The Day She Arrived

There are lots of new babies around these days, which makes me feel very nostalgic, and it reminds me again how fast the time goes.  I was in the grocery store tonight with Annalise and she was clowning around with the lady at check out.  I was giggling and having fun watching her, but there's always a fair dose of peer pressure to "get a move on" when you know there's a line of people behind you, waiting to check out, who do not think your kid is as cute as you do!

Believe it or not, the guy behind me said, "With that kind of personality, be sure to record every moment because you'll forget them as she gets older."  I guess he was having fun too.

He's right!  I forget the baby moments from time to time so here's the story of Annalise's Arrival into this world.  I wrote it a few days after I came home from the hospital so it's genuine but written by a groggy new mom. 

October 6, 2005

I went to the doctor's office for a check-up a couple of weeks out (probably around September 27th) and our doctor said I was looking healthy and was making some progress toward labor.  I had been going through some false labor since about the middle of September.  Rachael came out to stay with me "just in case" while John was in Monterey starting his MBA Program.  I went back to the doctor around October 2nd and I was still at the exact same place I had been, "making some progress toward labor." Not much though.  We scheduled an induction for 6:00am on October 6th which was her due date.  I went back home to wait.  Each night I would take a shower before bed, "just in case" I needed to go anywhere.  Mom was here to stay with Justin whenever the time finally did come.

On the night of October 6th, we went to bed with the alarm set to go bright and early for our appointment in the morning.  Our bags were packed and we were excited!  At about 1:00am, a contraction woke me up and I KNEW this was it.  Even though I think I knew this was the real thing, I took a shower like they suggest to make sure it wasn't just another false alarm.

We timed the contractions and they were about 4 minutes apart right away.  I tried to stay calm and I assumed I was just doing something wrong because it's not supposed to happen that fast.  I stopped very calmly to talk to Mom on my way out the door but John was trying to get me out of the house because he knew it was going to happen quickly.  Boy was he right!

We finally hit the road (from our house in Chula Vista) at 2:30am.  As soon as we got in the car, I knew we were in some big trouble.  At about the end of our street, my water broke and I was so happy that John had stocked my seat with an armload of towels!  Contractions started coming at about 2 minutes apart and I tried to hide that fact from John because I was scared - it was a long drive to La Jolla!

About halfway to the hospital, we were close to Balboa hospital and I thought about begging him to stop.  I didn't because I wanted to be at La Jolla so bad (since that was the plan) but I think he read my mind.  He drove FAST up the highway and he called the hospital on the way to let them know we were coming and that we'd need a wheelchair at the curb.  They told us later that lots of peole say that but they knew by John's voice that he was quite serious! I remember smelling burning brakes when we got out of the car and the nurses tricked me into the wheelchair by promising drugs if I could get myself upstairs.  Those jokesters were lying!!!! No drugs for me!  Annalise was on her way whether I liked it or not!

They told me "not to do anything" until they could get a doctor there (like I had any control over the situation) and I'm not sure how anything happened from there.  All I could manage was to listen to John's voice who talked me calmly through each step.  Eleven minutes after we arrived at the curb, we had a baby girl crying in our arms!  We were famous up and down the hall.

My clearest memory right after she was born was when the nurse asked if I wanted to hold her, and I said, "I can't...".  She took Annalise away from me and tried her best to comfort me by saying, "Don't worry...it will be OK."  I recognized that she thought I didn't WANT to hold her but that could not be farther from the truth.  My body was so tired, I was on pitocin, and my hands were so weak from squeezing my fists the whole car ride up that I knew I couldn't safely hold her.  I heard her crying and I knew that I'd hold her soon.  

 Hello Sweet Girl!!!

Mom came to the hospital right away to see us and John and Ginnie brought Justin a little later.  Kelly came with snacks, Dave and Susan came by and Jen (Auntie Jenny) came to see me the first day.

The first thing Justin did when he got in our hospital room was to kiss his baby sister on the forehead.  He didn't like all of the hospital garb on me and he stayed away for a minute.  Finally he got in bed with me and snuggled.  I was so very happy to see him!

 Big Brother and his Baby Sister

 Hello Little Man!!!

Annalise was a sweet and snuggly baby from the first second.  When Justin was born, he cried when they had him in the heater but Annalise just watched.  He was loud from the start, Annalise waited a little longer, but when she finally did cry - it was LOUD!  I remember thinking that we needed to keep her quiet in the hospital room because she was likely to wake EVERYONE else up!

We came home on October 7th after the doctors gave us a clean bill of health.

 Her first outfit - Sporty and Pink!

Let the loving begin!

How I spent most of my first week home

Here are some comments I wrote about Justin and his "Big Brother" revelations dated 11/18/2005:

"Mommy...Annalise will be the Princess when she grows up and I will be the Prince Charming when I grow up."

Another cute one...

Often when she's crying, he will say softly to her, "It's OK Annalise, your Big Brother is here."

Broncos

NFL Playoffs are here and the ugliness comes out!!!

I treasure the memory of my first Bronco Game and I've loved those boys for a lot of years! I remember "The Drive" and getting a phone call from my cousin in Cleveland 2 minutes before the game ended when we were on the 2 yard line.  Those years that we went to the Superbowl (and lost...twice) as a child were amazing because the whole city was enjoying Bronco Fever!    There were orange and blue painted houses and Bronco songs on the radio.  I remember Thunder running around the field, the official naming of "Bronco Boulevard"and generally feeling like I was a part of something bigger.  That's a powerful feeling as a young girl and I think I needed it at the time.

In college, the excitement started again as Elway and The Broncos were enjoying the long awaited return of excellent, winning seasons.  My Bronco Pride heightened during my 4 year tenure in New England.  How many times did I come home to find my door covered in Patriot Paper or find a photo of Thunder being stabbed by a Patriot Bayonet?  Too many times to count.  Broncos are my childhood and, try as I might, I have not found a bond with any other team that rivals this one.

It's an interesting battle that I face (in all of my parenting challenges) to separate my own desires from what my kids want.  When they were babies, I decked them out in Bronco Gear any chance I got! 

As they got older, I wanted them to have a chance to build their own memories and find their own team.  Football was still (and always will be) a family sport but we started to foster a healthy rivalry in our house.

I still kept the faith...but I encouraged the kids to find teams of their own.  As I look through pictures for this entry, I find MANY pictures of Justin or Annalise in Charger shirt being snuggled by me in a Bronco shirt.  

After an incredible (and unexpected) win against the Steelers last week in a wildcard game, Denver is preparing for a playoff game in New England against those Patriots that I love to hate.  I woke up this morning and posted a few comments on Facebook before putting on my Bronco hat to take the kids to school.  Annalise is at an age that makes my heart melt (wanting to be like Mom) and she asked me for a Bronco shirt.  She's been asking for a while and I keep avoiding it because I want her to have her own experience.

Imagine my rage when in line for school to start, three boys from her class (wearing Charger shirts for spirit day at school) came up and told me, "Broncos Suck!"  I listened to it for a while, somewhat in shock that first graders were so comfortable talking like that, but I was done when I saw the tears balancing precariously close to the edge of Annalise's little eyes.  She was offended that someone would hurt her Mom and she started to trash talk, unsuccessfully, right back.  The real me wanted to take the bait and laugh that the Chargers were done for the season (Ha Ha!!!) but the more mature me explained that saying that is not nice and that everyone can have their own team.  They asked lots of questions and I explained that when I was in first grade, I lived in Denver.  One kid is moving soon and he was pleased to find out that he could stay a Charger fan even if he leaves San Diego.

The morning ended peacefully with my girl on her way to class but you can bet your Bronco Behind that if Denver manages to pull out a miracle this weekend, that girl of mine will have her very own Bronco shirt to wear on Monday and she'll be well prepared to handle any trash talking that might come her way!!!! If we lose, well, she's got her Charger shirt as a back up.

Beautiful Girl

Annalise agreed to be my model for an afternoon a couple of Saturdays ago. We made a special day out of it by going to the salon and getting a snack together before hitting the beach. I've been struck recently by how fast time seems to fly by and I wanted to capture my little girl while I still had one.

Yes, my girl is growing up and showing me every day that she can take care of herself. About a month ago, she found herself in a bind. She was very brave about it and she took matters into her own hands. She had a ponytail in her hair that she wanted to take out, but when she wound up with some tangles in the rubber band that were hurting her, she realized she was stuck. She thought through what I would do if I were helping her and she remembered me using scissors from time to time to cut out stubborn rubber bands. She got the scissors that I had used and she cut the ponytail out. As far as she was concerned, the problem was solved.

Along the day, John and I found clumps of hair laying all around the house in odd places. We were calm at first but after the 7th or 8th clump was found, one hidden in her art supplies, we left a message with the triage nurse at the doctor's office on a Friday evening. We braced ourselves for terrible news about a rare disease. I got out the brush. John asked me not to do it, with a genuine fear in his eye, but I held my breath and combed carefully through her hair prepared for it all to fall out in my hands.

As I brushed, I noticed a distinct pattern to the clumping. All pieces on the floor seemed to be of the same length and when I looked closer, they seemed to be coming from one section of her head. I put the brush down, snuggled her close, and promised that she would not be in trouble if she had cut her hair but I told her that I needed to know. She tearfully fessed up to what had happened. When the nurse called back, we told her the good news, and she giggled and said, "Poor little girl!"

She's healthy and I am reminded again how lucky I am. I hug her more than ever now. We did, however, have a fashion issue to solve. When we took her to the salon, we were told that the only thing they could do was to give her bangs. We agreed but when they were cut, Annalise took one look in the mirror and looked right at us and said, "I look Horrible!!!!" The stylist thought she was just being cute, but it was genuine disgust coming out of my daughter with that sentence. I promised her that she looked beautiful but she wasn't ready to believe me. Yet.

It's taken some time, and while she still hates her bangs, she believes me that they'll grow back. She's promised not to cut her hair again, and she is content with pushing the bangs to the side for now. My joy is seeing her keep her confidence and poise, not letting the trivial things bother her, and watching her patiently grow them out! It's a good story to have so early because I can't find a woman out there who has not cut her own bangs (and regretted it!). I consider her lucky because at 6 years old, my little one has already experienced and recovered from this traumatic rite of passage.

First Newspaper Appearance

Justin's been playing football for a few years now. His first season was on the Flag Blue team with the Panthers, his next season he played Tiny Mite for the Portsmouth Patriots, and then he returned home to play on Mighty Mite Blue and Junior Pee Wee Blue Panther teams. This season they have achieved the ultimate in youth football...A SPOT IN THE Q BOWL! They take the field this Saturday to play for the Championship. Below is a newspaper article that was printed yesterday in the Eastlake Times.

Undefeated Eastlake Faces Otay Ranch in 2011 Super “Q” Bowl

This year Eastlake’s unbeaten Panther’s Junior Pee Wee Blue team (ages 10 and 11) will face Otay Ranch Blue (10-1) at this year’s Super “Q” Bowl, sponsored by San Diego’s Youth Football & Cheer (SDYFC).

The winner will be crowned the best team in the conference and possibly San Diego county, as SDYFC is arguably the most competitive youth football league in San Diego.



Less than three miles separate the two Chula Vista football teams but for two hours a day, four days a week (San Diego Youth football mandates teams switch to 3 days per week after Labor Day) both teams have tirelessly practiced from July to Mid-November to successfully reach this milestone.

Led by first -year head coach, Clarence Freeman, the Eastlake Panthers come into the “Q” Bowl championship confident having beaten Los Toros Bulls last week 31-0.

However, the championship game should be a good one as it will be a rematch from Week 8 when Eastlake Panthers barely beat Otay Ranch 19-15.

Good luck to both teams.

2011 Super “Q” Bowl
Event: 2011 Super Q Bowl (Jr. Pee Wee Division)
Date: Saturday, November 19th
Time: 12:00 PM
Location: Southwestern College
Cost to attend: $10.00 adults $5.00 children 6-14
Head Coach: Clarence Freeman
Eastlake Panthers Blue (11-0) vs Otay Ranch Broncos Blue (10-1)

Q BOWL 2011 @ Southwestern College
Mighty Mite-Balboa vs Skyline 10:00am
Junior Pee Wee-Otay Ranch (Blue) vs Eastlake (Blue) 12:00pm
Pee Wee-Del Norte vs Balboa 2:00pm
Junior Midget-Coastal vs Skyline 4:00pm
Midget-Menifee (Red) vs Steele Canyon 6:00pm

Happy Birthday Papa

We have a very strict rule in our house: "If Papa does something, we should probably not do it ourselves." It's a good general rule of thumb for them to follow in terms of behavior because it often guides them in the choices they make. For example, they can ask themselves on the playground before jamming their fingers in a friend's nose, "Would Papa do this?" If the answer is "yes" (he would), they're supposed to choose not to do it.

On this special day, however, we thought a tribute to Papa would be appropriate. The kids practiced and negotiated terms with me in order to make it authentic. I gave in on almost everything they thought of, but I did ask them to change "jerk" to "nerd" so it doesn't rhyme as well as they would have liked. Mom's fault on that...

Enjoy! Happy Birthday Papa!

"Top Gun" kind of day

One of the perks of Navy Life is access to Breakers Beach on Coronado Island. It's usually a quiet, family-friendly place so I like spending afternoons there with the kids. When we went down there last week with John, it was a whole new experience! There was a ton of activity in the air and I felt like we were in a scene straight out of Top Gun.

Here comes a Hawkeye on final approach.

The handoff - right in front of the Hotel Del.

Annalise plays in the sand with PT going on at the water's edge.
She will continue ignoring the handsome men in uniform...

I don't know that anything else needs to be said.

We spent the day in the sand having a good old time. I'm sure you wouldn't believe me if I told you that there was even a volleyball game as we were leaving. Yes, there was. Sadly, it was no Maverick or Goose, Ice or Wolfman, but it was still one for the books.

Remembering 9/11

Daddy and his little athletes at the starting line.

Annalise on the trail - just starting out.

Crossing the finish line.

Nana and Mom enjoying a hard earned iced coffee after the race.

It was 10 years ago that life changed so drastically for all of us. I still remember very vividly the events of that morning as I'm sure so many others do. What I remember just as clearly are the days after; looking for my friends, trying to get from Dallas to San Diego, and driving across the San Francisco Bay Bridge 9 days later listening to George W. Bush declare War on Terror. I was with my boss at the time, a prior sailor himself, and I remember him saying, "Well, that certainly shakes things up a bit!"

I was in Michigan the next March when we invaded Iraq, Justin was 9 months old, and John was deployed to the Persian Gulf. I usually had email communication with him but with all of that going on, email was obviously cut off. I held our son in my arms that day in Grandma T's living room and I said a quick prayer that my family's part in this story would someday make sense to me. Grandma was with me and, in her aging mind, she connected with me again even closer than she ever had before. She worried with me as she remembered her own experience waiting for my Grandpa, a deployed Navy Sailor, to come home safely from WWII.

Life has changed for everyone since that day. For my family, it has meant that the word "war" is a part of our daily life. I no longer consider the connection of 9/11 to what we do today, but when I look back, I can see how much a part of who we are is driven by that event. I also realize how lucky we are that the impacts to our family are merely inconvenience rather than true sacrifice or loss.

We have moved on since September 11th but my husband teaches me often that it's important to stop and remember in order to learn and move forward. I'm not sure what I had planned to do in order to honor the 10th Anniversary, but it likely would have passed without much acknowledgement had John not chosen to remind us all how important it is to honor and remember. In that spirit, we participated in the Travis Manion 9/11 Heroes Run which was created to "honor the fallen by challenging the living."

Justin got to run the 5K Trail Run with his Dad and they crossed the finish line far ahead of me. Justin amazes me with his will to face any challenge on the football field so I'm not sure why I was so surprised at his amazing run, but I was. I learned a lot about my daughter that day - specifically that she is very competitive yet retains her flair for the dramatic at all times. There were several points where she would sprint ahead, leaving me in the dust, only to stop and have to rest because she was "soooo tired!" I coached her along until one point close to the end when she stopped to tell me, with huge tears in her eyes, that she didn't want to finish. I was afraid for a minute that I had pushed too hard, but imagine my shock when she hit the gas pedal a second later to chase down a Grandpa who ran by saying, "Come on little girl - you're not going to let ME beat you, are you?" She finished strong with a smile on her face one pace in front of John and Justin who came back to cross the finish line with her. She also finished several paces in front of the friendly Grandpa who gave her the kick in the pants she needed.

There's no doubt that life has changed for me and this country since the towers went down. I'm thankful for those who have sacrificed so much greater than we have in order to keep us safe. I'm thankful that my gifts in life walk safely and freely by my side every day. I'm so happy that my family stopped to honor and remember and that we will continue to do so in the future.