Home Again

We were so thankful to have visitors in the hospital. No offense to anyone, but our favorite visitor was Cheslie. She is one of the sweetest 6 year olds you will ever meet. She could have held Brody for hours if her mom let her. Her face was glowing the whole time, cries or no cries.

Braden came to visit twice. It was hard to keep him entertained. Fortunately they had some toys in the area. Braden enjoyed pulling the wagon.
He also enjoyed being pulled and taking Brody for walks.

A little over 1 day in the hospital was more than enough for me. I was feeling great and ready to get home. Prior to Brody's arrival, Merilee had planned a little dinner for me and the other 2 pregnant ladies in our Primary Presidency. (we are all due around the same time.) Since I was feeling great, I decided not to miss it.

It was a nice evening, however, my plus 1 wasn't able to make it since she had a teething toddler at home. I feel bad because she watched Braden while we were in the hospital and probably deserved a night out more than anyone.

We went to South Fork, a new restaurant in town, and I have to say that I wasn't too impressed. Besides getting my food last (they forgot to make it) and having my meat completely pink, I LOVED the company and the french fries.

The Packer's were able to make it down from Spokane so Rachel could attend the dinner. Blake and I insisted that they come even though we had just gotten home from the hospital. Braden had an absolute ball with Sam and Grace. You have to click on the picture below and see Braden's face. He honestly adores these two. And Blake and I loved our game time.

And what did Brody think? He loved the Packer's and his new home. All he does is sleep. He is a little cuddle big at night and I am just fine with that, for now!

Overall, I am feeling great. I do have back pains from the numbing shot I got. I told Blake to remind me of this with the next pregnancy. (I can't even believe I said next pregnancy.) We are getting sleep and having so much fun with a family of 4. My mom is coming out today and both Blake and I are excited for this.

Brody Eric

I told Blake we would leave the hospital with a name and sure enough we have. We have named him Brody Eric. Eric is after my father. If Brody becomes even half the man that my dad is, then God help us all, just kidding! He would be a great man.

Proud Parents
My three boys.

There will be more posts about how we are adjusting. But for now, we are just enjoying our time with our new little addition. And I mean little.

Labor & Delivery Story

If you get squirmy about delivery stuff, then you may not want to read it. I haven't gone into too much gross detail, but there is a lot of detail for my records. Read as much or as little as you would like.

I started minor contractions around midnight on Tues/Wed night. Every hour I would get some discomfort in my stomach, but when I turned onto my back or got up and walked around the discomfort would go away. I woke up in the morning just exhausted from bathroom trips and stomach pains. I still decided to take Braden to Mother Goose time at the library.

I continued to have stomach pains throughout the rest of the day. As I said earlier, if I moved around they would usually go away. Braden didn't nap on Wednesday and I was just so exhausted. I ended up calling Blake around 3:30pm and asked him to come home. He came home to both Braden and I crying in his room. At that point I told Blake, "I don't care about the Aflac money, either I need to get some sleep or this baby needs to come."

After a little talk with a good friend (thanks Kel), I was able to make my way downstairs with a new hope for pregnancy and a second child. I would say that around 6pm the pains turned from braxton hicks into contractions. I actually had to concentrate through the pain. Although they were 30-40 minutes apart, they were still so painful.

At 8pm (contractions 15 minutes apart by this time), I called the Birthplace and asked when I was supposed to come in. My water broke with Braden, so I had no idea what to do if my water didn't break. I was advised to come in when they were about 5 minutes apart or the pain was unbearable. I was also told I could come in a get checked to see how things were progressing. It would be a half an hour type of thing. I decided I would just wait to see if the contractions progressed to 5 minutes.

By 9pm the contractions had gotten down to every 10 minutes, but I wanted to die every time one came on. My sweet husband was helpless. I didn't want to be touched or even looked at. Contractions suck! I was still holding my own, but asked Blake to give me a blessing. I took a nice hot bath and got into bed at 10pm. I had one final contraction and told Blake I couldn't handle the pain anymore and I wanted an epidural. (I was going to try not to get one this time, but I didn't care at this point.)

I called my friend Kristin at 10:15pm and asked her to come over and watch Braden (since he was sleeping). She got to our house around 10:40pm. I called my mom on the way to the hospital and she was very excited. I told her I would call her in the morning when the baby came (little did I know I would have the baby within an hour). I was totally expecting to be dilated to a 3 or 4 since my contractions were still 10 minutes apart.

We arrived and were checked in at 10:55pm. I was asked if I had had 'the show.' I needed to use the restroom and sure enough, there it was. I was checked at 11:00pm and told I was dilated to an 8 and 100% effaced. I asked what that meant and was told that things needed to be sped up. I requested an epidural immediately. I was told it may not happen. They contacted my Ob and paged the anesthesiologist. He didn't respond, so they called his home and were told he wasn't home. Fortunately, he was at the hospital napping in his office. I can't blame him, what a busy man.

He came in around 11:20pm and told me an epidural was no longer an option because it wouldn't become effective in time. (He ended up being right.) He was able to give me a shot that acted like an epidural, but only last 1-2 hours. The pain was gone within 2 minutes. He said if I hadn't delivered by then, then I was out of luck.

By the time the doctor arrived (11:30pm), I was dilated to a 9. He broke my water and I immediately went to a 10. I started pushing at 11:34pm. 3 pushes later (8 minutes altogether) Baby #2 made his appearance. I was told I should come in when my contractions were 15 minutes apart with my next. I also remember saying when I started pushing that I wanted to have the baby before midnight so he didn't share a birthday with his cousin Ella. (Although it would have been fun, having your own birthday is a little better.)

Since the baby came so fast, I didn't have time to stretch, so I tore pretty bad in 2 places. Ask me how much I look forward to recovering from that. I had the mirror positioned so I could see the delivery. I did this with Braden and am SO glad I did it again with this delivery. It's amazing to watch. I have to admit that in between the contractions, while waiting to push, I was bored out of my mind. It's funny that you don't want contractions to get closer because they hurt, but in this situation 2 minutes seemed like FOREVER. While waiting for the last contraction and push, I looked at Blake and said, "Man, this is so boring. I wish the contraction would come already."

My nurse was so wonderful and she was in my ward. The anesthesiologist was so wonderful and he was in my ward. My OB was so wonderful and he is in my stake. It was kind of nice and ironic. Blake was excited to see the whole process again. He loved cutting the umbilical cord.

The moment Baby #2 came out I thought he was small, especially compared to Braden. Ask anyone, I was convinced I was having a 10 pound baby. With all the tearing, I am so glad he wasn't any bigger. 7 pounds and 15 ounces was just right for me. He was 21.5 inches long, but I think he is a little less because his head was so swollen. It took until morning for his head and face to get to a normal size. He sleeps great and picked up nursing so easily. At least I hope it remains easy.

For all you mother's expecting, nursing hurts SO bad! I don't remember it hurting with Braden. I am now told that it gets progressively worse with each child. I can totally agree with that. When I say hurt, I mean the uterus shrinking. It's almost like I am having contractions again.

I look back and am glad things went the way they did. I am glad I didn't get an epidural. The medication wore off within an hour and a half. I probably could have done without the numbing medicine, but it made my experience much calmer and pain free. I am so glad I now have 2 beautiful boys.

Then and Now: Baby Swing

We have everything ready for the baby and this includes his swing. Or should I say, Braden's swing. I can't believe how big he has gotten in 2 years. What happened to my first little baby boy?

Braden Meets his Brother

We were excited for the arrival of our second son, but we were even more excited for Braden to meet his baby brother.

I sure missed my little boy.
Our sleepy baby boy.

Here is a video of Braden first meeting his brother. I felt kind of bad because he showed up while the 2 cleaning ladies were there, as well as the nurse checking the babies vitals. He was overwhelmed with the crowd.

Everyone cleared out and Braden got to hold his baby brother. Look at his smile the whole time.

We Still Have 2 Weeks...

left to name our beautiful baby boy. He came last night within 45 minutes of being checked into the hospital. That meant no epidural, but no fear, I was giving a numbing shot which worked wonders. (More of labor and delivery to come.)

Yes, we still have no name for him. We are working on it and plan to have one before we leave the hospital. For now, he is a healthy baby boy weighing in at 7 pounds 15 ounces (90%) and 21.5 inches (off the chart). Born Jan. 27th at 11:42pm. Enjoy some pics, more to come.

When Ice Cream gets on the placemat

The licking tongue comes out.

Drinking Cereal Milk

My wonderful sister-in-law made a good point in her comment yesterday. Yes, most, if not all, of my posts are about my sweet little first born. I am still dedicating the week to him, as I am sure he will be slightly overshadowed next week (I hope) by the birth of baby #2.

Blake and I finished breakfast on Saturday to discover Braden doing this.

Yes, he is drinking the milk from his cereal. I never eat cereal, so he didn't learn it from me. And Blake is never home when we eat breakfast in the morning. I guess there are somethings that don't need to be taught.

I have included a video of Braden drinking the milk. It is so cute. (Sorry the video is so small. I am learning how to shrink the size because our HD videos take so long to upload. It will be better on the next post.)

It snowed Saturday morning, but quickly melted. Blake had enough time to take Braden out to build his first snowman. As the day went on, the snowman began to fall over. Braden now goes around saying, "Snowman, fall over. Get small, small, small." It's too cute!

Braden's New Pillow and Blanket

Since Baby #2 is almost here (or so I hope), I decided I wanted to dedicate the week to my first born. He has been so amazingly cute lately. Blake and I have taken TONS of pictures, so throughout the next couple of days, you will get to see them.

We have all the baby stuff ready to go and Braden has decided that the boppy and baby coat are his new pillow and blanket.

He also likes to put the babies binki in his bassinet. He is such a big help.

Am I Nesting?

Some have asked me this question. If you consider painting our whole house (minus the bedrooms), stretching and cleaning all our carpets, rearranging all the furniture, deep cleaning more than humanly necessary and preparing every little thing for the baby, then yes I am nesting. If not, then no, I am just patiently waiting for this baby.

Unfortunately, I have done everything on my to do list, so now there is no reason why this baby can't come. I do have a small list of fun things I am doing this week (one of which includes Packer Game Night), so maybe the baby will let me make it through each of these.

Quote of the week from Blake: "I hope this baby comes soon. I am SO sick of nesting!" Me too honey bun, me too.

Swimming Lessons- 2 yrs.

Braden loves swimming. Everyday he asks to put on his swimsuit and go to the pool. We took swimming lessons in the fall and just loved it. It was our Monday night family time. 1/2 hour of swim lessons and then a 1/2 free play. Braden always came home exhausted.

We decided with the babies arrival, that we would continue to do swim lessons, but make it a daddy and son time. This will allow me to relax at home with one and allow Braden to bond with his amazing daddy.

Since baby #2 hasn't made his appearance, I decided to attend their first swim lesson and take pictures. Braden loves playing with all the toys.

Let's be honest, he loves throwing ALL the toys into the pool.

Dad and son just relaxing and waiting for class to begin.
Braden's favorite thing is jumping into the pool. I guess he fully trusts us, because he jumps in without a care in the world. I am waiting for that first time that we aren't prepared and he goes all the way under (although we let his head go under, it is a controlled situation).

"I need flashlight."

I just thought I would throw in this cute picture of Braden sleeping. Let's just say, his nap wasn't very long.

The real post deals with, "I need flashlight." He has a car that you pull back and it propels forward. He always propels it under the stove. The first time he did this Blake got out the flashlight so he could see where it went and get it.
Braden does this so much that he now comes to us directly and says, "I need flashlight." He gets down on his belly and looks under the stove.

Unfortunately, (due to my belly) I can't lay down and get his cars, so we have to wait for daddy to get home. They make a great team.

It's so fun to see them working together. Can you see Braden holding the flashlight for his dad?

Dear Body,
Where did you go? Remember the time when you could fit into a size medium shirt and size 10 jeans? Or when your eyes were able to see your feet. And who can forgot how effortless it was to get from a sitting to a standing position. Those were the good ole days.

I mean, there are some perks now. Blake thinks you aren't capable of doing anything. This gets you out of vacuuming, lifting anything over 1 pound, laundry, etc. You better believe I am milking that for all it's worth, but I still miss you.

I miss being able to challenge you. Yes, I take you to the gym 4 days a week, but it's just not the same. You get tired so much easier. Remember how good it felt to truly sweat? Or push your heart rate? Promise me we will get back there. I will do everything in my power to provide you the diet and exercise you need, please come back to me. I miss you body!

Love, Maren

Bug in a Rug

This happened while I was attending a Primary event. Blake said he turned his head for 1 second to (read up on the Jazz) do something productive and came back to discover this.

Braden's Fashion Sense

I was at a food's group last night and came home to a little boy who dressed himself. I guess it started with a black tie (which he also insisted on wearing all afternoon today). This was after his bath, so he already had his p.j.'s on.

Then he decided his swim diaper (aka: speedo) would add a nice touch.Since he already had the black tie and speedo, he must have assumed his black church pants, actual swim suit and swim top would match perfectly. I guess he wasn't excited about all the photos daddy was taking.

The final product.

After all his fun, it was time for bed. How can you resist that cute little speedo dressed bum?

Would you say my son has fashion sense? I guess he takes after his dad when it comes to clothing, not his Uncle Toren (thank goodness).

Cheerfully Enduring

A wise friend of mine (and there's no question it's Merilee I am speaking about) wrote me and my other pregnant friends an e-mail yesterday. This is what she said:

"I would say I hope you are all feeling well, but I remember this point and that seems to be a futile wish, so I hope you are all able to endure to the end cheerfully."

So yes, even though I am more miserable than I will get out, I have chosen to Cheerfully Endure these last 3 weeks. However, once he goes over his due date, then I may alter this cheerful enduring, but for now, I am all cheers.

Chocolate Juice

Otherwise known as Chocolate Milk.

Eliminating the Binky

(NOTE SPAGHETTI POST BELOW)

I want to get this documented before I forget exactly how we did it and how it went. I think I can give some advice along the way, but all I can truly say right now is the binky has been eliminated and we are still alive. I have to admit, I have been so grateful for the binky and pray that baby #2 takes one as well as Braden did.

First, you (and kind of the child) have to be ready. We tried a couple of months ago and Braden went straight to his thumb. Before he could even get his second full 'suck' in, I shoved the binky back into his mouth. Coming from a 7 year thumb sucker (if not more), I didn't want to fight that battle. We decided Christmas Break was our time to be ready for 3 reasons: #1 Blake would be off of work for 4 days, giving me help during the nights and a relief during the day. #2 Braden liked to unsnap his binky and would wake up in the middle of the night wanting us to find it. There is NO way I was going to wake up to nurse a baby and then wake up to find a toddler's binky. and #3 I wanted him to have zero attachment to the binky when the baby came.

Thursday (DAY 1): On Christmas Eve we cut the end of the binky so there was a hole in it. We didn't say anything to Braden. he grabbed the binky like normal and didn't say anything for a minute. Freaked out that he didn't care, Blake and I prompted him. "Braden, is your binky broken?" He sucked for a couple more seconds, trying to decide if it was broken and then responded, "It's broken. I don't want it." Blake was quick to say, "Ok, go throw it in the garbage." He went and threw it in the garbage and came back to play for a couple more minutes. I put him in bed and he asked, "Where did binky go?" I reminded him it was in the garbage because it was broken. He got our of bed and got it out of the garbage (there was no other garbage in there at the time). He sucked on it for a couple more second and then said again, "It's broken, I don't want it." Blake's response, "Ok, throw it in the garbage then."

Friday (DAY 2): Minus one time in the middle of the night (where I had to remind him it was broken and in the garbage), he has never asked for the binky again. He slept great on Christmas Eve, minus the one time waking, but would NOT go down for his nap on Christmas and his attitude showed it. Thank goodness both Blake and I were home because I think either one of us would have killed him if left to our own devices. We had a great Christmas morning, but couldn't wait for 8pm to come for bedtime.

Unfortunately, Braden wouldn't accept the 8pm bedtime, even though he was exhausted. He was actually hysterical and wouldn't let us put him down. Once again, he never asked for the binky, but the binky was the problem. That's the only way he has known how to soothe himself. He was hysterical until midnight. We brought him into bed with us and then about an hour later when he was completely out, we transferred him back to his own bed. He stayed there the rest of the night, but was up at 7am.

Saturday (DAY 3): The nap was about the same as the day before, but by 2pm (an hour later than normal), he crashed of pure exhaustion. We had a fight again that night. He wasn't as hysterical, but wouldn't calm down until 10pm.

Sunday (DAY 4): He has now declared 2pm his official naptime. That's ok by me. After about a 10 minute cry, he went down just fine. His bedtime has been pushed back to about 8:30 or 9pm, which we don't like, but can deal with for the next little bit.

He keeps getting better. It really took the whole 4 days for him to get used to putting himself to sleep. Once again, I am grateful we had the binky. It made life so much easier. The 4 days of misery were well worth the 22 months of immediate calmness. I am glad that he is not dependent on anything. We can leave the house without worrying if we forgot the binky, blankey, toy, etc. Goodbye binky!

What Can I Say...

HE LOVES SPAGHETTI!

Dear Braden,

It really hit me last night. I only have 4 weeks left with my first baby boy. 4 weeks to give you 100% of my attention. 4 weeks to say I only have 1 child. 4 weeks to pamper you with all my love. I am blaming it on the hormones, but this makes me emotional. I love you so much and already feel guilty for putting my attention else where.

The thing you have to remember is that your baby brother will add so much to your life. So, although it may seem like I am avoiding you, I am not. I am giving you one of the greatest gifts you could have, a sibling. Sure, he may be a little boring at first and then get annoying (by taking your toys), but soon enough you will be in complete 'friendly' competition (just like your dad and Uncle Chad).

Your brother will look up to you in every way, so please make righteous decisions that he can follow. Know that even though I may not be able to play with you 'right now' (because of nursing or something else), I love you so much and you will always be my little baby boy, my firstborn whom I adore so much.

Love,

Your Mom

The Forsberg's Leave

The family has gone and we all couldn't be more sad. Braden even woke up from his nap yesterday crying and saying, "Frisbie gone, Grandma/pa gone, Kalen and Blair gone." I told him I was sad too. He eventual fell back asleep, but has been telling us all day that they went home. I assured him Grandma (if not a few others) would be back soon to play with him.

Our time was relaxing and fun filled. There were many highlights. Some of which included several Ticket to Ride: Europe games, going to see Sherlock Holmes (good movie), homemade pizza night, Braden wrestling/bossing Frisbie around, shopping at the mall, good treats & food, seeing his undying love for Uncle Brent and Aunt Mallory's many hug and kiss requests:

Endless readings of such books as, The Happy Man and his Dumpy Truck (thanks Toren and Audrey).

Watching Grandpa try and bounce Braden on his legs. I hear it's a great ab workout.

Vowing not to leave the hot tub until we decided on a name for baby #2. We obviously have left the hot tub, but still have no name, although Blake and I were impressed with the names my family came up with.
Braden taking key advice from Uncle Blair. Blair would also work really hard to build a design with the wedgit and Braden would knock it down every time. This got us laughing.

Watching Braden get overloaded on love and treats from Grandma and Grandpa. His face is covered in Oreo's, while reading, yet again, The Happy Man and his Dump Truck.

And finally, singing around the piano. I wish I could play the piano like my mom. The whole family sat around and sang songs forever. Braden just loved it. Please excuse the annoying (and terrible) singing voice in the background. Braden is so stinkin cute singing Once There was a Snowman.

The last night was the best. We sat around playing games and talking until well after midnight. The last words before I fell asleep were, "Blake, I am already looking forward to my Sunday nap tomorrow." In fact, we all enjoyed our Sunday nap. We are sad to have them gone, but are so grateful they were here to play with us. Please come back soon. Blake and I are boring compared to the family.

2009-2010 Memories & Goals

I am proud to report that Braden and I completed every one of our New Year's Resolutions from last year. Maybe not maintaining a garden, but I sure planted one and got some produce off of it. Blake missed the mark on getting in shape. As a family, we didn't travel the Palouse every weekend like planned, but were successful with everything else, minus the not getting pregnant until August part.

As for 2009, here are our Top 5 Memories of the year (starting with the best):

#1 Progress with Braden. It is nice to know that all his ear infections are taken care of (with the tubes) and foods/things to avoid because of his allergies. Other than that, we've had a normal, growing, and active little boy.

#2 Getting Pregnant. Although I am counting down my days (under a month), we are excited to add to our little family of 3. We can't wait for baby #2 to join our family. Literally, I can't wait!

#3 Family Reunion in Couer d'Alene. Our trip in August with Blake's family created a lot of fun memories. We hope to do something like this every couple of years. This is a trip that also solidified Braden' love for air hockey.#4 Family Reunion to Rockaway Beach. Although Braden had been to the beach in LA, this was his first memorable (of probably many) trips to the Oregon Coast. He loved the sand and didn't even try to eat it, like we thought he would. It was fun playing with my family and having some of our 'friendly' competitions. Blake is still the reigning Forsberg Ping Pong Champ.
#5 Building the Deck. This was one of Blake's goals for last year and thanks to his father, it was successfully completely. I can't tell you how much we love it. We used it all the time when the weather was nice. We look forward to this summer, hopefully the sun isn't too hot.

Blake was saying we really haven't had a very eventful year. It took us a while to decide what 5 great memories were. It was a nice relaxing year (as I stated last year at this time). I am sure this next year will bring more excitement and sleep deprived people, but it will also bring some great family memories.

Braden's Goals: 1. Become a helpful big brother, 2. Completely master every aspect of sleeping, 3. Continue to explore and learn, 4. Learn his colors, and 5. Be potty trained (this may be a lofty goal).

Maren's Goals: 1. Beat my previous times for a half marathon & sprint triathlon, 2. Lose all baby weight, plus an extra 5, 3. Participate in the 80 mile bike tour in June, 4. More spiritual experiences while at church (Primary is busy), and 5. Master life with 2 kids.

Blake's Goals: 1. Actually get in shape, 2. Complete the backyard (fence and landscaping), 3. Promotion at work, 4. Take up a new hobbie

Family Goals: 1. Write Blair at least twice a month while on his mission, 2. At least 3 family vacations (with just our family), 3. Attend the temple more often, 4. More hiking, camping and outdoor activities