Peter's Grand Entrance

A little story about the newest addition to our family via timeline:

Wednesday, July 18

- All day long I was feeling very mild and inconsistent contractions.  It's more than I'd been feeling, so I was hopeful that this might be the day!

- 8:00 pm - Matt went with the Young Men and Young Women on a hike, and I called to tell him that if there was anyone who needed to come back early, he should volunteer to go back with them rather than stay the whole time.

-10:00 pm - Still feeling contractions but I was wanting them to get going, so we decided to go for a walk.  While we were out, the contractions were stronger but still far apart.  I still thought things might pick up, so I got ready for bed to get a little rest in case we were going to be up all night.

-11:00 pm - Contractions 10 minutes apart.

Thursday, July 19

-12:00 am - Contractions 7 minutes apart.

-12:30 am - Contractions 3 minutes apart.  Let's go to the hospital!  We said goodbye to my mom and got in the car.  On the way there, I felt every bump in the road, and labor went into fast-forward-crazy-strong-contraction mode.  I couldn't tell where one ended and the next began.

-1:00 am - Reached the hospital and walked inside.

-1:10 am - Checked in and we were led to our room.  The on-call doctor was paged when they discovered I was dilated to 10 cm, but he wasn't answering.  The nurses were getting the room and equipment ready.  I just barely got myself on the bed when I needed to push.  The nurses said to try and not push (yeah right).  Five seconds later, I said, "I can't NOT push.  Here he comes!"

-1:23 am - Peter Grant Orton came into the world, slip n' slide style, with no one to catch him except the hospital bed.  The nurses looked at each other for a couple of seconds, a little bewildered that there was a baby there.  The doctor finally showed up to help finish up.  I think I should get a discount for delivering my own baby!

Peter Grant Orton

8 pounds 15 ounces

21 1/4" long

  

The rest is blissful brand-new-baby history.  My dear friend Carrie came to visit and brought her camera along.  I'm ever thankful to her for capturing the most tender images of little Peter just hours after being born.

My personal favorite.  I get weepy when I look at it, remembering cuddling my baby boy in a few moments of a quiet afternoon.

12 of 12 - July

1 - No that's not the curve of the earth.  That's my 9-month pregnant belly...hopefully it'll be gone in a week!  (Posting this today on the 18th still no baby at 39 3/7 weeks along.  We're getting anxious!)

2 - Three more days until Grandma gets here - yay!

3 - My best friend these days.  I take this little fan wherever I go in the house to keep cool.

4 - I took a little rest and after a while started to hear Lydia gently playing the piano singing "I Am a Child of God."  What a nice way to wake up!

5 - The expiration date on the milk is my due date.  I'm on the home stretch!

6 - So that in February I can look back and know that sunny, cloudless days do exist in Washington.

7 - Overrun by lettuce!  Time for salads every night, and that's OK with us!

8 - Eating dinner in our new favorite place...the patio!

9 - Lydia likes to make sure she looks good, even if it's at Seth's t-ball game.  She loves getting Mom's lip gloss out of my purse.

10 - After getting prettied up, Lydia went to help Dad coach at 3rd base.  That lasted about 2 minutes before she was off to play at the playground.

11 - My favorite photo of Seth at t-ball.  Look at his cute, chubby, determined face.  Love that little boy!

12 - We went for a drive down by the lake after the game, and we were treated with a glorious sunset.  I so love living here.

Springtime on the farm

We found a perfect spring day to visit Brother Call's farm.  It's only a quick 30-minute drive, but it feels like we're in a whole different world out there.  The surrounding farms are lush and beautiful, and Mt. Rainier is close enough to touch.  He put them to work by planting squash.  He dug the hole while they dropped in the seeds.  Not sure how much "help" they were, but they were eager to work on a real farm.

Here's the part they really love to come for...such city kids!

Here's a progression of Lydia trying out raw rhubarb.  Check out the pucker on her face after she tastes it!

                                    

  

If we can't have our Grandpas close by, we're sure lucky to have a special guy who loves these cuties as if they were his own.  What do Grandpas do best besides give tractor rides and have a pocket full of candy at church??

Preschool Graduation

I'm working backwards to get caught up, so the most recent event was Seth's preschool graduation.  I didn't get many good photos of the whole group since it was in a dim church, but it was so cute to see all of them singing the songs they learned in class all year.  Here he is all ready for it to start!

Each child in all of the classes had their name read, and they came forward to receive their certificate and a beautiful scrapbook with parent-made pages put together by the teachers.  Seth still loves to get it out and look at it.

Seth has really loved his time in preschool.  I'm sad that the teachers retired their business at the end of this year, so our other kids won't get to attend, but I'm thankful for such a great experience, caring teachers, and the preparation he's been given to head into kindergarten.  Thank you, Mrs. Stephens and Mrs. Richards!

12 of 12 - June

1 - I don't usually take the kids with me to a doctor appointment, but they were really good as they sat and read Dr. Seuss books.  They loved hearing the baby's heartbeat too.

2 - Before we came home from the doctor, we stopped at the library.  I just love how the computer ear phones make Lydia's cheeks chunk out.

3 - One of my new favorite books "The Hundred Dresses."  We're doing a Relief Society activity based on the book and hope to collect as close to 100 dresses as we can for the local clothing bank.

4 - The new patio is in!  There's a little cleanup around the outside that needs to be done, and I'm already planning on where to put the furniture and the pots of flowers I want to plant.

5 - Going gourmet for lunch - mac n' cheese and nectarines.

6 - Sadly peony season isn't too long, so here are some of the last beauties in full bloom.

7 - But right behind the peonies are the lilies just starting to come out!

8 - This is kind of hit and miss.  She only takes a nap about every other day or every 2 days.  Makes for a happier little girl in the afternoon.

9 - Seth gets a little time in the afternoon to play some PBS games on the computer...such intense concentration!

10 - I made these freezer enchiladas, some to eat tonight and others to eat after baby's born when I don't have time to make dinner.

11 - I already mentioned how I don't like my picture taken when I'm pregnant, but here's a shadow profile at 34 weeks along during a brief period of sun coming in the kitchen window.

12 - For some reason, I thought it would be a good idea to pin together a scrap quilt I'm working on.  My back was hating me later, but it's nice that it's all put together and ready to quilt on my machine.

12 of 12 - May

So, I have some serious blog catching up to do, but for now, it's time to get back into my 12 of 12 routine.  January and February I was feeling too awful to want to take pictures and post them, and March and April the 12th just flew by without me noticing.  So here's May 12th, a Saturday, the day before Mother's Day.

1 - I'm not sleeping very well, so I was up early and decided to be constructive.  I'm doing some sewing for a friend's business and got a bunch done before the kids woke up.

2 - I really dislike photos of myself while I'm pregnant, much less pregnant and still in pajamas and pre-makeup and hair, but this is my in all my prego glory.  I needed to practice the song the Primary sang the next day for Mother's Day at church.

3 - We spent an hour or so cleaning the church today.  Yes, this is just the outside of the building, but I felt weird taking photos of us washing windows, taking out the trash, and cleaning bathrooms.

4 - I took the kids to the Issaquah Farmers' Market, and the kids were mesmerized by these little solar butterflies that flutter around and are powered by a tiny solar panel.

5 - Seth's turn with another cute little butterfly.

6 - Check it out...75 degrees.  I've been waiting for the sun and warm temperatures!

7 - Seth and Lydia's friend had a birthday party, and I love this one of Calvin giving Seth a party favor.  He looks so heartfelt and sincere as he hands over his packet of awesome dinosaurs and stickers.

8 - Too many peonies to count.  I can't wait until these pop open.  They're my favorite and remind my of my Granny.

9 - Our great friends invited us and another family over for a bbq dinner, and here are the kids taking a break from running around and digging in the dirt for Brooklyn to read them a story.

10 - An early Mother's Day surprise - red and purple tulips from my sweetheart.

11 - Here's a progress shot of our backyard project.  We tore out our old, rotted wooden deck and are waiting for concrete to be poured.  Can't wait for it to be done!

12 - After baths and before bed, the kids helped me make a frozen lemonade pie for dessert the next day, that is, if you consider "helping" licking the beaters.

Three

This blog post is brought to you by the number

as in:

Three Musketeers

Three Blind Mice

Three Mile Island

Three Dog Night

Three Stooges

AND as in the number of kids living in our house by the end of July. That's right! We're expecting baby #3...due July 24.