September 20th

I wrote this a couple weeks ago & didn't post it, but here it is now! Today is my due date! Today Jack is 2 weeks old! This is one more testament to God's perfect timing. I was determined that Jack would be late, but he was 2 weeks early. God knew what he was doing. :) At this point we've already gotten 2 weeks with our little guy & he is already growing like crazy. I'm pretty sure he has outgrown the newborn diapers - at least that's what I was thinking when he peed all over me earlier (out the top or side of the diaper?? I still don't know how he managed it). We've already had 2 weeks of bonding & getting to know him, 2 weeks of sleepless nights, 2 weeks of precious baby noises, 2 weeks of diaper changes, 2 weeks of transitioning to a new life stage... It's flown by & I feel like each day gets better & better. I can't say I'm a fan of the whole hormonal roller coaster you get to ride after giving birth. That part is no fun & I've hated not feeling like myself. Random crying, anxiety, feeling overwhelmed by a new little life who is completely dependent on me - those aren't things I've enjoyed walking through. However, every day gets better - I cry less, feel more excited than anxious, & I feel more comfortable with, & thankful for the gift God has given us. Most of all, I feel like my capacity to love this precious little one multplies as each day goes by. I feel kind of weird putting all these feelings out there, but I have appreciated all those moms who have been so honest with me about their struggles in the first month of mommyhood & so I'm trying to be honest about mine. Speaking of feelings, I love this little guy more every day! I think his Daddy is pretty stinkin' awesome too! You can't see John in this pic, but he was right there hanging out with Jack. Watching them together is one of my favorite things to do these days!

11 days old

Here's what's been going on:

• Eat, Sleep, Pee & poo - we've got about a 3 hour cycle going with these activities & it repeats 24/7. John has names this item "The Poop Snake" we've emptied the diaper genie twice so far...
• Other activities Jack seems to like: hanging out in his swing, going for walks with Mommy, Daddy, & Lucy, cuddling, trying to catch his hands/fingers as they fly by his mouth (he's only been successful at getting a thumb in once, but often sucks on his fist or random fingers).
• Jack doesn't cry often, but makes fussy noises when he needs/wants something.
• He stays awake a little more now & spends the time looking around & attempting to gain control of his hands.
• He is very verbal & makes tons of different sounds & noises.
• He picks up his head a lot when you hold him over your shoulder or put him on his tummy.
• He has a love/hate relationship with being swaddled - either he calms down & sleeps awesome b/c he's not bonking himself in the face with those crazy hands, or he's grunting & stretching trying to break free. It's kind of funny & after a few days we started calling him Houdini because he seems to have the ability to escape any form of swaddle if he so desires.
• He seems to have an every-other-night thing going with sleeping in 3 hour chunks between feedings, or keeping us up all night (last night was the latter). As you can see, even Lucy is worn out today!
• His umbilical 'stump' fell off & scared me to death before I realized what happened.
• We're still getting settled & getting used to being a little family.
• We're grateful for all the love, support, & food we've received from family & friends!

In Love

How could we not be?

Welcome to the world, Precious One!

Jackson William Moran arrived on Labor Day 9-6-10 at 7:49pm.

Baby Jack weighed in at 7 pounds, 1 ounce & 19 & a half inches long.

We are now home sweet home and everyone is doing well. Thank you for all the prayers and support!

I've been meaning to post...

Well, lots of stuff. So today you get the shoulda-coulda-woulda of posts: 1. Vanity

• I never knew how much I loved my feet until they left me & got replaced with trunks. I mean, as a girl, no matter how insecure you are with your body, you can always put on a pair of great shoes & feel fabulous. I love to go shoe shopping even though I don't even buy anything most of the time. It's like dress-up for grownups! Anyway, it's no fun right now & I'm down to 1 pair of flip-flops & my tennis shoes that still fit my swollen sausage feet! Oh yeah, and the days I wear my tennis shoes, I have to wake John up to put them on for me!

2. Start of School

• It's been great! The first 2 days were rough & I was wondering if my body was going to cooperate, but we've been blessed with cooler temps & that has helped a LOT. Just getting out of the 100 degree weather everyday made a huge difference.
• I love the newest group of 5th graders! I already have tons of stories of their funny comments, stories, questions, etc. They crack me up!
• Anxious - if you know me, you know my students are 'My Kids' & it's really really weird facing the fact that I'm about to turn them over to someone for so long. My goal is to finish off the lesson plans this weekend...we shall see...
• I love my co-workers! I have the best work family & they have kept me laughing even on the days when late pregnancy has not been kind (i.e. days when tired, whiny, always burning up Katie shows up at work). I'm so thankful for the support, genuine care, & hilarity they provide on a daily basis.

Jack is Almost Here!!

• Surreal. We're about to have a new little person here with us & my mind refuses to wrap around that.
• People keep asking if I'm miserable & there are some rough days, but I would classify them more as uncomfortable than miserable. I'm still feeling pretty good considering I'm 8 & a half months now. I haven't really had anything to complain about with this pregnancy because everything has gone so smoothly & for that I truly thank God!
• Since my due date is a little more than 2 weeks away, I go to the doctor every week. Everything is normal & he seems to be happy where he is. We just scheduled a sonogram for next week to check Jack out. I think they want to get a better idea of how big he is, etc. since there's been no sign of any action so far. I already told my doctor (and pretty much everyone else) I just know he's going to be late. I could be wrong, but that's my feeling about it!
• Maternity pics - My friend Dori took some AMAZING pics of John & me & my tummy. I put them on Facebook and added some to the slideshow at the top of the blog. She is so gifted & I love the pics! You can check out her work here!
• We've pretty much got everything ready for Jack & I've been working on packing for the hospital & getting things ready for my maternity leave. John is simply amazing & has been keeping the house clean, getting the laundry done, and helping me out while trying to get ahead on his work stuff too. I am completely spoiled by this man (and couldn't be more thankful!)

I think that should catch me up for now - yay for long weekends!

First 2 days

I'm officially back to work! I feel something like that old cell phone you replaced because it wouldn't hold a charge anymore. Even though I rest as much as possible, I just run out of energy much faster than normal. Other than that, things are going well! Yesterday was full of meetings & I'm thankful for my loving & patient school family who put up with this big ol' preggie lady (& my sarcasm). I'm hoping I didn't scare any of the new staff members who don't know me yet... It was a good day, but I'm pretty sure our motto this year will say something about "The family that sweats together..." I'd like to send a special thank you to August in Texas for providing the insane temperatures! Needless to say, when I got home I was pretty wiped, BUT Lucy was having some sort of allergic reaction, so I had to take her to the vet. Apparently something triggered her immune system & she is now on the doggie version of cortisone & prescription strength benedryl. Side effects: increase in thirst & increase in urination. Um...yeah...so, John & I are having to schedule her pee breaks (i.e. one of us letting her out) throughout the day. Oh well, good thing we love her so much! Today we had the chance to work in our classrooms all day. My wonderful mom spent the whole day helping me out & John came for the afternoon to help move big stuff, staple things that are too high for me to reach, & set up my work station for me. It was amazing how much we got done & it made me feel ready for the new year. There's no way I could have done even half of that without them - I am SO grateful for their help! Other than that, I'm trying to keep my feet up tonight because my ankles are angry about this whole work thing. They are GIANT & just plain freakish looking. I started to take a picture, but had second thoughts - I hope you're not TOO disappointed.

Final Days of Summer

As summer is wrapping up, we've been trying to make the most of our final days of 'freedom' by getting ready for Jack & just hanging out together. We also took a last minute trip to Round Rock & Georgetown to relax & catch up with friends and family.

Here are some pics of Jack's room, which is almost ready!

Here are some pics of me with my giant belly trying to stay cool!

I'm almost 35 weeks, so I have about a month left- I can't even believe it! Jack is still moving A LOT even though he's running out of room, & we're enjoying watching his gymnastics. The heat has been rough and starting this week I've had some swelling in my feet & ankles, but according to the Dr. that's just part of the final stages of pregnancy. Even though it's getting uncomfortable, I feel so blessed that everything has gone smoothly so far & Jack is doing great.

Monday I'm officially back to work, so if things are quiet on the blogging front for a while, you'll know why!