Sorry for the long delay – things got pretty busy around here last weekend!

I had originally planned on putting a note up here on the blog that we were headed to the hospital, but we never got a chance. We had our last labor and delivery class on Saturday, but even though we attended the class, I was already in labor. The irony of that cracks me up – I was in labor, attending a labor and delivery class. :O)

After the class we headed upstairs to the Birthplace and things were pretty much a whirlwind from there. I figured that I was in labor before we went though, so since we were headed to the hospital anyway, we put my labor bag in the car, just in case.

They ended up sending me home to rest, but we headed back there a couple hours later when my water broke.

Little Caleb made his appearance Sunday morning at 7:50 a.m. He was 8 pounds 4 oz, and 21 inches long. It was a long labor – 29 hours – but so worth it. I still can’t believe God has blessed us with another precious son!

We were able to come home from the hospital on Tuesday. The past two days have been a blur of getting used to two children and trying to figure out where to put all this extra baby stuff. :O)

I’m feeling pretty good. Stephen’s been absolutely wonderful, waiting on me hand and foot. I’m so thankful that he has the whole week off work! Then on Saturday, my parents are flying in for a visit.

Now. . .for some pictures. . .

My two boys

Daddy and our two boys

He’s a spittin’ image of his daddy, but he’s a Mama’s boy through and through. I’m loving that! S is glad he’s here too, and is a GREAT big brother!

I am so blessed!

Yesterday I had my weekly OB visit. Based on the exam, the doctor told me that I’m near delivery and that he wouldn’t be surprised at all if I went into labor by the evening (sorry y’all, but I’m not comfortable sharing details about dilation, etc. right here on the internet). So when the contractions started later, I got excited.

We went to bed, and when I woke up the first time, I realized the contractions had stopped. Grr. I was really hoping! Then come morning, when they started again and were coming every 6 minutes, I started getting really excited. I called my doctor and they wanted me to come in. Stephen took the day off work (the van has a flat tire right now so until we can get it fixed, we’re down to the one vehicle) and took me to the office. He was just as excited as I was – he is so excited to meet this baby!

In the practice I go to, patients see whichever doctor is on call. I was pleased that I was able to see the same doctor that saw me yesterday. He told me that there was no change so far, but to come back in a few hours to be checked again.

We went back later, and again there was no change. I was very disappointed, but not surprised since the contractions had backed off again in between visits.

I told Stephen I felt like the little boy who cried, “wolf” too many times – I didn’t want people to think I was just making things up. Even the nurse was really nice about it, telling me that that happens pretty often with first pregnancies. Maybe it has something to do with not knowing what “real” labor really feels like. . .all I know is that when I was having contractions 6 minutes apart for two hours. . .that seemed pretty real to me!

So we sit back and continue to wait. I’m 38 1/2 weeks now, so not much longer either way. But I sure was disappointed to find out I was wrong!

My husband just cracks me up though. He told me Sunday night that instead of buying me flowers when the baby arrives, he’s going to buy me a broom and a mop. Today he was making me walk laps around the car before we left for the doctor – to “get the labor going.” I love how he makes me laugh!

After waiting so long to become a mother, there are moments now that make me look back and say that it was worth the wait. I just had one of those moments.

S and I were eating lunch together. He looked at me and said, “Mommy, I love you. You’re so beautiful.” Then he grinned his biggest grin – with an adorable three-year-old face covered in tomato sauce from his Spanish rice.

How can I not love that? It was a long wait to become a mother; one that at times I thought would never end. But moments like this – they make it well worth it.

God is so good to me!

Just had the most interesting conversation with S about drinking water and how it’s good for us. His reply cracks me up.

“I need some water.”

“Why do you need water?”

“For my frogs.”

“You don’t have frogs.”

“Yes, I do. They’re in my ear.”

“You don’t have frogs in your ear.”

“Yes, I do. Baby ones.”

Oh my! I’m tempted to wonder what he’s going to come up with next, but I’m sure it will be just as funny. . .this kid has quite the sense of humor!

For months I’ve been praying that God would provide us with another vehicle. I love our van, but it is an ’89 Chevy Astro van with over 288,000 miles on it. It’s been a great vehicle, but it’s getting tired. So I began praying for the next vehicle.

To make a crazy-long story short, we have a new car now. Well – I say new, because it’s new to us. It’s a Toyota Camry. It’s a few years old, but is in great condition and drives well. I love it.

One thing I am thankful for is the gas mileage it gets. It seems like we can go for forever without filling up the tank – and compared to the 11mpg the van gets – I’m very thankful. Especially if you consider that some weeks Stephen drives as many as 500 miles for work (he does computer tech work, and drives to different companies each week).

I love seeing answers to prayer like this. I prayed that God would give us a car, and He did. We will save money on gas, and the cost of the car fits well within our budget. After being a one vehicle family for almost two years, I’m happy to have a second car again. I really don’t go much, but still, having a vehicle here with me every day is so much more convenient. I am so thankful!

It absolutely amazes me sometimes how fun something like cloth diapers can be. We used cloth with S, so when we found out about this baby, we figured we’d use cloth this time around too. I wanted to make some changes though – while I didn’t mind the folding and pinning and using a cover, I wanted an easier system for this little one than I had with S. . .especially now that I’ll have a pre-schooler and a newborn in the house.

Don’t get me wrong – I’m not against using disposable diapers. But after using cloth for one baby, I just can’t justify spending that much money on disposables now. It saves enough money that I don’t mind the extra work of cloth. And really – the only extra work (outside of actually sewing them) involved is throwing an extra load or two of laundry in a week. I can handle that.

A friend asked me if I would use the cloth diapers from the store if I had them. I do have them – probably a good three dozen or more of the typical storebought pre-folded cloth diapers. The problem with them is that it is very hard to find good quality ones anywhere around here. Most of what you can find is so thin that they’re only good for burp cloths. I found that out the hard way with S. And the thicker ones that I do have are pretty big. Great for an older baby. . .not so great for a newborn. That’s another lesson I learned the hard way with S. Seeing a newborn baby with a massive diaper so big he has to almost do the splits to keep the diaper on. . .um. . .I’ll pass this time on that one.

Toward the end of S’s time in diapers, I made him some fleece diaper covers. I really enjoyed sewing them, and it was nice knowing that I was making something that he needed for such a low price. Some of the diapering stuff I made him I was even able to make with supplies I already had in the house. When I started mentally going through the cloth diaper supplies I have for a newborn, I realized that even though I could use what I had, I wanted an eaiser system.

After some asking around and a whole bunch of research online about the myriad of cloth diapering systems, I finally decided I wanted to try using pocket diapers this time. I really wanted some All-in-one diapers, but didn’t want to have to make or buy a couple dozen new diapers each time the baby grew out of the ones we already had.

Someone recommended the Mama Bird pocket diaper pattern. It’s free, and comes in several sizes. I made up 11 of the newborn size, using fleece for the outside (it’s water resistant) and flannel for the inside. The best part – I already had all the fleece and most of the flannel in the house from other projects. I only had to buy a bit of flannel to finish making them! And since the flannel was $1 a yard at Wal-Mart, even better.

The navy and light blue ones I tried to lengthen the tabs some, but forgot to increase the seam allowance too, so they ended up with really narrow tabs. They’ll still work, but I like the wider ones better. My father-in-law likes them because they’re Carolina Blue. That wasn’t intentional – when I bought the light blue flannel, I was just trying to get flannel that would coordinate with the fleece I already had – but since Stephen’s a Carolina fan too, it works.

I put velcro (well, actually it was Touch Tape) closures on these to make them even easier. I will stuff the opening with flannel and terrycloth soaker pads that I made to go with S’s diapering system. Nice and easy all-in-one diapers that anyone can use. They probably won’t fit for that long, but I’ll be able to use them on the next baby if God decides to send us another one some day.

Then I discovered the pattern for Rita’s Rump Pocket – it’s a pocket diaper that fits most sizes. I was thrilled! It’s pretty similar to the Mama Bird pattern that I used, except it’s larger and can be folded down to fit a smaller baby. I actually liked sewing this one better – it doesn’t have elastic at the back opening like the Mama Bird pattern does (to make it easier to fold), and it sews up a lot faster.

A friend had some fleece that she wasn’t using, so she gave it to me. I like all the different combinations of the flannel and fleece. My favorite is the one in the upper right hand corner. You can’t see it very well in the picture, but it’s light blue and white plaid, with a solid light blue inside.

After I had decided to sew so many diapers, I mentioned it to a lady at church. She told me that she had done cloth with her babies, and asked me if I wanted her cloth diapers. I said, “Sure,” and she invited us over to come pick them up. I was NOT prepared for what she had for me. There were so many diapers that it filled a plastic garbage bag so full we couldn’t tie it closed! They weren’t the cheap, no-good “regular” cloth diapers – these were the fitted ones that you just place under the baby and pin closed. No folding. She gave me several covers and even some crib sheets and waterproof covers. Between the diapers that she gave me and the ones that I made, I should be able to easily go three days between washing diapers, possibly even longer. What a blessing!

I’d say we are definitely set for cloth diapers for a while!