A Day of FIRSTs!

Well, today was my FIRST full day of work. For those who don't know, I've taken a "full time" but "seasonal" position as a receptionist at Instant Tax Service. Wow, I've been out of the business world for about four years now. What a shock to the system to jump back into an eight hour work day and then have to come home, make dinner, clean dishes, and squeeze in quality time with the kids before bed time! I'm exhausted...and it's only MONDAY! Yikes! How do all you working mom's do this ALL the time???

Today was also the kids' FIRST full day at day care. Boaz had a rough morning and required holding all morning. (Poor Gwen!) But, I guess he got in the swing of things and had a play-filled afternoon. He even managed to take his FIRST steps!!! My little guy is learning to walk! Gwen will probably have him training for a 5k by the end of the week! I've had several people ask if I'd consider making this job an "annual" thing. I've not been quick to answer this, but...sending Bo to Gwen's this time next year sounds appealing if she can train for potty as fast as she trained for walking! :)

Merry Christmas!

Our Christmas tree:
Creative with "hanging" our stockings:

Opening stockings:
Boaz opening gifts:
Lydia opening gifts:
Mommy's favorite gift:

Daddy opening his Packer's Calendar:

Boaz and Lydia playing in bed...Boaz is proud because he can climb in there by himself now! Uhoh!

Boaz looking through the bottom of Grandma's glass:

Christmas Round ONE!

A Bo in a Bag:
Lydia taking a picture of me taking her picture:
Lydia taking a picture of Bo:
Lydia showing off her bell from Miss Lucy Mae:
Lydia and Boaz opening their gifts from Lucy Mae:

Ok, to explain the above pictures. Lydia received the much coveted kid-friendly camera. SHE LOVES IT! It's so cute! She's only had it for a few days and already there are well over 400 pictures on that thing! Hilarious! Paparazzi in the making for sure!

And, the gifts from "Lucy Mae" are actually more gifts sent to us from Sarah's secret santa Lori...whose one year old daughter is Lucy Mae! Loved it guys! THANK YOU LORI AND LUCY!

Sarah's Secret Santa Stuff

Thanks Lori!!!

Memory

I am continually astounded by Lydia's memory. Not only of what she remembers, but of the detail with which she remembers it and the cognitive ability she has with problem solving. Lydia was noticing the photos we've recently hung. She was particularly drawn to the family shot we just took. She looked at it for a long while then said to me, "Mommy, that was after we traded." I asked her what she meant and she said, "You know...traded. So I could sit on Daddy's lap and Boie could sit on your lap." She's referring to the fact that Boaz was having a rough time at the photo session and kind of got freaked out while sitting on Jeff's lap, so after a few shots, we traded and then Boaz felt more comfortable and secure with me and started giving those million dollar smiles. I'm just so amazed that she remembered all of that enough to associate that the photo on the wall was "after the trade!" Smart smart two year old!!!

Before the trade:

After the trade:

Visit to our Library

We are still adjusting to our new neighborhood. Today we ventured out to the library. I was impressed with the size, layout, and over all friendliness of the library. It has a great section the kids really enjoyed.

Lydia even made a "friend" she enjoyed playing with and reading "Itsy Bitsy Spider" with.
Lydia especially liked the big doll house! She made the daddy take a shower! I stifled my giggles!

Happy Anniversary!

Today we celebrated SEVEN years of marriage! Yay!

We went to TGI Fridays (Just the two of us!!!! Thanks Mom!) Sunday night:
Then on our actual anniversary we went to get our portraits done and went to Cici's pizza for dinner:

Portrait Innovations Birthday

Portrait Innovations Christmas

I'm an Aunt!

I got to meet my nephew for the first time today! Nolan Bradley Michael. We LOVE you little guy!

Grandpa with all three of his Grandkids:
Aunt Sarah and Baby Nolan:
Uncle Jeff, Cousin Boaz, and Baby Nolan:
The cousins:

Love the Baby

This is what Boaz does when we tell him to "love the baby" So Cute!!!

Praise Report!!! (With a little bit of venting too!)

The pediatrician had noticed a "click" in Boaz's right hip. He ordered an x-ray to make sure it was not a bone issue. So, we went to Children's Hospital to get the x-ray done today. I understand that we all have to learn sometime, but I was very frustrated at the radiologist in training and her "inefficientness" at the whole process. They had him strapped to the table and had me holding his legs in a far from comfortable position while she fiddled with this contraption and that contraption and then the "trainer" readjusting what she just fiddled with!!! All while poor Boaz was screaming his little head off!!! I was afraid I would bruise his little leg holding him down like that so I let go. The "trainer" had the nerve to "scold" me to hold him still. I retorted "hurry up then!" She gave me what my mom refers to as the "hairy eye ball" (aka a nasty look) but managed to take the two pictures without much more fuss. The doctor already called me back this evening with the results. His legs and hips look great!!! Yay! So the doctor explained that it's a "soft tissue" click which means a ligament is most likely just "snapping" over the joint which is totally normal. It's really not a surprise to me as all my joints click and pop and I hardly even notice the sound anymore! Must be genetic??? I don't know...but glad to hear all is well!

My Princess

A Year Ago TODAY...

My beautiful son was born! My water broke at 3:30am and he was born before 9am. Fast labor!!!

Boaz Jacob Lange born December 1, 2007

6 lbs 15 oz 20 inches 8:57am

My biggest fear came true. All through my pregnancy I said my biggest fear was that my water would break in the middle of the night and we'd have to rush around and wake Lydia up and whisk her off to the baby sitters while I was in labor. Well...after a Family Fun night Friday night (I remember I was picking out what I would order by looking at the menu online) at Bennigans and then playing with Lydia in the toddler zone at the YMCA...three thirty AM my water broke. I had woke up needing to pee and as I tried to roll my huge self out of bed I felt the GUSH. I smacked DH's hip and said "um-honey..." and he jumped out of bed and asked what's wrong...I said "my water just broke." and he said, "Oh, is that all? I thought something was wrong." Um...what? LOL He thought someone had broken in or something. Silly man! So, as I rushed to the bathroom to let some of the gushing go into the potty...my contractions started coming. They were very manageable but with every contraction more gushing would come. I made little puddles all through the house...thank goodness for hardwood floors! I soaked through SEVERAL towels, and several Poise pads. Yeah...it was a mess! So we rushed around like idiots trying to get everything all packed and ready and woke Lydia up at the last possible second and headed off to the hospital. The original plan had been for us to drive her to the sitters and then go to the hospital, but my contractions were hard and heavy and frequent, so we opted to have the sitter meet us at the hospital instead. Poor Lydia. Well, even with wearing two poise pads, I had SOAKED my clothes and the ER guy wheeled me up to the maternity ward while DH waited outside the ER for the sitter to come get Lydia. By the time DH came up I was all checked in and settled in my room. Typically they check you over in triage before admitting you, but it was pretty obvious I was NOT in false Labor! Ha! The nurses even smiled between themselves and made comments about my "soiled" clothes...yeah...ha ha funny NOT! So...I bounced on a ball for a while, made several trips around my little room and ATE POPSICLES (they've never tasted so good...) I eventually opted to go for the epi though I was still managing the contractions fine. DH said the only way he could tell I was having one was I would suddenly stop talking and just close my eyes. He'd look at the chart and realize I was having a contraction. Based on previous procedures where I've been under anesthesia I know it takes me FOREVER to come out of it so I always opt for the epi in case I need a C-section for fear it would be several hours before I was awake enough to see my baby for the first time. So, after the epi the nurses shifted the bed so I was in sitting position with my legs spread out in a less than lady like position to keep things as open as possible. Before too long I told them I felt pressure like I needed to poo and they checked and sure enough I was ready to go. Bo was still high up so they told me to "practice push" I warned them I'm an efficient pusher and that I didn't think that was a good idea. Well, they called my OB who was "on his way" and he said to have me push...well surprise surprise two pushes and he was "right there" They ran around like goof balls getting everything ready and my Dr (one from the practice I go to but whom I had never met prior) came in. There was also a resident with a bad attitude and a brand spankin new intern. Boy did he look queasy! He'd never seen a vagina before let alone a birth! He was entertaining to watch as I pushed. I thought he was going to pass out! Hilarious! (side note...the next day, that same intern came in to ask me the follow up questions...I had to ask if he remembered how babies were born, cuz he asked if I was still bleeding at all...um...YEAH will be for six more weeks dufus! I think something similar happened to Chanda? Where do they find these people?) Ha! So, after ten minutes of pushing Boaz came into the world. His cord was wrapped around his neck twice and there was a knot in it. When he came out he was blue and not moving. I was terrified. DH and I kept looking at each other and asking anyone who would listen if he was ok. They had DH cut the cord quick and they wisked him off to a table beside my bed to give him oxygen. He pinked up real quick and then we heard the WONDERFUL sounds of his cries. He was screaming bloody murder then. Beautiful sound. He didn't stop until they gave him back to me. DH captured the look on his face the moment he was put back in my arms. Priceless. True LOVE at first sight. He's been bonded to me ever since. He nursed like a champ and had "the lowest jaundice amounts they'd ever seen" The only problems after that came after they did the circumcision. Instead of bringing him right back to me as I had requested, they decided to keep him in the nursery while the pediatrician did her rounds. Well, by the time she got to him she noticed he looked "ashen." They ran a bunch of tests and found his pulse ox (sp?) was low. Really low. I guess it's supposed to be above the 90's and his was like 82? They put him back on oxygen. A neonatologist was called in for a consult. My face was glued to the nursery window the whole time as tears fell unnoticed by me. I've never prayed so ceaselessly in my life. They basically determined they didn't know what was causing him to have low levels and guessed that he was having a "panic attack" and they decided to bring him to me to see if I could get him to settle. Yup. As soon as I had him back and nursed him he was fine. I was a nervous wreck anytime his breathing changed after that though. I was terrified to let him cry for the first three months for fear he would get another "panic attack" and hyperventilate like he had in the hospital. So, even though I'd never planned to co-sleep in my bed...we had a "family bed" until we gave him the boot around six months old. (You may recall that was only after he rolled out of bed!) Other than his one webbed toe he's PERFECT! I was so relieved. During my 20 week ultrasound we were told he had some "markers" flagged for possible down's. We declined further testing because it didn't make a bit of difference to us. We had no intentions of terminating and we were fully prepared to love him regardless. But, I do confess to a HUGE sense of relief when he was born healthy, happy, and downs free.

Oh How I love you my son!

Welcome to the world of blogging

Well, I'm new at this whole blogging thing so please be patient with me as this will be a learning experience! I've followed several other blogs and thought I'd jump on in and test the waters myself. I don't promise to have any profound words, exciting stories, or amazing photographs...but I'll try my best to update you with the drama that is our lives.