How We Met Our Son

It really is a miracle how we women are built to birth babies into this world!  And our son was nothing short of a miracle!  This is the story of how we met our son...

We were scheduled to induce starting Sunday, August 4th.  In true Acosta fashion, we were late...

But we got to the hospital and started the process (at around 3:30 AM).  Let's just say it was a long and uncomfortable night and easily the worst part of our birthing story.  By about 7:30 AM, I got a new nurse and she came in and got right down to business.  She said I would have my son by lunch time.  I really liked her!

At around 8:30 AM, my old friend, Epi Dural, showed up and it was nothing but smooth sailing from there.  I felt no pain at all and my labor just kept progressing.  And sure enough, around lunch time, my nurse came in and it was time to rock n roll.

One last selfie!

It's go time!

Just like with Jillian, I spent a little bit of time waiting on my doctor to show up.  He came with a medical student, and just like with Jillian, it was this person's first delivery.  Last time, the girl that watched cried when we had Jillian.  This time, the med student was a little bit of a nervous wreck!

After stalling waiting on the docs, I did 2, maybe 3, pushes and he was out at 12:36 PM, right at lunch time just like my nurse said!  Alex immediately started crying and he peed on the docs...probably because they made him wait!

And he's here!

Getting footprints on Daddy's baseball

His sweet cries were music to our ears and we saw our little man for the first time.  And little he is!  After our chubby baby girl (Jillian weighed in at 9 lbs. 6 oz.), Alex looked small to us at 8 lbs. 3 oz. 

Our first picture with our son!

Proud Daddy!

Our doctor and labor nurse

So in love with Alex!!!

Welcome to the World, Baby Alex!

Another sweet smile to brighten our day,

A small set of hands to hold on the way.

Our son is proof that dreams really do come true...

Ours came to us all wrapped up in blue!

Julian Alexandre Acosta

Baby Alex Acosta made his grand entrance into the world at 12:36 PM on Monday, August 5th, 2013.  He weighed in at 8 lbs. 3 oz. and measured 20.5".  Amber, Julian, Baby Alex, and Jillian are doing well and enjoying some rest in the hospital before we bring home our son!  

Thank you all for your support and prayers.  We appreciate the outpouring of love that we have received from each and every one of you.  We never imagined that we could have enough love in our hearts to share with another little one, but we love our son so much!  Jillian is enamored with her baby brother.  We thank God for blessing our lives with our loving daughter and our amazing new son!

Jillian's 2.5 Year Update

Look who is 2 and a half!!!

Jillian, you are such a gift to Mommy and Daddy!  These past 2.5 years have been the best years of our lives, from bringing you into this world to watching you grow and change everyday!  You really are the joy and sunshine that lights up our world with your infectious personality and beautiful little smile!

In just a few short days, Daddy and I hope to give you the best present you could ever want...a baby brother!  He will be your best friend and the one you most rely on, and who relies on you too.  In your brother Alex, you will have a confidante, a partner in crime, a shoulder to lean on for all the days of your life, long after Mommy and Daddy are gone.

We hope that you cherish each other, and that you both know how much we love you and how much we prayed for you both!  We have lots of love in our hearts and can't wait to see how much you love Baby Alex!  We know you are going to be the best big sister ever!

Jillian and Alex's First Sibling Pic!

So what have you been up to lately...here are a few of your favorite things:

Sweet cuddles from Mommy, lots of tickles and laughs with Daddy, all things Minnie Mouse, fruit snacks in the car, one last "tip" of milk, jumping off your stool, splash days at school, lots of different tv shows, and anything purple!

You talk constantly.  You love reading books at night.  You have to give Daddy a hug and kiss before he leaves for work or before bed.  You really like school.  Mommy is tops in your book. You come up with the silliest sayings and the funniest things, as your comedic timing is impeccable!  You are a good listener and helper.  You love your baby Bubby and get so excited to talk about him.  All around, you are the best kid in the world!!!

 We love you, Jillian Annalise!  Whether you are 2.5 or 75, you will always be our favorite girl in the whole world!

Our New Ride

Back in late May, my car started giving us trouble.  I bought my car in '04 and I take such good care of it, so I was beside myself when it started acting up.   I took it to my trusted auto place in town and they told me that it was the transmission.  Initial quotes said it would be $2400 to fix =(

I was in and out of town so much in May and June and so Julian and I were having to make do with one car, which wasn't all that hard.  The hard part was that I had the car looming over my head, and just when I would decide what to do about it, I would quickly change my mind.  

Julian had this crazy idea that we should trade in his truck.  It did not make any sense to me AT ALL.  Why would we get rid of the car that was NOT giving us trouble?!  But I listened to his reasoning, and it started to make a little sense.  From his perspective, we should trade in his truck and try to find our family car that would last us over the years as something we could grow into.  And we could only do that if we could try to find something where the car payments would be similar to what we were paying for his truck.  

Throughout the entire process, I could not believe how selfless Julian was about it all.  I mean, he LOVES that truck! In his words, he kept saying, "why would I have my wife and kid(s) driving around in an older, unreliable car when I can give up my truck and they will be in our new family car?"  Makes a little more sense, doesn't it?!  He's a good man doing a good thing and sacrificing for our family, and I love him for it.  It doesn't get any more basic than that!

So in between trips, we started looking on the internet, doing our research, and finding out what car would be the right one for our growing family.  I originally wanted a Tahoe, and so that's what we looked for.  I am sure not many of you remember this (even we try to forget about this), but we always swore that if we ever needed another car, we would go to Derek Scott Auto Park.  So I called up there and talked to a salesman and told him what I wanted.  He told me they didn't have any Tahoes, but he asked if I had ever considered a Chevy Traverse or a GMC Acadia.  I hadn't really heard of those cars, but he mentioned that both of those had the 3rd row I was looking for, and that the gas mileage and overall cost was better on those.  

After more research, I really started to focus on those cars instead.  We made a trip out to Derek Scott and we drove a used Acadia, and I started to fall in love with the car.  And then, the salesman does what any good salesman would do, and he had me test drive a brand new one.  S-O-L-D!

I tried to play it cool, tried to convince myself that I wasn't falling for the gimmicks of a brand new car, tried to justify getting this one instead of that one.  But, when we started talking about the financing of it all, it was not going to be much more than what we were paying on Julian's truck.  S-O-L-D!

Ultimately, I am really happy with our choice.  I'll spare you the details of the negotiating, but as always, Derek Scott took care of us.  And we ended up walking away with a 2013 GMC Acadia in what I affectionately refer to as "Cowboys/Yankees blue."  It has some great features that over the past 2 months that we have had the car, I absolutely LOVE!

Check out our new ride!  Guess my push present came a few months early, but it sure is one heck of a present to me and our family!!!

I said we had a good salesman at Derek Scott, not a good photographer!

Waiting for Our Prince to Come

With all the hoopla surrounding the royals and the long-anticipated future King of England, I spent a lot of time feeling a deep sense of empathy for Duchess Kate.  I can't imagine what it must feel like as a new and anxious mommy-to-be, much less to know that you are carrying the heir to the throne...oh, and not to mention having to do all that in the public eye with the whole world watching.  No big deal, right?!

And while I know that not as many (save our nearest and dearest) are waiting for our prince to come, it was fun to see Kate through her pregnancy and now the birth of her son.  I definitely cried the day he was born, just as much of happiness for her as for the anticipation of our own little one.

Alex is our prince and he will add to our perfect kingdom.   He is heir to the Acosta name and I can't wait to give Julian a son! And not to mention, Jillian has already self-proclaimed herself to be a princess, so it really does fit perfectly that we are adding our prince!

Truth be told, I always thought my first-born would be a boy so I have dreamed of my boy my whole life.  But God really knew what he was doing in giving me Jillian first.  She will ALWAYS be the one who made me a mommy and I waited my whole life for her.  She is my little love...my DAUGHTER...my princess!  Now I feel a special connection to both my kids...the one who made me a mommy and the boy I always dreamed of.  A SON to call my own...

I also made secret bets that William and Kate would name their son Alex, like us.  And low and behold, they did...ok, ok, it's his middle name.  But Alex is our son's middle name too! We just chose to have him go through life using his middle name.  Hey, I did it, he can do it too! And as much as my first name is a reminder of where I came from (Julienne, from my mom's name Julie), so too will my son have his first name to remember where he came from (Julian, just like his daddy!).  

So while there won't be people camping outside of our hospital, and no paparazzi (ok maybe a few proud parents/grandparents/friends to snap tons of photos), and no countries to inherit, I know we are so excited for our son, our prince Alex!

37 Weeks!

How far along: 37 weeks, 2 days

I look/feel: well, it finally hit y'all.  After a super easy pregnancy, I would say it started to get a little rocky around week 35.  It really isn't anything terrible, just a little bump here and there.  But I will take a pregnancy that is 90% easy any day, because it makes the 10% not so bad.  And he is almost here so there is a light at the end of the tunnel!

We have decided to induce, meaning that Alex has an eviction notice of Monday, August 5th!  I am a little bit relieved that we have this end date in mind as it gives us something to work towards.  So in 13 days (or less) we will get to see our son's little face!!!

Bubby is: not really digging his cramped space.  We can see his little elbows and heels poking out all the time as he adjusts to his itty-bitty living space.  But soon enough, he will have all the space in the world and I have a feeling he'll long for his tight quarters inside mommy!

Julian is: feeling the pressure of getting everything done in time for Bubs' arrival.  He spends every moment (when he's not at work) working on stuff around the house, and on Sunday, he finally just needed a break!  I am so glad he took a much needed rest because I don't think things will get much easier once Alex is here!

Julian also mentioned to me the other day that he is super excited to meet our son, but that he really can't wait to see how Jillian reacts to meeting her baby brother!  I am sure it will be just precious and a moment that we will remember forever!

Jillian is: starting to count down to her brothers arrival.  I update her once a week to tell her how many weeks till he gets here, so now I ask her "how long till Bubby comes?" and she will say "2 weeks!!!"

I am craving: Most out-of-the-blue one this week was pancakes for dinner.  Now, I know a lot of people that eat breakfast for dinner, but I think it was more random for me because I started to crave pancakes after working on laundry.  One of Jillian's pajamas from the weekend still smelled like maple syrup and I could not get the taste of pancakes out of my mind after that.  So I did what any sensible person would do and whipped up a batch!   Needless to say, my 2-year-old loved getting to eat pancakes on a random Monday night!

Crazy pregnancy moment of the week: The crazy, vivid dreams are back!  They are so random, and all over the place, and I am dreaming about everything under the sun, with people that I feel like I haven't even thought about in years.  Some of them feel so real that I wake up and think, "did that really happen?!"  Probably my favorite one recently included a concert featuring Adam Levine Maroon 5!!!

On the To-Do List: LOTS of STUFF!  It seems like we check 1 thing off the list and 5 more things add on!  We have purchased almost everything we need for his nursery, now we just need to finish putting it together.  I cannot wait to see his final nursery come together because I am sure we will love it and it will be the perfect space to welcome our little boy into the world!

A Shower for our Peanut

I really have the best friends in the world who would shower our little boy with so much love!  My nearest and dearest in College Station threw us a baby shower a few weekends ago.  We are decorating Alex's nursery in an elephant theme in grey and white with pops of navy and yellow.  So my oh-so creative friends made this the theme of our shower!

Every great party starts with a great invitation!

Perfect cupcake toppers, personalized letter, and banner!  

Signs that we can hang in Bubs' nursery and a personalized guest book

Shower games and more perfect party details

Another great party detail and personalized onesies for Alex to wear

Personalized month day signs to mark our little boy's growth

It was absolutely perfect with all the great decor.  And the best part is, we can use all of this stuff to decorate his nursery or the hospital once he comes!  I cannot tell you how grateful I am to have friends who would spend so much time paying attention to all the little details of the party.  

And as great as the decor was, it was definitely the companionship of our friends who decided to come shower our little boy with love.  We enjoyed a relaxed Sunday afternoon together, playing games, snacking, and opening gifts.  

The Acosta 3...soon to be the Acosta 4

The greatest friends in the photo booth station

One of the many thoughtful gifts we got

Meanwhile, all the kiddos had the best time too!  There were so many cool toys outside or snuggles to be had inside!

The Cutest Bunch

I really do have the greatest friends in Meredith, Katy, and Christen!  A very special thank you to these 3 ladies who are my mommy rocks in College Station.  These are the ladies I choose to spend my time with and share my life with as a mom and a friend.  I know that I can call any of the 3 of them at any hour of the day for even the silliest of questions.  For me, these 3 have been a shoulder to lean on for nearly 8 years now, and I will always be grateful for their friendship!  Thanks for showering our new little peanut with so much love!  I hope you each know that I will always do the same for you and yours!