Bros Before Bows

These days I get asked the same questions asked over and over:

How are YOU doing?
Unavoidably tired but all healed up and feeling great, thanks.  So much easier and faster round 2.

Isn't he cuuuuuuuuttttteeee?!?!
Yes.  Yes he most certainly is.

How's the baby sleeping?
Top marks, man.  Goes to bed at 11 and wakes up around 4 and then 8 to eat.

What's it like with TWO little boys?
Well.  Let me tell you...

Eli LOVES Porter.  Fiercely.  HARD.  Like, I-love-you-so-much-I-can't-even-stand-it-so-I must-eat-you, shaking and trembling hard.  Luckily for us he's past the face-smushing phase so he settles for endless sloppy and prolonged kisses.  (Hugs have been temporarily banned due to an impressive display of Porter's projectile power after a particularly affectionate squeeze.)

It was a huge relief to me that Eli didn't resent Porter for upending his little world, because upended it was.  Suddenly Mom is nursing what feels like 50 times a day (Eli is very curious about the milk.  Yes son, your Mom IS like a cow) and changing as many diapers ("He pooped!  Again!  Can I see it?") and singing songs to someone else ("That's MY Twinkle Twinkle!).  But Eli loves his brother. He's still not sleeping as well or predictably, has inexplicable needs or pains whenever Porter starts to cry, and occasionally throws a fit when I can't carry him somewhere (Dude. You're HEAVY.) but he's two and we deal with it.

 I am so grateful for all the people that have come and helped, babysat, made food, sent food, called, texted, and most importantly PRAYED for us.  There have been times during Zach's ridiculously long shift of 12+ hour days that I was certain I would lose it.  But just before the tears would have started (mine, at least) some outside source would supply the patience, love, endurance or alertness that I needed to pull me through.  So from the bottom of my heart, thank you.

I love these two little brothers.

Porter Dan has Arrived

With Carson one week before my due date

The Birth Story
(If you're into reading that kind of thing.  If not, know that we had a baby in the usual manner and just look at the pictures)

I was promised by my all-knowing and extremely experienced doctor that I would not be having my baby on my due date.  And I didn't.  [Oh Bumpers, as Eli would say] He swore up and down that I would need to be induced.  But I didn't.  [Boo yeah! as Zach would say]

Two nights before my scheduled induction I was up late watching a show [Blue Bloods, anyone?] when it came to my attention that those "practice contractions" were starting to get kinda intense.  Half an hour later I yelled over to Zach, who was in the video game zone, that we had hit 3 minute intervals.

It was then that I knew Zach truly loved me, because he quit MID GAME to hover over me.  He was all for heading to the hospital right away, but I had to shower first.  Birth is just one of those times were all of your personal dignity goes out the window and so I needed to gather what humanity I could by making sure that I went into that hospital with shaved legs.  By the time I was done the contractions had reached the "Hoo Nelly!" stage.

We arrived [after a few wrong turns- apparently pre-birth jitters made my chauffeur (Zach) forget where the hospital was] at the hospital at 1:00 AM and by 1:30 I was in my delivery room, relieved to have been admitted, dilated to a 4 and waiting for the poor anesthesiologist to be summoned from his bed for my epidural.  By 3:00 the juice was doing its magic and I was asleep.  Have I mentioned I love epidurals?  For the next three hours Zach and I slept as my contractions got bigger and closer and the baby descended.  By the time the doctor came to break my water at 6:00 AM I was at an 8.

At 7:45 I really needed to push.  This time unfortunately coincided with a meeting my doctor needed to be in and he looked skeptical when I told him that it had taken an hour and a half of pushing to get Eli out.  He let me do a "trial push" and as I did his eyes widened and he said, "Wait!  Stop!  Don't push for a minute.  Let me get gowned up!"  We were in business.

It was pretty quick after that.  One push and the head popped out.  The body didn't follow right away, so the doctor had nurses taking turns pushing my stomach down like their very lives depended on resuscitating my belly button.  By the time the baby's shoulders were free the pressure had built up to such a level that, uh, baby fluids came shooting out of every gap and went spraying across the room.  One contraction later and the rest of his body came, riding a huge tidal wave that hit the doctor with impressive force.  That brave man didn't even flinch.

Porter Daniel entered the world at a whopping 9 lbs 9 oz and 21.5 inches long.  And with this cute squishy-faced newborn, we began our life as a family of four.

 

Our stay in the hospital was the opposite experience of the one we had with Eli.  We had ONE nurse at a time, NO students, a big beautiful room and a calm baby with no complications.  Here's looking at you, Orem Community Women's Center.  Your strawberry cheesecake is delicious.

Thanks for all the visitors that came and special thanks to all the grandparents who made one sleep-deprived crazy toddler feel loved through the whole experience.  We'll talk more about that later.

Welcome welcome little man!

Toddler Oddities

Eli asks for a story (no...3 stories, no... 16 stories!) before bed every night.  Zach is superb at making up Roary (Dinosaur) adventures on the spot, but I usually resort to retelling fairy tales.   Now though, in part because of all the talk about the baby coming, all Eli has wanted lately are "Eli Baby Stories".  This really strains my story telling abilities because while Eli was an adorable infant, there's not much plot line to be had to entertain a toddler, and I've forgotten more than I ever thought I could about that baby phase.  This post is so I can remember for future "when I was little" requests.

The Tupperware and Pot Relocation Program

Apparently Eli feels sorry for the pots and pans in their cold, dark cabinet and can't resist the urge to take them out for an airing on the stairs.  Despite having his own kitchen, most magnet and crayon concoctions are created in my pots and dutifully tested thereafter.

The tupperware that hold our flour, wheat flour, and sugar were also lined up on the same stair daily, much to the danger of anyone attempting to go up or down the stairs.  After Eli learned to get the lids off I started my own relocation program to a higher shelf in the pantry.

Baggie Compartmentalization

This is one organized child that we are raising, and small plastic baggies are his weapon of choice.  If left unattended, a box of sandwich bags will all be filled with blocks, dinos, silverware, legos, and cars in less than half an hour. These baggies are then placed inside of other baggies, and then into grocery baggies from whence they are then claimed as "lunch for Daddy" and ordered to be taken to Daddy's work.  Many credit cards and pieces of jewelry have been "organized" in this manner so we are very careful about what we toss in the garbage can these days.

Apple Jack Adoration

A few months ago we started bedtime prayers with Eli and tried to explain the general organization of how a prayer should go.  Every night he is grateful for (in this order) Grandpa, MaiMai, Mommy, Daddy, and the baby in Mommy's tummy.  But before even Grandpa is mentioned, Eli is grateful for Apple Jacks.  It doesn't matter how long it's been since he last had a bowl, "Thank you Apple Jacks" is the first thing out of his mouth.

No-huh

I remember fearing the "no" stage of toddlerdom and now that it has arrived it's as bad as I thought.  Eli's initial response to everything is NO, so I take great delight in offering things I know he wants right after a particularly adamant refusal.  His mouth is faster than his processing skills, so when this happens and the "no" has already come out he modifies it with a "huh" (as in uh huh) at the end.

This method also works really well when Zach and I are both around and he doesn't want to bother calling us by our individual titles.  We become Mah-dee or Da-mee at times like these.

Never ever ever ever AGAIN!

If "no's" aren't cutting it to express Eli's feelings, then he pulls out the big guns: "Never ever ever ever ever ever (number of evers directly related to the hatred of the offense) AGAIN!  His delivery is usually funny enough that I laugh, but it's hard to explain to a two year-old that we will, indeed, have to cut his hair, change his diaper, take a bath, and go to bed again.  It's difficult to avoid a breakdown after this statement has been used.

Use THAT in a sentence

With his ever-expanding vocabulary, there are times that Eli knows words that I don't.  Take "sanshi" for example.  After having him repeat the word a couple of times and not recognizing the context, the conversation usually goes something like this:

Mom: Eli, what does "sanshi" mean?
Eli: Sanshi, is, like, "Hi, sanshi!"
Mom: ?

Every time.

HIDE!

I'm not sure how it started, but Eli loves to hide when either Zach or I comes home, and gets VERY upset if not given enough warning.  His usual preference is to be covered with blanket but has lately favored under his bed behind his animals.  As soon as he hears Dad's voice on the phone saying he's coming home (be it in an hour or more) he bolts for the nearest hidey-hole.

We love this quirky kid and look forward to the not-so-little times to come!

Bear Lake Bonanza

Six years ago Zach and I had been "official" for just over a month when he asked me if I wanted to come along on a family reunion to Bear Lake and meet all of his mom's extended family.  It seemed a little soon, but after consulting with all my wise, married, male coworkers who had nothing more interesting to discuss we collectively decided to risk it.  And I'm so glad I did.

Zach and Rissa circa 2009

Now, this last week, we got to relive the magic married, with a two year-old, and seven months pregnant.  Slightly less romantic, but still a blast.  We armed ourselves with an enormous tent mahal and an air mattress and when we arrived and Eli went straight for the sand.  Aside from a few brief forays into the lake and a break or two for crafts, he never left it.

 While Eli moved sand from spot to spot to tent, Zach took his job as genius chess master swimsuit model very seriously.

The chess master lost this game to his Grandpa, who is slightly more masterful.

Zach also MCed a very impressive talent show.  Who knew that the Haights had so much collective skills?  Well, of course we all did.

Meanwhile, I let other people take care of my child, ate as much raspberry shake (famous or otherwise) as humanly possible, and fulfilled my role as Eli's selfie buddy.

Occasionally he didn't need me.  Kid's got a thing for selfies lately.

All in all we had a wonderful time.  Eli surprised us by sleeping through the nights, I slept more than I had anticipated, and despite his nemeses the mosquitoes, Zach slept like a rock.  Everyone was happy.  I am so grateful for this wonderful family that welcomed me into their dance of joy six years ago when I was just a random girlfriend.  The Haights are great!

 The Judkins are too!

Me and my boys

Well, it’s no big secret that I’m pregnant again.  At 6 months my growing belly can no longer be hidden or denied.  It’s a walking advertisement to the world that I am going to be huge, hot, and swollen all summer long until somewhere around August 18.  And yet, we honestly could not be more excited.  Baby!  We love babies!

If you had asked me a few weeks ago I would have sworn it was a girl.  I was so sure, so convinced that this pregnancy was “different” and that since I already had a boy, it logically followed the next one should be a girl.  A few minutes in the ultrasound room was enough to show that I was quite wrong.

There’s no denying that one.

It took me a few minutes, hours, days to adjust to the idea, but now, once again, we honestly could not be more excited.  Boy!  We love boys!

More specifically, I love MY boys.  I love that Eli will have a brother-buddy to toughen him up.  I love that Zach will have another son to teach all his manly stuff to.  And odd though it is, there is some weird satisfaction in knowing that I would’ve been a successful medieval wife with my heir and spare.

For the next few years it will be me and my boys.

It’s going to be a good life.