Happy Birthday Bubber!!

(Alternately titled: WHOA, I'm getting O.L.D!)

Yup, this kid here is 15 now. 15! Halfway to 30! Old enough to drive (AFTER he takes driver's ed and only with his parents in the car)! He's nearly 6 feet tall and still growing. Wow.

Blast from the Past Friday

Wow. 12 years ago today, I was anxiously awaiting the arrival of my daughter Bug. I can remember SO vividly what happened in the days leading up to her birth! I've relayed this story once before, but I thought it was so fitting to share again today since it's Bug's birthday. I originally posted this in February 2008.

The Story of Bug

I was given 2 different due dates with Bug. May 30th OR June 6th. It was Monday, May 19th, and I was at work. I was a receptionist, so my job wasn't really very taxing on me. I figured I would probably work unti the day I went into labor.

About mid-morning, I started having mild contractions. Nothing too painful, and they weren't very close together. Throughout the day, when people would leave the building, I joked that I might not see them for a while because I was in labor. Some of them laughed, some of them looked a little worried. I was still feeling alright, but towards the end of the day I was feeling a bit more discomfort.

My mom used to pick Bubber up from daycare for me (they closed at 5:00pm and I didn't get out of work until 5:00), and I would pick him up from her house on my way home. I would usually sit and chat with her for a while, because my (then) husband, Dan, worked afternoons, so there was no real need to rush home. By the time I got to my mom's, I was feeling worse and worse. I tried to get in and out as quickly as possible, but in my family. that still means at least a good 15-30 minutes of talking. I finally got out of there, and made the 30 minute drive home.

I got home and called the doctor. He told me to go ahead to the hospital. I called Dan and told him he needed to come home (a 45min - 1 hour drive) right away. I called my mom and told her that I would need her to meet us at the hospital. Then I proceeded to go upstairs and pack my bag. (If you read my story of Bubber first, you already know I'm a procrastinator)

Dan got home and we went to the hospital. My mom met us there shortly afterwards. I was put in triage, since my water hadn't broken yet. They checked me, and I was at about 2. Meanwhile, I'm feeling STARVED because I hadn't eaten all day. My mom finally went and got me some soup from the cafeteria. The doctor decided to put me on an IV antibiotic because I had tested positive for Strep B. So started my stay in the hospital. I don't know if I ever went to sleep that night.

Tuesday morning, nothing had changed. The doctor still didn't really want me to eat (especially since I threw up while in labor with Bubber). So I was hungry, tired, and hurting. I was still having contractions, but they were few and far between.

Wednesday comes, STILL in triage, still no progress. At this point I am wanting to just pack it up and go home, but since I was on the IV meds, they didn't want to release me. A friend of mine, who was also pregnant at the time and on bedrest for pre-term labor, called to see how I was. While I was talking to her, my water broke. I think I might have caused her some serious hearing damage when I shouted with joy!!

Wednesday evening, after going another day with no real progress, my doctor finally gave me permission to eat, and he ordered that I get sent to a birthing suite so that I can get some rest. I remember sitting in bed watching the episode of Mad About You when they had their baby, and I started to cry. Those stupid TV people got to have THEIR baby, why couldn't I just get it over with?!? I got a shot of morphine that night to help me sleep. Of course, the moment I went to sleep (and for what seemed like every 15 minutes after that for the rest of the night), the nurses came in and checked my vitals. I did get a really nice male nurse who re-did my IV for me, because my hand started to go numb and swell...so that was nice.

Thursday, May 22nd. After a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG day of waiting, the doctor put me on pitocin, and I eventually got my epidural. (I was just reading a friend's blog and remembered something else...) So during this time, a bunch of nurses and such have been coming in to check me. At one point, a doctor came in and asked if some medical students could come in to watch while he checked me - I said, "Sure, why not, EVERYONE ELSE IN THIS HOSPITAL HAS SEEN IT ALREADY!" I think I had begun to lose my sense of humor by then. It wasn't too long after that, the doctor came in, checked me, and said, "okay, you can push when you're ready!" My mom sort of "accidentally" ended up being in the room, but she stayed out of the way and just sat in a chair in the corner and waited. I pushed a little, and because God has a major sense of humor, had a bowel movement on the table AGAIN. Man, was I ever embarassed! One of my nurses (who was really nice and very funny) commented, "I just got done in the geriatric ward, I thought I was done cleaning up poop!" It made me laugh a little, but I was still pretty horrified. It's weird, because for a while after my Bug was born, I didn't remember what happened next. I pushed a few times, and her head came out. The umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck TWICE. Bug's shoulders were stuck, but we didn't have time for that. So the doctor literally grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her out, nearly pulling me off of the bed in the process. He got the cord unwound and she started breathing fine right away. At 8:30pm, my 7lb 15oz, 20 in long Bug was born, complete with a head FULL of light brown hair. No wonder I had heartburn all the time!! LOL

When I had Bubber, I had issues with retained placenta. I actually had to have a D&C done about 2 weeks after he was born because I started to hemorrage. So the doctors knew that might be an issue this time, too. The placenta would not even come out. It was "stuck" to my uterine wall. No biggie, the doctor told me he'd take me to the OR and take care of it. They quickly prepped me, and before I knew it was in in the OR. I told the doctor I felt nauseated, and someone handed me a bedpan. I was helped onto my side when I heard a large splash, like someone spilling a bucket of water. The doctor had me put under anesthesia immediately. I found out later I had hemorraged a LOT. Enough to where they gave me a transfusion. I woke up in recovery and remember being SO cold. I was in shock. I ended up in ICU that night, and didn't get to see Bug until about 11:30 the next day.

(These pictures only go up to when she was 7 - All pictures since that time have been on digital, and they are all on a disc somewhere...)

Now Bug is a sweet 12 year old with a great sense of humor and a soft heart for others. She is a wonderful helper with her little sisters, and has recently started showing interest in helping prepare dinner (now if I could just convince her that cleaning up is just as fun...HA!)

Happy Birthday

To my two favorite little groundhogs...

Ande and Jib October 2008

May the groundhog see his shadow, thus giving you 6 more weeks of birthday!

Every vote counts

So, today is my dear friend Devin's birthday. She's the big 3-0. (See, I'm the even bigger 3-4, so 3-0 doesn't even sound bad anymore) But, I digress...

Anyway, Devin's husband Shane has "challenged" her to see who can get the most comments on a blog post. It seems when she posted about him building his mom a corner cabinet, there were 17 comments left about what a great guy he is, what a great job he did, yada yada yada...apparently he was quite pleased about that, and I imagine there has been a little bit of teasing going on...(don't feel bad Dev - I think my posts that receive the most comments are generally about something Ande did, so I feel your pain...LOL)

So, for those of you who read Devin's blog (and even if you don't - go check it out), go leave a comment for her, wishing her a Happy Birthday. See, she'd already have Shane's record beat, except for the fact that Shane put in some rule about only one vote per person. And don't even think I wasn't tempted to leave several "anonymous" comments - I was! But I didn't. I may be a LOT of things, but a cheater I am not) So you need to help Dev win the contest. Why? Because it's her birthday, that's why! (Well, that, and GIRLS RULE)

And Shane - if anyone does leave an anonymous comment, I promise it wasn't me!!

Oh happy day

For Bug's 11th birthday, I told her that we could paint her and Nan's room and get new bedding for their beds (Bug got her bedding probably about 7 or 8 years ago...I managed to find the matching set for Nan's bed when Ande and I got married 5 years ago.) Needless to say, the girls are a little tired of it, and want to upgrade to something a little more "grown up". (You know, because at 10 and 9, respectively, Bug and Nans ARE grown up...LOL)


Last weekend, when both girls were home, I took them to Bed Bath and Beyond to see if they could find a color scheme they could agree on. It's hard, because they have different tastes, but I told them they had to agree on something or we wouldn't be doing anything. The girls talked it over and decided that they wanted their room to be "sunset" colors (like orange/red/dark pink). I said that was fine - and they found a comforter that was the color scheme they wanted and I was okay with buying.


I interrupt this important programming to tell you that Puckey was just combing my hair for me, and she said, "You look SO pretty!" What a sweetie. Last night she was singing "You are my sunshine", but when she got to the end, she sang, "Please don't take my mama away." Talk about melting my heart!!


Okay, so back to the bedding...I went back and forth in my mind about going ahead and getting the comfortors they picked, because there were only 2, and Bug's birthday isn't until the end of May. This morning I decided to go ahead and get them. I grabbed Puckey and The Jib (and some 20% off coupons) and headed over to BB&B. I am SOOOOOOOOOOOO thrilled with my purchase!! Let me break it down for you:


2 Liz Claiborne Twin Size Comfortors - Regular price $99.99 EACH

2 Liz Claiborne Twin Size Sheet sets (to match the comfortor) - Regular price $59.99 EACH

2 Liz Claiborne "Breakfast Pillows" (Decorative pillows) - Regular price $39.99 EACH

(For those of you who aren't so good with the math, that adds up to $399.94, and that's not even for the whole set shown in the picture on the package)

Now, those of you who know me know there is NO STINKIN' WAY I would pay that much for some bedding. I'm just too cheap. So how much was my total bill???







Ready??







Are you sure??







You're gonna be JEALOUS....







The total, including sales tax, was $87.51!!!!


Yeah, you read right. Everything I got was on clearance - I got the sheet sets for $9.00 each!! I'm going to hunt up some more coupons (I love the fact that you can use the coupons from there even if they're long since expired, as long as you have an item for each coupon you use) and go back to get a few more sheet sets - I can use them for curtains, throw pillows, seat cushions....plus it's always nice to have a couple of extra sets handy.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE some bargain shopping!!!

Mmm...cupcakes

In the interest of keeping the mess to a minimum, I made cupcakes for The Jib and Ande for their birthday. I started doing the cupcake thing when Puckey turned one, and it just seemed to work really well. I was even able to recruit Nans & Bug to frost the cupcakes for me (good job, girls, they looked GREAT!)

Ande and The Jib enjoyed their cupcakes, as you can see...

So, I took The Jib to the doctor today for her 1 year check-up. She is now 31 inches long and weighs 24lbs, 11oz. She's a monster! It's not going to be too long before she's giving hand-me-downs to Puckey instead of the other way around!!

Okay, just a short post tonight. It's late, I'm tired, and I still have some dishes I need to get done before I crash for the night!

Punxsutawney Phil has spoken...And the forecast is: Six more weeks of BIRTHDAY?

That's right folks, Phil Says Six More Weeks of Winter BIRTHDAY!

Phil's official forecast as read 2/2/08 at sunrise at Gobbler's Knob:

Here Ye! Here Ye! Here Ye!

On Gobbler's Knob on this fabulous Groundhog Day (aka Ande's and The Jib's Birthday), February 2nd, 2008; Punxsutawney Phil, the Seer of Seers, Prognosticator of all Prognosticators, Rose to the call of President Bill Cooper and greeted his handlers, Ben Hughes and John Griffiths.

After casting a weathered eye toward thousands of his faithful followers,Phil consulted with President Cooper and directed him to the appropriate scroll, which proclaimed:

"As I look around me, a bright sky I see, and a shadow beside me. Six more weeks of winter BIRTHDAY it will be!"

Okay, he didn't QUITE say that, I took a little bit of "artistic liberty" with what he said...(hey, the media does that all the time, don't they?)

Yeah, right about this time last year, I was begging the doctor to just PULL HER OUT ALREADY joyfully pushing my giant headed beautiful baby girl, The Jib, into the world. I had actually gone in on February 1st to be induced (a full week before my due date) because I had extra amniotic fluid and the doctor was a little concerned that the baby was getting to be pretty big.

My husband, Ande, had joked with my doctor about making it so that I didn't actually have the baby until February 2nd, which just so happens to be Ande's birthday. I was not amused. However, apparently God thought The Jib would make the best birthday present EVER for Ande, and she ended up not making her appearance until 11:11am February 2, 2007. She weighed in at an impressive 8lbs 13oz and was 20 inches long. She is the biggest of all of my babies - she outweighed her Bubber by 7oz (although he was 22 inches long), Bug by 14oz, and Puckey by 1lb 7oz. Nans isn't biologically mine, but it seems like Ande told me she was around 6lbs or so, so The Jib outweighed her by at least 2 lbs!

This is The Jib "fresh from the oven". Her poor little lips look like they got stuck in the "Scream Extractor" from Monsters, Inc. Poor girl.

I'll have to post a picture of the birthday girl later today - she got up at the crack of dawn this morning (so she could tell Ande Happy Birthday before he went to work this morning) and is now taking a nap.

Mom to a teenager?!?!

Am I really old enough to have a TEENAGE SON? I can't even believe how time has flown by. I can still remember the morning Bubber was born - 3 days PAST my due date, my water broke at 5:15am, we were at the hospital by 6:00am, and he stubbornly refused to make his first appearance until 9:23PM. (Little did I know at the time that he would be one of the easier of my 4 experiences giving birth.) I remember my parents and (ex)in-laws coming to the hospital and waiting anxiously in the hall. My sister and brother-in-law came with my BIL's little brother (from Big Brothers/Big Sisters) and shared in the wait. One of my step-sisters called from Tennessee because she "had a feeling" and called all of our area hospitals until she found me! I pushed for 2 hours before Bubber finally arrived - all 8lbs 6oz of him. It was a scary, exciting, and exhausting day for me, but well worth it!

Sure, we've had our "moments" over the years, and there have certainly been times that I look back on and wish I could change things. I'm not always a good parent (not that I don't like to think I am, but I know better), and Bubber isn't always a good son. The good thing is, we've both learned to accept each other's faults and know how to interact on a more positive level. Bubber's turning into a wonderful young man, and I can see that he is more and more often making effort to be the kind of person God wants him to be! I wish I could take credit for the change, but I would venture to say it has a LOT to do with the folks at UPBC this summer. He came back from camp with much more interest in God than he's ever had before. Now, if we can just keep that fire stoked...

Some little known facts about Bubber (I "borrowed" this concept from the Wissman Family. They are a phenomenal group of people I will write about in a separate post):

He shares his birthday with his Great-Grandma, Marge Martin.

He has a freckle on either side of his nose (they are symmetrical).

He knew the alphabet, his colors, and shapes by age 2 1/2.

His first best friend was our Rottweiler, Nisa.

He has a Harry Potter-like scar on his forehead (although his was from a fall, not from an evil wizard).

He has had stitches on 3 different occasions. (Boys will be boys)

His real name means "smelly hair".

He loves his little sisters, even when they get into his stuff.

He became officially taller then me when he was 12. (Not a big feat, I'm only 5'1")

In first grade his teacher was amazed at his ability to answer questions correctly even when he didn't even seem to be paying attention.

He's got the world's coolest mom...LOL! Just wanted to make sure you were still paying attention!!

Anyway...I've just been thinking about how the Lord has blessed me with a fine young son, and wanted to share some of those thoughts.

Birthdays, birthdays all around

Well, yesterday was Puckey's 2nd birthday. We celebrated it by going to my brother in law's mother's house to celebrate my niece's birthday (which is really today). While we were there, we realized that within the group of us (which numbered 19), there were 4 birthdays all within 7 days of each other, and each of the birthday girls have names that start with an "A". We had Anne (8/19), Abbey (8/20-something I can't remember the day), Asha (8/25), and Amelia (8/26) How weird/cool is that?

Other current events: A tornado touched down near my mom's house on Friday. Several homes in the area were damaged, but my mom's house escaped without a scratch. She is without power, though. Ande, the babies, and I got to test out the basement as a storm shelter for the first time. I decided we needed to get some chairs and toys down there for future occurances.

We get the occasional tornado here in MI, but it always seems weird to me. Several years ago, a tornado hit the manufacturing plant I was working for at the time. It was so bizarre, because Ande and I were running late for work. So we're cruising down the highway, listening to CD's and trying to get to work on time. I heard a weird sound (like a train whistle) and Ande commented that it was really windy. There was still traffic on the road, and we didn't see anything that unusual, so we just kept going. When we got to work, I first saw the party store located on the corner, and it's roof was GONE. At first, I thought they had had a fire, because there was a fire truck there. Then we pulled into the parking lot of the plant and I noticed that all of the trees between the plant and the party store were laying on the ground. A tornado had hit both our plant and the party store next to it!! Fortunately no one was injured, but there was a lot of damage to the buildings. We realized after the fact that we must have actually driven through the path of the tornado on the way to work, but since we didn't see a funnel cloud it didn't register at the time. WEIRD!!!

Oh, and I almost forgot - my sister was going to have my niece's birthday party at their house on the other side of the state, but they couldn't because there were severe storms in their area on Thursday that knocked out their power. So they came "home" to where our parents all live, and the storm hit and knocked out my mom's power. Fortunately my brother in law's mom still had power, or I might have ended up having all of those people over here!!