The Comedic Diaries of Dog vs. Cat

This is such a HOOT! I had to post it to the blog. (The authorship is unknown.)

As seen in a Dog's diary:

7 am Oh boy! A walk! My favorite!
8 am Oh boy! Dog food! My favorite!
9 am Oh boy! The kids! My favorite!
12 pm Oh boy! The yard! My favorite!
2 pm Oh boy! A car ride! My favorite!
3 pm Oh boy! The kids! My favorite!
4 pm Oh boy! Playing ball! My favorite!
6 pm Oh boy! Welcome home Mom! My favorite!
7 pm Oh boy! Welcome home Dad! My favorite!
8 pm Oh boy! Dog food! My favorite!
9 pm Oh boy! Tummy rubs on the couch! My favorite!
11 pm Oh boy! Sleeping in my people's bed! My favorite!


As seen in a Cat's diary:

Day 183 of my captivity...

My captors continued to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects.

They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while I am forced to eat dry cereal. The only thing that keeps me going is the hope of escape, and the mild satisfaction that I get from clawing their furniture.

Tomorrow I will eat another houseplant.

Today my attempt to kill my captors by weaving around their feet while they were walking almost succeeded. Must try this at the top of the stairs.

In an attempt to disgust and repulse these vile oppressors, I once again induced myself to vomit on their favorite chair. I must remember to try this on their bed.

Decapitated a mouse and brought them the headless body in an attempt to make them aware of what I am capable of, and to try to strike fear in their hearts. They only cooed and condescended about what a good little cat I was. Hmmm, that did not work according to plan ...

There was some sort of gathering of their accomplices. I was placed in solitary throughout the event. However, I could hear the noise and smell the food. More important, I overheard that my confinement was due to my powers of inducing "allergies." I must learn what this is and how I may use it to my advantage.

I am convinced the other captives are flunkies and maybe snitches. The dog is routinely released and seems more than happy to return. He is obviously a half-wit.

The bird, on the other hand, has got to be an informant and speaks with them regularly. I am certain he reports my every move. Due to his current placement in the metal room, his safety is assured. But I have patience. I can wait. It is only a matter of time.

Jack Earned His Yellow Tae Kwon Do Belt!!!

A BIG CONGRATULATIONS to Jack who earned his yellow belt today! This was Jack's first experience with testing in Tae Kwon Do, and for a very young four year old, it was almost a rite of passage. He has had such a strong desire to change rank from a white belt to a yellow belt.

This was not easy stuff folks. To pass, Jack was required to display four different forms (a series of moves connected together), one of which required breaking a wooden board with his foot. Yes. My boy broke a board with his foot!!! He also had to provide a written essay on what he likes most about the sport. We are so proud of him, and how he held himself. The entire testing for all individuals took an exhausting 3 1/2 hours from start to finish.

Hello Spring!

In the good name of Charlotte Mason, and the bad name of baby fat, we've been making an effort to get outside and get some vigor in our day. The last couple of days have included a much needed walk for Maggie, (who hasn't felt a leash around her neck in probably 5 months), and stroller rides for Faith. The children take turns steering Faith into the curb, giving Maggie flat tires with the front wheels of the stroller, and blitzing across the entire road when cars approach. But in all seriousness, it has been nice to just get out and enjoy the weather.

Faith fired one of her first recorded smiles in the stroller today:Did I mention Faith has tongue issues?? Her tongue is always busy and rarely inside of her mouth except to rehydrate itself.

Hairball

In one word that is how I would describe my hairstyle as a mommy who desperately needs a haircut and can't seem to find time to blow her hair dry anymore. Do they have a great hair style out there for drip-dryers? A shower and some face on is about as far as I get anymore. Sometimes by late noon I have a chance to half wet it down and try to style.

It's bad. Real bad. Even my daughter said something to me late in the afternoon the other day, "Mom...you forgot to do your hair today. It is still all over the place." I did it, I just didn't "DO" it. I wish I was one of those chicks who looked good wearing a baseball cap, but I look like a dork.

Worse is I'm trying to grow it out, as my husband asked me months ago,(in so many hint words) when I was going to grow it out again. I almost burst into tears as I explained that as a Mom, it felt good to at least know that it was styled nice since I could get it dry quick, even if it wasn't the most feminine of styles. (it was a bad day).

Also it never fails... I'll grow my hair out, end up usually having to do the standard pony tail or banana clip and then Ken will stumble upon a picture of me with my hair short and mention how much he liked my hair --- after I had just spent the last two years growing it out! I'll get it chopped, and then a few months later he'll find an unusual photo of me with fresh highlights, and long styled locks, and compliment sweetly, "You look nice in this picture." I've fallen for this full cycle twice in our marriage, which is about right with hair growth...10 years.


Truth is...I'm just as fickle about hair, but lately I'd love to keep it short. However, something in the back of my mind won't let myself as I know my husband has tolerated "short" long enough. So my head looks like a frump fest, and even my children notice. Honestly, this style is starting to look tempting:
Baby blues?? Not a bit. Hair blues? YES. YES. YES.
Cause unfortunately, HAIR DOES MATTER.

Baby Boot Camp

Somewhere along the way, I was enrolled in Baby Boot Camp. I just didn't know it. All of my children have turned out to be such complete opposites of each other in so many ways. Faith has been my opposite in terms of schedule and how she prefers things, and this last week has been one heck of a boot camp for both me and Ken.

For example, Grace and Jack loved to fall asleep nursing. They were nursed before naps. NOT FAITH. No nursey time before naps. Big No No. Our little Faith turns into a sputtering ball of anger that goes rigid as soon as my milk lets down. It took me all week to figure this one out, but I think we've got it. It almost like she is just to tired to deal with an aggressive let down, as she's happy to suck before the let down of milk. So the rule of thumb we are trying now is, only nurse Faith when she wakes up, and give a pacifier (which took all week to find her preference of NUK) for bedtime.

I've never had to deal with colic before, but Faith is certainly a possible candidate for a mild case. She is like clockwork in the evening from 6:00 until she goes down at 8:00 PM. This has been very difficult with a family to cook for and prepare for bed, etc. I had to skip my Bible Study yesterday as it falls exactly in that time frame. I'm still looking for the magic answer, but I came close yesterday evening. The formula was NO nursing, dark quiet room, nice bedtime music, snuggling into Mommy's fuzzy robe, and a pacifier. Then when she was mostly in la-la-land...we nursed.

All of our babies have been so delightful. It just amazes me how they each have different particular needs, with their own little tweaks. They each have their own language. Faith's has just been the hardest one for me to decipher, since it required retraining myself. Not nursing before bedtime seemed so unnatural, but for Faith, it is very natural.

Thanks for the Head Butt Jack!

This is what happens when your brother crashes into your mouth with his head. We have now dislodged the second of 6 loose teeth. Grace's permanent tooth is already pushing through the gum. (Crooked of course).

Both Mom and Dad fell asleep on the job of tooth fairy with this last tooth. Poor Grace came into our room early on Sunday morning heartbroken that the tooth fairy hadn't picked up her tooth. In half stuper, half panic, I told Grace that tooth fairies don't work on Sundays -- they follow the same schedule as our postman. Thank God it landed on a Sunday or I don't know what my excuse would have been! That seemed like a good enough reason for Grace.

Grace's first tooth earned her a $5.00, of which Mama had to beg Daddy to allow in the name of "uniqueness". (We didn't have a $2 or a half dollar). The second tooth earned Grace four different state quarters.

Who's The Biggest Gainer?

If anyone hears of a show looking for contestants with that kind of premise, let me know. I'm positive Faith could win us the cool million. It is clear that Faith will be taking after her sister's babyhood in the weight gain department. Faith is three weeks old today!

Isn't She Pretty In Pink?

Time is getting away from us already! Faith is growing so quickly, and getting fat dimples at the knees. In a half panic, I did a mini photo shoot today, before she grew another inch in an hour. We still haven't earned our smile points from Faith yet, so this was a "serious" photo shoot.

Faith News Watch: Our First Doctor Visit

It is official: Faith is the picture of perfect health.

We went to our first doctor's visit and all her measurements showed substantial growth. In her first two weeks of life she's added more than an entire pound to her birth weight (now 8 lbs. 9 oz.), grown a full inch (now 21 1/2") and it's no surprise that her head has also gotten bigger as a result of all of compliments that fly in her direction.

Faith a little over a week old starting to show the "porker" look.
Faith also managed to baptize myself and the entire room in a bucket full of whizz before I could get her diaper back on her after laying on the cold scale. She might have lost a full 4 oz. if we had placed her back on the scale.

I usually walk away from those first few baby appointments feeling like a lousy Mom. I'm not sure what it is really. Maybe hormones. Sometimes I feel like the doctors are looking right through me, or as if I don't have a clue as to what I am doing. And I was really bracing for it this time, as he had opted against giving Faith her Hept-B shot at the hospital, until she had a better edge on life.

But this appointment went so well. The doctors and the nurses were very considerate, Faith had a stellar report, and the kids were both well behaved. Maybe after you've had your third child there is a silent "you've earned it" factor.

Oh yes...and for anyone wondering...
When the nurse got to the check box where she asks, "And baby sleeps on her back?", yes, I must confess, I lied.

The Grand Opening of Faith's Gym

Faith is not thrilled with bouncy seats. Frankly, I think they bore her. So we opened up the jungle gym today. I happened to lay her under the gym as she was sleeping. When I heard her hand hit one of the items in the gym, I came in the playroom to see if she was awake. She was staring in wonder at the black puppy. And amazingly, the black puppy just kept staring at her. It was instant puppy love.


Turtle however might get a little jealous. Turtle is an orange transparent plastic turtle whose feet are supposed to be used for back massage. Faith has found him over the last two weeks to be a friend she can count on to help her bear through the tedious diaper changes and the freezing whipe-eez. As soon as she hits the changing table and does a quick wide eyed arm flail of "Where am I?" she turns her head to the right to look for good ol' faithful turtle.

Daddy getting his afternoon Faith fix.

Peanut Butter & Jack

Jack wanted me to take a picture of him making his own lunch the other day. He has been very interested in being his own man which includes making his own lunch. Now if I could just convince him not to lick down his peanut butter knife before switching to the jam.

Crying "IT" Out

I can remember the week after the birth of Grace, my oldest child, watching "Father of The Bride" at home and just bawling as the credits rolled. I was so thankful that I was the only one in the room as I felt so stupid. I knew it was all hormones, I'd seen the movie at least three other times. But I just needed to cry "IT" out.

With Faith I have been surprisingly even keel. Until this morning as I tried to find something appropriate and tasteful for a deacon's wife to wear on a Sunday morning. Nothing fit. NOTHING. Unless you count the same pair of jeans I have worn for 4 straight days in a row that lay in a wrinkled heap on the floor. Anything that remotely still fits is sleeveless or is a short since I was this size during the summer. The few dresses I did wear at this size during pregnancy are not suitable for nursing. And every nice shirt I put on screams, "Look at the hussy with the 2 gallon milk bar!".

So off with 3 shirts and 1 skirt into a new heap on the floor of rejected clean clothes, and on with an old battered scratchy sweater that will at least work for nursing on the fly and the 4 day, now 5 day old jeans. Meanwhile, Ken is looking very fine dressed in a nice starched shirt and dress pants.

{great}

On top of that, Grace was heading to church for the third straight Sunday in a row without her hair brushed. And because Faith immediately stops nursing once she's choked on her milk, things had timed with Faith, that I knew I'd be nursing her first thing at church. My lack of sleep is beginning to add up. And no matter how early I get up, I still feel like my hair is wet and I'm half dressed with 5 minutes before we need to jump in the car. Tell me, how DOES that happen?

And then of course there is the more personal stuff. And I'll try to say it politely: I know it has only been a couple of weeks, but I'm SO ready for my body to "heal". I'm tired of feeling like I smell like an open wound. It's hard to feel like a woman when...well...womanly things are going on.

Ken caught my foul mood and asked if I was OK. Enter and open the flood gates. In a shakey voice I proceed to regurgitate all my complaints. Knowing, KNOWING, this is my hormones talking, but at the same time feeling like I just need to find something to cry about so I'll feel better. I felt like some whiney teenager saying "I have nothing to wear!" with a closet full of clothes. Ken didn't skip a beat trying to be a supportive husband and put his hand on my shoulder asking if we needed to stop on the way home to buy some pants. No, I don't need new pants. I just need to cry that "IT" thing out. That invisible mental afterbirth.

Somebody get me a chick flick so I can cry "IT" out under the cover of sap! Curious George didn't cut it yesterday, we've gone dark in the T.V. department, and all of our Netflix selections are in transit.

Poor Ken may be left with me literally crying over spilled milk (but of course, we're OUT of milk) if I can't find an outlet fast.

Lord help us both.

Falling in Love with Faith

The bond between mother and baby has been sealed. I can begin to feel Faith's pull on my heart strings. In a previous post, I mentioned how I love to look at my newborns and find all of their unique traits. After hours of nursing behind us, here are just a few of my favorites:

The fold on her ear... I discovered the fold on her right ear almost immediately after birth. It is just a tiny little dip at the tip of her one ear, as if she laid on it for a week in utero and it just stayed that way. Perhaps it will disappear as she grows older, but it is one of the many signs that earmark her as mine.

Her eyes... Her eyes will captivate you. Ken has mentioned the same feeling. They have the same mysterious Asian flair as her sister. When she opens them, there is a quiet force behind them that holds your gaze. If she is looking right at you, it is impossible to look away.

The sound she makes as she sleeps. Sleeping propped up on her back or scrunched up in the sling will generate an audible sigh with each exhale. Each sigh is different and holds the emotion of whatever dream she is involved in.

And those smiles... We are all waiting anxiously for the smile that dances across Faith's face with focused open eyes, but we have received plenty of ear to ear grins from Faith as she dances in her dreams. Those little nuggets of brightness are enough to dissolve any remote feelings of exhaustion.

It took me only two hours to miss her last night. Faith was tucked away for the evening at 9pm. At 11:00pm I was already going through her archived photos on my computer, just to see her face again.

The best part about falling in love with your children is there is nothing needed below to break your fall. You just keep falling...

We Are Staying Afloat With Three

Just barely! After a week away from homeschooling, we are trying to get back into the swing of things with a little one now in the mix. Thanks so much to a sling and the convenience of breastfeeding, it is relatively easy to keep Faith happy while we go through our school work. The hardest part I'm finding is getting to the school work. Our lunches are getting pushed further and further back -- and that's with dropping the shower for Mom.

The shower drop needs to be the exception and not the rule. I absolutely hate not showering before schooling. The last thing I want my kids to recall is Mom's sleep stench as they tried to get their school work completed. At this time, I just can't talk myself into waking up before the entire crew does - sleep is still too precious.

And guess what? That playroom is still a disaster and we're still at the kitchen counter. Ah well. The important thing is we are back in our routine for the most part.

All Slung Up - Adventures in Baby Slinging

The third time is a charm for finding a sling that mommy and baby love.


With Grace we did the baby Bjorn. Being the first child, it wasn't used much, and there was a whole lot of strapping and prep work to deal with. With Jack, I tried a monster sling that he practically drown in. I think he felt like he really was drowning in it, as he hated it just as much as I did. It felt like he could slip out at any moment and I felt like I had to keep my hand always around the sling for security.

Knowing I was going to NEED hands available this time for homeschooling, laundry, cooking prep, etc., I tried one last time to find a sling that might work for me and Faith. At last a sling that is sized to the mommy, and doesn't look like it walked off the plains of Africa! I have nothing but good things to say about Hotslings.com. The fabric is beautiful (I have two), and I can walk around the house with TWO free hands. Faith is snug as a bug, and manages to fall asleep in it in a minute flat. The only difficult thing about the sling is trying to eject her from her cozy space. But that is good problem to have.

Remembering Edgar Degas

The Degas Memory game is a success, and will be used with all of our artists in the future (Manet is next). After numerous games, Grace is calling out the names of paintings as they are being flipped over. She has even mentioned ones that are her favorite. Her most adored painting is "Entrance of the Masked Dancers". There's something about the pink and green that she loves. I'm not stretching the truth when I say that she can correctly identify and shout out "Miss La-La at the Cirque Fernando" as she finds her match. Too funny!!!

The Shmog-A-Nog-A-Hyde Has Been Spotted

Grandpa Halley...this one is just for you...

The tradition of passing the Shmog-A-Nog-A-Hyde continues on to the grandchildren this year. Faith is the second grandchild to discover this friendly animal in her sleeping quarters.


For those of you not "in the know" and horrified to find such a grotesque creature in a cradle, do not let his appearance scare you. He is a great sign of love and humor in the Halley household and is a momento that has been stealthly exchanged between Ken and his father for years. The exchanges are very creative. Last year, thought to be lost, he was discovered at the top of Long's Peak!

One Week Of Stink Washed Away

After a week of milk baths (courtesy of mother and her out of control milk bar), it was time to wash Faith's birthday suit. This was not a happy experience for Faith, and she let the whole house know it. Swimming in Mama's belly, this was NOT, no matter what Daddy says. It would not have been a pretty picture to have taken any bath shots, and it is near impossible to do with one hand holding a camera and a wet wiggly screaming baby in the other hand. So we saved the pictures for after the bath when Faith was more cordial, content, and plain ol' cute.

The super fattening power of Mama's milk is at it again. Faith's cheeks are filling in faster than you can say "Chubby Bunnies".

We've Gone Dark Again

Well, after last night's XL Superbowl, we're finished with television viewing. Again. Ken cancelled our connection. No more TV until the football season starts back up in September. As some of you know, we gave up TV last year around Easter. It was one of the best deliberate decisions we have made as a family. When the football season started up, I tried to watch it through a snowy TV screen, but it drove me crazy, and I didn't feel like watching the games. Ken decided to get us hooked up just for the football season, so we could enjoy our Sunday afternoons together.

Naturally, we found ourselves watching much more than football. However, we have been a lot less hooked on TV and repetitive 24 hour news after being away from it for half a year. Nonetheless, it is still hard to give it up again. The Olympics are coming...sheesh. A week of withdrawal, grumpy lost boredom, and we should all be acclimated.

Sneaking in some last minute bull riding TV time last weekend.

Are We All Lying To Our Pediatricians?

After two days of fitful nights on her back, Faith is sleeping on her belly. Just like her brother. Just like her older sister. Despite all of the SIDS warnings, and incessant warnings from the pediatricians, my babies sleep on their bellies. There is no doubt in my mind that they sleep much better, and have less tummy trouble at night when they lay on their stomachs. Ever tried to do a poop laying on your back? Not sure why, but it just seems like it would be easier with your knees tucked in under your belly on your stomach.


While speaking to a friend on the phone the other day, I cringed as I admitted that Faith was now sleeping on her belly. It is such a taboo thing to do now. To my wild surprise, she chimed right in with, "All four of my babies slept on their bellies." And then she proceeded to inform me of the big secret among mothers. Many of us still place our newborn babies on their bellies. We just don't tell anyone.

I thought I was the black sheep!!?? What was this new news? She started naming this mother and that mother from church that had consoled her own guilty conscience awhile ago with their own confessions. She then made a very profound statement, hedging a bet that a large number of us are lying to our pediatricians about how our infants sleep.

I wonder.

So What's The Story Behind The Girl?

For the unabridged version of Faith's Birth Story and more pictures you can visit In This Corner.

Three Days Old:

Faith's Birth Story (Unabridged)

After hearing the news that we would need to be at the hospital by 7:30pm that evening for a scheduled softening and induction, Ken and I made a mad rush around the house for six hours. Ken took Jack for a much needed haircut so he wouldn't look like a fuzzy buzz head in the new baby pictures, and made a dash off to the store for food supplies for Aunt Kristy. I was washing and changing sheets, scrubbing toilet bowls, vacuuming, and packing the remainder of my bags. My bones were exhausted by the time 6:30pm rolled around, and I was starving, having little to eat during my cleaning binge. After a light dinner, Ken and I were off to the hospital.

Getting registered and settled in our room was actually very nice at that time of the evening. Everything is quiet and peaceful. I changed into my gown, and two nurses set to work drawing blood vials, prepping my hand for the IV, and getting all of the monitors around my belly. At 9:00pm I took a half pill of Cytotec, we turned on the tube and watched the next episode of 24, and the waiting began. The plan was I would take the second half of the pill around 3:00am.

Faith minutes after her birth.
At 12:00am, the nurse had me lay down on one side with a wedge behind me so that I could get some rest. However, it wasn't long before Ken and I noticed that Faith's heart rate plummeted. The nurse quickly came through the room as we were both looking at the monitor, and she turned me over on the other side, thinking that baby Faith maybe was unhappy with the side I was laying on. After 5 minutes, the same problem...Faith again was having trouble. The nurse again burst through the door showing more concern and rolled me back over. By this point I had noticed that Faith was somehow doing this to herself. I would roll, she would be fine, and then I'd feel her move, and her heart rate would crash.

The nurse tried one last fourth time, and we had the same, now very scary results. The nurse was thinking that Faith was laying on her cord. I told Ken, all I wanted to do was to sit up, as I knew that would be best for Faith. I could sleep sitting up. All the while in the back of my mind I was wondering if this had been going on for days to little Faith while I was at home. The nurse placed a call into the doctor, who had decided to immediately give me a shot of Brethin to stop the contractions and calm Faith down. By 3:00am I was sitting upright and her heart rate became steady at 120-130 beats/minute. The nurse did an internal check, and we all rejoiced to hear that while I was still thick I had dialated to about 3cm. There would be no second pill of Cytotek.

The traditional stamping of the feet.
Ken and I both fell asleep around 4:30am watching an episode of Leno. I was able to sleep until 6:00am. Ken snoozed for an hour longer, when the night shift nurse came in one last time to begin my Oxytocin/Pitocin drip on 6 ml/hr. By 11:00am I was beginning to really feel the contractions and I rated then a 7 on the 1-10 pain scale. For some bizarre reason, these contractions were much more tolerable than my other two labors. I could feel it all in the hips, as if someone was trying to pry them apart. I joked with Ken that I was getting "a good burn going". It was a good pain. One that I could embrace at this point, but I didn't give myself much more than an hour before I would elect an epidural.

By 12:30pm on the 31st I was dialated to 3cms, 70% effaced, and at -2 stage. At this time I had on my game face. The i-Pod was first buzzing the light happy music of Harry Connick Jr., and then I progressed deeper into ColdPlay and Audio Adrenaline as the contractions grew much stronger and were two minutes apart. There was no walking around with Faith like my other two. All I wanted to do was sit upright, and let the contractions burn in my hip bones. One of the nicest nurses came in and said, "I need to ask you the million dollar question. Why are you waiting to get the epidural?".

Faith trying to view the world through eye drops.
I was rating my pain at an 8 at that point. I have a strategy with my epidurals. I always need a fair trade. The pain has to be great enough that I welcome the idea of a large needle being pushed into my spine. Faith's labor was just much more tolerable to me than my other two. But by 2:30pm the pain had migrated from my hip bones into the soft belly tissue. That was when I called it. And like with Jack, the timing was just right. The anesthesiologist was awesome, and did the quickest epidural I've ever had. By 3:00pm, the Pitocin drip was at 46ml/hr, I was 3-4cm and 70-80% effaced.

I love epidurals. I had my strongest sense of euphoria from this one (probably a combination of my pain endorphins from earlier and then the epidural). And my body loves them too. By 5:00pm I had relaxed to 7cms. And then I started to feel it. A pain began building on my left side around the vaginal wall area. It seemed to get stronger with each contraction, and I mentioned it to Ken. After awhile it was clear that for whatever reason, the left side of my body did not numb up quite like the right.

Me, trying not to cry like a baby over Faith.
The hospital had a "self administered" type of epidural set up. This meant that I could safely control my own pain medication with the press of a button. For the next 40 minutes Ken worked with me on trying to up the medication enough to the point where it was working for the left side. The nurse offered to have the epidural redone, but I decided not to - we were close enough. Things did improve, but then I started feeling a cramp in my left calf with every contraction. That was difficult. Without the epidural, I'm sure it would have been excruciating. Ken worked and kneaded into my calf each time a contraction hit.

By 6:00pm it was time to push. As the nurses and doctor prepared, Ken prayed openly over me and the birth of our little girl Faith. It was the perfect way to welcome our Faith into this world and ask for God's blessing over her birth.

Five hours after Faith's birth - a well earned nap.
The doctor walked in at the end of Ken's prayer and joked that he may get a call in the middle of our pushing as his wife was expecting him for dinner. My bag of waters (Uterus of Steel) was still intact. From what I hear it was bulging out of the cervix, and the nurses were all pointing and wide eyed. We all laughed as we watched the doctor and nurses fret around looking for a way to break the bag of waters without getting soaked.

Once my waters were broken, that was it. I could see my reflection in the black TV screen across the room. One 10 second push and little Faith's head was out. The doctor unwrapped a loose cord from around her neck and sucked out her nose and mouth. The doctor announced that Faith had a good sucking reflex. Then he asked for a half push for the remainder of her tiny frame. Out she came, with a cry that was already familiar...I knew she would be the one child of mine who cried when she came out, and she did. She was born at 6:20pm.

Warming up to Daddy Knucker Hatch.
After clean up, I shook my doctor's hand, thanked him for his assistance and joked back with him that with two pushes, his dinner should still be warm. When the room cleared out, Faith and I had a chance to get accquainted with where her mealtimes would be spent. She took to latching on and nursing very naturally, with no problems. Once Faith had filled her belly with a little colostrum, it was necessary for Ken and I to fill our bellies with Steak 'n Shake (a tradition started with Jack). The worst part about my labor is that I was so hungry. I had so little before coming in, and by the time Faith was born I hadn't eaten anything in 24 hours. All I could think about was food. I craved potatoes (odd, I know) something awful, and it was a huge motivator to wrapping up my labor.

The end of the night was filled with a gorging of chili, burger, fries, and a vanilla shake while we watch President Bush's State of the Union speech. Followed by food and labor coma for all of us. A great ending to a spectacular day.

The team an hour after Faith's arrival.
The bottom line: Faith Alexa was born on January 31st, 2006 at 6:20pm. She weighed in at a solid 7 lbs. 8 oz., and measured 19 1/2 inches. On February 1st we returned home.

Sleepy Time in Faith Land

If there is one thing our new little Faith can do...it is sleep! She is a world champion sleeper setting a new Olympic Halley sleep record with only 10 minutes of recordable awake time yesterday. Today, as you can see, was equally exhausting:


When the princess is awake, we all line up to take our turn at holding her and looking into her glorious blue eyes. As it was in the womb, Faith has maintained her evening activity from about 8:00 - 10:00pm. This is proving to be a wonderful delight for the parents, as we are finding that for now, we can pretty much stick to our pre-Faith schedule, and then really enjoy her sweet attention once the older crumb crunchers are in bed.


The kids still get their time in with Faith though, as she is always on display - awake or not. Grace and Faith were able to share a little awake "sista" time this evening before bed time.

Our Little Baby Faith Is Here!!

UPDATE: For the unabridged version of Faith's Birth Story and more pictures you can visit In This Corner.

With much fanfare we are very proud to announce the arrival of Faith Alexa on January 31st 2006 at 6:20pm. She weighed in at a solid 7 lbs. 8 oz., measured 19 1/2 inches, and as predicted, came out with a good strong unbelievably cute cry. Everyone was doing so well that we were able to return home Wednesday. There is a birth story to soon write, but for now, here are a few pictures to hold you off.

The team an hour after Faith's arrival.
Faith wide awake 24 hours later.
Grace and Jack couching Faith.