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!