Happy Birthday Little Monkey!

Today is Colm's 1 year birthday! I can remember this time last year, I had been in labor for a solid 2 1/2 days, trying to have this kid. We had a pretty tough delivery. The Saturday night before he was born, I started having contractions. This being our first kid, we decided just to go into the hospital, just in case. We had been using a midwife, with the total intention of doing natural childbirth. However, she wasn't there when we got to the hospital, so we were forced to use the midwife that was on call (which I didn't like very much to begin with). Upon her insistance, she suggested that since it looked like we were in for a very long day ahead of us, that I should get some sleep and take something for the pain. Now, not knowing what to really expect from all of this and having never gone through childbirth before and trusting that these are medical professionals, we decided to take her advice, even though there were red flags that were going off with both Matt and I. So, she gave me both Ambian and Morphine and I conked out. It was a mere 2 hours later, that I was being awakened by a frantic nursing staff, straping an oxygen mask to my face and shooting me up with Narcam to try to wake me up. Apparently, after taking all of these drugs, I went into respiratory distress and it was affecting both me and Colm. I freaked out, frantic, was completely disoriented and alone. I had sent Matt home to get some sleep, so he wasn't there when all of this was happening. I called Matt and he came rushing in to see what was going on. So from that point on, my body was never insync with my contractions. They tried to induce me for 2 days and wouldn't let me eat anything. I had catheters inserted to try to stimulate dilation, was on pitocin constantly and had the cytoteck inserted, but NADA. So it was Monday night when I just couldn't take it anymore and opted to have a ceasarian. I have got to say that throughout all of that pain, that epidural was FANTASTIC! The whole procedure probably only took 30 minutes total, but it seemed like an eternity before I could hear that wonderful little cry. I was out of it because of the drugs, but can remember the doctor saying "Look at all of that hair!" So, it was then that 9.8 lbs of lovin' was born. He was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen!

So to mark this special occassion, we gave him a wonderful birthday party this weekend. He really enjoyed smashing cake into his face, playing with his friends in the pool and romping through all of the package wrapping. He had a wonderful time and I feel so fortunate to have so many people that love him as much as I do. He's really the most important thing that I've ever done in my life and such a special little person. I feel like the luckiest girl on the planet for having such a wonderful little boy! I love you, little monkey!

Walk like a little man

Yesterday, June 24, 2009, marked a milestone in my little monkey's world. He walked. Oh yes....full on walking! He stood up without holding on to anything and took about 7 steps and then fell down on his butt. He kept getting up and trying it over and over. And of course, he heads straight for sharp corners, hard surfaces, and towards anything and everything he shouldn't head towards! We're both excited and terrified for our little man. I'm just gearing up for some major exercise! The video is to come soon. Matt and I are so screwed!

Anniversary Weekend

We had a wonderful time this weekend on our anniversary trip. I think we both really needed a break and just didn't realize how badly it was necessary until we got there! Each morning, we both woke up about 6:30-7:00 and just bracing for the impact of the day and.....nothing happened. It was kind of shocking, actually! We were able to wake up, leisurely get dressed, enjoy a cup of coffee, read the paper, get breakfast and decide what to do for the day. There was no rushing around to try to find something to wear, letting the dogs out, getting the baby up, changing the diaper, feeding the baby, feeding the dogs, getting baby dressed while simultaneously brushing your teeth and combing your hair, changing the diaper AGAIN right before trying to get out the door, only to go to a job that neither one of us are really thrilled about going to, then coming home and doing it all over again. It was weird! There's absolutely no doubt that we love our life with our little monkey man....you can tell that by the bajillion pictures I have of him posted everywhere. However, I think we forgot about what it was like to just spend time together and focus on us and our goals and accomplishments, without all of the craziness. We've made points to go to dinner every now and then or go see a movie by ourselves, but I just don't think it was enough time for us to have some quality time together. So this was a good weekend for us. We got to explore some caverns, float down the river, taste some amazing food, play with some farm critters, and just RELAX. We missed our monkey TONS, but it was hard not to fantasize about retiring early and moving to the hill country FOREVER. We absolutely love it there! It was a great way to mark the first year of our marriage and I'm so glad we had the opportunity to take our little getaway.

Oh Happy Day!

Today is going to be a good day. Not only is today like my "Friday" as I have tomorrow off from work (woohoo!), but we're also going out of town on our anniversary trip tonight AND I just found out that my friend may potentially be able to adopt the boys she thought she lost after all! I'm so excited for her and hope that everything works out! She sent a text message (going to have to kick her in the butt later for sending a text message about something like that!) and let everyone know about the situation with the boys and it looks like she's going to be able to get them back on Friday....hopefully on a permanent basis. That just made my entire day! So, even though it was raining cats, dogs and cows this morning and traffic sucked a major hooter and I managed to spill coffee on my shirt already and it's not even 9:00 am yet, it's still going to be a great day! And after a week like this week, it's wonderful to have some good news! :)

Heart Hurt

I might be thought of a bit of a sap and melancholy (and I'm sure it's hormonal too) for writing this, but I don't care. My first reaction to anything that's wrong in the cosmos is to try to fix it somehow, but right now, I feel a little helpless to help, so maybe writing this down will in a way, will make me feel a little more compassionate, at the very least? I guess that's my way of helping as much as I know how to. I have 2 friends that are going through some rough times right now. I'm not a religious person, so saying I'll pray for them is pretty insignificant and probably doesn't allow for much comfort, when you consider the source. But I am thinking of both of them, because they are 2 very dear friends of mine and I can only imagine how hard and how much emotion each of them must be experiencing at the moment.

One friend's father passed away recently. He had been sick for a long time and even though she hasn't seen him in a years, it still doesn't ease the pain of her loss any less. I can only imagine the family drama she must be going through as well. This person is not one to show much emotion, well, not sadness at least. She has no problem letting you know if she's unhappy or irritated or pmsing...and just hope you're not the one who gets in her way when she drives, as you are sure to experience road rage from hell! But for this person to tell me that she's not sure how to handle something or how much heartache she's feeling is quite significant. I wish I could just put a big emotional band aid on her to help her feel better, but I can't. All I can do is be the supportive friend I am and be here when she needs it. It just doesn't ease the hurt I feel for her though. I guess only time will heal that.

My other friend has got to be one of the most amazing people I know. Her and her husband recently became foster parents and have taken in 2 small boys and have had them since Christmas of last year. That's ample time to form a very strong bond with these kids and to love and adore them as their own. She found out they were getting them a week before Christmas and managed to have tons of presents ready for them just in time, gave one of them a birthday party for their first birthday, made sure they were in a good daycare, nurtured them when they were sick, and took care of these boys like any loving parent would. CPS has managed to work out a permanent living arrangement with the boys' Aunt and on Monday, they went back to live with her. As a mother myself, I can't even begin to imagine how painful that must be...to let them go to someone else and never to see them or watch them grow up. I'm tearing up from writing this, but it helps to know that these boys will be well taken care of and will be in a good and stable home from here on out. However, it has got to take tremendous strength to endure the hole it's left and I know I couldn't do it. That's one reason this person is so amazing to me...because of her strength. And as if that wasn't hard enough to deal with, her Aunt also passed away suddenly too right about the same time they were preparing for the boys to leave. The good news is that they are getting ready to adopt a baby boy in July, but there can be some complications with this little one, as he's not developing on schedule as he should. So my heart is going out to her and her family and I can only hope that things turn out positively, so they can finally have the happiness they so truly deserve.

Again....emotional band aid needed! And maybe a box of kleenex!

One year anniversary

June 14th will mark Matt and my one year wedding anniversary. I remember this time last year, as big as a house, getting ready to have the kid, when a wave of hormone craziness swept over me and I decided right then and there that there was no way I would have this baby without us being married. This was Sunday night. By Wednesday night, we had our marriage license, Matt's outfit and my dress purchased. By Friday night (all thanks to absolutely no sleep whatsoever and the creative talents of my Mother, Keisha, Kellie and Melissa), we had bridesmaids, groomsmen, videographer/photographer, flower bouquets and arrangements, dinner preparations, 3 cakes, champagne/glasses, plates/silverware, table cloths, decorations, centerpieces, a flower girl (Dilly), music downloaded, a minister, chairs set up for the ceremony and even an archway to stand in to say the vows. We got hitched on Saturday morning and had the reception shortly after. Except for the fact that I looked like the Goodyear Blimp, it turned out to be a beautiful little ceremony. Even though it was so last minute, I don't think I would've done it any other way. Don't mess with a hormonal pregnant woman! She will get her way, come hell or high water!

So, since we didnt really get to have a honeymoon, Matt and I are taking a weekend trip here right outside of New Braunfels, TX. It's a charming little place...perfect for a weekend of total relaxation and pampering. We're going to head out of town on Thursday night, so we can have all day Friday and Saturday to enjoy and then come back on Sunday. There are some wineries to check out, Natural Caverns, where I think we're even going to do some panning for some precious gems (maybe we'll get lucky!), and a couple of local festivals that we might check out. I'm just mainly looking forward to spending some quality time with Matt and for both of us to get to relax for a little while. We haven't really had a chance to spend time together, much outside of a movie here or there, so this will be a nice and welcomed trip. It'll be hard being away from the Monkey that long, but I think we can handle it. Besides, he's going to be at Grammie Murphy's all weekend, so I'm sure he'll have a blast. I'm getting excited!

Murphy Castle Progress

This was an eventful weekend. Matt and I have finally been able to make some progress on the home rennovations at our future new home. We began major demolition with knocking down the exterior wall to the front of the house. Let me explain why we knocked down this wall. Everytime it rained, water would build up under the wall and pool on the floor. Upon looking at how the initial wall was contructed, we realized that whoever built it never used water resistant walling and used plywood and particle board instead. The wood and boards were totally rotted out and warped from so much water damage. Apparently, it's been leaking for years. Nice. So basically, we have to rebuild the entire wall to stop the leaking. That's fine with me, because I get to put in new windows and cut out a space for another window beside the one that's already there. We're hoping to have the wall completely rebuilt in 2 weeks. That's one of the major projects of this house, so once that's done, it'll help us to start on other projects like the wiring and floor installation. We also installed a toilet and a sink in one of the bathrooms...hooray! That was quite a proud moment for Matt. He is now the Toilet Master, having conquered the stereo-like toilet installation instructions and making sure everything was connected correctly. The defining moment of his toilet triumph was the sound the the very first "FLUSH." It was glorious! He also had to rig the air conditioning unit, because apparently there was something wrong with the drip pan and it pooled water all over the floor. Awesome. All I keep hearing is cha-ching, cha-ching, everytime we find out something else is jacked up with this place. It truly is the money pit! But anyway. We also did some major cleaning and yard work in the front of the house. We've still got a long way to go, but we both feel good that we have made a good start. So we're hoping to have this finished by the end of the summer, so I'm crossing my fingers.

I must say that I am happy that my parents have been gracious enough to let us stay with them, while we're getting this house in a liveable condition. Even though there are days that haven't been entirely all together peachy and we've driven one another a little nuts, overall, my parents have been wonderful and are really the ones who are making it possible for us to rebuild this place, as we're paying for everything out of pocket. So we are ever grateful. I know we, as in ALL of us, are both ready for us to move out, because it's nice to have your own space. But I don't think we would've been able to do this without their hospitality. So i just wanted to say thanks ya'll and love you so much!

Firsts

It's pretty amazing to think that just a year ago, I was about to give birth. Time has flown by so fast and I just know that one day I'm going to wake up and my kid is going to be moving out to go to college. I want to cherish this time as much as I can and lock it up somewhere, so I can take it out and look at it over and over again. He's doing so many new things each day and it just amazes me that this little thing, once kicking ferociously and doing sommersaults in my belly, is now this little person, who has his own special personality. This year marks a year full of firsts for us....first baby, first time mother and father, first labor pains, first car ride home from the hospital, first time breastfeeding, first bottle, first poopy diaper, first bath, first smile, first time sleeping the whole night, first time rolling over, first crawl, first solid food (sweet potatoes!), first tooth (well, first 4 teeth as he sprouted 4 at the same time), first haircut, first Halloween, first Christmas, first drawing, first time to stand up by himself, first official word and first offical hug and kiss. He's just now trying to talk and so far we have these words down pat....Da-da (it's so not fair), Doggie (but it comes out sounding like De-de, but he points to the dogs and says it consistantly), Ma-ma (but only if he's really upset), and the newest one is Dude! The fact that my kid is saying Dude really cracks me up! Kind of makes me wonder just how much I say dude....which I know is probably too much! Oh well, I gotta be me, right? He's also trying to walk. He can walk like a champ if you hold his hands or or if he's hanging on to something. He also can haul some serious booty, if he's in his walker. But on his own, he's trying to get the hang of standing up and balancing. He's can stand on his own for about 30 seconds and falls down on his bottom. So it won't be long until he's actually walking. He's just growing up so fast! It makes me happy to be a part of something so important, so special. I'm just sad that it is going by so fast! So as we gear up for his first birthday, I'm definitely looking forward to more firsts with my precious, precious baby boy.