David & Brady!

Friday David, Shaun and I had a play date at the Stack's. It's so much fun to watch them play together and one of the best things about being back in the area is they'll get to do this much more often.

It is hard to believe that their first meeting was almost two years ago.


Now they are so big! Check them out in the boat and swimming in the pool!


More interested in playing than posing for my camera!


Even Cameron joined in on the fun!


David was hesitant at first about the pool, then he started to have some fun. The pool he went in before was two feet deep and he could run around in it. This one was a little different. I am not sure he liked not being able to touch the ground. We're going to be signing him up for swim lessons this fall. I think he'll really enjoy it!



Brian even put him in a sort of wet suit to see if that would help but he clung to me with a kung fu death grip and said "I don't like it" so I took him out and let him play on the pool steps for a while.


Next time we'll get Shaun in on the fun but he was content to sit in the bouncy seat in the shade on the deck. It was a great day (first sunny day all week) and we can't wait to do it again soon!

As we all watched Brady, David, Cameron & Shaun we realized that in a few short months their will be ANOTHER boy in the mix when Princess B welcomes her new addition this November! Yep we're ready to start our own football team!

Story Land

Yesterday we took a headed to northern NH to Story Land. I remembered going when I was a kid and was really excited to be able to take David. We met up with the Stack's early in the morning, got our coffee, and headed out. It was overcast but all weather reports said the rain would hold off until the afternoon. The rain started halfway during our trip. I was confused because nothing said that we would get all that rain. We even heard a weather report on the radio station for the White Mountain Region that said "Partly sunny in the morning and possible thunder storms into the afternoon". Hmmm...if it is partly sunny while pouring down rain I would hate to know what that weather guy's thunder storms would be...a monsoon maybe?

Well, we got to the park and the rain still coming down pretty steady, but we had some umbrellas and had made the 2.5 hour drive and there was NO way it was going to keep up...the weather said so, right?! So we bought are tickets and headed into the park. We took David out to measure his height so we would have an idea for the different rides - he's about 33 inches tall. As soon as we took him out of the stroller he was off. He ran over to a big tree fort with a slide. He and Brady had so much fun running around.

As we looked at the sky, we decided it probably wasn't going to let up anytime soon and decided to join the rest of the crowd and purchase our own bright yellow Story Land Poncho's. We were styling now, but at least it meant we didn't have to carry around the umbrellas anymore!

After the tree house we made it over to another play area that had a place filled with plastic balls. I think if we left it up to David and Brady we would have spent the whole day there, but since there was a huge park to see, we had to drag the boys out move on. Next was the Mad Hatter Tea Cup ride which David ran to get onto. I wasn't sure if he was going to like a ride like that but as soon as it started his face was grinning from ear to ear. He got real upset when we had to get off the ride. I had to explain that there we many more rides to be seen!



After that David went on the Carousel, a Swan Boat Ride, a Train ride that encompassed the entire park, a giant Whale that moved up and down, and the Antique cars. We had wanted to see the circus but by 1:30 we were soaked and cold, poor David's lips were turning blue. The poncho was pretty big on David and after a while he was getting frustrated so we took it off.



We just couldn't stay any longer. We made a quick stop at the souvenir shop and to take a picture by the sign and it was time to go. Erica and I decided it would be worth a shot to see if they would give us a voucher to return since the entire day was a washout. Well, ask and ye shall receive! We may just take another trip on a nicer day since we know David would have fun and it would be free for us!


Even though we were soaked, cold and tired we had a great time. I only wish the ride home were as painless as the ride up though. Route 16 is not fun on a Sunday afternoon and next time we'll seek an alternate route because FOUR hours to get back to Plaistow.

New England Sand Sculpting Festival

This week in Revere is the New England Sand Sculpting Festival. I decided since I finally got my MA plates on my car (and no longer driving around on expired tags) that I would take David over for a looksy.

We left the house at 7:30am so that we would miss the crowds. First we walked down by the water and then over to see the artists. The sculptures were pretty cool. I can't imagine working all day in that sun though!

Cool Just Like Daddy!

Shaun is 5 weeks today! On Monday we moved him from the Pack 'N Play that was set up in our bedroom to his own room. Now we just have to figure out a way to prevent him from waking up David up at 6am.

Here are some new pictures - he may be "Cool Just Like Daddy" but his good looks come from Mommy!



Hi Mommy!


Starting to smile


Sticking out his tongue

Fat Baby Pig & Monkey

These are the new nicknames for the boys. Shaun, who is also referred to as Ziggy Piggy, got this name because all he does is EAT. I mean the kid had almost 10oz of milk the other night when we were out. We were only out for 5 and a half hours. Sheesh. I can already tell he is going to be bigger than his brother. Check out the double chin he is already sporting. His next weight check will be on the 24th.

Fat Baby Pig:


David is like a monkey. He just has to climb on everything, couches, stairs, me. Just today I found him sitting on the coffee table. I mean seriously.


Check out the monkey climbing the wall at the playground.

David's Big Boy Bed (well Futon!)

We had decided that since David would be 22 months when Shaun was born that we would transition him to a regular bed. We didn't want to have to buy another crib when we knew David wouldn't be using it for much longer anyway.

We were trying to decide what to get him when it dawned on us that we could just use our futon. He has done really well with the transition considering all the big changes the poor kid has gone through recently. He sometimes gives us a hard time, but for the most part he goes right to sleep. The only difference between his crib tantrums and his big boy tantrums is that he can get out of bed now and bang on the door instead of just shaking the railing on his crib.



That is David in his new bed with his new bedding that his Omi got for him. Can you believe he is going to be TWO in a month!?

Firsts!

We have been at our new place for a little over a week now and of course we're still trying to get organized! We'll get there though.

Our new place has some pros and cons. One of the cons being the airplanes that fly overhead but it hasn't been too bad. We lived on an ambulance route once and that was much worse!

One of the pros is that the beach is about a mile away! Steph came for a visit on Wednesday and we all went over to the beach and to eat at Kelly's! They have one of the best Roast Beef Sandwiches I have had as well as a pretty awesome Reuben. We ordered our food and then ate under the canopy that is set up with benches. David loved chasing the seagulls and dancing to the music from the passing cars.





After we ate we took David down to the water. He has been to the beach before but never stuck his toes in the ocean! The water was FREEZING and so after David put his feet in once he didn't want to do it again. He had fun running up and down the beach and using his toes to make designs in the sand.



Now that Shaun's belly button is all healed we decided to give him his first bath in the sink. I thought he was going to scream his head off, but he surprised me and only fussed a little.



I have decided to nickname him "Ziggy Piggy" because if he isn't sleeping then he is eating, and he'll let you know when he is hungry! You'd think I starved this kid the way he is constantly begging to be fed! Check out his "but Mommy I am SO hungry - please feed me" face!



Today is the Doc's first day as a Fellow. He is currently at his orientation and so this is my official first day as a full time Mommy. So far so good but it's only 8:15am. I can't believe he is in his last phase of training before he is finally done. It just seems like yesterday that we were at Dartmouth with Ben and Robyn. Ben starts his OB fellowship this week as well. They are leaving for NY tomorrow...good luck with your move!

Time to get the boys ready to go visit my nephew Scottie. He spent his weekend in the hospital with an infection resulting in an emergency surgery to have the infected cyst removed along with his appendix. Hopefully he gets to come home today.

Getting Settled:

We have been here for almost a week now and we're still unpacking. It's never ending. Don't know what we would have done without our family and friends to help us. Moving day was an adventure.

P. Bride and her man, my brother and his buddy all came to Philly last Friday night so that we could be up early to pack up the truck. We got Dunks for breakfast and started about 7:30ish. It was so hot and humid even for 8am. I felt so bad for the guys - but they toughed it out.

Here is my brother and his friend - they drove to Philly in Krystal's car and yes the license plate says Glmrous!!


P. Bride was nice enough to ride back to Boston with me. I figured I would need a hand with David and Shaun and I was right. Poor David got sick three times in the car ride home. It was so much fun. I attribute it to the heat and anxiety from the move.

So over-tried he fell asleep right on the couch:




We got to Boston at about 7:30 and MIL and SIL were waiting for us with food! We got the truck unloaded by 11pm. On Sunday we had more company. Brian came with the boys which was a great distraction for David. He and Brady had so much fun playing together while we kept on unpacking. My mom, sister, Pattie and Jodi also came by to help. My mom even stayed over to help me as the Doc had to go back to Philly for the closing on our house.

We are slowly making this house our home and are so grateful to have the best friends and family around! Thanks for all the help everyone we couldn't have done it without you all!!!

Don't Want to Pack Anymore So I'll Post!

The first thing that people say when they meet Shaun for the first time is:

"He looks just like David"

We noticed it too. Not so much at first but now he's David's "mini-me". Check out these two pictures. The one where I am asleep was taken when David was three weeks old. The other one is Shaun two days ago. It will be interesting to see if they continue to look alike as Shaun gets older.

It's Been One Week:

Well a week and a day - but I had to catch some zzz's last night so that I could wake up and watch the fourth quarter of the Celtics game. I mean let's face it, it's the fourth quarter that really decides games. Who knew the Celtics would have sealed the deal by half-time!

Things have been pretty hectic around here with the big move in three days. We have been packing, cleaning and purging. I don't know what I would have done had I not kept David in his daycare for the week. He just has way too much energy to let us get anything done around here. So the Doc and I have been trying to get it all done during the day in between nursing sessions when Shaun is napping.

Shaun is fairly good natured. He LOVES to eat. He's a great nurser and I am sure it's my confidence that has made the transition fairly painless. Shaun even allows Mommy to sleep for four hours straight - but it means going to sleep at 8pm. Hey, I'll take the sleep when I can get it. Shaun also loves to be swaddled and we have had to become a good swaddlers. David hated to be swaddled so it was no big deal that the Doc and I sucked at it! At first I thought they looked very different but looking at some old pictures of David made me realize that minus the dark hair they have the same exact features.

David is adjusting well to the baby. Before Shaun I would pick up David and think he's so little. Since Shaun, it seems that David weighs 100 pounds! He just seems so big now but I suppose an almost 8lb newborn will do that!

Here are some new pictures of the kiddos:

Asleep:


Awake:


David enjoying bath time:


Check out the size difference! Shaun wasn't happy to be out of his swaddle.




Tomorrow I am taking Shaun back to the Pediatrician for a weight check. He was born at 7lbs 15oz and dropped down to 7lbs 4oz when we left the hospital. On Monday he was still under his birth weight 7lbs 12oz. Since I am nursing they just like to make sure they are gaining weight appropriately but I can't imagine he's not past his birth rate the way this kid has been eating!

The Postpartum Adjustment:

It's been five days since Shaun joined us in the world and I wanted to share some new pictures and post an update on our adjustment.

I came home on Thursday June 12th around 11am. Shaun slept most of the day as most babies do. MIL was still here which was nice since the Doc had to go to his last clinic of the year. She ran some errands for us and then made us dinner. It was nice to just be able to relax. David came home from daycare at 4:30 - the second time he was going to see his new brother. He came to the hospital the first night but was more interested in the labor room equipment than seeing the baby. I wasn't sure how he would react but he was happy to see his Mommy was home. He came over and saw the baby and smiled.




Our first night was rough. Shaun had his days and nights mixed up and only me nursing him would calm him down. Shaun and I were up all night long. MIL came down about 3am to take him so I could get some rest. Needless to say, I was pretty tired on Friday and grateful that David was going to daycare so I could sleep when Shaun slept.

I thought for sure that this was going to be how things were for a while (and I hesitate even typing this right now fearing I may jinx myself) but Friday night was much better. Shaun slept in 3 hour intervals before waking up to be nursed. Last night was even better I got a good four hour stretch.

On Saturday we decided to take David to the playground. It has been pretty humid here so we haven't gone in a while, and we wanted to get out of the house and do something that David has fun doing. It was still humid but David had a good time and got to run around and release some energy. It was the first time we got to use our new double stroller.







Today was just as nice. We all got more sleep as David (as a nice Father's Day gift to Daddy) slept until 7am. We hung out at the house in the morning and watched the new Chipmunk movie which David really enjoyed. We headed out at 10:30 to go to the diner for lunch and promptly left when they said it would be about an hour wait. There was no way we could wait with a five day old and a 22 month old nearing his nap time. We drove up the street to the TGI-Friday's and had lunch there.

So here we are 10:30pm on Sunday night ready, watching the Celtics and waiting to see what night number four brings. David will finish his last week at his daycare and that will give the Doc and I plenty of time to rest and pack. Saturday is the big move and we couldn't be more excited!

Worth the Wait!

I am so elated to announce that Shaun is FINALLY here! He arrived with full force today June 10th at 6:21pm. He weighed 7lbs 15oz and is 21 inches long.





Shaun's birth story in timeline form:

8:00 am - we checked in and waited for our room.

9:45am - got to our room and waited for a while to be hooked up to IV.

11:30am - got the IV (after multiple sticks) in and waited patiently for the pitocin order.

12:40pm - Pitocin was started - game on!

3:00pm - I was ready for my epidural but had to wait due to some emergency c-sections.

4:15pm - The anestheologist came to my rescue.

5:00pm - Started to feel some relief!

5:15pm - The midwife came to check my progress. I was a good 5cm and she was happy that Shaun had moved down. She saw some decellerations in Shaun's heartrate and they decided to put a fetal scalp monitor on his head. I am set the nurse leaves and like 5 minutes later I felt so much pain that it brought tears to my eyes. It happend again and I was screaming. They may have heard me on the other side of the hospital.

Most likely when they put the monitor on his head they accidentally broke my water in the process. With my water now broken - in the span of 10 minutes I went from 5cm to fully dilated and ready to push this baby out!

5:30pm - they tell me I can start pushing. He was having more decellerations and they thought it had to do with a cord issues. They asked me to wait in between contractions and breath through them instead.

6:15pm - The doctor arrives to take over for the midwife because of the heart rate decellerations. The midwife left and three pushes later Shaun was out.

It was so surreal how fast it all went down - I was overwhelmed and not ready to say the least. Everything about the end stage was so different this time around. It was just me, Charlie, my nurse and the doctor in the room. With David's birth (due to the vaccum assist) we had an entourage of people in our room. Once he came out everything was so calm. Shaun was even peaceful in the warmer. I had no tears and feel so much better this time around.

11:00pm - I am finally in my room and ready to be a Mommy of two!

Eviction Eve: Last Night Out

Tomorrow is the big day. Shaun's days as a squater have come to an end. We gave him his chance to come out on his own terms (11 days to be exact) and so now we're smoking him out.

Tonight, thanks to Shaun's late arrival and MIL being in town, I was able to attend the Doc's graduation dinner at the brand new Comcast building. I was excited because I saw this building being constructed from my 40th floor office window. The food was great and the Doc enjoyed the bottomless glasses of wine and beer.

It was fun to get dressed up at 41+ weeks pregnant and have a nice night out.

Eviction Date: June 10th

Here another quick update on the saga that has been this pregnancy. Tomorrow we have a Non-Stress Test scheduled where they check the baby via ultrasound and monitor the heart rate. If all looks good to them then we wait for Tuesday June 10th for our scheduled induction.

I am still hopeful that I don't need to wait that long and maybe as soon as I hit post - labor begins! I won't be holding my breath though!

The Never Ending Pregnancy:

Today is 40 weeks and 3 days - we are officially in the "overdue" club. I was really hoping that the next post would be the announcement of Shaun's arrival. Apparently, he has a different plan. I know that everyone is anxiously awaiting his arrival as much as we are, so I wanted to post this quick update.

As of last Friday I am no longer a working girl. I also had my 40 week appointment, and I was really optimistic that I would go into labor that weekend when the midwife told me that I was 4cm dilated. Well here we are four days later still (somewhat) patiently waiting.

Physically, I feel great. I only put on 30lbs this time and don't have heartburn or nasty swelling like when I was 40 weeks pregnant with David. Mentally, however, I am pretty stressed. Since I had a scheduled induction with David, I had a plan. I have been having a hard time figuring out what is real and what is one of those fake Braxton-Hicks ones. There was a stretch on Saturday where we thought it could be the "real deal", but as you can see it wasn't.

We had some company over the last couple weeks. After Steph left on Monday we had a nice visit with the Mailloux's. Maddie and David just have so much fun together and we didn't even mind when they ran around the living room shrieking, because it was so darn cute. Check out their blog for some cute pictures of the two of them at the playground. Then Princess B came to town for the weekend. We had a great time hanging out on Sunday at the Manayunk Brewery. They were playing live music and we got to sit outside over looking the Schuylkill River. David loved the live band and danced to the music. They left yesterday to head Camden Yards to see the Sox play. Too bad they lost.

So now we just keep on waiting. My next appointment is on Thursday where we'll discuss induction. For now don't take it personal if I don't call, text or answer e-mails -if you get a call, email or text from me it means we're off to the hospital! There is only so many times you can hear "you haven't had that baby yet" before you want to start killing people!