First Day of School

Well today was the big day! Carter was up and at em' at 7:30 this morning ready for breakfast. We got his shower done and his new uniform on and were ready to go. When we got to the school everyone was standing outside and the buses were all lined up. No one could go in until the first bell rang at 8:45. We headed inside and I told Carter to pay attention to where we were walking so that he knew how to get to his classroom tomorrow since he would be riding the bus. It scares me a little cuz it was so chaotic going inside with everyone at the same time. I hope he knows where to go, but there are plenty of teachers around incase he gets lost.

Once we got to his classroom, he went to the coat closet to hang up his back pack and immediately found his name of where to hang it. Next he found his place at one of the tables. There was a box of crayons with his name on them at his spot. I took his picture, gave him a smooch, and headed out the door. He was so proud and wasn't nervous one bit. As I passed the little window to his classroom, he gave me a happy little wave goodbye. I was so proud. :)

I can hardly wait for him to get home later today and see how the day went!!

Carter at his table sitting by a little girl named Shontavia.

Carter Meets his Kindergarten Teacher

Wednesday night Carter and I went to his school to meet his teacher. She was very nice and I think he is going to like her alot. I am so happy he ended up at this school. I am very nervous and excited about this Monday. I will be so anxious until he gets home after school.

Finding his name outside his classroom.

Carter and his teacher Miss Connor

A visit with Grandma Doris

Monday afternoon, the boys and I took a trip to Daddy's work and visited Grandma Doris. Aunt Sally was there and cousin Jill, whom the boys and I had never met, so that was a special treat. The boys were pretty good until I had to nurse Judah and didn't have any hands available to keep them in line. But Aunt Sally came to the rescue and took them for a ride out in the hallway on Grandma Doris's wheelchair. They loved that... It was a great visit!

A blanket and hat made with love from Grandma Doris

Mall Scavanger Hunt and Red Robin

About a week before Judah was born, Grandma and Grandpa Burkhardt came over to take the boys on a little fun night out. I tagged along, or should I say waddled. :) I was huffing and puffing most of the time and Barb kept asking me if I was going into labor. LOL!!! It was a great night!

First they treated us to Red Robin, which to our surprise, Red Robin himself was there to greet us. The boys were so captivated by him. Jordan kept standing up on his chair to find where RR was at.

After we were done eating, we headed into the Glenbrook Mall for a fun scavenger hunt prepared by G&G. Carter and Grandpa were on a team, and Grandma, Jordan and I were on a team. There were several fun items to find, and each one needed a picture as proof. Grandma took some for our team, as did I, so not all the pictures are here, but you get the idea... We had quite the time, and in the end, Carter and Grandpa reigned victorious.

Red Robin and the Boys

Item #2 - Find an Ice Cream Truck

Item #8 - Shake hands with a Police Officer (This one was old and grumpy and would not allow his picture taken.) This picture was actually taken very far away. I had to zoom way in and it was blurry. He kept watching us and I think he would have taken my camera if he saw me take his picture. No joke!

Item #3 - Picture of you riding a gorilla.

Item #3 - Picture of you riding a gorilla

Item #5 - Riding an escalator

Item #4 - Laying on a bed

The car ride home with a new Spiderman book from B&N.

A Few Hospital Visitors for Judah

Proud big brother Carter and Grandma Stiver

Big Sis Savannah and Carter

Grandpa Burkhardt

Great Grandma and Grandpa Baker

Savannah and Grandma Burkhardt

Judah's First Photo Shoot

My friend Kandi did another photoshoot for me, but this time it was for my son Judah. She can to the hospital and took the photos the day after he was born. I love all of them and can't wait to blow some of them up and put them on my walls. She does amazing work! Love ya Kandi!

Judah's Birth 7/21/2010

I was once again induced. I was going to let everything happen naturally, but my doctor said he wouldn't be available on my due date (23rd) and that he had to be in surgery the day before that, so he said we could induce 2 days early on the 21st, which was just fine with me.

We arrived at the hospital at 7am and I had to go through the random annoying questions. By 8am, they started me on meds to get my contractions going. I started contracting right away and quickly got to 3 centimeters. Around noon my contractions were hurting and I asked for my wonderful epidural.

After while, my epidural started to wear off in my right leg, but my left leg was extremely tingly. So the nurse told me to lay on my right side to make it drain in to my leg more. After she left the room, she and another nurse came rushing in about 5 minutes later and told me to lay on my back again. They said his heart rate had dropped from 130 to 80 and we needed to get it back up. So they had me lay on my left side then and checked me again and actually were able to turn his head a little, which seemed to make things better. I also had to put on an oxygen mask for the remainder of the delivery to get more oxygen to Judah. It was a bit scary for a little bit, cuz they told me if his heart rate didn't go back up, we would have to do a c-section. But soon things were going good again.

Pretty soon it was 5pm. My doctor who had checked on me at 7:30am was getting ancy and said that my contractions were too spread apart and not hard enough, so he said to get me big doses of pitocin. They really sped things up because between 5:35pm and 5:40pm I went from 5 centimeters to 10 in just 5 minutes!

I pushed for 10 minutes and Judah's heart rate started to drop again. So my doctor decided to use the vacuum. That's all it took and he was out.

My precious Judah Nikolaus was born at 5:51pm, weighing 7 lbs 11 oz, 19.5 inches long (which a week later we measured him at the pediatrician and he ended up being 20.5 inches long). He surprised us all by being born with not only a full head of hair, but it was almost black as well. Lots of people said he looked like Jordan. He is such a beautiful miracle. Our family is complete.