Busy! Busy! Busy!

Since her birth, poor Lani has had to stay in the hospital, which means she and Brady have yet to meet! She swallowed some blood and bile on the way out and was vomiting it up, so doctors didn't know if it would work itself out naturally or if there was a problem with her intestines. They kept her at Mercy for a few days and then transferred her to the pros at Children's Hospital where she had test after test, hours on end of observation, she couldn't nurse, etc. It was definitely a trying time for the whole family, but she's scheduled to finally make her way home tomorrow. I can't wait until she sees her nursery, meets her sister (AKA: her cat!), and gets comfortable with mommy and daddy. What a fantastic adventure the Blevins family has ahead of them!! And have I mentioned that being a part of her birth was a life-defining moment for me?!! It's given me a sense of closure since I was still stewing over having Brady (and, the doctors say, all subsequent Baby J.s) via C-section. I had even gone so far as to secretly contact all local hospitals hoping to find an ally that would allow me to deliver, but my attempts were in vain! (I realize this all makes me fit for a straight jacket...) I thought for sure I would never witness a birth, so I am even MORE thankful to have been a part of Jen's labor and delivery.

Anyhoo, Brady has recently decided he enjoys waking up 3-4 times a night AND cutting his afternoon naps in half, so for the past two weeks, sleeping has been a real project. I've heard he may be getting teeth, it might be a growth spurt, maybe he's catching a cold...lots of different advice. I definitely appreciate getting other moms' input except when they tell me, "Awww, that's a shame. My little one has been sleeping through the night since he/she was a month old." Really? That's great for you, but that does not help me. In fact, it makes me feel a little more frustrated, so maybe you could just keep your happy sleeping baby stories to yourself until I can muster up the energy to pretend to be glad for you. It's hard to function on a few hours of sleep and I think my grad class is suffering as a result, but oh, well! This, too, shall pass!

Brady went to church with us on Ash Wednesday and got his first ashes. He did very well, even though he bent to Father's hands like a baby bird trying to snag a worm; I think he thought the ashes were food! Luckily, he didn't realize what was on his forehead and left them alone until we wiped them off in the morning.

I have to give special shout-outs to the grandparents for all of their help over the past week. They're always super helpful and thoughtful when it comes to Sir Brady, but with me running on empty, going to the hospital to see Jen and Lani, and being swamped with work lately, they've really put in some overtime! Thank you to Gram, Pap, Pappy, and Grammy for your extra help; I know Brady loves it and I certainly appreciate it.

Next up in the Adventures of Brady: a 6-month check-up tomorrow, Easter right around the corner, and Daddy leaves for Florida! We'll be busy in March, but hopefully the weather will allow for more visits. Brady is quite the social butterfly, especially if you're an attractive woman. What a flirt!!

WHAT A WEEK!!!

Before I get into all things blizzard and Brady, I have to share that my best gal pal Jen gave birth to her first baby girl! Lani Satyana Blevins graced our world with her adorable, perfect presence on Monday, February 15th at 2:29 am. She weighed 6 pounds, 4 ounces and was 19 inches long. She has little frog legs and her mommy's dimple and beautiful dark blue eyes! Jen and her husband Doug asked/allowed me to be there with them and I couldn't have been happier. Everyone says child birth is either gross or beautiful, there's no in between; it just so happens that I agree with the latter. Witnessing baby Lani's birth was one of most absolutely amazing things I've been a part of in my 29 years on this planet. I think deep down inside I was still struggling with the fact that Brady was delivered via C-section, but being a part of Lani's birth has really helped me come to terms with what I went through. Maybe that's selfish of me, but I think I definitely walked out of that hospital with a little something for me. Thank you, Lani :-) And congratulations, Jen and Doug! You certainly have one accommodating, thoughtful child! From the day to the time to the way she decided to make her arrival--it was altogether perfect!

The blizzard of '10 has persisted! Zach didn't have school Monday - Thursday of last week, and there was a 2-hour delay on Friday. Unfortunately that meant today, President's Day, was no longer a holiday for Kiski, but some districts it still was. At this rate, there are schools who have been off for the same amount of time as their Christmas breaks! That's insane! And what's more is there is another weather advisory tonight; we may get up to 6 more inches of snow. A few local districts have already canceled (not Kiski...of course!), but if we get this predicted weather, I can't see Zach having school. That would be nice, too, because I have yet to recover from being awake almost 24 hours! It was definitely for a good cause, but this mommy is exhausted! (On that note, I'm opting not to proof read this post, so any and all errors shall be deemed acceptable based on said exhaustion. Thank you.)

I was re-reading my older posts and saw that I had mentioned I was taking Brady on a secret Valentine's day trip to get something special for Daddy. Well, that didn't happen! I still don't want to say what our plan was in case we end up doing it in the future, but I thought I should at least mention it in case some of you were wondering. I'm sure you're all exhaling now, right? :-)

As for baby Brady, Zach performed a "rudimentary weigh-in" and we think B is around 20 pounds. We'll know for sure after his next pediatrician visit on the 24th, but Zach is usually pretty close. In addition to his weight, he's definitely getting taller, stronger, and more agile. We let him practice standing up by leaning him up against the couch and he'll hold on for a minute before his legs collapse underneath him. He loves the view, though! He's also been using his and restaurant's high chairs; he's so well-behaved that we can actually take him out in public! As long as he has something he can shake, break, or drop, he's happy! He's rolling over like a mad man these days, too; I put him on a play mat and it's not two minutes before he's rolled off of it and over to something of interest. Lately, that something of interest has been one of the dogs. Luckily, they're very good with Brady! His newest obsession is their tails; any time a dog wags her tail, Brady squeals with excitement. Pretty much anything that makes noise or comes in contact with him floats his boat! He likes to play rough, which is indicated by the battle wounds on my face, and if my scalp could talk, it would be begging for mercy. But he's a boy, so what's a mom to do?!

We discovered that Brady is very ticklish on his back. We were trying to give him a baby massage to relax him when we realized that relaxing it was not! He laughs and squirms, so we now torture him. I don't think he minds, though :-) He's really starting to laugh a lot, like those deep belly laughs. I put my hair up in a high ponytail and shake it for him; he really gets a kick out of that. He especially likes it when I take it out of the ponytail and falls into his face. There goes that cute bob haircut I was considering; how can I take away one of Brady's favorite (FREE) toys?!

Despite the weather, Brady has been able to have some new experiences this past week. Like I said earlier, he's been to a few different local diners/restaurants with us where he's proved he's big enough to sit in a highchair. He's also gone to his first basketball game. Zach runs the clock for Kiski's home games, and so we went to see a game. We chose Senior Night so there was a lot of clapping and balloons and Brady was in heaven. The busier the better for this nosy guy! He did really well until he got hungry, but he was very good about drinking his bottle right there in the stands. I don't think he would have done that a few months ago, so I was happy to see that he was able to multi-task! It won't be long before I'm just handing him his own bottle--how crazy is that?!

Blizzards, Brady, and baby Blevins--that about sums up this post! I don't have any pics of Lani yet, but when I get'em, I'll share'em! Stay warm!!

Blizzard of 2010

Beginning Thursday night, we were hearing rumors of a "big snow." Not until Saturday morning did we really grasp the meaning of the word "big!" Sometime in the middle of the night, Mother Nature lay a blanket of pure white upon us like I have never seen. It was absolutely gorgeous and peaceful...until we ventured out to shovel that is! Had Brady been older, I know he would have loved playing in this historical snow fall; but he was content to be bundled and carried around (or strapped to me and zipped up!) while we explored what used to be our driveway. For as observant as he is, though, I was surprised that he wasn't more interested in looking around or touching the snow. He was fairly indifferent! I think my July baby prefers the sunshine and warm weather!

It took poor Zach almost 4 hours to shovel the bottom of the driveway out, and not until he was halfway done with the top of it, did our neighbor Norm offer to plow us out! Thanks, Norm, but where were ya 4 hours earlier?! We got close to 26 inches which meant the snow was past my knees (see below!):



Things were so bad that the Bishop gave his blessing for all good Catholics to stay home as opposed to risk their safety and attend mass. This was good news for us because we already decided we weren't taking the chance down EV Lane--those of you who are familiar with this road understand what I'm talkin' about! Ironically enough, though, Zach had cabin fever so bad that he insisted he pick up dinner. After he was back home safe and sound with our food, we learned that we were actually under a state of emergency and he wasn't supposed to be on the roads unless absolutely necessary. I guess he could have pleaded his case with, "My wife was going to COOK!" to avoid any fine :-)

Even though the snow has since stopped, it's piled up high everywhere and the temperatures are dropping. Because of these two factors (and possibly that some buildings are still without power and heat), most of the local schools have already canceled classes for tomorrow. I'm looking forward to another day snowed-in with my two favorite boys! I hear we may be in for some more snow, too, and I am loving it!

Random: the Saints just won the Superbowl! That's two bits of history in one weekend--how fun!