My Weekend at the Hilton....I Mean Hospital

I can't believe I'm here again.

That I get another chance to have a baby at this magical place.

That our doctor will again amaze me by his devotion to me and the tiny babe inside of me.

That TJ and I get to call parents, friends, relatives and tell them the good news of who has made their presence in the world this very day.

That I will witness God's miracle of birth...again.

The more children we have, the more this hospital becomes a sort of retreat for me.  We leave our other children at home in the care of grandparents, while TJ and I sneak away in the middle of the night to a very quiet, calm hospital room for some time together.  A marriage retreat for sure.

We are anxious and excited and a bit scared, at least I am, I don't think TJ has anything to worry about! We walk around the eire calm hallways of the labor and delivery floor and talk a little, mostly just walking silently, my arm locked into his arm as we stop every so often for me to breath through a contraction. Once I get an epidural, the nurse turns off the lights and orders us to sleep.  Its ironic really that I get to sleep and rest while my body is contracting and progressing,  making ready for the baby to leave it's home for the last nine months. While TJ sleeps, I pray the rosary over and over. I'm too anxious, too excited to sleep.

And then, in a matter of minutes, our lives have changed.  We meet the person who has expanded our family...again. 

My heart is swollen with gratitude for our doctor, for TJ, for the wonderful nurses who walked with me every step of labor, calming my anxiety and fears.  I am so grateful to God for blessing us with this tiny person.

And I feel like a celebrity.  Strangers coming in my room and complimenting me on a job well done.  Now come the cheers of way to go, you did it and congratulations you did an awesome job, and he is absolutely perfect!
And I feel proud. All attention is on me and the baby, and I rather like it.

And not only do I have people asking me what can they get me a gazillion times a day, but I can pick up the phone and request whatever I want to eat, whenever I want it.  No cooking.  No cleaning.  They bring in a tray of food, and when I'm done someone comes and whisks it away.  I ordered these pancakes five times in the two days at the hospital.

And if that wasn't glorious enough, a kind  woman comes knocking on my door once a day asking me to pick whatever dessert I want.  Oh, angel from heaven.  I miss her already.

I love to watch the kids come up to the hospital and meet their new sibling for the first time.  Then everyone leaves, and I am left alone, alone with this brand new tiny person.  I got really sad when TJ went home the first night after having Evelyn and I spent the night alone in the hospital.  This time I was still a bit sad, but admittedly looking forward to sitting in bed and doing whatever I wanted!  Hold baby, stare at the baby, check emails, watch a Netflix movie, take pictures of baby...

Our good friends Craig and Kim came to visit and celebrate Pete's birth.  And celebrate we did!  They brought champagne and we toasted to Pete.  Craig and Pete also share the same birthday so they brought a huge hunk of chocolate cake for me to devour!

When the kids come up to the hospital they are timid and shy at first, not really sure of what they are going to see.  Then they jump right in and onto my bed ready to hold the baby.

I have such mixed feelings about leaving the hospital.  On one hand I'm ready to get back to my own bed and shower and to spend as much time with TJ while he is home for the week.  I think the reason why I don't like leaving is that it signifies the honeymoon phase of giving birth is over.  Its one step closer to getting back to normal.  I will be back to dishes, laundry, bedtimes, doing homework with the kids.  By the time I get home my milk has come in with a vengeance and the upper half of my body will expand larger than I could have ever imagined.  It will hurt.  I will be tired.  There will be no one knocking on my door with a dessert cart.

I think that is why I cherish the two days spent in the hospital so much.   I can step off the fast paced train of life if only for a brief moment, and soak in this calm, brand new life.  I can thank God for the gift of my body and how it is nothing short of a miracle how this little one came into the world.

Oh What a Day....

To be born! 

Welcome to the world, little

Peter Michael

Our little Pete was born on Saturday January 7th

 9:55 am

7lbs 10 oz

Thank you for all of your prayers!

Thank you Lord for a healthy child and a good labor and delivery!

40 weeks....plus three days



I think about how long I have known you, and yet I do not know you at all.  For months I have felt you move and kick, and yet I have never touched you. You have changed our lives before we have even seen you, and now I'm so ready to meet you.

New Year's Eve 2011

Another year has come to an end.  How incredibly fast the years seem to be flying by.  We spent another new year's eve with our dear friends the Vaceks.  We have so much fun whenever we are with them and our children play so well together.  This year we decided to make some appetizers for dinner instead of a meal.  Craig made an amazing and very pretty ahi tuna sushi.  Oh my.  And being the kind person that he is, he even made some a little more...well done...for me!  They were outstanding!

I've had multiple people say to me it looks like you swallowed a basketball...during this pregnancy!  It's such a funny and rather strange comment to hear, but honestly, doesn't it look like there is a round, orange basketball nestled right in there?

Last year, as we sat around waiting for the new year, Craig commented on how he has wanted to make a new year's toast from their balcony.  This year, he did it.

The girls provided us with our own confetti drop from the balcony.  They spent a good chunk of time tearing up paper to dump on us!

We stayed until 12:30 and surprisingly, the kids were excellent.  Evelyn and Clare went to bed, but the rest of the crew stayed up and were going strong!  So I was thrilled when everyone slept in in the morning!  I was able to get up and set the table and make breakfast and have some quiet time to pray the rosary to start off a new year.

We have begun a tradition in our home over the last three years.  It's a memory box that throughout the year, I stash away notes, pictures the kids have drawn, sports tickets, trinkets, thank you cards...anything that I know I don't want to throw away, but don't know where else to put goes into the box.  No one sees it all year long.  So then on New Year's Day, after brunch, we open up the box and dig through all the treasures we forgot about throughout the year.  I also print off pictures throughout the year and stick them in as well. 

We always have a pineapple as part of our New Year's brunch.  Don't know how or why that got started, but they look forward to it.  Some of my most favorite traditions are ones that I have no idea how they got started! 

I wanted to make scrambled eggs and ham for brunch and since the house was quiet and we were in no rush, I decided to make the eggs what we call the slow way.  You cook the eggs on low heat while stirring and stirring away.  It takes forever!   It was, however,  the perfect amount of time to pray the rosary while standing at the stove.

I found really cheap calenders at the store and thought they would be perfect for the kids to write down important dates throughout the year, hang them by their beds, and cross off days.  I LOVE to sit down in front of a brand spanking new calender and begin to fill in birthdays, feast days, holidays, no school days, ect. 

Looking back is always fun. With great anticipation I'm looking ahead.   And being present in the moment is so important as life is flying by. 

Thank you dear Lord for another year of life.  Welcome 2012! 

When You're Tired of Cereal...

I was tired this morning.  For some reason, getting up at 5am is no problem when I am going to work out.  But when I have to get up with a child, even though it was at the same time when I'd be getting up to work out, I was so tired.  George had a fever this morning which brought us downstairs to the couch to lay together.  We both fell back asleep and when I got up I was still tired.  One of those mornings.  I asked the kids to make their own breakfast, or maybe they just took it upon themselves since the cereal stash has been consumed mostly by me...I can't quite remember.  I just know that when I looked into the kitchen, a flurry of cooking was going on. 

I love that our children like to cook.  It makes me feel like I have indeed taught them something.  For some reason, the messes that get made in the kitchen don't bother me like the ones around the house. 

And even though the breakfast making extravaganza ended up with a plate being knocked off the counter and breaking into one thousand pieces...it's still worth it to me.   And I got to sit on the couch and rest while little ones were being fed.