McKay

My parents make me wear this hat.

Here are some pics of the little guy -- thanks for the congratulations!

I'm taking this a step at a time. I really do want to talk about the whole labor story (probably more for my "journaling" sake than for you, although you'll be welcome to read it if you're interested), but I'll do just pics for now.

Here he is!

He looks a lot like Cory's baby picture. Just a couple of hours old.
Father?

Oh!

Oh, and his brothers really do enjoy him.

A BIG week

Between Christmas and the arrival of the newest Martin, it's been a big week!

McKay Cory Martin arrived December 26 at 12:40 am weighing 7 lbs 7 oz and 20 1/2 " long. He looks a lot like his daddy's baby picture. Do we finally have a little Cory?!

He came quickly...well, after 3 days of "prepping" labor, I'll call it. I had been contracting since Monday night, but nothing regular or strong or long; they were just letting me know that baby would be here soon. And, he came at 38 weeks, just like my other 2. Once I went into active labor on Christmas night, it was only about 3 1/2 hours before he was born. Most of that laboring was spent at home, because he was born within an hour of arriving at the birth center.

It was an awesome experience. Honestly, the day was full of miracles. More details to come for those who want to know the whole story. For those who just want the basics, here it is! We're excited to have him here and are recovering well.

Oh, and pictures are forthcoming; dealing with computer issues. Just imagine a really adorable baby for now.

Christmas in DC

There are lots of fun things to see in DC at Christmas time...and while we haven't gotten to all of them, here's our afternoon trip to the Botanic Gardens and Union Station a couple of weeks ago.

Every year, the Botanic Gardens does a Christmas train display. Emmet and Gabey watched this one over and over and over...
Major DC buildings made out of nature. Pretty!

Gabey in front of one his favorite DC icons...The Washington Monument!
This was Gabriel's favorite train -- Caterpillar.


The Union Station Christmas Tree. The kids' favorite part about this was the piano playing itself at the base of the tree. Magical!

Meeting the President-Elect. What Cory would REALLY love for Christmas.

And, finally, a "Barack in the Box".

BEFORE AND AFTER

Before....(at 25 weeks)

After...(36 weeks)BEFORE

AFTER

Lucas slipped in the bathtub and gave his head a good wack on the way down. These pictures of his colorful eye were taken the day after it happened, after a lot of ice. It had swelled up to a lovely size. We were wary to send him to school with a black eye, but, well...what are you gonna do?

BEFORE

AFTER

The room that is going to be the nursery was a "sickly green". Cory worked hard over Thanksgiving weekend to transform it to a much brighter "nectarine fizz". Thank you, Love!

BEFORE

AFTER

Cory finished putting up our Christmas lights just in time for the first snowfall of the year (with some help)!

Of course, it was only a slight dusting and was gone the next morning, but enough for the boys to enjoy the first snowball fight of the year with Daddy!

BEFORE

AFTER

We started off the Nativity at our church Christmas party with 2 happy sheep. Gabriel and Lucas were in fine form. At one point, I sneaked over to snatch a video of them singing "When Joseph Went to Bethlehem" (proud that they were both participating and grateful that Gabriel was doing so well -- you never know with him). Gabey saw me and wanted to "see the picture", to which I motioned him to sit back down and I'd show him after.

That was my mistake. It was over from there.

He came whimpering over to us and took off his sheep costume, refusing to put it back on. We couldn't coax him back up. Finally, I told him he'd get his treat if he went up with the other kids on stage (yeah, so I used bribery. Judge me). He went -- not in his sheep costume, but went nonetheless -- and walked onto the stage, wandering around in front in his bright red shirt before plopping himself down. People -- including us -- were already chuckling at this point.

It gets better.

He saw us and we waved, at which point he turned on the drama. He prostrated himself on the stage. One of the adults helping with the pageant came out and picked him up (probably a bit overresponsive), so he flailed and cried as she carried him off stage. Incidentally, she had to step over his good friend, Emmet, who was in the wings of the stage refusing to participate (bosom buddies, I guess). He came back to us and said, "I just want a treat without going on stage."

Everyone got a good chuckle, and I wish I'd been quick enough to video the whole 2 minute ordeal.

Happy Christmas season to all!

Spiderman Turns 4!

*Blogger is doing funky things with my pictures, so you get pics first then words.*
Gabriel -- who still sports his Halloween Spiderman costume now and then -- celebrated his fourth birthday on November 23!

I don't think Cory and I have a day go by that we don't look at this little boy in amazement and incredible gratitude for the miracles we've seen in his life.

We celebrated his special day by going to the Air and Space Museum on Saturday the 22nd -- a favorite. We've visited a lot of museums since living here and I love to hear Gabey tell me, "Mommy, I love museums!" Music to a mother's ears. I don't know that I would've said that at his age...or even now.
On Sunday we had some friends over for cake and ice cream. Of course, the cake was "Gabey cake", meaning it was dairy, soy, gluten, peanut, and egg free. I made "regular" cupcakes for everyone else...but everyone tried the Gabey cake! It wasn't bad. And he loved it.

Just had to say how glad we are for Gabriel and to celebrate another year of his life!

Nothing But Star Wars

The other day our friend Dave Evans (who was being Mr. Mom for their kids while Diana was on a needed mommy get-away to CA)watched our boys. Since my boys have fairly recently become obsessed with Star Wars: The Clone Wars (without actually seeing said movie), they made this movie.

What Do You Get When You Cross a Jedi Knight and a Comic Book Superhero?

A Martin Halloween!

Here are some pictures of the festivities last week.

We did trunk-or-treating with our ward (church congregation), which included a soup/salad dinner and carnival type games for the kiddos. We had a great time, and the kids circled around the cars several times to load up on way too much candy.

Afterwards, we took them to a few festively decorated houses in our neighborhood. Gabriel kept saying, "I like Halloween!" I've decided it gets to be more fun each year as they get older.

Anakin Skywalker and Spiderman.

*Note: Spiderman wore his costume all day every day the week prior to Halloween. He had adoring fans everywhere we went -- the grocery store, the library, the National Air and Space Museum...

Anakin with the mask...creepy, eh?

L to R: Cory, Lucas, Gabriel, Baby

Cory and I ended the night by sampling some of the kids' loot and watching episodes of Ghost Hunters online. Not a bad evening.

These Could Have Been Some Great Posts

Sometimes I'll think of posts in my head...then never get around to doing them.

I echo my sister's sentiments about blogging.

Since most of you won't link to that (because I rarely do when I'm reading blogs), let me sum up what she said: "Blogging is a hassle. Because the longer you wait to blog, the more there is to blog, and the less you want to try to tackle that blog."

Think of what good posts these could have been...

1. "Cory the Farmer" This one would've been about how Cory grew beans, peas, and pumpkins this year and how proud I am of him and how grateful I am that he enjoys yardwork and such because I DO NOT. I was even thinking of doctoring up a picture of him to include a straw hat, missing teeth, and some wheat hanging out of his mouth.

2. "Rehoboth Beach" For this post, I would've told you about how we went to yet another state's beach (Delaware), and on Columbus Day no less.

That is remarkable for two reasons,

(1) that Cory had work off and Lucas had school off (I guess Utahns are not big Columbus fans because we never had it off when I was there), and

(2) that it was warm enough in mid-October to go to the beach. Of course, it was a fun time because it was the beach. I also would've told you that, thus far, it was our least favorite beach.

3. "Blast from the Past" Ahh, this could've been beautifully sentimental. It would've talked about how, a year after realizing that Hardee's still exists out east (I thought it was gone from the earth), I finally was able to get one of their cinnamon raisin biscuits on our way to Delaware. You would've known why that was significant to me as that's what my mom and I would always get before taking me to school after a morning orthodontist appointment...which spanned 4 1/2 years.

And they were yuu-uummy.

4. "Pennsylvania" I would have detailed our fun weekend trip to State College, PA to be with my brother, his wife, and new baby to be there for her blessing. My other brother, his wife, and 2 boys came from MI, too, and we all had fun staying up late talking, going to an apple farm, and playing. We met our first niece/girl cousin, who is absolutely ADORABLE. Only the most perfect baby I've ever seen. And the boys LOVED her.

There may have been more, but that's what I remember for now.

Since it is the day after Halloween, I promise a Halloween recap..but not now.

After a cold week, yesterday and today have been beautiful. So we're headed into DC to see the sights.

Later.

So that's what it takes

I think 12 comments is a record for one of our blog posts, so I will continue to post pictures of my expanding belly and Magic Eye pictures of our baby.

Ha ha ha

25 Weeks

Took this last week at 25 weeks. Baby's active and genderless.

Actually, it has a gender, we just don't want to know which.
I get a lot of questions as to why we don't find out.
I guess we don't for the same reason you do; you want it to be a surprise at 20 weeks,
we want a surprise at birth!

My children tell me my tummy is getting big.
Oh, my dear little angels, just you wait...the best is yet to come.

And I always thought it was silly to show people ultrasound pictures because it's hard to really see anything. But, well, I've eaten a lot of words in my life, so I'm taking a big swallow now. After all, this one is our baby! :) And it's the 3D image so it's pretty awesome. See the hand by the eye and nose? And the little lips? Any guesses...a masculine or a feminine face?! ha ha ha

In case you're like me and have a hard time reading ultrasounds, let me try to help. Ignore the mass on the far left. The thing that looks like it's extending from the mass is the arm, which goes up to where the hand is on his nose. Once you can focus in on the nose, can you see the lips and closed eyes?

Chincoteague Island

We spent last weekend with our friends the Evans's on Chincoteague and Assateague Islands in Virginia. Diana's mom owns a duplex on the island and we were able to stay there and explore this gem. Chincoteague is a small town and quiet this time of year, although it is a busier place in the summer. Assateague, a national park, is the neighboring island where you can enjoy many different birds, wild ponies, an old lighthouse, and the Atlantic shore.

Lucas has loved the beach since we went to Hilton Head, SC last spring, while Gabey has been more a fan of the sand than the water. This time, though, after spending some time in the sand, he geared up some newfound courage and played in the waves with his brother! It was a nice get-away for all of us.


Crossing the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Wild ponies trotting along the road
Lucas commanding the ocean





The first day was too chilly and windy (and the surf a bit wild) to don bathing suits and get in the water, but Gabey was happy in the sand.
Gabey and Lucas "before" (at this point, Lucas's pants were already soaked because he'd been chasing the waves)....
and "after"!