Eat and Sleep

I am sure some of you are looking for more pictures of Casey, but all he does is eat and sleep. He really can't go out and enjoy the beach or play with toys. However, the girls have thrown sand on him and tossed little cars and action figures into his car seat. But hey, he is only two weeks old! He spent the 1st week looking a little orange, but he back to a cute pink color now, and is almost back up to his birth weight. He is a leisurely eater, a great sleeper (especially if he is curled up on your chest), and produces enough poop everyday to fertilize a 10 acre farm. Nights are easy, I only have to get up once to feed him around 3am, and both girls sleep from about 7pm to 7am. Days are another story, the girls are running me ragged by torturing each other or their brother, and destroying the house. Hopefully, we all settle into a routine soon or I might lose my mind.

In the meantime, I will enjoy the peaceful moments as much as possible, and enjoying staring at this adorable little bundle.

A funny thing happened on the toilet...

Warning: Slightly graphic!

Most of you have heard this story by now, but for those of you who haven't, please enjoy a good laugh. Ryan truly has a way with words (and a slightly different perspective on the situation). Casey and I are no worse for wear from this adventure. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- My wife had a baby! After a night of labor at the house and nice long walks on the beach this morning I finally convinced Kristin to go to the hospital. It takes us about an hour to get to the hospital (through North Carolina back country) and after 13 hours of contractions and them finally being about 5 minutes apart I no longer felt comfortable not being at least near the hospital. Kristin, after our last experience with the OB/Gyn staff at Bethesda wanted nothing to do with the hospital until the last minute. I explained in the most professional manner I could muster than a lot of multiparous women hit a certain point and then fly through labor giving birth before anyone is ready - I was of course thinking that I didn't want the carpet or seat in my truck messed up if her water broke during the ride. But, I was playing the role of loving husband and didn't say it! We arrived at the hospital, met our doctor, got checked, and Kristin convinced our doctor to let her go to lunch before going to the labor and delivery deck. We finally meandered up there at around 1230 and got checked in and the process started. Kristin felt comfortable walking around so we started what I called the Camp LeJeune 500 and did laps around the hospital (all left hand turns of course). This went well and at 1724 she was checked and had only progressed to 6cm dilated, -2 station, but completely effaced. I told her that chances were good that things would begin progressing rapidly. She shot back that she should still be on the beach and shouldn't have come in to the hospital so early - citing her ability to walk around and do lunges down the hallway as evidence. After one lap she decided to get a shower before things really started happening and she wouldn't be allowed. I decided to give her some privacy and sat in front of the TV flipping through the channels. Since I couldn't find anything to watch I went to the TV guide channel and was waiting for it to cycle to the beginning so I could see what was on when I heard Kristin sound like she was in a lot of pain. I really wanted to see what was on TV so I tried to ignore the sounds of severe pain as best I could but finally had to concede the fact that I'd have to wait for it to cycle through again so that I could try and comfort my wife. When I went into the bathroom I found her sitting on the toilet. She was in excruciating pain. I looked down and saw a head! I immediately did what any cool, collected Airborne Ranger and future ER doctor would do in the face of an emergency - I ran like a little girl to get the nearest doctor I could find. I sputtered a few words but mostly pointed in the direction of the room and looked like a fool. The doctors interpreted that perfectly, ran to our room, and delivered a baby with Kristin still sitting on the toilet at 1752 (less than 30 minutes from her last cervix check). With all the commotion directed toward the baby Kristin got off the toilet and went back to take another shower. About 10 minutes later a hand/arm comes out from behind the shower curtain. Kristin calmly stated, "Here's the placenta. If anyone wants it I'm setting next to the shower." She put it on the floor and finished her shower. She then walked to her bed and let the doctor sew up one small tear then we walked up to the third floor to the mother/baby unit where she is now finally getting some rest. Sorry for this email being so long. I hope you made it through the whole story. I have been laughing nonstop since it happened and so has Kristin. By the way...it was a 6lb 9oz boy that we named Casey Joel Knight. Casey was picked from a book, Joel is in honor of Joel Brattain the soldier I lost in Iraq. However, he will most likely be called Crane since Kristin was sitting on a Crane Plumbing toilet when he was delivered! I hope everyone is doing well. Mom and baby are healthy and I have now proven to all of you that I have a Y chromosome. Ryan

The Meet and Greet

Due to the fact that the hospital wants all babies to stay for at least 36 hours, we didn't get to go home on Saturday. So Ryan brought the girls over to meet their new baby brother, and he brought me some dinner, since I found the hospital food quite unpalatable. Elizabeth adores "her" new baby brother and continuously wanted to look at him, hold him, or touch him. Ava kept asking "what's that" as she pulled off Casey's hat and blanket, and then proceeded to poke his eyes, nose, head, feet, etc. Quickly, Ava became bored with Casey and moved on to create her own fun, and eventually drew her sister into her game with Casey's bassinet.

The Lost Boy

Here are all the important stats and of course some pictures:

Casey Joel Knight 11 April 2008 @ 5:52pm 6 pounds, 9 ounces 18 inches grey/blue eyes, blonde peach fuzz hair

Last one standing

Well, I know 4 other women besides me with due dates on or about 1 April. All of them have made the trip to the hospital and back again with new babies in tow, except for me. Well I have good news, I started having contractions last night around 9pm, they are still 10 minutes apart this morning, but I am sure labor will eventually kick into high gear, and hopefully by the end of the day we will be celebrating the addition of a new little one. Wish us luck, we will be in touch.

American Idol or Scientist

Yesterday, the girls and I drove down to Wilmington to check out the Children's Museum. The girls had a blast playing and exploring possible career tracks.

Elizabeth rocking out her ABC's.

DJ Ava loves to push buttons!

Red and blue make purple. Future chemist or scientist?

Ava liked the accessories of a scientist, but also conducted her own experiments in gravity.

Of course, we had to spend some time outside. Spelunker?

The girls are turning into nature lovers as long as there are no real brambles or bugs. The camping room was a favorite: reading books, making coffee, crawling in and out of tents.

And the girls loved the grocery store and pirate ship play areas.

Finally a Nice Day

Well it took a week, but we finally had a nice day to take the girls out to enjoy the park and the beach, so I took a bunch of pictures while the weather was 70 degrees and sunny. I was starting to lose my mind trying to entertain two toddlers in a 530 square foot condo.

Got to love the crack!

And yes, I am still pregnant.

It's a...

April Fool's! I hope no one really expected us to have a baby today. It will be at least another week if this critter is any think like its sisters. However, we did get a visit today from Ryan's cousin Jada and her husband Jason. The live in Wilmington, NC about 45 minutes from our place on Topsail Island. They have graciously volunteered to watch the girls for us when this baby finally does decide to make an appearance, and we wanted everyone to get aquainted. We didn't think it would be fair to just toss Jada and Jason two wild toddlers and wish them luck, so we spent a good evening bonding over pizza, cookies, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

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