Work Before Play

You have to get all the chores done before you can play. That's what papa teaches Moses. We have to "clean up, put up" before the fun can begin.
Don't you know those doggies make a mess. So we have to clean up after them!

Moses is currently

Sitting on the floor playing with his tool bench saying:

Broke? I fix it!

Where did "Moses Jackson" come from?

Lindsey asked: His name (Moses) is so fitting to him... How did you choose it?

I get this question A LOT! After Brett and I had been dating awhile he mentioned to me that he wanted to name his son after his father, Moses. His dad passed away when he was young so it is something he felt strongly about. I'll be honest, before I was pregnant I was not too sure. It can be rough having a name that is different. Once I was pregnant I embraced it. I think family names are the BEST. It automatically gives you history with someone in your past.

His middle name, Jackson is from my side of the family. My great-great grandfather's middle name to be exact. I really hate that it is such a popular name now because everyone thinks I picked it to be "trendy."

I think that his name flows so well. I use both names together some, but I call him Moses J a lot. What is strange to me is that from the very beginning I have called him Buddy. Probably more often than his regular name. He is my best buddy!

If you are looking for baby names I really recommend trying to do your family tree and see what names go together. I have heard great double names from grandmothers or even maiden names for first names. I did some of ours this winter and found that the girl name I like was a maiden name from a LONG time ago. In fact a too many to write great grandfather's name was Moses Sutton. It was just meant to be.

Keep asking questions! I love them and it gives me great blogging ideas! Leave them in a comment or email them to me at starrose@hotmail.com. It's time for the lurkers to surface!

P.S. Lindsey I LOVE THE BLOG! I'm totally obsessed with all the fun stuff you do!

Moses' Birth Story

I really wish I had known more about blogging when I was pregnant with Moses. I would have loved to have more of that documented. I started this blog when he was a few months old so I didn't even have his birth story documented. Now SO many people are having babies so I thought it would be a good time to get it down before I forget things!

Let's just start with the fact that I was four days over due. In August. In NC. Oh, and did I mention my husband was convinced long walks on the golf course would induce labor? Even the men playing golf felt sorry for me!

Anyways, since I was convinced I was going to have to be induced I told mom and dad to visit on that Sunday. Mom was going to do my hair and we were just going to hang out. I slept really well that night and my eyes popped open at 8am. Being pregnant, I made a bee-line for the bathroom. I had developed a method of shifting to empty my bladder, but I thought that maybe my water had broken. I called Brett in and we decided to call the doctor. I hopped in the shower knowing that it was probably going to be a long day.

We got everything ready and we still had not heard back from the doctor. By then I was positive my water had broken so we headed off to the hospital. We called my parents who were so surprised! We asked them where they were on road. Then they asked us where we were. Oh, we were heading to the hospital! We also called Brett's mom and stepdad so they could start their drive. We stopped to get a bite to eat and then went to Rex. I really wish I could have eaten that Bojangles biscuit!

They got me into a room and all hooked up. I was having contractions but wasn't feeling anything so they hooked up the pitocin. By this time it was probably around 10am. I wanted to wait to get the epidural till I was actually feeling pain because I was afraid it would run out at the wrong time. My parents came in and visited and brought Brett something to eat. ENVY! By this time the contractions were hurting so I asked for my epidural.

My super sweet nurses were awesome! I was so relaxed and was even able to sleep. Around 1pm I was at 5cm. They said I would probably be pushing by 7 or so. The afternoon wore on and I progressed to 8cm. And that's when things just stopped. I started getting a little sick and not as comfortable. Around 8pm my epidural had worn off and they thought I was probably dilated more but swollen. They gave me the option to wait and see if things would change or we could go ahead with a c-section. In pain and very tired I thought the c-section would be the best way to go.

This decision did not come easily. I was not afraid of the surgery, but I was really upset about a long recovery time. I was easily calmed by Brett who assured me we would be ok. I was really ready to get back to surgery because of the pain. That spinal block was what I needed to calm down. I really wish I would have known the name of the anesthesiologist. When you are having a c-section that is the person who is with you the ENTIRE time. They brought Brett in after they had started so this sweet man was helping me while I was sick and letting me know what was going on.

At 9:05pm they pulled out Moses Jackson Barker at a whopping 9lbs 3ounces. It was a good thing I had a c-section! He was crying and they put him next to me to say hello. When I started talking he stopped crying and turned toward me like he knew exactly who I was. Brett went with him to video and take pictures of him getting weighed and measured.

I held him while they wheeled us back to recovery and got a chance to spend a little time with him and try to nurse for a few minutes. I SO wish I felt better during this time because it seems like such a blur. The biggest blessing was Brett having the video camera to capture him getting a bath and taken care of.

I won't go too much into how sick I was but it was a rough time. I'm allergic to pain medication so I was very sick during and after the birth. I also had two units of blood and ended up with gas bubbles in my back from not moving around enough.

The next time around (hopefully!) I will be a scheduled c-section. The doctor said that even with a smaller baby he thought I would have the same problem. Let's just same I'm ok with that! It was so worth it and I am so happy to have given birth to such a sweet healthy boy!

Moses Fun Facts

1. Daddy is his favorite word. If you tell him to call Daddy, he will use a singsong voice to call Daaaaddddyyyyy.

2. LOVES to eat. Usually what someone else has.

3. Renames things even though he can say the names correctly. Poor Riley, even we call her Riri (pronounced rye-rye) now.

4. If you make eye contact with him, you've got about an 75% chance of him listening to you. If Papa asks him to do something it ups to a solid 95%.

5. He is my snuggle buddy. Our times are usually first thing in the morning and right before naps and bedtime.

6. He loves kids who are just a little bit older than he is.

7. Still love to play peek-a-boo games.

8. LOVES the movie Ice Age. He will point to the car dvd player and say "Watch baby?"

9. Will give you one long sentence a day. I slept in on Saturday and when I saw him he had something on his face. I asked him what he had for breakfast and he looked at me and said, "We had waffles." The rest of the day it's one or two word sentence and grunts. Go figure!

10. Understands way more than we give him credit for. But like most men, he has selective hearing!

Catch Up Post

This entry is going to be all over the place, because, well I am usually all over the place! I never did talk about my AWESOME Mother's Day gifts. My mom gave me a lot of new products that she got in for the shop and Brett and Moses gave me a Dyson vacuum cleaner! I LOVE IT. Between Moses, the dog, and Brett and I who are "shedders" I vacuum probably every other day. This vacuum is so awesome and I highly recommend it. However, it was time for Moses to say goodbye to the original "vac vac." He loves all vacuums. He will pretend to use it, play with the attatchments and pretend to talk to it. I had to take this picture of him saying "bye bye vac vac." Really, he kept saying it!

This week has been crazy because at the last minute I decided that I wasn't going to let my real estate license expire which meant I had to go to the mandatory update class (4 hours) last night and then do the online CE credit which is suppose to be a four hour class but took me more like 5.5 hours. YUCK! I'm glad I did it though. I worked really hard to get licensed so I guess I will be like the people (no lie) who literally come to class with canes, in wheel chairs and tethered to oxygen tanks!

As for a real Moses update, he's starting to put more words together and learn more everyday. He is so advanced with his motor skills. He amazes me everyday with the coordination he has climbing things. He is also very spirited. I'm working with him on discipline a little harder now. Before we do something like go outside and play or go somewhere we talk about it and what we are and are not suppose to do and what will happen if he disobeys. It's going pretty well. He is not always well behaved but he knows that if he breaks the rules he can't get away with it.

He is still very into playing outside. He loves the water, swing, slide, and his outdoor toys with wheels. He is still a fan of Mickey Mouse who he calls "Ickey." Moses still loves to eat and I love to hear him ask for ketchup (anything he can use for dip) which he calls "pepchuck." He also has a sweet tooth which. This is ok because usually he eats lots of fruits and vegetables.

So that is what he is up to now, I'm sure it will be different in a few weeks. Can you believe two in about two months?!

Slow Down Summer

A few weeks ago I was at a church meeting and I was talking with a few other mothers. One has a little girl who is getting ready to start kindergarten and since it is year round she will begin July 7! This has made me want to take advantage of the freedom that we will have these next few years. So, last Wednesday I packed Moses up and we headed to EI early for the weekend! We stayed a few days and Brett came down on Friday. We played on the "island" and spent time with my parents. Saturday afternoon we headed to see Brett's mom and stepdad and went to their family reunion. We got to play in the pool and with the "water" and bucket.
When Monday rolled around, I thought, why go home! So Moses and I went back to EI and stayed until today. Papa even took some time off work and we played with him a lot. I hope this Summer won't go by too quickly. I plan to make the most of it and make sure everyone has a lot of fun. Since Moses was born, we haven't really been able to afford a real vacation, but we realize not everyone has the good fortune of going to visit parents whose backyard come complete with a waterway and boat.
Moses is all for it too! This little boy LOVES the water and sand. He is so content to play, dig and splash. I have already gone through and entire bottle of the spray on sunscreen for Moses. (I am a sunscreen freak). So, if the blog goes a little quiet, it's because we're outside playing somewhere and being a little carefree. We hope you are doing the same!