She saw this!

When Julie came down this afternoon from her well-deserved nap...

She saw this!

Oh.

Well, she did, that's true.  But that was not the exciting part.

(I wonder how much Pepsi paid for that spot?)

 Then she turned the corner and saw this!

The Visit

Lincoln inspecting Everyn

 Everyn was born at 1855 on Monday.  The other kids were at my parents and ended up spending the night there.  Tia Erica even took them to McDonalds.  I was pretty miserable Monday night- very nauseous and dizzy, so we decided to wait until Tuesday to have the other kids come visit.

On a side note my heart rate has been in the 40s to low 50s the whole time I have been here.  I don't know if that is my new baseline and I just hadn't known before, or if this is something new.

Noah stayed until after midnight since I was feeling so sick.  The hospital I was at with the middle 3 really encouraged babies to go to the nursery so the moms could rest.  This facility is more into Mom/baby bonding and does not encourage the use of the nursery as much.

Roman laughing

 The first thing Lincoln said when he walked into the room and saw the baby was, "she is much smaller than Berean".  I am not altogether sure what he was expecting.  He was moderately interested in the baby, but probably still most interested in his new Leapster he got for Christmas.

Roman was very interested in Everyn initially, but he soon  moved on to asking if he could "turn on the telly" (yes, he thinks it is cool to call the tv the "telly").  He also became interested in taking pictures of everything and everyone in the room.

Lincoln and Everyn

Leapster and Cheerios

Deacon wanted to hold the baby and was heard to say, "there is just something about newborn babies that make me want to just look at them."

Everyn and I are looking forward to getting home to everyone and  getting back into a routine.  Sitting around for 48 hours is a hard thing to do!  Thankfully I have a book, my laptop and the "telly" to keep me busy.  (oh, and of course the baby, but she is under going bili-light therapy so I am not supposed to be messing with her that much.)

The whole family- wow, that is a lot of people!

Everyn Laura's first post!

This evening at 6:55 we welcomed Everyn Laura officially to the family!  In brief, we came in at 9:30 this morning to get the party started, and after some induction and some pushing, there she was tonight.  None of that to take away from what Julie did, but Julie will tell you more about it at some point I'm sure.  I'm just the ghost writer.

She came in with the following vitals:
Dec 26, 2011
7 lbs 15 oz
20.8 inches

We are thankful to God for a straightforward delivery and a mom and baby that are doing well.  Julie is nauseous and tired, but tear free, and Everyn is a trooper and has taken to eating right away :)

A mighty cheer went up from the boys when they heard they had another little sister.

-N

The Big Update

 This is the final update for the "70 things to do before Baby"- things I wanted to get done in the last 10 weeks of my pregnancy.  I am most proud of walking 210 miles.  We got a lot done, and actually we got a lot more done than what actually made the list.  There are a few things left (as documented below) but for the most part those things will either get done in the next week or they are things that are really beyond my control- and I am ok with that.  All in all, I consider this project a success and am already planning out my next list :)  Incidently, my list-hating, non-goal husband kind of secretly liked the list too.


Go to zoo (actually went to an aquarium, but since we did that I won't be taking them to the zoo before baby)

2. Children’s Museum

3.Buy Carseat

4. Find/Wash baby clothes 

5. Make L an ENT appt

6. Take L to ENT appt

7. Clean out van- OCT

8. Clean out van- NOV

9. Clean out van- DEC

10. Fall Yardwork

11. 210 mile Challenge- OCT (I have determined to run/walk 210 miles before baby!) (21 miles done this week!)

12. 210 mile Challenge- NOV

13. 210 mile Challenge- DEC

14. Seasonal clothes swap

15. Winter weather wear established

16. Finish and Mail Roman’s thank you notes
17. Office to our room

18. Move Boys to office

19. Berean and Baby to boys room

20. N- make vision appt

21. N- go to vision appt

22. FMLA paperwork

23. 2012 insurance selection

24. Preregister at hospital

25. Clean out garage so cars will fit 

26. Freezer meal cooking (

27. Cabinets finished and installed 

28. New countertops 

29. Backsplash (HOPEFULLY WILL BE DONE BEFORE THE NEW YEAR!)

30. Replace microwave 

31. Fix/replace CD player in van

32. Pay off lot (HOPEFULLY WILL BE DONE BEFORE THE NEW YEAR!)

33. Mattresses for boys beds

34. Take pictures of boys

35. Mail pictures to Grandparents

36. Christmas letter/pictures/birth announcements (DECIDED TO WAIT TO MAIL OUT THE CHRISTMAS CARDS WITH THE BABY ANNOUNCEMENTS- DID HAND CHRISTMAS CARDS OUT LOCALLY.  HOPE TO HAVE THESE MAILED OUT BY END OF THE YEAR!)

37. D’s birthday party

38. Christmas shopping 

39. Christmas presents for teachers 

40. Christmas decorations 

41. Study for ACLS 

42. ACLS 

43. N- fix computer (COMPUTER IS STILL MISSING, BUT NEW LAPTOP WAS PURCHASED SO WE ARE OPERATING OK RIGHT NOW.)

44. N- finish knife

45. Get ring fixed (NOAH WILL TAKE CARE OF THIS IN JANUARYl)

46. Finish cleaning kitchen

47. OCC boxes

48. Sparks Fall Frolic

49. Dentist- me

50. Paint boy’s room

51. Paint Berean’s room

52. New blinds for boys room

53. 32 week appt

54. 36 week appt (scheduled!)

55. 38 week appt

56. 40 week appt

57. Make yogurt on a routine 

58. Sign boys up for basketball

59. Basketball evaluations 

60. Swimming lesson sign ups

61. 21 day plan (HOPEFULLY WILL START THIS FOR THE NEW YEAR.)

62. Buy shoes

63. Potty train Berean (IT's GOING...APPARENTLY I CAN't CONTROL THIS ONE)

64. Christmas charitable giving with boys

65. Mystery of History Timeline

66. Bean Candles

67.Paint family room (THIS IS THE ONE THING I AM DISAPPOINTED THAT I DIDN"T GET DONE.  HOWEVER, WE REALLY NEED SOME NEW FURNITURE, SO IT MAY BE BETTER TO WAIT A  LITTLE BIT SO EVERYTHING MATCHES :)

68. Family trip to Duluth

69. Go through toy cabinets

70. Fix Oven

The Christmas Without a Sink (But With a Microwave)

New counter on a new cabinet (thanks Jere!).

Quartzite tile. 

New tile on old counters (no backsplash yet).

Backspash still to come!  Then a sink!  Progress!

A Kitchen Island for Christmas

Islands with ranges are trendy right now.

Kitchen Sinks are Not Overrated

You may have already realized this, but I am crazy.  Do I love chaos?  Do I embrace stress?  I am not sure. I do know that I do well under stress, and I get more done with deadlines.  Noah and I were talking last week about how close I was to completing my goal of walking 210 miles between 30-40 weeks of pregnancy.  I almost said what I was thinking, but then thought better of it.

He knew what I was going to say and challenged me to say it.   Secretly I don't want the baby to come until after the due date so that I can finish the 210 miles.

That is crazy.

 Here is a little picture of Baby Fett.  Berean wanted skim milk today because it had a pink cap.  Berean repeats most of what we say, thinks that pooping is peeing and has pooped on the potty 4 times and peed on the floor numerous times.  Apparently  #63 on my "70 things to do before baby" list is not something I am going to be able to control.  She spills milk on the floor just so she can clean it up.  We all love her, but she is definitely giving us a run for our money this month.

 Here is a picture of our beautiful new cabinets.  It is amazing how much storage they are going to give us.  I say going to, because right now they just have random stuff stashed in them while the rest of the kitchen is under construction.  January's project will be to organize them.

 Last Friday night we started the tile countertop and backsplash project.  We were supposed to meet with our small group, but we had declined because of this project.  Last minute everyone else backed out of small group, so our friends Matt and Becki called and came over and brought pizza.  Matt helped Noah get a start on the project and Becki, Cole and I wrapped some presents.  I love working with friends, and I gotta tell you the fudge that they brought over has really helped me out this week :)

 Early in December the "Santa Parade" lined up in front of our house to begin their rounds.  Berean learned how to say "fire truck" and now thinks that anything larger than a mini van is also a fire truck.

 It was an impressive (and loud!) sight!

 I put together sand art brownies for the boys teachers.  For being homeschooled, they sure have a lot of teachers!  Yes, I was up quite late curling ribbons, but it was fun to make something pretty and crafty.

Deacon was in "GT and the Halo Express: Ticket to Christmas".  The whole group did a wonderful job, Deacon showed skill in singing and choreography, and it is my all time favorite Christmas drama.  What could be better than that?  (yes, I am not a huge Christmas music person, but I love the songs on that cd).


What else is going on?  Well, Saturday our soon-to-be BIL James came over and helped Noah work on tiling the countertops.  It was a big help, because as Noah says, "I love working with you, babe, but James- he understands the metric system."  sigh.  The metric system is one thing (to my shame) that I seem completely unable to grasp.  Saturday evening we hosted Deacon's "kid" party at our church.  Thankfully it was at our church because we had 13 boys there ages k-3rd grade and it was crazy.  Some of the dads stayed and they all had fun playing dodge ball, eating, watching a movie and than playing more dodge ball.

Sunday, Noah worked more on the tiling and removed the kitchen sink.  It is not an easy thing to take care of a house, be 9 months pregnant and keep 4 children fed without a kitchen sink.  Just sayin'.  I have only had 1-2 near panic attacks in the 48 hours we have been sinkless.  Noah is quite helpful when I am about ready to lose it saying things like, "stop it right now."  That sounds mean, but it actually is quite effective in helping me to buck up and just deal with the situation.  After all, I asked for the countertops.

Monday night we hosted Deacon's extended family party without the sink.  Let's just say there won't be any more parties at my house until I have a sink.  The oven has also been out of place and the microwave and dishwasher are no longer usable either.  Noah thinks maybe Christmas Eve I will have everything back.

Tonight's plan is to finish wrapping presents and get my room and some stacks of papers in order.  Every night before I go to bed I look around and feel panicky...if I were to go into the labor during the night I would be leaving the house in a very disorganized state.  Tonight I am hoping to feel better about things when I go to bed.  Good night!