We have a new President!

Election Year 2008 turned out to be an historic year. We Americans elected ourselves our first African-American President. It was an amazing night to watch history in the making. At 11pm the news announced that Barack Obama won the 270 Electoral Votes necessary to win the office. Shortly there after Senator John McCain came out to make his concession speech. He did an outstanding job speaking and trying to rally his staunch supporters to back the new President-Elect.

Then Barack Obama came out to Grants Field, IL. He gave a moving speech. I'm sure it will be remembered as the "Yes we can" speech. Its wonderful to once again listen to a President that, when he talks, pulls you in. He is an eloquent speaker. I listened to his speech again online the next day.

People around the United States poured onto the streets to celebrate. Blacks, Whites, Hispanics, Asians......Americans. It was like watching New Year's celebrations, but this was for an election. I've never seen the likes of it before. And the most wonderful part was every single celebration was peaceful.

I wanted the kids to one day see that they were apart of American History. One day they will look back at pictures of them as very young children and wonder why it was such a big deal that we elected a black man to President or that a woman almost became Vice President. I wonder what their challenges will be and what they will consider historic? But until that time here are the pictures that I will put away until they are older.

Noah "Humm, I can do this too."

Halloween 2008

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

The Pirate and the Flower with their pumpkins

The neighborhood party. Lots of kids, food, and good fun.

All the cute costumes! Lady Bug Lily and

her two SunFlowers Regan and Bennett

Lady Bug Lily and Pirate Noah with Lady Bug Tiki. Too cute!!

Fall Fun

Fall has finally come to Northern Virginia. I've always thought at that Fall was a great time of year. After hot, humid, oppressive summer days, it wonderful to have crisp fall days. A friend of mine told me about this great Apple Festival going on out in western VA. Just heading into the Shenandoa Mnts is a great lodge/farm called Graves' Mountain Farm. Each Spring and Fall they have a festival. The fall festival was a great time. Noah loved running around and playing on the hay bales and rolling down one of the huge hills. Regan had fun watching all the kids having fun and crawling all over the place.

As we were walking through the festival there was this great tree where all the leaves were a great orange and red. It was right next to the hay bales. So we sat under the trees and Regan had lunch while Noah turned into a wild man and climbed and jumped until he was in muscle failure.

I just can't get enough of out door pictures. I just loved how Regan loved to play in leaves.

Ooohhhhh, Regan. Watch out!! That great big face is going to eat you for lunch.

Kate & Bennett - Kari & Lily - Wendy & Regan

One of the first weekends in October we all got together and wanted to go to a pumpkin farm. Anna found one down the road and we packed the kids up and drove a few miles down the road. We should have known you just dont get good pumpkin farms so close to the city. We ended up at a nursery that threw some pumpkins in their back yard and called it "Lots of Pumpkin Fun" Yeah maybe for a blind man. But they did have this great cart set up and we got some great pictures!

Catch up

I have been awful at getting this site caught up. My laziness and what ever excuse I can find is the reason I haven't brought you step by step through Regan's life.

Well, if I ever want to catch up I'm just going to jump to what is current in her life right now. So here are a few pictures of Summer 08.

July was my 20 year High School Reunion. Where does the time go??? TWENTY YEARS??? I still feel 23. Whew.... So I was able to talk Debbie into going with me and she suggested that we stay at Trails End Campground. She had been wanting to show Charlie where we grew up for some time and this was a great opportunity. We had a great time even though it rained a bit.

Aunt Debbie laughing at the camera Diva.

Happy 1st Half Birthday Regan

Anna celebrated half birthdays in her family. So in July little Regan got her first taste of sugar. She didn't eat the cup cake but she had a great time playing with the icing.

Bethany Beach, Delaware

In July Katy, Danny and baby Bennett invited us to join them for a weekend at the beach. We drove up to Bethany Beach and had one terrific weekend! Bethany is a very family oriented town. Noah had a blast digging in the sand and playing in the waves. While Regan was relegated to sitting out of the sun under a beach umbrella. Maybe next year she will have fun in the waves. We had beautiful weather and the beach house was gorgeous!! Thanks guys!

September ended up being a beautiful month. We went to MD to visit Jarrett, Gwen, Preston and Pryce and Jason, Denise and Tyler at Rocks Park. What a great day of hiking and playing in the water. The boys were taught to skip rocks and lots of time was spent looking for baby fish to catch. Next year we will bring a net!

September came with a great opportunity to visit FL. I was able to talk Debbie into visiting me while I attended a conference in Orlando. She watched Regan during the day while I worked. We stayed at Shades of Green on the WDW resort. We talked Mom and Dad into spending two nights with us after Debbie announced to the new Grandparents that she and Charlie are expecting TWINS in May 09.

After the conference Regan and I went to Cape Coral for 4 days and had a nice visit with Nanna and Grandpa. The weather was still wonderful and lots of time was spent in the pool.

What is that PAIN???

How can I discribe the pain I was in the beginning January??? Well one way is that my left kidney was being pulled out of my back. Or a white hot knife was being stuck in the kidney. I think you might have the idea of how much I was hurting.

It all started on Jan 5 2008. I was in Newport News because Aunt Gail was having heart problems and was in the hospital. On Saturday afternoon I headed home but had to stop two hours into the trip to use the bathroom. When I got out of the car, my back hurt so much that I could bearly walk. I made it into the bathroom but the pain did not get better. I had finally decided that maybe I should go to the hospital. On my way out to the car, I started to feel a bit better so I drove home. It was pretty much gone by then so Anna, Noah and I went out to dinner at Outback. I was fine the rest of the weekend so I decided I would drive back down to Newport News on Monday for Gail's triple bypass.

At about noon Gail was out of surgery and we were able to see her in the recovery room. Since they kept her sedated for so long, I decided to head home. Once again, I had the blinding back pain. This time I am caught in a traffic jam on I-95 just outside of Richmond. I am in tears and ready to flag a Trooper down and ask for help. Just as the traffic started to clear, I got a break from the pain. This time I decided to drive directly to the hospital and find out what is going on.

Come to find out I was in early labor and they gave me a shot to stop the labor. After about 4 hours I was transported to Bethesda Naval Hosptial. Wow, my first time in an amblance! It was pretty cool. Anna met me at the hospital. What a great friend. She ran around the house and packed my bag for me. Who would have thought I should have this done 6 weeks early?? After another 4 hours there, I was released with some sleeping pills and two percocet.

Its the next week that was out of control. Just like clock work I had blinding pain on the left side of my back about where my kidney is located. It would start at about 7am and last for about 20 minutes. They would come just about every hour and last about 20 min. Then about 7 or 8 pm it would pretty much stop until the next morning. I was getting phone calls non-stop from my family asking how I was or if anyone needed to come be with me. I was able to stop my parents from coming up from FL. I just couldn't see them watching me non stop for the next 6-8 weeks while this baby cooks a bit longer.

On Friday 11 January it was another great day or non stop pain. By now I was popping Percocet like they were candy. We had pizza for dinner and at about 8 pm I decided I wanted to watch TV in bed. When I got into bed I had this really weird feeling in my lower abdomen area. I just couldn't sit comfortably. So I went to the basement and asked Anna about it. She didn't know so I went back upstairs. Then I felt my water break. I went back downstairs and told her. That is when the fun started.

My contractions started at 2 min apart! Who starts that fast?? All the books say to stay at home until they are 5 min apart! I was freaking out I was going to have her at any second! So what does Anna have to do....Yes, pack my hospital bag. Silly me unpacked it the week I was home. Who would have thought I would go into labor that early. So I'm calling my parents and sister, those who had called me a million time during the week, and guess what...No answer! No one to be found. Noone home, no one answering cell phones. Everyone falls off the face of the earth just when I need them. But Debbie did call on a whim as they were headed back out to happy hour. In between 2 minute contractions I told her through clenched teeth that I couldn't talk I was going out the door to have her neice and I was in PAIN!

So after the neighbors came over and helped me pack, off we go to Bethesda....on the beltway...on a Friday night....can anyone say TRAFFIC???? Anna says this is where the all the fun started. I made her drive faster, making all sorts of drivers mad, and we pulled up to the gate at Bethesda both hollering "Shes having a baby" This was one of the only times I did not have to show my ID at the gate.

After signing paperwork, yelling at Corpsmen, and getting hooked up to lots of monitors at about 1am I finally got an epidural and life got better. To make a pretty short story shorter...after three sessions of pushing, Debbie walking in the door after getting lost two times in her mad dash from NY, Regan Elizabeth Merz was born at 5:35 am 12 January 2008. She was 5 pounds 1 ounce and 17.5 inches.

A big yawn after a big day!

Regan just 4 hours old

Aunt Debbie and Uncle Charlie

Nanna and Grandpa Merz

Grandparents AT LAST!!

Guess What???

So I always dreamed of telling my husband I was pregnant. Well such is life and things don't always work out the way you want them to. I didn't have a husband to break the happy news to, but I did have my Mom and Dad. Three days after Debbie's wedding they came back through on their way home. I decided to have some fun.

I went and got two balloons. "Its a Boy" and "Its a Girl". I put them in brown paper bags and waited for their arrival.

When they got in I had them sit on the couch and had them each pick a bag. Mom kept asking why she had to do this and I finally just told her it was an end to the wedding weekend and just to pick one. Once they each had a bag I said, "Ok, open them up. One of you is right and one of you is wrong and pray to God that you both are not right."

Dad got its a Girl and he got it right away. Mom on the other hand just sat and looked at her balloon and wasn't sure what was going on until Dad jumped up and said "It worked??? Really???"

Debbie and Charlie were still on their honeymoon so I sent them a card that said Aunt Debbie and Uncle Charlie- I can't wait to meet you! When they finally got home they gave us a call and told us all about the awful weather they had and the detour places they went to. After they were done I asked if they had gotten the mail yet. Deb, of course with her hatrid of the mail box, had not. I asked her to go get it but she fought me. I told her again that I really wanted her to go get the mail. She finally did and we continued to talk to Charlie. Then in the background you could her yelling give me the phone!! She was very upset that I didn't call her earlier and didn't understand why I waited. Hello.....your on your honeymoon!!!!

So little girl, that is how everyone found out you were going to bless us in 9 months. It was just the way I wanted it to be. It was a surprise to everyone, unique in letting people know, and SO full of happiness.

Bun in the Oven for 9 months

May 21st 2007 I had my second IUI. It was a hectic day. I was flying out to Kansas City for a conference but it was prime time for a second chance at getting pregnant. So I decided to give it a shot even though it was a bit early. From the beginning all odds were against this one working. The timing was off, the count was low, no shot at a second try this cycle. So this time I did not obsess about what my body was doing like I did the first time.

June 2nd was Debbie and Charlies wedding. What a beautiful day. It was held at Geneva, NY right at the top of Kueka Lake. The service was wonderful and the reception was even better. On Sunday I headed home when Deb and Charlie took off to Maine on their honeymoon. That night for the heck of it I peed on a stick. And low-and-behold I got a faint second line. I ran downstairs and showed it to Anna. She said that she got faint lines when she was trying and they always turned out false. So I hung my head and went back up stairs. I had taken Monday off so around noon I decided why not go to Dewitt Hospital and have them take a blood test. I jumped in my car and went in. They took the test and said they would call me in a few hours. Hummm, what do you do when your trying not to watch the clock? I decided to garden. Finally the phone rang..... Ms. Merz your test came back positive.

Yippee!!!! Wow! Holy Cow! Holy Shit what did I just get myself into?????? No turning back now girl. I decided to run to the store and get cards to surprise Anna with the news. I got home just in time to hide the card in her running shoes. I sat out in the other room and waited for her to open it. Once she did we talked and talked about how things were going to change. I ran and got the camera and took the first of many belly pictures. Here is the very first one.

1st Trimester: What an easy one that was. I did not have one day of morning sickness. Although I am grateful that I did not get sick, I felt a bit jipped that didn't have the "whole first trimester experience". There were many times that I questioned if I was really pregnant. But of course I knew that I was. Since I went with artificial insemination, I was given ultra-sounds almost every 4 weeks. The first time I saw you, you had a tail. And there was your little heart beating just as it should be. Oh, how I cried that day. The nurse knew right away that I was a first time Mom.

2nd Trimester: The sweet tooth has kicked in. Anna is hating life. I keep bringing in all sorts of cakes and cookies. I was so good at what I put in my mouth the last trimester. But this time all bets are off. I can't get enough of sugar cookies. I decided to do some chromosome testing to make sure you were ok. The nucal translucency came back good but a few days later I got the blood results back and they came back high for Downs Syndrome. Debbie was great about coming down for my amnio. She was right there with me when we found out you were a girl. She and the tech were having a good back and forth about you having a nose bone. (a good indication of not having Downs) Then he said, well it looks like a girl. But then he wrote boy on the screen. So which was it???? We walked out with a sonogram that said Girl so off we went shopping. (That is how you got your baptism outfit)

3rd Trimester: Man am I tired! Sweet tooth has pretty much disappeared. Anna is happy to have the bad food out of the house. I'm finally in full maternity ACUs. I look like a tent, although everyone is very nice to me about how big I am getting. I feel big and sitting on the couch pretty much sucks, but I am constantly hearing "You are so small. I would never guess you are in the third trimester" Christmas was fun. You got your first Christmas gifts. The main one being the video recorder. What a great gift from the family!!! New Years was quiet. We all went over to Kari and Cary's and hung out with the neighbors. We toasted the New Year and then was in bed 20 min later. Jan 2nd I went down to Ft Bragg for some software testing and stayed the week. That is when the beginning of the end started........