The Baptism

It appears as though the birth story will not be reviewed by Hubs until after taxes are completed.

priorities. priorities.

James' baptism was on March 17th.  It was held in my parent's backyard with about 45 people to witness the miracle of new life.  We were blessed with absolutely beautiful weather.

Planning it felt a little like planning a mini wedding.  I found out what all the buzz about Pinterest was, and let my imagination get to work.  I was fortunate enough to have some help at my parent's house, and since I'd been kicked out of my own home in order for Hubs to record, I was there a lot.  I made a rag wreath, cake pops, modge podged cups for favors, and hung chinese lanterns.  My mom was a total and complete rock star in prepping her home, and garden, and helping me with all of my projects.

The ceremony and baptism were done by Hub's and my youth minister from high school.  He also gave the message at our wedding.  We credit him as our match maker.

The Godparents / Sponsors were two of our cousins.  In our families Godparents were an aunt and uncle (or two aunts in my case), from each side.  Since we only have one sister each, we opted for cousins.  We hope that our cousins will have similar relationships with our children as we did with our aunts and uncles.  To us a Godparent is a helper for when we fail to be leading James in faith.  They are someone that will be specially invested in James' growth, not just in faith, but in character and all aspects of life.

The Godfather is Hubs' cousin "B Macaroni" who is currently in his first year of Med school.  He is hilarious, and we had such a fun time having him stay with us.  B Mac's mom is Hub's godmother.

The Godmother is my pseudo cousin "LT," who is 3/4 of the way through her tests to become a CPA.  Her mother and mine have been best friends since grade school.  My mom is LT's Godmother, and I am LT's younger sister's Godmother.

James wore the family baptismal gown.  The gown was made by Hub's great-aunt to be a family heirloom, and Hubs was the first to wear it.  Every grandchild on that side since Hubs has worn it, and their initials and baptism date are all embroidered on scallops at the bottom.

It was a lovely day, and we were surrounded by so many amazing people that love us.  The only thing I regret, is that James was a sleepy, sleepy boy by the end of the ceremony.  He was hot, and a little overwhelmed by all of the loving arms that wanted to hold him.  I should have excused him from the party, but kept thinking he'd just fall asleep in someones arms and be content.  I have a little bit of mommy guilt that he really didn't have such a stellar time, but live an learn.  Being brought into a new life connected to death and resurrection can be exhausting!

Here are some pictures taken by my dear friend Sarah.  You can check out more of her work here.

And now for some of the details:

The flowers were from Millie.  I got mastitis (you'll hear about that fun time in my forthcoming post "Adventures in Breastfeeding") 4 days before the baptism, and she had bought me these, along with making me the tastiest chicken broth ever.

The spread was all gluten-free: look at how amazing that fruit and cheese look.

The favors were little plants.  They had a dual meaning.
1. They symbolize the new life that James was given
2. James' middle name is Francis, and my favorite quote from St. Francis of Assisi is, "Where there is hatred, let me sow love."

The cake pops (also gluten free) were my first foray into crafty baking, and they were delicious.  There were way too many left over, which means I ate waaay too many the following week.  I may just have to treat myself to some for my birthday!

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As a side note: It kind of kills me that these posts are no where close to chronological order, but I know if I don't just post whatever is the most convenient at the time, I'll put off posting and be a super lame blogger.

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Coming soon ...

So I decide to take matters into my own hands.  I asked Hubs to write out James' birth story the week after he was born.  He agreed that he would, and wanted to.  He did record himself telling the birth story on his phone while we were at the hospital, and did dictate it a month later.  But if you've ever used "Dictate" software before, you know you can get some funny things.  Ted Nugent makes an appearance in there somewhere.  There is also mention of Iran.  Crazy.

So I'm going to type this out as best I can.  Hubs will review it to make sure there are no major false statements, or missing pieces.  It was an epically long journey, and drama filled, so I've typed things out in 2 parts.  Part 1 to be published as soon as Hubs edits.

So glad to be back to the blog world.  Here's a picture of my cutie from tonight after bath time.

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The Lost Post

Written at the beginning of March ...

Well there's nothing quite like the feeling of losing something.  In technology it's generally from the lack of pressing the "save" button.  The great thing about blogger, is that it saves automatically.  Apparently the blogger app does not.  In fact I can't even find a "save" button.

As you might have guessed I lost a post.  An epically long post typed one handed while breastfeeding in the middle of the night.  Guess how excited I was to wake up to an empty screen?  This was a 3 weeks ago, and it took me a week to convince myself that it was worth it, for memories sake, to re-write this post, it has taken me till now to actually do it.  I can't help but feel, however, that this go round feels a little less inspired.

--

Parenthood has been treating us wonderfully.  It's definitely an emotional journey, filled with 2 steps forward 1 step back.  But James is probably the most wonderful baby in the world in terms of easiness.  He really only cries when there is a need: diaper, hungry, occasionally gas.  He has beautiful blue eyes that are bright and alert, and he loves to sleep as much as his mom!

Because I haven't been blogging these first couple of weeks, I thought I'd write a bullet point style review of James' first 6 weeks of life out of utero, written to James.  The birth story (intense and worth it's own post), is in the drafted stages as dictated by Hubs.

Our time in the hospital once we were checked into our room:
After 2 nights of not sleeping and 36 hours of labor, ending in abdominal surgery, I was exhausted, and wanted to focus on resting and bonding with you.
We only had one person not in our immediate family visit us at the hospital.
The day after you were born there was a huge thunder storm.  We felt like we were in a little tower away from the rest of the world.  Time slowed down, and we didn't even realize the rest of the world existed (except through text and facebook!)

You never left our room, except for the stroll we took you on around our floor in your isolate.
You had to spend a day under the bili lights.  I cried when they came in and took you from my arms, although you were only a few feet away from me, and I knew you would be fine, I hated knowing you were not completely well and that I could only hold you (on your blue blanket) while I fed you.
We were so excited to find out that your levels rebounded way up!  James - 1, Jaundice - 0
My favorite thing was snuggling you to my chest as you slept so very peacefully.

My next favorite thing was that when you cried (if you weren't too hungry or dirty), I could just talk and the sound of my voice would calm you.  It was an amazing feeling I could only begin to describe with words.
Your Daddy was so proud of me and kept talking about me like I'd just hit the winning home run in game 7 of the world series (for the St. Louis Cardinals, of course).

First bath

Meeting your cousin

All bundled up

View from our room

Bili Lights

Going Home Outfit

Going home

First car ride: out of utero

The first 2 weeks at home:
When we first got home we took you on a walk with Dancer.  She has come to love you, but mostly ignores you and is sometimes kind of jealous.  She often tried to sneak a lick in, when we let her get close.
I was so full of adrenaline, and opened the house to lots of guests: Everyone was so excited to meet you.
I was super determined to heal from surgery quickly by moving, but not over doing it.
You slept a lot, and nursed for very long periods of time, often falling asleep.
You let me sleep a good amount, but Daddy would sometimes take you and walk you around the house to comfort you, because I just needed 15 min.
You had 2 photo shoots.
Your Godmother Lindsey came to visit and stayed with us.
When I changed your diaper and you were being fussy I'd often sing, "Getting to know You."  Daddy often sang, "Baby don't worry, 'bout a thing ..."
We were both falling more in love with you each day, coming to realize that you are our son.

Meeting Dancer

First walk

First Bath

First Trip to the Doctor

Our favorite things:

Your dramatic stretching arms and shake
Your Elmer Fud stretch

The snorts you make as you eat
The dimple in your right cheek

Your bright eyes

Your favorite things:
Diaper changes
The bouncy seat
MILK
Being held
Staring at the ceiling fan
Being Swaddled

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Easter weekend!

We had a wonderful weekend!

Friday I went over to MIL's house (mother-in-law: in my head I refer to her as a type as Millie, she doesn't know that ... but she probably does now).  Hubs (need a cuter name for him; suggestions welcome) is in the process of recording a CD, and the recording is happening at our house.  This is not conducive to me hanging out with a baby, doing laundry, watching TV, cooking (banging pots and pans), or sleeping all day, since the closet in which he's recording shares walls with not just the bedroom, but the part of the wall that is up against my side of the bed, the laundry room, and wall with the TV.

Maybe this shouldn't be my Easter post, but rather my "Hubs recording" post!
(maybe I don't need a separate post)

So I've been leaving the house almost every M, W, F and hanging out with my mom.  Last month it was rather convenient, because there was family in town and I was working on crafty things for James' baptism ... oh Pinterest.  Now it's just kind of annoying that I get kicked out of the house.  However, it does set a good boundary for Hubs and me, since he works from home, and I don't work during the day.

We are both very excited about him putting out a CD.  It's been a long time coming.  Back in January of 2011, when we began to talk in ernest about starting a family, recording a CD was at the top of the list for things he wanted to get done.  Although, it would have been great for it to be done before James arrived, there is now more push to be efficient in the recording process.

So back to Friday.

On Friday I visited Millie and we worked on some fun things for "Easter Eve," or "Easter Saturday."  Millie, too, has discovered the fun of Pinterest.  She showed me things she had tagged, with a,

"We don't have to do this, but I thought it'd be fun."
             or a,
"I don't have all of the materials for this, but thought we could make something like it."

I was determined to bring at least a few things to life.  So I folded napkins into bunnies, made a wreath of peeps, and emailed myself an asparagus recipe.

Pinerest inspiration:

Saturday was a big fun celebration with my Grandparents, Parents, Sister, BILly, Niece, 2 cousins, husband, son, the neighbors w/sons, all hosted by my in-laws at their rockin' home.  It was a great time filled with great food, games, and time with family.  Here's a few pictures.

Sunday, Hubs and I (w/ James in tow), went down to Jones plaza for a our church's sunrise service.  I've alway wanted to go to a sunrise service ... sounds so beautiful and peaceful.  I however had a cramp in my side the whole time.  There was no message just long passages of scripture and a couple of songs.  It was dark, I was hungry, I was in pain, there were demon birds chirping loudly ... but the message wasn't lost.  The tomb was empty.  Christ IS Risen.

We headed home to drop off Danny, pick up Dancer dog, and make a call to my doctor friend to make sure the pain I'd had for 2 and a half hours wasn't appendicitis.  I then proceeded to my parent's where I took a long nap while everyone else was at church.

The rest of the day was very low key and relaxed.  We swam for a bit, and watched the masters.  Here's some pictures.

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I'm Back!

Well I hope to be back.  I have a bunch of blog titles rolling around in my head.

James: month 1 (2 & 3)
The birth story
The first weeks
Adventures in Breastfeeding
Adventures in Cloth Diapering
Back to Work
C Section sadness, and VBAC thoughts
The Baptism
Easter
Hubs Recording

So many things I want/ wanted to chronicle!  My baby is only 13 weeks old, and I'm astonished that there are already parts of his life that I've forgotten!  I have been pretty good about filling in a little calendar and parts of his baby book as we go, but so much is a blur.  I've noticed that I tend to generalize experiences according to the overall emotions I felt, and I'd like to have a place to reference how things actually went down, verses how my memory has painted things over time.  Now without further ado, I will begin with EASTER!

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What's in a Name?

We are all healthy and well.  I'm hoping to get back into blogging now that life with baby is starting to be a bit more normal.

Here is the beginnings of a blog post I started writing in September.  Obviously I never finished it ...

I have no idea what we will name the little guy.  In fact my list of about 5 names (which hadn't changed since Jan 2009, and had a clear front runner) has expanded to about 15 names.  I love slightly quirky names that have been around for a while, but aren't in the top 200.  I also love strong names that have been in the top 10 for decades.  Hubs and I's names have been in the top 20 since the 1950's, and stayed in the top 10 for 30+ years.  They're Biblical and they have nicknames (which makes them versatile).  I always loved my name: full name and the many nicknames.  And no offense to all of my lovely friends named Tiffany, Jennifer, Jessica, and Stephanie (there are a lot of you that I LOVE!), but your names were kind of a flash in the pot.  The same way I assume Jayden, Aiden & Ethan will go.  Although I do love the name Ethan.  Then there is our top contender name that I have watched rise in popularity and is currently at it's all time highest ranking.  What to do, what to do.

Over the next 3 months we worked our list down to a top 3 and from there a top 2.

James was not on the list.

I have always liked the name James.  When I mentioned it as a possibility to Hubs in the beginning of name talks, he gave it a firm "no."  The reason was that we knew a James, so he felt the name was already assigned to another person.  As name conversations continued Hubs realized that whatever we named our child, that name would become uniquely his.  He wouldn't hear the name and think of other people, he would think of our son.  In September Hubs tried to reintroduce "James" to the list, after having a conversation about the book in the Bible.  I replied, "You already took that off the list."

Throughout the whole process I neither of us were sold on a name for more than a day, and I kept wavering.  Then I stopped liking our front runner with the middle name "Francis," which had been decided forever ago.  Then I fell in love with the name Celeb, and 24 hours later realized there is already a Celeb Francis in the family!

At Christmas Eve service we ran into the aforementioned friend named James, who after asking about the name of our unborn child said something to like, "Well James is a great name." or "You can use the name James if you want."  I can't remember.  But then I said the full name, and then shortened it to just the first and last, and I kind of liked it.

2 weeks before (maybe less than 2 weeks), Hubs and I were reviewing our top name contenders, and we again mentioned James.  We decided to put it on the list for our D day decision.

As most of you know my labor ended in a C-section (birth story to be shared in a later post), so I only got a glimpse of my baby before he was wisked away to be examined.  Hubs went with baby.  The nurses asked Hubs what his name was, he said we hadn't decided yet.

Hubs carried our sweet boy over to me, and asked, "So what should we name him?" 

I replied, "I don't know I think he kind of looks like a James."

Before I could change my mind Hubs said, "That was my first thought, too!"

The funny thing is, we both agreed he didn't look like our front runner name, but maybe our 2nd choice name.

And so he was named, "James Francis."

So far he has come to be called ...

baby Jesus - Christmas just happened an my 2 year old niece was still trying to sort things out!

Buddy - I've been calling him that from day one, but only as "hey Buddy" or "good job Buddy"

Sports-o - my dad

Jamas - like the last half of Pajamas, but not pronounced like jam, more like the French word jambe (leg).  Another variation of this has become Jaw-mez
Jamesy

I would however, like to keep his name intact, and not refer to him only by a nickname; we'll see how that goes.

And to close out, here is a quote from St. Francis of Assisi:

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.

Where there is hatred, let me sow love.

Where there is injury, pardon.

Where there is doubt, faith.

Where there is despair, hope.

Where there is darkness, light.

Where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,

grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console;

to be understood, as to understand;

to be loved, as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive.

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.

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James Francis

Born January 8, 2012 (on his due date)

9:33am

7lbs 12oz

21.5in

We are so in love.

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