Yay for Blogsy!

We recently bought an iPad, which I LOVE, but I was having a hard time uploading photos to the blog on it... Until now! I finally wised up and bought the Blogsy app, from which I am making my first post. Liking it so far!

I can't blame it all on the iPad, though. It's easy to let things slip by when a baby takes over your life. No, we don't want Turner to completely change our lives, but babies do have a tendency of shaking things up a bit.

I know I said I would post my favorite baby items, but then I realized most of you could probably care less about that... I think I was going to do that because that's what it seems like "you do" after having a baby. Sorry. I've been reading too many "mommy blogs"! Forgive me! I'll try to keep the baby stuff to a minimum.

As we prepare for our move, we've been looking at everything in our house and deciding what we want to take with us and what we can live without. I mean, who wants to move books you don't like or clothes you don't wear? We've sold my car, my computer, my camera...Wait, why are we selling all of MY things? Because we don't really need two of things.

Except for toothbrushes...you need two toothbrushes Lilly and Marshall! Sorry, I've been watching way too much How I Met Your Mother.

Ok, back on track. In a city (and with Jesse riding the Metro to and from work), we simply don't need two cars. Even this past month that we've been living with one in Starkville it hasn't been bad at all.

My MacBook is currently listed on eBay. As I said, we recently bought me an iPad, so I don't need my laptop anymore...especially when I can use Jesse's on the few occasions I need a real computer.

Before selling my camera, we had 3 plus our phones and my iPad. We could probably stand to say goodbye to another.

We've gone through our closets and our bookshelves producing huge garbage sacks of items for the Palmer Home...we are selling Jesse's PlayStation and Guitar Hero...we have a speaker and a broken record player we need to get rid of. We still need to go through the boxes under our beds, our kitchen cabinets, and a few other places, but we just want to simplify. We want the move to be a fresh start. I'm excited about it! It feels great to clean out and get rid of...it honestly feels like losing weight!

However, there is one temporary addition to our house that we are excited about... We have baby birds! A momma bird chose one of our bedroom windows to have her babies. She's a smart one too, because the nest is in between the screen and window, with a small cut out for her to fly in and out of. Far away from cats, snakes, and other predators, and we love it! We find ourselves coming to watch them when we hear them chirping. We were wondering... Do baby birds instinctively know to keep quiet when momma is away, or does mom have to teach them that? We like to think that momma bird tells them that. We're excited to have such a close view of watching these birds grow. We really hope we're home to watch them learn to fly!

What steps have you made to simplify your life? I want to hear from my readers!

 

Two Months!

So, sorry for the slack in blogging again! Turner will be 10 weeks old Thursday, so I suppose it is time to finally do his 2 month post.

A lot has happened in the past month. Turner is way more active. He loves to turn his head from left to right, back and forth. He is way more alert and I feel like he really sees us now. He loves to kick his legs, make noises, move his arms, and is SMILING! Which makes me smile! It is the BEST feeling in the world when your baby smiles at you. It makes you feel like a million bucks.

As I said in the last post, the first month was the hardest of my life, but the second has been really fun. Something happened around 6 weeks and it has been getting better and better ever since!

Sleep is a word that is back in my vocabulary again! Turner has been sleeping an average of 7 hours at night. Talk about amazing! It's way better than waking up every 3 hours to feed. I actually woke up before him this morning! I will never take a full night's sleep for granted anymore.

 

One Month

Hello!  Turner is officially ONE MONTH today!  Which explains why I have been slacking on blogging.  There are few hours (or should I say minutes) in the day that I have to myself, so those have been spent sleeping, showering, doing laundry, and cleaning.  I am learning the huge sacrifice of motherhood... especially being a breastfeeding mother.  I'm sorry if you have called and I have been slow to responding.  

Before I go any further, let me give a HUGE shout out to Jesse.  I don't think I could do this without him... no, I know I couldn't do it without him.  He also has had his hands quite full recently, balancing being a Dad with writing his thesis, defending his thesis, and upholding a teaching assistant position. Great news... he defended yesterday and is officially DONE with his masters!  I am so proud of him!

Ok, picture time!  I thought I would have all of these great shots taken on our real camera, but reality with a baby is that your hands are so full that you would need 1 or 2 more hands to be able to work a real camera!  Especially if your baby loves to be held like ours does.  So, the next best thing?  The camera on our phones.

Last weekend when some friends from Memphis came to town to visit, we took Turner on his first restaurant outing to Strombolis!  He was in a happy mood and the weather was gorgeous, so we enjoyed some pizza on the back patio. Thankfully, the car ride put him to sleep, so he was out the entire time we were there.  

Life is so hard.

The next day, my parents came to visit and keep Turner while Jesse and I went on a date! They say that they wanted to help us out, but really I think they just wanted to hold this sweet baby. 

The face he is making here cracks me up.

I was sad when they left for 2 reasons: #1. I was genuinely sad they were leaving.  #2. They were taking my car with them because my Dad is going to sell it for us in Jackson.  We will not need two vehicles in D.C., so we decided to go ahead and try to sell mine.  This will be one less thing to have to do in May/June when we are trying to pack up our lives and move.  My car is starting to have issues - I mean, come on, it is 14 years old and has over 227,000 miles on it - so we want to go ahead and sell it before we have any serious issues with it.  Still, I was sad.  I've had it for 7 years and have so many wonderful memories in it!  

And then there was one.

So, there's a quick update for you!  I'm starting to make a list of what are my "must have" items.   Soon I will be doing a post with my favorite items that have made being a mother easier.   

HAPPY ONE MONTH TURNER! I can't believe that you are one month old today. This has been the hardest month of my life... but the best.  I love you!

Turner's Birth Story

So when you find out that you are pregnant and find out the due date, that date is then etched in the back of your mind that this is when your precious baby will enter the world: February 22, 2012.  Turner was due on a Wednesday, so I decided I would officially work through the Friday before, then play the next week by ear.  Well, Friday came and went, as did the weekend, and no signs of Turner, so I continued working.  Which brings us to his due date... I even worked on that day because I felt totally fine!  That entire day there were no signs that Turner would be entering the world.  I was a little disappointed because I had thought for sure we would have been at the hospital by now.  (If he didn’t come by his due date, I had an appointment scheduled with my doctor the next morning to talk about our options.)

When I got home from work that afternoon, Kelley and Trae were at the house because Kelley was taking her comps for grad school the next day and Trae had class.  Jesse was at the grocery store making one last run for the week. For the past 2 weeks or so, Jesse and I had been walking every afternoon so since he was gone, Kelley, Trae, Maggie, and I went for a stroll.  When we got back home, Jesse was there starting on dinner.  I was beginning to have some contractions during dinner, but they weren’t very regular, so we weren’t really counting them as real contractions.  Around 9:45 pm, I sent my mom a text letting her know that it didn’t seem like he was coming today and that we would see how my appointment went in the morning. Jesse encouraged me to go ahead and go to bed, get some rest, and we would see what happened tomorrow.  To be honest, I was disappointed.  

On my way to bed, Kelley and I cleaned up some things in the baby room/guest room.  She said, “Do you really think he will be here tomorrow?!”  Instantly, I had this feeling that my water might have broken, but I wasn’t very sure.  I called my sister to ask her about it and while we were talking, there was no wondering anymore... my water had officially broken!!!  Let’s just say that i am SO GLAD that I was at home when this happened!  We quickly packed up our last minute things and headed to the hospital - which took a whopping 2 minutes... perks of living in a small town!  

Since it was after 9 pm, we had to enter the hospital through the Emergency Room.  Right when we walked in the door, we saw Hugh Griffith, campus minister of the Wesley Foundation - where Jesse and I were active in college.  It was SUCH a blessing to run into him.  In the middle of the crazy, excited, anxiousness we were feeling, Hugh pulled us aside and prayed for us. It was just what we needed. He also asked if I could hold off until tomorrow it would be great because the 23rd was his birthday... it was also my sister, Jennifer’s birthday as well.  

We go to the counter at the ER and the guy calls to have a wheelchair brought down.  Just a few minutes later, a young nurse came down wheeling a HUGE wheelchair.  I think Jesse and I both could have fit in it!  She took us up to the 4th floor to labor and delivery.  Now, this was a strange moment.  I have been pregnant for 9 months...we attended the childbirthing classes...we took a tour of the hospital...everything... leading up to THIS moment.  Here we were, getting admitted into the hospital and I was about to have a BABY! It was a very exciting, but surreal moment.  

Once we got admitted, we called our parents to let them know that Turner had in fact decided to make his move and that he would be here the next day!  Since it was after 10:30 pm, Jesse’s parents decided to get some sleep, get up in the morning, then make the 6 hour drive to Starkville.  Since my parents are only 2 hours away, they came on to Starkville right then.  I tried to get them to stay at home, get some sleep, and come the next day but Mom wouldn’t have anything to do with that idea.  

The nurses hooked me up to a monitor that showed my contractions as well as the baby’s heartbeat.  I was only 1 centimeter dilated and was 70% effaced, so we knew that Turner wouldn’t be here anytime soon.  I had a blood pressure cuff that took my blood pressure every 15 minutes... which normally wouldn’t be a big deal. However, the nurse that gave me my IV messed it up on my right hand, so she had to do it again on my left.  The blood pressure cuff was on my right arm, so every 15 minutes as it tightened, it caused the place where she messed up the IV to THROB the entire time it was taking the reading. Keep in mind, this happened every 15 minutes from 10:30 pm to 11:15 am the next day.  UGH.

My parents made it to the hospital around 1:00 am and our friend JP showed up then as well!  (Side note: JP was leaving for Japan the next afternoon, so he came to visit us at the hospital that night.)  We all visited for about an hour or so, then we decided it would be best to try to get some rest.  JP went home and my parents went to our house to catch some zZzZz’s.  Jesse made the most of the couch in the hospital room and I tried my best to get comfortable.  Right around that time, my contractions started getting stronger and I could NOT get comfortable.  Unfortunately, as the pain got worse, I got sick. Wasn’t expecting that. This was the first time I had gotten sick during my pregnancy.  Needless to say, I didn’t sleep a wink.  

The nurse came in at 6:00 am to start pitocin because my labor was not progressing very fast.  Once your water breaks, most doctors want to deliver the baby within 24 hours, so they wanted to get things moving.  I didn’t want to be given pitocin, but didn’t have much of a choice at this point.  The contractions started coming very regularly and were really, really intense.  Up until this point I hadn’t decided for sure if I wanted to get an epidural or not, but once I felt these contractions... there was no doubt - I was getting the epidural.  They said Dr. Cobb would be there at 7:00 and that I could get the epidural then since I was 4 centimeters dilated at this point.  We kept the lights off and sent my parents away to the waiting room (they came back to the hospital around 6:00).  I just needed it to be quiet and dark as I worked through the contractions.  As each one came, I grabbed the side of the hospital bed with one hand and grabbed Jesse’s hand with the other.  He was so sweet to stay by my side and encourage me throughout each contraction.  I watched the clock continually waiting for my relief that would be here at 7:00... which turned into 7:30 because Dr. Cobb was running a little late.  

About 15 minutes after I got the epidural, I felt great!  It was crazy (but awesome) to watch the contractions on the monitor, but not feel any pain!  My parents came back into the room and we were set to wait out baby Turner.  Around 10:00 I started to feel a lot of pressure and really felt like I needed to go to the bathroom.  I wasn’t sure why I was feeling pain and pressure since I had gotten the epidural.  I called the nurse in to ask her if this was normal and she said yes and left the room.  About 15 minutes later, I called her back in the room because things just didn’t feel right.  I was feeling incredible pressure and some pain with the contractions.  I asked her to check me and I was already 9 centimeters dilated and 100% effaced!  I must have progressed a lot faster than she expected since she didn’t check me earlier.  It was time to deliver!  My parents went to the waiting room and Jesse suited up!  

As they were preparing the room for delivery, a million things were running through my head.... from “our lives were about to change forever” to “holy crap, I’m about to have this baby.” The main nurse asked if I would mind if some nursing students watched the delivery.  I told them I didn’t mind at all because of my friend, Kaylan.  She had just finished her labor and delivery rotation in nursing school and absolutely loved it.  I know how much it meant to her to be a part of such an incredible experience, so I wanted that for these students.  Also, this is what they were in school for, so of course I didnt mind for them to be in the room.  At this point,  there were 5 nurses, 3 nursing students, and Jesse in the room.  Talk about a lot of people!

Once everything was set and ready to go, it was time to start pushing.  I didn’t realize until this moment that you push along with contractions. While I was pushing, everyone in the room was cheering me on and encouraging me.  Funny story- Jesse must have felt a little awkward because he didn’t really know what to say to me while pushing.  On the second push he started saying “Good Girl! Good Girl!” like I was Maggie or something.  I looked up at him after that push and asked him to think of something else to say since I wasn’t a dog. Finally, he stuck with something along the lines of “good job, keep going, you’re doing great!”  Much better.  Another story- during my pushing, one of the nurses threw me a towel and said, “Let’s play tug-o-war”.  She held on to one end of the towel and as the contractions came, that is exactly what we did!  My arms were sore for the next WEEK from that little game, but it helped me to push while focusing on something else.  

I pushed for 45 minutes before they called for Dr. Cobb to come. (Even though it was 45 minutes, I wasn’t pushing the entire time.. just when the contractions came.)  They always wait until the baby is crowning before they call in the doctor.  Time was ticking by and Dr. Cobb hadn’t made it yet. The main nurse told me if he didn’t make it, it would be ok and that she would deliver the baby.  I continued to push, until finally Dr. Cobb arrived.  He had been at the women’s clinic just down the road and has a scooter to quickly go back and forth to the hospital.  Well, he couldn’t get his scooter to start! He had to borrow another doctor’s truck to make it to the hospital in time.  (Sidenote: imagining Dr. Cobb riding a scooter with his long greasy hair flowing was pretty funny at the time.) Once he arrived, I pushed for about another 15 minutes.  In between pushes we told Dr. Cobb that Jesse had gotten the job in D.C.!  It was kind of funny to go back and forth from intense pain to normal conversation.  Towards the end of pushing, though, there was no normal conversation.  It took all that I had to stay focused and “push through”. ha. One final push and TURNER WAS HERE!   

Jesse got to watch the actual birth and says it was one of the most amazing things he has ever seen.  Apparently, the umbilical cord was twisted around Turner’s body, so Dr. Cobb had to twist and turn him to unwrap the cord, but all was well!  It was incredible to hear that little cry. It wasn’t as loud as we had imagined, but it was the most precious little cry.  As I looked down, all I could see were two little feet kicking in the air.  It was all I needed to see.  Cue my tears... which happened, of course, but Jesse was extremely overwhelmed.  I guess it hit him at that moment, where as I had been bonding with and carrying this little baby for 9 whole months. It was the sweetest thing ever to 

see him so overcome with love.  

As soon as the nurses were through with Turner, they brought him over to us and I got to hold my baby for the first time.

 It was such a sweet, special time.  We cried some more and composed ourselves for our first family photo.  

Once the doctor and nurses left, Turner and I got a chance for our first go at breastfeeding, and then they called for our family to come.  As you know, my parents were in the waiting room, but at this point, we weren’t sure if Jesse’s parents had made it to the hospital yet.  We were so surprised when my parents, Jesse’s parents, Kelley, Trae, and Ross Hood all walked into the room!  Apparently Jesse’s parents had gotten off the elevator on the 4th floor just 60 seconds before Dr. Cobb walked out to let everyone know that Turner had arrived!  Perfect timing!  Kelley was able to come because she was on lunch break from her comps (remember?).  Trae was there because he has been there for every big moment of the pregnancy... and because he is dating Kelley... and Ross came with Trae.  Nanny and PawPaw joined us on Skype - high tech great grandparents! We were so happy to show off our son to everyone - Turner Marion English - born February 23 at 11:17 am. - 7 lbs. 2.3 oz. 20 in. of perfection.  Praise be the God! 

We've been home for 2 weeks now and are doing great! We've definitely had our hard moments, but we are adjusting to life with a newborn and are loving being parents. For those of you who are wondering, Maggie and Turner are getting along very well! Our moms both came for a week each and the time spent with them was so special. We are officially on our own now! We go to the pediatrician on Monday for Turner's first check up. Excited to see how that goes... and to ask the doctor my list of questions. :) Thank you SO much to everyone who has called, sent texts, visited, and brought food! We are so thankful for our support system of friends and family. Love you guys!

He's Employed!

Although we are eagerly awaiting the arrival this baby, the English family got some very unexpected news today! Jesse got a JOB! He had an interview this afternoon with the US Forest Service.  We were very excited about this position he was being interviewed for, but never expected them to OFFER HIM THE JOB today! So, after he finishes out the semester and graduates, the Englishes are moving to Washington D.C.!    

When he was laid off 3 years ago, we had no idea what our future held.  Being 5 months into marriage, the "honeymoon" ended quickly and we had to deal with a very serious reality of what would happen next for us.  After applying for jobs and interviewing only to be told no, we made the decision to come back to Starkville for Jesse to get his masters degree and "wait out" the state of the economy.  It is so incredible to see the Lord's timing through all of this.  I was able to get a great job that I LOVE (and DONT want to leave...ugh) and Jesse has been excelling through his master's program. He loves the field of landscape architecture and couldn't imagine himself doing anything else now. When we found out we were pregnant back in June, we found ourselves again in a place where we were questioning the Lord's plan for our lives and again had to deal with what would happen next for us.  The past 9 months have been a big time for us to trust the Lord.  Little did we know that the day before this baby is due that Jesse would have a job lined up that would provide for our family in amazing ways.  Praise be to God!  

He is signing the official paperwork and then they will figure out a start date, but it won't be until sometime in June most likely.  We are SO excited, but it is bittersweet.  We have LOVED our time in Starkville and I love my job and coworkers and can't imagine leaving them.  We have been so blessed through the extra 3 years we've had in Starkville.  We can only trust that the Lord will provide for all of our my fears that come with this move... big city, far from home, with a 4 month old... but if we have learned anything over the past 3 years, its that we are not in control of our lives...

...so.... Come on, Baby Turner! Tomorrow is your day! We are ready for you!!!

Then and Now

Anyone remember this picture?  (Yet again, I apologize for the background items.)  This was taken at 17 weeks when I tried on the bump in the dressing room at Motherhood Maternity...

... and here we are today at 38.5 weeks!  

People have been asking for an updated picture, so there you go!  All 7.5 lbs of baby.  

Happy Weekend!

Baby Shower

Week 38 has arrived, but baby Turner has not decided that he is ready to enter the world quite yet! I really can't believe that I am just 2 weeks away from my due date of February 22!  I am technically full term, so he could come any day now, but the doc thinks I will make it to the due date.  We go back to the doctor on Thursday and I'm excited to get an update!  I have been having some contractions here and there, my lower back hurts really bad at the end of the day, and sleeping is getting hard...but other than that I'm feeling pretty good, as good as you can in the last few weeks. If I'm sitting for any period of time, you can usually find my heating pad on my lower back to relieve the back pain.  Jesse has to help me up from time to time and help with my shoes...he has been such a trooper recently, especially when I randomly get emotional...sometimes it is for a legit reason, and others for no real reason at all. Fun, huh?  

When we were in Memphis for Jill and Alan's wedding a few weekends ago, we stayed with our good friends Casey and Laura Zumwalt.  We are always so blessed by their friendship and had the best time with them.  That weekend they were so sweet to offer to take some maternity shots for us.  It's been about...oh 3 years since we have had our picture taken by professionals, so it was really fun to go out for a shoot!  Especially when it is with good friends!  We decided to walk around Rhodes College in Memphis for the shoot.  What a beautiful place! These pictures will be so special to us for years and years to come, as they were taken exactly one month before Turner's due date.  Here's a sneak peak and we can't wait to see the rest!

The very next weekend, 6 of my sweet friends hosted a shower for baby Turner in Starkville!  It was so great to see so many friends and celebrate this baby boy!  He is certainly loved by so many who are anxiously awaiting his arrival.  We have been so blessed through our friendships and everyone's excitement for our new little family.  He is the first baby in our friend group, so we are all excited and a little freaked out that we are getting to his age.  I keep telling everyone that Turner will need friends, so I'm excited to see who all will be next!!!  Lindsay Warden is already on board.  :)

The shower was at Mrs. Debbie Cooper's house.  Mrs. Debbie will be made a grandmother in July, so she thought my shower would be the perfect excuse to get her crib ready for her little grandbaby.  :)  What a perfect place to put the presents as they arrived!  So creative!

A candy pacifier tree!

Kaylan Duggar and Rachel Brocato

Elizabeth Blaine and Mary Renfroe

Emily Vanderpool and Abby Spann

Ashley Powell and Margaret Claire Walker

Kate Sherrard, Debbie Cooper, Leah Power, and Lindsay Warden (+Baby Everett)

Laura Tennant, yours truly, and Naron Brister

My wonderful hostesses!  Kaylan Duggar, Kelley English, Lindsay Warden, Rachel Brocato, Mary Renfroe, and Laura Tennant.  I can't thank yall enough for taking the time to put on this shower.  It was such a blessing!

Turner got some adorable outfits, homemade blankets, books, a diaper bag, and his carseat, just to name a few things!  He is set!  One of my favorite things from the shower were all the sweet messages for baby Turner.  Each guest was asked to fill out one of these cards:

Kelley is making a scrapbook with all of the sheets that were filled out.  Even my niece, Ashlyn, filled one out.  Some of hers made me laugh... "I hope you learn to do gymnastics." "I hope you laugh at funny jokes."  "I hope you never forget that you like me." "I hope you become a salesman."  

We sent some home for our dads, brothers-in-law, and nephews to fill out.  Jesse and I filled out ones of our own after the shower, and man that was pressure! It made us realize how much of a role we will be playing in making these wishes come true.  One of my favorites was Jesse's last one, which said "I hope you grow old with someone you love."  Melt my heart.  

So, 2 weeks to go!  Our emotions are all over the place, but we are so thankful to have each other and the support from all of our friends and family.  Please pray for the three of us as we get ready for Turner's arrival!  Love you all!