Charlie's birth

Well, when I last blogged, I was staying home from church with cramps. I layed low all day Sunday to try and keep the baby in, but the contractions started stronger that evening. We put the girls to bed, still hoping we could slow the contractions down and put off the birth until Mom got here at noon the next day, but by midnight the contractions were 5 minutes apart, and we HAD to go to the hospital. An LDS neighbor came and slept on the couch, and we were on our way. I was dilated to almost a 6 when we got there. I immediately asked for an epidural, but I was already at an 8 by the time I got it. It only half worked, and the pain was almost too much to bear, but at 3:38 am, I gave birth to Charlie Paul Gabrielsen.

 He was HUGE at 9 lbs 10 oz, and 21 inches long. He weighed a full pound more than Grace, and more than 2 pounds more than Alice! Paul said I went straight from screaming in pain to super happy and excited when Charlie came out. They let me hold him for a long time while they stitched me up and stuff. It was love at first sight.

 He is so cute! I nursed him and held him for a while, but I was so sleepy that I finally had them bathe him and get him dressed so we could all rest.

 We sent out a few texts and emails about our handsome baby boy!

 Paul said he felt a special bond with his very first son.

 I haven't noticed much difference with him being a boy, but I'm sure I will. The aftermath was not so bad because the epidural barely worked, so it wore off really fast. I was able to walk to the bathroom and get cleaned up right away.

 We slept off and on the next day, enjoying our little man, nursing, seeing doctors and nurses, etc.

 I felt totally fine, though sleepy.

 I was just so happy to have him out! Our LDS neighbor kept Alice all morning, and our Chilean neighbor took Grace to and from school. People were so nice to help out on short notice.

He is such a sweet baby!

 Mom had to rent a car, but made her way to Santa Cruz, collected her granddaughters, gave Alice a nap, and brought the girls to see their new baby brother. They LOVED him!

 Grace is a natural with him.

 Alice doesn't know her own strength sometimes, but she really loves holding him.

 Isn't he sweet?

Mom really likes her 25th grandchild.

 

Paul and Alice took Mom to return her rental car. Alice helped with the luggage.

Then Paul took the girls on a short date to the snack machine, and Mom took them home for bed. We were so grateful Mom was here to be in charge of things now.

 The hospital staff brought in our fancy celebration dinner of delicious chicken cordon blue and steak.

 Then another night of on and off sleep. Paul is always a big help in the night. He changed diapers and burped the baby, etc.

 On Tuesday morning, we did all of our discharge stuff, then Charlie got his hearing screening. He passed. Then we were on our way home! Mom showed us all the great gifts she brought for him, and she did a ton of laundry.

 Grace got home from kindergarten and was excited to spend some time with her new brother.

 Mom found her a Minnie Mouse dress in the free pile, which Grace wore while reading Charlie a book.

 She just wanted to be by him.

 That evening, Mom made dinner (and did everything else that needed to be done), then she and the girls had a surprise for us. The girls got all dolled up in the dress-up outfits Mom brought them, then they sang a little song Mom taught them that I used to sing when I was in kindergarten. It was so cute I cried! Charlie, of course, looks embarrassed to be in a family full of girls.

 Then the girls had their bath.

 And Charlie got ready for bed.

 On Wednesday, Alice spent some quality time with Charlie in the barnyard.

 And Charlie had his first bath.

 Charlie and I got all fixed up. I even wore a non-maternity shirt!

 Paul took the day off, and spent some time with his son.

 When Grace got home from school, she dressed up as Charlie's fairy godmother.

 What a handsome little man. Thanks for the outfit, Aunt Sarah!

 Typical scene at our house now.

 When Alice woke up from her nap, she wanted a swimsuit, wings, magic wand, and dress-up shoes.

 That evening, Paul read the girls a book before bed.

 Then he and Mom doted on our sweet boy.

 How could you not?
So, then we didn't take any pictures on Thursday. Weird. But we did get the girls their flu mists, and we got so sopping wet in the rain that the girls had to take a bath and get changed the second they got home.

 On Friday, Mom did laundry again. She did like 5 loads. She found a drum in the free pile.

 Alice played with Charlie in the barnyard again.

 And Paul doted on his son. That afternoon, we went to Costco, the lactation clinic, and the library. Then we had tons of food while watching the Love Bug.

 On Saturday, the girls slept in until 8. Alice is very interested in Charlie's pacifier.

 Grace loved getting into the hide-a-bed with Grandma!

 All my children.

 Charlie got dressed up for the BYU game that day, even though we didn't get the channel.

 He's all about BYU.

 So is Grace.

 Gooooo cougars!

 Cute kids! Mom took the girls to the dollar store in the morning and bought them stuffed animals, tiaras, and magic wands.

 After Alice's nap, we took Mom to see the town. We tried to go to the university bookstore, but it was closed.

 Grace was mad, even when we showed her the cool amphitheater.

 And this great rock. This is the last picture of Grace with her new stuffed animal. We lost it somewhere after this. Paul took us all to see his classroom building, where I nursed Charlie and we ate the picnic Mom made.

 Then we went to see the beach. It was so cold! The sea lions weren't out. We came home for cocoa, and put the girls to bed. Then the adults watched a cheesy Christmas movie on TV.
We're so sad to see Mom go tomorrow, but we get Mom/Dad Gabe for the whole week!

We love Halloween - BOO!

 Sunday Alice woke us up too early and was grouchy all day. Grace did well quoting her scripture in primary. In the evening, we carved our pumpkins.

 Alice used a melon baller, but was still pretty grouchy. She was starting to get sick.

 Grace and I cleaned out guts with ice cream scoopers.

 Paul helped Grace with her pumpkin.

 I carved Alice's.

 The finished product: Paul carved his, I carved Alice's, Paul carved Grace's, and I carved mine. They were all freehand this year.

 Monday was spent checking the internet all day for Hurricane Sandy news. I read Alice a bunch of Halloween books, and she would say "Happy Halloween, Mommy!" after each one. Then I turned on some music, and she asked me to dance with her. So cute! In the afternoon, we took the bus to get Grace from school. It was so hot! Grace read her Lizzie McGuire book after lunch.

 After Alice's nap, the girls played together and did chores together. That evening, I taught FHE on having the Spirit in our home, and I cut Paul's hair.
On Tuesday, it was really foggy in the morning. I took Alice to library story time. She was very grouchy and screamed/cried a lot when we went to pick Grace up from school. Grace's friend, Laeti, came over for a play date later. That evening, we got a box of cute clothes for Charlie from Grandma Lu, including some cute BYU stuff! Paul and I watched "Space Children" that night.

 On Wednesday, Alice woke up early, so excited for Halloween! Paul dropped Grace off at school in her Little Red Riding Hood costume. I eventually got Alice into her costume, and we took the bus to Grace's class party. People couldn't stop commenting on her cuteness!

 It was raining, so Alice wore her hood. It's hard to hold an umbrella and a toddler's hand at the same time! On the bus, Alice kept saying, "Mommy, I'm excited for Grace's party!"

 We got to the school in time to help Grace get her cape on, then they had a parade. I think Grace was a little overwhelmed by it all.

 Things were a little calmer back in the classroom. We followed Grace to each of the centers. First was playdoh and Halloween books. I even got to read one!

 Then pumpkin painting. Alice just had to watch because they didn't have enough.

 Then they decided they DID have enough! She loved it!

She may have gotten paint on her dress, apron, and hair.

 Then body painting.

 The next center was snacks. Grace LOVED the witch fingers made from carrots and olives. She kept asking for more and more olives!

 Alice liked the rice crispy treat ghost.

 Spooky ghost banana!

 Then Grace did "pin the nose on the pumpkin".

 Arm art.

 She also made a mask.

 Then they got to play on the playground before taking a class picture. Grace and her friend Ellie.

 Alice sat away from the group to stay out of the class picture.

Grace's class in costume.

Then we walked back to the bus stop. Alice is doing better with holding hands, especially with Grace. We were all worn out when we got home, so we had a lazy afternoon.

 Alice was cuddly when Paul got her up from her nap.

 Then we put our pumpkins out. We didn't do it sooner since we have so many squirrels and raccoons around here. The girls were in their pajamas between costume events.

 We ate pizza while watching Scooby Doo, then Paul took the girls trick-or-treating around the complex.

 I stayed home to pass out candy. The girls only lasted half an hour or so, and were in bed before 7! Paul and I watched some Alfred Hitchcock and Twilight Zone episodes, and ended the evening with Nightmare at 20,000 Feet (the Twilight Zone episode starring William Shatner where he sees a gremlin on the wing of the plane). Classic!

 On Thursday, it rained a lot. Our pumpkins grew mold quickly.

 Pretty gross. I went to the doctor that morning and scheduled my induction for Tuesday morning!

 I made homemade butternut squash soup for dinner.

 It was a hit!

 Then the girls took a bath, and we put away the Halloween decorations. Of course Daddy's cowboy hat needed to be worn one last time.

 Or two.

 We put up our few Thanksgiving decorations, had a daddy/daughters wrestling party, read books, and put the girls to bed. Paul and I had a nice talk that evening in the midst of on-and-off contractions.

 On Friday, Paul put me on bedrest due to the contractions I'd been having, and because our friend had an emergency c-section in the middle of the night. Scary! I watched a lot of TV, folded laundry etc., while Paul did tons of homework, took Grace to/from school, and did the heavy lifting of the laundry. Both girls were getting sick, Grace with a sore throat and hoarse voice, and Alice with a runny nose and cough. We watched Jungle Book 2 that evening.

 On Saturday, Paul got up early to do homework. He's been working super hard this week to get ahead before the baby comes. When the girls woke up still sick, we had cocoa and toast for breakfast.

 Alice has been sucking/chewing on her fingers and hands all week. Gross.

 Cute little sicky.

 We wanted to get a lot of housework and organizing done before the baby and visitors come. I hadn't had contractions in a while, and Paul had his homework all scheduled so that he could take some time out to help, so we went for it. We spent the morning upstairs cleaning and reorganizing and rearranging everything up there. The girls (especially Grace) were such good helpers that we took them to get Happy Meals for lunch, even though we had to get past the protesters outside of McDonald's!

 Grace and I kept cleaning in the afternoon while Alice napped and Paul did homework, then we all got back to work on the downstairs. The girls loved helping wash the glass door! Paul cleaned the kitchen while the rest of us ate dinner (he was fasting), then he bathed the girls. We had an extra hour due to Daylight Savings, so we made Thanksgiving figures out of toilet paper rolls, played and read with the girls, and put them to bed. Paul and I read Dad's personal history of 2007.

 Here's me, the day before my due date. Huge!

Today, Alice was as sick as ever. I had a lot of cramping in the night, so I decided to stay home with her. She cried for about 2 hours straight this morning! Paul and Grace went to church, and Alice is finally down for a nap. Mom comes tomorrow, and then Charlie on Tuesday! Yay!

Alice quoting "Five Little Pumpkins".