It's time for my annual update...

Okay, so it is embarrassing (even for me) how long it has been since I have updated our blog. Beyond that, I can't believe that I am just now putting up info about the birth of our beautiful son 6 weeks ago. I have actually had this post in my draft folder for over 3 weeks and just needed the time to finalize it. It is a sign that having a second baby is quite different that a first. We are all healthy and adjusting well, I just don't find much spare time to come up to the office between the 2 boys and all the other details that life entails.

The birth of Josiah was a huge blessing and I feel I couldn't have asked for much more in a birth story (except for maybe no pain ;) I started having contractions around 6:00 am on May 10. They were usually around 10 - 15 minutes apart and although painful, were pretty manageable. I had my mom take Isaiah for the morning and I relaxed and tried to get some rest knowing there would be tough work ahead. Around 11:30 am, the contractions stopped for about an hour and a half. I was kind of annoyed because then I thought it was false labor.

Around 2 pm they became really consistent again and many were around 5 minutes apart. The delay was actually a blessing because Ted had been taking a test all morning and didn't get back home until around 1:30. I was wanting to stay at home as long as possible, so I just worked on staying calm although the pain was definitely increasing. I decided to take a bath around 4:30 to try to ease the pain. A little before 5:00, Ted convinced me we should at least call the hospital. They said that we should go ahead and come in. We got there a little after 5:00 and by that time contractions were coming very quickly (and very painfully may I add.)

Ted found a wheelchair and took me up to Labor and Delivery. As it turns out, they were full and there were no empty rooms that were set up. We waited in the hall as the janitor cleaned a VERY small room that was not well equipped for delivery. I was in a bit of a panic due to the pain and the lack of help from medical staff at that moment. They didn't have time to do that admitting paper work and just put me in the room to be evaluated. Ted finally convinced me to let him go park the car and get our cameras.

When they examined me, they determined that I was fully dilated. They told me not to push and they went into a frenzy looking for an available doctor. Luckily, she showed up in time for me to announce that I was going to start pushing. I think it was literally 3 - 4 pushes later that Josiah was born at 5:50 pm.

We had forgotten how little newborns are (even if they are big like ours!) so we immediately thought that he was much smaller than Isaiah had been. As it turns out, he was actually 8 lbs., 9 oz. - only 3 oz. smaller than his brother! He was the same length at 21 inches. I was really glad that he came 8 days before his due date as I think he would have been well over 9 lbs.

I got to help pull him out during the delivery and got to hold him right away. As the Dr. was working on me, the nurses started our admitting paperwork with us. It seemed so strange to answer all of the questions after the baby was born. He came out hungry so I nursed him as they wheeled me up to the maternity floor. Then Ted and I had a few minutes with the new little guy and officially named him. Then, at about 7:00 pm we started calling shocked friends and family to tell them we had a baby about an hour earlier. In the rush and panic, we hadn't even gotten to tell most people that we were heading to the hospital.

That evening we were blessed by visits from family and friends. Isaiah got to come and see his brother and it was such a sweet scene. He held him, kissed him and sang a lullaby to him. He was not to jazzed about seeing mommy in a big hospital bed, but other than that he was pretty happy.

I was so blessed to be able to have a birth experience like this. Not only did I not have any drugs, but we didn't even have time for an IV. As a result, I felt so much better during my recovery. I was begging to be released by noon the next day. They finally let us go around 3:30. It was an extra special blessing that I went home with 2 little boys on Mother's Day. What a perfect gift and blessing from God!

Here are some pictures - Hope you enjoy them. The next ones on this blog could possibly be of his first birthday :)

We are alive... and busy!

Okay, so I figure if I get a blog entry in about every 3 months I'm doing well. So it looks like another "getting caught up" session is in order.

Since I last posted a few things have happened.
- I took 3 business trips (Scotland, Minneapolis, Seattle)
- Isaiah and I went to visit friends in Baltimore while daddy spent time with a friend in Canada
- Family visited from Texas and Fresno including Isaiah's two cousins, Kaylie and Rylie
- We went to Southern California for Ted's brother's wedding
- Isaiah got a bunch of new teeth and 2 haircuts
- We found out we are having another baby - due May 18!
- We spent time at the pumpkin patch and our little guy dressed up as a gorilla for Halloween
- We decided that I will try to phase out of work slowly over the next few months :)
- We celebrated Thanksgiving with Ted's parents and my mom
- We got a Christmas tree just today!

Now that we have gotten all of that out of the way, we can get onto the pictures!


Cousins - 5 weeks apart!




Our family after finding out the exciting news!


Isaiah's first "real" haircut


Before and after








Pumpkin patch fun! He is actually starting to cry here but doesn't he look cute?


Our precious little gorilla!

Hopefully it won't be 3 months until the next post.

Getting caught up...

My how the month flew by! It feels like only yesterday that we were preparing for our little guys birthday... and here we are almost a month later. Unbelievable! Sorry I haven't been blogging. I will try and give you a cliff notes version of the last month.

On Isaiah's birthday we took him to his second Giants game compliments of Grandpa Korosy. One fun detail is that we actually got on TV multiple times! If you are interested in catching the game, you can do so online at http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/schedule/index.jsp#20070810 (select the TV icon on the Giants/Pirates game on August 10.) For anyone who wants to see us but doesn't want to watch the whole game, we are shown at 38:40, 39:13, 39:40, 40:04, 40:53, 41:16, 43:38, 1:01:12, 1:01:41, 1:02:06, 1:03:07, 2:06:38, 2:32:48 and 2:36:55 (timestamps provided courtesy of my husband who watched it and wrote them down :)
One little disclaimer... I am NOT feeding Isaiah garlic fries at the game as the commentators thought. I was eating garlic fries and feeding him crackers. This was one of the things that they liked about our family however :) We are just glad to have this footage as a souvenir of our little guy's first birthday.


Isaiah made it through the whole game. Here is our very tired baby after it was all over.



The next day we held a little birthday party at MiMi's house (Grandma McFarland.) We had an island theme and it was fun to celebrate with friends and family. Isaiah got to try cake for the first time and decided he didn't really like it.


Just so I don't feel like the cake was a complete waste, here is a "before" picture of his island cake... There, now I feel better :)

And just like that, we have a one year old. It is so hard to believe that a year has passed since he was born. We have loved every day of it and only wish that we could press pause every once in a while to make each stage last a little longer. We couldn't be more crazy about our boy and we feel so blessed that God has entrusted him to us!





Since Isaiah's birthday we have been doing a lot of traveling.

Ted went to Prince George, BC for a little over a week and enjoyed some time with one of his old friends. They fished, relaxed, played cards and ended up having to work with a chainsaw when a bad storm blew through and took out the power for a few days! During that week Isaiah and I went to Baltimore, MD to visit our dear friends the Gautneys. We have been friends for many years now and it was so special to get to catch up with them. The only drawback to that trip was 5 hour flights with a teething, active one year old... need I say more? There is no question that it was worth it though. There is just something comforting about having history with special people. You are able to catch up as if no time has passed.

The following weekend my brother and his family and my sister and her family came into town for a visit. It was so fun (and crazy) to have the whole crew together. It is so special that the three cousins were born within a year. We hope that they will be very close and build many fun memories together.

In the midst of this busy time, we also somehow ended up buying a car. We have been looking for sometime but were not in any hurry to buy. Ted and I went out looking after dinner on our date night but had no intention of purchasing. Sure enough, later that evening we were driving off the lot with a 2002 Ford Explorer. I am always stressed about spending money, but our prayers were answered and the process went as smoothly as could be expected. Most importantly, Ted and I had fun and functioned as a team through the process.

Unexpectedly, two days later I had to leave on a business trip (with Isaiah) to Alaska. It was a whirlwind trip with some difficult meetings but by God's grace I got through it. An additional downside was having two more 4 1/2 hour flights with an teething, active one year old.

The day after we got back from Alaska, we loaded up in our new car and drove to Sonoma for a friend's wedding. Isaiah was able to come with us and that was both a blessing and a challenge. The biggest challenge was for us all to get some sleep in the same bed after we forgot his pack 'n play (costly mistake!) The wedding was beautiful and we had a lot of fun however.

We got home this past Sunday and were looking forward to enjoying the holiday on Monday together. Sunday evening I started feeling sick and came down with a bad stomach flu. Ted did a great job of taking care of both Isaiah and I. Unfortunately, he came down with the same thing on Monday afternoon. As I write this on Tuesday night, we are both starting to feel like we just might live. We discussed how being sick really makes you appreciate being well. I am so grateful that we are blessed with good health most of the time - unlike so much of the world.

We are gearing up for leaving this Friday to drive to LA for Ted's brother's wedding. We will be out of town until Sunday and then I will leave for a business trip to Scotland the following Wednesday. I am nervous and sad as this will be my first trip without Isaiah :(

Perhaps after this lengthy update it is evident why I haven't had time to blog in the past month. Just looking at the calendar, the next month isn't looking too hot either. I will do my best to hit the highlights whenever I have a chance.

In the midst of all the craziness I am so grateful that we serve a God who is Good and who is taking care of us. We have so much to be thankful for.

What a difference a year makes...

A year ago today I was 2 days overdue and still trying to work full-time. I had a Dr. appointment at noon and asked him to strip my membranes (sorry if that is too much information!) By midnight I was finally in labor! It is so crazy to think about how quickly this year has gone by. We are so in love with our little guy and can't imagine life without him. Just thought you might like a little visual of what Isaiah and I looked like a year ago and how we look today. We are excited about our Bubba's birthday tomorrow and will be partying on Saturday. Check back for pictures and updates from the festivities!

Our Morning Walks to Starbucks

Thanks to generous friends and family, my birthday brought me a few Starbucks cards. As a part of our morning routine, Isaiah and I have been walking down to get mommy her "fix" before Isaiah heads to his morning nap. We use our jogging stroller (which we love!) and make sure Isaiah is ready with his bear and binky in tow. He is usually also still decked out in his PJs and slippers. He looks so adorable and charms everyone we see (at least the people with any heart at all.)

We have seen some very interesting things on our strolls the past few days. One morning we saw a car with a very creative repair job. A man had successfully rigged a bungee cord from the bottom of his front bumper over the top of his car hood. The bumper (which had obviously received a bit of trauma) was being help in place by a bungee cord. That's one way to save some money! We've also been able to watch things like the city water trucks watering the trees on the side of the road. That is something I don't think I have ever seen before. A pretty cool little contraption, that water truck. Having a child makes you look at the world through new eyes. I am so excited to continue watching the world with Isaiah.

Once at Starbucks, I place an order with entirely too many words in it. I looked at my cup this morning and realized that slowly but surely, I have been filling up the detail boxes on the side of the Starbucks cup. I now have writing in all but one box. Translation: I am officially high maintenance in the drink department. Some people seem to give their many worded orders proudly, but I am still not too comfortable with the amount of time and ink it takes to properly place my order. I find myself feeling embarrassed and almost apologetic. I think I just need to get over that. After all, if you are going to spend as much on a coffee drink as you would on a meal at a fast food joint, you should at least have it taste the way you want, right? So as a confession, and in an attempt to be confident in my order, here it is - Today I ordered an iced, venti, half caf, 4 pump, soy, no whip white mocha. There, I said it... Okay, I still feel embarrassed. Perhaps it will just take time. That or I will eventually go through a process of simplifying my order.

At any rate, hope you enjoyed the pictures of my walking buddy this morning. Isn't he just the cutest thing? I love Fridays. They are my day off and we get to enjoy life at a slightly slower pace :)

We'll give this a try...

I am going to attempt to join the world of blogging. I am very busy these days, so updates could be a bit sporadic. I do hope however that I will be able to update friends and family on our crazy lives and our wonderful growing boy! I know I have loved keeping up with friends this way and hope this will be enjoyable for others. So here we go...

One random note (pun intended) for today is that we have a church bell tower across the street from our little house on Broadway. It's hymns are a part of our lives everyday - two songs played three times throughout the day. Charming isn't it? Or so it would seem... Right now we are at the noon portion of the daily program. I regret to inform you that it seems something has gone TERRIBLY wrong with the tuning today. This is a problem from time to time, but today it is excruciating! What is normally a nice detail of our neighborhood is proving to be a painful downside at the moment - and one that is making working from home a little difficult. I never knew how long two songs could be... Hopefully the emergency bell crew will be contacted before 5:00 pm today!