Jacob--Week 1

Jacob is now 11 days old and things have been going really well so far! We have a little bit of a problem with him projectile vomitting, but it's due to my overwhelming milk. I have too much and it is too fast of a flow for such a tiny baby! The good news is that he is getting enough, we know that for sure. Other then that, he is a great baby!

So what have we been doing these last few days? Here are some pictures:

Jacob and Daddy at the hospital:

Mommy and Jacob at the hospital:

AJ kissing his brother. We have a lot of brotherly love :). PS...AJ is wearing his big brother shirt, he is so in love.

AJ holding his brother. So cute.

And another sweet kiss.



Jacob getting ready to leave from this hospital. He is wearing the same outfit AJ left in three years ago--a tradition John wanted to continue.

Mommy, Daddy, and Jacob leaving the hospital:


Meeting and seeing family. First, Papa Hall and Jacob:

Aunt Kayla and Jacob:



Uncle David and Jacob:

Grandma and Jacob:



He also met his cousin Roman, Aunt Stephanie, Uncle Steven, Nana, Aunt Lauren, and some other friends, but I forgot to take pictures!

We haven't left the house much, except for a few errands here and there. It has been so nice. I feel better and not too overwhelmed. One of the first errands to Babies R Us today--Jacob all dressed up (different then the onesie, socks, and swaddle blanket he is usually sporting!):

More brotherly love:

Tummy time! AJ wanted to join:



I tell you, AJ is so in love. SO IN LOVE.

Jacob's birth story part IV

Some pictures before I continue. This is Jacob in his coming home outfit from the hospital. Even though he is a Redskins fan, he is still adorable!

Me and my new little boy, right before we left the hospital on Sunday:

AJ holding his baby brother. AJ wore his 'big brother' shirt (stained and everything!) for three days straight. He wouldn't allow us to take it off except for bathtime. He is such a proud big brother.

Jacob, newly born. He was just a couple of hours old. And he will be a week old tomorrow--this time has flown by!



**TMI ALERT--don't read unless you want to read some gross things**

So I left off last blog with me in the bath tub, John was still not home, and it was my mom and sister in the bathroom with me. Kayla was timing the contractions, which at this point were barely giving me a break. I was at the "I can't do this anymore" stage and couldn't believe that I was in transition because it was so fast. I was secretly pushing in the tub because it gave me relief. I felt like I was going to have a bowel movement. I was facing my mom, holding on to her neck, sitting in a W position if you were looking at me. That was where I felt best. My mom made a comment about something in the tub, trying to be calm, and I said "sorry, must have pooped" and she said, no I think that is blood. It was, sure enough, my bloody show. I remember my mom talking to Tara at some point, but I had time distortion. I remember seeing Tara come in and telling me we needed to go. I did not want to get out, but they got me out and toweled up and I put on clothes.

I didn't finish packing. I had a list made of the last minute stuff weeks prior and since AJ's labor was 18 hours, I thought that I had enough time during labor to get the last minute stuff. I told my mom to grab the list and things and throw it in the bag. While she was doing that, I was taking the contractions by storm on all 4's on the yoga ball while Tara was putting counterpressure on my back. I had the horrible back labor people talk about, even though I didn't have a posterier baby. Somehow I just had that terrible back labor...the counter pressure felt so good and Tara was warm, which was even better--a human heater!

They were trying to get me downstairs. At some point, John did get home and took Tyson for a walk. I had to go down two flights of stairs and I just remember basically crawling so I could be on the ground for the contractions. Finally we got down and outside and I was on my front lawn over the yoga ball while Tara was pressing on my back. I was pushing again for relief. At this point, Tara told me she was starting to doubt her decision to get me to the hospital. Looking back though, I bet our neighbors were getting a kick out of watching me--since it was that time when people got home from work.

The day was beautiful. It was probably 80 but the wind was incredible. I felt like I was truly inside of myself and the contractions were just something I was letting happen. It felt amazing. I was no longer fighting my body, I was letting it just happen. Hypnobirthing teaches this, but upstairs in the tub during transition, I was fighting my body, which is something you can't do.

John was taking his sweet time and I soon saw AJ running towards me. I felt emotional and wanted so badly to just kiss my sweet boy. I gave him a kiss and my mom hurried John up (who thought everyone was over-reacting, because it couldn't be it just yet--remember, he hasn't seen me since an hour prior when I was perfectly fine). John changed the cars out so we had my car with the carseat, Tara hopped in her car, my mom and Kayla hopped in their car. I hopped in the car with John, who offered me to hold his hand.

I pushed the seat as far back as it would go and got on the floor, leaning over the seat, holding on to John's hand. The hospital was only 5 minutes away luckily. At one point I noticed I had blood on my hands and it was getting all over the seat. That was the point when I thought, OK, maybe I really am further along.

We pulled up to the hospital around 6:30 or so and our doula met us at the car. I took another contraction on the ground before going in. We walked in and I looked at the security guard and pointed in the direction of labor and delivery. As soon as we were buzzed in and outside of triage, I told the nurse, I needed to be checked right now and wanted to be checked on the floor at that spot. My midwife, Paula, came over, and said...we are going to skip triage. They put me in room number 160 and told me I had to get on the bed before checking me. I quickly took off my clothes, got up on the bed, and Paula checked me. I remember saying, GIVE ME GOOD NEWS. She said the most amazing words I could have ever heard, "SHE'S COMPLETE".

That was music to my ears. Suddenly I felt relief all over my body. I MADE IT. I WAS ABOUT TO MEET MY BABY BOY! My labor companions (my mom, Tara, and John) all told me how great I was doing--which was awesome to hear. They gave me the clear to push and I felt that I wanted to push on all fours. I never thought I would be 'that person' that pushed a baby out like that, but that is what felt comfortable to me. My midwife even let our doula press on my back while I was in this position. Soon, however, Paula made the decision that I wasn't effectively pushing and told me to try another position. At that point, I just wanted to get on my back.

I flipped over and felt like I needed to scream to get the most out of my pushes. The hypnobirthing pushes went out the window. I was doing what they called purple pushing. I don't understand how they breath the baby down as they teach, because I just wanted to get him out ASAP. I remember them reminding me to push into my body. My legs and hips cramped up a lot. Out of all days in my pregnancy, the one day I didn't pay attention to my water intake and eating small frequent meals, was the day I deliver. I ignored my legs and hips as much as possible and focused on pushing into my body.

Side note: I had a birth plan which included the use of a mirror. They asked me if I wanted to see and I said NO. Not that I didnt' want to see, but because I had to focus on my pushing and thought it would be a distraction.

Paula made the comment "Nicole, you have the ability to push him out on this next one--you can do it". My mom was saying, "we are going to have a baby! I can see his head" and John was telling me how proud he was. All of this encouragement made me determined. I had the 'ring of fire' so I knew I was close. With the next contraction (PS, they say you get breaks between contractions--but I DID NOT), I pushed, and pushed, and I felt something slide out---and I knew, it was my baby boy! Apparently, he loved his hand more then we thought, because his hand came out with his head. The next push and he was out at 6:57 pm! No cord around his neck, no meconium, it was the greatest feeling ever. I felt immediate relief. We were at the hospital for around 25 minutes before I delivered him.

Another side note: I wanted to 'catch' my baby boy, meaning pull him up to me--but completely forgot.

They put him on my chest and he was so slippery and beautiful and amazing. It was the most incredible feeling at that very moment. John was right next to me to take him all in with me. I cried happy tears. I had the biggest rush ever at that moment.

Soon after, Paula had John cut the cord, right next to me. I watched him as he cut and it felt so great. We had two children--two beautiful boys!

I delivered the placenta and she told me I didn't tear hardly at all and that I could go without a stitch, but it might sting to urinate. I chose to be stitched up. I couldn't feel any of it.

After some bonding and breastfeeding time, they took Jacob to get weighed and measured and to do Apgars. He got a 9/9. They weighed him at 8 pounds, 15.5 ounces, which they say they round up to 9pounds even. He was 20 inches long.

That is when the drama started. My bleeding was very heavy. Paula was having to go in to get out the blood clots. That part hurt more then any labor and delivery! They gave me all types of medication to stop the bleeding and even talked surgery at one point because the meds weren't working. After not having to get an IV hook up or anything during delivery, I had to be hooked up to a Pitocin bag. Eventually, the bleeding stopped enough that made Paula feel comfortable and I started to feel strong enough again to hold my baby boy.

The good thing about all of that drama is that I got to stay in labor and delivery for monitoring longer, meaning that even though visiting hours were over, everyone, including AJ, could come visit us.

When AJ walked in, I felt a surge of emotion. He was about to meet his little brother for the first time. He was so happy and proud. This is when we learned that we locked my brother out of the house when we left. He was taking Tyson and AJ. AJ didn't have any shoes on--and was wearing the mismatched outfit he changed in to after naptime. My brother had to go all the way home to drop the dog off and back, so it took them a little longer then it could have. Nevertheless, it was a perfect moment. I was so happy to see my little boy.

John's family came as well and they all got to meet Jacob. Our perfect, little chunky boy.

In conclusion, I had a different birth plan. I had it in my mind that I had time for a lot of other stuff to occur. In the end though, I'm so thankful for how things turned out. It was my perfect delivery story. I wouldn't ask for it any other way.

Jacob's birth story part III

I left off last time with John leaving the house at 5. At this point, my contractions were totally manageable. But, this is also the time when things get blury. The following is how I remember it, but I might need some help from my mom, John, and doula Tara on the details.

I remember after John left my brother helping me breath through contractions. We were timing them on my contraction timer on my iPad. They were 3-5 minutes apart and about a minute long. Looking back I see how I didn't really have it together at this point. I was going from activity to activity, thinking about ordering food (I was hungry!) for everyone and packing my hospital bag. I called my doula, Tara, and told her they were the real deal and I would be needing her soon. At 5:20 they started to be every 2-5 minutes apart, but were 2 minutes long. Sometimes I felt like I didn't have a break (which I didn't!). Around this time, John called to check in and I told him he had to come home. He didn't believe me, but hopped in the car and came home, cancelling his appointment. At 5:30, I wanted to get in the bath. At this point, it becomes REALLY hazy. I remember feeling soothed when I looked into my mom's eyes for some reason. ***TMI ALERT FROM HERE ON OUT!***

While in the bath, I felt like I had to go #2 and started to feel sick. I kept saying I couldn't do it anymore and forgetting to breath. Looking back, I was in trasition. I remember my mom talking to my doula, who said she would be there in 15 minutes. I remember feeling the urge to push, but being told not to. I did anyway sometimes. It felt good to have some amount of relief when I pushed. If I let my body take over, I felt in control. When I 'held it in' I felt so out of my mind. I kept thinking, I can't do this anymore. I told myself, I'm probably only at 4 cm (and needed to get to 10), so if this is how it's going to be, then I'm not going to be able to handle it!

...To be continued again, being called for :).

First night and Jacob's Birth Story Part II

We are now home and settled into our house as a family of 4. We tried to get out of the hospital on Saturday night, but in order to get Jacob discharged, we had to have an appointment on Sunday and our doctor doesn't have Sunday hours. So, we had to endure another long night at the hospital, but left first thing Sunday. Last night was amazing. My parents came over as we got home and made us lunch and took good care of us. Then Nana and Aunt Stephanie came to visit. After they left, we were alone as a family of 4. AJ is battling a cold and ended up sleeping with us--which wasn't ideal, but it made me feel better to have him next to me. I had both of my boys on either side of me and it was amazing. Jacob will be sleeping in a co-sleeper bed next to me for at least a few weeks. The little boy is a SLEEPER (at least for now). I have to wake him up to eat and even then all he wants to do is sleep. I think if I was allowed to let him, he would sleep all night. So anyway, the first night was great and our first full day was also very wonderful.

So that brings me to Part II of the birth story. I left off with my choice of hypnobirthing. I practiced everyday on my breathing and relaxation. I was ready and determined.

For the last two weeks, I have been only working in the office on Tuesday and Thursdays. The distraction was nice since Jacob was so late. On Friday, July 15th, I woke up as usual with AJ and I felt incredibly tired and worn down. We ate some breakfast and got ready for the day. I took him to the park after a stop at Starbucks. He loves the park. The weather was beautiful, especially for July. It was breezy and a cool 77. It got slightly warmer later in the day, but the morning was perfect. We went home and ate some lunch together before I put AJ down for a nap. I had to take a work call at 12:30, which I did. After I was off--I checked on AJ, who was playing in his room. It took him a little bit to fall asleep and I just laid in bed answering work emails on my IPad. At around two, I started to feel some menstrual cramps, which wasn't unusual for me. I went down to the basement at this point because it felt a little timetable and I didn't want to lay down if they were going to turn into contractions--or if I had a chance of them turning into contractions.

Once downstairs, I started timing them on my IPad contraction app. Turned out they were every 8 minutes, 40 seconds long. I bounced on my yoga ball and called John. I told him I thought they were more false labor and to just stay at work. John was leaving at 3 to go get a tattoo of AJ's hand on his arm. At 5 to 3pm, I called him to tell him that they were still really regular and starting to get slightly more intense, but they were still virtually painless. They were more intense then the past few weeks though, starting in my back and radiating to my lower abdomen.

John left work and came home. On the way home he called me and we decided it might be a good idea for my mom to come over to help with AJ in case the false labor stuck around. If they did, we thought that we had a little bit of time and John was going to go to get his tattoo as planned for the early labor. Little did we know that it was a GREAT IDEA to call my mom. At 3:09pm, I called my mom on her cell and work numbers and didn't get her. I reached my sister at home but didnt' want to get her excited, so didn't tell her anything and just asked if mom was working. Then I called my brother since he works for my mom to see if he could get her to call me. By 3:15, my mom called me back and she was already half way out the door. Friday afternoon traffic in Northern Virginia is no joke, so I was pretty sure it was going to take them longer then usual to get here.

John came home and told me that his appointment was pushed back, so he didn't need to leave until 5. AJ was still sleeping at this point. John and I basically hung out in the basement. During a contraction, I hung on John with my head down and breathed through the contraction. It was really easy at this point. We continued like this until my mom and sister got to the house just before 4:30. My brother quickly followed so he could take AJ and Tyson if needed (again, another really good idea!). John ate some food before leaving around 5 for his appointment....

To be continued, we are going to take a walk with AJ to the basketball courts...

Jacob John's Birth Story Part I

I think I'm going to have to do this in parts, seeing as though my time is now very limited with two. I should be resting, but my mind is racing from the last 24 hours worth of events and I'm itching to get it out in words.

Let me take this back a little to AJ's birth day. During my pregnancy with AJ, I planned on an epidural all along. I just didn't research birth and I wasn't interested in researching it either. I only had experience with some people at work who studied Bradley and ended up with interventions anyway and were so depressed about it, so it turned me off of natural birth. I didn't have a natural birth friendly OB anyway and my hospital is known for it's epidural and C-section rates, so no one was exactly pushing me to read up on births. I don't regret his birth in the least. He was healthy and strong and that is all that matters. Still, something inside of me after the birth just didn't sit right. It didn't feel normal or what it was supposed to be. It seemed so medical for such a miracle--and I had absolutely no complications. It was intervention after intervention. I got there, only 3cm, they gave me the IV, they had me walk and I ordered the epidural. The epidural confined me to the bed and slowed my labor down--so they gave me pitocin. The pitocin was not good for me or the baby, but in the end...after 18 long hours, I gave birth to a 8lb 2oz boy. I tore pretty bad and felt terrible for weeks.

Then my best friend enlightened me. She told me about hypnobirthing. It sounded amazing, but I was skeptical until she birthed her beautiful daughter McKenna med-free in a relaxed environment. I was so inspired that I started to research natural birth. I watched the documentary, the Business of Being Born. I googled and you tubed birth videos and I studied up on all forms of pain relief and hypnobirthing appealed to me the most. It made sense with my personality...

sorry...battery is dying. To be continued!

Jacob John is here!

I will post my very short birth story later, but quick recap:

Jacob John, born 6:57pm, weighing 9 pounds (8 lb 15.5, but they round up to 9!), 20" long. After all of the false labor, I thought it was more false labor...but NOPE--the real deal. 5 hours after feeling like they were kind of regular, Jacob was born only 25 minutes after arriving at the hospital. I prepared for this like a marathon and boy, was it a marathon.

More pictures to come, but here are some previews of my favorites so far:

He looks a lot like AJ!

41 week pictures

I'm feeling rather large these days. I looked back from two weeks ago, and sure enough, I'm much bigger! He is healthy and that is all that matters. I'm content to wait for him at this point and have accepted that we will likely be induced. In the meantime, I'm staying really busy and sleeping as much as I can!

A shot with no shirt:

And dressed:

AJ got to hear his brother's heartbeat and see him on an ultrasound yesterday. They tested for fluid levels and we also had a non-stress test (which is just a test to make sure he is responding well when he moves and such inside). Baby boy is perfectly healthy, so we can stay pregnant a little longer. I'm so thankful for that. I'm so thankful for everything right now!

Still Pregnant!

Well, tomorrow we will be 1 week 'overdue'. This baby is comfortable and does NOT want to come out! Despite the awful heat, I'm still feeling really good though, so that is good!

Tomorrow we have an ultrasound and a Non-Stress Test. If all goes well, we can wait a little longer for him to come. I am trying to avoid all interventions possible. Almost 50% of Pitocin inductions end in c-section. While my end goal is to have a healthy baby, I am fully aware of how much harder pitocin is on a baby. Contractions are too close together and intense and cause the baby's heartrate to decrease, causing more and more interventions and eventually leading to a C-section for fear of the baby's health. Eventually, if he doesn't come on his own, I will have no choice but to accept a pitocin induction. I have come to terms with that because I know that going over 42 weeks pregnant can also be harmful to the baby and create more complications. I'm 100% sure our due date was between 7/6 and 7/8, so I know we have a limit.

I have had timetable contractions twice since Sunday. On Sunday they lasted at least 6 hours (that is when I went to bed) at around 8-9 minutes apart. I was able to fully function through them and actually did! We went to the pool, grocery shopping, I cooked dinner, talked to my mom, played with AJ, put AJ to bed, and hung out with my awesome and patient husband in those 6 hours. When I woke up int he middle of the night, they already passed. Then Monday morning something happened that I won't discuss on here because it's really TMI. Last night, I woke up in the middle of the night with timetable contractions, but this time they only lasted 1 hour or so--at least from what I can tell since I was sleeping through them. So that brings me to today. Nothing yet and I'm at work. The false labor is not fun!

In the meantime, I'm trying to relax, stay calm, and enjoy my last few days being pregnant. I'm enjoying time with AJ as well. We have been going to the pool and hanging out a lot together. I'm trying to soak in the one-on-one time with him right now. I've been keeping myself busy still working in the office two days a week, cooking a lot, keeping up with laundry, and playing as much as possible with AJ. It's helped to keep my mind off of being SO pregnant :). Yes, it is frustrating, especially with the false labor, but I know you can't rush this. My body knows what to do and I just have to be patient and think positive. I'm so thankful for the support I have surrounding me.

John has been my rock throughout everything these last 9 (10) months. He is so supportive of my choices, has been patient through my hormones, and just been there for me. I love how he talks to the baby and gets so excited for our life as a family of 4. Recently, he has reminded me to relax. He gives me a hug and tells me everything will be fine.

My mom has been an amazing support system. She herself had two natural births--me being overdue and David being pitocin induced. I talk to her every day and she is so encouraging and supportive for me. I'm excited to have her a part of this birth.

Finally, my inspiration for my choices this pregnancy--my best friend Lauren. Lauren is such an amazing mom and has inspired me to study hypnobirthing. I love hearing her very encouraging and inspiring birth story. I am so thankful I have her to discuss my practice and everything else. She reminds me to stay positive and happy!

Due Date

So it appears unless a miracle happens that we won't have another due date baby! Tomorrow is the longest I have been pregnant :). That is kind of cool to say actually. It's odd..I could be pregnant until July 18th. I haven't talked induction yet with our midwife, but that is about the cutoff they let you..just a few days shy of 42 weeks.

Technically speaking, we had three due dates. The first based on our last menstrual cycle was July 3rd, but I know I have longer cycles then most and I know when I ovulated by about a day or two and July 3rd was too soon. The second due date we were given based on a growth ultrasound was JULY 8TH! Then a week later, due to complications, I had to have another ultrasound that said July 6th. With all three dates, we compromised on July 6th. I am actually hoping that they move my due date tomorrow to July 8th so I get two extra days until induction. I do NOT want to be induced and I'm not 'over' this pregnancy yet. I still feel great and am active still, so while I want to meet my little boy, I am not really in a rush to induce. I believe firmly that he will come when he wants to come. We have no complications, so I would wait as long as he wants to.

Thanks everyone for your calls today (I have received a lot). It is so nice to have so many people thinking about us! Most woman get annoyed, but I'm not. I love that I have so many people that love me enough to call me to see how I am doing!

But with all that said, hopefully my next post will be about the baby and not about being pregnant :).

A scary pool day

Well, we certainly know how to make things interesting. If you remember, just a few short months ago, we had firefighters at our house for a grill fire. Now we had 'first responders' to the pool for AJ. Sigh.

First let me say that AJ is ok...but, we had a very scary day at the pool on Sunday. Our pool is really awesome I must say. It isn't a community pool (you pay to become a member) and there is one big downside that I won't get into on here, but...we love it. It has a very large pool, a very large baby pool with a massive playground area in the water, a nice big sandbox, some water slides, and an area we call the 'sprinkler system', which has different sprinkler areas (like a shower, fountain type things, small buckets that dump water, etc.--none of it is in standing water, it's all drained). We usually get to everything on a visit to the pool. AJ always wants to jump from area to area, he LOVES the pool.

So Sunday we are enjoying a beautiful day at the pool and were there for about an hour and a half or so I would say. We had already hit most of the areas and always go to the sprinkler system after the sandbox to rinse off any residue sand. AJ was having a blast, as were we. He was hopping from sprinkler to sprinkler. I wish I had photos to better explain myself, but I don't and couldn't find any online either.

There was one sprinkler that shot up at an angle. AJ loves to sit on it as it shoots up--most kids there do the same thing. As he was going to sit on it, he lost his balance and fell back and hit his head. He started to cry immediately. I was standing right next to him and picked him up. John came over to console him as well. Within seconds of me picking him up, his body went completely limp, his head buried into my chest, and his eyes rolled to the back of his head--essentially, he passed out.

We ran over to the nearest lifeguard to get help with him in my arms. He woke up as soon as we got there and with a stranger looking over him, he started to cry. The lifeguard blew the whistle and within seconds we had another lifeguard in the stands, and two others to assist with AJ. I think the commotion of not knowing where he was and having these strangers looking him over was too much, because he was a mess crying. We took him over to the first aid station, but he DID NOT want anyone but John or I to look or touch him. I took him to the potty to calm him down, which seemed to work. By the time we got back to the first aid station, two sheriffs and an ambulance had arrived.

AJ was curious with the police officers and the paramedics, which seemed to keep him content. They took his vitals, looked at his head, and asked him questions. His vitals were great and he was answering questions just fine. He also had not even a bump on his head. They asked if we wanted to take him to the hospital, but since the only thing the hospital would do would be to watch him, we decided with the paramedics not to take him and instead they told us what to look out for. They were specifically looking for a concussion, which they didn't think he had.

What we think happened was a combination of it being REALLY HOT, AJ not really drinking much water while we were there (unless you count him trying to drink pool water :)), reaction and losing some breath, and then the commotion of me picking him up and such--creating just a loss of blood to his head for a minute and he passed out shortly. There are some children that hold their breath when they get upset to the point that they pass out, so it's something similar to that I guess.

Anyway, we left the pool and played it safe the rest of the day. AJ was his usual hyper self by the time we got home. It was as if nothing had happened. We didn't put him down for a nap because we were nervous--even though the paramedics say that we could put him down and just check on him from time to time...it still made us uncomfortable.

So all is well now, but it was scary! AND...the commotion didn't put me into labor, so I'm thinking nothing will!

AJ's Birthday weekend

I must be nesting my blog, and I just realized that I didn't post any pictures of AJ's Birthday weekend! It's been over a month--I'm terrible.

Anyway, we celebrated his birthday party the day before his birthday, at a place called Sports Bounce. It is a VERY fun place for kids--but I think John enjoyed it too much himself. He kept saying afterwards, man, that was an awesome birthday party!

Here is Daddy and AJ waiting for AJ's friends to arrive:


And me and my little man:

AJ greeted his friends. We had about 16 kids attend.

AJ and his best friend from school, Lucas, sliding down the slide. They are so silly together, and inseperable.



AJ sliding down another slide. They also had a lot of bouncing stuff too, but it was hard to get some good shots of the kids inside.

After the bounce play time, they took a picture of (most) of the kids on a big inflatable chair:


AJ's cake. Wegman's made a really good cake. The entire sheet cake was gone! Which is good because in year's past we have had too much leftover! I should also mention that AJ picked his cake theme out this year.

After Pizza (also really good), AJ blew out his candles with some help from his cousin Roman. The boys are so cute!

After Sport Bounce (which was great for a very pregnant mommy because they did EVERYTHING!), we had a small group over for food and drinks. I didn't take many pictures though, but trust me when I say AJ had a GREAT time with the kids that did come.

The next day was AJ's birthday! He woke up and we had breakfast at IHop together. It's a tradition to go out to eat for birthdays-unless someone wants a homemade breakfast REALLY bad!

Afterwards we came back and AJ opened up gifts from mommy and daddy:

We later went to the pool (the day was EXTREMELY hot). The pool was PACKED and not so much fun for us, so we left to go take naps. After nap, we spent some time playing before having our own little family of three celebration. We went to Wegmans and everyone picked out what they wanted for dessert. We came back home and ate dinner then we sang to our three year old. He loved it and really enjoyed his cupcake! Here is his blowing out the number 3:



I can't believe we have a little man on our hands! AJ: Mommy and Daddy have enjoyed every moment of watching you grow. We are so proud of you!

Girls Night Out

Clare organized a girls night out to celebrate our impending arrival. The night was fabulous. It was just my closest friends eating at a fabulous resturant in Old Town Alexandria, called Majestic. The food was amazing--I can't wait to go back. Here is a photo of us girls! I have some very beautiful friends and a beautiful mom and sister!

Thanks to everyone for celebrating with me and a special thanks to Clare for organizing it. I love you all!

Happy 4th Of July!

The 4th of July has come and almost gone and no holiday baby for us! Nonetheless, we are trying to enjoy our last few days (hopefully) as a family of 3. This is from the other night--John had some leftover fireworks from last year. AJ loved the sparklers, but HATED the fireworks. He said "get me out of here, get me inside!!!" I held him inside (as well as our dog, who also hates fireworks while John enjoyed the 1 firework he set off.

Happy 235th birthday America! I am proud to call myself an American and am thankful for every man and woman who has fought to ensure our freedom!