Eight Years Ago

May 17, 2005

A beautiful sunny day.

My third child is 17 days overdue.

I'm being pressured to get induced.

My great desire [ahem . . . stubbornness] to have my child naturally,

has me at 42 1/2 weeks gestation.

Get out and walk they say.

Eat spicy food they say.

Do other fun things they say.

So, going to the Lilac Festival in Rochester, NY seemed like the perfect opportunity

to walk and enjoy the sweet smell of the lilacs and get this baby OUT!

After walking for a couple hours,

and drinking plenty of water,

I had to go . . . tinkle.

For any of you who know me and my great aversion to public restrooms,

I was desperate!

So off to the Lilac Festival Porta-potty I went.

While in the bathroom of nastiness I heard a "POP".

Uh-oh.

I distinctively remember calling to my husband.

"I think my water broke!"

A young EMT comes running over.

Fear is in his eyes.

This being my third, I was totally relaxed.

"Don't worry," I tell him.  "I have the slowest labors known to man woman."

Yeah, that didn't comfort him.

He kind of reminded me of Henny Penny,
running around, frantic, trying to get me an ambulance.
All I wanted was my van.
So we could drive to the hospital ourselves.

Fast Forward to later that evening.

7:00 pm to be exact.

My midwife comes in the room and announces:

"You have one of those rare cases where there is a second amniotic sac.
Your water did break, but

You are not in labor."

Say What?!?

Back home I go . . . still pregnant.

May 23, 2005

At 3:52 am it begins.

The real thing.

But, he is only 23 days overdue!

I was going for a month! [sarcasm]

We call a friend to come over and watch our other kids.

We stop off and get coffee.

We go to Walmart to get a baby book.

We arrive at the hospital.

And at 2:15 pm ET we are blessed with our 2nd bouncing baby boy.

Weighing in at 8 pounds,

20 inches,

And I have to add this,

A head circumference of 14 1/2 inches.  Really?

I didn't know a baby could have that big of a head!

Anyways, one of the best days of our lives.

We love his laughter.

We love his spirit.

We love his spunkiness.

We love this blessing that God has bestowed upon us.

Here are some pics of his 8th birthday:

Front page news!

One of our favorite things about birthday celebrations: Donut Joes!

A morning ride with friends

At the B'ham Zoo

His favorite exhibit

Birthday lunch

A visit to McWane: This is what he wanted to do the most, play Dodgeball.

A melting Mario cake

Singing Happy Birthday

Birthday Dinner of Choice: Steak, Roasted Potatoes & Asparagus.

Besides these activities,
He got to play with neighborhood friends,
got to play on his DS (on a non-media day),
and had a sleep over at a friend's house.

We got a hug at the end of the day, and he thanked us for the best birthday ever.
:)

April in a Nutshell

Here are some pics of our adventures in April:

We'll start off with nature . . .

This was taken April 27th.

I just absolutely love it when you can see the moon during the day!

  

I took these for my mom.  They were taken Apr. 11th - Creeping Phlox

Taken the same day - Blanket Flower

And again, same day - Iris

We have come across many new backyard 'friends'.  We believe this is a Black Racer Snake.  We haven't seen him outside since the boys accidentally left our back door open for an hour.  He may be a house resident now. Ugh.

I don't know what this bug is, but it creeps me out!!

During pollen season, I feel like we live in TX with these AL style tumbleweeds.  These seed pods only seem to want to hang out in front of our house.  They were no where else in the neighborhood.

And now, The kiddos . . .

I started to have the kids help with dinner this month.  They enjoy doing it.  They're learning.  And I get help.  It's a win / win.

My youngest making sloppy joes.

K found a caterpillar.  He nursed him for about a week and named him Captain Stripes.  He let him go because he realized Captain Stripes wasn't doing well in captivity.  He was very upset about losing his pet, but knew it was the best thing to do.

C is great about making pictures for friends who are ill.  She made this for her neighborhood friend when she found out he was sick.

Our little guy thinks he can fly.  He got a hold of two packaging airbags and jumped off the stairs flapping them wildly.  I would only let him jump from two stairs up.

Seems like the tooth losing has gone into April.  K lost a canine.

My little sleepy baby.  He had fallen asleep with the light on.  He just looked so angelic, so I had to grab the camera.

 A major part of our lives is homeschooling.  

To see what's going on there, visit my homeschooling blog!

Home-Schooling Mama