Going to MawMaw & PawPaw's House

Today was my 30th birthday so Craig & I sent the two oldest kids over to MawMaw & PawPaw's house so we could go out for my birthday. We took Cooper with us and he barely made a squeak the whole time we were out. Connor & Caroline love to go to MawMaw & PawPaw's house! They stood begging at the front door this morning with their backpacks loaded and ready to go! They played in the sandbox and ran around in their rainboots. They always have a good time over there. Craig & I were able to try a new restaurant in Ocala called Mimi's Cafe. They had a huge menu and we enjoyed listening in on the conversation of the table next to us. I even got to browse through the new Old Navy. Thank you to MawMaw & PawPaw for a much needed break and birthday lunch.

My Boys

I took a picture of Cooper this morning while he was snoozing and it reminded me of a picture I took of Connor when he was about the same size as Coop. They do have their similiarities but they are different too. I thought I would post the two pictures so you could compare the two.

Cooper Meets Dr. Albino

Today was Cooper's first doctor's appointment with Dr. Albino. He has gained back all of his weight and even a few extra ounces so he now weighs 8 lbs and 7 oz. She said the shoulder dystocia seemed mild and she wasn't concerned about his arm mobility. If you look closely at the picture you can see a huge wet spot on the front of my shirt where he peed all over me. He then had his first trip to Target and pooed all over the place. We had used our last diaper at Dr. Albino's office so our Target trip was shortened. Oh the joys of parenthood!

The Story of Cooper's Arrival

I just wanted to share my story of Cooper's arrival and show a slide show of the pictures we got. As most of you know I was overdue my due date was August 3rd and Dr. Moffett planned an induction for me on Tuesday, August 5th. I had gone early with my other two children so I had never experienced an induction before. I know now that God knows what He is doing because I have been very emotional about not having anymore children so He let me experience my last pregnancy for as long as possible. We arrived at the hospital at 6:00am on Tuesday morning and the first nurse we met at the front desk said I don't know if we have a bed for you. I was devastated but another nurse quickly found us a room and got me started. All three doctors Dr. Moffett, Dr. Helms, & Dr. Wood came in my room at the same time a little before 7:00am. We chatted as Dr. Helms broke my water. Dr. Moffett scheduled me for the induction but he told me he would not delivery me because he was working in The Villages office all week so I knew it would be Dr. Helms or Dr. Wood who would deliver me. Dr. Helms suggested I go ahead and ask for my epidural because I was 4cm dilated and they thought I would have the baby around lunch time. I told my nurse (Sandy, who was amazing) and she got my blood work going so I could get my epidural. She came back about 8:30am just when I was starting to feel contractions and told me my platelet count was low and they might not be able to give me an epidural because I might bleed too much. Of course that sent shock waves through me and I was scared to death. Quickly after that they talked to the doctors and went ahead and approved my epidural, thank the Lord. I was just finishing up my epidural when Jeanne arrived and Katie arrived shortly after to document this birth on film. We laughed and had a good time throughout the laboring process. I was fully dilated and ready to start pushing around 12:55. I pushed 5 rounds which was about 15 minutes before Cooper came at 1:09pm. We had one little scary moment right before he came - his head came out fine but then his shoulders got stuck. Big shoulders little hole which is called "Shoulder Dystocia". The nurses and Dr. Wood quickly jumped into action and they pushed on my pubic bone to get him out fast. It was probably less than a minute but it felt like an eternity because I knew something was going wrong. They got him out and laid him on my belly for me to see. Because those few minutes were so hectic noone told me if it was a boy or a girl so after they laid him on me Craig leaned down and told me "It's a boy!" Dr. Wood started instructing me to begin rubbing him because he still was not crying or breathing well and he still didn't cry after I rubbed him so they had to rush him over to the warmer and start rubbing him to get him going. He finally cried and got some oxygen going and he was fine. His face was all bruised and still is a little from being stuck like that but he seems okay. Everyone came to see him after he was born and Connor & Caroline just loved watching him. We had some other visitors while we were in the hospital including Robbie. Funny story, the second day in the hospital I had a nurse that just about drove me insane. Robbie came to visit and as nurse Mary was lecturing me about how to correctly breastfeed Robbie starts pretending to reach out and grab her butt. Everyone in the room is trying so hard not to laugh and Craig snaps a picture of it. Thanks Robbie for the laugh! We took Cooper home on Thursday and it was very bittersweet for me. I knew this would be my last time ever being pregnant and delivering a baby so I cried a lot about that. It was such a good experience and I had such good doctors and nurses, with the exception of nurse Mary, that it just broke my heart to leave the hospital and return to reality. Jeanne was watching my kids when we got home and they were happy to see their new little brother. That night the McDonald's brought us dinner and Jake & Josie got to hold little Coop man. We planned to give Connor and Caroline some kind of little gift or toy when Cooper came home just to distract them and make them feel special. Mama & I picked up some rain boots a while back and that was their little present. I put some pictures of the kids in their rain boots in the slide show because they have had a lot fun taking them off and on all day long, Caroline especially. We are happy and Cooper is doing well. I need to go feed the little man now. Thanks to everyone who prayed for us during this pregnancy and birth he truly is a gift from God.

Cooper Adams Cannon

Cooper was born at 1:09 p.m. on August 5, 2008. He weighed 8 pounds 5 ounces, 20 inches long. So far he has been a dream. More pics and details to come.

Thanks- Craig

Induction

I go in tomorrow morning at 6:00am for an induction. My cervix is really far in the back otherwise I would have already had the baby because I am already 3 cm dilated and 80% effaced. I cried like a baby in his office and it still didn't work. I guess they have to save some beds for ladies that go into labor on their own (the lucky little turds!) He said I should have the baby around lunch time as long as my cervix cooperates and moves to where it is suppose to. Well look for updates soon. I tried to show Craig how to blog last night so hopefully he'll be able to post a picture and some stats tomorrow evening!

Has it really been 10 years?

So here goes our story: Craig & I met at Southeastern College during the Fall semester of 1996. It was my first semester there and he says he remembers seeing me before I remember seeing him. I lived in the Bethany dorms with a girl named Mandy. I met Jeanne shortly after moving into Bethany and we became friends. Through Jeanne I met the "Wildwood crew" stationed in Lakeland. Which included: Lori Behr, Eric Inman, Eric Jeffcoat, Robbie, Denise, Deborah, Mallory, Lesli, Jennifer Russ, Krista, Samantha, John Temple, and Craig of course.





Well I started going home with Jeanne on the weekends to Wildwood. I would stay with her and hang out with everyone and we'd go to the Assembly on Sundays. Eric Inman & Craig were roommates and it was kind of brought to my attention that Eric was interested in me. Eric & I had a few classes together and saw each other quite a bit. About that time I started becoming interested in Craig, he was holding a bible study over at his apartment and that is kind of how I learned more about him. I remember walking into his apartment the first time and seeing an Out of the Grey poster on his wall and thinking that we had something in common. So I was interested in Craig and Eric Inman was interested in me so it made things kind of awkward.





I asked Jeanne to play match maker and it worked. Craig & I went out on our first date October 6th, 1996. He picked me up at Jeanne's house and took me to the movies driving the "red rocket" that is what we called his old red Nissan Sentra. We saw "Independence Day" and then we went to Friendly's for ice cream. At this point I knew I really liked him but I was also concerned about hurting Eric Inman's feelings. After ice cream Craig decided to take me over and introduce me to a friend of his named Tracy. While we were at Tracy's apartment guess who decides to show up - none other than Eric. So the secret was out. The funny thing is later Eric was the best man in our wedding and played guitar while Craig sang to me. Just telling this story makes me miss him!





We dated for that school year and then I went home for the summer. Craig went home to Wildwood that summer and worked at First Federal. He planned this big "surprise" birthday party for me for the day I came back to Florida in August to start my second year at Southeastern. He held the party at Cheryl & Lennie's house and "surprise" on my beautiful, chocolate, strawberry topped, basket weave, birthday cake that Regent Weber made sat an engagement ring. So in front of all our friends he asked me to marry him. Of course all I saw was that ring - moments later I did say yes. That was August of 1997. That school year at Southeastern we were engaged and we planned our wedding for the following August 1998.





Once again I went home that following summer of 1998 and we spent our last few remaining months of being single apart. That was really hard, I missed him really bad. All of our friends were also getting married that year and I desperately wanted to be with my man. But I was able to spend some great time with my family and plan my wedding from Alabama.





Our wedding was just perfect! My bridesmaids were: my best friend from Alabama Stephanie, Jeanne, my sister Carolyn, and Katie Henson (Vaughn). My youngest sister, Annie, was the flower girl and Jeanne's nephew, Derek, was the ring bearer. Craig's groomsmen were: Craig's brothers Brant & Ron, Aaron Symonds, and his best man was Eric Inman. The girls wore white and the guys wore tuxes with Ascot ties. Mrs. Anita Jones made my cake and Mrs. Debbie Jacobs was my caterer. My dress I found in Alabama at Dillards of all places and Craig was actually with me when I found it. I went back later with my mom and got the dress. It was a simple, Jessica McClintock dress with a scoop neck and flowers in the back. Craig sang a Richard Marx song, "Now & Forever" to me which I have playing. We went to Amelia Island for our honeymoon and stayed at a gorgeous B & B there. We came back to our ghetto apartment in Lakeland and loved life. Craig youth pastored and I was a full time student. Sometimes I don't know how we ate we were so poor but we loved it. Life was way more simple back then and we sometimes joke about how we miss those days of Bonny apartments when all we had to worry about was ourselves.





Eventually we moved back to this area after driving back and forth from Lakeland every weekend. I did my internship at Wildwood Middle School in the Spring of 2000 and then I graduated in April of 2000. We were living in Coleman renting a house from Bill & Janice Stokes. I got a job at the Charter School and he was working once again for First Federal as a Branch Manager in Bushnell. We decided to build a house next door to Brant on some land that he had owned for a while. Four years later Connor was born and as they say the rest is history.





Sorry this post was so long, I know I have really enjoyed reading everyone's story so I wanted to share ours too. In conclusion I wanted to celebrate our ten years together with my Top Ten List like David Letterman. These are the top ten things I love about my man!





1. I love his "Daddy" skills! My kids don't even know how good they got it. He really has great parenting instincts and I just love how he loves his kids. He will share stories with me of things our children have said or done and it just blows my mind how much he loves his kids!





2. I love Craig's sense of humor. From the beginning I have really appreciated his wittiness.





3. I love Craig's ability to somehow be politically correct, tactful and down right nice when I just can't even find the words to express how I am feeling.





4. I love that Craig can play the guitar! I love watching him play and sing!





5. I love how Craig deals with my (and Caroline's) emotional roller coasters with ease. He knows when to shut up and just let me talk and when to say what I can't.





6. I love Craig's family. I love how they have embraced me as one of their own. I hear horror stories about other's in-laws and I praise God everyday for my in-laws!





7. I love how Craig can make anything look easy. Sports, music, games and puzzles it amazes me how he just gets things.





8. I love how Craig is very visionary and I am so the opposite. He sees the big picture and goes for it. I would never move out of my routine if it weren't for him pushing me. He isn't discouraged by my lack of vision but instead challenged.





9. I love how Craig has never said anything about my looks in a negative way. I have come home with some crazy hair cuts and outfits and he just finds the good in it and makes me feel so pretty.





10. I love Craig because Craig loves me. I really feel like his love for me is unconditional and true and even if I screw up a million times I don't think he is ever going anywhere. He is my safe place to fall and that is so comforting to me.





Enjoy the pictures from the past ten years! I hope our story didn't bore you too much!