J’s aunt from California was able to come with them as well. It was such a great week we were sad to see them all go.

 
Despite car troubles we really did have a wonderful time, so much so that J had to console his crying wife when they left.

The last guest left yesterday and I am back into the swing of things. I guess this means the postpartum honeymoon stage is over and it’s time for real life motherhood to begin again!

 We have a little tradition where we do our first family snapshot in specific shirts. It started 5 years ago Z’s shirt said birthday boy and mine said Super mom. J had a shirt that said dad to the bone but it shrunk.

 Two and a half years later we had SJ and a friend of mine got big brother little sister shirts for them. J and I wore the same shirts.

 
It was really hard just to get the 3 of them sitting still for a half second, but I am hoping I will get some more sibling pictures soon.

 Here J is putting him in the carseat for the first time. He left the hospital weighing 7.9 pounds. He is my smallest baby by a full pound.

 The kids like to make sure he has his “lovie”. I can’t get enough of those little newborn smirks.

 The photo below was taken at his first pediatric appointment. They had him come in for a second visit just to check weight and he is now 7.14.

 E is a natural when it comes to breast feeding. We haven’t had any problems at all, but when the lactation consultants at the hospital asked, I admitted his biggest obstacle is just waking up or staying awake. He is now 11 days old and still sleeps almost constantly. This is a rare photo of him with his eyes open, and you get to see that handsome dark hair of his too.

 Before E was born we searched at several stores for an orange hat because a lot of the clothes we gravitated towards had orange in them. Our orange hat search was fruitless, but at the hospital they have volunteers that donate knit hats for each baby and E’s was ORANGE! One of the nurses even commented on his hat because they give many different colors, but she hadn’t seen an orange one before. We think they made pumpkin hats for October which was perfect for my October birthday boy.

It’s a boy!

Ezra Wesley

Born October 1, 2012 at 10:35 pm

at The Women’s Hospital in Lexington Kentucky

He weighed 8 pounds 1 ounce

His height is 20.75 inches

It’s been a tiring first few days which is why I am a little behind with this announcement. That and I wanted to get caught up with blog entries I had previously written about the hospital bag, the birth plans, and my maternity outfits. You see, I knew I was coming up on my 1,000 blog post and I couldn’t think of any better thing to write about for the big ONE THOUSAND than the birth announcement of my son.

He’s perfect in every way. I had forgotten the euphoric emotions that come along with having a new life in your arms. I could say thank you to God one thousand times for blessing me with this tiny treasure. I could come up with a thousand reasons that after only 2 days of having him here I am hopelessly captured by him. It hasn’t been the easiest journey, but I would do it all 1,000 times more to have precious Ezra in our lives.

I thought it would be fun to squeeze in one maternity edition of What I Wore Wednesday before it’s back to squeezing into pants without elastic waste bands. So, I had a few snapshots taken of what I’ve been wearing during these final weeks of pregnancy

First off we have my baby shower ensemble which consists of a thrift store shirt and consignment shop boots. Along with two pairs of brown leggings. The double leggings is a little trick I picked up from Lindsey, the host of What I Wore Wednesday. She wore two pairs for extra warmth, but I thought it would also come in handy to avoid fashion faux pas, like see through leggings.

Next up is what I wore on my baby moon. I got this Old Navy maternity dress second hand from a friend and I paired it with a cardigan and wedge heels. I actually ditched the sweater and wore my hair down when my husband and I went to a concert that evening. The dress transitioned from day time to evening wear quite well actually.

I am usually super conservative when it comes to pictures in bathing suits, but there was an indoor pool at our hotel on our baby moon and I wanted to show how this Land’s End swimsuit, which was a result of my postpartum swim suit challenge from 2 1/2 years ago, works so well as maternity suit too. Look at that belly!

Then finally we have a Liz Lang maternity dress which is yet another thrift find that I have had for many years. It’s come in handy for many occasions, pregnant or not.

I’ve got a thing for this color and I know it. I love me some brown. I’m not afraid to show it!

1. my swimsuit

1. my lamp

1. emergency delivery kit

1. my computer

1. my tree

The most bulky unnecessary item I plan to bring is this little inspirational tree that I made. It was somewhat inspired by a pinterest thing I saw. There is so much significance to this tree I won’t even go into all of it, but I am in love with this comforting item from home. 

1. underwear

1. photo of kids

Even with the digital slideshow I can’t think of anything more comforting and calming than a framed photo of my precious little ones that WILL NOT be joining us for the occasion.

1. gifts from baby brother

1. blanket

1. Digital SLR kit

These are not all of the items coming, but like I said before, probably the most unnecessary. We’ll see how I feel about hauling it all into the different rooms when the time comes. Or should I say we’ll see how J feels?

I am posting two blog entries back to back because a lot has happened since I wrote that happy little post about all of my plans and predictions. While in Lexington for our baby moon I also had a scheduled prenatal appointment because I am very practical in that way. That is when I found out our baby boy is head down and ready to go, and by ready to go I mean my midwife doesn’t expect me to get through this weekend.

 

I am less than two weeks away from my due date! I’ve said this before, but both of my kids were due on the 9th (of different months) and born on the 4th just shy of 1:00 am. So if I follow suit, this baby could be here in about a week! Both of my children were also similar weight and height. That’s why I am going to GUESS this baby will be

born- October 5th at 2:00 am
weighing- 8.10 pounds
measuring- 21 inches

I am just throwing that out there. Feel free to give your own guesses!

It’s funny how the majority of the pregnancy I have been giving myself a guilt trip for being so distracted with other things. I guess I am making up for it now because ALL I can think about is getting ready for the new arrival (and chewing ice, which I know means I am probably anemic, but anyway…). This has felt like the quickest pregnancy ever and I can’t believe the big day could be any day now!

I try to make it a tradition to get out and have some fun at the end of each pregnancy. So, the past week has been spent celebrating and enjoying quality time with the people I love.

Saturday was my baby shower which was really special. I had such a great time just hanging out with all the other women that I hardly ever get to talk to and I felt very loved.

 The theme was Little Prince. The diaper castle and castle cake were AMAZING!

 Above: Friends from church Below: My cousin, mom, nephew, and sister in laws.

Tuesday was shopping and pedicures with my mom. We spent the whole day trying to prepare and pamper at the same time. It was a success!

I am currently on my baby moon with J which has been so wonderful. My favorite part is just getting to rest. I took several naps and went to bed early last night. I’ll be dreaming about that child free temperupedic hotel bed for months to come.

I don’t have many pics yet, but here are our coffees at our favorite little hang out place in Lexington.

Now that I am feeling refreshed I am ready to get back to business. This next (potentially last) week of pregnancy I plan on using every ounce of my time and energy to get all the final details ready for this little guy. Here we go!

I’ve been anxious to share about these two simple children’s books that have really come in handy over the past month and the funny thing is I wasn’t even seeking them out.

The first one was available for free to take from the hospital when SJ had her sedated testing. It’s called My Own Prayers, by Larry Carney and it has simple little prayers for things like going to school, getting lost, or being scared of the dark. We brought it to the Doctor with us last time Z and SJ had to get shots because Z insisted he wanted to read the “Prayer for Getting a Shot” and we did. It was helpful for SJ too since we have the language barrier where neither of us really know the signs that would apply to this situation I was able to show her the picture and point to her and mommy and the doctor and I think it helped explain what was happening. I do have to mention one prayer in the book that kind of funny to me. It shouldn’t be, because it’s a very serious topic and I think it’s good that it was addressed, but the prayer is for “When My Parents Argue” and it goes like this:

The other book is one that I came across at a thrift store for 69 cents and I LOVE it! I don’t want to be overly dramatic, but it has been a blessing in our lives and we read it again last night per Z’s request. First of all it is a children’s book by the Sears family and if you know who Dr. Sear’s is you know his natural approach to child birth and parenting is right up my alley. It’s called Baby On The Way, and it’s  kind of like a candid, age appropriate version of “What to Expect When You Are Expecting” for children. It’s really helped Z to understand more about what is happening. He saw this picture and was surprised to find that the baby inside is naked! It’s pretty cool, but the thing that really elated me about this little book is that the pictures are fun and descriptive. It is a way, once again, for me to be able to communicate with my daughter what is going on. In the back of my mind I had been worried about SJ. When she was born Z understood what was going on. He would talk about the baby in my tummy and that he was going to be a big brother. Here we are again, it’s SJ turn and she is the same age Z was, but how do I really get her to understand. There is no time to teach all the signs that go along with pregnancy and child birth and I don’t want her to be any more blindsided than she has to be when we have a new baby and my stomach isn’t huge anymore. Well, the pictures in this book are an answer to my prayers. They go through everything from mommy feeling sick, to mommy going to the hospital, and mommy breast feeding. It even shows the newborn baby with the umbilical cord clamp. When I first read it to the kids there is one picture where you see the mommy’s belly while she is at the Doctor and SJ pulled up my shirt pointed to the picture and then pointed to my tummy. You can probably envision my heart leaping in that moment She gets it! She understands! She does this every time we get to that page, probably because she got such a great reaction the first time. I would recommend this book to anyone who has a child that is about have a sibling.

Speaking of which, we are getting geared up for baby #3. I am 37 weeks tomorrow and if I follow the previous patterns we are about 2 weeks away from delivery. Ahhhh! There is still a ton left to do, but having 2 children already I do realize that the baby doesn’t need much. No matter what we do or don’t get accomplished on my to do list at this point we are going to be okay. I have a baby shower on Saturday, a baby moon with J next week, and my mom and I are going to get a pedicure and go shopping one of these days. So there are lots of exciting things underway. I will definitely keep every one posted if there is any news to announce.