Christmas Morning!

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Hello Baby Chandler

Trey and I woke up at 4am in order to be at the hospital for my induction at 5am. Because you need to know important details, I will report that I had a whole wheat bagel with crunchy peanut butter topped with sliced bananas and sprinkled lightly with cinnamon and sugar. This is the breakfast of champions and certainly an excellent precursor to an awesome labor and delivery. When we arrived at Huguley, they wasted no time getting things started. Trey and I attempted to play monopoly, but once the contractions became pretty regular, I was not too interested in continuing (that and the fact that I was already losing badly ten minutes into the game). Later in the morning my mother-in-law and my sister, Kelli (aka my doula) arrived. When I was induced with Owen Ray, his labor lasted about 12 hours. I expected Chandler's to be a bit quicker, but not by much. I was wrong. It was by much. At 11:00am the nurse came in to check how I was progressing. Apparently I had zipped right from a 5 1/2 to a 9 in no time. She said "we're going to have this baby" and called in the doctor immediately. I was pretty elated because inducing labor produces some pretty unnaturally painful contractions and my epidural was only about 65% effective. When I had an epidural with Owen Ray I had what is called a "hot spot" over my left hip. It was about the size of a quarter and that little circle could feel the contractions that the rest of my body was numb to. With Chandler, the epidural did not take for most of the left side of my body. It seems that much as we try, no one escapes Genesis 3:16. All that to say, the fact that my nurse was announcing that Chandler would make his debut in about half the labor time as his brother was just fine and dandy with me. I pushed through a grand total of four contractions and voila, Baby Boy #2 arrived. Shocker: the child had dark hair and dark eyebrows. Having no other reference point for what my husband and my genetic combination produce other than our first child, I was startled to meet this dark haired little bandit who did not have bright whitish blonde hair like Owen Ray. I didn't hold it against him, however, because he was (and is) the most handsome little brown haired baby boy I could ever imagine. After a week, I can conclude that he is practically perfect in every way and marvel at God's lavish grace that He would entrust me with another little life to be responsible for.

Addendum: Owen Ray met his baby brother shortly after. In the sweetest big brother voice he said "Hello Baby Chandler" like he'd been waiting to greet him all along and welcome him into our family.

Ready for Chandler

Problem: Without going into the full story, last night I was having some pretty uncomfortable contractions. I never went into natural labor with Owen Ray because I was induced, so these suckers caught me off guard. Now, it turned out to just be the early labor contractions that are typical before your body goes into active labor, but all the same, they had me pretty freaked out. Why? Because I have not mentally prepared for the birth of this second baby. With my first pregnancy, I did all the prerequisite reading and pre-planning. I had the nursery ready to go long before his arrival. With this pregnancy, I was feeling pretty excited that he had a crib and was not stressed that we did not yet have other nursery furniture. "So what if his things are in plastic tubs? I have all the time in the world to get things ready before his arrival." Last night, I completely changed my mind. Suddenly, it felt like I did not have all the time in the world. I felt awful that he did not have a going home outfit. Nevermind the fact that millions and millions of babies have made it just fine in life without a going home outfit. In that moment, I cried to my husband that I was not prepared to have this baby, and I was a terrible mother because it has just hit me that this little munchkin is actually going to meet and greet us in the next couple weeks, and I am not ready.
Solution: This morning Trey and I woke up early to pick up an awesome changing table in Watauga (thank you, Craigslist). I spent the rest of the morning going through baby bins and figuring out what I had (and didn't have). I set up the changing station which is now ready with the cutest, tiniest little diapers in the world. My wonderful husband picked out a special going home outfit for our little guy and got some necessities like pacifiers that I had totally forgotten. Why has all this restored my confidence as a mother? It's ridiculous, but actually going through the motions of folding baby blankets and stacking newborn diapers has allowed me to process the fact that Chandler is real, and Chandler is about to make his debut.

Reading/Wanting

Reading: "Shepherding a Child's Heart"

This book has definitely been challenging my unbiblical presuppositions about parenting.


Wanting: Ikea Kura Bed

I know that it will be a long time before Owen Ray and Chandler share a room, but I think this bed would be the perfect transition when the time comes.

Homeowner?

Seriously? You have got to be kidding me. My husband and I are officially homeowners. As in a real house. CRAZY!!! It gets better, though. At closing, we actually found out that we ended up with a lower fixed interest rate than expectd, lower cost for homeowners insurance, and lower property taxes. The net result? Our mortgage payment is $60 less than our good faith estimate. (sigh). I like these kinds of surprises.

While Seminary housing has been kind to us, I am thrilled that Owen Ray will have a backyard to play in and his little brother will have a bedroom to sleep in. Plus, Trey's commute to work will be 1.8 miles. (insert hallelujah chorus).

Skanchy Ladies

October is a special month to bring awareness to Breast Cancer. Breast Cancer Awareness month is a great opportunity to raise funds in support of research that will help find a cure! It is not an opportunity to buy a bracelet that say "I <3 boobies" or to write "Save the Jugs" on your car." How is this helping the cause?

It's raising money!

Um... there are lots of demeaning and trashy ways to raise money. Please don't let the ends justify the means.

No one will pay attention if it's not racy?

Seriously? So Lance Armstrong has to attach a banner to the back of his bike that reads " I <3 balls" in order to gain support for testicular cancer? Live strong, my friend. Let's be classy not trashy. Because seriously, breast cancer awareness is NOT about "saving tatas;" it's about saving lives.

Summer is coming to a close

I cannot believe that summer is almost over, and I am supposed to be gearing up to start a new school year. It just flew right by. Trey left for nearly six weeks to work in Charleston, SC. He was busy as a camp pastor at Charleston Southern University preaching the gospel to lots 'o' kids. I really don't mind having him gone because God has given him a gift of teaching, and I know that He has called Trey to this particular ministry.

My mom came out for four of those weeks, and I loved getting to see her. She is such an amazing woman, and it was so nice just to stay up way too late most nights talking about life. Dad joined us for a week, as well, and Owen Ray had a blast getting to see his Papa. I was devastated when they left. By devastated I mean that I called my husband while he was driving them back to the airport and demanded that he turn around and bring them back. It sounded reasonable to me at the time. Nevermind my three siblings that still live at home. They'll do fine fending for themselves.

The highlight of my summer has definitely been time with Owen Ray. I cannot wait until I get to stay home with him full-time. Until then, teaching is the next best thing. Speaking of teaching, my beloved got a full time job teaching Chemistry in a nearby school district. As I type he is at his new teacher orientation. I am so thankful that he is willing to tackle grad school and full time employment so that we can commit to paying off our student loans (probably more appropriate to specify my student loans here). One of the most visible and persistent blessings in my life is the fact that God graciously gave me Trey.