Grayson Jerome Brister

Tags

baby boy, birth, Grayson, love, Maddison, parenting

So I officially got to meet my little man on April 11, 2013 at 1:50pm after only 6.5 hours of labor! After all of the complaining I did those last few weeks, I lucked out with a pretty easy delivery.

We were actually scheduled to induce labor on Saturday April 13th, but plans change. I had finally given up on going into labor, I was prepared for the induction. I woke up Thursday morning to my water breaking. Since it wasn’t the dramatic scene out of a movie, it took me a few minutes to be sure it had actually broken. Thank god it had! I gave my husband a loving smacking the back and said “get up! We’re having a baby!”

Of course this was the one time nobody wanted to answer the phone, luckily my sister-in-law answered and was happy to babysit Maddison while we went to the hospital. We were admitted to the same room where Maddison was born, we went through all the check in mumbo jumbo and just waited to have a baby. I got my epidural right when the contractions were starting to get pretty painful and for the most part it was smooth sailing after that. Then a few hours later my epidural started to wear off. They checked me and I went from 8 to 10 within about 3 contractions. What a great time for my pain medicine to wear off! They called for an anesthesiologist to come top me off with the magical medicine. It took about 10 minutes for that to kick in and then I was ready to go! After only 2 or 3 rounds of pushing, our beautiful little boy was here!

Not to upset other women, but on top of having a pretty easy delivery, I’ve been lucky enough to have a great recovery as well. We went home from the hospital 2 days later (the day we were going to induce) and I was up cleaning the house a few days after that. Between my OCD and already having a toddler to chase around there just hasn’t been much time for relaxing.

So much has changed but here are a few realizations I have had since having Grayson:

1. I was sad about Maddison no longer being an only child, but I find joy in watching her embrace the big sister role.
2. I’m surprised at how much energy I have, and how after a night of feeding and Grayson crying, my body always finds a way to push through and get shit done!
3. I am having an easier time than I thought I would managing the two different schedules. Luckily my husband is amazing and has been a fantastic help and support.
4. I’ve still been able to find a little time for myself, which I think is SO important.
5. I am more in love with my husband than ever before. Yes, having two kids is challenging and there have been a few times of frustration, but through all of it our kids have brought us even closer together.

I know that as they get older things will change and more challenges will arise, but I’m up for it. Being a mother is the best challenge I’ve ever been faced with and it’s amazing. It’s new every day, it keeps me on my toes and I’m happier than I’ve ever been!

What do you find is the most challenging or rewarding part of
being a parent?

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Toddler in Training

Tags

Grayson, growing up, learning, Maddison, parenting, toddler in training

There is a running joke in my house that we’ve got our daughter Maddison “well trained”. For example, after a diaper change, she throws away her own dirty diaper. When she’s done eating a snack she will run and put her dirty bowl in the dishwasher. And for some reason she loves to help me with the laundry and vacuuming. Not to sound like I’m talking about my dog, but we’ve trained her to be a pretty independent baby and it got me thinking… Parenting is all about the proper training.

One of my biggest goals as a parent is that my children be capable of taking care of themselves. This includes being able to do their laundry, to know their way around a kitchen, be able to fix a detached button on their shirt, and how to drive a stick shift. Not only that, but it applies to both boys and girls. I want my daughters to be able to check their own oil and my sons to be able to make a mean lasagna. You may say that as parents we have plenty of time to teach them all of this, but with the birth of my son, I see how quickly that time goes by. It flies by like the roadrunner being chased by Wiley coyote!

It makes me even happier knowing that we are starting our “training” so young because truthfully, now is the time to start! Why wait for your kid to be a toddler to use a utensil and feed themselves, Maddi has been using a fork since she turned one and it is such a blessing for us as parents to be able to enjoy our dinner with her instead of letting our food grow cold because we feed her first. It is also such a great feeling to watch your child actively learning to do something, it just fills my heart with such joy and pride for my kids!

So while we may be joking when we say we have Maddison “well trained”, the truth is, I hope I’m able to train all of my kids to be the independent adults they deserve to be. It’s our job as parents to prepare them as much as possible for life on their own, which is right around the corner.

Amazed By My Offspring

Tags

Maddison, Motherhood, Parenthood, Potty Training

Every day I am amazed by my daughter. Literally… every day. I know people say they grow up so fast, but you don’t truly believe that until you have kids. You think to yourself, a year is a year, 365 days, 8,760 hours, 525,600 minutes… it’s all the same. Apparently being a parent shoots you into some alternate time zone in which all of those numbers are cut in half! At least that’s how it feels.

I often wonder how she learns new things. For example, one day Maddison randomly started wanting a napkin to wipe her face off when she is eating. Now, we teach her proper manners, but to be honest we don’t have a sit down dinner at the table every night with proper place settings and a colorful centerpiece. So where did that come from?

Like I said, she is amazing. Now that she is almost 1 1/2 years old, and since we have her baby brother due in April, we have decided to take advantage of her genius nature and try to do two things before Grayson arrives: Potty training and sleeping in her big girl bed. We already have her potty and her bed set up, it’s simply the act of teaching. Come January, she is going to start to sleep in her toddler bed, mainly because she is starting to climb on everything and I don’t want her thinking she is climbing Mt. Everest and fall out of her crib. As far as the potty training, I am still doing some research to find which method will work best. Luckily, I get to be a stay at home mom so I don’t have to worry about trying to potty train at daycare. 

Either way, the next few months are going to be a learning experience for both Maddison, and my husband and I, but I know one thing for sure. Every day I can count of that moment of amazement that comes with being a parent.

If anyone has some insight on the whole potty training fiasco, please leave me some info in the comment section at the top of this post!