It's been a while...

...since I've checked my email in my Yahoo account (where I get all my junk mail sent). I have 1214 new messages.

Random pics

Just to give you all an update, I've been feeling MUCH better as of late; I'm starting to heal more quickly now and feel like I'm definitely on the upswing. I still have some pain every now and again, but not nearly as often as I used to. I think I might be my old self in a couple of weeks (hoping!!!). Other than being very sleep deprived, I'm feeling pretty good. Ethan has decided to be awake from 4-6 the last two mornings, which is just kicking my butt. I think I've arranged the kids schedules today to give myself an hour nap. Let's hope that I get it!!! Ethan seems to be more difficult to get on a schedule than Mallory was, but I think I'm just speaking in the moment. Ethan has been pretty congested in the last 24 hours, though he sounds better after I've sucked out some of the junk in his nose and started the humidifier. Keep him in your prayers...


Here are some pics that were taken of me and my kids while preparing for our Christmas picture...

Our Thanksgiving

I'm very thankful that my sister and brother-in-law decided to come up for Thanksgiving. We didn't know until Wed. night if they were coming! They both felt up to the car ride and arrived Thursday afternoon, just in time to start dinner preparations!!! It was nice to have them visit and introduce my son to his aunt and uncle. Here are a few pictures from our Thanksgiving meal.

Mallory helping me in the kitchen.

Ethan helping Aunt Amanda peel potatoes

The spread. I actually cooked the turkey in the crockpot and it turned out GREAT!















Ethan...

Daddy's bookshelf

Mallory LOVES books. She flips through them and "reads" through the pages. She's even starting to like some of Daddy's classics.
















Patrick's bookshelf after Mallory "reads" the books.














A Jane Austin fan??? (Kelly - I thought about you when I saw which book Mallory had. If you had girls, I'm sure you would be proud)

Update...

My doctor's appt yesterday was good. I don't have an infection, which I didn't think I had, and the doctor thought I was healing "great", since, in his opinion, it looked like a grenade had gone off in my bottom after Ethan arrived. I told him that the OB who delivered Mallory told me the same thing! Anyway, he said to be patient...that with the condition that I was in when Ethan was born and how I'm healing now is great. Well, that was good news, except I'm tired of being patient! I am feeling much better since this weekend, though I still have stabs of pain every now and then. I'm still taking it slow, though I'm itching to get out of the house! I just don't want to overdue it until I'm more on the "up" side of my upswing.

Mallory did great at the sitters. My friend, Margaret, was SOOO happy to watch her and felt honored that I called to ask for her help. I hope to return the favor once I'm...again...on the upper upside.

I'm going to start a little bit of my baking today for tomorrow's Thanksgiving meal. We might be on our own again this year, though my sister and her husband are still considering coming up (Amanda is sick and David's back is bothering him :-( ) Anyway, no matter what happens, we're so Thankful for the abundant blessing the Lord generously bestows up on us!

Newborn Pics

I took Ethan's newborn pictures on Sunday. They turned out great! I usually do some post-processing work in Photoshop, but I really liked the natural pictures and didn't want to manipulate the newborn look. These are not my absolute favorites...I'm saving those for his announcements and Christmas presents, but they are some of the good ones.

PS - I have another doctor's appointment today. Pray for me and the doctor so we can figure out what needs to be done to help me heal better! Mallory will be going to a sitter...her first time being left at a friends house without mommy. Pray for her and for my friend, Margaret!

Newborn Faces...

Here is a video I took of Ethan last week (while he was still "glowing"). Though this may not be interesting for some of you, the grandparents and aunts will LOVE it. :-)

Girl Talk...

Setting: Mommy just cleaned Mallory up from eating honey and jam at Cracker Barrell. Here, she gives you an idea of what our "conversations" are like as of late.

Great News!

We went to the pediatrician again yesterday for another biliruben test and the doctor said that Ethan looked so good that he didn't need to take the test! Plus, since he's gaining weight like a champ, I could count yesterday's visit as his 2-week check-up and I don't have to go next week (MAJOR blessing since I would have taken both kiddos by myself)!!!

To celebrate, we went to Cracker Barrell for breakfast. Mallory entertained herself by chewing on the containers of jam (FYI...honey is VERY sticky and spreads everywhere and blackberry jam won't stain if you used lots of Spray N' Wash). Ethan quietly slept in his carseat while we enjoyed a yummy down home breakfast.

As for me, I'm still on the recovery. After 11 days, I'm still very sore and am trying to be patient in the healing process. I get frustrated very easily, but Patrick keeps reminding me that I will eventually heal. :-)

OH - I had my first outting today with just the kiddos. We went to playgroup and I felt like I accomplished a major victory getting them in and out of the car by myself. I think I can do this multi-kids thing. :-)

Big Sister

Mallory has been doing SO well with Ethan. She is still learning to be gentle with him, but is getting more curious by the day. She's sat with me a couple of times while I'm nursing him and watches intently, though only for a few seconds before she's off to the next thing.

Grandma has been entertaining Mallory quite a bit while we've been taking Ethan to Doctor's appts (4x in the past 7 days!!!) and an appointment for me (I thought I had an infection, but don't, praise God!). Mallory has been loving on her Grandma and my mom loves playing with her. They've been building bock towers, reading books, singing, jumping, and so many other adventures that Mallory loves. My mom has also done about a dozen loads of laundry, loaded and unloaded my dishwasher several times, and helps me keep things clean around the house. What a blessing it's been!!! I'll really miss her when she leaves, which I think is tomorrow; we've been playing it one day at a time.

Anyway, here are some recent pics of Mallory in the last few days.

Slippers

Thanks to my friend, Shannon, Ethan now has 3 pairs of new shoes!!! These slippers are the best and don't fall off (well, when he's wearing socks!). Thanks, Shannon!

Here are the pics from her blog that has all the shoes. Ethan's include all of them except the bottom right pair.

Breast is Best!

When we went to Ethan's check-up on Monday morning, he was 8lbs 9oz, which is 3 oz more than his birth weight. He's growing so well and LOVES to eat!!!

Phototherapy Lights

Here are some pictures of the set-up we have for Ethan while he's in his phototheraphy "blanket". The contraption looks like a projector and where the lens would be, there is a cord that connects to a 20"x4" blanket that wraps around his body and shines a bright blue light directly on his skin. He's on it through the remainder of today and then will be off all day tomorrow before we go to the doctor on Thursday to re-check his levels. The biliruben levels are dropping; lets pray that they won't spike too high once he's off the lights or we'll have to start them back up again.

The one picture with me in the chair is without the flash so you can see him glowing. He looks really funny at night...like a little blue lightening bug laying in the bed. He's a trooper.

Bili Boy

Ethan is our little glow worm. Literally.

He has a high biliruben count, leaving him a nice, jaundice-y yellow color. His level is high enough for our pediatrician to recommend him take in some phototherapy sessions with "bili-lights". We had a home health agency show up at our house today, leaving us with a phototherapy blanket, which is on Ethan all the time except for being changed or bathed. It's a pain, but it should help the biliruben clear out of his system. The phototherapy blanket makes him look like a bright, blue firefly. Our little glow worm.

I have pictures to post, but I just wanted to give a brief update on why I haven't been posting lately. As for me, I'm still very sore and very tired. Mom is staying an extra day or two to help adjust to the phototherapy stuff, since it causes things to be even more complicated. Patrick is off all next week to help me out, too. And the dinners start coming, too!!!! Thank the Lord for loving family and friends.

More to come later...

A few updates

All is going well at the homefront, thanks to the help of our family!!! Patrick actually went back to work today and will go tomorrow as well. He'll be off the majority of next week (Mon - Thurs) and then my sister and her husband will be up over the Thanksgiving holiday. We already have some meals scheduled to come to us from dear friends over the next several weeks as well. We've been blessed! I'm feeling pretty well. I'm still VERY sore, since I did have some tearing down below. I'm moving slow, but with extra hands around, my kids are being well taken care of. Now, if I can just get Ethan to sleep at night instead of in the day... :-)

My dad has been here since yesterday and is leaving this afternoon to head back home. Mom is staying until Saturday afternoon. It should be just the 4 of us next week, which will be a very special time for our family.

Here are some recent pics...I'll keep the updates coming as I can! PS - Grandmas and Aunts --> I am currently getting pictures uploaded to a developer to make sure I print some out and sent out to you ASAP!!!

Ethan Price Moss

For those of you who did not read my sister's comments in the last post (smart thinking, Amanda!!!), Ethan arrived on Monday morning, Nov 5, around 9:27am. My water broke about 3am, so I was only in labor for about 6.5 hours this time around (13 for Mallory). Labor was hard, but God was so gracious to sustain me through it all. My mom was able to make it in time to see Ethan born, which was special for her and for Patrick, since I know he needed her support as well. Gram and Pop helped care for Mallory while Ethan entered the world, which was a huge relief for me to know she was well taken care of. Thanks, also, to our neighbors who came over at 3:30am to sit with Mallory until Gram and Pop arrived around 8am!

Ethan was 8lbs 6oz and 25 inches (CORRECTION - he's 20 inches - Thanks Courtney!) long. There were no complications with my labor and unlike my experience with Mallory, I was able to keep Ethan in my room for a few hours before he was taken to the nursery for his first assessment. I was able to nurse within an hour of his delivery and he ate for about an hour! He's a good little eater.

We left the hospital yesterday about 5:30pm, a little less than 36 hours from delivery!!! It was wonderful to be home last night with my whole family. Mallory still has a lot to get used to with Ethan here. Continue to pray for her. She loves it when I can be alone with her but has issues when I hold Ethan. Every time she sees me, though, she'll get better.

I will update more later, but for now, enjoy the pics!

What I WON'T miss about pregnancy...

This is probably the 3rd night in a row where I've had insomnia. And then, when it's time for me to take a nap in the afternoon, I can't sleep either. Needless to say, I'm very tired. But, with Ethan moving a lot, having contractions every now and then, and having a 7+ lb baby in my belly, "comfortable" is something I can't quite say about my state of being at this moment. I don't remember being this uncomfortable with Mallory. I'm looking forward to labor. (wait...did I just say that????)

I'm hoping I won't have too many more of these late nights. My brain can't shut down as I think of all the things I want to do, but can't find the energy to do once it's time to do them. So, once I stop blogging, I will be tweeking the document I've written about Mallory's schedule for whoever cares for her while we're in the hospital (which could be a wide range of people) and I *guess* I should write a brief list of instructions for the dog, too.

I'll close with a small list of things I'll look forward to once pregnancy is over (*trying* to be a Pollyanna)!!!
1. Cuddling a newborn on my chest rather than in my belly
2. Sleeping on my back.
3. WINE!!! Specifically, Pinot Noir!
4. Walking normally without a profound waddle
5. No contractions everytime I stand up, climb the stairs, or pick up my daughter
6. Waking up to feed a baby rather than go to the bathroom

Halloween Pics

We took Mallory to the Fall Festival at church for Halloween. While we were there, she had fun playing at the different gaming stations while Mommy and Daddy racked up on the candy for her efforts :-) She had more fun running all over the place than playing the games, but it was a joy for Patrick and I to watch her be a chicken nonetheless. After the festival, Patrick and I walked her around the neighborhood for trick or treating. She received MANY compliments on how cute she was. I know that's surprising to you all...

Knocking down Goliath with Grandma (and I believe she actually threw the bean bag herself!!!)

Playing darts with Daddy



















Making a glow bracelet with Mommy (which she somehow managed to break and get yellow glow juice all over her hands and costume)

Any Day Now?

I had an OB appt yesterday and I've made progress since last week; I'm now 3cm dialated and 50% effaced. I've been having some mild contractions, but nothing regular that would make me think "today's the day". Only the Lord knows.

Anyway, I'll keep you posted as I can. In the meantime, I hope to post some pictures from our Halloween festivities yesterday and other things we did this week with my mom. Did I mention in a previous post that my mom has been in town since Mon? I don't know...but anyway, it's been a WONDERFUL treat to have her help with my active little girl and with other odds and ends around the house. And I know Mallory has had fun with Grandma over the past few days. I know she'll miss the activity once my mom leaves this afternoon, since I'm moving slower and slower as my impending due date approaches. :-)