Finally... Life after Baby

Well, before Toby was born I had all intentions of trying to blog every day to share our experiences of having Toby in our lives. Well I failed! Life has been so hectic with family visiting, surviving having no sleep, and all the while keeping up a house hold and keeping a 13 year old occupied. So here are some things that I can remember over the last two months of having Tobuius Kenneth Jerry Thomas in our lives.
* When we first brought him home from the hospital I don't think we could put him down. It was just too amazing that this little thing came from the two of us.
*Griff stayed the first night in the hospital with us. I can't even begin to explain how much it meant to me to have Tyler and Griffin in the hospital room with me.
*I quickly learned that even though I was exhausted there were moments where I couldn't sleep because I just had to check and make sure he was okay sleeping, not to mention how fascinating it was to just sit and watch him sleep.
*I am learning that love is deeper then I had ever imagined. Not only for my child, but for everyone in my life.
*Mornings are Toby's favorite time. We lay in bed and talk and laugh with each other. Weekends in the morning are my favorite time because Tyler and I are both able to lay in bed and play with Toby between us.
*Watching Griff "walk" across the living room with Toby makes me laugh so hard my sides hurt.

Being a parent truly is something you can't fully understand until you are a parent yourself. It has already been one of the most awarding experiences of my life in the last 3 months. And I can't wait to see what the next days bring.

One Week

Well, we've almost made it. There is one more week until baby thomas is here. We are excited and ready for him to make his entrance into the world. I, sadly, have started to do the prego waddle which I suppose one week to go is not too bad to be doing the waddle. I have to stop mid walk sometimes and try to correct myself in my stride, only to realize that it is virtually impossible and that it's hopeless and that one week of prego waddling is just going to have to occur (maybe I'll try to limit how much I walk around!). The nursery is ready, there are few more "to pick up" things like baby Tylenol, some batteries for odds and ends (the bottle warmer, baby monitors, swing). But I keep reminding myself that no matter how ready we think we are we won't be. That's part of what makes parenting exciting. I think we're ready. I know we're excited. Griff sat in the baby's room last week and read his books. I can't wait until Griff sits and reads with him. There are so many "firsts" that are going to coming into our lives for the next 18 years and I'm excited to see where the journey takes us. I'm nervous about leaving work and leaving the kids I work with a week away from graduation but so blessed at the same time that the timing ended up the way it did. We couldn't have planned it to work out so well. This time next week I'll be going to bed, ready to wake up in the morning to have Baby Thomas removed from my body and introduced to the world.

The Big Day is coming up Soon!

Well today is April 25th (I still can't believe how quickly time has gone by). We've got about a month left and things all around are busy. School has been busy with the normal end of the school year stuff. Seniors starting to freak out about "the rest of their lives", other students realizing that there are only a couple weeks left in school. With all the excitement of Spring filling the halls, it's hard for me to concentrate on things at work. Normally I do pretty good through the end of the school year but this year is quite different. I keep thinking about the fact that in a month we're gonna have a little boy keeping us up at night. A little boy that poops terrible poops, and pees right as we take the diaper off. and I can't wait for all of it. Griff is getting excited even though he's not quite sure how to feel about it. Tyler is pretty funny because he asks questions that seem second nature to me from being around Zoe and Ben. I can't wait to see him with a newborn since he has no experience.

We had a doctors appointment on Friday and we talked about our birthing options and what to expect over the next couple weeks. We have an appointment in two more weeks, and then we're on to the once a week appointment until little Baby Thomas comes. We can't wait, and the excitement around our house is an awesome feeling! We got the crib, the rocking chair, and everything organized. Although I'm sure once the nesting fits hit I'll fold and refold the baby's clothes, reorganize things a million more times before the kid comes. I found myself the other day just sitting in the rocking chair staring at the crib trying to imagine what it will be like to have such a little person needing me so desperately. Being a parent changes you for sure, and has changed the way I look at life knowing that there is a little person inside of me that some day will be my age, going through life experiences as I watch on.

Almost 34 Weeks

Man has time flown by since October when we found out we were pregnant. I am almost 34 weeks along (which means we're getting closer!!). We have been seeing the doctor every two weeks and have begun the discussion of having an elective c-section. We are going back and forth on doing this instead of the whole natural birthing process. We have an appointment with Dr. Holland to discuss the pros and cons and look at getting the facts before we make a decision. I am still feeling really healthy and am truly blessed to have had such a simple pregnancy so far. Here's hoping that our baby boy is just as easy to manage! He likes to get really active and kick the heck out of me right around bed time and stays pretty active through the nights (or maybe it's just because that's the time of day that I'm actually not busy with work and life. We have decided on a name and I'm pretty excited about it. I think it will be a good strong name. We've moved into our new house and the baby's room is slowly coming together. We have all the clothes washed and the nursery is slowing coming together. We need the glider and the crib and I think we'll be as ready as we could ever be, since there is no real way of being prepared to have such an amazing thing join our family.

30 Weeks

Finally, I'm 30 weeks. I'm starting to actually "feel" pregnant. I was walking down the hallway the other day at work and passed some students and I could hear them whisper "is she pregnant or fat?". Ah the joys of working at a high school while being prego! My baby shower is this weekend and I am excited. Jenna is hosting it for me and we're having it at my Alt. Ed. Program location. My parents will be in town and my close friends to celebrate such a wonderful thing. We're moving on the 2nd which is awesome as well. We'll finally have a place to put all the stuff we've been getting from friends and family instead of in a pile in the basement. The thing I'm really excited for is that we can start buying a crib and a bookcase and stuff for the baby's room so we can start to get ready for our lovely little boy. We've decided on a name but we've also decided not to tell anyone and save that as a surprise for the day he's born so we can officially make an announcement when he decides to come!

Almost 7 Months

I was checking the calendar today after a conversation with a senior about graduation when I realized that there are only 65 days left of the school year. And I still can't believe not only how quickly this school year has flown by but how quickly and easily (knock on wood) this pregnancy has been. I truly have been blessed to have no morning sickness, no "side effects" to being pregnant. Nothing other than a growing appetite and a growing belly. Gifts from friends have trickled in. Momma Marcia sent us a box of wonderful things that make it all the more real that soon our little boy will be here.

We are still discussing names. People ask me how the "preparations" are coming along and oddly we've done nothing. We're waiting to move so perhaps once that move happens and we actually have room for the baby we'll start making preparations. Suppose we should buy a crib and stuff soon but I don't want to buy stuff and then have to move it. Better to only move it once right!

6 Months

So I reached six months prego last Wednesday. Or 24 weeks how ever you want to look at it since it seems pregnancy/early years of a child's life is measured in weeks/months, not any other length of time. We have another doctors appointment this Thursday with Dr. Holland. It's hard to believe that it's been 4 weeks since we found out we're having a little boy. We've tossed around a few ideas for names. Tyler really wants to keep the T.T. tradition with names. Like Torin, or Tyson, or Trevor (we don't actually like any of those names it's just examples). The only thing we have decided on is the middle name... will be Baby Ski Jerry Thomas. Now we just have to come up with a first name. I'm more of a unique name type of person more so than a classic name type. I want a name that can be long or short like William/Will. But we have yet to find the perfect name that fits our baby and our family.

My boss has forced me to reduce my hours at work because he was concerned about the hours that I was putting in. Which I am truly blessed to have a boss that cares about and looks after the well being of his employees. I have always had a flexible schedule but after he sat me down in my office and talked about my health and the health of my baby I feel like I've been given permission to go home early when I'm exhausted or not feeling well. So now I can come in when I feel like it or leave early when I need to as long as my work load is being done and I'm passing some things off and sharing responsibility.

We haven't bought anything for the baby yet because we're waiting to get moved before buying stuff. That way when we move we don't have to move all that stuff with us. Hopefully we'll get moved sometime soon so we can unpack and get settled and begin to try to put together some type of nursery. We won't be able to paint or really decorate the room because there is the chance that we will have to move again next June so the crib set will be the expressive part of the nursery!