My first blog!

Uncle Quentin and Grace. He was terrified to hold you!

Where to begin... there is so much to catch up on. I'm going to try to relive each one of Grace's months over the next few weeks and record them here. Let's start with June: you were supposed to be a July baby!

2008 was a very hard year even though I was so excited about you. My "GaGa" passed away on April 19 from pancreatic cancer. He showed signs of being sick for about a month and it was only a week before his death that we knew exactly what was wrong. GaGa was so excited about you. When he found out I was pregnant he wrote me a $500.00 check (a HUGE amount of money coming from a man who grew up during the Great Depression!) and told me to put it towards anything we needed for you. He always asked about you and could not wait to meet you. He died just a little over two months before you were born, and although I know God's plans are perfect, I still wonder why the two of you never got the chance to meet on earth. What's interesting is that I was right beside him as he went home, with you in my stomach, just as I was in my mother's stomach when his mother passed. You may not have ever had the chance to meet him, but you will hear about him for as long as I live. He was by far the best man I have ever known.

Fast forward to June. My good friend, Erin, got married on June 28, so we spent all of the month going to showers, parties and giving a lingerie shower. I have spent most of my life freezing cold but this month I couldn't get cool. My legs and feet swelled to unbelievable propotions (in my mind) and I couldn't find my neck or ankles. The one advantage I found to being pregnant (other than getting YOU!) is that my face has never been so clear. This has carried on even after pregnancy. Erin got married on Saturday, June 28 and as this point I was supposed to have at least 3 weeks left of pregnancy. I wore the biggest black bridesmaid dress and did not feel so cute, but it wasn't my day to be cute anyway. I started having gas cramps, so I thought. They were so bad at one point that I couldn't speak. You would think I would immediately think, "These must be contractions," but I didn't. They went away and nothing else happened. Late Sunday night I got the urge to clean the bathroom, so I did. I figured I must be nesting, but mommies can do that weeks before the big day so it didn't phase me. I went to bed sometime after midnight. Around 2:00am my water broke in bed. I yelled, "My water broke!" and Daddy jumped up asking, "What??" I stood up and the "waterfall" continued. Still, I wondered if maybe I had just peed on myself. The hospital is a 2 minute drive from our house, but I did not want to go just to be told that I had had an accident. Jon felt sure that wasn't the case, so off we went! When we got there the nurses hooked me up to the monitors and sure enough, I was having contractions. They gave me something wonderful and I slept until about 8:00am. GiGi and Papa Charlie arrived. I had my first epidural sometime around 10:00. It did not take, so they did it another time and finally it worked. Grandmere and Aunt Kelli were there by now. I did get a nap in sometime that afternoon. At 6:00 I was finally 10cm and ready to push! You arrived at 7:44pm!!!! You did not cry for the first 30-45 minutes you were alive. You look very surprised to be here and kind of scared. Your Grandmere and Gigi took lots and lots of pictures. Daddy cut your cord even though he swore the whole time he would not be participating in this. I finally got to hold you around 10:00pm. You were the smallest baby I had ever held. Your little nose was smushed but you were perfect! You weighed 5 lbs. 15 ounces and were 18 inches long. I already loved you more than anything in the entire world.