This one is for Daddy . . .

It has been rumored that the Patriots won this game only because these two guys were sporting their lucky Brady jerseys and kept the faith in their most favorite athlete of ALL times.

GO PATS!!!

BTW . . . the rest of the post is written (not by me) for Jesse and other fans.  It has been copied and pasted from this website.

WARNING: MAY CAUSE DROWSINESS ! ! !

 

Tom Brady leads Patriots to game winning drive, defense steps up in win over Cowboys

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) -- Down three points. Barely two minutes left. One thought onTom Brady's mind.

"You can't not get the ball in the end zone," the master of late comebacks said.

That's where he got it, throwing an 8-yard touchdown pass to Aaron Hernandez with 22 seconds left and giving the New England Patriots a 20-16 win over the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday.

"He's probably one of the toughest competitors I've ever seen, especially from a quarterback standpoint," Patriots defensive tackle Vince Wilfork said. "There was plenty of time for our offense.

"When it mattered the most, they came up with what we needed."

It was the 32nd successful comeback of Brady's career in games the Patriots trailed or were tied in the fourth quarter. And it came against a solid defense - ranked fourth in the NFL - that had allowed just one touchdown on the Patriots first nine possessions.

"When you're playing against a quarterback like Tom Brady, he's going to go down as one of the all-time greats," Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said. "So you have to try to make it hard on him."

Dallas, coming off a bye week, did that for most of the day, sacking him three times and intercepting two passes. But on the final 80-yard drive that started with 2:31 left, Brady completed eight of nine passes for 78 yards.

"We prepare hard for that situation every week and when it came up this week, it's good to get the ball in the end zone," Brady said. "I'd prefer to be up four touchdowns with two minutes left, but it just wasn't the case."

New England (5-1) won despite its first two lost fumbles of the season. Brady finished the game 27 of 41 for 289 yards with two touchdowns.

Dallas (2-3) ended a five-game road winning streak after a bye despite coming back from a 13-3 deficit midway through the second quarter.

Tony Romo was 27 of 41 for 317 yards, one touchdown and one interception in his first game since a 34-30 loss to the Detroit Lions in which the Cowboys squandered a 24-point, third-quarter lead and Romo threw two interceptions that were returned for touchdowns.

The Cowboys have lost two games by four points and one by three.

"This team is continuing to grow and get better," Romo said. "We just need to finish a game like today and we will I think."

Dan Bailey's 26-yard field goal, his third of the game, had broken a 13-13 tie with 5:13 left. After the Patriots punted, the Cowboys were content to run the ball - three rushes for 5 yards, plus a 5-yard penalty - and punted right back.

"You have to run the ball in that situation because of the time situation," said Garrett, who trusted his defense to keep stopping the Patriots if it had to. "It's one of the best offenses in the league. You're challenging your defense, no doubt about it."

Wes Welker, who entered the game as the NFL leader with 45 catches and 740 yards receiving, was held to six for 45, but three of those catches, covering 21 yards, came in the go-ahead drive. The last one covered 6 yards over the middle, putting the ball at the 8.

Then Brady found Hernandez in one-on-one coverage.

"I had an in route and (Rob) Gronkowski had an out route and he's a great player so he drew the safety's attention," Hernandez said. "I came around and Tom made a great throw and I just had to make the catch."

Until the final drive, Cowboys defensive coordinator Rob Ryan was headed for his second straight strong game against the Patriots.

He held that job with Cleveland when the Browns beat the Patriots 34-14 last Nov. 7. Since then, the Patriots had scored at least 30 points in 13 consecutive games. That streak ended Sunday, but New England still won.

"This is probably, as a whole, one of our worst performances as an offense," Patriots wide receiverDeion Branch said. "It's times like this when we show what we're made of - that last drive."

The regular-season win was the Patriots' 20th straight at home and Brady's 31st in a row at Gillette Stadium.

"When it comes to crunch time, he is at his best," Cowboys linebacker Keith Brooking said.

The Patriots took a 3-0 lead on their first possession on a 31-yard field goal by Stephen Gostkowski. The Cowboys tied it on Bailey's 48-yard field goal after Terence Newman intercepted a pass that was tipped by defensive end Kenyon Coleman.

New England turned the ball over again on the kickoff after the field goal when Gerald Sensabaugh recovered a fumble by Matthew Slater. But Dallas gave the ball right back five plays later when Tashard Choice fumbled and Gerard Warren recovered.

The Patriots capitalized with a 26-yard field goal by Gostkowski with 12:07 left in the half for a 6-3 lead.

They made it 13-3 on their next possession on a 5-yard touchdown pass from Brady to Welker. Officials ruled initially that Welker had gone out of bounds as he reached the ball out toward the goal line but that was overturned on video review.

That put Brady into eighth place in NFL history with 276 touchdown passes, one more than Vinny Testaverde.

Dallas cut the lead to 13-10 at halftime on Romo's 1-yard touchdown pass to Jason Witten with 33 seconds left.

The Cowboys tied it on Bailey's 22-yard field goal with 5:50 remaining in the third quarter.

winning their fourth in a row after losing the first seven.

Notes: Patriots coach Bill Belichick and Brady have won 116 regular-season games together, tying Miami's Don Shula and Dan Marino for most in NFL history. ... DeMarcus Ware had two sacks for Dallas, giving him seven in five games this season. ... The teams met for the 11th time with the Patriots 

I warned you . . . Bo-Ring!

Big Boy Fun Times!

Jacob is 18 weeks!  Yay!  I know it's going to be like a blink of an eye and I'm going to be blogging that my little boy is 18 years.  yay.

Look ma, I'm already sitting like a man!

But let me back WAY up for now . . . 

This is the pic I got to send to daddy.

Jake has been so very busy this week.  He rolled from his tummy to his back for the first time on his own!  We were visiting grandma at her house and Jacob was playing on his tummy on the floor.  I went to open the blinds so he could have some extra light.  I turned back towards him and what do you know, he rolled over with ease just like that.  Easy Peasy.  My baby is an official roller!  I pulled out my phone in hopes that he would do it again and I could get it on video to send to daddy.  Yeah, of course nothing ever happens when you're trying to get proof.  Boo.  I did however get a great shot of him fussing because I left him on his tummy way too long in hopes that I would get the footage for daddy.

Do you like my cool band-aid and big belly?

Jacob had is 4 month check up this week as well.  All is great!  Jacob = Big Boy . . . literally.  He is over the 90th percentile in height and over 85th percentile in weight.  Woot woot to boobie juice!  I really can not begin to tell you how good it feels to hear that he's a big baby knowing that just some weeks back we were worried about how he was growing and if I would be able to continue to nurse him.  I have such awesome support here at home, with my family, friends and in the community.  How did I get so lucky?!  I am so blessed. : )  Thank you, yes you, truly from the bottom of my heart thank you.  So, Jesse and I decided to put Jake on a delayed vaccine schedule due to our concerns with putting too much in his immature immune system and the potential reactions that could potentially happen.  It floats our boat.  Anywho, Jacob took his one vaccine like a man.  He didn't even flinch when the nurse stabbed the giant, thick needle into his thigh.  (The nurse was very gentle, I was just trying to jazz the story up a bit. LOL)  My mom came with us and she flinched more than Jacob did. Oh, and did I mention that Jake did not pee on the scale this time either!  He normally will pee on the scale, on dad or poop everywhere.

Jakey and I go to a breastfeeding mommy group each week.  It's been a great place just to hang out and talk to other mommies that "have been there and done that."  Well, this week, I was really stoked that we got together to be crafty!!  One of the moms made it super easy too.  She had a zip lock bag put together with all of the supplies I would need to decorated a onsie with a cool turkey and make babylegs!!  I was very needy and relied on other moms there to help with the sewing portion of it all.  I have to say, I felt empowered sitting behind a sewing machine (even if it was only for a very, very small amount of time and small section to sew).  It got me thinking though, why don't I know how to sew?  I added that to my list of things to teach myself how to do using youtube.  : )  

Thank you crafty momma!

        

It's a possibility . . .

I can't believe that my baby is 17 weeks already!  Man, time flies when you're having fun!

Such a Big Boy!

All the time that has passed already got me thinking of my little boy's future.  I love the moments that I am able to hold Jacob and marinate in each moment so I can have that memory later.  I love to look at him and see every piece of my perfect little Jacob.  Just looking at those little hands of his got me to think about all of the possibilities.  It's a possibility that those precious hands will write award winning novels.  It's a possibility that those soft hands to lead people to Christ.  It's a possibility that those chubby little hands may build a house for his family.  It's a possibility that those sweet smelling hands will hold his father and I in comfort as we celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary.  Oh . . . ALL of the Possibilities that this little guy has yet to even dream of.

From this hand, to my heart. 

    

Fun times outside with mommy!

Jake and I have been stuck inside all week because it's been so hot outside.  The four walls were closing in on us.  Lol  Thankfully today was so pretty out that we spent some time hangin' outside with Brady.  I took out a big blanket and another little blanket and we read books to each other, played with our hands and plastic rings, sang along with Pandora, told stories about life and our future, watched Brady bark at passer-by's and of course, took pictures.  

Oh, Jake saw an airplane for the first time today.  I mean he really saw it.  It flew over slowly and I could see his cute little eyes focusing on that thing in the distance.  As it passed over his head and to the other side of his view, he slowly tracked it with his eyes and then moved his head to follow it out of his sight.  I couldn't help but to think about when he gets older, he will probably point and say "apwane, apwane" at every airplane that he spots.  : ) 

So. . . there's a lot to catch up with.

Jacob has been here for 16 weeks already . . . an AMAZING 16 weeks!! So, what better way to go through all 16 weeks than with a photo bomb!  For those who aren't familiar, a photo bomb is just a bunch of photos posted.  I will share one for each week of my sweet, precious, little baby's life.

Week 1 

Oh, look at my itty, witty, bitty baby. . . sigh.

Week 2

Aww, the sleeves were too long then.  

Week 3

The pacifier took up almost half of his face. Lol

Week 4

Jacob and Daddy.  Who is watching who?

Week 5

I love taking pictures of my view.  I hope to be able to look back at them one day and remember that exact moment.  Let me stop thinking about that because I'm about to cry.

Week 6

Jake definitely loves the mornings!  He always wakes up on the right side of the co-sleeper. :)

Week 7

Look at my little baby.  He seems so grown already in the sitting position. 

Week 8

We worked so so so hard on getting that double chin! 

Week 9

I have a feeling we will have many pictures like this in the future. 

Week 10

Jacob did so well with the bright light.  I think he's going to love to have his picture taken!

Week 11

Jacob and daddy both resting after tummy time.

Week 12

Daddy's first time wearing the Moby! My boys are so handsome.

Week 13

I absolutely love, love, love when I release Jake from his swaddle in the morning.  It's always right arm straight up then the left arm soon follows.  His stretch just seems so satisfying!

Week 14

Look at that smile and those chunky legs!!  Good morning to you too baby!

Week 15

Mommy and Jacob hanging outside waiting for Brady. 

Week 16

I couldn't help but posting this picture.  He was ready to eat, not sit. 

Wow, I didn't think posting pictures of Jake would make me emotional but it definitely has struck a chord within me.  I love watching him grow don't get me wrong, but I am missing all the prior weeks of how he was; holding his head up for the first time, first smile, first coos, first time breastfeeding, first laugh, first scream, first time sleeping through the night, first time in our home, first time as a complete family.  I realize those first moments have passed. :(  All I have now are the memories . . .  and to make me feel better, knowing that there will be many more firsts; first word (crossing my fingers for mama), first hug, first "I love you", first step, first foods, first day of school, first girlfriend, Jacob's first baby.  OMG. . . I am getting old!

I think I'm more emotional about all of his future firsts.  My baby is in the next room and here I am crying over how he's going to grow up.  I guess this is all part of life that my mom and dad told me about.  Speaking of my parents, I have so much more respect, understanding and love for everything they have done for me as my parents.  I can only hope I am as good of a parent as they were for me.

Ok, so lets just start from the beginning.

So lets take it from the top.  Jesse and I knew we wanted kids.  I remember being so naive thinking that getting pregnant would be a piece of cake however  I would soon realize the heartache that comes along with dreams of having children.   We tried and tried and tried for a baby with no such luck.  We went to many doctors appointments to see what the deal was.  We prayed night after night hoping for a miracle.

Finally after about a year and a half, my ob recommended us to a Reproductive Endocrinologist (RE).  I know, a mouthful.  She was the ray of hope that we needed.  I remember our first appointment with her.  It was such an ugly day out.  There was a ton of wind and rain. . . I remember her even commenting on how she thought we would have rescheduled our appointment because of the conditions outside.  We sat in her office and discussed the many procedures that could possibly help.   We had a list of questions and concerns and the sweet RE sat with us and addressed each and every topic we had (and believe me, there was a full two pages).  Jesse and I looked at each other and did not hesitate to proceed.

Man, the next 6 months were FULL of trips to have blood drawn, medication, vitamins, ultrasounds, level checks, baby dancing (wink, wink) and trips to her office.  The trips to her office were like every three days and I gladly rearranged my schedule to make everything work.  Jesse went with me to all the appointments that he could go to and the other ultrasound appointments I videoed with my phone so he could see them.

After having to take a ton of medicine and my body responding well to it, it was time to TRY.  I remember having my blood drawn in the RE's office and having to have a FULL bladder.  I literally thought that my bladder was going to rip open.  Anyway, I remember having my blood drawn and hearing a fast thomp, thomp, thomp sound.  I immediately got really excited and fantasized about when Jesse and I would be in that room hearing our baby's heartbeat.

We went in to exam room #1 and that's where the "assisted magic" happened.  The RE told us that the rest is up to God.  I had instructions to wait two weeks and take a home pregnancy test.  During the mean time, we went on vacation hoping to take our mind off of the wait.

The day we flew back from Vegas is the day I needed to test.  I could not wait any longer and tested in the airport bathroom.  I thought I saw a faint line and tried not to get my hopes up.  Maybe that meant I was a little pregnant or I was about to be pregnant.  And yes, I did graduate from college . . . it's just that all the other many tests I took before were no go's.  I had my best friend look at the test and she was like, "yeah, that's a line!"  I then showed Jesse but told him I will take a digital one when we get home so there is no mistaking it. Fast forward a couple of hours...digital test = Pregnant.  OMG!

I called my RE and she told me to go get my levels drawn.  So on to have my blood drawn.  I waited a day and had my levels taken again.  I was at work (at a new job and meeting my mentor to ride along with her ALL day) when I got a call from my RE who informed me of the news . . . bad news.  It's a no go.  No baby.  Dreams shattered.  Dang. . . okay. . . suck up all the emotion and go to work with families and their babies.  Well, Jesse and I prayed and remembered it's in God's time.  That's easy to type but sheesh...that's so hard to live.  On to the next round.

That's a lot of medicine.

^^^^^Read a few paragraphs up.  We started the whole process again with even more medication!  Again, we went into the exam room where the "assisted magic" happens and just to help the cause, we baby danced too. ;)  The two week wait is the hardest part.  I've never really been into delayed gratification (ask my parents around Christmas time).  It was day 10 and I told Jesse that I am just going to test because I "felt" like I was pregnant.  I did not want to spend another $15 on a pregnancy test since I thought it was going to be too early to test anyway but I couldn't wait another two days to see if our lives would be forever changed.  I went to the dollar tree close to our house.  They really sell everything there.  I got two different types of pregnancy tests just in case they were defective because they did come from the dollar store.  I sped home and prayed while I peed.  OMG...Pregnant!  I snapped a picture with my phone and texted it to Jesse.  He was soooo excited!

Back to get my blood drawn over a couple of days.  I was at the home of a family I worked with and was not able to answer my phone.  I ran out of their house once it was time (actually a few minutes before lol) and checked my voicemail.  Such a sweet voice telling me congratulations and that my numbers were awesome!  She gave me my next appointment time.  I called Jesse, then my mom, then his mom.  I wanted to send a mass email to everyone on my contact list but I held it together.

Anyway, Jesse and I went in for our ultrasound to take a little peek at our miracle.  The RE was looking around in there and said okay, just one baby. . . no wait. . . two babies in there!  EXCUSE ME?!?!  Twins? Me?  Two babies at one time?  Me?  Us?  Twins!  Me!  US!  We were over the moon excited!  We called our parents right away!  They pretty much had the same reaction. :)


Fast forward to 12 weeks pregnant.  I had an appointment with the specialists to show me how my babies were doing.  I was excited because they have better ultrasound machines and I was hoping to see about gender predictions.  I ended up going to this all day appointment by myself because Jesse could not get off of work.  I am lying on the exam table while they are taking measurements of the babies.  They had a large screen tv on the wall that I could look at.  Both of my babies were dancing around in there.  I even remember making a comment to the ultrasound tech about how one of my babies looked like a ballerina.  The tech left the room after all the measurements were taken and then the doctor walks in to finish the ultrasound.  In hindsight, the doctor was verifying what the ultrasound was showing.  The doctor quietly finishes up with the ultrasound.  While I was lying down, she just turns to me and says, "One of your babies has anencephally.  It's fatal.  I'll let you speak with our genetics counselor."  Really lady?  You are just going to shatter my life without any empathy, emotion, anything.  I was and still am devastated.  I spoke with the genetics counselor and we discussed options.  I remember having to suck it all up so I could make the long drive home.

What I didn't understand is that my babies were in my belly dancing around.  They were perfect.  And Jesse and I had to choose if we were going to "reduce our pregnancy" or go along with it knowing that one of our babies were going to die very shortly after birth if not before.  That has been the hardest decision ever and I still feel all of the rawness of it.  On December 13, 2010, our precious baby boy was taken back by God.  

The rest of the pregnancy went well.  I was conflicted and mourning the loss of one child at my hands and celebrating the other.  We prayed and I went to a counselor to help me with my emotions and guilt.  Jesse and I were told by the specialist early on that the other twin was a girl so we were both surprised to hear that we were having a boy!  We were going to have a baby boy. . . wow!  At 20 weeks exactly is when I felt the baby in me for the first time.  I was watching tv and there he was. . . moving in my belly.  That is such an amazing feeling.  From then on, our baby made his presence known.  :)  We had a 3d ultrasound and that ultrasound tech said that our baby didn't have much hair.  Hmm. . . .  We also had her reconfirm that he was actually a he.

He definitely has that Filipino nose!

My water broke on Monday 6/20/11 at 12:15am.  I was with Jesse, my sister and her boyfriend and my brother IL and sister IL's house.  We were playing Apples to Apples (which I won despite being in "labor").  It wasn't a big gush of water like I was made to believe by tv and movies.  It was just a slow trickle. My sister asked, "Hey Nat, can I call mom and tell her?"  Umm. . . . No.  My amniotic fluid, my telephone call.  My mom was so excited!  She was also asleep.  Lol  She asked if we were going to the hospital yet.  I let her know that we were going to wait at home til things became more uncomfortable.  My mother IL was also excited. . . and asleep!  We told her our plans as well.

I hadn't finished packing my hospital bag so I did that, I took a shower and I tried to get some sleep.  That was a no go and just as I got up, the nesting urge kicked in.  I cleaned the kitchen, swept and mopped the floors, straightened out the living room and folded some laundry.  I told Jesse to get some sleep, I would let him know when "it was time".  I guess I just thought that I would know it was time when I was in too much pain to clean.  I wanted to labor comfortably at home and go in last minute to the hospital and push the baby out.  Well, that didn't quite happen.  I talked to my mother IL around 7am ish.  She talked about getting to the hospital already just in case and to make sure the baby was okay.  Honestly, after that conversation, I was starting to worry and that expedited our trip to the hospital.

Jesse and I drove to Shipley's to pick up a dozen of donuts for the nurses in hopes that I would get special treatment.  That wouldn't matter because I went through two shift changes and the actual nurse who helped me to deliver had no idea about any donuts.  But we will get to the delivery part soon...I promise.  We walked calmly into L&D and I walked up to the nurses station and said, "I'm pretty sure my water broke."  I guess because I was so calm they didn't believe me.  They took me to the holding room (observation room) and checked me out.  Yep, just as suspected.  There was definite water breakage and dilation going on.  I discussed with that nurse my plan on going all natural.

June 21, 2011 5:06 am, 29 hours later, after maxing out pitocin and having an epidural, 

Jacob Elijah Monreal arrived!  

My perfect little baby boy.

Our first family picture.  I know, I look rough.  

I'm still not sure how I feel about how everything "went down" but the end result is worth going through everything again multiplied by 1,000.  I honestly feel though like my body wasn't given a chance to birth naturally since the doctor and nurses kept pushing a c-section since "it's already been so many hours since your water broke Mrs. Monreal."  I'll just have to try the next go round (God willing)!