We've Moved

We've finally got the new site up and running. Please visit http://sweet-life-of-livi-and-zach.blogspot.com/ to view our family updates.

Now Announcing Zachary Issac Preston

Josh, Olivia, and I are so proud to introduce our son, Zachary Issac Preston. We apologize for the delay in his announcement, but we've been reveling in the last few weeks as a new family of four. Without further delay, we'd like for you to meet Zach.

Zachary Issac Preston
Born June 7, 2007, 8:15am
7lbs, 10oz 20 inches long

We were so blessed with an amazingly simple delivery. We arrived at Northside at 6:15 am for a scheduled C-Section, which I must say was a great experience the second time around. Josh and I had my parants, sisters, and of course, Olivia there to support us. Our doctor was great, and the other doctors were witty and helped keep my mind off the actual surgery. Overall, it was a great experience, and for those of you who knew the doubts that I was having about a repeat C-section - I can honestly say it was nothing like the first!

Josh and I were elated to hear those first cries. Zach proved to be very vocal in the operating room. I was able to hold him right away, and immediately fell in love with him. Like Olivia, he was born with the perfect little round head and a great complection! In the recovery room, we spent over half an hour nursing and getting to know one another. It was amazing.

We came home the following Sunday to a warm welcome by our family and Zach's big sister. Olivia, by the way, loves her baby brother. Check out her blog to see more about how she's coping with a new baby at home. As for Zach, he's a pretty amazing kid. He sleeps....alot! I don't remember Olivia ever sleeping that much! He's having some trouble with breastfeeding. We've resorted to pumping and using a nipple shield just to ensure that he's getting breastmilk, but we may be in need of a visit with a lactation nurse soon! As much as part of me wants to throw in the towel and give him formula, I won't let myself give up quite yet! (Prayers from all of you breastfeeding advocates would be much appreciated!)


The past 2 1/2 weeks have been - well - amazingly difficult. Amazing in that he is such a great baby. He has a great temperament about him, and we've really enjoyed getting to know our son. Difficult because, let's face it, no matter how much you prepare, you can never be ready for the lack of sleep, lack of energy, and uncontrollable emotions that flood your life once you have a new baby. But we're settling into a routine now, and tomorrow will be mine and Zach's first day home alone! I'm looking forward to some private time with just he and I.

We really appreciate all of the meals, calls, emails, and visits from our friends and family. You're all so special to us, and we're so happy to have each of you in our lives. Now that we've announced Zach's arrival, we'll be combining blogs for he and Olivia. If anyone has any name suggestions, please share! My creative juices just aren't flowing these days.

Mommy, Daddy, and Olivia love you, Little Man! We're so happy to finally have you here in our arms!

What I Love Most About Being Pregnant

As the last days of pregnancy draw to a close, I sit and wonder if I'll ever experience this again. Only time will tell whether or not we're a family of four or destined for more. The thought of never being pregnant again saddens me and almost brings tears to my eyes. Yes, there are many things that are easy to complain about. Sore backs, sour stomachs, scary stretch marks, and my favorite - indigestion!!! But those things are minute to the wonderful feelings that come from carrying your child inside of you.

Pregnancy brings about an excitement that is contageous. From the first sign that appears on that coveted little test, to the first time you hear a heart beat, to seeing that beautiful little alien face and knowing that you're making life, pregnancy is the greatest blessing that we as women are given.

My second pregnancy has definitely been different than the first. With Olivia, I was all giggles and don't think that I thought of anything for 9 months other than my baby. I dreamed of her day and night, and worried just as much. Can I do this? Will she like me? Will she be healthy? Can I raise her the way God intends? Amidst all of the excitment, you can't help but be scared of how much your life will change. But life does change. It's brilliantly different and more spectacular than I could have ever imagined.

Pregnacy with Zach has brought some of the same emotions, but I feel that I'm wiser now. Yes, I do worry about him, but in a realistic way. I do think about him day and night, but now I daydream of him laughing at his big sister and reaching for his Daddy. Zach is not only a gift to Josh and I, but also to Olivia. To think of my baby girl as a big sister - Wow!!! She's going to be great! She has so much love and happiness in her soul that she's sure to be Zach's biggest fan!!!

I think that the thing that I love most about pregancy is something that a very good friend told me very early on in my first pregnancy. For a short while, you walk through life knowing that you're never alone! How amazing is that! As my family sleeps upstairs, I sit here with my son and cherish the final days that I'll have him all to myself. Soon I'll have to share him with the family, with friends, and with life. He'll grow and change and eventually he'll be Olivia's age and want to do everything himself. As mothers, we go from dedicating our bodies to creating a child, to dedicating our lives to raising a child, to stepping back in the end and letting go. It's a very good thing that God made us strong - only mothers could bear such trials.

So to my son I say:

Mommy loves you Baby Boy, and I can't wait to meet you. You are already the perfect addition to our family, and we thank God for you every day. I pray that I can be the mother that you deserve. You are sure to be a strong and smart like your father, happy and loving like your sister, and if you are like me at all, I pray that you'll always follow your heart and know that you were raised by parents who love everything about you.

Until we meet, sleep tight little man! This big world is waiting on you, and Mommy has been saving kisses for 9 months just for you! I love you, Zachary!!!

Ever so close

With only 16 days to go, we're feeling the looming pressure of getting ready for our newest arrival. How can you go from an anal mother-to-be who has everything planned to the T to a Mommy of 1 who wings everything at the last minute??? Well, I don't know how, but that's me!!! I would have flipped had I been so behind before Olivia was born - but I hope it's not a sign of things to come with Zach!

Honey, Mommy promises that as soon as you're here, she will not procrastinate any more - you'll be her number one - or at least tied for number one!

Well, we're still set for the 7th. We go back on Wednesday for the "Up Close & Personal" visit! Boy, haven't had one of those in a while!!! We're crossing our fingers for progress, but realistically, we don't expect to see any. I've been having a lot of Braxton Hicks, some of which are very strong, but nothing to make me think that I'm dilating any!

Zach is a hyper as ever...only now he takes my breath every time he moves. He's so big and so rowdy - there's not enough room for him AND my lungs!!!!

We did "finish" his room. We still have to hang the curtain and put up the ceiling fan, but overall it's done. I really like it and can't wait to share pictures! I think I'm more excited about airplanes that I was about butterflies!!!

Olivia is still doing great. She's learned to burp her baby doll, so I'm sure she'll be a big helper when Zach arrives. Josh is BUSY!!! His weekends are usually full of different types of commitments, but he's taking 3 weeks off to be home with me, Livi, and Zach! I can't wait for that!!!

I have to be honest - I'm tired!!! It's 11:35 and I should be in bed, but having the quiet house to myself while everyone is sleeping is rather peaceful. Even Zach's calm and still!!! I'm really hoping to finish all of my deadlines at work so that I can take a few days off before his birth. Right now I just feel like I need some "down" time!!!

On a brighter side, I was able to hang with the Ladies from church tonight. We get together once a month and gab (mostly about kids) and enjoy time away from the hubbies and wee-ones! I always enjoy myself, and it was a much needed escape after a stressful day at work. Zach was treated to Strawberry Shortcake for dessert - and he LOVED it!!!

In exactly 15 days and 9 hours I will no longer be pregnant and I will finally meet my baby boy!!! The clock is ticking - and despite not being ready - I'm SO READY!!!

35 Days and Counting

When a lady at work asked me how many days I had left to go, I quickly added it up and almost hyperventilated when the words 35 came of my mouth. Don't pay attention to the clicker at the top of the page. It's officially wrong. Here's the update.

We visited a specialist 3 weeks ago because the doc said that Zach was measuring a little big. That ultra sound showed that he was almost a week bigger than his date, but he was within limits of human error - so all is well. The most disturbing news was that he's breach. Honestly, I had a very strong feeling that this might be the case. I could feel his feet right in my pelvis. Either he was breach or he kept his hands above his head all the time!!

So, after visiting with my doc the following week, we agreed to schedule a c-section. After much prayer, I'm finally coming to terms with this decision, but continue to pray about it daily. Zach's birthday will be Thursday, June 7, 2007. He will share a birthday with my friend, Mandy Gregory, and it's official, Steve (Angela's Husband) has won that portion of the baby pool!

We were surprised a few weekends ago with a shower for Zach. I can't believe my family and friends actually pulled it off. I'm still thanking my lucky stars that I had enough energy to get up and get ready that morning. Usually on Saturdays I bum around in house clothes all day!! We got tons of cute outfits and lots of other goodies. And the food was great!!! It was really just nice to spend time with family and friends.

Josh is upstairs now taping the walls in Zach's room. I've decided on three colors that we'll use, and hopefully the room will be painted by the week's end. I'll send photos once it's complete.

I still can't believe that in just 5 short weeks our lives will once again change forever. I can't even imagine what life will be like with a new baby!! I do remembe r having these same thoughts with Olivia, so that calms me quite a bit. Just pray that Olivia adjusts well. We've been having major attachment issues with her recently. For the first time, tonight she actually played with Daddy and didn't pull me around the house and make me hold her all evening!

I thought I'd post a picture of me pregnant...there are very few of these and this isn't a great one. We still have to do our official "pregnancy" shots...and we're running out of time. This was taken Saturday night at my cousin Amber's Sweet Sixteen party. Olivia and I were jamming to the music!

Hope all of you are well!!! Thanks for hanging in there with me on my long hiatus from the blogging world.

Inspired by Generations of Pilots

Several of you asked about the nursery, and I've been meaning to blog about this for a while. Several months ago we were gung-ho on a firetruck theme. Inspired by Luke & Kade's pedal car, I thought that this was a must have for my son's nursery. Then, Olivia's grandmother wrote us and suggested that we use an airplane theme.

Grandmother reminded us that both Josh's father and Grandfather were pilots. His uncle is also a pilot. Flying is something that I had completely overlooked as part of Josh's family history. Josh too probably would have had a career in the air, but I'm pretty sure that his vision and the fact that he's color blind prohibited him from continuing the family tradition.

Josh's grandfather was a pilot in WW2, and he has amazing stories to share of many battles. He keeps in touch with many of his old pilot veterans, and he has a wall of memories dedicated to his days of flying. In fact, it's pretty amazing to know what Josh's grandparents went through while bringing up their family. Grandaddy was actually overseas when his first born, our Lovely Aunt Pam, was born. I couldn't even imagine giving birth without my husband. But Grandmother is a very strong woman and supported her husband and his obligation to this country!

Grandaddy suffered a very bad fall out of a pecan tree and was discharged from the Army. Thankfully, after weeks of recovery, he pulled through and even though flying was no longer his career, he and Grandmother were able to raise a beautiful family and meet 4 (almost 5) of their Great-grandchildren!!!

So, I present to you our nursery theme. In Flight by Baby Martex.Andrea, this should look very familiar to you. I know it's also David's theme. I have to tell you, I always look for different ideas from friends, but you had the absolute best Airplane theme out there! I hope David doesn't mind sharing his bedroom theme with Zach!!!

We have been busy with the basement since January, so now that the realization that Zach's not going to wait on a painted nursery is hitting us...his room is our first priority (after the bathroom which I'll blog about later.)

Here is Grandaddy in their old apartment in Macon. They've recently moved to Athens to be closer to family. But you can see behind his wall of memories. He has model planes, photographs, and news clippings recounting the days spent fighting in WW2.

I know it's hard to see, but here are some photos of Grandaddy when he was a young handsome pilot. He's still young and handsome to us!!! We're actually going to see if we can't scan some of these photos for Zach's room.

And finally, we can't end this blog without wishing Olivia's Big Mama and Big Daddy and Happy Easter. We love you both very much, and we hope that you're doing well. You guys are the best great-grandparents a girl could have. We can't wait for Zachary to meet you!!!

Growing by the Minute

Well, we had our 28 week appointment last week, and all is well. We passed the glucose test, so no gestational diabetes here! Praise God!!

I was a little nervous about seeing Dr. Moore after my emotional outburst last time. I felt certain that it would be akward and uncomfortable...but he proved to be much more forgiving than I had hoped.

We had a nice visit. I told him about the VBAC class that Josh and I had taken, and he was pleased. He's concerned about Zach's size. He says he's measuring a bit bigger than he should, so we'll see a specialist next week for a biophysical profile (ultra sound) where they will look at his heart again, get a feel for his size, and look at the scar on my uterus. We'll then go back the next week to talk to Dr. Moore about a delivery plan. At that point I'll be 31 weeks....and this pregnancy will be almost over!!

I can't believe how quickly it's passed. We've flown right through the last seven months, and we haven't even begun to really prepare! So, this week we've been working overtime to get ready for our new arrival. We've put together Olivia's big girl furniture (all but the crib....Daddy's still working on that.) Zach is getting her furniture. We're getting ready to move the guest room downstairs so that we can start painting the nursery. And we still have a bathroom and a playroom to paint and get ready.

Whew. I feel better just getting all of that out there!

Stay tuned. Perhaps we'll have pictures of a painted bathroom or nursery by next weekend!!!