Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Love at First Sight

This little guy has stolen my heart.  As he grew inside of me, so did a strong bond of protection and affection.  But the moment he entered this world and I saw his glossy blue eyes and his pouty lips, I fell in love.

Beck Robinson Harper arrived on his own schedule, at 1:17 am on September 12th.  We had our plan - a scheduled induction on the 14th.  This allowed us to prepare the girls and prepare ourselves for what would be a Tuesday through Thursday stay in the hospital.  Beck had his own plan.  On Saturday evening I started having some mild contrctions.  Around 10:00 they started to get a little stronger.  I called mom and told her - "Don't lose any sleep, but I'm having some contractions.  Probably nothing - just wanted to let you know."  About 20 minutes later I called her back to tell her I was calling the doctor to let them know we were coming to the hospital.  Things seemed to be moving fast and furious.  We waited for mom to come over to stay with the girls (she ended up being relieved by Connie so she could make it up to the hospital). 

On the way to the hospital, a car in front of us was making Brandon crazy, driving too slow.  He thought about passing him but I asked him or maybe told him not to.  The car eventually turned off and Brandon sped down the road.  "Just don't get pulled over" were my exact words.  Followed seconds later by, "There's a cop".  Brandon immediately pulled over as the blue and red lights came on.  It seemed like it took the police officer forever to walk up to our car.  Brandon eventually stuck his arm out to wave her up.  As she was walking over to us Brandon told her he was just trying to get me to the hospital and as soon as she shined the flashlight into the car she said, "Labor, GO!".  She did not, to my dismay, escort us there.  Luckily we weren't too far away. 

We arrived a little after 11:00 and Beck was born just about 2 hours later.  He came quickly and, as far as labor goes, fairly easily. 

I have been through this process three times now, and I still know nothing more amazing.  This person that has grown inside of me, who I have felt move everyday, whose heartbeat I have anxiously awaited to hear each week, is now in my arms.  He's breathing and eating and crying.  He always has his hands right up by his face, and I can see, now, why I always felt little punches way down low in my belly.  I can touch his adorable little baby feet that were always sticking way out on my right side.  This little being created by us, created by God, has completed our little family.  I couldn't feel any more blessed.


His sisters think he's pretty great too. . .


Daddy will make sur he's a Cowboys Fan

I've made him promise to stay this size forever - there's nothing better than a sleeping baby all snuggled up on your chest:

He's not listening - at 10 days old he's starting to get too long for his "newborn" clothes :(

Saturday, September 4, 2010

First Day of "School"

EJ had her first "Mom's Day Out" on Friday.  She was so excited!  She had been talking about it for weeks and couldn't wait to go.  Everytime we would drive by the church where it is held, she would point and say "There's my school!"  She talked about what she would do and who else would be there.

Then reality hit.  Mom was actually going to leave!  We had talked about this and, in theory, she was fine with it.  Once it came down to it, however, she was NOT happy.  One of the teachers actually had to pry her off of me as she screamed, "I don't want to stay at school!"  With reassurance that they would call if she didn't calm down in just a few minutes, I reluctantly walked to my car.  Hope happened to have the day off of school and so she got to come with me to take EJ.  She kept wanting to go back and "spy" on her to see if she was better.

2 hours later it was time to pick her up.  Hope and I got there a little early and sat in the parking lot to spy as EJ played on the playground.  She was having a blast!  When we finally got out of the car and she saw us, she just smiled and kept on playing.  She didn't want to leave.

First day of "school" - SUCCESS!!  Hopefully next Friday's drop-off won't be so dramatic.

1st Day pictures of my big girl:

All ready to go!

Heading in!

Look what I made!


In Baby News:  We're just waiting on the little man to let us know he's ready.  After a scare a couple of weeks ago, when we didn't feel at ALL ready for him to be here, we figured we better get prepared.  We came home from the hospital and our bags have been packed ever since.  Now that we are ready, he is as content as can be in there!  I am 37 weeks 4 days, so hopefully he'll be here in the next couple of weeks.  We're excited to meet him!  Here's a pic from the night we thought he was going to make his entrance:

If the current frequency of my posts continues, maybe the next one will include pics of the last little member of our family!