Sweet Baby Cole

Three weeks have flown by in a blur since Cole was born. He is a precious baby. I am tired but trying not to lose perspective! I will get to sleep for longer than 2 hours at a time again some day. Trying to cherish every moment even though it's hard...

Baby Cole!

Cole Stephen Huffman arrived on Monday, January 10 at 12:25 pm. He weighed 8 lbs., 10 oz. and was 20.5 inches long. We are very thankful for another precious, healthy son.

The morning I found out I was pregnant, the Lord brought a verse to my attention- Romans 11:36- "For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen." It was a reminder to me that our children are blessings from the Lord but that they belong to Him and are created, like all of us, for His glory, not ours!

It's funny how different Cole's birth was from Asher's birth. Here are the brief synopses.

Asher:

At 39 weeks pregnant, we evacuated Galveston because of Hurricane Ike. The hurricane flooded the island and our home 3 days before Asher's due date. We spent the next week scrambling to pick up the pieces, including gathering what was salvageable from our little house on Pompano. I was scheduled for an induction at 41 weeks, since Ashie had not come on his own. I got up at 5 am the morning of September 22nd, did my makeup and headed to St. Joseph's hospital in Bryan, TX. I got an epidural early in the process and waited a few hours in blissful numbness. We took lots of pictures and had lots of family waiting to greet our new baby. Asher was born at 12:47 pm, after 5 hours of labor. We went home to my parents house, where we lived the next 7 months!

Cole:

Like his big brother, Cole was content to stay inside mommy's nice belly. We finally scheduled an induction for 41 weeks. The morning before my scheduled induction felt like every other morning without any sign of impending labor. I had a list of things to do: HEB, one last hard workout at the gym, Hobby Lobby, a few chores, finish packing suitcase. Thankfully, I chose to go to HEB first and not the gym. I started feeling crampy around 8:30 at HEB. I finished my shopping, swung by Starbucks, and got home at 9. I laid down and timed my contractions (after putting up groceries and straightening up a bit!). They came often and were uncomfortable but didn't seem regular, some 7 minutes apart, others 4 minutes. I kept waiting for regular intervals and finally left for the hospital at around 10:45. Thankfully, my mom had come into town the night before, so she stayed with Asher. Now Mark was post-call, having gotten home that morning at 7 after a sleepless night, and had taken 2 Benadryl for his awful allergies. Hmm...maybe I should've driven. On the way to the hospital, the contractions really started to hurt. I finally got up to OB triage around 11:15. When the resident examined me, I was already 7 cm dilated. Then, they had trouble starting an IV. I started to panic, knowing we were running out of time for anesthesia! 30 minutes later when I made it to the delivery room, I was 10 cm and writhing in pain!

"Where is anesthesia?? They have to hurry! Oh, we waited too long. Hurry! Hurry!", I moaned. (I'm sort of embarrassed now.) Anesthesia arrived, Mark's colleagues of course. They decided to do a spinal. When they were working on it, I felt like the baby was headed out, so they stopped to see if it was too late. Wow, was I scared! Fortunately, my membranes were still intact, and there was still time. They got the spinal working, the doctor broke my water, and 15 minutes later at 12:25 Baby Cole was born! Zero pictures were taken up to this point and only a few were taken after delivery. We still haven't taken many! Mom and Asher arrived at the hospital, then Mimi.

I was a little bit in shock because the whole morning was so unexpected and happened so fast!

We will be taking and posting more photos this week, now that Mark is on paternity leave. He had to work most of last week. Not fun.

Belly Shots

Here are some of the last belly shots for those of you I haven't seen in a while!

39 5/7 weeks pregnant

Waiting...

We're all waiting for your arrival, Cole Stephen Huffman! We love you so much! Asher gives my belly little pats and kisses and pokes his toy animals into my belly button, so you can see them.

Daddy painted nice turtle pictures for your nursery. I can't wait to snuggle you close, with your tiny scrunchy bottom on my chest. I wonder if you'll look like your big brother or totally different. I hope you come this week! Please don't wait until 41 weeks.

Christmas 2010

Because I am large with child, we had to stay home in San Antonio for Christmas this year. It worked out well, since Mark was on call Christmas Eve anyway. My parents and Mark's parents both came for the weekend, and we had a calm and peaceful Christmas together. Asher soaked up the attention from the four doting grandparents! On Christmas Eve, we all (minus Mark who was at the hospital) attended the amazing service at Grace Point Church. Afterward, we had a cozy supper of potato leek soup, spinach salad, and warm bread. Christmas morning, Mark came home around 7:00. Ashie woke up around 8:00, and we opened gifts. Mark got Asher a dinosaur that walks and roars. We had it under the tree, and Asher loved it! He kept giving it hugs!

We had a delicious brunch after gifts, my favorite Christmas tradition. The rest of the day was calm and relaxing. The guys put together the full-sized trampoline from Mimi and Pops. We watched It's a Wonderful Life and drank cappuccinos. For dinner we feasted upon beef tenderloin, roasted potatoes, brussels sprouts, and butternut squash, wild rice pilaf, and banana cake with cream cheese frosting for dessert!

I loved spending time with our wonderful parents, and really enjoyed hosting and menu planning this year. I did miss seeing all of our siblings and nieces and nephews though.

Asher watching The Grinch. He sat like this for the entire movie.

Asher looked shell-shocked at his Kids Day Out Christmas Program. He couldn't even sing or ring his bells! I don't blame him- the parents were a little crazy with the cameras!

Gonna Have a Baby Soon

As you can tell, I've not been much into blogging for a while. However, I'm sitting on the couch on New Years Day, bored as beans, with Mark on call, watching "Zoo Show" with Asher, 39 4/7 weeks pregnant, and thought maybe I should post something as a preview to Baby Cole's birth.

But I've got to take some pics of my belly and the nursery, so I'll be back. Unless I go into labor this evening!

Asher Turns 2!

Happy 2nd Birthday Asher!

Asher turned 2 on September 22nd. Has it really been 2 years since this precious boy entered our lives???

Fresh, new Peanut entered the world at 12:37 pm on Monday September 22nd 2008 in Bryan TX.

He came 9 days after Hurricane Ike hit Galveston. How wonderful it was to spend 7 months in College Station surrounded by his grandparents!

One week old. Tired Daddy.

Asher's 1st Birthday! Wasn't that yesterday?!

Asher's 2nd Birthday party at Cheesy Jane's in San Antonio. Afterward, we had an ice cream sundae bar at home!

Lots of family came in town to celebrate! (Jim, Coco, Dustin, Luke, Abigail, Katherine, Mimi, Pops, Grandaddy, Grandmommy, Hudson, Jason, Stephanie, Daddy, Asher, Mommy + Baby Brother***)

Ice cream with Cousin Luke.

Sharing his new trains with Luke and Hippy (Hudson).

We love you, Sweet Asher!

Big Boy Updates:

• Knows all the letters of the alphabet (But thinks everything spells Asher)
• No longer sleeps in a crib, but doesn't sleep in his toddler bed either. Mommy keeps finding him curled up on the floor in various places around his room. Warm spots on floor, no warm spots in the bed. As long as he sleeps all night, I guess it doesn't matter!
• Will be a BIG BROTHER in January!
• Realizes that vegetables and other wholesome foods that used to make up his diet aren't so delicious anymore.
• Holds the world record for descending a staircase backwards on his belly.

***Baby Brother due on January 4th! More on that news later.

Spring at the Arboretum!

Ahhh...Spring is finally here. Although, I did enjoy seeing snow in Dallas twice this winter and getting to wear my comfy Ugg boots because it was actually cold enough! Last week, Asher and I met Aunt Liz, Caroline, and Andrew at the Arboretum. It was absolutely beautiful! Blue sky, warm sun, and thousands of tulips! Asher's favorite part was getting to brush the goats and sheep at the petting zoo. He also enjoyed digging in the flower beds, which made the photo shoot a little challenging.

December

We visited San Antonio in December to scope out neighborhoods and visit our sweet medical school friends, David and Autumn Gilly. David's in the UTSA anesthesiology residency program that Mark will start in July! They will work together for 3 years. Autumn is a nurse in the neonatal ICU. We can't wait to be their neighbors and share residency life with them!

Christmas at the Roop House- Cousin Will, Granddaddy,Cousin Hudson, Grandmommy, and Asher

Luke, Asher, Andrew, and Caroline on Christmas morning

Christmas Morning- Asher, Meredith, Brown Blankie, Aunt Katherine, Monkey, and Cousin Luke

Christmas Morning Kiss

Asher reading on Christmas Eve

Mark, Asher, Meredith

Christmas Eve

Sorry for the belated Xmas photos! I finally posted some after several requests. We spent Christmas in College Station with both families. We stayed at the Huffman House with all the other siblings and children. It was a busy but super-fun week.

First Haircut

Discussing styles. Mommy was a little nervous after seeing those long nails grasping greasy chicken wings behind the front desk.

Okay, maybe Mommy let it go a little too long.

Asher took it like a big boy and watched the cartoon on TV during the haircut.

So handsome! We made sure to preserve the curls!

What has Asher been up to lately?

• Reading books! He reads by himself and loves for others to read to him. We have to go through every book twice before bed!
• Speaking Swedish and a bit of Hebrew. It seriously sounds like it!
• Walking backwards, just for fun.
• Dancing to any sort of rhythm he might hear.
• Building impressive Lego structures.
• Giving kisses and melting my heart!
• Still refusing cow's milk and stressing out Mommy because of it.

One day I put Asher in a box and scooted him around the apt. Later I found him playing with his blocks sitting in this shoe box!