Brandon Matthew

This day 2 years ago seems like yesterday...
This was me at about 6pm, 2 years ago, Feb. 3rd...

I was timing contractions that were finally becoming consistent and trying to relax by playing trains with my buddy Drew.
This was me around 10pm, 2 years ago, Feb.3rd...

I was begging Jim to please hurry up & take the picture before another contraction hit...they were pretty hard & fast at that point.

It was not long after this photo was taken that I was walking to a labor & delivery room. This labor experience was much different than my first.
I remember going from calm, breathing through relatively painful contractions to begging my
nurse to see if I was 5cm yet so I could get my epidural (my goal was always to make it 5), in
what seemed like about 6 seconds! Thankfully I was and they called for the anesthesiologist...this process took f-o-r-e-v-e-r, but as usual helped out in the end. I
remember not long after that...really what seemed like mere minutes after they let my Mom & my
best friend come back in the room, (Jim was the lucky soul to witness the good ol' epidural
stick) I was feeling very ready to push. The nurse paged the Dr. and one of med. students came in & calmly told me that the Dr. was on his way up from the ER and to try not to push just yet. Seriously?!?!? I laugh about it now but at that moment I just curled up in a ball on my side and whined and whimpered much like my little almost 2 year old does now. ;) I remember hearing the door open and the Dr's voice calmly saying "ok, Rachel you ready for this?" I remember my exact response word-for-word..."you're killing me Dr. Popp!" He, in all the calmness he could muster guided me through a very short session of pushing and at 12:51am,2 years ago, on Feb. 4th, Brandon Matthew made his grand entrance. In all of his 8lb, 15oz, 20 1/2in long glory, he came and let the whole world know he had a nice, healthy set of lungs. Every time he would cry, I remember my Mom saying "that's a beautiful sound to hear isn't it Rach?" And she was right, it was!

So, by about 1am, 2 years ago, on Feb. 4th, this was me...

...with a cameo appearance by my handsome hubby! ;)

But this Feb. 4th, Brandon is turning 2! He is my 2 year old, going on 5 or 6. I sometimes have to remind myself that he is only two! He wants to be just like his big brother & do everything he does. Drew takes a backpack to school, so Brandon has to carry his own backpack to drop him off. Drew brings a toy monster truck to the dinner table and "parks" it next to his plate, Brandon won't touch a bite of food until he has one of his own "parked" next to his plate. One of Brandon's favorite phrases is "me too, me too!" in reference to anything Drew does/has. I hope, as he continues to grow, his love & admiration for his brother never goes
away. You see, it's a natural path for me to want him on. He wants to be just like his brother, his brother wants to be just like his Daddy, & his Daddy tries his very best to be like Jesus! Can't think of a better chain I'd want him linked to...

Happy 2nd Birthday Brandon! We love you to the moon & back! :)