Mother's Day

Due to way too much stuff happening at once, Mother's day was pushed late this year.  Anyway, here is Cassandra presenting Mommy with her present.  (It was LEGO R2D2.)

Michael's Visitors From St. Louis

Mommy's and Daddy's friends from St. Louis were in town for a family visit and were able to swing by before they headed home.  Michael was happy they visited especially since he got to meet another Michael.

Relaxing with April

Michael Squared!

First Photoshoot

Today, Michal had his first official photo shoot.  Here are some of our favorites:

"So soft!"

"Let me think about it."

Next On The List...

Aunt Kristi and Uncle John stopped by to say hi!  You cannot tell from this picture but Aunt Kristi is pregnant and is due the end of September.  This means Michael will have a cousin in town only four months younger although they probably would end up in different classes in school.

Michael hanging out with Uncle John.  Notice that Michael is wearing a different hat from yesterday.  He is not really a fan of hats, completely opposite of his sister.  Like I said, it will be interesting to see how different they are.

Time To Meet The Grandparents

Well first up tonight is Papa Hodges.  Michael proceeded to treat Papa like everyone else, as a warm pillow.  I guess he was so exhausted by the 12 hours of labor he just couldn't be bothered to stay awake.  Funny part is Papa joked about not knowing what to do with a boy because he had four daughters and four granddaughters.  Guess he is going to need to read the manual but is doing good so far.

Now Grandma Hodges gets a turn to hold Michael.  Notice the spot of high fashion that Grandma is wearing.  Grandpa thought the yellow sticker looked so good that he should have one.

Grandma Wendel knows exactly what to do with boys since she had three of her own.  They need trains and cars and trucks just like Daddy has been giving Cassandra.  (So far, so good as Cassandra loves trains.)  With my luck, it will balance out on Michael and he will probably like hot pink.

Grandpa Wendel gets a turn holding Michael.  Notice how relaxed Grandpa is sitting in the sun with Michael.  Guess he is a sun baby.  Maybe he will get lucky and tan like Daddy.

Hello Everybody!

Well the doctors are satisfied that Michael's earlier elevated heart rate was just a result of loss of amniotic fluid.  We are very glad of this because it means they will start leaving him with us for longer than 30 minutes at a time.

This being the case, it is time to start meeting people.  Michael's first visitors are Aunt Cheryl and Cousin Samantha.  Cheryl's smile might be related to Michael's cuteness or be related to this being the first male grandchild in the family.  Michael's cousins (and of course sister) are all female so the "tradition" just got messed up.  You knows Mommy likes to get people of of their comfort zone, right?  The Hodges mojo couldn't last forever, right?

Aunt Cheryl

 Samantha is holding Michael a little differently than she held Cassandra.  I think she is a little uncertain because he is a boy.

Michael's Cousin Samantha

I Guess We Can Keep Him

So Michael finally made his appearance early this morning.  Janice and I were finally able to get some sleep but the 3:47 AM birth is not something I recommend.  Also, with his high heart rate right when we first got there we do not see our little boy much because he is being watched like a hawk.  This one is definitely different than his sister.  Early, not late.  Scared the doctors.  Hopefully this is not a portent of things to come.

It is interesting because in some ways Michael is the opposite of Cassandra.  She was late, he was early.  Cassandra was born normally but Michael required much twisting and turning.  Cassandra was born with white peach fuzz while Michael had a lot of dark hair.  And of course there is the gender thing.  It will be interesting to see what other differences they have...and if they develop some just to irritate each other.

Cassandra was brought to the hospital to meet Michael.  She is actually excited about the whole thing but doesn't really understand what is going on.  She is still a little hesitant but for the most part has accepted Michael as her little brother.  She doesn't want to sit with him in her lap for very long though.  Its like "Ok, he is here, now what do we do with him?"

We have also been telling her "nice touches" and reading to her "big sister" books so she knows how to behave around a baby.  The way she pats him though make you wonder if she is worried about breaking him.

Andy, Come Get Me...Now!

So, yesterday was interesting.  We had a client appreciation luncheon, a fish fry.  Included in this meal were jalapeno hush puppies.  Now, normally jalapeno is not my thing but one ended up in the wrong pan so I ended up with it.  I went ahead and ate it so as not to be wasteful.  That turned out to be a mistake.  It went down fine and made my stomach feel kind of unsettled but didn't burn my mouth one bit.  Weird.

Later that afternoon, I was on a conference call with a client when Janice tried calling.  I pushed it to voicemail and continued with the call.  Then she calls on the work line.  Our little code is that if you call back immediately after getting voicemail, it is important (emergency) so I muted the work phone and  called her back on my cell.  She needs me to take her to the hospital because it is time.  I let the client know what is going on and head out.  I pick Janice up and off we go to KU Med.  

Per directions, I drop her off at the emergency room entrance and go to park the car.  Anyway, by the time I get the car parked and up to Labor & Delivery, they are talking about a c-section.  I'm shocked because she only just went into labor.  It is then explained to me that baby's heart is racing and is distressed.  They get some liquid into Janice and things settle down but the staff hovers and makes very sure the baby monitor has a good read on the heart.

That settled, I'm starting to feel ill.  The nurses are discretely asking Janice if I need to be dismissed.  She tells them that I had no problems the first time and it was something I ate.  A new nurse comes in and sees us and starts seeing if I'm OK and Janice is the one in labor.  That being said, I know I looked bad because of how I felt.  At one point, I go out to the men's room and am standing over the toilet, holding onto the safety bars for balance (I have none at this point), literally dripping sweat, praying that I be allowed to throw up.

In the end, I started feeling better and Janice became the focus.  After several hours of trying, it was finally decided that the reason for no baby is that while head down, baby is facing the wrong way.  They had poor Janice get on her knees, roll to her back, get back on her knees again, repeatedly, until finally everyone is positioned right.  Michael comes pretty quickly at this point...over 12 hours later.

Mommy and Baby are glad to be done.

Michael Andrew, born 3:47 on May 24, 2013.
Weight: 8 lbs, 9 oz         Length:  21.25 inches

Helping Grandma...Open Presents

Cassandra gets really excited about presents.  She is more than happy to help you open yours.  Of course, since she colored the drawings, it is kind of odd.  It's not like she is going to color them again.

Visit To The Arboretum

The Empress has decreed that the weather be nice as she desires to visit the Farmstead.

The first stop that interested Cassandra were the baby goats.

Cassandra needed to take a break.  Those goats really take a lot of energy.  They keep you on your toes begging for petting and food.

The Empress enjoyed the barn - silo - slide combination to the utmost.  She also took in some colorful outdoor artwork.

Cassandra getting some Mommy time before she will be required to share with the baby.

Birthday Parties Are Fun...Especially With Fire Trucks

So today is Noah's fourth birthday party and it was a lot of fun.  The kids toured the Hesston Fire Department's main fire station.  Their fire department is setup a bit different than what we have back home.  They have a large consolidated department instead of a distributed one which means lots of trucks as well as EMS in one building.  Because Janice is due at the end of the month, she decided it would be best for her to stay home.

Cassandra had a ball.  Not only did she get to see Kylie and Noah, she got to see two ambulances and six different fire trucks (ladder, pumper, tanker, rescue, off-road and brush-fire).  And she got cake and ice cream too!

A picture of the birthday boy in full bunker gear (minus the air tanks which weighs more than him).  Cassandra and Kylie sharing a seat in the fire truck.  Will all their gear, real fire fighters are as wide as both the girls.

Cassandra got to sit in the fire fighter's seat where the air tank is stored.  Later, she seemed to enjoy modeling a party hat for us.

And she had so much fun on the tour that she has decided to go ahead and wear the hat after the party was over.

Early May Rain...er, Snow Shower?

If April showers bring May flowers, what does this mean?  Nothing says that Spring is in full bloom like snow shower.  Got to love the Midwest.  These pictures were taken at 9:40, snow was gone by noon.