Whats in a Name?

As people have been asking me how we cane up with the name “Eden”, I decided to write about it…then I realized that I haven’t written about how we came up with Tatum’s name- so I will do both!

When we named our girls, we didn’t know anyone else with their names, and I like that.  I know of some people who have Tatum as a last name, but not first.  Since Tatum has been born I know of someone else with a baby named Tatum, but he is a boy.  And someone else we know has named their daughter Tatum.  I like the uniqueness of their names.  With both girls when we were picking out names I would look up the popularity of that name to make sure it wasn’t too common.  Brian didn’t really care about that and made fun of me a bit.  But the meaning of the name we chose was important to both of us. 

TATUM RAE MAINES

People didn’t ever ask much how we came up with “Tatum” ( I guess it’s a little bit more of a common name), so I don’t get to explain it much even though I really like to.  As some of you know, my older brother died about 4 ½ years ago and his name was Nathan Tate Wilson.  So, that’s where Tatum comes from.  And the name means ‘bringer of joy’.  Which is so fitting for our sweet girl.  Not only does Tatum bring joy to the lives of those whom she meets, but she also has brought so much joy back to my parents.  Especially my mom; Tatum brought joy back into my mom’s life where it had been absent for two years.  And, of course, Tatum continually brings joy into my heart.  She is so precious.

Rae is my middle name.  And my uncle’s and my cousin’s etc. all the way back to where it was originally a last name on my mom’s side.

Rae is also a family name on Brian’s dad’s side!  So it was really cool for us to get to use a name that honors both of our families.

EDEN ANNE MAINES

I have had a huge list of both girl and boy names picked out ever since we first got pregnant with Tatum.  So when we found out we were having another girl, I just assumed that we would choose a name from that list.  I really liked the name Harlow.  Brian liked it too, but he liked Autum more.  I liked Autum, but I liked Harlow more…  We couldn’t agree and I was pretty sure I was going to ‘win’.. after all the little nugget was inside of me- surely that meant I was more capable of picking her name.  Not to mention, who wants to argue with a pregnant woman :) ?

Then one night I was reading through a bible study online that was talking about Eden.  As I was reading, I began to think about what Eden represents.  So, naturally, I look it up online as a name and find that (duh) it is very rare.  Then I look up the meaning: of course it was the name of God’s garden where Adam and Eve first lived; also a delightful place, a paradise; also a state of innocence, bliss, ultimate happiness.  Perfect.  So I walked out of the office and casually informed Brian what our daughters name was :).  It caught him off guard, but once he had time to process my rapid departure from our Harlow/Autum conversation, he loved it too!

I frequently pray those definitions over our own Eden- that she would remain innocent, that her beauty would bring God pleasure, happiness. 

Anne is Brian’s mom’s middle name.  And also his great Aunt’s name.

I also have an aunt Anne.  And it was my Dad’s grandmother’s name.  So cool to have another name to honor both families!

I love our girls so much and I love what their names represent. 

“You were in Eden, the garden of God…your settings and mountings were made of gold; on the day you were created they were prepared.”  Genesis 28:13

Eden's Birth Story

The day before sweet Eden joined our family was a Sunday, and a pretty typical one.  Church, lunch at home, hanging out as a family, dinner at my parents etc.  Except I didn’t go to church because I was having some pretty strong contractions.  But they stopped before Brian and Tatum even got home from church.  After Tatum went to bed Brian and I painted my belly as a pumpkin just like we did when Tater was inside it.  (**side note- We had tried to paint the belly about a week before with Tatum.  She just took over the job and painted Mommy’s tummy all up, then moved on to painting hers.  It was the most precious ting ever!)  This time we decided to make it a jack-o-lantern face instead of just a pumpkin… not knowing at the time how appropriate that would be- Eden was born on Halloween day!  After belly painting (and subsequent belly washing), Brian and I watched Sleepy Hollow since it was the day before Halloween (I wanted to watch a scary movie…Brian is not a huge scary movie fan…but we are both Johnny Depp fans…so we settled on a not-very-scary Depp movie).

About an hour into the movie- around 10ish- I started having contractions.  I didn’t say anything to Brian because of the false alarm earlier that morning.  We got in bed around midnightish and by that time my contractions were pretty intense.  I told Brian and he rubbed my back while I timed contractions (there are some pretty convenient iPhone apps for this!)  Abut thirty minutes later I gave up and got out of bed.  I played in the computer (pinterest!) and showered then paced the house for a while.  I was in pretty excruciating pain by this time.  So I work Brian up and said “Two questions: how long will it take you to get ready and how soon can your dad be here?” He got up and called Kenny (to come stay at the house with Tatum- Thanks Kenny!) and we left the house about thirty minutes later (again, Thanks Papaw for waking up and rushing to our house in the middle of the night so Miss Taum could stay asleep!)

We had to pull over on the way to the hospital during contractions so I could walk around because I think I might have imploded if I had to stay sitting.  The hospital is only about 10 minutes from our house and I had three contractions on the way there… good thing Papaw gets ready quick!

Once we got to the hospital they immediately put us in a room- I guess they could tell by looking at me this was the real thing, because they didn’t check me first.  After we got in the room and the nurse checked me I was already 7cm!  I was pretty excited- Eden will be here SOON!  But then the nurse poops all over my party by telling me I should get an epidural because they want me to wait at least three hours  because of group B strep!!  Youre kidding, right?  No.  Really?  Yes.  I stayed at home as long as I possibly could and now I realize I should have come in much earlier.  Guess I didn’t think that one all the way through.  But I as hoping for a natural (as possible at least) birth and wanted to do most of my labor at home. 

The anesthesiologist got there lickidy spit so they could slow labor down.  Unfortunately, the first epidural attempt was no good because it didn’t hit the epidural space.  Youre kidding, right?  No.  Really?  Yes.  Okay, lets start all over again.  The whole thing took about 20 minutes, which is a reeeeally long time when you are having almost constant contractions and having to ‘relax’ and sit super still. 

Right after the epidural was finished my parents got there and the poor anesthesiologist was trying to explain to my mom why he had to re-do the epidural (my mom is an anesthesiologist and both my parents showed up in scrubs…they made people nervous :)). 

The epidural worked to dull the pain of the contractions….but that’s it.  About 30 minutes after it was finished I started feeling an intense need to push.  And I would continue feeling that urge for the next three hours until the entire dose of antibiotics was in me. 

Meanwhile, poor Brian is not feeling well- he was not handling me in pain very well and hadn’t slept much.  By the time it was finally time to push, he was literally green and felt faint…and not because of the gore (he was totally fine for Tatum’s birth and cut the cord both times).  So my mom stayed in the room with me to help.  Brian was there too, but had to sit in a chair by my head. 

I could feel EVERYTHING below my waist despite the epidural.  Thankfully, I only had to push for about 10 minutes!

Eden Anne Maines was born 10/31/2011 at 7:25 am  6lbs 15oz. 20 ½ in

Then they laid my b-e-a-utiful baby girl on my chest and it almost made the pain of the stitching bearable :).  She was beautiful, and healthy, and strong.  They let me hold her the whole time Dr. Devine was working on me and as long after as I wanted.  They also did all of her newborn care in the room with me, which their policy did not allow for with Tatum (Tatum was perfectly healthy also, it was a policy change).  It was so wonderful that she never had to leave my side at all!!

It was pretty immediately apparent that sweet Eden got her Daddy’s lungs, because this baby could get VOLUME when she cried (still true today at 2 ½ months).  Its funny how, as a Mommy, you will be proud of every single trait your baby has.  Loud scream?  Yeeeah!  That’s my girl!

 Painted Tatum belly:

Tatum painting belly:

Night before Tatum was born:

Night before Eden was born:

Eden painted belly:  (our art skills seem to have retarded)

Headed to the hospital...feeling the pain!

My 'team!'

Tatum is holding Eden's hand...so sweet!

Kenny and Sharon brought Tatum up to meet her baby sister later that day, and she was UNBELIEVEABLE!  I was worried about what she would think of her Mommy holding someone besides her, but she was so natural about it!  I was not holding Eden when Tatum came in the room so she got to come sit on Mommy’s lap first.  Then Brian brought Eden over to us and put her in my arms.  Tatum looked at her for a minute then said “I need to kiss my baby”.  She has loved her every moment since!  (though she has not always loved having to share Mommy and Daddy’s attention)

Tatum- 2 years, 2 months

Two Years and Two Months- Tatum

I haven’t updates on the Tiny Princess in a (long) while, and she has changed SO much. Here are a few of the things she is up to these days:

-LOVES watching shows. And Mommy always has to be the bad guy who limits them, while Daddy and grandparents get to be the fun ones who always let her watch ‘shows’. (Favorite shows: King George and the Duckie, Lord of the Bean, Drummer Boy, any other Veggie Tales, Dora the Explorer, Charlie Brown, Blues Clues)

-Loves kissing and loving on ‘her’ baby.

-Is incredibly sweet and gentle with her baby. We mostly just have to worry about her smothering Eden when she kisses her.

- Likes playing with her dollhouse or doing drum solos on her new drum set.

-Likes having me or Daddy sing ‘old macdonald’ to her- she will tell us what animal when it comes to that part in the song.

-Other favorite songs include: Twinkle Twinkle, Rock a By Baby, Amazing Grace, Jesus Loves Me, Joy Joy Joy, any song from Dora, any Veggie Tales song.

-Likes to cuddle in Mommy and Daddys bed…alone :(

-Loves wearing ‘her’ bracelets. When we tell her we are going bye-bye she will run to my closet and start loading her arm up with my bracelets saying “I’m not ready yet”.

-LOOOOVES to play at the park, and doesn’t understand why she cant play at the park when its cold.

-Reading books. With me (or anyone else..) or by herself.

She cracks me up daily. She brings so much joy to my heart. She is hilarious and a mess and so sweet.

Most days she sleeps to 9am, then I have to wake her up!

She goes to bed between 8:00-9:00, but often stays up talking (to herself) for sometimes more than an hour. She is never upset, just talking away. She also does not like to get out of bed right when she wakes up…yep shes Mama’s girl!

Tatum is still sleeping in her crib. I am in no rush to move to a big girl bed for several reasons: she is a crazy sleeper and is all over the bed and would fall out… a lot. She is usually awake a while before falling asleep…cant imagine how much longer she would be awake if she had free rein of her whole room. She is content in her crib and that means more sleep for everyone.

Common Phrases-

-I need to watch my shows.

-I just cant stand it (used to be I don’t cant stand it)- courtesy of Charley Brown

-Money money money- curtesy of Charlie Brown (the second she starts calling everything ‘stupid’ I think I am going to have to break her Charlie Brown habit).

-I’m coconuts.

- Stop. Stop it. (not my favorite)

- I would like to listen to King George (we have King George and the Duckie Veggie Tales audio that she likes to listen to in the car)

-I need to ________.

-I luf yooou, Momma (yep, my favorite :) )

- keeeeess, kiss, kiss (while kissing Eden)

-I need to kiss my baby.

-whas wrong baby?

-She need to eat, Mommy.

-She need to go to sleep, Mommy.

-My baby is crrryin. She needa kiss.

*side note- Tatum is often spot-on regarding what Eden is needing.

-She’s weeedle (about Eden)

Favorite Foods:

Chicken

Grapes

Apples

Tomatoes

Peas

Chick Fil A

McCalister’s

Chocolate

Fruit snacks

Milkshakes

Coloring together:

Bracelets, necklace, jammies, and Daddy's shoes; she pulls it off:

She was trying to suck Eden's boogies (note Boogie sucker in her hand) and when She saw me looking at her she said "Dont do it. Dont I do it."

At Ben and Jordan's Wedding...Little Miss Thing:

Eden- Two Months

Two Months- Eden

(How in the world is she already two months?!)

Weight: 12 lbs

Sleeping- most nights between 6-8 hours, but she slept 10 hours last night!!

She still sleeps in her bouncy seat in our room at night, but is taking naps in her crib in her room during the day now.

She had been eating about every 3 hours at 1 month, but lately is more like2-2 ½ hours most of the time. She is having a hard time with daytime naps, which is making her want to eat more.

She smiles a lot and warms my heart with each one.

She has always done well in the car- except at stop lights, etc.

She has struggled with blocked tear ducts since she was born, but they seem to FINALLY be open and not infected now (fingers crossed- they have gotten better in the past only to get goopy again).

LIKES:

-Cuddling with Mommy or Daddy. Such a snuggler.

-Holding her head up and looking around.

-She LOVES watching her big sister play and especially loves it when Tatum Talks to her and gives her kisses- which sweet Tatum does a LOT.

-When Mommy sings to her (there are now two people in the world who like me singing… and I birthed them both J) and her favorite is ‘row row row your boat’.

-Talking and ‘telling us all about it’. Sometimes she even tries to talk while she is nursing…she just has lots to say.

-Bath time, but not having her hair washed…and is not usually happy when I get her out of the tub. But I cant blame her; getting out is obviously the worst part of any bath!

-Her Poppy. She (of course) loves all her grandparents, but she seems to have a special connection with her Pop. She has taken over his arm and claimed it as her spot these days J

-Diaper change. She loves the freedom of no diaper and just kicks her rolly little legs and grins the whole time.

My eyes are red from allergies and the camera flash, but Eden is sweet nonetheless.

Pretty typical morning at our house; Tatum always wants to see her baby as soon as she wakes up (as soon as Tatum wakes up...Eden is up before Tatum, hence why Eden is dressed and Tatum is still in her jammies sucking her thumb :)):