She IS a She!!!

"She's coming, I feel it right here..."

Ariana('ah-ree-ahn-a' :) Clapier Dayton has arrived at a healthy 7 lbs, 7 oz & 20 in. Look at all that lovely hair!

Sleeping--she's so good at it!

Layin out...

Happy Daddy, happy baby--look at those chub cheeks! We love her sooo much already!

Nana's newest pride and joy

She's here she's here! My doctor stripped my membranes yesterday (on my due date, my Mom having arrived late the night before) & within a couple hours I was having contractions 5 minutes apart. We rushed home to pick up the boys 40 minutes from the doctor's office, got them, rushed back & I was admitted to the hospital dilated to a 4. I had to have my IV started right away with Pencillin because I tested positive for the Strep B bacteria, but luckily she didn't come too soon (9 hours start to finish) so it allowed the antibiotics to do their job. I really wanted to see if I was tough enough to do it all naturally, but at a 7 I thought I was going to die & after waiting over an hour for the anesthesiologist (he had 3 C-sections in a row to do poor guy, & poor WOMEN) I was SURE I was going to die--but I didn't! I didn't get any pain meds that go to the baby, but I did get an epidural the last hour of labor that was pretty darn nice. I could feel my legs & feet just fine, but I also had an amazing "hot spot" where I could feel the intense contractions, just not all over my body so it was doable. Right as the epidural was kicking in the doctor checked me--I was a complete 10! I pushed 3 times and she was out! She did have some meconium, but all seems to be fine. She is a great nurser & seems so content & peaceful. I feel so blessed and giddy that our baby is here! I think Tony is still in shock (he watched the whole thing) :) The boys will be meeting her shortly...

School Boys!

Here are my two, new, Woodburn Warriors (& I'll have you know, I did not pick those shirts out for them, at the store they just wanted the same shirt & then both wanted to wear it the 1st day)!

Jaydon, telling us that it's the '1st' day of school!

Isn't that the cutest smile?

As for a pregnancy update, well, there isn't one! At my appt. yesterday he said I'm in the same place I was last week, but he will strip my membranes on Wednesday (my official due date) to see if that helps since I really don't want to be induced with Pit or anything. And, my Mom comes in Tuesday night so that would be perfect! Pray baby Dayton will come on her own, I really really don't want to be induced! P.S. the doctor said her heartbeat is really acting like a 'boy' heartbeat--wouldn't that be a surprise! Guess I better pack some blue in the bag just in case!

A Lesson That You May Learn...

Anybody have their identity stolen before? Yes, that would be me 2 weeks ago... I was shopping at the Super Wal-mart for the very last item on the boys' school list & had my cart nice & stocked when I noticed my purse was GONE! I was very careful not to leave my cart, but the mistake was that I left it in the kid-seat place (my Mom has since told me she always 'buckles' hers in). I stopped my debit card, etc., within an hour of noticing, but I didn't know that I had to call in & stop my checks completely separately. So, learn from me--stop your checks! Because of that, she made off with nearly $1,000 (that I will get back eventually thank goodness)! The 'funny' thing is that they caught the lady on tape. She came up in a cart, swiped it & kept walking, doing the deed in a total of 30 seconds, then walked out the door to her car. They saw all that on tape, including her getting into her car, but they said the video was too fuzzy to identify anything. Grrr... Maybe she doesn't have a job, or she has a sick kid at home...Happy thoughts, happy thoughts... :) I tell you though, I could see a few of the check images posted on my account & it's a bit creepy to see someone else's handwriting on your check with a [poor] impersonation of your signature. The weird thing is that I noticed she was even asked for ID at one of the places because my driver's license is written at the top of the check! Does she really look that much like me so that the checker didn't notice? Weird-ola...The good news is that I am now on a one-on-one basis with several of the workers at Wal-mart & I'm happy to report that they were very happy, friendly & helpful to the dazed &befuddled pregnant lady. Two of them even recognized me the next time I was there (to get all the items I had to put back the time before!) & asked about it. Yes indeed, a lesson that you may learn (or already have)...

My Ode to Pregnancy...

Sure-fire ways to know you're ready to give birth!! :)
10. ) You look something like this:

9.) Your doctor keeps asking you when you'd like to have your baby (uh, now?) & offers you to be induced...tempting, but no...
8.) You start blogging several times a week (when that's NOT your norm) just to get your mind off the question, "when will I go into labor??"
7.) You lift heavy things on purpose, and do other 'forbidden' or not-as-enjoyable-because-of-the-size-issue-activities you've been avoiding for the last month (we went swimming today & bike-riding yesterday) HOPING it will trigger the go-into-labor 'button' in your body
6.) Nesting is complete: baby clothes washed, crib assembled, quickie-dinners are ready for Daddy to make the new-siblings-to-be, plan A & B provisions for kids are in place in case of emergency/middle-of-the-night labor, etc., refresher birthing course taken for newbie 'Tony' taken, & bags are packed & ready to go...
5.) You look at other babies & just sigh contentedly & excitedly...then wrinkle up your face in worry as you think about all that is coming...then REPEAT (swing-emotions, ladies?)
4.) You are dilated to a 2-3 & your doctor uses words like "mushy, soft, squishy" to describe your cervix--awesome!
3.) Things like standing up become more of a comedy routine for others to see (and back pain for you!) than the seemingly simple act it should be
2.) Your husband looks at you and says lovingly, "wow, that's amazing" while staring with wide eyes at your bulging belly
1.) And #1...you've grown out of most of your maternity clothes & you clap your hands with glee when you realize in a short while you won't have to wear them again for some time--hooray for pregnancy & the miracle of birth!!!!!!!!!

P.S. Sarin got married...to Jared. Yeah, I'm behind 4 months, no biggie , right?

The stunningly beautiful bride!

The happy couple coming out of the temple. Aren't they radiant??

Our family, minus Devin (still in Africa on his mission) & minus half my Dad's head--oopsies!

And a plug for "Elm Tree" photography (Mark & Megan Hymas)--they did a great job!!

Wow, whose cute kid is that??

Precious moment CAUGHT! Jaydon hugging Grammie, my Dad's mom

And now, after all that happiness, they continue in bliss while serving the area of Seattle, Washington with much-needed PEST CONTROL (her THIRD successful summer in a row, & Jared is a killer sales guy--that's actually how they met, isn't THAT romantic). Hence the video in Spencer's apartment (see below--oh, Spencer is out there too this summer, so now, I'm the only child in the family that has not done pest control. Alas.). Note: the spider is the size of Spencer's hand, be prepared, it is not for the faint of heart.

Welcome to Indiana!

There we are--the red dot--just a few miles from the border of Ohio (in fact, we even have a couple in our ward that live in Ohio!)

And this, my friends, is our view wherever we go. I'm amazed at how urban & city-ish it can be one minute, and then voila, 5 minutes later you're in huge cornfields! And here, it's just ALL cornfields (well, we do have a gas station, a Dollar General & a Subway...oh, & let's not forget our favorite little Cafe that has GREAT food!). Our little main street here is a LOT like Sugar City's--quaint & short-lived

And this is the welcome sign as you come into town :) I love it!! Who knows, maybe I'll cash in some time...

The Magic of Ordinary Days

S
Squirrel hunting at the local park...and my cute sandwich I couldn't resist taking a picture of (Jaydon made it for me & wanted to be sure I got the one with JAM on it instead of HONEY like the boys prefer :)


Doing their daily reading on the resurrected trampoline (*see earlier post about what happened to the poor thing, but thanks to genius Tony it's now mostly the same--look closely & you can see the bent pole near the back of it, ah well, it was only $25 after all!)

The building of our own fire pit(we have easy-going landlords who let us dig up their yard for good purposes, they told me I could put in a garden next summer too!)! And our FHE fire w/ mallows & yes, hot dogs (don't worry, I got the healthiest kind available to mankind)

Zoo pictures--the Fort Wayne Children's Zoo is AMAZING!! Come some time & we'll show you around :)

The statue of the actual-sized Komodo Dragon they have at this awesome zoo!!

The House

Our humble beginnings: The Aboite Inn--the one room month-to-month we lived in for awhile until we found the house...wow, it was cozy...especially when my Dad came with the U-haul & Sissy-the-cat (we already had the lizard residing with us from when Tony brought it a month earlier!)

First, our "bonus" feature--THE TIKI HUT! I can't imagine why the previous renters left it...neither can Sissy apparently (she's using the bird's nest the boys found as a pillow--comfy)

MY favorite feature--the enormous field (that we don't have to mow!) that abuts our backyard so the boys can search for grasshoppers/crickets/butterflies to their hearts' content. It's the cutest thing to see them out there with their butterfly nets, their screened-in 'bug-catchers' & Sissy pouncing along behind them--I think she's more like a dog than a cat sometimes

Before & (semi) After pictures of our house--we still have a long way to go, but it's a house, NOT an apartment (we're just renting for now, but we got it for super-duper cheap each month & it has AC & a dishwasher)!! It has lots of old-house "charm" but we're grateful to have our own place & I'M grateful Tony cut off a million branches off the nasty pine tree so now you can see the house :)

A rather dark glimpse of the living room inside...

The Pilgrims & Indians part of "The Trip"

Here is our naked friend...at the Plymouth Plantation the Native Americans dress authentically, but they will answer questions normally, like they are from our time to give greater perspective, while doing actual work from the time period (this guy is making a canoe). The Pilgrims are dressed authentically & answer all questions like they are actually from that historical time period. It was pretty neat. They farm in the mornings, & all do work from that actual time period (fix roofs, farm work, cooper-work, chop wood, etc.) to keep the village running.

Here is what most believe is "Plymouth Rock." It is approximately where the Pilgrims landed.

Here is the actual Plymouth "rock" now in a cage below the reach of fingers because I guess the size has dwindled over time from too much luv'n.

And...The Mayflower!

The D.C. part of "The Trip"

One of my favorite heroes of all time. He did so much for our country, and yet, he was a man with faults and weaknesses he was constantly working to overcome. He wasn't perfect, but he accomplished so much in spite of all his struggles because he never gave up.

Ford's Theatre, & the box he was shot in. Such a somber place. Such a tragedy.

Part of the "JFK" memorial. I've been to D.C. a couple times previously, but this was the first time I've been to this memorial & it was just beautiful.

Another first for this D.C. trip--Arlington Cemetery. Seeing the changing of the guard was awesome. Those that are trained & perform this duty must adhere to a very strict lifestyle for the period they are there. No drinking, watching t.v., etc. They live right there & take up to 10 hours to ready their uniforms to perform their 30 min. duty. We were told that even during Hurricane Katrina, they refused to leave their post. They take it very seriously.

The Boston part of "The Trip"

The Old North Church where the "two-if-by-sea" lanterns were hung in the belfry arch--with a lovely statue of good ol' Paul in front (poor Dawes & Prescott, no statues for them...)

One of the only pictures I'm actually in--because I was SO incredibly excited to be in front of Louisa May Alcott's home!

From the top of Bunker Hill-beauty!

Our vehicle for the "Duck Tour" of Boston--it even takes you in the water!

A marker for "The Freedom Trail" that goes all around Boston--this one is for the site of the "Boston Massacre." After teaching about this particular event for the last 3 years to a bunch of 10 yr-olds, I tell you, it was such a THRILL to be standing in the actual location!

The Old North Bridge where the Redcoats & Minutemen met for one of the earliest battles in the American Revolution

The actual house of Paul Revere--he had 15 children all living in here & it was considered to be a large house for that time period!