John's 2nd Birthday...and the invasion of the 2s!

Happy birthday to my big boy, John!

Since he was turning 2, he had 2 birthday parties :) (This will not become a tradition...)

First, he had a party with 2 themes...Curious George and Guitars...thrown for him by his 2 Aunts), Cindy and Mary Beth. The party was complete with (you guessed it!) 2 guitar players -- Sean and his friend (well, I guess this was actually 3 guitar players since John was of course playing as well!)

And then today he went with his 2 parents and sister...

and his 2 nannies (we're in a transition phase)...

to the Rain Forest Cafe where he ate -- yes -- 2 orders of hot dogs and too may donuts!
Happy Birthday, my love!!

Big Brother

When I was pregnant with Annie, I was VERY concerned about how John would react to his new sister. I was worried he'd be jealous...or not like her. Was I ever wrong.

Our days now consist of John running into the room and asking for "Baby Annie!!" Then he SO gently kisses her head. And tells us to kiss Baby Annie. And then sits down and asks to hold her. And then he's off to play the guitar! And back again to kiss and hug Annie.

I couldn't ask for more!

Except for this -- if people (especially doctors helping to deliver your baby) could please restrain from sharing stories about sibling rivalry with their very hormonal patients, I'd appreciate it :)

Ready, Set, Baby

Lots has happened in the past month...it will take me a few posts to share it all!!

Let's start with one of the most interesting conversations I've ever had in my life...

Tom and I were at our 37 week OB visit, and our doctor said all was looking good. (GOOD!) Then she asked us if we'd like to schedule an induction.

What?

There are very few conversations in life that you've never had before and had nothing to draw from... (except if you're my friend Leah who has *very* unique conversations about becoming a mama and I will always be in awe of her). But this one took us by surprise -- an induction? So we'd just sign up and pick a date and basically choose our baby's birthday? OK...

Benefits: We'd be sure we'd have our OB (vs. the chance of having one of the partners who annoys the BAGEEBERS out of both of us), we'd be sure John has someone scheduled to be there (thanks Aunt Cindy!!), and we'd know what day to look forward to.

Drawbacks: Should we mess with nature? What if she's not ready? And then there was the big drawback...our appt turned out to be at 1:30am...

We decided to go with it.

We got ready.

The date was picked -- Feb. 25, 2010. A special added bonus -- she'd be born on her Papa and cousin Cathy's birthday!!!

That day I heard this Black Eyed Peas song...and I started to get really excited about this all happening...I got home and made a CD to listen to on the way to the hospital...and then when it was time to go, Tom and I were driving to the hospital and he asked how I was doing...and I nearly broke down. I was so scared and excited and nervous and worried about John and anxious to meet our new daughter...I was completely overcome.

We got to the hospital...they started the induction...and at 6am they broke my water (and the doctor who did so proceeded to tell me about how he hated her brother when he was born and used to hit him all the time...this will be addressed more in my next post...) At about 11:15am it was time to push...I pushed for 15 min...and then she arrived at 11:37am...Kathleen Annette Lydon joined us and again I was overcome...with love and relief.