Kevin's Mom, Jyl, or "Mimi" as Elena calls her, was a huge help to me pre, during and post labor. She is a certified nurse midwife with her own homebirth practice in Florida, so she had lots of great advice and support for me through this great adventure. She also did A TON of dishes, toddler care, and cleaning. Thank you so much, Jyl!!
Jesse Alexander was born Friday, September 26 at 8:45 am! I will upload more pictures tomorrow, but here are a couple... He is a champion nurser and a very sweet, mellow boy so far!
A few hours old...Elena meets her brother for the first time.
About 5 minutes old... I am talking on the phone with my mom.
I am trying to keep busy while we wait for the new baby to arrive. Yesterday morning, Elena got another bang trim. She was not happy with this.
In the afternoon, we went to the zoo. The petting farm is a bit hit.
Then we went to the rose garden and I was inspired by the luciously open flowers...
I am officially 40 weeks! Hooray!!! Here is a picture of me at my midwife appointment this morning. Everything looks "perfect"-- seriously-- she said that word many times! This may be too much to say on a blog, but I am already 2 cm dilated and very...ripe...The baby seems to be a good size and I feel really great. I really don't feel like I am going to pop anytime soon, but it certainly could be any day now.
Cindie drew a picture of the baby on my tummy this week in the position that he is in.
This last weekend, Kevin had a pig roast at the home of our friends, the James Family. This has been a dream of Kevin's since he had one about 10 years ago and enjoyed it so much. Here he is building the pit and constructing the grate.
And here it here is the 113 lbs. monster after cooking for 24 hours in low heat. The James' woke up throughout the night to check the coals and heating element! Kevin also used some of their apple tree for smoking the pig.
And here he is preparing the meat for the 50 or so guests that came to enjoy the beast. Kevin and the James' family also prepared several hommade sauces that were fantastic. I tried to take a picture of my THREE pulled pork sandwiches, complete with corn on the cob, coleslaw and watermelon... but I kept eating the sandwiches before I could manage to get the camera ready. It was a fantastic meal and a wonderful evening. The moon was nearly full, the weather perfectly cool and sweet, and there were tons of older kids to watch Ellie while I got sit around in front the fire and enjoy my amazing food. What a night!Emory, Elena would like to show you some of her balls. Here is a selection of her favorites.
A few of my girlfriends put together an impromtu baby shower for me this evening. It was perfect! I am especially looking forward to the present they got me: about a week's worth of gourmet dinners and lunches from "Designed Dinners." This is about the best present anyone has ever gotten me. 
Eagerly awaiting the pizza...
The dessert: homemade trimisu!
A candid shot of me with toddler. Amazingly, I still manage to lug her around even with my enormous belly.
I found a cool double stroller at our favorite consignment shop this morning. It is super light (about as heavy as Elena! 22 lbs), folds easier than my single stroller and fits in the trunk with plenty of room for groceries. It even has the requisite latte cup holder for this hip Seattle parent and snack holders to hold the organic baby crackers for my hip Seattle babies. Today we took it out on the inagural ride and Elena was thrilled to have company.
Elena has had a rough couple of weeks. She caught a summer virus and has been stuffy and has had trouble sleeping. She even has had nightmares many times this week-- very eerie to hear your toddler crying and moaning in her sleep! Last night, she was dreaming about some pizza that was too hot, "Eddy pizza pie! Eddy, eddy need pizza pie!" and the night before, she was looking for me: "mommy go? mommy go?" It never fails to wake me up completely and go try and comfort her, but usually she is already fast asleep. Then during the days, she has had some nasty nasty tantrums. They usually happen when she is really hungry, but refuses to eat for some random reason. A couple times I have had to leave a plate of food on a chair and leave the room and she is able to compose herself and stuff her poor little face. Then once she has had a few bites, I can come in and help her avoid losing most of her food down her front or on the floor. The above picture is after a morning tantrum and the three bowls of cereal that brought her back from the dark side. 
Here is another post-tantrum picture. She wanted me to hold her just like that for a good half hour. Lucky I still have some room for her!
