There are few things more wonderful that being with one's family, I think. I was able to host my immediate family for a weekend that also included M's baptism and party. It was wonderful to have such a full house! It's not all that common for us to be able to get together now that my siblings are 20ish and older. (almost Em! ;) ) We all have so much going on in our lives be that our own families, houses, work and school. It's great to take some time and reconnect a bit.
The highlight of the weekend was of course the baptism. Kevin, my brother, and his wife stood up as Godparents, promising to support us in raising M in the Faith. They are great examples and I have no doubt M will be blessed to have them! The priest is a college friend of Joe's. The story goes that Father offered a Mass on our behalf last summer asking the Lord to bless us with a child and a month later we found out that I was pregnant with M. I know there were many prayers for us that came from so many different people at that time so it was wonderful to have father's presence there to remind us of that.
Welcome little M to a new life in Christ and this Church!
And no crying was heard!
This picture just screams "Spiritual Father" amiright?!
Godparents... how photogenic can one couple be?!
Have you ever seen such good looking grandparents, I mean honestly!
Party time back at the house. Oh! How bout that pinteresting cake by Emily?! She rocked it as usual.
You know, looking back at these pictures makes my heart ache in a good way. You can see it written on everyone's face the JOY that comes with a new child. The day was special, the sacrament was powerful and the baby, just plain miraculous. Thank you Jesus!
I know, he's been here a week and I still haven't updated the blog. I did post on facebook though, on my phone from the hospital no less, so I should get some credit!
His birth was NOTHING like I thought it would be. A stalled labor and Csection were nowhere on my birth plan, not that I had one this time because I assumed it would be a little more on the fast and furious side like the time before. I mean, 2nd babies are supposed to make for easier labors right?! But thank God for medical intervention when it is very much needed. We found out that the cord had been wrapped around his neck twice which kept everything from moving along and was putting him at risk during labor (his heart rate was dipping toward dangerous on the monitors). The right call was made and the doctor was able to get him out when he needed to be out safe!
Here's a little video Joe put together of some pics surrounding Matthew's arrival. Enjoy!
1. Wouldn't 4-4-14 have been a great birthday? I think so... no one told this "overdue" baby boy :) Let's hope he's not a procrastinator like me but rather takes after his dad more ex-utero. I'm only 6 days past due date and docs aren't in any rush with all the vitals looking good.
My view
2. Actually, I feel great, so while I'm excited to meet the little guy and my family and friends are excited, I'm only feeling partly rushed. He's easier to care for this way, ha ha. I think he's in a posterior position (facing the wrong direction, he should be facing my spine but is facing my left side instead) so he hasn't dropped down and therefore my body isn't getting an extra push to get going. The last week has been spent in all kinds of semi-contorted positions trying to give him room to rotate a bit and drop with no results. Still getting kicked in the same place. Curious about baby positioning?
3. God Bless my in-laws and parents who are on-call for this birthing thing. My in-laws will take Ben whenever we head to the hospital so he's taken care of and then my parents want to come over and meet the little guy (then my mom will be back a week or two later just to help out, yay!)
4. Topic and child change... Ben is uber obsessed with Dinosaurs. He asks everyone we meet what their favorite dinosaur is... EVERYONE. I, on the other hand feel like such a "boy's mom" knowing lots more dino facts than I ever expected!
5. We also watched Frozen with Ben, and holy constant questions Batman! it was a long haul. We watched it as a family, a rare occurance, the only other movies he's seen are Cars and Planes, but that's about it for feature-length flicks. He talked almost through the whole thing... why are they sad? why is there magic? why would he say "wrong things" (aka, lie)... seriously, we sat there for over 10 min after the movie finished for him to finish big questions and then the continued into the evening. I'm proud of him for being such a thinker :)
King Cake from Fat Tuesday
6. Lent has been going well, like last year I have a couple activities that Ben is doing to keep up with what's going on and help him understand. This year we have a countdown calendar (with a dinosaur, of course, on the day that we're on that we move as the days go by), the book "Benjamin's Box" along with corresponding things (I'll show you that later) and a crown of thorns that we take a thorn out whenever we do something that would be helping Jesus or make Jesus feel better. Thanks to Catholic Icing for a lot of these ideas.
Ash Wednesday Mass, love going with my little buddy
7. Did I mention that Ben likes dinosaurs? Here's some proof, he memorized this song from Dinosaur Train in a couple days...
Hopefully there will be news soon, will update as soon as I can :)
For those who have wondered how baby and I have been over the last several months. I started this pregnancy at the lowest weight I've been since maybe sophomore year of high school. After the first trimester I was cleared to eat gluten and dairy again, wahoo, I gained what I think is a good amount for the size belly I've been given so to speak :)
15 weeks - lost some weight first trimester, thanks cruddy morning sickness
All four of us dressed up for Halloween
Approx. 20 weeks
Christmas pictures about 22 weeks, thanks to Emily
Polar Vortex gazing, 30 weeksish
35 weeks selfie for documentation of largeness
38 weeks, Date night when the little guy threatened to arrive a tad early.
We ended up just heading home early and things calmed down after some water and rest.
I still feel like I deserve some Olive Garden though...
39 weeks, This past Sunday, hoping this will be one of the last belly photos.
Seriously, this belly! I feel really blessed that I've felt so good for so much of this pregnancy, well, the second half anyway. Just waiting for the go signal at this point!
On the note of labor and delivery, I'm trying to figure out how to either update the blog or facebook, so hopefully you'll be seeing something in the next week!
I figured one of the easiest ways to get back into this blogging thing would be to do some Quick Takes.
1. It's been a long time since blogging regularly. After getting pregnant the morning sickness quickly set in til almost 20 weeks. It was so much worse than the first go round with Ben, Joe was a true trooper making dinner, keeping up the house, putting Ben to bed, etc. I'm so grateful for the blessing my husband has been in so many ways!
2. We got new phones that allow me to take better and easier pictures. It's been fun to have so many spontaneous pics liiiiike...
just hangin out with my buddy
3. I'm 37 weeks along and feeling big, post to come with belly pics, what few I have anyway.
4. There's so many house projects that have gone down since last August. I want to do a dedicated house post soon, I enjoy what our hard work has done. I've been loving the Young House Love blog for inspiration.
Tearing up carpet
5. Ben seems so old these days at three and a half. One of his favorite things is soccer, he's in the Park district soccer program and it's been alot of fun watching him learn new things and enjoy himself so much. The coaches in this program are fantastic.
6. Looking forward to holding this little guy in roughly 3 weeks :)
Does he look like his big bro?
7. Putting this post together has made me realize that we are sorely lacking in picture taking the last 6 months or so. Not only that but I need to organize this computer... and all the closets... and go through Ben's grown out of clothes... where's that nesting burst of energy?
