Boo!

We had a brief sun break this afternoon, and Jeff had the big kids out of the house. I used the opportunity to try and get a good photo of Sam in his Very Hungry Caterpillar costume (crocheted by my mom!). Photographing newborns is hard!

Birth Photos

Check out Samuel's hospital birth photos here. Use the password: nten1025franklin

Brotherly Love

Samuel Peter Franklin

Baby Samuel was born yesterday, October 25th, at 10:53 pm, weighing 8lbs 13oz, and measuring 20" long.

Welcome to the world, little guy.

The Dealership

You know that episode of Seinfeld where Kramer tests drives a car, and he and the salesman decide to keep driving to see how far they can get before running out of gas?*  That's kind of how I feel right now.  I made it to 39 weeks.  39 weeks!  What if I could get to 40?!?  What if he isn't born until November?!?  I mean, I know this baby has to come out some time.  And it's not like I have much of a choice in the matter.  But, the excitement is definitely building with each passing day.  My doctor told me that she had no problem letting me go all the way to 42 weeks.  That's November 10th!  Hopefully, he'll come on his own before that.  I REALLY don't want to have be induced.  Plus, I'd always wonder how far we could have made it.

*No?  Really?  Alright, here it is.

Countdown to Baby 2012: 38.5 weeks

If Eyeball isn't born in the next 24 hours, I will have officially crossed the line into the-most-pregnant-I-have-ever-been-hood. This is completely fine by me. In fact, it would be super if he could wait until the weekend to be born, ya know, when Jeff is around. But not next weekend. Next weekend, I want to go trick-or-treating with my big kids.

Just in case Eyeball decides to be inconvenient, I've made sure to schedule myself some childcare providers/hospital drivers/emergency midwives.  Diane spent the day with us today, and will be back on Thursday.  Nancy will be hanging out tomorrow.  Then, Jeff will be home on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  It feels a little bit like we're sitting around watching a ticking time bomb.  But, it's definitely nice to have the extra set of hands at this point.  Funny how pregnancy hasn't slowed down Marley or Amelia one bit:)

Here's our attempt at finally taking some pregnancy photos of me the other day, at 38 weeks.  The kids (particularly Marley) were really offended that we were trying to take pictures that didn't include them.  Most of these were taken in between being climbed and jumped on.  I'm impressed by my relative look of calm.

I'm not sure why Marley looks so bored in this next photo.

This one of him showing his unhappiness at being left out was taken about two seconds before.

The Waiting Game

We're rounding the bend to 38 weeks, and no signs yet of baby. Jeff and I were reminiscing about being blissfully ignorant in the days leading up to Amelia's speedy birth. My worries then were all work-related. Would I be there to administer the state standardized test to my students? (No.) Would I be able to get all my report cards done before I had the baby? (No.) Would my long-term sub be available to start when I needed her? (No.)

This time it's all about the birth. Will I make it to the hospital in time? Will Jeff make it to the hospital in time? Will I give birth in the car on the West Seattle Bridge? (Hopefully, the answers to those questions are yes, yes, and no.) But, just like last time, I know that the answers to those questions won't really matter once I have my beautiful baby in my arms. Or at least, it'll mean we have a really good story to tell.

In the meantime, all I can do is focus on something that I do have control over. No, not my other children (most definitely don't have any control over them).  My room!

This is what our "closet" has looked like for the last eight years, except that it was filled with stuff. 

Don't ask me why some parts were never painted. Or why there's a big pole in the middle.

I imagine someone had plans for the big empty "box".

I painted and added shelves to the box.

It doesn't look that different, but it's WAY better already.

I'm not sure what else I can do to make the space more closet-like.  Maybe add some wire shelves?  The big pipe right in the middle doesn't help.  Neither do the sloped ceilings.  I guess it'll have to do for now.

Here's what the rest of the room looks like right now.  From left to right: Marley's old dresser containing some of my clothes, a tiny build-in book shelf holding board books, some big bins holding a variety of toys, my rocking chair, yoga ball (behind chair) for bouncing babies to sleep, gate at the top of the stairs.

Here you see: The edge of the changing table, another dresser containing my clothes (topped with wipes and diapers), a built-in shelf holding more diapers and wipes, garbage can, cupboard containing baby clothes, labor and delivery bags all packed and ready to go!

Here is the changing table holding mostly diapers, diaper covers, and diaper accessories in bins below. In the background, you can see our bed and baby's bed.

Here's what it looks like from the other side.  Our bed is tightly bungeed to the crib for easy nighttime nursing.  We didn't figure this out until Marley was over a year old, but used it from the start with Amelia, and LOVED it!!

There you have it!  Ready as we'll ever be, I suppose.  Now, back to the waiting.

Pumpkin Time!

We had beautiful weather on Sunday, so decided to head up to Edmonds to our favorite pumpkin patch, Fairbank Farm. Going up that way was also an excuse to visit our friends, Dustin and Cecily.  We hadn't seen them in quite a while, and it was nice to catch up.  On the way in, Marley noticed a tree in their neighbor's yard that had a little red door in the middle.  He was excited to go over and "knock on the door to see who lived there."  No one answered the tree door, but he and Jeff did get to meet the neighbors:)  Marley's other favorite part of the visit was watching Dustin set up "the robot" to vacuum the room.  When it was time to go, Marley didn't want to leave, and said he wanted to stay at Dustin and Cecily's forever.

Amelia spent the entire visit trying to poop.  The poor girl had been constipated for the last couple days, and was clearly uncomfortable.  Luckily, we're talking about Cecily here, so she produced inspiration in the form of the Potty book and a number two pencil.  And finally, right before we had to leave - success.  What a relief! 

We grabbed a bite to eat, then headed over to the farm to meet Troy, Jada, and Miles.  I don't know how they do it, but this place always has zillions of baby animals.  The two-day-old piglets were so cute and tiny.  Their mama snored loudly while they nursed.  She didn't even stir!  Their other sow was in labor and we watched her building her nest.  Jeff and I were really hoping that she would give birth while we were there, but no such luck.

Two day old piglets

There were baby goats to pet, too.

Jada pets a duckling

I like how Jada's the only one posing.  The rest of them are "driving".

2012

The kids also got to pet a bunny, see chicks hatching out of eggs, jump in a pile of hay, feed chickens, and run through a corn maze. I can't wait to go back to this place next year!

Oh and, just for comparison, here are our little pumpkin and scarecrow from years past.

2010

2011

Videos

I realized that I haven't posted any videos in quite some time.  These were both taken in the last few weeks.  The first is me interviewing Amelia about preschool.  Sorry for the crappy camera work.  I was trying to film discreetly, otherwise it would have been a very short video.  The second one is a video Marley took himself.  He went around the corner of the house from us, so we couldn't see what he was doing.  Enjoy!

 

 

Still Pregnant:)

I know people start to worry if more than a week goes by with no new posts, but I assure you, I am still VERY much pregnant.  I had my 18th, and final, progesterone shot last Thursday (woo hoo!), and will hit 37 weeks this weekend!  I feel really good.  Lower back aches, pelvic pain, heart burn, and my ability to sleep, surprisingly, have gotten somewhat better in the last few weeks.  Perhaps this is my body's way of letting me rest in preparation for childbirth?  I'm sure it doesn't hurt that I've been doing weekly prenatal yoga, and have recently added weekly prenatal massage.  I don't know how (or WHY?!?) I went so long without ever having had a massage during pregnancy.  I highly recommend this, even if, like me, you don't feel like you really need it.  I got a referral from my OB, so it's even covered by my insurance.  Trust me.  Do it.  It's awesome.

My to-do list is mostly finished.  Hooray!  I'll have to post some pictures of the nursery/our room, which is pretty much as baby-ready as it's going to get.  The only BIG thing still left to do is pick a name!  Other than that, only the waiting is left.  Anyone want to put in their guess for Eyeball's birthday?