Memorial Weekend 2012

This past weekend we went to visit my grandparents at their cabin in Pequot Lakes, MN. It was so nice to see them and the kids had a blast playing outside and enjoying time with grandma and grandpa and their cousins. Grandma Jean got to spend lots of cuddle time with little Lucy.

Grammy Jean with Lucy

Getting ready for pontoon ride!

Jack is 4!

What a busy couple of weeks we've had! Jack turned 4 years old last week on May 11th. Just a day after I got out of the hospital after having Lucy. We were glad to be home with him however, I couldn't really do do much but care for the baby. Ben was officially on "boys duty" since he was home helping out while I healed and while we were all adjusting to having a 3rd. We wanted to make sure that Jack knew that his birthday was special even though we had just brought home his sister the day before so Ben took Jack and Henry to: http://www.pumpitupparty.com/ - it's basically a place with multiple "bounce houses" for kids to jump in! Jack and Henry absolutely loved it! After that, he brought Jack to a movie, The Pirates - Band of Misfits, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14MtmqOZwQA. What's funny is half way through it Jack fell asleep and was snoring the whole time. :) All the jumping in the morning tuckered him right out!

 I cannot believe my first born is 4 years old already. It makes me so sad that 4 years has gone by so extremely fast. This year has been good, especially developmentally for Jack. He's such a smart kid with such an imagination and funny sense of humor. He plays great with his little brother and since Lucy has been born, he's really sweet and gentle with her too! Jack, you brighten our lives everyday, we love you little stinker!

Lucy Katherine is here!! - Birth Story

Last Monday, May 7th (at 38 wks and 4 days along) I went into the hospital at around 8:45 p.m. as I was having contractions about every 5-7 minutes apart. I was admitted and hooked up to the monitors to keep an eye on my contractions and the baby. It became a waiting game at this point. I was dilated to a 4 when I arrived at the hospital and slowly progressed through the night to a 5. The hospital was super busy so the doctor wasn't going to break my water as he wanted me to progress naturally as their resources were low because the hospital was at full capacity that night.

At 8am the next morning (May 8th), my contractions just stopped out of no where! I was so tired and frustrated at this point, all I wanted was to have the baby already! Finally, my Dr. that had been treating me all this time was the "on-call" and she came in a broke my water to get this going. After about an hour my contractions came back and were every 5 minutes and getting stronger and stronger. Finally, I was dilated to a 7 and decided to get an Ipidural. The contractions at this point were putting me to tears and they were about every 2-3 minutes apart.

After I got the epidural my pain level got better and I was able to relax and watch my contractions comfortably as they happened on the monitor instead of tear through them. About an hour later the Dr. came in and I was a 10 and ready to push! She came out in 2 pushes and we finally had our little girl after 16 hours of labor! She weighed 6 lbs. and 10 oz., 20 1/2 in. long and her head was 13 in. around.

I would've laughed if you told me that I would be in labor for that long because Jack came in 3 hours, Henry came in 6 hours and lil Lucy... well she took her time coming into this world! To say the least, we are absolutely smitten with her. The boys absolutely love her and Daddy and I are so happy to have our little girl!!

37 weeks -

Today I am 37 weeks! This week has been a crazy one concerning the pregnancy. Last Thursday I was having clear labor signs with 3 hours of contractions and was told to "go get evaluated" by a doctor to see if it was "true labor" or not. Unfortunately Fairview Ridges (our primary hospital) was closed so we had to go to St. Francis in Shakopee. A very nice place, but this definetly threw us for a loop! The contractions I was having were 3-5 minutes apart and very intense. I had my 36 week checkup that afternoon and thinking that the exam "stirred" things up in there! While at the hospital I was hooked up to a few machines to monitor me, the baby and the contractions. We were there for about 2 1/2 hours when the contractions just stopped! To my dissapointment, labor wasn't starting. Today, I had another checkup and I am dialated to a 3 and 50% effaced! Things are getting closer! Yay! Could be anyday...

Pics of kids from Easter...

Easter is alot more fun when you have kids, however it's hard to make a child understand why we infact celebrate Easter. This year we did the whole Easter basket and egg hunt thing, but we also tried to make the kids aware of why we celebrate (as a Christian family). We read a book (that they got in their baskets) about Jesus and how died and then rose on the 3rd day (Easter). I think Jack is starting to understand, however, Henry is still pretty young and the candy and treats is a huge distraction. I want to be able to continue the traditions I had growing up, but also want my kids to understand the reasons behind it. Does anyone have any suggestions to incorporate both?