4 years old

Hard to believe that Ely is 4! He turned 4 about a month ago and we had his party on August 10th. So, I am a little late in posting about it, but at least I am getting around to it now. We had a combined party with his best friend Mikah, who turned 4 on the 11th. We had multiple themes- transformers, race cars, and last but not least, Spiderman. We invited Spiderman to come on our Transformer invitations.... And yes, there was an appearance. It was awesome! We had the party out at Nissman pavillion by the baseball field and forest fair park. And thankfully it was sunny that day. It was chaos, but fun! We made license plates, the girls were more interested than the boys... we played pin the wheels on the race car, I think they could all see through the blindfold... played in the grass, and had cake and opened presents. Just the right mix of friends, activities and outdoor fun.

Brothers

Its been a while

Has it really been 4 months since I last posted? What a blur!! Life is so much fun with 2 boys! I have loved watching Ely get to be a big brother. Its hard to even count the number of hugs and kisses we have shared as a family since Carson came into our lives. We hugged and kissed a lot before, but it seems to have multiplied. Carson has been such a good little baby. Generally very mellow and smiley, although if you ask Dad, he has been known to cry a time or two. I am back at work and Darren is holding down the fort during the day. I am so blessed I have a job where I can come home and nurse during the day. We certainly make it work, but there are certainly days that are harder than others as well. There is nothing more heart warming than walking in from work at lunch and seeing my husband cudling with the baby and playing with Ely. There was one day I came home and Darren had both boys in our big bed asleep together right next to each other. It was beautiful. I am so proud of the way Darren nurtures them during the day while I am gone. And then of course the best part of my day is loving the heck out of them when I am home. Who cares about a messy house!!! And, yes, we live in a perpetual state of mess. Although if you ask members of my immediate family, that's not much different than the way I was growing up! However, weekends we do spend a little time cleaning up....
I promise next time I post, I'll have some pictures of the boys.
So for some happenings and goings on...
We just got back from a great trip to ID and CA for 2 weddings. Darren's cousin Johnny's and his brother Dustin's. What a fabulous time with family. Wish it had lasted longer. We also spent 2 days in San Diego with just our family too, which was so awesome too. We stayed on Mission Beach at a resort called the Catamaran Resort and Spa, which I would highly recommend for families. We thoroughly enjoyed it, although next time we go (which we will go again), I am definitely going to the spa!
Since we have been back, we are planning to make the most of what is left of our Alaska summer. So far, summer has passed us by, although with an almost 4 year old and a 4 month old, we've been a little busy. We've taken lots of walks down to the park and lots of bike rides on the bike path. And of course Ely has spent quite a bit of time in his sandbox too. Although the other day, there was a huge pile of bear scat right next to it and our grass was nice and layed down. I wish I would have looked out our bedroom window as that bear was making himself at home. Looks like a big one. Soooo.... parental supervision in all things outdoors.
Well good night for now. It is late and this momma bear is tired. TTFN.

More pictures

Here are a few more pictures of our newest family member. Oh- we also have 2 other new family members. Uncle Dustin and Aunt Kelly bought Ely some fish. We are also proud to annouce that we have a black fish named Smokey and a goldfish named Racecar.

1 week

Hard to believe Carson is 1 week old already today. These pictures are from his birth day.

And now for the rest of the story (the birth story that is)

Carson was a late arrival. At 41 weeks my midwife suggested an induction, which I was not thrilled about, but understood the risks of going to much past 41 weeks, so at 9 days post term on 3/8/08 we scheduled an induction. We arrived at the hospital at 8am and the doctor broke my water at 10am. I walked the halls of the hospital for about 3 hrs, with contractions about 10 minutes apart, but not really building in intensity, so at about 2pm I was given pitocin. I had requested the lowest dosage and only turning it up every 45 min or hour, so it would start relatively slow. I watched the last disc of season 3 of Lost during that time, but then at about 4pm the contractions really kicked in and it got hard and intense. I had also requested no pain medication and not to offer any to me. I was shaking the whole time and worked with the pain, moving around and staying upright as much as possible. Of course once I hit transition, I started asking for some relief, but my awesome husband was right there coaching me through and helping me stick the to the plan as we had discussed. Reflecting back on those moments, I am so proud and thankful for how Darren helped me through those moments. They checked me soon after the "self doubt" stage and I was at 8cm- almost there!! It was only a few contractions later and I was ready to push. I was so encouraged that I was close- it was incredibly intense and I was literally not able to control and relax, but I had read so many books about natural labor that I was prepared and able to let myself lose control. Needless to say, my throat was very sore the next day from all the yelling. Anyhow, I pushed him out in about 10 minutes! Not very many pushes at all. It was so sweet to see him for the first time. He was very alert and all I could do was say thank you God over and over. I was so happy to have had the birth I had envisioned, even though it was induced. He started nursing before we left the delivery room and he hasn't really wanted to stop since then. An 8 lb 4oz, 20.5 inch little miracle. We are so thankful that Carson Richard Hawes is finally here. I will post some pictures here shortly.

The beginning....

of the birth story. Well, Carson isn't born yet, but his birth story has begun. 3 weeks ago, we discovered the little guy was breech. After doing everything in my power to flip him on my own (standing on my head in the pool, laying upside down on my couch to the floor, etc.), on the 8th of February, brave mom and bleary eyed dad showed up at Providence hospital for a "version", to get this little guy turned head down (8am appointment, so we had to leave our house at 6:30). Anyway- it worked! He flipped! Much more medical than I had anticipated, IV, muscle relaxant (which actually makes your body feel like you downed 10 cans of Red Bull) and lots of nurses/doctors. Anyway, it really wasn't the worst thing in the world, but was a little hard to breathe as 2 doctors pressed as hard as they could on my belly. Carson came out like a champ. Good strong heartbeats and kicks the whole time. Mom faired pretty well if I do say so myself. So a week later on the 14th, I had another appointment with the midwife, and low and behold, without me knowing, he had flipped back to head up on my left side- his favorite comfy place. So, we scheduled another version for 9am the next day (the 15th). The midwife and dr. performing the version both said I had 3 options, do the version and go home, do the version and be induced, or schedule a c-section. We decided to do the version and decide in the morning. So with our car packed for a new baby and the possiblity of a long labor, we dropped Ely off at his friend Mikah's house (thank you Katra!!), and once again headed into the hospital. Again, the version worked! He flipped, head down. After talking with the dr. and midwife, I decided not to be induced at 38 weeks and 1 day. Give him a little more time to develop and my body a little more ready for a natural birth. So, I took a long walk in the hospital afterwards and could feel him down pretty low. That is where this part of the story ends, the waiting game begins....
As of this posting, he is still head down (as far as I can tell) and I am having itermittant contractions. It will be fun to tell the rest of the story as it unfolds!