Terrific Twos

I think that Kaitlyn is officially out of the Terrible Twos and has moved in the Terrific Twos.  Hopefully she will stay in this state of (for the most part) happiness for a long time and skip over the Tumultuous Threes.  I've those three years olds are sometimes worse than two year olds. 

I attribute most of her sassiness to having to adjust to a new baby brother.  Upon is arrival home, and her realization that he was not going anywhere any time soon, her horns really started to make their appearance.  It began with the refusal to potty train.  I know, I know, you're not supposed to potty train a child when you bring home a new baby, but I really wanted to begin the process when she was two because changing two set of dirty diapers is a pain in the @ss.  And let me also tell you that my daughter is really smart for her age.  I know everyone says that about their children, but I really am amazed at how smart she is.  (A little background snippet, she started sign language at 6 months and she was speaking at 9 full sentences at 16 months.)  Back to the potty training...EPIC FAIL.  She loved all the attention she was getting during this whole process because I read books while she was on the potty and I praised her and rewarded her and she ate it up.  Then I started to wean her off of the rewards and books and she no longer found a use for the potty.  She would look into my eyes, pees in her underwear and then tell me "I just peed in my underwear!"  On yes she did.  She would do this at least three times a day.  Taking care of a newborn and potty training an attitude filled two year old was not going well and I gave up.  (On the potty training.) 

I thought that without the frustration of potty training, she would go back to her sweet, only sometimes defiant, self and all would be well in the world...NOT.  She got worse!  She started to turn into this drama queen who freaked out if you sat on her couch cushion or didn't let her open the door or accidentally opened the refrigerator to get her some milk.  Not to mention she would demand that I put Tyler down or come play with her in her playroom just as I was starting to feed or change him.  Can we say Oh My God?  This was quickly getting annoying, to say the least, and she spent many minutes in time out.  She got to know that monkey mat really well.  I tried to ignore her at first, then I tried to remember to let her open the refrigerator or take off her diaper, but it's really hard to be patient with a two year old when you have a newborn screaming at you in another room when he needs to be fed, changed or held. 

She was ten times worse when daddy got home because he would fight with her.  Come on, you're going to really fight with a two year old?  He tried reasoning with her at first, but she was really irrational and he wasn't realistic in his reasoning.  He would then get frustrated with her and yell, she would cry, then I would yell at him and try to comfort her and then Tyler would scream and it was just bad all around.

And then something changed.  I went back to work, and the kids went to that magical place called daycare.  Well, they stayed at home with daddy and Grandma Jane for a week then went to daycare.  Her attitude changed dramatically when she went back to daycare.  She has always loved daycare and everyone at her center loves her.  I'm not exaggerating either.  Everyone at daycare knows Kaitlyn and wants her in their room.  Her two year old teacher, Miss Stephanie, has been dying to have Kaitlyn in her room.  Kaitlyn always was such a good baby at daycare and she was a great toddler there.  I think it was because she had a plethora of toys and activities to do at daycare.  There is always more than one person giving her attention as well.  Even though she only napped for an hour at the most, her teachers didn't mind because she would stay on her mat and read books until the other children woke up.  They are very structured at daycare and Kaitlyn loves it because she is big on routines so that is why she does so well.

So once she went back to daycare, she was a totally different child.  She listened, didn't have melt downs, she even potty trained within a week of being there.  Hallelujah, praise be!  She still is very independent and wants to do as much as she can on her own, but she's two and it's totally age appropriate.  It's also easier now because Tyler isn't as demanding as he used to be.  He's a really chill infant now that he knows how to entertain himself.

Don't get me wrong, she still has melt downs every now and then, but for the most part we can quickly calm her down and she can explain to us what happened or how she's feeling.  We let her be as independent as she wants because she now knows that she can try it and if she needs help she can ask.  Life is grand and all is calm in our household with a terrific two year old and an almost 5 month old chill infant.

Induction

No, not into any hall of fame.  I could only be so lucky.  I'm talking about being induced into going into labor.  If for some reason I go completely crazy and kill my husband my husband gets killed in a tragic accident and I have to remarry and that man is blessed to be the father of a third child forces me to have his children because he wants his genes and name to be carried on, I will not allow another induction.  I would rather carry around a 33 year old baby than be induced ever again in my life.  It was the single most excruciatingly painful event that I will ever endure in my entire life.  This people is the birth story of my beautiful baby boy.

We were hoping that I would have an easy second labor.  Who would have thought other wise?  Kaitlyn's birth was soooooooooo easy.  I didn't need any pain medication.  I mostly labored at home because I'm an idiot and didn't know I was in labor we didn't panic and took our time.  I wasn't hooked up to a fetal monitor or blood pressure monitor and could go wherever I wanted; not that I did much but roll around on the bathroom floor.  It was a dream and my mom was a little jealous because she labored with me for 24 hours and it was all but pleasant.  Of course she wanted retribution from the labor Gods and I thank them for not answering her prayers.  We were even hoping that he would come a little early, like before the beginning of the new year because our insurance was changing and we thought we were going to have to pay a lot more money to have him since we now had to pay 10% instead of 0%.  (Thank you Obama and your wonderful health crap care plan for all.)  Not to mention everything about this pregnancy was exactly the same with my first.  Same weight gain, same (lack of) pregnancy symptoms, same stretch marks, same no outie belly button.  My ideal was after Christmas, but before New Years...no dice.  We even discussed the whole insurance ordeal with the mid-wife and since I was only 36 weeks the last week of the year, they couldn't induce me then.  So December 31, 2009 came and still no baby.  Damn, now we are going to pay an arm and a leg for this birth and we're gonna lie about when my water broke because they will not keep us for another day on our dime and I might actually have to go back to work this semester...damn, damn, damn.  As my due date got closer (January 9)  we looked at the calendar.  Lo and behold, daddy has to go to California on the 11th.  What?  Crap, now we have to get this kid out and fast or else daddy may miss the birth of his first and only son.  So we talk to the other midwife and we schedule an induction for January 7.  She thinks that because Kaitlyn came so fast that the Pitocin will kick right in, I'll open right up and we'll have this baby.  The baby had other plans.

Luckily the 7th fell on a Thursday.  My mom has Thursdays off and she watched Kaitlyn for us while we were at the hospital.  We dropped her off the night before because we had to be at the hospital at 6:30am.  Needless to say I didn't get much sleep, which I so desperately needed because labor is a long and intense process, but we got to the hospital on time.  I got checked in and they took me up to my birthing room.  I got changed into that oh so lovely gown.  My birthing nurse came in and did an internal...I was 5cm!  Whoopie!  I was going to have this baby today anyway.  So we're happy about how far dilated I already was and we thought it was going to be really quick and easy and I would be a mommy to a boy by 10:00am.  I got stuck with an IV, the Pitocin started to flow and we were on our way.  Pain was bearable, contractions were light, I was happy.  Tyler, however, was not.  He was moving around and hiccuping all over the place.  We had a hard time with the fetal monitor picking up his heart beat because of his hiccups and he just wouldn't settle down.  He wouldn't let me sit up, I had to lie on my sides because his heart rate would drop when I stood or sat up.  (If you've ever had back labor, you know it's a complete bitch when you are laying down.)  My midwife was happy with the progress and was really expecting a baby to be with us shortly.  She kept checking and finally she decided to break my water.  I will spare you the details, but let me tell you after she did this, the pain increased 10 fold.  Holy cow!  The contractions got more intense, I was starting to cry and get angry.  I definitely did not want to be touched and Jerry says I started to swing and kick people.  I don't remember swinging on anyone but I do know that I ripped the oxygen mask of my head and threw it when everyone left the room because I was getting really annoyed, so swinging on people likely happened.  Really early on, they kept asking me if I wanted anything for the pain and I kept saying no because honestly I didn't need it.  I think that because I kept saying no, my midwife thought that meant that I didn't want any ever.  So not true at this point, but I was in too much pain to ask.  At this point, my blood pressure was all over the place, pushing wasn't doing anything but make me angry and tired and Tyler was in a bit of distress.  (We're probably talking around 2:00 pm here.)  She tells me that I need an epidural because I'm so tense and every time I have a contraction I tense up and that keeps the baby in and he can't go through the birth canal.  I'm kinda freaking out because I've heard so many stories on how the epidural hurts so much and that the needle is huge and that your hubby has to leave the room when you get it because so many of them pass out and on and on.  My birthing nurse assured me that the iv needle is actually worse than the epidural needle.  I finally said yes to the epidural because my midwife said I'd have to get one anyway if I had to get a C-section and if Tyler didn't come soon, we were going that route.  (I did NOT want a C-section!) 

My midwife told the anesthesiologist that he would have to give me the epidural while I was laying down because sitting up caused Tyler to freak out and his heart rate to drop.  He said it would be more challenging that way, but he really didn't have a choice.  The nurse anesthetist kept feeling in between my vertebrae and assured me that it was just her knuckle and she was checking for the right spot.  They made my hubby sit in a chair in the middle of the room so he couldn't see the needle go in.  My birthing nurse was fantastic and stayed next to me the whole time because she knew I was nervous.  The gave me the local and I didn't even feel it because I was contracting.  Then it was time for the BIG needle.  My husband told me later that it really wasn't that big but I think he was trying to keep me from freaking out about it.  Let me tell you, epidurals work QUICK.  I instantly felt relief as the pain melted away.  They handed me the little button to push if I felt any pain but that the machine was calibrated for my height and weight and I shouldn't need to push it.  I had to roll over on my back because the epidural works with gravity.  I couldn't tell if I was moving or not but I was assured that I was.  You cannot feel ANYTHING with an epidural.  Your legs literally feel like jello.  It is the weirdest feeling and I'm so grateful that I got it.  It did it's magic and soon after my midwife got the be ready to catch Tyler.  They had to tell me when I was contracting so I knew when to push.  It is so weird to push when you can't feel yourself pushing.  You just have to trust your brain to tell your body what to do.  I pushed three times and out he came.  Tyler was 9lbs 2oz and 19" long.  What a big baby!  Of course I cried.  I'm a big baby like that. 

So, the reason for this whole post is that for all the pain I went through, all worth it of course to have my baby boy, I will never get induced again and I will try to talk everyone out of an induction if it is not medically necessary.  Induced labors are WAY more intense.

The fruits of my labor

Daddy Issues - Part One

So most people who know me, I mean really know me, know that I have MAJOR daddy issues. Like I basically have no use for my biological father sperm donor. My mom remarried when I was 10 and that man is who I consider my dad. I don't call him dad, I call him by his first name, but he's my dad none-the-less. I'm not sure why I don't call him dad; maybe it's just because I got used to calling him by his first name when they dated and it's just a habit.

Anyway, I have basically cut all ties with the sperm donor. He was a facebook friend until he kept stealing pictures of Kaitlyn and posting them on his page. He actually had the audacity to claim her as HIS grandchild. Look buddy, you are only related to her because unfortunately I got 50% of your genes...and not even the good ones. She has a grandfather (papa) who she loves dearly and it's not the sperm donor. I don't think that I'll ever allow her to meet him. I don't think I'll even bring him up to her. Although she may wonder who that strange, fat, blonde man is that is in some of my baby pictures. I may just have to bury all evidence of him just so I don't have to explain who he is. (There's not too much evidence of him since he really was never around so it shouldn't be too hard to scrub him from my life.)

I guess I should give some background story on my "daddy issues" and why I pretty much hate the sperm donor. (This could be a long post.) So the sperm donor was in the army and he was stationed in South Korea where he fell in love with a beautiful Korean girl. My mom was only like 20 when she gave birth to me so she had to be like 18 when the met. It was rough for my mom and I don't even know how they communicated because my mom didn't even speak any English...don't even ask how they got through their wedding vows. The sperm donor quickly showed his possessive/jealous side and without getting in to too much detail, he physically abused my mother. She eventually learned to fight back which is probably why she is VERY quick to escalate an argument and jump into a defensive position. (She may also start swinging so I stay a safe distance away.) I don't have very many memories of the sperm donor, but the ones I do have are not great at all. Always my mom and him fighting, sometimes he hit her, sometimes she hit him. I do remember one time looking at my favorite clock and the plastic face was missing. I asked the sperm donor what happened to the front of the clock and he told me that he got mad and hit it with his fist. We moved around a lit in the states, I was born in Korea if you didn't know, and my mom and I were home alone a lot. It was better that way because there was no fighting. When the sperm donor was there, there was always fighting.

I don't know when my mom had enough and gathered the strength to finally dump that dead weight. I know my mother's younger sisters were living with us and I was in elementary school, so we'll leave it at that. I do remember it was much more peaceful in the house with the exception of me tormenting my two aunts. (That is for another post though.) After my parents divorced, I didn't see much of the sperm donor. He left for New Jersey when I was 10 and I lost all communication with him when we moved to Deltona; think middle school aged, 6th grade. He caught up with me when I was in college-meaning he finally spoke with his adoptive mother and she gave him my address and he sent me a card. It was a birthday card for my 21st birthday. It had a Barbie on the front of it and it was covered in glitter. I was laughing at the ridiculousness of the card fit for a 5 year old and I was in hysterics at the fact that I had just received communication from him after about 10 years. I don't know who I called first, but I'm sure I was a hot mess and made no sense at all through my sobs. Of course I did not reciprocate with a thank you card or any type of correspondence. I just simply ignored it in my passive-aggressive way and hoped the problem sperm donor would just go away.

Wow, this is getting to be a long post, so I'll make it a two parter.

To be continued.......

Blogaholic

Hello, my name is Christy and I'm a....BLOGAHOLIC. Phew, there I said it. Admitting that you have a problem is the first step to recovery, right? I don't think I'll ever recover from this new obsession. I truly am obsessed with reading about the mundane musings of other people's lives. I don't know what it is that draws me in and keeps me captivated, but I always want more. I get annoyed when my favorite bloggers don't post each and every day and I check in frequently to see if there are new posts. I even follow some on Twitter so I can see if they posted a new blog...can't have all that internet traffic show up as blogs. I have to do some legitimate work now at some point during the day. I have a few RL friends who blog about their lives that I enjoy reading and I have a lot of blogs that I follow because they literally make me pee my pants because they are so stinking funny. (Seriously, one time I had to leave my office and get some fresh air because I was laughing hysterically with tears pouring down my eyes and I didn't want anyone to come in and think I was some kind of psycho who laughs at herself.) So here are some links to my most favorite blogs. Warning: they are mostly mommy blogs.
The Southern Belle Baby
Pink and Green Mama
Bat Crap Crazy
Just Because My Pickle Talks Does Not Make Me an Idiot
Busted Plumbing

P.S. The last one is not a mommy blog, but I was curious as to why my other mommy blogs linked to this one. I thought it was a resource blog for mommies who needed some easy plumbing solutions. Little did I know it was a humor infertility blog. I fell in love with Kate and her funny outlook with her own infertility issues. I am rooting for her because she is currently pregnant after a few miscarriages. Plus she doesn't always talk about infertility.

Mama I'm hungry. Open your shirt!

So there was an article in the paper about some woman throwing a hissy fit at a school board meeting because she was asked to use the principal's office to nurse her two year old daughter. Let me say that again, nurse her TWO year old daughter. Apparently while this mother was waiting for her other child to get out of his speech therapy class her toddler decided that she was hungry and mom whipped out the boob. Don't get me wrong, breastfeeding is the most natural and purest things in the world to do. I mean it is amazing that a woman's body can produce food to sustain the life of the child she carried in that same body. I also believe that a mother has a right to breastfeed in public places, as long as she is discreet about it. I personally am not comfortable showing the world how I feed my child. However, you can't tell me that that toddler is exclusively breastfed and that mother couldn't have given her something else to eat. I mean what kind of a moroon doesn't take snacks with them when they have small children. I always carry more than enough food for Kaitlyn when we are out. She's hungry all the time! She also wants a bite of whatever it is I am eating. I don't care if it's a peanut butter, pickle and sardine sandwich, that girl has just got to take a bite. (I don't, by the way, eat peanut butter, pickle and sardine sandwiches.) If that mother wants to breasfeed that child all the way through college, then that's her right as a parent. However, some common sense needs to be applied when you are out in public. Next time lady, take some grapes.

Babies, babies everywhere!

Or so it seems. My cousin, who is a year younger than me, is pregnant with her first child and due at the end of July. My aunt currently living in Australia is pregnant with her second child and is due in November. My husband's cousin's wife (wow, that sounded a little hillbilly) is also pregnant with their first child. I think I also have a friend of a friend who is pregnant not to mention those students that I had not too long ago in the classroom who should be having their babies soon; instead of walking across the stage with their peers.

But I am done with my baby making days. We got lucky and had a girl and a boy and now we are done. Well, my husband is done. He will have the snip, snip this summer and we will be happy with our little family of five. (We always include Peanut in our family number of course.) It's bittersweet to say the least. On the one hand, we just got Tyler to sleep through the ENTIRE night (8-7ish) and Kaitlyn is finally potty trained (no more diapers = $$$$$$ for us) and Tyler is eating solids and Kaitlyn is really becoming a (sassy) little lady. On the other, I really wouldn't mind having another little baby to hold and coo and fuss over. Tyler is still a baby and I can still do all those things with him, and I do on a daily basis, but with every milestone he hits, a little piece of me dies knowing that I'll never be able to see another one of my babies hit those milestones as well. I even cried a little bit when I gave Kelly all Kaitlyn's baby clothes because I know I'll never need those little clothes again. I put all Tyler's newborn and 0-3 month clothes away and am just waiting to see if someone else in the family will need them. *sigh*

So unless someone leaves me a huge inheritance or I win the lottery, two children is all we will be having in this family. Guess I can hold coo and fuss over my future cousins. It's just not as fun and fulfilling as if it is your own.

Oops I did it again

My second born. My baby. My last child. My unexpected, but more than welcome, surprise. I was dieing to have another baby, but my more than practical husband said it was best to wait until Kaitlyn was 3 then we could try again. Well my husband forgot that I am pretty irresponsible when it comes to taking care of myself and I am a procrastinator. I noticed that I was down to one week left on my last package of birth control and that the prescription was going to run out in 2 days. I called in my last refill the day before it expired. The automated voice said the prescription would be filled and would be ready to pick up at my requested time. I went to go pick up my prescription and the pharmacist told me the doctor said I needed to come in for an appointment before they would issue me a refill...stupid automated voice. They wanted me to come in for a pap because I had some abnormal cells while I was pregnant with Kaitlyn and even though I had TWO colposcopies come back negative they wanted to be on the safe side. So I scheduled my butt to get to the doctor the following week. I was in and out no problem which is a feet in and of itself because I got the chatty midwife who likes to talk really fast and doesn't let me really speak so I just nod my head yes or no. I went straight to the pharmacy to get my refill and got my pills. I missed a weeks worth of pills but figured it was ok and I would start back up on that Sunday. It was only a week and I had a whole year of being on the darn things and it took me so long to get pregnant the first time I thought I would be one of those people who would have to get off the pill 6 months before we started trying for baby number two. WRONG indeed! The first time I had sex with my hubby after a week of no pills and I get pregnant. I know exactly when it happened too. The exact day of implantation. We had sex on a Saturday and the fertilized egg implanted on Monday. How do I know? I felt it. A little sharp pain on the right side of my abdomen. I have only felt that pain once before...when Kaitlyn implanted. I took a pregnancy test on Wednesday...remember procrastinator and it was positive. So Kaitlyn was only 16 months old and I was having another one. I was deathly afraid to tell Jerry and I even cried while I told him. To my surprise, he was thrilled! Yeah, it wasn't what we had planned, but we were never good planners anyway. Whoopee! Now I just had to keep quiet for about 8 weeks...yeah right.

Summer Time Fun Time

This summer we are taking the kids out of daycare to save LOTS of money. I am searching for fun things to do with them to keep them busy so that we don't go crazy. We have lots of trees in our front yard that give us plenty of shade so we won't totally melt in the Florida heat. I have a nice thick outside blanket that I can lay in the grass so Tyler won't have to be confined to a stroller. Hopefully he will start to sit up on his own soon and the fun can really begin. Jerry will be moving the sandbox to a more friendly location. Currently it sits in our backyard, that we never venture into, at the bottom of a hill next to a rotting wood fence with a huge, mean dog on the other side. (Please tell me what he was thinking when he put it there.) Since we now have the indoor grill, it can be moved to the side of the house on the nice concrete slab behind our little gate. Our little Kaitlyn can enjoy her sandbox again and she will be thrilled because playing in the sand and building castles is her favorite thing to do.

We will be doing the standard bubbles, sidewalk chalk, tractor riding and swimming at grandmas and going to the park this summer, but we will also be doing some new stuff too. On those extra hot days, I would like to take them to Bounce U so Kaitlyn can bounce her little heart out in a nice climate controlled environment.

I also found a great idea for a rainbow rice sensory box which I think will be a lot easier to clean up than sand and she can still build her castles and make her shapes. She will also have fun making the colored rice as I totally intend to recruit her in shaking the bags of liquid water color and rice.

She loves to paint these days so I intend on making some cornstarch sidewalk paint so she can go to town painting our driveway. Hopefully this will be less messy than chalk as she tends to write on herself with the chalk but not with paint.

I definitely need more ideas, but I have plenty of time to research toddler friendly summer activities. Four weeks until summer break...can't wait!

He bumped his head...

Hard. Thankfully, he woke up in the morning. I guess it wasn't that hard, thank God.

I guess I should start at the beginning. Tyler had a doctor's appointment for his 4 month well baby checkup. I had the day off of school, but wanted the kiddies to go to daycare so I could get some stuff done. Plus, it's just easier to leave Kaitlyn at daycare than try to entertain her at the doctor's office while Tyler is getting his checkup. I went to pick Tyler up from daycare and he was in his crib...just woke up from a nap, perfect timing on my part. His teacher wanted to change his diaper before we left. Not going to fight someone over changing a diaper. I pay more than enough to have someone else do it. She went to go pick him up out of his crib and turn to put him on the changing table. Another little fast crawler got under her feet in no time at all and she tripped over him and fell with Tyler in her arms. She banged her head against the changing table and her arms, that were holding Tyler, swung with continued momentum until his head also hit the changing table. He bounced right out of her arms when she hit the floor. Thank God I was there to scoop him up because she was knocked out for a second. It all happened so fast but it felt like everything moved in slow motion while she fell. I couldn't stop it from happening. I couldn't keep her from falling. I couldn't catch my son and save him from banging his head. I couldn't even speak fast enough to tell her she had another baby right under her feet! I held it together at the center, but as soon as I got outside, I lost it. I mean I just watched someone else DROP MY BABY! I called my husband on my way to the doctor to let him know what happened and of course he left work to see if Tyler was ok. Thankfully the wait time at my pediatrician is never long and I told the nurse about his accident. She looked at his head and saw the bump and wrote it down on Tyler's chart. She took all his stats, 90th percentile for everything except his weight which was off the chart, and then left to get the doctor. Luckily our pediatrician is a very calm, sweet and soothing lady, also a family friend, so I don't tend to panic in her presence. She talked about all the normal stuff at a well baby check up and gave him a good once over. She began reading his chart and only then did she see that he hit his head. She looked at the bump and saw that it was the size of a nickel and not even red anymore. She said that she would not have even known that he hit his head only an hour before had it not been written down. Of course Tyler was grinning from ear to ear during the whole examination and he was cooing and spitting like he always does. He's such a happy little guy. She felt he was fine because he was acting so happy. She also asked if he cried right away and I said that he did. I guess with bad head injuries people are stunned at first and can't respond and that's bad. She told us to keep and eye on him and to let her know if he starts acting funny or throws up, but she felt confident that he was ok and he could get his shots. So he got his shots, two this time, yay for combining vaccines, and we went home.

I had to go back to the center to pick up Kaitlyn and of course everyone had heard about the fall. The center director and assistant director said they watched the video to see what happened. I think the fast crawler is going to be moved up to the next room where the cribs are separate from the play area so he can't get under foot in that situation again. Tyler's teacher had to be sent home because she was in pain and very upset over the whole thing. I'll have to comfort her on Monday.

What a start to the weekend!

My first born's entrance

Dear Kaitlyn,

My goodness where do I start? At the beginning of course. I waited for you for a long time. Sometimes patiently, sometimes not so much. It took seven years for you to get here, but it was definitely worth the wait. I was thrilled when we found out we were having a little girl. I knew you were going to be a little mini me. How could you not? Carrying you was so easy. I never got uncomfortable or too big. I never had morning sickness and I thank you for that.

Labor was just as easy. I didn't even know that I was in labor. I was waiting for the pain to get "more intense" as the nurse on the phone stated. It never got to that point. I wanted some Tylenol to dull the ache in my back, but your father scared me into not taking any. All of the sudden, I felt like I had to push...YOU WERE COMING AND WE WERE STILL AT HOME! Luckily daddy already put my bag in the car. All we had to do was put the dogs away and we were off. And I mean it. Daddy was driving a tad reckless; he did run that red light. He also power opened the automatic doors to get in to the hospital. (You have to buzz to get in past 8pm and it was around 10:30) As I was filling out the little paperwork, the pain got a little more intense. The nurse asked me when my water broke, I said I didn't think it did. She did an internal exam and discovered, it had in fact broke, I was complete, and you were coming. I didn't even have time to change out of my street clothes. They threw me on a bed and wheeled me to the birthing floor. Of course they kept checking to see if they saw your head coming, but you were a good little girl and waited till we got to your room. My midwife was not at the hospital yet because the answering service told us they would call when we got to the hospital. She didn't make it in time. You were already here when she arrived. You were so beautiful! Daddy was so proud, taking pictures and video of you, texting everyone we knew that you were here. I was exhausted and in some pain. I didn't have time for any medication since we waited so long to get to the hospital so I was feeling everything. People were prodding me and poking me and checking vitals. I wanted to swat them all away and just hold you. I didn't really get to hold you for awhile, really until we were going to our recovery room because of a minor complication with the afterbirth.

When I did finally get to hold and see you, it was love at first sight. I couldn't get over how cute you were! All newborns are pretty much ugly, but not you. You were so cute! Of course you were the cuteness newborn in the world. We had to stay in the hospital an extra day to make sure there was no infection in me since I had no clue when my water broke so we were more than ready to come home on the third day. We packed you up in your pink and white striped lamb outfit, pink knitted hat and purple blanket that Aunt Tina bought for you. We carefully put you in your car seat and daddy drove oh so carefully while I sat in the backseat with you, marveling at how wonderfully adorable you were.

When we got home, we quickly introduced you to the dogs. We put you on the floor and let them sniff you. They quickly approved with a quick lick of your head and our little family was happy and together.

You were such a wonderful and easy little baby and I was thankful for the 6 months that I was going to be able to spend with you at home. Of course I'll have to write you about those days, but that me dear is for another time.

Hugs and kisses,

Mommy

Beginnings

Wow. So after reading tons of blogs lately, I've finally given in and started my own. Mostly I will be rambling on about my children so that my friends and family don't have to listen to me ramble about them all the time. I now have an outlet to talk about my children without getting eye rolls or sighs meant to remind me that not all things toddler and baby interest them.

I will also get to blog about my experience as a high school science teacher. Again, not a subject that my friends and family want to constantly hear about.

So some basics about me. I'm a wife to a wonderful man that I met in college. We have two beautiful children; a 2 year old girl and a 4month old boy. I teach earth/space and environmental science in high school, and for the most part, I like it. I contemplating getting my masters degree, but it might be a little too overwhelming working full time with two young children.

Hopefully, I'll get something out of blogging about my life :)