one week

It is crazy that just 6 days ago I had a baby.

The past few days have gone by SO quickly.... and yet, I haven't once gotten overwhelmed.

Scratch that. Today in Target I got overwhelmed... but I blame that on my poor timing. I took a tired two-year-old and expected him to remain calm and happy the whole time we were there.

However, in spite of the one meltdown that we have had, the past week has been lovely.

Stephen and I just look at each other at the end of the day and can't believe how easy the transition has been... (watch everything change now....)

I love having my two little guys at home together. It just seems right. Harry loves his little brother and is constantly saying "Hi, baby" or "Baby, where are you?"

It's really sweet.

Today my mother took over Stephen's role of "helper" and hung out with us. Westley had his 1 week appointment and is gaining weight like a champ. 8 ounces in 4 days seems pretty good to me. He is almost at his birth weight and isn't even a week old.

As for recovery, I am not sure how I feel. Tired? Yes. Some pain. Yes. Like I just had a baby? No.

So, for now, life is beautiful. I fully plan on not taking any of this for granted.

as you wish...

we have been very busy for the past 2 days...

meet Westley John Gwaltney. He was born March 25, 2010. He was 7lb3ounces... (he's lost an ounce or two) and is short compared to his brother being only 20.5 inches long.

I hope that I will have a birth story together in the next few days....

but for now........ I'll leave you with these:

behind

so....
now that i actually have an end in sight, i realize how completely behind in life that i am.
sure, the nursery is done and my laundry is no longer piled sky high, but as far as everything else goes....

i have thank you notes to write, an application for graduation that should have been mailed out about a year ago, insurance papers to fill out... and the list goes on and on and on and on....

so.

dear westley,
sleep a lot when you actually do get here. my to do list is still pretty long.

ps. i love you.

ready???

i had a doctors appointment this morning and was not expecting what i was told.
apparently all of those annoying contractions aren't just making me miserable. they actually serve a purpose. i am 3 cm. I never made it to 3 cm with harry on my own... and here i am almost 38 weeks and well on my way to having another little guy.

she also said that if i don't make it there by next thursday they are going to break my water. so....
c'mon, little man. it can't be that hard to just make it one more cm on your own.

is it time yet?

The past few weeks have been a combination of scurrying around trying to get everything ready for the newest Gwaltney and sleeping like I have just run a marathon.
Harry has been a sport and is perfectly happy watching his Nick Jr. dvds that Blockbuster is all too happy to let us borrow (for a small fee, of course). He is starting to really understand how to do a lot of things on his own without me having to tell him 1000 times. Granted, he still doesn't always do everything I ask... he just knows what I am asking.

Stephen has been super helpful. He has basically spent the entire weekend taking care of Harry so that I can get rest. If I don't feel like cooking, he is happy to let us all pile into the truck and find something that might suit my fancy. I'm not sure if I am completely ready for the next big thing, but at least I know that Stephen will do everything he can to make the transition easier on me... He's amazing.

I did actually manage to get the nursery together enough to take a picture or two...

Stephen actually made the yellow shelf (he also made one exactly like it for Harry's room)....
I really like how much I can put on it. It's barrenness is just a reminder that I don't have EVERYTHING together yet... but I'm OK with that.

This week is going to be another long one. Work hours seem to have gotten a lot longer for the mister, and thus my work hours are just as long... although it just doesn't seem the same.

i don't do windows (most of the time)

with the nesting urge comes the following:

1.vacuuming at all hours

2. feeling the need to wash and rewash any and all baby things

3. cleaning out all of the tiny nooks and cranies in the fridge

4. scrubbing baseboards like they have never been scrubbed before

5. and today.... it meant washing windows

in order to fully appreciate what this last item entailed, you must understand that i live in a 50 year old house that has 50 year old windows. this in and of itself makes for some serious nastiness.

add to that nasty 3 years without a good cleaning, one very long and dirty winter, and a very brave family of wasps...

and you get the windows that take up two walls of my second child's soon-to-be living quarters.

needless to say....

that leaves one very pregnant woman feeling something like this.... UG.