Duuuuuhhhh, what kind of (*hiccup*) BEER are (*buuurrrrp*) you?

I'M a:

MICROBREW!
(100% dark & bitter, 33% working class, 33% genuine)

Oh, I totally sensed that I was a microbrew...although some days I feel a little Coronawithlime-ish...hmmmm today I'm definitely a Miller Light with a slight leaning toward plain old Miller...

Heeheehee, it's not the "MMPI"... but I think it might be just as scientific! Just ask Butch, he's the EXPERT.
I got this test off of the Anchoress' website.

Awwwwwwww

Cousins John and Mariela were born one week apart. This was their first visit! We had a lovely time visiting at Uncle Nick and Auntie Debbie's house today. We discussed baptizing the babies together and I hope it all works out! They are the two closest (besides the twins, of course) in age of all of the grandchildren of mom and dad. We have so much fun when we get together. It will be nice to share the years ahead and hopefully we will all remain close in spirit and in proximity!

I Bow Down To The Champion!

WOW

Prayers WORK!

Before I go into the gory details, I must take a moment to thank everyone in blogworld for your prayers and concern! I know so many of you (you know, my hundreds of readers!) have gone through this and empathize so much with the whole parenting/childbirth anxiety and joy and it helps so much to know that so many people are "with" me in moments like these!

Mariela (mar-ee-ella) Katherine (named after Our Lady and after her big sister, Katrina who will be her godmother)was born at 10:49pm on Sunday, February the 26th. She weighed 8lbs, 5oz and was 21" long. She was born "sunny side up", which I hope is a good sign of her future disposition! I went to the hospital around 11:30 am and started to get induced. She was in a very "high" position and slightly to the side so her head wasn't really helping the contractions to move her in the right direction! I got an epidural around 7pm and I am so happy to note that I finally got a doctor that would listen to me! The nurses were great and understood how anxious I was about the epidural not working. I started to feel a lot of pressure around 10:15 and the doctor asked if I wanted to do a "try" push. After that, I really wanted to keep pushing since I couldn't feel anything except pressure. After the first round of pushing, I told the doctor that for the first time I felt the "urge to push" that I'd heard so much about! It was soooooo cooooool I cannot express with words how great it was to not feel pain and to know that my pushing was actually doing something! My husband, two sisters, sis-in-law, and my bestist friend Janene were all there to witness, and Katrina was in the waiting room to be the first (after mama and daddy) to hold Mariela. The reason she is so bright eyed is because I signed a form to NOT have those goopy eye drops/ointment put in her eyes after delivery. I have no risk for having gonorrhea or chlamydia (the only reason for that antibiotic ointment!) and it was so nice for her to see mama and daddy and aunties after she was born. She was so alert and I was half expecting her to start smiling! It's sort of become a tradition in our family to invite the sisters to witness delivery and I've made it a practice to invite someone who hasn't seen a baby be born and wants to. Janene was that someone this time. She is still gushing about how cool it was to see this and she seems genuinely honored to have been a part of it all. Having a baby is such a unique, life altering experience...watching a baby be born is almost as remarkable! The delivery was so smooth that I really (for the first time!) can't wait to have another baby (shhhhh, don't tell hubbs, I make one really crabby preggo lady). Butch took the whole week off and I don't know what I could have done without him. He's the best daddy and husband I could ever have hoped for!

I really could FEEL your prayers and I even talked to my Guardian Angel with some special requests and I believe now, that they hear and help when we are in need.
So far Mariela is such a content baby, but I think that might have something to do with the fact that she's barely EVER set down. I have two big sisters that fight over her and I only get to hold her because I nurse her!


Today we celebrated the twins' one year birthday party and it was so nice to get out of the house! We even went to Church today even though Mariela is only 1 week old. We had such a great time and all of the family was there. We were thinking that it would be nice to get a picture of all of the grandkids but Trine and I thought about it for a second and after looking at our VERY pregnant sister in law, and realized that we should wait until Easter when all 15 of the grandkids could be photographed together!

Thank you God, guardian angels, St. Gerard, family and friends for helping us through this time of JOY!