One week already??

Lots of this has been going on this past week. I've been enjoying cuddling with my baby as much as possible, because I know that the "newborn" stage goes by so fast! So far, Grant has proved himself to be a very easy baby. He seems to be much more laid back than Ryleigh was & for that I'm thankful. Not that Ryleigh was a difficult baby - she really wasn't, even though she had her issues (most of which probably stemmed more from my inexperience than anything else). I definitely feel much more relaxed this time around & not nearly as unsure of myself. Grant is eating & sleeping very well & really doesn't cry much at all.

I think my biggest struggle at this point is with helping Ryleigh adjust to all of the changes in our house. She loves Grant & doesn't seem to be jealous of him, but she is definitely missing having all of the attention on her. She has been doing okay at home, but when we are in public, she's been acting out more & has been much more clingy to both Jeff & I. It also seems that we've taken several steps backward regarding potty training. Oh well... hopefully things will start getting back to normal before too long & that will help her to get back on track.

Grant's first photo shoot

Grant was looking a little jaundiced, so I stripped him down & put him by the window to soak up some of the beautiful spring sunshine we had today. I took the opportunity to take some pictures of him.

Our first days with Grant

"Grantimus Maximus" (as Daddy likes to call him)

Mommy & Grant

Uncle Joe, Ryleigh & Grant

Papi & Grant

All dressed & ready for the ride home

This is the way Ryleigh greeted Grant when we arrived home. She kept saying, "Hi, Baby!"

An update & a few more pictures

I'm feeling a bit more rested, now, & the nurse just arrived to take Grant to the nursery, so I thought I'd add just a few more pictures to the blog. I also promised a bit more of an update, so here goes... as I had mentioned before, I was to be induced yesterday morning at 6 a.m. I had really hoped to have labor start on its own in the middle of the night, but no such luck. When we got to the hospital, Arlie checked me & declared that I was 3-4 centimeters & went ahead & broke my water, hoping that labor would start on its own - which it did, but not without lots of walking the halls to get things going strong. By 8 a.m., contractions were still not very strong & Arlie told me that I was smiling too much. ;-) Thankfully, though, things really picked up not long afterward, & I ended up spending most of the rest of my labor in the whirlpool tub. (It's amazing how much the hot water helps to deal with the pain!) I surprised myself & ended up allowing them to give me a little Nubaine through the IV (I had an epidural last time b/c I didn't want to be loopy from the meds). I was surprised that just having that to take the edge off the contractions, made a big difference in my ability to cope - & I was also able to catch a few winks between contractions. Finally, they made me get out of the tub when I was about 8-9 cm because I was involuntarily starting to bear down through the contractions. Things progressed rather quickly from there, even though it seemed to me to take forever. I only had to push for about 20 minutes (compared to 2 hours with Ryleigh) before I was finally holding my sweet little boy. Everyone kept commenting about how roly-poly he is. His little thighs are so fat & his back has so many rolls & folds of skin, that it looks like a little bull dog's! ;-) He has brownish red fuzz on his head & doesn't really look like Ryleigh at all, in my opinion. He also has broad shoulders & big hands &, in our very biased opinion, he is simply beautiful! He's eating like a champ, even though he is starting to go through the sleepy phase. Ryleigh couldn't be more proud of her baby brother. She is just thrilled to death with him, & kept saying "My baby," over and over. Some of her other comments were "awww, cute!" "gentle," "I wanna hold him," "sweet baby," & "baby want binky" (every time he cried - I think she's picked this up from watching Cayden). Well... I guess I better wrap this up. Today is sure to be a busy day with lots of people here to see Grant & I should probably try to get a little more sleep before things start happening. Thanks for all of your many comments of congratulations!

Ryleigh & Grant meeting for the very first time.

Ryleigh, Grant & Nana

At long last...

Grant Logan Stratton

March 18, 2008

2:53 p.m.

8 lbs. 14 oz. 20 in.

Baby & Mommy are doing well. We're both exhausted & need to get some sleep. We'll give a more complete update & more pictures as soon as we can. Thanks for all of your thoughts & prayers!

Anxiously awaiting...

the arrival of our baby boy sometime within the next 24 hours! I had another OB/GYN appointment this afternoon, during which the midwife stripped my membranes & told me to be at the hospital by 6 a.m. tomorrow morning for an induction. My mom & dad are here & all is in readiness for this baby to be born! We'll post an update & pictures on the blog as soon as possible after the baby is born.

Baby update, belly pics & creative projects

Okay, so I thought I would take a little break from packing for Bus Convention & post something on here. Even though I love to take pictures, I very rarely allow myself to get in front of the camera (I know, something that I need to work on). Anyhow... it seems like that gets even worse when I'm pregnant. Consequently, I have very few pictures of myself while pregnant. Because I've been wanting to do a comparison photo from how looked during the last pregnancy, vs. this one, I finally broke down & allowed myself to be photographed. Here are the results:

36 weeks with Ryleigh

37 weeks with Baby #2

This pregnancy has been so different than the last one. Some things have been good (i.e., less puking, less weight gained) & some not so good (i.e., more aches & pains, more painful Braxton-Hicks contractions, etc.). Over all, I think that I have felt much better during this pregnancy than I did with the last. It has also seemed to fly by much faster than the last (one of the benefits of having a toddler ;-).

Lish decided to have a 'belly picture' taken, too! ;-)

As of my doctor's appointment, yesterday, things are about the same babywise. Blood pressure is borderline, but still okay. Arlie is really trying to keep an eye on it & says that if, by my next appointment, things start to change for the worse, we'll talk about inducing sometime next week. Mom & Dad are planning to fly in on the 13th, so I'm greatly looking forward to having them here with us for a few weeks!

While visiting the Street of Shops, last week, Lish saw a sign that she really

liked & asked me to see if I could duplicate it. Even though I used the same saying & basic shape, I added my own touches to it & this was the result. I think Lish really liked it & I'm thinking about doing one for myself, now.

I've also been experimenting with making my own gift bags, lately.

This is my latest attempt (along with the gift tag).

I played around with altering canvases for Christmas this year. When I packed them away for next year, I decided that I wanted to try to make some for year-round use. So far, I've only made this one.