Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Mark . . .my sign from God

I was really bummed on Monday that I was not going to be able to deliver on Tuesday and get out of here. My awesome nurse, Leigh Ann, came in to tell me the results because my doctor had gone home without coming to tell me. One more disappointment. . .

I held back my tears while Leigh Ann was in here, but Kurt called right after she told me. Leigh Ann left the room and said she would come back when I was done talking with Kurt. As soon as the door closed I lost it. I couldn't even talk because I was crying so hard. He, obviously, knew that we had received the news that we did NOT want to hear. He sat quietly, and while I could tell he was bummed he was more concerned about me. He knows how difficult this has been on me, and while I know it has been very difficult on him as well he has been worried about me. He's a pretty awesome hubby!! Anyway, I didn't really have long to talk with him . . . maybe a couple minutes when someone knocked on my door. It was the lady at the front desk letting me know that Mark Knapp was here to visit. Mark is my mother-in-law's cousin, and he is a pastor as well. As soon as she told me that he was here, I knew that God was telling me that it's all going to be okay and it just isn't the right time yet. I believe in coincidence, but with all my heart, I KNOW that Mark Knapp coming to visit me at the exact time that my nurse told me I was not going to be able to meet my little boy the next day was NOT a coincidence. I know that Mark was my sign from God that all things happen for a reason, and while it is okay for me to be disappointed it just wasn't the right time. Mark and I had a nice visit. He's such a sweet man. He's one of those people who just makes you feel loved and makes you feel at ease, and I thank God for sending him to see me when He did. I hope that I will look back at this whole experience . . . the whole pregnancy, really . . . and remember how many times that I have felt God's presence in my life and felt His reassurance that everything will be okay.

Baby Kaden wanted his own birthday

We were supposed to deliver Kaden via c-section yesterday (8/24), but the amniocentesis on Monday showed that his little lungs just weren't ready to be delivered. Therefore we are waiting until next Monday (8/30) to deliver. Yesterday was my Aunt Debbie, cousin Chandler, and Great Grandpa Allen's birthday so I just think Kaden wanted his own birthday. :) I was really bummed when we got the results of the amnio, but I've gotten used to the idea now. I wouldn't want him to end up in the NICU for a long time so this is, obviously, what is best. I was just really looking forward to getting out of this bed and this room. It is amazing how quickly your muscles atrophy when staying in bed for 3 weeks. Ugh . . .not much longer, though!!! :)

I have had quite a few visitors while I have been in the hospital so the time has really gone pretty quickly. My parents and Hunter have been up on both weekends. This has allowed Kurt to have some time to get things done at the house, which is really nice. They brought up a care package from Aunt Wanda that included some things for me and Jackson. One of the things that she sent for Jackson was a Toy Story backpack. Dad was trying to get Jackson to put it on and he wouldn't so Dad put it on.
It was not as easy to take off as it was to get it on though, and he actually got stuck in it for a few minutes. Haha!! Silly Pop Pop!!

We bought Jackson a bunch of Dr. Seuss books to have here at the hospital so we have something to keep him occupied while he is here, and Dad has spent some time reading to the boys when they were here.
Hunter has been so good when they have visited, which is nice because he is usually a hyper mess. Haha! He's been so sweet and so well behaved though.

When I was working at WEBO, we had some friends over there who would keep Jackson when I had evening activities at school. Amanda was one of my students, and Tammy, her mom, worked with me at WEBO. Amanda was also one of Jackson's afternoon teachers at daycare. Needless to say, they love Jackson to pieces and he loves them right back. They came to visit last Sunday.
It was nice to visit with them. We will miss seeing them so much with me not working at Webo anymore.

My friend, Jeanine, and her little boy Henry have visited a couple times to hang out with me at lunch time. She is on maternity leave right now so it has been nice to spend time with them. Henry is such a little cutie. I wish I would have taken some pictures. Lissa, Kurt's Assistant Principal, has visited twice (once with her family). My mother in law has been here several times, and my father in law was here briefly. My friend Sarah Raines stopped by one day to bring me some yummy cookies and magazines. Heather and Rees came to visit and Dani came to bring me some ice cream . . . Yum Yum!! I have also received flowers from Susie, my parents, and Dani, Scott, Rhino, & Kelly. As bummed as I was about not being able to get out of here this week, the flowers really did brighten my day and lift my spirits. :) I feel pretty blessed to have such wonderful family and friends. It really has made this experience easier to handle.

Progress

So, while I have been in the hospital, we have had some busy bees working at our house. I cannot believe how quickly things are progressing. It's nice. Dennis, our General Contractor, has sent me pictures almost everyday with some updates. Here are the most updated photos that I have received.

I think they were supposed to put the decking on the roof today, and Dennis thought they would have the entire roof (existing and new) completed by Friday. Now, if we just had our windows. . . oh well. I can't wait to see what it looks like when it's finished. I know this is the part that seems to go so quickly because there are so many large/visible changes, but I'm still excited. I just wonder how much they will have done by the time I get home at the end of next week. My maternity leave is going to be eventful to say the least. Thank God for nursing covers or every contractor in Hamilton County would be seeing me nurse the baby.

While Dennis and Brian have been busy on the outside of the house, Kurt has been working hard inside as well. He laid new floors in Jackson's room, and it looks so good. Jackson had this awful yellow carpet in his room before. It was stained and pretty gross, but Kurt took care of that. . .
Isn't it pretty?? I love it. I can't wait to see it in person. We will have the same floors in all of the new rooms and in the dining room as well. I can't wait. It's so much nicer than the old school carpet that we have had. In addition to the floors, Kurt has been busy taking siding off of the house and working on a dresser for Jackson. Jackson is still using the dresser with the changing table on top of it, which we will need for Kaden in about a week. When we moved into the house, Grandad had an empty dresser in Jackson's closet. It had been antiqued, which was not really our style, but it is a really nice dresser so Kurt has been stripping it and refinishing it for Jackson. He has worked really hard on it, and finally finished it this weekend.
The next month or so are probably going to be pretty chaotic with the new baby and the construction, but I can't wait to see the end result.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Last pic at home. . . 34 weeks




Sarah Jean asked me about recent pics so I thought I would post these. They were taken a couple days ago, last pics before going into the hospital. Okay, last post for real this time. . . time for bed.

Can I have a quarter please?

Unfortunately, this has been a very difficult year for us. In January we lost Kurt's Grandad. In April, we lost my Pappaw. Tragically, in July, we lost Kurt's brother, Craig, in an automobile accident. Craig was a quiet guy, but he was a really good guy. He was a fantastic uncle, and Jackson just loved him.
Here's a picture of them on Christmas. Craig and Brittney spoiled him, really. It makes me really sad that Jackson has now lost both of his uncles, but I am so happy that he at least had the first few years with Craig. We all miss him very much.

Phil and Donna Stackhouse, some family friends, bought a Japanese Lilac tree for Brett and Susie when Craig passed away. Brett and Susie are probably going to be moving eventually, so we decided to plant the tree at our house. Brett, Susie, and Brittney came up one evening so Kurt and Brett could plant the tree. It's a really pretty little tree, and we planted it right at the back of the property.

Brett told Jackson that every time he waters the tree, he will pay him a quarter so Jackson makes sure he reminds Kurt to water the tree every day. He doesn't hesitate to tell Brett when he needs to pay him either. I like it that we have the tree at our house so we can talk to Jackson about Craig and the importance of the tree.

After we planted the tree, Jackson just had to show us how good he is at baseball. He actually is pretty good for a 2 year old. He usually hits about every 3rd or 4th pitch. He actually hit it so hard the other day that it flew up on the porch, hit the house, and bounced into the hole for the basement. We had to have the concrete guys toss it up to us when they were taking the forms off a few days later. Granted, it is a big bat, but I'm still pretty impressed with him for a 2 year old. Anyway, I don't have any pictures or videos of him hitting the ball. . . I will have to get one because it is so cute (and again, pretty impressive in my eyes. . . of course I am his mom). We did get a picture of him pitching to Brett though and I thought it was pretty cute. We don't really have very many pictures of Brett so I love it that we have this picture of him playing with Jackson. Jackson loves his PeePaw so I'm glad we got this photo.
As difficult as the year has been to this point, I am hoping that the birth of Kaden will be a turning point for our family. I think we have dealt with enough heartache for awhile. Through it all, though, we have definitely realized how blessed we are with family and friends who are so supportive in so many ways. It's times like these that one really feels how much they are loved and how blessed they are in life, and we can't really complain one bit.

Summertime . . .

This summer has been very eventful to say the least. I knew at the beginning of the summer that I would probably be hospitalized at some point so I wanted to have as much fun as we could while we had the chance. Unfortunately I did not get pictures of all of it, but we went to the zoo a few times and the Children's Museum once. We also went to the Strawberry Festival on the circle in Indianapolis. . .YUMMY!! Jackson loved every minute, and of course he was super cute but I didn't have my camera . . .oops.

We had a lot of fun at 4th of July. Our old neighborhood had a block party and we were invited. I think they will forever be our neighbors since we don't have any neighbors now. We love them all to pieces anyway so I am cool with that. :) Anyway, here are some photos from the block party . . .fun times.
Me and Dani - one of the best friends a girl could ever have. :)
Family photo . . . which we don't have very often.
We put the headphones on Jackson because he doesn't like loud noises. He really freaked out a few times about the fireworks . . . so much so that I thought we would have to leave, but he calmed down and ended up enjoying them . . .kinda!

A couple days later (actually on July 4th), my parents came to visit and Jackson acted like he had never been bothered by fireworks. He was a champ. He kept saying Oh Wow. . . It was pretty cute.

He and Hunter got matching glowing swords, and he Loves that thing.
Before the fireworks we hung out at Brett and Susie's house. . . We all ate dinner in the fifth wheel trailer because they are remodeling their house. This picture was super cute of Hunter and Jackson . . .they get along pretty well but now that Jackson is getting older they are starting to fight like brothers at times. . . funny, but annoying too. Haha!
A couple weeks ago we met up with the Gentry's to get ice cream at Handels. Dani and I used to go ALL THE TIME when we lived across the street so it was nice to go with them. The kids had fun. They are so cute together. I just love those kiddos, and Jackson does too. We are pretty blessed to have them in our lives. :)
Looking at the picture of Jackson, Emmy, and Ty, you would never know that this was what Jackson looked like about 45 minutes earlier. . . so cute . . . he was so pooped out that he just fell asleep at the table.

Susie's cousin Greg has a pool at his house, and he is so sweet that he said we could use it whenever we want. He is also the father/father-in-law of Chris & Heather, our very dear friends. Anyway, they were out of town in Michigan, but he said to go on over and cool off so we did just that. Jackson had so much fun, and I have to admit it felt Really good to this pregnant lady. Being pregnant in the summer kinda sucks. . . especially when it is one of the hottest summers on record. The pool felt wonderful!
With all of the work that has been happening at our house, Dennis, our general contractor, has been at the house a lot. Jackson has just fallen in love with him. He gets so excited about Dennis, and Dennis is wonderful to him (because he has a 4 year old and is used to being interrupted and all that fun stuff). We couldn't have asked for a better person to be our general contractor.
Finally, Kurt's cousin, Dana, and her little boy, Michael, came up to visit us last weekend. She made us Chicken and Noodles and came up to keep Jackson occupied so Kurt could get some work done and I could rest like my doctor had ordered. The boys were going non-stop, but they actually slowed down for a few minutes so I could get this cute little picture of them. I love it. We are truly blessed to have such wonderful family and friends. . . they have really been a blessing this summer, as it has been a difficult summer in many ways.

That's our summer in a nutshell. Haha! I know it was a long post, but I haven't posted pictures since like last July so I think it's okay. :) Now that summer is over and I am about to have 2 little ones to play with and take care of, I am glad that I was able to spend the beginning of the summer doing fun things with my little guy. I wish I would have been able to be more fun at the end of the summer, but the bedrest will all be worth it once we have another healthy boy in our arms. :)

One good thing . . .

One of the good things about being in the hospital is that I am missing out on all the mess at home. . . I am so excited for all the changes at our house, but I am not unhappy about missing the crazy, muddy, mess. . .

This is our before picture. . .
Notice the pretty green grass, etc.

The first step was to take down the two trees just south of the house. Jackson was SO excited because the digger was at our house knocking down trees. It was so funny to see how he acted. It was really cute. Anyway, this was the final look of the first step.
They quickly dug the hole for the basement, which was also exciting. . . Jackson is just thrilled with the whole process.
Walls went up quickly, and it really made me feel like the waiting game that we played for a year was all worth it.
Once we really got the basement underway, it was time to start digging for the geothermal. So, we went from having a messy yard south of our house to having a messy yard BOTH north and south of our house.
When I came home the other day Kurt and I actually had to park right in front of our front porch because there was a trench in our driveway blocking the garage. Poor little Jackson just doesn't have anywhere to play anymore other than down by the barns, and he has to trudge through a bunch of dirt to get there. It is going to be SO worth it once it is done though. There is definitely progress being made. I love it, but at the same time, it makes staying in the hospital for the next few weeks a little less frightening and easier to deal with. :)

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Blogging hold up . . .

I keep trying to update my blog and upload my pictures, but I cannot get my card reader to read my photo card. . .hmmm. . . I'll keep trying. :)

All checked in . . . now what. . .

Well, I am all checked into the hospital for my bedrest prior to the c-section on the 24th. Kurt and Jackson dropped me off this morning, but they had to go home . . . can't expect a two year old to spend the whole day at the hospital with me. So, now it is just me. . .

Upon arrival we were informed that our OB had not informed the hospital that we were coming. Frustrating to say the least, especially since she wanted me to check in 2 weeks ago. I'm not really sure why she had not informed them that I was coming, but once I explained why we were here everything was fine. The nurses have all been wonderful so that's awesome.

I'm not really sure what I am going to do for 2 weeks in the hospital, but I've got plenty of books to keep me busy. I also thought this would be a great time to get the blog updated, especially since in 2 weeks I am going to have 2 little ones to keep me busy. :)

I have to say that the day started out poorly. I was in such a bad mood thinking about staying in the hospital, and then finding out that my OB had not done what she needed to do to make an easy check in was even more frustrating. After sitting here for almost 4 hours, though, I have decided that it's time to get over it, deal with it, and start enjoying this time of rest before my sleep becomes very limited. So, here's to a better attitude about the next 2 weeks. . . :)

Sunday, August 1, 2010

I always want to remember . . .

When Jackson cries, I always tell him to come to me so I can wipe away his tears. Then, I will hug him and wipe away his tears with my thumbs. I was overwhelmed and upset earlier today, and I started crying. He stopped what he was doing, and he came over to hug me. Then, he looked up at me and said, "here, Mommy, let me wipe away those tears." He's such a sweet boy, and I am so lucky to be his mommy!