things that make you go hmm...

- when it rains people forget how to drive.

- how my mom can live without call waiting and caller id.

- the taco bueno menu. i've been a thousand times but still look at it like i might deviate from my usual order.

- how my dog can find the only puddle in the yard and proceed to roll in it.

- why hairstylists with bad hair have clients. that is self advertisement people.

- what babies think about all day long.

- how i've managed to keep all james' socks but can't seem to keep my own around.

- why some days i can take 20 minutes to get ready when others is a solid hour. same results too.

- when google doesn't have the answer. i mean, am i the only person who has ever googled it?!

there are so many more "hmm" moments but i'll stop with these. they may start to get whiny if i continue. maybe one day i'll have the answers but probably not. i'll keep you posted if i do.

time flies.

today is james' two month birthday.  or is that his 1/6 birthday?  anyway, i figure for his first year of life he can have monthly birthdays.  let's face it, we're not spoiling him rotten on just this one day.  the king is spoiled everyday.  needless to say, he hated the shots.  i mean, screamed and cried.  he wouldn't even eat afterwards!  my kid always eats.  eating is his thing.  afterall he is the average weight of a six month old baby.  james is off the charts at 16 pounds and 1 ounce. what healthy little chunk stud muffin.
in honor of his birthday momma is going to britney tonight and he will have boys night with pops.  i will post two months pictures soon.

like father.

like son.

famous last words...

okay, i'm sure some of you want to know the story. the labor and deliver story. the it's not like on tv story....

at 38 weeks and 5 days i had my final doctor's appointment. why haven't i had this baby? the million dollar question. the baby was dropped i had started the birthing process and we were ready to go....but james wasn't. for fear of delivering a 9+ pound baby we decided to induce 1 week early. phew! it will be so quick. you're young and healthy. the baby is in position. famous last words. my delivery was not like on A Baby Story. thank you TLC for not really telling what birth can be like because no one would want to have babies if you did.

here we go:

39 weeks and on my way out the door to go have a baby. yep, i am naive and ready.

we arrive at St. John's and the labor and delivery rooms are full. yes, full but they have one to clean for me. therefore, we go and eat (my last meal for 24 hours) across the street at P.F. Chang's and hope the maids can clean my room and that no one in labor can snatch it from me within the next hour.
we return and the room still isn't clean so we wait. annoyed and nervous we wait again in this semi-private waiting room. but hey the alternative is to check into the triage room and wait. the triage room has no privacy. holds 4 people with sheets for walls. thank you but we'll wait.
okay, get checked in. get the bracelets. get the backless gown. get the iv. start meds to make me dilate.


i was supposed to sleep peacefully through the night and be ready for my quick delivery at 7 am the following morning. wrong. the medicine produced too much uterine activity so it had to be switched to pitocin. yes, the one that induces labor but at such a small dose it would just give me slightly uncomfortable contractions all. night. long. awesome. i'm uncomfortable and exhausted and i haven't even had the baby yet. all night i kept thinking i wish i were in my own bed.

7 am nurse turns up the drip. lets have this baby!


about 10 my doctor comes in to break my water. whoa. bizarre feeling but by this point i'm almost certain that everyone in the l&d wing has seen and/or touch my growing flower. i hadn't seen it in months so i'm hoping everything is a-okay. anyway, things start to finally happen. bam! MAC truck!! contractions quickly begin before i can get my epidural. oh no. i don't want to feel this pain. i'm supposed to be drugged for this and i'm not! long story short - i had to wait for an hour, the loooongest hour of my life, before i could get the epi. pain. 90 seconds. oh my more pain. 90 seconds. oh my goodness pain!!! then the high dollar angel arrives with my numbing drugs. thank you baby jesus. i'm dilated to a 6 after that hour. an 8 after the next hour and a 9 shortly after. about 4:30 we're going to start pushing.
armed with my sister to my left, the "know it all" nurse to my right and ben by my head we start the final stages of labor.
contraction.
deep breath in.
push. push. push.
60 seconds.
contraction.
deep breath in.
push. push. push.
60 seconds.
1 hour down. no baby.
need oxygen mask.
contraction.
deep breath in.
push. push. push.
60 seconds.
contraction.
deep breath in.
push. push. push.
1 hour 40 minutes down. still no baby.
demand vacuum.
60 seconds.
contraction.
deep breath in.
push. push. push.
1 hour 45+ minutes down. still no effing baby.
60 seconds.
contraction.
deep breath in.
push. push. push.
FINALLY! the heaven's parted and james' head "popped out".
problem.
james' shoulders were stuck. baby is not getting oxygen.
huge woman clips my sister, pushes her out of the way to stand on top of me and push my stomach to force baby james out.
PAIN. tears. clueless to what is really happening. during the next minute people are filing into my room ready to get the baby completely out and breathing. after 60 seconds, he is free.
6:23 pm - james arrives.

i cannot see him but he has his own personal medical staff to assist his "traumatic entrance" into life. after examination, james was a little blue but perfect. no shoulder issues. no nerve problems. nada. perfect but to be on the cautious side he was taken to the special care unit for further observation. he received oxygen until 3 o'clock in the morning.




8 pounds 9 ounces & 19 3/4 inches long.  and perfect!

the following morning he was off the oxygen and get could finally hold him. i woke up early and excited ready to go down to see my baby. they said we could go at 8 but i was ready at 7:45.


first family photo.

over the next 48 hours, the nursing staff and doctors were wonderful to me and my baby. they woke us up all hours of the night to check our vitals, bring pain meds and get baby james to breastfeed. whirlwind. thank you to the nice staff at SJMC.

both james and i were released to go home at the recommended time by my insurance.




sweet baby james. i love him more everyday. it was all worth it. he was worth it.

All Hale to Baby James!

photos and birth announcement done by my friend and photographer Andrea Murphy.

For those of you who don't have babies, apparently you are supposed to get photos for birth announcements within the first 2 weeks of life. OMG! Those weeks were a blur. Complete "I don't know what I'm doing, sleep deprived, can he possibly use any more diapers?!?!!" blur. Thankfully I contacted Andrea with about 4 days to the deadline and could get little James' picture taken 1 day shy of his 2 week birthday. Phew! Yes, welcome to snail mail. Get married, have a kid and mail your friends refrigerator art. That is the new me and the world I've entered into since July. Look forward to Christmas cards too my dear friends.

maternity leave...

For those (few) followers that still check this site, I am going to continue to blog. I apologize for the agonizing delay between my last post. Apparently my blog maternity left too. While on maternity leave from work (and computer addiction), I found the internet to be the last thing on my mind. Here's the deal, since I'm about 8 weeks overdue, I'll be posting some blogs in "Pulp Fiction" order to play catch up. Thank you.

little boy blue...

The nursery has been painted, got new carpet and decorated to this point for several weeks. I haven't posted pictures bc I thought I would get some shelves on the wall (they are in the garage), some pictures hung (they are still at the photographer's house) and a mirror above the crib (on the floor in the nursery but not quite on the wall yet) before I posted for all to view and judge but I finally took some snaps and will share my almost decorated baby's room.

Ben and I instantly knew we didn't want to do a theme style nursery but I found this bicycle and we couldn't resist.

I love his crib. It looks so beautiful plain that I really like it without all the whistles and bells.

I've heard wonders about the sleep sheep. I hope this one works his magic.

My sister got me this bear and blanket for Restoration Hardware for Christmas last year in thoughts of the baby in mind. I have had it hidden from our dogs so they wouldn't touch it before JP. So far so good.

The glider. I think many hours will be spent rocking and feeding JP in this. I'm so glad it is comfortable.

I hope James sleeps well in here. All night would be heavenly.

maybe???

I went to the doctor yesterday and she said I've progressed more but still cannot predict when I will actually have this baby. Last night James decided to wake me up about 11 o'clock. I'm laying in bed and I start to feel this weird consistent sensation in my lower belly. I think "OMG, it's happening!!" Then I realize that these "contractions" would be about 1 minute apart and I would be screaming for dear life. No, no contractions that lead to the birth of a baby. Hiccups. Yep, JP had the good ol' hiccups and kept me awake for an hour. Tease. It was just mean.

Proud Papa

June 27th we attended an outdoor wedding for some of our wonderful friends, Luke and Brittani. It was over 100 degrees during day, through the wedding ceremony and into the reception. Regardless, we would not miss this wedding even though my family thought I was going to have a heat stroke or be thrown into labor. Before the wedding, I just made sure to have my hospital bag ready in hopes of JP's arrival. No luck but we had a great time with good company and Hosty. This picture was taken pretty late in the reception. I think it just shows how excited Ben is about his baby boy. Priceless. Ben likes to rub my belly as if I am Buddha. In a way, I am his Buddha - he got lucky. :)
Congratulations Mr. & Mrs. Luke Beard!!!

Ben = lush

Present lush that is. Today our wonderful coworkers threw us a baby shower. We got a few much needed items, the second car seat base and a diaper champ, and a few adorable, fun items. If you know my husband, you know he loves opening presents. Below is a picture showing his sheer joy.

i think this was his favorite present today.

drinks all night, potties all day. baby bling.

i am 37 weeks pregnant and huge. big baby on board.

We cannot wait to set up and use all our new baby gadgets and gear.

Thank you!