Biggest and littlest

Biggest is trying his hand at book-writing... a budding author, it seems. His first two efforts are tales about insects, and a third story about a dragon fly is currently in the works.

And yesterday littlest celebrated her two-week birthday! Big stretch for the big occasion...

He is risen!

Some photos from our lovely Easter...

(Note the height of Roo's tights... Classy.)

Baby girl's first week

Little miss outback and I were in the hospital till Sunday afternoon; she had a good amount of amniotic fluid in her system and a fair amount of vomiting as a result. They ran some tests and did a stomach x-ray to rule out anything more extensive (thankfully there wasn't anything), and then kept us an extra day for observation.

HF's parents arrived on Sunday afternoon for a week-long stay and have been indispensable helpers. Such a gift to have family here helping out during this full, crazy, fun time. Some photos from the week...

Welcome to our "outback" girl

So our newest addition has joined our family, in what will go down as one of the most memorable moments in Pray Creek history. Because my midwife as well as the office OB left town today for a week, meaning I'd be unable to meet with either till nearly a week past my due date, I went in yesterday for my 40-week check-up. The OB stripped my membranes in hopes of getting labor going, and because I was only 1 cm dilate and not effaced at all, I went in twice - at 9 AM and 1:30 pm. Had some mild cramping in the morning and dull backache in the afternoon; I was hopeful that it would turn into labor.

We went to a local park for pizza dinner with some friends; I had a few mild contractions but nothing major. Got home around 7 pm and HF put the kids to bed. By 8 the contractions were coming more frequently; but still irregular and manageable. I took a shower, packed up my toiletries watched some TV with HF, called my doula to update her, and went upstairs to lie on my bed. The contractions continued to be erratic and short - signs of early labor (generally defined as contractions spaced more than 3 minutes apart and less than 60 seconds in duration) - and yet they were becoming pretty intense which was confusing. At 9 PM I called my doula again and asked her to come over; then the maternity ward at the hospital to say we'd be coming in at some point that night; then our babysitter. I started feeling discouraged that the contractions were so hard to get through when, judging by frequency and duration, I couldn't be anywhere near the end.

Then suddenly at 9:35 pm I went into transition. I called for HF, who was in the garage getting the infant carseat. Loudly and repeatedly. When he entered the room and I told him the baby was coming he asked if we should go to the hospital; when I said, "No, she's coming now," he called 911 and grabbed a towel. The dispatcher - who HF said was excellent - guided him through the delivery, which happened in less than 90 seconds - and had him tie off the umbilical cord with a short string. The baby had the cord wrapped twice around her neck when she emerged, but he unwrapped her quickly and she cried immediately. Her coloring was good and, thankfully, she seemed absolutely fine. [The paramedics gave her an APGAR score of 8 when they arrived.] HF was a perfect contender for this job, performed it flawlessly, and afterward said (contrary to my expectation) that this birth was his favorite of the four.

The fire truck and ambulance pulled up, and within five minutes of the birth our bedroom was occupied by about six men, closely followed by our doula and our next-door-neighbor. It was among the most surreal experiences I've ever had. The placenta came out about 15 minutes later, and then they helped me put some clothes on and packed the baby and me onto a stretcher and into the ambulance to head to the hospital. The guys were all extremely friendly, supportive, and polite.

When we arrived at the hospital they took us briefly through the ER and then up to Labor and Delivery where they put the baby on warmer, had the attending OB check me, and the like. The wee girl - whom I'd barely had a chance to look at up till this point - had blackish hair and dimples and weighed 7 lb 13 oz. Our smallest baby by a full pound!

The baby's first name was among the front-running contenders; it's a favorite of HF's, in particular because he thinks of it as an "outback" name (owing, we eventually realized, to the unofficial Australian anthem - a bush ballad - that bears the same name). Given that her birth ended up being such an "outback" experience, as well as his vital role in the delivery, it seemed perfectly suited. Too it means "mighty in battle" which, at least from first associations given her birth experience, she does appear to be.

And our daughter's middle name is the same as that of her great-grandmother (the mother of HF's father).

Welcome, sweet girl! What a whirlwind was your entry into this world! We are so, so glad you're here.

Easter prep and sand play

Since our baby girl is slated to make an appearance within the next week or so, we've been putting some early effort into getting focused on Easter - in spiritual and household-readiness terms. The kids and I did up an Easter banner and then decorated some construction paper eggs with cut-outs and glitter glue. Bit hit! Really enjoyable too, actually. I'm getting a bit better at this, and I can see how doing things like this with 5.5 and 3.5 year-olds really starts to pay off (certainly more so than at younger ages. The goose was not invited to participate this time around).

Yesterday morning HF participated in round two of his HAM radio-operator testing, a new endeavor of his that perfectly suits him. The intro test - which he took back in Feb - was pretty easy, but this advanced level actually required some attention and studying. Good news though! We now have a certified HAM radio operator on our hands... just in case you're in need of one.

Today we took a family outing up to the Sespe Wilderness which was lovely. Hadn't been up there in months, an

d it actually feels like real spring in that region. Little green buds on the trees and everything. We'd hoped to find a creek to build dams in (monkey's request) but the river levels were surprisingly high. We settled for doing some serious sand-digging at the water hole instead and had a great time. Very relaxing way to spend the day, and nice to have some fun family-bonding time with the current set before adding in our newest member! Whom we, of course, can't wait to meet! Interested to see when she chooses to make her appearance...

Lego pre-engineering class

Starting in February the monkey participated in an eight-week long "Lego pre-engineering class" put on by a reputable local organization called Play-Tek. Classes were 90 minutes long and were held at the YMCA in town. It was an awesome class for him and several of his friends; very well run, fun, and lots of hands-on learning. Each week they built a different item and learned how it was made and operated. Some of these even had battery packs to make them operative.

The lead instructor, Ben, just sent out a summary report complete with photos... Some project highlights and things they learned copied below (some of these things I don't even know!):

"Airplanes and Airports
Engineering Terms and Concepts:
-propellers (what they are and how they work to create lift)
-balance of weight (same size wings)
-direction of thrust (propeller pushes air back to make plane go forward)

Belt and Pulley Cars
Engineering Terms and Concepts:
- intro to battery packs, motors and leads
- belts and pulleys
- belt allows mechanical power to be transmitted from one pulley to another
-two jobs of bushings – hold pieces on axle, and act as spacers

Corbelled Arch Bridge
Engineering Terms and Concepts:
-overlapping
-the strength of the arch
-corbelling (cantilevering bricks out to make an arch)

Merry-Go-Rounds
Engineering Terms and Concepts:
-centripetal force – keeps the spinning arms from flying off
-vertical (up and down) and horizontal (side to side)
-perpendicular positioning of axles

Gear Cars
Engineering Terms and Concepts:
-spur gears
-gear teeth
-meshing
-gear ratios (the effect of different size gears turning each other)
-torque (turning strength) and speed"

A few photos Ben just sent out at the end of the course, so the parents could see the completed projects:

We signed the monkey up for the follow-on class; first class was today.