The Cline Drama...part 273

As you've all ascertained, the Clines don't do anything "normally." We celebrated Parker's 2 week birthday by putting a bid on a house and yes, it was while Justin was in Helena for his first week of work. He and the realtor faxed things back and forth so I didn't have to manage signing things with the kids in tow. And here it is, Friday night, and we're currently waiting for the sellers to sign the final buy-sell that they verbally agreed to. So we're pending home-owners! Hopefully everything will be finalized by tomorrow afternoon. At that point I'll give a link to the house so you can see it.

In the meantime, we've been enjoying having Justin's mom JoAnn here to help out since yesterday afternoon. Madeleine's still warming up to her but she did well when JoAnn got her up from her nap today while I was out signing paperwork this afternoon. Of course Parker is enamored, as is his grandma. We celebrated a casual Halloween by dressing the kids up in costumes and hanging out with friends Beth, Cody, and their daughter Greta. The little ones wouldn't cooperate for pictures but here's my attempt at capturing their cuteness.

Happy Halloween and here's to a great November!

Just for Daddy

Justin's in Helena through Wednesday so these pictures are mainly for his benefit since I know he misses us. As he gets to sleep in a queen-sized bed all by himself, I'm sure Justin will especially miss having Parker's little eyes staring up at him as he tries to fall back asleep some time between 2 and 4am, not to mention Maggie who keeps the foot of the bed warm and me "the radiator." So here you go honey: one of your favorite pics, a few to remind you of what you're missing, and one to make you laugh (yes, Madeleine was helping me fold laundry again).

My full time job

This past week was our last week with Justin being home. Throughout the week I kept asking him how it felt to know he'd be starting his real career on Monday. Then all of a sudden, while putting Madeleine to bed tonight, it hit me: my full-time job begins on Monday too. I've been so wrapped up in thinking about Justin's job that my job as a full-time mom of two hadn't quite hit me. I've been prone to tearing up since then (probably also slightly attributable to postpartum stuff) thinking about doing this alone. Of course Justin will usually be home in the evenings but still, for 8 to 9 hours a day I'll be flying solo.

In light of this, I got my haircut yesterday thinking that it probably wouldn't be easy to get it done with a baby and toddler in tow. Fortunately my hairdresser works Saturdays so I should still have a chance to get it cut in the coming months. Nevertheless, back in April I remember being delighted sitting in the dentist's office simply because I was alone. I didn't even hear them call my name the first time because I was in a childless stupor. I wonder if every mom goes through this...

So for those of you who don't mind, I'll probably be calling you in the next few weeks to jokingly lament about my full-time (and underpaid) job. I may cry, laugh, slip in and out of delirium, etc., but if you can at least help me to use some three syllable words, I'd appreciate it. Justin and I joked that I should keep a tally of how many diapers I change each day. Quite literally my day will revolve around feeding and changing these kiddos. I only hope that I can occasionally find time to change and feed myself!

Since I mentioned haircuts, here's another excuse to post videos. I cut Madeleine's bangs again this past week because she had been walking around with her head tilted up trying to look under them. Here's how she looks (and acts) now.

The ins and outs of hiccups

I included a video of Parker hiccuping in utero a while back. I thought I'd prove that he really is quite the king of hiccups. After I turned the camera off, he kept hiccuping for another 5 minutes. Here he's 7 days old. My favorite part is when he smiles :)

Welcome Wendy!

I'm so happy to share that my lifelong friend Stacy Whalen gave birth via c-section to a healthy, beautiful baby girl named Wendy June Whalen yesterday at 10:50am. I have been friends with Stacy since 9th grade and have known her husband Zach since they started dating in college. It's such a joy to celebrate the birth of their little girl, especially as Stacy and I journeyed through Parker's and Wendy's pregnancies together. We love you Whalen family and can't wait to hopefully see you all soon!

Growing girl

Madeleine has surprised us with a few new developments.

1. She's learned how to work her CD player. She now finds specific CDs she wants to listen to, opens the lid, tries to put the CD in (usually upside down), closes the lid and presses play. As long as we're around to make sure she gets it right it's fine. It's those other times that concern us. We're torn between telling her "no" and teaching her the nuances of getting it right.

2. She's also learned how to open pill bottles. How fun! This morning she came into our bedroom, grabbed my bottle of prenatal vitamins (with a kid-proof lid...ha!), and proceeded to twist and push until it opened. The she dumped them all over the place. Fortunately Justin was able to intercede as I was busy feeding Parker. Now we keep the vitamins on my dresser out of her go-go Gadget arms.

3. Madeleine can identify an elk. While looking at a magazine yesterday, Justin had the page opened to an article with a picture of a bull elk. Madeleine walked straight up to it, pointed, and said "elk." The only other picture she's seen that we know of was a silhouette of one on a t-shirt Justin has. Granted, she's more likely to see an elk here in Montana than an elephant or a monkey, but her ability to remember things impresses us nonetheless.

On our own

This morning we said goodbye to my parents who came to visit for a little over a week. When they arrived here two Saturdays ago, I was still pregnant. They were able to use that time to get reacquainted with Madeleine. On Monday night/Tuesday morning, we woke them up at 12:30am to say we were headed to The Birth Center and gave them Madeleine's monitor. Five hours later we woke them up and introduced them to Parker. It was a fun experience to see their eyes light up at the transformation that occurred in such a short period of time.

They got a kick out of Madeleine's antics; she is quite the performer! They introduced her to the wonders of stickers and sing-along Sandra Boynton books. They also supervised Parker while we gave Madeleine extra attention. With them here, Justin and I were able to go out on a coffee date for our anniversary and they watched Madeleine while we took Parker to all of his different appointments. It was wonderfully helpful to have them here and we look forward to seeing them again around Christmas!

Here are some more pictures from their visit. Unfortunately we didn't get nearly as many pictures with the grandparents this time because our hands were full doing other things. But they helped us get some good pictures of the 4 of us. Thanks so much Grammie and Grampy for everything! We love you!!!

On the changing table together

Saturday morning at the farmer's market (Parker's hiding in the sling under the blanket)

Two snoozers

Family time

Sleepy little man

Dog love

Madeleine taking pictures of Grampy

At The Big Dipper ice cream stand (This picture reminds us of our wedding photos where half of the family is hidden in the shade. I guess some traditions must continue.)

One last family picture

Why women were created with hips

The other good news...

The Cline family has some other big news to announce: Justin has officially been offered the job at the Vet Center here in Missoula as a family and couples therapist! This is what we had been waiting to hear about all summer long. The paperwork finally came in the mail last week and he starts October 27th. While it is wonderful news, reality has finally crashed in on me that Justin won't be around to help nearly as much as he has up until now. So we're taking advantage of this week to relax and let him have as much time with Madeleine and Parker as he can handle. The job offer also means we can move forward with the house-hunting process by getting pre-approved for a mortgage. All of this growing up at once is a lot but I think we're up for the challenge and rewards.

Oh yeah, as an afterthought

Today is our four year anniversary. While there will be no whooping it up on the town, a nice dinner at Heraldo's Mexican Restaurant with the family will be a nice substitute. Who'd-a-thought fours years ago that we'd end up in Montana, have two kids, and Justin would be starting work for the federal government as a therapist. Any bets on the next four years?

What we've learned

1. We love the newborn baby stage.

2. Baby boy diapers are way more difficult to clean up than baby girl diapers.

3. Sleep is overrated.

4. Fresh ground coffee tastes like heaven.

5. Madeleine really loves her baby brother.

We've had full days since Parker's arrival. I'm always amazed at how many appointments new parents are required to go to with a brand new baby. It feels like a conspiracy to prevent parents from getting any sleep. Fortunately we've had my parents around to help watch Madeleine while we shuttle Parker here and there. She has delighted in all the new attention and games (including my dad teaching her the fist-bump).

We took Madeleine out to a nearby farm yesterday to pick out a pumpkin. It was a cool but beautiful day to be outside. She got the biggest kick out of taking the price tags off the pumpkins and sticking them to herself. That and chasing a squirrel around.

We then swung by Big Sky Brewery to celebrate my first beer in 42 weeks! It was great fun to sip my Slow Elk Oatmeal Stout but one sample was enough. The girls who work there were excited to meet Parker as they've come to recognize our growing family. Madeleine was also feeling particularly affectionate and kept giving Parker kisses while we hung out.

We don't have much planned for today (except a shower for me!) as we expect to hit the last farmer's market of the year tomorrow morning. Hopefully a nap is in my future but again, it's amazing how one day I needed 9 hours of sleep and then the next day 4 hours is plenty. Women are pretty extraordinary, in my opinion!

Finally

The news you've all been waiting for...

Joshua Parker Cline 8lbs. 14oz. 22.25in. born October 14, 2008, 1:16am

Joshua Parker Cline (yes, we switched his first and middle names but we'll still call him Parker) was born at 1:16am this morning. Labor went incredibly fast this time around. I woke up yesterday with easy contractions that continued on and off throughout the day until around 11pm when they started coming stronger and more frequently. After one contraction 10 minutes apart, another at 9, one at 8, and one at 7 (all sequential), Justin joked that we'd be leaving for the Birth Center in 20 minutes. And we did! After arriving at the Birth Center at 12:45am, I instantly felt the urge to push and four pushes later, we had Parker! It was a wonderfully shocking and very different experience than the one we had in the same room with the same midwife for Madeleine's birth.

Thank you so much for your support and prayers through this entire process. We are all at home doing very well now. Madeleine already gave him a big kiss and tried to take his hat off. We'll post more pictures as the opportunity becomes available.

Two new arrivals

Nope, I didn't have twins. I haven't even had Parker yet. But my parents did arrive late last night after flying from Virginia to Spokane, WA and driving to Missoula. Madeleine had a great time playing with them all day, even in spite of the snow that fell this morning (our first snow of this "winter").

In regards to the belly.... My stress test yesterday was perfect, again. I had contractions all throughout the evening and night but they faded this morning. My midwife asked me to schedule an appointment for Tuesday for another stress test and for her to check me. We continue to hope and pray that I go into labor naturally before then but she has agreed to break my water Tuesday to see if that works. The downside to this is that if I don't go into labor as a result of my water breaking, I'll have to be admitted to the hospital to be induced. But if we wait until Wednesday and haven't gone into labor naturally, I'd still have to be induced at the hospital. The bottom line is that eggplant didn't work, castor oil didn't work, acupuncture and herbal formulas didn't work, stripping my membranes didn't work, etc. If this is going to happen it's going to have to be on Parker's terms. We'll keep you posted.

Nada

Still no Parker. I really, really hope this eggplant stuff works. I ate it for lunch and dinner again tonight so I suppose my 48-hours may be extended until Sunday but I'm still hoping for tomorrow.

Sorry again for you Friday voters. I cancelled my acupuncture appointment today because I just couldn't swallow paying for it. I'm still taking all of the "formulas" though. I've had lots of contractions today but nothing to indicate labor beginning.

We will head to the farmer's market per our Saturday morning tradition tomorrow then call our midwife to set up a time to go in for her to do another stress test on Parker and check me. We'll also be asking her when I'm scheduled to be induced on Wednesday. (They went ahead and scheduled me in case it comes down to that.)

We are still fervently praying that everything kicks into gear before then. My parents fly out tomorrow night so it would be nice to have a new little person to introduce them to. I appreciate all of the positive thoughts and prayers being sent our way!

48 hours and counting

Justin and I made Scalini's Eggplant Parmigiana tonight to try and induce labor. I found the recipe on a link sent to me via one of you helpful bloggies :) (http://www.scalinis.com/Bambino.htm)



They say that more than 300 women have given birth within 48 hours of eating this. Considering I've taken 14 herbal supplement capsules at 3 different times today, in addition to drinking herbal teas and getting acupuncture, we figured this couldn't hurt our chances. If I do go into labor in the next 48 hours we won't know what to attribute it to (probably Parker just deciding to come out), but at least I can say that I've tried this. We've gotten a lot of unsolicited suggestions from neighbors, checkout people, strangers, etc. around town, some of which we've already tried and others that are only explainable as being coincidental. I'm not interested in mowing the yard (it's a high in the 40s), hiking a mountain (I can barely put on my pants), or starving myself (how would I then have any energy to push). But eggplant parmigiana...now that's something I can live with! It's actually so good that we've decided to put it in the ol' recipe box. Don't you wish you could have had dinner with us tonight?

So here's to those of you who voted for Friday or Saturday! I'll eat leftovers for lunch tomorrow just to be on the safe side :)

How far would you go?

Our midwife says I'm 4cm dilated and almost 100% effaced. Parker's down even further in my pelvis. So why am I not in labor yet? We don't know.

So, I'm pulling out all the stops. After getting the stress test done (he's still doing great...no worries), I had an appointment with an acupuncturist for a "labor inducing" session. 5 needles and six herbal supplements later, I still am not in labor. It was an interesting experience to say the least. I'm supposed to go back in tomorrow and Friday for more acupuncture if labor hasn't started but it's really expensive so I may just stick with the supplements and see if Parker's just trying to beat out his sister by going 10 days over as opposed to to 9. On my way home from the appointment, I got some eggplant to make a recipe for eggplant parmesan that has been said to induce labor. So hopefully one of these things will work. Even if it ends up only being coincidental, it will make for a good story one day.

We'll see what tomorrow holds. Sorry for those of you who voted for today! (You can cheat too if you want.)

For those of you who guessed Tuesday

I tried to give you all an unfair advantage by taking castor oil and for a short time I thought it would work. Justin and I went on a date to a movie and coffee and I definitely was having regular contractions but they faded and so here we are on Wednesday about to head to another prenatal appointment. I'll have a stress test done on the baby to make sure he's doing okay. I'll keep you all posted. And if you voted for Tuesday, I'm okay if you want to cheat and vote again :) Thanks for all of the encouragement and I'll try to post that salsa recipe later.

Another poll

I forgot to survey how long you think he'll be! Take a second to guess whether Parker will take after his slightly height-deficient mom or height-enhanced dad. And this time the ".5" simply means half an inch. I realize that for weight I put ".8" as in half a pound or 8 ounces. I hope you all are smarter than I seem to be currently. This kid needs to come soon before I lose too many more brain cells!

Just for fun

I've put up two polls: one for you to guess Parker's arrival date and the other his weight. Help me pass the time by taking your best guess!

Analogies

Here are some I've come up with to describe my (continued) pregnant state:

an overripe pear, bruised and buried in the back corner of a drawer in the refrigerator

a tomato that was over-watered and split

a balloon about to pop

a forgotten hot dog left on the grill that has split down the middle

Feel free to let me know if you have any to add.

Indulging myself

We had our prenatal appointment this morning. As you can see from the "countdown" clock, we're now into the positives and it looks like that's where we'll stay for the moment. Jeanne, our midwife, said we're still the same as last week. Here we come 41 weeks! I've considered getting a t-shirt that says "Built for Two" because these little babies seem to like their accommodations. I do recognize I am blessed though because some women aren't able to carry their babies to full term so I'd rather be on this end of things.

Nevertheless, I'm now bored. I finished Madeleine's Christmas stocking:

The nursery is all set up and ready. Here's the crib I got on Craigslist for $50 with the mattress and bedding...a steal of a deal!:

So what are we to do now? Well, I do love Craigslist so...

I got this foosball table for $20 yesterday and we've already gotten our money's worth out of it! Justin beat me every time but I feel like I should be given a handicap because of the belly. If Parker doesn't decide to come out soon, I'll have even more time to improve my game because I'm desperate for distractions. Let me know if any of you have ideas (or foosball strategies to help me improve my game).