for stacey
August 22, 2010 | Filed Under Benny, General, Luke, Photos, Sammy | 5 Comments
Stacey is keeping me honest with subtle reminders to update this site. There is so much going on and so much I want to write about that I get overwhelmed. I’m going to try a baby step here with a few recent pictures and words.
Lukie is (over) 3 months now. Like his brothers, he is strong. He always wants to sit or stand up. He’d walk if he could figure out the balance. He’s smiling and laughing now, but he’ll make you work for it. He’s good-natured and rarely fussy, but very serious and watchful. We retired his baby bouncy seat this week, as his efforts to sit up straight were causing him to fall out. I found him this week, still strapped in, but with his face laying on the floor fast asleep. It would have made a funny picture, but my first thought was “Oh my God! Is he dead?” We replaced his bouncy seat with a new saucer/jumper hybrid. He seems to like the upright position more.
Sam is … Sam. He’s the happiest kid on earth. He’s so sweet and loving and cuddly. He is so gentle with his baby and his dogs…yet so aggressive with Ben. So stubborn and so mouthy. He is such a joy and the cause of so many new grey hairs. We’re just starting to really think about potty training, and we’ve had some successes. I think he’s ready; we just need to be consistent…which is hard in our crazy life. He’s been plagued this summer with chapped cheeks, but Ben was too.
Ben. My big Ben. Starting school in just a few weeks. This kid just blows me away. He’s completely growing up. This summer he loves playing computer games on the Internet. He is obsessed with dinosaurs. He can identify about 20 and knows facts like their size and what they eat. So smart. He loves to play dinosaurs, which involves growling and wrestling. We had to tell him that when he approaches strange kids at the park, he should ask them IF they want to play dinosaurs…not just approach and growl. Goof. He’s at the age of testing his limits (when has he not been?) Asking to do something over and over and asking why or why not. Yes, I tell him “because I said so.” He idolizes our 8 year old neighbor, Preston. They go “bird hunting” together. He draws pictures of birds, tapes them around the yard, and shoot them with nerf or squirt guns. He then tells me he can’t eat dinner, because he is full of bird meat from hunting. Best, worst, weirdest usually involves some story of bird hunting or his neighbor. He loves to draw and is really quite good (mommy’s opinion). I plan to share some more of his drawing soon. Here’s a recent boat scene. I suggest clicking through to flickr where I included notes on parts of it.
Some pictures of the brothers:
Lucas Rider Eagle
May 4, 2010 | Filed Under General | 5 Comments
A quick post about Tuesday and the arrival of our new baby boy- I am sure Rachel will want to post more when she gets home.
Rach woke me up when she noticed that her water had broken, and I was pretty groggy because I was on-call all night on the ambulance. For some reason, I really expected to be called out, so I stayed up too late, as I am prone to do… We expected things to move fast, because the last baby came within an hour of her water breaking. We weren’t even at the hospital an hour before Sam came. She threw a bag together quickly, and I got the boys ready for daycare and went to drop them off. Then we headed for the birthcenter, stopping on the way for some coffee (for me, because I was in need). We joked about what kind of yuppie douchebags stop at Starbucks on the way to the hospital; us I guess. Her contractions weren’t coming too hard or fast, so we had time…
At the hospital, they checked her out quickly because they knew she went fast last time. Nowhere near ready, so we settled in and watched some TV to pass the time. I took a badly needed nap, and by the end of the afternoon things still weren’t going very quickly. This wasn’t really how we expected things to go, but I had left our carseats and a bag of toys at daycare in case this happened. Our friends, the Taylors, picked up the boys at the end of the day, and I planned to pick them up in the evening after the baby came. By 7, Rachel was starting to get tired and the pain was getting worse, but things still weren’t speeding up. She decided to get the epidural, which I think was the right thing, because it made her more comfortable and relaxed. Once that was in, they gave pitocin to speed up and intensify the contractions. In an hour she went from 4-7 cm, after taking about 5 long hours to go from 3-4. We had a really great nurse who was very chatty with us, and almost as excited. By 9:30, Rachel was almost ready.
The Dr. agreed that I could deliver the baby, which has been something that I wanted to do, for good EMT experience. I figured better to get some practice with a Dr. in the room in case anything went wrong, rather than have the first experience in the back of an ambulance. We were gloved up, and ready to go, but not before I touched something with the sterile gloves on. Doh! Sterile practice, what is that? Luckily they put out 2 pairs of gloves for me. The Dr. made me promise not to drop the baby. I made the promise, since I figured it was a fair request. When it was time to push, one hard push, and we could see the top of the head. A few more, and his head was out. Very blue, which worried me a bit. He had a nuchal chord x2, which means wrapped around his neck twice, but there was enough slack in it that it wasn’t pulled tight. The doc helped me unwrap it, and I moved his head down to get the upper shoulder out. Then he pretty much came out. I remembered the one thing they beat into us in class. Suction the mouth first, then the nose. If you suction the nose first, the baby can startle and breathe in the fluid in their mouth and throat. 10:07PM
After he was out, the cord was clamped and I cut it pretty long, wrapped him up then handed him to mama. They let Rachel hold him for a very long time- much longer than our other two children, which was great. After that, we weighed him and reclamped/trimmed the cord short. I gave him a half bath- the nurse washed his hair. Then, we relaxed for awhile and admired his squishy little face and his good crop of dark hair. By 12:45, I was getting pretty tired and decided to go home and get some good sleep. We had called the Taylors earlier, and the boys were already asleep, so they ended up staying there for the night. B. even offered to drive them to daycare in the morning- thanks! Also thanks to Darilyn who picked up our dogs last night from our house. We didn’t figure on the long labor, and those puppies were alone for way longer than we hoped for. Long enough for a wet spot. 
Pet Vacation is the dog-sitting business she runs. (I can give any locals the info). A great person who has always been there when we needed her, and the only person Rossi loves outside this family.
Today, I slept in later than I planned to, and since it was such a beautiful day rode the motorcycle to the hospital, stopping at work for my laptop, and for some take-out lunch for Rach and I. Took a 2 hour snuggle nap with my son, then picked the boys and the dogs up. We went back to the hospital with some happy meals (appropriately named) and spent some time with our new brother and son. Some guests came by and we all had a nice visit with the newest Eagle. The kids got a little crazy, but nothing new there. A great day. We took some nice pictures tonight with all the boys, but I didn’t grab the memory card. I am sure Rachel will be more than happy that I didn’t steal her thunder, as she will likely put a post up when she gets home tomorrow. So, for now, these are the pictures that I posted last night on Facebook. We are very lucky.
J
28 weeks
February 21, 2010 | Filed Under General | Leave a Comment
Last weekend, I made it to 28 weeks and entered my third trimester. Holy cow! That makes it scary. I celebrated in Michigan, where I traveled for Ember’s baby shower.
At my 28 week appointment, things looked good. I got a little guff for a 10 pound! weight gain from the nurse, but the doctor was unconcerned as I was just catching up from earlier in the pregnancy and still within ok range. I wonder if it has anything to do with the gallons of milk a week I am drinking? Just can’t get enough!
I am measuring right on and heart beat and blood pressure are normal. I drank the glucola and gave blood without incident for the blood glucose and other tests. I haven’t heard anything back, so I assume that all is well.
Besides feeling huge, I am also tired and sore. My legs and back are giving me problems, especially when I over do it. I’m starting some nesting tendencies though, which leads to doing too much. Why can’t I have all this motivation when I feel great?
I am also feeling LOTS of movement. Baby is very active, and I’m enjoying identifying body parts as he wiggles. Ben was able to feel some kicks the other day, which I think I enjoyed more than he did.
For my 28 week belly picture, I’d like to share this shot of Ember (34 weeks), Tiffany, and I last week (courtesy of Tiffany). How can it be almost 10 years since we graduated from college, when we all look so young?
Christmas 09
January 7, 2010 | Filed Under General | 1 Comment
We spent Christmas this year in the UP. First, we went to Baraga for 2 nights to spend time with Ned and Toini. It was great to spend time with them, and the kids had a ball. Would you believe I didn’t take any pictures there? We got to see Ed, Sherilyn and clan there too. Once again, the boys had a ball playing with their cousins. Read more