Will this become a habit?

Just sitting around, enjoying our boy and we see this ... Nora is the only one in our family that has ever sucked on fingers and since Jaren was born on the same day, will this be a habit?  We haven't seen it since, but it has only been a couple of days.  Nora's fingers didn't find a permanent home in her mouth until she was about 6 weeks old.

Something in Common

We were a bit afraid at first because Nora didn't want to have a lot to do with Jaren.  She didn't want to hold him or get too close.  But we found that within a day or so, all she wanted to do was see the baby.  She has kissed him more than just about anyone and seems to inundate him with love ALL the time.  Because they share a birthday, I feel that no matter what, they will always have something in common.

3 Days Old

This is our boy at 3 days old.  He is a pretty good sleeper and a GREAT eater!  Having a boy is a new adventure for us.  I do lot of extra laundry because I can't seem to get the hang of changing his diaper without a mishap.  Oh well...

Jaren Matthew Yoshioka

Jaren Matthew Yoshioka

Born:  May 27th 2008

Weight:  6 lbs. 14 oz.

Length: 20.5 inches

Time:  2:34 p.m.

Before, During and After

At 1:00 a.m., May 27th, I woke up having mild contractions.  I had a watch by the side of the bed and started timing.  I was having consistent contractions every  4 or 5 minutes.  They weren't really painful, but not anything I could sleep through really.  At 2:15 I woke Matt up to let him know that I thought I was in labor and needed to go to the hospital to make sure (I had tested positive for Group B Strep and needed to be on antibiotics at least 4 hours before delivery, so I was being extra cautious).  I went to the hospital and they monitored me for an hour before determining that I was in actual labor because I was progressing.  At 7 a.m. my doctor came in and checked me -- I was at a 4.  She wasn't sending me home, so we decided to break my water.  My contractions pretty much stopped.  I was only having one every 15 minutes instead of every 5 (picture 1).  I was worried they were going to put me on pitocin and I did NOT want that.

The nurse checked me again at 9 -- I was at a 5.  She checked me again at 11 -- I was at a 6.  I was still slowly progressing and not having too much pain.  Not to bad so far.

At 11:45 I started having harder contractions, 5 minutes apart.  By 1:00 p.m. I was exhausted and was having even harder contractions.  I was dilated to a 7.  They let me up to walk the room and I walked the room for a while.  Matt was great.  He rubbed my back and talked me through the contractions.  By 2:00 p.m. I was crying -- too tired to really concentrate on breathing right and in A LOT of pain.  I wanted something to take the edge off.  They gave me some IV meds and I climbed into bed to be checked.  2:10 p.m. -- dilated to a 9 (picture 2).  They got things prepped for birth, I started pushing at 2:25, pushed through 3 contractions and TADAH! presto, I was the mother of a BOY (picture 3).

Would I do it again?  Heck yeah!  Was it worth it?  Heck yeah!  Do I love my boy?  HECK YEAH!!

Mommy, it's my birthday! Where are you?

It is 7:00 a.m. on May 27th, Nora's 4th birthday and I am nowhere to be found in the house.  Where am I you ask? I have been at the hospital since 2:30 a.m. and am getting ready to have our baby.  This is not what we expected!  I am not due until June 7th and what are the chances that baby #4 would choose to come into the world on Nora's birthday?

Matt called my room and I talked to all three girls, but I talked to Nora first.  I wished her a happy birthday, told her that I would see her soon, and that we would open her presents in the hospital later on that afternoon/evening.  I worried ALL day that Nora wasn't having the best birthday she could have, but her babysitter made her cupcakes and got her a present and I think she thinks she had a great birthday!  Thank Heavens!!!

Simply Providential

We celebrated Nora's 4th birthday with Grandma and Grandpa Isaacson and Uncle Seth on Memorial Day.  We all had the day off and it was a great day for a BBQ and goodies.  Nora thought having two birthdays was great.  She opened her presents from her grandparent on the 26th and then had to wait to open presents from us on her actual birthday.  We had chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and had to use matches for candles because we didn't have any.  She didn't care.  All that mattered was that she had something to blow out (she blew over the top 4 times before she actually blew them out) and that the cake was CHOCOLATE -- her favorite.

She received a new purse and a webkins     
from Grandma and Grandpa Yoshioka and a swimming suit and a movie from Grandma and Grandpa Isaacson.  What a great day.  And she had no idea that her biggest surprise of all would come on her birthday!

A Sunday Bike Ride

We love to go for walks as a family when the weather gets nice.  The girls LOVE to ride their bikes too.  They ride up ahead and get twice the exercise.  This was a "get mom's pregnant body out and moving to possibly get things moving" stroll.  It didn't work this time!

To be like Daddy

It all started with Nora playing in our closet.  The next thing we knew, she was coming out into the living room with his shirts and ties on.  Of course the other two girls had to join in and they had a blast just playing around in their dad's duds.  Just what Sunday afternoons are for!

Shedding a Winter's Worth of Hair

 Mauly was in need of a major spa treatment last week.  She looked scraggly and dirty, so she got the royal treatment from the girls.  They brushed her til the cows came home.  They were so proud of all the hair they brushed out of her, they kept it in a cup until the cup was over flowing.  You can see most of the hair they brushed out in Lily's hand.  There was lots floating around the yard for a few days too.  Needless to say, Mauly looked great and actually looked a few pounds lighter by and by.

Quite a Haul!!

After a GREAT spring of antler hunting, here is what it all boils down to -- a truck full of antlers a friend of Matt's buys to make beautiful antler handled knives.  What do we get?  $1600 for our new addition.  A great deal if you ask me!

A Half Caught Fish

  

Can you only catch a fish half way?  Nora can!

The girls and the fish

Here are all the fish the girls caught.  Mori had a friend, Braylie Spratling with her and Braylie caught the biggest fish.  Each of the girls caught at least three fish and some got away before we could get them on the bank, otherwise we would have had more fish to fry.  It was a fun day for us all and we will definitely be doing it again soon!

Daddy-Daughter Fun

After a week at outdoor school, the girls and I met Matt at the Kiwanas Cabins to do a bit of fishing in the newly stocked pond.  We did it last year and had so much fun, we decided to do it again this year.  Nora hasn't been fishing much that she remembers, so this was a memorable experience for her.  She held her first fish (mind you, she had to touch the ones in the bucket first a few times to make sure it was all going to be okay) and caught quite a few too.  She is usually a mama's girls, but when it came to someone casting the pole or helping her reel in the fish, daddy was her one and only side-kick.  She even snagged one on its tummy and brought it in.  We have been told that is illegal, but I am not convinced she did it maliciously, so we are not going to turn her in (ha-ha).  She and her daddy make a pretty good fishing team.  We just can't wait for the next fishing trip!

Lily just finished her first "Round-Up City Racers" track season.  She had a lot of fun.  She loves the field events more than the running.  She always chose to do the shot-put, the javelin and the long jump.  When she made the 4x100 relay she loved that too, but she was a 7 year-old in a 7 & 8 year old group, so she was usually beat out of the relay by the 8 year-olds.  When she couldn't do the relay, she did the 50 meter dash.  I think she will chose to do it this next year, but she is also interested in trying softball.  In her final track meet, she did well and had a lot of fun.  It was a regional track meet against all the city league track teams in Umatilla county.  She was one of 350 participants and just had a fun time!

Who's that pitching? or is she on third base?

That's Mori on third base and pitching.  She is playing her second year of softball and is having the time of her life.  She started pitching on a whim, thinking it would be fun to try and we are now considering pitching lessons during the summer if we can fit it in.  Mori actually had a game tonight and she played very well.  She hit 3 times and got on each time.  She also pitched an inning and then played first base the rest of the game.  Her team won 12-11.  They have actually only lost one game so far.  They are a fairly young team, but work well together.  Mori will definitely continue to play as she gets older.  We actually can't get her to stop practicing her pitching technique, no matter where we go -- in the store, on walks, in the house, pretty much everywhere she goes.

Farmers in the making

We planted our garden a week and a half ago.  We are SO excited to have all the yummy foods from it.  We planted 3 types of tomatoes, 2 types of zucchini, bush beans, peas, carrots, beets, cilantro, pumpkins, and a few other things.  We will also have a nice stock or raspberries to eat.  The girls love to plant the garden and to help tend it.  All three girls are such good helpers with pulling weeds and watering the garden.  They also LOVE to get dirty in the mud.  With the big hole in our backyard and the garden spot, we have LOTS of dirt to worry about tracking in the house now.  We will share our spoils with anyone interested in coming to get it too.  We would love visitors this summer!!!

Baby Update -- Week 38ish

Well, I have 2 weeks and 2 days til I am due but I am crossing my fingers for sooner!  This baby is a mover and I think my ribs have been stretched to capacity enough for now.  I am not sleeping well.  Everyone says the baby is training me for when he/she is born, but I just think it is my stressed out mind going over my end of the year at school, our new house construction and whether we are having a boy or a girl.  We still haven't figured out a name.  We have always gone to the hospital with a definite name for both sexes and this time we can't decide on a single one.

I am still dilated to a 2 1/2 and am 50% effaced -- no change whatsoever.  I was a bit bummed, but I am thinking Heavenly Father has a time line and I need to stick to it and not my own.  So I will hopefully learn a bit of patience in the process and get everything ready for my sub in my classroom.  But cross your fingers -- I wouldn't mind sooner than later!

Learning to Swim

The girls love to swim!  They have been taking swimming lessons from a girl at the Round-Up Athletic Club.  They just finished for the time being but will start again at the end of June.  They have all come a long ways this year.  Mori has learned all the strokes, Lily has learned two strokes and Nora will finally put her face in the water consistently.  They will be missing swimming for the next few weeks, but I need a break.  We are going non-stop right now with end of the school year stuff.  What a relief to have another thing off the list!

1st day of construction ... Before and After

This is a before and after shot out our back door.  The top one is at about 7:30 this morning.  Matt is back in the back left corner clearing a way for the big truck and backhoe to get through.  We have nice neighbors who have been kind enough to let us use their lot as a pathway to ours.
The second picture is from about 3:30 this afternoon.  Straight back is the huge stump that was in the middle of the first picture.  We also found an old oil heat barrel right out our back door.   Thankfully it was filled with gravel and was easy for the backhoe to extricate.  Things are moving forward.  They will be back tomorrow morning to hopefully finish the digging.  Then next week ... onto the foundation.