Merry Christmas!

We woke up Christmas Eve morning to find snow! Edward took the opportunity to play with the kids for a while, and I think they all had a great time.

That evening, Edward continued the tradition his family had when he was growing up of reading the family 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, Luke 2, and now Santa and the Christ Child.

Lucy and I sent everyone to my soon-to-be 98 year-old great-grandma's house for Christmas Eve. She and I took the opportunity to take some cute photos while the house was so quiet.

Christmas morning brought with it excitement! Drew got the goat cheese from Santa that he requested.

Mallory wanted a "cheap dancing Dora doll." We don't know where she got the idea that Dora needed to be cheap, but Santa came through, none the less. He also brought her a soft little meerkat - her favorite animal.

Ross got a new Gators hat.

Elizabeth got a new camera.

Edward helped Drew log onto the web to activate all of his new spy gear.

Elizabeth and Ross tried out her new wii game, Just Dance 2. It was funny!

This little dancing machine can really groove!
The boys played with Drew's new Hex Bugs. They are so cool!

And Ross put on his new sneakers as soon as he found them. Hopefully they can keep up with this active boy!

Mallory loves to hold Lucy when she's hungry! She belly laughs as Lucy searches for an adequate food source.

Christmas was a wonderful day that wore these two little sugarplums out.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Our Best Christmas Gift

Our sweet little surprise has arrived! Lucy Ann Felker was born December 22 at 10:05 a.m. She weighed 7 lbs. and 11 oz. and was 19 inches long. She is a delight! She was born on what would have been Joel's 28th birthday. So our very special little girl was born on a very special day.

Because I was almost two weeks overdue, I was scheduled to come in for an induction Wednesday morning at 5:30 a.m. My doctor asked me to take castor oil (BLEH!!!) to try to start labor on my own. He wanted me to go into labor on my own rather than give me pitocin due to the fact that I had a c-section with Ross. Well, that castor oil worked! Holy cow! I took a dose at 8:00 Tuesday night (and I could vomit now just thinking about it). We dropped the kids off at my parents at 10:00 p.m. and hit the sack at about 11:30. At 1:30 a.m. I was JOLTED awake with a strong contraction. Then three minutes later I had another big one. Two minutes later, another. I woke Edward and said we would be going in earlier than 5:30. With how quickly and intensely they were coming, he asked if we even had time to shower. I informed him that we did. We got ready and headed out the door within the hour, all the while the contractions were coming every 2-3 minutes.

We got to the hospital, and they slowed down some, although they were still intense. Things moved pretty quickly for me. I was able to get an epidural, and it was WONDERFUL! I've never had one that worked very well, so I was thrilled.

Pushing took quite a long time for me - an hour-and-a-half. As soon as she was born, we discovered why it took so long. She had the cord wrapped around her neck and twisted all through her little purple body. She was jump roping with it in there, I tell you! It took the doctor a little bit to untangle her. She was also positioned face up, or posterior. That was why I had to have a c-section with Ross. He was also face up and got stuck, so I felt very, very grateful that I was able to deliver her on my own.

The whole process was wonderful. I never thought I would say that about labor and delivery, but it really was great. I had a wonderful staff - two great nurses, my very nice new doctor, and even my beloved first doctor as well. And of course my favorite and most important person, Edward.

We feel so blessed to have this beautiful, pink, healthy tiny girl to celebrate with this tender Christmas season!

Getting the doctor's approval

We all "oohed" and "aahhed" when Lucy found her thumb at one hour old.

A very happy Mommy

And a smitten Daddy

Sweet big brother Ross

Elizabeth's wish came true!

Mallory is such a proud big sister!

Drew and his new little buddy

Drew was eager to help change her diaper.

We caught him examining her tiny hands and thought it was cute.

Getting ready to come home from the hospital

The Fabulous Felker Five

Our new family of seven

Baby Watch 2010

After nearly 10 months of residency, Baby Girl has worn out her welcome. She will be evicted Wednesday morning. She will be sharing her birthday with her Uncle Joel, which we are all thrilled about. Just another element to her joining our family that makes her all the more special!

A Rite of Passage

Our "Million Dollar Boy" as we like to call him, has entered into a new phase of life. He recently earned the privellege of wearing braces. As with everything he is thrown, he is optimistic about his new look. I think he is as handsome as ever!

Shaving Potatoes

When Edward needs me to pick up supplies, such as disposable razors, deodorant, or lotion for him he leaves them out on the kitchen counter to remind me. Recently he needed some more razors. A baked potato was also left out on the counter. It would be reasonable to assume that if a potato and a razor were left together, someone should take it upon themselves to shave that potato, right?

Our Karate Kid

We've recently discovered that Mallory is freakishly flexible. We have her do her "tricks" for others often.

After watching the new Karate Kid last week she attempted and mastered this pose.

"I Like 'Em Chunky. I Like 'Em Plumpy."

This is my theme song. I sing it to myself every time I catch a glimpse of my roundness in the mirror. I might as well make the best of it!

34 Weeks

One night last week, Drew saw a little of my big ol' belly as I was trying to hurl myself off of the couch. He remarked, "Wow. Your belly is getting REALLY big.... And a little ugly."

Wait until he sees it after I deliver.

Halloween 2010

Our Little Spooks

Ross is his favorite football player, Tim Tebow.

Elizabeth is Medusa. She created the costume concept all on her own.

Drew was my favorite. He was Mr. Six (the dancing old man from the Six Flags commercials). It was a very fitting costume for his personality.

And Mallory was Snow White and Cinderella. She dressed as one for one party and the other for a few more. She even dressed as a lion for our library story time. I guess that's the good thing about having an extensive dress-up collection.

I tried talking her into dressing as a cupcake when I found a cute idea online. She insisted on being a boring ole' princess. I reneged when I told myself she should be allowed to have an opinion on her own costume. :)

Getting ready for the big night

Drew practices a few dance moves.

Mallory chose to be Cinderella on Halloween night, but she wanted to add some stickers to her face to "scare some people."

Bob or Jane

A Conversation With Drew

Me: Drew, what do you think we should name the new baby?

Drew: Is Bob a boy name and girl name?

Me: Uh, no.

Drew: Then I guess Jane.

After the question, "When are you due?" (followed by a look of utter shock due to my increasing girth), the question we get most is, "What are you going to name her?" At this point we are down to Lucy or Jane. We have gotten a lot of feedback from the kids, especially Elizabeth. We mostly hear, "Dad! Do NOT let Mom name her anything weird!" to which we reply, "You don't really get to choose the name." Surprisingly the whole family likes both names, and it's interesting that the girls favor Lucy and the boys favor Jane. Of course with two months left in this pregnancy we could choose something else entirely.