Introducing Baby Boy Burkinshaw

We are pleased to announce the safe arrival of Ewan Jeffrey Burkinshaw! He entered this world at 3:14pm on Friday the 13th. He weighed in at 7 lbs and 2 oz and was 19 1/4 inches long. Here are a few pictures.

Just leaving for the hospital

Moments after...




He's a blondie!




Getting ready to go home



Aislee giving him kissess


Olivia giving kisses

Here is the story...I went in for my appointment on Thursday and was dilated to a 4+ and 70% effaced. Dr. Decker decided to schedule an induction for the next morning. I went home and got ready. I was having contractions all night and all the next morning. We got to the hospital at 9:15am. I was all hooked up by 9:30. Dr. Decker checked me and broke my water at about 10. I was a 5+ and having contractions every 6 minutes. Around 45 minutes later I was a 6 with contractions every 5 mins. They put me on pitocin, and 45 minutes later I was 7 and getting ready for my epidural. It was wonderful! He did a really good job. At 1:30 the nurse checked me and I was ready. We had to wait until about 2:00 for the Dr. Decker to be done with a C-section. He had me push with the nurse while he was delivering another woman without an epidural. He was crowning soon after and they had me stop pushing to wait for Dr. Decker to come in. The nurse told me to breathe through contractions. He came in at 3:00 and had me push through three contractions. Ewan arrived at 3:14pm. Paul was a very good counter!

Happy Halloween!

This Halloween we dressed the girls up as Thing 1 and Thing 2 from The Cat In The Hat. My oldest sister Megan did this costume a few years ago when her two oldest were little. I had seen it on-line a couple times and thought it might work for the girls. We ordered the red pajamas from amazon, pinned felt cut-outs with Thing 1 and Thing 2 written with a sharpy on them and used blue food coloring and hairspray for their hair (it came right out in the bathtub). Wednesday evening, we went to the ward party. We were hoping for best costumes, but a four year old who made his own costume won. Olivia was Thing 1 and Aislee was Thing 2. I have to admit, I was hoping I wouldn't have to go to the party, but Baby Boy Burkinshaw has yet to produce productive contractions. After the ward party, I was having contractions every 2 minutes for four hours. Since we only live five minutes from the hospital, Paul and I decided to go in and see what was going on. We had a friend come and sleep on the couch while we headed to Triage. They kept us there for an hour. The nurse said I was the only one there with consistent contractions and she expected me to be like at 4, but I was only at a two and not progressing fast enough for them to admit me. They gave me some Ambien and sent us home. They probably should have given Paul some too! I've just been having extremely uncomfortable ones that keep me up almost every night for the past two weeks. But, hey...I'm almost done with my book that I'd never get to read otherwise!

Aislee and Olivia (it's easier to get picture when they're contained!)

Olivia and Aislee

Paul trying to get them to look at me and smile

Olivia running for the camera

Hanging out in the van (we need to get some pictures of the new van, I know.)

Olivia

A very unhappy Thing 2

Another picture of the very unhappy Thing 2

Before the hair spray

Dolls, dogs, and visitors

My mom brought a doll down for the girls. Olivia has become very fond of it and carries it around every time she finds it. She pats and gives him kisses. She has also become quite attached to the dog Uncle Court gave the girls. She makes "whoof-whoof" noises and carries him around. She has to have both in the crib for naps. Aislee will hold whichever toy Olivia is not holding.

Yes, we are in the climbing stage. They can get from the chairs to the table pretty quickly. When we're not eating, the chairs are on top of the table.

They use their toy bins as steps to get to the TV stand. Aislee has learned how to turn the TV on and off. Luckily for Paul, she doesn't turn off ESPN.

Aislee is texting Daddy. This is an old phone that has made its way into the toy bin, along with many other random household items; tupperware, an empty sour cream container, an old mouse, a water bottle...

My parents and the four youngest boys spent a week in Mexico. They stopped by our house on their way down and back. The girls warmed up to the boys pretty quickly. Court is letting them crawl all over him.

Uncle Kett and the girls became instant buddies. He was a good helper while I was "taking it easy". He even changed a few diapers!

Leftover lunch (mac 'n cheese and green beans)

Olivia on the bouncer with her baby. The bouncer has become more popular lately because they can bounce themselves.

I usually tip the bins over so they can't crawl in them and tip them over onto themselves. Now they like to climb on the bins. Olivia is making elephant noises.

The Days of Our Lives...

I was unloading the dishwasher so I could load it after Sunday dinner. Paul was supposed to keep the girls out of the kitchen, but he got a little distracted by a phone call. It's a good thing they don't weight very much.

Paul put a diaper cover on Aislee's head for a hat. She was walking around the house with a smile on her face, but Paul walked away from her. She decided to pout.

Olivia and her "wings"

Aislee and her "wings" and her penguin. (pardon the bruise, there was a much bigger boy at playgroup who wanted the ball)

Their hair is getting long everywhere except for the front. I'm afraid we're going to have mullets...!

I really don't know how they get into these positions!

They're beginning to climb a little bit. Olivia has learned that she can climb in between the TV and dvd player and just hang out.

Further updates...The girls are little people. They walk around the house and get into the cabinets. It's fun to watch them explore new things. They like belly-buttons and "piggies" and will tickle Paul's toes when he doesn't have socks on. They're learning how to "kiss" the baby by bonking their heads on my tummy with their mouths wide open. It's kinda cute.
Last week I had been feeling a lot of pressure and a few more braxton hicks than normal. I talked to my mom and she suggested that I get checked at my appointment on Friday. As I was telling the Nurse Practitioner what was going on, she assured me that in second pregnancies, especially if they're close together, it's normal to feel more pressure and braxton hicks, but she would check me anyway. I was dilated to a 1 and slightly efaced. She was a little nervous about the exam and told me to go into the OB triage on Saturday to get an FFN test (I had one with the twins). So, Paul and I left the girls with a friend and went to triage. The nurse there checked and said I was a 1+ and monitored the baby and me for a few minutes. I wasn't contracting and the baby's heartrate was "beautiful". So, I had another appointment this mornig to get the results of the test and to talk to my OB. The FFN came back negative, which means that I shouldn't go into labor in the next two weeks. However, I was still at a 1+, pretty soft, and measuring 3cms smaller than I was on Friday. Dr. Decker said that the baby's head was in my pelvis and he could feel it when he did the exam. I can tell that he's dropped (boy, do I have to go to the bathroom every five minutes!)! He siad to take it easy for the next couple of weeks and he would do another exam when I came in. The goal for him is to get me to 36 weeks. Our goal is to get to at least 37. So, my mom is coming down for a few days before the family takes a trip to Mexico so I don't have to lift so much. Paul is going to see if he can work from home for a little while, also. Paul and I think it may have been just a very busy week with ward activities, scouts, and not getting enough sleep. We're not anticipating anything happening in the next little while. We're not ready for this little guy to come yet. First of all, he needs a NAME before he can enter this world!

New Pictures

Just a quick update. The girls are growing and learning all sorts of new things. They like to climb on everything and climb into everything. They found the cupboard with the plastic containers. They can really make a mess with those. I'm just glad it's not the flour and sugar! We're trying sippy cups and regular meals. They're getting to be really good eaters at dinner. They like broccoli soup, enchiladas, potato salad and just about anything green. They're no longer crawlers. They want shoes on all the time. They will bring me a shoe and sit in my lap. I think they figure that if they have shoes on they can go somewhere. They're now in forward facing car seats. Car rides are much more pleasant! We recently took them to the park to kick the soccer ball around. They haven't really experienced grass much because it has been too hot to go anywhere. Let's just say, grass was not really a hit. They didn't mind walking on the grass. We had a few dramatic moments when we fell on the grass. The video was taken the day after their first encounter. Olivia was pretty hilarious!

Drinking a bottle and holding hands

Olivia experiencing grass for the first time with the soccer ball.

A little anxious for dinner

We've got ballas in the making

They've learned to climb in and out of the toy buckets

Aislee and the fort

Olivia and the fort

Paul built them a little fort while I was at a Scout meeting

Climbing...

I don't think that's where shorts go...

Whenever the door to their room is left open, we find them on the rocking chair. Olivia has mastered getting off the rocking chair without bonking her head.

Olivia and Aislee