Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Almost Three Weeks



He's big. He's expressive. He's got EYES that compete with Kaitlyn's! His temperament is cool, calm and curious-unless he's tired, that's when he cries and gets all stiff. When he's hungry, watch out if you are holding him, he's been known to suck cheeks, blankets, shoulders and comes pretty close to sucking your hair or ear...best thing to do is pass him my way as he doesn't like a pacifier nor a finger. He wants the boob. Blue, Yellow, Green and heck, even pink look great on him. Most of his blankets are hand-me downs from Kaitlyn so the pink is generally found in his swaddle!

Some other interesting facts about Dylan:

-He grunts and sometimes lets out a note or two when sleeping. Another musical child in the works, I think.
-He poops after every nursing session-clockwork!
-Dylan loves to be in the arms of anyone (assuming his tank is full and his diaper is clear).
-His eyes go cross-eyed OFTEN, it's pretty funny especially when he puckers his lips together and makes an 'ooooooo' sound.
-He has this magic time in the middle of the night that he likes to call 'DAY' resulting in a 2.5 hour play-date with mommy generally starting around 2:30am. Yes, this is tough.
-If you are lucky to witness an occasional smile, you will be lucky if you don't melt away. He's a total hunk when his dimples are showing...

Monday, November 16, 2009

Reflections on Gray

I stare into the mirror and realize it's not the mirror, it's me. I'm aging. Fast.

When you are pregnant so much talk is generated around the question, 'do I get my hair colored or wait until after the pregnancy?' I caved in after the first trimester and did my typical, safe, no-drama, all over hair coloring and felt like a million dollars. Now that I'm post-partum and have been fantasizing for months about my makeover in body, fashion and hair I realize the hair makeover needs to happen now! If I were to chop all my hair off and go pixie, like I did for years back in college, I'd be more salt than pepper. I'm only 32....sad to say, it's genetic. Should the makeover be drastic and be natural? Ha! That may make me feel like I owe someone a million bucks!

I'll cope with the gray by covering it up with some copper and chocolate! I need to feel like a million bucks these days as lately I've been having numerous moments of feeling like a parental FAILURE! It's no post-partum depression folks, it's called being a mother of more than one child and dealing with the adjustment. It's tough, it's rough, it's exhausting, it's tasking, it's emotionally draining....and all the while, some miraculous force provides you with energy that gets you to tackle the escalating situations, one after another.

I'm praying more, I'll tell you that. Praying for strength to hold my cool, praying for diligence so I don't become a push over or overlook what needs to be seen, praying for joy so I can relish in the small moments rather than fester over the big ones...praying for my husband, praying for my support crew...praying for my children. Praying that I stop getting more gray hairs and that my tummy will continually shrink-but at an exponentially faster rate!

All in all, I wouldn't trade the stretch marks and saggy belly, my current fashion size of 14 plus, the gray hairs, or even the chalk on the walls, the blow-out diapers or barf on my shirt for ANYTHING ELSE. Two children (two babies, really) change your heart then change your reality...but thank God they change your heart first-your heart gives you the strength to manage the every-hour-on-the-hour breastfeeding sessions...your heart gives you the strength to put both feet on the floor each day...your heart gives you the strength to deal with spousal tension...your heart gives you the strength to have patience first, then compassion, followed with action.

I suppose since I can't blame my mirror for my reality of aging, my heart gives me grace to accept the things I cannot change.


Sunday, November 8, 2009

Siblings

What I have learned....

Big Sisters can be Big Helpers if you include them on the task at hand.

Little Dylan likes to chill, spit up and grunt.

It looks flat ironed but Dylan's hair turns extra curly, temporarily, after a good wash.

I'm exhausted. The exhaustion I feel now is like no other.

It is ok to eat left overs for lunch and dinner and possibly lunch again when you have two children.

I'll never know why a baby's poop is like a jar of grainy dijon mustard.

Going up and down the stairs is fun with Kaitlyn if you count them out loud.

Sitting on the floor instead of the sofa keeps Kaitlyn more engaged with me and less engaged with mischief!

I love my children's arms around me, Kaitlyn's tender kisses and the unconditional love I feel toward them-it's grown drastically in the past week!



Thursday, November 5, 2009

The Dancing Chicken

Our Home...

Introducing the Dancing Chicken!

...and away she dances...

Off we go to trick or treat!

Natalia (dressed as a fairy Princess, one of Tinkerbell's friends) with the Dancing Chicken and Grandpa!

We've had this costume for sometime and whenever we would pull it out Kaitlyn would light up and as if begging, require us to press the music button on the wing on the chicken so she could dance around. That's right, this costume played music-the chicken dance song!!!

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Kaitlyn meets Dylan




'Nose.'

She was really precious...at first, especially at the hospital. At home it was the same feeling but then it became a tough encounter. She didn't know better, but after the few moments of tenderness she started her typical Kaitlyn bulldozing behavior. Her arms were everywhere, touching, grabbing, poking. It was a lot of 'No..', 'be gentle', etc...despite it all, she has grown to know there is someone else sharing her attention. Not something she's always ready to embrace, but each day more of her curiosity is entertained. She just found an area of the pack and play that she can look through and actually see the baby. She often peers through this mesh side when he makes some noise.

'Yes, he has eyes!'


Tuesday, November 3, 2009

October 28th, 12:27pm

Daddy Time

Check out those lips, cheeks and nose!

Chillin after all the probing...

Getting probed, temperature was being taken.
Look at those hands-they will do many great things in this lifetime!



He has arrived!
Dylan Carmichael Patterson

How to describe this birth story without smiling would be near impossible. Kaitlyn really paved the way for Dylan's entry into this world. Basically I was induced, and saying that translates to a 'waiting game'. I received a drug that would thin my cervix, as I just wasn't showing signs of going into labor - or perhaps, Dylan really didn't want to come out. I received two doses of the drug, each dose is a 12 hour process...on the second dose, about 2/3 into it, the drug was removed (it sits adjacent to the cervix) and Pitocin was started. Knowing full well that Pitocin brings about contractions, I requested an epidural at 3cm dilation. By 8am on the 28th I was working with both Pitocin and the epidural. The doctor came in at some point in the morning to rupture my bag of water and shortly after I fell sound asleep. I was awakened by the nurse, a few hours later, for an exam only find that I had dilated to 9.5 cm all while sleeping! Oh my, I began to cry thinking how surreal this all felt. With only 23 minutes of pushing and sleep during all the contractions...Dylan came into this world with ease! What a blessing.

His stats are:

20.5 inches
10lbs 5 oz
His head was 14.5 inches

Now he is happily breastfeeding, makes all sorts of grunting sounds when he's awake and generally only cries when he's hungry. Not bad...I'm hoping this continues!