Sawyer's Newborn Pictures

When our little man was just 10 days new, we scheduled a mini session with my dear friend Abby. She walked into the chaos of our newly expanded family and captured, in what I think is an absolutely perfect way, our new normal. From the sweet images of our newborn son, to the raw way she captured our spirited little girl, I am forever grateful to have this time in our life frozen in the form of a priceless image. And that is exactly what these moments are, priceless. 

And if you want a true image of what life with the Luda's is like at this moment, here it is...Crazy, beautiful!

Photography by: Abby Grace Photography

Soy Bean - ONE Month

I can hardly believe that it is already time for me to write this post. It's still surreal that we have a son. That just a month ago I was sitting on the couch waiting the big arrival and now he is here with us. There have been several times that Shawn and I laugh because we can hardly believe that we are in fact parents to two beautiful children. I thought time flew the first time around, it is going twice as fast this time. Maybe because I have twice as much going on. Regardless, the day has come and our little man has reached his FIRST month birthday.

Fortunately for all of us, Shawn was able to stay home with us for most of our sweet boy's first month. I LOVED having him there, my right hand man, as we started this journey to being parents of two. We tagged teamed a lot and having him home helped big sister get the attention that she needed, while I was able to tend to our new arrival. We each were able to have alone time with both of our kids and it's something that we think has been so important to helping everyone adjust. I was able to have dates with my girl, mostly shopping trips to Target, while Shawn got in much needed snuggles with his little man and then Shawn was able to take Emerson to all her activities, swim and gym class, while I stayed and loved on sweet Sawyer. Shawn and I were even able to have our first date night thanks to Granny and Papa coming and watching the kiddos. It was really a great time for our family and we were all sad the day that Shawn had to head back to work.

As far as little man goes we are so blessed that he is a happy and healthy little boy. He is growing great, thriving so far just off Mommy's milk. At his 2 week appointment he was 10 pounds 5.5 ounces and 22 1/2 inches long, so big man does not have a problem gaining weight, so far. My guess would be that he is getting close to the 11 pound mark, but we won't have a true weight until his two month check up. He is eating every 2 to 3 hours and the longest stretch of sleep he has given me has been 4 hours. Of course, I don't really sleep for the 4 hours, but he has gone 4 hours between nursing sessions at night. As far as sizing, sweet boy skipped most of the newborn items, lets be real, the boy was 9 1/2 pounds at birth, so he is fitting nicely in size 1 diapers and rocking 0-3 and 3 month clothing. His favorite things right now are eating and sleeping and he is working on finding his voice. Most of his noises are grunts and hiccups at the moment, but he has been throwing some sweet coos in the mix, and they are honestly music to my ears. There's nothing sweeter than the sounds of happy kiddos. He is a champ at tummy time and is working hard to hold his head up. He loves to sneak in smiles, although he turns them more into a scowl, the boy seriously has the cutest grumpy face, when the camera is out. Watching the ceiling fan  and listening to big sister talk and sing are some activities that he currently enjoys. Baby boy is not a fan of bath time, the hiccups or being swaddled, he constantly fights it. We have been looking at alternatives to the swaddle and have a Zipadee-Zip on the way to see if he is a bigger fan of that. For now, we are still swaddling and using sleep sacks to help with night time sleep. He doesn't spit up much, but when he does I need a sham wow and so far there has only been ONE blow-out. Fortunately for me, the blow-out happened when he was under Daddy watch, but unfortunately for all of us it happened when we made a rookie mistake and left the diaper bag at home! Lesson learned. There is now an emergency "go bag" in the car at all times with a few diapers for both kiddos, wipes and a change of clothes.

I went back and read what our Little Lady was up to on her one month birthday and it seems that Sawyer is following pretty close to his sister's footsteps in terms of his "schedule" and demeanor. We really have been lucky to have two content babies, although I do feel like our little man goes from 0 to 100 on the angry scale. We're working on sleep wake cycles, hoping to have little man sleep, eat, "play," and then sleep again every 2 1/2 - 3 hours during the day. Some days the schedule works out better than others, but for the most part little man is doing pretty well getting in enough time with each of his needed activities.

SWL Jr. (Shawn's initials are also SWL) :) , we love you so much and are so thankful that we get to call you ours. Having the blessing of loving and raising you is one that we don't take lightly and we are loving the journey of watching you grow!

21 Months Old - Big Sister Edition

Our sweet girl is 21 months old and this last month has brought more change to her life that any month before. She has become the ultimate big sister and we couldn't be more proud of her! She is showing us just how loving and caring she can be and of course is throwing her usual spirited burst in there for good measure. She is always wanted to check on the baby, hold the baby and touch him. It's absolutely adorable and even though her touches aren't always gentle she is learning and exploring this new role of hers with confidence and eagerness.

As far as the rest of her world goes, she is talking up a storm. Repeating everything, especially when we are reading books. Her current favorite is, "Hop on Pop." She can read that book over and over again. She loves listening to music and is starting to sing songs with us. "Jesus Loves Me," "The Wheels on the Bus," and "If You're Happy and You Know it," are in her current repeater. She is mastering skills at her swimming lessons and just started taking classes at The Little Gym. She is as active as the come and definitely likes to keep us moving, but who can blame her? There is so much out there for her to learn and explore and I love being there to see it through her eyes!

Happy 21 Months Sweet girl!
We love you so, so much!

Our Little Man

Introducing:

Sawyer William
9 pounds 8 ounces,  21.25 inches

One week ago today our little man burst into our lives. He came right on his due date, something that doesn't happen often, but he came when he was ready and in God's perfect timing. And now that all is said and done, as much as I hoped for an August baby, I am so happy to share a birth month with my little man.





















I feel like Bean's birth story started long before the night labor started. I had been itching to meet this little boy for about two weeks and since I was SURE that he was going to be born in August, you can imagine my disappoint as the end of August came and went with no little man. This was only intensified by the fact that I went to my OB the Friday before he was born and found out that I was 3-4 centimeters dilated and 80% effaced. After hearing that news I was sure I would have baby by the end of the weekend, but the Lord had a much better story planned for our birth and for Sawyer's first day in the world.

Holding him for the first time.

So as August turned to September I slowly began to let go of the control I never had. Trusting the Lord to bring us our sweet baby in his timing, whether it met up with mine or not. Shawn was so great during this time. Reminding me to cherish the time we had as a family of three and telling me that no matter how much I walked, and I walked a lot in that last week, there was nothing I could do to "make" myself go into labor, but trust in the Lord.

Biggest little guy in the NICU

On Wednesday morning, the day before my due date,  I had an OB appointment. With little change from the week before, I told myself that it was OK to go past my due date. That I was stubborn as they come, so why wouldn't my kiddos be. I left the OB and headed home to my sweet hubby and daughter, made Mac and Cheese and decided to sit on the couch and do nothing all day. And then as fate would have it, a little after 1pm, contractions started. They were spaced apart and not very intense, but they were regular, so in my mind there was a flicker of hope for not going past my EDD.

The afternoon went by with no real change in the intensity of my contractions. They came every 15-20 minutes and I was able to nap through most of them. Once Em woke from her nap we took her for walk, made dinner and put her to bed like normal. In my mind I thought that this could be it. The last night as a Mom of one. With contractions getting a bit closer, we put in a movie, "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty," and I timed contractions.





















By 9pm with some prying from my Husband and a dear friend I called my Mom to come and stay the night at the house. I knew that labor was progressing, but I didn't want to alarm the entire family. By the time she arrived I was having contractions every 8 minutes and they were starting to get increasingly painful. At midnight Shawn and I went outside to walk. We walked 2 miles and as contractions went from 8, to 6, to 3-4 minutes apart, I knew that it was time to head to the hospital. We walked inside, went up to our girl's room, kissed her and then started our drive to the hospital. Even now I can't think about that moment without it bringing tears to my eyes. I wanted to hold her all night long. My first baby, my first love at first sight. To let her know that she was so loved, but Sawyer was indeed coming.

At the hospital they checked us in. It was 1:40 in the morning,  I was 5 cm and contractions were coming every 3-5 minutes. After some initial monitoring, I was hooked to the portable monitors and my body started working our little man out. I spent my time in labor walking, listening to worship music, praying and at times literally calling out to the Lord for His mercy to ease the pain of childbirth. My sweet husband and Mom were with my the entire time, rubbing my back and applying pressure to my hips as we worked our little man out; Sawyer's labor was intense. The doctor came and broke my water and Sawyer quickly moved down the birth canal, so much so that Shawn sent my Mom to get the doctor and my nurse as I literally jumped in the bed, knowing that he was coming. One push and they too knew that delivery was near and as my doctor was trying to prepare for delivery I was being told not to push, which felt impossible, as he literally held Sawyer in place with his hand. After a few pushes, Sawyer came into the world and Shawn announced that we had a son.

At this point I wish I could say that he came out screaming, but he didn't. He came so quickly that he didn't have time to work out the fluid in his lungs and the cord was wrapped around his neck. So, after what seemed an eternity, he did finally make his presence known, but not enough for our delivery team to be satisfied. He was grunting and although his color was returning he just wasn't turning around as quickly as they had hoped and because of that he was taken to the NICU.

This about sums us up.

Mom of Two

Initially the NP returned, letting us know that they were going to start an IV because his blood sugar was low and that he needed a chest x-ray to try and discover the source behind his grunting and respiratory distress. At this point we sent my Mom, who I am so thankful was there with us during delivery, to tell the rest of our family what was going on. They, as well as me and Shawn in our hospital room, started to surround our little man in prayer. We were scared, but we knew that God was already and had been working in our little man's life to prepare him for this big day. Not 5 minutes later, the NP returned telling us the by the time she had gotten back to the NICU that his grunting had resolved. He was breathing fine. His color was normal. He was oxygenating his blood well and although he was going to have to stay in the NICU to monitor his blood sugar, that he looked perfectly healthy. The Lord worked a miracle and immediately healed and turned around our little man's condition. HE was already in the works of protecting and shattering my real Mom fears about sickness, showing me His strength in the life of my son. The Lord is good.





















Little man spent about 12 hours in the NICU and then was in a room with us by the evening. We were so thankful to have him back by our side and when Saturday morning came we couldn't sign the discharge papers quick enough to get back home and start our adventure as a family of four.

Sawyer's birth story wasn't what we thought that it would be, but that's why we're not the ones  writing the story for our little guy. God has big plans for our strong man and I know that he is going to continue to show us HIS goodness through the lives of our children.

39 Weeks

There was a moment in time that I was so positive that I was going to have the baby early, that I didn't think I was going to make it to write this post, but sure enough...here we are! Just over 39 weeks pregnant, 6 days until our due date and so, so ready to meet our little Miss or Mister. Shawn's Daddy leave starts this weekend and with the full moon on Saturday, who knows maybe Luda Bean will make the big debut a little earlier than big sister did. She came 1 day before her due date, so I guess all I can hope for is that we don't go over our due date.

With that being said, I had an appointment with my OB this morning and there has been some labor progression. Yay! We did schedule an indication date, just in case, so if Bean does decide to run over his/her EDD then we will be inducing on 9/8/15. I however, don't think we are going to get that far and am really praying that we go on our own. My heart rate, blood pressure and weight were all "great" this morning. Baby was measuring just as he/she should and our little one's heart rate was nice and strong.

As excited as I am, there is still a part of me that is more nervous about this labor than my first. I think it's the added worry of our sweet girl and making sure that she is being taken care of before we rush off to the hospital. We do however, have a list of people to call when labor does start and I know that she will be well taken care of while we are working to bring her brother or sister into the world. Everyone is so excited to meet our Luda Bean and we just can't wait to find out if we are having a daughter or son. 6 days and counting!

Along: 
39 Weeks, 2 days

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 
36/37 Pounds

Gender: 
????????????

Movement: 
Still quite the active one, but I'm definitely starting to notice more sleep/wake cycles.

Sleep: 
Has been pretty great...and I'm heading for a nap as soon I finish this post.

Ever since I can remember I've been popping those buttons! Haha. Evidence of the growing belly.

Cravings: 
Sweet, tart and salty. Basically anything. Today's specialty....a spicy chicken sandwich and frosty!

Symptoms: 
My muscles are just sore. Legs, abdominal. The extra weight is definitely starting to take it's toll.

Best Moment of the Week:
We have had a lot of fun day dates with our girl, but the Air and Space Museum has been the best! She even got to go again today with her Granny and Papa!

Hopefully the next time I am writing it will be about our Luda Bean's BIRTHday! 

Hope you have a blessed weekend!

Ash