Who Needs a Bunk Bed?

Every night before Howard and I go to bed we always check on the kids to make sure they are covered up and comfortably sleeping.  I couldn't find Jack tonight and I started getting scared, but I knew he falls asleep in some strange places occasionally, so I kept looking.  This is where I found him tonight, under Howie's bed!  Who needs a bunk bed when you can just sleep under a normal bed?

Here's a pic from earlier today.  Erin was "babysitting" Luke for me while I did a few things.  She'll only sit with him for a few minutes, but I can at least get a few things done.  I'm glad she doesn't charge me for her time.  I feel like we're spoiling Luke...someone is holding him most of the time.  It's hard to resist, he's so cuddly and cute.  I frequently find myself just holding him when I have a million things to do.  Knowing that these first few weeks go by so quickly really pulls at my heart strings and makes me want to hold on to these moments forever (literally).  Before I know it, he'll be too busy playing with his friends to sit and cuddle with me.

Old Navy

I just placed a HUGE Old Navy order, so in about 1-2 weeks I will be out of maternity clothes! Hurray!!! Sadly nothing fits me in my closet (yet...it may be a while), so I needed something cute to tide me over until we get back to the States.  Hope they fit right!  Also, only half the order was for me and the other half was for my 3 boys. 

A Child's Prayer

Tonight while I was trimming Luke's finger nails I accidentally cut his finger.  I felt so bad...after all these years that's never happened to me before.  I still feel horrible!  During Erin's bedtime prayer tonight, she asked Heavenly Father that "Mommy won't have any more babies so that she won't cut them".  I guess I'm unfit to be a Mother now!

Our New Car

We've had a very busy week with our vehicles.  First off we renewed our JCI on our car (it's the Japanese insurance/inspection that has to be renewed every 2 years.  It can be pretty pricey if your car needs a lot of repairs.  Our car needed a part from mainland Japan, so we had to wait a few extra days for our car to get done. Once we received our car back, we sold our van (looked EXACTLY like the van on the right) and are now down to one vehicle until we move. 

 This morning I had a WIC appointment, so Howard dropped the boys and I off at our appointment while he paid the remaining balance on our American car insurance.  As he was coming back to pick us up (he was actually in the parking lot that we were waiting in) he was hit by another car and had quite a bit of damage done to his front end. After all of the police reports and dropping the boys and I off at home he had to go back to our insurance company and file a claim.  Howard dropped off our car at the repair shop and they gave him this nice vehicle on the left.

Our new temporary car

Honda STEPWGN, this is the nicest car we've driven since we've been in Okinawa.  We really like it!  Too bad we only get it for the week.

 I was very grateful that Jack and especially Luke were not in the car when Howard got hit.  Howard's fine, just annoyed with all of the hassle and paperwork involved, especially since it wasn't his fault.  I felt sorry for the airmen who hit Howard, he was shaking in his boots (it was his very first accident) and it didn't help that Howard gave him a lecture while waiting for the SP's to show up. 

Slick Vic

I was cleaning out my email inbox and I came across this picture from December 2007. It was Howard's work Christmas party and the theme was the 1970's.  Howard transformed into "Slick Vic" the used car salesman, and I was his babe.  I felt like a young Mrs. Roper from Three's Company...like my orange pearls?  I was about 2 weeks post-op from my last oral surgery, so my face was still a little swollen, talking was slightly painful, and I dined on cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, and Ensure that evening.  We had so much fun, few people recognized Howard.

Sneak Peak

Here are a couple pictures from Luke's photo shoot today.  This is a sneak peak, I'm saving my favorites for his birth announcement.  He's so precious!

Our New BFF

I just wanted to share with everyone that Howard and I have 2 new best friends!

Infant Gas Drops 

&

Paper Plates

Random Baby Stuff

Today was Luke's due date, but more importantly he had his 2 week well baby check up.  He's finally back up to his birth weight, exactly...6lbs. 7oz.  He's nursing every 2 hours around the clock and it seems like he fills his diaper every 5 minutes.  I've honestly never changed so many newborn diapers before.  He's healthy and his personality is starting to emerge.  Today was also Luke's first photo shoot. A friend came over with her fancy camera and snapped away. She said she would go over the pictures tonight and get a disc back to me in a few days. I'm really excited to she what she got. We had perfect weather today so most of the pictures were taken outside.  

Terrific Two's

This is what an unsupervised toddler does in his spare time.  In my defense I was nursing Luke just around the corner in the living room.  Jack was just down the hall in the coat closet within earshot, but jackets falling to the floor apparently do not make that much noise.

It probably didn't help our situation when Howard and I encouraged Jack to swing so that we could get some cute pictures.  

Notice our pile of jackets and sweaters that only get worn a few times a year.

Erin May

Howard asked me the other day if I had any posts of the other children.  I did of the boys, but not Erin.  She never seems to be around when I have the camera out.  She's always busy playing with her best friend, Genna and her brother Isaiah.  They're our next door neighbors (the best neighbors in the world!).  So this morning after Erin was all ready for Church I took a few pictures just so I could show her off.

These are just a couple pictures of Erin from when she was younger that I love.

About 9 months doing the splits.  She was VERY flexible!

Love those blue eyes.  If you look closely she has a tear drop under her right eye.  She has shed many tears in her lifetime, she's so sensitive.

Love the long hair.  When she was between 2 and 3 she had perfect ringlets and EVERY single time I took her out in public (Church, store, park, etc.) people would stop me and comment on her beautiful hair and ALWAYS ask me if I curled it.  As if I had the time and patience to curl her hair every single day.  Sadly, with every trim of her hair the curls slowly went away.  We trim her hair regularly and believe it or not, we've actually cut over 12 inches off her hair over the years.

Bedtime Stories

We all went to the movies tonight and saw Bedtime Stories.  It was SO funny!  We were all cracking up.  It's definitely a movie for older kids...school age at least.  Howie and Erin understood the jokes, but Jack was only laughing because we all were.  It was also nice to show off Luke.  I love getting the oohs and aaahs when I hold a newborn.  Also, Kadena Air Base is like a small town for us, especially since we've been here 4 years.  I can't go anywhere these days without running into someone I know.

Satisfied!

Luke just finished nursing and got out a nice burp. Oh so relaxed!

This is the life.

(It may not look like it, but I am supporting his head in both pictures. Didn't want anyone to think I'm a bad Mom.)

Pictures of Luke

Here are some pictures from our Sunday.  I stayed home with Luke, while Howard went to Church with the other kids.  

Luke kept getting cross eyed  and I couldn't get a picture with him looking at the camera normal.

Chillin' on Daddy's lap before Church.

After Church the kids just couldn't get enough of Luke.

Sunday night Luke received his first sponge bath at home. It was a tight squeeze in our bathroom having the whole family in there, but everyone just had to watch.

After school Howie is so anxious to hold Luke.  This was Tuesday afternoon. Luke also lost his umbilical cord stump this afternoon, the last remnant of his nine months in me.  I already get sad to think that he has to grow up.  (Probably just my hormones, but I already know what it's like to have my little babies turn into big kids (kinda), I wish I could just keep my babies forever stopped in time.)

Our Valentine's Day

This is how we spent our day...

Luke had his 4 day weight check.  He is down to 5lbs. 14oz.  I have a good hearty milk supply, he just needs to wake up and stay awake a little more to nurse more efficiently.  We've been home 2 nights now and both nights he sleeps so well that I have to wake him in the night to eat.  I naturally wake up so it's not hard to do.  I feel very blessed to have such a sweet baby.

While I was at Luke's appointment Howard and Jack started to repaint our entryway in preparation for our move.  Howard will be off work for 2 1/2 weeks and has a long to do list.  All I have to do is take care of Luke and Howard has EVERYTHING else.  What a great husband!

Howard and I aren't really into celebrating every holiday, but I wanted to do something special this year for the kids.  A couple weeks ago I bought some valentines and chocolates for the children, but since I had Luke I also received this beautiful flower arrangement.  It smells SO good.  Howard and the children gave them to me when I came home from the hospital.  

On a side note, the children all love Luke so much and just adore him.  Howie is especially sweet towards Luke and rushes in from school ready to just sit and hold Luke for as long as I will let him.  Howie is right there to help whenever I ask and is such a wonderful boy.  

Induction Cancelled

My induction was cancelled for the 19th, why you ask?  Because Luke decided to come on his own a little sooner (thank goodness!!).  Regular and consistent contractions started about 6pm on Monday the 9th.  I tried to ignore them for as long as possible until I eventually started timing them.  To my surprise they were 4 minutes apart.  I wanted to go to the hospital, but Howard wanted to wait until they were a little stronger (he thought the contractions would stop, we've always had a false alarm with every other kid and he thought this was the same).  By 11:45pm we left for the hospital and Luke finally arrived Tuesday afternoon at 2:11pm.  

Yes...I was in labor for about 20 HOURS!!! 

I got my epidural about 10 hours into it (I'm so glad I got one) and towards the end Luke wasn't doing so great so I had to have an Amniotic Transfusion (they basically put amniotic fluid back into my body after my water already broke) and Luke eventually floated back into a favorable position so I could push him out.  He had been pushing into my hip for many painful hours, but we didn't know that until later. Pushing only took 4 MINUTES and most of that time was waiting for 2 contractions to push him out.  No damage was done coming out and I feel GREAT now.

Howard assisted in Luke's delivery at our request and my Nurse Midwife guided him in the process.

Lucas Dillon Parkes

 6lbs. 7.4 oz., 19 3/4 inches long

February 10, 2009 2:11pm

Howard giving Luke his first bath.

I have plenty more to write, but I'll save it for later.   I need my rest.

Love Note & Baby Update

Today Howie's teacher sent home a behavior note regarding Howie.  It's the equivalent of getting your name on the board with a check next to it, since she doesn't write names on the board when the children misbehave.  The reason why was because Howie was not doing his school work...he was writing a love note to his "girlfriend"!  How cute, I couldn't get mad at that.  We just encouraged him to write the notes at home and not during class time. 

Also, I had an OB appointment today.  She said I was at 2 cm and 50% effaced.  She then stripped my membranes and stretched me out to 3 cm, YES THAT HURT!  But hopefully it'll give me some good contractions (I've had a few already and lots of back pain) and dilate me a little more.  Every bit helps.  I'm in quite a bit of pain right now, so we'll see how the rest of the night goes.  We also scheduled my induction date for Feb 19th  just in case I'm still pregnant then (I think I will be unfortunately).  So I have 2 weeks left at most!!  I was induced with my last 2 babies and I am a huge fan of induction.  When I went into labor naturally with Howie I was in labor for 2 DAYS!  When I was induced with Erin it was 6 hrs and with Jack 3 hrs.  See why I like inductions?

How Big is Too Big?

37 Weeks

34 Weeks...I know same outfit.  I'm seriously running out of clothes!  I have not gained any weight on the scale since 30 weeks, but it's pretty obvious that Luke has!  When is it going to stop?!  I just want him out...I can't take it anymore!!! I packed my hospital bag yesterday, so maybe Luke will get the hint.

Sweet Surprise

At Church today we had a Missionary visiting, Elder Neilson, for a confirmation.  It was our former Branch President's son from our current branch, but from 4 years ago.  The Neilson's had already been living in Okinawa for a while when we moved here, and they had two boys in high school.  About a year after we got here, they moved back to Utah.  Their eldest son was called on a mission here...what a small world and a delight for us to see him today!