Baby T is here!

We think all it took for Baby T to want to come was a trip to the hospital. My niece broke her arm and we went to the hospital to see her, and less than 24 hours later, my water broke.
I guess he just needed to see that hospitals weren't bad places to go.

He arrived at 12:37 p.m. and surprisingly, his delivery took longer than his big sister's. M came in 3 hours, 56 minutes. Baby T came in 5 hours, 47 minutes, although I think he might've come sooner if the nurse had checked dilation a little sooner. I'm not complaining though—I know many moms labor a lot longer.
There was no waiting for an epidural this time. With M I was 7 cm along before the epidural; I was about 5 cm dilated when I got to the hospital (I dilate fast, what can I say? Besides Thank God!) and there was no waiting. Anesthesiologist was there making jokes about my back artwork and my husband was being entertained watching the huge needle enter my back. Funniest thing for me was the doctor telling Matt he could watch but he had to watch while seated. I bet he's deflated a lot of male egos...
So what an easy labor! And I pushed for less than 40 minutes, also another blessing. Our little bundle of boy was 8 pounds 1 ounce, 19.5 inches. And now, he's already 16 days old!!

I'm hoping other mothers experience the same thing, but I have a big case of I-forgot-what-a-newborn-is-like-and-does-itis. It's funny looking at your 25 pound toddler and then almost falling because the 8-pounder is so much lighter that you used too much momentum on the pick up.
I had to ask the doctor how much spit up is too much spit up. Wouldn't a mom already know this? Not really!! For all I can remember, M never spit up!
And all that talk about boys being better/worse/different than girls? TRUTH.
Baby T is not falling for the schedule thing. He's a hungry little man, and he's been defying medical convention that a newborn can only hold about 2 ounces—he's done 4 at the most (and kept the majority of it down!). He's lanky and long compared to M, who almost immediately became my little chubbsters. He was impossible to keep dry for the first week and a half because I was scared to manipulate his private part too much and thus, pee went all out the back and sides instead of into the diaper (I have never done as much laundry as the past two weeks!).
But he is a phenomenally sweet and happy baby, with very little to fuss about unless Mom is sleeping too well and he's hungry. I am so thankful for that!

As for big sister, she loves Titus. She just doesn't love that things have changed, and there's some attitude happening. Who can blame her, it's a big adjustment!

Day 10's actual picture!

Well, I'm waaaaaaay behind in this little experiment but I'm trying to play catch up:

Things like this happen when you're busy (babycleaningnetworkingbabycleaningworkingbabycooking) and I can't believe I haven't posted in almost a week! It also helps to be home at the same time as my husband.
My mom commented on the situation that's happened to millions of families this past weekend, along the lines of "everyone works so much and so often just to make ends meet, there is no getting together just to enjoy each other." How true?!
Matt works Monday through Friday but my schedule is erratic, and I usually work weekends. I also work evenings so that we don't have to pay a babysitter to watch M at all. It makes for precious little time together as a family, so yesterday we soaked it up!
My dad came down to have lunch with us and he doesn't get to see the baby as often as I'd like, so it was nice to spend time with him (silly baby spent most of the time napping...) And the hubby and I actually got to spend the entire afternoon with each other and M, not needing to go anywhere or do anything. It was awesome!
All of this boils down to one conclusion: Money cannot be the priority. Family must be. To make this a reality in my life (and after reading the inspiring stuff at thepeacefulmom.com—if a 6-person family can make it on less than $30,000/year, we can live well with what we're blessed with!) I've given myself a mental smack and am going back into broke-and-just-married mode.
 That, for us, means every single penny is budgeted with no wiggle room. It seems to be the reverse of what I said, but I believe that by budgeting and conquering our debt, our family will be first. We've already made the decision for me to stay home with M and only work part time (not including my building photography business) and from here out I am determined to make the best of what we're given. I'm so thankful that we are so blessed, and I won't let myself fall in to the "I wish" trap anymore—that's living in the world and I'm called to live outside it!
I know God has great things in store for me and my family. I can't wait to see what's coming up! 

One thing I will never do again

Earlier, I posted a recipe for "Tropical Avocado Salsa" and it was a huge hit with my family, so I made it for today's barbeque and I learned a very, very important lesson:
Don't cut an onion and jalapeno and then rub your eyes!!!
I don't honestly know what I was thinking. Today was the first time in my memory that I've had an onion make me cry during the dicing of it, and that was before the eye-rubbing. It actually made me wonder—is a red onion "hotter" or spicier or something more than your normal yellow onion? (If you know, please tell me in the comments!)
After I was finished dicing the jalapeno, I believe I rinsed my hands off and succumbed to the itch in my eyes. Hello, blonde. My hubby laughed at me while I paced the kitchen, tears streaming from between my squished eyes, because if I opened them at all it burned worse.
I'm getting teary just writing about the situation.
Matt then suggested I rinse them with water and I don't know if it helped or made it worse but I did it. It was a good five minutes before my eyes could tolerate staying open longer than a second.
Luckily, the salsa was a hit with my extended family (all the in-laws) so of course, it was worth it. Blink-blink-blink. Yep, worth it.

Little booger is teething, as you might guess from the drool on her chin in this photo. What a tough time for her!

Happy Memorial Day, all, and thank you to all past, present and future veterans. America would not be the same without our vets.