Love this

Now that Henny and Papa are here, the girls can resume much of their normal routine, including a weekly trip to the produce market. The two women who work behind the counter and always give Emery free grapes, me a helping hand out to the car and Anna Kimball lots of oohing and ahhing (not that they wouldn't give her grapes, too - she just doesn't want them) got to find out about Jamison this week and the girls got to giggle under the peppers. After the whirlwind that was last week and weekend, we sure do need some normalcy around here and this fits the bill. And makes me smile.

Welcome to the world, Jamison Matthew Doescher!

Going into the birth of our third child, I had a little list of prayers/worries/hopes. For instance, I've never had my actual doctor deliver any of the girls, so I was kind of hoping that might work out this time. I've also had epidurals for the last two deliveries and not regretted them at all ... but have had this nagging curiosity about what it would be like to go natural, could I really do it, would it actually be better, help me experience it "more" (YES), etc. etc. But my convictions were so weak and I knew that without a doula or large sums of money invested in natural child birthing classes I'd quickly cave to the temptation of an epidural if it was an option. So my only hope was for there to not be enough time to get one.

And then of course there's the question of when will labor happen, will it be in the middle of the night, will help for the girls arrive in time, will Matt be able to leave work easily, will it happen on Emery's birthday (March 20, day after due date), etc. etc.

Well, looking back, it's easy to see how each of these items was so clearly taken care of and I'm still kind of amazed at how it all worked out. On Wednesday night I went to bed not feeling so hot, but didn't think much of it. I woke up at 12:45am with a backache that came and went, suspiciously like early contractions. It was hard to grasp that this could actually be "it" since the girls have both been late ... plus, Henny and Papa weren't even here yet!

Around 2:30 I decided this really was "it" and called our angel neighbor who was actually lying in bed awake! She hustled down to stay with the girls and we left for the hospital, checking in at 3:25. My doctor arrived at 4:15 and at 4:25, Jamison Matthew was in my arms. No time for an epidural and even better, only about 20 minutes of pain that made me beg for an epidural. 

I need to sear this experience in my mind for whenever I doubt that the Lord will provide and that he knows what's best. In all of these ways and many more it's so evident he orchestrated every single detail of Jamison's arrival. 

Now that we're home and settling into a new normal, things feel pretty crazy. Maybe because they are. Emery is turning four in a few days and had her first real birthday party yesterday. Henny and Papa are here, we had a surprise visit from Uncle Craig, presents are everywhere, mealtime rules are laxing, the house looks like a tornado blew through (well, until Henny puts things back in order), and everyone's moods are swinging like chandeliers. Except mine. I'm perfectly balanced and calm ... riiiighht. But maybe there is one real exception - Matt, who remains unflappable.

But it's OK. I'm not complaining. Jamison Matthew, anything for you. We love you!!!

Dinners on the deck

The weather's getting warmer and we're rediscovering the deck at dinnertime. This evening, I commented to Matt that a year ago today, Anna Kimball could have been walking and tromping around the deck making mischief as she has been this week with Emery, but the poor thing was still scooting. And this made having fun outside more tricky. Oh, how grateful I am that that season is behind us ... and oh how I pray this baby due to make his/her arrival any day now will outpace his/her sisters when it comes to walking. If not, well, oh well, We know no other way!

Last night Anna Kimball snagged my napkin and I sort of wondered why, but got distracted. Then, minutes later she started trying to drag the heavy cast aluminum chairs across the deck and I got frustrated. But then, Matt told me to turn around because bless her heart, she was just trying to "set the table" for her and Emery to have a second dinner. Melt me.

Last week Matt mentioned we hadn't had fish much lately and I then explained my fish frustrations - we can't get good fresh fish here, the mediocre stuff is still expensive, who really looks forward to fish for dinner, what nutritional value other than a ton of protein does the cheapest fish, tilapia, really have, etc. etc. etc. 

But then I went and bought a bag of frozen tilapia at Target and lo and behold the girls love it. So as much as I loathe being trapped into "we always have 'X' to eat on such and such a night," pan-fried tilapia might become a regular rotation in the dinner diary now.