Life with Emery; week 1

Day 1: Jerad and I woke up Friday morning in our own bed, with this sweet little lady sleeping between us. She still didn't have a name. We went back and forth on a few, and finally settled on "Harper Lane Hutchinson."

About 5 minutes later Marshall woke up and came in our room. He was sooo excited to meet his baby sister. Since she was born while he and Miller were sleeping, he had no idea. He kept saying "thank you! thank you! thank you!" When Jerad told him her name, he automatically said "no, that's baby Emery!" And even though Jerad had turned down the same name multiple times, hearing it come out in Marshall's sweet little voice changed his mind and she became "Emery Harper Hutchinson."

Miller woke up a few minutes later and was a little more reserved about meeting "da bay-bee." Jerad asked if he wanted to hold her and he kept saying "no! bay-bee!"

 

I changed her clothes and snapped this picture that looks EXACTLY like baby Miller (minus the pink attire).

 

Marshall just wanted to hold and kiss her and snuggle in bed has been amazingly sweet to her ever since.

Jerad entertained the boys and did all the cooking and chores while I spent the day in bed sleeping, nursing, and changing the baby.

Day 2: Saturday I woke up to this cute little face looking at me:

Jerad had a small little project to finish up so he left for a few hours while I held down the fort alone. I made the kids an easy lunch, sent them to their rooms a little earlier than normal to nap, then climbed back in bed and enjoyed every minute of baby snuggles. Now that I know how fleeting this time is, I'm trying to relish it as much as possible.

Miller woke up from his nap early (of course), and Jerad wasn't home yet, so we went downstairs and he got brave enough to get semi close to "da bay-bee."

This picture cracks me up!

Ready for bed:

Day 3:

My sister and brother in law came to visit from Santa Barbara and we all ate dinner at my parent's house.

Day 4: The boys like to "share" their toys.

We also set up the birth pol in the back yard. The boys were a little stoked.

Jerad went back to work semi regularly this day, which was fine with me. I was getting a little stir crazy with so much "relaxing." It wasn't a big deal because both the boys nap at the same time, and newborns sleep a LOT so I was still able to rest.

This face really looks like baby Marshall:

Marshall at about the same age:

Day 5:

Day 6: In the morning Jerad's aunt Kanda and Uncle Mark came to meet Emery and brought some presents for the kids. Jerad and Mark took the boys up the street to see the cattle drive going by for the fair. Marshall is STILL talking about it! This was the first day Jerad worked late and I had to do the bedtime routine solo, it went great. Marshall doesn't drink a bottle anymore, but thought it was hilarious when he stole Miller's:

Day 7: This was a big day for us! The first day I took all three kids out by myself. I had everyone fed and showered and dressed and ready to go out the door by 9:30am. I loaded the boys in the car and right as I went to put Emery in she pooped. So I changed her... them she decided she was starving (despite having eaten 30 min prior). After nursing, she pooped again. Somehow I had blocked out this part of having an infant. Anyways, 30 minutes later we were once again ready to go. The boys really needed haircuts so I decided to take them to the Kid's Cuts place we usually go to. Its not busy, and there are toys to keep them occupied. They were closed. So we went to Supercuts, which had a 1 hour wait. I contemplated just going home because, clearly, the Universe was conspiring against me, but decided to try Great Clips. Luckily they got us right in, and Emery slept in the sling on my chest the whole time:

My mom met us there and once Marshall was done she took him to the movies. Miller and I took Emery for her first Target trip, then home for naps.

When Jerad got home that evening, we took the kids to story-time at the Library. Once a month they have a special pajama story time with puppets and it's really a blast. Since the fair is going on they have shuttle buses. The kids LOVE buses, so we took them to the library.

Emery once again, slept in the sling:

After story time was over, we walked around downtown for a little bit before taking the buses home.

Overall, the first week went incredibly well. Since its the third time around, I feel like I've got the newborn thing down and in reality, it's the toddler and the preschooler that are the hard part. For a few days she was nursing every 30 min to an hour ALL NIGHT, but has fallen into an every two hour routine which is much more manageable. Obviously I don't enjoy waking up so frequently, but since she's in bed with us I can just nurse her laying down without having to really wake up. Around day 3 the nursing started getting super painful and I was getting cracked/bleeding nipples which freaked me out since that was the beginning of all my problems with Marshall, but they cleared up and by day 7 there was no more pain.

Since Emery's still in the sleepy newborn phase and the boys are on the same nap/sleep schedule I can usually manage both a nap and going to bed early every day so I feel pretty well rested. Even though Jerad basically went right back to work, he's been a huge help and has been scheduling jobs a little later than normal so that he's here to help with the morning routine... and bring me coffee.

Being home with all three kids has been a breeze this time around. Somehow it seems easier than when it was just 2. Or even just 1. For the most part, as long as Emery is being held, she's happy. Luckily by this point I've mastered holding a baby while cooking/cleaning/helping toddlers. Marshall is in love with Emery, and Miller just ignores her for the most part. It doesn't seem like he doesn't like her, he's just not old enough to understand or care yet. Once she starts being able to grab his toys he'll probably pay more attention to her.

Pregnancy #3: 38 weeks

Before I get to the birth story, I wanted to record the last week of my pregnancy. Also, things are going AMAZING! All three kids are sleeping right now... at the same time. I feel like some sort of child-whisperer! Anyways, 38 weeks:

I always tell friends "don't rush the end of the pregnancy!" "Babies are all born eventually!" "A due date is a guess, not an eviction notice!" Yet by this time I was soooo huge and soooo uncomfortable. I just wanted the baby OUT and felt like such a hypocrite about it. I was barely full term. To be fair, at this point I had been measuring 40+  weeks pregnant for over 4 weeks and having prodromal labor on and off for over a week where I'd start thinking "this is it!" only nothing would progress.

So I threw myself into finishing my to-do list and getting the house CLEAN.

I cleaned the guest room which still had some yard sale mess and laundry piled all over the bed, just in case the midwife or doula were here long enough to need a nap (har har). I organized the birth supplies, postpartum supplies, breastfeeding supplies, and finished washing and organizing the baby diapers and blankets.

I dusted light fixtures, got Jerad to finish hanging the curtains, changed the sheets on all 6 beds (Marshall has 2 in his room), put plastic on ours in the event that my water broke in bed, and vacuumed and mopped the entire house before bed each night and wiped down the bathrooms just in case I woke up in labor I wanted to have a clean and peaceful space.

We finally blew up the birth pool and hid it from the kids  in the baby room:

And I continued to wake up pregnant and not in labor every morning:) On Tuesday I packed up the kids and took them to gymnastics (which is how I spent the early part of my labor with Miller).

Chasing two toddlers around is hard work so I didn't really get any pictures, but they had SO MUCH FUN. Miller had never been before and just ran right out there like one of the big kids. After the class was over someone came up to me and said I was the happiest looking pregnant person and she couldn't believe how much energy I had because she had a hard time keeping up with her one child and she wasn't even pregnant. I told her I just fake it. Which was totally true.

The next day (Wednesday) I had a midwife apt and asked for a cervical check. I'd never had one before because they're kind of pointless. Some people walk around at 5 cm for weeks before giving birth, and some people go from 1-10 in a matter of hours. Still, with as uncomfortable as I was and all the contractions, I wanted to know what was going on down there.

Not dilated AT ALL. She said that a 1 would be "generous." She couldn't even find my cervix. I had to get in this weird position with my hands behind my hips sort of lifting them for her to even feel it. AND the baby wasn't even remotely engaged. Totally not what I wanted to hear. I may or may not have called Jerad almost in tears saying that it looked like I would be pregnant forever.

As a last ditch effort, I put this on my calendar scheduled for the next day:

If I write something on the calendar or a to-do list I get that shit DONE even if it kills me. It's a character bonus/flaw I have. I did it as a joke, but little did I know that I'd be holding my baby the next night!

She's here!

What we've been up to

I'm sort of in a brain fog and feel like I haven't been doing much of anything lately, but according to my instagram feed I guess we have been getting out and about. Jerad has been working. A LOT. So it's been mostly me with the boys which is both super fun, and super exhausting. They're great kids... but full of energy. For about a week it was 108-113 degrees and all I wanted to do was lay under the AC vent but try to tell that to a 1.5 and 3 year old!

We go to the Children's Museum about once or twice a week. 

One of their new favorites is going on a "treasure hunt" in the walking trails in our neighborhood. Marshall caries a bucket, and Miller tries to save every rock and twig they pass.  Because they're looking for "treasures" its slow going which is perfect for me!

We had a huge yard sale. It wouldn't have ben possible without my sister's wonderful Mother In Law. She helped me organize and price EVERYTHING then the day of the sale showed up arpund 6am, helped Jerad set up, and sell everything. 

Before I give birth I always have a huge urge to purge and simplify. We had planned on having the sale weeks before so I'd been going through closets and the attic and collecting things, then it just didn't work out and we almost didn't do it because Jerad kept working weekends and it was too hard to get anything done with the boys. They just wanted to touch and play with and spread around everything:) Anyways our front room looked like this for a few weeks which was AWFUL.

I almost just donated everything so that we didn't have to deal with it... but then Denise swept in like an angel. We sold SO MUCH, and it felt really great to get rid of so much clutter. And get the house put back together! We made enough money to buy paint and curtains for the downstairs, stairway, and our bedroom/bathroom. It doesn't seem like a lot, but those rooms took 2 five gallon buckets of paint and two single gallons (we have leftovers), and to rent a dump trailer and get rid of a bunch of heavy concrete and other construction debris as well as rent a pressure washer and clean up the outside. So basically our house got an inside/outside face lift for "free."

Jerad and my father in law painted. I'll try to do a separate post on that with pictures from my real camera. I'm SO happy. We've lived in this house over two years and  things are finally coming together!

On one of the 105 plus degree days, I set up a kiddie pool in the front. The kids were stoked.

Then Jerad got home and, as usual, showed he's way more fun than me. He added a slide and water feature.

 

Over the next two days the dogs enjoyed it too:)

Marshall and I have been doing a lot of baking together.

Gluten Free muffins:

  

Paleo Banana Bread:

On the really hot days we luckily got pool invitations:) My mom's neighbor's house:

And one day when Jerad was working I brought the boys over to one of our friend's/neighbors who not only let us swim, they fed us dinner! I didn't get any pictures.

We've been doing lots of bathtub and shower crafts, because it keeps the boys contained, is inside so not too hot, I can sit down... and cleanup is a breeze. In addition the the shaving cream which I've already blogged about, we paint. We probably do one or the other every other day.

Here's painting:

They used brushes and cars to paint themselves, eachother, the walls and tub for about 30 minutes. Then they "cleaned up" for another 10.

Then it was time for a "mud bath." For some reason Marshall wanted to wear his clothes.

After the mud bath I rinse off everything, and they take a regular bubble bath. The whole ordeal takes about an hour to an hour and a half, they have SO MUCH FUN, and I mostly get to rest the whole time:)

Last Sunday Jerad had the day off so we packed up the kids and took them to Avila Valley Barn. They love feeding the animals.

After the Barn, we went to the beach.

We haven't finished our backyard project, and it loks like we won't any time soon, but the kids are still loving playing back there and do so for a few hours daily.

About once a week I try to take the kids to the zoo. We have a really tiny and not very impressive zoo.... but we have a family pass so it's free, and Marshall likes it. His favorites are the tortoises, emu, and pythons.

Last time we went they were having a car show at the park which is right next door. Marshall kept saying "this car/truck lives at the parade!"

That's all I have pictures of. Even though I seriously just want to lay around and do nothing, all of our lives are so much better when we get out and about and stay busy so I try to plan some outside activity or adventure and one inside craft project daily. That way they are happy to spend some time playing alone/together, and go to bed easier. All of which makes me a happier mama!  Besides all the above and just loving on the boys, I've been spending my maternity leave doing lots and LOTS of cleaning and organizing. But this is getting long so I'll try to do that in another post. I am never on the computer so blogging has taken a back seat. Hopefully after the baby comes I'll have a few days of down time in bed and can get all caught up.