Birthday gift

We got this hand-me-down rocking chair from Andy's sister. It was loose, wobbly and in need of some fresh paint. This little rocking chair has been around for awhile. I found out Andy had it

when he was little and when they all out grew it they gave it to their neighbors in Florida. Then one day there was a big trash pick up day and they saw the little rocking chair sitting in a pile of trash waiting to be hauled away. Andy's dad went over and rescued it and took it back home. Amazingly this little chair made the move from Florida to Iowa and survived Andy's sister and her kids and Dane has now inherited it. Andy remembered sitting in it as a kid and he wanted to fix it up for Dane before he left for basic training, and give it to him as his birthday gift. It was one of his projects he worked on this past month. He took it apart, glued it back together, sanded it down and painted it. It turned out pretty nice. We tried it out with Dane and he seems to think it is pretty neat. He feels like a big boy in it.

One more picture for good measure

It looks like his name is Dan but it really does say Dane

Grandma Velva

This sweet Grandma passed away yesterday evening. She had what we think was a stroke last Saturday and we knew it was only a short amount of time that she had left. She was in a coma but hung in there longer than any of the doctors expected, she went home to be with the Lord and her husband! We are rejoicing that she is no longer suffering!

It doesn't look as though we will be able to make it to her funeral with Andy leaving early next week for basic training.

BIRTH DAY, well not quite

I was due to have a baby one year ago today. I have never actually gotten around to writing the story of Dane's birth. I thought about doing it a few months ago but decided at that point I might as well wait until that special day came up again. So here it is one year later.
My due date was October 27th. My final scheduled OB appointment was Wednesday October 29th. Surely I wouldn't make it that long. I really wanted to go into labor naturally. I thought it would be easiest on my body and I thought that was just they way it should go. Back up a few weeks and the OB actually offered to let me choose a day to be induced if I so desired. Really? I am done lets get this over with just like that? I chose to wait hoping I my body and baby would decide it was time. Along rolled my appointment on the 29th. I was really wrestling with the decision of waiting or inducing. I finally decided on inducing though I wasn't real comfortable with the idea. As the nurse was checking the calendar it came down to either Friday October 31st or Wednesday November 5 since they don't induce on weekends, and the other days were full. And there was one particular day I was hoping to avoid. Well the rest is history. Boy oh boy am I glad I didn't wait another week. He would have been a 10 or 11 pounder like his daddy.
We didn't tell anyone except my mom that we were inducing, I really wasn't interested in having an audience at the hospital. We got up early friday morning and headed for the hospital I was so nervous wondering if I made the right decision to be induced on reformation day nonetheless. We got there got all checked in in a huge room with an awesome view. All I really remember was being incredibly nervous.
I knew I wanted to do things as naturally as possible but I didn't have a birth plan or anything. I figured I would go as long as possible with out drugs and if things seemed like they were going fast then I would hang in there, but if it was still going to take hours and hours I would probably end up with an epidural. Maybe I should of researched it more and mentally prepared but maybe ignorance is bliss. Most of the natural idea got thrown out the window with being induced.
Once they hooked me up to the monitors they could tell my body was already starting to labor on it's own. Off to a good start I thought. Then they started the pitocin drop, it increased every half hour. It wasn't too bad at first. I made it about 4 hours with out any pain meds. After they broke my water it was a different story. I felt like I could hardly breathe through the contractions and was getting really light headed, faint and nauseous. I asked how much longer they thought it would be based on dilation and the pitocin and the nurse figured several (like 4-5) more hours. I knew I would not last that long with out any pain relief. They started something in my IV to get me by until the epidural guy got there. It worked pretty well and I was able to relax and talk with the nurse and Andy and also got in some much needed rest. It was really a very peaceful experience. I couldn't even feel my my contractions at all.
Time to push. I couldn't feel anything. It seemed at first like things were moving right along. The nurse was so excited and encouraging. She said I was doing a good job. After awhile I knew nothing much was happening despite her encouragement. It wasn't really that bad because I couldn't feel anything, not a thing, couldn't even move my legs an inch. It was all a mental game and I was doing fine with that. They gave me an option after pushing for 2 hours to either keep trying, use the forceps or do a c-section. Of course I would keep trying. I ended up pushing for 3 hours. The Dr. came and I had the option of forceps or c-section. Since baby's head seemed to be having a hard time coming out. I decided to go for the forceps since I felt I was so close and didn't want my guts cut open.
I have to admit I was so nervous I just kept my eyes closed a lot of the time. I didn't really want to know what forceps looked like and I really didn't want to see them yank my baby out. I felt if I saw it then I would be better able to imagine the pain that I could barely feel. So I just kept trying to picture our new baby girl or baby boy wondering what he/she would look like. The moment arrived and they laid the newest Fogle face down on my chest and the Dr said "oh we should have done a c-section that's a big baby". We looked down at our baby and started to say "he...she...is...hey is it a girl or a boy?" With all the commotion the Dr forgot to take a peak and reveal the long awaited answer. The Dr. picked him back up and said it's a boy! So the "It's a ____ !" moment was a little bit anti climatic, but it didn't matter our baby was here!
The Doctor took a moment to explain what she was going to do next, something to do with a needle and blood, I asked her to maybe fill me in later, I really didn't want to know what was going on below, I thought it would make it hurt worse to know. I think it was pretty rough on me, 4th degree tearing, I got a catheter for an entire day which ended up being nice that I didn't have to get up to use the bathroom and they were watching me close to see if I needed a blood transfusion. I never needed the blood transfusion fortunately, though I was tired and felt faint every time I stood up for at least 2 weeks afterwards. Well the rest is history. We brought the adorable little guy home, though looking at the pictures now he looked pretty red and squished. We loved him anyway and thought he was perfect!

Boys will be boys

So it seems boys are just born knowing that farting and burping are funny. We have already caught Dane forcing a one cheek sneak and giggling. Seriously this is not something he learns at home. Not that I don't think it is funny on occasion, but sometimes it just really grosses me out, especially when odor ensues. I have been blessed with a husband who has manners! For the most part he tries to be polite with bodily functions. He even puts the seat down! All that to say, this isn't a learned behavior, boys are just born thinking this stuff is funny. Somebody who has girls please tell me if they find this stuff as amusing as little boys. Apparently even spitting is funny. Andy found this out while trying to sneak a spit when he was out getting the mail.

Warning: a little bit of grossness

Dogs and babies

I really hate to do this comparison because I know humans are far superior. But have you ever noticed how dogs and babies are alike? We tell them both "good boy" when they do something right. I honestly have tried not to tell Dane "good boy" but it is hard to think of another phrase that is just as fitting. You give them both short commands like "come here" or "stay there" or "go get your ball" (yes they both respond to the go get your ball command). They both whine with excitement when I say "Are you hungry?" They both eat crumbs off of the floor. And last but not least they will both sit still for a cracker :o)

13.1

Andy ran the farthest he has ever ran today!! I am so proud of him, he completed half of the Des Moines marathon, that's right 13.1 miles. Actually it was the half marathon portion of the full marathon, he didn't only run half and quit :o) He had a group of guys he trained with and all the wives came out to support them! Here we are a little after mile 2 waiting to see our hubby's to run by, it turned out to be a nice day though 45 degrees early this morning felt pretty cold! We then walked to Starbucks and warmed up and got some yummy drinks then hightailed over to the finish line. We kept waiting and waiting, and then we saw Andy run by.

Here he is with the finish line in sight. He finished in 1 hour 47 minutes and 32 seconds. 1:47::32
We watched all the guys make it through the finish line. I had my video camera ready and thought I taped everyone running past, but for some reason it was all in vain and I didn't push play :o(

After the race the boys hobbled to the car and we we all met at Jethro's BBQ for a yummy feast.
Here is a little clip of Andy running by on his way to the finish line. Great job honey!

*edited to say: If you listen close Andy runs by and says "this sucks" It is about the time I lose track of him with the camera.

A little movie about a little boy

I put together a little footage to show you what Dane has been up to this past week. If it slides he will push it. If he needs to get from point A to point B he finds something that slides. It is much faster than crawling and I think it is pretty funny where things end up. At least it is keeping him entertained. He didn't wear the same outfit all week I just did all the taping on one day, so it's a little staged, but only as staged as you can get with an 11 month old.