Helllloooo! Is There Anyone Out There??

Hello!  I'm still here!  I'm sorry for not updating sooner, but I was probably wiping a bottom, a nose or a tear.  We are all doing better than I truly expected after welcoming our little (that's only figurative when you weigh 9lbs as a newborn!) bundle of joy almost three weeks ago.  I knew that Will would do fairly well when the baby was born.  He was so excited about the baby's arrival and he still is.  He just looks at her with these smitten eyes and says things like "She's the perfect baby, Momma" or "She's just the cutest little baby!"  I was really worried about Brooks - I thought he would be my jealous one.  He's done surprisingly well with the baby though.  He does show some signs of jealousy, but none too extreme.  I also thought he would be extremely rough and rowdy with the baby, but so far so good.

Brandon and I are doing well.  I'm finally feeling better physically and I have only had one day where I could really tell those postpartum emotions were wanky (yes I know that's not a real word!)  Brandon is back at work of course, so I'm *very* outnumbered here on the home front.  With Will going to Pre-K MWF mornings, that really puts us in overdrive three mornings each week.  I get everyone up, dressed, fed and loaded in the car (sometimes the hardest part) by 8:50 to have him at school by 9.  It's a very good thing we live less than a mile from school.  Otherwise, I'm not sure he would ever be there on time.  He's only been late one morning out of five so far and that was his little brother's fault.  On those mornings, there is literally NO time for shenanigans and that is practically Brooks' middle name :)  On Tuesdays and Thursdays, the boys generally go to my in-law's for a little time on the farm.  This gives the girl and I a break; and these are usually the only days where any coffee gets poured, laundry gets done, or the television is on any channel other than Disney Jr.

There have been good days and bad days, but every day is hard.  Especially those when the boys are wild and stir crazy because we've been stuck in the house all day.  I'm not sure which is harder, getting 3 kids loaded in the car and out in a public place, or keeping them from killing each other and tearing down the house at home.  I don't know about your kids, but mine generally do better when they're busy and focused on one specific thing.  Left to their own devices, I deal with a LOT of fighting over toys, whining and crazy loud crashes (don't ask :/).  BUT, it's hard to come up with something that both a 2 AND 4 year old finds captivating while feeding, burping and changing a newborn.  Brooks is my biggest challenge right now.  He doesn't play independently for very long just yet, and if I don't get him occupied with something productive, before you know it he's locking himself in rooms, jumping off furniture or doing some other "no-no".  I know I'm not the only mother to face this challenge, and I don't want to sound like a weeny, so I'll stop complaining ;)

Tessa is still being a very good girl!  She still loves her sleep and just last night slept from 11-5:30AM and then from 6-10:20AM.  I'm thinking we need to start moving her bedtime up based on her stretches.  I think we may try having her last feeding at 9 or 9:30 tonight.  I'll probably be up at midnight.... we'll see.  We've only had two rough evenings with our girl - one was tummy troubles and the other was restlessness.  I told you that she likes her sleep and I mean it!  If she doesn't get a good *sound* sleep within an hour after eating, you will pay for it.  So those days when Brooks and Will are doing every thing in their will power to keep the baby awake, we usually all wind up in tears.  She's still a "grunter".  Sleeping with her in our room is very similar to spending the night in a very comfy bed that's placed in a barn.  I'm very near ready to move her to her room.  I'm thinking we'll move her when she's 4-6 weeks old.

We just had her newborn pics taken by our favorite family photographer and as soon as I get some proofs, you know I'll be sharing them :)  Maybe we'll get a sneak peek soon!  Just in the last 2 days, Tessa has broken out with baby acne all over her forehead.  This is no surprise as Brooks had it too, but it makes me sad that my pretty girl is covered in red bumps on her face.  It should resolve itself soon - the docs say its just her hormones taking over from my hormones and it peaks around 4 weeks.  Little bit will be 3 weeks old tomorrow, so I'm hoping it goes away soon!

This is all I have time for now as Brandon is on his way home with our two little men in tow.  Having the laptop out around them is a *very* expensive accident waiting to happen, so I need to get this show packed up :)  I leave you with a comparison pic of my big boy's first day of pre-K - one from last year and then one from this year.  My big boy is getting sooooo big and I've already been super sad that he starts Kindergarten in one year :(  Not to mention that next year Brooks will start pre-K too.  Gah!

3 Year Preschool

4 Year Preschool

A Week Later...

Hard to believe, but this time last week I had just given birth to our sweet baby girl!  Tessa was probably still screaming her head off while getting her bath :)

Not much has changed in a week - our girl still screams quite a bit when she's getting her bath.  Of course, her "biblical" chord (as Will calls it) is still attached so she's just getting cold and wet sponge baths for the moment.  I guess I wouldn't like that either.  Funny note about the umbilical chord - you know how they tell you when you leave the hospital that ugly little thing will fall off in 10-14 days?  Well, BOTH of our boys kept theirs for like 4-6 weeks.  Will's actually fell off the night before one of his pedi appointments, but was still green and oozy underneath.  And the pediatrician took Brooks' off because it was so gross looking.  BOTH boys had to have that crazy black silver nitrate put on their bellies to dry it up completely.  I guess you could say our kids just can't cut the chord???   I'm praying Miss Tessa gives it up before it gets to that point...

I have to say though, other than bath time and very few others, our girl is pretty content.  I guess I could be jinxing myself by writing this, but I really want to document her true behaviors.  So far, she's our easiest baby.  I really think I deserved an easy baby after Will's crazy reflux and Brooks' constant colic and I'm starting to think that God gave me exactly what I needed.  She isn't easily rattled.  She's definitely used to hearing her brother's screams and voices because she doesn't even flinch when one (or both) are having melt downs or literally going to blows over a toy.  She doesn't even jump when one of them (or her daddy) drops some loud object on the hardwood floor or even when her brother Will decides to serenade her with his "flute" (think 5th grade recorder) while she's already sleeping.

She's a great sleeper so far.  Now I have enough experience in the baby department to know that these things can change very quickly, but we've really been blessed with a girl who likes her zzzzzs.  So far, she sleeps in her Snugabunny Infant Seat or her swing, or even on a cushion on the sofa (depending on where we are).  If she gets REALLY sleepy, she'll even snooze in her car seat which is something her brothers would never do.  She hasn't really decided if she likes a paci or not.  I'm thinking she likes it more than she doesn't, but she just hasn't gotten to the point where she can't do without it yet.  We've had to try several different brands - the gumdrops, the Avent, the Nuk.  I think she likes the Nuks the best, or at least she has better luck keeping them in her mouth.

I'm afraid to write about the night time sleeping because I'm afraid to speak too soon, but I really want to be able to look back and see exactly what she was doing, so here goes - from day 1, she's been a great sleeper at night.  She loves to be swaddled tightly at night and I'm glad she does - we don't swaddle her during the day (unless I get really desperate) and those little arms are constantly getting flung around until they usually wake her up or knock a paci out.  For the last two nights, she's gotten a bath around 10:30, fed and put to bed around 11PM.  Both nights, she slept until 4:30AM, when she woke up and got fed and changed and went right back to sleep until 9:30AM.  Yep - you read that correctly,  TWO five hour stretches in a row.  We'll take it!!

During the day, she eats every 2.5-3.5 hours.  Sometimes I even wake her up to eat, depending on how long she's been asleep.  Just like her brothers, she's not too crazy about car rides unless she's sleepy and then she'll drift off to sleep and she's golden.  While her brothers screamed bloody murder from the time of entry to the time of exit, Tessa is a little more tolerant.  She usually gives it her best effort and then starts crying shortly into any trip in the car.  It's funny, when she starts wailing in the car, Brooks will shout from the back "Baby crying!  Hush Baby!"  and Will usually doesn't even stop talking....

The bath, the car and a few gas-induced belly aches have been the only sources of true hysteria from our girl.  She's really more of a grunter.  When she's ready to eat, you'll know it from her grunting, chewing on her hands, and her disgruntlement with her paci.  This is also how she wakes up.  Instead of waking up crying, she'll be grunting (which she does throughout her sleep) and when you notice that she doesn't grunt.stop.silence.grunt. and it's more like grunt.grunt.grunt.grunt.  then you'll look at her and she'll be awake.  Like I said - pretty chill girl so far.

The boys are still in love.  Brooks is really starting to become obsessed with her, which is a little difficult because he can't be reasoned with.  He wants to "hold da baby" or "burp da baby" or "feed da baby" every single time I pick her up.  If I'm sitting down to feed her, he's literally trying to rip her out of my arms while screaming "I HOLD DA BABY!!"  Will is more reserved with his affections - he'll kiss her little head or tell her how much he loves her.  One cute thing Brooks does is sing to her - when I let him hold her (which I have to do pretty often) he'll sing the B-I-B-L-E to her.  It's precious!

We went to the pediatrician on Wednesday for her first weight check and she had only lost one ounce.  Not bad considering bigger babies generally lose more weight after birth than lower weight babies.  Since she was doing so well and not jaundice at all, he gave us the green light until she's a month old.  Good news!

And I'm feeling pretty well I guess.  I'm not sure if it's because this was my 3rd delivery, or if it's because she came so fast, or if it's because of the surgery on the day following her delivery, but this has been my hardest baby to recover from.  I'm 7 days into it and physically, I feel like I had her two days ago.  I'm still taking 800mg of motrin as regularly as the medicine will allow and usually at least one half of a pain med each day.  Each day I hope to feel significantly better, but so far I just haven't made that turn yet.  While little bit isn't too much of a problem physically, I'm still having a hard time keeping up with my big boys - you know chasing them to put clothes on, picking them up from boo boos, pulling them off each other, fighting them to time out, and even them crawling up in my lap for books.

Today was daddy's first day back to work, so you may be wondering how I had time for such a lengthy post.  Well, like I said - she's a good sleeper and her brothers are at grandma's today.  Will begged to spend the night with his Gram last night and because he starts 4 year pre-k next week AND it was daddy's first day back to work, I obliged them.  This is really a special treat for the girl and I.  We slept in until 9:30 and starting on Monday, we'll have to have Mr. Will at school by 9 :/

A Boy's First Love

After we were moved to a private room on Friday afternoon, the grandparents brought the rest of our family over.  Her brothers (especially Will) have been counting the weeks and then days until their baby sister arrived.  When they arrived, daddy was holding their baby sister...

Brooks saw the baby, said "Baby Sister!", poked her in the head and went back to being rambunctious.    Will was immediately in love.  He said "Momma, she's perfect.  She's just the one I wanted."  He was so precious.  His face lit up as only a proud big brother's could.

The room was crowded with other visitors, but as usual, when baby gets fussy, mommy gets the baby back.  The boys were right beside me - checking out their new sister.

I kept trying to get Will to kiss the baby, but he was a little too shy with everyone watching....

This picture cracks me up.  I have no idea what Will was saying, but this is our usual conversation.  Him saying something very sassy with his finger pointed and me pretending to take serious thought....

Brooks was obviously a little more flamboyant.  

Mommy and Daddy had Big Brother gifts for them.  These were basically gift bags full of dollar spot findings (except for their "Big Brother" shirts) - plastic dinosaurs, glow sticks, slinkies, candy, coloring book and crayons.  The gummy jolly ranchers, glow sticks, and dinosaurs were the biggest hits.

The boys came each day to the hospital but only stayed a few minutes each time.  Will probably could have stayed the whole time, but Brooks was a little loud for the maternity floor....

When we got home, the boys were very excited and Will had to show baby sister the entire house - room for room.  He especially wanted to show Tessa her room, his room and the playroom.  We obliged him and held the baby as he played tour guide throughout the entire house.  We let the boys decide whether they wanted to stay at home that night or go back to their grandparent's.  As you could have guessed, Will wanted to stay at home and Brooks wanted to go to his Poppa's.  Will stayed up late with us that night and helped us give Tessa a bath.  After the bath, he wanted to sleep in our room with his baby sister so that "he could listen for her."  We again obliged him and moved him to his room after he fell asleep.  

Will loves his sister soooooo much.  Both boys do really, but Brooks loses interest after a few minutes.  Brooks is mostly interested in the baby's things - the swing, the car seat, her stroller, etc...  Will loves everything about her.  He asks to hold her, sit beside her in the car, he's even ask to put the baby monitor in his room so that "he can listen for her and get up if she needs him."

In this picture Will was telling Tessa that he loved her "way up to the stars and moon and back down."  

I'm so proud of how much the boys love their baby sister.  I hope that they will always love and protect her.  I do hope however that some of the obsessiveness wears off.  It's very hard to get anything done when you are constantly having to make sure they aren't trying to pick her up or shove a paci up her nose.  And by anything, I don't mean laundry or cook dinner.  I mean go to the bathroom, pour a glass of water or sit down.  It's very sweet.  I just need to figure out how to harness all the sweetness....

Tessa's Birth Story

Sheeeee's heeerrrrreeeee!  Tessa Joann was born on Friday, August 3rd, 2012 at 11:10 AM.

Tessa's birth story begins really on Thursday, August 2nd.  I had an O/B appointment that afternoon and I was really praying for progress.  I had been at 2cm/70% effaced since 35 weeks.  When I met with my OB on that Thursday afternoon, despite all the walking and random contractions that I had been having, I had made no progress.  I was really disappointed because I knew that he would not let me go past my due date of Sunday, August 5th.  Because of my last baby weighing 10lbs and fast labors, my doctors were not comfortable letting me go past my due date.  We had agreed earlier in the pregnancy on an induction if necessary.  

So the doctor gave me the choice of Friday morning or Monday morning.  I chose Friday simply because I didn't want to get dressed in my work clothes another day.  Ha!  

So Brandon and I left, went home to have dinner with our boys and get ready for a looooonnnnggg  day ahead on Friday.  The boys spent the night with their grandparents and Brandon and I tossed and turned all night.

At 4:15AM I finally got up and got a shower.  I fixed my hair and finished packing our bags.  We left our house at 5:30 to be at the hospital by 6.  We got to the hospital right on time and went through the routine - I changed into a gown and signed our lives away.  The doctor came in and talked to us.  He advised us not to be planning on a quick delivery despite my two previous fast labors because every labor was different and the baby's head was still very high (-3 Station).

I started getting fluids and the doctor agreed to let me have an epidural before he started the pitocin because of my history in labors (I could tell he was very skeptical and thought I would be in labor for the longer part of the day though).

By 8:30, the epidural was in, but the goal was to only "make my legs tingly."  Because I was not having any painful contractions, they didn't administer the "bolis"  (I was told this is a big dose of pain meds that comes with an epidural).  The pitocin was started on level 2 and the waiting game began.  

About 9:30 my doctor came in to check on me and found me at 5 cm dilated.  He broke my water at that point and told me "he would be around."  I joked with him that both of my boys were born between 11AM and Noon and he told me that I would win the gold medal if I could progress that quickly.  I was still -2 station.  

Brandon, my mother-in-law and my sister-in-law were all in the labor room with me.  We were watching the Olympics and making small talk.  I had the shakes pretty badly - not from the meds, but from my nerves.  I had been shaking since I checked in that morning.  My mom got there around 10AM and we continued chatting about nothing in particular.  

I could feel every contraction, not in a painful oh-my-I'm-dying kind of way, but in a punched in the gut, take my breath kind of way.  I knew that my contractions were getting stronger and closer together, but the monitor was behind me (I was sitting indian-style in the bed!) and I couldn't see how strong or specifically how far apart they were.  

By 10:45 I was really hurting in my left hip and back every 30 seconds.  It was definitely a can't-talk-through-this kind of pain, so I pressed the call button for my nurse and she came in.  She said "well maybe it's time for that bolis.  That should really help with your pain."  We agreed and she turned up the epi.  

At 11AM, the pains were coming much faster and much stronger, despite having turned up the pain meds.  I called my nurse again and she agreed to check me.  She sat down on the bed beside me and checked my cervix.  She made a funny expression and asked me to try and push.  Surprised, I gave a half hearted push.  She immediately told me to stop.  Her eyes were wide and she reached across my chest and pushed the nurses call button.  I ask what was wrong and she said, "I'm holding her head in.  She's crowning."  It all happened very quickly after that....

The nurses all came in, Brandon, my sister-in-law and my mom came in.  The nurses advised that my OB was assisting a hysterectomy and they had called him to leave.  He was on his way.  The other nurses prepped the room, my bed was taken apart, things moved and got shifted around.  

At 11:05 my doctor came in and made a joke about needing to catch up on the Olympics, which was playing on the flat screen above his head.  He turned to face me and said "Wow - she's got a ton of hair."  That was it.  The nurse who had been holding her head asked me to push and with one 8 second push, Tessa literally came flying into this world at 11:10AM.  My doctor literally caught her with a cradled two-handed catch and she immediately peed on him.  My nurse cut the cord because Brandon said he couldn't (too squeamish I think) and they placed my sweet baby girl on my chest.  

She was a screamer.  She screamed and screamed and screamed.  After about 20 mins on my chest, they took Tessa right beside the bed and weighed her.  Our guesses were right on - she weighed 9lbs, 1.7oz and was 20 1/2 inches long.  Still screaming, the nurses did her Apgar tests, which she scored 9s on, and then they gave her a little bath.  She screamed the whole time.  

My doctor gave me the gold medal for fastest delivery (they officially called it "precipitous", which means a little too fast I guess) and gave his congrats before he left us to recovery.  

Although I was very nervous going into this delivery because of my lack of progress, I really couldn't have asked for a better labor.  Tessa is such a miracle - a true blessing sent to our family and we couldn't be happier :)

What NOT to Say to a Pregnant Lady

Okay, this seems like common sense to me, but I've discovered that the common sense gene is not so widely spread these days.  I've really only made this discovery since I have worked very closely with the general public for the last two years.  I just canNOT believe the things that grown adults let come out of their mouths on a daily basis.  In fact, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that my FOUR YEAR OLD has better filtering skills than some of the people I deal with.  So let's discuss specifics...

Let's start with you girls -

For HEAVEN'S SAKE ladies, what is the matter with you?  You should know better than to make any sorts of comments to a pregnant lady on her appearance, stature, posture or walk.  Even if you think you are saying something nice, it probably will not come out the way you intend it to.  For example - when this 38.5 week pregnant lady walks into the children's clothing store that you are working at, dressed in a black dress and flat sandals on a 95 degree day in July with her BANK NAME TAG on at lunch time, it would be obvious to me that this lady is shopping on her lunch break.  This means she is still working and based on her attire, has put some degree of effort into her appearance that day.  This would NOT be a good time to say "Well don't you look comfortable?"  WHAT THE HECK IS THAT?  WHAT DO YOU MEAN?  Because, to me (the 38.5 week preggo that just waddled into your store) it means Why didn't you just throw on some pajama pants and come on in because you look like you just rolled out of bed and into Gymboree? Of course I'm not comfortable!  I'm not even comfortable when I AM in fact lying around in my pajama pants.  And that was my cutest outfit that still fits!  Ugh. 

It is also never appropriate to say anything similar to "You look tired", "You look exhausted" or "You look like you're ready to have that baby."  What does that mean?  Of course I'm ready to have this baby.  And I am secretly praying that my water breaks on your cute little unswollen pedicured toes :)

OK men (although I doubt I have many male readers - ladies PLEASE make sure your man knows better than this) -

Unless you are actually wearing a white coat with the initials M.D. on it at the time of conversation, it is NEVER EVER appropriate for a man to even speak the words dilation, cervix, vaginal delivery, or mucus plug.  Yes.  I said mucus plug.  This happened to me today.  From a customer.  I (in a very professional manner) gagged right into the phone.

I also do not want to discuss breastfeeding or episiotomies with you.  This is likely something you know absolutely NOTHING about, no matter how many times you have seen your wife do it or watched it happen on Grey's Anatomy. 

And men - it's always best just to keep your comments to yourself when dealing with a pregnant lady.  Comments such as "You haven't had that baby yet?" or "Are you sure you're not having twins?" are not taken well.  Unless there is a leg hanging from my crotch, do NOT comment.  And then you may only offer me a place to sit. 

I'm not making this stuff up people.  There are soooo many opportunities for you to make a pregnant girl's day by saying something nice.  If you are a woman, it is always nice to LIE to a pregnant lady and say things such as "You look so great!"  or "You are all baby!" or "Gosh I wished I looked as good as you at ____ weeks pregnant!"  I don't care if you looked like Molly Sims at 9 months pregnant, LIE.

If you are a man, it's just best to keep your mouth closed and only offer material gifts of substantial value :) Because I hate to tell you this, but the swollen, aggravated, waddling woman in front of you is growing a person, and that is something you could never do, no matter how many times you google mucus plugs.

38 Weeks Pregnant

Friends, I apologize for all my lack-luster blogging these days - what can I say?  I'm 38 months weeks pregnant in the 100 degree July heat and I'm tired.  I can NOT wait to have this baby.  All 10lbs of her probably.... 

So let's see what you've missed:

How am I feeling?:  eh.  I feel okay.  I can't honestly say that I feel great.  I can't honestly say that I feel horrid.  Some days are better than others - we're watching my blood pressure slowly creep up and on the days that I feel the worst, I know that it's because of my blood pressure (headaches, swelling, tiredness).

Swelling?:  I used to only have swollen ankles on the days that I was on my feet a lot at work, but now they're pretty consistently swollen each afternoon.  My hands and face have stayed the same though, thank goodness!

Any signs of labor?:  I'm having tons of Braxton Hicks contractions - some of them actually take my breath but none that I would classify as painful.  Sometimes I feel really crampy in my lower back, sides and hips - similar to the way it feels when a contraction starts, but then it goes away without becoming a full-blown contraction.  Either way - As of last Thursday, I'm 2cm dilated.

Are we ready?:  We're getting there!  We have the essentials nailed down - you know- the carseat, the diapers and the wipes.  We have a place for her to sleep for the first few weeks.  The nursery is still in progress and I'm 99% certain it won't be finished by the time she gets here.  Oh well - we have a heirloom cradle in our room, as well as the snugabunny infant seat - both of which my boys used for the first several weeks anyway.  I finally ordered her baby swing and baby monitor this week, so those should be here at least by the time she is ;)  Oh yea!  We also got a new (to us) vehicle to transport our daycare family in.  We were very very fortunate to be able to buy a family member's Yukon XL after they downsized.  The vehicle is in near-perfect condition and is a perfect fit for our family.  It has the captain's chairs in the middle section so I can easily get to the back seat for buckling/unbuckling.  That was a huge must for us in the car search, as well as ample storage room.  Basically, it came down to something like a Yukon XL or a mini van and neither Brandon or I were to enthused on the van idea....

I'm going to be honest though, I'm really tired of being pregnant.  My left hip is tired of being slept on all the time, my clothes are at that point where even they are straining to keep me covered, and I'm even more tired of everyone's cute comments.  Everyone always has something really original to say like "you haven't had that baby yet!?"  I really want to be a jerk and say "Yes - she's 4 weeks old."  and then fake cry, but this is coming mostly from customers at the bank and I think getting fired days before my maternity leave wouldn't benefit anyone either.

Maybe my next post will be a birth announcement of some sort ;)....................

Sweet Summertime

We've been way too busy for me to slow down long enough to blog.  I'm really sorry about that because I really do enjoy keeping this blog, but I'm not sorry for the fun memories we've been making in our last summer as a family of four :)  

Nearly every evening after work, we take the boys to the pool.  It has been sooooo hot and steamy here in GA the past few weeks and the boys have been stuck inside mostly until the evenings when the temps finally dip back down into double digits.  After a few hours of pool time in the evening, they drift off to sweet sleep pretty easily.  They are both doing really well in the pool.  Brooks is a jumping machine and we really have to be on our toes with him near the pool.  He has jumped into the 10 ft deep end without his floaties, causing his mommy to have a heart attack and his daddy to ruin his change of clothes for the day :/  Will has made the most improvement this year - he is pretty comfortable in the pool now and will swim both with his floaties and without (this depends on how many adults are in the pool and how well I can really supervise him).  He can hold his breath for a reallllly long time and loves to practice swimming under water.  He still doesn't really like to jump in, but I'm okay with that - one less kid to chase in and out of the water.  

We've really been diligent about getting them in the water as often as possible because I am afraid once miss Tessa makes her appearance, Mommy won't be able to enjoy the pool as much as she would like :)    Speaking of Tessa - things are moving right along with the now weekly doctor appointments.  This past week's appointment found me 2 cm dilated at 36 weeks.  I've had enough babies to know that doesn't always mean anything, but the doctors are also pretty concerned about her size.  Because Brooks was such a whopper, they've been watching her through regular growth ultrasounds.  At 34 weeks, they estimated Tessa already weighed around 6 lbs and 14 oz.  We have another ultrasound coming up at the end of this week to check her growth again.  I also know these are not always accurate, but it's hard to argue with getting to see her all the time :)  My doctors have really stressed not letting me go over due (like with Brooks) because of her size, and since I'm already making "progress", we've discussed an induction around the 39 week mark if she hasn't made her appearance by then.  I'm okay with that.  I know some people really hate inductions, but I've had two wonderful inductions and considering how fast I labor (1.5 hours with Will and about 50 mins with Brooks), and how far I am from the hospital (30 miles) - I'm okay with the induction theory.  

We also had a very laid-back 4th of July.  We visited my parents in the afternoon for some pool time and then took the boys to see the local fireworks.  With the holiday falling right smack in the middle of the week, there wasn't much more to it than that.  Here are a few pics of our holiday -

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer!