Photo update

My goal was to get some pictures for Noah's 19 month page in his scrapbook. But we ended up taking more pictures. Mary during learning time:

Noah running amuck:

My kids are always happiest when they first wake up:

Ah...here are the pictures of Noah! He loves to say cheese and "i see too?" because Mary always asks to see the pictures I take right after I take them. So this results in taking one picture at a time...

This is his 'please no more yogurt' face

Loves as always

Noahzilla

Reflections on my second birth

A week ago today I attended the birth of a beautiful baby girl. She was quite the surprise as her mommy has two boys and I think had resigned herself to raising a brood of boys. As you can see in the picture...they lack pink, but I'm sure there will be plenty in the future!

I just keep thinking back over that day and how blessed I feel to have been there. It was such a reminder of God's goodness and faithfulness. I prayed that mom would not experience pain, or deal well with what she had. Check. She was totally awesome. I  thought she was about 5 centimeters when we got there and had a while to go. She was coping so well and cracking jokes between contractions. But when she was checked, she was fully dilated and pushed her baby out about 30 minutes after she was admitted to the hospital. I prayed that the staff would be supportive of her decisions. Check! When we walked in the nurse was all about it and very encouraging. Then the doctor comes in and the first things she says to mom are about how she can push whenever she feels ready and however she wants. So...uncharacteristic of hospitals.

The second reflection I have is that dad's are probably my favorite part of the team. I think when a woman goes into labor, men just click into action. They don't always know what to do or say, but when the marriage is good you can see the love they have for their wives and their desire to support them. I loved how this dad stayed totally calm and collected. He prayed over his wife and held her. It was sweet and perfect for the moment. My absolute favorite part of the labor was when we first got to the hospital. Mom wanted to hang out for a little bit before going up and getting checked in so I walked with her over to the bathroom. When we got back to the lobby we couldn't find dad anywhere. "Do you see him??" she asked. Nope. So she tried to call him. No answer. Then she gets a text a minute later that read: went to grab a slice of pizza. Back in 3 minutes. And then we died of laughter. As we're sitting in the lobby, mom having contractions every 2-4 minutes I'd guess, dad finished up his pizza and we harassed him about leaving his wife during labor.

My final reflection (for today) is how awesome natural birth is AFTER the birth. Moms are beyond thrilled and energized. Not like they could get out of bed and run a marathon energized, but emotionally energized. They are so pumped about what just happened and everything they just felt. This mom pretty much summed it up when she talked about how it felt great to push and how it didn't feel unbearable until the end, but she's so glad she stuck it out. Babies born naturally are also usually super energized after birth. This little girl was vigorous from birth and nursed for a solid 45 minutes about 20 minutes after she was born. She wiggled around for another hour or so and then crashed in her daddy's arms. But not before I got to hold her:)

My mission as a Doula is that each woman would feel surrounded with encouragement and support during her birth. That she would have the birth she wants, and if things have to veer from her original goals that she would feel well informed and in charge of the choices about her care. Later that night I got a text from mom saying that she was blown away by the whole experience and that she couldn't stop thinking about it. It reminded me of how Mary (Jesus' mama) stored up all the things that happened in her heart. In the words of Little Einsteins: mission completion!

Ghost Noah

For a while Noah really enjoyed walking around with blankets on his head. He would bring a blanket to us and then just walk around with it on his head. We cut him off when he started to run with them. Because he is not that stable anyways so when you add a blanket on his face you get huge knots on his head from running into walls at full speed. Here is a video of him being a goof:

Penguin Parade

A couple weeks ago we went to the penguin parade at the zoo! Mary loved it, but I think Noah couldn't really care less...maybe when he gets older he'll appreciate those things. It was so fun to see them up close and especially to have the kids see them and learn about them from the zoo keepers. They are almost the same size as Noah so I think he assumed they were more friends:) Here is a video of the parade of 5 penguins:

Pregnancy pact

I don't ACTUALLY have a pregnancy pact with my friends, but it is awesome that me and two of my close friends got pregnant all within a couple months of each other. I love when people make more friends for my kids! The second factor that makes these pregnancies awesome is that I get to attend both of their births and support them and their spouses in this life changing experience! The mommy in the middle is due any time now and I can't wait!

Yay babies!

boots

Noah loves boots, but unfortunately he doesn't have a pair. So he wears Mary's:)

And...I'm 24 weeks pregnant. This picture was from 23 weeks, but it will do. Baby is kicking a lot now and it is so fun. Ian felt the kicks for the first time the other day! My next appointment is this week so I'll post updates if there is anything to share. It is nice to hear the heartbeat, but besides that prenatal appointments are really boring.

a couple cute pictures

 Just watching it snow!

One of Mary's chores is to put away the spoons and forks after we run the dishwasher. It's funny how she almost always says she doesn't want to, but when she's doing it Noah pushes a chair over and "helps" her. He's just excited because he gets to be with his sister. She knows she has to fix what he "helps" with so...she's not super excited for him to show up on the scene.