Thankful- Day 2

I am extremely thankful for Alex. I could not have found myself a better man. God knew what he was doing when he sent me him. It is worth having dated all the losers to finally end up in a spot where I could appreciate how wonderful he is. Reasons I am thankful for:

1.       He is the best father ever. He absolutely loves his daughter and she loves him.

2.       He makes me laugh all the time. I literally end up crying I am laughing so hard on a frequent basis.

3.       He puts up with my mood swings- which can be often.

4.       He takes care of my car and the house, both things that I am too flakey to remember to do.

5.       He choose me! I am VERY thankful for that!

Thankful- Day 1

With 1 week left until Thanksgiving, I am going to do a daily countdown of what I am thankful for. Today I am thankful that I was blessed with such an amazing child. I have always wanted to be a mom. It was something that I just knew I wanted, but I admit I was starting to wonder if it would happen for me. Although she was a very happy surprise (once the shock wore off), I wouldn’t change how she came into this world at all. I am thankful for:

1-      Her sweet smile. Nothing melts your heart like having this little angel smile at you.

2-      Her stubbornness. Now you might not initially see how this is something I am thankful for but, it will serve her well later in life. She will not be oneto give up when things get hard.

3-      Her laugh. Now that she is older, she laughs when we laugh which I think is hilarious because she has no idea why she is laughing.

4-      Her hugs. She gives the best hugs. I love when she snuggles up close.

5-      Her food preferences- She has the food palette of someone much older. She loves mushrooms, olives, tofu, and she loves her veggies. There isn’t much this girl won’t eat or at least try.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

6-      Her life. I am so blessed and so honored that I get to be her mother and watch her grow up.

Lymphomathon

This morning at the Phoenix zoo they did a walk to raise money for Lymphoma reseach. My friend Meg's mom is fighting this right now so when she asked me to walk, it was a no brainer. Emersyn and I would be there. It was awesome to see all the survivors and supporters out there. It was a chilly morning but we were ready and what was awesome was that you could enjoy the zoo and look at the animals while walking. It took us almost 2 hours to complete just 3 miles since we were stopping to look at the animals and chat. It was awesome to spend time with friends and since Jamie pushed the stroller the whole time (thanks again), I got to just walk and enjoy. After 2 hours in the fresh air and lots of running around the zoo herself, my little animal was exhuasted. She crashed literally within 5 min of getting in the car lol.

Meg and Jamie- we are down for next year! Sign us up :-)


All bundled up and ready to go. It was early and cold.

She wasn't sure of the baboons..... neither were Jamie and I.

She wasn't a big fan of the fake Orangutan. Although the real ones she was practically banging on the glass to get them to come close.

A morning running around at the zoo wears a girl out.

Watch out for Karma

Karma is a fiesty tempermental thing that comes back to get you when you least expect it.  I will admit before I had a kid, I had a lot of opinions on how to raise kids and I thought I was right (all the moms can insert laughter here because you all know you did too). Well, I used to look at mother's that had their kids on a strict schedule and rarely veered off of it as uptight and anal. I was never going to be that way. They needed to relax. Skip to 1 year later and...... I am SO that mom!

I went into motherhood with intentions for being layed back, however 3 weeks after my bundle of joy came into the world, the colic hit and a schedule was the only thing that could save me. I should have known that I would be that mom since I am a total planner and don't really like doing things spur of the moment. In fact, Alex makes fun of me because I know what is going on for both of the upcoming holidays already as far as my family is involved. (His family waits until the last minute to make plans- yes I struggle with it lol).

Will I tell people we can't go to something because it's scheduled during naptime? Yep! Will I make my family meet earlier for dinner so just in case the service is slow at the restuarant we are home by 7 for bath? Yep! I am that mom! And you know what, I am ok that other people gossip and roll their eyes at me. It works for me and Emersyn so we are keeping it up. Who knows, maybe she will grow up to love planning just like me :-)

It's my labor day!!!

Today is my labor day! Yes Emersyn was born tomorrow but she was born 19 min into the day and I had her by c-section so all the pain and hassle occurred today for me.

I had gone to the Dr for my weekly check up on Tuesday and was told I was not dilated at all. I was sure then that I would make it to my 10/8 scheduled C-section and stopped shaving my legs daily (stupid mistake). I worked a full 8 hour day at work getting ready for an audit that was due to happen the first part of the following week. I made dinner as normal, watched TV as normal and even had my nightly bowl of Cocoa Krispies that I craved my entire pregnancy. Alex and I got ready for bed and lay down for the night around 9:30. Not 5 min later, I felt what I can only describe as a bubble popping and then lots of warmth on my legs. I rushed to the bathroom as Alex yelled what’s wrong. I sat on the toilet and had what sounded like the longest pee every. “I think my water broke”, I yelled back to Alex. Who then jumped up and rushed into the bathroom. Ok… it was go time.

We were told at birthing class that even after your water breaks, it can take hours for labor still so not to panic and rush. I asked Alex if he thought I would have time to shave my legs and do my hair….. then I got my first contraction. They weren’t strong at first and just felt like the startings of normal monthly cramps but I wasn’t about to worry about a shower anymore. I called my mom, my best friend and my boss (who I apologized to profusely about missing the upcoming audit). I made sure to write out a rent check and told Alex we needed to drop it in the afterhours box on our way. We got in the car and were headed to Desert Banner by 10:00pm. Alex took his time on the drive while my contractions moved into every 5 min and more painful.

We checked into triage, told them the drill and were given a room. They hooked me up to all the fun monitors and started running tests to ensure that I was truly in labor (the fact that I was still leaking wasn’t enough of a clue). Now my contractions are every 2 min. My mom and Alex’s mom arrived at the hospital and sat with us in triage while they hooked me up to an IV. They confirmed I was in labor (duh!) and brought in an ultrasound machine to ensure that Emersyn was still breech. She was and they brought in the anesthesiologist to meet with me. They asked me the last time I ate- it was only 7:30pm so they gave me some Zofran through my IV and had me drink the most awful tasting medicine to neutralize the acids in my stomach before surgery. Now my contractions are only every minute. They gave Alex a snazzy pair of scrubs to put on and told us that we were headed for the OR.

I asked to stop and use the restroom before we left and attempted to pee one last time. Then it was into the wheelchair. As we went through the doors my anesthesiologist was walking by and said he had a quick epidural to do but would be back in 10 min. (FYI… total lie). I was taken to the OR and sat on the table with my legs hanging down waiting for my spinal tap. Alex was told to sit in a chair 15 feet away and not touch anything. Now my contractions are every 20-30 seconds and I am in back labor. I have never been in so much pain in my life and the Dr is not coming. Apparently the epidural he ran to do was not the “piece of cake” he thought it was going to be. I sat on the edge of the table for 20 min while the nurses got their stuff ready and tried to calm me down. I am very proud of the fact that I didn’t scream, yell or even make a lot of noise. I breathed and moaned a little the entire 20 min but did not act like most the women on TV do during labor. Finally, relief with my spinal tap. I honestly can’t tell you if it even hurt. I was in so much pain I didn’t even feel it go in. I just remember the pain stopped.

They laid me down on the table and told me they were ready to start. Alex actually stood up and watched the whole thing. I had the normal “pressure” as they yanked her out and then I heard the Dr say, “She is beautiful. Congrats mom and dad” and the first sounds of baby screams filled the room.

The rest of the night is a blur. We were in recovery for almost 2 hours with our moms due to the fact that neither she nor I could regulate our temperatures post surgery. But finally a little before 4am we were wheeled into the room that would be my home for the next 4 days. And thus started what is my greatest love J

To know you....

I read when I was pregnant that you should sing to your belly the songs you plan to sing once the baby is born because since they are used to it, it will sooth them. I started singing this song to Emersyn whn I was about 6 months pregnant and I still sing it today. The lyrics are more true each day she is in my life....

To know, know, know you
Is to love, love, love you
Just to see you smile
Makes my life worthwhile
To know, know, know you
Is to love, love, love you
And I do, And I do, And I do....


The middle part still gets me a little emotional since her smile truly does make every trial and heartache that I had to go through to get to this point in my life to have her totally worthwhile :-)

Almost 1 year

It has been awhile since I last posted. With work, building a house and planning a wedding... I have let the blog slip. But no more! I am forcing myself to blog at least once a week since this will be a way for Emersyn to read about her past.

Speaking of Emersyn. She is almost a year old. I cannot believe how quick this first year flew. I will be posting on Friday all about her birth (yes I know her bday is Saturday however she was born 19 min into the day so.... all the work happened on the 30th). We had her 1 year photos taken last weekend. Here are a few of my favorites. Be sure to stop back Friday for another post :-)