MommySpice

So I have some exciting news. Well, it's not really exciting for anyone but me (and Andrew, because he's obligated to be excited about the same things as me because we're married...not really, he's just really supportive and nice...don't you love this run-on sentence?), but here it is anyway. I am writing for a blog called MommySpice on the Spice Network for women. You can read me here. Please come on over for a visit. Make comments, read articles by other moms, and consider how awesome I feel to be able to be a real live writer somewhere besides my own little humble corner of the web. My life is awesome.

3 weeks already?

Is that even possible? In one way, it seems like he was just born yesterday. But in another way, I can hardly remember how it felt to live without him.

Out with the old, in with the new

Lots of changes going on right now.

Our new van! Perry and Christi came this past weekend to deliver our beautiful new vehicle--a Toyota Sienna--and take our old one back to the dealership in NM. (Their visit is for another post.) I have to say that I am in love with our new ride. It's not the hottest thing ever, but it's awesome. We don't have to bend over to put both carseats in the car, it has a brand new DVD player (especially for Eva, and she LOVES it), and it's just a great family car. With two kids and a mini-van, we have officially arrived in family land. It's good to be here.




My haircut! After weeks of desperately wanting to cut it and completely giving up on styling it, I chopped it off. Short. And I LOVE it. Who knew that my favorite haircut would happen in Altus, Oklahoma? I feel so much happier when I look cute. I am NEVER growing my hair out again. Please, people, if any time in the next 5 years you read on this blog that I am growing it out, stop me. For real. I am a short-haired girl, and that's all there is to it. Don't I look hot? I know.




Sleeping habits. Both of our children are normally amazingly good sleepers, but we have had a couple rough nights this past week. Can I say again how much I want to get into our house??? It will solve so many problems...



Eating habits. After one day of South Beach diet, I decided I couldn't do it while nursing. But I am trying to lose weight so that when I get to Utah in a couple weeks I can hit up Park City outlets and get a new fall wardrobe. New clothes are always a great motivation to lose weight--especially after the yucky maternity phase. I LOVE not being pregnant!! So wish me luck on healthy eating. Oh, how I love food...this is not going to be easy.



Clothes. I am so over maternity clothes. Like, it hurts my self-esteem every day when I have to wear them. Why do I have to wear them? Because all of my real person clothes are sitting in boxes in Washington. So today I went shopping (oh, and yesterday too) and bought a dang cute new pair of shorts and three new shirts. I feel MUCH better now. Like my grandma used to say and my mom still does, sometimes all you need to make you feel better is a new outfit. And I say, why stop at one outfit when you can get three?

A good beginning.

If Leighton had followed in Eva's footsteps, he would not have been born until today--10 days past his due date. Thank HEAVEN we didn't do that again.

Happy Birthday

Somehow in writing the details of yesterday, I forgot to mention that it was a very important day. A day of "birthdays" for a few members of our family.

First, Leighton turned 2 weeks old. Big turning point, in my mind. His doctor's appt. went pretty well. He didn't like getting nakey at all and cried for that, but he did really well. How did I end up with such a calm child? I have no idea--he didn't get any of his personality from me, obviously. He weighs 7 lbs. 9 oz., up 5 oz. from his birth weight of 7 lbs. 4 oz. He was 21" long--he's grown a whole half-inch since birth. Like a weed, right? :) Everything looks healthy, happy, and terrific, as my Dad used to say, and I was pleased to learn that the acne all over his face that currently mars his appearance and makes me not want to take close-up pictures of him will in fact go away before too long. Thank heavens for that! It's not freakishly early puberty after all. Has it really already been 2 weeks since my baby boy was born? I can hardly believe it.

Second, Eva turned 16 months. My small window of time when I could say I had 2 kids under 16 months is closed now. And I never even got to say it. Oh well. I took her to the library, just the two of us, for a little outing yesterday afternoon. She was so good and reminded me again why I love her so much--more than I can even believe. Her new obsession is playing wiht buckles. On her stroller, her highchair, and Leighton's bouncer chair--she spends a significant amount of each day snapping buckles. She can't get them undone yet, but she can do them up pretty fast. She is just fascinated with things that go together like that--also like lids and containers of any kind. She is so curious about how things work--just like her Dad. My favorite thing of the day so far was when I walked in the room this morning after showering, and she looked at me with a big smile (after watching Signing Time twice in a row) and said, "Hi!" I love the way she says hi--I just want to eat her up every time she says it. So happy 16 month birthday to the cutest girl I know.

I guess, now that I think of it, it was my birthday too. My half-birthday. I am 24 1/2. Not quite as big of a deal, but it makes yesterday seem even more important. I celebrated by eating about half a gallon of Bluebell ice cream while watching SYTYCD. Speaking of that, guess where their tour starts this fall? That's right, folks--in my future home town of Tacoma, Washington. Guess who's going to be there, come heck or high water...or a frugal husband? ME.

So one day late, happy birthday to 3 of the 4 Webbs.

Juggling

It's nap time, and once again I sit down to write. This is becoming a routine--maybe an addiction--that I rather like. I told my friend Krista (successful gardener and seamstress extraordinaire) in an e-mail this morning that my afternoon blog time is my outlet. And it really is. So for all of you who think I am neglecting my children by being such a faithful blogger, you are wrong. They are fed and peacefully sleeping, and I'm thrilled about my me-time. :)

Just as a side note before I begin, I am listening to some awesome music on this blog I stumbled across, Passionista. She always has a great playlist going, and it's relaxing to listen to during my blog time. Check it out if you want some good tunes.

This morning Andrew left for work before I woke up. I got up at 8am, just in time to prepare Leighton's breakfast before he woke up. Then began the juggling of all the things I needed to do. I think this will become the theme for this season of motherhood--juggling. See, with just one child, it was pretty easy to get my priorities straight. Wake up, change her diaper, feed her, then eat breakfast myself, entertain her in some way so I could shower and get ready, and so on. Well, this morning was a different beast entirely. My first time doing the morning routine alone, and...let's just say I'm really proud of myself that both children and I are dressed in something other than pajamas.

Eva woke up with a stinky diaper, but since I was feeding Leighton I had to make her sit in it. Then I decided to feed her breakfast before changing her diaper, because Leighton was stinky and his smelled alot worse. (Probably not the best basis for making my decision, but...whatever.) I sat her in her chair, changed Leighton and got him dressed, and finished feeding him. Then Eva's diaper. Then, I realized that if I didn't eat something IMMEDIATELY I was going to fall on the floor and die. (Is it normal to be so ravenously hungry all the time?) I set Leighton in his bouncer chair and Eva next to me on the couch (we don't have a kitchen table) to down a bowl of cereal before the next crisis. Leighton started crying, but I decided to finish eating (selfish? maybe...) before getting him what he needed. Which turned out to be more food. He must be on a growth spurt, because he went from eating 2 ounces to 4 1/2 ounces overnight. Little piggy.

My point is not to hash out my morning routine with you, my bored readers, but to say that being a mom of two requires alot more and alot faster decision-making ability. I didn't realize this until this morning. It seems like both kids need things, and need them NOW, and I feel like my brain is running circles trying to decide which need is more urgent and what to do first. I don't know how my hygiene habits are going to fare with this. I have to admit that there have been a couple days in the last 2 weeks where 3pm rolls around and I realize that I haven't brushed my teeth yet that day. (But I did make time for blogging, don't you worry. Priorities? HA!) I did eventually get a shower today, thanks to the heaven-sent gift of Signing Time videos. (Hey, don't judge me for using the television as a babysitter. Those videos are totally educational, and she loves them. And frankly, I didn't really care what she watched as long as I could get 5 minutes to wash the spit-up and milk off of me.)

So here's to the chaos of the morning time, and to the fact that Andrew doesn't have a true full-time job. (Thank you George Bush, but for real this time.) Oh, and to my dwindling brain cells. I hope they hold up under all this stress.

P.S. I made a treat after lunch that is yummy and easy: chocolate cornflake treats. I don't know what they're really called, but I got the recipe on the back of the Cornflake box.

1 c semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 c butterscotch chips

1/2 c peanut butter

5 c Cornflakes

You make them just like Rice Krispie treats. Eva loved it--mostly because I let her lick the spoon.

Gratitude Attitude

I love making lists. This becomes quite obvious when looking back at my previous posts. My brain seems to think best in list form. I love making lists of all kinds--things to do, grocery shopping, trips I want to take, blogs to write, websites I love, dinner plans, good songs...you name it, I probably have made a list for it. Right now in my head is a long list of complaints, beginning with my newly-washed jeans (I hate jeans fresh out of the dryer--they just don't fit right) and ending with my feelings about the all-consuming task of feeding my son. But rather than complain again--I feel like I've done WAY too much of that lately--I will try to have what my Mom used to call a "gratitude attitude." So here they are--in list format, of course (maybe I'll break out of that as soon as my brain functions normally again)--a few things I am grateful for.

• The way Leighton curls up on me and falls asleep. There is nothing in the world quite like having a curled up, cuddly, soft, warm, newborn baby fast asleep on your stomach.
  
• Pinkalicious. First, what a cool word; second, what a cute book. I mostly just love the awesome pictures. This book was a gift from Andrew's sister Chelsey, who always gives the cutest gifts, right before the baby was born. At first I worried that either she wouldn't be interested in it since it has so many words or that she would tear the beautiful pages. But she fell in love with that book the first time Mammy read it to her. Whenever she sees the pink cupcakes on the inside of the cover, she asks, "Whasat?", and then just stares at the pictures and listens closely while I read. The other day she seemed a little restless and annoyed, so I thought I would read her a book. I said, "Where is Pinkalicious? Go get your Pinkalicious." She promptly ran over to the shelf and picked out the correct book--which I thought was pretty stinking smart. This morning I read it to her again, and then she sat on the couch by herself "reading" and turning the pages. Unfortunately she did rip one, but it was the very last one with the copyright stuff on it--so none of the pictures are ruined. I love that she loves that book.
  
• A re-stocked kitchen. We have been seriously low on food the last several days, and I hate that feeling. After making a grocery list (I know, another list...I never stop!) Andrew went to the commisary and replenished us. I put a few frivolous things on the list, like Moo-lenium Crunch Bluebell ice cream (my FAVORITE flavor) and a box of brownie mix, but he was so kind and got everything I wanted. Tonight--teriyaki chicken on rice, broccoli, and ice cream for dessert. Yum! A bad day is always brightened by the prospect of a great dinner, don't you think?


• Food Network and TLC. I have watched MANY hours of those channels while feeding Leighton, and I'm glad that if I have to be sitting there for countless hours a day, I can be entertained. Tonight's feeding time will be accompanied by America's Got Talent and the new TLC show Must Love Kids. Can I say that television is WAY better at night than during the day?
• Eva. Whether she is posing naked on her beloved chair or feeding her baby doll, she just makes me happy.

All complaints aside, I love my life.

Little things

One of my favorite quotes (which can also be found on my sidebar to the right) says, "The little things? The little moments? They aren't little." I have found this be to more true than ever these days, so I just wanted to bear testimony of that quote. Here are a few not-so-little things.

-A piece of a thorn in the bottom of my foot. I stepped on it yesterday afternoon, and it went deep into my foot. It is so small, in fact, that I can barely even see it, let alone get it out. It hurts to walk and I have to curl my foot in this crippled way to hobble around. As if I don't have enough pains in my body right now, let's add one more to the list. I'm considering just digging a hole around the general area. I'll let you know how it goes...

-On the same foot, I have a small wart. I am strangely proud of the fact that I have a wart. It's like when I was little, all I wanted was glasses, a retainer, and a broken arm with a cool cast. I got two of the three things (glasses and a retainer after getting my braces off) in college and found that it wasn't as cool as I thought. Same kind of thing with the wart. They have always kind of fascinated me in a sick way. So I've had this little bump on my toe for a couple years now, and Andrew finally confirmed to me the other day that it is, in fact, a wart. So I went and got some wart remover stuff and prepared to get it off. I mean, it's one thing to have a wart, but entirely another to leave it on there even after you know it's a wart. But before I continue, let me say first that I LOVE my feet. I think they are my best feature, and if I had my druthers, I would switch things around and put my face on the ground and my feet up where everyone could see them. With that said, I continue. This little wart is on my second toe on my right foot. Even with the wart, my feet are dang cute. Until the little wart remover medicine happened. It turned the wart screaming white and made it LOOK like a wart, whereas before it just looked like a little bump. Now it is obvious that I have a wart, and I don't feel like it's cool anymore. I just want it gone so I can have my cute feet back. It's a good thing I never leave the house. Long story short: this little wart is a big thing right now.


-The thought that came to me this morning that I have pretty much NOTHING to wear. My maternity pants still fit, but the shirts don't. I have like 2 ugly t-shirts and that's IT. That little thought was enough to send me over the edge into a crying meltdown. I had had quite enough already with the sore nipples (there really is no other pain like that, is there?) and the throbbing incision and the thorn in my foot and Eva's crying and feeling bad looking at Leighton's heat rash on his face that makes him look like an acne-d up teenager and Andrew leaving me all alone to go to work for 4 hours...the no clothes thing was the straw that broke the camel's back. Actually, I'm not a camel, I'm a cow (MOO). The straw that broke the cow's back. And apparently Andrew is so used to me crying after breastfeeding that he didn't even ask me what was wrong or come over to comfort me for at least 10 minutes. Add insult to injury, right? You know when you are having a pity party and you just keep thinking of more things to make you cry harder? Yeah, that was me. I'm over it now, but it was just one little thing after another. Oh, hormones. You're not so little, are you?


-Naptime. Both of my children are asleep, and I am free to blog my heart out. That is a little thing, but it's making me pretty happy right now.


-This picture of Leighton's little tiny finger.

After all my hard work at breastfeeding him, this is the thanks I get--the newborn version of a flip-off. He has NO idea what I go through just to fill his little tummy. :) But aren't his little fingers the cutest?

Leighton's first bath & Eva's first escape

Saturday night, we decided it was way past time Leighton had his first bath. I know--10 days old and he hadn't had a bath yet. Can we say bad mother of the year? But hey, we live in Altus, and we just wanted to keep with local tradition. Plus, as I have mentioned before, I have an irrational fear of bathing newborns. (Remember how I actually got in the tub with Eva for the first 10 months of her life? Like I said, irrational...) Since my mom was here, I decided to use her expert newborn skills and have her do the honors. After having 8 kids, she really has this bathing thing down pat. So I gathered all the stuff, filled up the little tub in the kitchen sink, and watched her work her magic.

Leighton absolutely loved the water--he was so calm and content in there. He didn't cry once. Very different from Eva. Of course, I was the one bathing Eva, which means she knocked her head on the side of the tub several times...of course she cried. Her clumsy mother didn't know how to control her newborn limbs. Poor thing. But Leighton--happy as a lark. Thanks, Mom, for getting him all clean. Could you maybe consider making the 9 hour drive again next week to bathe him again? I promise I don't mind waiting until you come.

Thursday night we had a big event also: Eva's first escape. We had put Eva down to bed and were watching SYTYCD. Eva was fussing more than normal in her crib. I kept asking Andrew if he had closed the door, because it sounded louder than normal. My mom asked, "She couldn't have climbed out and be crying at the door, could she?" I hastily and confidently replied, "No way. She doesn't know how to get out." Apparently I was a little too confident. A few minutes later, Andrew decided to go check on her. 3 seconds later, Eva runs into the living room laughing, with a triumphant smile on her face. The little punk had indeed climbed out of the crib, onto our bed, and down onto the floor and had been wailing at the door. She was obviously very proud of herself, and we couldn't help but laugh. And I was secretly proud of her too. As long as she doesn't learn how to climb back in...that could be disastrous if she climbed in the wrong crib and landed right on top of Leighton. Oh, Eva. Even though you drive me crazy sometimes, I love you to bits.

Things I have loved/not loved about being a mom in the past week

Loved:

-Hearing Leighton swallow. Probably my favorite sound in the world.

-Watching Eva take a bit more interest in him, even if it comes across a little rough.

-Getting good cuddles from Eva after she woke up from a nap. She let me kiss her a ton, and it was great.

-Hearing Eva say words when she is trying to repeat after me. She says "dot" and other little words. Andrew just informed me that today at church she said "Jesus." That's awesome.

-Looking at my children's beautiful blue eyes.

-Saying "the kids" plural in a sentence and realizing that I feel really proud of that. I have 2 kids. Why can't I get over that?

-Putting Leighton in his new bouncer chair. I love that thing.

Not loved:

-Getting peed on when Eva sat on my lap in her swimsuit. Sick.

-Feeling like I'm so tired I'm going to die when we get up with Leighton at night.

-Pumping. And pumping, and pumping, and pumping, and pumping...Time really goes by fast when you have to do something at a 3 hour interval like that. Blah.

-Leighton taking a full hour to eat this morning when I tried to nurse him like a real mom instead of pump and bottle feed. He is possibly the world's SLOWEST eater, and I don't think I'll be able to do that ever again.

-Dealing with Eva's tantrums. Holy cow, when will this stage be over with? She's cute, but MAN, she's ornery sometimes!

In the end, though, the good definitely outweighs the bad. I won't lie and say it's easy and happy all the time.

It's been great having my mom here to help for the last several days. She just left to go back home to Houston a few minutes ago, and we are left here on our own. For real this time. It's daunting and scary to think that I'm going to have to deal with Eva while still trying to get the hang of breastfeeding--or rather, get Leighton to swallow with a little more speed so it doesn't take so long. I still can't pick her up very well (probably the biggest drawback of a C-section) and that's going to be tough. She gets pretty upset when I don't give her what she wants. What can I say--she gets that from me. I'm 24 and still haven't grown out of it. :) How will I feed both of them and still get time to take a shower myself? How will I handle it when they are both crying at the same time? The thought of it makes me shudder. But...hopefully in another week, when I'm a little more used to doing this mother-of-two stuff by myself, I will still be able to say that there are more good things than bad. Cross your fingers for me.

Audience

I majored in English. That means I took alot of classes on writing. In these classes, I learned to write to a specific audience. Before you write something, think about who you are writing it for. In the blogging world, this has been interesting. There are generally a few people I have in mind when I blog--people who I know will read it. I have been surprised a few times along the way in finding out that people I didn't expect are reading about my life. One of the great things about writing your "journal" on the internet for all to see. And generally, it's flattering to find out that someone cares enough about you to read what you have written. Even if it's mostly about boring things.

But yesterday, I received quite a shock when I found out about one "audience member" I never expected in a million years: Andrew's grandfather, Papa. I must say that I cringed at the thought of someone so good and distinguished as Papa reading the words "porn star boobs." (And if he reads this again, he'll get a double dose of those words!) It made me laugh, and made me feel really good. He was so kind and commented on our family website that he enjoyed reading what I had written.

That just goes to show that no matter who you plan on having as an audience, you never know who is sitting there quietly in the back of the auditorium, taking it all in. To all of you silent readers, welcome. I'll try to keep you in mind from now on. Including you, Papa.

{Future blogger in the making...maybe}

Thank you, George Bush.

First, I must say that my last blog has been haunting me a little bit. Not because I wish I hadn't written it, but because of how it may affect others. Because of Blogger's new thing where you can put links to people on your blog page and it shows their title, my blog put the word "breast" on other people's blogs who have links to mine. And maybe that makes some people uncomfortable. So in order to move it down in the cue and move the topic of "breast" out of sight, I figured I should blog again. Plus, my son turned one week old yesterday. And that is a momentous occasion--I just have to share a picture. Even though the whole photo shoot didn't turn out quite how I envisioned. I wanted his naked little bum, but I was just too scared he would pee everywhere. So the ugly diaper stayed on. Oh well--he's adorable even with that diaper on.

But now for the main point of this post. Andrew and I have a running joke that comes up frequently these days. I think there are alot of people in this country who like to blame President Bush for things that they are upset about and don't know exactly where to place blame. Not to get all political or anything, but sometimes I just think it's funny. So whenever there is something that is making us mad and is totally out of our control but is really nobody's fault, we just blame George Bush.

Last night was our first night with both children by ourselves. My mom is here, but I thought it would be better just to let Eva start adjusting (she had been sleeping in Andrew's mom's hotel room the last week) to our new family situation. The problem is that we still only have one bedroom. Now that was hard enough with one child, but with two...it's just downright annoying. We put Eva to bed at 8pm (of course, since she was thrown all off, she didn't go to sleep until about 10pm) and then when we were ready to go to bed at about 11pm, we moved Eva's pack'n'play into the living room. With us getting up in the night, there is no way we could keep her in there with us. It's not that Leighton would cry and wake her up (he never cries), but mostly just when I jump into my role of mother cow and turn on the pump. It beeps like a heart rate monitor and makes a humming sound that would be sure to wake her up. We were lucky that in moving her, she stayed completely asleep.

But really, I'm just not excited about having to do that every night for the next 4 weeks until we finally get the heck out of here. I'm bugged about my housing situation, plain and simple. I want my own room back, I want Eva to play in her crib in the mornings like she used to, I want a real place to change diapers, I want my king-sized bed with my own bedding, I want two bathrooms, I want a quiet dishwasher, and I want to feel settled with our newly-acquired two children family and our brand new house.

So, for lack of anyone else to blame my frustration on, I want to blame our dear president. Thanks for nothing, George. Thanks alot.

P.S. SYTYCD commentary: Is there really anyone in this country who likes Comfort more than Kherington? I'm totally confused. Comfort, get off the stage.

Breast vs. Bottle

Actually, it should be Milk vs. Me. And milk is winning. I feel like milk, in both forms, is taking over my life. Pumping, feeding, burping, pumping some more...I feel sometimes like it never ends.

But in fact, I am grateful for this. As some of you know, I swore off breastfeeding after my last experience. My experience of being de-motherized when a fluke of nature happened and my milk never came in. (I apologize to any males reading this, but...come on. I just had a baby. What do you think I have to talk about besides breastfeeding and other such gross things?)

At the end of this pregnancy, aka 2 weeks ago, Andrew and I argued regularly about it. He wanted me to try again, I refused. I swore I wouldn't put myself through that trauma, both physical and emotional, ever again. Formula is FINE with me. But after my body kicked in and decided to be normal and produce milk like every other mother in the world, I decided to give this whole breastfeeding thing a try. Due to some physical complications (can I say inverted nipples on the internet? Well, I just did...Too much information? Probably. Sorry, readers.) I have difficulty actually feeding Leighton. But I am so grateful that milk production is not a problem this time.

Oh, and probably the best thing about it is, when I walk around topless (come on all you moms, you know you've done it too) I feel like a porn star. Natural cleavage on my body? Who knew such a thing was possible? But my question is, why can't I have big boobs and a flat stomach at the same time? Nature is a cruel beast.

I hope this highly sensitive topic doesn't offend anyone. If you don't want to hear about the status of my boobs, maybe you should stop reading my blog for a while. Because, let's be honest. They are on my mind alot. Because it's pretty much all I deal. All day long. Hey, at least I'm not posting pictures with this. Come on. Even I have limits.

What I know now that I would tell myself one week ago

Dear self on July 8th,

Here are some things you need to know for your C-section tomorrow. This will help you immensely in the process.

-You may think as you are walking into the hospital that you will soon get rid of your belly. You will take a picture right before you walk in thinking that when you walk out you will look thinner. This is a lie, and a cruel form of self-deception. You will hardly look less pregnant, and you will in fact only lose about 10 pounds. Your doctor won't do a tummy tuck while she's in there, so stop hoping.

-Your husband is amazing. Don't ever forget this. In the next week, he will prove to you time and again that you don't deserve him. Thank him in advance.

-When you are being wheeled down the hall into the OR on a stretcher and you say out loud, "I feel like I'm in a movie," nobody, including your dear husband, will answer you. And you will feel a little dumb. But it's okay, because you'll still feel like you are on a movie. Live it up.

-You will have an anxiety attack as you are waiting to go into surgery. You will all of a sudden feel hot and extremely uncofortable, and you want to rip the IV out of your arm and run away and hit all the nurses in the face--especially the one standing by your side talking Harley Davidsons with Andrew when all you want to do it close your eyes and breath deeply. But you will live through it.

-Your anesthosiologist, Musa, a kind black woman with a sweet voice and a calm hand, will be your new best friend. She will hold your hand through the whole process. But be warned--the spinal will hurt. Really bad. WAY worse than your epidural. Prepare yourself.

-You won't remember much of the surgery--it will be like an out-of body experience. You will hear your doctor yelling, "Vacuum! Vacuum!" but it won't really scare you. You won't feel a thing--I promise. Except when Dr. Hagedorn is rummaging around in your ribcage to find the baby's head, but it will feel more like a tickle.

-When you see your baby, you will feel a strange feeling. Like you didn't have much to do with him being born, but you are still overcome. But also very drugged. You will feel weird, but you'll still cry. And the nurse that is violently beating your seconds-old child on the back is helping him breathe, and he will not die from it. Oh, and he will be pretty much the smallest thing you'll ever see.

-When they remove your uterus from your body to sew it back up, you will be completely overcome with nausea like you have never experienced, and within seconds you will be vomiting your guts out. But you will have no stomch muscle control, so you'll be just spitting really hard. But this will only happen 3 or 4 times, and then you'll be fine. They'll give you medicine to put you into the best sleep of your life, and you'll wake up empty of a baby with 14 staples holding you together. Just like a big packet of paper.

-The medicine in your spinal will cause you to itch SEVERELY for the next 24 plus hours. With all that scratching you will do, you will cause your nose to peel. And all the Benadryl they will give you won't really help. And that huge IV in your hand? That will stay in until the morning you leave the hospital. Despite the fact that it will not be hooked up to anything and is only left in to annoy you. And you'll have a large gaping hole in your hand that will remain a week later.

-Seeing this little face will bring your heart into your throat and you will feel more love than you ever thought possible.

-Andrew will do EVERYTHING for you. From where I sit a week later, you'll still have only changed a total of three diapers. I repeat--your husband is amazing. Appreciate him. And he will LOVE little Leighton, and it will melt your heart to see them together.

-Tonight at midnight, you will start your long fast from food and water. When you finally taste a graham cracker on Thursday morning, you will think you have died and gone to heaven. So enjoy your last supper of Pickup Taco and a snowcone tonight, because it will have to tide you over for a LONG time.

-Eva will be difficult when she comes to visit you. She will run around barefoot looking like a dirty orphan, and there will not be a miraculous moment when she sees her new little brother and runs to him with open, loving arms. In fact, she'll pretend he doesn't exist for quite some time. And that's okay. She'll get used to it, and she'll never remember a time without him.

-When your mom walks in the room, you will break down crying for no reason.

-Don't let the nurses bully you about breastfeeding, or anything else. You do what you want. You are the mother.

-The hospital food will be pretty good. You'll get to order from a menu. And when you order unhealthy things, like fried shrimp or biscuits and gravy...don't worry. They'll throw a nice wilted sprig of parsley on the plate to make it look colorful and healthy. So eat up--with no guilt. Because if there's green on the plate, it has to be a balanced meal. Right?

-When Andrew makes you laugh hard, you will experience a tremendous amount of pain. But that doesn't mean you'll be able to make yourself stop laughing. Just hold your stomach really tight and laugh away. Your stiches or staples will not pop out.

-When it comes time for you to go home from the hospital, you won't be excited to leave like you were with Eva. This hospital experience is MUCH better than your first, and you won't mind the thought of staying there longer. And bringing your new child home to a hotel room will feel strange. But hey--it's home.

I hope these suggestions help, self. Tomorrow will be one of the biggest days of your life. And after it's all over and you're holding your tiny baby Leighton, you'll think to yourself, "Self, I never knew it could be this good."

Love,

Yourself in a week

Back home again

Emerging from the haze of the hospital stay as we settle back in here at home. Lots of things to say, but...I'll just say this. For the record.

As you all know, I was scared spitless about having a second baby. I didn't know if I would love him as much as I love Eva, how I would feel about them being so close together, blah blah blah. What was I thinking? In all honesty, I can't believe I waited even this long to meet my little Leighton. I simply can't get enough of this guy.

Even More Leighton Pics

More Leighton Pictures

Leighton Andrew Webb

Born: July 9th, 2008

Time: 752am Central

Weight: 7lb 4oz

Height: 20.5in

Studliness: Off the charts

Here we go

This is it! We are leaving for the hospital. Three is about to become four...

Lasts

Our last day before our new baby joins our family. I keep thinking of "lasts." Our last breakfast. Last lunch. Last blog (maybe). Last time making cookies. Last time to go to the pool. My last meal tonight. It's so weird. I am really excited.

I finished washing and folding all his little clothes and picked out what to take to the hospital. Andrew's mom Cindi flew in last night to OKC and brought some cute outfits for both kids. (What a weird sentence! Both kids?? Do I really almost have 2??) My favorite is a black onesie with--what else?--Harley Davidson on it. It also came with a beanie and these tiny little booties. I love it. Can't wait to take a father-son picture. But that's what we'll bring him home from the hospital in. No better way to join the Webb family than receiving your first Harley outfit. Come to think of it, I still don't have one...hmmm. At least I have my own motorcycle helmet. Anyway.

We've just been sitting around today--not much to do--and getting things finalized and ready for the little one. I sterilized the bottles and set up the bottle drying rack. D.Todd, Leighton's giraffe, is clean and ready for the first picture. I am excited to see if Leighton loves D.Todd as much as Eva loves Henry. We'll see. I picked up my prescription of pain medicine, aka narcotics, according to the pharmacist, so I'm ready to brave surgery. We've got a borrowed video camera ready to go. We still need to take our last family picture and do a few other things--like grocery shopping--but other than that we are ready. Is this REALLY happening tomorrow? Holy cow.

I love this girl.

Adorable dress from Target: $9.99

Rocking chair from Cracker Barrel: $79.99

My beautiful little girl: Priceless

Independence from Altus for a few days

We're back home again from our last trip as a family of three, and we had a great time. We stayed at Chris and Stacy's house--they were so gracious to let us stay last minute and for so long. :) They live on base and they just moved in last week--they were so quick in getting it ready for guests. We got there Thursday late afternoon and stopped at Target--I know I've mentioned countless times before how much I love that store, but I MUST say it again. I LOVE TARGET. We bought another outfit for Eva--how can I resist when it's $3.99? Obviously, I can't. I got some pajama pants for the hospital...we just had a good time being in there. At least, I did. Oh, and we bought Eva this way cute toddler-sized papasan that folds out. It's pink and just her size, and she LOVED it when we let her try it out in the store. I know we're probably spoiling her when Leighton is born, but I just want to make sure she feels special. I'm having mixed feelings about it not being just us and Eva anymore. Will it be as much fun? She's just so fun these days, and I hope that doesn't change. Anyway.

We had a hard time deciding on where to eat for dinner, for some reason. Sometimes we are just way indecisive. We ended up at Papa Johns--the best pizza ever. Mostly because of the delicious butter garlic sauce. Mmm. It was (I think) the first time I have ever walked into a pizza place like that, ordered, and sat there and waited. They just had a bench to sit on--no tables or anything--and we just listened to the employees talking and making pizza while trying to keep Eva from running back there to help them. We got the white pizza with a ricotta-garlic topping, and it was so yummy. We ate the whole pizza in the car (just a medium, not a large or anything!) and then stopped at Sonic to get a shake before heading to Chris and Stacy's. We stayed up late talking that night, of course, and then went to bed.

The 4th of July! One of my top 3 favorite holidays, I think. I have such great memories of this holiday, and this one did not disappoint. We started the day just relaxing at the house.

We waited for the babies to nap and went to Walmart to grocery shop sometime in the afternoon. We went swimming at the Nazi-style pool. We weren't allowed in the big pool with Eva--or anyone under the age of 4--so we sat in the kids pool. Just as we sat down in the few inches of water (NOT quite enough to cool off my huge pregnant sweaty body in the hot weather!), they blew the whistle for adult swim. The few feet of space was flooded with everyone over the age of 4 there, and it got un-fun for the rest of the time. Andrew and Chris got to go down the water slide twice before they blew the whistle again--this time for lightning. The pool closed and we went home a little bummed about the experience. But oh well. We had a delicious dinner of grilled chicken, fruit salad, and twice-baked potatoes. After stuffing ourselves, we walked over to the Freedom Festival at Sheppard AFB.

My first order of business, after taking a slightly blurry family picture in front of the F-16 Thunderbird,

was to get a funnel cake. It cost $5 and I waited in line for an hour to get it, but I got it. No regrets. I love funnel cakes.

I got it just in time for the firework show. We sat on a blanket and watched them. Even better then the fireworks was watching Eva watch the fireworks. She loved it. I wanted to take a picture to remember how cute she looked, and she and Andrew were not too pleased with the flash in their eyes.

We got home late (after 11:30, I think) and fell asleep promptly.

Saturday we had some errands to run--another stop at Target and to Best Buy. Our video camera hasn't been working, so we were taking it to get fixed. REALLY bad timing, because it will take 2-6 weeks to get it back. Yeah--right when we have a monumental even to film. I was NOT happy about that. So hopefully we can get one to borrow somewhere, because I am bound and determined to film the moment when Eva meets her new little brother on Wednesday afternoon. At Target we bought a nice baby papasan vibrating bouncer chair. The one we used with Eva was bought at a consignment sale and it just wasn't quite worth keeping in the move. Our new one is way nice and I'm excited to put the little guy in it. And of course, we had to get a couple more kids outfits and other miscellaneous things. Can't leave that store without stuff. We ate lunch at Carl's Jr. and got a yummy green burrito. When we got home I crashed and took a couple hour nap. I was feeling crampy and gross all day--contractions? I have no idea. Luckily, it stopped later that night. And although I normally HATE taking naps, I felt much better after that. We went to a different swimming pool and had a much better time. We were finally allowed to put Eva in her little floatie--it's not allowed at our base pool. She only stayed in it for a minute, but oh well. The water felt really good. And Andrew got some good diving board jumps.

That night we went to Cracker Barrel for dinner, where I took some cute pictures of Eva in the rocking chairs. I want to buy one of those so bad, someday. I'll post those picture tomorrow. We had apple pie and ice cream for dessert back at home and stayed up late talking again--with Chris and Stacy, Kara and Clay, and Sarah. I just love hanging out with those friends!

Today we went to church, and another miracle--Eva sat almost all the way through sacrament meeting! It was strange to think that it was my last church day for a while, my last one pregnant for a long while, and our last one with one child forever. Weird. I went to Relief Society with Kara and Sarah, and it was just nice to sit with my girlfriends and listen to a lesson. Normally I hate the word "girlfriend," but I'm too lazy to think of something else. We had a lunch with eveyrone--the boys made chicken and dumpling soup. I tasted the best juice in the world: Welch's White Grape Peach. I am SO buying some of that tomorrow. We sat around and talked for a couple more hours, had brownies and ice cream for dessert, and then we reluctantly came back home to Altus. It was an awesome weekend, and a good last trip. At least for a couple weeks until I'm so cooped up I can't stand it, and I make Andrew take me up there again. Thank heavens for friends close by!

Another page

This is the third page for my digital scrapbooking class. I love it! If anyone wants to learn more about digital scrapbooking or take a class, go to jessicasprague.com. There are some great free tutorials and stuff on there, as well as classes. She is amazing!