James is HOME!!!

Finally! We are all home! it has been a crazy couple days, but we are feeling extremely blessed with an amazing baby boy! Here's what happened:

The day after James was born, Monday, we found out he had a high level of bilirubin (jaundice) and we'd need to keep him at the hospital for another day. We had to put him in the Bili-Bassinet...aka The Tanning Bed, for like 12 hours or so. We had to put him in these sad little sunglasses and stick him in there with just his diaper....all alone. it was not fun for any of us. Actually, James did surprisingly well, it was mommy and daddy who hated it! We know it was for the best, it's just hard not being able to hold your son.

Anyway, after two days and too many "sit and wait" situations, we were released. We got home on Wednesday afternoon around 2:00 and were so happy to finally be there! Jenae's family, who all came down for Christmas, was at the house ready to welcome us home. We celebrated our Christmas together and had a delicious dinner before we crashed. Jenae crashed hard...6 hours of sleep in 4 days will do that to you!

James had a great first night at home! He slept pretty well in his beautiful cradle and got up to feed about every 2 to 3 hours. He's a good little eater! He's blasting through his diapers and clothes like a champ! We are so happy (and tired) and thanking God for our amazing little blessing!

Here are a few pictures from days 2-4 of little James' life...they are not in any particular order, just wanted to get them posted quickly, sorry!

Merry Christmas and God Bless!

James' first car ride

Grandma Sue, holding James at home

The tanning bed, James has on his little sunglasses. so sad :-(

Mom and James, finally heard that we're released to go home! Calling family to expect us there soon!

Going Home Outfit...he's so dang cute!

Great Grandma Quance, holding James at the hospital the day after he was born.

The Fundingsland's. Merry Christmas!

Dad and James, ready to get out of that hospital!

Daddy burping James under his Bili-Blanket.

Grandma and Grandpa Dowling, meeting James for the first time!

G & G Dowling at home.

Grandma Sue

The cutest little smile ever!

(or gas!)

First nap during his first day home, in the gorgeous cradle!

Grandma's

Grandpa's

Dowling Generations

James is Here!

Steven James Fundingsland
Dec 20, 2009
2:10pm
6lbs 11oz
20 1/4 inches long

Sorry for not posting sooner....it has been a whirlwind of a couple days. Water broke at 2:45am Sunday morning, and we were at the hospital by 4:30am. Had some pretty intense labor until I got my epidural around 11:00am...then life was good. :-) James was born easily after about 4 pushes.

He had a few complications early on with maintaining his temperature. it got a little low, so they had him under a heater for a few hours. along with that, his blood sugar dropped so they were monitoring that as well. at about 8:30 that night, he got to come into the room to stay with us, and all was happy!

Yesterday we had tons of visitors and things were going well. Steven is battling a cold, but is feeling much better today. My family all got into town last night around 7pm and came to visit us all at the hospital. Unfortunately, around 4am after some tests they ran around 2am, they told us James has jaundice pretty bad. He's at a 12 and they want him at a 10...so we're here for much longer today. He will get tested again this evening at 5pm, then he'll have to be monitored without the additional heating lamps for 6-8 more hours. We'll hopefully get to go home after that. It's been an emotional roller coaster, but we're making it.

Please pray for James, that he'll get his levels back to normal quickly and not have any further complications. Also, pray for Steven and I, that we can get some rest and keep our emotions under control. It's so hard to see your perfect little baby and not be able to hold him.
more updates later.

The Big 3 - 0

Happy Birthday Steven! My husband turned 30 yesterday...wow...he is WAY older than me! :-) hahaa! Hopefully we'll get to celebrate a little bit this weekend. He got to spend the whole night in the field on his big day...maybe he got an MRE with some pound cake or something! Hope so!

I love you, and I've got your favorite cake ready for you at home!

Our Future Plans

Please take the word "plans" with a grain of salt...this is the Army we're talking about, and everything can change in the blink of an eye!

Over the past 8 months or so, Steven has been the XO (Executive Officer) for a company in an infantry battalion. As in most positions in the Army, you only hold onto a certain job for a little while, because basically everyone needs to get a turn. It's so silly to me...but hey, they didn't ask my opinion, go figure! Well, the Army is having a hard time retaining officers right now, so they're pushing many of them through the promotion process a little quicker than normal. Steven is up for Captain in May, and when officers reach Captain, they eventually go to the Captain's Career Course to learn how to be a company commander.

Anyway, we found out last week that Steven has been given a slot for the Career Course in April, 2010! That means he will not be deploying with his brigade in June like we originally thought! He will attend the course at Fort Knox, KY which is only 2 hours from Ft. Campbell! Originally we thought he'd go to the course at Ft. Benning, GA, but things change!

Steven will go to school during the week at Knox, then come home over the weekends. When I first heard this, I was NOT happy, we really hate being apart when we don't have to and 5 days a week away is not my idea of fun. BUT...after much talk and level headed thinking, we've decided this is good news for us. It gives us another six months to keep our home and pray the market continues to recover before we have to sell. I do have wonderful friends here and many are in the same situation with schools or deployments...so lots of girl time and play dates for baby! We'll still be fairly close to my family (the closest we'll ever be in the Army) so visiting home and family coming here will be easier. This course is throughout the summer, so baby and I will be able to go spend some time in Fort Wayne with my parents and sister at camp! I'm also planning a road trip to Nebraska...it's been over 3 years since I've been there, missing Anna and my other friends!

Also, before Steven starts the course on April 18th, he'll be able to take about 30 days of leave!! So, we're planning a nice trip to Washington to see all of Steven's family in late March. As hard as it will be for Steven to be away from baby and I during this time, we think it's for the best. He will have tons of work for this course every night, and he'll be able to focus hard during the week and hopefully have the weekends free!

After the Career Course, we don't know what the Army has in store for us. Steven turned in his packet yesterday to basically "apply" for the Special Forces. This has been a dream of his FOREVER, so please keep him in your prayers. We are really praying he gets selected and is able to take this path in his career. If that happens, we'll be off to Fort Brag, NC for 14+ months for SF training sometime in late 2010 or early 2011. As of now, we're just taking one day at a time and praying for the best!

36 Weeks Down....4-ish to go!

That's a HUGE belly!

Thanksgiving, Shower, Cradle, Etc....

***** WARNING: SUPER LONG POST *****

We have had an extremely busy couple weeks, and I apologize for not having an update on here sooner! Steven has been working crazy hours and been in the field quite a bit…so by the time Thanksgiving came around, he was ready for a break! We were anxious to get to Fort Wayne to see family and spend some much needed time relaxing. We left Wednesday evening when Steven got off work and drove the 7 hours home that night. I expected there to be so much traffic the day before Thanksgiving, but we made it home in record time with no hitches!

My mom and I spent Thursday cooking like crazy and having some much needed girl time in the kitchen together…we always have so much fun! Meanwhile, Steven and my dad worked on his new “Man Room” by putting up cabinets and tiling the top for dad’s new wine area….wish I had pictures…forgot! Both of my parents have gimp wrists….mom broke hers slipping and falling on a deck at camp, landing full on her wrist, and my dad has had wrist issues forever and recently hurt it again. Anyway, they needed our help to pull together the food and lift cabinets…I think that’s the only reason why they invited us up! J just kidding, mom! We did have a great time, and we realized that this was the first time in ten years that I’ve been home for Thanksgiving! When I went away to college, we always had volleyball matches over the break, and same with my time at UK and in Georgia. It was so nice to be home!

We celebrated Thanksgiving on Friday so that most of our family would be able to come and avoid the conflicts with other family Thanksgivings. It worked out perfect! Around 10am, we went to my dad’s school and had a huge volleyball match with the family. The Quance family has some serious volleyball players, my aunt Carol and I both played in college, my cousin Brittany was a high school state champ, cousin Melissa was a great high school player, my mom and cousin Andy were/are current coaches, and my parents, brother, aunts/uncles, other cousins, have all been around the game so much that they’re all really good! We’re talking serious volleyball here…rules apply and everything! It’s really a sight to see!

We headed back to my parent’s house around noon and had dinner all ready to go! The feast was amazing, as usual, and we all ate too much! After dinner, my sister and sister in law threw me a fun baby shower. It was mostly family and close family friends, we had such a good time. Thanks so much ladies! Baby is now fully geared up and ready to rock when he comes!

We left Saturday afternoon to come home, Steven had Staff Duty on Sunday and was then in the field all week. This past weekend we got a lot of stuff done around the house, including the cradle! We put the lacquer finish on it and set it up in the nursery. It is so beautiful, and we are so thankful that mom Terry kept it and passed it down, and that mom Sue made the gorgeous bedding!

33.5 weeks

Family Picture
L to R: Anna and fiance Scott, Mom and Dad, Grandma and Grandpa Quance, Sarah and Greg, me and Steven.

Too many in the kitchen!

Delicious Desserts: I think I had a little of them all!

The dinner plate. so yummy!!

Ladies at the shower. Thanks everyone so much!

Baby got so many wonderful things this day, we are truly spoiled! These are just a couple pictures of some heirloom gifts. My mom made these bumpers/bedding for the cradle. It is so beautiful! My mom is seriously talented! Thanks Mom, we love it!

This Bible ABC book was given to us by my Grandma Dowling. It used to be my dad's book, and I have vivid memories of my grandma reading it to me as a little girl. I'm looking forward to watching our baby read it with his Great-Grandma Dowling one of these days!

Pin the diaper on the Balloon! I think Susie and I came in a close second place to my Aunt carol and Melissa.

Our Nursery. We love it so much!

Cradle Assembly Begins.

Steven putting it together.

So pretty and it matches the nursery perfectly!

Tying on the bumpers.

All Done!

It's a little cramped in there right now, but I don't think Baby will care.

Daddy to be enjoying some time in the baby's room. He is going to be such a wonderful father!

Getting the baby monitor all set up...that thing is amazing!