Happy Birthday Norah!

Today Norah is officially one year old. Can you tell that this child has just a bit of a personality?

Norah's Birth Story

We knew we were having a girl with our second baby. John honored my wish to be surprised the first time around and in return, I agreed to find out the gender for #2. I couldn't wait to wrap my arms around our baby girl. My due date was April 24th and I had a feeling she wouldn't be arriving anytime early so I didn't get my hopes up for an early reprieve from my pregnancy.
Having an unmedicated water birth was a huge goal for me with this delivery. Although I absolutely believe it is healthier for a baby to be born without drugs, I can't honestly say this was the only driving force behind my decision. The truth is, I wanted the challenge; to face the pain of birth and see if I could survive it like the amazon woman I always wish I could be. And as a bonus, not paying an anesthesiologist would save our bank account $2500 as well (a fact that I warned John not to even hint at in the delivery room should I change my mind and beg for that epidural).  John and I briefly talked about doing a home-birth, and then quickly dismissed the idea as a little too frightening for us. We talked about hiring a doula (birthing coach) to come to the house and talk me through the pain, and then quickly dismissed that idea once we learned how much those cost.  In the end, our entire birth plan hinged on the information in a 1984 book I borrowed from the library called Husband Coached Childbirth, written by the famed Dr. Robert Bradley, inventor of the Bradley Method of Birth. I read it like it was the Gospel and John skimmed a few chapters and was satisfied that he got the main idea.  And that's a guy for you.
April 24th came and went as did the 25th, 26th, 27th, 28th, and 29th with nothing to report. On Friday the 30th we got up in the morning and went to check out some garage sales in neighboring developments and did lots of walking. I was getting a little desperate and a lot discouraged at this point but nothing cheers me up quite like scoring a sweet toy for a quarter so we pressed on. The day passed and again, nothing. Friday night my sister Rebecca invited me to join her for dinner at Brio's so I could get out of the house for a while. During dinner I started feeling some pretty strong tightening that was painless, but lengthy, and I had to stop and catch my breath a few times. I brushed it off even though it persisted as we walked through the mall and enjoyed some ice cream before we left to go home. I didn't want to get my hopes up yet or say anything to Rebecca about it.
At 10pm I was still feeling funny and I told John I was going to take a little walk around the neighborhood to see if I could figure out what was going on. It was pitch black but Buckeye trotted along faithfully beside me and I  remember that walk being so perfectly peaceful as I prayed and paused for a contraction and then prayed some more. God really spoke courage into my heart during during that 30 minutes that I didn't have before and I knew that I had the strength to do this.
At 11pm I was positive that I was in labor. I told John to crawl in bed and get some rest, thinking it would be a long night, only to yell "how could you be sleeping when I'm dying over here!!" 10 minutes later (sorry babe) when I realized things were getting intense way too quickly and I needed him to start recording the contractions. John got the watch and started writing and timing while I tried unsuccessfully to get comfortable. I went from the birthing ball to the bath to the bed to the bath to the floor to wandering around aimlessly to the bath. We had worship music playing quietly and I kind of kept to myself as I tried to deal with the pain that was overwhelming me. I talked several times on the phone to my midwife who was very reassuring and kept telling me that she didn't think I needed to come in yet, but that I would know when it was time. At 2am, when the contractions were coming every 2-3 minutes I started to panic and we called John's mom and told her it was time to come over and stay with Eli. She arrived in what seemed like a minute and we left for the hospital somewhere around 2:30. The drive to the hospital was crazy hard. I seriously thought I was going to deliver our daughter on Cleveland Ave as we managed to hit every red light.

By the time we got back to triage the nurse checked me and I was 8-9cm. I was quickly rushed into delivery where I promptly began begging to get into the water. There was some mandatory monitoring for 15 minutes which seemed an eternity and then they filled the tub for me. It was an amazing relief, but momentary because I knew I had to start pushing, which is what terrified me the most.
At 3:28am, less than 35 minutes after arriving at the hospital, Norah Dee was born. My midwife, Emily, who  kindly mentioned after-the-fact that this was her first ever water delivery was wonderful, and she laid Norah right on my chest and let me hold her as long as I wanted.  It was incredible and I am so thankful for the whole experience and that John was by my side throughout it.  Although I'm not sure I'm cut out to be an amazon woman because without the help of modern medicine (3 Pitocin injections and finally an IV) I may have hemorrhaged to death following the birth. Thank the Lord we opted out of that home-birth.
  I called my mom at 3:45 and she was there within 20 minutes along with my sister Rebecca who was so sweet to come in the middle of the night to meet miss Norah. And we enjoyed the rest of our hospital stay as if we were on vacation in the Hamptons. 1 baby, around the clock nurses, fresh ice-water delivered with the push of a button,  a remote control bed... these are the things that you cherish with your second delivery.



Dear Norah,

I have always dreamed about having a daughter of my own and I still pinch myself sometimes when I see your sweet face when you wake up in the morning. You are so silly and have such a huge personality at 1 year old. This keeps us laughing and also secretly terrifies us for what is to come as you grow. I love all the funny faces you make to ensure that we're clear on how you feel about certain things and the way that you growl, grunt, and scream to express your opinion. I love how you look up to your brother already, following him around like he is greatest thing in the world. You are a beautiful baby girl and we can't wait to see how you grow and change during this next year. We love you so much!
 Happy 1st birthday,
 Mommy

Party Time!

This weekend we had a co-birthday party for Eli and Norah since their birthdays fall only 10 days apart from each other. We had planned to have the whole thing outside so the kids could run around and burn off energy and the adults could christen the new deck with the first party, but unfortunately incessant rain kept us all cooped up indoors. We had 20 adults and 14 children here and that is only counting immediate family members, my friends.  We are more than blessed to have such a large, loving family to dote on our children and make them feel special always, and extra special on their big days. I wanted to share a few of my favorite pictures from the party. Thank you Chris and Rebecca for snapping these photos while I ran around in a blur of hosting activity.

Happy Birthday Eli!

Today Eli is 3 years old. Its the weirdest thing because last night when I kissed him goodnight he was only 2, and today he woke-up a whole year older. He asked me this morning, "mom are you sad that I'm not your baby anymore? Cause' Jesus can make you happy." Am I that transparent?

I keep a baby book for each of the kids. Eli's is a scrapbook that I lovingly and painstakingly spent hours creating; cutting up dozens of cutesy papers with fancy scissors and working hard to coordinate each page with a theme. As you can probably guess, I got a little smarter when Norah came along and purchased a ready made baby book that just has fill-in-the-blank questions and "place photo here" spots. I'm really not a big fan of either option because I forgot to write down most of Eli's baby milestones in his book and Norah's skips around and has a way-too-unorganized layout for this organizationally obsessive mind.  And neither of them have a place for me to write down the Birth Day story. So, I thought I would take a few minutes on each of their birthdays this year to write down those moments that I don't want to forget, just in case in 10 years when one of them asks me "what time was I born mom?" I wont have to say something like "uh, mid morning honey."
  So please feel free to stop reading here.... heck I probably would if I weren't the star of this story.
 Just kidding, I was only the co-star.

Eli's Birth Story

I was induced at 39 weeks due to low amniotic fluid. We had to be at the hospital at 5am on April 21st , 2008 to get the induction process going. I was so nervous but more than excited to find out if we were having a girl or a boy because we were going to be surprised. If we had a girl her name was going to be Faith and our boy name was Elijah. We had a really peaceful day in our hospital room reading and napping and visiting with the occasional visitor who stopped in. Things just went really smoothly. I got my epidural early and felt nothing except for the rare pressure of a hard contraction, which was painless. My L&D nurse was actually a friend I graduated from nursing school with and she was 8 months pregnant also and just amazing to us. I was sneaking bites of Cheez-its throughout the day because I was starving and forbidden from eating anything except popsicles until after the birth. Please people, is that really necessary?John was paranoid about me breaking the rules and was getting on me that we were going to get caught, but after I shot him a look with the evil eye he backed right off and let me to enjoy my crackers.  At 4:45pm I was ready to start pushing and things went quickly from there. At 5:06pm I was holding my son in my arms. I'll never forget the moment when John looked at the baby and announced to me "Its a boy!" You just couldn't beat the sound of pride in his voice and I cherish that moment so. I'll never forget that the song When We All Get To Heaven by Carmen happened to be playing on our ipod as I was pushing, and our doctor walked in the room and said "Hey, what a great tune" as he began to hum along. I'll never forget that the first thing I begged for and promptly scarfed down not an hour after birth was a #1 combo from Wendys with a large Diet Coke, and then immediately regretted it. I'll never forget that moment at 3am in the hospital trying to figure out how to feed my baby, when the reality of exhaustion, overwhelming responsibility, and fear crashed into me like a 10 ton truck and I began to weep. The sweet night nurse sat with me for a while and reassured me that yes, these feelings were normal, and yes, I was going to be a great mom.  She was such a Godsend that woman. And the rest is history...

Dear Eli,

Happy 3rd birthday my little man! Although its so hard to choose just one, I think my favorite quality about you is your tender heart. Even at 3, you are compassionate and care so much for others and I am very proud of that in you. I know that God has something really special planned for a gentle heart like yours, and I pray that we can continue to foster and grow this within you. Your laugh is infectious and your joy brings smiles to all those who know you. More than anything, I pray that you will grow to love Jesus and live your life unashamed for Him. Our God is a big God, so keep on dreaming big. Anything is possible for your life.
Kisses,
 Mommy

Hop Hop Hop

This weekend, while John and I enjoyed a lovely adult get-away to Indianapolis for a friend's wedding, my sister and brother-in-law graciously kept our children for us. Thank you Kim and Kevin! While there, Eli apparently became fascinated by the fact that his cousin Callie, who is 4, knows how to hop on one foot. And he's been trying to hop around the house ever since we got home. His heart is definitely in it, but unfortunately those major muscle motor skills just haven't fully developed yet. We have just been laughing our heads off around here watching his attempts.

Is it possible?

Dare we get our hopes up? Could spring finally here?

 I hear birds chirping at my window every morning...

 I smell fresh cut grass as lawn mowers fire up all over the neighborhood...

 I see kids playing outside with flip-flops on and no winter coats...

 I feel dirt on my fingers as I plant (and re-plant) my vegetable seeds in their tiny pots....

And I pray that I have tucked my bulky winter boots to the far corner of the closet for the Very. Last. Time.

Mix Master

If I ever come across a genie in a bottle I already know that one of my wishes will be for a soundtrack to accompany my life. That there will always be music playing in perfect tune with the highs and lows of my day. I'd wish for that, and a personal hair and make-up stylist to be waiting for me in my bathroom every morning so I can drink coffee and catch up on the latest US Weekly current events. Ahh, it would be grand.

A few weeks ago when I was knee-deep in repainting the office, I found my collection of CD's stashed away underneath our desk. When I put the room back together, instead of replacing them there, I stuck them in my car so I could listen to all of my old favorites. And ever since, every drive I take has become a trip down memory lane. Before Ipods and MP3 players were all the rage, I used to pride myself on making a mean mixed CD. I made them for myself, for my friends, and for my sisters. Music is totally therapy for me so I have mixes made to cover every emotion and for every occasion. For example, the short list of CD titles includes...

The Feel Better Mix (aka the break-up mix)

Songs to Cry With

Ride to Work Mix

The Long Drive Home Mix

Party Mix

Morning Mix

Morning Mix Vol 2

Pure Country Lovin' Mix

Alum Creek Mix

Praise and Worship Vol 1, 2, 3, and 4 mix

Songs that Make me Happy Mix

Cool-down Mix

Date Night Mix

I love Celine Mix

God Bless America Mix

Random Mix

Love Songs 

Love Songs Vol 2

Love Songs Vol 3

Ultimate Love Songs mix

Angry Mix

Running Mix

Rachel Mix

Rachel's Awesome Pop Mix

Oldies But Goodies Mix

And the list goes on and on and on. I love how you can not hear a favorite song for 10 years and yet when you hear it again you remember every single word to perfection, even the extra
"yeah's" and "uh-huhs". And it takes you right back to the time when that song really meant something to you and you can remember all those emotions again like it was yesterday.  I cannot listen to the Dixie Chicks Wide Open Spaces CD without remembering how much I loved driving to high school with my sisters, blasting our music and stopping at McDonald's to get Cappuccinos and breakfast burritos on the way. Or when Aerosmith croons I don't Want To Miss A Thing I am 18 again watching Armageddon with John and he's telling me he loves me for the first time so unexpectedly. And even with those first few beats of Lose Yourself, (the one and only Eminem song that I have ever liked) I can see myself pounding the pavement, running the mile loop around the UC campus again and again while I trained for my first marathon and played this song on repeat so I wouldn't quit. I don't think I would have completed it without that song. And I still get goosebumps when I play the mix of our wedding music and I remember how it felt to stand there with my dad and see John so overcome with emotion waiting for me at the end of the isle and the beginning of our new life. Music is powerful, at least it is to me. I used to tell John when we were dating,"If you want to know what kind of mood I'm in, just pay attention to the mix I'm listening to." And I think that still holds true today. 

Happy 11 Months Norah!

I cannot believe we are only one month away from Norah's birthday.Wasn't I just praying that I would go into labor like 5 minutes ago?

As we suspected, Norah is starting to walk now and venture out on her feet. She's really been gaining confidence in the past few days and is just as pleased as punch with herself when she manages to maneuver a short distance. She spends her days cruising around the walls of the house saying "mama mama mama" and cracks herself up with every new noise she figures out how to make. She is a great sleeper, a fantastic eater, and is looking more like John every day. She cries every time I run upstairs to get something, so even though she may look nothing like me, I certainly know she loves her mama. What a joyful baby girl, we are so blessed!

A few walking tidbits...