Ava’s PlayPen

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Life, Physical or Spiritual, is birthed out of sacrifice.  I love life, and I love that so many things in this life point to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ which provides us with spiritual Life.  Christ's death is by far the ultimate sacrifice, giving life to an undeniably fallen humanity.  I also firmly believe the sacrifice of a good, and loving mother, as she agonizes through labor to bring beautiful life into this world is God Glorifying, Christ Exalting, and to me the very humble "helper", a sacred, and holy moment.  Who would go through such an ordeal for an accident, or if life weren't a sacred gift from God.  Life IS beautiful in every sense of the word (Life and Beautiful), and women like my wife preach it without words, in a way that can be understood by anyone willing to see and hear.

Samuel Tyler Ross was born on March 3, 2010 after an epic and heroic struggle, full of both pain and sacrifice.  The very fact that he exists in the world today is attributed to the Grace of God, and his mother's efforts to give birth to him.  He is a special gift, and a person created for eternal purpose.

We left for the Hospital for a planned inducement.  Amy had been second guessing herself on planning the inducement all week, as it was scheduled only a 1 day past her 40th week, but as it turned out she made the right decision.  The woman who delivered Ava, Debbie Nussbaum, delivered Samuel as well.  After speaking with her about the possibility of a c-section early yesterday afternoon, it kind of eased her mind about the Inducement decision.  We found out that Ava had a very bad shoulder distocia(sp), and we found out yesterday that it was extremely bad.  Ava's broad shoulders (knowing her now, you'd have never thought it), were trapped on Amy's pelvis, with her head hanging out of Amy.  From what Debbie said, there was really only one other possible course of action if Ava would have not came out from the epesiotomy.  So, because Samuel is a boy, it brought concern enough to offer Amy a c-section.  They tried to get a good feel for Samuel, and like the ultrasound and previous hand measurements concluded, Samuel was just an average sized boy.  Not more than 8 lbs probably.  So, we (she) decided to proceed.

Throughout the morning Amy's contractions really weren't that bad.  They had her  cranked up to 18 on Pitocin (it is just a number to me, but evidently higher = stronger).  She still really didn't feel much, and we were fairly upbeat, joking about her bouncing around on her little birthing ball.  They decided to break her water, and at that point it was on.  Time completely slowed as it progressed, and I was reminded of what the term "white knuckles" means.  And then at exactly 4:00, after a bit of screaming and God given strength, Samuel was born at 9lbs 7oz and 22.5 inches.  Much greater than what was expected.

I know my wife is imperfect as I am, and far to often I see her Imperfections or complain about them, but I believe true character and beauty reveals itself through difficulty.  It amazes me that through the entire birthing process, she kept a Christlike attitude towards those tending to her, and to me as well.  At most times, she was more concerned about me (having not eaten), or Samuel's well being.  She is an incredible woman, and a true example of living out Christianity in love.  I love her and admire her.

Here are some pictures.  Thanks to all of our friends and family who have prayed for us in these 9 months, and these past few days.  God Heard.

So, we're inching closer and closer to the March 3 deadline for Amy's inducement, and Samuel's entrance into the world.  We've tried almost everything to put Amy into labor, outside of me renting a big gorilla suit and jumping out of the shadows in the middle of the night.  It looks like it is going to be a Wednesday Birthday, which means he will share a birthday with his grandma Nancy.

So, we are up in the air with how big he is going to be, and were curious what our family and friends thought.   So, without a great prize, what are your bets?  How big will the little guy be when he decides to make his entrance?  He is due tomorrow, March 2.

My Guess is:  8 lbs 1 oz and 21 inches

Amy's Guess:  8 lbs 2 oz and 21.5 inches

The past week I've been able to work at home periodically, as Amy is pregnant.  This particular day, Ava went and grabbed her Elmo laptop, and sat next to me on her own and started pretending she was working with me...  One last thing, I usually get myself together before working even from home.  Just so happened this day their must have been something going on early, and I was unable to get around right away...

A couple weeks ago, Ava and I put the crib back together...

1.  It was odd putting it back up, as we just took it down last June.

2.  Ava was actually a big help handing me the screws.  She absolutely loves helping!!!

3.  We had a hard time keeping Ava out of the crib at first.  She wanted to go in there periodically.

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So, we're now at about 39.5 weeks into this second pregnancy.  Again we are full of excitement, and expectation, wondering at what moment Amy will go into labor.  I find it amazing that with all of modern medical science, we still do not know what causes a woman to go into labor at a given time.  I think it is just amazing, but then again the fact that a woman can carry around a 7 pound human in her belly, then giving birth, is nothing short of amazing.  So right now we're just kind of waiting...  and waiting....  I wonder if he will ever get here!!!  Which brings me to the flip side.  As excited as we are, we are kind of enjoying our sleep at the same time...  Here are some pictures of Amy taken last Sunday.  I've also posted some pictures of Ava, taken on the same day.

What a great and challenging month this month!  Amy and I began the month at Passion 2010 while Ava stayed with Grandma and Grandad for a few days.  I'm thinking she wore her Grandma and Grandad out and I know, even after an incredible time of renewed spiritual Awakening, we were so glad to see her again.  We've been fighting crazy sickness around here.  I've been down with bronchitis twice this month, while Ava's been sick twice, and Amy's been sicker than she's ever been.  She caught a pnuemonia, and developed a pleurisy.  It really has been quite an ordeal, but we are all coming around, and feeling a bit better every day.  Everyone's on antibiotics and have been for a week now.

Amy's pregnancy with Samuel is going well.  The pregnancy has made it much harder on her being sick, but other than that, Samuel has been pretty good to her.  She isn't having the troubles that she had with Ava, and we are still praising Jesus for the miracle he worked with Samuel.  It is hard to believe he is going to be here so soon.  Amy visited the Dr.  today, and the Dr. scheduled an ultrasound for the 11 of February.  With Ava having been such a big baby, they don't want to risk the trouble Amy had with Ava this time around.

It was odd putting the crib up again.  Earlier this week, Ava helped me put Samuel's crib together.  The house we are living in only has two rooms, so we are gonna have to make room for a baby in our room, at least for the short term.  Again, it is hard to believe that, God willing, we will have a baby around here again.  It seems like quite a while ago.  Amy is looking beautiful, and I'll post some pictures of both her, and Ava and I putting up the crib.

Ava has, as usual, come a long way.  She is loving riding the red tricycle Grammy and Pa Pa bought her for Christmas.  Her conversation skills, I believe, are amazing.  I was watering the garden (what is left of it after the unusual cold freezing florida winter) tonight and she was like, "So, what did you do today Daddy?"  I told her that I spent a large part of the day building a Nagios server for monitoring our web sites, equipment, networking equipment, and a bunch of other things, and I spent some time modifying my snort configuration to reduce the false positives I've been getting, as well as replacing a backup system that went bad.  I say this not for my benefit, but was amazed at how she followed what I was saying, and replied with "Thats cool".  I then asked her what she did today, and she said, "Oh, I played in my play room".  It is pretty neat getting to talk to her, and I know she is picking up on Amy and I's conversations, and mimicking a lot of our communication.  We have to be extra careful what we say these days.

She has also been hitting the crazy emotional streak.  So many things seem to be a crisis.  She says to me "Daddy, don't get mad at me, I'll cry!", as if she is warning us of the dire consequences of her crying.  Her emotions have been pretty much limited to crying, as everything seems to be cry worthy...

Well, thats a run down of really just this month.  It has been quite a month, and quite a beginning to 2010.  I hope everyone has a wonderful 2010, and I'll have some pictures up within the next day or so.

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Happy New Year to everyone!  I thought we would celebrate the new year by posting some pictures of our Christmas with family in KS.  We spent last week in the blistery cold plains of western KS.  The day after we flew in, we had a snow storm, and some crazy wind.  Ava was, however, able to play in the snow for a couple days before the wind really hit.  She absolutely loved the snow, and immediately ran around, dove around, and built a snow man with Papa.  She also fell in love with my parents dog, Jeter, playing around in the snow and feeding snow to him.  She had a blast, and the wintery weather was absolutely beautiful knowing we would be heading back to warmer weather .

It was also the first time in probably over 10 years my whole family came together for Christmas.  It is sometimes hit and miss, as Amy and I visit every other year, and a few other families spend time with their other families during some Christmases as well.  It really was great getting to see and visit with everyone.

I hope you had a great Christmas, New Years Eve, and New Year.  I pray this year you find overwhelming peace and great joy in Christ.  May 2010 be a year full of love and adventure living lives united with our Savior!

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I'm going to admit that this year I slacked pretty big on the Thanksgiving pictures.  However, we had a wonderful thanksgiving at Uncle Bob and Aunt Jill's house.  We had a full house and some of the best turkey i've tasted.

The past few years we have taken the day after Thanksgiving to pick up a Christmas Tree, decorate it, and then watch a Christmas movie with the cozy tree lit.  I always look forward to it, and I love the smell of the Christmas tree in the house...  Today, has been one for the record books.  On a side note, I haven't felt more clueless on how to be a parent.  Ava is going through some definite challenging phases.  She is loving to throw fits, disobey, trying to order us around, and beginning for the first time to throw temper tantrums.

We picked up the tree today, and everything started out pretty well.  The folks at Home Depot sold us a great tree, and I'll have to give kudos to a good buddy of mine, Matt for trimming our tree up beautifully for us.  Ava had a blast, helped me get the tree in the house.  Realistically, besides a little disobeying here and there, and a couple of timeouts things went pretty well until dinner.  Ava had a blast decorating the tree.  This is the first year she has really gotten into it.  One thing we have done since we have been married, is collect Christmas ornaments wherever we travel, and during significant periods in our life.  I really enjoy it, as nearly all of our Christmas ornaments have some memory tied to it.  We will have some pictures up at a later time...  Anyhow we had a great time decorating the tree, and decided to try out this new Greek place on Starkey called Athenian Garden.  We had a great dinner, and what a place.  Definately one of the best greek restaurants in the area, I think.  However, it was good we ate early, because Ava was throwing fits, throwing forks, and acting completely crazy.  We left as soon as possible, and brought Ava back home for a "talk".  We have decided we are going to crack down on the fit throwing, and challenging attitude...  Well, to top off the evening, I walk into the bathroom and find Ava playing with her poop.  She proceeds to look at me at tell me, "Daddy, I dropped it a couple of times, whoa!  I dropped it again!".  While draining and cleaning the tub with Ava on the toilet she looks at me and says, "It's my fault daddy, and I'm sorry".  Completely warmed my heart, and shined a light on the value of truly asking for forgiveness.  No ifs, buts, or becauses.  Just an "It's my fault daddy, and I'm sorry".  I'm so proud of her...

On a side note, I absolutely love being a parent.  I love the challenge and excitement it brings to my life.  I thought someone might be able to identify and laugh with us...

More pictures to come of our tree, and some ornaments as well...

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!  As I type this Amy and Ava are making some yummy pumpkin pie.  We woke this morning and after Ava's ritualistic watching of Peter Pan, we drove to Grandma and Granddad's for Thanksgiving day breakfast.  The weather is absolutely beautiful.  A Cold front came through with some rain yesterday, so it is beautifully cool with warm sunshine outside.  One more thing to be thankful for!

For the first time Ava is really getting into the holiday season.  She's really enjoying the Macy's Parade, with all of the balloons, dancing, and floats.  Really that's about it!  We are looking forward to spending time with Uncle Bob, Aunt Jill and family and friends for Thanksgiving dinner.  Other than that we are going to be taking it a little easy today.  It is good to take time and be thankful for all that God has blessed us with, and it has been a year full of blessing.  We especially want to let our family in KS know we love them, miss them, and are thankful for them!  I'm sure Great Grandma Ross is cooking up a storm for lunch, with some spectacular turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and the best turkey gravy on the planet.  And Great Grandma Staab, Im sure is gearing up for a fantastic turkey dinner with ham, stuffing, more mashed potatoes and gravy, and aunt Mary's famous spaghetti stuff.  Wherever you are, whatever you're doing, we want to wish you a happy Thanksgiving.

A wise man once told me that a sign of true humility, and maturity is learning to give thanks to God in all the seasons of your life.  Through good and bad, praising God for the blessings he has given us, and most importantly the grace he has given, and will continue to give in Jesus Christ.  As always, we have so much to be thankful for!

Happy Thanksgiving!!