Post # 4 - What If?

So I was thinking today in the midst of some of Henry's antics, what if grown-ups acted like children? Would we yell in a whiny way"I don't want to" at our boss? Or maybe "Don't do it"when someone did something we didn't like? If someone made us mad would we grab their shirt and shake them back and forth (you guys, Henry just did this to a boy on a playdate of ours---talk about turning 4 shades of red from embarrassment and shock). What about toots and burps--would they be free flying throughout the day at home and in public? I just think of all of the funny stuff, too that Henry does throughout the day. The way he plays, the things he says, the way he jumps off the bottom stair after he says "watch this mommy"....wouldn't it be funny if grown-ups acted like that? Oh and those little footie pajamas, I would just love to see grown-ups walking around in those, too. I just get a laugh thinking about the chaos of the world if we all did act like kids.

By the way, I just love the picture above of Henry trying so hard to reach the stereo with his little sweet baby legs.

Post # 3 - Christmas Cheer

It was Cookie Day at Henry's school today. Parents donated sugar cookies, frosting and sprinkles and the children got to decorate the cookies to bring home. Henry was so proud of his cookies. When I picked him up he was holding the bag up for me to see and he smooshed all of the frosting all over the plastic! I was really curious at how it would work to have the kids decorate the cookies and package them right up to bring home...rather than eat one there. His teacher told me as we were leaving that Henry had eaten GOBS of frosting while he was decorating. Whoops - I didn't imagine he would be happy with making these delicious confections and sending them right home!

Speaking of cookies, I'm thinking of simplifying this year and just making a few favorites. Possibly... homemade caramels, chocolate dipped pretzels and sugar cookies. I'd like to think of a cute way to package these and give them as gifts. What are your faves that you'll be making this year?

Post # 2

The Vances have not been vaccinated for the flu. Be warned.

I will say that I have never had a flu shot and just am very unsure of the benefits of it. I haven't decided yet if I'll take Henry to get one - he has his 2 1/2 year check up in January so I suppose he could get it then. And William is too young to get it this year. Babies have to be at least 6 months old. I know they suggest that anyone who is taking care of a newborn/young child should get the vaccine. It's just that firstly, I don't really know whether I buy that this shot is really helpful or not and secondly, I rarely see a doctor so I haven't been in a place where the shot is readily available and easily accessible. What are your thoughts on the flu shot?

10 Posts in 10 Days

Holly issued a challenge to make 10 posts in 10 days and as a rather infrequent blogger, I've decided to accept. Today is the first day of December and I've yet to start Christmas shopping. I've been making lots of lists and combing through sales fliers for ideas, but I still haven't bought any gifts. I feel a little bit overwhelmed and intimidated by shopping this year with a two-year old and a newborn. I'm trying to figure out how to organize my shopping so I can get the most done in the least time. Is this the year for gift cards and Internet shopping? Really, I'm usually more of a last minute shopper anyway, so I don't know why I'm even worried. It's just that it seems like everyone I talk to is either almost done or well on their way.


We did put our tree up and it's still standing! For those of you who remember our drama last year, you know this is a feat in itself. Last year our tree, fully decorated, fell down in the middle of the night causing Patrick to spring from bed fearing an intruder. We cut it down at a local tree farm (where Patrick used to work when he was in high school) which Henry thought was so exciting. (So much so that when Patrick passed a test for his new job and I asked Henry what he thought we should do to celebrate, he exclaimed "cut down a tree!". So some people plant trees to celebrate, Henry cuts them down.) And our house is decorated for the season. My favorite thing this year is that we have a mantle to hang our stockings from. I just love that. And having four stockings this year makes it seem all the sweeter.

Poor Baby

Just a few days ago William started to break out with what seems to be a case of infant acne. It's really so sad that there are all of these little bumps on his sweet, smooth skin. I looked it up in the What to Expect the First Year book and called his doctor and it seems that there's nothing you can do except wash it with a wet rag a couple of times a day and just wait for it to clear up. Sadly it can take up to 6 months in some cases. It's on his right cheek and on the right side of his forehead. I'm glad it's not harmful to him or bothering him. It just looks sad to see. :-( Anyone have any experience with this? How long has it taken your baby's to clear up?

One Month Later

William is one month old today. In some ways these 4 weeks have just flown by and in others it feels like there's no way it could have just been 4 weeks. I'm definitely getting to the point where it's hard to imagine our life before William was here. I feel like we've been doing this now for longer than just one month!

Little William is doing well. I'm not sure if you can tell from the picture above, but he's really starting to fill out. He's getting a little bit of a double chin and his little thighs are starting to get a little more plump. Just in the past couple of days I can look at him and tell that he's getting bigger. He's not looking so much like a newborn to me anymore.

And just when I thought our nights were going really well, he's decided to mix things up a little bit. This week his stretches haven't been so consistently long through the night. He's had a few just two hour stretches and mostly he's been eating every 3 hours through the night. There have also been a few days that during the day he's been wanting to eat more like every 2 hours than every 3, so I'm wondering if he's having a little bit of a growth spurt.

I'm adjusting to life with two boys. The Snugli (front-pack carrier) has become a well-worn staple. I've been wearing it around the house when I need my hands free. When Henry is napping and William's not, I use it a lot so that I can make dinner or just have my hands free to check email or blog. It's been really handy this time around.

I'm getting braver with the boys! I took them to the zoo on a nice day earlier this week and we went to the park on another nice day. Friday we went to the children's museum. Henry has loved getting out and William has slept right through the outings. So it's been pretty easy, besides the getting in and out of the car and having to juggle all of the extra baggage...the stroller, carrier, diaper bag, etc. I've been taking Sara's advice and putting Henry in the car first and taking him out last, and that's been working really well. He's also been really obedient and good about holding my hand when we're walking somewhere together.

It's funny because I have felt pretty rested and energetic during the days and then a few days ago it was like, wham, it just hit me all of a sudden that I am exhausted! I've been a lot more tired and taking more time to just rest when Henry's napping and have been falling asleep by 8:30 0r 9:00 every night. The nights have been a little tougher too, it's been really tough to drag myself out of bed. I'm just trying to keep this in perspective though. I know these early days (though long) go fast and things will get back to a more normal schedule soon.

Great Grandparents

William took his first long road trip last week to go visit his great grandparents. He is named after my Grandpa (Edwin). He and Henry both did great in the car and slept the whole way there and back! Henry loved visiting Great Grandpa and Grandma, too...he raked leaves outside with Grandpa and Grandma even found an old book of hers called "Nubbins and the Tractor" which she pulled out for Henry and he loved it!

Fall Fun

Henry has loved helping Patrick rake leaves this fall. Sadly for him, we don't really get many in our yard. Last Friday, he and Patrick raked our neighbors lawn so that he could jump in a really huge pile of leaves. The funny thing was that Patrick just went over there and started raking. The neighbor came outside and thanked him, but I think it must have been funny to have him just show up unannounced. Henry loved it though!

A New Normal

This picture says it all-we have one in newborns and one in size 6's. Both ends of the spectrum. Their diapers crack me up.

So, as you might have guessed from all of these blog updates, both of my boys are napping right now! I can always count on William for some good naps, but it's definitely nice to have some free time with both of them sleeping at once.

Just in the past couple of days I feel like I'm starting to adjust to life again and like this is becoming our new "normal". I am feeling 100% recovered and well from the c-section. The first couple of weeks we were so fortunate to have help from our families. I just felt terrible that I couldn't do more and felt really overwhelmed about how I would be able to manage on my own. This week I've been feeling so good. We've been going on walks, breaking in the double stroller. Oh my goodness, it is so heavy though! It's a workout just to push it up the driveway! And Patrick has been leaving the house again to study, so I've had the boys on my own for a few hours in the morning and afternoon. I was so nervous about how I would be able to take care of them on my own, and it's been good to just do it. I've realized that it's going to be busy and it's going to be a lot of work, but it's also going to be manageable. I'm just figuring out what our new routine will look like, because it's definitely different now with a newborn. We're not quite as free to just leave and run errands or go to the park. But at the same time, Henry has been more of a homebody in the past few weeks, which has helped. He's been really content to play in our yard or just to play inside with his tractors. We did go on a walk yesterday to the park and I just had William tucked into his carseat (we have a BundleMe cover on it) and pushed him in the stroller while sticking close to Henry. It felt so good to get out of the house again and to feel confident taking care of the boys. So we're definitely getting started slowly, but every day I'm feeling more and more like this is normal now and I'm starting to feel settled in to our new normal.

I just have such respect for mothers, and mothers of two or more just completely astound me. Sally, Sara...you make it seem so easy and natural. I will definitely be looking to you for advice in the coming days, weeks, months. I'll take advice from anyone on these....

First of all, do you shower??! How do you handle getting ready in the mornings...yourself?

Also, I'm hungry alot, but also am trying to lose this baby weight. Any suggestions for healthy eating? I feel like I'm grabbing snacks here and there on the go. What do you do for snacks/meals during the day?

Brothers

This was on Halloween- Henry's friend Charlie was a pirate.

Henry absolutely loves his brother. So far he has been such an adoring big brother to William. The funniest thing that I just noticed the other day is that whenever Henry talks to William, he talks in a different, sweet voice. It's like he's baby talking to him. And it's every time he says something to him. If William is upset, Henry will say, "it's ok William" in that little, sweet voice. I'll try to get it on tape. It's really the sweetest thing. He still constantly showers William with kisses. He's also totally fascinated with William when he's awake or makes any noises or movements. I'm not sure if he totally comprehends that William is a real person. I feel really blessed that Henry seems to really love this new addition to our family. I was really nervous that he might resent him. But so far, he's been nothing but sweet to him. He's even been really patient when I'm feeding William and has been playing really well on his own during those times. I'm just feeling really thankful for that and really relieved at how things are going so far. It's a blessing having two boys. I definitely don't want to rush things, but I do think it will be so much fun for them both to have each other as they grow older.

Happy 3-Week Birthday Wiliam

William is 3 weeks old today. He is just as sweet as ever. He still sleeps most of the day and wakes up about every 3 hours to eat. He's been having an awake period in the morning and then he's awake for a few hours in the evening. So far, he sleeps really well at night. Most nights he goes 4 hours in between feedings. Last night I fed him around 10:00 and then put him in his bassinet and he slept until 4:30 this morning. I was in a panic when I realized what time it was but after I realized he was fine, I felt really refreshed to have gotten that much sleep at one stretch. It may have been a total fluke, but I'll take the occasional fluke at this point. The extra sleep was definitely a blessing. When he's awake in the evenings...usually around 6 thru 9 or 10-ish he's eating more frequently. So I think he must be storing up enough to sleep for longer stretches during the night.

On Tuesday he had his 2-week check up, and he's definitely growing. He weighed 8 lbs, 8 oz and was 20 3/4 inches. Just 2-weeks before that at his 5 day check up he weighed 7 lbs, 5 oz and was 19 1/2 inches. I'm pretty convinced that we're not getting an accurate length measurement. He was 18 inches when he was born and then just 5 days later was 19 1/2 and then 2 weeks later he was 20 3/4. So unless he's going to be the tallest Vance/human in the world, I think someones measurements are off! But he's definitely gaining. I can't believe he's already 8 1/2 lbs! It's always a relief to find that your baby is gaining though. It's so hard to know if they're for sure getting enough to eat when you're nursing, so it's a nice assurance. He still seems like such a peanut to me, but I can tell he's getting bigger because he's starting to fill out his clothes more.

He definitely has a super expressive face. He really makes some faces. As you can tell from the pic above, he's not really been thrilled with the bouncy seat so far. He would rather lay on a blanket than sit in that thing. Maybe he's still too little? I love that picture though because he gets this red dot in between his eyebrows when he gets upset and you can see it poking out in that pic. He really is a good natured baby and has been really easy to soothe and figure out so far. We love him so much. It is amazing how God does expand your heart to welcome another child. He's just the sweetest thing.

Giant Bubbles

Dan and Sara gave Henry a giant bubble wand as a gift when William was born. Dan has one like it and Henry really liked playing with it at their house. Henry loves it! It makes these absolutely ginormous bubbles. He and Patrick have had lots of fun outside playing with it. Thanks Dan and Sara!

Halloween

Henry was a duck this year for Halloween, although it was a totally last minute thing and ended up being almost a complete disaster! I bought a lobster costume (thanks Holly!) for him early in September; however, he always refused to try it on. So finally the week before Halloween, I had Patrick take it back to the store because I didn't want to spend the money on it and have him refuse to wear it on Halloween. So then on Halloween morning Patrick ran to Jewel to buy some Halloween candy for trick-or-treaters and found this duck costume there for Henry for $6. He bought a 4T, however, it's a one-piece and if you look at the first pictures, you can tell that he was absolutely busting out of it. He could barely walk and when he did he walked like Frankenstein because it was so tight! But we couldn't laugh at him because it was almost impossible to get the costume on him...we bribed him with our candy. So then Patrick had Henry lay on the floor and cut holes in the feet of the costume (with Henry in it) so his feet could stick out. Then it ended up being like a capri-pants duck costume. Too funny. Next year we will have to do something really great to make up for it.

Anyway, then we went trick-or-treating to a few neighbors houses on our street. My dad was here helping us that week so he came along with us, which was fun. Henry was totally confused at why we were going to go to people's houses and ring their doorbells and get candy. At the first house he wouldn't even reach into the bowl to take out the candy, but once we got to the second house, he dove right in and grabbed one. It's amazing how quickly he caught on...with candy involved. Then we came home and handed out candy to other trick-or-treaters. Every time someone rang the doorbell, Henry ran to the door and brought candy back to me. :-) William came with us on our walk, but he snoozed right through his first Halloween!

A List

I need to set aside a chunk of time and get my blog updated! I have so much to say and so many pictures to show, it's just finding that chunk of time that I'm finding tricky. :-)

Things are going well with the two boys. William is such a precious baby and Henry is loving his new brother. It's just busy!

Updates that are coming:
William @ 2-weeks
Halloween
Fall Fun
Big Bubbles
Brothers

The first days

It's so hard to believe that tomorrow William will be one week old. Last Thursday night we were preparing to go to the hospital for our induction. It has definitely been a busy week, full of changes, recovering and settling in.

William has been the sweetest baby. He really hasn't made much of a peep. He's very cuddly and as long as he's swaddled and warm, he is so content. He didn't love his sponge bath and doesn't love having his diapers changed, he will cry just while we're changing him and then as soon as his clothes are back on, he's happy and content. It's amazing how your heart does just expand to make room for a new baby. We already are so in love with him.

Henry is doing well. He had a hard weekend being away from Patrick and I. Sunday night when we got home was pretty tough. He was really over-tired and was pretty obstinate and defiant. He's really getting back to being himself as the days have passed and he has settled back into his routine. He absolutely loves William and is constantly kissing him. He doesn't want him to be in his moses basket or bassinet and always asks for him to come out if he's lying in one of those places. Last night we played with both boys on the floor. William lay on a blanket and Henry drove his tractors all around him. He really is fascinated when William's eyes are open, when he moves, or when he makes the slightest peep. He'll even say, "it's ok William" if William cries getting his diaper changed. It's so sweet to watch him love someone.

Patrick has been so wonderful. He's been doing everything and not complaining at all. I can't imagine what I'd do without him. Having the c-section has definitely made things tough this time around. The recovery has been so much different and isn't what I was expecting. It's really hard for me not being able to do what I feel like I can do or should be doing. And it's hard letting others do for me. Henry has been upset with me, too, which is so sad. I'm not the mommy that he's used to right now and it's really hard on him. That's been the hardest thing for me. I'm looking forward to feeling better so that I can be the mommy that he needs.

Welcome William!

We are so thrilled that William Edwin has arrived! (Thank you Sara for updating about his arrival last Friday.)

Here's some labor details...we went into the hospital at 8 am for a scheduled induction. I was feeling nervous and jittery, but really excited to know that we would be having our baby that day. They wanted to move things along quickly for me, so by 8:30 my pitocin was started and we were all checked in and ready to go. My doctor came in a little after 9:00 am and the plan was that she would break my water and really get things moving along. When she examined me in preparation for that, she looked at the nurse and I could tell something was awry. She told me that she wasn't feeling the bag of waters or head of the baby, so the nurse went to get the ultrasound machine. As soon as she put it on my belly and his little picture popped up on the screen, she again looked at the nurse (the same look) and then looked at me and said, "your baby is transverse", meaning he was lying side-to-side. His little head was on the left side of my belly with his back stretched out and legs across to the right side. I was still all smiles thinking, ok, he'll just turn. She went on to say that it was dangerous to leave him that way because if things did progress on their own and my water were to break on its own, he could be in danger and that they would need to get him out asap. I still naively thought (or maybe hoped) we could get him out naturally.

She explained that I would have to have a c-section and that he would be born by 10:00 am. I was shocked and scared all at once and burst into tears. Patrick was a pillar of strength and did his best to comfort me as he got his scrubs on for the surgery. I walked back to the OR which felt very "Grey's Anatomy" to me. I got a spinal block and the doctors started surgery asap. The only problem I had was that my spinal hadn't totally taken effect when they started and I was feeling some incisional pain. Because of that I was given more meds which didn't put me totally under, but I was pretty out of it. The c-section started around 9:45 according to Patrick and William was born at 9:53 am. Things definitely did move fast. I sadly cannot remember the moment of his birth or when Patrick says they showed him to me. That's the saddest thing of it all for me. However, the blessing is that he is here and that he is healthy.

We are truly blessed. Henry came to meet him on Friday afternoon and showered him with kisses. He couldn't believe that his brother had finally come "out". It's wonderful to have two precious little boys. I couldn't feel more fortunate.