First Bath

The kids helped me give Matthew his first bath on Wednesday morning.  I let Micah do some camera work...I think you'll be able to tell which pictures he took.  :)

the box of diaper wipes

I heard Micah muttering "umbilical cord..." as he was snapping shots.

the empty tub

my assistant...

....and the chair she stood on.  :)

Nana-Cam

Nana and Grandpapa were superheroes around here for a few days.  Besides cooking, cleaning, yard-work, and car-maintenance, they also kept Micah and Hannah very busy.  Here are some of the pictures from Nana's camera:

getting ready to hit at his t-ball game

Look at that follow-through!

before church Sunday morning

at the zoo

crossing the rope bridge

The Story

Thursday afternoon the kids and I went to my friend Jennie's house to swim.  I felt huge and uncomfortable, but I wasn't having contractions.  Around 5:30 I called to order pizza and started getting the kids ready to go.  As I helped the kids get dressed, I started feeling cramps and contractions.  I didn't think anything of it; when you're 40 weeks pregnant something always hurts.  But in the few minutes it took us to get packed up and leave, I began to feel some real contractions.  I called Scott on the way home to let him know what was happening.  When I stopped to pick up the pizza at 6:00, I was having to breathe to get through the contractions, and they were less than five minutes apart.
Micah wanted to know why I was breathing funny, so I explained about contractions and told him I might need to go to the hospital today.  Micah's response was, "Yay!  I get to go to Carter's house!"  [We'll call this "Plan A", for those of you playing along at home.]  I told him that Carter was at his Grandma's just then, but we would call the Hays when we got home.  "Yes!  Ally's house!" [Plan B]
Scott met me in the driveway.  I passed off the kids and the pizza and went upstairs to see if a shower would stop the contractions.  Scott got pizza out for the kids, called the Hays, then came to check on me.  I informed him that the contractions were not stopping and that we should go to the hospital now.  (Since I don't have a picture, please imagine a quick look of panic on Scott's face and insert it here.)  He hadn't gotten hold of the Hays yet, so I suggested he call Jennie.  Since we had just left there, I knew she was home. [Plan C].  "Ok!  I like Owen's house!  He has lots of toys!"
We very quickly got everyone and the pizza boxes in the car (thankfully I had already packed an overnight bag for the kids).  But as we started driving, we decided we needed to go straight to the hospital and drop the kids off later. [Plan D]  We discussed different scenarios as we drove, then as we pulled off the exit I had a stroke of genius and said, "Oh!  Kara!"  My dear friend Kara lives just minutes from the hospital, knows my kids well, and has kids of similar ages with similar sleeping habits.  [Plan E - the winner!]  I wasn't there when Scott called Kara, but I was told later that Micah said "yay!" a lot and that all four kids were super happy.  Scott and the kids walked me into the hospital, then had a pizza picnic in the back of the van until Kara came to pick them up.
Meanwhile, I was pacing in the waiting room, my contractions getting closer and stronger.  I was a little annoyed that the nurse who finally came to check me in did not seem to be in as much of a hurry as I was.  But she redeemed herself later by quickly getting me through triage and into a room.  I could hear her advocating for me through the curtain, "I know you haven't heard back from her midwife yet.  But she's at 5[cm] and this is her third.  She wants an epidural.  She needs to go to a room now."
After that, everything moved like clockwork.  As they wheeled me to me room, we met Scott in the hallway.  A nurse immediately helped me into bed and got an IV started.  My epidural arrived shortly thereafter. I'm not sure who was more relieved - me or Scott.  :)  The midwife checked me and said, "Oh, you're complete.  Would you like to push or do you need a few minutes to rest first?"  Scott and I kind of shrugged at each other and said, "Sure.  Let's have a baby."  She suggested I take just a minute while she got a few things ready.  She broke my water, had me push a couple of times, and we had a baby boy!

The whole process was so different from the other two, that it seemed a little surreal.  We went from relaxing at the pool to having a new baby in our arms in three and a half hours!  Scott kept me company at the hospital for a few hours, then went home to get some sleep.  When he got up the next morning, the evidence of our hurried exit was still on the table:

Matthew David

Father's Day

I did a little photo shoot with the kids so we could give Scott some new pictures for his office.

On the afternoon of Father's Day, we were all playing outside before taking Scott out to dinner.  Scott and I were both in the garage when we heard a crash and then Micah started crying.  He somehow crashed into Scott's [parked] car hard enough to jam his bike under the grill.  The impact threw him forward, and he got a nasty gash on his chin.  The best explanation he can give us is that he doesn't remember where he was looking.  We debated taking him for stitches, but decided it was too small to be worth it.  So we put a band-aid on and went to dinner.  :)

How did he even build up enough speed in less than ten feet of driveway to get it wedged under there??

Recipes

This certainly isn't a recipe blog, but I feel like sharing two recipes (from pinterest) that I've really been enjoying this year.

The first is a baked oatmeal for one.  The original recipe is found here. I've tweaked it just a tiny bit:
1/3 cup old fashioned rolled oats
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1 tbsp chocolate chips (probably the only time in my life I've used less chocolate than the recipe suggests)
1/2 cup lowfat vanilla yogurt
1 egg white
a few sliced strawberries

Preheat oven to 350 and lightly grease a small ovenproof bowl.
Mix the first 5 ingredients together.  [I usually make extra ziploc baggies with the dry ingredients in them so I'm not getting all the ingredients out every time.]
In another bowl use a fork to whisk the yogurt and egg white.
Stir dry ingredients, yogurt/egg, and strawberries together and put in ovenproof bowl.
Bake 25 minutes.
It's delicious, and very filling!

The other recipe is called southwest chicken wraps.   I made them for dinner once or twice and loved them.  But, since my husband doesn't like beans or sour cream, and my children don't like anything (fools!), now I just make it for myself.  I like to mix up all the filling on a Monday, then all week long I just grill a wrap at lunch time.  It beats PB&J any day!
You can find the recipe here.  The only changes I make is sometimes I add more rice and chicken.  And I just mix the cheese in the bowl with everything else.

Why is there a fork in the bowl?  Was I just eating the filling straight out of the bowl??  maybe.

Put the filling in a wrap with a little sour cream and heat it up.  Yum! An awesome lunch in minutes!

Children's Museum

It's June!  I can't believe it's finally here!  In just the first week we had:
- Suite Retreat 2013,
- warm weather for outdoor activities,
- and a trip to the Cleveland Children's Museum with the Hoffmans.

Micah passed out money to the shoppers.

Then he returned to the register to check them out.

driving the bus

driving the car

Kara and Eleanora reading a book in the farm area

Lunchtime!  I think they are watching a little bird.

Yesterday was Meghan (and Carter's) last day of school, and therefore our last day with Jackson.  Today, our first day of "vacation", has started out gray and rainy.  It's a perfect morning for sleeping in and extra snuggling.  In a couple of hours, we're going to pick Gramme up from the airport for the weekend.  As June continues:

- It's almost strawberry-picking season.

- Micah has Vacation Bible School at church next week.

- Pools are opening.

- It's garage sale season.

- We're finishing a room in our basement.

AND....by the end of the month we'll have a new baby!  Bring it on, June!

Pool, Park, and Panels

Thursday we got out the wading pool and set up our "water slide".

I think Jackson is doing his happy dance.

Today we fed ducks and geese at the park.

These two were much better friends this year than I anticipated.  I think Micah is going to be a little lonely this summer!

 And we finished hanging the curtain panels for our closet! Voila!