There is SO MUCH to be thankful for lately. . .

Do you know that for the past few months, Tyler has been getting up between 4:30 and 5:30 every work day to study for one of his actuarial exams?

Do you know that he's been doing this so that when he comes home from work in the evenings, he can help me with the boys (and really with anything else I might need)?

Well, all of Tyler's sacrifices and hard work really paid off. He passed MFE (his third actuarial exam) on Friday!! This is such a huge blessing for our family in so many different ways. I'm grateful for the little break we will get before Tyler will have to get so involved with study again for his next exam. (And I am so grateful for a husband who works so hard for me, and for my family.)

In other Heasley news, Rich is transitioning (beautifully) to a twin bed! I really thought it would be more of a struggle, but he seems to really love being in (what was) "Grandma's bed"--the bed my mom would sleep in when she visited. Note: he must sleep with "Grandma's pillow" when he's in the big bed now.

And, Rich is even starting to use the toilet. (Just on occasion. I don't think he or I are ready for full on potty training yet.)

And Leo is growing and growing. At his four-month appointment today, he weighed 14 lbs 15.9 oz. He's still fighting off a bit of a cold, and he might be teething, but other than that, he is healthy and strong.

I really am just so grateful for my sweet family. My boys really do bring me so much joy.

Allow Me to Give You The Bird

Ok, that's maybe a semi-inappropriate title. Or maybe it's completely inappropriate. (My apologies if I've just offended anyone. This also assumes people still read my blog, which given how inactive I've been here lately, I wouldn't be surprised if I'm only writing for myself here.)

But look at how cute this bird is!!

So, we've been having troubles with sleeping schedules (with both boys!) for a while--which has led me to be so inactive here on this blog.

And yet the days just seem to fly by!! (Ha! Another bird pun!)

You'll have to bear with me, as this might be a hefty update.

Ok. So.

Halloween has come and gone. And although this holiday is one of our favorites, we didn't have much time to plan and execute awesome Halloween costumes/activities. So for a couple months, I kept my eye out for an awesome costume for the boys (or even an awesome costume idea). But like the procrastinator I am, I didn't really get proactive about anything until the day of our ward's trunk-or-treat.

Luckily, I found what I thought was the most awesome costume ever for Rich.

Check it out:

It's a dinosaur. Rich is riding a dinosaur! It's the coolest thing I'd ever seen.

Plus, I thought he'd love running around playing in it.


Turns out, Rich hated the costume. Refused to wear it. Begged to be freed from it. Cried when I didn't get him out fast enough.

(This pic is blurry because Rich was so anxious to be out of the dinosaur. Or frog, as Richie called it.)

We ended up going costume-less to the trunk-or-treat. But Rich still got candy anyway.

So, back to Target the (totally awesome) dinosaur costume went.

In the mean time, I got an email from Old Navy about a one-day only costume sale. I decided to check it out--and we hit the jackpot. We got the last 2T-3T costume left in the store.

But Rich LOVED it. He couldn't wait to wear his new jacket. It's one of his favorite items of clothing now. (It was totally worth the blisters I got carrying around Leo's carseat while we hunted around the store looking for the costumes.)

He spent all day Halloween in his costume.

Leo--was going to be reprising the role of Professor Plum. But he was a pretty sleepy (and/or fussy) boy both the day of the trunk-or-treat and the night of Halloween. So, Leo went dressed as a baby.

(Or as my friend Carly put it, a silkworm. Which is perfect. The early bird gets the worm, no?)

Totes adorbs. (PS, I had been dressed as a fashion blogger for Halloween earlier in the day, but do you know how constricting that was for nursing/making dinner/caring for a sick husband/handing out candy/chasing after a toddler/carrying a baby/etc.? No wonder I'm pretty much fashionless at the moment. Give me a t-shirt and pants any day.)

Ok ok. Back to the updates.

My sister came to visit us, just as Tyler caught some terrible cold that knocked him out of commission. Then Rich caught the bug. Then I did. And Leo. Hopefully Marilyn (or Aunt M) was spared. But having her here was a godsend. I don't know how I would have survived the last week without her help. And Rich LOVED getting to play with M. He's been asking for her/about her ever since she left.

Not only did M help with the babysitting, but she took Rich trick-or-treating while I finished making dinner. Then we went back out for a few minutes so I could see Rich go around and trick-or-treat. And boy am I glad that I did. Rich was just so sweet. He's too little to be demanding and just so sweet. He loved seeing so many kids out and about. And he loved knocking on doors. He was more interested in people's pets than their candy. And hearing his little voice say, "Gankoo (thank you)" at each house was priceless. "Gankoo, M. Gankoo, Mommy." I just love that little boy.

Ok, moving on.

Rich has been very into stickers and coloring lately.

And Leo is starting to show interest in his toys, too!

Notice Richie in that diaper box? He's actually inside that box coloring.

Best. Toy. Ever.

Anyway. These boys keep me busy. And some days are harder than others. But we're having fun along the way.

Besides. This face. I can't even.

Ok. Goodnight, all. (Anyone?)

Two months!

I'm sorry, what? I have a two-month-old? 

Didn't I just give birth, like, yesterday? 

I can not believe how quickly the time seems to be going by. I swear time moves faster now than it ever has before. (It especially feels this way at night. It's like I blink and it's time to get up again.)

But alas, time does go by.

So let's talk about Leo.

As of Monday (at his two-month check-up), Leo was 11 lbs 11 oz and 22.25 inches long. Awesome, right? So good to see he's growing.

Leo still prefers being held to anything else, but he's getting more comfortable being in a swing, on the floor, or in his vibrating chair. (And as of today, his Bumbo. I don't think he's quite ready for the Bumbo yet, but a couple minutes of practice are good for him.)

He hates tummy time. 

Leo has such a sweet smile. He loves looking into people's faces and interacting with them. He'll coo, give half-smiles, or big bare-gum grins (those are the best).

Leo does okay sleeping. We're still doing a late-night and mid-night feeding. And sometimes an early morning feeding. I've tried to help him be better scheduled, but he hasn't taken to a schedule as well as Rich did. But, every day is a chance to try again. 

We also got Leo an angled bassinet-type sleeper. I think he likes it better than the pack and play. (Soon we'll be moving Rich to a twin bed, and giving Leo the crib. Wish us luck. Right now, Leo is in our room, but once he's doing better sleeping, I want to move him into Rich's room. Any tips or advice on these bedtime transitions is welcome.)

I know I've said it before, but Rich really does love Leo. Whenever Leo starts crying, Rich always says, "Uh-oh, Leo!" or "Leo, what's wrong?" Or, Rich will start singing for Leo, or he'll try to rock Leo (if Leo is in anything that moves). He gives Leo kisses more readily than he'll give me kisses.

And Rich loves pointing out the different body parts on Leo that he recognizes. (Eyes, ears, mouth, toes, feet, hands, etc.)

And, you know what? Leo takes it all in stride (most of the time). 

See, he knows something's coming.

But secretly, I think Leo likes the attention.

Anyway, happy two months, Leo!! We love you!!!

The Absentee Blogger

I know, I know, I really have been slacking here, still. For a while, my excuse has been that I also keep a journal in addition to this blog, so updating the blog hasn't had to be a top priority. Except, confession time: since Leo's birth, I haven't been doing so well in that journal.

'Cause here's the thing: this whole newborn and toddler adjustment has been hard! I mean, I knew it would be a rough transition, but I didn't anticipate how difficult some things would be. (For instance, I really didn't anticipate how hard it would be for me to hear Leo cry. Rich's cries as an infant didn't bother me--in fact, I remember thinking they were cute. So hearing him cry never stressed me out. But with Leo, anytime he cries, I have to check myself to refrain from getting stressed.)

Now, to be fair, some things have gone a lot better than I ever dreamed they would. Like Rich's adjustment to having a new baby around all the time. Rich LOVES it. He wants to be involved with everything Leo's doing. And he always offers to share whatever he's doing with Leo--whether that's snacks or food or anything. It's been a lot of fun for me to watch Rich love on his little brother. (Especially when Rich gives Leo kisses.)

But I know. You guys are really here for pictures.

So check this out: The top picture is Rich when he was a couple months old. The bottom picture is Leo, yesterday. Turns out they look more alike than I initially thought.

And we've managed to have a few precious moments amidst the hard stuff:

And did I mention that Rich just wants to be doing whatever Leo is doing? (He even cries when Leo cries . . . yay?)

Anyway. As hard as things have been, I know they will get easier, eventually. And I know that at some point I'll get some sleep again. In the meantime, Tyler has really been amazingly helpful and supportive. I do not know how I could handle all of this without him.

Until next time, whenever that may be . . . ;)

Leo's Labor and Delivery

With Rich, labor came on suddenly. 

I say suddenly because I mean that being in labor was unexpected. I wasn't due for another month. I didn't know what to expect, and I certainly didn't actually know that I was in labor.

With Leo, I felt like a ticking time bomb, but I didn't know when the bomb was going to go off. No one had shown me the timer. Each week passed by, and nothing (really) was happening. I was becoming increasingly dilated and effaced, but really, nothing was actually happening. 

And yet, like my labor with Rich, I didn't know that I was in labor. At least, my body wasn't giving me the typical labor signs I was looking for (regular contractions, back labor, inability to speak through a contraction, etc.). I simply woke up two Sundays ago, knowing (with no real reason to know) that I was in labor and we should go to the hospital. And despite this sure feeling I was having about being in labor, I kept second-guessing myself and my judgment. I wondered if I was making an extra trip to the hospital, thought sure they would send me home and tell me to come back later. I repeatedly told Tyler that I felt stupid--even when we were in the elevator in the hospital, heading up to Labor and Delivery.

Tyler reassured me, several times, that even if they did send me home, it was no big deal. At least we would know what was going on. 

The only thing that was happening to me, was that I had a few Braxton Hicks contractions that felt so tight, they made me pause for a few moments. So, I was feeling like labor was imminent, but not yet at hand.

When I walked into L&D, the nurses greeted me kindly, and showed me to what they called their triage room, where they would check me out and see what really was going on. They hooked me up to a machine that would measure the strength and frequency of my contractions.

Well, once again, the nurses (and I) were in for a bit of a surprise. Turns out, I was already dilated to 8 cm!

So, off to the delivery (and recovery) room we went, where the nurses started me on some fluids and antibiotics, and my epidural got hooked up. (The nurses also continued to monitor the strength and frequency of my contractions.)

Once everything was set up, we had a little bit of waiting to do. The nurses (and the OB) wanted me to finish transitioning (is that what it's called?)--basically get to 10 cm--then they would break my water and allow things to move along.

Once the epidural was in, I felt really good. And very very tired. (Side effect of the epidural is sleepiness.)

So I tried taking a nap. But I was just too excited that I was about to have a baby to sleep. I was so hyped up. (But I posed like I was sleeping, so I could show that I at least gave getting some rest a try.)

Now, I don't remember perfectly the order of how things happened after that. Everything moved fairly quickly. One of the nurses, Amanda, came in to check how I was progressing. She asked me to give a "test push," then told me very quickly, "Okay, stop," and called in the OB (Doctor Olmstead) to break my water. Apparently, that test push had been in danger of becoming a real push--Leo's head was right there. Our boy was ready to come out. 

Doctor Olmstead broke my water. Apparently, there was a bit blood and meconium in the water, so they called in a special nurse to be on hand to look after Leo in case he was having trouble breathing after he was born. (They were worried that he might have aspirated some of the blood and meconium.)

As I started pushing, I could see that Dr. Olmstead was just a little concerned. Leo's cord was wrapped around his neck, and each contraction was making his heart rate drop pretty low. So rather than wait for my body to contract naturally, Dr. Olmstead just asked me to keep pushing and push Leo right on out. So, I did. I think I pushed for about 5 minutes. And then there he was.

Good thing he was small, or that would have been a lot harder. :) 

Leo Benjamin Heasley was born at 12:16 PM. He cried upon exiting the birth canal. (Great sign. Meant his lungs weren't blocked.) 

The nurses laid him on my chest, where he coughed and sputtered and cried for about an hour.

I would say we fell in love with him instantly, but the truth is that we were already in love with little Leo before he came.

Who couldn't love this little guy?

One of the things that I loved about this hospital was that the room I gave birth in was also the room I recovered in, so Leo and I could be together during our whole stay at the hospital. There were no nurseries we had to go to to visit or retrieve our son from. 

Another thing the hospital staff did well was coordinate our care. I remember when we had Rich, it seemed like we were constantly being bombarded by nursing staff doing different things--we never had more than an hour (if even that!) to ourselves. But at this hospital, the care was coordinated well enough that we were only disturbed once every few hours. So, there was more time to rest (even though a hospital really is not a place to rest) and bond and learn about our new baby.

And Richie? Rich seems to love "Baby." Although, he has been a little snugglier and needier since Leo was born. But truth be told--it's nice that Rich wants to cuddle up with me a little more. He's such an independent little soul. 

Anyway. We're so excited to get to know our little Leo. We can already see subtle differences between his little personality and Rich's personality. It'll be so fun to see what kind of a little boy Leo is going to grow into.

And on another (somewhat related) note: 

Happy birthday to my Rich-boy! I think that's why I decided to sit down and finally record my memories of Leo's birth--I've been reliving Rich's birth story in my mind all weekend long. 

I am so grateful for my boys!