The Long Awaited Birth

Naomi Mei Tinling born April 14, 2009

8 lbs 4 oz 19 1/2 inche

I know that most of you just want to see pictures, so I put them in first. For those of you who want a synopsis of the labor and delivery, that is included at the end of the post.

This is what I look like moments before I have a baby. Not too bad, I would say (besides the gown).

This is what I look like after I have a baby. This picture doesn't show it very well, but I am super skinny! I lost like 20 lbs in 20 minutes!

I hope this picture is not too graphic for any of you. I just thought it would be fun to put on here.

This is my first moment holding baby Naomi. It is funny that the first time we get to see each other, we both have to look so bad.

She pretty much looks just like my other babies when they are newborns. I was fully expecting that complexion, that dark hair, and that same little face.

This is Morgan holding her little sister for the first time. I think it is great that our kids went to bed the night before and woke up to a new baby sister.

Here is Caleb holding his new sister for the first time. He loves to sit on the couch and just hold her while he watches a show.

The Labor and Delivery Story

I woke up around 1:45 am to a contraction I couldn't sleep through. I was too excited to try to sleep through any others, so I laid there until 2:00 watching to see if this was for real. The contractions were steady and coming about 7 minutes apart. I got up to get water, eat food, and clean the kitchen. I knew that this was it, and we didn't have much time to waste at home because the hospital was 45 minutes away. I woke Tyler at 2:2o, woke my mom, called the babysitter we had arranged to come in the middle of the night, and called my friend Tami (who was to be our doula and ride). We all left the house around 3:00, and after returning home for a few forgotten items, made it to the hospital at 4:00. Tami drove her 15 passenger van while I labored on the front bench with Tyler's help. When we arrived, I sat up to exit the van and was in some serious pain as everything finally had a chance to drop into place with the help of gravity. The nurse checked us in, I put on that beautiful gown, and a few contractions later she checked me. I was already 9 cm! I was secretly hoping I would be so we wouldn't have to spend all morning laboring in the hospital. After assessing that my water might break any moment, they rushed me up to a labor and delivery room. It was only another 15 minutes before the "overwhelming" pushing contractions began. Everyone rushed in, broke my water, and helped me push the baby out. I had her at 4:49 am on Tuesday April 14, 2009. She came right on her due date. She was 8 bls 4 oz and was 19 1/2 inches long. She was perfect and beautiful!

I was planning from the begining to have this baby with no pain medication. It was truly an amazing experience! I am glad to have had my first two with epidurals, but I won't ever go back. For anyone who wants a more graphic or detailed version, please call me and we can chat. I do enjoy telling about my experience, and apparently it is therapidic to do so.

Morgan's 4th Birthday Pary

This was one rockin' bike parade party!

About two weeks before her 4th birthday, Morgan pretty much taught herself how to ride her bike with no training wheels. She was so excited that she wanted to show all of her friends. We decided to do a bike party. Everyone made flower headbands and decorated their bikes with streamers, balloons, and noise makers. We rode through the neighborhood to the park and played.

We had cake with candles and singing.

And of course we had presents for the birthday girl. She got a lot of make-up, barbies, ponies, and hair accessories. Looks like I am in for a serious make-over!
Hopefully I can include a clip of her showing off her superior bike riding skills!

Boo's Pregnant Belly

As you can see by the title, this post is all you want to know and see about my big belly. If you don't want to see images that might be considered disturbing, look away now!!!

Here is what it looks like when it is covered with cute maternity clothes that were donated to me by family and freimds.

This is it inside the house just days before delivery. Those are some awesome stretch marks!

And here it is outside. Caleb's favorite thing is to kiss the baby and poke my belly button really hard.

Colorado Springs Weekend

In February we spent two days exploring Colorado Springs. It was a blast! There are so many things to do for family fun. Our only problem was that everything we attempted to do was really expensive. Because we are cheap, we didn't do much. What we did do was a total blast, though!

THE MINI-VAN

This was our first family trip in the new mini-van!!! I love my mini-van! I fully embraced the convinience and practicality of the mini way back in high school.

STUFF WE DIDN'T DO

We wanted to drive up Pikes Peak, but of course the pass was closed in mid-Feb. We stopped by Santa's Workshop at the North Pole, and who would have guessed that it is a seasonal thing? We tried the Indian Cliff Dwellings, but they wanted way too much money. So, we headed over to check out the Wind Caves. We were about to do it when we realized that a 45 minute tour in the pitch black might not be super fun for the 18 month old and the 3 1/2 year old. I am sure that our family trips will get much more exciting when we are actually willing to pay to do cool stuff. For now, we will settle with for entertainment!

STUFF WE DID DO

Although we didn't do any of those other things, we splurged and got suckers for everyone. Then we did some family sucker sharing. That is how you get the most for your money!

GARDEN OF THE GODS

Of course we had to make this a part of our trip. It is a really cool place for day hikes and it is free!

This was Tyler's first trip to Garden of the Gods. He was so excited that he couldn't keep himself from doing a happy dance.

The kids always have so much fun climbing all around at Garden of the Gods. I can't wait to see them in Moab!

Morgan did a lot of dancing while we hiked around. She got all her sweet moves from me!

CHEYENNE MOUNTAIN ZOO

This zoo is exactly what it says...a zoo on a mountainside! If you need a workout, take your kids here and push them all day long in the stroller. Although it is small (which is nice because it is so stinkin' hilly) this zoo is really a lot of fun.

At this zoo, you can buy crackers to feed to the giraffes. It is pretty sweet and disgusting to watch the kids have so much fun feeding these huge animals. I hope you can see how long and purple that guy's tongue is!
High above the zoo, there is a shrine dedicated to Will Rogers. If you don't know who that is, google it. We drove to it, and if nothing else, the view was worth it!

The monument is in the background here. You can't see the top, but it is way up there. A staircase goes to the top, but in my pregnant state I wasn't about to climb up them!!!