Fina Marie

She tolerated a quick photo shoot with Mommy. She is pretty darn cute, if I do say so myself :)

My Birthday

Friday was my birthday and I had a wonderful day with my family. First, Doug made me strawberry pancakes which we have in our house only on special days like birthdays! Yum! Then, we were ambitious and we took the bus downtown to the Pike Place Market. Yup, all of us, including Miss Fina who was only 11 days old. Don't worry. She was safe and snug in the ERGO right next to Mommy and she slept the whole time. Cooper had really been wanting to ride the bus and I was in the mood for a frosty beer at the Athenian so away we went. Then, Annie and my mom made a fabulous dinner for me which was delicious and full of laughs and good times. It was a great day!


On the bus




Cooper really enjoyed all the flowers at the market


Coop enjoying a very juicy peach, local and delicious!




A very happy Mommy on her birthday! Thanks family, you are the best!

Cutie Boy

Just wanted to share some photos of our beautiful boy. He is potty training right now and doing awesome! We decided to wait it out until he was ready and he has been leading the way to being almost diaper free. He only wears one at night now and it has been dry 3 mornings in a row! Part of the potty training fun is lots of nude time at home because it makes it much easier to get to the potty if he doesn't have to try and pull down his pants. So, he has been running around the yard nude. Perfect timing because the weather is great.
Happy Summer!

This Week...

I have been falling in love all over again...

With my husband who knows just how to hold his baby girl...

With my boy who has been adjusting so well to being a big brother...

And with my baby girl, who is more perfect then I could have ever imagined.








I can hardly believe that a week has already gone by. I am just trying to soak in every minute of it.

Good Things Come To Those Who Wait

This is a photo of her being weighed. Such a sweet and gentle scale.

At exactly midnight on July 13th, we welcomed Fina Marie Blair into our family. Weighing 6lbs, 10 oz. 20 3/4 in long. 9 days past her due date but looking at her she was not very post dates! Maybe my dating was a little off.
Her birth story will always blow my mind. Okay all my NICU friends, gasp now, after much research and a lot of faith in my wonderful Midwives, Doug and I decided that we wanted to do a home birth. I am not here to defend that decision but I do want to tell you about how Fina came into this world.
After many contractions since 38 weeks, contractions that never turned into labor, I was 3 to 4cm's dilated at my appointment Monday morning. My sweet midwife listened to my concerns about having a late baby and agreed to break my water on Monday evening to get things going. I had usual contractions all day Monday then arrived at my Midwifes office at 7:30pm. We decided to leave Cooper at my parents house because we knew we might be going into labor that night. She broke my water at 8pm. It was nice clear fluid. I was still about 4cm's at that time. She told us to order out birth tub and go home and get some rest, she felt confident that labor would soon begin. Contractions were stronger when they happened but not more often. The tub people arrived and set up and begin to fill the tub. Because it takes more than one hot water heater to fill it up, they showed Doug how to finish and left us. At around 9:45 we got into bed to try and rest. My contractions were still anywhere from 3-6 min apart. I rested a bit but felt uncomfortable laying down. At 10:20 I woke Doug up to finish filling up the tub. The contractions suddenly got much stronger and more regular but still not lasting very long. At 11 they began to get closer. I decided we should call our Midwives. She called back at 11:04 and I was able to talk to her through a few contractions. She said she felt I was actually in labor and that she would come over. At that point things really changed. I was swaying back and forth in the door way of Coopers room leaning up against the door jam during contractions. Then, I felt a change and and urge to push. I said, "Doug, I think I need to push, is that possible?" He said "highly unlikely". Then I had a contraction and could not help it. I said " I think the baby is coming" then I felt scared because we were alone still. He asked me if I wanted to lay down and that sounded awful. I looked at the tub he was filling and said "are you done?" He said "I think its full enough" I walked over to the tub, dropped my shorts, climbed in, knelled down and put my hand down and felt my babies head crowning. At that moment my midwives walked in and I said very urgently and loudly "she is coming out" and with a few grunts and hardly any pain, my midwife and I pulled up a healthy baby girl. This was 3 min after our midwives arrived at exactly Midnight, just 45 min from when I talked to her on the phone thinking I still had lots of time.
I sat back in the tub and we admired our beautiful girl. We sat in the tub for an hour. She hardly cried and was so peaceful. Classical music was playing. Shortly after she was born, my sister and dear friend and mom arrived to help us with labor but were greeted with a baby instead. When I was ready, I passed our baby off to her daddy and Doug got some skin to skin time with his new girl. My sweet midwives helped me to shower in my own shower, checked me over, then wrapped me up and I had champagne and cheese in my living room while whey weighed and checked out my baby (yes she got eyes and thighs at home). After many hours of making sure that we were healthy and that Fina was nursing well, they tucked us into our bed and left us. Doug and I were so relaxed and happy with our new baby girl.
Cooper arrived as we woke up in the morning. He walked into our room and I said "Cooper, who is this?" He said "It's Fina" as if she had always been there. He checked her out, cuddled with us and then went about his day. He has been so great so far.
Giving birth to Fina was fast and lovely. Now, back to my family.

Getting Out

Were out and about again

Pitter Patter of Little Feet

Cooper has been so sick that all he has wanted to do is lie on the couch or be carried around. He has had no energy at all!
Yesterday afternoon, after a nap with him I was taking a shower, Doug was on the computer and Cooper was watching a movie. Then as I was drying off...I heard the sound of "patter, patter, patter," across my living room floor. He had got off the couch, and ran across the floor to play with trains. I ran out of the bathroom, Doug and I looked at each other and tears came to my eyes, seriously! He had the energy to run, thank God!
Amazing what you take for granted. A energetic two year old can be tough to handle day in and day out but when an illness sucks that energy out, you realize just how wonderful that pure energy is. It also makes you feel so grateful for health. There are kiddos out there that are sick every day with chronic illness. I am so thankful for my families health.
Cooper is on the mend. Thank goodness!