Welcome to the World!

We are the proud parents (and big brother) of a beautiful baby girl!

Tuesday, April 17th I started timing contractions. My biggest hope for Jack all along has been that we would have the opportunity to explain to him what was happening and who he would stay with while we were at the hospital. Thanks to our friend Miss Courtney who came over Tuesday evening with her overnight bag, we were able to have some sweet family time, kiss our son goodnight, and he was able to sleep in his own bed. After singing bedtime songs and a few extra kisses, we anxiously, nervously, excitedly headed to the hospital.

Upon arrival, we went through the check in procedures in the triage room. My doctor just so happened to already be at the hospital and was able to check my progress personally.  She told us I was too progressed to go home but thought we still had some time before things would get interesting. She prescribed rest until she returned in the morning. Unfortunately for my poor husband, the triage room we were in was the last available room. Thankfully for us, we got the last room available! Either way, Ryan did not leave my side, even though that meant he had to sleep in a chair.

The next morning could not come soon enough. With my doctor's blessing, the nurse hooked me up to the portable monitors and we took to the hallways. I wish I could obtain the video surveillance in the maternity ward from Wednesday morning since my tall, groggy husband supportively joined my in walking and lunges.

Progress throughout the day felt as though we were losing a race to a turtle, but we remained determined and optimistic. Meanwhile, my mom had been driving from Austin, TX since 4:30 that morning. To everyone's surprise, my mom made it to the hospital in time for the birth of her granddaughter. I am so thankful I was able to have my husband AND my mom by my side.

We heard the sweet cry of our daughter, Ellie Spring, at 6:45 pm, Wednesday, April 18th. She was 19 1/2", 6 lbs. 5 oz. We were amazed by the frozen moment and filled by the complete love of our growing family.

The hospital congratulated us by giving us an actual room that just so happened to have two beds. Lucky Ryan! This time we anxiously waited for morning because we missed Jack and we were so excited for him to meet his baby sister.

We are a very blessed family of four.

Not up, DOWN!

Last week was a big deal for our growing family. I have been counting UP to track our baby girl's age and growth but last week when the weeks until our due date turned into a single digit, I started counting DOWN! We are now down to 8 and she could always surprise us. Jack was early so it's hard to not think she will be too, but whenever she decides to come is fine by us. Her dad has one request; he has asked her to please wait until after Easter : )

The double meaning in the title of this post is all about her position. When we were in the hospital during the hours between the start of contractions and the sound of our son's first cry, we were as set on natural birth as any expectant new parent (meaning we expected to be in control of the situation). We learned quite late in the labor process that Jack was breech and a C-section was needed right away before he got stuck in the birth canal. As my first surgery (besides my tonsils 20 years prior) this thought scarred me but it was my first lesson in parenting, that things don't always go as planned. The first of many decisions that I thought I had the right to make that I found out may not be in my power to control. 

That said, our daughter is NOT breech! She is in the position necessary for a natural birth. I am hopeful this will be possible this time and I am wiser and more prepared for the possibilities.

We can't wait to meet you Ellie and we hope we will have a middle name picked out for you by the time you decide you are ready to meet us!

Half way there!

Our baby has been growing for 20 weeks today! A pregnancy is based on the assumption that the baby will be born at 40 weeks, which means...

TODAY we are HALF-WAY THERE!

This experience has already flown by and I know we will be meeting our new baby before we know it. We are just as baffled as we were the first time that a human of unknown personality, features, (and gender for that matter) will be joining our family SO SOON!

We have been very blessed so far with a healthy (and active) baby and I particularly am grateful for my own health thus far as well. We are thankful to all of you who are sharing with us in our excitement and welcome all "happy, healthy, strong" prayers.

With a little cooperation from our baby, we will post a pink or blue announcement right after Christmas!

Guess What?!

We have had a full weekend of "2". Jack just celebrated his 2nd birthday and we simultaneously were celebrating the beginning of our 2nd trimester!

Approximately, May 3rd we will become a family of 4! We do not know yet whether Jack will have a sister or a brother, but we can't wait to find out!

2 Years Today!

Be still my heart. 

This great love of ours is two years old today!

 He is showing you how old he is;
this is actually two fingers contrary to what it may look like.

Jackson Forest Arnold,
Every time you grow into a new stage of life,
we think we have reached the most fun, most enjoyable, best-laugh stage.
And then you continue to grow and take our breath away even more.
We could not have possibly imagined the great joy that would exist in our lives
because of you.
Also notable, this is the only time in your life you will be able to say you are twice
as old today as you were one year ago : )
We love you, Son!
Happy 2nd Birthday!

helpful child vs. destructive parenting

Most of you know I taught middle school English to 7th graders in Waco, TX for two years. What I am about to describe does not pertain to every child I crossed paths with during those two years.

In my classroom, in the hallway, definitely in the lunchroom, I noticed a negative cloud of entitlement. In this place, it is not unusual for a child to be asked to help someone do something and be refused because it's not their job and you can't make them. This also applies to homework. We as teachers tried many tactics to entice the students to actually do their homework and bring it back, but as I was told on more than one occasion, if the student refuses to do what their parent asks them, why should they do what I ask them? Good question, but it's the wrong question. Why are you refusing to do what your parent asks you? What created this air of laziness and why do you think a life of nothing is better than a life of involvement? I came across an article from www.babycenter.com that I found very interesting. I have copied and pasted a few parts below:

Tool: Ask for your child's help
Age: 12 months to 8 years
How it works: Researchers know something parents may not: Kids come into the world programmed to be helpful and cooperative. All we have to do as parents is take advantage of this natural tendency. "Kids are innately wired to want to cooperate," says Kathryn Kvols. "A lot of times we parents just don't notice this because we don't expect children to be helpful."

…

Kvols says. "You're teaching your child to be helpful, which is one of the most important life skills. We've found time and again that the people who are most mentally healthy are those who've learned to be of service to others."

Isn’t that fascinating? I fully believe this is true. I wonder how many of my students when they were younger were positively encouraged to take responsibility for themselves and in turn were praised for a good or helpful choice?
I have actually sat in parent conferences (yes plural) where the parent and child had a cussing match.

In the comical and ridiculous movie “Corky Romano”, the sensitive main character tells a gang of thugs regarding their vicious guard dog, “Bad dogs aren’t born; they’re made.” While Corky’s timing didn’t bring about good results for him, I think he’s right about dogs and I would apply this to children as well. 

My son will pick up a remote and immediately point it at the t.v. Today he was loaned a few toys to occupy him while we were out and in the toy basket was a play phone. He’s not allowed to play with our phones and he doesn’t have a play phone at home but the moment he saw this toy, he picked it up and put it to his ear. 

You are wondering about my point: I am trying to prove through my own experiences that I am positive children watch us very closely and understand far more than they are given credit for. We as parents MUST model a helpful and responsible attitude. We MUST encourage even the smallest good decisions far more often than a daily basis.

I still am wrestling with a question though. What do you do when you see a destructive parent?
I have watched parent-child interactions in public that have literally haunted me. In one instance, the toddler’s nickname was “Sh*t head” and the parent was laughing about it since the kid “didn’t understand”. Another time I stood in the checkout line behind a teenage parent and another toddler watching thier “game” where the parent would slap the child’s cheek and the young boy would make a fist and punch the parent in the face.

I am sickened to think of the messages these children are receiving. So I return to my question. What do you do when you see this? I am honestly struggling with this. I feel an obligation to this child’s future, but socially I know it’s not my place. 

What do you do?