Big Sister, Little Sister!

Shan loves her new baby sister. She comes by at least every other day just to see her. She is just crazy over her. She wants to take her out to a restaurant and shopping this weekend!!??!!?? I will have to think long and hard about that one. I did tell her that Addi loves to shop at Gymboree and she has really been dying to have this shirt (click on "shirt" to see). Maybe if I let her "borrow" Addi enough and she sees how much work they are.... she will not want one of her own for a loooong time! I tell her all the time "Do as I say, not as I do"!!!

Having a Ball.............

.....being a BIG BROTHER!!

Drew received the coolest thing in the mail today. First, let me say that my friend Lisa gives the coolest gifts ever. She is always so thoughtful and never forgets an occasion. (I actually am lucky to have a lot of friends like that).

Today, I just happened to be looking out the window when the mail lady came. I watched her put the mail in the box and then I saw her reach back in her truck and pull out a big blue......ball. I was thinking "what the heck" is that? She tried to put it in the mailbox but it wouldn't fit so she got out of her truck to bring it to the door. I told Drew to run down and see what on earth she had. He came running up the stairs a minute later shouting, "It's a ball and it's for me".

Well, he was right, it was a ball and it was addressed to him. Lisa ordered it for him from a place called sendaball.com. It says, "Have a ball being a big brother". The coolest part is that the address and stamps are right on the ball. No box or anything....just a ball......in the mail!

Thanks, Lisa for making his day (and mine too).

Getting their Addi fix!

It seems that we have had a lot of unexpected guests lately. I don't think they come to see me or Keith or (don't tell him) even Drew. I think their main reason for coming is to get their Addi fix. Actually, my friend Teresa even came right out and told me she wasn't here to see me....she just wanted to see Addi. Huh?

Sunday night Papa and Grandma just stopped by (they live an hour away) to visit. They grabbed her up and didn't put her down until they left. Addi loved it and didn't fuss at all!

Now who wants to come over and get their fix at 3 am???

My Favorite Thing!

Ok, since Addison has taken over almost every blog post in recent days....I decided that Drew needs a little time in the spotlight as well. The other day I had a conversation with him that went like this:

Drew: Mommy, what's your favorite thing?

Me: (visions of yummy scrapbook supplies danced through my head) Hmmmm........let me think.

Drew: I know.....it's watching me play with my hot wheel cars.

Me: You're absolutely right........that is my favorite thing.

I do love the fact that he loves his cars. He can tell you the make and model of every car that is made. He loves car shows and anything on tv about cars. We have to record both episodes of "Super Cars Exposed" every Monday night and he watches them each several times throughout the week (bet you didn't even know that show existed). He has decided that his first car will be a Lamborghini. He has zillions (I'm not kidding) of Hot Wheels and every time he gets a prize...that's what he wants. He also takes a few cars with him every time we leave the house. I asked him about a new question I could add to my blog and he came up with the one at the right. He checks it almost daily.......so please vote.

The above pics are just a few snapshots of my life with hot wheels. He makes "traffic" almost daily in my living room. Heaven forbid, if you step on one or knock it out of line....... He also sorts them and categorizes them by classics/stock, trucks/suvs, sport cars.

I just cannot imagine where he gets this obsessive personality. I mean who hoards things and then sorts them on a regular basis for no apparent reason??

Happy Birthday, Tay Tay! (Part 2)

Jackie and Taylor were fussing at me tonight because I didn't put a real picture of Taylor on my blog. I told them that's what she gets for taking silly pics of herslf on my camera. Anyway, here is a pic of Taylor with her birthday cake tonight? Isn't she a cutie??

Happy Birthday, Tay Tay!

These pictures make me laugh! Every time my niece, Taylor gets her hands on my camera, I come home and find a bunch of silly pics that she takes of herself. I have threatened to put them on Facebook for all of her friends to see. But since I don't know how to put pictures on Facebook......I will just put them on here, for my friends to see.

I can't believe that Taylor is 14 today. My goodness how time flies. I remember when she was just a little thing......about 2 or 3 and her babysitter was my next door neighbor. I loved it. I could go and get her whenever I wanted and bring her back when I wanted to, also. And now she is all grown up into a cute little teenager. Where does time go??

Happy 14th Birthday, Taylor!!!

Kiss Me......

......I'm Irish!

Happy St. Patrick's Day, Everyone!

"What goes on first?"

That's what I heard Keith ask me as I got out of the shower this morning while getting ready for church. I had given him the assignment of dressing Addi while I was trying to get myself ready. So there he stood, looking bewildered, staring at a onesie, tights, dress, booties (aren't they just the cutest?) and a hairbow..... trying to decide where to start. He makes me laugh!

I lived for the day that she could wear this outfit. It was bought on one of my first Gymboree shopping trips after we found out we were having a girl. It is just the cutest thing ever. Did I say how much I love Gymboree???

Drew was so excited to show her off at church this morning. We were like celebrities walking in with her. Everyone was just oohing and ahhing over her the whole time. She was such an angel and slept through the whole thing. (Yep.....the same little angel who I was calling a devil in disguise at 3am this morning when she was fussing for the FOURTH time during the night.)

Oh, and to anyone reading this (you know who you are, MM) who is not a fan of big hairbows on little babies.....this bow is not near as big in real life as it looks in the picture!

A Baby Story

Ok......here is the labor story. It was quite horrifying for me and I am still having a hard time when I think about it.

As you know, I went into the hospital at 10pm on Wed. March 4. By the time we got up to our room and settled in, it was close to midnight. They came in and started me on the Cervidil (which is used to soften your cervix). Supposedly, this is supposed to happen gradually and you should start having contractions "within a few hours". 5 minutes later....I was having contractions with no break in between. It was just one big non stop contraction. Nothing too painful, and I was actually happy with how fast things were going. After 2 hours of this...my midwife came in to check me....I was barely a 2. She said I couldn't go on having contractions like that without a break in between, so they decided to take me off of the Cervidil and just start the Pitocin in the morning. They did this and gave me some meds for pain and to make me sleep. Keith said I was asleep before she left the room. I woke up several times during the night feeling "drunk".

About 6 am they came in and started the Pitocin IV drip. A while later the anesthesiologist came in to give me my epidural (I have never had one before). Some of you probably remember that I have been anxious about this for months and everyone basically said to go ahead with it..."it's great, you'll love it". Well, it wasn't and I didn't. She put the needle in my back and realized that she had it in a blood vessel so had to take it out and redo it. She did it again...laid me down and said that I shouldn't feel anything from the breast up. My hands went dumb immediately. I told them and I could tell by the look on her (anesthesiologist) face that something was wrong. The next 30-45 minutes are a blur. I remember that I couldn't breathe, swallow or talk. I was in a total panic. My blood pressure dropped several times. I passed out and came to numerous times. When I came to, there were no less than 10 medical staff in the room. I could hear them calling for an emergency in my room. I also heard the words c-section. I could see Keith standing in the corner looking helpless with tears in his eyes. It was an out of body experience. I really thought I was going to die and asked (without really talking) if I was. Finally, after what seemed like hours, I started coming out of it and eventually I was talking and feeling (somewhat) normal. OMG! I literally saw my life flash before my eyes.

The rest of the day they kept me on the piocin but I wasn't really dilating. The only good thing about the epi was that enough of it stayed in my body to numb the contractions until about 3pm. By this time they were really hurting so they brought me 3 Tylenol (yep). I guess you can only stay on the Pitocin for 12 hours so at 6pm they were going to take me off of it...give me food, a shower and sleep and start over on Friday. Uggghh!

About 5:15 she came in and checked me and I was a 3 maybe a 4. I was watching the clock waiting for 6:00 to come so they would turn it off......I was in severe pain by now. At 5:30 I had to go to the bathroom so I got Keith to come help me up. He walked around the other side of the bed and right then my water broke. He called the nurse, she came in and checked me and I was a 7. She couldn't believe it. She called for the doctor and started bustling around getting things ready. The Doc came in 5 minutes later and said I was at 9. 6 pushes and 21 minutes later.........Little Miss Addison came into the world screaming. Whew! I was so relieved....mentally and physically. You guys know I am a HUGE worrywart and I had told Keith, she better be screaming when she comes out or I might have a heart attack. Thankfully, she was.

I am trying to adjust to life with an infant. She has been pretty good at night, only waking up once, maybe twice. We just love her to death!!! If I still haven't returned your phone call or email, please bear with me. I promise I will soon!

Fresh Out of The Oven!

Welcome, Baby Addison Elaine James

Whew! Let's hope that labor is not a sign of a child's personality. If so....this one is gonna be more of a handful than Drew.....I know, you're thinking that's not possible (me too). I had a feeeling that being induced was not going to be a piece of cake and boy did I have that right. It was horrible.....there I said it. But it was all worth it in the end. We have this precious little thing to love. She is soooo cute (if I do say so myself).

She came into the world screaming at 5:51 pm on March 5th. She was 5 lbs 15 oz and 18 inches long. Just a little pipsqueak. We just love her to death and can't keep our hands off of her.

Thanks so much to everyone for the prayers, well wishes, visits, gifts, dinners, phone calls.........we got them all. It was so nice to know that we had a crowd out there cheering us on!

I will update soon with all of the details (for those who can stomach it).....and more pics. We are just worn out at the moment! Thanks again!

Got my walking papers!!!!

Yippee! I went back to the doctor today due to high blood pressure and she came in and handed me an envelope with 10:00pm written on it. She said to be at the hospital tonight at 10! Drew and I both jumped up and down and clapped! We were so excited! Thank goodness I got my hair done today. Now I just gotta do the last thing on my list.......buy new underwear. I'm off to Target! Keep us in your thoughts and prayers!

Snow, Thing 1 and a Dr. Update!

Snow in March (or any time really).......almost unheard of down here in Georgia. But boy did it snow on Sunday. It just kept coming down. It was so pretty. We were sure that there would be no school today due to the ice that was (hopefully) left over on the roads....but no such luck! It started during church and the kids could just see outside enough to get them very excited and antsy. As soon as the service was over......it was like a mad dash to the windows. This is Drew and Kendall checking things out. So cute!Keith couldn't wait to get home and let Lily run around in it. She loved it. I didn't get a pic of Daisy but I will tell you that she was not outside. She had a fit when we tried to put her out and ran back to her crate. No way was she venturing out in those sub zero conditions. Ha! Today was Dr. Seuss day at PB Ritch. Drew was Thing 1 again. This will be his last year in this shirt as the sleeves are half way up his arms now...... (thanks Kim, for letting me borrow this last year...I wasn't planning on keeping it the whole year but it saved me having to go pick it up again. I promise I won't keep it until Addi needs it). I stopped by his school on my way to the doctor and read a few Dr. Seuss books to his class.

Here is a close up of a very grouchy Thing 1 this morning when I woke him up for (gasp) school. No...he was not in a good mood when he found out that school was not canceled and that life would continue as scheduled in spite of a blizzard yesterday. Not a good morning in the James household!!

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And now the Dr. update. They called me first thing this morning to tell me that they had scheduled my induction. I go in at 7pm on March 12th.....I knew it. There are several reasons why I did not want this date:

• 1. Jackie and Taylor will be gone for a long weekend and will miss the whole affair.
• 2. Going in that late on the 12th means that my baby will be born on Friday, the 13th!
• 3. This is the one day that Keith's mom cannot come because she has a very important yearly appointment (that was scheduled for her) about her disability benefits. Any time after or before is fine...just not this exact day.
• 4. I am still stuck on the whole 03/06/09 date.

But they won't budge....they won't induce (unless medically necessary....you would think old age would be enough of a medical reason) before week 39. Oh well, it is what it is and I can't change it. My blood pressure has been very high and I go back tomorrow for a NST (non stress test). I don't want anything to be wrong but there is the possibility that they could change their mind if that doesn't come out favorable. Or I could go on my own at any time.....we will just have to see how it all plays out.