The big 30!

He made it! On April 11th, Nick turned 30! A bunch of us met at the bowling alley to surprise him and to celebrate this momentous occasion. I had everything planned to perfection but alas, things did not work out quite as well as I had hoped. We arrived home from Arkansas at two in the morning and spent most of his day recovering and unpacking. We were going to get some hot wings (his absolute favorite) for dinner and then blindfold him so we could go the the bowling alley. I was so proud of myself for having it all together- we drove up to "Wings to Go" and they sure had gone-OUT OF BUSINESS! On Nick's birthday! We were very sad but the rest of the evening was a hit. Adam especially enjoyed the Funfetti cupcakes. And I have no idea why this whole thing is underlined. I can't get rid of it so I am sorry. :)

Arkansas bound

4:00am- in the morning- before the sun is up when it's still dark outside and any sane person would still be sleeping soundly in bed. We arise and head off to the airport. We were crazy enough to each fly with a child on our lap so we could save a few bucks. The first 2 1/2 hour flight was hard for Nick and Adam (who was too excited to go on an airplane to go back to sleep). Toddlers do not like to be contained especially when there is a whole airplane to explore. They finally both conked out on the second flight as you can see! Sam, on the other hand, was an angel- other than his training me to change several diapers on my lap in an airplane seat. We survived all but one of them, and for the weak of stomach, I'll spare you the gory details.

We were able to see family that we hadn't seen in a year and a half. Adam loved wrestling with cousins Christian and Cameron. At Nana and Papa's house, he helped Papa mow his lawn and ran around with Chase. Sam got to meet everyone and he had an exciting trip too. He learned to roll over and also started eating rice cereal when we were out there.

The night before we were scheduled to come home, we bathed the kids and put them to bed early so they would be well rested for our day of traveling the next day. We were so proud of ourselves for being so responsible. Then the sirens went off... Are you kidding me? Are tornadoes really that serious? But I just put them to bed! The next hour and a half was spent in the tornado shelter. Adam loved it- running around with his cousins in a big room is so much more fun than going to sleep. So we saw the pictures of the tennis ball-sized hail on TV and then made our way home when the twister had passed. Home, kids to bed again, not ten minutes pass and the sirens go off AGAIN! I love living in California. We go back to the shelter again to hear stories of roofs being torn off and cars being flooded off the road. So, after two stints in the tornado shelter and hoping there was no rotation in the third storm, we survived our last night in Arkansas.

At Papa and Grammie's

On Easter, we drove Nick to the airport so he could go on the church mission trip to Mexico, then the boys and I escaped to my parents' house for the week. It was a nice break for me because there is always someone willing to hold the baby, read to Adam, get up to feed in the middle of the night... (oh, wait- I went to far with that one!) Actually, both boys are great at sleeping and Sam's been sleeping from 9pm to 7am for months now. We are blessed.


I am a big fan of scheduling and the boys' days are very predictable. During an afternoon naptime, we heard some noises coming from the room where Adam was sleeping. These noises were much to gleeful for a slumbering toddler. I opened the door to check on him and this is what I found: apparently, I underestimated the distance from the port-a-bed to my sister's dresser. But no problem for my son- he emptied almost the entire contents of the top drawer onto his head and into his bed.

It's got its own weather system!

So now the appropriate thing is to joke about it... because there's nothing wrong with Sam's head! Praise God. After 3 hours in the waiting room at Children's Hospital, and 45 minutes for him to fall asleep for the CT scan, the results are in: he has an extreme case of bathrocephaly. At 4 months old and 14 pounds, he is in the 50th percentile for his height and weight and 75th percentile for his head. The Lord knows the plans for Sam's future and maybe someday that thick skull will come in handy. Thank you so much for all those prayers- God heard you!

Mama? Run...c'mon!

Praise the Lord! We mentioned to a family in our church that we were looking for a jogging stroller so I could run with the boys to train for the marathon in 358 days. We were hoping they could just help us find a used one but they bought a brand new one for us! God is good- all the time.

We wasted no time; we got the stroller last night and Sam, Adam, and I went on a 2.5 mile run/walk this morning. The stroller is so easy to push- it's my legs that are the stubborn part. When I would take a little break to walk, Adam would look up through the little plastic window at me and say, "Mama? Run...c'mon!" How could I say no to that sweet little boy who just wanted to go fast? I think he'll be a valuable asset to my training.

Sam update:

We have a CAT scan scheduled for St. Patrick's Day, March 17th at 1pm.

The Saga Continues...

We took Sam to Children's Hospital today and met with the fabulous Dr. Gizzi who has two guesses to what it might be that makes his head look like a bike helmet. The more likely one, and the one we are hoping it is, is bathrocephaly, "a developmental anomaly marked by a steplike posterior projection of the skull, caused by excessive growth of the lambdoid suture". It basically means that he has a really thick clump of bone at the back of his skull for no particular reason whatsoever.

The other option is that there could be something in/on/around his brain that is pushing the skull out and we will find that out with an MRI which requires general anesthesia (we're not excited about that). He also needs to get a CT scan to see if the skull is especially thick. The Lord knew what He was doing when He made Sam, and apparently, that's the head God wanted for him. If it is bathrocephaly, then we don't need to do anything- it will just be less noticeable as he grows into his head. He just won't ever look good with a buzz cut...

The Countdown Begins...

Today, thousands of people ran over 26 miles in the L.A. Marathon and I am hoping to join them for next year! Today, I am capable of running about 3 miles in one stretch so I have quite a ways to go. My friend Tim just ran 63 marathons in 63 days to raise over $750,000 for the AT Children's Project, so I figure if he can do that, I can at least run one, right?

An update...

Not much has changed since the exciting story of Sam's birth. We've just been adjusting to life with a family of four! Nick still loves youth ministry and just got back from the annual snow trip.

I somehow got it into my mind that I want to run a marathon next year (and if I write it down, maybe it will actually happen!).

Adam adores his little brother even though he can't say his name- he just calls him baby. Someday he'll be able to say words that start with "s" but until then, he loves doing puzzles, bowling, climbing things, and tackling daddy. He'll be two in April and we are already planning a Curious George party.

Sam, 3 months, is mastering smiling and laughing and that's about it for now.

As you can see from Sam's profile picture, he has a strangely shaped head. We have an appointment to see a doctor at Children's Hospital craniofacial department on March 3. Remember us in your prayers as we try to figure out if there's something we need to do about it or if Sam just has a funny head.

Take a look!

Here are some picures of Samuel. More to come soon!

Introducing: Samuel Bryan Neves!

At 3:38am Monday morning we welcomed the latest member of our family into the world! Here is a minute by minute account of that happy morning:

1:30am - Missie waddles into the den and tells me I should get some sleep, she thinks the baby may be coming soon. I turn off homestarrunner.com and hit the sack.
2:00am - A voice from the bathroom pulls me from my slumber. Missie thinks her water just broke. I'm secretly hoping it's just bladder control problems.
2:01am - It's definitely not bladder control problems. I quickly try to employ the coaching techniques I learned over the past twelve weeks of Bradley training - encouraging words, back message, relaxation techniques... I know exactly what to do. She says "Stop talking and don't touch me." I go downstairs and start to load the car.
2:07am - I check in on Missie to see if she wants that massage yet. She gives me 'The look' and I scurry downstairs to get her a glass of water. Mr. Bradley, I want my Thursday nights back.
2:12am - I call Missie's mom Debbie and she picks up on the first ring sounding alert and composed, like the woman in the movies who wakes up with her hair nice and her make-up already done - weird. She will later tell me I should have called her an hour earlier.
2:13am - I call Angie and leave a message letting her know we're dropping Adam off and heading to the hospital. She is sound asleep and oblivious to the excitement.
2:26am - I continue loading the car. I stop in the kitchen and hear Missie moaning upstairs in the bathroom. I grab a couple extra towels and a tupperware container to hold the placenta in case we don't make it to the hospital and we have to deliver in the car on the side of the road. Not that that would ever really happen. Right?
2:27am - I check in on Miss as she bears down for a hard contraction. I consider reaching over to console her but think twice. I might need both my hands later and I don't want to get one bitten off. She finishes the contraction and thanks me for not doing anything to help. Anytime, hun.
2:35am - I carry a groggy Adam out to the car and he doesn't put up a fuss. He's so calm and content that I later wonder if he was in on it.
2:45am - We head over to Angie's (they gave us a house key for just such an emergency) and I quietly put Adam down in the nursery. I could have stolen the TV while I was there - no one heard me coming or going.
2:46am - I get in the car and Missie is struggling. She is clearly in active labor. I'm looking forward to breaking many traffic laws in the next few minutes.
2:47am - I run my first red light.
2:48am - I run my second red light.
2:50am - Missie asks if I'm running red lights (she's laboring with her eyes closed). I say, "just focus on the labor, I'll get you there safe." I hope she's more convinced than I am.
3:05am - Missie starts making very load howling noises. I tell myself it's her way of dealing with the pain. In between contractions, she tells me that when she's howling, it's because she's pushing and there's nothing she can do to stop it. I try to look calm, but it's officially panic time.
3:15am - We're 15 minute away when Missie tells me "The baby is coming NOW!" And I thought 3:05 was panic time!
3:30am - We roll up to the emergency room door and I run in to get some help. A doctor and two nurses come out with a wheel chair. I think to myself "We're going to need a gurney."
3:31am - The doctor tries to check the baby while Missie is mid-contraction in the front seat. Missie denies him like a goalie in a playoff game. He looks over at the nurse - "Go get a gurney".
3:35am - After getting Missie on the gurney, the doctor checks her and finds out the baby is crowning. We rush into the first room in ER and park next to an elderly woman who has no idea what is going on. The attending doctor prepares to catch the baby and I hear him say 'It's been a few years since I've done this'. I briefly wonder if we would have been better of on the side of the road. I look down and see the baby's head crown hard and stop wondering.
3:38am - The doctor tells Missie not to push. She ignores him and pushes with all she's got. The baby twists out in one big rush, two minutes after we got into the room. I'm thankful I didn't stop to go to the bathroom before we left the house, otherwise the baby would have been born in the Volvo!
3:40am - I hold our new son in my arms as all the ER nurses give him googly eyes. From behind the curtain, our elderly roommate asks in a shaky voice "Can somebody get me a drink of water?"
3:41am - The nurses continue to hover over the baby - they don't get many newborns down in the ER. From behind the curtain, our elderly roommate asks again in a shaky voice "Can somebody get me a drink of water?"
3:42am - "Can someone get me something to drink?"
3:43am - "Would somebody please get me some water?" The nurses aren't fazed.
3:44am - "Can I get a drink of water?" I tell the nurses "I think someone should get her something to drink." She smiles at the baby and says, "Oh, she'll be fine." I decide to get the baby out of the ER before the poor old lady dies of dehydration.
3:45am - We're reunited with Missie upstairs in labor and delivery, in a daze from the amazing turn of events. It was exciting, it was terrifying, and it wasn't like anything I've ever experienced. Glory to God, our family of three is officially a family of four!

BTW - His name is Samuel Bryan Neves, and he weighed 8lbs, 7oz. Pictures to come.

The Unnamed one

We call him "Bob" because there's nothing else to name him. If the Lord sends you a vision as to what to call this boy, please send us a memo, preferably before November 24th. Thank you.