Rachel Lillian Carpenter is Born!

 As I mentioned in the last post, I was having contractions during the Awana awards ceremony and as the night went on I had more and more of them to the point that I was sure it was time to go to the hospital.  We had all the childcare arranged for the night and the next day just in case and so at almost 1:00 in the morning we made our way to the hospital.  As it turned out, I was not dialated at that point, but after walking around the hospital for an hour from 3-4am, I was dialated to a 2 or 3 the nurse said.  This meant we got to stay rather than being sent home!!  Wahoo!

After a nice bath, I got my IV and epidural on board and then the waiting began.  My contractions slowed a bit, so they opted to give some pitocin at the lowest levels.  That made things begin again and I was able to rest a little for a while.  The epidural wasn't working super great on the right side and they tried to adjust it, but eventually I got a new epidural instead.  Every time they gave me a dose of the medicine via the epidural, I would get nauseous (not fun) and apparently my blood pressure dropped (also not fun).  And sadly, the second epidural was not covering a key area for giving birth, so I was not super comfortable as I had been in previous times when birthing my children.  Eventually, my body took over and they stopped the pitocin and I started to have some contractions that were making me shake really bad.  All these lovely symptoms definitely made me more anxious to get this party started, but still I was not ready!

Also, this was the longest labor I had ever had and it seemed to take forever for me to dialate fully and though it still wasn't as long as some, for me it seemed to be taking too long when I was used to coming to the hospital and giving birth 4-5 hours later.  FINALLY, I was told I was dialated enough to push and then I had to wait for the doctor to come from across the street at the clinic to arrive. It was really hard to wait!  However, she did make it and after 4 pushes, little baby Rachel came right out!  She was what they call "stunned" because she came out so fast and they had to try to stimulate her to cry by flicking her heel and such.  She did start to cry a little eventually and all the while Daddy was watching our little one and got to cut the umbilical cord.

She was 7 pounds and 15 ounces and was 20 3/4 inches long!  She was born officially on Thursday, May 9th, 2013 at 12:54pm.  She came out with dark brown hair (a first for our kids) and smokey gray/blue eyes.  We anticipate the eye color will change probably to something darker as time goes on.  People keep telling us that her dark hair may fall out and some blonde may grow in, but I am not so sure.  All of our kids who were blonde started off either bald or with fine blonde hair, so I think for the 5th shot here we got a dark-haired one!  

As a little side note, David's mom's name is Rachel and my mom's middle name is Lillian, so we named her in honor of both grandmas.  This was of course very popular with both grandmas!!  

When we came home, my friend EJ and her boys had helped my kiddos make this lovely welcome home banner as well as a cake, brownies and dinner for us that night as well.  It was nice to know the kids were in such good hands!   My friend Kim came in the middle of the night on Wednesday when we left for the hospital too.  Thanks friends for being there for us!  

We are very pleased to welcome this new little one into our home and her siblings have been fighting over who gets to hold her ever since!  We have never seen so much hand washing and sitting still around here!  Thankfully, baby is doing wonderfully and we are glad she is finally out here in the world with us! 

Josiah Testing for High Red

 Josiah spent three months at red belt, and it was time for him to test on to high red at the end of January.  From now on, he will wait three months between belts rather than two.  He still has a few more to go until black belt and after he achieves that we will allow him to either continue with Taekwondo or to move on to another sport of his choosing.  We think it is a good discipline to stick with something until the end, hence why we are requiring him to finish up.  He has had his ups and downs with Taekwondo for sure, but we determined that with any sport you will have times where it gets hard and that is not a reason to quit.  Hopefully he will learn the value of sticking with something and seeing where it can lead!  Not to mention when you get your black belt you actually get a card to go in your wallet that says you have "lethal hands and feet," which is kinda cool!   

  As per usual, he had his poomsae to complete (a routine of punches, kicks and moves that lasts around 2 minutes or more depending), his sa bang chuck (a series of kicks and some punches that are done in 4 different directions), and a board break (he does these every other test). 

 

 The newest addition to his testing was to have to spar as well though!  He is pictured here in the blue doing a kick as he is sparring.  They essentially are supposed to just try and get kicks in at the chest level and they chase each other around the room trying to do just that!  Josiah is still learning how to spar well to be sure, but I really enjoy watching him do it!  

 

He is breaking his board here.  Normally Daddy comes to the test where he breaks the board and gets to hold the board for him.  David wasn't feeling well on this day, so I came with him to the test and asked Master Justin if he could find a replacement board holder, since I was pregnant and didn't really want to hold it.  He was glad to do so for me.  It was nice too because I got to film the board break and take pictures.  He broke the board this time on the second try. Be sure and click on the links in the second and 3rd paragraphs of this post to see him in action!  :)

Christmas 2012---part 2

For Josiah this Christmas, it was the year of Angry Birds.  Grandma took him to the store (I think when she came for Thanksgiving) and bought him a couple of Angry Birds shirts and since then they have been his favorite characters and he has been asking for all the stuffed animals and various things that go with this theme.  He is wearing his new Angry Birds hat and his new stuffed Angry Bird as well.

This is where Josiah is reading the letter that Grandma Walker wrote to announce to the children that their present this year was to take us all to Disneyland!  This is the link to the video where you can actually see Josiah's first reaction.  He doesn't really comprehend what he is reading at first as you will see.  Grandma and Grandpa also gave them rolling bags for the plane rides and a little toy inside each one also. 

This is all of them opening their rolling bags.  Daniel got cut off a little bit, but you get the idea!  Daniel got a Toy Story one, Naomi a Princess one, Caleb a Cars one and Josiah a Spiderman one.  

Naomi really got into the gift opening this year.  Here is a link to some of the other gift opening on Christmas day.   As you can see she got a lovely princess tiara, a little cash register, a teapot set, and a little stuffed animal we now call "Unicorny" that she loves to sleep with. 

Naomi wasted no time getting in her princess dress too and Caleb put on his cowboy boots to go with his camo outfit as well.  They played and played in their new costumes the rest of the day!

Naomi girl is pulling her new bag around the house and is telling me something very important here clearly!  It was a fun day and I think the kids were really happy and excited! 

Thanksgiving 2012

 I meant to take lots more pictures when all our guests arrived for the Thanksgiving dinner, but I forgot to get the camera out then, so all I have are the "before" pictures of Thanksgiving with just our family and my mom and dad present.  Our lovely Thanksgiving table was set for 11 adults (the kids ate at the breakfast bar in the kitchen) and our guests included:  Uncle Mike and Aunt Genny and their girls Erin and Lauren (Kalen and her hubby live in North Dakota and couldn't come), my Mom and Dad, my Grandma Margaret and her friend Bill, David's brother Jon and of course David and myself.  You can see the lovely turkey napkin holders handed down to me by Aunt Genny as well.  

 Josiah never likes getting his picture taken, but I caught this one when he was not expecting it!  

 No Thanksgiving is complete without the cook sticking his tongue out at me!  I have one from last year too, but I didn't post it as it turned out.  

 Daniel and Caleb watching a show before all the festivities started.  

 

Grandpa looking at his phone and Naomi with her hair braided all pretty, courtesy of Grandma.  

 A picture of my parents with all the kiddos on the day that they left for home after spending the Thanksgiving holiday with all of us. 

Naomi Girl is Growing Up!!

 

Miss Naomi has just been exploding with words here of late and it has been so fun to hear all her words!  I linked lots of video here of her talking as well to show the progress of where she has come from.  The first video is of her talking on her phone to many various people as you will see.  She loves to play with the Woody doll and he has lots of "sayings" when you pull his string.  She many times will holler out "HEE HAW!" like Woody and here she is dressed like him too!  It is cowgirl Naomi!  When she puts on her clothes she always says, "I do delf, Momma!" and runs away so I can't assist her.  She calls her shoes and socks her "doos and docks." 

 

 Daddy caught a really funny moment when Naomi was describing a "MONSTA!!"  (aka monster).  She gets quite animated in this video telling us ALL about it!! And the above picture is when Miss Naomi got into the sitckers one day.  You can deduce from this that perhaps she might like stickers!  Another funny thing she likes to do of late is to call brother Caleb "DAPA" for whatever reason.  I think that is her version of "brother" and she will call for him all over the house, "DAPA!" and he knows that is his name and comes running.  They seem to be best buddies of late and have a lot of fun together.  However, sometimes I get the "DAPA hurt me, Momma!!"  Whenever I tell her to do something she will say, "Otay, Mommy."  Here is a video of her doing some singing for all of you. 

 

This is a classic Naomi face when she is givng us some attitude.  The other day I was changing her diaper and telling her it was time for naptime.  She argued with me a bit saying, "No," and then I said, "Mommy is in charge and it is time for a nap!"  She then smiled real big and said very matter of factly, "No, Mommy, I in charge!!"  It was VERY hard not to laugh loudly at this point, but I needed to be the Mommy and follow through.  Here she is in a video playing "Patty Cake" with Daddy.  She is growing up so fast and it is such a joy to have her in our family!

Awana Closing Ceremony

Daddy & Naomi walking to the ceremony.

At the end of the Awana year, they always have a big ceremony to give awards and thank-yous to all the volunteers.  This Awana group was no different than that, but this was our first with this church to experience the closing ceremony.  Naomi was tickled pink (literally) to be able to come in with us to the ceremony and I couldn't resist capturing her with her Daddy.  Precious moments!

Caleb & Daniel making their way to the stage.

All Caleb and Daniel could talk about the week before the ceremony was that they would "get to go on the stage!" Their teachers Mrs. Wally and Mr. Brett told them they would get to be on the stage to get their awards and so they were very excited.  You can see their proud faces here as they make their way to the stage.  I would like to note that our children are near the front with the leader as I am sure that was a necessary step to keep them in line! 

Josiah making his way to the stage.

Josiah was trying to hide from me as I took a picture of him on the way to the stage, but once again Mommy wins and got a photo!  In front of him with the red pigtails is his friend Teresa who lives just down the road from us.  He has had some fun in recent days playing with her and the other neighborhood children in the afternoons and late evenings.  She is a sweet little girl and seems to like Josiah as well. 

Caleb & Daniel on the stage.

These photos aren't the greatest as they were from far away with the zoom, but you get the idea.  The boys were so proud to get their awards.  This was the twins' first year in Awana and I think they really enjoyed it!  They both got a Cubby cup with some candy and stickers in it along with a Cubby bear to sew onto their vest for completing their first book.

Josiah on the stage.

Josiah got a Sparky cup and candy and stickers in his cup as well as a reward for a good year in Awana.  He already got his 2nd book ribbon earlier in the year and will be moving on to his 3rd and final Sparky book next year.  

Naomi peeking at her little buddy behind her.

Naomi was sitting with us in the audience and she found a little buddy to peek at over the seats.  They were so cute looking at one another!

Daniel boy!

After the ceremony, they had cake downstairs to celebrate.  Daniel posed for me in his Cubby vest.  

Caleb boy!

And Caleb boy of course gave me his happy Caleb smile as well in his Cubby vest.

Josiah boy!

Josiah as usual had to be caught in a picture before he ran off again, but here is a close-up of him in his Sparky vest.

And lastly, Miss Naomi had to have a picture too as she will not be left out of the fun!  She is always pretty in pink!  It was fun to see the kids get their awards and I went around to thank their leaders afterward and chatted with some of the others parents also.  We will look forward to the next Awana year in the fall.  Thanks to Valleypoint Church and all the volunteers who make Awana happen! 

Naomi girl!

Awana Grand Prix

This was the first year that Josiah participated in an Awana Grand Prix because our previous Awana group did not do this as a yearly event.  Consequently, we were completely in the dark as to how to proceed and not having any real tools to speak of at home, we decided to keeep the design very simple.  A man in our church who does a lot of woodwork accepted my request for help and he is the one who cut and sanded the initial design with his tools.  Josiah helped to sand it further at home with some sandpaper and then I helped him paint it and put on the wheels.  We also added some quarters to the bottom of it for weight, hence the cars name, "Lightning McQuarter."  

Josiah's car dubbed "Lightning McQuarter."

Then when we arrived, we discovered that despite the 4 quarters glued to the bottom, it still did not weigh enough and needed some more weight.  They had glue, weights, and a drill there to help people out to get it to weigh as much as it could (and not over), so Daddy set to work to glue on some weights.  The twins were very interested in this as you can see!

Daddy working to add weight to the car.


I didn't include a long shot of the track, but it went quite a ways down and here was the starting point and you can see Josiah's car second in from the front.  His car was not the fastest, but it was not the slowest either.  Some cars didn't even cross the finish line!  They had awards for best design and also for the fastest and sadly, Josiah's car didn't win either of those type of awards.

Lightning McQuarter getting ready to race!

We had a lot of time to kill before the races as we came early to weigh the car and make sure it was up to par and so Daddy had fun playing with the kiddos beforehand.  They were running over to him in the chair giving him "running fives" and sitting in his lap often and lots of hugs and kisses were given. 

Daniel having fun with Daddy!

Miss Naomi would not be outdone with Daddy fun either and claimed her spot on Daddy's lap many a time also!

Naomi waving at Mommy.

Caleb is our cuddlebug and of course he didn't like to relinquish his spot with Daddy either, but would get up occasionally to dance or give "running fives" to Daddy. 

Caleb & Daddy cuddling.

Josiah was busy trying to avoid getting his picture taken, but he was foiled again by Mommy!  Mommy is a sneaky stealth photographer and will get him everytime!

Josiah trying to run away from the camera.

As per usual, a picture with all four kiddos isn't easy to get, but this is a close as it comes folks!

Mommy with her kiddos.

Josiah was very disappointed that he didn't get a trophy and all the way home he cried and was feeling sorry for himself.  I felt like a horrible mother for not going all "overachiever" on this like I wanted to originally, but David informed me that it was a good lesson for him and that it would be fine.  Josiah dubbed the day though his "worst day ever" and so that was hard.  We are hoping that Grandpa Carpenter can help him with next year's car design as we found out that Josiah's cousin, Anna Grace took first at her Awana Grand Prix.  As predicted though, as the days passed, Josiah forgot about his defeat and all was right with the world again. 

Josiah showing his participation ribbon.

Jo-Sizzle!!!

Josiah tested for his blue belt today and passed! He is holding his broken board, but apparently he is holding it together to "trick" Mommy into thinking he didn't pass. It took him 3 times to break the board, but he did it! He was the only green belt going for a blue belt and so had to do his Poomsee by himself. After he completed it, Master Justin said, "And THAT is why I call this boy, Jo-Sizzle!!" Josiah and I talked about making sure that he did an exceptional job, so that Master Justin would say just that, so he was very proud. When Josiah doesn't do his best, Master Justin calls him Jo-Ice Cube. It is pretty funny! Here is a link to Josiah doing part of his Sa Bun Chuck (phonetic spelling) and reciting the 3 ancient kingdoms of Korea.

Here Josiah is showing his wart (which is almost ready to fall off now after he had it frozen a few weeks ago at the doctor) to his friend Reed and Cole. I just love this picture of the three of them. Reed and Cole were testing for their orange belts and passed also, so it was a great day for the three of them! Josiah will be awarded his new belt on Saturday, March 10th and then will be working toward his high blue belt in his upcoming classes. We are very proud of our Jo-Sizzle!

Naomi's 2nd B-day-Part 2

We got the cake at Rosaurs and when I went to order it with Josiah he tried to convince me that Naomi would like a Thomas the train cake. Ummmm...NO?! He also informed me that pink frosting tastes horrible and he wasn't going to like it. I tried to explain that all frosting tastes the same, but he wasn't buying it. Needless to say, she got a pink ballerina cake!

Note the sullen expression here as Josiah is eating pink cake. I would like to point out though that he didn't refuse it as it turned out! We also had chocolate chip ice cream too as you can see Grandpa dishing it up here.

Grandpa had a good time with the grandkids too. Caleb is doing his headstand move here to be silly and Daniel is giving me a "I want that camera" smile as he is coming towards me to look at the pictures I just took.

Grandpa is getting some Daniel love!

After Naomi got dressed in her new duds, we had to go show Daddy. She was pretending to be shy with him at first, but Daddy knows how to bring a princess out of her shell!

It was only a matter of time before Naomi realized SHE could be like the doll and get in the play pen as well. As you can see though, it is pretty cramped for a princess! Happy 2nd birthday to my sweet little Naomi girl! We are SO glad you are part of our family sweetheart!

Fun Times With Daddy

David has found some really neat hiking spots around the area here and he and Josiah have been exploring them when the weather has been cooperative. They have gone out in rain and snow though thus far, so not much will stop them really! Josiah loves hiking with Daddy though and on this trip, he got a new hiking vest, a backpack, and some hiking boots as well!

Naomi was wearing this tu-tu and Daddy came up to her and said, "Can I have your tu-tu?" She said, "No, NO, Daddy....MY tu-tu!" It was too cute and as David said later, "I guess you can't mess with a girl's accessories!"

And though this is a "Fun with Daddy" post, I include this picture because it was the last time I saw the kids for a whole weekend when I went to Yakima for the Washington Music Educator's Association conference. I am working to keep my teaching certificate current, and so went to the conference to earn 30 clock hours towards my 150 clock hours that I have to get before June of 2013. Daddy also took a video of me reading to the children. You can click on this link to watch it.
While I was gone, the kids had a great time with Daddy. One night, he made them all hot chocolate and Caleb is reaching in his cup to scrape out the very last drops of chocolate it seems. Here is a link to them drinking their hot chocolate. Caleb had to blow on his very profusely to cool it down.

According to Daniel, Daddy makes "the best snacks ever!" And he also enjoyed his hot chocolate! And here is a link to a video of more of the Daddy fun that occurred while I was gone!

This picture was taken this last Sunday when Naomi wanted to read with Daddy in the chair before church. For some reason, she has taken to liking this big book from the library called "Computer," which is a non-fiction book with lots of words and some technical looking pictures. I find it ironic that she likes this book, since Daddy is such a computer geek himself (a term he uses of himself I would like to add). At one point, she was sitting on her tummy with the book on the arm of the chair and her feet on Daddy's lap, but I wasn't quick enough to catch that cuteness!

Naomi likes to "help" me in the kitchen and David caught her standing on the dishwasher attempting to unload the glasses and cups on the top shelf.

On the Sunday while I was gone, Daddy had to do Naomi's hair, and this is how nice it looked when he was done. Naomi loves it when Daddy brushes her hair and will sit there for long periods of time to let him. This picture also shows how blue her eyes are as well.

This last picture is of Josiah on another hiking trip with his new walking stick. He had been bugging Daddy to get a walking stick and this one has a little compass built into the top of it also. This day we had a surprise snow storm where the wind was blowing so hard that it was blowing the snow in sideways! I was at yet another music clock hour workshop that day nearby at a local elementary school and got to watch the snow blow in. The power even went down in the school and the generator kicked on during the workshop! Daddy and Josiah didn't hike for too long, but long enough to make some tracks in the snow and make it back before they were too snowed in!