Playhouse in the park

Hi, How are you

Get ready for sweetness overload.

For the highly anticipated sibling introduction, Henry arrived wearing a Hello Milo! shirt. He brought me a rose. And a birthday cake for Milo. After singing Happy Birthday, daddy commandeered a wheelchair to take us on rides around the hallway. Henry then decided he was ready to really check out his new brother. He held him and told him he loved him. When Milo cried out, he said, It's ok, Mommy's coming, and then informed me that the baby had a little fever and needed Motrin. When Mormor took him away to hand him off to me for nursing, Henry screamed, No I need it! My baby. I need my baby! He has ever since referred to Milo as My baby and has not once called him by name.

Out of sight, always on our mind

Post-delivery message to my firstborn

We still think you're pretty damn cool, too. Like, a lot.

Update: No Baby, No Pneumonia

Instead of getting induced Friday morning, we found ourselves in the imaging lab at Henry's doctor's office getting a chest x-ray to rule out a suspected case of pneumonia. We had been up all night with him and he would not let anyone but me comfort and medicate, so at 3:00AM, we all decided that I would not be rested or sane enough to push out this baby. And I knew I would be too worried about Henry to be able to enjoy the experience. My doctor agreed and rescheduled my induction for Monday.

After a day and a half of breathing treatments and antibiotics, he is doing better. The most disheartening part was the doctor's instructions for Henry's involvement (or lack thereof) with the baby's arrival. Obviously we don't want to get a newborn sick, but all I was thinking about was the build up we have created for Henry for his trip to the hospital to meet his brother. Here is what he is most excited about in order of importance based on our conversations and his observations during the hospital tour:

The elevator ride up to the maternity unit
Bringing a birthday cake and singing Happy Birthday
Playing in the toy room in the waiting area

There is also the occasional mention of seeing Milo as well.

His doctor said that he should be well enough to go to the hospital if I have him on Monday. We will probably have to keep them separated and be overly obsessive about hand washing. It is not the dream introduction I had pictured for them, but not much is going how I thought it would. I have made an ass out of u and me. This offically has become the longest pre-labor in the history of laboring. I did not think it was possible to have on and off painful contractions for OVER A WEEK and no baby. I mean come on, I have been down this road before. I would understand if this was my first pregnancy. According to my Swedish brother-in-law, this one should be shooting out of me like a greased pig. I have been timing some pretty harsh contractions for the past hour, so tonight might be it. That is only the fifth time I have made that statement.

If I don't have him tonight, y'all, he's coming tomorrow for sure. Hopefully like a greased pig.

Overheard from the kitchen

Henry to MorMor "I loooooooooove yoooooou... get some eggs?"

Great Timing

If I had to choose, I probably wouldn't have chosen to have the most hardcore depths of Henry's "Mommy" phase coincide with the birth of Milo. Maybe a month before.

Friendly Reminder

Henry's brother Milo should be arriving any day now, so be sure to check his site for the news and pictures... we'll post them as soon as we can.

The wheels are in motion.

Only Child

Funny Things Said

Mommy, are you OK little buddy?

The sky looks AMAZING!

Pee comes out of my wiener.

Begins sentences with sometimes. As in, Sometimes, I like ketchup (he means all the times he likes ketchup).

Kelsey, this water is tasty.

We took Henry and my belly out to the park

Henry has been so much fun lately. I keep finding myself closing my eyes and trying to burn moments into my scattered brain. Greg and I are soaking up every second of our threeness and are looking forward to whats to come.

How not to be brave for your son and keep your composure in a stressful medical situation, by Kelsey Webb

Our two and a half year old big boy had surgery on Friday. It was the last big item on my my nesting to do list, immediately following get bangs, which was crossed out after having made a previous bad decision to eat some macaroni salad.

In light of all of the sickness, recurring ear infections and disconcerting amount of antibiotics given to Henry in the past year, we were advised to get tubes put in and have the adenoids removed. Though I was fully aware of the commonality of this procedure and the amount of times per week our surgeon has been performing it for the past 15 years (10-20x per wk), nothing could make me comfortable with the idea of Henry going under general anesthesia. Having been so consumed with worry over that part, I did not really have time to think about the torture of him not being able to eat anything before the 11:45 AM operation. Normally by then, Henry has had 1-2 breakfasts, a snack and has moved on to lunch. I was not anticipating one of the most heart breaking moments of the morning to be when I looked back at him in the car on the way to the hospital with his huge tears streaming down his cheek, saying, "Mommy, I really need a banana."

Thankfully, they were running ahead of schedule and were ready for him after we checked in and filled out all of the necessary paperwork. As soon as the doctor came in to tell us what to expect and what exactly they would be doing, I could not stop my tears. Henry was laying on my shoulder distracted by Sesame Street on TV, so he did not notice I was breaking my deal with Greg to not cry until he was in surgery. There is only so much I can control with these crazy pregnancy hormones. Greg was allowed to go back with him until he fell asleep in the operating room. As he carried him away, Henry was not a big boy at all. He was my little tiny baby being swallowed up by a hospital gown and drenched in scary florescent light. I could still see his lips moving, quietly saying "Peanut butter cracker, please." At least I waited until then to really break down.

He ended up doing great and we have all since recovered from the experience.

Pre-op snuggling



Post-op snuggling



Henry's favorite part, getting presents from Grandma

Jen, Marten & Annabelle's visit

Henry loved spending time with his cousin. He was crazy about her. He was most impressed with her potty skills and spent lots of time in various bathrooms with her. Mingled in among the bathroom visits, were trips into the mountains, the pool, and a National Lampoonesque road trip to a family reunion with Mormor.

We are still missing them.