Nerd Alert

Wordless Wednesday

more pictures to come from Justin's Nerdy Thirty party! 

My Mister Mister

This boy warms my heart. He completely makes me a crazy person but he cracks me up and definitely keeps me on my toes. One of my greatest hopes for him is that he'll keep the joy that he finds in everything (even though it tends to be found in a cabinet or drawer he shouldn't be getting into) and he'll continue to be known for his ear-to-ear smile. God bless it.

Ch Ch Ch Ch Ch Changes

Throughout my adult life I’ve found that when concerning change – when it rains it pours. The last couple months have certainly not been the exception to the rule. Outside the best and most obvious change rocking our sense of normalcy in the form of Layla, I feel like I’ve been in a game of dodgeball and I'm either constantly avoiding the red rubber balls of change, or seeing one that appears catchable, only to have it rock me in the face and seemingly knock me out of the game.

Fortunately for me, God is graceFULL and when I was dodging the wrong ball, he’d lob it at me again – this time slowly and underhand making it completely obvious which ones I’m supposed to grasp on to. I’ll never claim to be the smartest person ever, sometimes it works best to speak slowly and use small words… Silly analogy aside, life looks a lot different now than it did eight weeks ago. Most of it’s good, some of it’s just requires adjustment as we continue to try to settle into us.

We learned a couple weeks before Layla was born that Justin didn’t get the job in Colorado with the wind energy company. It was disappointing news for all of us – it goes without saying I took it the hardest because the opportunity was such a tease – but I’m still extremely proud of my husband for getting as far as he did and dedicating so much time to the process of getting us to Colorado. It will happen eventually, now’s just not the time.

Alanis may find it ironic, but it wasn’t lost on me that days after we found out Colorado was out of the picture, Justin got a call from a different recruiter about a job opportunity in Cleveland with another aerospace company. I went ahead and took the house off the market before he even interviewed – I just knew he was going to get it. Sure enough, the day before Layla was born Justin got the official offer. This job answers all the prayers and meets our financial needs, it just lacks a few mountains in the distance, but that's okay. I'm bummed I can't brag that my husband works for NASA anymore, but he's got a lot more responsibility with this new position and I can't stress enough about the answered prayer financially. So he signed a 12 month contract and I'm now in the process of making our house "ours" instead of the neutered house we had for showings.

Bella's started preschool in September and absolutely loves it. She's thrilled every morning she realizes it's a school day and is very serious about the time we spend going through her school folder as she empties her backpack at night. Still, she's very much a three year-old and each wrap-up of the school day starts and ends with what they had for snack until I prod for details about the letter of the week or what she picked up from story time. Every day it both warms my heart and breaks it a little when I watch her walk hand in hand with her teacher into school. Even though she's only gone a couple (glorious) hours twice a week, I can't get over how much she's already grown and they don't lie... time flies.

Austin has really started coming into his own the last few weeks. He's not that interested in Layla, but it's like the addition of an infant triggered something in him to start making the merge from baby to toddler. *sigh* This has come with tantrums (his I think will eventually put Bella's to shame) but mostly a love of learning new words and small phrases along with following directions (YAY!) and playtime with Bella. He's still all boy and gets into everything with no intention or curiosity outside of just making a mess. And you know those moms that are so embarrassing and have their child on a leash that they've tricked them into thinking was a backpack? Hello, nice to meet you. Aint no shame in keeping track of my son, he's a flight risk.

Just to make sure I'm completely overwhelming myself I'm trying to throw a quality 30th birthday party for Justin. Usually for his birthday we go to dinner or have the backyard bbq with family and friends. Since this is really the first milestone oh-my-gosh-you're-old birthday I really want to make a big deal out of it for him. He deserves to know he's loved and appreciated - and celebrated accordingly. I've decided on a "Nerdy Thirty" theme and along with help from his mom I think this should be pretty legit. The party is Saturday though and there's still lots to do for it, so excuse me while I go breathe in a paper bag to keep the anxiety attack at bay.

Also, speaking of change, a big shout out to my friend Jenn for the much-needed facelift she gave my blog! I've been staring at the same design for about four years, so I was seriously excited for something different. You can check out all her awesome work here.

Once Upon a Time

The benefit of making babies with a rocket scientist is my children will stand a chance of being smart like daddy. They can thank me later. I read this book to Bella only a few times weeks ago and she found it in the van and told the story - albeit it altered - practically perfect to what was happening on each page. Aside from being ridiculously cute (true story) she's one smart cookie with an impressive memory!

Miss Layla Grace

Baby’s birth announcement is long overdue, she’s three weeks old now and I’ve got no bragging on my blog. It’s simply unacceptable because she’s completely amazing. So with no further ado (there actually will be more following the picture, but it sounded right) I give you Miss Layla Grace –

Because the placenta previa went away I didn’t have to have a c-section but we still planned to be induced because the majority of my help post-baby and with the two Littles at home, was coming from Colorado in the form of my mom and sister. It was certainly not an easy task to get them here in time. First, they had to change their tickets after the c-section was canceled and then there was serious stress if they’d make it in time because I was dilated 3 cm with two weeks to go and Andrea was cutting it close, not coming until 12 hours before I was set to go to the hospital. I made sure not to even sneeze to make sure Baby would stay cooking until my family arrived.

When the day finally came we made an early start to the hospital and I was sure we’d meet Baby before noon since I was already so far dilated and they say the more children you have the faster labor goes… no dice. It was still a relatively quick day since my doctor is a Rock Star and likes to kick up the pitocin every time she came in the room, but I was anxious throughout the day anyway and the nurses seemed to be moving so slowly. The hospital was on day two using a new computer system and since my nurse was practically archaic with her computer skills, it was an extra long day and I was ready to take part and actually DO something and participate in bringing Baby here.

After the epidural (and I basically washed the med student’s feet with my tears straight biblical style) I asked my OB to check me because even though the nurse said I wasn’t contracting enough, I was pretty sure things were ready to get started. Justin was about to leave for the cafeteria (again) so he was shocked to be called back because I was at 10 cm and we were ready to go! When she asked me to try pushing, the baby crowned, and everything intensified. Three pushes later, we met our new baby girl! I have to say, the moment of the big gender reveal wasn’t as exciting as I was hoping (the heavens opening, light shining on her, “hallelujah” in the background... the usual.) our doctor did hold her up in what can only explain as the naaaa sevenjaaa moment in the Lion King's Circle of Life. Still, in hindsight I would have rather found out the gender at the midway ultrasound.

Even more surprising than finding out it was a girl (I was pretty sure the entire time that it was another girl) was her extremely dark brown, stick-straight hair. Finally, a child that may look like me! At that point we realized none of the names on our list were very fitting for her, except Layla, and it still took over 24 hours to officially name her. I was stuck on the middle name because I’d always assumed we’d use “Elizabeth” after a dear family friend and my favorite character from a novel and movie (Ms. Bennett from Pride & Prejudice is a serious kind of hero) but again, it just didn’t seem quite perfect anymore.

So I turned to Andrea and asked her to help name Layla. It was special because I wanted her to share in some part of Layla because we were supposed to share much more, so I at least wanted to share my daughter’s name. When I found out I was pregnant, I called Andrea to tell her and in true fashion, she let me go on and on about it before telling me she was also expecting and she was due ONE day before me. We were both ecstatic to be pregnant together and deliver so close together. Unfortunate doesn’t do justice to the feeling when I heard from her husband that she’d miscarried a couple weeks later. Again, true to her nature she was more than happy to come to Cleveland to be in the hospital room with us for Layla’s birth. She chose the perfect name to follow Layla – Grace. It already speaks to the strength in her personality and the fighter I can tell she’s going to be. “The beauty of grace is that it makes life not fair” and I see Layla wanting to share that with others. God willing.