Breckin George Lamb

I can't even believe it's already been 8 days since little Breckin has arrived! It's amazing how slow time passes when you're waiting on a baby, and how fast it passes once the baby arrives.

His arrival story in a nutshell:
7:00am: My mom arrived to watch Reagan
7:30am: Arrived at hospital
8:00am: In my hospital room with monitors
8:30am: Started Pitocin
10:30am: Doctor arrives; breaks water, orders epidural
12:25pm: Jim goes for lunch...I said, "It's now or never, and you better hurry!"
12:45pm: I'm ready to push; Jim calls from the parking lot. I said, "We're waiting on you...so hurry please!"
1:05pm: Breckin is born!!

It was really that fast! I couldn't believe it.

And of course, the million dollar question is, "What does Reagan think of him?" While the jury is still out, she certainly seems to be warming up to the idea of a baby brother. 2 days ago, I had to bribe her with M&M's to get her to hold him...5 M&M's to be exact. We said we'd never tell anyone that, but when I got home from running some errands with Breckin today and asked, "Who wants to hold the baby?" and Reagan said, "Me", I decided it was safe. She held him twice, and I'm not sure if it was because she wanted to, or because she realized it would stave off nap time for a bit. Either way, it was cute!

Here is the m&m picture:



Here are some of today's pictures:





Reagan's favorite things are to give Breckin a pacifier and kissing him goodnight (out of her own mouth).

As an end note, I've decided that I will, at some point, make a book (or several) out of this blog for Reagan and Breckin. So, if you would be so kind as to leave a comment for Breckin welcoming him to the world, and/or a comment for Reagan encouraging her "sister qualities", I know it would mean a lot to them when they are older!

Just thinking about, Tomorrow...

As Jim was leaving for work today, I realized something. Since our son will, by nature or by force, arrive sometime tomorrow, today would be my last day as a mother of just one child.

I meet this realization with mixed emotions. On one hand, I know a sibling will be good for Reagan. She's great at sharing, but rarely has the need to do so. A sibling will help her perfect the skill. While she's not selfish, because she is the only child, she is the center of our world. I always knew I wanted more than one child because, don't tell anyone, and if you do I'll deny it, I loved growing up with my brothers. They were much older, and it was lonely when they left, but I have some cherished memories with each of them. Things like Ghost runners in pasture baseball with Austin, lightning bugs in Kansas with Quentin (that he collected for his now-wife, Jody), dancing to the radio (even the commercials) with Jon while he packed for the Army, and helping Glenn paint doors in the new house when I was in 7th grade are all some of my favorites, but I'm sure I could make an entire blog with more. I always knew I wanted my kids to have a chance at memories like that.

On the other hand, Reagan is really a special kid. I know every mother thinks this about her child, but I know I'm not the only one who thinks so about mine. Everywhere we go people stare at her. She stops traffic at the grocery store, and I've literally seen people pause mid-bite in restaurants when she walks by. She rarely gets in trouble, and when she does it's usually because her bone-head parents have kept her up too late a few nights too many, or tried to pack too many activities into a weekend. Lately when we've been walking she'll run to catch up to me, grab my hand, rub it on her cheek and say, "Ooh, I love you, Mommy!" Jim and I have said to one another several times in the last few weeks, "I hope our next kid is as good as our first one". It's hard not to wonder how Reagan will change once her little brother is around.

So, with all these thoughts running through my head, I knew that despite the bittersweet feeling in my gut, I wanted this to be a special day for Reagan. The problem: I'm 40 weeks and 2 days pregnant, with no desire to have labor, or labor like activities start too far from home. So, I did the simplest things I could think of. I took her to Starbucks and got her a cookie before we went to the playground. After that we stopped at the grocery store for pie crust and headed home to make Reagan's first pie. Blueberries and helping are two of Reagan's favorite things, so I was excited about my idea. She was thrilled. She got to dump in ingredients, stir the mixture, and make pie-crust hearts for the top of the pie. When I told her I wanted to take pictures, she was even more excited. (I think there may be some modeling in her future.)









I can't wait to meet Reagan's little brother tomorrow (or for the poor kid to finally have a name!), and I know that Reagan's sweet, loving side will help her rise to the occasion of being a big sister.

In Case I Missed You...

Here is the email I sent out last night...I want to be sure everyone who wants to has the chance to vote! I wasn't sure how it would impact our choice, but it is actually helping a lot!!

Subject: It's come to this!

Hello everyone,
Well, as you probably know, it's July 19 and, despite this being my "due date", our son has still not arrived. I'm wondering if it's because he knows that if he came out now he wouldn't have a name. So, we've resorted to asking for your help. Mind you, we really wanted to keep the baby's name a surprise...but, that requires actually having a name to keep secret, and we do not. Please keep in mind, especially when giving suggestions, that this is a serious matter! :)
Also, we absolutely reserve the right to not pick the most popular suggestion.
So, please visit this link, and offer your input: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=sT9f_2fTs0DpTMIGs2O_2bxdgw_3d_3d

We love you and appreciate your help in this time sensitive matter!

Love,
Jim, Amanda, Reagan, and Nameless.

Still....

I really love my girlfriends. I feel so blessed, especially at a time like this, to have such good ones!

Despite my foul mood, despite hormones raging out of control, they still call or text (some every day!) and risk whatever mood I may be in just to see how I'm doing. And, I really love that! It means a lot to me!

Of course, my mom and my mother in law are amazing women, and they do the same thing...but I kind of expect them to! I mean, after all, if they don't, who will!? Plus, my mom survived me being a hormonal pre-teen and teen, so I would hope that this is pie in comparison. And, not to mention, they get a grandson out of the deal.

Anyway, low and behold, it's Friday, July 17th, (Happy Birthday, Julie!) and I'm still pregnant. I'm really trying very hard not to think about the fact that had I gone ahead and been induced, I could be holding the little guy right now... after all, grumpy is one thing, but no one wants to be bitter!

Today's Appointment

So, I thought about it all week.

Do I want to be induced again? Do I want the night-before anxiety? Do I want to stay up nearly all night doing all the last minute things I want to do because I'm too excited to sleep? Do I want the endless anticipation of when something will happen? Do I want the fast and hard Pitocin contractions? Do I want this to maybe be our last baby (relax, I said maybe) and never know what it's like to experience spontaneous labor?

No.

No, I don't.

So, when I saw my doctor today, I said, you know, I think I'd like to at least give the little guy a fair shot at making his own way out. And I think to do that, we need to wait until his due date. So, my wonderful, understanding, mother-of-5 doctor, nodded, chuckled when I told her she could, and said, "Of course. I'll have it changed to my next on-call date of July 21." I said something about that being great and whistling Dixie by the time my due date came and went.

I remember my mom telling me that all 3 of her kids were 2 days late. Maybe the boy's destiny is to be born on the 21st. But, I really hope his destiny is more like the 15th. Fingers crossed, right?

(Are your fingers crossed? Go ahead... it can't hurt!)

Baby news...but no, he's not here yet!

We don't have much to report... Reagan and I are just spending our days waiting for her baby brother to arrive. Between the weather and the hot flashes, it's about all I can do to stay comfortable. I really wish I had more energy to soak up these last few days of it just being me and little Reagan, but I know we'll have lots of fun once the baby comes.

The news is that I'm more dilated than I've ever been without labor inducing drugs, which I'm quite excited about. Still, if he doesn't come by the 17th, I'll be induced. After being induced with Reagan, I'm excited about the idea of going into labor on my own. So, fingers crossed and Lord willing, he'll make his own grand entrance! Julie is being very gracious about the prospect of having to share her birthday, but as I told her...it'd be really nice to be able to go have a beer and celebrate her birthday with her instead of making her come to the hospital to visit the newest addition.

Last night I had about 2.5 hours worth of contractions that never got any closer together than 7 minutes, and then they stopped...of course!

Come on out, baby boy!

Of course, I'll keep everyone posted! Hope all is well.

Busy Month!

I really thought I'd do more blogging since I'd be off work... but, we've been extremely busy getting ready for the baby and trying to soak up the last of our "Reagan-is-our-only-kid" time.

Lots of pictures this time, so I'll just get on with it!

First up are the pictures of the baby's room. This room had white walls, and used to be our office. Thanks to a lot of hard work by Jim (he moved all the furniture I couldn't help with to the basement), my mom and dad and my friend Janella (painting) the room has been completely transformed. Every time Reagan walks by it she stands in the doorway and exclaims, "Look at all this paint!"





Next up are some family maternity pictures we had taken. Janella came down on Thursday to help paint, and got up early Friday morning to do pictures. She's an amazing helper!! She took the pictures and I edited them.









And finally, as you can see, Reagan is growing like a weed. She seems extremely tall to me, and she is talking like crazy. I think she's almost as pre-occupied with the baby being born as I am. A few examples...
#1: Last week I told her we had to get ready to go to my doctor's appointment. Her response? "So the doctor can make baby brother come out?"
#2: Yesterday, on the way home from swimming lessons...her first trip with the baby's car seat next to her in the car. "Mommy, where are we going to get baby brother?" (Me:) We already have him; he's in Mommy's tummy. (Her:) So we go to the Doctor's office so doctor can take baby brother out? (Me:) No, that happens at the hospital. (Her:) But where did we get baby brother? (Me, in my head...) Really?? She's already asking me where babies come from? (Out Loud:) Mommy and daddy made him with our love, just like we made you with our love. (Her:) Silence. Jim says maybe that's not really what we were asking.
#3: Standing in front of her while she went potty she was staring at my belly. She said, "Mommy, you make baby come out now."
She's really kind of scary smart... I hope her brother will be able to keep up!






I just had to include the above one of Scout because I was so excited that I was sneaky enough to get her through the trees! I swear, she hates having her picture taken so much...it's as if she can hear me bring the camera to my eye!



I love this one...it's from Father's Day. Reagan adores Jim!

Did you think I forgot about you, blog?

I didn't.

You've been weighing heavily on my mind, and my to-do list. Luckily, now that school is finally out I have some time to post!

Reagan is getting so stinking big, I can hardly stand it. She's so fun, and so busy, and so smart. She can identify at least 23 of the 26 letters of the alphabet on any given day. She counts to 15 at will. She has many songs, or at least parts of them, memorized and lifts her voice to them on a whim ("Happy 'n' know it, clap your hands!"). She is thrilled to be having a baby brother soon, and wants to know when he's going to come out. She was baptized last weekend, and so we've started to say prayers at night before bed. Her favorite parts are "Dear God", and "Amen!". Scout gets a good-night hug from her each night ("Where's my puppy?"). She hates how the moon gets "lost" behind the clouds, because she can't tell him goodnight. Also on her list of dislikes: not being able to reach the moon. Katie, our beloved nanny, has drawn her a miniature hopscotch pad out of sidewalk chalk in our driveway. This game came very naturally for Reagan, because hopping is one of her very favorite things. Because she wakes at an hour that neither Jim nor I are prepared to be conscious, her days usually start with an episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. As you could imagine, I could go on and on, but I suppose I'll leave it at this: we are in love with our daughter, and each day our love grows.





Don't get me wrong, she can certainly be trying at times. She's not a fan of bedtime ("No, not time yet."), or running out of fruit snacks ("Reagan, we're all out of fruit snacks." "You go to da store?"), or being helped with anything she deems doable herself. ("No, Mommy. I do it.") But watching her grow has been and continues to be an absolute joy.

Things have been, of course, busy around the Lamb household. I've been trying to get baby boy's room ready, and I shot a wedding 2 weeks ago, the processing of which has been taking nearly all of my free time. And no, if you're wondering, the poor baby still doesn't have a name. I think last time I said we were "fairly settled" on a name. This is no longer the case! I think we'll be taking our "top 4" into the delivery room and making an on-the-spot decision.

(PS: If you read this in an RSS reader, please take the time to visit the actual blog and let me know what you think about the new layout!)

April has been very exciting!

We have been very busy this month!! I can't believe it's already almost over.
Of course, April means Reagan's birthday. Her birthday fell on a Wednesday this year, and we had her party the following Saturday. She had an absolute blast both days, and I was just as sad as she was when it was bedtime on Wednesday night! For the annual birthday tradition, we took Reagan to the Build a Bear workshop. She decided she needed a monkey. She picked out everything from the headband all the way down to the shoes. Her monkey's name is Molly, and hearing her say the name Molly is so cute I almost wish we were having a girl so we could name her Molly and hear Reagan say it all the time. I guess the monkey will have to do. And yes, she's in a laundry basket in this picture.



After Build a Bear, Reagan had swimming lessons.



This picture is not from her actual birthday...I don't think we took any pictures on her birthday! It may sound sad, but it's only because we were having so much fun! Swimming was followed by dinner and watching Jim play basketball. It was a VERY fun day!




We had an amazing turn out for Reagan's birthday party. I think, not counting us, we had about 18 people here! I didn't know we could all fit in our little house, but we had a blast. It's hard to say which present is Reagan's favorite, but I like to think it's the bike we got her. I'm a little biased though!



Then, Sunday was Easter. We had died Easter eggs the night before, and I hid them while Reagan helped Jim make breakfast on Sunday morning.



She was very proud (and successful) in finding all of her eggs. Then, it was off to church.



It was snowing, so we were late. As a result, Reagan got to sit with us during the service instead of going to nursery. She enjoyed it, I think. After church, we were off to my mom's house. My mom had another egg hunt for her, and her cousin Tanner got to help her. He's still so great with her! I wouldn't expect anything less from him, but that's because I know him. He's extremely patient with her, especially considering he's an 11 year old boy!



They get along great. Once again, she was very proud of herself!



I'm so thrilled to only have 5 more weeks of school! I'm even more thrilled that I won't have to go back until after the baby is born! We haven't decided exactly when I'll be going back yet, but I'm hoping for mid-October. I think we've finally settled on a name, but you'll have to wait until July to find out what it is. I'm relieved that the boy will have a name when we leave the hospital. :)

Hope all is well with everyone, and Grandma Dot, I'm sorry it's been so long since we've posted!!

The Adventures of Potty Training

I can't believe it, but Reagan is quickly becoming a little kid.
We started playing around with the idea of potty training her back in November or so. She's always been curious about the "potty" and hasn't ever been afraid of it. So, I bought her one of those seats that sits on top of the toilet. She LOVED it! She took right to it, and within a week or two she was going #1 and #2 in the potty. So, we made the switch to Pull-Ups over Christmas Break. She did great! But then, she started using the Pull-Ups like diapers. So, last week, I followed my gut, and decided it was time for her to have "big-girl undies". She had 3 pairs that I bought awhile ago, so I had Katie (our AWESOME nanny) put her in them. She did well. So, I went to Target and bought her two more packages. She was SO excited. So, for the last six days she has been keeping them mostly consistently dry. YES!
She is truly so proud of herself. Here's the proof.

In other news, she is talking like crazy...it's truly amazing quickly she learned such a big vocabulary. She can also count to 10 and sometimes 12. She has a couple of favorite TV shows, one of which is Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. At the end they do the hot dog dance, and it's her favorite. She has other favorites too, like the letter W for example. I can't believe she'll be 2 in just a few short weeks!

Boy oh boy!

We had our ultra sound today!
It's a boy!!
I suppose there is something to be said for a mother's instinct...I just knew it!

Here's how it went...
Radiologist (before having the wand on me): "So what do you have at home?"
Me: "A girl. And this one is a boy."
(Wand is on me now, I'm not looking) Radiologist: "I agree!"
I looked at the screen and saw our son (yay!) proudly displaying his boy parts. Ha!

Here are some more pictures:







Here he is practicing the kick part of his kick flips...but don't worry, Uncle Austin, he'll just swim to keep in shape for football:



Reagan is excited, but right now she's focusing on getting over her flu bug. I had it too, but lucky for me, it only lasted about 1.5 days. Reagan is going on day 5. :( Hopefully she'll be over it soon! She thinks her brother's name should be Baby. I think Jim will have to come up with something better than that!

What makes me want to stay home from work every morning...

Everyone has something that makes them say, "Man, I wish I didn't have to go to work today". Maybe it's the weather, having a weekend feel too short, not getting enough sleep, a dog that needs walked, a house that needs cleaned, or even just something good on TV that you don't want to miss. I can relate to all those things some days, but the thing that makes me hate leaving the house each and every day is right here:

Growing, growing...

I was bummed and a little disappointed to log into my blog and see that the "Elf Yourself" dances I made were no longer available. I knew they wouldn't be available forever, but I was disappointed because it has been so long since I've posted!

It has been fairly eventful around our house since the end of December. To make a long story short, I have had some bleeding twice since then...and we're hoping that will be the end of it. My doctor hasn't determined a definite cause for it, but luckily she doesn't seem to be too worried. The good news is, each time it happens, we get to see an ultra sound of the baby! It's been truly amazing to watch baby grow through the weeks. I wasn't going to post the initial ultra sound because it didn't look like anything, but I want to show the progression. Truly an amazing miracle!

Taken at 6.5 weeks; "verification of life" ultra sound:



Taken at 11.5 weeks, after first complication:

(note the arm buds...and face, and how completely different baby looks 5 weeks later!)

Taken at 13.5 weeks, after second complication:

(Jim says I'm seeing things, but I think if you look closely you can see the outline of a profile. If I'm right, this baby will definitely look like Jim!) At this one, we saw definite arms, legs, and even hands.

As you may know, Reagan will be 2 in April. We're already starting to see signs of her "terrible twos", especially when she's tired. She's still our sweet little girl, but in the last few weeks she's become VERY opinionated. But the fun part is that along with her opinions have come words, many many words. It's wonderful to hear her little voice, and to start to get a picture of what she's thinking about.



We went outside yesterday morning to clean up the back yard and I decided some pictures were long overdue. The weather in the last few weeks has been fantastic (high 50's and low 60's), but then on Friday it snowed. The sun came out yesterday, and then it started snowing again. It's been snowing ever since, but it's only just now starting to stick.

In other news, this is the first year in 7 that I won't be coaching track. There is a part of me that is really going to miss it, but the rest of me is so completely relieved! After the two little scares we had we've decided it's best for me not to. Not to mention, I took out an ad for my photography business on theknot.com, a wedding planning site that connects brides with wedding vendors. It was NOT cheap, but it's already proving itself worthy; I've had about 5 contacts for wedding dates since it started at the beginning of January! Unfortunately, 3 of them were way too close to my due date for comfort so I had to decline, but it sure makes it promising! I also made the official request to change to part time employment next school year. If my principal approves it, I will be leaving the classroom for the time being and continue my duties as gifted and talented coordinator and AP coordinator. I'm really hoping it works out. More time at home with is all I've wanted since Reagan was born, and I can only imagine that feeling will intensify when #2 comes along. I should know something this week... fingers crossed!

ElfYourself

I LOVE this. I've done it before, but, as with most things, it's much more fun with a little kid involved. :)

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Catching up

I took these pictures of us decorating the tree a few weeks ago, and I never got a chance to post the blog...

And our holiday (self) portrait:

Merry Christmas from Jim, Amanda, Reagan, baby Lamb and Scout!

Big Girl Bed!

Last night was Reagan's first in her new "big girl bed". The best part about the bed is that it's not new at all. It, and a matching bunkable counterpart was originally purchased for Grandpa Bill and Great Uncle Bob when they were little kids. It was the bed Jim had when he and I first started dating, and now, for the time being, it is Reagan's. She is VERY excited about it. She loves the idea of having a "big girl bed", but when it comes to actually sleeping in it, she's still a little apprehensive. She's currently taking her nap, but she was not very pleased about me leaving her alone in her bed. As you can see, there's no rail on it. I can purchase one, and I still might, but I thought we'd see how she did without it. So far so good-she hasn't fallen out! She loves that she can get in and out of it without any help from Mom or Dad. She slept in even later than usual this morning, so I think we'll be just fine.



Bill and Debbie brought the bed last night, and Bill and Mikey were nice enough to help Jim manuver furniture all over the house so that Reagan could have her first night in her new bed. So, the room that was the office/guest room is now the new Baby's room, and the office/guest room will be in the basement. After I cleaned and organized down there, I remembered what a nice basement area/guest suite we have! Perfect for guests, so come on over!



I took these pictures this morning when Reagan had first woken up.