Let's go to the Barn!

A couple weeks ago (I feel like all my posts start that way - I'm not very on top of it!), I picked up Jackson from preschool and he asked me if we could "go to the barn." I started to tell him no because I had an errand to run, but then I remembered that there is a little historical museum in Plano set on a former farm (the Heritage Farmstead Museum - if you grew up in Plano, you've probably been there!). Since I only had to pick up thank you and sympathy cards from Hallmark, I decided we could get that out of the way, and then head on over.

Unfortunately, I didn't realize that the museum was closed on Mondays, so we had to come back on Wednesday afternoon.

Since we knew ahead of time that we would be going, I remembered to bring my mother-in-law's "fancy" camera. Since we don't have a DSLR, she lets me borrow hers in exchange for pictures of the grandkids, which is so nice of her!

I made a mistake - I should have taken my Moby wrap with me. Instead, I brought Brenna in her car seat... and lugged it all over the property. Oops! I am developing some pretty impressive callouses on my hands, especially right under my wedding band. I don't remember having callouses when Jackson was a baby, but maybe I've just forgotten.

After peeking in on the chickens, Jackson, Brenna, and I went over to the school house. It was a cool little place for Jackson to explore, and he had fun checking out the desks. He looks so innocent here - hard to believe that he is already more than half-way to entering Kindergarten. When I think about that and the fun times we've had together, it makes me so happy that I decided to stay home with him (and Brenna too!)

We took a picture on the porch too. Sweet Brenna slept the whole time we were there. She is so easy-going so much of the time, but this week she has been more vocal about what she wants. Often, she wants me over anyone else, and she wants me to stand up while I hold her so she can look over my shoulder. It's amazing that such a little girl can have such big opinions!

Can you spot a ghost in this picture? She's a hot (mess) mama taking a picture in the window on the right. Jackson was so cute - posing and saying cheese between running off to explore the farm. His shirt doesn't really fit in with the nineteenth century experience. I let him pick out his clothes every morning and this is a present from his Mimi from one of her (many) trips to the aquarium. It's very cute and he loved the animal-shaped letters.

Here's Jackson on the front porch of the gorgeous house. I didn't dare take him inside. I remember coming to this museum when I was in elementary school. Actually, my middle school was named for one of the women who owned this property. Anyway, I remember a lot of directions not to touch, and lots of ropes with signs reiterating that command. This is also why we didn't pursue a White House tour when we visited DC. I just don't really want to put myself or my kids in that situation. It was fun playing on the porch though, and we got a look at the mules (I think??) next to the house.

We almost.... almost forget that we were in the middle of the suburbs until the cars rushed by and I caught a glimpse of the nail salon across the street. I don't think I could live out in the middle of nowhere anyway, I really REALLY hate 2-lane highways. I beg Steven to avoid the one behind our house at all costs.

My sweet kids. Seeing them get along so well (even if it may change one day - I hope it doesn't!!) makes my heart melt.

Next, we headed over to the turkey shack. It was so funny to listen to them - gobble gobble gobble. Of course, I was playing helicopter Mom - "Jackson, look at the turkeys, do you see them? DON'T PUT YOUR FINGERS IN THE CAGE! Oh no, honey, it's ok, you can see the turkeys, just don't try to touch them." Oh it will be a wonder if I can raise this boy without a complex. Poor first child.

We came here when Jackson was little - about 9 months. One of my blog headers is from that day (obviously, I am desperately in need of an update - groaaaan). Oddly enough, I realized on the drive out that I was wearing the same shirt I had worn the first time we came. It's a grey shirt with "University of North Texas" written on it in turquoise. Steven and I support each other's schools for two reasons - 1. We are married and we love and support each other and 2. UNT's football program is basically non-existent. I can't say much though, CU has had a tough time since the 2005 season. And by "tough time" I mean "I stopped following them because it was so depressing."

On the other hand, this is not at all depressing. Jackson thought the chickens were pretty cool, but he really wanted to see a cow.

Solved.

Even though Brenna slept through the whole outing, I felt like we all had a good time. It was fun, inexpensive, and not too far to drive. I've always wanted to do family pictures here, maybe one day we'll be able to make that happen.

Play Park

Favorite TV Shows in this house (in order):

1. Dora the Explorer
2. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
3. Go Diego Go

Then it's a toss-up between: Handy Manny, Bubble Guppies, Chuggington, Backyardigans, Jake and the Neverland Pirates, and most recently, Team Umi Zoomi.

Think we watch enough TV?

Anyway, the point is that Dora sometimes talks about going to "Play Park," so that's what Jackson calls every park.

A few weeks ago, Jackson's (and now Brenna's) friends went to play at one of our favorite parks. The park is pretty remotely located, so it's usually just us. It also has some cover over the playground (to protect our kiddos from the hot Texas sun) and restrooms nearby. There is a soccer field right there too, which is a great place for our little future-Beckhams to practice.

About half of the kids in our playgroup now have younger siblings, so the Mommies found a tree and put down a blanket for the littlest kids to hang out.

Here are the sweet little ones - Bryn and Sophie are the oldest of the second wave of kids (11 and 12 months) and Logan and Brenna are the youngest (so far..!). Logan was born in May and he's the only boy of the little ones. Cate, Mia's sister, is the only one missing from this picture.

Speaking of Mia and Cate, their sweet Mom, Ashley, took this picture of Brenna and me at the park during another play date. I love this photo and I love how it truly portrays my experience as a Mother - my hair is a mess, I have a burp cloth (or spit up!) on my shoulder, but I'm so happy to finally have my sweet baby Brenna in my arms.

Sometimes Jackson asks me "You happy, Mommy?" and I tell him "Yes I'm happy! I have my Jackson!" and he reminds me "and your Baby Brenna and your Daddy?" and after I agree that I am happy to have Brenna and Daddy, he tells me, "And I have my Mommy!" Oh my gosh, he is such a big sweet heart, and such a wonderful big brother.

Soccer

This year, our Friday Play Group friends got together and decided to sign our kids up for their first organized sport - a soccer league for two year olds! The games have been hilarious (and sometimes stressful). Jackson scored his first goal during the first game and I just happened to get it on video. Yay Jackson! It was an exciting moment. I looked over at my parents and Steven's parents, who had come to watch the game. They were all cheering and my Dad mouthed "his first goal!!" to me. It was so great to share that special moment with our family.

Some of the Dads have volunteered to coach the team and we had 2 practices before their first game. The team name is TNT (Tough N Tiny - and they are!!) and their color is red. Even though we have lots of college recruiters at the games already (haha - kidding!!), our coaches make sure everyone has equal playing time and we don't keep score. Good thing too, this weekend Jackson scored on the goal he was supposed to be protecting!! To his credit, he turned around and ran the ball down the field to score on the opposite goal as well.

One of the kids on the team, Davey, is our "ringer." This little boy could probably run circles around kids twice his age (which is only 5, but still!). He is really impressive on the field and probably one of the only ones who understands the point of the game.

I love the above picture. It represents exactly what happens at the games. Parents all over the field, some of the kids paying attention, some crawling/running/rolling/whatever and some kids standing or sitting, but not paying attention. At one point (during the game), Jackson was lying down on the turf while two kids sat over him, tickling him. With only 5 players on each team, that put TNT at a slight disadvantage... good thing this league doesn't keep score!!!

Here is one of the only pictures I got of the kids in their uniform. Jackson decided that he didn't really want to play soccer during the first (and second) game, so I spent a lot of time holding his hand and, finally, just picking him up and running after the ball up and down the field. I figured that as long as we were on the field, he might as well participate any way possible.

It has been so much fun cheering on our little ones!

Churchin'

Every Sunday we go to church. We used to go to service and then teach Sunday School, but with a toddler and a newborn, we're just thrilled to get out of the house early enough to teach!

I teach 11th grade Sunday School and Steven teaches 12th. We started teaching these students when they were in 9th and 10th grades. I remember the first few weeks were tough and I thought we'd never get to know them. Then, the grades split and we had just the 10th (now 12th) graders and we loved it! At the end of the year, no one was available to teach the 9th-becoming-10th grade kids for the summer, so I volunteered. These students are such a blessing in our lives.

While we teach Sunday School, Jackson goes to the 2 year old class, and Brenna hangs in the nursery. When I say that we are blessed with an awesome church family, a lot of that comes from the wonderful nursery/preschool staff members who love our kids so much. The first time I took Brenna to church, the nursery director pulled her out of her car seat and told me "Ok, I'll see you in an hour!" She kept Brenna with her so I could teach and it was exactly what I needed. Since then, we bring Brenna to the nursery each week and she gets cuddles and attention the whole time.

Of course, Jackson thinks he runs the whole church. He's there every Sunday, plus on Monday and Wednesday for preschool. We're so lucky to have a place where our family fits so perfectly.

So I wanted to get a picture of our kiddos before church - ha! Suffice it to say, I will NEVER have a career in child photography. Maybe I can learn how to photoshop the good pictures of each child together. The one picture where Jackson looks adorable is the only picture where Brenna looks like she's about to sneeze. I always go back to the same thought - every day with young kids is an adventure!

...and how blessed we are by this sweet-faced little girl and her hilarious big brother.

Jackson makes Dinner

Our favorite Daddy wasn't home for dinner the other night, so I decided to get creative (ha - that's a lie, I saw a commercial for Pillsbury biscuits that suggested this and just happened to have the stuff on hand) and asked Jackson for help making dinner.

Of course, since we were making one of his favorites - cheese pizza - Jackson was more than happy to lend a hand!

First, we gathered our ingredients: Pillsbury Biscuits (honey butter, next time we'll use original, but this is what I had in the refrigerator), cheese (Mozzarella, Parmesean, and Cheddar - there's never a shortage of cheese in our house!), and pizza sauce. Oh, and Woody and Jesse stickers close-by to supervise. I laid everything out on freezer paper to minimize mess.

First, we washed our hands. This is always an important step when you're cooking, but even more important when you're cooking with a two-almost-three-year-old boy. You never know where those chubby little hands have been. After washing our hands, we flattened the biscuit... umm... pizza dough. Next, we added the pizza sauce. I cringed during this part, but as you can see in the picture above, the few spills we had all ended up on the freezer paper. Jackson is very into the "do it myself" phase and I have to tell myself to just let him do it - building confidence and motor skills is much more important than keeping stains out of my table runner. I have to be honest though - I hover and ask "Do you need help?" a little more than I probably should. Jackson is very patient with me though - haha!

Next, we added the cheese. I put the cheese on the freezer paper and Jackson decided how much and what kind to put on each pizza. He really liked a lot of the "orange cheese" on his pizzas.

And here are our completed pizzas, ready for the oven!!! Woody and Jesse can be seen supervising here as well. I preheated the oven to 350F, transferred the pizzas to my baking stone, and set the timer for 12 minutes. They weren't done after 12 minutes, so I think I added a total of 6 minutes to the time. I'm not sure if the baking stone affected the time at all, but in the future I'll probably start at 15 min and go from there.

While your pizzas are cooking, you'll probably want a toy hammer to play with. Jackson suggests banging it on the table, using it to "fix" your baby sister (I didn't know she was broken), and demanding your mommy takes pictures of you using the hammer.

There's a Hammer Time joke in here somewhere...


That's the pizza that Jackson made all by himself. (can also be seen in Hammer Time Picture #2). Aside from the order (dough, cheese, sauce), Jackson did a pretty good job! I ate half of that pizza, and it was delicious. Mmm. Speaking of eating pizza, our pizzas are ready!

So. good. and so. easy.

Toddler, robot, and firefighter-hat-approved!

The best part was when Jackson talked to his Daddy about the pizza he made. When Steven asked "Who made the pizza?" Jackson got a sweet, shy-but-proud grin on his face and said "Jackson made the pizza." Awww! Next lesson: breakfast. This will come in handy in the future.

Oh, and to Jackson's future wife: you're welcome. ;)

Baby Brenna (including birth story)

So, even though I haven't mentioned Brenna since I was 26 weeks along (sorry Brenna, I guess I blew it on that one...), she is here!!! She is beautiful and perfect and just the sweetest little baby I could ever ask for. I lucked out big time - two easy-going, precious babies. I feel like Brenna is "easier" than Jackson was, but I think I'm just more relaxed with her than I was with Jackson.

Anyway, here is her birth story:

Due to the (pretty minor, but still scary) complications we faced in my labor with Jackson at 41 weeks, we elected to induce labor at 39 weeks with Brenna. Since I am a planner, this helped me relax. I really hate when things are just open-ended. We arranged with my OB's office to induce labor at the "fancy" hospital on August 3, 2011. They told me to arrive at 7:30am. My mother-in-law came over to the spend the night at our house the night before so she would be there when Jackson woke up and we could just focus on getting ourselves to the hospital.

Around 3:30am, Jackson woke up and wanted us to cuddle with him. I laid down in bed with him for a while, and then Steven took over so I could get some rest before the day of labor ahead of me. I went back to the bedroom and was almost asleep when my phone rang. It was the hospital, telling me that my labor would probably be delayed 30-90 minutes because the women who were currently in labor weren't progressing the way they thought they would. They would call me when it was time to come in.

At 7:30, we called the hospital for a status update. They told Steven that now we were looking at starting around lunch time, so I should have something very small to eat and some water. I had a waffle and some water and then the OB nurse from my OB's practice called. She told me that she had received a call from the hospital saying that they wouldn't be able to get to me until AFTER lunch. She offered me the choice to go to a different hospital, so I told her I would speak to Steven and call her back. Steven and I agreed that we would rather go to the other hospital with the same level of care (but less fancy), rather than wait all day to find out if we were going to have a spot at the original hospital. We called back and were told to head on over and get checked in.

We got to the hospital and filled out the paperwork and were assigned a room. I found out that I had the option to donate Brenna's cord blood to a Texas state bank, which was really exciting. The nurses told me that I would labor, deliver, and recover all in the same room. I didn't see how that was going to work, but it turned out to be great! Even better, it seemed like I was one of the only women on the floor. By 11:00, they started me on pitocin and I was officially starting labor. I started at 1-1.5cm dilated and 50% effaced.

I don't remember the exact timeline, but I felt like it took forever to progress. The nurse told me that after I got to 5cm, I should expect to progress about 1cm per hour. I told her that in my last labor I had gone from a 4 to a 7 in one hour. She seemed to think that this wouldn't have any effect on this labor (ha!). Once I reached 3 or 4cm, my OB broke my water (what a strange feeling!) and offered to have the anesthesiologist administer the epidural. I know some people are anti-drugs, but I am ALL FOR IT. With Jackson I didn't get the epidural until 8cm, so I am very sure that that is not an experience I want to have again. That's my opinion and Steven agrees, so that's what we decided. Anyway, we were talking about everything going on, and the OB told me that the original hospital (where I was scheduled to deliver) was so full that they were turning away women in active labor! I was so glad that I decided not to wait it out. It seemed so much better to be in a hospital where there wasn't any pressure to get through labor and allow someone else to have my spot. I liked the relaxed atmosphere we were in.

The epidural was absolutely, without a doubt, the worst part of the entire experience. If you have a problem with needles, do not read this paragraph. The anesthesiologist came in to my room after my water was broken and prepped me for the epidural. I was a little nervous because my last epidural was when I was 8cm dilated and in a lot of pain, so I wasn't really able to think much about the epidural. This time, I wasn't in much pain at all, so I could think about the fact that he was putting a giant needle into my spine (shudder). I tried to stay calm, and he talked me through everything he was doing, and told me the risks, but that in ten years, he'd never had a problem with putting the needle in too far. I wish he'd never said that, because apparently it was just too much temptation for the powers that be. In one swift moment, I felt a pain shoot down my leg and I kicked involuntarily, causing my body to jump. The needle went in too far. Steven saw the doctor's face and told me later that he had fear in his eyes. Immediately, the doctor told me that it had been the wrong time for me to kick. I thought to myself "ME?! I didn't have any control over that!" and panic set in a little. He told me that I would have an extremely painful headache for the next three weeks while the fluid in my spine and brain replaced itself. As soon as he took out the needle, I had a surge of pain come into my head. I asked if I was at any risk for brain damage and he behaved like I already had brain damage. I was not impressed. He tried the epidural again, and it worked. I laid back, head hurting, embarrassed that I had shown that I was in pain, and fighting back tears. I told him that I had not kicked on purpose and then everyone except for Steven left the room. I started to cry. I was so relieved to have a chance to cry though and I think it helped my headache - it went away and didn't come back. Good thing too - my first thought when he told me that I would have a debilitating headache for three weeks was "How the heck am I going to handle a newborn and a toddler with a headache?!"

After all that, everything was fine. I continued labor and switched back and forth between my right and left sides. I was really worried that I would develop high blood pressure with Brenna like I did with Jackson, but it never happened. While I was on my left side, Brenna's blood pressure dropped, so I switched to my right. The nurse checked me and I was 5cm. I was getting frustrated because I wasn't going as quickly as I did with Jackson. I started to feel the contractions more and I asked the nurse to check me again. She did and this time didn't tell me a number. She just told me "Well, you have progressed. We should call your doctor." I don't know for sure, but in hindsight, I think I was fully dilated and she didn't want to worry me. My doctor had another patient in labor at a different hospital, so she had been traveling back and forth all day. I got a strong urge to push and told the nurse, but she told me to wait until the OB arrived. So I took the chance to beg for them to turn up my epidural, and I was all ready to push.

My OB arrived and the nurses transformed my bed into a place to deliver. It was totally amazing that I never had to switch beds or rooms at all. It was time to push. I feel like the pushing took forever because I had to wait for my contractions, which I don't remember from my labor with Jackson. I remember the OB telling me "push with your bottom, not with your face." haha, I guess I had a great pushing face, but nothing to back it up! Despite my lack of coordination, each push was very productive, so Brenna scooted on down the birth canal. At one point, my OB told me to stop pushing. She told the nurses that the cord was wrapped twice around Brenna's neck and she was going to clamp it off right then. She then turned to Steven and told him that he wouldn't get to cut the cord. Neither one of us was about to argue - this is why we had an OB present at the delivery. After that, a few more pushes and Brenna was out and on my chest! I probably pushed for less than 30 minutes.

She was crying and so upset to be out of her safe, cozy womb. I cooed at her and hugged her and just thought to myself "she is so beautiful!" It was exactly 5:00pm and I had labored for 6 hours. I think I have some great baby-delivering genes. We were able to donate her cord blood, which is a huge blessing.

Brenna Emily Haynes was born at 39 weeks at 5:00pm in Allen, Texas. She weighed 6lbs, 7 ounces, and was 19.5 inches long. We think she is perfect.

Things Jackson Says...

Having an almost-three-year-old in the house just cracks me up. Here are some of the things Jackson has said lately (that I don't want to forget!!)

while I was nursing Brenna:

"No, baby Brenna! No eat my Mommy!"

In the car:
Jackson: "Ow! Baby Brenna hit me!"

Mommy: "Baby Brenna hit you?"

Jackson: "Yes! Brenna hit me!"
Mommy: "Come on Jackson, that is B.S."

Daddy: "You need to watch your language in front of Jackson." (this one is worth a laugh on it's own)
Mommy: "Sorry Jackson, B.S. means Big Stinky."
Jackson: "BIG STINKY DIAPER!!! Hahaha stinky poo-poo!!"
Mommy: "Yep, stinky poo-poo, that's actually pretty much what it means."
Daddy: (rolls eyes)

While I was getting ready in the morning (points to my necklace)
Jackson: "That yours, Mommy?"
Mommy: "Yes, that is my necklace."
Jackson: "Daddy give you?"
Mommy: "Yes, Daddy gave it to me for my birthday."
Jackson: "NO!!! GO MA'S HOUSE!!"
Mommy: ???!?!?!?

Later that day:
Jackson: "See all my friends at play park, then birthday party Ma's house!" (I still don't know how he made this jump from a necklace to Ma's house)