Sharing

I have a mish mash of pictures to share, so I can't come up with a good title.

First, let me say that we are all doing really well.  The girls have really taken a liking to Nathan.  Nicole asks daily if she can hold him and we pray for him every night, along with our other huge list of people:-)  Hannah is very concerned when she hears Nathan crying.  She even got to hold him the other day.

He looks terrified in this picture, hahaha...but, really, I think he enjoyed his sister's loving:-)

Here is our little turkey on thanksgiving.

Wednesday one of my dearest friends, Elisa stopped by and we got to introduce our Nate's to each other.  Her little boy was born in June and his name is Nathan too.  Her daughter, Addie, is 2 weeks older than Nicole.  Elisa and I have been friends forever...ok, well, since early high school.  It was fun to see her for a few minutes.  AND...my Nate was wearing the outfit HER Nate wore home from the hospital.  She beat me in birth weight though.  Elisa's Nathan was close to 10.5 lbs!!!!!  Woohoo...go mama!

Silly Hannah

This girl LOVES shoes!  Any size, any shape, any style.  I promise she will steal your shoes if you come over.  She's so funny!

Last but not least...Nicole was styling in her flamingo glasses (those are for you Aunt Julie).  Hannah loves shoes, Nicole loves sunglasses. 

I hope you had a nice Thanksgiving.  We are having a great cool snap and enjoying being together.  Thankful for a happy healthy family.

It's never to early to learn to be frugal

This morning, Nathan got to go on his first trip to the grocery store!  He even held my coupons!  I must say that he seemed bored by the whole experience, but....as the title says...It's never to early to learn to be frugal.  And, I feel it is my responsibity to teach him...even at such a young age:-)

I feel however that I let him down.  We were just pennies shy of saving more than we spent, which is always my goal.  If I would have remembered that $5/$30 coupon, we would have surpassed that goal, but in my flurry to get out of the house, we forgot it:-(  Oh well.  Sorry Nate...I'll try harder next time.

In other news, our little boy has decided to be different from other babies his age.  You see...most babies loose a certain percentage of their weight....at least several ounces over the first few days.  Nathan however is different...he's gaining weight like a champ!  Seriously, I'm not sure a professional boxer could be gaining weight faster than this little guy.  Today we stopped by my midwife's office and weighed him.  He was already 9 lbs 13 oz!!!  He's gained 10 oz in 3 days. 

Well, we are off to nap time, him and I.  I have some little things I want to share soon.  But, not on this post, so stay tuned:-)

The official Nathan post

OK, so I had a quick nap, spent more time with the family, and now Jeremy and the girls are at Jeremy's softball game, so I figured I would try to write a post and include lost of Nathan pictures.

As I shared last week, I had lots of pre-labor with Nathan, which I guess was nice, because my actual labor was pretty fast...at least for me.  I officially went into labor Saturday night a little after 11:00pm (after a busy night at Cambier Park for the "movie in the park" that AVI sponsored.  I had been having contractions every 6 minutes for hours while at the park.)  They slowed down for an hour or two when we got home, then they picked up in time and intensity.  I knew it was time to call the midwife.  We arrived at the Birth Center at midnight and less than 5 hours later, Nathan was born.  I'm not going to share all the details about that...although if you are a friend or family member who wants to know just how awesome using a midwife and having a baby at a birthing center is in comparison to a hospital...let me know.  I'll share whatever you want to know then.  I have to say that my midwife is amazing, and I truly believe she kept me from having a c-section, twice.  I am quite convinced that if I had delivered either Hannah or Nathan at the hospital, I would have been given a C-section, which in my case as you can tell, would have been unnecessary.  So...I'd love to share more if you want to know.

On to Nathan.  He was born at 4:45am and we were home by 2:30 that afternoon...a bit later than we wanted, but it's because of all the great sleep we got there in the morning.  Nathan was 9 lbs 3 oz, my biggest baby yet, and 21 inches.  He just had a little check up with the home nurse, and he was 9lbs...so, that's good.  They tend to loose several ounces in the first day or two.

Here comes the zillions of pictures, are you ready?

Momma and Nathan (about 20 minutes old here)

Daddy and Nathan (again, about 20 minutes old)

Big Sisters

Big Sisters again

LOVE this picture! I LOVE IT....I could look at this picture ALL day.  They are both beautiful!

Hannah was not around for this one:-(  We'll take a good family picture soon though.

 

Getting ready to leave the birth center.

Meeting Yaya

Meeting Gramps

Meeting Grammy

Great-grandma Mimi, Mrs. Debbie, (almost) Aunt Erica and Nicole snuck in there too.

Soon-to-be Aunt Erica (my little brother's fiance)

Papa, Nathan and yaya

Great-Grandma Mimi and Nathan

Four Generations

Me, my son!, my dad, and my grandma

Baby Nathan, sleeping with blanket I made him:-)

This is the classic newborn picture,  Just great!

Introducing....

Nathan Michael !!!!!

Yippee!!! He's here! This will be quick because I'm tired and need to go rest. I promise to post many more pictures very soon with all the grandparents. But, for now....here are my top 3.

Sunday, November 22 at 4:45 am.
9lbs 3 oz
21 inches long

Everyone is doing very well...just trying to rest and recover. The girls LOVE him and are super sweet. Daddy is amazing and very helpful. I'll post more soon.


Nathan Michael...

Our almost full family (Hannah was with Yaya and Papa...sorry Hannah, we'll get a family picture soon.)

VERY PROUD big sister Nicole. She's super super sweet to this little guy. I'm loving it!

Nicole and Peyton

I've been waiting for this picture from my friend Brooke, and it just arrived today. I had to share. This is Nicole and her little buddy Peyton.


Halloween

At the ball game.

The funny thing about being "over due"...

...is that everything you do always starts with...."Well, this might be the last time I get to..."

As in, this might be my last shower before baby comes, or this might be our last time out together...for 10 years (ha, just kidding). or, this might be my last time grocery shopping for a couple of weeks. It seems as though everything is "This might be my last time".

But, I remember this being the case even with our first. I've always been a bit dramatic, especially when it comes to life changes. For instance, I remember the night before my freshman year in high school, I decided I needed to ride my bike through the puddles because "It would be the last night I could act like a kid". Soooo serious and dramatic over high school, hehehe.

At this point though, it's a running joke. It's seems I've had a lot of "last showers" lately, because we keep thinking (or hoping) This is the day.

So....How ARE you doing? And Why isn't the baby here?

For some reason, when you are pregnant nothing is private or personal and everyone wants all the answers...all the time. It's amazing how I'll share one tid bit of info with one person, and I find out how quickly it's made it through the grape vine. It's very humbling to me, because I am very private and personal about these things, I get very embarrassed. But, what the heck...it's 4 am, my little one just stopped crying and I'm not emotional at the moment...so, I'll give you a REAL update, sort of...I'm gonna leave a few things out.

Monday night I KNEW I was in labor. I had strong labor pains for 6 hours, until 2:30 am. Then...they stopped. I was laying down and resting through most of them because I was exhausted from the weekend's events. Honestly, I don't think I could have actually had the baby Monday night/Tuesday morning...I didn't have an ounce of energy left in me. Monday I had went to my midwife and I was a good 3 cm, pushing 4 (this is that private info I don't really like everyone to know, but they ALL seem to find out anyway).

Wednesday, I went back to my midwife and when she checked me, I was a very easy 5cm....which means 2 things. One, I had a lot of "pre-labor" on Monday night. It pushed me up 2 more cm, so, woohoo...it worked, and Two....I am already "half way there". You have to be 10 cm before you can actually deliver. Wednesday night, I was having lots of regular contractions again, but they felt more like braxton hicks contractions (practice ones you have near the end of pregnancy). They were completely manageable and not painful, for the most part. We went ahead and sent the kids to my mom's because now we were certain we would have the baby that night. My midwife told me to call her as soon as contractions were regular because "It's going to go fast this time....your already half way there". Well, Jeremy and I walked and walked and I did some other things that I'm not going to share on here to help encourage my contractions along. It worked while doing those things, but as soon as I stopped, so did the contractions. We went to bed at midnight with no more contractions, and no baby (but also no kids to wake me up in the middle of night).

So....what's the deal now? Well, I am convinced that at this point, there really is NOTHING I can do to make this baby come. All of my midwife's "tricks" are to help start labor when you are less dialated. I don't even think drinking Castor oil will help, or breaking my water. The Castor oil will just make me sick, and breaking my water will put a 24 hour time limit on me. I am totally at peace because after Wednesday night, I KNOW that now I'm just waiting on the Lord to bring this little baby "in due time". I am anxious and teetering on the edge. I realize that it could happen fast so I'm just waiting for some labor pains again. Little baby boy is moving and active, so he's just fine.

People get hung up on due dates. A due date is simply a guess...a suggested date to have. Unfortunately, now a days, we get locked into them and if the baby hasn't come, then we think he's "over due" and something is wrong. People get impatient or just plain old grumpy about being pregnant. But, one thing I've learned (well, I've learned a lot) about natural child birth is that it's a whole heck of a lot easier, faster and less painful, when you let the baby come at His appointed time, instead of yours. Yes, it might be inconvenient, it might be more uncomfortable, but in general...at least in my case, it's better. I'm pretty sure I'll have this little baby in the next week. Maybe he'll be dramatic like me (please Lord I hope not...I already have 2 drama queens) and come on Thanksgiving day.
Maybe my Aunt Julie is right and he'll come while Ohio State is playing Michigan on Saturday (it would be bad timing for us though because Jeremy has an event on Saturday night he has to be at), or maybe he'll come some other time. Either way, I know he's coming, and I'm hoping and praying it'll happen rather quickly...especially since I'm already more than "half way there".

So...there you have it. That's where we are at with waiting on the baby. And now....Everyone has the info so I don't have to be embarrassed when people call and tell me things about myself that I didn't know anyone else knew, HA. Beat you to it:)

Little Hannah hasn't cried in about 20 minutes, so I'm off, hopefully to bed.

Free Family Night Movie

We interrupt this blog for a short commercial break. This Saturday night is Free Family Movie Night at the Cambier Park Bandshell (downtown near 5th Ave). Bring your lawn chairs and blankets and enjoy a free movie with your family. Proud sponsors are AVI (Audio Video Installations....sounds familiar anyone?). The move being played this month is "Imagine That" starring Eddie Murphy. As always, I suggest you check it out on Plugged in Online to make sure it fits with your family's movie viewing standards. The movie starts at 7...it should be fun...and it's FREE!!!!!

The loss of a dear friend

Yesterday just after work, we received word that one of Jeremy's best friends, Avery, suddenly passed away from complications with a surgery he had about 2 weeks ago.  It was shocking and difficult news to receive.  We had hopes of going to visit with Avery and his sweet wife, Joy, sometime this weekend.  Jeremy talked to Avery on the phone on Tuesday. 

Last night we spent several hours with some of Avery's close friends.  We spent time praying, reading the Word, sharing funny and inspiring stories and just simply trying to digest the news of this young and Godly man's death. 

I was able to go and visit with Joy this morning for a little while.  She is an amazing woman with an incredibly strong and inspiring faith.  I'm not sure I can put into words what I felt with her this morning. 

I really don't have many words to share right now.  Perhaps in a few days we'll post more about Avery and his dedication to the Lord and the impact he's had on so many lives.  He was young...just turned 30 last month.  He became sick this past year which required surgery just two weeks ago. 

I want to end with the verse that Avery clung to before his surgery, after his surgery, and now that his friends of holding onto after his death.

John 12:24-26
Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal. If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.

Hannah's First Bike Ride (with Daddy)

Jeremy recently got the bike out and has been riding it in the morning to the gym.  Now that it's "working again" (ie...the tires have pressure) he has been waiting for an opportunity to take Hannah on a ride.  We only had a couple of minutes last night before dark, but they went anyway.  He said Hannah really enjoyed it. She was laughing and talking the whole time. 

Trying on the helmet that Nicole was gracious enough to let Hannah borrow.

At this point, Nicole began to realize she was being "left out" and probably wanted her helmet back, hehe.

Here they are...ready for the ride.  Cute

I love to watch him with the girls.  It's priceless to me.

Finally....fall appears to have come

It's been a pretty rough, hot summer fo us in S. Florida.  However, it looks like fall may haven fallen:-)  Today was the start of a beautiful, cooler and less humidty forcast of a week.  Yay!!!!  So, as soon as I found out that we'd have lovely weather today, I decided we needed to spend the morning at the park.  We went downtown to a park I haven't taken the girls to yet.  It was different than they are used to, but a lot of fun.  Nicole asked if we could go there again, which we will, very soon actually...but I'll tell you more about that next week.

Anyway...without further ado, I have a TON of pictures to share.  I haven't really done that in a while.  Enjoy.

Oh, before you browse, please bear with the formatting.  Blogger (the website I use) changed the way I can format my posts and pictures and I'm not sure what I'm doing yet.  For some reason, all of my captions are pictures.  I'll work it out though.

Grandma Mimi enjoying walking with Hannah

A cute house, just Hannah's size

Nicole, Monkeying Around Peek -A- BooGrandma Mimi enjoying Hannah again.The first time on a tire swing.  I posted a video below.  The girls really liked it. I like this picture of Nicole, I think it's really pretty.Hey look...a semi-natural looking Hannah, no weird "smile" going on.   Peeking through the rails againOh, surprise Hannah!For some reason, near the end of our trip, Nicole would smile really big and then just as the camera flashed, turn it into an "ugly face" haha.   They are pretty funny.  She was having fun, and this was part of the silliness. Again...She was excited to be next to her sister, and then it turned bad, hehehe. Hannah is already getting so big. She likes to swing on the big girl swings now.