Joshua Meets Minna

Because Minna was born in the evening Joshua did not get to meet her until the next day. When he first came into the room he was a little freaked out. I was in the hospital bed, in my lovely hospital gown (I was able to wear my own pants though), and Minna was in her baby tupperware. I tried to get Joshua to come give me a hug, but he wouldn't have anything to do with me. Brian tried to lift him up to see Minna, but he wasn't that excited, and he just ran around the room.

This picture was taken the next day, but it shows Joshua's opinion of the whole situation.

If Minna made any noise he would stop and point and say "Minna", then continue running around. At the end of the visit I got out of bed and he would let me pick him up and then he would look at Minna and seemed a little excited to see her.

The next day Joshua came to visit again. I was dressed in normal clothes and he ran in excitedly. He was also excited to see Minna.

Brian helped Joshua hold Minna.

With some encouragement

Joshua even gave Minna a kiss

Joshua loves Minna, he is excited whenever she is up and looks for her when she is in her bed.

Pictures of Minna

Here are some pictures of Minna from her first day here.

On the warming station getting looked at by the nurse and pediatrician.

With Mom
With Dad.

Minna is here!

Rebekah Minna Nix made her entrance into the world today.

Birth Weight: 5 Pounds 2 Ounces

Length: 19 Inches

Birth Date: May 25, 2010

Birth Time: 5:51 p.m.

Gestational Age: 35 weeks 2 days

She is doing well. She is breathing on her own, no oxygen is required right now. She is on IV antibiotics because I didn't have the Strep B Test, she will be on it for 48 hours. I haven't been able to nurse her because her blood sugar was low, I may get to try in a little bit. In the meantime I have began pumping, joy of joys.

Pictures and more details to come.

Long Walk with Joshua

Last Monday I didn't have to go anywhere (for once in long while), and I contemplated doing housework, but decided I didn't want to pick up whatever disaster Joshua came up with to amuse himself while I cleaned. So I decided to take Joshua on a walk on the hiking trail near our house.

I push Joshua down to the trail in the stroller because I don't want him running around in the road. Once I get to the trail head I let Joshua out and park the stroller. Here we are getting ready to start. I put the backpack on Joshua because he likes to pick up pine cones, acorns, and sticks, and likes to make me carry them for him. This way he can carry his own treasures.

There is this log on the trail that Joshua absolutely loves to climb over. He gets so excited when he sees it. Look at all the sticks he has

I could tell that we were the first ones on the trail that day, because I kept running into spider webs. For some reason they were chest level on me, so Joshua could run right underneath, and they would get all over me. I had to brush off several spiders that landed on me.

When we got tired we found a rock wall to sit on. It was kind of uncomfortable, then I looked right across the trail and there was this great stump that we moved over toThere we enjoyed our snack before heading back.

On the way back Joshua was getting tired and wanted me to carry him. I was still pregnant at this time (it was the day before Minna was born). I wasn't about to carry him, but I figured out if I started singing "de dum" to different songs he would sing "de dum" with me. I wasn't allowed to sing the actual words to the songs though. But he walked all the way back himself.

On the way back Joshua found a giant stick and started attacking a tree. Its hard to see the stick, but its about twice as tall as he is. Here he is taking care of the tree

When we got back to the stroller Joshua was really tired and after lunch I got a wonderfully long nap out of him. It was a wonderful time, and I was glad to have this time with him before Minna came.

Today I went to Jiffy Lube to get the emissions and inspections done on my car. When it was done I went to pay and put Joshua up on the counter. When I got done paying I put Joshua back on the floor and he ran off wildly. So wildly in fact that he started to loose his balance. He reached out to grab something to steady himself. At that moment a Jiffy Lube employee was walking by. When Joshua reached out he grabbed the Jiffy Lube employees butt cheek. The guy jumped quite a bit. I don't think he was expecting to be groped by a two year old.

Uncle Jeremy and Aunt Katheryne come to visit

Last weekend Brian's brother Jeremy and his wife Katheryne came up from Tennessee to visit us. Brian was on a four day weekend and it was Joshua's birthday that weekend so it was great timing.


Jeremy and Katheryne left Friday afternoon and drove all night and got here at 5:00 a.m on Saturday. I knew they would be getting in in the middle of the night (they were delayed, they were supposed to get in at night, not in the morning), so I had Brian blow up the air mattress, and we put sheets on it, so they could just go crash. We left the porch light on and the doors unlocked and went to bed. The next day after they got up I needed something out of their room, so I went in and noticed the bed was all deflated. I asked them if they liked sleeping on the floor or something. They said that the bed was like that when they got in, they thought we had forgotten to fill it, and didn't want to wake everyone up by filling it up. Poor guys they drove for forever and had to sleep on the floor. We did get them a new air mattress that would stay inflated for the rest of their stay.

After they got up we showed them around the property. Joshua took an almost immediate liking to Jeremy and insisted that he carry him around or hold his hand. It wasn't long before Joshua was saying "Jeremy, Jeremy" and he still occasionally asks for him. Joshua also really liked Katheryne and cuddled with her extensively the last night they were here.


Saturday night was Joshua's birthday party and Joshua even went out with just Jeremy and Katheryne and his friend's family to swing. (Joshua is just getting over a seperation anxiety phase so this is a big deal to us). Sunday wasn't too exciting, we all went to church, and then spent most of the day calling mothers and grandmothers for Mother's Day.


Monday we took Jeremy and Katheryne to downtown Saratoga Springs. We first went to Congress Park and Joshua chased some ducks, and we saw some brand new baby ducklings. Then we watched Joshua throw weeds and sticks into their fish pool. Its a good thing we don't go there too often. Then we walked and looked at the stores downtown. Brian and I haven't actually walked around down there yet, so it was kind of fun. There were a lot of stores with jewelry, trendy clothes, and funny looking racing hats. Jeremy and Katheryne did find a store where they were able to find a present for their dog. (It was a leash, theirs had broken).


Then we went home and I took a nap because I was tired from walking around all morning, and Jeremy and Katheryne went on a hike on one of the trails near our house. They ended up getting a little lost and walked a long way to figure out where they were. Then we just hung out for the night and Joshua got all cuddly. It was really fun to have them come up.

This is the one real picture I have from the trip, maybe next time I will be better about getting the camera out.

Joshua's 2 Year Check-Up

Yesterday Joshua had his 2 year check up. His stats are:

Weight: 26 Pounds 4 ounces in the 25th percentile
Height: 35 3/4 inches in the 80th percentile
Head: 19 1/4 inches in the 50th percentile

He continues to remain tall and skinny, but he still has the big cheeks making him look chubbier than he is. Joshua was all excited to go to the doctor until he saw the nurse that has given him shots in the past then he fell apart. He held together much better for the doctor, who said he looked great. Fortunately there were no shots this time, but we had to go to the lab for a blood draw to check for lead levels.

I was worried that Joshua would thrash around, and I was really glad that Brian could come to the visit. Brian held him during the blood draw and Brian and I sang Popcorn Popping, and Sunbeam during it. Joshua didn't thrash around and all, he just tried not to sob as giant tears ran down his face. He was really relieved when we told him it was all over. Then they put the bandage on to stop the bleeding. Usually Joshua hates band aids and will fuss over them until they come off. This time he looked at the bandage as a battle badge. He kept pulling up his sleeve and pointing to it and showing it to Brian and me. He is super proud of it.

Latest Ultra Sound/ Pregnancy Update

I get to have a few extra ultra sounds for this pregnancy to make sure everything is going well, and to make sure the baby is growing well. She is doing great has turned head down, and her head is farther down than I expected. (She is not dropped or anything, I am just always amazed at how big she is every time they do an ultrasound because of how much of me they have to go over to get all of her). I also got covered in plenty of goo.

Her weight at 33 weeks and 2 days is 4 pounds 13 ounces. That is 2 pounds heavier than Joshua was at birth. She is in the 57th percentile. When I was looking at her ultrasound it looks like she is starting to get some chub especially in the face. I think she will have cheeks like Joshua.

I also have to go in twice a week starting last week for a NST (non stress test). This monitors her heart rate and make sure she moves at least twice in 45 minutes and that her heart rate goes up when she moves. The first time she did great and cooperated and we were done in the 20 minutes. At today's she was sleepy, so they gave me some apple juice, had me reposition myself and prodded her to get her to wake up and move. It is totally fine that she is sleepy, like the nurse said we don't schedule the NST around when they are necessarily awake. If she ever doesn't wake up for the NST and fails it we get to do a biophysical ultrasound.

They also monitor for contractions to see how the baby handles them. I mentioned to the nurse that when I was in labor with Joshua that the monitor wouldn't pick up the contractions, so I was surprised that it picked one up already with her. She said that it should have picked up the contractions with Joshua, but with a placental abruption a lot of the time the uterus stays hard and so there aren't the waves that show the contractions on the monitor. Or they could have placed the monitor in the wrong place. That was kind of interesting to learn.

We are coming down the homestretch with this pregnancy. I feel like I can actually make it to term now, but I also am coming to realize even with 7 weeks left I have to actually get things ready. In less than two months I will be the mother to two children. It is just starting to sink in.

Happy Second Birthday Joshua

Happy Birthday Joshua! Its been a great two years. In the last year you have grown up so much. You have gone from a baby to a toddler. In the last year you have gone from not saying any words to saying up to 3 or 4 word sentences. You have gone from getting around by crawling to walking and running and climbing. Its amazing how much you have grown. I love looking back and seeing the changes you made.

May 2009
June 2009

July 2009

August 2009

September 2009

October 2009

November 2009

December 2009

January 2010

February 2010

March 2010

April 2010

May 2010

Joshua's 2nd Birthday Celebration.

This year for Joshua's birthday we celebrated a day early. Saturday we were able to stay home and spend the day with him, but on his real birthday, today, we had to go to church and then its naps and calling grandmas, so less time for Joshua.

That morning we let him listen to his Pooh Bear music a couple of times. During the Pooh Bear concert we opened a box from his grandma. She sent him a whole bunch of stuff, but his favorite was the Pooh Bear blanket (but he won't let me put it in his bed yet) and the homemade doll. He had a lot of fun taking the shoes and hat on and off the doll. He also liked to wear the hat himself.

Then he was surprised with his Uncle Jeremy and Aunt Katheryne coming to visit. He warmed up to them quickly and enjoyed all the extra attention and people to play with him.

That afternoon we had a couple of his nursery friends over to celebrate. The weather was sunny for a while and then rainy, and then sunny and then rainy again. We were able to get the kids out to enjoy the swings for a little bit. Joshua did an impressive dismount though. He let go with one hand and then looked back at Jeremy pushing him. He lost his grip with the other hand and did a back flip off the swing and landed face first in the grass. Fortunately he wasn't hurt, just scared. He did get back on the swings for a few more minutes before it rained again.

For dinner we had kabobs from the barbecue, until the rain hit suddenly and put the coals out, and then we had kabobs from the oven. It was really good, but we had to make hot dogs for the kids to get them interested enough to stop playing long enough to eat.

I made him a cake with a pooh bear candle and pooh bear pinwheels.

Jeremy pointed out that it isn't a great idea to have a two year old blow out the candles on a cake that other people are going to eat. So we moved the candle to his piece of cake. Joshua just stared at it, so Rowyn blew out the candle for him. It took him a minute to actually want to eat the cake, but when he did he enjoyed it.

The guests brought some really nice gifts, and after we got him to focus Joshua actually took the time to look at each of the presents, and said "Thank you" for most of them. He then got to play for a while longer enjoying his new toys and friends, and was quite tired that night when he went to bed. We were really glad he had fun at his party.

Kittens

I have been meaning to take pictures of our kittens for two weeks now and I finally did. We got these kittens for a joint anniversary/birthday present for the family. Brian and I missed being able to have pets as we have been living in apartments, and ever since we have moved we have been meaning to get cats. We also need them because we live on a 6 acre plot and we need them to help with the mice, and the vole in our backyard. I really got in a hurry to find them, after I found a dead mouse that had fallen into a bucket downstairs.

So here they are. The tiger looking kitten is supposed to be a Maine Coon cat. This means he should get to be very large. He was abandoned by his first owners, so he is a little skittish around people. He is pretty good once you catch him, but it can be hard to catch him. Because of this the kittens are living in the garage, until he gets more used to us. It is starting to work; he is getting more comfortable around us.The black kitten is a couple of weeks older than the tiger kitten. He is super friendly, and Joshua loves him. He loves to go outside and tries to sneak out all the time. He will be glad when they can both live outside instead of being stuck in the garage.

We haven't named them yet. Does anyone have any ideas?

Joshua-ism

Usually when Joshua wakes up from his nap, I will hear him move around, maybe fuss a little bit, and then usually happy chattering. The other day it was totally silent from his room, and then I hear:

"Ashes, Ashes, fall down". Then I hear the crash of him sitting suddenly in his crib. Then I hear, "More!". A few more moments. "Okay". Then "Ashes, Ashes, fall down." This was followed by him sitting abruptly again. He did the whole cycle over and over, each time telling himself he wanted more, and then consenting with himself before doing it again.

A few minutes later I hear him start to sing the song to Winnie the Pooh's Up Down Touch the Ground song. Only all Joshua will sing is "Up, Down. Mooooood."

It made me laugh it was really fun to listen to him.

Moby Wrap

If any of you mothers or mothers to be are looking for a moby wrap there is a giveaway at http://www.progressivepioneer.com/progressive-pioneer/.

If I don't win the giveaway I am going to get one to try.

Joshua-ism

Tonight we were letting Joshua choose the picture in the gospel art kit to tell a scripture story about it to him. He stopped at Alma baptising in the Waters of Mormom and Brian started telling him the story. Joshua started saying what we thought was "Alma" over and over again, then we realized that he was saying "Elmo". I didn't realize Elmo was in the scriptures.

Joshua-isms

Joshua's speaking skills have been improving, and he is starting to speak in sentences. This has made him able to say some funny things, and I know they will get funnier as he gets older. To preserve some of the funny things he says I am going to try to blog about them as Joshua-isms.

Joshua's first three word sentence: "I got cheeks". I was driving home one day and I heard him say this, and I thought I must have heard wrong. But he kept saying "I got cheeks". And I look back and he is pushing on his cheeks.

On the way to drop him off at a friend's house to spend the night so Brian and I could get away for our 5th anniversary, Joshua starts saying "I cute". I think he was trying to say, don't leave me mom and dad I am so cute.

Just as a side note we met a pediatrician and the bed and breakfast Brian and I went to for our anniversary and before we knew she was a pediatrician we were telling the funny things that Joshua says. After she told us she was a pediatrician she said that Joshua has advanced sentence structure for his age since he refers to himself as "I" instead of "me". That's right our kid speaks really well.