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Sunday, August 29, 2010

How old are you now???

Bobby turned 4 months old on Thursday!


This made me sad.  I wish I could "freeze-frame" time.
But I'm so thankful that I have had this time with my little lamb.  On Thursday we sent balloons to heaven for a little baby who battled cancer.  He would've been 1 that day.  I can't even imagine how his Mother feels. 


So, Bobby had more than his fair share of lovin' from his Mama....and God has had a lot of "thank you for my blessings" from Bobby's Mom.

Friday, August 27, 2010

Balloons for Declan.

On Bobby's 4 month "birthday", we bought balloons!  We didn't buy them for Bobby, we bought them for another little baby named Declan.  Declan would've been one year old on August 26.  For reasons I don't pretend to understand, God takes babies home to heaven sometimes.  Little Declan fought cancer as hard as he could until his little body couldn't fight anymore. 

Bobby, his Daddy and I released our balloons at 7:55, just before it got too dark.   From what I understand, thousands of people all across the globe did the same thing.  A lot of them were probably Moms and Dads like Christian and me, praying for a cure and holding our own little babies a little closer...






God Bless his brand new baby angel. 

Monday, August 23, 2010

A Case of the Mondays.

I love Mondays!!!!  I used to hate them, but when you met the love of your life on a Monday then Mondays become pretty rad. 

I pretty much spend every Monday the same way.  I wake up, roll over, and stare at my precious baby boy, awestruck by the miracle that he is.   We snuggle, I feed him, and we play.  We repeat this process (with a nap thrown in every now and then).  At 4:19 in the afternoon I kiss his sweet face and thank God for letting me be "Bobby's Mommy".

Every Monday I reminisce about that first Monday....that was definitely "manic", but SO magical!


Sunday, August 22, 2010

Bobby's Park!

Well, not really.  It's actually his Great Grandpa's park, which was named for him posthumously.  I'm not trying to brag, but Bobby's Great Gramps was a pretty awesome guy.  Apparently some other people in the community thought so, too.  Bobby's Great Gramps did lots for his community, but one of the "biggies" was being one of the "founding fathers" of what's now known as the Pioneer Baseball League in Lee District.  Lots of Mommy's friends played in it, even Daddy played in the league! 

We happened to be in that neck of the woods when Bobby was 3 weeks old, so we took him by and snapped some photos.  I can't wait till Bobby is a little older and he and his Daddy can toss a ball there.





Saturday, August 21, 2010

Happy Birthday, America!

Backtracking a little bit here, but I figured Bobby's first 4th of July had to be mentioned on his blog. 

It was a pretty uneventful day.  Mommy and Baby spent most of the day indoors.  After Mommy's (numerous) failed attempts to convince Daddy to drive us up to the Prince William County government center for the firework show, Bobby and I decided we would settle on a nice cookout on our deck and listening to the neighborhood fireworks being set off.  After sitting on the deck for awhile, Daddy surprised us with our very own fireworks show!




A certain 2 month old wasn't enjoying Daddy's fireworks show very much.  Bobby loved the neighbor's display of explosives, but when his own Daddy did it...not so much.  Needless to say, Daddy did NOT perform a "grand finale" or an encore.

Instead, we took more pictures of us....with our little firecracker.


Friday, August 20, 2010

Visit with Grandma Pat

A couple of weeks ago Bobby got to see someone he hasn't seen since he was in the hospital....Grandma Pat! 

Since Bobby's been home getting big and strong, Grandma Pat got sick.  Luckily, the docs acted quickly, and Grandma Pat continues to improve. 

The Donahues met Grammy and Grandma Pat for lunch.  Bobby was a delight, and did his part to provide Grandma Pat with some much needed "baby therapy". 



Thursday, August 19, 2010

Hey Waterboy.....

On Tuesday, July 20 we took Bobby to the pool for the first time.  Technically, he had been to the pool before, just never in the water before.  Daddy and I were pretty nervous about how he would react to being dunked in cold water.  We came to the pool armed with the dreaded pacifier, just in case there was a tantrum of epic proportions....

Which there was.

Thankfully, that only lasted a minute or so.  Daddy handed the cranky pants off to his Mommy, and things calmed down quite a bit.



Things calmed down so much that he fell asleep.

That's when Daddy decided Bobby needed to experience the "big boy" pool. 



What a cool cat.  And he LOVES the pool now.  He's been 2 more times since. (3 actually, but he slept through one of his visits. He felt robbed when he woke up, at home, to me stripping off his swim trunks.)

Mommy's Little Fish.



"And I'm spent..."


Wednesday, August 18, 2010

August 18th...sad day.

While my intent was to keep the posts on the blog strictly about Bobby, I feel that I have to mention one of my four legged children today.  Today would've been Lady's 17th birthday.  Last year, we celebrated in grand style with a party which included an edible doggie cake (complete with candle).  This year's celebration consisted of Mommy and Daddy patting her clock (it's a mantle clock where her ashes are interred), wishing her a happy b-day in doggie heaven and trading a book at Bobby's story time with stories of Lady.  Somedays it seems like she's been gone forever and a day, and other days it seems like we just said goodbye. 

Here are a few pictures from her past birthday celebrations....


These are from 2008 (Her 15th birthday)





And these are from her last birthday in 2009...



Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Bobby's Christening on 7-11 (Oh, Thank Heaven!)

What a beautiful day it was!  I had spent the days leading up to the "big day" cleaning house whenever Bobby was gracious enough to give me a break from holding him.  On top of that, I had decided that I should "cater" the afterparty, which, for those of you who remember what it's like to have a 2 month old, was not my most brilliant idea.  I was pulling 20 hour days between being a Mom, wife, daughter, cook and maid.  Then Friday night the worst possible scenario unfolded.  I'm sitting at home, feeding Bobby, and I realize that my throat is kinda sore.  Wait.....it's REALLY sore.  So, a cold on top of everything else I had going on was not at all what I needed.  I started rummaging through the medicine chest, first aid kits, purses, dresser drawers looking for any medication I could get my hands on, and thankfully, due to my quick self-medicating, I was able to nip the cold in the bud in time for Sunday's events.

We made it to the church on time (cue My Fair Lady), and had a dress rehearsal before the service started.  Bobby had quite a turnout of family and friends to witness his big event.  His G-Ma and PawPaw were there, along with his Great-Grandma on his Daddy's side of the family.  Representing Mommy's side of the family were Aunt Jan, Uncle Tom, Grammy (Bobby's, not mine), Colin and Owen (our cousins) and Bobby's Godparents (and cousins), Laurie and Duane.  "Aunt" Carol and "Uncle" Bob were also with us.  The Pastor gave a great sermon, and even mentioned Bobby by name, which was pretty special.  Bobby was such a good boy, and he wasn't at all upset when he was baptized.  Mommy and Grammy were boo-hoo crying during the ceremony, because we're sappy. 



Bobby with his Mommy, Daddy, PawPaw and G-Ma.


Bobby and Mommy.



Bobby with his Godmother (ignore my son's inappropriate placing of his hand...which of course you'll notice now that I've mentioned it. Oops.). 



I made everything for the party, except the cake.  It was quite a spread...it included Meatballs, Baked Brie, Sausage dip, Curried Deviled Eggs, Ham & Pineapple Roll-Ups, Melon balls, Cookies (which were made by Carol, actually), Dip for veggies and Apricot Wraps with a plum dipping sauce. 




We were quite pleased with the cake.  One downside however....I realized I can't eat cake that has my son's face on it.  Therefore, the entire left side of the cake containing Bobby's picture is sitting in our deep freezer, probably until we either move or the freezer dies. 

Here are a couple other pictures from Bobby's special day....

Bobby with his Great-Aunt Jan

Bobby with his Godfather, Duane


Bobby with his cousins, Colin and Owen.  Owen (the youngest) melted everyone in the room when he looked at Bobby and said "I love you, Bobby".  I can't wait to see their relationship as they both grow up.  Owen (and Colin) are great cousins.  My little boy is quite lucky.

Monday, August 16, 2010

The Arrival of *our* Prodigal Son.

So, April 26 started off like any other "normal" Monday.  We got up, dropped Mom off in Crystal City, had breakfast and headed out to the hospital for the final non-stress test before Bobby's scheduled C-Section on Wednesday.  I joked with my Mother that I'd let her know if Bobby was getting evicted earlier than Wednesday. 

We showed up at the hospital and I got strapped in to the monitors.  The nurses came in a couple times to "buzz" Bobby because he was not his usual perky self.  The nurses seemed a little concerned as they sent me to a sonogram room and the doc came in to measure my amniotic fluid via ultrasound.  The doctor said "have we been having problems with your fluid?" to which I said "nope...why?".  She told us that there was virtually no fluid left and she was recommending delivery immediately.  Whoa.  Wait a minute.  I have things I have to do to prepare for this babe's arrival.  I have to vacuum the house.  I have to double check my hospital bags for the 20th time.  I have to, um, shave my legs!!!!!!!!!!  Are you KIDDING ME???  I can't do this today!  Then, of course, panic officially sets in....and as my husband and I are being escorted to the waiting room to wait until we are escorted to the Labor & Delivery ward I sit down and realize my husband has left me to make phone calls.  I join him out in the hallway just as he's calling my Mom.  Mom asks if he can put me on the phone, and about 5 seconds after I said "Hi, Mom", I completely lost it. 

After we head up to L&D, I get told that I'm having bloodwork done, and I'm going to be strapped to a fetal monitor until I deliver.  So, after 2 tries to get the IV in, I am settling in and trying to mentally prepare for the surgery, being a Mommy, etc.  C.W. is on the phone letting the entire universe know that we are meeting our son...today!  My Mom shows up at around 2 in the afternoon and C.W. rushes down to Woodbridge after being assured that we're meeting Bobby around 5 or 6 P.M.  There I am...leisurely watching Ellen DeGeneres when an anesthesiologist announces that I am having surgery at 4.  On. The. Dot.  A frantic phone call to my husband ensues, where I tell him to grab everything he can and get his behind back to the hospital STAT!  

The anesthesiologist shows up at 3:40 to give me my epidural.  To say I'm just a little apprehensive would be a gross understatement.  Thank goodness for Mom.  She kept me calm and focused and with barely a wince from me, the epidural was succesfully placed and I was prepped to be wheeled off to the operating room.  Mom called C.W. to find out where he was and he told her he was currently running through the hospital to get to me before I was wheeled away.  He made it, huffing and puffing to give me a kiss as I was whisked away. 

So, I get to the O.R., and the nurse asked if I could move myself to the operating table from the stretcher...uh, NO!  I'm pretty much paralyzed from the waist down, thank you very much.  They help me onto the table and I wait for what seems like an eternity for my husband to arrive.  He finally does, but I don't recognize him because he has scrubs on.  I am lying there and I ask my husband if the doc has arrived yet and the doc answers for him.   A few moments pass and I ask C.W. if they have started the surgery yet.  Somewhat amused, he replies "Hon, they're about to pull Bobby out".  Oh, okay then! 

Then I hear the sweetest sound I've ever heard.  Ever.  My sweet little boy cries for the first time in the "real" world.  Then I see the sweetest sight my eyes have ever seen.  The man I love holding the love of my life.



Welcome, Robert Marshall Donahue. Born April 26, 2010 at 4:19 P.M. and weighing 9 pounds, 5 ounces and measuring 21 inches long.




Now, I'm complete.

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Better Late....you know the rest!

Well, I've finally done it.  I've joined the blogosphere.  What better way to stay in contact with family and friends across the globe than to post it on the WWW?  These days my life seems to revolve around my little boy, which means my days blend together in a mess of diapers, baths, naps (or lack thereof) and lots of drool.  I wouldn't have it any other way.  I guess my first few posts will be a recap of what's been going on since April 26th.  Then, with any luck, I'll get into a routine of sorts and be able to keep current.