Happy Birthday Jake!

Four years ago today....

It was the morning before Thanksgiving. Sister drank castor oil the night before, hoping that Hallee J'Ann would get the hint and come into this world. The nursery was all set up, her dresses and pretty pink blankets were washed and ready for use, and we were all chomping at the bit to meet this precious girl we all had envisioned for 9 long months. So, the morning of November 27, 2002, Sister woke Mom and Dad up bright and early. She had been having contractions for an hour or so. Yay castor oil! I was home for the Thanksgiving break so, Mom woke me up and we all got ready to go to the hospital. We were oh so excited that we were finally going to meet Hallee J'Ann!

So, we hopped in the PT Cruiser and headed to Abilene Regional. We went upstairs where they immediately hooked Sister up to a monitor and put her in a bed in an area that's curtained off (a sort of "holding" tank to see if you're actually in labor). Her contractions got really strong really quick....in fact, they were off the charts (seriously, the monitor didn't go that high). So, they quickly decided she was indeed in labor and moved her to a room. We called Mimi and Aunt Kathleen around 7 (I think) and they soon joined us at the hospital. Sister's contractions were strong and constant when they got there. I think she was dialated to a 4...and 2o minutes later she was ready to push! This was one quick baby! Well, after arguing with the nurse about the number of people in the room (she actually tried to tell us we could only have 3 people in there with Sister ha!) Sister gat her epidural. 20 minutes and a few pushes later, out came baby! It was so incredible...yet so horrifying at the same time haha. Anyway, here's a bit of commentary from that moment....mind you this all happened in a matter of seconds:
Doctor: "Ok, one more push and we'll have a baby!"
Sister: "ugh!!"
Doctor: "that's it! you can stop pushing now"
baby comes out
Mom: "what was that!?"
Doctor: "that's a boy!"
Mom, Me, Dad, Mimi, & Aunt Kathleen in unison "OHHHHH MYYYYYYYY GOSH"
Sister (a few seconds later as her epidural was finally kicking in): "It's a whaaaat?"

Yep, that's right! What we were told was going to be a 6 pound girl, came out an almost 9 pound boy (8lbs 14 oz to be exact)! Needless to say, we were shocked!


When we found out Sister was pregnant, Papa started calling the baby "Jake." He told my sister he didn't care if t was a boy or a girl, he was going to call it Jake! This of course drove Sister crazy because it was a girl...so we thought! So, after the initial shock wore off, Sister called Papa at the car lot and told him it was a boy. He asked what she was going to name him and she said "well, duh! Jake!" He was ecstatic! Oh he loved Jake soo soo much!

Ohhhh what a day that was...soooo many emotions! The joy of this precious little boy being here, sadness because Hallee no longer existed, the stress of going home and "de-girling" the nursery, the stress of Jake having to go to the NICU and not getting to come home for a week...oh it was craziness!

So now we have this precious boy and what a blessing he has been! He has provided endless hours of joy, laughter, tears, and smiles. He is seriously the love of my life! So, today he is 4 years old...FOUR whole years...

He spent this Thanksgiving in Illinois with his dad and his side of the family. They had a "happy birthday" for him (what Jake calls a birthday party) in Illinois while he was there. He had a great time! Today, Mimi asked him where he wanted to eat for his birthday and he said "Target" haha so, they loaded up and had a mini birthday celebration at Target haha I'm seriously beginning to wonder if he's really my child! We are having a birthday party for him on Sunday at Mr. Gattis so there are lots of more pictures to come!

For now, here are some pictures in progression from those first few days to the present!

Happy Birthday, Baby. I know you're not a baby anymore. You are growing oh so fast right before my very eyes. You are the absolute love of my life and I thank God daily for blessing this family with such a beautiful, funny, sweet boy! Biddy loves you!