Sterling Anthon Perkins

Our baby is a week old today, so I figured it's about time I posted about his birth. This delivery was SO much easier on me than Roman's was! With the exception on one MISERABLE hour (after they broke my water, before I got the epidural) labor was a cinch. I was induced Thursday, May 5th, @ 10pm and Sterling was born just a short time later- May 6, 2011 @ 1:33pmHe's itty-bitty (compared to what Roman was at birth)! He weighed 7lbs 3oz & was 21 inches long. He's a super chill baby & just darling!

Here we all are meeting each other for the first time... I was a little worried about how Roman would respond to him, but it's all been positive! When Roman 1st came into my hospital room & I showed him Sterling, his face literally LIT UP and he exclaimed, "It's my baby!"
We're not sure who Sterling resembles yet- some people say he looks just like Anthon, some say they can see Roman in him, and some say he just looks like a little old man... maybe we should've named him Benjamin Button :)
One thing's for sure, he got my family's cursed finger toes! Look at the length of those babies! He did have to spend one day in the ICU under the bili lights because he was jaundiced, but that was ok. Remember, we thought he had Trisomy 18 for the first few months I was pregnant & thought he wasn't going to live, so we're thankful any little hiccup he has to go through in this life & that we get to have him as our son!!

Just a heads up: Most of the captions below have nothing to do with the pictures :) The pictures are from our last day at the hospital/ 1st day home.

We got to come home the afternoon of Mother's Day, May 8th, which was really special! I'm not gonna lie, life with two kids is harder than I thought it would be, but thankfully we're all adjusting to the changes & enjoying the time together.

This little man had his days & nights mixed up for the first few nights we were home, but we've nipped that in the bud & aren't so sleep deprived now.

I was a weepy mess for the first few days we were home, too. The smallest thing would open the water works and they just wouldn't shut! I don't know how husbands deal with their emotional, postpartum wives... it's so pathetic and ridiculous sometimes, but I'm thankful Anthon's understanding of my irrational emotions!

Seeing our 2 boys interact together is probably the greatest joy I've felt in my life, thus far. Roman is always asking to hold Sterling and loves to help me bathe him, change his diaper, or anything I'm doing with the baby. It's really nice that he likes to help me, and helps put my conscience at ease because he's included in almost all of the things we do for the new baby.

I took some pictures to use for Sterling's birth announcements yesterday; here's one that didn't make the final cut, but that I still love, so I figured I share it on here... enjoy :)

The end is in sight!

This picture pretty much sums up how I'm feeling these days... Tired, swollen, & just plain OVER pregnancy! Ever since last weekend, my poor feet & legs have been like elephant feet everyday... SO swollen! I didn't have hardly any swelling with Roman, & I didn't realize just how miserable this common "side effect" of pregnancy can be!
The good news is there's light at the end of the tunnel! I saw my Dr. today & I'm 70% effaced & dilated to 2cm... that's exciting,but not as exciting as my scheduled induction!! I'm going in next Thursday at 10pm to be induced, so hopefully our little man will grace us with his presence sometime on Friday, May 6th! Ah, only 7 more days- I can hardly wait! I can't wait for this bump to be GONE (well, smaller at least... I'm not delusional enough to think that the pudge will EVER go away)!
Just for kicks & giggles... here's what I looked like 7 days before I had Roman... YIKES!

My Boys

I realized my blog as been pretty selfish lately- mostly about me & the pregnancy, so I wanted to do a post about the 2 main men in my life (before I add the 3rd in a couple weeks and the blog is totally all about him again). Anthon: He is super busy these days!! Work gets increasingly busier as the weather gets warmer, but he enjoys his job so it's a good thing. I don't know how he works outside in the heat, but I'm thankful for how hard he works to support our family- he provides like 98% of our income... the only thing I work for is insurance, since my take-home is practically nothing after taxes, insurance, & retirement are taken out! Anthon did get an insulin pump on April 8th- WOOHOO!! It's been wonderful, but a definite adjustment for him at the same time. He says it makes him really "feel like a diabetic" since it's attached to him 24/7, whereas before he'd just take his shot & then once that was over he was just like everyone else. His nurse (who's really great, by the way!) has had to change his dosages several times to try & get his sugars where they need to be. For the first day or 2, he was running low and then after they adjusted his dosages he was running high, but he seems to be more stable now and he's getting more & more comfortable with it as time moves on. This semester i drawing to a close & I think he's looking forward to the little break that he'll have from school before his summer class start. He's been working really hard this semester & I know his fall classes are going to be really time consuming too, so hopefully the one math he takes this summer won't be too stressful for him. I seriously can't imagine my life without Anthon...It would literally be HORRIBLE! He helps me so much!

Roman: Oh how I love this kid! He has been so fun to be around lately! His new thing to do is bring us something that he likes (like a toy or book or snack) & as he hands it to us he sings, "Apy birday, to you!" He has been extra independent lately too- he likes to push his bench from the dining room table everywhere in the kitchen & use it to climb up to any cupboard he thinks he needs to get into. Thankfully, he likes to clean up his messes, too :) & sings the song from nursery "Cean up, cean up, erybody share." Of course, some of the things he does are far from cute- like when he put a Capri Sun in the microwave & turned it on till it was sparking everywhere! Or when he got a hold of my mascara and painted his toe nails and my bathroom floor with it! Thankfully nothing has been permanently damaged... yet. He LOVES basketball (or "shoot it" as he calls it) and baseball (or "I hit it") right now... wrestling is not at the top of the priority list for him, much to Anthon's dismay, but he does oblige his dad in a take down or two. The phrases we hear him saying most often are, "What you doing?", "Where it go?!", "Oh, no! What append?!?", "Wuv you! See you later.", & "I want ki ceam cone." (ice cream cone). He can count to 10 now and likes to count his toys or food. We took him to see a movie in theater for the first time last night- We saw "Rio" and he really enjoyed it. He's also excited for the baby... well, I'm not sure how much he comprehends about a baby coming to live with us, but he likes to touch, see, & kiss my belly. I took him to my 37 week check up & my Dr. was so GREAT with him! She pulled up a chair next to the table for him to stand on and let him help her measure my belly and she let him use the Doppler to hear the heart beat (squeeze the goo out, hold the little microphone, move it around, everything). It was really fun for him to be included!! I'm excited to see him in his new role as a brother!

Well, I think that about catches you up to speed with these 2... they're darling, I love them, and I'm so thankful that they are mine!

I've always hated the waiting game...

I have 4 weeks left in this pregnancy, and the "waiting game" for this little boy to arrive has officially begun. I saw my Dr. this morning & she said that everything is looking good... I gained 5lbs in the last 2 weeks (HOLY CRAP!!) so that puts me @ 20lbs total. Ick. I'm over being pregnant & all that it entails. I got heartburn for the first time last week & have had it pretty much every night since then- I could've gone my whole life without experiencing heartburn & been ok with it! The good news is that my Dr. said if I make it 3 more weeks without having him she would induce me if I wanted her to. I was induced with Roman, so I know how truly horrible inductions can be, but I'm due the week of Anthon's finals & can only imagine how horrible it would be if I was ready to deliver at the same time he needed to be at school for a final! So, I'm thinking I'll take her up on her offer & shorten my sentence one week, if nature doesn't take its course before then.

Little of This & A Little of That.... or a lot

So, I know I posted back at the beginning of the year about us redecorating our living room, but I never posted pictures, so I figured I'd do that now...

This is our old entertainment center. We just busted out the middle section that was a TV cabinet to accommodate Anthon's TV, added the 2 shelves at the top, and painted it brown (it use to be black)

The magnet board on the left was my inspiration for the colors of the room. I liked the brown, but wanted just one of the accent colors- since our kitchen is mostly green & I'm not wild about orange, we went with the turquoise. All of the turquoise decorations were things we already had (like the LOVE sign, picture frames, & toy buckets) we just painted them. Same here... just painted the wall decor we already had. I found the throw pillows at Goodwill for $2.50 each & they match perfectly! The mirror by the door use to be red & black, & was probably the biggest pain in the butt to give a "face lift" to, but I'm happy with how it turned out. This is "my little area". I wanted a rocker recliner to nurse the baby in (since I hated the glider rocking chair I had for Roman) & found this beauty on Craigslist for $50. Then I decided I wanted a little table that I could store nursing things in & this table came with some bedroom furniture we bought off of my friend. Since there was only one of them I opted to use it for my "nursing table". I was really nervous once I saw it completely turquoise- like I was with everything else I painted!! Bold makes me nervous... I'm more subtle :)- but once I got in inside & saw it among everything else I was pleased with the outcome. So, that's our living room now. It's been the easiest, cheapest room re-do I've ever done & that makes Anthon happy, so I guess it's safe to say we're both happy with the new look :)

Onto me & the growing gut! I'm 34 weeks now & feel like I'm as big as I was full term with Roman. I haven't gained more weight with this pregnancy than I did with Roman- in fact I'm at about the same (I've gained 15 lbs with this baby & with Roman, I had gained 16lbs when I was 33 weeks), but I started off this pregnancy bigger so I'm sure that's why I'm feeling like such a beast! I did discover my 1st stretch mark on my belly about 2 weeks ago... that was pleasant. But seriously, why should I care?! It's part of the process, I'm never going to have a bikini body again, & even if I ever do it's not like I'm gonna prance around in a skimpy bathing suit in front of my kids... I'm trying to think of it as Heavenly Father's way of reminding me of how blessed I was to become pregnant, and ensuring that I stay modest :). I went to the Dr. this morning & it's funny how this pregnancy is so similar to Roman's... The baby is measuring ahead still, but now my uterus is measuring a week behind. They said if I'm measuring smaller at my next appointment they'd do an ultrasound to check the fluid levels (which is exactly what they did with Roman). I feel a lot more impatient with this pregnancy though... it feels like my last 6 weeks will never be over!

8 Weeks to go

It's official... I'm a tank. I've gained 8 more lbs over the past 5 weeks (14 lbs. total) and I must say my cheeks are filling out quite nicely. It's not even hot yet (for AZ standards), but I feel like I'm going to suffocate from the heat on a daily basis. I think it's safe to say I've hit a wall in this pregnancy & I'm ready for it to be over! Thankfully, nature knows best & I get to have 8 more weeks of peaceful, mostly uninterrupted sleep. Even though I spent the 1st half of this post complaining, this pregnancy hasn't really been that bad.

I took this week off of work & it's been really nice to play & get some projects done. I took Roman swimming one day- He LOVED it & it felt SO good to be in the water! I want to try & take him 3-4 times a week until I have the baby, just to get him more acclimated to the water & to temporarily take some "weight off" of me! We, also, rearranged Roman's room to accommodate the baby- stuff like set up the crib, repainted the dresser/ changing table, and just organized in general. I'm happy with the way it's all turned out & am almost done with my "to do" list of things to prepare for this kids grand arrival. I'm still liking the name Sterling, but I'm pretty sure Anthon's not going to consent to any name until we meet this little guy... I bet he'd consent to Tarzie in a heart beat, but I never will ;).
Welp, that's pretty much it... I'm SICK of being hot, fat, & tired but I'm only going to get hotter, fatter, & more tired before it gets better & I'm OK with that- It's all part of the price we pay to be mommy's :)

This picture's to remind me of the "good times"... Roman driving his truck on my tummy :)

The Big 2-7.

I turned 27 years old today, & I must say it was a very fun weekend! For starters, I only worked Monday thru Thursday this past week & then started vacation! Friday I went to the zoo with my sister-in-law Kelly, my niece Alishia, and their kids. It was HOT but the kids all had a good time together. Then Saturday, Anthon had the day off too & we spent the majority of the day cleaning our house (I know, doesn't sound very fun, but our house needed it & it was SOO nice to have his help since my energy level is dropping by the second these days)!! Saturday night, Anthon surprised me with a date night to Benihana for dinner & then shopping for some new clothes. Here we are at dinner:

Today was a pretty chill day; just church, meetings, nice nap... the usual. But Anthon surprised me again- He made delicious baked zitti for dinner & had invited our family & friends over to celebrate! It was a full house, but I had so much fun visiting with everyone! Thank you to all who could come & for making my birthday special!! I'd like to especially thank Anthon, though! We've been together for so long & yet he never ceases to surprise me & show how special I am to him! I love you, Bunny! Thanks for being so wonderful & making my birthday weekend so great!!!

Newborn contest

I enetered this picture into a contest that's being put on by Diana Carver Photography on Facebook- The prize is a newborn photo shoot (I'm wanting her to take pictures at the delivery- you can check out her album of a delivery she shot... it's awesome)! So, I NEED your help to win!! Here's what you have to do:
1-Go to Diana Carver Photography on Facebook
2- You have to "Like" her page in order to vote, so LIKE it
3- Go to her album March 6, 2011
4- Scroll through the 10 pictures til you see mine (it's like #8)
5- "Like" it to submit your vote
6- Share it on Facebook with all your friends...Voting ends Friday night at midnight, so spread the word & cast your vote... I REALLLY wanna win :D
PS- if we're not friends on Facebook, add me a_shleigh17@yahoo.com!

A Day at the Zoo

Anthon & I both had the day off & since the weather was perfect we decided to take Roman to the zoo. He hasn't been since he was just about a year old & since he's old enough now to know what the different animals are & recognize them, he really LOVED it! The kid ran everywhere & was amazed to see all the animals in person! Some of his favorite things were:

The elephants... he talked about elephants the whole way there & once he saw them he was so excited! By far the best!

The farm equipment & petting zoo

Monkey Village

Riding the "fish" on the carousel

Chasing the ducks

(and any other small animal wandering around, trying to mind its own business!)

Of course, all the running wasn't without incident...
He skinned his knees up pretty good & was sooo sad... but Daddy made it all better :) I love this picture!
We had such a fun day together! The best part is that Anthon bought us a membership so we can go as much as we want for the next year for free! So, if anyone wants to tag along with me sometime just let me know (I get one guest adult with my pass & kids 2 and under are free)!