Adam's at 1 Month

Adam survived his first month of life!  I would even venture to say that he's enjoyed it.  I know the rest of us have enjoyed having him here.  This month has definitely been a little bit of a learning curve as I've figured out how to juggle taking care of two kids.  

One of the highlights of this month has been watching Adam and Isaac bond as brothers.  Isaac has been so sweet with Adam, and Adam seems to enjoy the attention from Isaac.

I love this picture my mom got of Adam!  He spent most of his first few weeks sleeping and would curl up on his side if he wasn't swaddled up.

Adam's first bath!

A little about Adam right now:

• He is a growing boy!  At his 2 week check up he was 10 lbs. even.  When I weighed him at one month (using the oh-so-accurate method of weighing myself holding him and then alone) he was just over 12 lbs.  Considering that all he does is sleep and eat I'm not surprised that he's packing on the weight.
• Adam loves to sleep!  I spend more time trying to get him to stay awake than I do trying to get him to sleep.  Most of the time I can just swaddle him and lay him in a corner of the couch and he'll fall asleep without any other assistance before I move him to his crib.  I can't tell you what a blessing this has been!
• When Adam is awake, he's generally a pretty happy guy (as long as he's been fed and isn't too tired). 
• He's started to smile and coo.  I love it when I get one of his still rare smiles!  I'm so excited to see them more as he gets older!

Isaac is 2!

I don't know how this happened!  I swear it was just the other day that he turned one.  This last year has been a busy, fun one.  Isaac has grown so much (both physically and mentally) in this last year.

We kept his birthday a lot more low-key than last year's.  My parents and Sarah came down from Kansas to celebrate with us (and meet Adam).  We had fun going to Central Market on Saturday morning and then during Isaac's nap Sarah, my mom, and I went downtown to the Central library so Sarah could check-out a few books for an English paper.

After Isaac's nap we went to a local park for cake and ice cream with a few friends.  We love living in Dallas where it's warm enough in November to celebrate outside!

Helping Aunt Sarah get ready in the morning

Playing with Ben...and the broken tennis racket he found at the park.

Blowing out the candles on his dinosaur cake!

Opening presents at home.

His new drill set from my parents.

Super Isaac! Thanks Grandma Brasher!

Isaac's new slide!

Isaac is at such a fun age right now!  Some highlights of Isaac being two (so far):

• He's starting to talk like crazy!  We can't always understand what he's saying, but we can understand about 75% of what he says.  He'll try copying most of the words he hears (which is both good and bad).  It's so nice to be able to communicate more with him.
• Isaac LOVES dinosaurs, trucks, and the Laurie Berkner Band.  He gets so excited about watching the different trucks when we're driving and I can entertain him for about an hour watching music videos on YouTube.
• Isaac can jump!  He's just started to get both feet off the ground at the same time.  It's so cute to watch his little hop.
• Right now his absolute favorite food is the 12 grain crackers from Trader Joe's.  He could probably eat an entire box in one sitting if I let him.
• Isaac has suddenly fallen in love with two of his stuffed animals, doggie and bear-bear.  He takes them to bed with him (and that's what's made it possible for him to start falling asleep on his own in his crib) and carries them around during the day.  He'll give them hugs and kisses and try to feed them during the day.
• At his two year check-up Isaac was 27 lbs. and 34" tall.  When he got his shots he surprised the nurse with how brave he was!  Other than a little shout after the second one he didn't react at all!  It helps that the nurse is super fast with the shots (the most important thing at a doctor's office in my opinion).
• Isaac is such a good big brother.  He loves Adam so much!  Whenever Adam is crying he starts singing "I Am a Child of God" to him.  He loves to hold him or help burp him.  I love watching the two of them and thinking about how fun it will be when Adam is old enough to play with Isaac.

I am so in love with this little man!  He keeps me entertained and on my toes during the day.  I wouldn't trade anything in the world for his cute personality and the opportunity I have to be at home with him all day.

Hello Handsome!

He's here!  Adam Ryan Brasher made his debut into the world on October 7 and we couldn't be happier to have him here!

Despite starting my pregnancy dead set against having another induction, we ended up deciding to get induced at 39 weeks in hopes of having a smaller baby and no 3rd degree tears (or blood transfusion).  The ultrasounds I was getting at the end of my pregnancy all pointed towards Adam being a big baby and we decided that it was worth going through an induction in order to have an easier recovery.  My midwife even moved my due date up so I could get induced earlier (she moved it to align with the due date indicated by my first ultrasound) since Baylor hospital won't allow for elective inductions before 39 weeks.

Just before we left for the hospital.  Even though it's only been 3 weeks I can't believe I was ever that big!

 So at 4:45 a.m. on October 7 I found myself showering and getting ready before getting to the hospital.  I told Andy on our way into the hospital that I had hardly slept the night before because it was almost like trying to sleep on Christmas Eve.  Even though I knew I was in for a hard day, I was SO excited to get this baby out of my body and into my arms!  The last month of pregnancy is a rough one for me thanks to my massive belly (I mean seriously, I look like I'm hiding a basketball under that shirt!).

We got to the hospital and checked in at 6 and then we played the waiting game for awhile.  When the nurse came to get my IV started she tried to find a vein in my left arm, but couldn't (after wiggling a needle around in there for a minute).  I had to ask her to give me a few minutes before she tried to get one on my hand because I felt like I was going to pass out. It took a good half hour before I could let her (or anyone else) try again.  There were a few minutes when I sat there thinking to myself that I would just have to go home and wait until this baby decided to come on his own because I couldn't handle them putting in the IV.  They finally got the IV in and Pitocin started at 8 a.m.  Then the waiting game really began...

Andy and I spent the morning hanging out and relaxing.  Contractions weren't too bad so other that switching positions every little while there really wasn't too much to think about.  At 2:30 my midwife Allison broke my water and suddenly everything became a bit more real.  I suddenly had to have Andy rub my back through every contraction.  We were excited though because I was a few hours "ahead of schedule"...the schedule being the timetable of when things happened with Isaac.

After a few hours of dealing with these contractions on my own, I decided I had reached the point where I needed an epidural.  I asked for a really light one so I could actually decide for myself when I was ready to push.  At first I just felt like my lower half had fallen asleep (I could still wiggle my toes!), but I was still feeling a bit of pain during contractions, so I  had to ask them to up the dosage a few times.  Ultimately, I ended up with my legs completely numb.  Once I got the epidural all I was out of it.  All the sudden I was so tired and just wanted to sleep for an hour or so.  Unfortunately, there was enough going on that I couldn't sleep, although I did get to close my eyes and rest for a few hours.

Once I had the epidural, my labor started to feel a lot like my labor with Isaac.  I could only lay on my left side and I pretty much stopped progressing (I was stuck at a 7 and about 85% effaced).  After a few checks with Allison, Andy and I started to settle in because we assumed we were going to be there all night before anything happened.

In what turned out to be a piece of good luck, Adam's heartbeat started to decrease with each contraction.  We tried pumping some fluid back in to cushion him from the contractions a bit more and sitting me in different positions, but when none of that helped Allison decided to turn off my Pitocin and call in the OB on call from her practice to decide on the next step (aka, decide whether or not a c-section was in my future).  Luckily for me, despite it being 8 at night, Dr. Plank, the OB, wasn't gung-ho to do a c-section just so she could go home.  Since I was still having contractions despite the Pitocin being turned off she thought I should try pushing to get Adam into a better position so I could finish progressing and push for real.

So Dr. Plank and Allison started to help me push through my contractions.  They had put me on oxygen earlier and at one point during the pushing I asked if I could take it off so I could actually hear what they were saying during my contractions.  I had to wear it in between contractions, but when I was actually pushing I could take it off so I could be more a part of what was going on.

After pushing through 4 or 5 contractions, one of the nurses asked Andy if we could move our stuff off a table and I heard Allison tell the other nurse to call for a nurse from NICU to come down.  As they started laying things on the table and Dr. Plank and Allison got gowns on I suddenly realized that maybe I was about to have a baby.  So I asked them something along the lines of "so am are we pushing for real now?"  When they said yes I was a little shocked.  Andy and I had just been talking half an hour ago about how we were going to be here all night and how this was going to end up just like Isaac's birth.

Despite being in a little bit of shock that I was about to have a baby (although I still thought at this point that I was in for an hour or two of pushing), I kept pushing through my contractions.  It was at this point that I really started to appreciate Dr. Plank.  She called me out on not pushing hard enough and just said straight out that if I wanted to avoid a c-section or forceps delivery I would need to push harder.  I needed that kind of bluntness to get me to do what I needed to do.  As I pushed, Dr. Plank and Allison used forceps to pop Adam's head under my pelvic bone because his head wasn't moving around it on its own.  Soon I started feeling a baby sitting in between my legs and I knew that it wouldn't be long before I held my sweet boy in my arms, so I pushed harder.

At 9:15 p.m. he was out and on my chest!  Unlike when Isaac was born I got to hold Adam for a few minutes before he was carried off to a corner of the room to get checked out.  During those few minutes Adam peed right on Allison in revenge for all she had done to kick him out of the nice warm spa he had been swimming in for the last 9 months.

The nurse weighed him (9 lb. 4 oz.), measured him (21" tall), and declared him perfectly healthy, so Adam was brought back to cuddle with me while I got stitched up.  I ended up with 3rd degree tears in the exact same place as before since they had to use forceps to push him under my pelvic bone.

After everything was all stitched up, they left us alone to recover for awhile and start nursing.  Andy and I finally had a chance to decompress and realize what had just happened.  In just over an hour we had gone from thinking we would be there all night, to worrying about a c-section, to having a baby!  I was grateful for the time to sit and relax and look at this not-so-little baby who had taken my breath away when he arrived.

Allison came in after 15 or 20 minutes to chat and see how I was feeling and tell me how everything had gone.  She told me the one thing I really needed to hear-- that there wasn't anything I could have done differently, except gain less weight, that would have changed how Adam was born.  I had been going to a chiropractor to help open up my pelvic region and I had been induced as early as possible (apparently a history of hemorrhaging isn't enough of a medical reason to induce before 39 weeks) to give me the best chance at avoiding forceps and 3rd degree tears.  So my goal for my next pregnancy is to gain less weight and be more active in hopes of having a smaller baby...we'll see how it goes.

When it's all said and done though, Adam is here and healthy.  My recovery has been 10 times easier than it was with Isaac and I have felt so much better about everything!  I think I may actually be getting more sleep now that Adam's here despite waking up 2-3 times a night for feedings (yay for being able to sleep comfortably).  Isaac has been so sweet and loving to his new little brother that it melts my heart when I see them together.  I love my little family so much and I'm so grateful that I have 2 sweet, healthy, wonderful boys to call my own.

Adam's first bath

Isaac coming to visit us!

I love this picture so much!  Isaac was so sweet with Adam right from the beginning.

Trip to the Dallas Zoo

This month we've been trying to fit in as many fun family activities as we can before this baby arrives.  Not to say we won't be able to do any fun family activities once the baby is here, but let's face it...it'll be a little harder to get out for awhile.  Since Andy ended up working most of Labor Day weekend (luckily from home) he got holiday make-up hours to use later.  He decided to use some of the hours to take a Friday in September off so we went to the zoo!

I had been hesitant to go to the Dallas Zoo because everyone talks about how much better the Fort Worth Zoo is, but I ended up being really impressed with it!  We left first thing in the morning so we could enjoy the zoo before it got to hot.  We ended up having the zoo pretty much to ourselves which was a lot of fun!

They have an underground animals area where you can climb through a tunnel and be at eye level with some of the animals. Luckily Andy was willing to go through with Isaac because I'm pretty sure I would've gotten stuck.

This monitor lizard was probably one of the coolest things.  It climbed up against the glass and was doing all sorts of awesome moves while Isaac was trying to grab it.  

Pictures like this make my heart melt a little.

Isaac is a big fan of "Dumbo" lately...although he was way more interested in the statues of elephants than the real things.

Riding a little Dumbo.

Other highlights that we didn't get pictures of:

• The bird show
• A baby cobra who kept trying to strike at Andy's finger when he waved it in front of the glass
• The cougar who started following Isaac as soon as we took him out of his stroller.  

All in all it was a pretty fun day!  I'm excited to go back to the zoo once the weather's cooled down a bit so we can enjoy it when more of the animals are up and moving around.

August Fun

The trip to Kansas was the highlight of our August (and rightly so, since we were there for a full half of the month), but we had a lot of fun here in Texas for the other half. We mostly spent it inside or out in the pool so that we wouldn't sweat to death (a very real possibility during the summer here).

Here are some of my favorite moments from August:

Isaac loves stealing Mr. Potato Head's classes and wearing them around the house!  Poor kid just wants to fit in with mom and dad in the morning.

One night we were running around with Isaac and his diaper fell right off!  We've since learned to keep shorts on him at all times until we're able to fix/replace the velcro in his diapers.

The hat.  Isaac found one of Andy's beanies in our closet and has been in love with it ever since!  His favorite thing is to pull it clear down over his eyes and run around with it.  He thinks he's pretty hilarious when he runs into you.

We finally got a pack-n-play!  We held off with Isaac because we knew that we wouldn't be travelling anywhere that wouldn't have some sort of bed for him to sleep in.  With Baby #2 on his way and Isaac still sleeping in our crib we realized that a pack-n- play was definitely a necessity.

Mohawks in the bath tub!

Hipster Isaac.

Down at the Farmer's Market waiting for Pecan Lodge to open.  If you haven't gone yet, you definitely should!

Playing fetch with Isaac.  Sometimes he misses Ginny so much he has to pretend like he's a dog himself.

Isaac decided that he wanted to finish out his nap cuddling with dad.  One advantage of having a huge stomach is that cuddling with dad is way more comfortable that cuddling with mom.  It's been a nice break, but I'm excited for Isaac to want to cuddle with me again.

One Last Trip

One of the things I love about Dallas is the fact that we're within driving distance of my family.  We totally took advantage of it in August and planned a fun trip for Isaac and I up to visit my family.  The best part about this visit?  Isaac went up for 3 days by himself before I came up to join him.

On the way home from dropping Isaac off, we stopped off for some fried pies.  They were pretty darn delicious!

While Isaac was gone, Andy and I enjoyed sitting through church without having to worry about how Isaac was doing in nursery (and listening to 3 baby blessings without having to keep Isaac quiet), going to the Perot museum and then out for a nice dinner, and lots of time relaxing.

Since I was all by myself during the day I had every intention of busting through a lot of sewing...and then my sewing machine decided it hated me.  It turns out it had good reason to hate me.  When I finally gave it a thorough cleaning a few weeks later there was so much lint trapped under the bobbin area!  No wonder it couldn't keep the tension right!  Needless to say, I didn't get quite as much sewing done as I had hoped for.  Oh well, it was still a relaxing couple of days.

The pile of fabric I ended up packing to take with me!

Once I got up to Kansas though, we had a lot of fun!  Some of the highlights:

Lots of cuddle time with Isaac! For the first couple days after I got there, he didn't want to be out of my sight.

Fun with Grandma's tub toys!

Running around wearing my dad's Cubs hat.  Isaac was a big fan of anything having to do with Grandpa!

Lots of time playing outside in the rain!  It rained almost every day I was up there, which is a little unusual for Kansas in August.  It was nice to get a break from the heat though!

Sewing the new baby's quilt!  I left it up with my mom so she could quilt and bind it, so I'm really excited to see the finished product when she brings it down when the baby is born.

Hanging out in the pool on one of the rare, sunny days.

Baking with Aunt Allie!

Cutting, starting to sew, and starting to apply snaps to cloth diapers.

Playing with play-dough for the first time!

Trying on hats at the shoe store.

Lots and lots of loves for Ginny!  He probably swatted her away from him an equal number of times though.

While Isaac and I were in Kansas playing for a week and a half, Andy was busy working!  He was at home for 5 days by himself during which time he built picture ledges to put up in our living room.  Then he was off to Chicago for a week of training!

I was a little nervous about the flight home since it would be just me and Isaac and not during his nap.  Luckily, Isaac is a pro at flying.  He was totally chill reading books and eating his snacks!  It probably helped that the flight from Wichita to Dallas was just an hour long.

When we landed in Dallas, I somehow had to figure out how to get all our luggage from the carousels to the curb so one of the sweet sisters in our ward could pick us up.  I shouldn't have been worried though.  After I attached the two suitcases together, Isaac "helped" me push them while I also carried his carseat and the diaper bag.  I wish I could've gotten a picture because it was hilarious, but I was too focused on getting us out to the curb before Isaac lost interest in helping me push.  I am so grateful to have such a helpful child!

While unpacking from the trip I was a little dismayed to realize that my suitcase was still full after I unpacked my clothes!  Somehow I feel like I brought more fabric home than I took up!