Henry's 4th Birthday!!

Poor Henry!  Ever since his second birthday, which was the last time I saw my sister alive, I haven't been able to bring myself to do a party or anything for him. :(  I'm going to change that with his 5th birthday, though.  It should give me something fun to look forward to and immerse my time, energy and thoughts into, plus he deserves it, poor kid.

His birthday in 2014 was during the week, so I just spent the entire day with him. I was able to get a "birth time" photo for probably the first time ever.

12:56 PM on October 14, 2010 this little nugget came in to the world and changed our lives forever.  Some days I think Jacob wishes he'd go back to where he came from, but I know in the overall scheme of things, he loves his baby brother and is beyond thankful for him!

That evening we went out to dinner ... to CiCi's no less. Lol  I think that's where we went for Jacob's 4th birthday also.  Must be a tradition now!  After dinner John and I stopped to get his cake because I didn't bake one and we wanted one that he'd love.  I think we succeeded with this little gem from Milwaukee Custards:

We came home, sang and had some birthday cake.  It was so yummy too!

He got a little help from his big brother. :)

After that he got to open some presents!  Ours hadn't come yet, so he opened what my parents brought for him:

Thomas the Train!! His favorite!!  He had been talking about this train set for weeks, but I really had no clue what he was talking about, so I had to google it.  Lol

The next day our package finally arrived, so I just let him open the box instead of wrapping it first.  I'm lazy, what can I say?

The Julius Jr. Rockin' Playhouse!! He had been asking for this for weeks, as well!!  I know my kids are spoiled, but it's so worth it to see the joy on their faces. :)

Even though my mind was somewhere else, I did the best I could to make his birthday a success, and I think I did pretty good.  He had so much fun and got two very awesome birthday presents!

Happy birthday, Henry Joseph!!

It's hard to believe it's already been two years.  These two years have totally flown by, and I am NOT a fan of that!  I wish I could freeze time, so I could keep you small forever.

You're growing in to such a lively, out-going little man.  You love to play with your big brother, cuddle with your mama and go for walks with your daddy.    You make us laugh all the time with your cute little sense of humor.

You recently entered the "terrible twos" ... constantly getting into everything you shouldn't be and then laughing hysterically when we tell you "no" and/or redirect you to something else.  We have to keep all the bathroom doors shut or we may find you playing in the toilet bowl or trying to brush your teeth.  You unplug the vacuum all the time while mommy is vacuuming the floors and then you giggle as if it were the coolest new game when mommy takes it away and reprimands you.  You throw toys and punches quite often, we're still working on breaking that habit.

You've started mimicking a lot of the sounds and words you hear us use, so your vocabulary is really starting to grow.  I'm still pretty much the only person who can understand you, though, with the exception of a few close family members.  But, that's to be expected.  I don't even know all the words you say now.  It's probably somewhere between 50-100 words with some phrases thrown in there too.

Here's a little walk down memory lane from your first few days of life ...

Fresh from the oven.

First family photo. (I'm sharing even though I'm a hot mess in it, lol)

Jacob's first time holding you.

 

Ready to go home!

 

First night at home.

Sweet sleepy baby. :)

Mommy milk coma.

Snuggled up in the moby wrap.

And, here are your birth time photos:

 

10/14/10 @ 12:56 PM

10/14/12 @ 12:56 PM 

(or as close to that as possible, lol)

Happy birthday, sweet Henry.  Our little magoo, peanut, and most recently, Henny Boo Boo ... we love you more than words can say, and can't wait to spend this next year learning and exploring with you.  xoxo

Love, 

Mommy

Roles

Mother, father, sister, brother, husband, wife ... all of these, plus a ton more, are the different roles one might fulfill in a lifetime.  I'm sitting here catching up on some of my DVR'd television shows when I just sort of had an epiphany and I felt the need to write about it ... for me, my greatest two roles are MOTHER and WIFE.

John and I have been together for a total of 11.5 years.  We've been married for just over 6 years.  While we may have our fair share of fights, and we may bicker and argue about some of the dumbest things imaginable, at the end of the day, we love each other very much.  He's my best friend, and I think I can speak for him when I say I'm his as well.  We tell each other everything.  We have the deepest respect and understanding for each other.  I may not always do the "right" thing or say the "right" thing, but my love for my husband never changes.  I feel like I've been ready to be a wife since I was in my early teens.  And, God brought this man into my life at just the right moment.  For that I'll be eternally grateful.  I love you, boo, forever and always! <3

In addition to always knowing I was meant to be someone's wife, I've always had a strong maternal instinct.  I've always loved babies and small children, and I just knew that once I met, fell in love with and married that perfect person, we would most definitely have babies together.  A few months after John and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary we started trying to conceive our first baby.  It took us three months to conceive Jacob.  Three months seemed like an eternity.  I don't know how couples deal with trying for months and years on end.  My heart truly goes out to them because I know just how sad each month was for me when I'd get a negative test result, and like I said, it only took us three months to conceive our little Jacob.

The day Jacob was born was both one of the happiest days and one of the scariest days of my life.  After all, I had done my fair share of babysitting as a teenager, but I had never been completely responsible for a little life before.  Over the past four years I've most certainly made my fair share of mistakes, but this "job" comes with a huge learning curve.  I'm learning every day how to be a better mother.  I can only hope and pray that some day Jacob will realize how hard I worked to make sure he had the best mother, and the best life, possible.  I love you, Bubba, to the moon and back!  <3

When Jacob was about the age Henry is now (21 months), we started trying to conceive baby number two.  This time I was more informed on how to tell when I was ovulating and it only took us one month (one cycle!) to conceive our sweet little Henry.  Again, the day he was born was equally one of the happiest and one of the scariest days of my life.  Now I was not only responsible for one little life, but I was responsible for TWO!  And, I had the biggest mommy guilt about bringing a new little guy into our world.  I knew in the long run Jacob would love having a sibling.  He has a built-in best friend for life!  But, I was terrified of the impact our new little man would have on our family dynamic.  I felt bad having to divide my time and attention among both boys, and still my husband.  And, I won't lie ... it was a VERY rough transition.  But, we made it through.  Together.  As a family.  And, I'm truly thankful for that.  Henry was the best little addition God could have given us to expand our family.  I love you, monkey! <3

I can only pray that maybe one day we can add one more little person to complete our family.  If it doesn't happen, I will still be eternally grateful for the family that I have been blessed with, but I just feel like we have so much love to give ... there is always room for one more!  :)

He's here!

Our littlest man is here! Sorry it's taken so long to update. Things have been crazy around here lately!

Let's see ... I had my last OB appointment on Wednesday, October 13th at 4:45 PM. I worked half of the day that day, went to my last sonogram appointment, went home for a few minutes, then off to my OB appointment. Anyway, my BP was slightly high and I had protein in my urine, so I ended up being sent to the Birthing Inn to be monitored for a little while. My parents had to come and pick up Jacob because I had a good feeling I was not getting out of their that night. I was right, too! My BP kept going up (probably because I was so nervous), but my labwork came back fine. They ended up keeping me overnight anyway since my c-section was scheduled for the next day. I didn't get the best night's sleep, of course ... those L&D beds SUCK, not to mention the hip and sciatica pain was unbareable.

The next day I was prepped and moved into the OR around 12:15 PM. John came in just before my surgery began and we anxiously awaited the arrival of our littlest guy. At 12:56 P.M. Henry Joseph Zuzik was born. He weighed 7lb 8oz and was 21 inches long. He looked just like his big brother only Henry weighed almost double what Jacob weighed when he was born. We make some beautiful babies!

We spent three days in the hospital and despite a little jaundice and some breastfeeding issues, we were both discharged on Sunday, October 17, 2010. It's been a rough month adjusting to being a mom of two, trying to divide my attention among them both equally, keeping the house in shape, taking care of my husband and the biggest challenge of all has been breastfeeding, BUT it's all been VERY worth it! I can't believe tomorrow my baby will be one month old already. :(