Today You Are 2!

Dear James,

Today you turned 2 years old. It's so hard to believe it because although sometimes the days seem to creep along, the years go by all too quickly.

You have brought so much joy and happiness to my life. You're a little ball of energy. You're happy, and silly and pretty ornery too.

This past year you have learned how to walk and now run, jump and climb. I'm starting to think that you're part monkey. Just in this past week you've climbed up on Mimi and Pa T's table and our table at home. You've taught yourself how to stand on the rocking chair in your room and hoist yourself up onto your brother's bed. You climbed out of your pack n play twice at Mimi and Pa's At story time this week, you climbed into the bin in the middle of the Lego table at the library. Oh, and yesterday you about gave me a heart attack when you made it half way over the porch ledge before I was able to stop you!

You don't like to ride in your stroller very much. You'd rather walk like Daniel. You can make it pretty far too! Although, between you and Daniel it takes 20 minutes to walk 2 blocks because you have to stop and look at everything along the way! We're also working on remembering to hold a hand when you cross the street. You'd much rather be independent.

You are obsessed with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. You've loved it for a long time, and get so excited when you see Mickey or any of the characters. You've also discovered just about every other Disney and Nickleodeon cartoon now and came name almost all of the characters and sing a long to a lot of the songs.

You are a very picky eater. I shouldn't be surprised because I was too. And Daniel still is. You have a few staples that you'll always eat. Yogurt and chicken nuggets. You hate milk and will only drink water. I even tried to give you chocolate milk and you spit it out like it was the most offensive thing you had ever tasted. And don't get me started on your hatred of peanut butter. That's just wrong! :)

Some other things you love include:

• swinging at the park
• Llama Llama books
• Little Pookie books and many other Sandra Boynton books as well!
• saying goodbye to everything including inanimate objects
• bubbles
• coloring or "painting" as you call it.
• balloons
• bath time
• your loveys
• ice cream
• If You're Happy and You Know It, Itsy Bitsy Spider and The Wheels on the Bus
• trains and railroad crossings 
• the moon

Things you're none to thrilled about include:

• getting dressed
• being given a food that you don't want
• people singing if you're not in the mood. (you'll scream, "no!" over and over)
• being buckled into your car seat
• when Daniel does something that you wanted to do
• being carried
• having to come inside

Your vocabulary has been growing leaps and bounds every week. You say new words almost every day and can put together 3 and 4 word sentences. You can already recognize almost all of the capital letters of the alphabet. You call "Q" "cute", which is adorable. And you can count to 5. Sometimes you get to 10 but miss a number here and there.

Other cute words and phrases include:

• "Bye! C-ya soooon!"
• The frog says, "Yibbit!"
• Yabbut is rabbit
• "I love you" (although you don't say that one enough!)
• "On no! What happened?"
• "I coming!"

You have such a silly side and then a very opinionated side. I love watching you become you. I feel so lucky so be your mommy and so thankful that God picked you out just for us. 

I love you so much my Jamesy boy!

Love forever and always,
Mommy

James' Birth Story

I'd better get writing so I don't fail on Day 2 of blog month!

Tomorrow my sweet baby James turns 2. I love to reminisce, so even though I shared his birth story a few years ago, I thought I'd relive it and share a condensed version.  (edit: I failed at condensing) My kiddos birthdays are so special to me because those days changed my life forever.

My due date with James was November 21st. Oddly enough, my due date with Daniel was also November 21st! The first 6 months of pregnancy went well, other than the awful and I mean AWFUL acid reflux and ya know...sneeze peeing. If you've had kids, you totally know what I mean.

Then I started having complications with placenta previa which landed me in the hospital twice. Once for 24 hours, and the other time for 3 nights, including having to get steroid shots to help his lungs develop in case they had to deliver him.

My doctor said that once I made it to 34 weeks I'd be in the "safe zone" for delivery, and should I start bleeding again due to the previa, they would just go ahead a deliver.

Because of the previa, I would need a c-section if the placenta didn't move. They checked every week, and every week led to disappointment. I didn't WANT a c-section. I ended up scheduled for November 17th, and by Halloween I really thought I was going to make it! (Although...that meant I wouldn't get an October baby, that was okay!)

I went to bed on November 2nd with no inkling that I would have a baby in my arms 10 hours later.

I woke up just after 4, and as soon as I got up to use the bathroom (probably for the millionth time), I felt the gush. I prayed that it was my water breaking, but alas the bleeding had returned in full force. I mean, either way I would be having James that day, but water breaking is slightly less disgusting.

I woke up Jacob to tell him we needed to go to the hospital. I knew James was fine because he was kicking away, so I called Brenda at 4:30 or so and asked her to come (from an hour and a half away) to watch Daniel. Once I knew she was coming I started packing. I don't pack bags early because that's just not how I roll. Jacob panicked because he left the good camera at work. I said we'd just take the point and shoot, but instead he drove clear to Assumption to get it. So, while he was gone, I took a shower and chilled .

Brenda arrived, and I called my mom to let her know we were going to the hospital and to pray for us.

We arrived and got checked in. I ended up in the same triage room that I was in the past two times. Did the routine stuff with the nurses, and then the doctor made rounds at 7. My doctor was out of town, so it was her associate who turned out to be awesome. He told me we'd be delivering that day, which I had figured. He kindly walked me through everything, because I was slightly nervous about being sliced open. He left and quite honestly I figured I'd be sitting there another few hours before anything happened.

Next thing I know I'm being wheeled to the OR. I just remember it being cold and bright. I was scared the spinal block wouldn't work because of my scoliosis and because it took 3 tries for an epidural to work with Daniel. The anesthesiologist was amazing and promised me it would work. And work it did!

Jacob came in and they began. I think they started at 7:58 and at 8:02 James Michael was born! 7 pounds 8 ounces. The sound of his first cry was priceless. They showed him to me and then took him to clean him up a little. I wish I could remember things more clearly, but I wasn't totally with it. I do remember feeling sick and dizzy. (I found out later I lost a ton of blood and was very close to needing a blood transfusion). But, I do remember the moment they laid him on my chest. I just wanted to snuggle him forever.





They were concerned with some fluid in his lungs, but we both were taken to the recovery room while one of the NICU nurses came down to monitor him. I did get to hold him a bit more, but then they told me that they needed to take him up to the NICU to keep an eye on him. It was heartbreaking to let him go, but it also gave me time to recover as well. I was able to call up and talk to the nurses any time day or night.

As soon as they let me get out of bed I had to get up there. I think the first time I let them push me in the wheelchair, but the second time I walked. The nurses were all impressed with my determination. I went up every few hours to nurse him. I walked from the very end of the hall, down to the elevators and down another hall to the NICU. I wasn't allowed to hold him the first time we went up so I held his little fingers.





The second time I went up was around 10:30 that night. I just had to be with my baby whether I could hold him or not. A new nurse was on duty. She said no holding still, so I sat by his side stroking him. A bit later she said we could try holding if I wanted, but if he started having problems, I'd need to lay him back down. I just sat and rocked and rocked that sweet little guy until I could hardly stay awake.



He spent about 5.5 days in the NICU and then we got to come home! And now, here we are 2 years later!

Gratitude Challenge Week 3! ~Growing Up Thatcher

I am so very thankful for my family. I took the challenge to mean any family, and since I'm all nostalgic and such, I figured I should thank my family for be awesome.

1. I am thankful not only that I grew up in a Christian home, but had parents who found it important to take us to church every Sunday, help us memorize Bible verses and pray with us every night. Because of that, I received the best gift of all. The gift of salvation. A chance to become a daughter of God. I'm thankful that even though I've wandered here or there, because of my upbringing I could never stray far.  Because of the way they made church a priority, it made me realize when I had stopped going, that I wanted my kids in church too, and I've been able to set that example for them too. I pray that they will know the Lord and be thankful that they were able to grow up in church as well.

2. I am thankful for my parents teaching me household responsibilities. My sisters and I HATED being given chores to do...and we weren't even given that many! Mostly just helping clean up the kitchen at night. But Saturdays could be scary if mom went on the cleaning war path. Sometimes if you hid out, you'd get lucky, but usually she'd have us vacuuming, cleaning our rooms or some other form of "torture". But, she made me see how important it is to make sure my home is clean. My dad set a great example too. He worked all week, and then did all of the yard work, random jobs around the house and he cleaned too. It was normal to see him washing dishes, folding laundry and making beds.

3. I'm thankful that my parents taught me the importance of being responsible with money. I was frugal even as a kid, but they taught me to budget and plan for things. I saved money from babysitting and then got a job when I was 14 or 15 one day a week to help save for a car. I paid cash for my first car and half of my insurance. While, now it's a lot harder to just pay cash, I at least am able to budget and set aside money to help pay things off.

4. I am thankful for my two sisters. I really can't imagine life without them. We had many ups and many downs. Having a sister (or two!) is a really special bond. We've laughed together, cried together, black mailed each other, and stuck up for each other. Growing up, Erica and I were the close ones and poor Kendra got pushed to the side a lot, but I'm thankful that in the past several years, Kendra and I have grown closer too. We "talk" every day. (Sometimes a message, sometimes a snap chat and other times just sending stupidly hilarious memes to each other). We get SASSY with each other and then get over it. Even though Erica is far away, I'm thankful for all the hours we spent together cruising First Ave. and taking the "byway or highway". LOL! I can pretty much tell my sisters anything.

5. I am thankful that even as an adult I still have a close relationship with my family. I LOVE going "home" to Iowa because that's where my family is and a part of my heart is. I've had to learn to cherish the time that I get with them. We can drive each other crazy...and I mean CRAZY. There can be yelling and bickering, but in the end there's almost always laughter. My parents love being a Mimi and Pa and my sisters loving being aunts to the boys.They know that I get exhausted and coming there always gives me a breather because I know they will help me with everything.

I couldn't have asked God for a better family and am grateful that I grew up Thatcher. :)

Gratitude Challenge Week 2!

Already falling behind on my own challenge!

This week is about my husband.

It's hard to believe that it's been a little over 8 years now that I met Jacob. We're going on a decade.

So here are some things that I am grateful for:

He gave me the title of Mommy and has given me 2 precious little boys. (Well, God gets most of the credit, but you know what I mean!)



Even though we knew we'd be scraping by sometimes, he has always fully supported that fact that I wanted to be a stay at home mom and has always encouraged it. It's literally the best job and hardest job in the whole world, but I am so thankful that he doesn't expect me to work a full time job.



He's taught me to loosen the purse strings sometimes and splurge for something fun. Usually for us that's a sporting event. When we first met he had season tickets for Illinois games, so the first couple of years we went to all of the home games. Then once I was pregnant we needed to save money so we got rid of them. But, we've still gotten to go to a couple of Iowa games in that time! He also introduced me to the beauty that is Cardinal baseball. This is the first year since we got married that we didn't get to go to a game together. But, we did just get tickets to the Illinois/Iowa game next month, so I'm excited for that!







He's never minded me taking the boys on road trips to Iowa or to visit Heidi.

He says random things that make me laugh.

He'll drive anywhere with lots of traffic because he knows that I hate it and I'm scared to drive in it.

He does a good job with his kids at school and works hard on putting on the musical.

He's smart. He's taught me a lot, and I know he'll be able to teach the boys all of the things I can't remember.

He has loved me at any weight. Let's face it...I weighed 25 or more pounds lighter that I did when we met!

Many things to be thankful for!

52 Weeks of Gratitude: Why Start?

I saw this challenge on Pinterest awhile back, and saved the idea. I figured it would make a great "New Year's Resolution", to blog every week of the year. I keep coming back to it though, and let's face it. I never follow through with resolutions anyway, so why not be a rebel and start in the middle of October?


I want to start this challenge because we live in a very negative world. We see the bad in everything. Even when I try to be positive, I have my moments every day where I complain, whine and get mad. I sometimes forget to look for the good, especially on a bad day. Yet there are so many things that I take for granted, or I miss out on because I'm focusing on the negative, or too focused on myself to look around and see the good.

I want to be reminded to stop and think about all of the things I'm thankful for.