Welcome baby Jonas!

So this is the story of how Jonas came into the world and our family. I went in Tuesday morning at 0530 for my scheduled induction feeling very ready. They started my pitocin around 0800. Over the next few hours I didn't really progress much but I was having very close and intense contractions so I decided to get an epidural. I didn't really want one but I was only at 4cm and he was still very high. I was at 3cm when I arrived and had been on pitocin for over 4 hours already. So they gave me my epidural around 1400 (2:00pm) and came back to check me around 1530 (3:30pm). The doctor broke my water then and Jonas was born at 1618 (4:18pm)!I went from 4cm to 10 in about a half hour. Jonas beat out his brother Steven in every measurement. Jonas weighed 8lbs, 2.9oz; Steven was 8lbs, 0oz. Jonas was 21.5 inches long; Steven was 21 inches long. Jonas was 4 days early; Steven was 9 days late. LOL We are so glad that Jonas is finally here and that my labor was relatively uneventful as far as complications go. When Steven was born his heart stopped and he wasn't breathing. Jonas didn't have any of those complications and was born with bright eyes just looking around the room, not crying a bit which after having Steven born the way he was kind of scared me a bit. The doctor reassurred me that he was fine. He just made a little squawk and that was it and he hasn't cried much since. He is an awesome baby just like Steven was. Although he didn't have any complications at birth, after doing lab work they found out that he has a reaction to my blood called ABO incompatibility. Basically he was exposed to antibodies that my body made in reaction to his blood type. This causes his red blood cells to die off and he becomes anemic and gets jaundice. So they kept us an extra day to watch him and then decided that we could go home as long as we came back the next day for a blood test. We came back for the blood test and his iron was up (which is good) and his bilirubin (which causes jaundice) was also up( which is not so good). Since it was only up slightly tho they decided it just needed to be checked in two more days. So on Sunday morning we headed for the hospital to get his blood test done before church. His bilirubin level had jumped a lot so he had to be re-admitted to recieve phototherpay. I was so sad and disappointed to have to come back to the hospital. Basically he had to lay there with only a diaper on under a blue light for 24 hrs. I couldn't hold him unless he was eating. It was so hard seeing him just lay there but he didn't seem to mind a bit. He never fussed! Only when it was time to eat did he even make a peep. He did amazing and his level dropped considerably so we got to come back home yesterday! This morning we had to come back for yet another blood test. This time it was great news! His levels have pretty much stabilized which means he's doing better and making his own red blood cells. We don't have to go back for 3 whole weeks!!! Yay! We are all home now and doing well. Steven absolutely loves having a baby brother. He hasn't shown any jealousy yet at all. He always wants to know what Jonas is doing or where he his. He even kisses Jonas' feet! LOL.

5 more days as and family of 3

Lately we have been incredibly busy but I really don't want to let this blog die so I firgure it's time for an update before Jonas is born and life as we know it vanishes forever :) So here is goes:

STEVEN: Steven has been growing so fast! He is almost 3 years old if you can belive that( his b-day is in July). (I know I have a hard time with it, sniff sniff). We just moved him out of his carseat and into a booster seat. He loves it although it still makes me cry if I think about it too long. He weighs in at about 32 pounds and is about 38 inches tall. We recently got him a puppy which he named Rocket; we now have two dogs; Wally (11years old) and Rocket (10 weeks old). I must say that it is turning out to be a great investment. Steven loves playing with him and both Richard and I love to hear Steven giggling while being chased or licked. It really warms your heart :) The first couple of weeks with a new puppy were rough and at times I thought I had lost my mind. Nevertheless, it has turned out to be well worth it. Rocket is adorable and the two of them together are so precious. I just can't wait to see them with baby Jonas! Speaking of the baby let's move on to me :)

STEPHANIE AND JONAS: I am 38 weeks and 5 days pregnant today. Over the last few months I have been going nuts with all of my doctor's appointments. I have been at the hopsital a minimum of 3 times a week for NSTs (non stress tests) and OB appointments. I am so sick of that place! They are all very nice, I'm just tried of spending so much time there and am so glad that this pregnancy is almost over. For the most part I have been feeling pretty good except for having a ton of flase labor. I had the same braxton hicks contractions when I was pregnant with Steven. I don't remember finding them so annoying and painful though. Maybe its just that this time I actually have to function and be a mother and that is difficult when your having contractions one minute apart for hours on end. Sometimes I have this false labor while I'm at the doctors office or at my NST and the doctors think I must be in reall labor. I have to explain that I'm not but they usually insist on checking my cervix anyway. On that note, I'm 1cm dilated but that doesn't mean much. I do not expect to have this baby before my scheduled induction on Tuesday. Tuesday morning (April 28th) I am supposed to arrive at the hospital at 0530 where they will begin my induction. My due date is not until May 2nd but since I have a high risk pregnancy this time around I have to be induced early. We are so excited to finally meet our second son :) Steven keeps asking me when Jonas is going to come out, lol. He talks to him and kisses my belly all the time. It's adorable :) (this picture was taken yesterday)

RICHARD: Richard has been doing a lot of yard work lately since he has not been flying. He has been home for about the last month and will not be flying until at least 10 days after the baby is born. This is the longest stretch of having him home since we got to Travis. He is getting a bit antzy and is missing being aboard his plane. He loves being home but he also loves his job. I think he's been trying to fill that void by ripping apart my front yard. Apparently he's "re-landscaping." :) He's been working very hard out there and I'm sure it will look great when he's finished. It's great seeing him take pride in his house and giving it his own touch. This week he made me some flower beds and I was able to plant some annuals. I'm looking forward to the finished product very much.

So that's pretty much the gist of what we've been up to. We are trying to enjoy the last 5 days as a family of three. Next week our lives will change forever when baby Jonas is born. We are looking forward to meeting him but can't help feeling a little anxious about adding to our little family. All in all I'm sure it will be wonderful. (I hope, lol)

Chugga Chugga Poooooooooo Pooooooooo! Here comes potty training

Lately I have been finding less and less time to sit down and do things like blog. I didn't even realize that I went the whole month of January without writing a single one. Well now its February and there's no sign of things slowing down. Throughout January we have had such nice weather over here! We had numerous days weather its was at least 70 degrees out; so we all took advantage and spent the time outdoors. We made so many trips to Home Depot for yard tools and other things to do projects outside that I have lost track, so many in fact that Steven now asks every time we get in the car, "We go to Home Depot now?" lol, he loves that store just like his daddy. He never gets bored or complains about it; he is just amazed by all the stuff and constantly asks what everything is for and we have to explain. Ever since I can remember he has been such a big helper; he definitely has a servants heart. Everyone says that you can learn more from your children if you just watch them and let them teach you, and its true. I have already learned so much about being a cheerful servant and Steven's not even 3! Anyways, he amazes me every day. He loves to work in the yard with Richard. He even has his own rake and "helps" Richard rake up the pine needles and then stomp them down in the yard waste container. We spent most of January cleaning up our new backyard which has clearly been neglected for a very, very long time. When he's not helping clean up, Steven is usually outside playing when its nice out. If its a bit cold he will still go out to play but then eventually he'll get cold and come inside where he will play trains for hours. It is getting increasingly difficult for me to get down on the floor to play with him but he is doing a great job coping with my inability, which is also amazing to me. It's almost like he actually understands that I just can't bend like I could when there wasn't a baby in there. He is already such a good big brother. He loves to try to feel the baby kick and his eyes gets so wide and bright when his little brother cooperates and kicks his little hand. Steven loves it so much that he pretends that there is a baby in his own tummy. After he feels my tummy, he lifts his shirt and says feel my tummy mommy. Then once you put your hand there he will thrust his little belly against your hand and say "baby's kicking you!" It is so hilarious.

Also this month we have started to introduce potty training to him. He has been able to go pee on the toilet for a while now but he doesn't do it on a regular basis, usually just before bath time. We went to the library and got a few books for him to look at about potty train. There is one that he is obsessed with now; it's called The Potty Train and is about a little boy riding the potty train. Right now we are just talking about it with him and getting him used to the idea of it before we try to actually tackle the subject. He is already starting to tell me that he went pee pee or poo poo which I guess is a step in the right direction. At least he is noticing that he went instead of just doing it. I'm really hoping to have him pretty much potty trained before Jonas is born in May but we shall see. I'm not really set on it so if he doesn't want to or shows any resistance its not going to be a huge deal. It will happen when it happens and I'm alright with that.

Richard went on another mission in the middle of January for about a week. Then he was home for about 2 weeks and he left again. He is still gone and will probably be gone until at least next week sometime. Last time he went to the same places he has been before, Germany then down range ("to War" as he likes to say) and then back home. This time he has spent about a week in Germany just waiting to begin his mission. I don't know, nor could I say if i did, all the details but he gets to go Greece this time! I'm just a tad jealous about that; I have always wanted to go there. Luckily he got his own digital camera for Christmas so he should come back with some great pictures which I will post when he returns. It probably sounds weird, but I think I'm actually more busy when Richard is away then when he's home. I can get so much more done when he's not around. Don't get me wrong, I would much rather have him home but it's so much easier to just do what I need to when it's just me and Steven to worry about. When Richard is home all I want to do is spend time with him because he doesn't have to work much. I love it when he's home, but I think the Lord know us best. He knows I need Richard to be gone so I can get stuff done. Richard's job really is the perfect job for him and for us; it's definitely not for everyone but the Lord has led us here and He has delivered on His promise that He knows us better then we know ourselves. I really do miss Richard to death though! Well I think that's good for now. Thanks for reading my blog :)

Cal State Train Museum

Richard's parents and his younger siblings stayed the night on Christmas day. The day after Christmas, Richard and his dad headed off to Home Depot and the rest of us went shopping. Richard and his dad spent the rest of the day doing projects around the house. His dad and Richard's siblings left that night and his mother stayed another night. It was nice to have the extra help :0 ) On Saturday we went to the California State Train Museum in Sacramento which is only about 45 minutes away.

 Steven got a ton of trains for Christmas (and his birthday this past year) so he was very excited. The whole way there he kept saying "I'm cited, I'm cited(I'm excited)." He fittingly watched Thomas on the trip there and back. None of us had been to the museum in a while so it was really cool to see it again. Steven had a blast walking through all the trains and spent quite a while upstairs playing with the huge Thomas train set(s) that they have. I was amazed by how lavish the accommodations were on those trains. Most of them were nicer than any house I've ever been in. The craftsmanship was simply astounding! You just don't see that kind of quality anymore; they reminded me of old victorian houses. We got to the museum just before it opened and spent about 2 hours inside. We left just as it was getting extremely busy. After, we stopped by the gift shop to pick up yet another toy train and a train pin for Steven. Then we took a walk in Old Sacramento and picked a place for lunch. It was a very nice day out which only added to the enjoyment. There were horse-drawn carriages going up and down the street too. It was awesome to see Steven enjoying an experience that we both had as children.

We have internet!

So over the past month a lot of changes have taken place in our lives. We purchased our first home and closed on December 12th, 2008 after much craziness; I won't go into all the gritty details but it seemed like the Lord really wanted us to work to get into our new home :) We don't mind though, the good things are worth working for right? We have spent pretty much every waking hour since at the house painting and cleaning and fixing up things, and also getting the house ready for Christmas. We moved in on Saturday, December 20th, 2008 just in time for Christmas. Oh, yea before I forget, we found out on December 19th that we are having another little boy! We are so excited to be having a little brother for Steven; his name will be Jonas Richard Danelz. So we moved in and barely got unpacked when we hosted a Christmas Feast at our house. All of our family came to see the new house and eat a ton of food. We also found a church this month! We have been having a really tough time finding a church here in Fairfield. Its not that there aren't any good churches, we just couldn't find one that felt right. We have been here since July and have been trying out different churches pretty much every week (I've lost count of how many we've tried). We just love this one; it felt like home before we even got out of the car, even though we were skeptical to find out it is held in a real estate office, lol. Its funny how we think we can just pick a church, when in reality the church picks you, and really God pick the right church for you. Anyways, Steven was supposed to be a shepherd in the Christmas Eve program. Pam, Sarabeth, and MaryJo even came down on Christmas Eve to see him in it, but when the time came he refused to wear his costume. So we all watched the program together. Pam, Sarabeth, and MaryJo spent the night at our house that night and were here with us on Christmas morning which was very nice. Steven was so excited to have them here. He showed them all his new room which is decorated in Disney's Cars theme. He loves it.

 Christmas morning, Steven opened his stocking with Nana (Pam); he was really into it this year which was fun to see. I'm not sure how he knew what was going on though lol, we never really told him about it. Then I made breakfast and started baking Christmas cookies; my sister, Jen, helped me and together we made my Grandmother Erna's German Christmas cookies. They didn't last the day. Then I started to make the main dishes.  When most of the people were here we opened presents, and man were there a ton for Steven! He was so cute opening them. He would unwrap one and then bring it to the closest adult and ask them to open it. We had to ask him to wait until we were all done or the living room would have been full of toys. When he unwrapped them, which he did all by himself, he would look at the package and if the side with the tape was not up he would flip it over. Then he would rip it open from the point where the tape is! Sometimes I really think he has OCD, lol. After that I finished the food and we all dug in. The menu consisted of spinach dip in a bread bowl and bacon wrapped shrimp with pineapple for appetizers; Ham, fully loaded mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, a salad, and rolls for the main dish. We had apple pie with ice cream and pumpkin pie with whipped cream for dessert. It was awesome to have everyone here in our new house for Christmas. It was kind of crazy, but definitely worth the work. With all the craziness this holiday season, it was especially important that we didn't lose sight of what Christmas is really about- Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. None of this would have been possible without Him in our lives and without the sacrifice He made for us. With a little one it can be tough to keep the celebration Christ centered, but we made sure to keep pointing Steven back to Him. Our hope is that each year he will understand more and more about what Christ did for us.

The November Whirlwind

This past month has been insanely busy! Let do a quick recap: At the very end of October we went to a Place called Impossible acres; it is a farm where they have a petting zoo which is made up of a bunch of baby farm animals that the kids can hold and touch. They also have a pumpkin patch where we picked up three large pumpkins, a small pumpkin, and some gourds for only 15 bucks! Steven had a blast with all the animals and absolutely loved being able to hold them. We had our first "NO! GENTLE TOUCHES!!!!" moment as he was holding the baby kitten. He was holding it and cuddling it when he all of the sudden "loved" it too much and basically tried to strangle the poor thing. After that we moved on to more "rugged" animals- the pigs. He didn't get to hold these but he had a great time chasing them around and petting them.

 

Then we carved to pumpkins the next day which Steven thought was very interesting. He is a very clean kid and he hates to get dirty. Naturally, he refused to help clean out the inside of the pumpkin so that was solely moms job. He just kept saying "yucky, yucky!" lol, I thought boys were supposed to like getting dirty? Well, not my boy. We decided that it wouldn't hurt to take him trick or treating just for fun so we went out with some of our friends around base. Steven had a pretty good time and was just starting to get the hang of it when it started to rain and we had to go inside. I, uh I mean HE, enjoyed the candy :) He was a giraffe for Halloween.

Then came November. This month holds so many important dates for our family. First we have AJ's birthday (he turned 19 this year). Then next we have our Wedding Anniversary ( we celebrated our 4th this year), my sister Jen's birthday (she turned 22 this year), and Papa's (Steve's) birthday (we won't disclose how old he turned this year, lol). Along with all of this we had dentist appointments for both Stephanie and Steven (it was his first, sniff sniff, he's getting so big), Men's Retreat for the guys, Richard's 1 year Anniversary in the AF, and few other misc doctor's appointments. On top of all of this we have been trying to find a house to purchase. We had put in 3 other offers but we kept getting out bid. Finally, on our 4th Wedding Anniversary and our 4th offer, we got a house! We are in escrow right now and are scheduled to close on or before December 12th. The house is in Suisun City, CA and is about 5 miles from base. It's 1320 sqft- 3 bedrooms, 2 baths. We are so blessed to be able to purchase our own home. Here is a picture of it.

Only by the power of God were we able to do this. It is amazing what God can do, and in such little time. Just a year ago Richard and I were really struggling to make it financially; Richard was working 3 jobs, I was working 1 part time job and  we were still sinking. It was then that we decided that we needed to fully trust the Lord and we made a drastic change. Even though it was terrifying and the future was uncertain, we jumped in and trusted the Lord to work out the details. After much prayer Richard joined the United States Air Force. He spent a few months losing 70 pounds and was finally able to sign up to join. All along we knew and could feel in our hearts that this was were the Lord wanted us to go, but still it seemed so scary and uncertain. Richard wound up trading contracts with someone else and was given only 3 weeks to leave for Basic Military Training (BMT). We were expecting about 4 months to prepare. So we packed up our stuff and Steven and I moved in with MaryJo while Richard was to go to BMT and Technical school. The contract that he traded for was what they call "open general" which meant that he had no idea and no guarantee of what his job would eventually be. You make a list of 5 jobs you can choose from a longer list and they will try to get you one of those 5, but in the end the needs of the Air Force decide what you will get. Richard had put down Security Forces (SF) #1 and Loadmaster #2; the others we cannot recall. Security Forces is basically like a policeman in the Air Force. Richard had thought that he wanted to go into Law Enforcement and even tried to do the CHP before this, but they said he didn't have enough "life experience." So, he decided that he would go into the AF and do SF to get some and then get out and do the CHP. LOL, God was probably laughing as He knew what was in store for Richard. Ok, so he put down SF as his #1 choice and usually if you do this, you will get SF because there is such a high demand for them. It turned out that the month Richard went into the AF was the one month that SF was full; so he got Loadmaster, which is actually the perfect job for Richard. We are so thankful that God is in control and we are not. He always knows what is best for us and even goes ahead of us and ordains those things on our behalf.  WOW! All of this and we still have to tackle Thanksgiving. We certainly have a lot to be thankful for :)

We have a reliable due date

Today I had my first real ultrasound. I had one in the office but they really couldn't tell me if my due date was right or not. But today I went into radiology and they did a real one. When we first got there, I told the radiologist that when they did the ultrasound in the office the baby would not hold still so I had been praying that the baby would be more cooperative this time. He replied back, "well its just hanging out right now." The second he said that the baby woke up and started moving all over the place. Richard was even surprised at how active this baby is compared to Steven. Steven had his active moments but for the most part would just stretch and squirm. This baby was rolling all over the place, kicking and moving its arms, and doing cart-wheels. It is so weird to watch that action on the monitor but not feel a thing! Anyways, the baby is doing great and everything does seem to be just fine. I do have a cyst on one of my ovaries that is a pit painful at times especially when pressure is applied, but overall I'm feeling great. My morning sickness has already started to go away which I am so so thankful for. I am 11 weeks, 5 days pregnant and my due date is May 2nd, 2009. We are so excited! Oh, did I mention that this baby is a thumb sucker just like Steven? In all three pictures that we got the baby is just sucking away on its tiny little fingers. We were both amazed at how much the quality of the ultrasound images have improved in just 2 years since Steven was born. I'm only about 12 wks and you can make out tiny fingers, the nose, cheeks, mouth. It's just amazing. We are so blessed to be able to peak in and observe what God is forming and molding on the inside.