I took the boys to the pediatrician today after EBoy woke us up last night complaining that his ear hurt. They’ve both been nursing what I kept hoping was the tail end of a cold for a week or so now. Turns out EBoy has his very first ever ear infection along with a bit of a sinus infection, and EBaby has a double ear infection! I felt so bad for both boys - they have both been so sweet but very clingy towards me lately and I couldn’t figure out why. Now I have a reason. We dosed them with antibiotics and noticed and immediate improvement in both.

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I took my 2 boys to the park one warm afternoon and they had a blast. This was EBaby’s first time being a full fledged walker at a park so he could not get enough of walking on wood chips and the slide- oh how he loves the slide! Sliding down it wasn’t nearly as fun as trying to climb back up, so he proceeded to try to climb the slipper slope with much laughter and determination. I felt so sad for him when it was time to leave, he sobbed and cried out for his beloved slide, I’m sure we’ll get back to the park soon so he can have more fun.

The thing that has thrown me for a big loop the last couple of weeks has been some new changes ahead. After years of EDad trying to manage a transfer to Texas within his company one has finally become open and available. Not only is this opening definite for him if he wants it but he can take the position as early as June.

We always thought we wanted to return to Texas- I say return because I’m from Texas but EDad has never actually lived there but has fallen in love with Texas from all of our visits there. In all honesty I should have been jumping for joy- I’ll finally be near my brother and his family, I’ll live in the same place as my sister for the very first time in our entire lives, my network of friends will be huge too.

But instead of being excited I was totally left in shock. I’ve become accustomed to Atlanta and had pretty firmly set myself to having my roots here. I absolutely love my neighborhood and was so excited at the prospect of my children growing up here and seeing positive, educated, strong black families as the norm and not some unusual anomoly. I’ve networked and have a great support system of friends and extended family that I feel very safe and secure with. Plus the thought of actually trying to keep my house in clean, showable condition to try to sell it with 2 boys running around putting their little handprints on every wall they can find seemed overwhelming.

Then I got my astronomical gas bill for the month of December.

Umm Texas sounds like a GREAT idea folx! LOL. I’m no longer scared of the unkown and if things aren’t always perfect with family and friends then we’ll just work through those times and keep on going. I have faith that all of this is going to be for the best, and that this house will sell in the absolutely perfect timing.

We spent the last week in Chattanooga(I plan to blog about that shortly) while EDad was there for work and that week was just what I needed to calm down, relax and get refocused. I think I might head back to FlyLady for awhile to see if I can regain my organization/decluttering motivation and get rid of all we can to make a successful transition.

Thanks so very much for each and every reply to EBaby’s birthday post- they brought tears to my eyes. I’m so thankful for the positive energy each and every one of my blog friends keeps on showing my way.

16. I kind of hoped baby #2 would arrive on January 13 but I had an all natural VBAC delivery on January 23, 2005. His birth was one of the most amazing moments of my life

Saturday morning started the same way most of the Saturdays towards the end of my pregnancy did- with a visit to my wonderful chiropractor followed by an hour long blissful full body massage. This adjustment felt different- I could feel a new sensation afterwards, it was like the baby’s head bumped all the way down into my cervix trying to make a bit of an escape. No real new changes occurred until around 11 pm that night. I started feeling mild contractions and of course the first thing that came to my mind was that if I was to go into full labor I was going to have my doula at my house every single iota of my floors needed to be spotless. So I proceeded to get on hands and knees to scrub everything I could get near. I chose lavendar as my relaxation scent and proceeded to light lavendar candles, oil burners, and tart warmers in every room. Dh then massaged my lower back for me using some oils I threw together based on their being contraction stimulators (rosemary and a few others) and I waited for things to pick up.

By 5 in the morning we called the Doula and after she spoke to me on the phone she thought it best to come within the next couple of hours. I was kept hydrated and peaceful as I slowly glided my way through labor in my glider. I was so happy to have our Doula- we really felt connected to her and dh was able to drop EbonyBoy at a friend’s house and get in a good nap while I labored. I kept myself in a calm trance and was able to nap between contractions in order to keep up my energy- the Doula kept time and made sure to try new positions if anythin slowed down (which thankfully didn’t happen). Labor continued to progress and I started needing to go pee more often and felt an increase of pressure but really didn’t think I could be too far along because my water hadn’t broken. My Doula started suggesting that perhaps we needed to go to the hospital- my husband agreed but I wasn’t convinced that I was more than 2 or 3 cm. I was absolutely determined to have a successful VBAC and really felt that the only chance I had was to not show up to the hospital too early.

Doula and Dh finally talked me into going to the hospital and I somehow managed to lay in the back of our minivan while EDad raced through to the hospital. We live around 30 minutes away but he made the trip in 15 minutes flat. We walked in and I was overjoyed to find that I was already 7 cm dillated. The nurses seemed almost relieved to see that I arrived with a Doula and pretty much let me labor as I pleased. They asked if I wanted my water broken and I refused- thinking that any sort of outside intervention might result in an immediate csection. They did attach the baby monitor to my waist but I was able to avoid even getting an IV by letting them put another type of open IV attachment(I think it was called an IVblock?) on my hand just in case it became needed later. I labored for 3 more hours wondering why I wasn’t furthering along when finally my Doula gently suggested that perhaps my water being broken wouldn’t be such a bad idea. It turns out I have what my Doula called “bag of steel” because the baby was sitting at +1 station but my water had not broken. Once they broke my water I was dillated to 10 cm within 10 minutes and prepared to push. I focused all of my energy on pushing the baby out and within 10 minutes of pushing my sweet EbonyBaby entered the world. All I could do was to say “I did it” over and over while they placed him on my chest so that he could get cleaned up and try to nurse. The moment of meeting him was a crowning achievement- I’ve never felt so much pure and overwhelming joy in my life as I finally got to experience the birth I’d always dreamed of having.

Happy Birthday EbonyBaby- you truely are my little angel.

We have some major changes that are about to happen in the Ebony household(very good ones- but huge very huge). I’ve been processing everything and plan to sit down and write a nice post- but keep running out of time in my day. I’ll be updating soon.

I saw a something today as I was heading into my gym (which by the way I have been to EVERY day for the last 2 weeks! Yayyy me!) that was absolutely, positively too incredible not to blog about. Can anyone possibly explain to me why a car would need its own personal treasure chest? Not just any treasure chest but one encrusted with the largest, sparkliest jewels I’ve ever seen. (I would ask why someone is riding around with a convertible top down in 50 degree weather but that’s the least of my concerns.)

My personal explanation is this car must be owned by some sort of very extravagent pirate. And he apparently likes to work out but wants to be sure no one tries to make off with his treasure while he’s away from the ship. There’s a certain celebrity that’s a member of the gym I go to- I used to think that was kinda cool (*ahem* crazysexycool even) but nothing is as impressive as going to a real Pirate gym. Forgive the grainy picture- it was taken with my new camera phone (this was the ONE time I didn’t have my digicam with me, I always have it and its for picture opportunities like this). Arrrrrrggg

5 years passes so quickly when every moment is bliss. I keep waiting for the newlywed happiness to wear away a bit- but instead its only grown stronger. Thank you for being the best friend and best husband I could have ever dreamed of.