Welcome to the World Mr.Christian Marshall Ryan

I will eventually be able to tell you all everything but for now here are a few pictures of what our little guy has been up to in his first few days!

Lucy and Christian

Mommy's Favorite Picture So Far!

First Check Up With Dr.Litwak

The Happy New Family

Christian and His Nana

Going to the Hospital

I don't know how Jen did it.... but she totally called it! At dinner she said she thought I would go into labor tonight.. Lo-And-Behold my water jut broke! Tim and I are heading to the hospital in about 45 minutes.... the doctor told us to take our time but seeing as how my Mom was only in labor for a short time we don't want to wait too long! We will update you when we can!

I slept on the couch!

no..... I wasn't mad at Tim or anything silly like that! I don't know why but I can sleep easier on the couch.... I think it is because my back is up against something and is supported...whatever the reason last night I gave up trying to sleep in bed and told Tim I was going downstairs AND I slept all night!! I didn't make up until Tim's mad dash through the house this morning at 6:30 a.m...... apparently he was scheduled to be at work at 6 and didn't know it....he thought he was supposed to be there at 7:30....so when Russ called he had to HURRY out the door!

Yesterday was a good busy day.... I went shopping with my mom. We got Nina a shower gift, Christian some stuffed animals and books, and I got yarn to make myself a scarf. My Aunts came over to my mom's house on Friday night and showed me how to use a nifty knitter. I am currently making a white scarf. It is my practice project. If it turns out okay I will attempt more things. So far it looks really good!! I think it is supposed to take three hours to make a whole scarf.... I am almost done but I think I have been working for more than three hours!

Last night Tim and I went out to dinner with Christine and Matt. We went to Box Hill Pizzeria and it was pretty good :-) Tim and Christine got the "famous" crab cakes.... I got grilled cheese because nothing looked good. After dinner we went to see Bourne Ultimatum and it was an excellent movie!! The movie theater was FREEZING (Matt and Christine had on sweat shirts and they were still cold) but once the movie started you didn't notice as much because the movie was that good!

Tonight we have nothing fun scheduled I think I am going to put away all of the "stuff" from yesterday and hopefully Tim will vacuum up all of the Rory hair in the living room. (I swear my carpet is green not white!!) Hopefully at some point tonight I will hear that my dear Lucy and Laura are safe and sound in Havre de Grace. Jen invited me to dinner Monday night so I will get to see them soon!

P.S.

Rory's mommy is on the way to pick her up. I am going to miss her, but it is time for her to move on!

Help Natalie

I don't usually send these kinds of things along but I feel like this is a special case. Natalie is a beautiful girl with a tragic past. I wanted everyone to see this and send it along to anyone who might feel called to respond. Jennifer read Barbara Curtis' blog every day and trusts her. Jen says she would never post a request like this unless she had checked it out thoroughly.

You can read Barbara's post here: http://mommylife.net/and more about the adopting family and Natalie here:http://tippettsfornatalie.onedollaradoption.com/

It's only a dollar, but if everyone sends one dollar and forwards the website to their friends, this could be what Natalie needs to come to her new family.

Read her story, Pray about it and see whether the Holy Spirit calls you to donate, or even more important, pray for this family for the Grace and perseverance to do His Will.


**I took this completely from the email that Jen sent. She said it all! I sent the family a donation and hopefully some of you can do the same!

8th or the 9th??

My doctor swears that my due date is the 9th although Tim and I have thought it was the 8th all along. No matter what today is the day! (or yesterday.....) I am trying to wait patiently... that's not really working. I am going to Wal Mart with my mom later, and then to Havre de Grace to see the new Mrs.McMichael! I have a blood pressure cuff for her and her poor swelling self! I am also going to the Merkel house to see a writing program that Jen is using... I just might use it in my classroom when I go back! My kids are horrible writers! Even the ones that can read usually cannot write worth anything...so I am pretty open to suggestions!

I am keeping my fingers crossed that Chris decides to arrive.... Jen said that normally when they strip her membranes she goes into labor that NEXT night... so I have so hope! If not the 16th is getting closer! Chris doesn't seem to realize that if he waits until the 16th I will miss Nina's baby shower... he has been planning to attend that for awhile so I hope he realizes the error in his ways!

Tim brought a birthing ball home from Tae Kwon Do last night. (Now there is something I never really thought I would say....) at first I made fun of him for it...but then desperation won over and I bounced on it from 11:30 until 1 when I couldn't sleep!

Oh and today is Rory's last day! Her mommy will be picking her up tomorrow morning.... Tim doesn't think we will miss her but I know we will. She is a very sweet and loving dog.....she just has lots of bad habits!

Update

Well we went to the doctors. I was only 2cm dilated which I guess is better than nothing. They stripped my membranes... the doctor said that 75% of women who have this done go into labor within 2 - 3 days. Unfortunately they also have bleeding and cramping so right now I feel pretty yucky. Tim has to go to Tae Kwon Do tonight. I think I am just going to go back to bed!

Oh, and they scheduled an induction for the 16th in case I haven't gone into labor by then!

Today is the day!

Well at least the "official" day when we are to expect dear Christian to arrive! If he is anything like his mommy and daddy we know that he will procrastinate beyond belief BUT at least the day is here when I can come to expect him! And to make things even more exciting I have a new reader AND she left me a comment. Today cannot get much better!

My appointment is at 2:30... of course by that point they will be running late so do not expect any news until at least 4.... I hate it when they run behind but I guess I have to be nice to them if I want them to get this baby out!

It is H-O-T

I just looked at weather.com and the feels like temp for tomorrow at noon is 105!!! Keep all pets and elderly inside! Come to think of it... keep the pregnant people indoors too! I will not be going ANYWHERE except for my doctors appointment tomorrow..... that's right tomorrow they will actually check for "progress" because it is my due date. I have no doubt that they will find no progress but at least we are at the stage where we are looking for it now!

Blogs to Read

I added some people on the blogs to read list. Mostly other moms with adorable babies! I don't know any of them personally but the blogs have entertained me enough that I thought I would share! Let me know if there are any others that I should add to this list :-)

Also, I have changed the name of Laura's Blog to Laura's Blog because she changes the name of it too often for me to keep up. I really like the current name...Appalachian Laughter...but who knows how long it will hang around.

Hospital Tour and CPR Class

Tonight we have our hospital tour followed by an infant CPR class. Tim and I really don't care for the lady who teaches the CPR class... she was rather like a Ms.KnowItAll when we went for the Infant Safety class. However the knowledge she has is valuable so we will suck it up and make it through the class. The hospital tour is definitely a little late.... we probably should have done that like a month ago, but I procrastinated scheduling it and so here we are. We figured if nothing else Chris will come and we can wave to the tour as they go past the room!

Other than that I have nothing exciting planned for the day. I am going to attempt to wash two loads of clothes and one load of dishes. I guess I should think about making something quick for dinner...Tim will get home in time to inhale something and leave for the hospital if my calculations are correct.

On a brighter note I will not be returning to work until November 5th! I am very excited to have some extra time and feel a lot better about going back with this later date. When I return I will have 2 1/2 weeks until Thanksgiving vacation, and then only a month until Christmas vacation. Hopefully that will make the transition back to work easier. The next thing I know it will be January and we will only have 80 days of school to go! I am pretty sure my kids and I started the countdown in January last year...

Quiet Weekend

Saturday was pretty uneventful. I went to Christiana with my Mom, Dad, and Harley. I keep thinking that if I leave the state enough Christian will decide to come.... sort of like a Murphy's law type of thing! At Babies R Us we looked for the car seat that my Mom wanted to buy. They were sold out... but we learned that Towson had three in stock. My Dad bought some golf stuff from Golf Galaxy and we were on our way back home. When we got home my Dad suggested that we go ahead down to Towson and get the car seat so my Mom and I headed out again. We stopped and bought more corn for dinner.... I know we are eating LOTS of corn! At Babies R Us we got some cute stuff for Nina, a cute Pooh outfit for Chris, and the car seat! We headed home and I cooked the corn for Tim and I. We spent the rest of the night watching TV and eating.... I am eating pretty much every hour at this point..... not really small meals either... I am eating TONS!!

This morning we slept in and went to mass at 11.... then we went to WalMart for groceries. After that we came home and Rory and I took a nap while Tim went and got me gas and picked up my refill of prenatal vitamins. Tim woke me up at 4:30 because we were having dinner at his Grandmother's house. We had a really nice dinner with his Grandmother, Dad, Mom, Mike, and Lisa. We had steak, chicken, corn, and salad. I had picked up an ice cream cake which we ate for dessert. Tim didn't get an ice cream cake for his birthday and he really likes it so we thought it would be a good dessert! We came home and we are now watching Human Weapon.... it is about guys that go and learn different martial arts and then try to fight experts in the different arts. Tim is reading over my should and says that these guys are going to get their asses kicked. I tend to agree with him.... but I am more concerned about what I am going to eat... time to feed the baby again! (Yeah I am gonna blame this on him)

Seriously Bummed

I just learned that in order to qualify for loan forgiveness (where the government pays back my student loans because I teach) I have to teach for five years. I don't want to teach for five years! I want to stay home with Chris! I thought I had read the website before and you qualified for a little each year...so even if they didn't pay for everything they would pay for SOME of my loans... now it looks like I will be paying them all back myself or I will be trapped doing something that I don't want for the next four years.

Its not that I don't like teaching... I really do.... I would just prefer to stay home with my own kids!

Update...

Christine is going to dinner in Arundel Mills.....she was very quick to say that she would have invited me to tag along if it had been closer.... which was sweet....so now I am thinking that maybe I should take Laura's suggestion and go to a movie by myself. However, the only two movies that I want to see are ones that Tim would want to see too....so I would have to pick one and just tell him to deal... which I am sure he would but that is not very nice!

I Actually Got To Sleep!

I am so happy that I almost didn't get out of bed today... then I realized that if I didn't get up I would probably have trouble sleeping tonight! By the time I got to bed last night it was 7:30 and I was dead on my feet. I had a great dinner at my moms house and I ate 5 ears of corn! (My dad ate 7 and my sister called us both fat kids...but it was really good and if you think about it 2.5 ears were for me and 2.5 for for Christian.... lol I have never had to use that excuse before!) I decided to take a shower to ward off any itchiness that might prevent me from sleeping and then it was off to bed!

Tim got home around 10:00 and I got very worried because we were both wide awake. I was scared that it was going to be another one of those nights... we came down stairs and I ate chocolate pop tarts and we talked for awhile. I was so happy that I feel asleep when I went back upstairs! I officially woke up at 11:30 today which isn't too bad. I ate some breakfast and then I didn't know what to do with myself! I was sitting on the couch and Rory walked over to the steps as if to say "you know you should just go back to bed" and I was like okay! So we laid back down for awhile. I really didn't sleep much but I didn't get up until 1:45 p.m.

Now I am making some cheese bread sticks for lunch and trying to figure out the rest of my day. I really have only a few things to get done and Tim is going to his brothers house after work for some brotherly bonding time so..... I called Christine to see what her and Matt are doing tonight. I think they have plans but maybe I am pregnant and pathetic enough that they would let me tag along....

Fading Quickly...

I am starting to get pretty sleepy... I think it is because I am not moving around doing things. That is because I am pretty much out of things to do! I am leaving for my moms house at 3:30... all I have to do is make it an hour!

I had my doctor's appointment this morning. All of the doctors were busy delivering babies so I had a nice midwife named Catherine come in and see me. She was very sweet and basically told me to come back next week to talk about induction if I hadn't gone into labor... After my doctors appointment my mom and I ran a lot of errands! We went to Target and I bought a shelf for the closet to store all of Christian's blankets in. I also got hooks for the closet to hang all of his little hats up on! I will take a picture once it is up because it will probably be really cute. We ended up going to Target, Michael's, Babies R Us, WalMart and Klein's. We FINALLY found a lamp for Christian's room but now I am annoyed because I can't put it together (yes assembly was required) so I am taking it over to my dad in hopes that he will fix it. We got some really cute clothes at Babies R Us and we got stuff for my sister to make birth announcements! (This is assuming that a birth will happen eventually......which I am not convinced of)

Tim's Blanket

Tim was very upset that I did not include HIS blanket in my blog. I didn't include it because it was already packed to go to the hospital....yes I choose HIS blanket to go to the hospital not mine... anyways here is the blanket that Tim selected for Christian. He found it at Macy's and literally fell in love with it. It is VERY soft and has stars on it. The silk around the edge is awesome and I know that Christian will love the blanket that Daddy picked for him.

In Case You Are Wondering...

I almost forgot.... it is only 6:30 in the morning and I am writing in my blog.... does anyone else see something wrong with this?? I couldn't get to sleep until midnight last night AND then I woke up wide awake at 3:00 a.m. I think Christian is trying to throw me off the deep end. On the plus side I read the entire Parents magazine from cover to cover last night and it was pretty good.

ATMs in Church?

When I first saw this headline at cnn.com I had one thought.... tacky. Then I listened to the video... now I think it is a great idea. These aren't normal ATMs like from Bank of America. You cannot withdrawal money from them. What you can do is make a donation to the church using your bank card. Now granted a check or cash in the collection plate is just as easy but how many people really carry cash or a check book anymore? Tim and I carry only our bank card with us and there are many Sundays when we just honestly forget to bring a check. Now we usually just mail the check to church on Monday or put it in Tim's wallet so that we do not forget it next week but I can honestly say that there have been times when we have put three checks in the collection plate at once because we had neglected to "give" the previous weeks. It is never because we don't have the money or we don't want to give... its just we aren't used to grabbing a check before we leave the house! Being able to walk to the church office or lobby and tithe would make things a lot easier. The church would receive the donation on time AND we wouldn't feel bad for forgetting! I know the best answer would be if we remembered to bring our checks... but times are changing and checks are out so bring on the ATMs..... by the way the pastor on the video called them Automatic Tithe Machines .... it was a joke they are really called Giving Centers.... but still I thought it was cute!

Free Parents Magazine

When you buy a Boppy you get a certificate for a free year subscription to Parents Magazine. Which I think is a great deal because I wanted a Boppy anyways... and now I have a magazine to read! The first issue came today... I already flipped to the back and read the funny baby stories... now I guess I can read the informative articles.

Tim just got home and I sent him to the store for cold medicine. He sounds awful! He wants to know if he is allowed near the baby while he is sick... I told him the verdict was still out.

Doctors appointment tomorrow.... don't expect much...I am almost positive they will just be telling me to call when I decide to go into labor!