Hello, Baby!

This baby held on till the very end...baby Peter David Istvan was born at 42 weeks, on April 25. It was a rough couple weeks leading up to his birthday, with every day feeling like "this could be the day!" and turning into "oh...we're still here with no baby." By about halfway through that last week, we finally just resigned ourselves to the fact that the baby wouldn't come till after Friday when induction was scheduled to start. Our attitudes (well, mine at least) really improved after that and it actually worked out for the best to have things start on Friday night. There were no frantic phone calls trying to find somebody to come watch the big brothers, no worries about coordinating school drop-offs and pick-ups, and the boys were able to watch us go instead of being surprised by a different adult showing up instead of us. (And, with the baby being born on the weekend...no parking fees in the hospital lot!)

 Everyone likes feeling Mommy's tummy...especially since baby Peter was super active in utero.

 We arrived at the hospital on Friday evening. When the nurses discovered that this was our fourth baby, they decided we should get the big room. Apparently, somebody pretty high up at Northwest Hospital had this room made specifically for her birth. It was the most luxurious birthing suite we've had yet. :)

I'd been 4cm dilated for the last week or so, and the induction process started at 8:45 Friday evening with a dose of medicine meant to soften my cervix over the next 12 hours. This medicine technically could've started labor, but in my case, nothing happened. We tried to get a good night's sleep before starting the next step (pitocin) in the morning. The pitocin IV was started at 10:30 or so, and contractions started soon after. But even after eight progressively higher doses of pitocin we still weren't in active labor, so at 2:30 the midwife broke my water and from that point everything shifted into high gear.

Just over two and a half hours later, we welcomed this little guy into the world. Hello, Peter!

Peter measured 20 inches long and weighed in at 8 lb 0.4 oz, our largest baby yet. (Probably because he stayed in for so long and Mommy was eating a lot of ice cream toward the end).

The big brothers came later that evening to meet little Peter. For a few weeks previously, there was a lot of discussion about who would get to hold the new baby first. Daniel claimed that he should get to because he always gets to hold the new baby first. Aaron claimed that he should because he's "the littlest." Matthew had no interest in holding the new baby because Daniel had convinced him that the baby would spit up on him. In the end, Aaron won out and got to be the first to hold Peter.

 Daniel's first words when he walked in were "I really wish he'd been a girl," but by the end of their visit he leaned over to Chris and said "I really like him, Dad."

 Three proud big brothers. (And, Aaron was very fancy, wanting to make a good first impression on his new little brother.)

 Grandma, meeting her eighth grandson.

 And Auntie Laura, getting some snuggles in with her eighth nephew.

 Peter had a great first night in the world, snuggling in with Mommy and sleeping for most of the night. He needed lots of rest because the next day he had lots of great visitors.

 It just so happened that his godparents were in town from Zillah, so he got to meet Brynn, his godmother...

 and his godfather, Casey!

 It was a very special day, since we had yet to meet Gemma, our newest little goddaughter.

It was a long day for Peter, he got pretty tuckered out with all the visiting.

 We had a little quiet time before getting ready to head home.

 One last snuggle with Mommy before getting in the car seat.

 All buckled up and ready to take his first car ride.

 We made one quick stop on the way home to meet great-grandma Eva.

 With a little help from Grandma and Auntie Laura, the boys had made Peter a birthday cake.

 I think it's safe to say the big brothers are smitten.

Lent and Easter

This year Lent seemed to fly by. With new baby coming soon, all the preparations for baby and Easter all blended together to create a super busy time for us. Here are a few glimpses of how we spent Lent and Easter.

 Throughout Lent we worked hard at making sacrifices and doing good deeds. We made a crown of thorns to remind us of Christ's pain, and to help recognize that good works comfort Him.

The moms group from our parish started working together on these little peg doll Mass sets back in August/September. It took me awhile to decide how I wanted to finish mine (with a little extra input from Chris), but I knew I wanted it done for Easter, so for the past few months I've been working on and off at finishing it.

 Sometime in the fall, Matthew found this weird concrete candle holder (?) thing at goodwill. Just as I was ready to tell him "no, we're not getting that," I remembered seeing something online about creating an Easter garden during Holy Week. This weird decorative item looks like a tomb! So we snatched it up and put it away in our box of Lent and Easter supplies. We bought a few plants and the planter pan to put things in and on Palm Sunday went to work constructing our little Easter garden.

 Matthew helps to set in a cross.

 With some moss from our yard, some river rock we bought for something else, and some other random plant clippings from the garden, we finished off our little garden. 

Aaron slept through most of Holy Thursday Mass.

On Good Friday, we wrapped a piece of white fabric around a small piece of wood carved to look somewhat like a man, placed it in the tomb and rolled the stone over the entrance.

Chris took all three boys with him to confession, and in a not-so-small miracle, everyone behaved while left in the pew on their own.

 This was actually a craft from last year, but it saved well so we used it again. We love tissue paper stained glass crafts!

 Though hot crossed buns are traditional Good Friday fare, around here we do them on Holy Saturday. For us, home baked breads are a luxury and it just doesn't seem fitting to make these delicious rolls on a day of penitence.

We colored eggs this year. This is not my favorite activity, and last year nobody asked about doing it so we didn't.

 Waiting for some of the colors to be ready.

 The boys were really focused on their eggs.

 Easter morning and the stone has been rolled away from the tomb! All that's left is the white cloth.

And the crown of thorns has been transformed--pokey thorns are now lovely flowers.

 Easter baskets ready for the morning, with our little tradition of having new ties made for Easter Mass.

 After quite the egg hunt around the house, the boys check out their baskets.

 The peg doll Mass kit is ready for play.

 These guys can't wait to eat lamb cake!

 Easter morning Mass, with Auntie Laura.

 And a little post-Mass tree climbing....because why wouldn't you try to climb a tree with your nice church clothes on?

 Happy Easter from the [almost] six of us!

Little brother antics

I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but I'll say it again. I don't know exactly what it's like to have twins, but I'm pretty sure Matthew and Aaron are almost there. These two have really grown close this past year while Daniel has been in school and they are at home together all morning before Matthew goes to preschool. It can get pretty frustrating sometimes, as they feed off of each other and it's hard to break up the craziness, but it is really sweet how well they get along with each other.

 Our new neighbors decided they didn't like the old hot tub and huge wood deck off the back of the house next door. These two had a great time watching out their window as the construction equipment remove all the debris.

 Then they moved to the play structure out back for a better view over the fence.

 Lollipops in the bathtub? What is this, Mardi Gras? 

(Actually, yes, it was)

Taking care of  Auntie Laura's cat, Finn, while she is out of town is always fun. They like to play a little indoor football before we go.

 A little shopping trip to Crate and Barrel for a wedding gift turned into "let's try out all the beds and couches!"

Matchers. Most days, these two plan their outfits together.

Life in cell phone pictures

It's been awhile....not that we've been busy or anything. I'm trying to catch up with some post-dated stories, but here's a little peek at what we've been up to according to the random pictures on our phones.

 We started out 2015 with a ferry ride to Bainbridge to celebrate Auntie Laura's birthday.

 Even though this winter has been pretty warm for us, ferries in January are still pretty cold!

 Our little Seahawk fans had a great time cheering this season. They were pretty upset about the end of the Super Bowl, but they're all still proud of the team.

 Daniel's cub scout troop took a trip to see a Blanchet High School women's varsity basketball game. They loved watching the game and were particularly interested in the cheerleaders. ("Who are these people? What are they doing?")

 Matthew had a great time.

 Aaron got pretty into the game.

 Valentines day was spent with our lovely friends, Brynn and Casey.

The next night, we lined up one of the boys' favorite babysitters so that the four of us could go out to eat together. Hiep is a rockstar. 

We've had a bit of a graffiti problem in our back yard. Luckily, it's not too hard to figure out who the culprit is.

Apparently Daniel can still fit in the crib. And it's so sweet to see him spending quality book time with his littlest brother.

The boys are big into jokes right now. This was shoved into the kitchen, and when I opened it...

 Ha! Joke's on me, it's filled with the most disgusting things they can think of. [Clean] socks, diapers, and underwear. Bwahahahaha!

 Baby keeps growing and growing. We have just three weeks left till the due date (though each baby has come later and later, so I'm expecting to still be pregnant in four weeks).

 Aaron's hair one day looked like we had put it in curlers the night before. A perfect barrel-type curl.

 Daniel's drawer for his lego creations and other special items has attracted the younger brothers lately. Too bad they can't read.

 Aaron likes to make trips to the mail box. He likes to run because "running gives me good exercise."

 Daniel's school took a trip up to Burlington to volunteer at a food bank. Chris took Daniel and Matthew, and they had a great time learning about the food bank, sorting food, and then distributing food to patrons of the food bank.

 Meanwhile, Aaron stayed at home with me and we had "potty training camp." He did a great job...it's really about time.

 Matthew has been loving on his god-sister Mercy. She doesn't seem to mind. :)

 Aaron's been really good at the photo-bomb.

 These guys have been taking some park-outings with daddy so that I can have a break.

 I had a terrible cold a little while ago that included a lost voice for a couple of days. While I was still in the throes of the cold, we had a weekday off school for teacher meetings, and Chris was out of town for work. These sweet boys decided to take care of me and made me breakfast in bed all by themselves. They were so proud of themselves (and I was proud, too--there were no messes and nothing broke in the process). I can't believe how grown up they are!

There are plenty of shenanigans going on here. We are never bored.