Easter, part 2

E found his Easter basket! Once he saw it in there, he kept pointing to himself and then the basket. He would pick out one item at a time and inspect it before moving on to the next.

We began our busy day by heading to my parents' house for breakfast with them, my sister, and brother-in-law. Before heading to mass, we held a miniature Easter egg hunt with E. He did an excellent job at finding all the eggs and putting them into his basket!

During mass, E was a bit of a wiggle worm, but for the most part he did fairly well. He kept asking for "more" after each song was sung. Just before communion, they ring bells during the blessing of the gifts. (E has been really into church bells lately since he was able to hear them from our house several weeks ago.) Well, after each bell ringing, he kept asking for "more" and was getting quite vocal about it.

After church, we headed back to my folks' so E could nap, although that wasn't very successful and ended up napping for an hour.

We then headed to meet Paul's family for brunch at the country club. We enjoyed a smorgasbord of food and E had the chance to go into a petting zoo for the first time.

It was a great way to spend Easter, but once we got home, the running around of the day hit us hard. We are tired!

Easter, part 1

Last year we didn't do much for Easter besides going to church and being with family. This year, E is a bit older and I'm having a blast doing all the "fun stuff that Easter isn't really about" with him. So is Paul.

Once we rolled out of bed, I made some French Toast with cinnamon apple bread. (Delicious!) Then, I hard boiled a dozen eggs and prepped the dye while Paul played with E.

After covering the kitchen table, and our child, with some protection we were ready to dye! E had a blast just dropping the eggs into the dye and every now and again, you could hear the eggs cracking. He ended up crushing two of the eggs and we just let him discover what was inside those pretty shells.

He popped the yolk out!Paul took the egg dying quite seriously and was upset that the dyes were too pastel. (If only we had some vinegar or lemon juice in the house!)

After showering and getting ready and packing E's lunch, we headed down the street to the annual Easter parade in our town. We had never been and it ended up being really nice. People would pass by and give candy to the kids...er, Paul. Next year we know to get there early and not at 10 when the parade starts. E had fun looking and listening to the marching bands. After passing us, he would keep asking for "more drums" for the next several minutes. He loved seeing the firetruck, horses, and the guy in the bear costume.

Once E went to bed this evening, I prepped his first Easter basket from Paul and me. He did receive some last year, but again, really could have cared less. This year, I packed it with some bubbles, a garden shovel, some little instruments, a Thomas book, and two eggs (one filled with Goldfish and the other with raisins - which he'll LOVE).

I was talking to Paul and trying to figure out where to put it. I wanted it to be somewhere that he would be surprised to see it, rather than just out in the open. Paul suggested somewhere in our room since we will be rushing around trying to get ready to go to breakfast at my parents' house. Then he mentioned the bathtub. GENIUS! E loves playing in our bathtub while we get ready in the mornings. Couldn't have thought of a better place. Thanks, hubby!

funny moments

I haven't been posting nearly enough video footage of E on here as I would like, so here are some recent (or slightly recent) videos of our silly boy.

Dad is hilarious!

Asleep and Awake

Funny Faces

What did you do?!

Kisses

stuggles and successes

Struggle #1: E's crazy new sleep routine. Apparently, he now wants to scream the second I stand up out of the rocking chair to put him in his crib. Paul will go in after a few minutes to settle him and tries to sing him songs. E will say "Mama?" or "uh-uh" to his song choice until he years the one he wants. He will usually fall asleep after this. Usually.

Struggle #2: morning wake up at any hour prior to 5am. A few months ago, in an attempt to be able to sleep longer, we started bringing E into bed when he awake between 5 and 6. It worked for a while. Then some days he would nurse, but never really fall asleep. This then caused me to not sleep. As of recently, E has decided to wake up between 4 and 5 am. Yes, I know we put this situation upon ourselves, and when we started it worked for us. Then I found out I was pregnant and this situation needs to be different by the time baby #2 arrives. On Monday, E was awake from 3-4:30 am. Yesterday, it was from 4-5:05 am. I must say, my husband is incredible because he was the one that would get up to comfort E and get him back down. Even though Paul was doing the work, I still couldn't sleep until I knew E was asleep. (It must be a mom thing.)

Success #1: E is a climbing machine. The sofas, chairs, Paul's computer desk, his high chair, pillows, bathtub, anything he can find.

Success #2: E is starting to eat vegetables again after a spurt of not wanting any at all.

Success #4: Baby T is moving a lot more now and has become quite strong in the last couple of days.

Success #5: Paul and I are taking off Friday from work to spend the day with E. I can't wait!

Success #6: I went back to the gym this week after not having been since close to November. It felt really good to be in there again.

EXCITED!

bye-bye milk?

The past few nights, E has been asking for Dada and a cup of milk. Well, he doesn't necessarily want Paul to put him to sleep (or maybe he does), but he wants Paul to bring him milk. He will nurse for a bit, then drink milk, nurse some more, drink more milk, etc.

Tonight, I kept asking for milk when I put him into his crib and said good night. As I started walking away, he began to cry. Paul went in a few minutes later with a new (1/4 full) cup of milk. E didn't ask to be picked up, so Paul handed him the milk, and E laid down in bed. A few minutes later, he was asleep. With his cup held to his chest.

Maybe my milk is running out.

Sometimes when he nurses, he will stop, wave goodbye to my chest, and sign "milk". When I ask him if it's all gone, he says "yes".

It makes me happy and sad at the same time. Happy because I wasn't sure if I would want to tandem nurse, it's getting to be quite painful, and because I would hate to have to forcibly wean him. Sad because I so much enjoy nursing him. I love nursing him. I wouldn't trade that time for anything.

I guess we'll see how it goes. Maybe it's time to have a cup of milk every night instead of or in addition to Mommy.

hypnobirthing, class #1

Saturday was our first HypnoBirthing class. Since I'm planning on having a natural birth with this little guy, I knew that I would need something to help me prepare. We were given a brief synopsis of what HypnoBirthing is all about. Basically, you use relaxation/visualization/meditation to get yourself into a semi-hypnotic state. You're completely awake and aware, but you allow your body to do what it was meant to do. In this way, you are able to remove the negative associations with childbirth.

We were given the HypnoBirthing book, some handouts, and a cd to listen to each night before bedtime. We watching some birth videos that were pretty amazing. No screaming. No yelling. No pain. These women were calm, in control, and enjoying the births of their children. One woman even delivered her son in the back seat of a moving Suburban.

One major change to learn is the language. HypnoBirthing doesn't use the same vocabulary that the "medical" world does. For example:

contraction = surge
birth canal = birth path
complications = special circumstances
pushing = birth breathing
pain = pressure/sensation/tightening
coach = birth companion

Even the words sound better!

Of course, I have fears because of my experience with Evan. I'm afraid that I will end up needing a c-section again and will feel like I did all this for nothing. I'm afraid that I won't be able to relax/calm/control myself to have a natural birth. I'm afraid that I will ask for an epidural. I'm afraid that I will let myself down.

I've started reading to book and it has opened my eyes to a view of birth that I wish I had known before. I am excited to write a birth plan, release my fears, talk to my doctor about my requests, and end up with a new little boy to join our family.

Here's to looking forward to our next class!

*Our instructor, Lisette, gave us each a pin. I really like it, so keep in mind what it says when you see/speak to me.