Dear Santa

*our 1st real christmas tree*

big big dart gun!
surf board!
and a wet soot
after he wrote this, he told us how hard it was to think of anything else since he just had a birthday and got "like everything."
so we reminded him that he didn't need a long list then.
so he added:
a pes u luv!!!!!!!
a pes of luv fm my famlie
then he gave us a satisfied wink.
jaden wrote this list on his own.
can you decipher what it says?
"a piece of love"
"a piece of love from my family"

and THIS is the kind of thing that happens at our house on sunday.
poor baby doesn't know anything different

Benihana's and Marshmallow Snowmen

that's how we celebrated family home evening.

the boys really wanted to go to benihana's for dinner tonight.
so micah told them he'd make them a
benihana dinner, nilsson style.

jaden informed me that the whole point was having it cooked in front of him and he was not disappointed.
micah doned his tall paper hat and went to work.
our food was prepared in front of our eyes on the electric skillet at the dinner table!
it included steak, shrimp and vegetable/egg fried rice--it was delicious!

and the show was spectacular--featuring the erupting onion volcano, the beating fried rice heart and he caught a shrimp in his hat!!

jaden thinks micah should get a job a benihana's.
forget law.
culinary arts, here he comes.

and for a treat, marshmallow snowmen. a variation of these (but not quite as cute. we improvised by dipping a toothpick in chocolate sauce to make the eyes, nose, mouth and buttons).
thanks for all the fun ideas minna!
(she's doing 24 days of christmas with an activity-a-day.
we've also made the snowflakes out of grocery sacks--so they stick to the window easily).

we also enjoyed a game of sequence for kids and reading out of our 24 days of christmas binder, which includes fun stories, scriptures and hymns.

the best part of the evening:
the most thoughtful and grateful prayer spoken by our 6 year old boy expressing his perfect understanding of the true meaning of the season.

we have such a testimony of family home evening.

I'm it

merideth got me!
not only did she tag me on her blog but posted a comment on mine telling me she did.
and because I have this ridiculous sense of duty, here goes...

5 things i was doing 10 years ago:
1. just completing my 1st quarter at cal-poly san luis obispo
2. and quickly realizing how much harder the quarter system was compared to the jc I was at previously as my gpa dropped below a 3.0 for the 1st time in my life
3. because I was living the fun college life in the dorms (including a lot of middle of the night taco bell runs). I did study. usually at 3am when everyone else was sleeping.
4. parties. parties. parties. and the beach. (just for the record: I was always the sober driver)
5. writing to one of my best friends, a mormon boy who was serving a mission in chile
(I'm now a mormon girl. and he's my husband.)

5 things on my to-do list today:
1. take beckam to gavin's (our babysitting co-op on wed. they went to the aquarium today)
2. exercise. in peace and quiet. (asher slept the whole time--woohoo)
3. clean the bathrooms
4. make a dr. appointment for jaden to have his "staph" infection looked at
(the dr. is the father of one of jaden's friends from school. he made a house call and said it's fine. no need for antibiotics. I hope it goes away soon. it's very annoying.)
5. make butternut squash soup. again. mmm mmmmm.

5 snacks i enjoy:
1. fruit smoothies
(non-fat vanilla yogurt, frozen berries, one banana, frozen tj's pineapple (they're so sweet), a little milk, some protein powder. delish)
2. hummus and pita chips
3. tj's peanut butter pretzels
3. tj's raspberry and chocolate trail mix
4. micah makes awesome milk shakes. cookies and cream ice cream with peanut butter, marshmallow, banana and hot fudge. yummy.
5. lately I love ecco (or perro. like postum.) with biscotti

5 things i would do if i was a billionaire:
1. always pick up the tab when eating out with friends or family
2. donate regularly to good causes
3. pay for strangers meals and perform other random acts of kindness like that. a lot.
(a stranger once secretly bought our dinner at the roof in the joseph smith building. it was our 1 year anniversary dinner and it meant a lot.)
4. buy a house
5. help any family members who needed it (and it would actually help). education. car payments. shopping sprees.

(funny. does this list look familiar sister bear?)

5 of my bad habits:
1. yelling at my kids. hey--that's how I was raised. and it works.
2. I'm a little compulsive about completing my to-do lists. I've mentioned this before. I blame my mother.
3. I think I talk rudely to my husband and kids sometimes, too. I only notice when I hear myself in a 6 or almost 3 year old.
4. micah says, "if you get upset, you don't let things go very easily." he put that very nicely didn't he? luckily, we've been married long enough, that I don't get upset very often. at least with him.
5. I LOVE to go out for lunch. and if I can find good justification, I go. sometimes I invite micah.

5 places i have lived:
1. monterey
2. davis
3. bakersfield
4. san diego
5. hawaii

5 jobs i have had:
1. cpa assistant
2. sales associate at hands gallery
3. manager's assistant at PacBell Yellow Pages
4. academic advisor, BYU-Hawaii, School of Education
(my DREAM job! I LOVED it!)
5. MOM, hardest but most rewarding job EVER!

5 things people don't know about me:
is there anything you don't know about me? here are some interesting things that you probably already know...

1. I'm known in my family as lolly. so much so that

• my mother had to tell me on the first day of kindergarten that my name was cheryl so when they said, "cheryl" I was supposed to answer. (mom is this really true?)

• when I was getting married, my mother asked if I was going to put "lolly" on the invitations. she was afraid that our family wouldn't know who "cheryl" was.

2. in my early childhood, we often had what I realize now may be considered an unusual living situation. my mom was single with four kids. but she was still best friends with her first husband--my "curt daddy"--and the father to the first three kids so sometimes he and Ray (that's why they're no longer married) lived with us. or sometimes auntie and her partner, which sometimes included children, usually lots of dogs and sometimes cats (until the dogs killed them). it made for lots of fun times and great memories.
3. I'm a litte bit of an okie at heart. my grandma is full-fledged and I spent lots of summers with her in oklahoma. so I do enjoy donuts with a coke for breakfast on occasion.
4. in highschool I played on an awesome softball team, was science club treasurer and sr. class pres. (and I married the homecoming king)
5. I have two false teeth. ever noticed? right up front. on either side of my two front teeth. and I had braces for 6 years!

here's the story for anyone interested:

the teeth on either side of my two front teeth didn't develop normally so they pulled them.
then on one side, the "eye" tooth wouldn't come down so they had to attach a chain to it--in my gums--and the other end to the wire on my braces to pull it down.
then they had to move my eye teeth into the right place to make room for my fake teeth.
it was such a long and torturous process.
can you imagine what a disaster this would have been from jr. high through high school?!
I had fake teeth attached to my wire so I didn't look so funny but wow was it an ordeal.
oh and before I got braces, I had a retainer for 2 years with teeth on it that often broke off so I carried super glue with me at all times. and once, in 6th grade I accidentally left for school without my retainer and realized it while I was on the bus. I jumped out of my seat and demanded that the bus driver let me off--I told her I'd forgotten that I had an appointment.
okay and here is the most embarassing story: for a while in high school I had a gap between my front tooth and my eye tooth because they couldn't fit a fake tooth in or something. I was dating this boy who was a big time soccer player and one day when he showed up for practice, his whole team had colored their tooth that I was missing BLACK to make fun of me!! mean, huh?! a really good friend of mine was on the team, too and told me because he was really mad about it. he was the only one who didn't do it!

okay that is the end.
that was actually fun. I just never wanted to take the time to do it.

now I have to tag five people AND leave a comment on their blog telling them that they've been tagged.

so alyson (unless you're having a baby, then you're off the hook), sandee, phoebe, amy d. and tara, you're it!

Asher Is Blessed

(mostly for grandma kippy's viewing pleasure)I think it's so hard to capture a little baby's
true look in pictures so here's a few

I think this one looks the most like the real Asher

the fam
(partially)

asher's #1 fan, Ms. Morgan

sweet little raia

some of the boys

Jaden

one thing is certain about jaden: he has a cyclical personality. for weeks he'll be super nice and sweet and then...not so much. (maybe it's normal but we really notice it in him).
and some weeks we REALLY. really. ReAlLy. really like him.
of course we always LOVE him but sometimes it's just so easy.

for example(s):

to kick-off this holiday season, I asked the boys to go through their toys and collect some that they would be willing to give to children who don't have nice toys like them. when they called me in to see their pile, it looked like a small toy junkyard: three-wheeled cars, bug catchers with no lids, guys with missing appendages, etc.
I say, "okay, so when someone opens this up, do you think they're going to be so excited to see what they got?"
jaden hangs his head and then runs out of the room calling, "I'll be right back."
he returns with his Scooby Doo video game (the kind that plugs into the TV) and says that he thinks "someone would really enjoy THIS! and since I got Pac Man for my birthday, I'd like to give this away."
YES! that's the spirit my boy!!
and beckam finally contributed some nice race cars after I vetoed many of jaden's toys that he was trying to "get rid of." I added some things and then shipped it off to grandma kippy--along with all the loot the candy fairy got.

last night, as we were reading The Polar Express, I asked Jaden what he would ask for if he were picked to get the first gift of christmas. his response:
"I would ask for enough toys to give to all the children who don't have any."

then tonight, we had the sister missionaries over for dinner. jaden comes into the living room hiding something under his special blanket. he unveiled his advent calendar (unopened even) and presented it to the sisters as a gift.

also tonight beckam was sent to bed without a story and was truly heartbroken about it. as jaden was heading off to bed, he said that first he needed to write down all the words he knew on pieces of paper and make them into a book so that he could read it to beckam for bed.

and oh how he loves baby asher!
what a truly SWEET and thoughtful boy!!
and such a good reminder to me of how he shows his love and affection.

It's Official

CONGRATULATIONS
are in order for
Micah has PASSED the
Bar Exam!!!

he's a bona fide attorney at law.
and I LOVE him and am SO proud of his hard work!!!
he so deserved to pass.
yippppppeeeeeeeeee

happy birthday

jaden boy
I'd like to share
"Jaden's Better-Two-Months-Late-Than-Never-
Birthday Wish Poem"
written by the incredibly lovely
Amy Nilsson Maughan
for Jaden's 1st birthday

because he's still doing a great job
raising his parents 5 years later

"You've learned so much and come so far,
Made mom and dad real proud--
Now keep them on their toes this year,
Be busy, and active, and loud!

Keep them running and a-chasing,
Give them lots of messes to clean.
Open doors and climb on chairs;
Throw some tantrums in between!

Cause it's your job to teach them all
They'll need to know to parent.
You've got to make them WORK--and show
Your commitment to help them learn it!

It's really not that hard, you'll find
Quite naturally, it will come.
You'll be a pro in no time flat--
A handful, and then some!

You're walking, running, learning words--
Becoming a definite champ!
Now stir things up, don't be too good
This is serious parent Boot Camp!

And when they come to their wit's end
You'll know things are coming to pass
But don't stop yet, keep wearing them out...
We're looking for total collapse!

You've got some mentors to follow
Staten, Bradon, to name a few...
They've paved the way to show you
All the marvels that you can do.

Us parents get a bit confused
And think we're raising our kids.
But we are quickly finding out
Who the teacher really is!

Keep up the good work Jaden!
You really are raising great folks.
The hard work all pays off in the end
And that, my friend, is no joke.

You have good roots. Hawaiian born
Which makes you all the better
Prepared to take this challenge on
And have the greatest year ever!

So here's to you and this next year
And the great things that will be
Remember ONE is a perfect age
To train and guide and teach.

Isn't she good. and isn't it SO TRUE.
I know Jaden has a specific purpose
being our first born.
He's so good at it!

we LOVE you jj!
and can't wait to see what else your life has in store.
we celebrated!
all these little crazies came over after school today.
then we went and saw Bee Movie--it was cute, entertaining and appropriate for this age.
they were so well-behaved!
after the movie, we came back home for some pizza, cake and ice cream
and lots and lots of presents. I think we can skip christmas gifts this year.

I just wanted to say

that I'm loving the time change. is anyone else with me?

I know the kids are waking up SO early but I'm liking my day starting earlier. (I never thought I'd say that. I am not a morning person!)
and somehow it's easier for me to wake up now. at 6:30 instead of 7:30!?
and we're not rushing around like mad trying to get jaden out the door for school with me screaming orders at him like a drill sargeant.
I've even managed a shower a few mornings before 7am, which really gets me moving.
we were out one day by 9:30 starting errands. that's good for us. (you see, I have this problem. If I don't have any time committments, I have to get all my "chores" done before I can leave the house. and if I do have time commitments, I have to get as many done as I possibly can before I leave. now you know why I'm never early. and usually a tad late. no matter how hard I try, I can't just leave until things are in order. for the most part. it can be really annoying. I think I have my mother to thank. sound familiar mom? I truly think it's genetically encoded in my DNA because I don't remember "learning" this from you.)
and because he wakes up at 6:30, beckam is ready for a nap by 12:30 and goes down SO easily.

I'm feeling on top of my game. it was good timing for our family!
thank you father time or whoever it is that's in charge of daylight savings.

The Candy Fairy...

she visited our house last night.
jaden left her a note beside all of his halloween candy
(of course there has to be a note, as jaden pointed out, so she doesn't just take anyone's stash)
and viola!, it was all gone this morning with cold hard cash in its place!!
thank you ixchelle for the great idea.
(forgot to include that earlier)
I asked jaden what he thought the candy fairy did with all the candy: "gives it to children who didn't get any."
hmmm...yes. she'll deliver it to his grandma kip in south africa and she can see to it that it finds a good home.
(although after he enthusiastically runs into my bedroom this morning to show me that "she'd" already come" and what she'd left him,
he says, "but you guys really did this because there's no such thing as fairies." we've never talked specifically about the fairies, santa or the easter bunny but we have about spiderman and other super heroes. interesting how intuitive they are.)

micah couldn't get over how much "good" candy people give out these days.
looks nothing like what we used to get--mini candy bars sure beat smarties.

FYI

this is a belated post but I believe the information contained therein could be useful to you at some point in your life.

rewind to september 22. I was 38 weeks pregnant. we were in bakersfield to watch my nephew's football game (he scored a touchdown!) and The Great Kern County Fair just happened to be in town so we went (sheerly coincidental I assure you). I really love the fair. okay, I really love the food at the fair. besides the baked potatoes and yummy yams from the boy scouts booth, the taquitos and sometimes corn dogs, funnel cake and old west cinnamon rolls (but not this year. that was a little much on the pregnant belly), the apple dumplings are a MUST! papa dave even requested that we bring one home to him. so as we were leaving, after 6 hours of walking, micah said he would run and get the dumplings and meet me at the exit. upon his return, I see him carrying TWO apple dumplings. I quickly did the calculations in my head (one for papa dave. one for micah. and where's mine?) and realized there wasn't quite enough to go around. upon questioning him on the matter, he informed me that he thought, "we could share." excuse me?! NO corn dog. NO funnel cake. NO old west cinnamon rolls. and he wants to share the apple dumpling?! I apologized for not specifying that I wanted my own and offered to go get it myself and meet him at the car. being the gentleman that he his, he refused my offer and asked me if I would be able to find the car. we'd parked in an obvious location (or so I thought) so I replied in the affirmative, took the fob (keyless entry remote) from him along with both apple dumplings, forks and knife included and he set off for another apple dumpling. so here I am: 38 weeks pregnant. pushing an umbrella stroller with one hand (not an easy task) juggling the apple dumplings whilst trying to keep jaden close-by so he doesn't get kidnapped or run over by a car as we s-l-o-w-l-y maneuver through the parking lot in. the. dark. to the car. after going down the aisle I was sure we'd parked in twice, I decided to try the previous one for lack of a better plan. all the while I'm hitting the panic button on the fob just hoping that the alarm will go off and save us. at this point jaden is on the verge of tears. as I'm explaining to him that crying won't solve anything and that we just need to work together to find the car and that if we don't find it, daddy WILL find us (which is why I LOVE my husband so much. because I'm SO confident that he'll always save me or the kids no matter what kind of trouble we're in), two police officers drive by and ask if we need any help. To which I reply, "Oh, you know just trying to find the car." I wonder what they must be thinking. this crazy lady: two kids, one on the way, no husband, by herself at the fair at night, can't even keep track of where she parked AND she had to have TWO apple dumplings. I tell them that I know the car is somewhere around here. at least I think it is. but it's not responding to the panic button so maybe I'm way off. then I assure them that my husband is here, too and he'll find us eventually if we don't find him first. and then I ask them check back on us. so they do one lap and come back. the driver asks me what kind of car it is. I tell him. he then tells me that he knows a trick. I look at him confused wondering if I really look like I'm in the mood for tricks. he says, "no, I"m serious. just trust me. it works for me every time." I raise my eyebrows conceding to listen realizing I don't have any better options. he proceeds to disclose "the trick": touch the fob under your chin while you push the panic button.
me: trying to decide if he's for real or just trying to see how ridiculous he can make me look to his friend, "seriously?!!"
him: "I'm serious. trust me."
burning with embarrassment, I very reluctantly raise the fob to my chin just waiting for them to burst out in laughter and push the panic button. suddenly w-a-y off in the distance I hear the faint sound of a horn honking. the police officer smiles, "I told you." I profusely express my astonishment and gratitude and we quickly, slowly set-off towards the honking. as we approach the car so does micah, jogging and out of breath without an apple dumpling wondering where we've been. beckam has just dropped his ice cream so I can't explain over his sobs nor do I bother to ask about the apple dumpling at this point . beckam's also had to go to the bathroom since we left the fair so I pull him out of the stroller, take him around to the front tire to relieve himself, get him buckled into his car seat and get into the car. when micah opens the car door to get in, he's laughing and holding the apple dumpling. I look at him totally unamused and ask him what he could possibly find so funny right now and wonder where the apple dumpling came from?! the apple dumpling? well, he'd hid it beside the front tire when he went back to the fair entrance to look for us. luckily it had a lid. and I ate it happily!!!

Happy Halloween

and
1 month to Asher
watching "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown,"
which wasn't quite as wonderful as I remember it being as a kid

I made a special trip to borders to purchase it today since I thought beckam would be spending the night on the couch--
poor guy has a fever but after a little dose
of tylenol he was ready for some Trick-or-Treating!

these are a few of my favorite things...lately

--FYI--
for those less familiar with blogging
WHEN THE WORDS IN A POST ARE A DIFFERENT COLOR,
RUN YOUR ARROW OVER IT AND IF IT'S UNDERLINED, YOU CAN CLICK ON THE WORD AND YOU WILL BE
NAVIGATED TO ANOTHER WEBSITE WITH MORE INFO. ON THE SUBJECT. TRY IT OUT.

• lansinoh (advice to new moms: apply GENEROUSLY. do not use sparingly. do not conserve. your life will be so much better when used in excess.)

• the pee pee teepee ("for the sprinkling wee wee")

• candy corn with peanuts or cashews(try it. trust me)

• new moon and now eclipse (has anyone not enjoyed them?)

• 6 hour kindergarten (after a 2 week break)

• seeing how much jaden adores his new baby brother and how helpful he is

• visits from family!

my sister janie and brutha-in-law dennis
WE LOVED YOUR VISIT!!

• my moby wrap

Recipe for a FABULOUS Fall day

one good nights sleep
(well, at least as good as it gets for a mom with a newborn)

a great trip to Earthbound Farms with good friends
for some Halloween/Fall fun
(it's not Apple Hill, Impossible Acres or Bishop's Pumpkin Farm--sob, sob--
but at least there was a corn maze and spooky hay tunnel. and real bathrooms so there were no port-a-potty incidents for those of you who remember that story. and if you don't--scroll down to the bottom of the Bishop's Pumpkin Farm post.)

one PRECIOUS baby who slept through our entire outing in the Moby wrap

a heaping helping of beautiful blue sky along with the perfect temperature

a surprise package on our doorstep when we arrived home
containing 6 caramel apples coated in a variety of flavors of goodness (i.e. cookies and cream, cordial cherries and dark chocolate, cashew and chocolate chip)
**The Wiscombe's are THE BEST**
we LOVE you and miss you

a huge batch of butternut squash soup for dinner
along with a super sweet husband to clean up the mess after jumping on the tramp with the boys while I rocked and fed my sweet little baby!
and top it off with a good dose of New Moon!

Party's Over

today my party ends.
tomorrow the big boys return.

good-bye

• sleeping in until whenever I feel like rolling out of bed
• hours of relaxing, snuggled up cozy admiring our new baby
• napping
  
• time to read a 500 page book in 4 days
• leisurely walks around the neighborhood at my own pace
• peaceful strolls along the beach with my husband to watch the sunset
• meal times whenever we get around to eating
• fearless visits in the home of my 70-something year old neighbor
  
• trips to Border's with micah to purchase New Moon and Eclipse while silently meandering through the store enjoying my hot chocolate with my new baby sleeping soundly in the moby
  
• daily blog posts

THANK YOU
MOM
and everyone else who's helped make our last week
blissful

the time with our new baby was priceless.
the greatest gift EVER!
WE LOVE YOU!

and we are excited to have our family back.

Let the Wild Rumpus Begin...tomorrow

Happy One Week! (yesterday)

post by micahThis little guy is amazing!

His birth was "FUN" (quoting cheryl)
He sleeps great, he eats mighty fine, he is alert for good spells and looks at you with the cutest little face . . . and until yesterday he never pee'd on me while changing his diaper.

We had this unspoken agreement. While he quite frequently pee'd on everyone else that would change him, I was just positive that he knew to keep any liquid waste inside him until we had closed up shop. But, alas, he has broken our understanding, shattering my confidence that I was somehow too special to him to pee on.
And not only did he pee on me, but while I was cleaning that up he pooped on me. Then while I was cleaning that up, he pee'd AGAIN! So I guess what I mistook for an unspoken agreement was actually little Asher saving up to really let me have it all at once.
That's okay. I still am ever so fond of this strapping young man. It's amazing that after only one week I can't imagine our family without him.

Asher
Hebrew; “happy, blessed”
eighth son of Jacob.
one of the twelve tribes of Israel.

Kindred Spirits, 1849--Asher B. Durand

“All these were the children of Asher, heads of their father’s house, choice and mighty men of valour, chief of the princes...”
1 Chronicles 7: 40

“And of Asher he said, Let Asher be blessed with children; let him be acceptable to his brethren….
Thy shoes shall be iron and brass; and as thy days, so shall thy strength be.”
Deuteronomy 33: 24, 25

Asher is SO well-loved!

Thank You

for coming to meet me
ma-maw and pa-paw

lexi ashlyn, morganne and auntie shelli...not once but TWICE!
uncle scott, westin, shawnee, papa dave
and mimi
for all your hard work here
AND all that you have ahead of you this coming week
with the Big Boys!
we know they're in good hands.
spoiling hands!

p.s. we LOVE the blanket darlybird

The Story of Asher's Arrival
for my sake
you may read if you wish.

it occurred to me on tuesday afternoon that with my previous deliveries, I've always gone into labor in the evening after my last Dr.'s visit before my due date.
my last scheduled Dr.'s visit was on wed., oct. 3 at 10am so we were curious if our luck would hold out and if our baby would arrive on oct. 4.

to our surprise my contractions started strong at 3am wed. morning and were 2-3 min. apart. after an hour I decided to wake micah, call my parents and call our neighbor to come over.
it was more premature than I've acted in the past by far but there were so many more variables this time that we didn't want to take any chances.

it was the perfect day for a baby because it was our babysitting co-op day and beckam was already going to his friend Lily's house for a playdate from 9-12 (while I went to the Dr.) and jaden would be in school from 8-12:45 (wed. is min. day).
our neighbors pick jaden up from school everyday since they have 3 boys at his school so they just took him to school for us also and stayed with beckam until he was picked up by our sweet friend Jaime for his playdate.

we arrived at the hospital at 6am. I was at a 3 but my contractions weren't nearly as intense nor coming as regularly so I was a little worried that they might not want to keep me.
however, I learned the words: "It's my 3rd" work like MAGIC.
when I called to tell them I was coming, I was also sure to tell them that I wanted an epidural.
and I'd already decided that since I'd made up my mind to have one, I wanted to feel as little pain as possible.
so by 7:30 my epidural was placed and unbeknownst to me, I was on my way to HEAVEN!
my contractions had actually stopped completely just before the anesthesiologist came in but nobody seemed to care. they started up again after about half an hour but weren't nearly as intense so they started pitocin.
they chose not to break my water since I was still quite high.

the part that really worried me about the epidural was not being able to feel or move my legs.
I thought I would hate that sensation but let me tell you how mistaken I was!
It was FABULOUS. I've never been more relaxed in my entire life.
I felt so warm and cozy and at peace and I liked the heaviness or weight I felt from being numb.
I loved feeling the pressure of each contraction without experiencing any of the pain!
I could control with the click of my thumb if I wanted more medication.
actually, micah enjoyed that job and in 4 hours, he pushed it twice.

my mom, dad and sandy arrived by 9:30 and we visited until 11:30 when the nurse came in to check me. I was at an 8 and my water was ready to be broken if it could hold out long enough for the Dr. to get there. the nurse was confident that the baby would be born very soon so she sent micah out to get the others.
the Dr. arrived at 11:45 while micah was out debriefing my family.
he broke my water and then told me to go ahead and give him a push with my next contraction.
I thought he was out of his mind. I hadn't felt any pressure. no pain. no indication that I should start pushing. even the nurse said, "you want her start pushing with the next one?"
his reply, "well, unless you want to sit here complete without having a baby."

so I pushed. and he said, "okay, two more just like that and your baby will be here."
still in shock that this was really happening, I asked if somebody could please go get my husband. micah and the gang made it just in time to turn the camera on for those last two pushes. for the 2nd time, I had a baby born with the chord around his neck but he was perfectly fine and never showed any signs of distress.

and for the very first time, I didn't have a single cut or tear, which was the icing on the cake!! WOOO-HOOOO!

it all literally felt like a dream. it is completely amazing and bewildering to me that I experienced all that without any pain. pushing was just so strange because I didn't feel anything and couldn't believe that I was actually making any progress.

it was an awesome experience!

they put asher on my chest as soon as he was born and he didn't leave my arms for a good hour when I realized that his daddy still hadn't held him. after I passed him off, I noticed that my epidural was already wearing off and I could feel my legs again.
I had been so worried that I'd be numb for hours afterwards but
the timing was so perfect that I was able to get right up and walk to the restroom by myself!

I believe that I have the greatest appreciation for the piece of heaven that is an epidural since I've experienced both a fabulous and beautiful unmedicated birth and an unmedicated water birth with pitocin--not quite as glorious.
I'm so grateful for each of these experiences.

I have to tell you that in between pushing, I calmly and casually said,
"epidurals should be mandatory!"
(I've never been able to say anything in between pushes before let alone, calmly and casually)

and I like how one dr. put it:
"you're like the Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland: your legs and body disappear and you're just left with your smile!"

my mom made it back to pick up the boys by 1:30 and they got to meet their new baby that evening. jaden is a very proud and involved big brother. beckam is less interested but stops by for a hug and kiss periodically.
The Boyswe had LOTS of surprise visitors in the hospital!
jenny and jeremy happened to be 45 min. away at a work meeting and she just happened to call an hour after the delivery to say that she was totally tricked by my previous blog post and really thought the baby had arrived and couldn't believe it had been 5 days and she hadn't heard from me--but then realized that it was just the trampoline.
so micah then got to give her the news for real and she ended up getting to meet him when he was one day old.
then 2 minutes after saying goodbye to my sister on the phone because she had to "run into the kids school" she walked into my hospital room with all three of her girls and my niece Demi, Janie's daughter (we missed you Janie but hope to see you soon). they just came for the day but it was such a fun surprise and when we got home, she had prepared a delicious dinner and brightened our bedroom with this beautiful arrangement:

asher is so pleasant. he hasn't given us any trouble so far. he's a great sleeper and eater and we're all just getting along beautifully. doing this for the third time is so nice and comfortable.

the boys left today for bakersfield with my mom for the week.
jaden starts his two week break from school on monday so the timing was great.
they were so excited to go and we're glad they'll be so well entertained while we catch up on rest and gear up for this new phase!

Announcing......

Asher

John-Patrick
Nilsson

October 3, 2007
12:05 pm

7 lbs. 7 oz.
20 1/2 inches

John Patrick Smith III