06-07-08

Introducing to the world our beautiful baby boy,

Evan James Penner

born on June 07, 2008 @ 4:39am via emergency C-section.

7lbs. 14.5 oz, 21" long

He was discovered to be breach on push #2, the push that he was going to be born...then a whole new path took place.

1st few minutes together! I'm still very groggy after being put under a complete anesthetic, having gone thru a quick (3 hour) labour and about to have a baby when it was discovered that Evan was about to enter the world BUM first...all came to a halt...waited for the OBGYN to come and assess me, he called for a STAT C-Section, and I was in the OR in 25 minutes, put under, Al waited outside as there was no time to prep him for the OR room, our nurse (Audrey) snuck Al in when Evan was away from me, and being wrapped up, to come in a cut the cord...tsk tsk, that didn't go over well with the OR team but oh well...at least he got to do that part and meet Evan right away...I met Evan about 1 hour after he was born.

The whole time Evan's heart rate remained normal, and I was a very calm lady in labour - so I am told...Yoga breathing totally paid off.

Evan's APGAR score was 9.99, 10 being the highest - we are told they never give a 10. Audrey said if it was up to her, Evan would have been a 10...what a trooper my little boy is.

Zoe and Evan meet for the 1st time, he gave her a Ariel and Eric polly pocket set...what a sweet baby brother.

Peaceful sleeper

All 10 toes

Video of us Coming home with Evan

Mommy and Evan

Story time with Zoe and Evan

So far Evan is not a fan of baths...soon he will love them I am sure.

Already a pound over his birth weight, Evan is a thriving, content, happy little guy...can't wait to get to know him, and learn all about the person he is going to be.

Exactly 5 and 1/2 years apart, to the date. Zoe was born Dec. 07, 2002. Both born on a Saturday & the times are close too. Zoe was born at 4:13am, Evan at 4:39am.

We are all adjusting well. For me and Al - sleep is a long sought after dream right now, even though Evan seems to get lots...as he sleeps right now, I am writing this blog...which I will probably pay for later...in sleeplessness.

Zoe is already such a sweet big sister!

Trying to get ready

In the background are some baby room glimpes, we (I) chose to go with an ocean theme, hence the blue walls and beautiful sea creature stick-ons. Two walls are H2O blue, and the other two are a light cocoa.

37 weeks and counting Zoe helping me put out baby books on the book shelf, the drama queen.

Zoe being a "little girl" - not a baby - she made sure we understood that completely. Checking out the view in the crib and "pretending" - as she says - to LOVE it.

The looonnng weeeekend!

We had an amazing sunny and hot, totally out the blue, long weekend (Victoria Day - for the out of provincers).

While I delegated, Al did, and he did alot...YAY! There was some time for play too, and we had over some friends for one afternoon to enjoy the shade, snacks, beer, water for me, and water-fun for the girls.

Al pulled the weeds, mixed in the manure, and planted our garden. Our tile in the bathroom was finished, Al did the cutting while our friend layed the tile around the tub (that was on Monday, and the timing was great as it rained all day). (I'll post bathroom reno pics when the grout is finished - soon)! Al painted the last of the baby room - Al despises painting, and this was a huge feat for him...and me. And of course, there was time found where Al played with his VW's and had some quality time with doing car stuff.

I lost my ankles for a couple of days due to the heat but other than that, it was great to be outside and enjoying the warmer weather.

The green thumb gardeners - we hope!

Our trampoline, a little worse for wear now that we've had to throw out the tarp that goes over the springs (it fell apart due to weather, and it was piece of cheap crap), and the cage bars have seen better days - a few wind storms later, and and the trampoline traveling places in our yard in mid-air = cage bars bent very badly, so Al will have to make some major repairs before they go back on. At least the trampoline didn't lose it's bounce and neither has Zoe!Al and his cousin, Brendan, enjoying the sun and beer.NO! The water was not hooked up to the cold faucet, Al - of course, had the hose hooked up inside so that the water was warm for the girls. (no one did this for me when I was little). Our make-shift pool for Mia and Zoe, since the weather caught us off guard and it is just not pool season yet. Zoe kept asking her dad to spray her with the hose - so he happily obliged.

It was a fun day! @ 30 degrees above!

Happy Mother's Day!!

Mother's Day for me was stretched out over a week, receiving gifts from daycare, preschool, and then Al and Zoe. Since we were in Abbotsford during this day, Zoe was able to give me my gifts early, except for the one from Al and her. They did a sweet Mother's Day concert at school, and they traditionally had the kids write a letter where they finish the sentence to a statement as they do each year...it was cute last year, and it is even more meaningful this year. Here is Zoe's letter: (I think she was misunderstood in her answering #1., since she tells everyone how old I am - 36). By the time I read #'s 9 & 10, I was reduced to tears of joy, what a sweet, and mature little girl we are so blessed to have. I hope you all had a great Mother's Day, and felt honoured and treasured like you should be. It's the hardest job in the world.

What did you say?!

(35 weeks)

Useful comebacks to rude pregnancy comments:

• "At least I made somebody's heart and brain today. What did you do?"


• "You're huge too — and you don't have the excuse of another person living inside you." (love this one)


• "Go ahead, but I'm not touching yours."


• My own fav.- "Are you sure you aren't having twins" or "There is just one in there" (mentally I envision myself slapping them silly, before I smile sweetly and say "definitely only one, we've had it confirmed at 3 ultrasounds.") and then once I had someone actually tell me that the ultrasound may not always see the second baby...come on, at 22 weeks, I think they can tell.

Here is my vent:

It's one thing to feel big, and know you are big, and then hear from your family and close friends...that's something I can tolerate - barely........it's when a total stranger says something with no coulth that makes me see RED!! Q: How much longer? A: 5 weeks roughly...Add the eye popping, the "whew" response, and the "you're gonna have a HUGE baby" is when they should feel lucky to be alive. The nerve of some people surprises me over and over again. Have some tact. On the other side of coin, are the sweet strangers offering a smile, or a nice comment like "it won't be much longer" or "I remember how it felt to be at the end" or just in general a nice conversation focused on the baby NOT the size of me.

I have had the best pregnancy and I've been feeling happy and blessed, yes I am counting down - now, but mostly because I want to meet this baby not because I look/feel HUGE. After all, there is a beautiful soul in there working very hard to join our family, be loved & cherished.

Okay, well that's my vent out, and I do feel a little better, & it won't be long now!

We just spent 5 days in Abbotsford visiting family, and took Zoe to the Vancouver Zoo, and Aquarium. It was a fun time.

Now we are back to finishing all the last minute stuff, organizing our house, etc., our bathroom reno is almost done, baby room is almost done, feels like the end is near. Then the real chaos will begin!!

This says it all!!

Oh, how she's grown up!

Always playing 'doctor'/'veterinarian' and loves bandaids and tape. Give the girl tape and/or bandaids and you don't see her for awhile, she is off in her room, playing doctor with everyone in sight. ~ Fixing everyone all up. Zoe has recently taken a liking to wearing skirts and the occasional dress, this is a major change as she usually wouldn't go for them on her own. and she insists that tights are a must, or longer socks. This is all great since next year she'll be wearing a uniform to school, and the options are jumpers or skirts. This particular day, it was Hawaiian Luau day at school, and this is the outfit she chose to wear. Up until recently clothes were of little interest to Zoe, but now we have to wait until she exits her room to see what she wearing since she closes her door and asks us to not come in unless she is asking for help. She does surprising well matching her clothes, and then some days, the patterns and the colours can be, uh, busy and bright ~ depends on the mood of the day, I guess. I love that she taking on a more independent role in all areas these days, especially now, with the baby coming soon.

31 weeks, 5 days

Growing

22 weeks, Facing forward 'head' ultrasound

26 weeks, feeling a little tired that day. Proud big sister, Zoe.

27 weeks, not feeling so tired today. The baby had a recent growth spurt that made me stretch even more, "OW", thank goodness for my nice big soaker tub. (pics soon too come showing the bathroom renovations). Most days I feel great, the end is nearing.

I will blog more another day, & add other pics besides growing baby ones.

Brace yourself...

My due date is June 18, the baby is about one week larger than the due date suggests...so the baby will come when the baby is ready...time will tell. I feel great, the baby is doing great, everyone is happy.

This picture of Zoe on her bed was so sweet, I thought it was just a little too quiet so I went to investigate...thinking 'OH NO, what is she into'...and then I saw her quietly playing with her Leap pad. It melted my heart, and made me feel bad for thinking she was doing nothing but getting into trouble.

Clever girl, and happy birthday Daddy!

Here is a video of Zoe decorating Al's birthday cake.

His request was a chocolate brownie cake with chocolate icing. Zoe thought it would be hilarious if she put "pink" smarties on the cake too, since they have a going game (joke) between them that Al is turned into an imaginary colour, it's usually the colour pink, she says his favourite colour is pink, she chooses a pink toy for him to play with etc....all because when that happens, Al then says, "ew, no, I don't like pink, Pink is for girls", which makes Zoe bust-a-gut everytime. She loves to giggle and if it's funny once, it's funny the 1000th time too. Zoe also felt that Al should have a beautiful "pink" star helium balloon too, to go perfectly with her pink birthday theme for Daddy. Good thing Al has a great sense of humour, and they've laughed alot about it since.

Because of the ongoing banter with the colour pink, I guess Zoe felt that I might feel left out, (I don't) she had me pick a colour that I don't like (I kinda like them all) but I said black, so now everything that is black is funny when it pertains to me and I have to say "no I don't like black" to keep up my end of the joke....guess we'll see what happens for my birthday in April...if the jokes still going by then.

**My videoing skills are still being honed, it's also difficult when Zoe wants the screen put in her direction, so she can see herself, leaving me to video-tape blindly and hope that the camera is pointing in the right direction. We get better videos when Zoe can see herself, just a challenge capturing it all on the camera.

Hard-Pressed for Snow

This wasn't out first snow, we definitely had alot more at the end of Nov. 2007

Despite threats of a large snow dump, we only received about 4 inches over 2-3 days. First 2 inches, which melted by the end of the afternoon, and then another 2 inches approx. over the next couple of days which also melted by the end of the days.
Zoe made the most of the hour (before it melted) that she had to play in the snow on the first day, sledding, making a snowgirl, and having a snowball fight with Al.

Bare with my video camera taping skills, I'm new at it. New video camera, new operator.

Al's 'Nut-Bar' family! Christmas 2007!

L-R from Top

Great Oma & Zoe, Zoe, Mom & Dad, Doris, Lori, Dennis,

Anne-Marie+Austin+Aiden+Norbert(Nob), Zoe+Austin+Aiden, Al & Robyn

My 'Nut-Bar' family! Christmas 2007!

L-R from Top

Robyn, Dad, Randy, Jayden, Jordan, Zoe, Mom, Deita, Al & Gennelle

In the Know

Okay, here is the 411 on the bun in the oven...

I am 16 weeks, 4 days...due June 18th, 2008

I feel really great, not much to tell besides wanting more sleep (which I will probably want for the rest of my life).
Pregnancy is good to me, it's pretty much the same as when I was pregnant with Zoe. Besides my exploding boobs (that are on fire, itchy, or both - TMI?) and a growing belly...I sometimes have to wonder...am I really Pregnant?! 2 ultrasounds, and bloodwork confirmed that early on. My doctor visits have been uneventful and the baby is doing/growing just as a baby should in utero.
AND twins?! were ruled out at that time as well, since that was a possibility as the sonographer had me going for a few minutes in between exams. He thought he saw two heartbeats, but it turned after having a closer look during an internal ultrasound...there is one baby, and what was one healthy yolk sak - which what he suspected may have been baby #2 - but it was not.
Cravings - milk, olives, cheese, pasta, sour kids, anything carbonated. I haven't really had many diversions or cravings...
The sex of the baby is going to be a surprise, for us - we feel that there are few surprises in life that are really good, and we'd like this to be one of them. Either way, we feel blessed and honoured to be the parents of another baby...the rest is a bonus.
Zoe would like a baby sister....her request probably won't waver (she's pretty strong-minded.)She is so sweet to the baby already, I know she is/will be a great big sister. Zoe talks to the baby, hugs my belly, kisses, feeds fake food to my tummy, tickles, says "I love you baby", tucks me in for rest on the couch so the "baby can grow", and helps me get a snack when I'm hungry so she can "help feed the baby too".

I have another ultrasound later this month, and will report more on baby then.

Chow!

It's more like 4 cycles now, but still feels surreal!

The five best prenatal yoga postures.

• The Pringle. Lie on your back with a can of chips balanced on your stomach. See if you can eat them all before you fall asleep.

• The Sneeze. As the sneeze approaches, squeeze your knees together, breathe in and out, and try to remember what it used to feel like to "hold it in." Keep this pose while you hobble to the bathroom to change your underwear.

• The Calf Cramp. Try to stretch around your belly and rub your leg while simultaneously screaming loudly enough to wake everyone in your zip code.

• The Pesto Burp. Bring your chin to your chest and exhale as silently as you can through your closed mouth. Reward yourself with a nice, meditative Fudgesicle.

• The Sleeping Hip. Lie on your side until you lose all feeling. Roll onto your other side and repeat. Namaste!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU...hope SANTA spoils you rotten!

Merry Christmas!

ALL THE BEST IN 2008,

CHEERS,
AL, ROBYN, ZOE, & BUN in the OVEN!

Zoe's 5th birthday video

Our baby is 5!

Okay so she's not a baby anymore and hasn't been for awhile. But 5....that's huge.

Being that I am tired all the time, I am not motivated to do much more than necessary these days. But Zoe can move mountains in my heart, so I got energized enough to decorate for her birthday. The picture is kinda dark, but here it is anyway....not much to look at but Zoe is thrilled with it. We will post more birthday pics after the weekend.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ZOE!