I’ve been pretty busy lately with work and tax season. When I’m home I pretty much crash so I have been neglecting to blog. But today I was at my nephew’s 2nd birthday party and when I came home my sister had already posted the pictures. There were some good pictures but the link she sent also gave me access to her photo album from her wedding five and a half years ago. I had a good time reminiscing through the photos and I had an especially good laugh when I came to one picture in particular. Bloggers, I give you “The Hug”:

The element of surprise is a big help, but it still gets a laugh every single time.

Mike rearranged the living room this week. And when I say “rearranged” I mean “moved the loveseat 7 inches to the right. It’s not a huge change, but the change is huge. It makes the living room feel more cozy and living room-ish. See, our living area blends in with our dining area, so it’s easy to lose it’s identity. See how it used to look?

Moving the loveseat gives the room more definition. I don’t have a picture of it now, so you’ll just have to imagine. I notice I’ve been feeling more inspired to blog lately. Maybe it’s the couch.

The Roomba – because a man can’t be bothered with vacuuming. All that pushing and pulling and those pesky electrical cords. Ugh! What a chore!

Mike beamed with excitement when he told me about the new addition to our family – The Roomba. Since he is in charge of keeping our floors clean, I didn’t object when he wanted to spend his Christmas money on the robot that vacuums. But when he went on (still beaming) about his grand Roomba plans I had to chuckle. Before he would run the vacuum in each of the rooms, he would need to clear the floors as much as possible, removing all the toys, chairs, etc. Since it runs on a battery, he would need to recharge it after just about every room. And then of course he would need to clean it after every third charge.

So my question to Mike was this: “How is this supposed to make your life easier?” He didn’t really have a good answer for that. But I will say, ever since the Roomba arrived, our floors have been consistently cleaner than they ever have been before. The reason? Because the Roomba is FUN. What can I say? The man likes his toys.

I haven’t blogged nearly enough about my daughter Natalie. You can’t blame me really, I’ve had a lot going on with my health that has really distracted me. Not from Natalie, but from being sure to write about her.

But today I had a moment that I want to remember. It was an ordinary moment, but memorable in a way. I was just sitting here on the couch feeding Natalie, staring at her as I usually do. But then I locked eyes with hers and I had a mental glimpse of what she might look like as an older girl. And in that moment I fell completely, head over heels in love with her. Better late than never, right? She’s two months old. I’m not saying I didn’t love her before, but I just hadn’t made that certain connection.

It’s the eyes. She smiles first with her eyes, and then her lips. She has such beautiful, big, blue eyes. Ironically, every time we try to catch those beautiful eyes on film, she gives us something like this:

Something tells me this girl is going to have a sense of humor. She’s gonna have to if she’s going to survive living in this family!

It’s the last day of the year and this is how I’m spending it:

Crocheting an afghan for my adorable son while my beautiful daughter snoozes on my lap. I’m surrounded by my family and I wouldn’t trade it for all the ice cream in the world. What a great way to ring in the new year. And now, if you don’t mind, I’ll be heading to bed an hour before the ball drops.

I’ve done enough reflecting on the past year. In 2009 I was introduced to MS but on the glorious flip side I was also introduced to my brand new baby girl. For now I’m just praying that 2010 brings nothing but blessings. Lord knows we’ve had enough excitement

Our food storage containers have been out of control for quite some time. I’m sure most everyone has been or is in the same predicament. Plastic containers and lids strewn about, mismatches galore. You can never find what you need when you need it and without a huge hassle. It’s frustrating, am I right? Well, we finally said enough is enough!

Out with the old

In with the new!

So easy a two-year old can do it

I’m not even the one who does most of the dishes around here but I’m stoked. I’m always the one who insists on saving leftover food and therefore get the chore of finding containers, so I’m sick with excitement. These are those Rubbermaid “Easy Find Lids”. The lids lock to the bases of the containers and they all match up and fit together. We bought the 40 piece set and I think it will be plenty sufficient for all our food storage needs. This is life-changing, people. Life-changing. You gotta try it. Well, I’ll let you know how it goes first. Then you gotta really try it.

I’m not real big on celebrations and decorating but since I want my kids to grow up with happy Christmas traditions like I did, I understand that might involve actually putting up a tree.

And some lights.

And ornaments, of course.

We were all having a really great time until someone (not naming names, but he/she is blonde, blue-eyed, and of very small stature) spilled over Momma’s beer.  Behind the couch. We’re not sure if said person actually drank any of it. If he/she did, it wasn’t much because he/she resumed hanging ornaments with no trouble at all. The same cannot be said of Momma. She had a little trouble maneuvering around the tree and had to “catch” her balance on several occasions (I swear it wasn’t the beer… the MS made me do it).

And then the finishing touch – the angel on the top!

Luke did a great job hanging ornaments but Natalie was no help at all, unless you count sitting around looking pretty. If that counts, she scored a perfect 10!

My son does a great deal of his talking at the dinner table. As a result, we do a lot of our laughing there too. The other day he was eating a roll with butter on it – bread and butter, people – and he took one bite and said, “This is AMAzing!”

Then today he stacked up his cubes of cheese like blocks, and after placing the last piece on the top, exclaimed “It’s perfect. Perfect cheese!”

So he’s passionate about his food! The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

So… I had a baby on Thursday. It’s kind of a big deal, you know? Let me tell you all about it.

Thursday morning we arrived at the hospital at 9 am for the c-section scheduled for 11 am. Our excitement was derailed briefly when the nurses told us that my sister, who had driven almost two hours to be there with me, could not stay. We were aware that the hospital had implemented a strict visitor policy due to the H1N1 virus, but it was apparently not communicated clearly enough. I had even run the idea by my OB to be sure it would be okay. He said it would be fine, but the nurses would not budge. I understand the importance of the policy and I understand that they can’t just go around making exceptions to it, but it was quite upsetting. I cried, in fact. It was the most I have cried since being here at the hospital.

I knew I couldn’t dwell on it and that there was more work to be done, so I said goodbye to my sister, pulled myself together, and started the pre-op process. A nurse went through a series of questions and hooked me up with some IV fluids. They did some other standard stuff and then it was simply time to wait. This part proved to be the hard part for me. Sitting there waiting it didn’t take me long to start feeling the pressure of what was about to happen and anxiety crept in. I started to tremble from head to toe and I could not sit still to save my life. I just wanted to get it over with. Surgery is scary stuff, especially when you know you’re going to be awake for it.

The time eventually came – thank God – and they escorted me into the operating room. Mike had to wait outside while they administered me the spinal. It’s just like getting an epidural. You sit on the edge of the table, hold still, round your back and wait. I could not hold still because the trembling was so bad, but the nurse did a great job of holding me down so I didn’t just bounce off the table. I was having flash backs to Luke’s labor and delivery (and eventual emergency c-section) but once the drugs were in my system I stopped thinking about that and just thanked God repeatedly for calming the shakes in my body. My arms were still shaking a bit off and on but they let Mike into the operating room at that point so that helped to calm me. It was fantastic being able to just stare into his big blue eyes while we waited for the fun to begin.

The c-section seemed to take forever and it was scary and uncomfortable but when they yanked Natalie from my belly I breathed the biggest sigh of relief. And then when we heard her cry that first cry, I shed a tear or two and thanked Jesus for getting me through it and for keeping her healthy. I marveled at her tiny frame and her big feet, long fingers and long toes. And I know I will laugh at myself for saying this, but her cry was the most precious sound in the world. Not one of those tinny, piercing cries. It was her voice, and it was music to my ears.

It’s been a smooth ride ever since! Natalie is a pro at eating, sleeping, and pooping. We are very proud parents Not only is she healthy, but she’s gorgeous.

Natalie is doing well. I am doing well. I had some side effects from the pain medication on the first day – a little vomiting, a lot of itching – but those meds are out of my system and now I’m just taking oral medication for the pain and they are working great. It doesn’t take away the pain completely but it makes it manageable. I also gave myself my first injection of my MS medication yesterday and although we feared the side effects of that one, I experienced a little bit of aching but nothing even worth mentioning. That is a downright miracle and answer to prayer. And the injection wasn’t that bad! The needle was actually the easy part. It’s the insertion of the meds that stung a lot, but I barely felt the needle, and that’s the part I had anxiety about.

It’s been kind of dull here at the hospital but we are thankful for that. You never want hospital stays to be eventful. So we just wait, we enjoy our time with Natalie, get rest when we can, and tomorrow we’ll be going home. It will be good to be home again.

So yeah. All is well. Or as Mike would say, IT’S ALL GOOD.

Natalie Joy
Born 11/5/09
7 lb, 1 oz, 21 inches

Words to follow… At the moment I’m speechless. She’s here. She’s finally here. And she’s beautiful and healthy.