The Birth Story

Dear Elisha,
    I wanted to tell you your birth story because my mom likes to tell me mine every year on my birthday. I plan to carry on the same tradition and am starting on it early. So here's a little story about the day (and night before) you were born.
   On April 25, 2013, your daddy and I got home from a Stonebridge event around 7 or 8pm. He was still hungry and was craving Sonic ice cream (for reals... I was pregnant, but he was the one with the craving). We went out around 10pm and my stomach was kind of hurting, but I still ordered some ice cream for myself because I firmly believe in saying yes to ice cream whenever it's offered. When we went outside, I noticed that it appeared to be a full moon. Your Great Grandma Bradshaw, who has been a nurse for 60+ years, has said that more babies are born during the full moon than at any other point during the month. Well, this made me think that maybe it was more than a stomachache, but it couldn't be because you weren't due for another 3 days. We got our ice cream, took it home, and I ate about 1/3 of it. We spent the next hour or so timing whether there was a pattern to these stomachaches and sure enough, it was happening every 7 minutes or so. I was in labor and would soon be getting to meet you!  
   We waited until the contractions were about 3 minutes apart because we didn't want to go to the hospital and have them turn us away. Therefore, we got to the hospital around 3am. I was in a lot of pain at that point and asked to get the epidural as soon as possible. They said they had to get some fluids into me and then they would be able to give me the epidural. I thought, "No big deal. I'll be getting some pain relief in no time at all."... Around 5:30am, I had the fluids in me and the anesthesiologist was giving me an epidural. 2 1/2 hours after getting to the hospital! My point is that I was in a lot of pain for WAY longer than I expected. Then he gave me that injection and it was all sunshine and rainbows and unicorns.
   The doctor came in to check me and said that he thought you would be born around 9am... you were born at 4:21pm. Needless to say, I had a lot of getting my hopes up and being disappointed for about 7 hours there. They would say I was ready to push, then I would push and they would say it wasn't time yet and we needed to wait a bit. There was also a point when they had to put me on my side in order for you to move and be in the right position to come out. That point coincided with the epidural wearing off. Something your daddy was nice enough to figure out about an hour after it happened. Luckily, your daddy is a great advocate and he got them to fix that epidural quickly.
   Finally, around 3:30pm, it really was time to push. The doctor from the morning had left and Dr. Colwill was the one who delivered you. She was so incredibly nice- talking me through it and asking us questions about our lives. Your daddy kept making jokes, telling me he loved me, and telling me I was beautiful. He was an excellent teammate during the whole process (minus texting everyone with updates about what was happening... I did not want to hear that text message beep anymore.) They kept saying that they saw your head, which made me think you were almost out... it was another 45 minutes or so before you were actually in my arms. I pushed when they told me to and when I could tell that you really were almost here, I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to push anymore. It was about 3 more times and then you were really, truly, FINALLY out!
   Now, I have watched a lot of "A Baby Story" in my life, and I usually get a little teary-eyed when I see the mother holding her baby for the first time. They're usually pretty emotional about it, too. When you came out, though, I was just so absolutely relieved that you were here and in my arms. All of that pushing is really tiring and I was just so happy that it was over, so I didn't cry. Sorry about that. I was also excited about meeting you in person and being able to hold you. My point is that there wasn't time for weepy emotions and I just wanted to hang out with you... I also wanted to eat Chicken McNuggets and drink a Diet Coke because I hadn't eaten in about 18 hours. Your grandparents were nice enough to get those and have them ready for me soon after you were born.
   About 2 hours after you were born, the pediatrician came in and said that you were born with a temperature of 103 degrees. They had to put you on some antibiotics through an IV and it meant that you would have to stay in the hospital nursery for 2 days. This scared me a little, but I knew that you would be okay.
   We hung out in the delivery room for a few more hours because I couldn't walk, then we went to spend the night in a recovery room. I got up to go to the bathroom around 4am and your daddy heard me, so he said, "Do you want to go and visit the baby in the nursery?' I said yes and thought it was adorable because he had never cared much about babies until he met you. When he met you, he was over-the-moon in love.
  We heard a loud scream as we were walking down there and found out it was you. It turns out that you had just thrown up some bright green bile and they were afraid that there was something wrong with your small intestine. They were going to have to transfer you to the NICU at CHKD. This was more scary than the news from the night before and it was heartbreaking to see you in the little mobile crib that they use to transport babies between hospitals. I've never been in an ambulance and you went in one during the first 24 hours of your life. After you were taken there, they ran some tests and found out that you were going to be okay. They just had to keep you on the antibiotics for a few more days, which ended up being 5 days and we were finally able to bring you home 6 days after you were born.
   So there's your birth story- it's kind of a long one and more dramatic than I expected it to be. Hopefully the drama thing isn't something that continues throughout your life. Unless it leads you to becoming a famous actor and supporting your father and me in the manner in which we'd like to become accustomed.

Show Us Your Life- Jenny Edition

I love matchmaking, so I was very happy when Jenny told me about "Show Us Your Life". It meant that I could possibly play a role in helping her find the love of her life and since she absolutely deserves that, it was an honor to be asked to write about her. Here are the things that I love about Jenny and you'll probably love, too, if you're lucky enough to get to meet her:

- She loves Jesus more than anything and she always does a great job of trying to make sure that her decisions are God's will and not her own. She's done this through prayer, Bible study, and patiently waiting when she's unsure of a clear answer on what to do in her life.

- She's a wonderful friend and does an excellent job of maintaining friendships, even though many of them are long distance now. She's been in 5 weddings that I can think of off the top of my head, including my own, and a few of those have been people that she's known since childhood. She's very good about writing letters, making phone calls, and e-mailing to make sure that she knows what's going on in the life of her friends. The four of us in this picture volunteered together during 2008-2009 in Kentucky and we still keep in touch through a notebook that we send to each other with updates on our lives.

                                                     From left: Kim, Jenna, Jenny, Jess

- She's adventurous and does things like finding new places to hike, traveling to far-off places, rock climbing, and SKYDIVING.

 

Off-roading... we weren't really, but it was a cute picture with Jenny in the middle.

                           
- She loves to watch football... isn't this every guy's idea of the perfect woman?

- She likes to be active and does a great job of staying in shape. This is especially difficult to do in Berea, KY because there aren't a ton of places to exercise there, but she still manages to find spinning classes and go running.

                             Jenny's on the right. This is from a team marathon in Louisville 2009.
                                                  
- She's a good cook, which I know because I was her housemate for 1 year. She also came up with fun food themes, such as Derby Pie and Hot Browns in honor of the Kentucky Derby.

                                              At the Kentucky Derby. Jenny's on the left.

- She's ultra-smart. She was her high school valedictorian and she went to Vanderbilt University for her Master's degree in School Counseling.

- She's great at helping people. Some of the big responsibilities of her job are organizing Christmas basket distributions for families in Kentucky who don't have much money and may not be able to afford much for their families at Christmastime. She also organizes School Readiness to make sure that kids have all of the school supplies that they need when they return to school in the fall. Those are just two of the big things that she does, plus she advocates for the various needs of people on a daily basis.

In conclusion, Jenny's a total catch and you (or the loved one that you think she'd be right for) should get to know her!

http://www.kellyskornerblog.com/2012/02/show-us-your-life-show-us-your-singles.html

Best Concert Ever!

We went to see The Fray and Kelly Clarkson in concert last night and it was such a blast! My dream concerts are/have been U2, The Fray, and Taylor Swift. We were able to see U2 last June, so I was excited to check another band off the list when I heard that The Fray were coming to Virginia Beach. I also held off on getting tickets because it was at the Virginia Beach Amphitheater and I figured the lawn seats weren't going to sell out. My waiting paid off and I was able to buy 2 tickets for the concert on Groupon for $15 last month.

Some of the highlights from the concert last night were:
1) It finally being cool enough to wear a sweatshirt and jeans.
2) Walking to the lawn and being asked if we wanted a free upgrade to seats in the Amphitheater (we took them, duh.)
3) People-watching, especially because there's a very diverse following of people who listen to Kelly Clarkson and The Fray. Some of my favorites were:
    a) Seeing a dad with his teenage daughter who was in a wheelchair as they talked and joked around.
    b) The group of 5 junior high girls who were dancing and singing along with the music.
    c) The 2 men who appeared to be a couple and knew every word to every Kelly Clarkson song.
    d) The 2 women in their 40's who ran into the bathroom and screamed with excitement because all of the stalls were unoccupied before the concert began.
    e) The junior high girl who was there with her family and appeared to be doing the Monster Mash to Kelly Clarkson's music.
4) Singing as loudly as I could to "Because of You," "Stronger," and "Since U Been Gone" during the Kelly Clarkson portion.
5) Kelly Clarkson covering "Already Gone" by Leona Lewis and saying that she had forgotten the words in the middle of it. Luckily, she was in the audience at that point, so people were able to help her out.
6) This one's my favorite: A woman recognized us from Essential Church during the break between Kelly Clarkson and The Fray. She said that she was going to be leaving early with her daughter and asked if we wanted to take their seats that were even closer to the front. We were probably about 100 feet from the stage and didn't even need to look at the screens to see them. So cool and it was very kind of her!
7) Giving Miss Kim's phone number to Joe... (this one's a lie, but I would have loved for it to happen.)
8) Singing along with Andrew to every song by The Fray.
9) Getting to experience all of this with Andrew because I have so much fun with him and because The Fray is the one band that both of us love listening to.
10) No traffic getting out of the parking lot. We figured out that a lot of the kids were there to see Kelly Clarkson and if they stayed until the end of The Fray, it would be way past their bedtimes.

This night was something I had looked forward to for a long time and it absolutely exceeded my expectations!

If My Life Flashed Before My Eyes...

The other day, my sister blogged about what she hoped/thought she would see if her life flashed before her eyes, then instructed me to do the same after I commented on it. I'm going to try to do the same now. And, to read her awesome blog post, go to www.longdistancelobsters.com.

- Waiting all day at the hospital for Eiley to be born and then finally getting to hold her.

- My wedding day. I just started to list way too many things from it, so I think I'll put those in another blog.
- That perfect summer day when we went to the beach, rode bikes, got frozen yogurt, and barbecued.
- That random summer night when we tried to pass out sandwiches to homeless people in the Back Bay and got pulled over briefly by a cop because he thought the sandwiches were drug paraphernalia.
- That perfect winter day in Kentucky where we had a snowball fight, drank hot chocolate, watched Faerie Tale theater, and played Scrabble.
- That perfect winter day in Virginia when school was canceled, so Andrew came over for watching HIMYM, kissing, going to the mall, and dinner at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront.
- Andrew and I sitting on the couch at my old apartment and him telling me that he'd had dreams where we were getting married and I was holding our daughter.
- Late night talks with Robyn Boyd (not any specific ones, but there have been so many that I'm sure I'd have a picture of it in my mind).
- Emmy punching me in the stomach when she was 5 and I was 8 because she was mad at Tiffany (this isn't a happy memory, but it's always been so vivid that I'm sure it would come up at the end of my life).
- Experiencing a huge summer storm while camping in Lake Havasu and watching people try to take pictures of the lightning... then watching them realize how it's next to impossible to take pictures of lightning (this was before digital cameras existed).
- Watching one of the counselors and 2 of the little girl campers at Royal Family Kids' Camp dance to "In Your Presence" by Charity Von.
- I'm sure that I would picture at least one of my fancy birthday dinners with my dad. I think this year will be our 21st year of doing that, so there would be tons of memories to choose from.
- Watching the sunset in Mexico while doing devotions with Andrew.
- Going with Eiley and Emmy to take pictures during Eiley's mini-monthly photo shoots.
- One of those days when Andrew and I go to Busch Gardens and Zaxby's. Those are always wonderful!
- Seeing my dad walk my sister up the aisle and watching Jeff openly weep upon her entrance.
- Vahdan giving me a toast and singing to me on my 28th birthday.
- Going to Haiti with my mom and getting to hold babies at an orphanage there.
- Watching Disneyland fireworks.
- Taking long walks in Newport Beach with various friends.
- Having a HIMYM party on Monday nights at the Canal House and crowding my green couch with a bunch of my favorite people.
- Having a Bachelor/Bachelorette/Bachelor Pad party every Monday with Andrew.
- I'm certain that I would see something random that Emmy had instigated (Scrabble at Downtown Disney, Tabitha's birthday scavenger hunt, various theme parties, etc.).
- The April Fool's Day when my mom almost convinced me that there was an ejector seat in the car or the one where our parents surprised us with a night at the Disneyland Hotel.

That seems to be a lot and I'm sure I wouldn't see all of those things, but it would be great if I did.

Happy 1st Anniversary, Andrew Garrett!

It's our 1st anniversary today and I can't believe how quickly it's all gone by so far! I'm happy to be your wife and am so thankful that I ended up with you as a husband. You were totally worth the wait! As you know, I've made a few top 10 lists about my loved ones, so consider yourself fortunate to get one today. In no particular order, here are the things that I love about you:

1) You love Jesus more than anything.
2) You love me at a close second and have done an excellent job of loving me in the same way that Christ loved the church.
3) You are an amazing cook! Jess told me when I saw her this past week that she would know we had a good marriage if I was eating vegetables now. She was right and you doctor them up better than anyone I know, which makes me love eating them.
4) You are great at pulling information out of me, even though I bottle it up too much. I love that you're patient and willing to get to the bottom of things when we're having a conflict.
5) You're fun to hang out with. Whether it's going to Busch Gardens and Zaxby's, going out for a nice dinner, or spending time at home, I just love spending time with you.
6) Sometimes, when we get to the end of the week and relax, I think that it's like we're having a slumber party. Then I realize that it's kind of like I'll be having one for the rest of my life with my best friend. It's the best feeling.
7) You've been working hard at staying in shape and have been consistent with going to the gym. I appreciate that a lot of it is because you want to be healthy for me.
8) You're a wonderful teacher and have taught many of your students to love history. Plus, 10 out of 16 with a 3, 4, or 5 in AP is a huge deal! I know those kids look up to you and that you're a great role model for them.
9) You love your family and mine. This was always something that was important to me when I was looking for a husband and you exceeded my expectations. I also know that when the time comes, you'll be an amazing dad.
10) You're gifted musically. You sing, play the guitar, and write songs so well! I'm still hoping you or someone else will record "Thanks for the Memories" in order to make us a ton of extra money at graduation time each year.

I love you so much and love being married to you!

Book Recommendation- "The Reading Promise," by Alice Ozma

Last year, I was listening to the radio and heard the sweetest father/daughter story of my life. The man who wrote in said that he wanted something to connect him to his daughter as she got older. She was about 9 years old at the time and he decided they would see how many days in a row they could read with each other. The only rules were that it had to be for at least 10 minutes each night and the reading had to occur before midnight. It ended up that they were able to keep this reading streak going until Alice's first day of college. I thought it was so amazing that they were able to do this together and was very excited last week to find out that Alice had written a book about their experience.

I ended up reading it on my way to and from Colorado and was completely fascinated by it. When I first heard their story, one thought that ruined the sweetness of it was that I couldn't believe she hadn't spent any nights away from home. It turns out that she was a very well-adjusted girl, a good student who was also involved in theater. She had solid friendships and even a boyfriend or two. She talked about how they would read earlier in the day if one of them was going to be out late. There was one night when she had a very late play rehearsal and her dad ended up coming to it before midnight in order to read to her in the parking lot.

I loved reading about their father/daughter relationship and it seemed that she gave an honest portrayal of her life with her dad. She talked about how he would edit out certain parts of stories in order to keep her innocent and that his idea of physical affection was scratching his finger on top of her head. She could also tell him anything and respected him so much for the quality time that he invested with her. She ended up going on to Rutgers and getting her degree in English Literature, so it's obvious that all of the time her dad spent reading to her paid off.

Here's a link to their story on CBS News.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkqItDSfHTM&feature=related

Happy Birthday, Emmy Fazakerley!

My sister, Emily, turned 29 today (no, really... she's 29 today. And next year she'll be 30.) I wanted to write a top 10 list of the things I love about her, but she hates even numbers. Therefore, she gets a top 11 list.

In no particular order...
1) Creative- The most recent endeavor was when she asked me to paint onesies for the baby shower of one of our friends, so we painted 4 of them. Other activities include robot drawings, making up songs to play on the ukulele, keeping a daily blog with one of her best friends from college (Hi Zoe!), decoupaging, and creating theme parties.
2) Hilarious- One of my personal favorites from childhood was when she wrote a ransom note to the "Tooth Fairy" because her tooth had been under her pillow for a year or something. She said they wouldn't get it back if they didn't pay her within the week. She also used to write me random notes that she'd slide under my bedroom door, usually about boys. I think she wrote one to me entirely in Spanish because of the crush I had on a guy in my Spanish class.
3) Loves Jesus- She listens closely to what the Holy Spirit is telling her and has made a lot of very wise decisions because of her relationship with Jesus.
4) Excellent wife- This is evident by how much she respects Jeff and how he's so very smitten with her. They're both so proud of each other, they work hard to be giving with the other one, and they treat each other exceptionally well.
5) Wonderful mother- You can tell how much she adores Eiley and it's very obvious how much Eiley adores her, too, because she'll take her momma over anyone else in the room. It's been so fun to watch her with Eiley and to hear about what they're doing together (walking at the Botanical Gardens, going on the swings, reading new books, basketball games, etc.). Eiley's a very well-behaved and portable baby because her parents aren't afraid to take her to new places.
6) Champion lefse-maker- Even though I practically shared a birthday with my great-grandma, Mudder, Emmy became the golden child when it came to lefse-making because of her mad rolling pin skillz.
7) Hospitable- She loves having people over to their apartment for dinner and games or bad movies. She also puts on some great theme parties (for example, her birthday party last night was, "Choose Your Own Theme.").
8) Fantastic writer- All you have to do is go to www.longdistancelobsters.com and find that one out (although, I'm pretty sure that everyone who reads this is already reading that one.)
9) Great friend- This is obvious from the long-lasting friendships that she has. When she considers someone to be a close friend, then she will probably keep in touch with them for the rest of her life.
10) Smart cookie- She was reading at the 5th grade level when she entered Kindergarten. She went to Westmont, which is like the Harvard or Yale of Christian colleges. She has also excelled at all of the jobs that she's had.
11) Loves her family- I'm talking about the people she grew up with... Tim, Robyn, and Jenna Boyd. Plus, the Boyd and Bradshaw families. She loves spending time with us and does a great job of making that time count. Whether it's dinner and movie mocking with me; dinner, laundry, and "24" with the Boyd side; or getting a sub for my dad at school in order to go to Disneyland for the day- it's all because she loves us.

In conclusion- you're an awesome sister, Emmy! I'm thankful for you, proud of you, and I love you!