Baby #2

 So this is how we announced this time! We had CJ wear this shirt to announce to our parents as we saw them. We were sneaky and "let them figure it out" when they decided to read it. lol. And then I took pictures and posted it on FB to announce there as well :) I thought it was a cute idea!

 

This is our sweet little gummy bear! We are just so excited to have another addition to our family :) We already have two names picked out as well! BOY: Lincoln Kimble Woodbury (Linc) GIRL: FayeLynn Ann Woodbury. We'll find out in 2 weeks and 5 days which name to select!!! =D

This pregnancy has been SO much harder on me than with CJ. Granted, I do have Type I Diabetes, or Juvenile Diabetes. I was diagnosed when I had just turned 8 years old. Seeing as I'll be 23 in about a month, I'm coming up on my 15th anniversary as a Diabetic...Hard to believe its been that long. Inevitably, diabetes causes quite the amount of health problems, I've been told I'll inevitably have kidney failure, liver failure, thyroid failure, etc, etc, etc as I age. Can't say I'm looking forward to what seems like impending DOOM. "/ Its an auto-immune disease. And If you have one auto-immune disease you're much more likely to get others easier.

Don't get me wrong, I try hard to stay positive. I don't want to "live like I'm dying", I want to truly live like I'm LIVING. To be here for my husband and kids! The hardest part of my life so far has definitely been while I'm pregnant. I know it's a sacrifice for any woman to grow a baby inside of their own bodies, let the baby take what it needs, etc. Let me just share a little bit about what I've gone through this time...

It started when I was 9 weeks pregnant, which after doing research I found is typical from 9-16 weeks or pregnancy. I pass out in my sleep. IN MY SLEEP. My bloodsugar will drop too low during sleep and it takes Charlie shoving apple juice into me to wake me back up...If it's caught in time. You know how I mentioned it being a sacrifice for a woman due to the baby taking what it needs? Well its during this 9-16 week period that the baby will do most of its critical growing of its organs, etc so during this time it "takes" more from me than I have enough for the both of us sometimes. I could go to bed with my bloodsugar above 100 (which is what I check for every night) and it could still go low. It has something to do with hormonal imbalances and diabetes. Any time there's an imbalance it happens. 

When I was 10 weeks, Charlie and I took a nap one Sunday afternoon while CJ was napping himself. I didn't wake up, so Charlie tried to give me juice. I spit it out. That's another thing, If I'm "out" too long, my body will start shutting off "unnecessary" functions, swallowing being one of the first to go, to save what energy my body has left. I have what's called a Glucagon, which is a shot that is used for this type of emergency, that releases any and all sugar that is stored in cells of my body. Charlie had to use this shot this time. He said quote, "I knew this time was different. It just felt different." After the allotted, dreaded 15 mins of waiting for the shot to do what it's supposed to, I finally started "coming to". I started to be hear things again. Unfortunately, most people don't know what it feels like to be literally stuck in your own body, huh? Try this on for size. I can not move at this point. I also could not talk, It takes time for me to remember how to do those things. And until my body is ready, I'm literally stuck. I could start to open my eyes at this point. I could tell Charlie was kneeling beside the bed with his hands clutching one another tightly. He's crying, and pleading with me to "come back to him". AND THERE"S NOTHING I CAN DO!!!??!?!!!! It's quite infuriating, really. All I want to do on the inside is to be able to tell him "I'M HERE! I'M OKAY!" But, I can't. He called 9-1-1 and they came but at that point I was getting better and they legally just had to wait until my bloodsugar was above 80 before they could leave. They ask all the standard questions, what's your name? your birthdate? Who's the president? What's your social? etc. I passed the "test" Haha. 

This pregnancy though it doesn't just happen in my sleep. I've had it happen in the middle of the day, and all of a sudden I'll feel uncontrollably tired and have no choice but to lay down on the couch, or rest my head on the table, and I'd pass out. It's scary! The hardest part for me is when it effects other people. Namely my son. I am a mother. I don't even need to begin to explain how a mother feels about her child, how she'd do anything for them, how much they mean to her. That's the hardest to me. It's one thing if it messed me up and has me confused but when it effects my baby, that's a whole other ball game. I've been blessed to have had experiences where in the middle of the day, I'd have an episode and CJ's with me and somehow, thankfully my bloodsugar came back up on its own miraculously and I was able to get juice myself and help myself. I still to this day know for a fact that it was the power of God looking out for me and my son to make that happen. I received a priesthood blessing from Charlie and my dad after the 9-1-1 episode. In it, I was told that if I strengthened my relationship with my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ that I would be able to have the spirit with me to help me in my times of need. I have sincerely tried to do that. And I have felt the spirit on numerous occasions there to help me with thoughts that would pop in my head I have no idea where it came from, etc. I'm so grateful for the Gospel and for our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Pregnancy with Diabetes is like trying to walk a tightrope every single day. My bloodsugars are expected to be in even tighter, perfect control than at any other time of my life. It's a sacrifice. I hard one. But man, I look at that baby on the sonogram and I swear, these experiences make me love it even more already. Or I look at CJ and think about all the struggles WE had to go through together. I remember telling CJ in my belly "Come on, buddy, we can get through this. Fight with me!" And it is a fight. And I'll keep fighting! I won't let diabetes "win", although I'll admit I've had some days where I'll break down and just tell Charlie to take me to a hospital for the remainder of the pregnancy, tell him I just can't take this anymore! I have my up and down days...I know when CJ was born, it felt like receiving a trophy you've waited on for FOREVER and had worked SO hard for, I put everything on the line for that boy. September 15, 2010 at 5:23 AM was worth it. By a long shot. As I'm sure I'll feel that way when this little tyke is born too =)

I have learned a lot and grown from my experiences passing out. Charlie and I have a system in the mornings, where I'll call him when I wake up in the morning around 9. If he doesn't hear from me by 9:30 he has an alarm at work that goes off to call me. If I don't answer, he's on his way home to see what happened. My mom and my dad both have keys to our house too, in case Charlie couldn't come for some reason. If I take a nap during the day, I'll text or email Charlie at work, telling him this and what time I'll be setting my alarm, and If I don't let him know I'm up afterwards, again, he's on his way home. Honestly, I feel bad and guilty for Charlie sometimes. "/ That's a TON of responsibility on his shoulders. I try to make it MY responsibility as much as I can, by keeping me responsible to call him. But we have to have a fail proof system, and even then it can happen. Also, I wear a sensor now that checks my bloodsugar every 5 MINUTES and shows up on my pump that I already wear! Typically it works great, and I manually check my bloodsugar twice a day to recalibrate it, to make sure it's accurate too. If my bloodsugar goes below 80, it'll beep at me and vibrate every 5 minutes until it's above 80 again. Unfortunately it's SUPER expensive though. For example, for one month of sensors, it's $420. Yes, $420! Until we meet our deductible, and then it's $84/month (20%)....but still. Not cheap considering that's only ONE of the million things a month I need as a diabetic! =)

I appreciate all the prayers that have been sent my way from friends and family through this time. No, this won't be our last kid, so yes, I will have more episodes. But I'll get through it. We'll get through it.       

Funerals // Vacation

So it's been quite the busy last two months.

I've been to 2 funerals and also been on vacation for 2 weeks.

The first funeral was for Gracie Rifa, a good friend of my family's. She got diagnosed with non-smoking lung cancer only about 2 or so months before she passed. Talk about aggressive, man! :( It ended up spreading to other various parts of her body and she eventually passed. My sister, Jolie, is best friends with Gracie's daughter, Vanessa. Gracie left behind a husband and 2 children, 13 and 15 yrs old. I just can't imagine being that young going through life without one of my parents...

The second funeral was for my Mimi, my mom's mom. The world seriously feels not quite as good of a place, bright or vibrant, anymore. Anyone who knew my Mimi knew that she was completely selfless and NEVER knew a stranger. She talked to anyone like she knew you her entire life. She was only 69 years old. She also died of a lung problem, ending up having pulmonary fibrosis. She passed peacefully though, i'm told. She was never able to meet CJ, which really eats me up. She was, however, able to watch videos and see pictures that i'd send to her. In fact, 2 nights before she passed, my aunt told me that she was able to watch the latest videos i'd sent. Also, I was able to call my Papa's phone and leave a message for her to listen to. She couldn't talk in her last days, but i felt like i really wanted her to be able to know that i loved her and was thinking of her still. Talking or walking would put her completely out of breath. In my head, I have images of her in Heaven breathing normally and walking around looking healthy. That helps. Her death came as a complete shock. Her Dr's were able to find a drug that would help her with the lung disease and would rid her of it! That was the last thing i heard.

May 4, 2011 Charlie, CJ and I flew to Utah to visit with my extended family. As soon as I'd walked through my grandparents' door, i finally turned on and checked my phone since the flight. I found an abundant about of missing calls and texts saying to call Dad or Mom A.S.A.P....I knew something was wrong. That's when I found out about Mimi's passing that'd happened morning.

ON A LIGHTER NOTE though, vacation was fun. We changed our return flight to Raleigh, NC so we could make it to the funeral. We stayed with Corey and Bradi while there, and then drove home with dad and Kinsey.

So anyway, life has been interesting. Mom gave me a book by Evelyn Bence, called Comfort from Beyond. It's been nice to hear about different stories of people's experiences with losing someone and turning to God for strength and comfort. I've just been in a weird place emotionally since Mimi's passing. Hopefully the book will help, it's starting to already thankfully. That's all for now.

Work

WELL, yesterday was my last day of employed work. It was a very bittersweet moment actually. I loved my job, really. I already miss the patients I had and the co-workers (even though i'll still see some at church!).  Don't get me wrong, I love my son and am very grateful for the opportunity to be able to be home with him full time. There's still just this part of me that feels disappointed in myself to have to "quit" anything though! Is that weird? I wish I could do both but they feel like 2 completely different worlds. I think i just need time apart from the working world to truly appreciate the mommy world maybe :) I also need to find other outlets too. I'm trying, I'll work on it.

Cartoons Galore

I decided to start making cartoons

of CJ :)

I also decided to create a book of all the

cartoons I'll make for him

so he can read through them

one day :)

I'm pretty excited about the idea.

I need to get more creative!!!

I'm brainstorming ideas :)

#3

Today was Charlie and I's 3rd Anniversary =) I was able to find 4 more twix's around the house today, "to start our 4th year", he said :) I thought that was cute. We're not actually celebrating until this Friday. We're going on a date! =D We're going to this Brazilian restaurant called Tentos. It's down in Jax Beach so I'm excited. We'll probably walk on the beach, etc.

Charlie is the best husband I could ever ask for. He tries so hard to do the right thing, to be a great dad, to be a loving, supportive husband, to provide for our family and much more. I am so grateful for his sweet, kind, forgiving, tender heart. He is such a great example to me and our son. I LOVE YOU, SWEETHEART! =***

Interesting

Yesterday was certainly an interesting Sunday for me, to say the least...
Started out great- we actually remembered to bring Charlie's suit jacket to put over CJ's car seat so it'd be dark enough for him to stay asleep!!!  With it being Fast Sunday, the Elders in our ward got up to bear their testimonies.  The last Elder bore his testimony of how before he left on his mission, a family from where he was from who used to live here in Jax, had asked that he find a certain family out here.  They didn't know an address for the family, but to please find them and share the gospel with them....So when he was out here on his mission, he was praying for this family for about a month and nothing came up about this family so he stopped praying for them. Some time passed and he then felt prompted to start praying for this family again...Bore his testimony.

I honestly didn't think very much of it at all.  I went to the library later on in the block of meetings and ran into someone who asked me if i knew the daughter of the original family who used to live here in Jax. I did, but had never heard of last name of the family the Elder was trying to find.  I had the thought that i could search the daughter's friends on facebook to try to find the family (I was friends with the daughter anyway). It worked, one thing let to another, I was able to get an address for the family! I phoned the missionaries to let them know.  They asked that they come over to our house to talk to us more about it. Turns out that Spring Break for the girl who was friends with the daughter of the family who used to live here, is THIS WEEK!  So we're all praying for this family now. I thought it was a cool experience of "small worlds".  If you're reading this, please pray too =) Even though i didn't use names, God knows who you'll be talking about. =) Thanks. We'll see what happens.

-Alyssa

5k-n-Park

Charlie, CJ and I woke up early to attend a 5k run with the Julington Creek Ward.

I ended up running/walking with Jolie =)

Charlie took CJ in the stroller.

CJ really enjoyed it, looking around and what not.

I'm sure I will be super sore later on!

We went home, packed a lunch, got Izzy, picked up smoothies from Tropical Smoothie

 and headed out to Alpine Groves Park!

We ate our lunch on the picnic tables and went to the dock.

We went on the trail and took CJ over to the swings.

It was a beautiful day out! 

We enjoyed our Family Day! =)

Twix Bliss

This is what i had the privilege of waking up to this morning. =) 

I wasn't sure it was for me though,

since it was left sitting on the laptop.

So i sent this:

alyssa woodbury to Hubby                                     show details 9:12 AM

What is this BEAUTIFUL twix doing in my presense??!?!??!?!?!?!!!!????!?!???!?????????????????????????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!? Cuz thats really mean if you left it thinking I would not devour it by the time you got home.....Or really mean if you accidentally left it but it's for you....gets the same ending.....HOWEVER that'd be super duper sweet of you to leave it for ME =D ;) haha, let me know. ILU!

I just recieved a call from Charlie

letting me know that it WAS indeed for me.

OH HAPPY DAY! 

=D

Charlie is always so sweet to me.

Every morning before he goes off to work,

he comes into our room

to make sure that i'm snuggled

under my blankets good and

kisses me morning.

I love you, Baby!

Ok, I'm gonna go eat my twix now...

day we found our FEET

"Hmm...which one???...which one?!?!?"

Sweet Pea found his feet....which then found

HIS MOUTH

(like anything & everything else)

Honestly, I think its pretty funny looking.

I wish i was that flexible!!! lol.

I'm ready for this teething phase to be over with.

Granted, I know I have years of teething to look forward to...

UGH. ;)

It just makes ME feel bad when he's in pain or uncomfortable "/

But it'll pass.

BEACH DAY!

This random guy was walking around at the beach with his parrot.

Kinsey-n-CJ @ the beach.

CJ's first adventure to the beach!!!

It was a beautiful, sunny day in FL-

PRIME for a beach day in the SuNsHiNe StAtE!

CJ just barely turned 5 months old.

We stretched out and ate a picnic lunch.

Later, we went for a walk up the beach =)

::Time Flies::

Here are some cute, edited photos that i took

soon after him turning 4 months old.

He's so photogenic, its a lot of fun to photograph him!

You know, sometimes I'll sit here and just hold this little guy

and my emotions still just pour out thinking

about how lucky we are to have him.

Pondering on the moments i really thought we

may have to look into adoption, in vitro, etc.

Being a mom is something I had always dreamed

of being. I'm so thankful for the opportunity

my Heavenly Father has given me to fulfill this privilege in this life.

He is so precious.

I would go through everything we had to, to do it again.

I love my family =)

Christmas Season

  Merry Christmas from The Woodbury's!

Charlie got me a onsie for Christmas =)

I saw it in a Target awhile ago and i really wanted one!

But it was $25 so i'd never buy it for myself!!!

It's super warm & cozy, so you get to wear it all of 2 days in FL "/

 Charlie got this really cool Gator hat that he enjoys a lot.

It was a ball watching CJ open things.

Most of the time he actually had a smile on,

even though he didn't understand what he was doing! =P

We also got the priviledge of seeing our sister/SIL/Aunt Stephi

for Christmas!!! This was the first time CJ was able to meet

Stephanie. We really enjoyed our time with her. =)

And then CJ got to meet his best friend, Cage Eyerly!

We had a lot of fun with the Eyerly Family.

We went to the mall together to get our boys pictures with Santa. 

Waiting in line for Santa.....2 hours later....

We finally got a photo with him!

We had a great 1st Christmas as a family.

CJ was 3 months, 10 days old.

I can't believe how different Christmas will be next year!

15 months, 10 days old?!?

CRAZY!

The Christmas season is always my favorite.

Everyone just seems to be that much nicer,

friendlier, more compassionate, more giving, more selfless.

I imagine that's similar to how our Heavenly Father and Christ

would like his people to be EVERY season of the year.

God's Gift to Us

CHARLES JOSEPH WOODBURY

Spetember 15, 2010

5:23 a.m.

7 Lbs 11 oz

Charles Joseph Woodbury.

We had decided that we didn't want to continue the Edgar Charles line.

Charlie came up with Charles Joseph =)

Charles, because of charlie, his dad, his dad and so on and

Joesph because of my dad.

And "CJ" to give him his own identity.

We thought it'd be perfect.

 First time for mommy to hold my precious little boy.

I was in complete awe of this little angel.

My heart fell in love all over again.

 FIRST FAMILY PHOTO!!!

Charlie is so excited to be a daddy.

CJ will grow up be a great man one day in his dad's shadow =)

 CJ had to take a short trip to the ICU for about 12 hours

shortly after being born.

He had some fluid in his lungs and they had to take a look at his heart to make sure it wasn't enlarged.

This wasn't a suprise to me since he was premature.

His heart looked fine, and the fluid went away.

He had jaundice and they were monitoring his white blood cell count.

Look at those cheeks!!! He is so adorable.

He seems to be a good mix of the two of us =)

Maternity

(This is the date of the 3rd trimester photo shoot. lol)

1ST TRIMESTER

The first trimester was by far, the hardest to get through for me. As a Juvenile Diabetic, my body had a really hard time adjusting to the new hormone levels associated with pregnancy. I would pass out in my sleep regularly once a week for the entire 1st trimester. And by "passing out", I mean I'd be waking up to my husband squeezing juice down my throat to revive me...At 12 weeks, I took a nap at my mom's house one day and never woke up on my own. Mom tried giving me juice but i was too passed out to drink it so she called the paramedics and they had to revived. That is never a fun experience! My body had started shutting down- I'd peed on myself, I couldn't remember how to talk, and I couldn't even feed myself when i first woke up! All i could remember when i woke up, was wanting to make sure this baby was OK! (He was thankfully, I went to the DR and had an ultrasound) =)

2ND TRIMESTER

The 2nd trimester went by a lot smoother! I felt the baby move @ about 17 wks, and later on we learned that "it" was a BOY!

We were so excited! It felt more "real" after learning the sex of the baby. We already knew what we were going to name a boy- Charles Joesph Woodbury, "CJ". We didn't have any ideas for a girl, so this worked out great! LOL

3RD TRIMESTER

The 3rd trimester was shortened for me! I had a lot of hip problems throughout the pregnancy. While they were taking their time separating, preparing for birth, my right hip kept feeling like it wasn't in socket right or something. But regardless, little CJ decided to come early @ 36 wks, 3 days =D He was a whopping 7lbs 11 oz, 20.5 inches long. He is only 13 days younger than Dana's baby, Cage. It was a lot of fun being pregnant at the same time as my best friend. I still can't believe it happened that way! haha. I really enjoyed being pregnant, struggles and all were SO worth it. =)

Beach Trip

Izzy with Charlie striking a pose! =)

The stick marking Izzy's pile of poo she so kindly left as soon as we got to the beach!

Alyssa-n-Charlie

Izzy showing her true colors ;)

Izzy kept getting up on this hill that was behind where we were sitting at and she was the "watch dog".

Izzy's glorious 2ND pile of poo at the beach...This one turned into a tee-pee =)

Izzy looked like a bunny hopping in the water!

FINALLY OUT OF SCHOOL!!!

With Charlie finally being out EMT school, it was nice to head out to the beach as our little family of 3 (and growing) to RELAX!!! He'll be taking his EMT state test soon and then continue on with firefighting school in January 2011!