More Baby Evan Pictures!

Today we had a visit from our friend Sandrine. She brought with her the most LOVELY gifts for Evan and the older kids. I will definately post a photo of her wonderfully kind and thoughtful gifts in a separate post. For now just simply...THANK YOU SANDRINE, EVA, FLAVIE and JACKY!!

And of course....more pictures (and even a little video!) today as promised!! I am LOVING being able to take endless pictures of this little guy!! He NEVER complains and NEVER runs from the camera! He's my DREAM subject (for the moment)! :) As for the birth story. I've now edited it and will post it on the pregnancy blog tomorrow (see right column for link).

I'm also attaching a little video clip of us right before we left the hospital.

This is Evan yesterday sleeping soundly in his bassinet! I'm SO glad he is a sleeper! I'm BLESSED!!!!

These are some of the "portraits" I've taken of Evan. I did a big newborn shoot week when he was 5-10 days old...I'll have a lot more to post when I get more time. I just randomly picked these.

The BROTHERS!!!!
Evan's FIRST bath at home. He had one in the hospital on his 3rd day also... He is SOOOOOOOOOO tiny in this tub!!!
A video of Evan right before we left the hospial on his big homecoming day!!!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

More pictures and updates

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Evan!! Today Evan is 2 weeks old and I'm happy to say that we are now through the two roughest weeks and into the settling-in period! The last few weeks have been TIRING but oh so exciting! I have NEVER been able to rest during my stay in the hospital and end up leaving feeling EXHAUSTED! Unfortunately the hospital routine is much too busy with frequent visits by doctors and mid-wives during the day, and then nighttime usually means frequent feedings and very little rest. Thankfully when I returned home Toomas and his Mom were there to let me rest. That helped me so much! Toomas is still home now so I'm managing to take a nap during the day and also have help with the cooking and laundry!

Evan has almost mastered latching (at least on one side he's all set) and I'm no longer sore for breastfeeding so this is all good news! Those first 10 days were SO hard! I've turned the corner now, but Evan STILL needs to figure how to latch better on the right side. We're getting there though, little by little.

Krista had an award ceremony last Thursday and received a medal for her excellent work in Rhythmic Gymnastics. She placed first on her team and had an outstanding indivdual season! Now the group season begins and she will start competing in the duo category. Their first competition is in February! GO KRISTA and CHARLOTTE!

Today we headed to the photographer and picked out our favorite photos for the album and announcements. The pictures were SO good..Espcially the family photos and the photos of Toomas and myself with Evan. I LOVE THEM! The kids all had their portraits taken while holding Evan and those are so special also!!! Even Kaitlyn did wonderfully. I'm 100% happy with the shoot and that is saying something!!!! I also took a lot of portraits of Evan myself over the last week and I'll post those soon. I got some keepers for sure.

For now here are a few photos of the last week...ENJOY!!! I know I sure am enjoying EVERY second of snuggling little Evan. He is just SO precious and soft! I think I kiss him a ZILLION times a day. Here he is with Vanaema last week before she left.

Toomas and his Mom with her 4 grandkids...
Krista's award ceremony... They recognized all athlethes that excelled in their specialty.

Evan in the sling... I also want to point out the homecoming sign that Krista made and the blue balloons on the window. Toomas decorated the front door too with streamers and balloons so when we came home from the hospital it was all decked out!!! I have some other shots of the beautiful flowers and our homecoming day that I will post also.
So that is it for today. Stay tuned for more udates on baby Evan and family :)

He's Here!!!! Evan has arrived!!! And 10 day appointment Update

We have BABY NEWS!!!!

I'm very happy to announce that Evan Thomas has arrived, safe and sound!

Baby Stats:

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Name: Evan Thomas
Birth Date: January 15th, 2009
Time: 11:30 a.m.
Weight: 3,850 grams / 8 pounds, 7 oz.
Length: 53 cm / 21 inches
Apgar: 10

I just wrote out Evan's birth story (which happens to be 5 pages long!). You can read the full story on my pregnancy blog: http://www.fourforme.blogspot.com/ In a nutshell it was just the PERFECT experience. I had the labor and delivery of my dreams (and baby of my dreams to boot!) and I feel so feel very complete with the whole experience! With each child I have become a bit more and more precise (and demanding) about how I dream my labor will be....and since this was my last baby, I'm just SO happy that it went so perfectly. For now here are a few pictures of my labor and delivery and the moments after the birth. I have a zillion photos to come of our hospital stay so check the pregnancy blog :)

This is the natural labor and delivery room where I delivered Evan.

Isn't it gorgeous!! I was SOOOOO hoping to have the natural delivery room available and it was. That big round tub there was my LIFESAVER! It was certainly what got me through it. I also used the tub during my natural delivery with Kaitlyn but this time I stayed in the water until the pushing phase. It was AMAZING to feel the relaxation of the hot water!Me in labor. This photo was taken at 10:40. I was only 50 minutes away from meeting our new baby!

And...HERE HE IS!!! Just moments after his birth... SO VERY NEW!!!

And now...Here we are 10 days later! The little man has settled into our family SO nicely and is just such a precious blessing for us!!

Evan is now 1.5 weeks! He is just the BEST baby ever and reminds me a lot of both Kaitlyn, who slept ALL the time for the first 2 months... and Erik who was ultra laid back. I am just so thrilled that he has joined our family. It still seems unreal that he is here, safe and sound!!! Today we went to the hospital for our "breastfeeding consultation"..this is where they weigh the baby and make sure there are no problems. Everything looked wonderful! Evan is back at his birthweight (EXACTLY) and they said it was super considering he lost the 10% of his birthweight. He went from 3,515 grams to 3,850 grams in 10 days. I pray that he keeps gaining well and at this rate. He is actually blessing me now with SLEEP at night. He has gone for a 4 hour nightly sleep stretch for the last 4-5 days. He also sleeps a LOT during the day and usually eats every 3 to 3.5 hours. So far so good! I'm tired but SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO happy!

Seeing him in his little bed is so surreal. I spent all of these months preparing his room...making everything just right and now all of a sudden, in the blink of an eye, he is here in his little bed!!! Less than 2 weeks ago he wasn't even born and now I feel like I've known him all my life!!!

Vanaema is on duty!!

I'm so relieved to have Vanaema here on guard for our trip to the maternity clinic! It is so nice knowing that we can leave whenever we want. What a HUGE luxury! She has been having fun with the kids and Kaitlyn has been keeping her busy. Here's a photo of the arrival night (Friday), by the Christmas tree. It is our LAST photo of the tree. We took down all of the holiday decorations this weekend and now the household is offically back to normal!

Santa Claus gives you PRESENTS!

REALLY, he gives you PRESENTS!!!!!! Kaitlyn got the idea this year. I got a funny clip of her talking about it SO seriously. HE GIVES YOU PRESENTS!!!!! We laughed so hard at how she was SO sure about this!!!!

Happy New Year!! It's 2009!

Hooray for 2009! I'm so happy to still be pregnant for at least a little part of 2009 :) Evan will be a 2009 baby after all!!!! I find it very fitting having my 1st baby in 1999 and my last baby in 2009. A decade of pregnancies! Hard to believe!

Here are a few pictures us on New Year's Eve with my enormous belly (of course if you have been watching my pregnancy blog you have seen how gigantic I am now). The kids were really into posing for the camera on NYE and these were the only 2 belly photos we took. They all smiled right off the bat! :) Toomas says I'm training them well!

We had a really fun and laid back New Year's Eve. Both Krista and Erik stayed up to greet the new year and watch the neighborhood fireworks. Erik had to have a nap during the day to stay up, but they were both LOVING the late night exitement! We opened a bottle of "Champomy"...kids bubbly, and we toasted in the New Year together!

I thank God for all of his blessings in 2008 and pray for continued blessings of health and happiness in 2009 (for all)!!!