Monday, August 24, 2009

Not the best of update, but a few pictures anyways =)

Oops! I guess I should rotate pictures first, huh?





Here is some of the requested information on William's birth:

Yes, 31 hours to be exact. Water broke at 11:30 at night Tuesday, and he was not born until 9:25 AM Thursday.

Yes, you would think by number 9 that they would emerge faster! However, William seemed to have his head askew, thus not putting enough pressure to increase the intensity of contractions. We labored with contractions anywhere from 5- 10 minutes apart for most of that time. He has slightly swollen right side of his face and eye. We assume that his position is responsible for the late pregnancy back pain I experienced.

Midwives are FABULOUS. Mine was with me form 4 am Wednesday until noon Thursday. We had 2 follow up visits at our home over the next few days, one of which included her bringing us dinner (oh, and she brought dinner for our neighbors who lovingly took our kids over the whole of labor as well). How is THAT for healthcare reform????? Not to mention that our birth cost approximately 1/5th the cost of a typical hospital birth...


No, they don't keep getting bigger. Our largest babies are still Joseph and David at 9- 2 and 9- 4. William was only 8-15 =)

He looks like our other dark haired babies.. Cute. Fuzzy head. Puffy cheeks. Little old man look. I assume he will get cuter with age ;)

Lastly, but perhaps most significant, the name...

William was named quite early if he had just been a girl! We were blessed with a new van earlier this year, and Bob promptly suggested the name Grace if the baby was a girl. God is so lavish and undeservedly good to us. It fit. One of my favorite and most influential ladies I've known was my grandmother... Grace Margaret. So, it was decided...

A boy's name that came close... hmmm... that was harder!

The name John means God is gracious. John Newton wrote perhaps one of the best known hymns around... Amazing Grace. He was a slave trader before coming to faith in God... by his own admission, not a nice guy. He struggled with his sinful nature even after coming to Christ. Perhaps it is those who truly know from what they have been saved who are most grateful for their salvation?

William means defender, and for us directly refers to William Wilberforce... who not coincidentally was greatly influenced by John Newton. He fought a losing battle in Parliament for 20 years to outlaw slavery in England. His perseverance changed history.

It is our prayer that our son would know the grace of God, and that he would be ready to stand for what is right, no matter how long or hard the battle gets.

Thus, William John.


Ok, we are still working on the picture thing. His first few days were kind of blotchy and purpley ;) His color has improved greatly, as has his puffy eye... maybe tomorrow we'll get better pictures up! Here are a few from day 1... one of these days I'll remember to rotate first...

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Welcome William!







Here area few pictures... more info to follow...

Friday, August 14, 2009

Duck pictures

Still in the works, but feel free to look =)




So now our ducks are grown up, and some of them are looking quite different. Quacky, the only male out of the Khaki Cambells now has a green head. The rest of the ducks, except for the Mallards, are all a chocolate brown.



They greatly enjoy the pool that we sometimes fill with water for them to play in. They can splash water an unbelievable distance.
This is the Mallard that we believe is a girl sitting in the grass. Including the head, a Mallard is a little bigger than a football.
(starting here pics are left formatted)














They use bricks as stairs to get in the pool.


They also try to go diving, but the pool isn't deep enough.















Waiting in line...


They like to be clean.








We built the ducks a pen with a door into a shed.
















We also built a duck tractor, a wooden structure that can be lifted and moved, almost like a portable pen.















The inside of the shed has straw on the floor and a door into the outside pen.











The ducks love hiding in our bushes as well.
















Here's a duck who wants to stir things up a bit.











Some of the ducks like being held.





















Its surprisingly hard to get them into their duck tractor!















They love any kind of bug you feed them.
Well, that seems to be enough for now. Gotta go.