Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours! Hope your holiday is well spent with family and friends--We had a great day yesterday and today will be spent decorating our house for Christmas and watching Christmas movies.

I am BLESSED beyond measure for these three boys in my life--I mean, look how cute they all are!

Easter 2013

Not only is Easter my favorite holiday, but this year, I had two more reasons to celebrate! It was my big three year old's birthday, and my tiny three week old's first time at church! Matthew and I look just about right for two parents with a newborn--bleary eyed and sleepy! It was a miracle in itself we made it to church for the 9 a.m. service!

 

That cute fuss and I spent most of our time in the nursing room, and Matthew spent most of his time helping a toddler try to go potty at church, but we were there nonetheless. :)

 

My dad joined us for church and lunch, and we ate a nice lunch at my MIL's house, and then Shepherd, Eli, and I took a big afternoon nap. The day before we all had gone to the Gentry's Farm to hunt eggs, and Eli and I spent one morning dyeing eggs while brother napped. The times are rare that I can give Eli all my attention lately, so I soaked it up!

 

 

 

That cutie pie was so proud of his creations, and told me every color he was using. He wanted to do them all all by himself, and I let him just go at it. He is getting so big and independent, and it's fun (usually) to watch him do things all by himself.

I would have liked to do more this Easter, but we had just moved back to Franklin that weekend, and I knew with Eli's birthday being that day and still healing from my surgery, I would just have to learn to let a lot of things go this Spring and do the small things we could!

Eli Matthew Turns Three

 

This stinker turned three whole years old at the end of March. I'm a tad late, but better than never, I suppose. We actually moved that weekend, so I'm just glad I remembered to take pictures!

 

Eli has definitely become a daddy's boy. He wants to do anything and everything like his daddy, and if Matthew is home, I am easily dismissed! I knew it would happen at some point! Eli loves to pretend to shave, catch and cook fish, shoot with sticks in the backyard at pretend animals, play with the dogs, and wrestle. He is rough as a little cob, and we wild as a buck. How's that for some southern slang? :)

 

He turned three on Easter Sunday this year, and thought it was the best day ever that he got presents, cake, and to go hunt for Easter eggs!

 

He LOVES opening presents and this year, he got some great new books from Leah and Luke, and baseball bat and ball from Deanie and Papa, a new bubble machine from us, a golf set from Kelci and Anthony and Bennett, and some new trucks and cars from Tizzie and Grandbob. We also plan on getting him a power jeep once we are in our new home!

 

Just like most little boys, Eli is obsessed with bugs and worms, so when I saw these worm balloons, I had to get them. He had so much fun having sword fights and popping them. :)

 

He loved blowing out his candles and having us sing to him...he sure eats up attention!

 

He is also starting to try and sneak food and candy when I'm not watching. I found this chair one morning, and next thing I saw was the picture below...Eli standing on it to snatch him some candy! He always comes and tells me, "I got something special! I snuck treats!" Ha- at least he is honest!

 

Eli Matthew, you are so special to your daddy and me! You keep us on our toes and we are in awe with how much you learn and pick up on. It humbles us to know you are watching our actions, and we pray to be good examples for you and your brother. We are so glad God picked us for you!!

 

At three, Eli:

is 28.4 lbs (10%)

and 38 inches (75%)

Still wears size 3 diapers, but we working on potty training with pull-ups

loves to wrestle, pretend hunt and fish, find worms

loves our dogs and cat

loves his daddy for play and his mama when hurt

loves to read books

loves to be told scary stories where Eli the brave slays a dragon or stomps on a spider and saves the day

loves his baby "brudda" and loves to run and see him when he wakes up

hates when Shepherd cries and will cry in the car every time- two children screaming is a lovely sound

loves to sing songs- some favorites are "Itsy Bitsy Spider" "If you're happy and you know it" "Jesus loves me" and "Happy Birthday"

He also makes up songs in the car titled "green means go, go, go and red means stop, stop stop" and "where'd his paci  go?" :)

is doing okay with potty training, but I need to take the plunge and really work on it

Loves bath time and bed time stories with daddy

Loves to watch Finding Nemo

Is a great talker and has started saying "actually..." and "unportunately..." (love his mispronunciations)

He always tells me "Unportunately, I wish I had a treat"

Looks a lot like his daddy with his mama's complexion

Wears 2T shirts and 18 month waists, but needs the 3T length (FYI, they don't make clothing like this, so all his pants are either too short or too big)

Is still very shy around people he doesn't know well

Loves all thing BOY- growling, rough-housing, bugs, birds, animals, cars, planes, etc.

 

I can't believe he is already THREE, and I only have two more short years before he heads off to school for the rest of his time at home. Waaaah! I'm not sure I can stand it. Where'd my first baby go?!

 

 

Shepherd Fox Bills

Man oh man. Life is busy these days friends! My laptop and memory card have been broken, so I haven't been able to introduce you to our latest love. Although, if you're on instagram, your feed is probably filled with pictures of him! I want to get his birth story down before I forget, so I have all the details to tell him one day before this mama brain fails me!

 

As many of you know, I really wanted to attempt a VBAC with baby #2 for many reasons. I was really disappointed with my first C-section, and I hated the recovery process afterwards. My dr. has told me that many OBGYNs advise you to only have three C-sections before you compromise your uterus; Matthew and I would love to have lots of babies and I didn't want another C-section to play a part in determining our family. My dr. stated that with all the small issues Eli had during labor, I would only be a good candidate for a VBAC if a. I went into labor naturally before my due date, b. I had none of the same complications, and c. this baby was smaller than Eli was. Early on, we knew this baby boy was going to probably be bigger than Eli, since I measure about a month ahead every visit and the ultrasounds confirmed the same thing every time. My dr. also told me it seems that my body knows nothing about preparing for labor, b/c I never dilated or effaced with Eli, and didn't with this one either. SO! Towards the end of this pregnancy, I just had to really give up my plans to God and let this baby come whichever way was deemed best for mama and baby, and trust that if the Lord has a big family in the works for us, He will make it happen. :)

 

On March 7, we got up bright and early at 4:30, and had plans to leave Eli with my Mom and Aunt who had come the night before. Eli ended up waking up around 4 that morning, so I got some good cuddling in in his bed before we left to have his baby brother. That is still a sweet memory in my heart- I got to tell him one last time how much we loved him and how we would be in the hospital for a few days, but couldn't wait for him to come visit and be a big brother!

 

We got to the hospital a little late, but were the first section of the day, so got situated pretty quickly. We were scheduled to have him by 7:30, but a main water line had busted down the street and the hospital's water was off, so we had to wait until the pressure was back up so the doctors could all scrub in for surgery. :) Plus, it gave us an extra 30 minutes to finalize our name decision. Yes, it took that long! We have had Shepherd on our list for a long time. We loved that it was a little different, a little southern, and our personal nod to a biblical name, as we pray Shepherd will be a gentle humble leader among his peers and be an encouragement to others in their walk with Christ. Fox is a family name on Matthew's side.

 

Around 8:15, I was wheeled back to the OR, and Matthew waited outside while they prepped me for surgery. I always hate that part- I get really nervous waiting for these procedures, and I wanted him right by my side the whole time. I had the spinal administered and everyone commented on just how big my belly was. I started to feel really sick as soon as the anesthesia was in, and almost threw up. I got really sweaty and pale, and they quickly pumped meds in me to help. In a way, that part helped me not be so nervous b/c I was so focused on not throwing up!

 

 

Matthew got to come in once they were ready, and had the video camera going the whole time. I could see my OB working and it made me feel a little more involved in the experience. This section took a little longer than Eli's, and they had a harder time getting Shepherd out. His head was lodged in my right side, and no where near engaged in my pelvis, so they had to cut a little farther over and vacuum his head over to get him out! There was a lot of tugging and pushing him out just like with Eli- I couldn't breathe and had bruised ribs after!

 

As soon as he was out at 8:30, everyone in the room started commenting on his size, and making guesses on his weight. I heard everything from 8.8 to 10 pounds- Matthew and I had already placed our bets with eachother- mine was 8.11 and Matth's was 8.8. He was 8.14 and 20.5 inches. I couldn't believe how big he was, even though he measured so big my whole pregnancy. He was really quiet in the beginning and they had to suction two syringes of fluid out of him before he really started wailing. He had a little trouble breathing at first, and they placed the oxygen mask over him for awhile while I just repeatedly asked everyone if he was okay and when he would cry. :)

 

 

 

 

 

I thought right away that he looked NOTHING like Eli and couldn't believe his dark hair and tan skin! His head shape, lips, nose, everything was different from Eli's. He actually looks almost identical to Matthew's baby pics. He finally started wailing and I just started bawling- the sweetest sound in the world to an anxious mama!

 

I wanted to study his face and hold him so badly and kept telling Matthew to get him closer so I could cover him with kisses. I remember the nurses saying to each other how nice it was to see a couple who was genuinely excited and full of love for their baby, which made me kind of sad to think  they didn't see that all the time.

 

Right away I felt a lot of pain in my stomach and started telling my dr. something wasn't right. It truly felt like I had been cut open without any medicine and quickly they gave me some pain medicine. Later they told me that the usual pain medicine they give you through your iv was on backorder nationwide, and everything else used as a substitute just didn't work as well! The next few days in the hospital were awful recovery wise. The medicine would wear off long before it was supposed to and I would be in sobbing pain every three hours or so waiting on the next time I was allowed to take more. I had to have a test done to see if my ureters were cut in surgery where I had to lay flat on my stomach while they pumped iodine in me and took x-rays. I pretty much cried through that too b/c of the pain. Finally on the third day, my doctor came up with a new regimen of medicine that got my pain under control. Amen! Another reason I hate C-sections; I felt like the first few days where I just wanted to study Shepherd's sweet face and hog him all to myself were spent more on being in too much pain to think about anything else.

 

 

We were finally ready to go home that Saturday and took one of our first pictures as a family of four- Eli wasn't ready to cooperate! Eli was not too into his brother right away, or me either for that matter. He really wanted nothing to do with the hospital, and didn't want to hold or touch Shepherd for a few days. Once we got home and it was just us four, he quickly warmed up and held, kissed, and talked to him right away!

 

There is so much more to say, but I wanted to give a little update on our precious new blessing. We are loving being a family of four, and I feel so blessed and lucky to have these three handsome boys to call my own.

 

Longest Update Ever.

Hi! Where did January go??!!

 Today we are enjoying a lazy Saturday at home, nurturing a sick little boy. I think he/we have gotten some sort of illness every other week or so for the past couple months- I'm afraid this is what Mother's Day Out will do to a family.

 

We've been baking cookies and eating them all. We've been packing up, cleaning up, and generally just de-hoarding. We've had grandparent visitors, and longer hours with Matth's job. I've been cooking lots of cold weather dinners, and I'm all out of ideas for food.

 

Eli likes helping me cook or decorate cookies for all of about five minutes, and then he'd rather find something to crash or a daddy to wrestle. We've tried a few painting and art projects, but frankly, he's just not that interested. I wanted to attempt a Valentine's craft the other day, but he just wanted to watch me paint one snake after the other. Crafts with boys, I guess.

 

Can you spot Eli with his lovey planted in his mouth? He had his first school program, and Matthew and I couldn't wait to see how he would react. He kept telling us he was singing "Happy Birthday" and we didn't really believe he knew what he was talking about. But, as you can see by the party hat on his head, they "sang" Happy Birthday to Jesus for all the parents. Or, really, we all sang it to them, and all the two year olds stared at us or cried! We loved seeing Eli up there on stage, and know this is just the beginning of fun events we'll get to participate in as parents.

Those are Eli's Toy Story big boy underwear he got in his stocking. He didn't want to wear them then, and he still doesn't now. We tried the other day, and had a few accidents and Eli acted tortured every time we put him on the potty, so we aren't forcing it. I figure we'll try again this summer when there are less clothes to deal with and he can run around outside more. We certainly don't want to force the issue, but will definitely be ready when he's ready!

 

Right after Christmas, we celebrated Matthew's big 30th golden birthday. I had this big secretive weekend planned where his parents came up and I had dinner reservations, movie tickets, concert tickets, and a prime-rib home cooked meal ready. Sunday morning at church I started feeling pretty sick and had a lot of cramping and contractions. I honestly thought I might be going into labor and had to leave the sermon to sit outside in the cold for awhile. As soon as we got home, I laid down and couldn't get out of bed for the life of me. I quickly started getting sick, and realized it wasn't labor, but a stomach bug. Matthew came to check on me around 3 and ask if we should just order a pizza for dinner. I felt so badly about skipping his birthday and meal, I got up and we ran to the grocery store where I had to run to the bathroom a few more times. We bought all the ingredients for Pioneer Woman's Christmas dinner- prime rib, brussel sprouts with cranberries, mashed potatoes, and rolls. As soon as we got home, I was back to bed and the bathroom, and my poor husband and his mama cooked his entire birthday meal. He requested his new favorite cake, a rum cake, recipe courtesy of my grandmother, and even baked it himself! I managed to emerge to sit at the dinner table and give him his gifts, and retreated back to bed after these quick family pics.

 

Matth enjoyed his gifts- Eli and I got him a new watch, some new slippers, and concert tickets to see the Dirty Guvnah's with some of his high school friends the next night for New Year's Eve.

I realized I got this virus from Eli, whom I thought had been having a stomach reaction to his antibiotics for his sinus infection earlier that week! The next morning, I passed my bug along to my father-in-law, who stayed in bed all day, my husband (happy birthday!) and my sister-in-law. Nice, huh?

 

We ended up going out to eat before the concert, and shared a light meal as neither one of us felt that great. We loved seeing Matthew's childhood friend's band play, although by the time we rang in the New Year, this sick pregnant mama was worn out! My mother in law helped me disinfect our house the next morning, and they quickly said their goodbyes and left our sick house! :) I'm not sure Matthew will be able to top my 30th here next month- his was such a good one. :)

 Moving on...we had one decent snow the other day, and Eli LOVED getting out and playing in it. This was his first actual snow day that he could play in, and he loved stomping in it, eating it, throwing it, and making a snow man with his daddy. It was so nice to get out and play outside for the morning, and come in to hot chocolate and marshmellows- Eli's new favorite treat.

 

Last, here's a couple pictures from Christmas. Eli loved opening his gifts, of course, and loved opening other's gifts for them! He was so excited about what everyone got, even if it had nothing to do with him. "ooooooh, what's in dere mama?" "woooooow" "that's cooool" and in general, lots of excitement over just the idea of presents! The poor little thing got a really bad sinus infection while we were out of town, and was pretty sick until we could get back to the doctor. He'd wake up in the morning with his eye glued shut from gunk, and tell me "I can't see mama- my eyes not working". He, of course, passed that along to Matthew and I too. If I could keep my lips off of him, I might be able to miss some of these illnesses!

 

Our big gift to him was this train table and train set. After lots of Facebook advice, we went with the Imaginarium City Central set from Amazon. It's a monster, and very sturdy. Eli loves it, and we play with it every day so far. I think I've mentioned this before, but I'm a firm believer in toy rotation. We pretty much put all his toys away besides this train table and his cars and puzzles. When he seems to get bored with these toys, we'll hide all this away for awhile and pull some old stuff back out! Since he's been sick and we've been quarantined for awhile, I just pulled out a stack of puzzle my mom gifted him from last Christmas and we have spent many hours putting them together!

 

Last, an update: Matthew has accepted an official position in Nashville and will probably start there in February, but keep working here as well. He'll go back and forth some each week, and Eli and I will keep down the fort here and prepare for a baby in five little weeks! We were originally thinking we might move and have this little boy in Franklin, but have decided for everyone's sanity, we will just stay here until I deliver, and Matth will go back and forth until then. We are still packing up, getting rooms ready, and cleaning. I told Matth it's probably a good thing I don't have a nursery to prepare for, so my nesting instincts can all go towards cleaning our house for moving!

 

I am feeling pretty good although still having to take nausea meds everyday. I never thought I'd still be sick this far along, but my mom says she was sick for her entire pregnancies, so maybe she gifted that to me! :) It amazes me that I have to take a sleeping pill as part of my nausea meds every night yet I still stay awake with insomnia. I had forgotten about this pregnancy insomnia here at the end, and it's quite frustrating. I remember walking around the house in the wee hours of the morning pregnant with Eli, and I find myself doing the same thing again!

And just when your insomnia ends, a baby is here to wake you up! I think I will definitely be ready in five weeks--this boy is BIG in my belly and is always measuring a little more than 3 weeks ahead. My belly is LARGE and uncomfortable, but I am loving the rolls and kicks all day. I think being pregnant the second time around is almost more fun b/c you know what's coming and how very sweet it's going to be!

 

Oh, one more thing: Matthew and I can proudly say we have a big almost three year old sleeping through most nights in his own bed!! This has not happened consistently since before he was one! We lay down with him, read him books, and kiss him goodnight after some cuddles and prayers. As long as we leave the light on in the hallway and the door open, he will sleep all by himself! He'll usually come walking in our room in the morning or out to the kitchen if I'm up and proudly tell us "I stayed all night!" We are so proud of him and are loving this change!! I just pray he'll continue to do so when there is a newborn in the house in a few weeks!!

 

Goodness, that's a lot of information. I should really be better about updating, and then I won't have so much to say!! Hope you all had wonderful holidays and are enjoying the start to this New Year!