3 is a magic number

Yes folks, that's right. We now have THREE children! Our new addition joined us two days before her due date (which is today, Dec 4th). This was a bit of a surprise to me overall because the other two were multiple days past theirs. Of course I realize that each little one, and each arrival, are unique :) So here is the account of Miss Evelyn Amelia, our second girl, third baby, and most precious gift this December!

D(elivery)-day minus 1

On the evening of the first I began having mild contractions which normally wouldn't warrant much in my mind but considering lil miss Katie's very quick delivery I was a bit more sensitive. Even though they weren't very strong they were consistent and I worried that it might be just the beginning. We drove to the hospital to have them check but on the way the contractions lessened and all but stopped. Hooked up to the monitor I felt a bit foolish that I had misjudged my body and "wasted" everyone's time with my visit. Logan assured me over and over again that it's completely normal and made me promise not to feel bad :)

D-day

The next day the contractions continued and throughout morning got stronger. I was a little nervous to repeat the previous evening's "wasted" visit so I carefully kept track of the timing between contractions (almost ignoring the intensity) waiting for that "expected" five minutes apart timing the doctors suggest. We never got there but I knew by the level of pain I was in that it was time to go regardless. So at we headed off leaving our big kids behind with uncle Hayden to have their naps.








I was really hoping to have a proper admittance to the hospital this time but my shyness and desire to go "by the book" meant it was not to be. We arrived at labor and delivery only about 15 or 20 minutes before the blessed event. Luckily though they were able to wheel me to a room this time and avoid another triage delivery.

Welcome lil Miss Evelyn!

She arrived at 2:25pm weighing 7lbs 4oz and measuring 19 inches
and as Logan so expertly put it "practically perfect in every way"

Not too worse for wear I think ;)

Later in proper hospital attire

Flowers from Katie's god-mom, the incomparable Miss Amy,
arrived even before we left our delivery room!

I love this lily! To me it looks festive, almost Christmassy.

First bath

This was not her favorite life experience.






The poor little thing is not a fan of being cold.

Soon enough she warmed up though :)

Clean, cute, and cozy!

D-day +1

The next day started pretty miserable outside but inside we were warm and the morning went by smoothly.

First visitors

Our hospital stay was quite short so the only visitors were nurses and of course the "sibs"

Katie (the original Pointer sister, as Grampa calls her) was very excited to have a turn holding "ee-bee"(Evie)

Rowan is an amazing big brother to Katie and I know that he will be the same for Evie. Sweet, loving, and wonderful :)














Dad, of course, beaming :)
















We are blessed to have my brother within only a couple hours drive of us and available to come and help. Thank you Hayden! You are a legend.

24 hours old

Discharge!

After her 24 hour labs came back good, the carseat was checked, and our paperwork was processed we were cleared to head home.

I love the look she's giving Logan here. She is so sweet.

We're outta here!

We we we so excited!

We arrived home to noses pressed against the window and smiles all around. We are very excited for this new chapter in our lives. I can't wait to get to know Evie more and I'm really looking forward to my kids getting bigger and being able to play all together and have big giant family adventures! For now though I'm content to watch the "big kids" smiles as they stare at their new baby sister . . . and make sure everyone else is looking also ;)

(P.S. I know the color is really odd on that video. . . I am pretty sure that the cuteness makes up for it though ;))

Giving thanks

I have so many things that I am thankful for! Obviously this last week was "the week" to be mindful of all those things and so here (with photographic record!) are just a few of mine.

I am thankful for my road ready kids and dog :)

These three are quite the road warriors. We've logged quite a few miles north and south in the last few years. It'll be interesting going east for a change but I'm confidant that my amazing kids and great little dog with handle the travel well :)

I am thankful for good driving weather

(I am also thankful that our new camera takes good pictures from the car.)

I am thankful for my wonderful and crafty Mom :)

After pulling the carseat down from the attic and discovering mouse damage I was discouraged because I know handmade replacement covers are quite spendy. Luckily after a call to my Mom everything was okay. She said it wouldn't be a problem to recover it and we could get some fabric on black Friday. We did and she masterfully covered the offending holes while making it's even cuter and all Evie's :) Thank you Mom!! <3

I am thankful for Gar-bear
(and the other cousins!)
We've been lucky to have been so close to them and I'm glad that all of them like each other and get along... as much as any group of toddlers and young children can get along anyway ;)

(also for fun/silly setting on my camera. This one is called "magic frame")

I am thankful for my cute little girl who loves her Dad :)

I am thankful for Logan being home,
especially for his motivation, good attitude, smile, and clear head. (Late pregnancy and "baby brain" do not lend themselves to moving preparations).

I am also thankful for the great time we've had in this house and this town and for new adventures on the horizon, supportive friends and family all around. I am also thankful and amazed by the peace that I feel concerning everything coming in the next couple months.
God is good!



I am thankful for my sweet, goofy, big boy who likes to be silly :)
(and the "timer pictures" he takes)

And last but not least for the relative ease of this pregnancy. I know I am truly blessed to not only be healthy but to have any energy at all these last few weeks ;) This week I'm 39 weeks pregnant. The doctor reported this morning that Evelyn has "dropped" and that things are moving along. We could go into labor at any time but if this little girl follows previous patterns she'll wait another week or two then come out in a hurry!


I guess we'll just hurry up and wait... but we're good at that ;)

Big news

No pictures yet, I still can't find that darn camera. We might have to cave in a buy a new one if we don't find it soon. I don't think I want to chance Evie arriving without proper photographic documentation! That's not the big news though. The big news is that Logan is home and he came with even bigger news...

We are moving

That's right. After six years of marriage and four years of parenting in the great northwest we're heading east... quite a ways east. We'll be moving to Fort Belvoir, Virginia by January 10th. This is our first move as a family and to be honest I'm a bit intimidated and emotional about the whole thing. Especially considering the holidays and Evelyn being due so soon. At the same time I have peace as I lean on the Lord. He's given me an amazing husband who is strong, confident, able, and so so supportive. Not to mention great kids who I know will be troopers and probably love exploring new places and making new friends.

So here we go. Off on our grand eastward adventure, I'm not sure how it will all work out but I do know that it will, we'll be together, and that God is good :)

back burner

I had grand plans for a pumpkin patch blogpost but of course I am not home (where the pictures of our trip to the patch are) and I can't find my camera (where I have various other pictures that might be nice to share). So for the past while the blog has been on the back burner. I'm sad to say that it will continue to simmer in the background for a bit longer also.

Not that we aren't up to much. We've been traveling back and forth on I-5 from home to Portland and back and forth again for the past little while. Logan is off on a long trip for work and because I'm now about 34 weeks pregnant and not expecting to be able to talk to Logan until he's done (in a few weeks) I'm opting to be in more populated places than my house. We'll be in Portland through Rowan's 4th birthday, back home for some dr visits, then back down for my 26th birthday. After that a more southerly trip to Sisters... hopefully. Being fairly close to my due date that trip is a bit dependent on how I feel, how little miss Evelyn is doing, and the weather. I'm optimistic about myself and baby girl... we'll see about the weather.

So I feel I have to apologize that my infrequently updated blog will be even less frequently updated for another month or so. The good news is that by then I'll be able to post a giant belly picture and shortly thereafter some new family-of-5 photos! :) Until then you might catch us on my Mom's blog or perhaps my Mum-in-law's blog.

I hope all of you have a great October and most of November. This branch of the Godsiff clan will be on holiday until probably Thanksgiving.

Some September Fun

Here are a few of the adventures we've been on this month.

PUYALLUP STATE FAIR

I was pretty excited about the fair this year. We went a year or two ago with a friend and her daughter and Rowan had a great time. They even had a mountain boarding show! Which was just guys on mountain board riding ramps and doing some tricks (a mountain board is like a skateboard with giant tires). Rowan liked watching them. The only bummer this year came when we got our ticket cards. There was a big sign above the booth with the rules on it. Two of the biggest were "No pregnant women allowed on any rides" and "no riders under 2". So us girls had to miss out a bit :(

It's a good thing Katie thought that riding on Rowan's seat in the back of the stroller was super awesome ;) she seemed to like it about as much as a ride!

So it was a boys day on the rides. Kicking things off was the carousel.

Next was the rocket ride! A favorite from last time.

A new ride for us this year was a tiny little roller coaster with sweet cars and such to ride. Rowan picked the blue one (of course)

Then he rode it again on the motorcycle ("revving" it the whole way around!)

The kids controlled the ups and downs in their helicopters on this ride. Rowan's seemed like it never stopped bouncing!

Katie didn't seem to mind watching :)

Logan and Rowan went together on Billy the spinning bear. Ro was so excited that he was dancing in line. They got it spinning pretty good!










Finally we got to something Kates could do to. The animal barn! Unfortunately after patting a bunny she became very shy of every other animal and didn't want to pet them.




The hand washing station however was super fun!

After some funnel cake Rowan and Logan went on one last "ride".

Rowan liked it so much they even went a second time!
Next year will be better since Katie will be able to ride as well. I have a feeling our little bike loving girl will have a blast going up, down, and all around :) I'm happy though that this year she didn't know what she was missing.

Fun at the park!

The next day the kids and I hung out at the park for a while before running errands. I try to stay a good amount of time when we go so it's worth it. That day we stayed for 45 minutes! Longer than usual :)

They prepared with a popcorn snack for energy

They went all over the place! On the slides and the bars and the climbing things and through tunnels, etc. I didn't take a lot of photos though being that it was just them and me but I did manage some swingin' pics.

After seeing Rowan swinging on his tummy Katie just HAD to try. Too bad she couldn't reach the ground ;) oh well. She had fun anyway!

Back to the "Oh Golly Woods"

Last year for Mother's Day Logan treated me with a family walk in the Olallie state park which Rowan at the time deemed the "Oh Golly Woods". It's a lovely spot up near North Bend, WA. Last time I was two months post pregnant and it seemed a tad easier . . . ;) All in all it was a lot of fun and not too hard.

Thanks Uncle Evan and Aunty Crystal for use of the sweet baby backpack!

It took us almost an hour to get to the falls but it was worth it!

I had to put a few shots together to show you the whole thing and it really doesn't do it justice. It was GIGANTIC and beautiful! Truly awesome :)

Down the trail a bit. A rare candid shot of Mom (I'm usually behind the camera)

You can now see a bit of roundness to my belly. At 7 months pregnant I'm a little surprised that you can't see it all the time, from EVERY angle ;) but the light in this shot does show that it's starting to poke out pretty good.

A successful trip indeed!

Katie did eventually fall asleep also but only because it was past naptime. I can't wait until she can walk the whole way too. It's always great to get kids playing (or walking) themselves into a good nap :)