Hello 2009! Nice to meet ya.

Happy New Year to all my bloggy friends!

This post shall be quick because I must get back to my hectic schedule of watching movies with my husband, lounging in my pj's and making my son giggle. [Giggles! that's his new thing] Then off to Missy’s to ring in the New Year with my family. It doesn’t get much better than that!

In saying goodbye to 2008, I thought we’d take a stroll down memory lane…

January 2008.

Our 1-year wedding anniversary.
We made it. Whoo Whoo!


January-September 2008

My 1st pregnancy.

I got large, larger...largest!

August 2008

Goodbye Grandpa Breden.

We miss you.

September 2008

Welcome Colt.

Life is so great with you in it!

You might ask...

What does 2009 have in store for the Bredens?????

Well, Andy turns 26. He’s over the 20’s hump and quickly approaching 30!! Yikes. I still feel like a teenager! There will be a few anniversaries to celebrate…our 2nd…my parents 25th and my grandparents 50th. Andy might just complete his first ever triathlon. I’m sure there will be the biggest birthday bash, for a 1-year old, the world has even seen…and perhaps…just maybe…in the latter part of the year… I might become pregnant for the second time. BUT you’ll have to stay tuned!

Happy New Year!!

Becuase I cannt spell (sp?)

While writing a note in a Christmas card a few days ago I stopped on the spelling of a word I wasn't sure of. Andy was sitting right by me doing the crossword puzzle so I asked him if I was spelling the word right. In this particular situation I had spelled the word correctly. Go me. A few seconds later, after I had licked another nasty tasting envelope, Andy said, 'You can't spell. You need to start reading. It will help'.

WOE IS ME. It is true! After many years of being out of the classroom my brain has decided to put my knowledge on the back burner of life. WORDS WORDS WORDS. Why must you fail me brain?

SO...in an effort to get smarterer I'm going to start reading.

Any suggestions on what to read?

Here's what I like/dislike in a book:
a. Easy reads. Long books scare me. Boo.
b. Readings similar to The Five People You Meet in Heaven. I love Mitch Albom.
c. Nothing gory.
d. Nothing too loveyish. No Danielle Steel.
e. Readings similar to Dr. Suess, There's a Wocket in My Pocket.
f. I like things I can relate well with. I read a Fire Fighters Wife book once...I think I would like things about Moms.

Help.

Shut up about Dave Ramsey already...

I know many of my close friends have probably wanted to tell me to 'Shut up about Dave Ramsey already...' because since march (when we started taking Dave's Financial Peace University) it's all I've been talking about. Cash. Our struggles. The budget. Yada Yada.

I got my mind of my money and my money on my mind. What can I say?

So just hear my out one last time and I promise I'll stop talking about it.

Dave's method of madness is to cut up all credit cards, live on a budget within your means, pay and live by cash only. The hardest part of this whole transformation is the written budget. It's the hardest part because you have to have some self control...which I dont have much of : ) When we wrote down how much we made each month, what came out for bills/tithe ect... we realized that with our left over money we were just plain 'blow it' on nothing. We had nothing to show for the extra hundreds of dollars we had left over each month. I'm pleased to say that we've been credit card free since Spring. We'll have one vehicle payed off after the 1st of the year and our debit will be in the Pilot and our home. Which I think is pretty good!

In September, after seeing Colts little face and sensing the fear of seperation anxiety, I was blessed with the opportunity to stay home. I still work a few hours a week, but my main focus in life is being a mommy and it is what I've always dreamt of. At this point, with me bringing in almost no money we really had to be faithfull with the money we did bring in. It has taken major discipline and self control. I remember sitting on the couch one night last month crying because we looked at the numbers and after putting money away for a few months in a "Christmas Present Fund" we only had a few hundred dollars to spend on christmas presents for all our families, friends, bosses...everything. I was so upset because I lovvvvve to give! That is the best part of Christmas and that wasn't the number I had in mind...we have big families and I was just hoping we would have more. We devoured the sale ad's each Sunday looking for the best deals and actually did a great job at getting the most bang for our buck. It's going to be a really great Christmas.

Without plastic money you're reminded of what really matter around the holiday season. It's not all about presents and gifts. Even though their great, it's about God's love and being with your families. It has been long 'cash' journey. We're still adapting to me not making very much money but I get to see my babies face all day everyday and that is something you can't put a price tag on.

We're reminded of Gods promises and his faithfulness everyday. About a month ago Andy received a Advanced EMT bonus from the Fire Department that we weren't expecting and just yesterday we received a check from the hospital for a hefty ammount. Aparently our insurance covered some things that we had already paid for and after the hospital received the check from our insurance company they cut us a check for that ammount! You don't even know how excited we were yesterday. I was jumping up and down in the kitchen like a crazy person...and the 1st thing I said to Andy was 'Guess who's watch over us????' God knows the desires of your heart...all you have to do is be faithful.

Um...Hi.

Hi my name is Mo and I rarely post.

I'm going to try to start posting more often. I've done a horrid job so far. Even if I feel like I'm out of anything cool to say...I'm just gonna say it anyway.

So...let's see here...

Today, Eh...what did I do today?

1) Woke up to my baby's voice coming from across the hall! Yes, that's right ladies and gents, my son has been upgraded to his OWN crib, in his OWN room. Which has it's pro's and con's. Pros: Andy and I get our room back...and I sleep more soundly...and we put him to bed eariler and have civil adult conversations over a glass of wine. Cons: My child is no longer under my nose 24/7...if I want to touch him I can't just reach over into the play pin...he wakes up at 3am everynight looking for his paci and now I have to walk across the hallway...I have to swallow the fact that my baby is growing up and in only a few more blinks of the eye he'll be sleeping across the state in a dorm room. All in all, I am proud of the little booger.

2) I dropped the baby off at Mom in the afternoon and than I ran errands...baby free. It's much quicker that way. All our Christmas gifts are now offically bought and before I sat down at the computer I was on my way to being done wrapping them all too! It's going to be a great christmas. [** I'd like to pat myself and Andy on the back because we have sucessfully completed our 1st ever 'pay with cash only' christmas. All the gifts are bought...and we've got no debt to show for it. I was worried, but I must say we saved for a few months and was still able to get all the gifts we wanted for our friends and family. It feels quite good and empowering!**]

3) After tieing up the Christmas shopping I hung at Mom and Dad's house for a bit and helped them christmas decorate. My mother has 3 silk Christmas tree's and 1 real Christmas tree....all fully decorated!! She's crazy. 4 Christmas trees! I told her she needs to have some people over to enjoy the decorations with...if not it's just for her, Dad, Spence and Max to enjoy. It really is beautiful though...she even said that she's getting another tree from Rose so next year she'll have 5! I think she should hang one upside down. I always think those tree's look so cool.

That's about it for today. Pretty low key. Baby is now sleeping like a good boy [in his own room]. Copper is being annoying and laying by my feet...poor dog can't get enough of me...but she's driving me crazy. I can't stand when dogs lick, and she can't stop licking me. In her doggie world their kisses...which is sweet...but still. I love you Copper, but not that much.

And that's all folks...
Peace, Love and all of the above.

Logan Chaput is the man!

Last Wednesday our good friends Nic and Jen celebrated the birthday of their new boy, Logan. He weighed in at a healthy 8lbs. We we lucky to get to see him today and he is awesome!

Colt (I...) was excited that his first buddy was finally born. Today they played turtles-in-a-half-shell and just layed on their backs...helplessly...like babies or something. It was cute.

Colt looks like a giant and already seems more than just a few month old to me! Time is flying guys. We're looking forward to the days of little league. Logan is the pitcher and Colt, the catcher. We need some infielders and a few outfielders too...ANGELA?? KALEY?? BROOKE?? C'mon friends. Hop on the baby band wagon! It's so fun. Wheeeee!

Winter

I took this picture just a few days ago when we had our real first snow fall of the season. I've heard people all my life complain about snow and the weather getting icy cold and for a quick moment I was to say 'So MOVE', but I hold in my true feelings and the urge to kick people out of my state slowly passes.

I love snow. I love to get bundled. I love my fireplace. I love warm coffee. I love Christmas music before Thanksgiving [What? Me? No, I don't do that].

Sometimes I just stick my head out the door to my backyard and listen. It's so quiet and beautiful. I feel like it's God's way of saying to me 'I'm still here'. I love winter.

Happy Bday Mom & Dad

Mom and Dad celebrated their birthday's together this year since they're only a week apart. And let me just say, Mom...the forties are the new twenties and Dad...the fifties are the new thirties. Andy made them dinner. I made...I mean, Martin's made the cake. And Spencer brought the comedy.

Spencer always likes to be tricky with his gift giving. He bought Dad a random coffee mug from Walgreens and put a $50.00 gift certificate to Granite City inside the mug. Dad held the coffee mug in his hands and looked at it like it was the best thing ever. He was like 'Wow Spence...cool, a new mug!' [You could wrap up a bag of dirt and my Dad would think it was great...he's the easiest person in the world to buy for. Which makes him wonderful]. Spencer was like 'Ya dad...check out the inside...it's thermal and really cool!' - After a few moments of twisting the cap and having no success...Dad sets it aside, says 'I'll look at it later' and moves on to opening my card : ) Backfire! Spence grabs the mug, opens it up for Dad and reveals the real gift. We all laugh...mostly at Spencer's failed funny.

Here is a picture of the cake that Spencer plopped a large votive candle in the middle of because we couldn't find a birthday candle. I was mad because the votive ruined the beautiful cake. Another 'Spencer Moment', not to be confused with a 'Senior Moment' although they're one in the same...was when he picked up the votive candle to lick the frosting off the bottom and poured hot wax all over his hands and the table. Laughs for days.


Andy and I got Mom tickets to see the midnight showing of the play Dracula at the South Bend Civic Theater. We bought them four tickets so they could invite Grandma and Grandpa to join them in a date night to the Theater. They had a great time. Which they all deserved! It was a great night. Another year has passed and they went from a Mom and Dad to a Grandma and Grandpa. We're having fun making memories.

Flashlight Teether?

Today Mom and Dad babysat Colt for a a few hours. Dad was the 1st to get his hands on my little bundle of love. He layed him on a blanket and started to talk all goo-goo gaa-gaa baby talk. My dad's version of baby talk sounds exactly like 'dog-talk', ya know the squishy, lovey, raspy voice that Max [the dog] and Dad speak to each other in. Well, now Colt [the baby] and Dad talk the same way. Dad was 'baby-talkin' it and it went a little like this:

Dad: Lookie Colt. Lookie what Menard's sent me for my birthday? A flash light! - Here Chrissy, get me scissors so I can open up this flash light.

Mom: Why do you want to open it now?

Dad: So the baby can play with it. He can hold it. It's clean. He'll like it.

Mom: The baby's not playing with a flashlight! That's what toys are for.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mom quickly swept the baby up in her arms and plunged in the leather sectional of love keeping the baby far from the arms of the dog-talking-flashlight-man.

The dog-talking-flashlight-man was not happy & jealous.

The End.

All the love in my heart.

Tonight as I cleaned up the dishes and waited for my brownies to get done baking in the oven...I looked over and on my sofa was my husband and my baby. They were both napping and Colt looked so comfortable in his Dad's arms.

I just stood there and my life sort of flashed in front of me. I live with a man who makes me happy everyday. He once was just a good friend and now he is the love of my life. It's insane what God can do to a heart. I never knew I could love someone like I love Andy.

I'm feeling really blessed.

Love changes everything.

I picked the one in the middle...

AND he was only $3!

Last year Andy and I went to the pumpkin patch together and spent a whole ten minutes there. We scanned the rows of pumpkins, grabbed one that was semi-round, tossed it in the back of our car and we were on our way. We later had my family over to carve pumpkins and we spent hours doing so.

Pictured below is my pumpkin. I must have had nothing to do because I really did spend hours carving this pumpkin. I was proud of my work though. Especially the spider. I am awesome. Go me.

Dad celebrated his birthday that night last fall with, of course, a candle over pumpkin pie. My Dad is a really funny funny man. He can whistle well and knows a boat load of useless information that he loves to share with everyone, even strangers. I love him.

This year on the other hand was much more fun! We were able to pose our own sweet little pumpkin in the midst of gourds, goats, hay, and of course, pumpkins. Some may call it baby tourture...we call it just enjoying the Pumpkin Patch : )

He needs to be able to sit up straight to really make this magic moment happen : )

Goats & White Pumpkins.

Andy goes, "He won't sleep in his crib, but he'll sleep on a hay bail" - He really did doze off. Crazy Baby.

Yay for having a family & Yay for fall.

Colt

We came. We saw. We conquered...and we have a baby to prove it.

On Thursday, September 4th @ 9:14pm, Colton Samuel Breden entered the world with a sore dome and [i'm guessing] a pounding head ache. I say, pounding headache, because he pounded his momma for 4 L O N G hours until he slid out in his naked glory...all 10lbs, 5oz of him. I tell no lies.

These last few weeks have been some of the best days of my life. I can’t help but melt every time those little eyes look back me. My mom has said to me a few times to hold him as much as I want, no matter what the baby books say, hold him while you can because it doesn’t last that long. I have taken that advice to heart. All I do with my little boy is snuggle. Suddenly you forget about life as you knew it…and the internet…which is why it’s taken me three and a half weeks to blog : )

So here is my story…

Colt decided to hang out in me a whole week past his due date and after being 4cms dilated and 80% effaced (with no contractions or much pre-labor at all) Dr. Lyons scheduled me to be induced. The doctors were telling us that Colt would be a decent size baby…8-9lbs. I was okay with that because I wanted a healthy, plump baby. I got hooked up to pitocin at about 8am and after a few hours I was still not feeling any contractions. Which I was okay with. In the back of my head I was thinking…’Could this really be the 1st pain-free pregnancy ever??’ – I started to day dream about what it would be like if it truly ended up being pain free. SO FAR. SO GOOD. I’m sure I would be on The Today Show…The View…hopefully, ELLEN. I just knew they would all ask me to share my miraculous pregnancy story.

Around 11am my doc popped in to see how I was dilating and after seeing that I have dilated to 6cms they decided to break my water. That's when my pain-free pregnancy turned into PAIIIN. Now remember, I’m the girl that hadn’t ever really felt pain before. No broken legs, no twisted ankles…nothing that ever sent me to the hospital. So yea, I went from nothing to having some really incredibly bad contractions.

Before I elaborate more on the pain, let’s take a few more seconds and talk about how disgusting it is when your water breaks. I think I set a world record for 'the most fluid lost' after they broke my water. I sat forever on the bed just wetting myself...asking the nurses if I was overflowing onto to floor. Anyone else think that the sickest feeling ever?? I keep saying over and over good thing my water didn't break in Target or something! After sitting on the bed for a good ten minutes with little to no stop of my glorious flow…I got up…strapped on one of those larger-than-life boat pads the hospital so kindly provides and decided to walk the halls through my contractions. I left a river of amniotic fluid behind me where ever I went. One time that river turned into a giant puddle. Feeling embarrassed (don't know why I felt embarrassed-it’s not like your fancy mesh panties aren’t hanging out for the whole world to see anyhow.) I asked Andy to go get some help. The mop lady quickly showed up to take care of the giant puddle and followed my soggy-sock footprints all the way back to my room. My nurse was waiting for me in the room and had me strip down to MY naked glory and stand on a pee pad. AND so there I stood…and pee’d…on a pad. Pee Pad.

Andy and I stayed in my room working through the rest of my contractions. I found the rocking chair to be quite helpful. Andy was very sweet...trying to rub my back and hold my hand through the contractions. He was doing everything we had practiced over and over in our Lamaze class. Unfortunately or fortunately for Andy he quickly found out the rules 1) no talking...2) no touching...3) no fun...while I'm having a contraction. I think at one point I think I even threw my gum at him. Andy later told me that I said the ‘S’ word…which I asked if the ‘S’ word stood for ‘shit?’ He nodded. I’m actually proud of myself for only letting the ‘S’ word slip. I’m pretty sure there were a few other choice words floating around in my head the whole afternoon.

Before things got more physical and I chucked a remote…or let’s say an IV stand across the room I gave Andy the cue to get a nurse because I wanted some serious meds, STAT! The anesthesiologist was there very quickly, which I much appreciated. He was cheery and sang songs while he gave the epidural. He totally broke all of my no talk/no touch/no fun rules...but I of course didn't say anything...didn't want to tick him off...he was after all the man with the meds who was about to make me a happy camper once again. The epidural was practically painless, which I was so happy about. A smile slowly started to form back on my face. I ate Jello...took pictures...took naps…and after 3 hours or so my body went to 10cm/100% and my nurse asked if I was ready to push. I asked if we could wait until the Ellen DeGeneres show was over before we started to push and she said she would ask my doctor. Dr. Lyons said that was fine with him. I know, that sounds ridiculous, but I wasn't in pain, he wasn't in the building, and I really like Ellen...so we met in the middle.

At around 5:15pm the pushing began. My nurse labor nurse was awesome. I pushed (pain-free) for two hours. After those two hours of pushing passed, Dr. Lyons discovered that Colt was face up and ordered for my epidural to be turned down...practically turned off...so we could get some ‘serious’ pushing done. With my epidural on I could still lift my butt up...I had control of my legs...I could feel pressure...I was pushing well but he said that wasn't good enough. Colt's head was at station +3 by then and he was so close. BUT Lyons insisted that it be turned down and said if things got too painful we could turn it back up. That was just his way of shutting me up : ) I really didn’t want to lose my drugs that had brought me to my happy place. But I wasn’t really in control. So I agreed and I held on for what was to come…pain and more pushing.

The next two hours were horrible. I felt every ounce of pain imaginable and stopped believing them when they said 'you're almost there!'. After 4 hours of pushing and the baby's head being 'almost there' for so long you start to think that it will never be over. I felt like crying. My lip quivered in-between contractions and my doctor could see I was slowly losing hope. He kept telling me to breathe through my contractions and take control. I tried my best. Not only does this kind of pain throw your body into physical exhaustion to the point where it takes over and you can’t help but shake uncontrollably but it takes your mind into a mental state you’ve never seen before. I just remember focusing on a dot on the ceiling in between my contractions and when it was time to push I found a dot on my hospital gown I stared down. I repeated ‘I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me…’ over and over in my head. At one point I thought…’you keep reciting that verse but you’re not believing it.’ – Looking back maybe that’s wasn’t me just thinking it, maybe it was the God with me in that moment trying to help me pull it together.

Around 9:00 pm we discovered that some of the fluid was a brownish color, which meant that meconium [baby poo] was mixed in with the amniotic fluid that the baby was floating in. Dr. Lyons said I had one more push and if we couldn’t get the baby out, I’d have to have an emergency c-section. He made a call to let them know I may need the c-section…got out the vacuum which they suctioned onto Colts head and while he pulled on the vacuum I pushed. I pushed with every ounce of energy I had left in my body. The vacuum wasn’t enough so I saw him grab a scalpel and I knew what that meant. : ( They needed to cut me to make some more room for the head. I received a 2nd degree episiotomy and finally I saw the head! Relief at last! Well…kind of. Usually after you birth the head, the shoulders and the rest of the body typically slide out…BUT…not in my case. Colt’s shoulders didn’t slide out, they stayed nice and broad and square and after the head was out, I had to continue to push out the shoulders. I could finally see the body and knew the end was in site. Dr. Lyons told me to reach forward. He guided my hands under Colt’s arms and told me to pull out my baby. Out he came from my belly and straight into his momma’s arms. There he was… perfect, little, slimy, poopy, bloody, adorable, cone-headed boy : )

Our hospital has a skin-to-skin agreement that after the baby is born they don’t get weighed, measured or held by anyone but the mother for an entire hour. Skin-to-skin, one-on-one bonding time with Mommy. It was a precious thing. I wish my epidural could have been turned up at that point because I spent that hour in throbbing pain and getting stitched up.

After the hour had gone by our family and friends who had been in the waiting room since early in the afternoon all were able to come in and see the baby boy. I later found out about all the adventures they had in the waiting room. You wouldn’t typically label my family as quiet, patient people and so it was funny to hear how many times they got yelled at by the nurses at the hospital. They even had a mini-tailgate. The spread consisted of chicken wings, chocolate and diet coke. Yum.

They even saved me some chocolate too!

Colt is amazing. Just when we thought we knew love, God opened up more room in our hearts for this baby. It's crazy how much they change from day to day. Andy has been awesome. He is Super Dad. He has been off from the fire department for almost all of September so we've been learning and taking each day one at a time together. It’s been so much fun.

I also am breast feeding and Colt is a great sucker. Good for him, bad for my nipples : ) I have enough milk to feed a third world country so I've been freezing some and always leaving a bottle or two for Andy to help out with the feedings and have that bonding time with Colt. We’re slowing catching up on sleep. Colt sleeps 5 hours at night. We’re pretty proud of him for that being he is only 3 weeks old. He’ll wake up around 5 or 6am to eat then he’ll sleep for another 5 hours or so. I sleep right along with him.

We’re happy and blessed and as Andy’s grandma says, ‘When God gives it to ya, he gives it to ya GOOD!’

Aug 29th has come and gone.

Aug 29th has come and gone. It was my beloved due date. The date I wrote 'baby?' in my planner NINE months ago. I had an appointment yesterday and am still 3cms/80%effaced. They say I'm in the perfect spot to go on my own, but we then went ahead and scheduled an appointment for next Thursday just in case. Can I survive 5 more days with this baby still in my belly? Yes, is the answer...but do I want to wait that long? No.

Andy is getting really anxious too. It's really sweet. Everytime we go somewhere he puts the bag in the car just in case my water breaks. He's also been sporting his lucky Boston Red Sox hat hoping it will bring us good luck : ) He is off work through the end of September on some vacation time and I'm on maternity leave. These last few days have been pretty awesome actually. He's been home and we've been walking, eating [mostly me, he's been eating like a healthy skinny person for a while now and is doing awesome], we run errands together...it's just nice for it to be him and I with no distractions before our world changes forever and we try to remember what we used to do before baby with all our time : )

We got really excited last night because I started to have some real contractions for the first time. We start timing them just for fun and for an hour straight they were 6 mins apart! I thought for sure we'd be in the hospital all night. Andy convinced me to try to get some sleep if I could put off the pain of the contractions to get confortable enough to do so. I did. They slowly got less constant and I dozed into a baby-less dreamland. I woke up bunches with contractions through out the night but just figured they would get more painful if it was meant to be. I woke up this morning and have only have a few contractions all day. Hopefully they'll kick in today and it will be the real deal.

I made the mistake of telling my mom we were timing my contractions and they were 6 minutes apart. I told her I'd call if anything else happened. Dad called me at 12:15am to see if I was on my way to the hospital? Aparently mom had got him all worked up and they both were ready to head out the door. Dad said mom had taken a shower, done her hair, done her make up and was dressed and ready to go. I let him know that they both needed to calm down and go to sleep. I would call.

Dad called me earlier this a.m. to see how I was feeling and told me mom slept in her clothes last night...all ready to go : ) I think they're excited or something...

The Nursery

I really wanted to title this blog 'Andy should have a show on the DIY network.'-Because he should! When we bought our house we were in projects up to our eyeballs. Luckily, Andy is a handy man and in a snap [and by a snap, I mean many many months construction projects] he made our house a home. Then I decorated : ) The nursery was one of the rooms that we just kept the door closed because it would get finished when we needed it...and with Colt on his way, we need it.

Before:

Andy had to rebuild the wall

After:

The round baby cage.

The rocking chair.

Coppers new hide-out

The bag that has been packed and sitting on the nursery floor for two weeks with a fully charged digital camera and a video camera ready to go. Maybe one day I'll actually get to grab the bag.

Proof that we need a child.

I watched some home videos the other night and noticed that about 90% of the videos are of our dog Copper. She is a sweetheart, I must admit...but it made Andy and I realize how badly we need a kid.

Beautiful Girls

The Bonnet

Copper wearing some fancy jewelry.

Copper last fall, getting ready to watch Notre Dame loose [again]

Copper getting ready to go skiing

This little doggies world is going to change...very soon. It was fun while it lasted, huh Cops?

We're Pregnant - Christmas Day 07'

Andy and I tried to get pregnant only for a few months. The days fell perfectly and on Christmas Morning I grabbed my pregnancy test and ran into the bathroom. I walked out of our room and into the kitchen to do some dishes. No way did I want to sit there watch the timer as it read my test and determined our furture. I have to say I wanted to be so excited but I pretended like I knew it was Negative so I didn't work myself up. Andy stayed in the bathroom and called me in a few minutes later. I remember I could see the reflection of a little smerk on his face through the bathroom mirror and I thought, 'Why is he smiling!!??'

I walked up to the test and took a look. And there it was...a blue plus sign. A baby. For us. On Christmas Day. God is cool.

Since I cannot wait nor keep a secret when there is really exciting news I took a picture of the pregnancy test, printed a copy of the picture, rolled it up like a scroll and tied it up with a really pretty ribbon. AND then, as we spent the morning with my family opening presents...we saved the best for last. The scroll. We had the camera rolling and caught the moment in action. It makes me smile watching these videos.

The annoucement at Mom's house:

The annoucement at Grandma's house:

Pure Fear

Andy was home last night, which I always love. We relaxed in bed with the light on talking about our little boy and giggling in excitement. I cannot wait to see his face! I'm going to put his head in my hands and my nose an inch from his and just stare at him...saying over and over, 'you're mine, you're mine, you're mine'. While talking about whose eyes he'd have and praying he got his daddy's smart genes...it hit me! Like a heavy boulder to the face. I have to give birth to this child! I have to pass this huge baby through a very small place. Isn't there an alternative way out?!? Please...someone...tell me the stork delivering the baby in the basket, on your front porch isn't just a fairy tale story. [Just take a deep breath Mo...and...now exhale. Seriously, you have to exhale.]

I guess I knew this was coming. I knew there was going to be pain...but how bad is the pain going to be? How do you even prepare yourself? I have had a spoiled, pain-free existence these 23 years and now the worse pain of them all is a commin' and I'm absolutely freaking out. I had a glimpse of what I could handle at my Lamaze class a few months ago. Our RN showed us a video of a birth and gave us a clear understanding of the episiotomy procedure. Half way through to movie I was thinking to myself…THAT is going to happen to me??? I quickly got out a piece of paper and started to fan myself before I was sweating through my clothes. The episiotomy talk came next and I couldn’t look at the chart. Does anyone know what a third degree episiotomy is? Yea…look it up and pray it doesn’t happen to me. Ouchie.

Andy continued to talk about seeing our baby’s first smile when the fear of pain that had diluted my happy thoughts quickly spread to my face. Andy leaned in and asked if I was ok. And without a word…I broke into a hysterical set of tears that he hadn’t seen since my 1st trimester. “Baby…Are you afraid?” – Boy does he know me or what? Between my tears and my gasps for air I was able to get out…“Yes” – He pulled me in, wiped my tears and brushed off the hair the was stuck to my sweaty forehead. He assured me I was going to do great and that if he could take my place and do it for me he would in a minute. Which I’m sure he would, if he could. Unfortunately, that’s not possible…but thanks for the offer.

I eventually calmed down and started to fill myself with positive thoughts. There are tribal woman all over the world who are squatting in a tent somewhere birthing their child with out any medical attention at all. I’m sure I can handle it…I just can’t think about it. I started to pray and ask God for peace of mind. I can’t worry about this whole birth thing. I just have to trust that everything will be fine and remind myself that this is God’s plan. I know the Lord was with me in that moment and I was reminded of the way Jesus had to feel the night before his crucifixion. He knew what was coming and he knew what he had to do. His sacrifice and the birth of Colt aren’t even comparable, but it helped me put my worry in perspective. I know I can do it.

Last week I was 0% effaced and 0cms dilated and at my appointment today I was 70% effaced and 2cms dilated. I got there with no contractions or cramping. Pain-free progress. I’ll take it! I’m going to keep thinking positively and when the pain comes I’ll just breath through it and pray : ) Who knows maybe next time I'll be posting pictures of my little dude : )

p.s. Mom didn’t like the picture of her that I put in my last post. She’s a very beautiful lady and she’s right…the picture didn’t do her justice. So I thought I’d post a different picture of her to reveal her true beauty. She's the babe in the middle : ) Ow Ow.

She Crazy.

Yesterday I had my weekly baby appointment with my doctor. He checked me out [which is always a blast] and proceed to tell me that nothing is going on down there. No dilatation, no effacement, no high five from the baby...nothing. Honestly, I was kind of expecting to hear that since I haven't had much pain or contractions, BUT there was a tiny part of me that was hoping he'd say I was 9 cms dilated and I should get ready to hunker down and push the kid out. Wouldn't that be lovely? I still have 2-3 weeks left, which I constantly have to remind myself of.

I called my mom at work after my appointment [as promised] to fill her in on my slow-going status. After listening for a few seconds...she interrupted me and said 'I think it's going to be tonight! Let's go for a walk after work to get your labor going!' - Apparently she hadn't heard a thing I just told her, but she's flighty like that sometimes so I just laughed it off and we said our goodbyes.

As I lay down to fall asleep around 10pm last night, I got a call from mom asking how I was feeling. I told her that, NO I wasn't in labor but I did have a little sinus headache. She then proceeded to tell me that she was on her way over to spend the night because Andy was at the fire department all night and she didn't want me to be alone when my contractions started and my water broke :) Before I said yes to the slumber party I told her the rules: no TV...no book reading...no laptop...just sleeping. She thought about it for a second, reminded me of how bossy I am and said she'd be over in 10 minutes.

Mom showed up, said hello to copper [or her 'grand-dog-ter' as dad says] and we headed to bed, as instructed. She kicked off her high heels, slid into Andy's side of the bed, still fully dressed in her work attire [jewelry and all] and was ready for the moment when I went into labor. I convinced her to put on some pajamas and instead of following the strict rules I had laid out for the evening, we stayed up for hours laughing about nothing. Somehow I knew that would happen. We eventually fell asleep but every hour or two she woke me up to ask if I was having any contractions or if I was in pain. Much to her surprise I answered 'NO' every time...

I can remember waking up numerous times to her snoring, grinding her teeth, barking [yes, barking] and saying 'That's really nice! Why did you have to yell at that little boy...?' I think she was yelling at dad in that particular dream. I didn't get much sleep, and more importantly, I didn't go into labor. BUT who knows, maybe tonight is the night.

Everybody is doing it.

We [mostly me, Mo] decided that we need to start a family blog. I thought it was important because...1) I spend many minutes reading my friends blogs and truly enjoy it. 2) I tend to have a lot to say. 3) I'm going part time after the baby is born, so between the poop, the pee, the crying, the feeding, the hussin and fussin, I'm sure I'll still have time to blog...AND...4) Everybody is doing it. So here we are. Enjoy.