The new year brings new things!

Ok so just a little side note ... I can't believe my son is 7 weeks old! Can you! Wow time is flying bye. Jan is the start of 2009 ... can you imagine.

Jan brings lots of new things to our house. 2 months shots are the 13th, daycare starts the 19th, I have to go back to work on the 25th, and Feb 5th I will be 26 (closer to 30 than 20 ... kinda sad about it). It is going to be a lot of change around here. I am dreading the 2 month checkup and shots but looking forward to getting back to work, while dreading the daycare situation. I know a lot of yall have asked when Bronner will be in daycare so here is the sched as best I can think right now! The tenitative sched will be Bronner going to daycare Mon afternoons after the 1200 feeding and me to work that afternoon with Jeremy picking him up. I will be home from work Tues AM at 6, feed at 8, daycare for Bronner, me to work at 4, Jerms to pick Bronner up at 5, and so on until Thurs AM. Thurs Bronner will most likely go to daycare in the mornings so I can nap and then pick him up either in time for or shortly after the 1200 feeding! So that is if I work mon, tues, wed ... which is what I prefer. We will see! We work every 6th weekend so that will change on those weeks. Please start praying that 1. Bronner will be sleeping through the night by then for Jeremy's sanity and 2. we will adjust into this cycle! It will be a new ball game for Jerms so pray he adjusts well! I am going to give it a test run the week before ... maybe on a Frid night just to see how Jerms handles it. Maybe I will sleep in the guest room with the monitor just in case! I know that is over protective but he is a hard sleeper and never even knows how many times I am up and down all night long. Bronner does really good after the 1200AM feed and sleeps till 4AM but after that he seems to be up and down a lot. SO anyways that is how it is going to work ... or so how I plan it to work!

New years goals! I am setting some goals for myself and our family this year. I never really set them but this a new year and I decided to try it out!

1. To lose the baby weight ... I have 9 lbs to go as of this AM hopefully to lose more than that!

2. To consistently be going to church and sunday school (ss is the hard part for us because it is early and I have trouble getting up in the morning!)

3. To have our savings account be at a certain level by the end of 2009!

4. Pay off the car!

5. Enjoy our child and make many many memories!

So 4 goals that will be work ... 1 that is easy and fun! Hopefully I can accomplish them all and yall can encourage me along the way. Let me know what yalls goals are for this new year and I will be praying for you and encouraging you too!

Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas! Bronner was 6 weeks old and we travelled everywhere. For the most part he did ok. We found gripe water over this Christmas break to help with hiccups/gas/colic (which he doesnt really have) and it is a wonder drug. Well not really a drug but you know! Anyways here are some pics!

Family Pic 2008

Trying to be creative with the new camera!

Our new tradition ... a Happy Bday Jesus cake ... this one we ran out of icing and room to spell out Jesus ... maybe we will do better next year ... its the thought that counts right!

Bronner Love on Christmas Morning

My Dad's side of the family ... Me, Papadoodles, Bronner, Gigi, and Poppy

Yesterday

So thanks to all who checked on me yesterday and today! I really appreciate it! It went much better than I anticipated ... not that my husband remembered or if he did he didn't mention it. Which is probably better. I didn't want to dwell on it! We are in MS for the Christmas week with our families. It has been busy so far and I am sure will continue to be. Bronner continues to battle being congested so pray that he gets better soon. Poor little guy is having trouble eating and breathing at the same time which makes for a frustrated baby and momma. I bought another humidifier as I left ours at home and it seems to be helping. He is sleeping in the crib now for the first time since about 4 this morning! Hopefully he will still sleep tonight because I am tired! Anyways I hope yall have a wonderful Christmas week! Pics to come soon!

PS The air man came yesterday and measured and came back to the house last night and hung all the duct work! So thankfully it is all done and ended up being much less expensive than previously thought! :) (although I don't recommend flooding your air ducts because it is still super expensive to fix ... especially for round 2!)

When it rains, It pours

So this has been a stressful and time consuming week! Jeremy and I both were sick the end of this past week and were finally feeling better on Saturday after steroid shots and medicine. We had a great day on Saturday shopping with Aunt Dyana, Uncle Jason, Drew, and Sayonia! The check engine light in my car came on ... only the day after Jerms and I had been talking about what a great car it had been and how much I loved the third row I pushed so hard for :)! Sunday my mom was coming back from TX for my sis surgery that was supposed to be today, so naturally I was cleaning up and got a burst of energy from somewhere and decided to "christmas" clean our closet. Well Hanna Home and the trash got 2 huge bags of clothes and shoes and now we can actually see our clothes, our Jeremy's more like it! I need some in a serious kinda way! But when you can't fit into the reg clothes but the maternity clothes are to big is not a great time to buy. Well while I was cleaning out the closets and wrapping christmas present I was also doing laundry. That is when the crap hit the fan. The washing machine flooded our house for not the first but the second time since we have lived here. Needless to say we got a new one which I am so excited about!! It flooded all the air ducts as they are hung underneath in the basement. The water soaked under the floor to Bronners room and we had to tear up all the carpet in his room and the mat to let it dry. What a nightmare. Once all the water was cleaned up, we retrieved fans and set them up to dry. All this while my car needs to go to the shop and my mom is flying into the airport. Thankfully my sis got my mom and Jeremy and I finished cleaning up. The carpet is still up on baskets and is drying out nicely. The only thing is the air ducts. Hopefully they will be replaced sometime this week, and hopefully not cost to much money! The washing machine is being delivered tomorrow thankfully and hopefully the air duct man will come too! This is also the week I have been dreading a little bit. The 19th is fast approaching. Hopefully it will be a day of reflecting and thanksgiving ... so pray for that one! So anyways here are some updated pics of Bronner! Even on the worst of days he will make you melt!

My Two Boys!

Bath Time

Pictures

Our pictures are up for viewing! Go to ambersphotogallery.com Under the proofing tab the password is our last name lowercase! Hope you like them. I have no idea how I am going to choose. They are all so good.

On another note ... Jerms is starting to feel better but I am still sick. So please pray 1. Bronner doesnt get it and 2. that I feel better soon. My doctor called me in some meds so hopefully that will help!
Sorry so short but Bronner is upset! Love yall!

4 weeks old!

Bronner is 4 weeks old today and last night Jerms and I weighed him and he was 10 lbs! WOW! He is growing so fast. I can't believe how fast time is flying bye. Hopefully it will slow down soon but I doubt it. I am wanting him to stay little forever but Jerms is anxious for him to grow up so they can play. We are going on our first shopping trip, just me and Bronner today! Hopefully it will go well. Other than that we are preparing for Christmas and spending time with our growing boy. I hope yall have a great week!

* No new on the pics yet! I promise I will get it to yall when I get it! I am so anxious to see what they look like!*

Reflecting

So as Bronner was swinging and sleeping today I started reading a blog that was linked on my sis in laws blog. Here is the link audreycaroline.blogspot.com. She is the wife of a christian artist and has recently lost a child to anomalies incompatible with life. As I was reading I found myself lost in her story, reflecting on people that I myself have labored and delivered in the same situation. Sometimes not even giving their story much thought. At work my friend Amy and I are always asked to give baths, get dressed, weigh and measure, and make memory boxes for still born and incompatible with life babies. We look at it as a way to help the mom grieve but never put ourselves in their shoes and always say leave it in the sat morgue and don't take it home with you. It is just our job. Although we try to do it well if I took each and every baby home with me I would never be able to go back. Some always stick with you and some you easily forget. About this time last year Jeremy and I found out we were expecting our first child. We were super excited. Amy went with my to the doctor for the first time and I was in lalala land as I heard the heartbeat. I was measuring a week small at the time but never thought anything about it as I ovulate late. About a week later, at work, I miscarried our child. Reading Angie's blog brought back some of those memories I have tried hard to forget. Not wanting to realize what could have been. But now, today as Bronner swings I am so thankful. Not thankful to have miscarried but thankful for what I have learned. We never would have met our sweet Bronner if I hadn't miscarried a year ago Dec 19th 2007. I will never look at a family the same way again that is coming into deliver a baby that has passed away or that is not compatible with life. I will always look forward to meeting my little angel when I meet my Savior, whether a boy or girl although I feel strongly it was a boy! So today I reflect on where we have come. A year ago so happy to be expecting only a few weeks later to be grieving the loss and now to be proud parents to a perfect little boy. What a joy! I learned a lot about myself by reading her blog and hope you will to if you have time. The most important thing I hope I remind myself as I get ready to go back to work in a few months is to remember the mom and family and not treat them as just another person. Sometimes we forget in the day to day repetition. So my L/D friends ... I encourage you to read her blog and take a step back and examine how we treat our patients ... especially the ones losing a child. Love yall!!