Maternity Leave: The Great Days!

This maternity leave wasn't all bad though.  There were good days.  There were even great days.  I was home with my two kids.  I had to make the best of all this together time.  Here are some photos of special moments we had during the 11 weeks I was on maternity leave. 

Ainsley loved to get her hair done.
Good thing Mama loves to do her hair!  

Ainsley was very eager to share even her
most precious possession with her brother.

We did a lot of cooking.  One of Ainsley's favorite
things to do is helping in the kitchen.

The older Durham got, the less he would cry.
Check out this happy guy!  

She's the most darling creature I've ever seen.  

Full of energy.  You'd think she'd feel jealous about
all the attention the baby was getting.
Not her.  She's got things to do!

Tim would take Durham for me so I could do special things with Ainsley.  

It finally got warmer!  Durham and Ainsley loved their double stroller.

Ainsley loves to show her little brother how to do tummy time.  

Maternity Leave: The Hard Days

Maternity leave with Ainsley was a piece of cake.  Granted, I was a nervous wreck the first week and it probably took me at least four weeks to feel comfortable enough to leave the house alone with her even to run errands, but altogether it was a bunch of napping and television watching.  

Here I was taking a break from quilting to watch some television.  

I even stole her blanket to make myself more comfortable.

My maternity leave with Durham wasn't quite so peaceful.  Tim went back to work, and I was left home to care for a wild and crazy two year old and a baby who wasn't quite as peaceful and sleepy as Ainsley had been.  When Durham turned two weeks old, he developed colic.  Oh, my boy.  I couldn't believe how much he would cry.  It lasted nearly all day and seriously intensified at night.   

This was his happy face.
Walk and bounce.  Walk and bounce.  Shhhhhh!

Just when he'd stop crying, Ainsley would
sneak up on him and want to play.  

Burrito baby.

My sweet little boy was angry.  His tummy was very gurgly and he spit up much more often than Ainsley ever did.  He seemed constipated as well.  Swaddling seemed to be the only thing I could do to comfort him, beyond constantly walking and bouncing.  I kept him swaddled for so much of the day, I was concerned that he would never learn how to use his limbs!  There were so many times that I'd try everything I knew to get him comfortable, but he'd still be crying.  It was so upsetting to not be able to cure his ills.  Soon I would be crying as well.  There were times when I just had to put him in his crib, screaming, while I took a shower just to separate myself from all the anxiety.  I even called a friend of mine and sobbed into the phone for ten minutes just saying, "he doesn't even like me!" over and over again.  People offered to help, but I knew everyone was busy with their own lives.  Who would want to work a whole day just to deal with this on their evening to spend with their own families?  He was mine.  He was my responsibility.  We would get through this come hell or high water.  

I don't like anything!

I will not smile ever!  

I was beginning to convince myself that he'd never smile.  I was beginning to convince myself that there was something wrong with him physically or mentally.  I had built myself up during my pregnancy with Durham.  "I've done this baby thing before.  I can do it again."  But Number Two, was proving to be much more difficult than Number One.  What made me feel even more guilty was the fact that Ainsley wanted and needed my attention as well.  Unfortunately, it was quite difficult for me to get the hang of parenting two.  It would take me all day to get her dressed and have her teeth brushed.  Before Durham was born, Tim or I read to her every night.  Now, I was walking and shhhhhing the baby so long each night, she'd fall asleep before I could get into her room to read to her.    

By afternoon nap, I still hadn't found pants for my sweet girl.  

This maternity leave wasn't like the first.  This maternity leave was here to test my strength.  I would be up at all hours of the night with Durham.  We'd sing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" and the Lion's Fight Song.  Tim would get up and go to work, and Ainsley would be up soon after that.  When Durham woke up, the crying would begin again.  Some evenings, Tim was able to come home, but baseball season at Millington started in March.  March 2011 was filled with long days and long nights.  I just kept praying that God would help me not be a failure in taking care of these sweet kids.  Perhaps everyone thinks this, but I just kept thinking that they deserved someone who could do it all better.  

Newborn Pics + 2 Year Old = Great Fun!

On Sunday, February 13th, we had the fabulous photographer Katie Jo House of STUDIOinHOUSE come to take our kiddie's pictures.  I was pretty nervous that Ainsley wouldn't be able to stay still.  She was in the throws of the Terrible Twos.  Listening wasn't her greatest skill.  I was crossing my fingers and hoping for the best.

We all met over at my mother's house.  She has quite a bit of natural light and no children living in the home.  The combination meant that the house was both bright and clean. 

Katie arrived and we started with Ainsley.  She was closing in on naptime, so we wanted to get some pleasant interaction with her before the monster emerged.  Katie had little toys and props to help get Ainsley's attention.  Don't let the pictures fool you.  Ainsley didn't sit still for one moment.  Each of her pictures were caught on the fly.  Papa and Daddy were trying to hold a white sheet behind her, but were struggling to keep up with a quick-moving two year old.  It was sweat-inducing, to say the least.  

I think I was playing Peek-a-Boo with a puppet for this one.  

Next was Durham's turn.  He was mostly wide awake for the shoot.  He was also quite willing to be put into various positions as we looked for a good angle on his face.  

Katie made the cutest matching hats for Ainsley 
and Durham to wear.  Here Durham models his.  

After this, we put the kids together for a couple of shots.  We were apparently past naptime for this adventure.  Ainsley was figgidy before, but she was starting to become downright upset that we were asking her to perform so many tricks.  Sit here.  Hold this.  Look cute.  Mama started sweating again.  

I will only sit here if I can look for poop.  

And now I shall break him.  

After it was all said and done, Katie produced an inordinate amount of pictures to choose from.  It took me a full week of looking at them before I could decide which ones were going on my wall.  Would it be too much to put four pictures of each child on my wall?  


For weeks afterward, Ainsley would grab their hats (which Katie generously let us keep) to recreate the photo shoot.  Here are a few pics that Mama shot during some of these photo shoots.  They were taken in April, so Durham's hat isn't fitting like it had when he was a week old.  

This picture proves two things.  
1)  Mama is not a photographer.  
2)  Durham is unamused by his mother and sister.

At least you can see her hat.  We love it!  

We have had Katie take pictures for Ainsley's first birthday as well as for this event.  She did a spectacular job then as well.  Can't wait until Durham's first birthday pics!  If you'd like to contact Katie you can do so at her blog (http://studio-inhouse.blogspot.com/) or through email:  studioinhouse@yahoo.com.

Durham's First Days Home

We arrived home from the hospital on Monday, February 7th.  The house was empty as Wrigley had spent the the weekend with Ryan Storm and family and Ainsley was still with Grammy and Papa.  Mom decided to put Durham in his little seat and stare at his perfection.  

You see all that perfection?

She then decided he might be cold.  So she put a hat on him.  

Even more perfect.  

Soon Grammy and Papa arrived to deliver Ainsley back to us.  She wanted to hold the baby, but lacked focus in her task.  

I want to hold the baby.  Oh, wait.  Is that Dora on TV?!

She spent the week saying things like:  "Is he sleeping again?"  "Does he have poop in his pants?"  "I want to hold him."  "His seatbelt isn't on!" "He sneezed!" "Baby wants a french fry" "I want him to wake up" "Stop crying!" "I don't want to be careful" "I put baby's glove on"

He WANTS me to wake him up.

She was also mesmerized by the baby gear.  Way more fun than all the new toys she got for Christmas.

She had to be wherever he was.  

Durham had to go back to the pediatrician on Tuesday for a check up.  Grammy and Papa came to watch Ainsley while we went.  She was certain that "going to the doctor's" was code for "heading out to have a roaring good time" and wasn't so happy about her abandonment.  Durham now weighed 7 lbs., 7 oz.  The pediatrician was leery about his weight loss and jaundice, so we had to schedule another pediatrician appointment for Friday.  Ugh.  

On Wednesday, Durham had his first babysitters:  Grammy and Papa came to watch both Ainsley and Durham while Dad took Mom into get her staples out.  

Thursday was Durham's first bath.  Just like his sister, he wasn't a fan of being wet.  

I help too?

Sweet relief.

His fuzzy little head was just too cute after he was dried off.  

Ainsley was really hoping Durham would play with her.  She noticed that he was just too sleepy to play.  She was nice enough to pile all the baby toys on him so he could play when he woke up.  

She even let him spend some time with Nixon.

Grandma and Grandpa Roberts came by on Thursday to bring dinner and get a few baby snuggles.  Friday was our second pediatrician visit for the week.  Durham was gaining weight!  He was back up to 7 lbs., 13 oz.  That evening, Uncle Steve's family came to visit.  On Saturday, Aunt Mary's family and Jenna Bergman came to make us breakfast.  That evening Uncle Adam's family came to visit.  Boy, was it an exciting week!  

Durham's Birth - At the hospital

Tim, Robin, and Ainsley welcomed Durham on a cold Saturday in February.  The week before was a tough one for Mama.  She had pink eye, laryngitis, and a terrible ear infection.  It was a good thing it snowed so much that week, because she needed a few snow days to rest up for the big day.  

We dropped Ainsley off around 9 am at Grammy and Papa's house.  She spent the weekend at their house, but most of Sunday at Aunt Chris and Uncle Noah's house.  She was pretty excited about her sleepover.  She really had no idea that anything important was happening that weekend.

Mom and Dad arrived early to the hospital to get prepped for surgery.  After they hooked Mom up to the fetal monitor, they determined that she was already having contractions.  We were quite content to go on with the surgery anyway!  Dr. Fettinger performed the surgery, but a resident did most of the work for him.  There was even a medical student spectator named Tony who was quite excited to watch the whole ordeal.  

Mom had to go in initially by herself to get the spinal.  It made her feel very sick, but she was able to get someone's attention (which shouldn't have been hard to do, as there was a good 8 people walking around at the time) to help end the extreme nausea.  

Dad was brought in, and soon Durham was born.  

Durham Glen Roberts, born 1:29 pm on February 5th, 2011

He weighed 8 lbs., 1 oz.  This was much smaller than we were expecting.  His sister was 9 lbs., 8 oz.!  

Dad got to hold him first, while Mom was getting stitched up.  The two of them then left the room to get our little guy cleaned up.  Mom stayed back to chitchat with the nurses.  :)

After an hour in recovery, we were taken to our hospital room.  Here we began to make all the phone calls, texts, and Facebook updates to let the world know about our cute little addition.  Grammy, Papa, and Ainsley jumped into the car to head to the hospital.  

He has a nose!  

And the cutest little toes!  

Grandma and Grandpa Roberts came to visit next.  They brought Dad's hospital picture and were so excited to see that Durham looked just like baby Tim.  They even showed the picture to each nurse who came into the room to check on us.  

Daddy had to show everyone his new marking!  

That night went very well.  Durham was very sleepy, didn't poop nearly as much as his sister (thank heavens!), and loves to snuggle with his Mama.  Life was perfect.  

The next day, Grandma and Grandpa Roberts came back bringing Caitlyn, Kyle, Aunt Chris, and Uncle Noah with them.  Soon all the visitors left again, and it was just Mom, Dad, Durham and the Super Bowl on the television.  The euphoria of the first night together was wearing off.  Now we began to notice that the doctors and nurses were coming in rather often in the middle of the night.  We were happy for their assistance though.  Durham began to choke on his own spitup a few times.  

We were all ready to go home the next day.  It was a good thing we went in on a Saturday, because Monday morning meant the return of major construction on the floor below us.  Boy, was it loud!  

Ready to go see my house and sister again!