three quarters

My little guy is 9 months old!  I took a few (dozen) pics of him on the day he hit 3/4 of a year, and I put a couple above.  I honestly could've posted every single one of them, because that's how cute this kid is.  I mean, those dimples... Oh his mommy's heart can hardly stand it.

At 9 months, Cade still doesn't crawl.  He sort of (and only barely, really) scoots around the floor after things, but he's not at all mobile.  Some mom's might freak out about that.  This mom is grateful.  Being able to put him down somewhere and know that he'll stay there is something I'm in no hurry to move beyond.

What he apparently lacks in motor skills, he makes up for in verbal skills.  He says mama, dada, hi, bye-bye, bite and spoon (which sounds like "poo") and knows what they mean.  He also says, ahem, boob.  Yes, seriously.  And he knows what he means when he says it.  He'll repeat (or try to) just about anything you say to him.  Quite the parrot.  

He's still tiny.  He weighed 17 lbs. and 4 oz. at his 9-month checkup.  By comparison, Kellen, who weighed less at birth, weighed more than that at 4 months.  He still has just 2 teeth - also strange since my other kiddos had 6 by this age.  He doesn't sleep great, and usually wakes up somewhere between 4 and 6 times a night.  In other words, he's pretty much the same as he's always been: a tiny little non-sleeper who has his mommy wrapped around his tiny pinky! We love you, Cade!

cade: the early days

For obvious reasons, I haven't been doing a lot of blogging lately.  For some reason I just don't feel right sitting at my computer when there's a mound of laundry to be done.  So in the few moments I let Sean steal my Cade from me each day, I do chores instead of blogging.  But right now he's asleep (something I was beginning to fear he'd forgotten how to do altogether), and GCDS is on its lunch break.  So I'm at least posting a few quick pics of my little guy.  He's so darn cute.

Cade and Grammy (my mom) who came to stay with us for a few days after he was born.  It was so nice having my parents here - I miss them!

This picture isn't staged - this is what I found on my bed one lazy morning after I got out of the shower.  (Don't worry - if you look at the top of the pic you'll see daddy was there keeping a close eye on everything.)  Cade's big brothers and sister love him soooo much.  Although the picture doesn't indicate it, I think the feeling is mutual.

Sleeping beauty.

Bath time with big sister.  Clearly she's having WAY more fun than he is.  Maybe he doesn't like princess tub toys.

Hanging in Elliott's room while she and mommy play princesses - a recurring theme for the poor little guy.

Ok - I know these are supposed to be Cade pictures - but I had to throw this one in.  Elliott found these ancient (like 10+ years) pajamas that used to be Kellen's and has loved wearing them around (despite the fact that they're obviously too little for her).

Daddy and the little half of the little Giffords.  Poor daddy looks a little tired.  That'll happen when you have two children who don't sleep through the night and only one mommy.  He has been so helpful.

I mentioned in my last post that Cade came home in 4 inches of snow.  Fewer than 3 weeks later, he went to the park for the first time - crazy January in Tennessee.  Here's a pic of all my boys enjoying the outdoors.

Check out these cheeks (and that baby mohawk)!

Elliott was having too much fun sliding to pose for any pictures.

What a mess.

I had a real photographer take some real pictures of little man, and hopefully I'll be able to post some of those soon.  Stay tuned...

introducing cade

Caedmon Cross Gifford made his debut on January 10, 2011 at 2:30 a.m.  I haven't been the best blogger for not sharing the news here sooner, but doing so requires me to put him down for a few minutes, and just look at that picture.  Would YOU put him down??

His labor was more challenging than my last 2 (which were so brief that it would've been hard for Cade to be easier).  And after 10 weeks of contractions, it was a little difficult to tell when the "real deal" had started.  Sunday afternoon I started feeling a little rougher than usual, but we went to church that evening anyway.  Figuring we were nearing the end of my (likely) last pregnancy, Sean took this picture of me Sunday afternoon.

After we got home from church, the contractions seemed to be ramping up, so we started timing.  An hour and a call to the midwife later, we were on our way to the birth center.  With my history of rapid labor, they wanted me to get there before the snow started falling.  So we went in around 9:00 p.m.  And we waited.  Things didn't get really moving until around 1:45 Monday morning.  Here's my very last pregnant pic, just before getting in the tub Cade would be born in.

And at 2:30, he arrived!  My sister-in-law Allison had come to the birth center, in the snow and in the middle of the night with her newborn in tow, to be with our kids because Sean's parents were out of the country and my parents weren't coming in to town for another few days.  A HUGE thanks to Aunt Ali for that!  Her hardest job was keeping the impatient siblings from going crazy - they couldn't wait to get their hands on Baby Cade.

 Allison had also driven out to Strawberry Plains to get Sean's grandmother, so she could be there for the birth.  She has 4 grandchildren, and this was her 12th great-grandchild, and yet it was the first time she'd ever seen a baby born.  We were so glad she could share the experience with us.

 Getting all checked out.  A perfect 40 weeker!  (Wonder if there's some sort of award for having 2 babies in a row ON their due date??)

All the little giffords with mommy.  Could I be any more blessed?

And the first shot of our new family of 6. 

 About 8:30 a.m., we were ready to go home!

Through the night, I'd been watching snow pile up outside my window.  We had to take our new darling home in the midst of a snow storm!

But he was snug as a bug on the ride home.  Awe.  Soooo little.

 Home sweet home!

His sister is definitely a big fan.  She loves her baby brother.

 We all do.  Wyatt got a little snuggle time with him.

He's also a big fan of sucking his thumb.  I haven't had a thumb sucker before!

I have to brag on my awesome husband for a bit.  You know how I said Cade was born at 2:30 in the morning?  And I mentioned there was a snow storm?  Well, the Amazing Mr. Gifford took his big boys sledding at 11:00 a.m. that day - just a few hours after Cade was born! - because he'd promised them they'd go.  We had just purchased new sleds the day before in anticipation of the big storm, and they were determined to use them.

 If that doesn't make him dad of the year, I don't know what would! 

fun with [con]fractions!

 Thanks for the calls and emails of those who are checking in on us.  I haven't updated in a few days because (thankfully!) there isn't much news to report.  #4 is still cooking - and still nameless.  I'm 33 weeks now and had a negative fibronectin test Thursday, which means it's very likely I'll still be pregnant for at least the next 2 weeks.  Amazing to me, considering I was told at 30 weeks that I could deliver within 48 hours.  Thank God, and thank you all for the prayers. 

In the meantime, I keep having contractions, usually about every 10-15 minutes.  I think we're all sick of the word contraction around here.  We've even made up different words for them.  Kellen calls them "confractions" - a name he devised (not surprisingly) while we were doing math one day.  Elliott calls them "tractions," as in, when I can't do something she's asked me to do, "Mommy, you need to stop you tractions?"  "You tractions", not "your." And she asks in the sweetest little concerned voice.  Heartbreaking. 

So my tree isn't up like apparently everyone else's in the whole wide world, and we may put up only one this year instead of three like we usually do, but I'm still here and #4 is staying put.  We have even more to be thankful for this year than usual!

making the best of bedrest

We're almost 2 weeks into the bedrest sentence, and let's start with the good news:  I'm 32 weeks now.  Yay!  I suppose the idea of bedrest is appealing (lounging around, reading books, catching up on correspondence), but the reality is altogether different.  Still, we're making the best of it.  

My parents were here last week to help out, and, because we're not really sure what this holiday season will bring, Kellen wanted to get a jump on a favorite Christmas activity:  cookie making and decorating.  So on top of the laundry, cooking and cleaning that Grammy was doing, she made cookies with the boys.  Since the Christmas cookie-cutters are all in the attic (I hope - I actually have no idea where they are), they used our heart-shaped cutters to make all sorts of cute creations.

Recognize this blue one?  That was Kellen's Cookie Monster creation.  I *think* the red one was supposed to be Wyatt's attempt to make Elmo (can you tell their sister is into Sesame St?), but it turned out a little scary looking.

I'm also trying to use this time to get a jump on my Christmas shopping.  Online, of course.  If I don't make some headway, Sean has threatened to rent a wheelchair and wheel me around the mall and Toys R Us so he isn't stuck on Santa duty alone.  The kids made their annual Christmas wish lists - I love, love, love these.  Even Elliott made one this year.  Bet you can guess which one's hers.

And, since I have some time, I've been working on our Christmas stockings.  El hasn't had one which matches the rest of us since she came along two years ago, and with #4 on his merry way here, I figured it was time for a whole new set.  Six new stockings, coming right up!  They're in progress and pretty boring right now, but these things are gonna be A-DOR-ABLE.  Can't wait to post pics of the finished products. 

We've been doing our best to pass the time.  And I have to say how unbelievably grateful I am to all our family and friends for their help:  they've made meals, done my laundry, shuttled my kids around, and just kept me company on afternoons when I thought I might die of boredom.  We are so blessed by all your help, and are praying you get back (and then some!) all the kindness you've shown to us.

#4 update

 As many of you have heard by now, #4 hasn't been behaving too well lately.  Awe, that's not true.  He's being perfect, but his mommy is apparently trying to boot him out before he's ready.  Many of you have been praying for us, and many more of you are wondering just what in the heck is going on!  For those who care to know more, here's the nutshell.

Sean and I spent the night in St. Mary's Wednesday-Thursday where I had consistent contractions every 2-3 minutes all night long, even after multiple doses of Brethine.  Finally, a 4th injection got them to slow down to every 15 minutes or so, and we got to go home. 

But not for long.  A few hours after we got home, the frequency had ramped back up to every 5 minutes, and I was sent to UT hospital, the only one in our area capable of caring for a baby born at 30 weeks.  It was that reality (hearing my midwife say, "I'm sending you to the one place that can handle a 30-week preemie") that officially freaked us out.  While we were there, I once again had every 2-4-minute contractions.  The bad news is, they couldn't do anything to stop them.  The good news is, all the other indicators of preterm delivery are negative at this point.  

So here's where we are now:  we're home (thank God!) and I'm on bedrest.  I'm still having contractions, but they're only about every 10 minutes now (only - ha!).  And while I'm considered to be in "preterm labor," fortunately "preterm delivery" is not considered imminent.  And I'm no longer freaked out.  I feel all the prayers and support of friends and family, and really am trying to be good and sit still.  The boys are doing everything they can to help - they've been tidying the house this morning and Wyatt figured out how to use my Tassimo and made me a cup of decaf cappuccino.  Even Elliott is trying:  she's using a stool to get herself on and off the potty.  ;-)  And (hooray!!) mom and dad are coming to the rescue, and will be here this weekend.

In short, we're doing well, and are gonna try really hard to keep this little guy put for a few more weeks.  Just do me a favor, and no one do the math to figure out how many contractions I'd have if I have one every 10 minutes from now til January 15th.  I wouldn't want to freak out all over again.

 

GCDS2.0

It's been an action-packed 24-hours for this prego.  We started yesterday with an early morning ultrasound.  Then we took in a midday movie with some super cool peeps, Kellen's sometimes-twin Alex and his mom and sister.  (Warning:  if you're going to see Charlie St. Cloud, take tissues.  I had already read the book, knew exactly what to expect, and bawled like a baby anyway.  Thanks for the tissue pack, Beth!)  I finished off the day with late night coffee with my BFF and didn't get in bed til almost midnight!  

Cramming so much fun in one day can only mean one thing - summer's closing and school's firing up.  True enough - today is the first day of school at GCDS!

We're really excited about GCDS2.0.  We've revamped the classroom, gotten new interactive curriculum, and ordered these T-shirts, which we love.  I mean, you gotta show a little school spirit, right?  Here's what the back looks like:

A little tongue in cheek, but perfect for this bunch of learning-loving hillbillies.  (Oh we're hillbillies, all right.  Just ask my family in other parts of the country.)  

What was that?  Think I heard the school bell - off we go!