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.

Bodega Bay Road Trip, Part 3

Day three of our trip started with a small miracle...Mommy slept in. Till 8:45. This is unheard of. Usually if the kids wake up, Mommy wakes up and even if Mommy gets to stay in bed after the kids wake up, Mommy stays awake. Daddy was the hero today, he took the boys into the main part of the house so that Mommy could try to sleep.

 While Mommy slept, Daniel and Matthew enjoyed one of their favorite shows...

 ...and Aaron enjoyed a breakfast treat of pirate booty. (It is vacation, after all...)

 Daddy taught Casey how to play cribbage.

 Once Mommy got up, Aaron started practicing his piano skills.

 And Matthew practiced being cute,

and Daniel built a tower using all of the mega blocks.

 Aaron's hair was out of control this weekend.

 After everyone was up and ready we took a group trip to the beach.

 Monique and Emma. The boys were IN LOVE with Emma. (And it's not hard to tell why...she is SO cute!)

 Ah, the joy of being the first child. Casey followed Monique and Emma around the beach with a camcorder for most of the morning. :)

 Aaron spent his morning throwing "sandballs" into the waves.

 Daniel found a crab.

 Super big waves! There was definitely a storm brewing.

 Daniel and Matthew work to dig up the treasure they buried the day before. (Marked with a "Y" because if they marked it with an "X" somebody else might dig up the treasure.)

 Found the treasure! An old feather. 

Watching those waves.

 Running away from the waves. Matthew was a bit scared of the water.

 Daniel was so sweet with Aaron. 

 And then Aaron ran away.

 Running up and down the sand hills was fun.

 And we found this crazy feathery seaweed.

 Helping Emma run in the sand.

 More running.

 All of the kiddos. 

 Stormy skies mean we needed to head back for...

 hot cocoa!

 Mmmmm...

 Licking up every last bit.

 What a treat!

Cocoa mustache.

 Aaron was trying to show his mustache. It turned out more like a fish face.

I'm not sure what game they were playing, but it sure looks like fun. :)

After dinner we were very blessed to have our good friend, Fr. Steven, come and say Mass for us at the house. Daniel practiced his keyboard skills all afternoon and played the entrance and recessional music (on the organ setting, of course). It was so nice to visit with Fr. Steve for a bit--the boys especially enjoyed his visit because it meant they got to stay up later than usual. What a nice last night at the house! Tomorrow we would be getting up, cleaning up, packing up and heading out on the next leg of our adventure.