My guy

Roman:

• is 6 weeks old
  


• wakes every 2-3 hours at night to feed


• sleeps in the cradle at my bedside


• smiles!
  


• likes bathtime...well, maybe not LIKES, but tolerates it very well!
  


• likes his hands and sucking on them


• has blue eyes


• is losing his hair...he looks like a little old man with his receding hairline
  


• has long toes
  


• grunts a lot


• started "talking" today with little cooing noises


• sometimes sleeps with his hands behind his head, just like Bryn used to


• is so very loved!
  

My girl

I figured since I'm so far behing on blogging, there will have to be a few "catch-all" posts and this is one of them.




















Brynley:

• is now 2 years and 4 months old.
  


• recently became a big sister. She did great for 10 days. Then she was sick for a few days with a sore throat. That kicked off a week of issues with Roman. She still loved him, she just didn't want me to pay any attention to him. Now she is back to being a fantastic big sister!
  


• looks for Roman first thing in the morning...and pronounces him name "Romaaaaa" until today when she finally started saying "Roman"
  


• goes to bed at 8:30 and wakes up around 7am. She calls "Mama, mama" and when I open her door she says, "Mama, I sleep" or "I sleep too!" Her first words used to be "Nana's house" when she woke up!
  


• pronounces hiccups..."cuppa"
  


• naps from 2pm-4pm, although lately she is waking up earlier than 4pm!
  


• loves the outdoors still...loves the playground, swimming pool, and walking to the mailbox and requests these things often
  


• watermelon = "melon water"
  


• ice cream (of any kind) = "ice keem cone"
  


• loves to play games on the computer on pbskids.org.
  


• favorite TV shows: Sesame Street, Word World, Martha Speaks
  


• calls "nana" on the phone every day. I know she misses seeing her while I'm on maternity leave
  


• lately she has been into playing her drum and "piano" which is actually a xylophone
  


• likes to wear hats, but will still not keep a bow in her hair
  


• diaper = "biper"
  


• puts boo-boo medicine on her boo-boos. She is recovering from a bad one right now with a black eye (future blog post...)
  


• loves baths especially with bubbles
  


• peanut butter crackers = "bunny crackers"
  


• whenever we leave our house in the car, Brynley says "horsey-cows?" and we have to look out the window for horses or cows
  


• yogurt = "ogert"
  


• she sleeps well in her big girl bed and has been since March or April. One time when I was working, Rob put her down for her nap in her big girl bed. When he checked the monitor later, he heard music playing. Since Daddy had forgotten to turn on her music, Brynley got out of bed and did it herself...then drifted off to sleep!
  


• loves dancing! Music is pronounced "Sic!"
  


• recognizes all the letters of the alphabet and most colors and shapes
  


• just yesterday, Brynley started "singing" songs along with me...mostly her ABCs and The Wheels on the Bus. Although most of the words are incoherent, it is adorable and I am going to try to videotape it (she is still interested in grabbing the camera when she sees it)

My wish

I love you, Brynley & Roman!

"My Wish" by Rascal Flatts

I hope that the days come easy and the moments pass slow,
And each road leads you where you want to go,
And if you're faced with a choice, and you have to choose,
I hope you choose the one that means the most to you.
And if one door opens to another door closed,
I hope you keep on walkin' till you find the window,
If it's cold outside, show the world the warmth of your smile,

But more than anything, more than anything,
My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to,
Your dreams stay big, and your worries stay small,
You never need to carry more than you can hold,
And while you're out there getting where you're getting to,
I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too,
Yeah, this, is my wish.

I hope you never look back, but ya never forget,
All the ones who love you, in the place you left,
I hope you always forgive, and you never regret,
And you help somebody every chance you get,
Oh, you find God's grace, in every mistake,
And you always give more than you take.

But more than anything, yeah, and more than anything,
My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to,
Your dreams stay big, and your worries stay small,
You never need to carry more than you can hold,
And while you're out there getting where you're getting to,
I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too,
Yeah, this, is my wish.

My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to,
Your dreams stay big, and your worries stay small,
You never need to carry more than you can hold,
And while you're out there getting where you're getting to,
I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too,
Yeah, this, is my wish.

This is my wish
I hope you know somebody loves you
May all your dreams stay big

(Thank you, Melody, for introducing me to this song)

An afternoon in June

Just a few random pictures from a sunny afternoon in June:

Homecoming

On Tuesday, June 7th, we finally got to leave the hospital around 3pm. I was very excited to get home and to see Brynley, who I hadn't seen in two days! Brynley was also excited to see me, but even more excited about the balloon that came home with me (thank you again, Erika).

Brynley couldn't keep her hands off her brother. She kissed him a million times that day (and every day since) and said "Cuuuuuute!" She pronounced Roman as "omen" or "momen" or sometimes it sounded like "melmo" which is her name for Elmo.

Roman gave his big sister a gift...two books about siblings, some bubbles, and two small stuffed toys. He is such a caring guy!
Oh yea...the gift also had M&Ms. Brynley's favorite part.

Roman sat in his bouncer for the very first time:

This last picture was actually taken before we left the hospital. It's Roman's hospital security band. These bands prevent in-hospital abductions by setting off an alarm and locking the hospital doors if they are removed or taken beyond a certain point in the hospital. It actually happened twice while we were there, but they were both false alarms (and not related to Roman's anklet either).
It felt so great to be home. Roman was surrounded by love from me, Rob, Bryn, and Nana! Many thanks to my mother-in-law who stayed at our house while I was in the hospital. She cared for the cats, the dogs, the house, and me after I got home. For two days after I got home, I was sick with a flu and had only enough energy to feed the baby and fall asleep on the couch. I was very grateful to have family there helping!

One day old

A few pictures of Roman in the hospital on June 6th...mostly swaddled & sleeping all day!

The story of Roman

Friday, June 3rd:

I had a restless night. I kept waking up with contractions...although I wasn't completely convinced that they were real.

Saturday, June 4th:

11:00 - my contractions became regular, occurring every 10 minutes.
14:00 - Rob called his mom & sister and they headed out to our house. After they arrived, I went 30 minutes without a contraction and was worried that we had them visit prematurely!
17:30 - Rob & I left for the hospital. Contractions were 5 minutes apart when we left and 3-5 minutes apart for the ride in
18:00 - Rob gets pulled over by a cop on Route 17...for speeding! When the cop was walking up to our car, I was between contractions...so I faked one! The cop led us to the hospital after that.

The times become a little blurry after this, but I was checked in for observation and walked the halls for an hour and a half. After they admitted me, it took awhile to get my epidural, but then...relief...finally! My nurse, Julie, was amazing...smart, comforting, funny!

Rob, Linda (my mother-in-law), and Melinda were at the hospital with me throughout my labor. Robert, Tina, and Brynley were also there for a little while on Saturday night, but Brynley was very upset when she saw me in the hospital bed so they didn't stay long.

Sunday, June 5th:

I took a short nap, but mostly we chatted through the night. Melinda left around 3:30am and we continued to wait. After 18 hours of labor, Roman finally joined our family at 4:56am. He screamed for the first hour and peed on my favorite nurse. Then he was calm and a good eater and perfect in every way!

Roman met his big sister on Sunday morning:




And had his first bath on Sunday:




Welcome to the world, Roman! You are so very loved already!