Maternity leave.... the fastest 5 weeks,ever

Weston was born on Sun Nov 29th.

So my maternity leave started Mon Nov 30th. 6 weeks of hanging with my baby. Holding him, snuggling him. I couldn't wait.

We got home Tues Dec 1st.

We went back for a weight check at the breast feeding clinic Wed morn. He had gained back a little so they were happy with his progress.

Fri Dec 4th we went to the mall and got the boys' pictures taken with Santa. Branden was so excited. He had been asking everytime we walked by him in the mall, but we told him he had to wait till the baby got here. Santa asked him what he wanted and he pointed at the basket of candy canes. Then santa said you don't want toys. From then on out if anyone asked Branden what he wanted for christmas he would say toys.

Saturday Dec 5th night Wayne invited his friends out to hang and meet the baby. It was nice and relaxing. The guys hung outside and the girls sat and relaxed, while the kids ran back and forth from the shop to the house.

Wed Dec 9th. Was our Weston's 1 week check up. He was doing great. Still not back up to his birth weight, which they want by day 10. so they sent us home and told us to come back on mon. We talked about his crankiness and dr thought it might be due to reflux. So I am keeping my eye out for signs.

Fri Dec 11th was my first time leaving my baby. :( It made me sad, but I needed sales for Dec to keep my Tastefully simple business going. I pumped enough to be gone for just a couple hours. So I went and had fun while Wayne watched him but I was ready to head home and love on him. I get home and Wayne said he slept almost the whole time. Which was not what I had been dealing with during the days. I is a super cranky baby.

Sat Dec 12th we went to Wayne's friends get together in the evening. It was fun and we stayed longer than we planned on, but the kids were both doing good for it worked out. Weston started to get hungry so we hurried and left before he got too mad. I fed him in the car and then we went a block over to visit with Sarah. We are waiting for her baby to come see meet my baby.

Mon Dec 14th came and I was sick and didn't want to take him to the dr and get everyone else sick. So I cancelled the appt and rescheduled for the next morn. I also cancelled our family pictures we had scheduled for that night in KC. Kendra came out to the house to babysit and mommy sit. I slept on the couch feeling like crap and she took care of the cranky baby.

Tue Dec 15th we went back into the dr and Weston still wasn't back to his birth weight but he was gaining at least a half an ounce a day. And the dr was happy with that.

Then we went to the breast feeding clinic to see how much he was getting at a feeding. He got 2 ounces. Then we headed down the hall to visit Sarah who had been there all night waiting to give birth to her baby girl. After several hours of hanging out and being glad it was her this time and not me Cayleigh finally arrived. Weston's girl friend was born. So now not only will they get married :) but he can say he has been there for her since birth. She is such a doll baby.

Wed Dec 16th I kept Branden home from daycare cause he had a parents as teacher appt around lunch time. Wow what a morning. Weston was fussy as usual. He threw up on me. Branden peed his pants twice. UGGGGHHH I was going crazy and still trying to clean up before Vicki arrived. Tina, our neighbor came over and helped out. She entertained Branden for awhile and then held Weston while I finished up some stuff. That was very nice of her. My eye started to feel irritated and it was a little swollen. Great. We had a picture appt scheduled for Thurs night and by Thurs afternoon my eye looked aweful. So again I cancelled our appt. At this rate I may never get our christmas cards done.

Thur Dec 17th I went to the dr about my eye. It was so sore and I just wanted it to stop hurting. They gave me an antibiotic drop. I took the prescription to walgreens and when i went back to get it they said they were out of it. so i had to wait for it to get ready at another location. so i finally got drops in it that night.

Fri Dec 18th our work didn't have a christmas party this year for the employees but had a lunch at work catered in. I took Weston over to Kendra's to watch while I went to the lunch. I didn't think Ed would like me to bring the fussy butt. The lunch was on the showroom floor. It was so bright in there that with my eye problem I couldn't look up hardly to see him. My eye leaked and leaked thru the whole lunch. It was SOOOO red, swollen and looking like Wayne hit me. The drops at that point seemed to be making it worse.

Sat Dec 19th It was Wayne's Saturday to work. I am glad it isn't every weekend. So I got me and the boys ready so when he got home we could head to his brothers for the Partridge family christmas. MIchelle always does a great job cooking and hosting. She made yummy soup and finger foods. It was just what I needed. Branden loved playing with John, Madison and his uncle Chris and everyone else too. The kids were getting impatient so we finally let them open there presents. Branden got to open Weston's presents. Then we headed out to go see Marcia and crash her christmas get together. Her family has always been like family to me and they love when I stop by. :) So they all got to meet Weston too.

Christmas eve the weather was nasty out and the get together for my moms side of the family got moved from her place to grandpa's so he didn't have to get out and fight the snow. So it was like the OLD days when we crammed into the house and the kids got to open the presents. Our boys are too spoiled. We got family time, good food and didn't stay too long cause the weather wasn't getting too much better. Becky didn't make it back. :( Becky was supposed to bring cookies to leave out for santa so we had to improvise and leave him milk and graham crackers. Branden was so excited for him to come down his fireplace and leave presents and take the picture he made him.

Christmas morning Kendra, Dan, mom and dad decided to stay home and not fight the roads. Which was ok. Branden came in the living room and was shocked and so happy that santa ate his crackers and drank his milk. And left him presents. He got a train and camera from him. Santa must have known that Branden was a great picture taker. Good thing is holds so many pics. He walked around all day taking pics. It was a little hard for him to figure out the picture taking button was on the front. He kept taking pictures of his face cause he just didn't get it. Too cute. We still had our family christmas. Breakfast burritos, presents, wii and a nice family day. We didn't get out and even try to make it to Uncle Jays for our exchange, but I don't think anyone else made it up there either. The people that went the night before were snowed in there and couldn't leave.

Sat Dec 26th the snow was sooo deep and there were drifts everywhere. Branden and Wayne went out and had a little fun in the snow. It was funny to watch. They jumped into piles and made snow angels. We actually got out in the nasty weather and went to town. I was tired of sitting around the house. We stopped at the Morrisseys on the way home and the kids played, while we relaxed a bit. I decided to try giving Weston a formula bottle to make sure he got a certain amount and see if the formula would make him not want to eat so much. Cause I feel like he eats NON stop.

Tues Dec 29th the month has flown by. Weston's fussiness is way more than I think it should be. I'm sure every mom feels that way. He hadn't pooped in several days which normally wouldn't worry me except since we started him on formula every couple feedings I thought that might be the problem. I called the dr. They said wait and if he doesn't go by tomorrow give him a suppository. NOT something I wanted to do. I bought some at the store just in case. But by that night he just seemed so miserable that I gave him 1/2 like they recommended and nothing.

Wed Dec 30th still nothing. By late morning I gave the other half and again nothing. I called the dr cause I was worried. They had me come back in. The dr saw him and he wasn't worried that he hadn't pooped and gave me some suggestions to settle him down and again talked about reflux. Said call him back in a week if still fussy. If no poop in 3 days Weston would get an enima. I went to work for a while and he finally pooped. Right as I changed the one diaper he went more. Then he would go once a day for the next couple days.

New Years eve Wayne and I were gonna have a date night. Dinner and a movie with NO kids. Mom and dad kept them. The movies were packed. The cars were backed up like I'd never seen, but we got a good parking spot and tried to go and the movie was sold out. So we skipped a movie and headed to dinner. Red Lobster. yum. WRONG. good parking spot, but it was an hour wait. I was hungry and didn't want to wait. We left and drove around. Drivers were stupid and the night was early. Everywhere was packed. We went to Ihop, went and got the boys then to visit Dee and then headed home.

One more week before I head back to work. That went by way too fast. I am not looking forward to that.

WESTON WILLIAM PARTRIDGE

Saturday Nov 21st

I had been having contractions all night. They were 5-7 minutes apart. The dr said if they get that close to go in since we had a further drive. And it just made me nervous that we wouldn't make it in time due to the drive. So I drug Wayne to the hospital. He parents were here to watch Branden so that worked out good for us. The hospital kept me for several hours and there was no progress ( I was still dialated to a 3 since my appt the day before) and they sent me home. Then I decided I wouldn't go back in till my water broke.

Thursday Nov 26th THANKSGIVING NIGHT

Ok, so I changed my mind and decided to make another trip back in. I text my sister Becky to see if I could drop Branden off at my parents for her to watch. My contractions were 4-5 minutes apart. We dropped Branden and hurried to the hospital. They checked me and I was STILL at a 3. They decided to have me walk for an hour. I have seen mothers walk those halls before. I NEVER thought it would be me. IT SUCKED!!!! I flaked out a tad under an hour. My feet were killin'. I had taken my flip flops off cause the squeak was driving me crazy(yes, flip flops in Nov, if you know me that shouldn't be a shock. :) and if you don't know me FLOPS are the best.) So my feet were not liking the floor. I went back to my triage room and they checked me. I was waiting for them to tell me I had progressed and they were going to admit me. WRONG!! They sent me home. I was so disappointed. I was uncomfortable and ready to hold my baby. Now I really was not going back till my water broke.

SUN Nov 29th 2009

Starting about 2 or 3 am. I started having contractions that actually HURT. I had been having contractions for about a week or so and thought they hurt but I was wrong. It was more of an uncomfortable feeling. But I didn't know that till the real deal came along. I got luck with Branden and never had to experience them so it was hard to know what I was waiting for. Well we stayed home all day and watched tv. I napped several times to make the pain go away. And it worked. I had gone to the bathroom and 100 times thru the afternoon. I was so uncomfortable going. I felt like I was backed up. (I'm sure, you need no more details :)) so I kept going back cause it took away some of the pressures I was having. At 5pm I called and talked to the triage nurse and I decided not to go in yet, since the contractions weren't getting any closer. I called Tasha and was talking to her when I had one come on. I got off the phone so fast cause it was awful. It was about 5:30 when I came out of the bathroom crying cause the contractions were unbarable. Wayne asked if I wanted him to change so we could go to the hospital. I said YES!!! The contractions were still 10 minutes apart. I didn't care how far apart they were or that my water had not broke yet, I thought I was gonna die. We changed, got Branden ready and headed out. I called Tasha back and told her we were leaving. She said let me know when you get there. Well, Wayne decided he needed a drink on the way there so he stopped at John's grocery store and got us drinks. We got to my mom and dads to drop Branden off at 6:15. As we turned on 10th St I let Tasha know where we were and she was headed our way. 10th street was the worst. After every bump we hit I would yell at Wayne to slow down, even though he was going the speed limit. Wayne dropped me at the door so he could park. I got checked in at 6:36. The triage nurse checked me and I was at an 8. Yeah, you hear right. an 8. As she said that I heard Tasha from the other side of the curtain. I was so glad she made it. From then on it all went so fast. The nurse got my iv in and they were gonna move me to my delivery room. They rolled me down the hall to my room. The nurse kept trying to get me to move to the bed in the room. I kept telling her there was no way I was moving. I kept telling them I had to push. She said go ahead. So I pushed once and my water broke. Barely on the bed and I pushed again here came the shoulders, Tasha turned to get the camera and BAM he was out. WOW that was the worst pain ever. NO epidural even though the nurse kept promising me I could have it. 30 min from check in and my baby was here. Thankgoodness we left when we did or Wayne would have been delivering on the side of the road. So I called my parents and told him Weston was here and dad thought I was kidding. I sent a text out and we made all the calls we could think of. Branden came up and visited his baby brother. He LOVED him. It was HIS baby. He stayed and visited for just a little while and then went and stayed with grandma and papa for the night.

That night and the next day we had lots of visitors, lots of paperwork and one cute baby. Wayne did not stay either night with me which was fine even though I give him a hard time about it.

Tues Dec 1st we were able to go home at noon. We made a couple stops on the way there. We stopped to see my grandma Workman since we knew she wouldn't make it out to see us. Then up to show him off at work. Then we went and got Branden from daycare. We finally made it home right before 5. We just walked in and Brice and Tisha got there to meet Weston. So they visited for awhile and then we had the evening to ourself.

Wayne's family came to visit and meet baby Weston that weekend. Michelle brought and made lots of yummy foods for us. Much needed and very appreciated.

WOW, it's been 3 months.....

I have been such a slacker. Man WHERE to start..... ummmm..... Oct was filled with LOTS of fun. 2 months left before we were expecting our new little edition. OR as we know now, NOT so little. :)

I attending a fly-in in KC where the Founder Jill of Tastefully Simple came and visited with people in the area. It was great. She is a great speaker and very inspirational. She makes me want to be more and make more of myself. I had 3 parties in Oct.

I attended the Junior Achievement Bowl A Thon and would like to Thank everyone who supported our team. We had 3 teams from the dealership. It was fun. Nothing like watching a big preggo waddle to the lane to roll the ball.

Kendra's BIG day was Oct 24th. We had her rehearsal in the shop at our house the night before. It was very interesting. That's all I will say about that.

The next morning Wayne, Branden and I met the Morrisseys, Sarah, Jaycee, Miranda, Darryl and his little one at the zoo for BOO AT THE ZOO. It was the first year that I attended. Wayne has taken Branden the past couple years. I didn't ever go because I had a vendor event in Melvern. The kids looked great and had a blast. Branden was a CUTE dr. DR BRANDEN. The costume was great and we give big thanks to Grandma Anita for making it for him.

After boo at the zoo we ate lunch at the newly opened Famous Dave's. It was yummy but I wasn't as impressed as I wanted to be. The one in KC is much better.

Then to go help setup and get ready for the wedding. The wedding was wonderful and Kendra looked beautiful. The weather was chilly but not a cold as I had predicted. When the sun went down it was COLD out. Good food, great friends and family. And now I have another brother. :)

Branden's daycare had a Halloween party. Wayne and I both were able to go. The kids loved it and the costume were original. CUTE CUTE. They made a pumpkin picture, played pumpkin bowling and had yummy snacks. Then back to work for us.

Halloween night, we went to the Morrisseys for chili and trick or treating. We got the kids dressed and walked her neighborhood. I was HUGE preggo now. It was quite a walk for me. But I toughed it out. I didn't want to miss the first year that Branden got to trick or treat in a neighborhood. He "got it" this year. Actually said trick or treat and waited for them to give treats. EXCEPT for the times the people let him pick his own. BAD idea. MY kid the pig. He took a handful. That's what he wanted. :) I survived the night.

NOV- 1 month left.
4 TS parties booked and held. Yeah that is busy for a 1/2 a month of work cause of the holiday.
I went to the chiropractor twice. It was nice. It helped. I was worried, but they were familiar with preggo bellies. The first time I went he popped my neck and back. Which i hadn't been able to do for quite a while. The next time my hip area. Which relocated my groin pain to my butt. I was glad to be able to move a little easier.

Tasha threw me a great Baby Sprinkle some help from my sister in law Michelle, welcoming baby Weston. There was a great turn out of friends and family. The house was full of KIDS KIDS KIDS. EVERYTHING turned out AWESOME!!!! Thanks again Tash. Teresa took some belly shots. Thankful for that. I had been wanting a few pics of Branden with the belly. So we got them just in time.

Thanksgiving came and made us realize all we have to be thankful for. Even though 2009 has been the hardest year I have ever had, I am thankful for the friends and family I have. I feel so blessed. I thought for sure Weston would be here to help us celebrate and give me one more thing to be thankful for. BUT NO!!! He wanted to wait it out a couple more days.

THEN................

(pics will be added later, sorry)(I don't have access to them right now)

Kendra's pre-wedding fun!!!

Topeka Duck Race and Sept Branson trip

Captain Underwear!!! He was so proud!!!

Branden and I met Papa Jared and Grandma Linda at the Topeka Duck race after Dee's Baby Shower. The walk down the hill to where the "race" on the lake was........... was a NOT so fun experience. It was STEEP so and pushing the stroller down hill was more like trying to hold back a train and keep up with it so it didn't roll away.

And the Ducks were on a race for the finish line!!

Papa held Branden up high so he could get a better look. He looks a little bored up there to me or maybe just comfy, but he had a blast.

The Roadrunner, we see him everywhere. Branden loves him. He hugs him, gives him high fives. I think I need to get one for home to keep lil' man happy. :)

BRANSON TRIP- Wayne, Branden and I left Thursday morning, Sept 17th and drove to Branson, MO to meet my parents at their time share "hotel". Westgate Resort!!!! We got there after a LONG drive and dad helped us unload the luggage. That was the 1st trip then came back for the suit cases. :)

We went and saw a MAGIC show soon after we arrived, it was right there on the resort. Branden was so excited to go, but once in there he didn't get to help the guy as much as he had hoped for so Wayne and I took turns taking Branden for a walk. My walk ended us at the COLD outside pool. It was still ok for feet soaking. But NOT swimming. Even though a couple days later after an indoor swim my dad did go out and swim there. CRAZY old man and it started to rain. What was he thinking?!?!?

We went down to the "LANDING". It had tons of shopping stores and then a night show of fountains and fire. It was cool, and HOT. The flames warmed us up FAST!!! And we were even close!!

Wayne and Branden outside of Caleba's with the bear.

Our fuzzy Family pic by the fountain at night!!

A better family photo as we were waiting on our Red Lobster food to arrive. I LOVE the endless shrimp!!! In Topeka and Branson!!! :P And Branden in his new camo hat we had bought across the street at a craft mall. He is ATTACHED to it.

My Cheesy train conductor. His papa got him that hat and coloring book a couple weeks before at a train exhibit and just gave it to him. He loved it of course. SPOILED!!!

This one is a poser. Always something new with him.

Branson was a fun trip, We did lots of things.

Ride the Ducks ride, Branden even got to drive the DUCK BOAT on the lake,

Titanic (till Branden thru a fit, and me and him sat in the car),

Dixie Stampede, lucky us there was an extra seat next to us so Branden didn't have to sit on my lap. And got his own meal. We all know how he likes his food, so that worked out very well for us. He LOVED all the horses and was up in his seat dancing and stomping. He did great.

The days flew by. But we got in as much as we could while there. We left Sun morning. Went and visited Papa Bill and Grandma anita for a couple hours. We visited and then road the 4 wheelers to go see the cows in the back field. Branden loves to go feed them cubes. Wayne and Branden on one and me and Weston on the other. :) I don't ever drive so I was nervous. Then back to the house to play with the kitties. Grandma Anita had made some cute blankets for Weston and

Then back on the road. We tried to find Rhonda's house in Savonburg. Finally we found it but she wasn't home. :( Maybe next time.

Then home for relaxing and laundry before going back to work the next day.

Another month has gone by.....

Another month come and gone. So I'm not great at keeping up on my postings.... it happens. :)

Let's see what has been going on? Aug 1st we went to our very first outdoor movie(drive-in). Lake Shawnee held the 1st annual movie night. They played Goonies and Ghost Busters. So we stopped and got our picnic dinner from KFC and headed to meet Tasha and fam at the Lake. It was a ton of fun. The kids ran wild of course, but they loved it. So maybe not much of the movie got watched but it was very memorable. It got cold fast that night. Lucky (or not so lucky??) for us Tasha had an extra jacket of Gracie's that Branden could wear. He sure was pretty in pink that night. Running around in a tight pink jacket was too funny, Wayne didn't feel quite the same way of course. :P I can't wait till next year to do it again.

Aug 12th I headed to Lawrence to stay with a Tastefully Simple team member. Cause we were heading out from our leaders house in KC at 3:30 on the dot. We DID make it on time, I know what a surprise(ok, maybe a couple min behind). I can't seem to make it on time to anything. We traveled to Minneapolis MN for four days. It was hard for me to leave my boys. Branden was sad to see me go. I was very emotional and ever chance I got I would call and see how it was going. I slept almost all the drive there and more than half of it back. I love the girls for giving me the whole back bench to lay on. I hate long drives. So we got to MN and checked in the hotel and were on the go from there. It was a non-stop fun/information filled couple of days. The Conference was just what I needed to get me pumped and back into the selling groove and moving up the leader ladder. Came home from conference had 3 taste-testing parties and 1 book party. Aug was a kick butt month is sales. Hopefully I can keep that up. And my growing team of 5 (as of NOW) had an awesome month too. I love the leadership checks I get from their hard work too.

We made a trip to Wichita to meet baby Isaac. The new Stout baby. It was a great visit. The kids(not the new baby) played in the sprinkler outside and had a blast. No pictures to post yet. Teresa has to get them to me. He is adorable and I was sad it took a couple weeks to make it to meet him. But I am glad we made it.

JA bowl-a-thon is here again. I am the coordinator here at work. We got 3 teams together for a fun and very beneficial cause. I have been to 2 meeting for it lately. The coordinator one and the team captain one. Just a little over a month till the bowling day itself, so I hope to raise lots of money to help out. I know money is tight for everyone but it doesn't hurt to ask. I'm sure I will look great bowling with my "over-sized" belly. We got all the teams to bowl at the same time so it should be even more fun.

Then our Anniversary!!! 4 YEARS!!!! WOW!!!! Who thought we would make it that long? I know we are all surprised. :P Branden had a slumber party with one of his many girlfriends (SHELBY) and we went to Kikus and to see G I Joe. It was a good movie. Then we drove around, ran some errands, went to walmart and headed home. A nice peaceful night of sleep. Wayne was asleep in his chair super early that night. Good Thing. He needed all the rest he could get for his next night of fun.

The bachelor party for Jared in our parts dept. Branden and I hung out and he left with all the young folk to go party. And that story is too long to tell, but I'm sure you've all heard it by now. All I gotta say is that is why grown men need supervision.

I know you've all been waiting to hear how the pregnancy is going, right? Well if not, here you go anyways. I am 27 weeks and 2 days. Boy this time is flying. I had an appt yesterday. Measured 29 weeks. My sugar test came back normal. My appt are now every 2 weeks. That makes it seem soooo close. VERY SCARY!!!! I started going thru clothes from Branden. I think I won't need much at all just need to organize. That part isn't too much fun. Oh and the name IS PICKED!!!! For now!?!?!? Weston William Partridge.

Wayne and his dad work in the basement this weekend. Men and their projects. YES this needed done, but I am even more SCARED to go look now they are done. Cement dust filled the whole house all night and I'm sure is caked on everything in the basement including my scrapbook stuff and new toy room. I may go look in the next couple days. So anyone who wants to brave it with me and help me clean it up is more than welcome.

AND that starts our CRAZY schedule. We are booking up like crazy, Kendra's wedding stuff, baby showers ( not for me, for friends), Tastefully Simple parties, bowl-a-thon, prepping for baby and Halloween (grandma Anita is going to make Branden a dr. costume).

That is our crazy lives for now. Hope I didn't forget anything important.

It's a BOY!!!!

PROFILE

Lil man playing with his parts, if you know what I mean. ;) Typical man, started already.

So Rhonda mentioned I hadn't posted about our news. I have posted it so many places I guess I forgot. OOPS!! We went for our sono at 20 weeks on July 21st 2009. Everything looked great. They look lots of measurements. As of then he weighed 12 oz. And when I weighed at home that morning I was only up 2 lbs from start weight. I was excited to see that. My weight definitely fluctuates on a day to day but overall I am still doing great. Especially compared to what I had gained with Branden at this point in his pregnancy. Over half way. WOOHOO!!! Can't wait to meet this little guy.

This pregnancy hasn't been bad at all so far. My allergies have been kicking my butt lately and I have thrown up several times compared to 0 with Branden. They have mostly all been recently. Smells, that's the biggy. I start mornings off feeling like a "normal" person, after lunch and by afternoon my belly is full and expanded to the max. Then a little waddle to go with it. LOVE IT. Hormones on top of my normal CRAZY self makes for an exciting time. :)

Oh and names. MY MY. That is always a chore. Wayne is PICKY. It isn't his pick. He got to pick Branden's. Weston, Carter, Brent, Gavin, Dakota, Hunter, Cooper, Carson, Blake are some floating around right now.

Not much else I can think of right now. I will try to keep you posted.