Simeon James Rives

Well, it's true what they say--third time is a charm. For this delivery, the baby was breathing and I was conscious. Mission: Accomplished.

Simeon James made his grand entrance at 7:53 on the morning of June 28. He was a whopping 6 lb. 12 oz. and 20 inches--which is how long Big Bro Jude was, but Jude weighed 2 lbs. more.



The anesthesiologist had a little problem finding the right spot for my spinal block, but no where near the trouble the last guy had so I was most grateful for that. She got it going and after a little anti-nausea medicine, I was good to go. Dr. Plummer got to work doing God knows what behind that curtain and a few minutes later, Little Bit came out screaming his little lungs out. Best. sound. ever.



That is the picture I have been wanting...mainly because Kris looks so hot in his shower cap.

Kris went with Simeon to the nursery to get cleaned up and to make sure that they brought him back to me ASAP so I could nurse him. I will say attempting that after major abdominal surgery was a little precarious, but by God's grace, we did it!

While Simeon was back there, he got to meet his very first friend, James. His mom, Laura, and I are very good friends and were so happy to deliver our boys on the same day in the same hospital.



We spent this first day together--just the 3 of us.



We asked that friends and family wait until the second day to come meet our little guy so we could have some time to spend just focusing on Simeon and on getting a good start on nursing.

So the big brothers waited until Tuesday to come up and visit their new baby. They were so excited and looked super cute in their shirts made by my friend Becca at Too Cute Creations (pics of all 3 in their shirts coming soon!)





And although it appears that Jude is about to whack his new brother, he was really just reaching out to touch him. Jude has actually been really gentle with him. If you know Jude at all, you are just as surprised as we are.



Here are a few of Sweet Simeon. I will refrain from making pronouncements about his temperment until he is a little older. Or at least until all the narcotics are out of my breastmilk. But he really is a sweet baby. He has a precious little look with his big eyes and tiny little face.

The day we left the hospital


Daddy and Simeon


After his spongebath


Simeon and me( sporting my "I have a newborn" hairdo)


Check out those guns.


Our little family of five is doing well. Thankfully, it is summer so Daddy is home with us for a few more weeks so I won't feel the full impact of being a mom of three until then. We are enjoying our time together and this way-too-long, way-too-short season.

Photo Shoot

Click here to see our pictures!

Baby Blessing

Friday night, my way-too-kind friends threw me a "baby blessing." Unlike a shower, where the focus tends to be the soon-arriving baby and opening gifts, a blessing is more for the mother--a time to honor her and share thoughts, blessings, encouragement, bible verses with her to help her prepare for all the changes that are about to take place. Much like the one I had when I was expecting Jude, this blessing was so special and something that I will always remember and treasure.

Cheryl was our gracious hostess and she did such a great job organizing and planning everything. She knows my love for appetizers as meals, more specifically--DIPS! I am a chips and dip girl all the way so she had several of our friends bring all manner of dips and chips and crackers and veggies. There were sweet dips. There were savory dips. I was in dip heaven!



She even made these cute little signs for each dip. She has a craft room now so I would expect nothing less of her ;)



And check out this cake!




Cutest cake EVER and it tasted just as good as it looked. A delicious cake that incorporates my obsession with monograms--what more could I ask for?

And lest you think the food was the highlight of the evening, rest assured it was my amazing circle of friends that gathered to encourage me and bless me as I prepare for Simeon's arrival. I wish I had my camera out earlier so I could have gotten pictures of everyone! But here are a few of the incredible women in my life...

Me and Cheryl (aka Hostess with the Mostess)



Kathy, Bethany, Me, and Chris. We are all the moms of 3 yr. old boys and are living to tell about it ;)



Laura and I (we are due just 2 days apart!)



Jenny and I (we are having our lovely scheduled c-sections exactly one week apart)



And me and my mom (who my readers probably know better as Mamaw)



Another special aspect of a Baby Blessing is the bracelet. Each woman there strings a pretty bead onto a bracelet and the mother gets to take it home and wear it as a reminder of all the prayers and support that she has, especially during her upcoming delivery. I have one from my Blessing for Jude and was looking forward to the one I would receive at Simeon's and joked with Cheryl that I needed a "retroactive" one for Asher since I didn't have a Blessing for him. So my talented friend from church made a beautiful bracelet for me to represent Asher and then all the women there assembled another really pretty one for Simeon's birth.



The main event at a Baby Blessing is the time set aside to go around the room and share words of blessing and encouragement with the mom. The guests are asked to bring their written blessing as well and they are assembled into a blessing book. This is the cover of mine that Cheryl made.



And here are a few of the pages.



The whole evening was so incredibly special. We have been so blessed in our community to have the opportunity to throw several Blessings lately and each one always ends up being a beautiful reminder of the importance of the circle of women God has placed in each of our lives. As I said that night, the women gathered there (and a few others that couldn't make it) are my "village"--the ones that help me in more ways that I could count as I live out my journey as a believer in Christ, as a wife to Kris, and as a mother to my 3 boys. I can't do it alone. I need these women. And this night made it so clear, once again, that I don't have to. Blessed indeed.

Sneak Peek

We had family pictures taken last week. The photographer sent me a little sneak peak. Can't wait to see the rest!

Cravings

I've never really had pregnancy cravings. I just want to eat and eat. Pretty much everything sounds good and I find that the things I really like taste even better when I am pregnant.

To me, a true craving is something that you would typically never eat but that you cannot get enough of during pregnancy. Like turnip greens or spam or garden soil. If you hear a pregnant woman say, "I'm really craving chips and queso!" what she means is "I am in a phase of life in which I intend on eating whatever the heck I want because I am going to get fat anyway so get me some chips and queso right now and don't even think about giving me any lip about it because I am surrendering my body to grow this child so the least you can do is let me enjoy my fried corn and melted cheese in peace." I mean, who doesn't love chips and queso? When do you ever hear "Ugh! Chips and queso sounds like a horrible idea. No thank you!" Uh...you don't.

That being said, I have a current food crush that I am not quite prepared to label a "craving" but that I can honestly say has never appealed to me before and possibly will never appeal to me again.

Meet the Pickle Pack.



Excuse me...pak. It's picklicious.

Allow me to explain. A few weeks ago I was at HEB and I purchased some lunchmeat from the deli. It just so happened that that day, with purchase of lunchmeat, one received some deli cheese and one indivudual picklepak cup free. I'm not a big pickle eater, but it was free so I took it. And a few days later, I saw it in the pantry and decided to eat it with my sandwich.

And I have never looked back! That picklepak was amazing. Little-bitty kosher pickles (served at room temp, never refrigerated I have learned) have become a staple of my diet. Are my hands and feet a little puffy from the extra salt that my new pickle habit has introduced into my diet? Yes. Do I care? No.

So while I don't consider my beloved picklets a craving, I will say that I am glad I was pregnant when I discovered my love for them because it makes it seem so much more acceptable. Regular girl walking around with a little plastic up full of mini-pickles--weird. Pregnant girl doing the same thing--makes total sense. I could even have an ice cream cone in the other hand and no one would think twice.

Pregnancy. You get fat but no one dares question your food choices. I shall enjoy my last few weeks of this.

Lovest Thou Me?

Me: Judah, do you love Mama?

Jude: mm-hmmm. And Daddy. And Addie.(Asher) And Ninie.(Simeon) And Nonny.(Thomas) And Peh-pee. (Percy)

Project Lemonade

This is what I have dubbed our backyard beautification project. It's a bit of a lemon back there. But not for long. As I have stated previously, this is the summer of embracing what we have and making it work. As you can tell, Jude is totally on board.

Step one was the planting of our little garden. I am so pleased to report that we have a tiny little pepper on one of the plants and the squash and tomatoes are beginning to flower.



Step 2 is creating some sort of patio or deck. That is still in the works. We're trying to decide what we want and what will be most cost-effective. I'm leaning towards a low wooden deck--a little more visually pleasing than just a plain concrete slab and probably a little less expensive. But since I will not be the one doing the work, it's not really my call. I serve in more of an advisory role.

Step 3 is putting up the canopy/gazebo thing we ordered. This will be placed over our hypothetical deck. Now, I must tell you, I have a very accommodating husband. There is very little the man will not do for me and do for me with a cheerful, willing heart. But I may have found his limit.

This is the hardware that came in the box for the assembly of the canopy.



He is not pleased.



But he gets to work anyway. Because THAT'S the kind of guy he is!



And that's basically it. Project Lemonade is modest in scope. We have the baby pools happening and Kris has the wood to build the sandbox. We have the boys' little picnic table out there and some outside toys. They are already having a blast.




Take this afternoon for example. As Kris was cutting out the canopy from its ridiculous amount of packaging, Asher and Jude were splashing around the baby pool and running through the sprinklers. What could be more fun, right?



Let's hear it for cheap plastic baby pools! Woo-hoo!

Blue Skies/Smiling at me

Items For Your Consideration

Item #1: My goals for today (and there are exactly 2 of them)...laundry (including the weeding out of superfluous items that bog down my laundry productivity but might be useful to someone else) and going to the grocery store.

Item #2: When I change Jude's diaper, I always say, "P.U.!" (or is it "pee-yew"? or "pea-you"?) So he has started saying, as soon as I lay him down to change him, "ahhhh-peeee!" I realize this is not that funny to anyone else, but it's one of those little things I want to remember so into the blog it goes. He's hit that point where his vocabulary has exploded. He'll tell me something and all I can think is "when did you learn that word?" My favorite right now though is his "yes sir" which sounds like "yeeehhhhh-shore."

Item #3: I am 30 weeks as of Saturday. When anyone who has children over the age of 15 asks me how far along I am and I give my answer in weeks, they look confused. So I have to quickly divide my weeks by 4 to give them an answer that will make sense to them. So when did that shift occur?

Item #4: I am 30 weeks as of Saturday. This means that in a little over 9 weeks I will, Lord willing, give birth to Simeon James via c-section. Not my preference to say the least, but at least I will be able to sit afterwards. It's sad when that is the only nice thing I can say about it. It's a tough sell--"Hey! Ok, I'm going to cut you open, staple you back together, separate you from your baby during a crucial bonding time, and then expect you to care for 3 kids 3 and under as you recover from major surgery. Sound good?" Perfect.

Item #4: I am 30 weeks as of Saturday. I had an ultrasound this week and from his profile, he looks more like Asher's us pictures. He kicks. A lot. Really hard. Which would make him more like Jude.

Item #5: The term "begs the question"...I feel this is being misused a lot these days. My understanding is that it is a logical fallacy used to describe an argument that is circular in its reasoning or that assumes the conclusion as part of the premise. But I hear people constantly using it as though it means a question that should be asked in response to whatever statement was just made (i.e. The dog got hit by a car which begs the question "Why was the dog not in the backyard?") Is this just one of those usages that has become conventional and accepted or should I start calling people out on it in a really conspicuous and humiliating way?

Item #6: I haven't eaten at Jason's Deli since Thursday and I'm really hoping that Kris will be up for dinner there tonight.

Item #7:

These are the new "Going to Mamaw and Poppy's House" backpacks. I really want to get their names embroidered on them but since the Elmo one will probably become Simeon's within the next year or two I guess I will refrain. Do you think the urge to get your children's names embroidered on everything they own is a sickness?

Jamie, Jamie, Quite Contrary

Ok, it doesn't really rhyme but it still works, no?

So we have planted a garden. A very small garden. Our garden is currently the cradle of tomatoes, squash, peppers, and I think maybe cucumbers. I can't really remember exactly so it will be a nice surprise when whatever that last plant is bears its fruit, as it were.

Our friend from church, Scott, who is an expert on all things soil, seed, and gardening related helped us plan out everything. So if it all comes to nothing, I will have someone else to blame, which is how I like to live life. Always have someone to point a finger at when things go badly. I may stitch that on a sampler.

So step one was to spend a lot of money on dirt.



Check.

Step two, Kris built 2 boxes--one 6x2 box for the tomato plants and one 4x4 for everything else. Check.

Step three was to prepare the fallow ground.



Kris dug down about 6 inches inside the boxes and then mixed up all the various soils with the dirt that was already there. So we have about 12 inches of growing depth. I would have helped him, but I have really pretty, soft, delicate hands that just aren't cut out for manual labor.

But don't think that I just abandoned him to do all the work alone. That would be so inconseiderate! No, I stepped up to the plate and hired a few workers to help him ge tthe job done.





They worked hard for a while.



But then an impromptu concert broke out and the water hose became a microphone.



I guess you get what you pay for. Oh well. At least he puts on a good show.



So now the little plants are nestled in their new dirt homes. We planted, we are watering, and we are waiting on God to give the increase!

I will blog again one day

But for now, enjoy my new favorite picture (because Jude is actually SMILING!)

25 Weeks

Breath-taking, I know. Yeah, and see that little thing on the floor in the background. Not my friend.

Little Simeon James is doing well. I don't have a date yet, but he will most likely be ripped from the comfort of his current home some time during the 39th week. So we're looking at about 14 more weeks, during which I fully anticipate gaining my usual 50 lbs. I had high hopes this time around, but alas, I am who I am. You can't fight genetics. Well, I guess you could by eating totally healthy and continuing to work out but who's got the energy for that?

And the award for "Best Mamaw in the World" goes to...

Asher and Jude's Mamaw for her work on the Fun Slide! Upon seeing Jude's disappointment as Asher and Daddy made their way up, Mamaw took control of the situation and made sure the little man did not get left out of the fun.

This and much more merriment was made at the Nederland Heritage Festival. Nederland is a small town near where my parents live so when I heard that their festival was going on, we decided to check it out last weekend with Mamaw and Poppy.

I think the boys favorite part was the petting zoo. Dirt and germs--of course they loved it.








I have a policy about avoiding rides that can be set up in a day, but decided to make an exception for the bumble bee ride. It seemed relatively safe and Asher really wanted to ride it. He had a blast of course.



We capped off the day with a ride on the carousel.



Rides, festival food (which included, but was not limited to, funnel cake, various meat on a stick, and fried oreos), and a petting zoo. Do we know how to live it up or what?