PSA: To Anyone Trying to Put a Toddler to Bed

Melatonine.  Routine. Warm milk.  Soft voices.  Dim lights.  Exhaustion.  Tranquilizer.

We've tried it all to get the boys to RELAX.  Sometimes it works, most of the time it doesn't.  I have fallen asleep on Captain America twin sheets more times that I would like to admit.  These two have a talent, and it is impossible to describe.

UNTIL THIS WEEK.  I WIN, I FINALLY WIN.

"The Rabbit that Wants to Fall Asleep" is my new drug of choice for Bunny A and Bunny B.

I believe I hypnotized those two little rabbits, and I am CELEBRATING (wine and Netflix).  The Amazon reviews are mixed, I didn't care.  You know what else is mixed, my patience and emotions every night.

Now, I didn't just read the story, I thought about how I was going to manipulate and outsmart a 2 and 3 year old.  Bunny A will do ANYTHING to stay awake; flopping, hopping, flipping, clicking, faking injuries, claiming a monster is eating his toes (the performance is believable).  Then, there is Bunny B, he does whatever Bunny A does.  How am I going to do this?  They have blackout curtains (tried to trick them into thinking it was dark), I use my most threatening voice...the list goes on.

Then it came to me...
W: Jack and Ford, the Rabbit has a book he wants to send you guys tonight!
J: Really?
W: Yes!  But, you HAVE to be in BED, and I have to send the Rabbit a picture of you in bed before he will text it to me.
JUDGE AWAY...I deserve it.

We ate dinner, bathed, put our pjs on, and I kept talking to the Rabbit on the phone.  Just, you know, letting him know we were getting close.

HOLY SMOKES IT WORKED.  

They both jumped right into bed.  I began this story, following the rhythm just as the directions said.  They were asleep within pages!  Correction, Ford was asleep within pages.  I lost my cool and started laughing, which made Jack start laughing in his sleep, which woke him back up.  Regardless, three pages later, he was out again.  It is a miracle.

Buy the book.  Cheers and good night! 

 

When Colic Strikes

The month of October was storybook: easy labor, healthy baby, smooth transition, then it happened.

I knew what it could mean, but I was hopeful.  Maybe I ate something?  Maybe I shouldn't drink milk by the gallons?  The laws of colic rushed into my head:  three hours per night, three times a week for THREE WEEKS.  Well, we got more than we bargained for; three hours per night, seven days a week for four and a half months.

Blame colic for the lack in posting to the blog.  I do.  Six and a half months later I am finally recovering.

Colic is real, and I don't know if I buy "kind of colicky".  With that being said, many days I wished I could describe Ford as "kind of colicky".  Instead, when people would ask how he was doing, I would respond with something like "on a scale from good baby to bad baby, we have a BAD baby."  I spent my days anticipating the evening spell, and my evenings with hope that tomorrow could be better.

Austin and I were quite the team at combatting colic.  Actually, we never mentioned the word or complained to each other.  I am not patting us on the back, we were a classic case of denial.  If we didn't acknowledge the torture, it wasn't happening.

A typical colicky evening looked something like this:

5:30 pm - Rush home, whip up dinner and force colic drops down Ford
6:00 pm - Eat in shifts while playing man to man, one get the screamer, the other guards the toddler.
6:15 pm - (Yes, we ate in 15 minutes) Bath time - 45 minutes minimum
7:30 pm - Walk the neighborhood.  It was pitch black, cold and windy…perfect in our opinion.
8:45 pm - The crying stops and we exhale.

If you or your child had/has colic, hug your mother and remember this too shall pass.

Oh, Brother!

The first night I ever spent away from Jack was the night Ford was born.  In my defense, I had BIG plans for Jack and Austin to leave town the weekend of the SMU/TCU game (September 29th).  Their flight was booked, football tickets in hand and I was lined up for a weekend of NOTHING.  I had looked forward to that weekend for three months.  Then, Austin decided it was a really bad idea.  Boo.

Needless to say, Jack is not interested in leaving me in the evenings now.  I think he is afraid he will gain another sibling.

What is this?

It is a baby?

MY BABY!

I am getting nervous...

So is Austin (grip is getting more serious)

Much better introduction technique

Austin's grandfather made the trip!

And, we are home!

Pack the Bags, No Don't, Hello Ford!

I popped up Monday, September 30th, and had the "I feel different" feeling but adamantly denied it to anyone and everyone.  Had my weekly appointment, no significant change and scheduled my induction for the following Tuesday (October 8th) at 38 weeks.  Since I had gestational diabetes, we could pull the baby early and my doctor was heading to Hawaii (LUCKY).  I went back to work, called Austin and could hear the disappointment in his voice.  He wanted this baby here NOW.  We had lunch together then 1:30 PM hit, and it hit hard.  I noticed contractions were coming fairly regularly (every 4-6 minutes), but SURELY I could get rid of them with a big glass of water.  Nope.  Then, it wasn't very comfortable to walk, so I sat in my chair and texted Austin.  I think it went something like "DO NOT SAY A WORD TO ANYONE, but why don't you pack the bags".   I promised him (and my mother) I would walk over (since I work at the hospital) to L&D if they were still happening at 3:30.  Out of fear that my co-workers would find out I had another false alarm, I willed the contractions away.

When I got home, the house was perfect, bags were packed and the lawn was mowed.  Oops.  So, I suggested we WALK to dinner and Austin should have a beer (or two).  It was a beautiful Lubbock evening and off we went.  Towards the end of dinner I noticed contractions, but didn't say a word and brushed them off.  We WALK home and it hit at 23rd and Elgin (our house, thank GOD).  I abandoned my 18 month old in his stroller and walked inside to get away from the world.  Austin still gives me a hard time.  Nosey, nosey found my phone while I was taking my evening bath and noticed my contractions were about 2 minutes apart.  Oops.  He begged and pleaded with me to just go to L&D.  FINE.

We pack Jack up, drop him off at Ashley's and walked into the hospital at 7:45 pm.  I get pushed back to the room with curtains and two other soon to be moms, who are there with false alarms and the doctor didn't seem amused.  Austin was THRILLED.  His job was done, he got me to the hospital and could relax.  He was not in the baby delivering business.  Turns out, I was indeed in labor and needed to get to a room ASAP/ never should have walked to dinner.

Called my parents, they were already on the road.  I guess they figured it was the real deal.

After a couple of passing out spells, I was told it was go time! Eight minutes later, we had a baby BOY!

Ford Stiles Franklin was born at 12:07 AM October 1, 2013!  He weighed 6 lb. 7 oz. and was 19 inches long.

Post passing out...The towel did wonders 

Job well done, Franklin.  You got me to the hospital.

That means I should have been at the hospital earlier. 

Meeting our newest member (notice Austin)

I got my October baby!

Nick and Nan arrived at 1:45 am to meet Ford!

The Final Weekend of an Only Child

With three weeks until my due date, I was feeling GREAT!  I had been very careful not to pick my bowling ball Jack up since our trip to L&D.  Since, I was "progressing" pretty early on, I vowed to leave the heavy lifting to Austin.  Ashley kindly offered to watch Jack on Saturday while we ran a few errands.  Jack, Austin and I went to Market Street where I strong armed Austin into letting Jack have his own cart.  Austin then spent the next five minutes chasing, stopping Jack from taking out ladies' heels and giving me dirty looks.  Needless to say, we made a scene and (surprise, surprise) I made it worse with my inability to control very loud laughter.

After our chores, I just kicked back and was ready for my doctor's appointment on Monday (secretly hoping she would say "OH MY GOSH!  GO TO L&D NOW!"...

September 29th...getting ready for Halloween 

It is blurry because he is VROOM-VROOMING

Your own person table top and "Expectant Mother" parking are the only convenient things.

JB's Habit

JB, Jack's Godfather, has made a habit of coming to visit a month before my due date.  There isn't anyone in the world who is less equipped to deal with an impending birth, but yet, he still puts himself in the situation.

TCU was playing in Lubbock, and I am 34.5 weeks pregnant.  Should I go to the game or not?  Ultimately, I started having contractions early in the week that landed me in L&D for a few hours one night, and that was the end to any chance of me going to the game.  I spent the evening at home and was praying in bed that Austin and JB would come home as happy as they were when I saw them on TV.  We ate a lot, watched the entire second season of Homeland and had a blast!

Selfie from L&D

Is Round 2 Different?

Baby Franklin #2 brought on a whole new set of challenges.  Similar to Jack, I deathly ill and swearing off any idea of additional children.  Just when I was starting to make the turn, and my plans to begin my chocolate cake binge at the end to make up for my lost weight, I failed the glucose challenge.  What. A. Bummer.  I was put on a strict diet, had to test my sugars multiple times a day, and got scheduled for A LOT of doctor appointments.  As a Dr Pepper drinker, chocolate cake eater and a carb lover, this was going to be a challenge.  My sweet co-workers listened to me day dream about powdered donuts, cheeseburgers, rice krispie treats (I don't normally like these) and all sorts of SWEETS.

So, the question became is it a boy or a girl?!  Austin and I were not finding out the sex of this baby.  He was not on board with the surprise element with Jack, but I forced the situation.  I am sure I pulled the "I am carrying it" card.  Austin didn't need any convincing this time.  He loved the surprise!

Wednesdays at 3 were spent like this.  Monitoring the baby because of the GD.

If this was a girl, I was worried.