Thursday, June 25, 2009

Swim lessons

Swim lessons started up this week. Thankfully, my mom has been here to help me transport children! Nathan and I have spent two out of four days in the pediatrician's office and the hospital's lab. Our little fellow is not wanting to gain weight and is still a bit jaundice. Thankfully, he is turning a corner and his levels are declining and I believe he's filling out more. While we've been running to and fro, the others have been at the pool. Ryan's been having "Granny lessons". After spending two days at Cub scout camp, Peter joined us at the pool.
Emma is the one who is actually having swim lessons. She has been learning and practicing her strokes and jumping off the diving board with NO floaties.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

In other news....

I am realizing that the world is continuing to function even though I seem to be caught up in the midst of an infant. I have happened to be lucky enough to have been sent a copy of Jars of Clay's newest release.I LOVE this CD. I have been listening to Jars of Clay since well forever. There is something familiar and calming about the listening to them year after year.

I have also been able to get a sneak preview of a new group, Tal & Acacia that will be released July 14th. Tal and Acacia are a duet sister team. Again, I have really enjoyed this CD. You can check out a few of their songs on their website. The CD is definitely worth picking up.

Monday, June 22, 2009

Week 1

Nathan has been truly such a gift to our family. He is all snuggles and cuddles. He doesn't mind who holds him whether it's Peter, Emma, Ryan, myself, his daddy or occasionally someone else might get a chance. Needless to say he isn't at a loss for touch! Everyone seems to be adjusting well. I do know that I am totally in the honeymoon stage as I have yet to face the challenges of 3 children and 1 infant on my own. Thankfully, I won't have to do that for a little while still.
Here are just a few photos that we have snapped along the way!
One of these days Philip was actually getting a chance at holding Nathan when Ryan asked to have a turn. Philip politely denied his request. Ryan said to me, "Mommy, you need to grow another baby in your tummy so I can have that one".
At this point, most people think Nathan looks just like Ryan!

Sunday, June 14, 2009

A dreamer...and a birth story

Philip and I have a good friend who has been given the gift of dreams. I asked her last Sunday if she had any for me concerning the birth of this baby. She laughed and said, "we'll see what I can do". Just a few days later she called and reported a dream that she believed was for me. It was a blessing and a gift for me. She believed that the dream meant that I would give birth 3 days from Tuesday (which would have been Friday, June 12th). In the dream there was also a recurrent theme of waiting and the number 3. She also was impressed with our need to get to the hospital early.
The dream as a gift to me. When you get down to the last week of pregnancy my anxieties lay with if the baby will ever come. I begin to get nervous that the baby won't come and I might have to be induced. So this dream gave me a renewed sense of faith that this baby will come naturally.
Well, Thursday (the due date) came and I began to feel a bit of "stirring". Then Friday came along with even stronger stirring. It was beginning to be a bit frustrating because I never experienced this with the other kids. My labors just started. By the end of Friday, I had tried to stay on my feet as much as I could. I baked cookies and walked 2 miles in hopes of moving things along.
So when I awoke Saturday morning at 5:30 with that same (but a tad stronger) annoying contraction/pain, I was frustrated. I couldn't get back to sleep so I piddled quietly through the house and then decided to take a shower. I had my mind made up that I was going to have this baby today. My idea was to head to the hospital, get "checked" out and possibly discuss having my water broken in hopes of bringing on the real deal. By the time, I had my plan set and I realized that I could actually time these contractions. I told Philip that I think my contractions are sporadically about 5 minutes apart so I wanted to head to the hospital just to be on the safe side. I fully believed that we would be sent on our way to walk the streets of Durham for few hours but I was fine with.
Our dear friend, Jesse, arrived at our house around 6:50am. Ryan and Emma were awake at this point. They were excited to see Ms. Jesse for they knew that meant the "baby is coming today". We headed to Durham calling the Dr and our parents on the way. I suggested to Philip that he run through a drive thru to pick up some breakfast. He declined, thankfully! As we got closer to Durham, Philip clocked my contractions at 1 1/2 minutes apart. I still didn't really believe him and was fully prepared to walk the streets of Durham.
I purposefully checked my watch as I was being wheeled down the hall to my labor room; it was 7:45am. The nurse gave me a gown and said she would be back in a few minutes to "check" me. I could feel the intensity of my contractions getting stronger as I expected since I was no longer in the car and was safely at the hospital.
So somewhere between this picture and a few minutes after 8am. I told Philip to find the nurse because I needed to know what was going on. I could tell the baby was coming close.
Thankfully, she heeded his call and must have remembered that this was #4. She quickly came into my room and discovered that I was "fully dilated". The doctor came in right behind her, confirmed my status and asked if I wanted my water broken. I eagerly said, "Yes, please. I am so ready to have this baby.". What seemed like an eternity to me but was probably only about 4 pushes, we caught first glimpse of our new baby boy.
I was truly in shock at how fast things progressed. The wait was long for labor to begin. However, when it started, it's amazing how things can change in just an hour.

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Nathan James Chryst

On Saturday, June 13th at 8.19am we had a baby boy born to us. His name is Nathan James Chryst. He weighed in at 9lbs and 4ounces and 20 1/2 inches long. Please celebrate with us God's blessing in the birth of Nathan James and pray for us as we transition into this part of our journey.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Camera snob

For those of you who know my husband well, know that he is a "coffee snob". However, he is also a "camera snob". He has kicked and fussed for a long time about this digital camera revolution that has swarmed our nation for several years now. Two years ago, I finally got a point and shot digital camera. Philip is our family's photographer. His 35 mm Nikon has been slightly out of commission for several years. We have still be able to get some great pictures but there were times when we had to throw away quite a few pictures as well.
This leads us to today! After a LONG time, lots of conversations, lots of saving of money and some minor marriage counseling, we finally purchased a Cannon SLR Rebel XS. I am so excited that the camera has arrived before the baby has so we can be sure to capture some of these wonderful moments and memories that we are hoping will occur!!!
Until, the baby comes, I have had fun learning how to use it. I will be operating the fully automatic aspect of this camera while Philip will be using the manual aspects!





Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Mt. Sinai

Philip and Peter began constructing Mt. Sinai first thing Monday morning. What better way to spend the day at home (while we waited for the appliance repair man to come) than to make a paper-mache' volcano. Peter had gotten a volcano making kit some time ago that they used at the top. It was no where near big enough so the guys constructed the base themselves. After waiting for the volcano to dry out for two days, they finished it off today by painting it!After painting, it was explosion time! You'll see that Ryan was a little concerned but he quickly realized it wasn't quite the explosion he anticipated. Now that I think about it, he might have been a little traumatized from the National Geographic "Volcano" video they watched yesterday!
Don't you just love how Emma takes Peter's hand as she herself is a bit unsure about what is going to happen. I love watching her reach to Peter for protection and security. Isn't that why God created big brothers! Yes, that's Ryan "Larry Boy- Batman cape". I think that gave him the courage to eventually try to blow the volcano out!

2 days

As the kids and Philip are playing outside, I thought I would take a moment to chronicle my progress! I am definitely in what pregnancy books categorize as "pre labor". I am thankful to at least be feeling the switch from normal 3rd trimester issues to those that can be tied in with preparing for labor. My spirits are good (for the most part) as I have decided to not let fear and anxiety control me. We sang a wonderful song, Let our words be few, Sunday morning that has resonated in my heart ever since. (Our band did a much better job....!)
"'Cause when we see you we find strength to meet the day
In your presence all our fears are washed away."

So as we wait for this little one to join us on the outside, I pray that I can truly rest in Lord.

Saturday, June 6, 2009

Preoccupation projects

Well, the waiting game has officially started. It's those "any time; any day" now place that can be the most excruciating stage of pregnancy. So I've done just about all the nesting that I care to do. I've waxed the kitchen table, scrubbed the toilets (I mean really scrubbed to remove that frustrating hard water ring), cleaned the kitchen cabinets, wiped down walls, packed our bags and put in the car seat. Now I think I shall just succumb to the waiting game. It feels as if my body is playing tricks on me so I think it's best if I just don't listen any longer until I get hit by a ton of bricks. Until the ton of bricks hit me, I will strive to enjoy this time! On a more exciting note, we have finally saved enough money to buy a new fancy camera. It probably won't get here until June 11th which in itself might be reason enough to want to wait it out!

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Advice...

In case any of you reader's out there are pregnant, I have a bit of advice for you. You see it was Monday morning and I had a clear calendar. I knew that after having been blessed with a week of grandparents that I needed to have something to fill our morning. Two ideas popped into my head; swimming pool or picking strawberries.
I quickly dismissed the pool. I have no maternity bathing suit so I would be relying totally on the lifeguard to save my children should they choose to do something foolish. Our life guards are great but the anxiety it would cause wasn't worth it!
I opted for Strawberries.
Let me just break it down for you:

38 weeks & 3 days + 1 hour of squatting = 2 very sore legs

The strawberries were really great and probably the last ones for the season. I will certainly savor every bit as I waddle to the refrigerator to get them!