Portraits of Aurora

Nathan and I thought we would take advantage of the time we have with Aurora while the boys are staying with my parents. We decided to take pictures of her one evening. She had other plans. I had nursed her for an hour, but she kept falling asleep.We decided to try anyway. We got a few good shots, but mostly she cried.

She is trying so hard to get her fingers in her mouth. We know she sucked them in the womb, but now she has all this room and it is hard to keep them in. Once in a while she will get one finger in her mouth.

But then she moves and pulls it out.

Watching daddy. I know she only sees shapes and light right now, but she does slowly track movements.

Trying to get her fingers again.

Thanks for the help Mama.

This is what happens when I take my finger out of her mouth.

Peaceful......

We will try again soon, and hopefully get some with the boys too.

24 hours old

One of the things I asked Nathan to do while I was in labor, was to try to get a picture of Heather taking pictures. We have no pictures of Treya at Leaf's birth, because she took all the pictures. I wish we had at least one. Labor was so quick and Nathan was quite busy, so he got a few shots after. 

I didn't notice Heather much ( I was a little focused on other things), but I remember my midwife kept saying, "boy, you are flexible, I would never be able to do that to get a shot." Looking at some of the pictures, I wonder how Heather was contorted trying to get a good shot. Thanks again Heather!

Daddy already has his little girl helping in the beer making process. On Sunday, Nathan put her in the Ergo and they picked hops for drying for about an hour. Aurora slept happily snuggled against daddy.

All Leaf wants to do is hold bebee. He loves to suck his finger while he checks her out. He sits really still until he is done, and then he says all done.

Everest loves to hold Aurora too. He is a very proud big brother.

Assessing Aurora

Our midwife waited to do Aurora's assessment until the boys got to the house. We all thought the boys would like to see their sister being weighed and checked out. 

Nonnie got a little bit of Aurora time before she had to be weighed.

Aurora loves all the attention she received.

Leaf got his shirt and was waiting to help out.

Ok little girl, time to see how big and healthy you are.

Aurora getting weighed. 8 pounds 3 ounces (Everest was 8 pounds exactly, Leaf was 8 pounds 6 ounces).

Taking her head measurement. 14 1/2 inches.

Everest got to listen to Aurora's heart beat. This was one of his favorite things to do during our midwife visits. Now, he can see what he was listening to.

Our midwife was explaining what the cord clamp was all about.

Our midwife was wonderful, she explained how she assessed Aurora. She was explaining about her ear development, which was 39-40 weeks. She also showed us the lines on her feet, and other little things about her body, that let you know how far developed she was. On all things she measured 39-40 weeks. I love all the things I have learned about birth and my babies from my midwives. I asked and she said they do this in the hospital, but no one tells you about it.

Thank you to our wonderful midwife for all you have done, and for explaining things and being patient with our curious boys too.

Love at first sight!

We were sure we were having another boy, so I ordered these beautifully embroidered shirts from an etsy shop.  They say Big and Middle Brother with the boys initial in blue. I need to order a baby sister onsie now! The boys were so excited to get a gift from their baby sister. Everest wore his the first two days after she was born. We had to get it off of him to wash it, because he wants to wear it his first day of school on Wednesday.

Everest meeting Aurora for the first time.

He is a very proud big brother. He was quite protective of her, even from Leaf.

Leaf wasn't sure what to think of her at first.

Leaf loved that she was moving her legs around. He was tickling her toes.

Everest held Aurora for a while, he didn't want to give her up.

Everest can't wait to play with his sister and show her around. He wanted to take her to our room and show her where she would sleep and be changed. He also wanted to show her his room and all his toys.

Leaf really wanted to hold Aurora, but he still wasn't sure about her, when she would move around. As soon as he held her, he would say done, but as soon as someone picked her up, he would yell, "baby, I hold!".

Nonnie finally got her time with Aurora. Everest had to keep an eye on her to make sure she knew what to do.

Nonnie lovin up her first granddaughter. It has been good for all of us that my parents have the boys in the motor home at a campground. One of the first things my mom said was "I need to go shopping." She hasn't been able to do that yet. I am sure Aurora will be spoiled. Nathan and I are fine with her wearing the clothing we have (which was the boys), I don't think Aurora will care either.

There is a great article in Mothering Magazine about color. Did you know until 1940's pink was more for boys and blue was for girls. It has something to do with the Virgin Mary being depicted in blue and pink was a variation of red which was considered a masculine color.

Aurora Elizabeth

Our friend Heather took almost 700 pictures. She was wonderful. There are so many good images, we have had a hard time deciding which pictures to post. When I looked over the pictures, Aurora made her appearance by picture 100. I guess when a girl is ready, she is READY! Hopefully this is not a preview of what she will be like as a teenager. 

Daddy and Aurora got to spend some quiet time together.

She already has her daddy's attention.

She has big long feet, and toes.

Her hair looks a little lighter here, but in person it is dark (I thought for sure this baby would be my toe head- I was a toe head and Nathan was very blond). She has light eyebrows, so I assume her hair will lighten, if not my mom is claiming her Italian roots on Aurora.

A VERY quick birth!

When they say each birth is different and that often each birth comes quicker, they are not kidding! Aurora gave us little warning that she was ready. 

Friday was a very busy day for us. They boys were staying with my parents in the motor home, so Nathan and I went to bed at 9. We had to take the pressure washer to Everest's preschool in the morning, so we were up to the school and back home before 9. We had breakfast and by 9:30 we went back to bed for a nap. I had a few small contractions while we napped, enough to wake me up, but I fell right back to sleep. At 12:40 we got up for lunch. As we were getting lunch ready (around 1) the contractions started. They were more intense than I remember at the beginning, but they were coming every 2-3 minutes and only 30 seconds or so. Nathan kept joking that I needed to wait until he finished lunch. At 1:15 Nathan started keeping track and calling everyone. At first we were not too concerned about the midwife or anyone else getting here quickly, but within 30 minutes, I was feeling the urge to push. Nathan called everyone back and let them know, labor was progressing very quickly.

Nathan was amazing, he supported me, while getting everything ready, he made the bed, filled the pool, got all the supplies ready. We thought we would have time, we had lists of things to do when labor started, we even had a labor project- we were going to bake a birthday cake for the baby with the boys. We were lucky Nathan got the supplies ready. 
My friend Heather (our photographer) got here first, somewhere between 2:30-2:45. She started taking pictures, and helping Nathan. I barely moved from my birthing ball. Soon after Heather arrived, I knew I was ready to get into the pool and start pushing. My contractions were one on top of the other (and had been since 1:45) and they were intense. I was having a very hard time relaxing. 

Nathan talked to the midwife around 3, she could hear me in the background. At that point she told Nathan she would not make the birth because I was going to have the baby soon. She had Nathan get the trays ready for the birth. Our midwives assistant arrived around 3:15, just as I was starting to push. She had a couple minutes to finish getting some trays ready before the head came out. I pushed twice for her head and once for her shoulders. The baby was born at 3:29 pm, 2 1/2 hours after labor started. We covered the baby up with a blanket to keep it warm in the water and for the first 3-5 minutes we all kept saying "he". Heather finally said, did anyone check, I think we all assumed the other person had checked. We were surprised to find out "he" was "she". We had our Aurora. 

I have heard of people saying their babies came quickly, that the baby was delivered within an hour of going to the hospital. I always assumed they were in labor at home for a while and just waited too long to go. I never thought labor could go from light to transition in 15-20 minutes. But it did. It was quick and intense, and then it was over and we were nursing on the couch.

Welcome Aurora Elizabeth, we love you!

Everest, Nathan and Grami's trip to Montana

We did not tell many people, but Nathan, Grami and Everest took a trip to Montana 3 weeks before my due date. Everything turned out fine and I had plenty of people here to support me if I needed it. 

We still own our cabin in Montana and it was in need of maintenance and a few other things. 

Nathan and Bonnie took turns driving 34 hours straight with Everest playing, sleeping and watching DVD's in the back seat. Once they reached Montana, they camped in our yard and got to work. My aunt Mary and uncle Roger came down from Columbia Falls to help out. They worked for 3 1/2 days cleaning out our root cellar, pressure washing and staining the house and gate posts, and putting in new doors and windows. It was a lot of work.

On the way out, they stop in Stergis at a grocery store. This is what pulled up in the parking lot. Everest was so excited and this man let him sit on his motorcycle.

First morning of camping. Both boys seem happy to be laying down to sleep after being in the truck for 34 hours.

This was another reason for the trip....Nathan's motorcycle has been in Darby for 5 years. He was ready to bring it back. There is no seat on it (we have it in Indiana), but Everest and Aunt Mary didn't care, they were busy being motorcycle fire fighters. Notice Mary is on the radio getting important information.

This is our cabin after power washing and a coat of finish. It sits on a bench overlooking the valley. We have 2 acres with an apple orchard. We miss it a lot, but it is WAY too small for a family of 5. Someday we will vacation and maybe retire here.

Our neighbor Tex, let Everest drive his tractor.....not alone, but Nathan said he completely steered the tractor from our house up to Tex's house. Tex even let Everest put the bucket up and down. We always enjoy visiting Tex when we are in Darby.

On the way home, they would stop at rest stops, gas stations and grocery stores. Each time they stopped, Nathan and Grami would take turns running with Everest, or blowing bubbles and having him run after them. This is a rest stop where they had lunch and as you can see, Everest played on the motorcycle.

Leaf and got a lot done at home while they were away. We would have loved to have been in Montana, but I do not think either of us would have tolerated a 34 hour drive. We hope to get to Montana again soon.

Sidewalk Construction

We have had some exciting things going on in our neighborhood.....unfortunately it hasn't involved having a baby yet. The first day of the public school, they decided to rip up the sidewalks in our neighborhood. It makes it difficult for kids to walk to school,  but it has been wonderful for the boys.

Someone came through with a cement cutter and that was exciting, but then the bobcat came! It was too much to resist. We had to go out and watch.

The bobcat driver, Jake, invited Everest to get a closer look and picture. He was speechless. The bobcat got under each slab, picked it up and put them into a dump truck. We watched them do most of our street. Very Exciting. They have not started pouring cement yet, but I am sure that will be just as exciting.

My sweaty boys with Nonnie

One hot and humid evening, the boys were riding bikes with Nonnie and Papa while I made dinner. When I gave the 5 minute warning, the boys decided to come in and wanted a photo shoot with puppy and Clifford. When I saw how sweaty the boys were, I was not expecting much out of the pictures. I was quite surprised when I loaded the pictures onto the computer, they turned out pretty cute. Way to go Nathan.

Everest and Leaf being silly.

Night, night.

So cute.

Tired hot boy!

They even got Nonnie to join in the silliness.

Loving Nonnie.

 Cheeze daddum. (Leaf can say Daddy, but chooses to call Nathan Daddum, not sure why, he also says Evum for Everest).

Love my silly boys!