He's (Finally) Here!!

Ezra Michael Pedersen was born at home on November 21 at 12:20pm.

In the almost four weeks leading up to Ezra's birth I had several days of contractions pretty much each weekend and sometimes a couple days in a row. Each bout of pre-labor the contractions would gain intensity compared to the previous time and we would wonder hopefully, "Is this it?". Each time the contractions went away after I laid down for a while, or soaked in the tub. By the second week of this it was discouraging when they would go away.  With my pregnancy with James I did the same thing in the two weeks before he was born.

The night  before Ezra was born I began having contractions (again), but they were seemingly a lot like the last times - inconsistent in frequency and intensity, though more intense than the last bout of contractions. The contractions continued through the night, but John and I were very hesitant to think it the real thing since that's what we thought the last several times. In any case, I let our midwife, Cathy Rude, know I was going through it again and that I'd keep her updated with any change. We stuck to our usual evening routine and went to bed. I woke up about 12:30am to use the bathroom and get something to eat. It seemed the contractions stopped, but as I was up it felt like they were roughly 10 minutes apart and uncomfortable. I got back to bed about 12:45am and tried to go back to sleep. I continued to have contractions, though they hurt a lot because I was laying down. I worked on breathing through them, relaxing as best I could, and tried to sleep.  I was in and out of sleep all through the 1:00 hour breathing through each contraction, but I wasn't aware of my surroundings - just the clock and contractions.

By 2am I couldn't sleep through the contractions anymore, and they were just as painful in an upright position as laying down. I woke John up to let him know the goings on. We moved out to the living room so I could try to rest in the recliner between contractions. We began timing the contractions before we let Cathy know so we could tell her the averages of duration and intervals. They were consistently inconsistent! Though quite painful in both my back and front and I needed John there for every contraction.

By about 6:30, we began letting people know that I was in labor, and made arrangements for James to be picked up after breakfast to spend the day at his grandparent's house. We let Cathy know that since labor began at 2am the contractions ranged an average of 2 minutes and 38 seconds to just shy of 9 minutes apart lasting an average of a minute each. At about 8am I called Cathy and left a message that she should come now. Unfortunately she didn't get the voicemail until I called again shortly after 9am to tell her I've been having double and triple peaked contractions. With James, I delivered shortly after the multiple peaked contractions began, so Cathy was quickly on her way! Thankfully she made it with time to spare before Ezra was born!

By the time Cathy arrived (about 9:45 or 10am) my contractions ranged from about 2 minutes to 15 minutes apart and the longest lasting contraction was over 5 minutes long (a triple peak).  John helped me work through the contractions as Cathy and her assistant Virginia finished filling the birth pool and got things ready for the birth.  My contractions never did get to the fairly consistent intervals of 2-5 minutes apart like all the books say happens.

Finally the time came where I was pushing! I'm not sure how long I was pushing, but it was longer than I pushed with James (20 minutes) and a lot more painful. In time, though, Ezra Michael was born! He weighed 8 pounds, 9 ounces and 21 inches long and 6 days late!

We praise God for the safe delivery and that nursing and my recovery are going well!

It's Been a While...

It's been quite some time since I've had time to write up a blog post. As my sister-in-law, Anna, so aptly puts it: "The activity of a blog is never proportional to the activity in the lives of those who write it; if anything, it is inversely proportional. A quiet blog is quite as likely the symptom of a life too full for writing as of a life with nothing to say."
That sums it up perfectly for us! These last several months have been filled with joy and sorrow, but always with an ever present reminder of God's grace and goodness towards us. Below are some updates from May-June.

The end of May John's paternal grandmother passed away suddenly and unexpectedly. In God's providence, us, the other Pedersens, and the Wades (John's sister and family) were all at the other Pedersen's house that Sunday when we got the phone call from John's aunt about his grandma. We made plans that evening and the next day about what to do for specific family members' travel.
John's parent's flew up to Ft. Collins, CO the next morning to begin funeral preparations with Karen (John's Aunt). The rest of us left Houston that Thursday to make it to Colorado by Friday late afternoon/early evening. We had John's four siblings along with us for the trip up.

We made it to Clayton, NM the first day. The next day we left about 8am to continue our journey. After about an hour, our van's transmission went out on us. We waited for about an hour for a tow truck to take us to the nearest town (Raton, NM), so we could get a rental car to finish our trek to Ft. Collins. Thankfully the tow truck driver let us keep our van in his shop yard while we were gone. This was our second vehicle in one week to have a transmission out. John's truck's transmission went out that Tuesday.

 

Waiting...

 

James playing with some rocks while we wait for the tow truck.

 

We acquired a rental car, but the largest one they had sat 5 people, and we had 7 - including a car seat for James. Needless to say it was a very cramped trip. We met the Wades north of Colorado Springs to give them two passengers so that the drive was less crowded. Now with both cars maxed out, we were on the road yet again to make it to Ft. Collins.

 

The people in the front

 

The sardines in the back

 

We arrived at John's Grandma's house about 7pm. We ate dinner, brought luggage in, and mingled with old and new faces for the evening.

The graveside and memorial services were the next day (Saturday).  The graveside service was not without tears as we mourned our loss of Grandma Pedersen.  For myself, that's when it hit me that she was really gone.   After the graveside service, we made our way to the church for the memorial service.

 

Grandma Pedersen's grave site

With return travel arrangements made, we three left Sunday morning. We rented a moving truck with a trailer to tow our van back home. In Pueblo, we dropped off the rental car, and made it to Raton, NM to pick up our van. We pushed to make it to Dumas, TX for the night. We made it home late the next night. Praise the Lord we didn't have anything go wrong on the way home! It was so nice to be home, but we wouldn't have missed going to Colorado.

Shortly after we arrived home, we had both our vehichles towed to have both transmissions fixed. It was a very sad event to see BOTH our cars on a tow truck and being driven away! We were so grateful when we had them back a week later!

 

A sad sight to see...

 

On June 4, John and I celebrated our second wedding anniversary! To celebrate, on our actual date, I made a nice dinner - Lasagna Rolls, salad, and rosemary bread. Lasagna rolls is the meal I first made for John after we were married, and each year I make it. :)  That weekend, we stayed in a nice hotel down town, went to a nice restaurant for dinner, and walked around the city. It was an enjoyable and relaxing weekend! Below are some pictures.

 

The front of The Lancaster Hotel

 

Our room

Sitting area

 

James looking down at Buffalo Bayou from a bridge.

In mid-June, we had our 18 week ultrasound to check on baby #2, and to find out if it's a boy or a girl - It's a BOY! We eagerly look forward to meeting Ezra Michael Pedersen come November!
One interesting tidbit: When Ezra is born, John's parents will have 5 grandsons 4 and under! Still no girls yet. :-)

The end of June, we traveled to San Antonio to go to a builders show. This one was much smaller than the one we went to in January, but the learning sessions John went to were really good, and James and I walked around the show floor and played while John was attending the classes. The one night we spent in town, we spent at family's house who is a part of the A Candle in The Window Hospitality Network. They were such a sweet family, served us dinner, and we had a great time just visiting with them. Sadly, we forgot to take a picture of them before we left.
While we were in San Antonio, we stopped at the Tower of the Americas. The view at the top was amazing! And VERY windy!

James was quite amused by the windiness. :)

We have been making progress on our bathroom! I hope to get a separate post up about the updates some time after this one.

 

Exciting News!

 

Baby #2 is due in mid-November of this year!

Happy Birthday, James!

One year ago today, James Anthony Pedersen, was welcomed into this world. We are so blessed to be his parents, and to watch him grow each day!
Happy Birthday, James!! We love you!

 

Great Day for Up!

Last week James (8 months old) pulled himself up to a standing position from laying on his belly on the floor! John and I were sitting at the table eating dinner and James was in the living roon playing with his walker, and we watched him pull up and then walk a few steps around the walker itself!
He was very proud of himself! :-D 

He's been pulling up on anything he can hang onto now.  Here are some pictures and a video of him doing it the second time.

All by himself! John and I were still at the table when I took this.

 

 

He's Getting SO Big!

James is getting so big! He's 6 1/2 months old, and is cutting his third tooth! (And no, I haven't had trouble with him biting).
 Below are some pictures we took recently.

Helping Mama with the laundry

 

Helping Father with changing the sign at church

 

Lunch at Bear Creek Park

 

Playing in his hew Johnny Jump Up. He LOVES it!

 

Having fun together!

 

Wearing Father's Greek hat.

 

Visiting with Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Caley (My mom's parents)

 

 

A Little Update on Life

Life has been pretty busy these last few months. For the fourth of July, we went to Washington on the Brazos Independence Day celebration with my family and some friends. Most of us dressed up in period costumes for some extra fun! 

We enjoyed looking around the various parts of the the living history museum, hearing the Houston Dulcimer Society play (and watching siblings and friends try to play), and then enjoyed watching the fireworks show!

Inside an old cabin

Emily washing rags in front of the old cabin while Miles looks on

A homestead

Listening to the history of Washington on the Brazos

 

Caley trying her hand at the dulcimer.

 

James did very well with the fireworks. He was unsure for the first few minutes, but then got used to the noise. :-)

Waiting for it to get dark for fireworks! :)

 

 

*All above photos photo credit - Caley Lemay*

 

In August, we took a day trip to Galveston to spend time at the beach. My family was taking a mini-vacation that weekend for my parent's 23rd anniversary, so we met up with them for the afternoon at the beach.

 

 

We celebrated John's birthday later that weekend at home. I made French Meat Pie for dinner (per John's request), and ultra chocolate-y brownies with strawberries! YUM!

 

 

My Pepere made us meat pie on year for my birthday when he was out for a visit. I was telling John about it, and he wanted to try it for his birthday dinner.

 

James is now able to roll to his side, and tummy! He also has his first tooth! He is growing up so fast...He'll be 6 months old this month.

 

James in action

 

Such a happy boy!

Love This Little Guy!

Last week I took a video of James talking. :) He's so cute!!

Jam Session

Sunday we went to John's family's house for dinner and the evening with some old friends.
There was a jam session which was quite enjoyable to listen to. James really enjoyed the music too!
Here is a little video of him 'dancing' to the music. :)

Note: It sounded WAY better in person. The camera on the phone makes the music sound high pitched & occasionally spotty.

Pictures!

James and his Auntie Anna at Lake Texana (John, James and I went up for the afternoon.)

James 2 1/2 weeks old. He's been working on his smiles here and there!

Baby Blessing

James Anthony Pedersen

24 hours old

James was born on March 21, 2012 at 2:25pm. He weighed 6lb 15.5oz and was 19.5" long.

Labor and delivery went well. And fast for a first-time mom.  Labor was 4 hours and 20 minutes of pushing! The midwife made it just in time! She arrived at 2:05pm and James was born 20 minutes later. We are both recovering well from the birth. I am starting to get back to doing my normal household duties.

John and I are enjoying being parents and are truly blessed with such a precious son! John is a wonderful father!  We pray that we will faithfully raise James in the fear and admonition of the Lord.