Commercialized Holidays

So I have been hearing and seeing people the last few days talking about how much they either love or hate Valentine's Day. Those who have someone special in their lives and have plans to at least share some time with that special someone usually enjoy Valentine's Day and are not often heard speaking ill of it. Those who do not have a partner, or are not going to see their partner or obtain material gifts are often the ones who speak ill of the holiday. I personally think that Valentine's Day was created as a way for companies to make money off of the consumer. With that said I do have a husband that I love, and while many years we have not given gifts that does not mean we do not love one another. Each day in the little things we show that love. Love is not something that happens once a year, and it is not something that should only be shown once a year. No matter what your situation is, find love in those around you and do not be afraid to let them know you love them. All too often we keep our feelings to ourselves only to regret unspoken words when those we love are gone, and we never told them how we felt, or did not tell them often enough.

While I no have fancy Valentine's Day plans, I have something even better. I have two valentines who love me each day of the year, my husband and my son <3 p="">

It's me again!

Wow, I cannot believe how long it has been since my last update. I often think about what I want to post, but then I never make it on here to post. I finally have a laptop again after mine gave out a few months ago. I thought a few times about posting from my Nook Tablet, but I am awful at typing on those touch screen keyboards. So now that I finally have a laptop again, I am hoping I can find the time to update more often. Archer has made so much progress since I last posted. I am hoping by updating my blog more often, I can also help keep a record of his milestones so that he can look back and read about them someday. He turned 18 months old on Jan 29th and went for his 18 month check up on Feb 4th. He weighed in at 20lbs 8.8oz! He is also 30.25 inches tall. He is still very small for his age, but he is finally on the growth charts and we are very proud of that. He still has some trouble with congenital muscle disorder, but he is able to crawl, walk and run now! He literally goes from the time he wakes up, until he falls asleep. Most days he does not even have a nap. His vocabulary is excellent, I can think of at least 40 words off the top of my head that he can say. He is still not wanting to feed himself and hates to get anything on his hands, but we are working on that. He eats like a champion though and has not refused anything we have given him. I hope he does not become a picky eater later in life.

In the past I often posted about school, well I am proud to say November 11, 2013 brought the completion of my bachelor's degree! I am so proud of myself for sticking with it and finishing. I never thought I would go to college, much less graduate with a 3.99 GPA and the highest honors given by my school. It would be nice if those in my life acknowledged by accomplishment, but at least I am proud of myself and Matt and Archer are proud of me. Several online friends have congratulated me and that means the world to me, because I know they care.

I am not sure what else to update with. Is there anyone out there hoping that I will update?

Vow

I am making a vow to myself to update this blog more often. I have always planned to blog daily but seems like I never keep up. I plan to change that. Sometimes it updates will be short, but they will be there. Well, since my last update Archer is up to 13lbs 8.6oz and 25 inches long. He is still small, but he is making progress. He is so sweet and funny and bright. At about 6.5 months old he moved into size 1 diapers and is still wearing those. He now wears 0-3month clothes. For a few months he has been able to say Mama/Momma but since learning how to say Dada (around the start of April 2013), he only says Mama when he is upset. Although he has called out for me a few times. He loves saying Dada and sometimes says it in his sleep. The funniest is when he shouts it at his toys and literally screams into his stuffed animals faces then bites them. He has yet to have any teeth pop through and is still working on sitting up unassisted. Every day though you can see the progress. He is also wanted to crawl badly and gets soooo angry that he cannot manipulate his body to go in the direction he wants. His big smile and even bigger laugh can make the worst day better. I sure love him.

Today is my 28th birthday and boy I do not want to be 28! I feel like there is so much I want to do that I never will. I have made so many mistakes that will bite me in the ass forever. Well I am going to wrap this up.

Archer's Progress

On November 23, 2012 Archer rolled from tummy to back. He is still working on how to get from back to tummy. He gets so angry when trying to do that and he makes the cutest angry sounds. He smiles and laughs all of the time, and when I laugh at him laughing he laughs even harder. He truly is a blessing and I thank my lucky stars every day for him. He weighed in at 9lbs 6oz on November 29, 2012. He is also 23 inches long. We are hoping to see even more progress at his next appointment. He received shots on the 29th and seemed to tolerate them well. As any parent knows its is heart breaking to watch your baby get shots, but it is with their best interest at heart. Archer is still wearing newborn diapers and clothes. He has finally outgrown three newborn outfits and I am struggling to know what to do with them. I find myself wanting to save cute things or things we consider favorites, but I do not know how practical it really is to hang on to them. I am so in awe of watching him grow up and I am happy about it, but then again it is sad realizing they wont be this little for long. Sometimes I find myself wanting to jump ahead and see his future, but in the same instant wanting to keep him little forever.

Growing Up

My last post was Archer's birth story. I cannot believe that almost 4 months has gone by. My little boy is now 8lbs 12oz and has started rolling onto his side. He is giving his best at rolling over, but just hasn't gotten the hang of it yet. Today he made amazing progress while having tummy time. He held his head up higher and longer than ever & pushed up onto all fours. I tell you what, I literally squeal in delight at seeing him make progress with growth and development. I really wanted to blog every day and capture everything in his life as it happened, but I have found myself overly busy these past few months. I hope I can be better at blogging in the future. We are coming up on Thanksgiving and I am looking forward to it. Last year at this time Archer was being conceived. I still cannot believe how much life has changed in a year. Matt has been working at his job nearly four months now and back in October we moved into a new to us house. I am still dealing with some female issues from Archer's birth even after having a D&C because of retained placenta. I look forward to one day being back to my normal self. I just try to take each day as it comes and enjoy the small moments. As I said earlier I about burst with pride and excited when my son hits a milestone, but it also makes me tear up, because as each day passes my baby is growing up on me. It's a bittersweet thing. I hope I still have some readers out there and I hope you all have a blessed holiday season.

Birth Story

On the evening of Friday July 27, 2012 Matt & I stayed up late watching movies and eating pizza. We slept in on the morning of Saturday July 28, 2012 and I did not wake until nearly 11:30am. When I woke up and stood from the bed I felt a small gush, I was like hmm I wonder what that was and hurried to the bathroom. I noticed that my underwear was soaked & I realized it had to have been my water breaking. I called out to Matt that I thought my water had just broken. Things went into a blur after that moment. I called the hospital & spoke to a triage nurse at labor and delivery, she said to definitely come in. We quickly got dressed, grabbed our bags and headed out the door. We arrived to the hospital and waited for what seemed like forever for them to get me admitted into the triage to get checked out. It was about 12:15pm by that time.I left a lovely urine sample and was taken to a little room in the triage unit to be checked to see if I was dilating & if my cervix was opening or not. I was very nervous at this time and so was Matt. When I was checked I was 80% effaced and dilated to a 2. I was surprised as I had only had an appointment that Monday and was making no progress & had just had the special ultrasound to check Archer's growth 2 days before.

I stayed in the small room at the triage for a short time before I was taken to a room in labor & delivery. Suite 7 to be exact. They gave me the option to start pitocin or to walk the halls for an hour to get things moving, I chose to walk the halls. I was dehydrated so I had an IV attached then went walking the halls. Matt's mom showed up and went walking with us. I actually ended up walking two different times for an hour each, eventually the doctor decided that I was no progressing fast enough on my own, so they had to start pitocin. I should mention now, that my regular doctor was away on vacation which was disappointing, but I had already prepared myself for the fact that she probably wouldn't do the delivery, since doctors are so busy.

After the pitocin I did start to progress more quickly, but man it felt like forever. I was not allowed to eat or drink during labor or delivery, I was starving, my stomach was growling like crazy even when I was pushing. I had not eaten since 11pm Friday night, and did not end up getting to eat until late Sunday evening.I am sure I had mentioned on the board that I did NOT want an epidural or to be catheterized. I managed to wait about 13 hours before giving in to the pain, Matt and his mom had been begging me to take the epidural as they were worried I would wear myself out from fighting the pain before it was time to push. I started to worry about wearing out too, so I took the epidural. All I can say about it was at least it helped with the pain, now I wish something would help with the pain in my back from it lol. After about 13.5 hours of labor it was time to begin pushing. When I heard this I became terrified but I was excited and glad that it meant an end was in sight. Besides I was tired of being on display lol. My mom left the room then as she does not do well in medical situations where blood might occur. Matt and I decided to let his overly excited mom stay in the room for the delivery.

A super nice nurse named Maggie coached me through the pushing while Matt and his mom were up by my shoulders talking to me & trying to give me support, mentally and physically as the pushing required me to get into a position that I couldn't get into myself since I couldn't feel or move my lower half (that was an odd feeling). This went on for about 30 minutes until the nurse decided it was time to call the Dr. in. Soon the room filled with 3 nurses and the doctor. The doctor was a nice lady named Dr. Johnson. She sat on the foot of the bed and did a bunch of tmi stuff that doctors do. They kept coaching me to push as Matt was watching intently to see Archer coming out, I felt like the pushing was never going to end but suddenly I saw something shoot across the foot of the bed then I saw arms & legs flailing and heard crying. It took me a minute to realize that he was actually here, I was ready to keep pushing, because I had become used to the routine.

They handed Archer to me as I had asked them to do. I couldn't stop looking at him, but soon he was whisked away to get cleaned up and weighed while the Dr. fixed me up. We had to stay in the hospital 5 days because of a fever I was running, that they still don't know the cause of. But we are super glad to be home.

Archer Hayes Stafford was born July 29, 2012 at 3:44am. He weighed 5lbs 9oz and was 18 inches long.

Please feel free to ask any questions, I am sure I have left something out.

Time

Time seems to be flying by. I am now 34 weeks and 2 days pregnant with our very active baby boy. He is growing at a normal rate and has a strong heart beat. We couldn't be more blessed in that regard. We cannot wait to meet him, but I must admit the idea of giving birth terrifies me. I would love to hear some advice or words of comfort from those who have been through the birthing and child raising process.

I had to give up school back in April due to the fact that my funding ran out. I am only 6 classes (17 credits) away from completing my degree and desperately hope to do so one day. I wish I could get a loan to do so, but that doesn't look like it will be possible any time soon. I find myself wanting to update the blog often, but never really knowing what to say. Please feel free to leave me some feedback if there is anyone out there reading.