Daisy Fun Day...

Hannah had a great time at Daisy Fun Day today, there were lots of other Daisy Scouts as well as older girls helping out. They had lots of activities for the girls to do and they learned a bunch of new songs too. It was great for the girls to see other scouts and realize that they're part of a bigger group of girls.

After the morning of fun we went to lunch with friends of ours and we called it a girls lunch together. Hannah had her friend, Claire, to talk with and I had another Mom :) After lunch Hannah and I went to Target together for a little shopping, we enjoyed ourselves together with Rebekah in tow.

My audience...

When I sit down to nurse the baby everyone comes running to watch or sit with me. It is like this when I change her diaper too. They run to watch from all corners of the house. Almost every time they are signing a song about changing baby's diaper too. It's fun to see that they are so into what happens to Rebekah. They love her and want a part in everything she does.

Big brother...

Big bro Ben loves to hold his little sister but often times he is so busy that he doesn't get a turn. He gets involved in something else before he has a chance to hold her and then forgets that he was even in line. He loves to hold her though and tries to every day!

Ben and 2.5wk old Rebekah

Tea party...

In Daisy Girl Scouts today the girls celebrated Valentines Day with a tea party. The girls dressed up, brought presents for their 'sisters' and shared treats and tea with each other. They had so much fun. Here they are clinking tea cups with each other. They loved it. I am sure that a tea party will be something that they want to do again.

First bath...

We gave Rebekah her first bath today, and the kids all had to help! They absolutely loved giving her a bath and asked so many questions. They all wanted to know about the tub and if they were all given baths in that tub, and who had baths in that tub for the longest time, and was the tub in the sink when they were given baths too...and they went on! They were gentle in pouring water on her and even were careful not to get the water on her face. I was glad for that. She just laid there soaking in the warm water, she was precious. We kept the little towel on her to keep her warm, because it is cold in the house. We don't need her getting cold. So it was fun for all and now she's all clean (Hannah had told me that she was "looking pretty dirty" yesterday).

Two weeks...

Baby Rebekah is two weeks old today and she is growing a lot and fast! Our midwives came by this afternoon and weighed her and she is already 9 lbs! She gained a pound and a half in the week and a half when she was last weighed. She is beginning to grab (at least trying) our hands, fingers, and hair. She hardly cries, perhaps that is because everyone holds her all the time giving her the attention that she needs! She squeaks and squeals all the time, that's how we know she's waking up or needing something. We are all adjusting nicely to finally having our little angel with us.

Busy kids...

Ben, Hannah and Noah have been keeping busy since our little Rebekah's arrival. This week they joined their unschooling group at the park and played with their friends. They love that group of kids so we intend on joining them more often. 

Yesterday Daddy took them on a field trip to the Chinese Historical Museum downtown. They took a tour of the museum, listened to some stories and did an activity. They really liked learning about the Chinese year and the dragon. They got a red envelope to take home!

Today they joined our monthly homeschool field trip group at the Chula Vista Nature Center. They loved it. They have been missing their usual routine and seeing their friends so this was nice for them to join with Daddy.

Boxer...

While we were eating dinner tonight Daddy was holding his little girl. She was so quiet and still and we didn't really notice that she was there with us. I snuck a peak at her at one point and it looked like she was getting ready for a boxing match. Ben said that it looked like she was going to do a karate punch, because that is where he has to put his hands in the beginning of the form he does in his class. Watch out she's gonna get ya!

Prints...

To follow our baby tradition, we had Patty Cakes come to our house to do hand and footprints for baby Rebekah. We have done this with all the kids on their 11th day of life. The foot and hand prints are so special and they are all done on the same day. Rebekah slept through the whole thing today, she squeaked a little when the man pressed on her foot (he was pressing a little hard to make sure he got the imprint) but that was it. She slept for a few hours after that. We'll get the plaque in about 10 weeks. Should be sweet.

More visitors...

Rebekah got to meet her Granny and Grandad today, they've been out of the country for the past week and a half. They love her. She fell asleep on Granny's lap. What a sweetie!

8 days new (taken yesterday)

Granny and Grandad

With cousin Ryan

And another of Hannah holding her, she's asleep. She never sleeps on me like this.

Ticket...

We continue to learn in our house. Today we noticed a police officer on a motorcycle outside clocking the speeding drivers coming down the road. So we watched him for about 2 minutes. I think he saw us watching him (how could he miss us?) and perhaps was on a mission to get someone while we watched. He would pull his speedometer out and point it at the next car and then the truck. The blue truck got a wave from the policeman to pull over and that was the lesson. You speed, you get a ticket. My kids had never seen a ticket being given and were glued to the action below. Ben thought it was a show and was going to get chairs for everyone to sit on so that they would be able to watch in comfort, I told him that it was almost over and that they would be leaving soon. So no extra chairs, besides there was already one that they could sit or stand on out front.

Rebekah Elise birth story

Friday Feb 6, 2009

At exactly 1am I woke up with a sense that something was happening. I had to go to the bathroom but as soon as I made up my mind to get out of bed I felt my waters break. I raced to the bathroom in hopes of not leaking all over the place. After I figured that it was the bag of waters (because there was so much liquid) I got cleaned up as best I could and went back to bed. I anxiously awaited the contractions and wondered when they would start. I tried to sleep but ended up just resting while waiting.

For the next 3 hours I stayed in bed resting, the contractions started to come gradually around 1:40 and were about 15 minutes apart. I got up every hour to use the bathroom and to clean myself up a bit. By 4:30am the contractions were strong, but irregular and I was still able to walk around and through some of them. I found that if I sat down or lay down the contractions seemed to slow down, so I stayed mobile or standing. Some were 15 minutes apart and others were 2 minutes apart.

I woke Corey at 4:30 and told him that they were getting stronger (he had awoken earlier and I told him my water broke), it was harder to focus through them but calling Gerri (the midwife) wasn’t necessary yet. In the middle of one strong one I did tell him to start getting the pool ready.

At 5:30 Corey called Gerri to let her know that I was in labor and things were moving along but we would call her when we needed her. She called us back and said that she needed to drop some papers off at her tax persons house but that she’d come right after. We called her back around 6:15 and told her that she needed to come now, it ended up taking her about an hour to get to our house.

Meanwhile, Noah woke up at 6 and Hannah woke up at about 6:30, Ben was last to get up at 7:00. Contractions were coming strong, but still irregular and it was hard to concentrate through them. I got in the pool at about 7:10, it was real nice and made me relax a bit. The kids wanted to finish the movie that they had started the night before: Annie. So I faced myself in the pool towards the TV and watched, rather I listened to it, too. At about 7:15 the midwives showed up and started hustling around getting ready for the birth and organizing supplies. At some point the children finished the movie and were off to the playroom to play. They wanted to watch the birth so I made sure that they were called in when it was time. I was shaking in the pool, it was cold so we had to get the water warmed up, it was much better when we re-filled with hot water and I covered myself with a towel.

I think I was subconsciously waiting for the kids to wake up and for the midwives to be here. As soon as they showed up, the contractions became strong pushing contractions. I wasn’t comfortable sitting in the pool, my belly was getting cold so I decided to turn over and lean on the pool while on my knees. My belly was completely subemerged and hung in the warm water, and that felt better. The contractions were strong down low in my pelvis and it felt a little better to have my belly hanging down. I could stretch my back and belly easier than when I was sitting.

I felt the baby’s head coming down and I announced to the room that I was pushing just to make sure that they knew I was pushing. They knew. It felt like I was by myself and I hoped that everyone was still there. I wanted to labor alone but I still wanted them around. So when my body started pushing I remembered the children and called for them, and they ran in. I knew that the baby was coming quickly and I didn’t want anyone to miss it. I didn’t push on top of the contractions, no one counted either, I just let my body do it on it’s own. I think it was two or three pushing contractions and she came down and out easily, her cord was wrapped around her neck. I can’t believe how aware I was with this birth, I felt the head coming down, and I kept in control throughout.

While the midwife was unwrapping the cord from her neck, Corey said “Hannah look at your little sister!” I said “What? We have a girl?” I was then able to turn over to sit and hold her. Everyone is so excited! A little girl. We are now a complete family with 2 boys and 2 girls.

Rebekah Elise was born at 7:51am, weighing in at 7lbs 15oz, and 20¼ inches long. Just perfect.

Minutes after birth

Visitors...

Rebekah meeting some extended family today.

Maria and Eddie came to visit today, they love little Rebekah.
Great-grandma Rosalie loves little girls and couldn't stop smiling at her newest great-grand-daughter. Now she has 3 :)

More pictures...

CousinsNanny and Rebekah
Hours new
Ben and his new sister
Hannah and her new sister

6 days old...

Rebekah Elise is getting into a little routine these days. She is sleeping well and eating well. We all love her. She's moving her arms around and turning her head to the voices around. She definitely knows Mommy's voice and starts to smack her lips when she hears me around. It could be that she's hungry every time I come around but I'd like to think that she knows me and is so smart already! Ben, Hannah and Noah are terrific Mommy helpers and love to hold her when I need a break. They have a hard time taking turns holding her. They all want to do it at the same time. We're all learning about this new little one that we now have in our house and everyone is adjusting well. 

4 days old...

all snuggled up

listening to the bedtime story

Baby pics...

Baby Straily...

The newest member of our family was born at 7:51am this morning (Feb 6th). She was born in water at home surrounded by her brothers and sister, Daddy and midwives. Labor was quick and fast. She is sweet and adorable. Her name is Rebekah.

I'll tell the birth story soon, right now I'm off to rest. But for now here are some pictures.

Rebekah

Getting and giving kisses

Ben and Daddy weighing Rebekah, 7lbs 15oz (just the same as Hannah)

Hannah and her sister

Playing in the rain...

So it decided to start raining this afternoon and the kids didn't mind. They were still in their summer clothes and playing with rocks and water, and of course the kitchen containers. Actually I think what they were doing was cleaning rocks from the back yard. They got water from the hose, then (since it was cold water) hot water from the kitchen and mixed it together with some soap. That made it super fun with bubbles even! They sang songs and danced around like they were in a musical and on stage! They played nicely together, no arguments or screaming at each other...that's something we don't see/hear very much lately. 

Now it's cleanup time and boy is there a muddy mess in the kitchen and on the kids! Oh well, it was so worth the 2 hours of quiet cooperative play.

All... in the rain :)

Henna belly...

I have been thinking about having this done for a long time and have wanted to do it for one of my pregnant bellies. During this pregnancy, I briefly thought about it and then forgot about it until last week when I saw pictures of Anne's baby belly all done up by Ginger at the park last week (we missed the park). So I got mine done today at our unschooling park day. The kids were all playing with their friends and I got to sit and be painted. Tomorrow is my due date, so I got it done just in time :) It is awesome and I think Ginger did a fabulous job!! Here it is all finished. Now I'm ready for the big day...

Thank you Ginger!

Family park day...

We joined some new-ish friends today at a local park for our monthly unschooling picnic in the park. The kids had so much fun. They ran around following each other doing all kinds of stuff. They barely played on the playground, it was so much more fun and interesting to do all the playing and activities elsewhere. I find that many times the kids don't play on the structures but that they create their own games in the bushes or on the grassy areas. We brought croquet and everyone wanted to play, they all took turns and got along pretty well...and no one got hit with a mallet! 

There were a good number of boys around Ben's age and he was in heaven with all of them to play with. They played a game that looked like wrestling, no one got hurt (one did at the very end) and none of the parents were concerned enough to go an hang out with them and direct. They wrestled and pushed each other off the concrete slab for a long time, they all took turns and it looked like they were having fun. 

We are really looking forward to seeing our friends again, perhaps even on Tuesday! (if no baby yet)