Nathan is 1 week old!

Nathan and the crew!!

This beautiful baby is now 1 week old! Nathan has had a busy week. He was 2 days old when he saw his big brother's first baseball game. Caleb was supposed to have his first game in the beginning of September, but has been rained out several times. I was hoping to get to see one before Nathan was born, but it just wasn't working out. Of course, I couldn't miss his first game, so Nathan just came along and we sat in the van at the edge of the field and got a front row view! Since then, he has seen 3 more baseball games, Seth and Noah's soccer game, gone out for ice cream (sorry, none for him), went garage sale-ing, and went for his first walk down the street to the neighbors in my new baby "wrap" carrier (below).

It sounds like a lot, but actually, when Nathan and I weren't doing those things, we were in bed getting some much needed sleep. Last night was the first night that he slept for a few hours straight only waking for a feeding every 3 or so hours. Yeah!! Hopefully we'll be breaking into some sort of sleeping and eating routine in the next week or so.

Noah and Nathan

Things are slowly getting back to normal around the Larson household. My mom is still here doing just about everything around the house. Between Connie, my mom, and Paul being off work for almost a week, I have been doing... well, nothing. It has been so great to be "babied" after having a baby!

This picture of Noah and Nathan was taken the evening after he was born. I wanted to get a picture of each of the kids holding Nathan, but I had the hardest time with Noah. All day long he had refused to hold him when I asked if he wanted to. So, finally, I bribed him with a piece of chocolate. He agreed, but insisted that everyone except me, him, and the baby leave the room. I thought it was very strange, but if it'll get me a picture, then OK. So he held him until I took the pictures and a little video, then gave him back and said excitedly, "He didn't pee on me!" It took me just a moment to figure out what he was talking about... When Caleb held Nathan in the morning, we just had him wrapped in a baby blanket with no diaper, and Nathan peed all over Caleb. I finally realized why Noah was so hesitant!! Since then, he's asked to hold him just about every time he's seen me with him!

Here is Paul's first attempt at a blog. Amy and Nathan are doing great. Here's the details.

Nathan Paul: September 16, 2008

10 lbs, 3 oz., 21 ¾” long

God has blessed us again with a new baby boy. Children truly are a blessing from the Lord. I thank Him for giving us another healthy child to raise to follow and know Him. God knows that we need His help to accomplish such a task.

11:35 pm, September 15, 2008: Amy’s water broke. I was awaken with a start as Amy says her water broke and she runs to the bathroom. She calls the midwife and is told to get some sleep until the contractions start. We called our parents to let them know that labor had started. Betty and Dawn headed to our house to help. My parents were in Missouri and were excited, asking for us to call whenever we knew anything. They made plans to head back in the morning.

12:30 am, September 16, 2008: Contractions Started.

1:00 am, September 16, 2008: Dawn and Betty arrive.

1:30 am, September 16, 2008: Called the midwife as contractions were about 2 minutes apart. Bernice said she would be here in an hour.

2:45 am, September 16, 2008: Midwife and assistant arrived. Amy was in full labor after taking a bath and sitting on her ball, and more.

6:09 am, September 16, 2008: Nathan Paul was delivered by me with Amy laying on her ball. It was awesome to see the head for a while, helping Amy through the pain, and the miracle of new life. The face of Nathan was facing me as I waited for Amy to push him out.

We called Les and Connie and they were already showered and getting ready to drive back. They arrived at about 3:30 pm to see Nathan.

We called Harold, Grandma Marian, various family and friends with the news. It is always fun to share the excitement of a birth.

September 16th is my brother John’s birthday also.

Nathan is alert, looking around to see what is going on.

As we went through labor and the birth, I wondered if this would be the last. It was sad to think that way, and I tried to remember and enjoy the whole process. Having a large family is a blessing with many helpers, play mates, and more.

Another odd thing that happened today was that we had the barn roof repaired by my brother-in-law Mark. We had arranged this before knowing that Nathan would come. I appreciate the help in getting this done as I am not fond of walking on roofs.

Betty has been a huge help today, playing with the kids, doing laundry, and making dinner.

We had difficulty coming up with a name this time, but had settled on names a week or so ago. Nathan was a prophet in the Bible who talked to David about his sin and helped to establish Solomon’s kingship.

As I sat and held him today, I enjoyed the freshness of life, the challenge and reminder to be a good dad, and the joy of hope and a future together.

I would encourage anyone to look at children the way God does – as a blessing, as arrows in the hand of a warrior, and as a blessed responsibility which helps us overcome our selfishness.

All I want for Christmas...

Seth lost his first top tooth this week while eating corn on the cob. He also acquired a slight lisp to his "s" sound without the tooth to push against. He was excited to put his tooth under his pillow for the "tooth fairy", but quite disappointed when the tooth fairy didn't show. He reminded me that I needed to call the tooth fairy to make sure she showed up the next night. Well, the tooth fairy came, but he forgot to put his tooth back under his pillow. In fact, he doesn't know where he put it. So, we have a tooth floating around the house somewhere. He was thankful that the tooth fairy accepts notes for missing teeth, and he stuck a note under his pillow saying his tooth was lost. (And wrote me about 5 notes reminding me to call her to let her know she can come again). Finally, success!! He got a whopping $1 and 2 pennies!! I can't explain the 2 pennies... but he was happy!!

My little pancake maker

Ok, so I do sometimes sleep in until 8am or so when possible, and then I'll hang out upstairs putting away laundry or getting the girls dressed. Apparently I take too long, because Noah has taken to making breakfast on those days. Today, my little 5-year-old is making pancakes. I have written out kid friendly recipes for the other boys before they could read, with hand-drawn ingredient pictures, and Noah has memorized the recipe. Of course, it's not your typical "just add water" pancakes. He has to actually add wheat berries to the grinder to make flour, then add the all the baking powder, sugar, eggs, and stuff. He even gets out the griddle (one of the best purchases ever) and cooks them up himself! By the time I came down this morning, he was halfway through cooking them. Believe it or not, they actually taste really good. His chocolate chip pancakes are Oh, so yummy!

My baby boy is 9!

Caleb turned nine yesterday. I can remember when Caleb was a baby, talking to other people with nine year olds and thinking that it would be such a long time from then. Then I remember saying when he turned five that he was "halfway to ten!!" (yikes). Time has just flown by, and I have truely enjoyed every stage. I love the baby stage, and then the toddler, when learning to walk and talk is so much fun. Then they grow a little, become a bit more independent, start to have small conversations and help out with chores. At this point, I have heard many, many moms say, "I can't wait until he/she starts kindergarden... I'll finally have some time to myself..." I just think, puzzled, "Why, just when they are starting to add back to the family instead of taking, would you want to 'get them out of your hair'??" I loved having him around with me, talking and learning as we went through the day. There are soooooo many things that I can teach him that he can't learn in a classroom with 25 other kids. Oh, there'll be plenty of opportunities for "socialization" throughout his childhood, but the willingness for him to hang out with his momma and learn to cook, garden, make a cool fort or fix a porch swing does not last forever. I feel so bad for those moms that have to go back to work not long after having their babies and hand them to someone else to raise 8 of the 12 influential hours they have. My heart wants to offer to be the one to raise them if they can't. But, as everyone knows, no one takes care of, and loves children like their own parents. At least that's how God created it to be.

Right now, I call Caleb my "left-hand man" because, of course, he's left-handed, but when he's gone with one of the Grandma's or somewhere else, I truely miss him like I'd miss one of my hands. He is at the point where we can have a conversation, he's a huge help with just about everything around the house, and he's like a super sponge, sucking up information by the ton! I am so glad to be able to be the one that's pouring, guiding, and filtering the majority of the information that goes into his brain and heart. I guess the downside of that is that I don't have many sources to blame when I see my faults showing through him. It's almost like God gives you a mirror in your children. You can see all those areas of your own life that need improvement. I suspect that may be a reason many moms want to 'get rid' of their kids by the time they are 5 (or earlier...)?? In some ways, I don't blame them, because if you're not consistently training them from birth, a 5-year-old tornado is no joy to have around. Caleb is growing into a fine young man and I know the next 9 years, unfortunately, will fly by as fast as the first, but God is good and I'm enjoying each day with him. He's a blessing to have as a first-born son.

Three babies to be born!

I love this picture! I have been waiting, oh, about 9 years for a time like this. I would've loved to be having babies with my sister, but by the time I started, her youngest was about 6 years old. On the other hand, I married into a family with siblings around the same ages, and having babies together was almost inevitable. So, this is the year!! Each one of the three families will be having a baby within the next 6 months! Carrie is 16 weeks along with their first, Jenny is 34 weeks with baby boy #2, and I am officially 2 weeks from my due date with mystery baby #6!

3 weeks and counting!!

Here we go! On the final leg of the rollar coaster ride, with the grand finale still to come. 3 weeks left (including the week I usually go over-due), so technically, the baby could come any day now. It's too bad I feel so good. A month ago, I felt like I could barely walk, and I could have sworn that I wouldn't make it to my due date, but I'm not counting on it anymore... I feel really good for this stage in the game. (Except for the swelling ankles that comes with being on my feet most of the day...) We're all getting anxious to see the gender of the baby. My gut says it's a boy, but I don't think that makes it any less than a 50/50 chance. Still working on the baby's name. Maybe we'll have come up with an agreeable one within the next 3 weeks, but it's not like we have to turn in the birth certificate before we leave the hospital, right?