"I just growed up!"

When asked how she got to be so big, that is how she responded "I just growed up!" Happy Birthday Allie!!! (We have been working on wrapping our hair in a towel after bathing. The "chomper" clips help). This is the castle cake and the only angle I would allow Jason to take a photo from. Do you see the tall skewer in the back with the banner that says "Happy Birthday Allie"? That was strategically placed to keep that corner of the cake from completely braking off and sliding to the floor. We told Allie the castle had received some structural damage from a dragon attack. Also the other little triangle flags were actually tall skinny candles. When we lit the candles most of the flags caught on fire- further damaging the castle (we could not stop laughing). She had to blow out these 4" flames at the top of the flag poles. We hope the poor princess who lived in this sorry thing made it out alive!
Luke's favorite birthday gift that Allie received- a pretend microphone that echos.
Allie is holding a little dog that barks and walks when you push the button at the end of a leash. When she started to open the gift I told her to be careful and not get bit. She saw the black fur and then asked me to open it the rest of the way.
This is her mermaid dress-up dress.

Not a flattering shot but still a precious moment (which is why I decided to include it). Aaahh "Quiet Time". This is why the answering machine picks up anywhere between noon and 4pm-ish.

Per Request

So here are a few more shots of Wesley. I love this one below because I think he looks like a little old man. Nap time for the boys (and mom soon followed).
"Hanging out" with mom.

As soon as Grandma Poppins left it was time to pull out the sling. Jenny, did you ever get it figured out?

Happiness is

Finally figuring out how to defeat the zipper (good thing this is a private blog)
Coloring for at least 4 hours a day
Snoozing with your sister

One of these "things" is not like the others...

Jay mentioned that he thought Wes looked like our other kids. I thought that would be an interesting comparison. So in no particular order here are our three babies, all within a week of being born. Can you guess who is who? I guess I would have to agree... this is just what a Jason/Joy baby looks like. Not too much variation. Is it because Jason and I look similar?

His NAME is...

This afternoon we welcomed home Wesley Banks Payne! We had been thinking of Austin Banks Payne in honor of Grandpa Payne and the Dr. he is named after but Austin just didn't seem to fit. Since Grandpa is kind of a miracle baby and that is how we feel about our little guy, well it just seemed fitting. Every child is special but after all we have been through with this little one, well he is a miracle to us. Since nothing was normal about this pregnancy I sort of suspected that something abnormal about his birth would also be the case. Being labor for only about 11 or 12 hours- TOTALLY abnormal for me. And then I wasn't surprised by his little double thumb. Just seemed par for the course. We are totally ok with it by the way. It will make a great story for the "Two Truths and a Lie" game when he grows up! :) It sounds like they will do the surgery when he is more like a year old instead of 6 months.

So here are a few more shots: The Proud Papa
The big sister!The big brother! Maureen asked if Luke was aware or cared what was happening. Can you tell who is the most excited about having a baby brother! He just doesn't want to leave him alone! He even says "baby" now- one of the 6 words or so that he knows.The proud grandma who arrived just in time! Actually Friday night after she got off the plane and we were relaxing (she gave Jason a massage which helped him be prepared to be the "dude-la"), she asked me if I wanted to try some Chia energy thing to put me in labor. Sure, why not?! So she touched these "energy spots" by my knees and then by my ankles. Whether that is what did it or not, three hours later the contractions began! THANK Y-O-U Grandma!!!
So after flying in, fixing Jason up, putting me into labor and sending us out the door, she cleaned our entire house, cooked, did laundry, played with the kids and made cookies. We are going to buy her an umbrella for a Thank You gift because we now call her "Grandma Poppins." Thank You Grandma!

He's here!

I wish I were half the writer Joy is. Little baby x was born this afternoon at 12:25. Joy began labor at about 1:00 this morning. Thankfully this labor was nowhere near as long as that of Luke or Allie. Here is our little family right before we left for the hospital at 9:00:

Our nurse was a midwife for about 6 years before going to nursing school and was very comfortable with Joy's desire to deliver without all of the IV and monitoring equipment preventing her from moving around. (The hospital did get some wireless fetal monitors that we used and liked). We walked up and down the hall quite a few times, returned to our room and Joy delivered on hands and knees. Our Dr. popped the water sack while Joy was pushing and noticed some light meconium. The Dr. stepped out for a bit then came back just in time to see the baby pushed out. After a little suctioning, he scored 8-9 Apgar and began to nurse. He is a chunky little guy.Joy was up after a nice cup of Cherrios and Rasin Bran to assure the little guy that she still loves him even though he weighed 8 pounds, 7.8 oz. He was 20.5 inches long.

Nest it was off to the recovery room in a wheelchair built for a 400 pound man (they must have heard he was a pudge).
Settled in it was time for a good bath and his first fake and bake---
If you look carefully you will see that he has a split thumb on his right hand. The two little tips each have a fingernail and probably bone as well. He'll likely undergo a surgury to pick one about 6 months from now. Split thumbs sometimes accompany other issues, but no other abnormalities were exposed in all of the normal exams babies undergo. Here is a zoomed in version of his thumb(s). If you care to web surf, the medical term is pre-axial polydactyly and the probability of occurance is 1:1000.I came home about 7:30 and relived a very worn out grandma. Joy made a little video for Allie and Luke that I showed to them before bedtime. With any luck, all will go home tomorrow!
Oh, the name? You want to know the name? Well, let me call Joy. Well we're down to two finalists. We have the middle name. We'll post the results tomorrow...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Lindsay!!!

Happy BIRTHDAY Lindsay! You are so special that we think you should get to keep this special day all to yourself! In other words, I am not going to have a baby on your birthday to take away any of your spot light! : ) I am feeling pretty good and quite happy to be pregnant still. Jason is doing slightly better. If anything, there is hope that he will heal. He still has not gone to work (I don't know if he has ever taken a sick day before) and by the time he is ready to go back we will be having a baby so he will be home again. This has been one long vacation and it is really fun to have him around- even if he is just laying there or shuffling in circles trying to move muscles. Allie's eyes have cleared and her swollen glands have gone down slightly. I think we are out of the woods for Kawasaki's Disease even though she still has her fever. Luke is now healed completely. So things really are looking up!

In other news, Luke is at the age where we have to use duct tape to keep his little diapers on. He has learned how to take them off... for fun. We have to check on him at night to make sure he is still clothed. This is how we found him the other night.

This is us right now (well, last night actually). The kids are really excited to see their new baby brother. Take your time little one, take your time!

State of the Union

Luke is now the doula/birthing coach. He is the most in tact. His diarrea from last week is almost gone and his poor little bum is mostly healed (sorry if that is too much info). Allie has had a fever for the last couple of days, with red eyes and swollen glands. She was complaining that her neck was sore so because of that I took her to the Dr. as a precaution for meningitis. I am really not the "freak-out" type but I couldn't get a clear understanding of why her neck hurt. It wasn't a sore throat (it was the glands) so we thought we just better check with the Dr. It could be however Kawaski's Disease so we are going to wait and watch for a couple of days to see what happens with her fever. Jason... poor Jason. I have NEVER seen him like this. He didn't sleep much last night because he can't seem to be able to lay down for long. Not that walking or sitting helps much either. It's his lower back and he is walking like an old man. We tried the chiropracter (or as Jason calls them the "quacko-practer") on Friday. That wasn't the cure-all. Actually, he's only gotten worse (it turns out the lions have returned to the Namibian Desert- you would know if you were up at 4am watching Nature on PBS). And I, well I am 9 months pregnant and would rather just take a seat if you don't mind. Now more than ever I hope this baby comes late. I need my DOULA. I don't know how good Luke is with counter pressure.

Grandpa Pooh Bear

Grandpa Payne- we LOVE you so much! Hopefully this isn't too embarrassing for you because it was said in complete innocense. The other day Allie and I were putting together a Winnie the Pooh puzzle that she has. We found the puzzle piece with his legs but we needed the piece with the rest of his body. Allie found it and was giggling. She said, while laughing, "Grandpa is fat like Pooh Bear!" Now keep in mind the the puzzle piece that she found was of Winnie the Pooh's tummy and she was talking about the above photo because she thinks Grandpa and Jay Jay were being so funny!

I MADE it!!!

Well- I made it! It is now January and I am still pregnant! I did not have a December baby like I feared (not that we have anything against December babies Andrew and James...). And today is January 2nd so it isn't a holiday baby either. Jason went back to work today. He thinks it would be most convenient to have the baby this weekend so that way he has a couple of days to get his people working on whatever before he takes off for awhile again.

So what have we been doing for the last wonderful week and a half with Dad home? Well, among other things, we got the kids room painted and the furniture all moved around. Most everything is in the right place but there is still the final organizing, putting away, hanging up, and other little details to get it all finished. There are a few more things we need to do to the kids room. But here are some photos to give you an idea of how it looks. Allie and Luke are really excited about it! They love that it's them painted on the wall. To really appreciate it you will have to come visit us and see for yourself!
I LOVE this shot of Allie! She really was a good little helper!

Love this shot of Jason too! He's so hot!

The before (above) and after (below). Can you see that it is snowing outside? Luke loves to jump and play on Allie's bed. Can you see him?

Ikea bedding and rugs!

The baby!
So there are some more things to add but you get the idea. The baby will be in our room for a few months but then he will join the others! Allie and Luke sleep through each other so I am assuming/hoping that it will continue that way.

By the way, I used a clip art drawing that I use for my spanish class as the basis. We had always joked that it was Allie and Luke in the drawing. Then I changed some of the clothes, faces, arms and legs, etc. I did the basic painting and some of the outlining but I have a really talented friend who did the shading and many of the other difficult details that really made it come to life! She is so good! She was the one who helped me get it all together- the ideas and how to apply it. It was her paint too (the blue and green was from Lowe's). By the way, the whole idea started with the tree that Jenny had done for baby Jack years ago. Jenny, I liked your tree much better although this one has improved some since I took these photos.