February has come and gone

And just like the snap of a finger, February has come and gone. I've been back at work for over a month already. Life just seems to be getting crazier.

Let me share my morning routine with you to give you a quick glimpse of my so-called-crazy-life.

Alarm goes off at 5:15 a.m. with the hope that I got a full nights sleep and no kids woke up. I shower. Go make coffee and grab bottles/pump parts. I wake up Heidi and feed her. Then I put her back down and pump. I get myself dressed. Dry hair. Brush teeth. Apply make-up, etc. Get Heidi's milk in a bag. Wash pump parts and pack what I need for pumping. Get Owen's juice and snack ready. Take Heidi's milk, pumping stuff, purse, laptop, Owen's snowsuit, etc out and put in the car. Go wake up Owen. Change his diaper, get him dressed, turn on Thomas the Train and give him his juice and snack. Wake up Heidi again. Change her diaper. Get her dressed. Put her in the carseat. Get Owen's hat, jacket and boots on. Put up the gate, so the dogs can't go upstairs. Get my hat and boots on. Refill Owen's snack and juice. Get all three of us into the car. And take a deep breath and go.

And I'm sure I forgot something in that routine. I'm luck if I get it all done in 2 hours.

But I'm the proud mother of a 4 month old and a 2 year old, and the wife to a wonderful husband. And they make the crazy all worthwhile.

Also, since I last wrote.

The pacifier is gone. I'm at my post-pregnancy weight. And we're in the middle of buying a house.

And that's why I fall asleep at 8:30 p.m. on the couch.

Gotta run!

 J.B.

It's a new dawn, It's a new day

I love the fresh start of a new year. It feels so full of new opportunity. Reflecting on all that's been done in the past year, it's fun to wonder what will be done in the next year. New job. New degree. New baby.

At the beginning of last year, I didn't think I'd have a 2 month old at the end of the this past year. Pregnant, maybe. I hoped so. But being done with a pregnancy and having the little baby to show for it?? Even better. God's timing is so impossible to predict.

There is so much I am hoping for this year -- in terms of resolutions and goals. Also, in terms of how I live my life.

Choose joy. No regrets.

Those were two different mantras I used to live by. As I've become an adult, I think I've focused on those words less. And more I've thought about what others think of me, keeping up with the Jones', and worrying about things outside my control.

I want to live in the moment. Enjoy each moment with my husband, two children, friends and family. I want to spend less time on the internet and watching TV, worrying about what others think, keeping up with the Jones' and worrying about that which I have no control over. I want to spend more time doing family activities, doing crafts with Owen, snuggling my daughter and enjoying conversations with Dave.

But I still have some resolutions, or goals, or whatever you call them.

• Lose the last 5 pounds of pregnancy weight, and then some more.
• Start running again. Complete a 10k.
• Potty train Owen
• Get rid of Owen's pacifier
• Go on at least one family vacation
• Buy a new house

It's a good list. Challenging, yet doable.

And with that, I'm going to go get started. Peace out, internet.

J.B.

Snippets (24 months)

Owen's 24th month has come and gone. I think this has been my favorite age so far. His vocabulary increases every day, and it's so fun to teach him new words and hear him try to say the words back. Here's a couple of Owen snippets from the last month:

• He loves his sister Heidi so much. He always wants to kiss her, hold her, grab her hands and toes. Sometimes he isn't as gentle as he should be, but we're working on it. I love witnessing the sibling bond that they share, and I hope that it continues to strengthen as they grow older.
• Speaking of Heidi, apparently we practiced the answer to, "What's your sister's name?" a little too much. If you ask Owen, "What's your name?" He replies, "Heidi."
• Owen has the most enthusiastic, "Choo-choo," I've ever heard.
• He pretty much knows the sound every animal makes. The best is his sound for bears, tigers, lions and dinosaurs. They all go "rawr", but Owen whispers the roar every time.
• Owen had his first kiss on Thanksgiving with my sister's great niece.
• When we leave for daycare in the morning, Owen says, "Bye-bye, house."
• He likes giving good night kisses to everyone, including the dogs.
• He prefers wearing clothes and pjs adorned with footballs.
• He loves spotting buses. When he sees one, he often waves to it, and then says bye-bye to the bus. 
• He's learning his colors. Must everything is blue, although snow is either white or yellow. He gets the color of the buses right the majority of the time (city buses are white and school buses are yellow, of course).
• Snow is pronounced, "nose."
• Our family from North Carolina came to visit. Owen had a lot of fun with his aunties and grandparents. His aunties even took him to the Mall of America for some shopping.
• Dinners with Owen are [usually] a blast. He loves making us laugh, and laughs at himself. He also loves telling us his food is nummy, nummy.

 J.B.

Owen is two!

Owen is 2. I can't believe it's already been two years since his birth. He's grown into a such a sweet, loving boy. He loves giving kisses to everyone, including the dogs. He melts my heart every day with his laugh. He loves animals, books, trains, planes and buses.

Owen has grown up so much in the last year. A year ago, he wasn't walking and barely talked. Now he runs and is saying new words every day. He knows colors and animals (and their sounds). He's learning how to catch balls. Here's a video montage of Owen's last year.



We celebrated Owen's birthday a couple of days early. Thankfully, we had planned on keeping it low key this year, as I was on bed rest. Dave did an amazing job of making sure Owen's birthday was special. He bought and prepared all the food. He did the clean up. He picked up the cake. Thanks to my mom for letting us have the party at her house! Here's a little video of the b-day celebration!



 J.B.

Introducing Heidi Noelle

Heidi's birth story: I spent 6 days on bed rest, because of high blood pressure. Even with the bed rest, it wasn't getting much better. Thankfully my urine and blood work were negative for pre-eclampsia. But we still decided to get induced since i was 39 weeks, and there wasn't really any benefit to keeping the baby in longer with the risk of continuing the high blood pressure. So I was induced around 1:30 p.m. I was about 3 1/2 cm. I wasn't sure if I was going to get an epidural or not -- with Owen everything progressed too fast and I delivered him without any pain med. So I knew I could do it. However, since I was getting induced I was afraid the labor would be longer and more intense from the pitocin. The contractions weren't bad until my water was broken at 4:40 p.m. when I was 4 cm. It was a little frustrating that all afternoon I hadn't progressed hardly at all, but I was hopeful that would change with the bag of water being broken.

From then on, labor was really intense. I had a couple of moments wondering why I didn't opt for pain meds earlier, but I was still determined that I could do it. An hour later, at 5:40 I was at 6 cm. 20 min later I was pushing.

The last couple of contractions were right on top of each other and were super intense. They weren't ready for me to push yet, so i was trying to fight the urge to push, which was really hard. She came out in one contraction -- 2 1/2 pushes.

The nurse that came in for the baby couldn't believe I didn't have an epidural...apparently i handled myself well. I know I did better than with Owen -- I didn't cry because of the pain and anxiety, and I didn't scream when pushing either. There was something reassuring about having gone through it once before that labor wasn't quite so scary. Mostly, I knew that it was going to end. The first time, I thought the pain was going to continue forever.

Heidi was super alert when she was born. She nursed right away without any issues, and didn't want to stop. She weighed in at 6 lbs 12 oz and 21 inches long. She's really long and skinny

She's been such a great baby. She still loves nursing. She loves to sleep. She hardly cries. We are all so in love with her -- even Owen.

We went back to the doctor at 6 days, and she already surpassed her birth weight -- weighing 7 lbs 2 oz. Her weight is the 26th percentile and her height is 90th percentile.

Here are a couple of pictures.

 5 days old

 

The sweetest love of all.

I'm here!

 J.B.

Snippets (38 weeks)

Baby girl, this has been an eventful week. Two doctor appointments. Two trips to the hospital. Bed rest. Whoa.

At my doctor's appointment last Friday, it was noted that my blood pressure was high. My doctor wasn't overly concerned about any immediate danger, but she was concerned enough that she wanted me to come back again on Tuesday.

So I went back on Tuesday. My blood pressure was higher. At this point it was high enough that I was sent to the maternal assessment center at the hospital to be monitored and to do some tests on me and the baby. Thankfully, there were no signs of pre-eclampsia and baby was looking great. My blood pressure went back down and I was sent home with no restrictions.

The next day at work, I started feeling light headed. I went down to the blood pressure monitor, and the reading freaked me out. I called the doctor's office, and they told me to go back to the hospital. Once again, while I was there my blood pressure went down. I was sent home, but told to take it easy. I couldn't go into work, but I could work from home.

I went back to my doctor for my regular weekly appointment. My blood pressure was once again really high. They checked the baby again, and she is still doing great. Since the blood pressure is my only issue and that the bed rest at home was helping keep it down, I was put back on bed rest until Tuesday. No more work for me until after maternity leave. If she doesn't decide to come on her own, I'm pretty certain the doc will recommend getting induced, since I'll be 39 weeks.

So she's not here yet, but her birthday is likely just days away! Stay healthy baby girl, we can't wait to meet you!

 J.B.

10 years later

I don't have very many memories of meeting the important people in my life. My parents, my sisters, my friends -- either too much time has past or I didn't realize the significance of the moment while it was passing.

However, there is one meeting that is so deeply etched in my mind that I can replay it in my mind as if it just occurred last night. It was ten years ago.

I was sitting on Heather's bed talking to Megan trying to convince her to join us for a night out at Stargate.

I heard him walking up the stairs and before I even saw him, I was telling Megan that "Hot Dave" was here and that she should definitely come over.

He walked into the room. He was wearing a Northwest Airlines t-shirt, a black leather jacket, and a Corona hat.

I doubted him, but he was right. Even though his hands are bigger than mine, the lifelines etched on each of our hands match.

Somewhere, deep in my subconscious, I knew that this was a moment to remember. This man was my soul mate. Within the next ten years, he would become my best friend, the father of my children, husband, life partner.



 J.B.