"Cecilia" - Simon & Garfunkel

August 1st rolled around and I got to pick up my Mom!!!  She landed around 1am and got to meet Mr. Miles.  Caitlin woke up to the best surprise, MeMe was downstairs :)

I loved the extra set of hands, watching my little girl play with her Grandma, and getting to show my Mom my new home and city.

And then my Mom made me a birthday cake!!!  I haven't had a Mom-made birthday cake in years...sigh...

No one enjoyed the cake more than this kid...

A few days later, Miles got his first bath.  We don't have a normal baby bath.  We had this hammock thing that we used for Caitlin, but I don't like it, she got cold really easily unless you filled the entire bath tub and that's just a waste of water...sooooo, instead of using the hammock or buying a new bath, I shoved the kid in the sink...

 

Miles got to wear a pair of shorts, it was important to see what he looked like wearing a plaid shark.

I like it.

  

These two are quite the pair :)

Life continued to get better with the arrival of my Dad two weeks later.  This was another, "Hey Caitlin, come get out of bed and see who is here!" arrival. 

The next two weeks were a fantastic blur of great conversation, loads of helping hands, and apparently awkward moments provided by know-it-all toddlers...

My Dad discovered that Miles prefers a good back pat and head rub in order to fall into a deep deep sleep...

This kid has so much personality already, it's hilarious.  As cheesy as it sounds for a Mom to say this, I am very excited to see how this little man's personality develops.  Maybe that's the glory of having more than one kid :)

My parents are the best people in the world.  I can appreciate now - to a small extent (after having two kids) the years upon years of time and energy they put into my brother and I.  After this visit it hit me like a ton of bricks (and I'm slightly ashamed it has taken 27 years and two kids for it to hit me) - these people love me a whole hell of a lot.  And without getting all mushy and sappy (which is easy because I'm not sure I can even put the right words in order) I want to say thank you, Mom & Dad.  The life you have worked painstakingly hard to give me is beyond phenomenal.  I am who I am and where I am because of the love and hard decisions that undeniably kept you up at night.  You made the right decisions, I'm happy and healthy and feel like I have an incredible ideal to live up to when it comes to raising my own children and loving my husband.  Thank you doesn't really cut it, but that's all the English language can do! Now everyone else, go hug your parents!!! :)

"We're Having A Baby" - Desi Arnaz

Went in for my 38 week check up and discovered we're on the move!

I was starting to dilate and I was already effaced.  I told my mid-wife I had to hold out until 1 Aug, when my Mom would be arriving, the mid-wife laughed at me...

 (This is me on Thursday the 26th)

Fast-forward from Monday to Friday the 27th.

The morning didn't seem any different.  I was maybe a bit more irritated that normal when I dropped the fork under the bottom rack of the dishwasher.  I was ready to accept that the fork was gone for good.  There was no way I was stooping low enough to ever recover it, and it seemed there was no end in sight to this pregnancy...

Mid morning I thought about keeping track of my contractions, but was having a hard time doing so.  I wasn't sure if it was because they were too weak and I was missing them or if I was just too distracted having a 2 year old around to notice a contraction.  Around lunch a friend, who had just had her baby, mentioned she had an app on her phone to count contractions-genius!  I got me an app and started tracking.  I called Labor & Delivery around 2 or 3 with my contraction count and they told me to labor at home a little longer.  I wasn't convinced that I was even in labor yet.  But by 4pm, I had a little feeling-enough that I felt the need to call Chad and tell him to come home and help me pack.  I was trying to hold out until he got home from work, it was only one more hour...boy am I glad I didn't wait...

We made it to the hospital around 5pm.  They were sluggish on getting me into the observation room.  My last two contractions in the waiting room made me nervous.  Finally, they brought us back, I was 5cm-enough to admit us.  They took an immensely long time preparing our room.  Which we got to at about 6pm.  Then things got fun...

I made it clear to the nursing staff that my first labor went INCREDIBLY quickly.  The admitting nurse picked up on my mood, stopped asking health history questions, and went to get the newborn delivery table and supplies...

Shortly after getting to our room, Chad took Caitlin home for a quick dinner-the one thing I forgot to pack.  15 min after they walked out the door I sent Chad a text updating him that I was now at 9cm and 100% effaced.  No answer...bouncing on the birthing ball was no longer comfortable or relaxing.  I needed my husband.

6:45 I called.  Voicemail.  I pictured him juggling the 3 bags I packed, the food I assumed he grabbed and the toddler that has no sense of urgency.  I was trying to keep a calm face for the nursing staff.  I think they thought I had been abandoned.  I knew I hadn't, just the nature of the beast-out of all the things I packed to keep Caitlin entertained, dinner was the one thing I shouldn't have forgotten.

6:50 a knock on the door and I heard it open before anyone said come in.  I saw the look of sheer relief on everyone's faces and I knew it was Chad.  As they walked across the room, my water broke.  Chad set up The Emperor's New Groove on the laptop (for Caitlin, not me, I swear), rearranged her chair and made his way to me.  It's now 7pm.

16 min later I had a healthy baby boy in my arms.  I think there were about 4 contractions in those 16 min.  We gave him the name we came up with while we were in the car driving to Shreveport for a weekend getaway.

Miles Clayton

It finally happened.  The pregnancy was over!  That fork chilling in the bottom of the dishwasher drifted back to my thoughts.  

I finally took a breath, I hadn't realized that I stopped breathing the moment I called Chad a 4 that afternoon.  I had no idea what I was feeling or thinking or what any of this meant for our family.

Because everyone was healthy we found ourselves home 24 hours later.  That first week is a breeze, all they do is sleep!

Here's to a whole new kind of living.  I hope we like it!

"Our House" - Madness

Look!  Our house :)

 Well, this isn't our house.  This is Caitlin's "little house."  Which happens to be in the backyard of...

Our house!

 I can't stop pointing out that this is OUR HOUSE!!! :)

I'm pretty geeked that this thing is all ours :)  Now let the adventure begin!  (I feel like I've said that a lot lately...)

JULY 17th.
I got a juicer at a garage sale and I was way more excited to use it than I probably should be...

Caitlin was impressed with the orange juice I made.  Her seating arrangements, she was not as thrilled with...

 

JULY 19th.

Household goods arrive.

Homeowner Challenge #1:

Determining where all of our stuff is going to go in this house!  And determining what "remodeling" projects we want to undertake.  And does that affect where we put our stuff???  Oh, joy.

In order to continue reading, I need everyone that reads this to promise they will not judge me on the next couple pictures.  It gets better...just not until I was un-pregnant...I realized we just don't have any storage for our things.  My biggest overall project for this house will be to find a "home" for everything in our home!

Caitlin's toy room has actually kept me pretty sane.  As horrific as it gets in there, I can literally throw all her toys down the hall and I don't have to see them, trip on them, or constantly move them to another corner of the living room. 

This is our sad, sad bedroom...What's laying on the floor is Chad's closet...There is a closet in this room, but it's occupied with my clothes.  So we got Chad a free standing garment rack - that decided to give up the struggle of holding up all his clothes at 3 in the morning.  I'm actually pretty glad I was downstairs on the couch otherwise it would have most likely scared me into peeing the bed...that's the last thing I need.

I share these photos out of brutal honesty.  A few years ago I would have been absolutely embarrassed if anyone saw this, but when I took the pictures, I laughed.  I laughed at how ridiculous this room was.  All the little things strewn all over the place...ugh...makes my skin crawl.  But we're human, and pregnant...it's all part of the journey.  I can now look at our room and be proud of how far this sad excuse for a room has come :)

JULY 22nd.
The homily at mass this morning really stuck with me.  It was about staying plugged in.  Recharging is a big thing in our society, everything needs to have a power source.  Where do you get your energy from?  No one can run solely on battery power.  There are a lot of places one can get their energy from.
*I have found it really easy to recharge at church (if Caitlin sits still and allows it).
*PWOC at Fort Polk.  After a morning with those women, I felt like I could run strong for weeks!
*A really productive weekend with my family is a sweet and simple way to go to bed feeling full.  As physically demanding as unpacking and moving boxes and hanging clothes and cleaning is, the interaction with my husband, being in the same room together working on something that is "ours" counter acts the physical drain and charges my mental capacity to deal with the physical side.
*Watching Caitlin blossom into a person who talks and reasons and has wants (whether or not she understands the reason behind all of her wants...)

"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want;
he makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters;
he restores my soul." Psalm 23

What restores your soul?  May your journey to find the answer to that question be enjoyable and informative! :)

"A Whole New World" - Disney's Aladdin

JULY 2nd.
We initially reserved 20 days at the hotel, and they flew by.  They flew by so fast I didn't believe it when the housekeeping staff knocked on our door and asked why we hadn't checked out.  Confused as to why the staff was a little shocked to see us, it hit me - our 20 days had come and gone and we were supposed to have checked out that morning!

Crap.

Thankfully the hotel staff worked with us and extended us a few days.  But this whole waiting process is driving me nuts! - And keeping me up at night - I can't tell if it's the stress of living in a hotel or being 35 weeks pregnant.  I'm sure they are both putting in their 2 cents.

Well, no sense in worrying about things well out of our control.  On with living.

JULY 4th.
It was cold.  And almost rainy.  Just yucky.  But we made it over to Pioneer Park just to get out and do something.

We walked in just in time to see (and hear) the fly over.  It was over to soon for Caitlin to understand what made the sound...

And we go from a nice sentimental picture that tugs at my heart strings, to one that makes complete sense:

Obviously, I was being sarcastic.  Star Wars and the 4th of July clearly go hand in hand.  I can see it, the common theme being revolution...ssuuuurrre.

Caitlin's expression pretty much covers how I think we were all feeling at the moment.  The weight of living in the hotel and being on top of each other all the time was really getting us down.  I can't speak for the other two, but getting up and putting on a happy face and not snipping at everything that each of them did was an hourly struggle.  But I knew it wouldn't be permanent, whether or not we got the house, so I reminded myself every hour to hold my head high, play with my kid, feed my husband, tell them both I love them and keep on trucking.  Who says we have to smile every day, so long as we still get up and hold our flag high, we'll make it through to those days that make us want to smile.

JULY 5th.

 And just as soon as you stop looking for it, you find that one thing that makes you smile.  :)  Thanks Bug.

JULY 6th.
We had a break in the cold weather and our sunshine came back out to play.  Dad bought Caitlin a kite.  She was more impressed than I thought she'd be.

 JULY 7th.
In an attempt to not get too bored this weekend, we decided to try out the glo-putt-putt place downtown.  Definitely an easy way to make some money.  It was cheaply put together, but without the distraction of a toddler, this place might be a cute date night option :)

Caitlin got pretty frustrated pretty quickly with the entire concept.  Good thing she was free!

JULY 10th.
Coming up on 30 days in our grand hotel suite.  Meals are getting pretty desperate.  This afternoon I wanted a big salad.  But a big salad requires a big bowl-which I did not have.  More improvisation. 

Marvin seems to like us again.  Of course, now that we might be getting closer to leaving here and moving into the house...

Still big into reading.

And coloring.  She definitely has the coloring concept down :)

JULY 11th.

Making our rounds back to the library.  This day we just played, no more new books.  Just in case we get the all clear - I don't want to loose library books in the shuffle of moving.

JULY 12th.
WE GOT OUR ALL CLEAR!  On the 9th we requested the sellers to approve an Early Occupancy Agreement, so we could move in prior to closing on the house.  Ultimately we would pay them rent by the day which is determined by our mortgage payment.  Well, I had given up hope that it would be approved because almost a whole week went by without any word.  But we heard this morning that they signed the paperwork and we were just waiting for our copy!  Oh praise the Lord, we have an end date for this hotel stay! - Which is July 16th.  Just one more weekend in the hotel :)

JULY 13th

Marvin warming up to the baby...

Friday the 13th was the last day of the Library's summer reading program.  They had Calypso Farms out with some animals for the kids.  Caitlin had a blast, of course.

JULY 14th.

Our light at the end of the "hotel" tunnel was a double rainbow :)