Riley--Weeks 1-4

On our way home from the hospital!

HUGS!  Bennett loves Riley and would always find him and give him a hug/kiss.  Sometimes he pushed a little on Riley, but it was accidental and we're working on it!  (I'm just glad he's not hitting him!)

This is called "realization"!  The uncertainty of this little thing that's now taking time away from me, but also curiosity at what it is!

Hey Riley!

Life as Riley will know it....with a brother by his side!

Going on our first walk in "The Hoss"!

Bennett has been very loving towards Riley and always wants to hug, kiss, or hold him.

Trying to do some close ups!

 

Growth

• You weighed 7 lbs 3 ounces when we brought you home from the hospital.  By the time we had your first dr. visit 3 days later you were already up to 7 lbs 6 ounces and at your 10 day appointment you weighed 7 lbs 13 ounces.  You're showing us you're a good eater!
• Thank goodness we have a few newborn outfits because the 0-3 and 3 month ones swallow you!

Sleeping/Eating

• We had to wake you every 3 hours no matter what in order to feed you--until you got up to your birth weight. After that, we could let you sleep however long you chose during the night, which was nice for us...even if it was only an extra 30 minutes or so!
• We tried putting you in your crib when you were 2 weeks old, but due to you having a rough night and Bennett waking up several times that same night, daddy and I were exhausted and decided to keep you in our room a little longer.  Not that you couldn't handle it...we were just too tired to mess with going up the stairs!  We officially started you in your crib every night on your 1 month birthday!  (I still hate walking up those stairs twice a night...or more...just so you know!)
• You are a pretty content baby.  In fact, the first week and a half we thought we'd won the lottery since your cry was so quiet!  THEN you woke up!  Oh well!

You've had lots of visitors and have gone lots of places.  Being the 2nd child, we don't necessarily have the option of staying home like we did with your brother!  We need to get out for his sake (and ours too)!  So far, so good.  We'll see what the next month brings!

 

 

Welcome....Riley Carlton Dickens!

Here is what January 19, 2013 looked like for us:

Smuggling a basketball to the hospital.  Oh wait!  That's our kid in there!

Waiting, waiting, waiting....don't remember if this is before/after the epidural.

The epidural made me itch like a baboon!  I couldn't scratch my face enough!

 

Riley makes his debut!  7 lbs 11 oz and 19 3/4 inches long!

Proud daddy with Riley

Me getting my first look at Riley

"The Thinker"  What a precious boy!

 

Bennett meets Riley--our 2 precious boys!

I swear between putting B to bed Friday night and seeing him late Saturday afternoon he had to have gained 10 pounds and 4 inches!  He's such a big boy now that his brother is here!

Thank goodness for cheap hospital entertainment--balloons and a closet!

 

Life is still an adjustment getting used to 2 babies under 2--one who physically needs you and one who emotionally needs you.  We are stressed, tired, and tired (oh, did I say that already??), but we're also beyond fortunate at the safe arrival of Riley, the love Bennett already has for his brother, and the fact that we have so many friends and family who are willing and able to help us out!

 

 

Bennett--17 Months

Growth

• Clothing/Diapers--Still size 18 month and size 4 diapers.  I think we're about to have to go to size 5 for night-time diapers because you're drinking more and more and daddy's the only one who can change you fast enough that you don't really wake up if we change you before we go to bed!
• Shoes--officially bought you the next size up.  You're still in 5.5 XW and believe me, finding the XW in the next size was just as tricky!
• Sleeping--still the same.  Good napper and you like to catch up on sleep on the weekend!
• Eating--getting pickier every day it seems.  However, I did read that if you're eating enough on average, that I shouldn't worry about what you eat daily.  Just make sure you get your nutrients and go from there.  If only I could remember this when you won't eat dinner....
• You have LOVED (at least lately)--quesadillas.   I made black bean ones and you devoured them plus some of daddy's and when you and I shared them one night at a restaurant, I had to eat fast to get my share!
• Maple sausage--the frozen kind--was a hit last week.  We'll see how this week goes!
• Fruits/dairy/carbs--always a hit.
• Corn dogs--so far so good every time.  Chicken nuggets--hit or miss!  Ham--decent so far.

The Land of Bennett

Emptying old water bottles--what a randomly fun game for you!  (And a wet one!)

Your new dog guitar that you LOVE!  Music's a new thing for you and you love it!

• Trying to teach you "please" has not been fun!  We waited too long to start with this phrase and now you get temperamental if you don't get something right away because we're trying to get you to say please!  By the time you hit 18 months though it has gotten MUCH better and it's almost like you're slapping your chest at times if you're too excited to do the circular motion!
• Turning on/off lights--the best new game for you!
• Vacuum cleaner--You used to hate the noise.  Now you like the fact that it plugs in, has buttons, and you can push it!  Believe me, I let you help me with this one!
• You love books!  You love backing up into my lap when I'm sitting on the floor and giving me a book and I love it just as much!  I think the fact that my lap is slowly disappearing since I'm so pregnant is actually bothering you because you try to "wiggle in further" most times!  Soon enough, little buddy, it will be all yours again.  Well...yours to share with your brother anyway!
• Animal sounds.  You love repeating them and are getting so good at saying them back to me when I ask you what a _____ says!  I don't know that you could get any cuter when you do this!  You can do dog, cat, horse, lion, bear, snake, and duck.
• Stacking toys--those are becoming more interesting to you and it's fun to watch you put things together.  You have lots of these now:  legos, the wooden, colored circles (Melissa & Doug), the counting stacker (Melissa & Doug), wooden train (Melissa & Doug).  (It's a good thing that the Melissa & Doug brand is around or you might not have any of these!
• Puzzles are more interesting because you're learning to turn the pieces.  It's still a work in progress with that motor movement, but you're not fighting me on it as much!
• You're liking your Little People toys and interacting with the figures.  It's cute to watch you do things with them!
• Buttons--anything that has something on it that you can push is a winner for you!  Remotes, phones, cameras, computers, etc.  You're not picky--you just want to push buttons!  I've got to find more sensory things for you to do because of this.  I'll work on it, I promise!
• You now notice the sound of airplanes and will point up whenever you hear one.  Sometimes even a loud truck or motorcycle gets the "signal", and it's adorable to see how your face lights up when you hear it!

"Mommy...your lap is disappearing!"

All boy.  All dirty.  All the time!

 

Baby Dickens #2--Month 9

Month 9???  What the heck---already???

I honestly can't believe that we've reached the day where we're about to welcome baby #2 to our family.  Jeff says we can really call ourselves a family when he arrives since it will be more than one child. I told him we were a family when it was even just us! 

This has possibly been the most interesting month.  Here's why?  (To help understand these blurbs, you need to know that my "day that I move to the next week" is on Friday.)

Week 36--Saturday night I woke up with a terrible pain right in the middle of my chest at the top of my rib cage. Thought it might be heartburn, so I tried some Tums.  Nope.  Thought it might be my blood sugar since I cheated and had 3 Oreos.  Nope (it was 84--well within range!).  Out of thoughts.  Couldn't get comfy in bed, so I moved upstairs to the recliner and at least got a little bit of sleep.  Woke up at 5:30am to throw up, feel slightly better, and then feel the pain move to my right side. Basically rested all day Sunday thanks to an absolutely amazing husband (who took care of B when he was sick himself).  Monday I called the dr. just to let them know what was going on and they asked me to go to Labor & Delivery to get monitored.  Of course, by this time I was feeling better and all the monitoring/ultrasound checks came out good, so I was free to go!  (Side note:  at my 35 week checkup we found out that the baby was breech, but he flipped head down by the day after Christmas--my 36 week checkup....ultrasound  on this Monday showed he was still head down--yeah!)

Week 37--boring! normal.  Checkup was good.  Head still down.  Good to go.  2nd week of not seeing my doctor since she was gone during the Christmas holidays and I was ready to get back to my normal visits.  Only thing interesting about this visit was I had to take B with me, which was fine as long as he had food to occupy him.  (Thank you raisins that he has to pick out of the box....a great time consumer!)

Week 38--Finally saw my dr. again and she couldn't find "any presenting body parts" during my exam.  HUH???  Ultrasound confirmed what I thought---he was breech AGAIN!  (I knew I was feeing the roundness of his little head in my right rib area again!)  Sunday we realized I'd dropped.  First sign:  Jeff noticed.  Second sign:  I was able to easily bend over towards the front, an action I hadn't been able to do for about 2 months!  When Jeff noticed I'd dropped when I was pregnant with Bennett, my water broke within 12 hours and Bennett arrived less than 7.5 hours after that, so we were in a mad rush on Sunday to finish any and every little thing that we could possibly fix, file, cook, clean, take care of, etc. that day!  We were whooped!  I hardly slept that night because I could feel light contractions, so when I woke up I called the dr.  The dr. on call said that since I was breech at my last appt that I needed to go check into the hospital.  So...got B ready for daycare, all instructions for him finalized, bags packed, and headed there.  Dilated 2 cm.  Head down (Yep--I knew that too b/c in church on Sunday he was literally using my uterus like a hamster uses a wheel!  Talk about not having a clue what the preacher spoke on...)  Contractions 3, 4, 10, 7, 4, etc. minutes apart....maybe dilated to a 3....get sent home.  Not much action the rest of the day, so I followed orders to walk and drink a lot of water.  All that got me was a lot of bathroom visits and a lost shoe/sock from my walking partner in the stroller!  Tuesday--not much action at all.  VERY disappointing after all the excitement from Monday, but oh well!  Weds--Dr. appt.  Was really hoping she'd say I was ready to go to the hospital, but no such luck!

38 weeks 2 days

 

She offered to induce on Monday, but we said no.  She offered to induce the next day--we said yes, but the hospital had no room at the inn!  :(  Then, she said she was working Saturday, so we jumped on it!  Looks like baby Riley will make his arrival on Saturday, January 19th--unless he decides to come sooner, which we're totally okay with! 

Bennett--16 Months

16 Months--Ready to Conquer the World!

This pose is truly you! Always in awe of something new!

 Growth

• Sad to say, I'm guessing you're around the same height/weight--we have been so busy we haven't even checked!
• Shoe size:  You're getting to the "almost ready to move up a size" stage--at least in the pair of shoes that isn't extra wide!
• Clothing/Diapers:  18 months in clothing and still size 4 in diapers
• Sleep:  Same pattern as last month.  Good napper most days and still sleeping around 12 hours each night.  You're doing really well in the morning/nap time if we leave you for a while after you wake up. We know that if you cry or are kicking the wall then you're ready to get up!
• Eating:  Depends on the day!  One day you like chicken nuggets, the next day nope!  Fruit is always a yes, as is any type of carb!

The Land of Bennett

• Saturday, December 8:  You woke up with something wrong with your left leg.  You wouldn't put weight on it at all, and then 30 minutes later, you were fine.  And then back to not using it, and then fine again.  Well, since both daddy and I had time, we figured it would be a good thing to take you to the ER to check it out.  Of course, when we got there, nothing was wrong!  Luckily, after the dr. saw you and was about to dismiss you, you started limping.  We'd also video-taped you (smart daddy with that idea!) and were able to show them what we'd witnessed.  Then the dr. diagnosed you with toxic (transient) synovitis.
• Toxic (transient) synovitis is an inflammation of the hip joint caused by some type of viral infection.  It can come and go, and is very common in boys.  We'd never heard of it, so it was definitely interesting to hear!
• The stomach bug went around Katy the month of December.  You got it the 2nd full week and it got passed on to daddy too.  Luckily, I got on antibiotics due to a bad sinus infection, so it bypassed me....so far!

Stomach bug hit our house--daddy covered up so you didn't get him!

•  Christmas celebrations galore!  We had Porter Christmas Dec 15th in Bryan.  It was fun to see all 6 of the little cousins play together.  We had Blackwell Christmas Dec 22 in Cuero.  Bennett, Porter, and Eli love to play together and Bennett loves to try to catch up to both of them!  We came back to Katy to have our very first Christmas as our little family of 3 on Christmas day.  I'll have to post another time about that, but we loved it!

Ummm...you're sitting on the wrong end B!

Learning to play with friends/cousins is interesting!

Trouble--Cute, but oh the trouble they'll get into in the years to come!

Christmas morning playing with cars!

 

• You are starting to do pretend play.  You started one day "finding" something behind the rocker in your room and giving it to me--although there was nothing.  You then grabbed it from me and threw it in the trash.  You also do this in the car.  You did it one day after dropping things while snacking in your carseat.  After you ate all the tidbits, you continued to do it with nothing.  It's so cute and you love handing things to us and then taking them back, and it's adorable to watch!
• Surfing on toys:  I noticed you "surfing" on your legos, but you also did it today with the pom pom balls.  You dump everything out and then start spreading them out with your arms and lay on top of it all!
• Talking:  You're still not saying a lot, but you talk to us like you are honestly telling us something!  We've even noticed that the tone you use goes up and down just like ours does when you talk!  Words you "say":  Thank you, dog, ball, dada, shoe, sock.  You know sounds for dog, horse, cat, bear, lion, monkey.
• Hugs and kisses--you are just so stinkin' lovable to us and we're so glad you are!  You love giving us, the dogs, and your stuffed frog/giraffe lots of hugs and kisses!
• You don't tell us no, but you will shake your head "No" if you don't want something.  I guess we failed on the sign language aspects, but luckily you "show/tell" us your thoughts very easily!
• Temper:  oh dear!  Immediate tears, feet stomping, crying, etc. Sadly, you got this lovely trait from me.  Oh how I wish I didn't pass this on to you!
• Airplanes--You now notice them in the sky and when you hear them, you always look up!  Luckily, the area above our house is on a flight path for one or both of the airports, so we get to see planes quite often, which makes you happy!

For some reason, I can't upload any more pics to this blog.  Who knows why--could be me, but I'm blaming the blog!  :)

Christmas Traditions!

Jeff and I talked last year about the traditions we'd like to start with our family and we never really came up with much of anything outside of stockings--at least not that I can remember!

I was just looking through pictures of the past month and I realized we're doing things that I know we'll continue in the years to come and got so excited that we have TRADITIONS!!!

Tradition #1--Train (around the tree)

Daddy--hard at work setting it up--and super excited about the finished product!

Bennett--hard at work destroying it--and super excited when it went around the track!

Loving playing with puzzles in the middle of the train....or just destroying the train again!

"Eh, eh, eh (think of how a monkey sounds!)"  Wanting the train--imagine that!

 

Tradition #2:  Santa Visit

 

With Miss Donna--he knew something was up...

Oh yeah....our kid's got it figured out!

Mom!!!  I'm SO not happy right now!!!

 

Tradition #3:  Lights

Gilbane gave tickets to their employees for the Festival of Lights, so we hit it up the 2nd weekend of December.  Bennett did great and the lights were beautiful--a long walk through them, which at 8 months pregnant, I wasn't so fond of, but it was a great night nonetheless!

Poinsettia tree at Moody Gardens--beautiful!

Kisses from daddy in front of the nativity scene

Boat on the water

Santa's Workshop!

 

 

We also always do the lights at the park in Cuero.  This year, we had plans on going at 5:45, and even though it turned into going around 6:15, Bennett was already exhausted from the day of fun opening presents and playing with cousins, so Jeff stayed with him and put him to bed!  Last year, the line was so long and we ran out of milk for 4 month old Bennett and this year he was too tired.  Wonder what next year will be?  One day it will all work out though!  :)





Baby Dickens #2--Month 8

8 Months--Oh My!

32 Weeks

I'm told at least every few days that I don't look very big for being 8 months pregnant, which I'm very thankful for, but it feels like I expand more and more every day!  I honestly think it's keeping up with a VERY busy 15 month (almost 16 month) old (notice his hand in the bottom right of the pic??) that's keeping me this small.  I don't have time to think about snacking unless I'm hungry at school!  When I'm home, it's all about Bennett---which I'm glad for since it won't be all about him for much longer!

Riley definitely lets me know that he's a force to be reckoned with!  He is active, active, active!  I get jabbed in the ribs, the cervix, the side, the front, you name it!  He's not particular to one area--he likes to get around!

I got a lovely sinus/allergy infection at the beginning of month 8 and my abs got a workout due to all the coughing I did over a 3-4 day period.  Sadly that's the only exercise I've done--with the exception of taking Bennett to the park at the school up the street!  Sorry Riley--I'm just exhausted!

The key word for this month is EMOTIONAL!  It was going to be "tired", but emotional is definitely a better option!  I've been extremely more emotional during this pregnancy.  I think it has to do with just life in general, but I'm definitely moodier, cry more, and have absolutely ZERO patience!  I'm lucky that Jeff is still hanging around!  Every time he tells me it will get better once Riley gets here I go into "It's not the pregnancy causing this!!!" mode--but dear goodness, I sure hope it is!

Two weeks before Christmas Bennett and Jeff got sick with the stomach bug. I think the only reason it bypassed me was that I was on anti-biotics for my sinus infection that lasted 2 weeks!  I was never so tired of seeing/cleaning up bodily fluids from others than I was that week!  All I wanted was the Clorox fairy to visit for 3-4 days straight and just get our house germ free!

At my 34/35 week checkup we had the last (I'm guessing) ultrasound!  Riley was a movin' and groovin'!  Good news:  due date still the same, fluid levels good, and he's weighing between 5.5 and 6 pounds!  Bad (well...not bad...just not as good) news:  his head is sitting on my right side.  Yep--could've told them that since he stretches quite often and it moves up to my rib cage! So he's breech and I told the dr. that if I have a c-section, I want everything "tied up" while they're in there!  Gotta get those plans started!  Got some great profile pics of him and he looks just like Bennett!  It makes it a little more exciting that he'll be here in a few weeks!

Christmas = Thank. God. It's. Over.  There were no major anythings this year, but I was (and still am) completely exhausted.  That and having B home from daycare for 2 weeks is going to make for a not very restful 2 weeks off.  He'll go one day a week so I can catch up on scrapbooking, but that's about it unless I get a babysitter.  Problem is:  I have TONS to do at home and that means a babysitter can't watch him at home.  Dilemmas, dilemmas!

Hopefully we'll get B moved into his new room by the time my break is over.  That's the plan anyway--fingers crossed!  It takes me an hour to do what Jeff can do in 10 minutes--I'm so tired of being fat and tired!  :)