looking.

My sweetest babies.

A birthday party? For me?

My very thoughtful sister planned an impromptu birthday party for our little Henry's 2nd birthday.

His little party had everything we needed:

1. A loving family.

2. A happy just about two-year-old boy after a 4 hour nap.

3. Cake.

4. Ice cream.

5. Presents!

The ice cream was enough to satisfy our sweet-toothed baby.

Handling his demitasse spoon like a pro.

He tried so hard to blow out those candles!

Still trying....

Sidewalk chalk!

Magna-doodle --- a huge hit on the car ride home!

Crayons!

Thank-you Meigs Family for a sweet party for a sweet boy!

Our Dada.

What does a homebirth look like?

*Interested in reading more about our homebirth? Click here for Liza's birth story.*

A homebirth starts with a massively huge baby pool stowed away in your unborn child's room. Henry thought the pool was his very own Wonder Wheel! Any Richard Pryor fans out there??

Once the party starts, the baby pool becomes the "birthing tub" and is moved into the living room. Taylor took his role of tending to the tub very seriously. Too bad the tub didn't work for me during the actual delivery. It's role during my labor and delivery had been highly anticipated during the prior weeks. But, at least we have a kickass baby pool for the backyard!

Mama nursing and resting comfortably in her own bed with her brand spanking new baby. I was so swollen after Henry was born from all the IV fluids. Here, I definitely look like myself about an hour after delivering Liza.

Liza was weighed on my bedside table. She was very alert and bright eyed, looking around the room.

Biggest brother met his new baby sister in the very familiar surroundings of his parents' bed. It took him about 3 minutes to warm up to her and then he had to check her out for himself.

First thing he looked for was her little bitty baby feet. He was quite pleased to see that they looked like his feet.

Is he looking at her belly button, or he is checking to see if she is really a girl?!?

What does a homebirth look like?

One big happy family!

Life by the numbers.

7.....days until Henry's 2nd birthday.

4.....days since little Liza entered our lives.

40...hours of work Taylor is taking off this week. Love it.

1.....very proud big brother who asks for his 'baba' every time she leaves his sight.

2.....nights Henry spent with his Meme and Pops having fun playing with new toys and sleeping in a big boy bed!

26....times Henry has requested to nurse. Big boys eat food. Babies nurse. Remember, Henry?

216..little poots from Liza that make me giggle every single time.

0.....cloth diapers that fit Liza's tiny little tushy. Maybe next week.

7.....new size large cloth diapers for Henry's growing tushy.

4.....keys on a keychain that Yaya gave Henry to keep him busy pretending all tiny crevices are keyholes.

2.....new family members that Liza is about to meet for the first time -- Aunt Lizbeth and Cousin Martha.

The story of Liza.

Elizabeth Ophelia Dearman

August 7, 2010

7 pounds 8 ounces

21 inches

Born 9 days past estimated due date!

Friday night was spent playing cards with friends. My back was achey and I was not in the best mood. Contractions had been inconsistent and painless for days and I was getting more anxious with each hour that brought us closer to the 42 week mark. Zero complications and faith that my body knew how to take care of my baby were the only things that kept me going.

After our card game ended, I got into bed hoping my achey back would turn into real contractions during the night. Considering I had pinpointed different symptoms of labor for weeks, I didn't have much hope that tonight would be the night......

But, that night I woke up with contractions that I couldn't sleep through. Finally! Since the contractions were regular but not painful, I decided to get out of bed and let gravity assist Liza in her arrival. At 2:00am, I sat on my exercise ball at the kitchen table timing my contractions and watching the first half of "Loins of Punjab" on Hulu.

My contractions were weak but consistently 30 seconds long and coming every 3 minutes. Our midwife, Norma, lives an hour away so I was anxious to let her know I was in labor. It surprised me to hear her say she was leaving her house immediately. She sensed Liza was well on her way and knew she needed to be at our house soon.

I woke up Taylor to tell him I was in early labor but he needed his rest and to keep sleeping. As I walked out of the door, he called out "congratulations and good luck". Thanks, Tay! He decided to get up a few minutes later to make preparations in the house: remaking the bed with waterproof pads, filling the birth tub and making sure I had what I needed.

I called my mom to let her I was finally having this baby. Her assigned role was to be Henry's caretaker during and after the birth of his baby sister.

Contractions were becoming more intense and requiring my total focus. I found myself drawn to dark corners of our house. Facing the corner, I would sway my hips and breathe through the contraction until it passed. After reading a million homebirth stories online and preparing myself for a natural unmedicated labor and delivery, my body and mind instinctively knew exactly what to do -- sway and breathe through contractions and then walk around the house waiting and welcoming the next contraction that would bring our baby that much closer to joining us.

I found myself moaning through the contractions and knew transition was quickly approaching. As soon as my mind realized transition was near, I threw up and was immediately thrown into the most painful stage of an unmedicated labor.

Transition is the 3rd stage of labor in which the cervix becomes fully dilated and your body prepares itself for delivery.

The hallmark of transition is extreme pain, self-doubt and panic.

Yes. Yes. Yes.

I wanted a waterbirth so I got into the baby pool that Taylor had set up in our living room and diligently filled with water as I had worked through my contractions. The water was warm but I needed it HOT! Taylor hooked the hose up to our sink and began adding more hot water. Now I needed COLD water but found myself unable to communicate in an effective manner. I found myself tensing in the water and unable to focus and breathe through the contractions.

It went downhill fast.....

The logical side of my mind was saying, "Laura, this is transition, your baby is almost here. You know this is the most painful stage of labor. You CAN do this. You ARE doing this."

The emotional side of my mind was saying, "Laura, you can't do this. This is awful. You don't even need this baby to be born."

My mouth was saying, "I caaaaan't. This huuuurrrrts."

A total lack of concentration led me to hold my breath and at that point, Norma decided I needed to get out of the tub. As soon as I stood up, I felt better but still within the throws of transition. We moved to the bed and Norma threatened me with a transfer to the hospital if I couldn't get myself together. Hearing those words, I decided to refocus and get this baby out!

Taylor looked me in the eyes and told me I was doing a great job and reminded me our little girl would soon be here. His calm presence and soothing words were exactly what I needed to hear. Facing a big mirror in our bedroom, I watched as our little Liza was born on our bed in our beautiful house that my grandparents built in 1949.

A few notes:

Labor and delivery lasted exactly 5 hours start to finish. Not bad!

Henry woke up at his normal time of 6:45 and my mom arrived just minutes after Liza was born. Had I known it would go so fast, I would have called my mom earlier. Our friends Jason and Naomi picked him up within 2 minutes of Taylor's phone call and Henry had the best morning riding their golf cart and playing with their boys.

My water didn't break until the final push that delivered her body.

I had a "bleed" after delivery but our midwife was fully prepared and a possible emergency situation was quickly rectified by her quick actions and medical training. A shot of pitocin in the arm and I was all better.

I am planning a future post explaining why I decided on a natural unmedicated labor and delivery and what led to our decision for a midwife attended homebirth. If you have any specific questions, please post them in the comments!

Thank you for reading the story of our daughter's birth! Her birth was the most empowering and powerful experience of my life.

Liza.

I am officially 39 weeks pregnant with our baby girl. Elizabeth Ophelia --- Liza --- is due next Thursday, July 29. I am prepared for the long haul of 42 weeks, if need be, but feel emotionally and physically ready to get this new little person into the world.

At this point, it seems like I have been pregnant for my entire life rather just the past 39 weeks. I lay in bed at night and wonder if I will ever feel normal again and just how much bigger my belly can stretch.

Except for a few decoratvie details in her very very pink bedroom, there is nothing left to accomplish on my to-do list. I find myself refolding and reorganizing her clothes at least every other day as Henry organizes her bin of soft little baby toys in different drawers and spaces through her room.

I'm looking forward to sharing the special story of her birth very soon!

Mmmmm.

A healthy options lunch.

*hummus with carrot and green bell pepper sticks, shredded cheese, mustard for dipping, corn, celery with peanut butter, plain yogurt with honey and strawberries and almonds*

But, I won't lie....

Due to an extremely pregnant and unmotivated mother, Henry has eaten peanut butter and jelly for lunch for several weeks. If he happens to eat something different for lunch, he makes sure he gets his baba for dinner.

Let's hope it won't be long before we are back to a normal pattern of life.

Sitting.

Although my urgency to screw the bookshelf into the wall last summer was unfounded, Henry started hanging out in the bookshelf recently. I am still surprised that it took so long for him to climb onto a shelf but he really isn't a natural climber and it took him several minutes to figure out how to finagle his little body onto this shelf. Pretty cute, huh?

Moo.

Henry firmly believes that he can not wear his cow hat without also wearing his sunglasses. Apparently, they go together. If he can only find the cow hat, he covers his eyes with his hands to show that he needs his shades.....if he can only find the sunglasses, he signs cow and says "meh meh". That is MOO is Henryese.

How do you like those Christmas pajamas in July?!? This kid thinks they are pretty awesome.

Sweet cousins.

Henry loves his cousins, Jobe and Emily Caine. Ashlyn, their other Dearman cousin, and Jobe pair off and it has been so much fun to see how EC and Henry are starting to click and become buddies. I love thinking about the years of fun to come as these kids grow up together!

Us.

Still a corn boy!

wawa.

The fact that Henry will play quietly and happily in the sink for 30 minutes at a time is a great motivator for me to load the dishwasher and keep the sink clean. I'm always in search of an external motivator to make me do things that need to be done so this is a mutually beneficial relationship for the two of us.

Woo woo!

Bragging and Documenting

23 months......almost 2 and almost a big brother!

Henry runs his mouth nonstop, although most of it is still jibber jabber:

ba ba - bread, his favorite food just like his mama

any word that starts with a 'b' is ba, including but not limited to battery, baby, beans, bed, bath, book, Pops (a non b word and Taylor's dad)

Dada, Mama, choo choo (train), woo woo (fire truck), wa wa (water), door, dark, Yaya (my mom), woof woof (dog), cheese, chicken, shoes, bubble, ball, Jimmy (our cat), dirt, moo (cow)

He still loves his signs:

help, please, thank you, star, light, horse, cereal, cat, cow, sunlasses, hat, hungry, fire truck

His favorite foods:

peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, bread (many fits have started when I refuse to give him more bread), all fruit, oatmeal, cheese, edamame, cream cheese

For months I have worked with Henry to pick up his toys and follow simple commands. Taylor says that I boss him around all day and while it may seem like this to some, I now have a very helpful little person in our house. He helps put his cars/trains in the bucket, picks up his books, puts magnets on the fridge, knows exactly where his toys go on the bookshelf, puts his clothes in the dirty clothes hamper, puts diapers and various objects on his changing table, puts his shoes in his shoe basket, and puts Taylor's millions of shoes in our bedroom, helps me unload the dishwasher which is great because I don't have to bend down to get the dishes on the bottom rack and puts things in the recycling bin for me. He wants to put his dishes in the sink but is still too short!

He is still so tiny (although he seems so big until we are around other kids his age) and wearing most of the same clothes from last summer. I am very curious about his percentiles at his 2 year old appointment. Is he still hanging strong in the 5%? Like Ms. Ellen says, somebody has to be in the 5th%....

He is a joy in our lives and we are thankful for every day with our little boy! I am trying to soak up these last few days of him being our only child....

Success!

After this failed attempt....

I decided to give up on professional haircuts and cut Henry's hair at home no matter how much he protested. Turned out that this meant Taylor had to pin him down on the couch with his knee so I could give a few whacks at his mullet. It proved worthless to even attempt to trim around his ears or his scraggly bangs.

Not an ideal situation.

So, we decided to let Taylor model how a big boy gets his hair cut at the barbershop. All day long, I prepped Henry for the big event. I let him play with scissors until he didn't melt down at the sight of scissors and we discussed how we would visit the firetrucks after his haircut.

I was pretty anxious about the whole event until the barber announced that he is the father of 4 boys, one of which is just a few weeks older than Henry. At that, I let out a sigh of relief. I knew this man wouldn't back down from a toddler and wouldn't be phased by tears.

I was right!

Pete at Rooney's Barbershop is my new favorite person.

Notice the sucker firmly clamped between his teeth.

It wasn't going anywhere...

My clean cut boys!

LT, recognize the shirt? It's been his favorite for over a year!

the good and the bad.

Henry is sick. Again.

The bad:

High fever.

Red and puffy left eye.

Nasty cough.

Sad demeanor.

Official diagnosis: clear ears and lungs with a lot of drainage

The good:

A 5.5 hour nap yesterday and we are working on hour #3 today.

He loves loves loves his mama when he doesn't feel good.

Sickness is the only time Henry watches videos at our house.

Yesterday was filled with hours of 2 minute Sesame Street clips from Hulu and YouTube.

Henry loves him some Elmo!

Notice the tongue?

He sticks his tongue out as far as he can when he sings the "la la la la" from Elmo's theme song.

Cute. Huh?

Chilling post 5.5 hour nap.

He woke up with a high temp so I stripped him down to his diaper.

Taylor was so concerned that even his toes were hot!

I am glad to report that little man is feeling much better today.

In fact, he was feeling well enough upon waking up to demand that his daddy put back on his dirty firetruck jammies he had worn the day before.

And, thankfully, he is feeling well enough so I don't have to endure another day of Elmo and gang!

Henry's favorite thing.

Hang around our house for a few hours and it is easy to decipher Henry's favorite thing...

All day long, he talks about Taylor.

Dada this and Dada that.

I ask him to help find my shoes.

He finds a pair of Taylor's shoes and says "Dada?".

I tell my child I love him more than anything.

The response?

"Dada."

I get him from his crib in the morning.

"Dada?" with his little neck craning to see if Taylor is following behind me.