10 for 10

So our little newborn, is a newborn no more. Tomorrow he will be ten weeks old. I thought it would take so long to get here, but here it is and it came fast. I think that time has actually flown by even fast since school started 6 weeks ago, so I'm really looking forward to fall and winter break, hoping it'll slow down again and help me enjoy him all day every day.
Anyway, as we get ready to enjoy this 10 week milestone I thought maybe I should look back on my 10 favorite things about motherhood so far. Notice that these are my favorite things, that's because there are far more than 10 things I love about this new stage in life and this precious baby.
1. His smile. I am not just saying this because I am his mom, because others have said it, too, many times, but this is the happiest baby I have ever been around. And with my nannnying and babysitting throughout the years I have been around a lot of babies.

God has definitely blessed us with one goodnatured little tyke.

2. The feedings- I know, most moms would say, "What? The feedings? Are you nuts?" Well, maybe I am nuts but I do love them. It is such a sweet time. It is just us and I sing to him or read to him and while this is probably just my subconscious wishing, I like to think he is getting something out of it and enjoying it as much as I do. I really love the book "Guess How Much I Love You". It reminds me of my mom and me when I was little. I used to always tell her I loved her more and she would tell me she loved me most. It was an unending cycle. I never understood that she really could love me more than I was expressing, but now that I have a child of my own I see how endless this love is.... which brings me to my third fave thing

This is in our little reading corner in his nursery. Duke often joins as you can see

3. The love- It is so cliche because everyone always says you never know how much you can love until you have a child, but it is so true. The love I have for this little guy is so much more than I ever thought possible. It is not only amazing to see how much I love him, but how much my love for Daniel has grown too (which I didn't necessarily think was possible either, but it's like that country song, "I've said that before")

Our little family. So full of love.

4. The love I see that Daniel has for Caleb- Watching these two is such a blessing. Daniel always said he would be a wonderful Dad not because he knows what to do but because he knows what not to do thanks to his own experience with his father. But bad role model or not, this guy has the dad thing down perfectly. Caleb adores his daddy and the feeling is mutual. So Daniel if you're reading this it's not because you know what not to do, because you also know what to do and you do it perfectly!

Such a special bond these two already have.

5. Watching Caleb learn- Of course I am a mom so I think my child is advanced (haha), but in reality to think of all that he has accomplished in 10 short weeks is amazing. My favorite thing as of late is the cooing. I guess he really started letting us here him "talk" a couple of weeks ago and it is the sweetest thing ever. Daniel and I crack up and find ourselves mocking him often, which he enjoys and then continues to carry on the conversation in his own little way. But as I was writing this (literally) he rolled over for the first time. What a little stud!

Tummy time holds all kinds of learning experiences for Caleb.

6. The Duke/Caleb factor- Everyone warned me that my relationship with Duke would not be the same after the baby arrived. I don't necesarily think this is true. I may not have the same amount of time that I did before for Duke, but he still is my shadow and still loves me and the feeling is mutual. However, what I did not expect was for Duke to take to Caleb so easily and naturally. It has been said more than once that if Duke had opposable thumbs we could leave him in charge of Caleb. You have no idea. Duke checks on Caleb at every little sound he makes, and even if Caleb isn't making any noise Duke feels it is his job to check on his "little brother" every now and then. When we moved Caleb from the bassinet in our room to his crib in his room, you would have thought Duke had just lost his life long best friend. He didn't understand why Caleb wasn't in the bassinet and he was torn between sleeping in the nursery or in our room, so he did what was most logical and moved back and forth between rooms for the first few nights until he was assured Caleb would be OK in there by himself.

Seriously he could babysit, I don't think you understand.

7. Bringing me closer to God- Anyone who could ever doubt that there is a god, is not only ignorant, but has clearly never loved a child. Any and everything Caleb does is such a miracle to me. He is a miracle and everything about him is so miraculous that I find myself constantly thanking God for sweet Caleb and asking God to make me a better Christian for Caleb's sake and to bring me closer to Him so that Caleb may grown to love the Lord and be a God serving man.

Our fam after church.. this was about the only picture I could think of to symbolize this :)

8. Learning the small things don't matter- Those of you who know me, know I am a worrier and an anxious mess. Well, meet the new Katie because something about this little guy has brought the greatest calm to me and I rarely find myself stressed about much. I think it is because of Caleb and having to put less important things on the wayside that I have learned this. After a while of not having the perfect house or always having my hair done every day I saw that these things didn't matter and life was still going on fine. These are just a couple of the examples of the big picture, but I do see now that sometimes you just have to forget about things and know that they will get done later.

Horrid hair, clothes that are spit up on, lack of make-up. Who cares when you have such a cute little man!

9. Watching him grow- While I have already had my moments where all I want is for time to slow down so he stops growing, it is so amazing to see how he changes. I can't wait to watch him grow over the years and become the wonderful man I know he will be.

From his first minutes...

to today!

10. Caleb- This is kind of a given, but everything about the little guy is so wonderful to me that there isn't a thing I don't love about him. From his smile to his sweet cry, to the way he nuzzles when he is on your chest but his still thinking he is a big boy and trying to hold his own bottle before dropping it a few seconds later, there isn't a thing about this child that I don't absolutely adore. He has changed my life so much in 10 short weeks. Everyone always says parenthood is a sacrifice, and maybe in someways it is, but there isn't a thing I have sacrificed that I miss and regret having to give up. I can't wait to see what else the future with my little boo boo holds.

Sweet newborn Caleb. He sure has changed a lot since this picture, but I love it so. Thanks for everything sweet boy. Your momma and daddy love you oodles and oodles.

What's all the fuss about?

So I was looking at another mom's blog this morning and her daughter turns 2 today (as far off as that used to seem, as fast as these past 8 weeks have flown by I know it will be here before I know it). Anyway, she had posted about the big day and linked back to past blogs she had written about her little girl. I became inspired. I know I have fallen off the blog band wagon as of late, but I am going to try and be better. With a baby, school and 2 jobs, you have to cut me some slack.
Anyway, if I am going to keep everything for Caleb, I guess the first place to start is the labor and delivery story.
So, let's turn the clock back 1,382 hours and 11 minutes. Yes, that is precisely how long it has been since little coccolo entered the world. And yes, I also realize I am a nerd for calculating that.
Anyway, getting to 12:53 a.m. on July 20, was not the quickest of journeys, however, I wouldn't say it was near as bad as all of the labor horror stories you hear.
I checked into the hospital about a quarter til 7 on Monday morning to be induced. I was induced around 9 and had my water broken around 12 because not much progress was being made. At this point Dr. Alverson told me when I thought I was getting close to any kind of pain to let the nurse know so I could get my epidural ordered because it would take an hour. Well, I thought he was exaggerating just so I wouldn't get to the point of needing it and expect it to be simultaneous that I received the drug.
Well, dude wasn't lying. I think I decided about an hour after I had my water broken that it was time. It took another hour and a half for the anesthesiologist to get up to my room. I probably shot daggers at him when he walked in the room, but in the end the guy was there to give me the goods so I just leaned forward and let him do his magic. Except that wasn't even that easy. Earlier in the morning I had agreed to let a student nurse shadow my nurse. I thought, well no big deal they'll learn and just be monitoring my stats and what not. Nope, wrong. They were there for everything including when the epidural was administered. So as the doctor is inserting the catheter in my back he is explaining step by step what he is doing and all of the possibilities of things going wrong and leaving me paralyzed. Uhm, hello?!?! Who wants to hear this when they have been in labor for 6 hours and are in enough pain without the agony of considering being a paralyzed mother... not this chick that's for sure.
So anyway, after Dr. Dundee (his accent was just like Crocodile Dundee, so at least that added a little entertainment to the talk of a catheter entering my back {note the little}) was finished with his work I was feeling pretty good. It is absolutely absurd how you truly do lose complete control of your lower body. My legs felt about 1,000 lbs each and there was not a thing I could do to will my body to even give me a slight bit of control over them.
Fast forward about another 3 hours and you can cue the nausea. It was awful I was physically sick for the rest of labor until 12:53 a.m. No joke, I was still getting sick as I was pushing. Ok, sorry that is as graphic as I'll get.
Anyway, labor was pretty easy if you ask me. I napped a lot of the day. I watched tv, movies and the Cardinals game. The funny thing is that the Cardinals were losing and the labor was progressing very slowly and Dad and I joked that Caleb was just waiting until the Cardinals started winning to make his appearance, and sure enough as they took the lead my labor started progressing much fast. The Cardinals ended up winning and a few hours after that I was holding my sweet baby for the first time after only an hour of pushing. God is good! Birth has to be the most miraculous event ever. It was crazy when I was holding him and admiring how perfectly he was made the next day to think that just hours before he had been inside of me for 40+ weeks. Anyone who can say humans evolve and that God doesn't exist is just plain stupid. Witness the miracle of birth and surely you will change your mind.
Well this was long enough, but Caleb, one day when you are older I can look at this and remind you that it took nearly 17 hours to get you into this world and out of me, and if that day you are not listening, I'll also remind you that within 17 secs I can take you out. JK Caleb Lawrence, that is just such a typical mom line that I had to say it.
You are the joy of my life and your dad's and no matter what you do you should know that we will always love you and we will always be here for you. Nothing can change that. I love you to the moon and back.

I'M THE SKINNIEST GIRL IN THE WORLD

Okay, so not really, but this is how I have felt for the past 23 glorious days.

That is because on July 20 at 12:53 a.m. our sweet Caleb Lawrence entered the world. Our little man weighed 8 lbs and 9.8 ounces, and honestly was the prettiest baby I've ever seen. I know I am going to be biased because he is mine, but I was fully expecting him to be all alien like. Even some of the nurses throughout the week made comments on how pretty he was. One said she honestly has never told a couple that because newborns are just not pretty and she is not going to lie just to make someone feel better and she thought he was beautiful.

After he came back from the nursery. Loving him so much!

Our first fam pic- sorry Daniel, you're head got a little chopped off

Just hours old, sorry I don't know how to flip itMeeting his grandparents for the first time, since they didn't get to see him the night he was born due to his breathing probs and fever

Anyway, the past 23 days with our little coccolo (italian for pampered, chubby baby) have been heavenly. He honestly, knock on wood, is a great baby. He has maybe cried once for more than a minute or two, but even that was about a 5 minute spell. And better yet, he only wakes up once in the middle of the night, and then early morning but will still go back to sleep so as to let his lazy mama get at least 8-10 hours of good sleep.

We've had a couple of problems but they have all been resolved. Little cocco was immediately taken to the nursery for observation when born because he was having breathing problems and running a fever. Then when we came home he was having latch on problems, but after he dropped a full pound from his birth weight, he was 3 ounces over his birth weight by the next Thursday and at 3 weeks was a full 10 lbs.

Anyway, my hubs just came home for a surprise visit, so this is a good place to leave off and say I'll be back later to finish the rest!

Take a Walk in my Shoes

First of all can we have a moment of celebration, it's JULY!!!!!!!!!! No matter how late, or how early, or if he is exactly on time that means we will not be entering the next month without my baby boy! How wonderful is that.

Nonetheless, it still seems to just be dragging on and on. So, I have been spending the time listening to people's labor self-induction theories. From castor oil to Sonic Chili Cheese Dogs to jump rope, there are definitely some good ones.

While I haven't gotten desperate enough to try any yet, I have continued my walking, because I have always heard that walking will help the labor process and help to naturally move the baby down. (There might be some truth to that since he dropped 2 weeks ago-- fingers crossed it also works for the easing of labor pain as well (: )

Anyway, it has become too hot to walk outside, even on most nights, so I have been walking up at the old basketball coliseum. There are always others walking, or running, or doing the stairs, and because it's summer, there are a lot of different camps in and out every week. Typically cheer, dance or basketball. All of these camps add a little excitement to the walk because they give me something entertaining other than a mundane continuous walking in circles.

However, none of the camps, not even the little bitty kids playing basketball with the balls being 4 times the size of their head could compare to these two men that are at the coliseum every day with me.

Well the other day I turned major creeper and decided I would see if I could get pictures of these two men with my phone without them noticing so that I could share their stories with the blog world.

So without further adieu, may I first introduce you to the world's fastest old man.

This man, while it may be hard to see from this grainy little pic, this man is pushing 80. The outift seen in this picture is his uniform. Seriously orange shirt, grey shorts everyday, it never fails.

Okay, so taking in his age, one would figure, that while it is great that this man is still exercising, he would be slow. Well, as I have learned, this is clearly not the case. This dude either teleports himself throughout the coliseum to mess with my head or he is clearly the world's fast walker. No joke.

This guy will be in front of me at one second and within the next 30 seconds he is gone. No matter how fast I walk to try and see where he went, he is gone. I have walked in and out of the arena to the outer lap, looked all around the stairs and corridors, and I never can find him. My original thought was he knew a short cut and wasn't going the whole outer lap, but no I don't know what happens.

I'll be sitting there wondering what happened to my orange shirted friend and all of the sudden he will be behind me. Lapping me or what, I don't know, but seriously, where did this guy come from?

I have been telling people about him and I don't think anyone gets it, that's while I took the pic. It's my proof that he does exist, haha.

Anyway, I guess the orange shirted speedracer will remain unsolved until I can get someone who isn't 38 weeks preg to walk with me and follow this man, haha.

Anyway, onto my next walkin' pal. The topless Lothario.

This man, I don't even know where to start. This picture does his story no justice. He runs the stairs, which is fine. Pre-Caleb man I too ran the stairs. However, here is what separates dude from me- he strips down to his tight little shorts before beginning his workout. Now, while I don't want to knock him since he is apparently trying to better himself through exercise and I 100% commend that, the man is about 280-300 pounds and has floppy body parts that no one wants to see. I will give him this though, at least he's not hairy. If he were hairy, I'd have to change my walking time because I would not be able to take it.

Anyway, the man seems to think nothing of it, even though at any given time there are10-20 other walkers/runners/ step climbers who are always fully clothed. To make matters worse the dude sweats buckets. It's disturbing.

While it really would make it more comfortable for all if he wore a shirt, you can't help but admire the guys confidence and his perserverance to be there every day to exercise.

So while these two guys baffle me in their own ways, I guess there are admirable qualities to each of them and they entertain me on my otherwise boring walks. So thanks strange men who I walk with. Oh, yeah, and sorry for being a creeper and taking your pics, but they just added that something extra to this blog post.

The Past Week

Call me a slacker because that's what I've been this past week when it comes to blogging. So, just in case someone is actually interested in my mundane life, let's play a quick game of catch up.

Last Wednesday, June 23, was mine and Daniel's third wedding anniversary.

It was pretty funny when we woke up that morning and started talking about how much life has changed from this anniversary and our last two. Let's compare, shall we....

Our first anniversary we went away to Puerto Rico. While there we ate at quite possible the most delicious restaurant either of us have ever eaten- Dragonfly in Old San Juan. We stayed at a beautiful resort and went shopping at the massive mall. We hiked waterfalls in the El Yunque, kayaked in the bioluminescent bay, explored ancient forts and ate at other delish restaurants (though none compared to Dragonfly). This anniversary was quite the milestone for those that were in touch with us our first year as we definitely had a rough time with struggling to adjust to island life, as well as newlywed life and all the adjusting that brings. To further celebrate Daniel surprised me with a trip to Aruba as my gift and we hopped on over to Aruba less than 2 weeks later to continue the anniversary celebration.

Our second anniversary, wasn't quite as adventurous, but we had big news to celebrate this time. We were leaving the island and moving back to Auburn, AL. I was going to finish school and Daniel was going to return for his PhD. We knew life would be changing since we were both quitting our jobs, but we were excited. (needless to say we definitely didn't realize how much life would be changing) While we spent our actual anniversary on St. Croix, we had just returned from Auburn where we had found our future home and had time to see some family (very brief home since in September we bought some land and began building) as well as a cruise at the end of May as a Katie birthday/ D&K anniversary gift. On our actual anniversary we dined at Savant our favorite island restaurant. We toasted to the changes that God was bringing our way and enjoyed the night.

Fast forward another year, and to most, it would seem our anniversary was crappy compared. But for us it was the best one yet. We woke up in our bed- in OUR HOME- with a bassinet next to us. While this bassinet was empty, we couldn't help but be delighted in looking at it knowing that in 3 short weeks or so, we would have the ultimate blessing there with us. We then discussed what we would do that night. Unlike previous years, there was not going to be $200 dinners or lavish trips, life had changed. But as we say, we are rich in ways beyond finances and in ways that truly bring happiness to life. Haha- hey it makes us feel better. So, this anniversary we found ourselves wanting to make the day special but conscientious of money as we are now focused on our little man and not ourselves.

Creole Shack

A little too close for comfort, but here we are 3 years in, and 36 weeks and 5 days preg

Luckily, I had won 2 movie tickets a few months back from a radio contest. So a movie was put into the plans and then I had free subs from Subway coupons, so we could eat out too.

No, it wasn't the luxurious anniversaries of years past, but we knew this one was the best yet.

In the end, we did end up going to a movie- Knight and Day to be exact. But we didn't eat at Subway, instead we tried out the Creole Shack-- a little hole in the wall up the road that we had always wanted to try.

Oh my word are we glad we did! This place was unbelievable. We had an appetizer and two entrees for $21 and the food was seriously out of this word good. Now, notice I didn't say healthy, but good it was. Between dinner and the movie we went and walked the mall like old geezers. Then it was off to CVS for candy and then to the movie. It wasn't the best movie of all time, but it was great to get out of the house and just enjoy each other's company.

So, yes 3 years in and things have changed drastically. From a beach front condo on a Caribbean island, to a humble 3 bedroom home in Alabama. And you know what, neither of us would change it for the world. This 3rd year of marriage is going to be the best yet as we have more than we could ever ask for with the upcoming arrival of our sweet baby boy. Have I mentioned God is good!

Anyway, that was Wednesday. On Friday, Daniel's parents got in town. We hung out with them Friday night. Saturday Daniel had an exam then we went over to his parents' club house and watched the US soccer game with his parents and grandmother. We went to Niffer's for dinner, DQ for dessert and after hanging out a little more called it a night. Daniel's grandmother spent the night with us and Sunday we were up bright and early for church.

This is my favorite part-- we have finally decided on a church (I think?!?! lol) Auburn United Methodist Church. It was the first one we went to way back when and we have been back a bunch among visiting all of the other churches, but after returning this weekend we feel this church is going to be the best fit for us. It took us a while to decide on one. I think we were looking for the perfect fit, and we all know that there will always be problems no matter where you are especially when you are looking.

On a side note, I do ask that you continue to pray for us though in this area, just that we have found the right church and that our family can bring as much to this church as possible and that we can also take from it and grow in God's desire as much as possible.

Monday night was our last childbirth class. Not to sound cynical, and this is really all I am going to say about it at this time, but these classes were a waste of time and money. We learned nothing, however, we did have some good laughs at the expense of others. Not nice, I know, but true. I mean you wouldn't believe some of the things that came out of these people's mouths. You just have to hope that when their baby arrives that parental instinct and common sense kick in at some point.

That brings us to today. Nothing too exciting. Just some house chores and pool time for me and school for Daniel.

Tomorrow is our 38 week check up, here's to hoping we get some good progressive news!

A Sneak Peak..

So, these pictures are far from good and the room is still a work in progress, but here are some nursery pics. Once it's complete this weekend with the glider and all, and I get my SLR camera skills up to par I will upload better ones.

One side of the room, minus the left part of the wall which is still a work in progress. Daniel built the bookcase from scratch and I painted the canvas up top. Still have to add a Bible verse, but I really want it to be a verse he can hold onto throughout life, so I have yet to find the one I want to stick with. There are so many great ones!

Knobs I painted for his revamped dresser. I like to see the dresser as vintage chic, some might prefer budget friendly, others just plain ol' cheap =). Either way, he'll love it.

Window and junk in front. It's more cleaned up now, but still not perfect. Need to figure out stuff to put on the walls possibly. Now the bookcase is in the left corner and the glider is going in the right, but I'm thinking about painting some canvases and stuff, a la the rec of Erica. It will add to the room and give me something to do to pass the time.

Perfecting the Waddle

Well, according to my ticker at the top of the page I only have about 25 days to go, if the lil man arrives on his due date. However, I have my fingers crossed that he'll be a little earlier-- as long as he is healthy-- because this kid has dropped and he has me waddling everywhere I go now.

As we know, per Dr. Marino's lovely description of my "good sized kid", Caleb' is not exactly the smallest of babies. Now that he has dropped I am feeling just how "good sized" he is. I have carried low the entire pregnancy but now the kid is practically hanging out at my knees and my lower back is feeling it.

While it's not excruciating, it's not pleasant. Thus I am asking for the early reprieve. I have also been having contractions more regularly, but as the docs say and the trusty What to Expect When You're Expecting book, that doesn't mean crud for first time mommas. The baby could drop anywhere from 2-4 weeks before delivery and contractions could start at 30 weeks and you could still go full term.

So while these little signs aren't exactly the golden ticket to knowing I am going into labor soon, at least they are a sign that things are progressing ever so slowly.