It was a big week around our house...

Max started Kindergarten. Here he is posing in his school clothes.

Ezra was quite excited for it as well and actually seems quite content with having the house all to himself during the day.

Griffin is already 1 week old and is contemplating life's great mysteries.

He got to wear his awesome glowing suit for a couple of days which somehow cured him of jaundice.

And his brothers are already working hard to teach him all of their greatest tricks.

Introducing:

Griffin Ephraim Garner

born August 11, 2011

8lbs even

20 in. long

(If you're not interested in the details, feel free to just peruse the pictures and skip the story at the end!)

He's here and he's ready for his close-up.

Proud big brother Ezra.

A big week for Max...starting kindergarten in 4 days and getting a new baby brother.

Camping out on the queen bed in my recovery room. The Catholics know how to do it right (I forgot to mention we were at a Catholic hospital). I sampled every item on their daily dessert cart and highly recommend the chocolate chip cookies.

Gory details:

I was pretty sure this baby wasn't going to come early. I didn't want to get my hopes up. Wednesday we went for a hike and then to a local baseball game and by the end of the night I felt sore and tired. I woke up a few times in the night with some pain but I still didn't think it was anything labor-related. Ephraim left for work Thursday morning about 6:30 and at that point I was having painful contractions every 10-15 minutes. I still wasn't convinced I was in labor. About an hour later I realized the pain was definitely getting worse and the contractions were 5 minutes apart. And then all of a sudden they were even closer and I realized this was probably serious. I called Ephraim to come home (which took 20 minutes) then we dropped the boys with a friend and sped to the hospital. I thought I could walk to the labor and delivery floor but alas, I couldn't and a really nice old lady at the front desk pushed me in a wheelchair. They checked me in and tried to ask me some insurance questions and I couldn't really answer. I got into the room at 9:23 and was hoping to get into the jacuzzi for a water birth but there was no time to fill the tub. The nurse told me I was in transition and I told her I was going to push. I think she told me to hold on but I said no. They yelled for my midwife to come in and she did and about 2 pushes later, baby Griffin was out, at 9:39. I was delighted to have such a short time in the labor room. Its amazing how great the recovery has been this time around; much better than with the epidural births I had before. I would definitely do a natural birth again. Hopefully there'll be time to fill the tub the next time around. Griffin is a mellow and chubby-cheeked little guy and we're completely delighted to have him in our family.