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!

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.

Weekend in St. Louis

So, I had a marvelous time this Memorial day weekend. This time last year, I was absolutely HUGE, 8 months preggo and just had my babyshower. It was possibly the best baby shower I've ever been to. :0) My girls did a fantastic job putting it together! From the crazy onesie game that Melissa concaucted to the interesting apple/chicken/snicker salad to the swollen cankles I had by the end of it, it was definitely a memorable experience and I love my friends and family for thinking of us so much. So this year, we (the girls and I) all decided to have a girls' weekend in good ol' St. Louis. It's been a long time since we've had a girls' trip. Everyone has seemed to either get pregnant or acquired a child in some form or fashion....so needless to say that our annual trips were put on hold last year.

So, we all flew in on Friday morning...starting out the day with a healthy diet of coffee and bloody mary's. Upon arrival, with the cameras flashing, we all piled into Becca's Trailblazer and our vacation officially started! Thank god I called shotgun....they look a little crowded back there!

So off to the Loop for some shopping, FOOD, and drinks. It's pretty funny how certain things catch our eye, right? Of course the statue with ginormous boobs was one of them...tity, tity, tity!

So after molesting this unsuspecting statue and walking miles and miles in the heat, we tracked on down to this awesome pizza spot called Pi. It was like a bohemian version of Fireside Pies. The pizza was fantastic and I had the strongest mojito-martini thing ever....mmmmm! So after a marvelous lunch, we mosied on back to the car, a meer 10 miles it seemed, to go and get pedicures. I friggin' love pedicures. My feet always look so fabulous and I love to just sit, read juicy gossip magazines and get a foot massage. I guess I'm a girl after all, right? After the pampering, we went to the house to get dressed and then off to dinner. We went to this tappas bar called Barcelona, had more drinks, and awesome tappas and finger food. It was so good! And then it was time for....oh yes....karaoke! We ended up at this hole in the wall karaoke bar, where we tore it up, had lots of shots, lots of drinks and LOTS of singing at the top of our lungs. Oh yes! The Journey NA-NA-NA's were in full effect!

So Kellie, Keisha and I tried our luck at the microphone and well, at least we didn't sound as bad as some of the dorks that were up there....I think? But hey, beer makes everyone sounds like an American Idol finalist, right?

We are some really big dorks, but whatever. Kellie and I had a brutal rendition of "Goodbye Earl" and Keisha and I busted out with "Father Figure" and the always classic "Black Velvet." I freaking love that song! We had a blast! We ended up closing down the bar, so we all went home, ate large quantities of junk food and then passed out. The next morning, we got up, ate a quick breakfast, got dressed and went to the wineries. Who knew St. Louis had such beautiful vinyards? Suck it Napa! These were absolutely fabulous!

It was getting pretty hot and a few of us, ahem, MELISSA, looked a little green around the gills from the night before, so we went to this little biker bar to get a beer and get out of the heat. After some excellent people watching....like this guy....

We ended up going back to the house and chilling out on the patio. We got Imo's pizza (not sure why we kept eating pizza, but it was soooooooo good) and just sat and girl talked for awhile. About 10:00, we ended up at this frozen custard place in downtown St. Louis and it was freaking amazing that there had to be about 150 people standing outside waiting in line to get ice cream. Absolutely incredible! And the custard was good too! So after the sugar rush, we all went back to the house and hung out in the basement and talked about boys and skidmarks and stupid stuff. None of us Texas folk are used to having a basement, so this was the coolest thing ever! It was about 1:00 in the morning, so we all decided to go to bed. I bunked with Melissa and we couldn't sleep for anything because it was A. pitch black and B. we kept telling scary stories. I felt like I was about 10 years old at a slumber party, but seriously, we kept freaking ourselves out! It was hilarious that 2 grown women with kids were absolutely terrified to go to sleep! Again, we're dorks, but whatever!

So the next morning we all got up, ready and packed, and set off for the airport. We all had a wonderful time and I was sad that it was over so fast. I really miss getting together with my friends. Each one of them are different, but we all seem to compliment each other beautifully and I just love them! Now to end this blog, I'd like to note the catch phrases that were shouted thoughout the trip.

"I'm so tired of your face!"

"You fucking whore"

"Snakeskin lookin' cheese"

"Mama bird's here"

"Nature!"

"Ass-HOOOOOOOOOLE"

and the always popular...."Tity, tity, tity!"

I love you girls and I can't wait to see what we do next year!