Daddy Daughter Date

The girls' school had a Daddy Daughter Luau and Dance.

I think Jeff had two pretty cute dates for the event.

They ate pizza, danced, played games and learned to hula. Though I don't know if Jeff will be dancing much after this. He was dancing with the girls and Natalie informed him that he was embarrassing her. After a couple of songs, they told him he didn't need to dance with them anymore and they didn't ask him to dance again. He didn't mind though and I know the girls loved spending an evening with Dad :)

Renaissance Faire

We took the family to the Renaissance Faire again this year. The girls love dressing up (as does their dad). It was perfect weather and we all had a great day.

Cara making a fairy house

My guys (yes, I got many comments on how little my baby was).

Natalie with our Knight from the joust

Taking a dragon ride.

The Arrival

I have so many thoughts about my new little guy's addition to our family. But I think I shall just focus on the birth part to keep this post from being too rambling. Plus, I know how quickly you forget all the details and since this is the closest thing I have to a journal right now...

Since I had a history of preclampsia, my perinatoligist had done several ultrasounds to make sure the baby was gaining enough weight. So we had an ultrasound at 36 weeks and Dr. Bradley felt that I shouldn't go past 38 weeks. Fine by me!!

At my 37 week appointment, my Dr. gave me an exam and made an effort to get me into labor sooner. If that didn't work, the plan was to induce me the following Thursday. I got a call from my Dr. on March 31st that the hospital wanted me there at 5am the next morning so I called a friend who happily took the girls for the night so we could get there at the crack of dawn the next morning.

After a restless night, 4:15 came early but I was all packed and ready to go. They had me all hooked up in no time and by 6:30 I was getting a lovely dosage of pitocin. By 11 I was experiencing some discomfort (and since I was cheated out of drugs with my first two deliveries and I wanted to be sure to get an epidural this time) it was time for the anesthesiologist to pay a little visit. I was surprised at how quickly that took effect and I was feeling pretty good. I had never been able to relax during labor before, so the thought of sleeping through contractions had never even occurred to me. But once that epidural was in, I was sooo relaxed. I didn't care that I couldn't feel my legs and I enjoyed several naps as the day and my labor progressed. At about 1 my Dr came by and broke my water and by 4 the nurse came in and turned off my epidural. Even with the epidural turned off, I still had little pain but I began to feel "pressure" and the need to push. By 4:45 I knew it was time for the work to begin and we just had to wait for the Dr. to show up so I could get this baby delivered. Dr. Kasel was there and ready by 5:15 and Lucas was born at 5:22 PM.

This was such a different experience than my other two labors. I really liked that it was scheduled. It was nice to have all my laundry done, the kids were all squared away at a friend's house, and to leisurely walk into the hospital and get drugs before I was actually in "pain" was fantastic. As for my thoughts on the drugs, having done it with nothing at all, just some narcotics and this time with an epidural, I have to say that an epidural is certainly the way to go. I was rested so I wasn't worn out when it was time to deliver and I actually was able to enjoy it.

After Lucas was born and we were ready for visitors, my parents joined Jeff and me in the room. My sister, who had picked up the Cara and Natie from school, brought the girls in to meet their new brother. It was so fun seeing how excited they were to meet him. They got to watch him have his first bath and hold him. Natalie was looking at him and she looked at me and said in the most sincere voice "Thanks mom." I asked for what and she said "My brother." It was the sweetest thing.

It's been 12 days since we met Lucas and though I don't think I quite realize that I now have three children, I have to say that I've fallen in love with this baby. He's been so easy from day one. He took to nursing within a day, he does this little grunt when he's hungry and he really only cries when he's getting his diaper changed or a bath. He likes to be held but is happy to sleep in his bed too, though this seems a rare occasion since he has two sisters who are constantly wanting to hold him. But he seems to take being passed back and forth in good nature.

Easter

This year, Easter came just a couple of days after Lucas was born. We have gone up to our parents' every year so when I mentioned to the girls that they may not get to go this year, they were very unhappy. Being my children, and unwilling to take no for an answer, they gave their suggestions of how they could still have their Easter weekend with the extended family. They asked if they could have 2 Easters: the real Easter with Grandma & Grandpa and then when they got home, they could have a second holiday with Jeff and me. They also suggested we just put them on the train and have grandma pick them up at the station.

Well, since I had just had the baby and everyone was down for Easter, my parents took the girls for the weekend so they could spend time with their cousins. Jeff and I were also able to enjoy a couple of quiet days with just Lucas. It ended up being a win-win for all of us. Well, I hope it was a win for my parents who had a houseful.
The girls had a great time coloring eggs with their cousins, opening their Easter baskets, and hunting for lots of eggs in Grandma & Grandpa Moody's backyard.

Ronald McDonald House

I belong to a local association for interior designers and a little over year ago we decided to adopt the Pasadena Ronald McDonald house as a charity to work with. It was a perfect fit. The home (actually there are two of them) is a couple of historic craftsman homes in Pasadena across from the Huntington Hospital.

The master suite was adopted by the local Pasadena Firefighters association where inspiration for the room came from. It is called Firehouse 35 in memory of their firehouse that was closed many years ago. In fact, when firetrucks pass by, they give a little honk (we witnessed this first hand).

I collaborated with a couple of other designers and we completed a design plan for the room. It was submitted about the time that the home ran into some administrative issues so it was put on hold for quite some time. In the past couple of months though, the project was revived and today we finally had the chance to complete the room install-with a modified budget and scaled back plans for the space. It's a large room with its own bathroom, and two smaller rooms attached (a nursery and mother-in-law's room).

So here are the results--we're quite happy with what we were able to accomplish with our meager budget and volunteer help.

I was excited that I was able to help, in a very small part, make this a more welcoming place for families with sick children who may be away from their homes for an extended period of time. I hope that I never have to stay at a place like this, but I am so grateful that they exist to support families faced with the horrible reality of a severely ill child.

Belly Shots

I had never given any thought to preserving the memory of being pregnant in photographs. I mean, who feels cute when you feel like you're carrying around a tummy the size of a watermelon? ...Until a few weeks ago when I was getting dressed and Jeff brought it up. It got me me thinking. Since this is the last time my body will ever experience this, I figured I should look into it.

A friend of mine is a budding photographer and we were talking about these types of pictures and she offered to take some for me. So here are a few of my favorites...
I actually had no plans of ever sharing any of these. But seeing the finished results -I figured why not? Pregnancy isn't something we do very often and this also serves as proof that there is a belly here (for my kind friends who have said that I don' look very pregnant--HA!!). Thanks Liz!!

Showered with Love

My most awesome friends threw me a baby shower. It was such a fun morning with great friends, yummy food (a delicious quiche, sinful cinnamon roll cheesecake and yummy parfaits).

I was so overwhelmed by how much time and effort all my friends made to make this so special. You ladies are truly amazing!! Thanks for all who came to show their love and help me get ready for this little boy.