Navy and Green on David's Scene

It is funny how you do things so differently the second time around, or at least I did.  David's room was easy and a lot of fun for me to put together.  Before I even knew I was having a boy, I spotted this sweet little wall hanging at a lovely store in Rice Village, Olivine.  It was only $20 and I fell in love with it, but did not get it at the time.  The literal day I found out it was a boy, I called them and put the last one on hold, then ran and picked it up on my lunch break.

Why elephants?  Not because they happen to be trendy right now, but because Cary loves them and always has.  He has a really neat little collection of elephants that he has been adding to over the years and I most certainly did not want to do a football theme, his other love.  This was Cary's boy, so I wanted it to reflect his personality in some special way.

So, my main goal was to coordinate the chair, aqua ottoman (I intentionally bought incase our 2nd was a boy) and furniture from Margo's room.  I also knew this time that I did not want to spend a fortune on bedding as I was not too impressed with Serena and Lily for Margo.  I was so happy that Pottery Barn Kids came out with basics that almost mirror Serena and Lily.  I am definitely more happy with the bumper and skirt, but am not crazy about the way the sheets fit or their softness.

Nonetheless, I started out wanting to do green and aqua to coordinate the ottoman and the elephant picture.  After showing friends some inspiration, I ended up leaning more towards navy and aqua, which I just couldn't seem to make work and settled on navy and green with aqua accents.  What resulted was my inspiration board which evolved a lot.  I returned the pillow because the colors were not right, picked a different mobile and decal, and got polka dotted sheets.

As with Margo's nursery, I went to ETSY for the decorative items and I love love love the mobile and pictures I found.  The toy bag was an inexpensive find on Amazon after I almost spent a small fortune on a basket at Restoration Hardware.  I bought the white hooks in my original inspiration design from Anthropologie, but returned them when my mother-in-law found some neat wooden ones that provided great contrast.  I purchased an identical bookshelf from PBK that Margo has and reused a Restoration Hardware lamp that was in our guest room.  I also purchased a wall decal with a big letter D and David's name but it does not work in the layout of our new house, so will probably never get used.


His crib in our old house when it was all perfect and bright!



David loves his room!

Crib in the new house, a bit more lived in.

I spent very little time on putting this together and I think it came out great!  I think I might even like it more than I did Margo's nursery.  So I present to you...David''s nursery.  I hope he loves it as much as I do.  One thing is for sure, he loves looking at his mobile and the contrast of the elephant pictures.

Rodeo Fun for our Honey Bun

Playing catch-up for the sake of capturing my memories...

Back in March, Cary took the day off and his mom babysat David, so we could have our first big fun outing since David's birth.  I was itching to get out of the house and Margo was eager for some excitement!  What better than the Houston Rodeo?!?

Margo is still asking to go to the rodeo at least once a week, so I know she loved it this year without a doubt.  We did everything... petting zoo, tractor rides, the farmer's market, rides, ate bad food, pet bunnies and so much more.  I absolutely love what the rodeo has to offer for kids.


Everyone loves babies!

We arrived just as it opened which was perfect as there was hardly anyone there and no lines plus front row views of baby pigs and calves.  Margo said her favorite activity was the petting zoo.  She was so sweet to all of the animals and probably could have spent the whole day hanging out with them.  Her least favorite activity, judging by the picture, was the Jeep ride.  Bless her heart, she was so excited until it took off and mommy could not get to her.  Just another growing experience for our sweet girl.

Feeding the chickens!

Poor baby!

I relished in my special time with our girl and love nothing more than experiencing these moments through a child's eyes.  The awe and excitement is contagious and makes everything especially fun again.  We can't wait to create many more memories for year's to come at the HLSR! 

David Grew in Month Two

Month Two was much of the same with our sweet David.  Poor guy has struggled so much with his little immature tummy.  His sweet demeanor is really apparent behind his tough times and when he does feel good, he is an absolute joy!

Our Darling David!

Some days were good in month two and some were terrible.  On the upside, David started sleeping for period of 5 to 8 hours in his second month, thanks to the help of our night nanny.  Yes, the fatigue was becoming so overwhelming for me that we hired an AMAZING night nanny.  Seems weird, I know, but I am not ashamed to say I needed the help and it is the best possible thing I could have done for our whole family!  Thanks to my sister's generosity, we were able to have Tracie's help two or three nights a week for a few months.  She was previously a NICU nurse, had several children of her own (one being very premature) and she was incredibly knowledgable.  She was able to explain things and recognize things in David that I would never been aware of.  I highly recommend it if you can afford it, expecially after your first child when it is much harder to rest.  It was like having a live-in doctor/super mom at nights.

Sometimes he sleeps like an angel!

Back to our beautiful boy, right when he turned two months old, he started giving us great big smiles and is cooing and gooing just like Margo did.  It looks like we are going to have two talkers on our hands.  I will probably not get a word in edgewise!  He is holding his head up very well and is already pushing himself up on his tummy, probably because I am breaking the rules and sleeping him on his tummy.  He is eating well, taking in about 4 ounces per 6 feedings a day and is not the best napper.  With the encouragement of my sister, my niece, the night nanny and our pediatrician I have already let him cry it out for no more than five minutes at nap time and it has worked wonders after only about three times.  Now, he goes down without any kind of a fight, but unfortunately his tummy keeps him from staying asleep.  He wakes screaming, I will burp him or help him toot and then he refuses to go back down, so I am just going with the short naps for now.  Inevitably, he will have a really sleepy day to make up for it every few days or so.

Our little Go Braghs!

In David's second month, we went on his first road trip and it was a long one.  Actually, it was the longest even Margo had ever been on at 6 hours.  David and Margo both did awesome and it is funny how much easier it is to do things with the 2nd.  I would have never dreamed of a road trip with Margo at that age.  We went to my sister's amazing river house in Menard with my dad and his wife, Connie, and my nephew and his family.  I miss my dad terribly, so I treasured every moment.  Margo got to play with Lucas, her cousin who is only a month younger, and my dad and Connie finally got to meet David for the 1st time.  Although I was tired, it was a wonderful visit and it was beautiful in the pecan grove on the river--did my soul good and was so good for Margo to experience Mother Nature in its purest form. 

Grandpaw and David!

A Happy Morning to You!

Precious girl!

A Love Affair with the World's Largest Sucker!

Despite all of the tummy issues, David is growing beautifully.  At his two month visit, his stats, according to the CDC growth charts for premature babies, were:

Weight:  10.2 lbs (71%)
Height:  22.2" (81%)
Head:  14.8" (49%)

I was so scared to have a boy and not know what to do with him, but I am so happy to have a boy.  It is fun to experience the other side of things and I love him to bits!  We are an incredibly blessed family of four!

Leaving is Hard, but Great Things are in our Cards!

In BIG BIG BIG news for the Weavers, we have made a hard, but exciting decision to move to Central Texas.  Hard because we are leaving people and things we love and the timing is difficult with a newborn, but exciting because this is a wonderful opportunity for Cary and our family.  Who wouldn't want to live in Central Texas and raise their family there?

Cary and I met while I was in College at Southwestern University in Georgetown.  He went to UT, but we spent countless hours in the quaint little town of Georgetown.  We most definitely fell in love there, drinking wine on the San Gabriel River and seeing him love my kitty, Tucker, as if he was his own.  Our first apartment after I graduated and we became engaged was in Georgetown.  Jobs brought us to Houston, but our hearts were always back in Central Texas where the weather is fantastic, the pace is slower and the people are more wholesome.  We even made a failed move to New Braunfels where we absolutely fell in love with living there.  We were both devastated when it did not work out for us and we moved back to the big city.

This time I am confident we will not be failing.  Cary is suffering burnout at his current job and his consulting firm is being compromised by the loss of several government contracts.  He was always a good ole boy among Ivy League business men, and for that reason, he was actually the most successful one in all of the Texas division.  He just has the ability to relate to regular people and is genuine and hardworking in all he does.  For this reason, he is moving on to sales and project management for the largest A/C company in Central Texas where he will use his savvy people skills and energy efficiency knowledge. The company owner, Chris Strand, is the Mattress Mack of Austin with his quirky commercials and his local celebrity.  I had the pleasure of meeting him and have a great sense that he is a wonderful man and is seeing to it that Cary will succeed in every possible way. 

So... with a heavy heart yet a happy heart, we say goodbye to Houston and our dearest loved ones in one week.  OMG!!!  I am terrified of not having the help of my mom and mother-in-law with the kids, but I think God wants me to buck up and embrace my role as a SAHM and conquer it on my own.  I have already enrolled Margo in a fabulous little school that is 10 times cheaper than the schools here.  I have created a monthly cleaning, cooking and activity schedule to help me stay on task.  Cary and I have both agreed since Margo was born that we want nothing more than to raise our family there.  Let's face it, HISD is not ideal and we cannot afford private school.  The suburbs are not for me.  Our dreams are coming true before our very eyes and we feel so blessed. 

Things I will miss about Houston:

• Our family:  My mom, Cary's parents, my sister and her brood and Cary's cousin and aunt.
• Our amazing Houston friends and our dear neighbors across the street.
• The restaurants:  Specifically, Goode Co. Seafood, 100% Taquito, Zoe's Kitchen, The original Carrabas, Backstreet Cafe, Ouisies Table, Tiny Boxwoods, Brennan's, The Chocolate Bar, Sprinkles, Crave and soooooooooooo many more!
• Our incredible location and the closeness to amazing shopping.  Kuhl Linscomb is the greatest store on earth and I love Doodles, the amazing children's stores in Rice Village and Anthropologie right down the road is wonderful.
• Whole Foods:  Lord help me to be so far away from my fave place on earth in Georgetown, ha ha!  At least I will be saving us some money!
• The BEST pediatrician on earth.  Truly, I would recommend Dr. Wolens to the President of the United States.
• Our house where so many amazing and sometimes painful memories have been made.  Bringing our babies home, Margo's first steps, birthday parties and more.  I will never forget the day I found out my beloved brother-in-law died and receiving that horrific call as I lay under the oak tree on a beautiful day in January.  And... the things I love about our house, our giant windows that allow for the best natural light ever.  Those amazing oak trees and our original wood floors.

Things I will not miss about Houston:

• Living in the ghetto.  Just last week there was a homeless man driving a shopping cart full of cans down our street.
• The competitive and too fast paced business world.
• The high cost of everything. 
• The traffic.
• Worrying about the schools and our children's future.
• Our house that is entirely too small at 1700 square feet.  Our master bathroom is smaller than most people's closets, we have two storage units to store half of my clothes, baby items and more and the garage is overflowing.  Oak trees are not all they are cracked up to be when you deal with never ending bird crap, terrible pollen and the biggest flux of acorns you have ever seen.  The floors creak which wakes the babes, the drainage is terrible in our yard and we have pumped a small fortune into our aging beauty.

So, here we go, embarking on an incredible journey with our little brood.  Please pray for us, as I think this might be one of the hardest transitions I have ever had to face.  I am fully and totally in my comfort zone right now and change is hard for me.  I worry about my Margo and all these continued changes that are facing her as well.  However, my Cary is excited for the first time in a long time which is so refreshing and ultimately we are achieving exactly what we wished for.  How lucky are we?  God is good!

Bye bye house with so many memories.  I am pretty sure we only got yard of the month because we watered the yard during the drought--ha ha.

Month One was Going Swell Until Reflux Raised Hell!

Our sweet David was a dream baby starting out in his first weeks. He slept well, nursed perfectly and was easy peasy other than hating his bath. At his one week doctor appointment I remarked that I was so happy he did not have reflux like Margo. Our pediatrician quickly told me not to jinx it and to drop the subject. About one week later, reflux and other miserable symptoms began to rear their ugly head.

These pictures done by my friend, Deanna, are AMAZING!

David is not a refluxer like Margo. He spits up, but not with the same amount and frequency, so I just thought it was typical baby spit-up. As he started getting fussier and more uncomfortable, I attributed it to possible colic or bad gas. We started trying one remedy after another... Colic Calm (which I believe helps a lot), gas drops at every feed, the Windi (which works amazingly well when it is really needed) and probiotics. These were all only very temporary fixes if they helped at all. Sadly, at three weeks I tried eliminating dairy from my diet to see if it would help. There was a remarkable difference and when faced with the prospect of going dairy free (no bread even) along with my raging hormones, I decided I just could not be a good mom to my baby and make that kind of dietary sacrifice. I am sure some would heavily criticize me for this, but I felt it was best for the overall stability and health of our family and quit breastfeeding. Symptoms continued and evolved. Nonetheless, I was certain in my mind it wasn't reflux until...

One day David started having trouble eating. He was screaming through his feeds and clearly struggling in immense pain, talk about heartache for a mom to watch. Sadly, he was hungry but could not eat. As tears rolled down my face and I tried to comfort our suffering son, I decided it was time to see the doctor. The diagnosis was immediate of being reflux and I was really disappointed, but relieved at the same time to have an answer. We started David on Prevacid immediately and noticed almost instant improvement. Unfortunatelty, the improvement was not enough. Right around the same time, David started having bright green and horribly smelly poops, so bad we would have to tie up his diapers and put them in the garage. We started by splitting his Prevacid dose to AM and PM instead of once a day, again this helped but not enough. The doctor wanted to give it some time, being careful not to make too many changes at once. We waited and watched our son continue to suffer at times and were perplexed that some days he did great and others were utter hell. His inconsistent symptoms were confusing. Ultimiately, we ended up switching his formula to a hypoallergenic formula and after a week, his poop returned to the typical baby yellow and was not near as smelly. By his second month, we finally have things relatively under control. He has good times and bad and we are at least managing. I think his digestive system is immature due to his early delivery and it will just take time to improve. In the meantime, we will continue to manage his symptoms and try to keep him as comfortable as possible with the hope that as each month passes by, we will continue to see improvement.

On the positive side, David is growing incredibly well. He gained two pounds in two weeks and was 7 lbs. 14 oz. at one month. I am thrilled at least that his symptoms are not preventing him from thriving. He is very strong. He holds his head up very well and just like Margo, is very alert and aware when he is awake. He loves to look around and you can see him taking in his new world with awe. Fortunately, he loves to sleep and sometimes I worry that he is sleeping too much. Many days he sleeps from one feed to the next and I worry he will be awake all night, but that is never the case. He just loves to sleep.


Hi Monkey!

My boys!

David's first mohawk!

Margo is an amazing big sister! I am so very proud of her. She has shown very little jealousy and so much love for her baby brother! She always wants to know where he is and you can tell she thinks about him and worries about him. She loves to pat him, push him in the swing and is very proud of him! My heart melts at seeing her interact with him and you can tell he already thinks she is really special just in the way he looks at her!

It doesn't get sweeter than this!

She put the bear and book in his bed.

Yo, sis!  What up, bro!

Please pray for our little boy who has had a hard time adjusting to life outside of the womb. He is so sweet and sensitive and I just want him to feel better more than anything. Our nerves are frayed at times and I have experienced exhaustion to a level that I do not handle well. We are so grateful for the gift of our beautiful boy, but are also ready for it to get easier for all of us!

Everyone Cheer, David is Here!

This post is long past due, but I must say that being a mommy to two is a whole new ball game!  That aside, welcome our beautiful boy, David Victor Weaver!  He was born on January 29th at 10:28 am, weighing 5 lbs. 8 oz. and was 18.3" long at 36.4 weeks gestation.  We chose his name loosely inspired by my idol, Dave Matthews and of course the amazing Biblical figure King David, and his middle name is the same as Cary's and his late great grandfather's 1st name.

During the last two weeks of my pregnancy, my blood pressure started to rise and there was also a minor issue with the umbilical cord.  In the final weeks, I was on bed rest and undergoing a battery of tests on a weekly basis to make sure David and I were fine.  I never entered into full preeclampsia and my OB's goal was to make sure that didn't happen, so as my blood pressure got higher and became less controlled with bed rest, we decided to go ahead and deliver.

I was nervous this time because I have read that boy's lungs are not as strong and I did not have a steroid injection like I did with Margo.  Hearing David's big, loud cry was music to my ears when he was born and I just knew he was fine!  The second time around I knew what to expect and the delivery was an easy process.  The OR nurses were outstanding and I found the delivery process, even with a cesarean, to be so great!

My delivery experience with David was so much easier than with Margo in the sense that he did not have to go to the NICU.  At first, they weighed him 2 oz. lighter and were going to send him for observation.  I was so disappointed.  After I got into recovery, I was so excited when they rolled him in and told me they had reweighed him in the nursery and he could come with me.  I got to do kangaroo time with him and started successfully breast feeding him in recovery.  It was so special!  I remember waiting six arduous hours to see Margo and was so glad I could immediately start bonding with David.

Margo came to visit David that first afternoon and really did not know what to think. 
She was pretty uninterested, concerned about me and looked at David, gave him a few pats and kissed him on command.  Otherwise, she was dancing and exploring the hospital room all in her own little world.  I did see one twinge of jealousy as she was leaving and my mom was holding David.  She kept repeatedly asking Grannie to hold her and clearly did not like that she was holding David.  The 2nd day she came, she came in the room and called my sister, "mommy" (who was keeping her), how bazaar, asking her to hold her.  Not sure where that came from, but she was definitely confused.

During the hospital stay, I found it so much easier to care for David and it is true how quickly things come back to you.  Unlike Margo, he was successfully breast feeding every 2-3 hours and I could already tell he was going to be a sweet and sensitive boy.  Those were the two words I used to describe him and I think hold true to his little budding personality even today.  He had great alert periods and seemed excited and eager to join the world! 

This time around, I was not as happy with Women's Hospital, but perhaps it is because I was not on the post partum floor.  By the time I actually delievered, my blood pressure was so high that I had to be administered a magnesium drip, which they did not do with Margo even though my preeclampsia was more severe.  Apparently, this requires closer monitoring, so I was placed on the ante partum floor where pregnant women with complications are placed.  The nurses were not near as good and did not seem near as knowledgable about life after delivery.  Some of the nurses were flat out terrible!  I also had the most horrendous swelling you have ever seen in your life.  Frankly, it scared me... I truly looked like the elephant man and my skin was so tight it was unbelievable.  Diuretics did not help and I actually had to battle high blood pressure and severe swelling for several weeks after my delivery. 

After three long days in the hospital and a third day from hell on the pain spectrum, I was so excited to bring David home.  Cary and I brought him home to a quiet house while Margo was at school, did our best to get settled and he picked her up and brought her home to a whole new world.  I must say, Margo has done great!  She is a sweet and loving big sister, showing very little jealousy and more patience than I expected, given I gave her my undivided attention for the past 2.5 years.

I, on the other hand, experienced the usual pains of adjusting to life with a new baby.  I do not handle sleep deprivation well at all, but can handle most other crises with stoicism and strength.  You could find me wailing and lamenting over the adjustment of my new life with two and longing for my old life with one almost every day.  I think it is important to be realistic about having a baby and while it brings you so much joy and excitement, it does not come without a considerable amount of stress, fear, exhaustion, hormonal adjustments, etc...  I wish someone would have told me the first and second time around, how tough it would be.  They are completely different experiences and I must say I found it easier to adjust and bond with David, but it did not come without a lot of anxiety and struggles as well.

Nonetheless, I am thrilled to have a healthy baby boy and an amazing big sister to complete our little family that means so much to me--it is truly my world, this little brood of mine.  I know Margo and David are going to benefit so much from one another and that Cary and I are so lucky to have two precious children with the sweetest little spirits.  I count my blessings everyday for the gift of this new amazing life in David which has been so generously bestowed upon us.  We have the perfect family of four, although really imperfect in all reality, but perfect in my eyes and I could not be happier.  Welcome, David, my beautiful boy, my sweet little buddy!  I cannot wait to get to know you!

In the meantime...

Being a new mom with a toddler has really been an adjustment for me.  I cannot seem to get a blog update done to welcome our sweet David.  I like to note all the details for my future memories.

So... In the meantime, here is a series of funny videos of Margo.  She has a new favorite activity.  Her babies and animals all have poop, she changes them, puts them to sleep and sometimes feeds them.  Her imagination is incredible to me!  I don't know where she comes up with this stuff, but I am guessing this is from observing me with David.

These are a bit lengthy, but so worth it in my opinion.  Enjoy our funny girl busy at play!