Lots of Updates...

Wow...I didn't realize that I'd never blogged Greyson's 2 month picture!  A week after my previous post I returned to work.  The month of May is always a whirlwind for teachers, and this one was definitely no exception!  I had exactly three weeks of work before being off for summer.  Thank goodness it was a short time.  I've been so happy being home with my boys.  While those three weeks went quickly, they also drug on at the same time.  I'm just glad it wasn't any longer.

Greyson is almost 3 months old now.  The time is absolutely flying.  I can't believe it!  He's growing and changing so much.  He's such a happy baby.  We have been beyond spoiled by how easy going both of our kids are/were as babies.  He really is only upset when he's hungry or tired.  He sleeps through the night and loves being entertained by his big brother.  I've loved seeing his little  personality starting to emerge.  He laughs and smiles in response to things now, and it's just so darn cute!  He brightens up each and every day.  As cliche as it sounds, it's really hard to imagine our family without him.

Greyson isn't the only one with new exciting things happening.  Griffin is FINALLY almost potty trained!  This subject has been a thorn in my side for a year now.  I tried last summer to start potty training with him, and he wanted nothing to do with it.  We had nothing but accidents for two days.  I couldn't handle cleaning up any more pee, so we quit.  I tried again periodically through the fall, but again no success.  I told myself over my Christmas break that he had no choice.  The child was going to potty train, even if it killed me.  And truthfully, it almost did.  I was at my wits end with him and the whole situation, so again, we abandoned it.  Being 6 months pregnant at the time didn't help either.  I was getting more and more exhausted by the day,  the last thing I wanted to do was clean up pee from all over the house.  We kept trying, but were always met with resistance.  Finally we decided that once I was home for summer, he had no choice.  He is 3 1/2 years old.  It's time to be potty trained...past time truthfully.  I did my best to prepare myself for LOTS of accidents.  I kept reminding myself that I was not going to get aggravated and angry with him, but we were going to get it one way or another.  Much to my surprise he did really well from the very first day.  I was beyond shocked actually.  Day two came and he was accident free!  It really seemed too good to be true.  I kept waiting for him to suddenly decide he didn't want to use the potty anymore.  Day three came, and we were met with some resistance, but instead of caving in and letting him go back to diapers, we pushed through, and the next morning he woke up, pottied immediately, and we've been accident free ever since!  We're going on two weeks now and I am THRILLED!  Now I said earlier he was ALMOST potty trained.  He's great when it comes to peeing.  Not so great when it comes to pooping.  He's yet to successfully do a #2 in the potty, and really doesn't want to.  He doesn't want diapers back (who can blame him) but he doesn't seem to have an issue with getting his underpants dirty.  He wants them changed right away, but still can't get it together to go in the toilet.  I know it can take a while, but I was really hopeful that once he started using the potty, it would all just fall into place.  Wishful thinking apparently.  I am glad that we're half way there at least.  Cleaning out his pants once a day is better than changing diapers (and cheaper!) so I shouldn't complain too much.

Now that Greyson is almost 3 months old...I guess I need to post his 2 month picture :o)

Brothers!

Puddles are serious business!  Helmet and boots required. 

 Daddy and his boys

First time in the highchair...I think he likes it!

The excitement was too much for him.  :o)

Bath time cuteness!

Oh those baby blues!

LOVE his new sun hat!

Mother's Day with my loves

Weekend of Firsts

Over the weekend Greyson had his first long car trip, and first trip to Grandma and Grandpa's house. He did remarkably well in the car!  We have definitely been blessed with two boys who do better than we ever could've imagined on long (or short for that matter) car rides.  He slept 90% of the way there, and we only had to make one stop in the 4 1/2 hrs we were on the road.  Not bad for a 6w old baby!

Not only did Greyson have a first on this trip, so did I...the life of an exclusive pumper is not without some entertaining moments.  Since we were going to be traveling for over 4 hours, I knew there was no way I could make the whole trip without pumping.  I bought a car power cord for my pump, so that I was able to pump while we were driving.  Matthew and I got a good laugh out of me sitting in the passenger seat with the breast pump hooked up and whooshing away as we drove down the road.  I'm sure if anyone actually saw what I was doing they would've thought I was crazy, but when you're engorged you do what you have to do to relieve it!  (Not to mention, Greyson needs food somehow!)  We made it to our destination with a good laugh under our belts, and several fresh ounces of breast milk in the cooler.

Griffin was super excited to go shopping for new tennis shoes on Friday.  We went with Grandma and Aunt Cindy met us there.  He was so happy with his choice!  And of course, we couldn't leave Greyson out in the cold, so he got in on the action as well.  (Mommy couldn't resist the unbelievable cuteness of the itty bitty baby shoes!)

Itty bitty baby cuteness!

The new red shoes!!!

It was a great weekend, full of family time.  Matthew was running the Indy Mini Marathon on Saturday.  This was the first year I didn't stay with him in the city the night before. Since he was going to be running over 13 miles, it was best that he get a full night's sleep, no interruptions.  A new baby and the breast pump going in the middle of the night don't exactly make for an interrupted night's sleep, so he stayed in Indy on his own Friday night, and the rest of us went to the city to meet him once he was finished on Saturday morning.  He did great, and finished in just over 2 hours.  I was definitely a little bummed not being there when he started this year.  The atmosphere is really cool, and even though it's meant VERY early mornings the last three years, it has been fun. Once he was finished, stretched and showered we grabbed some lunch (although it wasn't quite as quick as we had planned on it to be...) and headed to the Children's Museum.

Griffin has been asking for MONTHS to go to a museum.  He was watching one of his favorite Nick Jr. shows where they went to a museum, and since then he has been begging to go.  What better time to do it than the weekend we were already in the city.  He was on Cloud 9 the whole time!  I just wish we could've been there longer.  There is so much to do there, that it's impossible to see and do it all in one day, even if there from open to close.

Our first stop was the Playscape area.  It's designed specifically for kids 2-5 yrs old.  It's full of hands on play and exploration, the most perfect place for young kids to learn and develop.  It reminded me of the best parts of my college education, and honestly made me sad for the way school is for kids, specifically kindergarten age kids.  They should be playing in a sand/water table, experimenting with musical instruments and various art mediums.  As I watched not only my own child, but all of those around him, it truly made my heart ache that kids aren't given the chance to learn this way any longer.  Every single child in there was fully engrossed in the activity and absolutely loving every second of it. The only time you heard one of them upset and crying was when they were told it was time to go or time for a diaper change (we had a meltdown moment over the latter)  They were so engaged that leaving was the last thing any of them wanted to do.   Sorry for the soap box...obviously it was quite the experience for Mommy too!  I missed out on about 20 minutes of his enjoyment as soon as we got there.  The pump was calling my name again, but thankfully they had an AMAZING mother's room for nursing.  I had my own private area with a super comfy glider/arm chair to sit in and a giant footstool to spread out all of my supplies.  It really was a great place, and I was so thankful they had it!  Once we finally were able to pry Griffin out of the Playscape area, we found the dinosaurs.  Oh my goodness...just when I thought he couldn't be any more excited than he was by the things in Playscape, Dinosphere blew that theory out of the water.  He was completely blown away by all of it. They actually have 6 or 7 real dinosaur skeletons set up on display, and he thought they were the coolest things he'd ever seen.  Every picture he saw, every activity, the actual fossils, blew his mind every time.  He wanted to know the name of every single one, and he'd repeat the name after we told him, like he was doing everything he possibly could to remember each and every detail.  It really was better than I thought it would be, taking him there.  We made it to the train and Transformers exhibits, and then it was time for the museum to close.  He was so disappointed to be leaving, but kept talking about how much fun he'd had, and he wants to go back.  I'd say the trip was a success! We concluded the day's adventures with dinner at the best Mexican restaurant ever, back in Greensburg with family friends.  So much packed in to one day, but so much fun at the same time.

He loved the climbing tower

He climbed all the way to the top!

Sand designs with Grandpa

So focused

Digging for dinosaur bones! 

Transformers!

Greyson had another first this weekend.  He officially slept through the whole night 4 nights in a row! Thursday night he slept 7 hrs straight, Friday night 7 1/2, Saturday night 8 and Sunday it was 9!  I guess he knows that Mommy's time with him is winding down, and that I need sleep too.  Too bad I still have to get up and pump once in the middle of the night.

There was so much that happened over the weekend, and I've already written a novel about it, so I guess that's enough, but wow...definitely a great trip for everyone!

1 Month Old!

Saturday Greyson was officially 1 month old.  I truly cannot believe how fast this month has gone! He is a wonderful baby, and no I'm not just saying that because he's mine :o)  He really is a very easy going little guy.  Unless he's hungry he's typically pretty content.  He's starting to get on a decent schedule, eats and sleeps really well!  His first stretch at night lasts from 4-6 hours right now, and then the 2nd stretch is around 3 hours later.  He eats like a pig which means he's growing like a weed! Our little guy isn't really so little anymore.  He fully fills out 3 month onesies already!  It won't be too much longer before they are too small.

I'm having such a hard time wrapping my head around having such a big baby.  Griffin was such a peanut for so long.  It seemed like it took forever for him to reach 8lbs.  Greyson being born over 8lbs still just blows my mind.  At his 2 week check up (he was almost 3 weeks old though) he was in the 94th percentile for length and the 87th for weight!  Griffin has barely ever been over the 50th in anything.  

He loves to snuggle (so does Mommy!)  He's also starting to react to our voices.  My parents visited over the weekend, and any time Grandma or Grandpa were holding him, and he heard either Matthew or me, he would acknowledge our voices and either turn his head or move his eyes to our direction. When he's really awake he makes the greatest faces and will make them back to us when we make faces at him.

I have loved being home with him, and cannot believe how fast my maternity leave is going.  My saving grace is I will work for 3 weeks and then be done for the summer.  My only goal for the remainder of my leave, is to snuggle this little guy as much as humanly possible.

National Infertility Awareness Week

This week is National IF Awareness Week.  I feel so blessed to be able to say we beat infertility, but when I think of all of the couples who are still going through the journey with no success, it truly makes my heart hurt.

I firmly believe that the only reason our struggle didn't affect me more, emotionally, was due to the fact that we talked about it, and still talk about it now.  I know it is an EXTREMELY personal decision whether or not to share with others that a couple is having trouble creating a family, and some people really cannot imagine letting family, friends and strangers know they need help.  I was that way at first.  We didn't share our struggle for many many months.  Those months were by far the hardest throughout the entire journey.  Once I finally said enough, I need to talk about this, it was like a weight was lifted off of my shoulders, and I was able to face the rest of it head on.  Everyone we shared our story with was so supportive.  We had quite the support system, even from people we'd never met (due to this blog!)  It helped me sort through my feelings, and know that I/we weren't alone.

I was absolutely floored by the number of people who, once we  shared our story, confided in me that they too were struggling.  We have referred several friends to our fertility office, and most have gone on to successfully have their own children.  I'm thrilled that they were able to make their dreams come true, but at the same time I'm absolutely amazed at how many couples we know, first hand, who struggled with infertility.  The national statistic is 1:8 couples will suffer from infertility, but that's based on those who seek help.  Deep down, I think it's probably higher than that.

I will be eternally grateful to our fertility doctor, his staff and ironically, our health insurance.  (I bet few people ever say that!)  Without Dr. Gary Horowitz, the staff of SIRM Peoria, our health insurance, and most importantly God, we would not have our two beautiful boys.  I cannot imagine our lives without them, even in the most challenging moments (Griffin is 3 after all...) I still cannot begin to imagine what our lives would be like if we were never blessed with them.  My hope is that through weeks like this, the stigma associated with infertility will begin to disappear, and it will be something much easier for couples to talk about and no longer feel ashamed.

Our miracle babies!

http://www.resolve.org/national-infertility-awareness-week/home-page.html
http://www.haveababy.com

Greyson's Birth Story

As I said in my previous post, I was going to save the birth story for a later date.  While it wasn't super eventful, it definitely had it's fair share of drama.  Brace yourself, this will be a marathon post.  My labor lasted 30ish hours so it's going to take a while to get it all out.  Like I said...brace yourself.

My due date came and went, and the only sign of impending labor, was the false labor that totally faked me out for several hours.  I was really hopeful that the contractions I'd timed for 4 hours would finally start to increase and real labor would begin.  No such luck.  So we continued to wait, and wait, and wait.  I went to the appointment scheduled for the Monday after my due date for a non-stress test to make sure he was tolerating being overdue.  He was, and I was no where closer to getting induced than the week before.  A fact that was REALLY annoying and frustrating me.  I was told to schedule another appointment for the day before 41 weeks to have a fluid check sonogram.  So I did, then hoped and prayed I wouldn't make it to see that appointment.  Again, no such luck.  I made it to that appointment with very few fake contractions and absolutely NO real ones.  Everything on my sonogram looked good, so when I saw the doctor my only question for her was how much longer do I have to wait for this kid to be born?!?!  She scheduled me for an induction on Monday, March 16th. If I made it to my induction date I would officially be 10 days overdue.

My last day of work was the day before I hit 41 weeks.  I was completely over being at work, and wanted a day to spend with Griffin before his world was rocked forever.  Matthew ended up taking the day off as well, so we had one last good family-of-3-day before becoming a family of 4.  We had a breakfast date at Starbucks, then a fun morning at the zoo.

As hopeful as I was that I wouldn't make it to my induction day, I did.  I wasn't scheduled to check in until 8pm, so it was most definitely a long day of waiting.  I tried my best to rest and take it easy, but my mind was definitely preoccupied.  My sister came from Chicago, and was staying with Griffin. My parents were also on their way over.  They were going to be with Griffin while my sister was with us at the hospital.

We arrived at the hospital, got checked in, changed, IV started, etc.  The on-call doctor from my OB's office came in to see us, and explain the protocol for my induction.  They were starting me with Cervidil, which is a medication designed to help ripen the cervix.  I was only 1cm dilated and 50% effaced at the time, so the cervidil was going to hopefully help thin my cervix more before starting me on pitocin.  The major downside to the cervidil is it takes 12 hours to hopefully do it's job.  So for those 12 hours, we basically sat around doing a whole lot of nothing.  The good part was it was over night, so I did get sleep, but once the next morning rolled around, there was a lot of sitting and waiting.  At 10am they finally took the cervidil out and let me have a little break from meds before starting pitocin.  I got up and walked around, hoping to increase my contractions naturally.  Once again, no such luck.  I had been contracting all night, but they felt like nothing more than the Braxton Hicks I'd been having for weeks.  Around 12:30 they started me on pitocin.  I was barely 2cm and 60% when they started my pit.  When I went in for induction with Griffin, I was at a very similar point, so I was hopeful things would start moving once the pitocin was started.  Boy was I wrong...

Every 30-60 min they would up my pitocin.  It didn't take all that long before it was cranked to the max at 20.  I wish I could say by that point I was begging for an epidural because the contractions were horrendous thanks to the pit, but that was not the case.  I sat in bed, pit cranked for hours and still felt like nothing more than false labor.  To say I was getting frustrated at this point would be putting it mildly.  By this point it was becoming clear that there would be no baby before Griffin went to bed for the evening, so I had my parents bring him to the hospital for a visit.  I was really missing my little buddy, and was hoping that a visit would cheer me up, and help coax his brother out.

Although it didn't help my labor progress any quicker, having some company helped distract me a little bit.  Matthew left for a while and grabbed dinner with my parents and Griffin.  While he was gone, the midwife came in to discuss a couple of options with me.  She told me I could do another cervidil and see if it helped move things along a little more, or she could break my water and hope that plus the pitocin would really do the job.  I was nervous about having my water broken at only 2cm, but I REALLY hated the idea of sitting there for another 12 hours hoping something was happening.  She assured me that there was no concern for cord issues with breaking my water.  His head was engaged far enough that there was no worry about the cord slipping out ahead of it.  Cindy's recommendation was to do what would get things moving (in other words NOT another cervidil).  So I told the midwife that I was ready to have my water broken and finally get this ball rolling.  She and the nurse got everything together and before long, I was lying in a pool of amniotic fluid.  TMI sorry.... :o)  About two contractions after she broke my water I FINALLY felt what the contractions should've been feeling like all along.  Everyone was so happy to finally see me in pain.  I labored for about another couple of hours before finally asking for my epidural.  The anesthesiologist came in, gave me my epi, and I was happily pain-free after about 15 minutes.  

Since I wasn't in pain, I was able to sleep, which felt good because I hadn't had a lot of rest in a while. I was doing well until the shakes started in.  Between the hormone surges, the epidural and the progression of my labor, I had the shakes BAD.  This didn't come as a surprise to me at all.  I got them with Griffin too, and they're really common in labor.  It's absolutely crazy how badly I was shaking and how cold I felt.  Thankfully my labor nurse (nurse #3 at this point) brought me some heated blankets.  I had one draped around my shoulders, and 2-3 more covering me.  That finally helped tone down the shaking, and I was able to sleep again.  

LOTS and LOTS of blankets!

They checked me a few times after getting my epidural.  With Griffin, the epi was what I needed to finally make progress.  I'd moved from 2cm to 4cm, but kind of got stuck at 4cm for a while.  My midwife came in around midnight and told me she was going to head home for just a little while to get a little rest, but if anything started moving again, then the nurse would call and she'd be right back.  I had no issues with that, so she left and I got some more rest.  At this point it was VERY obvious that he would not be a St. Patrick's Day baby like we had assumed he'd be.  

Somewhere around 2:30ish I woke up because I was feeling my contractions again.  They started out not bad, Braxton Hicks-ish, but quickly started to get stronger and stronger.  I mentioned it to Cindy and she called my nurse.  The nurse came in and checked me, I was 8cm!  The only problem was, since I was 8cm, she wasn't sure they would want to re-dose my epi.  They wanted me to be able to feel when and how to push when the time came, re-dosing my epi might hinder that.  The longer she was in the room with me, the stronger my contractions were getting, and she could tell by my face. She finally asked how they were in relation to when I originally received the epidural.  At that point they were just as bad if not worse than when I got it to start with.  She called the anesthesiologist and he came in to juice me again.  Thank goodness!  Once I was good and numb again, I was a happy camper, minus the fact that the shakes were coming back.  She sat my bed upright again to let gravity continue to help progress my labor.  

Since my labor with Griffin progressed from 8cm to 10 in about twenty minutes, she called Karen, the midwife to come back, and started prepping the room for delivery, just to be on the safe side.  It definitely took longer than twenty minutes for me to finally reach 10cm, but I was glad they were being proactive.  

By the time Karen returned, I was almost 10, but Greyson was face up instead of face down.  I'd suspected this for a while because I had been having pretty awful back labor.  I never wanted to ask because I was afraid of the answer, but my suspicions were correct.  When she told me that he was face up, my reply was "that's what I was afraid of."  She told us there were things she could do to try and get him to flip so that he wouldn't actually come out face up.  She wanted to try rotating me every few minutes, that can encourage the baby to flip on its own.  So I said ok, and everyone in the room proceeded to help me flip onto my right side.  As soon as I was lying on my side, his heart rate dropped immediately.  He did NOT like that at all, so the next move was to rotate onto all 4's.  There I was naked butt (thank you hospital gown) up in the air for the whole room to see.  He didn't like that position either, so thankfully I wasn't that way for too long.  We rotated again, and I was lying on my left side.  Finally his heart rate leveled out and I stayed there for a while.  Karen checked again and he had moved a little, but was still not face down.  She told us that once I started pushing she could help rotate him.  That sounded very unpleasant, but not quite as bad as the idea of pushing him out face up.  

At this point my epidural was wearing off again.  It never once crossed my mind to tell them and ask for more.  I don't know if I just assumed they wouldn't give it to me, or if it was simply because there was so much going on that it really just never occurred to me that I'd need it.  At this point I was fully dilated, but my cervix wasn't completely gone yet.  I wan't thrilled to hear this because I figured that meant more waiting.  Karen told us that it shouldn't be a big deal.  Once I started pushing it should help the rest of the cervix thin out.  So the next thing I knew, she told me I could push any time I felt the need.  It wasn't long before my next contraction started so here we went.  

I honestly do not, for the life of me, know how women push for hours and hours on end.  I was so lucky both times that it did not take me long to push either of my babies out.  Griffin was 25 minutes and Greyson was 33.  I do know that both times though, I would've bet anything that it had been over an hour or more.  It seemed to take FOREVER!  With Greyson being quite a bit bigger than Griffin, I felt like I was pushing and pushing and not getting anywhere.  Thank goodness everyone in the room was so encouraging.  Every push they were cheering me on and telling me what a great job I was doing.  By this point my epidural was gone.  I could feel EVERYTHING.  I'm sure it was still probably slightly better than if I'd never gotten it to start with.  It probably was still helping some, but I definitely felt way more of this kid's birth than I ever intended to.  In hindsight it was probably better.  I was able to push more effectively, but at the time, holy cow.  

Everyone kept telling me they could see his head.  After hearing that several times, I finally asked if he was crowning yet.  I thought for sure I was feeling the dreaded "ring of fire."  Karen told me that he wasn't crowning yet, but he was getting closer.  Every push a little more of his head was emerging, so within the next push or two he should be crowning.  She asked if I wanted to reach down and feel his head, if it would help motivate me to push more.  My answer was "no I don't think so, I'm fine."  At that point everyone in the room burst out laughing and my nurse asked me how in the world I was so polite at that point in my labor, and I had to be the most polite patient she'd ever had.  That made me laugh too, until the next contraction came along at least!  Pushing continued and before long he really was crowning.  What I thought was the ring of fire before, was NOTHING compared to the real thing.  Oh.  My.  Word.  Karen told me when his head was out, and was helping Matthew because he was going to finish delivering Greyson just like he had Griffin.  He wasn't able to do quite as much this time around.  Greyson's shoulders need some help maneuvering around my pubic bone, so Karen needed to do that part.  Once his shoulders were out, I kept thinking ok he should be out soon, but he kept coming and coming and coming.  At one point I thought why do I still feel this kid!?!?!  Finally he was completely out, and I was able to get some relief.  

Karen had Greyson get checked out right way instead of immediate skin to skin contact.  He was pretty purple and didn't cry right away, so she wanted to make sure he was fine.  Thankfully he was.  As soon as the nurse got him to the warmer and suctioned him out he started crying and his color returned just fine.  While they were working on him, I delivered the placenta.  Once that was done I felt SO much better.  I couldn't believe how much pressure I still felt before the placenta was clear. They brought him to me for skin to skin and Karen worked on getting my bleeding under control and sewed up the two tears I had (thanks Greyson!)  I was able to snuggle my little man and he worked on breastfeeding. 

Sweet Baby Greyson

22.5" = one HUGE baby!

Once the shakes were gone I was having MAJOR hot flashes!

Snuggling my sweet little man

It's amazing how quickly the previous 30 hours (well really the last 6 weeks) vanished from my mind the minute I held him.  He was so perfect.  All 8.2 lbs and 22 1/2 inches of him!  He was most definitely a lot bigger than his brother, but when you're 12 days over due, I guess that's not too surprising.  We all commented on how much he looked like Griffin.  They could've passed for identical twins.  

Everything got cleaned up, I survived my first trip out of bed and into the bathroom (yikes!) and before long we were being wheeled up to the postpartum unit.  We were so lucky to have such wonderful nurses the whole time I was on the labor floor.  All three (yes three) of them were great.  I kind of hated to leave.  Thankfully all that I had endured resulted in an absolutely perfect little boy.  We could not be more in love with him.  He's been the perfect addition to our family.  Everyone, big brother especially, absolutely loves him!

Holding his brother for the first time.

"I love my Greyson."

He just loves his little brother!

He's FINALLY here!

Oh my...where to begin.  Greyson Edmund Kuntz finally decided to join us on Wednesday, March 18th at 4:16 am!  His arrival was LOOOOONG overdue (twelve days to be exact), but definitely worth every minute.  He has been the perfect addition to our family.  I guess good things do come to those who wait.  Here he is!

He weighed in at 8.2lbs and was 22.5" long!  No wonder I felt absolutely huge and uncomfortable! Daddy is already planning out his basketball career ;o)  

Each day keeps getting better and better.  We're starting to settle in to a good rhythm with things, and figuring out what "normal" is now.  He really is a very easy going baby.  The only time he ever really throws a fit is when he's getting a diaper change or he's hungry.  We called him stubborn for the longest time, but I think Aunt Cindy was right, he's not stubborn, he's just very laid back and chill.  Things don't get to him.  Let's hope that continues!  

My labor and delivery were quite the marathon, but I'll save those details for another post.  Today is our first day home alone together and we're doing quite well!  Griffin is at the babysitter and Matthew went back to work.  Here's hoping poor Daddy can make it through the day.  Greyson is a little bit of a night owl.  He likes to cluster feed from about 9-midnight, making for some late nights for both Matthew and me, so he's pretty tired!  At least I get to stay home and nap throughout the day.  

We are so over the moon about this little guy.  Griffin has been great.  He wants to help with everything, and loves to give his brother kisses and hugs.  He does need reminders to be gentle, of course, but what 3 yr old wouldn't?  He gets so concerned when Greyson cries, he wants to know what's wrong and how to help "fix it."  I hope he always wants to help his little brother as much as he does right now.  It melts my heart to see how much he loves Greyson!  Hopefully they will be the best of friends.

First time holding his little brother

Ok Little Man...Time is UP!

Well, here I sit, at 9 days overdue, and COMPLETELY miserable!  I never in a million years would've thought that he would be THIS late!  My induction is set for tomorrow night at 8pm.  THANK HEAVENS!  I am sooooooo ready for this child to be born!  Considering how late it is when I go in, I think it's safe to say he will be a St. Patty's baby.

We are all more than ready to meet this little guy.  Griffin asks on a daily basis if the baby is born yet, and has started asking why he's not.  I wish I knew the answer to that!  If I knew why, or why not, I could be rich :o)

Thursday was my final day of work.  Griffin and I spent the morning on Friday at the zoo, and then met Matthew for a family lunch.  We wanted to have one last good "family day" before we become a family of 4 instead of 3.  I kept hoping that knowing my induction was set, it would jump-start labor this weekend, but that has definitely NOT been the case.  The only contractions I've had are continued Braxton Hicks, which are pointless.  All they do is make me angry to be honest.

Here's hoping my induction goes well, and that both baby and I are all smiles come Tuesday.

41 Weeks and 3 Days is long enough to cook Baby...time to vacate the premises!