Just about two years later

A lot has happened in the past couple years.  For instance, this little beauty went from a pretty little chunker to a beautiful little lady.

        

                    
The boys grew into men

        

 
Instead of killing myself in an attempt to recap our last two years, I will tell you what we are doing now...

Nathan is doing great at work. Moving up and enjoying what he does.  I am so thankful to God that He has a job that allows me to be home with my kids.  We are so blessed.

I am staying home with my three and watching another girl 5 days a week.  We homeschool and are learning how to play together nicely right now.  :) She is a wonderful addition to our group and we are thankful for her every day.

Ezekiel is growing up way too fast.  He is tall enough to reach the kitchen faucet and if he struggles he finds a chair and gets the job done.  He loves helping, tickling, snuggling and making inventions.

Isaiah is learning how to express his imagination through story telling.  He told us an adorable story at the dinner table about two friends who were fighting off a thumb...  he was using his one hand for the whole story.  We love seeing his free thinking.

Zariyah is our little spitfire.  Extremely beautiful with an attitude. She is sweet and loves to hug and kiss and snuggle, but also loves her independence.  She can be demanding and can through fits with the best of them, but she is learning boundaries and keeps us laughing almost constantly.  She is a little warrior too... she is constantly instigating attack style play with her brothers... growling like a tiger and chasing until she can catch them and give them a tickle.  Apparently she is pretty good at tickling too... based on the belly laugh and begging for mercy that Zeke was expressing the other day. :)

We are Expecting our 4th baby on July 4th! We are so excited and looking forward to our journey with another little life.

Keep checking back because this blog will soon be more active.

Blessings


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Isaiah Tumau Allen

Isaiah Tumau Allen

June 30, 2010

3:37 am

8lbs 2oz

20 1/4 inches long

15 inch head!!!

Isaiah's birth story:

At around 4pm on the 29th I had my first painful contraction just after loading Ezekiel into the car to get some groceries for dinner and some last minute supplies for after the baby was born. The pain wasn't too bad so I continued to the store. Once there, I was trying to find some Witch Hazel and then got frustrated because the contractions were getting more painful and were pretty close together. I called Nate and told him I needed some witch hazel and asked him to pick it up on his way home from work because I was beside myself and needed to go home. He agreed, but by the time I paid for my groceries and was loaded in the car, I was in tears. So, I called Nate back and told him to forget the witch hazel and that I was coming to pick him up at the office.

We got home and called G&G Allen to have them head to Bellingham to be with Zeke. I didn't want Zeke to be sad or worried about me as I anticipated the contractions would become more painful. Thankfully Abby was able to come over early to take Zeke to her house where he would be spending the night. We were really glad to have Zeke taken care of. We were then able to take the time to finalize some cleaning, cooked a yummy dinner, and set up a peaceful environment. Through this time I continued to labor. To try and add some helpful distraction we listened to a comedy CD, which was hilarious, but laughter isn't easy during a contraction. Around this time we started to time contractions so we'd have info to give my Midwife. They were consistently between 3-5 minutes apart lasting from 45 seconds to a minute each. Finally when I was becoming more vocal through them, we decided to call my Midwife. When I talked to her she said that she thought it was probably false labor because they started out so close together and weren't consistent enough. I was frustrated because but carried on. then at about 9pm we called her again to give an update and she said she would meet us at the birthing center at 10:50. We got there and my contractions completely stopped. I was 1 centimeter dilated and my cervix was still long and hard. I was so disappointed and frustrated. So many hours of painful contractions that did absolutely nothing.

We went home and I took some Tylenol PM and cried through every contraction (they started up again) because they were painful and unhelpful and I was feeling like they were pointless. Nate and I talked for a while, he encouraged me a lot and then prayed for me out loud for quite a while. I fell asleep at about 12:30 am. At 2:04 am I woke up with a contraction that I had to moan through. Nate woke up startled by my sounds asked if I was OK and then we both went back to sleep. I had 4 in a row where I was able to fall asleep in between them. then at 2:36 I couldn't lay down through them anymore. I got up on the bed on my hands and knees and asked Nate to push on my hips. It was intense!!! I was still frustrated, thinking that it was all for nothing, but I was in control of my emotions the whole time and very coherent through all the contractions and between them. After having a couple contractions on the bed, I decided to stand up and walk around just to see if they would stop if I positioned myself differently. They didn't stop. As soon as I walked into the hall from my bedroom, I felt pressure and needed to use the bathroom immediately. I went through a few contractions on the toilet and then asked Nate to call the midwife. We both felt strange calling her since she had sent us home just a few hours before because of false labor and no progression. Finally I convinced Nate that he should call because this was different and she was welcome to tell us that we are still in false labor if she wants, but I needed her to know what I was going through. I stood up and had a few contractions while holding onto the sink while Nate was on the phone with the midwife. I heard her ask if I was feeling the urge to push. I answered that yes, I did feel a slight urge, but nothing really bad at all. She told Nate that she needed some time, but could probably meet us at the birthing center in an hour... This was about 3 am. I moved to the living room, folded a yoga mat in half and knelt on it with my elbows on the couch so I could rest easier between the contractions. By this time, the contractions were extremely powerful and I didn't want Nate touching me anymore. He tried rubbing my back during a contraction (he's so sweet), but I told him he can't touch gentle, he has to press hard if he's going to touch at all. At 3:15 my water broke.... That was the point when I was convinced it wasn't false anymore... This baby was coming. Nathan called the midwife back to let her know that my water broke and she not to try to meet her at the birthing center, but that she was coming to our house and she was calling a midwife that lived closer to see if she could get here a little sooner. I continued laboring. In between contractions Nathan and I were really at peace. We were overwhelmed with love for each other, kissing and hugging and snuggling together. Suddenly felt this crazy urge to push. I wasn't sure if I should go ahead and do it or wait... Nate and I were the only ones at the house at the time. Our midwife called us back to see how things were going (while she was driving) and that's when I told Nate I had the urge. My body was pushing on it's own so I couldn't really stop what was happening. Nate suddenly told the midwife that he could see the head and then he told me to go ahead and push him out. Our midwife was on speaker phone during the pushing. I think I pushed once through a contraction and out he came. Nate choked back tears and said Shaloma here is your son as he passed him between my legs to my arms. I turned around and sat on the floor holding him close to my chest. He was so perfect, but he didn't cry, he was gurgling every once in a while... the midwife told us to rub his back so we did at his color was getting better and better. About 5 minutes later Ann came in (she was my midwife for Zeke's birth). It was amazing seeing her. She was like an angel walking in. She got us a blanket for Isaiah and then our doula walked in and then about 5 minutes later, right after the after birth showed up my midwife Winni came in. She took over and helped me start to breast feed. Then everyone helped me up and we went to the bed where my midwife sutured me up (I had a slight tear with probably 10 stitches or something. no where near as bad as last time). I fed Isaiah for about an hour before she wanted to do her mobility testing, weight and measurements. Even though this was an unplanned unassisted birth, it was the absolutely best possible birthing scenario for Nathan and I. We were so at peace, so full of love. We knew that God was with us from the start and now we have an absolutely perfect little family. I'm so thankful for all 3 of my guys.

Isaiah means: God is salvation in Hebrew

Tumau means: To stand up or to stand firm in Samoan

Catch up time

I was not good at updating all through the month of May so on the first of June I shall give an update on last months events. :)

 4/26/09 Nathan, Zeke and I went to Bakerview Nursery to check out their grass seed and there was a large field by the parking lot so we used it as a photo-op.  Isn't he so cute?!!

On the same day, we went to Boulevard park to check out the water and play in the grass. 

4/29/09 Mom & Dad May came to visit and Zeke was thrilled!  

4/30/09 Where's Waldo?  Zeke and I went down to meet Nathan at work.  The building in the background is where he works.  He's on the 4th floor.  

5/1/09 Wait for it...

Zeke walked to Nathan!!!  

On the same day, Zeke playing with Grandma Allen in her yard. 

5/2/09 Grandma Allen teaching Zeke to play the piano. 

5/5/09 Zeke was super chill when he was sick.  He had a fever of 102!!  Poor baby!

5/8/09 Camping at Parrygin Lake just outside of Winthrop, WA.  

Zeke was such a trooper!  We put him in his snowsuit because it was so cold!!!

5/10/09 Mothers Day!  Grandpa May came to help Nathan install our new washer & dryer.  Zeke was trying to help too. 

5/15/09 We went to North Star Stones to check out stones for our walk ways and patio, Zeke liked the ones he was walking on better than the ones they were selling...  interesting. 

On the same day, we went to the Ski to Sea kids Parade on Cornwall.  Zeke loved the band music!  He was dancing and clapping!

5/16/09 The backyard before demolition

5/17/09 we went to visit Kaden Riley May!!!  Josiah & Jolene's brand new baby boy!! He was born on May 16, 2009.  He weighed 8 lbs 8 ozs and was 22.5 inches!!!  He's so cute!

Here's the whole Josiah May Family!!!  

The backyard after demolition!!  Nathan is spreading seed.  Where the excavator is, there will be a parking area lined with stones and filled in with gravel.  in front of the shed, we are going to put in a patio. :)

5/24/09 We went to the Ski to Sea Parade on the 23rd and then on the 24th we went to the Fairhaven Festival and we walked down to boulevard to see the car show, but it was over when we got there.  This is Zeke checking out the water below on our way to Boulevard park. 

Such a great day for pictures! The colors are so crisp!  

This is Zeke in mid walk.  haha!! He's so cute!!

Zeke and his Dad. 

Aren't they so sweet?!

5/25/09 Zeke is now forward facing!!! We switched him around because he was kicking on the back seat too much cause his legs are so long!!! He loves being forward facing!

5/30/09 The grass is growing!!!  You can at least kind of see it. :)

Nate and Zeke went to Grandma Allens to visit while I was busy with Jem's wedding showers.  Zeke is so cute when he's sleeping!! Nate has amazing skills when it comes to getting Zeke to go to sleep.  I don't know how he does it!!!

Thanks for reading all of that and checking out all of our pictures!!  We had a great month of May!!  I'll try to be better in June!

I love comments!!!

Torleiv Aland May Cabral

Announcing the arrival of Tor!

He arrived on January 25th at 9:30 am to Moriah and Cesar.

he was 9 lbs 7 ozs & 21 inches long.

Welcome to the outside Tor!

It's a Boy!!

Ezekiel Manuia Allen was born on June 26th 2008 at 4:21 am!  He's 7 lbs 15 oz and 20.5 inches long.  We'll post more later about the birth, but for now, please enjoy the pictures!  Thanks so much for all your prayers and well wishes!  We love you all!