One Month Old

Little Garrett is 1 month old today.  I just can't believe how fast time flies!  And he's SOOO BIG!  2 days ago I started dressing him in 3 month clothes, because the newborn ones are just too tight!  Today also marks the half-way point for my maternity leave.  Another sad thought.  But I'm trying to enjoy as much as I can, and soak up every precious moment as this little baby grows before my eyes.

Baby G sleeps 3-4 hours at a time.  It sometimes makes the nights drag on forever, but my body is getting used to the pattern, and I can go 2 days without a nap and not feel like I'm about to drop dead.  But even so, if I go too long without a nap during the day....I start to get this TERRIBLE headache at the front of my forehead.  Nothing helps to make it go away except catching up on some much-needed z's.

I read this pamphlet that the hospital gave me.....and it says that babies should be drinking 3-4 ounces at each feeding by one month.  Well.  Garrett has been drinking 5 oz bottles for 2 weeks!  No wonder he's so big!  He's just growing so fast.  And I can't complain, he is SUCH a good baby.  He only cries when he's hungry.  He doesn't keep me up for anything more than feedings.  He hasn't had colic, and he doesn't even need to be held to fall asleep.  I really have been so lucky. 

Today I got a picture of his first smile (see above).  It's not much.....but at 4 weeks, I'm just amazed that I was able to get a picture of it.  He hasn't had many facial expressions yet.  But I've decided that his smile does nothing but excentuate those adorable chubby cheeks. 

Garrett has been such a blessing in our home.  I am so excited to watch him grow.  He is precious, and I just adore him.

Caleb's Summer

This summer has been a blur.  I just wanted to highlight a few things that Caleb has been up to that I haven't actually blogged about.  First of all, my boy turned SIX.  I felt bad because his birthday was kinda overshadowed by his brother's BIRTH.  We had a birthday party for Caleb on Saturday the 21st even though his birthday wasn't till the 25th. We did this because Robyn and John were still in town and we thought a party with a few cousins would be a good idea, especially with baby Garrett on the way (and not knowing WHEN he would arrive).  We got him a driver and Parker took him for a round of golf at Pebble Ponds (a par 3 course here in Filer).  It was Caleb's first official game. 

You probably can't read the score very well....it's written in pencil all in Caleb's handwriting.  But it's cute and I thought it should be archived. :)  Caleb also got a new backpack, some rope, and a head-lamp flashlight.  His birthday party was pretty simple this year. 

Back in June Caleb did t-ball.  The entire season was only 4 weeks long (which honestly.....with kids this small is just fine cuz they're burnt-out after one month anyway).  One great thing about being in such a small town, is that Caleb knew kids on every opposing team he played.  As a result he spent a lot of his time in the field just chatting with whoever was on base at the time.  But I must say, he got pretty good at the end.  He has a really good arm and hopefully next year he will be able to understand the game a little better.

The weather in June was crazy.  Some days he wore pants and a coat, and other days he'd be in shorts and a t-shirt and covered in sweat.  The season was quite the challenge for me because I was 8 months pregnant, and he had games on Tuesday and Thursdays, and then practices on Wednesdays and Fridays.  And I was still working.  So pretty much every week-day involved me rushing home, and getting him and Angie packed up and fed before going to t-ball.  So 4 weeks of games was about all I could handle as well.  Parker works so far away, and has to stay late SO often, that he missed almost all the practices and close to half of the games.  But it was still lots of fun.

Our final summer adventure has been swimming lessons.  The Filer City pool offers group lessons for 31 dollars.  It's Monday through Thursday for 2 weeks.  I jumped on this one, because since I'm on maternity leave, I'm able to take him at 11:00 AM every day.  And for 31 dollars, even if it is short and he doesn't learn much....it's still daily exposure to the water and he'll at least gain a little more confidence and skill. 

I know I'm just his mom and probably everybody says this about their kid, but I think he's the best in his class.  I watched her teach the "front crawl" to those kids, and Caleb was the ONLY one who was able to put his face in the water, AND use his arms, AND kick his feet.  I got a video, I'll see if I can put it on here. 

Caleb's best friend, Reyl, is also in his class.  These boys were also in t-ball together.  They get along so well.

Summer is finally wrapping up, and it makes me sad.  Today Garrett is 3 weeks old, which means I only have 5 weeks of maternity leave left.  It's gonna go by so fast!  It allready has! 

Post-pardom

 Baby Garrett is 9 days old.  The first week wasn't bad at all, because my mom spent half the time at my house cooking and helping me care for the kids, and the other half she took Caleb and Angie to her house and let them play with their cousins for a while.  During my time home alone with just one baby, I couldn't help but wonder how I EVER thought that I needed my mother's assistance after only having one child!!!  It's so easy!  Baby sleeps, so you can sleep.  No two-year-olds saying "Mommy get up!!" and demanding food, drinks and attention while you wonder around in a haze from getting NO SLEEP.  All I can say is that I am SO grateful for the help she gave me last week.  And I'm allready missing her so much, and wondering how I'm ever gonna manage by myself.

Garrett is a wonderful baby!  He eats just about every 3 hours on the dot.....unless he has awake time after a meal......then he likes to be topped-off once he gets tired again, and then he usually sleeps for 3-4 hours straight.  He hardly cries, and he's just such a joy to have in our home.  I just love him and his chubby cheeks and webbed toes. 

As for me, I KNOW I've recovered faster for this baby than any other pregnancy.  But even so.....I've never had to chase 2 other kids while recovering either.  It's a good thing I'm recovering fast....cuz this 3 kids thing is kinda kicking my butt.  Honestly I don't even mind the getting up in the middle of the night, if it weren't for Angie who wakes up at 7:00 ready to go.  And half the time I've just finished feeding the baby from 6:00 to 7:00.....so there's no going back to bed.....when it's ALL I want to do.  I hope the baby starts sleeping through the night soon.........I have this constant headache at the front of my forehead that NEVER goes away.  It makes all the hours and days blend together in a continuous haze.

I'm not complaining really.  It comes with the territory.  And suddenly all moms with 3 or more kids are my heroes.  I don't know how you all did it.  Of course, the same as everybody else.....one hazy day at a time. One thing I'm experiencing that I'd completely forgotten about is HOT FLASHES.  I kinda remember getting them after Angie was born. I have moments where I'm freezing cold and need a sweater.  Then as soon as I get it on, my body temperature kicks up several degrees and suddenly I'm sweating.  It's the worst at night.  I'll crawl into bed freezing, and then wake up 20 minutes later COVERED in sweat.  I've decided walking around with a blanket on my shoulders is better than a sweater because I can just throw it off instead of peeling my arms out of sleeves when they're usually holding the baby, or I'm strapped to the breast pump or something. 

Tomorrow is Garrett's 10-day check up.  I hope he's gaining weight again because that means he's that much closer to sleeping through the night.  He really is so precious.  I'm grateful to have 3 healthy children.

Garrett Parker Lyons

 Sunday, I went to church, came home and ate some lunch, sent my husband off to work at the "Reba" concert in Jackpot, and then went into labor.  Good times!  Hah.  Actually, I won't lie, it wasn't bad at all.  Just a few songs into the concert, and I called Parker and told him I'd had a few contractions, and that they were more painful than anything I'd experienced this pregnancy so far.  Not too bad or anything, but I told him he should probably come home.  By the time he was 10 minutes away from the house, I was wishing he were home allready.  The kids were needing fed, and not to mention fighting with eachother, and I was in pain.

We called Tresa and had her daughters, Shelby and Courtney come over and watch the kids until grandma and grandpa could arrive.  I was worried about coming to the hospital too late (which is what happened with Angie) and so we packed a bag and left the house around 7:45 PM.  My contractions were about 10 minutes apart.

When we arrived, we discovered I was dilated 7 cm's.  (Which was no surprise to me, because I'd been 4 cm's for two weeks!).  The nurses seemed so surprised at how calm I was, and about how well I handled the contractions.  Anyway.  The Doctor (Dr. Crandall) recommended that I get an interthecal instead of an epidural.  I was surprised at this.  I'd come so early!  (I'd only labored for about 1 hour at home before leaving for the hospital).  He said that I was progressing so fast, that an epidural might take too long.  I was genuinely concerned about having to deliver a baby without anesthetic.....so I asked the anesthesiologist for his honest opinion and recommendation.  And we went with the interthecal.  1 hour after it was administered, baby Garrett was born.  Not too shabby.  Labor was quick.  Less than 6 hours total. 

Garrett was born at 11:47 PM.  He was 8 lbs 10 oz and 19 1/2 inches long.  He has a full head of golden-brown hair.  I've never seen anything like it!  It's beautiful!  (My other kids didn't really have hair).  He is a wonderful baby!!  He hardly cries, and he eats SOOO much!  It's been crazy because he's allready SOOO big!  I have all these newborn clothes, and he's gonna out-grow them before he even gets to wear them all!  It's kinda sad to watch as a mommy.....I feel like he's allready too grown-up and he's only a few days old.  Like I've missed out on weeks of him being an itty-bitty neworn, and now he's allready this big.  I know these first few weeks of his life are going to FLY....and it's allready making me sad.  But he's beautiful, and I can't complain about anything.  My body is recovering quite well too.  Much faster than with the other 2 pregnancies. 

 My kids love their baby brother.  Angie has had her moments....she is a 2 year old after all.  But she loves her baby brother too.  She likes to hold him, and help me feed him.  She is very curious when I use the breast-pump....and it's slightly annoying.....but I suppose we'll all get used to it

 Baby Garrett looks a lot like his siblings.....but he has is own unique features too.  The most noticeable being his chubby cheeks and thighs.  My kids never get lots of baby fat, but Garrett DEFINATELY has more than the other tow....possibly combined.  He's got Caleb's chin, and Angie's nose.  And I like to call him my "little duck" because he's got webbed toes on both feet. 

My mom has been here helping me out so much.  Mostly she cooks and then cleans the kitchen. I can't even express how much of a relief it is.  I just don't know what I'm going to do once she leaves.  Parker has been home this entire week as well.  He has helped out a lot with the kids.  He keeps them distracted and happy.  I haven't had to do much yet......I hope I'm not too overwhelmed when I finally have to face life with 3 kids on my own.  So far, I'm just super sleepy and my body is still a little bit achy.  But I really have nothing to complain about.  My kids are beautiful, and I have an awesome family here to help me. 

Nat-Soo-Pah

 Last Wednesday we decided to go swimming at Nat-soo-pah.  It's only about 20 minuts from our house, and it was really nice to do something fun while all the family was still together.  Robyn and John came with their kids, as well as Travis and Jill with their family, and aunt Jayne, and grandma and grandpa.  The water temperature was PERFECT, and the kids loved the water slide.

 I did not swim, because I don't have a swimsuit to fit over my huge belly right now.  So I just walked around the pool and took lots of videos and pictures.

Angie wanted to spend the entire time in her yellow tube....but I really wanted to get her used to being in the water, so I had Parker take her out a few times.  Every second she wasn't in that tube, she had her arms wrapped around the neck of whoever was holding her.  But, she seemed to prefer Grandpa to do the task. She really is quite the "grandpa's girl."  She prefers both of her grandpas to just about anybody.  And of course grandpa is a sucker for her little pleas "pa-pa hold me!"

While we were there, I was SOOO surprised at how much Caleb's confidence level has changed this year compared with last year.  He used to be afraid to jump off the side of the pool, much less the diving board.  And he's always preferred to wear his lifejacket as a kinda security blanket.  But this time, he took off his life jacket 5 minutes after he started swimming....and he never put it back on!  He's become quite the little fish.

Caleb even surprised us all on the diving board!  First of all, he jumped without his lifejacket, and his daddy WASN'T waiting to catch him!  I mean, Parker was a few strokes away watching, just incase.  But Caleb didn't jump straight into his arms.  And then to top it all off, he did a front-flip without even telling anybody!  It kinda stopped my heart for a second.  And then I was so proud!  I did get it on video, but blogger takes FOREVER to upload videos.  I might be able to get it on youtube though.

I can't believe it's our 3rd summer here and it's the first time we've been there.  We've allready decided we need to go back.  We stayed until it was dark outside.  Angie even made her way to the hot-tub (which wasn't all that hot) by herself.  As Caleb was climbing out of the pool to go on the slide for the ump-teenth time, he said to me "Mom- I'm NEVER going to stop!"

Welcome Home Uncle Garrett

Last week Parker's little brother, Garrett, returned home from his mission.  Parker and I took work off so that we could spend the day with the family to celebrate his return.  

 It really was quite amazing that everybody was able to be there.  It's the first time the Lyons family has ALL been together in a long time.

 After picking him up at the airport, everybody came to our house in Filer, and we had a barbeque lunch. 

It's been good to have Garrett home.  He was such a good missionary.  It's fun to see him try to integrate life with mission-life.  He's a great example to all of us.

Last Week

Last week Garrett got home from his mission.  I'll do an entire post dedicated to that once I get some time to upload the pictures.  But just hours before his plane got in, I went to the doctor again.  Apparently I'm dilated 4 cm's and 60% effaced.  Sounds like this baby could come at any time.  I spent the entire weekend thinking I'd go into labor any second.  But not so much.  I really shouldn't get myself too excited....I'm still 2 weeks from my actual due-date.  But it's hard, when the other 2 were both early, and I just feel so.......huge and ready to be done.  I was REALLY hoping I'd not have to work this week cuz I'd be having a baby.  But it's just one more week. I plan on being done after this week anyway.  So here's to my LAST WEEK of work.  We'll see if I make it.  This baby had better come before Robyn and John go back to Las Vegas on Sunday.  Of course babies are notorious for screwing-up your plans and coming when they're darn-well good and ready.  So we'll see.