What we're up to!

First trip to the doctor, first bath, school with Grandma

Little Gabe

Noall did a great job narrating for me, so I'll let that suffice for now! But you can't do without a few more pictures...

The baby is (finally) here!

So, here's a quick rundown on the past 15 hours, with pictures.

Last night at about 11:30, we came up to Sand Canyon hospital, in Irvine.


We got checked in, and they hooked Emmy up on some Pitocin to get her induction started. Our daughter Camilla had a very strong desire to be a part of the delivery, so she came to the hospital with us and Emmy's mother Rolayne. All was quiet for about the first 4 hours.






After they increased the intensity of the Pitocin, things started happening pretty rapidly. Emmy's contractions started getting pretty uncomfortable, so she requested an epidural. By the time the anesthesiologist got to the room, she was dilated to a 7 and moving along pretty quickly!

15-20 minutes after the epidural was given, the nurse did an exam and told Emmy she wanted her to go ahead and start pushing; however, after performing a quick exam, she said, "On second thought, let's not push quite yet." She paged the on-duty doctor, called in a second nurse, and they got everything set for the delivery. They told Em to start pushing on the next contraction she had, which she did, and at 7:20 a.m. out came a beautiful baby boy!






Emmy was awesome! She went through most of the labor process on her own. I received several candid reminders that the best thing I could do for her was to just hold her hand and keep my mouth shut. . .

On a separate note, Emily had been told by nearly EVERYONE, including perfect strangers in supermarkets, at school, my work, and just about everywhere else that from behind, she didn't even look pregnant. Emmy had been slightly concerned about the baby's size, and also the fact that the baby moved around much less than some of our other kids. One insightful nurse told Emily that she believed the baby was probably just as big as the other children, but that she was "hiding it well."

At any rate, we received a surprise when they weighed him, as he came in at 9 lbs, 2 oz, and 21" tall. He's not as big as Zach was when he was born, but he definitely has some size to him! He is feeding well and although he did not appreciate receiving his vaccinations and vitamin k application, he is doing very well. He's currently (finally) taking a nap, so Emmy and I may try and take advantage of this window of opportunity to catch up on our own sleep. . .

Noall

9 months and counting...

The shirt says it all...

My silly girls

You're never too old or young to be a princess!

"I love you, Daddy!"

Spring in our Yard

How did we spend our last day of Spring Break?

Making sand angels, wrestling in the sand, cannonballs in the sand, chasing waves, taunting waves, planning forts, and generally getting very dirty and enjoying every minute!

SPRING BREAK

It's always great to have the kids home and they've had fun just enjoying some "free time" that they are learning to really appreciate! Since we couldn't travel far this year, we decided to spend the night at Noall's hotel. The kids LOVED swimming despite the cold...especially playing Marco Polo! They also enjoyed playing Star Wars cards, watching TV, and eating at the restaurant with their Daddy. It was a great, quick little getaway!