Welcome Joanna!

Our little Jojo is already 2 1/2 months old. Life's been exhausting (in the best way), but it's left me little time for journaling. Joanna Rae Shaw was born April 1, 2016 at 9:15 a.m. weighing 8lbs 2oz. I was five days over her due date and headed to the hospital early on a Friday morning to be induced. I was induced with June and based on her delivery experience, felt fairly optimistic about the day ahead. We checked into the delivery room a little after 7 and at 7:30 the doctor came in to break my water. Piece of cake so far. I was already dilated to a 4 and the nurse started me on a low dose of Pitocin to get things moving. But before the medicine had a chance to kick in, my body started contracting on it's own.

5 minutes before going into the delivery room.
(Just call me torpedo mama. Good grief).

Contractions started at 7:45 and by 8:30 I was really feeling it. They had been steadily coming every 5 minutes or so since they began, but by 8:30 they were coming in strong and fast. 8:45 and I was calling for an epidural, trying not to be a whimp--sure we were still hours away from delivery. By 8:50 I was moaning to Tim that I wasn't sure I'd be able to sit up for the epidural because the contractions were so frequent and painful (every 2 minutes by this point). Another patient was getting an epidural and I was next in line. The nurse assured me that it wouldn't be longer than a half hour before the epi came. I was wincing, breathing heavy, grabbing on tightly to the bed frame throughout each contraction. The nurse reminded me to breath slowly and said she'd check to see how dilated I was in an hour or so. No big deal, right?

By 9:00 I was audibly moaning. I couldn't help it. The contractions were SO painful and there was maybe a 30 second break between them. I was grabbing onto Tim telling him I wanted an epidural, telling him there's no way I'd be able to sit up for one. And by 9:05 the pain was so excruciating and the pressure so strong, I grabbed Tim and told him the baby was coming. The nurse moseyed on in and checked to see how dilated I was. I remember her checking me, and then quickly walking out into the hallway and shouting for the doctor. I remember her shouting something about the baby coming. I was in survival mode on the hospital bed, begging for the epidural. Grabbing Tim's arm and quickly shutting him up anytime he tried to comfort me. Several nurses and the doctor were all of the sudden in the room all around me. It still hadn't clicked that this was it. The doctor let me know that I was fully dilated to a ten and it was time. I was a little in shock. I asked for epidural again and they let me know that there was no time, the baby was coming. That's when pain and panic took over.

I remember repeating over and over again, "I can't do this! I can't do this!" And nobody seemed to have gotten the memo because the doctor told me to push. Wanting it to be over, I pushed. Man oh man did I push. Before my 3rd push, I laid there still repeating, "I can't" and the nurse came over, looked me in the eyes and said, "yes, you can do this." I remember thinking, lady, you don't know me. That positive talk ain't gonna work on me. I quickly disageed with another, "No, I can't!" And she grabbed my hand and said, "You can do this. Your little girl needs you. You can do this for your baby girl." And that's when I shut up, closed my eyes and pushed so hard I thought I might die.

And then she was here. I heard a few cries and they brought her right to me and laid her on my chest.

I'll never forget how beautiful she was at that moment. She stopped fussing and immediately became quiet as she laid on top of me. She was so sweet and I was instantly in love. We named her the next morning. I was alone with her in my hospital room, watching an episode of Fixer Upper. The host on the show is named Joanna. It put the name back in my mind from months earlier when Tim and I had discussed it as a possibility. I looked up the meaning - gift from God or God is gracious, and I knew we had found a name.

Let me preface this post with a bit of a disclaimer. I'm 9 months preggo, past my due date, and doggonit I'm tired. I keep my little 17 month old busy with all kinds of fun, engaging and educational activities, I promise. We read books, we sing the alphabet, we go to the park, we have play dates, we eat fruits and veggies at breakfast, lunch, and dinner and in between for snacks...and yada yada yada. This girl hardly ever watches tv. But occasionally when I'm puking every hour during my first trimester and resemble Mr. Burns from the Simpsons or when I haven't slept in a week because I'm up peeing every 15 minutes at night, the afternoon calls for a quick Blues Clues break on the couch with mommy. She usually loses interest before we get through half of the show, but today I'm a day over my due date and feeling it in every way. So, we popped some popcorn in the popcorn maker (*note: healthy snack!) ((*note note: can you tell I'm trying to feel better about my lazy, preggo mom decisions lately??)) and watched an episode of Blue today. It was her first sit down in front of the tv with a bowl of popcorn in hand and I've gotta say, the girl's a natural. Belly hanging out, eyes glued to the tv, and the fist shovin' in the popcorn. I was amused. Girlfriend can "veg" with the best of 'em.

One bonus to going past my due date - another day with my built-in ice cream table. (That's not a pint...)

Beans, man. They sure are fun. Hours and hours of fun. We've been on a dry bean trend lately. Some measuring spoons, cups, and a few fuzz balls for good measure and we're set for the afternoon.

When she's not beanin' it up, she's reading a book to herself or trying to escape mommy's hold. She took her first steps a month ago and now she's little miss independent. There's nothing worse to her than having to hold mommy's hand. She always looks at me like, "mom, c'mon. i can totes walk on my own! what are you thinking trying to hold my hand??" And just like that my little baby's a toddler. And you better believe that sentence makes me cry a little.

The following picture sums it up well - this is me trying to hold her hand while crossing the parking lot entrance, and June making a break for the parking lot entrance, trying to pull her hand away.

Her favorite time of day is waiting for daddy to get home. Sometimes we wait for him on the street corner by the rocks that she loves to play in. Evidence of her independent walking streak can be seen here on her nose. The poor girl's busted it numerous times at the park this week. And life is as it should be for our spunky little toddler :)

I've got a few weeks left of this pregnancy and I'm definitely feeling it. I'm slowing down, folks. About the only thing that sounds appealing these days is parking it on the couch with some ice cream or a box of donuts. So I've got to be creative to keep up with my crazy toddler. Yesterday I grabbed the popcorn maker and introduced her to it's wonder. We popped a bowl, toddled (yes, we both toddled) back to the couch, and shared some fresh popped popcorn. Entertaining, healthy, but most of all, a couch related activity. Score.

My favorite part of this activity came when June noticed she wasn't getting her fair share. She would take one kernel at a time, eat it, and then go back for more. But halfway through the bowl, as the kernels were disappearing, I noticed her stop and watch me take several kernels at a time and pop them into my mouth (because that's how I roll--"several" may be a bit of an understatement).  Her eyebrows furrowed as she watched me do it again. She looked down at the bowl as if realizing that it was disappearing faster than her little tummy was comfortable with. And as I reached down to fist my next bite, she grabbed my hand, shook her head back and forth, threw my hand out of the bowl and said, "nah!"

I tried to go in for a few more kernels and she quickly intercepted. Fairs fair. When did my girl get so smart?

Spring starts early in Sacramento. It's February and the birds are chirping, blossoms are popping, the sun is shining, and June is sporting her sunglasses. Constantly. I love that she loves them so much. They definitely pair well with her sassy personality.

Love my spunky girl.

Since waking up from her nap this afternoon, June's been sitting in her crib chattin' it up with her teddy bear and cracking herself up. So naturally, I took this opportunity to get out a shovel and the chocolate ice cream and plop my 35-wk-preggo self on the couch, waiting for the first "ma-aahmm" request from her to get up from her nap.

It has now been 45 minutes of jibber jabber and belly laughs. Aaand I'm out of ice cream. Nap time for the day is officially over I guess.