As God as my witness...I will have it all!

I have been a very bad girl and have not done a post in over two months! Let me take a couple of sentences (yea, right) to get you up to date...

August - I went back to work. We took very small baby steps. It took me forever to get a real schedule. Me, you all know me, I have to schedule and plan everything! David and I did celebrate our 3nd year anniversary on August 30th. Mom watched Daniel and David and I went out to eat. It was very hard for me to leave Daniel. However, I needed it, I enjoyed spending one on one time with my husband. As we discussed at dinner, we have come a long way since the beach in Hawaii. The exciting thing is seeing what more God has planned for us.

September - This was a hard month. I quickly realized that having a career, being a wife, and a mom takes more time than God gives us in one day. Yes, as God as my witness I will have it all! I refuse to hire a housekeeper (no one can clean my house my way) I refuse to hire a Nanny (I am a control freak and I will raise my child the way I want him to be) I refuse to quit my job (I have worked way to hard to have a career) This leaves nothing more than prayer! Every night I pray for God to give me the strength, and energy to do it all. I will be a wonderful, caring wife, an over the top mom, and make my work goals every month if its the last thing I do. With that said I was able to over come the challenges of motherhood that I was faced with this month. I woke up to Daniel crying in the wee hours of the morning, long story short we had to rush Daniel to the hospital because he could not breath. After a short time in the hospital we came home and I watched his every breath. I have accepted the fact that my son has a cold that will not go away. He is only 4 and half months old and he has had a cold for more than half of his life.

October - We took Daniel on his first road trip to Athens, Georgia. We went to see our friends, Amos, Stacy, Katie Mei, and Avery. Avery is two months and two days older than Daniel. It was so much fun to watch them play together. We had a lot of fun spending time with our friends. While we where there I had Daniel's 4 month old pictures taken. He did so well, and I still haven't ordered them because I am having such a hard time deciding. Happy 1st Halloween to Daniel! He loved Halloween, didn't love the fact that I had him in a turtle costume for three nights due to parties we attended. I am a work in progress, I learn as I go! Daniel went on his first field trip to Honeysuckle Hill Pumpkin Farm with his school. I know he is too young, but I had an excuse to take off and spend the day with my son so, I took it. David and I did start having date nights - I feel so bad, my whole life has become Daniel. He is known as "the love of my life" I can't help it. It's weird for me to think that it was a year ago this month that I found out that I was pregnant. God had truly blessed us. Daniel did start food this month - it was a very big deal in our house. Because everything in my life just about has to be organic, so does Daniel's. I decided to make all of his baby food so I knew exactly what he was eating, so far, so good. He has eaten green beans, sweet pot., pears, and apples so far. I also gave him Banana's - he hated them. I have held strong and I am still nursing him despite the fact that I am having to pump every three hours while being on the road all day.

November - It started with me going to Kansas City for a meeting. It was a quick in and out trip, thank the Lord. The funnest part of the whole trip...when my David called me, I thought something was wrong, when I called back - David just HAD to tell me that Phil Fulmer was no longer going to be with Tennessee. My husband... God love him! My goal this month is to get back on my regular workout schedule and to start eating healthy again. I have also made the decision to walk in the Music City Marathon in April. Because of me have Daniel and being so out of shape I am starting to train now. I have a lot to do! Right now we are planning on staying home this weekend, yea! It will be the first weekend we have all been here together in over a month. We have decided we are doing nothing this whole weekend.

Through the last couple of months I have realized more than ever that God is in control. Good, bad or other wise I have to embrace everything as if God handed it to me himself. With all jokes aside, please pray for my family as we really to try to have it all. We feel like God had blessed us so much with a healthy son, two wonderful careers, a beautiful home, and the best family and friends anyone could ever ask for and we want to handle everything with care.

May God bless you with every step you take,

Stacey

Taking One Day At A Time

For all of you guys out there who have asked me to blog....sorry it took so long.

The last couple of weeks have been very busy. I went back to work on August 18 and things have been on the fast track since. Let me first say I was sooo excited to go back to work - as crazy as it sounds I couldn't wait. I love my job, my customers, and the people I work with. As for Daniel, I love him more than life its self and for the grace of everyone in my house I needed to go back to work. I am just NOT stay at home mom material! God bless those of you who are. My first day back was a Monday, I had a lot of planning and preparing to do so it was a slow, nice day. That all changed on Tuesday - it was sooooo busy. I usually see anywhere between 8 to 10 clients a day, that day I visited 4. So the rest of the week I had to play catch up. Still my customers last week were so sweet, they all said how much they missed me and I felt like I was having a baby shower everyday. The weekend was here before I knew it and I had to start preparing for my first night away from Daniel.

Saturday I spent the whole day preparing to go out of town. We all know how type A I am - yes, everything was checked and double checked. I had typed instructions for David to follow (more on that later) and I went through are normal day five times in my head to make sure I had not forgotten anything. After all of that, I just held Daniel all day.

Call me crazy - really please do - but I had convinced myself that the plane I was getting on was going to crash and I would never see my son again. Ok, give me some credit, its my first trip out of town, and I have never been a mom before. So all night I prayed, and prayed - now I need to pray a prayer of forgiveness for wasting God's time. To all the people in a third world country, I am so sorry that you didn't get something you needed because God was too busy having to tell me to calm down! Honestly, now that I am back - in my heart if I really felt like the plane was going to crash, HELLO Stacey you would not have gotten on it to begin with!!!

Back to Sunday, David and I went to church and then meet Dana at the airport in Nashville. For those of you who don't know Dana is my girlfriend in Memphis, yes I work with her but she is like my best friend. I can't go a whole day without talking to her. I always say she is one of my best friends and we just happen to work together. So any who, we meet Dana at the airport, she had to drive to Nashville because it was cheaper - we flew Southwest. Once we arrived in Kansas City (that's right arrived, the plane didn't crash) we had to go straight to our meeting. We had a great meeting, we were launching a new product line and it so great! After the meeting Dana, Summer, and myself went back to the room to get ready for our regional meeting. Normal companies have meetings in suits and ties - our group we have meetings in P.J.'s - and if your Summer you find ones with feet in them in the kids department.

Please let me explain before I go on - that the region of Kentucky and Tennessee in my company are a very close group. There is our manager Randell, he has a partner Charles who is the sweetest man I think I have ever met. Randell lives in Louisville and is by far the best manager in the company, just incase this gets back to Gino - your the owner not a manager and you know your the greatest boss ever! Then there Katie, she is out of Louisville too and looks like I million bucks - the girl could wear a pizza on her head and still look amazing. Summer is out of Lexington - she just had a baby in Feb. baby Briley will call her BB for short. Amber who just got married is out of Evansville, why she wanted to work at SSG I will never know - she has her own children's line of clothes. Mary is out of Little Rock, and has taken a town that did nothing and made it a gold mine. Then theirs me and Dana - the two girls from Tennessee!

Ok, so clear your mind and just picture this (remember I said we were close) there we were in a hotel suite having our regional meeting in P.J. - well like I said earlier Summer had a baby 6 months ago and I had Daniel 2 months ago - we are both breastfeeding and we had to pump. So as we are having our regional meeting Summer and I are pumping on the couch while eating pizza - it was priceless! No body cared, that our breast pumps were in sink together and there were two girls with there breast out. Just for the record we did have our covers on! I love that I have such close friends that I work with.

So as far as my meeting it went great and well, I guess I made it home fine as I am ok to blog. Everyone wants to know how David did alone with Daniel. Sunday night when David got home from church he feed Daniel and then Daniel decided that he missed his mommy and he had to let daddy know about it for two hours. David said he cried non stop for two hours. Daniel just doesn't do that - he missed his mommy! David finally got him to stop crying and put him to bed about 10. So the next morning at about 8, I get a call from David - Daniel never woke up at 4:30 like he normally does. I told David that Daniel knew David didn't want to get up so he decided to give him a break. Plus, his mommy wasn't there anyway! Much to my surprise - Daniel stuck with it and now sleeps from 10 to 6! I am so proud of him. As for David and my instructions - I should have know it would be a waste of time, David did what David wanted to do. Honestly, that's ok, the list was more to make me feel better and if David needed it, it was there. I do have to tell on him for one little thing (remember I am sooo type A) as I was unpacking Daniel bag from school I noticed that David had never changed his socks. Daniel went to school with a polo on and his dress socks from church the day prior. I guess David looked at them and said to him self, "they look fine to me, it's not like his feet are smelly!"

The new normal

Well, it's here, it's finally here! I have to go back to work :( I knew this day would come but some how I kept telling myself that I had all the time in the world. A lot has happened since my last post so let me get you up-to-date!
Let's see....

First, we had to say good bye to July, I love July! We are getting into a routine which we like to call our "new normal." I purchased the book, "your baby's first year," as I got tired of people telling me what Daniel should or should not be doing. Daniel finally went to Dad's office - Dad was giving me the third degree because I had not been there. I got some energy back and I have started on my to do list - you know the one I have had before Daniel was even born! Anyone who knows me knows that I am crazy when it comes to my house - baby or not my house has to be clean - it's a disorder and if there was medication for it I would be on it!

On to our new normal...
It's still amazing to me that once you become a mom you do things that you would have NEVER have done before...like waking up at 4 a.m. Yes that's right 4 a.m. - David and I NEVER got up that early EVER unless we had to catch a flight. I must say I am very proud of how far I have come.
I wake up at 4 - I have a cute built in alarm clock, he doesn't even give me one extra minute, its 4 o'clock every morning! I nurse Daniel, which I only get to do twice a day now :( and get him ready for school, I will get to that later. Then I do 30 minutes of cardio - yes its not a typo - I am actual making an effort. After that I get ready and eat breakfast. Starting next week David and I are going to start car pooling to save money. The last month that I worked we spent WAY to much money on gas. A lot of that has to do with David's SUV, that sits in a garage all day, David never goes out for lunch. So we decided that we would try to carpool, hope it works! When I go back to work next week, I am going to work 8-4 with a driving lunch (eat and drive) so I can pick Daniel up on time.

My friend Dana has always told me that she has two jobs - her 8-5 job at Salon Service Group and her family job that starts when she walks through the door. For 6 years I have heard this - it finally hit home and boy was she right. As my friend Summer has said - work is a break from the busy life at home - don't look at it as a job, look at it as a chance to breath! She was right too! From the time I walk through the door at night it's none stop and by the time I am able to breath its time to go to bed.

Daniel started his nursery school on Tuesday. I was very proud of myself, I didn't cry one time. David and I took him together on his first day. We drove separately to see what was the fastest way, David and Daniel got there first and David was walking across the parking lot when I got there. Seeing that made me get a little teary eyed...but I never cried! Daniel had a very busy first day, he went through 25 oz of breast milk, 4 outfits, and 8 diapers! I love his school, he has his own little crib and lots of cool toys to play with. He will start baby sign language next month. Oh, I missed that, Daniel is 8 weeks old - he will be 2 months the 17th of August - I can't believe my baby is that old already. There are 5 other babies in his class, which David and I had never thought of but Daniel had not even seen another baby before Tuesday. The last time he was even around other babies he was a newborn and couldn't see very well. I am sure he looked at them and thought, "wow, there are more little people like me!"

I am still breastfeeding and hope to until he is a year old. It is getting harder I must say. I have to pump so much right now trying to keep up with the demand on how much he is eating. Right now Daniel eats 5oz every 2 hours for a total of almost 35 to 40 ounces, which I think is too much so I am going to speak to his doctor about it. On a better note, Daniel is sleeping through the night, he goes to sleep at 9 p.m. and doesn't wake up until 4 a.m. - 7 whole hours, I will take it! I kept trying all this stuff to get him to sleep through the night, nothing would work, it wasn't until I said, "OK, I don't care anymore, I am used to getting up anyway," that same night he started sleeping 7 hours! The month I said I didn't care when I got pregnant, I got pregnant. Maybe that's my inter secret that even I was unaware of - say out loud that I don't care and it shall come.

I am taking Daniel to the doctor Friday for his 2 month check up, he is going to have to get shots. Keep us in your prayers - Daniel because he has to get shots and myself too...I have a feeling its going to hurt me worse than it's going to hurt him!

A week of being sick

As a mother you know that its going to happen, at one time or another your child will get sick. However, there is nothing that can prepare you for it! David came home sick on Tuesday and was sick the rest of the week. Daniel started having a runny nose on Thursday, and I got a lovely sore throat the same day.

Everyday while he was sick I had to use the wonderful "blue bulb" if I was a baby I would hate the site of that thing too! Daniel hates it - he sees it now and he starts pushing it away. This of course was the first thing my son learned to do...push away!

Thursday Daniel, my Mom and myself went for a big, long day out! We left our house at 9:30 and returned at 8:30 that evening. Mom acted as "Nanny for the day" while I went shopping. I really needed a day to go and do lots of little stuff. You know those "run in and run out" visits, that with a baby turn into 2 hour stops instead of 30 minute stops! I waited a little over a month to go clothes shopping as I didn't want to buy things while my water weight was still here. And yes while I did lose all of my water weight - I still have 10 pounds to lose to get to my pre-pregnancy size (not that it was my ideal size to began with) The one thing that no one tells you - not that they should have to - is that just because you lose all that weight, your body is not the same. My hips are wider, my belly is like a bowl full of jelly, and my feet well, good bye little cute shoes. I can't help but think that it's all part of God's plan. When you become a mother the last thing you do is have time to put those cute little outfits together or keep up with the latest and greatest, you barely have time to get dressed at all!

So we got all of the little stuff taken care of and then it was off to find me new clothes. Store number one, I cried - store number two, I cried, and finally by store number three God stepped in. We went to Cold water Creek, I had never been there before, by first look I thought there was nothing I would ever like. Mom had found a black shirt and black pants so I tried them on. I went to the dressing room where there was a fabulous lady name Debbie - God I love her! She made me feel like I was on the show, "What not to wear" except she was really nice! I told her the whole store about just having a baby, yea, yea, yea. I told her that I needed 5 outfits to go back to work and weekend clothes - I had to do all of this on a budget. Sometime I hate the fact that my husband is an accountant! Oh, the days when I just bought stuff and never looked at price tags! Of course, that was before I had my precious baby so I would must rather have him!

Two hours and I won't say how much I went over my budget (it was worth it) I had all the clothes I needed and they look great. Even though I had gone up a couple of sizes I don't feel like it when I wear my new clothes. I honestly haven't felt that in a while. I guess that's why maternity clothes come in Small, Medium, and Large.

I only have 3 weeks left at home before I have to go back to work. I have become Martha Stewart trying to organize our new life and our house. David keeps calling it our "new normal" and I have to agree. With Daniel in the house I feel like we have things to do with meaning, before we just did things. Our family is also having to get used to our "new normal" we can't just pick up and go now. We have to think about bedtimes, nap times, feeding times, the list goes on and on.

Busy as a buzzy bee

I have one word for motherhood...busy! I have been so busy the last couple of weeks, I looked up and realized I haven't blogged in weeks. So here is what has been going on the in the Roach Farmer house the past couple of weeks.

Daniel decided that he had the power to be in control of mommy and daddy so he took advantage! We have been trying to put him on a schedule, at this point I wouldn't care what it was as long as he stuck to it. He has been eating a lot. So much that I had to call the doctor to see what I could do to up my milk supply. Her answer... O'douls beer. As crazy as it sounds, it works. So along with all the eating that he is doing comes lots of dirty diapers, and we have tons of them. I have finally learned my lesson to change him only in his changing drawer and not on my bed. We have cleaner sheets that anyone in the neighborhood as they were washed three times in one day...hello mommy I pee on everything.

I have experienced some of the harder times of motherhood this week. It started with me taking him to the doctor. Which by the way Daniel gained 3 pounds and grew 1 whole inch. I was told to stop holding him so much (what else am I to do with my new baby???) start pumping to prepare for going back to work, and most importantly putting him on a schedule. I never knew that word would make me sick. After all I am the queen of a schedule, as my friend Randell says I make a list to tell me to make a list. People tell you that babies don't come with manuals...I don't need a manual I need Franklin Covey, does he make house calls??? With trying to put him on a schedule I had to do something so hard that it made me want to crawl in a closet and not come out for a long time, I had to let my 1 month old baby cry himself to sleep. As I am sure that I am not the first mother to do this, I felt like I was all alone in a big, big world.

The cool thing, or my light at the end of the tunnel as I like to call it, is that I have started to pick up on what his cries mean. As a new mom that is the coolest thing, my baby cries and I know what to do!!! I just hate it when I get the "mommy please just hold me forever" cry and I can't do it.

I have 1 more month of maternity leave and while I am going to hate to leave my precious baby boy, I don't know how women stay at home. I am definitely not the "stay at home mom" type. As much as I love my baby I need to have adult interaction ever once in a while. David really wants me to stay at home, staying home is just not for me. If I ever did decide to quit my job I would have to do charity work or something.

Today we took Daniel to get his 1 month pictures. Yes, I am going to be one of those mom's who is a picture freak. That is why I can't quit work, I have to pay for pictures. He hated every second of getting his pictures taken. Luckily we had a really good photographer who had more patients than we did. I felt so bad for the poor guy. Daniel cried for an hour, the only way we got him not to cry was by putting a bottle in his mouth, having the photographer count to 3, and then pull it out while he took the picture. After an hour of crying you'll do just about anything.

This week should be just as busy as the last 4. I have to start getting back into the swing of things. My housework has taken a back seat so I have to start on that - yes I have to have clean baseboards - baby or not! I have to get my wedding ring re sized - I have gone to long without it, I feel like people look at me with a baby and wonder if I am married or not. My mom and I are going shopping Thursday - it is way past time for me to get new clothes. I promised David I would be good and not go too overboard. And last but not least, I have to get my son on a schedule!

Please pray that I am able to get some of these done!!!

Week 2

I had told myself that I would update my blog every week, this week that didn't happen. So here was our week of June 30th - July 6th, it was a little too exciting!

Monday, June 30th
Today we hung around the house all day. Daniel was really good today. He stayed on his feeding schedule and he slept a lot. I am still trying to get into a schedule of not sleeping all day. I feel like that is all I have done since we got home. David started taking the 12 a.m. feedings today so I can get 6 hours of sleep. Maybe I won't sleep all during the day! Because David was up he and Daniel were very thoughtful and woke me up at 12 a.m. to be the first one's to tell me Happy Birthday!

Tuesday, July 1st
Happy 27th Birthday to me!! Today's goal, get out of the house by myself. Thanks to the sleep I was able to get last night, thanks to my lovely husband I actually felt great when I woke up. So I started really early because we had to get out of the house by 12. I had to get myself ready, give Daniel a bath, and get him ready. 3 hours after I started we were ready to go have lunch with David. We met David at his work and had lunch, it was so nice to get out of the house, have a meal and my baby all in one setting. Daniel was so good, I was very proud of him. After lunch I had to go to the hospital and drop the breast pump off I had rented while we were at the hospital. We left in such a hurry to go to the hospital, I forgot to get my breast pump. After the hospital we went back to David's work, the people David works with wanted to see him. Just for those of you who know the inside joke...they all met me in the lobby. I swear my husband works for the C.I.A. or some top secret department as I have NEVER seen were he works. I am allowed to go to the building, and set in the lobby but that's it! We left there and Daniel was still being really good so I thought we could stop by and see my mom at work. I thinking I was asking a little too much, he was really fussy after that. Because we had already celebrated my birthday on Saturday the three of us just hung around the house and had dinner here. It was a very nice birthday, plus my wonderful husband got me a massage to a fabulous day spa...gotta love that!

Wednesday, July 2nd
Today was pretty much the same as always. We stayed home and Daniel did very well today. Wednesday night we did go over to David's parents for dinner before going to church. This was Daniel's first trip to church. I left him in his seat, I am still over protective mommy! He seemed to be ok with church. We are however going to have to figure out a different nursing schedule. He was hungry right in the middle of church.

Thursday, July 3rd
Today went by really fast. David got off from work at noon and we just did stuff around the house. One thing I have learned from having Daniel...I had no idea how much time I had before he was born. We just thought we were busy before. The days go by so fast because I have SO much to do. That is the one good thing about 4 a.m. feedings, you get to enjoy the whole day!

Friday, July 4th
Happy 4th of July!!! Today was a very nice day. We met my parents at Applebees for lunch, and then went over to some family friends house to swim. Daniel was of course the center of attention! His little cousin who is 4 months old was there and looked like a first grader compared to Daniel. We stayed there for a while. Daniel got to spend some quality time with his grandmother and it was nice to get out of the house and around people. Everyone asked me before Daniel was born if I was going to quit work. Not that I had any doubts that I would, but after being at home for three weeks, it's just not for me. We left the party around 5 and went to David's parents for dinner. We stayed there just long enough for me to pump, have dinner, and change Daniel. Then we went to an outdoor concert at Lipscomb. Yes, I know I am crazy for taking my 2 week old to an outdoor concert. To make me feel better we put him in his stroller and left him there. He actually slept through the whole concert and the fireworks after. Then when everything was over he woke up. That's my child, he sleeps through every thing.

Saturday, July 5th
Not such a great day today. We woke up early this morning to get ready and go to the bookmobile. The bookmobile is a mobile library that comes to our town every Saturday and has since David was a little boy. David had been waiting his whole life to take his son to the bookmobile. What do you know, the Saturday that we go they no longer have it. The city had cut it due to budget cuts. David was so mad. So to try to make a bad day good we went to see Annette. Annette was David's neighbor when he was growing up and is like a grandmother to him. When we pulled up, unannounced, we realized that he son was in from Singapore. We felt so bad, but they loved the visit. She was so excited to see him. We left there and went to have lunch with Jody, Jenny, and Sydney. At first Daniel was great, then he got really fussy. I took him out to the car to nurse him, that was fun. We left the restaurant and came back home to visit with our friends and Daniel was fussy the rest of the day!

Sunday, July 6th
Daniel's first Sunday at church. Today was Daniel's blessing at church. I had bought him an adorable gown to wear, but like everything else it is really big on him. He wore the same thing he came home in the hospital in. It was a wonderful day at church, everyone got to see him for the first time. He wasn't to fussy, we went to the nursery one time for me to change him. I didn't think that was too bad, we were at church for 3 hours. He baby blessing was very nice, even though he didn't have his cute outfit on. After church I nursed him and we went to lunch with David's parents. Things went down hill after that, he started crying, and crying, and crying. He normal never cry's unless he's hungry or needs to be changed. I honest think that we had done just too much over the last couple of days and he just wanted things to go back to normal. We did go to life groups Sunday night and he seemed to be ok. He's just a growing boy and needs lots of attention.

SURPRISE

I have to be one of the hardest people in the world to surprise, but my husband totally pulled it off on Saturday! This coming Tuesday, July 1st is my birthday and with the birth of our son I could of cared less what we did for it. Anyone who knows me or my family knows that the whole month of July is Stacey's birthday month. I am an only child and grandchild my family had nothing better to do than spoil me! But, when the spoiled birthday girl has a baby the world changes. My husband, bless his soul, was trying to keep things normal. Looking back now I should have noticed all the signs but I was so busy with Daniel that it didn't even cross my mind.

Saturday morning David and got up around 8 a.m., this was also our first Saturday home with Daniel so sleeping in is no longer in our vocabulary. Normally, we get up and kind of lay around for a while. This Saturday David got up and immediately started cutting the yard. This has never happened! Not to mention the fact that he was cleaning the house the night before - usually that would be me, now that Daniel's here not so much! He also kept saying we have to leave at 12 - he had told me that we were going to the grocery store, pick up Daniel's pictures and we needed to take some things back to Babies R'Us. I was so excited because I had not been out of the house all week except to go to the doctor.

I got ready, gave Daniel a bath, got him ready and started to dress him when the door bell rang. David went to the door and it was my Dad, I remember just looking at him like, "what are you doing here?" Dad lives a good 45 minutes away so for him to just stop by without calling wasn't like him. I took Daniel's bath tub to the bathroom and David followed me and asked me, "what's he doing here?" I was like "I don't know???" We had been so hard on our parents about calling before they come, and we had somewhere to go, but more important than that - I HAD TO GET OUT OF THE HOUSE!! Just as I was trying to figure out what to do, the door bell rang again this time it was David's Dad. I was like hello, what is going on here? Then I looked at the cake in his hand. I was so SURPRISED.

Then I looked down and realized that I still had my P.J.'s on (which I breastfeeding so they were leaking P.J.'s at that) and I still had to nurse Daniel. By the time, I changed clothes, pumped, and came out of the nursery, our whole family was there. They had brought a ton of food for us to have a cook out and everyone was running around telling me to sit down. It was great, my husband had done it, he finally after 5 years surprised me. I was so proud of him, he had called everyone, got them there, and organized a cook out all without me knowing. More amazing than that no one had let it leak out either.

I truly have one of the best husbands and families in the world. Although sometime I don't always show it and I get angry with them, I love them dearly. David out did himself, not only did he throw me a surprise birthday party he also took me out that afternoon so I could get out of the house. We were only gone for 3 hours but, it was great. Never thought I would see the day where I would want to do to the grocery store just to be able to get out of the house.

Learn as I go

So, here I am at 2:00 a.m. on Friday morning - I am still awake, why you ask? Not because I have a fuss baby but because I HAD to HAVE diet coke. All day I had been craving diet coke, I am trying not to have caffeine but I couldn't help it. My whole pregnancy I never really craved anything now that I have to watch what I eat I want all the things I can't have. David got home about 8 o'clock tonight and I had him stop by the store and get a diet coke, because I just had to have it. Well guess what so did Daniel whenever he nursed at 10 o'clock. So here we are all caffeine up and we need to be asleep. Hello, Stacey use your head!

Today I went to put a diaper in his diaper genie, we had hoped to use cloth diapers but his little bottom is so small we have to use pampers for the time being. So anyway, I go to put a diaper in the diaper genie and it won't go in. It never dawned on me that it would already be full. I thought there's no way we have only been home since Sunday. Well, it was and when I opened it up I was amazed at the number of diapers we had gone through in 4 days. Live and learn!

Today was a nice day, we got up around 9. That doesn't mean we slept til 9, I usually do his first feeding, change him, and eat breakfast in bed then get up. It's just easier! Today was the first day that he nursed all day. After we left the hospital I had to pump just to make sure he was getting enough milk. So he nursed all day today which was a whole lot easier. I forgot to write that he lost his cord on Wednesday. I was changing him and I went to clean it and it was gone! I looked everywhere for it and then I laid him down and he started to cry. I picked him up and there it was under his shirt. My baby is already growing so fast.

Some of the things we have already discovered about him...

He can not go to sleep in the dark - a little light has to be on.

He loves the sound of birds, they make him laugh then he gets the hiccups.

He is amazed by light, we had to set him by the window in his moses basket for a while and he was amazed by the light outside.

He isn't fussy unless something in wrong.

He hates blankets, I have to dress him very warm because he kicks the blankets off. I go and check on him and he's freezing - I don't think he even cares as long as he doesn't have to have a blanket.

He can already roll over onto his side - being a first time mom I thought this was normal until the doctor said it wasn't. He is a very strong little boy.

So far things are going great. Daniel is growing like a weed and I am getting used to having another person to take care of.

Our Birth Story

OK, so here it is. I am so sorry that it took me so long to get this posted. Every time I would set down to write I would either fall asleep, someone would call, or Daniel needed something and I just never got back to it. Below is our birth story the good, the bad, and the unforgettable memories that we will never forget. I hope you enjoy!!

It started Monday, June 16...
David and I went to the doctor that morning and my blood pressure was very high. By the end of my visit they had taken it 4 times and every time it was high but it was going down. I met my friend Stacy who was visiting from Athens, Georgia. We went to Babies R' Us to purchase the rest of the stuff on my registry and then has a wonderful lunch. Stacy had to get back to her new baby Avery and two year old Katie Mei so I dropped her off around 1. After dropping her off I went to Target, I felt the need to purchase non-toxic cleaning products, and a lot of batteries. This is what I like to call nestling for type A people as my house had been ready for months. After that I went home and finished some work stuff. David came home and asked me if I had checked my blood pressure, for those of you who don't know we had struggled with this since May 15 so I had been check my pressures at home as well as the doctors office. I checked it and it was so high I started to get worried. My whole pregnancy I did not worry about anything, my husband worried for all three of us and I felt he did a great job all on his own. We called the doctor and he told me to go to the hospital. David and I got our stuff together - my bag, the babies bag, and some other things. At the time I asked David, "don't you need a bag?" He was like, "No" neither one of us had a clue what the next 24 hours would be like. After being at the hospital for an hour or so it was determined that I had toxemia and they would have to induce the next day. The look on David's face was priceless - WHAT???? He looked at me and said I am not ready for this we still have 3 weeks. Ready or not here he comes!!!

Wednesday, June 17... In the beginning, natural labor
At 8 a.m. the doctor broke my water, which let me say is the weirdest feeling. At 9 a.m. they started my drip that would induce labor. For three months David and I has prepared for Daniel to be born naturally. Most people thought I was crazy but, I felt it was the safest thing for my child and who doesn't want to do the most safest thing possible. Over the next 9 hours many things happened, the pain started as not that big of a deal to uncomfortable but I was able to breath through them. I could not have gotten through any of this without the help of my husband who was amazing! My mom who watch my contractions on the monitor and told me when they were coming and when they were over. My aunt who was the person that got whatever I needed when I needed it. About 4 hours into labor they told us that internal monitors would have to be used because the baby and my contractions were not showing up on the monitors. If you don't know what this is as a mother, it's devastating. They inserted a needle monitor into my cervix and into his head. He still has the spot on his head and every time I look at it I cry. At 5 o'clock in the afternoon the doctor came in to check me, at this point I was in natural labor for 9 hours only it wasn't natural as in my body just went into labor. It was chemically induced which means the contractions were 10 times worse than normal contractions would have been. When the doctor check me I was at 6 - I had been at 6 for two hours and I couldn't take it anymore. In my mind as the contractions were really bad I keep thinking that I was in transition which meant I was at the end and it would be over soon. This was not the case.

Drugs please...
So, I gave in and got the drugs. My emotions were running high, before they came in to start the drugs I sat there with David and cried for like 5 minutes. I felt like a failure, the what ifs went through my mind, and for the first time in 8 and half months I was scared. My husband, God bless him, was so wonderful. He held my hand and told me that I was not a failure and that under normal conditions I could have done this but it was out of our hands. Anyone that knows me knows that I am always in control and things just don't get out of my hands. So the nurse came in and gave me the drugs, thank you Chuck, he was the most nicest, sweetest guy I have ever met. They say guys can't imagine the pain that women go through during labor, Chuck either loves his job a lot or feels the pain just like women do. For the next 6 hours he check on me every hour and always made sure that I was comfortable. After the drugs took effect things went pretty smooth. Even though I didn't feel contraction pain I felt a lot of pressure which is just as bad. In a matter of 5 hours I went from having energy to having none. That's the thing with drugs your body is still working very hard but you can't tell it. At 10:30 the doctor came back in to check me, I was still at a 6. I was tired, my water had been broken for almost 15 hours, my blood pressure was still dangerously high, and the babies heart rate was dropping. At this point we had no other choice for the safety of me and my baby they had to do a c-section.

C-Section, almost over...
Chuck came in and gave me a different set of drugs that I would need for the c-section, our families were waiting patiently in the waiting room, as they had been there all day. Twenty minutes after the doctor came in and told us about the c-section we were on the elevator going up to the O.R. Once in the O.R. they got me ready and David changed clothes. They started at 5 after 11 and at 11:15 p.m. on June 17 our precious baby boy cried for the first time and David and I cried right along with him. I will never forget the first time I saw him, it's a love that comes over you like nothing else you have ever felt. Even though he had been through a lot that day he was perfect. Ten fingers, ten toes, a head full of dark hair, and lungs that I will never forget. David and I looked at each other and said, we have our work cut out for us. We are so blessed with such a beautiful, healthy baby. David looked at me and said good job as if I had created this little guy all by myself!

Looking back...
I wouldn't change a thing. Yes, it was painful, but a week later I don't even remember how painful it was. It was truly a labor of love and worth ever minute of it.

Baby number two...
Everyone has asked me if I would do it again. Yes, without a doubt. Now that we know what we are up against and can plan next time it will be a piece of cake. The reason I never got past a 6 was because Daniel was stuck in my pelvis. He still has a ridge on his forehead from where he was stuck for so long. Once they actually got to him they still had to use a vacuum to get him out because he was so stuck. My next baby I have to have a c-section as a result of my pelvis being so narrow.

A week later...
Well, we had to stay in the hospital until Sunday due to Daniel having jaundice. I can not speak highly enough about Centennial hospital, every nurse, doctor, and assistant was wonderful. They even let us stay for free the last two nights just so I wouldn't have to leave my baby. We arrived home on Sunday, mom had cooked a huge meal for us, and our immediate family came over, it was great. Daniel is perfect, yes I know every parent says that about there child. So far he nurses every 5 hours (which he has done perfectly since the day he was born), he sleeps a lot, isn't fussy, he will sleep anywhere, and he laughs a lot. We also have a very strong little boy, he can already roll onto his side. I though that was normal, I have never had a baby before. We went to his doctor and she said nope, he is a very strong little boy.

God's Plan...
I can't end this blog without telling you about how God has changed my life through all of this. I am a planner, I am very type A, I have to be in control, and everything has to be in my box. Thank the Lord that he changed that for me. For 8 months I planned, planned, and planned even more! I had everything planned down to the last minute. God had a different plan and he taught me a lesson in a very big way and it has changed my whole world. My world is my husband and my son nothing else besides my faith matters. As long as I am doing what I have to for my family everything else will fall into place. God opened my eyes and made me see that he has more out there for me than day timers and organization. Thank you God for showing me the light.

If you have gotten to this point you are a very good friend! Sorry it was so long. There are a few people that I have to thank that made the last week so much easier. My beloved husband David, there are no words, thank you for given me the most precious gift a husband could ever give a wife. My mom, aunt Kim, my dad, and Billy thank you for sticking with me for 16 hours. All of our family and friends thank you for your love and support. Dana and Randell, thank you for being the best friends a girl could ever ask for. You drove 2 and a half hours to see me and my son for 30 minutes, your love, support and friendship means more than you will ever know. My friend Stacy, thank you for being in Nashville for the birth of my son and being there whenever I have crazy questions. All of our church family, thank you for all the prayers, food, and phone calls.

I hope to be able to update at least a couple times a week. Stay tuned!

Baby, Baby, Baby

Today was all about our BABY! My family gave me a baby shower today and it was fabulous. We had so much fun. The shower was given by my Aunt Kim, Best Friend Jessica, and Sister In-Law Janel. It was held at my Mom's house. I love going to back there, it makes me feel like a kid again, no matter how big and pregnant I am. It was so hot here today so I had to stay indoors most of the day today - hot temps don't mix well with big, fat pregnant girls!!!

Back to the shower... We had so many people there, it was great. Daniel got so many cool things. I must say he is quite loved by his aunt and uncles. This is the first grandchild on both sides (the child has no chance in the world) not only do his grandparents spoil him and boy do they, now his aunt and uncles have chimed in. Of course a big topic of conversation was the size of my belly. Most of my family had seen me Mother's Day weekend, lets just say that I grew a lot since then. Everyone was nice about it, until it came to my feet, they look like footballs again.

I didn't have a traditional baby shower, nothing about me is traditional so why start now!! Instead of decorations, they hung Daniels baby clothes on twine like a clothes line. They found baby pictures of David and myself and put them all around the house. We can't wait to see who he looks like. During my shower everyone there made me a scrapbook. We took Polaroids and they scrap booked there own pages. It turned out so well, it will be something that I will treasure forever. As for the gifts, well I don't think there is anything left on our baby registry! Daniel has just about everything he needs from now until he's at least 1!!

So, we have 5 weeks to go. There is still so much to do. As most of you already know David and I decided that we are going to have a green baby!! To make sure that this really happened we had to become green ourselves. We still have a couple of things that we must do to get everything complete but after that he can come anytime he wants. I must say that I am favoring July 4th, we have talks about this everynight. I tell him before dad reads his book now many more days he has. Sometimes he kicks like he agrees other times I think he's asleep!

Please pray that I have a good week, I am a little worried about the weather being so hot!

I have hit a wall!

It has officially happened, I have hit the pregnancy wall. My friends told me about it but, until you get here you can't even imagine. It's the wall where you hate everyone, and everything around you. No one understands and all they can say is, "are you OK?" Which is the last thing that you want to hear. My poor husband, well at this moment I do feel bad for him for having to put up with me. Ask me later and I am sure that it won't be that positive!

The good news is Daniel has dropped and he is head down. The bad news is that he loves my ribs and my back. Some days I feel like every part of my body has hurt at one point or another. I really do have nothing to complain about, until now I have had a easy pregnancy. It's just hard to remind yourself of that.

Work is starting to slow down, which is good. I have just a couple of more meetings and events and then it will be over. My last day, if he doesn't come early is June 30th. God has opened up a lot of big doors for me lately and I just pray that I am able to finish all of them before he gets here.

Stacey

Can we say over concerned mommy!

OK, so I admit that I have become an over concerned mommy! It all started Wednesday night, we came home from church and I was not feeling very well at all. I started throwing up, and got really dizzy. I just went to bed and thought I had over done for the day.

I woke up Thursday morning not feel all that great. I decided to stay home and just take it easy. All day I kept my feet up and drank water all day. At 4 o'clock I took my blood pressure and it was high. I called the doctor and he told me to go to the hospital.

My mom came to pick me up and we went to the hospital. David met us there (Mr. Worry Wort) and they started doing test. They finally realized that I was dehydrated and have a small kidney infection. Daniel is doing fine, although he hated the monitor. The nurse had to keep coming in and changing it because every time he moved the alarm would go off. He is are little adrenaline baby!

Stacey

Where does the time go?

Really, where does the time go?
David left for New Orleans Monday and I had all of these things that I wanted to do - how many have I done? That would be none of them! Yesterday I had to go to our last bradley class, I didn't get home until 11 at night, so I went straight to bed. Today, I worked all day, came home and I have been to sleepy to do anything. The days go by so fast, and I feel as if I get nothing done. I have 7 1/2 more weeks left:) My official last day at work is going to be June 30 after that I get to start mommyville!! That is if Daniel doesn't come early. I am still having to keep my feet up so that they don't swell. I have to go to the doctor every week for a check up, and we are still on a search for a doctor. Hopefully this week will slow down and I can get more done!!!

Stacey

The Football Feet Are Gone!

Well, my football feet are gone. After keeping my feet up for almost 24 hours the swelling went away. I must say, the stay at home thing is NOT for me. Yesterday, I woke up at 6 a.m. because I couldn't sleep anymore, by 9:30 I was so bored! What do people do that stay home everyday? I realize that once Daniel gets here I am going to be begging for time to be bored. However, for the time being, I don't like it. Today I am going to try to work, we'll see how that goes. Tonight David and I have our newborn care class, that should be fun. David and I get to give baby dolls a bath, change there diapers, and all the other fun stuff. Pray that my feet stay OK, and I'll update later on our class!!

Stacey

This was NOT the plan

SO today I am going about my life as I always do - except by 12:00 my feet looked like footballs. I feel great, that's the part that is hard to understand. So I called the doctor and he was able to see me. The good news is I didn't have protein in my urine, and my blood pressure is fine (OK, after the second time they took it) The only problem I have is that my feet look like footballs. Needless to say, my doctor wants me to go ahead and start my maternity leave two months early. Of course the first thing I say... no,I can't it's not in my plan. My plan was to work until the end of June and then take off. That's the thing with plans - they hardly ever work. The good news is I am able to take care of my customers from home and get out only a couple of hours a week. Please pray that we are able to do that!

Stacey

A day at the races

David and I made our first trip to Church Hill Downs this past weekend. We went with our friends Adam and Kendie. We got all dressed up, sat in a wonderful suite and ate some great food. We tried to bet - yea right - we had no idea what we were doing! We now know why we don't even pay the lottery, we have no luck when it comes to betting. It's a good thing that we have many blessings from God!

So, I had my first every other week doctor's appointment on Monday. It was quick, easy and painless. I waited for 30 minutes and saw the doctor for 15 minutes. A quick pee in the cup, heart beat count, measurement, and I was on my way. Our next appointment will be in two weeks, that visit we have to pre-register at the hospital. That was my wake up call that it's just around the corner.

Monday night David and I had our 6th Bradley class. We only have 2 more to go! Next week we have to "pretend" that I am in labor for a whole hour! That should be fun. This will be David's last class he will be in New Orleans for the last one. I am so proud of him he has come so far, just in 6 weeks. The first class David could of cared less. Second class, he feel asleep! Third class, this was the "coaches responsibility" class, he finally started to pay attention. Fourth class, I think it actually hit him that we are having a baby. After that class he has been all about it. Thank God! I prayed so long and hard about it.

Work has been so busy. I look at my calendar and see that I only have two months left, it stresses me out. I have so much to do. I keep praying everyday that the event I have on Monday will have a great turn out - so far I only have 10 people confirmed and I need 40 more. Please pray that I will get 40 more. I have to start working on my maternity leave letter - they have to be out by Memorial Day.

This week we start interviewing for pediatricians. This should be fun! Pray that we find a good one. Next week David and I have a "caring for baby" class. In this class we have to treat dolls like our babies - I will take pictures of that.

Have a great week!
Stacey

Crazy, Wonderful Life

OK, we have 102 days to go and let me tell you, I am feeling the need to do everything NOW!
"Nesting" as many people call it is an understatement in the Roach house. No one understands me, and my husband thinks I am crazy. At this point I have had no cravings, no weird things happen, but I have become very demanding. Yes, we all knew the inter Princess would come out. I feel the need to just stay at home, out of view of the public. I am so tired of people touching my belly, especially women who have already been pregnant. My belly is private not a play toy! OK, enough of complaining.

David and I had a wonderful Easter. All of our family came over for a dinner party the Saturday before and we actually got to spend time together. We decided to have everyone over since it would probable be the last time before Daniel arrives. Nashville was cold on Easter Sunday, which I was glad for because I couldn't find any cute Easter clothes.

We are finally on the home stretch with getting the nursery finished. At this point we are waiting for our furniture to be done. Once that has arrived we can finish everything. Much to every ones dismay it looks like we are going to be finished by next weekend!!

At our last doctors appointment Daniel was doing great. He is a little wiggle worm, the doctor was trying to get the heart beat and all you could hear was him moving around. I am doing fine even my weight, which I have not been happy with. At first I wasn't gaining enough now I feel like a whale. Next visit I have to take the glucose test, I pray that everything is OK with that.

Monday we started our Bradley classes. For those of you who don't know I am planning on having Daniel naturally. For those of you shaking your head thinking I am crazy, I probably am, but I will have a drug free child as a result! My life is about my child "period" and whatever I can do to ensure that he is 100% healthy that is what I plan to do. The first class was basically a get to know you class. We went over how the next 8 weeks will go and what to except. We also got to watch a child birth video, which I must say wasn't as bad as I thought. The big thing was nutrition, I have to eat lots of protein!

Well, that's it, I will write again after our next doctors appointment!

Stacey

It's A Boy!!

OK, the secret is out, we are having a boy! William Daniel Roach is a very healthy, active baby. We went for our ultrasound on Monday and got the news. All I can say is that I am so glad I am having a baby in the 21st century. Our ultrasound was in 4D and was priceless. We got to see all of our sons parts including bones, stomach, fingers, toes, brain, heart, and his gallbladder. He would not stop moving the whole ultrasound. He loves his fingers, I think he must of just discovered them and has something to do. I am sure it gets boring in there at times. His kicks are very strong, I couldn't wait to feel them, now that there here it feels weird when he sleeps because I am so used to them.

We just told our parents last night. They were so excited, OK more than excited. This child has no chance in the world. They are already making there shopping list. I bet you everyone of them is shopping today. We have to keep reminding them that things have changed since they had a baby 27 years ago. There going to have to go back to school. We set some ground rules last night... they have to take a baby CPR and a first aid class, all of the babies toys have to be learning toys, and they have to stay on our schedule if the baby comes to stay with them. We didn't think that was too much to ask. The biggest one was, if they question whether they should buy it or not ask first and don't get your feelings hurt if we tell you that it has to stay at your house!

We finally found a nursery school. This was a new parents nightmare! We have been on a school waiting list since the day I found out I was pregnant, now much earlier can you get? We still can't get in until November. Our baby needs to go to school starting the middle of August. So, we searched and searched and we finally found a "good enough" place for our Daniel to go. Yes, ask my husband I am the typical new mother. My child will have the best education - period! And that starts day one. Some people think I am crazy and that's fine. I would rather be wrong and waste my time than have a stupid child that loves to play with purposeless toys.

Life has still not slowed down. Honestly, I don't know what we would do if it did. Next project: Nursery! I want the nursery done before my third trimester. We have 7 weeks and a lot to do. The room must be painted, pin-strips painted, the antique furniture re-done, light fixture hung, drapes finished and hung. Not to mention all of the little stuff that needs to be finished. We are going to be busy little bees!!

Back to normal...whatever that is???

Well, I guess things are back to normal. Whatever that is? Things have slowed down a lot. David and I had a new years resolution to slow down and enjoy the next 6 months before things get really crazy. This weekend we are starting to clean out what will be the "pea in the pod" room. We have so much to do, cleaning, painting, and decorating. We made a schedule of things to do so it will go smoothly and we won't have to rush.

"Pea in a pod," is doing very well. David and I purchased a Doppler for Christmas so we can hear the baby's heart beat anytime we want to. It helps me not to worry! The baby's heartbeat has been averaging around 165 which is normal. This week I can tell that he or she is getting bigger. Things that used to be easy aren't so easy anymore. I am starting to feel flutters, mostly at night right before I go to bed. I am definitely spending more time in the bathroom, and maternity clothes are a must. I love being pregnant, it has been so much fun and there is something new everyday!

Work has been going very well. I thought when 2008 finally got here I was going to have a lot of time on my hands but, eight hours a day is going by fast. I have been a good busy, as I like to call it. Not crazy but, busy. My business continue to grow at a very rapid pace. Thank you God for all of my blessings.

Tomorrow after spending the morning cleaning, we are going to meet my family for dinner. It's my grandfathers birthday, the first one since my Nana pasted away. We really want to make sure that this one is a special one for him. Sunday is church day, we start life groups back again this Sunday. I love life groups, its a fun way to worship the lord. We get together with 5 other families in a home and have a devo for an hour, then we eat dinner together. We do this twice a month and I love it.

Sorry, I don't have much more to say. Hopefully I will have a more eventful week coming up!

Stacey