Friday the 13th...my lucky day

I can NOT believe how fast the past 10 weeks have flown by!  TEN weeks?  It seems like only a few days ago that my ankles were swollen to an unrecognizable state, my heartburn medication had ran out and Tums were not doing the job, and i couldn't sleep worth beans despite how physically exhausted i was due to an insanely large protrusion in my mid-region. for anyone who spent any time with me in the weeks prior to august 13th, it was painfully obvious how READY i was to have this baby. but, as i would soon learn, our fourth and final broke the mold in almost every way imaginable.  

i was due on 8-9-10 and i had never gone over my due date before. according to my own calculations, i was pretty convinced that it was going to be somewhere near the end of july/beginning of august.  so when it came and passed, i was in the frame of mind: any day now!

Except when came to August 12th...dallas' 8th birthday.  and as much as dallas wanted me to have her on his birthday--i did NOT.  i only had his best interests in mind...

on saturday we were at a movie with the kids when i started having contractions.  the plan was, at the first contraction we were hightailing it over to tacoma since it is an hour away and my labor with alec was only 3 hours. {we were not keen on having the baby on the tacoma narrows bridge} but that only holds true if the labor actually continues...with all my others, once the contractions started, they never stopped, it was  full-on labor!  so we went through the motions and dropped the kids off and headed towards the hospital, making a few stops along the way to do some walking since the contractions didn't feel "normal"....i.e. hard and regular.  some were 3-5 minutes apart while others were 20-30 min.  i finally did check in at the hospital just to get the green light to go home {it would have been very unfortunate to have the baby on the bridge on the way home} i was only 1cm dialated and so we headed home, thinking things would pick up overnight and i would be back in the morning.  but i went home and slept soundly, waking up with nothing more.  sunday, monday, tuesday, wednesday...same irregular contractions. which brings us to thursday, dallas' birthday.  i lost my plug that morning, so i knew it was close, but i was determined to hold out till his birthday was over.  we went to a movie {i crossed my fingers there was no dejavu}, angel took the kids mini-golfing, and then we went out to eat.  my feet/ankles were at their all-time hugest and i was feeling lots of pressure.  i woke up at 3:30am with the contractions i had been waiting for for the past week.  i got angel up, called the midwife, and after we got the kids situated, we got to the hospital at 7am and i asked angel to check me in while i went to the bathroom.  as i stood up, my water broke. {FYI, i was in the 95% for my amount of amniotic fluid.  point being, there was A LOT of fluid.}  they stuck me in a wheelchair to take me up to L&D and on the way i proceeded to soak myself and everything around me with the outrageous amount of fluid that would gush out every 10 seconds.  the nurse checked me and i was at a 4. my midwife arrived, took one look at my fluid and told me that the baby had already had a bowel movement {or two} since it was full of meconium. they hooked me up to the monitors and alerted the neonatal nurses. right around 8:20 i thought maybe i could go for some pain medication of some sort...i deserved it on my last one, right?   but she checked me and said i was almost a 10, which made sense, cause that's the only time i feel like i can't take it anymore--when it's almost over.  a few pushes later, our baby girl arrived, and they quickly suctioned her out so she wouldn't inhale the meconium.

Evalynn Socorro

{named after mine and angel's moms middle names}

born 8:35am

8lbs 12oz

23in long

LOVING her fingers...

Everyone took their turn holding her, and my sweet Grace was overcome with emotion.  at first we thought she was upset because she didn't get be in the room for the delivery {we had told her that she could, but there were so many nurses already and they almost didn't even let my mom and sister in} but she said that she was just "so happy".  

as we all were....

it was the best feeling in the world to finally hold her in our arms

she was so peaceful and had the sweetest little cry!

and the nurses were all so good with grace...they let her help give eva a bath and get her dressed

{and let me tell you, that water was a sight to see!}

It was definitely different being in the hospital after having alec at home, but everything worked out great and we brought home a healthy, beautiful little girl, which we all know is the most important thing!

the view from our room

we checked out that night at 7pm and drove home where the rest of the family was eagerly waiting to meet the newest family member!

 big brothers dallas and alec

we all know how fast time flies with little babes, but to me it seems like it's gone even faster this time around.  i'd like nothing better than to push the "slow motion" button.  but alas....if there only was such a thing!

Getting ready for baby...

I keep wondering if this baby is waiting for me to be "ready" before she makes her entrance into the world. So i am trying to think of anything and everything i need to get done to be "ready" for her.
Help me out if i've missed anything...

She has a seat to ride in...

She has clothes that are clean and ready to wear...

She has a cradle to sleep in...

She has diapers for her sweet little bum...

She has her own bath to bathe in...

She even has plenty of hair bling {or in our family's case: peach fuzz bling} to wear...

and she has a family that is ready and waiting to LOVE her till our hearts explode!
Not to mention a mother who's stomach is ready to explode....

{photo taken 2 weeks ago!}

Is there anything more a little girl could want/need?

So what's the hold up little one?
Come join us!!!  We're READY for you!

Fun on the Fourth

We had a great 4th of July weekend.  On the 3rd we all met down at my dad's office on the Poulsbo Marina pier to watch the fireworks show. We set up our chairs, and brought some yummy snacks while we waited for the show. I bought all the little boys glow swords and glow hats and the girls glow wands and necklaces.  It definitely kept them occupied while we waited...

and little Emma just couldn't make it till the end....sweet thing!

The next day, after church we came back to my mom's and took a few photos.  We had some yummy bbq, celebrated my bro-in-law Scott's birthday, and tried to keep the boys occupied till it was dark enough to let off the fireworks we brought.  Some of them just couldn't wait...{think adults} All-in-all it was a super fun weekend with friends and family!

15 inches of L-O-V-E

Right before school got out, Grace decided she wanted to get her hair cut. It had gotten pretty long since the last time she had it cut and a little hard to manage washing and brushing, etc.  I decided it was probably a good idea with summer coming to have an easier and faster head of hair!
But it would practically be a crime to cut this hair and not have it go to someone in need...
So I called up my cousin who is an AWESOME hairdresser and told her Grace was wanting to donate it to Locks of Love.  She willingly obliged...and Grace was super excited!

The initial cut...

Trimming it up

The Final Product!

Afterwards she couldn't stop tossing her head back and forth...something about the feel of her hair swinging around.
She loved it :)
And hopefully whoever her hair goes to will be just as happy!

throwing my name in the hat...

i found this cool giveaway at thefashionablehousewife.com and one of the ways to gain extra entries is to blog about it.  for a free, fun, trendy diaper bag?  you say jump, i say "how high?"
isn't it cool?

it's from this cool website:  http://petunia.com

wish me luck :)

Our Key to the World...

Nevermind the fact that we went on this Disney Cruise way the heck back in January, it was so much fun, i would post it even a year later! My problem was that i couldn't decide which photos to post because there were so many parts of the trip that i wanted to include, and i didn't want to go overboard where it would take forever to scroll through them {let alone the time it would take to upload!} then a good friend shared a website that does these awesome mosaics which allowed me to include as many photos as i wanted! problem solved!

Our trip started at the airport where it was slightly reminiscent of the crew in "Home Alone"...there were 16 of us all together! Jake strapped Emma to the rolling suitcase and it was so cute to see her rolling through the airport--she loved it :)

We gave Alec his very own "Guitar Hero edition Nintendo DS" that morning and he was SO excited to be one of the "big boys" playing his DS on the plane. {all the boys sat together trading games, etc.}

The magnificent view of Mt. Rainier...

Arriving at port canaveral and checking in--upon check-in they issued us our "key to the world" card which we used to purchase anything onboard and to exit and re-enter the ship at port...

and finally boarding!

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Once we got on the boat we all ate at the lunch buffet and then went up on deck for the cast-off party. it was so much fun...they handed out streamers to all the kids and had music and dancing and made it really exciting overall.

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That night i snapped a picture of the sunset from the deck

Overnight we sailed to Nassau, Bahamas and the shipped docked in the morning. Grace was excited to get her hair braided there. They have outrageous prices posted, but they will actually do it for a fraction of the cost. According to the sign, her hair should've cost around $200, but we paid $50! It took an hour and a half to finish, but was well worth it because i didn't have to worry about her hair the rest of the trip {swimming/chlorine/tangles, etc.} Taylor got hers done too. After they were done with the braiding, we went to the straw market to buy some souvenirs and then headed back onto the boat.

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Disney has 2 AWESOME kids areas called the Oceaneers Club and the Oceaneers Lab. It was basically like "camp disney" with counselors and games and activities {like making Flubber} and they LOVED going there! they could go from 6am throughout the day till 2am {though WE never left them longer than a few hours at a time...}and we were given a pager in case they wanted to be picked up...but that wasn't the case...we basically had to drag them out! On the last day they even had the kids learn a fun song and dance called "Friendship Rocks" that they performed for the parents on the big stage.

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This was our stateroom. We actually booked later than the rest of the family and all they had available was a room with a window--which was really cool! we could look out and watch as the sun rose or set, and also as we pulled in and out of port. One of the kids favorite parts was the towel creatures that housekeeping would leave--everyday they would run in to see what it was. this day it was a monkey hanging in the corner.

The boat had AWESOME shows every night! but the only one i got pictures of was Toy Story--The Musical

  

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After the Bahamas, we spent a day at sea. The kids spent a lot of time in the pool, especially the Mickey ears hot tubs {and there was a cool waterslide that i thought i got a picture of, but must have just got it on video.} The kids loved being able to go order their own food and drinks since it was all included.

 

The next day we docked at Castaway Cay--Disney's private island. Once again they had a kids area called "Scuttles Cove" where you could check them in and then take off to the "adults only" beach called "Serenity Cove". Emma was so adorable in her swim cover-up...One of the highlights was the "Flying Dutchman" from the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. When they were done filming they brought it to Castaway Cay where it makes for a pretty COOL photo!

{and check out mom's "all-terrain" wheelchair they issue!}

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Dinnertime on the boat was a show in itself! Every night we experienced a different dining room with a different theme, but our 2 waiters stayed with us, so we always knew them. They too, were awesome....after the first night they set the kids and adults at separate side-by-side tables and totally took care of their dinners, drinks, etc.

And the meals! i ate things i've never had before and that i'll probably never eat again {unless i go to a 5-star restaurant and order escargo} but it was the coolest experience to try all these new things...everything tasted wonderful, especially the desserts :)

Here's the kids at their table when we ate at the "Animator's Palate"

and it was Brett's birthday a couple days prior to the cruise, so they brought him the coolest piece of cake with a chocolate cruise ship on top!

 

Some of our yummy dinners and desserts!

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The last night was themed "Pirates IN the Caribbean" {get it? we were IN the caribbean :-} so all the characters had on their pirate attire. that was one of the most fun parts about the cruise. the kids got to see characters and take pictures constantly cause they were always out and about, especially around the dinner hour. Of course alec had to have a picture with his namesake...

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The boys hanging out....

The pirate party up on deck was so much fun! they played the Pirates of the Caribbean movies on the big screen and had music and dancing with all the characters and a cool show! then a huge midnight buffet with a fireworks at sea. it was loads of fun.

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But alas, our trip came to an end and it was time to leave....ahhh! we didn't want to leave! we could have stayed for much longer :) but we all promised we would be back cause it was too much fun not to go again! we packed so much into the days we were there and made so many fun memories. the kids still talk about it and ask when we are going to go again :)

If you ever have the chance to go--I highly recommend it!

This was our farewell photo....

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and last of all, this is the photo of the sunset i snapped through the airplane window on the way home