Drew Learns How to Feed Bradley

Two weeks ago, Dave was still at work and I was home with the boys. Long story, but I had a bit of an emergency (clearly I am fine now, so no worries!) and I had to have Drew bring me the bouncy seat into the bedroom so I could put Bradley in it. He was a very good helper, and brought the seat in right away. Well, prior to this, I had been feeding Bradley a bottle in the living room. Drew remembered that, and while I was phoning a neighbor, Drew had returned to the living room, bottle in hand, put it in Bradley's mouth, and sat there feeding him. I could not believe my eyes! What a smart, helpful and loving big brother he is!

A few days later, Drew was showing off his 'skills' to Daddy. Here are some photos of that.

October 17th - 19th: 3.5 Weeks

Welcome to the Family, Bradley!

Bradley David Gonzalez
Monday, September 21, 2009
8:21 a.m.
8 lbs. 1 oz.
20 inches long

The Old Man...

I can feel it as he moves... a slow, persistent saunter, without trepidation... it is the 'old man' trying to creep back up within me. He cloaks his intentions with rationality and relativism. He whispers mottos of self-preservation and expects me to join the cause.

As I prepare to embark on the journey of life with two children, more specifically, having another newborn in the house, I am, ashamedly, traversing ever so closely to that fruitless road of selfishness.

A little history
I was the poster child for selfish the first few months of Andrew's life in our home. I acted, and re-acted with the attitude that I was the one who had done so much, given so much, lost so much (sleep, of myself, normalcy, etc.). I was not as giving to my husband as I had previously thought I would have been during such times. I did not attempt to do anything special for him; I expected everything to be done on my terms. The Lord used that time in my life to illustrate in the most tangible way for me at the time my true nature and my need for His power to work through me.

Back to the present
As you think of me or my family in the weeks leading up to, including, and following baby boy's birth, would you please pray for my heart and my attitude? Along with all the normal prayers (which are all very welcome and very important) for the preparation, birth, recovery, etc., would you please pray that I not be tempted by that crooked 'old man' who wants to get his way again? The Lord has used my initial journey into motherhood to show me what selfish is. I want to 'pass the test' this time, and I want to model love, patience, understanding and peace to my family during this beautiful time of transition in our lives.

REVISED Baby Countdown

Well, now that I've completely confused everyone, the 19th is no longer the Birthday. The only reason I was a little disappointed was because that was my grandfather's birthday. However, it is what it is and there is no reason for me to be sad.

So, unless baby makes an early arrival on his own, his birthday is scheduled for September 21st.

We would appreciate your prayers for the next few weeks, particularly as we continue to discuss more with Andrew about what is coming and how best to plan for him during those days when baby is born and we are in the hospital.

Any wisdom you want to share in this area is also welcome!

I am continuing to make slow but steady progress in the nursery. Most recently, I cleaned out and sorted one large memory box (photos, keepsakes, memorabilia). You would not believe the trash I was able to get out of that thing! Oh, it felt so nice to purge all that 'stuff'!

Then, I found another one... yikes. But, I started on that one this afternoon during an unusually long nap for my little boy.

We also picked up the rope-styled decorative moulding for the chair rail in the nursery today at Lowe's. PRICEY - I was not happy about it, but other options would be more expensive and take too long. Thanks, Laurie, for the idea on what to use as our division for the chair rail! David is going to try to get it installed this week after work.

Drew and I pulled out all the newborn baby clothes (those we saved from Drew, those we recently purchased, and those we received as gifts). We sorted them and washed them so that tomorrow we can start putting them in the dresser.

David's Daddy Shower

The team of teachers with which David works threw him a "Daddy Shower" at work yesterday. It was very cute and lots of fun. Drew and I joined the festivities as we watched Daddy at a shower in his honor, which, in my opinion, is nice for a change.

A version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire was devised for Dave to play, appropriately titled instead Who Wants to Be a Daddy. He had to wear this crazy cool Super Daddy apron made for his diaper changing duties, and his arsenal was complete with three lifelines he could use while answering questions during the course of the game.


The three ladies that are part of the 4th/5th grade team with David are amazing. Here is a photo of them all together after the party. From left to right: Mary, Janet, Tammie, and of course, the Daddy.

Updated Baby Countdown

To the right, you can see my little 'Baby Countdown' in blue. That is according to my original due date, which is 9/30. However, most of you know I have to have a scheduled c-section. Well, this past week at the Doctor's, I was given my window of date choices, and I selected 9/19. So, whatever the Baby Countdown on the right says, just subtract 11 days from it.

September 19th would be my maternal Grandfather's 97th birthday if he were still alive. He went to be with the Lord a little over 10 years ago. I was very close with him, and was praying that his birthday would be one of my choices for Baby's birth. Now, unless God decides to insert His sense of humor here, Baby will come on Grandpa Rosy's birthday.

Baby Projects

I don't know where to start about the long list of projects we had on our list to complete this summer while Dave was home. However, now that he has gone back to work, I am working on getting Drew back on his 'normal' routine (although I know in a little over a month it will all be disrupted again).

There are also various projects left on my list I need to complete before the baby comes. Some are directly related to Baby himself; others are just items that need crossing off before he arrives that don't really have anything to do with a new baby in the house.

Drew and I completed two of those this week that are kind of exciting. We washed all the bassinet linens and assembled the bassinet. Of course, Drew keeps asking to go for a ride in it, and we have the long conversation over and over about how he is too big, but he did 'go for rides' in it when he was a little baby. He has been practicing rocking his big teddy bear in the bassinet, and he likes to sing while he does it. Very cute.

Another accomplishment (especially in the heat and when your belly is out to ........... here), we washed, re-assembled, and installed the infant car seat in the van. Again, Drew thinks he is the baby and that he should fit in the seat. After I let him have his turn in it, I think he realized how uncomfortable it is for him. So, now, if baby comes at any point, they will let us leave the hospital with him because his seat is properly installed. That is always a good thing (to be able to leave with your own baby)!

So, the list goes on, but we are making progress, one item at a time, one day at a time.