It's A BOY!!

Dominic Karol was born on Saturday the 23rd!!!! After a very long week of trying every natural option (most of them several times over...) we decided this one just wasn't going to be born at home and it was time for the big guns... Two nights later we headed into the hospital for my old friend pitocin. Just shy of 12 hours of labor, and with only 12 minutes of pushing later, he was born into the hands of the person who is really The MIDWIFE for my family...having delivered several of my siblings and one of my nieces. (how cool is that??) I am surprisingly at peace with the change of plans...my wonderful midwives and I tried everything to get this little one to be born at home and it didn't work...I'm just trusting that for a reason unknown to me, this is just how it was supposed to be. I'm so lucky to have been able to transfer so last minute; I feel very blessed to have had such excellent care...and I can't wait to introduce this little guy to my other midwives! They have after all known him for 9 months now :)

Just an hour or two old here...just barely squeezed into the hat I made him!

He was another big boy, at 10lbs. 3.7oz. and 21" long. His head wasn't quite as big as his brother's though, measuring a "mere" 14 3/4" ;) Of the three though, his labor and delivery were by far the easiest! Joe and my mom were fantastic support and I made it all the way through without any pain meds!

I was delighted to find that my baby dreams were right on the mark when he was born with a full head of dark hair...however I have never been more surprised than when Joe announced it was a boy! This is the first time I've been able to hold one of my babies right away and it is a moment I will never forget. It took me about 4 seconds to name him and about 4 seconds less than that to fall completely in love with him. :)

My Mama was there all through my labor and delivery this time! She remembered I had wanted roses for while I was in labor and brought this beautiful yellow bloom in a tiny little bud vase for me...it made such a difference!

We are all home now, just starting to figure out what life with three kids will be like...the older two love him, and I think they will adjust well. My milk is coming in and with it the brain zapping hormones, so I'm sorry for how disjointed this all is...off to try to get some sleep and love on this sweet little BOY!! :)

Baby & Me...

My darling sister took some pregnancy photos of me over her spring break. So perfect to be seeing these (from just a week and a half ago!) right now while I'm feeling exhausted and puffy and READY. ;) She took several, but these three are my favorites...

Baby at 37 weeks

Baby has dropped even lower since then...we are officially at the "any day now" stage! Really we are ready any time now, but there are a few little things that I've been putting off that need to be dealt with. Like seeing if we can actually squeeze three kids in the back seat...!

Nesting Meets Spring Cleaning

I did not get the classic nesting bug with the first two pregnancies. The closest I came was making a nest of pillows on the sofa and curling up in it...thus my homes were never submitted to the whims of pregnancy hormones, and I never got the satisfaction of knowing every square inch of "xyz" was *PRISTINE*. Until this time around...Almost every room in the house has been scrubbed, de-junked (we're talking 20+ large black trash bags and several good will runs), and shoved around. A bit odd considering that Baby will not know, notice, care or remember, but somehow it's still important!! I say "almost every room" not because I'm not doing certain rooms, but because I'm just not finished yet. What will I do if I finish before Baby arrives???

I thought I would share a few pictures of our living room which my sister (who has helped me with everything!!) helped me overhaul today... this is sort of a season table, fitting our season of life right now, more than a nature table that would be specifically geared towards the outdoors. It has our spring books, our new baby books, and a few Easter books underneath, next to a wooden bowl of river rocks. (The top photo shows a collection of a few of the birds we have been seeing return, Jenny's bunny toy, a beautifully illustrated book and a Montessori-esque tray with a folding icon and small- for little hands- crucifix.)

This is one CLEAN sofa...underneath and inside were completely vacuumed...I want to make some pillow covers for the throw pillows but I'm not sure what fabrics to use yet...a survey of the stash is in order once I finish a few baby related items! Above is the beginnings of our family art wall; Jenny's water color of a peacock is on the left, and Bobby's water color of "Daddy in him's bathrobe" is on the right ;)

Their play area~ I need to fix that handle on the "oven" this week! I'm also getting ready to rotate some toys, I think Bobby is really hitting a point where he would like blocks, instead of just throwing them like he was a few months ago!

I am SO proud of these two plants...I am notorious for killing plants. I decided last fall that I would give it one more try and asked my grandmother to start a few plants for me. I figured starting with something "un-killable" was a must, and these baby plants coming from a plant that has been alive about as long as I have couldn't hurt either. ;) I am very pleased to say that I got them in early October (I think) and they are still alive!! There were a few close calls, but they always spring back... once I remember to start watering them again...

Baby's first

Baby's first outfit...and a peak at Baby ;)

A glimpse of right now

This post could also be called "lots of random pictures from my iphone" but I'm hoping you will forgive the grainy pictures for now...I'm hoping to get a new camera shortly after (or maybe right before?) Baby arrives...

Jenny's picture of herself (right) and Mommy (left)...cousin Zoey in the background ;)

Baby's blanket in the works...an unplanned stash busting knit that I'm completely in love with!

Reading, "CHEESE", Reading, Reading, Reading...

"Bob is the easiest of all!"

My sister helped me paint our room a lovely shade of green...after about a week of intense

de-junking and rearranging I'm completely in love with my room, and looking forward to curling up with a sweet little armful of baby! :)

With only a few weeks to go, it is already time to get everything washed and organized...it feels so much more real now that everything is unpacked!!

Me and my baby belly as Jenny sees it....

Me and my belly as my mom's bathroom mirror sees it :-p

Bob, the nice dragon

First Baby Knit!

I was planning on waiting until I had the whole set finished, but this turned out so cute I couldn't resist. :) The diagonal stripes aren't nearly as obvious in person, and I really liked working with this yarn (color 808). The pattern is free HERE; I changed it a little bit, working it on size 6 needles (I can't find my 7's), and I only worked it for 4" before starting the decreases instead of 6...I think that will be plenty of room for any baby's head, and if he/she is small then I might still have to cuff it up. I like that it will fit longer than the first few hours though!! ;)

*GASP* A post!!

I feel like I should have to dust off the blog or something! :) I'm not really feeling very inspired to do a big post, but I did finish a little knitting project and thought I would share...

Bug needed a new hat for fall and this seemed like the perfect choice. I wish I had added a few more rows of the plain knitting so it covered her ears a bit better, but I think she likes it fairly well as is...I might crochet a scalloped edge around it or something for a bit more length, but we'll see. :) The pattern is Soulemama's Hat of Choice (linked a bit down this page), and the yarn is Brown Sheep Company's "Lanaloft" in Razzmatazz. It's a lovely yarn, but the colors proved to be a bit tricky to photograph...the first picture is closest. You can see my pattern mods HERE. It feels good to show a finished project again! I have a few other that need blocking and buttons, but they will make it up over the next few weeks.

In other news, you might have (or might not) noticed the new ticker in my right sidebar...yup, we're expecting Baby 3! I'm officially due on March 31st (lol) so that puts me at 15 weeks on Thursday. :) We wont be finding out the gender this time and that's really exciting! I figure we have had one of each around the same time so clothing will overlap nicely either way. I'm convinced it's a girl though, and I've been right with the first two...but we'll just have to wait and see!