Halloween Fun!

What a fun day to be a mom! Abby was on cloud nine all day! She loves to dress up...so a whole day dedicated to it is like bliss for her...she would be happy if there were a dress up hour every day...kind of like the siesta tradition of Spain...I digress. This morning Abby's school had "Fall Festival" with an Ocean theme...her class were the Rainbow Fish. They paraded around the courtyard. What I really should have been taking pictures of were the hoards of parents crowding around with every form of camera related technology trying to capture the moment...too funny us ridiculously proud parents!

After that it was time to go to Daddy's school. Abby changed into her Tinker Bell Costume which my friend Tina sent her (extremely thoughtful of her...knowing I would have NO time to shop for a costume this year!!! Before we left her school she wanted to show EVERYONE her new costume...she was BEAMING!!!

A few years ago I made Andy a costume...let's just say it's a lot of yellow for one man...he is the perfect "Man-with-the-yellow-hat" (by the way I am still mad that they gave him the name "Ted" in the movie...but don't get me started) So what better costume for Aaron than to be CURIOUS GEORGE! My friend Sarah gave us some cute little brown jamies for Aaron...I slipped on the shirt from one of Abby's stuffed Curious George monkeys, sewed some ears onto the hat...and VOILA the cutest monkey you've ever seen! At Andy's school they had an assembly and he held Aaron up in front of the school like a proud father (anyone seen Lion King...picture pride rock...Simba...it was adorable!)






p.s. sorry tosay but this was not one of my better photo days...lack of sleep has damaged my attention to detail!

Pumpkin Patch

Abby is in that hillarious stage where she cracks jokes that make sense only to her...but we all laugh heartily. Today on the way to the pumpkin patch she was singing (to the tune of On Top of Old Smokey)"On top of my pumpkin all covered with pumpkins I lost my poor pumpkin patch when I went to the pumpkin patch...HA HA HA!!!" She had a blast sprinting through the pumpkins (okay so it was more like a wiggle run...if you've seen her you know what I'm talking about).


Aaron even got in on the fun with a wagon ride...okay so not exactly a ride...but he did get to sit with his cute big sister IN the wagon...so close enough.



It was a fun family outing...seen through the eyes of an eager three year old most things are a lot more fun!

Trump Card of all excuses...beware the long post!

I am sure you have been missing my blog updates...terribly!!! I have been a little busy lately...I guess giving birth to an 8lb 11oz baby will earn you a "get out of jail free" card. My friend Brad had a great post about making excuses for not blogging. The truth is I have too much to say...

At first I wanted to tell you all the gory details of labor...but I thought the better of it...there is such a thing as TOO much information. I do want to say how deeply grateful I am for all the support I received throughout the labor process. I was truly in God's hands the whole time and I felt it! It was an event covered in prayer!!!

Many things were the same as last time...I was induced so there was no rush to the hospital in the middle of the night..there was a LOT of "waiting" for those in the "waiting room"...and Team Andy and Dawn were stellar as usual with keeping me calm and relaxed...as was the epidural administered by Dr. John Keating...who as many of you know has "ministered" his care for me on several occasions. That man will have a MANSION in heaven! The care I received from the nurses of Labor & Delivery was AMAZING...although ask Dawn to tell you about the "break nurse" sometime...PERFUME should be outlawed in L&D...

Here is what was REMARKABLY different..for starters I walked into the hospital without my husband having to help me take each and every step...last time I was in so much pain from my "pelvic" injury that I could not MOVE without assistance...then there is the fact that the labor process was only 17 plus hours as opposed to 31 hours....The other major encouragement was being able to tolerate real contractions for more than 35 minutes without begging for an epidural...this time I lasted 2 hours...and I only did so to prove to myself that it WAS NOT in my head last time around...my injury had been so severe I simply could not tolerate the pain because there was never a break from it...sidenote...I think my husband thought I was a bit bonkers for WANTING to experience pain this time around...I am glad I did.

By far the best difference was that this time I was able to hold Aaron immediately after he was born...with Abby there were breathing problems so the NICU nurses had her right away...I really only had about 10 minutes with her when she was born...then we weren't reunited for several hours...with Aaron I got to hold him...and kiss him and introduce him to family all in the delivery room. What a peaceful difference from last time. And the love in my heart is full~and getting more full by the minute!

Tommorrow is BABY DAY...unless he decides it's today!

How does THURSDAY sound??? Or earlier!

I am so thankful that this cooperative little bundle has listened to his mommy again! I FERVENTLY asked him to stay put this week so that week could get through the memorial service for our good friend Matt. It was indeed an amazing service and I am so thankful to have been there for it...and more importantly that Andy was able to play guitar for worship.

That same afternoon we had an ultrasound to check on the size of the baby....(we've been struggling with the whole juxtaposition of joy/sorrow...life/death this week...this was just another example of that). So as for the size of the baby... he is already PLENTY big!
I told myself if he was bigger than 7 pounds I would go through with an induction appointment scheduled for next Thursday. WELL....
So...unless he decides to come sooner...
We'll get the ball rolling on Thursday, Oct. 12th!