Easter traditions

 Grandma V brought lots of fun Easter stuff for us to start some family traditions with our growing family. We started with window clings.

 Next activity - egg dying.  We quickly assessed that this was not a toddler activity...

 so even though the adults were having fun....moms were soon distributed to childcare & Rick was left to create on his own.  Poor dad.  Maybe next year Micah will be ready.

 Moms all reappeared  to taste test those Easter cupcakes with box cake & canned frosting!  Nobody does it like Duncan Hines.

 Our first true Easter egg hunt was a much greater success than the dying.

 Found one!

And finally - putting cars stickers on the eggs-also fun.

tulip festival 2011

 We went to this park last year and saw all of the millions of tulips. We decided to take Mom V and try to get some family shots. Unfortunately, family shots with a 28 month old are not quite so easy... Oh well, at least we tried!

 Lydia does real well holding still for photos. No complaints there.

 Micah is distraught that I ate the cracker he offered me instead of giving it back. He spent 15 minutes trying to get the already digested cracker out of my mouth...shoving his hand in there any time I got in close enough range.

This happy face...was obviously before the cracker incident.

Gifts from the neighbors

Our neighbors often drop by with unexpected fresh produce from their friend's farm. This week, we got a huge jug of fresh milk! I think it was because Mom is visiting. An extra treat!!

getting closer

Micah braved holding Lydia this morning - it happened so quick, I barely had time to grab the camera!  I think he likes it. :)

Lydia is not too sure though - keeping one eye on this guy while feigning sleep.

"Family"

 

Yesterday Rick and Micah talked about our family during breakfast. Being boys, they used cars. The jeep in back is Dad because it is biggest. Mom is the recycling truck. Micah is Percy the train. And where is Lydia? Micah lifted the recycling truck hatch and announced, "in!"  We'll get there some day.

having kids...

 Well, we all know the real reason to have kids is to help out with the work around the farm. At our house, we start them early. Micah is in charge of sweeping, and Lydia does the laundry.

the birth story

Since so many have asked...here is the short version, without all the gory details...

I woke up at 3am Saturday to discover my husband laying awake.  He had been up for a couple hours just thinking about things. I went to the bathroom and thought just possibly I could be having a slow leak from my water breaking (but it could have been just wishful thinking as well). I told Rick he had better get to sleep, just in case we had a baby the next day (again, mostly wishful thinking). I also suddenly remembered that neither my phone nor our camera battery were charged. So I quick plugged those in and then tried to fall asleep.

Not sure if I ever did fall asleep, I started noticing some pressure in my back and lower. I attributed it to gas. :) An hour later, I noticed that this 'gas' was coming quite consistently (every 8 minutes) and lasting for just under a minute. It was then 6 and I thought I should probably wake my husband though he hadn't slept well. I wanted to take a shower before a day at the hospital, and I could already hear Micah making noise from his bedroom.

Within the next hour, I took a shower, we threw things in our hospital bag, started Micah on breakfast, ate a few things ourselves, and had our friend come over to watch Micah.  By 7 I was pushing Rick out the door...these 'gas pains' were coming much more often, though I had lost focus on timing them.

Rick didn't tell our taxi driver why were going to the hospital, so that he would drive normal. Thankfully, there was no traffic on an early Saturday morning and we got to the hospital within 10-15 minutes (or 3-4 contractions if you are counting). As Rick paid, he told the driver what was happening....he promptly got flustered and yelled "May it go well!"

A nurse asked if I wanted an epidural when I walked in, and I said an emphatic yes....but then I didn't see her again for a long time! I was already at 7-8cm when they first checked me. The fetal monitor was abandoned as it didn't fit in my comfort zone of 'natural labor' positions. The epidural came eventually, but it didn't have time to work. I felt the urge to push and noticed there was no one in the room except Rick and I. A nurse walked in and Rick yelled, "I see the head!" The nurse ran out and within a minute our room had 12 people in it.  When we had arrived at the hospital, another woman was walking in in front of us....and she had her baby just 10 minutes before mine..thus the lack of personnel when Lydia was ready to make her entrance. The doctors switched scrubs and within 3 contractions, out came our beautiful little girl.

I had debated for months about epidural vs. natural labor and I definitely got natural. It was the most awesome experience I have ever felt....incredibly painful, but incredibly amazing as well. All in under 4 hours. PTL!