Hayden: 1 month; Tenley: 16 months

1 month old today

This is the sweet life

Today Hayden is 1 month old! He is growing so fast. I feel like he is so big already. 2 days ago at his doctor's appointment he weighed 10lbs 2oz and was 22". This month seems like it has gone by so fast. It is very different having a newborn the second time around. I don't have as much time to spend just staring at him and taking it all in. But I am much more comfortable - I don't feel like he's going to break or stop breathing for no reason, and it doesn't phase me if he has to cry for a few minutes while I'm in the other room taking care of Tenley. It's nice to not be stressed out about those little things this time. Unfortunately, Hayden hasn't done much in the way of lengthening his nighttime sleep yet. We do the whole Babywise thing (also not so stressful this time), and he has his days and nights straight, but he still eats every 3 hours at night. About half of the time he will have one 4 hour stretch, and about once a week he will have a 5 hour stretch, but nothing consistent. During the day he eats every 2 1/2-3 hours. I already see so many differences between him and Tenley. He is much more vocal. He eats more often and is awake much more often. I also think he is going to be an early riser, unlike his sister who loves her 9am wake time. Hopefully we can train him to love that too, because I love to sleep in as well! Although at times I just wish we were past this stage so that I could get some good sleep, I also love having a little baby around again to hold and cuddle. He's so sweet.

1st cloth diaper

Yesterday, I switched the kids rooms with the help of my parents. I wanted Tenley to have more room to play and I wanted her room to be more kid-friendly. In her old room, while in her crib she could flip the lightswitch. So I started moving her crib out at naps and bedtime, and then she could reach her drawers and pull out all her clothes. The room was just too small for a toddler and all of the stuff we had in there. In her new room, we took out the twin bed and we are storing it. The glider is now in our living room. Here is a picture of her new room. Today we made a fort and had so much fun playing in it!


God is so good. I am so thankful for God's grace for me as a parent. I am not the perfect mom by any stretch, and although I struggle with that sometimes, I know that God is faithful. My goal is to lovingly and consistently show them who He is, and as I do my best to train them up (and as I mess up all the time), I trust He will do the real work. They're really His kids; I just get to take care of them and enjoy them for awhile.

Tenley and Navy

This past Tuesday night, Stephen kept both the girls (Tenley and Navy) while I had Bible study and Jonathan and Rebecca went out to dinner. He was a little hesitant to say yes, but it actually turned out really well! Now that we know he can do it, he may have a few more gigs coming his way! Just kidding....maybe. :) Both of the girls were great for Stephen and I think he had fun too. I love that Tenley and Navy play so well together and are growing up as very close cousins.

Welcoming Hayden Titus Helm

Baby Helm #2 is here! Hayden Titus Helm was born Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 12:51am. He was 8lbs 4.8oz, 21" long, and head circ 14.5cm. We are so happy he his here and momma and baby are doing great! December 28 is my parents' wedding anniversary, so this makes the day even more special. This year they celebrated their 48th year of marriage. Wow, awesome. I would love to have a marriage just like theirs and be parents just like them. I am blessed to have such a great example to look to.

Labor and delivery with Hayden was great. His head and face came out bruised and swollen, though - all purple, and his eyes are still a little bloodshot. That is all from coming out so quickly. This bruising and swelling is gone now and didn't seem to bother him at all.

Now for the birth story:
Over a few weeks, I was slowly dilating and effacing. One week I was 2cm 80%, next week 2 1/2, then 3, then 4cm on Dec 27 at my 9am appt. I had several episodes over a couple weeks of regular contractions when I thought Hayden would be born. I never went to the hospital for them, though, and they always went away. I came to not get too excited over these episodes, so when I started having contractions and pain on the 27th, I thought it was probably nothing. But I ran a bunch of errands and kept moving much of the day to help things along, just in case. Around 6pm as Stephen and I were at the grocery store, I noticed them being about 2-3min apart and not stopping still. I told him that if they stayed this way, I wanted to go to the hospital around 7. They were very close, just not very painful. Still, I called my parents and they came and got Tenley. After putting away the groceries, we set out for St. Mary's. I felt silly telling them I thought I might be in labor because I was just not in pain. They checked me and I was 4-5cm, 80-90% effaced. Not much change from the morning. I was disappointed. We walked around the hospital for almost an hour, the nurse checked me, and no change. Ugh. We sat and thought about if we should go home or stay. I called one of my doulas, Jessie Mason, and she was close by, so we waited for her to come and talk to her to see what she thought. We just sat and watched TV and I didn't move around at all. We decided to go home. We told the nurse and she said my contractions were like 2min apart now and getting stronger, and if we stayed 20 more min she would check me again. So we did, and I was 5-6cm, 90-95%! I loved that sitting did more to progress me than walking. :) So we stayed. It was about 9:30pm and they started antibiotics for me because I had tested positive for group B strep. My doctor, Dr. John Reid, didn't think they were necessary, but I had to fight so much on things with Tenley that this was just one thing I was willing to get and didn't want to fight about with the nurse. I should have listened to him. I am allergic to amoxicillin, so they gave me vancomycin instead. Turns out I'm allergic to it too! I got itchy all over and wanted to scratch my skin off it was so bad. I started turning red and getting hives too. So they stopped they antibiotic, gave me benadryl, and I refused any more antibiotics. I was better in 15 minutes. Thankfully contractions weren't hard yet. Jessie communicated everything to my other doula, Mary Schwambach. Around 11pm things got hard, and Mary came in too. Things got HARD - FAST. My guess is I was about 7cm then. I labored on my side because my back hurt from my SI joint issues, and I had heard that laboring on your side could make things move quicker, although also more painful. My nurse, Wendy, was incredible. No fighting this time around. She knew my birth plan and did everything she could to follow and support it. Such a blessing. She even checked me on my side without me specially requesting it and sat next to me to monitor Hayden for short periods instead of strapping me to a monitor 15 min every hour. Contractions got so hard and came without much break. Finally I started to push lightly at the end of them for a little relief. I didn't want to push too soon, but needed to do something. All of the sudden I pushed a little harder and longer and felt him crowning! No one had confirmed I was 10cm, but I knew it now! It was bout 12:45am probably. I said he's coming now! And the nurse and Dr. Reid came over to catch him! It was one long, hard, painful push to get his head out. A short break and another push and he came out as my water broke. Dr. Reid handed him to me as he said he has a bruised face, but he's perfect. Hayden nursed well almost immediately and the placenta slid out on its own. No pitocin for bleeding - Dr. Reid said I didn't need it because Hayden was "saving my life" by nursing. I have the best doctor. 2nd stage was so much different than with Tenley. So much better. I had a brain and could function and have conversations afterwards this time. I wasn't so exhausted. The pain was more intense, but didn't last as long. I might have died if that kind of pain lasted longer. Well, that's how I felt. But it was all totally 100% worth it.

Life is much harder adjusting to a newborn when you have a toddler. Thankfully Tenley is an excellent sleeper. Stephen went back to work today, but it hasn't been as dreadful as I thought. God has brought me this far and will continues. He is good all the time. The first few nights home, Hayden did not sleep well at night. However, the last 2 nights have been great. Last night he had a 5 1/2 hour stretch of sleep, and ate every 3 hours other than that.

Right now Tenley is napping, Hayden is waking up to eat, and once I feed him I'm going to take a nap too! Goodbye! :)

Busy Weekend: Cousins, Sign Language, and Walking!

Last Friday morning, Easton and Langston came over while Jessica taught a Truth Talk class at North High School. When Tenley woke up, she was so excited to see Easton and play with him! This is a video of them playing with blocks together.



A couple weeks ago, I started teaching Tenley the sign language for "please." I really didn't think she was catching on (I didn't try long...I know, I should have), and I kept forgetting, so I was really inconsistent with teaching her. Every once in awhile I would help her sign, show her the sign, and try to help her understand what it meant. This Sunday when Tenley wanted a snack of Cheerios, I said "Say please," and she signed it! I was blown away. It had probably been a few days since I had even attempted to remind her of it, yet she remembered. Now that I know she's catching on, I am going to try to be more consistent and add more signs. That way she'll be able to initiate the signs and communicate with us easier until she can say more words. "Please" is putting your hand on your chest and rubbing in a circle. This is a video of her signing "please."



Today (Monday), Stephen watched Tenley for a few hours while I taught Truth Talk classes at Bosse High School and had a chiropractor appointment. When I came home he told me Tenley was walking, and I was sure he was joking. Sure enough, she had taken some steps! She is still unsure, but she's doing a great job! I'm so proud of her! I think she was pretty tired of "performing" for us, but I did get a short video of a few small steps.

My deals this week

I realize this stuff may be totally boring to some people, but I wanted to post because I was so excited about my deals this week, and thought maybe someone out there would be able to snag a deal or two as well!

Okay, so here is a picture of the majority of my deals this week. I got everything here, plus 4 Jack's pizzas, another pack of gum, and 4 bags of veggies for about $4.00. I'll break it down and explain below.


IGA (Buehler's) - paid $0.06

Free $20 gift card when you transfer a prescription there
With that gift card plus $0.06 out of pocket, I got:

• 2 bags chips (.99 ea)
• 6 canned veggies (.33 ea)
• 4 hot pockets (.99 ea)
• about 2.5lbs ground beef (1.89/lb)
• 4 bags frozen veggies (.59 ea)
• 4 Jack's pizzas (2.00 ea - [4] 0.75coupons that were increased to 1.00 on double coupon week = 1.00 ea)

Yeah...not super healthy, but those were great deals, so we stocked up on snack food for when we don't feel like making dinner! :)

Target - paid $1.38

5% off total bill with Target debit card

• 1 hand soap (.89 - .50 coupon = .39)
• 2 single load Tide laundry degergents (.97 ea - [2] 2.00 coupons = -2.06) (Yes, the overage amount is applied to the final total of your bill! yay!)
• 2 pasta sauces and 2 pastas (1.00 ea - [2] 1.00 coupons = 0.50 ea)
• 1 Hungry Jack pancake mix (1.99 - 1.00 coupon = 0.99)
• 1 NYC nail polish (0.94 - 1.00 coupon = -0.06)
• 1 NYC eye liner (0.94 - 1.00 coupon = -0.06)

Walgreens - paid tax only

RR are register rewards - money you get back to spend at Walgreens later. I use these like $ towards my deal purchases the following week.

• 3 Ricola cough drop packs (2.00 ea - 2.00RR ea = 0.00)
• 2 Mentos gum packs (1.69 ea - [4] 1.00 coupons = -0.62) (Again, applied to your final price)
• 4 Crest toothpastes (3.50 ea - 10.00RR - [4] 1.00 coupons = 0.00)

CVS - paid 2.00 + tax

ECB are extra care bucks - money you get back to spend at CVS later. I use these like $ towards my deal purchases the following week.

• 3 American Greetings cards (.99 ea - 3.00ECB = -.03) (Again, applied to your final price)
• 2 Lady Speed Stick deodorants (2.00 ea - 2.00ECB = 1.00 ea)

As far as where I get my coupons for everything, I save and date coupon inserts from Sunday's paper. We got a great deal on a year's subscription to the Sunday paper, and my parents give us their coupon inserts, so I have 2 copies of everything. Target's website has great coupons as well, and Walgreens has in store coupons you can use on top of manufacturer's coupons. Also, every once in awhile, IGA will do a double coupon week. I use my favorite deal website, commonsensewithmoney, to help me know where to find good deals.

Our baby girl is growing up!

This fall has been full of fun with Tenley. She's really growing up into a kid now, and growing out of that precious baby stage (although, of course, she is still precious). However, she will always always always be my baby girl!! Here are a few snapshots from our fun this October.

This first pair of pictures is a comparison of 6 months ago and now.

This is Tenley at 7 months old

Growing up! ...And still helping Mommy with laundry :)

Playing with Navy at the park

Swinging at Wesselman Park


She will stand up on her own, but is still too cautious to take a real step. Navy is trying to teach her! ...

Reading with Daddy

Tenley loves yogurt. And meal time with Daddy is always fun :)


Her very favorite snack is Cheerios


Our little lamb - Halloween 2011
She didn't like keeping the hood on


We went to a chili cook-off and Trunk or Treat at our church, Northwoods, and Tenley got some great candy! Well...Mommy and Daddy got some great candy. :) One lady did have "candy" to give out especially for babies, though, so Tenley actually does get a treat or two this year!



A few of my favorites from her 12 month pictures (taken my Jessie Mason - she's so good!):

Update on walking: Tenley actually took a real step today! Yes, just one. It seems like she's so afraid she'll fall, or maybe she just doesn't realize that she would be able to walk if she just tried. I think once she gets started, she'll catch on quickly. She wants to walk everywhere, she just has to have someone's finger to hold on to. She's caught on to me trying to "trick" her into walking. If I let go, she just stands there and cries because her feelings are hurt. But that's okay...all in her own time! Her not walking yet lets me hold on to a bit of that baby stage a little bit longer, and I love that! She's growing up so fast!

Not too much else new on the home front since our last post from Tenley's birthday. Tenley is still eating like a pro (good job not being picky like Mommy...yet) and she's growing right on track. She still doesn't really use any words correctly regularly, but loves to babble away. She says "Mama" and "Dada," waves and says "I!" (that means "Hi!"), and when I show her a ball and ask her to say "ball" she babbles "ba ba ba ba." She has so many teeth now, I've quit counting. All the back ones started coming in at the same time it seems. She sleeps about 12 hours each night, usually 8:30-9pm to 8:30-9am (a girl after my own heart!!!!), and naps twice a day, usually 1.5 - 2 hours each nap.

Hayden is growing strong and kick- kick- kicking away. I think it's safe to say now that he's more active than Tenley was. I am just past 30 weeks and still feeling great. I love that the weather is cooler during this part of my pregnancy now - no swelling! (so far) I had a Dr. appointment today - Hayden was head down (good boy!), was "running 50-yd dashes in there," and everything looked good.

Tenley is 1 year old!

Last Tuesday, September 27, Tenley turned the big 1 year old! We celebrated all weekend long. Below is a picture of the onesies I made for her big week. I loved the idea, but didn't want to spend the money on them - and I'm sure glad I didn't. They were super easy.


First, we had a family party with my side of the family, celebrating all 6 of the September and October birthdays (Tenley, Annie, Stephen, Angie, Sam, and Gary). Ages ranged from 1 (Tenley) all the way up to 70 (my dad). Ya know, I used to think 70 was old, but my dad keeps proving me wrong every year. I think he is the happiest, most hard-working, and most sharp 70 year old I've ever heard of. He keeps up with Tenley better than me on many days. Although, I am now just over 6 months pregnant, so I blame the slowing up on that. :)


Anyway, the party was a lot of fun. I always enjoy spending time with our family together. Only wish Scott, Beth, Gabi, and Matt could have been there. Dad made his famous homemade ice cream and it looked like Christmas with all the presents floating around. Tenley got some really fun toys, but I think her favorite part of the night was her first taste of chocolate & icing - a cupcake she devoured with her bare hands. I think she especially enjoyed it because I never let her get dirty when she eats, and she was a mess!


The next night, we celebrated with Stephen's family. We were going to have the party at our house, but we were counting on outdoor space and it poured rain all weekend long. So we moved the party to my parents' house, which worked out great. We still had ping pong set up in the garage from the previous night's party, and there was enough room for everyone to eat together. Again, I think Tenley's favorite part was the cake. I had made Bungy cake for that party - only the best cake ever invented on the whole planet. Scott made it up. It's Devil's food layer cake with chocolate pudding in the middle, all covered in whipped cream and topped with chocolate shavings. YUM!! With all of that gooiness, Tenley was even more of a mess that night. We stripped her down to her cute green cloth diaper and a pink bow afterward. That girl is so stinkin' cute! She had a super fun time playing with Navy too. She just loves getting to play with other kids.

She spent most of her real birthday with good ole Momma. We played and tried to make the day special in little ways. She spent the evening with Grandma and Grandpa Roehr while I had Bible study. While she was there, she learned to play the piano. Well, she learned of the piano - and loves to play her own little songs.


It is just crazy how fast she is growing up. I feel like I have really tried to drink in every stage of her life, but no matter how hard I try to hold on and remember, she just keeps growing! Kids are good at that. :) I absolutely love watching her learn new things and grow up, but it's also hard to let go at each stage. I just feel so blessed that God created Tenley and allowed me to be her Mommy. Thank you, Lord.

Tenley is walking like a pro, as long as she has a hand or two to hold. I don't think it will be long before she lets loose and realizes she can do it all by herself. Her favorite things to do are walk around the backyard with Grandpa, play with blocks, dance, play with other kids, take walks in the stroller, talk, and learn about new things by chewing on them. She is still the happiest, most content kid I've ever met.

As far as other developments, she sleeps about 12 hours at night and naps 3 hours a day, still hates to chew her food - but will bear it anyway because she's such a trooper, and her only 2 words are Mama and Dada. Dada is a new development as of yesterday, and Stephen is eating it up. I can't blame him!


Another fun thing Tenley got to do recently was bond with my childhood kitty cat, Midnight. We got her when I was just 7 years old - so this fall she was 18 1/2! Tenley and Midnight loved each other right away. We wouldn't let Tenley touch Midnight, because her playfulness may have hurt kitty. :) Also, Midnight sheds a lot and is an outdoor cat, and I thought it better to avoid all of that mess. You could tell Midnight was getting older and slower, but she just loved Tenley. She would run after her and my dad in the backyard and watch her play from outside the patio. Tenley got a kick out of Midnight too. She just loved to watch her and giggled so much! I'm glad they had their moments, because just a couple days ago we had to put Midnight down. She was getting so old, and her joints were not doing well. She was so skinny and had lost a lot of muscle. She had a few other problems too, and wouldn't have held up well for another cold winter. It was sad, but it was time. 18 1/2 years is a long time for a cat, and I'm glad Tenley got to meet her.



Just a short update on baby #2 - Hayden Titus Helm: So far, so good. The last ultrasound looked great, so fortunately, no more of those! The only things we really check on at my appointments are his heart rate and my size. Measuring right on track, and his heart rate is great. We have roughly 3 months left until we meet this sweet little boy. I have a feeling Tenley will just love him. She loves babies and doesn't get jealous when Stephen or I hold a baby. She is just very interested in playing with babies, so I think our biggest obstacle will be making sure she is not too rough. I think Tenley will welcome Hayden into the family with big wide open arms!