Announcing...

Cruz Michael Jolley

2.20.12

7 lbs., 4 oz., 19 1/2"

He's here! I am so enamoured with this baby boy. The little cherub has completely consumed me for the past 4 weeks, I am smitten. I just LOVE him.

I mean, look at him! How cute is he? I will say, getting him here was a bit tough. Cody and I got checked in to the Hospital and all was great. Especially because I was able to get Tiger's Blood syrup in my ice chips. When did they start allowing that?? Best thing ever. I got the epidural (which um, hurt more than I remembered...ow) and things seemed to be going just fine, but early afternoon they wanted to speed things along, and that hurt too. Bad. Around 3:00 my nurse told me that I wasn't progressing as quickly as hoped and Cruz's heart rate was dropping.
They put me on oxygen which was sort of scary. I know it's not a big deal, but still. Nothing improved for an hour and they started talking about an amnio infusion and a possible c-section (!). Finally at 4:00 I had dialated to a 5 and Cruz was doing better. They kept me on oxygen but things were looking up. Cody's Mom came and within in 30 minutes I was ready to deliver, but where is the Doctor? In the operating room...so yeah, my nurse had to lay me on my side to prevent her having to deliver the baby. At one point I told Cody he would have to scrub in. The nurse started getting everything ready and in the nick of time the Doctor showed! Yay! I pushed three times and then then Doctor said, "Ok, during the next contraction we'll just ease you through it". I took a few breaths and then he said, "Alright here we go..." I got ready to push, but uh, I sort of didn't need to. The contraction helped deliver the baby and suddenly he was here! Look at his cute little 'stork bites'.
Cody and I were crying as they took Cruz and got him all cleaned up. Oh my, he was so small and perfect. He sounded a little raspy, like there was something in his throat. They took him to the NICU and hooked him to a CPAP machine to monitor him for a few hours. Cody's whole family came to see us at the hospital and the boys were so excited to meet their new brother. Finally at 10:30 they brought Cruz into my room. They took turns holding him and Cole kept saying, "He's sooo cuuuuuute!". Tender. They came to see me a lot during those first few days, so did Cody's family and Grandma and Aunt. Friends stopped by and Cruz got plenty of love.
Since we've been home I've been overly taken care of. Cody took off those first two weeks and completely spoiled me, I wasn't ready for him to go back to work and for me to face reality. He is such a Prince, that man. The boys have been big helpers - Cache is always ready to give Cruz his binky and Cole loves to take care of the diapers. He also asks if he can 'pet' the baby.

Look at his perfectly shaped head.

The first few nights were rough, but now Cruz has a bit of a pattern and it's getting easier. He's a great little sleeper and he eats like a champ. He's gaining weight and growing too fast. I spend so much time just staring at him. I just love, love, LOVE him. We are so happy to have him in our little family. And I must say, Cody and I make beautiful babies. It's not fair to the rest of the world, really. Welcome baby Cruz!

The night before...

I'm having a baby tomorrow. No big deal, right? I'm a little surprised by how nervous I am. Well, maybe I'm not that surprised, it is childbirth afterall. The boys are staying with Cody's parents tonight, the hospital bag is packed, my house is even clean (wha??), so I'm feeling sort of ready. We've had loads of friends offer to help with the boys and anything else we need which is a big comfort. Still, I can't shake that roller coaster feeling...I'm going to feel all kinds of nervous when we're driving to the hospital and I'm getting situated. Eeesh.

I know it will be fine and I'm SO excited to meet our new little boy. Once he gets here it will all be worth it. Wish me luck, here we go!

Love is in the Air...

Obviously no baby. Blast! However, I feel that I have found my new night routine - I go around and make sure that the house is in order and things are clean and everything is ready. I should probably make that my night routine every night, but uh...yeah, it's not. I have washed all the baby clothes and we're making progress in getting all the necessities. Oooh! I'm getting excited!

Valentine's Day is tomorrow, any lovey plans? I've been working on some festive crafts for weeks and believe or not I've actually finished some of them. My sister was in town during her Birthday the last weekend in January, so the sisters gathered and we crafted one evening. It was SO fun just sitting around the table talking...I started on a wreath for my front door, which I finally finished a week ago.

Then I made this one for my back door. Love it! The red yard is so super bright, it looks awesome with that bubblegum pink bow.

Oooh, and my chandy! I found that sparkly, fringy yarn on clearance and it's in this bright fuchsia color I'm obsessed with. Then I just attached some plastic heart boxes to the bottom.

Since my art room isn't done (but will be soon...insert maniacal laugh here) I work on stuff at my dining room table. Which looks like this:

Lots of pink and red and glitter. You see those heart playing cards? I attached some to a glittery red ribbon for a banner...and I have no idea where to put it. Nice.

I have started on making some ribbons, though. And I plan on doing something with the "C" and "J" hearts. You know...something.

Between my crafting sessions I made Valentines for the boys' classes. Cole's favorite color right now is dark blue, it seemed only natural to find a blue treat. Sharks! Perfect!

I saw this saying on Pinterest and Cache was all kinds of on board. He loves Pop Rocks, he's not too excited about giving them away.

Have I made a Valentine for Cody? No...hmmm, I should probably do that. What do you do for your love? We're just planning on spending time together tomorrow, having a nice dinner at home and taking it easy. Are we boring? I hope not, I'm rather looking forward to it. A day with an ultra-attractive fireman? Sign me up.

Ready or Not

So...it's late. Past midnight, I believe. And here I sit at the computer thinking I might go into labor tonight. Not because of any contractions or legit labor signs, no - but because I just have this feeling that I might. Because of said feeling I have cleaned up the house, started laundry and taken a (thorough) shower so that if this little dude decides to make an entrance in a few hours, I'll be ready. Sort of.

Today I spent the afternoon with my Mom and we went shopping for baby things. We had a delightful convo over lunch at SMASHBURGER (which should be everyone's last meal) and then headed to Target to get started. I have talked a lot about how I'm soooo ready for this baby to come out, but true story? I'm not ready at all. I'm ready not to be pregnant and uncomfortable and constantly popping TUMS, but as for bringing a baby home? Not. Ready.

We walked the aisles and suddenly I was flooded with the reality that within two weeks I'm going to have this wee little human to take care of. Fortunately my Mom was with me to be a sounding board and say things like, "Well, we'll get these now so that he has a little something, and don't forget you'll need some of these...". I could not have done that without her. We got binkies and blankets and onesies and sleepers...and how in love am I with this little number? Normally I'm not one to love little animals on stuff, but the fact that it's a neon yellow crocodile...

While it was a bit overwhelming and a serious reality check, I feel relieved and bit more prepared. I mean, we still need a crib (not too pressing) and a bassinet (pressing, so I ordered one today), a swing...a car seat (should probably get on that STAT), but for the most part I'm feeling pretty good. Did I mention nervous? Because I'm nervous. Maybe he'll come tonight, maybe he'll come in a few weeks...ready or not? He's coming.

What I'm Loving Wednesday

What am I loving? That February is here! The month of lurve. And my baby arrives this month! Just because I'm not at ALL ready for his arrival doesn't mean I'm not super anxious for him to get here. I'm loving all the Valentine goodness saturating the stores. I haven't decided what to do for my kid's Valentines yet, but I'm digging this styles...

So fun - I want to hang them on my wall.

What else am I loving? Or coveting, would be more appropo. I want a Scout for my very own...

I have mentioned before how my family is sort of obsessed with these vehicles. We all own one. My Dad has a super nice one that is all glossy and fancy, while Cody has one that he wants to put a lift kit on and take to Moab. Me? What do I want? I want a Barbie scout. I want it shiny and pretty and baby blue. I see no problem with this. Well, there is a problem...several, actually. I know nothing about cars so naturally I don't really want to get one that needs work. I'd just as soon have it come to me with the keys in it ready to go. I want bench seats in the front and back, I want a big steering wheel, I want a soft top for Summer and a great stereo. Too much? I didn't think so. I mean, look how pretty this orange one is!

Sigh...so nice. Only I want it in baby blue. Bam.

(I don't even want to admit how long it took me to color that).

So there you have it - I want me my own Scout. We'll go get shakes. Now taking donations.

Mother of sons

A lot of people have asked me in the past 8 months how I feel about having another boy. I get told nearly every day, "Oh, you NEED a girl." or "Wow, another boy..." or "Are you going to keep trying until you get your girl?". Even, "Oh man, you must be so bummed.". Really.

Here's the thing, friends - I am over the moon to be the mother of boys. I LOVE little boys. I mean, it's all I know, I'm sure mothers of girls feel the same way. I would love to have a little girl, but we are not going to keep 'trying' until we get one. We might be done after this baby, we might not - I'm not sure yet. And if we have a 4th baby and that's a son? I will still be over the moon.

I tell people that it's my third boy and joke, "Yep - I'm in trouble!" or "It's all we know how to make!"...but how I love my little boys. I mean, how lucky am I? I have started to realize what a great responsibility it is to raise sons. I will be the woman they look up to, the one who teaches them how to be solid young men. They will learn from their amazing Dad how to treat women and it's up to us to teach them the importance of family.

A friend of mine posted this video today...

"But young men you will learn if you have not already that in frightening, even perilous moments, your faith and your priesthood will demand the very best of you and the best you can call down from Heaven. You must be ready and worthy to act. That is why the Lord repeatedly says in the scriptures, "Be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord."

What a responsibility I have. To raise righteous sons. To raise noble, strong, worthy, righteous sons. And how honored I feel to have that responsibility. How honored I feel to be the mother of sons.

Happy Birthday, Cache!!

Cache is 7! What the...?? So crazy. This year he requested a Superhero-themed party...

Funny story - when I showed him the invited I made he was like, "Why is that guy opening his shirt?" I have obviously failed at introducing him to Superman. I also made this poster and put it on the front door. It now adorns Cache's room...
This party was super easy to put together, to my surprise. I kept everything really simple, but fortunately the boys just played most of the time which took a lot of pressure off me feeling like I had to entertain them. While we waited for all the heroes to arrive, the boys sat at the table with treats and colored superhero pictures.
After some coloring we played 'Pin the Reactor on Iron Man'. This was hilarious, the boys had so much fun with this...

And how much do I love all of their wee little costumes. (Don't you love little Gavin in the bottom left corner? All 'Captain America' serious? Fantastic).

We had pizza while I finished decorating the cake.

Yeah - a Macey's original. I wrote the message, removed some ribbons and added the Iron Man...but dude, having the cake taken care of was wonderful. PS - it was super delish. No leftovers. I jest not.

It was such a fun little party and Cache had such a great time. I love, LOVE that little boy. He is so much fun, and I just adore the little man he is becoming. He's growing up and it's breaking my heart, but I am so proud of him. I can brag, right? Of course I can. I went to Parent Teacher Conference tonight and his teachers were raving about what a wonderful student he is. Their class is on a reading level 10. Cache is on level 27. I don't care that he's just in first grade, I'm beaming. Happiest of Birthdays to my little man!!