have not bought one thing this entire time. That has been a huge blessing! My sweet husband has indulged my every whim and craving:) That mostly involves taking me to TCBY after dinner every night for a white chocolate mousse parfait! Thank goodness for low fat yogurt and a frequent flyer card! I haven't gained that much weight and I have been earning some free yogurt along the way:) I am sure there are so many more things to be thankful for, but those are my big ones.

I know these are some random pictures, but I wanted to share some of my sweet family! We are doing well and just playing the waiting game at this point to see when Jace will decide to arrive. Tyson has been his crazy sweet self and continues to wear me out daily. He ruined my sofa end table this weekend by carving deep lines all over it with some tool he found. This is his "cooking" table, so I'm sure he thought he was just cooking up some feast, so it was hard to be too mad. Times like this just remind me not to buy anything new for the next 5 to 10 years while I am raising heathens, I mean boys! He is talking up a storm too, and it is so cute. He has his own little language which is easy for us to understand, but probably sounds funny to everyone else. He puts the word "our" in front of most of what he says. Like "ohhhh, our corn" if we are having corn for dinner. Most of it makes sense, but he does it for weird words too in place of the beginning of the actual word. Like lemonade. He calls it "our nade". He also calls things funny names while he is learning to say them, and of course that word sticks in our minds and we end up saying things wrong all the time because that's what he calls them! (like woodchuck). My favorite example of this is his word for coffee. We have "hot coffee" on the weekends with cinnamon rolls, and he always calls it "hot fluffy!" So of course now I call coffee fluffy and it just doesn't make any sense. It has been so much fun watching this little man grow up, and we are so blessed to have him around:) He makes things so entertaining on a daily basis. Definitely a good distraction for this pregnant mama!!! He has also become quite the ladies man, and has several girls in town that absolutely adore him. Of course he went for some older women (they will both be 3 in Nov/Dec) so they are a little more verbal and like to boss him around. I will save the stories about Tyson's girlfriends for another post though:)

Sunday, August 02, 2009

Getting Close!

It's August....and I am having a baby in August!!! I can't believe we are getting so close already:) I am due in 19 days, and hoping to have a few less than that if I am lucky:) Tyson only came 3 days early, so we will see what this little guy decides to do. I was 37 weeks on Friday and doing well. I go back to the doctor this coming Friday, so we will see if any progress has been made in the getting ready for labor department. I have been having fairly regular Braxton Hicks contractions for weeks and weeks, but I can tell they are getting stronger and more frequent now. Nothing that makes me think anything is happening though! I have been very patient so far waiting for the end of this pregnancy, but now that I am considered "full term," I am ready to get this show on the road! Actually I am just getting tired of being pregnant, and super ready to snuggle the little guy:) On a positive note, I am still feeling relatively good for being about to pop. I am sleeping decently, no swelling or major aches or pains, and pretty minor mood swings (or so I have been told!!). Silas says I am much more pleasant to be around this pregnancy, and have not been a major hormonal mess, so that is nice to hear:)

I am still working almost every day, but just for about 1-2 hours. Thursdays are my long days as I try to squeeze in as much as possible while Tyson is at Mother's Day Out, and I usually end up working from 9-4 that day. Luckily about half of that is usually paperwork, and the other half is seeing clients, so I still get to sit and rest quite a bit. I am hoping that this coming week will be my last full week for work, and then I will just take things a day at a time from there on out. I am very thankful my office is only a mile and a half from my house, so I don't have far to go if something does happen! This will be Tyson's last week of Mother's Day Out for the summer, and then he returns to his usual schedule at the end of August or beginning of September. I have not been super impressed with where he has gone this summer, so I am really ready for him to get back to Central Baptist where he seemed a lot happier.

Speaking of the little devil, isn't he cute?!! He pulled out some of my soccer shirts from the dresser and had a ball wearing them around the house. He looked like a little ET in them! Tyson has been having some major emotional clingyness recently, and I really hope it goes away once the baby gets here. He cries when I drop him off at MDO and church, and they have to pry him off my neck so I can leave. It is terrible for me, and I even went back a few hours later and got him from school the other week because I called and he never really calmed down once I left. It is totally uncharacteristic behavior of him, and I am ready for it to be over. On the good side, he is still sleeping well, and pretty happy most of the time (if we aren't trying to leave him somewhere!!). The boy has been taking some crazy long naps recently too, so I am wondering if he is in a growth spurt, or just making lots of developmental changes. He slept over 4 hours for a nap today, and his usual ones are around 3 on almost a daily basis! I am lucky!! I sleep while he sleeps though, so I still don't get anything done:)

Here is a picture of my Little Chef in action in the kitchen. We made beef stew the other day for dinner and he was an excellent helper with all the prep work of the vegetables. His job was to put everything in the bowl once chopped so we could get it to the crock pot. He knows his veggies pretty well and has fun learning about new ones. He is also a true chef and tastes things here and there as we cook. A few of the carrots made it into the pot with some little nibbles taken out of them!!! I am amazed at this kids intense interest in cooking, and am really hoping it is something he continues to enjoy throughout the years. He pretend cooks all of the time while playing, and can re-enact the entire routine from the Japanese steak house where they cook on the hibachi grill at your table! He is really funny to watch as he spins his eggs (he uses golf balls) on the grill, stirs the rice and veggies, adds in the oil (juice from his sippy cup), and flips things over. He has recently added some of the entertainment aspects to his routine that they do, such as wearing a tall hat and flipping the egg (golf ball) up onto his head! He stands there "cooking" for long periods of time, muttering things like ...."ohhh, the fire is hot!" and "ohhh, rice!" It is stinking adorable:)

Well, that's whats going on in our lives right now. We are enjoying every day and eagerly anticipating Jace's arrival soon!! The car seat is in the car, my hospital bags are packed, and we are ready to rock n' roll whenever he decides he wants to get here.

SLO in Arkansas