What life is made of

I buckled the car seat to the car, but didn't buckle my son in. When I got home, I realized he was really quiet. I turned around and giggled at the sight I saw. Grabbing my phone, I turned on the camera button and caught him in the act of sleeping on his tummy in his car seat... :)

***photos coming soon***

Ever been through one of these??

*Your husband and you try to start a family, only to lose that first opportunity. Then, while attending a baptism, you stand in the back behind all the other attendees and see another family's little baby sleeping in mommy's arms, or smiling up at daddy...

*You are having a great day, but as you end your day in the shower, a sudden onslaught of tears mingle with the water on the way down to the drain, kinda where you feel your life is also suddenly going...

*You wake your baby up from naptime but spits up all over you instead. Then, as you feel like breaking down and giving up, you look into those innocent eyes and watch the chubby cheeks spread apart in a huge, Heaven-sent smile...

*You put every effort and and ounce of strength into a huge, lifelong commitment that, one day, re-molds your life, your world, your visions of the future...your memories of a treasured past...into one...tiny...three-letter word...LIE...

*You often hear the phrase, "When the going gets tough, the tough get going," and wish you coulda punched that person out for ever coining it, dryly commenting it shoulda been, "When the going gets tough, it's time for an ice cream break!"

*You sit in church with your parents and siblings and realize that no one around you - save a very few select people - know what's going on in your life, and you wonder which is correct: to let them continue believing in what you now know has been a lie, or tell them the truth in worries that they'll criticize your decision or make snide remarks behind your back...

*You sing a song in church or off the radio and wonder just when you'll be able to handle saying those words again without crying...

*You stare off into space, pondering the scriptures about hope, endurance, and faith, but you can't quite figure out what to do: continue on the path you've chosen in hopes you're making the right choice, or give ANOTHER chance in hopes that it's the truth...THIS time around...

*You write in your journal and tell yourself, "Yes, times MUST have been easier back in the old days"...

*You watch a movie, and it shocks you how many times you find the characters and storyline as something similar to your past/present...

*You watch that same movie again, and it shocks you how you react so differently when out of love compared to the time you watched in before you fell in love and then once you were in love...or was that ever love to begin with?...

*You write a blog and shake your head at why you're revealing your deepest, darkest secrets in a not-so-secret way...

Sicky Icky...and Deployment Issues...

I was sick with a simple cold and allergies for over a week. RIDICULOUS!! It held me down so bad I had to cancel my piano lessons, and I didn't go to church. *sniffle*

I think I'm finally over it, although the rapid change in temperatures IS NOT EXACTLY HELPING OUT!!! I still have a hard time breathing through my nose and throat at times, even with that stupid little Breathe Right nose strip (and do I have to mention how it hurts to rip those suckers off??)...

Joshua says he'll be home at the end of May...we thought September since it was originally a 15 month deployment, but I guess it'll only be 12 months.

My Husband's Car, LOLOLOL

So my dad crashed his truck...while it sat in the repair shop, he borrowed my husband's car since hubby is deployed.

He came home one morning when he was supposed to be at work, and my first thought was, "Great, he crashed the car."

Wow, how true that was.

So now he has his truck back and my car is in the shop, though neither accident was his fault and - thank goodness - the car is not as bad off as the truck was...

Poor dad, he really needs to start the year over...I'd like to do that, too!!! :)

When the Going Gets Rough, the Rough Puts Their Feet Down...

I'm stressed out...what else is new?

Oh yeah, I know what's new...I had an ovarian cyst burst and my cycle is over a week late...

Sorry if that was TMI...but, in the words of Frank Sinatra, "That's Life!"

Return of the 3am feeding

When I thought all would be great in the life of motherhood, my son - Jace - decided to start eating at 2:54am every morning...again...

He did this when he was 1-2 months old. Suddenly, he started sleeping through the night better. He took a bottle when I wasn't quite ready to feed him. He took pacifiers, and they helped keep him asleep.

Now: no pacifiers, no bottles, no rice cereal, no sleep during the night.

2:54am every morning

If you happen to be awake at this time, feel free to call me...I'll be up anyway...

It's NOT post-partum "blues"...maybe...

Problem #1: Joshua hasn't called or emailed in about a week...normally I hear from him every single day by phone or email (he has the night shift from 4pm to 4am, so it has made this type of communication possible)

Problem #2: The Army is stupid.

Problem #3: Since the Army is stupid, they didn't clearly explain to me the extreme complexity of Thomas Moore Clinic.

Problem #4: Because of problems #2 & #3, I was late to my appointment and had to reschedule.

Problem #5: Because of all above-listed problems, I cried on the highway going to Wal-mart so my stupid car could get a stupid oil change.

Problem #6: ...I now have a headache from my crying...

3-Segmented Demons of Texas

Ants...I hate ants...

They come in by the dozens through the back window, and now - ever since it's been cooler - they're coming in by the double-dozens through the side window closest to the back window. I found one one my bed, one near my bed, one in front of my brother's bedroom (which means it had to crawl through the entirety of my bedroom to get to his door), and all over the floor under the window, on the windowsill, and inside the window.

Ants...Ants...I hate ants...They make me want to shake for fear they're in my pants...

Ants...Ants...I hate ants...If I never see another one, I think I'll do a dance!

THE END :)

Record # in less than 5 minutes!

I changed my son's diaper...I heard a ripple... I changed this diaper...I heard a very LOUD ripple...I changed it AGAIN...I can't even remember if I heard another ripple or not, but I went through 3-4 diapers in less than 5 minutes...

What a record...Joshua, you really could've skipped out on passing this gene down to our son ;)

LOVE YOU HONEY! :D

Anyway, so it's cold outside, and it was rainy on Wednesday, and I'm lovin this season! Autumn is my favorite season, when Texas has autumn, that is. Texas likes to skip out on Autumn and Spring, so we got lucky this year. Every other year one has to wear a coat on top of his/her Halloween outfit because every other year we get a good dose of Winter extra early. Maybe it'll be like that this year, although I'm pretty sure it was cool last Halloween, too.

Oh, well, I'm not complaining, I'm lovin' it! :)

Introducing:...Turn it off and back on again!

(: ---short post--- :)

So, I had 3 text messages to check, but I couldn't check them. I don't know why, but my phone wouldn't let me. Finally, after several days of trying to check it, I decided to shut my phone off (since I don't do that...rarely...ever), and turn it back on.

WHALA!! I have now checked my messages only to realize that 2 of the 3 were MMS (multimedia, as in photos & stuff), so I couldn't see them anyway...*oy vey*

This shoulda been the first post...so what?

Jace Everett Foster was born on Tuesday, the 2nd of September, at 1:43am, weighing 7 lbs. 1.5 oz. and measuring 20 inches. After 10 months and 4 days of pregnancy, he graced us with his presence after another 10 hours of labor with the help of a vacuum (doctors said mommy was just a little bit too small and baby was just a little too big for her).

 

Labor day was eventful for mommy since her water broke on labor day, but dilation was slow (starting at a 2-3 when admitted to the hospital) until after midnight when it suddenly jumped to a 7 - a 9 during contractions - and then finally reaching 10. After about 10 pushes, Jace joined the world, leaving mommy to get 5 stitches from a few tears (doctors said they only stitched her for precaution).

 

Jace and mommy were released from the hospital around 2pm on Wednesday with a truckload of meds and gifts from the hospital, the army, and a motherhood group.

 

Daddy Joshua is enjoying the new experience of being officially terrified and paranoid with everything about baby Jace. He takes WONDERFUL care of Jace and - for reasons unknown to mommy - puts Jace to sleep a whole lot faster and easier than mommy can...and, yes, daddy takes turns with mommy when Jace is screaming bloody murder in the middle of the night.

 

Interesting facts:

--Jace has 2 great-great grandmothers, 2 great grandfathers, and 1 great grandmother on his mommy's side. Daddy Joshua is sleeping right now, so mommy isn't sure on his side of the family.

--Jace tinkled on the doctors after he was born - mwahahaha!!!!

--He has big beady blue eyes and lots of dark hair...hmm, wonder where that came from...

--He sucked his thumb for a few seconds several hours after being born - it was cute!

--While sleeping, the only difference between daddy Joshua and baby Jace is their size - they both scowl during their sleep, and though Joshua talks in his sleep, Jace can only cry, scream, smile, and move his eyes behind his lids. Basically, like father like son.

--Jace looks just like his daddy EXCEPT he has two elf ears (mommy's side of the family). WAY cute!! :)

--He is a big eater like his daddy and never seems to be full enough - mommy's in LOTS of pain, but it's getting a little easier each time...

--Jace will be blessed this Sunday at church, his daddy's last Sunday on R&R before returning to Iraq...then mommy's on her own...uh-oh...

 

Welcome to the world, Jace Everett Foster!!! We love you!!!

The Diaper Rant

So, being a first-time mom, I have a lot of interesting experiences to go through as of yet. However, one that I have been struggling with for awhile is the diaper. Now, I'm not clueless as to how to use a diaper, but it amazes me that my now-10-lb. baby manages to pee through his diapers. I've changed plenty of various types of diapers - and various types of messes inside the diapers, too - to know what I'm doing, but this is the first I've ever had to deal with out-of-diaper pee pee with a one-month old. :(

I mean, COME ON! He's got this cute big belly and a little bitty butt, so his diapers won't fit him - one way or the other his stomach will be squished and his diaper will fall off (yes, that's already happened, too)... What is REALLY funny is that Uncle Wesley (my brother) had to hold Jace during Sacrament meeting one time while I played the piano for an intermediate song for a brother and sister. When I came back, Wesley looked at me, I looked at him, and he looked down at his pants. I couldn't help but quietly snicker: Baby Jace left his wet impression on Uncle Wesley's pants, and Wesley looked as though he had peed in his pants. LOL!!!

Anyway, back to the diaper dilemma...my little baby boy makes life interesting in a way that I'm not sure I like - especially when it soaks my pants - but life is life and babies are babies, so I'll just try a little experimentation with his diapers for the best fit. :)