3 weeks!

Hudson was three weeks old yesterday! And these three weeks have flown by!

We were excited to have my sisters come and stay for a short visit last weekend, and then my mom come and stay with us this past week. She was a huge help during the day and even the evenings. Up until she came I had been kinda hard headed about taking it easy and just resting - have I ever been one to just sit still?! But just like a good Mama should, she took the baby each afternoon and made me rest. And it was probably a good thing that she did. I don't think I realized how tired I actually was.

Hudson is doing great! He's nursing well, sleeping better (minus one feeding sometime in the middle of the night that he decides to stay awake for and after), and is starting to stay awake more during the day, too. I'm not really trying to schedule him, but more of getting him in a routine. I know the whole Baby Wise model is very strict with eating, playing, and sleeping times, which I'm not a huge fan of, but I do like the routine of eat, play, sleep. He's starting to pick up on it, and within the past day or so, has started nursing every three hours, instead of two, all on his own. I never knew how much of a difference an hour can make! My goal is really to just get him close to a three hour routine of eat, play, sleep. If we can do that, and he can start sleeping through the night a little more, which is doing as well, then I'll be happy.

Here's my baby boy - 3 weeks old!

God Bless

Growing already

When we first started getting clothes for Hudson, looking at the newborn onesies, I thought there is no way he will fit in these! They looked so small! And I really didn't know what to take to the hospital with us for him as a coming home outfit, so I actually took two outfits - one in a newborn size, one in a 0-3 size. Being only 7.12lbs, he fit into the newborn, and it was even a little big for him.
Well yesterday we had to go to the doctor, and I put the same outfit on him. It didn't swallow him anymore! At the office, they weighed him, and he was already 8.2lbs. We had taken him last Monday to the doctor since we were released early from the hospital, and he had lost a few ounces, down to 7.6lbs. So in a week he had gained that back, plus 6 more ounces! Our baby boy is growing!

Here are two pictures of him in the outfit - you can see that he fills it out more. He looks so cute!!

God Bless!

The love for a son

This morning, as I was picking up Hudson out of the bassinet, I had this overwhelming sense of love and joy. This little person was my son, given to us as a gift from God. The greatest and most precious gift anyone could ever ask for.
But what really made me emotional, was thinking about how much I love my son, and I've only really known him for 5 days, and then thinking about my Heavenly Father and His love for me, but also His love for His son. God sent His son, my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, here to Earth to die - and to die for me. I've only had Hudson for 5 days, but if someone told me that I had to give him up, I would be beside myself. I've always known about God's love for me, and known about Him sending His son to die for me, but I don't think I ever comprehended the depth of that love until I had my own son. All I could do was cry and thank God for His love, for His son, for the sacrifice He and Jesus both made on the cross, and also for my son. Hudson is a gift far greater than imaginable, and the love I have for him is probably incomparable to the love God has for us. He loves us so much that He sent His only son to die for us. If that isn't humbling, I don't know what it.

I was reminded of these verses:

Ephesians 2:4-5 
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ

Romans 5:8

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

1 John 4:10
This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

I thank God multiple times, every day, for this precious, little boy.

Introducing...

Hudson Noah Reid!

Paul and I are proud to announce that Hudson Noah Reid was born August, 9 at 1:54pm. He was 7 lbs, 12 oz, and 21.5in long.

His story -

My due date, Wednesday the 7th, had come, so needlesstosay, I was anxious to meet my son! Wednesday afternoon I started getting really bad lower back pain - probably back labor, but not really sure.

Thursday, we had a doctor's appointment to check my progress, have an ultrasound, and talk to the doctor about how we wanted to proceed - they said I could go over due date by one week if I wanted to wait for him to come on his own. It took everything in me to get through the appointment - my back was killing me and by this point, I was feeling sick to my stomach as well. I had already started to dilate and efface, so my doctor, again, offered to induce (they offered at 36 wks to induce at 39 wks - I declined). Initially, I had no intention of inducing - I wanted to have the baby naturally without any medication, and I was going to be strong and do it! To be induced, they give you Pitocin, which speeds up and increases labor - and also has a bad rap for being painful and intensifying contractions, thus requiring an epidural, which again, I did not want. However, considering the state I was in - extreme back pain and sick to my stomach - I decided to go ahead and accept the induction offer. They said we could induce the following morning - and knowing that I could meet my son the next day was an offer I couldn't resist. So I accepted.

However - by that afternoon I started having contractions - the back pain had been back labor. I laid in bed or bounced on my labor ball with my IPhone and baby app, and started tracking my contractions. They were textbook - every 2-3 minutes, lasting for a minute consecutively for two hours. On to the hospital! We went to triage, they hooked me up to machines to track baby's heart rate and my contractions, and we started the one hour wait. They checked me when I got in, and in order to be admitted, I had to make progress and actually be in active labor. While I was having contractions, they were only early labor, and therefore, I wasn't making progress - so they sent us home to rest and come back in the morning as planned for the induction. I got a shot of morphine to help with the pain and to help me sleep, and we went back to the house to try to get some rest.

Friday morning we got up at 4:30, left the house by 5:20, and were admitted to the hospital by 5:45am. By 7:45am I was all hooked up, and the Pitocin was started. At first, the contractions were bearable, but by 10:00am I was ready for the epidural. The anesthesiologist came in at 10:45 and started the epidural, and things finally started to feel better. By 12:30pm, I was fully dilated and ready! They wanted me to "labor down" for half an hour, so around 1:10pm I started pushing. He was here at 1:54pm!!

Was it the labor and delivery I had envisioned and wanted - not necessarily. But did I end up with my baby son in my arms - absolutely! And I can't ask for anything more. He is everything I ever prayed for, and everything I ever wanted. The Lord has blessed me beyond imagination, and I am forever grateful.

Holding this sweet little boy in my arms and on my chest has brought more joy and love into my life than I knew possible. It's still surreal some times - looking at him, and having him here with us, but I will never take a moment with him for granted. He has been in my prayers for a very long time, and will continue to be for the rest of his life.

And now the pictures -

40 weeks, 2 days - leaving for hospital

Just born!

 

Uncle Scott and Aunt Anna

4 generations of Reid men

Ready to go home!

  

God Bless!

Gallery Wall

1. It's not easy being 39 weeks, 3 days pregnant - each day I wake up and think - "This could be the day!" But, so far, not yet. "Waiting, sweetheart. Just waiting."

2. Some of the best advice given to me was "Do not sit around and just wait". Ha! So I try to stay busy with whatever I can.

3. I like being productive, or knowing that I've done at least one productive thing all day - from laundry, to cleaning, to nursery decorating, to whatever! Not working this summer has been great, but I do miss the productivity of a school day.

4. A project that I have been putting off since we bought the house has been creating a gallery wall. I was too scared intimidated to do it.

5. I decided to tackle to the gallery wall this wall.

I had the wall picked when we were looking at the house. It's in the living room, across from the fire place, big, open, and we can't put any furniture on it because that would block the path and flow of the room. So I knew I wanted to use it for a gallery wall. But here comes the indecisive part of me -

1. Frames - should they all match, but vary in size to accommodate pictures, or should they all be different and eclectic 
2. Placement - clean lines and all the pictures fit into an invisible box or should they be placed randomly
3. Pictures - all photos or some other artwork mixed in; plus only new photos or some older ones thrown in too
4. Nailing the wall - enough said! I get scared and nervous every time I put a nail in the wall - my record is probably for every correctly placed nail, there's at least 1, sometimes 2, hidden holes that were not correct

However, I finally decided this needed to get this done before the baby came because once he's here, I figured I really wouldn't have the time to do it. After searching the internet and Pinterest for ideas, I finally bought some frames a couple of weeks ago, but each week I continued to put off actually getting them on the wall. Well, the nursery is done, so there goes that excuse; I've read two books and needed a break, so that excuse was gone too. Time to just do it. 

*Disclaimer - I read a few blogs about hanging gallery walls and the methods behind hanging multiple pictures. After considering my options, I decided to go with my own method. Probably not the best idea - but lesson learned. 

On to the wall!! 

Here's the wall - another great blank canvas.

I put the frames on the floor, playing with various arrangements, and finally decided on this one. As you can see, the frames are all different shapes and sizes, mostly black, but two have gold and black. And I used the Bible verse and an R along with the frames.

Next, I sat down, and very meticulously calculated out, based on the wall length and the proper height for hanging pictures, where each picture needed to be hung. I diagramed the wall with the pictures, put the size of the frames in each corresponding box, then above it put the length over (from the edge of the wall), and up (from the floor) that each frame would be hung. Plus, the measurements that would separate the frames. Having taught Pre-K and K for the past 3 years, my math skills were seriously tested - I failed at the decimal to fraction conversions part of it. Thank goodness for calculators.

 My cheat sheet of conversions. Sorry Aunt Amy, I never was good at math. 

However - of course - once I start actually putting the frames up, my calculations are off, and I can't seem to get the pictures to line up how they are supposed to. Imagine that.
Gratefully, Mr. Reid and Paul offered to help. Calculations thrown aside and experience stepping in, they were able to hang all of the frames working off of the previous one just hung. No calculators. No writing equations. Just using their noggins, rulers, and a pencil. My mind just does not work that way. But now that I've seen it done, and helped them work through some of it, I think I could do a better job of it next time - if/when there is a next time.

The finished result. 

 I am really pleased with how it turned out. I think it adds a lot of character to the wall and the room.

The only thing missing are the actual pictures for the frames. I'm thinking I'll find one of the Reid family, one of the Manning family, a couple of just me and Paul, and then rest can be saved for Baby Boy photos. 

All in all - it was an interesting experience. I learned a lot about my self, hanging pictures, and how to over come when the perfect plan just falls through. 

God Bless