A Baby Story

I am so EXCITED that our third baby has arrived... and he's a healthy little boy. We named him Calvin after Randy's grandfather and Ralph after my father. Are you ready for the story?

Ok, we've met some awesome people since moving to southern California this summer. Despite my worries that our kids might accompany us to the hospital when I started labor (until my parents arrived) we had many offers to take our children for us. So late Wednesday night (about 10:30pm) my contractions were starting to get UNCOMFORTABLE. Ladies with babies - you know what I'm talking about. We called for my parents to pack their bags and hop in the car then we called the Jeffords who were amazing to offer to take our children weeks ago when we were very new to the area - and then insisted on us taking them up on their offer.

Off we went to the hospital.

I received my epidural (sweetness) at midnight and then things went astray. Nothing big... I could just FEEL EVERYTHING despite my nurse insisting it would only take 15 more minutes to kick in, another dose of medicine and 15 more minutes. Then insistance to see the anesthesiologist again from Randy, then a DEMAND to see her from me, then ANOTHER dose of medicine and still NOTHING - well, I mean EVERYTHING. I started to FREAK OUT! I had not prepared for a natural birth, I couldn't get my breathing under control, the pain was aweful! I wanted to climb the WALLS but I settled for biting Randy's had instead (not intentionally). It was then we decided I needed ANOTHER epidural - the whole thing over again. It was better than the pain I was feeling. Five hours later with my nurse and Randy HOLDING ME STILL the anesthesiologist gave me another shot in the back and THANKFULLY this time it worked.

Burke O'neal - where were you when I needed you!!!! Washington? Idaho? Just kidding, but kind of not kidding. Randy promises we will know the anesthesiologist next time. Oh, how I missed Iowa in those hours. All the good doctors I knew there!

At 6:33 am on Thursday, October 20th, 2011 CALVIN arrived. I was so happy to see him it made it all worth it.

He weighed 7 lbs. 4 oz. and was 19" long.

My protests of sticking to the same letter in the alphabet apparently fell on deaf ears, and I have to admit I have always liked the name Calvin. We now have the following monkeys in our household:
Cooper Ray
Caroline Jane (C.J.)
Calvin Ralph

The kids are LOVING him and learning to be a little softer than normal. Randy and I doubted Calvin's survival odds the first day we brought him home. After a few days they stopped trying to climb in his crib or feed him snacks. They even know to wash hands if either of them want to touch him.

My parents stayed for a week to help me out and my mother-in-law arrived last night to stay this week. I don't know how easy it will be after she leaves and it's just me... so for now I'm taking all the naps I can get and soaking up this little guy while I can get one-on-one time. Any advice from you mothers out there? I'd love to hear it.

Loving my life! Hope you are as well.

Beach Days... and more

We are loving the weather in southern California... well, as long as we're at the beach with the ocean breeze. Otherwise it's a little too hot for me and my growing belly. Cooper and CJ would play in the sand ALL DAY if we let them. Here is one of the rare occasions that Randy was able to come with us - hooray! I love that Dad can throw the kids in the air and be rough with them.

They LOVE it too.

We have also met a few people who have access to pools...

so that is the next place we've spent our summer days. Here is Caroline with her new buddy Megan.



Cooper played soccer at the Reseda Recreation Center. I volunteered to make the team banner..

and here is my attempt. It's been a while since I've made cheerleading signs :)

Randy and I couldn't believe how good the kids were that Cooper played with. They were more like 8-year-olds that 4 & 5. It made Coop step up his game - always a good thing - and I chilled out a little more than last time he played on a team. In fact, before this league started Cooper made me promise that I wouldn't get mad EVER at any games. I kept my promise. I also didn't get any good pictures that weren't a bit blurred but I guess that's good since he was running so much. Cooper is the fuzz in yellow below.

I just thought this picture was too cute I had to post it. I love that Cooper has freckles on his nose these days. It reminds me of his sweet buddy Hannah Judd, who we are MISSING now that her family is in Nashville.

"Jimmy" the lizard was an adventure one summer night. Coop caught it outside with Randy and kept it in a jar for a day. We took him out to feed him a bug the next night. Randy wasn't home and, in retrospect, I should have known better. I figured it was fine for Coop to handle him since he caught him in the first place. No sooner had I taken this picture than Jimmy bit his finger. Well, he dropped Jimmy, picked him back up and was bit again. This time Cooper started shaking his hand to get him off, the glass jar he was in fell and shattered, and Jimmy's tail came off. Poor Jimmy went soaring and his tail... twitched for AT LEAST 3 minutes. It was enough to make me throw up! I told Cooper that Jimmy needed to find his mommy to make him better so we couldn't catch him again.

Randy covers HS football on Friday nights and College football Saturday nights. We love to watch games and the kids have been troopers sitting in the stands with me. We make a special treat to take with us which usually keeps them excited for at least the first half. Then we find a grassy spot to run on during the second. Here they are at the HS game in Valencia.

One more picture. This one with me and my big belly. I'm up to an additional 55+ lbs. with a few weeks to go. I may hit 60 again - hopefully I can RUN it all off like the last 2 times. This has been by far my nicest pregnancy overall. The bad nausia stopped around 22 weeks or so, much sooner than the others. It has seemed like the longest with all the IVF treatments. We're getting excited and ready!

 Love from the Clarks.