Thankful (This May or May Not Be Mushy....You Were Warned)

For my husband, who loves me even when I spend all of 2009 in a state of hormonal crazy. Who gives me kisses and brings me flowers for no reason at all. Who told me he loved me and wanted to marry me after 6 weeks of knowing each other. You are without a doubt the best part of God's plan for me, and I literally have no words to describe my thankfulness.

For my little bug, who has completely rocked my entire world....in the absolute best way possible. Who spent nine months making me uncomfortable, but was so, so worth it. Who smiles at us and takes our breath away. Who gets bigger every minute. I am completely in love.

For parents who took a chance on a little blond girl who loved Mickey Mouse and her "tenny shoes." Who showed me about loving Jesus. Who have given me a roadmap for parenthood. I hope I can give Ally Grace the kind of unconditional love that you have given me.

For in-laws who raised John to love Jesus. Who taught him how to be a leader, a gentleman, and most importantly, a godly man. I am so thankful that you made me a part of your family 5 years ago.

For a brother-in-law who is the brother I never had, but always wanted. Who is a man of God that I admire. Who loves to come visit his niece, hold her, and even change her diapers! You are already a fabulous Uncle!

For amazing girlfriends (it would take too many pictures to show all of you!) who have supported & encouraged me throughout the years. Who brought fabulous dinners to us after AG was born for a month straight! Who have been by my side during the different stages of life. I love you girls like crazy!

Most of all, for Jesus. Who gave me the gift of salvation. Who loves me every moment, even when I am a heinous sinner (which is always). Who doesn't stop giving me chances. Who is there for me, even when I'm too busy for him. You are the entire reason for my life.

And just in case you thought this post was too serious, I'm also thankful for my puppy, Jackson--who really should've been given his own bullet point now that I think about it, people who actually read this blog, people who comment on this blog (you make my day!), tivo, The Office, pumpkin spice lattes, Starbucks in general, the chance to sleep in, Anthropologie, People magazine, candy corn, the Twilight series (yes, REALLY), a good run on a gorgeous fall day, sweatpants, and hair colorists.

On the other hand, I am NOT thankful for having to clean up dog vomit, which is what I just had to do when Jackson threw up his heartworm pill.

My life is so glamorous.

Weekend

So, here's my weekend in list form......a) because I am a nerd and I love a good list, and b) I may or may not be moderately lazy and this is easier.

1. NEW MOON!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That could really be the entire list, as it is easily the most anticipated event of my year. Oh wait, I meant AFTER having a baby. Kristin and I went Friday night, along with every 15 year old girl in Atlanta.....it was quite the experience. From the almost fight that we had with some girls who tried to cut in front of us in line (Really. Don't. Mess.), to the girls who screamed every time Jacob had his shirt off (I promise that wasn't us.....maybe.), it was well worth the wait. In true Sherri form, I had assembled the perfect trifecta of snacks--Reese's Pieces, Mike 'n Ikes, and (what else) candy corn. Delightful.

2. Feeding AG--this has to be included simply because of the sheer amount of time it takes up in a given day. Although I do get to cuddle with my little frog, so it's all good.

3. Going running.....I have REALLY missed running, and just started back a couple of weeks ago. It feels amazing to run on a gorgeous fall day....even when I am having to run the pace of an 85 year old.

4. Doing some work--actually have missed this too, and am easing back into it.....it's amazing how you can be forced into productivity when you have only an hour-long window during a certain little monster's nap.

5. Coffee with Eryn--yay for coffee with a fun friend.....we even let AG come too, although she didn't seem to like the latte I ordered for her. Hmmmm, strange.

6. Cookies! Not just for me, I made a bunch of homemade double doozies for a party at Rod and Kristin's tonight. I may or may not have eaten a few along the way. Taste-testing, that's all.

7. Panahar & the Georgia game. If you watched the Georgia game, you know that Panahar was the more enjoyable part of that combo.

That's it......that hour-long nap window just turned into more like a 30-minute window, and I have a squirmy little baby that needs to be tricked into waiting another hour to eat.

Hallelujah for Naptime

It's a little scary how the highlight of my day is now the fact that the bug went down for her nap without lots of screaming & squirming. She definitely does NOT enjoy naptime. To be fair, her mommy has never really mastered the art of napping either. Mommy would prefer to read People and eat chocolate......hmmmm, perhaps a fun baby friendly activity when naptime just isn't happening?

Anyway, it's been a big week for AG! She's smiling ALOT, and very definitely on purpose. Like when I smile at her, she smiles back. And my heart? Turns into a big fat puddle. I would give her just about anything, including my clothing budget, which, for those of you who know me, should tell you quite a bit.

(Okay, let's not be rash, maybe I'd split it 70/30 with her. Mama's gotta have something to wear, right? Something that isn't sweatpants and my one favorite white t-shirt. Or my maternity jeans, which embarrassingly, I'm still wearing. Turns out, I have a deep love of elastic waistbands.)

In the last 5 weeks, she has changed SO much! She's getting bigger, and more aware of what's going on around her....plus, like I said, she's totally smiling for REAL, and even trying to reach for toys (sometimes). My favorite thing is taking her out of her swaddle, and watching her look all grumpy while she stretches those long legs.....too, too cute. If I were really cool, I'd put a video on here, so you could enjoy the cuteness, but a) we are very likely the one family on the planet that doesn't have a video camera, and b) I don't actually know how to post a video anyway.

Here are a few photos from the past few weeks instead.....enjoy!

We HATE tummy time!

(This picture does nothing to truly relate the hatred she feels for bathtime. This is actually pre-major gremlin meltdown.)

Happy Halloween from our little Pirate!

Don't be jealous of my Twilight onesie......yes, it does say "I'd rather be drinking blood." I know, I know, my obsession with Twilight is creepy. And, I don't really care.

Daddy loves his little girl!

And Finally, What I Know You've Been Waiting For.....

The birth story is finally here! Try not to get overly excited. I honestly hope I can even remember the details, because I feel a little bit braindead after the last 3.5 weeks of trying to figure out how to raise a newborn.

At any rate, I had an OB appointment when I was 6 days overdue, and the fabulous midwife who saw me (who later ended up delivering Ally Grace) was basically like, are you ready to have this baby tomorrow? And I said, yes, please. So, she told me Northside Hospital would be calling me later that day, and letting me know what time to come in to be induced. All very different from the mad dash to the hospital that I envisioned. Which is probably a good thing for every driver on the road between my house and Northside.

We ended up getting the call around 5, and were told to be there between 5:30 and 6pm. Good thing I had (mostly) packed my bag. John and I left the house, and I had this crazy moment where I realized that it was the last time I would see my house without a little one in tow. Which of course made me tear up. No surprise there, since anything and everything was making me cry at that point.

We had a quick minute to take a picture:

(in which my belly is totally trying to push John out of the way)


Then, we were on our way to have a baby! I think the whole way there I freaked out, saying OMG, I can't believe we are having a baby RIGHT NOW. Clearly not, but anyway.

We get there, get signed in, and head to our room. It honestly felt like checking into a hotel--a weird hotel, with hospital beds and bedpans, that is. I was hooked up to a fetal heartbeat monitor, and then another monitor to track my contractions. The nurse came in and said that they were going to give me some medicine to "soften my cervix." Mmmmm, sounds great.

(Yes, I am super classy and only read really respectable publications like In Touch. And no, the "I'm Going to Be a Mom" headline wasn't even on purpose. I was just trying to show off my reading choice.)



It turns out, I was far enough along that I didn't even need the "cervix-softening" medicine, so they decided to wait and induce me the next morning by breaking my water and giving me some Pitocin. Which apparently is supposed to really ramp up those contractions. So, yay.

The next morning, they started the Pitocin, and my midwife (who hereafter shall be referred to as Awesome Christine) broke my water. I was ready for contractions that were going to make me want to punch someone in the face, as I have clearly learned how this process works from shows like Grey's Anatomy, Private Practice, and the ever popular (at least on this blog) I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant.

Well, I never really had contractions like I expected. I mean, yes, I got to a point where I wasn't super comfortable, but that's when Awesome Christine stepped in and encouraged me to get my epidural. She pointed out very wisely that I could either "labor in comfort" or "labor in pain."

Hmmmm, let me think. I believe I'll take the comfortable option, please.

So, I got my epidural around 11 that morning. And I'm so glad I did, despite the fact that I literally could not feel/move my legs from that point forward. And I may or may not have asked the nurse 96 times if she was absolutely SURE that I hadn't accidentally been paralyzed.

Clearly I was her favorite patient that day.

Here I am "laboring in comfort" with John, awesome Christine, and my cup of ice chips. I think I could've been even more comfortable, had I been able to enjoy some cupcakes with my ice chips. Hallelujah for epidurals, is all I have to say.

And here is where I may potentially make some of you hate me. The rest of the labor and delivery was just not that hard. Seriously. And yes, I was clearly super medicated, and must have had WAY over the top fears of what it would be like. But, after 40 minutes of pushing, AG came out, and I honestly felt like, wow that was it? And please don't virtually slap me down for saying that if your own labor and delivery were difficult. I know that's the case for lots of women, and, thanks to all the really terrible stories I heard beforehand, I had really mentally prepared myself for something truly awful. In fact, the worst part of it all was after my epidural wore off. Yay for Percocet.

All I can say is that I am beyond thankful for the experience that God gave me, not to mention the fabulous nurses and awesome Christine....they were definitely part of His plan as well.

Anyway, Ally Grace was born at 5:03pm on October 8th. She weighed 7lbs and 15oz, and was 22 inches long. In my admittedly biased opinion, she is the most beautiful baby I've ever seen! Immediately after her birth, she had to be taken to the transition nursery for a few hours, as her breathing was faster than they wanted it to be. But, after about 4 hours of monitoring her, they brought her down to our room, where we finally got to spend time with our precious girl.

We had LOTS of visitors during our 2-day stay, and I was going to try to upload photos of each and every one. But, it's taking WAY too long to do that, and I am way too impatient to sit here for that long. Plus, did I mention that I have a new baby to take care of?

We finally did make it back home though. Here we are leaving the hospital with our little bundle of joy:

And most importantly, here's Jackson meeting his new little sister. Funny how they look nothing alike.

So, that's pretty much it for the birth story. Fascinating, wasn't it? In my next post, maybe we can talk about how I may or may not have sent out some pictures from the birth that may or may not have accidentally shown my lady parts. Yeah.......good times.