Reflections

With only a couple more hours left of 2013 I'm inclined to sit here and reflect on all that has happened in the past year. I do have to say it has been quite an amazing year! The past several years I could honestly say that there were some really difficult hard times that I went through. Though I did go through some hard times this year, they were nothing like it has been. I've been truly blessed. This is what the past year has brought me:

1. First Anniversary
In the year 2013 I was able to celebrate my first anniversary. Can't believe I've been married for over a year now and about to celebrate my second! Time sure does seem to fly!

2. Pregnancy and Baby Theo
The day after our first anniversary we found out the wonderful news that we were expecting a baby. Boy did I not know what was coming. Never knew that I could love a little person so much even after all the sleep deprivation and endless crying. We have had some pretty rough days but this little boy still has a firm grip on my heart.

3. New Apartment
So maybe this doesn't seem like a really big one but it has made quite a difference in our lives. I really do like our new place. Without this new place we wouldn't have been able to get a dog which brings me to my next point.

4. Mozzie
Though this dog can drive me crazy at times, I still love him. He can have his moments of sweetness. He has been kind of needy lately because he isn't getting as much attention lately but he's still a good dog.

5. Michael's Job
So Michael started his job last December but its kind of big thing so I'm listing it here. We are incredible grateful for his job at Delta. Michael really likes working there. The job is boring (what job isn't?) but he really likes the people he works with and Delta as a company. We're really hoping to stay with them for years, Lord willing.

6. New Year's Resolution
Last New Year's I made the resolution to start learning French. So here's the big reveal to see whether I actually kept to it or not. Drum roll please........I did it! Ok, I'm not fluent in French but I did keep to it and start learning the language. I feel as if I came pretty far. There have been stretches of time where I drifted from it so I didn't get as far as I could have but I think I did pretty well. My sister-in-law is also learning French and she told me about this fabulous website where you can learn French for free! I loved it the moment I tried it. It has helped out a lot, and they do other languages other than French. If you're interested the site is called Duolingo and I highly recommend it!

Ok, so this is all I can think of right now, though I'm pretty sure I'm forgetting things. But hey its late and I'm tired. I'm really looking forward to all 2014 has to offer. Happy New Year!

Christmas

First of all Merry Christmas! It's a little late but hey, its the thought that counts right? We had a great little Christmas this year. Since Michael was working on Christmas we decided to open presents on Christmas Eve in the evening and do a little "party". We just had a few little finger foods, opened presents, and watched a Christmas movie. It was really rather wonderful. :) We still have a Christmas dinner to do with Michael's brother and his family. We were going to do it the day after Christmas but my sister-in-law and nephew came down with something (poor things) so its been postponed till they get better.

Little Theo

So its about time I write a post announcing little Theo's birth. Little Theodore Michael was born on November 7 (so he's a month old now!). He weighed in a 7 lbs 14 oz and 20 1/2 in. long.

I ended up getting induced one week past my due date. They would have let me go longer but his cord was wrapped around his neck and the fluid was getting low so the doctor it was best to go ahead and induce than wait any longer. The whole process went smoothly for the most part. They brought me in on Wednesday (the 6th) night and started me on certavil. It wasn't to bad until they started the pitocin the next morning. The contractions were coming on hard and strong. Soon after they administered the epidural there was a slight complication with his heart rate dropping. When it first started happening they rushed into the room turned me to my side and put a oxygen mask on me without saying a word. I was kind of freaked out not knowing what was going on. The theory is that his cord was possibly causing his heart rate to drop since it would only happen if I was laying on my back or my left side. Thankfully he was born a healthy boy with no complications. I ended up laboring less than 24 hours from start to finish. I certainly got lucky.

Life at home with him has certain been a challenging one. It has been a great life adjustment. I just try to take it one day at a time and try not to think how tired I am. He's definitely a morning person. He's all smiles after he wakes up and slowly fades as the day passes. 

We haven't really had any major problems with nursing. He caught on pretty quick and my milk had no problems coming in. He's already a little over 9 lbs! He's still in newborn clothes which surprises me. I personally think he carries all his weight in his cheeks haha.

Don't you just want to squish those cheeks!?

We have had some problems with sleeping at night. There have been quite a few of restless nights and I don't doubt that there are more to come. Though I am pretty happy that he only woke up once last night. I don't think it will stick for now but I am grateful for one good night of sleep! One of the best things is that he does really well going out. I probably just jinxed it though. He falls asleep pretty quickly in the car and then whenever we're in the store or at a restaurant he just sleeps the whole time. I think he likes all the background noise.

Ok, so now for an embarrassing/humbling/never-going-to-happen-again story. The day after Thanksgiving Michael and I went out to Hobby Lobby to look at their fake trees (we had a real one last year). They were having a sale so we went to see if there was one in our price range. Lucky enough for us we found one that was perfect. After buying the tree they told us to bring our car to the front while they go get the tree from the back. We do just that. They bring the tree out and we proceed to load it in the car. Unfortunately our car is not very big so it didn't fit in the trunk so we had to put it up front on the passenger side. Kind of hard to explain but it ended up with me moving to go sit in the back seat. Now since we were just loading the tree into the car we left the car running. Once the tree was safely in the car I proceeded to go around to get in the back of the car. Out of habit we shut the doors. That is when it hit me. We just locked not only the keys but our newborn baby in the car. I, of course, started freaking/stressing out. I felt like such a failure. How could a mother lock her own child in the car. We tried all possible ways of getting in but all efforts failed. We tried asking for help but all anybody could tell us was to dial 911. Luckily for us someone was parked illegally in the fire lane behind us. A cop showed up and asked them to move their car. Michael quickly went to him and asked for help to get in the car. Of course once he heard that Theo was locked in their he quickly got the tools to help. Thankfully he was able to unlock the car and we were able to finally all go home safe and sound.  Whew, I was beyond stressed and tired by the end of the day. I'm just really glad that Theo slept through the entire thing.We are determined to never let that happen again.