Happy V-Day

I know that Valentines day has come and gone, and truthfully Andy and I have never really been big Valentines day people, so this year was no exception. However there is one Valentines day tradition that we will always celebrate, and that is Grandma Oakey's sugar cookies. Each year my Grandma makes sugar cookies for all the grand kids and their children...this year she sent one for each of us: Andy, Noah and I. Of course we devoured them and say THANKS to Grandma for sending them to us! They were delish. Here is a little photo of Noah with his special cookie...unfortunately he isn't old enough to eat his yet, so dad and I will have to take care of that part for him (shucks!).

We also had a Valentines day visitor at our house. Our good friend Bob, who is currently stationed in Korea, came out to visit us for a couple of days. So in honor of his visit, and just because it was V-day...we made a big breakfast with all the fixins....French toast, turkey bacon, eggs, OJ, and even a little strawberries and cream. We had such a fun time and Noah loved meeting his Uncle Bobbo.

Aside from all that fun, things around here have been pretty uneventful. Andy went back to work yesterday after having a week and a half off. It was so great having him home and yesterday I was a little over emotional about him going back. For those of you who aren't aware...Andy is going to be deploying to Afghanistan either late March or early April. I am pretty sure I have mentioned the deployment before, but I can't believe how quickly time is going. This is one time in my life I wish it would stand still. I guess there is really no 'good' time for a deployment, but under the circumstances we are very grateful that Andy has the opportunity to deploy with the US Corps of Engineers as a project manager. Little Noah and I will be moving back to Idaho to spend the year with family. I will definitely need the distractions and the help. I have to remind myself that people in the military have to deal with deployments all the time...and that gives me a little hope for myself that I can get through the next year

So this week starts a slew of family visits...killing two birds with one stone as I say. With Noah's arrival, and Andy leaving...we are grateful that so many of our family are coming to spend some time with us, and I know it will make a big difference to Andy. We will keep everyone posted on details, and all the family fun we have coming over the next few weeks, there are sure to be some good times.

Does Your Diaper Hang Low?

Hi everyone, I have decided to sort of 're-enter' the world of blogging for today and share with you a special moment we had yesterday. Now first of all, please forgive Andy and I for gushing on about our little Noah Asher. We can't get enough of him and his cuteness....but I do promise that we will still blog about other things happening as well. For now, we are just enjoying this new experience.

I am sure that many of you have seen quite worse 'blow-outs' than we have, and I am sure we have plenty more to see...but this was our first run in with a poopy diaper that seemed to have a mind of its own. You could probably blame it on the fact that Noah's diaper wasn't properly pulled up around his bum, but regardless of the reason...we still had it all over the place.

Let us all share the moment:

Ahh...we love tar like poops!

Hope you all are having as exciting of a week as we are!
Love Meliss

Noah the Ark

Noah the Ark

After already being almost a week overdue, we were so happy that we were finally going to have the baby. It had already been a crazy week. Due to a huge ice storm in Kentucky/Indiana, our house was without power and water for about a week. Melissa's mom planned months prior to come out on Jan 29th, thinking that the baby would be here by then. Well, there was no baby...and also no power and water. We stayed with some of our friends, Steve and Christy, until our power came back on. Shortly after that, we were able to see the doctor, who scheduled Melissa to be induced on the 5th of February. Little did we know, the fun was just beginning.

Day 1: We checked into the hospital at 5:30am, as instructed. She was to be induced that day, and we were giddy with excitement over what we thought would be the arrival of our son. They started her on the pitocin shortly after she was checked in, and we were on our way...sort of. TWELVE hours later, she had not really progressed much at all. She was having contractions but just not really dilating. They took her off the pitocin (they don't like to keep you on it for more than 12 hours at a time) and decided to give her a break for a few hours. In the early hours of the next morning, they put her back on the pitocin. This time, they planned to up the dosage to see if it would really kick her into gear.

Day 2: We had now been at the hospital for 24 hours and were still naively optimistic at this point. The pitocin was really coming now, and the doctors recommended some positions that may be more helpful for progression. Yet, nearly half the day passed, and she still hadn't really budged. Finally, during the afternoon of Feb 6th,the doctor decided to break her water for her. The intent, in part was met. Her contractions really picked up in severity and frequency. Despite an epidural and a cocktail of pain killers, she seemed to be feeling everything, and that is very hard for a husband--especially when it's so drawn out. She did progress though--albeit slowly. It took all night and into the morning, and she was pretty much complete, in terms of dilation and effacement. HOWEVER, the little guy still wouldn't come. Finally, the doctor on staff at that point decided that this baby was not going to come naturally, so he said we should proceed with a c-section. Now, we had planned and hoped the entire time for a natural birth, but after all that had happened, a c-section sounded like a trip to Disneyworld. We both agreed, and in about an hour the operating room was prepared and all the necessary staff had arrived. Once she was on the operating table, the actual procedure lasted only about 5-10 min, which is a little bittersweet when I think about how the previous 48 hours were basically unnecessary. At 6:22am, our Noah Asher Stockhoff came into the world, and we discovered exactly why Melissa was having so much trouble getting him out. He was 9 lb 12 oz! It was one of the greatest moments of my life. We both love him more than we could ever imagine.

Overall, It was quite an experience--one that you look back on and feel grateful for what you gained from it but never want to go through again. We will have more kids in the future, but pray that they don't come in the same fashion that Noah did.

I'll continue to take and post pictures of our little man. Thanks for all your congratulations and good wishes!

Andy

Not loving the car seat at first.

...but he settled into it. This is his first time out of the hospital.

Make Way for Noah

The little man is here, finally! After 9 months, 1 week overdue, and 48 hours of labor, our little--I mean, our BIG Noah has arrived at 9 lb 12 oz! Here are some pictures. A longer blog about the whole experience will be coming soon...

Andy, Current Blog Caretaker

OverDue

Well, if you were wondering why our little 'baby countdown' is now moving backwards, its because I am currently 2 days overdue (and tomorrow will be 3). My mom got here on Friday and leaves next Monday, and still no baby. Luckily if I haven't started labor on my own by Thursday, they are going to help a girl out! We are definitely ready for this little guy to make his appearance, and for Grandma J. to see him before she has to go. My feet are swollen and every where I go people ask..."when are you due?!" yes...my belly has become quite a 'large' part of me now...it will be strange to see my toes, but I think I will adjust just fine! haha. Anyway...Andy is now in charge of updating the blog, so we will keep you all posted. Check back soon!

Love, Meliss

PS. If you didn't hear on the news, last week Kentucky was hit by a large ice storm that took out our power for almost a week and our water for almost 3 days. Needless to say it was an experience. Lucky for us, Andy and I have great friends here who took us under their wing...and let us sit by their warm gas fireplace. They saved us! So here's to you Christy and Steve, thanks a million. We will be sure to post some pictures of the craziness as soon as Andy gets in the blogging mood (remember, he is the designated Stockhoff family blogger...for now any way :)