Recent House pics

As of yesterday the house is sided! The porch is going to have shake, so that's why it's not done. We're still deciding on a color for the house.


Also exterior doors have been installed. Here's our front door - will likely be painted a cranberry red, or maybe a hunter green.


French doors going from the dining to the back porch. I love these because the blinds are between two panes of glass so they don't get dusty or bent up, etc.

Two weeks

Well it's been just about two weeks! (officially tomorrow on Thanksgiving) I realize all my posts lately have been about Edward, and here's another one. Edward had his two week check-up on Monday (they do it within a range) and they like to see the baby's weight back up to their birth weight by then. Even 3 days short of two-weeks he weighed in at 9 lbs. 4 oz. (birth weight was 8 lbs 11 oz), so he's doing well and starting to plump up.

Today wasn't so good for him though, but a necessary evil...he was circumcised. I was assured his crying was from being strapped down and not from pain (they numb the area with novocaine). So I stayed with him the whole time. I guess most people don't want to, or back out once they do...they kept asking if I wanted to step out. But I thought if I could be any comfort to him that it was better than comforting myself.

First Haircut...kind of

Today I trimmed Edward's hair around his ears. I think it makes him look more boy-like. Here are a few pictures:

Today

I survived my first venture into the world alone with three kids. I went to Costco tonight, Edward didn't make a peep the entire time, and that's no exaggeration. The hardest part was just that I am still sore and so walking around and carrying things have caused me to require the help of ibuprofen...again.

Adrienne got put on the wrong bus today and so was taken back to the school. I would have thought that she would get upset by something like that, but when I picked her up she said that she wasn't scared (although her face did show more concern than I think she was letting on). I'm going to find out what her bus number is so that she can look for that to know she's on the right one.

Adjusting

So adjusting to three has been pretty good - I just keep getting ahead of myself and trying to get right back to a schedule and I have to keep reminding myself that it's only been a matter of days!

I delivered most of my routes on Tuesday night and Mike so kindly delivered part of them as well. I felt really great at the time, but woke up on Wednesday morning and couldn't move for a few minutes because I was so sore. Once I got up I couldn't stand up all the way, but after ibuprofen kicked in I was fine. I've lost 15 lbs this first week, which is about what I'd lose in 2 weeks after the girls...so I'm off to a good start. It's funny because I realized the other day as I was getting in the shower shivering that I hadn't been cold in 9 months! I had my internal heater. Now my feet are constantly cold. Well enough about me.......

Edward is a very easy baby. When I was pregnant he didn't move much and it worried me for a long time. He's pretty much the same! He doesn't like being moved around much, but other than that he doesn't complain except at the expected times. He sleeps really well and I have been getting anywhere from 3-5 hour chunks of sleep at night. I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that he's sleeping with me though. I think once he gets a little more fat on him he will sleep better on his own.

About Edward

Just some info about Edward for anyone who cares about such things. I think I mentioned before that Edward is a family name, but I don't think I mentioned how. It's Mike's middle name, his dad's dad's name, and his mom's dad's middle name. For those that didn't know me before I got married, his middle name Lybbert is my maiden name. And he's just saturated with family meaning because he also shares a birthday with Mike's mom's mother who passed away last year.

Trouble In Paradise

Last night Adrienne told me that she's not "in love" with Gavin anymore, but she still loves him. She said he doesn't know that she's not in love with him anymore and that he's still in love with her. I asked since she's not in love with him but still loves him if he's still her boyfriend or not - she said not. Phew, I'm sort of relieved it was a short-lived relationship. Hopefully she won't be on to another one anytime soon!

Update

Things are still going well here. Only glitch has been a bit of a nursing issue...if I didn't have 33 months of experience already I might have given up by now. Here's a picture of Edward after his first bath at home earlier today. His hair gets wavy when it's freshly washed then straightens out when it dries...just like Adrienne's did. I still say he looks just like Adrienne as a baby, only his coloring is different...he's got blond eyebrows and you can see his brownish-reddish-golden hair, and his skin gets so pink! We'll see what color his eyes turn out to be, but I don't expect them to be blue like Adrienne's because hers had a really light blue ring in the middle from the start.

The girls are still nutty about him, Colette probably the most. Adrienne is fascinated by his little nails, especially his pinky nail. Colette is smitten by his cheeks. They fight over who gets to hold him. It's been really nice to have Mike around this time to help out. He was in school when we had the girls and so didn't get time off and there was always some test looming in the future. I don't think I needed his help as much with them though, so far having three has definitely been more of a challenge. It will be a big help to get into the house, this place just shrunk even more.

But we're all happy and healthy and thankful for that. For those family and friends who read this I also want to say we're thankful for you...thank you for the calls, emails, gifts and dinners. We're so blessed.

Welcome Edward Lybbert Miller!

First the stats: Born November 8th, 2007 at 9:34 p.m., 8 lbs 11 oz. and 20.5 inches long!
(If you played the guessing game, click on the link below to see the results and your ranking :-)


I'll start with pictures and then if things hold together here long enough I'll write about how things have been :-) So far 3 kids hasn't been too bad, but then I've only been home about an hour...........

A super-close-up

A view of his hair - brown with golden highlights. Adrienne and Colette both had dark brown hair.
One with his eyes open!


So there have been many opinions on who he looks like. I instantly thought Adrienne, especially his puckery mouth. He's got dimples like Colette. His nose reminds me of Mike. So basically he looks like everyone in the family except me :-)

.....Looks like I still have some time to write.

Contractions started yesterday about 4:00 p.m. or so, but were mild. It wasn't until 4:30 that they were strong enough that I was pretty sure I was in labor, so that is when I have been saying that labor started. Just about 5 hours later Edward was born! The girls both took 19 1/2 hours, so I was quite pleased with his speedy arrival. So a little summary to fill in that time between labor starting and his birth...Mike and I arrived at the hospital at about 5:45 and I was at 4 cm and 70% effaced (yay! ready for an epidural). The anesthesiologist got to me by about 6:45 and so I only had to labor hard for about an hour. With the past epidurals it also took about 10 minutes for them to start to work, this one was a little different and worked immediately! That man is an angel :-) From then on out everything was smiles and pleasant and easy. That is why I opt for getting epidurals....it makes the experience serene, and not traumatic. I was also checked around the time of the epidural and was 5 cm and 80% effaced. At about 8:45 or so (so about 2 hours after the epidural) I was checked again and was 7 cm and 100% effaced. So with 3 cm to go everyone seemed to think it could be a little while longer. But about 15 minutes later I was feeling a lot of pressure (the epidural took away the sensation of pain, but not pressure)...so asked the nurse to check me - baby was ready to come SOON! So, the doctor was called, but my regular doctor was at a conference, so another was called in. As soon as he got there and was ready, so was baby and I and about 5 minutes of pushing later baby Edward was born!

Mike was with me for most of the time, except for when he ducked out to get his dinner. Mike's parents were there for awhile and for the birth, and my parents came with the girls near the end and for the birth. They were all off to one side of the room and so had a discreet view. The girls are crazy about their new baby brother...especially Colette, who calls him her baby.

I am doing quite well today, the fact that I needed NO stitches has a lot to do with that. The worst after effect are the contractions I'm having (for those not in the know - happens to get the uterus to shrink back to normal size) - they're about as painful as contractions during labor so I hope they go away soon!

Edward is beautiful, calm, sweet, and perfect. Having a little boy in the family makes our little family feel complete. We look forward to getting to know him!

TAGGED

Fellow blogger Elizabeth tagged me...

Where did you meet your husband?

At church...the Silverdale singles' ward.

What was the first thing you said to your husband?

Oh, this is embarrassing. I had wanted to talk to him, and he seemed shy so I didn't think he'd talk to me first. During volleyball he was fooling around by climbing up behind the basketball hoops...so my lame line to start a conversation was "How'd you get up there." Him: "The wall." Me: "Are you scared?" (Duh, why would he be up there if he were scared)......anyway, obviously he saw past my lameness.

Where was your first date?

We went to Fort Flagler and walked around and talked. He was much more serious than I thought he was - I had mostly seen him goofing off up until then. He was also a good listener. After that we went to dinner at Red Robin in Silverdale where we met up with Mike's good friend Neil and his new wife Bobbye who had just gotten married.

Where was your first kiss?

I think it was the next day on our 2nd date. We went to Seattle with a some friends and saw "The Mummy"...I think the kiss was on the ferry on the way home.

Did you have a long or short courtship/engagement?

I don't know what's normal...maybe a little fast. We started dating early May 1999 and were engaged by early August 1999. Then we were married July 1, 2000. So a three month courtship, and 11 month engagement.

Where did you get engaged?

Salsbury Park in Poulsbo. We were on the beach trying to watch "Pure Country" by generator for the 2nd time (first time the generator died or something - 2nd time there was a problem with the tape)...so we were just cuddling and talking and it came up and he asked...it wasn't planned, but it was a memorable night and that is where we had our reception.

Where were you married?

In the Seattle LDS Temple.

How did your reception go?

It was on July 29, 2000 at Salsbury Park. It was very casual (our style) and I thought it was a really great day...sunny and beautiful on the water and lots of family and friends came and we chatted the whole time.

How was your honeymoon?

We had been working really hard on getting the trailer livable for the few months leading up to the wedding. We had closed on the property early May of 2000, and so had about 2 months to get it ready (and we both worked full-time) - we moved in the day we were married. So basically our honeymoon was hanging out at home for a few days since we just wanted to relax and get to know our new place (it wasn't so cramped when it was just the two of us, and we were so excited to own it and not be renting!). I remember we watched all the Anne of Green Gables and Anne of of Avonlea :-) About a year later my parents paid for our tickets so we could take a belated honeymoon to Hawaii, I was pregnant with Adrienne by then.

Whose turn is it next?

I'll go with fellow married bloggers - Karla, Emma, Lisa, Melissa, and Rachel.

No more guessing

Well contractions went away...I'm done guessing. You'll hear from me after baby's born.

Oh, and if you haven't been keeping track, today's the due date.

Maybe today

Don't want to get my hopes up just yet but I'm thinking today will be the day. I'm just back from delivering route and have been having contractions the whole time. They've been more intense than in weeks past, but no pattern yet.

More waiting and...salmon

My mom told me about a creek just down the road from her that has salmon swimming through on their way to spawn. So I stopped by with the girls to see...These are probably about 2 feet long:

Don't know if you can see them very well because they blend. I counted 7 salmon in this picture. It helps if you click on the picture for a larger view:


So, it's a day before the due date and I'm still pregnant. I really don't want to pass the due date, so I'm hoping something happens in the next 33 hours!

Both Adrienne and Colette were born 1 day before their due dates, so I haven't gone over yet. We'll see with this one if he wants to follow that pattern, but I'm pretty sure it won't be today since there are only 9 hours left...but I have a good feeling about tomorrow (but then I felt that way about Saturday and Sunday too :-P)

Another thing that is weird is the idea of spontaneously going into labor. Again with both Adrienne and Colette, I woke up and knew it was going to be that day (water broke with Adrienne, contractions woke me up with Colette)...it's weird to think I could be going along with my day, doing errands or something and have it hit me all of a sudden.

Colette and Adrienne's births were alike in other ways too - both were about 19 1/2 hours long - that's one pattern I am more than happy to break from!

Well, this is what is on my mind these days, it's what I dream about too. I am really looking forward to meeting this baby, but now that it is imminent I am getting nervous because of the whole pain thing. I keep planning on employing some home inducement methods, but then end up saying...uh, maybe tomorrow!

Check back folks, because it could be any day now!