And here he is

Jack Ryan

6lbs 14 oz, 19 1/2 in.

September 13th, 7:51 p.m.

I'm not a huge advocate of epidurals.

I mean if you want one by all means get one. I'm not the type of person to try and pressure anyone to not have one. I'm not a sadist or a masochist for that matter. I guess I just imagined the experience different when I thought about it with my first baby. It's not that I hated it. I just wasn't crazy about the way it made me feel. I felt anxious instead of at ease, and I hated not being able to move my body. I also didn't care for the fact that it seemed harder to breathe. I had dealt with some pretty intense contractions before receiving the shot so I felt like I had a pretty good gauge on what could be expected without an epidural. I should probably mention that with William's birth it was like the stork flew in the window, laid my baby gently in my lap and we cuddled! Absolutely perfect. Anyway, I knew if millions of women could give birth without an epidural than I could, but did I want to?? With that being said, I will definitely try my hardest to get to the hospital more than 50 minutes before my next baby is born.

I started having some extremely painful contractions around 3:30 a.m. on Sunday the 13th. Contractions never became regular and some hours I would have very few if any at all. They finally got regular at 6 and at 6:30 I knew it was time to go. We got to the hospital a little after 7. Mom called Patrick at 7:20 (he had to go to Smithville to get Tamiflu for William because we found out that day he had the flu and everyone in town had run out of it!) The nurses moved me into a room around 7:30. Patrick arrived after that. And at 7:51 Jack arrived. And a minute or two after that the anesthesiologist arrived. And a minute or two after that the doctor arrived.

Just so you can all know how not tough I am -- a few favorite quotes...
"I'm gonna die."
"Do I really have to wait for all those fluids before I can get an epidural?"
"Somebody please help me."
"I'm never doing this again."

I went through labor with a surgical mask on because of the flu threat. I felt like I was giving birth in the Sahara! They did test me again at some point during the labor and found out after delivery that I was flu free so I could hold my baby and I didn't even have to wear a mask! It was over and I was oh. so. happy.

First Things First

Here are a few pictures from this summer first.

Possibly Will's most favorite thing in the world. Hope it lasts through the teenage years.

When I was on bed rest William got pretty tired of it. He would often venture off to find something more interesting to do than play with me while I laid on the couch. This is where I found him one day. He had scooted the chair over from the table climbed on the counter and was eating peanut butter that he got everywhere. He turned when he saw me and said with his hands stuck in his mouth "yummy."Will in his cute underwear and Daddy's shoes.
Taking a nap at Nonna's

Helping Daddy

Will will try and get to the lap top any chance he gets and announce that he is "checkin' mail"

By the way

We had a baby over a month ago, and he is super dooper cute! He has a temper like nobody else in this house, let me tell you. But I think we'll keep him anyway.

Life has been busier than I realized it would be, and we have been thrown a few curve balls over the past few months ranging from bed rest, to flu in both extremely pregnant momma and Will, to a completely unplanned. all NATURAL. LABOR!! AHHH!!!! (sorry. flashback), to a baby who refused to breastfeed after getting thrush, to a momma who pumped and sterilized a million times a day (and cried nearly that much-stupid hormones), to trying to find a new normal with 23 month old and 1 month old - I think we're gonna make it.

Now that you are all semi caught up to speed, assuming any of you still check here (come back!!), I'll attempt to get pictures up of one of the cutest, sweetest babies ever.

Success and Answers

William has now been off the bottle for a whole week! I was really nervous about this transition because he loved his bottle so much. He only got one twice a day, and those were given before he took a nap or went to bed. It's not been a major transition, but I was still pretty scared.

The first day was rough but after that it has been a breeze. He really has to be one of the greatest and sweetest kids. I'm a little nervous for what might be being sent next. I've been really spoiled.

Speaking of the coming attraction, thanks for all your comments and well wishes. I'm not the most consistent with replies to comments, but I still love reading them. To answer a few questions I am feeling great. I am about 22 wks and due Sept 18th. I am very excited now that the initial shock has passed. Will and Boy #2 will be 22 months apart and that scares me just a tad. Hopefully we will all get through it without too many emotional scars. We'll just have to see...

In case you didn't know,

or failed to notice my ever expanding waistline, I'm pregnant. And if you can't tell, it's a boy!

Ceseley's Party

On the final day we were in VA, Julee had an early birthday party for Ceseley. She loved her cake, and it was so much fun to watch her destroy it.She has grown so much since the first time I saw her. In the first few days of Ceseley's life, I was so nervous about holding her because she was so t-tiny and fragile, and now if she lets me hold her for more than a few minutes I'm tickled pink. I'm so glad I was able to be there for this big milestone!

Playing at Aunt Julee's

Sweet Little Miss Ceseley

Will stealing some of Cesley's snacks.Piano practice Will stealing some of Aunt Julee's snacks.

Playing in the tub after a long day of fun. Thanks, Mandy, for giving them a bath, and Will a haircut! It looks SO much better!!! We'll need your services again in about a month!

Old Charlottesville

We drove down to Julee's to spend a few days with her family while we were in VA. One evening Dan and Julee took us into Old Charlottesville. It was such a neat little area. The kids all rode the carousel that's actually a merry-go-round. Then our hosts treated us to dinner and gelato. Thanks again y'all. I think we all ate way too much.

(Sorry, I know the picture may be hard to see, but it's just so much easier putting it in a collage format than uploading all the pictures and making sure they are placed right.)

Virginia Aquarium

We took a trip to the VA aquarium while we where there. I've only been to the Chattanooga one before and I definitely think it beats this one. At this aquarium they are in the middle of doing some updating so maybe it will be a lot better once they are finished. I didn't think Will would like it very much but I was wrong. He loved running away from me any time I would put him down. I think we all got our exercise in that day.

Olivia tried and tried to touch a sting ray but was never able to. Her little arms were just too short.

Layla wanted everyone's picture taken in the sharks mouth.

Will loves to wear hats. I'm not sure why. So we had to take this picture in the gift shop.

Virginia Beach

Before we went to the beach one morning, Layla kept Will occupied by watching the garbage truck come and pick up the trash. We live out of city limits so this was a new thing for Will. He was pretty impressed with it, I think. Don't let his face fool you. He was having a ball.

I really like this picture.

Mom, William, and I

took a vacation up to see my sisters and their families in Virginia on April 3rd. To help shorten the drive with Will, we stopped in Knoxville to stay the night with Blake. We went to grab a bite to eat at a local restaurant, Litton's, I think was the name. Blake had been raving about their burgers and it didn't disappoint.

After eating we headed back to Blake's apartment where we got ready for bed, and William had a ball playing with Grace's dog. I'm not sure the dog had as much fun, but William sure loved it!

Blake was even kind enough to let Mom and I sleep in his bed while he crashed on the couch. He seemed a little disgusted that we weren't going to be taking showers before bedtime because he had "just washed the sheets," even though we had all had showers before we left. We tried not to take it too personally. Thanks, Blake, you never fail to make a girl feel good about herself.

Warm weather

Yesterday evening we were outside enjoying the nice weather when Will decided he was ready to go. He went over to the car and kept saying "Nonnanana." He must have been missin' you, Mom, and the "healthy" chocolate oatmeal cookies you feed him for lunch.

Will "working" on his "bike" (as Olivia used to call it).

Snow Day

We were excited to get William out in the snow. But seeing as I didn't buy the children snow bibs that were one sale for less than $7 last fall, we had to improvise with lots and lots of layers and plastic Ziploc bags on his hands and feet. It isn't any wonder he hated it.

He sure looked cute despite the fact he couldn't walk but merely wobbled side to side. When he would fall down he couldn't seem to get back up, and he would just lie there looking pretty pitiful.

The anticipation stood to be too much for Will because when we finally got out, we lasted only about 10 minutes. The wind was bitter and there seemed to be a foul smell wafting up from William's clothes. We went back in to undress and take off all the layers only to find a clean diaper. I guess the fumes were just having a hard time escaping.