A little patriot is born!

At 11:00 am June 14th (Flag Day! Yey!) a new patriot, Alexander Ryan Cain, made is journey out of mommy's tummy and into a new world. His quite demenor and full head of hair are the most noticeable characteristics of this little bundle of joy. All his tests and evaluations were awesome. We could not ask for anything else but a very healthy baby. Alex is discovering the basic essentials to infant life: eating, sleeping, pooping, and crying. Holly was in labor for about 12 hours. We left our house after she was feeling regular contractions at about 11pm. Holly was dilated at about 5 centimeters when we got there. Holly's mom and I stayed with her through her labor. At first she did not want to get an epideral but after stalling at 8 centimeters and painful contractions she quickly changed her mind. What a difference! I was elated when it was time for her to push Alex out. Trying to remember the skills from labor classes I tried to help regulate her breathing while her mom and the other hospital personel demonstrated their excellent skills. It was just surreal to watch him come into this new life. Words just cannot describe the feeling we both had when he was born. Truly a miracle. I am so proud how great Holly did through her labor. Also the staff at Highland were superb. Very personable and helpful in every area. We were so happy to have everyone who were able to stay by to see this special little boy. We are excited to have the rest of our family members to see him. Jordan was very excited to see his new baby brother. He got some professional photo shots of Alex. Even ones with his eyes open! Actually Alex's hair looks alot like Jordan's. We are confident Jordan is going to be a great big brother. Grace is probably really excited to see her new little cousin! And yes I am learning to change diapers and swaddle. Its so wonderful to see our little family growing and to have such wonderful family and extended family to have for love and support. Although a new baby is a big responsibility we are very fortunate to have family close by. We love you all so very much and thank you for all that you have done for us. We cannot wait to see the little cousins playing with each a few years from now when we get together. The beach is not that far away and its going to be so much fun! We are looking forward to hearing from everyone.

May the Force be with Someone else!

There is a commercial playing on TV showing different mom's vowing to spend more time with their kids. The strategy is to begin using paper plates as a way to save time doing dishes. Well, that's the surface message John Q public will hear but the Moms hear something different. This commercial speaks to the driving almost subconscious force that pulls every mom every day. I call it the Maintenance Force. Schedule, plan, order, tidy, maintain. I won't debate the nature vrs nurture sides of this "force" but simply state that it's present in most moms across the globe.

And thus I find myself compelled by this force daily. Which is in complete cosmic opposite of Grace's compelling force. I call it the "la, la" force, no schedule, make big messes, and do whatever whenever. I must also add that "la, la" force compels it's subjects towards complete impracticality.

It will come as no surprise that Grace and I spend a lot of time trying to get the other person to cross sides. Sometimes I win. Sometimes Grace wins. Yesterday Grace wanted me to go outside with her and play with the garden hose. It was hot and I had a billion million things to do on top of the billion jillion things I didn't get done the day before. However the Schedule particle of Maintenance Force kicked in as it was important to "schedule" some playtime in for Grace's growth and development. Grace ran inside and got on her bathing suit. I did insist that she take off the ballet skirt that she had placed over the bathing suit.

I slowly walked outside and definitely felt six months pregnant in the heat. Grace grabbed the hose and squirted the big oak tree with delight. I sat on the prickly grass content to watch but that wasn't enough for Grace. "Play with me, Mommy!" she said as she handed me the hose. I turned the spray nozzle to mist . Grace stood downwind and laughed as the gentle mist came her way. I then turned the nozzle to jet and had Grace jump over the surging water stream. Each time I raised the nozzle a little higher to see how high she could jump. This was fun! Next we tried to sneak up on Bandit and squirt him but he wanted nothing to do with it. So Grace decided to hose down our cars. Next we discovered that if we put the nozzle on mist and held it really close to our hands long streams of water would fall off our fingers. We called it "ghost hands'. Grace quickly put her towel over her head and made wailing noises. She jumped into my lap and said "Woooo, I'm going to eat you for dinner!"

Grace grabbed the hose and was about to squirt a fat, unsuspecting squirrel when she spotted a butterfly. She stopped and slowly put down the hose. "Don't squirt it Mommy." was the only direction she gave. It has been her goal to catch a real butterfly on her own. With as much stealth as her little 3 year old body would allow Grace approached the butterfly. I noticed how tall she was getting and how one little, white butt cheek had escaped her bathing suit. She was so close and the butterfly was still perched on the blade of grass. Her hands reached out, water running down her arm and dripping off her fingers. I held my breath as little fingers were just about to brush the wings when suddenly the butterfly sensed it's danger and flitted over towards the oak tree. With nimbleness to match the butterfly Grace followed.

I watched humbled and amazed.

Heat Wave

It is still hot and humid here in Fairport. Yesterday was awful. Our central air was not working and we baked inside. The only relief was our bedroom where are window unit was positioned. Downstairs was miserable. The poor cats were laying on the kitchen floor trying to keep cool. I never thought Id say that a repairman can be such a wonderful blessing (his name was Scott). Based on the information we gathered from our landlord and the repairman we have concluded that our central was tampered with by the father of the couple that lived here before us. Apparently he and his wife had a falling out and we think he did something to the a/c in retaliation. Twisted huh? Well I will not go into how anxious we are for Alex to come. That goes without saying. We are so excited to have everyone at the beach this year. Lets think of some activities while we are there. I dont think its set in yet that sheryl and mike are engaged. Very exciting though! Oh Amber, I think Marshal wants you to remember he's there...thats why he kicks so much. I am very sad to hear about Bandit. I have always said that I want a dog just like him. Its just hard to believe that he is sick considering that he is not that old. So Amber if you do decide to put him down could you post a blog with some pictures of him? I and many others would appreciate that. So I dont want to end on a depressing note so I will share this story about Jordan. Holly, Jordan, and I were at Wendy's (In Perinton) a week or so ago and Holly asked, "I wonder if there is a sewing store near by." Jordan replied, "Yeah Johanna Perin!" Obviously he confused the middle school Johanna Perin with Jo-Ann Fabrics. Precious moments!