Rainy Days

The past two days Titus has been wonderful. Sweet, loving, funny and just so fun to have around. Such a change from the boy he was over the weekend. Maybe he finally came to terms with the fact that Quincy is here to stay. He's started referring to him as "my Quincy" rather than "Mommy's Quincy." He wants to hold him and have his picture taken with him.

I've been even more exhausted (didn't think that was possible) on Monday and Tuesday this week as Quincy has been getting up more often at night and staying awake once he is up. The rainy days that we've been having have been welcomed by me and we've been staying in our pajamas all day long.

Yesterday, for the first time ever, Titus played in the mud. I guess we didn't have a lot of mud in Florida, at least not by our condo. We went out on the front porch to watch the rain and he was so intriged by the water spout. After just lightly splashing in it for a few minutes he soon discovered it's much more fun to dig in the mud of the flowerbed.





After getting cleaned up, Titus did a little coloring. I'd been debating getting Titus an art easel...but realized it works just as well to tape freezer paper to a table.




He soon realized that it's more fun to roll all the crayons off the table-

So that's just what he did...until they were all on the floor-

The finished product-

Titus asked me to take a picture of him and Quincy. He wanted me to take the picture on his bed. Instead I set them on a blanket on our floor. But I loved that Titus was "staging" the picture. He even told me just where Quincy was to sit...beside him. But again, I directed and had him hold his brother since he can't quite sit next to him yet. :)

Titus cracking up when Quincy rolled off his lap-

Love...and Exhaustion

The first two weeks of having Quincy home were a complete tease. I was in a state of bliss. Quincy slept all day long. Titus was still able to have time with me. I felt good, happy, content. Oh how things have changed. I am exhausted. Life has become a balancing act. I feel like I'm on the losing end.

Quincy has stopped being the most wonderful baby that I bragged to everyone about...although he does still sleep a lot during the day, he has been fussy in the evenings and doesn't go right back to sleep after midnight feedings. But, of course, I'm still madly in love with him.

Meanwhile,
Titus is not so fond of having him around all the time anymore.

Some of Titus' recent shenanigans-
"Shenanigans"- Secret or dishonest activity or maneuvering, Silly or high-spirited behavior; mischief.

One of the first days I was alone with the boys, thinking I could actually get something done, I went to throw in a load of laundry. I came back in the room and found Quincy with a Tootsie Roll paper stuck between his little lips. He was still asleep and the wrapper was just sticking up perfectly straight.

When he found me lying on his big hedgehog, completely exhausted-
"Aww, Mommy what's the matter? What's the matter for you?"

Poking Quincy with the thermometer-
"I'm going to pinch him."

Rubbing Quincy on the head-
"Little cutie."

Rubbing his chin on Quincy's head-
"I'm going to get him with my beard."

I was alone again on Saturday morning when Steve was at the school. Titus dumped Quincy out of his bouncy seat. Once again I left the room to do laundry. I heard Quincy fuss a bit and when I came back in the room I found Quincy lying on the floor and Titus in the bouncy seat.

Later that morning I took the boys outside, Quincy was again in the bouncy seat. Titus poured water from the watering can onto Quincy's legs.

Titus-
"Achoo (fake sneeze), I sneeze baby brother away."

Titus asked me to lay Quincy down on his dog pillow, it's "for two boys" he told me.

Whenever I go to take a picture of the baby, Titus runs over to be in the picture too. I was taking this picture because I knew I had one just like it taken the day we brought Titus home from the hospital-

(Titus)-

Titus will go to Quincy and hug him several times a day saying, "I sorry baby brother." I guess he's apologizing in advance for all the tormenting that is yet to come. :) I finally realized he says it because he hears me tell Quincy "sorry" when I notice he's in discomfort or when I'm changing his diaper and he protests with crying.

We're praying that Titus' love for his brother grows once Quincy is old enough to play with him. :)

Potty Training

For everyone who told me I was crazy to potty train so close to the birth of the second baby...I hate to admit it, but you might have been right. Titus wasn't fully trained when Quincy was born and has started having even more accidents lately. It's been hard to figure out what to do. Steve and I decided we'd prefer to just go back to diapers all together an try again in a few months. Titus wasn't going for it though. He doesn't want to wear diapers and will actually keep them dry...but still pee in the underwear. Ugh, I never knew potty training was such a huge chore.

Steve has been doing a wonderful job of spending extra time with Titus. They've been going to the park often, getting Titus out of the house since I haven't been taking both boys out much. Last week while at the playground they found these little shin guards. Steve said Titus spent 4o minutes kicking the soccer ball into the net. He came home just beaming wearing his "new" shin guards. He wore them all evening and during dinner.

Getting washed up after playing hard. We're letting his hair grow out again for his fall/winter look. :) I'm excited to see him with curls again.

Two Weeks Old

Brothers

Titus 2 years 2 months, Quincy 10 days

Just Me and the Boys

My first real day of going it alone (actually having both boys by myself) went so smoothly. Even though Titus decided a 6:30am wake up call was necessary, I managed to survive on a few hours sleep and get through the day. When Steve came home (after 10 hours), I could actually say the day had been a success.


I promise Quincy is not in as much discomfort as it looks. :)

Family of Four

I would've never imagined our first few days as a family of four to be so...peaceful. Quincy and I came home from the hospital on Sunday afternoon and although the ride home was a little rough, things since then have been wonderful.

Steve stayed at the hospital with me and Quincy the first night and then went home to be with Titus. They came together to pick us up on Sunday. Titus' reaction to the baby was picture perfect. He got a huge smile on his face when he saw him and came over to give kisses and gentle touches. I got a little elephant that Titus gave to his brother that is similar to Titus' own elephant. He gave it to him with such joy.






We loaded up and left the hospital. Driving from Lancaster to Gap is never an easy thing to do in the summer...an even worse idea on Labor Day weekend. Traffic was a mess and then Titus announced he had to pee. We stopped at Starbucks. During the looong amount of time that Steve had Titus in the bathroom, Quincy started to cry. I got him out of his seat and we continued to wait in the car. Luckily once the boys came back and we got driving again, he calmed. Apparently Titus peed entirely on the floor what Steve described to be the amount of a grown man's bladder.

Once getting home we were greeted by balloons and flowers and a welcome home sign. Titus took a nap and we got settled in. The next few days went so well. Titus loves his brother and will stop playing to go to him and give kisses and touch him gently on the head. That first evening we were sitting on the couch and Titus wanted Quincy to sit on his lap. Titus will notice if Quincy isn't in the room with us and will ask, "where is baby brother?" Having Steve home for 4 days was wonderful. He spent most of his time with Titus while I took care of the baby. During Titus' nap time Steve would run errands or do schoolwork. Both days that Steve was out both boys napped at the same time for three hours each time!





Quincy only woke up once during the night for the first two nights. I woke up in the morning feeling more refreshed than when I was pregnant with him. He is such a perfect baby. Peaceful, content, sweet.

---edit...Saturday, September 11th---
Quincy has switched to a more "normal" newborn nighttime routine. The past two nights he's been waking every two hours...or less. I'm tired.

Today Steve went back to work. My sister came at 9am and took Titus to her house. He won't be home until after 4pm. Such a special treat for me to have time with Quincy. It's the one thing I've noticed is missing with my second child...time to gaze at him and take pictures of him and just love and adore him for hours. Today gave me just that. Hours to just love him and hold him and nap with him.

I know so many things will continue to change as we go through this new journey as a family of four.

So far, we're loving it!

Welcome Quincy

On Tuesday, Aug. 31st I went to see my midwife for my 39 week check-up. After examining me and finding me to be only 2 cm dilated we talked about inducing. She asked if I wanted to have the baby on Friday..I quickly said "yes!" She set up the appointment for Friday, Sept. 3rd at noon. I went home and took the next few days to get everything in final order. I was not fully convinced that I'd go through with the induction however. I have never been one who wanted to intervene in a pregnancy. I believe that God's timing is what's best and that my baby would come into the world at the right time. Also Steve's birthday is September 5th and I knew I'd always wonder if God would have chosen to have our son born on his dad's birthday but it couldn't happen because we took things into our own hands. Going for an induction really went against what I wanted in my heart to do. Because I was ready for the pregnancy to be over, concerned about the size of the baby, and finding it so much more convenient to schedule someone to watch Titus I was finding myself torn in the decision.

Thursday night Steve and I dropped Titus off at aunt Jane's for the evening so we could do some back to school shopping for Steve. After finishing our shopping we picked Titus up at about 10pm that night and I was feeling like I might back out of the induction scheduled for the next morning.

After getting home late, finally getting Titus to bed and getting the house cleaned up, I tried to go to bed. Tossing and turning until finally falling asleep around 1am. I woke up at 2:30am with contractions. I didn't want to wake Steve right away not knowing if this was "it" but also not wanting to wait too long since I knew we'd have to wait for Steve's mom to arrive and we have a 40 minute drive to the hospital. I finally woke Steve and told him to get his bag ready. Then he noticed the contractions and asked me how far apart they were. When I answered "3 to 4 minutes" he hopped up and started to get dressed. At 3:30am I noticed my water was starting to leak (this happened with Titus, too). I got in the shower and shortly after Mom-Mom arrived with her bag to stay with Titus. We left for the hospital at just after 4am.

The drive to the hospital was quick, with no traffic on the roads it only took us 30 minutes. We checked in and were sent to triage to be looked over. I was only 2 cm. From there we were taken to our delivery room and it was decided that Steve and I should order breakfast and then I'd be started on Pitocin. Steve and I enjoyed our shared breakfast of eggs, hash browns, toast, french toast and juice. I would never want to deliver anywhere but at Women's & Babies Hospital in Lancaster! At 9am I was started on Pitocin. I managed to make it two hours (11am) before getting the epidural. After getting the epidural, I was exhausted. Having only slept an hour and a half the night before and now feeling such relief from the pain, I didn't even have the energy to talk. I just wanted to rest. However after only an hour I started to feel some pressure. With both of my deliveries I got an epidural and each time it was just enough to take the pain away but still allow me to feel the pressure of the contractions...which I am so happy for. Asking the nurse to check me she found that I was ready to push. My midwife was called from her office and we waited a few minutes for her to arrive. By the time she did I was ready...and I mean ready to push. I wasn't sure she'd make it. I pushed through three contractions and Quincy Steven Mayo was born.

I was instantly in love with him.

I hate to say that it took me some time to bond with Titus after his birth, but it did. I didn't have that instant connection with Titus that I had heard so many women talk about.

But I had it with Quincy.

I feel like that was a blessing from God. During the pregnancy I had many moments of feeling like this pregnancy was happening at the worst possible time. And I knew that if I hadn't been pregnant we most likely wouldn't have moved home. This became really difficult to face once we started having second thoughts about moving back...even harder when we felt we made the wrong decision in moving back. I didn't feel as excited about this baby as I had felt with Titus.

Now that he's here I am so in love.