Goodbye 2012

I thought I would end 2012 with a post of gratitude. This is by no means a list of everything that I am thankful for but just a few. 1. I am thankful for my marriage. I am married to a hard working, funny, handsome and generous man. He is an excellent provider for our family, he is supportive, he is a great father and most importantly...he makes me laugh and smile everyday. I am very blessed to be married to someone who loves me completely and unconditionally. 2. I am thankful for my first born son, Seth. He is funny like his dad. He has a big heart and tries to maintain a tough exterior. He has a heart for homeless people and often offers up his own money (and mine) to them. It is a joy to watch him grow into a young man. He loves his daddy and wants to be just like him and he loves to cuddle with his mommy. He has taught me generosity. 3. For my little Evan. He is a sweetheart. He loves to take care of babies and little kids. He loves school and learning. He can create something amazing out of simple everyday household items. He's my only son without blue eyes but with hazel eyes like me. He is never in a hurry and can't understand why you should ever be. He has taught me to stop and smell the roses. 4. I am thankful for my Levi. That boy has a smile that can light up a room. He was born with a smile and it rarely leaves his face. He can talk to complete strangers like they've been friends his whole life....he just loves people that much. He has taught me to be more joyful. 5. For my baby boy, Kaiaphas. He is my last little baby boy. He completes us. He has a great smile like Levi. He is a ball full of energy and already keeps me on my toes. He was the toughest baby to get to sleep. We have had many middle of the night chats but he has taught me to be more appreciative of things like his smile at night that has been saved only for me. 6. I am thankful for my parents. The have been married for 40 years and have not only taught me with words and advice but also by example that marriage is forever. One of my greatest childhood memories is walking into a room and seeing my parents dancing. Sometimes music was playing and sometimes it was not but what I saw each time is that no matter what my parents were dealing with they loved each other. They loved each other enough to stay connected despite both of them working full time, raising two kids, and dealing with whatever life brought them. I am blessed. Tonight I count my blessings and resolve to continue to do so throughout 2013.

Kai's First Christmas Present

Middle of the Night Thoughts

It's 1am and I've been awake now for almost 45 minutes. In my arms lies a sleeping baby. I'm sure this seems normal to some people and although it has become the new normal in our tribe it has not always been so. Before Kaiaphas arrived my experience with babies waking in the middle of the night lasted only until those babies were 8 weeks old. Most people don't believe me when I say that but it's true. Seth, Evan and Levi all slept through the night by the time they were 8 weeks old. When Kaiaphas came along the term "normal" became to mean something else. This got me thinking....how long does it take until something new becomes the normal thing? And normal really is a relative term, isn't it? What I consider normal in my life may be completely out of the ordinary for others. Things change and what is new sometimes turns into what is normal. But there is one thing that is absolute and doesn't change and that is God's love. Thankfully some things never change.

Baseball Season

We have been super busy the since the end of April that I have hardly had time to sit down and write. We started Seth and Evan in baseball at Calas Park. Seth plays for The Warriors and Evan plays for the Lil Dodgers. Both of those teams are coached by Ron! That's right....my crazy husband took on the coaching responsibilities for 2 teams. In case you don't realize what this means I will tell you what our schedule looks like. Monday and Wednesday are practices for the Lil Dodgers. Tuesdays and Thursdays are practices for the Warriors. Occasionally the Warriors have a week day game. The Lil Dodgers generally have their games on Saturdays. Often times we have both teams playing on Saturdays. Thankfully, the times for both teams have never overlapped! The one thing that strikes me is the difference in the atmosphere at the games. When Evan's team plays it is strictly for fun. The parents want their kids to do well but if they make a mistake and let the ball pass them it's not really a big deal. Score is not even kept for the games. Now, the atmosphere for Seth's team is 100% different. It is much more intense. These kids are getting prepared for 2A baseball which is much more intense than the 1A team they are currently playing on. Score is definitely kept as are stats on all the players. Even the practices are different. Practices for Evan's team involve fun games which help them build their baseball skills. Practices for Seth's team involves repetition of skills they already have and fine tuning them. This has been a great season for us. Both of the boys are steadily improving. I am very proud of them because they are learning to love the game. Seth definitely has a lot of heart and is the most vocal player on the team. When he's on the field he encourages the team, talks to them by telling them where the play is, how many outs there are, etc. Evan loves baseball so much that now he wants to watch the Dodger games on TV. They have both made new friends and Ron and I have also. I am certainly pleased with our experience this season even if it means we're constantly on the go. The positives that we are all experiencing far outweigh any negatives we might encounter. In fact, it's been such a good experience we're already considering summer ball!

Kaiaphas to the Doctor

Yesterday Kaiaphas had his two month well baby check. His appointment was at 4:00pm so right when school ended I went and picked up Seth, Evan and Levi, rushed over to pick up Kaiaphas, headed to the house to drop Seth off with Ron and then was on my way to Kaiser. We made it to the doctor on time! Once we arrived Levi and Evan had to use the restroom (of course) and while we were in there I could hear the nurse calling for us. The funny thing is that she didn't bother trying to say Kaiaphas' name. She just called out our last name! Kaiaphas did a great job while the nurse took all of the usual measurements like height and weight. He did fabulous while the doctor examined him and he even smiled at her. And then....the nurse returned to give him immunization shots. While he has no idea what is in store for him, his brothers do! I warned Evan and Levi ahead of time that Kai would be getting shots and that he would probably cry. Sure enough, the loudest set of lungs award goes to Kaiaphas! As soon as she stuck him he screamed. It's terrible to watch and his tears were like knives into this mama's heart. I know that it needs to be done but it's heartbreaking to watch him scream and cry. I looked into the mirror at Evan and Levi. Both of them were sitting in the chairs with their hands over their ears! I don't blame them. Kaiaphas is growing great. He is in the 50th percentile for weight and 40th percentile for height. He is perfect just like my other 3 angels!

Introducing Kai

Meet Kaiaphas Hunter Perry!

Kaiaphas (or Kai for short) made his arrival on Friday, March 2nd! He was due to arrive on Monday, February 27th and I worked until Friday, February 24th. The following Monday I took the boys to school and heard everyone say, "You haven't had that baby yet?" I got used to hearing that question because every day that week when I took the boys to school or picked them up someone would ask. I saw my midwife on February 23rd and we agreed that if I hadn't had the baby by my due date that I would be induced on March 2nd. Then we scheduled another appointment for March 1st. I was praying that I wouldn't make it to the March 1st appointment but I did. At that appointment I was still only dialated 1-2 cm and so the induction would begin at 8am on March 2nd. Friday morning Ron and I took the boys to school and arranged for Auntie Jenny and Uncle KC to pick them up from school and keep them until Ron could get home. We arrived at Kaiser at 7:30am and checked in at Labor and Delivery. On the way in we stopped and checked in on Facebook because of course, nothing is official until it's on Facebook! I was shown to my room and asked to change into my very fashionable hospital gown. At 8:30am the nurse started me on an IV of pitocin to begin contractions. Ron and I sat around waiting for the contractions to begin. When I gave birth to Levi I was also induced with pitocin. About 30 minutes after the IV was put in I began getting very uncomfortable contractions. This time 30 minutes passed and I wasn't feeling a thing. They increased the amount of pitocin I was getting and I began to feel a few contractions but they were very irregular and not very strong. Before I knew it the nurse had increased the pitocin to the maximum dosage that she could give and I still wasn't feeling any regular contractions. My midwife came in at about 3:30pm and I reminded her just how stubborn this baby was. On his first ultrasound he wouldn't cooperate and throughout my pregnancy we often had a hard time finding his heartbeat with the doppler. She decided it was time to break my water. Finally at about 6:30pm I began to feel very strong contractions that were very close together. Ron was watching the monitor and would tell me when I was about to have a contraction, when the contraction would peak, and when it was close to being over. All of that information was very helpful but I was ready for an epidural. Ron called the nurse in and asked her to get the anesthesiologist. She called him in and then went on preparing for him so that we could get started right when he walked in the room. Ron had to leave the room while I got the epidural which is standard procedure for Kaiser. The epidural went quickly and even better started to work quickly! At a little after 8:00pm I told Ron that I knew it was time to push. The nurse that we had all morning had left for the day and a new nurse came in. We were very sorry to see the first nurse go home because she was fabulous! We told the new nurse that I needed to push and she looked at me and said, "Oh, just let the epidural do it's job. The other nurse just checked you and you are not ready yet." She left the room and a couple of minutes later I told Ron that he was going to have to deliver this baby because I knew it was time to push. The nurse came in, checked me and went to get the doctor. I had been right all along. The doctor came in and at 8:28pm Kaiaphas was born! He weighed in at 7lbs 13.8oz and was 20 inches long. The nurse kept telling me that he was a big baby but he was not my biggest. That honor goes to Levi at 8lbs 10oz. When Kai was born the umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck so when we first saw him he had a little bruising on his face which went away by the next morning. Kai is a wonderful addition to our family! We are so very proud of our 4 boys and feel very blessed to have them! Seth is counting down the days to his birthday this month and as he does I look back on my life before The Perry Boys came along. I am amazed at how quickly the past 9 years have gone by since my first son was born and thankful to have the opportunity to be the mommy of 4 awesome boys.

The Waiting Game

I've got 29 days left until my due date. I kind of get the feeling that although my last baby came after his due date that this little guy will come early. I'm not sure if it's because of the Braxton Hicks that I've been having or wishful thinking on my part. I've been going to the midwife or doctor once a month but since I'm only 4 weeks away from delivery I'm scheduled to go in once a week. I'm hoping that I get another ultrasound before I deliver so that they can tell me how big this guy might be. Each one of my sons has gotten almost a whole pound bigger which made Levi almost 9 pounds. I'm really hoping Kai isn't almost 10 pounds. We're anxiously awaiting his arrival. Evan asks on a regular basis, "How many more days until the baby comes?" We all went shopping for the baby items that we would need. Evan and Levi even helped me put together Kai's bouncer seat. Now it's just a waiting game!