Birthday Boy

Today is Andrew's second birthday. His story began with a bit of a surprise. He was a planned baby, but he came into our world 5 weeks early. I was at our baby shower planned by my friend Amanda; she gathered a few friends to celebrate our second baby. We had a great time chitchatting, eating good food, and opening a few gifts. It was a fun afternoon with my girlfriends. On the way home from this relaxing event, my water broke and Andrew was on his way. I continued my drive home to meet up with Kelly and take Jake to my mom's house. A few hours later Andrew was born. He was 6 lbs 3 oz and 19 in. long--big for a pre-mature baby boy.

He was given a room in the intensive care unit and placed on a CPAP machine to help him breath. We lived in the intensive care unit for 14 long days while Drew's lungs developed fully. I was given a room in the hospital for a few extra days until they kicked me out because they "needed" the room. So we where back and forth from Overlake Hospital and my parents' house in Bellevue for a few days. At the time our house was in North Bend and that is a long drive for the wee hours of the night and morning. So we crashed at my parents' place for that time.

What a crazy experience. I feel so blessed we have a healthy boy and we survived that experience. As stressful as it all was, we had wonderful friends and family to help us through unexpected moments like this. Drew has such a kind and loving spirit. He has always been so mellow and loving. I am so glad that he is part of our family. Happy Birthday baby Drew!

This is the first time Jacob had met his little brother Andrew.

Not so little Drew enjoying his birthday meal and momma-made cupcakes.

Drew was showing me all his new gear. His shirt was a desaster after the meal so that came off and we didn't get a shirt back on 'till after the bath. Drew is showing you his new skater hat and mittens, along with his new VW bus. Jacob found this car in the Target dollar bins. I love that the favorite toy is from Jake who knows what his brother is into, and it was only a buck! --emily