A picture is worth a thousand words!

I don't know about you, but I think Zachary loved seeing Santa...what do you think?

We were at a get together and all of a sudden we heard Santa. The moment Zachary saw him, he was clinging to me. John convinced him to go up and see him, but was really scared. When he got back to me, I started to talk to him about Santa and then he was ready to go. So he took my hand and we walked up together. When I went to pick him up to put him on his lap, he clung like glue to my leg. It was the funniest thing! We might have to skip seeing Santa at the mall this year!

Today, I am thankful for the gift that God has given me...

I was reading a blog of a person for whom I do not know. I linked to her blog from someone's else's blog that I read. As I was reading, I searched thru her old posts to find out more about her. She interested me because she had lost a baby. I wanted to know what happened. As I started to read my heart just sunk. It felt way to familiar, except my baby survived.

For those of you who do not know, I went into labor 5 weeks early, for a reason that they still do not know why. The pains that I was having were not labor pains. I was indeed having contractions, but the pain that I was having was not contraction pains. While they had me hooked up to a monitor Zachary heart rate dropped. John and I were watching the monitor as I watched the numbers go up and go into pain and my heart rate and Zachary's heart rate we noticed that his was way down....in the 70s. I pushed the button to call the nurse. They came in to ask what the problem was....I was like, why is this number so low. They told me that the monitor must just be in the wrong spot and that it must just be picking up my heart rate, so they proceeded to move it around to find the "fast" heart rate. Then it happened again and I had a flood of people rushing into my room demanding me to get onto my side NOW. When that didn't work they told me to get up on all 4s and they put me on oxygen. It is a true blur if it happend 2 or 3 times at this point. The doctor then came in to tell us what was happening. They told us that they wanted to do a c-section, but couldn't force me at this point. She gave me the options of going down for an ultrasound to see why Zachary's heart rate keep dropping, but if it drops again I would be going into emergency c-section and no one could be a part of it. I could have a normal c-section and they could start prepping. She told me that I couldn't be induced because the baby was already distressed and that would cause more stress on him. She told me no matter what decision I made, I wasn't leaving until I had this baby.....either way a c-section would be performed.....my options were c-section or emergency c-section. I choose the first option. We had already lost one baby thru miscarriage and I was so scared I was going to lose another.

As her post reads....

The Dr returned again at 11:30 pm and my contractions had slowed way down, so he ordered pitocin. He told the nurse to check me around 1-1:30. I was doing fine and the baby was too. Our families were all waiting anxiously with us. The nurse came in at 1:00 and stated that the baby's heart rate dipped a little and she needed to roll me over on my side. I was checked every 1/2 hour. By 3 am I was ready to push. We said goodbye to all of our family and told them we would be out just as soon as the little one arrived. The nurse had been having trouble getting a good heart rate reading since about 2:30, but she claimed it was b/c the baby was moving around a lot (I had the epidural, so I couldn't feel the movement.) We started the pushing process, and at 3:15 an older nurse came in to assist. They could not get a heart rate, so they rolled me several times and then gave me oxygen. Dr. was paged at 3:26 and arrived at 3:28. He inserted an internal fetal monitor and could not pick up anything. He tried another and got the same result. He then turned to me and said that the baby was in distress and we needed to do an ER C-section. His umbilical cord was wrapped tightly around his neck two times. The heavy contractions and the pushing cut off circulation to his little body. (Here is a link to her complete post)


I went to the operating room hoping and praying that my baby would be ok. They brought in a NIC team to be safe. They didn't know how he would be when they took him out. They also didn't know if my placenta had ruptured (casing the pain I was having). When Zachary was born his cord was so entangled around his body that they knew at that moment that his cord was the reason that his heart rate kept dropping. He screamed right away and everyone knew that he was going to be just fine. It was one of the happiest days of my life! Reading this girl's post makes me relive what happened. It makes me think of everything that could have gone wrong. It makes me think that Zachary could have been her little boy. If my body had not gone into what I thought was labor....I wouldnt' have gone to the hospital. If I wouldn't have been hooked up to those monitors I would not have known that my baby was having problems. I thank God every day for the gift he has given me. I know that Zachary is a true miracle!

A little of this, a little of that...

Back at the beginning of September, I took a trip down to South Carolina to see my nephew Damon graduate from basic training. I flew down there by myself. I met up with my parents and my sister once I got down there. It was my first time flying by myself. It was kind of weird.

It was weird to see him all dressed up in his army stuff. He looks so grown up. Here he is with his fiance. Yes, I said fiance. He got engaged while we were down there.

The first day we got to spend with him he was only allowed to stay on post. We asked him what he wanted to do and he wanted Wendy's. I was surprised out of all the places that are out there....he said Wendy's. Wouldn't have been my first pick. They didn't have Wendy's on post, so we drove off post picked up Wendy's so he could eat. It is weird the stuff that they want to do!

The second thing he wanted to do was go bowling. So off we went to the bowling alley. We had some great people that are related to my dad's side of the family who live down there. The dad/husband is in the Army, so they helped us get around and tell us where we needed to be and when. We would tell them where we wanted to go and they would just lead the way....so super sweet!

This is Montana

This is Becky (the mom) and Normandy

The second day was graduation. It was a hot day and I'm glad that I got to sit in the shade!

Marching across in front of us all...

C Company - Damon's group

The C Company Flag

Here is everyone that made it to Damon's graduation. He has a lot of people who love him! From Back to Front, Left to Right (association to Damon) Grandpa, Step Dad Greg, Mom Tammy, Dad John, Friend's mom, Grandma, friend, Step brother Jonathan, Step Mom Beth, 1/2 sister Mackenzie, Sister Hayley, Me/Aunt Sandy, Fiance Jenna

Sister and Jenna

After graduation we went out ring shopping with Damon so that he could propose to Jenna later that day. We went to Becky's house that she so kindly let us invade. We were able to cook Damon a "home" cooked meal. He wanted steaks. It was so nice to relax and just hang out with him that day. The next day I got on a plane and headed home. Just in time for Zachary to get sick! Welcome home mama!

For those of you who do not know; A few years ago John and I lost a child due to a miscarriage. It was my first pregnancy and it was a very hard loss for us. Every year my friend Amy and I do the West Michigan Walk to Remember together. We walk to remember the steps that our child will never take. She has also been thru a miscarriage and was my savings grace when I was going thru mine. She was the ONLY person who knew what I felt. She helped me in whys I'll never be able to repay her for. This year unfortunately we had a few extra people join us. My good friend Mandy had a friend/co-worker lose twins. They just came too early. We invited them to walk with us. It is always such a hard event to attend, but always something that I want to do. It is my day to remember my baby.

My niece had her Homecoming Dance this past weekend. She looked very lovely and grown up. I of course being the picture freak, drove out to their house and then over to her friend's house to take pictures of the event. She wasn't keen on the idea of me doing this, but agreed once I told her that I'd take Zachary with. She loves to hang with the little guy and he loves it when she does too.

Of course I couldn't resist taking a picture of her and Zachary. Don't they look so cute. Ok, I'm might be bias.

Here is the group that went to Homecoming together.

And away we go...

I have always thought about creating a blog, but just never got around to it. I read other people's and think about how neat it is. So, today is my day 1 blog. Please be patient while I figure this all out. I'm starting out with this posting and we will see where it goes from here...

Before I had my son, I felt like I didn't have a whole lot to say. My life was pretty boringly normal. I woke up, went to work, came home, and went to bed, with the normal every day stuff in between. We occasionally took vacations and broke up our mundane life. Now that I have Zachary, my life is always on overdrive. I never feel like there is enough time in the day. I never feel like my house is clean, there is always laundry to do, dishes to clean, mouths to feed and errands to run. Although my life is one giant whirlwind tornado, I love every minute of it and wouldn't change it for the world....although I'd settle for a cleaning lady to pick up after our every move.

Zachary has some how managed to go from birth to almost 16 months old. I can't believe how much time has gone by and how much I don't even remember much of life without him. He can walk in the room and brighten up my mood with a simple smile. I love the innocence of children and how the simplest of things makes him laugh. I can still remember the day when he was born. He was 5 weeks early and in my mind was not going to be coming that day. I thought that I'd go to the hospital, they would tell me that I was just one of those people who panic and this wasn't real labor, however I soon learned that wasn't the case. Zachary taught me from that day that he makes the rules. He arrived on February 21, 2009 weighing in a 5 lbs 15 oz. Boy, would he have been a BIG baby if he would have went full term. I loved him from the moment I layed eyes on him and have been loving him even more each day.

How did he get from this....

....to this...

Here he is at the beach his his "doddy" @ almost 16 months.

He loves to vacuum the house with his pretend vacuum. Hopefully when he gets older, he will still enjoy doing this.

At just under 16 months he...

• Walks


• Eats with utensils (although this is still really messy)


• loves to sit on the counter while you are preparing something (stay tuned because I'm sure there will be a posting when you hear about the first time he has fallen off)


• brushes his own teeth (although I "touch up" after he is done)


• takes 2 naps still (have tried to take 1 away, but didn't end up going over well, we'll try again later)


• Sleeps from 8pm - 6am


• Eats 5 times a day (3 meals, 2 snacks)


• Climbs the stairs up and down by himself (although I am close by)


• Loves to talk on his pretend phone


• Blows kisses


• Gives high Fives


• Gives knuckles


• Wears size 24 month or 2T shirts


• Wears some 12-18 month, 18 month, 18-24 month and 24 month pants although the 12-18 and 18 month pants fit the best


• Has more clothes in his closet than any child his age should have


• Wears size 5 and 6 shoes


• Wears size 4 diapers, but size 5 night time ones


• Says mama, dada, doddy, book, block, woof-woof (dog), doggie, up, yeah, papa (his grandpa), moo (cow), bird, duck, NO, ball, and a bunch of other stuff that I still don't understand

My nephew Damon just recently graduated from high school. It feels so weird that he is that old. I feel like it wasn't that long ago when I was changing his diapers. Soon, he will be heading off the the Army. I'm proud that he is willing to go serve his country, but I worry about his safety. When there are so many areas of the world that are in conflict, I worry about where they will send him off too. I just have to trust that God will help keep him safe! I think he will either love what he has decided to do or hate it. Part of me hopes he hates it so that after 4 years he will come back home. The other part of me hopes he loves it so that he isn't miserable. Either way, I hope he comes home safely because we all love him with all our heart....even though he can so be a teenager sometimes!

Here he is on Graduation day with his sister.

Here he is with his Grandpa (my dad)

Travel safe Damon, we love you...