7 Years

Today is Jes and my anniversary. We've been married 7 years, so in honor of this day, here are 7 things you may or may not know about us.

1: Jes and I met on a bus going to Mississippi for a mission trip with our college group from Macedonia Baptist Church in Longview, Texas. Someone took his seat on the bus and he ended up sitting across the aisle from me and that's all she wrote. We were together from that time on.

2: Jes had never seen a real armadillo until he met me. We were hanging out at the lake one evening and he saw it walking around and about came out of his skin until I saw what it was. Needless to say, there was much laughter on my part that an armadillo scared him!

3: After our wedding, we had made our exit and were on our way to the hotel (which was quite a long way from the church because we wanted to stay in a hotel near the airport since we had a really early flight) and I FREAKED OUT over not having the marriage license. For some reason I was convinced that we needed it to get into our hotel when we got to our honeymoon destination and I hadn't even seen it that day at all. Part of this came from the fact that we got it on June 29th, we got married on July 28th and back then marriage licenses had to be signed by one month after the day they were issued or they expired. Hence the freaking out. Just imagine a very skinny me running down a hill, covered in metalic confetti (from our car decorations) yelling at the top of my lungs for my mom. Our guests weren't even all gone yet. Sigh...

4: We went to Puerto Vallarta for our honeymoon and would go back in a heartbeat! It was the best vacation we have ever been on and we've been planning our return since we got back. The trip, however, was almost a no go though. The morning we were the leave, we arrived at the airport bright and early (!) and went to the airline's counter to check in. Come to find out, they had moved our flight up 2 hours earlier and had not told us as they should, so we had missed it. We had purchased one of those all inclusive deals and had no back up to get to Mexico. We stood at that counter in tears mentally calculating where the little bit of money we had would get us so we could at least have some sort of a honeymoon. The airline people were able to get us on another flight (that took off from the opposite side of the airport, DFW people, in just minutes). It was like the movies, we took off running and made it just in time and got to Mexico earlier than we had planned with the other flight due to elimination of layovers!

5: We lived in Tyler our first year of marriage because I was still in graduate school. The next year, we moved to Dallas and then on to McKinney. We have lived in McKinney for 4 years now and have a little house on the west side of town that we love. When we were looking for houses, we didn't even consider anything bigger than what we have so that we would have to interact with each other as a family. My biggest fear is to have a large house and not know what my kids are doing upstairs or to not have interactions daily with the whole family.

6: Jes and I are so opposite in our interests, but somehow we have managed to each learn to (maybe) somewhat enjoy those other interests. Jes loves basketball, motorcycles and all things mechanical. I have learned to either tolerate (the endless motorcycle races on TV this time of year) or actually learn things to enjoy (mechanical stuff) some of these things. Jes has done the same. It also helps that he grew up with 2 younger sisters and was drug to places like the mall constantly. He's a great shopping partner too and is one of the only people I will go shopping with anymore.

7: We love being parents, even on those days when we are exhausted or they are running us ragged. It has been particularly interesting watching the interaction between Jes and Caleb. There is a certain connection that dads have with their sons that is totally different from the mom/son connection. There are moments when I am certain that Jes and Caleb will just kill each other due to the battle of wills that is constantly going on in our house, but those moments when they are playing together or just hanging out watching TV peacefully will melt a mommy's heart.

He Loves Her

Sunday morning Jes had to go into work for a little while, so I was left to get Caleb and Piper up and ready and out the door to get to church. We were doing great on time (that tends to happen when you're up at 6am feeding the baby and the 3 year old decides it's time to get up and you cannot wrestle him, the baby and the pump all at the same time) and were almost ready to get out the door. The last thing to do was for me to dry my hair, so I put Piper in her sleep positioner in the middle of our bed and Caleb was watching a cartoon in the living room. I assumed that all would be ok for the 3 minutes that I planned on spending on my hair. You know what they say about those who assume. I finished my quick blow dry and came around the corner and looked first to the middle of the bed to see how P was and she was gone! A quick scan of the bed revealed Caleb standing on the edge and Piper near him. Caleb had picked Piper up and moved her out of her sleep positioner to the place on the bed that she was. Let me just say it scared me to death and now he is not allowed to be anywhere near where he can move her without us around.
And now, pictures...

















Piper has been able to hold her head up since birth, something that I was quite shocked to discover when they handed her to me for the first time. Here she is in action.

















You can really see the lack of hair in this picture. Compared to her brother at this age, she's practically bald. Thank goodness they make headbands!
















I love her expression in this picture. This is her favorite position, being held by either Jes or I. She is such a lovey baby and would be held all day and night long if it were possible, or up to her.

















This last picture is Piper in her swing. Let me just say that she hates this thing. Caleb had an intense love affair with his swing and used it so much that he actually wore out the motor, but this little girl of ours would rather be held than get anywhere near this contraption. I have started instituting swing time everyday so that she might grow to like it somewhat.

The weight check today went well too. She is now 9 pounds 8.5 ounces. Couldn't tell by looking at her though.

Piper's 2 Week Appointment

Yesterday was Piper's 2 week appointment with our pediatrician. Here are the stats:
Weight: 8lbs 12oz (62%tile)
Height: 21.5in (87%tile)
Head: 14.5in (69% tile)
Betsy, our pediatric nurse practitioner, said that all looks good and that she is very "proportional", whatever that means. The only down side is that she is not quite back up to her birth weight. If you remember, her birth weight is 8lbs 12.5oz and she was only 8lbs 12oz, so we have to go back next week for a weight check. Betsy was going to let us go and not worry about the extra half an ounce (Piper did gain 7 ounces in a week after all), but the doctor wants us to come back.
The other thing on the agenda at the doctor's office yesterday was P's second PKU test. She was ok with the warming agent on her foot, but the moment the medical assistants came in to prick her foot and get the blood, she let loose. She screamed and hollered like none other and it took all 3 of us to keep her on the table. Piper is quite the screamer (Imagine a 10 year old girl screaming at the top of her lungs and you get an idea of what it sounds like. I'm not exaggerating...) and is pretty strong for a 2 week old that the staff in the doctor's office all told me that she's going to give us a run for our money. Yeah, I kind of knew that...

My Appointment

I went for my 2 week post op appointment today with my ob/gyn. Today I was released to drive, thank goodness, and had my steri strips removed. Hallelujah! When I am pregnant, I develop some sort of extreme sensitivity to adhesive. Therefore, any type of tape or band aid just sends me over the edge, itching and hurting all at the same time. I've been walking around for over a week like this, trying not to claw too much at my incision. Fun times!
The best part of my appointment was the weigh in. Strange to say because this has been the most dreaded part of every appointment, especially lately. So here's the verdict. In 2 weeks, I have lost 30 pounds! My doctor actually said it was impressive. I was pretty happy too, but I still have some work to do. Fun.

Our First Week

This past week has been quite a whirlwind. Even though we were discharged from the hospital on Friday, we had to go back on Saturday to have Piper's bilirubin level checked to see where her jaundice was. Her level came back at 10.9, which is slightly higher than when we were discharged, but since she was a whole day older she was still low risk for problems. More good news was that her weight was up to 8lbs 3oz, which was up from 8lbs even on Friday. She went as low at 7lbs 15oz, so we were glad to have her back up in the 8 pound range. We made a stop at the grocery store too, which ended up being a little too much activity for me, so when we returned home, I collapsed on the couch for a bit.
After church on Sunday, my mom, dad and grandmother came out to our house so that my grandmother could meet Piper. As visits go, it was a good one. My dad and grandmother headed back to Garland and my mom stayed at our house. We were very lucky to have her with us all this week.
On Monday, Piper had her first pediatrician appointment where we found that her weight was up even more to 8lbs 5oz and her bilirubin came back at 4.3! We were so excited to see her on the upward swing. After lunch and another run to WalMart, my mom and I returned home where I collapsed again. For the past few days I had been having some upper GI pain that I could only attribute to the pain meds I had been taking. I stopped everything on Monday and the issue has since resolved, thank goodness!
Tuesday and Wednesday, my mom and I were able to entertain ourselves with a few errands and lunch out. Not to mention all the feeds and pumping that goes on throughout the day.
Thursday, my mom and I took Caleb to a portrait studio to get his 3 year pictures made. Yes, I know it is July and his birthday is in March, but I didn't get his 2 year pictures done until this time last year, so I figured that they would be even. We were able to sneak Piper into a few pictures as well and we got a few really great pictures of the two of them.
My mom left to go home last night, so we've been on our own all day and things seem to be going well. I'm not quite as nervous and stressed out with Piper like I was with Caleb when he was a baby, so that helps things go a little more smooth during the day. However, I am really looking forward to the fact that this is the weekend and Jes will be home to help with the night feeds so I might get a little more rest at night.

She's Here!

Sorry for the lack of updates/pictures. I thought that I would have our computer at the hospital with me, but when it came to whether I wanted to keep it or not on Monday, I couldn't have cared less if I had it or not. So, home it went. Here are the pictures I promised. I have some from the actual surgery too, but I didn't want to gross you out and, as Jes put it, we don't want to be showing her "girl parts" to all of the web.


















Here's Piper Dorene Mathis. She was born at 12:46pm, weighed 8lbs 12.5oz and was20.5in long. She screamed and hollered like nothing else, that was great to hear, and would then prmptly hold her breath for what seemed like an eternity, not so great. She transitioned out of the holding of her breath thing and is breathing just fine now.

















My first time seeing Piper. The nurse put her right in my face, and being the old woman I am, I had to scoot my head back to actually see her. Sigh, I guess it's time for glasses!

















Our first picture of the 3 of us. I know look drunk, but no, I wasn't so lucky. I was shaking so bad at this point from the anesthesia and my teeth were chattering so much that this was the best smile I could form. Notice who Jes is looking at here. That hasn't changed. He is so in love, its so cute to watch. He even teared up one day when visiting because we had to send P back to the nursery for more time under the lights for her jaundice. So sweet!
















Caleb meeting Piper for the firt time with Mommaw. He wasn't too sure what to think then, but now he is just fascinated.

















Piper just hanging around. She looks so much like I did as a baby. Scary...



















Just chillin with Mama.

















Jes feeding Piper for the first time. It took a few days to get my milk to come in, but as soon as it did (and boy did it. They said I set some kind of record for most milk. Moo anyone?), I pumped to relieve the pressure and so Jes could feed her too.


















P hanging out in the bassinet. That hand is always out and by her face, even in all the sonogram pictures!

















Loving her paci already!

This was one of the pictures taken by the hospital photographer. We found out that she loves her tummy, so we were able to get a series of pictures like this. She just looks so content here.

Here's Caleb holding Piper for the first time. He had be asking to hold her for a few days, but this was the first that we were able to let him. He is so infatuated by his little sister and will check on her every few minutes and rub her head. He also loves to help do anything that involves taking care of her, especially feeding her. Lots of times that Jes is feeding her, Caleb will ask to help so Jes will let him "help" him hold the bottle. He has at times shown a little jealousy over all the attention she is getting, but we are being very careful to give him just as much.





















Caleb in his big brother shirt. He loves this shirt and will tell you that he's the best big brother ever and we have to agree!





















Waiting to go home. That blanket, by the way, was made by my cousin, Ashley. I posted a few weeks back about her business where she makes products like this. Everything that she has made for me is totally amazing and beautiful! Just perfect for our little angel.
















Going to the car. We were so excited to get out of the hospital, especially since we had to stay an extra day as Piper needed some time under the lights to help her get rid of her jaundice. We left the hospital on Friday around noon and headed for home. It was such a relief to pull into the garage and walk into the house!
By the way, please excuse any misspellings or space issues in this post. I'm too tired to proof right now and I did a majority of the typing one-handed while pumping.