One week, and counting...

Well, we've made it through the first week of adjustment with Arlan. He's pretty darned cute -albeit in a loud, demanding sort of way. He's much more content than Landon was in some ways though - he'll sleep somewhere other than on us, and when he's awake he's more content to watch a mobile or stare at the window or just listen to Landon be rambunctious! But I'm thankful for that - I can actually put Arlan down and do something while he's napping! LOL Which means I get to spend some time with Landon too - which is very important.
So all things are going pretty well I think. Dr appt on Tues - Arlan's healthy which is good. Mom's healing well, which is a blessing. Nursing is going pretty well -- a bit sore, but overall pretty good. I'm getting a bit of sleep, with Arlan doing his cluster feeding into the early morning hours and then giving me some time off. Now if he would just quit yowling every time we change his diapers! LOL

Landon is adjusting pretty well we think. He is jealous at times - who wouldn't be? A couple of times a day he demands that I put the baby down to play with him, and thankfully with Arlan's demeanor I can usually comply - unless I'm nursing. John and Landon are having fun though - playing in the backyard, going to the store, even doing some stuff in the basement. If it wasn't for the G-D mosquitoes, I don't think we'd have to do anything to entertain Landon! But they are so bad at times that even Landon comes running in the house "Bad mosquitoes!". The picture of him running below is Landon running from the "noisy lawnmower" (even though John and the mower are on the other side of the fence). And he's been enjoying his little swing / slide structure more and more too, which is nice. He's even started to sit in the swing a bit, although he doesn't like it as much as he likes the swing at the park. John's trying to teach him to pump his feet to swing himself - I hope he succeeds because 20 minutes of standing there pushing Landon on the swing ... we'll let's just say I'd rather be relaxing!

Landon's a BIG BROTHER

Arlan Jarrett Keller came absolutely RACING into our lives on Wed morning, June 18. Here are the stats:

Born 10:16 am June 18, 2008

Weight: 8 pounds, 8.5 ounces

Length: 20.5" (exactly the same as Landon)

The story behind RACING?

At my doc appt on Tues, I was 1 cm dilated. So the waiting game had really begun. John and I spent the evening with Landon, and making final preps, waiting waiting waiting ('oh, maybe that was a contraction). Then we went to bed.

I woke at 6:10 to go pee (of course). When I laid back down I though "hmm, that might've been a contraction". About 10 minutes later, same thing. John and I started discussing if he'd go into work or stay home, knowing we didn't have to decide on that until 7:30. I was thinking I'd let Landon sleep until 9:30, get him ready to go to Ricki's, and we'd go from there. The contractions began to be noticeable shortly before 7, so I knew it was the real thing. We got up at 7 and I was already talking that we may have to wake Landon by 9, no, maybe by 8:30. Almost immediately my contractions went from 10 minutes to 4 or 5 minutes within 1 or 2 contractions. We made our calls (my mom, Ricki & Trish who would be watching Landon throughout the day, John to his work). By now I'm saying we'll get Landon up no later than 8.

So we got Landon up, I spent a few minutes with just him (kind of 'good-bye' to the 'just us' times....). We got him dressed and in the car and over to Ricki's by ~8:30 and were at the hospital at 9. I thinking we hit triage at about 9:10, I was 6 cm dilated. I requested an epidural when we walked through the doors ... no such luck. By the time they could assess me, get me into a delivery room, and request an anesthesiologist ... no time. Arlan likely would've arrived quicker had the dr arrived sooner to break my waters. Three pushes and BAM! A beautiful, squawling baby boy. 10:16 am ... I hadn't even been admitted until ~9:30 (I was one of those moms who was in the delivery room while dad was admitting me!!).

We came home Thurs morning. John and Landon came to the hospital to pick us up. Landon took the baby in stride ... even offered Arlan his puppy blanket in the car, and insisted on having his hand on Arlan's head while we were driving (in newborn fashion, Arlan's neck was cranked right over, poor thing). The day's since haven't necessarily been all that glorious for Landon - it's a tough adjustment. But Grandma and Grandpa came for a quick visit to spoil Landon, and John's off work for a few weeks to spend time with him too. He is mostly jealous of Arlan when he first gets up -- he's very used to having mommy in the mornings. And I've been trying hard to find time for Landon every day. The first couple of days were pretty good - Arlan ate, pooped and slept. Now Arlan's a bit more demanding ( I say that tongue-in-cheek ... that kid can WAIL), eating what feels like non-stop, and it's harder to get that time with Landon. But we're adjusting ... stories on the couch beside mommy, lots of kisses, and I try to get in to see him before he goes to sleep at night for at least a couple of minutes.

Hopefully in a couple of weeks we'll all be better adjusted -- John to his new domestic duties, me being healed up, Arlan to opening his frickin' mouth when he latches on, and Landon to sharing mommy a bit more.

So that's really that ... LONG post as I've been off for awhile, and who knows when I'll get this chance again :-/

Belly pics...

Here are a couple of belly pics from tonight. The belly is definitely a biggun! lol I'm ready for baby to come, hopefully the baby is ready soon too :-)

Fun at the Science Centre

Landon had a blast running around the Science Centre last Friday. The most fun was the 'perspective room' seen here. He ran and ran and ran! Of course, I don't expect anything less than full-tilt running with him these days...

No baby yet...

just a post to report on dr appt. No baby yet!
Baby is low and ready to go. Should be any day now. Heartbeat at 142. My BP still great at 101/70. We're busy doing 'last minute' things all the time ... trying to prepare but it's hard when you don't know when baby's coming.
But I'm off for a snoozers before I miss my chance and Landon wakes up. He's still got a runny nose, but slept well last night so hopefully a runny nose is all that it will be :-/ He had a blast this morning playing outside, it's a beautiful day here. I love the nice weather too - so nice to enjoy coffee on the deck in the morning!

No Baby Yet...

Sorry for taking so long to post - esp for those watching this waiting for baby news!

We've had a good week. Went swimming again with Landon last Wed, he had fun and I do enjoy just relaxing in the water a bit :-) We'll see if I can find the energy to take him again this week.

Thursday I had a good visit with Amy - she was up staying at Ricki's. Landon had fun playing too - Keaton has tons of trucks so Landon was well entertained!

Friday we went to the Science Centre, met Heidi and the boys there. It was an absolute ZOO again, so we spent most of our time in the Children's Museum. I really like the place, but it was overwhelming for me, let alone for the little ones :-/ There are so many school groups there all the time, and usually older kids, all running like mad. Maybe the weekends would be better....

Uncle Bob and Aunty Rosemary were here for the weekend ... we had a wonderful visit! Sat night they went to watch John play -- the new back-up singer has really added to the band and I guess they sounded great. Sunday we had a pretty low-key day. We walked down to the Northern Hills Summerfest for pancake breakfast, but we were too late :-/ So we walked on back home, as all the bouncy castles and everything were soooooooooo lined up it just wouldn't have been worth the wait for Landon - who may or may not have liked them. But it was a nice walk nonetheless. The weather is finally nicer, so we spent much of our time outside, either playing with Landon in the back or whatever. And we all had nice snoozes in the afternoon too. They went back to Saskatoon today, and Landon was soooo sad to see them go. He LOVED having them here for a visit. He could say Uncle Bob very clearly, and Aunty Rosemary was improving quickly throughout the weekend too (to 'Anty rrsmary' by today).

And we're still just a waiting for baby to decide to come along. We were hoping for yesterday - since we had babysitters here for Landon - but baby didn't cooperate. So we'll just have to see. I have dr appt tomorrow, so we'll see if there's any 'action' down there yet.

that really is the news. Oh yeah - we have a gopher living under our driveway; I discovered him today. Hopefully we can get rid of him - I really don't want a gopher living here ... :-/ Maybe we'll have to borrow a cat for a few days or something!!

So, just because I don't post, don't be assuming we're having a baby. I'm just really super tired these days, and I'm trying to do things with Landon every day so that I'm not just sitting here waiting. Now that the weather's nicer, Landon and I were outside all day today. Hopefully this weather holds, I'm so sick of rain.

And I'm hoping Landon doesn't get too sick - he woke up with a cough last night a couple of times - a real barking cough, and you could hear the congestion in his throat and chest. He woke up much better today, although he was a bit out of sorts. He had a good nap. He has a runny nose, and it seemed to get worse tonight. I gave him decongestant, and we'll see how he sleeps. Hopefully well. His eyes were watery tonight too, I sure hope it's not allergies .... we'll have to see what the next few days bring. Poor kid.

That's the news for now....

Doc Update...

No news thus far. Baby is where it's supposed to be. All signs still good. Next week is the internal, so we'll know if there's any action on that front at that time. Assuming there's no action before then ... Today I'm feeling that I'll likely have the baby next week -- 18 or 19. Mostly because I refuse to envision me going to the due date (or heaven forbid beyond my due date of June 22), and also because my mom and dad have a short trip to Regina planned for the 19, so of course we'll have the baby then!! LOL
It's raining here again ... of course. I'm VERY sick of rain. Hopefully we'll have a nicer July to make up for this. I don't need (or want) 30+ weather, 20 is fine, just get rid of the rain!! Poor Landon - all cabin-fevered and half nuts. We'll go swimming again tomorrow morning, and have a visit with Ricki and Amy planned for Thurs morning, and a trip to the Science Centre with Heidi and boys booked for Friday morning - so even if the rain keeps up we'll be getting out of the house. I'll most definitely be napping after those events!! LOL I'll relax on the weekend and let John play with Landon...

Today I was buying 'bring home' outfits, a girl one and a boy one. I asked Landon if he thought he was going to have a little brother or a little sister. He looked at me very solemnly, shook his head, and said "no little brother. no little sister". Guess it's a good thing the stork didn't arrive today ... we have a few more days to convince him it's ok to have a little brother or sister :-/

Well, I'm off to make supper. Marc is in town for a visit, and the boys should be home soon. Until next time....

Where do the days go?

Landon and I did go swimming on Wed, and he really enjoyed it. I will try to go again next week, assuming no baby and that we're feeling good. It was nice for me too, just sitting in the water while Landon played and splashed around. He has me concerned though - he was going up to all of the girls and giving them kisses....*sigh* He also says that some toys are 'girls toys' when he doesn't want to play with them, just like things he can't have are 'daddys' or 'mommys' things. Heh heh Funny how those things get entrenched so young. I've been trying to use this to my advantage with things like 'soothers are baby toys' and stuff like that!!

We got the Amby bed, the bassinet, the swing and the bouncy chairs out and washed up last night. I've been bugging John, and last night I think he understood that I meant him to get them up NOW (as in this baby is going to come soon man, get this sh!t done!! LOL). Poor John - I think he finally had the realization last night that we're having a baby VERY soon (I had that realization about a month ago and have been panicking ever since!). I wasn't feeling well, and finally he asked if I was going into labour. When I answered that I was starting to wonder that myself, he 'got it'. Any day now ... 10 days to ultrasound due date, 2 weeks to dr due date.

Landon has been handling the rainy weather pretty well ... as well as any 2-year-old who's couped up inside while wanting to play outside. Yesterday Stephanie and Iden came for a visit - it was so nice to have them. Iden and Landon played very well together. It took Landon a little bit of coaxing to share all of his toys - whatever Iden had Landon wanted, even if he hadn't played with it in ~3 months or so. But he really enjoyed having a friend over, and I REALLY enjoyed getting a chance for a visit with Steph.
Tonight I think Landon and I will make chocolate chip cookies again ... or rather, he can eat the cookie dough and I'll make cookies! LOL Then we'll have to figure out what sort of fun we'll have tomorrow to beat the cabin-fever crazies..........

Belly Pics and Doc update...

Here are some pics of the belly from today. According to the doc, I'm 37 weeks, 2 days. According to the ultrasound I'm 38 weeks. Only time will tell...

So my bp is still crazy low (explains why I'm dizzy when I lie down, when I sit up etc) at 106/63 today. Baby's heartbeat was 144 bpm. My ultrasound showed everything is really good (amniotic fluid, etc), the baby is 3.6 kg right now (just over 7.5 pounds ... not quite as scary as the 8 pounds the ultrasound tech mentioned -> maybe she meant estimated weight at due date???). So all is ticking along quite fine. I'm having more and more trouble sleeping, even my afternoon snoozes are disrupted now (those used to be undisturbed). I just can't get comfortable, and when I finally do fall asleep I wake up frequently because I've rolled over to an uncomfortable position. but I can't complain too much - Landon's still napping for ~2 hours in the afternoon, so I get a chance to lay down and rest if nothing else. The heartburn hasn't been too bad - actually I haven't had heartburn at night since I stopped brushing my teeth before going to bed (I know....eeeewwww). I think that might've been the source ...

So the countdown is on ... I definitely feel more like "c'mon out kid, let's get this show on the road" this time, whereas with Landon he could've stayed snuggled in there for awhile longer as far as I was concerned :-) Funny how a person's outlook changes.

Now if we could get some sunnyshiny days so that my cabin-fevered kid quits driving us nuts! Tomorrow we're going swimming, so hopefully that'll help.....

Camera Hide n Seek

We haven't been able to get many photos of Landon over the past couple of months because he's been sooo interested in seeing what's on the camera he won't stand in front of it. That has changed the past few days though, as now Landon thinks the camera is a game, and he plays hide n seek with it! Esp if I'm at the computer (where I've spent a fair amount of time the past few days). He gives me the camera, then runs to the futon and hides, waiting for the flash. Then he'll run back, wait for a pic to be taken, and run back to hide again. So we've managed to get some cute pics once again ... here's a few to share.