Sandbox fun

Someday it will be spring here. Until then, Saul's stuck wearing his big coat to play in his little sandbox. The box seemed so big when he got it for his birthday last year. Now, it's hard to imagine two kids or more playing in this thing. We're already thinking about other backyard sandbox options, especially since we have some areas where grass just doesn't grow.

The good news is that Saul LOVES his sandbox and we enjoy the few chances we've had this spring to let him play in it.

Saul in his sandbox. Maybe more toys than sand?

"Mom, will you stop asking me to look up?"
I love that his tongue still comes out a little when he's really concentrating.

Reunan slept in the pack while Saul played. That meant I mostly walked around the yard.

Twice the kids, twice the stroller!

Below is a picture of our maiden voyage out with the new stroller/bike trailer for the kids. The weather was great, the sun lower in the early evening sky, and we got to try out all sorts of features. We absolutely love it and look forward to the many walking, jogging and biking adventures we will take with it!

The big qestion is how long it will be before the first argument between the boys inside.

Reunan's first few weeks

Week 2 with Reunan was pretty mellow. Aaron was home. Saul was in school. We definitely had some adjustment issues, but I think we were still in the new baby, family of four daze.

Mom arrived on Thursday, March 17, all prepared to help out the week of Saul's spring break. When we agreed on the week of March 21 we didn't realize Saul wasn't going to be in school. It worked out perfectly - at least for me - as I can't imagine if we'd been alone that week. But, it meant more work for her, helping to entertain Saul and helping with Reunan when I took some time with just Saul. Unfortunately, we sent Mom home with a nasty cold. Not the kind of gift I would have intended!

Aaron's nasty cold/flu thing came back a few days after Reunan was born. It's like his body held on when it needed and then needed to finish the course. The lack of sleep didn't help! And, Saul's had colds and ear infections so much recently that I'm convinced that the two of them have been handing the cold back and forth, particularly as they've shared a bed since Reunan was born.

Being parents to two sweet boys is amazing. Saul's immediate care for his little brother is precious! When we got home from school one day last week Saul cuddled with Reunan and said, "Hi, little brother. I missed you today. I love you." And, Reunan gave a few of his best smiles so far to Saul.

Below are pictures from the last few weeks.

Saul nursing froggy woggy. Later froggy was also wearing a diaper that required many, many changes. Froggies poop alot.

Mom holding Reunan. Mom held him many evenings as I was starting bed time routine with Saul. However, Reunan would inevitably cry for much of that time despite Mom's efforts. This was one of the best peaceful moments for the two of them. Close up. Reunan reading...well, you know. Reunan at nearly 3 1/2 weeks old. Little chipmunk.

Smiley boy.

Grandpa Tom Wieting with his second grandson, little Reunan.

Boys in stripes.

Reunan's first 36 hours

Below are pictures from the hospital stay - Reunan's first day and a half. They prefer that you stay at the hospital for at least 24 hours after delivery so they can be sure the baby meets all the key markers and that the mom is on her way to healing without complications. Therefore, despite originally trying to go home the day after delivery, Reunan and I stayed a second night. We didn't want to check out in the evening! Instead, Aaron brought Saul in Wednesday evening so he could meet his baby brother at the hospital. Then Aaron stayed at home with Saul that evening and came back to the hospital Thursday morning after taking Saul to school. The consistency was good for Saul and the better sleep was good for Aaron!

A natural! Aaron's obviously comfortable holding a newborn the second time around! Reunan is maybe an hour old here.

Reunan bright eyed at 24 hours and a very happy dad.

(At this point he was still Baby Boy Wieting.) Reunan loves his hands close to his face. I'm quite sure this is close to how he was in the womb! Even now, he prefers them up like this. AND, look at those long fingers! Love this baby boy #2. He has more hair than Saul did at this age, but it's a similar color. Despite being washed, his hair still had meconium in it in this picture, so it looks a little darker than is the case. Look at those long arms! Brothers. Saul loves to hold his little brother.Officially named Reunan James! We only confirmed his name when Aaron came back to the hospital Thursday morning. We spent a bit of time confirming spelling!

Little peanut dressed and ready to go home!

Reunan James, born March 8, 2011

Reunan James may have been 15 days late, but I'm determined to not wait an additional 15 days to post this. So, here goes. (Note 1: this post has only minimal pictures and answers some of the questions about the speed of delivery. The next few posts will have lots of pictures and less words! Note 2: I don't know why the paragraphs aren't showing up and will fix it later.) Yes, Aaron and I are now parents to two fabulous little boys. So far, they have a number of things in common: 1. Smiles and general facial features. 2. Determination to arrive well past their "due date". 3. Ability to immediately capture the heart of their mom and dad....and many others. And, they have a number of things not in common, too: 1. One chose to be born in the morning and the other in the evening. 2. Though only 2 ounces apart in weight at birth, one is thick and stalky and the other is lanky with monkey arms and long fingers, feet and toes! Reunan James was born March 8, 2011....15 days beyond the official, calculated due date. Up to day 13 I was not in the least surprised, as Saul was 13 days late. The last two days, though, I was concerned about the induction and just wanted him out. And he did come out. Quickly. Once he was ready. We were scheduled to go to the hospital the morning of Wednesday, March 9, for an induction. The decision for this was made on Monday, so we had 36 hours to encourage Baby Wieting #2 to arrive on his own. Tuesday afternoon I determined that I was not going to use one of the encouragement options - castor oil. One of the midwives gave me a recipe for castor oil with cherry juice with a cherry juice chaser. The idea of this was far worse than the alternatie of induction the next morning! Around 3 p.m. on Tuesday, I called Doula Jill to get permission to skip the castor oil. I'm sure I already knew I wasn't going to swallow it, but I needed someone else to agree that this was an okay choice - the skipping of the castor oil. Doula Jill supported me in this, pointing out that it sounded like I'd already made a decision I was comfortable with. Yep! By 4 p.m. Tuesday, contractions began and I was very glad of the no castor oil choice. Aaron had been home in bed all day, sick with flu-ish-like symptoms. I went to pick up Saul, knowing that I was no longer experiencing Braxton Hicks. And, as I timed the contractions, I was certain that they were more serious....and delivery without induction was a real option! By 4:45, I made the second call to Doula Jill in an hour. I think she knew why I was calling. Contractions 5ish minutes apart, not too intense, but not stopping. Ckeck back in 45 minutes or less. Immediately I hung up and called Grammy Barbara. Saul needed to not be in the house as I could not focus on him at all. For that matter, Aaron couldn't either. This kid was coming! By 5:45, Saul was with Grammy Barbara and Doula Jill was at the house. How soon to go to the hospital was the next decision. And, like with Saul, we had traffic to consider. This time, though, it was evening traffic rather than morning traffic. We called the oncall midwife and confirmed that we would leave before too long. By 6:30 p.m., we were on our way to OHSU. To me, this was the worst part of delivering Saul - driving to OHSU. I just wanted to get it over with! The curves, the stopping, the hill, the needing to get inside. There's nothing pleasant about the drive EXCEPT knowing that you're that much closer to delivery. It wasn't quite as bad this time, partly because I knew how to manage it. At 7, when we arrived, Aaron dropped me off and went to park the car while between contractions I hurried inside, to the elevator and up to the labor and delivery floor. I was NOT going to allow myself to have a contraction in the elevator! In retrospect, it was a little weird to be there on my own. I even found myself letting the nurse know that there were people joining me soon! The next hour and a half are a blur. All I know is that in order to get in the water, where I was hoping to be able to deliver, they first had to do a 20 minute monitor on my belly to make sure the baby was okay. It was done and the water still wasn't and I got grumpy. Doula Jill knew I would feel better in the water and I could hear her helping to advocate to get it started because we knew it would take a while to fill. Ultimately, Aaron, Doula Jill, the midwife, the midwife student and the nurse were all carrying buckets of water to help the hose fill up the tub more quickly.

Aaron helping to fill the water birth tub. Midwife Michelle LaChance at the sink.

Once I was in the water, the contractions were so much more manageable. They were still super intense, but removing gravity sure helps! After only about 30 minutes my water broke and I had to leave the water because of the quantity of meconium that came along with the bag breaking. The last bit of labor and delivery happened out of the water.

At 8:36 p.m., Baby Boy Wieting #2 was born. Yeah! Weight: 8 pounds, 11 ounces and Height: 21 inches

Friday outing

One result of the unexpected Thursday snow day was Aaron and me adjusting work schedules. This meant that Aaron got Thursday rather than Friday with Saul. Then on Friday I got to spend Saul's waking hours playing rather than working. We decided to take advantage of the unexpected time to go to the Children's Museum for the new Clifford the Dog exhibit. It wasn't quite what I anticipated but we still had a lot of fun.

We spent much of our time golfing. Saul has been telling me that he's going to play "golf ball" with Grandma Barbara soon. This is a result of their walks along the Eastmoreland Golf Club where they see people playing golf. Also interesting is how he's naming sports. He called this "golf ball" but then the other evening told me he was playing "base". Translation = "baseball". Yes, one appreciates the confusion we create for our children in our naming inconsistencies.

Playing golf ball.

Preparing to take foam blocks and load them in to a conveyor belt-like machine.

Turning the wheel to take the foam blocks to the top of the conveyor.

Demonstrating his great digging form. The kid knows his roots!

Late February Snow

We finally got some snow on the valley floor last week....and it stuck for a whole 4 hours or so. That was just enough time for Saul to finally get to play in snow. He's been talking about making snow angels for much of the winter. We made every effort to take advantage of the snow during daylight hours to allow him to do these things. Here is the proof!

Eating snow off the wall

Checking out the backyard and looking for a good location to.....
.....make the much anticipated snow angel!