So long gallbladder, it was nice knowing ya

My body is a jerk. An innocent little organ is being rejected and it's putting up a good fight to stay. Apparently there are these things called polyps which have grown thanks to my cells dumping healthy cholesterol on my gallbladder. They're pretty harmless except that they're too big and may turn into gallstones eventually. Even though passing stones sounds like buckets of fun, I had to make a decision. So the poor little guy will have to go tomorrow during the procedure to repair the hernia caused by growing gigantic children.
FUN!
What's even more fun? Being away from my 3 week old. He's so sweet and squeaky, smells like heaven, and is the most beautiful symbol of hope in the world. You'd think I'd be ok with this, seeing as how I was away from Emily for 82 days while she was in the NICU. Tomorrow we'll be apart for about 5 hours and I choke up just thinking about it. Please pray that my lil chubbs will be good for his Daddy!
On that note...
Here's some snuggly pictures!!

Happy Birthday Eli!!!

This weekend we celebrated Eli's 28th birthday! We had a really great night beginning with mass was concelebrated by Archbishop Gustavo and Bishop Cantu at San Fernando Cathedral. Following mass we were thrilled to be able to attend the JPII CHS gala honoring Karl Keating, the founder of Catholic Answers. Mr. Keating's speech inspired us to continue to live an authentic Catholic life despite what society and history suggests.


On Saturday we took advantage of the cooler weather (ya know, below 100*) and treked down to the Pearl Farmers Market. We had a nice little picnic down by the river and played soccer in the park!


And as if that wasn't a great day so far, we topped it off with a visit to the Children's Museum! Here's our little construction workers after operating the dump truck.


On Sunday my parents had us over for yummy steaks and a swim.

Happy 3 week birthday Max!

It's a Boy!!!

The Labor
We had a surprise visit from two of my sisters from Dallas for the weekend, so I was determined to naturally induce labor. We started the day at mass at St. Joseph’s and afterwards I spent most of the day on my feet and praying. Eli was a good sport and humored me in all of my raspberry tea-spicy food-requests. Contractions began at 5pm, as per usual for the past 15 weeks, but this time I felt like I could put mind over matter and make these contractions work. So we put the kids to bed at my parents house and conned my sisters and dad into power walking down to star bucks. By the time we got home it was 10 pm and contractions had been 5 minutes apart for an hour. It was go time!


The Delivery
As I waited in the triage 3cm dilated for an hour; Eli was becoming doubtful and I was growing anxious. Then I had a miraculous 4.5cm measurement and a move to LDR at midnight. 3am epidural was a success (yay! Third time’s the charm!) At 7am we called the doctor with news that I was dilated to 8cm. Then we waited for what felt like years until about noon for the doctor to come break my water since the baby still wasn’t turned. The doctor left and while we waited for him to return, I started “practice” pushing, thinking I would have to work hard to turn the baby for delivery. My nurse was awesome, and on about my 5th push, the baby turned and she had to hold the baby inside me while screaming on her phone to get the doctor STAT!


The Baby
Maximilian Joseph was born on September 4th at 1:33 pm, weighing 9 lb2oz and 21” long. Resembling his big brother, Max has dark hair, fair skin, and the most adorable little dimple in his chin. He was named after two of our favorite saints. Eli and I walked through the concentration camp at Auschwitz in 2003 and remember the cell in which St. Maximilian Kolbe was martyred, sacrificing his life for a father and husband. Truly a modern day saint to emulate. Read about his story here! St. Joseph is a strong father figure as Christ's foster father, and much like both of our fathers in action and love. We have a deep devotion to Joseph and we pray to him daily for guidance and example.

The Family
Nothing fills your heart more than the beautiful love between brothers and sister. Our first week home was fantastic--I felt great, Max was a natural at breastfeeding, and Daddy was home to take the kids to Kiddie Park and the Children’s Museum. Wonderful friends kept meals on the table. We couldn’t have felt more thankful for the easy transition to a family of five. Things were so great that went to MOPS and my bible study, and had** a girls night out. Eli went back to work and squeezed in an out of town trip and a missions game. Commence week 2. I started having extreme stomach cramps. I ruled out the flu when the cramping got so bad after the 2nd day that I could barely walk or sit up. Eli’s mom was providentially visiting the next day and could babysit the kids while I saw my doctor. Turns out I most likely have a hernia of the abdomen and the bowels were squeezed between the muscle, and thus I have an appt with the surgeon next week. Then last night we were hit by a stomach bug. Thank goodness it’s the weekend and we can all snuggle on the couch together and watch UP! :)

Let's get the show on the road!

I didn’t think I’d be ever saying this, but miraculously we’ve made it to full term on the longest pregnancy known to man. Yeppers, you read that right. This baby could be born today and (crossing fingers) would go home with me tomorrow! But let’s not jump the gun here.

As a typical hormonal pregnant mommy, I’m actually feeling pretty darn emo. I guess when I went into labor at 23 weeks, I assumed that I would be meeting this bambino a lot sooner than now. The past 14 weeks have been rough. I’ve seen a 1.5 lb baby, and that’s rougher. The shots, bed rest, meds, compression stockings, dr. appointments every week, diet, inability to exercise, heartburn and nausea, 1000 daily contractions…they all did their best to bring us down. But God’s grace held us up. Our little family of 4 is stronger thanks to the presence of another human being who has yet to show his face.

So what’s next? I know it’ll be hard. The kids will be jealous and vying for my hugely sleep deprived attention. Our house will be in shambles and we’ll eat pizza every night. The TV will replace me on the floor, playing and breaking up fights over who gets which toy. Eli will come home after work to start his second job of picking up my slack. I’ll be sore, cranky and relearning how to nurse and get a baby to sleep. However, pulling together as a team, each one of us will learn how to adjust and enjoy the new family dynamic. Even though these are small sufferings, they'll still bring us closer to Christ. We look forward to giving more of ourselves and become servants, just as Jesus called us to do. Our kids are especially blessed because from such a young age they naturally learn the virtues--Faith, Hope, Charity, Fortitude, Justice, Temperance, Prudence.

Our latest sonogram measures the baby to be 7 lbs, and I’m fully effaced and dilated 2 cm. Let’s get this show on the road! We can't wait to meet you baby and find out if you're a boy or a girl. But baby, could you just wait until after this Thursday? We're a bit busy this week:)

Back to school, to prove to dad you're not a fool!

Dear Emily and Leo,

There I stood, same usual place and time to wave goodbye to Daddy, but today it was different. It was so quiet that I could hear the morning runners’ feet pad the sidewalk. As I looked out, your two tiny faces were craning to wave to me from the backseat squished with a princess backpack, nap mats, lunch boxes and a “nigh-men-men-keen” (lightening McQueen) backpack. It’s the first day of school. I held back a tear and showed my best smile and mouthed I love you.

Emily you’re a lucky girl. All the 8th graders at your school (classmates of Aunt Teresa) practically shove through a crowd to yell hello and ask for a hug. You love all the extra attention, and pride yourself in being your teacher’s “good helper girl” since you know the drill from last year. For the past couple weeks, you’ve awakened with the squeaky yet raspy voice of a 4 year old asking “today, mama? Can I go to school today?” You’ve had your uniform set out for weeks, have been planning to spend lots of time in the home center and hoping the boys don’t take over the block center like last year. I can’t wait to hear all about your new friends and what new tattle tales you’re excited to tell me.

Leo you‘re a lucky boy too. “Pe-NA, mommy? Fwiens?” Yes, Leo, you’ll have a blast with Mrs. Pena and your friends. At the meet the teacher day, without any prompting from me, you marched straight up to your teacher and said Hi Pe-Na with a big hug. She already loved you and couldn’t wait to meet the nephew of her former students. You went from 2 yr old to 2 yr old waving, hugging, saying hi. I knew from that moment that I just have to stand back and marvel at all you can bring to the world. Mr. Independent--not afraid of being curious, sensitive, generous, rambunctious. This morning you’ll insist on buckling your carseat all by yourself and carrying your very own big and heavy backpack. I can’t wait to see you grow up to be a boy full of character, but for today (and everyday until the new baby is born), you’re still my sweet baby boy.

I love you,
Mommy