Christmas pictures

Where does the time go?!!?!?

Gosh, it's been so long since I've updated this blog!! I'll try to remember everything that has gone on since Halloween, which was around the last time I blogged.

Hmmm...Well, Addison finally started to roll over! She was being so stubborn, refusing to do it. She hates to lay on her tummy, so rolling from her tummy to her back was totally out of the question! One day, my babysitter, Margaret, told me that she laid her on her tummy and walked out of the room to do something. When she came back, she was laying on her back!! WOOHOO!! Of course, Addison wouldn't roll over for me, but hey, that's nothing new!! Well, the next day, she rolled over three times for Margaret. This time though, I played with her while she was on the floor at Margaret's house. She rolled over and I got to see it!! I was so proud!! (My mom kept telling me not to worry, that she wouldn't go to college not knowing how to roll over! I guess she was right!) So, I can say that she was 5 months when she rolled over.

With Christmas coming, Paul and I decided to take family pictures. I searched high and low for the perfect outfit for Addison to wear for these pictures. I had already bought her Christmas dress, but at Portrait Innovations, they let you bring one change of clothes. I wanted this picture to be casual. So, mom and I went to the mall one night to find Addison the perfect outfit. Since it's only November, the Santa line at Willowbrook Mall wasn't exactly long. To be perfectly honest, there was no one who wanted to take their picture with Santa. Addison was no where near dressed to take a picture with Santa. But, mom decided that it was the perfect time and we needed to go get Addison an outfit for her Santa picture. We ran into JCPenney and got her a onesie that says "What Santa doesn't bring me, Grandma will". It was perfect. So, mom bought the outfit and we hurried into the bathroom to change Addison's clothes.

Well, let me tell you about our experience with Santa. As soon as we sat Addison down on Santa's lap, she wasn't so sure about him. She even teared up a little bit. Mom and I were trying to reassure her that everything was okay, and were even going to try to get her to laugh. Nope, we didn't have that opportunity. The lady behind the camera was so fast to snap a picture!! It's not like there were 100 people in line behind us!! In fact, there was NO ONE behind us!! So, Addison looks scared out of her mind in this picture!! Oh well, maybe next year, we'll get a good shot!

Well, I ended up finding a cute sweater with some jeans for Addison to wear in the family pictures at Target. The mall was pretty useless!

Speaking of our family pictures, we took the first set in our "holiday attire". Addison wore her Christmas dress and we tried to match her. Unfortunately, Addison wasn't really feeling good and cried through the majority of those pictures. We had to stop, feed her a bottle and try again. Still not to much avail. So, we decided to change our clothes into the casual clothes. Seeing herself in the mirror in the dressing room helped to change everything! She was a happy baby after that! I will post the pictures on another blog.

Since I'm off of work this entire week, I made a huge list of all of the things I planned to get done over the Thanksgiving break. It's Saturday and I haven't really gotten anything accomplished. I ended up having to take Addison to the doctor on Monday, where she was diagnosed with a double ear infection. Boy, has this been fun. (I hope you can sense my sarcasm!) I had to sleep on the couch with her, propped up, for two nights. She has been nothing but whiny. She wants us to stand up and hold her. Not sit down, not lay down, not put her down....just stand up and hold her. Plus, she keeps her pacifier in her mouth. Our babysitter is going to kill us! Pacifiers are only for naptimes!! Luckily, she is starting to feel some better. I'm really hoping she gets completely over this SOON!!

We also had a busy Thanksgiving. We started off the morning with the Salsgivers at around 10:30am. We left their house around 3:45 to head to Orbon's to be with my family. We stayed to watch the Aggie game and left there around 11:15pm or so...What a long day! Luckily, mom kept Addison so that I could go shopping for Black Friday.

Okay, I think we're about caught up. I'll try to be better about blogging. Addison is 25 weeks old now. Hopefully she won't be a year by the next time I blog!!

Happy Holidays to all!

My Little Giraffe

Last weekend we took Addie to the pumpkin patch here by the house in her Halloween costume. She's a giraffe!! And, may I add, the most adorable giraffe I've ever seen!!! Here are some pictures! (Oh, she's 4 1/2 months now. Since school has started, I have seemed to lose count of how many weeks she is---I think around 21.)

Some pics

We finally caught her smiling in a picture!

Who ME?!?!?!

She was 16 weeks old in this picture---she's 18 now.

Playing with daddy

I caught her "talking".....isn't this hilarious?!?!?!

Here are some pics from since my last update.

4 Months Already?!?!?

Gosh, I can't believe that four months ago today, our little bundle of joy was born! Addison has brought us so much happiness, it's unbelievable! She really is growing so fast!!
She is starting to "talk" now. She loves her daddy so much...she absolutely lights up when he is around! She gets the biggest smile, and will start to "talk" to him. Sometimes, it's almost a scream of delight! It's so funny!!
This weekend, I got to enjoy some of her pleasure. She was talking and laughing at/with me. Her little squeal is so cute!! She kept giving me really tight squeezes this weekend, like she was hugging me. (Guess she loves her mama too!)
Addison has also found her toes. She is holding on to them all the she can when she is laying down. I tell her she is being "such a big helper" when I'm changing her diaper. She thinks that is really funny too!
She's still hating being on her stomach for any reason other than sleeping. So, we're no where near mastering rolling over from her tummy to her back. But, she rolls halfway from her back to her tummy. We're getting there!
I bought her Halloween costume today. I really wanted a scarecrow, but couldn't find one. So, right now, Addison is going to be a giraffe!! We'll see what Paul thinks when he gets home. It may be going back to Babies R Us!
As far as Paul and I are concerned, things are going good with us. This past Friday, Paul turned the big 3-0!! He's an old man now! We went to dinner with family and friends. It was a really nice beginning to the weekend. I am still trying to get over all of this kidney stone business. I had to go get another x-ray this morning for my appointment tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully, the doctor will say there are no more stones!! Wish me luck!
Well, I guess I need to close up and get ready to go to work. (I took off half of the day to go to the doctor.) I'll post some pictures later. My camera is downstairs and they take forever to upload!! Hope everyone has a great day!

It's Been Awhile!

I haven't blogged in such a while! Guess I'll try to catch you up on what's going on with the Salsgivers!

Let's see....you know I've started back to work and really am having a hard time with one of my classes. The students are pretty low this year, along with some behavior problems that really ruin the class. Many people say its because I'm missing Addison and would rather be home with her. While I would rather be at home, this really has nothing to do with my misery!! The class really is just taking a toll on me this year! I'm hoping things will turn around soon as we are starting behavior charts on three of them, and one should be getting back on his meds this week!

Labor Day weekend, Mom rented a beach house in Galveston. We really had a great time. This was Addison's first beach trip. I'll attach pictures to another blog, since there are so many! The top picture on this blog was taken on the day we were leaving. We don't have any family pictures, so this was out first one! It was a nice relaxing weekend. We noticed there, though, that Addison was getting a cough.

By the next weekend, Paul took off work to take her to the doctor, as it was getting worse. Looks like she has a cold---upper respiratory problems. So, she's been on meds that seem to have helped some. She's not completely out of the woods yet, but we're weaning her off of it, due to doctor recommendations.

That weekend, Addison and I went to Mr. Dutka's 80th birthday party in Plantersville. She was passed around by so many people! Addie really enjoyed being held by so many people, especially since she wasn't feeling good. We were able to take the "Four Generations" picture above. I have a frame I need to put this one in! We'll cherish it always!

This past weekend, we're trying to take it easy. I had to do the Lithotripsy (or whatever it's called) to break up my kidney stone this past Friday. It wasn't too painful, though I am constantly having a dull pain now in my back and in my kidneys. Hopefully this will be the end of all of this, though the doctor said I am now going to be a "stoner"...meaning, I'll continue to have kidney stones. YUCK! Addison and I did go with my mom to a birthday party at a Mexican restaurant last night. Addie did great, again, enjoying people passing her around!

Hopefully today will be a relaxing day. I think we're watching football and having nachos and sloppy joes later on. Sounds good to me!

New Pics

Here are her 11 week and 12 week pictures. We just started using the Bumbo chair. She's still a little small in it, but it works!!

What a Week!

It's going to be quite a year! I have 38 kiddos right now at school--18 in the morning, 20 in the afternoon. My morning group is my above grade group, so I teach 5th grade material to them. Unfortunately, it looks like they're not truly above grade kids. They don't know their multiplication facts, which is something they should have learned in 2nd-3rd grade! I think I cand handle that though...My afternoon class is VERY low!!! Most of the kids are very sweet, but truly have no clue when it comes to math! Then, to top it all off, I have three boys in that class who are quite the handful. One is very loving one minute, then the next minute, he's covering his ears screaming "Stop talking to me, I'm not listening to you!!". The next boy just isn't on his medication. When I've talked to the principal about him, she says that in the past, he's hurt people when he's not on his meds. He's choked a boy in the past.
I guess I'll get on my soapbox for a minute....If you child is ADD, ADHD, or has some other medical condition, PUT THEM (AND KEEP THEM) ON MEDICATION. Don't take them off for the summer, don't only give them medication when you want to, don't only give them medicine when they are with you.....Give them medicine!! I know some parents don't want to "drug" their children, which I also understand. However, if it helps their behavior, helps their learning, and keeps them from creating havoc, DO IT!
Anyways, this child has continuously talked over me, he keeps moving his desk away from his partner's desk, he complains that he's going to throw up, just so that he can get out of class, he throws his paper and pencils on the floor...just to name a few. Then, I have a third boy who is very smart, but probably bipolar. He can be wonderful one minute, then a total jerk the next. He was retained in 2nd grade and feels that he doesn't belong in 4th grade, he should be in 5th. So, he doesn't feel that he needs to do any work. He'll just sit there, be the class clown, and not get any work done......GOSH! It's going to be a crazy one! On Friday, I totally yelled at the class, telling them that they were not going to run my classroom. Then, I called a parent, which totally scared a lot of them. Hopefully, things will be a little different this week!!
Luckily, I can decompress on my way to go pick up Addison. Seeing her smiling face, really helps me to relax!!

Working Mommy

My first week back to work really wasn't too bad. In my previous blog, I was worried about missing lots of Addison's "firsts"...I guess I was just having a very emotional day that day or something. I am totally fine now. Addison is doing great at Margaret's house. I think she likes being around all of the kiddos. Margaret always compliments us on what a good baby she is. (We're super lucky!)
Anyways, my first week at work was filled with tons of boxes....literally! My school was totally gutted, leaving only the outside walls. Now, we actually have classrooms! For those of you who are like "What??? She's a teacher without a classroom??" Well, not exactly. Our school used to be "open concept", meaning we didn't have any walls. Now, I have a classroom that I can close a door to and everything! I really like it, but really didn't enjoy opening all of about 70 boxes, trying to figure out where to put everything! Overall, the week was good. On Thursday, we had "Meet the Teacher Night". That made Thursday drag on! I seem to like my students so far, but really missed getting to pick Addie up from Margaret's and spending the evening with her. But, everything else went well.
Tomorrow is my first day with the new fourth graders. I'm hoping it's going to be the start of a great year. Let's hope so anyway! I'll keep everyone updated on my sanity later! :)

My last few days...

As my summer is coming to a close, I'm beginning to realize how hard it's going to be for me to go back to work. I have a beautiful little girl now. This is the first school year that I'll start as a mommy. There are many things that I look forward to--telling my students and coworkers all about her, showing them pictures, picking her up from her babysitter's, etc. There are also things that I am starting to dwell on...things that a stay-at-home-mommy may take for granted. There are things that I may miss....her first time to crawl, her first words, her first steps...Hopefully I'll be there for all of these things, but I have come to realize that I may not be there for all of this. Gosh, I used to think I could not be a stay-at-home mom. Now, I think I could eat my words!! Addison has developed such a personality and has brought me such joy. I know now that I'll be leaving work a lot earlier than I used to, using more of my work time wisely, and hurrying home to pick up my little girl. I never dreamed I could love and care for someone this much. God has truly blessed me and Paul. We now can't imagine our lives without her! Everyone, wish me luck, as my first day of work is Friday. I know it will get easier. Just these last few days seem to be flying by! Wow! I hope each summer won't be this hard! This time next year, Addison will be walking, doing some talking, and I'm sure will be a handful. I can't wait! :)

What'd you say dad?

Addison was intently listening to Paul talk to me the other day. Here are a few pictures of her listening!! (She's held her head up like this since the first day she was born!)

An Update on the Salsgivers

What's been going on with the Salsgivers??? I haven't blogged in a while, so I figured I'd fill you guys in!
Let's see..July 23rd was my birthday. We didn't do much. We just went to PF Chang's for dinner to celebrate. It was ooo good! I'd been craving it for awhile! Lettuce Wraps and Mongolian Beef...yummy!
The following week, on Friday the 31st, was our 5th wedding anniversary. Addie had her first sleepover at Aunt Kristen and Uncle Sean's on Friday night. Paul and I went to the Movie Tavern and saw "The Ugly Truth". It was a very funny,but vulgar, movie. We really enjoyed our evening. The next day, we drove to Galveston. We drove around for awhile, viewing some of the damage from Hurricane Ike. We even stopped at Paul's grandparents' old bay house...it looked pretty bad. Then, we parked by the toll bridge at San Luis Pass and spent about an hour at the beach. It was really nice to be in the sun and relax with my hubby! Afterwards, we ate at Fisherman's Wharf. Paul didn't want to sit outside, but we sat upstairs and had a great view! We really enjoyed our time alone! Afterwards, we picked up Addie and visited with Aunt Kristen and Uncle Sean for awhile.
The next day, I wasn't feeling very good, but couldn't pinpoint what the problem was. I was sleeping alot and just felt yucky. My back started to really hurt too. Paul had me take a muscle relaxer and take a bath. Welll, after falling asleep in the bathtub a couple of times, I got out and crawled in bed. After about an hour of sleeping, I told Paul to take me to the ER. For those of you who know me, I try to have a pretty high pain tolerance. So, I was in serious pain, in order for me to tell him to take me.
Mom picked up Addie from the waiting room of the ER...I wanted to get her away from all of the germs and nastiness as soon as possible. Paul and I were called back and my pain got really intense. I even threw up from the pain! After a pelvic exam, a vaginal and pelvic ultrasound, and a CT scan, they determined I had a kidney stone! I couldn't believe it!! WHAT ELSE?!?!?! Luckily, they were able to give me some drugs through an IV that helped to ease my pain. They sent me home with Flomax, which is a drug for old men who have trouble going to the restroom!! I've been taking that, along with some pain meds. I thought I passed it, but I've been still having some pains in my back. I go to the urologist tomorrow to see what's going on.
Other than that, things have been pretty calm around here. I start school on Friday, so I'm trying to enjoy my last few days of my summer. Where has my summer gone?!?!?!?

9 weeks old

This is Mommy's last Friday of the summer...work starts for her next Friday. Addison is nine weeks old! My dad (Gramps) and Teresa (Gran), Aunt Kristen and Uncle Sean came over to have hotdogs and play Wii this evening.

Addie's First Pair of High Heels

Cousin Janet Anderson came to visit Addison and brought her a gift, her first pair of high heels! They are so funny!! They are called Heelarious. She also brought her an adorable ladybug to hang on her wall. The next day, Aunt Sharon and Uncle Ron came to visit. They also really enjoyed the heels. They brought Addie a piggie bank. They also surprised us with the wagon that Kristen and I used to ride in at Gran and Gramps' house. What a surprise! We're thrilled to have it!

8 weeks old

Here are Addie's 8 week old pictures. She's getting so big! This was July 31st, also Mommy and Daddy's 5th wedding anniversary!

Addie's First Swim

Daddy and Addie went swimming tonight for the first time!! She really liked it!

7 weeks old

Can you believe Addie is already 7 weeks old?!?!

6 weeks old

I have some friends who take a weekly picture of their babies with a sign saying how old they are. Of course, I just remembered to do it, 6 weeks later!! Here is her first picture. She is exactly 6 weeks old in this picture. Addison has really started to smile this week. I caught it in this picture!

New Braunfels

We went on our annual New Braunfels trip last Friday through Wednesday. We had a really great time, even though I couldn't get in the water. My doctor wouldn't let me get in due to the bacteria in the water. All in all though, we had a good time. Paul was only able to come up on Saturday through Tuesday. He was really tired on the first day, so he and Addie napped while everyone else was down at the river. He eventually did spend some time with us in the water. Addison was even able to get into her swimsuit!! She looked so cute!! Also, we stay in the same cabin that we have been in since I was a little girl. Addison was able to take a bath in the same sink that I took a bath in! Here are some pictures!

It's Been Awhile

Gosh! I haven't blogged in quite some time, so I don't know where to begin! I'll try to remember all that has been going on lately to update everyone.

Let's see....Paul did get his job back, so we've been a lot less stressed! I am home with Addison, and am trying to enjoy every minute of it. Being a mommy is definitely a job in it's own!! I feel like my house is never clean, but now I have an excuse!! I'm busy being a mommy!!

We made our birth announcement for Addison. They really turned out good. The first picture is the one that we used.

We had a nice party at our house for July 4th. Lots of family and some friends came over to swim, eat hamburgers and hotdogs, and watch fireworks. We ended up having to go to our church to watch fireworks, as our neighborhood cancelled them since it's so dry. The fireworks show was really nice. The breeze really set in, so we could actually enjoy ourselves! My mom watched Addison while we went to watch the fireworks. We worried that she wouldn't like them or that it would be too hot. Addison ate really good all day, along with really enjoying our visitors.

Since then, though, Addison was really starting to slow down on the amount of formula she was eating. She has been eating about 3-4 oz. of formula each feeding. Well, starting Sunday, she was only eating 1-1 1/2 oz. This was freaking me out a little, though I tried to chalk it up to the excitement from July 4th. On Tuesday, I called the doctor because this was continuing to happen. The nurse felt that if she was satisfied and not really fussy, she was probably okay. Luckily, the next couple of days, she's started to eat better at most feedings. She's still only eating a few ounces at some times.

Last week, we went to visit Margaret, Addison's babysitter. We wanted to see her house, ask some questions, and introduce her to Addison. Everything went really well. We're really excited about having someone that we know to keep her. (We grew up with Margaret's kids.) She also has a friend, Becky, who helps Margaret out if things get overwhelming. We really liked her too. As we got to talking, Margaret was telling me about some of the other kids that she keeps. Quite a few of them go to the same doctor as Addison!! As a matter of fact, one mommy works at the doctors' office! What a coincidence!! Anyway, many of the kids are on (or were once on) Similac formula. Margaret explained to me that many of them were put on the soy formula for acid reflux, or for other reasons. I wondered if Addison would be put on this.

Well, I'd noticed for the past several days that she was very gassy. Never spitting up, just gassy. I called the doctor. They said since she was so gassy and wasn't eating as much, she might have a silent form of acid reflux. They called it an intolerance to a milk protein. GREAT! That's all I needed!! They wanted to put her on Prevacid and also switch to the soy formula. I was okay with this at first, but thought about it some more. I called Paul at work, crying. I didn't want to put my 5 week old baby on medicine. I also wanted her to like milk, not soy milk!! (Yes, I'm a Nervous Nelly mommy!)

He suggested that we just try the next step of formula, which is called Similac Sensitive. It's for fussiness and gas. Sooo...we bought this. She's been doing really well. She's also back to eating really well. I'm so happy.

We were leaving to go to New Braunfels, so I wanted to make sure she was going to do well while we were out of town.

Okay, this seems like a pretty boring blog. Guess I'll close up for now.

Some Good News!

Today, while at work, Paul's boss called him into an office and let him know of some circumstances that had happened at his job. Basically, his current position was going to be filled by someone else in the company. Well, that person accepted another position, leaving Paul's job open. So, they asked Paul to resume his position!!! He has his old job back!! WOOHOO!! He still feels that the interview he had last Friday for another company went really well, so he will keep his options open. Unless they can offer him lots more money and better benefits, he'll be staying with Maersk. Thank you God!!
Also, thanks to those of you who have had us on your prayer lists. Obviously, they've worked!
Paul is out tonight watching a private viewing of Transformers 2, so Addie and I had an evening alone. My mom came over for dinner and gave Addie a bath and put her to bed. So, I'm going to try to get some sleep too, before she wakes again for her next feeding. Just wanted to give everyone the good news!! Have a good night!

Cabbage Leaves

So, I'm trying out the cabbage leaves to help me dry up. At first, I had no idea what to expect. I put in the cabbage leaves and went to sleep. About 2 hours later, I woke up and I, along with my bra and shirt, were soaked!! I knew that cabbage leaves help you dry up, but had no idea that it pulls the milk out. What a mess!! So, I put on my nursing pads and am trying again. I feel like I smell like cooked cabbage! It's pretty gross! Hopefully my visitors won't mind! Maybe they'll just think that I'm making a chinese stir-fry!
Addison is doing great. I started her on formula mid-day yesterday. She has been gobbling it up since! I think it might make her a little gassy. I've been told to give her Milicon drops before I feed her--every other time. She loves to be held, which is not too great for me! She will sleep for a little bit in her crib/pack-n-play, but really is sleeping good in someone's arms. I'm hoping this won't last long! Right now, she's laying on my legs while she sleeps. I need to get up and put her in her crib. Wish me luck that she'll stay asleep!

Motherhood and Feedings

Wow! I always heard that motherhood was hard, but I never dreamed it would feel like this. It is absolutely the best feeling in the world. Addison is my world, along with Paul's too. Though, it is very challenging!

I am trying to be on a 3 hour schedule with Addison, as far as feeding is concerned. She seems to be going about every 3-3 1/2 hours, so that part has been okay. Breastfeeding, though, was not working for me. I couldn't get her to latch-on correctly, so I was bleeding and cracking quite a bit. I felt awful when I saw that I was bleeding into her mouth and that helped me to make my decision to pump and feed her the breastmilk in a bottle. This was working out pretty well. The only problem is that it is SO time consuming...pumping, then feeding her, was taking lots of time out of my nights. I felt like I was doing double duty. I am also trying to do a lot myself, as Paul is still working and going on interviews. I want him to get as much sleep as possible. I think I would have an easier time with this if we had a one-story house. This two-story really is a pain, going up and down the stairs a hundred times a night. Especially, right after a C-section. I've been trying to sleep on the couch downstairs with Addison in the pack-n-play. This definitely helps, but it's not ideal. I'd like to be in the same bed as my husband! So, I think I've decided to try to dry up and feed her formula. I have really debated about this and cried lots too! This would definitely help us to not have to go downstairs to get a bottle out of the refrigerator, going downstairs to pump and then put it in the refrigerator, and Paul would be able to help me out a lot more too. The downsides to this are (from what I hear) the diapers will stink, she may be allergic to the formula, and it will be more expensive. I think I could handle this though, as long as I had some relief to my pain. Plus, when Addison does have to go to the babysitter, she'll have to be on formula anyway. I won't be able to pump at work, so it will just be easier.

So, does anyone have any advice on how to dry up without much pain? I have tried to do some research on the internet and have talked to some friends. It looks like I'm going to need to buy some cabbage to help me out. I'm also going to have to try some cold compresses.

I know that there are many people who are going to read this and tell me that it does get easier and that I need to keep trying. Honestly, I need to hear from those of you who support me in this decision, rather than those who don't.

Pregnancy and Motherhood is definitely an emotional roller coaster! As I said earlier, I cry lots now!! I do know that this is normal, so I'm trying to take it in strides. Most of the time they are happy tears, but I definitely have those sad, or disheartening, ones too.

I would not trade any of this for the world though. I never realized how much I could love someone. I worry so much about the smallest things. I know it's because I'm a first time mom and am a Nervous Nelly. I want to make everything so perfect! Either way, she is absolutely adorable and is the light of my life. I still can't believe that I'm a mom!

Our Birth Story

Sorry I haven't blogged lately...We've been a little busy! Many people have asked for my birth story, how everything happened. So, here it goes:

On Thursday, June 4th, Paul called me around 10am and told me that he had lost his job. The economy problems had hit Maersk and many people were let go, Paul being one of them. Of course, this stressed us out to no end. We spent the afternoon trying not to worry each other, crying some, but also trying to be strong. This was just not great timing to lose his job. (We had known a week prior that some people's jobs were in jeopardy, but continuously prayed and believed that it would not be Paul.) Either way, we now prayed for safety and security and for a fantastic job to fall into Paul's lap. We knew that our medical benefits and his pay would last until July 1st, so we were safe as far as delivery was concerned.

That night, I woke up around 11:45 and noticed my underwear seemed a little wet. Not sure whether or not this was something for me to worry about, I changed my underwear and went back to sleep. Then, at 3:30 in the morning, I woke up to find that my underwear was wet again. I woke Paul and told him what was going on. He suggested that I call the 24 hour nurse service through our insurance. I did, and they told me that if I was not leaking when I walked around, it probably wasn't my water breaking. It wasn't leaking, so I tried not to worry. The nurse then said that the only way that they could tell for sure was to go to the hospital. I, then, called Labor and Delivery at the hospital to get their opinion. They told me to go ahead and come on in. We really didn't want this to be a false alarm, but went ahead and headed to the hospital.

When I got to the hospital, they were able to do a test on a strip of paper. If it turned navy blue, then my water had broken. If it was yellow, it was just some sort of discharge or urine. Sure enough, it turned blue. My water had broken!! This was it!

I called my mom first, as she and Orbon had gone camping in New Braunfels. I knew it would take her the longest to get to the hospital. We, then, called the rest of the family to let them know. There was no way of knowing, but I figured my labor would go fairly quickly, as I'd been contracting for 6 weeks. They gave me Pitocin shortly after to get my contractions to speed up. I was dilated to a 3 when I went into the hospital. Dr. Cantu walked in. My doctor, Dr. Baker, was not on call this weekend. Luckily, I had already met Dr. Cantu and really liked her. She told me that she was not afraid to give me an epidural at any point if I wanted it. Meaning, when I was ready for it, I could have it. My contractions were getting pretty hard, so I decided I wanted it. That REALLY helped! I highly recommend it!!

After about 2 hours, I was only dilated to 4. They told me that there was a chance of a C-section, since I wasn't really progressing. All along, I've said I'm not scared of a c-section. Well, this was true until the time actually came. Paul was videotaping me and everyone in the hospital room. He started to ask me questions like "Where are we?" "What are we about to do?" and said things like "It's no longer going to be us two anymore." Well, I started to get upset, as my emotions were running wild. I started to cry, just out of fear. Paul was incredibly supportive and asked everyone to leave the room. We had our last minutes alone. I cried, he was so encouraging. Then, after I dried it up, I was okay. Still scared, but okay...

Then, it was time....they wheeled me into the operating room. Paul had to wait in another room while they prepped me for surgery. Finally, he was able to come in. I was trying not to cry, as I was scared to death. The anesthesiologist gave me lots of drugs and my body got really cold, a sign that the medicine was working. Dr. Cantu came in and said that she was ready to deliver Addison Grace.

They started to cut me open, telling me that I should only feel pulling and pressure. Unfortunately, I felt more than that!! The drugs hadn't kicked in yet. I felt the knife! I was shouting "Ouch, Ow!" They stopped, to make sure the medicine had worked. Then, they started again. I always thought that I wouldn't feel anything in a C-section. This was TOTALLY wrong! The pulling and tugging was AWFUL!! Come to find out later on, Dr. Cantu tried to make a small incision and was pulling out a big baby. So, there was lots of pushing and pulling on my stomach. I was starting to hyperventilate, as they had to give me oxygen. Paul was told to hold my arms down so that I wouldn't try to reach down and grab anything.

Finally, she was out. I heard her cry, which made me bawl!! They said she was 8 lbs, 8 oz, 20 inches long. I think the first thing I said was "Good God!" I never dreamed she'd actually be that big!! Earlier in the day, Dr. Cantu guessed 7 lbs, 10 oz. Guess not!

I told Paul to leave with the baby while I was getting sewn up. I was still very scared and was EXHAUSTED! I could hear the doctor and nurses talking. I tried to fall asleep, but my mind was racing!

Paul finally met me back in the recovery room. I started to calm down and ask him questions.

Then, I was wheeled back into my hospital room. I don't remember much from there, but my dad videotaped everything for us.

So, Addison's first visitors were my mom (Nana), my dad (Gramps), his girlfriend Teresa, Aunt Kristen, Paul's mom (Grammie), Paul's dad (PawPaw), Aunt Dawna, Aunt Donna, Uncle Terris, Travis, Mimi and Poppy. All I remember is that everyone told me that she was beautiful. Because I had a C-section, I had to stay in the hospital for 3 nights. (Friday-Monday).

We had other visitors like Aunt Crissy, Tony, the Chilsons, and Teresa. Once we got home, Nana, Lloyd, and Aunt Susan were waiting on us with fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and cole slaw. It was great. I was so tired though, I wasn't too into talking.

I'll add more later as a different blog. This is our story so far. My mom has come over to spend the night several times so that Paul and I get some sleep. Paul's mom has come over to make dinner and to help around the house. It's all really been great. I wouldn't trade it for the world. I am truly a very lucky woman.

Thanks to everyone for all of the well wishes. I won't be able to email or call everyone back. Hope this is good enough! I've added a few pictures from the hospital and since we've been home.