Sunday Football

Are you ready for some football?
Here are the boys cheering on the Dallas Cowboys on a relaxing Sunday afternoon. How cute do they all look wearing the football attire? Soooo Cute!!!

Thank you!!!

Thank you Klein family for my snuggly puppy pj's. Ms. Kristi is teaching me right... I will need to work on mom and dad for more puppy dogs.




Thank you Padilla family for so many cute baby things. Ashe like to spend time with his puppy from Ms. Aimee.
Since mom won't let the real puppy near me I will have to spend time with my stuffed friend. I know between Ms. Aimee and Ms. Kristi they will help me get another real puppy some day. Love, Ashe



Thank you Priske family for the super cute Pooh outfit.
I wish I could have gotten a better picture of it, the feet look like he is wearing Pooh Bear slippers.




We are so grateful for all the warm thoughts, prayers, and gifts that we have received as we brought Ashe into this world.
I just wanted everyone to know that we thank you and appreciate everything you have done.
Please, stay tune throughout the blog for many more pictures of beautiful gifts Ashe is enjoying.

First Bath

Tonight we had our first attempt with giving Ashe a bath. He had his first bath at the hospital but now it was our turn. It only took the three of us to give one little person a bath. After the bath he was so sleepy and couldn't wait to get into his comfortable jammies.
Boy did he sleep good tonight.

My Boys

Many of you know I thought for some time when we were pregnant with ashy that we were having a girl. I even thought I was a little disappointed that we weren't having a girl when we found out. I now know that God has a plan. He knows that I love my boys and that maybe I was meant to raise boys.
I hear girls are a lot of stress and work and I already give myself enough work. By having boys I will have the opportunity to just enjoy them, no matter how crazy they get.

Going to the Doctor's

Today was Ashe's first outing. We took him to see his new doctor, Dr. Smith. He was great, we are so happy (thanks for the tip Lynn). The doctor really spent time with us going over everything in detail and answering all of our concerns with patience. Ashe was very content he was even great when he got the needle in his foot. Poor Baby!!!

Big Brother Nick

Nick has waited so long to be a big brother. We even got to the point in our family that we were starting to think that Nick was never going to get his wish. Things were content at home with lots of rest and relaxation. Nick was now older and things were calm. I can't believe how much has changed in such a short time. Nick adores Ashe. He reads to him and plays with him and just thinks he is a great little guy. Ashe on the other hand follows Nick's voice when he is in the room. He loves to just look at Nick. I just hope these boys will always think the world of one another.

Daddy's Little Boy

Daddy is very excited to be welcoming a new little boy into our family. Now he has one more to turn his hair gray.

Our New Arrival

Today we welcomed our new little boy...

Ashe Dane Herod

Winter Park Memorial Hospital

Oct. 3, 2006

9lbs. 6ozs.

21.5 inches long

1:38pm

Welcome to the world!!!

After all that waiting and thinking he was never going to come. Today welcomed our new little one into the world on Tuesday Oct. 3, 2006. Now he and his cousin Stephanie share a birthday. The day that Ashe celebrated his first birthday his cousin in PA celebrated her 3rd birthday. We are so glad that he is with us and is healthy.

Going to the Hospital

This is my last official day of being pregnant. One part of me will miss having the baby growing inside of me. The other part of me will be glad not to be so uncomfortable and to be able to hold my precious baby boy in my hands. The smile in the picture above is from nervous. This morning I woke around 4:15 and thought that my water could possibly be leaking. I wasn't sure so I changed clothes and went back to sleep. I woke some time around 5, wet again. I still wasn't sure so around 6 I woke again and thought this could be it so I got in the shower and started to get ready for the work out ahead of me. After talking to the doctor we got to the hospital and starting checking in round 8 am. When I got to the hospital my water was leaking and I was 6 cm along, so I had to stay. I tried to tell them I was schedule to have my induction on Thursday, but the baby had other plans. The hospital was great and the staff was awesome. The best part of the whole experience was my anesthesiologist Larry, you were right Trish, Larry took good care of me. What woman in labor doesn't love the guy who hands out the meds. For those of you who don't know I work at Red Bug with Trish and she forewarned her husband Larry that I was coming to his hospital soon and I would be looking for him. When I got there he came right away just to make sure I was comfortable and didn't need my medicine. I was really thinking that I could do it without meds, silly me I waited until we thought it was too late. At 9 1/2 cm I was yelling for them to find my friend Larry. He came in and they didn't think there was time for the epidural so the gave me a spinal, a shot of medicine in the back. Well that medicine started to wear off and I was getting uncomfortable again. They then had to start the epidural because they thought he as face up and it was going to be a long pushing process. All he got in me was my first dose and it was time to have the baby. It was only a few pushes and our very big boy 9lbs. 6 oz. came into the world.

Ashe Dane Herod

Still Waiting

We are now many days overdue and we are still waiting for our little one to arrive. We were just so sure he would be here sometime in Sept. but we are now starting Oct. and he just won't come out. Here his bed sits waiting for him. I have mixed feeling about being ready. I am torn between being nervous about the whole experience and being excited to finally hold the baby we have waited so long to have. I feel like I have been pregnant forever and I am starting to think I will be like this 'til Easter. I think he has it too good in the womb. I have my doubts if he'll ever come out.

Dinner with the girls

Since I live with a house of boys it is very, very nice to get away and spend time with some girls. Tonight the girls from work took me out for what may be my last grown-up meal. With the little one soon to arrive I don't know when I will have the chance to eat real food and have adult conversation. So we went to a restaurant called Kobe. This is a Japanese steak house where they cook the food right in front of you on this large grill. It meant a lot that they did so much to make me feel special at this hard, sometimes emotional time. Since my family is so far away and I don't have them to close to turn to, it is nice to have special work friends that have made this pregnancy so wonderful for me.

Getting Ready for Baby

Here Steven, Nick, and Abby are building the many baby supplies needed. I forgot just how many different things a little person needs. After all the stress of what pattern we were going to pick out, we ended up with the pattern I've always wanted. I wanted the baby's items to be browns and blues. It's so hard to be right all the time.

More Nursery Pictures!!!

I can't wait for the baby to come home to his new room. Now I guess all we need is the baby.

Baby Nursery Complete!!!!

The baby's room is finally done. I know that there are so many pictures but I just had to share the room with you from all different angles. This wonderful and hard work is the work of my great boys, Steven and Nick. So this new room is for our little surfer.

Baby Nursery

The boys have been keeping the nursery a big secret. This was the last time that I was allowed in the room. Here they are covering the maroon with many layers of primer. All I know is that one day the room is maroon and now??? I know that we are doing a surf theme. I can't wait to see it . I will be posting pictures as soon as I am allowed into the room. So stay posted.

8 Months

We are now in the 8th month of this pregnancy. We can't wait to meet our new little baby. He is growing bigger and bigger each day. The boys are busy getting his special room all ready for his arrival.

First Day of Second Grade

Today Nick had his first day of second grade. I am so proud of him. It feels just like yesterday that we walked him to his first day of Kindergarten. He had such a great day. He has a great teacher (which will making going on leave easier), met a lot of new friends, and he is in a classroom right next door to me.

Go Cowboys!!!

We are anxiously waiting the new football season. As you can see Steven already has the baby's game day outfit ready, now all we need is the baby.
Check out the cute little booties that go along with the outfit, that's best part.

Go Cowboys!

7 Months

We are now 7 months along in the pregnancy with this little baby boy. We are all excited and can't wait for the arrival of the newest member of our family.

Gardening

Today Nick and I added a little color to our yard. Nick work so hard he planted all nine plants with little assistance from me. He was so proud that he knows how to carefully pull the plants from the small flowerpot. We had an opportunity to look at the roots learned why they were so important.

Independence Day

We had a nice fourth of July we stayed home the boys (Steven and Nick) tossed the football in the yard. We grilled burgers and sat in our front yard and watch the neighbors set off hundreds of dollars worth of fireworks.

Overall, we had a wonderful time just the three of us.

Happy 4th of July!!!!

Rainy Day Fun

What does one do on a rainy summer day, when a tropical depression is on it's way???
You find something that keeps him busy.
Today Nick painted as we waited out the bad weather. He worked really hard on his ladybug project. We have rain coming for the rest of the week so by the end we will have a whole bug family.

6 Months

As of today we are now 6 months into our pregnancy. I am feeling more uncomfortable each day. Now that we are into the summer months, I am getting more rest, unfortunately it is also much hotter here in Florida.
A few more months and the newest soccer player will be joining the family. I can already feel his goal kick.

Summer Fun

Summer is a great time for our family. Nick and I are able to stay home throughout the days and have fun. We still work on our school work reading, math, and science. However our days are also filled with fun like games (he is driving us crazy with the game Clue) and even staying up late (well a little later). He is very proud of himself he is now working on not just taking baths, but he has been actually taking showers, on his own. In just a few short weeks Nick will be a second grader. This is very exciting for him, he has been waiting a long time, especially since I will be in second grade next door. This could be a good thing or a bad thing????

Today we did some shopping. Nick ended up with new pajamas and flip flops. We were able to have a nice lunch together at a restaurant where Nick was able to make his own pizza.

We even got lucky on our shopping trip and purchased our first major item for the baby. Today we finally found the infant car seat and stroller. So we will now be able to at least bring the baby home (that will be a good thing). It took us so long to find the right one. One thing down, about a million things to buy!

What Parents do out of love...

Since we didn't know that Bloomie Jr. would be joining our family yesterday. We had to celebrate his first birthday today. As you can see from the picture Bloomie is one year old. Nick made him his hat and helped him blow out the candle. Bloomie wasn't alone in his celebration as you can see from below some of his new toy box friends came out to wish him well.
Of course it was mostly the bears that came. Happy Birthday Bloomie Jr.!!!

Nick's New Friend

For those of you who have been reading my blogger for some time, you may remember a class stuff animal named Bloomie. Nick was sad to see his friends go from first grade but even more he was very sad to see Bloomie go. At the end of the school year Nick's teachers raffled him off to one of the students. Nick of course was not that student. So he was determined that he too would find and have his very own Bloomie. We went to tons of stores only to find that we were not going to find him. So rather than wait for months and keep looking for him, Steven and I let our fingers do the shopping. After what seemed like a short shopping trip we found our very own Bloomie. We found him in all sizes and all colors. When Nick saw this he insisted on the tiny one. I guess by having the tiny one it feels like a baby.
Today after much anticipation Bloomie arrived in our mailbox.
Welcome to the family, Bloomie Jr.

The Newest Herod

On May 25th, our family went to our first ultrasound. The picture above is of our new baby boy. We really thought it was going to be a girl this time. However we were very wrong. If you are having trouble with the picture above he is on his back looking up. We watched how active he is inside. I of course could already tell that he will be a future soccer player, like his big brother. When we were there I thought it was suppose to be a 3D scan. I asked the tech person, but I guess I was suppose to ask for it and pay an additional fee. I guess she could tell that I was disappointed and just not aware because she ended up turning on the 3D part of the machine. She was so nice.
Check out the 3D picture.

By the time she turned on the 3D part he was getting a little camera shy. I think he also just wanted her to stop pushing on him. He has Nick's cute little nose. He is laying on his arms under his face. I was upset to see how skinny he looks, but as I was told from now until the end he will be gaining most of his weight. He only weighs one pound in this picture. His little head is not that big, he was swishing into the surrounding area and she was trying to turn the camera view. While we were at our appointment she measured and checked all major organs such as his heart and brain. Everything looks great.

We are all excited and can't waited wait until he is here!!!

Another Season Over!!!

Nick has finished playing his final game this season. Next season he will play with U8. When he is playing on his new team there will now be no girls. He will really miss his friend Courtney.
Nick is excited to say that he now has six trophies and this one has got to be the coolest.
I can only hope by saying goodbye to so many girl players and starting a new team that we are not saying goodbye to team lightning.

If you click on the picture you can get a good shot of Nick helping his friend Daniel (in the yellow goalie shirt) protect the goal.