We welcome with much joy...

Abigail Jane Durbin, born today at 5:21 pm, weighing 8 pounds and 21 inches long. I am so very thankful for a wonderful labor experience; in my opinion (does anyone else's count?) it was the best one so far. A very quick labor story (because let's face it, I don't think I'm going to get this down for the record once I get home!)...

We got to the hospital around 8 am this morning and discovered that I was already having contractions on my own! We started pitocin around 9am; at that point they said I was dilated about 2 cm. I was so nervous because I've heard horrible things about inductions and pitocin and how painful it can be. My labor nurse was so great and encouraging, as well as keeping me informed about what she was doing throughout the day, which was so helpful. I found out later that she was supposed to be off duty at 3 but she stayed until well after 7 to see me through...what a gift! (She also asked for my photography info before she left...nothing like labor to bring in clients!)

My water broke on its own around 11, but I was still only about 3cm dilated. I got an epidural around 1pm, not making much progress with dilation, but feeling much better. My last two epidural experiences with Ellie and Samantha were not good; both times I got them fairly late in the game and started pushing almost immediately afterward. This time I was able to get totally relaxed and say good-bye to the pain!

Eric and I spent the day dozing, updating Facebook, and watching the latest Harry Potter movie. After I got the epidural I got the chills a few times...gotta love those heated blankets. Once I was nice and warm I finally got a good long nap in...funny that it took labor and an epidural for me to get some good rest!

I progressed fairly slowly throughout the afternoon, inching my way up to a 4, then a 5, then a 5 1/2...a little discouraging. Abigail was also moving around a lot, and the nurse said that because her head wasn't engaged enough she wasn't putting as much pressure on my cervix, thus my slow dilation. They sat me up just a bit, and it must have helped, because I started to dilate quite fast after that.

The nurse noticed the baby's heart rate changing on the monitor, along with very strong contractions (which, praise the Lord--I didn't feel at all!) and she came in to check and we were at a 9. She brilliantly had everyone get prepared "just in case" and got the doctor paged...and sure enough, moments later I suddenly felt the urge to push...and we were ready!

Another sign of a perfect epidural: no pain at all, but I could still feel the pressure and the strong contractions signaling me to push...perfect levels all around. I began pushing, and then in between pushing we were laughing with the doctor...such a strange experience, but one I wouldn't trade. I did four sets of three strong pushes, and she was out...the fastest I've ever pushed a baby out! It took about 15 minutes or less! My other pushing times were 4 hours, 45 min, and over an hour...so this felt miraculous to me.

Abigail is doing well now; she has a small issue with her white blood cell count, because apparently her blood and mine mixed through the placenta, and we have incompatible types, so her levels are a little off. They're keeping a close eye on her and testing her periodically and also pushing her fluids (i.e. formula, which I'm not crazy about...but my milk isn't in yet). I'm hoping to get some good sleep tonight...we'll see what Miss Abigail thinks about that!

Thank you for praying for us and checking in on us. Hopefully we can get some pictures uploaded soon. For now...SLEEP. Goodnight!

Merry Christmas! And...

...We're having a baby tomorrow! We appreciate your prayers as we head to the hospital in the morning.

This is the front and back of our Christmas card. We hope you had a wonderful Christmas, wherever you are. (You know, for whoever still checks our blog, which is probably no one...I sure hope to resurrect this thing one of these days!)


Stay tuned for baby news, coming very soon!

Apparently I wasn't clear enough when I said, "You have to throw it into the water..."

As much as I am often overwhelmed by motherhood, there are certainly those days when my kids make me smile way more than they make me want to cry, and today was one of them.

There's a little zoo (actually it's a farm) in town that the kids love to visit (and it's free!) so we went earlier this week, as we've been having fantastic weather lately. We arrived just in time for duck feeding at the pond, and Jack and Ellie were very disappointed when I explained that the (stupid) zoo people were charging a whole dollar for a cup of duck food and that I didn't have any money with me. (Seriously? Do they have to charge a dollar? Aren't we saving them labor by feeding the animals for them?) They watched enviously as other kids threw handfuls of food into the pond where the ducks would crowd around and swarm the food and it was all great fun.

So this morning we went back with money in hand. (Ellie later told Eric, "We fed money to the ducks!") I rounded up $2 worth of dimes from around our household; I put ten dimes in a little baggy for each of them and they proudly handed them over to the (stupid) zoo worker to receive their cups of food.

Now, before we got out of the car at the zoo, I gave them a little lesson in duck-feeding etiquette; I showed them how they can't hold the food out in their hands or the ducks might bite their fingers (they are quite aggressive ducks!). Instead, they needed to throw the food into the the water. I demonstrated taking food from the cup and throwing it. (I know, I'm such a good mom.)

So, in perfect first-born fashion, Jack gets his cup of food, and he proceeds to take one teensy pellet at a time and throw it into the pond. Those poor hungry ducks. He was still thrilled to pieces and didn't seem to notice the ducks flocking to the kid down the way who was throwing handfuls at a time. He LOVED watching which duck would "win," as he said, and was perfectly content to draw out the whole event and take his sweet little time.

Ellie, on the other hand, took my How to Feed to Ducks lesson quite literally, poor baby. She had her cup of food all of three seconds before she walked to the little bridge and flung the entire thing into the water...plastic cup and all. Oh my goodness, I about died laughing. She looked at me glowing and said, "I frew it, Mommy!" so proud of herself. I looked over to see if any zoo workers noticed, and that's when I saw a sign that said, "Please return your plastic cups to the counter." Whoops.

The sweetest thing though, was how Jack shared his pellets so generously with Ellie when he noticed she didn't have any left and she was feeling a little sad...of course, he only gave her one at a time.

And after lots of warning NOT to give any duck food to Samantha ("So WHY don't we give any to Samantha?" "Cause she's gonna eats it!" "That's right..."), Jack handed her a teeny pellet, and to my surprise she copied all the other kids and threw it over the fence! A bazillion ducks flocked over and she wouldn't stop shrieking with glee. It was so fun.

On the way home Jack asked for a snack, specifying his desire for french fries, and in one of the strangest sentences I've ever said I replied, "No honey, we can't buy any french fries today because we spent our money on duck food."

I love my kids.

Nana's Visit

Top Ten Reasons The Blog Has Been Neglected

10. We've had an extremely busy summer. (Lame reason, but true.)

9. I've been longing to give the blog a make-over and change the colors and design and FONT (I hate the available fonts on this template) and so on...but obviously it hasn't been high on my priority list (see #10).

8. I often find it quicker to write something on Facebook and keep up with people that way...but am also finding that I miss longer updates on people's lives than "I'm headed to the store this afternoon."

7. I've had a number of photography shoots this summer that have kept me quite busy with editing during my spare time.

6. (This is totally not a Reason but can I just share that as I write Eric is watching the second Star Wars movie (the recent ones) and it is seriously SO BAD. I don't know if I can sit through it much longer. The dialogue is killing me and the acting killing me faster. UGH. Shooting husband super-irritated look.)

5. We have watched a ridiculous amount of movies this summer. We lost our TV when the DTV thing happened, and even though we got an antenna we still only get NBC, WGN, and Fox. Only can I just say how BAD summer TV is?? IT IS SO BAD. And by bad I mean super-boring, uncreative, and distasteful (which also describes most of the primetime season, I have to say). But we made up for the tragic loss by watching a bunch of movies on our nights "off" (with a little help from the convenience of the Redbox at our local grocery store!) including The Changeling, Curious Case of Bejamin Button, Blood Diamond (don't get me started on how much I love this movie), The Godfather Trilogy, Knowing (horrible and creepy), The Soloist, The International, Angels and Demons, Valkyrie, Harry Potter (new one, awesome), Taken (just horrible, a bad choice), Slumdog Millionaire, Marley and Me (sniff, sniff), and most recently, UP. I know. I told you it was ridiculous.

4. I have been having trouble with posting pictures on the blog. It discourages me from putting up posts when it is so troublesome and takes so long. I love my Mac but I terribly miss Windows Live Writer!! (Any suggestions? How do you load pictures on YOUR blog?)

3. Some days I feel like I have too much to say. I actually sat down twice that I remember and ended up not posting anything I wrote, because my thoughts were so scattered and unfocused. It's been a very emotional summer for me for a number of reasons (see #1 and 2) and so I've struggled to know even what to write on our blog.

2. Many of you know, many of you do not...my mom has early-onset Alzheimer's disease. This summer has brought much progression and has been a very difficult one for my family. My sister and I have both been keeping my mom in our homes for two days each a week, which after awhile became too much for either of us to handle. It has been very emotional for us watching her decline so rapidly and struggling to know what to do next. I've often just found myself exhausted at the end of each day, which leads me to #1...

1. We're expecting our fourth in January! We always hoped to have one more but this came much sooner than we had planned. Nonetheless we are excited to bring another member into our family around Christmas or New Year's. The kids understand much more this time than when I was pregnant with Samantha, although Ellie thinks SHE has a baby in HER tummy, too. Jack suddenly looked at me today and said, "Your tummy is getting big, Mommy!" And later remarked at how he couldn't sit on my lap very well because of my big tummy. We have our first ultrasound coming soon and might find out if it's a boy or girl, and may or may not tell anyone! Stay tuned!

What has kept you from blogging this summer?

(P.S. Does anyone really think a true Jedi Knight would use the term "What in the blazes..."? Seriously.)

Samantha Update (finally....)

I am so very behind on just about everything these days so it's been hard to sit down to work on this. Finally, this sunny Sunday afternoon I realized it was June (yeah, I know) and that my Flickr account was up and running again, and so I jumped at the two-hour naptime window to get these uploaded. These are a bunch of pictures of Samantha from the past year or so, many of them just random moments throughout our day, not exactly photographic works of art. I am finding it hard to post unedited pictures these days, but I'm letting my pride go and just getting these up, for Pete's sake. I will be so happy to live somewhere with more natural light someday, so that my indoor shots will have more light and not need flash or grain. Pride aside...here goes!

These are the earliest pictures I have of you, Miss Samantha, as your newborn shots are on the other computer that crashed. I am praying we haven't lost those like we lost Ellie's newborn pictures, and that Daddy (or some other computer genius) can figure out what's wrong and get those pictures back! For now, this is you at 3 months, happy as a clam in your Boppy seat.

Sucking your thumb at an early age. You still look like this when you suck your thumb.

Where you spent a lot of time, watching me do dishes!

One of Jack's first loving interactions with you. He laid here so sweetly playing with your hands and touching your face, talking to you softly.

You and Ellie's dolls. You were actually smaller than the biggest doll when you were born!

Here you are at six months old , in the 0-3 months "going home" outfit I bought for you, that you were supposed to wear on your way home from the hospital! Never guessed I've have a small baby that needed such tiny clothing! (And yes, your crib bedding is blue and not pink. I'm sorry. But you really don't care, and I couldn't bring myself to buy you new bedding while Jack's bedding sat unused. So you enjoyed his ABC bedding and he got a new quilt for his bed. I think that is a sign of things to come, being the third child.)

Your first interaction with our Christmas Tree...and the object of your affection for many weeks...those little twinkle lights! You would scoot under the tree and lie on your back, looking up, and flail your arms with joy.

You and Papa Marc at Christmas.

You and Grandma! You get to see Grandma a couple times a week, which you love.

One my favorite dresses! I loved this little brown corduroy dress with pink stitching, especially with a big pink bow in your pretty brown hair!

Daddy's home from work!



"Please, please, give me some of your Chipotle rice and beans?"

I took these pictures of you at a friend's house...only you got very sick with pink eye and so you don't look much like yourself. I still love this blue dress on you, reflecting your blue (pink) eyes.

You and your friend Henry (who doesn't look very happy here).

One year old here...in 3-6 months clothes. I remember when you got this outfit from a friend, and it was so big on you. Now at 13 months you've finally outgrown it, but it still fit you a month ago.

"I help you, Sammy!"

"Like DIS, Saman-ta!" Ellie is really into bossing you around these days...and I see myself as an older sister in a whole new light. I owe Aunt Marika a thousand apologies...

BRING ON THE BOWS.

This happens way more often then I'd like it to, my dear.

A very common scenario in our house: Jack and Ellie into mischief of some kind, and you stuck and screaming.

"Happy Birthday to you..."

Ohhhhhh...CAKE!

I had to include this one because it was so funny...Jack and Ellie were SO excited to celebrate your birthday...but I don't think it was as much about you as it was about your cake.

YUMMY. Now for a bath...

25 Things About Jack

1. I love baseball. I have my own glove and bat and collection of balls. My dad pitches to me and I can hit the ball a lot of the time! I also like to play basketball and soccer, but baseball is my most favorite. I wore my blue Cubs hat almost every day but now it's too small.

2. I love my school! I am super-excited to go every single time. My teachers told my parents they have never seen a kid so enthusiastic about school. I love painting and playing with my friends. And snack time.

Jack on a school field trip. Notice my son is the only one with his hands in his pants. Nice....


Valetine's Day program for the parents.


Collage I made for Jack's "About our Families" book at school.

3. I play with trains almost every day. I always ask Mommy or Daddy to help me build a track, but it doesn’t always go well if Samantha is awake. She likes to chew on my tracks. I also LOVE anything Thomas-related (although my mom is starting to think about not letting me watch Thomas anymore; she thinks he's too self-centered and whiney).

Metra!


Jack watching for the train with some other kids last summer.




Jack made his own "pet train" (like the one on Little Einsteins).


This, on the other hand, is the CANDY EXPRESS. Yum.


A really cool track that Jack built. But it didn't last for long....


Guess who came through?


After being told he couldn't take his trains to church. He thought I wouldn't notice.


Another thing he likes to do with his tracks.

4. I am a very picky eater. I have about five meals that I like, and I am so stubborn that I recently I went from a late morning breakfast until the next morning without eating because I refused everything my mom offered (and for some reason she refused to give in to my begging for crackers, French fries, and cookies, something about how I needed to eat fruits and vegetables more often).

And he said, "No" when I asked him if he ate a cookie. Hm.

5. I am learning more and more about talking. Now I say things like, “That’s yours” instead of “That’s Mommy’s.” But I still say funny things sometimes, like, “Thank you really much!” or “That weren’t kind!” I know how to spell my name, and Ellie's, and I know that Samantha's name starts with an S. I love to write my name.

6. I love to pick on my sisters. I think it’s so funny! I like to hold on to Samantha’s feet so she can’t crawl anywhere. She gets really mad and screams, and it makes me giggle. Sometimes I stand on the feet of her jammies, too, so she can’t move and she gets soooo mad at me. And I like to wrestle with Ellie. She likes it too, and I totally know when she fake cries for sympathy. She dishes it out pretty rough, too, but I rarely cry. Rarely.

7. I am learning to write my letters! My favorite one right now is Q and K. I am most confused by H and A. But I LOVE to write my name…it makes me so proud. My parents go bananas whenever I do it…what dorks. I also love to color with crayons and especially markers.

After never drawing anything more than scribbles, he drew this one day, announcing, "It's an octopus." I couldn't believe it. So I took a picture.


Then he drew this, and when I asked what it was he said, "It's Mommy." Do you like my beard?


This happens a lot at our house.

8. I am SO OVER baby board books. Bring on the real picture books! I love Berenstain Bears, Clifford, Thomas (duh), Scaredy Squirrel, and as of recently I am really into Anno’s counting books. I love to go to the library, where we get to play puzzles and choose books and videos.

Watching The Berenstain Bears with the Berenstain Bear family.

9. I am learning to sit with my mommy and daddy in the church service instead of going to nursery. I am very well-behaved and quiet and I listen for words that they tell me to listen for, and I love to stick my money in the offering plate. I love church and yell “Yay, church!” excitedly every time I hear that we are going to go.

The "Big Rock" at the Arboretum.




Beautiful sunset on our hike.

10. I love to tell my parents about everything. Whenever ANYTHING happens, I say, “I have to tell Daddy/Mommy.” Sometimes I beg my mom to call my dad at work so I can tell him something. Or I open the shower curtain while one of them is in there to tell them things, like that my movie is over, or that Samantha is funny, or that I ate my breakfast. My mommy seems to get a little annoyed sometimes by all the things I constantly want to tell her, but I can’t imagine why.

11. My mommy loves it when I say, “I love you really much, Mommy.” She gives me a big bear hug with lots of kisses every time. (That will only last so long, Mom.)

12. I know all of my colors, shapes, letters, and numbers. I am learning the days of the week right now, which still confuses me a bit, but I do finally understand what mommy and daddy mean by “tomorrow.” (At bedtime I often give them a whole run-down of what I think we should do tomorrow.)

13. One of my new favorite phrases is, “Ellie you’re not the Mommy.” I also say, “I’m not the mommy. I’m the brother.” One time Mommy tried to role-play with me about obeying, and she said, “You pretend that you’re the mommy, and I’ll be Jack.” I didn’t know what she meant by “pretend” so I started crying and said, “I’m not the mommy, I’m JACK!!” I got really upset.

14. I still can’t say my “L’s” so I say, “Eh-yee” (Ellie) and “wook” (look) and yewwow (yellow).

15. My mommy’s current favorite mispronounced word of mine is “room”: I say, “Jack’s worm” or “Mommy’s worm.” This makes Mommy laugh, especially because Ellie mispronounces it too and says, “Ellie’s woomp.”

16. I like to have privacy when I go potty (who doesn’t?) so I always tell my mommy to “go out” or to “go in the house” and I shut the door.

One of his favorite indoor games...jumping off the window sill onto the couch. He LOVED this picture of himself mid-air.

17. Sometimes my mom and dad ask me so many questions about school that I get annoyed and I say, “Please stop talking to me” or “Leave me alone.”

18. I have my own red clock in my room that I am VERY proud of. I know what 7:00 looks like on the clock, and I know that I can’t come out of my room in the morning until it says 7:00. I come bursting out of my room every morning yelling, “IT’S SEH-MEN!!!!!”

19. Despite being so picky, my two favorite foods that are sure to please me any time are deep-dish pizza or a bowl of rice and black beans from Chipotle.

20. I love to have sips of my mommy’s “coppee” (coffee) when she gets it. Sometimes I get my own coppee. (Kid’s hot chocolate.)

21. I am on a huge Buzz and Woody kick right now. I love my Buzz Lightyear action figure. And my Woody doll, although Ellie and I were fighting over him and his arm ripped off. (How’s that for life imitating art?)

"Woody's been shelved!"

22. I love love love love love love going to Trader Joe’s. I am so good at finding the little purple and blue monkey they hide in the store. I always get a sucker because I can always tell them exactly where the monkey is. For some reason the person at the check-out always laughs. I must be darn-cute or something.

23. My favorite song to sing right now is the Zaccheaus song. I sing it over and over again throughout the day. I also sing Amazing Grace, Jesus Loves the Little Children, The B-I-B-L-E, and Go Tell it on the Mountain. And the theme song to Little Einsteins. And Wonder Pets. And Diego. And Veggie Tales. Yeah, I’m pretty awesome.

24. I am a very sweet boy, or so my mommy says. I share my toys with Ellie, I always get her a fork when I get my own fork, and this week I saved a piece of my special Easter chocolate from school just for her. I am very helpful and have small responsibilities at home, like hanging up my coat and putting away my shoes, taking my clothes to the laundry room, taking my plate to the kitchen after dinner, and getting dressed by myself. I am very proud of all the things I can do by myself.

25. My 4th birthday was in April. I counted down for weeks. I was SO EXCITED for my birthday to come finally, after watching all my friends at school celebrate their birthdays since September. My mom made me a Thomas the Train cake, and as I watched her put the icing on, I sighed happily, patted her arm, and said, "Oh, I love you, Mommy." I spent the morning of my birthday at the children's museum with Daddy, and then had McDonald's for lunch, pizza for dinner, and then so many friends came to my house with PRESENTS! It was the best birthday EVER.

So this cake was a disastrous experience. The instructions that came with it were totally wrong, and an hour before his party I was still piecing this thing together and frantically trying to ice it. I wish I could make it over again because I could do it much better...but this one sufficed. And HE loved it so that's what matters. He already told me that he wants a red "James" train next year. Maybe I will get that second chance...








Horrible picture, but can you see the GLEE in his face here?



HAPPY 4th BIRTHDAY, JACK-A-BEE!