This Time Last Year

This past weekend had some ups and downs as a mom. Saturday was good because my baby was in a good mood, and we did a lot of playing. But then Sunday came, and he wasn’t having any of it. We think his molars are starting to break through so his little mouth has been really sore. We took Sunday as a teething day and just snuggled, which to me, is one of the best parts of motherhood…the snuggles!

As I was snuggling with him this weekend, I began to reminisce a bit about this time last year. This specific weekend last year, we were getting ready to go to the hospital for his delivery. Although I personally have no frame of reference, it wasn’t the easiest or quickest of deliveries!

On Saturday, one year ago, we were finishing the paint in his room. We had the furniture, although not put together yet. Lol! We were told not to worry about whether his nursery would be ready before his arrival because most babies don’t even sleep in their own room for the first year. And he hasn’t. At all. I remember we had picked a very light shade of gray; it’s so light it looks almost white. But we did it this way because all of his furniture is dark gray. We had actually finished painting the room the day before, but because the paint color was in different cans, it somehow showed up as two different colors on the walls. So, we took Saturday and repainted the whole room so in our eyes it would all match. We had been told by my doctor to check in at midnight, so we had all of Saturday to get ready. I hadn’t had any contractions or Braxton-Hicks; he was just patiently chilling in my cozy stomach, so it was a pleasant day. We packed our hospital bags, dropped our dog at our nephew’s house and headed to the hospital. It was exciting and scary all at the same time. I had gotten some cute “mom” socks to wear in the hospital so once we were settled in our room, I had my hubby take the picture for the social media update.

I was checked on every 3-4 hours once we were settled, so sleep was intermittent. Withholding the graphic speak, my doctor wanted to do some prep work on my body so the first day was mostly just waiting for things to occur. By10:15p on Sunday night, I was only dilated to a 1. Thanks to my social media post, most of my friends were anxiously awaiting my “welcome to the world baby boy” post, so they started texting when it never came. Early Monday morning things started to progress a little better. The doctor started the Pitocin, I got the epidural (I wasn’t about to let that window pass me by!!) and then the doctor broke my water about 6:15a that morning. After that, everything was on a roller coaster…I would progress more and then it would slow down, and I would progress more and then it would slow down. Finally, about 10:30p Monday night, I was 100% effaced and dilated to a 9-1/2. The doctor could feel his head but wanted him to drop a little more so I wouldn’t have to work so hard.

To pass the time, my husband and I started looking at famous people born on November 23 and 24. Not that we had any control over when he would actually arrive, it was fun to check and see who he would share his birthday with. Well, by the time they were ready for me to push, it was already November 24, so guess that would be his birthday. As a side note, I had had a sonogram the day before we reported to the hospital to check in and I had seen the size of his head. I told my husband I wasn’t looking forward to that part because his head had measured so big!

After pushing for 3-1/2 hours with hardly any progress, they determined his head wasn’t going to fit and it would be best to switch to a c-section. I was more than okay with that. I will say it’s amazing how quickly the doctors and nurses can have you ready for a c-section when time is of the essence! I had stopped pushing about 3:30 and baby boy was born at 4:01am. I was so excited he was finally here, but also so exhausted! I had been awake for more than 24 hours during that last day. And by the way, the crown of his head measured at 14” at birth!

So compared to this time last year, I would say the days were less eventful. Saturday was spent doing what most Americans do during the fall on the weekend…watch football. And hang Christmas lights! No last-minute preparations to do on the baby’s nursery this year. And to let you know, we almost have it fully decorated, even though he doesn’t sleep in there quite yet. Sunday was spent snuggling baby boy-almost toddler because of the next set of teeth trying to break their way through his gums. No laying around waiting for body parts to be ready for baby delivery. I’ll take the baby snuggles any day of the week! <heart>

The only preparations we’re doing now is getting everything ready for his first birthday! Although the labor and delivery were less than ideal, we wouldn’t trade the experience for anything if it still gives us YOU! We love you so much kiddo! And watching all your transformations over the past year, watching you grow into the cutest little human, watching you discover all the things and experiencing it with you, has been pure joy!

Happy Birthday Baby James!!

Sweet Daisy

Last week we experienced the loss of our family pet, our sweet Daisy. We had Daisy more than 10 years and she was as much a member of our family as any human. I know some people don’t think of their pet as family, but we did!! When we went on trips, she usually went with us. When checking hotels, we always checked for pet-friendly.

There are so many things about Daisy that I’ll always remember. She hated cats with a passion! She always barked & tried to chase our neighbor’s cat when she saw him. Once, my husband found her after she had “found” the cat…she had the cat pinned to the ground underneath her paw. She wouldn’t hurt any animal, but she would bark at them like she meant business. When we first got Daisy, she would run like crazy around the house. She could go from 0 to 90 in a matter of seconds. She’d zoom around the living room, out the doggy door, run the fence while barking at the neighbor dog, zoom back into the house and soar over the side of the couch like it was six inches off the ground!

She also had a love of chocolate! Yes, we know dogs aren’t supposed to have chocolate, but this dog had a stomach of steel! She was known to get chocolate out of jackets (I have a hole in a pocket to prove that), off the kitchen table, from the bar behind the couch and then anywhere else you left it without remembering to place it up high. This one Christmas we had given my mother-in-law a coffee basket with chocolate truffles. These weren’t just any truffles, they were the kind you got from the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory…they were huge and there were six of them. We had opened the gifts at my mother-in-law’s house that morning and then went to another family member’s house for the rest of the day. When we got back that evening, the basket was on the floor, some of the coffee ripped open and the white sack with the truffles…ripped to shreds…and EMPTY!! We checked on Daisy and her stomach was so full. She looked miserable and she didn’t eat anything else for a while, but she was just fine. That was several years ago and we still laugh about that every Christmas.

Another food item she loved was ice cream. Any time any of us had ice cream, she had to have some. We got to where we just fixed a bowl for her when we had it. There was a time I was scooping ice cream for the two of us. The ice cream was still pretty solid, so when I scooped it out, it popped off of my scoop and was headed to the floor…except that it never hit the floor. I looked down and Daisy had caught the very generously-sized scoop of ice cream in her mouth! 🙂

There are so many great memories of our sweet Daisy. I like to believe that she’s not alone in heaven…that she has a special little boy to play with. I like to believe that she and this little boy chase each other around and play all day and the he rubs her belly at night, just like my husband did every night before he went to sleep. I like to believe that these two will keep each other company until we see them both again one day.

Matthew 5:4 (MSG), “You’re blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.”

Here are a few of our favorite pictures of Daisy…

We love you so much Daisy and we miss you like crazy!!! ❤

Always in our Hearts

As 2013 comes to a close, I wanted to say a final good-bye to close out the year. It’s been an interesting year, but one with more heartbreak than I’ve ever experienced before.

The year began like any other, then a couple of months in, we received the most joyous news. Our dream of becoming parents was finally coming true! All the hours we’d spent on planning, discussing baby décor, names and the number of kids we wanted to have, we were finally on our way to having our very own family. The discussions on room décor were starting to take shape as we decided you were a boy as we had long prayed you’d be.

Sadly, the joyous time was short-lived, as our happiness turned to heartbreak. You were gone in the blink of an eye. The excitement and joy we had over you in one breath, was quickly gone in the next. I imagined you would’ve been as handsome as your dad, with his dark hair and shining green eyes. I guess when the time comes for us to see you again, I can see how close I was to my vivid imagination.

I thought of you a lot since that time. You would’ve been born at the end of October, so you would’ve had your first Christmas this year. I imagined I would’ve had a lot of fun shopping for you on Black Friday with my mom and sister, the way we shop for my nieces every year. I imagine your dad would’ve gone with us…mostly because he’s just a big kid version of you anyway! I imagine all the toys I would’ve had to put back on the shelf, telling your dad that we’re not made of money and that you’re too young for most of the toys anyway! But it would’ve been fun.

I imagined you at Christmas when I was decorating the tree. You would’ve had your first ornament on the tree…Baby’s 1^st Christmas. You would’ve had the cutest Christmas outfits and I’m sure sweater vests because that’s what your dad likes. I imagined placing you in Santa’s arms at the mall for your first-ever picture with Santa. Unlike your cousin who didn’t care much for Santa this year, I imagined that you would’ve just lain quietly in his arms as if you were lying in the arms of Jesus. You would’ve had your first trip to Santa Land and the beginning of many other traditions I’m anxious to start with our family.

It was a different kind of year, thinking of what could’ve been that never was. Your dad and I miss you dearly and we will always love you. I just wanted you to know that you’re not forgotten. You’ll always be in our thoughts and memories, but above all else, you’ll always be in our hearts!

Mom

Today, June 20 is my Mom’s birthday. She’s…well, let’s just say that when you look at her, you won’t believe she has a daughter that’s 39 (which is me)!! She looks great!!! And a quick Happy Birthday shout-out to her twin sister, my Aunt Sharon!

My mom and I have had the typical relationship that you’d find with most mothers & daughters; the kind where we didn’t always agree or didn’t quite see eye-to-eye on everything. But the one thing I’ve learned as I’ve gotten older…I’m a lot more like her than I’ll probably ever want to admit! 🙂

I can say that I owe my music ability to my mom. I tried the sports thing, which would’ve been pleasing to my dad, but I let my sister handle the athletic ability in the family. I have a picture of my mom & me sitting at a piano in my grandmother’s house. I’m not sure of my age in the picture, but I would guess I was age 4 or 5. My mom started me out with piano lessons from the 1^st grade and I took them through my 6^th grade year. In 6^th grade, I joined the band and have been forever known as the band nerd. Music has been a part of my life ever since then and that all came from my mom.

She is the most talented pianist that I have ever seen or heard! She used to partner with us during my band years for the solo portion of the solo and ensemble competition. I had the privilege of practicing with my accompanist any time I wanted. The others often practiced with her for the first time at the competition. But she’s such a great player that she could sit down at any piano and read the music for the first time and sound wonderful. If that player didn’t win, it certainly wasn’t because of her!!

Aside from her incredible piano talent, she can also sing. She and my dad used to be in the choir in college and also toured with their church on choir trips. I, however, did not inherit the singing gene like I did the music gene. Oh well, it’s still fun to listen to her sing harmony when I stand next to her in church.

My mom is smart and beautiful. I know I don’t say it very often and probably don’t show it as much as I should, but I love her very much. God blessed me with an incredible woman for a mother. My husband and I recently went through a tragedy; one my mother had never experienced. But that didn’t stop her…she made herself available to me for whatever I needed to cope with the loss we suffered. I’ve felt a lot closer to her since all of that happened. I might even refer to my mom as a Super Woman!

Mom, I hope you have a wonderful birthday today!! Sorry I can’t spend it with you in person, but I’ll see you in a few weeks. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!! I love you!!!

Here are some pictures of us throughout the years…