The Whole Story...

For those of you who haven't already heard the story, I thought I would share it because I think it is pretty amusing.

The day was a regular one. Nothing special. I babysat Alli and we ran errands with Grant most of the day. Once Mindy picked up Alli, we went to Moe's (as usual) for dinner. Ran into an old friend, told him I was due "any minute now", even though I was two weeks early and nothing was "going on" at my doctors appointment the day before. Well, we went home and I felt a little nauseous so I told Tim I was going to take a shower and go to bed. This was unusual because I had been feeling great up until that point. So, after my shower as I was heading to our bedroom, I felt (I swear you could hear it) a pretty powerful "POP". I'm sure that is self explanatory. After running back into the bathroom, I calmly informed Tim that my water had broken. He proceeded to stare at me and ask repeatedly if I was sure while Grant stood there telling me I had forgot to pull my underwear down before sitting on the pot! We decided to call Dr. Singh (who was at the movies with his son), in the meantime I had been timing my contractions which had picked up considerably since my water had broken. They seemed to be about six minutes apart, but what did I know. I had to get out 'What To Expect When You're Expecting' to figure out how to time contractions! We had planned on waiting for my aunt to come stay with Grant but I made the executive decision to haul "you know what" to the hospital and have her meet us there. Poor Tim had to run around the house getting our stuff together and layering the car seat with towels because I was busy trying to remember how to breathe, and reassuring Grant that I felt great at the same time. For those of you who have, or have had, an eight year old, they are pretty astute. I did a pretty good acting job if I do say so myself! By the time we actually got out the door, because all of you know we have a very hard time being on time anywhere we go, my contractions were four minutes apart. As we sped (and I do mean sped!) toward Wyandotte, with Grant informing Tim that he was going "pretty fast", and trying to call from memory all the people we had promised we would call, my contractions came one after another. I even had to hang up on my mom in the middle of one! After that, I envisioned her leaping into their car and flying like the wind all the way from Virginia! Well in my opinion, this is when things really got interesting. We pulled up to the emergency entrance and I attempted to get out of the car in the middle of a contraction. A kindly soul who was waiting to be seen in emergency saw my plight, and that Tim was trying to hold me up and console Grant at the same time, and brought us a wheelchair! Tim ran me through the doors and declared to one and all, "My wife is in labor!!!!" The emergency room attendant, who had probably seen many hysterical fathers-to-be, proceeded to ignore us while finishing reading his magazine article. Then in a VERY bored voice asked if he could help us. I told him my water had broken, I was 38 weeks pregnant, and as of the time that I left home, my contractions were four minutes apart. Well, we finally had his full attention! He ran around the desk, all the while yelling he was headed up to the maternity ward and telling Tim to hurry, park the car and meet us up stairs! I seriously felt like we were in a movie, as he whisked me down the hallway to the elevators, and upstairs to triage. I truly believe that he was terrified that I was going to deliver right then and there! He was so glad to ditch me, all I saw was his back as he hauled back down the hallway to safety! Things started jumpin' once the nurses confirmed that I was almost dilated to 7 cm.! By that point, my aunt and uncle were ready to take Grant home, but he was too worried to leave me. So, we had to time his visit between my contractions which were about two minutes apart by now. The nurse hustled him in to my room, I hugged him, smiled a lot, told him everything was O.K., gave him a smooch, and before the next one started, she hustled him back out!!! A very coordinated effort on our part if I do say so myself! Once he was safely on his way, I felt able to concentrate on the matter at hand! Then one thing led to another, and Mason was born at 2:24 a.m., July 26th. The cord was wrapped around his neck three times, so we had a small scare, until...man can he scream! (and he hasn't stopped since :) I can't believe he is finally here, healthy, and a part of our little Kowalski clan! We are so blessed!!!

He's Finally Here!!!

Mason James Kowalski has arrived!! He came two weeks early and is beautiful and healthy! He weighs 8 lbs. and is 20 in. long. We couldn't be happier to welcome him into our family!

The Big and Small of it...

All throughout my pregnancy I have considered the age difference between my boys. It never hit home that I was truely starting over until one day I was doing laundry, and this is what I saw...(it's a good thing Tim's shirt wasn't hanging up there too, or else it may have been too much to handle :)

9 Months

I'm still feeling great! I haven't quite reached the stage where I am "over" being pregnant. I was mowing the other day, and all of our neighbors kept yelling at Tim! He finally had to go in the house because they were making him feel bad for "making" me mow. No one would believe us that I really just wanted to do yard work. Anyways, I guess the time will be coming soon. The fact that we will be meeting our "newest" son soon is so exciting!

Papaw

This morning my papaw passed away. He has been in a nursing home for many years now and although I know he is in a much better place where his mind and body are whole, that doesn't completely take away the pain of losing him. He went down hill so quickly, that many of our family members weren't able to say goodbye. We will miss him and cherish all of our memories - him delivering mail for many years, him coaching womens softball at Gilead, his never ending "sweet tooth", devotions that lasted FOREVER when I spent the night, the night he told me his "life story" at a hockey game, his "selective hearing", and so much more...His memorial service was on Thursday the 24th at Solid Rock Church and was very touching. The Honor Guard was there for his service in the war and presented my grandmother with a flag. We sang some of his favorite hymns and Uncle Tim and Pastor Rick told of his life. Besides the fact that my mom wasn't able to be there, the service was a fitting tribute. I love you papaw, and I know that I will see you again one day in Heaven but until then know that I treasure the legacy you left behind.

Partnership Basketball

The next big "event" in our lives was partnership basketball at church. This year was so different than last year, with respect to Grant. I'm not sure where he got all of his confidence, but it was a great change. For example, last year he cried when he was fouled in one of his games...not because he was hurt, mind you, but because people were looking at him!!! This year, from game one, he was all over the court - playing defense, making shots, stealing the ball, etc. One coach even made a comment to me about his team having to "double-team" the player on the opposing team. I just smiled and nodded until he pointed out to me that he was talking about Grant! The season was over before we knew it, and Grant is already talking about next year.

Is My Baby REALLY 8 Years Old???

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

How can it be??? Has time really flown by me that quickly that one day I woke up and my baby is a self-sufficient eight year old? Apparently I am not 20-something with a little tike anymore, but 30-something (I know, gasp out loud!) with a son who can read on his own, get dressed by himself, and usually only needs me for food or money. You always hear people say, "Time Flies", and your kids are grown before you can blink. I seriously have always considered this a gross exaggeration of the truth - now I know better! Anyways, I digress...It has been a long-standing family (and friends!) joke that Grant tends to have 'over-the-top' birthday parties. His Uncle Mike affectionately calls it "Grants birthday week", which is usually pretty close to the truth. I guess since his first party started out with such a "bang" (120 family/friends invited - and no, I am not kidding:), it has been hard to top over the years. We have celebrated in Tennessee, at bowling alleys, at (dreaded) Chuck E. Cheese, at Nana and Papa's (before they moved to Virginia), and various other locations. This year was a little different...his birthday was here before we knew it! One morning he woke up and calmly informed me that he would be eight in 3 DAYS!!! 3 days??? Who can plan a party in that short of time??? Well, I guess when push comes to shove - we can! Luckily he decided that he would like to bowl again this year (breathe sigh of relief). On Sunday, July 6th, Tim frantically ran all over downriver trying to find a location that was available on his actual birthday, the 8th. By that evening, tired and down, but not out, he found a place we had never been before, but it was nice, and lets face it, available! Family and friends were called immediately (no time for invitations), cake was ordered from Sam's, and we grabbed ice cream at Kroger on the way! Considering the haste in which the party was organized, it went off without a hitch! Actually, that's not completely true since I had contractions, pain and pressure almost the whole evening. But once again, my beloved family and friends (and especially my wonderful husband, who organized very well, I might add), stepped up and took charge. Grant never knew anything was amiss! That was my biggest concern - ruining his party - not to mention, having two children on the same day. So anyways, here are some pics of the action.

P.S. (Do you say P.S. in a blog??) My gram is being released from the hospital this morning!!!(Friday, July 11th) She sounds wonderful on the phone and is very excited to get home. Her physical and occupational therapy will continue three days a week - but they will come to her at her apartment. A nurse also will be coming to check up on her. She says the pain is almost 100% better - she knows the surgery pain will get better each day. My cousin is supposed to be staying with her for a little while to help out, and that puts all of our minds at ease!! Once again, thank you for praying for her. She is so important to our family!!

Our son has a name!!!!!

We have kept you all guessing long enough. So without further ado get ready to welcome the newest addition to the Kowalski Family ..... Nimrod Lonzo Kowalski. I know what your thinking - how did we come up with such a hip (Wow! I am starting to sound like Amos) and unique name? As most of you know Grant's middle name is Edward - after my father and it is also my middle name. In the many months, days, hours, and minutes we spent discussing names for our second son - we knew we wanted to stick with names that have been in our families but we also wanted biblical names. So now you are probably thinking - what happened to that plan? Well Nimrod IS in the bible and it means "warrior" (at least that is what Amos told me), and even though Lonzo is not in the bible it's really going to make someone think before they tease him about his first name. I think I read that Lonzo stands for "watch out because I can go Kimbo Slice on ya at any time". (If your not sure what that means - check him out on YouTube)
Your probably wondering what happened to our plan of "family names"? Well as Amy told you in her previous post - we attended my family (on my mom's side) reunion over the Fourth of July weekend. It really is a special time that we enjoy each year to see family we do not see often enough. This year my cousin Sandra's husband Ric presented each of the families with a very detailed history of the Warman-Ross family tree. Now I do not remember exactly where they fit into the tree(I am waiting on my own copy of the history - so I do not have it in front of me) but both Nimrod and Lonzo are part of my family. You do not even know how thrilled Amy was when she came across this in the pages of my families history.
So after much debate, and countless names that nobody else liked, we have found our winner. So please join us in welcoming Nimrod Lonzo into the world...well not yet, but according to Amy(after she consults with Mariah) it's gonna be any day now. And I thought I had until August 10th to get his and Grant's rooms ready. I guess I better get back to work.

P.S. I really do want to thank Ric for all the time and hard work he put into researching our family history, and compiling it all into a book. Thanks Ric - I really appreciate everything you did.

Ross-Warman Family Reunion

Saturday, July 5, 2008

Today was Tim's family reunion (on his mother's side), and we had a beautiful day for it. The reunion is usually held in Jelico, Tennessee, but this year (and last year too) we had it at his cousin Tonya's house in Sterling Heights. (As a side note, I would just like to say as a very pregnant woman, that I appreciated this immensely!) They have a beautiful home on a lot of property with a pool, volleyball net, trampoline, and play structure. Needless to say, the kids have no problem keeping themselves entertained! As usual, there was so much food and so little time! This year a chocolate fountain had been added to the menu, much to my delight! The family ate and socialized and Kim even came up with a game of Jeopardy that was all about the family history. It was a great day although we did suffer one casualty - Paige fractured her little toe and had to go to urgent care. Besides that (and a water gun battle involving ice water from the cooler:), it was an enjoyable day had by all!

Showered with Love!

June 28, 2008
We are truely blessed with wonderful family and friends! Not only have they prayed for us, encouraged us and helped us every step of the way during this pregnancy (and at all other times too!), they insisted on throwing us a second baby shower. I guess they realized that eight years later we probably wouldn't have much baby stuff left that hadn't been lost, broken, recalled or loaned out. Well, the day finally came and we had so much fun! Everyone who came spoiled us with beautiful gifts and tons of love and well-wishes. We had tons of delicious food, and more desserts than you could possibly sample, although we tried our best! The day was extra special because my mom got to be there! She flew in a couple of days earlier with our long-time family friend, Sue, and having them both there was "the icing on the cake". Now we are surrounded by stacks of diapers, wipes, baby toys and adorable little outfits. These things haven't been a part of our household in a long time and it is taking some getting used to (especially for our dogs:), but we can't wait for our little bundle to get here for a "refresher course"!!lol