Cutting Teeth

Sorry it has been a few days since my last post. We spent Saturday at Franny & Zooey's 1st birthday party followed with a visit to the Emergency Room. Don't worry, everyone is fine. Mom was quite ill and was having pain in her stomach that got worse throughout the day. By 5pm it got so bad she thought it best to have it checked out. Carlos and Cristian stayed at mom's house and I took mom to the hospital in San Marcus. The ER was really clean and looked newly built...although the hospital itself looks kind of old. The staff was great and although we were there for.like.6.hours...it wasn't that bad. Mom is fine and they sent her home with some pain killers to help until she can see a specialist...which will be this coming Monday. She is feeling alot better as of today, the meds have helped. This week had been busy with work and the usual day-to-day stuff. In addition Cristian is cutting his two top teeth. He has been pretty clingy all week. Which I have to admit, I don't mind! We have let him sleep with us and he has slept really good dominoing into us sleeping really good. A win win all around! I will post a few pics from the B-day party tomorrow...when I am not so tired.

Praise Him

I am so addicted to the blog world. I have not updated my list to the left there, but I actually check a whole bunch of blogs everyday. Most of them are family/baby blogs, but a few are lifestyle & christian focused blogs. One of the regulars is called Kelly's Korner. Kelly is a great mom of one cute little two month daughter. I came by her blog via another blog (is there any other way?) right after her daughter (Harper) was born. Harper spent some time in the NICU and I was praying for her via a request on the other blog. Anyway, long story, well long, I have been keeping up with Kelly and Miss Harper ever since. Lately, it seems that alot of the blogs I read have been asking for prayers for different babies, some sick, some already angels. Believe it or not I am a very emotional person and reading all of these touching stories of little ones is really hard. Needless to say the past week has been especially hard (with strep on top of it all). Back to my point...Kelly had an awesome post today about giving the big guy some praise for all the good things, big and small. You can read her post here. And why you are there do a quick scroll and check out some of Miss Harper's clothes and hair accessories...me and Grammie's dream: monogramming and giant bows & flowers! In honor of her post here is my list, in no particular order, of just a few of my praises for the day.

1. Carlos my awesome husband who puts up with my moods (you know that right) and is always happy to give me a back rub and vacuum the house (bonus).
2. My two beautiful boys. Cristian, who totally cracks me up and amazes me everyday. And, Philip, my little Angel above that gave me the gift of motherhood and so much more.
3. My mom who does more for us that we sometimes deserve and is the best Grammie ever.
4. Friends, in the real world and in the internet/blog world. Both have had such an impact on my life, far greater than they even know.
5. Thunder, Lightening & Rain Storm...with which we get new growth & life.
6. Mickey D's fountain coke...so yummy yum yum. Did you know we have a Mickey D's less than 5 minutes from the house? So good.

That is all for today. Just a quick post of praise. Don't forget to say your prayers today for all those things big and small that you praise him for. Love ya'll, Stacey

Happy St. Patty's Day!

What say you Monkey with a Monkey on your shirt? Nothing. Ok.

Our little Monkey was a bit put out this morning. I spent last week sequestered to my room with strep throat (totally yucky and surprising quite painful...it was my 1st time) and yesterday was my first day back at the office. As of today we are still not quite back into the swing of things and I guess Cristian was annoyed with our tardiness. He just loves school. What a blessing. I hope you all had a great day filled with lots of luck and plenty of green!

Oh, and a BIG Happy Birthday to my favorite little leprechaun Lizzy Bird!

Happy Birthday Angel

Yesterday was Philip's 2nd birthday. Mom came in early and we spent some time visiting Philip at the cemetary. Afterward we have had cake at the house then mom watched Cristian while Carlos and I spent the afternoon and evening attending two weddings. Our friends Alex & Klaus and our next door neighbors Junella & Jason were all married yesterday. Both ceremonies were beautiful and the dresses georgeous! Mat god bless them with long, happy marriages. Is was nice for Carlos and I to have an evening out...even though I did miss Cristian. Mom stayed the night and after breakfast we went back to the cemetary and released a few ballons for Philip. We also replaced his flowers with some new ones that mom got for him. Compared to last year, this year's birthday was lovely and mostly stress free. I didn't cry as much as last year. Instead of pain I felt more happiness which was a good step in the right direction. Today is Philip's angel day, he passed March 8, 2007 at 11:05am. He blessed me for 9+ months on the inside and our entire family for 32 hours and 58 minutes on the outside. Now we carry him in our memories and our hearts.

Two Years Ago Right Now...

...I was at 8 centimeters dialated and getting ready to push. Little did I know that just a few hours and four epidurals later I would be in the OR having an emergency cesarean. Yep, that is really me, between contractions and looking oh so exhausted.

Philip Cole came into the world on March 7th at 2:07 am. Funny, I don't look half as loopy as I was.

So many of our family and friends gave up sleep to stick around and wait for his arrival. Mandy stayed with us all night and while Carlos slept...and I dosed...she rocked our little miracle...that's him, under the pile of blankets.

Two Years Ago Today...

...I was picked up by Mandy who drove me to my last doctors appt. After my appt, we walked next door to the hospital and I checked in. Mandy and I laughed with the triage nurse and I wasn't as nervous as I thought I would be. On a side note, the triage nurse, Andrea, was the most beautiful nurse I have ever seen. She was in her early thirties and just had such a striking look. After a few funny stories about smelly patients, Mandy asked about the age of the other moms. Andrea told us that just a few days before she had a patient so young that she was still wearing cartoon character underpants. I was so thankful that I waited to start my family. It broke my heart to think of such a young person tackling motherhood, how scary that must be. Carlos came to the hospital after work and my doctor gave me some meds to start induction. That was also the day I learned that my greatest enemy was to be the blood pressure cuff. (That darn cuff went off every hour on the hour for the next two days. I wouldn't really sleep because I was constantly anticipating the next round of cut-my-circulation-off-at-the-elbow. Oh how it hurt…even worse than the contractions…but those come later. After whining like a baby to my momma, she talked the nurse into giving me a break…but only after I had endured several sleepless nights.) This day was to be the first day of a series of best and worst days. In a little over 24 hours I would {finally} get to meet my angel Philip.