Our sweet Lainey Jean is here

Weight: 7 lbs 10 oz

Length: 20 inches

Born at 1:08 pm on June 27th

I remember back last year at the very beginning of the pregnancy when I couldn't think about much else other than how at any moment I might vomit and thinking how this day would come when we would finally have her in our arms. It seemed so distant at the time, but now looking back time passed so quickly.
Each of our girl's arrivals has been special to us in different ways. Jessie was our first. She changed us from being a couple to being parents to a beautiful little girl, naturally that meant so much.  Tegan came quietly, so easy going and happy ready to be a companion to her sister and add elements to our family that weren't there before. Lainey is special in her own way too. Mostly because she almost didn't come. There was a time when we made the choice to be done having children of our own due to a health scare and advise from my doctor. We had decided to choose another route. But after careful consideration, prayer, and reassurance we decided to take the chance. Now Lainey is here precious and sweet. The moment she came into this world it seemed impossible to imagine our family without her. Every little movement intrigues us. We could watch her all day if time permitted. We love you Lainey!

Her sister's were so excited to meet her for the first time. They wanted to see every little part of her including her "feetsies". They were tripping over one another to bring her her toys and blankets and be the first to hold her. It seems like they've grown up so much these last few days. When feeding Lainey Jess is here right beside me breast feeding her swaddled care bear. I think this is going to be fun!

D-day

Delivery day is almost here for us. If all goes well in less than 7 hours I will be induced. I am feeling large and ready. Just in case there's any question on my largeness here's a pic or two.

Here's two girls that are very excited to meet there little sister. I think they will make great big sisters. Wish us luck!

Dear Insomnia,

I do not like you...not one bit. Why oh why must you visit me so often these days. I fear that it is because little babe #3 may not be the best sleeper and this is my preparation. I have tried to follow Doctor's orders--no caffeine before bedtime, or really at all, getting as comfortable as possible (not so easy these days), I avoid looking at my watch when I wake up, I repeat in my mind "don't think about anything, don' think about anything", and squeeze my fingers and toes then relax them like she counseled me to do, but I can't trick myself back to sleep. The nausea together with a big, uncomfortable belly win the battle and I am awake, annoyed, frustrated, and blogging at 5:00 in the morning.
The day is getting lighter, the sun trying to peak its way out of the clouds and now I'm going to make one more attempt to get some zzzzzzzzzz before little feet come scurrying down the hallway. Wish me luck.

Vacation....sort of
My maternity leave has officially begun. Yesterday was my last day of work for the next 3 months. Usually I work right up until contractions begin, but this time I've got some preparation time. It's one of the perks to having a baby. We didn't really time it this way, but I love it that we will have the whole summer off. I envision lazy days around a kiddy pool in the backyard little baby in one arm and a book in my other hand while the older girls squeal and play. I keep having these moments where I think about all I need to get done today in preparation for work tomorrow and then I have a moment of giddiness realizing that actually relaxation time has begun.
I appreciate it even more because my last day of work was chaotic, long, and demanding so I happily welcome these next few months. Now if I can just get this baby to drop down an inch or two. I don't know what it is about our babies, but they all love to stay high and huddled up next to my cramped lungs and rib cage as if I have shards of glass down near the exit.
I started off my work vacation getting a pedi with a friend so any discomfort I have over these next few days I can just gaze down at my toes and hopefully find a little bit of joy.
Here's to hoping for some exciting times this next week, especially meeting our sweet little girl.

Random Happenings

A few things have been keeping us busy lately. Here's a quick recap of some of them

1. Lots of Doctors appointments- I get the purpose of them and I know they're important, but driving an hour out and back once a week can get mildly annoying, especially when you've been told at nearly 38 weeks that the chamber is still 100% sealed or in other words--zero dilation. I'm shooting for some more positive news this next week. Meanwhile I'll be climbing some mountains, doing jumping jacks, and any other method that might get things moving.

2. T-ball has finally ended-Jessie had her last game on Thursday and I was relieved, as was she, to hear that they would not be doing make up games for those cancelled due to rain. I will miss seeing my little chiquita run with all her might hidden under an oversized helmet.

3. Jammin- Tis the season for berries starting out with one of my favorites-strawberries. We made a couple trips this past week to local u-pick farms and feasted on fresh strawberries. My favorite time of year!

4. Nesting- In a conversation with Tom last night I completely overwhelmed him with the to do list swarming around in my head as if I'll never have another second to get any of it done after baby girl comes along. I find myself cleaning out odd drawers, scrubbing hidden areas, and planning 10 years into our future. What to do, what to do?

5. A baby shower- My awesome friends around here threw such a great baby shower. I was so impressed at the teamwork everyone put in to it and the generosity that was shown. So grateful to be surrounded by such lovely people.

6-The EPIC relay- Tommy ran the Portland to Eugene relay this past weekend and had an EPIC time. Once again making us so proud. I did have moments of envy, but also had moments of feeling grateful to have a good enough excuse to not get dragged into it. We had fun going down and visiting with a few friends in Eugene and watching Team Band on the Run come in.

7. Last but certainly not least--Father's Day. This year the girls made up a story for their Dad and drew pictures to go along with it. We made him the traditional crepes for breakfast and he got lots of love and hugs from all his girls. What a great father and husband he has been for us and we feel grateful and blessed to have him. 

I also had the opportunity to spend some time with my own father this weekend and had such a wonderful visit with him. I love that he is so interested in our girls' lives and is willing to spend hours entertaining and playing with them. They love their Abuelo Bezzant.

Jessie's Graduation

Jess had a little graduation ceremony today. It's funny I don't remember any graduation celebration when I was a kid, but the kids in her class were so excited and although it was mostly chaotic I could see she was feeling pretty proud.

Jessie with some of her classmates before the graduation

I  have loved Jessie's teacher. After 20 years of teaching she seems to still work so hard to make things special for the kids.  The girls got to paint their own bodies. I love that Jess has her favorite pink boots on. It's now hanging on her bedroom door.

This was my favorite part. In English it says "when I grow up I want to be...a mother". I know she's young, but I'd like to think that she already grasps at some level the preciousness of motherhood. I also love her yellow, flowing, long hair. I had to tease her a little about that.

Here she is in her little cap and gown.

Her Grandpa Bezzant came to support.

I'm proud of our little Jess. She has grown so much this past year and learned a lot in her class. She's going to miss going to school everyday. Might make for a long summer.

I struggled to know what to give/make for her teacher to say thanks for all she's done. I wanted it to be something useful, but also come from Jessie. After browsing around online a little bit I found this on pinterest. I liked the idea of the magnets, but we changed it up a little bit.

It worked out well because I already had these clear rocks. I traced them on different colors of paper.

Jessie drew whatever she wanted to inside of that circle.

Cut the circles out, and mod podged them to the underside of the clear rocks.

This was how they turned out. We discovered that the color markers bled much more that the permanent black ones. After they sat for a while I mod podged the outside of the paper as well before gluing on the magnets. Jessie thought they were pretty neat and was excited to give them to her teacher. We threw them in a container with a few chocolates because chocolate makes everything even better.

One proud wife

A while ago Tom decided to take his exercise regime to a new level and signed up for the Newport marathon. He talked his friend Blake into doing it with him and the training began. He slowly increased his mileage and I watched in envy as his waistline shrunk while mine was growing at a rapid rate. I had to make peace with the fact that the closest I could get to running a marathon now, maybe ever, would have to be vicariously through him. My respect for him and anyone training for something like this has grown in the process. I was so impressed at his determination. He often had to run late at night because there was no other time to fit it into his schedule.  Congratulations to you Tom. Love you!

This is Tom before the race with short shorts, headphones and a cliff bar on board.

This makes up part of the cheering squad. It was great share this with the Johnsons. The kids were real troopers. We were shuttled from one place to the next and there was plenty of standing and waiting, but they hung in there really well.

Tom's Dad woke up at 4:30 to be there when he started and root him on.

Here they are around mile marker 4. Still looking refreshed as ever and a little wet. There was a drizzle through almost the whole run, but luckily it never got beyond that.

And here they are about to turn the corner and cross the finish line. Still looking pretty good having just gone 26 miles.

Their smiles don't really reflect the pain they both admitted to being in at this time.

The girls were so happy to finally see their Dad again. Tommy got to enjoy a nice bowl of clam chowder at the end.

The sun decided to pop it's little head out right as the race wrapped up which was perfect for the kids because they were DYING to go to the beach. We made a quick stop at Mo's for some lunch.

It didn't take long for the kids to completely soak their pants. They had a blast playing in the waves and sand. It really was a perfect day!