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.

Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails... That's What This Little Girl Is Made Of

Lately our Saturday afternoons have been filled with heavy duty home demolition and renovation. And of course we have a couple of little willing helpers. Mallory spent the afternoon outside with us this weekend and busied herself with hammering nails, climbing trees, and digging for worms. This is her cute little pet, Daisy.

Need A $75 Spatula?

Drew stepped in the van yesterday when I picked him up from school, and he excitedly told me, "Mom! We are having a fundraiser at school! If I sell 200 things, I can get an iPod or a flat-screen TV!"

Dear, naive little Drew. He hasn't been in school long enough to know just how much his Momma detests school fundraisers. I detest them for a variety of reasons.

1. The stuff the kids have to sell is JUNK. And it's not just junk. It's over-priced junk.

2. A new tactic the schools now use is to reward the kids who sell just two items with a special assembly. Any student that sells just two items gets to go to a special assembly. If a student doesn't sell any items or sells just one item, he/she stays in the classroom and works while the other students attend said assembly. This happened to us last year, and I think it's pretty crumby.

3. In past years, our kids' school has used the majority of the proceeds from this fundraiser to take all of the students to see a movie. And it costs them over $2000 to take the whole school to a movie - usually a movie half of them have already seen any way. In all fairness, the school has not done this for the last few years. I have been pleased with the all-day school carnival they use the money for. I do hope they continue this in the future.

4. And the main reason I dislike this fundraiser is that the company's spokesman comes and gets the kids all fired up to sell their junk, and I have to be the bad guy to tell my kid he actually won't be getting a flat-screen tv.

Drew and I literally spent hours yesterday debating this fundraiser. He was a determined little guy while he pled his case. He even had Ross trying to join his cause. And I thought, "Silly Ross. You should know this routine by now!"

A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words

The Many Uses Of Vegetable Oil

Mallory's fine baby hair causes a lot of crazy bed-head. So one day when it was looking particularly ratty, I assumed she had slept wildly. Well, combine that with the fact that we don't get up and moving quickly on summer mornings, so it doesn't get combed until noon or after. I used my fingers to try to smooth her hair and realized she had a big hard clump stuck in it. Great. Gum. Now, this chunk of hardened gum was right on the top of her head, and I started thinking, "How am I going to get this out without...

...ripping out handfuls of hair and leaving a bald spot that rivals Dr. Phil's?!"
Let me tell you, ice does not work. Neither does peanut butter. I hopped online, desperate for ideas that would leave my three-year-old with enough hair that people wouldn't think she had Alopecia.

Apparently other mothers have experienced the same episodes with their toddlers and suggested using vegetable oil. We gave it a try, and it was the cure! It felt nasty in my hands and in her hair, but it was definitely better than having her walk around with one big dread lock-looking strip of gum-covered hair. In just a few minutes the oil and comb got the wad of gum out with minimal damage. A quick wash of the hair and we were good to go.

Yesterday at the grocery store I threw three packs of gum in my cart while simultaneously screaming in my head, "NO! NO! NO! What are you thinking?!" Mallory is banished from gum for a while.

Baby Bunk Bed

We have been acquiring baby gear over the last few months since I had already gotten rid of all of our old stuff. We just bought this port-a-crib with a bassinet attachment, and Drew wanted to put it together to see what it looked like. He filled the bassinet with a pillow and a blanket and proclaimed the bed to be a bunk bed that he would share with the new baby.

The Tie Breaker

The whole crew tagged along for my ultrasound today to hear the big verdict. Well, not everyone tagged along willingly. Drew begged me to let him stay with the Waddells and wanted me just to tell him what it was. He decided to be a happy camper once he saw the images of this sweet baby.

Mallory saw this one and kept saying, "It's waving to us! Hi baby! I love you!"

Here is a a sweet picture of the feet.

We are all tickled pink to find out we are having a GIRL! Mallory, who has been insisting it's a girl this whole time immediately said, "I think it's a boy." Ross and Elizabeth are both happy. They didn't mind what it was. Drew simply wanted a pizza, but he will eventually be just as pleased to get a baby sister. I think.

I thought it was a girl all along, although I would have loved a precious little boy as well. A short time before we found out that a baby would be joining our family, I had a very vivid dream about a little girl. It was the kind of dream that seems so real. I dreamt that a tiny little girl was walking around in our bedroom. It was so real that I woke up to find myself walking around our bedroom and hallway looking for her. It took me a minute to realize that she had indeed been in my dream. I truly believe this little girl is meant to be a part of our family, and I can't wait to meet her in December!