Jonathan's Birthday!

Since our house is in disarray right now, my poor little guy had to postpone his Elmo birthday party. The good news is that we were still able to have a small family celebration on his actual birthday and a small celebration with Zack's parents and sisters this past weekend.

Happy Birthday Jonathan Zachary Ley!

My dear little man,
You are already 2 years old. Sometimes it feels like the last two years have gone by in a blur. Other times it feels like you have been in our family for our entire lives. I honestly couldn't imagine life without you here. You bring so much energy and joy into our home! You are truly a gift from the Lord....an energetic, nutty, beautiful, joyful gift.

Right now, some of your favorites include: Elmo, Barney, building "big, big towers!" with your blocks, reading books, learning your colors and numbers, going to school and playing with your friends, playing at the park, and riding in the car.

You are talking up a storm and you love to sing! You can say pretty much anything we ask you to say and repeat almost everything! Your favorite songs are "Do Lord," "Take me out to the ballgame," and "Old McDonald." You also really like to listen to Sunday School songs in the car!

At your appointment yesterday with Dr. Torn, she said you are in the 44% for weight, 87% for height and 97% for head size....you sure do have a big brain! She also said that you were absolutely perfect....but we already know that.

We love you Jonathan and look forward to so many more years with you!!

Going Back

I haven't really made it any secret that I am not ready to go back to work. On Monday, I am returning to my 8th graders after being gone since Thanksgiving. It will be tough.

From a work standpoint, I left unexpectedly. I didn't prepare my kids and I was definetly not prepared. Luckily I had a long term sub already arranged, so she picked right up and took care of things, but still, I wasn't prepared. So I am not sure what I will be walking back in to. My kids take their state reading test in a few weeks and I have not been there to get them ready. So that should be interesting.

From a logistical standpoint, I am already nervous about getting two babies and myself, out of the door by 6:40 every morning. I know it can be done, I just have to find a routine that works for us. Let me say that up until now, my track record for packing them both up and getting where we need to be on time....well, it's less than stellar. I just need more practice. Unfortunately, I am out of time to practice. And let's not even get into the fact that Matthew still likes to party around 1:45, 4:45 and 5:30 am.

From a Mommy standpoint, I am not ready. I honestly feel as though I haven't had enough time with this sweet little boy. We have such a wonderful routine right now. He is doing so well. He naps like a champ, eats like a champ, plays like a champ. He loves going for walks outside, walking around the mall, laying on the floor and playing, watching me work in the kitchen. He loves to watch Jonathan when he is playing close by....things are just so...good. I am not ready to give these days up. I am 100% not ready to send him to a babysitter I hardly know. I could go on and on, but it makes my heart hurt.

And then there is this:

Monday morning we woke up and I loaded the boys into the car to take Jonathan to school. I noticed there was quite a bit of running water coming from behind our back gate, so I went to investigate. This led me to a pipe gushing water out of our house. A frantic phone call to my Dad led me to the attic to check the water heater. Bingo. That puppy bit the dust (after 20 years though...let's give it some credit for a job well done) and flooded our guest room, hallway and Jonathan's closet. Please don't ask how I didn't notice any of this in the middle of the night while I was up walking around with Matthew. Or in the morning. So...the water restoration guys have taken away the wet carpet, ripped holes in the ceiling to take out the wet insulation, and removed all the wet base boards and door casings. Right now everything is drying out. Once that is done, they will have to come in and rebuild the walls and ceiling in the guest room and install new carpet and base boards. These pictures honestly don't do the chaos justice. We have 10 fans, a de-humidifier and an "air scrubber" hanging out in our rooms and hallways right now. There are dark brown stains on my walls and ceililng (that apparently were not wet enough to cut open...interesting)....it is all just a big, gross, mess. I am telling this story only because it is one more reason I don't want to go back to work next week. I feel like I need to be here to make sure things are being done to my satisfaction!

So that is that. I am sure you will say I am just being over-dramatic. Millions of mothers out there have to send their babies to day care. Millions of mothers work. I get that. And in a few weeks, I am sure it will get easier. But for now, with my return looming like a grey cloud, it is not easy. And like I said above, it makes my heart hurt. Would you want to leave this little guy all day long? How am I supposed to kiss those puffy little cheeks while I am at school!? Sigh.....

My "baby" is about to turn 2!

Tomorrow my baby boy turns two. I know it is cliche, but I seriously do NOT believe this. It seems like yesterday I was living the story I am about to write out. I am not sure how many people are going to be interested in reading this, since it is no where near current. However, I didn't have a blog with Jonathan and therefore did not have a reminder of what things were like the days leading up to his birth or documentation of his birthday. I kept a journal throughout my pregnancy, but I wanted to make sure I sat down and wrote his birth story, just like I did for Matthew. So here it is :)

Just like with Matthew, I had contractions for months leading up to Jonathan's birth. I was on medication that kept them under control (much more successfully than Matthew) but I still constantly felt them. So when I started feeling some a little stronger than normal on Sunday, February 21st, I didn't think much of it. I tossed and turned all night, but didn't really worry. I woke up that Monday and decided to start timing them just to see what was up and they were somewhat regular and every 10 minutes or so. I figured this was still not too alarming, so I headed to work. I remember thinking as I was driving "I probably shouldn't be going into work today, but I REALLY don't want to waste a sick day if this doesn't turn into something..." I even emailed Zack that morning and told him what was up. His response was "Man, I hope he doesn't come until Thursday...I really need to finish up this project at work!" I told him I would do my best..... (Interestingly enough, he said the exact same thing the morning I went into labor with Matthew...)

The entire day, I struggled. I was super tired and the contractions were getting closer. I monitored them on my computer at my desk and stayed off my feet as much as possible. I was determined to make it through the day. By the time I left work that afternoon, they were coming pretty regularly around 6-7 minutes apart. Still, in my stupidity, I didn't think it was an issue. I didn't call the doctor and I didn't tell Zack to come home early or anything. I headed to bed around 9:30, but never actually went to sleep. Around 11:30, I came out of our room and told Zack I thought this was it. At that point, they were about 4-5 minutes apart. At midnight, we headed to the hospital! It was kind of fun getting there in the middle of the night because we had to buzz the security guard at the parking garage to let us in and Zack just yelled "My wife is having a baby!!" It was funny :) That and the traffic on I-10 is a whole lot better at midnight than any other time of the day!

By the time I got checked in and the nurses checked on me, I was 5-6 cm dilated and 100% effaced! When they confirmed that I would, in fact be there until I had the baby, I called my parents (in the middle of the night) and told them to high tail it to Houston! Around 3:00am, I wanted the epidural but we had to wait for my blood work to come back so we could double check that my platelets were high enough (I have thrombocytopenia or low blood platelets which can cause issues) This took FOREVER! But once I got the epidural, life was much better. I could actually talk to people, take pictures, watch TV and relax. But then things started to get frustrating...After already being in labor for like 24 hours, being almost 6 cm and having nice, strong, regular contractions...everything just stopped. My contractions continued, but stopped making any kind of difference. I stopped progressing almost completely. Around 9:00, Dr. Storey broke my water and started a little pitocin to get things going again. Thankfully, this worked and I didn't have to stay on the medication for very long at all. Finally around 11:00, I had progressed enough to try pushing. Which I did for the next two hours. Around 12:00, Jonathan turned sunny-side up and basically refused to come down or basically do anything helpful. So we tried the vacuum to help him move down, I moved positions to try and get him to turn a little more, we waited it out, pushed more....nothing helped. Ultimately, he started to get pissed off and let us know it. The decision was made around 1:00 to have a c-section for both his safety and mine. I was pretty upset. I had made it so far, only to end up in surgery. (This picture was taken right after the epidural...not after pushing for 2 hours...)

Once we made the decision, things moved very quickly as it was important to get him out quickly and safely. After being in labor for almost 28 hours at this point and pushing for two, I was exhausted. I basically slept through the delivery. I honestly don't remember anything. I was in recovery for almost 3 hours before being moved to a room and only then did I get to see my little boy. He was perfect.

After 4 days in the hospital, we were able to come home and start our new life as a family of 3. Looking back at the whole experience, it makes me so thankful for my less exciting and more calm delivery with Matthew. Obviously I never wanted to go with a c-section with either baby, but at the end of the day, I have two healthy, beautiful little boys and that is all that matters! Happy early birthday my sweet Jonathan Zachary :)

Our Love Story!

I have seen lots of cute "love stories" on the blogs lately and I thought I would join the fun! So, like normal, I am copying from other people...

1. How long have you and your significant other been together? We started dating in January of 2002, so 10 years. WOW. That seems like so long when I type it out.

2. How did you meet? {What's your "love" story?} I always say our meeting was 100% meant to be. One week during my freshman year in college, my high school boyfriend called and dumped me. Like a really mean, never talk to me again, kind of dumping. So I was too depressed to leave the house and therefore couldn't try out a new Bible study on campus that evening. Luckily, my roommate was cool enough to wait and go with me the next week. So that next Thursday, we both went to Upstream for the first time and got placed in a small group with all the other "newbies" that week. Zack was in that group as it was his first week as well. If I had gone the week before as planned (and my idiot boyfriend hadn't dumped me) I would have been placed in another group and I would never have met Zack! On a side note....my roommate actually dated Zack first :) After they broke up, I swooped in and stole him :)

3. If married, how long have you been married? 5 years!

4. If you are married, where did you get married at? Big or small wedding? We got married in Austin at my childhood church, Westlake Hills Presbyterian Church. The reception was at a beautiful outdoor venue overlooking the hill country. It was relatively large with about 150 people and absolutely wonderful!

5. Do you have any nick-names that you call one another? Ha ha, a few, but they are all pretty stupid and embarrassing. Nothing too racy though!

6. Name 3 things you love most about your honey. Zack is incredibly loyal, determined and faithful. If he feels the Lord is leading him to do something, he does it, even if it is not comfortable or the "popular" thing to do. If work asks him to do something, he does it, regardless of the hours it might require. And most importantly, I never, ever question his love for me or his children.

7. Tell us how he proposed? Ha ha, I always give him a hard time for this. By the time he proposed, we had gone together to buy a ring, talked about the wedding...basically we both already knew the proposal was coming. He knew he couldn't do anything fun or fancy because I would immediately know what was going on, so one Friday night, he told me he was working (at Subway!) so I worked out and then went home to eat dinner and watch TV for the rest of the night. I was in the middle of an episode of House, in my sweaty work out clothes (not sure why I hadn't showered or changed...), when he showed up. He had a dozen red roses and dropped to his knee right there on my front porch. I just kept saying "you are supposed to be at work...why are you here? What are you doing!?" Finally he got the question out and of course I said yes :) Then somehow, we ended up at Northgate with a bunch of his friends to "celebrate." Uh...I don't drink and none of my friends were there, but whatever....

8. Is he a flowers and teddy bear kind of guy for v-day, or strawberries, champagne, and rose petals? Hmm...he is pretty much a "Valentine's Day is a Hallmark holiday, but I don't want to get yelled at, so here are some flowers and a card." I will hand it to him that he always gives me my favorite flowers, daisies!

9. Are you a sunset dinner on the beach kind of girl, or pop a movie in and relax on the couch? Most of the time, a pop in a movie and stay home kind of girl...but I could be easily persuaded to enjoy a sunset dinner on the beach!

10. Tell us one thing you'd like to do with your significant one day. If you could do anything? Go anywhere?

I would love to go to some exotic beach, like Fiji or something. You know, sleep a lot, eat a lot, relax a lot....oh man, that sounds so nice.

11. Tell us what you plan on doing on this Valentine's Day. Probably nothing. You don't do much when you have a 6 week old and a 2 year old and your husband is in the middle of busy season.

12. Are you asking for anything this Valentine's day? Nope. We are trying to save all the money we can to allow me to stay home with the boys!! Well that and we have medical bills coming out our ears. So we will probably get each other a card and a small treat (most likely food...)

13. Give us one piece of advice of keeping a relationship strong and full of love. Zack is very firm on the "do not let the sun go down on your anger" rule. We always talk/fight things out before heading to bed. I think it makes a pretty big difference.

14. Show us a picture of what love means to you.