Luke is here!

 I guess if I'm going to keep this as our family journal I have to keep up with the times!!  Our sweet baby Luke arrived on September 20th at 8:18pm.  He weighed 9 lbs 7oz and was 21 inches long.

 Now for the birth story, which is long so feel free to skip.  On the morning of the 20th, (I was 39 weeks) I started having occasional contractions that would hurt a bit and then go away.  I just considered they were Braxton Hicks contractions that were on the strong side (since I had a few painful ones the day before).  I decided to go on with my day and just see what happened.  So I took Tate to playgroup, went grocery shopping with Grant, picked up Tate, gave the boys lunch, and took Grant and his friends to preschool.  All the while I was having the "braxton hicks" contractions.  Since I was induced with the other two deliveries, I had only known contractions on pitocin, so these contractions did not feel like real labor contractions and I still wasn't convinced I was in the early stages of labor. 

While Grant was at preschool, I decided I should probably start to time the contractions and saw they were coming about 5 minutes apart pretty regularly, and hurting enough that I would have to stop walking during one, so I figured it was probably labor.  I felt fine in between the contractions though, so I went to go pick up Grant and his friends from preschool and only had one contraction while in the school, so that was nice.  When we got home, I called around to find a place for the kids to go and realized with all my driving around that day, I hadn't cleaned the house. So I swept the floors and put things away just so we could come home to a somewhat clean house (and it probably helped move the labor on!).  Then I dropped the boys off at our very nice friends and drove to the hospital where Ryan would meet me (yes I drove myself to the hospital while in labor, I just sang songs through the contractions to keep my mind off them)

I got there at 4:30 and was only dilated 4, but they said they would keep me since the contractions were coming regularly.  Ryan didn't have any clothes/toiletries to stay the night, so I sent him home to get his things and walked around while he was gone.  She checked me about an hour after we got there and I had progressed to a 6 so they moved us to the labor room.  After about another hour of the contractions getting worse and worse I was still a 6 so I said I could go ahead and get an epidural (I was considering trying to not use one, but I spent an hour not progressing so I wasn't sure how long labor would take).  Then my water broke and the anesthesiologist was still not there and I really had to use the bathroom.  She let me go and when I came back the contractions started to get horrible.  The anesthesiologist came in the room and was explaining about the epidural but I have no idea what she was saying, I was just trying to not scream and throw up during the contractions.  The nurse checked me again (just 15 minutes after she had checked me when I was a 6) and I had progressed to a 9.  Then I felt like I had to start pushing, and the nurse is telling me not to push because my doctor is not there yet.  But let me tell you, when it's time to push, it's time to push!  At this point the contractions are insane, I'm sweating like a banshee, I don't even know what I am saying/screaming and I'm trying not to push (which is almost impossible).  The nurse gets a resident to come in and three crazy, I feel like I'm splitting in two, pushes later Luke is born!

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He came out pretty blue and they had to deep suction him to get him crying.  His apgars were actually 4 and 9 (for all you medical people out there) 4 is actually the lowest by far any of the boys had.  The nurse said when they descend as fast as he did, sometimes they swallow a lot of liquid so she just had to clean him out.  We were surprised he was so big.  Grant was 8 lbs and Tate was 8 lbs 6 oz.  It does make me worry a bit how big our next one might be :)

Ryan was a good supporter through the labor and kindly obliged to whatever I asked him to do (I think I made him turn the fan on and off again probably 10 times).  We were able to leave the hospital on the 22nd and have had a pretty smooth transition.  I feel like this was my quickest recovery so far, so maybe going natural is the was to go.  I decided I will definitely need to prepare somehow for the next one though!

 

The boys love their new little brother and are very nice with him.  Tate always wants to give the baby his blankets or a toy and asks to hold him whenever he can.  We were so lucky to have my mom with us for a whole week after we brought Luke home which helped so much.  She spoiled me by taking care of Grant and Tate and the meals and the house and letting me nap whenever possible.  We have survived the first week since she left and I think things will only get easier as Luke gets older (hopefully :).

Wood Family Reunion

 Every summer we are excited to make a trip out West for the Wood family reunion.  This year, we were in charge of organizing the trip (which is easy to do with the internet!).  We found a big, comfy cabin in Bear Lake and met with the family for a long weekend.  It was a blast!  Grant and Tate had a fun time with their cousins and were wanting to run around and play with them all day long.  The only downside about the cabin was that there was a hidden drop off with a water canal about 20 feet behind the house, so we had to be extra diligent to make sure none of the kiddies escaped and got washed away.

 Apparently, the majority of the pictures I took came from our day at the lake.  The lake was at record high levels this year from all the melted snow and rain, to the point where most of the beach area was covered with water.  We started the day early though and found a little section of beach to set up on. Everyone loved playing on the inflatable island.

 Ran and Tate checking out the water situation while demonstrating proper head sun-protection.

 Playing on the sand is always a good time.  Here you can see some of the family members, including Grandpa Wood.  You know someone's pure country when they wear Wranglers and cowboy boots to the beach.  Much respect!

 Tate was adamant about going tubing with Ryan.  He almost jumped right off the boat he was so ready to give it a try.  He loved it!

 Grant was a little more cautious about going tubing, but after he watched Tate do it he was ready to give it a go.  He also loved it.  Later he went with his cousin, (old enough to be uncle, though) Gregg.  After that trip, he told us tubing "knocked his socks off!"

 Tate took his flag holding duties seriously.  However, I think in this picture his face is reading exhaustion.  On his second trip out in the boat they said he was starting to fall asleep while out riding the tube.  You know you're pretty tired when you start riding the bull while you are actually riding a tube being pulled by a speeding boat.

 Ryan showed off his wake boarding skills that haven't been used in probably 5 years.  He got a few jumps in  and ended up only sore for a mere 3 days after :) 

 I had to include this picture just to prove I was actually at the lake with everyone.  My large belly caused me to take a more by-standing roll in the days activities, but it felt good to cool off in the water.

On another day we drove up the canyon to hike to a mountain lake.  The boys are in the very back of this picture with their cousins.  The scenery was beautiful up in the mountains and the lake was freezing.  Ryan got to enjoy some cliff jumping and rope swinging while the boys and I waded through the water.  It was fun!

Unfortunately, we did not get any other pictures of our trip.  We were able to stay at Nana's for about 3 days and visit with her and enjoy her company (and delicious food, of course!).  We also hung out with David a little and were able to meet up with one of my old roomies, Jenna, and with some friends from dental school, the Robinsons.  Ryan and I were even able to sneak in a trip to the movies and finally saw the last Harry Potter movie.  It was a great trip and a fun time to get away as a family of 4 before we become 5.

Big Kid Bed-Head

 I thought this kind of bed head was reserved for girls.  I realize that our boys hair is almost as long as some girls styles, so I guess it should make sense that I have to "do" it everyday.  Fortunately, Grant's hair has thickened up enough that it stays pretty flat so the wetting down and combing process is minimal (a process that surprisingly the kids try to get out of every morning, even though we do it every morning).  

Tate, on the other hand, still has pretty wispy hair.  So every day we wake up to a new kind of tangled mess.  At least a good watering and combing seems to tame it pretty well.

Summer outings with only 2 kids

Even though I am getting hugely pregnant and it has been a crazy hot summer, I have been trying to get out as much as possible and let the boys have a lot of fun before #3 arrives.  A big tummy gets pretty uncomfortable, but this is still easier than going out and about with 3 kids!

Ryan and I both agree that the Columbus library system is the best we have ever experienced.  One of the many perks they have is the summer reading program (for adults and kids), through which we got free passes for the kids to Zoombezi Bay (a huge water park next to the zoo).  Every time we go to the zoo, the boys ooh and ahh over the water rides and ask when we can go over to the water park.  With free passes for the kids, I couldn't pass it up!  

These are actually the only two pictures I got of the day.  Very exciting, I know, the kids eating lunch on a lounging chair.  We did have a lot of fun though.  Since I knew we would not be going there again, we stayed as late as we could.  However, I knew it was time to go when Tate started falling asleep while we floated on the lazy river.

 We had also promised the boys we would go camping this summer, so camping we went.  We went with a group of friends to Hocking Hills for the night, even though the weather forecast looked threatening.  And yes, there was a thunder/lightening/rain storm throughout the night, but at least things had cooled off a little in the morning.  Sorry for the baby bottom shot, but I figured Tate's first pee in the woods was worth documenting (and also I again did not take many pictures, so there weren't too many to choose from).  Note the proper form of stepping one foot out of the trousers, then spreading the feet wide to avoid dripping pee on his trousers and undies.  A born woodsman.

The storm started around 10pm so everyone just headed off to bed at that time.  Tate, after consuming 2 whole s'mores and at least 5 additional large marshmallows, was literally bouncing off the tent walls and was not showing any signs of slowing down as we all laid down to sleep.  You know your child is in the crazy, loopy stage when his flying jump is stopped mid-air by a solid, dad-clothes-lining-arm and he falls to the ground laughing and tries to do it again and again.  Finally his fall to the ground was hard enough to leave him thinking this game wasn't fun anymore.  After that, he had about 5 more minutes of singing on his sleeping bag and then complete silence, when I guess the sugar rush ended and he dropped into an immediate deep slumber.  Who's idea was it to go camping again?

Another summer activity that can't be missed is the Ohio State Fair.  We started with our usual favorite spot, the draft horse show, where the 6-team Belgians were pulling their wagons, all combed and braided with polished harnesses and such.  The horses at the fair are always so amazingly huge and beautiful!  It always surprises me how much I enjoy seeing them do their thing.

I think the only snacks we got this year were the famous lemonades and some mini donuts.  It was too hot for anything else.  The boys loved the cheap rides although we ran into a few problems with the height differences and who could or could not go on what ride.  Here, Tate disobediently stood up while riding a floating alligator but at least that was the slowest moving ride at the fair (I think he was just trying to up the excitement value).

Giving their obligatory wave from a pumpkin ferriswheel.

Grant was actually too tall for this ride, though I'm not sure why.  This one seemed much more fun than some of the others he was not too tall for. 
Besides these big outings we have been going to the pool a lot, playing with friends, and just enjoying being outside while the sun is still shining here in Central Ohio.

He's offically a big boy!

 Tate has actually "officially" been a big boy since the middle of July, I'm just late at posting (as usual).  As with Grant, we had a one day Potty Party for Tate.  Since potty training went so well with Grant I figured it would be too good to be true for it to go smoothly with Tate, too.  But Tater surprised us with not only figuring out how to go potty right away, but having only 3 accidents and staying dry during naps and all night from the start!  I guess he was more ready that I was!

 Here is the chart Ryan put together for Tate's potty party.  It is actually still up in the downstairs bathroom and the boys periodically add stickers to it when the mood hits them.  In this picture the boys took the liberty of censuring the poster.  They strategically placed a turtle and cat sticker over the toilet full of poop and pee (in the left column of pictures).  However, it was probably not the most appropriate censuring since Grant laughed as he carefully placed the turtle sticker.  "This turtle is drinking the delicious pee pee!" he laughed, as he placed the turtle's mouth to intercept the stream of cartoon pee. Boys will be boys, I suppose.

 

Why are pictures of kids on the potty so dang cute!?!

Nice work Tater!  Thanks to you I've been enjoying this 2 1/2 month break from diapers.  Baby #3, bring on the meconium!

Hooray for Independence Day!

Since this is our last summer in Columbus I wanted to take advantage of a lot of the 4th of July festivities they have here (we've missed the fun for the past two years!).  I had heard good things about the Hilliard parade and it did not disappoint.  Just about every float, truck or group parading by throws out candy to the kids and so the boys thought they were in heaven.  I was in heaven when they came by with tons of Chik-Fil-A coupons!

Waiting patiently for the parade to start.

One of the groups passed out these American flags and I had previously told the boys if they waved their flags people would give them candy.  They never put the flags down after that, and never stopped waving for that matter.  The weather ended up being pretty nice for that morning also.  It never rained, but stayed cloudy enough that it wasn't too hot outside.

After the parade we met at a friend's house for a yummy BBQ and had fun chatting with friends.

We weren't sure if we would keep the boys up for fireworks (since they didn't start until 9:45), but hey, it's the 4th of July!! You got to see fireworks!!  We met friends again at a park for a late BBQ and let the kids play until the show was ready.  The fireworks were being shot from another park about a mile away, but the view was perfect from where we were.  The boys reaction to the first several fireworks was priceless.  It involved a lot of screaming for joy and giddy laughing.

Ryan and Tate sit back and take it all in.

 Tate was pretty diligent about keeping a hold of his flag for several days after the 4th.  In this picture, he was supposed to either be going to bed or taking a nap (in his crib by the way), but apparently had gotten out to do some reading before he crashed.  But even extreme fatigue cannot break his grip on his patriotic duties. 

This does not have to do with the 4th of July, except for the fact that this crime fighting league tries to preserve freedom, justice and the American way.  Our evenings usually include at least one game of superheros, robots or fighting pillows (we basically get to throw pillows at each other--it's surprisingly fun). 

 

All I can say is watch out Bad Guys, we're coming to get you!!

Fun in DC

 

Way back in June we added a trip to DC as part of our time in VA with my parents.  My parents were extra awesome and watched the kiddies for a couple of days so Ryan and I could head up there by ourselves for a little getaway.  I was fun and nice to be able to sleep in (although it's getting harder to sleep in the more pregnant I get).  We had gone to DC as part of our honeymoon but hadn't been able to go to the Holocaust museum, so that was our main goal this trip.  We ended up spending most of our day there and didn't see much else.  But it was a neat experience and nice not feeling like we had to rush to see everything.

 

On Saturday, my parent's continued their awesomeness by waking up early to drive 2 grumpy boys to meet us at DC.  The plan was to hang out there for a couple of hours and then finish the drive back to Ohio.

I think the boys favorite part of the trip was getting to ride the subway.  Papa did a good job following Tate around and keeping him out of trouble.

We did take the boys to the Natural History and American History museums.  Grant really liked seeing the dinosaurs and animal bones.

 Tate fell asleep on the metro ride back to where we parked.  We let him sleep in the stroller while we ate lunch, but woke him up since we still had a 7 hour car ride ahead of us.  Needless to say he was not too happy.  With two grouchy, tired boys and two grouchy, tired parents, the trip home was one to be remembered.  Overall it was really fun though, really!