We have a healthy baby boy!

Well, baby boy arrived today at 2:09 pm in great shape. We don't have a name yet, but we'll be sure to let everyone know when we do.

He weighs 6 lbs 11 oz (just more than a pound less than both our girls' birth weight put together), and is 19.5 inches. He's got a good bit of hair; Ashley says the color is light auburn.

Ashley is doing very well after the c-section. She's been quite tired and has had some nausea as a result of the pain medication (this is the main reason we haven't nailed down the name yet), but other than that things have gone wonderfully well. I got to watch the surgery again, and I just can't believe how violent the doctors have to be to get that baby out. It's no wonder women are so sore and need so much time to recover after a c-section.

We feel very blessed that everything has gone so well throughout this labor and delivery. Please know that your thoughts and prayers have been felt by us. Thank you all for your love and support.

Much love,

The Atkin Family . . . all 5 of us :o)

No Baby Yet

It's Friday night and I am still pregnant. I don't want to jinx it but I think we will make it to our scheduled time on Monday afternoon.

We thought it might be earlier when the results of a blood test I had on Wednesday came back showing a low platelet count. I went in for another test today and if it hadn't stabilized they might have delivered him today. Luckily, it had so no worries. I also went in for the last non stress test today and the baby is still doing fine.

I have been cleaning and doing lots of random things to get ready. I'm making pretty good progress on my to-do list.

I have been having a hard time sleeping the last couple days but it seems to be mostly mental. I just can't get my mind to quiet down. I was pretty tired by this afternoon and took a good nap while Elizabeth played too many computer games during quiet time. I figure that I should get in as much sleep as I can before the baby is here.

Well, so that is our update. The next time we post will probably be with the announcement of our little boy!

I wanted to end with the lyrics to some songs the girls made up at bed time tonight. I wish I could have recorded them so I could remember the words exactly but I'll do my best to recreate them:

"Stars are Shining Brightly" by Elizabeth Atkin

Stars are shining brightly
And the moon is shining down.
There is someone watching you
He's always watching you
He never sleeps
He just sits and watches you
Heavenly Father hears you when you pray
And He's very far away
Nothing is that far away
And you can't get that far
Until when you die.

"Birds are Flying Around" by Natalie Atkin

Stars are shining down
Birds are flying in the sky
Birds are making their nests
Children are going to school
Everything is alright.

Overheard Conversation

We had Natalie's little friend Cedar over to play yesterday. He's a little blondie like her, they are the exact same height and they almost look like twins. It's funny because sometimes she insists that she only plays with girls but whenever she and Cedar get together they have a grand time, even if he is a boy. :)

Yesterday, Natalie must have been feeling extra girly. She put on one of her princess dress-up dresses and then this happened:

Natalie: Want to play princesses?
Cedar: No. Let's play catch! (has a little football in his hand)
N: No. I want to play princesses.
C: Want to play princess catch?
N: OK!

They come out of the bedroom. Natalie is twirling around and singing "So This is Love" softly to herself. Cedar is trying to get in position so he can throw her the ball.

C: OK, now catch!

She catches the ball but is still in princess mode using her soft voice and saying things like "Isn't my crown the beautifullest?" The great "princess catch" compromise soon ends unsuccessfully and each goes their separate way.

I guess sometimes the gender divide is too big to bridge across.

The Countdown Begins

Well, we have a date set for this little baby boy to come, and it is less than 2 weeks away! Yikes! September 14th is the day. That will be at exactly 38 weeks. I really think I'm going to make it. Everything is still going great for the baby and I. The non-stress tests are going well, my blood pressure is fine, etc, etc...

I have also experienced my first contractions. I doubt you could even call them real contractions but it was a big deal for me so I'm counting them.

I have always wanted more of a normal pregnancy experience and now that I'm getting it I'm realizing it's not all it's cracked up to be. No, just kidding. I really am glad I'm still pregnant. It's just becoming difficult to do much of anything. It doesn't help that I haven't learned to adjust my behavior enough. I took the stairs up to my doctor's office today and barely made it. Tonight I made my favorite meal for myself (roast chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy) and ate way too much and paid for it afterwards. I went grocery shopping yesterday and discovered that trying to maneuver a broken cart full of food with two kids hanging off of it is not a good idea at 36 weeks. I seriously almost broke down crying right there in the street when I couldn't get the dumb cart over the speed bump to get back to the car. But I didn't, luckily :). Other than little things like this, I really do feel good, though.

It is strange to actually be preparing for this baby to come. I am going to pack a hospital bag for the first time. I've got the baby clothes all washed and ready and the crib set up. I may even try making some meals ahead of time and putting them in the freezer. Who knows how far my nesting instincts will take me.

I have decided to post a picture Joe took of me a week or two ago. I am really not a fan of it but I can recognize that someday I will look back at this picture and miss being pregnant. So, here it is:

13 days to go! We can't wait to meet you, little boy.

Bonus Time

Yesterday was another milestone around here. I've now officially made it farther along in this pregnancy than I ever have before. We're in uncharted waters.

I'm still doing fine. I just started going in for fetal monitoring twice a week. When you add weekly appointments to that I think that any problems I may have will at least be caught quickly. They didn't give me a date for the c-section yet like I thought they would at my last appointment. Tuesday will be the day we set the date. At my last appointment they surprised me by saying that we might not schedule it until 38 or 39 weeks. I have been planning on 37 this whole pregnancy since that is what I've always been told. I never thought I would go beyond like Sept. 10th. So, it was a little disconcerting to hear that. Maybe I'm being selfish. OK, I know I'm being selfish. Obviously we want to for sure avoid a NICU stay for this baby if at all possible. Just the thought of being able to keep the baby with me in my room and actually take him home with us when we leave gets me so excited. Not to mention avoiding the health concerns, endless trips back and forth from the hospital, endless pumping, emotional stress and all of the other NICU-associated difficulties. Maybe I'm just taking it for granted that all 37-weekers do fine when I really shouldn't assume that. Anyway, we will be talking to the doctor on Tuesday about all of this and I'm sure the right decision will be made.

In the meantime, I am getting very excited which results in occasion bursts of productivity. Still no name decided on. I am sure it will wait until the baby is here.

I had a dream the other night that the baby was here and I was feeding him. It was one of those times when I was surprised to realize that it wasn't real and that I am still pregnant. Anyway, he was really fair with pink skin and light hair in my dream. We'll see if that's the case or not. Watch he'll be dark with tons of black hair. That would be funny.

OK, that's it for now. Just consider no updates as good news for awhile and wish us luck. :)

Growing up

Elizabeth started soccer this week. It seems like a big milestone to me. Maybe just because I remember playing soccer at her age. Plus she looks so big in her (albeit tiny) shin guards and cleats. It was so fun to watch her.

I love this picture because it shows her laughing.
She was really having fun:

During one of her water breaks, she ran back to us and said "I love soccer practice!" Hopefully the love will continue. It has been unbearably hot. It's funny to see her get all red and sweaty because she would never push herself that much if she were just playing outside. This will definitely be good exercise for her.

Our little soccer girl

Someone else is growing up, too. Or at least older :). We celebrated Joe's birthday last week. It was really low-key and of course I didn't remember to take any pictures. I did surprise him with tickets to go see the play Into the Woods. We had fun going to that. Neither of us had seen it before but we love the music. He got a very ugly-looking but tasty lemon cake on his birthday. He also got about 10 homemade cards from his daughters with various heartfelt sentiments expressed inside them (One of Elizabeth's said: "I love you Dady. I really love Dady.").

I am certainly glad that Joe came into this world on that fateful, hot and humid day in Indiana 28 years ago (Sidenote: For once I can somewhat sympathize with Marsha--being pregnant in the summer is no fun. I am looking forward to someday being cool again. Or at least not covered in sweat. Still, I have no room to complain. California is no Indiana). What would I do without Joe? I wouldn't have someone to patiently fulfill my random pregnancy wishes. To get me laughing after an exhausting day with the kids. To talk to about anything and everything. I had no idea how good I would have it when, as he would say, I roped him into marrying me (not true :).

I love you, Joe.

Baby Shower, Bike Rides and other stuff

My friend Amy threw me a baby shower not too long ago. She did such a great job and we had a lot of fun. I don't have very many pictures but I thought I'd post a couple.

Here's the babies we molded out of bubble gum:

My friend Chelsey surprised us all with her abilities. That pink one in the middle is hers.

Here's me opening a present:

Here's a bear my mom gave me purchased at the store named on the bag. We had to get a picture. :)

Thanks to Amy, especially, for the great shower and to everyone that came for the cute stuff. I got a lot of really cute clothes for this little boy and I can't wait to put them on him.

The other night we let the kids ride their bikes over to the park and then played soccer together. It was a fun night and Joe took some cute pictures:

The other night I was reading on the couch and Natalie came in with a doll stuffed under her shirt to "rest" with me.

Our big bellies

Of course Elizabeth insisted on being in some pictures, too:

I love this picture because she is making such a classic Joe face:

I also wanted to post some more funny sayings from the kids:

-I was asking Natalie to help clean up something and she said, "Sure, my majesty." Now she says this all the time because she likes the reaction she gets.

-One of my favorite things Natalie says that I haven't ever recorded is "Frosted Wini-Meats". That is one of her favorite cereals.

-One Sunday night we were playing this scripture stories charades type of game with the kids. They were loving it. Daddy and Natalie were getting ready to act out a story and Elizabeth turned to me and said, "I know, maybe it's Gone With the Wind!" I guess it made quite an impression on her when I was reading that book a couple of months ago. :)

-Last night for Family Home Evening we were talking about the importance of work and Joe was telling the story of the grasshopper and the ant. He actually ended the story with the grasshopper dying because he didn't have any food to eat for the winter. I was thinking, "Wow, kind of harsh, but I guess he wants to drive the point home" (he told me later he actually couldn't remember how it was supposed to end). Well, after telling the story he and Elizabeth had a conversation that went something like this:

Daddy: So, who was working hard?
Elizabeth: The ant.
D: What work was he doing?
E: Collecting food for the winter.
D: Who do we want to be like?
E: The ant!
D: What will happen if we don't work?
E: We'll die.

Oops :).

-Somehow we got talking about Elizabeth's future husband the other day. She said that he would definitely be nice and funny like Daddy and he "won't have a beard or a mustache." I think she developed this preference as a result of our Guess Who game which features some of the handsome guys with facial hair below:

Here's the crazy kids once again pretending to sleep (still one of their favorite games):

I thought it was cute how they were all cuddled up together