Introducing Johnathan Douglas Bierer

Johnathan Douglas Bierer was born on Tuesday, July 28, 2009 at 9:12am. He weighed in at 7lbs 11oz and was 19.25 inches long.

Johnathan was born by planned c-section, but apparently he had planned to be born that day whether we were ready or not, because my water broke about 15 minutes before surgery. :) Talk about timing!



Doug got to be there, our doctors and nurses were wonderful, and the whole experience could not have been better! Unlike Danika's birth, there were no complications, nothing unexpected (except the water breaking!) and the recovery has been a breeze so far. Not that it is without pain, but compared to complications last time, this is a piece of cake! :) As soon as they let me get out of bed (24 hours after the surgery) I felt GREAT. I even convinced them to let me out of the hospital a full day early because I was feeling so wonderful. It was great to be home and to have our little family of four all under one roof.




Danika ADORES her baby brother. She loves to kiss him and pat him and she has been really gentle with him. We are so proud of her. She loves to be Mommy's helper and wants to help change diapers and assist in putting his binky back in when it falls out. :) Yesterday she crawled up next to me leaned over, gently put her hands on both sides of Johnathan's face and softly said, "I love you baby John. You are my best friend." Talk about melting a Mommy's heart.
I feel so blessed I am just beyond amazed at this precious gift times two. To be entrusted by God to care for these two precious lives and to raise them to love Him...it overwhelms me sometimes.


And speaking of being overwhelmed...I have the most amazing husband. I will post more about it later, but for now let's just say I love that man. He was just fantastic through the birth and the subsequent days in the hospital and now that we are home, I just couldn't ask for more support or help than I get from him. He is just fantastic.

John is doing great...already gained back all of his birthweight and then some. He is a great eater, and sleeps in decent chunks, so I'm tired but not falling apart. He is easy going and pretty easy to appease...so far so good!






So....the adventure shifts to a new chapter as the little Bierer family becomes four instead of three. Thanks for tuning in! :)

Mimi-bear

Danika recently received a precious gift from dear friends of our family.

After Susan died, the McKowns had 3 teddy bears made from two of Susan's robes...one for each of the granddaughters. The bears are beautiful, and it is so meaningful that they are made from something that Susan would wear so often. The girls each now have a "Mimi-bear" that they can carry around and sleep with. What a precious thoughtful gift.

Thank you so much for loving our family so deeply!

We love you!

Pregopotamus

So a friend of ours recently posted on his Facebook page this comment: "Things not to call your pregnant wife: Pregopotamus." When Doug and I saw it, we pretty much laughed until we cried. It has become our favorite pregnant description...I would say we use it roughly 3 or 4 times a day. Everytime one of us says it, we both just crack up. (Thank you Brandon. :))

D: How are you feeling today?
A: Pregopotamus.

A: How do I look?
D: Pregopotamus.

D: Um...can you move, Pregopotamus? I'm trying to get through this door... :)

D: How is my favorite Pregopotamus doing?

You get the idea... a special thanks to Brandon for adding to our humor here in the last few weeks of this pregnancy...we appreciate it!

Anyway...here are some pictures from this past weekend to help you truly appreciate the Pregopotamus. :) I am SO ready to have this kid on the outside and NOT on the inside anymore! He is way too big and he is being evicted from him current home. :)
We met with the doctor this week and they confirmed that a planned c-section is the better choice for me this time around, so we will be having this baby on Tuesday, July 28th at 9am. :) I've got to say...knowing what time and day is kind of fun! I'm very, very excited.

Danika has no idea what is about to happen to her world...but to her credit she is VERY excited about having a little brother. I'm just certain she doesn't really know what that means. :)


Anyway...that is the update on us. These pictures were taken over the weekend. Doug's cousin Lindsay got married and we also celebrated Dana's birthday. It was a fun family weekend together.

Danika thinks that my enormous protruding belly makes a GREAT tent to hide under....I have to tell her to get out from under my belly all the time. It ranks right up there with other statements I must now make as a mom that I never would have imagined I'd be making out loud. "Don't bite the cat." "Please stop sticking your toe in Daddy's eye." "Please don't eat the chicken nugget that fell on the floor....at Wal-mart." Yep. Welcome to "Momhood". And soon I'll be doing it times two. :) (What have we done???) :)

Daddy's Girl

Danika is such a Daddy's girl.

She squeals and screams just at the thought that his truck is coming up the road. She points to every silver-blue pick-up truck she sees and yells, "Daddy's truck!" Her morning is not complete if she doesn't get to see her Daddy before he leaves for work. She adores him and would follow him anywhere. Bed-time is not complete with out "jumping" up the stairs with Daddy, a story with Daddy, and a kiss from Daddy. A lot of her little world revolves around her Daddy...and I can't think of any way I would rather have it. :)

So...I thought I should post a few pictures of Danika and her Daddy ...I meant to do it for Father's Day, but life did not cooperate, so I am doing it now.





































































































































Doug - you are the best "Daddy" I could ever hope for my children to have....thanks for being so wonderful. Danika adores you, and I know our little boy on the way will have an incredible role model in you. Thank you for just being you....I love you. Happy Father's Day (even if it is a little late...)

love,
Andrea

Praying for Papa Jerry

I just wanted to drop a quick entry in here to let all of you know about my Dad.

A few weeks ago my Dad (Andrea's Dad, Jerry Endicott) had a large spot on his head looked at and biopsied. They tested it, said it was benign, but decided to remove it anyway. Mom called on Friday to tell me that the results from the removed section of skin came back and Dad has melanoma.

Mom and Dad are in the decision making phase of all of this...I talked to them this morning and they are pretty sure they are going to switch the care of all of this to a specialized melanoma research project in MI, but I know that this is all coming at them very fast. If you can pray for them and the decisions and choices they need to make, I would greatly appreciate it. I feel like I'm already running on empty and my ability to think clearly and "help" in this situation is somewhat diminished...so pray for me too.

Oh- and Danika is running a fever, and this baby is due in 4 weeks, and work has me tremendously stressed out, and we are still reeling from the events of the last several weeks and the sharp pain in my side has not gone away yet and I can't sleep. Other than that, things are great. :)

I just laugh a lot right now...otherwise I would cry. :) God says He won't give us more than we can handle...I personally think He has way too much confidence in my mental state. :)

In all seriousness, I am starting to feel a bit "hollow" and "numb" with all that is going on around me...and I don't want to do any of the really important aspects of my life the disservice of "checking out" and not engaging emotionally with what is happening. My parents need support, my husband needs a wife, my little girl needs a mommy, and this baby boy needs me to be 100% when he enters this world. So...I am trying.

Just wanted to keep you updated on our life...thanks for tuning in. :) I'll try to stay sane enough to write more soon. :)

love,
andrea

Apparently I'm raising a puppy....

A word to the wise....if you are potty training your 2-yr old girl, it is not wise to suddenly yell or clap your hands or make other startling noises unless you are sure that a recent trip to the bathroom has been made.

Danika has been in full-blown potty-training mode for the last 2 months now....she actually has done most of it herself and has been pretty easy to work with. She is excited about "big girl pants" and the "big potty" and really hasn't had too many accidents.

But, a few weeks ago, right before life kind of got turned upside down, we had a pretty funny incident. I meant to blog about it right away, but then things got in the way and I never got around to it. However, it was so stinking funny, I'm going to tell you about it now...

Danika was throwing a royal fit as only a 2-yr old can. She wanted to go outside and I was trying to get her ready to go somewhere and trying to explain that she can't go without me. But no matter what I said, she just kept going in full-blown tantrum mode: screaming and clawing at the doorknob and acting hysterical. So, I thought that maybe I could "snap her out of it".....I stopped trying to talk to her and I firmly yelled "HEY!" while loudly clapping my hands together at the same time.

It worked...I scared the pee out of her! She went immediately silent and spun around to face me with eyes as big as saucers and little eyebrows raised in fear....little lip sticking out and quivering for all it was worth...little knees knocking together....and a puddle quickly forming right between her feet. I can't really describe how hilarious the image was. I immediately felt a little bad....I don't really yell at her....we aren't a yelling household, so I guess I can understand why it scared her so bad. But, I can't begin to tell you how much she looked like a tiny little puppy dog making an accident on the floor. Who knew loud noises would do that to my little girl as well??? :) I scooped her up and hugged her...wet pants and all....she burst into tears, and I consoled her while I cleaned her up. She was back to normal pretty fast, but the image of that happening has still got to be one of the funnier things I've seen as a parent so far. :)

So word to the wise...no yelling clapping or loud noises unless you are sure your 2 yr old has an empty bladder. :)

Just thought I'd share.

Summer Tradition

The summer Doug and I were dating, he took me on a date to a wonderful restaurant right on the water at Lake Chautauqua in NY. The restaurant was The Italian Fisherman and they happened to have this wonderful, wonderful live band called THE VOLKS that they bring in for the summer. We were so impressed and enjoyed it SO much that this has become a fantastic summer tradition for us...at least once every summer we go see The Volks and eat on the patio watching the sunset and listening to the music and water...it is just one of our favorite summer traditions to do together. And through the years we have taken different people up with us to experience our little summer treat.

This past Friday, we thought something cheerful and fun would be good for our hearts...so we got together with members of our small group and headed up to Bemus Point for a great night of music, food and laughter. What a fantastic night! We enjoyed it SO much...good times with good friends...just what the doctor ordered! :)

Here are a few pics...