My version of Carson's story plus cute pics!

Hanging out with Dad the first night home from the hospital.

 Waiting on mom's wheelchair so we can get out of the hospital.  Alert and ready to enjoy his first car ride. Sorry I didn't flip the pictures.

 My good friend Giselle loved visiting and even gave us a ride home so we could get be here when Matt got off work.

 Carson wore his football sleeper home that Brady picked out.  I forget how huge clothing is on newborns!

 Okay wheelchair lady...hurry up already...I want to go HOME!

Hey there everybody! I didn't disappear...I promise.  I didn't have a computer at the hospital and I stayed an extra day. I know my husband has been posting some information so I hope you found out that Carson Matthew Eagar was born after 20.5 hours of labor at 4:09am on Monday June 20th.  He weighed in at 7lbs. 10oz. and was 21.5 inches long.  It ended up being not quite the intimate experience I was hoping for, but it's all good.  There was meconium in the bag of waters so the NICU team was present when he was born plus Dr. Kovacevich (by the way I really like him) literally ran into the room about 1 minute after he arrived so he was delivered by a team of residents.  Though the labor was long, transition was quick...about 20 minutes (thank heavens since I opt for all natural) and he was born after about just a couple of pushes.  He did okay as far as the meconium, but had a bit of trouble keeping his body temperature up for several hours.  As for his kidneys, he has been put on daily medication, will see a specialist tomorrow, and is scheduled to have some outpatient testing/procedures at Akron Children's within the next 2-4 weeks to determine the exact cause of the problem and then we'll know how to go about fixing it. We are so grateful that he was able to come home with us....this has been a rough pregnancy ride for us but so much good has come out of it also.  I feel incredibly bonded to this sweet little guy and our whole family is head over heels in love with him.

Carson Pictures

No Father's Day Baby Here!!

Carson Matthew Eagar was born on June 20th at 4:10am after 20 hrs of labor, so June 19th still belongs to me.  As most of you know, Stacy is tough as nails and pretty as a sunset.  She has had all 4 of our kids all natural!  Carson is a dream come true for us after everything we have been through.  Hope you enjoy this video, just go to our blog and watch the video if you'd like, or I will put it up on Facebook as well.

Father's Day Slide Show

We Really Miss My Dad!

Old Wrestling Video On Father's Day

Moments That Matter Most

Missing Dad! Old video I found

Dad was so good to get the horses saddled for anyone who asked to ride. Emma was in heaven on the horses and as you can see at the end of the video, Dad picked her some flowers to feel even more special.

Every December after Christmas and before New Year's, we always went shooting and had a good time.

Playing Catch-up

Our baby girl turned 5 years old on May 1st. For her Birthday party, we had a good old fashioned bbq at our house and let her invite "family friends." Thank goodness the rain held out, but it was still a bit cool. One of my young women has started decorating cakes and she sweetly made this butterfly cake in a garden of flowers. Ellie adored it. She refused to blow out the candles with everyone watching until Emma helped her.

Big sis - Emma the monkey in the tree helping get the Princess pinata all ready. This was our first pull string pinata experience and it was so nice not having to worry about somebody getting accidentally whacked with a bat.
Here's the Birthday girl 2 days later on her actual Birthday May 1st opening her 3 presents from us. She loves to save her money and wanted a real "piggy" bank. As you can tell from the look on her face, she loved it. Little did we know at that time how our lives would drastically change just a few hours later when we learned of my Father-in-laws passing.
This is after the kids and I were back from the funeral in Arizona and we needed to take cookies to a team soccer party. I was exhausted so Emma took over. She's becoming quite the little helper.

This is Brady getting the "Ray Allen" from the Boston Celtics award for his excellence in academics this year. He makes the funniest faces. I'm pretty sure he was proud and embarrassed all at once. Anyway, his teacher was exceptional this year. She went above and beyond in everything...and not just for her students but for their families as well.

Yesterday I took the kids strawberry picking at a local farm with 2 reasons in mind. 1.) to get them out of the house and 2.) I thought the bending over would put me into labor, but it didn't. However, we did get 2 strawberry pies and 6 lbs. out of the outing all for a mere $7.

After the strawberry fields, we dropped Ellie off at Safety Town and I met up with a friend and her kids at Chili's for lunch. It was free yesterday for all kids 12 and under and well I couldn't pass up free. We purposely had the hostess seat the kids at their own table so we could still gab and feel like we were out without kids. :)

Go Away Fire!

Robert Sparks Take On Dad

Reuben Eagar, from my view- By Robert

While I’ve been in the same location as Reuben on dozens of occasions, I can probably count on one hand the times we have personally spoke to each other. Until we meet again, he perhaps won’t know the effect he had on me. Reuben is married to my wife’s Aunt. Most of my memories of him occur at family gatherings. Holly and I spent our first Thanksgiving together at his home a week after we were married. I got the feeling that while he was pleased that Holly had gotten married the jury was still out on me and that how he felt about me would be judged by my actions from then on. Over the past 8 years, he has been a shining example to me of what a good man is.
While most of us at Thanksgiving were chompin at the bit to start eating all the good food that was prepared, it was supremely important to Reuben that we go around the room and share something we were thankful for. If I remember right, all of his comments had to do with his family. Whether it was talking about his son Kolter on a mission or pride in his adopted son David, who country loves more than self, he always spoke with feeling and emotion. With joy, he spoke about his children who finally had become parents themselves after waiting so long. With deep reverence, he spoke about loved ones who had gone before us and had showed us the way to live. He spoke of the Savior and his love for Him. I could always tell the things most important to Reuben.
Reuben and I share a love for music and after the eating was over he always wanted our family to go around the piano and sing hymns. He especially loved the songs in the back meant for the men’s chorus. As Helen or Holly would play, we would all sing. Reuben is a bass and sings very well. He always wanted us to sing just one more and it never got old to me either.
Reuben raised five boys that I look up to and admire. Each of them is uniquely different from each other. The one thing that I can tell they all share is a deep love for their father. It seems at times to be borderline worship. I love Matt’s story of their hunting trip just a few years ago where their dad was patient and got the prize. I can tell they want to be like him. They are good men because Reuben is a good man.
In a world where I believe there is a shortage of good men, we have lost one of the very best that I know. Reuben is a shining example to me and others of how we should live our lives. In my view, people like Reuben only go one place when they die. I testify that Reuben’s eternal spirit went back to the God that gave him life and that loving words were exchanged. I testify that he reunited with loved ones that went before him and that he waits with joy the time he will be reunited with his family still on earth. As we remember the life of this great man, let us resolve to show by our actions that we want to live with our families forever.

What a Month of May

What a busy month of May. I am married to the most amazing woman! After the funeral I felt very strongly that I needed to stay with my Mom for a while and get some things done for her around the house, and find a way to grieve myself. Stacy was SO understanding and even though she is very pregnant and a mother to 3 high strung children already, she was more than willing to head home without me and get the kids back in school and manage our busy home all by herself. She took Brady to an Indians game that I promised to take him to, she attended Brady's and Ellie's soccer games, Emma's school race, Ellie's graduation, fulfilled her church calling, endured a couple of tornadoes (one of which she was out with her young women cleaning off headstones minutes before the storm ripped off a church roof right across the street from where they were) and many, many other events. I don't know of many women that would gladly do all of those things while she was 8 months pregnant, with her husband out of town for a month. I hope she always knows how much I love and appreciate her.