"Don't Stand So Close to Me"

So James and I went to The Police concert last night. For those of you who live in Dallas, you know that this means we got out in the crazy rain for Sting. He better appreciate us. We're talking sheets of rainfall here.



Here are James and I before we left. . .

Since I don't have an after picture for you, I'll paint a mental image: We ran all the way to the building (which was quite a distance since we had to park in like the furthest lot possible). Here's how dorky I looked - I had pulled my pants up to my knees so they didn't get soaked by dragging the ground and I was leaning over holding them up (remember, I'm running. . . in flip flops), my shirt started falling off because of the horizontal rain and wind combined with the fact that I'm running in rain (in flip flops) which is difficult for someone like me who's not so graceful, and my hair was all over the place and all stuck to my lipstick and frizzing like crazy. Luckily I had a ponytail as usual. As you can imagine, I looked good for Sting.

After a quick stop by the restroom to dry off, we went to find our seats. We were in section 315, row L. For those of you who don't have the floor plan of the AAC memorized, we had 2 rows behind us and then the wall. This meant we were in the top of the 3rd tier. Sitting in that section makes you feel like gravity is going to pull you out of your seat and you are going to plummet all the way down to the floor because of the ridiculously steep slope. So, I decided ahead of time that I was not going to stand because I didn't want Hunter to lose his mother to such a tragic event as me falling out of my seat and rolling over hundreds of people below me. Luckily, there's not many die hard fans that sit (or I guess stand) in the 3rd tier. Just this guy and girl in the back row who stood all the way through, clapping and dancing and jumping up and down like they were at the Metallica concert. . . brave souls, those two.

The concert was great, but I'm so lame and act waaaaay older than my age (which is 27 in less than a week in case you weren't sure) so James and I left during the second encore. I had been yawning since before they even got on stage so it was a miracle that we made it that long.

For Women Only

For real guys, don't read this. Women's issues will be discussed, and you will be embarrassed. James, Matt, Dean, and Dad (especially Dad) this means you. That pretty much encompasses my male following. James, I guess you can read it, since you have to live it.

So now that Hunter is 3 months old I figured that the physical pains related to growing and pushing out a child (and the residual afterpains of soreness and nursing) were over. But this morning, much to my dismay, I encountered yet another to add to my list. For your enjoyment, I have compiled a list for you of all of my pain related to giving Hunter life. Note: this list is inclusive to my situation, I do realize that there are many, many more that many of you have experienced that I am lucky enough not to be able to include. We'll start with pregnancy and go through the current situation.

1. Nausea - most of you know that I got to experience this for 20 weeks. 20 joyous weeks of gagging, dry heaving, throwing up at home in the morning, throwing up in my trash can at work, throwing up at home at night. yay.

2. Heartburn

3. Swelling - I lucked out here and didn't have swelling until the very end of the pregnancy and surprisingly after the delivery

4. Cankles - pretty sexy

5. Backaches

6. Headaches

7. RIB PAIN - most of you also know that Hunter's favorite thing to do in utero was hang out in my ribs

8. Spasms of my intercostal (spelling?) muscles - see above

9. Contractions

10. The After Birthing Soreness - this was definitely the worst for me

11. The first month of breast feeding - those lactation consultants are liars! It definitely hurts at first.

12. The first poop - see # 10

13. The first attempt at "relations" (as my ob/gyn calls it) - some tell me this can last for like 8 months or something. again yay.

14. And now for the latest pain . . . bleeding breasts. Yes, you read me correctly. This morning after I finished pumping, I was bleeding. And they were sore ALL MORNING at work. 2 of my friends have told me this is probably due to my breast shells being too small. Hey Medela, why do you make a standard size when obviously we all have different breast sizes! If I realized that there were other sizes to pick from the beginning I would have purchased the large or maybe even extra large!

Reading back over my list, I know that I have left many out. I guess everyone's right when they say you forget the pain after you see that little bundle of joy! Good thing I love this little guy so much . . . .

Isn't he the cutest thing you've ever seen!

Super Dad

Today was a very special one for us. We had 3 things to celebrate - Hunter's 3 month old birthday, Hunter being dedicated to the Lord this morning at church, and of course, Hunter's amazing Daddy. James and I were both really nervous that Hunter was not going to do well during his dedication ceremony this morning. I don't know why - he's really been an amazing baby lately. We just figured the chances of him enduring the dedication without crying, fussing, tooting loudly when Pastor Matthew was praying for him (James's major fear), or worse letting out an s.b.d. which he has been doing A LOT of lately (and they are really foul - like an old man's or something), but he proved once again to be a great baby. He did perfect. We were so thankful. . . but maybe too soon. We got home from lunch today and he pretty much cried the entire day. I let James nap for several hours since it's Father's Day. Luckily, he woke up just in time before all of my sanity was taken by the screams. And right now as I'm typing, James is in the nursery rocking our sweet, screaming baby, which means I should stop typing now. Here's some pics for you to enjoy!

Hunter's dedication.

Pastor Matthew praying for Hunter - sorry it's blurry. Nana had some trouble with the camera.

I just wanted to add these new pics to show you Hunter's new favorite position. As many of you know I've been trying to lay him on the floor because the OT at cranial technologies (where he was evaluated for his DOC band) told me to keep him off of inclined surfaces as much as possible. He loves to lay on the floor sucking one fist and pulling his blaket toward his face with the other - so cute!

I've also been meaning to post a pic of him sleeping. This is how he ALWAYS sleeps. No wonder my ribs were hurting so bad that last trimester - no fetal position for him!

I Survived!

Tomorrow is the last day of my first week back at work. Surprisingly it has gone really great! I definitely miss Hunter every day, and I'm so happy to get home to see him. The mornings just fly by, though. Here's a run down of how it went - I've told this story like a million times, so many of you have probably already heard it. Sunday night I was soooo upset. I just laid in bed DREADING the next morning. Monday morning I woke up and immediately started crying. I cried all morning while getting ready. We're talking sobbing here, like making horrible ugly faces and turning red with the whole sore throat thing and all. I didn't even bother to attempt putting make up on because I couldn't stop crying. James stuck around waiting for me to finish getting ready because I was so upset. I kept telling him to leave, but it turned out to be really good because when it was time to leave, the sobbing got soooo hard. It was the hardest thing I've ever done to leave that morning. I left and James gave his mom instructions for the day. I cried in the car the whole way to work. Luckily my friend, Courtney, answered her phone when I called and provided great support to calm me down, so that when I pulled up, the tears had stopped. I walked into the therapy office (with my sunglasses still on because my eyes were so puffy) and immediately started crying when I saw my friends. They all gave me a hug as I sat there sobbing, and then it was over. I haven't cried since! Probably because I work with the most AMAZING women ever! They had signs up with balloons on the therapy door and on my desk that said "Welcome Back Carole. We missed you!" and they had donuts and juice and my friend, Heather, made muffins and my friend, Caroline, brought me a bamboo plant for my desk to make me "feel warm"! I am so overwhelmed by their thoughtfulness and love! They have made my transition an amazing one! Everyone is so interested in hearing about Hunter and seems genuinely happy to see me back, which makes me happy to be back. It really is the perfect schedule for me. Thanks everyone for caring and checking up on me! I feel so blessed! (Sorry for the sappiness. I promise my next entry will be much less emotional!)

The Good and the Bad

Good news first . . . Hunter rolled from his tummy to his back for the first time this week!!! The first time he did it, I was showing his Grandee how I do tummy time. The instant I get done saying, "He's not very strong. I think he'll be behind with physical milestones," he rolls over as if to say, "I'll show you, Mommy!" I was so excited and proud of him! I called James in from outside and of course he wouldn't do it for him (and still hasn't). Now for the sad news - Friday was mine and Hunter's last full week day together. I go back to work on Monday :(. I can't believe how quickly 12 weeks has flown by. I also can't believe how naiive I was before I had him to think that I might actually look forward to returning to work. What! Was I crazy! Don't get me wrong - I LOVE MY JOB, which I know many, many people can't say. In a perfect world, I'd just go back to work with him attached to me all day. Baylor might go for that, right? What do y'all think? Maybe I should propose that in the next staff meeting. I know I have a week of sadness and crying ahead of me. I do feel blessed to be able to work part time, though, and as everyone keeps telling me, 4 hours will fly by each day. Please pray that God will continually remind me how blessed I am to love my job, to be able to work part time at a fullfilling job I truly enjoy, to be able to leave Hunter at home with his Grandee who loves him, and to have this amazing little boy that I couldn't love more! Here are some pictures of how we spent our last Friday (before work starts) together.


Here's Hunter before he rolled over, and . . .

here he is in mid-roll. I didn't get an after shot. You can see why if you look at his face.

We went to my friend Molly's house for lunch and met my friend Carrie and her son Ronnie. Here is a picture of our 3 boys - Thomas, Hunter, and Ronnie .

When we got home, we spent a lot of time playing and smiling and laughing together!

New Pics

Here are some of our new favorite pictures of Hunter. He is such a joy! We feel so blessed to have him. I am truly in awe of God every time I look at our little miracle!

James and I crack up every time we look at this picture. We think he looks like a little old lady in it!

So sweet!

He smiles all the time now! I love it!

Here are his feet. Yes they are still big.

I just put this one on because I am really impressed with how much he's lifting himself up now (even though I let him cheat and use the Boppy). He still doesn't love tummy time, but he's tolerating it better!