On May 12th our little boy Finnegan Todd was born. I haven't been blogging much at all since then. Things have been busy, not so much hectic but learning the ropes of being a mama of two.

Finn is a great baby. He cries when he needs to let us know something, but for the most part he is pretty content and we are quite blessed.

Braeden is enjoying AND adjusting to being a big brother. He enjoys his baby brother, but isn't always keen on sharing me, fortunately he only takes it out on me and not on the baby. Unfortunately, it breaks my heart even though I know this will pass and he doesn't mean everything he says.

Yesterday Brae had surgery. He had his adenoids taken out. The surgeon came out and told us it was really great that we had them taken out because it turns out they were rather enlarged, had green mucous and pus coming out of them. Bleck! With that being said once he gets through this healing process we're hoping for major improvements in his health. Now that infectious elements have been removed he should be able to breathe better and should get less sinus infections/headaches. I'm praying it all turns out good. Last night was really rough for him. He spiked a fever and was in a great deal of pain before we were allowed to administer the pain medicine again. Needless to say he is taking time to actually sleep this morning.

For Brian and I it has been difficult taking care of a newborn (3 weeks old today) and a five-year-old in pain. But we're enduring and knowing that this too shall pass. For me..well I am exhausted and losing whatever is left of my sanity but I know the boys will grow up too fast and someday won't need me to take care of them...so that puts the exhaustion and chaos into perspective a little bit.

And now it's time to stop blogging. My boys need me. And I need them.

You may or may not be interested to know that a photo I took during our recent trip to Baltimore has been included in the "Sights & Attractions" section of Schmap for Baltimore.

It's exciting to me. =o)

The photo they asked to use was one I took while we were touring the Geppi's Entertainment Museum. I honestly don't even know the character in the photo, I just liked the way it was looking at me.

I didn't get paid or anything, but how sweet is it that my name is listed in the guide? Woohoo! I guess it's a good thing (sometimes) that I love taking so many photographs!

This morning I was running a little bit later to work and due to the Murphy's Law of a time factor crunch I found myself behind school buses most of the way in to Newark. They stopped and picked up kids, some which ran to the bus excitedly and other which took their time. The kids were all young, so it wasn't like I had to stop so some 13 year old could shuffle to the bus as turtle-like as possible because s/he didn't want to go to school.

The last bit of flashing red lights I sat behind was at a corner house. The little girl was standing outside with her Dad. He watched her get on the bus, they waved at each other. And even as the bus drove away he stood there at the end of his driveway watching. Here it is April, not the first day of school, more near the end actually and this Dad waited and watched his little girl being driven away on her school bus. He waved one last time before he turned around and walked back down the driveway to his house.

I knew when I saw it happening that I would write about it. The sweetness of that moment. And I'd like to thank the man who waited, watched and waved to his little girl. I hope she remembers the moment later in life.

So at Braeden's ENT appointment the doctor said he would like to have Braeden's adenoids taken out. So this means he will be having out patient surgery on June 1st. This will be Braeden's second surgery, though he doesn't remember his first because he was only 7 months old when he had tubes put in his ears.

The adenoid procedure is only supposed to take 30 minutes which is wonderful. Unfortunately, the hardest part as a parent is waiting in recovery while your child is still sedated and you just want them to wake up. Braeden has been sedated four times for the ear tubes and other x-rays. So I have been in that position and I could cry just thinking about it.

Brian is still home recovering from his surgery. Yesterday he showed huge improvements, even made a spaghetti dinner which ended up being so delicious even though I made it "gross" by having American cheese melted under the sauce. I craved it, I had to have it, seriously. It was taking over my sensors! He also walked down to get the mail which he said was difficult, but it's good he did it, I'm proud of him.

As for me, I wish I could be out weeding the garden and planting pretty allergical flowers. My belly is just too big. I'd have to lay on my side to dig, I'd look like a beached whale. So it'll have to wait until later or just not happen this year.

And so we move on.

So the updates... Brian's surgery went well on Monday. He'll be home recovering for about two weeks. Today we're on day three and he's still in a bit of pain but the doctor says the first to 7 days are the hardest. We're just glad everything was fixable and went as planned for the doctors on Monday morning.

Thank you for all you support and prayers, you've been wonderful friends and family.

He has some fun projects to think about and start on while he is home. He's going to reformat an old laptop for Brae. And then I'm going to Braedenize it which we're both excited about. And he's also going to be building a super awesome PC from scratch. The casing came to the house yesterday. I got him a hard drive for it last week and then other pieces should be rolling in shortly. He's psyched.

Braeden will be seeing an ENT specialist on Friday morning. I have no worries, I really feel like everything is going to be okay. I think they may want to schedule a CAT scan of his sinuses and check on his adenoids, but hopefully they'll look at him and say he's going to be A-OK.

As for me and Baby, we're hanging in there. Counting down, literally, until our due date. I know I had Braeden a couple weeks early, but maybe this birth will be different. I'm trying to stay as comfortable as possible, but this is not easy. It's a pain to waddle, it's a pain to sit and laying on my sides makes me need to flip over and over like a flapjack because I get so sore. Fortunately, I know this too shall pass and as long as Baby is doing alright then we're set. My next appointment is tomorrow.

Labels: brae, brian, family

Seeing as how I have 36 days left until my due date I haven't been able to get around very quickly and sometimes getting off the sofa just tires me. In addition, Brian will be having surgery on Monday and I have been very strict in telling him all I don't want him to attempt doing, because I want him to get better and recover quickly without any further damages to be dealt. You know what I mean?

And so, last night Braeden cleared the dinner dishes and put them in the sink of his own accord. No one asked him to do it, he just did. He is five years old, eye level about 2 inches above the sink and yet he completely took over and helped out.

He gives us trouble some times it is true, but he is the sweetest little boy ever. I told him he'll have to teach his baby brother how to be such a big helper.

Labels: brae

People keep telling me to relax, not to be stressed out, to learn to unwind. And then when they start stressing me out I just want to shake my head. So here I am trying to maintain sanity, while also showing everyone around me that I am trying not to be stressed out WHILE THEY ARE BUSY STRESSING ME OUT!

Yes, I'll be the responsible, calm 34 weeks along pregnant woman, with incredible tolerance. Meanwhile I'm swelling up like a balloon and every nerve in my fat body is tensed to the extreme. But that's okay. Don't you worry about me. I'm a super hero. I'm a Mom. I'm a wife. I will persevere gosh darn it.

"Reality is the leading cause of stress for those in touch with it."
Jane Wagner

"There cannot be a stressful crisis next week. My schedule is already full."
Henry Kissinger

"Stress is like an iceberg. We can see one-eighth of it above, but what about what's below?"

"The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another."
William James

"Every stress leaves an indelible scar, and the organism pays for its survival after a stressful situation by becoming a little older."
Dr. Hans Selve