Numerous Stories I Want To Remember

#1 ~ We had another bathtub peeing incident.  This time I was bathing Maycee and Stephen had Cooper. 

Because Stephen was so nervous from last time he found a way to solve his problem.

Stephen held Cooper over the toilet.

Within 5 seconds Cooper began to pee in the toilet.

Stephen kept having to rotate Cooper's body to keep his stream in the toilet.  He missed a little bit.

Moral of the story: We are going to have Cooper potty trained before Maycee.  That thing is deadly.

#2 ~ On Thursday night Marc & Kenna came over and brought us a freezer meal.  Sa-weet!

As we were chit-chatting, Stephen began to brag on "his boy".  I can't remember all of the things that were said, so I will just say the things that need to be said.  Cooper sleeps all of the time.  Really.  At night he already frequently goes 5 hours between feedings.  He rarely spits up.  We were all prepared after the buckets Maycee unloaded on us.  Lastly, Cooper has never had a blowout...

As Stephen said that last one, Cooper ripped a loud fart.

Kenna was holding Cooper.

That loud "fart" ended up all over Kenna's hand.

So much for no blowouts.  Oh well.  It's not like you can have a perfect baby.

#3 ~ Maycee cannot say Cooper.  I don't really know if it is as much she can't say it or won't, but Cooper's name has now been changed.  He is now known as "Peeker".

Two Week Checkup

On Monday, March 26th, we took Cooper to the doctor to do a checkup.  We have stats.  I'm already nervous.

Stats:
8.68 lbs - 50th Percentile
20.5 in - 40th Percentile

According to Cooper's stats compared to Maycee's we're going to have a tall, basketball playing girl and a short, runningback football player.

The jury is still out.

Right now he's only three weeks old.

We'll give him a little more time.

Cooper Pictures

My "me" time has gone down the drain.

I'm really hoping that some day soon it will come back.

I miss blogging.

I have a ton of hilarious stories that I really want to blog.

BUT it will have to wait.

Here are some cutie pictures I took of Cooper when he was a week old.

Um

Is it bad that I totally wore a jacket today that I know Cooper peed on?

He pees on everything.

Two Kids

Stephen and I have two children.

That is really weird to say.

Last night Stephen and I were working together to do the bedtime routine.  It was really fun to be working together taking care of Maycee and Cooper.

Stephen was giving Maycee a bath in the bathtub.  I was giving Cooper a bath in the sink in the bathroom.

Cooper was on the counter in his little bathtub holder as I was getting the water ready in the sink.  Stephen was kneeling next to the bathtub washing Maycee when I hear Stephen yell, "He's peeing on me!"  I turned to look as Cooper's little stream projected from him to his Dad's socks.

I could not stop laughing.

That has been he biggest difference between the girl/boy thing.  Cooper pees everywhere.  After being alive for almost two weeks the list of things that he has peed on is growing.  That list currently includes numerous places on the couch, Maycee's shoes, his blanket, and Cooper's poor little face.  Nothing is sacred.

I feel so blessed.

Honestly, I am so grateful that I have an amazing husband that is helping me raise our children.

I love you Stephen!

Tender Mercies

I had a really hard time after I had Maycee.

I don't know how to explain it.

After having Maycee, it was supposed to be one of the most happy moments of my life.

All I did was cry.

I didn't know how to stop crying.

It was a really depressing time for me.  It only lasted for about two weeks, but that was the longest two weeks of my life.

Through most of this pregnancy, the afterwards was the time that I was dreading the most.  I didn't want to feel that way again.

I prayed a lot.

My mom was here helping me for a week.  That woman is my hero.  I love my mom SO much and she is an amazing example to me and is so willing to do anything to help, but I knew that at some point I was going to have to be on my own.  She went back to the farm last Friday.

Friday and Saturday were two rough days for me.

I felt myself slipping into that feeling again and I was struggling against it.

Stephen asked me of I wanted a blessing on Saturday night.

I said yes.

He blessed me that I would have the strength and the courage to take care of both of my children.  He also told me that Heavenly Father would help me if I would only have the faith.

That night I prayed that we would have sun on Monday.  My first day by myself.  I thought it was a silly thing to ask for, but cloudy days depress me.  Clouds were in the forecast all last week and were projected for the week ahead.  I just asked for one day of sun, but I knew that it might not be possible.

I woke up Monday morning and felt really good.  I didn't feel the cloud of sadness.  As the day started, I noticed the sun rise.  The sun.  Monday was sunny.  All day.

I am so thankful for the little things that are really big things.

Cooper's Story

Today is technically my due date.

My days are so jumbled right now so I hope that I can get this story written without much confusion.

I started to have contractions on February 20th.  I knew they were Braxton Hicks contractions, but I started to panic. MY MOTHER WAS LEAVING FEBRUARY 26TH AND WOULDN'T BE HOME UNTIL MARCH 3RD!!!  I was relying on my mom to watch Maycee while I was in the hospital.  It is so weird having to worry about a kid at home while going to have another one.

I continued to have contractions for 2 1/2 weeks, so I didn't have to worry about my mom.

At my appointment with my midwife on Wednesday, March 7th, I was dilated to a 5 and was 85 percent effaced.

Holy Hannah.  I was very surprised.

That night my contractions got a little more intense, but definitely not regular.  I went to bed that night wondering if we were going to have to go to the hospital.

Nothing happened.

Thursday I was getting impatient.  I was ready.

Considering that my contractions were never consistent with Maycee I was still unsure as to when I should go to the hospital.  My contractions were coming more frequently but were not "regular".  I called Stephen at work and he came home a little early to help me handle Maycee.  I called my doctor's office around 2pm and the nurse that I talked to panicked when I told her what I was dilated to at my last appointment.  She told me to go to the hospital.

We dropped Maycee off at Kenna's and headed off to the hospital.  We still didn't know what was going to happen.  We got to the hospital at 3:30pm.  The hospital kept me until my midwife, Georgiana, could come over and check things out.  She came an hour later and I was only dilated to a 6 and didn't have regular contractions.  Georgiana said that I could either have her break my water to get things moving or she could send me home, which she didn't want to do considering I was still dilated to a 6.

We had her break my water.  She broke it at 4:30pm and we were committed.

We started to walk the hospital halls to get things going.

Wow.

You really do forget how intense those contractions are.

I started to push at about 6:50pm.  It took 2 pushes and he was here!  It took 45 minutes to push Maycee out.  This was a lot quicker.  Georgiana had me pull Cooper out the last little bit of the way and place him on my chest.  As painful as the whole birthing process is, I cannot believe how miraculous it feels to be a part of the whole thing.  Georgiana said that Cooper was really banged up because he came out so quick.  His mouth was bruised and it looked like he had skid marks on his face.  Poor guy.

I cannot even explain how amazing I felt after Cooper came out.  I actually felt human.  That might sound weird, but after having Maycee I felt like a walking zombie.  After having Cooper I felt great!  Number 2 really does make a difference.

My mom grabbed Maycee from Kenna when she got into town a few hours after we were admitted to the hospital.  Mom brought Maycee to the hospital to meet Cooper the next day.  It was so cute to see her with her little brother.  She is currently "loving him to death".

Welcome!

Cooper Joseph Post

Born: March 8, 2012

6:59 PM

7 lbs 3 oz

19 in

More details to follow...the only thing keeping me from blogging currently is that I am trying to sleep, eat, and take care of the kids. (It is really weird to say that in the plural)

The weirdest thing just happened.

Maycee woke up from her nap at 2pm.

She was still quite cranky.

Since she didn't eat much lunch before her nap, I asked her if she wanted a cracker.

Maycee, "No."

"Do you want some grapes?"

"No."

"Do you want some cranberries?"

"No."

"...Do you want to go sleepy?"

"...yea."

I gave her the binky and blanket, put her in bed, and haven't heard from her in the last 15 minutes.  It is now 3:10.

Wow.

That has never happened.

18 Month Checkup

Maycee had her 18 month checkup yesterday, even though today she is 19 months.

It was an eventful checkup, though there were no shots given.

Stats:

22.28 lbs - 15th Percentile

33 in - 80th Percentile

Getting to the doctors appointment was when the whole thing started.

I haven't done laundry in a while, so Maycee walked in the office with too small overalls and no shoes and socks because the socks were in the washer.  Hair was definitely not done.

The fact that I am super pregnant carting this kid around probably sent chills down the backs of everyone in the office.  I'm sure all of them were thinking, "There is no way this woman should be having another one..."  I'll probably be agreeing with them in two months.

When we got back to our "checkup" room the nurse asked me to strip Maycee down so that she could be weighed.  Anytime the nurse needed to do anything to Maycee, she would ask, "Can I see how tall you are?  Can I see how big your head is?" etc.  Maycee's answer was always a resolute "No."  This continued when the doctor came into the room.

Before the doctor could make her grand entrance Maycee was busy creating havoc while I was trying to fill out paper work.  Nothing was spared.  I finally drew the line when she was digging through the diaper bag and pulled out her Ziploc bag full of Cheerios.  She opened the bag and started to violently shake the contents all over the office.  Gggrrrrrrr.  We both picked up the Cheerios and put them in the bag.  As we were putting the last Cheerio in the bag, Maycee grabbed it from me and shook them out again!   Aaahhhhhhh! 

It's a good thing the doctor took forever to come our room because I was busy trying to put the whole thing back together.

Everything proceeded as usual during the checkup, but you could tell Maycee was done being pent up in that room.  She wanted out.  The crowning statement was said by Dr. Burgess as Maycee had climbed up to the top of my head and was sitting on me with her legs on my shoulders.

"You should be expecting her to climb more and be able to get to things a lot more easily," she said.

I almost retorted that Maycee can't get any higher as I am only this tall!...but I didn't.

All in all, things went well.

Stunts that I don't want in my house.

Every time that I feel I finally have my house arranged in such a way that Maycee won't destroy it, something happens to change my comfort level.

This stunt really sent me over the edge...in a bad/good way.

Let me explain.

I love that Maycee is learning.  She catches on to things so quickly!  Ever since she was first born we have emphasized certain things to her.  The number one thing would probably be the gospel.  Anytime she sees a picture of Jesus she points and says "Jezz!"  That is how she says Jesus.  It really makes me feel good.

When Stephen and I were first married, his Aunt gave us a Christus statue that we have placed in a prominent place in our home.  On my sofa table behind the couch.

That prominent place has now been violated.

The other day Maycee climbed on the couch, on top of the cushions, and sat on the sofa table.  When I turned to see what she was doing, she was calmly sitting on the table holding hands with the Christus statue.

I flipped.

When I flipped, Maycee began to push...

Don't worry.  No harm came to either my child or the Christus statue, but it sure put me on alert.

What to do...what to do...

Names

Stephen and I have been debating over the names that we are possibly going to name our little boy.

We have it narrowed down to two:  Cooper Joseph or Parker Stephen.

I won't tell you which of us is for what.

Maycee has a definite favorite.  She says Parker so well!  She "Pauker"  Every time I try to get her to say Cooper, it is almost unintelligible.  I can't even try to write what she says.

A few days ago we were working on Cooper.  I said, "Maycee say 'Coo'."

Maycee, "'Coo'."

Me, "Maycee say 'per'."

Maycee, "'per'."

Me, "Say 'Coo'."

Maycee, "'Coo'."

Me, "Say 'per'."

Maycee, "'per'."

Me, "Maycee say 'Cooper'."

Maycee, "No."

She doesn't like the name Cooper.

It finally happened.

Today.

I've been waiting for this to happen for months, but it happened today.  It was all very surreal.

I was released from the Relief Society Presidency.

We, as a presidency, knew that it was coming close to the end of our service.  It was quite a shock when they released just me.

After Sacrament Meeting, Linda, the RS President bee lined it towards me.  She gave me a big hug and we both started to cry.  She said that she knew that I was carrying a big burden and she needed to help me lighten it.

I love Linda.

It is really hard for me to express my feelings.  I was feeling overwhelmed, but I refused to ask to be released.  Linda recognized my need and just took care of it.  She has taught me so much about Relief Society.  She has been a pseudo mom and very good friend to me.  I will miss all of the extra time that I have had to spend with her because of my calling.

I will miss Linda.

I will miss Debra.

I will miss Kelli.

All of these women are SO different and have taught me such different things.

Linda taught me what it means to have respect for womanhood and for the Savior.

Debra taught me what it means to be honest and true to the gospel of Jesus Christ.  She also taught me what it means to always take care of your calling.

Kelli taught me what it means to have true charity for others.

I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father for giving me the opportunity to learn and to serve.