Nathan

It's hard to believe that Nathan turned three weeks old yesterday. Time is going by so quickly, and he seems as though he's already doubled in size. I love the newborn stage--so it's hard to feel like he is growing out of his tinyness in a flash. Nate is an extremely easy baby (though I could say the same for all my cuties). He only gets upset when he's hungry--much like his big brother. One of Jason's nicknames is "Meatball" because he was SO chunky as a baby from eating SO often. Well, Nate is quickly on his path to having a similar nickname. This hunger/crying factor gets a little tricky with diaper changes--he chooses to do a lot of body emptying when I'm in the process of changing his diaper. At first it was quite frustrating, and messy, but now I have quite the system to keep him and me clean. I should take a picture of our love seat laid out with all the necessities of a happy diaper change...

Well, I thought I'd share his birth story.

Jason and I stayed up until 10 pm Tuesday night watching the season finale of The Good Wife. At 1 am I woke up--with contractions. I had been having them at night for at least a week, but they always went away when I went to bed. So, the fact that they were coming in the middle of the night, plus they were affecting my back a bit made me assume it was CD. The noise from the player woke Jason up--I told him it was real but to go back to sleep. Of course, he couldn't. Around 2 we decided to call our midwife, Richelle. With Lorelai's birth, I waited a long time to call her. She got there maybe 20 minutes before Lorelai was born (her assistant didn't make it in time). I didn't want to have that rush again, so I called "early". Jason and I started setting up the pool, and filling it with water. And I relaxed a lot on the couch. Richelle arrived around 2:30 and got everything else set up.

Jason was great about applying pressure to my knees and back during contractions.I continued relaxing on the couch, listening to my CD and talking with the midwives and Jason. I can go deep into relaxation on my laying on my side. But another thing I wanted to do differently than Lorelai's birth was acclimate to being in the pool before I felt the baby moving down. So, I got in around 4:30, and continued listening to my CD. At 4:57, I felt my water break, and the baby instantly began moving down. It went POP--I went on my hands and knees--pure instinct. After a few contractions, and eight minutes, Jason received our cute little baby. I asked a few times what it was, Jason was too in love with the little guy to hear me at first. Finally, he did and told me we had another boy!

The kids, and our downstairs neighbors, slept through it all. I was exceptionally quiet this time around. Jason heard the baby crying around 6:15 which woke him, and soon Addie and Lorelai came into the living room. They were instantly smitten with him.

I've been blessed with all my births (especially the last three)--but this was by far the most fulfilling. Probably because I didn't have any expectations beyond how I knew I would be. I am super laid back during the thinning and opening phase, but the birthing phase (those 8 minutes) I need lots of support from the people around me. I kind lose it. And though I don't say it, or even really think it, that's the time when I possibly could feel that I never want to have another baby, lol. But, I can survive 8 minutes. With Addie and Lorelai I'd visualized myself remaining in complete calm during the birthing phase, like I do during the first phase. But that's never the case. So this time I didn't have my hopes let down. I was still calm--just not serene.

We are so blessed. We are a happy family who love each other, play together, work together, and enjoy being there for each other. Every single one of us LOVE our Nate.

Kid Update

I know it's been too long, so here's a quick update:

Jason loves school. He knows all his letter sounds. Can read many three letter words-- and with help can sound out longer words. He loves drawing treasure maps and making cards for people. He is also very much into playing with friends. This is a self-portrait :)



Addie is a TOTAL little girl. She is all about pink. Had a hard time adjusting to the cold weather because she couldn't wear skirts and dresses everyday. She is really enjoying the time she has at home while Jason is at school. And enjoys having him home even more. They are best friends for sure!




Lorelai is a joy. She loves to snuggle. Loves playing with Jason and Addie, and by herself. Her vocabulary grows everyday. She is very thoughtful and already a helper. And she is finally adjusting to being in nursery with the other kids during church.

It's been a fast month and a half. The kids and I stayed with my parents. Jason stayed with his sister to be near work and school, then came up to be with us on the weekends. We were able to close on our new home in two weeks time...once we finally found it. We are slow going in our efforts to get settled in. Jason finishes this summer semester in less than a week--we can hardly wait to have some fun summer adventures and lots of time to fix up the new place.

I have a couple of funny things to relay. About two weeks ago when we were still at my parents Addie was carrying around one of those HUGE cardboard books (it's like 2' by 1') when she said: "Hey Mom, this sure is a big book. And that means it's heavy like a giant sandwich." This wasn't the first time she used a sandwich as a unit of measurement, nor has it been the last. LOL.

Then just last night Jason and Addie were getting themselves ready for bed while I was getting Lorelai to bed. They were done doing all the things I had asked them to--brush teeth, go to the bathroom, change into jammies, pick up toys, etc.--but Jason went above my requirements by not waiting for me to join them for prayers. I heard him call Addie over to kneel down with him. At which point he thanked Heavenly Father for their day, that we have food to eat, and then he added "I wish I had more money in my wallet." HA.