Welcome Aiden

Aiden Harrison was born on February 23, 2009 at 9:14 pm. He weighed 7 pounds 2 ounces and was 19.25 long. He reminds us of Owen as a newborn but with dark brown hair. Many of you seem to want to know the birth story so here goes a little recap.

As you saw Owen and I had a lovely morning and after a shorter nap than normal we finally got to have our playdate with Jenn and James (we have been trying to get together wth them for some time now). We had a great time with our friends and returned home to make dinner. I had been fine all day and then at 6:00 pm, right after Omer walked in the door, my water broke. Still no contractions though, so I went ahead ate dinner as a family. At about 6:30 pm the contractions started about every 5 minutes and went to about every 2 minutes pretty quickly. With it being so close to Owen’s bedtime and thinking I would still be in labor for quite some more time, we went with our night as normal. We played ring around the rosie, and puzzle and I even put Owen to bed. I did have about 4 contractions while I was reading him books, but I was determined for him to have a normal night. The contractions were coming on very quick and strong at this point, so we headed out the door for the hospital. We arrived a little after 8:00 pm and they very quickly got me on the table to check and I was at 7 centimeters. I had gone back and forth on whether I would want an epidural but after about 20 minutes in the hospital with very strong and often contractions I chose to get one. But I had to wait!! My midwife told me it was harder this time because I was going through it so quick. My body never had a break between contractions. I felt like I was chickening out getting the drugs mainly that I had gone this far but at that point  really wanted one. Well finally at 8:50 the guy came with the drugs, my midwife said let’s check you first to see if it was worth it and I told her “NO!” She backed away and the guy started to put in the drugs. Too late for an epidural so he put in a spinal tap. Well it was too late for that too, because about 10 minutes later I wanted to push. I think I knew it was too late for any pain relief but Omer put it best as it was all mental. I told myself I couldn’t without and the moment I had it in I felt like I could. The mind can play some tricky games. In about 10 minutes and 3 series of pushes, Aiden was born! I must say it was amazing to feel the actual birth and promptly after I was numb down there for all the work afterwards. It worked for the best. So yes, super speedy labor, about 3 hours from water break to birth. I always knew I would be quick after an 8 hour labor with Owen but never thought this quick.

Aiden is healthy and generally a happy baby (right now). So happy that his blood sugars were normal so the diabetes did not affect him. However, he has a different blood type than me therefore more prone for jaundice. We watched his number go up a little over the next two days but not high enough to even warrant going under the lights. We had a doctor appointment on Friday to check and his jaundice looks normal, but we will have to go back on Monday to recheck.

Owen came to visit us in the hospital on Tuesday morning and was super excited. He busted through the door and stated “BABY!” He was very sweet and gently stroked his head and played tickle with us including Aiden. He even asked on his own to hold him, this made me melt. Me holding my first baby holding my second baby. Sweet moment. He did get a little fussy about me not coming home, but after some discussion he left with no problem. Well all that went down hill. Our arrival home was not good.

Owen was tired and hungry and not feeling himself on Wednesday morning when they came to take us home. He was super needy and grumpy. And of course when we got home, Aiden wanted to feed. That was a juggling act. Owen took a horrible nap and was having a pretty hard time with the idea of Aiden being at home. There was a lot of “No Mommy don’t hold Aiden” and “Mommy doesn’t need to feed”. I expected the jealousy but never thought it would be right away. But he was really tired so hoping that was the problem. He did show some nice moments and picked out a toy all on his own for Aiden and when Omer and him got home he gave it to him. He gave him a blanket and also a glow worm. He repeatedly has given the glow worm to Aiden and will push the button for him to listen to the music. Very sweet! Well Thursday Owen woke with a fever. You have got to be kidding me!!!! kept running through my mind. I just came home with a newborn, I’m exhausted and now have a sick toddler. Other than not sleeping great, he seemed fine, but meant no school for Friday. Friday we all went to the doctor and luckily Owen does not have the flu or strep, just some virus. It has turned into a nasty cough and runny nose but seems to be in good spirits otherwise and sleeping a little better…which means a happier toddler. He is still pretty jealous but showing signs here and there of trying to be a good brother. He does pretty good until I have to handle Aiden and Owen wants me at the same time. But there have been some more tickles and even a kiss. Today has been  a much better day.

As for Aiden, he is pretty chill, but I am sure we are in that babymoon. He is breastfeeding wonderfully, just very often. As most newborns, he is eating and sleeping, and eats a good amount at night. He is sleeping pretty well at night but I get the best sleep when he sleeps with me. Something I never really wanted to do and don’t like, but I am desperate for sleep so have given in for now. I love stroking that beautiful dark hair and getting my baby snuggles. He is very sweet. We have enjoyed a little more wake time in the day from him the past couple days, mostly in the morning.

We are plugging away, trying to figure out life with two and hoping Owen can adjust soon to help me out. I am feeling super guilty for both my kids right now and just like last time experiencing the lovely hormonal roller coaster. I will burst in tears for no reason. I did yesterday while playing stickers with Owen and he was so sweet. Told me “Mommy was upset and Daddy would make me feel better.” Then he gave me a big hug. I will be honest and am totally freaking out about the idea of doing a whole day alone, but I need to pull the bandaid and just do it. Omer plans to return to work on Tuesday. Eek!

Well there’s the recap of birth and the past week. We are doing pretty good and just trying to get in a groove. I really hope now that Owen is feeling a little better, things won’t be so hard with him and he’ll be my sweet boy again. We have taken a handful of other pictures but I have not had time to look through them (for obvious reasons), but below are the first pictures of Aiden and Owen’s visit to the hospital. I will try to post more pictures soon.

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Four Cups of Flour

Can make for a very fun morning.

Usually on Monday, we never have plans and last Monday Owen was pushing every button I had. It seemed like he was just bored of being at home with me over the weekend and wanting Daddy to be home as well. So being that I am still pregnant (UGH!) I thought I would try to plan something in preparation for a rough Monday morning. Well no one was free and Owen was in a great mood. I had flirted with going to the bouncy gym on our own, but a little worried my preggy body would not be able to really do the obstacle course. I gave Owen three options: 1) go to the bouncy gym together 2) stay home and play and then go to Daddy’s work for lunch or 3) just stay home. At first he wanted to do the bouncy gym and then switched to going to see Daddy 5 minutes later. Then when I asked him again he told me “Let’s stay home, Mommy.” Then he kept saying that and telling me no to the other options. Sure, I’d love to just stay home with my buddy.

I can’t believe it but we pretty much stayed in one room the whole morning. We played stickers, play-doh, puzzles, animals, and stuffies playing with cars. It was a great morning, but the most fun was the flour part…..yes I finally am getting to the point of the title. We baked cookies together and had so much fun. I have really wanted to bake cookies for weeks now and just never have gotten to it, but with a whole morning here I figured let’s give it a shot. Owen was totally into it. He stood on his chair at the counter and helped me shake flour, eat M&Ms (of course), decorate the cookies (his idea) and put them on the sheet. Then even more flour fun happened. Once all cookies were waiting to be baked, he kept asking to dig the flour. So I filled a bowl with some flour at the sink and he got his digger and dump truck and had the best time. The messiest time too, but so worth it. I got to do the dishes and finish cookies while he played. And then we both cleaned all the flour mess up. He really liked using the dust buster. It is these moments that I look forward to life with kids and love the joy a simple task can bring me and my son.

Mixing Flour

Sprinkling Flour

Clapping Flour

Shaking Flour Mixture

M&M Mouth – He would ask me before he took one “Can I eat a circle?”

He wanted to decorate the cookies like reindeer. The boy remembered the chocolate chip cookies from this Christmas that were reindeers. So I plopped down regular dough and he pushed in M&Ms.

My Cookie Maker (with chocolate drool)

Then the flour and digger play began….

It started in the sink, digging and dumping….

….then it moved to dumping it all over the counter

Who knew flour could create this much fun?

Flour Face

The Full Body Flour Shot

I was lucky that I had one little bag of pretzels left (I only have rods and sticks in the house) so after the cookies baked I was able to make some of them into reindeers. He was excited and thoroughly enjoyed eating the fruits of his labor.

Filling His Shoes

This is not an uncommon scene. Owen likes to put on mine and Omer’s shoes here and there. He climbs in and walks around with his big cheesy grin. He is so proud of himself and talks about how he has our shoes one. Omer loved that he had his shoes on this evening.

Baby Piggies

This afternoon we headed over to Frying Pan Farm and were pleasantly surprised that there were baby piggies. They were oh so adorable and only a couple days old. Owen really loved watching them and stood there for quite some time. We had a great time but didn’t last too long, Owen’s hands got cold so of course he requested to go home.

When we got there all he wanted to do was pick up gravel and throw it at the barn….what a boy thing to do. Oh he also insisted in bringing kitty-cat with us to the farm.

Picking More Rocks to Throw at the Barn

Walking with Mommy to see Animals (what a cheesy grin)

Baby Piggies!!!!

Intently Watching Baby Piggies

Omer got a great picture of the peacock.

Owen put kitty-cat on the tractor before he climbed up to take a drive.

We then played on the playgrounds for a little. He did all his normal stuff but did actually go down a slide, something he rarely does. He took to wanting to play with this little girl his same age but she had her older brother there entertaining her. But she finally give in and play chase with Owen. They were cute.

Peeking Through Tunnel

He loves playing with the mirror.

Command Center

This is what we call the green couch, because it is where Owen goes to sit to drive the remote cars. He loves to play with them but is still unsure about their quick movements. If they get stuck, he will run to fix it, run back to the couch and start to drive again. Sometimes even saying “Don’t push any buttons.” He loves to make them crash except when it is of important to him. Say blankie is on the floor and car crashes it. He wll stop, and go save blankie and then continue to drive. He has gotten much better at the control aspect, like forward, backward, left and right. Tonight the boys looked too funny to me, I had to get some pictures.

Daddy and Owen on the Command Center

Both peeking around the corner at the cars

Ear Muffs

Owen found Omer’s ear muffs on the counter, reached up and grabbed them. I turn around to find them on his head and looking oh so funny. Wish I could have gotten better pictures but once I finally got the camera he decided to take them off after I took two pictures. He had worn them around the house for about 30 minutes with his hair standing up. He looked very funny.

Activity of the Week

Owen goes through games every week or so. He will start something and continue wanting to play that certain game or activity at least some portion of the day. These games he creates or enjoys range from many different types, but this week it has revolved around play-doh and cars. It started as hiding cars under play-doh and digger would fnd them. He also would have the cars get stuck in the play-doh. Then we started to make rocks or as Owen calls them “itty-bitty rocks” to create piles to fill up dump trucks and dump into one big pile to drive over. He really enjoyed this version because as I have said he loves to count everything right now and he kept counting how many rocks went in to each truck. But this morning he created a new game. We made rocks and he piled them on top of the farm for the tractors to drive over. He also decorated the tractors with the play-doh. We did this for close to an hour this morning, with of course variations of the same game.

Tractor Driving Over Rocks

Decorating the Tractor

More Driving, I am the Green Tractor

He was very proud how he made the digger stand up.

Using the digger to fill up the tractor.

Owen told me not to take any more pictures and that he wanted to take some. Sure! I put the camera on the table and told him what button to push. He took two pictures and was so happy with his result. I was impressed with his images. Here are the pictures from our budding photographer.

Blog Printing

Okay many of you have inquired what I have found on blog printing. As I started this blog as a way to journal my kids lives, I had always planned to have it printed so I could have a hard copy to share. Well this seems like a common desire with not many easy options. My loving wonderful husband had a portion of the blog printed as a gift for me for Christmas (I cried). But the poor thing had to copy and paste every entry into Word and then edit it. How tedious! And how wonderful a husband to spend that much time. I had done some research on this last year but never moved forward. And the place that I had decided to use has gone out of business. It seems the two very popular options are Lulu.com and CafePress.com but you have to do all the work yourself. I do not have that kind of time and really won’t soon. But then a little glimmer of hope. I found a site called Blurb that you download their free software and use it to edit your book. The software downloads all your posts and pictures for you and sets it up in a book format which you can either accept as is and print or edit. The editing functions so far are very easy and the set up is great. You can also select to just download one entry at a time so you can work on the book while you go instead of 400 like I am doing right now. So I have downloaded the remaining portion of the blog to work on and get printed. With all this said, I have just started with this and do not have the final product yet, so I can not give a review on any of that. But this system has been much easier and A LOT less time consuming that downloading them yourself. So for those interested in printing as well I would really recommend looking into this site and starting the process now. Good luck!

Farm Museum Playgroup

Our entire Wednesday playgroup met at Heritage Farm Museum this morning. It was great to see everyone and Owen had much more fun here than normal. This was of course because his friends were there. Not pictured because my camera died, but he had a lot of fun playing with the food and putting it in the stove; and mopping up the floors and batting at the food with the mops.

Driving Tractor

Milking the Cow with Christina

Cow Mooing

Horse Riding with James

Cookie Break with Luke

Puppy Love

Owen loves his puppies and yesterday was just too cute for me. After his nap he usually likes to chill in his room with me either reading books, playing or just snuggling. But sometimes he wants to snuggle in my bed and today that’s where he went. Of course Chester was up there as well and Owen quickly wanted to play. He wanted to play tickle with Chester and luckily Chester wanted to play too. Then Chloe wanted to get in on the fun. It’s funny but Owen is much more gentle with Chloe. Anyone that knows me knows that I love watching these adorable moments between Owen and the puppies.

Getting Ready to Tickle Chester

Chester Tickling Back (he nibbles on Owen)

Lots of Laughs

Boys Having Fun

Time for Tickle with Chloe

Of course Chloe went in for a kiss.

“Tickle Chloe’s Tongue”

Snuggle Chloe (sorry but couldn’t move quick enough to get a picture of Owen’s face, but imagine a big cheesy grin)