First few days of August - kind of a big deal.

Of course, these aren't exactly chronological.

This was me the last day of July.  I was on bed rest but we needed to go to the store and I'm the only one that can sign the WIC checks.  So I drove around on this thing while Aaron collected groceries.  This was so exhausting for me that I threw up when we got home.  

Anyway, the Wednesday before, I went to my regular OB appointment and found out I was getting really close to going into labor and needed to take it easy.  So all sorts of wonderful people took the kids so I could rest.  It actually was nice, I had very few (relatively) contractions while laying down all day.  Aaron was doing his "2 weeks in the summer" Reserves job - trying to get it out of the way before baby was scheduled to arrive.  I was 37 weeks, so not a huge deal if I did go into labor, but it's always best to make it to the end.  

Here I am laying down, wearing my #9 shirt to check in for the Belnap family reunion roll call.  The reunion was in Utah so there was no way I was going.  (More on the reunion at the bottom of the post.)

 Monday morning came, Aaron went to work, and I had to get up and be Mom.  I felt awful.  The contractions weren't Braxton Hicks anymore.  They were real.  By noon I was timing them.  Around 1 I decided to go to the hospital, just in case.  The contractions were around 8-10 minutes apart, but since it would take an hour to get there, I decided to load everyone up in the van and drive myself.  I called Aaron and he met me there.  We didn't know if I was going to be sent home, so Aaron took to the kids to the car and turned on a movie for them.  I was hooked up to the monitors and an IV and "checked." They monitored me for an hour, took an hour break, and then monitored for another hour and "checked."  The contractions were still going so they brought the doctor in.  She decided that it would be best to do the c-section since I was now 38 weeks and the contractions weren't going to stop anyway.  She told me that the baby would be here in an hour.  I was surprised by how quick they were going to do this.  They immediately started prepping me for surgery.  I called Aaron and told him to come in so he could get ready too.  But we didn't have anyone to watch the kids on such short notice, so we called my brother, Spencer, to come rescue us while Aaron's mom started driving over from Star.  He got there in about 10 minutes.  Even that quick, they had to wait on Aaron while he changed into scrubs.  And then off we went to the OR.  C-sections are not pleasant.  (I had to have one because all of my kids were c-section.  There was no choice.)  But I knew the drill.  Soon enough I heard the doctor say, "hello precious!" but didn't hear any cries.  After what seemed like a really long time I started to hear little grunts.  And then I could see them wiping her off and clearing out her nose and stuff - and could hear more little grunts.  And then I started throwing up.  Fun.

So here's Miss Magnolia Mae Eagan.  Born at 6:51 p.m. Aug 3 (2 weeks early) weighing in at 6 lbs 3 oz.  She was not thrilled about the scale and tried to escape.  18 3/4 inches long.

"WHAT just happened?!!"

Recovery room.  Rooting reflex doing great.

Uncle Spencer was still around even though the kids were gone, so he was able to be the first visitor.

The next day, Grams brought the kids (and their cousins) to meet their sister.

Aaron did a great job entertaining the kids while I was in the hospital.  Free root beer float day at A&W.

Maggie and I spent a little longer in the hospital than we really wanted to because we found out the day after she was born, that Hand, Foot & Mouth Disease was in our home (Daddy, Jaron and Miles.)  The doctors suggested staying in the hospital as long as we could to steer clear of it.  I also got a spinal headache and needed a blood patch (which saved the day!)

Maggie has been sleeping most of her life.  We have to wake her up to feed her.  She isn't a fan of nursing, which caught me by surprise, but we've been alternating bottles of Mommy's milk and formula.  I don't know that SHE is exhausting... it's more of the constant role of protecting her from the other kids that is exhausting.  All day we find ourselves saying, "leave her alone," "give her some space," "stop touching her," "you can hold her when you're calm," "you don't need to check on her... she looks the same as she did 5 minutes ago," "quiet voices please," "you're overwhelming her," "let her sleep," "give her privacy while I change her," and on and on and on.

So far, she loves her pacifier.  She doesn't mind being snuggled when she's drowsy, but she prefers to rest her head on your shoulder, with her arms up.  She also sleeps with one of her arms next to her face.  She doesn't mind being put down to sleep, and is just fine sleeping on her back.  I've actually been able to accomplish quite a bit because she doesn't mind sleeping alone... and sleeps all the time.  My other kids always wanted to be held... and hated sleeping on their backs.  She's been congested since day 1 and we get lots of snot out of her.  It's gross.  She hasn't demonstrated the fine ability to puke all the time like my other children did.  She just does the occasional spit up.  I realize she's only 1 week old and all of this will probably change.

Back to the Belnap Family Reunion.  (This was before Maggie was born.)  Violet and Jaron were able to go this year.  Jaron rode with Uncle Spencer and hung out with him.  Here they are letting go of balloons to remember the family members that are no longer with us.  

Violet went with my cousin, Angie.  She got to spend a day at Lagoon with lots of extended family.   She had a blast!

Here they are in their numbered shirts.

Spencer drove them both home.  They are so lucky to have such an awesome uncle!

Shawn is doing fine in Texas.  He doesn't call us because he doesn't think about it, and we haven't called him much because of the crazy week.  He's not really a conversationalist, so the phone calls are short.  We have a conference call with his therapist this week so we'll learn more about how he is doing then.  Meanwhile, we're trying to send him mail each week.  If anyone would like to send him a letter, let me know and I'll give you his address.  Aaron will be flying out there at some point this month to visit him.  

That's all for now.  There's a whole lot more going on but I don't have time.  

Nancy

July

4th of July parade in Caldwell.

Miles is my only kid that loves to hold my hand.

Aaron took Violet and Miles to a little cafe.

4th of July fireworks in Star.

We watched Uncle Drew coach a baseball game at Bishop Kelly.

Ed flew in that day so we got to have "sibling" time.  I loved it.

The kids did swimming lessons.  They all did great and really enjoyed it.

Shawn acted scared to jump off the diving board, but then pulled this number.

Little graduates.

Violet loves to sleep in small spaces.

A day at the discovery center.

Shawn turned 10 so we had a family party at Aunt Mary's pool.

We went to military appreciation night at the zoo.

Canyon county fair.

Dinner out to say goodbye to Shawn for a while.  Jaron claimed he didn't touch the chocolate fountain.

Shawn left for a residential treatment center in Texas for a few months.  We miss him.