The weeks before and after Logan's 0th birthday

The montage includes some pictures from last week before the baby came --just to prove that I actually did feel well enough to do a few things with the kids.  The park was while I did some last minute shopping Saturday before I went into the hospital, and then we got out the pool to wash the kids off after I gave them all hair cuts that night.  It was a tender mercy that I felt well enough to take care of those seemingly small things before the baby came, and it made me feel immensely more prepared.

We went to the hospital Sunday after church to start the process of getting my body ready to be induced.  I felt good about the decision, and with the kidney stone and the upcoming move, I really do think it was the right thing. Richard's parents came to watch the boys, and that was a great help --the boys love their grandparents-- and it was so nice to have it all set up beforehand, and to be able to prepare the boys for what to expect. The picture of Richard and I was the last picture taken by his Dad just before we left for the hospital.  Richard came with me, and stayed just long enough for me to get settled, and then went back home to help get the kids to bed.  He slept with his phone just in case, but didn't really need to come back until early the next morning,

Monday morning they started me on the pitocin, and while I labored, the kids and their grandparents had a fun morning up in Grand Teton National Park, playing at String Lake and such.  It didn't take as long as Ethan's induction, and by the time they woke up from their naps, the baby was here.

So I figured it was about time we introduce our baby:  Meet Logan King Samuelson!  He was born July 25th at 3:36 p.m.  He was 8 lbs, 20.5 in long.  He's healthy and strong, eats well, sleeps well, and is overall a wonderfully mellow yet alert and happy baby.

Logan came with just a little bit of complication --the cord was around his neck-- but overall it was a very easy delivery. (The hardest part was that hour of hard labor before I got the epidural.)  I won't bore you with details, but if you want to hear the whole story, you can read it here.

The boys and their grandparents came to see Logan a couple hours after he was born and we all ordered room service and had dinner.  Did I mention how good the food is at the Jackson hospital?  The kids were super excited to see their new little brother, and loved his little hands and feet.  Gabe might have been little thrown off, but not really.  He just didn't want to kiss the new baby, although he assures me that he loves him whenever I ask. They were especially excited to wear their new big brother shirts and bring him balloons for his birthday.  After they all went home and I got moved to a different room, my younger sister came for a visit. He was awake and alert, andI hope she gives me some of the pictures she took (hint hint). Although it had been a long day, I felt great.

The next day was supposed to be the day they took out the kidney stone and stent (I was hoping I wouldn't have to wait, but it all turned out for the best).  Turns out, --miracle of miracles-- I passed it right after the baby was born without even knowing!  Richard's parents came again, but by themselves this time while Richard watched the kids, and held the baby while I got the stent and stuff taken out.

They went home that night, and Richard got to come and have a "Candlelight dinner" with me that the hospital provides for new parents while our neighbors watched the kids until my mom got there.  She drove up from Utah to help out, and let me tell you, she's worth her weight in gold when it comes to helping (including getting up in the night with the baby). She came to the hospital and visited later that night by herself, and then they all came again the next day (Wednesday) to pick me and Logan up from the hospital.  I was glad to finally be home, but it had also been nice to have the nurses around to take the baby anytime I needed to rest.  I also missed the cheesecake.

My mom stayed that night and the next, and on Friday my Dad flew up as well.  Richard went back to work Thursday and Friday, but my parents took the kids out for a hike up Cache Creek canyon, and to the park so I could get some extra rest.  It was so nice having them around to help, to keep the kids occupied, to do some shopping, and cooking, and it was especially nice having the dishes consistently clean without having to do them myself. They left Saturday morning and I was a little sad to see them go. I think the kids enjoyed their time with them as well, and will miss the extra attention once we're on our own next week.  We'll see how that goes. Wish me luck!

Honestly,  I just have to say that I have felt so blessed with how things turned out.  I am so grateful for everyone's prayers on my behalf as well as those who sacrificed their time and energy to come and help out.  We have felt so much love and support, and even though there were some tough parts that I would rather have not gone through, I feel that though they were inevitable, it all turned out in the best possible way.  Thank you all.
After all, there must needs be opposition in all things, and in order to get something so wonderful as our little Logan, I had to go through it all.

Enjoy the montage.

Father's Day, Ethan's Birthday, Fourth of July, and E.R. visit.

A monthly post is about all we can do at this point I'm afraid.  I admit, part of the problem was taking pictures.  We covered a lot of time, and plenty of big events, but there's not many pictures to show for it. I was usually too tired to hunt down the camera really.  Sorry.

We start the day before father's day, when Richard's parents and grandmother came up to visit and I made shish kabobs and homemade ice cream for them.  Delicious!  The next big event was probably Ethan's birthday, or should I say birth-week.  His birthday happened to land on Sunday this year, and we were heading to Rexburg that night, so we kinda celebrated it the day before with a few presents (yes, Gabe thought they were all for him) and some grilled pizza, Yum!  The next day, Richard and I had talks in church and then we left for Rexburg celebrating Ethan's birthday with cake at least twice, and going to the splash park.  The kids and I stayed in Rexburg while Richard went on to Boise to defend his master's thesis.  It was accepted (Yay!) and now he's just got to do all the paperwork and submit it then we'll be done and Richard will get his diploma!  Woohoo!  I'm so proud of him; he's worked so hard.

After that, we came home for a few days, and then went back to Rexburg for an informal family reunion over the 4th of July weekend.  We all went to the new water park there, but didn't manage to get any pictures.  We did, however, manage to get some bad sunburns though (not the kids, just Richard and I).  That evening Richard and his family went to the temple while I stayed with everyone's kids (I think there's one picture of them all zombied out in front of a movie --yep, piece of cake).  Sunday afternoon we went for a drive to see where the Teton Dam broke, which the kids didn't fully appreciate, but it was nice to get out of the house.  Monday morning before the parade there were several family members who had planned to run a 5k, but after finding out that the date had been moved and they had missed it, they planned their own Samuelson Family 5k, complete with timers and water stations and prizes for finishing each mile.  Almost all the cousins ran all or most of it, even down to my three year old nephew in diapers and I think wearing crocs who ran the whole thing.  Wow!  Richard, although I can't remember the last time he ran any kind of distance, decided last minute to run as well --in regular shoes and jeans no less, and he ended up getting 3rd place overall --right behind his 10 year old nephew (just in case he needed some humbling).   Of course, I wasn't so sympathetic when he complained about being sore and tired.  I really didn't need both of us feeling that way.  Still, I was impressed, and a little sad I missed it all. I stayed with Gabe, waiting for Ethan to wake up (he's not the early bird his cousins are apparently), and missed the whole thing.  We did make it up in time for the parade though, (once again forgetting our camera --all we had was Richard's phone) and were set up quite comfortably near the beginning of the route.  The kids had lots of fun gathering candy... that is, until a wayward piece of candy caught Ethan right in the face and gave him a bloody nose.  Who knew parade candy could be so dangerous?  It took him a while to calm down and get back into things, but then his hand got stepped on and he gave up trying for candy altogether.  Gabe subsisted on what cuteness could do in persuading his cousins to give him their candy for the most part.  Still, too much sugar all around.  We stayed and visited some more that evening, and then left just in time to come back home for the Jackson firework show, which was still amazing even though we watched it from a distance, but I'm afraid we stayed up way too late.  Poor Richard had to start work early the next morning --and no, the kids did not sleep in. Isn't that always the way it goes?

Richard added a bunch of random work pictures to this montage, one of which shows a semi on it's side near where they were spraying.  Don't know much about it, except that it was way over the weight limit. Another one was from this past week, where he saw plenty of moose.

Speaking of this past week, I'm sure most of you already heard, but I went to the E.R. with a kidney stone last Sunday.  You can find the whole story HERE, but in short, they put a stent in to bypass it, gave me pain killers, and will take it out when the baby comes. I am feeling okay, there's a little pain and overall discomfort (which is partially due to being 2 weeks away from my due date), but for the most part it's manageable.  As much as I'd like to have my body all to myself and everything else resolved, this week my goal is to not have a baby, but to find housing for us to move to Boise by August 12th.  Wish me luck!