Tacy’s Birthday Story

Quite a lengthy post I have for y’all today – all about Tacy’s birthday.  I want to record as many details as possible, and I decided the easiest way for me to do so would be to use a timeline format.  There’s so much to tell; I want to get it all down before I forget.  Hope y’all enjoy!

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

4:00 am….

I wake up, again, for a bathroom break.  (That’s just one of the many perks of being pregnant – frequent bathroom trips.)  But I feel nothing out of the ordinary, and soon I’m back to sleep.

5:00 am….

Once more I am awake, but this time for different reasons.  I’m feeling the slightest bit of discomfort.  The thought briefly crosses my mind that it could be baby related.  Stranger things have happened.  After all, I am 39 weeks pregnant and already at 5 cm.  But before I can finish the thought, the feeling passes, and I dismiss the idea.

5:15 am…

There it is again – that teeny, tiny twinge of pain.  It’s at this point that I decide to start watching the clock, you know, just in case.  And what do you know, I’m feeling something about every 15 minutes.

6:00 am…

I finally decide to get out of bed.  I don’t want to wake up the Tool Man, however, because I’m still not convinced that there’s anything going on.

6:25 am…

Now these feelings are starting to change from discomfort to pain.  And they are happening more frequently – about every 10 minutes.

7:00 am….

I’m beginning to think that today is the day.  I’ve heard the Tool Man stirring in the bathroom, so I decide to share the news with him.  I believe my exact words were, “I may or may not be feeling something.”  Ha ha.  I was terrified of sounding a false alarm.

The contractions (I’m officially calling them that now) are coming about every 8 minutes.  So the Tool Man and I prepare to head to the hospital – tidying up the house, loading the car, and getting the monkeys up and dressed.  As the minutes tick by, it is getting increasingly more difficult for me to move around or talk during the contractions.  Yes, today is definitely the day!

8:00 am….

Now I’m getting nervous.  I really don’t want to have a baby in the car on the side of the interstate.  We load up kids and head to town to drop them off with their Pappaw.  One last picture with Mama, then it’s off to the hospital.

9:00 am….

The Tool Man and I arrive at the hospital, and wouldn’t you know, every bed in Labor & Delivery is full.  I get a bed in the triage unit with nothing but a sheet between me and the next bed.

Things change, however, once the nurse checks me and discovers that I am already at 7 cm.  Suddenly it becomes a priority to find me a room and get me some drugs.

10:00 am….

Now that I have a real room, the anesthesiologist arrives and gives me the epidural.  Finally, some relief!

11:00 am….

The entourage arrives!  Nothing like a couple of monkeys to liven up a hospital room.  My mom, dad, and brother and Tim’s dad are there too.  The waiting game has begun.

12:00 pm….

The monkeys are getting a bit restless, so their grandparents take them down to the cafeteria for some lunch.  Meanwhile, since the epidural, my labor has slowed to a standstill.  My doctor decides to try to get things moving again with some medication.

1:00 pm…

Ty and Lucy have returned with full bellies, anxious to meet their new baby sister.

The nurse starts the IV, and says she will check back with me in an hour to see how things are going.

1:15 pm…

Turns out, I’m not going to make it another hour.  The doctor is called, the room is cleared, and bim, bam, boom……

1:42 pm…

Tacy Mae is here!

I am in shock over that head full of hair!

Hospital policy has changed so much since Lucy was born just 4 years ago.  As soon as things were tidy, our family was allowed to come in for a visit.  The monkeys came in first to get some special time alone with Tacy Mae.  Lucy was intrigued by her black hair and tiny, blue feet.

Technology…

Everyone was on the phone snapping pictures and sending messages.

Our first portrait as a family of five…

I got to hold the baby over an hour before they took her to weigh and measure her. 

7 pounds 4 ounces,  19.5 inches long – my biggest baby.

Finally, Daddy gets a piece of her.

After getting to spend some time with Tacy, I am moved to a room where I am greeted by my monkeys.  I’ve prepared a little surprise for them.  They deserve it; they’ve had a long day too.

About 5:30 the nurses bring Tacy down to my room.  She’s been bathed and dressed, and I can’t wait to get my hands on her.

How sweet is that tiny face!

One of my new favorite pictures…

When Ty first learned that he was getting a new sister, he was none too happy about being the only boy in the family.  It didn’t take long for him to change his mind, though.  He soon admitted that this little thing was pretty sweet.

Wow! What a day!  After waiting 9 long months, it seemed like this day would never come.  Now I can hardly believe it’s over.  I am so thankful that everything went so smoothly with no complications or concerns.  Mostly I am thankful for that perfectly healthy, beautiful baby girl.  I love you, Tacy Mae.  Welcome to our world!

Lindsey

Welcome Tacy

Hello.  I’m finally getting around to sharing some pictures of our new baby girl.  Tacy Mae arrived safe and sound, October 1.  She’s absolutely perfect! 

I can’t believe I’ve waited 6 weeks to post a picture of her, but some things just get overlooked when you are running on only 5 hours of intermittent sleep a day.

These beautiful pictures were taken by the talented Shannon Luther, a sweet lady I met through my cake business.  Bless her!  This photo shoot actually took 2 days.  Tacy Mae refused to go to sleep on our first appointment, so Shannon graciously agreed to reschedule.  I definitely think these pictures were worth the wait, though.

You can tell from this picture how much Ty and Lucy adore their little  sister.  They always want to hold her, albeit, their interest lasts only 30 seconds or so.  Lucy is such a little mama.  She insists on helping with everything.  She doesn’t bat an eye at spit up or dirty diapers (unlike her brother who is totally repulsed by such.)

Hopefully, as Tacy starts sleeping a little better, I’ll find time to squeeze in more blogging.  I have so much to share, including some pictures from Tacy’s birthday.

Uh oh.  Gotta go.  Somebody’s getting fussy…

Lindsey

Mad Science

Let’s face it.  School is not all fun and games, especially if you are a nine year old boy.  Copying spelling words, drilling math facts, and practicing penmanship are just a few of the tasks that Ty despises.  I try my best to change things up to make even the most menial tasks a bit more interesting for him.

My most adventurous deviation from the teacher’s manual this year has definitely been the infamous Grasshopper Dissection. (Insert evil scientist laugh here.)

The second chapter in our science book this year was all about insects.

Insect characteristics, insect body parts, insect social habits, blah, blah, blah.  Both Ty and I were good and tired of bugs by the time we made it through the chapter.

Of course there were adequate charts and illustrations in the textbook pointing out all the insect body parts, but I figured Ty was more likely to retain this information if he could see it up close and in real life.  So I had the “brilliant” idea to order some gi-normous grasshoppers and a dissection kit.  And when I say “gi-normous,” I ain’t kidding!

I admit, I didn’t attempt to do this lesson on my own.  I waited until the Tool Man could be there to take charge assist. (Yeah, that’s it.  Assist.)  Actually, the smell alone was enough to keep this pregnant woman at a safe distance.  Thank heavens for the zoon lens on my camera!

While mom may have been a bit hesitant, Lucy was very eager to get her hands on some grasshoppers.  She enjoyed this project every bit as much as Ty did.

Ty was a little nervous at first, but he soon warmed up to grasshoppers.

I found a great dissection guide online, and we went down the list locating and examining the different parts of the grasshoppers.

Hope these next few pics don’t gross y’all out!

After we had talked about everything we were studying, the monkeys were dying to cut the grasshoppers open and take a look around.

The look on Ty’s face gives you a pretty good idea about what he thought…

Whew!  Glad that’s over!

I will say that grasshoppers weren’t the only things I ordered for Ty to dissect, but it’s still a couple of weeks before we’ll get to that.

The suspense is killing you, isn’t it?

Lindsey

P.S.  Still no baby.  Looking for her to arrive this week!

Nursery Reveal

As promised I’m coming to you today with a grand tour of the newly completed (almost) nursery.

The day I found out that I was having another girl, I began browsing the internet, particularly Pinterest, for nursery ideas. (Miss Lucy never did get a nursery, and her big girl room is still unfinished – insert sad face – so I was determined to get it right this time.)

Eventually, I found my way to fabric websites, searching through hundreds of designs for inspiration.  I never would have guessed I’d go for such a lively color palette, but I was soon attracted to this adorable red and aqua Red Riding Hood fabric by Riley Blake Designs.

The only problem with this fabric was that, apparently, a lot of other people were attracted to it as well.  Almost every website I checked was out of stock.  Finally, I found a little shop in Idaho with just enough yardage for me to work with, so I ordered it immediately.  The fabric accounted for the bulk of my decorating expenses.  I’m working on an extremely limited budget, so I had to get creative, filling the rest of the space with some treasured finds, handmade items, and sale pieces.

I am using the same crib that both Ty and Lucy slept in.  If I had been brave enough, I would have painted it a glossy white, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it.  I think it works OK as is, though.  To dress the crib, I decided to make a layered, ruffled skirt – definitely the most labor intensive project of the whole nursery!  All those ruffles added up to a lot of work, but I think the results were worth it.  I wasn’t too worried about making bumper pads this time.  OK, maybe I was too lazy to worry about it.  They do make changing the crib sheet a murderous task.  Anyway, I opted to make just one monogrammed pad to go along the back rail.

I searched online for several weeks for a rug to go in the nursery.  Nothing!  Well, nothing in my price range anyway.  But wouldn’t you know it, I was wondering through Target one day and found an aqua, shag rug on sale.  It was the perfect color, size, and price.  Woo hoo!

I knew I needed something substantial for the blank wall behind the crib.  A few months back, the Tool Man brought home some scraps of 1x12’s.  He knew I’d find a use for them.  Got to love a man who can see the potential in junk!  So I pulled the scraps out of the barn, knocked the dust off of them, and painted some images from the Red Riding Hood fabric on each one.  I thought it was a nice way to incorporate more of the theme into the room.

Instead of a traditional mobile to hang over the crib, I opted for the more frugal, stylish, pompom “chandelier.”

Did you notice the rocker in the corner?  It doesn’t really belong in the nursery, but I stuck it in here for the time being.  In the meantime, Lucy is using it for her babies.  She even remembered to set up her baby monitor nearby.  Such a little mama.

Hands down, the greatest single baby item that I’ve ever owned is definitely my beloved Boppy.  Being a nursing mother, I don’t think I could make it without it.  I love this pillow! The Boppy covers that I used in the past were very worn, but rather than buying a new, generic one, I wanted to make a cover to coordinate with the nursery.   Luckily, I found a super easy tutorial online for a zippered Boppy cover, and I was able to whip this one out in less than an hour.  I chose this white, floral fabric for one side and a soft, red minky for the other.  I’m so happy with how it turned out.  Boppy and I will be spending many hours together over the next couple years.

On my trip to Canton back in May, I picked up this metal “T” to use in the nursery.  I decided to kick it up a notch by pairing it with this chevron background made from repurposed pallets.  Thanks again, Tool Man, for bringing home junk!

Here are a couple of more examples of the budget-minded décor.  The lamp was a clearance find at Hobby Lobby.  Originally, I intended to replace the shade, but the green actually coordinated rather well with the fabric, so I left it as is.  The table was absolutely free…a dumpster find.  Just some sandpaper and paint was all it took to transform it from trash to toadstool.  Definitely one my favorite pieces in the room!

A pint-sized pillow with pompom trim cozies up the rocker.  I was so excited when I found this toadstool applique.  It’s perfect for the room.

This is the one wall of the room that I would consider unfinished.  I plan on adding a few more items to the shelves and hanging a couple of things on the wall.

I still have the changing table that I purchased with the crib, but it is such a uni-tasker.  I really needed something that would function not only as a changing table but would add a lot of storage to the space as well.  Luckily for me, my mom had an extra dresser that she didn’t need.  It was an awful, blonde wood with equally awful, brass drawer pulls.  A little sanding, a little painting, a changing pad, and voila!  An adorable, functional changing table.  Each and every one of the 14 drawers is crammed full of baby pretties.

And for those of you who may not have heard, sweet girl does have a name already…

My baby shoes…

Another treasure from Canton…  I picked up this tin ceiling tile for only $2.  After receiving a makeover, it found a place in the nursery as a fun little chalkboard.

Below the chalkboard a perfectly, polka dotted, bag waits to catch dirty laundry.

The only things that’s missing in this room is Miss Tacy Mae.  And it looks like she’ll be here sooner than later!!!

Lindsey