A visit with Mom's side of the family

Yes, Honey, I'm sure.

Aunt Christy, Mom's youngest sister, with my kids

Grandma (Babci), Mom, Aunt Christy, Madeleine and John Paul

Babci with John Paul. Babci has 8 kids - my mom is the oldest. I'm trying to beat her :)

Madeleine with her favorite person - Grandma!

Grandma and Christy came up from Alabama for a few days, because my cousin's car broke down, it's a long story. Anyway, I'm so glad they got to meet John Paul while he's still tiny. He's not that tiny - I weighed myself and then held him on the scale today, and he is over 12 lbs!

Blast from the Past

Madeleine at 7 months.

I am SO not used to this

So Mom and I went to Joann fabrics yesterday and John Paul needed his diaper changed. Simple, right? I took him in the bathroom, got out his new diaper and wipes. Then I noticed he had pooped on his diaper cover, so I reached in the bag to get another one. Well, the kid decides it's time to turn on the little sprinkler. Everything got wet - the new diaper, the new diaper cover, socks and outfit. What the heck? How can he have that good of aim already?!

So he's screaming the whole time, but luckily I had an extra outfit, extra socks, and even a third diaper cover with us. That was a miracle. Then I had to sit in the disgusting bathroom and nurse him till he calmed down. Nothing like eating your meal in the presence of a public toilet.

Baptism round 2

Father Dan, who also baptized Madeleine and has been a good friend mine since high school.

Godparents DD and Paddy, as Madeleine calls them!

My parents, Grandma and Papa

Ken's parents, Nanny and Pa

Big Sister

John Paul was absolutely perfect the entire time. In fact he slept the whole time! He didn't even know what happened. Look for some action shots and stories coming up next!

Baptism pictures round 1

No one could guess what he was smiling at?

One month old

ALREADY?? How come the last month of pregnancy goes SO slow and then when the baby gets here it goes SO fast?? Not fair. John Paul is such a sweet baby. He is easy going and laid back. He's starting to sleep a little better - and poop a little less! 12 times/day was a little much for us! I am going to try to take a picture with him on this chair with this bear on his month birthdays to see how much he changes over the first year.

These are my favorite socks. He has 6 different colors! We went to visit my Grandma on Monday at her nursing home. This is how different Madeleine and John Paul are. Madeleine at one month already wasn't happy unless I was holding her and usually nursing her! She wouldn't let Great Grandma hold her for more than a minute. John Paul slept happily in her arms for over 1/2 hour. I know it made her day! She loves watching Madeleine too and kept saying how lucky I am. Boy do I know it! She also couldn't get over his socks.

He just started smiling! I caught a little one. Can anyone guess what he's smiling at?
He's laying on his Snugglewool blanket. It is so soft and cozy. I have actually got him to sleep in his cradle a few times but he still prefers to sleep in my bed, as close to me as possible. I don't mind - for now :)

Friday cookout

I know I have been slacking with the blog! But we are doing great. John Paul is a wonderful baby. He is so easy going and laid back. I just wish he would go to bed a little earlier!

Madeleine is doing fantastic. She hasn't shown one single bit of jealousy. Not one bit so far. I'm so proud of her. She doesn't like John Paul to cry, so she will try to give him something like a toy when he cries. On Friday we were making the cupcakes for the cookout, and John Paul was hanging out in his bouncy seat on the kitchen floor. He started fussing a little and Madeleine went into the pantry and put several cans of beans in the seat with him - the funny thing is, he stopped crying! She is a big help.

The cookout was at our friends house, for another friend who is in the seminary and is going to Guatemala for the summer. It was great to see him. The kids were SO funny. Madeleine loved eating outside on the deck. The one little boy seemed to have a little crush on her - the one in the orange shirt. He kept getting in her space and she kept pushing him away! He sat in a puddle and Madeleine looked at him and said, "Your pants are wet." We all about died laughing. Ken hopes she keeps pushing the boys away when she is 16!! She loved playing with them and LOVED hanging out with Sarah and Chris.

We are looking forward to John Paul's baptism on Saturday. Fr. Dan is baptizing him - he is my friend from high school who baptized Madeleine when he was a deacon. That was one of the most special days of my life.

Thanks Jenny for the pictures!

Whew!

This kid has the weirdest sleeping habits! He is usually only waking up twice at night, which is not bad. However, he doesn't go to bed until 11 or 12, which is way past my bedtime, and every time he wakes up, it takes him a good hour and a half to get back to sleep! He eats, poops, has to be changed, eats again, I put him in his cradle (unless we both fall asleep in my bed!) sometimes he poops again, I ask Ken to change him, etc, etc. Madeleine woke up a lot, but the kid would eat in 5 minutes and go back to sleep.

SO, the past few nights I have tried a pacifier with him. He just likes to use ME as a paci and then no one gets any sleep. Sometimes he likes it, sometimes he doesn't. Ken doesn't want him to use it - he prefers that he finds his thumb. He IS trying to get his thumb in his mouth, but is just not coordinated enough to keep it in there yet. I am not sure what I think.

Madeleine sucks her thumb all the time and it doesn't appear that she is going to stop anytime soon! However, once she found her thumb (and I stopped drinking milk!) she was a very easy baby - able to self-soothe. That was nice. I am not a fan of popping the paci back in his mouth every time it falls out and he wakes up crying. Then it takes him a while to settle back down. However I think it would be easier to take the paci away eventually than get Madeleine to stop sucking her thumb. Any thoughts?

Negative is positive :)

Today Madeleine's skin test was NEGATIVE for a milk allergy!

She was quite the trooper today. She had to have 5 "pinches" in her back for the skin tests. She did great. He said because of her history of sensitivity to milk, he wanted her to get a blood test to see if she can have a food challenge and try a milk product. So she did great on that too - they had to poke her twice (I feel your pain, Honey) and she only cried just a little at the end. We should get those results in 4 - 6 weeks and they'll tell us whether she can do a food challenge. So this could be great news! I really really hope she has outgrown this, and can have pizza and mac and cheese and ice cream and parmesean and everything else!

Now he did say that a few things are lifelong food allergens, fish, shellfish, tree nuts and peanuts. I told him that she eats fish all the time, but hasn't had any of the other things. He said that she shouldn't get shellfish, tree nuts or peanuts until she is in kindergarten. He said she'd be much more vocal then and be able to tell us exactly what she was feeling, like if her lips were tingling or something like that. So that is ok, she doesn't need any of that stuff for a few more years! He wrote us another prescription for an epi pen just in case she were to get into some of that and have a reaction.

And more good news, he said that I didn't really need to avoid milk with John Paul, as long as he didn't show any symptoms. He said that second children usually don't have as many allergy problems as first born children. He also said that having pets from birth help prevent allergies! He did say I should avoid the three things that Madeleine is avoiding. That's not a problem. We haven't had nuts in a long time, and I can give up shellfish no problem.

If her blood test is negative and then she passes the food challenge, I can't WAIT to cook her my favorite homemade macaroni and cheese!! :)

First bath

He was so cute in the baby tub. He loved the water! He just kind of hung out and looked out the window. He didn't cry at all, even when he got his hair washed.

So, today I was feeding John Paul and Madeleine was sitting on the couch with us. She started touching him, starting at his feet and going up to his head. Then she realized what he was doing and she said, "John Paul! Why are you drinking out of mommy's belly button??!" HAHA! Does she not remember doing the same thing for 20 months! I thought that was hilarious. Then she told Ken the same thing when he got home.

If you need me I'll be smelling the top of this baby's head for the rest of the night :)

I've turned into one of THOSE moms...

They match! :) Madeleine loves to kiss her little brother. I love to kiss him too!
Thank you Sew, for sending me this great fabric and walking me through all my sewing attempts!!

Ahhh, this is the life!

I can't get a decent picture of this kid! She doesn't know how to smile or stand still for pictures!

Close up! I just can't stand how adorable he is!!

I just got a glimpse into my future. "Mom, she's touching me!"

The lactation consultant/nurse practitioner was helpful today. She showed me how to get a better latch with some different positions. Also he is up to 8 lbs 15 oz, so he is gaining weight very well! I asked about his belly button - his cord came off pretty early and it was bleeding a few days ago. She said that was normal and it looks great now. She spent about an hour with me! I really liked her.

Then I got to go to the grocery store with just one kid, which was nice! He slept in his sling the whole time. I actually cooked dinner tonight - ribs in the crockpot, rice, roasted green beans and brownies for dessert (I was craving chocolate!) I also vacuumed and did several loads of laundry - I was pretty proud of myself :)

When Ken got home we ate dinner and then walked over to the playground. John Paul and I got to try out our new Moby Wrap (www.mobywrap.com) He fell asleep immediately and slept the entire time! It was so comfortable for me too. I really like it. Madeleine loved playing on the playground too. Then on the way home we saw some friends who also just had a baby - so the two kids will be in the same class! She is really cute and way bigger than John Paul. I thought HE was big!

Now that John Paul is 2 weeks old, I am getting more used to having 2 kids. It's great most of the time! We are getting into a good routine and Madeleine is still doing great. And of course I'm falling more in love with my little man every day!

Exhaustion has set in

Whew! This baby has his days and nights confused. He thinks it's fun to be awake from about 9pm - midnight, which is exactly when I want to go to bed. The past few mornings I've almost felt physically sick when I got up, I'm sure from lack of sleep, and my body changing so dramatically physically and hormonally. I know this will pass and I'm still enjoying (almost) every minute with this beautiful baby! The good news is I have officially lost ALL my pregnancy weight (22 lbs) in 9 days and I fit into my regular jeans yesterday! It was sure fun to put away all my maternity clothes and get out my regular clothes again - it's almost like getting a new wardrobe :)

Madeleine has been AMAZING through all these changes. At first she didn't pay any attention to him. Now, whenever he cries (usually only when I am changing his diaper - he doesn't like to be naked, unlike his sister!), she runs up to him and tries to give him a toy and says "You want this, John Paul?!" She has even given him her favorite toy penguin. She loves to "hold" him too and doesn't seem to mind that I have to hold him a lot. I am trying to keep her routine as close to the same as possible. She is such a good little girl.

John Paul went for his one week (and two day) weigh in at the pediatrician yesterday. He got down to 8 lbs in the hospital and now is up to 8 lbs 10 oz. The doc says he looks great and we don't have to come back until his 2 month checkup. They have a new nurse practicioner in the office who is also a lactation consultant. I made an appointment with her for Monday. He's gaining weight and doing fine, but REALLY hurting me. I am sure she'll be able to help.

You can't tell from this picture too well, but this is the first time he's worn his wool pants. He got lots of compliments today. They are so soft and cute on him!!

Check this out.

Ken 3 days old
John Paul 6 days old

John Paul's first hike

On Sunday it was in the 70s and sunny so we went on a little hike. Thank goodness John Paul likes the sling! He has been in it several times in his 7 days in this world and seems to enjoy it!
Ok so this is not the most attractive picture of me! But I have lost 18 lbs in 6 days and feel great :)

I thought this picture was so sweet. We were throwing sticks on one side of the bridge and watching them come out the other side. Madeleine loves hikes, especially throwing rocks and sticks in the water!

The leaves are looking so beautiful! I love this time of year!

So, I don't think I ever told the story about what happened to my phone. On Tuesday night I believe (well I guess Wednesday morning), I woke up in the middle of the night in the hospital and heard a really loud static sound. I looked over at the little table which my phone was on and the entire thing was covered with water. Apparently one of the cups or pitchers of water leaked. The phone never worked again. Ken talked to someone at the hospital and they are paying for it!! It's a good thing because we couldn't afford to replace it. So I have been without a phone all week but finally got it back tonight.

I'm in love

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The Birth of John Paul Landon

This birth story is so amazingly similar to Madeleine's.

On Sunday night I could not sleep at all, even with taking a whole Ambien. I was up at least every half hour. I was just so uncomfortable I couldn't sleep and I kept going to the bathroom. Then around 5:30 I started having pretty regular contractions, about every 5 minutes. After several hours they were getting stronger and closer together. I had a feeling that today would be the day! I had my doctor's appointment at 11am, so I just decided to go to that and see what she said. So I just walked around and had some cereal and watched Dora with Madeleine a few times. About 10:30 we dropped her off at Grandma's house. Ken had stayed home so he took me to the doctor. We had both of our bags in the car because we figured we would be staying.

We got in and the doc checked me. She said I was at 4 cm and could go on upstairs if I wanted to! She said they might have to break my water later to make sure things got going. So I was excited! Unfortunately, every bed in Labor and Delivery was occupied, so we had to wait in triage in the most uncomfortable bed EVER. I got an iv and got hooked up to the monitors for the baby's heartbeat and my contractions. I think we were there until about 2 before they moved us to a room. When we got there, the bed was much better and they checked me again. I was at 5 cm. They said they could either have my doctor come and break my water then or I could get in the tub for a while. Since that was my favorite part of labor with Madeleine, I decided to get in the tub. This helped with the pain quite a bit, but by this time it was getting pretty intense so Ken and I decided to get out our list of intentions and start praying. Ken sat next to the tub and when I'd get a contraction, we would pray for an intention on our list. Then he'd say Hail Marys until it was over. This definitely helped and we made it through every intention on our LONG list.

Side note. While I was in the tub, naked and having contractions, an IT guy walked in to fix the computer!! Yeah. Ken sat on the edge of the tub to kind of block his view, but still. Come ON people!

So I stayed in the tub for about 3 hours. Around 5pm I decided I would get out and let the doctor come and break my water. The nurse checked me again and I was STILL at 5 cm. I have long, slow labors. Then they called my doctor, who had just gone home to feed her kids supper. She didn't come in until 6:30. When she came in, she checked me and I was at a 7 cm and "very stretchy cervix." Her checking me and then breaking my water was probably the most painful thing of the whole process. It hurt SO bad my eyes filled with tears and I was ready for it to be over! Pretty much immediately the contractions started getting SO strong I couldn't think of anything else. I just had to try to relax and get in the "zone." Ken was a great coach. Around 7:30 I decided I was ready for an epidural. The guy came in around 8. The first epidural did not take AT ALL. After 20 minutes I could still feel my feet, and everything else that was going on. He said he'd have to redo it. The second time he gave me the numbing shot again (which burns and stings) and then tried to thread the catheter and could not do it at all! So he had to do it a 3rd time. At this point I was seriously thinking of telling him to forget it. But he said he would have to move up a bone in my spine. This time he was able to thread it 5 cm, which is 1 cm longer than normal I think. Within a few minutes I couldn't feel my legs and in a few more minutes I wasn't feeling contractions. However, my legs and feet were uncomfortably numb and tingly. I kept trying to get Ken to move me because I couldn't move my legs at all. At one point I kept trying to get him to bend my leg. He kept telling me that it was alredy bent. But I just KNEW it was straight. He had to take a picture with my phone to show me it was bent at more than a 90 degree angle! Then I kept telling him to move the pillow under my leg. I was touching it with my hand and telling him to move it because it was uncomfortable. He said, "Uh, that IS your leg!"

Anyway, they checked me again at close to 10pm and said I was at a 9. My doctor said that she could just give me a tiny bit of pitocin to get me to 10 more quickly. I told her to go for it! They left the room and said to call them back when I started feeling a lot of pressure. It wasn't too long after that when we called them back in, maybe 10:30 or so. She checked me and said I was fully dilated and his head was right there. The doctor came in and got everything ready. They said to push with the next contraction. I asked if I could have a mirror to see what was going on, and they put one down at the end of the bed. With the first contraction I could see his head! The second contraction he was born! His head came out, he had lots of hair! The doc was playing with his hair. Then on the next push he was born! They put him right on my chest. I thought he felt a lot bigger than Madeleine! He was so beautiful and such a sweet boy! He peed all over the doctor and nurse immediately :) I got to hold him for a while while I delivered the placenta and she sewed me up. She said I wouldn't have torn this time except his hand came out right next to his face. Then they asked if I was ready for them to weigh him. I said sure, so they weighed him at 8 lbs 8 oz, and he was 21 inches! Ken went with him (in the room) and took pictures. They wrapped him up and brought him back to me. He finally opened one eye and looked at me.

After a little while, they came over and said that he charted out as large for his gestational age (which I thought was weird!) and they had to test his blood sugar. They pricked his heel and it was 37. They said it was supposed to be above 45 so they'd have to give him formula. I hadn't even tried to feed him yet! So I asked if that was the only option? They said I could refuse the formula and try to breastfeed him for 30 minutes and they'd test it again. If it wasn't above 45 they would have to give him formula. I told them I didn't want him to have any since his sister was allergic to dairy - I didn't want to take any chances with him. So I fed him for a half hour, and he did great. They tested it again and it was 53! I'm so glad I didn't consent to the formula.

They brought me a boxed lunch to eat after that while Ken held John Paul. I was SO hungry after not eating anything all day. They gave him a bath and we got to move up to our room. They said since his blood sugar was low I'd have to feed him every 2-3 hours and call the nurse to check his sugar before every feeding. I tried to feed him again when we got up there but he was too tired to wake up and eat. So they said I could sleep for an hour and feed him at 3:30. His sugar before that was 55. He ate like a champ for an hour and went back to sleep in the bassinet. I got to sleep on my stomach for the first time in months and I was in heaven! I fed him again at 6:30 and his sugar was 60. They said he was maintaining fine and they didn't have to check him anymore. Yay!

The next morning my mom brought Madeleine over to meet her new baby brother. She got a big smile on her face when Ken carried her in and she saw me. I asked her if she wanted to sit on the bed with me. Then when she saw John Paul she said "Baby Brother!" I told her she could touch him and she was really fascinated. She gave him a kiss and was really sweet! He had gotten her a present - two little magnet boards - they were a farm scene and a classroom scene with a bunch of magnets. She opened that and played, then gave him her present, which was a little photo album of family members that she and Grandma had made together.

He pretty much slept the entire first day. He was too tired to eat too much. I had to call the lactation consultant several times because I couldn't get him to latch on. Those people don't mess around, let me tell ya! They just grabbed my boob and shoved it in his mouth. So since he slept so well I figured I would get a good night sleep the next night. OH I was wrong.

Just when I was so tired I could barely keep my eyes open even while I was sitting up, he decided to wake up. And he decided this was a good time to eat for about 8 hours straight. The nurse kept coming in all night because he'd latch on, eat, doze off, then wake up and want to be latched on again. Over and over. She kept coming in and asking me if I wanted her to take him to the nursery for a while so I could get some sleep. Well I didn't want him to just be in there crying! So finally she asked if she could try a pacifier with him. It was 4:30 am at this point and I hadn't slept in 3 nights, so I decided to let her try it. He was not interested. And whenever she'd take him away from me he would start crying. So finally she told me to scoot over in the bed. She laid him down next to me and put a pillow on the other side of him. I was shocked that she did this! Usually you have to hide it from the nurses if you put the baby in bed :) But it worked! He slept next to me for about 3 hours. He's a mama's boy already :)

The next day we decided we wanted to leave early (well, earlier than waiting until 48 hours after he was born, which would have been 10:41 at night.) They told us we could just bring him back for the newborn screening the next day. So Madeleine came over after her nap, we packed everyone up, and she got to bring her baby brother home! It was a wonderful 3 days and I am so grateful that we have these two beautiful, amazing children!

We are home!

And he is the sweetest baby in the whole world!!

We decided to come home yesterday afternoon early, so we had to go get his newborn screening blood test this morning. It was SO worth it to come home last night. Madeleine came to the hospital so she could help bring her baby brother home and we have started getting back into the normal routine. Madeleine thought I had moved into another home! It was really sad. So I got to put her to bed last night and told her that I wasn't leaving and I would be here when she woke up. She is doing great having her brother around so far. She says his name so cute I'm going to have to get it on video.

And I am feeling great too! SOOOO much better than the last few weeks of pregnancy. We even went out to lunch at Qdoba today. I'm sure the vicodin and ice packs are helping!

In case anyone is trying to call me, my cell phone was damaged at the hospital and is completely ruined. We are trying to decide what to do but hopefully I'll get a phone by tomorrow. I'm going into withdrawl!

John Paul is fitting right in with our family. He seems really laid back so far. I forgot how great it is to have a newborn around. He is just so sweet and cuddly. And I forgot how much I love breastfeeding - it's just like a wave of relaxation over both of us when he eats. He is doing great too. He has decided he likes to sleep right next to me and not in the cradle, which is fine with me. We started cloth diapering today and I'm loving that too. This is my first experience cloth diapering a newborn. He looks so darn cute in them!

I'm going to write out his birth story hopefully tonight or tomorrow before I forget any details. But it was a great experience and I'd do it again in a heartbeat! Ken asked yesterday if we were 1/4 of the way done (with having kids) now, and I said Let's make it 1/5 :)

Thanks so much for all the comments!

Welcome to the family John Paul!

We love you!!!