Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Now, anyone who knows me, knows HOW important this day is to me. Seriously, its one of my favorite (if not favorite) holidays!

Jim is off work this week, so we were invited and decided to go to our cousin Trisha's house for St. Patrick's Day! It was great to catch up with family that we haven't seen in a while. The food was wonderful and we all had such a good time...especially Emily!

When you go to an event for my side of the family, there is no lack of kids for Emily to play with! Emily was a little shy at first, but quickly warmed up to her cousins.

St. Patricks Day...Take 1

Today both sets of parents came over to celebrate St. Patricks Day with some corned beef and cabbage! Everyone enjoyed themselves and we had a wonderful time!

Surprise 70th!

Today we all went to Michelle's for Jim's Dad's surprise 70th Birthday Party!

We had such a wonderful time and he was really surprised!

Happy Valentine's Day!

We went out for a nice dinner at The Melting Pot, so Emily & Jimmy got to stay with my parents!

They love going to my parents and always have so much fun when we visit!

Heigh Ho, Heigh Ho to Pizza Hut we go.....

Today we went with Michelle and Laura to meet Snow White at Pizza Hut. Emily was SO excited to meet her...until we got there. Then she wanted NOTHING to do with her...until we left!

oh well....

Super Bowl Sunday!

My parents came over today to watch the Super Bowl with us.

My team (New England Patriots) were playing the Giants. Now, I KNEW how this game would turn out, but NOBODY believed me. Needless to say, I wasn't THAT upset when the Patriots lost to the Giants 17-14.....ending the Patriots undefeated season.

Jim's 40th Birthday Party!

Sort of!

Today we all went to the Olive Garden to Jim's 40th Birthday! Then, we all came back to our house for cake and coffee. We all had a wonderful time and Emily loved playing with her cousin Laura!

Jimmy's 2 Month Appointment!

Today we had to take baby Jimmy to the doctor for his 2 month appointment. He weighed in at 12lbs. 4oz and is 22 inches long, up from 9lbs. 15oz and 20.5 inches from birth. He had to get 4 shots and 1 oral vaccinations. He did pretty well, only cried a little.

Disney On Ice ~ Finding Nemo!

Last November, we took Emily to see her first Disney on Ice ~ Princess Wishes. She had so much fun that we decided to make it an annual thing for her. This year, it was Finding Nemo....which Emily just *LOVES*!

Since we had floor seats and it would be loud, we decided to leave Jimmy with my parents and give Emily some alone parent time.

Now, I hadn't seen the movie and I didn't know what to expect. Poor Coral! Overall, I liked it a lot! Emily loved it! She was dancing in her seat and waving at the "fish".

Can't wait to see what Disney on Ice will have next year!

Visit to Michelle's...

Today we went to visit Michelle and Laura. Its always fun to get together and the girls have such a wonderful time playing together.

Happy New Year!

We decided to just spend a quiet evening at home. We put on Dick Clark's Rockin New Year about 11:50 and watched the ball drop. Emily did manage to be awake at midnight, just barely!

Hope everyone has a wonderful new year!

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas!

Santa Claus came!

Emily was so excited to see all her wonderful toys that Santa brought her! She especially loved her new kitchen!

Both sets of parents came for dinner and we had a wonderful time.

A wonderful man is gone...

Saying goodbye doesn't mean anything. It's the time we spent together that matters, not how we left it. ~ Trey Parker

Today, on our way to meet Jim's parents at Applebee's for lunch, we got the call we were dreading. Tony passed away this afternoon.

If you could keep Michelle and Laura in your prayers, it would be appreciated.

The world has lost a wonderful man.

Christmas pictures taken...

So today, we got the kids dressed and headed to Kiddie Kandids for our Christmas card and Jimmy's announcement photos.

We got some adorable shots and Jimmy slept through the whole shoot!

Time to Go Home

As much as I'm looking forward to going home, I'm going to miss being waited on hand and foot! Jim actually woke me up by calling around 8:30am. I had a rough night of sleep. The nurse came in and told me I was going to be released this morning. I just had to wait for the pediatrician to come and release baby Jimmy.

People cannot believe I want to STAY in the hospital! But, believe me, Saint Clare's Hospital doesn't have typical hospital rooms.

They have cable tv, a vcr, dvd player and high speed wireless internet ALL complementary! Not to mention the rooms... They are gorgeous! They are completely private with hardwood floors and a pull out couch for Dad to sleep on overnight. They also have a private chef and you & Daddy can both eat free! Its not typical hospital fare either!

All the staff is excellent and they really go out of their way to make your stay special!

He's Here!

Finally!

I woke up around 3:00am on November 25th. I started to feel some contractions. I figured I would try to get some rest....while I still could!

Around 6:00am, they started to become more and more uncomfortable. So, I put a call into the doctor. I heard back from Dr. Fernandez around 7:00am. At that point, I decided to take a shower and pay a visit to the hospital.

We dropped Emily off at my parents house aroun 8am and got to the hospital by 8:30am. They got me all comfy, IV placed, gown on. I expressed to the nurse that I was going to try to labor and avoid the c-section. They checked me, I was about 2cm. Still a long way to go.

Dr. Fernandez came in around 11:30 and explained my options. They were going to let me labor, but if I didn't progress at least 1cm an hour; it was going to be a c-section for me. He recommended starting pitocin, breaking my water and starting the epidural. All of this was done by 12:30pm. Now, it was just a waiting game.

At 1:30pm, when they checked me, I was at 3cm. Yay! Some progress was good and kept me away from the c-section for now! At 2:30, I was almost 6cm. By 4:30, I was 9! Jim called my parents to let them know we would have a baby soon. I saw the doctor and he said he was going for dinner and would be back soon. At 4:40, the pain became unbearable and I told Jim to call the nurse. The nurse came in and we did some practice pushing. She told me to stop and called the doctor in NOW!

At 4:59pm on Sunday, November 25th, James Liam entered the world! He weighed in at 9lbs. 15oz. and was 20.5 inches long! And a c-section was not needed!

O Christmas Tree!

We decided to get a Christmas Tree early this year. With the baby coming (hopefully!), we figured it would be stupid to take him out in the cold. Instead, we just got one much earlier than planned. So we packed ourselves up and headed out on our ritual. We started going to this place the 2nd Christmas we were married. So, this will be our 5th trip to Max's!

Its funny when people ask me when I'm due and I say, last week. Although at this point I am H*U*G*E! Seriously, it seems like there is more than one baby in there!

Here is a picture of Emily & I....

See I'm HUGE!

Christmas Caverns

With the baby coming soon, we are getting in a lot of things that we wanted to do. So, we decided to take Emily to the Fountains of Wayne Caverns. She seemed to enjoy looking at all the displays.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Well, I was just watching a Saved By the Bell marathon waiting for Jim and Emily to show up for visiting. I actually got some sleep last night, a big deal for being in the hospital. I know the nurses want to monitor the baby and I have to wait for the anesthesiologist to come and officially release me. It feels really weird being in the maternity ward without a baby!

Jim & Emily showed up around 9:30am, we ordered breakfast and watched Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Emily seemed to really enjoy it!

Finally, around 11:00, the anesthesiologist showed up and gave me the go ahead for release. We got home around noon and my parents brought up Thanksgiving dinner. Overall, it turned out to be a good day!

Birth Story....part 1!

We dropped Emily off at my parent's house at 5:50am. I told Emily we'd see her soon and told my parents Jim would call when there was a baby.

We got to the hospital at 6:00am. Went to the maternity ward, was put in a room and changed clothes. The nurses hooked me up to machines, started an IV and basically asked a ton of questions. I then asked them a ton of questions. The anesthesiologist came in and went over his procedure and asked a bunch of questions. He was great!

The room was empty and Jim & I looked at eachother. I explained my nervousness and that I was dying of thirst! Due to the anesthesia I couldn't eat or drink after midnight.

A nurse came in at that point and gave me some liquid that would help with the nausea (a side effect of the anesthesia). At this point I was so thirsty, I would have drank anything. Unfortunately, this stuff tasted like lemon antifreeze. Seriously, it was awful! She also gave Jim his space-age garb to be worn in the OR and gave me a funny hair covering. We looked great!

Dr. Shah came in about 7:50am and said we were on time and should be starting soon! We asked her a couple of questions and then she left. Less than 10 minutes later, the nurses came in to wheel me into the OR. They transferred me to this itty bitty OR table. The anesthesiologist then proceded to give me the spinal. He was great and I only felt a pinch. Very soon after, I started to not feel my legs. They laid me down on the table and put in the catheter. At this point, I could feel nothing. I was aware of things going on around me. My doctor and the assiting doctor came in. They brought the blue curtain up and I heard them say a moment later..."she's good".

And then it happened.....

I had a full blown panic attack! They had brought Jim in at this time and he tried to calm me down. I was having NONE of that. I told Dr. Shah that it just didn't feel right and there was no way I could go through with it.

She told me that I would just be back in a few days needing a c-section. I told her that was fine, I just needed to be in labor first. So, they started dismantling the OR and put me back on the regular bed. I had to stay in recovery until they got my blood pressure back up. At one point, it was as low as 60 because of the anesthesia. About 2 hours later, I was finally able to start moving my legs, that was a strange feeling. They started to rub the benzocaine off my stomach and that's when it happened....the nausea was overwhelming. The nurse also told me that I had a new c-section appointment set for November 27th at 10am.

They took me to maternity, where all the beautiful rooms were. Since the anesthesiologist had given me so much pain medication for after, I had to stay overnight for observation. I then made the phone calls. I told my parents that they could bring Emily up to visit, but there was no baby. I had to tell everyone the story. Jim & Emily stayed until around 7:30 and my parents left around 6:00.

I was able to get some rest even though nurses were coming in every few hours to do their checks. It was definately an eventful day!