Justin Turns Two!

Justin had a good birthday. Pizza and chocolate cake for dinner. Yum! He had more presents than he needed. He would have been happy with one. Of course the day after his birthday he figured he should be allowed to open the other presents that he saw. Why wait for Christmas? We forced a lot of presents on him one day and deny him the next. So confusing.

My Sweet Boys!

My boys are sweet. They can be a handful when they both decide to scream at the same time though. It is hard to breastfeed Ryan while giving Justin a time out. Justin seems to know that. Luckily there are plenty of adults around to help out.

Sometimes Justin can be sweet. Here he is singing to his little brother.

Of course he is jealous of things that are for Ryan and not for him. He has just GOT to try out Tiny Baby's little seat.

LET IT SNOW! LET IT SNOW. LET IT SNOW?

Now that we have gotten past the record cold, we are experiencing record snow. We have officially gotten over 19 inches already, though the yardstick on the back deck says more. Justin was surprised when he was asked to go get the newspaper this morning and found himself faced with a wall of snow. Schools were closed and even my dad got work off! Ryan's doctor's appointment that was supposed to be today was rescheduled for Saturday morning. The snow plows didn't come by until late afternoon, but at least they came! Hopefully we can get out tomorrow so I can get to the doctor to have my stitches taken out.

After my dad ran the snow blower to clear out the driveway, Meredith, Justin, and I ventured outside. Justin liked the snow until he got too cold.

My Two Boys

The other day Justin very clearly pointed to the door and said, "Tiny Baby, go home!" I told him that Ryan was at home with Mommy, Daddy, and Justin. That wasn't the news that he wanted to hear. "Oh my, no!" was his response and then he attempted to fling his body on the bed. He missed and fell backwards onto the floor. Oops. That didn't make things any better. We try to teach him how to be a good helper since he wants to be involved. I am happiest when he helps with his baby doll, also named Ryan. What a creative boy I have.

Not a lot is happening here. Record cold is keeping us indoors whenever possible. One of our highlights (shows you how slow moving things are) was Ryan's first bath.He was not amused. He cried more for the bath than he did when Justin hit him with a plastic baseball bat. Ryan was much happier when I got him out and wrapped up in a warm towel. At least he isn't as difficult to manage in the tub as Justin. Justin is learning that Mommy can be a bit more assertive in bathing him now that he can no longer pull me off balance and into the tub with him. Ha! Non-pregnant Mommy is a lot more capable.

FINALLY, HE IS HERE!

I have been SO ready for this baby to be born. Wednesday, December 3rd at about 10:30 AM he finally decided to comply with my wishes. Ryan Matthew Weber came in at 10 pounds 2 ounces and 22 1/2 inches long. No wonder I was so uncomfortable.

I woke up just after 1 AM with some contractions and figured it was going to be the day. I sat down and worked on reading a book and dealt with the contractions every 20 or 30 minutes. Sure websites and other sources recommend trying to doze in between contractions so you are rested. Right. It takes me 20 to 30 minutes to get to sleep. What are the chances that I will then sleep through the contractions? Ha!

By 5 AM I decided it was time to get ready to go. Rob and I got ready and arrived at the hospital about 6 AM. Guess what? This pregnancy I got my epidural. What a great thing. I love epidurals. I was bitter that Justin came too quickly for an epidural. Sure I was lucky to only have a two hour labor with him, but it hurt. I didn't want to do natural childbirth. I felt I deserved easy after a long puking pregnancy.

As soon as I got my epidural I felt GREAT! I don't just mean no longer in pain, I mean better than I have felt since probably last March sometime. Go figure, the nausea was gone too. I don't know exactly when I got the epidural and all, but I know I was happy. I did get a little bored waiting for Ryan to appear. I thought that by 9 AM he should have been there and wanted to get the show on the road. I went from a 5 to an 8 so quickly, why wasn't I moving anymore?

Evidently I had a pretty tough sack and my water didn't want to break. Once it was helped, Ryan STILL wasn't cooperating. Ends up the umbilical cord was holding him in. It was wrapped over his shoulder and keeping him from being able to get out. They rotated things (I guess things mostly being Ryan) around and he slid out. I say "slid" out because even though I was technically pushing, I didn't feel the contractions or the pushing. I suddenly had a slimey, slippery thing out and placed on my chest. The umbilical cord was soooooo long. Not that I am an expert in that kind of thing, but the nurses and others there were surprised by it. It reminded me of a magician pulling scarves out of a hat. It just kept coming and coming and coming. Probably more interesting than the baby.

Why I couldn't have an epidural for the whole nine months of pregnancy is beyond me. Wow. Coolest thing ever. If I were in high school and had to do a research paper on someone or something I think it would be on the great wonderful epidural. I am most definitely a fan. I wonder if facebook has a "fan of epidurals" group. That would be me. After experiencing natural childbirth (and remember it was only 2 hours) and an epidural, as far as I am concerned the decision is a no-brainer.

Ryan and I were both doing well so we came home today (Thursday) instead of hanging out until tomorrow. Being in the hospital does have the advantage of resting without Justin around to help, but I like being out of the hospital. I get anxious and restless there. Now I can start adjusting to life with "tiny baby" and Justin.

We forgot the camera at first, so we don't have many pics. I am sure that will change. We will see how long it takes me to get more up.