pictures

Aunt Staci and Uncle Will 

Wow - look what I found in my Easter egg

Mama with her new baby

"Super Uncle" Bret meeting Helen

the whole family!

Wyatt loves his Uncle Bret

naptime with Daddy

our friends Pemberly, Mrs. Rachel, and Cordie meeting Helen

Helen's first bath

Easter at the Naylor house

after the egg hunt with cousin Emory

Great Grandmother and Great Grandaddy visiting Helen for the first time

playground fun

climbing into the crib with baby sister

Botanical Gardens playdate

Botanical gardens playdate

Botanical Gardens playdate

playdate at the Hills playscape

riding the train at the zoo

at the zoo with Aunt Staci and Mama

petting the bunnies at the library

in the stagecoach at the zoo

For some reason my pictures all posted out of order.  I didn't want to take the time to fix them.  These are from before Helen was born and on up to about 2 months.

Wyatt is two and a half

Wyatt is really enjoying being a big brother.  He likes to hold her hand, give her kisses, and give her toys.  He likes to play with her for "tummy time" and sometimes gets upset when she is not enjoying it and I pick her up or put her on her back instead.  Sometimes Wyatt likes to bring Helen a "pretty bow" and put it on her head.  Other times he removes the bows I put on her.  When we are with other people you will often hear Wyatt say, "That's my baby sister."  He likes to "watch baby sister being born" which is the slideshow of her birth (it has some video clips on it too).  Recently I was getting ready in the bathroom while Helen was sitting in her little chair in there with me.  Wyatt came in and sang, "The doors on the car go open and shut" (the tune of wheels on the bus, but that verse is from bible class).  While he sang it to her he moved her arms to open and shut.  It was sooo cute!  I tried to get a video, but by the time I got the camera he was done.

One day I heard Helen had woken from her nap.  I turned off all the food I was cooking for dinner and went in to pick her up.  I found Wyatt in the crib holding her hand saying, "It's okay baby sister."  Very adorable, but we discussed that he shouldn't be climbing into the crib.

Wyatt is really fun to watch because he is getting more into pretend play.  He loves to play in the dog bowl of water - but not just to splash in it.  He will float his little toy jet-skis in it, float his boat, or put various water animals like sharks and whales in.  He likes to pretend that the boppy pillow is a life preserver.  Yesterday he got into a laundry basket with the boppy pillow and told me he was in the wave pool.  Wyatt loves riding in his toy car.  "I'm going to work," he will tell me.

Wyatt is discovering so much.  He discovered the funny way things sound when you are under the water during bath time one night.  I wish I could remember what exactly he said, but the gist was that he wanted to know what was making that noise under the water.  When he gets toys stuck in his basketball net (he will put plastic animals and figures in the net) he asks for scissors or a knife to cut it out.  I tried to explain that we can't do that because then the net would be ruined - but that is a little beyond his understanding.

Wyatt likes to "talk loud" after he has whispered to me while I put Helen down for a nap.  Usually he is good about waiting until we have closed the door before he says, "Can I talk loud?" in his loud voice.  He likes to run around naked - I have to insist he wear at least underwear or shorts (preferably both) or he would just stay naked all day long.  Wyatt doesn't ever want a "little bit" of anything, he wants it "BIG!"  This doesn't have anything to do with actual size most of the time, but I have to be careful not to say I'm giving him a little bit and instead say I'm giving him a big piece.

Wyatt likes to pretend to bowl.  He will set up various toys and knock them down by rolling a ball.  I bought him a bowling set but he has to earn it first.  Once he fills up a jar with pom-pom balls earned for good behavior then I will give him the bowling set.  So far he just likes to play with the pom pom balls so the jar is once again empty because he didn't put them back (I picked them up so he doesn't get them back until he earns them again).  It might be a long time before he gets to use that bowling set.

Wyatt likes his music.  "I want my muse-kick" he will say in the car.  He likes me to put on Pandora toddler radio on my phone and plug it into our speaker base.  Then he sits in front of the phone/speakers and listens to the music.  He dances occasionally which is extra cute.

In the car Wyatt likes to lock the door with his foot.  He seems to find it quite amusing when I go to open his door and have to hit the unlock button on the key fab because the door won't open.  Another thing he finds amusing that Mama doesn't find all that amusing is playing in the dog water bowl.  I don't mind too much when he uses it to float his jetskis in, or puts a water animal in it to swim - but he also will take his shoes off and stand in it, often spilling it all over the kitchen.  He has also been known to take a drink out of the dog water (gross!).

Wyatt sometimes plays with baby dolls while I am feeding Helen (I still have a lot of my old baby dolls and that is what he uses).  He will put his baby doll down for a nap on his mattress and pillow covered with a blanket, then tell her sweet dreams and shut the door.  He has "fed" his baby milk from "his tummy"  (wish I had a picture of that - so cute!).  He has asked if he can feed Helen from his tummy but I told him he doesn't have any milk, only mamas have milk to feed their babies (because that is how God made it). One time he thought he would feed his doll after he drank his milk, because then he had milk in his tummy.  Another time he thought he couldn't feed his doll because he didn't have any milk in his tummy.

I haven't written about how we got rid of the pacifier - but it is gone!  It happened when we accidentally left one at his friend's house (he had napped over there one day).  So that night we couldn't find any of his others and he had to sleep without one.  It went so well that we went with it, and put away all the pacifiers as they were located.  For a little while he talked about having to "be brave" while sleeping with no pacifier - but even that didn't come up very often or for very long.  I'm so relieved that it happened so easily!

I'm very proud of my big boy.  This post was written starting when Wyatt was two and a half - and I'm just now proofreading and publishing it.  I was going to add pictures but I think I will put those in the next post instead - just in case I don't have a chance to finish today.

Helen's Two Month pictures

Thank you Christine for taking these pictures!  And thank you to Ashley for the bloomers, Cayce for the blanket with her name on it, Deanna for the romper, and Trish for the purple blanket we used as a background.  

Baby Helen has arrived

Well, she is over one month old now, and I am finally taking a few minutes to sit down and write a post.  Wyatt is playing and she is sleeping on me in the moby wrap. Things are busy. The house is a wreck.  I am exhausted.  It is the typical life with a two year old and a newborn.

Warning - the following is the birth story, and may be too detailed for some people's taste.

Helen Joy Naylor made her arrival at 11:46 am on Tuesday, March 5, 2013.  She weighed 8 pounds and was 19 1/4 inches long.  She is beautiful.  Early labor began on Monday evening around dinner time.  Justin really wanted to play softball, and he had a 7:00 and 8:00 double header.  So we went to the game.  The first game I spent chasing after Wyatt.  The second game I told Justin if he wanted to stay someone else had to watch Wyatt, because I was tired and the contractions were getting stronger.  We stayed for the second game and then took Wyatt to spend the night at Granny and Grandaddy's house.  We did a few last minute things around the house, got the birth pool set up, and then finally went to bed between 11 and 12.  I was able to sleep a couple of hours, then got up for awhile.  I watched the TV show "Bones" on the computer, while sitting on the exercise ball, and eating a snack.  I figured I should eat while I felt like it because I knew I would need the calories later.  The contractions hurt less when I was on the ball than in bed, so I stayed up for awhile.  After awhile I went back to bed to rest some more.  Again I was able to sleep a couple of hours until the contractions were too intense.  Again, being upright made them less painful, so I finished the Bones episode and Justin made us breakfast (it was about 5AM).  Once it was 6AM I texted the midwife to give her an update.  I continued to labor with Justin's support, and around 8-8:30 our midwives arrived.  Our birth photographer arrived a little later and Staci came at some point.  I spent my time walking around the living room,, kitchen, and study or sitting on the birthing ball.  Justin provided support or I leaned on cabinets during contractions.  After I was checked (they didn't tell me at the time, but after the birth Christy said I was only dilated 3cm at that point), Christy and Kelly suggested I try three contractions with one leg up on a stool on one side, and then three on the other side.  This was not fun, but helpful in having things progress.

That is as far as I made it that day in writing the birth story.  Now Helen is two months old and I'm going to try and finish this post.

So at some point I got in the water at the midwives' suggestion (it felt great) and continued to labor.  At one point I mentioned that it would be nice to have a way to relax my arms while in a hands and knees kind of position and someone thought of a beach ball.  It was perfect when blown up not too full.  Once I started pushing Christy let me know that I was already starting to tear, and that if I wanted extra support from them to try and minimize the tearing then I would have to get out of the water.  I chose to get out of the water, so we moved to the bedroom.  The time after that spent trying not to push was most definitely the most difficult part of the labor.  I had a lot of leg cramps at this point and after the birth, but my midwives and my hubby provided so much help and support.  I couldn't have asked for a better support team than Justin, Staci, Christy, and Kelly.  Thanks so much!

my midwife Christy

Aunt Staci there to do whatever we needed (like go get a beach ball, make me a smoothie, heat up the rice pads, etc)

Here is a picture of my resting on the beach ball in the birth pool.

Helen was twisted strangely and had a hand up by her face, which made the delivery more difficult.  I did it though!  Unlike Wyatt who came out all in one contraction Helen's head came out and then I had to wait for another contraction for the rest of her body to emerge.  It was very strange to hear when she started crying before even out all the way!  I heard her and kept saying, "My baby, my baby!"  What a glorious moment when I held her on my chest a moment later.  She was very happy to be with mama, and we even began nursing within that first hour or two.

I did have some tearing, and Christy was concerned at first that we might need to transfer to a hospital - but in the end it was minor enough to handle at home.  What an answer to prayer!   I did not get a waterbirth as I had hoped, but I had my beautiful baby girl at home and did not have to leave her for even a moment!  After I was all taken care of we took an herbal bath and let the family come meet our sweet bundle of Joy.  Wyatt enjoyed getting in the tub with Mama and Helen for the herbal bath.  It was a nice family moment before I was ready to get out and let everyone have their turn holding the baby.

8 pounds!  We were very surprised because the midwives thought she was  going to be a small baby.

Kelly - the other midwife who was there for the birth - is doing the newborn exam.

Daddy holding his baby girl for the first time.

Aunt Staci holding her niece.  Aunt Staci was a big help during the birth!

Our herbal bath was wonderful!

Daddy helping clean off her hair.

Big brother meeting baby sister.

 

Big brother wanted to get in the tub too.  He really liked "swimming" in it.

Our first picture as a family of four.

Holding baby sister's hand is still one of his favorite things to do.

 

Grandma and Pawpaw meeting Helen (who is named after Gena's mother)

Granny and Grandaddy with Helen Joy (who is also named after Grandaddy's aunt)

Grandma with her baby boy

During labor the rice heating pads I had made (from a suggestion at birthing class) were the best!  That and lots of counter pressure on my back from Justin.  I ate applesauce and had a peanut butter and banana smoothie, as well as the Sonic ice we picked up on the way home from Justin's softball game.  Being at home was so nice.  And thanks to our birth photographer Rachel Martin for the fabulous photography!  Thanks to Celebrate Birth Midwifery (Christy Martin and Kelly Bankes) for their competent and caring support during pregnancy, the labor and after the birth.  I finally finished this post and added the pictures (Helen is ten weeks old).  Whew - if there are any typos don't be surprised ;)

January/February

We have been somewhat busy this past month.  Wyatt got to spend some time with Cordie (3) and Pemberly (9) as I watched the girls some to help out their family.  He enjoys playing with Cordie (although they fight some, being only 2 and 3).  He also just adores Pemberly.  He gets very excited when he wakes up from his nap to find out it is time to go pick up Pemberly at school.  She made up a game with the lovely title of "barf."  This game involves both of them on the trampoline and Pemberly bouncing him on it as he holds onto the handle; then he pretends to "barf" by spitting out his pacifier (which he still calls his "appy appy").  What the allure to this game is I have no idea - but they sure do enjoy it.  They also sometimes play school and Wyatt will count and sing his ABCs along with various other "school" activities.  It is very sweet to see them play together (and gives me a chance to start preparing dinner or do some housework since I don't have to facilitate any disagreements between them).

Wyatt is looking forward to meeting baby sister.  Sometimes he asks about holding her and I tell him we can hold her when she is done growing and comes out.  He likes to kiss my belly and blow on my belly, as well as hug and pat my belly.  I can't wait to see what a great big brother he is going to be!  It will also be interesting to see how he transitions from being the only child to the big brother.  Helen Joy seems to be doing very well.  She has about five more weeks of growing if she comes on her due date.  I already have our home birth kit (I ordered it on a Tuesday and it came on Thursday - that was super fast!).  I have also bought the few other items needed for our planned home birth.  I've washed all the newborn sized clothes and the bedding.  We still need to get the bassinet out of the shed and set it up, as well as the other baby items such as the carseat and infant seat, but we are definitely getting ready to meet our baby girl.  Mom and Dad got us a double jogging stroller/bike trailer for Christmas - which has already come in handy to take Wyatt and Cordie in when I would walk to pick up Pemberly after school.  They also gave us the other double stroller I wanted (a sit and stand) but I haven't gotten around to assembling it yet.  So there are still several things to be done before Helen comes.

Ok - it has been four weeks since I wrote that (since we are now one week away from due date).  We are ready for baby girl!  At the last minute we even got a ton of baby clothes to borrow from my sisters-in-law.  Helen Joy will be very well clothed for at least the first 18 months of her life!  There were a lot of clothes to go through, and we are so thankful for the opportunity to use them.

I have a few random things about Wyatt that I have been meaning to blog about - so here goes:

Wyatt told his first lie :(  He threw a toy and Justin asked him if he threw it.  Wyatt said no, so Justin asked him how did it get over there.  Wyatt said, "the car" (the toy was beside his car).  Oh boy - I hope he doesn't  get any better at lying for a long time.  He had to go to timeout for lying and lost the privilege of playing with that toy for the evening since he threw it.  Wyatt has started throwing toys when he gets frustrated, so that is something we are working on.

2-4-2013 Wyatt cleaned up his outside toys all by himself without being told!  He told me he was done playing outside and I said, okay you need to clean up first, but when I went out there he had already cleaned them up.  I only had to point out one or two items he had missed.  Such a proud moment!

2-14-2013  This week of Valentine's Wyatt started requesting to read out of his little bible at night instead of his story bible that has pictures.  His little bible is just a tiny NIV New Testament.  Justin chose to read from I Corinthians 13.  Well, after a day or two of hearing that passage Wyatt decided he wanted to "read all by self."  He then proceeded to "find a good one" as we say when looking for a story and quoted "always trusts, always hopes, always (I supplied perseveres), love never fails!"  Since then he has continued to ask us to read about "love never fails" every night and he quotes part of the passage every night.  He doesn't say the exact same thing each time, but remembers different parts sometimes.  Some nights he talks about love is patient, love is kind - other nights about love keeps no record of wrongs, love does not delight in evil, etc.  It is so exciting to hear our son quoting from God's word already!  We sure hope that this a tradition he continues to be interested in.  If I can get him off the I Corinthians passage at some point I think we will move to the fruit of the spirit passage from Galatians 5.

In other news, I will probably not post any more blogs until baby girl makes her debut.  That one should include some pictures!  I do have to say how thankful I am to various friends like Shelby, Christine, and Tara who have helped watch Wyatt over these past few weeks so I could rest or get things done.  Thank you guys so much for your help!  Wyatt loves to play with your boys.