...looks like you're only going to get one brother. We're having a BOY and a GIRL! I will say that I was secretly hoping for one of each so I really am happy about this and, believe it or not, Don is not completely freaked out about having a girl. :)

We were lucky enough to get several 3D pictures of the babies, but only baby boy would cooperate and give us a picture of his face. Here he is rubbing his eye...so, so sweet.The next two are the best we could get of the girl and I really hope it's not a sign of things to come...baby girl has her bottom in baby boy's face! Isn't it crazy that you can see this at just 18 1/2 weeks! You can't see it, but they are separated by a thin membrane and are in two different sacks which obviously means they are fraternal.Okay, and this last one is pretty funny, but you may have to look at it for a little bit to figure it out. Baby boy has his hand up and it looks like he's about to slap baby girl's hiney...check out what the ultrasound tech wrote...so funny! :)So, I guess I better end this post and start looking for a job...those baby girl clothes are calling my name!!!

WARNING: This post is VERY LONG and something I started back in early November of last year. Please, you will not offend me if you don't read it or comment...I've just never written it down and wanted to before I forgot it. Some of the details are somewhat gross - Daddy, you may not want to read it. :)

Thursday, October 30, 2003 (26 weeks pregnant)

(The above picture is the last picture of me pregnant and was taken 9 days before Max was born.)

I had just gotten back to work from lunch with friends and after stopping at the bathroom noticed that I had a little spotting (let me also add that I had been having major lower back pain all day). I called my doctor who reassured me that it was probably nothing, but to come on in to the office and they would do an ultrasound. I jumped in the car and probably 3 minutes later basically started hemorrhaging - I imagine it was something like what happens when your water breaks except this was blood (this is the part that is gross, sorry). I panicked and didn't know what to do - this is where I lost my rational thinking. Instead of driving straight to the doctor or hospital I drove home because all I could think of was that I couldn't walk in anywhere with my pants completely covered in blood - CRAZY, I know! I was also trying to find Don - he didn't answer at work and he didn't answer his cell phone (this was before his phone was permanently attached to his body and by the way, he was getting his hair cut). I dialed my sister, Andrea, next and when she answered I asked her where she was. She laughed and said "I'm right behind you." I looked in my rear view mirror and she was sitting in the car right behind me - UNBELIEVABLE and truly and act of God!!! She followed me home and also called an ambulance. By the time the ambulance got there I had stopped bleeding so again my rational thinking kicked in and I told them I would just have my sister take me to my doctor's office - again, CRAZY. My sister was smart enough to put my soaked pants in a bag and take them to the doctor. They got me back to a room and the doctor walked in, saw the pants and said he didn't even want to check me and told me to go to the hospital immediately. By the way, we had found Don and he met us at the doctor's office. My sister's husband also met us there to pick up poor little Clay who was in the backseat of Andrea's car the entire time not knowing what the heck was happening. The hospital was literally 3 minutes from the doctor's office so we get there and again, rational thinking, declined the use of a wheelchair and said I was fine to walk up to the labor and delivery floor - someone should have slapped me!

Once at the hospital they hooked me up to all kinds of machines and informed me that I was having contractions that were 4 minutes apart...and I said "Oh, that's what those were." I thought they were just growing pains - DUH! They immediately gave me a steroid shot, surfactant, which helps with the baby's lung development (I also got another steroid shot the next day). One of the NICU doctors came up and talked to us about premature babies and I honestly didn't absorb one thing he said - a lot due to the fact I had been giving some medication and my blood pressure plummeted (I have never felt like that and don't care to again). I was also told that I would be in the hospital until I delivered Max - which could have been anytime or up to 3 months. I was very emotional and knew that I would do anything for my baby, but was also very overwhelmed at the thought of staying in the hospital and in bed for up to 3 months.
Friday, Saturday, Sunday - October 31, November 1, November 2, 2003
Things were pretty calm and my contractions had slowed down. I watched a lot of TV, read a lot of magazines and chatted with visitors. My mom flew in from Texas on Friday and my sister, Kim, managed to also fly in on Friday from Illinois. I remember telling Kim that I was craving Rice Krispie Treats so she went back to Andrea's house and made me some - one of the benefits of being in the hospital! Don's mom, Fay, was also able to fly in on Friday.

Don had been spending each night with me in the hospital which meant he wasn't sleeping well at all. So Sunday night I told him he needed to go home and get some good rest because it looked like everything was calm. Or so I thought...

Monday, November 3, 2003
I woke up early Morning morning (probably between 5 and 6 am) and noticed I was having contractions again and this time I could actually feel pain (felt like menstrual cramps). I was checked by the doctor and they said I had begun to dilate. I called Don and told him that he probably should come to the hospital, but told him not to rush because I knew his mom was staying at our place and didn't want her to have to rush. For some reason Andrea and Kim decided they would come to the hospital early that morning around 7:00 (which was another thing that I feel God had his hand in because Andrea had two small children at that point and I was completely not expecting them to come see me that early). But, I needed them there because two doctors came in soon after they arrived and checked me out. They left the room to discuss what needed to be done and then came back in pretty quickly and said they thought I needed to have an emergency cesarean. Max was breeched at that point and they said that they knew he was going to be born that morning so they needed to take him immediately before he started to work his way down the birth canal in a breeched position. Within a few minutes I just remember it became crazy in my room - people were prepping me for surgery, unhooking/hooking up machines, and who knows what else. Don, in the meantime, was breaking every speed limit in Greenville to get to the hospital. I remember him rushing into the room and being told to changed into scrubs immediately. One of the nurses who was in the OR that morning later told me that they were all ready to go and someone asked what the hold up was. One of the doctors said they were waiting for the father to get to the hospital - I guess that can happen in emergency situations like that! In the OR I felt like I was going to hyperventilate...the closest thing to a panic attack I've ever felt. I remember being completely scared to death...literally I felt like I was having an out of body experience. Everything had happened so fast that morning that I didn't have time to wrap my brain around it all.

Max Bryan Clardy came into the world at 8:52 that Monday morning weighing in at 2 lbs, 1.5 oz. I heard a faint little cry and was so happy to hear that because they had warned us that he may not make any sounds. Oh, by the way, we had chosen not to find out the sex so we didn't know if we were having a boy or girl, although, we had so many ultrasounds over the past previous days and a couple of the nurses/ultrasound techs kept saying "him" or "he" so we kind of had an idea.

The neonatal doctor immediately intubated Max and then brought him over to me for a second and I kissed his little face. My two sisters and my mother-in-law were waiting outside the OR and got to see him as they took him up to the NICU. One of the nurses told them it was a boy.

Here we are in the recovery room right after Max was born. Don would make a hot doctor, don't you think? :)
My mom had left early that morning to go back to Texas because we all thought everything was calm and that the baby wouldn't be coming anytime soon. Poor thing, my brother met her in Dallas as she got off the plane, told her Max had been born and then immediately took her to another terminal to get on a flight back to Greenville. My brother is a pilot and was so helpful because he arranged all her flights and got her back to Greenville as soon as possible.

Later that afternoon the nurse helped me out of my bed (if anyone has had a c-section you know that the 1st time getting out of bed is not the most fun). I was wheeled up to see Max and was finally able to see my little boy. He was completely naked and hooked up to so many wires. He was very dark and red with dark hair. I was so scared to touch him and was very emotional, but there was a sweet nurse who was assigned to Max who talked to me and explained everything that they were doing. This nurse, Shelby, had been a NICU nurse for 30 years and was just the type of person I needed taking care of my son. She asked me a few days later if we would mind if she asked to be his primary nurse. That just meant the days she worked she would be assigned to Max. I said YES!!! because I felt so comfortable knowing she was with him when I couldn't be.

Here's Shelby letting us help give Max his 1st real bath when he was probably 4-5 weeks old.
By the way, Max did not get his name until later in the evening on the day he was born. Because we didn't know the sex and because he came so early, we didn't have a name picked out. So finally, Don said that we needed to be alone and figure out his name. So, we sat in my hospital room and finally settled on Max Bryan. Max is a family name - I have an uncle and cousin with the name and Bryan was Don's brother's name.

I stayed in the hospital for 5 days and then Max stayed in the NICU for the next 3 months. He developed a cataract in his left eye right before he was ready to come home so instead of having a nice homecoming, Max and I left the hospital in an ambulance and rode to Atlanta to stay at Emory hospital for a few days. There was a cataract specialist there who needed to do the cataract surgery.

Here's Max being loaded into the ambulance on his way to Atlanta...can you even see him???So, after a few days in Atlanta (very emotional because I didn't know any of the nurses and felt like they didn't know my son) we finally came home for good at the end of January, 2003.

The Clardy family in Atlanta as we were about to walk out the door to take our baby home...WE WERE SCARED TO DEATH!!! Because of it being in the middle of RSV season we were not allowed to take Max anywhere so we were basically stuck at home until April of that year. I think that's when I gained the rest of that pregnancy weight I would have gained if Max had stayed in me the full 40 weeks!

So those are the first few months of my boy's life. There were so many other things that I should have written down back then because I've already forgotten - such as people that came to visit, friends we met in the hospital, sweet things people did for us, how I hated going to the pumping room in the hospital, etc. Looking back, it sure would have been nice to have a blog so that I could have written all of this down as it was happening, but did blogs even exist back in 2003???

Here's a video of Max with what he thinks the babies are and what he wants to name them.



By the way, he's eating one of MY powdered doughnuts (hence the white powder around his mouth) and I had also just wet his hair down so it's really not greasy.

I began watching the inauguration today right as President Bush and President-elect Obama were getting in the limo for the ride over to the Capitol (wouldn't you love to know the extent of their conversation). I missed the first part of the actual ceremony because I had to go pick up Max from school but was able to watch the rest of it. Even though I didn't vote for Obama, I still find inauguration day pretty exciting and so "American." Unfortunately, some of those feelings went away when the Rev. Joseph Lowery got up to say the benediction...here is a quote of the very last part of his prayer.

"Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get in back, when brown can stick around, when the red man can get ahead, man; and when WHITE WILL EMBRACE WHAT IS RIGHT. That all those who do justice and love mercy say Amen. Say Amen"

Are you kidding me? Did he just insinuate that "whites" (including Obama who is half white) always do the wrong thing and don't do the right thing? I was appalled, offended and sad that he still wants to promote the divisiveness that supposedly he's been working his whole life to get rid of...just doesn't make sense to me. And by the way, something tells me that President Obama wasn't too thrilled that after his grand speech about "coming together" that someone would end the entire ceremony with those words.

Anyway, Max knows who our new president is and I'm working on vice-president...you know, that Joe Biden who, according to Rev. Lowery, apparently just can't seem to "embrace what is right".

One more very important thing...I'm LOVING Sasha's orange and pink combination! An A+ to her and Malia on their attire!

We spent the past weekend celebrating my dad's 7oth birthday! It's hard to believe I have a parent who is 70, but who would know? He's spent the past week knocking down walls and pulling out tile so he can renovate the bathroom - all by himself I might add. He's such a great dad and would literally give you the shirt off his back...unless it's that green sweater I gave him years ago that I think he must sleep in. :) I love you daddy!

My sister's, Shari and Kim, and my niece, Abby, flew in from Dallas and Chicago to surprise him (my brother, Paul, was in Colorado on previously planned ski trip with his family). Shari flew into Greenville on Saturday morning and was picked up by my BIL, Smitty. Kim and Abby flew into Atlanta on Saturday morning so my mom, Andrea and I thought it would be a good excuse to drive to Atlanta on Friday, do a little shopping, stay in a nice hotel, and then pick them up the next morning. Oh, and did I mention a night away from kids??? We went to IKEA with the intent of buying a bookshelf for Max's new room, but all I came back with was a wok and 250 napkins. How did that happen? We went to dinner at Houston's that night and then proceeded to the Westin hotel where we snuggled into our Heavenly Beds! I pulled the pregnancy card and got a bed all by myself. Of course, I did hear some snoring from the other side of the room and I've yet to determine exactly who was the culprit.Andrea found a poster for her dog-loving daughter...
...and mom found a poster of her from back in the day when she was going through her "artsy" phase.Mom lounging on the Heavenly Bed...ahhhhhhh. Kim and Abby got in on time and we made our way to Greenville after stopping at McDonalds for a chicken biscuit and then realizing we had just passed the FIRST Chik-fil-A restaurant - see below picture. When we finally got back to Greenville we picked up Shari and headed over to surprise Daddy. He was doing his favorite thing (besides working on the house) and was taking a nap. He was very surprised so we definitely pulled it off! Instead of cooking one of my many gourmet meals, I decided to give myself a break and we all went to eat at an Italian restaurant in downtown Greenville and then to a coffee shop for dessert. It was a fun night and great to spend time with my family. Speaking of, here they are...My OLDER sisters...i.e. they have to wear reading glasses to see the menu. Something tells me I'm not far behind ya sistas!Speaking of sistas, here we all are with my mom and Kim's daughter, Abby.The birthday boy! We all went to church on Sunday (as snow was falling but didn't stick :) and then headed over to my parent's house for Sunday lunch and football. Our family is VERY good at relaxing and not doing much of anything on a Sunday afternoon, in fact, I dare anyone to say they're better at relaxing than the Dunns!

Max playing on his Leapster with Abby supervising.This is part of the lounging we do...the kids piled up on the sofa and Andrea in the background working on a jigsaw puzzle. So, that's the recap. Max didn't have school today because it is MLK Day and we're hoping (fingers crossed tightly) that we get this snow the weather people are talking about. I just want one good snow and then I'll be ready for spring!

P.S. I got my blog pimped again. Check out Polka Dot Design Shoppe if you're in the mood for a blog change...Jen is GREAT to work with!

Who was cuter...the dog or me in the 6th grade?



I can't decide...was I wearing the glasses OR were the glasses wearing me?

DISCLAIMER: Only because I have NO SHAME am I showing you these pictures (which have been censored). I apologize to my dad and to all my friends and family who may be offended.

I began cleaning out closets this morning and came across some pictures from our family's beach trip two years ago. Since it's so hard to get all of us together, we decided to hire a professional photographer to take some family pictures out on the beach that year. She took some of the entire family and then of each couple. Don and I were frolicking on the beach (because we were told to) and I jumped up on Don trying to be funny. Well, he thought something else would be funny and the photographer just happened to catch it on film...

THE MOON (half, not full thankfully):

THE REACTION:

Yes, these pictures were on the photographer's website and, yes, I actually purchased them. I thought when we were 80 years old in a nursing home that maybe this would give us a chuckle or two.

Have a great weekend...hope this image doesn't ruin it! :)

Yesterday was CRAZY windy here in GreenVegas...I mean, I hated to get outside for fear that this feather light body of mine would blow away (it never did which was weird). Anyway, I heard a very loud noise/bang yesterday afternoon and this is what I found...


Let me just say that these gutters fell about 10 minutes after Max laid down for a nap. I thought for sure after hearing it he would be up, but nope, he stayed in his room (his bed is right next to the top left window). A few hours later on our way to karate he just said out of the blue that "I heard a loud noise when I was taking a nap and I was a little afraid." That's my stud in the making...laid there in his bed, convinced himself out of being scared AND still ended up going to sleep for 2 hours!

I've got to go call the gutter people...

Okay, it's way after the fact and I'm really so over Christmas at this point, but I need to post my pictures and details from our trip to Texas...gotta remember it 20 years down the road!

We went to the Dallas Symphony Christmas concert one night while we were there and it was really good. Thanks to my Dad and the artist series at Bob Jones University, I still like to hear some good opera style music...Max, well not so much, but he was a good little boy throughout the whole thing. We went with family and some of my sister's friends and, Denise, please note that we sat in our own private box. Thanks to my sister and her husband we lived like VIP's when we went to Texas! I failed to lug in my camera so my SIL sent me her pictures of the evening.My brother, Paul, with his wife, Lori, and their two boys, Grant and Hunter.
I had to take a picture of this...my dad orchestrating "craft time" with Max and my nephew, Hunter. Daddy loves to play with the grand kids, but I've just never seen him do things like cut and glue...too funny!
One of the highlights of my trip was meeting several high school friends and their kids for lunch - Kayla, Sundee and Tara. I left Max with his cousins so I was able to sit back and enjoy the company...even if we did go to Chuck-E-Cheese! In order to get their picture, I had to promise Kayla and Sundee I wouldn't put them on Facebook...it's not on Facebook, girls, but your pretty faces are on my blog which I'm sure is seen by millions of people all over the world!Kayla and Tara...haven't changed a bit since high school!All their CUTE kiddos (well, the mouse isn't one of theirs)!
And then we went to the last Dallas Cowboy game in Texas Stadium. But that really wasn't the highlight of that night...the highlight was definitely that Kristi Carr Smalley (another high school friend) was able to go with us! Yes, she kept us entertained with her paparazzi style photography (don't ever try to pick your nose when Kristi is around with her camera...it will be caught on film for sure), her witty sense of humor and, of course, her little sayings that she learned from her 80 year old grandmother. We had a good time except for the fact that the Cowboys lost. Again, thanks to my sister and brother-in-law we did it in style...watched it from our own private suite...with heat and lots of food!

See...I told you about Kristi and her camera!I must admit that I stole the next three pictures from Kristi because they were better than the ones I took...my sister, Shari, me and Kristi.I'm including this one because Don and I hardly ever get pictures of us together and it shows my "bump"...well, sorta.This is a better picture of the bump...it's protruding a little oddly, don't you think? Maybe it was something I ate that day or maybe one of the twins was stretched out watching the football game.Ahhh...our "home" for the night!Paul and GrantCheck out those Cowboys and those cheerleaders...I remember when I use to wear that outfit and run out of that big helmet...those were the days!After the players ran out several of them went into the end zone for a "prayer meeting." Now, I do wonder if a few of them were praying that their drug deal happening later in the evening would go down without a hitch...you know that Jerry Jones and how he loves to choose the most moral players to play for the Cowboys.Yes, this is the famous hole at the top of the stadium...you know the old saying...why does Texas Stadium have a hole at the top??? So God can watch his favorite team play!Don doesn't normally smile this big so I just had to capture it...just goes to show what going to an NFL game will do to him! Max and my mom are in there too checking out the game.I think this is a great picture of my sister-in-law, Lori, and my nephew, Grant. That boy is a HUGE Cowboy fan!FBIL and my niece, Erica.Don will kill me for this one, but it cracked me up. He was sitting in the corner chowing down on a chicken wing totally focused on the game!Tony Romo...is he or isn't he a "star" quarterback??? Me thinks not! Dump Jessica and start focusing on winning, Tony!This was towards the end of the night right before we went home...Max was pooped!I ended up taking only a few pics of Christmas morning. It was a pretty quiet day with just us three and Don's dad. Here's Max when he first saw what Santa had left him!Checking out his stocking!Check out his loot!I love the smile on his face in this one...so genuine!Still smiling...maybe it's because of his new legos!His "I Spy" gameChecking out his new Leapster2!I think this was the favorite thing Santa brought him...the digger that eats little cars!!!

Okay, I'm moving on to 2009!