Construction Site 3rd Birthday Party

So despite having a barely 1-month-old in the house, I decided to go ahead with hosting a normal fun-filled birthday bash at home for Ethan's third birthday. Since he's obsessed with all things construction of late, the theme was pretty obvious! It was definitely more low-key than last year, but everyone had a wonderful time, and I was actually more creative than I'd expected as far as activities and such (thank you, Pinterest!).

The big decision this year was guest list. Last year, he'd just started preschool so we decided to go with some LLL friends, since they were the main ones who had invited him to parties thus far. This year, we had to choose from three groups: LLL, preschool, and the local meet-up group we've belonged to for 2.5 years. I decided to rule out LLL since there is such an age spread there and the kids closest to his age are mostly girls (I usually shy away from gender-stereotypes, but I wasn't sure how much fun they would have at a construction party based on the toys they usually bring to play with). With the preschool set, about half of his classmates are new so he doesn't really know them, a couple of the other ones aren't my favorite (sounds awful, but I got to know the kids working at the preschool last year...), and it just gets difficult inviting some but not others when that is all they have in common with other party goers. So in the end, I decided to go with the meet-up crew + Ethan's best friend from preschool since she is also a member of the meet-up group. That meant leaving out one preschool friend that we had wanted to invite, but he ended up going to the beach the week I did invitations anyway so it would have been too last minute by the time he got back. My main hesitancy in going with the meet-up group to start with was that I could not invite everyone I wanted to and still maintain my sanity, but in the end I just had to deal with leaving some friends out and hope they understand.

The invitation was not quite as involved as in years past, but I made it when I was 39 weeks pregnant and most of the time I had Ethan in my lap telling me, "That's a nice picture of an excavator you have, Mommy!" I used GIMP to create it, the same program I used for his first birthday party invitations, and it was much quicker going this time around. They don't look professional, but they're still cute and themed, so I was happy with them!

In years past, I've also done a banner. Each year, it's gotten less labor-intensive, and this year, I just stuck some construction-themed decals on the wall in the dining room. My in-laws got these for Ethan months ago, but I didn't have anywhere to put them and decided to save them for his party instead. It added some themed-interest to the house, but I certainly wouldn't have bought them for this purpose. They're still stuck on the wall as I write this so eventually I need to take them down and find a piece of plastic or something to stick them to so Ethan can have them to play with. No sense wasting them!

Once again, a simple spread this year. His party was at the same time as last year, but I just didn't have it in me to provide anything more than snacks. And since we've been to plenty of ending-at-lunch-time parties that only provided cake with no real food, I decided to be OK with that! So we had apples and grapes in a bowl and pretzels in the dump truck. I did make the cake, of course. Since I find myself not using carriers quite as much with Wesley as I did with Ethan, I did everything with him either asleep in my arms or nursing, so it was no small feat to make the cake! I'm quite pleased with how it turned out, and everyone was raving about it. Probably because I put 1/2 cup of (decaf) coffee in the icing. Coffee makes everything better, especially chocolate!

 

My little construction worker!

 

We spent most of the party outside this year since it was a BEAUTIFUL day. Seriously, it's like Autumn decided to descend for 24 hours just for Ethan's party. I had a few construction-themed activities set up. I took his busted kiddie pool and put sand in it with mini-construction vehicles. This was a big hit! Then of course we had the rock box for more digging fun. I also had been saving cardboard boxes (made easier by the large number of Amazon shipments received in the week leading up to Ethan's birthday!) to be used as outdoor building blocks. These were put out on the lawn, and I don't think people really knew what they were for. Once I explained it to one mom, she and her son went over and had a lot of fun with them, but everyone else stuck with the sand pit and rock box. Oh well! And of course, the goats and the chickens were a big hit as always.

As for the last picture in this series? Well, that's my favorite picture from the entire day. It's Ethan and his best friend from preschool. They are so cute talking to each other and hugging on each other. Seriously, every time they see each other, even if it's just been 2 minutes since they parted, they give each other a hug, and they were constantly walking around holding hands or with their arms around each other. Adorable.

 

 

It was a wonderful day, full of fun, friends, and family! Wesley did wonderfully, sleeping for about the first hour and then nursing for a bit before being passed around by the grandparents for the remainder of the party. One of my friends was laughing at me at one point because I was walking around with Wesley nursing in the ring sling and still taking pictures =) There's no such thing as single-tasking when you're a mom of 2! Ethan seemed to have a great time, and that's all that really matters!

So there you have it! 3-year-old birthday party with a 1-month-old went off without a hitch! Thanks to the visiting grandparents, clean-up was a breeze, and I enjoyed having the last few slices of cake this week as a reward for my efforts. Now next year I'll have to plan a 1-year-old party and a 4-year-old party within a month. Thankfully I have 11 months until then!

Three Years Old!

Dear Ethan,

It's been quite a year! You have changed so much, and it's such a joy and a privilege to watch you grow. You are hilarious, sweet, and oh so smart! You carry on adult conversations (complete with the occasional grown-up word...), you know exactly what you want and who you are, and you are always curious to learn more about the world around you and how it works. You love construction vehicles, cars, trucks, trains, and airplanes. You spend a lot of time playing with Play-doh, and your favorite color is purple. You make up narratives and plots as you play with your cars, speaking for them as they interact. You have quite the imagination!

The biggest change this year has been becoming a big brother. You are so proud! You tell everyone you meet all about it, and you are such a big helper. Every night before bed you tell me "Let me know if you need anything for Wesley! I'll bring you a clean diaper and put the dirty one in the pail!" You hug and kiss and sing to him. You reassure him when he cries. You speak to him in a special, softer voice just for him. Sure, you crash your toys and wake him up, but you also get down on the floor and try to play with him. Wesley is one lucky little boy to have a big brother like you!

You are so independent, but you still love Mommy and Daddy. You and Daddy have tickle/sword/rubberband-gun fights and take care of the animals each night. You go fishing and to the playground together. You watch excavator movies on YouTube every night before bed on his tablet. You cuddle and read with Mommy and help her run errands. You create Play-doh scenes while Mommy fashions traffic cones and barrels. And while our nursing days seem like they may be coming to an end, you still usually ask to nurse at least once a day.

It seems like there's not much you can't do. You're even writing your name already! I think 3 might be the most fun year yet!

Love,
Mommy

One Month

Dear Wesley,

It's hard to believe it's already been a month! We've certainly been busy. None of that staying home and relaxing when you have two kids. You've probably been out more already than your big brother was in his first 3 months! You are so similar and yet so different from your brother. You certainly love your mama, and as long as you're touching her, all is well. But put you down or give you to Daddy when you want to be with Mommy? We will all feel your screaming wrath! You're a definite comfort nurser and are thus content to suck all day and night. Heck, you don't even have to suck as long as nobody tries to take it out of your mouth! But despite this, you usually go a couple of 3 hour stretches during the day, in addition to cat naps, and at night you usually give me at least one 3.5 hour stretch.

You're definitely getting enough to eat as you have at least 5 yellow, seedy poops a day (compared to Ethan's average of 1 green poop a day). You lost a good bit after birth due to your prolific pooping (9 poops each the 2nd and 3rd days alone!), but you've slowly gained it back. You're definitely on the lower end of normal, but you're still gaining just enough so I'm trying not to worry! It certainly didn't help when you caught Ethan's cold at 2 weeks!

You are a strong, social, and long little guy! You're working on holding your head up and have given Mommy several coos, especially in the morning while I get all of us ready. And you've already grown over 2"! You're going to be long and lean, just like your big brother. I can't wait to watch you as you grow and become your own little person. This is just the beginning!

Love,
Mommy

Birth Story

So I have completely neglected this blog since April. New job + pregnancy + toddler = semi-organized chaos. However, I want this blog to serve as a record of Wesley's early years just as it has for Ethan's, so I will attempt to revive it. Starting with his birth story:

After almost 2 weeks of start-and-stop early labor, I was getting really discouraged, especially when all contractions completely disappeared on  Friday and Saturday. On Sunday the 11th, I bitterly got ready for work as I had expected to have my baby by now. On the way there, I noticed some contractions, but nothing unusual. By the time worship was over, I was definitely uncomfortable and feeling a lot of pressure, but I figured it was just from the heat and running around. After getting Ethan down for his nap, my husband, mother-in-law (who came up the weekend before to make sure she would be present with Ethan at the birth), and I relaxed on the couch to watch some TV, and I decided to begin timing the contractions. They were coming pretty steadily at 10 minutes apart. By that evening, they were averaging 7 minutes apart. We were all cautiously optimistic, but very aware that things could stop again. No other signs of definite labor other than the contractions, but I never really had any with Ethan's labor either. I decided to try to get some rest, and when I laid down, the contractions spaced back out to every 10 minutes, though they were increasingly uncomfortable. I finally couldn't take lying down anymore and stood up to discover they were suddenly 3-4 minutes apart, and I couldn't speak through them. Even though they hadn't been that far apart for a full hour, I decided I should go ahead and call the midwife since we're 45 minutes away and my labors tend to go quickly once they get going. As I called, I still wasn't convinced I was actually in labor.

We had hoped Ethan would go back to sleep on the drive in, but he announced that he would be staying awake because he wanted to meet the new baby, too! He kept us laughing with his commentary (Why is it dark? Daddy, these lights hurt my eyes!), but each contraction became more unbearable stuck in that seat. We got to the birth center just after 3:30 AM, and they got my IV antibiotics going for GBS+. First try for the IV this time but at exactly the same time as a contraction. I found the birthing ball to be fairly comfortable, but had wanted to try the tub out, too. Before I got in, the midwife checked me and I was only 4 cm, 100% effaced, which was somewhat discouraging. The tub didn't do much for me at all, but I stayed in for about an hour until I began to have the urge to push, even though I didn't think I was fully dilated. Sure enough, when she checked I was only 5 cm. I had this same early urge to push with Ethan, and it can get really unbearable to resist, so the midwife suggested I just give into it as gently as possible. Ethan was hilarious this whole time, telling me how silly it was that I was in the tub, saying he didn't want to get in because it was dirty, and laughing at the "funny noises" I made moaning through each contraction.

At the midwife's suggestion, I tried a couple of other positions on the bed to counteract the need to push, but they offered little relief. What did help was hard counterpressure at the base of my spine so she showed my husband how to do it, and he did for the duration of my labor. I spent the next 20 minutes on the birthing ball and things began to get really intense so my mother-in-law suggested Ethan come out with her to the living room to watch a movie. The midwife checked me again, and I was 9 cm. She let me all-out push on the next contraction, and afterwards I was complete and ready to go. So yeah, I went from 5 to 10 cm. in about 25 minutes.

I hadn't wanted to push lying on my back, but by this point the contractions were one on top of the other, and I physically couldn't move. I couldn't even pull my legs back, so my husband and the nurse held them to the side for me. At this point, I pretty much lost it. Things were moving really quickly, but I figured I had at least 30 minutes of pushing ahead of me and I just wasn't getting a break. The burning was already so intense, but the much-acclaimed "Ring of Fire" was still to come (or so I thought). I later learned he had his hand up by his face, making the burning even worse as my body had to adjust to allow a head AND an arm at once. Some choice exclamations from this point include, "I can't do this!" "Oh my GOD!" and "HELP!!!" I just knew I couldn't keep it up for as much longer as I was SURE it was going to take. And then, after just 13 minutes of pushing, I felt a tiny body slide out, all the pain was gone, and a baby's cry filled the air. They put my child on my chest, I yelled for Ethan to come meet his new sibling, and it was at least a minute before any of us thought to check to see if it was a boy or a girl.

 I nursed him almost immediately, and he snacked and dozed on my chest for over an hour before being weighed and examined. I had brought breakfast so the others went out and got McDonald's (keeping up the trend from my brother-in-law's home birth). Ethan fell asleep on the bed with us and woke up just in time for lunch. My father-in-law had arrived by this point so they brought us Noodle & Co. (keeping up the trend from Ethan's birth). After lunch, they did our discharge exams, I got Wesley dressed, and we were home less than 12 hours from when we'd left home that morning!

While it was definitely intense, it was an absolutely perfect experience, and we are just so in love with our little guy!