Before Jack was born we ventured out to City Park in Lynden for the first time since they redesigned the park. It is such a great park! They have a side for older kids and one for younger kids. It is completely surrounded by a fence so you feel safe letting your kids run around the whole place. There are slides, bars, nets to climb, ramps to run up and down, a tire swing, swings and more! Annabelle actually enjoyed playing on the side for bigger kids. They even have a tunnel slide which Trev said was pitch black inside for at least half of the ride, but Belle had no fear! She just kept going down the slide whether dad was going with her or not.
Belle is quite the climber. She usually wants to try and climb anything around her... whether it is a net, a toy, a person, a chair, etc.
Crossing the monkey bars with a little (okay, a lot) of help from dad.
It has been one crazy week and we are finally settling into life as a family of four. It started with our sweet little boy being content to stay in the womb days past his due date (I guess that is why they refer to it sometimes as a due month). We were going to try and let the little guy come naturally but our plans are not always the plans the Lord has in store for us. We found out last Wednesday that my Grandma Bernice passed away, whom we loved her dearly and will really miss. It is something that we knew would happen in the coming months, but was still a bit of a shock when it actually happened. Obviously, I wanted to be able to attend the funeral and what added another twist to the events was that Trev would be officiating the funeral service. My dad had asked him months before if he would be willing to do this when my grandma did pass and Trev was honored at the request.
We decided the best option was to induce labor. We would then know when we were having the baby and would give us a few days after having him before we would need to head to Tacoma for the funeral. We went into the hospital on Friday morning at 6:30am to start the induction. We waited around for a few hours for another mom to deliver so we would be assured a room and a nurse. They started me on petocin at about 10am and we delivered our sweet boy just before 4pm that afternoon. It was a fairly smooth delivery and I only had to push for about 20 minutes!
We are so thankful that Jack has joined our family and Annabelle is quite taken with him. She always wants to check on him when he is sleeping, hold him, hug him, kiss him and help burp him after he eats. We praise the Lord for our healthy son and for seeing us through this past week. Trev did a wonderful job speaking at Grandma Bernice's funeral and it was great to see many family and friends and introduce them to Jack when he was only 4 days old. Thank you to everyone who was praying for us. And a special thank you to my mom who spent a few days with Annabelle loving and caring for her while we were in the hospital. Thank you!
Oh, and did I mention that Trev also started his class for seminary last Thursday and he is speaking this Sunday night at our church? I think Trev wins the prize for most things to do in one week in our family. We spent a lot of time in prayer this past week and we praise the Lord for answering our prayers and helping Trev prepare the funeral service, complete some classwork, prepare a sermon and welcome a son into the world and take care of his wife and daughter! I love you, sweet husband! You're the best!
So I am obviously still playing catch up on the blog with pictures from before Jack joined the family (outside the womb, that is). In an effort to stop thinking about being almost 6 days overdue with Jack we headed out to Hovander Park one evening to check out the animals and the sights. It is a beautifully huge park with some farm animals, a toy for kids to play on, a short path to see the river and lots of open fields.
AB getting a flip from daddy.
Talking to the goats.
The bunny trying to escape from his cage.
The fields with Mt. Baker in the distance.
Make a wish!
Me and my girl!
Another round on the monkey bars!
Tired of riding the swing normally, she switched to pushing herself on her stomach.
