Jonas is 2 weeks old today and he is recovering (as we all are...) from 2 whirlwind trips. He's 14 days old and already been on a road trip through Tuscany and experienced the sights and sounds (and summer time heat) of Venice.

We had been planning at trip to Salzburg with my parents, but we thought better of crossing the border with an infant who doesn't have his passport yet and decided a trip through Tuscany would be just fine.

Here's Ezra at the Leaning Tower of Pisa. It's the best we could manage with a toddler who had no idea what we were trying to do.

Daddy, Ezra, and Jonas in the shade near the cathedral in Pisa.

We saw this rather unusual sculpture in the middle of a huge roundabout in Tuscany. Any guesses as to what it is?? Yeah. We didn't know either...

Next, we stopped at Volterra, an ancient Etruscan city. We couldn't drive into it, so we walked. We didn't plan to stay too long, but it seemed like there was something cool "just a little further in".

The large picture is one of the entrances to the city (we're on the inside) with the Tuscan country side in the backgound.

Our next stop was just about 30 minutes away: San Gimignano. San Gimignano was a bustling city and a popular stop for pilgrams on their way from northern Europe to Jerusalem during the Middle Ages. It spiraled into decline when the Black Plague occurred. It's most known for it's numerous towers. In the first pic of San Gimignano, Mike is refreshing Ezra in a fountain outside the city walls. We were all hot, and I was starting to worry about the kids a little, so Mom and I ran in for some souvenirs, pictures, and gelato while Mike pulled the car around.

We had planned another stop in Sienna, but it was a little out of the way and we still had to stop in Florence and head home. I was a little disappointed to miss it, but in the interest of keeping our sanity, we decided to bypass Sienna and head straight to Florence.

Apparently, I didn't take any pictures in Florence. We were only in town long enough to see the Duomo and go to our friends Henry and Michelle's house for some refreshment before heading home.

Yesterday, we went to Venice. The heat was almost unbearable, so we just hit the highlights. Mike had to work so it was one less person to help out with the kids and gear, but the folks and I (and a few friendly strangers) managed ok.

Today Jonas is one week old. Has it been a week already? Yes. Yes, it has. He's sleeping ok at night. We all get more sleep if he's in bed with us. He's still spitting up a fair amount. The nurse said that since I didn't push for that long, he lungs weren't sufficiently squeezed for all the amniotic fluid to come out.

In ther news, Ezra had his first haircut today. It went really well. There were some concerned looks when he got out the razor, but no tears!

I will also have those of you who thought I was "soooo big" during pregnancy know that I'm already within 15 lbs of my pre-pregnancy weight. My body is sore all over from going from around 154 to 130 in a week, but I'm not complaining. I've not exercised at all yet, so hopefully in a couple of weeks when I'm fully recovered and can start exercising, that 15 lbs will come right off. :)

Welcome Jonas Andrew!!



After a mere 18 hours of labor instead of 3 days, baby Jonas arrived. I had been having contractions 5-7 minutes apart starting about 1pm on Wednesday. By Wednesday evening they were beginning to get very painful, so I called the labor and delivery ward. They told me with my past labor and delivery history, it would probably go slowly again, but to let them know if my water broke, the baby stopped moving, or I was bleeding bright red blood. About an hour later as I was sitting on the couch having a contraction I felt what I believed to be my water breaking. However, when I went to the bathroom it was bright red blood. So I kind of went into panic mode and we headed off to the hospital pretty quickly. As Ezra had already been put down for the night, we had a friend that lives here in town come stay with him while he slept.

Upon arrival, they hooked me up and made sure Jonas was ok--which he was. They monitored me for a while and then checked my dilation. I was a 4-5 so they admitted me. The blood was from my cervix opening.






They administered the epidural pretty quickly. At about 6 cm as opposed to 8 like with Ezra. They had a little trouble numbing my left side and had to give me more than they had expected for my size.

Things were moving along, but between about 3 and 5 am my contraction began to get less consitent and more irregular. They had to turn down the epidural and give me Pitocin to speed things back up. I was beginning to have quite a bit of pain again when the nurse checked me. She said that there was still a little piece of cervix in the way, but that I might be able to push the baby's head past it. So after 2 or 3 pushes, he was clear of the cervix and I began to push with the midwife present.

It only took about 6 or 7 pushes before his head was out. However, as he came out, the umbilical chord tightened around his neck. The midwife told me to stop pushing as she unwrapped the chord twice. I pushed once more, and they had to whisk him away because he was rather pale and limp. It took only moments to revive him though. The midwife thought it was only at the very end that the chord tightened, because he wasn't in very bad shape and they had no indication of distress during labor. He was born at 7:09 am on June 12, 2008, weighing 7 lbs 9 oz, and 20 inches long.


Jonas came into the world in front of quite an audience. Daddy, of course, was close by throughout it all. Nana and Grandpa were also there. My friends Elisa and Elizabeth were also there for moral support and to take pictures. All of those were in addition to the midwife and about 4 or 5 nurses. Thank goodness it was a big room.

They discharged us both the next day and we came home. The first night was a little rough, but I have lots of help so no complaints so far. Thanks for the prayers. Everything went very well.

(The dates on some of the pictures are wrong...)

I had a Dr. appointment today and the news was bleak: still no progress. But she said that didn't mean too much and that I could really go at any moment. She felt the baby's head and the heart rate was fine. I still offically have 4 days until my due date, so I'm still hoping we'll see him sometime this week.

Since I didn't get around to blogging yesterday, 39 weeks has come and gone with no baby. I have a Dr. appointment tomorrow, so hopefully she can give me some good news. However, I thought for sure I had gotten closer last week, and hadn't at all. This week I don't really feel as if I have so perhaps the opposite will be true (yeah right...). I thought for sure that I would have Jonas early. I guess I still might, but I thought it would be more in the realm of weeks early instead of days early. Oh well, the longer he cooks, the better I guess...

Here are some pictures of our new car. It took a lot of headache and yelling for it to get here. In the end, we were actually compensated $300.00 by Dodge for all of our trouble. Which is just about the amount of our first payment, so that was nice. Deserved, but nice. A few people said they wanted to see pictures, but I'm not really sure what of. It's pretty much the same as any other Dodge Journey you can find on the Dodge website. It's got a few bells and whistles, but I felt silly putting pictures of my car on here. We are definitely excited about it though.

It already has a lot of miles on it for only having it a few days. We took it an hour south to the Venice airport and back to pick up my parents. We also took it about an hour and a half east and back to the city of Trieste for some sightseeing. But that was the whole point of having by the time they got here---so we would have a vehicle that we could all travel in together. We've all had a blast so far. Just waiting on the baby....

We went with a group of people from our Sunday school class to Caorle, Italy. This was Ezra's 2nd trip to beach, but the first one was when he was only about 3 mos so much has changed. He absolutely LOVED it. The water was pretty chilly, but he was splasing around and loved when a wave would come and even laughed if it splashed him in the face. He also loved playing in the sand and running around. The beach is about an hour away, but I think we'll be making
more trips for Ezra's sake.

I had a Dr. appointment on Tuesday, but sadly there was little to report. I've only dilated about 1/2 a cm in 2 weeks, despite increasing contractions. But I'm glad that it looks as if my parents will make it out in time for the birth.

We finally got our new car today. It came about 4 weeks later than we expected and we had to have several heated discussions with our car guy and his supervisor, but it looks as if it as arrived exactly in the nick of time. God is good!

Are you ready to see the cutest picture of Mike and Ezra ever? Ezra knows where all his facial features are. This week he discovered what he has to do to "show his teeth" and make us laugh at the same time. It never fails. Plus, it works great for pictures. :)

I'm 38 weeks. Jonas is pretty much fully baby. He should be at his birth weight and ready to make his appearance any time. I have a Dr. appointment on Tuesday, so I'm eager to hear what she says. Surely all the contractions I've been having in the past week have done some good.

We're going to the beach tomorrow and have a busy week with appointments. THEN, my Mom and Dad are coming on Friday, so hopefully Jonas will hang in there a few more days. It would be a shame if they missed the birth by only a few days. In addition, labor and delivery would certainly put damper on my plans. :) However, it is getting warmer every day. It's not in the 90s like Houston, but even the 80s with no AC is pretty uncomfortable when you're 9 1/2 months pregnant.

I'll probably blog an update after my Dr. appointment on Tuesday. Otherwise, stay tuned for exciting news!