Jedidiah has ARRIVED!

...just a few hours old...

We are so excited to have our new little man here, he is absolutely great, we love him to pieces and are soaking up the snuggles and quietness right now :) I want to try to record the event, in hopes of someday making a book/album of our family off of my blog, but time is precious right now between the two little ones so I will do my best.... this is my recording the experience via my pictures... I guess some would call that photo journalism, I would say it's really just aiding my memory along the right path :)

It was Monday night, around 11 pm when I MADE my husband take one last picture... my 39th week!!! before he could go to bed.... little did I know it would be just a few hours later that the labor would begin! Here I am being a nerd, "3 more days until he's due!"... it was way too late!

My sweet friend Vali came over at 4ish to sleep on the couch with Em, I was picking up Candy Land, trying desperately to dry my only 2 pairs of pants that I just had to wash the night before (which never dried by the by so I wore my husbands!) and doing other random things that were pointless but felt like a good idea at the time! We got to the hospital and got checked in at 4:45. Most of my contractions were about every 8 - 10 minutes but really intense and I was a 6 by 6am- not the norm, but things were definitely moving along! Here's a shot between contractions ENJOYING those delicious ice chips! Honestly, my dream house would have that kind of ice machine in it.
So I guess a little after 8 I was fully dilated and ready to go, so we waited for the doctor and by 8:30ish I was pushing... 10 minutes later he popped out at 8:47 and I got to meet the little man that I'd been waiting to see for 9 months- how crazy is that first few minutes! He came out doing well, I was feeling great now that I wasn't sitting on his head, and then we got to snuggle... just me, Jed, and Bubs.... it was perfect.
Wow, so weird to think we had a "son" now. His name Jedidiah means "loved by God" which makes the name even more perfect for me, it was part of the reason why we chose it. We had a hard time picking out a middle name, until it hit me one day. I decided I wanted to name my son after my husband, if he turns out anything like the man that my husband is, my heart will be overfilled with joy. What an example that my husband is of a man who loves God, loves his family and is full of integrity- it's my hearts desire that my son would follow in THOSE footsteps. I love you Bubs (aka Matthew!).

So, I had been waiting ever since I knew Emery understood that she was having a baby brother, to see her response to him... and it was perfect! She knew exactly who he was when she came in. She was a little overwhelmed, looked under my sheets after she saw him- kinda puzzled that he had somehow escaped my belly, and then, as naturally as the little mother hen that she is, tickled his cheek and said "getcha, getcha, goo.... Hi baby Jedidiah!" Loved it, it's a memory I will keep locked in my heart forever. She's the best!
He was so great, slept lots, nursed really well, was so kissable and huggable--- those newborn smells and sounds were really fun to experience all over again!

My mom was the greatest, she came down when I called her in the morning, and she has been here to help... which is GREAT because it's a challenge with a toddler for sure! She is a baby lover, a soother, not to mention a great "baby burper", and my sweet friend. Thanks for your servant's heart mom and loving us always.

We ended up staying the night in the hospital because Jed's got some eating/barfing issues that they wanted to keep an eye on, so by the next morning we were ready to leave and head home. You can still pray for the eating/barfing issues that we figure them out, they are manageable but we just want to make sure everything is okay for him.

Home sweet home, ahh... it feels good to be home... as a family of 4!

And I will leave you with two pictures, which will probably be followed by many more... Emery loving on her new "baby doll".... he will probably learn to be very patient is my guess!