Love Is in the Air

John Preston Mizerany

Finally our little guy has arrived, and I must admit that he was worth the wait! John "Preston" blessed us on September 16th at 7:23 AM, and we couldn't be happier! He weighed in at a whopping 8 lbs 5 oz and was 20.5 inches long with some brown hair.

So far things have been going very well...he is a great eater, his digestive system is working well, and he loves to sleep. He also has been visited and cuddled by all of his family...which he loves. I think he has been held most of his life so far, but you can't spoil a newborn, right?

Big sister Bennett was somewhat oblivious to his arrival Tuesday. She barely looked at him, and was much more interested in operating mommy's hospital bed and IV pump. However, yesterday (day 2) she came in and pointed at him, and actually gave him a couple of her signature open mouth kisses. She is otherwise having fun spending time with her Nene and Poppy. She has been spoiled with attention thus far, but we'll see how she reacts once we come home. Only time will tell, but we are optimistic since she is so young.

Day 1

Bennett wanting to push buttons

Bennett kissing her little brother.

We are all doing well, and expected to go home and get settled into our new routine on Friday.

Our Only Child...for one more day

Last night my folks arrived to help assist with our upcoming delivery. Today they were going to spend the day with Brian, Shannon and Christian, but our plans changed some. Instead Shannon and Brian spent the afternoon at the hospital while they monitored her contractions and high blood pressure. Once both were under control, she was discharged. In the meantime, we kept Christian. It was the first time in a LONG time that we have spent so much time with him without Brian and Shannon, so it was fun.


Everything started off okay....we set up his train track and started running the trains. However, once Bennett saw the new toy, she decided she wanted to play with it too, but Christian wasn't too excited about sharing. As he kept gathering his trains and saying "mine," she kept being very grabby and tried to snatch his trains. This possessiveness continued for the next several hours. Fortunately Christian has learned to share better than Bennett, so he was much more patient and giving...until it came to his new motorized car.


He just received this new car for his 2nd birthday, and he was showing off his driving skills to Nene and Poppy. Of course Bennett had to be in the middle of things, so when Christian got out to do something else, she hopped right in. Being too little to reach the pedals, or understand how it worked, she just sat there, but that upset Christian terribly (as you can see). Once we snapped the photo, we pulled her out and let him have his car back.


After lunch I put Bennett down for a nap. When I asked Christian if he wanted to take a nap, he started crying (I took that as a "no"). So I left him on the sofa watching TV with his Poppy. After 20 minutes he was asleep next to a very sleepy Poppy, so I sent them both up to bed for a nap. With a couple of hours of peace and quiet, my mom and I read and went to a couple of open houses.


One full day left of being a mommy to only one child, then my life is going to change forever...

Sept 16th is THE Day!

As you know, my OB scheduled our c-section for Sept 17th weeks ago, but after numeous complaints from me about sciatic nerve pain and lack of sleep...I convinced her to take him a day or two earlier. Unfortunately the hospital was booked on the 15th, so it was moved up one day to the 16th. Now our little guy will share a birthday with a good friend of ours, Betsy Frederick.

Fortunately my parents were able to change their flights with minimal problems. In fact, now they are arriving on Saturday so we can put them to work around the house (ha ha!). Though we doubt we'll have the whole family there to welcome him immediately after the delivery like we did Bennett, we can't wait to meet him! Since the c-section is scheduled for 7:15 am, we'll have the whole day to welcome guests, and hopefully get some sleep in between.

Though we found out his gender months ago, we never had the 4-D ultrasound to see what he looks like, so we can't wait to see who he resembles. We wonder if he'll look like one of us, or like his sister. We hope he looks like her because I think she is a nice blend of Steve and me. I imagine he'll have a head of hair like Bennett, especially since I have had such terrible heartburn, but who knows...

I guess we will all know soon enough. Stay tuned...

1st Day of "School"

Well today was Bennett's first day of Parent's Day Out, or as we call it around our house...school. Steve and I were both home with her this morning to get her ready, and take a couple of photos. When we had her diaper bag and her own lunch sack packed and loaded into the car, Steve kissed her good-bye and I drove her up to the church. We were given very strict instructions to follow about the carpool line so I was nervous that I would mess something up. However, we arrived on time and everything went smoothly....until it was our turn. Bennett and I were talking about her first day of school and she was happy and clapping, until the door opened and her teacher reached in to grab her out of her carseat. She looked at me with huge eyes and immediately started crying. As I was telling her teacher any last minute tips about her quirks, Bennett was flailing around in sheer panic. As soon as I pulled away, my own tears started to flow. I am sure to a one year old, that was the scariest thing that has ever happened, especially since she has never met her teacher before. So having her mommy approve it probably was extremely confusing and disconcerting to her. It took all of my strength not to call the church all morning long and make sure she was okay, but since we never got that call, I could only assume she calmed down and started to enjoy herself.

When 1pm rolled around, Big Lou and Myra road over there with me to pick her up. They wanted to get the drill down too since they are going to be the primary people taking and picking her up. Fortunately Bennett looked the same and was happy to see us. One of her teachers, Miss Shay, brought her back out and helped buckle her in while we drilled her with questions. They give us a report card for each day, and Bennett's had all smiley faces, so I guess that was a good sign.

All and all...I guess everything went well. Hopefully she is getting settled at her Mimi and Papa's house now with a big ba-ba and getting ready for a long nap!

Football Season Is Here

Disclaimer: this blog post is for all of you Alabama fans (especially my husband and his family)!

This past weekend (Labor Day) we headed to Big Lou and Myra's lake house. But before we made the trip up, we attended my nephew's 2nd birthday party Saturday morning! Since he is into trains right now, the whole party had a "Thomas the Train" theme. Shannon even baked the cake herself and it was the shape of a train (isn't she Betty Crocker?). All of the kids were running inside and out, chasing the dogs and trying to decide whether or not to jump in the kiddie pool (if I can actually call it that since it has a water slide). I think all of the children and parents had an enjoyable time, but in the background the TV was on with college football playing.

With this being the kick-off weekend of the new football season...I think that was a must for the dads at the party. We all chowed on pizza and cake before Christian tore into all of his presents. The party wrapped up around noon, and we headed home to get Spence and finish packing for the weekend.

With all of the excitement from the morning, we expected Bennett to sleep on the way up. However, she crashed in the car before we were out of their neighborhood, and awoke when we got home, and then never slept again until she went to sleep that night. She has never made it through an entire day with only a 30 minute nap, so we were expecting her to be extremely fussy. However, with all of the attention and entertainment, she did fairly well.

She spent the afternoon running around exploring the house and testing her new boundaries. After dinner, we got her dressed in her personalized Alabama jersey for good luck (plus her Dad and Uncle Louie were dressed in AL gear and she wanted to copy).

Since the house was full of excitement as Alabama took the field, we didn't expect it to be quiet enough for her to sleep. However, with only the 30 minute nap under her belt, she was exhausted and slept right through the HUGE win for Alabama!

For my northern friends, Alabama was ranked 24th in the country and was picked to lose against the 9th seated Clemson. However, Coach Nick Saban did some good recruiting because a few of those true freshmen he brought onto the field really gave the fans something to get excited about...the hopes of a good season! With one big win under their belt, hopefully the players will have the confidence for the tough season they have ahead of them. Unfortunately, this is the off year, where they play all of their toughest competitors (except Auburn) on the road. So, though it wasn't planned this way, perhaps having a baby this Fall wasn't such bad planning after all. This way Steve can actually lie on the sofa and hold the little guy every Saturday while Bennett and I spend some quality "girl time" together!