Chase Maxwell Connor

It has finally happened. I am no longer pregnant, and even better than that is that I have a gorgeous new little man at my house. Chase Maxwell Connor was born at 10:30 on February 21, 2009. He weighed in at 7 lbs and 2 oz and is 19 inches long. I started having contractions on Friday and by four they were getting pretty strong, so I called Phil and told him to come home and take me to the hospital. All the kids wanted to be together so we called some friends and they took them for us. When we got to the hospital, they put me on the monitor and our little guy was having some problems. His heart rate would drop during some of the contractions so they admitted me and broke my water to hurry things along. We had one close call in the middle of the night when his heart rate fell and changing sides was not helping. They called for the doctor and all of a sudden the room was full of people! They had me get on my hands and knees to see if that would help and told me that if it didn't bring up the heart rate they were going to rush me into do an emergency c-section. Luckily, it did work and although I had to spend the rest of the night on my right side because any other position was not working for the baby we were able to avoid a c-section. At about ten the next morning, we were finally ready to push and I was able to get him out with about four good contractions and some strong pushes. He is absolutely beautiful and is such a good baby. They let me go today and it is nice to be home with my family again. Chase is busy being adored by everyone and is finally getting the hang of the whole breastfeeding thing. A big thank you to every one who helped and to all of you who were pulling for us. We are so grateful!

What is it about boys and cars?

When Nathan was almost two years old, he became very interested in cars. He loved them and was always playing with his "beeps". A couple of months ago, I noticed a similar phenomenon with Caleb. One day he had no particular interest in cars, and the next he was carrying "beeps" with him everywhere he went. With Nathan, he was satisfied by having a car in each hand. Caleb, however, loads his little arms with as many cars as he can carry. It must be a boy thing.

This is Nathan at his second birthday party. With all the toys and all the activity going on around him, all he wanted to do was play with his new cars.
Here are a couple of pictures of Caleb playing with his cars (notice the number of cars in front of him) at the table.

Another chapter in the messy boy saga

Well, the other day, Caleb brought me a package of sugar free instant chocolate pudding and said "please". He had just had lunch and was obviously trying to get me to make some desert, and since he asked so nicely, I acquiesced. I whipped up the pudding in no time flat and sat him at the table with a bowl full of yumminess. I then went back to folding laundry on the couch. A few minutes later I looked behind me to see what he was doing and this is what I saw.
I was shocked at first and then I couldn't help but start to chuckle, which turned into a full blown laugh fest as I watched my little mess maker eat his pudding with abandon and enjoy every minute of it. I ran and got the camera so I could document the moment for posterity.
After he had finished his pudding (meaning the stuff still in his bowl), I whisked him upstairs and into the bathroom pleading with the whole time to "please don't touch anything". I ran him a tub and cleaned him and washed his hair. The water turned an unappetizing brown color, but he was clean and happy so that was fine with me. He certainly keeps life interesting.

Still Pregnant

I have to admit that I am having a bad attitude right now about being pregnant. Even though I'm not quite 38 weeks, I really want THIS BABY TO COME OUT! So, in the hope of reminding myself to be patient and to relish the fact that I am pregnant with a healthy baby boy, which is something that some women don't get to experience, I thought I would take to the blog and make a list of things that are good about pregnancy to help me to remember not to be bitter about the fact that I am sore and tired and getting new stretch marks. First of all, after all is said and done, the most important thing I get out of it is a beautiful baby boy! How cool is that? It is such a privilege to play host to and help to build a body for one of Heavenly Father's precious children. Second, my kids have had such a great time anticipating the arrival of their new sibling. Here are some pictures of Caleb kissing and tickling my tummy or "the baby". It will be fun to see him with his new younger sibling.

And the third I get to be all glowing and maternal. Somebody at church told me yesterday that I look fantastic and clear skinned, and radiant, and tell me honestly, is there a woman in the world who doesn't like to hear those kinds of compliments? Anyway, despite the pain, and the contractions that don't do anything, and the waiting and hoping that it will happen soon, and the frustration that it hasn't happened yet, I am grateful. I am grateful for the fact that I am pregnant and that he is healthy and that I am healthy, and that my family is excited to have a new addition, and that my husband is employed and that we are able to squeeze in another child and all that goes with it. In other words, I'm feeling very blessed.

The Park

Last weekend, while Phil was busy studying I took the kids to the park. We had a great time and the weather was so nice. It is nice to get out and it is such a fun little park, just down from our house. We took water bottles and Joslyn rode her bike, parked it outside the gate and ran back to escort Caleb. It was nice to sit there and watch the kids run around chasing each other and going down the slide. We saw a huge snail climbing up the wall of the fence. The shell was easily three inches long and if I had been French, I probably would have taken it home for dinner.
I admit that I have not been outside much just for the fun of it lately. Mostly my ventures to the great outdoors have to do with running errands and it was nice to change that. What with the perfect weather and the slight breeze blowing in to cool us it was just about as good as it gets. The only thing that would have made it better is if Phil could have been there with us instead of studying, but I guess you can't have everything. It was so nice being outside and just relaxing. What a great day!

Little monkey