Big Brother Collin

We've had a fun first few days with Maya, and probably one of the biggest sources of delight has been Collin's reaction to her.

He is CRAZY about his little sister.  I'm pretty sure he wins in the kisses for Maya category.  He wants to help with everything - which is mostly good, but challenging when he's trying to help me undress her for a bath and our definitions of gentle are not aligned.

Monday morning she was awake and we were going to read a book together on the couch.  So Collin offered to carry her from her little bassinet to the couch - yikes - a little overconfident in his big brother abilities.  As we read the book, he made sure I showed her every picture.  So unfortunately her first book in life, chosen by Collin, was Spider-man versus the Lizard!

He loves holding her and playing with her to the very limited degree she can even keep her eyes open around him.  He'll say in his version of a girl voice, putting words of praise in her mouth, "I love my big brother Collin.  I'm so happy to meet him."

As I had been warned, he went from being my toddler or my little boy to a humongous kid!  Though I know he didn't change much in the three days he was at my parents', he seems to weigh so much more and be so much bigger in general now that I have a newborn to compare him to in size.

He told me as I burped her, "No Mommy, don't hit baby Maya."  Already looking out for his little sister.  He's been serenading her with "You are my Sunshine" and "Mockingbird (Hush Little Baby)," and so far she's only been hit by a soft foam block that was intended for someone else -

We are so, so thankful to God that Collin gets to have a sibling, and we think Collin will be a tremendous big brother, loving, caring for and teaching his little sister all sorts of things!

Mother's Day with Maya

We left the hospital Saturday afternoon and though part of us was eager to see Collin, the rational side accepted my parents' offer to keep Collin one more night.  So my first Mother's Day gift was a relatively easy night with a newborn (as in she woke up like clockwork every 3 hours and went back down after nursing), and we slept in until 10am!

We had the moms come to us, along with grandmothers and some aunts and uncles.  Collin recited his poem that he and Brownie crafted, "Roses are red, violets are blue, on this Mother's Day, I love you!"

Brownie meeting Maya (and calling her Mayra, his secretary's name.  I'm sure their names will be often switched) -

Great Grandma Betty (aka "B") holding Maya for the first time -

Four generations of mothers and daughters - indescribable joy!!

Grandma Libia with her first granddaughter (with two boys, two grandsons, and another grandson on the way, she has not bought us a single thing that isn't incredibly pink, frilly and adorable!) and Lita - 

Cas, our kids, his mom and grandma

Cousin love - Nico and Collin

Mother's Day with my kids (typing "kids" is still so surreal.  I texted my brother that both my kids were napping and told Cas how thrilled I am to get to say "kids.")   It was the end of the night, so this was the best we got, Maya was fussy and Collin was goofy -

Maya in her party dress.  Since we plan on being pretty home-bound the first two months, I'm going to have to put her in her outfits just for photo opps - this girl has a ridiculous amount of clothes thanks to incredibly generous friends and family!

Happy belated Mother's Day - and a special thanks to my mom, who on her Mother's Day, woke up to take care of her grandson, bought food for brunch, made a salad and cookie cake, emptied my dishwasher and cleaned up my house after everyone left!

Maya's arrival

Collin was two days late, so when Maya hung tight past her due date, I wasn't too shocked.  But when we hit three days beyond my due date, I was starting to get antsy.  Luckily I went to the doctor that afternoon and she said she'd be shocked if I didn't go into labor in the next day or two.  In fact, in just doing the exam, she was worried that my labor would start on the ride home.  I didn't think to bring Cas with me to the doctor, but if I had, I bet she would have told me to just walk around the medical center and not even go home.

Sure enough, around 5pm my labor had started, and Aunt Debbie came over to watch Collin.  But unlike my labor with Collin, which was in full force 30 minutes after it started, Maya started slow, I think in large part to the amount of sitting I did on the car ride to the hospital and in sitting to be monitored once in our room.

We may have over-packed for two days at the hospital!

At 8pm, almost done with the monitoring, I texted my mom that I expected it to be a LONG night, that this labor was happening much slower than Collin's, and so far wasn't painful.  And then Maya was born at 9:23pm!

So the next 80 minutes were intense.  As soon as I got out of bed, the contractions picked up.  My midwife checked me, said I needed to get out of the jacuzzi tub, where I hung out when they started getting painful, and as soon as I climbed up on the bed, my water broke and I was pushing the next contraction!  Poor Cas was supposed to get to help deliver the baby, but I was a mess.  I used the Lamaze breathing for labor, but in pushing I had no distraction for the pain.  So the midwife delivered Maya, but they let me pull her onto my chest.  Cas said I went from vocalizing my pain to "this is awesome" when I grabbed her!

Maya Alexandra, born on May 9th, 8lbs, 4oz, 20.5 inches.  Welcome to the world our sweet daughter!

 
Proud papa -

The kisses started right away -

Libia visited Thursday night, and then we settled into our room at 1am, exhausted, dozing to a huge thunderstorm.

Friday morning, after a visit from Uncle Bobby, my mom and Collin arrived.  He immediately ran up to give his baby sister some kisses.  And then he went exploring in Texas Children's hospital with Cas and later visited Uncle Bobby's toy-filled office.

 Of course they'd arrive just when she woke up to eat -

Grammy with her grandkids -

Blocking Maya from an action hero attack - 

Super hero posing with all of the action figures at Uncle Bobby's office - 

Family of four celebrating all the pink -  

Sweet Maya, we are so excited you are here.  We are thankful to God for a healthy delivery and beautiful, healthy baby girl!

April iPhone dump: play dates and sweet mustaches

I'm finishing my "nesting" blog update, trying to clear photos off my camera and phone before our daughter arrives.  Here's a random iPhone dump from April.

When my friend Kelly and her daughter, Katelyn, were in town for her brother's wedding shower, we met up with Jill and Kiley for a playdate.  It turned into a beautiful, sunny day, so gorgeous Katelyn borrowed Collin's superman hat -

Later that afternoon, we went to nap and then play at Grammy and Brownie's.  They have toys that we don't, like golf clubs and a big boy bike -

The next day I got to baby-sit Katelyn while Kelly, her husband, and the rest of the family was at the couples wedding shower.  After her nap, Katelyn came by my parents' to play.  Apparently, we introduced her to many things.  One of which was a lizard, thanks to my dad who loves to catch them with Collin.  Katelyn was curious, but quickly lost interest when she realized it wasn't something to put in her mouth -

We also introduced Katelyn to grass.  She was not a fan.  She had started crawling fairly recently, but when she'd venture off the picnic blanket onto the grass, she'd quickly retract her hand in shock.  Safely on the blanket and in my mom's lap, reading a book with Collin -

On another Friday, Collin and I met our friends Michelle and Rachel and their four kids at the "car park."  It's a great neighborhood park with shade, playground equipment, and hand-me-down toddler toys from families in the neighborhood.  Walking toys, scooters, and tricycles find a permanent home at this little gem of a park that Rachel introduced us to last year.  Here are the three older kids - Oliver, Collin and Riley on the slide -

Collin has gotten more sweets lately as a result of my pregnancy cravings.  Last weekend I took him with me to Baskin Robbins where he chose chocolate fudge, the richest of the chocolate ice creams.  I was a little surprised he liked it - and he did, enough to finish his kid cup and ask for some of mine. I can foresee some pros and cons of the hard-core chocolate genes he inherited from me.  I'll always enjoy his birthday cakes (unlike Cas, whose vanilla-on-vanilla cakes are for the birds), but I'll be forced to share, a major weakness of mine when it comes to chocolate!  Sportin' a chocolate 'stache -

 

Finally, some random lines of Collin's that have entertained us over the past few months:

• One of my cousins offered him a ride in a wagon that had been in our garage for awhile. Collin said, no thanks, the wagon is dirty and I don't want to get my Jordans [shoes] dirty.
• He took some fighting men / action heroes to a doctors appointment. Who are they, Collin? Spiderman and his husband.
• Playing with two cars. Car 1 - I want to go to pbskids.org. Car 2 - Okay, I'll take you there.
• When ordering me (get me milk or something of the nature), I told him that children ask adults nicely, they don't order. But I'm an adult, he replied. Really, how old are you? Thinking for a minute, "four!"
• When staying with my parents while we were in Hawaii, some magnets that had been at Collin's level were broken on the ground. Collin, how did this happen. In tears, Bruno did it.
• Talking with him at dinner about how one day when he was an adult he'd live in his own home and maybe get married. And who might he marry? Mommy!
• Mommy, why did you eat baby Maya?
• When his new action figure was be-headed, we asked him what happened to Hulk. "A bad guy threw him and broke his head." Who was holding the bad guy? "I was."
• When I'm speaking to him in a stern, no-nonsense voice, "Mommy, will you get a new voice."
• To me - "Moufasa, I am Scar, not Collin.  I have told you a million times already."

Belly pics

We took tons of belly shots when I was pregnant with Collin.  Aunt Debbie had a profile picture every time I saw her, one being hours before his birth.  With this pregnancy, most of the photos are focused on Collin and not my growing stomach.

When I went to the doctor two weeks ago, we realized I was at the "any day now" point of the pregnancy.  Though I was still three weeks from my due date and Collin came two days late, she was in position and showing some signs that she was ready for her birthday.  Over two weeks later, I have now accepted that I'll be at that "any day now" status for weeks!

But that evening we hustled into the backyard after dinner, swatted at mosquitoes, and took a few maternity pictures on the back porch.

He really is excited about being a big brother, is WONDERFUL around babies, but just isn't particularly excited about sitting for pictures.  With a pained grin -  

The belly shot -

Blowing raspberries for his baby sister, a sound she should be used to by now -

And giving her a sweet kiss -

We're so grateful for a "boring" pregnancy, the best kind, at least as far as our daughter is concerned.  She's been growing right on schedule, her heartbeat has been just where they want it, she has parties in my stomach every night.  I've craved chicken lo-mein, cookie cake, and over the last few weeks, Sonic hot fudge sundaes and s'mores. 

It's been a tougher pregnancy for me with some alignment issues that physical therapy helped to greatly improve, but that won't be fixed while she's in my belly.  She has literally been on my nerves more recently, hitting nerves in my back and hips that make me freeze in place.  Noticeable enough that Collin lifted up my shirt and told her, "Baby Maya, stop hurting Mommy."  So while I want her to come when she's ready, I am very ready to no longer be pregnant. 

Sweet Maya, you are one loved daughter and sister!  We can't wait to meet you on whatever day you choose to make your debut!

Easter hamburgers, cookie cake, and cow feeding

Collin loves our family farm, and with his Easter present of the Lion King playing in the car, he was a happy camper for the drive.  As soon as he got there, he started collecting sticks, one of his favorite pastimes.

He posed on the new four-wheeler and took a few trips on the go-cart with Cas.

He was a pretty serious fisherman with Brownie's helping hand - 

But he wasn't sure how to feel about the catch.  It was actually Uncle Alex's fish, Collin lost interest in fishing after 45 seconds of waiting with no action-

So he went back to his sticks, asking Cathy to "be silly with him," a game I'm sure she hoped he'd forgotten from the last time we visited the farm months ago -

Celebrating my Uncle Dick's birthday with cookie cake (thanks, Mom, for satisfying one of my pregnancy cravings!)

We finished the trip with some cow feeding -

Coady's first trip to the farm and she bravely stepped down for an up-close-and-personal experience rather than throwing the cow treats from the back of the truck.  Jake, Alex and Coady befriending the cows -

Sweaty Collin trying to convince Uncle Walter to eat one - 

Father and son feeding cows at the farm on Easter -

Alex has always been the one to hand-feed the cows.  I was always the one who stayed in the back of the truck, avoiding the cow slobber. 

Coady refused to be shown up by her husband, and waited very patiently until she earned the cow's trust -

Finally she found a taker -

Hand-feeding cow success face!

Collin and Grammy -

Before we drove home, we finished the afternoon with a cascarones fight.  Collin, smashing one on himself -

And then attacking the rest of the family - B -

 Mommy - 

 Brownie -

 And Uncle Alex -

Who paid him back - 

One last shot with Aunt Coady before we headed home -

It was so great to spend Easter weekend with my brother, sister-in-law, the rest of the family . . . and a few cows!