Samuel - 1 Month

It is really hard to believe it has already been one month since you arrived!  Those first few nights were not the most fun we've ever had ;) but we made it through.  We had some issues with your growth at first.  Mommy wanted to breastfeed you exclusively, but when you hadn't regained your birth weight by 4-1/2 weeks we decided to supplement you with formula.  Once we did that, you started growing like a weed, and fluffing up very nicely!  You are starting to look in the direction of anyone who talks to you, and I have gotten you to smile after I tickle you (only once, but still it is a start!).  You've got your Daddy wrapped around your finger, and it warms my heart to see him with you.  You love baths in your little bathtub.  I've noticed that you are losing your hair on the top and front, so that it looks like you have old man hair!  When you sneeze it is the most precious thing ever, beginning with a sneeze and ending with a little sigh as if to say 'ah, that feels much better'.  I wish I could record it so whenever I am having a bad day I could listen to that sweet sound over and over again!

1 MONTH! (this was seriously the 15th picture I took
of you, trying to get one where you weren't being silly)

Thanks to Auntie Em showing us the rocker bassinet she got for Garrett, you have a favorite place to hang out now.  It's been a wonderful thing, and I'm thankful to Nana for getting one for us!

Smiling in his rock and play!

You pretty much eat, sleep, and dirty your diaper at this point, but when you are awake you are bright eyed and looking around at the big world.  I hope you continue to be such an easy baby :).  We are really excited to see how you continue to grow and change!

First Bath

Here are some pictures of Samuel's first bath in his little bath tub.  Up to this point we had been giving him sponge baths while we waited for his cord to completely heal.  He isn't such a fan of sponge baths, but he LOVES his bathtub!  Daddy does such a good job bathing him!

Samuel LOVES getting a bath in his little tub!

Sweet boy with the big blue eyes

Dad with son :)

Music City Bowl - December 2011

Yes, I realize this post is a tad late :), I choose to blame it on spending my free time getting ready for a certain baby to make his arrival ANY DAY.  Hint Hint, Samuel... We are ready to meet you!   I digress, so let me return to the post at hand!
In December, Ben's boss asked everyone on the management team to write down a few things that they would never buy themselves.  The employees were told to be creative, and to think big.  It is very hard for Ben to ask for anything for himself, so this was a difficult task for him.  After a few days he turned in his list.  One of the things on said list was tickets to the Music City Bowl in Nashville, TN to watch MSU (we are big Mississippi State fans) play Wake Forest.  To our surprise, a few days before Christmas, Ben's boss handed him an envelope with two tickets to the game and money to cover a hotel for two nights!!!  We were ecstatic, since this was something we never would have done for ourselves knowing that we have a baby on the way.  I quickly made a reservation for a hotel just outside of downtown and we planned our little trip!  We drove up the day before the game, getting to Nashville around 7 pm.  We picked a restaurant just down from our hotel for dinner, and it was wonderful!  The next day we got ready and drove into downtown Nashville around noon.  We were prepared with jackets, hats, scarves, gloves, and most importantly, COWBELLS!  Any self-respecting State fan never goes to a game without a cowbell (sorry Emmy :).  The atmosphere downtown was incredible, and we were able to be a part of the pep rally before the game!

At the MSU Pep Rally

  We grabbed a 'quick' lunch which ended up taking 2-1/2 hours, AFTER we sat down at our table.  That doesn't include the 45 minutes we waited for said table... Let me just say that I will never again dine at BB King's restaurant in Nashville.  End rant.   After we finally got done with lunch, we had just enough time to make the trek across the river (via pedestrian bridge) to the stadium.

Stadium

I was right at 20 weeks pregnant so the walk wasn't too difficult since we took a couple of breaks along the way.  We made our way into the stadium and found our seats.  They were just to the side of the end zone and on the top row of the bottom section.  I wished I could have hugged Ben's boss at that point - not only did we not have to navigate stairs, but I was within steps to a bathroom.  Very important for pregnant ladies!!  The game was so much fun!!  The atmosphere was buzzing with the sound of cowbells, which is a sound unlike any other if you are a State fan.  It got pretty cold with the wind blowing into the stadium off the river, but we were bundled up and managed to stay decently warm.  After a few 'hold your breath' moments, the night was made with an MSU victory!!!

View from our seats!

Ben with his uncle Terry's cowbell :)

We finally made it back to the hotel room and were so exhausted from a day of walking and ringing cowbells.  My hands were actually sore for several days afterwards..  We drove home the next day (New Year's Eve), and made it home just in time to enjoy the evening playing Mario 3 on the old school Nintendo with our friend Brock.  We toasted orange Fanta at midnight :P.  My how times have changed!!   Our trip to the Music City Bowl was an incredible experience, and we are so grateful to have been able to enjoy our little mini-vacation to Nashville!

Welcome to the world, Samuel Fox!

We went for what we figured would be our last checkup on 5/14, and Dr Cole talked with us about induction.  She told us from the get-go that she wouldn't let us go past our due date since I was a hypertensive pregnancy. We decided that we would go in to be induced on 5/16, that Wednesday.  So Ben and I spent the rest of the day on Monday and all day Tuesday soaking up our moments together.  Don't get me wrong, we were so excited to meet our little man, but we didn't want to overlook the special time we had in the last couple days before our lives changed forever. The night before the induction we went to Bravo! for dinner.  I was in full on waddle mode at 39 weeks 4 days pregnant, and I loved every minute of our special dinner together.  We woke up super early the next morning and made our trek to the hospital.  We checked in at 5:40 am and got settled into the labor and delivery room.  Around 7 the nurse started me on pitocin, saline, and penicillin (since I am strep B positive).  Dr. Cole came in at 7:30 to check me and break my water.  I was 3 cm at that point.  I decided I wanted to hold off as long as possible for the epidural, just to see if I could go all natural.  I made it to just after noon.  The nurse checked me and I was 5 cm with contractions back to back.  I was miserable and gave in to the epidural.  I'm not going to lie, the actual placing of the epidural was definitely not painless, but as soon as the meds were in and I started getting some relief I was a different lady :).  I think Ben was happy to see me in no pain as well.  I'm pretty sure I had squeezed his hand off during the couple hours of back to back contractions before the pain relief : / .  I progressed rather quickly after that and by 3 pm I was at 10 cm and ready to push.  At 4:11 we welcomed Samuel Fox into the world at 7 lbs 6 oz and 20-3/4 inches long!   It was such an overwhelming experience, to watch my incredible husband coach me all day through pain, then no pain, then pushing (which btw was harder than I expected!).  I was overwhelmed with emotion when I saw Ben cut the umbilical cord as he met his son for the first time.  Words can't really express how I felt laying there on that hospital bed at the culmination of a complication free pregnancy that I was not sure I would ever have.  It has been almost a month since Samuel was born and we are still learning each other and learning how our little family unit works.  Every time I look at him I am reminded of God's grace and provision!

Last night out before baby :)

Holding Samuel for the first time

Proud Daddy!

Samuel with Nana B

Mimi getting to meet Samuel

3 generations of Redditt men! Pops, Ben, and Samuel

Getting kisses from a little froggy

Samuel at 3-1/2 weeks! 

This sweet little boy we have prayed so hard for is finally here.  Now to enjoy the rest of this crazy journey as a family of three!!

Almost time...

It is almost time for baby Samuel's arrival!!  I honestly sit in awe of the journey God has brought us on these past 9+ months.  There have been so many emotions during this pregnancy (and not just because of my pregnancy hormones!).  At first there was reservation, and fear of the pregnancy not sticking.  Then joy and some relief when we reached the second trimester.  We felt excitement and surprise at finding out that our little peanut is a boy, and even more excitement when we shared that news with our families.  I felt uncertainty when we received that first bill for the OBGYN's services, and here we are almost at the end and I feel so much peace about it.  God provided every penny we needed to pay the Doctor!  When I say He is good, I mean it with all of my heart!   I truly feel like God has grown my faith in leaps and bounds since last September.  I also believe that He would not have been able to do so if He had not first allowed us to be on the other side, in a place of uncertainty.  I had always been told of God's grace, mercy, and goodness, but now I can truly say I have felt it and seen it at work in my life!  We prayed for a child, and in His time, He provided one.  When that first bill came, we prayed for provision, and He has provided monetarily.   Now as we are nearing the end, I can't help but wonder how my labor will go and when Samuel will make his sweet little arrival.  One thing is for certain, I don't doubt God will be right there, providing His protection over us.   I have no doubt that this time in our lives is a precious one.  I hope to be able to share the hope and peace that I now have with someone else who may be in their own place of uncertainty! 

Why Cloth?

When we decided to cloth diaper, I knew we would encounter some resistance since our society generally revolves around the quick and convenient way of doing anything.   Some of the comments we receive I am prepared for and some I'm not.  Some of the most common responses we get when we tell people we have decided to cloth diaper Samuel are:  'Y'all are CRAZY!', and 'I give it 6 months, then you'll have him in disposables'.  I can understand where those people are coming from, because it honestly never crossed my mind to cloth diaper until I read a blog post from a friend of mine.  Then months later after I found out we were expecting I remembered that blog post and re-read it to refresh my memory.  At first I got overwhelmed with all the info on cloth diapering and decided to forgo it.  A couple months later, I talked with another friend who has two sons (1 in disposables and 1 in cloth) and she offered to show me her cloth diaper system.  After seeing how easy it was - yes I used the word EASY to describe cloth diapering - I was hooked.  I can imagine it is hard to understand why we would make a decision that seems so 'old fashioned', I mean why would anyone want to add to their laundry duties as well as dealing with {{gasp}} poop?  I don't intend to try to persuade anyone to drop the disposables and run for cloth.  Each is entitled to his own opinion, and I respect that.  I just really want to give some insight into why we have chosen cloth, in hopes that it will quell some of those repetitive questions we keep getting :).

 Reason #1:  Cost.  On average a family can spend upwards of $2,500 per child on disposables between birth and potty training.  That is for regular ole disposables.  If you want to get evironmentally conscious and use organic ones, you can easily add another $1,000 to that.  That's a lot of cash!   I don't know about you, but if I could save that amount of money in a couple years by doing something a different way I would certainly try it out. 

Reason #2:  Chemicals.  In doing my research, I read about all the different chemicals that are used in disposables.  At least one of them is a known carcinogen.  Carcinogen!  Cancer-causing agent.  That word alone is enough to turn my stomach.  Why would I put something that knowingly causes cancer that close to my brand new baby's skin for lengthy periods of time?  One ingredient used in disposables was banned from use in tampons because of the risk of TSS (sodium polyacrylate).  I know that is a different animal in and of itself, but seriously, if they don't want it in your body, why should it be that close to your skin 24-7?   Most disposables, if they are bleached, also release dioxin (which is a byproduct of the bleaching process).  From my research, the EPA says that dioxin is known to cause damage to the central nervous system, kidneys, and liver. 

Reason #3:  Environmental impact.  OK here comes the nature-freak in me.  Experts 'think' that 1 disposable diaper takes 500 years or more to dissentegrate. 500 years!  Add that to the fact that most people don't follow the instructions to dump any solid waste into the toilet before disposing of the diaper in the trash (I know it never occurred to me that I was supposed to do that) and you have tons and tons of poopy diapers just sitting in landfills.  Sitting there not doing anything.  That is just gross to me, and when I think of the fact that most babies use anywhere from 3,000-6,000 disposable diapers in their lifetime, I just get chills.  I don't want to add to any environmentally compromising issue if I can help it. 

So, with those three main reasons in mind, we decided that cloth was the way to go!  I hope that we are able to stick with cloth diapering Samuel until potty training.  I have already started to build a stash of cloth diapers!  I have to use certain kinds of detergent on the diapers to keep from causing build-up (which in turn decreases their absorbency).  I've actually started using this detergent on all of our clothes and they feel softer and I feel so much better knowing what the ingredients are in the powder I wash everything with.

Cloth diapering has come a LONG way from how our parents and grandparents remember it!  You can still use the flat cloth diapers and pin them around your baby if you want, but there are other (in my opinion much easier) ways to cloth diaper.  After doing much research, I am going to start out using a combination of covers with inserts, and pocket diapers.  I know that once Samuel is here we may have to change our game plan if the diapers I have don't fit him quite right or if he is a heavier wetter.  But I know going in to it that is a possibility.  That's why I have several different brands of diapers on hand!  I also know that what fits/works when he is a little fella may not work as he grows and vice versa.  You may think I am strange, but the more I research about cloth diapering and the more diapers I get, the more excited I get about it!!!  Call me crazy, hippie, or whatever.  But my little guy will have the cutest cloth diapered booty in town! 

Here are some pics of our stash so far:

Diaper covers.  These are made from a waterproof material and can be
used over old-fashioned cloth diapers or with an absorbent insert.

A Flip brand cover with its absorbent insert.  Once the insert is used, you
toss it in the diaper pail and as long as the cover isn't dirty, you can re-use
it with a new insert.

Three different brands of pocket diapers. These are lined with a soft fleece material
and you stuff an insert into a pocket in the lining.  One use only on these guys,
then into the diaper pail for laundry :)

BumGenius pocket diaper.  The fleece lining is so soft!!

All of the covers and pocket diapers I have right now.  The inserts
were in the dryer :).  Everything is prepped and ready for Samuel!

Here are a couple links to websites that I found helpful in my cloth diapering research, just in case you wanna take a peak (DISCLAIMER - cloth diapering can be addictive).  Also, feel free to message me if you have any questions, I will be glad to share my limited knowledge and where I have bought the various diapers in our stash!

http://www.pinstripesandpolkadots.com/basics.htm

http://allaboutclothdiapers.com/

- Lessa

Easter 2012

The Redditt clan usually gets together on Easter Sunday for lunch.  There is never a shortage of fun, or time with family.  This year was no different (well except that I couldn't hang with the picture-taking crew and had to head inside to rest my 8-1/2 month pregnant self on the sofa).   Here are some pictures from our annual 'Easter photo session'.  The only thing I hate is that I didn't get a picture of me and mom :(. 

Happy Easter!  34 weeks 2 days :)

Ben and his sisters can NEVER take a 'normal' picture right off the bat. 
They have to joke and play around first :). EVERY time!

See what I mean?  Silly kids!

There's the good one!  Such a good looking crew!

Ginger, Karen, Ben, and Melinda

Mimi with all the grand kids

It's so crazy to me that the next time we have a family get together Ben and I will most likely have a tag-along!  I love having Samuel in my belly, and I know I will miss it when he is here.  I am so ready to meet him and hold him, I just can't believe it is all happening this soon!

I pray that you all spend some time this Easter remembering what we are celebrating.  We celebrate today a RISEN Savior, who conquered death and the grave, giving us all the opportunity to know Him personally!

God Bless -   Lessa