Halloween 2012

The last few weeks leading up to Halloween we started talking about trick or treating, costumes, etc... Unfortunately the boys were both terrified of scary costumes, the masks in particular.  Apparently their sister putting one on in the store and coming around a corner to scare them left a lasting impression.  Someday I am sure they will refer to this as Halloween PTSD when discussing with their therapist.  We decided we would just go early and hope for the best with no big expectations, it is after all only Halloween.  We left around 530 and hit a few houses on our street.  All was good!  They were both mute even though we practiced saying "trick or treat", "thank you" and "happy Halloween" for the better part of the day.  Dex did mumble a thank you once or twice.  Since they were doing so well we decided to check out the neighborhood next to us (our neighborhood is geezer-ville....only 4 houses answered the door).  The boys did so great!  I was so proud!  They loved ringing the bell almost as much as they loved the candy.  As the sun went down the bigger kids in scary costumes started their night of tricks.  Sawyer saw 2 or 3 and said he was done.  I asked "how about one more street?  You don't want more candy?"  His reply, "No, I'm good." and that was that.  Home by 7pm so they could binge eat candy!  Halloween 2012 a success!  

I'll leave you with a few pictures of my little Dinosaur and baby Duck.  We have called Dex baby duck pretty much since birth because his hair is like baby duck feathers.

PS Karly was far too cool to join us ;)

The costume details if you are interested:

For Dex's shirt I simply hot glued a feather boa to a random turtleneck he already had, orange sweatpants and the duck feet pattern/tutorial from here.  I cut the pattern down to the seam allowance (inside line) and they fit pretty well for a size 7 shoe.  I also used felt on Dex's because I didn't read her directions before shopping :)

Sawyer's dinosaur I just added spikes to a hoodie, paired with matching sweatpants, I used this dinosaur tail pattern/tutorial, and used the same concept as the duck feet to make dinosaur feet I used broadcloth and felt inside for stability for them.

Halloween

Growing up we rarely did Halloween. I guess there was a 3 or 4 year streak that we dressed up and maybe trick or treated (maybe...I can't really remember). My mom was never a fan of Halloween and always told us it was evil so we'd head off to the store and buy whatever candy we wanted!! Then we'd go to the movie theater. We always seemed happy with it. I honestly don't ever remember feeling like we were missing out anything. 

 Now that I am an adult I totally get where my mom was coming from! I just don't love Halloween. AT ALL. I think it's just sort of a waste. That being said, I do love seeing the kids all dressed up, I could just forgo the treating. Since the boys are so little and the girl is so big we only hit about 5 house on our street this year. Sawyer would have been perfectly happy with the big bowl of candy we had at home. I could barely drag him away from it to go out. Not wanting to spend a small fortune on Chinese made crap we decided to go the handmade route again this year...and why not?!?! Ummm hello they are so much cuter!! I will enjoy dressing them what I want while I can! Sawyer went as Clark Kent/Superman (idea via Pinterest). I should have probably tried the outfit on ahead of time so I would have known just how big those glasses would be. Oops. Dex went as a cow....the cutest cow you've ever seen! Best part. Cute boys in costumes I made from stuff we had! Cha-ching! Sawyer figured out how to walk to the door and hold out his bucket but never once said trick or treat or thank you. Sigh...maybe next year. He did knock, ring the bell and proceed to walk right into someone's house though! Dex hung back in the stroller since his walking skills weren't quite mastered well enough to not risk biffing it. All in all a successful year celebrating the "evil holiday"!

Mess = Entertainment

Yes, that is my brute of a son slamming and crushing every ounce of water out of his cup.

Yes he is making a huge mess.

Yes, it is totally worth it to me.  

10 minutes of entertainment in exchange for a minute of clean up and a clean table to boot.

Yes, I think that's a fair trade.

Dexter's first real bath

So I am a little late in posting this...story of my life. 

I guess maybe at this point it’s considered normal or on time and not really late anymore.

Dexter’s first real bath.  I know a lot of people don’t give their babies real baths for the first few weeks, but nothing is better than a fresh smelling baby.  Soooo, when I tell you that Dex didn’t get his first bath until he was SIXTEEN days old, yes 16 I say it with a little shame.  Of course we had to wait for his belly button and man parts to heal before tub time.  His belly button finally fell off but not all of it, so the doctor treated it with a little silver nitrate which caused an oozy gross mess.  I was a little worried about getting it wet so I waited until it looked less nasty.  Once he was completely immersible I was sick and not up to the whole first bath experience.  So a few days later we finally had our first bath!  Let me tell you...he actually didn’t mind it!  Most babies seem to scream through the entire thing but I think I have learned the trick.  WARM WATER, like warmer than most people think.  I think those little babes get cold and upset!  I have always used warmer than normal and my kids are happy bath babies.

Check him out!

Yes, he is getting a bath in a bowl.  Why? 

Well, I thought I saved the baby tub but I guess not.  I have a slingy chair thingy that goes in the big tub but it seemed like too much effort for a 2 minute bath.  Or I could just say he is my 3rd and the tub isn’t that important to me when the bowl does the trick!  Dex loves the bowl!  It’s deep enough that it’s probably womb like (warm and wet) and he doesn’t move around too much.  Yep, he is a happy little bath boy!

Baby O is here!

and is a 

BOY!!!!

Yes, we have another little boy in our house.

Dexter Mason Oxford made quite the entry into this world November 16 at 11:28am weighing 8 lbs 7 oz and 21.25" long.  

I have always had this idea of just how I wanted my labor to go.  I am not sure why it is something I put so much value on or that I have such a specific idea of how I want it to go.  Ever since I had Karly though I have had this vision of what my labor and birth experience would be.  Karly's was FAR from it,  Sawyer's was closer and Dexter's was as close as I will ever get since he is our last (according to Chris).  I will say there is very little I would have done differently.  I truly got most of what I had envisioned.  I always wanted to go into labor on my own preferably in the early morning hours when the house is still quiet.  I imagined myself puttering around the house, baking something tasty to keep my mind busy and to bring to the nursing staff breathing through contractions as needed.  Waiting at home as long as possible, getting to the hospital and delivering just a few hours later.  I knew I wanted to pull this baby out myself and immediately be the first to hold him and see what sex he was.  Well, it went just like that...ok, sort of...

Here is my story!

Around 2am I was pretty aware I was having contractions, but I had been having similar ones for weeks.  I was dozing off in between them, but very aware when they would start.  Around 3am I was realizing this was probably the real deal and decided to get out of bed.  I was tossing and turning trying to get comfortable so I moved to the couch and turned on the news and started timing them.  (FYI there is an app for that ;)  Contraction Master...pretty handy little app I tell ya').  Chris woke up at 4:30a to get ready for work.  He was very torn on whether he should even go in.  Knowing I could stay at this point for HOURS he decided to try to go in for a few hours.  I was having contractions about 5 minutes apart lasting about 45 seconds long.  I was fairly uncomfortable but nothing miserable at this point.  The kids were both asleep so it was just me.  I had always wanted to have a few quiet hours alone to just focus and rest.  Chris left for work and I immediately worried he should have stayed home.  He called me at 6am to tell me that they were trying to find a replacement for him and that he would leave at 7 whether someone came in or not.  I said ok and hung up.  I called him back 10 minutes later and said I thought he should head home.  My contractions were about 4 minutes apart lasting 45 seconds to over a minute.  I was really getting uncomfortable at this point.  Karly got up for school but ended up staying home, I called our cousin Tammy to watch the kids until my mom could get here.  I hopped in the shower thinking it would make me a little more comfortable...not really helpful for me.  I attempted to get ready but barely got my hair dry.  Chris was home at this point packing up last minute stuff and I finished packing.  We hopped in the truck and headed for the hospital.  It felt like I had contractions the ENTIRE way there!  I seriously was so miserable sitting in the truck, I wanted to flip around in my chair so badly. We finally got to the hospital and into a room at 8:30a.  I was 5cm dilated and contracting about every 3 minutes for around a minute.  Things went very quickly from this point forward.  My photographer got there right behind us, my mom at some point an hour or so later.  I broke down (again) and wanted an epidural.  I could not sit still when they were trying to place it and they couldn't get it in right.  My right foot was completely numb and that is it!  Another epidural that didn't work.  I was at 8cm at this point.  I was really upset and very overwhelmed.  Next time they checked me I was a 10 and since the epidural hadn't taken and I was a 10 there wasn't much point in attempting another one.  We decided to just get to pushing. Pushing went VERY fast...thank goodness!!!!  I would guess less than 15 minutes but honestly I couldn't even tell you.  I rarely noticed the clock.  Almost 3 hours to the minute after walking into the hospital I was holding my baby.  As soon as I could see him I pulled him out of me and onto myself.  

Intense doesn't even begin to describe how this experience felt.  It felt much faster than 3 hours, I think I opened my eyes maybe 5 times in 3 hours until it was time to push.  I seriously chewed a piece of gum with my eyes closed attempting to pull my belly up begging my brain to slow down and attempt to gain some composure.  It was the only thing that provided ANY sort of relief and it was minimal.  I wish I could tell you that I stayed calm and rationale but I was the screaming lady with no control.  Unfortunately I did tear badly again, but not as bad with Sawyer.  Dexter's head was over an inch smaller than Sawyer's but they weighed the exact same weight!  We only had a few visitors and just relaxed for the rest of the day.  Chris came home to be with the kids that night and they let me us go home around noon the next day.  One problem, the baby still had no name!  They literally came to our room and told us the birth certificate lady was leaving within the hour and wouldn't be back until 3 so if we wanted to leave we had to pick a name or we would have to wait for her to get back.  Soooo Chris and I each gave a little on what we wanted for a name choice.  

My recovery has been 100% better this time than last.  6 weeks after having Sawyer I was still fairly uncomfortable.  I am amazed at how much better I have done this time around.  I am beyond thankful for it.  I was very concerned about having a newborn and chasing a toddler if I could hardly sit or get to standing without being in serious pain.  

I sit here typing this with an almost 2 week old Dex sleeping on my chest.  He is absolutely perfect in every way.  I can't even imagine our family without him.  Tell me he isn't perfect!