Happy Birthday, Henry!

Today is Henry's second birthday. So, to honor him and to mark the most amazing day of my life, I am sharing his birth story with you.

On Friday, October 13th, 2006, I spent the day walking around our cute neighborhood. I went shopping at Diversey and Clark, got my hair cut, and enjoyed a beautiful Fall day in Chicago. I felt like I had cramps all day, but I didn't think too much of it. I hadn't had any Braxton-Hicks contractions, so I didn't realize I was in the early stages of labor! Plus, it was 9 days before my due date, so it wasn't really on my mind as a possibility. The cramps worsened as I walked home (due to the walking!), and I called Andy to tell him that maybe we should revise our dinner plans. We had plans with Eddie and Risha to get Thai food at Penny's, but I was thinking we should maybe get take-out instead. Once I came home and rested, the cramping was gone, I felt fine, and we decided to go to dinner.

Our dinner was one of the most memorable ever. I had red curry (labor inducing!), and Eddie was excitedly playing out the scenario of what we'd do if I went into labor right there. Eddie's vision was a bit too movie-like, thinking we'd throw money on the table and rush out to grab a cab. He kept badgering Risha (who is a doctor) about whether she could deliver the baby in a pinch, if needed. She assured him she could, but she didn't really think it would come to that. We laughed about the visual on our walk home--jumping in the cab, baby about to be born. Little did we know that's about what we'd be doing a few hours later!

After going to bed around 11, I couldn't sleep. Any person who has been 9 months pregnant can tell you that this is not a news-worthy issue. Not many people can sleep well at 9 months pregnant! I decided to make the 10 minute journey that was rolling to my other side, when I heard a "pop!" and I thought to myself, Hmmm. I got up, headed to the bathroom, and my water broke. It was midnight.

We made it to the hospital, did the whole triage thing, went up to labor and delivery, and, after a slight scare that I may be pre-eclamptic (I wasn't), I got my epidural. At about 7 am, I was ready to push. I pushed once, before the Doc arrived, but Henry's heartrate didn't recover well, so they had me wait about 15 minutes until Dr. Chen and the halo I swear he had shining above his head came in. I pushed for about 25 minutes. Yes, those of my friends with 3+ hours of pushing hate me (especially Melissa), but it was FAST. Henry Warren Zone came into this world at 7:48 am. He was 7 pounds, 4 ounces, 21 inches, and perfect. And it happened in downtown Chicago, with the shadow of the Hancock tower on one side and Lake Michigan on the other. Happy Birthday, my sweet boy!

The Joy of Cooking

I love my new kitchen. It actually has empty drawers--amazing. It is so fun to cook now that I have room! Henry and I made brownies early in the week. He loves the kitchen, too!

Our Texas Abode

Our house is really coming together. We've had some painting done, have installed new hardwood floors and carpet on the first floor, and have bought a lot of furniture. We're still in the process of hanging pictures, but we're finally at a point where we can share some shots.

Great room: (with my little buddy peeking out!)


Master bedroom:


Kitchen


Kitchen



View into study:

Front entry:
Study:
Dining room:
Great Room:

The start of Fall where there is no Fall...

I have always loved Fall. The changing leaves, the cool air, football, chili in the crock-pot, pumpkin patch, gourds...the whole bit. Well, here in Houston, Fall doesn't really exist. Today at the library story time, the theme was "Fall" and the leader kept saying how the leaves change and you can rake them and jump in them and it's so fun...yada, yada, yada. And I wanted to yell out to her, "Don't give these kids false hope, lady! The best chance they have for leaf jumping is rounding up debris from Ike and going to town that way." But, the spirit of Fall is not totally lost here. I have set up my little hay bale and scarecrow by the front door, decorated with orange, gold, brown, bought a mum plant (that promptly died), and researched all the Fall Festivals. Here in Texas, you just have to fake the Fall a bit. I guess this is fine by me considering it means we have to fake the snow, ice and wind of winter, too. Now that won't be hard.

Zones: 1, Ike: 0

Clearly, this score is better than the ND/Michigan score from today. We didn't get to see the game (a blessing, I think) because we just got our power back. We lost power at 9 pm last night, and it came back on around 6:15 pm. It's been a long day, but we have a lot to be thankful for. Our home and neighborhood didn't suffer damage. The winds picked up around 10 pm, and then at 5 am they were strong enough to inspire us to get Henry out of the crib and head for the master bedroom closet. Henry thought that laying in the closet was a total gas, and, of course, he wouldn't sleep. Luckily, we got him to take a 3 hour nap this afternoon. Overall, we did fine through our first hurricane. It's not something I'd want to deal with often! Houston is going to be a mess for awhile, though, so send your prayers this way! Thanks to everyone for checking in on us!

Under Curfew

Our county is under curfew. As of right now, the skies are an eerie shade of gray and pink, as the night falls. The wind is picking up quite a bit, and it's howling. We could lose power at any time, so say a little prayer that we don't! It looks like Galveston will be totally submerged. Please send your prayers that Ike moves a bit East. That's the best our county can hope for now.

Ike Update

We're hunkering down here in Katy, as the effects of Ike are starting to be felt on Houston's coast. So far, not much has changed in our neighborhood, save the cloudy skies and few neighbors who have boarded up. We are hoping the storm does not strengthen to a Cat 3; although, we've learned the difference between a high end Cat 2 and low end Cat 3 is nearly the same. Our concern remains winds more than rain, and, of course, the loss of power. We are hoping that any power loss will be remedied quickly. If not, we will head to Austin. Those in Galveston will be most affected, with the news predicting "certain death" to those who stayed behind due to the anticipated storm surge of over 20 feet.

Check the latest updates on The Houston Chronicle's website.