Summer Goings On

We took advantage of the Free Day at the Zoo through the local radio station. It was totally crowded, but we had a fun time anyway.

The kids painted each other's faces.

Making forts and tents in the front room.

Staying "cool." Actually this is one day after we came home from one of Caelan's softball games. She just finished the season a couple weeks ago. She had a great season and a great team - lots of fun friendships made and the girls got second place in the tournament (a real come-back after their regular season). I actually went to two softball games the week that Ian was born. We spent a lot of time at the baseball fields during the past two months. It was lots of fun, but also good to be done.

Growing Baby Boy

Baby Ian had his two week appointment. He was 8 and half pounds and doing great. In fact he actually had two nights in a row where he slept over 7 hours straight. Of course this stopped the next night, but it was still pretty impressive. He will usually go about 4-5 hours for his longest stretch during the night. He's still sleeping quite a bit through the day too. Right around 8 PM is usually his fussy time - he gets kind of grumpy from 8 to about 10 or 10:30. He doesn't cry hysterically or anything...he just fusses and wiggles and isn't quite content. He likes to be held and rocked. Luckily he is another little Dick baby who likes the binkie, so that helps to make him happy. All his brothers and sisters are still totally infatuated with him, wanting to hold him all the time. The other day Megan came upstairs to me in bed and told me that she had changes Austin's poopy diaper and gotten him dressed. She was so proud of herself that she told me later that day that I didn't have to do anything anymore - she would take care of Austin for me. What a cutie. On that same day I was downstairs and looked over to see Nathan walking downstairs carrying tiny baby Ian in his arms. I hurried over to him just out of motherly instinct, but he actually had a very safe and good hold on him. Nathan loves to carry him around. It's always fun to see which child will be the one to be completely obsessed with each new baby. This time around it is definitely Nathan. Of course all the other kids love him and want to hold him, but Nathan asks me constantly to hold the baby. He LOVES his little brother. It's very sweet.

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to the Best Husband and Father there is!! We started the morning right with breakfast in bed: breakfast sandwich, fruit, and orange julius. We gave our cards and gifts: Life is Good shirt and water bottle, concert tickets, homemade place mat, homemade cards, etc. Then we got busy getting ready for church. Sean's been doing all sorts of smoking on our smoker this summer, so we did another brisket for dinner. I was going to make a key lime pie, but we got two different desserts from friends in the ward, so we held off on the pie until the next day for Family Home Evening. Instead we had ice cream pie and homemade cookies. Yum.

Welcome Ian Soren Dick

Our little guy has arrived. He was born on June 1, 2013 at 11:39 PM (just missed sharing a birthday with his sister by 29 minutes). He was 8 lbs even and 20 inches long (the nurse measured him about 19.5 inches, but his legs were totally bent up). I was really in no hurry for him to come. I was excited but we were in the middle of the end of the school year, soccer games (and I was Ben's coach), softball games, etc. I thought it was no big deal for him to take his sweet time....which he did. Our last soccer game was on Saturday, June 1. The boys played well, we had our little end of the season awards gathering and that was that. Caelan's birthday was the next day, so we headed into town for a little last minute shopping and to take her out to dinner. I had had a few contractions here and there that morning, but nothing serious and nothing regular. As we headed into town I started to feel them more often, and the more we walked around the stronger they got. They still were mild, but I was pretty sure this was the start of labor - I never get Braxton Hicks (once I start I'm going full force). Austin's labor was so quick once I got to the hospital that I didn't want to wait too long this time. We still needed time to get back to Edgewood to drop off the kids and grab some things and then get to the hospital, so I was starting to reconsider our dinner plans. We pulled up to the restaurant and I was having contractions every 4-5 minutes or so. I thought we better take a rain check on Caelan's birthday dinner and head back up the hill. Of course then my contractions spread out a little more. We packed some things up, took the kids over to the Pearce's house and headed to the hospital. From the level of pain I knew that I was probably going in a little earlier than I wanted to (I like to wait at home for as long as I can), but I didn't want to take any chances. We got to the hospital at about 6:00 PM. They hooked me up to a monitor and eventually the nurse checked me. I was a little more than a 4 and 50% effaced. They admitted me. My contractions were farther apart than they were earlier that evening - probably because I wasn't walking around anymore. I was sent to the labor and delivery room. The doctor on call (whose name I cannot even remember) said I could do whatever I wanted for labor. I didn't have to be hooked up to the monitor - the nurse would come in every couple hours and monitor through a contraction cycle, but that was it. I stood for a while. I sat on the birthing ball. I rocked in the rocking chair. At one point I decided to try the tub. I've never done that before. I probably laid in there for a good hour and a half or so. I could still feel the pain of the contractions, but I got so relaxed in between that my body was geared up for whatever was coming. The nurse came in and said that the doctor would break my water if I wanted to. I decided to try it, so I got out of the tub and she checked me. This was about 10:50 PM. I was about a 6. I was kind of surprised that I hadn't progressed very far, but I was also quite sure that once she broke my water things would move right along. She broke me water. The doctor and nurses had asked me about what I wanted to do for pain when I first got to the hospital. I told them I didn't want an epidural (although I did kind of think about it for a little while). I asked if they did any kind of IV pain medication, which they did. So once the doctor broke my water I asked for the IV pain meds. She hooked me up to the monitor so they could see how the medication was affecting the baby, but I was still okay to stand or kneel over the bed as long as I stayed fairly close to the machine. As soon as my water broke the contractions started coming good and hard. I knew I was really moving along. The pain meds did the same thing the tub did. I could still feel the pain of the contractions, but I felt so relaxed in between that it helped me focus when the pain came. I spent most of the next 45 minutes knelt down on the ground with my arms on the bed - this was the best position for me. Then all of a sudden I felt "that urge" - it was intense. I looked up at Sean and said, "Get the nurse - this baby is coming." On a side note: birth must be a very odd experience for the father. They have to figure out what to do to help...and also what not to do. They have to sit on the sidelines and just kind of watch and wait in a sort of helpless way. Luckily Sean has now done this with me 5 times before, and I'm the kind of person who doesn't want someone right there breathing with me and holding my hand. I just want to know that he's there and mostly I just do my thing. He's great at this! He called in the nurse. They got me on the bed and I was in full pushing mode. The baby was there and ready. Another delivery nurse came in. They told me to try and hold it and not push. I tried, I breathed, I held on, but after just a few minutes I knew this baby was coming out with the doctor here or not. To the doctor's credit, she did get there really fast, but when I was ready, MAN, I was ready. I pushed and the nurse caught his head. The doctor then got there in time for the body to come out on the next push. He was born at 11:39 PM and he was perfect: perfect little toes and fingers, perfect little cry, perfect color, perfect head of hair. He was adorable and there was no mistaking that yes, he was one of ours. They were going to call someone from NICU to come because there was a little meconium when my water broke, but he came out with some good healthy lungs so they didn't bother. I held him right there on me while finished up and while I got stitched up (I tear just a tiny bit in the same place every time). Once I was cleaned up they gave him a good wiping and then I fed him. He did pretty good. He took longer than many of my babies to latch on, but he eventually figured out and then he fed for a half an hour or so. I held him there with me for a couple hours and then we were transferred to our recovery room. It was a double bed room, but I was the only one in there so Sean slept on the other bed. He slept off and on that night. The next day the kids came to visit. They were all in love....except Austin, who just wasn't sure what this little person was. They left and I hung out watching TV (daytime TV stinks) and napping here and there and loving on my sweet little baby. They all came back later that night after picking up Sean's Mom from the airport. They stayed for a short visit and then headed home. I had to stay one more night because they had to the 24 hour test on the baby at 12:30 PM that night. I was discharged around lunch time the next day. Overall I was very happy with the whole experience - the labor wasn't too bad, the recovery has been fantastic. Our biggest challenge was deciding on a name for him. We really didn't even have a short list when we went to the hospital - there were some names that we both thought were pretty good, but nothing for sure. The records lady called my room three times - each time I told her I wasn't ready for her to come get the papers yet. I finally told her to come right before I was leaving. Sunday night after Sean left we texted back and forth - trying to get serious. We finally decided on Ian. We chose Soren as the middle name because we wanted a family name from my side, but the names we had for options were not going to work out with our last name: Richard, Hugh or using just a letter which is a family tradition. So we went with Soren - the first part of my maiden name and also an ancestral name because back in our family history the last names changed: Jens Pederson, Peder Anderson, Anders Sorensen, etc.... so that was kind of cool. Anyway, he is home now and we are all adjusting well. Austin even warmed up to him after about a day. We're so happy he's healthy and here and part of our family.