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Monday, September 1, 2008

My Dear Sweet Nathan...


My dear sweet Nathan...

You are my "mommy's boy". You have been attatched at the hip since you were born! I don't think the cord was ever truely cut! LOL! You always wanted to be held and carried around...mostly by mommy, but you'd take anyone who'd do it. LOL!

Daddy used to try to exercise and sit you in your bouncey...he'd put on his headphones and look over at you and you'd be screaming your head off! LOL! You wouldn't let us put you in the swing, bouncey, walker, nothing! You wanted to be ON us! LOL! That's ok my sweet boy! We love you so much!

You always had the sweetest giggle. I have a video I made of you and Evie and Ev would come up and tickle you...and you'd let out the sweetest giggle. It just made everyone smile.

You are my "sweet lover"...and not just any sweet...CHOCOLATE! You will get along well with all the girls my baby boy! Chocolate is a girl's best friend...and yours too! Chocolate candy, chocolate pudding, chocolate ice cream, chocolate milk...my Natee loves his chocolate!

I always said you're our little fire cracker! You make things...well...you make things...EXCITING, that's for sure! LOL! There's never a dull moment with my Natee around. You make sure of that.

You have always been such a talker. Geeg will attest to that! We all say you talk from the time you wake up to the time your eyes close at night! You would have gotten along so well with my Grandma Malone. She was a chatty gal!

You have been such a blessing to us Natee. You are so active, exciting, sensitive, empathetic, and loving. We are so fortunate to be your mommy and daddy (and brother). Never forget how much we all love you. You are such a special boy to us.

Stay true to yourself and keep Jesus first!
I love you forever!
Mommy

...and brother makes FOUR!


About three years later, after the birth of our sweet Evan...we decided he needed a sibling.

My pregnancy with Nate was easy as far as they go...but being four years older than before...I noticed I tired more quickly and my back and feet ached more.

The pregnancy progressed just fine and we found out at our ultrasound that Nate was indeed a boy...LOL! Daddy picked his first name and mommy picked his middle name!

During one of my last few dr. visits, I asked Dr. Gerard how long overdue he generally let patients go. He told me if I didn't have Nate over the weekend, we would induce on Monday. The office went ahead and scheduled the induction for Monday morning at the hospital.

Well, I went home and took a nap. I had heard a rumor that if you sleep on your side it can put pressure in just the right "spot" causing your water to break and thus making you go into labor. So I laid down on my side and fell asleep. I woke up to a large "gush"! LOL! Sure enough, my water broke.

I called Jamie at work and the dr. at our office. The dr. said to come to the office to get checked because I wasn't having any contractions yet. I actually drove myself to the dr. office! LOL! Jamie met me there. Well, I guess things had progresses enough, because they sent us right over to the hospital next door.

By then, mild contractions had started. Thing went even faster than the 8 hour labor we had with Evan. With Nate it was only 4 hours. Dr. Gerard was in the middle of a c-section but kept popping in to check on me. Finally Dr. Lenters came in for the delivery. He was super nice. We really liked him. He told me if I planned on having any more children, if I even THINK I'm in labor I better get to the hospital as fast as my labors are...especially seeing as how I cut them in half each time! LOL!

Once again, I didn't get an epidural thanks to little, tiny, unprepared Holland Hospital. I did get some Stadol, again...which was awful. It didn't take the pain away at all. It just made the room SPIN and there was about 12 of everything...just spinning and spinning!

Dr. Lenters ended up using the vaccuum with Nate. Nathan ended up swallowing a little meconium and they had to suction it out. The nurse ended up "gouging" his vocal chord (which they'd never admit) so they blamed his "paralyzed vocal chord" on "stress during coming through the birth canal". Yeah...right.

Anyway...once again, I didn't get to bring my baby home with me. Excruciating pain for any mother!!! They wanted to keep him on observation due to the vocal chord thing. He did end up coming home a day later than me on an apnea monitor which lasted about a month. Nate did have a Barium Swallow test at Butterworth to make sure things were going ok. And thank the Lord, they were. He ended up being just fine.

Our little 8 pound, 20 inch baby boy...born at 7:32 p.m. on August 25, 2000. Welcome to our family Nathan Parker James!

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Dearest Evan...


My dearest sweet Evan...

You will never know (although I hope you have some idea!) how much you mean to me.

I dreamed about the day, as a little girl, of the day I would become a mommy.

The day your dad and I found out we were expecting a baby was the happiest day of our life!

The day you were born and they told us of the complications, and that you needed to go into the nicu, was the saddest day of our life. I have only seen your dad cry one time in my life...and that was the day. We prayed non-stop for your health. We loved you soooooo much!

The day we got to bring you home was so joyful! We were bursting with pride.

I used to take you EVERYWHERE with me! Dad worked alot back then and you and I went everywhere together.

We went to Kalamazoo to geeg and papa's house. We went to Target (I'll never forget the older gentleman who was a cashier the first time I took you out and he remarked how gorgeous you were!). We went grocery shopping (Remember our salt bagels?). We went to the little mall (Remember chili cheese fries?). We went to the big mall (Remember the treehouse and the cinnamon almonds you stashed in your cheek?). We went to Tulip Time (Remember the goodies and dancers?). We went everywhere...you and me. I was so proud of my Evan.

I remember EVERY aspect of your life. I have a little "recorder" in my mind. I remember you going to your daycares (Remember Ms. Bev, Ms. Kim, and Ms. Jen?). I remember your first day of kindergarten and you marching off to the bus with your little backpack. I remember helping with your fieldtrips (the zoo w/ Nolan and Toby!). I remember the parties at school (Valentine's Day in the Butterfly room). I remember the first time you had to stay inside at recess because you and Zack were goofing off in Mrs. DeVisser's class! Stinker! I remember your auctions and trips to BK with Mrs. Costello. I remember Market Day, 5th grade camp...ewwww, you were nasty when you came back! LOL! I remember middle school...oh what a year of joys and stress! I can only imagine what high school will bring!

Anyway...I will continue to write to you in this blog...I'm waaaaaay far behind as you can see. This is always something I've wanted to do for you and Nate.

I just want you to know how special you are to me and dad. You are amazing and can do anything you set your mind to...don't be lazy! :-)

Keep God first always!
You are forever my baby boy...and I love you more than life!
Mom

Fast forward nine months...


Contractions started one evening right as Jamie was coming home from his second shift job...right around midnight. They came consistent and strong from the very beginning. They were every five minutes to the tee!

We called the dr...and just our luck...being a weekend, we got the dr. "on call". Dr. Gerard would not be delivering our baby. Boohoo!

They told us to wait till the contractions were at about every 2-3 minutes and then come to the hospital.

I think we waited till about 3am...something like that. I remember I kept telling Jamie to "Hurry up!" and he kept telling me "I can't speed!".
LOLOLOL!

We got to the hospital and we were greeted by our wonderful nurse Thelma...who told us she goes by "Tim"...ok, whatever. She was an older lady and ohhhh so sweet. I immediately told her I wanted an epidural and she assured me that "because this was my first baby, we had plenty of time".

NOT!!!

"It's time to push!", she tells me.
"I didn't get my epidural", I tell her.
"Well we don't have time now", she tells me.

You have go to be kidding me.

Eight hours of long strong intense labor...and...NO EPIDURAL.

I am the biggest wimp in the world when it comes to pain, but I can honestly say I am so incredibly proud of myself having gone through natural childbirth. She did give me some Stadol to "take the edge off"...yeah right. All that did was make the room spin...pain was STILL INTENSELY there!

During my labor, I spiked a fever. This led them to discover I was Strep B positive. Because my labor went so quickly I didn't get all of the antibiotics...so we were in for a long ordeal...

Around 8:00am Evan Brice made his arrival. He was 7 lbs 5 oz and 19 inches long.


Welcome little one!

Because I didn't get my antibiotics, Evan had to spend 12 days in the NICU at Butterworth in Grand Rapids receiving antibiotics. They also told me he was having respiratory problems and not feeding well. He lost a little weight. Trying to get information from the specialists in a nicu is next to impossible.

I always hear how so many families thank the nicu and staff for being so compassionate and caring. I never felt that. I never got close to the nurses, I never was able to speak to the drs. It was awful. Leaving your baby in the hospital after giving birth is the worst thing in the world. It is like having your insides ripped out. It is heartbreaking.

I prayed night and day for my baby Evan. I felt like I couldn't function...I couldn't live...I had to keep praying for my baby. I felt if I stopped praying I was a bad mommy. I was terrified for his life. I visited daily, I called over and over again to check in with his nurses. I was so empty...

Then came the day he was moved to the "intermediate nursery".
I was so excited! I called mom and told her, "He graduated!".


He was only there a few days. He started gaining weight, feeding well, and soon he was able to go home.

Welcome home little one!


...and baby makes THREE!

In 1995, we finally decided it was time to start a family...after much begging and pleading from me...LOL!

Once we decided to "try"...it happened immediately! The very next month, we were expecting.

We got a false negative on the first pregnancy test. And after many symptoms, I decided I better try a different test.

BINGO!

We're pregnant!

My pregnancy was as easy as pie. I felt better pregnant than I ever did in my life. I relished every moment of it. I had cravings for buffalo wings constantly. And amazingly enough...I didn't crave salty snacks like chips and crackers like I always used to...I had an incredible urge for tomatoes and cucumbers! LOL!

My ob/gyn was awesome! I loved Dr. Gerard. I was nervous at first about having a male dr. But he made me so comfortable. He was so sweet and gentle. And he had such a kind and caring staff.

Mom and Jess gave us a baby shower and we got lots of goodies...although not many from our registry. So Jamie and I went out and splurged on everything Winnie The Pooh for our nursery that you could think of. I think we were both sick of seeing Pooh by the time baby arrived! LOL!

...along comes baby...

Saturday, May 10, 2008

Our life together!

So, Jamie and I start our new life together!

We moved around ALOT during the first few years of our marriage.

Our first apartment was on Burdick St. It was an older "house apartment". A nice single mom and her daughter lived above us and we lived on the lower level. I must admit, I didn't always feel totally safe there...especially when Jamie was working third shift. It wasn't a "bad" neighborhood...in fact we knew several of the neighbors around us. There was another single mom, Cindy and her two teenage kids next to us. There was the landlord and his wife across the street. There was a middle age woman next door who seemed nice, yet eccentric...as she lived with about 25 cats! She was sweet though...she'd always snip fresh catnip from her backyard and give us some for our kitty. LOL! While we lived there, Jamie worked at First Assembly and then eventually his part-time job at Bronson Hospital turned full-time. That was a huge blessing. That provided a good income and great health benefits. During this time, I worked as the lead toddler teacher at The Learning Village. We were enjoying our new life together.

Then...Jamie discovered an apartment opening! It was an older complex...yet very well maintained and nice. We got it! We moved into Keenway around Thanksgiving I believe. It was great. A two bedroom, nice sized place for the two of us and kitty! It was quite a mix of neighbors there. Across the hall from us was an older man and his thirty-something son. They had frequent shouting matches. Then on the second floor...there were two older couples. Both were nice. I will never forget the one woman...Betty...she was always soooo nosey. Always peeking out her curtains! LOL! We'd go for walks at night and so would her husband Joe...she'd always be peeking out the curtains watching for him as he made each circle! LOL! On the lower level was younger gals...always smoking...not the most pleasant. But everyone got along. It was a nice place to live.

Then we had a big change! We got jobs as innkeepers at The Stuart Avenue Inn Bed & Breakfast! We had a great apartment in the Chappel House. The inn consisted of two homes built in 1886 and 1900, and also a carriage house. Our bosses turned out to be...how shall we say..."not what we had hoped for"...so things were about to change again.

We than got jobs in Holland at Prince Corporation. We had a nice apartment on Burke with great landlords. We loved Jim and Phyllis. All was great at Prince till JCI took over.

We had three more moves during this time. We bought a mobile home and lived in West Olive Estates for nearly two years. We were very lucky to have sold and broke even on that deal. We were fortunate to get out before it started going downhill. We then were able to purchase our home on Byran Dr. It looked like a dollhouse from the front. We really enjoyed our home. We lived there for approximately two years as well. We ended up selling there right as some subsidized housing was coming in. We were then worried about the value of the house and thinking about...school districts!!! We were very fortunate to have found Sundance. Our current home in Zeeland. Zeeland has awesome schools. We're close to Holland and Grandville. Great neighborhood.

...Which will bring me to my next subject in the next entry...

"OUR FAMILY"!!!

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Playing catch-up...Part 2

After Jamie and I got engaged...we started planning a summer wedding.

We ended up picking out rings together. I got a marquise diamond engagement/wedding set and Jamie got a plain gold band. Jamie gave me my
engagement ring...and he hid my wedding ring at his apartment. I would always sneak it out of the box and try it on when he wasn't looking! LOL! He'd get so aggravated! LOL!

I was a little nervous telling my parents that we were getting married as Jamie is 9, almost 10 years older than me. But when I told my mom, she said, "I always kind of thought you'd marry someone older. You're mature for your age." Whew!

We had about a nine month engagement in which all of that time was spend planning the wedding. Mom did EVERYTHING!

She was amazing.

We were on a budget. We went downtown to Jacobson's and found my wedding gown. We got an amazing deal on it because it was a discontinued style. It was regularly priced at around $700.00 I think...we got it for around $129.00 I believe. It's been so long...I'd have to look back in my wedding planner for sure. But anyway, it was a steal. I loved it immediately. What a blessing.

We were equally blessed with the bridesmaid dresses. We were planning a "floral/garden themed" wedding...and the colors were to be peach, mint green, and lavender. We found some beautiful tea length dresses in a floral print with our exact colors...amazing.

Jess was my maid of honor. Tiffany and Melissa were bridesmaids. Dave was Jamie's best man. Eric and Brian also stood up with him.

Mom did all of the flowers, decorations, food...EVERYTHING. It was amazing. The church and hall looked gorgeous.

Tracey did our cake and we got more compliments on the cake than anything else. It was gorgeous. It wasn't your typical white wedding cake. It had a lot of color on it...just like I wanted...peach, mint, and lavender. We also had little cherubs on it. It was awesome!

Amber caught my bouquet and Shaun caught the garter.

I remember the church didn't allow rice to be thrown...something I had always looked forward to...all of my daycare co-workers surprised me and they all sneaked rice to the church and threw it at us as we left. It was so sweet.

We honeymooned at Mackinac Island, the Upper Pennisula, and Cedar Point. We had a short but sweet honeymoon and then came back to the real world. LOL!



Tuesday, April 29, 2008

About fifteen years past due!


This blog is my attemp to share all of my love, devotion,



admiration, and pride in my sons and husband. I would have liked to have


started

something like this fifteen years ago when I first met my husband...but computers were not in the budget and...well let's face it...I had no idea how to work them! LOL!



So here goes...I really don't even know where to begin because I'm so far behind!

Since I am so far behind...I'll reach back many years into the past to play catch-up.

Jamie and I met through a our mutual friend Monica. I remember she and I going out to Chi Chi's for dinner after church one night and asking her if she wanted to go for a walk after we ate. She said she had to take her friend Jamie to the store because his car was broke down. She told me to come with them and we could all go for a walk afterward. I told her I didn't want to impose (I was really extremely shy!) and would take her up on a walk another day. She insisted I come...so...dh and I met for the first time!

Let me first say, I was not impressed the first time I met him because he was in a grumpy mood. He was in a rush to get his shopping done and just seemed...well...downright grumpy. Nice first impression! LOL!

Well...to sum things up...she convinced me to come along on many more of their outings. The three of us did alot together over the next several weeks...movies, walks, renting videos, dinner out, etc. Eventually...I got a phonecall from Jamie. He wanted to go out to dinner! Just the two of us! I was a little surprised. He took me out for Chinese, we played tennis, we went walking on campus, and he brought me flowers! It was great. I was impressed this time...LOL!

Although, because I was so shy and hadn't dated alot...he was my first actual "relationship"...he later told me that he mistook my shyness for not liking him. He said he was almost to the point of "three strikes and you're out"...LOL! He thought I was blowing him off.

I have learned over the past 18 years from many people, that my shyness back then was mistaken alot for being stuck-up. This is really hard for me to accept...as I have always had a really low self-esteem and felt so left out. I was never popular. How could people mistake my shyness for being stuck-up?!?! I am trying really hard to make sure I come across now as friendly, open, and outgoing. I never want to be misunderstood again.

Jamie and I dated for about 3 months before we got engaged. I remember the night he "accidentally" (LOL!) proposed. We were hanging out watching tv at his apartment and looking at the sale flyers in the Sunday paper. He kept pulling out jewelry store ads and asking me what I liked in there. Well, we had only known each other 3 months (although we knew each other well...still...) and I had no clue what he was asking. Did he mean what kind of necklaces do I like? Did he mean what kind of bracelets do I like? Did he mean "RINGS"!?!?! Well I didn't want to seem presumptuous...so I said, "What do you mean what do I like?" and he said, "I mean what do you like?" and I said, "Like necklaces, bracelets, etc.?" He said, "I MEAN ENGAGEMENT RINGS SILLY!!! I WAS GOING TO SURPRISE YOU! BUT YOU'RE MAKING THIS AWFUL HARD! I WANTED TO GET A FEEL FOR WHAT YOU LIKED SO I COULD SURPRISE YOU!"

Surprise...LOL!