More Pictures

 All the babies!

Pearl 6 months, Lisa 5 months, Graham 8 weeks, Wesley 4 weeks

 Gavin thought he needed to get in on the action too.

And then so did these silly girls. Lydia(middle) is 5 days older than Gavin, and Mia is 4. These girls are his BEST friends!

First time at the Pinata! Cinco de Mayo!

His cheeks are going to fall off they are so heavy. Just his little chin sticks out.

Our silly Buzz, or Captain America or whatever else he is dressed up as at the moment.

 Exactly 1 Month Old

1 Month Old

Wesley is already 1 month old and I have no idea where the time has gone. I have really been trying to enjoy this time while he is still in the newborn phase, it just goes by so quickly :(. And I have to say, he is definitely packing on the pounds. I think I am just destined to have chunky babies :). I do love them chunky, but I feel that it makes them look a lot older than they are, and they lose the newborn-ness so much faster. Wesley is a good sleeper, he wakes up 2-3 times a night but it is usually about 3 hours apart, sometimes 4. He usually goes right back to sleep, but of course he has had a few nights where he doesn't want to go to sleep or he thinks that he should be awake in the middle of the night. At his first appointment (4 days old) he already weighed 6lbs 12oz, so he was back above birth weight. At his 2 week appointment (10 days), we were SHOCKED to find that he was 7lbs 14oz and 21 inches. Having grown 1 1/2 inches and gaining 18 oz in just 7 days. We wont have another appointment until he is 2 months so we will see how he has grown by then.

Gavin has been adjusting to life with a little brother. He has found that he can do whatever he wants while I nurse because there is nothing I can do about it. He also is much needier for our attention. He always asks me to hold while I am nursing and I feel bad that I can't do it. He is learning to be more gentle, but he is a boy and doesn't always watch where he is going, so Wesley is learning to put up with a lot. Gavin loves his little brother and loves to give him kisses and look at him. He always tells us, "Wes is so cute." The thing he is really struggling with is bedtime he keeps waking up in the middle of the night and tries to come and sleep in our bed. Before Wesley came it was about 1 or 2 times a week, now it is everyday. We have tried locking him in his room but then he just screams. We have finally taught him that he can sleep on the floor by our bed. But, we are working on him staying in his room.

We were fortunate enough to have Zac's family here when Wesley was born and they did lots of fun things like going to a Rockies Game, Golfing, and the Zoo. Then my Mom came when Wesley was 2 weeks old and we enjoyed lots of shopping and Zac and I were even able to go to the temple. Gavin loved having everyone come and visit and misses all of you. He will be happy when we see everyone in about 2 weeks for graduations and Wesley's blessing.

Pictures!

2 weeks old

First Sunday Back at Church

Yes, we did take our 2 year old to see The Avengers in 3D. Awesome! 

Wesley's Birth Story

(For the short version, skip down to the picture of Zac and I as we were heading to the hospital.)

At my 38 week appointment I chose to get checked because I had some contractions and hoped that there would be some progress. At this point with Gavin I was 1cm so I figured with all the exercise I had been doing that I would at least be at a 1. No such luck. I was pretty devastated, I know that is silly, but I decided I would try and workout a little harder to hopefully speed things along. Over the next week I continued to have contractions but just occasionally. I really hoped by 39 weeks I would at least be somewhere.

At my 39 week appointment I was 1cm, thank goodness, and my Dr. stripped my membranes. I wouldn't say worst experience of my life, but no where near enjoyable :). So my Dr. had me schedule an appointment for Monday morning with the hopes that we would induce Monday or Tuesday.
That appointment was on Thursday and it did start contractions for me but they weren't close enough together. I was about 10-13 minutes apart. But they were definitely consistent. Over the next few days they stayed about that far apart and were not that intense. I could still do everything that I needed to do and sleep for the most part. Although, every time I woke up in the night I could tell I was having a contraction so I would wake up and wait for the next hoping they would be closer together. Which would make me anxious and unable to fall back asleep for awhile. I didn't really want to go into labor because I wanted to take Gavin to the Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday, and Zac's siblings were coming in on Sunday evening and I knew it would be much more convenient if I went into labor after they came and were able to take care of Gavin.

So Saturday came, we went to the Easter Egg Hunt and then to the Ward Party and I  of course was still having contractions 10 minutes apart. By this point it had been going on for 2 days and everyone was telling me I should just go to the hospital and get checked. After the ward party we went to our friends house and I bounced on her exercise ball for awhile. My contractions increased to 5 minutes apart but as soon as I stopped they went to like 13 minutes apart. Everyone expected that I would go into the hospital that night, but no I went home and slept fairly well since I had been exhausted from the last 2 nights of contractions.

Gavin definitely enjoyed the Easter Egg Hunt this year.

On Sunday we went to church and I didn't have a single contraction during sacrament meeting, which was really weird. But as soon as I got to nursery I was having contractions 10 minutes apart again. We went home and had dinner and waited for Zac's family. Amanda, Tiffany, Kellan and Nic came around 6pm. And I had Gavin do a little egg hunt around the house. By 8pm my contractions were 6-7 minutes apart consistently while I was at rest. So I called the doctors office and it was decided that I should go in and at least get checked after contracting for so long. Of course this just increased my anxiety not knowing if they were still going to send me home or not.

Headed to the Hospital around 10pm.

We arrived at the hospital around 10:15pm. When they admitted and checked me I was at a 3. So at least all the contracting had done something. They decided to keep me since I would be coming in the next day to get induced anyway. But they weren't going to do anything to help me progress until morning so I just labored through the night. They told me I could have my epidural or anything else for pain whenever I wanted. They would put me on the monitors for about 30 min and take them off for a few hours. I tried to sleep in between because I knew that by morning I wouldn't be getting much sleep. I think I got about 3 1/2 hours of sleep and at 7am they started me on pitocin. I normally try to wait as long as I can for an epidural, but by 8am it was too painful and I asked for the epidural. The anesthesiologist started it around 9am. By this point I was still a 3 almost a 4, but my epidural didn't seem to be working completely. I was still feeling my contractions and although the pain was less, I was still having to breathe through them. So the nurse anesthetist came in and gave me a dose of lidocaine and upped my rate on the epidural and things finally seemed to feel much better and it was 11am. A few minutes later my nurse checked me and I was a 9! She called my Dr. and we started getting ready. My water still hadn't broken yet and by 11:35 I was feeling tons of pressure. My epidural was working great and I could tell when I was having a contraction but I didn't have any pain. At 11:45 my Dr. peeked in to ask if I was feeling pressure and I said YES! She said good answer, and left to change. She was back 5 minutes later and started getting ready and the baby was coming. My sack was bulging out(sorry TMI) and they broke my water. I pushed through about 2 1/2 contractions and that was it! Wesley Russell Barrus was born at 12pm and he is perfect! And because he came so fast, his head was perfectly round.

I couldn't believe what a small baby he was! Only 6lbs 11oz. and 19 1/2 inches. It really was the ideal delivery in my eyes. I have no complaints. I still tore a little bit and have some stitches, but my body is recovering so much faster than last time. All of my nurses read my history and kept saying that they hoped things would turn out much better than the first time, and they were all shocked with how big Gavin had been.

 

I am so grateful to all of the family and friends who have been there to help us with our new addition. It still seems surreal that we are a family of 4 now, but it also feels wonderful. We couldn't be more smitten with Wesley, he is a wonderful, easy baby. Although I think almost any baby would be easy after Gavin. We love our two little boys and we couldn't be happier.

Wesley Russell Barrus

Wesley Russell Barrus

19 1/2 inches

6 lbs. 11 oz.

4/9/12

12:00pm

Wesley is here and we are SO happy. This delivery was the complete opposite of Gavin's and we are doing great. Of course, I did just have a baby so its not like I am going to be back a Zumba next week or anything :), but things should be much smoother recovery wise. I will post the birth story soon.

Preparing for Baby #2

So to be honest, I haven't done much preparation this time around. Well, when you have already had one boy it eliminates a lot of things. But I do have my own sewing machine this time, so I was able to make a few things. First I wanted to make matching blankets for the boys, so that they would match when they are in the same room together. For Gavin the colors I focused on were Red, Yellow, and Blue. So I decided to do blue and white blankets and then I will continue adding red, yellow accents. We have already moved the crib into our room so I can't get a great picture of the final product with the crib. But I made the skirt, bumper pads, and blanket. Gavin has a matching rag quilt on his bed as well.

If you look closely you can see the long sides on the bumber pads have pockets along them in case you want to store things in there, like a rattle, books, or pacifier.

I also made a few tie onesies and matching ties for Gavin so that the boys can match at church. Not all the time, but every once in a while.

I bought tons of this fabric in different colors, inspiration from makeit-loveit.com, to make for various baby gifts. So, I figured I would make a quick blanket for the baby. 

 I also made a carseat cover, a pretty simple project, and I am happy with how it turned out.

 Gavin of course wanted his picture taken as well.

 I had Zac take these last friday at just over 38 weeks. I posted the one in the bathroom just because it is a good belly shot, he wasn't supposed to be taking my picture.

I had a shower a few weeks ago. Thanks to all my wonderful friends for coming. Because there isn't a ton that I need, I figured we should just have a girls lunch and we enjoyed Olive Garden Soup, Salad, and Breadsticks. And my friend Michelle made red velvet cake. Thanks to all you wonderful girls for the great gifts! We appreciate it so much! And we missed those that weren't able to make it.

And this was taken last night, just before my last Zumba class. I know, don't you wish you looked like me? :) 39 weeks!

I have cleaned out closets, cleaned bathrooms, organized drawers. I really just need to go through things like the refrigerator and pantry and we should be ready. I am definitely ready to meet this little boy, and I think Gavin and Zac are ready too. Everytime I get ready to leave the house Gavin asks if I am going to the hospital. About 7 more days and I should hopefully be getting induced on Monday. Hopefully this week will go by quickly!

February

I have been meaning to post for weeks, but I have also been meaning to take a pregnancy picture which is why I haven't posted. So I took one yesterday and now I can finally play catch up for the month of february.

Well the month started off with a HUGE snowstorm. And I mean HUGE! We had 18inches in about 36 hours or so and it just snowed nonstop from Thursday night to and all through Friday. Even Zac had work cancelled because of the weather, which has never happened before. It was nice to have him home for the day, but we definitely had cabin fever. And of course we had my friends baby shower planned for Saturday morning after the storm. What could we do? We hoped some people would venture out, and luckily we had a perfect turn out. Thanks to all who came, I know Alana appreciated it! We had a brunch shower with make your own yogurt parfaits, bagels and cream cheese, juice and for the dessert.....cinnamon roll cupcakes. Perfect for a brunch shower right?!? I will be posting the recipe soon on my food blog.

I did the decorations so I decided to make my gift a decoration as well. I know that people love diaper cakes, but when I had my shower for Gavin, my good friend made me a diaper motorcycle so I thought I would do something along those line. I made her a diaper tricycle. I think that it turned out really cute. Tutorial found here through pinterest of course. :)

Then on Sunday we had a Superbowl Party/Birthday Party for Zac. I know it is Sunday but it is mostly just so that I can make a cake for Zac's birthday and not have to eat the entire thing ourselves. I was really worried about parking for everyone because of all the leftover snow from the storm but it was ok. I made these Hawaiian Sweet Roll Ham Sammies that were SO good. The recipe is also found on my food blog.

Zac's birthday was on Wednesday the 8th and we went to Red Robin for dinner. I gave him some video games for the Wii and I hope that he enjoyed his birthday. I always love a day when I get to celebrate my husband.

Enjoying Zac's birthday Sundae

Of course the next week was Valentine's. I planned a family dinner for Tuesday with Salad, Chicken Cor Don Bleu and Chocolate Covered Strawberries. I gave Zac a card and some chocolates and Gavin got a box of chocolates as well. Zac gave me flowers and a big box of chocolates too. It was nice night. But, of course Zac came home with some exciting news, he was going to be working later nights and over the weekend for the next week or two. We were supposed to have our Date Night for Valentine's the next day so that got put on hold. I was a little disappointed, we rarely go out just the two of us, and I was really looking forward to it. But no worries we were able to go on the 28th and had a great night out. We went to Outback for Zac's first time. I commented that this would probably be our last date night as parents of one. He asked if the hospital counted. I said NO! While I am in labor does not count as a date. :)

We have had some exciting news this month! Zac has been promoted to Senior Accountant which comes with a raise! I am SO proud of him and I know that he deserves it. They have been trying to fill the position for a while and wanted someone with 3 years experience. Zac has half of that, but they gave it to him anyways. I know that his managers think very highly of him, and for good reason, he is a very hard worker. Great timing on the raise, just before you have baby. On another note, we finished paying off our student loans this month! Yay! Now we can start saving for a house!

 Well, I am 34 weeks now and this is what I am carrying around.

In comparison, this was 32 weeks with Gavin.



Someone gave me a really nice compliment today. I was in Kohls and I turned around and she said, "Wow, I wouldn't even know you were pregnant if I didn't see your belly, you look so good. And you are pretty far along too aren't you." That made me feel good, maybe I don't look as huge as I feel. I am still going to a Zumba class once a week and then I workout at home the rest of the time. But man, I can't even look in the mirror when I work out anymore. I look ridculous! I don't know how anyone can look at me and keep a stright face. It is pretty hilarious. On the positive side I feel a lot healthier this pregnancy and most days I have energy. I still have morning sickness most days but I haven't thrown up from it in the past two weeks, so that has been nice. I had about a 7 week break between 22 and 29 weeks and then at 29 weeks the morning sickness came back, but what can you do.

Gavin has been really affectionate towards my belly. He always asks to see it and then he will hug and kiss my belly and then just sit there with his hand on it. He likes to bring toys and set them on top of me so that his brother can play with him and he keeps asking if brother is ready to come. I am so excited for him to have a little brother, but I am sure it is going to be rough for the first bit. With only 5-6 weeks left I feel like I can actually start preparations now, which feels good, and a little overwhelming. We have finally picked a name, hopefully, but don't bother asking because we are not telling until he comes! :)

Well, I guess that was our February, kind of busy. I am worried that March won't go by as quickly but I will try and keep as busy as possible.