This is the beautiful diaper changing table that Brian made me for mothers day.  It was a piece of furniture that was in our summer kitchen, painted that old fashioned lime green and covered in spider webs.  He sanded it, removed the doors and stained it.  It's walnut, possibly even from the walnut trees at our property. 

Here we are at Prom 2012.  Not our first, probably not the last either.  Definitely the only one pregnant.

Welcome to the world, Seth Seraphim

Baby Seth came into the world at 7:53 yesterday morning.  He is the only baby that I actually went into labor with.  Tuesday night I was having contractions that were longer, stronger, and closer together.  At midnight we packed bags and kids and drove to town.  They admitted me right away with contractions only minutes apart, but I didn't dilate.  So, they gave me some medicine for pain and I was able to wait for my own doctor to do the surgery first thing in the morning. Surgery went fine, no complications.  I definitely felt the best I can remember of the 4 times I've now done this. 

He is also our biggest baby: 9 lb. 12 oz. He came out asking for meat and potatoes.  I am currently still on vacation at chez IU Hospital, feeling great, sleeping pretty great, visiting with friends, enjoying some time with him one-on-one right now. My meals come to me, I don't wash the dishes. If I want to take a nap, I just take it.  I might not go home.

No baby yet, but that is okay.  I am currently using him as a shelf for the laptop as it leans up against the steering wheel of the van.  I am blogging from the high school parking lot while Elijah has basketball camp and the girls play on the playground.

It has been an eventful 4 weeks with lots of ups and downs.  School is out, that was definitely an up.  The first week off I thought I was in heaven.  I slept great, I took naps, and I felt like a human again.  We got the garden in shape and worked on the flower beds around the house.  It was wonderful.  Of course, it couldn't last.
 Mary came home from Memorial Day weekend at my parents' boat and got this nasty cold.  It seemed to last a long time--like 10 days.  Literally the day she turned the corner Elijah (the kid who never gets sick!) started complaining that he was cold, his body ached, yadda, yadda, yadda (sidenote:  just watched that Seinfeld the other night, seemed appropriate here).  So, he ended up missing baseball camp and his first "away from parents for 3 days without a family member" 4-H camp.  Disappointment does not seem to capture the essence of how he felt about that.  He is still not quite 100% better yet. Playing basketball for an hour wipes him out for the day.

So, guess who has it now?  I am trying so hard to balance rest and getting better with not losing my last week before the baby comes.  I am trying to not be frustrated that someone in our house has been sick for the past month.  I am trying to not be afraid that I will go into surgery and still not be better yet.  I am trying to seek God and what His purpose is for us through all of this.

We are currently down to one chick and no hens.  It is a long story, but the gist is that we had a raccoon that killed all of them.  Brian killed the raccoon the other night.  We will start over after our vacation and not feel too disappointed.  It's just the way it goes sometimes.  The hardest part is buying eggs at the grocery store.

On the upside, the laundry is caught up, the house has been relatively clean, the baby clothes are washed and ready to go.  I just need to find the cloth diapers (didn't think we'd need them again, so who knows where they could be!!), wash the car seat, and get the crib ready.  I just vacuumed the van today, so maybe the hospital nurse will not be disgusted and will let us take the baby home.

I am out of time to get pictures off my phone (should have done that at home before hand), so maybe I will have photos to share soon.  For sure when I am at the hospital I will have some time to get things updated so stay tuned...