Big brother meets baby brother for the first time

As you can see he is quite smitten with him. Every day we here “Oh he is so coooot.” And “isn’t he so coot, Mama?” He wants to help do anything and everything for him … it’s true love. Zane on the other hand simply ignores him. Which at this point I’d rather have him do that than hit or be mean I know he’ll come around and they’ll likely be best friends soon enough. The boys have adjusted well and Dash has fit right in.

Sorry its been so long for an update. During labor I managed to pull muscles in my back and my hips are out of alignment so sitting to nurse the baby was about all I could handle. Thankfully things are beginning to work themselves out now and with a little luck I’ll feel 100% by tomorrow.

I’ve got a lot of updating to do but I’m going to break them down into different posts so I don’t overwhelm every one with a huge post.

The Birth Story

After about nine hours of labor little Dash was born. All 8 pounds 1.6 ounces of him…which is rather small for my babies. The labor was rather uneventful and followed the same path that my last labor did. They started me slow with the induction as not to stress the baby or myself. I was thankful for the slow start. I went from 5 to complete in less than an hour and in less than 10 minutes he was born.

He did have the cord around his neck which was a little scary as he was a bit blue in his first minutes of life. But other than that he did just beautifully as did I. When I got to see him for the first time all I could do was cry and say how perfect he was…how beautiful.

Such a rush of emotions that I can’t even find the right words…of course some of that could be that I’m writing this on two hours of sleep. I would go on only two hours of sleep for a lifetime for this little guy. So perfect. I can’t stop staring at him. It was an instant love in those first few minutes that has only grown with each passing day.

Introducing Dash

I almost can’t believe that tomorrow I’ll be holding my new little boy in my arms. Even though the past nine months have felt like an eternity, I still can’t believe tomorrow is the big day!

I’m nervous and excited and hopeful that everything will go well. But most of all I can’t wait to finally meet him, put a face to the name and give him lots of squishy Mama love.

And I can’t wait for my older boys to meet the new baby. My Nicky is most excited and I know I’m going to be a big ball of tears when they meet for the first time.

Such a joyful, spiritual and emotional event welcoming a new life into the world.

Can’t see the vlog update? Click here to watch.

I hit 40 weeks this Sunday. Boy and I beat. I hadn’t been feeling really uncomfortable and exhausted until I hit this week. Now I’m officially 100% ready to meet this little/big guy!

With Christmas being yesterday I can’t help but wonder how Mary felt in her pregnancy. Since she was carrying our Lord and Savior did she have it easier or was she just as big and uncomfortable and I am right now?

I also can’t help but be in awe of how similar we Mom’s are to her. I’m sure she felt all the same joy and elation when she held her son for the first time. Her son was something special for the whole world, but I’m sure when she looked at his tiny little face and hands she just saw her beautiful baby boy.

The baby that she’d nurse, hold, comfort, love and nurture just like I’ve done with my boys and will do with this new one. Gives me chills to think about her and Jesus as a baby.

(I’ll be back later today with a vlog and some exciting news.)

Erin of Beading Moms.com participated in a really fun meme and although I wasn’t tagged I decided to join in!

Rules:

1. Open the 4th picture folder on your computer.
2. Open the 4th picture and post it on your blog.
3. Explain the picture.
4. Tag 4 people to do the same!

This picture was taken when my four year old was 18 months old. Before we were pregnant with our second son….before we were even thinking about adding to our family. I believe we were on our way to Thanksgiving. This takes me back. I wish I could go back and relive certain memories or times…especially when I see old photos.

I Tag:

Renee of BabyStam

Sarah of OakBriar

Steph of Adventures in Babywearing

Janice or Susan of 5 Minutes for Mom

Times have been tough this year. Just like most people we have been affected by the economy. Thankfully not nearly as bad as some people. Even in the times we are living right now my husband and I know we’re blessed and we stop to be thankful for everything we do have.

Some of those blessings have been all the contests on blogs that I’ve won or things I’ve been given because I’m a blogger. I feel like God is using blogging as his source to bless us even in these tough times.

The awesome Graco car seat given to us a couple of months ago saved us a lot of money. And it’s the nicest car seat we’ve had. Now we know Dash will be riding in safety and style!

We’ve also been blessed with a digital camera, a flip camera, subscription to a magazine, slings and more.

Our most recent blessing is the Symphony^TM all-in-one car seat that we won from 5 Minutes for Give-Aways. I’d been wishing for a better seat for my 2 year old. Something safer and that would grow with him over time. But the cost of such a seat was far more than we could afford. As you can imagine this is yet another blessing in our lives and we couldn’t be more thankful. I practically had tears in my eyes as I danced around screaming the good news to my family.

Although I don’t blog or read other blogs because of what I could get out of it, the perks of blogging go beyond just my desire to share my life with others or read about other Mom’s. And I’m ever so grateful.

His first letter to Santa (no small talk here people. lol)

Now what do I say to him when Santa doesn’t bring any of that? See, Santa has already done all his shopping for the year. My son wrote this a bit too late it seems. Hoping I don’t have a dissapointed 4 year old on my hands. Although I somehow doubt it once he is swimming in all the other presents.

This new baby on its way has breathed new life into my mission to go green in more areas of my life. Something about a tiny baby that puts my mind back into that Mother Bear mode where I want to do anything to protect this little one from toxins. Not that I don’t for my older boys or myself but it always reenergizes my desire.

And this is where you veteran greenies come into play. I need help! I’m looking for really good (and hopefully affordable) non toxic shampoos, baby lotions, hand sanitizers (not for the baby obviously) and detergents. If you use any such products I ask that you leave me the name and your experience or opinion in the comments field.

There’s so much information and it can get overwhelming not knowing which ones to really trust or try. In my personal experience asking the advice of Mom’s I know and trust has never failed me :–) Thank you ladies.

(And if you have recipes for such items instead of a store bought product I’m open to hearing those also.)