Grandmothers are funny.

They are masters of making excuses for their grandchildren. Sydney can do NO wrong in their eyes. It's been funny hearing how my mother things everything Sydney does is just darling and she has her wrapped around her tiny little fingers. She knows that when she's with Grandma she can play and dance all day long. They spend their days practicing walking, which is Syd's current favourite activity. I never think to get the camera when they're walking around the house together. Anyway, here are a few pics. 

Merry Christmas!!

It's the Moose wonderful time of the year!

Ok...so she's supposed to be a reindeer and not a moose but indulge me, ok? :D

Wordless Wednesday!

Wordless Wednesday

So, how IS Sydney doing these days?

If I had a dollar for every time I've been asked that question in the past few weeks...I'd have at least 5 dollars. :D

Sydney is doing great. She is such a happy child and is now totally mobile so we spend our days pulling  her out and away from things. I find it very interesting that she has all these toys but nothing makes her happier than some paper that she can crumple and rip. Daddy and I are giving her a big wrapped box stuffed with paper for Christmas.  

Besides that, she:

• Pulls up and stands and plays. She would like to think she can walk but is given a swift reminder as soon as she lets go.
• Loves the tv show The Wiggles more every single day. She gets so excited and I love seeing her dance when she watches them. Oh, the clapping and excitement! Priceless.
• Says "Mama" and "Dada" appropriately. She's smart though, she says Dada when she wants to play and whines Mamamamamama when she wants anything else. 
• Naps during the day without a problem now. In fact, the only way to get her to nap is to put her in her bed. Remember it was but a few months ago that I was complaining that she would only sleep ON one of us? Those days are looong gone. :cry: When we hold her now, she's busy doing anything but snuggling. Her favourite thing to do is ride me like a pony. Daddy can sometimes get her to snuggle with him but even that is rare these days. *sigh*
• Is letting us see bits of her personality. She's VERY strong willed (I don't want to hear it, Mommy) and is not afraid to voice her displeasure. She doesn't cry when she's upset with us, she growls. Yes, I'm serious. She growls like a lion and makes the meanest face. She got that growling from Grandy. It.is.hi-la-ri-ous.

Overall, she's just the best thing that has happened to us and she's just so much fun!

My mother will be with us for Christmas and I'm really interested to see how Sydney responds to her since she hasn't seen her since she was teeny tiny. We look a lot alike so it should be fascinating. If I had a dollar for every time someone exclaimed, "Oh My! I don't have to ask if you two are related!" I would have a million dollars. 

Grandy is spending the holidays with Amanda and Joshua, the original grandchildren. :D I took some pics so Sydney wouldn't forget her. :laugh:

I told her the neighbours will know Grandy isn't here because her hair won't be combed for weeks. 

This one makes me laugh so hard. 

How big is Sydney?

Too big!

:cry:

All she wants for Christmas is her two front teeth

Yeah...she reeeeeally likes chicken bones
Smile Mon

Happy Thanksgiving!

We have so much to be thankful for and sometimes I know I forget to acknowledge my blessings and then focus on all that I perceive is "wrong." It's been a great year

I'm thankful for:

1. God - His daily provision and grace humbles me. The challenges he allows only serves to strengthen me. 

2. Our family - extended and immediate. We've learned just how important family is over the course of this year. Brian and I have the best family in the world. Between the phone calls, emails and visits, we've been filled with love this year. If Grandy was not here, I'm certain we would have starved to death in the early days and B and I would not have had one date night in the last year. She takes care of all us and makes it look easy. How blessed we are.

3. Our health. It's so easy to take that for granted but everyday really is gift.

 

4. Sydney. I am fascinated by how much she learns and changes every day. Every day with her is more fun than the last. I'm so, so thankful that I get to be her Mommy. 

5. My husband. We've been together for so long and been through so much but this year has been most challenging and he's been most amazing. There were days when I was just too tired to hope or believe but he never ever doubted that we would get through everything. He's so good and sweet and kind with our daughter and sometimes I think my heart is just going to burst when I watch them together. I'm so thankful that I get to be his wife and I love the way he loves me. 

6. My phenomenal girlfriends. I wish I could adequately express how much my girls mean to mean to me. I remember how disconnected I felt after B and I left Jamaica and how much I prayed for real and true girlfriends. The kind that will tell me when I'm crazy and paranoid and support me when I need it. The kind of girlfriends who would overwhelm us with cards, flowers, gifts, texts messages, phone calls, love and prayers when we needed it the most. The kind of friends Sydney can call her aunties and I can call my sisters. The kind of friends I would travel hundreds of miles to see and who would do the same for me. The kind of friends who would listen to me go on and on and on about Sydney in the early days and never make me feel like a bore. The kind of friends that could make me laugh on the days I just didn't want to talk and wouldn't make me feel bad about it. The kind of friends I can share anything with and who inspire me to be a better Christian, friend, wife, mother, sister, daughter, student. I love you guys so hard. Thanks for being just the kind of friends I need. 

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone. Remember to actually take some time to count your blessings today.

Yes, She Can

History would have been made last night,  regardless of who won the election. If the McCain/Palin ticket won, we would have had our first female Vice President. The Obama/Biden ticket won and now we have our first black President - 45 years after Dr King's "I Have a Dream" speech.  My daughter is both female and black now she knows for sure that she can be or do ANYTHING. She absolutely can.

God Bless America. 

A picture story

October 26, 2007


October 26, 2008

Mmmm....Cake

And some birthday girl pics. :D

Happy Birthday Baby

One year ago you burst into our lives, quickly and with very little warning. There are days when the events of a year ago feel like a century ago and then there are days when everything still feels so fresh. 

I am simply amazed at how far you've come. A year ago you could barely breathe on your own and eating was out of the question. Today, we are assured that your lungs and healthy and strong because you spend your days, screaming, laughing, talking and playing. You had to learn to eat and breathe at the same time and now I sometimes  have to beg you to slow down before you choke yourself. 

I love the way you curl your toes and squeeze my fingers when you eat.

I love the way you get jump-out-of-your skin excited whenever you see me first thing in the morning.

I love how happy you are when you first wake up. I can't tell you how happy it makes me to listen to you laugh and giggle and chatter before you're even out of bed. 

I love that you express love for your Daddy in a very different way than you express your love for me. You'll be in the middle of climbing all over me and Daddy will take you and you'll stop and just snuggle into his chest -safe, secure, content. It's such a reminder for me that I can rest safe and secure in God's arms too. 

I love that your very existence has forced me to consider and do things that I've always wanted to do but never did. 

I love that I get to see you eat cake today! Who doesn't love some cake?? :)

I love YOU...to the moon and back

Mommy

Sydney's Birth Story

Disclaimer: Brian has requested I not exclude any potentially embarrassing details so don't feel sorry for him. :) I think he's proud of how things unfolded. 

On Sunday evening, October 21, 2007 I started having some minor back pain. I had a fall earlier that day but baby girl was still moving around in the womb and I had NO signs of any of us being in physical distress. My doctor told me to call him immediately if I had even a hint of bleeding, cramping or contractions so I was keeping an eye out for that. The pain was more of a dull ache in my lower back and it got a tiny bit worse by the next day but it felt no different from your regular old back pain caused by pregnancy. I went to work just the same and just did my best to stay of my feet and rest. Tuesday morning the pain was still there and it got a little worse so I took some Tylenol and was able to function at work with a pillow behind my back. The same thing happened on Wednesday with the pain increasing a bit more. I remember rushing to the hospital at 13 weeks because I was having stomach pain that hurt so much more than that. Turns out that was only gas. :laugh:

I had my regular doctor’s appt scheduled for the next day and B had taken the day off to go with me because I was supposed to do my gestational diabetes test and it can cause lethargy and drowsiness. The nature of his job makes it very difficult for him to just take a few hours off because it's hard to tell when he will get a break. The sole reason he was with me that day was because I had that test and the doctor's office was a good 45 minutes away from where we lived and he was concerned about me falling asleep after drinking that stuff.

The pain worsened during the night on Wednesday and made sleeping very difficult. I started to consider the possibility of a Urinary Tract Infection, which is common in pregnancy and can cause severe back pain as well. In the meantime, there were no contractions or cramping and I could still feel Sydney moving around but with less frequency. I called my doc at 2 a.m. and told him to expect to see me as soon as he opened his doors because I would need some pain medicine and antibiotics because I was sure I had a UTI. We went through all the other labor symptoms and I had NONE. I actually fell asleep at about 4 a.m. and woke up at 7 a.m. feeling like someone was ripping my back out. Imagine someone pulling your fingernails out by the root…slowly and then multiply that feeling by 100. It was worse than that. I literally though I was at death’s door. My poor husband was so flushed and helpless at this point so we got dressed and raced to my doctor’s office. We were fully prepared for the police to chase us there for speeding because we had no intention of stopping for anyone. 

We got there and the pain was coming but it wasn’t constant anymore. They took a urine sample and gave me my glucose drink and went to get me some pain medicine and a small dose of antibiotics if it did show that I had a UTI. 5 minutes after I did the urine test, the nurse came to get me looking all flushed and not really making eye contact. I see them moving lots of people around and she tells me my doc will see me right away and I should get undressed and he would be in to examine me in a minute. Less than 30 seconds later he comes flying in without knocking and before I was even covered up. He’s never done that before. He tells me to lie down and his voice is steady and calm but he’s not his usual jolly self. He slaps the gel on and quickly does an ultrasound. I hear him say, “There’s the heartbeat” followed by an obvious sigh of relief.  He examines me and he’s still verrrry quiet. Then he gets up, holds my hand and says, “Sweetie, you’re 7 cm dilated. I don’t even want you to sit up right now. We’re calling an ambulance and I going with you to the hospital NOW.” 

This is where I’m certain time stopped for a full minute. I remember willing myself to wake up and it just wasn’t happening. Then the tears came. HARD. B’s at my side, holding my hand and he’s crying too and we’re just kinda stunned and speechless. If I didn’t have my GD test that morning, B wouldn’t even have been there. :weep:

Literally 4 minutes later, I hear the ambulance outside and 4 paramedics race in with a stretcher. I now know that my doc had his office call the ambulance before he even examined me, based on my urine test. A part of me is still in denial that they’re there for me but they grab me from the bed I was on and put me on the stretcher before I could even think anything else. One of them is talking to B to get information on what was going on, another is taking my blood pressure, another is inserting an IV and the last one is trying to get info from my doc about where to take me. I hear him say, “Turn on your sirens and DO NOT take her to the hospital that’s closest. We’re dealing with a very early baby and she needs to get to the hospital that can best care for this child. LET'S DO THIS QUICKLY.” 

My doc grabs his keys and tells them he’s getting a head start and will meet them there and he’s calling the hospital to get them ready for me. B wasn’t allowed to ride in the back of the ambulance with me but they allowed him to go in front. The paramedic/EMS who was back there with me was an angel. He kept talking softly to me and every time the pain would get intense, he would help me calm down and breathe through them. Those guys are heroes. I spent the ride to the hospital texting my friends and they all kept responding to me. It was months later that I considered how crazy I must have looked, laying on a stretcher, sending texts. 

As fast as we were going, it was the longest ride of my entire life. When we get to hospital, we race to the Maternity Wing and my doctor is there yelling, “WHAT THE HELL TOOK YOU SO LONG??” I don’t know how he left 2 minutes before us and got there and had time to pace the halls when we were the ones with the siren. He tells them where to take me and B goes to give my information to the people at registration. All this time, I’m in mind numbing pain but willing myself to remain calm. We get to the delivery room and 5 Neonatal Nurses and Doctors are already there just waiting for the baby and two delivery nurses are there waiting for me. They get me on the bed and my doctor checks me again and says he see’s the baby’s head. *screams* I start screaming for them to get my husband and panic set in. One of the neonatal doctors came and held my hand and she said, “I bet you’re scared honey but I know you can do this. We’re going to take good care of your baby.” Then for some reason she said, “God is going to take care of you and her. He chose you to be her mother because you have the strength to handle this.” 

By this time, B is back in the room and my doc says we need to start pushing and get the baby out soon. They strap on a heart rate monitor and I hear Sydney’s heart beating steady and strong. Music to my ears. Then I felt a short jab of back pain (contraction) but I still had no tummy contractions at this point. I push and I see the nurses moving the monitor down as she comes down to keep checking her heart rate. I push a second time, still not sure if I could even do it. Third time I push and then there’s no more sound on the heart rate monitor. My doc and the nurses look stricken and I hear one of them whisper, “We lost it.” Then another one says, “Here it is” and she says, “No, that’s mom” *terror* My doctor is all fired up now and he starts telling me to make the next push count and he was prepared to do the episiotomy to get her out with the next one. B’s holding my hand and being the most awesome husband evah and I hear him quietly praying too. I push hard and just before we hit the count of ten she comes flying out into my doctor’s arms and she let out a little whimper. Doc says, “Its’ a girl!” and I hear the one of the Neonatal doctors say, “That’s awesome for a baby so young! She’s using her lungs already.” She was born at 11:30 a.m. - exactly one hour after I was told I was in labour. My doc hands her over and they continue working on me.

At this point, I notice B has his head on my pillow and he’s looking a bit flushed. He starts to walk away and the nurse says, “Dad look at your daughter!” He takes one look at her and I only hear my doctor yell, “Catch Him!!” Yes folks, my husband fainted. How cliché! His baby girl brought him to his knees. I hear him mumble, “I’m ok” and he attempts to get up and my doctors says, “You are not ok!! SIT DOWN! HEAD BETWEEN YOUR KNEES!!” *tears* So there I am, on a hospital bed, having all kinds of people violate me, my baby is surrounded by so many people I can’t even see her and my husband is somewhere on the floor. It’s funny now.  They get him up and give him a chair and a wet rag for his poor head and the docs hand my daughter to me. Those of you who know B well, know that he's sooo not a fainter. 

Gah! I wish I could describe how I felt the first time I saw her but there really are no words. There’s nothing that could explain how much I love her. Nothing. It was a crazy day but one I’ll never forget and we count ourselves blessed that despite the trauma, she made it out kicking and whimpering. 

There are times I look back and the little what-ifs haunt me. Then I think about all the events surrounding her birth and I KNOW God planned it this way. One year later and I'm still in awe.

God is good. 

The End.

Picture Overload

Uncle Richard and Auntie Sharon are visiting from Jamaica and they came to see us this past weekend along with Uncle Martin and Auntie Suzie. 

Uncle Richard was teaching her to crawl efficiently but she was having none of it. She was much more content to lounge on him.

Auntie Suzie has the cutest baby belly ever! I'm not sure if Syd remembers them from their last visit but she was sooo smitten by them this time. It was very sweet.

I think Uncle Richard was trying to get her to look at the camera.

Sydney's Favourite Things

1. Mommy

2. Daddy

3. Grandy

4. This:

It's her birthday present from Grandy. She got it a little early because Grandy is going out of town and she wanted to see her playing with it before she goes. Clearly Sydney has no objection to that. 

5. The Wiggles

We're back on lockdown

RSV season is here. *sigh* 

It means that Sydney can't go to ANY public places unless it's absolutely necessary. She will only be leaving the house to go to the doctor between now and April 2009 and visitors to our home will be limited. We've gotten so accustomed to taking her everywhere so it will be quite the adjustment but knowing that we don't have do this ever again makes it easier to bear. 

The good news is that her birthday is 2.5 weeks away! I will be posting lots of things related to her birthday so stay tuned. I suspect I will be more emotional about it than I anticipate. I don't think I ever shared her birth story on the blog so that will be posted by the end of the week...along with more pictures, of course. You people are never satisfied! No matter how often or little I post pictures, y'all email/instant message me for more. She's a lucky girl to have so many people who care about her. Thank you all. 

Happy Birthday Grandma Pat!

As promised...

The apple...



The tree...

The Great Hard Drive Collapse 2008

After 3 years of faithful service (well, depending on how you look at it) my computer crashed on Wednesday morning. I spent the next 48 hours reviving it and trying to not cry. Thankfully, God gave me wisdom to do a backup of my most important pictures about a month ago and I had those pics saved elsewhere. If I lost all of Sydney's pics, I would have cried non-stop until Christmas. I aim to acquire an external hard drive to back up all my documents from now on because I lost everything else.

One new hard drive later, I am up and running but without half of the programs I had before. I'm trying to just be thankful that the thing works. I know pics are long overdue and I will post some before the day is out. I know you all have heard that one before. Do I get marks for good intentions? I will be out of town for school until September 23, so I'm motivated to post some pictures before I go. 

Sydney will be home with Grandy  (who will spoil her rotten before I get back) and Daddy. I'm going to miss her so, so much.

 I hope she remembers me when I get back. 

Where did my sedate little baby go?

In the last 3 weeks or so, Sydney has become a whole new baby. She went from being tranquil and calm and sedate to being nosey and busy and loud in no time at all. I'm loving see her learn new things everyday although it means I can't do anything in peace anymore. The child is all over everything I'm doing all the time. If I'm on my laptop, and she's sitting beside she starts climbing all over me and bangs the keyboard. If I'm studying, she's turning pages and crumpling sheets.

So far, I've been able to restrain her but there is one battle that she is still waging. Napping. I would love for someone to explain to me how she can sleep like a PERFECT angel at night (about 11 hours) but will not nap during the daytime. You will recall that we fought this war months ago and she was doing fine. Then she discovered that life is just too interesting for naps and started fighting them again. I was able to get her napping beside me while I study but even that is not working anymore. She ONLY wants to sleep on a person during the daytime. If she falls asleep on any one of us and we attempt to put her down, it's all over. She'll stay awake and whine and fuss the entire time. She clearly wants to sleep but just will not settle down. There was one day last week where she actually napped in her bed for 2.5 hours and then 1.5 hours the following day but nothing since then.
It's just so puzzling because we don't do anything differently at bedtime and she will go right to sleep. No fuss, no resistance. Nothing.

Where's Super Nanny when I need her?

I'm soo sorry!

I'm doing a quick update with a few pictures or my mother and sisters will disown me.

The past two weeks have been so exciting! It's as if Sydney became so much more independent and active and curious overnight! She's interacting more with us and she definitely is at the stage where she knows the difference between the people who live with her and a stranger. If she doesn't know you, she's not going to respond to you until she feels comfortable. She also has a bit of separation anxiety now and always needs to know that we're close by. She's much more aware these days.

We did another therapy session last week and everyone was completely stunned by how much she has improved since we resumed her reflux medication. She sits unassisted and is actually happy about it! She laughs and plays and it's very clear that she is not in discomfort anymore. Of course, now that sitting is fun, she has no interest in lying down and tries her best to sit up even during diaper changes. She's also much more vocal and spends her days shrieking, squealing, laughing and blowing spit bubbles. The spit bubble thing is only fun when someone else is holding her.

These pictures were taken at therapy last week. I used my phone so the quality isn't the best.






These were taken when she had that cold a few weeks ago.