Bath buds

New box of clothes photo shoot

Watch out ladies, I think we've got a cutie pie on our hands. Opened the size 9 mo. box of clothes today and really diggin' this look.

Snowy day reindeer photo shoot

Oh the weather outside is frightful, but Judah's jammies are so delightful! Thank you Mimi & Grandpa G!

Baby Language 2012

As 2012 nears an end, I'm wishing so much that I would have written down all the amusing phrases David's said as he's learned to talk. I'm going to try to keep adding to this post but thinking back, I can recall...

Mr.D

"koo-koo" = cookie

"La-lo" = water

"I i you" = I love you

"DOW, DOW, DOW (pause for breath) I DOWN" = get me out of my crib now

"dicka dicka NO no, dicka no no"

"Wow, cool!"

"AH-na" = Monelle

"Ah-NA" in a stern tone = Leona

"Oh no... Ees sad" = Judah is crying

"Oh!... was sa sown?.... hmmmm" = Oh, what's that sound, hm let me think about it.

"Ees mommy" = pointing to the Botticelli in the bathroom
(I loved to hear this of coarse.)

"I some?!" = I want to eat what you have there

"I know you..." = Sleeping Beauty and must be sung

"Mimi & Papa" = my mom & dad

"Mimi & Pee-ah G" = Tripp's dad & Lynn (You guys, I am hoping this grandpa changes to the correct word soon. Until then, Mr.Grant, David would like to call you pee-ah).

"Ah-mama" = Grandmama Grant

"Ah Kay Kay" = Aunt Cayte

"Dja key" with a BIG smile = Uncle Jacky

"Gace" = cousin Grace

"sah-ee mama" = Sorry mama

Mr.J-Bugs

"....." = silence and smiling

Judah generally tries to talk by either keeping his lips closed and mumbling, saying 'oo' or yelling out like a sea lion. He is an overall quiet guy except when it's time to sleep and things aren't right. Glory to God for the balance this boy provides to our already very LOUD home.

December Dudes

In December 2010, I took a couple pictures of David in our white chair. This year, I came upon that same long sleeve shirt (from Cayte?!) with the 'RAV' on it and thought to recreate the scene for Judah. I give you December Dudes, exactly 2 years apart.

When I first sat Judah down in the chair, David of coarse jumped right up for the photo shoot.
He had to be rerouted with an ornament hanging task.

Unfortunately, the white chair's slip cover is no longer, so I had to take J's pics in the rocking chair covered with a white blanket. I though it wouldn't matter, but I think between the different chair and different lighting... they're maybe more different than I thought. Going to try this again!

Judah and His Lions

Judah was given one ADORABLE outfit with furry lions by his Grandpa G and Mimi when he was born. He fills it out and sat very nicely for a few photo shoots. David woke up from his nap right in time to join Judah for the last shoot. Unfortunately, David was a little teary so preferred to make a minor appearance and wanted to focus on being 'near' to his bro.

J-Bugs

Well it's happened again, I've given one of my children a ridiculous nick-name that will probably warp into yet another more ridiculous nick-name. When Judah was born, he was such a little bug. Not really though, he was longer than David, but I guess .8 oz. lighter. In our hospital room, I called his little newborn self Judah Bug. Now, after 8 weeks, he's morphed into J-Bugs.

Takes me back to David's beloved nick-name 'Boodie'. Somewhere between 6 wks and 6 months (it's a blur!) I committed to calling David, 'Buddy'. That morphed into 'Buddy Boy', 'Buddy Baby', 'Little Boodie Baby', 'Boodie'. I still call him Boodie whenever I can, but try to stick with the nick name of 'D' for his sake. We did have lots of fun with 'Boodie' while it lasted. One very fun visit to Nashville, D's Mimi and Grandpa G were playing with him while singing, 'Shake that Bootie'!

I give you J-Bugs:

And I give you J-Bugs in action:

Judah's 1 Month Old

bald as can be and growing! I'm going to take a nap now...

Judah's first day

I asked Tripp to take my last
pic with Judah, oh yeah

We've had Judah in our arms for 2 weeks now. The details of his first day are precious to me and I wanted to share them here before they blend in with the foggy blur of newborn days.

Judah was born on Friday, July 13th at 11:46am at Prentice Northwestern Women's Hospital downtown Chicago. Thursday evening after an exhausting day of flu I, Laura, could not have gotten to the hospital faster for my 39 week elective induction. Our appointment time was 12:30am on Friday morning, and Tripp and I wanted to head down as soon as my parents arrived at 9pm. Thankfully Food Network had a decent show on, Chopped, and we were entertained through departure at 11:45pm.

This birth experience was so different from David's from the start. Arriving at Prentice, I checked in at Triage and was directed to take myself to the 8th floor via elevator. No rush and no assistance. Once escorted to our delivery room and hooked up to the necessary labor inducing drugs, Tripp and I still had the birth-day jitters and couldn't believe we'd be meeting Judah soon. We though surely at sunrise.

dawn

Around 4 am, contractions were starting to pick up. My nurse said to call for the epidural when they'd reached an 8 on the pain scale. However, she and my doctor also advised I be 'hooked up' prior to the first dilation check and breaking water. The doctor on call was Dr. Katz, which was a blessing since I'd seen her the most during this pregnancy. When Dr. Katz stopped by around 5am, she said that I should expect things to really move once my water's broken.

5:30am, I was ringing the nurse for the epidural and bracing myself for labor to take off. 6am, Dr. Katz broke my water and checked dialation... 3cm! WHAT?! My doctor could not have been more pleased and said, 'I think we'll have a baby here by 10am.' Thank goodness for her positive encouragement, I had translated that number as, 'What were you thinking being induced, this guy's not coming for another week!' Tripp also was discouraged thinking, 'What happened to my wife the speedy labor woman?'

I can't remember the exact time, but possibly around 9am, Dr. Katz came in for a second dilation check since her shift was almost up. Dr. Ericson was on next and I hadn't seen that woman in years. Assessing my dilation at 3.5 and 80% effaced I was again discouraged! Dr. Katz assured me that we'd be seeing the baby soon and she was going to stay to meet Judah. Her sweetness and professionalism were just what I needed to keep a light heart in anticipation for Judah.

Sun's up! No Judah...

As 10am passed, Tripp and I had watched in completion Cars 2 and Mars Needs Moms. Who'd have thought we'd be twiddling our thumbs this round?! Well, I eat my own advice at this point, 'every labor is different and has everything and nothing to do with the mom!' Yes. True. Dr. Katz came by again to check dilation and said that there was another mother in labor about the same stage and scenario as myself. I was at 5cm.

5cm meant another 5 to go and maybe multiple hours to me. To Dr.Katz that was just enough information to prepare the baby catching supplies. Encouraging again. In my mind, I recalled a conversation with a dear friend who's doctor told her that 2nd babies often just slide into the birth canal via uterine contractions in the final moments. Was definitely hoping for that!

Since the pain was manageable on the epidural, I had opted to not press the 'trigger' button very often to deliver doses. Right about the time I had started to feel 'pressure' in my bum bum, the anesthesiologist came by to check in on me. I told him I had good movement of my legs and could even 'clench' certain muscles :) He then advised that I continue to press the epi button to make sure that I'm not playing catch up when I am in greater pain. Ooops.

By 11:15 the sensations to 'push' were heightening so I asked my nurse to get Dr. Katz to asses and it was go time! Unfortunately, or fortunately I had lots of feeling in my bum bum so I engaged and pushed with all my might. Haha, I will spare details for uninterested readers - but Judah was born before Dr.Katz had to hit the road! With one look before they wiped him down I saw that he looked just like David, yay another cutie bootie!! At 7 lbs 1 oz and 20.5 inches long, he was one sweet baby boy - not sure what happened to my womb ninja.  Following delivery, we thanked her profusely and she informed us she was onward to vacation. We were onward to our recovery room.

My sweet sleepy Judah Bug

Judah's here! We're recovering...

37 weeks and bigger than a beach ball

I asked Tripp to take a photo of me tonight to capture the 37th week belly. I really need to do this next time with a real camera... And maybe during the day? So black and white it is. Ha, here we go people!

Buffalo Plaid Round 1

Note the black denim... yes, you'll be seeing this hopefully soon

Thanks to a 1/2 off sale at Hancock Fabrics, I was able to pick up plenty of buffalo plaid for the project list for Judah's room. We've recently decided that we would stay at our lovely tree top Bosworth apartment for another year, so it's time to settle in again.

For the changing pad cover I followed this EASY, and I mean easy, tutorial. For the bolster pillow, I tried to follow this tutorial, with my own spin. It did not work out, so I'm going to give it more attention next week when I hopefully have a little break again from freelance-naptime-working.

one modification, I didn't have elastic, so I used ribbon to
tie together, I think that was a good substitution!

This tutorial could not have been easier, thanks also
to the grid pattern on the fabric for precise cutting,
I didn't measure at all... so like I said, easy.

Thank you Katheryn for this beautiful fabric,
I promise I will re-sew this pillow and do
it justice!!

The Grant Hospital Bag Round #2

Since this round #2, I should be more savvy at packing the best equipped hospital bag for a Grant birth. You know how they say you forget labor pains after the baby is delivered (ha, but you remember they're horrible), well you forget your mental packing list too! So here we go - for kicks & giggles and future reference:

How beautiful is this etsy bag! We'll be using a regular old black duffel bag,
but wouldn't this beauty just add some glamor to the experience?!

GRANT HOSPITAL BAG

For Laura

• Wallet
• Phone & Charger
• Massagers
• Toiletry bag
  - Toothbrush
  - Toothpaste
  - Contacts & Solution
  - Glasses
  - Shampoo & Conditioner
  - Face wash
  - Moisturizer
  - travel hand lotion
  - Burts Bees Tinted lip balm (so important!)
  - Hair Dryer
  - Curl gel
  - Curling Brush
  - Make-up (those bella baby pics aren't cheap so I want to look my 'best')
• Hair ties, headbands, pins
• Blk strapless dress
• Oatmeal Cardigan
• Nursing Tanktop
• Blk skirt
• blk undies 
• Gray slippers
• Crocs
• Coconut Water Juice boxes
• Prune Juice
• Almonds
• Pretzels
• Gum
• Wine
• Nursing pads
• Nursing cover
• Breast pump tote bag & bags

For Tripp

• Wallet
• Phone & Charger
• Tooth brush
• Deodorant
• 2 shirts
• 1 light sweater
• 1 change pants
• 2 undies
• Book
• Camera & Charger

For Judah

• Baby Blanket for Photos
• Wipes
• 2 footed pants and shirts
• 1 sleeper

Some of you may be wondering about the wine, is this allowed in a hospital? In the event I find super-human strength to deliver w/o drugs, I'm treating myself and Judah (via boob) to an entire bottle of Chardonnay over a 4-6 hour period. Either the little guy's going to be buzzing on Norco or Chardonnay, same difference really and possibly the latter is healthier.

Also important to remember are things to ask the hospital for:

From Hospital

• Lanolin
• Nuk Pacifiers
• Postpartum girdle
• Hand pump
• Nipple Shields
• Peri Bottle
• Pads
• Ice packs
• Undies
• Remaining Diapers
• Vaseline for Judah 
• Sitz Bath (I recently read that hospitals sometimes provide)

(P.S.) I've already updated this list since posting, so it's going to be toootaly complete by the time we hit the road to the Hospital.

35 weeks, woohoo!

Today marks the 35th week of Judah's pregnancy and I'm feeling much more at peace with a possible 4-6 weeks ahead. Discussing a 39 week induction with my OB this Monday, which would seal the deal at 4 weeks. In the final days before David was born, I rang in a total weight gain of 37 lbs. for Judah, we've surpassed that and I'm still going strong!

To capture life before 2 children, I wanted to record the routine events of this morning. Waking up at 6:30, it was the 'summer' sun that stirred all 3 of us today. I heard a soft 'hi' come from David's room and responded with an winded hop up from the bed and to the freezer to heat up blueberry pancakes. Our fridge is almost empty due to end of week meal completion. Thank God for Dad buying tons of blueberries two weeks ago that contributed to plentiful packs of blueberry pancakes to freeze!

Tripp woke up while I prepped breakfast (not for him of coarse, he despises blueberries!) and came in for morning hugs. To which I said, "you know what would make me feel loved right now... If you got David up and changed his diaper." Opening David's door, he was greeted with a smile and the proclamation, "poopoo! I down!" I carried on in the kitchen and made coffee.

Before Tripp left and gave big hugs to David, I asked him to take a belly photo for my Auntie Cheryle. That's the photo here that I brightened and desaturated on my photoshop app so as to not look like a pink morning monster. I sent it on to my aunt with an explanation for the black and white appearance, knowing she'd prefer to see myself as I naturally, beautifully am. Oh family. In these last mega days, I'll do just about anything to retain some glamor!

Glory to God for His gracious outpour of mercy on our Grant family. I'm quietly sitting in our playroom writing while David watches his morning movie that happens to be Wallace & Grommet. These quiet predictable mornings are numbered. Pretty soon I'll be waking winded by exhaustion, recovery from birth and the burden of constant breastfeeding. Oh times are changing!

Big Cake, Big Mama

The title of this entry is funny because it could almost be an A=B illustration. Anyhow! Made a cake for Tripp after a very positive review at work on Wednesday. Tripp came home and after I enthusiastically showed him the bunt in the oven he said to me, 'Sounds like someone just really wanted to eat a cake.' Well I never! Anyhow, successful recipe and one worth sharing.

Vanilla Cake

Ingredients
4 large eggs
3/4 cup whole milk
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2.5 cups cake flour
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 heaping tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

Preheat oven to 350

This recipe is adapted from a very fancy fluffy vanilla cake recipe which had way too many steps. If you're okay with your cake coming out a little dense and with a texture similar to cornbread then begin by taking all the ingredients and mixing them together until well blended. If you'd like to fuss, go to this blog and give it a go!

Pour into your desired greased cake pan and bake between 25 and 45 minutes depending on the pan.

Vanilla Frosting

1 stick of room temperature butter
1.5 c powder sugar
2 tbsp. milk
1 tsp vanilla

Whip together and whalla! The fancy blog called to triple this recipe, however I just doubled it and found it was more than enough to cover a bunt. 


Also, it's about that time to post a photo of my enormously large 'oven' for the Judah bun. If we opt for the 39 week induction as our doctors are talking, that would make for only 5 weeks to go!

Boy, oh boy!

I can hardly concentrate at this moment because I want to tell the world about our 2nd son, JUDAH TRIPP!! Let's rewind to 12:10 today...

Judah's profile

My generous father with incredible timing asked if he could come spend time with David and I this week. So, today I drove solo to our 20 wk. ultrasound appointment. Arriving at the Women's Group of Northwestern Northbrook Office 30 minutes early, the very sweet ultrasound technician took me right away. I told her that I expected my husband soon and said we'd start with logistical measurements. To which I responded with a text to Tripp saying, 'They took me right away, get a move on! Love you :)'.

My mind kept danced between naming that sweet little baby on the screen Anne or Judah. Having seen little boy parts before in an ultrasound, I did have my suspicions...

Finally, at about 12:30 Tripp arrived in a rush and we listened to the baby's steady heart beat. The technician took advantage of the baby's ideal and calm position and continued to measure heart and organs. By the time we arrived at the gender reveal, she had assured us that this baby was a beauty inside and out. She asked us, 'Are you ready to see what this baby is?' To which I replied, 'YES, though I'm really thinking that I'm seeing a boy here.' She responded, 'Well you're right, you've got a little boy.'

Judah's profile up close

A LITTLE BOY!!! JUDAH!!! I could not have anticipated the excitement and love that flooded my heart for my son Judah. I teared slightly and Tripp was even surprised at my enthusiastic emotions for our boy, our boy! In my heart, I had told myself that a 2nd boy would be awesome but a girl would make me feel like I'd won the lottery. I had planned to decorate Judah's room in black and white buffalo plaid and Anne's in cherry red gingham. People, I've never been so excited about black and white buffalo plaid in my life.

This past week, I had two dreams about meeting a little baby boy named Judah and today my dreams came true.

Now will be the hard part, waiting to meet him. With David's pregnancy, I savored every minute because I didn't know what it would be like to have a baby. Knowing the incredible meeting face-to-face that lies ahead in mid-July... I just want it to be mid-July. That and who wants to be pregnant for another 20 weeks?!

Our ultrasound tech ended up giving us about 20 printouts of Judah, so hopefully we'll get to posting them soon. Don't you just love that round baby belly?