Ezra's Email Announcement...

Ezra Aaron Stainer
born: 27 May 08 @ 8:05 pm
8lb 9 oz, 22 in long

God has been very good to us. We are humbled by His love.
He's been so generous to give us another beautiful son.

Love,
Kevin, Shannon, Sage, Eli, Sterling, and Ezra Stainer

Ezra Has Arrived FINALLY!!!

Ezra Aaron Stainer arrived yesterday, Tuesday, May 27, 2008 @ 8:05pm
He weighs 8 lb 9 oz and is 22 inches long.

We are all resting and enjoying this beautiful baby. I am so glad he's finally here!

Stay tuned for more photos......

40 Weeks + 3 Days

Ok, so it's is flippin' hot here right now. I'm getting ready for bed and a fan blowing on me all night. We decided to get out of the house this afternoon and head to the river. The river is extremely high right now from the snow melting rapidly.....so we had to redirect to Flowing Lake. The river was also GLACIAL temperatures....it was bizarre to be so hot and then have your feet freeze off in the water. Eli braved the water with his daddy up to his knees. The other boys got their toes wet and balanced on rocks. The water was rising while we were there.

Flowing Lake was relaxing. My mom and I knitted while the boys floated. I think barring an appearance of Ezra, we'll return there tomorrow for some food and more floating. The water is nice and clean and the swimming area is shallow. They even allow dogs there with leashes and proper owner clean up of doggie messes. Pug had fun, but he needs a towel to lay on next time. He is a fickle lap dog. No laying on rocks or sand for him.

So, I feel like the baby is getting ready to be born. We'll see. I have gone in to labor 10 days early, 12 days late, and 2 days late with our prior pregnancies. It's up in the air at this point. I am glad to not have a OBGYN breathing down my neck at this point. I can't imagine I'll make it to my appointment on Wednesday. If I do end up going much over due, I will just assume my due date was off by a couple weeks. I pray for sanity to just be patient and not anxious.

Stay tuned for more photos and maybe even a picture of us soon with our little Ezra. I hope to see him very soon.

If you're in Washington and experiencing this heat wave, stay cool, and know our cooler maybe even rainy weather shall return inevitably. My weather forcast on Firefox says 71 tomorrow and then Monday will be 67.

Much love....
shan
Here's my big boys @ Flowing Lake, we went back the lake Sunday afternoon. We were much more prepared today. We went to Fred Meyers and got floaties and water squirters...picnic food. The boys had a terrific time. I love how much they love the water.Pudge @ the river yesterday. He is so photogenic.....handsome pug. He hates water though, some day I will get him all the way in a natural water source. When we went to the ocean this summer, he did end up eventually walking in the very shallow tide.
I finished Ezra's quilt. Kevin had to hold it up for me because I couldn't get a good, straight shot of it on the floor. I think Kevin is hilarious. He gave the quilt eyes and legs. He makes me laugh.......... The black and white floral print below is the quilt's back. I bought this fabric at IKEA, it was a really great price, too...I made a matching changing pad to match the quilt. It's crazy quilt style. It's not lopsided, but the camera distorted the image. I didn't take a picture of the back because it is black fleece, not too exciting of a picture.

And...last but not least, one last knit item for Ezra's layette. Baby leg warmers. Knit in a lovely dusty purple color....almost blue-ish purple. I can get you the pattern I created for them. It was pretty easy. I knit them at the same time on two circular needles. They are made out of Wool Ease yarn on size 3 needles. We'll see how they fit on his little legs. If he has chubby thighs then they won't fit him very long.

40 Weeks and 1 Day

So the house is quiet, and I couldn't go back to bed. Pretty soon the boys will be waking up. We are all so excited for our baby, it's like Christmas Eve every night right now. I love all the things that they are saying, questions they're asking....... I especially love watching the baby move in my belly with them. Last night Ezra has hiccups and we could all watch him move around.

I thought I should post a picture of the LOVELY stairs that my sweet man built for our bed. I cannot tell you how much easier it is to go to bed, get up in the middle of the night, get down in the morning. Kevin did a terrific job on these stairs. I was really impressed with how he created them. A lot of times I'll draw pictures for him for projects around the house. Stairs were another thing all together. I spent about an hour trying to draw these ridiculous things up.....well I never did get them figured out. He had very little problem getting these done, measuring out the stairs....... They are really solid and so pretty to look at. They're made out of 3/4" ply and he just sealed them with some orange oil. The handrail is divine too. So props go out to Kevin, builder of stairs.

We're gonna work in the garden this afternoon. I will hopefully take some more pictures of our 40+ week adventures. I'm not in a hurry to make Ezra come at the point. I guess give me a couple more days until I'm certifiable. I long to see him and hold him in my arms.

We did think Tuesday night, our 13th annivesary, that we were going into labor...........just a practice round though. I am glad to not share our anniversary with our baby's birthday, but, it would have been nice to hold him. Instead we got to go home and one of us didn't sleep very well that night. It was good to experience some of the intensity that is due any time though.

Stay tuned!

Almost There. . .

Here are a few photos to celebrate the home stretch of Ezra's pregnancy...

These flowers were given to me by my friend Debbie. She said that by the time they wilted that Ezra would be here. There were iris' and 2 sunflowers in the vase as well. The sunflowers expired today...........so, it looks like she may be correct. These green flowers look like they could last another week.

Ezra's space is completed. I need Kevin to put some guards across the shelves so that I can actually have stuff on the shelves (sort of not safe in case of earthquake to have stuff above a baby's bed)...My work is done though.....I love how the 'wading pool' blue and 'chocolate' brown set each other off. It's pretty electrifying. I am glad the color scheme worked out. It was so hard to find a bed that would work. If you're looking for a great portable bed, this one is the bomb. It has a pretty cool sound box that hangs in the corner. It even has a mp3 hookup and night-light.
We like the flip up changing table/hammock, wipes/diaper holder and bassinet insert. It's cool baby gear.

We bought this shelving unit at Ikea for baby's things. It's really handy. I think it was a little $100 with all the bins. They have blue, green, orange/red, and red bins, too. A regular dresser wouldn't have worked with the space we have.

Stay tuned for pictures of Ezra. We are very, very close. This may be my last post before he comes. I may post one more HUGE belly picture for funzies.

...shan...
will knit for tattoos
ps 118:5

39 Weeks....Painting and NESTING!!!!!!

The mess is always worth the end project...HOLY COW I AM SO TIRED!!!

So here we are a week before our due date...the projects have been tiring. We got Ezra's wall and the hallway painted. Kevin put together the dresser and I started putting some stuff in it. That will be the big job today, sorting itty bitty baby clothes. Putting away diapers. Putting the bed together. I am so excited to be done working in our room. Feels like I did a months worth of work the last couple days. My hips are sore for it too. I am hoping to just sit and work on the baby's quilt this coming week. I will have earned some couch time. Tomorrow we have our 39 week midwife appointment. Kevin and I are getting a sitter now to go to the appointments. We had dinner together last week and got Ezra's bed, etc... He called me this morning and was like, "Do we have another midwife appointment tomorrow?" And I was like, "YES!" He was tripping that another week had already gone by. I told him, "That's why I am such a headcase!!!
Here's some photos from the week. Oh, Kevin rebuilt our loft stairs too. They are amazing. I can walk up them easily hugely pregnant. This will be so nice when the baby comes.

The finished wall and hall....I'll post pictures when everything is clean and tidy...

Our infamous loft. It's 72 square feet total. We have a queen sized bed, two side tables, side bed for kids, and Pudge's doggie bed.

Me, painting, 39 weeks along.

The old stairs. . .roughed in and functional. Hard to get up and down though during my pregnancy. The new lovely stairs Kevin built. They are very beautiful and easy to climb. We added a handrail for kid safety....and ours. He amazes me at how he can take my requests and voila, stairs are there. I like math and tried to draw these up for about an hour, it didn't take him quite so long. That guy knows how to build things.

The mess of baby gear, clean laundry, light saber, and stuff before the painting began.

The hall before the painting and cleaning. Lumber, tile for our bathroom remodel, and just general mess. It's hard to post the mess pictures, but, it's so glorious to see the transformation.