Going Home

We wanted to go home ASAP after Michael arrived and we pushed to be out 24 hrs after he was born - we almost made it! They had to do a blood test on Mikey exactly 24 hours after his first feeding and even though he ate at 12:20 the nurses recorded that he ate at 1:00.... meaning we had to stay an extra hour..... Oh well - we were packed and ready to go! :)

 After having his heel pricked (again) - Michael was very ready to go home! "Get me out of here mom!"

I gathered quite a nice bracelet collection in our short stay! :)

 His going-home outfit - a friend correctly said, "It's a little Brad outfit!" :) Even though the pants and sweater were NB sized - they were pretty big on the little guy - oh well - it makes for some cute pictures! :)

 He has a dimple on his right cheek - just like his mamma! :) 

 Being wheeled through the cold hallways.

 Getting all buckled in - the first time in the car seat always takes a few minutes to adjust the straps.... Michael wasn't a huge fan. 

 After a short 3 minute drive, we made it home safely...

...and were greeted by Grammy!

Welcome Home Sweet Boy! :) 

Sibling Introductions

Michael was born at 12 o'clock, noon, so the timing worked out perfectly for Lucy to come meet her brother after her nap.

 Never before has my little girl seemed so big to me. 

 "Lucy! This is Michael! He's here sweet girl!"

 Me and my kiddos :)

 Meeting Grammy, my mom. :)

 Mom came into town on Sunday the 11th and was a welcome distraction for her "I-really-don't-want-to-be-pregnant-anymore" daughter. Lucy loved loved loved having her here and quickly started calling her "Gammy." I was able to go through labor without worrying about where Lucy was or how she was doing because my mom had been with us for a few days and had participated in our routine so she knew what was "normal" for Lu.  

I put off giving Michael his first bath because 1) I knew my mom would be thrilled to do the job and would consider it an honor :) and 2) I thought it would give me a few minutes of cuddle-with-Lucy time, hopefully communicating to her that "Mommy still loves you even though there is another little one in our family now." Part of my plan worked - the first part. Lucy wasn't so excited to cuddle with her mom, no surprise in retrospect - she has never been a cuddler. :) 

 Grammy did a great job! 

Side note: I love my mom's hands - I think they are beautiful.  

All clean! 

 Just observing - I love Lucy's profile in this picture. 

 Hug

 Going in.... for the kill?

Thankfully not. :) Kisses all around! 

 Lucy kept eye contact with me for the first 10-15 seconds of "holding" Michael, almost like she was afraid to acknowledge his presence. 

She really wasn't too sure what to think, but looking at him is a step in the right direction. :) 

We captured this interaction on video too - please note how she communicates she is "done" holding the baby:

 Our family of FOUR! 

Resting after Grammy and Lucy left - because meeting siblings is exhausting work! 

Michael Bradley Kidder

We are thrilled to announce the arrival of

Michael Bradley Kidder

Born December 15th, 2011

7 lbs 3.5oz, 20 inches long

Labor and Delivery

 In between contractions - the "best" had yet to come.... 

 S: "Brad, please don't take a picture of me right now, this is not fun anymore."

B: "I'm just making sure the lighting is ok for when he is born."

(Yeah right :)) 

Overwhelming emotions: exhaustion, excitement, awe, thankfulness, relief

 Skin to skin with my son. (I still can't believe he's here almost a week later)

Proud daddy and best. labor. coach. ever. 

"Deck the Halls" 2011

Still no Michael yet.... so I'll take advantage of this extra time I have and share our Christmas decorations with you all! :)

This tree hasn't been set up twice in the same home! Our first Christmas we were in our apartment in Chicago, then our Chicago Condo, then our Pampa "apartment" and now our Pampa home! :) Phew! Maybe we can stay here until at least January 2013? :)

I've even got some Christmas gifts wrapped already! I'm telling you people - I'm ready for this little boy to come!

A "context" picture for you so you can see the corner the tree is in. :) Taken on Sunday afternoon aka: "Football viewing time." Brad put up with me opening the curtains so I could take pictures during Lu's nap - what a nice guy! :) 

Our nativity is set up on the buffet - a great central location where we can enjoy it multiple times during a day. Lucy will stand and look at it saying, "baby" or "Baa." :)

Our Christmas Tablescape - silver and red. :) I had everything except the silver beads (Ikea) and reindeer (isn't he so very friendly? Crate and Barrel, a happy-birthday to me treat.). The flowers are a "You-can-do-it-babe!" gift from Brad - he sure  knows how to cheer up this preggo lady. :)

 

 These happy snowmen are happily situated on the "sewing" desk - adding some Christmas Cheer to the front room. 

They make me smile. :)

I'm much happier with my Christmas wreath than I was with my fall one - I had a piece of garland that I attached to a metal wreath form and then put picks and gold (shatterproof) ornaments on. I had everything on hand already so this was a great project - Cost, $0!! :) Love it when that happens!

We also spent a Monday decorating the outside of our house - we have pretty outdoor lights but I haven't gotten around to taking a picture of them yet, I'll try to capture one before Christmas is over and share it with you - I think we have the most cheerful house on the block, but I may be a bit biased. :)

Well friends, I really hope the next post is a birth announcement! This weekend is a full moon - some say that there are always more babies born on full moons than other times of the month. I have no idea, but I wouldn't be upset if it worked out that way! :) Also I think it would be fun if Michael was born on 12-11-11 or 12-12-11 (I have a thing for double numbers) but again - I would NOT be upset if he came earlier!! :)

39 Weeks: A Journal Entry

A special thanks to my sweet, talented husband for the pictures in this post! He was both my photographer AND editor for these! What a treat to upload pictures that are already edited! :)

I didn't mean this to be a Sarah-centered post - but that, now that it is all done, is kinda what it became. These are my thoughts from today. 

I'm 39 weeks today (these pictures were taken a week ago at 38 weeks) and at the current moment, I'm resting happily comfortable on the couch - blogging, while my husband watches Sunday Afternoon Football next to me and my daughter naps (really well actually, she's been down for over three hours!). 

I am not often comfortable these days, so this is a rare treat. :) 

It's been an interesting month. It's been an interesting pregnancy. I've been much more emotional and hormonal this time around. Maybe, due to the fact that this baby is a boy? Or maybe because I've had more on my plate this pregnancy? I don't know - but this past month has been a bit better (on my end of things - if you ask Brad he may disagree haha!) I still haven't been "myself" but I feel like I've been more capable at handling life. I came to the realization around 7 months along when I was feeling very overwhelmed about having a new baby and an 18 month old, "the way I will feel then is not the way I feel now." I know I'll probably have a few weeks/months of transition, but knowing and remembering that the hormonal shifts become less after having a baby makes me more optimistic about the future. 

I've realized something. I've been over-thinking, over-analizing, over-planning and over-anticipating. This has caused me a lot of stress that simply wasn't/isn't necessary. And it has been a sin.

I haven't been "trusting in the Lord with all my heart" but have instead been leaning on my own understanding.

I just finished a study on Ephesians with some of the ladies at church, By His Wounds You Are Healed: How the Message of Ephesians Transforms a Woman's Identity by Wendy Horger Alsup. I can't recommend this study enough. It has helped me so much in my thinking and application of the gospel in my every day life. Jesus didn't die just to save me from hell. No, his death purchased so much more for me. His death on the cross has made it possible for me to live differently, growing from who I am now to who He wants me to be. Practically, the gospel influences how I should parent my daughter and son, how I should view my role as Brad's HOT(don't let you husband edit your blog :) ) wife. The gospel equips me to stop in the midst of a frustrating situation and change the way I'm about to respond. I am so thankful for this gift that I've been given through the gospel and I'm coming to a much fuller understanding of all that it entails.

I'm so thankful that God is bigger than my hormones. I acknowledge that hormones and emotions are real but I don't believe that they can be an excuse for me to sin against my husband, my children or even the cashier at the grocery store. Realizing that my actions and my speech have large implications on those around me has been humbling and motivating for me to "get it right!"I don't have time to simply meditate on these truths of the gospel - they must become flesh as I work them out in my life. My daughter is watching and my son is on his way.

I have been so humbled the past few months by the actions of my husband. He has shown me, in a very real and tangible way that "a gentle answer turns away wrath" (Proverbs 15:1a) as he has responded kindly to my angry and frustrated words. Seriously - it is like a slap in the face or a splash of cold water! His kind responses caused immediate shame and regret, which I believe was the Holy Spirit prompting me to stop my current projection of conversation - sometimes I listened, sadly others I did not.

I remember after Lucy was born how shocked I was at how my love for Brad grew. I anticipated that my capacity to love would grow because of my new daughter but had no inkling that I would love my hubbie more too. I've heard moms talk about how crazy it was to have their second child and realize that they were capable of MORE love. As I've been coming to a fuller understanding of Christ's love for me and what it means for the way I live my life, I've been challenged to love better. To not just love in words but to follow the instruction in 1 John 3:18, "Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth."

I want the love I give my family to be based on truth, not fake or given begrudgingly. I want the love I give my family to be genuine and Christ-like, not selfish.

I've realized it's easy for me to be a "good Christian" at church, with friends and even with extended family. But the rubber really hits the road in my home, and THIS is where I want, more than anywhere else, for Christ to be seen in me.

I want my children to grow up with a healthy picture of what it means to be a gospel-centered Christian and to see a realistic picture of what life in Christ looks like, with all it's highs and lows.

So this is me at 39 weeks. 

Vulnerable but willing. 

Scared but learning to trust. 

Amazed and excited about the future. 

Getting Ready for Michael: Completed Projects!

Well, the past few weeks have been full of sewing and crocheting (so. very. fun.) and now... all the Michael-projects are done! And I even finished a few things I didn't anticipate even starting before Michael came! He apparently loves his current home and although I am very ready to not be pregnant anymore, I've been trying to take advantage of my "free-time" to practice some of my hobbies (am I allowed include "cleaning" on my hobby list?).

Master Bedroom Curtains: Complete! (I didn't think I'd be able to get these done til after Christmas!)

I adapted this pattern to fit my needs and love how the curtains turned out! The fabric is from Hobby Lobby, I needed 5 yards for the two windows and per Brad's request - I even lined them (which I've been loving too!)! These are quality curtains y'all!

I opted to use the ring-clips at the top again (like I did for our living room canvas-drop-cloth curtains which I've never showed to you officially! Shame on me!) because we really like how they help the curtain stay open/closed and make the opening and closing process much easier. I've been having trouble with my pocket-curtains - they shimmy shut over time, anyone else have this problem? 

Notice the room-arrangement? It's different! Because we needed to make room for this stuff:

Michael's temporary-nursery! The poor child doesn't have his own room (oh the joys of being the second born - he will live. I promise.) but we've done our best to give him a designated space (if not for his sake, for his nesting-mom's). :) This mamma is happy to have this corner done, it helps me feel "ready" to bring my son home from the hospital. 

We were a little overwhelmed/shocked by the amount of space the rocker and pack-n-play took up when we first moved them in, but with a little imagination and the help of Mr. Strong-Man-Brad we were able to make it work. Brad's nightstand lives in the closet for the time-being and the ottoman for the rocker has been put up for a while. The pack-n-play has been divided in half - one side for sleeping and one side for changing. Eventually all of Michael's things will be in with Lucy, since the kids will be sharing a room, but for the first few weeks we thought it would be best to have a space outside of her room to care for his needs. :) 

Michael's Afgan: Complete!

Michael's afghan makes me happy.  I've been really attracted to "chevron" (the fancy name for zig-zag) patterns lately so when I saw these instructions - I knew it was the way I was going to incorporate this "in-style" pattern into our home. :) (You can see Lucy's Afghan here)

(I'm a cooky person - I'll acknowledge it)

Michael's Pillow: Complete!

This was one of those, if-I-have-fabric-and-time-left-I'll-make-it projects. :) And it just so happens I had both! I made Lucy a pillow sham too, it provided a nice back-drop to those first family pictures, taken at the hospital, kept my pillow from getting mixed up with the hospital ones and I'm hoping once we transition her to a toddler bed* it will help her bedding "come together." I followed this tutorial when making Michael's pillow. I, seriously, can't get enough of this animal print!

*We've debated and debated whether to move Lucy directly to a twin-sized bed or transitioning her to a toddler bed first. As of now, we are going to go the toddler bed route - mostly because of space and our desire for the kids to still have room to play in their room. :)

I think the details make it! :) I love the polka-dot "flange." (You can see Lucy's Pillow Sham here)

Swaddle Blankets and matching Burp-Cloths: Complete!

 

These just make me excited to hold a little baby-buritto again! :) 

Thanks again Sherry for showing me how to use a serger and allowing me to use yours to finish off the edges of the swaddle blankets! :)

Boy-Bedding: Complete!

As I've written in the past - we really wanted the main bedding for Michael to be usable for future sons (if we should need them, one baby at a time right now- lol) so I stuck to green and blue. We decided to not make bumper pads (mostly influenced by this) and that decision freed up a bunch of fabric! So I made two fitted crib sheets out of the blue-argyle to help tie all the bedding together. :) I'm really pleased with the way these projects turned out! 

This is one of the crib-skirt's end panels, the front and back panels have two pleat/ties. :)

To see Michael's quilt, click here. :) 

Before signing off of this post, I wanted to introduce you to a new "family member." :) Meet Moose:

Pictured here with Baby Moose, Monkey (made by my sister Becca!) and Giraffe (Michael's first gift ever - from my friend Misty). :) 

Moose is from my Uncle John (who gifted Ellie and Baby Ellie to Lucy and has quite a successful track record of giving (great) nieces their favorite stuffed animals - we are hoping the track record continues with a great-nephew!). We have high expectations that Michael will love Moose just as much as Lucy loves Ellie - ether way though, you'll be seeing him (at least) on a monthly basis as he will share in Michael's monthly photo-shoots. :) 

Why such a literal name? Well, we've decided not to use Moose's given name, "Monte," for a few reasons but mostly because we didn't think it would be easy for a little one to say. Plus Brad called his bear "Bear" and thinks Michael will appreciate the simplicity of "calling it what it is" (haha!! :)).