Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Puppy Love

Seven months ago, we got a new puppy.  It had been seven years since our last dog.  My youngest daughter had been begging for a puppy forever, but I was never ready.  Our weekends were always busy, I was traveling, we were in a new house...who wanted the hassle of a new puppy around?  Not me, I was the hold out, until I saw the picture of a puppy on Facebook.  I began to inquire about the puppies, what type, how much and so on.  It was way too convenient for me to go check out the puppies, but I did and that was it, I was in love!  There were five black puppies and one brown/black puppy, I fell in love with the brown/black one since he was the only different one from the litter.

I can't believe we've had our little Bean for six months already.  It's amazing the changes that occurred, not only with our daily routine, but with the attitudes and emotions of our family members...especially ME.  I have always been a dog lover, grew up with dogs all  my life, so that was nothing new.  But I had forgotten the feeling of love one can have for a four-legged creature.  How it feels to be greeted by the pure excitement and wagging of the tail from your pet.  The laughs you get from watching the silly things a puppy does with toys.  The love you feel when the puppy snuggles up with you and falls asleep on your lap.  

I've even teased my hubby about how excited he gets and greets our puppy first and kisses him before me when he gets home.  He said that I don't greet him wagging my tail and spin around when he walks in the door...he's got a point there.  I've noticed a change come over me too.  I feel like I have been more loving and caring towards my hubby and kids since having a puppy.  I've heard that having a pet does make a person more loving and I believe it.  I wasn't sure if it was me getting older and more sentimental but came to realize it was because of our puppy that I have been able to show more love and affection towards everyone.  I've actually felt more needy too lately.  I want to be loved more, held more, kissed more...all this emotion because of one little Bean.  What a blessing he has been to our family!!

Friday, February 10, 2012

My 2nd Labor of Love

Tomorrow, February 11th will be the day my son turns 18.  So here is what I wrote about his 'birth' day:
Raising a baby is not easy. Especially when the baby has colic from 6pm-10pm on a daily basis and your husband now works in Minnesota for God knows how long in the dead of winter. We made the most of it and temporarily moved our little family and dog up to Minnesota. Luckily we had my in laws to watch our brand new house for us while we were gone. It was a six month adventure that we enjoyed and treasure the memories to this day.

My husband's job situation changed since we knew him working out of town was not working for us. He was finally able to find a job in Omaha. Who knew a year and half later, we would move to San Antonio, Texas!

We settled into our new home in Texas. I was able to get into a routine of working out and my husband's company was just a mile from our house. So now that we were settled, how about baby number 2? I wasn't ready mentally and I was just getting my pre pregnancy body back. It was too soon. But we didn't wait too long, we were expecting again in February 1994.

This time I read the pregnancy test myself, then left a note for my husband with the riddle: Roses are red, violets can be pink, what would you think if this time is was pink? (As in the color of the positive test reading.)

We went thru the usual doctor visits and sonograms. The one sonogram where you can see the sex of the baby, the technician asked us if we wanted to know, we both said no. At the end of the session, she asked us again and I told her I already knew. My husband was shocked that I already knew. So I told him, it was only fair.

My husband was still in shock when we got into to car, we were expecting a boy! He even started to cry, such a softy. He got nervous tho, he wasn't sure how to raise a boy, he was used to raising a girl! I told him it would all be ok, he would just have different body parts!

The morning of my checkup, the doctor sent me into have another ultra sound because my stomach was not measuring the same as the week I was pregnant. Wanted to make sure the baby had enough room! I went for the sonogram, the technician measured points here and there and told me the baby was about 5.6 lbs and that I should probably add another two weeks to my due date. Alrighty then!

That night, around 2:00am, I began having tightness in my abdomen area, I chalked it up to braxton hicks because I have had them before and plus, now I had another month till I was due! Needless to say, I was awake the rest of the night with these braxton hicks until 6:00am and I had the proof that I was actually in labor. I let my husband sleep until 7:00am then woke him up and told him I was in labor. Good morning!! We took our daughter to a friend's house and got to the hospital by 8:00am.

Get the epidural going! I had a great doctor and she was very much on my side about the epidural...but the nurses had a tough time getting the I.V. started. After two tries in both arms, the I.V. was started and now came the epidural. I was laying on my right side when the doctor asked me if the epidural was kicking in, I really had no idea since I had never had one. She told me to roll over onto my left side, so I did, she checked me out and wa-la! I was ready to deliver! After the first push, I could no longer tell how hard I was pushing because of the epidural so I gave it all I had and out came our son at 10:11am! Quick delivery huh!

I looked at him and said, 'He doesn't look like he only weighs 5.6 lbs and sure enough, he weighed 7.8 lbs...um big difference! My body must stop 'cooking' at this weight as my daughter weighed 7.8 1/2 lbs at birth and she was two weeks late.

I thought my daughter looked like me when she was born, my son looked more like my husband.  Funny how life works.

I am so proud of my son, he is a very nice and sensitive person, has grown to be 6' 1" which is shocking to all of us since I am so short.  It's been a joy to have such a wonderful son!!  

I love you Taylor James Hanson!!!  Happy Birthday!