ABC's

Jeremiah loves his ABC's! He has been able to say the alphabet for a while now and recently we were working on him recognizing the letters and putting them in order. One of his favorite toys is his Leap Frog fridge letters. He has been putting his letters in order for a few days now. Sometimes they end up split up in two different segments like in this picture. Sometimes he makes them look like a crossword puzzle.

He is also making a lot of progress on his phonics and can say the sound that each letter makes. He also sounds out small words like "cat" and "car" - but I think that is from habit right now. Yesterday we were reading a book that had a picture of a scooter in it. Jeremiah thought it looked like papas motorcycle which he calls "bike." He started sounding out the word, "ss-kah-oh-oh-te-rr" and I thought wow! Then I asked him what that word spelled and he proudly said, "bike!" :-)

My cousin Kelly is letting us borrow her baby swing. Yesterday morning before church Nathaniel was having an awake spell and since I couldn't hold him I decided to pull out the swing so that he could be awake and look around instead of just lay in his bassinet. He looked all cuddly and cozy in the swing. We put it on the low setting and went about our morning. A few minutes later we came back and he was sound asleep! I tell you what, this kid loves to sleep. Jeremiah never did well in a swing. The action seemed to stimulate him and wake him up. Now Jeremiah thinks that he needs to swing too. It took us awhile to convince him that he was a big boy and didn't need to sit in the swing for the baby. :-)

On Friday I packed up all the maternity clothes! Yeah! I was so excited to be able to put those things away and take out my real clothes again. Of course the dilemma now is do I take out summer clothes or fall clothes? The past 2 weeks we have had temps of 100 plus degrees. This morning feels nice because it actually got down to 68 last night and the morning was cool enough for me to put Nathaniel in the Snugli, put on Jeremiah's sneakers and we all took Penny Lane for a nice long walk. It felt so good to get outside!

Aaron starts classes on Monday and Thursday nights. So this week will be the real test of our adjustment back to "normal" life. Thankfully I had 2 people in church offer to bring us meals again 2 nights this week! I am so thankful for my friends at church who love us so well. Meal planning and cooking is one of my least favorite "chores" but of course the one that absolutely cannot be avoided. :-)

Fun with Aunt Moni

Playing blocks

Digging for dinosaur bones at the Discovery Museum

The favorite water toys at the Discovery museum

A gift from Aunt Moni - a new puppy dog.

Here are some pictures Moni took of her week with Jeremiah. He sure had a blast! We feel so blessed that our children have so many people who love them.

Funny Faces

When Nathaniel is awake he makes some funny faces. I think he looks a lot like Yoda!

Sweet Sleep

Some of my fondest memories of Jeremiah are of him cuddled and sleeping next to me in our bed. I quickly learned with him how to nurse laying down so that I didn't have to get up in the middle of the night to feed him. There is something special about those peaceful moments in the night, my son snuggled up to me and me able to watch his little face in a soft light.

Now I have those sweet memories of Nathaniel too! He still sleeps a lot but is having more awake time too. Jeremiah likes to check and see if "no-faniel wakes up!" We are still dealing with congestion (which makes me nervous so I don't think that I sleep well at night) but it seemed a bit better today.

Tomorrow Aunt Moni is taking Jeremiah to the Creative Discovery Museum so I should be able to get some rest.

The Nasty Crud

Somehow a nasty, cruddy cold has infiltrated our family. The only person who does not seem to have it is Jeremiah. I suspect that Aaron picked up a germ in the classroom and the poor guy has been feeling sick since Sunday. For 2 days he did not pick up Nathaniel at all and now he washes his hands every time before he touches him. But somehow Nathaniel still got it. He is congested poor little guy, and I keep suctioning bright yellow gunk out of his nose. He also has some kind of yellow eye crud. That scared me so I took him to the doctor today. She said that she sees it in a lot of newborns - their tear ducts get clogged because they cannot produce tears yet. It is not an infection or anything so nothing really to worry about, just looks kinda scary.

On the positive side he now weighs 7 pounds 9 ounces! That is over a pound weight gain! Way to go little fellow. I guess I won't worry about his eating habits.

Anyway, pray for our family. Moni was here helping this week but she caught the bug too and so is staying away. I have a slight cough and congestion but am drinking water constantly and taking extra vitamins in an attempt to ward off the worst. It probably doesn't help that we are getting less sleep than usual. Poor Aaron is feeling really bad and is back at work this week. He looks exhausted.

Jeremiah seems fine. Today he really tested my boundaries. I think this is the normal result of finally being at home with just me and Nathaniel. I am trying to be consistent and loving in discipline.

2 Brothers

Jeremiah and Nathaniel were playing on our bed this afternoon. Well, Jeremiah was playing. He got quite a kick out of "lay next to baby No-faniel." Jeremiah seems so big to me now! Apparently Nathaniel has his days and nights mixed up still so I was up most of the night. Thankfully I was able to sleep today because Moni was here to entertain Jeremiah but we are going to have to do something about this.

Scenes from our week

Jeremiah likes to look at Nathaniel, count his fingers and toes and point out his eyes, nose, chin, etc.
Jeremiah also likes to "hold" Nathaniel sometimes. But we have to be careful because when he feels like he is finished he just pushes Nathaniel out of the way.
The brothers. I think they have the same lips in this picture!
Nathaniel with Grannie
Jeremiah enjoyed spending Saturday morning with Uncle Caleb & Aunt Monica at the park. He is happy that Aunt Monica will be coming to help us this week and to play with him.

We have had a good week. I continue to feel great even though Nathaniel is a night owl and likes to wake up from about 10pm to 1am. Despite being tired, my no longer pregnant body feels more energetic than it has in 9 months! I literally feel like a new person. People were surprised to see us in church this morning! But what a joy and blessing it was to be surrounded by our church family and to praise God for His goodness to us! I will admit that I got teary-eyed more than once. :-)
Thankfully on the night of my last post Nathaniel nursed most of the night! I was more than willing to sacrifice a bit of sleep in order to see him nursing so well and to feel so much relief myself. Although he is still abit lazy when nursing I at least know he is getting enough nourishment and he seems to be on a 2 1/2 - 3 hour schedule. Nursing this second one is so much easier! This morning during church I had no qualms about sitting in the foyer, covering myself with my "hooter hider" (don't you love that name?), and letting Nathaniel nurse. It felt so different from the first time I tried to nurse Jeremiah in church and felt like I had no clue what I was doing.
Jeremiah is loving getting extra attention! Moni will be helping in the mornings this week so he will get plenty of play time. I have decided not to feel guilty about taking the opportunity to rest up this week.

The adjustment continues

Check out this link for the pictures of Nathaniel that were taken in the hospital.

Actually things seem to be going really well. Nathaniel still sleeps all the time (we are assuming that is normal and ok - Jeremiah was active from the moment he was born so we don't really have anything to compare it to) so I don't think that Jeremiah feels like the baby is taking away any attention from him.

This morning Jeremiah was holding Nathaniel and giving him little squeezes saying "I like him!" I think that he is enjoying being an older brother. I know that he is enjoying getting extra attention from his papa.

Nathaniel is so laid back that I have to wake him up to eat and even then he is a slow and lazy eater. Again, a big difference from Jeremiah. I could set my clock by Jeremiah (every 2 hours on the dot) and he would wolf the milk down. Nathaniels laziness right now is more painful for me than anything else. Today I am going to try and wake him up every 2 hours instead of every 3 and see if I can get some relief (you mothers know what I am talking about).

I am still feeling really good and I think that we are all getting enough rest and time to adjust.

Thanks for your continued prayers. We are still in awe of God's goodness to us!

The whole story (well, almost)

It is quiet at our house now. Aaron is putting a hyped up Jeremiah to bed and Nathaniel is doing what he loves to do - sleep in his bassinet.

So, I thought it was a good time to fill in the details of Nathaniel's birth. Don't worry, I won't put in gory, yucky details for the faint of heart. :-)

For those of you interested in all the pics go to http://picasaweb.google.com/sarah.rapier/NathanielsBirth02?authkey=_FRBC7d4PyI

I left the blog with an update on Monday morning that I could go into labor at any time. I was still sceptical that it would be anytime soon, just because this pregnancy was so difficult and I just was convinced that I still had 2 weeks to go. So I got Jeremiah home and through lunch and finally down for a nap. I was exhausted and looking forward to a nap myself. An hour into the nap I woke up with the same contractions that I had the night before. They were not regular but were strong so I decided to get up and pack the rest of our stuff. An hour later I was calling Aaron and telling him that I was almost positive this was it - could he please come home. Brenda was on her way to get Jeremiah. I was sure I was in labor but scared I was causing a lot of trouble for nothing. By the time Aaron got home my contractions were regular and strong and it was time to go to the hospital.

We got to the hospital at about 4:45 and by this time I couldn't really walk through a contraction. My midwife was at the hospital delivering another baby and we laughed to see each other so soon again. She checked me and sure enough there I was, dilated another cm and almost totally effaced. This was it!

We were admitted and put in a room. By the time all the paperwork was done I was ready for an epidural. I was just too tired to do the whole natural thing and I was not doing a good job of resting and relaxing through the contractions. In no time a wonderful man named Jim had me all set and while I could still feel pressure of contractions there was no more pain! I love modern medicine! I was able to relax and things continued to progress. Aaron and I were still abit shell shocked that this was all really happening and happening so fast. The midwife and nurses kept saying, "things are moving pretty fast, you should be meeting this guy soon." A few hours later the contractions were peaking and I was feeling them uncomfortably even through the medication. It was almost time!

The part I dread most about delivery is the pushing stage. With Jeremiah it lasted 2 horrible hours. It is like being in the twilight zone where time telescoped and condensed at the same time. But I knew my body and knew it was time to push, and of course knew that it had to be done. I was not going to play around this time - I wanted this whole thing over with! My nurses and midwife were so encouraging. And Aaron proved his worth as a labor coach again. After just 20 minutes of pushing our second son was laid wriggling and crying on my stomach!

There are no words for that moment. He was beautiful! He quieted down the minute he heard my voice and just laid there making sucking motions with his mouth. After a few minutes Aaron cut the cord and went over to watch Nathaniel be cleaned. I started crying uncontrollably. My midwife looked at me abit concerned. But I told her that I was just so happy to not be pregnant, that our little boy was here, that everything went so well. When Aaron brought Nathaniel back to me I put him down to try and breastfeed and he latched on right away and has been nursing like a champ ever since.

God has showered us with blessing in the past few days. All the details that I had started to be anxious about were worked out as we went through the process. It seems that everything happened so fast that I didn't have time to worry about details. God's way of taking care of me.

Nathaniel is a good baby so far. I have had a quick healing process and really the most discomfort I feel at this point is in the muscles in my back from curling up to push so hard. Yesterday even the muscles in my neck and jaw were sore! Jeremiah has been adjusting well so far, although he is a bit hyper tonight. He likes to hold Nathaniel (don't worry, we are really the ones doing the holding), give him hugs, and touch his fingers and toes. He loves to look into the bassinet to check on the baby to see if he is still sleeping. He likes to help by throwing the dirty diapers away.

Well, that is the story so far. We of course will keep posting as the adventure of parenting two boys develops. But for now it is time to feed the little one and then get some rest.

Thanks to all of you for praying for us and supporting us through this process. We have grown in so many ways through seeing Gods work and provision even in difficult times. We are thankful for a Heavenly Father who loves us more than we can imagine!

To whet your appetite

We just got home around lunch time today. I will post more details and more pics later but thought I should go ahead and get a few up there before nap time! We are praising God for His goodness to us. As far as delivery and recovery goes this has seemed relatively easy so far. God worked out details that we had not even considered yet and provided for us graciously and tenderly.

And I can say that I am so so so happy to not be pregnant anymore! :-)

Nathaniel so far is a quiet and laid back baby who is on an eating schedule of every 3 1/2 to 4 hours! I can hardly believe it, I heard children like this existed but I thought is was a myth - I was feeding Jeremiah every 2 hours at this time!
We will post more when we get our feet back on the ground a bit. But for now enjoy the pics of our new cutie!

Nathaniel is here!!

For those who haven't heard, I have a brand new and from what I hear totally adorable new nephew!! Nathaniel Alan Rapier was born at 9:40 pm tonight and weighed 6 lbs 7 oz. He was 19.5 inches long. Mom and baby are doing well and I am totally excited about meeting him this weekend!!! (btw this is moni :p )

Contraction update

Thanks to all for your encouragement and prayers. Keep sending them our way! :-)

My midwife this morning said that whatever contracting I did last night was definitely effective. For those of you who know what it means - I am now 3 centimeters dilated and 60% effaced. Basically that means that I could "go" at any time - which means it could be today or it could be next week. She is not willing to induce because I don't officially reach 38 weeks until Wednesday. Plus, she thinks that I will start labor naturally soon anyway so inducing at this point is unnecessary.

She was so nice and encouraging, I love her! She even mentioned some techniques to get things going if we wanted too and said, "of course I can't guarantee anything but I think if you tried this....you would have a baby soon." I told her that I needed a good nights sleep first! :-)

As far as the baby goes everything looks good. I am still measuring the right size and the heartbeat is still nice and strong and steady. So that is encouraging.

Please continue to pray. Specifically that we would have peace and trust God's timing. I find myself getting anxious when thinking about all the logistics of when I go into labor - Aaron is 30 minutes away, if it is during the day will he find a subsitute, getting Jeremiah to the grandparents before things get too rough, etc. etc. I so hate not being in control! :-)

And obviously pray for a healthy delivery and baby!

We will keep you updated.

Sleepless Night (contractions....)

Please pray for me today.

Last night at about 11:30 I started getting some strong contractions that continued to be pretty regular (every 7-10 minutes) and got stronger until about 4 in the the morning. Then they kinda petered out.

Needless to say - I think I got about an hour of sleep last night and am really really tired this morning. Thankfully Aaron's mom is going to go with me to my midwife appointment this morning so that I won't have to keep an eye on Jeremiah while I talk to the midwife. I also don't know if she will want to run tests or what.....

I am not sure even how to ask you to pray. I am ready for this little guy to be born, but I would like to get some rest first. :-) I guess just pray that Aaron and I will be at peace with God's timing for this birth (whether it is sooner or later) and that if we have to make any decisions we will be wise.

Mom & Dad - you may want to leave a # where you can be reached at the b&b with Will & Mariana just in case.

Saying Goodbye

Early this morning I woke Jeremiah up so that he could say goodbye to his oma and opa. They have a 13 hour drive back up to Philly today and needed to get a good start. It is always hard and emotional to say goodbye to them. Especially this time for me, knowing that next time I see them we will have another baby and be in a new stage of life for our little family. It is also hard for me as a mother to have watched Jeremiah enjoy them and know that on some 2 year old level he is going to miss them.
But I am so so thankful that they came to visit! While the past 10 days have been very busy it has been such a blessing to me to know that Jeremiah was being entertained and that I could go and lay down to rest without having a guilty conscience. It was such a joy to watch Jeremiah interacting with them and enjoying their company. It was nice to just hang out together, catch up on life, and do things to prepare for Nathaniels birth.
So today Jeremiah and I attempt to get back to a normal routine. I decided that today is just a hang out and relax day so we have been playing with his toys, watching a few videos and will take an early nap. Thank goodness today is Friday and Aaron will be around this weekend!

Getting Ready for Baby

With less than 3 weeks left until the "due date" I am now feeling the crunch to get ready for baby Nathaniel to get here.

On Tuesday night the ladies from my church gave me a shower. It was so sweet and lots of fun to get together and celebrate this new little life. Some of the women I have known for a long time and some are new friends. But all made me feel so special and loved.

Lisa has known me since I first started attending Highlands back in my sophomore year of college. She has been part of my life and a trusted friend through my early dating relationship with Aaron, was in our wedding, and has watched me become a mother.

Shanna and I were on the same hall at Covenant when she was a freshman and I was a junior. Who would have known that we would both end up here in LaFayette?

Faith is a new friend of mine but an old friend of Aaron's. Her mom and Aaron's mom were pregnant at the same time and Faith and Aaron grew up together. Faith's family has recently started attending our church and I have loved her friendship. She is a totally cool girl who sells organic goat milk as a side business!

It was a special treat to have mom at the shower. It is nice when our worlds converge and she can meet some of the people that are so important to me.

A mammoth shopping trip on Wednesday with mom was fun. I didn't need tons of stuff for Nathaniel but there were some things that were needed (or just wanted, hee hee) so mom and I headed to Target and Babies R Us and had fun oohing and aahing over cute baby stuff.

So baby Nathaniel - we are ready for you to come. Really.

Creative Discovery Museum

Playing the piano.
A really cool image projector. Jeremiah loved playing with it!
Learning about a pulley system.
Of course the water area was a big hit.
The room full of oversized musical instruments was the 2nd favorite.
A car!
Learning about electricity.
More cowbell.....

Today we went to the Creative Discovery Museum. Jeremiah loved it! He spent the morning playing with water, exploring the toddlers playhouse, climbing around on steps and slides, banging on musical instruments, and generally just having a good time. He was a very tired boy by the time we got home this afternoon.

Fountain Fun

We have had a busy weekend!

My parents left on Friday morning to visit my mom's family in Birmingham so Jeremiah and I had a quiet day together. Saturday we took advantage of the tax free shopping holiday in Tennessee and Georgia and Aaron and I spent the day braving the crowds and traffic getting him supplies for his classroom and some "school clothes." We had fun spending the day together with just the two of us. Jeremiah had a fun day with the Rapier grandparents. We came home to find him happily playing outside with sticky lollypop goop in his hair. Classic.

Sunday was a much needed day of rest. After church and lunch it was nap time for all and then my parents were back. We loaded up the wagon and walked to a little park down the street that has recently been fixed up. It now has a pretty gazeebo pavilion and small fountain for kids to play in. Jeremiah had a blast! Dinner at Sonic finished off the day - with this heat and humidity a strawberry-limeade slush has never tasted so good! We all walked home tired and in need of showers.

It is 7:30am and Jeremiah is still sleeping!

We do have a busy week with my parents here but I am still hoping to get some rest in.

Vacation for all

As I type this Jeremiah is out taking a walk with oma and Penny Lane. It is a morning ritual for them when my mom is here and Jeremiah always looks forward to their walk every morning. The past few days have been full of walks, games, and grandparents playing on the floor with Jeremiah. He is in heaven!

It is all working out well for me too. :-) Mom cooks dinner. Dad does dishes. Mom has been helping me wash baby clothes and blankets and try to get them organized in the kids room. Yesterday morning I could barely keep my eyes open and since mom and dad were here I gave up the fight and took a refreshing 2 hour nap!

Today my parents drive to Birmingham to visit with my mom's family there. They will be back on Sunday to spend next week with us. I wonder what Jeremiah will think of their abscence for a few days?

Aaron is working a lot. He spent the first part of the week in teachers meetings and setting up his classroom. Yesterday was his first day with students in the classroom and while he thought things went well he was pretty exhausted. We will spend the weekend (tax free shopping in Tennessee and Georgia) getting him more supplies, comfortable shoes, and his "uniform" (khaki pants and polo shirts). Feel free to call him "Mr. Rapier." :-)

Final Month!!!!!!!

That's right folks! Since today starts week 36 of my pregnancy we can officially say that I am in the final month! Can you tell I am excited? :-)

This morning Jeremiah and I loaded into the car with oma and opa (more on their visit later) and headed to the doctors office for an ultrasound and check. Of course, Nathaniel is not very active in the morning, he seems to really come alive in the afternoon and at night. So the ultrasound was not very interesting except that we saw that everything appears to be in working order. And - this guy appears to be bigger than Jeremiah was. According to the ultrasound Nathaniel already weighs 6lbs15oz and if he keeps growing at the typical 1oz per day he will be 7lbs by the end of this week. Gulp - I still have 4 weeks to go! Oh yeah, it also appears that he has a large head, lucky me. :-)

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Oma and Opa arrived around 6:30pm yesterday after driving down from Philly. Jeremiah seemed to recognize them and within minutes was showing them his room, books, toys, etc. He has been in a frenzy of excited energy ever since. Opa had to help with his bath, Oma had to read him his bedtime story. This morning at about 7am I heard the pitter patter of his little feet running through the house. He ran into my room (where I was still lying in bed) for what I thought was my customary morning hug and cuddle. But the first words out of his mouth were, "where oma and opa?"