Sisterly Love

October 18, 1984 my sister, along with the rest of my family, welcomed me into the world. My Granny took my sister out for a really nice dinner in honor of being a new big sis. . . anywhere she wanted to go, the option was hers! Out of all the nice places in Oklahoma City my wonderful sissy chose Taco Bell. She wanted a bean burrito with no onions and extra cheese! Who would have known that 25 years later we would share this craving of bean burritos together. . while pregnant! That's right, my sister and I had the luxury of being pregnant at the same time. Being 7 years apart we never imagined we would be pregnant together, but that's how the story goes. Almost 1 week from the day my sister announced to us that she was pregnant, I found out I was pregnant. . . you can only imagine how shocked my parents were when I made the call telling them that they would have another grand baby. If you can imagine that, try imagining the shock on all of our faces when we found out I was due 2 days after her. Yes, that was a shocking month for us all, but what a great shocking month it was :) Being pregnant at the exact same time as your sister is not something that happens in every day life, we are part of the lucky few. Being pregnant together was simply amazing. We got to share our "crazy pregnant lady" stories, our cravings, our tearful moments, the feeling of the first kicks, the gas pains, indigestion, and everything else that comes a long with being pregnant. We were there for each other. I'm so thankful I didn't have to go through it alone. . she knew how I was feeling most days and vice versa. Not everyone could relate, but she could. Being born 6 years and 364 days apart, thats right. . our birthdays are one day a part. . . I should have known something great was in store for our future, I just never would have guessed it would be this. Now we have the luxury of watching our kids grow up together. We will get to share the first day of school tears, the many birthday parties, the first prom laughs, and sending our kiddos off to college together. I tear up just thinking how lucky I am to have such a great sister who I get to share parenthood with. Just another awesome chapter in my book of life. . . . Love you Sissy!

5 months

As soon as you publicly announce you are pregnant, a lot of "experienced" moms feel the need to tell you what to do. By the end of my 9 months of pregnancy I was over hearing "do this, do that, you need to buy this, you have to have that, you can't do that, you are drinking that??" Now that I have a child of my own I catch myself becoming one of those "experienced" moms. Shameful? Nah. . I just know where those moms are coming from now. I will try my hardest not to share every little thing I have experienced as a mom to all of my first time pregnant friends out there . . you can thank me later :) saying that, I have to share one piece of advice I heard over and over. . take lots and lots of pictures because time will fly. And that my friends is a very true statement. Knox is now 5 months and time has literally flown by. He is a completely different person from 5 months ago, physically and mentally. I have taken that piece of advice and probably gone overboard with the pictures, but I have to warn you, the pictures will not stop. My photo albums pretty much consist of only Knox now and I am so thankful. Today I was looking back at some of the very first moments I captured of him and I was completely amazed at how fast he has grown. Of course it brought tears to my eyeballs, but I am so happy I have those moments to look back on. As I mentioned above, Knox is 5 months! He is an absolute character these days. When this little guy learns to crawl I am going to be in t-r-o-u-b-l-e. I am already trying to prepare myself, sorta. He is almost sitting up by himself these days, which is a great achievement. He is also learning to "scoot." And of course he is still screaming at the top of his lungs. I don't know how I am going to break him of this habit, but for now I will let him enjoy his voice. He has to have something in his mouth at all times.. fingers, blankets, teething toys, which probably means he is about to start teething. . something I am dreading. Oy. A few posts ago, I mentioned I was going to drop the "dreamfeed". .success! He now goes to bed around 7:30 or 8 and sleeps until 7:30 or 8 in the morning. It's amazing. Some days I have to pinch myself to make sure I am not dreaming bc I still can't believe I am a mother. I can't imagine life without this little guy. . . . 

Below are some pictures (of course!) of Knox's life as a 5 month old

 

And here are a few videos. . . 

"Screaming"

Forever Changed

March 23, 2010 is the day my life was forever changed. It's the day I met my son. Before Knox my life was probably like most 25 year olds without kids. I worked, played, and played even harder on the weekends. Bills to pay was my biggest responsiblity. My relationship with God varied from month to month, even week to week sometimes. My social status was down right amazing. I had many different groups of friends I had met throughout life so Scottie and I always had something planned. Whether it was a birthday party, a huge event, or just a cookout to watch the latest football game. . we were always going going going. Scottie and I would be married soon, which made my life even more complete. It was the icing on the cake. Life really couldn't get much better. Then, 2 months before our wedding date I found out I was pregnant. That's right. I was a pregnant bride :) Shocked is an understatement when it came to how I felt. But shocked in a good way. I always pictured myself having kids by the time I was 25. It's just that 25 came up pretty quickly on me (sooner than I expected) and I wasn't ready to be a mother yet. My life was pretty awesome as it was. After the intial shock subsided, I couldn't believe I was about to have a child. Ever since that morning I found out we were pregnant, my life has forever changed. Something clicked and I was different from there on out. I like to think I quickly grew up, but do we ever really grow up? :) Anyways, my relationship with God was never a question from there on out. He had chosen me to be Knox's mother and for that I am eternally thankful. I often wondered and questioned, why me? Why was I chosen to be his mom? I wasn't living my life for the Lord each and every day, so why on earth would He choose me? I now, have no doubt in my mind that He knows exactly what He is doing. Period. 9 months of pregnancy really wasn't that bad. Of course at the time, it couldn't go by fast enough. But now I really miss it. I miss feeling his tiny little kicks. I miss the comfort of knowing that he is warm, and happy inside my belly. I miss the entire process. It's ridiculous what our bodies go through. . it works overtime to create a new life which is simply amazing to me. Amazing. 9 months of pregnancy is plenty of time to mentally prepare yourself for your precious little angel. . yeah right. I don't think you can ever really be prepared for that feeling of meeting your child for the first time. The feeling is truly something you can't describe. I'm not even going to try. . . 

3.23.2010 at 5:26 p.m. weighing 7.2 lbs, 19 inches long Brody Knox Shumsky entered the world via c section. I labored for 16 hours with him. I dilated to a 5 and stopped. I was stuck at a 5 for about 10 hours without any progress at all. After a long talk with Scottie ( he was more apprehensive than I was which was really sweet) we opted for a c section. I was ready to meet my son, and I was completely exhausted. And thats our labor story. That day in March I was forever changed. Since then, my life is now my son. Instead of reading gossip magazines I read books. Instead of staying up until 12 with friends, I stay up and stare at my son while he sleeps. Heels are no longer part of my wardrobe. I only wear makeup on the days I venture out of the house. My son is my life and I have a hard time remembering what life was like without him. Not a day goes by that I don't thank God for blessing me with this wonderful gift, the gift of being a mom. 

A letter to my son. . (5 months) 

Knox,

You have changed my entire outlook on life. Thank you for making me a better person. You challenge me each and every day, for that I am thankful..it keeps life interesting :) Your smiles turn any bad day into a good one. Raising you is the hardest but most rewarding job I have ever done. God chose me to be your mother so I hope to be the best mother I can be. I am so proud of the accomplishements you have achieved thus far, I can only imagine how proud you will make me throughout your entire life. God will always be a priority in your life, I pray that every day. I count my blessings each and every day. . you are healthy, beautiful, active, and growing by the day. I love to watch your mind expand as you discover life around you. Throughout life, I want you to know. . . You don't always have to be tough. It's okay to cry, you will not be looked at as being weak. Daddy and I will always support you no matter what. We want you to be able to dream big and accomplish those dreams. Anything is possible. You can come to us with any problems or questions and we will do our best to teach you and help you with anything you need. Trust God in everything you do. He is our savior and our reason for living. You will make mistakes, but take those mistakes and learn from them. Life will bring things to you at a certain time, for a certian reason. . go with those reasons because that is where the best memories are made. Have fun, laugh each day, and remember that you are very much loved. 

to dreamfeed or not to dreamfeed?

That is the question. As I queitly creep into my sons room each night, waking him for his final feeding, I ask myself should I even be doing this? I have read somewhere around 4 months your child can go down to 5 feedings a day. Right now we are at 6. That final feeding of the night is what "they" call the dreamfeed. You wake your child, feed him, and put him right back to bed. They are pretty much asleep the entire time, at least Knox is. I have been going back and forth, back and forth with this for about 2 weeks now. Should I drop it or not drop it? I love my sleep. Let me repeat, I love my sleep. This is why I am afraid to drop this final feeding. I have been getting some much needed sleep for a few months now. Ah sleep. It is amazing after not having it for 2 months straight. . . welp tonight I decided to bite the bullet and give it a try. So far so good. But it's only 11 o'clock. We shall see. . . so for now, I will get you updated on Knox's progress. . 
We had our 4 month check up last week, which means little man had to get shots. Oy, shots. I hate shot day. The only fun thing about well child check ups is getting to see how much he has grown. I am happy to report he gained another 4 lbs and grew another 2 inches! Brody Knox Shumsky now weighs 15lbs 2 oz and is 26 inches long! He's a growing fool. He is also a rolling machine. As soon as you put him on his back he rolls over on to his stomach. Cute, at first, until it became a problem during his naps. He would roll over onto his stomach, then get mad because he couldn't get back over. We fought this for about 3 days. Finally, he figured out that it was okay to be on his stomach. He is now sleeping on his stomach for a majority of the time, all on his terms. He loves it. In fact, he took a 3 hour nap for me today. . perfect. He loves to suck on the corners of blankets, or burp cloths. . whichever I get to him the fastest. It's adorable. My mom said I use to suck on the corner of my blanket when I was little. This made me smile. He may look exactly like his daddy, but he's starting to develope some of my habits. This could be good, or bad :)


"always kiss your children goodnight, even if they are asleep."- H. Jackson Brown


Knox rolling over in his crib. . .