Introducing Ann

Our baby was born!  On Sunday, November 10, we were getting ready for 1:00 church and I started having strong contractions, enough to make me freeze and not be able to talk.  I didn’t know if it would be good for me to try to play the organ and have a contraction like that.  So I stayed home and laid on the couch while David took the kids to church.  That night I had a few more, but nothing very regular so we didn’t feel the need to go to the hospital.  The next day David went to work and I went about the day with the kids as usual.  He called at 5 to see if I was doing okay, and I felt fine at that point.  However, I started getting dinner ready and started having the strong contractions again.  By 7 pm, I called David to come home and take me to the hospital.  I felt bad because he would be off at 7:30 pm anyway, and he was in the middle of a root canal, but I wanted to go to the hospital.  We dropped the kids off at a neighbor’s house and were off!  By the time we checked in, the contractions had stopped so I was embarrassedly thinking it was a false alarm.  But they checked me and I was already dilated to an 8—and could get to a 10 at any time!  We hurried as fast as we could to get the epidural, and by the time she came everything was perfect.  I wasn’t in pain and I could feel just enough to push her out, and she didn’t cry very much.  It was so exciting to find out we had a girl!  She was so beautiful—I tell you, it’s the absolute best feeling in the world to hold a new naked baby after giving birth.  It more than makes up for all nine months of nausea and pain and delivery.

 

Annie has been eating and sleeping like a regular baby, and doesn’t cry too much.  Mason LOVES holding her cheeks and talking to her, and Kate mostly ignored her at first but now elbows Mason out of the way so she can get a good talking in to her, too.  I can’t wait for Annie to get a little older and see what kind of personality she will have; quiet like Mason or wild like Kate. 

I really enjoyed having Mom out for three weeks; I really feel like that is one of the main reasons I have adjusted to having another kid so easily. Love you, Mom.

 

Right before Christmas, we had a bout with the flue, and Kate had her 2nd birthday.  She is sometimes your typical terrible two-year-old, but I LOVE HER.  David was dying laughing trying to get her to blow out her candles.

 

Christmas morning! The kids woke up and came into our room.  We asked Mason if he wanted to go open presents—he said no, haha.  I don’t think they really understood the whole concept.  Anyway, I ran downstairs and started recording the kids coming down the stairs and seeing their kitchen (not too impressed initially).  The rest of the day we spent opening presents—Mason seriously took all day.  He would open one present and want to play with it forever before getting on with the show.  It was great. 

 

We celebrated our 6^th wedding anniversary by signing some preliminary papers to buy a house here in Liberty, MO!  We are excited but it seems a long ways off because the current residents are building a new house and will rent from us until they are ready to move out, around August or September.

 

On January 27, we blessed baby Ann in Declo.  She was beautiful.

 

  

 Here's to a happy and healthy 2014,