#10

Ten years.

Ten years.

TEN YEARS!

Andy and I recently celebrated our 10th anniversary on April 24th.  It's such a proud anniversary.  A milestone.  We both deserve medals. But seriously...how has that much time gone by?

We had a great day - spent the day at a Chicago Cubs game eating Chicago dogs and big pretzels. (And then a few extra days roaming the city thanks to Nana and Papa!)  

Best part?  Talking and laughing and reminiscing....and knowing that we are still best friends who truly enjoy being with one another. Wouldn't change anything about our life together.  Happy 10, babe.

Library Day

Friday is library day for us.  Just a quick walk down the alley and we're there.  Time enough for story hour and pick out a few books and videos.  Today I was so excited at what Georgia picked out. The grown-up version happens to be one of my favorites.

It's actually a counting book and is super cute.  1 English village, 2 rich gentlemen, 3 houses, 4 marriage proposals, and on it goes.

I was also gifted with these beauties by Lola who exclaimed all in one breath: "theflowersarebootifulmomilovethemjesusmadethemtheysmelllikestrawberries!" 

I will wait till she is much older to tell her: theyareweedsdaddytriestokillthemtheysmellabsolutelynothinglikestrawberries.

Amos Boy

So.  The last time I posted about this little fella, he was not even a month old.  As you can tell, he's changed quite a bit since then.  Here are some Amos updates:

*He smiles a lot and answers just about every question you ask him with, "Yeah."
*He has 12 teeth.
*He loves cookies - this MUST be genetic.
*He doesn't walk yet, but flies through the house with his push toy.
*He doesn't mind being mothered by Georgia.
*He can sing: Itsy Bitsy Spider, Jesus Loves Me, Tractor Tractor, ABCs, Joy to the World and Frozen's Let It Go.
*His favorite pastime is his bath.
*He does mind having his toys stolen by Lola.
*He weighs 23 pounds and is 31 inches long.
*I'm pretty sure he's in love with Maggie, the 16 month old baby girl next door.

Here I Go Again

Holy bajoley.

It's been awhile since I've done this.  I'm kind of afraid to even type this - the pressure, oh the pressure to keep this up again! A.N.O.T.H.E.R.C.O.M.M.I.T.M.E.N.T.

But I've been inspired by another friend who says she fell off the blogging bandwagon and is getting back on. You go, girl.  I'm gonna try and go with ya.

Named for a Song

We did not name our children after songs.  No matter what anyone says, we just didn't.  However, each one has at least one song with their name in it.  Some we were aware of and some we were not.  Like Amos, for example; we were definitely not trying to keep up the trend when we named him, but a post on Facebook by a friend led us to a song about Amos.  Click on the title, take a listen and get ready to laugh.

Amos Moses
Well Amos Moses was a Cajun,
He lived by himself in the swamp.
He hunted alligators for a livin,
He just knocked 'em in the head with a stump.
The Louisiana law gonna get ya Amos
It ain't legal hunting alligators down in the swamp, boy

Well everybody blames his old man,
For makin' him mean as a snake,
When Amos Moses was a boy
His daddy would use him for alligator bait.
Tie a rope around his neck, and throw him in the swamp,
Alligator bit him in a Louisiana bayou

About 45 minutes southeast of Thibodeaux, Louisiana
Lived a man named Doc Milsap and his pretty wife Hanna
hey raised up a son who could eat up his weight in groceries,
Named him after a man of the cloth,
Called him Amos Moses

Well, the folks around south Louisiana
Said Amos was a hell of a man
He could trap the biggest, the meanest alligator
And just use one hand
That's all he's got left cause an alligator bit him
Left arm gone clean up to the elbow

Well the sheriff caught wind that Amos
Was in the swamp huntin' alligator skins
So he snuck in the swamp, gonna getcha boy,
But he never come out again.
Well, I wonder where the Louisiana sheriff went to?
You can sure get lost in a Louisiana bayou!

About 45 minutes southeast of Thibodeaux, Louisiana
Lived a man named Doc Milsap and his pretty wife Hanna
They raised a son who could eat up his weight in groceries,
Named him after a man of the cloth,
Called him Amos Moses

The Story of Amos

Here is the birth story....

Because of the all the moving we'd been doing and getting ready to do again, we had decided to be induced.  I scheduled the induction for Friday, October 26.  By Wednesday of that week I had been feeling very sick with flu-like symptoms and at night getting the shakes so bad I couldn't lay still enough to relax and fall asleep.  So I called and had the induction moved up a day.

Thursday morning, October 25, Andy and I drove to be at the hospital by 6:45.  Right as we pulled up to the doors I got sick.  I was really nervous that was going to continue throughout labor.  We got checked in and settled into the delivery room.  They wanted to start pitocin right away, but I asked to have my water broken first to see if that would start labor.  Unfortunately the doctor couldn't break the bag, saying it was likely there wasn't much fluid.  The pitocin was started and contractions started coming quickly and within the hour were 3-6 minutes apart.  The only bad part was I was still only dilated to about 4 cm. (Yes, I did get an epidural!)

Andy and I had been discussing the building of our house and there were some things that we needed to do in the next few days and I told Andy that I'd be in labor for a while if he wanted to run and take care of those things right then.  Isn't it funny the way things change from your first child to your third?  I never would have let him leave the hospital during my labor with Georgia!  About 5 minutes after he left the nurse checked me saying I was now dilated to about an 8, but she wanted someone to double check.  The second nurse confirmed that I was dilated to a 7 and so I called Andy and told him not to dilly dally - things were now moving quickly!

Then things got a little ugly.  I started shaking again - violently.  It was so bad I wanted to be restrained.  I couldn't relax my arms, shoulders, chest, neck, or head.  I got sick again and my temperature was around 101.  They packed me with warm blankets and towels, but I wasn't cold.  I was only able to relax when it was absolutely quiet and with Andy holding my hand.  Sadly, it isn't quiet for more than a minute or two in the delivery room with all the ins and outs of the nursing staff. 

Eventually the doctor came in and told me they were having a hard time reading the baby's heart beat and she wanted to put something on his head to keep better track of it.  I really didn't want that.  But then she checked me and said, "Oh no.  It's time to push."  Praise the Lord!  I started pushing at 1:39 pm and the baby was born at 1:53.  His shoulders were very broad and he was stuck for a minute.  It took the doctor with the help of two nurses to wriggle him out!

He was a healthy boy weighing 9 pounds and 6.5 ounces and 21 inches long.  No wonder my back had hurt so bad!  We had come to the hospital with two names picked out and I left it to Andy to decide, but neither one seemed to suit the baby.  We started looking at some names we had discarded in the past and Amos was one of them.  Both of us had temps after labor and Amos' blood sugar was a little low.  He had to have heel pricks done for the first 24 hours (poor baby!) and I was started on antibiotics.  After a couple of days we were both back to normal.

Now we are in the throws of life with three children (whew!) and I'm so thankful for the time Andy is taking off from work.  We are still awaiting the completion of our home and then maybe life will be right again.

 Just born 10/25/12

 

 Proud big sister Georgia

 



Kisses from Lola 10/26/12

 

Amos Andrew 3 weeks old



Happy Halloween

We did the most celebrating in the days before Halloween.  Before the baby came we took the opportunity to carve a pumpkin.  I think he turned out pretty cute.

 

Then, a few days before Halloween, we went trick-r-treating with some friends; followed by our church Pumpkin Party the next night.  Mmmmmm.....candy..........for me..............

 

 

 

The day of was pretty uneventful - I think we ran errands.  But we did put on our Halloween attire and snap a few photos plus capture one really cute video.  You have to watch it twice.  Once to watch Lola and once to listen to Georgia's song.  Lola is sucking the water out of the squirt bottle I use to do their hair, but it looks like she's playing the saxophone.  Georgia's song is one she made up on the way to the hospital to meet Amos and is super sweet.