Christo's Birthday

 

You can see his distinct way of crawling.

MM's Birthday

 She had quite they day, even though it was a "school day." The best part was the parade (link below) of friends and classmates who came all the way to our house to fete her. That was probably one of the only good things out of the panic, and was unique. Bobbins made a fancy cake for us to eat at home.

YouTube video of the parade.

Owen's Birthday Basketball Game

 Later than usual, into February, but we made it, and the Devils won.

Owen's Actual B-day

This before school, when he's not normally so chipper.


But it was a special day for him at school. They had something in his classroom, and the whole school sang him happy birthday.

Owen's B-day Party

Standard outdoor party, since it's actually nice out during O's b-day. Featha, B, and kids made it down.

We also had a special guest all the way from Tennessee: my cousin Jonathan and his girlfriend Jess. His mother is my mom's niece. They were driving around the country in her RV, seeing the sites and using their gym membership to take showers. Bobbins, of course, told them to park a night on our street and hook up to our electrical box, which they readily accepted (they could turn their heater on that way). They also loved Uncas and had him sleep in their bed. It was fun and different and a little uncomfortable. They hiked our mountain the next day before taking off for Colorado. Wish I could've joined them on the hike, but I had work.

Ward's Birthday

Big 3 for the little guy. His godmother Mrs. Weisse made a great cake.

August Birthday Bash at the Schaefers

TF's Birthday

Summer blonde Fisher got a baseball birthday at Nana K and Papa's house.

JoJo's Birthday

She got to go to Party Jungle with her siblings in addition to her breaking out and cake.

Welcome Christo!

It started out as a normal Thursday. I was just about to get into the shower and get ready to drive the kids, including carpool, out to school. Bobbins had just awoken and was in the bathroom when she called out: "I think my water just broke!" The due date wasn't for another two weeks at most. The water had definitely broke, however, but there were no contractions. We called the midwife and she said just to rest in bed.

I drove the kids to school and told my boss I wouldn't be in. By noon Bobbins still wasn't progressing. She had some contractions in the mid-morning but nothing serious. I took O & TF to meet my buddy Dennis for lunch. It was still nice out, so Bobbins and I took several walks. We weren't in a major hurry to go to the hospital, although we wanted to get it done. We also had to wait for my sister to show up to watch the other kids, per tradition.

Finally some serious enough contractions started around 6 that we made the call, in consultation with the midwife, to drive down to St. Joe's on Thomas (where both girls were born). We got checked in and told a little fib about when the water had broke so they wouldn't freak out. We spent about an hour in maternity triage before they put us in a birthing room with a nurse, Cortney, who was fresh out of GCU Nurshing School. She tried to get Bobbins hooked up to everything, which Bobbins resisted. Thankfully, we were able to get things mostly the way we wanted, especially with Dr. Hervey. Lynnette, the midwife, was excellent too. We couldn't do this without her!

About 10pm it got real, and within the hour he was out! Another baby boy! Praise God. Bobbins was a champ, no surprises there. No epidural, nothing, just naturally pushed him out into the world, like Our Blessed Mother did. I got to cut the umbilical cord.

What a happy day, and blessing!

Margaret Breaking into 10

Take note of that old room, which we called the Rosary Room, because it would be gone within a few months.

MM's Birthday Celebrations

The big 10 for our oldest daughter

Her main present was to go to a Francesca Battistelli concert with her mom. It was a great time for the two of them. Margaret loves her as a singer.

Owen's Birthday

He made out pretty well on his big day.