May 13, 2010 Welcome Baby Anderson

My dearest Anderson,

Happy Birthday, my love. You were born today, Thursday, May 13, 2010 at 5:43pm in Piedmont Hospital, Atlanta, Georgia. You weighed 6 lbs 9.5 ozs and measured 20 inches long! Yes, that is very long, which explains why you made Mommy's ribs a permanent resting place for those long legs of yours. Your head is full of hair, and I wonder whether it will eventually curl like Mommy's or stay straight like Daddy's. You have the longest fingers (piano in your future?) and toes, and your skin is a beautiful olive color. My heart melted when my eyes met your dark blue eyes for the first time, and I knew at that moment the joy the last 9 months have brought to the rest of my life!

Words cannot express the amount of love, pride, and joy I feel as your Mother, Guardian, and Friend. Heavenly Father placed you in our family as part of his specially designed plan, and I am so glad that your are my first-born son.

Anderson Paul Stratton, I desire a happy, healthy, and productive life on this earth for you, which lies in the hands of you and us as your parents. As your Mother, I promise to satisfy your physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. I will love you unconditionally, through easy times and hard times. I will pray with you every morning and every evening, making sure to thank Heavenly Father for each day I have with you. I will cherish every hug and kiss, because one day, believe it or not, you will be embarassed by my love and affection. I will create a home of peace and happiness with your Daddy so you will always feel safe and secure. Finally, I will set the highest of expectations for you, because I know you have what it takes to achieve anything you put your mind to.

Anderson, go after any and every dream you have! With the knowledge, heart, strength, and passion you have, you can be anything you want to be. Whatever you choose to do with your precious life, rest assured knowing I am proud of you and I love you. There is nothing you can do that would make me regret any moment I have shared with you. You have captured my heart, Anderson. Make Mommy proud, and most importantly, make Heavenly Father proud.

I love you, D-bug. Mommy.

Let the Dreams Begin!

Pregnancy Dreams. Simply put, Crazy. I heard about those "locos" who had dreams of birthing animals, and I always thought they were nuts. Well, call me nuts! I wanted to tell a few that stand out in my mind as being absolutely INSANE. Along with these come an average of 4-6 dreams per night, which began the latter part of my first trimester, so I'm actually more nuts than this post makes me sound. I wish I could share them all, but some I'd rather keep to myself...for the sake of my reputation.

1. I went in for an ultra-sound, and the nurse told me and Shawn that we could see what the baby looks like. We both thought it sounded perfectly safe, so we said, "Okay." Next thing I know, the woman "invades my personal space" and pulls the baby out by its foot! I start to panic and tell her to put it back in. I think my words were, "It's not done yet!"

2. Shawn and I arrived home after delivering a healthy baby girl. The baby starts to cry, and we frantically try to figure out what it wrong with her. Is she hungry? Does she need a new diaper? As I run around the house, I realize we have not set up anything for the baby. Diapers, bottles, pacifiers, etc. are still wrapped in their packages. I told Shawn, "Well, I guess I'll have to breast feed it." I reach into the crib and...yes, a brown Poodle. We both looked at it rather disappointed, but knew we better learn to love it. I tried and tried to get this Poodle to latch, but she wouldn't take my milk! Finally, mission accomplished. She was eating like crazy. I looked down with pride, and realized the poodle had changed into our dog Annabelle (a black Puggle).

3. I went into labor and delivered the baby in the hospital. The nurse took the baby away immediately, because she said the twin that was attached had dissolved. Hmmm... My mom called to wish us Congratulations, but quickly realized there was a problem. She told me to march into the room and demand to see the baby. So, I did as mommy said. When I walked in, the baby was in a baby doll box breathing from a straw. Imagine a cabbage patch kid box with a live baby in it. Shawn and I figured something was wrong, but the doctor said everything was normal about this little boy. So, we asked if we could take him home. He agreed with confidence, and proceeded to place our baby (straw and all) into a rotiserrie chicken box. Take out anyone?

You can probably imagine the others I've had since then. Shawn listens kindly, while I'm sure he is questioning his decision to marry me. Bring on the dreams baby A!

Garlic, Chicken, and Nuts

Okay, so just writing this post is making me a little pale, but I will take one for the team!GranMama and I spent a girls' weekend together the last weekend in September 2009, which had been long awaited for. At this time, I was about six weeks pregnant and beginning to notice some changes. Of course, now looking back, the changes were so minimal it's funny. I did tire a bit quicker than usual, but it was still a fun, amazing weekend.

We took advantage of the Atlanta City Pass, which took us to...

• The Coca-Cola museum (hmmm, a caffeine overdose during pregnancy...good call)
• Aquarium
• Atlanta Zoo
• CNN Center (we had way too much fun)
• Atlantic Station (our favorite pastime...SHOPPING)

and...drum roll please...

• California Pizza Kitchen

...which leads me to the title of this post. While no physical changes have taken place too much at this point, other than the sore boobs and constant belly aches which felt like a life-long period, my sense of smell and taste had soared through the roof. Did I mention constant hunger? That being said, I couldn't wait to indulge in a freshly-made Hawaiian BBQ Chicken pizza...while GranMama opted for the Garlic Chicken Pizza.

Pizza 1: SCRUMPTIOUS Pizza 2: GAG ME

19 weeks later, I am still unable to smell, eat, think about, see, or even talk about (hence the pale face mentioned earlier) chicken or garlic without feeling nauseous or experiencing gag reflex! And don't mention that above-mentioned restaurant...same reaction. Nuts?! Let's just say I had a bad experience with those earlier, too, and I still have to turn the channel when I see a nut commercial. Now, wrap those bad boys in chocolate and we're talkin'!

The moral: cravings (and non-cravings) are as true and intense as those books tell you they are. I just pray that one day I will be able to eat those items post-pregnancy. If not, we know who to thank *GranMama*. However, I would go through

The News

Without providing TMI (too much information), Shawn and I had tried and failed to conceive a few times...enough said. One morning, I woke up and proceeded to tell Shawn about a very vivid dream I had that night. "Baby, it was so real. I found out I was pregnant and we were so excited! I called Mom and Dad Hill, and they were shouting for joy! I swear it felt so real." Shawn listened sweetly, and then it was quickly off to get ready for work. Of course my mind was consumed the entire week...am I pregnant? am I not? I was tempted to resort to the "flower" trick: pull off the petals and hope the answer you want falls on the last petal. Instead, I snuck to Target and purchased two pregnancy tests. I did not take those tests per counsel from my husband, which in hindsight was sweet because he didn't want me to be disappointed.

FINALLY! Shawn left for a school camping trip in the middle of the week, so I was left alone with Annabelle. Despite the advice from my husband, I just had to put myself out of my misery. The suspense was killing me! I'm sure it was killing my dog too, as I was discussing the whole dilemma with her prior to taking the plunge. She loyally followed me to the upstairs bathroom one day after school, the day after Shawn left. I took the test and placed it on the windowsill. During the whole 30 seconds of wait time, I had a heart to heart with God, just asking him to help me get through this one more time. I peaked around the corner, but my vision wasn't working with me. As I approached the test slowly....huh! PREGNANT! That means pregnant, right? My eyes welled up with tears immediately, and I dropped to my knees by the side of my bed thanking God for answering our prayers! Annabelle received suffocation hugs and kisses, too!

Shawn called me that night from camp, and I couldn't wait to tell him the news (very unromantic, I know) over the phone. He didn't believe me at first...we joke around way too much. Did I mention he "fake proposed" to me several times prior to the real time? Finally, I could hear his smile and joy over the phone, and we giggled, smiled, and laughed together for the remainder of our phone conversation.

And the adventure begins: Thursday, September 17, 2009

Day One...going on Month 6

I find the progression of life so amazing, yet rather humorous. Have you ever noticed how people make subtle inquiries about how your life is progressing? Okay, so subtle was obviously used with sarcasm, but think about it. I am single for, oh, let's say a week. Someone asks, "So when are you going to have a man in your life?" A week later, I meet Shawn. We date for, oh, let's say nine months. Then comes the marriage question, "So when are you getting married?" As if we haven't been thinking about that ourselves. Two weeks later, I have a beautiful ring on my finger. We are ecstatic, in love, in the clouds...you get the picture. "When's the big day?" Three months later, Shawn and I become husband and wife. I think we have progressed quite smoothly, don't you? So why are people still unsatisfied? "Well, don't you guys want to "expand"? Of course we do, but can we enjoy our first month of marriage please?

Well everyone, after two and a half years of beautiful, sweet, fun, and blissful marriage, we have made it to phase four! We are expecting our first child in May! I introduce this with humor, but we are genuinely excited about our new addition. Shawn and I have wanted to have children since we talked about it on our first date (totally kidding). But seriously, carrying a child is truly a blessing from God that we do not take for granted.

This blog serves as our "pregnancy journal." I have obviously slacked off a bit (can we say six months late?), but the memories of this experience are still fresh in my head from day 1. We are going to play "catch up" the next several posts until we arrive to our current month (6). Hopefully, our child will read this one day and realize what a blessing they are to us, and they will see how much joy they brought to our life from the very beginning.

Always remember the love your Mommy and Daddy have for you...our sweet and precious blessing.