Elliot James Arrives

Our third child came into the world in Savannah, Georgia, at a birthing center, yesterday at 6:22 p.m. We had spent the day in Savannah thinking that it was going to happen, so we strolled through downtown, got to the know the Savannah Mall, and all points in between. I'll let Jess give the details of her birth story some other time, but things did go very well. Her water broke around 3:30, and Elliot greeted us less than three hours later (all 9 pounds 6 ounces of him!). Jess was able to have a water birth this time, and I think that she really liked this type of birthing (as much as anyone enjoys giving birth, right?). Here are some pictures from our day.

The first picture is Jess and Elliot getting some immediate mom-son time after the birth.




Jess asked two friends to make Elliot's going home outfit, replete with freshly hatched chick on the shirt. He's already making the ladies swoon!


Annika and Samuel waited at home with Grandma Judy. Annika immediately played the role of big sister. Sam couldn't quite figure out what this new thing was, but now he runs around pointing at the baby and saying "dat." I think he thinks Elliot's pretty cool.

Lions, Dorothy, and Princesses, Oh My!

I wrote this last year, but St. Simons Islanders really take Halloween seriously. We went to our friends' neighborhood again this year. Sam was the Cowardly Lion, and Annika, along with about every other girl, was Dorothy. (Jess' stomach was a jack-o-lantern, and I'm too lame to think up a costume.) Here are some shots of our fun evening.



Sam figured out how to trick or treat right away. The first person he went up to allowed him to grab about six Nestle Crunch bars, so he got into it for the rest of the evening.


Pastor Bob and Mary Ann fed hungry families hot dogs.


This picture is mostly to show off Jess' belly, but check out how Annika turned into a ghost for Halloween. Spooky.


We ran into most of the Disney princesses traveling the neighborhood. Many of these girls go to our church, and we loved running into them in costume. We know some fun people! Did I mention that people take Halloween seriously around here?

Feeling Halloweenish

Annika's been pretty sick the past couple of days, but we wanted to make sure that we carved our pumpkin with a few days to go before Halloween. She designed the pumpkin, scooped out the innards, and supervised while I carved it. We even baked the seeds afterwards with a little butter and nutmeg on them. Yum. To top it all off, our fall weather has finally arrived. The days are beautiful and warm, and the nights are pleasantly cool. Wish we could press pause on this weather.

Lining Things Up

Both of our kids from a very young age have liked to line things up. I won't say that they like things orderly (one look into our house at midday would dispel that notion immediately), but they do like lining up toys. This evening Sam decided to make a train out of his cars (and a couple of Thomas pieces). Sam likes cars and adores trucks. I don't understand the boy and trucks, but I guess he's on his way to becoming a good southerner.

"Friendly Birth Place"

Those of you who know Jess well understand that she highly values having a midwife deliver our children. We were able to have midwives both in Ann Arbor and Princeton, but they do not exist in Glynn County, Georgia. After many visits with local OB/GYNs, Jess decided that she was unhappy with what was available to her around here for birthing, and she was able to find an amazing place in Savannah that treats birth as a natural process rather than a risk to be mitigated. Annika, who is pretty emotionally in sync with Jess, knew how stressed her mom was over the prospects of birth here, and now she's taken to calling our birthing center "The Friendly Birth Place."

We all had a chance to visit there today, and it was truly wonderful. (It even uses solar power for electricity and hot water!) There are two birthing rooms. The pictures below are of one of the rooms. Missing from the picture is the sizable jacuzzi, where Jess hopes to labor. Just start praying now that we have enough time from knowing we're in labor to getting to Savannah!

Best Baby Shower Cake Ever

We had a very nice baby shower at the weekly church dinner this week. It's nice to be a part of a church that genuinely loves its pastors, staff, and members, and we felt that this evening. I do have to say that this has to be the best baby shower cake design ever. Apparently our church is concerned that I might dip our newborn into a cup of Starbucks coffee like I would biscotti or a scone. I sure would be freaked out to have a baby emerge from a steaming mug of coffee, but I'm guessing Jess would rather children enter the world that way than actually go through birth at this point...

Enjoy the pictures.

Boo!

We're still trying to figure out if this is a St. Simons thing (or if it's another Hallmark holiday), but we got "booed" the other day. It was fun that someone surprised us with a treat, and Annika especially enjoyed "booing" two other neighbors the next night. We sneaked out after dark to leave a surprise on their porches. Good times! (The last picture is a preview of Sammy's Halloween costume.)