Happy 1 Month Birthday, Gabriel!

Emily and Ruthie with Gabriel on Mother's Day

 All of the cousins (except Chase since we couldn't get him to sit still) from the Sneed side of the family

 An unintentional smile (but we love it anyways!)

 Looking so serious as Nana holds him

 Gabe and I on Mother's Day (I so wanted Chase in this picture, but he refused to cooperate)

 Looking so peaceful and snugly

 Chase with no pants on (part of potty training) and 19-month old cousin Jaycee Turner

Wide awake after a bath

 Auntie Amber holding Gabe for the first time

Wow, time surely does fly! Gabriel is 4 weeks old today!!!  This past month has been a blur to me.  I've been in a continuous cycle of nursing, changing diapers, and sleeping when I can.  On average, Gabe nurses every 3-4 hours; sometimes we can make it for 5-hour stretches, but I'd say the norm is to get a solid 3-4 hours of sleep at a time in between feedings at nights. Surprisingly, I'm not a walking zombie as one would think, but I will say motherhood is more tiring this time around since I have Chase to entertain on top of the demands of a newborn.  My grandmother has been watching Chase some days, but I've had Chase here with me at home the vast majority of the time I've been off from work.  My mornings start around 6:30 (7 if I'm lucky) with Chase waking Gabriel and I up and asking me to go downstairs and get him some milk (keep in mind Chase just turned 3 and is still too young to fend for himself).  Our mornings are usually filled with Nick Jr. or watching the movie Cars one or two times while I nurse Gabe.  If I can get Gabe back in a sound sleep, Chase and I will sometimes play outside for an hour or two on a nice day before heading back inside for lunch and an afternoon nap. The afternoon nap is for Chase; I rarely get one since Chase is usually going down for a nap when Gabe is waking up.  My most exhausting time of the day is usually by the time Chase wakes up from his nap and Tim comes home from work.  Fortunately, Tim has been a huge help in taking Chase to the park and entertaining him for a few hours in the afternoon while I can get some quiet time with Gabe; sometimes I can sneak in a power nap.  The rest of the evening/night usually consists of cooking dinner (unless we do take out) and getting the boys ready for bed (Tim helps out with this process, thank God). I try to turn in for the night upstairs around 9 PM or whenever Gabriel falls back asleep after having a good amount of awake time.  Tim and I have been sleeping in separate rooms since Gabe has been born in order for Tim to get a good night's sleep so he can function at work.  It's been kind of lonely not having him in the same bed, but I know this is a short-lived experience when you look at the big picture.

Gabriel is definitely growing from his frequent feedings.  We see Dr. Baust on Tuesday for a check-up and a round of immunizations (no fun).  The 2-week check-up had Gabe weighing in at a whopping 8 pounds, 13 ounces.  He was also measured at 22" in length, which leads me to believe he was too curled up at birth to get an accurate measurement then.  I'd say overall Gabe has been a good baby.  The first two weeks were super easy with hardly any fussing.  The last two weeks I've noticed increased fussiness due to gas, but as soon as he gets the gas out of his system he's content again.  I remember Chase being the same way as a baby, but I still feel Gabriel is more laid back.  We've only used a pacifier on him once and the rest of the time he's been consolable and content.  Although he's been exclusively breastfed, he's had a bottle of pumped milk a few times just so we can get him used to taking a bottle before I return to work.  He took the bottle like a pro! 

Speaking of returning to work, I'm still not mentally ready to do that.  I'll most likely add an extra week of my vacation on to the remaining two weeks of maternity leave to give myself three more weeks of being a stay-at-home mom.  The first few months of a newborn's life goes by in a blink and I want to savor every moment I possibly can.  Plus, I've enjoyed getting things accomplished during my time off, such as shopping, working in the yard, and organizing odds and ends around the house.  I've also made headway with potty training Chase.  It's still a work in progress, but we're getting closer.  Our goal is to have it mastered this summer so that Chase can start preschool in the fall.  I'll type more on Chase attending preschool in the next blog posting since it's still not finalized which preschool he'll attend, but we have a good idea after I've done a lot of research.

Mother's Day was extra special this year.  Unfortunately, we didn't go to church due to mere exhaustion, but we did join my family at my grandmother's house for a cookout.  Both sets of of my grandparents were there as was the rest of the Sneed family.  Tim had a beautiful flower bouquet for me for Mother's Day.  Having a wonderful husband and being a mom to two precious boys has been more blessings than I ever imagined!

May 2, 2012

My Sleeping Angel in his carseat

Baby Gabe's First Bath (Check out that belly....Momma must be feeding him well!)

He blinked right when the camera flashed! Almost got a pic with his eyes open...

Proud Grammie Pam, Mommy, and Gabe at the hospital

Daddy and his two boys (this is Tim's FB profile pic)

Chase kissing his "baby bruller" (my FB profile pic)

Today was Gabriel’s official due date, but, thankfully, the Lord decided for him to come sooner! My last day of work was Thursday, April 19th. I had a doctor’s appointment that afternoon and Dr. Curtis informed me I was 3 cm dilated. In spite of the dilation and progress towards labor, she still felt I was healthy enough to continue on with work and suggested I continue working into the following week. I respectfully rebutted against her suggestion letting her know that I was done with work with or without a doctor’s note. My natural instinct told me there was no way I could continue working with the way I was feeling—not that I was feeling completely miserable, but I just had a lot of pressure on my bladder and could literally feel the baby descending more with each passing day. I was feeling more Braxton and Hick’s contractions and discharge everyday too. I also had more swelling than ever before, but still not enough for my blood pressure to budge outside of normal limits. I explained my work conditions to Dr. Curtis in great detail—not that I actually work on the ship anymore, but just the walk in and out of the shipyard gates is trying enough, not to mention the three flights of steel stairs I have to climb every day to get to my office. She finally agreed to write me out of work starting Monday, April 23rd and I made the call to just take a vacation day for Friday, April 20th.


Good call on my part! Little did I know on that Friday that it would be the last day of peace I would get before our family of three grew to four. I got a much needed pedicure first thing that morning since I hadn’t been able to reach my toes in quite some time. Throughout the day, I felt more pressure and drainage. Within just a couple hours of Tim getting home from work I told him that I wasn’t sure if I’d make it through the night without a baby coming. By this time, I was feeling more contractions, but they still weren’t strong enough or close enough together to rush to the hospital. So, we went about our evening as usual. Tim gave Chase a bath and then shortly afterwards, I told him it was best for us to go to the hospital since the contractions seemed to be getting more consistent. We had arranged for Chase to go to my grandmother’s house that night. Ironically, as soon as we got in the Tahoe to drive away from the house, the contractions subsided, although I do remember feeling an especially strong one on the James River Bridge (maybe it was all of those bumps on the bridge). After we dropped Chase off at my grandmother’s house for the night, we made our way to Mary Immaculate. Sure enough, the nurses checked me out around 11 PM and confirmed I had ruptured membranes (partial water breakage). It was like reliving my labor with Chase all over again because the same thing happened with him where my water had only partially broken.

I made it until around 4 AM the following morning—still no Gabriel, but felt stronger contractions at that point. I caved in and got the epidural. You may recall my Facebook post coming through around this time that said, “Thank God for popsicles and epidurals!” My mom came to the hospital after she had ended her nursing shift that morning and she stood by my side along with Tim as the nurses periodically checked me for dilation. As with Chase, the dilation was taking FOREVER. Dr. O’Connell checked in on me and put me on Pitocin some time later that morning to speed up the contractions and dilation. Alas, around 2:00 PM I was at 10 cm and ready to push. Unlike my labor with Chase, I felt more rested this time around since Tim and I had had the entire night prior to relax in the hospital without visitors as we waited for progression. I remember getting a few power naps in that night. Tim even ended up snoring on the loveseat in the L & D room.

Praise the Lord, it only took about a half hour of pushing with Gabriel. I didn’t tear too badly either (but, I’ve still felt better in my southern hemisphere). Dr. Kathy O’Connell was the OB on call that weekend and she was AWESOME! I’ve said this before, but it’s such a comforting feeling when you know your doctor is a servant of Christ; I know without a doubt that both Dr. Yonker and Dr. O’Connell are both Christian women and I couldn’t have asked for a better pair of doctors to bring my two boys into this world. All of the staff at MIH was very accommodating. Gabriel arrived in the world safe and sound at 2:44 PM weighing in at a whopping 8 pounds, 3 oz—a day before Chase’s birthday and just 2 oz bigger. Gabriel was measured around 19 inches in length, but I suspect he was still too curled up to get an accurate measurement because his little legs are just now starting to stretch out more at almost 2 weeks post partum.

The next few days were a blur: sleeping when I could, breastfeeding Gabriel around the clock (thankfully, nursing has been easier this time around than it was with Chase), and transitioning from the hospital to home. Chase’s first reaction to Gabe seemed like he was in a state of shock. Then he went through phases where one minute he was asking me to send the baby “bye-bye” to the next minute of adoring Gabriel as his “baby bruller.” Thankfully, I had Tim’s mom to help me out for most of that first week at home—the help really came in handy for entertaining Chase and keeping up with the house so that I could focus on Gabriel those first few days and nights at home. My mom and sister came by to visit later on in the week bringing me lasagna (Laurie makes the best lasagna). Dawn, Emily, and Ruthie came by to visit over the weekend. My dear friend Liz came by on Monday with an enormous tray of spaghetti and fixings to go along with it. Today, my dad came by with lunch from Bojangle’s and got to spend a couple hours with Chase and Gabe. We went for a stroll around the block on this beautiful, warm day. And as for my other half, he’s been a HUGE help with Chase since Gabe’s arrival—he’s taken Chase to the park several times and done lots of little things to keep him entertained so that I can focus on Gabe. Too bad he doesn’t get paternity leave so that I could have his help everyday for the next few weeks. With all of that said, I’m thankful for the help of my family and close friends.

Gabriel seems to have such a sweet spirit to him. Although it hasn’t been a full two weeks yet, he seems to be a less fussy than Chase was at this age and he’s already doing well at sleeping for longer stretches. On average during the nights, he wakes up 2-3 times for feedings and usually falls right back to sleep after a hearty meal and diaper change. Thankfully, I’m still getting 4-hour stretches of sleep during the nights in between feedings. As mentioned before, breastfeeding is going well; Gabe is already back up to his birth-weight and we have another weigh-in at the pediatrician’s next Tuesday. Gabriel was never the slightest big jaundice and all is healthy.

As appearances change so much during those first few weeks and months of a newborn’s life, it’s hard to tell who Gabriel favors. He doesn’t have as much hair as Chase did at birth and the hair that he does have is more of a dirty blonde rather than a strawberry blonde. I’m pretty sure he’ll have blue eyes like Tim’s side of the family or my dad. He seems to have my upper lip, but not my jaw line—in fact, we can’t figure out whose jaw line he has since he’s got a triple chin going on right now, LOL! Nonetheless, he’s beautiful. It’s funny how I envisioned him looking so much like Chase—I can see some similarities, but he’s definitely got his own unique traits and I can’t wait to watch them develop as he grows. I can’t even begin to say how bizarre it is to hold a newborn again after being around Chase at over 30 pounds for so long. It’s definitely a blessing to hold something so tiny and full of life and it’s as equally humbling to look at Chase and reminisce about him being that small just 3 short years ago.

For the next month, it’s just the boys and me! My focus other than trying to keep my sanity, rest, and maintain some sense of normalcy around the house is to try to see if I can get Chase any closer to being potty trained; look into preschool programs for Chase; try to tackle other odds and ends around the house; and, last but not least, bond with Gabriel and ensure I still show the same love and attention towards Chase. This is an awesome time to be off from work as the weather is warming up and I hope to make the best of these next few weeks even if it is exhausting at times. I feel very blessed to be a mother of two beautiful boys. Thank You, Jesus, for the opportunity to experience another one of Your magnificent creations.

Anxiously Awaiting Gabriel ~~ Happy 3rd Birthday Chase!

Our Happy Chase: Almost 3 Years Old

 My final side profile shot before going to church last Sunday (yes, I'm carrying quite a load and looking ripe!) Also, check out my diaper cake and balloons from the baby showers.

 Chase's nightstand, toy bin, and the beautiful mural Grammie Pam painted in the background with the pier, pelican, and boat.

 New shades and curtain

 More of the mural and the armoire (there's a sandcastle to the left that didn't get captured in this picture)

Chase's new bed (Tim used to sleep in these bunk beds as a kid)

I have just a week and a half to go before the due date, but my gut instinct tells me Gabriel will come before then. Everything is in order; Chase’s new room is complete and he has completely transitioned into it without any issues (we were shocked). The nursery is ready to welcome Gabe. Today marks my first day of maternity leave from work. Baby showers are over and all gifts have been put away as I’ve gotten into “nesting mode” over the past few weeks.


My sisters Laurie and Liz (well, Liz isn’t genetically my sister, but she’s really been a true sister in Christ throughout this pregnancy) threw Tim and me a beautiful shower at the County Grill in York County on March 31st. The shower was perfect—mostly family and just a few close friends, so it was family friendly (women, men, and kids). Food was fantastic and we had a lot of fun mingling and playing silly baby shower games. I received many diapers and other practical things for Gabe; for the most part, I’m able to reuse everything from Chase, so we’re good to go on gifts! We also received many gift cards and already used some of them to buy shades and a few finishing touches for Chase’s new room since Gabriel’s room will be Chase’s old room. You can check out baby shower pictures on FB and you can see where I’ve posted pics of Chase’s new room above.

My friends at work threw me a surprise baby shower luncheon in early April. I walked into work on a normal day and arrived in my cube that was all decked out with baby shower décor and lots of delicious food that I munched on all day. My friend and co-worker Elaine baked one of her famous cakes with a Noah’s Ark theme (a picture was already posted on FB) and she even made Gabriel a blanket with monkeys on it. To top it off, the group contributed to get Tim and me very generous Target gift card. I had another friend make a diaper cake too. I’m thankful to work around such a generous, caring group of folks.

The next big milestone this month was celebrating Chase’s 3rd birthday a week early at Chuck E. Cheese’s. You can check out these pictures on FB too. We had a blast even though Chase was completely exhausted by the time it was all said and done. What I liked most was being able to treat family to pizza, cake, and games without having to worry about the clean-up or hosting that a mom typically has to do at a kid’s birthday party. This was the perfect way to celebrate a child’s birthday being in the last month of pregnancy!

Chase has really become a Daddy’s boy over the past couple of months. This has been a GREAT thing for me because I was really concerned when I first got pregnant how Chase would adjust to not being able to consume all of my attention for much longer. Tim and Chase have bonded beautifully as father and son. Sometimes I just like to sit back and observe the two of them interacting from a distance. Tim has been giving Chase lots of lawn mower rides lately. Now that the weather is warmer, we’ve even been able to take Chase to the beach; Tim enjoys dangling Chase over the water just enough to swish his feet in it. (FYI, the water is still very cold right now!) These are wonderful memories being created, and I’m trying to soak up every moment of them even though I admit I’ve been so tired and uncomfortable lately that I’ve probably taken a lot of these moments for granted. Nonetheless, I’m blessed to have my almost 3-year old (he’ll be 3 this Sunday) blooming so well. He’s talking up a storm and has quite a personality—I’ve been enjoying listening to his southern draw lately when he annunciates certain words, such as “milk” and “loud.” You’d have to hear it in person to appreciate what I’m describing!

Last but not least, baby Gabriel is making progress. With each April appt I’ve had, I’ve dilated 0.5-1 cm per week. I’m currently at 3 cm and feeling a lot of pressure and mild contractions (lots of other symptoms too, but I won’t get into the icky details). I started swelling more in the last week, but my blood pressure is still within a healthy range. Overall, I’m healthy, but just tired from not sleeping well at nights and ready to meet Gabriel. My last day of work was yesterday (April 19th) so I’m praying I’ll meet Gabriel at some point over the next week. I wouldn’t mind a few extra quiet days of resting before he arrives, but I trust things will progress in God’s timing.

So, the next blog posting will undoubtedly be when Gabriel arrives. In the meantime, please lift up prayers for a smooth delivery process and a healthy baby boy to enter into the world—also, pray for this to be a smooth transition for Chase as I’m sure it will be quite an eye opener to know he will no longer rule the roost around here and he’ll have to adopt the “big brother” role. Tim and I will also need prayers as well—prayers for patience and perseverance to be godly individuals, loving spouses to each other, and caring parents as we adjust to having another child. I’m excited for our growing family and so blessed to share these adventures with you.

Last Trimester

Cousins: Bella and Chase laying on the floor with their blankets

One cool dude with Daddy's hat and sunglasses on

Daddy and Chase taking goofy pictures with Tim's camera phone

Our "Happy Feet"

Sporting my 33-week baby bump with a heart around it...we love you, Gabe!

As I type this blog entry, I have just 7 weeks to go before the due date. Some of you may think that I look like I’m about to pop now and that 7 weeks seems like a long way off; but for me, time is undoubtedly ticking and Gabriel is growing at a healthy and normal rate. He’s approximately 4 pounds right now and I’m anxious to see how big he’ll be when he arrives. Chase was a whopping 8 pounds, 1 oz, so I wonder if Gabe will be even bigger. I sure feel bigger with this pregnancy than I did with Chase, but part of that may be due to fluid retention (I’m sure it has nothing to do with the milkshake fetish I’ve had since the 2nd trimester, ha, ha). I’m not swelling to the point where I need compression pantyhose (ooh, la, la!), but I’m definitely noticing a little more swelling in my ankles and fingers with this pregnancy than I did with Chase; some days I hardly swell at all whereas my ankles disappear on other days. I was fortunate to only gain 25 pounds with Chase, and I’m already at that gain now with Gabriel, so I’m guessing I’ll easily reach a 30-35 pound weight gain overall—but, that’s ok and still in normal limits! The doctors and nurse practitioners at Peninsula Women’s Care haven’t barked at me at all over weight with the exception of one visit after Thanksgiving (but, that’s not fair, because we all tend to gain weight over Thanksgiving). The important thing is that I’m still healthy and so is Gabriel. I’m not on bed rest and still able to go about life as normal, with the exception of having a rough time shaving, painting my toenails (yay for pedicures at the salon!), being comfortable while sleeping (although I still manage to get in about 7 hours of snooze time on most nights) and putting on my socks and shoes. Blood pressure is great, fetal heartbeat is strong, and no other issues as of now that are of any concern. Fetal movement has reached its peak even though it seemed like it got off to a slow start. I remember feeling Chase at the very beginning of the 2nd trimester and I didn’t really start feeling Gabriel until towards the end of the 2nd trimester—just goes to show every pregnancy and every baby is so different.

Tim and I took a hospital tour at Mary Immaculate on 2/23. Most of the tour consisted of the nurse/tourguide going into great detail about the delivery process itself (which we didn’t need to know since we’ve been there and done that before), but it was nice to see the hospital. The labor and delivery rooms are much smaller than those at Riverside, but all that matters is that the staff and facility get the job done so that we have a healthy baby to bring home in the end. So, we’re pre-registered and ready to go whenever the big day comes!

As for Chase, he hasn’t been all that curious about my growing belly, but I make it a point to tell him quite frequently that he’s going to be a big brother and there’s a baby growing inside of my belly. Chase is in the process of getting a “new room,” so Tim and me are also trying to emphasize that he’ll have a cool new room to sleep in soon. Tim’s Mom is painting a mural in the front bedroom that will soon be Chase’s; we’re reusing Chase’s current room for Gabriel since it’s already a complete nursery and we’re “graduating” Chase into another bedroom with bunk-beds. As with the rest of the house, we’re still sticking to a nautical theme. Chase’s current room is an “under the sea” theme, and his new room will be more of a beach theme with some sand, the ocean, a sunset, and a pier with a boat tied to it. It looks very cool so far—as always, Grammie Pam does a great job displaying her artistic talents!

What else is going on with Chase? He’s 32 pounds and just over 3 feet tall. He’s been healthy with the exception of some minor allergy and acid reflux issues. Potty training is still far from being mastered, but we’re still working at it. I’ve accepted the fact that it probably won’t happen until this summer when I can strip him down to “big boy underwear” in warmer weather. One thing’s for sure, he’s a smart kid, just stubborn with certain things and potty training is one of them. I will say he’s getting plenty of interaction with other kids through going to church 2-3 days out of the week and hanging out with his cousin Bella—hopefully interaction with other children will help spur him to learn new things and conquer more milestones. He’s also learning to self-entertain, which is wonderful given the fact that Gabe is on the way and our attention will be spread out more in the future. Overall, he’s still our “Happy Feet;” he’s got quite a sense of humor for not even being 3 years old yet and there’s not a day that goes by that he doesn’t make me laugh.

Now that the weather is warming up and the days are getting longer, we’re enjoying playing outside more often. I’m making an adamant effort to walk more to keep healthy. Chase loves riding his John Deere Gater around the yard and he even got to ride with Tim on the John Deere lawn mower for the first time this season a few days ago. I always get showered with dandelions from Chase when he’s outside—what a sweet boy; he knows how to win over a girl’s heart!

In conclusion, life is busy, tiring, and stressful at times, but God has been good to my family and I feel blessed as I type this update. My gut instinct tells me Gabe will come before his due date since all ultrasounds have indicated a late April due date rather than May 2nd (May 2nd is based on counting from the first day of my last period). I’m not sure how many more (if any) blog updates I’ll get in before Gabe’s arrival, but Tim and I will surely keep everyone in the loop through Facebook, email, phone calls, and pictures. We have a few key events to look forward to in the meantime. One is a family (co-ed) baby shower/luncheon my sister and awesome friend Liz are throwing me at the County Grill in York County on March 31st. I requested not to have a traditional baby shower this time around since I’m having another baby boy and able to reuse most of Chase’s baby items, so this is more of just a family celebration, but I’m so looking forward to it! The next key event is Chase’s 3rd birthday party at Chuck-E-Cheese’s on April 14th. Again, this is just a family affair since I wanted to keep things simple since that will be so close to the due date. And, in the meantime, I’m still working full time and trying to cram as much “nesting” in on the weekends as possible. Things are coming together slowly, but surely—one thing I’ve learned since being a mom is that life doesn’t always go as planned and life will still go on non-catastrophically if things aren’t perfectly in order. God has taught me to focus on one day at a time—so, thanks for sharing this journey with me as we make it through one day at a time.

One of the many pictures taken at the Breeden Christmas gathering (held on January 15th)

Chase and his cousins on the Breeden side of the family

A rose between two thorns?...or is it the other way around?

6 months prego

Chase and his cousins on the Sneed side of the family (stop picking your nose, Chase!)

As we’re well into another new year, I’m also well into my pregnancy as I approach the final trimester. I’m 6 months along with my bundle of joy and feeling pretty well for the most part, although I’m just getting over a horrible stomach bug that lasted for a couple of days. I guess it’s time to officially announce the baby’s name so I don’t have to keep referring to my son so impersonally. After much consideration, Tim and I have decided on Gabriel Lee. I had other names in mind, as did Tim, but Gabriel was the one name that clicked with both of us—perhaps the Christmas season is to blame since we found out we were having a boy on Dec. 16th and Gabriel was the angel that foretold the birth of Jesus. Nonetheless, we like the name and it has stuck. Tim especially likes it because we can call him “Gabe” for short. Tim likes those one syllable names: Chase and Gabe. The middle name Lee is Tim’s father’s middle name as well as my grandmother’s middle name.

As you can see in the pictures, I’m undoubtedly growing. My all time favorite insensitive comment came from a guy at work asking me if the baby was due next week (and this was a few weeks ago). Once again, I’m just thankful I have a healthy baby growing inside of me—and growing is what is supposed to be happening during pregnancy. My doctor’s visit on Dec. 28th went well. Baby stats were healthy and my weight was surprisingly right on track even with the extra calories from the holidays. I was supposed to have a glucose screening today, but the stomach virus I had postponed it for another two weeks. In the meantime, I’m enjoying feeling more movement from Gabriel. He must be more laid back than Chase was in the womb, because I don’t feel near the gymnastics that I did with Chase at this stage in pregnancy; however, Gabriel may be saving it all for the last few months or for when he arrives in the world.

As for Chase, he’s been a little testy lately, especially towards me. I think he may sense there’s a big change about to occur as far as having a little brother on the way. He’s definitely testing limits with Tim and me, although Tim has the “magical Dad powers” to just look at him a certain way and it usually straightens him out. I, on the other hand, have to repeatedly yell at him, put him in time-out, or even spank him. It’s hard to reason with a 2.5 year old, but I’m trying my best not to lose patience and to rely on God to help me through these parenting challenges. Unfortunately, Chase is still not anywhere near potty trained and I’m afraid with Gabe on the way in just a few months that it won’t happen until afterwards, but we’ll deal with it one day at a time.

In addition to mastering potty training, there are still many other things left to do. We have to “graduate” Chase to his new room so that we can reuse the nursery for Gabe. In order to graduate Chase, we have some painting to do, bunkbeds to assemble, and some other rearranging; however, I’m hopeful we’ll get everything settled in the next few months—I’ll try to do a blog posting in the next couple of months to keep everyone in the loop!

Merry Christmas!

This picture made it on this year's Christmas card

Annual Santa Meltdown


Tim looking handsome before the STC Christmas party on Dec. 10th





Carrie 5 Months Pregnant (I look super sized in this picture!)

The last picture of Chase with his pacifier...he bid his pacifier farewell for good a few weeks ago (yay!)

It's Christmas Eve! I can hardly believe another year has come and gone. Time truly does fly the older I get. I remember how Christmas Eve felt like an eternity to my sisters and I when we were kids; we'd stay in our pajamas all day and couldn't wait to go to bed just so we could lay in bed wide awake anxiously awaiting for Santa Claus to come. I'm blessed to now get to see Christmas Eve from the perspective of my own child. Chase is still too young to fully understand the concept of Christmas, but it's such a blessing to see him get excited over the simple things in life. As I type this blog posting, he's downstairs giggling at the movie, "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." Tim and I took him to see Santa Claus last weekend, but Chase wasn't too fond of the jolly old guy in red.

It's been a few months since my last blog posting. Chase is still growing at an unbelievable rate. He's talking up a storm and starting to form sentences that others can actually understand now. He's a typical 2-year old: has a few tantrums every now and then, but is still our "Happy Feet" most of the time. As with most boys, he can be a little rough. He somehow knocked one of his front teeth a week or so ago. Praise God, the tooth is still in tact, but it's slightly discolored now. We're praying it will turn back to its normal shade of white with time and that no permanent nerve damage has occurred. Thank God for baby teeth; worse case scenario, he'll have a permanent tooth to replace it in a few years. Other than that, he's been a healthy, uninjured little boy. He loves to wrestle with Daddy (Tim) and often tries to impose the same rough play on me which doesn't go over too well now that I have a baby bump to protect.

Speaking of baby bumps, yes, Baby Breeden and I are both growing! I'd be a rich girl if I had a dime for every "Captain Obvious" comment I've heard from people at work, such as, "wow, you really look pregnant now;" "you're really getting out there now (referring to my stomach);" "dang, you're getting big;" etc. One of the joys of working at the shipyard is being on the receiving end of the insensitive comments that some of the guys make; however, I've even heard such comments coming from ladies. I take these comments in stride knowing that I'm healthy and so is Baby Breeden--a pregnant woman is supposed to grow so why be ashamed of it? I'm about 5 pounds heavier than I was at this stage in pregnancy with Chase, but I'm still within normal weight limits for a pregnant woman and all other stats are healthy.

The first 4 months of this pregnancy were miserable. I continued to suffer through the extreme nausea in the evenings through the 4th month and the exhaustion still hasn't fully dissipated even at 5 months pregnant. Of course, working long hours at work probably isn't helping with the exhaustion factor. On December 16th, Tim and I received an early Christmas present during my 20-week ultrasound appointment at EVMS: we found out our baby is healthy (#1 priority) AND it's another BOY! We're ecstatic to be having another boy (although I know the majority of people we know were rooting for a girl) and so thankful for a healthy baby. The baby is measuring slightly on the big side, so it looks like we'll have a late April baby rather than a May arrival. Tim and I harvest big boys! I have a check-up right after Christmas, so it will be so much "fun" stepping on the scale to see how much the baby and I have grown after in-taking Christmas calories.

I'm starting to feel more flutters and movement, but this baby seems to be more laid back as I recall feeling more strong kicks from Chase at this stage in pregnancy. Nonetheless, I'm excited to feel more signs of life in the weeks and months to come. Additionally, Tim and I have a few projects to conquer in the upcoming months. We've decided to leave Chase in his current room, but switch him over to a twin size bed and put the crib in the other spare room. Tim's mom has offered to do another mural for the new nursery, but we'll have to paint over the currently lavender colored walls with white so she'll have a fresh canvas to begin her work of art. As with choosing a name, we're not fully decided on a new nursery theme, but it will most likely be something that can always remain in that room as the child grows and even in the long term future when we have an empty nest.

Let me conclude this update with thankfully declaring how abundantly blessed Tim and I are as we celebrate our third Christmas with Chase while anticipating his little brother's arrival in just 4 short months from now. We pray the true meaning of Christmas will shine in each and every one of you not just this Christmas season but throughout another new year. As always, thanks for sharing adventures with the Breedens!

Finally! A Breeden Update!

First Trimester Baby Bump

Daddy and Chase having fun at a friend's pool in August




Our Happy Boy





Our Even Happier Boy with Daddy's STC Hat on

Picture from Auntie Amber's Camera When We Were Down in OBX late August/Early Sept.

Greetings Family and Friends! Hope this fall season finds you well. Let me start this posting with, yes, I realize it's been almost 6 months since I last updated my blog...shame on me! However, in my defense, the summer was full of unexpected events. First, Tim left the shipyard in June and took on a position at Science and Technology Corporation (STC). He LOVES his new job and seems to be adjusting well; the only downfall is that his new job doesn't give him the same amount of vacation right off the bat that he had when he left the shipyard, so we were unable to vacation much this summer and the one vacation we did have got cut short by Hurricane Irene. Nonetheless, we're praising God for this awesome new opportunity for Tim and we're thankful we have next summer to look forward to when Tim will have accrued more vacation hours by then.

Second, Chase kept us on our toes all summer. Most summer evenings after work, Chase rode around the backyard in his John Deere Gator, played on our neighbor's swing set, pushed his bubble lawnmower around, and got wet with the water hose. Of course, I was outside with him during all of these memorable summer moments, which left me little time to do things inside like update a blog (you're still probably thinking that's a lame excuse). Chase has grown leaps and bounds since his 2nd birthday. His vocabulary is now very vast although he still has a long way to go with mastering the annunciation of words. It's refreshing to be able to communicate more with him now versus facing the frustration of wondering if he fully understood me a few months ago. He has quite a sense of humor too! For the most part, he is such a happy boy. His cousin Kenden even called him "Happy Feet" while we were down in OBX because Chase was always so happy and dancing around. Even when I'm having a horrible day, I can always look forward to Chase bringing me a smile.

Third, it seems as though we had several things break over the summer: the Tahoe got a flat tire back in May and it ended up needing a new master cylinder for the brake system less than a month after the flat tire incident; the boat isn't running right; the big TV downstairs bit the dust, etc. Of course I'm beyond thankful that we even have a Tahoe, boat, and big TV, but it was still a stressful summer having things break on us left and right. We also had our weeping willow tree fall in our backyard due to Hurricane Irene--we're still working on salvaging it since it wasn't completely uprooted or damaged. I've also had horrible allergies this year and been on and off Benadryl, Zyrtec, and several different kinds of eye drops. Not that Chase was the reason for any of the aforementioned misfortunes, but he has a tendency to be rough on things around the house too.

Chase has obviously gotten very tall (no surprise with Tim being 6'4"), but he's still slender (which is also not a surprise with Tim being on the slender side). Unfortunately, his eating habits haven't improved much since he turned 2 years old. He's still a picky eater, sticking mostly to chicken nuggets, french fries, yogurt, peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, chips, crackers, and fruit snacks. On the flip side, he's still steadily growing and staying healthy in spite of eating like a bird. He loves watching Wonder Pets, Yo Gabba Gabba, Diego, Dora the Explorer, Barney, and Bob the Builder. I'm thankful for the quiet moments when he watches TV so I get a break too. He watched a Halloween episode of Barney not too long ago that introduced him to pirates....so guess what Chase will be for Halloween this year? ARRR! Yo, ho, ho!

Some other milestones this summer for all of us were: me turning 30 years old and Tim turning 32; Tim and I reaching our 10th anniversary; and, last but not least, finding out we're expecting baby #2 in May 2012....that's right, I'M PREGNANT! We found out the exciting news on our 10 wedding anniversary (August 25, 2011). I was kind of caught by surprise with this pregnancy, because I had made peace with God as far as not worrying about becoming pregnant for another year or so, especially with being on allergy medication (which I can't take now that I'm pregnant)....but, God obviously had other plans. So, this puts me 11 1/2 weeks pregnant now, almost through the first trimester. I've already had two OB appointments; Praise God, all is well with the baby so far. I had an ultrasound during both appointments, so I got to see our baby jellybean and hear the heartbeat, which was 154 bpm. Unfortunately, Dr. Yonker is no longer with the practice, but the doctor who took her place is Dr. Curtis and she seems to be nice. I will have to deliver at Mary Immaculate Hospital with this baby since Peninsula Women's Care no longer delivers at Riverside; I'm a little bummed about that because I had a good experience at Riverside Hospital and Riverside is A LOT closer to our house. Mary Immaculate is all the way in Denbigh, so I'm praying when the time comes for our baby to make its debut that I'll be able to make the commute to the hospital without any hiccups. I don't think the Mary Immaculate ordeal is worth switching OB offices since I like the doctors and nurses at that practice so much and they know my history.

How am I feeling about the pregnancy? Obviously excited emotionally, but absolutely miserable physically. I'm feeling a lot like I did when I was pregnant with Chase with the nausea and exhaustion striking me the hardest in the evenings; however, I think the nausea is more intense this time around. One reason I think it's worse is because I'm more tired now that I have Chase to look after, whereas I had all the time to rest when I was pregnant the first time around when it was just Tim and me. Tim has been a HUGE help with Chase in the evenings when I'm feeling crappy. Some people think the intense nausea is a sign I'm having a girl this go-round, but I'm not banking on old wives' tales. It's funny because I've heard so many comments from people along the lines of, "you need to experience what it's like to raise a girl." I'm a firm believer God knows what will complete our family best, whether it be a girl or another boy. In fact, I'd be perfectly happy with another boy because I think practically--like being able to reuse all of Chase's clothes and not have to redo everything in pink. Plus, the seasons will line up with this baby just as they did with Chase. Tim is rooting for another boy and Chase still doesn't fully understand that he has a sibling on the way. We'll try to break him into the idea as I start to show more obviously. The new baby and Chase will be almost 3 years apart to the day. Chase was born on April 22nd, 2009 and this baby is due May 2nd, 2012.

I still have a long, long road ahead of me with this pregnancy. I take some comfort in knowing that I've had a baby before and know more of what to expect, but I'm also completely aware that every pregnancy and baby are unique. I can't promise I'll update the blog as frequently as I did during my pre-Chase days, but I'll do the best I can to keep everyone updated. I also won't promise to post monthly belly shots of myself this time around, because I'm sure you'd much rather see pictures of Chase growing instead of me. I'm already showing only at 3 months, so it scares me to think of what toll this pregnancy will take on my body within the next 6 months! It's as if my uterus and abdominal muscles are like memory foam and they popped out to the "bubbly-poochy-pregnant" look as soon as I found out I was expecting--I'm convinced smaller-framed girls just have a harder time hiding pregnancies, especially after the first baby. But beyond those shallow thoughts of worrying about the physical attributes of pregnancy, I'm truly blessed to share adventures of yet another Baby Breeden in the months and years to come. So as always, thanks for sharing the journey with me and please keep our growing family in your prayers. To be perfectly honest, I still often think about my first pregnancy with Connor, but God is helping me to overcome any fears and doubts concerning the health of this new baby. I've claimed in God's holy name that this baby will be as healthy as Chase was when he was born. I have to remind myself that every new day comes with its new blessings; sometimes those blessings entail growing pains to bring me closer to God, but it's all a part of His grand purpose for my life. "My times are in Your hands." Psalm 31:15