See All Ya'all Next Week!

Well, it's almost time for me to finish packing up for my trip to Orlando. I leave for the airport tomorrow morning. I'm looking forward to sleeping through the night. I mean, Nathan's a very good baby, but he's still a baby and he still wakes up hungry. So, the sleeping will be a nice change. And the beds at the hotel we're staying at look like the most comfortable thing every. I'll probably have to be dragged out of bed, kicking and screaming.

I'll take pictures and show you all next week! Have a good time without me.

DO NOT EAT THIS!

Warning, do not buy and/or eat the Lean Cuisine flatbread pesto chicken sandwich. It will make you rue the day you paid your hard-earned and thinly-stretched dinero to buy the nasty thing.

Generally, I really like Lean Cuisine. There might be a few that I don't really care for, but this is the first one that I actually found disgusting. It's just all-out weird. I can't even describe how terrible it was.

So, be grateful that I tried one first, because now you don't have to. I just hope that I can get the experience out of my mind (and mouth) soon.

Nathan Gordon

Yesterday, we were all in the car, with the three boys crammed into the back with the baby's car seat and the others' booster seats, on our way to a special place we like to call McDonald's when I heard Daniel talking to the baby and calling him "Nathan Edward." He then said that we should call the baby "Nathan Gordon."

At first I couldn't figure out why Daniel wanted to call the baby Nathan Gordon. And then it hit me and I started laughing: Daniel thinks of this Edward when he says Nathan Edward, not this Edward, who the baby is actually named after.

I think I'll let them believe for a while that the baby is named after one of Thomas' friends. After all, it's probably less traumatic to believe that you're named after a very useful steam engine rather than a blood-sucking vampire.

A Miracle!

"It's a miracle! Miracle! A true blue spectacle, a miracle come true!" Yes, it is a miracle. As I was getting ready for church this morning (unfortunately missing the sacrament, which was my whole reason for getting ready for church today because I haven't been to church since before the baby was born), I decided to try on a skirt that I bought before I got pregnant last fall. And it fit! It's a miracle! I guess I'll have to go through my other clothes and see what still fits. Yipee!

Running Away...

I just got back home after I ran away for a couple of hours. I tried to run away earlier, but Daniel saw me leaving and he wanted to go too. And then Andrew saw Daniel getting ready to leave and wanted to go too. So I spent an hour with them at Michaels with Daniel saying most of the time, "Let's go home now, Mommy."

Then I had to get away without the children. Nathan is fine; it's the two who can talk who were driving me nuts. And the husband was watching a war movie and I was so sick of hearing things being blown up I was about to scream.

So I ran away again. I ended up at the dollar store listening to other people's children scream. I just wanted some quiet time!!! I guess I'll have to wait until bedtime to get some of that.

I Can't Wait for Dawn to Break!

Yesterday I got to read the first chapter from Breaking Dawn. My friend Amy bought the special edition of Eclipse and she let me read the extra stuff at the back. And all I can say is that it's going to be a long, long wait until August!

Here's the Story...

So, most of those who read this blog have already seen the above picture, but I haven't taken any more pictures so I'm just going to post this one. But you probably have heard the story of how Nathan Edward came into the world. Here it is:

Last Wednesday, I was really starting to feel anxious about having, as I was calling him before he was born, "this baby." I didn't sleep at all Tuesday night because I was having panic attacks wondering if I would have to go back to work after Wednesday (I took Tuesday and Wednesday off as family sick leave because my boys were sick and because I couldn't stand the thought of being at work anymore).

So, going into my doctor's appointment on Wednesday at 2:10, I was not the happiest camper. The doctor's MA mentioned that I was my normal, happy self. Nope, I was not. I wanted to have the baby! So, the doctor stripped my membranes again, told me I was 80% effaced and dilated between a 3 and a 4. He told me that if the hospital weren't so busy, he would send me in that day to have my water broke, but the hospital wouldn't let him do that. He then said that if I started feeling any contractions at all to go to the hospital. I wasn't to worry that they were a certain number of minutes apart or anything like that. He wouldn't let the hospital send me home. Then he gave me a note for the district saying that I needed to go on maternity leave that day.

I had decided earlier that I would go into the school after my appointment to get some grading done. But as I was driving (it took me maybe 15 minutes), I started having contractions. And they started coming strong and fast. I got to the school, went inside, and told my friend that I wasn't going to stay and grade; I was going to go to the hospital. I called my husband and told him to meet me at the hospital. I was just going to drive myself to the hospital, but the other teachers convinced me that it wasn't the best idea (for which I was grateful later). So, my friend Amy drove me to the hospital in my car while Shauna followed us so she could take Amy back to the school.

When we got to the hospital, I called my husband and he had just dropped off our boys and was on the way. I was a little bit stressed. When we went into the hospital, they took me right into triage and Amy stayed with me. I'm sure it was uncomfortable for her, but I was glad that there was someone there with me until Seth got there. So, after what seemed like an eternity, my husband showed up and the person taking down my personal information was finally done (seriously, I was in pain and she was asking me questions like we were just hanging out or something), and I was wheeled into a delivery room. And, bing, bang, boom, the baby was born.

Okay, it wasn't quite that quick, but there was never a moment to just relax. I went from being dilated to a 5 when I got to the hospital to a 9 within an hour. This baby did not want to wait! So, I figure from when I first started feeling contractions to when Nathan was actually born was all of about 3 hours.

So, that's the story. Nathan was born at 9 pounds (my other two were both under 8 pounds when born) and he is 20 1/2". And so far, he's been a really good baby. He gets upset when he's hungry, but that's about it. And as you can see from the picture, the boys already love him. Daniel likes to talk to him and hold him and tell him that everything is okay.

And now it sounds like he's starting to get fussy, so I guess I better get a bottle ready.