I'm getting old

I just returned from a trip to Fresh Market to pick up a few items. While pulling into he parking lot there was a jeep full of girls driving frantically around the parking lot. As I walked into the store they turned a corner and revved their engine and speed towards me. I found that I was deliberately positioning myself so that they could see the crusty I was displaying in disapproval.

I quickly gathered my items and checked out at the self check. Across from me there were two boys who appeared to be twelve buying two dozen eggs. I was quickly reminded of a summer night before my junior year of high school. Me and my friends were driving through Smith's, probably going too fast, when another car full of girls, cheerleaders, called one of my friends a whore. We picked up some eggs, got my friend's mom's green astro van and stopped by each of these girl's houses and unloaded our eggs. At the time I had just had knee surgery, a common theme my high school years, and I really didn't throw any eggs and the one I did throw landed on the grass, it didn't break either! My friend got out of the car, picked it up and threw it straight at the front door! Well we got caught and were escorted back to one of the girls houses to clean up. The dad called all the girls home and everyone had to apologize. Little did they know when they all went home that all of their houses were egged not just the one! Yeah, the next day we cleaned those too, i didn't really though cause I could barely walk! I didn't know the girls, nor did I have anything against them except for the fact they dissed my friend, I was just along for he ride.

Anyway. On the way home I thought about Luke. What kind of boy was he going to grow up to be like? What would his friends be like, what sports would he play, what kind of trouble would he get into? It is crazy to think that someday this sweet boy will crawl, walk, talk, go to school, possibly get married, and maybe someday have babies of his own! Instantly I felt sort of like a grandma and I was already imagining my grandchildren! Looking at this sweet, innocent child it is impossible to imagine him doing anything wrong!

Halloween 2009 and More

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Halloween is just so much more fun with children and I would be a bad mother if I didn't blog about it. Luke was given quite a few Halloween outfits, some of which he out-grew. I think he got a little tired of all the wardrobe changes. Luke's grandma made him an adorable little football player outfit and we were his fans (easy costumes for mom and dad)!

Is there anything cuter than a daddy with his baby? I think not!We hung out with Luke's cousins on Halloween night. Ben and Jake were the cutest cowboy and Indian duo you have ever seen! The boys weren't down with the photo shoot.

Luke celebrated his one month birthday on the 30th! One month??? Where did the time go. I can't believe how much this boy has changed in a month. He went from a "tiny" little newborn....I think that I can safely say that Luke has the biggest double chin of any newborn/infant I have ever seen!

He is now a big boy! (we are still dealing with the aweful newborn acne!)

I think that Luke and I have adjusted well to each other. I am still trying to figure out a good routine to get house work, cooking, working out, etc. done. I just don't know how I'm going to get anything done though when this boy loves to snuggle so much! I find that I just can't put him down and I don't get anything done!

2 1/2 Weeks going on 13 years old

I'm not quite sure what has happened to my "little" Luke! He is just growing up too fast for me! Luke is gaining weight like a champ! He has gained 1 pound 3 oz since his birth in just his short 2 weeks of life putting him now in the 90% for weight! He has grown 1/2 inch too! I think he is a pretty good sleeper (for now) and he generally gets at least 6 uninterrupted hours every night, which is really nice for his mommy!

This last week the dreaded baby acne struck! Mom is not a fan! I went from this sweet little face on Monday...To this on Tuesday...To finally this on Wednesday! Poor guy! I think this was the worst of it, hopefully!Luckily, Luke had his newborn pictures taken before the zit outbreak. My SIL's sister, Jeanette did them. We can't wait to see the rest!
I have been a real lazy mom so far and haven't really taken any pictures and the only ones I've taken have been with my iPhone because it is always by my side and I just can't put him down! But this way I can capture some of the silly things he does while I'm holding him like eating in his sleep...Seriously upset hiccup face!And all of the quirky smiles!As cute as baby clothes are I think my favorite outfit is the "birthday suit" with a diaper of course, you don't want to chance it without!
Luke and I had our first "Farm", aka Wheeler Farm, outing on Friday, thanks to Liz and Jeanette and kids for letting us tag along. Luke did this the whole time.I was a little timid entering into the mommy world but even though I didn't have a little toddler or child to chase around I was rather entertained! The people watching at these places is great! It is not everyday you see a transgender male (I'm not sure what the PC term is for a man that dresses up like a woman) walking around with his tripod, most likely taking pictures for his facebook profile or maybe for some other online dating site! The Farm is a great place and I can see that we will spend a lot of time there in the future and the best part is that it is free!

I love that I just get to sit and watch this boy grow everyday. Seems like he has always been a part of our family! Just don't grow up too fast "little" Luke!

Luke Johan Mann Birth Story

Luke Johan Mann
Born September 30, 2009 @ 8:33am
9 lbs 22 inches long

My little Mann, Luke is finally here! He was late but definitely worth the wait. I went to the doctor on September 23 crossing my fingers that I would have made some sort of progression just to find out nothing had happened since the first time he checked me at 37 weeks! The doctor scheduled an induction for me to go into the hospital on the 29th! I bawled the whole way home. I was so tired of everyone asking when he was going to come. I was more anxious than anyone. I felt like I was being robbed of time with him! Pregnancy hormones are the worst! However post pregnancy hormones are pretty bad too! I thought to myself on the way home from the doctors that I was just going to stay in my house until the baby came, I just couldn't bare to see anyone! I did not do that and I'm glad! I enjoyed a surprise birthday party, tailgate party, and farewell that weekend, all without worrying about a little one.

Monday night I woke up at 12:30am with really painful contractions. I decided I would time them. I timed them for 6 hours(!) during the night. They were irregular and didn't get much closer than 8 min apart. We really wanted this baby to come before grandma left for her trip on the 30th! This got Jared and I really excited. We tried real hard all Tuesday to speed things along...walking down a big hill, spicy food, etc. I had pretty much just given up home of him coming on his own. I was kind of starting to feel guilty that I was rushing him out into this world when he wasn't ready. I have heard of miserable induction stories and I just did not want to go through that! It was beginning to look like that would be the case, unfortunately.

Tuesday night was here and I was to be admitted to the hospital at 8pm. Jared and I got dinner, Cafe Rio (big mistake). On our way to the hospital my contractions came back and they were painful! They seemed really close but I didn't bother timing them, cause I was headed to the hospital anyway. I checked in and an hour later the resident came in. She told me they were going to start me on cervidil sp? and just let me rest during the night. I told her I was having a lot of contractions and she decided to check me out. To my surprise I was 80% effaced and dilated to 3cm! This was very exciting news! The contractions got a lot more painful but luckily soon after I got my epidural and they started the pitocin instead of waiting until the morning, only after 4 attempts at the IV! Epidural was much less painful than the IV. I spent the rest of the night pleasantly numb.

The nurse checked on me occasionally and told me that if my water didn't break on its own, they would break it at 5:30. 5:30 rolled around and she didn't come, I was getting anxious. She came in at 6:15am. Sometime during the night my water broke, I was completely oblivious to it and who knows how long I laid in it! I was dilated to a 9 and almost there but would have to wait for the shift change before anything happened! Another nurse checked me again at 7:30! It was now time to push. I started pushing at 8:00 and "little" Luke was here at 8:33! I was completely taken back at how big he was! I knew that he would be big with me being overdue but 9 pounds was at least a pound more than I expected. At the hospital he measured 21 inches right out of the womb kicking and screaming but at the pediatricians he measured 22 calm as could be so I'm going to say he was 22 inches, it is a better height/weight ratio!

Ok this is getting way too long! Needless to say everything went a lot better than I had anticipated, besides Luke turning blue on me the first night! I would say that I think Jared and I have him pretty well figured out but it changes day to day. I just never thought he was be so dang cute! His parents can't get enough of him!

For those of you who are curious on the middle name let me tell you the story. Jared and I knew for quiet a while that this boy was probably going to be Luke. Luke is a strong solid name which was fitting! We have tossed around middle names but never came to a conclusion. Jared wanted it to be a tribute to someone special but didn't necessarily want it to be obvious. The day we were leaving the hospital we still didn't know what it would be but we had to fill out the paper work. We made a list of all the possible candidates. I looked at the whole name together, first name middle initial combo, and initials. We ranked them and then defended our choices. Looking over Jared's reason why he wanted Johan just made me start bawling and I knew that is what he would be named. Jared's grandfather John raised Jared while his mother pursued nursing school and worked. Jared lived with his grandfather until we got married. He immigrated to the states at the age of about eleven from Denmark where his given name was Johan. He changed his name when he moved here so it wouldn't be obvious that he was a foreigner. Jared's grandfather was one of the sweetest, most interesting people that I have ever met and so I'm so happy for Luke to be named after him.

Starter Mullet! I couldn't believe his dark hair!

Cousins meeting for the first time! I hope these two are best of friends! They were born 4 weeks apart but Luke out-weighed Jake by I think it was a little over a pound at birth. Their due dates were 4 days apart.


My "sugar bowl" baby coming home from the hospital!


My Sweet Luke! We are just so in love with him! If I could put him down long enough I would be able to take more pictures!

And some of the hospital pictures I got suckered into buying!

Still Pregnant

Just if you were curious and I'm doing fine if I could just avoid any and all comments about still being pregnant (I've heard them all by now)! I have decided that there are really 2 halves to the 3rd trimester. The 1st half is for the lucky women who deliver slightly before or after 38 weeks. They don't have to endure the last 2-3 or 4 weeks of insensitive comments (Are you sure your not having twins??? being one of them! Don't EVER comment about a pregnant girls weight or size I should say past 38 weeks or you may witness a complete breakdown), insurmountable amount of anxiousness that sets in (I know this is experienced before 38 weeks but it does not even come close to what you feel at 40 weeks), or the complete and utter state of uncomfortableness and stretch that is experienced! And well the 2 half of the third trimester is just that and MUCH, MUCH worse!

Don't get me wrong, I am embracing life just Jared and I for now. Never again can we just run off to breakfast, sleep in, or do absolutely nothing on a Saturday again without planning for the little one. But I would like for him to come, ASAP! I can't wait to see how big he is or who he looks like or what his temperament is going to be like. This patience thing is hard! I just feel like my life is in limbo and I want to move on already!

In case you are wonder what 40 weeks pregnant with just ONE baby looks like here you go! It looks as though I might have been crying, which is a common theme for me lately, but it was actually just allergies!
There is a degree of self-centeredness that comes towards the end of pregnancy so I have to apologize! And I don't want to sound grouchy, I can't help that my uterus has a higher weight capacity than others. I used to think that the boy didn't want to come but I'm pretty sure my uterus just won't let him! Or maybe he is just a Mamma's boy... Guess I'll just have to WAIT and see!

Summer Lovin'

Many people may not look forward to August as a favorite summer month but it's mine! One because of my anniversary (5 years!) and two because that means fall is just around the corner.

As far as summers go, this has been a pretty tame one for a pregnant gal like myself. I however have not escaped the dreaded water retention that comes with the heat and and sitting for practically 48 hours one weekend didn't help! For Jared's birthday we made a quick trip to Denver to catch the Cubs play the Rockies. I thought we would get there just in time to hang out at the pool for an hour, nap an hour, and then be ready just in time for the game. We left the house at 8 and got there just in time for batting practice at 4:30 (catch my sarcasm!) and sat some more until the game started at 7 and ended sometime after 11! Fortunately swollen feet doesn't really hurt and I was a trooper all day but I did put my foot down when Jared thought it would be fun to pull an all nighter and drive back. My 33 week pregnant back just couldn't take it! I'm going to miss times like this when we're not able to just pick up and leave without a care in the world!

Wish I could say this was the worst my feet got, but this was just at the end of 24 hours!

One thing this tired pregnant girl has enjoyed this summer, all my alone time during the week nights. May sound odd to you but sometimes this butt of mine (which gets bigger by the day) does not want to leave the couch. But don't worry Jared hasn't suffered. His summer nights have been spent bowling with his friends. They joined a summer league at Olympus Hills which allowed them to bowl 3 free games every day. Jared became obsessed and bowled anywhere from 4-6 days a week. Initially I would go and sometimes bowl or watch but he just takes it too seriously for me. His highlight of the summer would be bowling an almost perfect game through 10 frames and then a spare in the 10! I honestly couldn't believe it, 10 straight strikes in a row. I was glad that I could be there for it.
Now here we are nearing the end of August and I would have to say that I am pretty much in denial that I'm going to have a baby in just 4 weeks. I know hard to believe with the 50 pounds that I've already gained (I'm telling myself 20 of that is water weight). My nursery is not put together and there are quite a few things I still need to do around my house since the move. I wasn't thrilled with the idea of having my large self photographed but my good friend Caity talked me into it and it was a lot of fun. Thanks Caity/Katy!

But don't let me fool you, I am so excited for this little Mann to join our family. It is just hard for me to believe that I've grown a person in my belly and even harder to believe is that he has to come out soon! Guess I won't believe it until I see it! Well here goes to 4 ish more weeks! (I try and round down whenever possible)

'Bout Freakin' Time!

You may have thought that I abandoned my blog, well that is not the case. Between my computer crashing, cruise to Mexico, graduating, studying for boards, moving, not having the internet, finally getting the internet on our desktop computer that needs some serious updating, and then spending an hour hooking up the wireless router, I have not had access to the internet on my laptop, or my pictures, and therefor have not blogged. Here are just a few pictures to update you on the last 3 months of my life.

In April, Jared and went on a cruise to Mexico. We were one of the last ships to set sail before the whole swine flu epidemic broke out. Luckily at the time I did not know about this flu but that did not stop me from a visit to the on board doctor, later costing me $75 dollars. Here's the story... I decided that I was not going to take my trusty doppler with me on the vacation. I figured that if something went wrong and I couldn't hear the heart beat but I didn't know that there wasn't a heart beat it wouldn't ruin my vacation. Well on the plane ride there, the little tike got so excited and I started feeling him kick like crazy. While laying out reading one of my maternity books I read that once you start feeling the baby kick you should feel him at least once in a 2 hour period, or something like that. After a bad sunburn and applying expired medicated lotion with instructions in Spanish, I thought I might have killed the child. And then of course I couldn't feel him kick for what seemed like a day. I broke down in the middle of the night for sure I killed my unborn child, resulting in a visit to the doctor to hear his little heart beat. Just to forewarn you all, you probably know more than the doctor on a cruise ship. He told me that at almost 19 weeks, the baby is only 2 inches long (ya right!) and that you can't even begin to feel them kick. Jared stopped me from arguing with the doctor in my hysterical state but I wanted to give him a little lesson in child development!

I finally graduated with my masters in occupational therapy, passed my boards, and started my first adult job. So far everything is great. I take about a 2 hour nap when I get home and have started counting down this pregnancy not by the weeks to go but the hours of work I have to work!

And finally here is a picture of my belly on Father's day. I think that I was 27 weeks at this point. I feel like I have more than doubled since then (I'll post an updated picture as soon as I take one, I've not been very good at taking pictures). I have already gained a whopping 30 pounds at least and I'm frightened for my dr's appointment tomorrow to step on the scale! Just a little advice, don't try on your pre-pregnancy pants just to see how much you have gained; at your already highly emotional state it will just make you feel that much uglier!