A Long Time Coming

Rhett's first bite of baby food Just girls trip to Williamsburg, VA to celebrate Mom's 50th birthday!

Big boy Rhett (top picture is before his first haircut)

Bennett at the Washington D.C. Zoo with the Kiwi bird and her keeper
Bennett reading to Rhett I Love You Stinky Face

He shoots... he scores (and I have no clue what he is saying)!

So This is What Happens

SO THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS.......

....when Bennett gets a hold of the camera! (There are about 26 other photos a lot like this one that I didn't post. I think he wants to take up photography!)

It is Just too Hard!

I knew that parenting would not be easy. I even knew that having another baby would shake things up and make parenting even harder. This was a challenge that I was willing to take. Some of the challenges that we have had to face over this past month have been dealing with a weepy and spoiled two year old who was used to being an only child, trying to keep up on 6-10 loads of laundry a week (seriously... where does it all come from?), the flu, countless diapers and yes even the infamous poop up the back diapers, lack of sleep, lack of sleep, lack of sleep (did I say lack of sleep?), another mouse in the house, counting back from ten to keep from yelling, potty training, and sinking to the low level of bribing and begging Bennett to be quiet so that I can sneak in a shower (the most relaxing and peaceful time of the day)! These challenges are ones that every parent faces. I think it must be a rite of passage into parenthood. It just makes us stronger. Unfortunately, we faced one more rite of passage into parenthood this month. I believe this one to be the most difficult and heartbreaking of all. In fact, I would rather endure hundreds of poop up the back diapers and years of lack of sleep than face the hardest part of parenthood. The part that I am talking about is hearing your child getting teased. Yes, this happened to Bennett this month and truly ripped my heart into pieces. I hated seeing him try so hard to fit in and then fall apart. Okay... I'll be honest, I think I fell apart more than he did. On the upside it taught a lesson for all. At least Bennett is learning how to deal with situations like this before he goes to school. It is unrealistic to think that he will never have to learn to deal with bullying and teasing. I just want to protect him and his feelings forever. I never thought that I would say this... but I am starting to understand more and more why my parents did what they did and raised us the way they did! PARENTING IS JUST TOO HARD!

He's Here!

Everhett Corsaire Shetter

December 9, 2010

8 pounds, 5 ounces

21 and 3/4 inches

-Website for Rhett's photo shoot- www.Our365.com (I can't copy and paste the actual page onto here for some reason. Sorry!)

-You can search by typing in his birthday info, last name, or by hospital (York)-

THE STORY

Let's just say that everything happened QUICKLY! We weren't anticipating Rhett's arrival for another week. On Thursday morning I was at school/work feeling like it was going to be another normal day. By lunch time I was thinking that my water might have broken, but I wasn't sure. I decided to call my doctor just in case. She said to call back in an hour and tell her if I still feel like it might have broken. My friend/coworker across the hall from me took my kids and read to them while I called the doctor back an hour later. Sure enough she said I needed to go in right away. Of course I was freaking out because I was worried about my class and was not expecting to have to get checked in. I was so sure that the time would be wasted. I was positive that I would get to the hospital and they would send me back home. I was tempted to just finish teaching the rest of the day and then go in, but the thought of maybe harming the baby set me straight. My friends covered my class for me and I went to the hospital with Tim. They checked my water and sure enough it had broken! I started having contractions on the way to the hospital and they started off at 2 minutes apart. After I was admitted a little after 2:00 they asked me if I wanted an epidural (which was nice because they wouldn't let me have one with Bennett until after I was there eight hours later). The nurse predicted that I wouldn't have him until closer to midnight so they weren't checking to see if I was dilated. I could still feel the contractions and at 7:30 I told my mom, sister, and Tim that I really felt like I had to push. The doctor and nurse were called in and they didn't believe me. The doctor checked and her eyes got really wide. She called out that his head was there and I was ready to deliver! The table and everything for the baby wasn't even ready so it was all a whirlwind. Again, I felt overwhelmed and flipped out because I was not expecting to push so soon (heck... I was still flipped out because I didn't even expect him that day let alone this week). Rhett arrived after 20 minutes of pushing. It ended up being an "easy" delivery if you can call it that. At least it was compared to Bennett (I felt contractions 28 hours before he was born, pushed for almost 2 and a half hours, had a 4th degree tear, fainted when I first started walking, need I go on?)

We're doing great. Bennett LOVES his brother. He has had quite a few unexpected temper tantrums and isn't liking that fact that baby gets to sleep in our room and he doesn't. I can't wait to get a routine going and getting adjusted to having two little boys!

Oh Christmas Tree! You're Early!

With having a close to Christmas baby Tim and I decided that we would decorate for Christmas early this year. We knew that if we waited until our normal Christmas decorating time the baby might be here and the chance of any decorations getting completed would be next to nothing. Of course we couldn't do that to Bennett! It's also a plus that we want to enjoy a little holiday spirit before we are getting no sleep and are frazzled with a new born and toddler.

So... even if it's a little early, I'm okay with saying Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas!

A Ghost Dog or a Mouse... and Other Updates

Three is NOT a Crowd
If you are following my blog, most likely you have been following my sisters. Three weeks ago she had a beautiful and healthy baby boy. We took Brandon and Nathan for a couple of days so she could get a little bit of peace. The following pictures are from some of our exciting adventures.
Every year we have the family tradition of going to Funk's Pumpkin Farm (it started when Sommer and I were just little girls, around five years old). We were so disapointed to find out that the family that owned Funk's sold their farm to become a land for a nursing home. My mom and dad found a different Pumpkin Farm called Cherry Hill Crest. It actually had more for the kids to do. Not only did it have a petting zoo, playgrounds, trains, wagon rides, tractor rides, and great food, it also had a corn maze. The above picture was our attempt at the corn maze. We made the mistake of trying the corn maze after three hours of already exploring the farm. We were exhausted and I'll admit I was getting a little grumpy. We ended up cheating and leaving the maze through the entrance. In our credit, we did try and were in the maze for a little more than an hour!

The boys LOVED the little wooden horses that they thought they could ride.

Tim and I took the boys to a different pumpkin farm that we live by (Barefoot Farms). It was our first experience actually going to a pumpkin patch and picking our pumpkins. We had a lot of fun... until Nathan peed his pants.

This picture was taken the first night we had the boys. We pulled out the bunkbed matresses and let the boys have a slumber party. They were so wired and wound up. The first night it took them two hours to finally fall asleep. When Tim and I left the room we would hear them giggling, jumping on the bed, and running around. We felt bad being the party poopers but somebody had to end the fun when all three of the boys crept around the corner of our room and started throwing stuffed animals, pillows and blankets at us. Seriously... how in the world does a 4, 3, and 2 year old come up with something like that?

I have been doing everything in my power to avoid being in pictures. I do not like the weight gain that comes with pregnancy. I regretted doing that when I was pregnant with Bennett and now I find myself doing the same thing with this baby. You can't see my big belly much in this picture, but I couldn't resist how cute Bennett is. Tim has him stand on the coffee table so that I didn't have to bend over.

Ghost Dog or Mouse?

Honestly, I'd rather it was a ghost dog. Yes, it's true. He HAD a mouse in our house. Actually it was in our bedroom. A couple of nights ago I woke to hear a crunching of dog food in our room (we keep the dogs' food in our room because Bennett plays in it when it is in the kitchen). I woke Tim up and said, "Do you hear that?" He replied, "Yes, Ashley! The dogs are eating, now go to sleep!" The problem was, I couldn't sleep because both the dogs were sleeping at the end of our bed and neither of them could be the one to crunch that food. So I told Tim that the dogs were not eating the food and I was afraid it was a mouse. He said that the crunching was too loud to be a mouse. So I sarcastically replied, "So what is it, a ghost dog?" Oh, how I wish it was true! Tim turned on the light and there we saw a mouse in the dog food. It jumped out of the dog food, slipped in the water dish, ran behind my dresser, the bed and then into my closet! Needless to say, I DID not sleep that night. How could I knowing that a furry little rodent was in my closet somewhere hiding behind my shoes? Well, three days later, 6 useless mouse traps, and not to mention sleepless nights of me cowering under my covers, Tim finally cornered the mouse and he met his Maker. Unfortunately ever little noise I hear at night I bold upright expecting to see or hear a mouse. Where there is one, there has to be more, right?

Update on Baby Everhett

I feel terrible about not blogging more recently. A lot of it has to do with school starting, having a student teacher, and being pregnant. I come home exhausted and just don't have the energy or time to get on the computer. I feel guilty about not updating our news about our baby. We were able to have the follow up ultrasound where they did NOT find a cyst on his brain. It has dissipated! We were told that he is healthy and weighing in at the 80th percentile. This has me very nervous considering that Bennett weighed in at 8 pounds and 13 ounces (and because of this I had a 4th degree tear). I have heard that other siblings usually weigh in more than the first baby. The doctors have offered a C-section, but that is my last resort option. This baby is much loved already. Not a day goes by that Bennett isn't trying to rub my belly or kiss his "baby brotter". We only have a couple more weeks to go!

I Blame the Grandparents

Ever since Bennett has learned to climb the rock wall on the pirate ship at Grandma and Grandpa's house, he has gotten into a lot of trouble at home. Earlier last week when Bennett was supposed to be taking his nap (we are "training" him to sleep in a big boy bed) we walked in to find baby powder EVERYWHERE! When I say everywhere, I am not exaggerating. It was even in the crevices of his diaper wipes.
Tim and I were trying to figure out how in the world he got the baby powder. We have it sitting up pretty high on the changing table. We thought that maybe one of us didn't put it back far enough and he got into it.

Imagine our surprise two days later when I walked in to find that Bennett CLIMBED his changing table and once again decorated his bedroom with "snow". Mystery now solved. Needless to say, our house has once again been "ghettofied" as Tim took off all the knobs so that Bug can't climb his table.

Why couldn't Mom and Dad get a pirate ship without a rock wall?!