Everything Else Since November

This post is all about hitting the highlights of our family for the last 6 months. For this last Christmas, we flew out to California to spend the holidays with Adam’s family. Ryan, Adam, and I all got terribly sick, which wasn’t much fun, but we still enjoyed heading to the beach, visiting with family, and eating great food. Adam’s mom got Ryan a cute pair of pajamas for Christmas, and since Ryan is so bald and chunky, Adam’s brother made him a Charlie Brown shirt. I am pretty biased, but I think Ryan pulled them off nicely.

Ryan has grown up so much recently. He couldn’t do much at all last time I posted, but during Christmas break (four months), he perfected turning in a circle and sitting up, at six months he was “crawling” (meaning he is very mobile, but he only uses his hands and feet; no knees) and at 8 months he can go from “crawling” to sitting position and he can also pull himself to standing position. This kid is just amazing. At around five months we dropped some feedings, so that I only feed him 4 times a day and he goes to sleep at 6:30 pm and wakes up at 7:30 am. He also moved to two one-hour naps around this time. We started him on rice cereal just before 5 months; the first try didn’t go so well and I thought we might have a picky eater, but the second try he scarfed it down and since then he will eat just about everything we put in front of him. Within the last month, we have started giving him cheerios and he loves them. He only has two teeth (which he got at about 7 months), but he sure enjoys gumming food and feeding himself. Even though he has tons of toys, his favorite activity during the day is following me wherever I go. Together, we do laundry, make beds, cook dinner, dust, vacuum- you name it. We also go on walks together, which we both really like. The nicer weather has made it very enjoyable. He likes to babble, and when he is upset it is especially funny because sounds very distressed and heartfelt, but it is still just nonsense words. He still loves blowing raspberries, but his new favorite thing is to scrunch his nose and sniff really loud- it is so funny. He still has gorgeous blue eyes and very little hair. I can hardly believe he is nine months now, and we are so happy to have him around.

My sister Meg came out to see Les Miserables in Louisville. So we had a girls night out (till 3 am actually) and it was full of adventure. Meg was such fun to see for the weekend, and she really got Ryan to crawl.

We skipped my birthday this year since there was so much going on, and I wasn’t expecting much for Mother’s Day (I knew I was getting breakfast since I saw him bring in some groceries), but Adam really did some amazingly sweet things. He MADE me a breakfast quiche (I love quiche), and it was spectacular. We also had fresh fruit for breakfast, and he had put together an awesome book for me. I am so lucky to have my boys!

Thanks Mom for Everything

This post is a hard one- there are so many thoughts and feelings that I have about this particular post, but I have had trouble organizing my thoughts and I find it difficult to express my feelings. Some things are just too personal to share; however, I really didn’t want to skip anything, so this is my best attempt.

My mom passed away early March 3, 2011. Her passing has been a very bittersweet experience. While the heartache and grief has been paramount at times, I feel that this whole experience has been packed with blessings, which I am very grateful for. These blessings have been both colossal and acute, but if nothing else about her passing, I want to remember these blessings.

I was blessed to see the throngs of people that visited, wrote letters, cooked meals and offered other service as my mom struggled with stomach pain, a stroke, a seizure, and aggressive colon cancer that had spread. So many people shared with me their fondest memories of my mom and all the amazing things she had done for them at one time or another. It was inspiring to see how much of a difference she has made in the lives of others.

I am so grateful that I was able to visit my mom frequently during the last few months. Although I was finishing my MBA, taking care of a new baby, and holding a calling at church, none of this inhibited me from staying at my parent’s house for weeks at a time. I hardly remember having difficult school assignments during this time, my baby was amazing and would fall asleep easily in the middle of the hospital, and my calling at church didn’t require my attendance. In addition, I have a wonderful husband who would come and visit me on weekends. The time I spent with her before she died is full of memories that I will cherish forever. Even as I watched her peacefully pass away and in the days and weeks that followed, I felt immense comfort and calm.

While these are only a handful of the blessings that I saw and felt, all these blessings individually and collectively increased my faith and testimony in Jesus Christ and His gospel. I am so grateful for my eternal family; I know I will get to see my mom again someday. I am grateful for her example, and I am grateful for all the memories we had and for everything she taught me. She was a very special lady, and I am so grateful I got to be her daughter.

A car that’s new, a burger that makes you spew and other stories

So after months of pushing, I finally got Dawn to focus on finding a new car. I’m pretty sure it was my excellent persuasive skills, but it may have had something to do with getting a baby in and out of the backseat of a tiny 2-door car as well. There’s no way to be sure. After looking around for a while we found a Hyundai Tuscon in Louisville we liked that was priced pretty well. She called them up and ended up negotiating a pretty amazing deal, so we went out there last Saturday to check it out. We ended up really liking it and it really was ridiculously well priced (like, the dealer lost money kind of good deal). So yes, we bought it. We’ve been really happy with it.
Since Dawn got 3rd place in our ward’s chili cook-off we had a gift certificate to Chili’s, but there isn’t one around where we live so we decided to go while in Louisville… big mistake. I’m not sure when I will be able to walk into another Chili’s again. We ate; I had a burger, and then we headed back off for home. That night I started feeling a little weird. We went to bed while I was still feeling kind of ok. An hour later I was writhing on the bathroom floor; it was probably one of the most miserable nights of my life, and considering some things I’ve been through, that is saying something. It’s been a week now and I think I am finally feeling mostly normal again.
Other than that things are good. I was hired into a new position within the company I already work for. I will be a “global planner” for one of our business lines, whatever that means… I start training tomorrow and begin next Monday, so, that’s exciting. Dawn finally graduates in a few more weeks, which we are both very much looking forward to.
Ryan’s been lots of fun. He is now starting to enjoy his bumbo, and he is getting “sink baths” in addition to his regular bath time. Sink baths are special because he just gets his lower half washed. You can take a guess at the circumstances under which he gets a sink bath. He is also now letting us get as much sleep as we would like. Yes, he has dropped his night time feeding, and so we get a blissful 9 hours in between feedings.
Umm, the end.

Halloween

Leading up to Halloween this year, we carved pumpkins with some church friends. Everyone’s pumpkin looked so good. Adam did the cute monster, and I carved the small pumpkin face. After the pumpkin carving we hung around to play some games. We had so much fun!

We also went to a Chili Cook-off/ Halloween Party at the church. We dressed Ryan up as a little pinto horse and I entered my three-bean turkey chili into the contest. Much to my surprise, I won third place! There were also jars of candy on each table and you had to guess how many pieces were inside. Adam’s guess beat at least 12 other guesses, much to the disappointment of some of the little kids at our table. He got to take home the jar of candy.

In other news, Ryan went in for his two month check up. He weighs 13 ½ pounds (75-90 percentile), and he is 24 inches long (75-90 percentile). He is tons of fun, and he is starting to grab at things, to make lots more noises, and to laugh. He loves to roll over from his stomach as I try to take pictures of him. He is sleeping well at night; he wakes up once during the night (9:30 to 7:30), but he likes to mix it up. Sometimes he eats at 2:30 and sometimes it is 5:00, or any other time in between. We sure like him!

Week 7

This week Ryan is 7 weeks. I can’t believe he is already that old, but at the same time, I can hardly remember what it was like not having him here. He is such a joy, and we are so blessed to have him.
Two weeks ago we had his baby blessing, and Adam’s parents flew in from CA and my family came up for the day. The blessing was really great, and spending time together was so much fun. We had an AMAZING lunch in the park where we celebrated Adam’s Birthday, and then came back to chat and play games. What good memories!
That week, we also moved Ryan into his crib in his own room. He had been sleeping in our room in a moses basket. We had to move him for two reasons. First, he makes quite a few noises in his sleep and I kept waking up during the night and second, this kid is so heavy. I could barely pick him up anymore from where he slept (the basket sits on the floor). The move went great, and he loves his crib.
That week he also went in to the doctor for his 5 week check up. He weighed 11 pounds and 4 ounces (80th percentile) and his length was 22 inches (25-50th percentile). They told me his head circumference, but I can’t remember what it was; I just remember it was in the 25th percentile. So in conclusion, we still have a very fat, heavy baby.
These last two weeks Ryan has started to smile and goo. He is pretty camera shy though, and we haven’t been able to get a good picture or decent video yet, but we should be able to get one soon.

Almost 4 Weeks!

This Wednesday, Ryan will be 4 weeks old. It is hard to believe he is already that old, but at the same time I can hardly imagine our family without him in it. Ryan is getting to be such a chunky monkey (the medical term used by his pediatrician). We haven’t weighed him in a while, but he was gaining a pound a week, which would put his weight now at around 10 lbs. He also has added another inch or two to his height, so he is getting to be very big. When Adam holds him, I often say that “I love my fat boys” (see Alice in Wonderland). Adam is definitely not fat (in fact, my family jokes that I starve him), but I figure our baby has enough fat for the both of them, and I think that line is very funny.
Ryan is very alert, and he is able to pick his head up and move it around. He loves baths and usually cries only when he is tired and is going down for a nap. He is getting to be a pretty good sleeper- he sleeps 3.5 to 4 hours at a time at night, but we are hoping this gets even better. He loves to sleep with both arms up, and he has a very expressive face, especially in the mornings, which makes him a lot of fun to be around. We are just so lucky to have him.

Labor, Delivery and Coming Home

I went in for a doctor’s appointment on my due date, August 24 and nothing had progressed for weeks. I told Adam after the appointment that if things continued as they were, I would probably be induced a week later. However, to our surprise, that night I started feeling contractions. I slept most of the night, but by 3:30, I wasn’t able to sleep anymore and my contractions were about 5 minutes apart. I knew I was still in pretty early labor, so I just read until Adam woke up around 5. We got to the hospital around 6 a.m. and they hooked me up to measure my contractions and the baby’s heart rate. They had me hooked up to the monitor for hours before they finally were sure I was actually in labor and admitted me into the hospital. I got settled in my room around noon, and Adam was starving so I told him he should probably get something now, while not much was happening. Soon after Adam left, my contractions got VERY painful.
When Adam got back, I asked for my epidural. Twenty minutes later, I couldn’t feel a thing and I took a two hour nap. It was great. After my nap, the doctor came and broke my water. Adam read me some chapters from Harry Potter to pass the time, and around 7 p.m. the nurse came in and checked me. She asked if I was ready to have a baby. Since the doctors and nurses changed at 7, then I had to wait for the new doctor and nurses. The nurses came and started to get everything set up for the delivery. They waited a little while for the doctor, but he told them to go ahead and have me start to push. After about 30 minutes of pushing, the doctor came in, and 15 minutes later, we had a baby boy! They put him on top of me immediately- which was pretty cool, and then after a couple of minutes they cleaned him off and weighed him. He was 6 lbs. 12 oz. and 19.5 inches long. They brought him back over for me to hold and feed him. With everything going on, Adam still hadn’t held the baby, so I passed him over and we decided on naming him Ryan Craig Barrus. We both really liked the name Ryan, and then Craig is Adam’s middle name.
My mom came up and visited us at the hospital the next day and brought us some great food and yummy treats.
We got to leave the hospital a day early since the Ryan and I were doing so well. We headed back to our home, and Trent and Shannon met us there. They also brought us treats and we played a couple of games before they headed back down to Nicholasville. So far everything is going well with Ryan. He eats a lot and we don’t get nearly the sleep we would like to, but we sure like him anyway. He was weighed again yesterday and was 7 lbs. 2 oz. Three days earlier he had been weighed and his weight was 6 lbs. 5 oz., so he sure is growing fast!

Almost there

My due date is in less then a week, and since my doctor won’t let me be more then a week late, we will definitely have a baby boy in less then two weeks. I guess I have been pregnant for a while now, but it seems really weird that we will suddenly have a little baby. Adam even said the other day that he has gotten so used to the baby bump that it will be really weird when I don’t have one anymore. We are both really excited and have just about everything together that we could think of (except the baby’s name -we are working on it).

Our home is looking fantastic, and although some of the walls are still pretty bare, it definitely feels like home. We have been working so hard on finishing everything up before the baby comes, and it is so nice to get everything crossed off our list. Not only is the home improvement complete, but our freezer is stocked, and I got my hair cut. (I donated 12 inches!)

In other news, Adam and I headed to my families for the weekend. I have a new nephew. Adam and I recently got to see and hold Noah Daniel. He is a really sweet baby and very soft. It was pretty exciting to think we’d have one just like it very soon.

Time Flies…

A lot has happened since we wrote our last post. We have been working feverishly on the new home, and we finally moved in. Adam has painted just about every surface imaginable, we have redone the kitchen, and I haven’t stopped cleaning yet. The good news is there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and our hard work has really paid off. Pictures still need to be hung and floor rugs laid, but this place actually does feel like our home and we are really enjoying it.

The pregnancy is still going great. I am still pretty small for being due at the end of August. My doctor says I am just below the average on all my stats and that I must have good stomach muscles. Or another way to put it is that the baby is the right size, I am just not showing as much because he is squishing all my organs (thank you ultrasound technician). Our baby still doesn’t have a name, but he does have baby furniture. We just ordered a crib set, so within a couple weeks his bedroom will be all ready for his arrival.

In other news, I am almost finished with my MBA. I have one more semester to go, and I will be all finished in December. However, this might not be the last you hear about school because Adam is currently studying for the GMAT and is planning to start his own MBA adventure soon.

Adam has gotten to travel a little bit recently. He headed out to Utah to pick up all our furniture that had been in storage. Since we had been moving around so much in the rotational program he was in, it was easier to just leave everything in Utah. It was pretty exciting to see it all after two years- almost like Christmas! After his stop in Utah, he continued on to California where he got to visit with his family for a couple of days. His weekend was full of theatrical plays, since both his parents and a cousin were performing that weekend. Adam also went to Dallas recently for work. He had to eat nice dinners, run around doing scavenger hunts, and play drums on stage in the House of Blues. Business trips can be so hard…

We also got to take our summer vacation recently. We headed to the Dominican Republic with all my family. We sure had a good time and got to do some really neat things. Our days were spent touring the historical district, snorkeling (for me) and scuba diving (for Adam), rafting (for Adam), visiting “Sea World,” attending the temple, and enjoying the gorgeous beach and resort. We had a really good time and we were so happy that we got to spend the vacation with family.

Updates on Baby and Home

Today was the ultrasound to find out what we were actually going to have. I thought it was a girl, and Adam felt someone should root for the other team, so he said he thought it was a boy. Turns out, he was right -We’re having a boy!! We are super excited to be having a healthy, little boy. We have absolutely no names in mind, but I figure we do have a couple of months before the decision becomes critical.
In other news, we have spackled, sanded, caulked, and painted two rooms in our new home, and so far, they look great. Adam painted the study a really light blue and the master bedroom a warm, light tan. We are very happy with how it has turned out so far, and it is starting to actually feel like our home.
We also picked up some furniture from a family moving in our ward. We got two bookcases, two night tables and an amazing sectional couch. The couch is my favorite because it is purple- okay more of an eggplant color- which makes me laugh, but it goes really well with the dark wood floors that we have. Not to mention it is in really good condition, seats seven people, and is so soft (it’s microfiber). We will post pictures of our new place as soon as it is finished and we have our furniture moved in.