Wednesday, March 24, 2010

bed sheet

aka...the best toy ever.
Between crawling under it and getting all tangled up, to me ballooning it out and them crawling/jumping on it; that was the entertainment for hours yesterday. The laughing, the giggling, the shouting (for joy) was non-stop.

Bed sheets... who knew?

Sunday, March 21, 2010

the garden... and the mud

We decided it was time to plant our garden. We headed to the local nursery and picked out some of our favorites. Potatoes, tomatoes (Kyle loves 'em on sandwiches, I prefer mine in salsa), onions, jalapenos, bell peppers, squash, zucchini, cilantro, basil, beans.... and, just for Kyle... peanuts.  He's so excited to boil them... reminds him of his mission.  (reminds me of a time that I vomited, but... to each his own).

I'm excited to make homemade salsa.  Last year we bought multiple jalapeno plants and I didn't find out until later that they yield an enormous amount of jalapenos per plant.  This year the plan was to only buy two, but the nursery would only sell in 6 packs... so we'll be up to our ears in jalapenos.  I'll have to learn to make jelly... and poppers.  And lots of salsa.

Then there's the zucchini... apparently they only sell those in 6 packs as well... so anyone can lay claim on the extra zucchini, cause there will be plenty to go around.

We brought our plants home and started getting the garden ready.  Kyle was getting ready weeks ago; he can't wait for those ripe tomatoes. So, he already had a few holes dug to place his tomatoes in.
But, after some careful planning, we decided to plant the tomatoes in slightly different places. As a result, we couldn't use the holes he had previously dug, so we had to fill them back up with some of the rocks and dirt we pulled out of other holes.  After they were full, Kyle put the water on them to make them more compact... and this is where the fun really began.

water + dirt = mud

mud + my 2 boys = fun/laundry
Porter had fun throwing rocks into the pile of mud while the ratio of water to dirt was very high.  It made huge splashes and ended up covering his face.

After the ratio evened out a little, they both would submerge their arms and legs in the mud... making sure that their Momma had plenty of laundry to do that night.

Even though there aren't pictures of the garden... the majority of it did get planted, and it's doing very well. My jalapenos are growing like mad, and the tomatoes are doing really well too.
I think these two like each other... Porter had to have a hat like Daddy's, and he wore it all day long. Followed his Daddy all around the garden helping him out where he could.  It was a nice relaxing day.

Can't wait for the next few weeks to see how this garden all turns out.  Hopefully in a month or so we'll have a blooming garden and lots of veggies to share.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Briggs Turns One

It was a beautiful first birthday for Briggs. Temps were up to 85 yesterday and not a cloud in sight.  We had a lazy relaxing morning full of haircuts for all three boys.  Porter and Kyle were looking a little shaggy, and with Bridger's hair so much longer on the sides and back, he was looking like he had a mullet. So, it was haircut time.
After the boys napped, we planned for a barbeque and Aiden and Kenny came over to celebrate with us.
The tradition in our family... the one year old gets put on a sheet with a cake and you let them go at it.
We followed suit with Bridger.
He saw the cake and headed for it....
But quickly got distracted by a bird circling overhead.

We redirected him, pushed the cake closer, and he dove for it....
But that bird was just too interesting.
After a while, Kyle handed him a cupcake...
But, he turned to watch the bird.
He didn't attack the cake.  Enjoying the cupcake he was handed was enough.
And he didn't want to take his eyes off the bird for long.
He got his hands and his face pretty well covered, and he accidentally stepped in the cake a while later, but he really didn't make that big a mess of the cake.  Out of the 14 cupcakes I used to make it, I think he only grabbed/stepped on 3.
Surprising... he's the one child I thought would really tear into it.
We ate delicious burgers (if you haven't had the opportunity to try one of Kyle's burgers... I highly suggest coming over for one. Kyle makes the best burgers... the man knows how to grill), watched The Princess and the Frog (which was absolutely darling), and had Bridger open some presents.

I just can't believe how big this kid is.
At age one Bridger...
*sleeps with his head under his blanket... and only his head under his blanket.
*can walk, and has for the past three weeks.  But normally only when provoked.
*has 9 teeth and 2 more in progress.
*hates having his bottom teeth brushed, but loves it when you brush the top ones
*says Momma.
*climbs in/on/around/under anything he can... including the kitchen table.
*will try to eat everything at least once.  And even if he didn't like it, he'll normally try it twice.
*is a vacuum... he cleans up the floor better than my actual vacuum does. He'll eat everything and anything he finds on the floor.
*sleeps for 13+ hours a night, with a 3-4 hour nap in the afternoon... all that food makes him sleepy.
*would do anything for a bath. He gets all giggly when he hears the water running for one.
*sucks his thumb and grabs a blanket to help him sleep.
*empties cupboards and drawers... he particularly loves my tupperware
*loves the slide. Especially going down on his belly, face first.
*always gets the hiccups when he laughs.
*loves toy cars and drives them on the ground all the time.
*loves Porter and anything that he happens to be holding.
*has a strong affinity for dryer lint.
*is a really good cuddler.
*doesn't care who's holding him, as long as he's being held.
Happy Birthday Briggs!

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

St. Patrick's Day 2009

Exactly one year ago today...

Kyle and I headed to the hospital at around 1 am.  We made a quick stop to Smith's where we grabbed some doughnuts... I knew that I wouldn't be able to eat for a while, so I cheated a little and downed two frosted doughnuts faster than any human being before me.

We checked in to Labor and Delivery and they escorted us to a room.  I changed, got attached to monitors, got my IV, got some medicine, turned on some Gilmore Girls, and planned on waiting no more than 42 hours before we would have another little boy join our family.

At 6:00, Kyle was fast asleep and I got up to go to the bathroom.  I climbed back in bed, hooked myself back up to my monitors, like my nurse had taught me to do, and repositioned myself . I was tired of laying on my left side, so I decided to try the right and I started to doze off again.

Annie, my nurse, came running into the room.  She asked me if I had changed positions from before. I had been switching back and forth all night, but I had just switched from my left to my right.  She told me to roll back over onto my left because Bridger's heart rate had dropped significantly.  I rolled over as quick as I could and she sat with me watching the monitor. Everything was silent except for the slow pulse of the heartbeat.

"Get up.  Get up now, on your hands and knees. Don't worry about modesty, just get up!" And a very large 39 week pregnant me, struggled to obey and get into the position she demanded (not an easy transition to make when you have a watermelon growing inside your belly). I held myself in that position for about 10 minutes listening to Bridger's heart rate slowly increase.  After a while she told me to very slowly lay back down on my left and when she knew the heart rate was okay, she went to call my doctor.

Kyle slept through the whole incident, so I called over to him and chucked his wallet at him to get him to wake up.  I brought Kyle up to speed and we watched an episode of Everybody Loves Raymond while we waited and listened to Bridger's heart beat... racing along.

My doctor came in and talked to us about our options, and he explained that we needed to get things moving. Bridger needed to be delivered in the next few hours, one way or another.

The doctor broke my water at around 7:30 and I was only dilated to a 3. Now when I had Porter, I remained at 4cm for 5 hours... so Bridger and I had a little heart to heart.

And I told him to get his little tush moving.

By 8:00, I was begging for my epidural and Phyllis, my new nurse, obliged.

At 8:04, I was introduced to John, he was there to place my epidural.

By 8:10 I had my epidural... a new best friend... and this overwhelming desire to name the baby John...

By 8:40 I was only dilated to a 4 and I had developed a really bad sharp pain during contractions.  Phyllis called for my best friend again to give me another dose of medication.

9:00, John showed up ready to re-medicate me and all the sudden, Bridger flipped... the pain was gone and now I was feeling pressure.  A lot of pressure. I was now dilated to a 9 and Phyllis called for my doctor.

At 9:16 he told me to push...

10 minutes, 3 contractions, and 9 pushes later I heard my doctor say, "Happy Birthday, buddy!"  And he plopped this sweet little goop-covered baby into my arms.
And I've been captivated ever since.
The past year has been exciting having this little guy as part of the family.
I can't believe it's been a year already.
Happy Birthday Briggs!