A Month Of Beautiful (I Mean Handsome) Braden

Yesterday we celebrated an entire month of Braden. Oh, we love love this guy. He's mellow, patient with his sisters who are constantly in his face, and practically perfect in every way. Well, it'd be nice if he'd sleep more at night, but at least he's up to three hour stints!

Bribing the Easter Bunny

Once again there is no over-priced picture with the Easter Bunny because Molly would not get near him. It's sad because this might be the last year the older girls are interested in seeing him as well because I heard them talking in the van about how they thought it was someone in a suit. It's sad to see unadulterated childhood ending.

But Molly was in a Catch-22 as she had to tell the Easter Bunny what she wanted but would not go near him. So, while her sisters were putting in their requests personally, Molly just yelled at the top of her capable lungs from a safe distance: I Want A Barbie!

The night before Easter the girls laid out snacks and water. Perfect for a bunny.
And apparently it worked. . .

Amatuer Photo Shoot/ Professional Cuteness

Easter Pics:

Inspired By Commercial Cuteness

I am a sucker for those commercials where you see parents bonding happily with their children. I hope my kids have happy, Hallmark-style memories.

This season I was nearly brought to tears (hello post-baby hormones!) by the Rice Krispie commercial where the mom makes treats with her kids shaped like Easter Eggs. So, I thought, why not?

My sister brought over two of her kids and each kid made a huge egg (not the little ones like the commercial) and put M&Ms in the middle. Yum.

The Hunt Is So ON!

This year we went to my sister's house again for an Easter egg hunt eggs-travaganza. Each year I go over the parameters with my sister (how many eggs, how many pieces of candy per egg) and evey year my sister ignores the parameters. Our only saving grace for bringing the "dud eggs" with only 2 pieces of candy per egg is that we put money in some of our eggs.

We hide 175 eggs throughout the house. Each kid gets 25 eggs. It's a true eggs-travaganza and even the big kids have fun.

So Far I Have Noticed. . .

I have had a son for a little over three weeks, and so far I have noticed a few differences in temperment and play.

First, Macey. Oh, Macey. She is all girl. The other day I was sewing and encouraged her to play with the train table next to me. I listened to her while she played and she was not pretending to take trips or even building anything or heaven forbid crashing anything into each other. She was marrying the trains to each other, pairing them all up. This I understand. Growing up, we had a pool table, and I used to marry the pool balls to each other.

Braden. Perfect little Braden. One thing I love about Braden is that he only really hates three things. His bassinett (or, as Garry calls it, the worthless albatross), getting his diaper changed and getting a bath. He'll cry while I change his diaper or give him a bath but when it's over, he stops. Almost instantly. It's just over. He doesn't see the need to cry to express how much he hated that, to punish me for doing that, to make sure I know how much he hated it. When it's over, it's over. He's already so less moody than his sisters, bless his emotionally-stable heart.

Mr. Tough Guy

Before I had Braden, I bought just a few gender-neutral sleepers, including this one. He never wore it until I commented to Garry. But when I saw him in it, I had to chuckle. After weeks of blue, blue, fabulous blue, he looked a little silly in a sleeper GOWN. He's a tough guy and just born to sport the tough guy outfits.

Do You See The Irony?

Braden has one little fault. He likes to sleep during the day and party all night. It is particularly difficult because often he wants to be nursed and comforted and so I cannot hand him off to Garry very much.

Last night was another longish night where I was up at 11, 2 stayed up on and off until 5 and then finally up at 6:30. I have been thinking that these crazy sleep habits are what is making me BONE TIRED. Last night I had a dream I was so tired I was crying. Do you see the irony? I was dreaming about being beyond tired? Ironic, no?

So this morning I declared enough. I have been off of my pain pills for a week, but today I also took a look at my prescription that is supposed to help my milk supply (I warned you that I would be blogging about nursing weeks ago. . .) and one of the side effects was drowsiness and dizziness and depression. And I thought, maybe, just maybe, this is not worth it.

So I talked to Garry about going off of the prescription and trying a herb regimen. A day off of the prescription, I feel much better. I'll try to go on herbs tonight. I tried this before with Macey and so am not that hopeful. I do not know why I feel the need to suffer through nursing. Similac is looking pretty good right now.

The New Trampoline!

Underestimating My Learning Curve

Today my Mom goes home. Sad day. She was only here for a few days, and Garry has already gone back to work. I reminded them that with Emma, they spent over two weeks with me. Same with Macey. And then with Molly everyone combined visiting with their Christmas vacation, and I had a lot of help for a long time. Now, I have four kids and Garry is already back at work and my Mom was only able to spend five days. Really, does that make sense to anyone? I think everyone is seriously underestimating the learning curve of having four little kids.

Take Daddy To School Day

Emma has been learning about community helpers in school. She has had different parents come and talk about their jobs: a florist, a pilot, and finally it was her Daddy's turn to talk about the FBI. I think she was really excited to have him in her classroom at school.

Sporting the Double Pony

Yes, we had a baby boy. Big, fabulous news in the Cunningham house!! But we also had big news with Molly -- she finally has enough hair to sport two ponytails!

I Can See My Feet!

Garry snapped this picture about three hours before I had Braden. Holy toledo, I got so big with my baby boy! My favorite tradition is getting my feet ready for viewing before a baby. With Emma Garry got me a gift certificate for a spa pedicure. It was so nice. With Macey and Molly I went with good friends to get a spa pedicure before my due date. This time I went with my friend Shauna. Such a fun tradition and now that I can see my feet again, they look great!

Once is mean, twice is downright cruel. . .

I forgot in my blog below to write about how things got resolved for poor Braden. The first pediatrician had to bring in a second pediatrician to look at what was going on. Initially she said, "oh, no problem" but upon further inspection she said, "oh, problem". The poor little guy. They had to cut the circumcision cap off where it was stuck and then close things up with a suture. Circumcision once is pretty mean. Having to go through the process again was downright cruel. Garry said that Braden gave him the stink eye the whole time. I wince for my baby, but that part of the story makes me chuckle. But, the doctor said it was good that we brought him in because it would never have come off on its own. So being a little hyper-worried and camping out in the pediatricians office until they helped worked out for the best.

Braden's First Trip to the E.R.

I know that boys are more active, and I should expect more accidents and trips to the E.R., but 9 days old is a little ridiculous.

Poor little guy. Wednesday night he was up and a little weepy. He has his days and nights mixed up and is often up at night (lucky me!) but he rarely cries. We thought maybe he had a bad bubble he could not get rid of.

Thursday morning I was changing his diaper and noticed that his belly button had come off and that the little cap from his circumcision was trying to come off but was stuck. He was obviously uncomfortable, and so I told Garry to take him to the nearby E.R. It's a Kindercare E.R. which means that they always have a pediatrician on duty. It's very nice and very clean and very quick.

And they very would not see Braden. They said we had to take him back to the pediatrician who did it. I have never heard of an E.R. refusing to see a patient -- I was a little shocked.

Garry took poor little Braden to the pediatrician's office and sat in the waiting room until one of the pediatricians would see him (our pediatrician does not work on Thursdays). Two pediatricians later, they were able to help our poor little guy.

Why Loopy Is Dangerous

When I was in the hospital with Macey, you had to ask for pain medication. They could not give it to you -- you had to ask for it. So with Molly and with Braden I was very proactive in getting my meds. And oh boy, by the evening I had so much in my system I was just loopy! I was quickly getting a reputation for being a "lightweight" on the floor -- the nurses always told me, "Dr. Later prescribed two, but let's try one. . ."

The worst was one night when I thought that Braden had been in the nursery for too long and was probably hungry, and so I walked down to get him. In my system I had Ibuprofen, a narcotic, and an Ambien. Loopy. Oh ya, my sister also helped me take out my contacts.

So what happens when you are loopy and blind? You try to take the wrong kid out of the nursery. Being blind and loopy and really tired, I tried to take a red headed baby (who was probably also a girl!) out! Luckily the nurse stopped me with a "are you sure?" and a quick bracelet check.

The Finish Line

When you're pregnant you focus so hard on that due date that you forget about what comes on the other side of that finish line. My body has had a hard time adapting to the many things that do not seem to work quite right.

Luckily I have a baby that sleeps 22 hours a day and looks around contentedly the other two, a sister who took excellent care of my three girls while I was in the hospital, a ward that has kept us very well fed, a good friend down the street that I owe a million playdates to for taking in my girls so many times the last few days, a doctor who listens and helps when I tell him things are not going quite right, and a husband who helps all of the time, whether at 3:00 pm or 3:00 am.

It's been a long week, but I have been so blessed.

I Am A Balloon

A few days after I had Braden, I looked at my stomach and was just dismayed. It was still big! Really big! I commented on my sad state and instead of saying that I was 'imagining things' or reminding me that I had just had a baby, he said 'yeah, I noticed that.' When I came home from the hospital, a good friend across the street came over with her nieces. Her little five year old niece looked at my stomach and asked if I was having another baby? Ugh. It's hard to hear, even from a five year old. So I just have to remind myself that I am a balloon. As much as I blew up, it takes time to deflate back down.

Welcome Home, Braden!

How fun to have Braden home! The girls are so excited and when Emma got home she went straight to Braden without even saying hello to me. Here's the scoop! We went to the doctor's office on Tuesday, and he sent us down to delivery because I was still having contractions and was retaining fluid like that girl on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I was hooked up to the monitors and given an IV. Unfortunately, they missed and so they had to try again. Not a fan of IV's. We waited a few hours, and they rolled me into the operating room. I had a long, serious talk with the anesthesiologist because I felt too much with Molly, and it was a bad experience. This time, I just wanted to go to my happy place. It was time for my spinal, but they missed. . .three times. Just could not find the right spot. Not a fan of Spinals. It took 5 minutes to get Braden out, and, oh, what joy! It was a boy! The whole room was so excited for us, and we were pretty excited for ourselves as well. I was wheeled into recovery and had about five minutes to recover before I was Mommy again -- time to start nursing! Even if I could barely move! It seems like with each c-section they expect more and more, faster and faster. When I could finally move, it was time to stand up, start walking. Ugh. Day 2 they took out all of my tubes and it was time to walk the halls, go to the restroom, take a shower. I always looked at the nurses as if they were insane, but I was able to tackle each thing. Braden is a joy. He rarely cries, he just takes everything in, and is full of patience with his attentive sisters. What a joyful addition to our family!