Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Therapy

There aren't enough hours in the day around here. Life is busy. I'm well aware we aren't the only family that feels this way. But seeing how this is my blog and I'm allowed to use it for therapy purposes, I will! So fair warning, here it goes...

Dan and I don't have a lot of time together with just the two of us, let alone as a family of four. So when we are together I am trying to be more invested in that time. Sometimes I just need to be. Be a mom, be a wife, be a good listener, and be fun. In an effort to make those things possible I have tried extremely hard not to bring work home with me. I'm not talking about physically bringing work to do, but bringing the emotional baggage that comes along with work. And seeing how I work in a hospital, there tends to be emotion.

While at work I have noticed a large amount of "unfair" tragedy lately. And one of those tragedies seemed to consume a lot of my thoughts. I was sick for this family and what they were experiencing. I kept playing scenes in my head as if I were in their shoes. What would I do? How would I carry on? My heart couldn't help but ache for them and their pain. As I was leaving for the night I happened to ride in the elevator with some of this family. One of which was sobbing on the phone and said, "We don't deserve this. Why? Why us?" I was fighting back the tears and the NEED to reach over and cry with them. I wanted so badly for this trial to just disappear. It wasn't fair, they didn't deserve it, but they were now faced with it. I hated seeing them have to go out in the "normal" world. The people around them how NO IDEA the heartache they were enduring.

I took time on my drive home to clear my head and emotions. When I pulled up to our house I laid my head on the steering wheel and let out a good cry, found composure, and went inside.

So this got me thinking. There are people all around me going through things that only they know are going on. I have no idea what that "impatient mom" at the mall today had on her plate. I have no idea how exhausted the dad in his wheelchair at Wal-mart who happened to have a child with down syndrome must really be. I can't imagine how many people are hunting for jobs and yearning for a sense of security. How do we deal with real life, grown up things, and carry on?

Life is totally unfair, but in some weird way...totally worth it.

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Counting

Just because he is tall(36.5in) and skinny(26.14lbs) doesn't mean his brain is small, it's huge(50cm).

Okay okay, I know that was pretty bad, but I had to get his current stats in here some how. Let me try another way to introduce this video.

Who needs to send their kids to school when they already know everything?



Not me!

Friday, June 19, 2009

2 Months

This week both kids went to the doctor for a well check and shots. Can I first just tell you how much I LOVE my pediatrician!!! He is so REAL. He listens and understands me and that's exactly what I need in a doctor.
Jace weighed in at 14.12lbs and is 24 1/4in tall. He must be in the same contest as his brother for biggest head measuring 40.1cm.

At 2 months Jace is all smiles. He has just started making "happy" sounds when he likes something you do or say. The moment you smile at him, he smiles right back, it is too cute. He's not a big napper during the day but it's well worth it each night when he sleeps 8-9 hours.

His hair is still going strong and I haven't noticed any falling out, but it's definitely much lighter.

And most recently he has found his thumb. I'm not too sure I feel okay about this. Why is it I think it's so cute on other peoples kids but not my own? I can throw a blanket or binky away but I'm not sure I could chop off my own kids thumb.
Jace is such a joy, these two months have flown by!

Thursday, June 18, 2009

With Age Comes Responsibility

The day after Camden turned 2 we put him to work. The tool kit he got for his birthday from Seth and Tessa came in handy when he had to help Dan take down his own crib.

He has absolutely loved this crib. If I didn't have a newborn who needed it, I would definitely keep Camden in. We have tried so hard to get him into his toddler bed, but knew it wasn't gonna happen with his crib any where in sight. We have tried putting Jace in it thinking Camden might not want it anymore, but he just climbed on in with him. Little stinker.
I thought he would be traumatized for sure, but he could've cared less. He waved goodbye to that old thing like nobodies business.
We showed him how much baby "Eddie" loved the toddler bed and even took naps in it hoping he'd understand. I think it worked.
He went to sleep without much hesitation.
Now how long do I have to wait to put the crib back up and get my newborn in it?

Friday, June 12, 2009

Birthday Boy

*Blogger is making me so mad not letting me move my pictures around! So ignore that they are out of order. Ughhh!*
My big guy turned TWO today! I guess that means no more free flights for him on Southwest, dang!

The festivities began last week when my dad was in town and continued through today, his real birthday.

Recently he has been particular about eating everything with a fork and not making too big of a mess. Because of that I knew we wouldn't get the same show we got last year while eating the cake, and I opted for a cupcake. It worked perfect. He had one bite and moved on to his gifts!

Besides a bunch of new clothes and flip flops he got a few dinosaurs. Everytime I asked him what toy he wanted for his birthday he would say a blue dinosaur. The only blue one I could find was pocket size so he lucked out and got this walking/growling one as well.

His infatuation for dinosaurs grows stronger everyday. I'm not too sure where this all started from, but he talks of dinosaurs as if they live all around us. In fact...if you are bugging him he will growl at you as if he were a dinosaur himself.

Opening presents was so fun because he actually got it. He knew exactly what he was supposed to do. His reaction to getting clothes was the same as a ten year olds would be, he could've cared less.

To give him a practice run on blowing out candles, we had some friends over Thursday to decorate cupcakes and sing Happy Birthday. Check out his masterpiece!
And because I ended up having to work today we took him to the splash park last night and let him run around. Overall I think he had a fun few days of birthday celebration.
Happy Birthday Camden, we love you!

Sunday, June 7, 2009

So Little Time

So much has happened this past week that I've been meaning to document. But for one reason or another I just haven't found the right time to sit down and get to it! Hopefully I don't forget anything.

To start the week off I went back to work. My emotions are all over the place about this and not sure which ones to right down. I'll try and keep it simple(yeah right, my emotions aren't simple, just ask Dan).

I thought taking two kids to the babysitter would be easier because they had each other. But instead it broke my heart twice. I also thought I could keep it together because I had done it once before, and supposedly knew what it felt like. I had no idea what it felt like to put my trust in someone else and let them help raise my 7 week old NEWborn. I never in a million years thought Camden understood what was going on when I told him we were going to "Kathy's". I had talked to him about it the day before and the entire 2 minute ride to her house that morning. I told him Daddy would pick him up after lunch, not really expecting him to get it. With which he replied, "Affer lunch Daddy on me(that's how he says 'hold me')." He knew. It hurt.

But aside from feelings sorry for myself I saw some silver lining. My job thus far has been incredibly flexible in letting me pick my own schedule. Being able to have AWESOME benefits at an affordable price is a blessing. It gives Dan a chance to be a Dad and not have me telling him how to be one. And it also opens my eyes a little wider to what Dan goes through day after day going to work to provide for our family.

This too shall pass.

Speaking of benefits. Camden has been on a stupid antibiotic for over 20 days and still managed to get a fever. Obviously that drug doesn't want to stop what he's got going. I'm not sure if it's something else on top of his hugely swollen tonsils, or just those. But whatever it is I hope it goes away, I want my sleep back.

Jace slept for nine hours at night, two days in a row. Keep it coming big guy!


It official, I'm now in my late 20's. I got to share my big day with Jace. Today in church he was given a name and a blessing. Dan didn't change his name, phew. Jace looked handsome. I even used a tiny bit of hairspray on him for his big day. And through Heavenly Father, Dan gave Jace a beautiful blessing.

And to top it all off, my Dad came into town this weekend. His visit was short lived, but super fun. All of us went out to eat Saturday, and after that my dad and I went for dessert(I'm a Braithwaite through and through...it's not a meal without dessert). Camden got to open his birthday present early and even use his new squirt gun in my house. And because "grandpa only comes to his 2nd birthday party once", I tried not to get mad when he brought the bubble gun in to drip on my kitchen floor.
This week was definitely one to remember. Thanks for coming all this way just for the weekend Dad, it meant a lot to us.